> Shisno Chronicles: Friendship is Magic
>  by nightelf37
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Mare In The Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: Mare In The Moon

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects—all the different types of ponies. 

But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one’s heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon! She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. 

Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: The Elements of Harmony! Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon, and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Daytime in the unicorn city of Canterlot…

"Hmmm…"

Two ponies were reading what looked like an ornate hardback book. One of the readers was a unicorn pony with a deep blue coat, brown eyes, two-toned yellow-and-orange hair, a mildly ruffled short mane, a rather short tail, black markings on the hooves, a curved muzzle, and on the haunch was a “cutie mark” consisting of an orange circle depicting an open book inside. While one would assume this pony was a female, this pony was actually a male. This was Chronicle, a bodyguard currently on a break.

Next to him was another unicorn, a for-sure mare. She had a light purple coat, a dark indigo mane and tail both with a magenta and purple streak (and seemed to be properly brushed), dark violet eyes, and “cutie mark” consisting of a six-pointed pink star overlaid on a white one with five small white stars surrounding the two. This was his charge, Twilight Sparkle. While her bodyguard only showed casual interest, she on the other hoof took this rather seriously.

"Elements of Harmony…", mused Twilight, her voice marking her as a serious-minded thinker. "I know I’ve heard of those before. But where?"


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS

A short while later…

Twilight and Chronicle were walking down a road, the former with the book they were reading in a pair of saddlebags slung on her back. Just then, they encountered three unicorns. Each of them had presents on their back.

"There you are, Twilight, Chronicle.", one of them said, a white mare with a pink mane, blue eyes, and three stars as her cutie mark.

"Twinkle.", greeted Chronicle in a casual, near-childlike tenor voice, then turned to the other two. "Minuette." A light blue mare with a two-tone mane of dark blue-and-white, blue eyes, and an hourglass cutie mark. "Lemon Hearts." A yellow mare with a cyan mane, dark blue eyes, and three hearts (two blue, one green) as her cutie mark. "What brings you to meet us on the road?"

"Moondancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard.", explained Twinkle. "You want to come?" 

"Would I?!" Chronicle seemed to be eager to come, then turned to his charge. "But I can only do so if she comes too."

Twilight recoiled a bit, and then said, "Oh, sorry, girls. I got a lot of studying to catch up on."

Chronicle then turned back to the trio in disappointment. "Well, considering her answer, guess I can't. Again."

Twilight then gave the trio a big grin and galloped off. Chronicle begrudgingly followed.

Twinkle sighed in disgust. "Does that pony do anything except study? I think she’s more interested in books than friends." The three of them then went on their way.

"I know I’ve heard of the Elements of Harmony.", Twilight said to herself as she ran. As she and Chronicle crossed a bridge, they encountered two unicorn mares. One had a turquoise coat, gold-colored eyes, grayish cyan hair with white highlights, and a lyre cutie mark. The other had a pink coat, purple hair with a streak of a lighter shade, purple eyes, three brilliant-cut diamonds as a cutie mark, and was holding a small shopping bag in her mouth.

While Twilight bypassed the two without so much as an acknowledgement even as the turquoise mare raised a hoof in greeting, Chronicle had the liberty to pause and greet them. "Hey there, Heartstrings, Amethyst Star." He then went on his way as he followed his charge towards an ivory-colored spire, climbing the staircase that spiraled around it. Chronicle decided to use a little magic. 

His horn glowed bright blue (not brown like his eyes), and his legs glowed likewise for a moment. He was now slightly faster and he managed to catch up with his charge just as she made it to a pair of double doors. She slammed through them, knocking back someone on the other side, whom Chronicle saw. It was a light purple dragon. The spiny plates running from head to tail are green, his underbelly is a pale yellow-green, and he has darker yellow-green ears shaped as tiny bat wings. 

"Spike! Spiiiike!", Twilight called before she noticed the dragon. "Spike?" The dragon, whose name was Spike, got up from what just happened to him, his green eyes spinning. "There you are."

"Don't slam through the door next time!", Chronicle scolded Twilight as he slowed to a stop next to the dragon. They were inside a library, with various scientific instruments—including a large hourglass—arrayed near the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. Twilight ran ahead of them and was on the "main floor" of the library. As she searched, Chronicle and Spike walked up the small staircase that led from the entrance to the "main floor". Just then, Chronicle noticed a red gift box impaled on Spike's tail.

"Quick!", said Twilight as she looked around. "Find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies." She then turned to her companions with a puzzled look on her face. "What’s that for, Spike?" Spike pulled the box loose from his tail.

"Well, it was a gift for Moondancer, but…" The bottom of the box fell out, dumping a damaged teddy bear that squeaked when it hit the floor. He was somewhat younger than the unicorns, but considering he was a dragon…

"Oh, Spike…" She proceeded to knock some books off a stack with her head. "…you know we don’t have time for that sort of thing."

"But we’re on a break!" Spike proceeded to go to one of the ladders in the library and climbed it.

"Yeah.", agreed Chronicle as he followed Spike. "As much as I like to read at times, to stay cooped up with you with no one else but Spike for days on end can drive even me nuts."

Spike turned to the blue unicorn. "Well, your contract with her is coming to an end soon, so you don't have to worry for much longer."

"Well, I'm still concerned for her, even if it's not exactly in my job description." Meanwhile, Twilight was telekinetically moving books around, her horn glowing brightly, looking for the Predictions and Prophecies book. "To be a reclusive shut-in won't do her much good." 

"No…no…no…no, no, no!", Twilight groaned in spite of the many books she now has surrounding her. "Spike!!" 

"It’s over here!", the dragon called as he held out a book. He was promptly dragged by the book as it was 'pulled' by Twilight. Before he could fall to the floor, Chronicle 'caught' him in time and 'set' him down safely on his back. 

"Ah!" Twilight dropped the rest of the books and trotted off, levitating the one she got from Spike alongside. 

"You should be more careful, Twilight.", said Chronicle as he 'picked up' the other books left behind and set them into a couple of neat piles, with Spike picking up one of those to sort in the library. As usual, his charge ignored him as she 'walked through' the book as it was propped on a table. "Yeesh. This library could really use a card catalog."

"Elements, Elements, E, E, E…aha!", Twilight proceeded to read the book. “'Elements of Harmony'. See 'Mare in the Moon'?”

Spike was now on a ladder, replacing books on a shelf. "Mare in the Moon?", he remarked. "But that’s just an old ponies’ tale."

Twilight just flipped more pages. “Mare, Mare…aha! The Mare in the Moon. Myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria. Defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon.” Meanwhile, Spike was slowly losing his balance on the ladder as Chronicle 'moved' the rest of the dropped books back in their places. "Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal.” Twilight straightened with a gasp. “Spike, Chronicle, do you know what this means?”

"No.", said the dragon.

"Can't say I do.", admitted her bodyguard. Just then, Spike lost balance and fell down with a yell. Chronicle quickly moved to catch him as the dragon landed on his back. He also 'caught' the books Spike had and set them on the floor. Twilight came over and 'passed' a scroll and quill pen to Spike.

"Take a note, please.", she said as Spike got off of Chronicle. "To the Princess."

"Okey-dokey."

Twilight then paced across the room as he wrote what she dictated, “My dearest teacher: My continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster.”

"Hold on. Preci…preci…" Clearly, Spike was not familiar with the word.

"Let me spell it out for you.", said Chronicle as he went over to Spike. "P-R-E-C-I-P-I-C-E." As Spike wrote, the blue unicorn then thought, Uncanny that the written language Equestria uses is English. Convenient or what?

“For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she is about to return to Equestria and bring with her eternal night.” Twilight continued to dictate. As she paced about, Chronicle thought he could see something strange in the hourglass. He walked up to it and when he lined himself up so that opposite him was a stone unicorn head in the room. As he did, he saw something that wasn't the stone unicorn head. It was something…sinister. Like a bad omen. He couldn't describe it, but catlike pupils were its most prominent feature. “Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twi-light…Spar-kle.”, Spike finished writing. "Got it!" This shook Chronicle off his senses as he shook his head. 

"Great! Send it." When Chronicle looked back to see the stone unicorn head through the hourglass, all he could see was just that. Sighing, he walked over to his charge.

"Now?"

"Of course!"

"Uh…I don’t know, Twilight. Princess Celestia’s a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration, and it’s, like, the day after tomorrow." Twilight came over to Spike and went face-to-face with him.

"That’s just it, Spike." She then straightened up, looking to the sun. "The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration. It’s imperative that the Princess is told right away!"

"Impera…impera…"

"Important.", Chronicle answered for Twilight before she could speak and end up throwing him off his feet. "No need to write that down."

"Okay, okay!" Spike took a deep breath, held the rolled parchment in front of his mouth, and blew a burst of green fire over it. The message burnt away, leaving only a tendril of sparkling pink smoke that snaked out a high window. "There! It’s on its way. But I wouldn’t hold your breath." 

"Oh, I’m not worried, Spike.", Twilight replied in a smug tone. "The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she’s been my mentor, she’s never once doubted me."

"There's a first for everything, you know.", commented Chronicle.

Suddenly, Spike’s cheeks bulged as if he was about to vomit; instead, he belched up a burst of green fire that formed into a sealed scroll, which dropped to the floor.

"I knew she would want to take immediate action.", said Twilight as Chronicle decided to 'pick up' the scroll and open it.  

“My dearest, most faithful student Twilight…”, Chronicle read the scroll. “You know that I value your diligence, and that I trust you completely.” 

“Mmm-hmm.”

“But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!” Twilight gasped as that sentence seemed to hit her hard. 


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chronicle on the left reading the scroll, Spike in the middle looking to his left (our right), and Twilight Sparkle with her eyes widened. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S


The next day…

Twilight, Chronicle, and Spike were now riding a pegasus-drawn, flying gold chariot that soared above the clouds and the landscape of Equestria. The two pegasi pulling it were white stallions in gold livery and shoes. They had two-tone blue tails and matching crests on their helmets, similar to those worn by soldiers in ancient Rome (as Chronicle would personally put it). 

“My dear Twilight: There is more to a young pony’s life than studying.”, Spike now read the letter. “So I’m sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year’s location, Ponyville.” The chariot passed through some clouds as the three passengers looked on. Ahead was a pleasant-looking small town of wood-frame, thatched-roof buildings bordered by a stream and mountain. To one side was a fenced fruit orchard. 

While Spike continued to read the letter, Chronicle felt relieved that he was gonna have a change of scenery. However, Twilight was clearly not enthused over this job. “And I have an even more essential task for you to complete—make some friends.” The purple unicorn hung her head over the side with a soft moan as Spike turned to her. "Look on the bright side, Twilight. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn’t that make you happy?" 

There was a long pause. Finally, she brightened suddenly. "Yes. Yes, it does. You know why? Because I’m right. I’ll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon’s return." 

"Then when will you make friends like the Princess said?" The chariot began to descend as some of the populace watched them land.

"She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I’ll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends."

"But that task is even more essential, according to the Princess.", said Chronicle as the chariot touched down. "Being an antisocial shut-in isn't gonna do you any good." Twilight ignored her bodyguard as the two pegasi whinnied. Also, I have a feeling that that's exactly what Equestria's fate rests on.

"Thank you, sirs.", Twilight said to them as she, Chronicle, and Spike jumped off. As the pegasi smiled and huffed in response, the three gathered together as they noticed a pink earth pony (no wings or horns) walk their way. Her coat was cotton candy pink, her hot pink mane fluffy and curly, her eyes were cyan, and her cutie mark consisted of a trio of party balloons (two blue and one yellow).

"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about!", commented Spike as the pony stopped in front of the trio and regarded them with narrowed, medium blue eyes and a smile. "Come on, Twilight, just try."

With uncertainly, Twilight managed to speak up. "Uh…hello?" The pink one responded with a massive gasp of pure surprise, a leap that left her briefly suspended in midair, and then she suddenly dashed off mid-air, nearly blowing the two unicorns' manes and tails off. "Well, that was interesting, all right."

"Let's try someone else.", suggested Chronicle as he 'took out' a scroll from an invisible pocket in space, which earned him curious stares from his companions. 

While all unicorns have access to a pocket dimension which they called "magicspace", where they "banish" items to and "conjure" them for later use or disposal, Chronicle's seems to work differently. Instead of having the items appear or disappear in a flash of magic, he pulls them out or puts them in through an invisible "rift" near his body which he can open and close at will. Also, his "magicspace"—which he calls "hammerspace" for some reason— functions like a clothing's pocket and cannot fit items bigger than its small "rift", which can only expand as far as two hooves put together, and is too small for a pony to attempt to slip through. He's also been kind enough to lend his "pocket" to his charge and her assistant a couple of times.

Chronicle turned to see a pair of earth pony mares. One of them had a light olive-colored coat, chartreuse eyes, an orange curled mane and tail, and three carrots as her cutie mark. The other had a pale cream coat, cyan eyes, curled navy hair with pink highlights, and three wrapped candies as a cutie mark. He then walked over to them as they talked to one another, Twilight and Spike not following. "Uhh…excuse me?"

The two turned to face him. "Hi there. Is there anything I can help you with?", the orange-maned one asked.

"Yes. The name's Chronicle." He extended a hoof, which the orange-maned earth pony took and shook.

"I'm Golden Harvest. But just call me Carrot Top." She then gestured to her companion. "And this is Bon Bon."

"Hi.", Bon Bon greeted as Chronicle 'opened' the scroll next to him and looked it up. 

"Do you know where Sweet Apple Acres is?", the unicorn asked.

Carrot Top pointed somewhere. "That way. Just follow that road out of town until you see a red barn. The barn is where you want to go."

"Thank you very much." Chronicle said, then turned to his companions. "See? Simple as that. Not everyone in this town is like the one who ran out on us."


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

A few minutes later…

The three walked down a road across the orchard they had seen upon arrival to Ponyville.

“Summer Sun Celebration Official Overseer’s Checklist”, Spike read the scroll Chronicle had pulled out. They reached an open fence gate leading into a farm: well, barns, barrels, hay bales, and so forth. Above the gate hung a wooden board with an apple-shaped cutout. “Number one. Banquet preparations—Sweet Apple Acres.”

Just then, they heard what Chronicle recognized to be a Southern-accented female voice. The three stopped short and turned to their right. "Yee-haa!" 

They saw a honey-orange pony who had her blonde mane and tail tied into a ponytail at the end with two red bands, white freckles on her face, green eyes, a brown stetson (cowboy) hat atop her head, and a cutie mark depicting a trio of apples. She raced up to one apple tree, which had several empty wooden tubs set around its base, then fetched its trunk a solid kick (or “buck”) with her hind legs. The strike shook enough apples loose to fill the tubs in seconds. She lifted her head proudly and crossed one foreleg over the other. 

Twilight just hung her head with a sigh and trudged forward. "Let’s get this over with." Spike and Chronicle followed as she lifted her head and approached the earth pony with a polite smile. "Good afternoon.", she introduced herself. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Just then, her face contorted in sudden pain as the earth pony grabbed one of her front hooves and shook it vigorously. "Well, howdy do, Miss Twilight.", she replied. "A pleasure makin’ your acquaintance. I’m Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin’ new friends."

"Friends?", Twilight's voice vibrated. "Actually, I—"

"So, what can I do you for?" Applejack let go and gave a wink.

Not realizing that her hoof had been released, Twilight was still unconsciously working it up and down. Spike finally stopped its motion and laughed as she gives him a dirty look. Chronicle merely rolled his eyes.

Twilight cleared her throat and gave a smile. "Well, I am in fact here to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. And you’re in charge of the food?"

"We sure as sugar are.", Applejack answered. "Would you care to sample some?"

"Well, as long as it doesn’t take too long." Applejack zipped away to an iron triangle hanging on a rope. And she was ringing it.

"Soup's on, everypony!!"

Before they knew it, Twilight, Chronicle, and Spike were are quickly swept up in a stampede of earth ponies, which shortly cleared to leave them dazed and seated at a table surrounded by some trees that had some awnings over them. 

First place on the derp face., Chronicle thought. Wait. Now why did I think that?

Suddenly, Applejack popped up next to them. "Now, why don’t I introduce y’all to the Apple family?" Around them were the earth ponies that swept them up earlier.

"Thanks, but I really need to hurry." She was ignored as a piece of dessert was thrust in front of her, held by one of the family members. 

"This here’s Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious…" As Applejack began to reel off names in an increasing tempo, one after another, each of the family members zipped to the table and deposited an apple-based food item before rushing off. "…Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart…" The stack eventually grew until it towered so tall that they had to climb up to see over it. "…Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp…" Applejack popped up again and took a huge breath before continuing. 

"Big Macintosh…" A large red stallion, a horse collar around his neck, a shaggy orange mane and tail, dark green eyes, white freckles on his face, visible yellow 'hooves', and half of a green apple as a cutie mark. He was balancing a cupcake on one hoof. 

"Apple Bloom…" A yellow filly with amber eyes, a large pink ribbon on her rose-colored mane, and no cutie mark. A three-layer cake was balanced on her back, just behind her ribbon.

"…aaaaand…" Applejack stuffed an apple in Twilight's mouth before zipping off. "…Granny Smith." A lime green mare whose hair was white with age and are each tied in a bun. She wore an orange apple-spotted laced neckerchief, had an apple pie cutie mark, and was snoozing in a rocking chair. "Up and at ’em, Granny Smith! We got guests!"

Granny Smith woke up with a snort, opening her red-orange eyes. "Wha—?", she said as she shambled over, mumbling. "Soup’s on…I’m a—here I come, I’m comin’…" Her joints creaked audibly as she moved to the table. Twilight still had her mouth full from the fruit Applejack shoved into it.

"Why, I’d say they’re already part of the family.", Applejack said as she patted Twilight’s back.

One mighty spit sent the chewed-up apple flying so Twilight can voice an uneasy giggle. "Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we’ll be on our way." There was a collective sigh from the others.

"Aren’t you gonna stay for brunch?", Apple Bloom asked as she gave Twilight the big sad soulful eyes.

"Sorry, but we have an awful lot to do. "

"Awww…", the entire Apple family sighed once again. Just then, Chronicle's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Could we please stay for a bite to eat?", he asked. "I kinda skipped breakfast and I'm so darn hungry."

Twilight gave a sigh and grumbled, "Fine." This earned her cheers from the family. 


C—TS—S—A—C—TS—S—A—C—TS—S—A

After brunch with the Apple family…

Spike came up a hill with the checklist. "Food’s all taken care of.", he said. "Next is weather." Looking back, he saw Twilight trailing by several steps, her gut badly distended and her head nearly touching the ground. Chronicle wasn't nearly as full, but his pace had slowed as he walked behind her.

"I ate too much pie.", Twilight groaned in discomfort.

"Mmm-mmm.", Chronicle said in satisfaction. "That was the best meal I ever had. I think I can skip dinner today."

"Hmmm…there’s supposed to be a pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the clouds.", Spike said as the three looked up to see several clouds.

"Well, she’s not doing a very good job, is she?", said Twilight.

Suddenly, a multicolored blur flashed right in front of Chronicle and plowed his charge away. Chronicle turned to his right to see they have landed on a mud puddle. On top of Twilight was a cyan pegasus mare whose unruly mane and tail were both striped with all the colors of the rainbow (colors 'horizontally lined', warm ones closer to the head, and the cool ones 'outward' in the tail). She had magenta eyes and a cutie mark of a red/yellow/blue-striped lightning bolt issuing from a cloud.

Twilight groaned softly, muffled slightly by the mud, before the pegasus got upright with a big goofy grin. "Uh…’scuse me?", she laughed sheepishly as she leaned over Twilight, her voice raspy and tomboyish.

"Weren't you supposed to protect me from stuff like this?", Twilight grumbled to her bodyguard.

"Sorry, but normally I wouldn't have a full stomach.", Chronicle apologized as he patted it. "Also, I knew she didn't have any intention of hurting you anyway."

The blue pegasus laughed as she hovered a few feet up and Twilight groaned again. "Let me help you." And off she went, with Twilight having barely enough time to stand up before she pushed a gray cloud into position above the puddle. A few stomps on its top produced a quick shower that left Twilight clean, but also soaked from head to tail. "Oops. I—I guess I overdid it. Um… uh…how about this?" The pegasus then swooped down to fly in a tight circle around Twilight, creating a striped whirlwind that sucked all the mud out of the puddle. "My very own patented…Rainblow-Dry!" The pegasus then dropped to the ground. "No, no, don’t thank me. You’re quite welcome."

"Oh, really?", Chronicle snarked as they all looked to see the finished product: Twilight’s mane and tail were a frizzed-out mess, not unlike those of the pink pony who bugged out on them earlier. She was clearly not amused and neither was Chronicle. Spike and the pegasus, on the other hoof, stifled a laugh and then gave it full voice, falling over in the process. The blue unicorn walked over and said, "Let me guess. You’re Rainbow Dash?"

The pegasus bolted upright, pitching Spike away (who had fallen on her back as they laughed). "The one and only!" She got up and hovered to his face. "Why? You heard of me?"

"I heard you’re supposed to be keeping the sky clear. The name's Chronicle." He then gestured to his companion with the frizzed-out mane. "This is my charge Twilight Sparkle. We and Spike there…" He gestured to the dragon. "…were sent by the Princess to check on the weather."

At that point, Rainbow was lounging on a cloud. "Yeah, yeah, that’ll be a snap. I’ll do it in a jiffy. Just as soon as I’m done practicing."

"Practicing?", Twilight asked. "For what?" 

"The Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash pointed to a poster pasted on a far-off wall. Silhouettes of four pegasi streaked across its starry sky, while three more—two mares and a stallion—stood proudly in the foreground. All three of these wore goggles and blue-green jumpsuits, and their manes were electric blue. Three lightning bolts were displayed at the bottom, the center one having a pair of wings. "They’re gonna perform at the Celebration tomorrow." Rainbow did a loop and landed on another cloud. "And I’m gonna show ’em my stuff."

Twilight smiled shrewdly, "The Wonderbolts?"

"Yep."

"The most talented flyers in all of Equestria?"

"That’s them."

"Pffft! Please. They’d never accept a pegasus who can’t even keep the sky clear for one measly day."

Rainbow got up and turned to glare at Twilight. "Hey. I could clear the sky in ten seconds flat."

"Ten seconds flat?", Chronicle asked as he took out a timer from the same invisible pocket as from where he got the checklist. 

"Prove it.", Twilight dared.

"Timer starts…now!" 

Rainbow Dash regarded the unicorns below her from beneath lowered eyebrows for another moment, then—the instant Chronicle started the timer—sprung into action. Quickly she proceeded to kick apart one cloud after another. The wake of her movements blew Twilight’s fluffed-up mane and tail back and forth as she, Chronicle, and Spike watched.

"Loop-the-loop around, and wham!"

After one last hit, the sky above Ponyville was left without a cloud in it—just as Chronicle's timer beeped to signal that ten seconds were over. To the left, Chronicle could see a round three-story pavilion, the Town Hall, with a porch at ground level and a balcony outside each upper story, and one-piece double doors. The structure stood in a large open area, the town square, which was located near the stream at the edge of town. 

"What’d I say?", said Rainbow Dash as she dropped onto the bridge over the stream. "Ten seconds flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hanging."

The jaws of Spike and Twilight hung wide open at this acrobatic display. As Spike recovered, Chronicle commented, "It's true. It really took ten seconds. Now that's one fast pegasus." He then returned his timer into what he called his "pocket of hammerspace".

"You should see the look on your face!", Rainbow flew around and went up to Twilight. "You’re a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can’t wait to hang out some more." Before anyone could say anything else, she zipped away. 

"Wow…she’s amazing!", remarked Spike as he turned to the purple unicorn, then toyed with her mane and smothered a guffaw. She gave him a disapproving little groan and stalked away toward the pavilion. "Wait! It’s kinda pretty once you get used to it!"


C—TS—S—RD—C—TS—S—RD—C—TS—S—RD

Inside the Town Hall…

Spike was checking the list again. Behind him and his companions, banners and flowers have been hung on the walls. "Decorations." Inside the pavilion was a single circular room. There were plenty of elaborate hangings as well as a plethora of adornments for the balcony railings. "Beautiful.", he breathlessly commented.

"Yes. The décor is coming along nicely.", said Twilight as they walked forward. This oughta be quick. I’ll be at the library in no time. Beautiful, indeed." 

Ahead, Chronicle could see a unicorn mare standing on a small dais at the back of the room. She had a white coat with a very faint gray tinge, a violet mane and tail done in loose elegant curls, sapphire blue eyes, and three blue, rhombus-shaped (like playing card-diamonds) jewels as a cutie mark. Her appearance and bearing marked her as the sophisticated type.

"Not the décor…her!", Spike replied, pointing to the unicorn, who was levitating a few ribbon samples for a closer look.

"No…no…no…oh!...goodness, no…hmmm…", she was saying to herself, her voice as classy as one would expect.

Chronicle turned to see Spike's irises replaced with hearts; he was obviously charmed. The dragon then groomed himself as hearts floated up, "How are my spines? Are they straight?", he asked.

Twilight just gave him a funny look before approaching the dais. "Good afternoon.", she greeted.

The white unicorn glanced briefly toward her before turning back to her work. "Just a moment, please. I’m in the zone, as it were. Ah, yes!" She tightened a glittering red bow on a post. "Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why, Rarity, you are a talent. Now, um, how can I help you—" The white unicorn turned around to see who she was talking to and trailed off into a cry of horror upon getting her first good look at Twilight’s poofed-up wreck of a hairstyle. "Oh, my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?"

"Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it’s a long story. I’m just here to check on the decorations, and then I’ll be out of your hair."

"Out of my hair?", Rarity replied. "What about your hair?" She then started to gently bulldoze Twilight along.

"Wait! Where are we going? Help!"

The lovestruck dragon floated after the pair, using the end of his tail as a propeller. Chronicle just grumbled and followed.


C—TS—S—R—C—TS—S—R—C—TS—S—R

Later…

Rarity had taken the three (well, just Twilight, but Spike and Chronicle followed) to an ornately decorated two-story building that bore a striking resemblance to an antique carousel (to Chronicle, that is), including the horses attached to the small upper story’s support posts and the one painted on a sign above the front door. This was the Carousel Boutique, whose front door was split halfway up its height into two sections, each with its own knob. Chronicle noted that nearly every house in Ponyville shared the same design in doors. In the fields behind the building were several tall tents.

Everyone was in the showroom in the ground floor of the shop. The large showroom had several mirrors, a changing room, and a low platform for customers to stand on so they could see their reflection. Currently, Twilight was that "customer".

"No…no…uh-uh." Rarity was saying as she 'used' Twilight as a mannequin for a couple of dresses. 

"Too green." A rather put-out Twilight was dressed as a four-legged Statue of Liberty Apparently, there is a Lady Liberty in Equestria, but what's her history here?, Chronicle wondered. 

"Too yellow." As a proper "Southern" lady.

"Too poofy." A Spanish dancer.

"Not poofy enough." Apparently, Equestria's equivalent of a 1950s teenager.

"Too frilly." A French noblewoman, complete with big white wig. 

"Too…shiny." An…aerobics instructor? Chronicle was getting bewildered. Being a guy, fashion wasn't something he knew too well. All of the outfits had incorporated a saddle in its design, and Twilight’s mane was done in an appropriate style, with her tail back to its usual shape. 

"Now go on, my dear.", said Rarity approvingly as Twilight now wore a saddle bedecked with small jewels and a necklace bearing a large emerald, and its straps floated loose behind her with unicorn magic. The latter's mane was back to its normal straight style as well. "You were telling me where you’re from."

Rarity grabbed the straps in her teeth and pulled. Twilight had risen to her hind legs, exposing a bracelet on a front hoof as part of the outfit as Rarity stood on her croup for support.

Twilight struggled to speak as she was strangled by the tightening of the straps. "I’ve…been…sent…from…Canterlot…to—" 

Rarity let go in surprise. "Huh?" The two unicorn mares went in opposite directions; Rarity was first to get up. "Canterlot?!  She rushed over to Twilight, who now had a still-drooling Spike and an neutral Chronicle behind her. "Oh, I am so envious! The glamour, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can’t wait to hear all about it." She then leaned close to Twilight, who backed up. "We’re gonna be the best of friends, you and I." All of a sudden, her happy reverie broke when she took a good look at Twilight’s new duds. Emeralds?! What was I thinking? Let me get you some rubies!" Rarity then dashed off.

Twilight did the same thing, but in the opposite direction. "Quick! Before she decides to dye my coat a new color!" Chronicle grumbled before 'lifting' a still-lovestruck Spike onto his back and followed.


C—TS—S—R—C—TS—S—R—C—TS—S—R

Afterwards…

Twilight had discarded the fancy saddle, which Chronicle 'took' and placed into his "pocket of hammerspace", intending to return it to Rarity later. Spike was no longer on his back, having been 'taken' by his charge so that he was now riding her instead of him.

"Wasn’t she wonderful?", Spike said dreamily, Rarity still in his mind. 

"Focus, Casanova.", said Twilight. "What’s next on the list?"

Chronicle took out the list, then said, "Music. It’s the last one."

The two unicorns stopped short upon hearing a fanfare being whistled somewhere up ahead; the three hid in some bushes (for some reason) and poked their heads out to watch. They could see several birds perched in a tree, with a light yellow pegasus hovering in front of them and facing away from them. She had long, straight pink hair that curled gently upward at the ends, and a cutie mark of three pink butterflies. Chronicle noted that one of the birds was singing out of time. Apparently, the pegasus noticed it too and spoke up with a soft, gentle, and timid voice.

"Oh, my.", she said. This got Chronicle slightly aroused as he gave out a "wolf whistle", which Twilight noticed as she gave another funny look. "Um, stop, please, everyone." There was silence as she flew up to the bad singer. "Um, excuse me, sir. I mean no offense, but your rhythm is just a teeny tiny bit off." She then resumed her position and so did the rest of the birds. "Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a-one, two, three."

"Hello!", Twilight called, not only ending up startling the conductor, but scaring her entire vocal ensemble out of the tree.

"Oh!", the pegasus cried out as she turned to see Twilight and Chronicle, now out of the bushes.

"Oh, my. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten your birds. I’m just here to check up on the music, and it’s sounding beautiful." The yellow pegasus touched down, looking at Twilight sidelong or not at all, and fidgeted one hoof against the ground without saying anything. The purple unicorn stitched a big grin across her face and let her eyes flick nervously back and forth for a moment before breaking the silence. "I’m Twilight Sparkle." The pegasus still avoided eye contact. "What’s your name?" The pegasus mumbled, but neither unicorn could hear her words. "I’m sorry, what was that?" Even softer the pegasus spoke. "Didn’t quite catch that."

Chronicle made a low whistle from just how well his charge was doing. "Allow me.", he offered as he pushed Twilight aside and walked up to the pegasus and held up her face so that she was looking at him eye-to-eye. "I'm terribly sorry for my charge here. She doesn't know how to socialize. I'm Chronicle. Would you please be kind enough to say your name?" He stared straight into her beautiful eyes somewhat dreamily (but not as much as Spike with Rarity) as if trying to charm her or something. Unfortunately, he barely got a whisper from her before she reeled back and squeaked, looking at him and Twilight sidelong, as if trying to disappear behind the hoof-length curtain of her mane. However, he managed to get his answer. "So…your name is Fluttershy, huh?" The pegasus nodded in affirmation as the birds returned to the tree.

"Well, um, it looks like your birds are back.", Twilight cut in as she looked up to the tree. "So I guess everything’s in order. Keep up the good work." There was another tiny squeak from Fluttershy and the purple unicorn backed off slowly. "Oo-kay."

"Again, I'm sorry for Twilight here, Fluttershy." Chronicle called as he watched Fluttershy just stand there, eyes downcast and one of them hidden behind her mane. As Chronicle turned around, she finally peeked toward him and Twilight, as well as Spike, who had at last emerged from the bushes.

"Well, that was easy.", the purple unicorn said to the dragon. All of a sudden, Fluttershy came to life with a gasp and a flutter of wings that scared off some of the birds. 

"A baby dragon!", the pegasus gasped with some lung power behind her voice. She then zipped over to Spike, knocking Chronicle slightly to her right, and Twilight right over the dragon. "Oh, I’ve never seen a baby dragon before! He’s so cute!"

Spike turned to the sprawled-out Twilight and said, "Well, well, well!" He then turned back to Fluttershy with a smug look on his face as he folded his arms and raised his head with his eyes closed.

"Oh, my. He talks. I didn’t know dragons could talk. That’s just so incredibly wonderful, I…" She hovered into the air. "…I just don’t even know what to say!"

Suddenly, Spike suddenly found himself 'grabbed' by Twilight’s magic and hoisted onto her back. "Well, in that case, we better be going.", the unicorn said as she trotted past Fluttershy and Chronicle, and both of them followed her

"Wait! Wait! What’s his name?"

"I’m Spike.", answered the dragon.

"Hi, Spike. I’m Fluttershy. Wow, a talking dragon! And what do dragons talk about?" As Chronicle reeled back a bit so that he was both beside and in between the pegasus and his charge, the conversation grating on Twilight’s nerves.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Absolutely everything." At this line, Twilight's eyes popped in surprise and she groaned loudly as the four went down the road.

"Well, I started out as a cute little purple-and-green egg…"


C—TS—S—F—C—TS—S—F—C—TS—S—F

Hours later…

Spike was still talking as they walked through Ponyville proper. It was now late in the afternoon, and while Twilight impatiently glared ahead, even Chronicle was getting bored.

"…and that’s the story of my whole entire life!", he finished. "Well, up until today. Do you want to hear about today?"

Oh, brother., Chronicle mentally grumbled.

"Oh, yes, please!", Fluttershy answered.

Just then, Twilight did a quick 180 and stopped in the same motion to face Fluttershy, prompting a yell from her passenger.

"I am so sorry.", she said. "How did we get here so fast?" Chronicle turned his face to see that they have arrived at a large, gnarled tree whose trunk and foliage were set with many windows, one of which had a hanging lantern. A balcony was visible halfway up, the front door displayed a picture of a lit candle, and a sign outside depicted an open book. In addition, a beehive hung from one branch. 

Oh. Looks like this is the library., thought Chronicle. But why is there a beehive?

"This is where I’m staying while in Ponyville, and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep."

"No, I don’t!", Spike protested, who was bucked off with a big phony grin.

The purple unicorn leaned to him and baby-talked, "Aw, wookit that. He’s so sweepy, he can’t even keep his wittle bawance."

The “sweepy” dragon glared at her stupidly grinning face before being swept up by Fluttershy. "Poor thing.", the pegasus said as she flew inside. "You simply must get him to bed." 

Realizing that things are getting out of hoof, Twilight dashed in and quickly ejected her. "Yes, yes. We’ll get right on that. Well, good night!" With that, she slammed the door, leaving a very befuddled Fluttershy on the step with Chronicle. 

"…So…", Chronicle spoke up as Fluttershy turned to face him. "Uhh…would you like to…like to…" He didn't know what to say to a shy pony like her. 

"Umm…well…", was all Fluttershy could say when Twilight opened the door and 'took' Chronicle by the tail.

"Sorry about this, but Chronicle's my bodyguard, so I need him with me.", she said.

"Come on! Other than the beehive, the library's perfectly sa—hey!" 

Before he knew it, he was 'pulled' inside the library, which was currently pitch-black as the door was slammed closed again. Both he and Spike were rather put out at having their conversations broken off so abruptly. Their eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"Huh. Rude much?", Spike said.

"Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nightmare Moon is coming, and we’re running out of time. I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time."

"If you ask me, you're trying to make us reclusive shut-ins like you.", Chronicle argued. "Do you really hate making friends? Did you really have to pull me in so harshly?" 

"Do you even know what being a bodyguard is actually about?", his charge retorted. "You're supposed to be planning routes, researching on my contacts, pre-searching places I'm supposed to visit, searching anything I'll be riding for threats, and attentively escorting me on my day-to-day activities. During your time with me, you haven't done all of these as frequently as a real one should."

"Since when did you decide you should read up on bodyguards?"

"That's not important right now. Where’s the light?"

"Like I know where it is."

Twilight's question was answered when it suddenly came on, revealing a large circular room whose walls were lined with bookshelves; other volumes were scattered around lofts set into the walls above them. And this reading room is filled with ponies, many of whom blew on noisemakers in their mouths, and at least five Chronicle recognized from Canterlot. Streamers hung from the upper reaches.

"SURPRISE!!", they all cried out.

Confetti rained down over the group, and a party favor was blown out in front of one thoroughly confused, grumpy-looking violet unicorn who moaned wearily. 


C—TS—S—F—C—TS—S—F—C—TS—S—F

Eyecatch (video-type) - Twilight and company walk into the darkness, which then lights up to reveal a party and the three react in shock.


C—TS—S—F—C—TS—S—F—C—TS—S—F

The surprise party was in full swing. Just then, popping out from nowhere was the pink pony who had ran out on the three earlier.

"Surprise!", she yelled in a cheerful, energetic, and slightly hyperactive-sounding tone. "Hi. I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you!" She began to hop around. "Were you surprised? Were you, were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Very surprised.", Twilight answered. "Libraries are supposed to be quiet."

Pinkie giggled as she leaned on Twilight, who shook her head. "That’s silly. What kind of welcome party would this be if it were quiet? I mean, duh! Booooring!" 

"Well, parties should not take place in libraries, then.", Chronicle said as he then looked around. 

"You see, I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all, “Hello,” and I was all—" Pinkie gasped. "Remember?" Chronicle could see Carrot Top and Bon Bon, the two ponies who pointed them the way to Sweet Apple Acres. "You see, I never saw you before, and if I never saw you before, that means you’re new." However, he could also see not one, not two, but five familiar faces. "’Cause I know everypony, and I mean everypony, in Ponyville." 

He could see Heartstrings (the turquoise unicorn who had waved at Twilight) and Minuette talking with a grey pegasus with yellow eyes, yellow hair, and seven bubbles as a cutie mark. He could also see Twinkle talking to another unicorn who was almost colored like Amethyst Star, but seemed to be of a lighter tone and her cutie mark consisted of two dolphins.

He and Twilight made it to a refreshment table, with Spike having gotten lost in the crowd. As Pinkie kept going at top speed, poking her head into/out of view from all angles, his harge took a red bottle in her teeth and poured its contents into a waiting glass. There were other bottles on the table that were colored green.

"And if you’re new, it meant you hadn’t met anyone yet, and if you haven’t met anyone yet, you must not have any friends, And if you don’t have any friends, then you must be lonely, and that made me so sad.", Pinkie rambled on as he noticed that everypony was now looking at them. And that the grey pegasus's eyes were now 'crossed', making her look silly. "And I had an idea, and that’s why I went—" Pinkie gasped again as Twilight put a straw into her glass and started to sip. 

"I should throw a great big, ginormous, super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville!" At that statement, the four ponies Twilight, Chronicle, and Spike visited earlier that day quickly gathered around Pinkie. "See? And now you have lots and lots of friends!"

Just then, Twilight’s eyes popped as big as dinner plates and she turned to face the group, her face suddenly beet-red with bulging cheeks and streaming eyes, probably due to the effects of her drink. Spike had now managed to join her.

"Are you all right, sugarcube?", Applejack asked. She was answered with the unicorn jumping up with steam whistling from her ears, her mane and tail briefly turning to flames (which got Chronicle sweating with nervousness), and zipping off at top speed. Pinkie’s next words got a round of puzzled looks.

"Aww, she’s so happy she’s crying!", the pink earth pony said as they watched Twilight go upstairs.

"Actually, she could care less about making any friends at all.", voiced Chronicle, which got him a shocked look from Pinkie. "I should know." Pinkie returned to her usual expression a second later.

At the table, Spike picked up the bottle Twilight used earlier and regarded its label. "Hot sauce." Pinkie tipped over the bottle so that its contents dribbles over one of the cupcakes on the table.

"Mmmm…", she said as she then picked up the snack and ate it in one bite, earning her confused looks from Applejack and the others. "What? It’s good!" As they smiled again at the sheer silliness of her appetite, Chronicle grumbled and decided to walk off. 

"Where are you going?", Rainbow Dash asked as she turned to face him.

"Well, I know some of the ponies who are gathered here. They're from Canterlot like me, Spike, and Twilight." And with that, he walked through the crowd until he found Heartstrings, who was now with Golden Harvest and Bon Bon. He turned to the unicorn. "Hey there, Heartstrings. What brings you, Amethyst Star, Twinkle, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette to Ponyville all the way from Canterlot?"

"Oh. Hey there, Chronicle.", Heartstrings greeted. "Didn't I tell you to just call me Lyra?"

"Uhh…no, you haven't. But okay, I'll call you Lyra. You still trying to follow Twilight around?"

"Hmm…not right now. And as for why we're here, it's to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration, of course."

"Oh. right."

"Also, they all plan to move here to Ponyville.", added Bon Bon.

Chronicle raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? Why?"

"We have our own reasons, and we figured that we wanted a change of scenery.", said Lyra. "Also, some of us came to live with some relatives or friends here, although I don't remember who are the ones with relatives, only that I'm not one of them."

"Oh. I see." With that, Chronicle left Lyra to continue conversing with her new friends. He then found Amethyst Star, who was conversing with the grey pegasus. Between them was a pale purple unicorn filly with yellow eyes and hair, her flank blank just like Apple Bloom. "Hey there, Amethyst Star."

The unicorn mare turned to face him. "Oh. Hey there, Chronicle. I'd like you to meet my sister Dinky." She indicated the filly, who gave a sweet smile. Amethyst then indicated the grey pegasus. "This is Derpy Hooves. She's our…umm…uhh…we'll be living with her."

"Hi.", greeted Derpy.

Chronicle noticed something in Amethyst's words. "Is there something I'm not supposed to know?"

A few hours later…

Chronicle had socialized with a lot of ponies during that party. There were a lot of names and faces he learned. Berry Punch. Sea Swirl (the unicorn with the twin dolphins cutie mark). Cherry Berry. Lightning Bolt. Medley. Shoeshine. Doctor Whooves (which he immediately noted with suspicion). Cloud Kicker. Merry May. Rainbowshine. Daisy, Lily, and Rose. There were a few more, but he couldn't remember, although he'll know them when he sees them. Perhaps after his contract with Twilight Sparkle is over, he'll stick around at Ponyville, possibly get another contract started with another pony.

Speaking of which…


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Chronicle went over to the stairs Twilight took when he left the party, Spike accompanying him with a lampshade on his head. They made it to the door and the former 'opened' it. He first looked up at the loft in the dim-lit room, which had been outfitted as a bedroom. There were bookshelves lining one wall, but the rest of the space had been cleared to make room for a bed, a house plant, a small floor mat, and a table by the window with a bust of a unicorn on it. Two overlapping horseshoes and a cuckoo clock had been hung on the wall, and a telescope stood at the window. The floor-level section of the room (which Twilight's companions) had more bookshelves, a desk, and a staircase connecting it and the loft. He could see his charge on the bed, huddled on top of the blankets with a pillow on her head.

"Hey, Twilight!", called Spike. "Pinkie Pie’s starting Pin the Tail on the Pony! Wanna play?"

"No!", the purple unicorn shouted. "All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?"

"It’s the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Everypony has to stay up, or they’ll miss the Princess raise the sun. You really should lighten up, Twilight. It’s a party!" With a tilt of the shade, he sauntered out to rejoin it. As Chronicle's charge mimicked Spike's tone of voice with gibberish as he closed the door. 

"Now how can you say that all the ponies in Ponyville are crazy, Twilight?! That's a very hasty generalization!", Chronicle cried out as he walked up the steps. "Sure, Pinkie and the four 'managers' we met are a bit off in their own ways, but the majority of Ponyville are pretty average, just merely of a lower class than Canterlot."

Twilight just ignored him as she lay down, holding the pillow over herself, and groaned. "Here I thought I’d have time to learn more about the Elements of Harmony. But, silly me, all this ridiculous friend-making has kept me from it!"

"Hey! You sound like you practically hate friendship! Don't you know that's one of the many factors that has built society?!" Chronicle was ignored again as his charge turned away from him. He then decided to walk up to the window so he could see what she was seeing. He looked up to see the full moon, whose craters and darkened surfaces form the silhouette of a mare’s head…the Mare in the Moon. Twilight got up from bed, with the book they read much earlier that day close by. Just then, noticed that four stars seemed to be slowly drifting toward the moon.

“Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night.”, Twilight quoted.

"Don't you mean 'nighttime eternal'?", Chronicle corrected, but was ignored (yet again).

"Oh, I hope the Princess was right. I hope it really is just an old pony tale."

Just then, the moment was interrupted by Spike, who still wore the lampshade. "Come on, guys! It’s time to watch the sunrise!"


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Later, at Town Hall…

Everypony was gathered in silence, either at the main floor, the balconies above, or in the air in the case of the pegasi. The dais on which Rarity had worked on earlier today stood empty, as did the balcony directly above. A curtained archway was behind the balcony railing. As Twilight and Chronicle stood somewhere in the center, with Spike on the former's back, the profound silence was suddenly shattered when Pinkie Pie zipped up to them.

"Isn’t this exciting?", she asked. "Are you excited? ’Cause I’m excited, I’ve never been so excited, well, except for the time that I saw you walking into town and I went—"  She gasped once again. "But I mean, really, who can top that?"

Pinkie was cut off as the birds Fluttershy rehearsed with earlier performed a short fanfare, and a spotlight picked out the vacant balcony. It then descended to the dais, where a khaki-colored earth pony mare stood. She wore gold-framed half-moon glasses, and a white shirt collar secured with a green ribbon tie. Her waved mane and tail were two light shades of gray, her eyes were bright blue, and her cutie mark was a scroll tied with a blue ribbon. Chronicle noted that this was the mayor.

"Fillies and gentle-colts!", she called, her voice with a tone of dignity that came with age and experience in office. "As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" There were short cheers from all save for Twilight and her companions. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!" 

As the mayor spoke, Twilight glanced up to the moon and Chronicle followed her gaze. "And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land…" To their surprise and shock, the four drifting stars disappeared into its perimeter and—at the same time—the dark unicorn-head shape vanished from the surface. "…the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day…the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria…" Nearly everypony on the main floor were feeling jubilant throng; the pegasi were flying about, the unicorns and earth ponies were shaking in anticipation…and he saw Heartstrings jumping in excitement.

At the balcony where the birds were, Fluttershy turned to them. "Ready?" 

"…Princess Celestia!"

At the balcony, Rarity grabbed a nearby rope in her teeth and hauled on it. The curtains parted as a spotlight hit the balcony and another fanfare plays. However, there was no one and nothing in it. "Huh?" Following were general confused murmurs.

"This can’t be good.", murmured Chronicle.

"Remain calm, everypony.", the Mayor tried to console the populace as Rarity went past the curtains to find the Princess. "There must be a reasonable explanation."

Pinkie jumped in place and said, "Ooh, ooh! I love guessing games! Is she hiding?"

Rarity finished looking and turned to the audience with an answer, "She’s gone!" There was a gargantuan gasp from all present.

"Ooh, she’s good.", Pinkie said to her "friends". Just then, her good cheer went bye-bye in a split second as she voiced a panicked cry while glancing up toward the balcony. Twinkling clouds of deep blue-violet vapor have begun to envelop the balcony as another gasp came from everypony. 

"Oh, no.", Twilight gasped softly as the the thickening clouds were swept away, revealing the blue-armored, winged unicorn (alicorn) figure of Nightmare Moon behind them. Her mane and tail were made of the same blue-violet vapor, and her coat was actually an even darker blue-black hue than in the picture from the book Twilight and Chronicle read. The edge of her helmet framed scornful, light blue-green eyes with catlike pupils, and her towering size was accentuated by the spread of her wings. Her hooves were protected by blue shoes that reached up to cover the front of her forelegs. A white crescent moon appeared both on her chest armor plate, and against a dark purple background as her cutie mark. "Nightmare Moon!" 

Spike moaned in shock and fainted, toppling off Twilight's back. Nightmare’s voice broadcast an unsettling mixture of suavity, contempt, and barely concealed menace in roughly equal parts. "Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun-loving faces." Chronicle looked around to see the terror-stricken crowd. He could see Carrot Top and Twinkle stare in fear with a couple of other ponies. 

He could also see poor Apple Bloom hiding under a table with a white unicorn and orange pegasus of her age. Little did he know that destiny bound those three just as it will soon bind his charge with a certain group of ponies, with him pulled along for the ride…

"What did you do with our Princess?!", Rainbow Dash demanded, boiling-mad as she started into a flying charge, only to be held back by Applejack, who grabbed her tail with her teeth.

"Whoa there, nelly!", the earth pony said.

Nightmare chuckled richly, "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don’t you know who I am?"

Pinkie jumped cheerfully, somehow now next to Applejack. "Ooh, ooh! More guessing games! Um…Hokey Smokes! How about…Queen Meanie? No…Black Snooty! Black Snooty!" Her next guess was muffled by a cupcake from Applejack.

Definitely not Queen Minnie., Chronicle thought, mishearing Pinkie's words. I'd know if it were…

Nightmare then leaned over Fluttershy, scaring her and scattering the birds. "Does my crown no longer count, now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" Next, she got into Rarity’s face, cradling it in a lock of her intangible mane. "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?"

"I did!", Twilight declared, catching Nightmare's attention. Spike was still laid out on the floor. "And I know who you are! You’re the Mare in the Moon!" 

"Nightmare Moon!", Chronicle finished for his charge, and the whole crowd gasped.

"Well, well, well.", snickered Nightmare. "Somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I’m here."

Twilight lost her nerve as she then said, "You’re here to…to…" She then swallowed hard. 

Nightmare let out a growing chuckle. "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" Lightning then cracked through the upper reaches of the pavilion and the material of her mane and tail billowed over the entire room as she laughed exultantly. Below, Twilight gritted her teeth out of nervous fear, and Chronicle made a serious face, lowering his body as if ready to fight.

To be continued…
> Chapter 2: Elements of Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Elements of Harmony

At Ponyville's Town Hall…

Nightmare Moon continued to laugh exultantly as her mane continued to cause a storm in the pavilion. Nopony dared move. After all, with the storm Nightmare was conjuring, she could easily take down any who opposed her. However, the Mayor wasn't about to just stand there and do nothing.

"Seize her!", she declared to three pegasus guards (the ones like the pair that pulled Twilight's chariot). "Only she knows where the Princess is!"

As these three guards began to close in on Nightmare, Chronicle's horn began to glow. As it did, energy seemed to form around the horn as it then seemed to take in a shape similar to Nightmare's.

"Stand back, you foals!", Nightmare bellowed as her eyes burnt white, producing more lightning that hurled the guards backwards, and making another evil laugh. Immediately after the guards were repelled, Chronicle leaped into the air, his "magic horn blade" aimed at Nightmare, who suddenly wrapped her cosmic mane and tail around herself and vanished. The blue-violet mist went around the blue unicorn—who landed on the balcony—then made a beeline for the open front door, snaking through the panicked crowd and the dazed guards. 

Meanwhile, Applejack had kept her teeth locked on Rainbow Dash’s tail ever since, who then finally snapped it loose and charged after Nightmare. "Come back here!", Chronicle heard the pegasus mare cry out. Quickly, he turned to the panicked populace and leaped down from the balcony, landing on the ground floor without much trouble. Knowing a battle was required to defeat Nightmare, he ran over to the closest pony and asked them if they could join him in stopping Nightmare. Each time, he was met with refusal of varying degrees. 

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Uh-uh!"

"I may look silly, but even I know that's foolhardy."

"Sorry, but I can't."

After failing to 'recruit' anyone, he then turned around to where Twilight Sparkle and Spike were, only to find them gone. Quickly, he ran off to where he assumed they would be; the library.


C—TS—S—A—RD—NM—C—TS—S—A—RD—NM

In the library…

Spike was asleep in a basket, then came to with a start. "We gotta stop Nightmare!", he said in a half-dazed tone, then he was out like a light once more. A blanket was draped over him and Twilight eased close to look him over.

"You’ve been up all night, Spike.", she said to him as she turned away. "You are a baby dragon, after all." She then turned off the lights and hurried over to the main room, where she began searching the library for answers. Books were scattered all over the floor, around a large table (which had a wooden horse-head bust standing on a pedestal), and at the feet of a ladder propped against the wall. 

"Elements, Elements, Elements…", she was saying, then let out a loud, frustrated groan while levitating book after book and letting them fall. "How can I stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?!" All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash flew into her face, good and angry.

"And just what are the Elements of Harmony?", the pegasus demanded, slowly backing Twilight to a shelf. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" All of a sudden, Chronicle came in between the two, his "magic horn blade" ready, having managed to come in right after the pegasus entered the library. "Whoa!" Rainbow Dash backed away in surprise. 

"Make another move against her! I dare you!", said the blue unicorn. Before he could be challenged, Rainbow was yanked back by the tail…by Applejack, who quickly let go and got a dirty look for her trouble. She, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy had went to the library right after Chronicle, who had no idea he had been followed, not that they were.

"Simmer down, sally.", the orange earth pony said to the cyan pegasus. "She ain’t no spy." The five ponies then moved closer to Twilight and Chronicle, whose horn resumed its normal shape as he "sheathed" it. "But they sure know what’s goin’ on—don’t you?" 

The two unicorns looked as the five ponies surrounded them. Chronicle turned to his charge, who then dropped her gaze and said, "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her." She then looked out a window to see the moon. "But I don’t know what they are, where to find them. I don’t even know what they do!"

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.", they heard Pinkie say. Everyone turned to see her inspecting a book on a shelf at the other side of the room. She was then plowed aside by Twilight.

"How did you find that?!", the purple unicorn asked.

Pinkie hopped across room and replied in a singsong manner, "It was under 'E'!" 

Twilight shot her a funny look. "Oh."

"This place seriously needs a card catalog.", Chronicle grumbled as his charge 'took out' the book. Its binding was red, with gold bands on the spine and a matching unicorn head on the cover, surrounded by six rhombus shapes.

“There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: kindness, laughter, generosity, honesty, and loyalty.” As Twilight continued to read, Chronicle bothered to look out the window, and saw Nightmare’s vapor form listening in. It then zipped away just as he noticed it. 

Uh oh. Looks like she'll be expecting us.

“The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now…” 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

"…the Everfree Forest?!", six voices cried out fearfully. Chronicle hadn't cried out with them and simply groaned.

The seven ponies were now on a road leading into a very large, very overgrown, and very foreboding wilderness. Chronicle had been here a few times before while under previous contracts before his contract with Twilight Sparkle. They all regarded it with silent trepidation for a long moment before Pinkie spoke up, cheerful as ever.

"Whee! Let’s go!", she said as she then trotted ahead.

"Not so fast!", Twilight said sternly, making the pink earth pony stop. "Look. I appreciate the offer, but I’d really rather do this on my own." 

Chronicle cleared his throat to catch her attention. "Excuse me, Twilight?", he told her. "I'm your bodyguard, so wherever you go, I go. Also, I've been to this place before."

"You have?", Twilight asked.

"Yes. After all, you're not my first charge."

"Then I'm going with just you then. I wouldn't want anypony else risking their safety."

"No can do, sugarcube.", Applejack cut in in objection. "We sure ain’t lettin’ any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone." Twilight flinched a bit on hearing “friend” as she and the others began to trot ahead. "We’re stickin’ to you like caramel on a candy apple."

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity made an "Mmm-hmm!" in agreement.

"Especially if there’s candy apples in there!", added Pinkie, earning her a funny look from the remaining two unicorns. "What? Those things are good!" She then followed the rest.

Twilight now found herself alone with Chronicle—with the other five already on their way into the forest. 

"Well, I'm glad they're coming.", the only stallion in the group said. "Safety in numbers after all." His charge then sighed resignedly as the two then started in after the others. 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

A while later…

The seven ponies were now walking in a line. Chronicle was at the lead, Twilight Sparkle right behind him, Rarity behind her, followed by Applejack, then Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie, with Rainbow Dash bringing up the rear. The sole stallion felt a little uneasy as they walked. Out of all of them, he was the only male, as well as the only one with experience in combat (as far as he knew). He was a talented fighter, although he preferred the close-range type, which one wouldn't expect from a unicorn as they didn't excel in the physical department.

"So…apart from Chronicle, none of you have been in here before?", Twilight decided to break the silence.

Rarity shuddered and answered, "Heavens, no! Just look at it. It’s dreadful!"

"And it ain’t natural.", added Applejack. "Folks say it don’t work the same as Equestria."

"What’s that supposed to mean?", asked Twilight as they stopped at the edge of a cliff.

"Nopony knows.", said Rainbow Dash as she ominously emerged from the shadows. "You know why?"

"Rainbow, quit it!", Applejack scolded, but was ignored.

"’Cause everypony who’s ever come in has never…come…out!"

By this point, she had advanced so far as to be face to face with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity (who were side by side), and she leapt up menacingly on the last word. However, that didn't end up being the real scare; that came when the edge of the cliff crumbled away, taking all five non-winged ponies screaming with it. The two pegasi managed to get airborne just in time. "Fluttershy, quick!" The cyan pegasus quickly dove in.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!", said the yellow pegasus as she followed.

As the others kept going down with the rockslide, Rainbow hoisted Pinkie clear and Fluttershy snapped her teeth onto Rarity’s tail to 'put on the brakes'. Applejack stopped herself by biting down on an exposed root. Chronicle's horn glowed once again as he then turned to face the ground. He then managed to raise his forelegs (which began to glow as well), and then brought them down, sinking them into the earth as he dragged himself into a stop. This left Twilight alone to skid toward the edge of a very long drop, and winded up with her hind legs dangling over the precipice. Quickly, Applejack sized up the situation, then let go of her root to slide along.

"Hold on!", she said as Chronicle followed shortly. "I’m a-comin’!" Reaching the edge, she then grabbed Twilight’s forelegs in hers. Somehow. Chronicle had no idea how this was working. 

How is my charge able to hold on to the cliff without…you know… Not that I'm not grateful for it, though.

"Chronicle, help!", Twilight called out. "Applejack! What do I do?" There was a long, tense pause as Applejack squeezed one eye shut from the strain on her muscles, then aimed her open one skyward for a moment before turning both of them toward the hanging unicorn. Chronicle also managed to glance above.

"Let go.", Applejack answered.

"Are you crazy?!"

"No, I ain’t. I promise you’ll be safe. "

"That’s not true!"

"Now listen here. What I’m sayin’ to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you’ll be safe."

Twilight tuned to her bodyguard, who was a bit too far for him to help her up. "Chronicle?"

"You can trust her.", he said. "You got friends waiting." He then gave a reassuring wink, then mouthed. "Trust our pegasi friends." Although in his charge's frightened state, he wasn't sure if she caught that.

Twilight’s popping eyes betrayed the fight between her panicked brain and the instinct telling her to trust the pony who was holding her at the edge of oblivion. Making her decision, she released her grip and plunged, screaming over the side—for a second or two; Her fall was stopped short by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who have caught her.

"Phew.", Twilight sighed in relief.

"What did I tell you?", Chronicle called from above as his horn glowed, ready for a spell. As he promptly disappeared with a flash—having used a teleportation spell—Applejack was already leaping down protruding ledges in the cliff. He then re-materialized in between Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who were already down on the ground below, looking up at Twilight and the two pegasi. A sudden weight shift caused the unicorn to nearly slip out of their grasp with a yell, before the two pegasi compensated for it and lowered her steadily to terra firma.

"Sorry, girls.", apologized Fluttershy as they then reached the ground. "I’m not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two." Just then, Chronicle decided to turn away—and glimpsed the wisp that was Nightmare Moon. He saw it whisk away on a certain direction…which turned out to be the only way forward. As he then heard a roar (although it was faint because of the distance), he gulped in fear, knowing there will be another danger to face shortly.

We're gonna have to begin trusting each other more if we're gonna make it through this., Chronicle thought as Applejack made it down with the rest. Not that any of us are going shifty-eye on anypony.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Shortly…

The seven ponies were on the road again, clustered this time instead of a line. Rainbow Dash flew about, bragging excitedly on their previous cliffhanger incident.

"And once Pinkie and Rarity were safe…whoosh! Me and Fluttershy looped the loop around, and wham!", she said as she then landed next to Twilight, who was in the lead. "Caught you right in the nick of time."

"Yes, Rainbow, I was there.", Twilight said irritatingly, then gave a faint smile. "And I’m very grateful. But we gotta—" She stopped with a gasp when they encountered something. It had a lion body, bat wings and ears, and a scorpion tail. "A manticore!" The manticore then roared once more. "We’ve gotta get past him!"

The creature leaped at Rarity for a swipe of its paw, but she ducked and—to Chronicle's surprise—countered with a buck to the face that knocked it back.

"Take that, you ruffian!", the white unicorn said. The manticore's response was a full-volume roar directly into her face, leaving her mane a frizzed-out shambles due to the moisture in its breath. "My hair!" A low growl touched off a little cry from her and sent her into a retreat past Fluttershy, who stood watching.

"Wait!", the pegasus said as the the manticore gave chase. Just then, it was stopped by Applejack, who had jumped onto its head.

"Yee-haa!", the earth pony cried out as the manticore started trying to buck her off. "Get along, little doggie!"

"Wait!"

One last good heave managed to send the earth pony flying. "Whooooaaa!" As she then tumbled past the hovering Rainbow Dash, she said, "All yours, partner."

The cyan pegasus saluted and replied, "I’m on it!" She then zoomed past Fluttershy, who was still calling for them to wait. In seconds, she enveloped the foe in a striped twister similar to the Rainblow-Dry maneuver she used earlier in the day. A lash of the scorpion tail knocked her out of it and sent her towards the others with a yell.

"Rainbow!", Twilight cried out as the pegasus landed in front of them.

"My turn!", Chronicle said as he then charged.

"Wait!", Fluttershy's cries once again fell on deaf ears as the blue unicorn rushed at the manticore. The beast swung a paw at him, but he was the suddenly a blur as he was then at the other side of the paw, his "magic horn blade" on the ready, much to the surprise of the mares. He had used a teleportation spell, but not like the one he used earlier. This one allowed him to zip instantly across short distances and make him look like he was actually moving there in a fast rate. He called this spell the flash-step. 

As the manticore continued to swing at him, he countered with his own blade, smacking the beast in places, but holding back enough so as not to make any cuts, which would be easy for him to do. Just then, as he attacked, he saw the manticore's left forepaw and noticed something. However, this cost him a second—a second he could've used to dodge the manticore's scorpion tail, which brought itself onto him. Thankfully, it hadn't decided to hit him with the stinger (he wasn't about to find out if it was poisonous or not), but the force of the blow sent him back to Twilight and the others. As he stumbled, he managed to land on his feet.

"There's a thorn in its paw!", he said as he turned back to the manticore.

"What does that have to do with anything, dear?", asked Rarity, her mane back to normal, presumably by magic.

"It might be why the manticore's in such a bad mood."

"And you think removing the thorn will calm it down?", Rainbow Dash asked, clearly thinking it wasn't gonna work.

"It's worth a shot. See if you can distract him while I try to grab it."

To his surprise, nopony argued with him as they all braced themselves with a snort. The manticore set itself up for round five, and Chronicle and company started into a charge. Just before the could reach the manticore, from the sidelines, Fluttershy threw herself in their path.

"WAAAIIIT!!", she cried out, and both sides stood down. She then looked behind herself, then ahead, and walked toward the beast, who raised one meaty paw, ready to disembowel her on the spot. Chronicle stood ready, his horn glowing. Should the manticore attack, he would flash-step to Fluttershy, grab her, then flash-step back, then fight.

"There's a thorn in its paw.", he advised the yellow pegasus, who then paused upon hearing that sentence. "Could you…you know…" He was answered with a nod of the head.

"Shhh, it’s okay.", she said tenderly to the manticore as she went over and sniffed at the paw that had the thorn, the other one raised for a strike which never came. The manticore then uncertainly un-clenched its paw to reveal the thorn. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby."

"Little?!", Rainbow Dash wondered incredulously.

"Now this might hurt for just a second." She eased her head toward the thorn. There was a sudden pluck, and the huge mouth let go with a powerful roar at point-blank range.

"Fluttershy!", the mares cried out. Much to their surprise (Chronicle somehow half-expected this), the yellow pegasus wasn't being torn limb from limb. Rather, she was being cradled and licked by the suddenly pacified monster.

"Aw, you’re just a little old baby kitty, aren’t you? Yes, you are. Yes, you are." During this line, the rest shifted from befuddled gapes to warm smiles, and moved past the manticore without any trouble. Twilight and Chronicle hung back for a moment so Fluttershy could catch up, whose mane was still swept up into a thick pink cowlick. 

"How did you know about the thorn?", Twilight asked Fluttershy.

"I saw it, remember?", Chronicle interceded. "I have a sharp eye when it comes to seeing things. I'm actually less of a bodyguard and more of an escorter for a journey like this one."

"Well, how were you sure the manticore wasn't gonna attack even after the thorn was removed?"

"I didn’t.", said the pegasus. "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." Twilight pondered for a second before giving a faint smile. "And…to tell the truth…I didn't even know there was a thorn until Chronicle told me."

"Well, I gotta…" Chronicle couldn't say 'hand it to you', considering they didn't have hands, but 'hoof it to you' didn't sound appropriate either. He glanced back at where the thorn lay, only to see it dissipate into a wisp that was Nightmare and fly off.  "…gotta…well…anyway…" He turned back to his company. "That was either very brave of you… or very stupid." Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise from this response. "Not to mention dangerous! You could've gotten yourself killed!!" His voice was now filled with concern and worry. "While I'm thankful that wasn't the case this time, please don't do that again, okay?"

Looking into his eyes, Fluttershy gave a sweet smile and a nod before she, Chronicle, and Twilight then broke into a gallop to catch up with the rest.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later…

The seven ponies were moving through yet another area of the forest (although one was not in sight at the moment, and Fluttershy’s mane had returned to its normal shape) They were in a boggy/swampy area of the forest as the ground squished with every step.

Rarity shuddered and said, "My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Just after she said that, the trees have thickened to the point that almost no light got through them. "Well, I didn’t mean that literally."

As they walked, Chronicle could feel a slight disturbance in his legs. It felt like magical energy. He bothered looking down and saw the wisp that was Nightmare Moon snaking right underneath them. He considered telling the others, but decided not to; they were close to breaking down into a state of panic and to tell that the enemy was among them didn't sound like a great idea.

"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces, and we wouldn't even know it!", Twilight grumbled.

Little do they know that there's another obstacle coming 'round soon., Chronicle thought as his companions muttered and complained.

"Oh, wait.", said Applejack as she raised a hoof. "I think I stepped in somethin’." Then, there was a scream from Fluttershy, but the earth pony paid no mind and moved on, a bit exasperated. "It’s just mud." All of a sudden, a gruesome face on the tree trunk appeared before her, with a gaping, toothy maw forming from an opening in the bark and two glaring knothole eyes. Applejack bolted with a yell while the others stared wide-eyed at the leering, snarling visages that have suddenly appeared on all the trees around them. Five screams tore through the air. 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

A/N: Now watch this for a visual aid.

Eyecatch (video-type)

{Eight cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a six-pointed pink star, a couple of green flames, an orange circle depicting an open book inside, a trio of apples, a red-yellow-blue striped lightning bolt coming from a white cloud, three rhombus-shaped blue gems, a trio of butterflies, and a trio of balloons.}

{The eight cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of seven ponies and one dragon. The top row depicts (from left to right) Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. The bottom row depicts Rarity, Twilight Sparkle (with Spike on her back), Chronicle, and Fluttershy. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

While Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, and even Rainbow clustered together screaming for their lives, Chronicle was on the alert and quickly 'unsheathed' his "magic horn blade", ready to oppose these "monsters".

"These don't scare me.", he said, not a trace of fear in his words. "I'll protect you all!" It'll take more than a few creepy faces to spook him. All of a sudden, there was a peal of laughter, which stopped the screams. Everypony turned to see Pinkie Pie facing one of the horrid faces on the trees. "Huh?" The pink earth pony was giggling at the face and making a few goofy ones of her own in response.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!", Twilight cried out. "Run!"

"Hold on a second…", Chronicle realized as he got a closer look on the trees. "These scary faces are just that; scary!" 

"Are you sure?!" His charge was skeptical and didn't seem to believe it, letting her fear get the best of her.

Before he could say any more, he heard music come out of nowhere. He wasn't sure if they were playing out of somewhere or if it's all in his head (and perhaps also to those the song is being directed to). The prominent instrument was a mandolin.

Now Playing: Laughter song (a.k.a. Face Your Fears; Giggle at the Ghostie)

"Oh, girls, don’t you see?", Pinkie said with a laugh as she marked time with her hooves to the music and the area brightened a bit.

When I was a little filly and the sun was going down♪

"Tell me she’s not.", Twilight groaned as the pink earth pony poked her head from above. Somehow.

The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown♪

"She is.", answered Rarity as Pinkie hopped around her friends.

I’d hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw♪

Why is she singing now, of all times?, Chronicle thought.

But Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way to deal with fears at all♪

"Then what is?", Rainbow Dash asked.

She said, “Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears♪

Pinkie then hopped to a tree.

You’ll see that they can’t hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear.”♪

The music then stopped as she gave a simple "Ha, ha, ha!"—which 'banished' the face, leaving an otherwise-normal twisted old tree before her. Everyone gasped in surprise.

Wow., Chronicle mentally gasped at this…strange power Pinkie Pie seemed to have. Just how does she know and do this? The music returned as drums joined in.

So giggle at the ghostly, guffaw at the grossly♪

Everyone else, starting with the two pegasi, began to follow Pinkie's example; laughing at the menacing apparitions, which began to wink out.

Crack up at the creepy, whoop it up with the weepy♪

Rarity and Applejack joined in the laughter, with the latter jumping off of Pinkie as she sang.

Chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky♪

Twilight got a little push from Pinkie to help her find the spirit. Eventually, she laughed as well. Only Chronicle didn't join in, although he did crack up a smile at how ridiculous this 'trap' of Nightmare Moon's was.

The music gradually stopped as Pinkie went rapid-fire with these words, "And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone, and if he thinks he can scare you then he’s got another think coming, and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna…" There was one more bout of the giggles. The music then resumed.

Laugh♪

As Pinkie held out the last note, the remaining faces disappeared…and the music finally ended. 

End Song

And with that, the six mares flopped onto their backs for a good long laugh as the area brightened. 

Whew, Chronicle thought, still smiling. We seriously needed a breather there. "Come on, girls.", he then said. "Let's keep moving."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later…

Chronicle led the bouncing Pinkie Pie, as well as Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy out of the woods…and into the bank of a raging river. He immediately paused and cried out "Stop!" Pinkie immediately landed on his back in a stop, and he felt everypony else bump into them one by one. As he got Pinkie off of him, the six mares poked their heads out from behind him for a good look at the broad torrent.

"How are we gonna cross this?", Pinkie asked.

"I know someone who can help.", said Chronicle. Just then, there was a distant moan and wail. "Huh?" 

The seven ponies took cover in a clump of bushes and peeked out to see a long, purple, scaly tail thrashing about in the river, causing the raging waves in it. They then looked to their left and saw that the one who was moaning was an immense serpent with skinny arms and long, dark blond hair, mustache, and eyebrows. The right half of the mustache had been raggedly cut off by something. 

"Auugh, not again.", the blue unicorn complained.

"Huh?", the six mares asked.

"I've met this river serpent before. His name is Steven Magnet."

"What a world! What a world!", the serpent, Steven Magnet, spoke in an effeminate male voice. 

"I encountered him a few times whenever I had to escort somepony across this deep river. In a sense, he serves as a bridge. He's the help I was talking about." One by one, the ponies crept out of their cover and went over to him. "Steven.", he called, catching the serpent's attention. "What's got you in such a fit this time?"

"Oh, Chronicle, I don’t know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!" He leaned in to show the seven the damage. "And now, I look simply horrid!" He then flopped full length into the river, and launched into a hissy fit. The resulting water would have soaked all the ponies were it not for Chronicle 'putting up' a barrier, which stopped them from getting wet as the water washed off the wall of magic. There was a couple of assorted groans from everyone.

Oh, brother. Nightmare Moon strikes again., Chronicle grumbled as he dismissed the barrier.

"Oh, gimme a break.", complained Rainbow Dash.

"That’s what all the fuss is about?", asked Applejack.

"Yes. Yes it is.", voiced the sole stallion in the group. "He cares a lot for his appearance. I believe one pony would be able to relate." He shot a glance at Rarity.

"Why, of course.", the white unicorn answered as she trotted forward to Steven. "How can you two be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him." She proceeded to stroke his snout. "Such lovely luminescent scales."

Steven sniffled, "I know!" 

"And your expertly coiffed mane." 

The serpent righted himself up and patted it down. "Oh, I know, I know!" 

"Your fabulous manicure."

Steven gasped. "It’s so true!"

"All ruined without your beautiful mustache."

Steven proceeded to sob. "It’s true, I’m hideous!"

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!", Rarity then said resolutely as she narrowed her eyes. She then whipped her head forward, clamping her teeth around one of the creature’s scales, and yanked it loose.

"Ow!", screamed Steven. "What did you do that for?" He wasn't answered as Rarity lifted the scale’s razor-sharp point upward. 

"Rarity, what are you—", Twilight was about to say when a slash came, which shocked everyone. And Steven Magnet fell over in a dead faint as his upper body fell forward to the ground. 

As it turned out, what was slashed was…Rarity's own tail, of which only a ragged nub remained. The white unicorn then tossed the scale aside—which Chronicle decided to 'salvage'—and used her horn to levitate the cut swath. The curly purple was then 'attached' to the ruined half of Steven's mustache. The serpent came to and straightened up with a jubilant laugh.

"My mustache!", he cried out. "How wonderful!"

"You look smashing.", Rarity told him.

"Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail!", Twilight said with concern.

The white unicorn turned to face the others, "Oh…it’s fine, my dear. Short tails are in this season. Besides, it’ll grow back." Twilight smiled gently, having grasped the sacrifice Rarity had made.

"So would the mustache.", Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight.

"Okay. Now that your fashion problem is taken care of, Steven, may we cross the river?", requested Chronicle as he noticed the river finally calm down.

"Why, of course!", said the serpent as he coiled his body so that he now served as a line of stepping stones. One by one, the mares hopped across his body. As for Chronicle, he decided to show off a bit. He cast a spell on his legs and then jumped to the water. Instead of entering it with a splash, he landed on it—much to his friends' surprise—and started walking on it like he were on land. Once everypony was on the other side, Steven raised his head and said, "It's a pleasure to be of service to you, Chronicle."

"Thanks." With that, Steven dove into the water and was out of sight. As they all then continued, Twilight had a question.

"How did you even meet up and make friends with someone like him?"

"It was sometime before I became your bodyguard. In such a dangerous place like this, making a friend with a native can be a great help. I could tell you all about my "career story" prior to my employment to you, but we still gotta find the Elements of Harmony. And I'm sure Nightmare Moon's after them too. We gotta hurry!"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

A short while later…

The seven ponies were on the road again, Twilight Sparkle in the lead, with Chronicle and the others just behind. Just then, the former looked ahead.

"There it is!". she said. Ahead was a tumbled ruin of a castle that stood in a small clearing just ahead—situated on the far side of a mist-choked abyss, with the posts of a collapsed bridge still embedded in the ground on both sides. "The ruin that holds the Elements of Harmony. We made it!" They all put their hooves in high gear.

"Twilight!", Chronicle called out as his horn glowed once more. "Wait for us!"

"We’re almost there!"

"I said WAIT!" All of a sudden, just before his charge could reach the bridge, he teleported right into her face. She wasn't able to stop in time and collided into him, knocking him over to where the bridge was, and he fell out of sight, back first. As it turns out, the bridge was broken, and he had attempted to stop her from falling off, only to have that happen to him instead.

"Chronicle!"

In a flash of light, he appeared right behind Twilight—falling upwards, then down on the ground on his belly. In addition to changing locations via teleportation, he can also alter his orientation, which can prove useful when falling great distances. By 'flipping' himself, the momentum from his fall is directed upwards and gravity would counter that, sparing him a serious fall that could've seriously hurt him.

"Oww…", he groaned as he got up. 

"What's with you and falling off cliffs today?", Rainbow Dash joked to his charge.

"I only fell off once.", Twilight replied.

"True, but you were still involved in the other one that just happened."

"You got that right.". Chronicle agreed snarkily. "Not one of my brightest ideas in mind."

"Now what?", Pinkie asked with a gasp as they looked at the broken bridge, then everypony turned to face Chronicle.

The sole stallion noticed, then realized what they were thinking. "Sorry, but I haven't figured out how to teleport others with me. And as for that other kind I used, while I can do that, it can only reach as far as I can jump." He then turned back to the gap ahead. "And I definitely can't jump all the way to the other side."

"Allow me!", offered Rainbow Dash as she gave her wings a twitch and lifted off.

"Oh, right."

She proceeded to go down into the mist, and resurfaced with the snapped bridge ropes in her teeth. As she hauled them up onto the far end and got one of them tied down, an echoing female voice caused her to stop short.

"Rainbow…", the voice called, causing the cyan pegasus to drop the other rope with a gasp. From the other side of the cliff, Chronicle could see Nightmare’s wisp form drift.

"Who’s there?", Rainbow Dash called out.

"Rainbow…" The mist started to thicken around the pegasus as she punched at the air.

"I ain’t scared of you! Show yourself!"

"We’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flyer in Equestria."

"Who?"

"Why, you, of course."

"Really?" Rainbow seemed enthusiastic as she caught herself. "I mean…oh, yeah! Me! Hey, uh, you wouldn’t mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would you? ’Cause I’ve been trying to get into that group for, like, ever!"

"No, Rainbow Dash. We want you to join us."

Out from the mist emerged three pegasi, galloping into view with uncanny speed. They skidded to a stop, resolving into two purple-maned stallions and a blue-maned mare, all wearing full-body jumpsuits and yellow goggles—similar to those used by the Wonderbolts. However, the bodies were purple and the heads/hooves black, with yellow lightning bolts marking the boundaries. Each outfit displayed an emblem consisting of a winged pony skull where a cutie mark would normally appear. The mare's coat and wings were light gray, while those of the stallions were a darker shade.

"The Shadowbolts!", said the mare, revealing to have been the voice from earlier. "We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria." The mare then leaned in close. "But first…we need a captain." The young daredevil’s eyes widened, a big smile creasing her face, as the Shadowblt flew slow circles around her. "The most magnificent…"

"Yep."

"…swiftest…"

"Yes."

"…bravest flyer in all the land." 

"Yes. Ha-ha. It’s all true."

"We need…" The mare leaned in to whisper in Rainbow's ear. "…you."

The cyan pegasus leaped up. "Woo-hoo! Sign me up!" She then moved to get the loose rope. "Just let me tie this bridge real quick, and then we have a deal."

Unfortunately, the Shadowbolt mare had other plans and zipped across to stop Rainbow Dash, speaking in a far more menacing tone. "NO! It’s them or us!" The cyan pegasus recoiled slightly from their sudden change in mood.

On the other side, everyone else was watching. "Rainbow!", Twilight called out. "What’s taking so long?" Then they saw the Shadowbolts.

"Oh, no.", Chronicle groaned. "Minions of Nightmare Moon, I presume. Why else would they be here to stop Rainbow Dash?"

"RAINBOW!" Twilight shouted. This caught the attention of the Shadowbolt mare, whose eyes blazed yellow behind her goggles, causing the mist in the area to roll in faster than you can say 'Sweet Celestia'. "Don’t listen to them!" Unfortunately, it was too late for a response. The mist has prevented her from hearing her friends.

Uh oh., grumbled the sole stallion. Should she abandon us, I'll take it from here; teleport over and tie the bridge in her place. Unless the rope is then dropped or the bridge destroyed in some way, then we'll have a problem. Fluttershy simply doesn't have the strength to carry any of us, and I don't have the power to lift and throw them over to the other side. Although doing both is a possibility.

"Well?", they then heard the Shadowbolt mare say. Apparently, while Rainbow couldn't hear her friends, the same didn't go for the other way around. There was a long pause that came afterwards before an answer was heard.

"You.", they heard Rainbow answer. 

Uh oh. Should've seen this coming., grumbled Chronicle.

"Thank you…for the offer, I mean. But I’m afraid I have to say no."

Oh. Looks like it won't come to that after all.

Back at the other side, Rainbow Dash tied up the rope to the bridge and with one last malevolent glare, the Shadowbolts disappeared in three puffs of blue-violet smoke that came together and slinked away. The mist then parted to reveal the repaired bridge as Rainbow came over. The other mares cheered as everyone then walked across the bridge.

"See? I’d never leave my friends hanging.", the cyan pegasus told Twilight. After this demonstration, the purple unicorn seemed to understand the point a lot easier. 

The seven ponies then approached the front entrance of the ruined castle. Before entering, Chronicle went ahead and scanned the place as a precaution (and as a tip from Twilight about bodyguarding). Once the coast was clear, everyone followed and stepped in. Before them was an apparatus consisting of five round stone tablets mounted at the ends of radial shafts, with a larger orb at the center. The entire rig was heavily overgrown with moss and vines. Some of the tablets in view each had a gem-shaped carving that stood out in relief on the surface. 

"Whoa…come on, Twilight.", said Applejack. "Isn’t this what you’ve been waitin’ for?"

"The Elements of Harmony. We’ve found them!" One by one, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew up and took one tablet each, lowering them to the floor. "Careful…careful…"

Pinkie counted the stones. "One, two, three, four…there’s only five."

"Where’s the sixth?", wondered Rainbow.

Twilight knelt to the floor and sat, “The book said, 'When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.'”

"What in the hay is that supposed to mean?", asked Applejack.

"I’m not sure, but I have an idea. Stand back. I don’t know what will happen." Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and brought her horn’s powers to bear.

Applejack proceeded to lead the others away. "Come on now, y’all. She needs to concentrate."

"I'm staying.", said Chronicle, refusing to leave. "Who knows if Nightmare Moon or any of her forces might show up and interrupt?"

"Suit yourself." And with that, he's left alone in the chamber, watching over his charge. A few seconds later, he saw Nightmare's wisp form slip in. While he knew he should act, he didn't know what to do. He could only watch as it then enveloped the five round stones before his charge as she stepped up her efforts. As the mist then formed a whirlwind that lifted the tablets off the floor, he decided to intervene.

"The Elements!", he warned his charge. Twilight opened her eyes and cut her powers off with a cry upon seeing the cyclone.

"TWILIGHT! CHRONICLE!", the others called out from outside.

"What do we do?!", the sole stallion asked. The tornado began to grow in size and power, reaching nearly to what remained of the ceiling.

He was answered with his charge diving into the storm. He followed a split second later. And not a moment too soon; it took both of them just as the others came in. Fear and confusion began to set in as they then began to run around in panic. Only Applejack stood still in worry.

"Twilight! Where are you?", she cried out.

"Look!", Rarity yelled. Everypony turned to see her gazing intently out a window at a tower in another part of the castle. White light poured from all the windows.

"Come on!" And with that, they all red-lined it out to help their friends. 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (video-type) - Twilight sits in front of the elements as Nightmare begins to take them up. She jumps in, Chronicle following, and they all disappear just as the rest come over. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

In that part of the castle…

A ball of brilliant light appeared on the floor and exploded in a blast of smoke. When it clears, out came Twilight and Chronicle, coughing from the smoke. When the two cleared their heads and lungs, they looked up and saw…Nightmare Moon standing on a crumbling dais, chuckling nastily as the five Element tablets floated in the grip of her mane and tail. 

As lighting cracked out from her mane, Twilight did something no one in their right mind would do; lower her head and paw the ground to work up steam for a charge. Chronicle quickly followed suit as Nightmare set the Elements down.

"You’re kidding.", she chuckled. "You’re kidding, right?"

Neither of the two unicorns answered as their horns glowed and they both barreled straight toward the dais, with Chronicle 'unsheathing' his "magic horn blade". Nightmare started into her own charge—leaving the Elements behind—but an instant before the collision, Twilight disappeared with a flash. Chronicle, however, had continued in his charge and his "blade" met with Nightmare's horn and the two struggled, the former ending up with his forelegs raised and being pushed back a bit. 

While the blue unicorn was strong, Nightmare was stronger as she then shoved him off of her, sending him sliding back a few feet. She then noticed that Twilight was missing, but before she could wonder where she was, Chronicle charged again, jumped, and swung his "horn blade" at Nightmare, forcing her to counter with her own horn. As the two continued to clash, there was a faint line of magic power that seemed to form a line between their horns and 'connected' them. Nightmare didn't notice it, but energy seemed to be flowing from her and into Chronicle.

Erstwhile, Twilight had materialized on the dais, moaning woozily from having used teleportation for the first time, having learnt it from Chronicle. She quickly came to and dipped her head toward the Elements. "Just one spark.", she said as her horn began to blaze. "Come on, come on…"

Behind her, Chronicle was now dodging Nightmare's attacks, who was now using magic in her assault, the idea having crossed her mind after a while. He flash-stepped about to dodge, slashed back with his "horn blade" and shot star-shaped blasts. Nightmare blocked these blasts with ease using her cosmic mane and dodged the unicorn's "blade". Chronicle hadn't expected Twilight to teleport at the last second, but after seeing her with the Elements, he decided to stall for time. Besides, he was liking this battle. 

All of a sudden, Nightmare paused in her attacks as she then glimpsed at the reflection in Chronicle's eyes…and saw Twilight doing something with the Elements. She quickly pushed off the blue unicorn, turned herself into a stellar tornado, and whipped herself onto the dais. The magic then kicked back hard on Twilight, throwing her across the floor as Chronicle quickly recovered and ran to his charge's side.

"No! No!", cried out Nightmare.

Twilight seemed to smile, thinking she had the advantage—but then the Elements’ lights went out and she gasped in pure shock. "But…where’s the sixth Element?"

Nightmare then laughed full throttle and reared up. She then stomped on the floor and the stones shattered into gravel. Twilight could only stare helplessly, but Chronicle still stood ready to fight.

"You little foals!", bellowed Nightmare. "Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your Princess—or your sun! The night will last forever!" Her mane and tail became a swirling mass above her head as she laughed once again. 

For a second, I thought she'd say, 'Me! The mistress of all evil!'., Chronicle thought, then retorted aloud, "It's not over until the last spell is cast!" He then charged up his "horn blade" and galloped toward Nightmare Moon once more. Amidst the shattered stones, he flash-stepped about, fighting with more resolve than before. Nightmare countered all of his attacks with ease, not bothering to take him down as she thought victory was assured and that he was doing this out of desperation. To an extent, she was right; Chronicle had no idea whether defeating Nightmare Moon would stop her eternal night, but he had to try. As he did, he also made scratches across the ground and they began to glow with his magic.

As he continued to clash, the look of utter defeat in Twilight’s eyes (in spite of what her bodyguard was doing for her) changed to bewilderment when she heard the muffled voices of the others coming from the general direction of a stairway leading up into the room. As their shadows appeared on the walls in due time, she let out a deep gasp as her pupils and irises narrowed, then widened, a tiny flicker of light plays across the center. She came to a realization. 

Meanwhile, Chronicle was pushed off the dais and he landed six paces away from his charge as she then turned around, her confidence restored. "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?", she declared. "Well, you’re wrong—because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!"

Wait, what?, gasped the blue unicorn as their friends were now right behind him. The stone shards at Nightmare’s hooves then began to glow and floated free of the ground.

"What?", gasped Nightmare.

Twilight began to speak. "Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of honesty!" Some of the shards then started to circle the orange earth pony. As she lectured, Nightmare attempted to move and attack, only to find out that she somehow couldn't. 

"Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of kindness!" Some of the shards then start to orbit the yellow pegasus, even if she reeled back a bit. Nightmare looked down to see a "magic circle" at her feet glowing bright blue, then turned to look at Chronicle, whose horn glowed with magic; he had cast a binding spell, which took the form of the circle he created on the ground. 

"Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of laughter!" The pink earth pony made a huge grin as pieces of the shattered stones gravitated to her. Nightmare attempted to break free of Chronicle's binding spell, but it was somehow too strong.

"Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of generosity!" The white unicorn eyed the fragments that now circled her. "And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire, represents the spirit of loyalty!" The last of the pieces now circled the cyan pegasus. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!"

As it turned out, the faint line between Chronicle and Nightmare during their fight was another spell the former had cast. It was a "power transfer" spell, which transfers magic power between him and a target; he could either take or give. And he had taken some of Nightmare Moon's magic to restore his own and drain her enough so that she wouldn't be able to escape. Still, the spell was taxing for him to maintain and was slowly draining him.

Effectively disabled, Nightmare was unable to do anything but speak. "You still don’t have the sixth Element!", she said. "The spark didn’t work!"

"But it did.", Twilight countered. "A different kind of spark." She then turned to the others. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you. To see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me…" Her eyes began to form tears. "…when I realized that you all…" She then faced Nightmare once more. "…are my friends!"

"Any moment now…", Chronicle muttered, struggling slightly less as he then thought, Aren't we friends too? The reason why he maintained the spell is because he felt that the sixth Element was about to show up. Just then, shafts of intense white light pierced the gloom from above, coming from a sixth stone tablet that had materialized overhead. It bore its own gem relief and descended to stop above Twilight’s head. Nightmare was the only one to shield her eyes. Chronicle had guessed right.

"You see, Nightmare Moon.", Twilight continued. "When those Elements are ignited by the…the spark that resides in the heart of us all…" Chronicle could now see that Nightmare was suddenly scared. "…it creates the sixth Element. The Element of magic!" The light from the floating Element flared out to encompass Twilight and the others, and Chronicle could feel its power surge from behind him. He didn't dare turn to look at what was happening and focused on keeping Nightmare pinned. All of a sudden, through his peripheral vision, he saw a broad rainbow pass right over him and descend right for the dark winged unicorn. Hoping to see what would happen, he broke off the binding spell as the rainbow swooped down on Nightmare.

"NOOOOO!!", the dark winged unicorn screamed as the light spiraled around her and concentrated into an impossibly small twister. "NOOOOO!!"

Chronicle then turned around to look at his friends…and saw them floating serenely in the white light, “standing” on their hind legs, wearing glowing adornments of some kind. Twilight possessed a gold tiara topped by a jewel shaped like the six-pointed star in her cutie mark. The rest wore gold necklaces, each set with a jewel in the shape of its wearer’s cutie mark, though Rainbow Dash's was only of the lightning bolt. He wasn't able to notice more as Twilight opened her eyes, which have also begun to glow white. 

He turned away and shielded his eyes as he felt the power of the Elements sear through his coat, but in a good way. Eventually, the light faded and the six ponies with the Elements lay sprawled on the floor, leaving Chronicle as the only one who was conscious. He didn't check whether Nightmare had survived the "attack" or not as he turned to the six. It was there that he got a good look on what he presumed were the Elements of Harmony. He noticed that Rarity's tail had grown back, and that her necklace's jewel was a purple diamond-shape. Fluttershy's was a pink butterfly, Pinkie's was a cyan balloon, Rainbow's was a red lightning bolt, and Applejack's was an orange apple.

"Wow.", he managed to say. "That's a lot of power." Suddenly, he received a mental message. He reached into his "pocket of hammerspace" and took out a coin-shaped object that looked like his cutie mark. He then 'moved' it into his ear and spoke. "Reporting. … Huh? … You sure? … Don't you think that's— … Oh right, silly me. … Well, okay then. …Over and out." He then returned the device to "hammerspace" and 'took out' a couple other items from it. One of them was a rectangular device that looked like a screen. The others were six floating orbs that shimmered into invisibility. "Oh well. Better get this over with…"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

(A/N: Just to make sure everyone gets this, Chronicle did not do anything inappropriate with them!! I'll explain what he did in a later chapter.)

About an hour later…

Once Chronicle was done with what he had to do, he walked away from them and moved to where he was when he had pinned Nightmare Moon. Eventually, his friends gradually came around. 

Rainbow Dash was the first to groan, "Oww, my head!" 

"Everypony okay?", asked Applejack.

"Oh, thank goodness!", Rarity cried out. Everypony turned to see that her tail had grown back, which Chronicle had seen earlier.

"Why, Rarity, it’s so lovely.", said Fluttershy.

"I know!" The white unicorn waved her tail lovingly. "I’ll never part with it again!"

"No, your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark."

Rarity looked at it. "Uh?...ooh… So does yours!

Fluttershy looked at hers and gasped happily at it. As the others began to take notice of their new adornments, Chronicle couldn't help but feel a bit peeved. After all, he had been with them and have struggled about as much as they have, perhaps even more. Do the Elements have a double standard of some kind?

"Look at mine, look at mine!", Pinkie Pie was saying as she hopped over to Applejack.

"Aw, yeah!", cried out Rainbow Dash.

Oh wait. There are only six elements., Chronicle thought. And there were seven of us. But what element could I have represented? Honesty? No, I'm not above making lies. Kindness? I have a liking for battle, and that's not nice. Laughter? Definitely not. Generosity? Nope. Loyalty? I'm no "in it for the money" kind of guy, but I'm no blind faithful. Magic? Twilight has better potential, and battling isn't the answer to everything. But still…shouldn't I have had some form of reward?

"Gee, Twilight.", said Applejack as the unicorn looked at the tiara on her head. "I thought you were just spoutin’ a lot of hooey. But I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship."

And yet I'm like a tag-along.

Just then, a new light washed over the area as a gentle female voice spoke up. "Indeed you do.", it replied to Applejack.

The sun began to rise over the hills beyond the cracked window. From it, a blaze of light separated and floated slowly through the glass. It settled to the floor in front of the group and disappeared with one last flare. In its place stood a tall, white winged unicorn mare whose impossibly long, sparkly mane and tail were striped in cyan, turquiose, azure, and purple; they waved gently in a non-existent breeze. She stood twice as tall as a typical pony, her eyes were magenta, she wore a gold tiara, necklace, and shoes; the the first two were set with a violet, diamond-shaped gem. Her cutie mark depicted the shining sun.

All but Twilight and Chronicle knelt silently before her, the latter merely bowed his head and raised a foreleg so that it was in front of his body and perpendicular to his other legs whereas the former stayed upright with a happy gasp.

"Princess Celestia!", Twilight cried out as she dashed over to the window, where the two nuzzled each other affectionately. 

"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student.", the princess replied. "I knew you could do it."

"But…you told me it was all an old pony tale."

"I told you that you needed to make some friends—nothing more."

"To be exact…", Chronicle spoke up as he stood straight. "You told her to 'stop reading those dusty old books', and you meant exactly that but she perceived it as an 'I don't believe you'. …Although you had that in mind, didn't you, Princess?"

Celestia gave a short nod. "Rather perceptive of you, Chronicle." The blue unicorn smiled sheepishly as the others stood up again and the princess turned to her student. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return, and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her." Twilight began to understand and so did Chronicle. "But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." She shared a look with the other five. "Now if only another will as well."

Everypony turned to one other part of the room, which was strewn with the smoking remains of Nightmare Moon’s armor. There lay a second winged unicorn mare lying unconscious amid the debris. She was considerably smaller than Celestia (but was still taller than the average pony), she had a blue-violet coat, lighter blue hair, and the same crescent-moon cutie mark as Nightmare. She wore a navy blue necklace depicting the crescent moon and a tiara of the same color behind her horn. Blue shoes covered her hooves, and her eyelids were shadowed in the same color as her mane.

"Princess Luna.", Celestia called out. The mare awoke with a gasp, revealing eyes that were the same shade of blue-green as Nightmare, but without the catlike pupil shape. She lifted her head as Celestia walked over to her, also revealing a small, navy-blue tiara behind her horn. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." Celestia then sat down in front of her. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."

"Sister?", the seven other ponies said.

"Oh, I think I get it.", Chronicle added as he and Twilight arrived at the same conclusion; Celestia and Luna were the two sisters in the legend, before the latter turned evil.

"Will you accept my friendship?", asked Celestia as she stood up.

Luna turned her face away as the suspense started to get the better of Twilight and company. They leaned in expectantly, with Pinkie going a little too far as she toppled to the floor. "Whoa!", she gasped.

Luna then made her move; she stood upright and nuzzled against her sister's chest as tears ran from both of their eyes. She is slightly more than half as tall as Celestia, her scared, quavering voice sounding closer to those of the seven ponies who have just taken down her Nightmare Moon form. "I’m so sorry!", she sobbed. "I missed you so much, big sister."

"I’ve missed you too.", Celestia replied.

Just then, somepony blew their nose, ruining the moment. Everypony turned to see that it was from Pinkie Pie, who had produced a handkerchief and was sobbing profusely into it. Waterfalls of tears cascaded from both eyes for a moment before she perked up to her usual happy demeanor. "Hey! You know what this calls for?"

"What?", Chronicle dared ask.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—PL

Back in Ponyville…

"A party!"

The village's meadowland, was fully decked out for a shindig and confetti and streamers rain down as Pinkie Pie and many other cheering locals raced through the meadow. A team of pegasus guards pulled a chariot bearing Celestia and Luna—on the ground, rather than in the air. The wheels had a sunburst design worked into the spokes and a crescent moon on the axle hub.

Spike bulled his way through the crowd to give Twilight the biggest hug he can manage, given his size, and all made obeisance to the sisters once they left the chariot. 

Prior to their return to Ponyville, Twilight and the other five mares—who have then been 'knighted' as the "Keepers of the Elements of Harmony"—have removed their jewelry and given them to Princess Celestia for safekeeping. The Sun Princess smiled gently as everypony bowed, while Luna seemed a bit uneasy before the crowd. Two pegasus fillies flew up to place a wreath of red and white roses around her neck and she directs an uncertain, slightly teary-eyed little smile at Celestia, not entirely understanding how she could be forgiven for everything she did, but accepting it all the same.

While all this happened Twilight and Chronicle now stood at a short distance and the former looked very downcast while the latter merely sighed. Celestia noticed her student's look and walked over to her.

"Why so glum, my faithful student?", she asked. "Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"

"That’s just it." Twilight then turned to the saddened others and Spike. "Just when I learn how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them."

"Spike, take a note, please." Upon hearing his name, as he stood between Applejack and Fluttershy, he took out a quill and scroll in hand and began to write. The Sun Princess began to dictate, “I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria.” The others began to brighten considerably. “She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville.”

The uncomprehending look on said unicorn’s face gave way to a grateful smile as the other five mobbed her, shouting congratulations. "Oh, thank you, Princess Celestia!", she cried out. "I’ll study harder than ever before!"

There were cheers all around as confetti and streamers rained down. However, there was still one more slightly disappointed face; Chronicle. As he walked away, Celestia noticed him leave.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—PL

During the party, but elsewhere away from it…

Chronicle was walking alone, just about to leave Ponyville and enter the road leading back to Canterlot when he suddenly felt a presence. He then turned around and was suddenly face-to-face with Princess Celestia. 

"Now, Chronicle.", she asked. "Why the sad face?"

"Well, your contract binding me to your student is over, Your Highness, so I don't have a reason to stay. Although, I might return to Ponyville someday.", he said. "Also, I feel a bit peeved that I hadn't received any award of any kind whereas the others did with their necklaces and tiara, not that I desire one. I just feel like I was merely 'along for the ride'."

"Well, I believe destiny has more in store for you, dear Chronicle."

"Maybe. While I did—and perhaps do—appreciate Twilight's company as well as her friends, I'm a pony who needs to work for a living. And while I can do odd jobs for bits, I can't really live on them alone, if you know what I mean." 

The Sun Princess nodded in reply as she then thought of something. "Hmm…is it permitted to start up another contract with you right after the previous one has ended?"

Chronicle put a hoof to his chin. "Now that you mention it…I guess it is. If not, perhaps your status could change that."

Celestia gave a short chuckle. "Well then, here's your new contract." She then conjured a scroll and 'gave' it to Chronicle, who opened it and read through it. After a full minute, he 'took out' an 'inked' quill from his "pocket of hammerspace", and signed the contract with an expression of satisfaction.

"You got yourself a deal. You can count on me." The contract then disappeared as he 'returned' his quill.

"So that mean's you're gonna stay?!", a voice came. He then felt that somepony was on his back. He turned his head to see that it was Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie?!", he gasped as he shook her off. "How long have you been listening?!"

"I heard the whole thing!" 

"My, you have a contract with the princess herself?!", another familiar voice came. "It seems that there's more to you than meets the eye."

He looked behind Celestia to see Rarity, who was the one who had spoken. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and even his former charge Twilight Sparkle were there as well and they all walked over to him, Celestia, and Pinkie.

"Wha…wh…" He turned to the Sun Princess, then gave a smile. He then turned to the purple unicorn. "Well, Twilight. Looks like I'm staying with you for a while longer." He was then mobbed by the six mares and as they cheered for him, and his smile widened, becoming more sincere. Heh. I was gonna make do with watching from a distance, but…thanks to my new contract, I think I can do my mission better. And besides, I could use some more…permanent friends.
> BONUS: Opening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A boy dressed in a Barong Tagalog walks in with a sheet of paper and makes his way to a pulpit and stood behind it.

"What am I doing here again? Oh right. Readers, this is nightelf37, writer of this fanfic. This is what I call an AMV in script form. I plan to 'write' the opening theme of the show (with my OC Chronicle implemented of course)."

The mysterious visitor from the previous chapters suddenly pops out from behind the boy.

"Hey! What's up?!"

"…Fine, Pinkie Pie. You now have the go."

"Thanks!" She then turns to the readers. "Hey there, readers! This idea nightelf37 has might be crazy, but there's a first for everything, you know. Now, sit back and enjoy."

Now Playing: My Little Pony Theme Song

{scene opens to reveal the "Twinkling Balloon" in front of the daytime sky, with Twilight Sparkle, Chronicle, and Spike as its passengers}

Twilight Sparkle: My Little Pony, My Little Pony♪

{Twilight looks around from the balloon as it descends into the clouds}

Other singers: Ahh ahh ahh ahhh…♪

{cloud obscures balloon from view, which Rainbow Dash then plows through, breaking it and revealing Ponyville}

Other singers: (My Little Pony)♪

{Rainbow makes a loop-de-loop as the 'camera' zooms in and enters tunnel vision, and exits it to show the balloon touching down}

Twilight Sparkle: I used to wonder what friendship could be♪

{Twilight jumps off the balloon just before it lands and trots forward; once the balloon does land, Chronicle jumps off immediately after his charge as Spike climbs out}

Other singers: (My Little Pony)♪

{Spike gets off of the balloon and runs to catch up with the two unicorns; close of Twilight's face as she lights up}

Twilight Sparkle: Until you all shared its magic with me♪

{As Chronicle catches up, camera turns around to show their friends ahead: (left to right) Pinkie Pie hops in place, Rarity makes a charming pose, Applejack looks ahead with one foreleg crossed over the other, Fluttershy simply looks cute as she looks sidelong at the camera, and Rainbow Dash flies in and stops just above the four}

Rainbow Dash: Big adventure♪

{In a sky backdrop, she flies in, then zooms off, leaving a rainbow trail, which covers the screen and serves as a screen transition}

Pinkie Pie: Tons of fun♪

{In a bakery of some kind, she blows a yellow balloon, which expands until it fills the whole screen as a transition, then bursts}

Rarity: A beautiful heart♪

{Inside her store, she flips her hair as she stares right into the camera; a twinkle emerges from her eye and serves as the screen transition}

Applejack: Faithful and strong♪

{Outside at the farm, she raises her hind legs and bucks a tree, sending down a bunch of apples, which serves as the  screen transition}

Fluttershy: Sharing kindness♪

{Just outside a house, she nudges an apple towards a white bunny; a swarm of butterflies fills the screen from below and serve as the screen transitiion}

Chronicle: It's an easy feat♪

{A distance from the library, he raises his hind legs and moves them to the left so that he now faces the 'camera', which then zooms out for a bit to reveal an empty area to his left}

Twilight Sparkle: And magic makes it all complete♪

{Twilight teleports into that spot and the camera zooms out more to reveal the rest of the gang; to the right are Applejack and Fluttershy, to the left are Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and above those two is Rainbow Dash; as the other five mares edge closer to Twilight, Chronicle lowers his head and body and looks ready to charge as he gives a grin}

Twilight Sparkle: You have...♪

All: ...my little ponies♪

{Spike pops out in front with a scroll and breathes green fire into it, sending the letter to the far-off city in the mountains; Canterlot}

Twilight Sparkle: Do you know you're all my very best…♪

All: …friends?♪

{cut to a throne room where Princess Celestia sits, two black unicorn guards a ways below her seat; the smoke that was Spike's letter flies over to the Princess, stops in front of her, and returns to its original form; Celestia then opens it with her magic and a smile; the scroll possesses a picture depicting Twilight and company posed together, with Chronicle positioned in front and sitting close to Rarity and Fluttershy}

{cut to the show's title, which has an added yellow box above reading "Shisno Chronicles", then switches to the text "Made for Television by Lauren Faust", then to the text (in the same format as before) "Fanfic written by nightelf37"; fade to black}

End Song

A movie projector turns off, revealing to have played the opening theme.

"I know I know some of the areas already, but I decided not to mention them just because."

"See ya on Third!", Pinkie Pie says. "Now what does that mean?"
> Chapter 6: Boast Busters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6: Boast Busters

In the Books and Branches Library…

"Come on, Twilight. You can do it!" Spike was concentrating intently on something and facing Twilight Sparkle, who was preparing to cast a spell of sorts. They were in the upper-story room, where their beds were.

"Okay.", said the unicorn. "Here goes." She squeezed her eyes shut and fired up her horn; as its glow built up, the radiance also started to emerge around Spike’s nose and chin. In one quick pop, he has grown a bushy black mustache. 

"Ha-ha! You did it!" Spike then turned to a checklist set up on an easel and ticked off an entry. "Growing magic. That’s number twenty-five. Twenty-five different types of tricks, and counting." His 'mistress' allowed herself an embarrassed little smile and blush as her assistant looked himself over in a nearby mirror. "And I think this is the best trick so far. Hel-lo, Rarity!" As he stroked his mustache, his eyes then popped. "What’s that? Aw, it’s nothin’, just my awesome mustache." He added a chuckle.

"Sorry, Romeo. As attractive and enticing as you look, it’s just for practice and it’s gotta go." One again, her horn glowed.

"Wait!" Unfortunately, hands over the facial hair did nothing to stop the magic from erasing the mustache. "Aw, rats."

Twilight laughed softly at that, then said, "Wait. Where's Chronicle?"


TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S

[screen mode]

{Cut to a dark expanse. Ripples appear from the right as if the 'ground' were calm water recently disturbed. 'Camera' pans right to reveal Chronicle in the center of the source of the ripples. His eyes are closed as he was deep in thought.}

Chronicle: Hmm…It's been three days since I've accepted the new contract. I wonder how things will go? Isolation doesn't seem to be an option as friendship is definitely a powerful source of magic. Besides, even though not all of them do, my colleagues have been bonding with the natives they've been assigned to watch over, so why shouldn't I?

{All of a sudden, the ripples become irregular and the area begins to shake. A female voice could be heard.}

???: Chronicle.

Chronicle: Huh?

{Screen wavers as it transitions to a view of the bed Twilight slept on in "Mare In The Moon".}

[end screen mode]

Chronicle was snoozing on his bed, which was foot to foot with Twilight's, lying on his belly. He was also drooling, which irked his waker to no end. Twilight decided to shake a bit rougher. 

"Chronicle!", she called again, but the stallion refused to wake, although he did shake a bit. She turned to her assistant. "Spike?"

"Okay.", the baby dragon conceded as he procured a pin and then poked him in the croup. This got him wide awake as he jolted up from the bed with a start.

"Aaagh!" As Chronicle fell onto the bed again, he turned sheepishly to his charge. "Sorry again, Twilight." He let out a yawn.

"And I thought you'd be over it by now after being my bodyguard for a month.", his charge replied.

"Yeah, I really should try to go to sleep early next time. I think our trip to the Everfree Forest has left my body clock out of whack."

"But none of us had such problems."

"I bet the Elements had something to do with that." Chronicle got off the bed as Twilight proceeded to 'fix it up'. "In any case, I'll try to break out of my oversleeping habit. I lost a small number of contracts that way, although I have never, ever slept on the job."


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Later that day…

The three of them were walking down a busy Ponyville street.

"Twenty-five, Twilight.", Spike was saying. "Twenty-five different kinds of tricks, and counting. I thought unicorns were only supposed to have a little magic that matches their special talents."

As they did that, Chronicle greeted each of the ponies whom they have bypassed. He greeted a pale amber pegasus pony with a mussed up pink-and-pale raspberry hair, rose eyes, and three tornadoes as a cutie mark by the name Dizzy Twister. He greeted a brown earth pony with medium gray hair, cyan eyes, and a grayish-olive hat, but couldn't remember his name at the moment and was also curious as to why he had no cutie mark. 

"Hey there, Dizzy Twister.", he said to the pegasus, then turned to the earth pony. "Hey there." He also greeted Heartstrings (by the name Lyra) and Golden Harvest as they bypassed them as well.

"True, for ponies whose talents are for things like cooking or singing or math.", Twilight replied to her assistant. "But what if a unicorn’s special talent is magic?"

"Like you, Twilight. And you know a ton of magic."

Twilight gave a laugh. "Oh, Spike, stop. I’m sure there are lots of ponies right here in Ponyville that know just as much magic as me." She glanced at a pegasus pony who bypassed them. She had an arctic blue coat, baby blue eyes, dark teal hair, and a raining cloud cutie mark.

"Good day to you, Medley.", Chronicle greeted the pegasus, who raised a hoof in return of the greeting.

"Are you kiddin’?", Spike replied to his 'boss' as they and Chronicle slowed to a stop. "I don’t think there’s another unicorn in all of Equestria with your kind of ability, Twilight."

"I kinda have to agree with him on that. Of all the unicorn ponies I've had contracts with, you're the only one who knows more magic than I do, Twilight. And I am rather diverse. So far, you're the only one who exceeds me in that. You can learn just about anything, while combat and other miscellaneous necessities that can help with it are all I can learn. Well, either that, or my previous charges never had the need to show off more than they needed to."

"Gangway!", a voice came. Chronicle noted whoever spoke didn't seem to be bright as the three turned to see two young young unicorn colts in full gallop. 

The shorter and chubbier of the two was bucktoothed, had a light blue-green coat, messy yellow-brown hair, and a pair of scissors as his cutie mark. The other, taller and thinner, had a yellow-tan coat, birdcatcher spots near his eyes, and equally unkempt light green hair that are slightly longer than his counterpart. His cutie mark was a snail. Both of them had beady black eyes and the shorter of the two sported thick brown eyebrows as well.

"Comin’ through!", the taller colt added as they barreled past with enough speed to blow the two older unicorns' hair sideways while Spike found himself being bulldozed along on the shorter colt's head.

"Snips! Snails! What’s going on?", he asked them. They answered by skidding to a stop, throwing him clear.

"What, haven’t you heard?", the taller colt, Snails, said as Spike crashed somewhere. "There is a new unicorn in town!"

"Yeah!", agreed the shorter colt, Snips, as he bounced on his hooves as if he was high with sugar. "They say that she’s got more magical powers than any other unicorn ever!"

As Snips spoke, Twilight and Chronicle approached the two colts as Spike did the same as he rubbed his head. "Oh, really?", the stallion asked.

"No way.", scoffed the baby dragon. "That honor goes to Twilight here." As he raised an arm to her, she smiled and blushed. "And I'd say Chronicle comes to a close second." He was earned a harsh look from the stallion.

"Where is this unicorn?"

"Oh, she’s in the town square.", Snails answered. "Come on!" He then galloped off. 

"Yeah! Come on!", Snips agreed as he followed with an excited yell as Twilight, Chroniclle, and Spike raced after him a moment later. 


C—TS—S—S—S—C—TS—S—S—S

Shortly…

There was a wagon trailer set up in front of the town square pavilion, presenting its side to the sizable crowd gathered before it. Chronicle could head a female voice ringing out over the scene, sounding very dramatic and over the top, as he, Twilight, Spike made their way to the front. Twilight's friends were at the front of the crowd.

"Come one, come all!", the voice said. "Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

During this line, the trailer reconfigured itself. One, the side wall flipped down to become a stage backed by a dark blue curtain, and two wings folded out to extend its length. Two, the ends swung out, exposing three brass horns mounted on each. Three, the roof popped up and several bits of overhead scenery extended over the stage: rocket, planet and stars, spiral, stars, and magic wand. Then, a blast of glittering blue smoke went off on the stage. 

Once it cleared, a bright blue mare stood smiling at the crowd. Her hair was two lighter shades of blue, and she wore a blue-violet wizard’s hat and cape covered with stars. The cape was secured by a jeweled brooch at her throat. Her eyes were a vivid shade of violet, and her cutie mark was a star-tipped wand spreading stardust, revealed when her cape blew backward. Trixie has just made her grand arrival, prompting awed murmurs from the crowd.

"Watch in awe as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!", she then said as she raised herself so that she stood on her hind legs. Fireworks then erupted from the stage, but Rarity seemed to be far from impressed.

"My, my, my.", she said. "What boasting."

"Come on.", Spike replied. "Nopony’s as magical as Twi…" He then nearly had a fit upon realizing that he was speaking to the pony he wanted to impress with his mustache earlier. "Twi…Twi…oh!" He then blushed a bit, as he cleared his throat. "H-Hey, Rarity, I, uh…mustache!" he then ran off in a panic as his two companions took his place.

"There’s nothing wrong with being talented, is there?", Twilight asked.

"Nothin’ at all…", Applejack said as she eyed Trixie, who conjured up a bouquet of flowers. "’ceptin’ when someone goes around showin’ it off like a school-filly with fancy new ribbons!"

"Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does not make one better than the rest of us.", Rarity added.

"Don't let it go to your heads, girls.", Chronicle told them. "She's a showpony, a street performer, a traveling magician. It's in her job description to show off. I've seen her kind a few times. Besides, it's not like you have to watch her."

Unfortunately, as Twilight hunched down and let her ears droop sheepishly, his words fell on deaf ears as Rainbow Dash then spoke up. 

"Especially when you got me around being better than the rest of us!", she said with a chuckle, then stopped herself as Applejack glared daggers at her. "Uh…I mean…yeah, uh, magic, schmagic! BOOOO!" She gave a sidelong glance at the still-disapproving farmpony.

"Well, well, well. It seems we have some ne-e-eigh-sayers in the audience.", remarked Trixie. "Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? " There were assorted reactions of disgust, annoyance, confusion, and awe from everypony, the last of which came only from Snips and Snails. "Do they not know that they’re in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?"

If only she knew who we really are, she wouldn't be so brash., Chronicle thought. Too bad the only ones allowed to know of our vanquishing of Nightmare Moon are Ponyville and Canterlot Castle.

Rarity gave a raspberry. "Just who does she think she is?" Spike then elbowed up between her and Twilight.

"Yeah.", agreed Spike. "Since we all know that Twilight here is—"

"Spike, shhh!" The purple unicorn then pushed him well away from the spectacle for a private chat and both kept their voices down. 

"What? What’s wrong?"

"You see the way they reacted to Trixie? I don’t want anyone thinking I’m a showoff." Once again, the performer’s fireworks went off, more energetically than before. 

All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash then flew into the stage, fed up by Trixie's stunts. "So, Great and Powerful Trixie, what makes you think you’re so awesome, anyway?", she asked.

Trixie answered by putting a hoof to her face with a disdainful laugh, then spoke with mounting fervor. "Why, only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish…the dreaded Ursa Major!"

Fireworks blasted from the horns at one end of the stage, decorating the sky with the outline of a huge bear whose forehead is marked with a starburst. Its head and tail moved in a way that Chronicle alluded it to a neon sign. There were gasps and murmurs all around.

"What?!", Snips gasped.

"No way!", Snails gasped.

"When all hope was lost, the ponies of Hoofington had no one to turn to.", Trixie continued her story as a figure of herself then approached the Ursa, wand at the ready. As she continues, it stood pat before the beast’s swipes and cast a spell, causing it to fizzle out and disappear in a shower of sparks. "But the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the Ursa Major and sent it back to its cave, deep within the Everfree Forest!"

That's nothing. I went hoof-to-hoof with Nightmare Moon, who cetainly can give the Ursa Major a run for its money. Granted, she went easy on me, but still…

"Suh-weet!", cried out the two colts.

"That settles it!", added Snips.

As the magician stood proudly, Snails walked closer to the stage and gestured to her as he spoke. "Trixie truly is the most talented, most magical, most awesome unicorn in Ponyville!", he said.

Snipped popped up next to him. "No! In all of Equestria!" At that time, Twilight and Spike had returned to the crowd.

"How do you know?", Spike objected. "You didn’t see it! And besides, Twi—" He was cut off as his mouth was literally zipped shut by the unicorn he was about to mention.

"They're just children, Spike.", Chronicle told him. "They don't know any better."

Trixie gave out a laugh. "It’s true, my enthusiastic little admirers. Trixie is most certainly the best in Ponyville!"

She was answered by dead silence from the crowd as crickets chirped. Even though it was still early in the day for them to do that.

"Just let her brag, everypony. Just let her brag." Although I think she's taking a step too far here.

"Don’t believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Well, then, I hereby challenge you Ponyvillians. Anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone, hmm?" There was no answer from anypony. "Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived?"

Once again, she rose to her hind legs, and there came another fusillade of fireworks, the most elaborate so far, after which Spike unzipped his lip and threw himself at Twilight’s hooves, sobbing.

"Please! She’s unbearable! You gotta show her! You just gotta!"

"There’s no way I’m gonna use my magic now, Spike.", he was answered. "Especially since—"

She was cut off by Trixie as she scanned the crowd. "Hmmm…how about…you?" She then pointed at Twilight, who swallowed hard. 


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—S—S—T

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Trixie onstage on the right pointing a hoof at a nervous Twilight Sparkle on the left. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—S—S—T

After pointing at the purple unicorn, Trixie strode confidently toward the edge of the stage. 

"Well, how about it, hmmm? Is there anything you can do that the Great and Powerful Trixie can’t?", she dared.

"I, uh, I… "

"Well, little hayseed?"

Before an answer could be given, Applejack spoke up. "That’s it! I can’t stand for no more of this!"

"You show her, AJ!", Spike called out as the farmpony walked up on stage.

"Can your magical powers do this?" Applejack began her 'performance'. She twirled a lasso around herself at floor level with her tail. She hoisted the loop clear of the boards, then worked it forward and backward. There was a chorus of "oohs" from the crowd. 

An expert flick of the blond tail then sent the lasso flying to snag an apple off a tree. The rope loosened on the return trip so that the fruit landed squarely in her mouth. After a quick chew and swallow, the crowd voiced its approval. 

Applejack then turned to face Trixie. "Top that, missy!"

In response, the magician's hat began to glow in the same color as Trixie's eyes. "Oh, ye of little talent." Her hat was then lifted clear of her head, fully exposing her horn and mane, the latter of which curled slightly. "Watch and be amazed at the magic of Trixie!"

One end of the now-untied rope began to glow in the same aura as it sinuously off the stage, just like how snake charmers do it. It swayed back and forth before Applejack’s face, catching her attention as the other end of the rope pulled a second apple from the tree. The first end then lashed toward Applejack’s hooves and hogtied her, briefly lifting her upside down off the stage before dropping her on her back. Then, once she fell on the stage floor, the apple was stuffed whole into her mouth. The crowd laughed and cheered as the farmpony hobble-hopped away.

I'll admit that was neat.

"Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie prevails.", the magician declared. Just then, Rainbow Dash flew right up to Trixie's face. 

"There’s no need to go strutting around and showing off like that!"

"Oh?"

"That’s my job." Rainbow then went off into a speeding charge and set a windmill spinning at an insanely high speed as she grabbed one vane. The machine then pitched her skyward when she let go; punching neat holes through a long row of clouds. The self-assured aviator hovered briefly before the sun so that it silhouetted her form. 

Her next move was a screaming dive that carried her through the holes she punched and down to the same windmill, a few droplets of moisture following her from the clouds. When she repeated the grab-release maneuver, the vanes flung her straight back to the stage, where she skidded to a stop and let the trailing droplets scatter off her back, resulting in a a small rainbow forming over her head.

“They don’t call me 'Rainbow' and 'Dash' for nothing.”

Once again, the crowd cheered from the display while Trixie seemed unperturbed. "When Trixie is through, the only thing they’ll call you is 'loser'!"

Her horn then glowed as she shot a beam at the rainbow, making it wrap its creator up in a little tornado and carry her yelling into the sky. The cyclone veered madly in all directions before hitting the ground upside down and flying away. 

Rainbow wound up lying on her face in the dirt, her eyes jittering and her body bent upward as if sprawled against an invisible wall. "I think I’m gonna be sick."

"Seems like anypony with a dash of good sense would think twice before tussling with the Great Trixie." On the end of this, she cast another spell as Rainbow got upright and fumbled her way to a now-untied Applejack and the crowd. A black cloud appeared overhead and zapped the pegasus in the rump with a lightning bolt. There was laughter from all from the resulting yelp.

That's not 'better', as Trixie supposedly claims.

"What we need is another unicorn to challenge her!", Spike said as he elbowed Twilight’s leg. "Someone with some magic of their own?"

"Yeah!", Rainbow agreed as she moved towards Chronicle. "A unicorn to show this unicorn who’s boss!"

"A real unicorn-to-unicorn tussle!", added Applejack as Spike eyed Twilight expectantly.

"Uh…", the purple unicorn uttered.

"I'm not about to upstage such a braggart.", her bodyguard whispered. "Won't be fair for a stallion to best a mare, now would it?" Or are gender standards flipped here, where the female is genetically dominant over the male, considering the Princess and all?

Rarity then stepped up. "Enough. Enough, all of you. I take your hint, but Rarity is above such nonsense. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace."

"Ooh, what’s the matter?", Trixie taunted. "Afraid you’ll get a hair out of place in that rat’s nest you call a mane?"

Uh oh., Chronicle groaned as Rarity took the bait.

"Oh, it is on!" Now onstage and circling Trixie, the aspiring designer regained the bulk of her composure. "You may think you’re tough with all of your so-called powers, but there is more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle." Her horn proceeded to glow as she 'pulled off' the curtain. "A unicorn needs to have style." The curtain then wrapped itself into a tight whirl around her body, and a flash clears it away to show the results. She now wore a blue gown trimmed in gold, complete with saddle, that left her forelegs bare, and her mane has been styled into a tall bouffant.

Over the crowd’s "oohs", she continued, "A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty." Trixie just smirked and readied herself for another spell. 

"Rarity won’t let Trixie get the best of her!", Spike said in a lovestruck manner. "She’s strong, she’s beautiful…" There came a flash and his eyes widened in disbelief. "…she’s…" His jaw then dropped, the crowd mirroring his sentiments in face and voice. 

"QUICK!!", Rarity panicked. "I NEED A MIRROR!! GET ME A MIRROR!! What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair!" 

Twilight was trying not to laugh as she answered, "Nothing." 

Rainbow Dash was doing the same. "It’s fine." 

Applejack was feeling unsettled. "It’s gorgeous!" 

Chronicle had a hoof on his face. "I'm not gonna warrant an answer."

Spike was stunned. "It’s green." Instantly, the others mares glared at him. "What?"

Rarity's mane was indeed green, and in two different shades at that. It was also a piled-up mess, with a twig and a few berries caught in it, as well as a couple of tails protruding from the uppermost reaches. 

Apparently, Trixie decided to act on that “rat’s nest” crack. Not 'better' than what Rarity did either.

"No! Green hair! Not green hair!", Rarity lamented as she dashed through the crowd, shuddering. "Such an awful, awful color!"

Seriously? Her hair being green should be the least of her problems.

As she sobbed and galloped away, she bypassed Golden Harvest, whose hair was now green instead of her usual orange.

"Well, I never!", she cried out in offense. In an instant, Chronicle was suddenly there next to her.

"How'd you change your hair color so easily?", he asked her. "By the way, I can't call you Carrot Top now that you're not…well…" He then glanced at the green hair.

"Oh, is that so? Now that I think of it, orange hair works best for me."

Meanwhile, back at the front…

"Well, Twilight, I guess it’s up to you.", said Spike as Trixie blew a bit of dust off one hoof. "Come on. Show her what you’re made of." 

Twilight smiled nervously. "What do you mean? I’m nothing special."

"Yes, you are! You’re better than her!"

"I’m not better than anyone!"

"Ha!", Trixie suddenly said as she approached the edge of her stage. "You think you’re better than the Great and Powerful Trixie? You think you have more magical talent?" She was now close enough to glower over the boards at the frightened challenger and the defiant little dragon. "Well, come on. Show Trixie what you’ve got. Show us all."

The full weight of the crowd’s gaze bore down on Twilight for a moment. "Who, me?" She was obviously trying to play it off. "I’m just your run-of-the-mill citizen of Ponyville. No powerful magic here. I, uh…I think I hear my laundry calling. Sorry, gotta go." She then suddenly galloped away from the scene, leaving a bunch of very confused ponies and one disappointed assistant.

"Twilight…?", Spike uttered as Trixie sucked in a disdainful gasp.

"Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria." Trixie then turned to walk off. "Was there ever any doubt?" 

"As a matter of fact, there still is.", a voice came.

Trixie stopped turned her head to the other side of the stage…and saw Chronicle facing her. "Well, well, well." Trixie turned her body to completely face him. "Looks like somepony can't tell when she's out of her league."

"Well, after insulting some of my friends, I just feel like either teaching you your place or at least get my share of humiliation." His horn then proceeded to glow.

"Even after it's apparent that no mare can stand a chance against the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"Whatever made you think I was a mare?" Chronicle raised an eyebrow as Trixie paused in slight surprise. He now knew that he got her. "Just about everypony thinks I'm a girl at first sight when in truth I'm actually a guy." There was a semi-collective gasp from the audience. "Well, looks like I got quite the reaction. The real reason why I'm here however is because of your claim."

"Oh, and what might that be?"

"The claim that anything any of us can do, you can do better. Well, as far as I can tell, you only proved that true once with the rope trick. For those other times, you just twisted their tricks against them, hardly besting them if you ask me."

Trixie made a smug face. "What makes you think you can do better than those losers?"

"Well…" All of a sudden, Chronicle 'unsheathed' his signature "magic horn blade". "Let's see if you can best me in a duel."

"If you put it that way, looks like Trixie has no choice."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—S—S—T

The duel had resulted in something awkward. Chronicle was finding himself in an embarrassing situation again and again. Currently, he lay on his back and was looking at Trixie upside-down. While the performance was admittedly interesting, it was taking too much of their time and they had to leave. Spike left as well, most likely to try and convince Twilight to challenge Trixie, which was highly unlikely.

"Had enough yet?", the stage magician asked in a haughty manner, slightly panting. She was answered by him swiftly getting up on his feet in one swift movement.

"How about that?", he challenged. "Can you do better?" He was answered with her turning her head towards something on the stage wall. He followed her gaze and saw an analog clock.

"Even the Great and Powerful Trixie has her limits. Four challenges in a row, especially when the last one is somepony as stubborn as yourself, can render even Trixie exhausted. Besides…" She then turned to the few ponies who were left watching. "It's apparent she has obviously wasted far too much time."

"I understand." Chronicle then turned to leave. "Perhaps we can continue our duel another time. And next time…" He then paused and turned back to Trixie. "I won't go as easy." This got him the reaction he expected; an attempt to conceal her shock. "See you around." With that, his horn glowed again and he teleported away.

He reemerged somewhere behind the stage, where no one could see him. Okay. That didn't go as well as I hoped. In fact, I think I screwed up somewhere there. Guess it can't be helped. He then smacked himself in the face with his hoof.


C—T—C—T—C—T—C—T—C—T

A while later…

Trixie's stage and all its effects have since been packed away back into its trailer form. Chronicle didn't have any tasks from Twilight Sparkle for the day, as she has left most of it to Spike, whom she trusts more on certain matters in spite of the fact he can do them better. Currently, he was walking absently across the street.

I'm bored. Bored out of my skull. Trying to do that with Trixie certainly didn't sate my 'appetite'. Maybe I can do an odd job or two, but where's Ponyville's Request Board? His eyes scanned the area for it. He located a bulletin board in the town square. Oho-ho-ho! There it is!

He trotted up to a nearby board, full of paper, bulletins, and the like. Request Boards like this one provide odd jobs or side jobs other ponies like himself can do if one's looking for a quick bit to nab. However, unlike the Request Boards at Canterlot, there weren't many…requests up.

He saw some of the usual; item requests, part-time jobs, deliveries, finding lost pets. There were also a few dangerous ones like a fetch quest for monster parts like a manticore tail, escort missions, bodyguarding (which he can't take), and bounty hunts.

He scanned the posted requests, looking for something he can complete in an hour or two. Eventually, he located something worthwhile:


HELP WANTED:

Missing Cat: Ebony

REWARD: 21 Bits


Along with the request was a picture of the cat. From what he could tell, he couldn't discern its breed, but it looked like the stereotypical "bad luck" cat. Not that he normally believed in such things, but it pays to be cautious.

He then looked at the address below. Hmm…if I remember correctly, I think this is where Bon Bon lives. Well, first thing's first. I should go ask them where she was last seen. He took the paper advertising the request, then made his way to one of the many houses in Ponyville. He then trotted up to the welcome mat, which depicted Bon Bon's cutie mark, brushed up his hooves on it, then rapped at the door. 

To his surprise, it wasn't Bon Bon who answered the door, but—

"Lyra?!"

"Oh, Chronicle.", the mint green unicorn greeted back. "What brings you here?"

"I accepted a request on the Request Board about a missing cat named Ebony." He levitated the poster.

"Oh, you're here to help me? Thanks."

"You're welcome, I guess. I came here to ask where you last saw her…or him."

"Ebony's a boy, I last saw him headed for the marketplace."

"You have anything he owns or has made contact with? I think I know of a spell that can pinpoint his location, although I'll admit I'm still not that good at it."

"Sorry, but I can't help you there. He should be easy to find, though. Here. Use this." Lyra levitated a small pouch and 'passed' it over to Chronicle.

"What's this? Catnip?"

"Yeah. Along with a special treat Bon Bon makes for him. Good luck."


C—LH—C—LH—C—LH—C—LH—C—LH

Fifteen minutes later…

He was hot on the cat's trail. He had managed to catch sight of the feline, but like all cats, they proved difficult to catch. He had done only two such requests before back at Canterlot, and both proved more troublesome than they were worth. 

He pursued Ebony all the way to a small shop. As he went closer, he could see a black unicorn stallion in charge of the store. He had spiky grey hair, blue eyes, and a sheathed sword cutie mark. Curious. Before he could get bast the shop's counter, the black stallion stopped him with a blue wall of magic. Chronicle slammed into it and reeled back from the impact.

"Hold on there, miss.", he said. "What's the rush?"

"I'm after a cat that went in your store, and you should be calling me 'mister'. I'm a stallion."

"Okay. Sorry about that, mis…ter. Let me find that cat for you. You wait here."

"Oh, all right." As the shopkeeper went deep into his store, Chronicle took the time to see what was for sale. On display were an array of weapons and armor of all sorts, though nothing flashy or expensive-looking. There were also a few kitchen knives, hatchets, and hammers. After a while, the shopkeeper returned, Ebony beside him in a blue aura.

"Here ya go.", he said as he 'passed' the feline to Chronicle, who then took out the pouch and shook it in front of Ebony. The cat seemed elated and began to 'swim' for the pouch. Chronicle let him do so and as the cat then dug himself in, the blue unicorn turned to the shopkeeper.

"Interesting store you got here.", he commented.

"Thanks. I'm an armor and weapons trader. Not that many need such around these parts."

"In spite of the fact that there's the Everfree Forest nearby?"

"Well, monsters rarely leave the forest and almost nopony has a good reason to go there."

"I see. Well, your merchandise looks interesting."

"Glad you like it. The name's Graphite." The black unicorn extended a hoof.

"Chronicle." The blue unicorn returned the greeting. "Well, it was nice talking to you, but I need to return this cat now." He then turned to leave.

"I hope to see you again sometime.", Graphite called back.

Still 'carrying' Ebony, Chronicle left Graphite's store and returned to Bon Bon's house without so much as a hitch. Once again, he knocked on the door. This time, it was Bon Bon who answered.

"Oh. Hi there, Chronicle.", the earth pony greeted.

"Hey, Bon Bon. Is Heartstrings here?"

Bon Bon turned around as if to call someone inside the house. "Lyra?! I believe somepony has found your cat!" Hoofsteps on wood can be heard as Lyra then emerged into view, a small pouch of bits levitated next to her in a gold aura.

"Here's your pay, Chronicle.", Lyra said as Chronicle 'passed' the cat to her. "And thanks for finding Ebony for me."

"You're welcome." Chronicle then turned to leave. I wonder what other jobs I could take?


C—LH—BB—G—C—LH—BB—G—C—LH—BB—G

Evening…

Chronicle had finished a couple more requests and now had a generous amount of bits. Currently, he was looking at one peculiar poster. Well, it wasn't exactly peculiar, but it did interest him. It seemed to be an job application of sorts. A unicorn pony named Mystic Shield was searching for soempony who can help him start up a small dojo called "Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns". He was due to be ready in a few days.

Looks like an interesting venture. I think I'll go contact this Mystic Shield some other time. All of a sudden, there was a rumble in the ground. This can't be good. It was then followed by a roar. This can't be good at all. I better investigate if it's a threat.

And with that, Chronicle galloped off to the source of the sound. On the way, a minute after bypassing Trixie's trailer, Snips and Snails were about to bypass him when he 'stopped' them short with his magic.

"What's the trouble, boys?", he asked. Darn, that sounded ridiculous.

"Can’t talk now!", said Snips.

"Got a major problem!", said Snails.

"Yeah! Ursa Major, to be exact!"

"Wait, what?"

There was another roar and it caught him off guard such that he 'let go' of the two colts, who bolted straight for Trixie's trailer. He then looked ahead to see something emerging from the Everfree Forest. From what little he could discern, there seemed to be a gargantuan bear creature with red eyes (and orange sclera), a starburst on its head, and a twinkling blue body. For a moment, he could swear it was translucent. Then, he realized what it was.

Aw, hay no! It's an Ursa—


C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The Ursa emerging from the Everfree Forest. The show's logo is seen on the upper right.


C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S

The second he saw the bear creature, he quickly cast a spell and in a flash, there was a copy of himself right in front of him. It was slightly translucent so that only a keen-eyed pony could tell him apart from the real him. He had to be careful, though. It costs him a generous amount of magic to create a magic clone, and it is incapable of much physical interaction; that is, the copy cannot physically lift, push, pull, or do anything slightly strenuous. While the copy is capable of using the same spells as he, it can only withstand one strong hit before dissipating. At present, he can only make one, but thankfully one was enough for what he needed to do.

"Go and stall the Ursa!", he ordered. Immedately, his copy nodded and ran off to the woods. As for Chronicle himself, he went and followed Snips and Snails. He saw them pounding frantically on the door of Trixie's wagon, the top half of which was half open.

"Trixie! Come out! Trixie!", yelled Snails.

"Trixie, help! You gotta help us!", yelled Snips.

Just as Chronicle arrived, the stage magician finally appeared, putting her head out through the open top half and looking very cross. She wasn't wearing her hat and cape. "Trixie thought she said the Great and Powerful Trixie did not want to be disturbed!" 

Snips began to laugh nervously. "W-We…we have a...a tiny problem." 

"Actually, it’s a big one.", corrected Snails.

"What is so important that you cannot wait until morning to disturb Trixie?!"

"One word.", said Chronicle. "Ursa."

There was a bellow that followed a heart-stopping instant later. The Ursa emerged from the woods, approaching fast. Down on all fours, it stood as tall as the Ponyville houses. It made another hearty roar, which was enough to make Trixie fling the bottom half of the door open, knocking away the two grinning idiots, and send her off in a screaming panic. Once Snips and Snails got up, they did likewise. Chronicle followed as well just before one mighty paw stomped the trailer into kindling wood. As the Ursa roared again, Chronicle's copy rush in from behind.

"Hey, short-tail! Yoo-hoo! Over here!", he cried out in an attempt to catch the Ursa's attention, which was in vain so far. "So that's how you want it, eh?" The copy then decided to jump onto the Ursa's back in an attempt to shake it off as it reached the town square, where the real him was 'cornered' alongside the colts and Trixie.

"Great and Powerful Trixie!", called out Snips. "You’ve got to vanquish the Ursa!" 

"Yeah, vanquish so we can watch!", agreed Snails.

The two blue adult unicorns got a good look at the the menacing ursine visage, saliva dripping from its jaws. "It took a lot of trouble to get that thing here!"

Needless to say, Trixie was shocked. "Wait! You brought this here? Are you out of your little pony minds?!" 

"But…you’re the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Yeah, remember?", reminded Snails. "You defeated an Ursa Major!"

"You still believe in that stuff?!", yelled Chronicle. He then turned to Trixie. "You should run! My duel with you showed only a fraction of my powers. I can handle this."

"Stand back!", the stage magician declared. "Let Trixie show you all what she can do."

Is she for real? Let's see if she's really great and powerful... "…Okay, sure."

Trixie was surprised with the easy answer. "Wait, what?"

"You said you'd handle it. I'm letting you. Go for it." With that, Chronicle stepped back in between Snips and Snails. A risky gambit, I'll admit, but I can deal with that Ursa should she fail. It's only a question of whether or not taking it down permanently is A-okay.

Trixie's first move was to levitate a piece of rope from a nearby vase. She then wrapped it around part of the Ursa's body, then voiced a relieved sigh and smiled thinly. "Piece of cake."

"Oh, really?", snarked Chronicle as it turned out that she has only bound two of the digits on one forepaw. The Ursa snapped them loose without trouble, causing her two fans to lose some of their ardor.

"Aw, come on, Trixie!", complained Snips.

"Stop goofin’ around and vanquish it, eh?", added Snails.

Trixie shuddered, gave another gulp, then had another go at it. This time, her magic called up a storm cloud that cracked out lightning—but only over the Ursa’s tail. It had no effect aside from Chronicle's magic copy still struggling.

"Well, that was a dud.", said Snails.

"Yeah!", agreed Snips as he then gave a raspberry. "Come on! Where’s all the cool explosions and smoke and stuff like earlier, you know?"

"I think it's obvious that the 'cool explosions' were just props.", put in Chronicle. "And I'm sure they would actually be really useful right about now." Lightning struck the beast squarely on the rump, leaving a charred patch of fur and doing very little to improve its disposition. The magic copy remained unharmed. "Too bad the trailer's crushed thanks to you two!" The Ursa then opened its slavering jaws wide toward the four unicorns.

"Uh-oh.", gulped Trixie. As the Ursa bellowed in rage, she, Snails, and Snips bailed out, galloping through its legs. 

"Looks like it's up to me." Chronicle then fired up his horn for a spell. "Get over here!"

The Ursa raised a paw and swiped at the stallion, who 'flash-stepped' back, then 'fired' a volley of star-shaped blasts. He then started to run around the Ursa and his magic copy jumped down to do the same. The Ursa gave out another bellow as one of them tried to lure it to the forest with taunts.

Suddenly, as would be expected, lights went on in windows all over Ponyville as the noise and tremors ruin a good night’s sleep. As an unsettled crowd gathered, the Ursa shifted its attention to one of the houses and chomped into a roof, sending the ponies into a panicked stampede. 

Still, Chronicle refused to give up. Together with his copy, they fire more star-shaped blasts at the Ursa in an attempt to catch its attention. They managed to do so, but they could not have foreseen what was about to happen next. The Ursa raised its forepaws, and swiped to grab at them. Chronicle himself teleported out just in time, but his magic clone wasn't as lucky. The Ursa then hurled the copy skyward as the real Chronicle decided to follow it.

Elsewhere, Twilight Sparkle, with Spike on her back, met them coming the other way; after she has galloped through them, she hit the brakes and shifted direction. A moment later, she found Snips, Snails, and Trixie. Before she could ask any of them, she saw Chronicle falling right for them. The instant he smacked the ground however, he disppeared in a series of twinkles.

"CHRONICLE!!", she and Spike cried out. A second later, they saw him galloping straight for them. Needless to say, they were surprised. "How… But we just…"

"I forgot I never told you I could make a magical clone of myself.", he said. "Took a good while to learn it. I can only make one, though."

"What’s going on here?"

"We brought an Ursa to town!", Snips answered for him with a laugh.

Twilight turned to face the colt. "You what?!?"

"Don’t worry, the Great and Powerful Trixie’ll vanquish it!", assured Snails.

They all turned to her, who was just a few paces away—and wishing she had never brought her show to Ponyville in the first place. She then hung her head sadly. "I can’t.", she answered.

"What?!", the two colts gasped.

"I can’t, I never have. No one can vanquish an Ursa Major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better."

"Made it up?!"

"She's a showpony.", said Chronicle. "That's part of her job!" He then turned to Trixie. "Although I'll have to say the Ursa Major tale was too tall a one to make. There are plenty more less dangerous but still amazing claims out there, you know."

Just then, the Ursa made its presence known, towering over a nearby house to perhaps twice its height, blocking out the moon. Twilight’s eyes grew to saucer-size and she gritted her teeth to the breaking point; the forepaws of the beast came up and the roar was loud enough to shake all Equestria. There was panic from all the spectators, including Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, the last’s mane already restored to normal. Spike gave Twilight an elbow in the ribs and gestured toward the impending destruction. 

“Like it or not, you’re up.”, Chronicle told his charge. "I was considering taking down the beast permanently, but…"

Twilight gave her two male companions an uncertain look, then closed her eyes and swallowed hard. When she opened them again, steely resolve has written itself across the purple irises. She took measured steps toward the Ursa and stops just in front of the massive chest, planting her hooves wide to brace herself. Her charge stood right beside her, ready to provide support. 

Her eyes and jaw squeezed tight, Twilight summoned a wind that started to wave flags on roofs and boughs on trees. Suddenly, a melody could be heard coming from the direction of the cattail field just outside Ponyville. The Ursa was soothed by the sound and fell silent as its eyelids started to droop. 

As it began to totter drowsily from side to side, Spike whispered as he gave a thumbs-up, "Nice use of number sixteen!"

As the glow from Twilight’s horn then intensified, Chronicle decided to pitch in. However, because he didn't know what his charge was planning, he created a faint line of magic connecting their horns together, starting up the "power transfer" spell. This time, instead of taking magic like he did with Nightmare Moon, he gave his magic to Twilight, who certainly needed it more.

He then looked around to see what his charge was doing and saw her 'lift' the water tower's tank, 'unscrew' the top, dump out the water, and float to an open barn. The tank body entered while the top continued past and he could swear he heard cows inside mooing in surprise. The body then emerged, brimming with milk, and the top aligned itself to fit back in place.

"That’s new.", remarked Spike as the top then clanged back onto the tank body. 

The Ursa, meanwhile, began to topple over in Trixie’s direction—but with inches to spare, Twilight got it under her control and 'hauled' it back up. Rays have begun to shoot from her horn in all directions due to the strain. In spite of the extra magic provided by her bodyguard, she was still struggling. Apparently, focus was still an issue.

The now-placid Ursa hovered quietly just off the ground, then floated up several yards onto its back and received the improvised baby bottle. As the locals watched speechlessly, the colossal creature drifted slowly out of town and out of sight, presumably back to wherever it slumbered prior to Snips and Snails disturbing it. He was gonna have a word with them later.

After a third of a minute more, Twilight let her powers wind down and half-collapsed, gasping for breath. Chronicle slumped over as well, less winded than his charge but still winded regardless. Just then, the sound of cheering brought them back upright; a crowd has gathered behind them.

"Unbelievable!", cried out one pony.

"That was amazing!", cried out Rainbow Dash.

"Heavens to Betsy!", commented Applejack. "We knew you had ability, but not that much!"

Twilight quivered in fear. "I’m sorry. Please, please don’t hate me."

"Hate you?", gasped Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

"Why, whatever do you mean, darling?", the fashionista asked.

"And how did you even come up with that ridiculous conclusion, Twilight?!", Chronicle asked in a baffled manner. I mean, it's not like we wrecked the town in the midst of saving it.

"Well…I know how much you all hated Trixie’s showing off with her magic tricks, and I just thought—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.", Rainbow interrupted. "Magic’s got nothing to do with it. Trixie’s just a loudmouth."

"Most unpleasant.", added Rarity.

"All hat and no cattle.", finished Applejack.

"Showing off is just her career.", continued Chronicle. "And we certainly didn't do what we did just now simply to show off."

"So…you don’t mind my magic tricks?", his charge asked.

"Your magic is a part of who you are, sugarcube, and we like who you are.", said the farmpony. "We’re proud to have such a powerful talented unicorn as our friend."

"And after whuppin’ that Ursa’s hindquarters, we’re even prouder.", supported the cyan pegasus.

Twilight gave a smile. "You are?" 

"Uh-huh."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Wow, Twilight!", gasped Spike. "How’d you know what to do with that Ursa Major?"

"That’s what I was doing when you came looking for me. I was so intrigued by Trixie’s bragging that I was compelled to do a little reading up on them."

"So it is possible to vanquish an Ursa Major all by yourself?"

"Actually, that wasn’t an Ursa Major.", put in Chronicle. "It was naught but a baby; an Ursa Minor."

"That was just a baby?", gasped Trixie, earning a few looks from the others.

"And it wasn’t rampaging.", continued Twilight. "It was just cranky because someone woke it up."

Snips and Snails suddenly found themselves on the wrong end of several angry glares. "Awww…", they said.

"Well, if that was an Ursa Minor, then…", Spike asked in borderline panic …what’s an Ursa Major like?"

Twilight thought about it for a second, then decided to say, "You don’t want to know."

"Seriously, you don't.", Chronicle added with a twinge of fright as he shuddered upon recalling one memory that took place in his time prior to his contract with Princess Celestia. 


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!, Chronicle thought to himself as he ran for his life, wearing a blue saddlebag carrying a medium-weight item. Pursuing him was a behemoth of a beast. Like the Ursa Minor, it was the general shape of a bear, a stellar translucent body, and a starburst on its forehead. However, its teeth and claws were much longer, its star-sprinkled fur was purple and shaggy and four times larger. He wasn't afraid of it, though; it was his life he was scared for, not to mention his surprise upon seeing an Ursa Major for the first time. Why oh why did I even accept that request from that Canterlot snob?! Had I known what an Ursa Major is like, I would never have gone through with it!


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


I was even lucky to make it out of that one alive thanks to Steven., Chronicle added as he realized he was shuddering from the memory as Twilight then turned to face him. 

"You look like you've seen one before."

"I have. Sometime before I became your bodyguard. I'll tell you all about it some other time if you want."

Just then, Trixie came over, her bravado surprisingly restored so quickly. "Hah! You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Your special talent is stage magic.", answered Chronicle. "Of course we won't be as good as you in making performances."

She didn't answer him as she conjured a burst of smoke to hide herself from view. When it cleared, she could be seen galloping out of town. 

"Why, that little—" Rainbow Dash was about to take off, intending to pursue, but was stopped by Twilight.

"Just let her go.", the purple unicorn said. "Maybe someday she’ll learn her lesson."

"Oh, snap! I almost forgot!", gasped Chronicle. He fired up his horn and in an instant, a magical clone of him was created, earning him gasps of surprise from the crowd. He ignored them as he then took out from his "pocket of hammerspace" a medium-sized pouch of bits, and 'passed' it to his copy, who then galloped off after Trixie, his horn and legs glowing as he picked up speed.

"What was that for?", asked Applejack.

"Well, thanks to these two boneheads," He gestured to Snips and Snails, who were about to sneak away when they found Twilight standing right in their path. "Trixie's trailer was smashed by the Ursa Minor." Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were about to speak up when he stopped them with a raised hoof. "And while Trixie certainly deserves a lesson due to her overblown advertising of her talents, she doesn't deserve to lose her career and what's most likely her home." He gave a piercing glare at the three as he said that. "Speaking of Trixie, I'd like to have a word with you three about your conduct at her performance."

"Now, about you two.", Twilight said to the two colts.

Snips laughed nervously. "Uh, we’re sorry that we woke up the Ursa Minor."

"We just wanted to see some awesome magic!", said Snails.

"Yeah! And the way you vanquished that Ursa Minor was awesome!" Twilight gave them a searching look and they prostrated themselves before her. 

"We deserve whatever punishment you give us." 

Twilight: looked to one side. "For starters—" She turned to the smashed remains of Trixie’s trailer. "—you can clean up this mess." She then turned to Spike as they smiled slyly. "And…what do you think, Spike? Should I give them number twenty-five?"

"Ohhh, twenty-five! Yes—and I think I deserve it, too."

Snips and Snails didn't understand what "number twenty-five" was and gave a scared "Huh?" in confusion.

"…and Rarity, what you did to Trixie's curtain was destruction of property, regardless of who she was.", Chronicle was saying.

"I think you’re right.", agreed Twilight as her horn flared brightly, giving the two scrubs a serious case of the jitters. Spike was now alongside them, and—being the only one who knows what's coming—he pushed his face as close to her as he can from where he stood. All three noses and chins glowed, and their mustaches appeared.

"Sweet!", the three boys cried out.

"I still don't think their punishment is enough, however.", Chronicle told his charge. "After all, for all we know, that was Trixie's home that got smashed thanks to them. Give them a stern beating for me, will you? I have a lecture to give." He turned to their three friends in the area, who looked at him with confusion. I wonder where Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were during all this? Not that they needed to be there.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—S—S—T

The next day, in the library…

Twilight Sparkle was writing a letter. Every week, she was to submit a friendship report to Princess Celestia. It wasn't due 'til Tuesday, but it'll be sent on that day. Previously, she considered sending it once she has it, but her assistant advised her to only send one per week even in the event that she have more than one lesson learned for the week. That way, should there be a week where she is unable to find a lesson to learn, she can still submit a letter. Currently, Chronicle was asleep in bed.

“Dear Princess Celestia, I have learned a very valuable lesson about friendship.”, the letter went as follows. “I was so afraid of being thought of as a showoff that I was hiding a part of who I am. My friends helped me realize that it’s okay to be proud of your talents, and there are times when it’s appropriate to show them off—especially when you’re standing up for your friends.”

"So…", Spike (with the mustache on) came up from behind his 'boss' as she wrote the letter. "…you finally admit that you’re the most talented unicorn in all of Ponyville?"

"Well…" Twilight gave a smile. "…yeah. But it’s nothing to brag about. And Chronicle did help too. So, uh, how did it go with Rarity?"

Spike groaned, fingering his facial hair. "She didn't go for the mustache.

Twilight waked over to him, "You know, Spike, that mustache has nothing to do with who you really are. Maybe you should just try being yourself."

"Or…maybe the mustache wasn’t enough. Maybe if I had a mustache and a beard."

Twilight groaned. "Not this again!"

"Okay. Imagine me with a nice long Fu Manchu-type beard. Or maybe a goatee…oh, no, a soul patch!"

All the while, Chronicle didn't so much as stir from his slumber.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

> Chapter 5: Griffon the Brush-Off
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: Griffon the Brush-Off

Daytime in the outskirts of Ponyville…

Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down as she rambled about something. One a bench nearby, Twilight Sparkle was sitting down on it and reading a book.

"Hoof-biting action overload!", the pink earth pony was saying. "She was like a stunt superstar, flying higher and higher, and then Rainbow Dash swooped down, swoosh!" She zipped off, then hopped back. "And right before she hit the ground, shoom!" She floated while doing this, then landed on her hooves "She pulled up! Vroom!" 

"Uh-huh." Twilight wasn't paying attention as she replied.

"And then she looped around and around, like woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo!" She mimicked the action with her head, eventually becoming so dizzy that she collapsed to the ground.

"Uh-huh."

The pink pony wound up on her back, giving her a good view of Rainbow Dash soaring overhead. upon seeing the pegasus, she bounded up and raced after the blue flyer.

"Phew!", Twilight sighed in relief as she flipped a page with her teeth rather than magic, and continued reading. "Hmm…I wonder where Chronicle is."


TS—RD—PP—TS—RD—PP—TS—RD—PP—TS—RD—PP

Somewhere at the back of Books and Branches Library…

"Thanks, Cloud Kicker, Lightning Bolt."

Chronicle had requested for the two ponies' assistance in propping up some items for him. Cloud Kicker is a pegasus pony with orchid eyes, light amber hair with a very light yellow streak, a lavender coat, and a sun behind a white cloud as a cutie mark. Lightning Bolt is also a pegasus pony. She had cyan eyes, light cerulean hair, a white coat, and a dark cloud issuing her namesake as a cutie mark.

Finally, they were done and Chronicle looked at the finished product. A medium-sized field has been formed behind the library, its perimeter partly lined with a wooden fence and bales of hay from Applejack's farm, the rest closed off by the library's wall. Old "equinequins" from Rarity, non-stinky trash, toys broken beyond repair, busted pillows, smashed machines, and all sorts of items nopony uses anymore that is safe to destroy were stored in one corner of the area. There were also a couple of clouds as well brought over by the two pegasi with him.

"It's a pleasure, Chronicle.", answered Cloud.

"We saw your request on the Request Board.", said Lightning.

"So you did.", replied Chronicle. "Anyway, here's your pay." He 'procured' two pouches filled with bits and 'passed' it to the two pegasi. "Thanks again!"

"Bye!", they replied as they took the pouched and left. Once they were gone, the stallion turned around to what he would henceforth call his "targets". 

"Okay. Time to get started." Chronicle levitated a broken vase up and situated it onto a stand. That was when he realized something. "How should I even start practicing? I'm gonna need some ideas. But where…"


C—CK—LB—C—CK—LB—C—CK—LB—C—CK—LB

A while later…

Chronicle was taking a walk along the town square when he noticed Pinkie Pie trotting happily. Curious, he decided to approach her just as she reached a produce cart where Cloud Kicker, Derpy Hooves, and another pegasus pony were conversing with one another. The third pegasus had a chartreuse coat, dark pink hair, amaranth-colored eyes, three suns as her cutie mark, and her name was Merry May.

"Hi!", Pinkie greeted them just as he came over as well. "I’m looking for Rainbow Dash. Have you seen her?"

"Sorry, no.", answered Merry as she and the others shook their heads. Pinkie then noticed Chronicle and turned to face him.

"Hi there, Chronicle! Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" 

"Nope."

"Okay, thanks anyway." She then—with Chronicle following—walked over to Twilight Sparkle, who was just outside a bookshop. "Twilight! Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere?"

Twilight pointed up. "Isn’t she right up there?"

The three of them looked up to see her rear half protruding vertically from a cloud she was hiding in.

"Rainbow Dash!", Pinkie cried out in a singsong manner.

Up came the striped mane, a wisp of cloud adhering to it over a truly freaked-out face. She looked one way, then another, and took off with enough speed to nearly pulverize the rest of the cloud, leaving only a few tufts. Pinkie, completely unfazed, began hopping along the road after her at a leisurely pace. The two unicorns saw her off in a quizzical manner. Once she was gone, Chronicle turned to his charge. 

"Hey, Twilight. Mind if you help me getting those clouds?" he pointed to the pieces of cloud left behind.

"Uhh…sure."

Together, the two unicorns got to work in bringing down the pieces. Luckily, apart from pegasi, magic is also capable of making contact with the clouds. Once they got them all down, Twilight decided to ask her bodyguard something.

"What's with all this?"

"I don't really know. I was thinking of practicing, but I can't seem to get an inspiration as to how I should come about it."

"How about checking the bookshop?"

"Good idea."

With that, the two unicorns entered the bookshop, bringing the tufts of cloud with them.


C—TS—RD—PP—C—TS—RD—PP—C—TS—RD—PP

Three minutes later…

Chronicle left the bookshop in a slightly dejected manner, clouds tufts 'in tow'.

Darn. I couldn't find a thing…, sighed Chronicle. Maybe I should check the library.

As he made his way there, he looked up and realized he had missed something during the first time he, Spike, and Twilight arrived at Ponyville; at the top of the tree attached to the highest limb was an observatory platform and it was outfitted with a telescope.

All of a sudden, however, he felt a whoosh right above him and heard something enter the tree branches. He assumed it was Rainbow Dash hiding from Pinkie Pie. He gave a shrug and made his way to the library's entrance. Just before he could rap at the door, he heard the branches rustle again. He guessed that Pinkie was waiting for Rainbow within the branches.

Chronicle sighed as he then rapped at the door. Spike answered it.

"Hey there, Chronicle." Spike then made his way out.

"Hey there, Spike. Where do you happen to be going?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Oh, right. See ya."


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

Five minutes later…

Chronicle left the library, just wandering about, and once again dejected, clouds still 'in tow'.

Again, I'm bored out of my skull. Why doesn't the library have a card catalog?!

"Over to the right!…No, no, a little to the left!…Oh, wait! Back to the right!"

Chronicle started up, and saw that he was at the pavilion. Rainbow Dash was adjusting the position of a nearby cloud. Pinkie Pie was nearby, working her hooves around through several angles, squinching her eyes as well. Apparently, the two were up to something, and Rainbow's patience was wearing thin.

"Now, a little leftish while staying rightly." The assistant did her best to follow this one. "Stop! Hmmm…maybe a few inches to the south! Now a couple of centimeters north! Okay, one more smidge-a-meter to the—"

Rainbow Dash then lost it. "PINKIE PIE!!"

"Uh, I mean, perfect! Now, wait for my signal."

The cloud had ended up almost exactly above the front doors. Pinkie then peeked through a window, and that was when Chronicle realized whom they were gonna do their thing on. He was about to enter the pavilion to give a warning when Pinkie suddenly pulled him away and covered his mouth.

Spike then exited the pavilion, whereupon Pinkie—while still holding Chronicle—threw a quick gesture skyward. Rainbow proceeded to give the cloud a swift buck, causing a sudden flash of lightning that frightened Spike into dropping his scrolls. Pinkie then let Chronicle go and leaned intently toward Spike, who stood stock-still for a moment…before starting to hiccup. Rainbow smiled and Pinkie laughed as the cloud brought the former down to the ground. 

Chronicle groaned in failing to 'rescue' Spike as he continued to hiccup.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, we startled Spike into getting the hiccups!", Pinkie said. Everyone but the stallion laughed with her.

"Good one, Pinkie Pie!", the baby dragon replied in between hiccups. "You’re always pulling a fast one on me." He then picked up one of the scrolls, but hiccuped a lick of fire over it and yelped in surprise. It vanished in a wisp of sparkling pink smoke.

"Oh dear.", complained Chronicle; Spike just sent a message to Princess Celestia by mistake.

"Oh, no!", gasped Pinkie. "You’re not hurt, are you?"

"Nah.", Spike hiccuped. "Don’t be silly. Dragons are fireproof."

"Oh…okay. Good." She and Rainbow then traded a smile and started laughing again while Spike rounded up several other scrolls. Another incendiary hiccup burnt the lot and left him staring haplessly after the inadvertent mass mailing.

"I wish the same thing were true of scrolls."

Chronicle can't help but make a joke out of this one. "And might I say that this is Equestria's first ever…junk mail delivery."

"Junk mail?", both prankster ponies asked as Spike continued to pick up scrolls—and inadvertently send them via hiccups.

"Unsolicited or undesired messages."

The two mares turned to one another, then burst into laughter once again.

"Have you ever seen anything more hilarious?", Pinkie asked before falling back laughing.

Rainbow gave a wicked smile. "I can think of one thing." That "one thing" was to kick the cloud for another lightning flash. It would take more than that to get the jump on Chronicle, but it was sufficient to startle Pinkie—and it left her with the hiccups as well. She started alternating between these and giggles. "I didn’t take you for a prankster, Pinkie Pie."

As the pegasus flew down, the earth pony had stood up. "Are you *hic* kidding? I love to pull pranks! It’s all *hic* in good fun, and Pinkie Pie loo—*hic*—ooves to have *hic* fun! *hic*"

"You know, Pinkie Pie, you’re not as annoying as I thought." Pinkie gave out another hiccup. "You want to hang out?"

As she spoke, she was cut off with hiccups as she was sent flying all over the place. "That’d be—I’d really—when do—I mean—when would you—" Rainbow then stopped her with a hoof over the mouth.

"A simple nod will do."

Pinkie complied and the two conspirators then smiled at each other. Meanwhile, Chronicle had taken up Spike on his back, who had his tongue stuck out.

"Okay, now keep doing that for several minutes.", Chronicle advised. "And hold it with your hand if you need to. If that doesn't work, I'll go get you a sugar cube." He then turned to the two prankster ponies. "Rainbow, mind if I borrow that cloud?"


C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP

Later…

Chronicle had remedied Spike of his hiccups and was searching for the library with him for an idea on how to practice his combat skills. Thankfully, one was found and after perusing through it, he left the library with the book just as Twilight made her way in. He then made his way to his "training range", where he 'deposited' his clouds.

"Okay.", he said as he moved stuff around. "First you do this, then you do this, and then you do…what? Okay, hope it works. And then you need—okay, I got this. What do I do with this doohickey again? Darn I can't make heads or tails outta—oh, now I get it. One last touch and… All right! Finished."

After following the set of instructions, Chronicle managed to construct…a training dummy out of miscellaneous items.

"This isn't gonna work.", he groaned. "I think I'm gonna have to buy one from—oh, right. There's no way I can get one of those the royal guards of Canterlot use. Come to think of it, do they really…only one way to find out; the Request Board. But first…"

Chronicle prepared his "magic horn blade" and 'whacked' away at the dummy, dodging its 'counterattacks' and performing parries. It wasn't much, but it'll have to do. Until Mystic Shield arrives at Ponyville, this was his only means of reveling in combat.

All of a sudden, he thought he heard a small explosion and breaking of glass. He then remembered Twilight doing a chemistry experiment. He was sure she was fine, but he created a magic copy and had it check her just in case. After a while of practicing, he 'set' the dummy aside, then took deep breaths.

[screen mode]

{Cut to Chronicle in the center of a circular perimeter lined by fencing and bales of hay. Fade to a close-up of his face and pan slowly to the right.}

Chronicle: (thinking) Okay. Take a deep breath.

{Chronicle takes a deep breath, then lets it out.}

Chronicle: (thinking) Take a few more. Tune out all general distractions. Do not fall asleep. Just clear your mind.

{Chronicle takes another deep breath, then lets it out again. Cut to a view of the blue unicorn as the 'camera' pans around him. Slowly, the following disappear with each deep breath; the landscape, then everything outside the "training range", and then the whole training range itself, leaving only Chronicle as he mentally attempts to meditate. Fade to a close-up of Chronicle's head. All of a sudden, his ear perks as if catching something.}

Chronicle: (thinking) Someone's about to attack. I wonder if—no, I must focus should they strike.

{Cut to an overhead view of Chronicle. The 'camera' then tilts upward and pans down so it then eventually ends at his face. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and turns them to his right.}

Chronicle: (thinking) There!

{Entire background returns to normal as everything goes slow-motion. Chronicle's horn glows as he zips to the area immediately behind him with the "flash-step" spell. As he 'steps' away from the 'camera', a rainbow-colored streak slowly passes across where he was a second ago from the left. Time resumes normal speed as a crash is heard from the right.}

Chronicle: Nice tr—ack!

{Chronicle was cut off by a pink streak catching him from the right, sending him off-screen. A crash is then heard from the left. Camera zips to the left to reveal the pouncer having been Pinkie Pie. They had crashed into one of the bales of hay surrounding the "training range".}

[end screen mode]

"Oww, you got me, Pinkie Pie.", Chronicle said with a smile. "I'll admit I was lucky with Rainbow Dash."

"That was luck?!", Rainbow asked as she zipped over.

"Yeah. You two make for great reflex practice.", he gave a genuine smile. "Thanks."

"You're most welcome, Chronicle!", replied Pinkie. "I don't think we were even trying to prank you." She turned to Rainbow. "Uhh…what were we supposed to do to him?"

"We just did it. I was wondering if he has a sense of humor."

"You really take me for somepony who doesn't know how to have fun?" Neither mare had an answer for that. "I do too. Pranks are just not my thing."

"Is snarking yours?"

"No. Combat practice is."

"You're one strange pony.", Rainbow said, which resulted in the stallion raising an eyebrow. "Sure. I think I can help with that."

"How?"

"I'm a black belt in karate."

What?!, gasped Chronicle mentally. How does a pony learn karate, let alone master it? Or is "equine" karate slightly different from "sapien" karate?

He was shaken off his thoughts by Pinkie waving her hoof at his face. "Uhh…Chronicle?"

"Oh, sorry. What did you say?"

"I said I'm a black belt in karate.", Rainbow Dash repeated.

"Oh, that's nice to hear. Although, I'm not sure if a martial artist and a magical warrior like myself is a good match-up. But better than nothing, I guess."

"Let's duel tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure."


C—RD—PP—C—RD—PP—C—RD—PP—C—RD—PP

A few hours later…

Chronicle decided he had enough solo practice for today and decided he would take a walk. He made his way to a stream bend, where he saw Fluttershy tending to several fish and a couple other water-dwellers that began to gather at the bank. As he caught her in her sights, he decided to make his way to her. But instead of walking around, he cast his water-walking spell and started to trot his way across the lake.

As he did, his foot touched something he knew wasn't from the lake; he turned to the left and saw a turtle…which was an obvious fake. He saw that there was a long tube attached to its rear and it trailed back across the stream. As it squeaked a bit, his eyes followed the tube to where it disappeared over a hill on the opposite bank. A telescope was extended up from behind.

On the far side, Rainbow Dash watched the scene through this telescope while Pinkie jumped up and down, a rubber bulb in her teeth, which was attached to the other end of the tube and was providing the noise.

"Is someone over there?", Pinkie asked. "Who are we gonna squirt? Who are we gonna squirt?"

Rainbow snickered before giving an answer. "Fluttershy."

"What?!?" Pinkie spit out the bulb. "No, no, no, no, no, no. We can’t prank Fluttershy. I mean, she’s so sensitive. It’ll hurt her feelings, even our most harmless prank." 

Rainbow backed up from the scope. "Yeah, you’re right." She then blew a raspberry and turned to Pinkie. "Huh. We need another victim who’s made of tougher stuff."

She failed to notice Pinkie’s struggle to contain a laugh and puts her eye back to the scope for a moment. She backed off again, not realizing there was a ring of ink around her left eye, left by the scope’s eyepiece.

"So, who’s it gonna be?"

"Oh!" Pinkie gave a giggle. "I’ve got someone in mind—the toughest around."

"Oh, awesome!" Rainbow Dash looked around. "Who, who? Do I know them? Is it Chronicle? I could swear I saw him walking on the water a while ago."

The two ponies made their way to the bank, but Chronicle wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Oh, yes. You’re very close."

As Rainbow looked into her reflection and noticed her inked eye, Chronicle suddenly popped out right next to them, having walked stealthily as they made their way to the water. "Yeah. Very close to a stern beating. Good thing Pinkie Pie has standards. Nice one there, by the way."

The three had a good laugh from the inked eye, then the earth pony and pegasus stopped upon noticing the unicorn, utterly stunned, and their eyes as small as pinpricks.

"I can be stealthy when I want to be.", he said with a chuckle. "And I know how to have fun too. You should've seen the looks on your faces." He then burst out laughing, and was soon followed by the others. He then put his hoof out for a high five, then yanked it back when Rainbow and Pinkie tried to slap it. 

"So that means you're—", Pinkie was about to say.

"No. Pranks are still not my thing, I just happened to be in the area. We should go on home."

"Yeah. It's almost sunset. See ya, Chronicle."

"See ya." As the two pranksters left, Chronicle looked over to the other side of the bend. Fluttershy was now alone with the decoy turtle. She cautiously tried to pet it, only to see the head bounce back and forth on its spring, surprising her. I wonder if I should tell her what it really is? Either way, I should take her home.


C—RD—F—PP—C—RD—F—PP—C—RD—F—PP

Sunrise, the next day…

Just outside Ponyville proper, near Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie Pie trotted down the dirt path beside Chronicle, wearing a pair of joke glasses with a big red nose and droopy mustache attached and blowing on a noisemaker. The earth pony was also wearing the classic “arrow through the head” over her mane. 

The unicorn just rolled his eyes as the two of them approached Rainbow Dash's house. It was a house built of clouds and rainbows, sporting a number of Greek-style columns and floated at a very low altitude, but still above their heads. A stream of the variegated light spilt over the edge as a waterfall. Pinkie was here to greet her fellow prankster while Chronicle was here to invite his temporary sparring partner.

"Rise and shine, Rainbow Dash!", Pinkie called out. "It’s a brand new day, and we got a lot of pranking to—"

A head poked out, but it wasn't of their friend's, but that of a bald eagle with feathers swept forward on top of the head. It aimed a puzzled and slightly hostile yellow eye toward ground level. "Ooh!" 

Three seconds later, Rainbow Dash popped her head up from the roof. "Mornin’, Pinks! Mornin’, Chronicle!" She then dropped to ground level and addressed the newcomer. 

Good thing she hasn't come up with a nickname for me. If she calls me Chro, I'm smacking her upside.

"Gilda, this is Chronicle and my gal pal Pinkie Pie."

The visitor then descended with a shrill cry, revealing herself to be a griffon—brown-furred lion’s body, tail, and hind legs; eagle’s head, wings, and talons on the forelegs. All of Pinkie’s joke items dropped to the ground when she and Chronicle got a good look at the creature, whose female voice and body language practically screamed “too hip for the room.” in the unicorn's mind.

"Hey, what’s up?", the griffon greeted.

"Pinkie, Chronicle, this is my griffon friend Gilda.", Rainbow introduced.

"What’s a griffon?", Pinkie asked.

Gilda spread her wings in a crouch and jumped toward the three. "She’s half eagle, half lion—" 

"And all awesome!", Gilda finished as she threw a foreleg around Rainbow’s shoulders, who playfully pushed her away. After a playful snarl, the two of them laughed and chattered while trading their particular version of a secret shake. As the pink pony stared with some bewilderment, the unicorn (and only male in the area) put a hoof to his chin.

Hmm…now where have I seen her before? …Nah, must be another griffon. Met one or five during my other contracts.

"Gilda’s my best friend from my days at Junior Speedster Flight Camp.", Rainbow explained, then turned to Gilda. "Hey, remember the chant?"

"Sh’yah. They made us recite it every morning. I’ll never get that lame thing out of my head."

"Sooo…?"

The griffon met her big smile with an unenthusiastic little groan. "Only for you, Dash."

Both rose into the air to do the choreography for the chant. Obviously, Gilda looked like she would rather be doing something else.

Now Playing: Junior Speedsters Chant

Junior Speedsters are our lives,♪
Sky-bound soars and daring dives.♪

The two then landed on the ground.

Junior Speedsters, it’s our quest♪
To someday be the very best!♪

End Song

Pinkie’s response was to laugh and stomp one hoof on the ground, prompting both Speedster alumni to turn their heads away in embarrassment for a moment. Chronicle just rolled his eyes once more.

"Oh, that was awesome!", Pinkie said. "And it gave me a great idea for a prank!" She shoved her head into the pile of novelties to put them all back in place. "Gilda, you game?"

"Huh. Well, I groove on a good prank as much as the next griffon." Gilda then elbowed Rainbow, spreading her wings. "But, Dash, you promised me we’d get a flying session in this morning." She then lifted off.

"Yeah, uh, well…Pinkie Pie, Chronicle, you don’t mind, do you?" Rainbow started to hover. "Gilda just got here. We’ll catch up with you later."

"Oh! Um…well, sure, no problem.", Pinkie said as they zoomed off. "Have fun, you guys! I’ll, uh, just catch up with you…" She then sighed dejectedly and sat back on her haunches. "…later."

As the noisemaker in her mouth sounded off weakly, Chronicle was still waving at them. "See ya."


C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G

Eyecatch (picture-type) - In the outskirts of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie and Chronicle down on the lower left corner of the screen, and Rainbow Dash and Gilda flying on the top right corner of the screen. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G

Later…

Chronicle was up at the Request Board once again, looking for something to do. Beside him was an earth pony mare with a cyan coat, white mane styled like Bon Bon's, magenta eyes, and two linked horseshoes as a cutie mark. 

"Hi, Linky.", he greeted. "What'cha lookin' for?"

"It's Shoeshine.", corrected the earth pony. "And I'm looking for—ooh, here it is!" 

Chronicle decided to take a peek and saw that— "It's a requesting part-time help at…moving some crates? Shoeshine, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah. I could use the extra bits."

"But aren't you a little…"

"I'm an earth pony. Physical labor is generally easier for us than pegasi or unicorns."

"That's true, I guess. Well, see ya." 

"See ya." 

Once Shoeshine was gone, Chronicle was back in his thoughts. "Hmm…now what was I…oh, right." He then 'took out' a scroll of paper from "hammerspace" and 'rolled' it open. 

It was a request ordering for a "good" training dummy, preferably one like the type the royal guards of Canterlot use, "if they use any at all". The reward was high as he didn't know how much it may be, if there even was. 

Chronicle then 'procured' a nail and hammer, noting these didn't seem to be perfectly (but still) usable for ponies (outside unicorn telekinesis). With the two items, he 'nailed' his request on the Request Board, then 'took out' another.

This one was for a combat session/spar with him. Whoever was interested would engage in combat with him; and they would receive a reward after, with a sizable bonus should they win. Chronicle didn't write down the victory or defeat conditions, but he had them down in his head; if any of them breaks a bone or draws blood, the one with the injury loses. He'll also stop the fight should his challenger be too tired to go on, even if they insist they continue. In that case, depending on how well they fought, he'll also reward them with more bits, but never reaching the 'victory' bonus amount.

After 'taking out' another nail from "hammerspace", and using it and the hammer to nail his second request, another pony came up to the board and looked at the requests. Chronicle turned to see a purple unicorn stallion (a shade darker than his charge Twilight) with lime green eyes, hair in two dark shades of blue, a conservatively-shaped mane, a slightly messed-up tail longer than his own, a red ascot around his neck, and a a cutie mark consisting of a yellow-outlined red knight's shield depicting a white star inside. He seemed to be looking at the job application request Mystic Shield had put up. 

Curious, Chronicle walked up to the unicorn and tried to strike up a conversation. "Hey, you seem interested in that job."

The unicorn turned to him and made a face, something Chronicle found suspicious, but couldn't put a hoof on. "Yeah.", he agreed in a deep yet gentle voice. "You too?"

"Uh-huh. In spite of the obvious peace in Ponyville, I have a…slight lust for battle. Also, I'm a little disappointed in how defenseless these ponies can be."

"I know how you feel.", he replied. "To live in a completely peaceful world, a world that can be left completely vulnerable should invaders attack, be they dragons, griffons, beings from the stars, or what have you. I wish for everypony to be capable of defending themselves should that time come. Alas, I am but one unicorn."

"Yeah. Me too. But together, as soon as the Self-Defense Academy is up, we can be at least one step closer to achieving that dream. Ain't that right, …Mystic Shield?"

"Yeah…" Three seconds later, the purple unicorn widened his eyes in shock and shook his head vigorously. "Wait a minute! How do you know my name?!"

"To tell the truth, I just guessed it."

The purple unicorn gave a short chuckle. "Well, you guessed right. I am Mystic Shield. Mind if I ask what's yours?"

"It's Chronicle. Nice to meet you, Mystic Shield.", Chronicle offered a hoof in greeting.

"Mystic works just fine, although Master Shield should be what you should address me once the dojo's up.", Mystic replied as he took the hoof and shook it.

"Aren't we getting a little too early for that?"

"You got a point there. Well, I'll keep the request up in case others wish to help. I'm gonna put an ad once we finish setting up."

"You wanna start now?"

"Tomorrow. The ponies I hired still need to finish unpacking my stuff. I just moved here."

"Well, you better be careful in that case."

"Why is that, might I ask?"

"Two words: Pinkie Pie." Chronicle then turned to leave. "Well, see ya. I live at the Books and Branches Library."

"Nice meeting you, Chronicle."

"You too, Mystic."


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

After his talk with Mystic Shield, he returned to the library, where Pinkie Pie was having a conversation with Twilight Sparkle, who was reading a book and flipping pages with magic. Spike was on the stairs, reading a different book.

"So, Pinkie Pie…", Twilight said. "…are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash is really so mean?" 

"Um, yeah!", Pinkie replied as she continued to pace. "She keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, she popped my balloons, and she told me to buzz off! I’ve never met a griffon this mean! Well, actually, I’ve never met a griffon at all. But I bet if I had, she wouldn’t have been as mean and grumpy as Gilda!"

"You know what I think, Pinkie Pie?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, I think…you’re jealous."

"Jealous?!?"

"Green with envy.", Spike put in. "Well, in your case, pink with envy."

"Well, yes, jealous.", agreed Twilight. "Listen, Pinkie. I don’t want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn’t make Gilda a grump."

"I'll have to agree with her.", said Chronicle. "I mean, this is a childhood friend we're talking about here. They haven't met for quite some time, and I'm sure they're just catching up on old times."

"I mean, perhaps it’s you, Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude."

The sole stallion turned to the pink earth pony and saw that the idea seemed to sit very badly in her brain under that fluffy magenta mane.

"Improve my attitude?", Pinkie said, stammering. "But I—but it’s Gilda that—are you seri—" She then gave up on the discussion with a frustrated yell and stalked out, slamming the library door hard enough to shake the whole building. Twilight sighed as she and Spike traded a very worried glance.

"I gotta go.", said Chronicle as he opened the door. "I wanna know a bit more about Gilda. I want to assure myself that she won't cause trouble as I know griffons to have a general animosity against ponies."

"How do you know about griffons?", Twilight asked.

"Remember, I've been through lots of stuff before I became your bodyguard. Maybe you should read up on them." And with that, he followed Pinkie out of the library, although he nearly lost her. After a while, he found his way to the park and located her. 

As he approached the pink earth pony, he heard her say, "Maybe Twilight is right. Maybe Gilda isn’t a big mean grumpy mean meanie-pants. Maybe I’m just a big jealous judgmental jealous jealousy-pants." She then sighed.

"Pinkie.", Chronicle called and she turned to face him. "You obviously didn't tell Twilight everything in your fit of frustration. I'm sure she wouldn't have said what she had said had she understood better." Whoa. I think I almost twisted my tongue there. "Mind telling me?"

"Okay."


C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP

Sometime later…

"So that's what happened…"

The two ponies were now sipping an ice cream soda each at an outdoor table. The table was situated close to a building whose roof resembled a heavily decorated gingerbread house with two cupcakes stacked on top. There were candy-striped columns on either side of its two-part door, and iced-gingerbread fences by the flowerbeds, a sign marked with a cupcake hanging near one window, a water pump and trough stand at the opposite side, a weather vane and violet rock-candy projection at one end of the roof, and two upper stories decorated to resemble a pair of stacked cupcakes, with candles on the topmost one. According to Pinkie Pie, this was Sugarcube Corner, a bakery where she's employed in.

"Yeah."

"Well, judging by your story, it seems to me you're indeed jealous of her taking Rainbow Dash."

"But—"

"However, I can see that Gilda's either really a meanie-pants, or she's also jealous of you taking her. …Hold on. We don't normally wear clothes to begin with, do we?"

Just then, the sound of an overhead flight and two unmistakable laughing voices caused Pinkie to nearly upset both the table and her drink. Chronicle just looked up to see two familiar faces.

"That was sweet!", they heard Gilda say.

"Ugh.", replied Rainbow Dash as they flew among the rooftops. "…I gotta take care of a few weather jobs around here. Shouldn’t take long." They then landed on the ground. "Just, uh, hang out in town and I’ll come find you."

"That’s cool, I guess. I’m gonna go chow down."

"Later!"

After Rainbow has flown away, Gilda looked around, then locked her eyes on a produce cart tended to by Lightning Bolt. Granny Smith was coming over to check out ears of corn. Chronicle then saw the griffon sneak into the cart and pop out her tail from the display, prompting a terrified scream from the old mare.

"A rattler! A rattler!", Granny yelled. "Run for the hills!" She proceeded to flee quickly as her creaky joints will allow—that is, not very. "Everybody run, save yourselves!"

Gilda then put her head up behind the display to see her handiwork, and Lightning gave her a puzzled look. Those looks were shared by Bon Bon and Amethyst Star, who were in the area.

Gilda then patted her tail on a tomato in the stand and said to Lightning, "This stuff ain’t fresh, dude." 

Pinkie, at her table, saw the whole thing alongside her friend. "Aw, poor Granny Smith!", she said. "She didn’t know it was a joke. How mean!…No, no. I can’t misjudge her. It was kind of a funny prank…I guess?"

"No matter how I look at it, pulling pranks on seniors is a crime in my book.", voiced Chronicle. "They could get a heart attack and…"

Just then, Gilda stopped at another produce cart. Medley was tending to it and Bon Bon and Shoeshine were customers. With a quick look back and forth, the griffon filched an apple using her tail without being noticed, then quickly consumed it with one chomp as she continued on. 

Pinkie gasped angrily at this while Chronicle seemed slightly peeved. "I did misjudge her!", Pinkie said. "She’s not only a meanie mean-pants, she’s also a thief!…No, no, no, no, no. She might give it back. It’s just a joke."

"Is it?", asked Chronicle. "I can tolerate one theft, but if she does a repeat offense, old friend of Rainbow Dash or not, I'll have to bring her to justice."

Just then, they saw Fluttershy walking backwards her eyes fixed on a family of ducks she was escorting down the street. "All right, little ones.", she said "This way, this way. Mama Duck, you’re free and clear."

Surrounding ponies watched from where they stood…and none of them even warned her of Gilda's approach from the opposite direction until Fluttershy's rump collided with the half-avian's white-feathered crest.

"Hey!", the griffon demanded.

"Please excuse me."

"I’m walkin’ here!"

Fluttershy began to back up, scared "Oh…um…I’m sorry…I-I-I was just trying to—" 
Gilda cut her off and mocked her tone. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She then viciously advanced as the ducks scattered. "Why don’t you just watch where you’re going, doofus?"

"But…b-b-but…I…I…"

The griffon sucked in a double lungful of air and let out a deafening roar directly into the meek pegasus’s face. There was dead silence except for a sheep’s bleat, which gave way to Fluttershy’s sobbing as she fled the scene first on hooves and then by wings. 

Chronicle could see everypony in the area stare in shock (as well as Cloud Kicker's eyes going askew) from this as something in his mind snapped. Pinkie saw all of this as well, including Gilda’s run up to make sure she was gone.

"Ugh! Please.", Gilda then said as everypony (including Cloud) looked at her in disdain. "All these lame ponies are driving me buggy. I gotta bail." Just before she could fly off, she was tackled by something. As they began to roll along the dirt road, Gilda saw that her attacker was Chronicle, who looked straight up angry.

"Pranking a senior is one thing.", he declared as he stopped right on top of her. "Stealing without needing to is another. But scaring off Fluttershy like that, you've gone too far!"

Gilda kicked him off of her with her lion paw hind-legs. "So what, dweeb? You think you can just take me on?"

Chronicle swiftly got up on his feet in one smooth movement. "I'd love to see what a griffon can do." Quickly, he took out a lasso he borrowed from Applejack the other day and tied up the griffon. He then cast a spell on his legs and enhanced his speed, and then ran in a certain direction, taking the griffon with him and ignoring the reactions from the townsfolk.

In seconds, he made it to his "training range", where he tossed Gilda to. She slammed into the library wall, where she fell to the ground, then proceeded to snap the rope off of her. Chronicle entered the "training range" after her.

"What's the big idea, punk?!", Gilda demanded as she prepared to charge.

"Have you not even looked at yourself, Gilda?!", Chronicle demanded as he readied his "magic horn blade". "Or are griffons generally this nasty to ponies?!"

"What do you care?!"

"What do I care?! I don't know what past you got with Rainbow Dash, but I'm not gonna tolerate bullies of your degree 'round here!" 

"…I don't know what kind of gibberish you just spouted right now, but I'm gonna teach you a lesson!" 

"It's you who needs a lesson learned!" 

Simultaneously, the two quadrupeds charged right for each other.


C—RD—F—PP—G—C—RD—F—PP—G—C—RD—F—PP—G

The fight was very rough, but against Chronicle's expectations, Gilda emerged victorious. The unicorn held back because he did not want to injure her too much, whereas the griffon was extremely relentless and did not go easy in the slightest. It was only after creating some moderate gashes in his body (as well as a scratch in the face) did she stop.

They had exchanged blows in their bout, "horn blade" and talons countering one another, Gilda taking advantage of her flight, Chronicle trying to rack up his memory on what to do against flying foes. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to recall much and was trounced. He couldn't remember what Gilda said to him as he lay on the ground trying to regain consciousness, but he was sure it was an insult. Once she was gone, he struggled to get up. 

"Oww…I'm really gonna need that spar with Rainbow Dash.", he complained to himself.

"Chronicle!", a voice called. He struggled to turn and saw that it was Mystic Shield, who wore a pair of saddlebags. They were colored purple and the buckles depicted the white star in Mystic's cutie mark.

"Mystic.", Chronicle greeted back.

"What happened to you?!"

"Picked a fight with a griffon. Ended up regretting it."

"You're hurt!"

"What gave it away, huh?"

"Snarky, aren't we?" Mystic then 'took out' a bandage (which was wrapped in a light green aura) and 'put' it on Chronicle's face.

"I guess."

"Tell you what? I'll take you to my home and perhaps we can talk for a bit."

"Sure. I could use some guy talk."

"Guy talk?"

"Aside from a baby dragon named Spike, the rest of my friends are girls."

"Feeling awkward?"

"Yeah…sometimes."


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side of the screen is a defeated Chronicle in his "training range" and on the right is a triumphant Gilda in the same place. On the upper right is the show's logo.


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Half an hour later…

Chronicle, was walking beside Mystic Shield as the former found himself telling the latter everything he knows about his friends.

"Oh, so you confronted Nightmare Moon in battle?", Mystic said. "And your friends are the keepers of the Elements of Harmony?"

"Yeah." Chronicle calls them in his head "E.O.H. keepers" for short. "Although only Ponyville and Canterlot Castle know."

"Why'd you confide this information with me? For all you can tell, I might be a spy."

"Uhh…"

"But don't worry. You heard my little monologue back at the Request Board, right? Oh, here we are."

The two unicorn stallions stopped in front of a house. It looked like one of many in Ponyville, except it was bigger, and it had a sign nailed on top of the doorway, which was a pair of double doors. The sign depicted some characters he was familiar with, but couldn't understand them. 

Darn. I should've studied my Japanese better. I know that's what it is, but what does it say? How is it that Equestria has the same languages as—

"Come on in.", Mystic said, interrupting Chronicle's thoughts. Just before they could reach the door, he stopped short. "Wait a second."

"Huh?"

"One of your friends, Pinkie Pie. She likes to host parties, right?"

"Yeah?"

Mystic then opened the door, revealing a pitch-black expanse. "And you told me she posted a party for you, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike in the library, right?"

"Right?"

"And you told me earlier to be careful, right?"

"Just where are you going with this?", asked Chronicle as the two unicorns walked in.

"I'm saying that I think something's bound to happen right about—"

He was cut off by the lights being turned on—revealing a lot of ponies, many of whom blew on noisemakers in their mouths. Streamers hung from the upper reaches of the room, which was supposed to be reminiscent of a karate dojo. However, there were now loads of table and a full-on shindig was about to get started.

"SURPRISE!!", they all cried out.

Confetti rained down over the two, and a party favor was blown out in front of Mystic Shield, who gave a small smirk. As the party went in full swing, Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere.

"Surprise!", she yelled. "Hi. I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you!" She began to hop around. "Were you surprised? Were you, were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"To tell the truth, I've been warned a bit, but I still appreciate the party."

"Yippee! I'm glad you like it!"

"Oh, yeah. I remember seeing you when I first came into town. You were looking for somepony named Rainbow Dash. However, upon seeing me, you then zoomed off." 

"That's what she did when we first arrived.", Chronicle put in.

Mystic then put a hoof on Pinkie's mouth, stopping her from saying anything else. "You don't have to ramble on how you never saw me, meaning I'm new, because you know everypony in Ponyville. And that if I'm new, I probably haven't met anyone yet, that I probably don't have any friends, and that I probably must be lonely, making you sad. Or on how you then had an idea and decided to throw this welcome party for me and invite everypony in Ponyville so I can have lots and lots of friends. Did I miss anything?" Once he was finished speaking, Pinkie was uncharacteristically silent with shock. "Chronicle here told me all about his welcome party."

With that, Pinkie lightened up. "I see! Wanna party?"

"Be my guest. Wait. Actually, I am a guest."

Pinkie giggled at this and said, "You're so funny. Come on." She then pulled Mystic somewhere as the party continued.


C—PP—MS—C—PP—MS—C—PP—MS—C—PP—MS

A while later…

As the party continued to…happen, Pinkie Pie now stood at the front door, where Chronicle saw Shoeshine enter. The stallion was standing with the rest of his friends, who have been invited as well. He had been patched up with a couple of white bandages thanks to Mystic Shield and was already in better shape.

"Welcome!", Pinkie said to her. "Welcome! Welcome!" 

"Who’s this Gilda I’ve heard nothin’ about?", Applejack asked Rarity.

"I hear she’s an old friend of Rainbow Dash, a griffon. So rare."

"Yeah. A rare pain in the—" Chronicle was cut off by somepony bumping into him, hitting right into one of his bandages. He cringed in pain. "Oww…"

"You’ve met Gilda, right?", Twilight Sparkle asked Fluttershy, who seemed to be feeling better. "What’s she like?"

"Oh…um, well…I’ll tell you later, Twilight." The yellow pegasus then approached Pinkie as Minuette and Golden Harvest were greeted. At around the same time, Chronicle did the same thing.

"Welcome!", Pinkie greeted. "Welcome!"

"Um, Pinkie Pie, about this party for Gilda—um, do you really think it’s a good idea? I mean—"

"Yeah.", agreed Chronicle. "Are you really sure about—"

"Don’t worry your pretty little heads about mean old Gilda." Pinkie cut them both off, then knocked them on the head. "Your auntie Pinkie Pie’s got it all taken care of."

She failed to notice that her response has left both of them rather vexed, and she turned back toward the door without bothering to hear their responses. 

"I’m a year older than you.", said the pegasus.

"And I'm two years your senior.", said the unicorn.

Just then, Gilda entered and Pinkie jumped over to greet her. "Gilda! I’m so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties! Well, It's also a welcome party for somepony else. But anyway, I really, truly, sincerely hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk." 

Pinkie then held out a hoof and gave a big grin. Gilda reluctantly shook the hoof—and received a full-body electric shock that sent the griffon tottering to the floor—and put an even bigger grin on the pink pony’s face. Chronicle spied a joy buzzer attached to Pinkie's hoof as she laughed over the stunt and Gilda got upright with a scowl. 

Rainbow Dash also laughed as she trotted over to the pair. "Oh, Pinkie Pie!", she said. "The old hoof-shake buzzer! You are a scream!" 

Gilda forced a smile and chuckled. "Yeah. Uh, good one, Pinkie Pie."

Rainbow began to trot off. "Come on, G. I’ll introduce you to some of my other friends."

"Right behind you, Dash!" Once the pegasus was out of earshot, the griffon turned to Pinkie menacingly. "I know what you’re up to."

Pinkie was still smiling. "Great!"

Gilda gave an exasperated groan. "I know what you’re planning!"

Pinkie just giggled. "Well, I hope so. This wasn’t supposed to be a surprise party. Well, not for you, anyway."

"I mean, I’ve got my eye on you." Pinkie then leaned directly into her face.

"And I got my eye on you." At this line, she bulged her eyes out comically on this line, then backed off to leave one rather bemused bad girl standing alone. Now standing amid the crowd, Pinkie announced, "Everyone, I’d like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash." She then zoomed in to hug her. "Let’s honor her and welcome her to Ponyville." 

As she zipped away, Gilda shot a hairy eyeball after her, but quickly traded it in for a smile as the other guests cheered and Rainbow Dash threw a hoof around her shoulders.

"Please help yourself." Pinkie said as she stood next to a bowl of candy. Mystic Shield was there, levitating—

"Vanilla lemon drops!", said Gilda as she picked up one with her talons. "Don’t mind if I do."

At the same time, both griffon and purple unicorn tossed their snacks into their mouths. Instantly, Gilda squinched her entire face up in pain as steam whistled out from her ears and sweat sprayed from her face. She promptly let go with a fiery belch akin to a dragon breath. Pinkie then picked up a stick in her teeth so she can roast the marshmallow impaled on it in the flames before they died down.

"Now where did that marshmallow come from?", Mystic asked himself.

"HOT!!", gasped Gilda.

"G!", Rainbow called out. "The punch!"

Gilda raced past her, and took a full glass from one of the tables. She then gulped it hastily…or so she thought; as it turned out, the punch was leaking out of a hole in the glass. 

There were laughs from everypony. "Well, what do you know?", said Pinkie. "Pepper in the vanilla lemon drops, and the punch served in a dribble glass!"

Rainbow chuckled. "Priceless. Priceless!" She laughed as Gilda zipped across the room and successfully downed another glass, gasping for breath.

"Yeah. Hilarious.", Gilda said sarcastically.

Back at the lemon drops, Mystic turned to Chronicle. "There was pepper in the vanilla lemon drops?", he asked.

"Yeah. Got my tongue burnt by one of them." The blue unicorn stuck out his tongue in disgust. "I hate spicy foods. And bitter. And sour. That bowl's filled with them. How are you…"

"I can tolerate all things spicy. Just don't make me taste a rainbow, though."

"Huh?"

Before Mystic could reply, they were cut off when they heard Rainbow Dash call out, "Hey, G!" as she stood by a table stacked with gifts. "Look! Presents!"

Greed brought the griffon over in a trice. Mystic trotted over as the griffon grabbed one and pulled its ribbon with her beak, only to have a mass of 'snakes' pop out in her face. Mystic jumped at the “snake can” trick, which left Gilda dazed and disheveled. There was more laughter from everypony in the party.

"Spittin’ snakes!", Applejack said to Rarity. "Somepony pulled that prank on me last month."

"Ha, ha.", said Gilda. "I bet I know who that was." 

"You do?", Pinkie asked.

Mystic 'took' another one of the presents, a cube-shaped one, and 'shook' it. It started to rattle, then its top popped off as it revealed itself to be a jack-in-the-box, startling Mystic as he gave a girlish scream. This earned him a collective laugh from everypony.

As Chronicle watched from where he stood, Pinkie suddenly popped out of nowhere. "Hey there, Chronicle!", she greeted as she held a present on her back. "I'd like you to have this! Don't open it until your birthday, okay?" She then tossed it up into the air and zoomed off. The blue unicorn 'caught' it, verified it wasn't a prank, then decided to keep his promise.

"Okay, Pinkie.", he said as he then 'stored' the present into his "hammerspace pocket".


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS

A third of an hour later…

Fluttershy had invited a group of birds, lined them up on a ledge, and was directing them in a song. Of course, she asked for Mystic Shield's permission, who granted it as long as she'll clean up any waste or mess they make afterward.

Just then, Pinkie Pie came over with a cake loaded with lit candles. "Cake time, everypony!", she said as she pushed the cake on a wheeled platform to the center of the floor. 

Spike, who was late to the party because of some errands for Twilight, walked up to it. "Hey! Can I blow out the candles?", he asked.

"Why don’t we let Gilda blow out the candles, Spike?", Twilight suggested. "She is the guest of honor, after all." 

"Don't you mean Mystic Shield?", Chronicle asked. "This is his house we're partying in. And he's the one Pinkie is throwing this party for."

"Oh, I don't mind.", Mystic said. "Give the griffon a go."

Said griffon then flashed over, elbowing Spike away, her feathers back in order. "Exactly!" She then took a deep breath, blew out all the candles—and then is greatly perplexed to see them all relight themselves. Another try left her slightly winded and earned a round of laughs, even Mystic, when the wicks blazed back up. Several more attempts got the same result.

"Relighting birthday candles!", Spike laughed. "I love that prank! What a classic!"

"Now I wonder who could’ve done that?", Pinkie asked herself.

"Yeah. I wonder.", snarked Gilda as Spike gobbled/tunneled himself into the cake.

"Who cares?", asked Spike, his voice muffled by cake. "This cake is amazing!" At the end of this, he popped out through the top, scattering frosting and candles everywhere.

"Spike!", Twilight scolded him.

"What? It’s great! Try some."

"Don't mind if I do.", said Mystic as he levitated a plate and fork so he could serve himself. This bit of gluttony started to work Gilda’s last good nerve as Rainbow Dash came over. 

"Hey, G.", she said. "You’re not upset about some silly candles, are you?" 

Gilda composed herself. "No way, Dash. Like I said, I’m down with a good prank."

Rainbow then zipped right next to Mystic, who was taking a bite out of his slice. "Come on, then. Let’s have some cake."

"Hey, are you all right?", Twilight asked Chronicle as she stroked at the bandage on his face, making him wince.

"What?", he replied as he gave a sidelong glance at Pinkie, who was now behind the cake. "Only noticed this just now? Relax. It's just a catscratch." He gave a reassuring smile as he lied. "I get these all the time whenever I accept a cat-finding request at the Request Board."

"That doesn't explain the other wounds." Twilight pointed at the other bandages.

"That cat did a number on me. And was much more dangerous than last time."

"Hey, y’all!", called Applejack. "It’s Pin the Tail on the Pony!"

The two turned to see that she's near the door. A paper pony tail lay before her, and a drawing of the tailless animal was tacked up on the wall.

"Let’s play!"

"Oh, my favorite game!", said Rarity. "Can I go first? Can I have the purple tail?"

"No way.", Mystic argued as he 'took' the tail. "This party's for me, so I should very well get it."

Gilda leaped for him with intent to snatch the tail, but was barred by a green force field from Mystic. She quickly got up and walked over to him. "I am the guest of honor, and I’ll have the purple tail.", she said.

"Fine. Here you go." Mystic levitated the tail to Gilda's expectant talon. "You could've just asked."

"Yeah!", Pinkie agreed. "Gilda should definitely go first." Spike then produced a blindfold and walked over. "Let’s get you blindfolded."

"Hey!", Gilda protested as Spike tied the cloth over her eyes and jumped off her back. "What are you doing?" She then gave a snarl as Pinkie grabbed hold of her and gave a heave that set her spinning, then backed away.

"We’re spinning you around and around, and then you can pin the tail on the pony."

Once Gilda stopped spinning, feeling giddy, Pinkie guided the griffon right to the tail. "Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail."

“Now just walk straight ahead and pin the tail.”, Gilda parroted mockingly, then gave a snort. "Yeah, right. This is another prank, isn’t it?" She then walked away from wall. "I’m going this way."

"Wait! The poster is this—"

One taloned foot came down in a splotch of frosting to send Gilda skidding and yelling across the room, straight through the bat-wing doors leading into what was apparently the kitchen. The resulting crash shook the entire house, and as clouds of flour puffed out, Gilda emerged a weary, bleary wreck, smeared with cake and various other sweet stuff. The blindfold was off, and the tail hung across her beak like a mustache.

"Uh, Gilda?", Pinkie attempted to make a joke. "You pinned the tail on the wrong end."

The ensuing round of laughter was the very last straw for the luckless griffon, who threw off all the gunk with a bellowing roar and hovered above the crowd.

"This is your idea of a good time?", she cried out. "I’ve never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life! And Pinkie Pie…you!" She pointed in Pinkie’s face, then leaned to her. "You are Queen Lame-o with your weak little party pranks! Did you really think you could make me lose my cool?" She then slid to Rainbow Dash. "Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together!" She failed to notice her friend's face hardens. "Come on, Dash." Gilda walked to the door. "We’re bailing on this pathetic scene." The pegasus did not stir a hoof even as her old friend stopped at the door. "Come on, Rainbow Dash! I said, we’re leaving!"

Not a single face was smiling anymore, not even Pinkie.

"You know, Gilda, I was the one who set up all those 'weak' pranks at this party."

This proved to be a direct hit to Gilda. "What?!" 

"Ooh!", Pinkie said.

"So I guess I’m Queen Lame-o. "

"Come on, Dash! You’re joshing me!"

"They weren’t all meant for you specifically. It was just dumb luck that you set them all off."

"And I was actively trying to find them before you did.", put in Mystic. 

"You were?", Chronicle whispered to him.

Pinkie gave a smile to Spike. "I shoulda known! That dribble cup had Rainbow Dash written all over it."

"No way!" Gilda was in denial. "I-It was Pinkie Pie! She set up this party to trip me up, to make a fool of me!"

Pinkie seemed to be genuinely surprised at this. "Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude." She then turned her head until her face was upside down. "I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down."

"And you sure didn’t need any help making a fool of yourself.", Rainbow added. "You know, this is not how I thought my old friend would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else."

The recipient of this tongue lashing snarled to herself and spread her wings. "Yeah? Well…you…you…you are such an…a flip-flop! Cool one minute and lame the next." Gilda proceeded to walk out "When you decide not to be lame anymore, give me a call." The door was slammed and her shrill cry was heard to mark her departure.

"Not cool."

"Wow. Talk about a party-pooper.", said Spike and there were general murmurs of agreement.

"I’m sorry, everypony, for bringing Gilda here. I didn’t know how rude she was. And, Pinkie Pie, I’m really sorry she ruined that awesome party you put on for her."

"A-hem.", Mystic cut in. "It's my party too, you know."

"Yeah, that too."

Pinkie just gave a smile. "Hey, if you want to hang out with party-poopers, that’s your business. "

"I’d rather hang out with you." Rainbow then held out hoof to shake. "No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings."

The moment they shook, both of them got a jolt that started the whole crowd laughing—save for one pony—and the two pranksters joined in, turning over their hooves to reveal a joy buzzer on each."

"Hey, Pinkie.", Twilight said as she walked over. "Sorry I accused you of misjudging Gilda. Looks like I’m the one who misjudged you. 

Pinkie put a foreleg around her shoulders. "It’s okay, Twilight. Even you can’t be a super-smart smarty smart-pants all the time." Pinkie then turned to the crowd, half-rearing-half-jumping excitedly. "Come on, everypony! There’s still a whole lotta party to finish! We still got Mystic Shield as our guest of honor!"

There was laughter and cheers as Twilight gave a thoughtful smile, ideas for her next letter already underway.

The one pony who didn't resume laughing was Chronicle, who seemed to be deeply regretting something. Oh no. What have I done? What have I done? Mystic Shield noticed and walked over.

"What's wrong?"

"You might call me crazy for this, but…I feel like I just ruined someone's life, possibly for life."

"You mean Gilda?" Mystic asked as the two watched Spike ride on Cloud Kicker and tie the blindfold around her eyes.

"Yeah. At first, she seemed to be just a mere obscene jerk to me, but then I realize that it could be as easily just the griffon in her acting up. From what I've managed to learn about them from books and personal experience, griffons have a deep-seated and irrational animosity to ponies that they have to train themselves to control. They also mate for life, and should they lose them, they quickly waste away from longing."

"Hold on. Let me guess where you're going with this; you think Gilda has a much closer bond with Rainbow Dash than we all thought?"

"That's what I'm afraid of."

As the two talked, Rainbow came over. "Hey, Chronicle. Think you're up for a spar tomorrow?"

Chronicle gave a weak smile after realizing that Rainbow had taken into account his injuries that meant he was in no shape to spar for the rest of the day. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"What's wrong?", Rainbow then asked as neither of them noticed Mystic get pulled off somewhere by Pinkie.

"I know this might sound odd coming from me, but…oh, never mind. We'll talk during our spar." It's about Gilda. I want to know more about her past with you, and I want you to perhaps try talking to her again. I don't want any of us to be responsible for wasting away a life we have no clue about.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS

After the party, just before his scheduled spar with Rainbow Dash…

Chronicle was in the library looking up a book about griffons, while Twilight Sparkle was writing her friendship report.

“Dearest Princess Celestia,”, she began. “Today I learned that it’s hard to accept when somepony you like wants to spend time with somepony who’s not so nice. Though it’s impossible to control who your friends hang out with, it is possible to control your own behavior. Just continue to be a good friend. In the end, the difference between a false friend and one who is true will surely come to light. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” 

As she then 'rolled up' the scroll, Chronicle noticed her 'take up' a bottle of what he remembered was disappearing ink. As he paused from his reading and walked over, he saw her 'place' a sticker over the disappearing ink to hide the fact that it was so.

"You plan to send that to the Princess?", he asked her.

"Of course. It's Tuesday today."

"I meant the ink."

"Oh, that? Well, I thought I'd try it out after Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie pulled off that one on me yesterday."

"I see. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Twilight then called for Spike as she 'put' the disappearing ink within the rolled-up letter. She then 'gave' the letter to him and he blew his green fire over it, sending it over to Princess Celestia.

Chronicle could only guess as to what Celestia's reaction was as he continued to read his book. 
> Chapter 8: Look Before You Sleep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Look Before You Sleep

It was a sunny day in Ponyville–but today wasn't the day for that. According to the weather management team, there was supposed to be some light rain last week, but they accidentally forgot about that. To make up for it, it was decided that a downpour would be made today. Chronicle still had a few problems comprehending the fact that weather was manually managed in Equestria, with the Everfree Forest being the only place where it occurs 'naturally'.

As he walked about, he watched the ponies do their work; pushing in clouds for the oncoming storm, picking up fallen branches, pruning loose ones, the latter of which he pitched in with his "magic horn blade". While slicing down one bough, something caught his eye. Something that clearly wasn't helping in the town effort.

As he bypassed Applejack, who was pulling down a tree limb with her lasso, he saw Rarity levitating a broken bough upward and reattaching it at the point where it came loose. As she eyed it with great concentration, she gave a short grunt, then lightened up with an idea. Her horn glowed sapphire blue and the bough's leaves instantly styled themselves into a pair of rearing-filly topiaries.

"Perfect!", she said.

"Indeed.", agreed Chronicle as he came over. "If there wasn't a storm coming our way." His statement was followed by a lasso snagging the end and snapping the whole thing loose again. It landed in front of the two unicorns, who aim their gaze—Rarity's disbelieving—at Applejack, who then spit out the rope end, and was obviously not in good spirits.

"Just take the broken limbs down, Rarity.", Applejack said. "Don't y'all care about nothin' other than prettifyin'?"

"Somepony has to. You are making an absolute mess of the town square, Applejack."

"Yeah, well, the storm's gonna make an even bigger mess if we don't prune all these loose branches so they don't tumble down on anypony."

Rarity looked up at the sky as pegasi moved more clouds in to plug the holes and block the last of the sun. "I simply cannot imagine why the pegasus ponies would schedule a dreadful downpour this evening and ruin what could have been a glorious sunny day."

"Please, let's be practical here.", said Chronicle as Applejack bucked a tree to shake down a couple more loose branches. "According to the weather management, there was supposed to be a sprinkle last week. But they skipped it by accident, so to compensate they decided on making this downpour." Just then, as if on cue, the rain began to fall.

"Oh, no!", Rarity began to complain. "My wonderfully styled mane shall be ruined!"

"You shoulda hurried up and finished the job already.", Applejack said as the prissy unicorn cried out and tried to duck every raindrop that came her way. 

"It's coming down too fast! …Help me!"

Applejack looked to each side for shelter, locating only a picnic table. "Uh, there! Hunker down to your heart's content whilst I finish things.

Rarity galloped across the square, but suddenly skid to a stop by the table, which had a sizable puddle underneath. "Ooh! No, no, no!" 

"What now?", Applejack asked as she and Chronicle joined her.

"I'd prefer not to get my hooves muddy."

"Suit yourself.", said Chronicle as he got under the table. "You can always clean up later." While he didn't mind getting wet, he wasn't about to let himself catch a cold. However, a barrier spell just to keep out the rain would be too much of a waste for him, and he had forgotten about umbrellas until seeing a particular pegasus pony with three of them as her cutie mark. She had a light yellow coat, orchidish gray hair, orange eyes, and her name was Parasol. I better add an umbrella to my list of items to add in my "hammerspace pocket".

Applejack grunted disgustedly. "There is just no pleasin' you, is there? Everything's gotta be just so."

"Well, and how does muddying my hooves serve any useful purpose?", Rarity countered.

"Y'all wouldn't know useful if it came up and bit you."

Rarity gave a laugh. "That doesn't even make any sense." 

"Does so."

"Does not."

"Does so!"

"Does not." 

"Does so!"

"Does not."

"Does so, infinity! Hah!"

"Does not, infinity plus one." 

Chronicle almost smacked himself in the face with his hoof before remembering it was muddied. He looked at the two ponies as they began to glare daggers at each other for a long, tense moment. 

Rarity was the first to break the silence. "What say we go our separate ways before one of us says something she will regret?"

"I reckon y'all are gonna say something you'll regret first!"

"On the contrary, I believe it shall most certainly be you who says something you will regret first."

"I'm not sayin' anythin'!"

"Nor am I!"

"Y'all just be on your way, then!"

"After you!"

They slowly backed away from each other in opposite directions, neither taking their eyes off the other the whole time. There came a sudden crack of lightning, and they were back where they started with a cry of fear, hugging each other tightly and shaking, but still not sheltering underneath the picnic table.

"Perhaps we should stick together for now and find some shelter.", suggested Rarity.

"Uh-huh.", agreed Applejack as the storm continued to intensify. "Perhaps we should. And fast!"

Immediately, Applejack took shelter underneath the table, although she was a bit too close to Chronicle, and he did not find it comforting.

"Nice and dry under here…", the farmpony said. "…sorta.", she then added as she eyed her muddy hooves. 

"Ugh!", protested Rarity as she decided to continue struggling against the wind. "Unacceptable!"

"There's not enough space for the three of us anyway, Applejack.", Chronicle said. "Although I should probably–"

He was cut off when he heard Twilight Sparkle calling out their names. "CHRONICLE! APPLEJACK! RARITY!" All of them turned to the direction of the voice. "CHRONICLE! APPLEJACK! RARITY!" 

As it turns out, the library, with Twilight standing at the open door and all the lights on, was just close by.

"Twilight?", the mares cried out.

"Now why didn't I see this earlier?", the stallion asked himself.

"Come inside, quick!", his charge called out to them.

The three sodden ponies sprinted across the open stretch of land. Rarity and Chronicle followed Twilight inside, but Applejack stopped at the doorstep.

"Whoa, nelly.", she said. "Is inside a tree really the best place to be in a lightnin' storm?"

"It is if you have a magical lightning rod protecting your home, like I do.", the bookish pony replied. "Come on in!"

Rarity gave a happy sigh. "We are most grateful for your invitation." She then looked worriedly over her shoulder as Applejack stepped in, muddy hooves and all.

"Thank you kindly for your hospitality.", she said before being stopped by Rarity, who then pointed down to the four spattered appendages.

"Uh, do be a polite house guest and go wash up, please, won't you?"

Applejack snarled to herself. "If I gotta spend one more second with that fussbudget Rarity today, I can't be held responsible for what I'm gonna do!"

"Just do it, please.", said Chronicle. "Even a non-prissy pony would complain like her if you walk in like that. Besides, it's improper to walk inside a house with dirty hooves. Even you should understand that, right?"

Applejack sighed as she conceded and stepped out. Meanwhile, Twilight was in quite a perky mood. "Some storm, huh?", she said. "The pegasus ponies sure have outdone themselves this time. I hope you and Applejack don't have any trouble getting home."

"It may indeed be a problem.", Rarity answered.

"Well, you're welcome to stay if need be. Spike is away in Canterlot on royal business. I'm home all alone tonight. Well, alone with Chronicle, that is." Suddenly, she gave a happy gasp. "You and Applejack should totally sleep over!" Twilight clapped her hooves at this. "We'll have a slumber party! I've always wanted one of those."

The suggestion caught Rarity flat-hoofed for a second before she started trying to put together something resembling a coherent response. "Oh!...goodness, uh, I do believe I have another engagement scheduled for this evening that completely slipped my mind until just now." She gave a fake chuckle. "Oh, silly me, I can't possibly stay here all night." She then added under her breath, "With Applejack."

Taking a quick look over the bookshelves, Twilight levitated one of the uppermost volumes from its resting place and down to her before 'passing' it on to Rarity. The cover showed a couple of pillows. 

"Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties, But Were Afraid to Ask.", Rarity read the title.

"My own personal copy.", said a proud and happy Twilight. "It's a fantastic reference guide. You should see the table of contents. I've been waiting for a chance to use it, and today's the day! This is gonna be so great!

"Yes, uh…great." She managed the best polite laugh she can, then turned her gaze to a window, through which Applejack can be seen wrestling with a garden hose; she eventually gets the water going, only to have it spray her in the face and knock her hat off. "But about Chronicle…is it okay to have a…"

"I know what you're thinking; that the activities are probably too girly for me. Don't worry. I know how to handle myself in slumber parties, having been in a few myself with one of my old charges. Besides, I'll have to admit I like these kinds of parties too." This proved to be a surprise for the two unicorns and their faces showed it. 


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

A while later…

Applejack has cleaned up her hooves, retrieved her hat, and was entering the second-story room in the library. However, she was now tracking water across the floor instead of mud. A nearby mop was covered in a blue aura and it came to life and started to clean up after Applejack. Just as she looked ahead, she pulled in a sharp gasp, her eyes going wide and her tail briefly standing up of its own accord. 

"What in tarnation?", she gasped as she saw Twilight and Rarity with a beauty treatment smeared on their faces, and the latter was slathering on some more. They and Chronicle were sitting close to one another on pillows, and Applejack stood facing them. "Now wait just a goldarn minute. You make me wash the mud off my hooves, but it’s okay for y’all to have mud all over your faces?"

"This mud is nothing like the one you washed off, you know.", said Chronicle. 

"Yeah, silly.", agreed Rarity.  "this is called a mud mask. It’s to refresh and rejuvenate your complexion."

"We’re giving each other makeovers!", Twilight added giddily as she levitated the book past herself and towards Applejack. "We have to do it. It says so in the book." 

The open tome reached Applejack and she read through it Slumber 101: Everything You—" She cut herself off with a sudden grimace as Twilight was about to slather some mud mask on her bodyguard.

"On second thought, I'll just take the cucumbers.", he said. As two cucumber slices were 'put over' his eyes, Applejack recovered her composure. 

"Oh, hey, heh. Would you look at the time? I gotta skedaddle on home quick, I’m powerful late for, uh, for somethin’ …uh…good night!" She began to gallop off, but yelped and beat a hasty retreat when a fresh bolt of lightning cracked the sky. Her saucer-eyed fear then gave way to a shaky smile after a moment. "Or maybe I’ll set here for a spell."

Twilight clapped in glee. "Hooray, slumber party!"

The earth pony’s unease as interrupted when a hoof-load of mud mask was thrown onto her face and Rarity rubbed it in. "Blecch!" She then got a cucumber slice slapped onto each eye. "What in the world is this for?"

Rarity gave a weary sigh. "To reduce the puffiness around one’s eyes, of course."

"Yeah.", agreed Chronicle. "That's partly why I like these in the first place. My eyes have been so stressed today I could really use them."

"Puffiness, schmuffiness!", Applejack scoffed as she pulled them into her mouth with her tongue and gulped them down. "That’s good eatin’!"

Rarity just aimed a vexed stare her way as Chronicle resisted the urge to give a yawn. 

Meanwhile, Twilight continued to read from the guide, now having propped it to a stand as she giggled. "Isn’t this exciting? We’ll do everything by the book, and that will make my slumber party officially fun!"

"Did you hear that, Applejack?", Rarity said to the farmpony as the latter tried to scrape her face clean. "You certainly would not want to do anything that would ruin Twilight’s very first slumber party, would you?" 

"Of course not. And you wouldn’t either, I reckon."

"So do we have an agreement?"

"You betcha." Applejack then spit on one front hoof and offered it to shake. As expected, Rarity was horrified at this.

"Oh, gross! You know, there’s messy, and there’s just plain rude."

"You know, there’s fussy, and there’s just plain gettin’ on my nerves!"

"Fortunately, I can get along with anypony, no matter how difficult she may be."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I’m the get-alongin’est pony you’re ever gonna meet!"

"That’s not even a word." 

Suddenly, Twilight popped up between them and hugged them both. "This is gonna be the bestest slumber party ever! Yay!"

Her two friends gave a wooden, "Yay." in response as they gave each other dirty looks from the corners of their eyes. 

Meanwhile, Chronicle gave a dejected sigh. "This'll be a slumber party to remember for sure."


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Twilight Sparkle happily hugging Applejack and Rarity, who stare at each other in a hostile manner. The show's logo is seen on the upper right.


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Evening…

Outside, the storm hasn't let up one bit. Inside, everypony was now in the kitchen, had their faces cleaned up, and the mares now had their manes and tails up in curlers. The lone stallion in the party was excluded as not only did he not prefer to participate, his hair was also too short to work with, not to mention it's not something a boy like him can enjoy anyways.

"Sooo…how are you getting along over there, Applejack?", Rarity asked.

"Just fine, Rarity.", the farmpony replied wearily.

"This is so awesome!", Twilight said with a giggle as she levitated the book and a quill over to herself. "Makeovers, check." In a flash, all the curlers disappeared in a flash, leaving the two guests to trade a thin smile. "Ooh! It says here we have to tell ghost stories! Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Applejack then spoke in a hushed tone. "I’d like to tell y’all the terrifyin’ tale of the Prissy Ghost, who drove everypony crazy with her unnecessary neatness!" She aimed a few of these words at Rarity, then waved her front hooves about while making ghostly moaning sounds for effect. "I’m sure y’all are familiar with that one?"

"I can't say I'm impressed in the slightest.", Chronicle yawned.

"Never heard of it.", said Rarity. "But I have a much better one." She then spoke in an ominous manner. "It’s the horrifying story of the Messy Inconsiderate Ghost, who irritated everypony within a hundred miles!" It was obvious that this was aimed at Applejack as she added her own sound effects.

"That’s not a real story.", the farmpony replied. "You made it up!"

"It is a ghost story. They’re all made up!"

"And both your stories aren't even remotely scary.", Chronicle said. Just then, a lightning strike took out all the lights, leaving everything black and eliciting gasps of fright, one of them as high as a filly's. A moment later, a firefly lantern was produced, illuminating everypony as they hunched around it.

"I’ve got one.", said Twilight. "This story is called…The Legend of the Headless Horse." More lightning tore through the night at the end of this. "It was a dark and stormy night, just like this one. And four ponies were having a slumber party…just like this one."

I wonder how Mystic Shield's doing in this dark and stormy night., Chronicle thought to himself as he listened to the story.


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Meanwhile, in Mystic Shield's dojo…

Said unicorn was in the center of the main room, which was now plain (now that the party regalia from his welcome party has been removed) with large tatami mats covering the entire floor. There were rugs that marked the doorways leading to his kitchen, sleeping quarters, and outdoors.

"It's so nice of you to let us sleep over in your house for the night."

"No problem, Fluttershy. I'm sure we'll have a blast while Pinkie Pie's around."

The two ponies were drinking warm tea together while said party pony was playing a board game with Rainbow Dash.

"Tell me again how you convinced me to like this game?", Rainbow asked the sole earth pony in the room.

"I don't know, Rainbow Dash.", Pinkie replied simply. "You looked interested the moment I pulled it out."

"Speaking of which, Pinkie, just how do you do what you do?", Mystic asked. "You know, pull stuff out of nowhere. As far as I can tell, only unicorns have it and even they have limits." 

"You know, I sometimes ask myself the same thing."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Mystic turned his head to it and said, "Come in."

And that's what the visitors did. The door flew open and in came four unicorns. As the door automatically closed themselves thanks to a spell Mystic Shield had put on it. Once the doors were closed, Mystic and the others could see that their visitors were stallions. Before he could get a better look however, Pinkie gave a gasp, rising into the air, and then ran for the door, bypassing the newcomers and creating a hole in Mystic's door that was shaped like her, down to the poofy hair.

"Okay. Now that's just weird.", Mystic remarked. "I'm gonna have to charge Pinkie for that."

"Allow me to make a temporary fix.", said one of them as his horn glowed cyan like his eyes. This unicorn had an orange-brown coat, auburn hair in slicked-back messy spikes, a slightly large build for a unicorn, a mountain cutie mark, and a deep voice. From outside, the shards of the door–as well as pieces of soil from the ground just outside–floated up and made their way to the hole Pinkie made. In fifteen seconds, the pieces were put into place and the soil was somehow compacted. "That should keep out the rain for a while."

"Thanks you for your help.", said Mystic. "Might I ask why you're here?"

"Oh, apologies for not introducing ourselves. My name is Greatstone." The other three then began to step forward.

The second unicorn had a purple-gray coat, a black mane in a long ponytail (moreso than Applejack), an eyepatch over his right eye, showing the left which was amber, and a white reticule cutie mark. "Bullseye's the name.", he greeted in a casual 'surfer dude' tone.

The third unicorn had a silver-gray coat, steel blue hair with bangs covering the right side of his face, aqua eyes, and a closed dark-gray book as a cutie mark. "I'm Tricky Books." He sounded younger than the others

The last unicorn had a goldenrod coat, platinum blond hair worn in a Caesar cut, a goatee, two silver helix piercings in both ears, blue eyes, and a trio of cards as a cutie mark. "And I'm Chrono Cards.", he spoke in a formal manner. "We found an ad on the Request Board, and we were hoping to apply. That is, if your name's Mystic Shield."

"Indeed that is my name.", replied the only other unicorn in the area as Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash watched in silence. "I take it you wish to enroll in my class?"

"Yes, that is so.", said Tricky. "May we inquire for additional details about your classes?"

"Why, of course. Come and we'll talk." Mystic then added under his breath. "Until Pinkie returns." He then raised his volume again. "No need to mind my pegasus companions, they're just staying here to get out of the rain."


RD—F—PP—MS—G—TB—B—CC

Back in the library…

Twilight's ghost story was drawing to a close. Rarity was visibly unnerved, evidently Twilight’s story has gone to work on her. Applejack was doing no better. Chronicle however seemed to be able to maintain a calm face, although he was shaking on the inside.

"And just when the last pony thought she was safe…", Twilight said. "…there, standing right behind her, just inches away, was… THE HEADLESS HORSE!"

There came a lightning strike, and she–in all of a sudden–reared up before her guests and bodyguard with a blanket covering her head. Applejack and Rarity screamed in terror and clutch at a visibly paralyzed Chronicle as he resisted the urge to scream like a filly. Everypony fell quiet as Twilight then peeked out with a 'gotcha' smile. As Chronicle 'set free' the fireflies from the lantern, 'put it away' in "hammerspace", then 'turned on' the library lights, his charge tossed the cover away and galloped over to a stand where her slumber party guide sat open along with her quill.

"Ghost story, check." Now that the danger was past, Rarity and Applejack draw apart from Chronicle with suspicious glances at each other. Twilight then popped up between them and behind her bodyguard, still completely unaware of any enmity. "Now, who wants s’mores?"


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Later…

Everyone was at the kitchen. Applejack was at the fireplace, toasting four marshmallows at once. While holding the sticks holding them with her hooves. Somehow. Chronicle couldn't fathom as to how this was possible as he stood at the table with the other two unicorns in the slumber party. 

"Then you place one marshmallow on the top of the chocolate—", Rarity was explaining to him and his charge. Plates of graham crackers and chocolate squares were laid out. Rarity hds a nearly-completed s’more on a saucer before her, missing only its top cracker and she was levitating both that piece and all the parts for a second. "—and be sure it’s centered, that’s critical, and then carefully put another perfectly square graham cracker on the top." With that, she floated the second cracker down and squished it gently into place. "And…done! Ta-da!"

"Ooooh!", said Twilight as the fashionista gave a soft laugh.

"Looks great.", commented Chronicle.

Applejack, however, was less than enthused at Rarity's meticulous explanation. "Nah, you just eat ’em!" And she does so, scarfing the whole thing in one cheek-bulging mouthful and chewing noisily with her mouth open. Rarity reacted to this display of bad table manners and the loud burp that followed it with a disgusted groan. Chronicle shared the same feelings.

"You could at least say, 'Excuse me'.", said the fashionista.

"I was just about to, but you interrupted me.", Applejack countered. "Pardon." The fastidious unicorn wasn't exactly thrilled by this. 

"Are everypony in your farm this uncouth while eating?", Chronicle asked. "Because even middle-class citizens won't tolerate your manners, not just the high-class aspiring Rarity here." He quickly received hard stares from both of them.

Meanwhile, Twilight was marking off in her book. "S’mores, check. Now the next item of fun we have to do is…truth or dare!"

"I dare Applejack to do something carefully and neatly for a change.", Rarity said.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I dare Rarity to lighten up and stop obsessin’ over every last little detail, for a change.", Applejack countered.

"I think the truth of the matter is that somepony could stand to pay a little more attention to detail." Twilight watched with mild shock at this while her bodyguard almost looked like he was about to smack himself in the face.

"And I think the truth is, somepony oughta quit with her fussin’ so the rest of us can get things done!"

The slightly bewildered slumber party host then turned back to her guide and flips pages quickly with her magic.

"Um, I don’t think this is how the game’s supposed to work.", she said.

"You two are basically sniping at each other rather than playing the game.", her bodyguard added. 

"You have to give an honest answer to any question, or do whatever anypony dares you to do."

Applejack then told Rarity, "I dares you to step outside and let your precious tidy mane get ruined again." The owner of said mane shuddered in fright.

"You have to.", said Twilight. "It’s the rule."

"Ha!"

"Fine!", Rarity conceded as she skulked out, Applejack grinning wickedly after her. 

As there were sounds of the door opening, rain pouring down, and Rarity yelping in barely contained panic, while Applejack put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a guffaw, Chronicle turned to his charge and said, "Isn't there supposed to be a part where someone asks 'Truth or Dare?', then the asked chooses?"

"Whoopsie. Can't believe I skipped that part."

Just then, they heard the door close again, and there stood a very soggy Rarity, her mane and tail having lost all semblance of their usual elegant curl. Applejack had a laugh as Rarity squished back into the room, but clammed up and started backing away before the latter's steady advance. "Okay. I dare Applejack to play dress-up, in a frou-frou, glittery, lacy outfit!"

Now Applejack was the one to react badly, sucking in a sharp gasp. She threw Rarity a dirty look and walked off. A quick rustle of clothing later, she returned to the kitchen. Her light blue outfit was that of a typical fairy-tale princess, complete with earrings and necklace, pink ribbons on her hooves, a tall pointed hat, and a full-length gown with a pink saddle trimmed in yellow and white. Her mane had been curled and flowers were put into it. Needless to say, she wasn't the slightest bit pleased at having to do this. "Happy?"

"Very." Rarity gave a chuckle. 

"Um…do I ever get a turn?", Twilight asked, but was cut off by Applejack.

"I dare you to enter the next rodeo when it comes to town!"

"I dare you not to enter the next rodeo that comes to town!"

"I dare you to not comb your mane a hundred times before bed!"

"And I dare you to comb yours just once!"

"Wait a second…", Chronicle turned to his charge as the two continued to bicker. "Truth or Dare?"

"Wha…uhh…Truth."

"Tell me. Is that dress Applejack's wearing right now yours?"

"Umm…" Twilight blushed at this, then gave a sigh. "Yes. It's for me to wear in social events back in Canterlot."

"Sounds plausible, being Princess Celestia's star pupil and all."

"Okay. My turn. Truth or Dare?"

Chronicle put a hoof to his chin. "I'll have to go for…Dare."

"Great! I dare you to put on my dress Applejack's wearing."

"…Done." Twilight seemed surprised at his easy acceptance as he then turned to Applejack. "Applejack, I need you to come with me."

And the two were gone for a while. A few seconds later, Applejack was back with her usual stetson and hairstyle, looking really flustered, and Chronicle followed wearing the frilly dress, surprisingly keeping a straight face.

Rarity looked shocked at this. "Oh my stars, Chronicle! Are you…you…a cross–"

"I'm not gonna warrant an answer.", he said. "Other than one of my former charges convinced me into this. That's all you need to know."

Twilight gave a nervous smile as she levitated the book. "I think we can check off 'truth or dare' and move on.  Let’s see what our next fun-fun-fun thing is, shall we?" She eyed the pages for a long moment in a puzzled manner as Chronicle took off the dress-up outfit. "Hmmm, what does this mean? 'Pillow fight'?" 

Rarity, by now properly dried and styled, said, "Oh, please. I am not at all interested in participating in something so crude." She promptly caught a flying pillow with her face and spat out a few loose feathers, changing her attitude in a heartbeat. "Ooh! It is on!"

One quick nip and head snap sends the pillow flying across the room and into Applejack’s face. Shaking the feathers away, the latter bucked three from a pile in front of her that Twilight 'summoned'. It was a triple bulls-eye; now the fashionista kicked the pillows back across the room, missing with each one. The farmpony countered by cinching several of them in a lasso and twirling them overhead. She then whipped them loose—a salvo of three—but Rarity used her magic to bring them to a hovering rest on either side of her. Another spell then hurled them back across the room. 

As pillows went flying in both directions, Twilight stood up with a look of sudden understanding. "Ohhh, I get it! Pillow…fight! Fun!" 

Just before two pillows could slam into the side of her head, Chronicle jumped in and conjured a dome barrier around themselves.

"We better get out of the crossfire.", he said as he 'caught' a few of the pillows that shot across them and started 'constructing' fortifications. He then addressed his friends as Twilight stood confused. "Girls, please take this down a notch."

"I will if she will!", Applejack said as she threw and dodged pillows.

"She started it!", said Rarity, doing likewise.

"If that's how you want it, fine!", Chronicle said as he completed the 'fort' and 'caught' several of the pillows that sailed across the room. "Twilight, take cover!" His charge did so as he joined in the battle. He was so fierce in his pillow-throwing that Applejack and Rarity ended up teaming up against him, although it couldn't be helped as he was in between them and thus in their way. Eventually, he decided enough was enough, started defending from Rarity, then started on knocking out Applejack. After 'throwing' one as fast as Rainbow Dash could fly right into the farmpony's face, leaving her dazed, he then barraged Rarity in the same manner, using more pillows as she has telekinesis and could stop a few. Once both of them were down for the count, Chronicle relaxed.

Twilight then got up and spat out some feathers that came from the pillows. "Maybe we should just call it a night and get some sleep?"


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Back in Mystic Shield's dojo…

There was a party going on, thanks to Pinkie Pie, who unfortunately created a hole in the door shaped like her. Again. Which was also patched up. It was a welcome party for the four newcomer unicorns, who have decided to enroll in Mystic's class. There were no extra guests as the storm prevented anypony else from coming.

"I never thought we'd have a party for us.", said Bullseye as he watched Chrono drink some punch and somehow get himself wasted. When Pinkie came back, she had took out a blue weapon on wheels and blasted…well, a party out of it. Neither he nor his companions knew how she did that, and when they asked Mystic, Fluttershy, and Rainbow, they said they had no idea either.

"I'm relatively new to this town myself.", admitted Mystic. "And there was a party here for me a couple days ago."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Speaking of which, where will you guys be living?"

"Oh, we'll manage." Bullseye spied Tricky reading a book that looked like the one on his flank, and he was reading it to Fluttershy, who seemed to be trying to tell him to stop but was unable to bring up the courage to. "Is there an apartment in this town?"

"I haven't checked the whole town yet, so I wouldn't know."

"Okay. I guess we'll see. …This party doesn't seem to be very exciting, isn't it?"

All of a sudden, Pinkie popped up from behind him. "Yeah, I noticed! Once this storm's over, I'm throwing another party for you guys and this time I'm inviting everypony!"

"But not here, Pinkie.", Mystic warned as he glanced Rainbow staring at Greatstone and making a string of goofy faces at him, who remained stoic as he ate a slice of cake. "I don't think my door could take any more holes shaped like you."

"Okay! I'll invite them at Sugarcube Corner!"

"Well, I think this party's getting nowhere, so I guess I'm gonna hit the hay."

"What hay? There aren't any around here you could hit."

"I wanna sleep now, okay?"

"Okay!" Pinkie then suddenly pulled out pillows and a nightcap. "Slumber party!"

"That's…not a bad idea!"

"Yay!"

"But first, clean up this mess."

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" With that, she began to speed around, much to the amazement of everypony else. Once she was done, nothing of the party regalia was left.

"Wow, that was fast!"

"Aaand…I totally remembered to bring this book on slumber parties." Out of her back, she produced the book titled Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties (But Were Afraid to Ask).

"How does she do all these things?", Bullseye asked himself.

"There are some things pony's not meant to know.", Greatstone said, not minding the icing that was still on his face.

"Hmm?", Tricky raised his head, not having noticed anything go on, even when Pinkie quickly wrapped up her party regalia.


RD—F—PP—MS—G—TB—B—CC

Much later…

Everypony was in bed. After some…uncomfortable implications…Chronicle relinquished his bed to Applejack and Rarity while he slept beside his charge. Miraculously, he managed not to feel aroused in spite of sleeping next to…well, a girl that wasn't a blood relative. Usually, he'd be out like a light and would not wake up until late morning, but for some reason sleep kept eluding him as he heard voices on his bed.

"Keep your muddy hooves on your side of the bed!", Rarity whispered to Applejack.

"My hooves ain’t muddy!" 

"They were. There might still be a little on them."

"There ain’t! See?"

"Ewww!" Rarity gripped the blanket with her teeth and yanked all of it to her side.

"Now who’s bein’ inconsiderate? " Applejack yanked the blanket off Rarity, who glared over her shoulder and then got out of bed.

"I have to make the bed again so the blanket will be right!" She then butted Applejack off. "Get up!"

"Hey!"

Rarity 'tucked' the blanket’s corners neatly over the mattress and smoothed out all the folds, leaving a perfectly made bed that didn't placate Applejack in the slightest. The latter angled her head down to get her teeth on the edge, but Rarity waved her back. "Ah-ah-ah! You’ll ruin it. You have to do it like this." From a haunch-sitting position on her pillow, she eased her hindquarters under the blanket without turning it down, and eventually wound up lying on her back. "Ahhh…"

"Yeah, that’s not gonna happen." Applejack then jumped up, with full intent on pouncing on the bed. "GERONIMO!!" She landed on the bed with enough force to throw both Rarity and her pillow out as the suddenly vacant half of the blanket settled over the farmpony.

"Hey!" She the got up from her being thrown off. "You did that on purpose."

"Um…yeah."

"Get up so I can fix it again!"

"Can’t hear you. I’m asleep." Applejack then gave a few loud fake snores as Rarity fumed quietly for a moment, after which the irate unicorn whipped the blanket off the bed with her teeth. "I ain’t budgin’."

"You will if you want any blanket!", Rarity said through her teeth. The blanket was swiftly yanked away by Applejack, leading to a tug-of war.

"Give it back!"

"I will not!"

"Yes, you will!"

"Won’t!"

"Will!"

"Won’t!"

"Will!"

"Won’t!"

"Will!

"ENOUGH!!" They were cut off by Twilight, who had gotten up due to all the racket. Chronicle was up too, unable to get any sleep.

"Damn you, girls!", said the only male in the room. "You managed to wake me up from my sleep! And let me tell you that once I'm asleep, I'm difficult to wake!" He then added with sarcasm. "Congratulations!"

The two 'combatants' slackened their pull on the blanket as the book, open, was levitated up for them to read.

"It says right here that the number-one thing you’re supposed to do at a slumber party is have fun.", Twilight said as she then 'slammed' the book shut and 'dropped' it. "And thanks to you two, I can’t check that off!" 

Applejack dropped her end. "I’ve been tryin’ my darnedest to get along!" 

Rarity dropped hers. "No, it is I who have been trying my best."

"No, it was me."

"No, it was I."

"Me!"

"I!"

As the now tried to bulldoze each other away, Chronicle cut them off as his charge brought them up short. "No! Neither of you were doing your best! You were busy sniping at each other and either Twilight was very oblivious, or was being patient."

"I hope you’re happy…", she said. "…both of you! You’ve ruined my very first slumber party! The makeover, the s’mores, truth or dare, the pillow fight—I mean, is there anything else that could possibly go wrong?!"

"Dammit, you shouldn't say that!", Chronicle then scolded. There came a lightning strike from outside. Twilight's friends turned to see that a nearby tree has been hit, weakening the trunk so that its upper section began to lean precariously toward the house next door…which happened to be Mystic Shield's dojo. Twilight huddled down under her blanket, leaving only her forelegs, eyes, and bangs visible.

"Sorry I asked."

"See?!"


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The Books and Branches Library in a stormy night, with the leaning lightning-struck tree on the right. The show's logo is seen on the bottom right.


C–TS–A–R–C–TS–A–R–C–TS–A–R

The lights have been turned on as everypony gathered near the window. They all gasped in unison, seeing the tree’s upper section start to topple over.

"You see?", Applejack scolded a chastened Rarity. "That’s why we needed to take down all those loose branches in town, not spiffy ’em up!"

"But I—" 

"Out of my way, missy!" Applejack dashed to the window. "Time’s a-wastin’!" She pushed it open with one hoof and her lasso began to spin.

"Wait! Stop! Don’t!"

"No waitin’, no stoppin’, doin’!" And with that, she let the rope fly and caught the loose section at its top. She then let go of the rope from her teeth to say, "And that, my friends, is what we call 'gettin’ ’er done.'"

As she then bit down on her end, Chronicle warned. "Hold it! Don't pull that way!" But it was already done. The unicorns cried out in panic as the entire leafy expanse of the snapped-off piece tumbled squarely through the window. The foliage was expansive enough to nearly fill the loft, and Applejack wound up hanging over the balcony by the rope still in her teeth. 

As Chronicle conjured a wall of magic to keep out the storm, Rarity was crying out from the wind-blown mess at the bookshelves, which have been reduced to a scramble of open volumes, torn-out pages, and broken junk. She was holding an open book over her head to shelter herself in spite of the fact that no wind was blowing inside anymore.

"I tried to tell you it would come crashing down in here!", the fashionista warned as Applejack climbed up the steps.

"Well, you shoulda tried harder!" Applejack's eyes then popped upon seeing that Rarity was trying to gather up the bits of furniture. At the other end of the fallen timber, Twilight poked her head up dizzily and shook it clear. "I’m mighty sorry, Twilight. "

"It’s…well…it’s not okay! There’s a giant tree branch in the middle of my bedroom!" Twilight then 'pulled out' the book.  "And the book doesn’t say anything about having a giant tree branch at your slumber party!" She then 'flipped' the pages. "Or at least I haven’t found that answer yet!"

"It's not.", Chronicle said. "I looked it up in my spare time! It's an intrusion, and intruders must be kicked out."

"Really? Let me look it up."

The sole stallion groaned at his charge's skewed priorities. That tree must've hit her hard. He then turned to Rarity, who was putting books back on the shelves, and saw that her priorities were also skewed.

"What in tarnation are y’all doin’ over there?", Applejack asked her, seeing it too.

"Cleaning up this mess somepony made! Who was that again? Oh, right, that’s you!"

Applejack grimaced for a moment, pulled her head into the leaves, and put it up behind Twilight. "We gotta do somethin’!"

Twilight was still reading, "Baking, BFF’s, brothers…there’s nothing in here about branches!"

"I told you it's an intrusion!", Chronicle yelled back. "Look up 'I'." Darn, she's hopeless.

Applejack used her rope to pull on one section, then bucked at it and stomped before diving back in. A moment later, she looked out across the room. "Rarity, for pony’s sake! Stop sweatin’ the small stuff and help me get rid of this thing!" Rarity ignored her as she continued shelving. "I said, hustle over here and help me!"

"Come on, Rarity. We can fix up the books later."

Again, there was no response. At this moment, Applejack strained against the trunk’s weight and/or her own attitude. When she spoke next, her voice has lost some of its angry edge. ""Look. I’m sorry, all right?"

"What was that?", Rarity asked.

"I said, I’m sorry! I shoulda listened to you when you noticed where this here branch would end up. Your annoyin’ attention to detail woulda saved us from this whole mess. But right now, you need to stop bein’ so dang fussy pickin’ up all those little things and help me move the one big thing in here that actually matters!" There was no immediate response. "Please!"

The last word got Rarity’s attention, but she eyed her hooves with a couple of worried little grunts.

"But I’ll get all icky!"

"Consarn it—! What the…you…I mean, yes. Ickiness is often a side effect of hard work. But y’all need to get over it, on account of I just can’t fix this mess I made myself. I need your help." She then turned to Chronicle. "I could use your help too."

Taking a long moment to think, Rarity tossed her head to get the book off it and moaned uncertainly—before a determined smile came over her face. "Let’s do this!" As the two of them then went to Chronicle and the three discussed strategy, Twilight continued consulting her slumber party guide.

"Well, they do have a section about backyard slumber parties.", she asked herself. "Is that what we’re doing right now? Does this count as camping?"

"Darn it, Twilight!", Chronicle yelled, interrupting the plan-making. "Just—oh, forget it!"

A few seconds later, they put their plan into action. Rarity was now back at the bookshelves and she concentrates deeply, and unleashing a scintillating burst from her horn. In two swift flashes, the leafy limbs became topiaries similar to the ones she made prior to the storm, but with a wider assortment of shapes. They floated before her and settled gently into the suddenly cleared floor space.

At the window, one stub of trunk still hung on the sill, held in place by Chronicle's barrier. Applejack—having finally put her hat back on—was set to buck it out, but a stern look from Rarity changed her mind. Both ponies are now filthy with twigs and tree sap. Instead of using leg-power, Applejack caught a small side branch in her teeth and—the second Chronicle dismissed the barrier—gently heaved the wood over the side. Rarity smiled approvingly as the sole stallion then pulled the window shut, then got a full look at the splatters that have ruined her own impeccable grooming. "Oh…I look awful."

Applejack thought hard for a moment before getting a brainstorm. She then took up some cucumber slices and put them on Rarity's eyes. "Better?"

Rarity smiled and laughed softly. "Thanks." She reached forward blindly with a hoof, trying to touch Applejack’s cheek. The latter leaned forward to put herself in the right place, and the two share a standing hug—nuzzling each other’s cheek while draping a foreleg around the neck.

Chronicle smiled at this. While he could've done all this by himself, he had a feeling that this was needed to bring the two different friends together. He then turned to Twilight, who was still reading, then she finally took note of the topiaries.

"Ooh, pretty! Where did these come from?" Twilight then checked the pages. "They’re not in the book either."

Chronicle smacked himself in the face, forgetting it was muddied, then regretted it. Why do I seem to be the only sane pony among my friends? All of a sudden, he felt tired and dropped off on the spot. After his three friends cleaned the place and themselves up, they realized he was sleeping. Together, they cleaned his face, lifted him up, carried him to his bed, and pulled up the covers. Just as they walked away however, Chronicle's horn began to glow. Then, in a flash, a pony that looked like him appeared right in front of them.

"Oh my!", gasped Rarity.

"What is tarnation?!", gasped Applejack.

"Are you a magical clone?", asked Twilight.

"Yes.", the copy answered. "You can address me as Chronicle since I'm effectively him. Anything I learn, he will too once I'm made to disappear either at will or when I'm hit real hard. I'm quite fragile." He turned to Rarity and Applejack. "Ask Twilight for more details."

"Speaking of which, why did you come to be?", his charge asked.

"Hey, we still got a slumber party to finish, right? My original is too pooped, but I'm more than ready to continue for him."

His three friends just stared with mixed expressions, unsure as to how to take this in.


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Hours later…

After Applejack and Rarity finished asking Twilight about Chronicle's magical clone, they all began to play the next game in the book's list: Twenty Questions. They were sitting on the floor and laughing and the unicorn mares had their curlers in. 

"Is it bigger than a barn?", asked Applejack.

"Nope.", said Chronicle–his copy, to be exact–with a bored face.

"Is it smaller than a saddle?"

Twilight giggled again. "No. Only three of your twenty questions left."

Applejack sighed. "We’re never gonna guess what you’re thinkin’ of! It could be anything!"

Only because your guessing skills are poor., Chronicle thought to himself.

"Are we getting warmer?", asked Rarity.

"Why? Is it too cold in here for you?", asked Twilight. "I can turn up the heat."

"What a horrible pun.", grumbled her bodyguard. 

"She means, are we gettin’ any closer with our guesses?", Applejack clarified. 

"Oh!...No. And that technically counted as a question, so only two more left.", said Twilight.

Both guessers began to think very hard. "

"Is it…", Applejack said, then in rapid fire, "…a six-legged pony with a purple polka-dotted mane and shootin’ stars comin’ out of his eyes…"

"…who flies through the air all over the world to hide magic sparkly eggs?", finished Rarity in the same manner.

"That’s it!", said Twilight.

"It is?", both guessers asked.

"No.", Chronicle simply stated. "Way too specific and way too ridiculous." He then pointed to something at the bedroom window. "It's a telescope. Really, girls. Those were worse guesses than in the last time I played Twenty Questions."

"But it was just so nice to see you two finally getting along, I wanted you to be able to win together.", Twilight said, and the two guessers laughed, proving her point. "See? We could’ve been having fun like this all along."

"If only somepony hadn’t been so persnickety.", said Applejack.

"Well, maybe she wouldn’t have been if somepony else hadn’t been so sloppy.", said Rarity.

They traded sidelong, riled-up glances for a moment, then smiled again. "Sorry for bein’ such a pain in the patootie."

"Oh, no, I’m sure I was much worse."

"That’s kind of you to say, but I’m the one who’s sorry."

"Oh, I’m much more sorry than you are."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

Both of them began to laugh, and Twilight popped up between them, the curlers gone from her mane. "I declare my first slumber party a success!"

The three of them "high-fived" and gave out a "Yeah!" before laughing again. 

Twilight then levitated her book. "Have fun, check!" There was another round of laughter as it was closed.


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

Early morning…

At the main room, the table was set aside as stacks of books and pillows–as well as the topiaries–filled the floor. 

"Now take two steps to your left." Rarity–curlers off her head–instructed Applejack as she walked into the 'obstacle course', her motions hampered by the cucumber slices on her eyes. "Uh, no, my left." 

Applejack tried to correct herself in her walk. "Well, which is it?" She then stumbled into the books, toppling them over. "Whoa!" When she stood up from the collapse, she had lost the slices but gained a pillow on her head. She gave a smile as Rarity walked to her. "That mess is your fault, not mine." Both of them began to laugh.

"Sorry."

Meanwhile, Twilight was composing a report at a worktable, her bodyguard standing right next to her. 

“Dear Princess Celestia,", she began. "It’s hard to believe that two ponies who seem to have so little in common could ever get along. But I found out that if you embrace each other’s differences, you just might be surprised to discover a way to be friends after all.” She then floated the quill away from the scroll and addressed herself across the room. "So, who’s up for another slumber party tomorrow night?" She was answered with a pair of pillows being flung into her grinning face. "How about a week from Thursday?" A few more pillows were thrown. "Oh! How about two weeks from Saturday?" There was laughter from her guests. "A month from now?"

"In any case, why don't we invite all of our friends next time?", Chronicle suggested. "I'm sure it'll be a blast with Pinkie Pie. Speaking of which, I wonder what she's doing?"


C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R—C—TS—A—R

In Mystic Shield's dojo…

Eight ponies were sleeping on the tatami mats in sleeping bags Mystic Shield provided. Mystic was in the center, the mares were cuddled together in a circle around him, and Mystic's new students were circled around them. While he could've slept in his bedroom, he decided to sleep with the others. With his four new students and Chronicle's friends. He didn't feel acquainted enough with them yet to be part of his friendship circle with the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony.

"Man, that was the first slumber party I've ever had.", Mystic mumbled to himself. "I think my future's looking bright."
> Chapter 9: Bridle Gossip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9: Bridle Gossip
In Chronicle's dreams...

He was once again inside a dark expanse, where he usually 'stays' to think of things. Sometimes, he'd also dream of sparring with Rainbow Dash, making small talk with Mystic Shield, or pre-Ponyville times with Twilight Sparkle and Spike. But more often than not, he's in this void, mulling over matters.

All of a sudden, another pony began to appear in front of him. As it began to materialize, he saw it had the same coat color, hair color, general body shape, black hooves, and even cutie mark. As the image got clearer, he saw that it was a mare, her mane was smooth and at neck-length with two bangs flanking her face, her tail was longer, and her muzzle was more curved.

"Hello there...Timmy.", she said.

"T-t-t-Tabitha?", Chronicle asked upon hearing his real name.

"Glad you still managed to remember me in spite of the pony form I'm currently assuming. By the way, the name I'm going by is Timerity."

"Uhh...okay. I'm going by the name Chronicle." Chronicle then managed to get back to his senses. "Hold on a minute! How are you able to contact me in this dream?"

"Something new in the Story Crew." Tabitha, a.k.a. Timerity, is Chronicle's sister. "The Timer family can now communicate with one another in dreams, although it won't be every night." There are numerous Equestrias their organization the Story Crew are within reach of. And both of them were assigned to two of them.

"Just where are you assigned to, since you've assumed a pony form?"

"While you're assigned to 'Equestria Prime', which should be a big honor for you, I am assigned to 'Solaris Equestria', and you won't believe it but the male-to-female ratio is more favored on the former than in ours."

"Yeah? Well, while where I am has its share of dudes, the reverse of what you said is apparently true here. That is, the majority of ponies here are girls."

"You must be elated, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, your friendship circle has got to feel like a harem, doesn't it? I know mine can't."

Chronicle was flustered at this. "What?! No! That thought has never entered my mind until you suggested it! And no, I still don't think of it as a harem now." Timerity chuckled at this, making him groan. "So, any real reason as to why you wanted to talk with me?"

"No real reason. Just wanted to rant on what I've been experiencing so far. My charge Dusk Shine had a slumber party with some of his friends."

"Dusk Shine?"

"Student of Prince—or was it Lord—Solaris, has a baby dragon assistant named Barbara. Also, Keeper of the Element of Magic."

"Wait a second...this Dusk Shine...is he a bookworm?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Purple coat?"

"Yes."

"What's his cutie mark?"

"A six-pointed pink star overlaid on a white one with five small white stars surrounding the two. Just what are you getting to, Timmy?"

"I was suspecting something."

"And...Wait a second, did you have a slumber party with your friends some time ago?"

"Yeah."

"Who was the host?"

"My friend and charge Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and Keeper of the Element of M—"

"Magic. What's she like?"

Chronicle was a bit shaken from the interruption. "A bookworm, needs to build up on her social skills. Her special talent is magic."

"What's her cutie mark?"

"Uhh, a six-pointed pink star overla...oh, my—"

"I think I get it now!", shouted out Timerity. "It may still be a wild guess, but I think whoever's a girl in your world it's a boy in mine and vice-versa. Not just for our friends and the rulers, but for nearly everypony else."

"Now that guess is really wild, but to think that this gender-swap issue also applies for us too..."

"I know, right. Well, I better wake up soon. Try and wake up early next time, will you?"

"I know, I know. It's nice talking with you, Tabitha."

"Likewise. But I think we should call each other by our pony names from now on, okay?"

"All right...Timerity."


C—T—C—T—C—T—C—T—C—T—C—T

One clear, sunny day, a day after the dream...

"Wow, what a gorgeous day!", Twilight Sparkle said as she, Spike (who was on her back), and Chronicle were walking down a tree-lined road as they made their way to the town square in Ponyville.

"Rainbow Dash must’ve gotten up early for once and cleared all the clouds away.", Spike guessed.

"I bet all of Ponyville is gonna be out enjoying the sunshine."

"Probably not.", disagreed Chronicle as he noticed something was wrong; not a single other pony was in sight. The others began to look around as well.

"What? Where is everypony?"

As they looked around, they could see a tumbleweed drift by—even though such plants shouldn't be around in Ponyville. One pony slammed the upstairs shutters closed, while another—an earth pony—yanked her daughter—a unicorn—in off the front step and closed the door. Okay. Now this is something I can find to be strange. And it's not this deserted town. "Is it some sort of pony holiday?"

"Not that I know of."

"Does my breath stink?", Spike asked, then blew out fire and sniffed it.

"Not more than usual." 

"Is it…" Spike was frightened now. "…zombies?"

"Uh, not very likely. "

"Not likely…but possible?"

"No.", said Chronicle. "There'd be news if it was, and the town was bustling yesterday. Hold up."

The two unicorns stopped abruptly and looked ahead at Sugarcube Corner, the top half of its front door open and the lights out. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie stuck her head into view. 

"Twilight!" She ducked away again and reappeared. "Spike!" She then repeated the process. "Chronicle!" She then ducked down again, beckoning with her hoof. "Come here!" The three outside just stood puzzled. "Come here!" She then poked out her head. "Hurry! Before she gets you!" This time, when she pulled her head back, Twilight quickly followed her inside. Chronicle just sighed and was about to casually walk in when Pinkie somehow stretched her body to grab him and pull him in. He let out a yelp as the door’s top half closed behind him. 

It was dark inside Sugarcube Corner, but it was quickly banished by a firefly lantern—which was covered up in such a way it operated like a flashlight—illuminating the three new arrivals. Twilight and her bodyguard shielded their eyes from the glare, which passed away from them as Spike spoke up. "Who? The zombie pony?"

Pinkie was holding the lantern and she trained the light on herself as she shuddered mightily. "Zombie pony?"

Spike hunkered down and grabbed hold of Twilight even more tightly than he was doing right now, prompting an irritated glare from her. "Spike, there are no zombie ponies." Spike then got off of her. "Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?"

"I’m not alone in the dark." The lights came up to reveal the rest of their friends as well as Apple Bloom, whom Twilight, Spike, and Chronicle have met back on their very first visit to Sweet Apple Acres on the day before the Summer Sun Celebration.

Chronicle grumbled as he corrected his charge. "Okay, then, what are you all doing here in the dark?"

"We’re hidin’ from her!", Applejack answered, pointing out of a window. She nudged the curtain open so all can get a closer look, with the exception of Fluttershy. In the middle of the deserted street, a four-legged figure in a hooded cloak pawed at the dirt. The figure seemed to be a zebra, who had one foreleg encircled by several gold hoops. The cloak was brown and covered the rest of the body. As the others stared with fear, Twilight just looked intently while Chronicle gave a casual gaze. 

Suddenly, the figure turned its head towards them exposing its nose and a pair of glowing yellow eyes under the hood. Inside Sugarcube Corner, five ponies and one dragon recoiled away from the mirror with a cry of fear, but Twilight just threw a quizzical look over her shoulder at them while her bodyguard just continued looking, then turned to face the others as Bloom—as Chronicle came to call the filly—used Spike’s head as a hoof-rest to help get her toward eye level with Chronicle's charge.

"Did you see her, Twilight?", the filly asked. "Did you see…Zecora?"

Applejack leaned down to her. "Apple Bloom! I told you never to say that name!"

"Well, I saw her glance this way—", Twilight said.

"Glance evilly this way!", Pinkie corrected.

"—and then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason."

"No good reason?", Applejack cried out as she pulled the yellow filly—who was her younger sister, it turns out—closer. "You call protectin’ your kin no good reason?" She then let her go, patting her head. "Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin’ into town, she started shakin’ in her little horseshoes!" Applejack shook Bloom on the word “shakin’” to make the point. 

"Di-i-id no-o-ot!" Bloom retorted, her voice vibrating. Applejack stopped shaking her and picked her up.

"So I swept her up and brought her here…"

"I walked here myself!"

"…for safekeepin’." 

Bloom jumped down. "Applejack, I’m not a baby! I can take care of myself!"

"Not from that creepy Zecora."

"She’s mysterious.", Fluttershy said.

"Sinister.", Rainbow Dash added.

"And spooooky!", Pinkie concluded, eyes going wide.

Twilight and Chronicle, clearly unconvinced, took another look out the window—and promptly found themselves at the bottom of a six-pony-and-one-dragon crush doing likewise.  The brown-cloaked figure of Zecora put down her hood, exposing a black/white striped Mohawk-like mane and gold hoops in the ears. These markings and the ones on her coat confirmed Chronicle's suspicions; Zecora was definitely a zebra. Her face was turned away from the window as everypony save for the sole stallion and his charge gasped. 

"Will you cut that out?", Twilight asked.

"Just look at those stripes.", Rarity pointed out. "So garish."

"She’s a zebra."

"A what?!?", everypony else save for Twilight's bodyguard gasped.

"A zebra. And her stripes aren’t a fashion choice, Rarity." 

Chronicle continued, "They’re what she was born with." Rarity cried out and fainted as he turned tot he rest. "As for the digging in the ground, from what I know about zebras, she was digging for water, not making a threat display, which I assume you all had in mind."

"Where was she born?", asked Applejack. "I never seen a pony like that in these parts…’cept her!"

"Well, she’s isn't from around here, and she’s not a pony." He and Twilight turned to the window, where they saw Zecora pawing at the ground once more. 

"My books say that zebras come from a faraway land.", his charge said as Spike slipped into the kitchen. "But I’ve never seen her in Ponyville. Where does she live?"

"That’s just it. She lives in…the Everfree Forest!", Applejack answered.

A thunderclap shook the room, scaring the daylights out of her, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Bloom was thrown a bit off balance, but did not freak out. Chronicle merely jumped in surprise, but nothing more.

Twilight turned angrily to a set of double doors that seemingly led to the kitchen. "Spike!", she called out. 

As it turns out, the noise was caused by a couple of pans the baby dragon dropped while getting a snack for himself. "Uh, sorry.", he said. 

"The Everfree Forest just ain’t natural. The plants grow…" 

"Animals care for themselves…", Fluttershy added.

"And the clouds move…", Rainbow continued.

"…all on their own!", all three finished simultaneously.

Rarity cried out and fainted again. As Twilight stood unimpressed, Chronicle thought to himself. That's can't be right. Isn't it normal for nature to take care of itself? …Oh, right. Nature is manually managed by ponies in Equestria.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil…stuff!", Pinkie added. "She’s so evil, I even wrote a song about her!"

Rainbow groaned wearily, "Here we go."

Now Playing: Evil Enchantress song

Chronicle turned to the window to look at Zecora as Pinkie sang her song. All the while, he reminisced, as usual in these times, on the time between his arrival and the acquiring of the contract that bound him to Twilight Sparkle. 

She’s an evil enchantress, she does evil dances♪
And if you look deep in her eyes, she’ll put you in trances♪
Then what will she do? She’ll mix up an evil brew♪
And she’ll gobble you up in a big tasty stew♪
So…watch out!♪

End Song

Such idiots. There are a few things I hate and discrimination is one of them. Chronicle gave a sigh. To think it exists in here…

Chronicle then looked back at Pinkie, who was struck the best two-legged menacing pose she could make and heaved for breath while atop a table.

"Wow. Catchy.", Twilight broke the ensuing silence. 

Pinkie got down and smiled. "It’s a work in progress."

I figured as much., Chronicle grumbled as his charge spoke again. 

"This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors.", Twilight said as she crossed the room. "Now tell me, what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?"

"Well…once a month, she comes into Ponyville.", Rainbow put in.

"Ooooh!", Chronicle said sarcastically. 

"Then…she lurks by the stores.", Rarity added.

"Oh, my!" Same sarcasm.

"And then, she digs at the ground.", Fluttershy finished.

"Good gracious!" Bloom eyed the apparently only two sane unicorns with slight unease. "Okay, that was the most pathetic 'evil' actions I've ever heard. Of all time."

"I’m sorry, but how is any of this bad?", Twilight asked. "Maybe she comes to town to visit."

"Yeah!", Bloom agreed. "Maybe she’s just tryin’ to be neighborly."

"And maybe she’s not lurking by the stores, maybe she’s going to them, lurk-free, to do some shopping?"

"Yeah! Everypony likes to shop. You know what I think?"

Applejack cut her little sister off, "Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk."

"I am a big pony." Bloom then clomped away, discomfited.

"From my experience, children are worth listening to, Applejack.", Chronicle said. "You shouldn't shoot them down just because they're younger."

"What about digging at the ground?", Rainbow asked Twilight as Bloom crossed to a corner. "You got to admit, that’s weird."

"What if she’s digging for innocent creatures?", Fluttershy asked as Pinkie started singing a cappella and cavorting around the place as Twilight and Applejack discussed.

"I am sure there’s an explanation for everything Zecora does.", Twilight said. "And if anypony here were actually brave enough to approach her, she—or he—" She glanced at Chronicle at this. "would find out the truth. And I'm certain my bodyguard isn't a superstitious pony."

As she and her friends began to debate, Chronicle noticed Bloom tossing her head back defiantly and opening the door near her—leading outside. 

"Well, I’m brave enough.", she said to herself. "I’m gonna find out myself." Cautious but determined, he saw her step out of the building. 

With caution, he followed her until he was just at the door, then 'summoned' a magical copy on the other side. "Follow her.", he whispered.

Out in the street, Chronicle's copy observed the following events from various stealthy vantage points; Zecora had put up  her hood again. Bloom was ducking around miscellaneous hiding places, risking looks, and hurrying across the way, emerging closer to Zecora, who was finished with her digging. The stranger then took a quick look over her shoulder before walking off, revealing gold hoops around her neck as well as her foreleg. Both watchers got another furtive look at the departing out-of-towner from the alley and some bushes, working their way closer, Bloom not knowing of her fellow 'spy'.

Back at Sugarcube Corner, the argument was getting...ridiculous.

"You ponies are being ridiculous!", Twilight said. (See?)

"Well, I heard that Zecora eats hay.", Pinkie replied.

"Excuse me?", retorted Chronicle as he has rejoined his friends. "We all eat hay, Pinkie Pie." Everypony then turned to stare at him as if he said something wrong. "Or at least are able to." As it was, Chronicle was a bit picky with eating hay.

"Yeah, but I heard it’s the evil way she eats hay."

"Now that's just preposterous! Now let me go out there and find out more about her. I know how to deal with zebras, having met one or two before during my previous contracts." Now why do I have to keep referencing them nowadays?

"Hey!", Applejack suddenly asked. "Where’s Apple Bloom?"

"The door’s open!", Fluttershy said, pointing to the open door where Bloom left. 

"She went outside!", cried out Rarity.

"And Zecora’s still out there!", Rainbow added.

"That silly little filly!", said Applejack. "I told her to stay put!"

Before the four could begin to charge out, Chronicle called out to them. "Hold it!" They stopped in their tracks and turned to face him as he closed his eyes.

"What are we waiting for?", Rainbow asked him. "Zecora might've got her by now!"

The sole stallion opened his eyes. "No, she hasn't. Bloom's currently following her as we speak."

"How do you know that?", Rarity asked.

"I explained to you before about my magical clone. I had him follow Bloom. But now that I have dismissed it, she's 'unprotected'. Now follow me, girls."

With that, he led the four out of Sugarcube Corner, hoping their suspicions of Zecora were wrong. As he ran, he began to reminisce about an old time.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"I tell you, this is the worst day I've ever had!"

Chronicle, his charge Chocolate Sun—who was the one complaining—and their zebra companion were gathered around a campfire. Chocolate Sun was a unicorn stallion from Canterlot, his coat was dark brown, his mane was yellow, his eyes were blue, and his cutie mark was a compass rose that looked like a sun. Their zebra friend did not speak at all, only flashing a white medium-sized card giving his name; Nalego.

"Well, if you weren't reading that map upside-down, this wouldn't have happened.", Chronicle snarked.

"Excuse me for that."

"If it weren't for Nalego here, we would've been manticore chow."

"No need to remind me.", sighed Chocolate as he looked at himself. He was dirtied up from head to hoof, which is very shameful for a Canterlot pony like him.

"Look, I'm not asking you to like Nalego. Only that you trust me in trusting him, okay?"

Chocolate sighed. "I guess I don't have a choice in the matter."

"I know it's weird for me taking charge of my...well, charge. But given the circumstances, aside from Nalego, I'm the only one capable of getting us out of this forest. Or at least keeping dangers out."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K
 
Chronicle shook the thoughts out of his mind as he and his friends (Twilight and Pinkie managed to catch up) bypassed Mystic Shield's dojo. Now's not the time for reminiscing!, he scolded himself. As it was, the entirety of Ponyville had been hiding for hours. He didn't even sense the time pass by so quickly in spite of the waiting. They made it to a path leading to the Everfree Forest, but not the one they used back when they first went off to find the Elements of Harmony. As they ran, they made it to a field of plants with vivid blue leaves. And across them they could see Zecora and—

"Apple Bloom?", Applejack called out. Both zebra and filly looked back to see them, the latter with a startled gasp. "You get back here right now!"

It was then that Zecora began to speak for the first time. It was in a throaty voice of foreign origin as she slowly backed up into a sudden spurt of mist behind her. "Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"

For some reason, Chronicle took these words into consideration and started trying to make sense of them as he put a hoof to his chin. As for the rest however, they didn't even bother to listen.

Applejack skid in to get her head underneath Bloom and flip her up onto her back. "You—you keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yourself, you hear?" There were yells of agreement from Pinkie, Rarity, and Rainbow.

"She’ll gobble you up in a big tasty stew—", Pinkie sang.

"Oh, brother.", Twilight grumbled.

"Beware! Beware!", Zecora continued to warn as she disappeared into the mist.

Rainbow was now standing in a patch of the blue-leaved plants as she said, "Yeah, back at you, Zecora! You and your lame curse are the ones who better beware!" 

Bloom glared at the pegasus as her sister then did likewise to her and said, "And you! Why couldn’t you just listen to your big sister?"

"I…I…"

"Who knows what kinda nasty curse Zecora coulda just put on you?"

"Just like in my song!", Pinkie agreed as she started to sing again while jumping around among the strangely hued vegetation. "Evil enchantress, with the dances, and the trances—"

"You guys, there’s no such thing as curses!", Twilight interjected.

Rainbow flew low through the plants. "Well, that’s interesting to hear—" She then taped Twilight’s horn. "—coming from Miss Magic-Pants herself."

"My magic, real magic, comes from within. It’s a skill you’re born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It’s conjured with potions and incantations, all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. But curses have no real power. They’re just an old pony tale."

However, the others were already walking out of the forest through a patch of plants that have seemingly grown to fill most of the open area. Applejack hung back, not noticing that Bloom had climbed down and was nowhere in sight.

"Just you wait, Twilight.", she warned as she walked off. "You’re gonna learn that some pony tales really are true."

"I'm gonna have to partially agree with Applejack.", Chronicle stated as the two began to follow them out of the forest. "Unicorn magic like yours, Rarity's, and mine is just one of many kinds of magic that exist in Equestria. Potion magic and incantation magic are as real as uni—Whoa!" He accidentally tripped and got a face-full of the flowers, but quickly got up in a second. "As unicorn magic, just not as well-known or well-accepted. I should know as I've traveled a lot and have seen a lot. Now let's go home and rest. I plan to track down Zecora tomorrow and clear up some matters and see her for what she truly is, not just what others say about her."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—AB—Z

Nighttime…

As Chronicle (and his charge) slept for the night, he was assaulted by strange visions and spoken words.

She’s an evil enchantress, she does evil dances— The voice was Pinkie Pie's.

Beware! Beware! Now it was Zecora's.

you look deep in her eyes, she will put you in trances— Pinkie again.

Yeah, was that supposed to scare us? Rainbow Dash.

Wicked, wicked zebra! Rarity.

She’s good…with a curse. Fluttershy.

Then what will she do? Pinkie. Again.

Just you wait, Twilight. Some pony tales really are true. Applejack.

Then she’ll gobble you up in a big tasty stew, So…watch out! Pinkie Pie yet again.

Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke! Zecora again. Those leaves of blue are not a joke!

...leaves of blue are not a joke!

...not a joke!

As those final words continued to echo in his head, in an instant, Chronicle opened his eyes in deep realization. "Uh-oh!", he muttered. Before he could do anything else, he quickly dropped off to sleep.


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS

The next morning…

Chronicle didn't feel so good. It was like his body was somehow…different. For the first time ever in Equestria, he woke up early and put a hoof to his face. He gave a sigh and said, "Darn, I didn't sleep well last night." He didn't realize it sounded…different. He began to flick his tail around, only to find out it was slightly heavier than before.

"What a dream.", he heard his charge say.  "Curses, schmurses."

Chronicle then got up as well, and realized there was hair framing both sides of his head. Wuh…did somepony decide to pull a hair-growing prank on me?

"Whoa!", he heard his charge give a chuckle. Maybe Zecora cursed my hair."

Chronicle moaned as he got up from bed, and as he landed on the floor felt his body was…different. Just then, his musings of this were cut off by a scream from Twilight. He quickly turned to her; she was in front of a vanity, and she had been brushing her messed-up mane before she 'dropped' the brush in surprise. 

"What's wrong?!", Chronicle asked as he ran to the mirror, then noticed his voice was completely different form his own. Not only was it lighter, it sounded like his sister's. Once he reached the mirror, he saw two strange things. One was that while his charge's bangs have been sorted out, her horn was covered with blue spots and was drooping as though it had been turned to rubber.

"Or she cursed my horn!", she said.

The second strange thing was that he himself has taken a completely different appearance. His mane was now smooth, at neck-length with two bangs flanking his face, his tail was longer, and his muzzle was more curved. He gulped at what he guessed has happened; he has turned into a mare. To be more precise, he has taken the appearance of his sister Timerity.


C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G

Eyecatch (picture-type) - In front of the mirror, on the left is Chronicle now looking like Timerity. On the right is Twilight Sparkle with her blue-spotted floppy horn. The show's logo is seen on the upper right.


C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G—C—RD—PP—G

Twilight, and Chronicle were at the library's reading room with Spike, searching the whole place for a clue to their condition. So far, they had little success.

"No, no, no, no, no!", Twilight complained. "None of these books have a cure!"

"This place really needs a card catalog.", Chronicle also complained, the paused for a moment. "It's still strange hearing this voice come out of my mouth." 

"There has to be a real reason for this! An illness? An allergy?"

"A curse!", Spike suggested, having pulled down a green-bound book with a plant on its cover and was perusing it closely.

"I said a real reason. Something that points to something real."

"How about this one?" Spike showed her the cover. 

"Supernaturals? Spike, the word 'supernatural' refers to things like ghosts and spirits and zombies—" Twilight then shoved the book away. "—which are as make-believe as curses. This book is just a bunch of hooey!"

"Judging a book by its cover?", Chronicle snarked, and somehow it sounded more so with a girl's voice. "You have got to be kidding me…" He then turned to Spike. "Let me see that." He then 'took' the book from Spike's hands and started looking into it. 

"But what if you’re wrong, Twilight?", Spike asked. "What if this really is a—"

They were cut off by Pinkie Pie, who has entered the library. Her tongue was covered with the same blue spots as those on Twilight’s horn and has swollen so badly that it protruded from her mouth. As a result, her speech was nearly unintelligible and accompanied by frequent sprays of saliva that collected in a pool before her.

"A curse!", the pink earth pony said through her swollen tongue.

"A purse?", Spike asked. "How could it be a purse?"

"Pinkie! What happened?", Twilight asked.

"It was Zecora!", Pinkie accused as she drenched Spike with spit. "She put a curse on us!"

"Hey, say it, don’t spray it, Pinkie!", Spike said.

"It's not a curse.", said Chronicle as he looked up from the book. "I'm sure those flowers we've brushed at in the forest—" He was cut off by something thumping against the building hard enough to shake it.

"Ow!", they heard Rainbow Dash from outside. They turned to the window next to the door and there she was, ramming against the glass in a display of poor flight control that was unusual even for her. A close look reveals that her wings have been turned upside down.

"She’s…trying to say, ow…Zecora…", she said between thuds, with occasional grunts. The next thud missed the window but hit the wall hard enough to crack it. The following thud knocked the door off its hinges by a lunge that sends Rainbow hurtling upside down across the room. "…she slapped us all with a…" She then crashed onto the shelves and tangled herself up in the ladder propped against them. "…ow! Curse!"

"Rainbow, would you please just walk?", Chronicle pleaded before returning to reading the book.

"I’m afraid I have to agree.", came Rarity's voice as she walked in. Her mane, tail, and coat have grown and matted into thick dreadlock-like strands that gave her a distinct resemblance to either a sheepdog or a walking mop. She blew uselessly at the purple hair hanging in her face, prompting cries of shock from Twilight and Spike. While Chronicle just rolled his eyes and continued to read the book Twilight vehemently refused to even consider looking into, Rainbow dragged herself and the ladder over to the others. 

"As I was saying, I think the flowers are the—", Chronicle said before being cut off again.

"I hate to say I told you so, Twilight, but I told you so!", came Applejack's voice, but she sounded like she had been inhaling helium. 

Speaking of which, do their balloons get filled up with helium? Do they— No, focus! Must focus! Those girly hormones must be getting into me. Chronicle then turned to look at Applejack, only to raise his eyebrows in surprise as he saw her—shrunken—standing on Apple Bloom's back. Fluttershy was right behind them and she walked up next to Rarity.

There came a gasp from Twilight and Spike. ""It’s a curse, I tells you!"

"But…Fluttershy seems just fine!", said Chronicle, noting that she seemed to be a bit upset. "And Apple Bloom too.", he added under his breath.

"Yes.", Rarity agreed. "There doesn’t seem to be a thing wrong with her."

"Fluttershy? Are you okay?", asked Twilight. Fluttershy just turned her face away.  "Is there something wrong with you?"A nod. "Would you care to tell us?" Eyebrows lower. "So…you’re not gonna tell us." A nod. "'Yes, you’re not?' or 'yes, you will'?" A head shake.

Applejack rushed across the table in the center of the room. "Good gravy, girl!", she asked the pegasus. "What’s wrong with you?"

There followed a full two seconds of total silence, after which Fluttershy spoke—in a slow, deep, gravelly male voice. "I don’t want to talk about it."

For some reason, this got Chronicle more than merely being elated as he promptly 'let go' of his book, dropping it to the floor, and turned to face Fluttershy, seemingly charmed, and hearts floating up from him, just like with Spike upon first seeing Rarity. He began to stare into her eyes, as if pleading for her to speak again, which he was. A few seconds later, as he then noticed the others staring at him, he then began to shake his head vigorously, snapping out of his 'spell', and slam it onto a wall as the hearts popped away. "Can't! Must! Resist! Urge! To! Arrgh!"

As he then began to clutch his head, banishing all perverted and romantic thoughts out of his mind, which he attributed to…whatever was making him feel this way, Rainbow’s wings flapped randomly, causing her to tumble to the floor, and turning everyone else's faces away from the stallion-turned-mare. Spike laughed uproariously, completely ignoring the angry look Twilight aimed at him.

"This is hilarious! Look at all of you! We got…" He turned to each victim in turn and indicated them. "…Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spittie Pie, Apple Teeny, Flutterguy, umm…Twilight Flopple…" He then turned to Chronicle. "…and…uh…I got nothin’." He then gave an aside glance, pointing at him. "Chronicle. I mean, seriously, I can’t even work with that. Oh, wait, I know. Chroni-girl!"

"Aha, aha, aha.", Chronicle chuckled sarcastically as he rubbed his head and. It was more painful banging one's head when there's a horn protruding from the forehead. 

"This is no joke, Spike.", Twilight said. "Now start looking for more books so I can find a cure!" 

However, her assistant's eyes have been drawn to her overly flexible horn, prompting him to bite back a fresh laugh. Getting it under control, he went to the bookshelves and grumbled.

Meanwhile, Rainbow managed to pull loose from the ladder and hovered unsteadily. "I think we’ll find a cure to this curse at Zecora’s place!", she suggested.

"It’s not a curse!", Twilight countered as Rainbow rocketed backward, resulting in a loud crash. 

"I agree with Dash.", Applejack said as Rainbow kept veering around crazily. "We’ll go to Zecora’s and force her to remove this hex."

"It’s not a hex either!"

As the mares launched into a six-way argument, Chronicle tried to speak up. "Girls?!" But they weren't paying attention at all. He then groaned to himself. "I seriously hope Timerity's friends aren't this idiotic.", he muttered as he—for some reason—snuck his way out of the library. His plan was to go to the Everfree Forest to confront Zecora. While he doesn't think she is to blame for what's happened to him and his friends, he hopes that she has the cure for their affliction.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—AB—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—AB

Meanwhile, in the alternate world of 'Solaris Equestria'…

Timerity let out a sneeze. For some reason, her body was as large as that of Big Macintosh from the Equestria her brother was in or, she noted, that of one of her friends Applejack.

"What was that all about?", Timerity asked. Unlike Chronicle, her voice was still the same. "I know I didn't get sick or anything."

"Timerity!", a voice called. "I need you down here!"

"Coming, Dusk!"


T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS

Back in 'Equestria Prime'…

As Chronicle made his way to the path Zecora took to the Everfree Forest, he heard galloping from behind and turned to see Apple Bloom headed the same way he was going.

"Apple Bloom!", he called. "Where're you headed?"

"It's all my fault.", she explained as she stopped. "If I hadn’t followed Zecora in the first place, none of this woulda happened."

"I kinda have to agree with you there."

"I gotta fix this. I just gotta."

"Well, you're welcome to join me.", the stallion-turned-mare gladly offered. "I was headed to Zecora's too."

Just before they could resume their walk, they heard a squeaky voice. "Stop right there!" It came from Bloom's mane and Applejack popped out from there. "You two turn around right now!"

Instead of doing as she is told, Bloom aimed a mischievous smile up toward the top of her head. "No.", the filly replied.

"You're not the boss of me.", said Chronicle.

"No?! You can’t ignore a direct order from your big sister!"

Applejack suddenly found herself covered in a blue aura and she was lifted up. Chronicle was the culprit as he 'placed' her on a convenient branch.

Bloom gave a laugh and said, "Sorry, Applejack, but I’m the big sister now."

"I think 'elder sister' is the more correct term, given your current size.", corrected the blue unicorn.

"You two come back here right this instant! I’m gonna tell Big Macintosh on you!"

"You're not my sister!", Chronicle said as Bloom began to run off. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to make sure your younger sis remains unharmed." With that, he caught up with the filly and they vanished from Applejack's sight.

With her out of the way, both filly and stallion-turned-mare continued running down the forest path until they located a house built into a tree. They could see a totem-like animal carving in front of the tree-house, whose limbs and roots have contorted with extreme age. Several bottles hung on strings from the branches, and set into the trunk were a couple of windows and a door with a leafy mask mounted above it.

"Ya think this is the place?", asked Bloom.

"Only one way to find out."

Together, the two ponies approached the window and peered through it. The walls were covered with thatched-reed mats, making the place resemble a hut more than a typical house. Littering the place were candles, jugs, more masks on the walls, and bottles strung from the ceiling.

"Creepy…", was all Bloom could say before noticing the place's inhabitant. 

Inside the house was Zecora, no longer wearing her cloak, who seemed to be adding ingredients into a black cauldron. As Bloom just watched the zebra pick up bottles with her teeth and tip their contents, Chronicle took a closer look at the zebra's dark blue-green eyes, trying to read her expression (and noting her simplistic spiral sunburst cutie mark) as she spoke in some foreign language. As far as he could tell, there was no malicious intent in them, which his friends (save Twilight, at least for now) all seemed to attribute Zecora with.

"What do you suggest we do, Bloom?", Chronicle asked.

The filly was surprised at his question. "You askin' me?" 

"I learned that kids sometimes have bright ideas when the adults are being useless at the time."

"I'm not a kid, I'm a filly."

"Whoops. I usually call those about your age or maturity—pony or not—kids."

"Oh. Umm…I think we should go talk to her."

"…If you say so." Again, Bloom was surprised that Chronicle agreed with her so easily. "Just remember that should anything go wrong I'm getting us out of here." Together, they went to the door, and Bloom rapped at it. A few seconds later, the door was opened by Zecora and the two expected the worst.


C—A—AB—C—A—AB—C—A—AB—C—A—AB

Eyecatch (video-type) - Chronicle and Apple Bloom stand in front of the door of Zecora's hut and knock on it. The door then opens to reveal Zecora in her cloak and yellow eyes.


C—A—AB—C—A—AB—C—A—AB—C—A—AB

"Wow. I still can't believe Zecora's actually a nice pony.", Apple Bloom said.

"She's a zebra.", Chronicle corrected. "And zebras aren't part of the pony species that consist of the pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn subspecies."

The two of them were walking down a path in the Everfree Forest, wearing saddlebags on their backs filled with all kinds of plants. Just as they passed some blue flowers (but not the ones from yesterday), Chronicle stopped to check them out. There were red stripes on these flowers. The petals were shaped like a twelve-pointed mostly-blue star, with red lines running from the tips of the petals down the stem. They also smelled like dandelions. 

Noting that, he 'took out' a small leather-bound book—Zecora's plant book—and started 'flipping' its pages. Bloom noticed her companion stop and walked back and asked what was keeping him.

"Aha. The uchawi maua. Also known as the ether flower.", he read as he skipped the description. "Okay. The stem is very toxic, but the petals aren’t. They grow low to the ground and feed on magic. Their seeds only grow in the Everfree Forest. Comsuming the petals, along with some grass, will restore magic power and cure overchanneling.” Hmm…I wonder if Everfree soil has nutrients the ether flowers need that other soils outside the forest don't have. If so…

"Overchannelin'?", Bloom asked, interrupting his thoughts. "What's that?"

"Do you know the exhaustion you feel after running a marathon?" Bloom nodded. "Well, overchanneling is like that, but with magic instead of stamina."

"Oh. …We already got everythin' Zecora needed, and I don't remember ether flowers bein' in her list."

"Well, perhaps after all this, I plan to ask her if she can make some ethers with these flowers." Chronicle then 'returned' Zecora's plant book in the saddlebag. "Help me pick up some, would you?"

Together, the two ponies plucked petals, careful not to touch the stems, and put them in the saddlebags. Now that that was over with, they resumed their was back to Zecora's hut when they heard a faint crash. And it seemed to be coming from the hut. Bloom didn't notice it, but Chronicle did.

"I got a bad feeling about this.", he said to himself as he picked up the pace. Bloom followed suit after noticing her companion was moving faster.

As they did so, it was becoming more and more apparent that the commotion was indeed coming from Zecora's hut. "What's happenin'?", Bloom asked.

"If I were to guess, my friends and your sister have found Zecora's hut and are—" There came another crash. "—storming it."

"Stormin' it?"

"In any case—" Another crash. "—we got to hurry."

And hurried they did. In less than a minute, they reached the hut, where they found Twilight and company confronting Zecora, and definitely not in a good way, with Applejack twisting the zebra's left ear. His charge was currently butting heads with Zecora. 

"Girls!", Chronicle cried out, and everyone inside the hut turned to face them. "What in Ponyville is going on here?" He then turned to Zecora. "Anyway, Zecora, we found all the things you asked for."

"Apple Bloom!", Applejack called out. "You’re okay!"

"Chronicle!", Twilight called in unison with Applejack. "You're safe!"

"Why wouldn’t I be?", Bloom and Chronicle asked, the former with an upbeat tone and the latter with confusion as Twilight moved to guard them.

"Because Zecora is an evil enchantress who cursed us and was gonna cook you both up into soup!", she spoke in rapidfire.

To everyone's confusion, both filly and zebra managed a smile, then laughed as if it was a joke. Chronicle just groaned and smacked himself in the face. 

"You seriously think she can bring me down?", the bodyguard grumbled as he indicated Zecora. "You saw me hold my own against…" He paused, careful not to mention Nightmare Moon to the zebra. "…her."

"Oh, Twilight…", said Bloom. "…did those silly fillies finally get in your head? You know there’s no such thing as a curse. "

"Apple Bloom, sweetie, you can’t just stand there and tell me this isn’t a curse." Twilight pointed at the other afflicted on “this.”

"This isn’t a curse.", Bloom said as she crossed to Zecora.

"Yeah.", agreed Chronicle. "It's an affliction caused by those blue flowers we stumbled into yesterday when following Apple Bloom."

"If you will remember back, The words I spoke were quite exact.", Zecora added.

"'Beware! Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!'", the bodyguard quoted word-for-word.

"It was a warnin’, about that blue plant. It’s called 'poison joke'.", Bloom explained.

"That plant is much like poison oak," Zecora then chuckled. "But its results are like a joke."

Applejack poked out of the zebra's mane. "What in the hay does that mean?"

"It means this plant does not breed wrath. Instead, this plant just wants a laugh."

"Will somepony please talk normal?"

"I think what she’s saying is that when we ran in to save Apple Bloom, we ran into the poison joke.", Twilight clarified. "All of our problems are just little jokes it played on us."

"Little jokes?!?" Applejack was not impressed. "Very funny."

"To be exact, it takes whatever its victim take pride on, desires, or some other personal strength and inverts it somehow, like some kind of cruel joke.", Chronicle said as he turned to each of his friends and addressed them in turn. "Twilight, you take pride in your magic, hence your floppy horn. Applejack, you were acting the overprotective 'big sister' at the time, hence your diminutive size. Pinkie, you kept rambling all those bad things about Zecora, hence your swollen tongue. Rainbow, you take pride in your flying skills, hence your inverted wings. Rarity, ever so prideful of your appearance, I think the 'joke' on you is obvious. Fluttershy, your voice is so soothing and feminine, hence the manly voice. As for me, I get mistaken for a mare at first all the time, so…"

Rainbow then stepped forward and asked. "Okay, fine. But…what about the cauldron?"

"And the chanting?", asked Fluttershy, and Chronicle found himself charmed again, a few hearts floating from his head, and began slamming Zecora's plant book on his face over and over, trying to resist any more inappropriate thoughts.

"And the creepy décor?", added Rarity.

Zecora eyed a couple of masks that have wound up on the floor thanks to Rainbow Dash. While Chronicle and Bloom were on their way back, Rainbow had slammed them to the floor. "Treasures of the native land where I am from. This one speaks 'hello,' and this, 'welcome.'"

"Not welcoming at all, if you ask me."

"Each culture has their own methods in things that outsiders don't understand or appreciate.", explained Chronicle as he rubbed his head after he was done smacking himself. "It helps to keep an open mind."

"The words I chanted were from olden times— Something you call a nursery rhyme.", said Zecora.

"But—the cauldron!", Twilight asked. "The Chronicle and Apple Bloom soup?"

"Looky here, Twilight.", the filly said. "That pot of water wasn’t for us, it was for all these herbal ingredients."

"Although I picked up a couple other stuff as we did our errand, Zecora.", Twilight's charge added. "A couple of uchawi maua petals. I was wondering if you could make some ethers out of them." The zebra put a hoof to her chin for a second, then nodded. 

Twilight noticed an open book, different from the one Chronicle had with him, on a table and walked over to skim it. "The cure for poison joke is a simple all-natural remedy." Bloom then lifted her elder sister on one hoof. "You just gotta take a bubble bath. "

"And we're lucky it can be made this time of year. If there is no brew available, poison joke can also be cured by really, really powerful magic. If that is also unavailable, it at least wears off in a couple weeks."

"But I tried to find a cure in all my books and couldn’t find anything.", said Twilight. "What book has this natural remedy?"

"Actually, we have that book.", Chronicle stated as he closed the book, showing that it was Supernaturals. "Supernaturals. Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That Are Simply Super. To think that you'd judge a book by its cover…shame on you, Twilight, shame on you. We had the answer the whole time, if only you bothered to check it out."

Zecora chuckled, looking over the group. "Maybe next time, you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book." Bloom laughed at the end of this.

"Zecora, would you be kind enough to mix up another batch of the herbal bath?", Twilight asked.

"Mix it up, I certainly will, yet I am missing an herb from Ponyville.", agreed the zebra.

"But whenever Zecora comes to town, all the shops are mysteriously closed.", said Bloom.

"Oh! Well…" Twilight gave a smile. "…I think we can help you with that."

"Hold up. There's something I want to do before we leave. Could you all please line up?" With slight confusion, one by one, Chronicle's friends did as he asked, with Applejack standing on Rainbow's back. Once that was done, he walked up in front of all of them and 'procured' a red small paddle of some kind. It was made of wood and looked like something Spike could hold with ease. Then, with a stern and cross look, Chronicle proceeded to 'smack' the mares all in the face one by one with it, 'lifting' the small Applejack upon passing her by and 'dropping' her once he was done. The smack he did on Fluttershy and Twilight wasn't as hard as what he did on the rest though.

"Ow!", Rainbow groaned as Chronicle 'returned' his paddle. "What was that for?!"

"You think I could let you get away with thrashing Zecora's hut just like that?! Not to mention all the discrimination!" He then turned to Zecora. "That's not to say you weren't at fault either."

"How so, Chronicle?", the zebra asked.

"Well, you did nothing, nothing at all, to dissuade the townsponies' suspicions of you, and while you probably wouldn't know of that as they all just hid from you, there's also the vague and cryptic warning you made to us about the poison joke. Had you been clearer in your words—and I'm sure you could've done that even with your tendency to rhyme—we wouldn't have got into this whole mess in the first place." Chronicle waved around at the destruction in the hut, then gave a neutral expression. "Now, let's head to Ponyville and fix this matter up."

As they began to make their way out, with Chronicle in the lead, he suddenly paused. "Hold on a second." He then turned back to the others, particularly the ones who said all those ill things about Zecora. "If you all had been scared even to look at Zecora, let alone speak to her, how did you even so much as figure out her name in the first place?!"

His friends, sans his charge, looked at each other, not knowing how to answer his question. he then turned to the only filly.

"And Bloom, didn't you walk into the poison joke as well? How is it you look—and sound—" He glanced at Fluttershy at this word. "—Perfectly fine?" He then turned to Zecora. "Do foals have an immunity to the poison joke that goes away upon maturity, or does she somehow have no definitive trait for the flower to twist?"

"I think we can ask all that another time.", Twilight cut him off. "The sooner we get ourselves cured, the better."

"Fine."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—AB—Z

Later…

Together, the nine equines (Zecora decided to put her cloak on) entered the town. And naturally, the whole town was in a panic and had proceeded to hide in their homes as the group approached a herb/flower shop which was tended to by three earth pony mares. The first was named Lily, who had a bright fuchsia-colored coat, light yellow eyes, long creamy blond hair, and a lily blossom tucked behind one ear, and three of those flowers as her cutie mark. The second was named Rose, who had two-tone burgundy-and-pink hair, deep green eyes, an off-white cream-colored coat, and a rose cutie mark. The third was named Daisy, who had a vivid pink coat,  curly light green hair, jade eyes, and a cutie mark of two daisies.

"Look, Rose!", said Daisy as she noticed the group come over. "How awful! 

"The wicked enchantress has cursed them all!", cried out Rose. 

"The horror!", yelled Lily as she put her fore-hooves to her face. "The horror!"

She then bailed out to the accompaniment of panicked screams. Rose bolted into her house, slamming the door. The other two took cover in the shop, where Twilight knocked its door a few seconds later. Daisy opened it a crack and peeked out.

"Daisy, we need to talk.", she said.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—AB—Z—D—R—L

After the matter was cleared up…

Everyone was now gathered at the spa. A hot tub was ordered for everyone to dunk into. Chronicle was a bit uncomfortable with this as even though he was a mare now, he was still a stallion at mind and heart and would soon be so in body after taking the bath. However, he was assured that while almost no stallions go to the spa, it was perfectly okay to do so alongside mares.

He was now in front of the tub on a semicircular platform in between a potted plant and a bucket filled with bottles of bath additives sitting with a rack of towels, still deciding on how to get in. Zecora and Bloom were standing on the other side of the platform close to the set of steps leading up to it from the floor while Rainbow hovered above him with her wings back on straight. Fluttershy and Rarity were already in the bath, the latter restored to normal appearance.

Twilight was in the tub as well, off to the side opposite Chronicle's position. As she then dunked her head in, Pinkie jumped from the ceiling (how she got there no one knew) and came down on the pool for a belly flop. There was a huge splash and the two who descended into the water surfaced, healed of their ailments, and laughed as Rainbow, Bloom, and Zecora poured more herbs into the water. As Zecora and Bloom smiled at each other, Rainbow lowered herself into the water with a relaxed sigh.

Just then, an earth pony mare joined Zecora and Bloom on the platform. Her coat was light blue, her mane and tail pink and glossy, and her eyes dark blue. The mane was held back with a white headband, and she sported a necklace in the same color and a lotus-blossom cutie mark. It was Lotus, who works at the spa.

"Miss Zecora, I would love to get the recipe for this bath.", she said. "It’s simply luxurious!"

The zebra smiled at the remark, but was cut off sharply as Bloom gasped. "Applejack! Hey! Where’s Applejack?"

As the five bathing ponies looked frantically around themselves in the water, Chronicle just rolled his eyes and pointed down to the floor level below.

"She's over there.", he said, indicating Applejack—back to normal size—sitting with her rump wedged into a wooden teacup. Apparently, she got her own small bath and had quickly felt its effects.

"That's right…little sis.", the farmpony said. "I ain’t tiny no more."

"Oh, I have never felt so lovely in all my life!", said Rarity.

Pinkie popped up next to her and started yakking at full speed—and, for good or ill, completely intelligibly. "Oh my gosh! I never realized how horrible it is, not to be able to talk!" Rainbow covered her ears with a groan. "I mean, I love talking so much, and when I couldn’t talk anymore, my tongue was all 'bleech'." She stuck her tongue out on this word. "It was the worst! Don’t you agree, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy turned this over for a moment or three, then opened her mouth and spoke. "Yes." That one word, in her normal sweet voice, confirmed the effectiveness of Zecora’s remedy on all six mares.

"Oh, thank goodness!", Chronicle gave a sigh of relief. 

Then, in all of a sudden, Pinkie surfaced and grabbed him by the forelegs. "Come on, Chronicle!" She then pulled him in and on impact with the water, he could feel his body change from within as he pushed the pink earth pony off of him. As he surfaced, he could feel his tail return to its normal length and his friends could see his mane resume its usual shape. 

"Don't to that, Pinkie!", he complained, then caught himself upon realizing that his voice was back to normal as well, then noticed all of his (female) friends looking at him. He then did something he would never hear the end of; blush profusely with a bashful smile. After all, he was in a bathtub with girls and they were all without clothes (not that they wear any anyway normally). This resulted in a laugh from everypony else, Zecora included.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—AB—Z—L

“Dear Princess Celestia: My friends and I (save Chronicle, who already knew) all learned an important lesson this week. Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual or funny or scary, but you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don’t care what your cover is. It’s the contents of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
> Chapter 3: The Ticket Master
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

Chapter 3: The Ticket Master

Daytime in Sweet Apple Acres…

Carrying baskets of apples on their backs, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle (with Spike on her back), and Chronicle were walking together down the farm's orchards. As Spike was inspecting apples and tossing them away, the sole stallion among them was 'catching' them and 'placing' them into his basket, which wasn't that full. Also, he tried catching the apples with his mouth on occasion, eating them when he does.

"Thank you kindly, guys, for helpin’ me out.", Applejack said as she jostled her own baskets slightly. I bet Big Macintosh I could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime." 

These aren't Golden Delicious apples. Chronicle thought. If I recall correctly from my cousin's friend's apple farm, real Golden Delicious apples are yellow or light green, not red like what we're carrying.

Applejack then added giddily, "If I win, he’s gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one o’ Granny’s girdles!" 

Then again, apples are probably named differently in Equestria.

"No problem at all, Applejack.", Twilight replied. "I’m glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry."

"I know, right?", Spike agreed as his next apple bounced off her head. She gave an annoyed glare and he gave a sheepish grin in return.

"Puh-lease, Spike. You’ve been lounging on my back all morning while we worked."

"Exactly! You two are taking so long, I missed snack time."

As if on cue, Twilight’s gut began to rumble. She gave him a nervous look and giggled. "I guess we better get some food."

As he was at the back of the line, none of them noticed Chronicle filch a single apple from his load and put it in "hammerspace". I should remember to pack emergency food supplies even if I'm just gonna stick around in town.

"Nope…worm…", Spike said, then found a bright red one. "Aha!"

Twilight licked her chops on seeing it. "Oh, Spike! That looks delicious!" But he abruptly yanked it away. A chomp, a spatter of juice in her face, and he had disposed of it in one bite. Naturally, Twilight was furious. "Spike!" 

"What?", he asked after swallowing the apple. Just after, he suddenly made as if to vomit, but instead let off a belch of green fire that materialized into a scroll, which floated down to the quartet.

"It’s a letter from Princess Celestia!", said Chronicle as Spike took it, cleared his throat, and unrolled it. 

“Hear ye, hear ye.”, Spike read. “Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala, to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot on the twenty-first day of…” He then decided to skim ahead. "…yadda-yadda-yadda…" He then stopped at the end of the letter. “cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus two guests.”

The news took a moment to sink into the three ponies' brains; then the mares' faces brightened as they all gasped. "The Grand Galloping Gala!"

The two mares then jumped in place with excitement, saying the event's name again. The sole stallion wasn't as enthusiastic. Spike, meanwhile, was having none of it. As they carried on, now having got off of Twilight, he made a disgusted face and stuck a finger toward his open mouth as if to make himself vomit. The real gag reflex then kicked in once again. This time, his flaming belch resolved into a trio of gold tickets that floated down toward him.

"Look!", the baby dragon said as he held them up. "Three tickets!"

"Wow, great!", said Twilight. "I’ve never been to the Gala. Have you, Chronicle?"

"I have, actually.", he said. "Been there with a charge of mine. Didn't like him at all, though."

"Why not?"

"He was a snob, like most Canterlot royalty and politicians, Princesses Celestia and Luna aside. Among all my charges I've had to guard, he was the worst ever. However, thanks to him, Princess Celestia got to know of me and created the contract that first bound me to you."

"Wow, that's…interesting." She then turned to her assistant. "How about you, Spike?"

"No, and I plan to keep it that way. I don’t want any of that girly frilly frou-frou nonsense."

"Aw, come on, Spike. A dance would be nice."

"Nice?", Applejack cut in. "It’s a heap good more than just nice! I’d love to go. Land sakes!" She then looked up as if imagining something. "If I had an apple stand set up, ponies’d be chawin’ our tasty vittles ’til the cows came home! Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres? Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin’ up ’round here."

By this point, he could tell that Applejack was exaggerating. "We could replace that saggy ol’ roof! And Big Macintosh could replace that saggy ol’ plow! And Granny Smith could replace that saggy ol’ hip! Why, I’d give my left hind leg to go to that Gala."

"Oh!", said Twilight. "Well, in that case, would you like to—"

They were cut off by a cry from above. "WHOA!!" Instinctively, Chronicle placed a barrier around his friends as Rainbow Dash smashed into the barrier from above, sliding off of it after a few seconds.

"Are we talking about the Grand Galloping Gala?", the pegasus asked as the barrier was dismissed.

"Rainbow Dash!", Applejack chastised. "You told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples! What were you busy doin’? Spyin’?"

Rainbow waved her off dismissively. "No, I was busy…" She then pointed up to a tree in which a pillow and blanket have been placed. "…napping." She then proceeded to hover upside down near Twilight. "And I just happened to hear that you have an extra ticket?"

Twilight was obviously uneasy at this. "Yeah, but—"

Rainbow backed off, doing a loop. "YES! This is so awesome! The Wonderbolts perform at the Grand Galloping Gala every year. I can see it now."

"Here we go.", groaned Chronicle.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Two days before the fiasco with Zecora…

Since Spike was always the one supposed to assist Twilight in her work, in spite of being more than willing to lend a hoof, Chronicle was given some free time. Mystic Shield had needed a quick bit and had temporarily closed up as he took a request at the Request Board.

He had already did his daily practice and was without something to do. And then he ran into Pinkie Pie, who told him about Rainbow Dash practicing her moves that day. With nothing left to do for that day, not even a request he could take, he decided to accompany her.

Ten minutes later, the two ponies sat together in a meadow, watching Rainbow do her stuff.

"Everyone would be watching the sky, their eyes riveted on the Wonderbolts.", Rainbow said in the present. "But then, in would fly…" In the sky, Rainbow entered their view with a sharp U-turn, breaking a cloud apart in the process.

"…Rainbow Dash! I would draw their attention with my Super Speed Strut."

She proceeded to fly in a low altitude, touching the ground with her hooves, making it look like she was trotting. Pinkie whooped in cheer while Chronicle remained silent, although he gave a smile.

"Then I would mesmerize ’em with my Fantastic Filly Flash."

Then, Rainbow ascended for a few seconds before swooping into a nosedive straight for her friends, only to pull out just above their heads.

"And for my grand finale, the Buccaneer Blaze!"

She then gained speed as she rose into the air. Chronicle couldn't remember what happened next other than a sudden blast of brilliant light. His jaw dropped at the sight, but Pinkie's jaw dropped much lower, straight down to the ground in fact.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"The ponies would go wild! The Wonderbolts would insist that my signature moves be incorporated into their routine. And then, welcome me as their newest member."

With that, Rainbow finally landed on the ground. "Don’t you see, Twilight? This could be my one chance to show ’em my stuff! You gotta take me!"

Suddenly, Applejack pulled her back, tail in teeth. "Hold on just one pony-pickin’ minute here!" She then spit it out. I asked for that ticket first."

"So? That doesn’t mean you own it."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I challenge you to a hoof-rassle. Winner gets the ticket."

At a nearby stump, thee two locked left forelegs and go for it. The contest remained deadlocked for a few seconds before Twilight shoved them apart.

"Girls! These are my tickets.", she told them. "I’ll decide who gets it, thank you very much. Whoever has the best reason to go should get the ticket, don’t you think?"

Applejack moved forward. "Drummin’ up business for the farm?"

Rainbow did likewise. "A chance to audition for the Wonderbolts?"

"Money to fix Granny’s hip!"

"Living the dream!"

Twilight looked at the two alternately, starting to realize what she has gotten herself into.

"Oh, my. Those are all pretty good reasons, aren’t they?"

"Although I'd probably choose Applejack.", butted in Chronicle, which earned him a harsh stare from Rainbow. But before the pegasus could speak her mind, Twilight's empty stomach spoke up again.

Twilight laughed nervously at this. "Listen to that. I am starving." She then started to back off. "I don’t know about you, but I can’t make important decisions on an empty stomach." Spike hopped on her back and her bodyguard trotted up beside her. "So I’ll, uh, think about it over lunch and get back to you two. Okay?"

The three then left, leaving two dejected ponies in their wake. "Okay.", their two friends conceded…then resumed their hoof-wrestling match. 


C—TS—A—RD—C—TS—A—RD—C—TS—A—RD

At Ponyville…

Chronicle made a stop at Graphite's weapon store, where its storekeeper just finished selling a hatchet to a customer.

"Thanks for the purchase.", Graphite said to his departing customer, then noticed the blue stallion, his charge, and her assistant.

Hey there, Chronicle.", Graphite greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Who's this?", Twilight asked her charge.

"Oh, sorry." Chronicle gestured to the black stallion. "This is Graphite, an armor and weapons trader." He then gestured to his charge and her dragon assistant. "Graphite, this is Twilight Sparkle, librarian of the Books and Branches Library, and this is Spike, her number one assistant."

"Hello there.", greeted the mare.

"Hi.", greeted the dragon.

Chronicle then turned to Graphite. "Curious question. Do you know any blacksmiths in the town?" He then 'procured' from "hammerspace" a certain familiar item.

"Where'd you get that?", asked Spike as he saw it.

"Is that…the river serpent's scale?", Twilight asked her bodyguard.

"The very same one Rarity plucked from Steven Magnet."

"Do I even want to know how you got that?", Graphite cut in.

Chronicle turned back to the shopkeeper as he 'returned' the scale. "No. So…"

"I do know of a blacksmith, although she works primarily as a carpenter. Her name's Mjölna." Graphite then 'took' a notepad, 'wrote' on it with a quill, 'tore' off the sheet he wrote on, then 'gave' it to Chronicle. "Here's her address."

"Thanks, Graphite."

"Oh, and another thing. Don't confuse her with her twin sister Tasty Snack. They may look the same, but their cutie marks are different. Tasty's is a sandwich, and Mjölna's is a hammer in front of a lightning bolt."

"That's uncanny. Well, see ya."

With that, the three left Graphite's store and continued their stroll down Ponyville.

"So who are you gonna give the ticket to, Twilight?", Spike asked.

"I don’t know, Spike, but I really can’t think straight when I’m hungry."

"Well, so long as the others don't figure it out yet, my vote's on Applejack.", Chronicle said as they bypassed Sugarcube Corner.

"Why her?", Spike asked.

"Well, her dream is gonna help more ponies close to us than Rainbow Dash's."

"Why the emphasis on 'close to us'?"

"Applejack's helping her family financially. Rainbow Dash is just looking for fame. Which do you think is closest to being most helpful?"

"I think I see your point."

"So…where should we eat?", Twilight suddenly asked, not having paid attention to the "boy talk" behind her.

Just then, the top half of Sugarcube Corner's front door burst open and Pinkie Pie rocketed out through it for an impressive flying tackle. A barrier was brought up but it was somehow breached and dust was kicked up. Chronicle was knocked out for a second, but quickly recovered upon hearing Pinkie scream.

"Bats! Bats on my face! Heeeelp!", She cried out as she zipped back and forth, the three tickets on her nose. After a few more seconds, she finally calmed down enough to get a look at the 'bats'. "Wait! These aren’t…tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?!?"

Oh dear., groaned Chronicle as she then began to hop around and he began to hear music out of nowhere. It was a light calliope melody. 

"It’s the most amazing, incredible, tremendous, super-fun, wonderful, terrifically humongous party in all of Equestria! I’ve always, always, always wanted to go!"

Chronicle braced himself for a little song segment as Twilight and Spike began to awaken next to him.

Now Playing: Pinkie's Gala Fantasy Song

Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me♪
Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me♪
Hip hip hooray, it’s the best place for me♪
For Pinkie!♪

Pinkie then began to speak again. "With decorations like streamers and fairy light and pinwheels and piñatas and pincushions! With goodies like sugar cubes and sugar canes and sundaes and sunbeams and sarsaparilla! And I get to play my favoritest of favorite fantabulous games, like Pin the Tail on the Pony!"

If Pinkie Pie thinks the Gala is like a carnival, she's sorely mistaken.

Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me♪
Oh, the Grand Galloping Gala is the best place for me♪
’Cause it’s the most gala-rific, superly terrific gala ever♪
In the whole galaxy♪
Whee!♪

Finally, the music stopped as mysteriously as it came as his charge and fellow assistant got up completely.

End Song

"Oh, thank you, Twilight!", Pinkie finished as she stops an inch from the bookworm's nose. "It’s the most wonderful-est gift ever!"

Twilight backed off a bit as Spike gathered up the tickets. "Um, actually…" She was cut off by a sharp gasp from Rarity looking over the shoulder of a startled Spike.

"Are these what I think they are?", the white unicorn asked.

"Uh…"

"Yes, yes, yes!", Pinkie affirmed, jumping in place. "Twilight’s taking me to the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot!"

Rarity gasped softly at this. "The Gala? I design ensembles for the Gala every year, but I’ve never had the opportunity to attend. Oh, the society, the culture, the glamour!" She then toyed with her mane. It’s where I truly belong, and where I’m destined to meet…him!"

"Him! Who?" There were puzzled looks from Spike and the other two mares. As for Chronicle, he was savvy enough to guess that "him" meant a Prince Charming of sorts. Also, he mentally groaned once again as he was treated with a fourth ramble on what his friend is gonna do in the Gala.

"Him.", Rarity repeated dreamily. "I would stroll through the Gala, and everyone would wonder, 'Who is that mysterious mare?' They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself. And the Princess would be so taken with the style and elegance that she would introduce me to him, her nephew.

"The most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot! Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt, our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say YES!! We would have a royal wedding befitting a princess, which is…" Rarity then let out a giggle. "…what I would become upon marrying him! The stallion of my dreams."

Uh oh., Chronicle thought. Little does Rarity know that he is anything but charming. I should know. He was one of my charges and I was glad to leave his service. I wonder if I should tell her?

"Twilight! I simply cannot believe you would invite Pinkie Pie so she can…party…and prevent me from meeting my true love! How could you?" She then turned away in a huff.

"Pinkie's just jumping to conclusions, Rarity.", the sole stallion among them told her as the pink earth pony began to jump in place. "Besides, Twilight hasn't even decided yet. And as for Celestia's nephew, he isn't really—"

He was cut off by Spike yelping. Chronicle turned to see that a small white male rabbit zipped in, snatched the tickets, and zipped out, scampering all the way up to…Fluttershy, going up her tail, back, and stopping at the head, holding the tickets before her eyes. 

She gasped at the sight. "Angel, these are perfect." 

"Uh, listen, guys. I haven’t decided who to give the extra ticket to.", Twilight explained.

"You haven’t?!?", the party pony and fashionista gasped, the former in an irritated manner and the latter in an eager manner.

"I just said so a while ago.", pointed out Chronicle.

"Um…excuse me.", called out Fluttershy.

The other girls looked behind themselves and saw her and the rabbit named Angel close by. The latter was back on the ground, holding the tickets. "Twilight, I would just like to ask…I mean, if it would be all right…if you haven’t given it to someone else…"

Rarity seemed to have a look of disbelief. "You? You want to go to the Gala?"

"Oh…no." Angel didn't seem to approve and kicked her leg. "I—I mean, yes…or, actually, kind of. You see…"

Here we go again., groaned Chronicle, bracing himself for yet another monologue on what his friend wants to do in the Grand Galloping Gala.

"…It’s not so much the Grand Galloping Gala, as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the Gala, and that night alone, will they all be in bloom. And that’s just the flora! Don’t get me started on the fauna. There’s loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz!" 

Buzzards? She want to see those scavengers? As Fluttershy spoke, he was soothed by her voice as he began to slowly close his eyes.

"Why, there’s bluejays, and redjays and greenjays, pinkjays and pink flamingos!"

There are all kinds of colors of 'jays' in Equestria? I didn't know that. At this point, Fluttershy had gathered Angel into her front hooves and was hovering just in front of Twilight.

"Gee, Fluttershy, it sounds…beautiful?", the purple unicorn finally said.

"Wait just a minute!", a voice came. Everyone turned to see Rainbow Dash perched on a roof.

"Rainbow Dash!", Chronicle scolded as he 'awoke' from his stupor. "Were you following us?"

Rainbow landed with the others and replied, "No—I mean, yes—I mean, maybe—look, it doesn’t matter! I couldn’t risk a goody-four-shoes like you giving that ticket away to just anybody." 

"Wait just another minute!", another voice came. Everyone turned to see Applejack walk up to Twilight.

"Applejack! Were you following us too?", the sole stallion cried out incredulously.

"No, I was followin’…" She pointed at Rainbow. "…this one, to make sure she didn’t try any funny business! Still tryin’ to take my ticket."

Rainbow floated off ground and gasped, "Your ticket?!" 

Pinkie then approached and said, "But Twilight’s taking me!"

Soon enough, Twilight and Chronicle (Spike just stood 'outside') found themselves on the wrong end of a quintuple verbal fusillade as Fluttershy and Rarity joined in on the argument. As the hapless bookworm huddled under the onslaught, the bodyguard just gave a sigh. 

"The Two Ticket Scenario.", he groaned. "I can't believe I had to experience something like this again." 

"Again?", asked Twilight.

"With a previous charge of mine, a spoiled sweet Canterlot noble. Usually, the scenario consists of a trio of friends, with one of them obtaining two tickets. As the remaining two begin to nag their friend as to who gets the ticket aside from the owner, the holder would have to choose between the two, straining her friendship between whoever gets left out. This time, the mayhem is multiplied since we got five others wanting in on the ticket."

"What should I do?", his charge asked as their friends' argument began to escalate in volume.

"They're your tickets, so I can't help you there."

Eventually, the abuse got so loud neither Chronicle nor Twilight could hear themselves think. Finally, Twilight lost her grip. "QUIET!!", she cried out and everyone clammed up except for Pinkie.

"And then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you craz—'", she continued to rant before cutting herself off when Twilight glared at her. "Oh."

"Girls, there’s no use in arguing."

"But, Twili—", Rarity began to walk over and plead but was cut off by Chronicle putting up a hoof to back her off. 

"Ehp! This is my decision, and I’m gonna make it on my own. And I certainly can’t think straight with all this noise!" Her still-empty gut then voiced its own dissatisfaction. "Not to mention hunger. Now go on! Shoo!" The others began to disperse with much reluctant grumbling, leaving just her, her assistant, and her bodyguard. "And don’t worry! I’ll figure this out!" She then added to herself. "Somehow."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (video-type) - Twilight and Chronicle against a pink background, in the bottom center portion of the screen. The remaining area gets quickly tiled in with squares containing the faces of their friends, who are directing their abuse their way. The show's logo is seen on the lower center.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later…

Twilight, Chronicle, and Spike decided to eat at a restaurant. The building had a thatched-roof, but they—as well as a few other patrons—were eating outside the building around several giant, flat-topped mushroom tables out front, sitting on piles of hay. The signs at the door and walk showed clover blossoms. 

While the bookworm slumped over the tabletop and the baby dragon read a menu, the bodyguard was looking over at one of the waiters in the restaurant. 

He was a very properly-dressed, off-white earth pony. He had a navy blue mane and tail, a white dinner-jacket lapels and shirt front, a red bow tie, a pencil-thin mustache, and white spats. His eyes were gray-brown and his cutie mark depicted a covered serving dish. If he remembered correctly, his name was Horte Cuisine. 

As Chronicle watched him serve Lightning Bolt and another pegasus pony, his attention was caught by his charge's weary sigh as he turned to face her. "Ah, Spike, Chronicle, what am I gonna do?" She proceeded to levitate a flower off the vase standing in the center of the table. All five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the Gala." One by one, she 'pulled off' the petals. "Applejack…or Rainbow Dash…Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, Rarity… Oh, who should go with me?"

There was yet another grumble and her face fell. Then, she stuck out her tongue to round up the petals and eat them, earning a curious stare from her bodyguard, who then resumed normal composure an instant after. 

"Well, if you ask me—", he began to say before he was cut off by a French-accented voice, catching Twilight by surprise.

"Have you made your decision?", it said. Chronicle turned to see Horte having come up to them.

"I CAN’T DECIDE!!", Twilight shouted, earning stares from the other diners. 

Spike pointed to the menu and said, "Twilight, he just wants to take your order."

"Oh. I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich."

"Daffodil and daisy sandwich?", asked Chronicle. "Don't daffodils taste nasty? Aren't they toxic to the point of poisoning? And won't the pollen of daisies cause allergic reactions?"

"No need to worry about that, monsieur.", voiced in Horte. "Our food is perfectly safe to eat as they are specially treated to remove those dangers you have mentioned."

"Okay." Chronicle then 'took' the menu from Spike and started reading it. I can't believe there are foods containing gelatin here. Aren't ponies vegetarians?

"Do you have any rubies?", Spike asked Horte, getting a funny look from him. "No? Okay. I’ll have the hay fries—extra crispy."

"And I'll have a carrot bun." Horte gave another funny look, this time at Chronicle. "There is one in the menu, right?" He just walked away, leaving the three to wait.

"What do you think, Spike?", Twilight then asked.

"I think we have to try another restaurant. I mean, I like grass just fine, but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones?"

"I mean, about the Gala and the ticket and who I should take!"

"Oh. You’re still on that?" 

Twilight leaned angrily over the table, knocking the vase away. "Spike, listen!" She then settled back down. "How do I choose? And when I do choose, will the other four be mad at me? I mean, I could give up my ticket and give away two, but that would still leave three disappointed ponies." 

"Excuse me?", Chronicle cut in. "If you're not going, I'm not either. The only reason I'd go to the Gala is to serve as your bodyguard."

"All right. But still, that would then leave two disappointed ponies. What if I—"

She was cut off with Horte serving their food. "Ah, your food.", he said as he then left right after. 

"Oh, thank you. This looks so good.", Twilight said as Spike was already digging in his fries. "I’m sure everything will be much clearer once I eat."

"I'll bet.", said Chronicle as he and his charge 'lifted' their sandwiches. Just as they were about to consume them however, a small stampede past the table got their attention.

"Um, monsieur, madame?", Horte called from inside the front door. "Are you going to eat your food in the rain?"

"It’s not raining.", Twilight said.

"Now how did I fail to notice this?", Chronicle said as they realized that it was indeed raining, and a thunderstorm at that. For some reason, a spot of tranquil clear sky kept the rain out of their heads.

Twilight looked up and asked, "What’s going on?"

"I have a sneaky suspicion." The two of them then looked up to see Rainbow Dash cheerfully poking her head. 

"Hi there, best friend forever I’ve ever ever had!", she greeted. "Enjoying the sunny weather?"

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?", Twilight asked suspiciously as Chronicle began to 'procure' a simple blue umbrella and a saddle of the same color from "hammerspace" and 'put' them on himself.

Rainbow tried her best to look innocent, in spite of the glaring evidence otherwise. "What do you mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on—" Neither unicorn was impressed. Spike just ignored the scene. "—so I thought I’d kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace. That’s all."

"Rainbow, you’re not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra-special favors, are you?"

Chronicle looked up at Rainbow, seeing her head being illuminated by the sun behind her as if she were wearing a halo. This made her all the more suspicious to the stallion. "Me? No, no, no, of course not."

"Uh-huh."

"Seriously, I’d do it for anypony."

"Oh, really?", asked Chronicle as he indicated the other customers bolting for cover from the downpour. By then, he and Spike have finished their food.

Rainbow swallowed hard and managed a nervous little laugh at having been caught out. "Uh…"

Twilight spoke up firmly. "Rainbow, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors. So I’d appreciate it if you’d close up that rain cloud right now."

Rainbow groaned as she relented. "Fine!" She then zipped the hole closed, sealing herself off from view.

"That’s better.", Twilight said. However, just before she could take a bite, Chronicle 'caught' it with his aura and 'shoved' it straight to her mouth—a second before the rain turned both of their manes into a waterlogged mess. 

Spike couldn't help but stifle a laugh as Twilight began to chew and swallow, then seemed to choke in need of a drink, then settled with catching rainwater, then swallowing that. Once she was done, Rarity arrived on the scene, donning a saddle with an ornate umbrella attached to keep herself dry, much like what Chronicle was using to keep the rain out of him. While he could easily put up a barrier of magic to keep out the rain, he considered it a waste of energy.

"Twilight! It’s raining.", said Rarity.

His charge deadpanned, "No. Really?"

Rarity then proceeded to yanking her away. "Come with me before you catch a cold!"

With a sigh, Chronicle followed, Spike sheltering himself under the stallion's umbrella.


C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R

In Carousel Boutique…

Rarity had taken Twilight there and Chronicle and Spike followed to see the purple unicorn in the ground-floor showroom. Of course, the blue unicorn had 'put away' his umbrella and accompanying saddle back into "hammerspace". As for Twilight, she shook herself dry, then looked over her shoulder, giving an uneasy little laugh as she realized she had thoroughly drenched Rarity, whose mane and tail have gone limp.

"Oops.", she said. "Sorry."

Rarity just forced a smile and said, "Oh, no. It’s quite all right." She then slid up to nuzzle Twilight's shoulder. "After all, we are…the best of friends, are we not?" She quickly dried out her coiffure with a simple spell, then took Twilight’s forelegs in her front hooves. "And you know what the best of friends do." She then proceeded to back up as Twilight's male companions now stood close by.

"Uh…" 

"Makeover!" In a blink, she zipped a privacy screen in, knocking the two boys out of the way. Dust puffed up from behind the screen as they heard the sound of Rarity’s high-speed overhauling.

"Oof!…Rarity!…Ow!…", they heard Twilight say. "This really isn’t necessary…I mean, thank you, but…oh, that’s too tight!" Finally, the screen was whisked away to expose Twilight, now wearing a blue-green saddle trimmed in blue, with yellow tassels, and a blue collar/necklace trimmed with a strand of rainbow-colored beads. She eyed it with great trepidation.

"There! Oh, you’re simply darling!", Rarity said.

"Uh…" Twilight gave a smile. "…yeah, it is kinda pretty, isn’t it?"

"I kinda have to agree.", commented Chronicle. 

As for Spike, he made as if to heave his guts at the sight. Rarity suddenly popped over to them next, jostling the baby dragon so that he briefly shoved his whole hand down his throat.

"And you! Oh, Spike, Chronicle, I have some dandy little outfits for the dashing gents."

Spike tried to make a break for it and Chronicle prepared to flash-step out of reach as Rarity whipped out the screen once again, but they were both too late. Somehow, she managed to grab them both, the stallion physically and the baby dragon via telekinesis. Dust began to fly again as Chronicle was unable to see through the tussle.

"Ow…oh…hey…oh…watch it…whoa!", he managed to hear Spike say.

Once the screen was withdrawn, Chronicle could now see that he and Spike were both decked out in a blue ensemble with a light green cummerbund, both catered for their different body types of course.

Man, I look like I'd fit right in for Ponyville’s next production of Little Lord Fauntleroy., Chronicle thought as he looked at his outfit. Assuming they have such an event. He then looked at Spike to see a curly blond wig covering the baby dragon's head spines as he attempted to cover himself upon seeing what he wore. I do think they make for a good suit for the Gala, although it could use less frills. …Oh, wait a second… 

"Oh, Chronicle, Spike…", Twilight said as Rarity plunked a broad plumed hat each on the boys' heads.

"Now you just need a hat.", the fashionista finished.

"Bleah! I told you, I don’t want any part of this girly Gala gunk.", complained Spike. "See you back at the library." He then bailed out fast enough to leave the new clothing floating to the ground. Rarity forced a laugh, then dismissed him with a wave of her hoof.

"Oh, who needs him anyway?" She then pulled a mirror up, showing the other two unicorns' reflections as they then admired themselves. "This is all about you, and how fabulous you’ll look at the Grand Galloping Gala."

Twilight snapped back at this. "Wait. The Grand—"

She was cut off by the designer as she approached an "equinequin" in an identical saddle/collar rig. "And oh, my goodness, what a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own that matches yours to a T." She then pushed Chronicle aside and threw a hoof around Twilight’s shoulders. "We would be the belles of the ball, you and I. Everyone would be clamoring for our attention." Obviously getting carried away, she got Twilight in a headlock. "All eyes would be on us, and then everyone would finally know. The most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria…is Rarity the unicorn!" After a few long seconds, she let go of Twilight, who had wound up in a rather annoyed half-crouch, and realized that her fantasy went just a bit overboard. She laughed nervously, patting Twilight’s head. "And Twilight Sparkle, of course."

As Twilight straightened up, Chronicle—who had removed his clothes and stored them in "hammerspace" during the monologue—'tugged' on Rarity's tail and 'pulled' her away from his charge. "You really think we don't see what’s going on?", he asked as Rarity backed up. "You’re just buttering Twilight up so that she would give you the extra ticket. Well, it’s not gonna work!" He then 'removed' the saddle from Twilight and 'threw' it over Rarity's head. 

"You’re going to have to wait for my decision just like everyone else!", Twilight finished as her bodyguard 'tossed' the beads right around Rarity's horn as the two of them made their way out the door. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been trying all day just to get some lunch!" 

As if on cue, Applejack poked her head in. "Did somepony say lunch?", she asked.

The famished unicorn was then unceremoniously yanked out the door to land flat on the grass. The thunderstorm earlier had since passed. When she got upright again, her bodyguard joining him, her jaw dropped. 

Stopped in front of the unicorns was a cart piled high with all manner of apple treats, even more food than was brought out during the Apple family brunch back during the Summer Sun Celebration.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!", said Twilight as Applejack started pointing out the items.

"I got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplin’s, apple crisp, apple crumblers, aaand…" She then held up on her head a slice of dessert on a plate in front of Twilight, whose irises have grown to nearly fill her eye sockets. "…apple brown betty!" There was a few seconds of silence as Chronicle inspected Applejack's cart, doing…something with the items. "Uh, the dessert, not my auntie. What do you say there, best friend?" There was another stomach growl from Twilight. "Is that a yes?"

Twilight's eyebrows lowered resolutely over the purple irises for a tense moment before… "No! No!" Applejack recoiled, the plate falling off her head. "I don’t know who I’m giving the ticket to, and all these favors aren’t making it any easier to decide. In fact, I’m less sure now than I was this morning!" She then galloped off with a loud, frustrated groan.

"So that’s a maybe?", Applejack then asked.

"Ya think?!", retorted Chronicle as he teleported away to catch up with his charge.


C—TS—S—A—R—C—TS—S—A—R—C—TS—S—A—R

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Twilight Sparkle running away, Chronicle following behind with Spike on his back, and three of their friends in hot pursuit; Rainbow Dash on a cloud, Rarity levitating a fancy saddle, and Applejack pulling her cart of food. All of them are facing right. The show's logo is seen on the upper center.

C—TS—S—A—R—C—TS—S—A—R—C—TS—S—A—R

Early afternoon…

Twilight Sparkle and Chronicle were making their way back to the library, the former letting out another groan. "I never thought being showered with favors would be so aggravating!"

Just before they could reach the door, Chronicle stopped her from opening it. "Hold on.", he said. He motioned her away from the door, walked toward it, then opened it…to see Fluttershy and several other small animals cleaning up the place. The yellow pegasus was vocalizing a familiar jingle as she flitted from shelf to shelf. "Oh, not her too."

"Is everything okay in there?", Twilight asked him.

"Depends on your definition of 'okay'.", he replied. "Fluttershy is in the library with some animal friends."

His charge went in after him, then voiced a disheartened little gasp.

"Oh...well, hello, Twilight.", their pegasus friend greeted. "I hope you don’t mind, but we’re all doing a little spring cleaning for you.

"It’s summer.", pointed out Chronicle. "Only a few weeks since the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Oh…well, better late than never, right?" She then blushed, giving an ingratiating smile. "It was Angel’s idea."

The two unicorns turned to see the white bunny, who has donned a chef’s hat and was tossing a salad with a happy squeak and wave.

"You’re not doing this for the ticket, are you?"

Fluttershy descended to the floor. "Oh, no. I’m doing this because you’re my very best friend. Right, Angel?" Angel just gave her a disgusted look in response. "Oh. Yes. We are just doing this for the ticket."

"At least you're being honest.", said Chronicle.

Angel then proffered the salad, Twilight’s stomach grumbling in response; her next words came with enough force to blow food and chef backward. "No, no, NO!" She then headed for door, magically opening it (Chronicle hadn't moved from his position at the door). "Well, this was all very nice of you and Angel, but I am not accepting any extra favors until I’ve made my final decision." She then pointed out the doorway. "So I’m going to have to ask you to leave."

Just then, a burst of confetti and streamers suddenly came flying in. "SURPRISE!!", came Pinkie and a crowd from outside.

Once more, music came out of nowhere as a cheerful melody began to play from somewhere in a fast tempo.

Now Playing: The Ticket Song

Party noisemaker horns were blown at Twilight and Chronicle, and the pink goofball reached in to yank the former bodily onto the lawn. Outside, the group repeatedly tossed her upward as Pinkie sang whilst hopping around.

Twilight is my bestest friend, whoopee, whoopee♪

"Pinkie…", Twilight said at the peak of her being tossed.

The cutest, smartest, all-around best pony, pony♪

"Pinkie…"

I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party♪

"Pinkie!"

She’ll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me♪

"PIIINKIIIEEE!!"

End Song

Abruptly, the music stopped, Pinkie shut up, and all the spectators backed off—leaving Twilight to hit the ground on her back.

"Yes, Twilight?", Pinkie asked innocently as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Twilight sat up and said, "At least the other ponies tried to be subtle about the ticket!" 

Uh-oh.

"Wait.", asked one pegasus mare. She looked a bit like Cloud Kicker, but her hair was darker, she had a flower on it, her eyes were a different color, she had a different cutie mark, and Cloud herself was among the crowd. "What ticket? What Gala?" 

"Oh, you didn’t know?", Pinkie asked as the crowd grew, which Chronicle noticed consisted of no stallions whatsoever (aside from him). "Twilight has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Pinkie!", he scolded, but it was too late; Twilight has just hit panic mode.

"The Grand Galloping Gala?!?", cried out the crowd. Then came the various offers and butter-ups. 

"Have I ever told you how much I love your mane?", came one offer.

Just then, Spike ran by, pulling Twilight away as Chronicle followed.

"I’ll wash your dishes!", one of them had said.

The three stopped short, finding their retreat blocked by Daisy. "Would you like any help with your gardening?", she offered. 

They turned around, only for Shoeshine to cut them off, holding up some carrots. "I have a cartload of extra carrots." The crowd soon began to close in, shouting more offers. 

Spike climbed on Twilight’s back and asked, "What are we gonna do?"

"We’re…gonna…RUUUNNN!!" At the end of that sentence, she leaped out of the crowd, with him clinging to her tail, and bugged out. 

"Couldn't have said it better myself.", said Chronicle as he cast a spell and a large "magic circle" formed at the crowd's feet, binding them in place as they struggled to move. The stallion quickly made his way out of the crowd and after his charge as 'binding' so many ponies is much more taxing than one powerful winged unicorn like Nightmare Moon.

He 'let go' after a few seconds and the ticket-seekers began to give chase. He managed to rejoin Twilight and Spike as they raced past Sugarcube Corner, hiding behind Applejack's cart of goodies, which had been moved from just outside Carousel Boutique and next to Daisy's flower/herb shop for some reason. 

After the massed ponies charged by, the three peeked out from behind the cart. They thought they were clear until Bon Bon opened the store's door and saw them. Daisy then somehow popped up from inside the cart, spooking the three into another escape.

"Why does everypony right now seem to possess that unexplainable trait Pinkie Pie possesses?", Chronicle asked himself as they ran. As they fled, he glanced back and saw Golden Harvest fall behind, stumbling and falling by the wayside.

Just then, Chronicle located an alleyway—that had a way out—and they crossed it, tearing down a few useless stuff in the way to impede the mob's progress. 

"We can't run from them forever.", Spike said.

"I got a plan.", said Chronicle. "Give me the tickets."

Twilight did so and Chronicle then 'produced' a magic clone—complete with copies of the tickets.

"How're you able to do that?!", asked Twilight.

"Been practicing long enough to be able to manifest copies of small items."

As they exited the alleyway, they turned a corner and Chronicle immediately teleported them elsewhere while his clone kept running, showing off the tickets all the while.

As for the three, they emerged at a clothing store. Quickly, Chronicle went in and snatched some items, leaving enough bits to pay for it all at the counter. The cashier was currently absent as she turned out to be one of the ticket-seekers.

Quickly, he dressed up Twilight in a dress and bonnet, put a bonnet and pacifier on Spike, put him on the baby carriage, then donned a black cloak completely concealing his identity but making him suspicious in a different manner.

Just then, he suddenly 'obtained' information he didn't have before; his clone had been caught and automatically dismissed. A few seconds after they finished putting on the clothes, Chronicle saw the mob headed their way. By instinct, Twilight almost broke into a gallop, but Chronicle stopped her.

"No.", he said. "Try and be inconspicuous or else the purpose of these disguises will be rendered moot. Now just walk normally with the carriage in front of you. Spike, don't move or say a single word."

"You sure about this?", asked Twilight.

"Bodyguarding isn't the only thing I do. I also dabble in non-magic disguises and sneaking around after I realized some of my charges don't want my company. And yet I still had a job to do, so…" He didn't speak further as the mob bypassed them, not suspecting them at all. "Wow. This was actually the first time I tried this."

"This is your first time?!"

Chronicle shut her up by taking out an apple snack he 'stole' from Applejack's cart when she offered to Twilight for the ticket and stuffed it into her mouth. But it was too late; one of the crowd—Golden Harvest, who managed to catch up—caught sight of the trio and re-directed the mob back toward them. "Time to go!" The three began to make tracks, ditching their get-ups as Chronicle decided to store them in "hammerspace". 

After Twilight swallowed the snack Chronicle had shoved into her face, she asked, "Was that snack from Applejack's cart?"

"Yes. But don't refuse it. She technically didn't offer that. I just took it from her, then I forced it on you. Now shut up while I get us out of here."

He was sure to get a berating from his charge later, but he set the thought aside as he cast a spell on his charge's and his own legs (Spike rode on Twilight's back), increasing their running speed as the mob vanished from sight. As they crossed a bridge over the stream bordering Ponyville, Twilight then stopped and looked at the bridge.

"Let's hide here."

"Under the bridge?", her bodyguard asked. "Great idea." He then cast the water-walking spell on the three of them and they went under the bridge. They then jumped to the underside and clung to it, the spell wearing off quickly as Chronicle didn't concentrate for long since the thundering hooves of the crowd began to break his focus. They heard them cross the bridge and once they were gone, Spike wiped his brow in relief before losing his hold and falling into the water.

Immediately, Chronicle got him out and the three were on the run again. Taking shortcuts, hopping rooftops (immediately abandoning that after some pegasus ponies almost caught them), hiding in various places, taking occasional snacks Chronicle stole from Applejack, and donning various disguises. Among them, the last was most prevalent. Sometimes the three (or at least the two unicorns) swapped disguises, like Twilight wearing the black cloak, or Chronicle "dressing in drag", something he actually wasn't comfortable with while on the run.

Eventually, they made it to a costume shop, where they then  disguised themselves as equinequins in a shop window. Chronicle donned a…festive holiday-related hat and matching saddle trimmed with jingle bells. Next to him was Twilight dressed as a clown complete with rainbow-striped wig and rubber nose, and next to her was Spike as a bewigged hula dancer. 

They got Christmas here? or is it named differently in Equestria?, Chronicle was thinking as the ticket-seekers passed by. And that hula dancer getup Spike has, why is there a coconut bra? It's not like—whoa! He was interrupted from his thoughts by his two companions ditching the disguises and exiting the premises. He promptly followed them.

As they continued to run, a hoof poked out of a door, beckoning them inside. Recognizing it to be Mystic Shield, he bypassed his companions and turned to the door to the dojo. Twilight and Spike quickly followed as Mystic closed the door after them.

"Thanks, Mystic Shield.", said Chronicle, then changed his tone. "Unless you're after Twilight's you-know-what to you-know-where."

"Goodness no.", replied Mystic as he waved him off. "I could very much care less about the Gala. Too high-class for my taste. In fact, I pretty much want to stay away from Canterlot if I can."

"Oh, good."

"I can't speak up for the others though."

That was then when Chronicle and his companions noticed the other students Mystic Shield was presumably teaching. Aside from four stallions (Bullseye, Greatstone, Tricky Books, and Chrono Cards), who were Mystic's first students, there were also a couple of mares. And they were the unicorns seen from the mob he, Spike, and Twilight had been running from all day. "Pony feathers!"

Immediately, the three of them quickly exited Mystic's dojo, the unicorn mares following. As for Mystic and the other four stallions, they just stared in confusion.

"I thought he could be trusted!", Twilight said to her charge.

"I'm pretty sure he had no idea these mares were after the tickets!"

They continued running until they ended up finally cornered at a dead end, where the ponies made their inexorable advance, eagerly shouting offers for the ticket, one of them even offering to do their taxes, of all things.

Just then, Twilight’s horn flared white as she gritted her teeth to the breaking point. There was a flash of blinding light, and the three of them have disappeared thanks to her teleportation, leaving a crush of extremely confused would-be Gala guests. 


C—TS—S—F—PP—MS—C—TS—S—F—PP—MS

Elsewhere, inside a blue box with POLICE STABLE printed on the side…

A certain earth pony was messing around with some buttons in…wherever he was inside. The interior of his place was bigger than what its exterior would indicate. There was some sort of strange control panel in the center filled with all sorts of buttons and had a translucent tube of sorts glowing blue-green. There was also a chair or two, but they didn't seem to be meant for ponies. There were also railings on the short stairway to the center, oddly-shaped columns supporting the ceiling, and strange hexagonal icons surrounding the brass-colored walls.

Currently, the earth pony, a beige stallion with a short drab brown mane and tail and an hourglass cutie mark, was just being returned to Ponyville, holding a metallic something in his mouth for some reason, when something suddenly teleported right inside, something he deemed impossible. 

"Blimey!", he said as he saw Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Chronicle appear. As if my instinct, the thing on his mouth shot a couple of beams of differing colors at them. One hit Twilight, two hit Spike, and one narrowly missed Chronicle, who swerved his head to dodge the beam.

"Doctor Whooves!", the unicorn stallion said. "I suspected there was something un-ponylike about you. But I should've known you had something like this."

The earth pony stallion, who was named Doctor Whooves, took at look at Chronicle's cutie mark, then seemed to react in shock at the sight of it. He then sighed in resignation. "I guess you caught me. And I'm pretty sure you want to know what just happened to your companions." The Doctor pointed to Twilight and Spike with he thing on his mouth, who were now both seemingly frozen in place and the latter seemed to be burnt somehow. He then spat it out onto the panel in the center "Normally, the sonic screwdriver is incapable of inflicting injury, and I can't seem to figure out why it burnt a dragon. They've been frozen in time and will not remember what happened seconds before they were hit with what I hit."

"How are you sure about that?"

"When one operates this for quite some time, one knows the effects. Although I have forgotten some of them."

Chronicle gulped in nervousness, then shook off the thought. "Well you better be right for your sake. Anyway, mind telling me what you're doing here in Equestria?"

"Oh, of course. I'm here because there are some sinister forces after me and I'm just laying low here until it blows over."

"You do know you're also potentially putting Equestria in danger of those threats, right? Something not even the Princesses might be able to possibly fend off."

"You're absolutely right, but unfortunately the TARDIS doesn't seem to want to go at the moment."

"You mean this thing we're in?"

"Don't you call her a thing!", the Doctor suddenly snapped back.

"Sorry."

"Speaking of which, how'd you get in here via teleportation? As far as I know, the TARDIS bars all attempts to teleport into her interior while in transit like right now."

"Seriously, I have no idea how my charge Twilight Sparkle here did it."

"I see. She's rather gifted, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is."

The Doctor then seemed to change the subject. "Hmm…I've been thinking of changing my name. Now that I think of it, 'Doctor Whooves' isn't helping in covering my presence here. Perhaps I should call myself Time Turner."

"Uhh…"

"Oh, sorry. Forgot you were here. Is there anything else either of us needs to know?"

"Nothing much. Except…how to get my friends back to normal." Chronicle indicated his charge and her assistant.

"No need to worry. I'm sure it'll go away once you affect them with a magic spell like a teleport. And also, as I am trying to hide—"

"I get it. This conversation never took place. We never met in the TARDIS. Twilight, Spike, and I were never here. I was merely tipped off by my superiors about your presence."

Doctor Whooves nodded. "I believe that's how you do it. …Well, this conversation was rather awkward."

"Yeah."

"Well, once I officially change my name to Time Turner, I'd like it of you call me as such."

"Won't promise that. Might slip my tongue. Will do my best though."

"If they're still frozen even after the teleport, just notify me next time we meet." Just then, a door in the TARDIS opened, revealing Ponyville. "Okay, we're back. Now I think it's safe for you to teleport."

"Where exactly are we? A unicorn needs to know their bearings before teleporting lest they end up inside a wall."

The Doctor said, "Just about a yard from the entrance to the Everfree Forest."

"I see. Thanks."

With that, Chronicle teleported himself, Spike, and Twilight out of the TARDIS, leaving the Doctor to his own devices.


C—TS—S—DW—C—TS—S—DW—C—TS—S—DW—C—TS—S—DW

(Because of teleporting in the TARDIS) A few hours later…

In the Books and Branches Library's reading room, Chronicle emerged in a flash with Spike and Twilight, the latter two both dizzy apparently due to the side-effect of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

"Warn me next time you’re gonna do that!", Spike said as he then shook himself clean as Twilight came around.

"I didn’t even know it was gonna happen!", she replied. As expected, neither she nor Spike remembered anything about the TARDIS or Doctor Whooves. And Chronicle planned on keeping it that way for as long as he could. "Now, quick! Lock the doors!"

Immediately, the two did as told and Twilight did the same, switching off every light, closing every conceivable opening. Once that was all over with, both Twilight and Spike leaned wearily against Chronicle's sides. The stallion remained on the alert however. Just as his charge was about to sigh in relief, he said, "Don't speak too soon."

His warning proved to be true as the lights flicked on once more…and the rest of their friends had gathered at the loft where his and Twilight's beds were. They were gathered, as if waiting expectantly for Twilight's answer. This was the last straw for Chronicle as he then summoned a magical clone right at their faces, just about ready to scold them when Twilight decided to speak up.

I can’t decide, I just can’t decide!", she screamed. "It’s important to all of you and I just can’t stand to disappoint any of you, and giving me gifts and doing me favors won’t make any difference because you’re all my friends, and I want to make you all happy and I can’t! I just can’t!" At the end of this, it was apparent that the others have been chastened at her 'confession'.

As Chronicle's copy then looked at her in a huddle on the floor, forelegs wrapped around head, shaking just next to his original, he turned to the rest and said, "Happy now?" He then 'procured' the paddle and slapped all of them before dismissing himself in a flash of magic.

Applejack was the first to walk up to Twilight. Chronicle did nothing to stop her. "Twilight, sugar, I—I didn’t mean to put so much pressure on you. And if it helps, I don’t want the ticket anymore. You can give it to somepony else. I won’t feel bad, I promise."

"Actually, you are my optimal choice for the ticket.", the sole stallion in the group said. "After all, you were doing this for your family."

Fluttershy was next as she flew down to them. "Me too. I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful."

"Glad you apologized."

"And me too.", Pinkie added as she and Rarity still stood in the loft. "It’s no fun upsetting your friends."

"Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did.", said Rarity.

Rainbow meanwhile hovered in midair. "YES! That means the ticket is mine!" She began to laugh and sing, effectively ruining the mood. "I got the ticket, I got the ticket—" She cut herself off and stopped after getting a good look at the others, all of whom were giving her slightly dirty looks. "You know, I haven’t perfected my signature moves for the Wonderbolts anyway. I don’t need that ticket either."

"We all got so gung-ho about goin’ to the Gala that we couldn’t see how un-gung-ho we were makin’ you.", said Applejack.

Twilight gave a smile as they all then chorused, "We’re sorry, Twilight."

"Glad this is over with.", Chronicle sighed.

"Spike, take down a note.", his charge then said as she stood up.

The baby dragon was already on it, whipping out a quill and blank scroll to take her dictation.

“Dear Princess Celestia…”, she began as she levitated the three tickets. “I’ve learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings. But when there’s not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful.” The tickets reached Spike and floated down to the scroll and tucked themselves in. “So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning all three tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala.” 

"WHAT?!?!?", gasped the other five mares.

"If my friends can’t all go—" Twilight then turned to them. "—I don’t want to go either."

Applejack gasped softly, as Rainbow floated down. "Twilight, you don’t have to do that."

"Nope, I’ve made up my mind. Spike, you can send the letter now." 

As the dragon opened the nearest window and burnt the scroll to get it gone, Fluttershy said, "Now you two won’t get to go to the Gala either."

"It’s okay, girls. I couldn’t possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me." Everyone gathered around her, laughing gently. So I would rather not go at all."

"And I'm not really interested in the Gala.", put in Chronicle. "The only reason I would go would be to serve as Twilight's bodyguard. And if she isn't going, I don't have a reason to either." He then turned to Spike, and saw that for the fourth time today, he pantomimed shoving a finger down his throat—and for the third time, he started trying to choke back a real heave.

Applejack was irritated at this. "Well, wallop my withers, Spike.", she said as she crossed to him. "Isn’t that just like a boy—can’t handle the least bit of sentiment."

"I'm right here, and I can handle it pretty well.", retorted the other boy in the room. "And I think that's—"

Chronicle was cut off as the fiery belch that finally surfaced had enough kick to throw Spike on his back. Applejack ducked so fast that it shot between her head and her hat, then hung midair. 

"Whoa, Nelly!" The smoke then solidified into…

"A letter from the Princess?" gasped Twilight as Spike quickly got up and took the scroll "That was fast." 

Spike opened the letter and read, “My faithful student Twilight: Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” Six gold tickets then popped out of the parchment. Spike then took these tickets and held them fanned out. "Six tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!"

There was a collective gasp from all six mares. "Now we can all go!", Twilight gasped. There were cries, movements, and whatever anyone does when expressing jubilation. Just then, they were cut off with Twilight’s growling gut and sheepish little laugh.

"Allow us to treat you to dinner.", Rarity offered.

With that, the ponies exited the library one by one, the tickets floating out of Spike’s hand as he waited at the door. The tickets obviously had some magic in them as they floated near their recipients even if they weren't unicorns.

Twilight was the first to exit, followed by Rarity. Next were Rainbow and Pinkie, the former flying a few feet in the air. 

"What a great way to apologize!", Rainbow said as she left. 

"And to celebrate!", added Pinkie as she followed. "Come on, everyone! The cupcakes are on me!"

Fluttershy was fifth to go, trotting after the others, followed by Applejack who just walked, with Chronicle bringing up the rear. As Spike held back the last ticket, just as he bypassed the farmpony, it was whisked out of his hand.

"How come I don’t get a ticket to the Gala?", he asked himself dejectedly.

Chronicle also stopped as Applejack exited the library, noticing. "Hold on a second. I don't have a ticket either. Either this means I have slipped Princess Celestia's mind. Or as Twilight's bodyguard, I don't need a ticket to go to the Gala. How could I not have—"

He was cut off by Spike retching again. Another belch procured another scroll from the Princess. He then opened it and read, "Don't think I've forgotten you boys." Two tickets popped up and Chronicle 'took' one of them as Spike's eyes popped as well.

"Apparently, either I still need a ticket to go to the Gala, or it's for in case I decide to go without Twilight." Immediately, just as Chronicle pondered on this, Spike ran from the library laughing but stops short at the sight of Applejack directing a knowing little smile his way, her ticket still floating above her head. Chronicle followed shortly after, saying, "In spite of all your protestations, you genuinely want to go, huh?"

"Huh? I mean, gross!", Spike 'complained'. "I have to go too?"

After getting past Applejack and eying her nervously, he broke into a laughing run and she trotted after him, chuckling softly. Chronicle suddenly remembered something and ran after Spike, quickly catching up to him as he followed the other girls.

"Spike!", he called as he slowed down to a trot.

"Yeah?", asked the baby dragon as he slowed down as well to match his speed.

"Could you lend me a scroll and quill? I need to send something to the Princess."

"What?! Why would you want to send a letter to her?"

"Because all this could've been avoided if she had sent tickets for all of us rather than just for three. I mean it's not like she didn't know we were all her friends. I just want to ask her if she knew that and wanted to test Twilight's reaction on a situation where she would have to exclude some of her friends, and thus sent just three. Or if she even sent them at all, given the formal wording of the first letter rather than being directly addressed to her 'faithful student'."

"I'm not sure if she'll approve of someone other than Twilight writing letters to her."

"I just want to have things cleared up. It's been bugging me all day. And this is just the first time." 

"You plan to send more letters in future?" The baby dragon didn't seem all too pleased.

"Maybe. I'll stop if she doesn't approve, though."

"Okay. But after dinner. I didn't bring another spare."

"Fine." The two boys spoke no further as Applejack caught up with the rest as they apparently reached their destination.
> Chapter 7: Dragonshy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7: Dragonshy
In Chronicle's dreams…

He was once again inside his dark expanse, thinking of things as always. In addition to his dreams of spars, small talk, or reminiscence, he also sometimes talks with Timerity about their Element of Harmony keeper companions.

Just then, another pony began to appear in front of him. As it began to materialize, he saw it wasn't Timerity. 

This time, it was a mare-faced stallion like him, only this time his coat was white, his eyes were blue, his mane was mildly frazzled and colored in navy blue and purple, his tail had the same color and was short like Chronicle's, he had black hooves, and he shared the same orange-circle-with-open-book cutie mark. However, instead of a horn on his head, he had wings on his sides, making him a pegasus.

"We meet again at long last, big brother.", he said, his voice a tone deeper than Chronicle's in spite of being younger than him by a year.

"Wait…Crais?"

"I'm glad you remember even as in my current form. And my alias is Blue Diary."

"I see. I'm going by Chronicle." There was a moment of terse silence. "So, how's your Twilight Sparkle there in the Equestria you're in?"

"Last I've seen her, she's a fugitive after the Ursa Minor incident."

This caught Chronicle off guard. "What?! What about her friends?!" 

"She doesn't have any.", Blue calmly replied. This left Chronicle speechless as he dropped his jaw. "And before you ask, she's not the Element of Magic either."

Chronicle gave himself a few seconds to compose himself. "…Okay."

"And none of her friends that you assumed she has are the other Elements either."

"Well, that's reassuring.", said Chronicle sarcastically. "Wait. How do you know who I was assuming?"

"Our sister Tabitha, who goes by Timerity, told me about your friends."

"I see. Hold on. Ursa Minor incident? So if the arrival of the Twilight Sparkle was the cause, then is Trixie…"

"Yes." Blue nodded. "The Element of Magic is Trixie Lulamoon."

"Lulamoon, huh?" Chronicle put a hoof to his chin.

"Would you like to know who the other elements are?"

"Enlighten me."

"Very well. The Element of Laughter is Cheerilee…"

"The schoolteacher?"

"I see our Equestrias share the same ponies. The Element of Generosity is Carrot Top…" 

"Guess she's not named Golden Harvest there."

"…the Element of Honesty is Raindrops, the Element of Kindness is Ditzy Doo, and the Element of Loyalty is Lyra Heartstrings."

"Lyra Heartstrings? Just which Equestria are you assigned to?"

"I'm assigned to 'Luna Equestria'."

"Let me guess, in there it's Celestia rather than Luna who turns evil?"

"Yes. But it's not by darkness or jealousy, rather by greed and insanity." Blue gave a sigh. "You're lucky where you are, Chronicle. I envy you for that. While Nightmare Moon has already been defeated and redeemed where you're at, Corona the Tyrant Sun on the other hand still runs rampant where I'm at, though weakened."

Chronicle deduced that Corona was the alias of the insane Celestia. "That's rather…"

"Dark?", Blue finished. "Well, 'Luna Equestria' is like that compared to 'Equestria Prime' in more ways than one. Already, during our adventure to find the Elements, we had encountered sirens with the express intent to eat us."

"Oww."

"You should be proud you had already got a friend in there." Chronicle recalled the river serpent Steven Magnet at that statement. "Where I'm at is vastly more different than Timerity's is to yours."

"Right. Another thing, are you or were you ever Trixie's bodyguard?"

"I was, but I'm now considering work at the weather management, even though Rainbow Dash can be a pain in the ass. Here, she's even lazier than yours. Still, I got Raindrops and Cloud Kicker to help me out. I also spend time doing odd jobs and I still keep in touch with the Elements."

"But where do you stay?"

"Ditzy Doo's kind enough to give me a place to crash in for nights and siestas. Her daughter Dinky's a nice filly and is lucky to have a loving mother."

"Siestas, huh?" Siestas were basically nap times at noon. "Most likely because of Corona?"

"Uh-huh. And I take karate lessons alongside Raindrops. I keep away from Lyra's house though; she can get real loud with BonBon at nights. Like I said, 'Luna Equestria' is vastly more different than 'Equestria Prime'. And I think we could discuss more of my world another time."

"Yeah. Well, it was nice talking with you, Blue Diary."

"Likewise, Chronicle."


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

Later that day…

Chronicle was at the address Graphite gave him back during the day that fracas with the tickets happened. As usual, the house had a thatch-roof. He was at the front door, talking with the earth pony in front of him. Thankfully, he managed to get Mjölna instead of her twin sister Tasty Snack.

A day after the episode with the tickets, he had come over to Mjölna for her blacksmithing services and requested her to create a shield out of the river serpent's scale. Today, she was finished and he was here to receive the shield.

"Here you go, Chronicle.", said Mjölna as she offered the finished product. "That'll be 480 bits."

"Wow. That's a bit much." Chronicle 'took' the shield and had a good look at it. It was shaped like the shield in Mystic Shield's cutie mark, but was more plain-looking. As expected, its color was similar to that of the scale it was made from. He 'stored' this shield in "hammerspace", and 'procured' a pouch of bits from there.

"Well, making armor ain't cheap."

"True. I don't currently that amount with me right now. Maybe I can pay in—"

"Portions? As in you pay a smaller amount now, then pay likewise for the next few days or so?", guessed Mjölna. 

"Yeah. That."

"Sure thing. I'll tell Graphite since I might be too busy and because you might end up paying Tasty Snack instead. She takes advantage of every mistake that comes her way." 

"So I'll be paying you through Graphite?"

"Basically, yes."

"Okay. I'll just pay the first portion now." Chronicle 'passed' his pouch to Mjölna. "Well, I gotta go soon. See ya, Mjölna."

"Bye, Chronicle."


C—M—C—M—C—M—C—M—C—M—C—M

A few minutes after…

Chronicle managed to make it to the park, where he greeted the ponies who passed by and enjoyed the fine weather.

"Hello, Derpy Hooves, Parasol. Hello, Bon Bon, Carrot Top. Hello, Lemon Hearts, Sea Swirl, Wind Whistler. Hello, Tornado Bolt, Apple Bumpkin. Hello, Medley, Dizzy Twister, Cloud Kicker. Hello, Apple Cobbler, Lyra. Hello, Twinkle, Minuette. Hello, Shoeshine, Cherry Berry. Hello, Daisy, Goldengrape. Hello, little fillies. Hello, Berry Punch. Hello, Amethyst Star, Pink Lady. …Okay, what a strange name." He then looked up, ready to greet any overhead pegasi, and saw something he wasn't about to give a nice "hello" to; a plume of thick black smoke issuing from a distant mountain peak. And it seemed to be en route to Ponyville. "Oh dear."

Just before he could speak up, he noticed another voice. "Help! Help! Please? Help?", it said. He knew that voice anywhere, although he did have to strain to listen to it. "There’s…there’s a horrible cloud of smoke! It’s headed this way and—"

He looked down and saw that it was Fluttershy—and that nopony else seemed to have heard her. She really needs to work on her volume… He then called out, "Fluttershy."

The meek pegasus turned to face him and cried out "Oh, Chronicle! I'm so glad you heard me."

"Your voice allures me every time, though I had to strain to understand you, actually. You really should raise your voice a bit more."

"I'll try." Just then, a ball headed their way—too fast for Chronicle to 'catch'—and they both ducked. Before it can hit the ground, Rainbow Dash flashed in and started bouncing it up off her forehead and rump.

"Don’t be such a scaredy pony.", she told the two as Pinkie Pie arrives to watch.. "It’s just me, future Equestria ball-bouncing record holder." She then continued to count. "Two hundred forty-six, two hundred forty-seven…"

"This calls for a celebration!", said Pinkie as she zipped away.

"Girls.", Chronicle spoke up. "This is no time for celebration. This is a time for—" He was rudely cut off by Pinkie, who popped up in front of him, facing away from the two who know of the smoke, which was already making its way to the park.

"Ooh! I’m gonna need balloons!" She then hopped away. "One for everypony in Ponyville!"

Fluttershy and Chronicle followed her, the former saying, "There’s…there’s smoke, and…and where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and—"

They were cut off by Pinkie suddenly stopping—and Chronicle got a face full of her behind, and Fluttershy got a face full of his. Both were briefly knocked silly, but the former recovered quickly as Pinkie began to count off the ponies in the park.

"Let’s see. That’s one…" She pointed at a hovering Medley, who turned and noticed. "Two." She then pointed at Daisy, who turned and noticed as well.  "Three." Cloud Kicker, who also turned and looked. "Four." Cherry Berry, who didn't notice, but Heartstrings and Shoeshine turned to look at Pinkie as they sat on a bench. "Five." Heartstrings, who was sitting like a human being would. 

What?, Chronicle mentally gasped at this non-ponylike behavior.

"Six." Shoeshine, who sat next to Lyra and was laid out across the bench in a proper equine manner. 

She turned to look at Rainbow, who was still bouncing her ball. "…two hundred fifty-four, two hundred fifty-five…no, wait…" She was interrupted by Pinkie as she rushed in to count her as well, causing the ball to miss Rainbow’s head and land under her wing.

"…seven…" Pinkie earned an exasperated sigh from Rainbow.

"Pinkie Pie, now I have to start over!" 

"We're all gonna have to start over.", snarked Chronicle as Rainbow left. "In a new village, ’cause ours is gonna be—" 

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, wait up!", Pinkie interrupted.

"Dammit, why isn't anypony listening to me…", he growled. 

"Oh, please, this is an emergency.", pleaded Fluttershy. "I need everypony to—"

"LISTEN UP!", another voice came. Everypony turned to a bridge over the stream running through the park and saw Twilight Sparkle, with Spike on her back.

"Twilight!", Chronicle called.

"Smoke is spreading over all of Equestria!" There was a shocked reaction from the crowd. 

"That's what Fluttershy and I've been trying to tell—" he began to say as they came over, but he was cut off again.

"But don’t worry. I’ve just received a letter from Princess Celestia informing me that it is not coming from a fire."

"Oh, thank goodness." Fluttershy sighed in relief.

"It’s coming from a dragon!"

The mild-mannered pegasus sucked in a gasp that would inflate a small blimp as her eyes popped. "A….d-d-d-dragon?"

"Uh-oh.", groaned Chronicle.


C—TS—RD—F—PP—C—TS—RD—F—PP—C—TS—RD—F—PP

Later…

Twilight, Chronicle, Fluttershy, and the rest of the keepers of the Elements of Harmony were gathered inside the Books and Branches Library. Outside, the sky has darkened under the spreading smoke. 

"What in the name of all things cinnamon-swirled is a full-grown dragon doin’ here in Equestria?", Applejack asked Twilight, who was studying a book from a stack, with rolled-up documents resting nearby. 

The purple unicorn closed the book with her magic and set it aside. "Sleeping.", she answered.

"Huh?" Nopony could believe their ears as Twilight 'packed' a book into her saddlebags standing on the floor.

"According to Princess Celestia, he’s taking a nap. His snoring is what’s causing all this smoke."

"He should really see a doctor.", commented Pinkie. "That doesn’t sound healthy at all."

"Well, at least he’s not snoring fire.", said Rarity. "What are we meant to do about it?"

"I’ll tell you what we’re meant to do.", Rainbow said as she hovered a few feet up. "Give him the boot! Take that!" She kicked the center table’s horse-head bust, which was balanced by Chronicle before it can topple. "And that!" She rushed at it, but he levitated it upward and as he set it back on the pedestal, the cyan pegasus was sprawled upside down against a wall.

"We need to encourage him to take a nap somewhere else.", Twilight said as Rainbow got up. "Princess Celestia has given us this mission, and we must not fail." The speedster stood to attention and saluted. "If we do, Equestria will be covered in smoke for the next one hundred years." 

Fluttershy recoiled in horror with a gasp. 

"That is not good at all.", said Chronicle.

Rarity gave a humph and turned to Pinkie. "Talk about getting your beauty sleep."

"All right, everypony." Twilight's saddlebags closed. "I need you to gather supplies quickly." The bags then rose off the floor and settled on her back. "We’ve got a long journey ahead of us." The others gathered around her. "Let’s meet back here in less than an hour."

Rainbow looped in the air, throwing hooves around Pinkie’s and Rarity’s necks. "Okay, girls, you heard her! The fate of Equestria is in our hooves! Do we have what it takes?"

Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity reared up and voice their own affirmative responses. As they hustled out the door, Rainbow joins them—but Fluttershy hung back. "Um, actually…"

"Twilight, I'll go have a talk with Mystic Shield.", Chronicle said as he made his way out the door as well. "Maybe we could ask him and his students to join us."

"That's a good idea.", said the bookworm as she continued to work. "His skills can prove useful."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later, in Mystic Shield's dojo…

"And remember that you should gauge how much focus you need between defense and offense."

Mystic Shield was teaching his (so far) four students the two most basic spells he thinks any unicorn should ever know; the barrier spell (either dome-shape or screen-shape), and the magic shot spell. 

Tricky Books and Chrono Cards seem to be doing well in both, but Bullseye seemed to be more focused on offense and Greatstone on defense.

"It may sound difficult to perform at least two spells at once, but there is a simple secret to double-casting. Now, all you need to do is—" He was interrupted when Chronicle burst into the dojo. "Chronicle, you're late.", he said sternly. "How can you possibly teach alongside me if you don't remember the schedule?"

"Sorry, Mys—I mean, Master Shield, but we got a crisis on our hooves."

"Is it about that smoke coming from the mountain?"

"Yes. And I was hoping if you could spare a student or two to accompany us. We're headed to the mountain to convince the dragon there to leave."

"Dragon? Sounds dangerous, dude.", said Bullseye.

"I'm not too certain.", said Chrono.

"I'd rather not.", apologized Tricky.

"I cannot say as to whether or not I should go.", said Greatstone.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot spare any of these four to join you in this…quest.", Mystic said with disappointment.

"…I see.", Chronicle replied. "Well, it was worth a try." He then turned to leave and was about to walk out when Mystic suddenly walked up right next to him.

"Hold on, there. You did not ask me if I could come with you."

Chronicle seemed to be surprised. "You're coming?"

"Why not? I could use an adventure."

"But what about—"

"Hey, this dragon's being a threat to Equestria, right? If there's something I could do and I didn't do it and you fail, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."

"I was talking about the students. What if they want to go?"

"You heard Tricky. He's not going."

"Neither am I.", piped in Chrono.

"Nor I.", added Greatstone.

"I changed my mind, I'm not going.", said Bullseye.

"Guess you have it, then.", said Mystic. "Since my classes are currently suspended, you are free to call me Mystic."

"Welcome to the party, Mystic Shield. Get yourself ready, prepare supplies, and meet us in the library in less than an hour."

"Got it." He then walked back inside his dojo, bypassing his students. "Class dismissed."


C–MS–G–TB–B–CC—C–MS–G–TB–B–CC

[screen mode]

{Wipe to Rainbow’s cloud house. She flies to one of the rainbow ponds at its edge, from which a waterfall trickles toward the ground, and daubs a stripe of the material under each narrowed eye. Throwing a defiant growl and fierce grin toward the camera, she is framed in a pink letterbox shot, with her shadow superimposing itself several times behind her. Freeze frame.}

{Quick pan to a fullscreen shot of Sweet Apple Acres. The four local members of the Apple family—Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith—are gathered around a pair of open saddlebags on the ground. As the camera zooms in, Bloom drops in a bottle of apple juice, Granny pulls one bag closed with her teeth, and Macintosh loads them onto Applejack’s back with some effort. Once the blonde pony straightens up under the weight, she rears up and leaps sideways with a yell. Letterbox freeze frame, as before, but the letterbox is blue.}

{Quick pan to Chronicle's training range behind the library, where Chronicle is at the right side of the screen, and the training dummy is at the left. But instead of engaging the dummy, Chronicle is surveying a row of items leaning at the wall of the library. Among the items are—as the camera pans from right to left— a piece of broken fence, a broken equinequin leg, a shattered bottle, a frying pan, a trashcan lid, a medium-sized cloud, an old heavy tome, a hammer, a shovel, a paddle, a xiphos (a shortsword of nineteen inches), and a sock full of bits. The blue stallion puts a hoof to his chin.}

Chronicle: Hmm…What to bring…

{He suddenly lights up as he then 'selects' the pan and paddle. He considers the xiphos, but decides against it with a shake of his head. After he then 'stores' them in hammerspace, he faces the camera, and rears up with a devious grin. Letterbox freeze frame, as before, but the letterbox is blackish-gray. Quick pan to a fullscreen shot of Sugarcube Corner, from which Pinkie emerges wearing her own saddlebags, a pair of sunglasses, and a big goofy grin. One bag pops open, scattering un-inflated balloons everywhere; she giggles for a second, then catches herself.}

Pinkie: Oh, I mean… (striking tough rear-legged pose) …grrrr!

{Letterbox freeze frame, as before, but the letterbox is green. Quick pan to the Carousel Boutique, then zoom in quickly and cut to Rarity inside. She has put on a camouflage Army helmet, with a few leaves and branches attached to improve the disguise, and carries her saddlebags in her teeth. After catching her reflection in a mirror, she drops the bags and zips back to it, disgusted.}

Rarity: Ewwww!

{Off she goes, returning a moment later with new headwear: a broad-brimmed hat, still done in camo colors but with a long pink plume instead of the branches.}

Rarity: Much better. Onward!

{Letterbox freeze frame, as before, but the letterbox is yellow. Quick pan to Fluttershy’s cottage, zooming in on the front door whose top half is open. She nudges the bottom half open and steps out, wearing a football helmet, a baseball catcher’s chest protector, an inner tube around her midsection, and “floaties” on all four legs. The top half swings shut, scaring a little whimper out of her. Letterbox freeze frame, as before, but the letterbox is red.}

{Quick pan to a fullscreen shot of Mystic's dojo, then zoom in quickly and cut to the purple stallion inside as he looks with contempt at something to the right. Camera then zips to his saddlebags, which have not yet been filled. Cut back to Mystic, who then turns to the left. Camera zips to a first-aid kit, which is then coated with Mystic's magical aura as it is then levitated into the saddlebags. He then magically closes the clasps, walks to the bags, levitates them onto his back, then gives a simple smile. Letterbox freeze frame, as before, but the letterbox is white.}

{Cut to a letterbox screen full of black smoke, with images of the seven freeze-frames dropping in from right to left to tile in the view.}

Applejack: Let’s go! (All but Fluttershy and Mystic zip away, the latter walking off.)
Fluttershy: Um…let’s not?

{She crouches down and goes into a whimpering shiver as the seven strips slide away up and down.}

[end screen mode]


C—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

After the hour…

Twilight Sparkle was now walking down the line to review the 'troops'. Chronicle and Mystic Shield were lined up as well as the former took the time to survey his friends. Everypony but him and the pegasi had saddlebags; Chronicle didn't need them given his "hammerspace". Rainbow Dash seemed to have what looked like war stripes (colored in her namesake, no less) under her eyes. Pinkie wore a pair of red sunglasses. Rarity wore a broad-brimmed hat colored in camo colors and with a long pink plume. Mystic Shield only had his usual ascot. As for Fluttershy, she wore a football helmet, a baseball catcher’s chest protector, an inner tube around her midsection, and “floaties” on all four legs.

"All right, girls and boys, listen up.", Twilight said as she walked.

Good, she did not overlook Mystic Shield and me., Chronicle mused as he stood in attention once more. I could still be very well mistaken for a girl sometimes.

"I’m mapping out the fastest route, but we’ve all got to keep a good pace if we expect to make it up the mountain by nightfall." 

Fluttershy fell out of line and gasped with a shudder, "Mountain?"

Twilight pointed to the peak. "The dragon is in that cave at the very top." 

"Looks pretty cold up there.", noted Applejack.

"You bet it is!", agreed Rainbow. "The higher you go, the chillier it gets. 

"Good thing I brought my scarf.", Rarity said as she brought one up from her saddlebag. It was striped in two shades of pink.

"Ooh, pretty!", Pinkie said as Rarity settled it around her neck.

Rainbow laughed with sarcasm. "Oh, yeah. That’ll keep you nice and cozy."

While Mystic seemed to survey the party in silence, Chronicle noticed Fluttershy looking visibly unsettled. A glance up at the dizzying, fume-choked summit prompted one hard swallow from her. Only he took notice as his charge levitated a map from her bag and studied it.

As Fluttershy decided to make her way towards Twilight, Chronicle followed as the pegasus said, "Um…excuse me, Twilight? I know you’re busy, but—"

Twilight was not paying attention. "Uh-huh. Well, we could go this way."

"—but if I could just have a second—"

"Uh-huh. No, we want to avoid that."

"So, um, I was thinking that, um, maybe I should just stay here in Ponyville."

"Uh-huh."

Fluttershy seemed to brighten up. "Oh! Good. I’ll stay here and—"

Chronicle cut in. "Twilight, I have an apology to make."

"Uh-huh."

"I spilt coffee on your favorite book."

"Uh-huh." Only two seconds after that did what he said sink in. "WHAT?!" She turned to her bodyguard with a surprised look.

"Just kidding." Chronicle gave a smile. "Spike can vouch for that." There were a stifle of giggles from Pinkie and Rainbow while Applejack just rolled her eyes. As for Rarity, she was conversing with Mystic for some reason.

"Okay." She then noticed Fluttershy leaving. "Where is she going?"

"She asked that she stay in Ponyville and you gave her consent."

"I did?!"

"Yes. You should really pay attention to what others are trying to say so you don't say something you're gonna regret later." Immediately, his charge made her way to the pegasus before she could leave. Chronicle regretted what he said after that; he was hoping to have her gone by then and they'd proceed without her. 

"Wait!" Fluttershy stopped. "You have to come. Your way with wild animals will surely come in handy."

"I don’t think I—", Fluttershy said before being cut off again. 

"Oh, and don’t worry about your little friends in the meadow.", Twilight assured her. "Spike’s got it covered while you’re gone." 

"You can count on me.", said the baby dragon as he was accompanied with a few of them, two on his arms, even.

"I believe I should ask for some of my students to assist him.", Mystic put in as he broke off from his conversation with Rarity. A second after he said that, Angel popped up on Spike's head and gave it a good thumping with one leg, scaring all the other critters away.

Spike ran after them, yelling, "Hey! Hey! Wait!" 

"Let me talk to them.", Chronicle told him as he created a magic clone next to himself, who then trotted over to Mystic. "Just tell him where they are and he'll inform them."

As Mystic told Chronicle's copy just that, Twilight rolled up the map and stowed it.

"I don’t really think he’s up to the task.", Fluttershy said as Twilight walked off. "Maybe…but…but…" She stopped with a tiny little whimper; Rainbow seemed to notice and took Twilight aside.

"Are you sure you want Fluttershy to come along?", the cyan pegasus asked as Chronicle's copy ran off. "I mean, that pony’s afraid of her own shadow. She’s just gonna slow us down."

"I'll have to agree with Rainbow here.", Chronicle voiced his opinion.

"Oh, she’s just a little nervous.", Twilight waved them off. "Once we get going, I’m sure she’ll be fine."

A yelp from the scaredy pony drew their attention. Rainbow’s words were exactly on point as Fluttershy dived into a bush to get away from her shadow and peeked out. 

"You were saying?", Chronicle snarked.

As for the rest, they were ready to go. Rarity had put her scarf away, and Pinkie was blowing up a balloon.

"All right, girls and boys!", Twilight called. The balloon slipped out of Pinkie’s mouth and veered around as it deflated, finally landing on her head. "Move out!" And that was what she, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity did—straight toward Fluttershy, catching her in their small-scale stampede. As she was carried screaming toward the mountain, Rainbow and the stallions quickly followed.

"Do your adventures start out like this?", Mystic asked Chronicle.

"This is just our second. The first one was the one involving Nightmare Moon."

"I see." There was a short pause. "Say, why didn't we take Spike with us?"

"Someone had to take care of Fluttershy's animals while she's gone with us."

"They could've left it to me or my students had you asked. And if we're asking the dragon to go on its way, wouldn't Spike make for a good go-between?"

"I think there are four reasons. One, he's younger than us. Two, Twilight's rather protective of him. Three, we don't know if getting him to talk to the dragon would make things easier or worse. And four, Twilight told me that Spike is pony-raised, whatever that means. That may probably affect dragon-to-dragon negotiations."

"Oh."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Eyecatch (video-type) - From the right, the stampede of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie run to the left, Fluttershy in tow. Just as they disappear to the left side of the screen, Rainbow Dash flies after them, followed by Chronicle and Mystic Shield, both running.

The show's logo is seen on the center, larger than usual.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Two-thirds of an hour later…

The party reached the bottom of the mountain. Along the way, Chronicle found some of their 'equipment' to be impractical. He stored the following in hammerspace; Rarity's hat (after arguing that it might get lost in the wind, though Applejack wasn't willing to let go of her stetson) Pinkie's sunglasses, and most of Fluttershy's gear, leaving the chest protector (she even surrendered the helmet, which he didn't want her to ditch, yet couldn't convince her otherwise).

As they reached the mountain's grassy foot slopes, the entire place trembled as they heard a low, guttural noise. Smoke also boiled out as Rainbow hovered overhead and Fluttershy dove behind Applejack with a panicked gasp.

Chronicle imagined, Sounds like the world’s largest Evinrude outboard motor, scaled up by a factor of several thousand, and in desperate need of a tune-up.

"Whoa! What was that?", Rainbow gasped.

"That is what it sounds like when a dragon snores.", Twilight explained.

Fluttershy peeked up. "It’s…it’s so…high."

Rainbow leaned in. "Well, it is a mountain!" She then turned to face upward. "I’m gonna fly up there and check it out." She tried to do so on the end of this line, but Applejack’s (apparently) favorite grab-the-tail-in-the-teeth move stopped her. 

"Hold on now.", the farmpony said as she then let go. "I think we should all go up together." 

"I concur.", agreed Mystic. "Safety in numbers and all."

Rainbow sulked at this. "Oh, all right."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

After a minute…

Rainbow was glumly winging her way up a slope as the others muscled ahead on leg-power. Applejack was in the lead, followed by Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle (who was studying her map before rolling it up), with the two stallions bringing up the rear. However, one of them was missing…

"I hear the only thing that sparkles more than a dragon’s scales are the jewels they use to build their nests.", Rarity said. "Ooh! If I play my cards right, I might be able to convince him to part with a few!" 

She and Pinkie stopped as the latter said with a scratchy voice. "Welcome to my cave, Rarity! Care for a diamond?"

The pink joker’s jape irked Rarity for a moment until she growled, prompting a round of laughter from all but Twilight and Chronicle.

"Girls!" They all fell silent, even Mystic, who decided to clam up knowing he did not have to be called as well by name to get the message. "This is no laughing matter!" She then continued on past the rest. "Fluttershy, you’re the expert on wild creatures. What do you think the dragon will be like?" Getting no response, she stopped to look around, as do the other five land-bound travelers. "Fluttershy?" 

Rainbow looked down and so did Chronicle. "Hey!" They saw Fluttershy peeking out behind a bush at the mountain's foot. "What are you waiting for? An invitation?"

"Ooh!", Pinkie said as she ducked away. "I think I have one in my bag!" She instantly came up with one in her teeth, releasing a burst of confetti, streamers, balloons, and noise that scared the daylights out of the pegasus and did little for Rarity’s mood, not to mention get an eye-roll from Chronicle and a raised eyebrow from Mystic.

"It…it’s so…so…steep.", Fluttershy said.

"Well, it is a cliff!", Rainbow pointed out. "You could just…oh, I don’t know…fly up here?"

"Come on, Fluttershy, you can do it!", Pinkie said as she waved a hoof. "Flap those wings!"

"Oh…okay." With her eyes squeezed shut, she started flapping and was soon at eye level with the rest of the group. She then committed a variation on the classic fear-of-heights mistake by looking up instead of down, just in time for another of the dragon’s rumbling snores. Both wings then snapped tight against her body out of sheer terror, and all four hooves flailed against nothing before she began to drop back into the bushes like a yellow brick. 

As if on instinct, Chronicle's horn glowed in an attempt to 'catch' her and Mystic did the same. Alone, neither would've been able to lift her, but together they succeeded. Rainbow groaned in disgust, covering her eyes. Whilst hovering in the two stallions' magical auras, Fluttershy strained hopelessly to unfurl her wings, while Twilight and Applejack watched from up the hill.

Twilight groaned as well. "We don’t have time for this!" 

Just then, the two stallions 'grip' on Fluttershy began to falter. "Man, holding a pony is much harder than I thought.", complained Chronicle.

"Likewise.", agreed Mystic as they gently 'dropped' her on the bushes.

Meanwhile, Applejack pulled out the map with her teeth. "What are you doing?", Twilight asked her.

"Isn't it obvious?", Chronicle asked as he and Mystic rubbed their heads.

"I’ll need this if I’m gonna take her around the mountain another way.", Applejack replied. 

There was a loud groan from Rainbow. "Around the mountain?" Applejack bolted downhill and slid down the slope. "That’s gonna take them forever!"

Just after the earth pony reached the pegasus, another snore from the leviathan shook the mountain and caused the latter to go over on her back in a stiff-legged, wide-eyed faint. A goat’s bleat was heard as she toppled. Applejack addressed the others, "Don’t worry, Twi. We’ll be there lickety-split." 

The unicorn’s concern deepened as she turned her gaze to the foul black stream advancing steadily over the hills. 

"Allow me to accompany you, Applejack.", offered Mystic as he slid down after the earth pony.

"That's mighty kind of you, Mystic Shield."

"You're welcome."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

A few minutes later…

Leaving Fluttershy in the capable hooves of Applejack and Mystic, the remainder of the party stopped at a plateau where they would wait for them. However, a great deal of time had passed and they still weren't there yet. To pass the time, aside from tic-tac-toe, which Rarity and Pinkie played, Chronicle also provided a few board games for himself and Rainbow to play and a deck of cards (as well as instruction manual of card games) for Twilight.

While his charge played a game of Klondike, then Scorpion, then Calculation, then Freecell, then Canfield, then Golf, and every other patience game known to pony, the two blue ponies played what he assumed was a pegasus-and-cloud version of Battleship. This kind of game wasn't his forte and Rainbow had at least five wins for every three of Chronicle's. They had then played Nine Mare's Morris, in which Chronicle got more wins than Rainbow.

Chronicle had wanted to refrain from physical activities like sparring as he and Twilight didn't want anypony's stamina to be wasted. Just then, as he moved a piece, his thoughts were cut off by Pinkie (whose nose was dirtied from drawing on the ground) cheering for herself.

"Woo-hoo!", she said. "I win again!" 

Rarity gave a disgusted sigh. "That’s thirty-five games in a row." She then gave a smile "Best of seventy-one?"

"You know, you two could've played a board game or borrowed a deck.", a magical clone of Chronicle said as he kept a lookout. "I would've been more than willing to lend a few."

"What compelled you to bring these?", Rainbow asked the real Chronicle as she moved one of her pieces into another hole on the board. "Not that I'm not thankful, but board games and card games aren't exactly supplies."

"Well, I learned it from one past charge of mine. He told me that boredom can be just as dangerous a foe as anything. While it at first conflicted with my diligence as a bodyguard, he taught me the magical clone spell so I could be in two places at once." He then paused for a second. "That and Pinkie Pie inspired the idea. Why she herself didn't bring the games is something I still don't understand."

"I hear someone.", the clone said as he turned to see Applejack and Mystic coming up around a bend, both panting. The earth pony had tied Fluttershy’s tail into a loop and slung it around her forehead to drag the still-frozen pegasus up the trail. At least that was the plan until Mystic also assisted in the carry by creating a panel of energy below her, which would normally serve as a shield.

"We…made…it.", Mystic said as he and Applejack collapsed. 

Rainbow hovered upside down for some reason and told Twilight, "Told you it was gonna take them forever."

"It's only been twenty minutes.", said Chronicle's clone.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Five minutes after…

The party had packed up and were on their way once more. Pinkie was well ahead of Fluttershy, who still either cannot or would not move under her own power and was being pushed by Applejack and pulled by Chronicle, the latter having borrowed the former's lasso and dismissed his copy. Farther ahead of these four, Rarity and Mystic were slightly behind Twilight, while Rainbow soared over them all. 

The three unicorns in the lead and Pinkie checked the map, which Twilight 'rolled up' and 'put away' after a moment. The party then stopped short, finding themselves at the edge of a dropoff. Rainbow landed, galloped up, and easily leaped the gap with a little help from her wings. Twilight was next, then Rarity, then Mystic, then Applejack, then Pinkie, but Fluttershy could only swallow hard and stare across at the others. Chronicle had stayed behind as well, trying to convince the pegasus to cross.

"Your turn, Fluttershy.", called Twilight.

"But…it’s so…" She turned her head away. "…wide."

"Really?", Chronicle snarked. "I've leaped wider gaps."

Twilight was getting impatient. "Come on, Fluttershy! We should be much farther along by now."

Applejack tried to encourage her. "You could just leap on over."

Fluttershy peeked past the edge. "I…" A fresh snore and billow of smoke cut her off. She yanked her head back and curled into a shivering little ball. "I don’t know."

Both Twilight and Applejack shook their heads disappointingly, but Pinkie was her usual cheerful self.

"There’s nothing to be afraid of!", she said as she jumped to the edge. "It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump!" And with one nimble bound, she is back on Fluttershy’s side.

And also, Chronicle could hear music. The prominent instrument was a soft-shoe piano and the tune was in C major.

Now Playing: Hop Skip and Jump song

"See?"

It’s not very far, just move your little rump♪
You can make it if you try with a hop, skip, and a jump♪

Pinkie added a shake of her hindquarters to make the point before leaping across. 

Suddenly, the music paused. "We don’t have time for this!", Twilight told her.

"We don't?", asked Mystic.

The music then resumed, steadily increasing tempo as Pinkie jumped back and forth.

A hop, skip, and a jump, just move your little rump♪
A hop, skip, and a jump, a hop, skip, and a jump♪
A hop, skip, and a jump, a hop, skip, and a jump♪
A hop, skip and a jump♪

Fluttershy’s eyes flicked back and forth to follow the performance, which ended with Pinkie back on the far side, and she finally smiled and stood up as the music stopped.

End Song

"Okay…here I go.", she said as she did the motions slowly. "A hop…"

"That’s it.", said Applejack.

"You got it.", said Twilight.

"Almost there.", said Rarity.

"I got your back.", assured Chronicle.

"Skip…" Fluttershy skipped over the edge, eyes closed.

"Just don’t look down!", Twilight then said.

"You shouldn't have said that.", gasped Mystic with a look of horror as Fluttershy opened her eyes and made exactly that mistake. 

Her vision blurred out of sheer panic as she began to take the 'big dive'. There was barely time for her to get out one tiny moan before she suddenly stopped dead. 

"Why didn't anypony just tell her the gap was too narrow to not be able to jump?", asked Chronicle.

Indeed, Fluttershy had one pair of splayed hooves on each edge of the gap—which was in fact barely more than one pony wide. While Twilight managed the best smile she can at the weak humor of the situation, Rainbow clapped a hoof to her face with a groan and flew over to push Fluttershy across. As Chronicle then flash-stepped across, Pinkie, Mystic, and Rarity assisted with a little pulling action, which ended with a thud and both pegasi lying in a heap before everypony else save for the blue stallion.

"I guess I forgot to jump.", Fluttershy finally said.

Chronicle could only smack himself in the face with a hoof. "Should've carried her across or made a bridge."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

As the party continued up the trail, the two stallions can't help but notice that Twilight seemed to have made an error in her path-making. 

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?", Mystic said as he looked around. There seemed to be plenty of hiding places.

"I think so."

"Now that we're here, I remember being in this mountain before. This part of the trail's a perfect spot for bandits to ambush us."

"B-b-b-bandits?!", stuttered Fluttershy.

"But what would bandits be doing on a mountain with a sleeping dragon anyway?", Applejack wondered.

"Hideout?", guessed Mystic.

"I told you they knew we were here.", a voice came, making the party stop as none of them had spoken thoe words.

"Shush.", another voice was heard. "They're just suspicious is all. They haven't confirmed our presence yet."

"Shut up, both of you.", a third voice said. 

"With your less-than-whispers I'm sure they know we're here now." A fourth voice.

"That's right, bozos!", Rainbow called out as she entered a fighting stance. "Now come out where we can see you!"

As if on cue, four figures jumped from behind a boulder, but they slammed into a panel barrier Mystic conjured. Everypony got a good look at these four would-be attackers as they slid off the barrier. They were two pegasi and two earth ponies, all wearing black garments covering their bodies and concealing their identities. Well, their mane, coats, eyes, and gender (male) were visible to varying degrees, but with their flanks covered (hence their cutie marks not visible), it would be difficult to identify them.

The first earth pony bandit was a dark green stallion with goldenrod hair and blue eyes and the second one was a white mare with cream-colored hair and brown eyes. The first pegasus bandit was a forest green colt with brown hair and eyes and the second one was a crimson mare with black hair, green-yellow eyes, and a larger build than the rest.

All right., Chronicle mentally whooped. He checked his companions and saw that Rainbow and Applejack were preparing to fight as well. Mystic Shield had a bored look as Fluttershy hid behind him. Twilight and Rarity didn't seem to know what to do, though they seemed to be ready to defend themselves. As for Pinkie, she just stood there passively.

"We don't have anything worth taking, you know.", Mystic spoke up as he dismissed the barrier. The two action-oriented non unicorns got into position beside Mystic and Chronicle stepped in with them. The other four got behind them.

"Wha—why are you saying this?!", asked the red pegasus.

"To dissuade you perhaps. Really, a group of four attacking a party of eight is not very wise. Especially as we are not merchants and more than half of us are capable of defending ourselves." As if to demonstrate, all the unicorns save for Rarity flared up their horns with magic. "We're here to send that dragon off. Now step aside."

There was silence for a few moments, then the bandits made their decision; they charged, quickly taking out knives from their garments and holding the handles with their teeth. Rainbow and Applejack charged as well, colliding with a bandit matching their race. The young pegasus bandit made his way to Mystic, but met with a barrier conjured by him. The female earth pony bandit made her way to Chronicle, who—instead of conjuring a barrier—'took out' his new shield and 'conked' her on the head with it.

The bandit wasn't about to go down easily however as she rolled to evade the next blow, then tackled him by the side. Chronicle shook off the attack, then 'whacked' her again on the head with the shield, this time 'swinging' it around like a bludgeon and giving her little time to recover. Suddenly, the male earth pony bandit was sent colliding to his side, making Chronicle drop his shield and sending him over the edge. However, he quickly teleported back to safety, emerging right next to a cowering Fluttershy. 

Meanwhile, Mystic was trying to 'shoot' down the dodgy young pegasus bandit while keeping his barrier up. Just then, Rainbow Dash was sent flying into the barrier with such force that the barrier cracked. The older pegasus bandit soon followed, slamming into Rainbow and smashing the barrier completely as they slammed to Mystic's side. 

They rolled right into the mountainside, Chronicle could see the two earth pony bandits get tied up by a lasso from Applejack. However, to the farmpony's surprise, they were still moving effectively. With the mare on top of him, the stallion began to run straight for her, and delivered a solid buck, which Applejack dodged. Just as he was about to turn and try again, a magic shot—a stray from Mystic—hit his partner tied to his back, almost making them stumble. However, the mare bandit was quickly on her feet so that her partner was now the one upside down.

Just as that was happening, Mystic managed to get off of the two pegasus mares off of him as they continued their clash, slamming into and circling one another right above him. As for the young pegasus bandit, he was about to jump for a wide-open Rarity when he was pounced from behind and crashed to the ground. He looked up to see Pinkie Pie on top of him.

"What's a colt like you with such mean company?", she asked him.

"You think we like doing this?", replied the colt as he then flipped himself off of the pink earth pony, surprisingly getting her off of his back, then made his way to Rarity again, only for his face to meet a pair of her white hooves. This buck knocked him unconscious.

"Poor child.", the white unicorn sighed. "Forced to live this kind of life."

Chronicle, after getting Fluttershy to Twilight's side so she would not be endangered by the bandits, made his way to the tied up earth pony pair as they continued to attack Applejack, who was holding her own rather well. He delivered one well-placed shot at the mare on top as the farmpony delivered a buck on the stallion below. This coordinated attack made them fall down to their sides, disabling them from getting up.

"Now that was a strange duo.", the blue unicorn commented.

As for the older pegasus bandit, after seeing her teammates routed, as she dodged a charge from Rainbow, she decided to bail out and was flying away from the mountain. Just before the cyan pegasus could pursue her—

"Rainbow!", Twilight called out. The cyan pegasus stopped to see the remaining three bandits rounded up and the rest of the party safe and sound.

"But she's getting away!"

"Our mission is to send off the dragon in this mountain, not chase down bandits."

"But what about these?", Applejack then asked as she finished tying up the young pegasus bandit with the other two.

"We'll take care of them later.", Chronicle said. "We'll leave them here for now, then come back for them after we complete our mission."

"We're gonna leave these three all alone?", Pinkie asked. "With nothing to eat?"

"I said we'd be coming back later, didn't I? As for leaving somepony behind to watch over them, I think that even if they manage to escape, I'm sure what we just did to them will dissuade any attempts to try and rob us again."

"Chronicle's right.", agreed Mystic.

"Not really a good decision, and during any other day we would probably take them in, but our mission is for Equestria's sake." Chronicle then turned to Twilight. "However, the decision falls to you. What do you suggest?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she wondered what to do. Of course, they had wasted too much time from the attack, so she had to make a choice quickly…

In the end, the bandits were left behind, but Pinkie decided to leave a cake for them. Why she carried one in her saddlebags was anypony's guess.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Later…

The party were now at yet another section of the trail leading up the craggy mountain. 

"Let’s keep it down.", Twilight said softly. "According to my map, we’re entering an avalanche zone. The smallest peep could cause a huge rockslide."

This was very unsettling news for the others, who stopped in their tracks—or above them, in Rainbow’s case.

"An…an ava…ava…", Fluttershy began.

"Shhh!", Mystic told her.

They moved ahead, taking care to put their hooves down as lightly as possible. Rainbow brushed through some leafy branches as she flew along, causing a couple of leaves to drop loose and zigzag slowly toward the ground. One of them made the barest contact with Fluttershy’s rump, but it was more than enough to set her off.

"AVALAN—"

Applejack silenced her with a hoof over her mouth, and all glanced nervously around as the echo of her cry died away. When it had nearly faded out, everypony sighed in relief—and then the terrain began to shake and rumble. A few pebbles clattered down from above, replaced by larger rock fragments in very short order.

"AVALANCHE!!", all the mares shouted.

"Horse apples!", cursed the stallions.

Pandemonium ensued, with Twilight sprinting out from beneath a falling boulder, Rarity doing a serpentine through other slabs, and Applejack  leaping across their tops only to hit a freshly landed one face first. In midair, Rainbow used a few of her tricks to stay ahead of the collapse.

As Pinkie flailed about, miraculously evading every rock, Mystic was casting barriers to stop the rocks while Chronicle was charging up shuriken-shaped shots. Unlike his usual ones, he charged these so that they would be larger than usual. He then launched them to slice any oncoming boulders into smaller pieces.

"Oh, no! Help!", he heard his charge call as she looked behind herself.

He saw a tumbling rock headed for Twilight's direction, but he was too far to be of any assistance. Luckily, Applejack wasn't as she dived to plow her out of the way. Everything afterward was covered in a huge cloud of dust and nearly everypony was coughing the last of it out of their lungs. 

Mystic was spared from this as he had created a barrier around his head. As it was, when it comes to shields, a regular one allows nothing to go through it, including air. For Mystic, he can be select which solids, gases, liquids, and energies (including magic) go through his barriers. For this particular instance, he keeps out only the dust particles and lets through fresh air (as well as the rest of his body not in the barrier).

Once it cleared, it could be seen that the avalanche had left a broad mass of rock and earth across the trail, almost completely blocking it.

"Oh, my!", gasped Applejack as the coughing stopped. "Everypony okay?"

"Thanks to you, I am.", Twilight answered.

"You should teach me how to do that sometime.", Chronicle remarked to Mystic.

"Sure."

From a pile of some collapsed dirt, Fluttershy poked her head out. Chronicle then turned to see that Pinkie was bouncing happily in place next to a very filthy and discomfited Rarity. "Ugh.", the fashionista complained as she shook herself clean, transferring the dirt to Pinkie.

"Woo-hoo!", Pinkie cheered. "Let’s do it again!"

Rarity gave a disgusted sigh. "This is why a girl always packs extra accessories." She whipped her scarf out of her saddlebags and put it on. She then eyed her gear with concern. "Oh, please tell me I brought the tiara that goes with this."

Rainbow hovered before her and said, "Uh, think we got bigger problems than making sure our hair bows match our horseshoes!"

"Rainbow Dash is right.", agreed Mystic as they saw that the landslide on the trail that was created from the avalanche has left only a narrow path open along the edge. 

Fluttershy let off an almost inaudible sigh as Pinkie cleaned herself up again. "Sorry."

Applejack forced a smile. "Aw, no big whoop, sugar cube."

"Yeah!", Twilight agreed. "We’ll just have to…" Reality then set in as her face fell and she sighed resignedly. "…climb over."

And that's what everypony did most unwillingly. Twilight was the first to make it over to the other side, her bodyguard next, who was only slightly tired. Rainbow was next, who merely had to fly.

Way behind, Fluttershy was struggling to keep herself upright on the loose earth. One misstep sent her sliding down into an exhausted Mystic, who was on the verge of slipping anyway. They then slammed into Rarity, who in turn knocked over Applejack. A cloud of dust was formed once they crashed as a pile at the bottom. Rainbow grabbed one of Rarity’s hooves and started to pull her free.

"My apologies.", Rarity said.

"Not your fault.", Rainbow bitterly replied, her eyes aimed at Fluttershy. The hapless pegasus got out a choked little whimper as the ace flyer passed, giving her a very hairy eyeball.

"I'm to blame as well.", said Mystic. "I was on the verge of slipping too. Fluttershy just bumped into me immediately after."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

A few minutes after…

After crossing a stone arch, the party was now just short of a ledge on which the mouth of a cave could be seen. Twilight had the map open and floating in front of her, but rolled it up and stowed it after a moment.

"Still think it was a good idea to bring Fluttershy along?", Rainbow asked.

"Yeah.", agreed Chronicle. "I still say it would've been a better idea if she just stayed at Ponyville. She's been nothing but the load for the majority of this quest."

"We’re about to find out.", Twilight answered them as everypony stopped; they had reached the mouth of the cave, where smoke was pouring out. "We’re here."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Eyecatch (picture-type) - To the left is the cave where the dragon sleeps. On the right is the party of eight. From right to left are a backing-away Fluttershy, Rarity with her scarf with a mid-air-from-a-hop Pinkie Pie above her, Applejack, Mystic Shield and Chronicle standing side by side, and Twilight Sparkle with an eager-to-charge Rainbow Dash above her. 

The show's logo is seen on the top, larger than usual.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Now that everypony was at their destination, Twilight began to formulate a plan in her head, then voiced it out after a minute, keeping quiet as she paced so as not to wake up the dragon. "Rainbow Dash, you’ll use your wings to clear the smoke."

"Mmm-hmm." Rainbow complied as she went into a crouch and took off straight up into the haze.

"Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you’ll create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get a little hairy in there." 

Pinkie zipped away, leaving Rarity to gape after her as she came up with a rubber chicken and swung it back and forth in her teeth, holding it by the head like a fox raiding a hen-house. The spectacle left the two unicorn mares at a total loss for words.

"Applejack, you’re ready with the apples in case he decides to attack."

The farmpony had two apples in her mouth as she said that. Applejack flipped them backwards overhead, then delivered two one-legged bucks that propelled them straight toward a nearby tree. They splattered against the trunk on impact as she threw a fierce smile.

"When worse comes to worst, Mystic Shield and Chronicle are to create barriers to protect all of us as we retreat and try to formulate a new plan." Both stallions nodded in agreement. "But it shouldn’t come to that, because Fluttershy will do what she needs to do to wake him up. And between the two of us, we should be able to get him to understand why he needs to go. Is everypony ready?"

Six out of seven indicated that they were, the last being scared out of her wits and crouched almost low enough to be a throw rug. Chronicle noticed this and was about to voice this out when he was cut off. "Okay, then. We’re going in!"

She slowly entered the cave, her bodyguard quickly following. 

"Uhh…Twilight?", he said. "I think there's a problem with with your plan."

However, she wasn't listening as she then said, "So, what is the best way to wake up a sleeping dragon without upsetting him?" She stopped and looked around. "Fluttershy?"

"Told you there's a problem."

As it was, the were the only ones in the cave at the moment as they then started back out. Twilight was obviously fed up with this. "Oh, come on!"

Fluttershy had gone beyond a terrified crouch to literally burying her head in the sand—or dirt, as the case may be. Chronicle smacked himself in the face with his hoof. Like an ostrich. But do they even exist here? If they are, are they sapient like us? He was shaken off his thoughts as his charge began to grab Fluttershy's wing with her teeth and pulled her out. 

"Come on! We have to do this!" She proceeded to head-butt the reluctant pegasus from behind. "Now!"

Chronicle went behind his charge to try and pull her away. "There's a big flaw in your plan, Twilight!" That was when Rainbow got into the act, bumping him from behind to drive him and Twilight into Fluttershy again, who continued to hold her position as her front hooves were dug in.

"Every…second longer that dragon…" Rarity joined in the push. "…sleeps is another…" Then Applejack. "…acre of Equestria that is covered in…smoke!"

Pinkie, the only one—aside from Mystic—missing from this tableau, did her pony-cannonball act and slammed into Applejack’s back. Mystic did a "facehoof" at this spectacle as the other five mares got off of the recalcitrant pegasus, allowing the stallion sandwiched between them all to recover.

"I…I…I can’t go in the cave.", Fluttershy finally replied, making her friends keel over with disgusted groans.

"Oh, great. She’s scared of caves now, too.", Rainbow complained.

"I’m not scared of caves. I’m scared of—" There was a soft mumble in place of the last word.

"What’s that, sugarcube?", asked Applejack.

"I’m scared of—" Another mumble.

"What?", Twilight asked.

"I think I know.", Chronicle groaned.

Fluttershy cried out hastily in full volume. I’m scared of dragons!"

"I suspected this…"

The one in question sounded off again, letting off a fresh belch of smoke that filled the screen. Chronicle could hear Fluttershy’s cry as everypony, even Mystic, had a brief coughing fit. Fluttershy had also taken cover behind Applejack.

"But, Fluttershy, you have a wonderful talent dealing with all kinds of animals.", pleaded Twilight.

"Yes, because they’re not dragons.", Fluttershy answered.

"Not all animals are the same, you know.", Chronicle supported.

"Oh, come on! We’ve seen you walk right up to a horrible manticore like it was nothing."

"Yes, because he wasn’t a dragon."

"Specific fears like that are all too real.", put in Mystic. "They're called phobias and I'll admit I have such things."

"Spike is a dragon.", Pinkie pointed out. "You’re not scared of him."

"…Seriously?", Chronicle snarked. "Spike's just a baby!"

"Yes, he’s not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale-having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could-eat-a-pony-in-one-bite, totally all-grown-up dragon."

There came another rumble and blast of smoke and Fluttershy had folded herself so flat that she could win any limbo contest known to man or pony and was shuddering mightily in front of Twilight, who asked, "But—if you’re so afraid of dragons, why didn’t you say something before we came all the way up here?"

"I was afraid to." Rainbow groaned, putting a hoof to her face as Applejack nudged Fluttershy up.

"All of us are scared of that dragon."

"I’m not!"

"Neither am I.", added Chronicle, then muttered, "But it's my life I'm scared for…"

"Almost all of us are scared of that dragon. But we’ve got a job to do. So get in there with Twilight and show her what you’re made of."

Fluttershy looked at the others, the girls looking expectantly and the boys looking worried. "I…I… I just…can’t.", she finally answered as she then turned away and started down the trail.

"Oh, Fluttershy…", said Twilight.

"She can't do this.", Chronicle said as he then created a magical clone to accompany their departing friend. "Do you really expect her to get over her phobia as simple as that, Twilight? And about your problem in the plan, it hinged entirely on her, and she was obviously unwilling even before we started, and you just passed it off as quick-to-get-over nervousness. What kind of planning was that, Twilight?!"

His charge could give no answer to that but, "I guess I still need to learn more about friendship, huh?"

Chronicle nodded at that. "Well, you got a backup plan? Because if you don't, Equestria is screwed."

"Screwed?"

"It's my way of saying 'in imminent danger'."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Later…

Once again, Twilight Sparkle ventured into the cave, alone this time, passing by something very large, scaly, and red, curled around a stalactite along the way. Presumably, it was part of the dragon's gigantic body.

"I’m going in!", she said with resolution. "He probably just doesn’t realize what he’s doing…right?"

Just at the edge, the remainder of the party poked their heads around the edge to voice encouragement, then ducked away again as Twilight began to negotiate.

"Quick question, Mystic Shield.", Pinkie said. "What's a phobia?"

"A phobia is an irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety, usually of or about something particular. The difference between a phobia and a legitimate fear is that phobias are irrational and you can't get over it easily."

"Oh." Meanwhile, they heard Twilight talking to the dragon.

"We all possess one, whether we know it or not. Mine is canines."

"You're afraid of canines, Mystic?", Applejack asked.

"Yup. Be they regular dog or Diamond Dog, grown up or puppy, I can't stand their barks."

"Then I guess you shouldn't go to Sweet Apple Acres, then."

"Why's that?"

"Well, my family owns a dog and she helps out in the farm."

"I see."

"I'm pretty sure I don't have any of those 'phobias' you're taking about.", Rainbow said proudly.

"Really?", Chronicle snarked. "I remember you being scared of those creepy faces in those trees during our first trip to the Everfree Forest."

The cyan pegasus had no answer to that as they all decided to peek in again, with Pinkie waving enthusiastically. The dragon seemed to have narrowed his eyes in anger. As the rest of the party began to leave their hiding spot and gather near the cave mouth. As the rest looked on and wondered if Twilight was gonna succeed, Chronicle noticed his magical clone and Fluttershy return.

"Hmm?", he said as he turned to greet them. "Why're you back, Fluttershy?"

"I… I…"

"She realized that there were those bandits back in the trail.", his magical clone answered for her. "And she couldn't fly down as her wings were still locked up. Not to mention the landslide from last avalanche."

"I see."

Just then, there came a cloud of smoke from inside the cave. Twilight promptly emerged from it coughing. Another blow then washed over them, but Mystic was prepared with a barrier to keep out the smoke until it dispersed.

"Thanks, Mystic Shield.", Pinkie said as the purple stallion dismissed the barrier.

"Pleasure."

"So much for persuading him.", groaned Rainbow.

"Now what?", asked Applejack.

That was when Rarity trotted up and cleared her throat. "Obviously this situation just calls for a little pony charm. Allow me, girls."

And in she went. As she did, Twilight turned to Mystic. "Say, Mystic Shield. That barrier spell of yours is interesting." She paused as some of the others "You kept out the smoke while still letting fresh air come in. How do you do that?"

Mystic gave a curt smile. "Well, I can teach you, but my lessons don't come for free. There's a reason why I set up a dojo after all."

"Well, she can still try learning it by seeing you do it, then practice and work it out on her own.", Chronicle said.

"True, but can she really?" Mystic then made a stern face as he pointed a hoof at his co-teacher. "And might I remind you to not reveal my secrets to anyone who is not a student of my dojo."

"Don't worry. I'll uphold our oath."

"You know, my lesson plan is still a little small." Mystic then turned to Twilight. "I could use some more spells to teach and your bodyguard has told me that magic is your special talent."

"I'd be happy to.", the unicorn mare cheered as she got upright for a second to clap her hooves. 

Just then, there came a growl, followed by a scream. And they saw Rarity run out, collide into Chronicle's magical clone, dissipating it, and taking cover in a rock outside.

"Let's talk about this later when we get back.", Mystic told Twilight after a few seconds.

"Okay."

After a while, Rarity propped her forelegs on the rock and lay her head on it, looking very displeased at her failure. "I was this close to getting that diamond.", she complained.

"You mean 'getting rid of that dragon'?", corrected Mystic.

"Oh, yeah, sure." 

"Allow me.", Chronicle said as he then stepped into the cave.

"What do you plan on doing?", asked Twilight.

"What I do best."

He did not speak another word as he stepped further in, passing by a few traces of gold coins and jewelry. Apparently, Rarity had been trying to take some treasure. Perhaps it was a good idea to leave Spike behind after all.

He then stopped to face the dragon up close and personal. From his distance, he could see that it was a massive humdinger. It had red scales, pink head spines and ridges over its yellow-orange eyes, bat-wing ears, a pale yellow underbelly, and a gigantic beak-like snout. It looked rather ticked off—most likely from Rarity's attempt—as it stared down to him with a hostile look. 

"It's an honor to meet you.", he told the dragon, then almost regretted it. Of all the introductions he could make, he wondered if this one was the most appropriate. The dragon just growled in response as it kept its pile of treasure close to itself. "I know you're no dumb beast and I'm sure we can settle this like civilized creatures." There was a moment of silence as the dragon just looked down at the stallion. "The name's Chronicle. Do you mind if you give yours?"

The dragon paused for a moment before uttering one word in a deep, reverberating voice. "Basil."

"Well then, Basil. There are certain…individuals who reside in the area around where you are currently sleeping in. And unfortunately, they don't approve of the smoke you're letting out while you're doing that." Basil said nothing at this. "My unicorn friend—not the white one who was obviously after your precious hoard—was requesting you to look for another place to sleep, that is all." 

Basil groaned as he turned over in his bed of bits, jewels, and gold items.

"However, since you obviously can't be kindly persuaded, I'm forced to resort to a less diplomatic alternative." Chronicle paused a moment for a bit of effect. "I'm gonna have to challenge you for this cave."

Basil's spines bristled upon hearing this as the blue unicorn 'prepared' his "magic horn blade". The red dragon growled as he prepared to send off this miniscule threat.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

A few minutes later…

Chronicle left the cave, miraculously not-singed and teetering dizzily as he walked with completely straight legs. He managed to reach his charge before falling to the ground in front of her, his eyes spinning. 

"Chronicle!", she cried out. "Are you okay?"

"And remember, kids.", he said in a delirious state. "A fire-breathing weasel is better pet than a leech. Good night, Mr. President." I guess that fight against Nightmare Moon really got into my head. And for some reason, my crushing defeat against Gilda didn't snap me out of it. He then passed out. 

"…Okay, I think he's out.", Mystic finally said as he approached Chronicle. "Luckily, I packed something to get him back on his feet in case that barrier plan is needed." Just as he reached into his saddlebag, a party favor sounded off, but it didn't startle him.

"What in tarnation?", Applejack swore.

As it turns out, Pinkie was now wearing an outfit consisting of the following: a bunch of balloons tied to her tail, swim fins on all four hooves, a gift box enclosing her entire body and upper legs and tied with a polka-dotted ribbon, more balloons tucked in behind an inner tube on her head, the red sunglasses Chronicle had put away, and the noisemaker. Applejack and Rarity stared in total disbelief and were soon joined by Rainbow.

"Darling, you look ridiculous!", Rarity said as Mystic 'took out' a vial of blue liquid, 'popped open' the cork, and let its fumes enter Chronicle's nostrils.

"Exactly!", Pinkie replied as she waddled into the cave the same way Chronicle did, but more smoothly. "Sharing a laugh is a sure-fire way to get someone on your side." Once she was inside with the dragon, she let out a "Hi!"

A swift pummeling was heard from within, accompanied by the sound of deflating balloons. This sound, as well as the remedying fumes from Mystic's vial got Chronicle back to his feet as he saw Pinkie emerges a moment later—her getup trashed and with only one surviving balloon on her tail.

"Apparently he doesn’t like laughing—or sharing.", she said.

"All right, that’s it!", Rainbow cried out. "We’ve tried persuasion, charm, challenging, whatever it is Pinkie Pie does…" There came a sad little blow on the party favor "…it’s time to stop wasting time! I’m going in!" Just before she could flash into the cave, Chronicle jumped after her and grabbed her by the tail with his mouth. However, he wasn't strong at this as Applejack was as he began to get dragged along the ground.

"Rainbow! No!", Twilight cried out as Pinkie ditched the remains of her costume.

"I stood no chance.", her charge warned. "What makes you think you'll fare better?"

He received no answer as he lost his grip and the headstrong charger reached the dragon in a heartbeat and stared it down.

"Get…OUT!!", the pegasus demanded as she did a powerful mid-air buck at Basil's beaked snout. His first reaction was to sneeze, and his second was to get good and angry. Rainbow was unnerved at this. "Heh…sorry." Basil's third reaction was to let go with a roar that threw her all the way out of the cave, where she knocked into the four mares like bowling pins, scattering their saddlebags. The stallions however had seen her coming, predicted her trajectory, and dodged accordingly.

Immediately after, as their friends got themselves vertical, Chronicle immediately took the lead. "Everypony to us!" In spite of their panic, they did as he said as he and Mystic then conjured a dome barrier just as Basil emerged from the cave, who let out an infuriated bellow, sending smoke spewing over the party. The barrier managed to hold. Basil then proceeded to slam a fist into it, which resulted in a crack.

"We should get moving.", Mystic advised the mares, who were all clutching at each other, frozen in place.

Before they could do that, a swing of Basil's tail smashed through the barrier and into the seven ponies, sending them all into a rock outcropping—where Fluttershy was currently hiding. While Chronicle was dueling Basil for the cave, after hearing yet another rumble, Fluttershy had backed off to a large rock further away from the cave mouth. As her seven companions lay dazed against the rock, it cracked and fell apart, exposing the cowardly pegasus. 

She then looked up over the rubble, her jaw falling open once she saw the state everypony else was. As Chronicle partially recovered and looked up to her somewhat dizzily, Fluttershy's attention shifted between the colossal dragon and the jumble of ponies. Her blue-green eyes wavered indecisively and closed, only to open again as her brows drew down in steely determination.

"How dare you?", she finally said, in a tone nopony ever attributed to her having, as Basil stared back at her. "How dare you?!?"

She then proceeded to fly up to his level, landing on the snout and trotting up to stare it eye to eye as she continued. "Listen here, mister! Just because you’re big doesn’t mean you get to be a bully!" As he and the others recovered from Basil's blow, Chronicle could see that her words have cowed the beast dramatically. "You may have huge teeth and sharp scales and snore smoke and breathe fire, but you do not, I repeat, you do NOT HURT MY FRIENDS! You got that?"

There was a long pause, after which Basil cowered away from Fluttershy with a little whimper. 

"Well?"

There was another long pause…before Basil spoke back, "But that rainbow one kicked me." Rainbow nodded and smiled hugely, and Mystic glared at her in response. 

Now Fluttershy returned to her usual sweet tone of voice, but still with a bit of steel in it. "And I am very sorry about that." Rainbow aimed a puzzled look at the others, then made a sheepish grin at Mystic when she saw him glaring at her. "But you’re bigger than she is, and you should know better. You should also know better than to take a nap where your snoring can become a health hazard to other creatures."

"But I—"

Fluttershy sternly cut him off as she straightened up and put her front hooves to her flanks in an akimbo position. "Don’t you 'but I' me, mister. Now what do you have to say for yourself?" There was a moment of silence. "I said, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Basil fought to keep his composure and lost, bursting into tears. Below, as the rest recovered and stood upright, Rarity was worrying about the rain's effect on her mane, while Pinkie donned an umbrella hat and was grinning her head off. 

As for Chronicle, he still lay where he was, looking in awe at Fluttershy's talk-down with the dragon, his eyes starry and his grin wide. He felt…in awe. Like something bearing him down was lifted from his back. Like he was being lifted slowly into the sky. Like…well, he didn't know exactly what love (probably the "puppy" sort) was supposed to feel like, but if anything it would probably be like this. 

"There, there. No need to cry.", Fluttershy comforted Basil and his tears stopped. "You’re not a bad dragon." She then descending to where the rest of the party stood as they gathered around her. "You just made a bad decision. Now go pack your things. You just need to find a new place to sleep. That’s all."

There were cheers and congratulations from the other mares and Mystic. 

"You did it!", Twilight cheered as Basil went into his cave. "I knew you could do it!" A breath of fire was heard, then they saw him take his leave of the peak, flapping his great wings.

Once he was out of sight, Mystic said, "What an interesting adventure." 

The mares then went to their scattered saddlebags and got themselves packed for their return trip. Although Rarity did take a peek inside the cave, only to see Basil's hoard mysteriously gone, much to her disappointment.

"All right.", Twilight said. "Let's go home." The others nodded as they prepared to do so. Then they noticed that Chronicle still lay where he was, still in his 'trance'. As they approached him, they saw his eyes were on one particular pony. Twilight then went up to him and waved her hoof at his face. This was enough to make him snap out of his trance.

"Wh-wha?", he asked as he shook his head vigorously, then quickly snapped to reality as he quickly got onto his feet. "Oh right. Let's get back to Ponyvillle and report our success."

And that's what they did. Along the way, they saw that the bandits they encountered earlier were gone. And the cake left behind was consumed, leaving only a few crumbs and frosting. There were general sighs from everypony as they continued down the trail. Luckily for Chronicle, nopony questioned why he was looking starry-eyed at Fluttershy while she talked the dragon down. At least not yet.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Two hours before sunset…

Miraculously, it was still daytime by the time the party returned to Ponyville and several pegasi were already hard at work dissipating the sheet of black vapor to leave behind a normal sky. The party was also praised for their efforts and Mystic Shield soon parted ways with Chronicle and the keepers of the Elements of Harmony. Everypony else also went their separate ways to tend to their homes. After all, who knows what effects the smoke had made on them other than a dark sky?

As Twilight and her bodyguard entered the library, they could hear Spike yell, "I said come back here!"

"Looks like Spike's been having problems.", Chronicle told his charge. "Were you really certain he could've watched over Fluttershy's animals?"

He wasn't given an answer as they made it to the second floor, where they saw Spike walking across the bedroom loft, holding Angel at arm's length by the hind leg as the bunny tried to deck him.

"How does Fluttershy put up with you furry little things?!", he complained to himself.

"Spike?", Twilight called, catching his attention. "Take a letter."

He was only too pleased to do so, dropping Angel and pulling out a quill and scroll. "With pleasure!" 

“Dear Princess Celestia…”, she dictated. “I am happy to report that the dragon has departed our fair country, and that it was my good friend Fluttershy who convinced him to go. This adventure has taught me to never lose faith in your friends. They can be an amazing source of strength, and can help you overcome even your greatest fears. Always your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” 

Once the letter was done, they heard Applejack call from outside. They could also hear a ball bouncing.

"Twilight! Chronicle!", she called. "You gotta come see this!" The two unicorns made their way to a window with the hanging lantern, opening it and stepping to the railing. Rainbow was at it again, bounding the ball with her head, just like in the park before the dragon's smoke became a problem. "She’s just five away from a new pony record!"

Surrounding her were the rest of her friends, though he couldn't see Pinkie.

"Three hundred forty-seven, three hundred forty-eight…" Just then, a grating roar threw her off. The ball ricocheted away and she and her mane stood bolt upright. "DRAGON!!", Rainbow yelled as she went down, eyes wide open and all four hooves pointing stiffly upward. As before, the sound of a bleating goat was heard, though Chronicle could see no goats in the area as he and his friends had a good laugh as she got up.

Rainbow was still shaken as she said, "Why are you laughing? That awful dragon is back!"

"No, he's not.", Chronicle said as he saw the culprit. "It's just Pinkie Pie."

Sure enough, she came over,  voicing the "roar". "Pinkie Pie, you scared me!" Her eyes then popped upon realizing what she just said. "I mean…uh…you…broke my concentration." 

"Oh sure.", Chronicle's reply was filled with sarcasm as Pinkie trotted off.

"It’s okay, Rainbow Dash.", Fluttershy assured as she flew down to Rainbow from above. "Not everypony can be as brave as me."

Down came a leaf from the nearest branch, which Rainbow blew aside so that it touched down on Fluttershy’s rump…prompting her to keel over as before. There was another round of laughter, with Twilight and Chronicle shaking their heads before the former smiled and joined in. 

I'm gonna have to work on that., Chronicle thought as he smiled as well.
> Chapter 21: Over a Barrel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 21: Over a Barrel
On one fine sunset…

A train rumbled along a stretch of railroad tracks running through a sun-baked desert. For some reason, it was being pulled along by a team of four earth pony stallions, all wearing striped engineer’s caps and red bandanas around their necks. This sort of…fuel source puzzled Chronicle as he walked down the hallways spanning the many cars in the train. 

He was making his way to the one where he and the rest of his friends were resting in, which was the sleeping car closest to the caboose. By his friends, that meant his charge Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Mystic Shield had refused to come when he invited him as he and his first four students were quite busy at the dojo. After the events concerning the "smoking dragon in the mountain", more ponies have enrolled and he's got his hooves full teaching them, correcting their mistakes, encouraging the doubtful ones, the pressures a typical martial arts teacher would have to endure.

Just before he reached that particular car, he encountered six particular Ponyvillians and greeted them accordingly.

"Berry Punch! Shoeshine! Carrot Top! Bon Bon! Lyra! Cherry Berry!"

The first was an earth pony with a light plum coat, mulberry-colored hair, violet eyes, and a grape-and-strawberry cutie mark. The last one was also an earth pony, but with grayish indigo eyes, brilliant gold hair styled like Lightning Bolt's, a hot pink coat, and a pair of cherries as a cutie mark. He could also see that Heartstrings was 'putting on' a pair of contact lenses that made her eyes look magenta like Rainbow Dash. The four of them had taken two pairs of bunk-style berths opposite each other's. Cherry's was at the top one to the left with Carrot's right below. Lyra's was at the other side, with Bon Bon's on top.

"Hey, Chronicle!", they all greeted as he then passed them by, but not before noticing a bonnet on Lyra's bed.

As he made it to where his friends were bunking in, he saw them doing miscellaneous stuff. To his right, his charge was reading a book. At the top bunk there, Fluttershy was resting peacefully. At the bunk opposite hers, Rainbow Dash was as well. Directly to his right, there were party-related stuff scattered; Pinkie Pie was supposed to be there. He made his way to the next pair of bunks, where Spike was snacking on some popcorn to his left. The bunk above his was properly made, and there was a slight hint of perfume, presumably from Rarity. Chronicle's own bunk was on the right at the top, with the bottom one reserved for Applejack. 

As he then looked ahead to the next car, he saw Rarity making her way to the caboose. He then remembered that Applejack was there, making sure their cargo was safe. Just as he was about to follow Rarity, Pinkie suddenly popped out of the bed next to him, with no prior hint of her being there.

"Hey, Chronicle!", she said. "Remember to keep your promise."

The stallion sighed, "I will." as he continued on his way. Sometime before their train trip, Pinkie Pie had managed to figure out Chronicle's secret. That he had put something on them while they were unconscious after they purged Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna. He had no idea how she found out, but she told him to (promise to) confide it with the others as soon as he can. For some reason, the prospect of breaking a promise with her didn't sound really appealing.

His thoughts were cut off as he heard Rarity yell, "Applejack!" Catching sight of her ahead, he joined her as she continued. "Applejack! Were you reading a bedtime story to—" Chronicle then looked at the end of the caboose to see— "—an apple tree?" tucked into a bed under an apple-patterned blanket. Applejack was staring at the two unicorns as they approached her, also seeing a story book on the floor next to the bed.

"Heh…uh…well, you know, bein’ replanted in a whole new place is very upsettin’ for a tree.", the earth pony explained, then fluffed its leaves. "And Bloomberg here is one of my favorites."

"No fair, Applejack!", the white unicorn complained "You’ve got a luxurious private sleeper car for a tree, while I am crowded and cramped in the same car with all the other ponies!" She then got in close to Applejack, whining. "How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep?"

"But Bloomberg’s the whole reason we’re makin’ this trip. He needs his rest so we can give him as a gift to my relatives in Appleloosa."

"Hmph! You talk about it as if it’s your baby or something."

Applejack was needled at this. "Who you callin’ a baby? Bloomberg’s no baby!" In a flurry of hoofsteps, she turned to the bed and snuggled with the dense foliage, speaking in a manner hypocritical to her previous statement; baby talk. "Don’t wet wittle Wawity make you all saddy-waddy. Bloomberg’s a big and strong apple tree. Yes he is. A-coochie-coochie-coo-coo-coo."

Chronicle turned to look at Rarity, who looked like she wanted to throw Applejack from the train. "It’s wittle Rarity who’s all saddy-waddy." Rarity then headed for the door with a frustrated grunt, while Applejack paid no mind whatever. 

Just before she left, Chronicle called out to her, "Rarity, could you please call the others in here? I have something important to tell all of you. And bring in Spike as well. He needs to know this too." The fashionista nodded before going through the door.


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

A few minutes later, everypony else (and Spike) was gathered near Bloomberg. As they watched their stallion friend close the curtains, then secured the way out, making sure no one would intervene. After dispatching a magical clone to keep watch, he then gathered everybody in a circle.

"This better be worth it.", Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

"Don't worry, it will.", Chronicle replied. "And may I request that nobody—"

"Nopony.", Pinkie corrected.

The stallion silently gestured to Spike, who was not a pony. "—nobody interrupt my explanation. Questions will come after." He then 'procured' something gray and metallic from "hammerspace". It had the dimensions of a doormat but was slimmer, and seemed to have a button too small for a hoof to press. The stallion pushed it with the tip of his hoof and one side "came to life", eliciting cries of surprise and astonishment from the others. This side was what Chronicle called a "monitor", which was currently showing lots of small "icons", some of which his friends recognized as their cutie marks, a symbol reminiscent of his, and a green flame.

"I work for a small organization in Canterlot—the name of which I am not not permitted to divulge to just anyone—that employs bodyguards such as myself.", he explained. "We are quite diligent in our job, but we aren't the type who look intimidating or cold. We also have measures to watch our charges even if they don't want to be guarded." He then 'rotated' the "device" so that everyone can see. "This thing here is one of them, although it's a prototype. By prototype, it means it's not completely tested if it works effectively. We call it Surveillance."

Chronicle then used the tip of his hoof to tap four of the symbols and smaller "rectangles" popped out from the screen. "What you see right now is what my 'cameras' are seeing. They are made to be invisible to the unaided eye and undetectable by any conventional methods, including magic. Not even splashing liquid or hurling something at its position will reveal it." Although I wouldn't put it past Celestia to be able to detect them should she set her mind into it. 

"As you can see, what you're seeing right now in the four 'screens' is what the cameras I've set on Pinkie Pie, Spike, Twilight Sparkle, and myself. I can also hear what's around them too." His friends looked closer to the screen, then saw that—judging by the glimpses of their manes—his words were true. The three that were "surveyed" drew back, and three screens displayed accordingly. Pinkie Pie then turned her head to a random direction—and her face was now looking at the invisible camera on her.

"Now, I know what you're all thinking, girls, Spike.", Chronicle quickly spoke up on seeing the nervous faces on Fluttershy and Rarity, ignoring Pinkie who was making faces. "This thing here has a lot of perverse potential. After all, with this, I'm effectively spying on you in every hour of every minute of every day. However, I will confide to you a flaw in this system of mine here."

"For some reason, my 'cameras' don't return what they see to my 'screen' at certain times. Although of course, you wouldn't take my word for it." Chronicle 'closed' the 'screen' focused on him and then tapped another symbol. This time, the new 'screen' showed up, but there was nothing but gray random dots. There was also a strange noise that sounded…"white", according to Pinkie.

"I understand that things will not be the same between us even after I just come clean with this. This conversation wasn't even supposed to happen as the Surveillance is classified. The only reason I told you all of this is because Pinkie Pie somehow found out." Chronicle then let out a deep sigh, not wanting to look at anyone in the room, and looking real guilty and sorry.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

In Chronicle's dreams…

In his dark expanse, Chronicle was visited by not just Blue Diary, but Timerity as well. Blue was looking very cross with his siblings, at Chronicle for revealing the Surveillance to his friends (even though some of the confession was made up), and at Timerity for incidentally doing the same thing.

"I can't believe you two.", groaned Blue as he put a hoof to his face. "It hasn't been that long and you already had to confide part of your secret?"

"Hey, it can't be helped that one of my friends happens to have Toon traits.", Timerity countered. 

"Toon traits?", Chronicle echoed. "Please remind me of the meaning."

Timerity groaned before explaining. "Toon traits are attributes we classify to an individual that has an uncanny ability to defy the laws of physics if what they do can be seen as funny to anyone seeing "recorded sightings" of the event, like the ones we make to be sent to "client worlds". Also, they are capable of sensing the "fourth wall", ranging from mere glancing at it to outright breaking it."

"Oh. I believe one of my friends has those traits as well."

"Really? What a coincidence!"

"Guess I'm lucky none of mine are.", sighed Blue. "But what am I going to do with you two? You're in for some serious penalties once we get back home."

"Yeah, I guess.", sighed Timerity.

"Okay, is there any form of good news you guys got?", Blue asked.

"Well, there's—" All of a sudden, Chronicle seemed to freeze in place and fade out of sight for a moment.


C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD

Back in the waking world, Equestria Prime…

It was nighttime, and everypony should have been asleep. However, four of Chronicle's friends were awake conversing in low voices. But it wasn't low enough for one of them. Namely, Spike cried out. 

"Oh, for Pete’s sake!" He then grabbed his pillow, jumped out of his berth, and made his way out of the sleeping car, making his way to the caboose. Before he left, the girls heard him say,  "Man, I wish I could sleep as deep as Chronicle." 

Unbeknownst to him, said stallion stirred for a moment in his bunk opposite to Rarity's before going back to sleep.


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

Back in dreamland…

After a while, Chronicle finally stopped fading and was moving again, much to his siblings' relief. However, he didn't continue from where he was cut off as he felt what had happened to him as well and was caught by surprise.

"What was that?", Blue Diary asked.

"I think he was nearly awoken.", Timerity guessed.

"Okay." The sole pegasus then turned to Chronicle. "Now where were you again?"

"Well, last "letter to Princess Celestia", we went up a mountain to—"

"Send off a sleeping dragon, where your cowardly pegasus friend stood up for all of you when things got bad?", Timerity guessed.

"That's right!", Chronicle replied in surprise, then gave a smile as his face relaxed in a dreamy manner, "It was one of the best moments of my life."

"Too bad my Fluttershy is more of a introvert than yours.", Blue muttered.

Just then, what had happened to Chronicle just a minute ago began to happen to Timerity as well. This time, instead of eventually fading back in, she was completely gone; she was now awake back in Solaris Equestria.

"…Okay.", Chronicle said. "At first, I was a bit unnerved that her world is just like mine, except you swap everybody's gender, even though that should technically be impossible. It almost feels like the events in my world affect what happens in hers. I even thought that we were going to lose our differences."

"Now what kind of worrying is that?", Blue asked. "The denizens of her world are just alternate gender-swapped selves of the ones in yours. And Timerity's not you as a girl. You know that."

"Well, when I got hit by poison joke, I did take in her appearance. Did she take mine?"

Blue shook his head. "Nope. Her body did get large, though. In the likeness of Applejack's older sibling. That is in our worlds. In hers, it became like Applejack's."

"Man, it's confusing to have a gender-neutral name."

"Tell me about it. Well, now that your Surveillance is revealed, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, I did offer to use it in case any of us get lost, and also to call for the others just in case. However, you do know it's prone to losing connection whenever you need it most, right?"

"Yeah. Life would be very easy otherwise."


C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD

The next morning…

A rumbling in the train caused Rainbow Dash, who was asleep in her berth, to be thrown to the floor, waking up the other ponies in the sleeping car—except for Chronicle, who hasn't so much as stirred. For some reason, Applejack decided not to sleep with the rest of them, nor was she tending to Bloomberg. The five who have awoken gathered at the window for a look. They made a collective gasp as they saw a herd of buffalo charging alongside the train; some of them have Indian-style feathers tucked behind their ears.

Twilight cried out, "A buffalo stampede!"

The others began to murmur to one another. "I just love their accessories.", Rarity commented.

Twilight, however, seemed to be worried. "They’re getting awfully close to the train."

A few seconds later, the buffalo tackled some of the sleeping cars (and the lead stallion of the four-horsepower pulling team), sending the five mares off the floor and walls. Chronicle still didn't so much as stir from his slumber. That is until his friends landed on him all at once, jolting him awake and making him create a barrier around himself by reflex and expand it to push his friends off of him. However, Rarity got squeezed into a corner before he dismissed the barrier.

"What's going on?!", he asked before Rainbow Dash fell on him, having been pushed to the ceiling by his barrier. "Oww!"

"There's a hard of buffalo stampeding next to the train.", Twilight explained.

Buffalo? Here?, he thought as he got Rainbow off of him and made his way to the window and took a good look at them. Hmm…Indians… His eyes then widened. If this is what I think it is… 

His thoughts were cut off by Pinkie leaping next to him, the others gathering behind them. "Ooh, looky!", "Now they’re doing tricks!"

From what they could see, one buffalo jumped onto the back of another, then, what looked like a female calf, marked by a feathered headband and a lighter brown tuft of hair above it, raced up to the small 'tower'. A couple of agile leaps then put her on top of the double-decker rushers and at the level of the train cars’ roofs. 

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!", Pinkie said. "Now do a backflip!" Instead of doing that, the calf just jumped onto the nearest roof. Inside, the ponies were startled by an impact above their heads—she has landed on their car. "Or just jump?" 

They could then hear racing hoofbeats moving away from the group—and right for the caboose. "Hmm.", Rainbow wondered. "Something tells me this isn’t a circus act."

"You're right.", agreed Chronicle as the two of them took off. "I think this is a train robbery. Classic."

"They're gonna steal the train?", Pinkie asked as Chronicle stopped, leaving Rainbow to continue on out of an open window.

"If they were, I would have said 'train theft'." His horn then glowed as he cast a spell. "I mean, does one steal a bank in a bank robbery? No, they steal money in the bank."

Meanwhile, on the train roof, a magical clone of Chronicle manifested itself. The clone turned around to see the buffalo calf charging from car to car, barely breaking stride at the gaps. He made his way after her, a fair distance away. Ahead, he could see Rainbow plant herself in the calf's way, saying something that he couldn't catch. However, the pegasus then jumped up to dodge after it was apparent that the calf was not stopping.

As Chronicle got close, he said Rainbow fly after the calf, with the two of them neck and neck. This time, he was able to hear what they were saying now that he was close enough.

"Wow. You’re pretty quick for someone so…bulky. No offense.", his friend said before zipping ahead and planting herself a few cars ahead. "I just want to know—" The calf interrupted her by swerving around her. "—hey!" This time with a rather shorter temper, Rainbow put herself in the calf’s path again. All the while, Chronicle was getting closer. "I’m talking to you!" 

And the calf answered by launching herself to an impossible height, doing a couple of midair somersaults, then came down behind Rainbow to continue her sprint. 

"Whoa!"

While Chronicle did have the opportunity to shoot the calf down with a magic shot, hurling someone off a train wasn't something he was aiming for. However, this jump then prompted him that she's not stopping. With that, he cast a spell on his legs and quickly began to close the distance, charging up a magic shot, then shooting it.

"I’ve got you now, you—", the young speedster said before racing past the calf, who dived into the gap—also evading Chronicle's "shuriken"—, and collided into a railroad crossbuck sign and sliding down the signpost to the sand with a groan. 

As for Chronicle, he stopped just at the next-to-last car, seeing the buffalo calf glancing briefly down the track before ducking in behind the caboose. 

"Hey!", he called at the calf, flaring his horn for a spell. "If this is what I think it is, you better not do it!"

He was ignored as the calf yanked out the peg securing the coupling, allowing the caboose to roll free as the buffalo then jumped up to the roof. She raised a hoof, about to somehow give a whistle when Chronicle came down on her with his "magic horn blade" drawn.

The calf jumped back as the stallion landed on the train, then followed up with another slash, which was dodged. His "blade" was 'set' to "bludgeon", so he wasn't going to hurt her much. After evading a few more attacks, the calf went on the offensive and Chronicle the evasive and they began alternating from there. 

Just then, the real Chronicle emerged from the door of the now-last car, lasso covered in his aura and held in his teeth. He was learning a bit of lasso use from Applejack, but he wasn't experienced enough yet (his previous use on it with Gilda being beginner's luck). He 'moved' the 'tying' end of the lasso to the caboose's coupling, secured it in place, then 'tied' his end to the one of the car he is on. He then 'reinforced' the rope with magic as it obviously wouldn't hold the cars on its own.

Back on top of the caboose, his clone and the buffalo calf were still facing off against one another, neither having dealt a blow to the other. And then something gave; Chronicle's clone made a misstep and had to balance himself for a second. This second gave the buffalo calf time to strike him, dissipating him into white twinkling lights. 

She was shocked at this for a second, almost thinking she…well, but then she saw the real Chronicle, who briefly lost concentration from taking in the knowledge his clone had before his automatic dismissal. These few seconds caused the rope he was 'keeping together' to snap and break apart.

Now that nopony was impeding her task, the buffalo calf whistled. At that, the rest of the buffalo herd began to peel away from their assault on the train and reversed direction to push the caboose backwards. And there was nothing Chronicle could to to stop them now.

He could only watch in scorn and defeat as his friends gathered at the door, Applejack joining them with a shocked gasp.

"They’ve got Bloomberg!", the farmpony cried out.

Then they could then see Spike plastering himself against the caboose window, his cries for help muffled by the glass. "And Spike!", Twilight added.

"Dammit!", Chronicle cursed as he got up and slammed a hoof to the wall, angry at himself. "I should have been up there. I should've gone up there myself. If I had been, I could've held out longer against that buffalo calf. I can't let myself be useless."

He felt a hoof on his shoulder, then turned around to see Twilight. "Chronicle, you're far from useless. You never have been."

"I know, but still…"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—??—C—TS—S—RD—R—F—PP—??

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chronicle and company on the exit of the last car, wearing expressions of distress. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—??—C—TS—S—RD—R—F—PP—??

Later…

Just as the train was nearing its destination, Chronicle was asking his charge something. "I got a quick question for you. If the train's pulled by earth ponies, why does it even have a locomotive? I mean, it obviously isn't burning wood or coal." Is there even coal here in Equestria?

"Coal? What's that?"

Guess there isn't. "Never mind." He then looked outside. "Looks like we're here."

From what he could see as the train slowed, they were in a Wild West-style town. The train stopped at a railroad depot, which had apple-decorated signs on the walls and above the door. This must be Appleloosa. As everypony began to depart, Chronicle and his friends did so too. Just as they scrambled out onto the platform, they stopped short. 

Directly in front of them, and grinning into their faces, was a light yellow-brown earth pony stallion whose mane and tail showed two darker shades of this same color. His eyes were bright yellow-green, and he wore a brown cowboy hat and vest. His cutie mark depicted a large red apple.

"Hey there.", the stallion greeted, his friendly voice carrying a "Western" twang. "Welcome to Appleloosa!" Chronicle noted that when this guy said “Appleloosa,” he reared up with a neigh and held out the first syllable.

"Braeburn, listen.", said Applejack. "We—"

"Cousin Applejack, mind your manners. You have yet to introduce me to your compadres. Shame on you!"

"Braeburn, listen. Somethin’ terrible’s happened."

"Terrible is right. Your train is a full seven minutes late. That’s seven minutes less for you to delight in the pleasures and wonders of Appleloosa!"

I wonder if I should cut in? Chronicle decided to take a look at the street, which was now filled with earth ponies going about their business. There would be nothing but those as he would discover later. For some reason, he could also see Apple Fritter, even though he last saw her in Ponyville Park a few days ago. Maybe she took an earlier train. Back on the platform, Braeburn bulldozed him and his friends away and down to ground level. 

"Boggles the mind we settler ponies built all this in just the past year, don’t it?", said Braeburn as the blue unicorn stallion noticed a tumbleweed bounce by. "And as you can see, we have all of the finest comforts." Braeburn turned their attention to a stagecoach being pulled along a street. "Like horse-drawn carriages. "

The puller, a brown stallion with black hair and a white stetson stopped in his tracks and turned to the window. "Okay, you pull now." 

A second pony—a blue stallion with messy hair of a darker shade, hazel eyes, and two musical notes as a cutie mark (which he would see later)—popped out and complained, "Aw, we just switched!"

Weird…, Chronicle thought as this stallion stepped out to switch places. He would soon come to know this particular blue stallion as Noteworthy, who would someday move to Ponyville.

Braeburn then led the tour to another part of the street and pointed. "And those there are horse-drawn, horse-drawn carriages."

The tourists looked and saw three ponies who are sketching the passing stagecoach with pencils in their mouths. That is, a drawing done by a horse, depicting a carriage pulled by another one. Chronicle smacked himself in the face with a hoof at the sight. One of the sketchers was a Ponyvillian stallion he couldn't recall by name and the other two were Berry Punch and Shoeshine.

"Listen, Braeburn, I—", Applejack tried to cut in before they were all bulldozed again, this time to a building whose sign showed a salt shaker.

"And here’s our local waterin’ hole, the Salt Block!", Braeburn continued as a pony was flung out through the batwing doors.

"That’s enough salt for you!", someone called from inside, presumably the bartender.

The grizzled old stallion got up to his hind legs, losing his hat, and stumbled back and forth. "Can’t I at least get a glass of water?", the customer asked woozily before keeling over. 

A properly dressed bartender stallion (complete with monocle, vest, mustache, and salt shaker cutie mark) was then seen at the doors, who soon backed up into the place to resume his job. Chronicle did another 'facehoof' before they were all shoved by Braeburn in front of what is apparently the sheriff’s office, where the law pony lounged against a post. 

A khaki stallion, brown mane/tail, black mustache, red bandana around neck, blue eyes, dark gray hat, silver star both as his cutie mark and pinned to his blue vest. "Over there’s the office of Sheriff Silverstar.", Braeburn introduced before pushing his tourists again, stopping to let them see ponies dancing merrily in a clearing. 

"And here’s where we have our Wild West dances." Chronicle could recognize the same blue stallion from the horse-drawn carriage, Golden Harvest, Shoeshine, Daisy, and two Ponyvillian stallions whose names eluded his mind before being pushed again to another group shown dancing sedately. "And here’s where we have our Mild West dances." Among these, he could see Apple Fritter among the five ponies. Ain't it a bit strange to see familiar Ponyville faces in Appleloosa? Looks like we aren't the only ones who decided to take a trip here.

"But, Braeburn, we—", Applejack tried to cut in again before they were all plowed onto a ridge.

"And here’s the most wonderful sight in all of Appleloosa!", their tour guide said again, showing them acres upon acres of apple trees, all loaded with fruit. "Our apple orchard." 

Applejack was getting impatient. "Braeburn!" 

As usual, Braeburn wasn't listening. "First harvest should be any day now."

Chronicle decided he had enough of this 'pretty boy blabbermouth' and 'took out' his paddle. While this tour was nice, interrupting such vital news was something he won't tolerate, especially given the last time, which involved a dragon. 

"Braebu—"

"Good thing, too."

He was ready to smack this stallion, the paddle near the back of his head.

"Brae—" 

"’Cause we need that grub to live on."

Chronicle 'brought' his paddle down on Braeburn's head, just as Applejack yelled her cousin's name, knocking him out of his blabbering.

The earth pony stallion shook his head for a while before replying, "Uh…yes, cuz?"

"You have a very nice town and all, but we have a huge problem. Some of our friends are missin’!", Applejack started.

"A stampede of buffalo!", Fluttershy continued.

"They took Spike!" Rarity.

"Rainbow Dash went after them!" Twilight.

"And we can’t find Pinkie Pie!" Fluttershy again.

And my Surveillance can't find them. Chronicle, but mentally. Why oh why is it not working on them now?

"And we had an apple tree with us for your orchard, but they took that too!", finished Applejack.

This sequence of bad news threw her cousin for such a loop that one eye shrunk to a point while the other dilated beyond all measure. It took him a moment to get his vision sorted out. "Did you say 'buffalo'?" The five ponies around him nodded and he sighed heavily, turning away. "Them buffalo! They want us settler ponies to take every single tree you see here off this land. They sure as hay don’t want any new ones added in."

"But why?", asked Fluttershy.

"Beats me. We put a lot of hard work into this land so we could feed our town, our families, our foals. And now they’re sayin’ all these trees have to go? ’Tain’t fair."

As they all looked over the trees in concern, Chronicle pondered to himself. I wonder what these buffalo are like? If they're like who I think they're like, I'm sure we can come to a compromise. I hope my clone is having better luck.


C—TS—A—R—F—B—C—TS—A—R—F—B

Elsewhere…

In a stretch of desert land, nowhere near Appleloosa, a magical clone of Chronicle's was walking out in the open, 'holding up' a feather from Rainbow Dash's wing. He had used a spell to pinpoint its owner's location, but it took a lot of magic energy to use and it only lasts for a few seconds. The effects were lasting longer though with each use. Still, he had to save some for defense. Being a magical clone meant he was very fragile; one hit and he was a goner.

Just then, he saw a very familiar face popping out from the scatter of boulders. Bingo. Hiding behind a nearby boulder, he watched his friend duck away and tiptoe to another boulder. After another furtive look, she dove to an even closer one and came up again.

Chronicle (the clone) made his way closer, hiding behind boulders as well, when he noticed Pinkie Pie sneaking around as well. Oh, there she is. He then saw her come nose to nose with Rainbow, surprising the latter as she cried out and fell on her back. 

He could hear rumbling in the distance as his two friends talked, Pinkie's voice being the louder one. He looked ahead to see a herd of buffalo headed in their direction. Luckily, none have come up in the direction he came from. He considered giving some sort of warning, but that would give away his position as well, leaving him to watch as the buffalo soon surrounded his two friends.

After a few seconds, the bovine behemoths seemed to begin to move in. Immediately, Chronicle decided to rush in as well, but then he heard a familiar voice cry out, "STOP!" To his surprise, they did so and as the stallion slowed, he saw the buffalo back off to either side, creating a dust-choked aisle in which a silhouette became visible. As he (as well as Pinkie and Rainbow from the 'other side') stared dumbfounded, the haze cleared to reveal Spike quite unharmed and very much at ease.

"Dash, Pinkie! ’Sup?", he called. So far, nobody noticed Chronicle. "Hey, no worries, I know those guys." He then addressed one of the buffalo. "They’re cool."

"If you say so, Spike.", the buffalo replied in a "surfer-dude" accent, hoof/fist-bumping him. "Catch you later, bro." He and his buddies then stampeded away, leaving a properly bewildered pegasus and earth pony in their wake. Once the buffalo were gone, the two and Spike then noticed the unicorn watching what happened.

"Chronicle!", Pinkie cried out as she jumped straight for him in a pounce, which he successfully strafed.

"Watch it!", the blue stallion cried out. "This ain't the real me here!"

"You're his magical clone?", Rainbow asked.

"Yes."

"Remind us again how to tell you from the real you."

"Only a keen eye can see that I'm slightly translucent."

"Yup!", agreed Pinkie as she came up from behind him. "I can see a bit of the area through him, although it's rather faint."

"Else, you'll have to take my word for it.", Chronicle continued as if she hadn't interrupted him.

"Come on, guys!", said Spike as he began to walk off. "I'll take you to meet the buffalo."


C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP—C—S—RD—PP

Nighttime…

The four foreigners now found themselves sitting around a campfire, surrounded by buffalo and a clutch of tepees.

Yup., thought Chronicle. Definitely Indians.

"Seems they took me by mistake.", Spike explained. "They feel awful about it too, poor guys. Fortunately, they totally respect dragons—" He snapped his fingers and the three ponies were given a bowl of something brown, mushy, and unappetizing-looking. "—so they treat me like an honored guest." Rainbow sniffed, stuck out her tongue, and pushed it away. "Still don’t like ponies much, though, but you’re with me, so it’s cool." 

Chronicle didn't eat the mush either, but for different reasons; being a clone, he did not need sustenance from food. As long as the real one (back in Appleloosa) kept himself well-fed, he'll be just fine.

"Huh. Well, I still don’t trust ’em.", Rainbow said as she stood up and readied herself to leave. "I say we turn tail and bail while we still—" She stopped upon realizing that Pinkie has buried her face in her own bowl and was gobbling the stuff down. She lifted her splattered face out as Rainbow regarded her incredulously.

"Before we finish eating? Are you loco in the coco?", asked Pinkie.

Chronicle then noticed the buffalo calf from the train robbery bring a bowl of something decidedly more solid over to Spike. He made himself discreet and turned away.

"Can I please have more of that mushy stuff, whatever it was?"

"Certainly!", replied the calf. "And Mr. Spike, you like gemstones, yes?"

"Turquoise!", the dragon said as he eagerly downed the bowlful in one gulp. "This here’s Little Strongheart." He introduced the calf, then the ponies "And these are my friends Pinkie Pie, Chronicle—"

Strongheart gasped upon seeing him. "Are you…"

"I'm a copy.", Chronicle answered as Pinkie waved at her. "Just like the one you dispatched back on the train. No hard feelings, though. We were just on different standpoints and perspectives, that's all."

Spike waited for a second before turning his hand on the pegasus, And that's Rainbow Dash."

The pegasus gave an annoyed huff over her shoulder, then started in surprise. "You!"

Strongheart was just as surprised. "You!"

"That’s it!" Rainbow started to trot away. "We are outta here!"

Pinkie could do nothing but tack a sheepish grin onto her newly clean face before Rainbow leaned back to get a mouthful of tail hairs and drag her off. Chronicle sighed as he turned to leave as well. However, the young buffalo intercepted them.

"Wait!", Strongheart pleaded. Rainbow let go of Pinkie. "Please accept my apologies for what happened on the train. We didn’t mean for anyone to be hurt."

"Yeah, right." Rainbow turned away, only to be cut off again by Strongheart.

"We only wanted the tree. The settler ponies have overtaken the land and have planted an orchard all over it! Because of their thoughtlessness, we can no longer run over our traditional stampeding grounds."

"Huh?", the mares voiced their confusion.

"I think I have a hint.", mumbled the stallion. 

Spike went up to Strongheart and said, "I think it’s time they met Chief Thunderhooves."

Strongheart gave a little start as Rainbow looked daggers across the way. 


C—S—RD—PP—LS—C—S—RD—PP—LS—C—S—RD—PP—LS

Later…

The four visitors now stood by the fire, at the center of a ring of buffalo. Strongheart, across from them, was next to one clad in a large feathered headdress, who spoke in a deep and pompous voice. This was whom Chronicle presumed to be Chief Thunderhooves.

"We have a long and winding stampeding trail that we have run upon for many generations.", he said. "My father stampeded upon these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him, and—"

"Pardon me, chieftain, but I think we get the idea.", Chronicle interrupted as he raised a hoof, noticing some of the other buffalo beginning to doze off. "Basically, for as long as you can remember, your ancestors have stampeded on the trail."

"Hmph. It is a sacred tradition to run the path every year. But this year, these…" His voice now showed great contempt. "…settler ponies, these…" He began to snort steam. "…Appleloosans…" More steam chuffed out of the great black nostrils, but a touch from Strongheart calmed him somewhat.

"They planted apple trees all over it without asking our permission.", finished Strongheart.

Oh dear., groaned Chronicle. Settlers versus natives. I've heard of this conflict before…

"Well, that’s not very nice.", said Pinkie. "Right, Rainbow Dash?" 

Rainbow turned away, crossed her forelegs, and sat on her haunches. "Hmph!"

"The ponies refuse to move their trees, so we are stuck here, and it is not fair!", finished Strongheart.

"See, Rainbow Dash?", said Spike. "They had a good reason to—" He was cut off by her abrupt vertical takeoff. A moment later, she made a perfect four-point landing to face the two buffalo. There were gasps from them and the herd.

"I’ll say they had a good reason!", she said as she stomped, then looped, hovering near the Chief. "Come on! We have some apple-picking Appleloosans to talk to!"

Pinkie, Spike, and the herd were shocked but happy to find that she has come around to their side this quickly. As for Chronicle… I hope we could come to a compromise. I don't want an all-out war to start. Little did he know that the real him had thought of the same thing earlier in the day back at Appleloosa.


C—S—RD—PP—LS—CT—C—S—RD—PP—LS—CT

The next day…

At a ridge overlooking Appleloosa, Twilight and co. (with the real Chronicle) and Braeburn were preparing for an out-of-town trip. All of them save for Chronicle had saddlebags on, and Applejack was adjusting Rarity’s with an energetic pull on the strap.

"Ow! Ooh! Gently, please!"

"Sorry, Rarity, but our friends are out there and we have to be ready for a long hike into buffalo territory if we’re gonna save ’em." Chronicle looked over to the sun-baked territory ahead as Applejack reared up. "Let’s go!"

All six galloped off, but got no more than a few hundred yards before coming across Pinkie, Rainbow, Spike, and Chronicle's clone. Twenty-four hooves screeched to a halt and five throats gasped.

"Hi, guys!", Pinkie greeted before Fluttershy tackled her.

"Pinkie! We’re so glad you’re safe!"

As Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity expressed similar sentiments, Chronicle went over to his copy, then dismissed him, rubbing his head afterward as his clone's memories seeped into his brain.

"How did you escape from the buffalo?", Twilight asked.

"We didn’t.", Pinkie answered. From a rock behind her, Strongheart leaped out from behind it and nervously pawed the ground as Twilight and co. gasped.

Rainbow explained, "We promised the buffalo a chance to talk."

"Oh, yeah? ’Bout what?", asked Applejack as the calf stood side by side with the cyan pegasus.

Rainbow threw foreleg over Strongheart’s shoulders. "We brought our new pal Little Strongheart here to explain to the Appleloosans why they should move the apple trees off buffalo land." As she finished, she pushed the young calf over for a face-to-face with Braeburn.

"That information will be quite help—" Braeburn began before being cut off by his cousin, who shoved him even closer.

"That’s weird, ’cause my cousin Braeburn here wants to explain to the buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay."

"That would be a useful thing to—", Strongheart began before Rainbow cut her off.

"The land is theirs!" The pegasus then flew over. "You planted the trees not knowing that. Honest mistake. Now you just gotta move ’em, that’s all."

"Well, heh—" Braaeburn.

"They busted their rumps here!", Applejack countered. "And now they’re supposed to bust their rumps again just ’cause some buffalo won’t stampede someplace else?" By this point, she and Rainbow were in each other’s faces.

"Plant the trees somewhere else!"

"Where? It’s the only flat land around these parts!" The farmpony indicated a nearby area covered with rocks, cacti, and weeds. 

"The buffalo had it first!"

"The settler ponies need it to live!"

Braeburn and Strongheart stood forgotten as these two launch into a shouting match, with an apprehensive Twilight averting her eyes until she has had enough.

"Look!", the unicorn said and her two friends shut up. "Both the settlers and the buffalo have good reasons to use this land." She then turned toward Fluttershy, Rarity, and Chronicle. "There must be something we can do."

"Well…", the unicorn stallion said as he thought of something, then turned to Strongheart. "How wide is the stampeding trail?" 

"What are you getting to?", asked the calf before they were interrupted by Pinkie, who jumped and hung in midair.

"Hey! I’ve got an idea!", she said as she landed on the ground with a thud.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B

Later…

At a stage just outside Appleloosa, there was a crowd of settlers and buffalo gathered, all of them making nervous murmurings. At the front were Chronicle, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Braeburn, Silverstar, Strongheart, and Thunderhooves.

On stage was Spike wearing a bowler hat. He was also playing a piano. Moderate 4, D major. Chronicle was no music expert, so he had no idea how he keeps knowing the chords. Also, he noted that whenever he notes the chords of an upcoming song, it was a Pinkie Pie song. Well, the first song was an exception, and so were the ones during the ticket fiasco.

Just then, Pinkie Pie popped out from behind the stage's curtain, a long blue feather poking out from her mane. She turned to Spike, who flipped her a thumbs-up, then pulled her head back out of sight.

Now Playing: You Got to Share, You Got to Care

The curtain shortly opened to expose a large, closed oyster resting on the stage. When it creaked open, Pinkie was seen lying inside, dressed in what Chronicle would identify as a typical Wild West saloon girl dress.

We may be divided, but of you all I beg♪
To remember we’re all hoofed at the end of each leg♪

The crowd seemed a bit puzzled at this exhibition. The music paused as Pinkie was lifted to the stage by Apple Fritter and another similar-looking pony. Once Pinkie was down, the two of them zipped away. The music then resumed, in a much faster tempo this time as Pinkie hopped about.

No matter what the issue, come from wherever you please♪
She then zipped to a buffalo, pulling at his mouth.
All this fighting gets you nothing but hoof-in-mouth disease♪
She then let the lip snap back and returned to the stage, popping up from the piano.
Arguing’s not the way, hey, come out and play♪
She then returned to the stage.
It’s a shiny new day, so what do you say?♪

As she then began to dance, Chronicle noticed that Rainbow's wings were unfurled. For some reason, it reminded him of something…suggestive.
You gotta share, you gotta care♪
Chronicle noted that the crowd wasn't yet exactly warming up to her performance.
It’s the right thing to do♪
You gotta share, you gotta care♪
And there’ll always be a way through♪

She then popped up between Strongheart and Silverstar and shoved an apple into each one’s mouth.

Both our diets, I should mention, are completely vegetarian♪
Back on stage, four other ponies—two mares and two stallions—gathered behind her, one of them Apple Fritter, and another Ponyvillian whose name still eluded him. 
We all eat hay and oats, why be at each other’s throat?♪
The four ponies formed a kick line with her.
You gotta share, you gotta care♪
It’s the right thing to do♪
And there’ll always be a way through♪

She held out the last note as the two stallions held her aloft on their front hooves, while the mares looked on.

End Song

There was a dead silence from the entire audience, broken only by Spike’s solitary clapping and the distant cry of an eagle. Chronicle wanted to make a slow clap, but the only applause he knew of that ponies do was to stomp on the ground. So that was what he did, although slowly. As he applauded, he turned to his charge, who covered her eyes with a foreleg out of embarrassment. He then turned back to the stage as Pinkie took a bow.

"All right, Pinkie Pie, that was fantastic!", cheered Spike. "What a great song! You’re right on!"

Chronicle stopped applauding and turned to Silverstar and the Chief, who look each other full in the eye for a moment, then nodded in unison.

"It appears that Sheriff Silverstar and I have come to an agreement.", said the chief.

"We have.", agreed the sheriff. Braeburn, Strongheart, and Twilight and her friends leaned in expectantly toward the pair, from onstage and off.

"That was the worst performance we’ve ever seen." Pinkie and Spike were suddenly dejected.

"Absitively.", Silverstar added with a chuckle.

"The time for action…" A grunt. "…is upon us. Our stampede will start at high noon tomorrow." Thunderhooves then leaned into Silverstar’s face. "And if the orchard is still there, we’ll flatten it and the whole town!"

There was a gasp from the front row, and Strongheart decided to dart in, Chronicle joining in. "But, Chief!", she pleaded.

"Can't we come up with something both sides can agree on?", the unicorn stallion asked.

"And we Appleloosans say you’d better bring your best—" Silverstar then shoved the Chief back. "—’cause we’ll be ready and waitin’!"

"But, Sheriff!", Braeburn pleaded. 

"Is violence really necessary?", asked Chronicle.

He received no answer as the two factions quickly cleared out, leaving only the Ponyville eight and the Appleloosa one. Pinkie and Spike, still on the stage, tried to figure out how things could have gone so far off the rails.

"Oh…that wasn’t the message of my song at all!", she said.

"A song alone won't bring two sides together, you know.", Chronicle said as he turned to face her. "The world isn't that idealistic for it to work."

"I didn't think you were against violence.", Rarity remarked. "Given that it's always an option for you."

"Well, as much as I like fighting, an all-out war still doesn't sit well with me. From what I see, they think violence is the only option left. For me, it's just a viable choice. And even then I start with just a little." He looked on to where the buffaloes ran off to. "I hate to say this, but things are gonna get hectic pret-ty soon."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT


Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chief Thunderhooves on the left and Sheriff Silverstar on the right glaring at each other. The Ponyville eight at the center, with Little Strongheart at the left and Braeburn at the right looking at their respective leaders in worry. The show's logo is seen on the lower right.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

Afternoon…

Appleloosa was in full emergency mode. Windows were being closed and boarded up, ponies were getting off the street, apples and other supplies are being hauled away. Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Chronicle watched the commotion. 

"I want my kin to have what they need to live," the farmpony began. "—but a storm’s a-brewin’ here, and I don’t like the look of it."

"We’ve just gotta talk some sense into them before somepony gets hurt!", Twilight said.

"I'm afraid given the situation, they're too busy to even pay attention." Chronicle was ignored as his charge, Fluttershy, and Rarity scattered. Twilight was the first to address a couple of the locals. Or to be exact, a local (Noteworthy) and a Ponyvilian siding with them (Cherry Berry).

"Listen. Maybe if you would just reconsider, we—" She was cut off with a hard glance as they then leaped in through the window behind them, pulling the shutters closed, followed by more. At another building, Fluttershy and Rarity were at another pony’s front door. This one was wordlessly pushing a cartload of apples inside.

"About the trees.", Rarity began. "Now if you could—" The immediate door slam startled her into a haunch-sitting position and left both Twilight and Applejack at a loss. 


C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

Minutes later…

Appleloosans (or simply anypony who wasn't Twilight Sparkle or a friend of hers) were quickly gathering apples. Chronicle could see Noteworthy and Cherry bucking one tree to reap its fruits. Elsewhere, apples were picked up in teeth, hustled back and forth, and nipped down by the topmost mare in a column of three. 

Chronicle could see Berry Punch at the bottom of this column as he and his friends watched the frenzied activity with trepidation. Twilight rushed to one. 

"If we could just sit down and talk, we could—" She was cut off by an angry snarl from whom she was trying to talk to as the cart he was loading was hauled away. His charge's dismayed gasp gave way to a resolute glare.

"Why won’t anybody be rational and reasonable?!", she screamed as she reared up.

"You know, I sometimes ask myself the same thing every day.", Chronicle commented. "Or was that something else…"


C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

As the five from Ponyville (to be exact, Twilight and co. as other Ponyvillians were here as well) made their way back to Appleloosa, Chronicle noted the settlers' (and allies') actions.

Nail were being hammered into boards, branches were being sawed, teams of ponies were pulling a log down to rest on support trestles, forming a barricade, more windows are being boarded up, and Braeburn was watching impassively as the last gap in a frame was filled in. He noted that these barricades had nails pointed outward, presumably toward any charging buffalo. The last thought gave him the shudders.

Applejack and company made their way to try and address Silverstar. "Sheriff, if we could only—" she was ignored as he moved out to guide fully loaded carts of apples and flour across the hardpan street. The five of them then decided to peek into one of the buildings.

While the mares looked in worry, the stallion could only stare in confusion. Dough was being rolled flat, apples were being sectioned… an apple pie production operation was in top gear. Two ponies were assembling the pies, while two others tended to the oven; shelves and carts were filled with the steaming desserts.

"Apple pies?", he asked. "I thought they were preparing for a battle, not a sale."

"They are preparin' for battle.", Applejack told him. "These pies can pack a punch when thrown. Also, it's what's in the pies that's can be dangerous."

"You mean aside from the apples?"

"Uh-huh." She then went over to whisper in his ear and a few seconds later his eyes shrunk in horror. 

"You're right! That is terrible!"

"It ain't too horrible, though."


C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

Later…

At the town square, everypony was gathered around a flagpole in the town square, where Silverstar and Braeburn watched a red flag being raised and Twilight et al. looked on nervously. When the standard reached the top of the pole, the wind unfurled it to expose an apple tree emblazoned across it; hats were tossed skyward and the crowd’s cheers floated up.


C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F—C—TS—A—R—F

Twilight and co. were feeling dejected later that night as they slept at Braeburn's place. They were all gathered together at the bed where Chronicle lay. He was awake, and using his Surveillance to check on Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike.

Through the cameras on them, they could see stolid buffaloes charging for each other and banging heads. Another pair was at a grindstone, one of them sharpening his horns against the wheel, the other pumping the foot pedal to keep it turning. 

"Uh oh.", muttered Chronicle. "Looks like they're out for bl—"

"Don't say it!", Rarity whispered, glancing at Fluttershy.

Everypony then looked back at the screens, where some buffaloes were applying war paint. The camera on Spike turned to face him and Little Strongheart as they watched the preparations.

"Isn’t there some way to stop this?", Spike asked.

"Unless the settlers remove those trees, I do not think so." She then galloped off, but returned almost immediately with a bowl of turquoise chunks that Spike accepted with a deflated little sigh. As the dragon started to munch, Chronicle shifted the 'screens' so that the one on Rainbow was now prominent. She was sitting with Chief Thunderhooves at a campfire.

"I know you don’t want to do this.", the pegasus said.

"But they have taken our land. What would you have me do, Rainbow Dash?"

"I don’t know. But it’s never too late to think of something."

The chief just put war paint on his face. "At noon, it will be too late."

Chronicle then turned off his "monitor" and gave a sigh. "Looks like there's nothing left we could do. 'Cept hold out for a miracle."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

The next day…

High noon was approaching as Appleloosa was prepared for a siege. Log barricades have been placed to block the major entry points. Galloping hooves made themselves known as the Chief and Strongheart arrived on the ridge, followed by the entire buffalo herd. 

Down below, ponies big and small have taken their positions on the front lines, and Braeburn nervously eyed the town’s clock tower as the minute hand advanced—it was now 11:59. 

A cart stacked with fresh apple pies was pulled past a building jammed with frightened onlookers and over to Silverstar.

Twilight and company were gathered on some of the tracks, watching as the battle was about to begin. Rainbow sat on her rump and began to tap her forehead. "Come on, think! Think, think, think, think, think, think, think!"

The clock’s bell sounded off, drawing everybody's attention, and the minute hand snapped ahead to high noon. After the twelve strikes thrummed dully in the still, silent air, Chronicle turned to his charge.

"Twilight, stick with me and help me with the barrier spell. Keep your horn ready. I don't want us to use up too much magic, so Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, I need you two to hover in the air and warn us of any incoming attacks. Rarity, try and learn this spell. It can save your life. I may also need to borrow your magic in case of an emergency. Pinkie Pie—wait, where is she?"

Sure enough, Pinkie was nowhere in sight. The same went for Applejack. He presumed the latter was somewhere in the battle as well; After all, this was her cousin's home, and members of her family were here. 

Chronicle then turned to the Chief in the distance, looking real ready for a fight. He then noticed Strongheart reach in to touch his cheek. He sighed heavily at the sight of her pleading eyes (he presumed), then stared ahead with a sudden uncertainty in his own. This prompting a little gasp from Rainbow and a smile from the entire group.

"He’s not gonna do it!", the pegasus said and they all sighed in relief.

But a moment later, all of their eyes bugged out at the sound of Pinkie’s singing. She was in her saloon-girl costume from yesterday. With no stage handy, she was doing her song-and-dance on a patch of the arid land.

Chronicle somehow knew this wasn't good as he turned to his charge and yelled, "Twilight, Rarity! I leave the defending to you!" Before anypony could protest, he 'took out' a lasso from "hammerspace" and started galloping towards Pinkie. As he did, he could see the Chief in the distance reacting very, very badly and started to growl.

"CHAAAAAARRRRRRGE!!", he bellowed as the entire herd poured over the ridge, and the performing pink pony had time for one terrified deer-in-the-headlights stare before the buffalo plow into her. As she got bounced from one massive back to another, yelling all the while, a lasso loop flew towards her and wrapped itself around her body. She was then pulled away to a safe corner, and she turned to see Chronicle having used it.

"Nice job breaking it, Pinkie Pie!", he yelled, following it by slapping her in the face with his hoof. As the two of them then made their way back to their friends with a barrier around themselves, he could see the ponies at the barricade break for cover. They were wise in doing that as the logs and trestles were smashed to kindling under the herd’s sheer tonnage. And the flagpole was next to go.

"Ready!", Silverstar yelled to the ponies behind him, all of them having picked up pies. "Aim!" Chronicle and Pinkie was retreating to their position. "FIRE!!"

Just as the unicorn stallion bypassed them, the pies went airborne with the speed and efficiency of a surface-to-surface missile, and that was saying something. Pinkie got split up from Chronicle in the middle of the fight, and he watched as one buffalo after another take a hit to the face and go sprawling to the dust. 

In the confusion, while Chronicle wondered how accurate or lucky the throwers were, he noticed Carrot Top leap out of a second-story window, land on a buffalo who was chasing Berry Punch, Heartstrings, and an Appleloosan stallion, and ride him like a bucking bronco. 

Three other pairs of adversaries—one of them Apple Fritter—squared off for a little bare-hoof boxing. A rooftop brigade launched its own offensive, taking down two buffaloes. At ground level, Cherry Berry, who stood behind a wall of hay bales threw a pie, then gasped as a buffalo charged at her position. The hit sent both her and several bales flying. At the other end of the wall, another herd member thundered in but knocked himself silly on impact. These bales tumbled away to reveal the hidden anvil he has just slammed into, and the two mares who set it up—one of them Apple Bumpkin—traded a high-five.

As Chronicle continued to look for another safe area, having lost his way in the battle, he saw one buffalo get a pie plastered across his eyes. However, unlike the others, he hasn't gone down. Unable to see where he was going, he veered off to one side and rammed the ground floor of the building that housed the clock tower. Cracks raced up the walls, leading to the whole spire sliding loose from the roof. He could see Bon Bon with a top hat among those who bailed out from their apple-pie emplacement moments before the lumber and clockwork obliterated it.

Once the dust cleared, he could see Chief Thunderhooves leap to a gap in the wreckage and let off a steaming snort, facing the train station, where staggered hay bales have been set up—and where his friends were standing by. Sheriff Silverstar was there too, popping up from behind one, throwing a pie, and ducking. Bales were placed on both sides of the tracks, creating trouble for the buffalo trying to navigate the area. 

This did not stop the Chief from hurling himself ahead at full speed. Instantly, Chronicle was on his way to Silverstar as well, a barrier formed around himself to protect from charging buffaloes and thrown pies, although he still had to swerve for the former. While the barrier would protect him from buffaloes, he could still get pushed around just keeping his shield up.

As he made his way closer, he could see Silverstar duck down, and not come up with another pie. It could only mean one thing; the sheriff has run out of ammunition. Peeking up over the bale, he let off a panicked cry as the huge buffalo leader barreled straight through the fusillade toward him. 

Silverstar removed his hat and held it over his heart, closing his eyes in preparation for the inevitable. But Chronicle wasn't about to let it happen as he enhanced his running speed. Regardless of sides in a war, he can't let a fatal casualty occur while he can help it. Judging by the Chief's speed, they were gonna make it to Silverstar at around the same time, him being the faster one. That would mean he would be "taking the bullet" for the sheriff, and Chronicle wasn't sure how much damage he would take from the attack. 

The question was never answered since just as the Chief leapt toward the poised sheriff, a pie sailed straight over Chronicle's head and right for Thunderhooves.

"NOOOOOO!!", he heard the Chief cry out before face and crust met at the exact same point in space. The velocity of the pie changed the buffalo's trajectory as he tumbled to the dirt in front of Silverstar’s bale and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. Chronicle had already reached the point where he would've shielded Silverstar, so the change in direction resulted in him evading the Chief's fall.

Chronicle turned around to see Thunderhooves lying senseless on his belly, ringed by Silverstar, his friends, and a number of pony and buffalo spectators. Other herd members raced up and stared in total shock at the downfall of their leader, whose tongue hung out of his mouth at full length as crust and filling dribbled down his face. 

One buffalo began to sob and put a foreleg across Carrot's shoulders, who removed her hat and bowed her head. Even Spike couldn't hold his emotions in check as he burst into tears and grabbed a properly puzzled Twilight for support. Chronicle shared his charge's feelings; the Appleloosans and their allies were taking down buffaloes without batting an eyelash, but when the Chief went down, everypony stopped and had guilt trips, even though he most likely wasn't dead. Why only now?

Just then, he noticed a juicy crumb slide from the Chief’s horn and land on his tongue…and he pulled it in and shut his mouth. He and his friends stared in puzzlement. Two seconds later, he stood up, alive and well, and slurped as much of the mess off his face as he can while shaking himself clean.

"Yum!", he said as Chronicle and his friends smiled. "Hey! I’ve got a much better idea!"


C—TS—S—RD—R—F—PP—LS—B—SS—CT

Hours later…

At the orchard, Chronicle watched as a stand of apple trees were being cut down, making a broad path through the grove. He turned to see Applejack, who made a loud whistle. Seven seconds later, he saw Rainbow leading the buffalo herd along the newly cleared avenue. Steam wafted along it toward them. He looked back at what Chief Thunderhooves had declared.

"We will allow the apple orchard to stay in exchange for a share of its fruit, those delicious apple pies!"

He continued watching, as saw that as each buffalo passed by, ponies passed the pies and tossed them of each buffalo’s head as they ran by. Spike, watching them along with him, hoisted a fresh bowl of turquoise.

"I’d rather eat turquoise any day of the week.", he said.

As the dragon did so, Chronicle couldn't help but think that this was what would've been his suggestion; for the settlers to carve a path on their orchard for the buffaloes. The settlers would still be able to gather apples, and the buffaloes would still be able to stampede. In the end, it was all good.

He then walked toward Applejack, who was looking over at Bloomberg in the distance and had Rainbow Dash standing next to her.

"Bloomberg, this is your special day.", the farmpony said. "Mama’s so proud of you."

Not far away stood the Chief, Strongheart, Sheriff Silverstar, and Braeburn. The two pairs bowed to each other, and the big and little buffalo charged off to join the orderly stampede. Strongheart peeled off to wave to Applejack and Rainbow as his charge joined him to watch them go off together.


C—TS—S—RD—LS—B—SS—CT—C—TS—S—RD—LS—B—SS—CT

“Dear Princess Celestia: Friendship is a wondrous and powerful thing. Even the worst of enemies can become friends. You need understanding and compromise. You’ve got to share. You’ve got to care.”


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


"Hey! That’s what I said!", Pinkie said out of nowhere, now out of her saloon girl outfit, as she held back something not visible to anybody.

She was then suddenly pulled back to the ground…by Chronicle, who looked rather irritated. "Pinkie Pie. I need to have a word with you.", he said.

"Sure.", she replied in a cheery tone.

"While I still don't know how you do those things, my organization has a term for your kind, where you somehow violate the rules of physics, like staying in mid-air for a couple of seconds, or making a hole shaped like you down to the hair, things like that."

"You do?"

"Yes. And do you know what the fourth wall is?"

"Uh-huh.", she answered, still cheery.

"Well, I got one thing to ask of you." Chronicle them pulled Pinkie closer and gave her a harsh glare, not knowing if it would even work, given she didn't cringe from one by Gilda, and the griffin seemed to be better at it that him. "Do not break it. I will know if you do."

"So you're not just a bodyguard, huh? You're also—"

Chronicle backed away a bit to put a hoof to her mouth. "Whatever it is you know about me and my organization, keep it to yourself. And out of our clients'."

"You mean the watc—"

"Yes."

"And the rea—"

"Yes!"

"And the auth—"

The bodyguard then went ballistic. "Especially him!!" For some reason, this one managed to scare her as she stopped talking. "Do we have a deal?" Pinkie nodded nervously and Chronicle calmed down and gave a sincere smile. "Good. And to make sure, I'm gonna have to have you promise it in one of your signature promises. Okay?"

"Okay."
> Chapter 4: Applebuck Season
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Chapter 4: Applebuck Season

One afternoon…

Chronicle was teaching a class alongside Mystic Shield in Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns, which he often called a dojo, even though it also has rooms a house would have. He hadn't been there to see the new students arrive since at that time he and his friends were at Appleloosa. Now, he could see who the new ones were. Some were the ones from Canterlot; Twinkle, Lemon Hearts, Amethyst Star (who wore a fancy saddle of some kind and a flower in her hair for some reason), and Minuette. There was also Sea Swirl, a pale pink unicorn with blue hair of two shades rose-colored eyes, and a cutie mark consisting of two dolphins. Dinky was there too, watching her sister Amethyst as she stood with the 'class'. 

He looked back at what had happened earlier in the day…


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"All right, students.", Mystic said as he paced about, his stare blank, looking at his class as they were positioned in columns of four, his first four being in front. "My name is Mystic Shield, but while we're inside this dojo, you shall address me as Master, or Master Shield."

Chronicle, who was standing near the wall behind Mystic at that time, took a good look at the ones he hadn't recognized yet as the teacher gave the orientation. One was a stallion with a brownish-yellow coat, blue eyes, purplish-blue hair, and a comet/blue star with tail as his cutie mark. Recalling his name from the attendance sheet, Chronicle remembered his name to be Comet Tail.

Mystic continued his speech. "…now, I'm sure some of you may have…unsavory thoughts about…" But Chronicle hadn't paid attention. 

Another unfamiliar face was a mare with a gala pink coat, freckles, purple eyes, hair colored in yellow-blue-purple, and a strawberry cutie mark. Her name was Holly Dash, and she was the only pony he knew who had more than two colors in her hair, aside from Princess Celestia who had four, and Rainbow Dash who had six.

Another mare he didn't identify had a dark green coat, yellow-orange mane, and a fireball cutie mark. Her name was Firecracker Burst, and he had noticed that she was fidgeting on occasion and that Minuette wasn't pleased from having to stand next to her.

"I'll admit that there are only two spells I can teach you right now, so if you know of a spell that can also help in self-defense or are otherwise useful in a fight, I'll be very grateful for it if you share it with us. And…"

The second stallion aside from the first four had a grayish-purple coat, purple eyes, dark goldenrod wavy hair with yellow patches, and a yellow six-pronged star (shaped like Twilight Sparkle's) with four five-pronged stars surrounding it as his cutie mark. His name was Ponet.

The third stallion had a light gray coat, sea green eyes, dark magenta hair, and a scroll cutie mark. His name was Written Script.

"Now that that's over with, I shall begin." 


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Back in the present…

"All right, class.", Mystic said. "What did we learn today?" Gosh, I sound like a schoolteacher.

"The first spell is the barrier.", said Twinkle. "There are two basic variants. First is the dome shape." She demonstrated by flaring her horn and a spherical barrier formed around herself and stopped at the floor. She dismissed it a second later.

"Very good, Twinkle. What the second?"

"Second is the panel shape.", Ponet answered, then demonstrated it by conjuring a wall of magic in front of himself. He then dismissed it after a while.

"That's right, Ponet." 

"Chrono Cards, Minuette, Amethyst Star, Comet Tail, stay where you are. The rest of you, move outside the mat." Everypony did as he said, leaving the two mares and two stallions in the tatami mat. "Can any of you remember what else is necessary in the spell?"

"Like with all spells, you have to focus on creating the barrier.", Minuette said. "It takes a small amount energy to maintain a basic barrier depending on its size, but it takes concentration to make it withstand a hit."

Mystic nodded. "Spot on, Minuette. Now the four of you make your barriers." The four in the mat did as he instructed, their horns glowing. Chrono's and Comet's barriers were blue domes, Minuette's was a wall of the same color, and Amethyst's was a violet-red dome. Mystic turned to his co-teacher. "Now, Chronicle, test them if you will."

The blue stallion nodded as he approached the four students. "Each shots will have the same power exerted into them.", he said, then flared his horn and he then fired a shuriken-shaped shot from it, heading right for Chrono's barrier. The shot hit, and the barrier held, its conjurer wincing. Chronicle proceeded with Minuette next and the shot hit, making her wince as a small crack in her barrier formed. Amethyst was next, and she grit her teeth hard as the barrier took the shot and held completely. As for Comet, the barrier shattered, and he seemed to be distracted.

Mystic put up a hoof as a signal to stop and began to evaluate. "Chrono, you've done well. Minuette, you've improved, although you still need a bit more focus. Amethyst, I think you put a little too much on that barrier. Comet, remember to concentrate. The purpose of a barrier is to defend against attacks. Otherwise, it's as good as nothing. Except for keeping out smoke or anything bad in the air."

All of a sudden, there was a tremor that shook the place, startling everypony. "I'll have a look.", Chronicle volunteered as he summoned a magical clone, which made his way out of the dojo, Dinky opening the door for him. For some reason, Amethyst and Lemon exited as well.

As the clone exited the dojo, he saw Rainbow Dash rising to roof level to look at something ahead. After a few seconds, he received an answer as to what was going on.

"STAMPEDE!!", his friend cried out. Immediately, there was general pandemonium in town as ponies galloped everywhere, shutters were closed, and a welcome mat was yanked inside a house whose front door was then slammed shut. 

Amidst the chaos, Pinkie Pie stood as still as she can, letting the tremors bounce her along. "He-e-ey!", she giggled, her voice vibrating. "Thi-i-is ma-a-akes my-y-y voi-i-ice sou-u-und si-i-illy!" Chronicle also managed to see Heartstrings running among the townsponies, still wearing the magenta contact lenses from before. 

He also saw his charge Twilight Sparkle on the streets as well. "Pinkie Pie, are you crazy? Run!" At that moment, one of the townsponies bumped into him, and he dissipated.

Back in the dojo, the real Chronicle received his clone's memories and rubbed his head as Mystic ordered his students to stay indoors.

"What's going on outside?", Mystic asked him.

"Stampede. Not sure of what."

"In any case, if there's anything we can do about it…" He turned to his first four students. "Greatstone, Bullseye, Tricky Books, Chrono Cards, with me." The four mentioned stood in attention as he then turned to his co-teacher. "Chronicle, lead the way."

Immediately, the bodyguard led the five unicorns outside. They saw the mayor, whom he remembered was also addressed as Mayor Mare, holding her ground in spite of what's happening. "Everypony calm down!", she instructed to no avail. "There is no need to panic!"

Rarity then came up. "But, Mayor, whatever shall we do?"

Just then, Rainbow, still hovering overhead, pointed off to one side. "Look there!"

The six unicorn stallions went over to where they guessed the stampede was coming from. As they reached the edge of town, they could see the cloud of dust that confirmed their position. Bullseye cast a spell on Mystic, whose eyes then emitted a faint amber glow.

"What's this?", Mystic asked.

"An enhance vision spell.", answered Bullseye. "While my eyes are keen, that spell renders your more so and gives them a magical zoom when you focus."

"Why didn't you cast in on yourself?", Chronicle asked as Mystic focused his eyes.

"As if. I'd be crazy or desperate if I were to do that."

"Is there a problem with casting spells on oneself?"

"The stampede consists of cattle!", Mystic reported, cutting them off. "And they're indeed headed this way. Hold on! I see Applejack!" There were words of relief from the crowd, the rest of his friends among them, that had gathered around the stallions. "She's charging up next to them! And I see a small brown-and-white…" Mystic gulped nervously, beads of sweat trailing down his head as the spell on him expired.

"What is it?", Chronicle asked, deciding to leave his debate with Bullseye for later. "Let me see."

The eyepatch-wearing unicorn cast the enhance vision spell on Chronicle, who looked closer. With the farmpony was a border collie. Now he could see why Mystic was nervous. He just saw a dog, and he was scared at the sight of them. He could see Applejack deliver a command and the dog, whose name he recalled was Winona, barked in acknowledgment and dropped back out of sight. 

A few seconds later, Winona pulled into view on the opposite side. The spell then expired as Chronicle turned to his friends and Mystic's students. "Looks like Applejack's gonna steer the herd!", he called. He then turned to see Rarity turn her head with a scared moan, and Pinkie with a bag of popcorn and watching with great interest.

"This is the best rodeo show I’ve ever seen!", the pink earth pony said as she buried her face in the snack, Chronicle's charge turning away from her with a look of puzzled exasperation. 

"We better make it safe just in case.", Mystic directed his students. "Form a wall before that bridge." He pointed to one over the stream bordering Ponyville, which the stampede was headed for. The five of them flared their horns and a wall of magic was formed, colored in Mystic's green aura as he was the initiator. This wall then expanded further past the railings of the bridge. When Chronicle then saw Twilight look interested and join in the casting, he decided to follow suit, mentally reminding himself he should've done it earlier.

Meanwhile, thanks to lessons from Mystic Shield, Bullseye cast his enhance vision spell on Tricky and told him to tell everypony what was happening.

"Okay.", the young unicorn said. "I see…" He paused to recall the name. "…Applejack nudging the cow next to her. …She's giving a whistle. …Her dog's leaping on the cows' backs. …She's now ahead of who's apparently the lead cow. Applejack's got her lasso ready." Then in a lower tone. "Where'd she get it from?" Back to his usual tone. "The lasso is around the lead cow's neck. She's now right next and is pulling. The dog's barking at the lead cow. They're approaching the barrier." Tricky panicked as he blinked rapidly, losing the effects of Bullseye's spell.

The cattle were now so close that the spell was no longer necessary. Just then, the lead cow turned just short of the bridge to run parallel to the stream, with the rest of the herd following. One cow bumped into the barrier, but that was it.

"Yee-haa!", Applejack could be heard yelling out.

After a brief, tense silence, the onlookers cheered her success, with Pinkie waving an apple-decorated pennant for good measure. Mystic and his students (as well as Twilight and her bodyguard) dismissed the barrier and gave sighs of relief. 

"I'll have to say that was a close call.", Chrono commented.

"We turned out to be unnecessary.", said Greatstone.

"But best to be prepared regardless.", put in Tricky. "Better to have and not need than to need and not have."

"True."

"Oh wait a second, Bullseye.", Chronicle said, remembering something. "Where were we?"

"At the part where I was telling you that casting spells on yourself is impossible and dangerous."

"You weren't there, but fine. Tell me why is that the case?"

"Allow me to explain.", Tricky cut in as he 'summoned' a book that looked like his cutie mark. "You see, mature unicorns can cast magic on other objects and other living creatures without a problem. But in time, their bodies grow some sort of intolerance to their own brand of magic. It's like your own magic is like a disease to yourself. As far as I know, teleporting is the only spell unicorns can perform without succumbing to magic sickness because of its mild nature. If one were to cast more advanced and concentrated spells on themselves, they would contract a disease called 'Magic Sickness'."

Chronicle let this sink in for a few seconds. "Really? I never experienced that."

"What spells have you cast on yourself?", asked Bullseye.

"Let's see…speed enhancement, strength enhancement, jumping enhancement, water-walking, cloud-walking, and this." Chronicle demonstrated his "magic horn blade" for a few seconds before 'sheathing' it. "Technically, I could use this spell things like a stick or a broken sword, but I'm more comfortable with using my horn."

Bullseye seemed to be shocked. "I don't know about that 'horn blade' of yours, but all those other spells fall under the advanced category that should've made you sick."

"But I'm not. I wonder why?" I wonder if it's because I'm not born a unicorn?

"Perhaps there are some who are immune to this sickness, or there is a way to alleviate it for a while.", suggested Tricky.

The conversation was ended when the crowd saw Applejack's silhouette emerge over a hill in full view, framed by the setting sun. Cheers erupted as she lifted one foreleg, then reared up as Winona joined her, making Mystic feel nervous.

"Yee-haa!", they heard the farmpony say as she and her dog then raced out of sight. 

Pinkie jumped out of crowd, bucking around as she said, "Yee-haa! Ride ’em, cowpony!"

The Mayor turned to Twilight and Rarity. "Applejack was just…just…"

Pinkie poked her head from above them. Somehow. "Apple-tastic!", she answered as she then thud to the ground.

"Exactly! We must do something to thank Applejack for single-hoofedly saving the town." 

Pinkie got up to give an answer. "I know!"


C—TS—A—RD—R—PP—MM—MS—G–TB–B–CC

The next week…

"A party!"

A celebration was being set up in the town square and pavilion, complete with balloons and and banners.

As Chronicle looked around, he could see Bon Bon tying a ribbon on a bridge alongside Twinkle, Cloud Kicker looking at an orange ribbon Golden Harvest had set up, Minuette dragging a yellow banner with an apple pattern similar to Pinkie's pennant, Berry Punch trotting over to assist her, Daisy looking awed at the results, Rarity adjusting tying a red ribbon to a tree, and Twilight—with Spike on her back—walking up to Rarity her.

"We all ready?", he heard his charge ask the white unicorn.

"Just one last thing." Rarity levitated the banner Minuette and Berry were moving earlier and hung it from the third-floor balcony. "Now we’re ready."

"Is Applejack all set?" 

Rainbow flew over and provided and answer as Chronicle approached them. "Actually, I haven’t seen her all week." 

He was shortly followed by Pinkie. "Not since the stampede."

"But she’ll be here for sure. Applejack is never late."

"Well, there's always a first for everything.", said Chronicle.


C—TS—RD—R—PP—C—TS—RD—R—PP—C—TS—RD—R—PP

Later…

A large crowd had gathered at the pavilion, where a lectern was set up in front of the doors. Twilight stepped up to this and levitated a stack of notes, squaring up their edges and bringing the first page up. "Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small." She 'brought up' the next page. A pony whose contributions to—"

Rainbow barged in, knocking the notes everywhere and forcing Twilight to step aside, much to her annoyance. "Did you see Applejack’s slick moves out there? What an athlete! This week, she’s gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it’s gonna be so awesome!" At those last words, the pegasus made a face Chronicle—who stood in front with his friends, Mystic Shield included—was going to commit to memory. And thanks to his Surveillance, he would be able to look back at it whenever he wanted.

Twilight shoved the pegasus back and continued, "Exactly." She then 'lifted' her notes again. "And—" She was cut off once more, this time by Pinkie, who popped up in front of her. Again, the notes fell.

"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!", the pink earth pony announced.

"What does that have to do with Applejack?" 

There was a brief pause from Pinkie. "Oh! Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!" There were cheers from the audience.

Twilight dryly pushed her aside. "Okay, that’s great." The notes were up again, but scrambled. "Now if I could just make a point without being inter—" For the third time, she was cut off. This time, it was from Fluttershy, who poked her head up, something Chronicle didn't expect from her for some reason.

"Twilight?"

"—rupted!" The notes fell and the purple unicorn moved aside as Fluttershy stepped up.

"Twilight, I’m so sorry, but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season." On the latter part of this, Twilight rolled her eyes wearily at all these breaks in her train of thought. "She’s gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills." There was a short pause, and before long, Fluttershy cringed and slid away. 

"Anyone else?", Twilight called. "…Anyone?" There was no response except for a quiet cough. "No?" She briought her notes up yet again. "Well, then, as I was trying to say—" She paused upon realizing that the mayor was now standing next to her with an expectant grin. After a very long beat, Twilight gave up with a groan and let her notes go flying in all directions, which Chronicle promptly 'collected'. "Never mind!"

As Twilight stalked away, the mayor took her place, cleared her throat, and gestured to something on the far left (her right). "And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the “Prize Pony of Ponyville” Award to our beloved guest of honor…" Chronicle turned to see where she was indicating and saw a large trophy decorated with a blue ribbon. It was gold and shaped like a two-handled oil lamp, supported by three pillars, and topped by a rearing filly. "…a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity…Ponyville’s most capable and dependable friend…" The mayor then gestured to her left (the audience's right) "…Applejack!"

At the right side of the pavilion, a curtain was pulled open, exposing…absolutely nothing. Cheers quickly give way to gasps and silence, with the exception of Spike. 

"Way to go, Applejack, that was awesome! I mean…" The baby dragon fell quiet upon finding himself on the wrong end of quizzical glances from his friends and an angry one from Twilight. The mayor, at a total loss, cleared her throat. "Awkward."

"You tell me.", agreed Mystic.

"I’m here!", Applejack's voice was heard. A blond mane, brown stetson, part of an orange-tan head, and a pile of apples made their way through the crowd. "I’m here!" She then gave off a yawn as apples fell loose, leaving fruit in her wake as some ponies reacted with shock as she passed. "Sorry I’m late, whoa…I was just…" She was then heard stumbling over something. "Did I get your tail?"

Finally reaching the lectern, she thrust her face into the mayor’s, with two full apple baskets slung on her back. The bags developing under her eyes betrayed the fact that she had been hard at work and it had cut deeply into her sleep time. But what's so important today that she'd eschew rest for who knows how many days? Chronicle wondered.

Meanwhile, Applejack pushed the mayor aside. "Miss Mayor, hank you kindly for this here, uh, award thingie." She stepped over to look at it and yawned. "It’s so bright and shiny, and…" She then gave a drowsy yawn. "I sure do look funny." She then began pushing her head forward and pulling it back and forth, making high-pitched “whoo-ooo” noises. Pinkie joined her after a moment while Twilight made her way up as well, looking truly confused as she stood on the other side of the trophy.

"Oo-kay…well, thank you, Applejack, for saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony.", the purple unicorn finally said.

Applejack gave another yawn. "Yeah, I like helpin’ the pony folks and…and stuff." She dozed off and begins to snore. A moment later, she shook herself awake. "Oh, uh…yeah, uh, thanks!" Gripping one of the trophy’s handles in her teeth, she dragged it backward off the stage and through the crowd.

Once she was gone, Twilight was the first to speak. "Was it just me, or did Applejack seem a little—" 

"Tired?", Rainbow finished.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy.

"Fatigued?" Mystic.

"Messy?" Rarity. This earned her puzzled looks from the others. "Well, did you see her mane?"

Pinkie jumped onto the stage. "She seemed fine to me. Whoo-ooo!"

"Given how you are, of course you wold think she's fine.", snarked Chronicle as he saw his charge make a thoughtful face.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MM—MS

Eyecatch (video-type) - Applejack doing the "Whoo-ooo" swing with Pinkie Pie on stage with the trophy. The show's logo is seen on the lower right.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MM—MS

Later…

Twilight Sparkle and Chronicle, the latter not having to go to Mystic's dojo as he wasn't conducting classes until later, decided to visit Applejack to see how she was doing. From what they saw, a short distance away, she was filling tubs with apples by bucking the trees bearing them. They could also see that, if anything, she was even more tired than she was at the award ceremony.

"Phew!", they heard her say as her head then drooped for a moment before she shook herself out of it and squinted behind herself, rearing up for another go. This time, she was too far away from a tree and hit nothing but air—and the tree had already been cleaned off to boot. 

"What on earth is that pony doing?", Twilight asked herself.

Applejack repositioned herself and tried again, but kicked over an apple tub instead of hitting the tree. "Whoops." 

"Hey, Applejack!", the two unicorns called. "Applejack!" The harvester paid no mind to either of them as Chronicle walked over to the upended tub and 'refilled' it with the dropped apples. "Applejack!" 

After still no reply, Twilight fires up her horn and teleported over to stand right in front of Applejack while her bodyguard just walked over.

"APPLEJACK!", his charge yelled and the farmpony woke up with a start.

"Howdy, Twilight.", she greeted, not noticing Chronicle behind her.

"What is all this?"

Applejack just walked past as she replied, "It’s applebuck season." Twilight teleported over to her as she bucked another tree while Chronicle just walked again. "Whoa."

"Apple-what season?"

Applejack kept moving. "It’s what the Apple family calls harvestin’ time." Another teleport from Twilight and another walk-over from her bodyguard. "We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell ’em."

"Oh right.", Chronicle spoke up. "I remember one of your cousins in Appleloosa tell me about this before we returned to Ponyville."

"Ahh! Chronicle! I didn't see you there!"

"If you weren't so fatigued, you would've heard me walking over."

"But why are you doing it all alone?", Twilight asked Applejack.

"’Cause Big Macintosh hurt himself." Another teleport and walk-over and she stopped.

"What about all those relatives I met when I first came to Ponyville? Can’t they help?"

Applejack gave a sigh before moving again. "They were just here for the Apple family reunion. They actually live all over Equestria and are busy harvestin’ their own orchards. So, uh, I’m on my own." Yet another teleport and walk-over and this time his charge was blocking the farmpony's path. "Which means I should really get back to work." Her two unicorn friend held their ground, leaving them and Applejack to stare each other down for a moment. Applejack cleared her throat. "Hint, hint? Get back to work?"

"Fine.", the two conceded as they walked off.

Applejack began to sway from side to side. "Could you step aside, Twilight, Chronicle?"

"We just did.", said the stallion, noticing that her vision seemed to be off. From what he could tell from her face, Applejack wasn't sensing the world clearly. "Applejack, you don’t look too good." 

"Don’t none of you five worry none, I’m just fine and dandy." The tried to buck another tree but failed. "Whoa!" There was another teleport and walk-over.

"Do you…want some help?", Twilight offered.

"Help?" Applejack shook her head emphatically. "No way, no how!"

"But there’s no way you can do it all on your own." Applejack got in her face.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Um…no."

Applejack turned to Chronicle for an answer. "Does is have to be?", he asked.

"Well, I’m gonna prove to you that I can do it!" Applejack walked up past the two once again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got apples to buck."

The two who have actually got a good night’s sleep bit their lower lip nervously and looked after her. After a while, Chronicle turned to his charge, "May I—"

"No." She immediately cut him off and he gave a sigh.


C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A

The next day, at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns… 

Chronicle went to the dojo to teach alongside Mystic Shield. A number of their class was absent since they had to tend to their work, but a few who weren't in last week's class were here now.

"Heartstrings, Lemon Hearts, Ponet, Greatstone.", Mystic said. "Let's test your skill in the barrier spell." The four ponies stood in a line while the rest stood outside the tatami mat. He turned to his co-teacher, who caught his drift and positioned himself in front of the four, flaring his horn for a shot. 

His targets' horns glowed and their barriers were set up. Lyra's was a gold dome, Lemon's was a light green dome, Ponet's was a purple wall, and Greatstone's was a blue wall. Chronicle fired his shots at the four and saw the results. For Greatstone, the shot did no effect on either him or the barrier. For Ponet, the barrier cracked and he visibly winced. For Lemon, the barrier held, but she seemed to react in great pain. And for Lyra, there was a massive crack and she seemed to react similarly.

"Greatstone, marvelous.", Mystic evaluated. "Ponet, good job. Lemon, you need more practice. Heartstrings, you have to concentrate more. The more focus you put on it, the lesser aching you will feel." Lyra looked down and depressed at this, as if dejected. Mystic noticed and walked over to her. "You know, there's another way to maintain a strong barrier."

"There is?", Lyra asked as Mystic raised her head with a hoof.

"Uh-huh. If simple concentration won't do it, there's this method. I call it conviction. Think of somepony you really care about, then when you cast the barrier, if you really care for them, make yourself determined to stay safe for and protect them."

Lyra seemed to lighten up. "I think I can do that."

"However, that's more of a desperation move. You should at least master the form first. And keep practicing. Still, a conviction to protect helps in keeping a barrier up." Mystic stood up, then walked back to his place. "Now. Let's proceed with the shot spell. You've seen Chronicle do it, right? Now everypony on the mat." All the unicorns did as he said., even— "Dinky? You too?"

The unicorn filly just nodded. "Uh-huh."

"I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I'm not against training children, but what would your mother say?"

"Don't worry.", said Amethyst Star. "I'll explain it to her."

"Very well. I guess it can't hurt. Just remember that you're not supposed to use this to intentionally harm anypony."

"Don't worry.", chirped Dinky. "I'm a responsible filly!"

"Okay." Mystic got back to attention. "Now. For the shot spell, remember to focus and aim." He then conjured a red-and-white dartboard target on the wall behind him, then two more so that everypony has space. "Remember that there has to be a balance of power and charge time. Too weak and you might as well be swinging a feather. Too strong and it may be too dangerous. Same thing if you charge it too fast. Charge it too slow and whatever you're trying to hit might either be gone or on to you. Now, we shall test your accuracy. One by one, you must try and shoot a target, and remember to aim for the center."

Mystic stepped aside, allowing for his students to do as he instructed. 

Bullseye was first as he charged his horn for a half-second before releasing a slim beam that hit a target in the center. "Nice job living up to your name, Bullseye."

Lemon Hearts was the second to try, charging up a shot—and releasing an arrow-shaped blast, which hit a ring just outside the center. "Okay. That's quite good."

Written Script followed, charging for a second and a half before releasing a quill-shaped shot (the type used as a writing tool, not the ones in porcupines or hedgehogs) that hit a target. "Interesting. You're getting better."

Twinkle was next, and her horn flared pink for two seconds before her shot came out—in the form of a comet that arced upward before going down landing on a target. "…Okay. Let's try it again." And Twinkle shot again. This time, she shot went straight for a while before arcing upwards to hit the ceiling. Luckily, the shot was too weak to do any damage. 

"I'm sorry.", Twinkle squeaked.

"It's all right.", Mystic replied. "I was caught off guard too. I think you'll have to stay a bit later so we figure out why your shot curved. Next."

Firecracker Burst was next as her horn glowed blue and she instantly shot a small fireball at a target, hitting it…and setting it ablaze.

Minuette immediately charged her shot and released a short beam that hit the flames…and left a small splotch of ice where it hit. "Interesting.", Mystic commented. "Firecracker, your aim could use a little more work on control. Minuette, nice job on putting her flames out. Both your spells are useful."

Comet Tail was next and he fired a comet similar to Twinkle's, but it did not curve as it hit near the edge of a target, but not missing. "You could use some more work, Comet."

Tricky and Chrono shot their blasts, which were shaped like a page and a playing card respectively. Both of them managed to hit

Lyra followed, charging her shot for a second before releasing a musical note-shaped shot that spun as it hit the target. "You're improving, Heartstrings."

Dinky was next as she charged up her horn and fired a shot, which was shaped like a small bubble, and it hit the center on one target. She did it again on the other targets, and each shot struck home. "Wow. Wonderful accuracy, Dinky."

Greatstone's shot was shaped like a rock…and it missed entirely. "Good try, Greatstone."

Sea Swirl charged her horn in a pink aura for three seconds before unleashing a medium-sized shot shaped like a dolphin, which hit a target spot on. "Sea Swirl, while that was a pretty impressive shot, we're focusing on accuracy, not power. Luckily for you, we're testing that next."

Mystic Shield walked so that he was now between the targets and his students. "Now, I want you to strike me." The ponies seemed hesitant. Mystic then 'put up' his barrier. "I meant this barrier, so I can evaluate. You don't have to worry about hurting me. Given your current progress, you won't be able to do much to me."

After positioning himself, Sea Swirl decided to go first as she fired her dolphin-shaped shot once again. It hit the barrier, and he visibly winced. "That was a powerful shot."

Greatstone 'hurled' his shot at Mystic, which dissipated upon contact with the barrier. "You got some power there, Greatstone."

Dinky was next as her shots hit the barrier, although Mystic didn't seem to be affected at the slightest. "That's quite powerful for one your age. Don't worry about it."

Lyra. "Conviction also helps in power. You're doing well."

Comet. "You need to exert a little more power"

Chrono. "Nice job."

Tricky. "Doing good."

Firecracker. This time, she fired  hot stream blaze, which failed to penetrate the barrier, but it singed the ground around it. "That's quite powerful, although more control may still be required." 

Minuette. "Not as powerful as I hoped. You still did well."

Twinkle. "You packed quite a bit there."

Written. "You remember when I said, 'Too weak and you might as well be swinging a feather'? That's what it felt like. Just concentrate some more."

Lemon. "Optimal. Nice work."

Just before Bullseye could get his turn, something crashed through the dojo's roof, landed right on Mystic, and kicked up some dust from the splinters of wood. When the dust cleared, it turns out that Rainbow Dash had crashed right on top of Mystic's barrier, which was now cracking. It shattered shortly after and the pegasus landed on the unicorn's back.

"Umm…Can I help you?", Mystic asked as he got Rainbow off of him.

The pegasus turned to Chronicle and said weakly, "I think somepony else needs your help, Chronicle."

"Applejack?", the bodyguard guessed.

"Yep." She passed out right after.

Chronicle turned to Mystic, who seemed to know what he was about to say. "It's okay. Go. I can't have any more ponies breaking through the dojo. First the door, now the roof." 

Lemon Hearts came over shortly and her horn glowed light green. A stick-on bandage colored in the same aura appeared out of nowhere and onto a medium cut Rainbow had received while she crashed through the roof. "It's a magical bandage spell.", she then explained to Mystic. "It covers a wound until it's fully healed."

"Useful spell there, Lemon Hearts."

After hearing that, Chronicle made his way out of the dojo and straight to Books and Branches Library. He looked up at the lower balcony, where he saw Twilight Sparkle was reading a book.

"Twilight!", he called, catching her attention as she walked over to the edge and look down.

"Yes, Chronicle?"

"We need to talk to Applejack again. Rainbow Dash just crashed through the roof of Mystic Shield's dojo just a minute ago."

His charge gave a sigh as she exited the balcony and soon joined him.


C—TS—T—M—LH—AS—LH—SS—RD—D—MS–G–TB–B–CC—CT—FB—P—WS

Later, at Sweet Apple Acres…

As the two unicorns walked over to see Applejack, who was bucking another apple tree, full apple baskets slung on her back. She then  ducked down to grab a fallen apple by its stem in her teeth, only yo bangs her head on a low branch as she straightened up. The hit sets her entire skull vibrating before her two friends approached within normal hearing range. 

"Applejack, can we talk?", Twilight asked.

Applejack scratched at an ear, trying to clear it. As Twilight repeated herself, Chronicle could tell that that concussion compounded with her lack of sleep has dulled her hearing.

"CAN BEES SQUAWK?", the farmpony replied. "I DON’T THINK SO!"

His charge tried again. "No. Can we talk?"

"TWENTY STALKS? BEAN OR CELERY?"

"NO! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"YOU NEED TO WALK TO THE ZOO? WELL, WHO’S STOPPIN’ YOU?"

"I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"What?! Zoo?!", Chronicle gasped to himself in panic. What's would be in a zoo in a world of sentient ponies, griffons, buffaloes, and zebras?!

"OH!", Applejack said meanwhile. "WELL, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO? WHAT YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT? "

"RAINBOW DASH DROPPED IN TO SEE CHRONICLE TODAY!", Twilight shouted back.

"THAT’S QUITE NEIGHBORLY OF HER!"

"YES, EXCEPT THAT SHE CRASHED ONTO MYSTIC SHIELD'S PLACE AFTER YOU LAUNCHED HER INTO THE AIR!"

"WHILE HE WAS TEACHING IN CLASS!", Chronicle pitched in.

There was a moment of silence before Applejack spoke up again, this time without shouting.

"Oh…yeah." She then dropped her head. "I wasn’t feelin’ quite myself this mornin’."

"Because you’re working too hard and you need help!", Twilight told her.

"What? Kelp? I don’t need kelp. I don’t even like seaweed."

"HELP!! YOU NEED HELP!!"

"Nothin’ doin’, Twilight. I’m gonna prove to you, to everypony, that I can do this on my own!"

"What's more important to you, Applejack?!", Chronicle asked her. "The harvest, or your pride?"

Applejack ignored him as she walked away…and clunked her head on the same branch. This hit knocked her eyes out of focus. "Ow! Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go help Pinkie Pie!" She then stumbled away, nearly dumping her freight of fruit and leaving Twilight to groan wearily to herself.

Chronicle then turned to face his charge. "May I—"

"No."

"It won't hurt her. Much."

"Violence is not the answer."

"Oh, come on! I'll eve start out weak."

Twilight was resolute at refusing her bodyguard whatever he was asking. "No."

Chronicle grumbled at this. "Fine. But strike three, and I'm doin' it whether you like it or not."


C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A

Later afternoon, at Mystic Shield's dojo…

"And that's how you do the bandage spell." Lemon Hearts was finished explaining to Mystic Shield how her spell worked. 

"I see."

Rainbow Dash had since healed and exited through the hole she made in the roof. Chronicle returned for another day of teaching alongside Mystic. Lemon Hearts had to leave though, as she had work to do, of which Chronicle hadn't bothered to ask.

Today, they were going to have duels; one pony would face another and they would practice their shot spell and barrier spell. The pairings were as follows; Bullseye and Greatstone, Firecracker Burst and Comet Tail, and Ponet and Written Script. Dinky was practicing the shot spell with her spar partner Mystic Shield since he was doubtful that the others would go too easy or not easy enough.

As for Chronicle, he was facing another student who had recently enrolled. The student was a stallion with a slate blue coat, dull gold eyes, white wavy hair with light blue patches, and a safety pin cutie mark. Of course, he was a unicorn like everyone else in the dojo. 

"Are you ready, Pokey Pierce?", Chronicle asked as he flared his horn.

"Ready when you are.", the white-haired unicorn replied as he did the same, his horn glowing amber.

The carrot-top-blond one started to fire his shuriken-shaped shots while Pokey set up his panel-shaped barrier, which held as he winced. The two blue unicorns then switched roles. Chronicle set up a barrier while Pokey fired his shots. However, these ones proved to be different in comparison to all the other shots. Instead of dissipating immediately upon impact to deal damage to the barrier, Pokey's shots stayed for a while before disappearing. And upon closer inspection, he could see that they were even spinning…and making cracks at his shield.

Pokey stopped shortly after and asked, "Is there something amiss?"

"I noticed your shots were different from the others."

"How so?"

"Well, not only did they stay hitting the barrier for longer, they also actually began to crack my shield."

"Wow. Are my shots that powerful?"

"No. Regardless of my concentration, the cracks were constant."

"Pokey Pierce. Chronicle.", Mystic called. "Continue sparring."

"Yes, Master Shield.", they both said as they continued. 


C—LH—MS—PP—C—LH—MS—PP—C—LH—MS—PP

Half an hour later…

"Wow, you're doing pretty well, Dinky."

Dinky was still practicing with Mystic as he began testing her barrier spell by throwing pebbles. He wasn't going to use his own shot spell for this, especially given what Amethyst Star said concerning their mother…

"Thank you, Master Shield.", Dinky replied with a smile on her face.

"You're doing quite well, if I do say so myself."

Just then, the doors opened as Minuette came in, 'carrying' a bag of treats.

"Minuette.", Firecracker greeted, oblivious to the glare the blue unicorn mare gave shortly after, then resumed smiling.

"Hey, guys. I got muffins I bought from Sugarcube Corner." Nearly everypony else lightened up and gathered around him. Mystic just smacked himself in the face with a hoof. As for Chronicle, he seemed to react badly.

Uh oh. Sugarcube Corner? Chronicle's mind was in overdrive. They've been baking together. Given Applejack's condition, she would misintepret Pinkie's commands. And with Pinkie Pie being who she is, she won't be paying attention to what's being put in. That means— He then realized what that meant and he immediately ran for Minuette's muffin bag.

"DON'T EAT THE MUFFINS!!!", two voices called out.

Minuette could only stand in confusion as Chronicle sped straight for her. At around the same time, a gray blur headed the same way from outside. The blue-and-white-haired unicorn saw this too, dropped the bag, and got out of the way as the two forces collided, kicking up smoke. When it cleared, Derpy Hooves was on top of Chronicle, who had the muffin bag held in his arcanokinesis field. The scene was too awkward for anyone to say a word. Then Dinky was the first to speak. 

"Mom?", she asked.

"My little muffin!", Derpy cried out affectionately and pounced her in a hug.

"Derpy's your mother, Dinky?", Chronicle asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Derpy. You sensed something wrong with the muffins?" As it was, both of them had cried out the warning to not eat them.

"Yup.", Derpy replied. "I was among those who got the free samples." She then approached the muffin bag, reached into it with a wing, and took it out. From what both of them could see, it was thoroughly unappetizing, mud-colored, and an earthworm poked out of one of them. "The ingredients of the muffins are potato chips, soda pop, lemons, and earthworms. There was no baking soda, flour, or wheat germ used in baking these muffins. And those are very important ingredients."

Everypony in the dojo stood there in stunned silence save for Dinky. As it was, Derpy wasn't commonly known for any sort of brilliance. "Wow. Didn't think you could tell what's in a muffin."

"I bake muffins for them whenever I can.", Derpy said with a smile as she brought Dinky into her forelegs and gave a friendly noogie. "I love them so much." Just then, she paused in horror as if realizing she forgot something. "Oh no! Sparkler! She ate one of the muffins!"

"Is big sister okay?!", asked Dinky.

"I hope so. Let's go see her!"

With that, Derpy was off, her daughter in tow. Chronicle turned to Mystic, who sighed and nodded, then he took off after Derpy.

"Hold on! If you took a muffin, how are you not sick?", he asked the wall-eyed pegasus.

"A worm came out of my muffin before I could eat it, so I knew it wasn't safe to!"


C—T—D—DH—MS—FB—C—T—D—DH—MS—FB

Soon…

The three reached a clearing with open air tents, although Chronicle lost track of Derpy, who mysteriously disappeared, presumably in one of the tents. Just then, he caught sight of his charge and Spike in front of another of the tent's curtains. Just as he joined them, the curtain was pulled aside by a somewhat frazzled-looking white earth pony mare. She had light blue eyes, light pink mane and tail with the former gathered in a bun, and a red-cross cutie mark with a small pink heart tucked into each corner. This design was repeated on the white nurse’s cap she wore. If he remembered correctly, her name was Nurse Redheart.

"We came as soon as we heard.", his charge said, not noticing that her bodyguard was now with them.

Redheart gave a sigh. "Thank you, Twilight. We need all the help we can get." She then stepped aside to show the victims of what he presumed was the muffins. He saw Sea Swirl, Daisy, Twinkle, Carrot Top, Lemon Hearts, Berry Punch, and Pinkie Pie. 

Some of the patients’ faces have gone green. And one was vomiting into a bucket, much to Chronicle's horror. Luckily, she didn't seem to have—he shook the thought off, spooked at the idea. 

Twilight seemed to have the same thoughts as well. Or perhaps something somewhat less so. "Oh, no! What happened?"

Spike noticed a half-eaten muffin on the floor, picked it up, and was surprised to see a worm poke out of it. "It was a mishap with some of the baked goods.", explained Redheart. 

"No…not baked goods…baked bads!", Pinkie corrected, green-faced before throwing up into a bucket.

Twilight recoiled for a moment, then regained her nerve. "Applejack!", she concluded.

"Yup.", agreed Chronicle, then turned to Redheart as he ignored his charge's startled look. "How bad was it?"

"Luckily, it wasn't as bad as it could've been thanks to our resident mailmare Derpy Hooves."

She then stopped as sounds of eager chomping were heard. They turned to see Spike scarfing down the muffin he found and had gathered up an armload. He then offered some to them. "Want one?"


C—TS—S—PP—NR—C—TS—S—PP—NR—C—TS—S—PP—NR


Eyecatch (picture-type) - The left side of the screen shows Rainbow Dash dizzy on Mystic Shield's back while in the dojo. The right side shows a sick Pinkie Pie in bed at the open-air hospital tent. Chronicle looks to the left and Twilight Sparkle looks to the right as they stand in the center, their bodies crossing the split line. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—TS—S—PP—NR—C—TS—S—PP—NR—C—TS—S—PP—NR

The next day…

Chronicle and Twilight Sparkle walked up to Applejack, who was nodding off without her hat as she hung on the high end of an upturned cart. She apparently was going to back the cart to a tub that rested in a depression between two hillocks, but had fallen asleep, resulting in gravity getting her to this position.

"Applejack.", Chronicle sternly called. "Applejack, we need to talk."

"Wha—? Huh?...Oh. It’s you, Twilight, Chronicle." She gave a yawn. "I know what you’re gonna say, but the answer is sill no."

"Not to upset your apple cart, but you need help.", Twilight said.

"Har-de-har…" She tried to flip herself down and failed. "…and no, I don’t." Again.

"Here. Let me help."

"Help?" And again, but still to no avail. "No, thanks!" The two nonplussed unicorns just watched her attempt to get herself and the cart off. "A little more…little…" Twilight clapped a hoof to her face as Applejack successfully unhooked herself out and was already moving the cart into position onto another tree, ready to buck it. "There. I’ll prove that this Apple can handle these apples." She then bucked the tree repeatedly. "Come on, apples…fall off!"

"AJ.", Chronicle called as he looked up. "I think you’re beating a dead…tree." Indeed she was; its branches bore no fruit whatsoever and only had a very few leaves. And one of them dropped loose.

"I knew that." The farmpony said as she walked off, the two unicorns following.

"Sure you did.", the bodyguard replied with sarcasm.

"Actually, Applejack, I had something else to talk to you about.", Twilight said. "I just came back from Ponyville Urgent Care and—"

"You know, I’m a little busy to get lectured right now, Twilight.", the farmpony cut her off.

"But if you’d just let me help—"

"Ugh! No, no, no!" The three of them stopped walking. "How many times do I gotta say it?" She then walked off. "I don’t need no help from nopony!" However, she was then stopped by Chronicle, who had pulled on her tail for a second to catch her attention.

"Sorry, Applejack, but I can't allow you to continue.", he said as he heard his charge complain about Applejack being as stubborn as a mule. "Already, thanks to your muffins, you poisoned THE ENTIRE—" He never got to finish as Applejack had raised her hind legs and bucked him in the face, sending him right past his charge—and a mule—into a tree, where he crashed. 

"I. WILL. DO THIS. BY MYSELF! And nopony's gonna stop me!", he heard Applejack say before closing his eyes. He was quickly woken up by an apple falling on his head. As he opened his eyes, he saw his charge and a buck-toothed mule standing beside her.

"Chronicle!", he heard his charge call.

"Are you okay?", the mule asked.

The stallion groaned as he righted himself back on all fours and rubbed his muzzle. "Do I look like I'm okay? Applejack just bucked me in the face! Sorry, but that was strike three. Regardless of your opinion or anypony else's, Twilight, I have to do this for the sake of the town!" The then trotted forward, only to fall down in pain. He had suffered some injuries in the legs from his collision with the tree. "Oww! After I get healed up first, that is. Take me to Mystic Shield. He can patch me up quick."

Twilight levitated Chronicle onto the mule's back and the three began to walk to Ponyville.


C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A

Later, at Mystic Shield's place…

"This is the second time I've had to patch you up.", Mystic said as he put on some bandages on Chronicle's injured body. There were no classes today and the two were at Mystic's living quarters behind the dojo part of his home. They were the only ponies inside.

"Yeah. Ack!" Chronicle winced as Mystic wrapped a bandage around a painful portion after casting a magical bandage spell over it, having learned it from Lemon Hearts, but not mastering it enough just yet.

"What did you get yourself into this time? I hope it's not another griffon."

"Nope. It's Applejack. Man, she's got a powerful buck. Lucky I didn't break my muzzle."

"Well, from what I've seen, a mare's muzzle is more flexible than a stallion's." The blue stallion frowned a bit at this as he didn't take the statement well, given that his face was shaped like a mare's. "Sorry. Why did she hit you?"

"I was trying to reason with her, but she cut me off before I could tell her that she had nearly poisoned the entire town."

"But didn't she?", Mystic asked as he 'picked up' another roll of white bandages.

"Thanks to Derpy's warning, no. I tell you she knows her muffins well."

"Did you or did you not have your shield spell up when she attacked you?"

"No, I didn't."

Mystic sighed in relief. "For a second, I thought she—"

"Oh, please." Chronicle scoffed off his friend's thoughts as more bandages were applied. Luckily, he suffered no splinters. "She was fatigued. I doubt she would've hurt me that much. But given what she managed to do to me, if she were at peak condition, I doubt I would've gotten off unscathed even with a barrier up."

"Hmm…all this time, unicorns have been the only ones I've shown plenty of concern for."

"If only because they're the only ones who can learn what you wish to teach."

"Yeah, that's probably it." Mystic nodded as he finished patching up his friend. "There. All done."

"Thanks, Mystic Shield."

"You're welcome."

"STAMPEDE!!", a familiar voice called out.

"Again?", Mystic wondered as he and Chronicle left the living quarters. "What's making it this time?"

"Well, whatever it is, it ain't a herd o' cattle. Or if it is, just not as many as last time."

Just then, the doors slammed open as a number of ponies went in. They then promptly closed the door right after.

"What's going on?", asked Mystic. "What's out there?"

"You do not want to find out.", said one of the ponies. It was Sea Swirl.

"Come on. How bad is it?" Just then, there was a small flash. As it turned out, Chronicle had teleported. But where?

The answer was the roof of Mystic's place. There, the blue unicorn looked over what was going on and couldn't believe his eyes. The culprits of the stampede were…bunnies. He then recalled what Fluttershy had said; she was going to have Applejack help her in the bunny census. And given had happened in the previous days, he could tell that it wasn't good. From what he could guess, Applejack probably herded them like she did the cattle, causing them to panic.

Also, he realized that while this would've been ridiculous at first sight, he then saw that these bunnies were eating the plants in the gardens. By themselves. With nopony telling them what to do. Just like the animals in the Everfree Forest! Not to mention the plants they're eating might have various side effects for the bunnies.

Taking this in, we went for the hole Rainbow Dash had made yesterday, and looked down it to see Mystic looking back up, as if knowing he had gone there. "What's happening outside?"

"A bunny stampede."

"Seriously?"

"And they're eating what's in the gardens."

"That's not good, now that I think of it. If this continues, they'll take some of the town's food supply! Not to mention medicine."

"And the bees too.", another pony said. Mystic turned to see Holly Dash. "Without the flowers, they won't find nectar to gather, or in turn, anything to pollinate. And that could be very bad…"

"Got it. I'm heading out." With that, he exited his dojo as Chronicle jumped down to join him and landed in a roll. Together, the two of them went out to see what they could to to help.


C—MS—HD—C—MS—HD—C—MS—HD—C—MS—HD

Soon…

Twilight was trotting along the street and humming cheerfully to herself. However, she then stopped short with a gasp, seeing three unconscious earth pony mares before her. Daisy, Lily, and Rose. 

"The horror!", cried out Rose. "The horror!"

"It was awful!", said Lily.

"A disaster!", Daisy lamented. "A horrible, horrible disaster!"

The cause of which had Twilight mystified, since the street was empty and quiet. "I don’t get it."

Lily rushed to a ruined vegetable patch. "Our gardens, destroyed!"

Rose raced to some denuded flowerpots. "Every last flower, devoured!"

Daisy still lay in the street. "By…by…them!" She pointed to a  of bunnies chowing down on every bit of greenery in sight.

Twilight could also see Fluttershy in a state of panic. "Oh, my…oh, please stop, little bunnies…oh…no, no…please, let’s go home…" She then ran off to chase a few. "…no…oh…oh, my goodness!"

She could also see Chronicle and Mystic 'picking up' bunnies and 'hoisting' them in baskets not unlike the ones Applejack used to carry the apples she was still harvesting. They had then hung them somewhere safe. While the bunnies could easily jump off, they didn't seem to want to.

"All right.", Twilight said to herself. "Enough is enough!"

"Twilight!", her bodyguard called. "Gonna speak with Applejack again?"

"What else do you think?", she called back.

"I'm coming with you.", offered Mystic. "Twice she's already indirectly disrupted my classes."

"But isn't Winona there?", Chronicle warned. "You're scared of her, aren't you?"

"I'll take my chances just this once."


C—TS—F—MS—C—TS—F—MS—C—TS—F—MS

Shortly after, at Sweet Apple Acres…

The three unicorns trotted up a hill where Applejack was weakly bucking a tree. "Must…keep…buckin’...just…a few…more…must…finish…harvestin’…", she muttered as the three came up to her with their complaints.

Twilight was the first. "All right, Applejack. Your applebucking hasn’t just caused you problems. It’s over-propelled pegasus, practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand-new bouncing baby bunnies."

Mystic was next. "And those first two have twice interrupted the self-defense classes I've been teaching." In spite of the possibility of Winona being around, he decided to brave it just to voice his complaint.

Chronicle was last. "I don’t care what you say, you need help!"

One more buck brought down a double basketful of apples. "Hah! No, I don’t. Look, I did it!" Applejack pointed to one part of the orchard. From what the unicorns could see—in addition to Big Macintosh coming over—every visible tree has been cleaned of its fruit. "I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without your help. How d’you like them apples?"

They then looked at another part of the orchard…and it turns out only half of the work had been finished. And Macintosh was quick to point it out to his sister as he spoke in a slow and thoughtful tone and gesture his head. "Um…how do you like them apples?"

Applejack turned as well and she shuddered in panic upon realizing she was only half-finished. "Where’d all the apple…" Her speech degenerated into unintelligible mumbling as her eyes went out of focus, and she tottered back and forth before finally crashing to the ground. 

After a while, Mystic said, "Okay. I don't think I can stick around this place any longer."

Chronicle turned to Applejack's older brother and said, "Uh, Macintosh?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you please escort Mystic out of the farm and make sure he doesn't see Winona?"

"Why?"

"He's a cynophobic. Afraid of dogs."

"Eeyup." With that, the large earth pony accompanied Mystic on the way out of the acres.

Behind him, he heard Twilight calling Applejack's name. As he turned around, the farmpony had come to, and was lying on her back. 

"Huh?", she uttered.

"Oh, good. You’re okay.", Twilight said. "Now, Applejack, I completely respect the Apple family ways. You’re always there to help anypony in need," She didn't notice her friend look nervously off toward the trees that still needed harvesting. "So maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you."

There was a long pause. And he heard Applejack concede. "Okay, Twilight."

"I am not taking no for an answer." She then paused upon realizing what Applejack said. "What?"

"Yes, Twilight." Applejack then put her front hooves together beseechingly. "Yes, please. I could really use your help."

Smiling, Twilight chuckled to herself and let off a relieved little sigh. It was then that Chronicle decided to come over.

"I'm glad you've come to your senses.", he said with a smile, which then turned into a frown. "However, I cannot allow you to simply rest after all that's happened thanks to you." Then, from "hammerspace", he 'procured' a frying pan. "Twilight, I'm only going to say this once; step aside." Upon seeing his resolute face, his charge decided to do as he said as he then walked up to Applejack.

"Huh? What are you—"

She didn't get to finish as the bodyguard 'brought down' his pan hard on her stomach, forcing her to yelp in pain. "This is for inadvertently destroying Mystic Shield's roof!" He then 'delivered' another blow. "This is for poisoning the town with those muffins! If it weren't for Derpy it could've been worse!" Another blow. "This is for ruining part of Ponyville's food supply and medicine supply with the bunny stampede!" Yet another blow. "And this is for bucking me in the face!" For good measure, he 'delivered' one last blow.

"Oww! Now what was that last one for?", Applejack asked, groaning in pain.

"If fatigue won't convince you to rest, I figured a serious injury should. Nothing personal, but I can't let you off with mere words." He then smiled again and he 'picked up' Applejack, hoisted her on his back, then made a stern face. "Let this be a lesson for you. When I get angry, I will use force, whether you're a friend or enemy. However, I will only use the proportional amount; something like this and just a beat-up, someone threatens to harm my charge or friends and I'll harm them back, and if one's out to end any of you, I'll end them." Applejack seemed to shudder for a split second at this. "I take the general safety of my charge and the ponies around me seriously. Please don't make me have to do this again, are we clear?"

He could see nothing but a nod from Applejack. With that, he resumed his smile. "Good."


C—TS—A—BM—MS—C—TS—A—BM—MS—C—TS—A—BM—MS

Later that day…

Applejack's friends were gathered at the Acres, doing what they could to assist. Rainbow Dash was bucking a tree so that its fruit fell into a cart pulled by Pinkie Pie. Mystic was pitching in—still wary in case Winona showed up—as he and Chronicle 'picked' apples from two trees and 'set' them on their baskets. Fluttershy was letting apples from another tree drop into baskets on her back, all just by looking at them somehow since nopony was picking them up and dropping them. Rarity was carrying two full ones away. As for Twilight, she was levitating apples off a large stretch of trees and moving them to fall into three huge tubs.

As they finished, Applejack—now properly rested, and with a swath of bandages wrapped around her midsection, which Macintosh had said he had similarly worn around two weeks before—pushed a beverage cart carrying eight bottles of apple juice, complete with straws.

Applejack called to the rest, "How about y’all take a little break? I got some fine apple juice waitin’ for you." Everypony gathered at a table where she had set up the drinks. She then gave a sigh. "Girls, boys, I can’t thank you enough for this help. I was actin’ a bit stubborn."

"A bit?", Twilight echoed.

"Okay, a might’ stubborn. And I’m awful sorry. Now, I know the town gave me the Prize Pony award, but the real award…is havin’ you all as my friends."

"Hold it there.", cut in Mystic as everypony drank through the straws. "I'm not that close to all of you just yet."

As he then proceeded to drink as well, Spike walked up as Rainbow finished her drink and pulled away from her straw. "Phew! That applebucking sure made me hungry." 

"And I’ve got the perfect treat!", Spike offered as he held up the botched, half-eaten muffins.

Pinkie, who was next to him, recoiled at the sight. "Ewww! Spike, I threw those away! Where’d you get them?"

"From the trash!"

"EWWW!!", everypony said as they started to leave.

Spike followed them, insistent. "Just a little nibble? Come on…"

There were more collective sounds of disgust as Mystic said, "As my student Bullseye would say, 'As if!'"


C—S—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—S—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


“Dear Princess Celestia: My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she’s always there to help anypony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it. So while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it’s also about accepting what our friends have to offer. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
> Chapter 15: Feeling Pinkie Keen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15: Feeling Pinkie Keen

Daytime in Ponyville…

At a hill near the town square pavilion. Twilight Sparkle was testing a new spell on Spike, Chronicle standing by in case of emergencies. The baby dragon had a rock balanced on his head, some leaves around his neck, and a twig in his hand like a cane. 

The purple unicorn was casting a spell and aiming her horn at her assistant, strain showing on her face. A quick poof turned the leaves into a tuxedo jacket and ruffled shirt with a red bow tie, and a second one left him holding a gold-headed walking stick instead of a twig. Spike looked back over his shoulder with slight trepidation.

"Eyes over here, Spike!", Twilight reminded him.

"Uh, sorry."

"Interesting.", Chronicle noted as the rock on Spike's head bobbed up off his head and changed into a glossy top hat. 

"For this to work, it’s crucial we keep our concentration totally on the—"

Spike was suddenly distracted by a familiar voice a distance away. And the brand-new headwear promptly resumed its rock-like qualities, dropping squarely on Spike’s noggin, smashing him down. By the time he hit the ground, his tux and stick have turned back as well.

Twilight was annoyed at this. "Spike! This magic needs our full attention to make it happen! There’s no other way!"

"Can you teach me the specifics of that spell?", her bodyguard asked. "I need to know so I can decide whether or not to learn it."

"Why?"

"If I can temporarily turn any object into a shield or weapon, it'll be useful. If coordination between two individuals is required to make it work, I'll deem it as too much effort."

"Sorry.", Spike apologized as he got up. "I can’t help it!" He then gestured somewhere. "Look!"

The something was Pinkie Pie, who stuck her head—covered by an umbrella hat—out from behind a tree and dashes into some bushes. Next, she ducked underneath a porch, risked a peek, and zipped away to a rock. As the three looked on, totally bewildered, she lifted it up off herself and darted away, letting it slam back down. 

Twilight sighed impatiently at this. "Never mind her. She’s just being Pinkie Pie."

Spike scratched his head. "Super-extra-Pinkie Pie today."

Pinkie’s next move was to tiptoe across the green space between two houses. Before she got clear though, she stopped stock-still and her tail begans to twitch. She eyed it as if it were a rattlesnake about to strike. "Huh…twitchy twitch-a-twitch-a-twitch." As it settled down, Twilight, Chronicle, and Spike approached.

"Pinkie Pie, what in the wide wide world of Equestria are you up to?", the bookworm asked.

"Oh, it’s my tail!" She put it in Twilight’s face. "It’s my tail!" Twilight raised her head and pushed the magenta fluff down with a hoof. "It’s a-twitch-a-twitchin’!" She then turned around to face them. "And you know what that means!" 

There was a long pause. "Actually, Pinkie, I haven’t the slightest idea."

Pinkie dropped into a huddle. "The twitchin’ means my Pinkie Sense is telling me that stuff’s gonna start falling! You two better duck for cover!" As Twilight and Spike traded a smile, Chronicle decided to look up, and made a face.

"Oh, Pinkie, it’s not gonna rain. Why, there’s barely even a cloud in the—" She never got to finish that thought due to the frog that dropped from above and stopped an inch from her face. As it was, Chronicle managed to 'catch' it in time. 

"Whoever said rain was the only thing that can fall from above?", Chronicle said as the frog gave them a loud, cheerful ribbit and Pinkie stood up. 

"He just said 'nice catch' in Frog.", Pinkie translated. The frog repeated itself while she smiled and Twilight grimaced mightily. 

"If I hadn't caught him, he might've landed on your horn, Twilight. And that would be terrible." He then looked up. "Hi, Fluttershy.", the bodyguard greeted as he waved a hoof upward, inadvertently 'dropping' the frog as it landed on his charge's face.

The two mares and one dragon looked up to see said pegasus hovering some distance up. She was toting saddlebags full of frogs, carrying a basket on one foreleg, hauling a cartload, and letting one extra ride on her head.

"Oh, I’m so, so sorry.", Fluttershy apologized. "You okay, Twilight Sparkle? I just couldn’t stand to see the pond getting so overpopulated, what with the frogs all hopping into each other and all. So I decided to fly as many as I can on over to Froggy Bottom Bog."

"Of course you did.", Twilight replied levelly as Fluttershy got the basket handle in her teeth.

"Bye-bye!" Once she was gone with her croaking cargo, the dropped frog was now hanging onto Twilight’s cheek.

"Um, Twilight? You got a little something on your face there.", said Pinkie.

Twilight replied with sarcasm. "Oh, really? Did your Pinkie Sense tell you that too?"

"Nah. I could just see it." As she trotted off, singing to herself, the frog took its leave of Twilight, launching itself with enough force to set her whole head vibrating for a moment.

"Come on, Spike. Let’s continue our practice session where there’s a little less commotion." As Twilight walked off, the boys followed, with Spike jumping on her back.

"Wow! That was amazing!", said the dragon. "Pinkie Pie predicted something would fall, and it did!"

"Oh, come on. She said something would fall, and a frog just happened to fall right around the same time. A coincidence. Nothing else to it."

"Well, the Pinkie Sense sounds interesting.", Chronicle said. "I mean, with pegasi having their wings and us unicorns having their magic—" He was interrupted by Pinkie rocketing right at them from behind and hopping frantically in place with her tail vibrating, then standing on her forelegs.

"My tail, my tail! Twitch-a-twitch! Twitch-a-twitch!" While Spike looked fearfully around, Chronicle looked around, not only up, but ahead as well, and noticed something. "Something else is gonna fall!"

As the the umbrella-hatted pony collapsed onto her haunches, Twilight walked away, carrying Spike. "Oh, Pinkie, please. Nothing else is gonna faaaAAAAAA—" She was cut off by a sudden pull of her tail and the front half of her body dropping—getting Spike off of her back and onto a ditch, which she would've fallen to as well if Chronicle didn't 'pull' her tail in time, leaving her other half dangling at the edge. 

Knocked silly, Spike said, "Oh, no! I fell!" 

"And Twilight almost did too were it not for me.", added the bodyguard, gently 'letting go' of his charge and letting her slide down. "And now she has." As Pinkie walked up to him, he turned to address her. "Is it, uhh…safe to go help them? Anything else incoming?"

"It’s okay.", Pinkie assured as she swished her tail. "My tail’s stopped twitching." With a toss of her head, she relieved herself of the umbrella hat and trotted away singing. 

Chronicle regarded her and the dropped headgear, 'picked up' the hat, stowed it into "hammerspace", then peeked into the ditch with a groan.  Twilight was growling quietly and she and Spike worked their way back up to vertical.

"That was amazing!", Spike said in spite of his injury.

"Oh, please.", groaned Twilight.

"Uh, Twilight?", they heard Applejack call. "Why are you hangin’ out in a ditch?"

"Because Pinkie Pie predicted it!", Spike replied as he and Twilight peeked up from the ditch. There was a look of surprise from Applejack.

"Honestly, Spike, she did not. Two coincidences in a row like this may be unlikely, but it’s still easier to believe than twitchy tails that predict the future." Twilight swished her own tail at the proper moment to make the point.

"I'll have to agree for now.", said Chronicle. "Twice is still just a coincidence."

Suddenly, Applejack managed to voice an unnerved gasp and neigh at the same time. "Twitchy tail?", she gasped as she reared up. "Pinkie Sense?" Then she dashed and took cover beneath a nearby produce cart, pulling her hat down tighter with a scared moan before Spike crossed to her.

"Don’t worry, it’s safe. The prediction already came true. "

Twilight climbed out of the ditch as Applejack emerged from the cart. "Oh, wait. Don’t tell me you believe in this stuff too."

"I know it doesn’t make much sense, but those of us who have been in Ponyville a while have learned over time that if Pinkie’s a-twitchin’, you better listen."

Right on cue, Pinkie showed up. This time, though, her ears were doing the mambo. "My ears are flopping, my ears are flopping!" 

Spike recoiled in terror with a cry. "What does that mean?"

Pinkie turned to face Twilight. "I’ll start a bath for you."

"Huh?", She then laughed as Spike and Applejack backed while Chronicle looked at the street. "A bath? This thing keeps on getting more ridiculous by the minute!" 

The fact that she actually finished this bit of criticism did not stop another calamity from almost befalling her. In this case, she would've been splattered with mud thrown up by a passing hay wagon were it not for Chronicle putting up a panel barrier between her and the dirty water. However, the bodyguard had neglected to shield himself and was the one muddied instead since he stood next to her.

"Okay.", Chronicle managed to say. "Pinkie. You'll need to start a bath, but for me instead." Twilight just sank to her haunches with an infuriated groan.


C—TS—S—A—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—F—PP

Later, in Sugarcube Corner…

Chronicle was in a full sudsy bathtub in the bathroom reserved for Pinkie and the Cakes, the owners of the store. His charge stood nearby much to his slight embarrassment. Even though nudity was a non-issue, being in a tub with a female in sight was something he was still getting used to. He blew some of the bubbles away as Pinkie emerged from behind him and the candy/sweets print curtain, a bottle of bubble bath soap balanced on her head. 

"So basically, it works like this.", Pinkie explained her Sense as she set the bottle by the sink. "I get different little niggly feelings and they mean different things." She proceeded to demonstrate. "Like when my back is itchy, it means it’s my lucky day. And when my knee gets pinchy, that means something scary’s about to happen."

"Is your knee pinchy now?", Twilight asked.

Pinkie flexed the joint. "No, but my shoulder’s achy. That means there’s an alligator in the tub."

Chronicle plunged his head into the soap suds, then came up a second later 'holding up' a small one that bore impossibly pinkish-purple eyes. "You mean this alligator?", he asked flatly without a trace of fright.

Twilight however freaked out so badly that she jumped to a short stool just behind her with a cry and balanced all four hooves on it. "How come your knee didn’t get pinchy?", she asked as Pinkie took the little reptile from Chronicle's arcanokinetic "grip". "That isn’t just scary, it’s downright dangerous!" 

"No, it’s not, silly!", Pinkie said. This is my pet alligator Gummy." Gummy opened its mouth, exposing toothless gums. "He’s got no teeth!" He then jumped and nipped her foreleg. "See?" Neither this nip, nor the ones that followed to her mane and tail, had any ill effects, and she even giggled as he plied his gums on her.

"Okay, okay. I get it."

"Strange. From what I read about alligators, their teeth regrow quickly.", Chronicle said. "And even without them, his bite still should've hurt hard. Where'd you get him?"

"I'm not allowed to say. Neither the writ—", Pinkie was about to answer when Chronicle gave a death glare. She then remembered the promise she made to him. "Oh, sorry."

"Never mind. Perhaps you can tell me later."

"Okey-dokey-lokey!"


C—TS—PP—C—TS—PP—C—TS—PP—C—TS—PP

Later…

As the three ponies left Sugarcube Corner, Twilight still refused to acknowledge what just happened. "Well, I still don’t believe all this “special power” stuff. It’s just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo."

"What’s not to believe?", Pinkie asked. "You do magic." Twilight stopped in surprise as the earth pony went on. "What’s the difference?"

"Huge!" Twilight galloped to catch up, finding Pinkie stopped at a well near a cart selling cleaning products. 

As Chronicle caught up, he saw his charge notice a crate on the ground, push the items aside and climb atop it. Soapbox, heheh., he mentally giggled.

"For one thing…", Twilight then cleared her throat. "…magic—"

"Unicorn magic.", he cut in.

"—is something you study and practice.", she continued as if he hadn't interrupted. 

"Like science."

"It only happens when you decide to do it, and it’s meant to make something specific, that you choose to happen, happen! With you, uh…it makes no sense at all!"

"That’s so not true, Twilight.", Pinkie argued. "Sometimes it’s a bunch of random things happening to my body at random times that supposedly predict the future. I call ’em 'combos'."

Twilight jumped down and walked to the library, which was close by. “Combos?” 

Pinkie hopped after her toward the library as they rounded Chronicle's training range. "Sure! You know, like ear flop, then knee twitch, then eye flutter?" She showed off each movement in the sequence as she named it. "That means the sky is about to be graced with a beautiful rainbow." 

"Yeah. Sure.", Twilight said dismissively as she headed for the door.

"Uh-oh. I feel a combo coming on." And it went off, step by step. "Ear flop…eye flutter…knee twitch!"

The bookworm unicorn just threw a skeptical glance back from the library doorstep, then got the entire door thrown at her—more precisely, slammed into her face by Spike, who backed out with a stack of books. When it swings shut, she was squashed flat across its woodwork, from which she slid down with a pained moan to wind up in a heap on the doorstep.

"You said that combo meant 'beautiful rainbow.'", Twilight moaned woozily.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no.", Pinkie said as she acted out. "You’re thinking of an ear flop, then knee twitch, then eye flutter." 

"Hmm…same movements, wrong order, different message.", Chronicle said. "Right, Pinkie?"

"Yup! This was an ear flop, then eye flutter, then knee twitch. That usually means “look out for opening doors.” You okay?" Twilight got up.

Twilight was absolutely frustrated. "I don’t believe this!" 

Pinkie got into her face. You don’t believe because you don’t understand." She then backed off.

"Hmmm…"


C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP

In the basement of the library…

Chronicle looked in awe at the bubbling flask in a rack, then to the rest of the laboratory equipment, then at the root-covered ceiling. Stairs led down into this area. "Wow. How'd you get all of this in, Twilight?", he asked. "Unless the previous owner was a scientist, which I somehow doubt."

Pinkie stood on her hind legs behind a console, resting her forelegs on it and wearing a helmet covered with diodes. Near her was a strip chart recorder that has been hooked up to the console. Twilight—who had ignored her bodyguard's comment—gripped one last wire in her teeth and plugged it into the helmet. As the diodes winked to life, she threw a burst of telekinesis at two clamps on the console, causing them to flip shut on Pinkie’s forelegs and hold her in place.

"Okay." Twilight said as the recorder started cranking out graphs and chuffing steam. "Now when you get another twitch, we’ll have all kinds of scientific information."

"Okey-dokey-lokey!", Pinkie replied cheerfully. Her expression rearranged itself into stoic composure as she stood there and Twilight watched both her and the chart. Nothing happened for several seconds, except for the periodic puffs of steam coming off the recorder.

"This isn't gonna work.", Chronicle groaned.

"Any twitches yet?", asked Twilight.

"Nopey-dopey!", Pinkie replied cheerfully.

Chronicle decided ask questions to pass the time. "Pinkie, back in the Everfree Forest, when Nightmare Moon set up those faces in the trees, did your knee get pinchy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did it get pinchy when you saw the Ursa Minor? Provided you did see it."

"A bit."

"Does it get pinchy during a thunderstorm?"

"Nope."

Okay. So she isn't scared of lightning. It's not even scary, just startling. "Did it get pinchy when you mistrusted Zecora back then?"

"Now that I think of it, no."

"Did your tail twitch before I fell off the ravine? Or the mountain? You know when."

"I do and yup."

"Did it twitch at any time during the buffalo-settler war back in Appleloosa?" Those falling attack pies.

"Uh-huh."

"How many times did your back itch?"

"Is this even relevant?", Twilight asked.

"Duh. Those events that would trigger the Pinkie Sense could've easily happened. And I needed to know." Provided she isn't lying.

His charge groaned in impatience. "Now? Anything?" 

Pinkie concentrated for a moment. "Wait! Hold on! …Uh, no."

"Are you kidding me? After a whole day of nonstop twitching, now that I’ve got you all hooked up, you’re not getting a single one?"

"I don’t control it. They just come and go."

"That makes no sense!"

"Sometimes you just have to believe in things, even when you can’t figure ’em out." 

Twilight got in her face. "I will not believe in anything I cannot explain."

"I don't think you're doing this experiment right.", Chronicle told his charge. "Given what we—or at least I—figured out so far, this place doesn't have the proper conditions for the Pinkie Sense to operate. No bathtubs, no alligators, no doors to look out for, nopony needing to look out for them, nothing here at risk of falling, luck being an incalculable factor, nothing that can elicit the need of a bath… There's just little chance to make it work right now." Unless a giant extraterrestrial object is about to land right here. "I mean, we're just standing in a basement without moving. That means nothing whatsoever is going to happen, so there's nothing for Pinkie Sense to predict."

"Wait!", Pinkie suddenly said. "Hold on…I’m feeling something…"

"Oh my gosh!" Twilight gasped as she looked at the chart. "What? What is it?"

The answer was a loud grumble from Pinkie’s gut. "It’s my tummy! That usually means I’m hungry. Let’s eat!" 

"That's not the Pinkie Sense at work.", Chronicle grumbled as his charge gave out a loud groan. "Just about every sentient animal has that."

"You know what?", the exasperated scientist said before yanking the wires out with her teeth, shutting down the entire rig, and spitting them away. "Just forget it! I don’t need to know if this is real or not. I don’t need to understand it. I don’t even care!" 

As she then walked off, Pinkie pulled her forelegs out of the clamps and flipped the helmet off her head. "Okey-dokey-lokey!"

"Still, that's a pretty useful trait.", Chronicle said as they went up the stairs. "I know a number of dangers that can trigger the Pinkie Sense."

Pinkie was the first to reach the door. As the three ponies approached it however, she went rigid with a little gasp and backed away. "Uh-oh." A combo then hit her—ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch—that caused her to gasp loudly and jitter backward. 

Chronicle noted this and aimed his horn at Twilight, who was at the door, and had just enough time for one glance at Pinkie before it was flung open. Before it could smash her completely, her bodyguard already had his arcanokinetic 'grip' on her tail and pulled her away, but he wasn't fast enough, leaving the door to get just her head instead.

Spike, for the second time, turned out to be the one who opened it. 

"Pinkie, have you seen Twilight? ", he asked Pinkie, who hopped merrily along the path.

"Uh-huh.", she answered as she left.

Spike did not find the unicorn he was asking for until the door swung shut, with her face pounded flat on the wall.

Good thing I managed to convince Twilight to drink that Resilience Potion Tricky Books gave me yesterday.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Yesterday, at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

The two unicorns stood just outside the door after the rest of the students left.

"Here, Chronicle. I'd like you to test this out." Tricky 'procured' a corked erlenmeyer flask (or whatever counterpart Erlenmeyer has in Equestria) containing a pink not-glowing liquid, making Chronicle think of strawberry juice as he 'took' it from him. "It's a Resilience Potion. To help in surviving extreme blows with little damage. I made it myself." As it was, Tricky had managed to find a job in Ponyville as a lab assistant, although he made a few useful concoctions of his own. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea?", Chronicle asked as he 'swished' its contents.

"Tested it. Completely works. I don't know if this is a side effect or not, but when I accidentally slammed a heavy weight on my hoof after drinking it, when I pulled it up, my leg was flat. I felt less pain than I should've, and then it popped back to normal a few seconds later."

"Wow. That's an interesting potion."

"Unfortunately, the materials I need are rare, so I can't make a lot of them."

"I see."

"Chronicle.", Mystic Shield called his attention, standing at the door between the dojo and his livig quarters. "Remember the wager?"

"Yes, yes I do, Master Shield, though I can't remember why you did it in the first place."

As it was, for some reason, while they and the others helped Applejack harvest the apple orchard last applebuck season, Mystic and Twilight made a small and generally pointless bet on whether or not she could go for the next three weeks without teleporting. He bet she couldn't. She bet she could.

If Mystic were to win, Twilight would teach him how to teleport and make sure he masters it. If she won, she would become a student in his academy—where the choice of whether or not she'll give the spell for others to learn is up to her. 

Honestly, Chronicle—who was entrusted to tell Mystic if Twilight loses the bet—had no idea how Mystic would be disadvantaged by either result, but he didn't complain.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

As Chronicle finished reminiscing, he heard Spike say, "Twilight? What are you doing there?"

His charge groaned with effort and asked, "Did you two plan this?"

"Plan what?" 

Twilight's head finally popped into its regular shape as she gave a louder groan. "This is ridiculous! This can’t be happening! This makes no sense! I have to figure this out."

This won't end well. I hope the potion lasts the day.


C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP

Eyecatch (video-type) - A replay of the events concerning the door in the lab, stopping at the point before the reminiscing part. The show's logo is seen on the bottom.


C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP

In the park outside Ponyville proper…

Near the park's fountain, Pinkie hopped along giggling to herself, and stopped to smell a flower. As she resumed her cheerful travels, a bush rose clear of the ground and began to follow her, moving under the power of four violet legs. 

Once it settled down, a pair of binoculars poked out of the leaves. Twilight looked through them, focusing and zooming in on Pinkie. She donned a pith helmet and stuck a pencil in her teeth. She then quickly ducked behind the bush, resting the binoculars and a notepad on the ground, and then levitated the pencil to write, taking a cautious peek over the shrubbery as she did so.

"Twilight?", a voice called.

Immediately, she leaped straight up with a frightened scream and thud down by the bush. Spike, who had just come over, got yanked in with a yell of his own. "Honestly, Spike, don’t you know better than to sneak up on ponies?"

"Oh, sorry, but, um, well, isn’t that what you’re doing?", he replied as she peeked up. He proceeded to do so as well, only for her to gasp and tackle him to the ground.

"No…", she replied in a hushed tone as she peeked through the bush. "…I’m doing scientific research. I’m observing Pinkie Pie, scientific name Pinkius pieicus, in its natural habitat." 

Spike peeked through as well. "Pinkius who-icus?" Both ducked down inside the bush.

"There’s something fishy going on with the whole twitchy prediction thing, and I’m getting to the bottom of it. So, shhh!"

The baby dragon acknowledged this with a finger to his lips. "Twilight?", another voice then called, startling the two as they looked around. "If you wanted to spy on her, you could've asked me to do it for you."

"Chronicle?", Spike asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm speaking to you through Surveillance." Both of them 'furrowed their eyebrows' before remembering. Back at the train to Appleloosa, Chronicle explained to them and their friends how it worked. One of its features—aside from letting him see and hear whatever's happening around who he's watching and what they're doing—was that he can talk to them, which he doesn't use as the ones he's watching aren't supposed to figure out they were being watched in the first place. 

"You didn't answer Spike's question.", Twilight said.

"As for where I am, I'm somewhere you can't see me, but where I can see you without Surveillance. You could've asked me to watch her, you know."

"No. I need first-hoof sources, and that can only come from me."

"Oh, right. Hold on. Pinkius pieicus is on the move. You better too."

Immediately, Twilight lifted the bush and walked along, following Chronicle's directions. Spike, whose legs were too short to touch the ground, treaded air while she moved the greenery.


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Later…

At the schoolhouse playground just out of the town proper, Pinkie's three watchers observed her rolling about on the grass and humming to herself. One of the watchers noted that real equines did that and that it wasn't mere randomness from Pinkie.

Twilight peeked out from her bush to scope the scene with binoculars. From her perspective, Pinkie stood, scrunched up her face, and scratched her nose.

"Hmmm…itchy nose.", Twiight whispered as Spike took notes. Suddenly, Pinkie gasped wide-eyed, zipped across the playground, and huddled beneath an oversized horseshoe. Back at the bush, Twilight lowered her binoculars. "Aha! That makes no sense!" She then leaned down to Spike. "See? She’s hiding like something’s about to fall from the sky, but a twitchy tail means something’s gonna fall from the sky, not an itchy nose."

Chronicle however, from his vantage point at one of the trees in the area, saw something else coming. A swarm of bees could be seen overhead and streaking down to the playground. "Twilight, you should move.", he advised.

"This proves, perhaps conclusively, that—" She didn't notice Spike gasp as he saw what Chronicle (and Pinkie) saw until he bailed out with a yell "Spike! Where are you going? I’m trying to teach you the value of scientific obser—" he got no farther as the swarm descended on the bush with enough ferocity to make it jump in place as Twilight gets stung again and again. "Ow! Ouch! Ow! Ooh!"

Chronicle could do nothing for her as he took down his own notes from the safety of his tree. "Analysis: Pinkie Pie's itchy nose means that a swarm of bees is en route. Or stinging insects. Or a swarm in general. Need more conclusive info. Sufficient for now."


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At Sweet Apple Acres…

Wearing a plethora of Band-Aids in addition to her helmet, Twilight continued her investigation while watching from behind a stack of hay bales next to the barn. Chronicle had decided to join her after the bee sting incident and provided his intel.

"What’s she doing now?", Spike whispered as he sat on the ground beside the two unicorns.

From what they could see, Pinkie was smelling flowers in the orchard. "Smelling a flower.", Twilight answered him. 

"Holy guacamole! I wonder what that means!"

Twilight lowered her binocs. "Probably that the flower smells good." She raised them again. "Wait! I’m getting something! Ear flop…eye flutter…knee twitch."

"Hold on." He then ran off to a second stack of bales several yards away as Twilight lowered her binocs. "You told me that’s the combo that says “watch out for opening doors”!"

Looking behind herself, Twilight took note of a door whose top half was open and laughed dismissively. "You really, really believe this stuff, don’t you?" She turned to the door. "Here. Let me show you there’s nothing to be afraid of." She propped one foreleg on the edge of the closed lower half and smirked across the way.

While she did that, Chronicle looked around for other doors that could still met the condition of the combo…and located one. It was a ground-mounted hatch. "You see?", he heard his charge say as she trotted away…and toward the hatch as it flipped open, not minding her step. "I promise you there’s nothing to fear from that—" Before she could reach the "open door" and fall in, Chronicle tugged on her tail with his teeth, forcing her to rear up, then fall over, dropping her pith hat, which proceeded to fall down the "doorway" and its steps. "What are you doing? I could've gotten hurt!"

"You could've gotten worse!", he retorted as he pointed at the open hatch whle Spike walked over and peeked in. "Not believing in the Pinkie Sense doesn't mean you shouldn't watch where you're walking to disprove it! And let this be a reminder to you. In farms, there are doors outdoors, and I know I'm not making sense with that statement."

Just then, Applejack popped out from the door, holding Twilight's pith helmet on top of her own hat. "Hey, guys!", she called. "You came to visit my new apple cellar? How nice!"

"Like that.", Chronicle continued, then turned to the farmpony. "Sorry 'bout that, Applejack, but maybe another time. Nice to hear you got that place, though."


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Later…

"If it weren't for me, you would've been in a wheelchair, got casts on your forelegs, and need to have them attached to traction wires with pulleys attached to a framework and operated by a lever just to continue in your observation."

"Isn't that a bit too specific?"

Chronicle was scolding Twilight as they both hid on the opposite end of a park bench. The latter had since discarded her helmet and bandages as she looked through the binoculars. Spike, the second one who spoke, stood behind them taking notes.

"Okay. Take this down.", Twilight whispered to her assistant. "Twitchy tail."

"Twitchy tail…" Right after taking it down, it took a second for him to gasp and go into a full-scale panic, throwing the notepad away. "TWITCHY TAIL!!"

This disturbed Twilight as she dropped her binoculars and Chronicle decided to look up just in case—and paled in shock. "Hush, Spike! We can’t let Pinkie know we’re here, remember?"

"Something’s gonna fall! Something’s gonna fall! Run for your lives!" And he did so, whooping crazily.

"Ugh! Spike, honestly. You’re overreact—"

"Time to go!", her bodyguard cut in as he tried to pull her away, but to no avail.

"Honestly, you too?"

He never got to answer as the prediction came true. In five seconds, a flowerpot, anvil, hay wagon, and piano all crashed squarely down on his charge's head. He quickly looked up to see a delivery truck floating in midair (he had no idea how it was possible, probably by innate pegasus magic or something) and pulled by Merry May and Dizzy Twister. At the tailgate, the forepony—a khaki stallion with a grizzled white mane/tail, a crate cutie mark, cap, and five o’clock shadow (which puzzled the unicorn)—glared at Derpy and another pegasus pony he remembered was named Raindrops, who had a jasmine coat, tiffany blue hair, turquoise eyes, and three of her namesakes as her cutie mark.

While Parasol carried a box away, the forepony was glaring at Raindrops and Derpy, who both grinned sheepishly at the apparent lapse of concentration that did all this damage, and the latter gasped as well.

"Careful down there!", Chronicle called from below as he then quickly 'lifted' away all the debris and unearthed his charge, who looked extremely dizzy and had swirls for eyes for some reason. Is this another of the Resilience Potion's side effects? "I gotcha." He then cast the "magical bandage" spell he learned from Lemon Hearts. Unlike most unicorns, he was a fast learner. The only reason he doesn't have more spells in his "arsenal" like Twilight is because he's selective in what he learns.

Right after casting the spell and 'placing' it on a spot not covered by the actual bandages, something strange happened. The moment the 'bandage' was on, most of the visible injuries in Twilight's body faded in seconds. As she quickly got up and shook off the debris on her, it was apparent that some of the invisible internal injuries as well as the head trauma was gone as well. Looks like yet another of the potion's side effects.


C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP

At the park…

Pinkie was humming and licking at a spot on a front hoof when she saw a familiar farmpony come over with a basket of apples on her back. "Hey, Applejack! Whatcha doin’?"

"Takin’ more apples to my new apple cellar. How ’bout you, Pinkie? What you doin’?"

"Oh, letting Twilight secretly follow me all day without me knowing."

As if on cue, said unicorn hobbled over, wearing casts on her forelegs, which were healing up slower than the other parts of her body, but still recovering faster than normal. 

I'll have to inform Tricky Books about this., Chronicle thought as he walked alongside her.

"You mean you knew all along?! Why didn’t you tell me?"

Pinkie giggled, insensitive to the misfortune that had befallen her friend during her observations. "Silly, that would have spoiled the secret."

Her huge smile was met by a series of contorted, lopsided grimaces and a groan as Spike poked his head out from behind Twilight’s tail. Spike asked fearfully, "Tail still twitching?" 

Pinkie looked at her own, then said, "All done. Clear skies from here on in, as far as I can tell." But then she pulled a new trick; her entire body jittered briefly. 

Spike ducked behind Twilight again as Applejack lets her basket fall. Chronicle stood wary. "Oh, no! What does that one mean?", the dragon asked.

"Don’t know. Never gotten any like it before. But whatever that shudder’s about, it’s a doozy! Something you never expect to happen is gonna happen!" Another, longer shudder wracked her as all four watched. "And it’s gonna happen…at Froggy Bottom Bog!"

Applejack gasped, "That’s where Fluttershy’s headed!" Just as she said that, said pegasus pony flashed in Chronicle's mind and he put a hoof to his chest, breathing heavily, although nopony noticed. 

A heart attack? But I've been eating a healthy diet! Why is this…

Spike peeked from behind Twilight. "Oh, no! Is it about her?"

"Uh…I’m not sure.", Pinkie replied.

"We’d better go and make sure she’s okay.", Applejack said as Chronicle suddenly galloped off ahead of her. Immediately, she followed. 

"Calm down, everypony.", Twilight assured as Pinkie followed, Spike doing the same shortly after. "All we know right now is that Pinkie Pie just got a case of the shivers. That’s all." She then finally realized that she has lost her audience, much to her discontent. 

The other three ponies meanwhile were making good time; Spike was slowly falling behind, but Twilight pulled up and slipped her head underneath to flip him onto her back. When Chronicle stole a look back, he could see that she has completely recovered from her injuries. Another side effect? No, can't think of that right now! Fluttershy is in danger, I just know it!

"Hey! I thought you didn’t believe in this stuff!", said Spike.

"I don’t. I just want to be there to see the look on Pinkie’s face when we find out nothing’s wrong."

"Okey-dokey.", said Pinkie.

"I think you lost your original motive, Twilight.", Chronicle said as Applejack led them along the road toward the overgrown quagmire. "And aren't you the slightest bit concerned? I just know she's in trouble."

"Next thing I know, you're telling me you got the Pinkie Sense too.", his charge replied with sarcasm.

He decided to humor her. "Maybe I do. That heart attack didn't just come out of nowhere, you know. But since it's the first time, I'm not gonna say if I do have any special senses."


C—TS—S—A—PP—C—TS—S—A—PP—C—TS—S—A—PP

At the outskirts of the bog…

As the group charged, with Spike off Twilight’s back and running under his own steam, Pinkie suddenly stopped short, struck by another shudder.

Twilight stopped and spoke in a sardonic manner. "Cold? Need a jacket or something?"

Pinkie started ahead as everypony slowed their pace." No, thanks. I’m fine." She then got another one. Chronicle seemed to be tense, wanting to run ahead, but not wanting to leave his friends behind, and not trusting enough to leave behind a magical clone to do either task.

Spike turned to Applejack. "So, what do you think happened to Fluttershy?"

"I hope nothin’."

"I know, but…what do you think happened?"

"I’m tryin’ not to think about it."

"Me too." He became fearful. "But…I’m thinking about it anyway. Like…what if…she exploded?"

Applejack was skeptical. "Just exploded, for no reason?"

"Yeah, like, boom!" Everyone stopped.

"Whoa!", gasped Pinkie.

"I know!"

"What if…what if she exploded, and then…" She jumped up. "…and then exploded again?"

"Can you do that? Can you explode twice?"

Applejack testily started ahead. "Of course not." 

Spike followed, "But what if…she exploded…and exploded again…and then—" He was stopped short by Twilight, who had put her hoof on his tail.

"Will you two stop!" She let go as Pinkie skidded up. "She’s fine, I’m sure of it." All of them then moved ahead.

"I hope you’re right, for Fluttershy’s sake.", Applejack said.

"Oh, I can't take it!", Chronicle cried out as he made his decision; he was about to go on ahead when Applejack cried out and turned to the right. He looked as well to see a broad stretch of swampland.

"Look! There’s Froggy Bottom Bog!"

Immediately, he was on it, followed by the rest as they then started searching for Fluttershy, calling out her name. Twilight climbed a sloping tree, Applejack scoped the scene from a small neck of solid ground, Chronicle looked around desperately, and Pinkie lifted the edge of a lily pad to peek beneath. A frog promptly jumped onto it, knocking it flat and eliciting a surprised gasp. 

Next, Spike leaped onto the magenta mane to drive its owner’s face into the muck…and he saw Fluttershy standing a few feet out on a rock and emptying her basket of frogs.

"Fluttershy!", the baby dragon as he—and Chronicle—jumped over, the former hugging her, and the latter entering a protective stance. "You’re okay!" 

She was more than a bit surprised by this greeting. "Of course."

Twilight and Applejack watched from shore. "Whoo…what a relief.", the latter sighed. 

"I’m so glad everything’s all right.", Pinkie said.

"For the moment.", Chronicle said as he maintained his stance.

Twilight was smug however, "Sorry. I know it’s not nice to gloat, but…AHA!"

Spike was so surprised that he fell into the water, the three ponies she was facing aimed slightly vexed looks her way, and she did not notice a large, brown, scaly something swim by.

"Twilight…", Chronicle attempted to warn.

But she didn't listen. "I told you there was nothing to worry about, and I was right." Green mist started to rise. "Pinkie Pie said whatever she was shuddering about was a—" She let out a cough as Applejack walked away. "—doozy, and *cough* and the only *cough* doozy here is how right I am.

Spike was now out of the water and Chronicle was flaring a spell as he, Pinkie, and Fluttershy stard at a vertical stretch of the brown thing as it slowly rose from the water, throwing the green mist as it did so. Twilight had her back to it and was still oblivious as Applejack, near her, caught a look at it.

"Um…" the farmpony gave a hard swallow. "…Twilight?" She then crosseed to the others

Twilight was still ignorant, however. "Pinkie’s made a lot of predictions today, but—ugh, what is that smell?"

"Twilight.", Chronicle called as he noticed three vertical things standing up from the mire, hemming the group in, and a guttural growl drifting down over them.

"But what we’ve shown here—" 

"Twilight."

"—is that there’s no point in believing—" 

"Twilight!"

Another cough. "—in anything you can’t see for yourself."

The bodyguard can't take it. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

"What?!" It was then that she noticed that everyone else save for him and her were moaning and terrified, looking the threat straight on the entire time.

Spike answered for Chronicle as he pointed. "W-W-Well, then, s-s-see what’s b-b-behind you, Twilight!"

The scientifically minded unicorn finalled turned and looked up to see the expanse of scaly brown hide that now filled her vision. The growl intensified by a few dozen decibels, and she could see four snakelike heads and necks standing up from the bog. "I see it…but I don’t believe it!" Three of the four heads roared in unison, the fourth—second from left—joining in a moment later. 

"Well, you better believe it."


C—TS—S—A—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—F—PP

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The huge beast stands on the left side of the screen. Twilight Sparkle is with the others as Chronicle puts up a shield while they stand on the right side of the screen. The show's logo is seen on the top.


C—TS—S—A—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—F—PP

"Is that a hydra?", Pinkie asked.

"Who cares?", Applejack said. "RUN!!"

The group bailed out save Pinkie, who found herself on the receiving end of the creature’s hungry stares and started to back up, and Chronicle, who thought better, quickly picked her up, and skedaddled as they avoided a bite from one of the hydra's heads.

"Pinkie! Come on!", Twilight called as he caught up with them.

"Time to go!", her bodyguard said as the pink earth pony suddenly flung herself off his back and ahead of the others, running mid-air as she bypassed Fluttershy, who in turn passed one of the frogs she brought to the bog as it fled.

"Oh, I’m so sorry.", she said.

"Don't worry about him. We're the hydra's current target since we're a bigger meal. Not that that's a good thing for us."

Just then, another head focused on Twilight, throwing a good scare into her, and the hydra’s entire lizard-like body emerged from the ooze. A strike at her came up just short. Ditto the next one, which targeted Applejack as she hopped from root to root. Fluttershy managed to barely get away thanks to Chronicle, who quickly hoisted her up his back, jumping from a chomp that caught the rock they were standing on. The second head from the left, the only one to stay out of the action, laughed at the other three—angry, with a mouthful of tree, and dazed.

Fluttershy got off Chronicle's back as they and the others bolted for it while Spike scrambled along a low-hanging vine. Eventually, the ponies stopped short at earth outcropping blocking the path ahead. Twilight took a swift look around, then galloped to one side as she said, "Everypony up that hill!"

"HEEELLLP!!", Spike cried out in distress.

He was bogged down in the morass and only dug himself in farther when he tried to swim away from the approaching hydra. 

Twilight was about to charge back, only to see Chronicle already on it. "Coming, Spike! Hang on!", he called.

Racing into the mud, a spell on his feet to keep from being bogged himself, he 'scooped' him up on his head and made tracks an instant before the reptilian jaws slammed shut at where he was a second ago. As the others sprinted uphill and he caught up, the four heads gave chase but snap back suddenly. As it turned out, one of the hydra’s feet was mired in glop. It pulled loose after a moment and resumed the pursuit.

"Just wonderin'.", Applejack asked Chronicle. "Why didn't you decide to fight that hydra?"

"You kiddin' me? I read that if I cut off one of its heads, two more will grow in its place."

"You were considerin' that?!"

"Hey, it's either it or us! And I don't think Fluttershy's in the condition to talk them down, given its many heads. And even if she was, we don't have time to plan this right now."

"I think we’re gonna make it!", Twilight said.

Spike pointed ahead. "But Pinkie’s still shuddering!"

Indeed she was, but stopped abruptly and ended up standing still as Fluttershy galloped by. "Oh, looky there. It’s stopped!" Only for a moment, though. "Ohhh! The-e-ere i-i-it i-i-is aga-a-ai-i-in-n-n!" Spike arrived on the end of this to push her up the slope, and Twilight followed him while glancing back down the way. 

Unfortunately, Applejack let out a gasp. As the others caught up, they realized that they were at the edge of a cliff. Half a dozen tall, narrow stone pillars, separated by large gaps, stood between them and the cliff on the opposite side of the canyon. 

A tremor from the beast’s footstep brought a frightened gasp from the group; the hydra was beginning to climb the hill. Twilight cried out before putting together any coherent words. "He’ll be up here in no time! Quick! One at a time! Cross!"

When Spike zipped up to the edge, his momentum brought him within an ace of going over it. He yelled, got himself safely back, and turned to Twilight as Pinkie’s shudders resumed. "Uh, do you know any spells for turning a hydra into a mouse?"

"No!"

"How about a squirrel?"

"No!"

"How about—"

"No small rodents of any kind!"

"That’s too bad."

"What about anything less dangerous than it currently is?", piped Chronicle.

"The hydra's too big for any transfiguration spells!"

"Thought as much."

"A hop, skip, and a…" Fluttershy leaped toward the first pillar. "…jump!" And hit it dead center, bounding away for good measure.

Good thing she remembered., Chronicle thought as he momentarily looked back at the dragon incident—and Mystic Shield's first adventure with them.

Spike was next to go, thrown by Twilight. He landed on the flat and watched as the equine jackhammer skittered up, then jumped ahead. She went over the edge, taking one pop-eyed look at the air below her hooves, but remained suspended in midair long enough for Applejack to get a mouthful of tail and yank her back.

"He’s too close!" She lowered her head and pawed the ground. "I’ll distract him. The rest of you go! Now!"

While the farmpony pushed off from the brink, hauling Pinkie along, Chronicle stayed back. "As if I'd leave you behind! I'm your bodyguard!"

But she wasn't listening. "Ohhh…what would a brave pony like Rainbow Dash do?"

As an idea caused her eyes to widen and her ears to perk up, while she put a fierce expression, Chronicle closed his eyes and flared his horn. He opened them to see that he had summoned two magical clones. He felt proud for a moment, only to hear Twilight cry out, "CHAAARRRGE!!"

He turned to see that she was in full gallop down the slope. Quickly, he ordered his two clones to go after her and he did so himself as well.

All four of the hydra’s heads whipped down toward her, but she held her course, followed by three blue unicorns. After a few seconds, the heads  stopped and the second from left voiced a puzzled grunt, looking back toward ground level. As it turned out, the fierce and/or foolhardy unicorn raced directly beneath the underbelly and kept running, three heads peeking down and snaking through the legs after her. As the entire body started to overbalance, the puzzled head—which had stayed out of it—gaped after the others, just in time for the hydra to flip itself forward up the hill and land on its back.

Immediately, after Twilight skid to a stop, Chronicle and his copies jumped onto the Hydra's belly and started striking it with their "magic horn blades".  At the far side of the chasm, where the rest of the group had made it across, Pinkie was shuddering again.

"T-T-T-Twilight! Ch-Ch-Ch-Chronicle!", she called.

The hydra began to peel itself up and took note of Twilight rushing past uphill with a puzzled little whimper. It then noticed the three attackers and one of its head struck…sending the real one back up the cliff's edge. 

Luckily, he didn't lose enough focus for the clones to be automatically dismissed. In fact, as long as he's alive and breathing, they'll stick around until dismissed by him or hit really hard. After all, he called one up in his sleep back in Twilight's first slumber party.

A giant brown foot slamming to the turf and a feral growl terrified Twilight all over again as Chronicle's copies continued the futile assault. The purple unicorn jumped back to avoid being eaten alive when the cliff’s edge got smashed away, luckily stopping where Chronicle lay. The first of the stepping-stone pillars wound up at a crazy angle after the hit, and as Twilight got turf under her hooves, she saw it topple over and knock out the next three like dominoes. 

Chronicle regained consciousness in time to hear his friends gasp, and the head that went in for the strike woozily regarded the fresh lump on its crown before roaring in unmitigated fury. Meanwhile, his two clones were now climbing up two of the necks with difficulty as Twilight cowered for a moment, then got upright and eyed the now-impassable gap before her.

"Aww, for Pete's sake!", he complained.

Pinkie shuddered briefly. "G-G-G-Guys! You have to jump!"

Twilight was hesitant. "I’ll never make it!"

"You’ll be fine!"

"I will not!"

"We won't be either if that hydra gets us!", Chronicle said as his first clone was chomped and dissipated by one of its heads as it added a bellow that turned into a quadraphonic yell. "My copies won't be able to hold it off much longer. While I can certainly deal with this guy, I still have you to worry about."

Pinkie shuddered. "It’s your o-o-only ho-o-ope!" The trapped ponies took one more look over the precipice as the hydra closed in, one of its heads snagging Chronicle's second copy and hurling him right where the rest were, dissipating into in a series of twinkles. "You have to take a leap of faith!"

"Go!", Chronicle said. "I'll hold the hydra off for as long as I can! Once you're safe, I can go all out!"

After one very last quick glance, Twilight swallowed so hard enough she would've sent a brick down her gullet if she were chewing on one, backed up a few steps, then galloped as her bodyguard stopped some of the heads with a panel barrier, but missed the others as one of them descended. 

It bashed the clifftop loose just as she poised herself, and she was forced to jump clear while it starts to tumble away. "No!" As Chronicle risked a look back, he saw her sail toward the first unbroken pillar, only to comes up well short of the flat and begin a hoof-flailing plummet. 

Immediately, as his friends' eyes popped and jaws slacked, Chronicle broke off from defending against the hydra and jumped after his charge, although it was too late for him to catch her. Just then, he and Twilight noticed a large bubble has begun to grow at the surface. Don't tell me…

Twilight realized it too. "Oh, no! NOOOOOO!!" She landed spread-eagle on the bubble, which hurled her upward and then burst— "Whooooaaaa!" —causing her to land on the first intact pillar, from which she bounced to the second and then into a rock face on the far side. As she wound up sitting against it on her haunches, all the sense knocked out of her, while the others eyed her worriedly, Chronicle continued falling down to the bog. 

By instinct, he did what he always did whenever he fell; teleport. As Twilight shook herself back to normal and gave her friends a big squeaky grin, getting a round of cheers and leaving the hydra to pout by itself across the way, Chronicle emerged from his teleport and landed on top of her. Before he could get off, Pinkie lay a king-size hug on the two.

"I knew you could do it, Twilight!"

"Now why didn't I just ask her to do this in the first place?", the stallion in the group grumbled to himself as Pinkie let go. "Oh well, at least Mystic hasn't won his bet yet." But why didn't Twilight? Another side effect of the Resilience Potion, perhaps? 

"I don’t know how it happened.", his charge said. "Coincidence, dumb luck, or what. But you said there’d be a doozy here at Froggy Bottom Bog, and I’d say we just had ourselves one heck of a doozy. I mean, that hydra…" She cut herself off when the pink prognosticator’s face went slack and the rest of her started jittering all over again. "Pinkie?" 

She stopped shuddering. "That wasn’t it."

"Huh?" The shuddering started again.

"What wasn’t what?", asked Spike as Pinkie stopped again.

"What are you talkin’ about, Pink?", Applejack wanted to know.

"The hydra wasn’t the doozy." Everyone turned to the hydra, which stomped away, one head blowing a raspberry. 

Pinkie’s tremor kicked in again. "I’m still getting the shudders!" Her quaking moan stopped when they did. "You see? There it is again! Whatever the doozy was at Froggy Bottom Bog, my Pinkie Sense says it still hasn’t happened."

"Huh? But I—" Twilight was furious and was slowly losing it. —what?!? "The hydra wasn’t the doozy? How could it not be the doozy? What could be doozy-er than that?!

"Dunno, but it just wasn’t it."

"In case you don't know, a doozy is something outstanding or unique of its kind.", Chronicle decided to explain. "And I'm sure while hydra attacks are rare, they can happen to anyone who enters this bog, or any other hydra territory."

The terminally frustrated violet unicorn scrunched her face in a silent growl and gave voice to it. Her mental teakettle sang in an insanely high register for an unbearable moment—and then she completely lost it with an unhinged snarl and a huge vertical leap. Her entire body went bone-white, her eyes blazed red, and her mane and tail went up in flames, giving her an uncanny resemblance to some other unicorn (not unicorn pony) Chronicle was familiar with, one that—to everyone's surprise—absolutely terrified him.

"RAPIDASH!!!", he squeaked like a filly as he zipped right underneath Fluttershy, cowering there while the others recoiled before Twilight's glare, which lasted nearly four seconds before it burned itself out, leaving her hanging, with soot all over her normally-colored body and her mane and tail a half-burned shambles.

Finally, his charge gave a weary sigh, "I give up." She then dropped to the ledge, all the burn marks instantly vanishing (perhaps another side effect of the Resilience Potion, or what happens after whatever just happened to her) when Spike crossed to her.

"Give what up, Twi?", Spike asked as Pinkie started shuddering again.

"The fight…I can’t fight it anymore. I don’t understand how, why, or what. But Pinkie Sense somehow…makes sense. I don’t see how it does, but it just does! Just because I don’t understand, doesn’t mean it’s not true."

"Y-Y-You mean you b-b-believe?", Pinkie asked.

"Yep. I guess I do."

The tremors then intensified, then gave way to a quick succession of cartoonish contortions that stretched the pink body in ways it was surely never meant to go. When they stopped, Pinkie was left standing perfectly normal and motionless.

"Oh!" Pinkie then looked herself over and gasped. "That was it! That’s the doozy!" Twilight and Spike gaped at her, the latter shaking his head clear.

"What?", Twilight asked as she crossed to her. "What is?"

"You believing! I never expected that to happen! That was the doozy!" She then gave off a laugh. "Oh, and oh, what a doozy of a doozy it was!"

"Are ye sure that was the doozy?", Applejack asked. "If anythin', I'd say Chronicle screamin' like a filly and hidin' like that was the doozy." She gestured to him, who was still shivering with Fluttershy on top of him.

Everyone walked over to the cowering bodyguard, then Spike poked his flank. Immediately, he jolted up, shoving Fluttershy into the air, who hovered right after he landed, looking real unhinged. "Wha—is it over?!"

"What's over?", asked Pinkie.

"Twilight's mane turning into fire! Is it over?!"

"Yes, I think it's over.", his charge answered and the stallion gave a sigh of relief.

"Wait! Is fire your phobia, Chronicle?!", Pinkie asked as she got up close.

"Can't be.", Spike argued as Fluttershy landed right next to him. "I've been breathing fire in his presence for quite a while and he didn't so much as shudder those times."

"Spike's right." Chronicle confessed. "I got a more specific fear than just fire. You see, one of the phobias you've just discovered is that I'm afraid of being who have fire coming out of their bodies, with the exclusion of phoenixes and fire breathers like Spike."

"Oh."

"And one more thing; let's keep what happened between us, okay? Please? I'll never hear the end of it I get found out."

"Okey-dokey-lokey." Pinkie.

"All right." Applejack.

"Okay." Spike and Fluttershy.

"Of course.", Twilight.

"Thank you very much."

They then walked along the cliff back to Ponyville, Pinkie singing to herself all the way as the others stared incredulously at her.

"Umm…Chronicle?", Fluttershy asked.

"Hmm?"

"Who or what is Rapidash?"

"That? Somepony I met who occasionally pulls off what Twilight just did back when she was a charge of mine, minus the rage.", he fibbed. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay."


C—TS—S—A—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—F—PP

The next day…

As Spike made his way to the library, presumably after finishing whatever business Twilight sent him off to (or seeing Rarity, or both), he heard voices laughing upon opening the door and peeking in.

"Oh, good, Spike.", Twilight said. "You’re here. Take a letter."

He stepped into the reading room and toward a quill and scroll set up on a stand. "With pleasure, Twilight." He picked them up, ready to write.

“Dear Princess Celestia…” Instead of jotting the words, Spike looked ahead with a suddenly puzzled stare. “I’m happy to report that…” She then realized that her assistant wasn't writing as usual. "Spike. What have I been saying about focus?" She tapped a hoof against the floor to emphasize the point.

"I know, but I…well…"

"What’s wrong, Spike?", she asked with a smile. "Never thought you’d see me with an umbrella hat on?" Indeed she was, which was the Chronicle had given to her after he took it after Pinkie dropped it yesterday.

"Not really, no."

Twilight looked to her side. "Pinkie’s tail’s a-twitchin’." Indeed it was as the pink earth pony stood beside her. "What else can I do?"

"Stay indoors, remember to look up, watch your step while you walk…", Chronicle suggested, about to put on a similar hat, but colored in blue like his own coat.

The two mares shared a laugh and the two boys joined in after a moment, Spike continuing well after the others have gone silent and the tail has quit. A gentle nudge from Twilight’s hoof helped him focus on the problem at hand, and he began to write.

Twilight dictated, “I am happy to report that I now realize there are wonderful things in this world you just can’t explain, but that doesn’t necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them.” She turned to Pinkie. “And sometimes, it takes a friend to show you the way.”

Pinkie touched Twilight’s nose and said.  "Honk!" And Spike wrote it down.

“Always your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

"You know, if we hadn't gone to Froggy Bottom Bog, Twilight wouldn't have admitted that Pinkie Sense was real, which would have made her right about it in the first place.", Chronicle remarked. "The again, that would mean that…" His irises shrunk in horror. "Fluttershy would've been probably left to the mercy of the Hydra, which in turn might've been a doozy depending on what might have happened."

The two mares shuddered for a moment before resuming their smiles and trotting out. Chronicle followed for a while before Pinkie stopped short when her tail went off. "There it goes again!", she said.

"I wonder what’s gonna drop out of the sky this time.", Twilight asked.

"You never know." The two mares walked off, Chronicle turning to go around the library to his training range when he heard a loud thump, which had been heralded by a loud whistling sound. He turned around to see Spike having opened a window, about to send the letter to Princess Celestia when she landed on the balcony railing, nearly breaking the entire platform loose from the tree.

"Twitchy tail?", Spike asked.

"Well, I'll be…", Chronicle remarked as Celestia took the scroll in her mouth, and lifted off at a much more comfortable rate of speed. Both boys gaped up after her, flabbergasted that Pinkie’s last prediction has come true in such an extreme way.

"Holy guacamole!"

Immediately, the stallion set aside thoughts of his training and took off after Twilight and Pinkie, catching them in his sights. "Girls! You won't believe what just happened!"
> Chapter 12: Call of the Cutie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12: Call of the Cutie

In Chronicle's dreams…

He was doing a practice duel with Blue Diary, who hovered above the ground holding two short swords with the use of red bands around his front hooves. These weren't ordinary swords however. These were the Justice and Retribution, Blue's personal weapons. They are capable of manifesting energies that can shapeshift into any form he desires. 

And Chronicle was seeing it in action as Blue created red-colored extensions from his swords and swung them around the dreamscape. The blue unicorn deftly evaded each slash and parried a few with his own "horn blade".

Slowly, he closed the distance and swung his blade at Blue's body, only for a red force field to appear and repel it. From what Chronicle could observe, it came from the swords. The pegasus noticed and his "sword-extensions" then turned into grabbing appendages which tried to get Chronicle. 

However, the unicorn used his dreamscape to his advantage. After realizing that Blue was visiting him and not the other way around, Chronicle 'created' a stepping stone, jumped on it, then off it as he reached his brother and punched him only to be parried by a sword, then shoved down to the ground by one of the grabbing appendages. The appendage then grabbed him by the neck.

Blue then turned his other sword's aura into a long sharp point and thrust it down at his brother, stopping short of his head. "You still got quite a ways to go before you can beat me." He then dismissed his swords' auras, letting go of Chronicle as he got up.

"No need to remind me." In spite of it being many days ago, Chronicle was still sore from his defeat to Gilda. He hasn't mastered enough offensive tactics against flying opponents yet.

"Oh, I got some bad news to relay.", Blue said as he landed in front of his brother.

"Fire away."

"It's about our uncle Reversi, a.k.a. Othello."

"Othello's his pony name or Reversi?"

"I'm not kidding here. He's dead."

"Oh…wait, WHAT?! Since when?!"

"Two days ago."

"Which Equestria was he assigned to again?"

"The Inferno Blaze Equestria, which is degrees 'darker' than my own." Inferno Blaze Equestria is an Equestria where, like in Luna Equestria, Celestia has become an evil overlord akin to the Tyrant Sun Corona. However, the bearers of the Elements weren't Trixie and co. but alternate versions of Chronicle's friends. 

"Whyever was our uncle assigned there?!"

"Come on. You know how hardcore he actually is."

"Right. …If I may ask, what finally…put him down."

"Inferno Blaze eventually decided 'to heck with it all' and burnt the entire world to the ground. He didn't stand a chance. He didn't even put up a fight. He didn't even know what was coming to him."

Both mare-faced stallions lowered their heads in a moment of silence. "Poor Reversi. He was a great uncle."

"Yeah. He was always a great guy. Giving us our faorite treats whenever he visited, all those cool uncle stuff before we all had to leave and embark on our years-long missions to our respective Equestrias."

"We all knew the risks of being a field operative, and not even a seeming sugar world lowered that risk. If anything, it made it potentially greater as we would have our guards lowered."

"Yeah. Thanks for telling me."

"Well, it turns out that he had left a will for all of us." Blue then procured two small books and balanced them in his hooves. One was named "Cupcakes", and the other "Rainbow Factory". "We're supposed to read these as soon as possible. Don't be fooled by the covers, though. They're grimdark as f***."

"Wow. Really?"

"You do remember what Equestria I was talking about, right?", Blue said as he tossed the books to Chronicle, who 'caught' them both in his telekinetic aura.

"Oh, right. Wait. How are you able to deliver these when we are dreaming? Because books aren't known to have too many details in dreams."

"You'll find them in your hammerspace once you wake up."

"Okay."


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

A few days later, daytime…

Chronicle (well, a magical clone of his) made himself discreet as he speedily and stealthily made his way to the schoolhouse. The facility sported a playground, flagpole, and bell tower, as well as a sign by the front walk that displayed a picture of an open book and two rearing fillies. Near the entrance was a filly-shaped topiary; a similar ornament topped the flagpole. 

He reached a window, then poked his head up to watch what was going on inside. Inside, he could see nine foals, Apple Bloom among them, in a single large classroom. They at on their haunches at separate desks, and some have placed their saddlebags alongside on the floor.

He couldn't hear what anypony was saying, so he got down, and 'summoned' the "monitor" for his Surveillance. Unlike the real one, the magical clone cannot open a "rift" to "hammerspace" and instead 'conjures' items just like regular unicorns do when they take items from their "magicspace".

He perused through the icons and tapped a yellow square, which now opened to reveal that he had placed a 'camera' on Bloom. During their return trip from Appleloosa to Ponyville, Applejack had asked him if he could set a camera on her sister, as she worried about her safety. He agreed to it, but only if she agreed to a condition he's put, which applies to all of whom he watches; whatever secrets he discovers through the 'cameras', he cannot tell to anyone; if they want to find out, it mustn't be through him. He will still watch over her and tell if Bloom gets lost or is in danger, but he won't pass any secrets.

Through Bloom's camera, as he looked at the chalkboard, amidst the schoolfoal chatter, just as he noted the magnetic permeability symbol (the Greek letter Mu) there, he saw somepony walk in front of the class. It was an earth pony mare with a dark red-violet coat, green eyes, curly two-tone reddish-pink hair, and a cutie mark consisting of three smiling daisies. From what he recalled, her name was Cheerilee.

"Let’s quiet down, please.", she called the attention of the class. "We have a very important lesson to get to." The talking stopped and she turned toward an easel set up by the front desk and chalkboard. "Thank you. Today we are going to be talking about cutie marks." The schoolteacher then nipped the top sheet in her teeth and pulled it away, revealing several designs. He recognized ones belonging to Bon Bon, Golden Harvest, Parasol, Amethyst Star, Sea Swirl, Merry May, and Lemon Hearts.

"Boring.", his 'camera' caught, but it didn't come from Bloom. The "screen" revealed the speaker to be a pink earth pony filly, with violet/white hair, light blue eyes, and a not-impressed look. Her cutie mark depicted a tiara and she wore a similar item on her head. Appropriately, her name was Diamond Tiara. She also stood next to Bloom, who threw her an annoyed look.

"You can all see my cutie mark, can’t you?", Cheerilee continued as Bloom came up with a pencil in her teeth, ready to take notes. She then nudged the sheet off the easel with her head. "Like all ponies, I wasn’t born with a cutie mark." The new page showed two photographs tacked to it. One partially covered the other and depicted Cheerilee as a filly with no cutie mark. "My flank was blank."

Another of the foals spoke up. "Awww, she’s so precious!" The 'camera' turned to see a white earth pony filly with curly red hair and large blue-framed glasses. He also noticed that she spoke with a pronounced lisp.

Cheerilee now had a pointer in her teeth as she resumed speaking. "Then one day, when I was about your age, I woke up to find that a cutie mark had appeared."

With it, she pushed the first photo away to expose the second: herself as a younger mare, with teased-out mane and tail, black/white checkered bandana, neon bracelets on one foreleg, and a leg warmer on one rear leg. She also had braces, star barrettes in her mane, and her cutie mark was indeed there. 

Gah!, Chronicle "yelped" upon seeing the picture as he had his camera quickly turn away. They had the eighties too here? Although it's probably named differently in Equestria… When the camera stopped turning, it centered on the other filly beside Bloom other than Diamond. 

This one was grinning at the ridiculous picture on the easel. She had a gray coat, a two-tone mane/tail in lighter shades of this color, and light-blue-framed glasses framing violet eyes. She also wore a pearl necklace and kept her mane in braids. If he remembered correctly, her name was Silver Spoon, and she had such as her cutie mark, which had a heart-shaped tip.

"Look at her hair!", she said in a stuck-up voice before laughing, followed by the whole class.

Back in the classroom, Cheerilee rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, but honestly, that’s how everypony was wearing their mane back then." 

Glad I wasn't around at that time.

"I had decided to become a teacher, and the flowers symbolized my hope that I could help my future students bloom if I nurtured them with knowledge." Bloom continued to take notes. "The smiles represented the cheer I hoped to bring to my little ponies while they were learning.", Cheerilee continued. "Now, can anyone tell me when a pony gets his or her cutie mark?"

A hoof belonging to the filly with the lisp shot up. "Oh! Oh! Oh! When she discovers that certain something that makes her special."

"That’s right, Twist." the schoolteacher replied as she circled to stand behind the desk. "A cutie mark appears on a pony’s flank when he or she finds that certain something that makes them different from every other pony. Discovering what makes you unique isn’t something that happens overnight. And no amount of hoping, wishing, or begging will make a cutie mark appear before its time."

Right after hearing that, Chronicle turned the "monitor" away, lost in thought as he looked at his own cutie mark; an orange circle depicting an open book inside, the emblem of his organization the Story Crew. Hmm…I wonder what my cutie mark would've been if I was born and raised here? He pondered on his past life prior to his mission, but from what he could remember at the moment, he couldn't relate them to a book inside an orange circle. Apparently, the principle that applies to ponies when it comes to their cutie marks is different for those not native to this world like me. I'm sure all the other Equestrias my family's in follow the same rule.

"Apple Bloom!", he suddenly heard Cheerilee's voice from the "monitor". He looked back to see that Diamond had passed a folded paper and the yellow filly was about to pick it up. "Are you passing a note?"

Bloom dropped it as her teacher approached her. "Uh…um…" 

"What could be so important that it couldn’t wait until after class?" She directed her eye to the floor with a little gasp. As it turned out, when it came to the note… "It’s blank!" 

As she aimed a disapproving stare at the yellow filly, the 'camera' turned to face the note-passer, who laughed nastily, her voice marking her as a snob from head to hooves. "Remind you of anypony?", she teased.

Silver joined in the laugh as Bloom looked unhappily at her own unmarked hindquarters and all the other students whispered and stared at her.

Great…more bullies., grumbled Chronicle. And young ones too. There's no way I can deal with them like I deal with other bullies without getting a bad reputation from their parents.


C—AB—C—T—DT—SS—C—AB—C—T—DT—SS

Later…

Chronicle (the clone) waited out the door and watched as the bell rang and the students headed out the door. After seeing Dinky leave with a white, light-blue haired, lavender-eyed pegasus filly named Cotton Cloudy (who had a cutie mark of a blue cumulus cloud), Twist hopped merrily along the walk, while Bloom lagged dejectedly behind for a moment, toting her saddlebags. Twist, like Bloom, didn't have a cutie mark. 

"Want some sweets?", the lisped pony asked Bloom. "I’ve got some peppermint sticks. I made them myself."

Bloom just shook her head. "Mmm-mmm."

Twist continued to coax her as they both stopped. "They’ll make you smile."

"No."

She looked back the way she came and saw Diamond and Silver walking along. 

"I don’t know why we had to sit through a lecture about getting a cutie mark.", Diamond complained. "I mean, waiting for your cutie mark is so last week." They have pulled even with Bloom and Twist and Silver waggled her rump smugly for Bloom to glare at. "You’ve got yours…" She showed off hers for "…I just got mine." They then walked past… "We all have them already." …before gasping and doubling back. "I mean, almost all of us have them already." The bespectacled white filly glowered silently at the showoff, who circled around with Silver. "Don’t worry, you two. You’re still totally invited to my cute-ceañera this weekend."

"It’s going to be amazing.", Silver said.

"It’s a party celebrating me and my fantastic cutie mark. How could it not be?"

The two the proceeded to do a special shake. "Bump," They tapped one front hoof together—Diamond’s right, Silver’s left—while standing on the opposite hind leg. "Bump," Then, they stood on both hind legs and tapped both front hooves together. "Sugar lump—" Diamond’s left hock and Silver’s right one touched. "—Rump!" They finished by putting their rumps together so that their cutie marks were framed next to each other.

Their giggles contrasted markedly with Bloom’s disgusted expression. "Gimme a break.", she grumbled under her breath as Diamond and Silver walked off.

"See you this weekend…", Silver called, then she and Diamond giggled, "…blank-flanks!" There came more derisive laughter, leaving the pair discomfited.

Man, I hate little bullies., Chronicle grumbled. While I'm not above hurting children, I'm more concerned on how others would treat me if I did and they found out. 


C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS

Meanwhile, at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

The real Chronicle was beside his co-teacher Mystic Shield as they conducted yet another class. As usual, some who were present before (like Heartstrings and Pokey Pierce) were absent and those who were absent were now present. Also, his charge Twilight Sparkle was here, deciding to learn as well, and also because she won the small bet she made with Mystic; to not teleport for three weeks since he asked.

"All right, class.", Mystic called, still thinking he sounded like a schoolteacher. "Time to test your barriers. Let's start with Greatstone, Comet Tail, Holly Dash, and Twilight Sparkle." Immediately, the students not mentioned moved aside, leaving the four as they positioned themselves in line. Well, Twilight didn't at first, but she moved into place soon enough. "Now, Chronicle, test them if you will. And this time, exert more power for those whose shields withstand your attack without a crack."

The blue stallion nodded as he approached the four students. "Each shots will have the same power exerted into them.", he said, then turned to his charge. "And Twilight, I will not go easy on you." He then flared his horn and fired a shuriken-shaped shot at Greatstone's barrier. The shot hit, and the barrier held, its conjurer not so much as changing expression. Chronicle proceeded with Comet next and the shot hit, making him wince as the barrier shattered. Holly was next, and she winced as the barrier made a crack. As for Twilight, she concentrated immensely with her eyes closed as the shot hit and the barrier held.

"All right. Holly Dash, nice work. Comet Tail, concentrate. Now the two of you take two steps back." They did as he said. "Chronicle, continue."

Before he could do just that, the doors creaked open, revealing Derpy Hooves and Dinky.

"Sorry I'm late!", the unicorn filly called. "I had school."

"It's okay.", said Mystic. "Now stand with the rest of the class, please." Dinky did as he told. "Umm…the rest of the class is over there." As it turned out, Dinky had stood with the four he called earlier. Dinky made a sheepish smile before joining the rest of the unicorns. Mystic turned to his co-teacher and gestured him to carry on.

Chronicle nodded before charging up another shot. This time, while the shuriken-shape that emerged was the same as before, it was a bit brighter, and more…solid. The shot struck Greatstone's barrier and he winced just a bit while it held. Another shot hit Twilight's shield, its caster still concentrating immensely.

The blue stallion fired again, with greater intensity. With each stronger shot, Mystic noticed that Greatstone was straining himself more and more, while Twilight maintained the same stance and focus. Eventually, Chronicle decided to up it a notch and did a burst-fire version of the shot, releasing three "shurikens" at once at Greatstone. All of them hit his barrier and it made great cracks as he strained a lot from the attack. As for Twilight, her concentration remained the same and the barrier still held.

Mystic frowned at Chronicle for this sudden change of pace, but decided to let it by and evaluated his students, "Greatstone, in spite of that great crack, you did well. Twilight, wow. That was a very powerful shield, although you could use some guidance in going easy so as not to use more magic than is needed." I wonder if it runs in the family?


C—TS—D—MS–G–CT—HD—C—TS—D—MS–G–CT—HD

At a street in Ponyville…

Applejack had set up an apple cart, ready to sell. From what the Chronicle copy could see as he looked for something that was advertized on the Request Board, She and Apple Bloom each wore a white apron. While the latter had an apple balanced on her head, the former was calling out to the crowd.

"Get your delicious, nutritious apples here!"

"Delicious and nutritious, and so many uses!", Bloom advertized. With a toss of her head, she flipped the apple upward, caught it in her mouth, and started chewing. "You can eat ’em…" She then addressed Golden Harvest and Shoeshine. "…play with ’em…"

Grabbing another one from the nearest tub in her teeth, she threw it into the air and smacked it with a tennis racquet, which wound up a sopping, pulpy mess. 

A distant crash came later and a voice yelled, "Hey! Watch it!" 

A third apple went airborne and before it landed, Bloom kicked it backward. "…create fine art for your home with ’em…" Ponet, who was about to start painting a picture, had his creativity rudely interrupted when the apple splattered against his canvas. He caught some of the mess on his nose and glared at Bloom when she zipped over. "…you’d have to be crazy not to get a bushel of your very own!"

"Or if you're a carrot farmer.", Shoeshine mumbled, turning to the orange mare.

"Right.", Carrot Top agreed with a slight bitter look as she saw Applejack pull her little sister back by the bow. From her experience, carrots turned bitter when stored with apples. She fancied herself as a rival to Apple family, even though she doesn't earn as much as them. In fact, her farm, Golden Harvests, which she runs together with her father, was a fair distance from theirs.

Applejack laughed apologetically to the crowd. "She’s so creative.", she said.

Just then, as he searched stall after stall for what he was looking for, Chronicle noticed Doctor Whooves pass by. "You, sir!", Bloom said as she rushed ahead and cut him off. "Care to buy some apples?"

"Uh, no, thanks." 

Bloom popped out from a produce cart to cut him off again. "Why not?"

The Doctor began to back away nervously. "I have plenty at home." He then suddenly bumped into something and he turned around to see Bloom there.

"Are you sure?"

The Doctor walked forward. "Yes, I’m pretty sure." She cut him off yet again and slowly backed him up toward the apple cart.

"You’re pretty sure, but you’re not absolutely, positively, completely, super-duper sure, are you?" 

The Doctor was beginning to sweat buckets before this onslaught. "Uh, if I buy some apples, will you please leave me alone?"

Bloom brightened instantly. "All right!"

After a quick bit of fishing around, he produced several coins, threw them into Applejack’s apron pocket, then bolted away with an apple in his teeth. 

"You forgot your change!" Applejack called after him.

"Woo-hoo!", Bloom whooped. "That’s how you sell some apples and get a cutie mark!" These last words puzzled her older sister a fair bit. She turned to see her circling in place, her head cocked back over her shoulder to see if any new decorations have popped up farther back.

"So, what does my cutie mark look like? A shoppin’ bag full of apples? A satisfied customer eating an apple?" She stopped after a while, noticing the area to be still blank, and crossed to Berry Punch, who was looking over a tub of apples placed on the ground. "Hmmm…maybe I gotta increase my sales figures first." She looked Berry dead in the eye. "You touch it, you buy it! We take cash or credit."

This declaration came with enough force to push the prospective customer back in a fright. Applejack stepped in, "I’m sorry, ma’am." But the mare already bailed out. "Ma’am!" With a frustrated little sigh, she turned around. "Now, Apple Bloom, you can’t just—"

On the end of this, Bloom was emptying a tub of apples into a saddlebag worn by Bon Bon. "That’ll be four bits." 

The mare glared down at her. "I didn’t put those in my bag!" 

"Likely story. Four bits, lady!"

Applejack shoved a hoof over her sister's mouth. "Apple Bloom!" She turned to Bon Bon. "I am really, really sorry ’bout that. She’s new." She dumped in several apples on the saddlebag not stuffed with apples. "Here. Take these.  No charge." Applejack pointed to another load. "And these." Those go in, but Bon Bon still didn't seem satisfied—so Applejack pulled out another tub. "And these."

"Bon Bon!", Chronicle called out as he came over, a familiar cat 'in tow'. "Ebony just ran away again. And since you seem to be headed home, mind if I come with you?"

"Sure. And maybe you could help me with these?", Bon Bon asked as Applejack hoisted a tub of apples on her head and dropped it on the two-tone haired mare's back, causing her to nearly collapse under the total weight. 

"Maybe…" Chronicle then got suspicious as he approached her. "Wait, did you buy all that?"

"Yes.", The two-tone haired mare flatly replied.

"Do you need all of that?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because there's no way you can turn all of those apples into candy, not that I know how you make them. Or eat them all in a few days without getting tired of them, even with Lyra's help."

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to get to?" 

Chronicle got closer, made a look at Applejack that told her not to cut in, and replied in a hushed tone, "What I'm saying is that this isn't necessary."

"What do you want me to do?", Bon Bon whispered. "That little filly just basically scammed me."

"But does it validate taking all of Applejack's wares?"

Bon Bon seemed to ponder on this for a while, even as the apples should've been weighing her down, but thankfully weren't since Chronicle was 'lifting' them a bit to reduce the stress on her body. "…No, I guess not." She then turned to Applejack. "I'll just take the bucket."

The farmpony nodded, gave Bloom a harsh stare, then they began taking off Bon Bon's saddlebags and unloading the apples back into the tubs. Once that was done, they returned Bon Bon's saddlebags on her back and she walked away, Chronicle beside her as he was supposed to return Ebony—whom he still 'carried'—back to Lyra.

Applejack called after Bon Bon, "Y’all come back now, you hear?"

"Not in a long while so long as that filly is in the stands.", Bon Bon muttered. 

"You don't have to worry about that.", Chronicle said as he 'set down' Ebony inside Bon Bon's saddlebag. "From what I've been observing, that'll be Bloom's only day."

"Okay." Bon Bon decided to change the subject. "Say, why don't you check out Sweet Treats?"

"Let me guess, that's your shop?"

"Uh-huh."

"Sure thing."


C—BB—A—AB—DW–C—BB—A—AB—DW—C—BB—A—AB—DW

Meanwhile, in Mystic Shield's dojo…

"You really don't know how to go easy, do you?", said Mystic Shield.

As it was, Twilight Sparkle had shot a medium-length beam at a target, making a small burn at where it hit—the center. "Sorry, Mystic Shield."

"That's Master Shield to you, Twilight Sparkle.", the teacher sternly replied before relaxing. "As long as we're in class, you shall address me as such."

"Yes, Master Shield."

"Good. Lemon Hearts, you're next." Twilight made her way to where the other students were standing as Lemon stepped forward. The yellow unicorn charged her horn and 'launched' an arrow-shaped shot, which mildly surprised the bearer of the Element of Magic, and hit the target. "Nice work, though you could improve a bit more on power."

"Wow. I had no idea magic shots can come in all shapes and sizes.", remarked the studious unicorn.

"Really, this is news for me too.", Chronicle remarked as Written Script was next. His quill-shaped shot hit the target spot on. 

"You're improving.", evaluated Mystic. "Dinky, show us what you can do."

As the unicorn filly stepped up, Twilight seemed to worry a bit and voiced her concern to her bodyguard. "I still can't believe Mys—uhh, Master Shield's letting fillies take his classes, too."

"Dinky's the only one so far. Others haven't been as willing to send their foals here yet, mostly due to violence potential. Dinky's only in because she wanted to and Derpy gave her a-okay."

"Wonderful work, Dinky!", said Mystic. "I've never seen such accuracy in such a young age!"

Dinky, having made many bulls-eyes in a row, turned to her teacher and beamed. Suddenly, a spot of light flashed briefly somewhere on her body, and everypony gasped. Once it was over, Dinky turned to look at—

"I'm gonna tell Mom the good news!", Amethyst Star cried out as she made her way out of the dojo.

"Wait—", Mystic cried out, but she was already gone. "Oh well." He sighed as he gave a smile. "It's not every day that this sort of thing happens in the middle of class. Dinky, I think you deserve a break. Class, let's continue."


C—TS—LH—AS—D—MS–WS—C—TS—LH—AS—D—MS–WS

Back with the Chronicle clone…

After acquiring the reward for returning Ebony…again, Chronicle returned to Applejack's cart to see that her entire inventory was now gone. Apple Bloom was looking at her sister as if not know what she did wrong while he was gone.

"What?"

"Sorry, little sis, but your apple-sellin’ days are over!" Applejack then pulled at Bloom’s apron in her teeth and took it off.

"What?! But how else am I gonna get my cutie mark?", she argued as she yanked it back. 

"Home!" The older sister stamped a hoof. "Now!" The failed salesfilly spat the apron away with a pout and whine and Applejack gave a sigh. "Listen, sugarcube. I know it’s hard to wait for your very own cutie mark, but you just can’t force it. Besides, you’re not that grown-up just yet. Ain’t there other fillies in your class without one?"

"Well…Twist doesn’t have hers yet."

"There's also Dinky.", suggested Chronicle. "Daughter of the mailmare Derpy Hooves. Thankfully not as clumsy as her mother."

"Do you think you’d feel better if you went to the party with either of them?", Applejack asked.

Bloom gave a smile. "Mmm-hmm."

"Well, there you go! Bet you and Twist and/or Dinky would have a great time together." Bloom started to hurry off and Chronicle decided to follow. "Now run along and find your friend."

Just then, the yellow filly stopped. "You’re sure you don’t want me to stick around ’til the end of the market?"

"Hey! Who’s been usin’ my racquet?", a male voice called out. The three turned and observed with worry an earth pony stallion with a light tan coat, dark blue eyes, dark brown hair with mustache and sideburns (which greatly confused Chronicle), a red headband that held his mane back, a blue/white sweatband on one foreleg, yellow-white shorts that hid his tennis ball cutie mark, and prominent tufts of hair on his chest. As it was, he was the owner of the tennis racquet Bloom used a couple of minutes ago and he was not amused. 

Applejack answered her sister, "Yeah. I’m sure."

"You've been a bad filly.", the blue unicorn said. "That guy's Ace, tennis champion. You won't be getting any tennis-related cutie marks anytime soon."


C—A—AB—A–C—A—AB—A–C—A—AB—A

A while later…

Chronicle followed Bloom to the herb/flower shop which was tended to by Daisy, Rose, and Lily, but they weren't around right now. Bloom trotted to the front door and knocked. Its top half opened and Twist looked out, noticing her classmate after a moment. When she spoke, Chronicle noticed that her tone was somewhat less cheerful than when they met after school, though she was still smiling.

"Oh. What’s up, Apple Bloom?"

Bloom was occasionally glancing back at her rump as she spoke. "So I was thinkin’, maybe we could go to Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera together. I don’t have a cutie mark, you don’t have a cutie mark."

Twist was uneasy at this. "Well, um…" She ducked down and hit the latch on the door’s lower half. It swung open to expose two things: a suddenly self-satisfied grin, and a mint-condition cutie mark of two crossed candy canes. Bloom stared pop-eyed with a gasp as Twist brightened considerably as she walked past. "Isn’t my cutie mark swell? I’ve always loved making my own savory sweets, but it took me some time to discover that it was my super-special talent. Pretty sweet, huh?"

If Bloom’s spirits were low before, they were now perhaps five feet beneath her hooves as she sat on her rump in front of the shop door. "Yeah. Pretty…sweet."

Twist tried to console her friend. "Hey, this doesn’t mean we can’t go to the cute-ceañera together." It was at that moment that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon crossed behind her. "You’re still gonna come to the party, aren’t you?"

"Of course she will.", said the pink earth pony filly. 

"It’s not like being the only pony there without a cutie mark will be, like…" Silver made a contemptuous laugh. "…the most embarrassing thing ever."

Those last five words caused the little filly’s cheeks to burn red with shame, and she bit her lower lip to keep from crying as the stuck-up pair’s nasty laughter drifted over. 

"Hey, lighten up, there's still Dinky.", Chronicle tried to console her. I hope…


C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS


Eyecatch (picture-type) - Apple Bloom looking dejected. Zoom in on her blank flank, where the show's logo fades into view.


C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS—C—AB—T—DT—SS

Back at Mystic Shield's dojo…

Unfortunately for the Chronicle clone, Dinky was a blank-flank no more either.

"I'm so proud of you, my little muffin!", Derpy said as she spun around in the air, holding her little unicorn daughter, who was beaming in pride of her cutie mark; a golden bow and arrow, which represented her skill in masterful precision.

All the unicorns around them cheered for this moment, including Mystic Shield. Twilight Sparkle was also awed at this incident, but she said nothing.

This celebration lasted for a full minute before Mystic decided to clear his throat. "A-he-hem." Everypony stopped and turned to face him. "While I appreciate this sentimental and not-at-all-common moment, is it rude for me to ask for class to continue?"

"No, not at all.", Derpy said, then turned to Dinky. "Why didn't you tell me you were taking his classes?"

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I know how you've always been there for me, and well…I wanted to be able to protect you too when the time comes."

Dinky's mom hugged her tighter. "Oh, Dinky." Mystic cleared his throat again to catch their attention as the others already got into position. "Sorry." Derpy set her daughter down.

"Okay. Miss Hooves, if you don't need to get back to work…"

"Oh, right! I still got some more letters to deliver! See you later, Dinky, Sparkler!" She then flew out, only to bump into the door first before finally leaving without problems. 

"Sparkler?", Twilight asked.

Amethyst Star answered, "That's Mom's nickname for me."

"I can't help but think she looks too young to be your mother."

"Hasn't adoption crossed your mind?", Chronicle asked his charge.

"Oh, right."


C—TS—DH—D—MS–C—TS—DH—D—MS–C—TS—DH—D—MS

Elsewhere…

Apple Bloom sat glumly by a well amid a cluster of houses in Ponyville, Chronicle's clone watched from a short distance. Derpy had passed by a while ago, looking real happy and singing to herself that Dinky's got her cutie mark. Of course, this set the yellow filly's spirits deeper. Just then, Rainbow Dash poked her head into view from above.

"Whoa.", the pegasus said. "Looks like somepony’s got a dark cloud hanging over her head." Indeed, there was a dark cloud directly overhead—a sizable one, to be exact. Why Chronicle didn't move it was because it wasn't rumbling any lightning. "Let me do something about that." Rainbow bulldozed it away and descended to the ground. "What’s the matter, kid?"

Bloom stood up, sucked in a huge breath, and started to spill her guts, not literally thankfully. "There’s a cute-ceañera this afternoon and everypony in my class’ll be there and they’ll all have their cutie marks and I wanna get my cutie mark but I’m no good at sellin’ apples but I really wanna go to the party but how can I go to the party if I don’t have my cutie mark which my big sister says I’m gonna get eventually but…" She then went into full whine mode. "…I WANT IT NOOOWWW!"

The pegasus did not even skip a beat in the face of this phonetic onslaught. "Cutie mark? I can get you a cutie mark like that!" At the end of this, she snapped her tail out straight and revealed her own.

"Applejack says these things take time. I have to just wait for it to happen."

"Why wait for something to happen when you can make it happen?"

"But…Applejack says that…"

"Hey, who are you gonna listen to? Applejack, or the pony who was first in her class to get a cutie mark?" 

"You were the first in class?", Chronicle asked as Rainbow flexed her wings, and bounded over Bloom. 

"I always liked flying and all, but I was going nowhere in a hurry. It wasn’t until my very first race that I discovered a serious need for speed. And ka-zam!" She showed off her flank and went into a crouch. "This sweet baby appeared as fast as lightning." She then took off, leaving a certain yellow filly to gaze up in admiration. 


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

A while later…

The clone Chronicle watched as Bloom, wearing a headband with her bow, did push-ups in the grass while Rainbow hovered behind her, having put on a headband and hung a whistle around her neck.

"That’s right!", the pegasus was saying. "Stretch out those legs! Gotta be nice and loose! The key here is to try as many things as possible, as quickly as possible. One of ’em is bound to lead to your cutie mark." 

"Or at least among those things, find something that you like.", Chronicle added. "If you like it, it's probably your calling and you keep at that activity until your mark appears."

Rainbow didn't seem to mind his interruption. "Are you ready?" 

Bloom straightened up and replied, "I’m ready!"

"I said, are you ready?!?"

Bloom reared up. "I’m ready!"


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

"Juggling! Go!"

There was a blow of the whistle, as Bloom stood on one hind leg, juggling several balls from a nearby basket. She did well for a few seconds before losing her balance and belly-flopping into the grass, the balls bouncing off her head and back. 

"This doesn't sound like a good idea.", Chronicle quipped.


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

At the end of a cliff…

"Hang gliding! Go!"

Another whistle and Bloom—now sporting an old-style aviator’s leather helmet and goggles—started into a sprint with a glider on her back. After several dozen yards however, she tripped and started to tumble head over tail. "Whoa!" She slid to an upside-down stop just short of the cliff, with one corner of the glider hanging over the edge and Rainbow throwing her a slightly disgusted look. 

Chronicle just grumbled and said. "Let's try this again."


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

After a lot of failed attempts…

"Karate! Go!"

They were now in a karate dojo, no connection to Mystic Shield's, with Rainbow clad in a martial-arts training uniform—and a black belt (unsurprisingly) to boot—and Bloom similarly clad, and without the headband, but with a white belt (naturally). Chronicle hadn't put any uniform on as he was a magical clone, with the real him still in Mystic Shield's academy.

At the sound of the whistle, Bloom took off with a flying kick, yelling out something appropriate for the martial art. One rear hoof connected squarely with a heavy bag, but it did not move; instead, Bloom’s face instantly froze into an expression of incredible silent pain. She hung motionless for a second before thudding to the floor. 

So that's how they learn karate. Chronicle then turned to Rainbow and asked, "Say, you mentioned Fluttershy taking karate classes, right?"

"No. I mentioned it was Rarity, as it turns out when I asked the sensei, but yes, Fluttershy does take a few."

"Ah." Really…


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

In a meadow…

"Kite flying! Go!"

Having ditched their uniforms, and with Bloom back in her blue headband, the latter stood with a with a kite made of leaves lying behind her, its spool of line in her teeth. The two blue older ponies watched from a safe distance.

At the sound of the whistle, The earth pony filly began to gallop, letting the line play out as the kite started to gain altitude. All too soon, though, it took a few deranged loops before nose-diving straight to the ground. The novice kite-flyer watched wide-eyed as all the leaves crumpled off the branch framework.

"Seriously?", Chronicle asked his friend. "What about kite-fighting or something more intense?"


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

"Ultra Pony Roller Derby! Go!"

The two blue ponies stood on a small table on the infield of a roller rink. As the whistle sounded once more, they watched a crash-helmeted Bloom scramble by on skates with three tough-looking fillies in pursuit. She looked fearfully back just in time to see them growl at her, then pitched forward with a scream and tumbled out of control. The other three slammed on the brakes, but too late. There was a collision and the four skaters now lay in a semiconscious tangle at one corner of the rink. Bloom recovered quick, extricated herself, and rolled slowly away, red-faced and grinning as best she can.


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

"Target practice! Go!"

And Bloom, with a barrier cast around her and wearing a red-and-white target on her flank, ran into the fray at the start of the whistle as magic shots of all shapes and sizes (well, shaped at least) tried to hit her. The barrier cast around her was very small, enough to tuck her tail and bow within its bounds. 

Left and right she strafed for two minutes, her shield taking a few hits along the way, until a voice called to stop. The onslaught of magical blasts ceased and Bloom stopped moving as well.

"Tell me again how you convinced me this was a good idea.", Mystic Shield decided to ask, having given the order.

As it was, they were at his dojo, and Bloom was suggested to play as a moving target for his students to shoot at. They have been absolutely assured them that Mystic—who was the one who put up the barrier—won't let her come to harm. Of course, some of them didn't want to take part, among them Twilight Sparkle, who was vehemently against the idea.

"I haven't a clue.", Chronicle, the real one, shrugged his shoulders, having dismissed his clone.

"Oh wait. I just remembered.", one of the students said. "There's a cute-ceañera taking place at Sugarcube Corner!"

"Oh, I gotta prepare my little sister for it!"

"Me too!"

And the conversation soon devolved into discussion for that oncoming party. Mystic Shield sighed at the lost attention and decided to declare, "Class dismissed." And as one, nearly every unicorn left the dojo, leaving himself, Chronicle, his charge, Rainbow Dash, and Apple Bloom. "Ugh…this inconsistent schedule is killing me."

"Well, if you'd like, I can offer you tips in keeping—", Twilight began.

"Yes, you told me about maintaining a rigid and consistent schedule and all that, but while I think it may fit with your job as librarian and student of Princess Celestia, I also have my students' livelihoods to consider. While you somehow maintain an orderly schedule that also factors in your interaction with your few friends—not that that's bad or anything—I, on the other hoof, have to factor in all of my students' 'timetables' so I can maximize the…umm…how do you say it…"

"Maximize the total hours you spend teaching your students what you know?", Chronicle put in.

"Yes. That and the bits I earn each day from each of them or their parents or guardians."

"Well, we better get going.", Rainbow interrupted. "Still got some more activities to do." She and Bloom—who ditched the target she wore—then took off, followed by Chronicle, leaving Twilight and Mystic in the dojo.


C—TS—RD—MS—AB—C—TS—RD—MS—AB—C—TS—RD—MS—AB

Later…

After a lot more activities, the three were now lounging under a tree that was a few feet from Carousel Boutique. While Rainbow was consulting a checklist, Chronicle was doing a few practice swings with his "magic horn blade" on some falling leaves, failing miserably to slice them in half.

"Tried that one…tried that one…tried that one…", he heard his pegasus friend say. Just then, the sound of young laughter caught his and Bloom's attention. He paused to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking past, the former having a large, wrapped box on her back.

"Your new outfit is like, perfect for the party.", Silver said as Bloom  gasped in fright and dove behind a bush.

"I know. It totally shows off my new cutie mark.", Diamond replied as they walked past the tree where they were resting, ignoring or not noticing the death glare Chronicle was giving them.

"I love being special."

"Can you imagine how embarrassing it must be to be…not special? "

Silver sighed with contempt. "I don’t even want to, like, think about it."

And if there's one thing I also don't like about them, it's Silver's excessive use of the word 'like'., Chronicle grumbled as they walked out of sight. It's irritating to no end.

Then, as Rainbow continued to check the list, Bloom climbed out of the bush and lamented, "I’m doomed! Doomed! I’ll never find somethin’ I’m good at!" She then dropped her head with a pathetic little whimper before Pinkie Pie poked in. 

"You look like you’d be good at eating cupcakes.", Pinkie suggested.

Bloom gave a smile. "Eatin’ cupcakes?"

Rainbow was a mite confused, "Eating cupcakes?"

Chronicle however seemed to be on edge. "C-c-c-c-c-c-cupcakes?"

Pinkie jumped in place and replied in a sing-song manner, "Eating cupcakes!" 

As she then hopped away, Bloom turned to the polychromatic-haired pegasus. "I really appreciate all your help, Rainbow Dash." She then slowly backed off "You’re a really great coach and I’ve really learned a lot from you, and I’m sure I could learn a lot more, but…I’ve got some cupcakes to eat!" She then dashed after Pinkie. "See you at the cute-ceañera! Hold on, Pinkie Pie! I’m comin’!"

"I better go too, just in case.", Chronicle told Rainbow before following.

"The word 'cupcakes' seemed to have a negative vibe on you.", she said to him and he was forced to stop. "May I ask why?"

"Two words: Baked bads."

"Those were muffins."

"Still. That, and also because of a horrible nightmare."

"Why would you have a nightmare about cupcakes?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, okay. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm have to make sure Apple Bloom doesn't fall into trouble."


C—RD—PP—AB—DT—SS—C—RD—PP—AB—DT—SS

The reason behind Chronicle's cringing on the word "cupcakes" is because of the "Cupcakes" book Blue Diary gave him days ago in his dreams.

In that story, Pinkie Pie invited Rainbow Dash to her bakery and offered her a drugged cupcake. After eating the drugged confection, Rainbow woke up some time later strapped to a table in a darkened room decorated up like a party, but in place of streamers and balloons are blood, bones and body parts. Pinkie, wearing a dress made from pony flesh and a necklace of unicorn horns, revealed that she had killed many other ponies and then told Rainbow Dash that "her number came up" before proceeding to slowly and brutally mutilate her in graphic detail, eventually killing her. Othello was absolutely horrified in finding out this side of Pinkie and had to…put her down when he came next. 

Chronicle has been on edge upon hearing "cupcakes" or "rainbow factory" ever since.


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

Chronicle shook that horrible memory off of his head as he frantically followed the high-spirited Bloom into the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner from a back door outside. He considered doing a background check on Pinkie later using Surveillance, but then remembered his promise and the consequences of breaking it. He then shook that off, telling himself that his Pinkie Pie wold never to such a thing, although he'll have to keep his guard up.

His continued pondering was interrupted by hearing Bloom say, "I can’t believe I didn’t think of this." As they entered, Chronicle watched Pinkie set a muffin tin on the counter. "A cupcake-eatin’ cutie mark! It’s so obvious!" Bloom then began to zip about, looking in drawers, cabinets, and even the oven. "Now, where are those cupcakes? I’m ready to chow down!"

"I don’t have any cupcakes.", Pinkie said, triggering something in Chronicle's mind as he continued to listen, stay still, and get ready for anything.

"Oh." 

Pinkie then gasped sharply as she then went and plunked a chef’s hat on Bloom’s head. "But you look like you’d be good at helping me make some!"

Bloom sounded uncertain as a light mandolin/tambourine melody began to play. Fast 4, D major. "I guess a “making-cupcakes” cutie mark could work too."


C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB—C—RD—AB

In a completely different, non-pony world…

Now Playing: Sandviches!

In a RED base somewhere, the Engineer walked over to the Heavy, who had his back turned to him as he tended to Sasha. 

"Heavy…", the Engineer asked and he turned to face him. "How do I make sandvich?" The hardhat-wearing guy produced one in a plate at the end of this in demonstration right after.

[screen mode]

{Heavy leans into view of from the right, singing in a booming voice and over-emphasis of the lyrics. The plate disappears from Engineer's hold, who begins to bob his arms up and down as he makes a wide open-mouth grin of enthusiasm, which he retains for the entire song. The Heavy then sumps some flour into a mixing bowl.}

All you have to do is take a cup of flour! Add it to the mix!♪

{Heavy then moves off screen and Engineer pops up as a chocolate bar, a steak, and a paprika bottle fly, the first into the bowl, and the other two over it. Heavy shows a salt container to Engineer's right, then comes up to his face as the Engineer made an even bigger open-mouth smile.}

Now just take a little something sweet, not sour! A bit of salt, just a pinch!♪

Bass in

{Heavy moves over to a cabinet and opens it while Engineer keeps his smile going. Cut to close-up of Heavy's face as he then leans back to show a teaspoon (and the rest of his body).}

Making these treats is such a cinch! Add a teaspoon of bologna!♪

{View of the bowl as if the camera was on its rim as Heavy continues to sing, Engineer puts his upper jaw onto the rim opposite to the camera, and four small, disc-shaped pieces of bologna. Scene cuts to another where Heavy bends down with his neck elongated to prove his point, then raises his arms to the ceiling.}

Add a little more and you count to four, and you never get your fill of…♪

Drums/synthesizer in

{Heavy pulls up a plate with a "sandvich" as a wheel transition pattern of white-and-pink is behind him; Heavy tilts his head to it as it sits on his open palm.}

Sandvich! So moist and delicious!♪

{Same backdrop as before, but with Heavy showing the "sandvich" to Engineer; close up of Heavy's eyes.}

Sandvich! I'm coming for you!♪

{Same scene as before where Heavy pulls up the "sandvich" on a plate.}

Sandvich!♪

{Scene of the "sandvich" and the Heavy; then the "sandvich" at its plate alone; then finally a from-table view of the singing Heavy as he stretches his arms out to the "sandvich" and the enthusiastic Engineer as the food item sits there.}

Sandvich! Sandvich! Sandvich!♪

Song ends

{Heavy went into an akimbo position and Engineer retains his enthusiastic look. Camera then zooms past them and right at the face of an exasperated Scout as he holds his bat.}

[screen mode]

"This did not just happen!", Scout exclaimed.


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

Back in Equestria (Prime)…

Chronicle was busy cleaning up the mess that had resulted from the attempt to make cupcakes. Apple Bloom was running the electric mixer, there was batter everywhere, and he was splattered in places with it. He then saw her leave it at the sound of a buzzer elsewhere. Grumbling, he walked over to the mixer, looked for the power switch, then 'flipped' it so that it would slow down and not spill too much batter. 

I've seen cleaner bakery kitchens…, he grumbled as he organized the counter. While he was far from being a clean freak like Rarity, he tolerates messiness as much as the next average Joe—and indeed he knew of one pony with that name—, not too much.

He then quickly went over to Bloom as she stood in front of the oven and pulled open the door handle with her teeth. Black smoke came from the oven and she slipped, knocking over a bag of flour, causing her to cough. She then grabbed a potholder in her teeth to pull the cupcakes out. Her eyes popped in sudden pain, presumably from the heat.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!", she exclaimed as she spat out the tin and let her tongue hang out.

Pinkie and Chronicle went and stood over the results, which were a set of burnt-black treats. "Ooh!", the pink earth pony said. "Those look much better than the last batch."

"Considering the ones before these, I can't tell if you're being sincere or not.", snarked the sole unicorn as Pinkie took a big crunchy bite out of one, crumbs adhering to her bulging cheeks. And I know sarcasm is a foreign concept to you. He and Bloom watched in total disbelief. He then cringed as Bloom tried to follow Pinkie's example, only to spit it out.

Bloom was obviously crushed. "Guess I’m not cut out to be a baker either." She then gave a moan. "I just have to face it. I’m gonna have a blank flank forever."

"Now don't fret too much. I think being too impatient in finding your cutie mark is what's not letting you find it."

"What about that?", Pinkie asked as she pointed at a white patch on Bloom's flank, whose red-gold eyes bugged out and turned back to it.

"What about what?", the filly asked as she circled in place, her chef hat falling off. "Is there something on my flank? Is there? Is there? Is there?" She rushed to an overturned metal bowl on the floor, angled herself to show the spot’s reflection clearly, and gasped happily. "A cutie mark! It’s a…a measurin’ cup? No. A mixin’ bowl? No. Are those cupcakes? A tower of cupcakes, maybe."

Pinkie decided to blow over the white patch, causing it to disappear. "Flour! It’s flour!", she exclaimed as she jumped up and down. "Yay! I guessed it! What game do you want to play next? Please say bingo, please say bingo."

Only Chronicle noticed the devastating effect that her action has had on Bloom and they were all caught off guard by the next voice.

"Whoa!" They all turned to see Twilight Sparkle at the kitchen door. "What’s been going on in here?" 

Pinkie slid over to her, with a tray of burned cupcakes on her head. "We’ve been making cupcakes. Want to try one?"

"No, thank you. Not that they don’t look…" The unicorn mare forced a grin. "…delicious." Chronicle "pfft"ed in response.

"Twilight!", Bloom cried out. "You have to help me!"

"What’s the matter?"

For the second time, the little pony got a good lungful of air, but before she could tell the tale, Chronicle cut in and began to say it for her in rapid fire, but not as fast as Bloom had done. "Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera is today and everypony in her class’ll be there. They all got their cutie marks and she wants to get hers, but she's no good at selling apples or hang gliding or making cupcakes. She wants to go to the party, but cannot go without a cutie mark, which she can't make appear but wants it to regardless."

"RIIIIGHT NOOOOW!", Bloom finished.

Like Rainbow, Twilight had managed to hold her ground and her composure through her bodyguard's verbal torrent. "Uh…I don’t follow. How can I help her?" Chronicle smacked himself in the face from his failure to get the message across.

"You can use your magic to make my cutie mark appear!"

"Oh, no, Apple Bloom. A cutie mark is something that a pony has to discover for herself." 

"Please, Twilight. Just try."

"I’m sorry, but—"

Bloom started to fidget, grabbing Twilight’s chest. "Oh, please, please, please, please, please!"

Left with no choice, Twilight conceded, "All right, all right!" 

Bloom backed up. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The multi-talented unicorn then fired up her horn and hit the right spot with a blast. A cart filled with apples appeared. "YES! I knew you could do…" Her tone changed as she saw it vanish. "…it."

"I’m sorry, sweetie. But I told you—"

"Try again, try again!"

With the classic sigh that was the precursor of an “I told you so”, Twilight followed orders. This time, she conjured up a kite mark, which also faded out. This was followed by three cupcakes, a teddy bear, a tricycle, and so on. Bloom was gradually showing increasing dejection as flash after flash hit her with increasing speed. The final failed attempt was a trio of footballs, after which she voiced a little gasp and Twilight lifted her head clear.

"Told you that not even magic can make a cutie mark appear before its time."

Suddenly, Chronicle had an idea as he lighted up. "Oh wait! There is another way!"

"Really?!", asked the two females.

"But you'll eventually have to try and actually live up to it or explain why it has changed after you really get your cutie mark."

"Why?", Bloom wanted to know.

"Two words. Flank stickers."

At this, Twilight frowned. "Those things?"

"Uh-huh. Sometimes, my charge may not want my presence for certain reasons but may need them. So along with some hair dye, special body paint, and even fake eyelashes, I use flank stickers to disguise myself when shrouding myself in clothes isn't enough." And it's not as easy as you think it is.

"May I see one?", Bloom asked. "Please, please, please!"

"Unfortunately, I don't have any." This set Bloom's spirits down.

"Then why did you even bring it up if you don't have them?", Twilight scolded.

"It was only until all this cutie mark-searching did I remember them. And that I'll need to get more from the Canterlot black market."

"You go to the black market?!"

"Sometimes. I keep away from the very shady ones though."

"It’s hopeless. Hopeless!", Bloom lamented, interrupting their argument as she walked slowly to the shop floor, Chronicle following her. "I just won’t go to the party. I can’t go! Everyone will just laugh at me and make fun of me and call me names. It will be the worst night of my life."

"I’m sure it won’t be as bad as all that.", Twilight assured, putting her argument with Chronicle behind her for the moment.

"I'm sure it will be now that you said that.", her bodyguard snarked.

"Forget it.", said Bloom. "There’s no way I’m goin’ to that…" She stopped short upon seeing the shop floor filled with mares and fillies, presents and sweets stacked up on the tables, and the whole place tricked out for a soiree. She gave a hard gulp. "…party?"


C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB

Eyecatch (video-type)

{Eight cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: seven bubbles, a lyre, a trio of wrapped candies, a bundle of three carrots, a grape and strawberry, a trio of brilliant-cut diamonds, an hourglass, and another hourglass.}

{The eight cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of eight ponies. The top row depicts (from left to right) Amethyst Star, Minuette, Doctor Whooves, and Berry Punch. The bottom row depicts Bon Bon, Heartstrings, Derpy Hooves, and Golden Harvest. The show's logo shows up on the center.}


C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB—C—TS—PP—AB

Chronicle took the time to analyze his surroundings after remembering the event taking place here. He heard music and happy chatter. He then heard the sound of somepony spitting out something, then turned to see that one of them had tried Apple Bloom's failed cupcakes. He turned another way and saw Diamond Tiara strutting her stuff, wearing an outfit that consisting of a white-polka-dotted pink saddle with blue and pink edging and a frilly white collar, which ironically covered her cutie mark. Silver Spoon, who was alongside, wore a pink/blue saddle with yellow/light-green edging and a blue collar accentuated by a yellow flower. He could even see Twist getting into the spirit, leaving Bloom to sit by a chocolate filly sculpture, which she hid behind.

"How could I have forgotten the time?", she lamented as Chronicle stood right next. "How could I have forgotten Pinkie Pie was hostin’ the party? How could I have forgotten it was at Sugarcube Corner?"

Pinkie popped in and set a party hat on their heads. "Don’t forget your party hat…Forgetty Forgetterson!" She then hopped away as Bloom took off her hat.

The yellow filly then zipped from a sculpture to hide behind a cake. "I have to get out of here before anypony sees me."

As a couple of late arrivals strolled in, Snails walked over to the cake and took a huge bite, making a big enough hole to leave Bloom in view…as well as get a reprimand from Diamond.

"Hey!", she yelled as she get into his face. "It’s my cute-ceañera! I’m supposed to get the first bite of cake!"

The yellow filly took advantage of the distraction to get away from the table and onto another one, with Chronicle providing himself as cover. Next, she dove behind a bunch of balloons, but then a dancing Pokey Pierce started to pop them with his horn. She quickly made a break for it and began to work her way in between tables and guests, eventually reaching one with punch bowl.

"Okay, Apple Bloom.", she told herself as she saw the open exit door ahead. "Almost there." Lifting the table on her back, she tiptoed gingerly down the home stretch, stopping twice so as not to draw attention while Chronicle walked with it. On the second stop, he greeted Berry Punch, who looked around and ignored him before slurping directly from the bowl, ignoring the provided cups. 

Chronicle could only give a confused look as the table soon moved again and approached the doormat. Bloom then emerged and happily headed out, with Chronicle following, only for them to run flat into Applejack.

"Apple Bloom! You made it!", she cheered as she walked in, pushing Bloom back, forcing Chronicle to follow. "After I heard about Twist, I was afraid you wouldn’t show up. Sure am glad you came to your senses about this whole cutie mark thing." All the while, she hasn't noticed her sister’s profuse sweating and scrabbling to get past her and out the door. "These things happen when these things are supposed to happen. Tryin’ to rush it’ll just drive you crazy." She finally stopped. "I’ll let you be. Looks like your friends want to talk to you."

"Which friends?", asked Chronicle as she and he walked off, then turned to see Diamond and Silver, who were clearly relishing the moment. Chronicle then turned to the farmpony and said, "Seriously? You think those two are her friends?"

"Why wouldn't they be?", Applejack asked as her little sister yanked the cloth off another table holding a punch bowl, then knot it into a makeshift dress.

"Listen to the conversation carefully." He turned his and her head to the three earth pony fillies as they began to converse. "Observe the tone of the voices of your sister's 'friends'. Do they sound even the slightest bit friendly to you? Hmm?" He made sure to say his words slow and clear to make certain he's got the message across. "I've seen Cheerilee act useless as well since during class she didn't stop the teasing and mocking going on in her classroom that was directed towards your sister. Ponyville's school system clearly has not instituted a zero-tolerance policy on bullying."

"Wait a sec! You've been stalkin' my sister while she's in class?!" Chronicle smacked himself since Applejack apparently missed the point.

"Hey, you asked me to!" He was given a leer from Applejack. "Okay, maybe I ended up making you misinterpret my message, but…I also wanted to see how schools in Ponyville are like." He didn't tell the truth about not learning tha cutie mark lesson by virtue of not being born in Equestria.

"Are they that different from those in Canterlot and all those other places you've been?"

"Very."

Just then, they saw Bloom saunter away from whom Applejack called her friends, only to have her "dress" get snagged on one of the nails of the floorboards, After a moment’s straining against the snag, she ripped free of it and toppled forward headfirst. Instead of going out the door, though, she banged into a table next to it that held a manually-cranked phonograph. The loud scratch of the needle being knocked off the record elicited a gasp from the rest of the crowd, followed by stunned silence as a smirking Diamond and Silver zip over as they saw Bloom’s blank hide, out there for all to see.

The two "friends" began to laugh as Bloom pulled a face that showed that she was screwed.

"Oh, wow, that is an amazing cutie mark.", Silver mocked before laughing again. 

"Nice try…", teased Diamond before being joined in by her friend. "…blank flank!"

As she found herself on the receiving end of more mockery and a soft chant of “blank flank”, Chronicle gave an "What did I tell you?" look at Applejack.

Suddenly, a brash young female voice spoke up. "You got a problem with blank flanks?", it said.

There were stunned gasps from the entire crowd, two of whom backed away to expose a pair of fillies hiding under a table behind them. 

The speaker was an orange pegasus with a deep pink, unruly mane/tail and vivid violet eyes. Her companion was a unicorn, nearly the same gray-tinged white color as Rarity, light green eyes and a curly mane/tail in pastel pink and violet. Both were roughly Bloom's age…and Chronicle recognized them as the two fillies who cowered under a table with Bloom during the night Nightmare Moon appeared.

"I said, you got a problem with blank flanks?", repeated the pegasus filly.

"The problem is, I mean, she’s, like, totally not special.", Silver replied.

The unicorn filly's voice carried a higher pitch than her companion, but her vexation gave it the same edge. "No…" The two then trotted to stand in so that Bloom was now in between them. "…it means she’s full of potential." 

"It means she could be great at anything.", said the pegasus. "The possibilities are, like, endless." The last words were said mockingly in valley girl style.

For some reason, Chronicle could see the crowd was dumbstruck. "She could be a great scientist, or an amazing artist, or a famous writer. She could even be Mayor of Ponyville someday!"

"And she’s not stuck being stuck-up like you two." Said two took this very badly, but the rest of the bunch got a good laugh out of it.

"Hey! This is my party.", retorted Diamond. "Why are you two on her side?

"Because…" The two then presented their profiles, rump to rump, revealing themselves as "blank-flanks" as well.

Bloom gasped at the sight—or lack of one, in this case. "You don’t have your cutie marks either? I thought I was the only one!"

"We thought we were the only two.", said the pegasus as Chronicle then saw Twilight walk up.

"I, for one, think you are three very lucky fillies.", his charge said.

"Lucky?", Diamond gasped in a disrespectful manner as Silver let her tongue hang out in disgust. "How can they be lucky?"

Twilight gave a mild look of disgust, then game a smile. "They still get to experience the thrill of discovering who they are, and what they’re meant to be."

Applejack then walked over, accompanied by Chronicle. "And they’ve got all the time in the world to figure it out, not just an afternoon."

"And you better watch your tongue.", the bodyguard stated as he gave a stern look. "You do know who you're taking to, right?" He raised an eyebrow at the end of this. Already, Bloom found herself the center of attention from several others in her age group.

"Wow, Apple Bloom! I wish I could be a scientist.", one said.

"Do you really think you could be Mayor?", said another.

"Maybe I got my cutie mark too soon.", spoke a third.

It then soon became prevalent that the focus of the crowd has shifted away from Diamond and onto the trio. The two fillies with the overstuffed egos found themselves standing alone with Chronicle still staring down at them.

"Hey, what’s everypony doing?", Diamond was complaining, looking past the mare-faced stallion. "This is my party. Everypony’s supposed to be paying attention to me!" 

"Whatever.", Silver said, trying to save face, and apparently ignoring Chronicle  in front of them "We still think you’re losers—right, Diamond Tiara?" She then started into their special shake routine from before, but quickly lost steam as she noticed that Diamond was having no part of it. "Bump, bump, sugar…lump…"

"Not now, Silver Spoon."

"You do know I'm standing right here, right?", Chronicle said, but they ignored him and clomped away. "Huh… why do some ponies do that sometimes with me around?"

He turned back to the trio of blank-flanks. "Name’s Scootaloo.", he heard the pegasus introduce herself.

"And I’m Sweetie Belle.", said the unicorn.

"Apple Bloom.", the yellow earth pony filly stated.

Chronicle turned a while to see Diamond and Silver now up on the stairs and watching the proceedings with no enjoyment whatsoever while The music and the festivities resume.

"This song is so super!", Twist was saying as she jumped up and down. 

Chronicle grumbled as he 'picked up' a cup and got some punch, watching the other guests enjoy themselves. As he eyes his two friends clinking cups of punch held in their teeth and drink a toast, he grumbled again from the farmpony's obliviousness to the fact that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were bullies.

He then walked over to the table where the three new friends were gathered, bypassing Snails taking a bite of a properly prepared cupcake.

"So I was thinkin’.", Bloom was saying as the stallion stood behind them in a watchful manner. "Now that we’re friends…I mean, we are friends, right?" 

"How could we not be? We’re totally alike.", said Scootaloo, seemingly cool with the adult pony in their view. "We don’t have cutie marks, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drive us crazy—"

"Totally crazy!", Sweetie corrected and they all laughed at the end of that.

"Well, now that we’re friends, what if the three of us work together to find out who we are and what we’re supposed to be?" 

"Ooh, ooh! We could form our own secret society!", Sweetie suggested.

Secret society, my flank., Chronicle thought to himself. More like a simple group and nothing else.

"I’m liking this idea!", Scootaloo agreed.

"A secret society! Yeah!", Bloom was game for this. "We’ll need a name for it, though." 

"The Cutie Mark Three?", suggested Scootaloo.

"The Cute-tastically Fantastics?" Sweetie. 

"How about…the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Bloom.

Scootaloo agreed with this. "It’s perfect!" 

So did Sweetie. "This is gonna be so great!"

"We’re gonna be unstoppable!", Bloom said.

Using her nose, Scootaloo retrieved a cupcake from the nearest counter and deposited it on the table. "What do you say we celebrate with some of these delicious cupcakes?" Before she could dig in though, Bloom hurriedly stopped her from doing so. 

"Not the cupcakes! Trust me."

"Seriously.", agreed Chronicle. "She tried baking some an hour ago. The results were…something only Pinkie Pie can appreciate."

"Let’s see if there are any cookies!", Sweetie suggested two seconds after he was done talking.

Bloom agreed, "Yeah!"

And so did Scootaloo. "Come on!"

As they headed across the room, Chronicle stood as watched as the newly minted Crusaders had their fun. Scootaloo had a cookie in her teeth and flipped it upward, intending to catch it upon landing, only for it to land on her forehead and break. The other two laughed at the sight, and she shakes herself clean and offered a sheepish smile.

As they began to dance around, soon joined by Twist, the mare-faced stallion thought, This'll make for a good friendship report. I better tell Twilight later.


C—TS—A—PP—AB—T—DT—SS—SB—S

“Dearest Princess Celestia: I am happy to report that one of your youngest subjects has learned a valuable lesson about friendship. Sometimes, the thing you think will cause you to lose friends and feel left out can actually be the thing that helps you make your closest friends and realize how special you are.”
> (NOT) Chapter 20: Green Isn't Your Color
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 1: About the Story Crew

In the dreamscape…

Chronicle, his sister Timerity, and his brother Blue Diary stood together in front of a recording camera.

"Do we really have to do this?", complained the female as she fidgeted about.

"Yes.", Blue answered. "It's for our catalyst so people can know a bit more about what is it we do."

"But I hate talking in Fourth Wall!" She then gave a sigh. "But I guess I'll have to…" She then took out a pair of shades and put them on, in spite of the fact that they wouldn't stick to her face as her ears are above the arms of the eyewear. "…deal with it."

Blue rolled his eyes and groaned, "That is a lame way pull off that line, sister."

"Camera's about to roll.", Chronicle told them. "We should begin."

"Right." The three siblings then gathered together so that the camera can see all of them, with Chronicle's siblings between him.

"Greetings, 'readers'. My name is Timmy Timer, but in here I'm called Chronicle."

His sister was next. "And I'm Tabitha Timer, but I'm called Timerity by my friends."

Their brother was last. "And I'm Crais Timer, a.k.a. Blue Diary."

"And we're here to tell about the Story Crew.", the three spoke in unison. 

They paused for a while, then Timerity spoke up. "Man, this sounds like we're in a talk show or something. I'm never watching "Shelldor Koopa presents Fun With Frags" ever again. We have to warn you a bit though that we won't be able to answer all of your questions due to our rank and role in it, which we'll get to later."

"Just what is the Story Crew?", Blue asked the camera. "For starters, you got your animé, comic books, films, live action shows, plays, video games, cartoons, and all things fictional, including the fan works based on all of the above."

"Well, all of those things are actually real.", Timerity provided. "As real as the computer you're using to…read this chapter even as we speak. Just not in a place your civilization will have any access to in the near future. If you ever played the video game series titled Kingdom Hearts, let's say a portion of what you see there is the reality of the universe."

"In case you're wondering where do series that take place in outer space or in several worlds like Star Wars, Starcraft, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the like fit into this—"

"Wow. Many of those galaxy setting works are of the sci-fi genre.", Chronicle interrupted, getting a smack from his brother's wing.

"Don't cut in, Chronicle, while I'm still speaking." Blue then turned back to the camera. "Anyway, in those 'works', they take place in light speed proximity to where we are stationed. However, thanks to us, these star systems never interact with one another."

"Now, the Story Crew visits various worlds and sends down agents like us. We witness or experience adventures in them—"

"And the Story Crew is lenient on that term since that includes stuff that go under the 'slice-of-life' category." The pegasus then gets smacked by Chronicle's paddle.

"Hypocrite. As I was saying, we witness or experience adventures in these worlds, and chronicle all of them—hence the alias I use. Of course, we are assisted by plenty of others, hence the scenes that take place not in our presence.  Then, for some reason classified to us Field Operatives, this information is transmitted into "client worlds" like your earth and into the people you know as authors, producers, artists, scriptwriters, and the like—even fanfic writers like our catalyst here—in the form of ideas. As they do not think it is real, save for perhaps our catalyst, these creators treat these 'messages' as fiction and tell them to you as fiction. Also, the information more often than not gets garbled in translation, so there aren't that many hard facts."

"We in the Timer family are assigned to all sorts of different Equestrias.", Timerity explained. "Chronicle is assigned to Equestria Prime, the data of which is made into the TV show "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". I am assigned to Solaris Equestria, where just about everybody there is a gender swapped version of everybody in Prime. As for Blue Diary, he is assigned to Luna Equestria, its data sent to the writers of the fan-made collaboration known as the Lunaverse."

"You may be asking yourselves, "Hey, if what you're saying is true, why do we not see you in the shows we watch or the games we play?" or something like that.", Chronicle said. "Well, only a small proportion of worlds the Story Crew goes to actually have Field Operatives assigned to them, and a small proportion of that have such that directly interact with the work's protagonists like we do. And the same guys that transmit the info to the client worlds also edit the info so that no evidence of us, or those we "directly interact with", exist. Hence why there's also no trace of Mystic Shield or his first four students in your show."

"And for that reason, we who befriend the resident heroes usually try to minimize our influence in their fight against the main villains."

"Although we might sometimes go too far, like I have, hence why Nightmare Moon seems to just stand there as Twilight undergoes her speech about her friendship."

Timerity grumbled from her brother's interruption, then continued. "Of course, we make sure to keep the existence of the other worlds a secret, unless those worlds already make contact with other worlds, like the House of Mouse."

"Speaking of villains, there is also a rival organization that wishes to directly interfere with "how things go" according to our higher-ups.", Blue said. "This org is called the Book Troop. Don't ask why they and our group have names related to literature, because we haven't a clue. Our groups have been rivals for ages and we always clash whenever we could. Otherwise, they, or at least their Field Operatives, follow the same code as we do."

"When their Field Ops befriend the natives, they do so with who you identify as the villains. Although there are sometimes scenarios where…say…a hero and villain are together." Timerity then 'took out' a list and began to read it. "Like when heroes and villains have to work together to defeat a greater evil, or when a hero who's destined to beat the bad guys joins them for a while, or vice-versa. In that case, we make a begrudging truce until we can try and off one another without raising too much suspicion from our allies or breaking their trust."

"The Story Crew also has 'replicas' across different universes, especially in the ones where "fan fictions" and alternate comic world timelines take place.", Blue stated. "There are also alternate versions of ourselves there in addition to more members of our extended family, where the results are different."

"Enough about that. I think we've talked too much about our organization.", Timerity said in an attempt to change the subject. "Let's talk about our family. We told them about us. Why not talk about them too?"

"As much as that would be a great idea, I'm afraid we're running out of film.", Chronicle said as he gazed at the camera's side.

"We're using that kind of camera?"

"Afraid so." He then tuned back to the camera. "Of course, you may think of us as just another concept of fiction made by our catalyst, but we sorta foresaw that as our higher-ups have kept our masquerade so well you wouldn't believe us even after we might stop holding it up."

"We'll have to say goodbye now. Film's running out.", Blue said.

"Oh, all right." She then turned to the camera with his brothers and they all chorused. "Goodbye!" The camera then stopped.

The pegasus turned to Chronicle. "Can we do another of these next time?"

"You were the one who suggested it, remember?"

"Right."

"And you know I'm game for making videos."

"Right. Well, see ya."

"Bye.", Timerity said. And with that, she and Blue Diary vanished back into their dreamscapes, leaving Chronicle alone in his.

"Hmm…I really should visit my siblings' dreamscapes sometime."
> Chapter 10: Swarm of the Century
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10: Swarm of the Century

In Chronicle's dreamscape…

The blue unicorn was cautiously re-reading the "Cupcakes" book given to him by Blue Diary when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Timmy!", it came, drawn out so he could hear it.

Chronicle 'put down' his book and looked up to see a blue and brown figure descend from above. It circled for a while before putting some distance between himself and it, then turning around to approach him. Thankfully, the figure began to slow like an airplane on a runway. 

Finally, upon stopping, Chronicle got a good look at this arrival, who gave a wide beam. He had the exact color scheme and appearance as him and was of the same race (a unicorn), only he definitely looked like a stallion, he looked quite older, and his hair was very sleek. He also wore goggles similar to those the Wonderbolts use, which now hung around his neck. He also had a pair of contraptions on his sides, which were currently open, revealing wings out of brown cloth/leather and a wooden frame. They also had some form of propulsion on the bottom, making the whole thing seem like airplane wings.

"Heya, little Timmy!", the supposed-cousin greeted. "Oh wait, it's Chronicle now."

And then it hit him. "Oh, Uncle Tycho.", he grumbled.

"It's Clockwork now." Clockwork's horn then glowed as he 'pushed' a button somewhere. Immediately, the wings began to fold up until all that could be seen now was a pair of wooden saddlebags. While Clockwork was a tech wiz, having made his wings himself, Chronicle excelled more in spellcasting than he did.

"I see. Why're you here?"

Clockwork pshawed. "Come on. Am I not allowed to see my favorite nephew?"

"I'm your on—" He then smacked himself in the face. "Right."

"You were gonna say 'I'm your only nephew', were you?"

"Just a slip of the tongue is all."

"Okay."Clockwork then decided to change the subject. "Say, how's Princess Celestia's student doing there?"

"Well, Twilight Sparkle can be a hassle with her work and all, but I can tolerate it. How's yours?"

"I love flying with Rainbow Dash on my wings, even though I can't catch up with her even in full speed."

"Hold on a second, Rainbow Dash is Celestia's student there?!"

"Yup. As far as I can tell, that's the capital difference Rainbow Equestria has over yours."

"What else is there?"

"Let's see." As Clockwork began to think, a light-bulb shape formed over his head for a second thanks to his magic. "Well, Ditzy Doo is a fillyhood friend of Rainbow Dash there while that isn't the case in yours and Blue Diary's."

"And in here she's named Derpy Hooves."

"Also, Shining Armor—"

"Captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot?"

"The very same. He's Twilight Sparkle's brother."

"That's also the case in Blue Diary's Equestria. Can't say for certain if that also applies here and I won't assume that until I get an undeniable confirmation. After all, Berry Punch is related to Cheerilee in Luna Equestria while I found no such relationship in here. In LUNA-EQ, Fluttershy has a stipend from her very rich parents, while in EQ-Prime, she has no such thing as far as I can coax from her."

"I see." Clockwork paused for a moment. "Wanna spar for a bit?"

"No, thank you. I'm still rusty in fights against flyers. Try Blue Diary."

"Tried that before coming here. He was effectively invincible."

"Two words: physical hits."

"That's harder than it looks. The only reason why Corona won against Blue in his fight with her was because she landed a lucky hit. That is before she would've resorted to threatening his friends. Or have found out his weakness eventually."

"Oh."

"Well, I better get ready. The fight with Nightmare Moon has only begun." Clockwork's wings then opened as he turned to leave.

"Huh?"

Clockwork turned back to Chronicle. "You're lucky yours is already done. And quickly too."

"Why is Nightmare Moon still out there in your Equestria?"

"Well, you see, my 'adventure' didn't start a couple of months ago. It just started only a few days."

"Anything I can do to help an uncle of mine?", Chronicle offered. "After all, I did face off against her for a while."

"I'm afraid not. This Nightmare Moon is far more dangerous than the one you have faced. She would've given you a harder time." 

"Really? How?"

"Well, this one didn't merely have an evil laugh, she took friends of ours as hostages and turned them into Shadowbolts, and these had wing-blades to boot. She also had a mind-reading spell, and was quite liberal in her lightning."

"What about the trip to the Everfree Forest?"

"Well, after Rainbow and I took off to find Zecora, who was known to have some knowledge on the old legends, we fought off the Shadowbolts, then got into a bind where said zebra arrived in the nick of time. We then returned to the library where the others were, then soon took off to the forest again. The obstacles we encountered were a Swamp of Despair, a horde of Diamond Dogs," He then gave a shudder. "Sea ponies—"

"Sweet Celestia. Sea ponies?"

"Yes. Same thing Jenny saw back when she was a few years younger than you are now." Jenny was Chronicle's mother, who was a Field Op assigned to 'Dream Valley' in her younger days, where she had made a friend in the farm girl named Megan Williams, her siblings Molly and Danny, the pink pegasus pony Firefly, and a lot more others. 

Presently, she's a Field Op in 'Equestria Alpha', where the bearers of the Elements of Harmony are reincarnations of her old pony friends, among them Firefly. From what he could think back from what she told him of them before he was assigned to 'Equestria Prime', their personalities were quite similar to that of his friends' and even their races, although there were two exceptions.

"Wow."

"They were more vicious though, but we managed to convince them not to drown us. Then they gave us a ride on a fabulous-looking river serpent. As of now, I'm sleeping on his back with the others thanks to some powder of Zecora's." Clockwork then turned around once again. "Let's see if I can coax a duel out of Cousin Rokuban before I have to wake." He then have a salute. "Wish me luck!" The 'jets' on his wings then activated, spewing out magic. Clockwork then broke off into a gallop before taking off into the black 'sky' and disappearing from sight. A twinkle followed, reminding Chronicle of some bad guys in another world the Story Crew was assigned to.

"Good luck, Uncle!" he the toned down and said to himself. "I'll have to be stronger, too. Even though Nightmare Moon is no more, there are still a lot of potential enemies."


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Daytime…

In Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

"All right, everypony. Listen up!" Mystic Shield, with bandages on his head, had all of his students (well, those he could gather anyway that weren't busy) gather in rows. He was marching like a drill sergeant all the while, but not speaking like one. "Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville tomorrow. While I'm sure nobody would attempt anything…against her, it pays to be careful regardless, so I want you all to stay sharp and be wary of anything you're not familiar with and might cause trouble. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master Shield.", chorused his students.

"If it looks dangerous, be aware. If it's cute, be doubly aware."

"Doubly aware, Master?", asked Holly Dash.

"Yes. There are those who pull the cute looks and not get suspected specifically for that reason." He then stopped in his step. "That is why I will never break any promise I make to Pinkie Pie ever again. Or hurt an animal in Fluttershy's presence if I can help it, intentional or otherwise."

"Is that where you got that head injury, Master?", inquired Chrono Cards.

"Only from the former. The latter had no need of a beat-up to get her point across, although I won't be able to look her in the eye for a long while."

"Why?"

"I wouldn't want anyone to experience what I had experienced when I looked into them when she talked me down."

"Is Fluttershy really capable of doing that?", asked Written Script.

"Well, there's only my word. And Chronicle's. And Twilight Sparkle's. And Rarity's. And Rainbow Dash's. And Applejack's. And Pinkie Pie's."

"Are you talking about the incident at the mountain?"

"Yes. Yes, I am." He then shook his head vigorously. "Hold on a second. I think we're getting off topic here. And by the way, you forgot to address me as Master, Written Script."

"Sorry, Master Shield."

"Well, do not repeat it. Now, everypony, what is it you should do today and tomorrow?"

"We should stay alert and make sure nothing goes wrong in Princess Celestia's visit.", Greatstone stated.

"And what else?"

"Watch out for anything dangerous, and especially anything cute."

"Good. Class dismissed."

And with that, everypony left, already chattering about what to do for the arrival of the Princess. That left Mystic Shield and a magic clone of Chronicle, the real one in the Books and Branches Library helping out Twilight Sparkle in fixing up the place.

"That could've gone better.", Mystic's co-teacher's clone said.

"Sorry. Still, I don't get why everypony's getting so riled up in an unofficial, casual visit."

"There's nothing casual about royalty, even if she very well wanted it to be."

"How do you know that?"

"I can tell from how she behaves after being in Canterlot for a long while. I've had many charges who've had to have an audience with the Princess. And while she never demanded respect, they always gave it like their lives depended on it. And whenever they thought they slipped up, they always profusely apologized as if she would banish them to the moon or something, even if it was something minor like spilling something on the carpet. And as far as I could tell from her during those times, she definitely isn't the type to make disproportionate retributions, though everypony treats her as such."

"So…"

"She still gives appropriate punishment for those who justifiably break conduct, although it's just the guards who deliver punishment."


C—MS—G—CC—WS—HD—C—MS—G—CC—WS—HD

Meanwhile…

The real Chronicle trotted alongside a high-strung Twilight Sparkle—leaving another magical clone with Spike to help out—as they saw the trees are now bedecked with flowers and banners. Fortunately, his charge became high-strung no more as the spectacle brought a smile to her face. As they crossed the bridge over the stream, he could see that it—and even the stream banks themselves—form just part of the decoration effort put forth by the crews of hardworking ponies. 

He could see Daisy watering some tulips, Minuette pulling a banner in place, Heartstrings checking out the flowers with Apple Bumpkin and Apple Cobbler watching her, Derpy Hooves flying by, Twinkle carrying a ribbon in her mouth, Cherry Berry raking the grass, and Dizzy Twister holding another ribbon in her hooves.

The two then stopped in front of a a banner being hoisted between two poles by Golden Harvest and Berry Punch, and saw its message; “Welcome Princess Celest”. From what he could see, the I in “Princess” had been dotted with a heart, and the lettering was not very neat. 

Chronicle could only give a 'face hoof' as Twilight asked, "What happened to the rest of her name?

"We couldn’t fit it all in.", apologized Carrot Top.

"You can’t hang a banner that says “Welcome Princess Celest”! Take it down and try again."

She then galloped off, missing the double eye roll the two sent after her. Before Chronicle followed shortly after, he said, "You better do as she says. The writing also needs work." Once he caught sight of his charge, he saw her approach Bon Bon, who was watering some flowers. 

"That looks perfect. Keep up the good work!", she commented before running off again, missing the smile the earth pony gave before resuming.

As he soon caught up to his charge, they were approaching Sugarcube Corner. By the time he greeted Amethyst Star, Rainbowshine, and Shoeshine with Goldengrape, they were at the door, where they saw two earth ponies at work.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. How’s the banquet coming?", Twilight greeted.

Mrs. (Cup) Cake was a middle-aged light blue, violet-eyed, earth pony mare with a two-tone, rose-colored mane and tail carefully styled to resemble cupcake frosting and a chubby build. She wore an apron and small pink earrings. Her cutie mark consisted of three cupcakes. She was working a rolling pin with her hooves (somehow) on a mass of dough.

Mr. (Carrot) Cake was an earth pony stallion of about the same age and a lanky build. He bore a yellow-orange coat, a short, deep orange-brown mane and tail, a square jaw, wore an apron, a red/white bow tie, and low-crowned cap, had birdcatcher spots around his nose, and a cutie mark of three cake slices. He was currently carrying an empty platter to a table.

Mrs. Cake uneasily pointed ahead. "Uh…" At the table she was indicating, virtually every food item had a bite taken out of it. "…it would be coming a little better if…" She trailed off.

There stood one large two-tier cake topped with a crown…which was swiftly disintegrated under Pinkie Pie’s assault from behind. Within seconds, she has devoured the whole thing, leaving only splatters on the table, a swath of white frosting that covers the lower half of her face to resemble a full beard and mustache, and the crown on her head. Noticing the mess on her face, she licked herself clean just in time for Twilight to see the damage and freak out and for Chronicle to join her and groan.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!", his charge exclaimed. "Those sweets are supposed to be for the Princess!"

Pinkie nervously tapped front hooves together. "I know. That’s why I’m tasting them. Somepony needs to make sure that everything is tasty enough to touch the royal tongue!" The last few words were slightly garbled due to sticking out her tongue and showing the food still on it, an image Twilight found revolting. The sugar-rushing pink pony then reeled it in and zipped to an open area of the floor as she then spoke in a haughty tone, trotting across the floor. "And I, Pinkie Pie, declare that these treats are fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess!"

She wound up next to an untouched cake and was about to hork it down, her crown falling off, before Twilight and Chronicle gave her a very nasty look to stop her cold.

"Next time, Pinkie, just take a small slice. Or a sample.", the bodyguard said. "Wouldn't want to deny the Princess all this delicious food, now would you?"

"Twilight! Chronicle! Pinkie!", a familiar voice called, music to his ears. As the three turned, they saw Fluttershy bound in. "You won’t believe…" She skid to a stop and wound up sitting on her haunches, another moment Chronicle was going to commit to memory. "Oh. I’m sorry. I…am I interrupting?"

"No, not at all.", Pinkie replied. "Come on in and make yourself at home." Before she could lash out her tongue to grab the cake, it was 'moved' out of range by Chronicle's telekinesis and swapped for a cardboard copy that just happened to be there. The pink earth pony pulled the entire "cake" into her mouth, and swallowed it in one throat-stretching bite, not choking in the slightest. Twilight had no idea what to make of this bit of digestive idiocy. "What’s going on, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy stood again. "You won’t believe what I found at the edge of the Everfree Forest. " She then addressed herself toward her mane. "Come on out, little guy. It’s okay."

Peeking out with a happy little coo was a tiny critter smaller than a pony's eye. It had a spherical blue body with enormous green eyes that have no trace of scleras or pupils, two pairs of fly wings, two pairs of spindly insect legs, and a small smiling mouth. It was followed, to her considerable surprise, by a yellow, and a gray one. She gasped softly at this. "Three?" 

Twilight moved closer. "They’re amazing! What are they?", she asked as they flew around the pair.

"I’m not sure. I’m also not sure where these other two came from."

"I’ll take one off your hooves." The yellow one lighted on her foreleg and she cuddled it. "I’ve never seen anything so…adorable!" It flitted around her head. "Besides, it’ll be nice to have a companion for Spike so he won’t bother me so much while I’m studying."

"Pinkie, Chronicle, do you want the others?"

While Chronicle was peeking into his "hammerspace" for some reason, its rift open right in front of his face, Pinkie stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Blecch! A parasprite?! Are you kidding?!" She then trotted past the pair.

Fluttershy was confused at this reaction. "'Ugh'?"

Twilight was too. "A para-what?"

"How could you not like—" 

Pinkie, now at the door, groaned impatiently. "Now I gotta go find a trombone!"

Fluttershy, with one parasprite in her mane, and Twilight, with two on her back, traded a puzzled look, then one of the other two silently made its way to Chronicle, snuggling itself on his mane just as he 'closed' his rift.

"A what?", he asked.

"A trombone! You know…" Sitting on her haunches, she mimicked the horn’s sound while moving one foreleg in and out to show the slide in motion. A moment later, she was gone, and Twilight sighed.

"Typical Pinkie.", she said as her yellow parasprite hovered up at cheek level with an affectionate coo. Suddenly, there was a zoom and a cloud of dust that bypassed them, blowing the two mares' manes a bit. Once it cleared, they turned to see where it went off to to see Chronicle leaving, then turned to where he was…only to see him there too.

"What?", the Chronicle in the store asked.

"Which one of you is the clone?", inquired Twilight.

"Does it matter?" He was the clone. "Shouldn't we head off to Carousel Boutique, anyway?"


C—TS—F—PP—MCC—MCC—C—TS—F—PP—MCC—MCC

Outside, in a Ponyville street…

Chronicle, the real one, slowed down and trotted along, looking for Pinkie Pie, before bumping into Mystic Shield. "Mystic.", he called. "Just the pony I was looking for." He added under his breath. "Aside from Pinkie."

"What seems to be the problem?", the purple unicorn asked.

"I think I got something in my mane, but I can't get it to get out. Could you cast a barrier spell on me?"

"Seriously? You want me to do something mundane with such a spell?"

"Please."

"Fine." Mystic's horn began to glow and he started the barrier somewhere in Chronicle's head. As he then expanded it, his carrot-top-blond friend shuddered a bit as the barrier pushed other things in his head before it reached the roots of his mane—and purged not one parasprite, but two. "What the hay is that?"

"Parasprites." Chronicle then caught the two critters in his aura. "In spite of how cute they look, they're very dangerous in swarms. Encountered them once before."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Chocolate Sun, Chronicle, and Nalego were on the run for a swarm of parasprites, the former 'carrying' a small cake. How and why he had it? The bodyguard never got the answer to that question as Nalego occasionally tossed pouches of powder that burst and caused some of them to sleep.

"Ditch the cake!", he ordered.

"No!", Chocolate replied.

"I said ditch the cake!"

"No!"

"The parasprites are after that cake, not us! So drop it!"

"But what will I eat for dinner?!"

"We'll find something! Nalego won't be able to hold them off for long!" Indeed, their zebra guide was running out of pouches of sleeping powder. "Besides, the niceties and comforts you take for granted back in Canterlot won't help you in this forest! You have to let that go!"

Chocolate looked torn at the decision he was forced to make. "Be quick in what you choose.", Nalego suddenly spoke. "Else there be more we will lose."

"What's that supposed to mean?", asked the Canterlot pony.

"It means we're nearing a cliff!"

And indeed they were. And with the speed they're going, if they don't turn soon, they would fall off. Eventually…

"All right, you pests! Take it!" And with that, Chocolate Sun decided to 'hurl' his cake over the cliff…and the parasprites naturally followed as the three equines made a turn to the right and slowed down.

As they finally stopped, Chronicle finally said, "That was one of the craziest chases I have ever been in."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Very…interesting experience. I still don't know why he had that cake, though."

"Wow, and I can't believe I just saw an example of the lesson I had been teaching ten minutes prior."

Chronicle then fired two 'shurikens' at the parasprites, and they turned into black smoke and dust. This made Mystic Shield wince a bit at the quick life-ending spell his carrot-top-blond friend pulled off.

"What did you just do?", he asked with shock.

"I just applied another spell to my magic before I shot those parasprites.", Chronicle explained. "When I use that spell, any living being with insect-like properties will be disintegrated upon contact with anything in my aura."

"You're…you're willing to k—"

"If I hadn't used that spell, you would've been seeing four parasprite halves, and that would be creepy, right? And yes, it is an option for me. Just don't tell Fluttershy, okay?"

"I promise."

"Pinkie Swear?"

Mystic rolled his eyes before proceeding with the oath, learning it from Pinkie sometime before his first breaking of one, pantomiming each bit of the rhyme. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Just before poking his front hoof to his eye, he made sure to close it.

All of a sudden, Pinkie popped up from in front of them, went to Mystic's face, "Remember he trusts you. And losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend forever!"

"Come on, Pinkie.", Chronicle said. "Even if he were to break my trust, he'll just have to gain it all over and before we know it we're friends again. And it depends on the secret I ask him to keep."

"And I still remember what you did to me when I broke a promise to you." Mystic indicated the bandages on his head. "I'd be a foal to repeat the same mistake so soon."

"Hey, that rhymes! Though you still got a long way to go before you can compete with Zecora on that regard!", Pinkie said, then resumed a serious face. "Now I need to find a lyre."

With that, she dashed off, but not before Chronicle bit into her tail in an attempt to stop her, only to be pulled along for the ride. "PINKIE!!"


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Erstwhile, At Carousel Boutique…

At the ground-floor showroom, Rainbow Dash was standing on a table and dressed in a very high, ornate, curled wig, along with a lacy, form-fitting, gold-trimmed magenta outfit and gold shoes on all four hooves. She was fidgeting impatiently at having been pressed into dressmaker’s-dummy duty as Rarity eyed one bit of the rig closely, pins clamped in her teeth.

"Stand still, Rainbow Dash!", the fashionista was saying.

"I can’t!" Rainbow tried to fly, but Rarity held her tail down. "I need to fly!" Once she gave up and landed, Rarity let go as the pegasus turned to face her. "This is way too boring for me." 

Rarity let the pins drop. "Do you want to look nice for Princess Celestia or not?"

The two glared at each other before the pegasus sat down on her rump. Shortly, Twilight and Chronicle entered, noting two similar outfits on equinequins.

Wow. That wig would have done Madame de Pompadour proud., the sole stallion thought.

"Wow! Rarity, those outfits are gorgeous!", Twilight said.

Rarity gave a chuckle. "Thank you, Twilight. Nice to know someone appreciates my talents." 

Rainbow groaned and pulled at her face. "So boring!"

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of parasprite chirps. While Chronicle stood wary, Rarity stepped suspiciously toward Twilight. "Huh?" 

Rainbow hovered near. "What’s that sound, Twilight?" It proved to be coming from a light blue one that popped out of her mane. From behind it came two others, a dark blue and the yellow one she started with. "Wow! What are they?"

"The better question is, where did they come from? I only had one a minute ago." 

One was grabbed. "Uh, I’ll take one!"

"Me too!", agreed Rarity. "Oh, they’re perfect!"

All of a sudden, Pinkie arrived at the shop, slightly out of breath. The real Chronicle was behind her, slightly out of breath as well. "Does anypony know where I can find an accordion?", she asked. 

But nopony was paying attention, not even the Chronicle clone, but not because he was cooing over the girls' acquisitions but because he was looking around Rarity's place for…something.

Pinkie waved, standing on hind legs. "Gals! Hel-lo? This is important!" She then She dropped back to all fours with a groan. "Thanks a lot!"

As she then stormed off, the real Chronicle followed. "Wait up! Explain to me why you need the instruments!"


C—TS—RD—R—PP—C—TS—RD—R—PP—C—TS—RD—R—PP

Later that evening…

After losing sight of Pinkie, and not finding her in Sugarcube Corner after deciding to wait there, Chronicle returned to the library, ignoring the squeaky-and-sparkling-clean place. As he reached the upper-story room, he glimpsed his charge worriedly surveying the area from the loft. And as he reached his bed, he saw Spike sleeping in his basket, cuddling the yellow parasprite and snoring happily.

"Oh, the decorations, the banquet…" He heard her say as she then looked out the window. "…I really hope everything comes together in time for tomorrow." As he reached the bed, and started to tuck in for the night, Twilight yawned and said in a drowsy tone, "What’s there to worry about?"

"We're gonna find out very soon, Twilight.", Chronicle grumbled as the lights were turned off and he drifted off to sleep. "And you're not gonna like it."


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

The next day…

"Spike!" a familiar voice came.

As he heard a thump immediately after, Chronicle's eyes fluttered open…and the first thing he saw was a brown parasprite in front of him. His first reaction was to immediately cast a barrier around himself and expand it, disintegrating all the parasprites around him. Getting up from bed, he saw his charge run over to Spike's basket, which is also overpopulated—including two that have nestled on the baby dragon's eyes.

"Wake up! What happened?", she was saying. 

"Huh?", he sat up, then screamed and yanked the parasprites off his eyes. "What’s going on?" They now saw that the entire room is swarming with the critters. And that some were being hit by Chronicle's shots as they disappeared completely, although they left some black dust.

"Where did they come from?"

"I don’t know. The little guy got hungry in the night, so I gave him a snack, but I have no idea where these others came from." As they spoke, they had flitted off and now were rapidly undoing the cleanup efforts, dumping books and scrolls every which way. "Oh, no! They’re messing up all my hard work!"

Already, the swarm has begun turning the entire place upside down now. "The Princess will be here in a few hours!" 

She then galloped away, and Spike tried vainly to grab a scroll from the parasprite that was flying it across the loft. Down below, Twilight levitated her feather duster to shoo a few away. All the while, Chronicle was still shooting down parasprites, being careful not to be the cause of anything broken. 

"Spike, help me round up these little guys!"

"What does it…look like I’m…doing?", Spike asked as he eventually found himself with a basket stacked high with them. Eventually, gravity got the better of him, dumping the parasprites out of the basket to bury him. Twilight quickly plied the duster and dug him out. "I know, I know. Stop fooling around."

"And I can't believe you didn't consider me!", Chronicle said as he caught their attention. They turned to see him still shooting down parapsrites and when too many started to cluster around him, he created a barrier around himself and then expanded it, turning every parasprite it made contact with into black dust.

"What did you just do?!", Twilight asked in shock.

"What else do you think?", he retorted. "Unlike everypony here, I don't live a perfectly pacifist life. And unfortunately, these have to go. And fast. And I'm surprised you weren't even the slightest bit curious as to what these things were." 

"Sorry. They were so cute the idea never crossed my mind." 

The bodyguard groaned at this. "Lesson one; be especially aware if something's cute. I believe Basil, the red dragon from the mountain, had learned that with regards to Fluttershy."


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Later…

Two magical clones of Chronicle exited the library, one to call for Mystic Shield, and one to ask Pinkie Pie on why she started looking for instruments upon seeing a parasprite.

I wonder how the rest are doing?, they thought. Just then, they saw Rainbow Dash pass by…and on her were parasprites, arranged in such a suggestive way the word "bikini" flashed in their minds. She was followed by a few others as well. As the clone searching for Pinkie continued on, the one headed for Mystic Shield reached his academy. Since he can't open the door by himself, the clone teleported inside, then ran over to the doorway leading to his living quarters.

There, the clone saw Mystic sleeping in a mattress, not having a bed, with a blanket draped over his body. He walked over to the sleeping pony and said, "Mystic Shield, wake up. We got a problem."

The purple stallion slowly opened his green eyes. "What is it, Chronicle? It's still a bit early for me to conduct classes."

"I'm not here for the classes. It's about the parasprites." 

"What about them?"

"I got an outbreak of them in the library. And if yesterday's events are any indication, they'll be more in Fluttershy's cottage, the Carousel Boutique, and Rainbow Dash's cloud house."

"And you need me because…"

"You demonstrated that you can select what goes in and out of your barriers, right?"

"Right?"

"Well, can you use it to hold in parasprites?"


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Elsewhere…

The other Chronicle clone was walking along, his eyes peeled for Pinkie Pie. "Where is that girl?", he asked himself. "Just why does she need the instruments? Are they somehow instrumental to stopping them?"

Don't be silly., a voice in his head replied. This is Pinkie Pie we're talking about.

"Hey, haven't we learned not to simply ignore the loon and take even their behavior in consideration? There were very grave consequences back when I ignored Aunt Fanny's warning about these things when Tabitha, Crais, and I practiced walking on fours with her." And Blue was such a klutz on that department. Come to think of it, Aunt Fanny's pony form kinda looks like Pinkie—

You got a point there.

"Hey, did you just interrupt me, mid-thought?"

Oops. I better shut up lest you go crazy.

"You better." Thankfully, the clone had been speaking in such a hushed tone that nopony gave him any weird stares. Just then, he realized he reached Carousel Boutique, and Rarity was walking out with a pair of saddlebags bulging with what he assumed were parasprites. 

"Rarity!", he called. "Have you seen Pinkie Pie?"

"Why, yes.", she answered, looking real distressed as she pointed somewhere. "She went that way."

"Thanks." And with that, he cast a spell on his feet, then was off like the wind.


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

A while later…

The real Chronicle galloped alongside his charge down a road, the latter with her own set of jam-packed saddlebags. 

"Why can't you put the parasprites inside your "hammerpsace"?", Twilight asked him.

"Three reasons. One, I'd sooner disintegrate the lot of them. Two, I don't want them messing up the stuff I already have inside. And three, it actually has a limited amount of space." After all, it's just my backpack now turned into what it is now upon my coming here.

"How limited is it?"

"Twice or thrice the capacity of a single saddlebag."

"Then why won't you—"

"Reasons number one and two, or have you forgotten so quickly?"

She didn't get to reply as she stopped with a gasp as they met Rarity coming from the opposite direction.

"Huh?", the white unicorn let out as she blinked at the sight of Chronicle, then took a good look at Twilight’s load, which was pulsating with parasprites. "I see we’re having the same problem."

"Ditto!", another voice came. They looked and saw Rainbow Dash flying in, then stop mid-air to shake off some parasprites clinging to her, then flew off as they give chase.

"Fluttershy knows everything about animals.", Twilight said as the three unicorns galloped. "I’m sure she can tell us how to stop them from multiplying." Before they knew it, they were at the door of her cottage. However, just as his charge was about to knock, it burst open to  release a huge swarm of the flying things…and most of them got disintegrated upon impact on Chronicle's barrier, which he had instinctively conjured. "Or not."

Houston, we got a problem.


C—TS—R—C—TS—R—C—TS—R—C—TS—R

Eyecatch (video-type) - Parapsrites crowd the screen before getting disintegrated into black dust by Chronicle's various spells. By the time he's done, he was in the center of the screen, with the show's logo larger than usual and right behind him as he looked around some more.


C—TS—R—C—TS—R—C—TS—R—C—TS—R

The three unicorns were now standing at the doorway, now joined by Rainbow Dash who hovered above them as they witness the cloud of parasprites right in front of them.

"Do something, Fluttershy!", Twilight cried out. From what they could see inside, small houses for birds and other animals have been mounted at various heights, with small staircases running up to some of them—including one placed by the chimney of a fireplace. A few mouse holes can be seen in the baseboards. And the air was thick with these flying pests. Fluttershy herself, panicked, bounded into view among them. "Can’t you control them?"

"I’ve tried everything I know! I’ve tried begging, and pleading, and beseeching, and asking politely, and—" She darted off before she could finish.

"Have you tried more…assertive methods?", Chronicle asked as Rainbow made a noise of disgust. I'm not gonna disintegrate these parasprites in front of her. I've seen her angry at me and I do not want to see it ever again. Suddenly, the notion of Princess Celestia being attacked by parasprites and carried away by them flashed in his mind. What…was…that?

As he snapped out of his reverie, he realized that everypony else was outside…and that his left flank was touching Fluttershy's, who was facing the other way. He quickly turned around to see the others outside as well, his charge having a face of horror.

"If we can’t get them under control before the Princess arrives…it’ll be total disaster!" 

One coughed up a kid in front of Rarity, who cried out, "Ewwww! If you ask me, it’s already a total disaster!"

"Hey, that's a great idea!", Chronicle said, which made everypony turn to face him and stare as if he grew a second head.

"How is that a great idea?!", his charge asked, ballistic at the thought.

"Surely Princess Celestia can get the problem under control, right?"

"But she's coming on an official visit! We can't ask her for help!"

"It's an unofficial, casual visit!" He approached his charge. "She stated it herself, remember?! You just can't bother to see it that way and nopony else could either!"

She went up to his face in turn and their horns crossed. "And how doyou know what the Princess is really like?!"

Before they could argue further, they were interrupted by Applejack arriving at the scene, hauling a full apple cart toward the cottage. "Here’s all those apples you wanted, Fluttershy.", she called before stopping short. "But I still can’t figure why you need so many." She got her answer when several of the little menaces consumed the entire load in two seconds. The harvester was not amused. "Hey!"

"What do we do?", Fluttershy asked.

Twilight gasps happily, getting an idea, "I got it! Nopony can herd like Applejack."

"Yeah!", Rainbow agreed. "We can drive ’em back into the forest!" 

Applejack, hearing this, gave a sigh. "I’ll rassle ’em up, but I’ll need everypony’s help to do it." 

Just as she said that, one of the Chronicle clones arrived with Mystic Shield.

"Applejack!", Mystic called.

"Mystic Shield! Just in time! I could use your help." She then pointed at her friends accordingly. "Twilight, you, Chronicle and Rarity wait over there. I’ll herd the little critters straight at you like a funnel." The three galloped off, the cone accompanying them as the two pegasi came over to await their orders, "Rainbow Dash, you and Fluttershy stay on top of ’em. Don’t let ’em fly away."

"Aye-aye!" Rainbow gave a salute before the two pegasi flew ahead. 

"Mystic Shield! I was wonderin' if you could use that shield spell o' yours to—"

"Trap the parapsrites?", he finished. "You can count on me."

Applejack then reared up and let out a "Yee-haa!" before charging after the critters in question, forcing them to fly ahead of her and gradually concentrate into an increasingly smaller space. Those at greater heights began to drift downward as the two pegasi made pass after pass. A few others fled before Twilight’s rush, but they and all the others soon found themselves clumped into a single huge ball. Mystic then did his part and conjured a sphere barrier around the parasprites, trapping them. 

"All right, y’all. Here goes nothin’!" Applejack's next charge set the mass rolling. As she brought up the rear, the two unicorn mares took point, with the pegasi keeping pace above Applejack as the unicorn stallions flanked the left and right sides, Mystic averting his gaze from Fluttershy all the while. A few bumped at the barrier, but Chronicle had placed his own magic on it and those who dared push were disintegrated. Somehow, the rest of the swarm kept away from the barrier and so the zappings-into-black-dust were few. "Hold on, guys! We’re almost there!"

Twilight was clearly enjoying both the exercise and the success of her idea to recruit Applejack, then gasped in surprise as she saw Pinkie next to her, matching her stride for stride. Chronicle's other clone was there as`well.

"Pinkie!"

"Twilight! We don’t have much time!"

"You’re telling me! The Princess could arrive at any moment!"

Pinkie gave a smile. "Exactly! That’s why I need you gals to drop what you’re doing and help me find some maracas!" On this last word, she bent her neck 90 degrees to her left, toward Twilight, and swiveled her head slightly upward to see the unicorn from the top corners of her eyes. 

The words and the maneuver left Twilight even more puzzled. "Maracas? Pinkie, we’ve got much bigger problems than missing maracas!" 

Pinkie straightened up and gasped. "You’re right! Getting a tuba has to be our number-one goal!" She then dived away. "Follow me!" The only one who did was the Chronicle clone that had been chasing her. However, she then zipped in again, this time galloping backwards so she can look Twilight straight in the face. "I said, follow me!" 

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random.", Rainbow said in an annoyed tone.

"And you are all so stubborn!"

On this line, she put her legs in forward gear and races back along the road past Applejack, the clone following her…following her. "Pinkie!", he called. "Would you just explain?!"

"Forget her, ladies.", Applejack stated.

"Excuse me?", retorted the stallions in unison.

"Focus! Head ’em up and move ’em out!"

"You do know I'm a stallion, right?", Mystic said as they eventually neared the Everfree Forest and rumbled away from Ponyville. As they approached, everypony else stopped short and Mystic removed his barrier around the parasprites. However, a blue barrier from the remaining Chronicle clone persisted as he continued to lead them out.

"All right!", Rainbow whooped as they disappeared, then did a high five with Fluttershy, smacking her front hooves hard enough to make her wince.

"Ouch."

"Will he be all right?", Rarity wondered, thinking the Chronicle who went in with the parasprites was the real him.

"Of course he will.", the blue stallion answered as he walked up next to her. "He's a capable fighter like I am." He then nudged her hard, proving he was the real deal. "Besides, I could use a little more Everfree Forest knowledge."

"We did it!" Whooped Twilight as the pegasi landed. "Nice work, Applejack!"

"Couldn’t-a done it without y’all.", the farmpony replied.

"Now let’s get back and clean up the mess they made before the Princess arrives." She then started ahead and they all followed.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

At Fluttershy’s cottage…

The company made their way at the entrance, Twilight was speaking. "Okay. Everyone knows what to do, right? We gotta work extra hard to make up for lost time."

The property owner dropped in front of the door, got the handle in her teeth—and was immediately beset by another huge parasprite swarm as soon as she opened it. The wake of their massed flight caused Rainbow to drift out of view and nearly blew Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity off their hooves. As for the stallions, they conjured barriers around themselves, Chronicle's zapping many of the pests into dust.

"Where did they come from?", shouted Mystic.

One popped up near Fluttershy as she apologized sheepishly. "Well…I may have kept just one." She then gave a soft chuckle as it jumped up and down on her back.

Instantly, Chronicle teleported up to her face, took in a deep breath, then…did a strong blow on her face, blowing the parasprite away. He then 'took out' his paddle and slapped her on the noggin twice before saying, "Idiot. Had my preference to you been anything like Applejack's, your back would've met my frying pan." 

She reeled back a bit on getting what he meant as she saw everypony put all the fury they can into their eyes, some of the parasprites flipping Applejack’s hat off her head, which she quickly retrieved. "I couldn’t help myself. They’re just…so…cute." She then made another gasp of shock as she realized that the parasprites hitting Chronicle's barrier were being zapped into black dust. 

He noticed this and said, "I'm sorry, but my aura has…negative effects on insects. I've been practicing cancelling that, but I can't do it while I'm stressed, and I'm plenty stressed right now due to all these damned parasprites."

"I'm gonna have a talk with everypony later on the dangers of cuteness.", Mystic grumbled.

"We don’t have time to keep rounding up these things!", Twilight said. "What do we do now?"

Rainbow landed behind the others, now with a pair of goggles propped on her head. "We call in the weather patrol!" She then took off straight up, cruising over as Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity tried to cope with the infestation. Fluttershy was nowhere in sight, having apparently ducked back into her cottage. 

Mystic gestured and said, "Why not go all out on those parapsrites?" 

Chronicle shook his head at the idea and nudged at where Fluttershy was, replying, "You know what she will do to me if she sees me doing that, right? I was lucky she didn't get mad at me from what I said."

"That was a lie, is it?"

"Better she not know, lest I face her wrath."

Rainbow then pulled the goggles over her eyes. "Time to take out the adorable trash." With a savage yell, she plunged toward the airborne annoyances and zipped around in all directions, streaking the air behind her. In due time, she whipped up a tornado that quickly sucked in the entire swarm as it roved across the meadow. To avoid being swept away by the wind, Twilight grabbed a fence post, Applejack—giving her hat to Chronicle for safekeeping—bit down on Twilight’s tail, Rarity seized a shrub, and Mystic put a barrier around himself and Chronicle, keeping the wind out. A distance away, the twister kept doing its work.

"Way to go, Rainbow Dash!", Twilight whooped as she and Applejack let go.

"Looks like our problems are solved!"

"Don't be so sure.", Mystic gave an uncertain look as he glanced at Pinkie, who was trotting over with a pair of cymbals slung on a cord around her neck, and the wind and her motion caused them to clash against each other repeatedly. The Chronicle clone following her was right behind, panting

"They will be with these cymbals!", she said. Just then, a gust snapped them both free of the cord and carried them away. "Hey! Gimme those back!"

The two brass disks were swiftly pulled in, presumably forcing Rainbow to duck with a yell time after time as they whirled around her. The Chronicle clone, not actually weighing much as he was just made out of magic, got pulled in as well, much to everypony's surprise, including the real deal. As a result, the tornado began to bend and swerve crazily on the path.

"I can’t hold it!", they heard Rainbow say. "She’s breaking up!" Finally, she was thrown clear, slamming into a tree back first, and Twilight gaped at the sight of thousands of parasprites escaping from the rapidly shrinking twister and making a beeline for Ponyville. As for the magical clone, he was hurled right for his summoner, who deftly dodged him as he then dissipated. The would-be percussionist then found three irate ponies facing her. 

"Pinkie Pie, what have you done?!", Twilight scolded, Fluttershy now hovering above them.

"I’ve lost a brand-new pair of cymbals, that’s what I’ve done!"

"Will you forget about your silly instruments for one second? You’re ruining our efforts to save Ponyville!"

"Me? Ruin? I’m not the ruiner! I’m the ruin-ee!...or is it “ruin-ess”?" She sat on her haunches to think. "“Ruin-ette”?"

Applejack zipped up near her. "Come on, girls. There’s no reasonin’ with that one." She and the rest of the girls took off. "She’s a few apples short of a bushel."

Pinkie called after them, but it was in vain. "Hey! I’m trying to tell you all that the ruining is on the other hoof—if you’d just slow down and LISTEN TO ME!" She was left alone to fume in the middle of the road.

The two stallions, having been left behind, walked up to her, Chronicle with the cymbals she had lost. Pinkie moved to retrieve them, but he just 'moved' them out of her reach, then 'closed' them on her head, making a crashing cymbal clash and rendering her dizzy for a second.

"Do you always treat your friends like this?", Mystic asked as Pinkie's eyes spun. Meanwhile, Rainbow had recovered and flew off after the parasprites.

"Only when they're unreasonable, and even then I just use a paddle or a pan. But given the circumstances, I thought I'd use the cymbals she had would get my point across." Once Pinkie's eyes stopped rolling, he turned to her, cast a "binding circle" to make sure she wouldn't run off suddenly, and scolded, "Pinkie Pie! You better explain to us right now why you need all those instruments!" She was about to speak up when he cut her off again. "And wipe that stupid smile right off your stupid face! That's why the others can't take you seriously! Even I have problems taking you seriously right now! The only reason I am is because I've also seen parasprites before like you apparently have!"

"Please, Pinkie. We're here to listen.", Mystic said. "You seem to know these parasprites. And from what I could piece together from what Chronicle told me, the instruments are the key. Could you please tell us how and why?"

For a second, Pinkie stood there, then was about to crack a smile before a harsh glare from Chronicle stopped her. After gathering her thoughts, which only took one second, she began to explain.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Erstwhile, in Ponyville…

The parasprites floated town onto the several ponies who stared contentedly up at them, unaware of their imminent danger, although a few unicorns—having just taken Mystic Shield's lesson—were wary. One perched on the hoof of Bon Bon, who stood at a table outside Sugarcube Corner, then surprised her by gobbling down the slices of cake and pie that stood on the table. Bon Bon gasped in surprise at this split-second gluttony, while Heartstrings—who was across the table—was on the verge of tears. 

Elsewhere, a mare started to water her garden, only to have a horde eat it down to the dirt in an instant. All the other parasprites started devastating Ponyvile of anything remotely edible. There were only pocket efforts of resistance from the unicorns who attended Mystic's class earlier that day.

Twilight and her friends could only stare helplessly at the chaos as they arrived. Rainbow had put her goggles away since she was definitely not going to use her tornado technique right here.

"What do we do?", asked Fluttershy. "They’re eating all the food in town!"

Applejack gasped, "My apples!", then galloped off.

"We’ve gotta do something!", Twilight thought out loud. She then founds herself face to face with a parasprite that was carrying an apple cupcake, no doubt swiped from Applejack’s inventory. Her eyes then popped and she smiled as it dropped the treat and flew off. "I got it! I’ll cast a spell to make them stop eating all the food!"

She hunkered down and threw a wide-angle beam from her horn that created harmless shockwaves that quickly washed over the entire town. Many stopped in their tracks above they were about to eat; others grimaced and popped their eyes open, dazed. And Twilight and company found themselves surrounded by placid critters that were, for once, eating absolutely nothing. 

Chronicle then teleported right among them and said to his charge, "Nice work. Had you not done this, I fear they would've started eating ponies." All his friends gasped in shock, Fluttershy's the loudest. "Well, I learned from my clone that followed that ball of parasprites earlier that parasprites are part of the Everfree Forest's life cycle. They're part of the food chain, something you wouldn't be familiar with given your vegetarian diets."

Pinkie then zipped up, a pair of loaded saddlebags on her back. "Look! Tambourines! If you could all just…" Getting no response from the others, Chronicle wondering about the spell's other effects, she growled in frustration and galloped off, the tremors of her flanks rattling the tambourines’ shakers. 

Mystic was right behind her, carrying some of the other instruments Pinkie had been looking for, yelling, "Wait for me!" as he followed.

One of the pests flew to an apple in an otherwise empty basket on the ground and sniffed at it, prompting a worried gasp from Twilight—and then it frowned and gave a disdainful little chirp, refusing to eat. The unicorn sighed in relief as nervous sweat ran down her face. 

Its next trick was to open wide and gulp down the basket, apple and all, then spit the fruit out untouched. Another then chowed down on the Sugarcube Corner sign, a third ate the light fixture on a lamppost, and a swarm decimated the roof of a nearby house. 

A produce cart was next to go—but not the apples on it, one of which rolled to a stop in front of Rainbow, who gave a sarcastic chuckle to Twilight "Hey. It worked." She pointed at the apple. "They’re not eating the food anymore."

As the spellcaster cringed at these words, trying to smile at this spectacular backfire, Chronicle then said, "Yeah. Now they're eating everything else." He waved his hoof at two trying to eat a gold horseshoe. "And we have no idea whether or not ponies are in that list or the other." He then paused for a while. Wait, was that a horseshoe I just saw?

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Rarity stared open-mouthed at the pesky things, then a sudden horrifying thought struck the latter. "Oh, no. If they get inside my store…" She then completely freaked out. "…EVERYPONY FOR HERSELF!!" She then raced off.

Chronicle then took off in a different direction as well, making a barrier around himself as a swarm headed for the library, plowing through them and reducing them to black dust. There's no way I'm letting them take those! Once he was sure Fluttershy wouldn't see him, he also began firing shots, knowing his "horn blade" would be too ineffective on swarms. 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

At Carousel Boutique…

Rarity finally made it to her home and workplace, only to quickly confirm her worst fears as she barreled toward the front door and into the showroom. "My outfits!" Two of them were eaten right off the equinequins, and a third starts to meet the same fate until Rarity waved its eater off. "Go on! Shoo! Get out, you naughty, naughty—"

It coughed up a new parasprite and she backs away, revolted. The sound of more young being hocked into the world unbalanced her sense of decorum even more. Finally, she jumped onto a stool and huddled among the madness with a cry of terror.

"I got this!", a voice called.

At the door was Mystic Shield, who let the sunlight silhouette him for a moment, then tromped resolutely across the floor as Rarity gave him a look of pure admiration. This turned to puzzlement as he marched past her without stopping and approached a recorder lying on a table at the far side of the room. 

He blew a few notes into it, then said, "This'll do." He then turned to Rarity, then at the parasprites, then conjured a green barrier around himself, then expanded it until it encompassed the entire showroom, something Chronicle hasn't mastered yet. The barrier was then contracted, this time keeping in any parasprites inside as it shrunk until it was a dome around him. Next, he kept the barrier in its place, pushing through the parasprites that thankfully weren't considering him yet, and exited the barrier he had cast, its center no longer on him. 

"No time to waste.", he said as he turned to Rarity, gave her an informal salute, then ran out, 'rolling' his "ball of parasprites" out of the boutique. Seconds after he was out of the building, he heard an ear-shattering scream.
Now what? No, no time for that. Pinkie Pie needs her instruments.


R—MS—R—MS—R—MS—R—MS—R—MS—R—MS

Eyecatch (video-type) - Parapsrites crowd the screen before getting crowded by a green barrier that closes in around them. After contacting into the size of a large circus ball, Mystic Shield trots in from the left and starts to 'roll' the 'ball' away, revealing the show's logo larger than usual behind it.


R—MS—R—MS—R—MS—R—MS—R—MS—R—MS

At Books and Branches Library…

Chronicle was at the loft, his front half under his bed as he looked for something. Outside it, his tail swished the parasprites bothering him as they curiously went for his cutie mark. 

"Got it." He pulled his head out, something in his teeth. They were magazines featuring Fluttershy during her short time as a supermodel thanks to a pony named Photo Finish. The parasprites then head for them, only to be disintegrated by a barrier spell from him. "Oh, no you don't.", he said as he then 'moved' the magazines into "hammerspace", where they would be safe from those pests. He then proceeded to blast every parasprite he could see into black dust. As he made his way down, he saw Twilight Sparkle race in and see the parasprites wreaking havoc; several were carrying books through the air, and Spike peeked out from under his basket.

"Help!", he cried out. A book then bounced off the basket, slamming it down on top of him. He lifted it clear again as Twilight dodged a throw. At floor level, one eagerly licked an exposed page and she gasped at this. Another—complete with knife, fork, and napkin—was sucking down a thin ribbon of ink from its book as if this were a strand of spaghetti.

"They’re eating the words!", she gasped.

After it finished, she leaped up, snagged a parasprite’s wing in her teeth, and gallops out with the pest in tow. Chronicle summoned a magical clone to go after her.

Spike looked out from under his basket. "Help?"

"I gotcha.", Chronicle said as he 'pulled' the basket off continued to blast parasprites and salvage whatever books he could, placing them around himself as he protected himself and the books with a barrier. "Spike! Get me all the one-of-a-kind-books in this library!"

"What?"

"We obviously can't salvage everything. Books  can be replaced, but if the parasprites eat the one-of-a-kind ones, their knowledge will be lost forever! We can't have that, now can we?"

"Right!" And Spike quickly got to work, starting with The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Meanwhile…

Twilight, followed by the clone dispatched after her, raced through the forest toward the twisted old tree that served as the home of Zecora. Just as the copy caught up with her, she bulled through the door, and they managed to see that they had interrupted Zecora's meditation, which consisted of her balancing upside down and headfirst atop a bamboo pole. Naturally, with the interruption, she lost her focus and balance and tumbled to the floor.

"Have you gone mad?!", she berated as Twilight spit the parasprite free.

"Zecora, these little guys are devouring Ponyville, and the Princess is on her way!" The little insect flew across the hut and to Zecora as she stood up and eyed it. "Can you help us? Please?"

"Oh, monster of so little size." It then  lighted on her nose. "Is that a parasprite before my eyes?"

"I don’t know! Is it?" It then flew back toward her.

"Isn't it obvious already?", snarked Chronicle.

"Tales of crops and harvests consumed.", she began as she walked up to her cauldron, which was bubbling with green liquid. "If these creatures are in Ponyville…" The parasprite then yakked up a duplicate. "…you’re doomed."

This was exactly what the overstressed young unicorn did not want to hear, judging from her nervous gulp.


C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z

The two unicorns galloped out of the forest, the male one zapping the parasprites following them. They then skid to a stop as the female one looked skyward.

"Oh, no!", Twilight gasped, seeing a familiar pegasus-drawn chariot begin to fly down. "Here she comes!"

"Just in time.", the Chronicle clone said as he galloped his way straight for it while his charge galloped through town only to find herself staring at frazzled, screaming ponies and extensive structural damage in all directions. Just as the real Chronicle approached her, disintegrating more parasprites, he saw that her overtaxed brain finally threw a rod. Her eyes contracted to fixed points as a crazed little smile took root beneath them.

"Okay. Here’s the plan. Rainbow Dash, you distract them." Rainbow rocketed past, screaming with a horde in pursuit. "Good! Everyone else, we need to build an exact copy of Ponyville—" She pointed to one side, where Firecracker Burst was incinerating parasprites, but taking care not to burn anything else. "—right over there. We’ve got less than a minute!" The continued wailing and crashing all around forced her back into reality, and she slumped resignedly toward the ground. "Zecora was right. We’re doomed." Just then, there was a distant trumpet fanfare. "Oh, no." She turned to the ruined main street. "The Princess’s procession is here! It’s all over!"

The real Chronicle however gave a little smile. "About time." The fanfare gave way to a lively oompah/polka-flavored tune in B flat major. What emerged over the horizon was not Celestia’s chariot, not a royal brass band, but something pink that resolved into Pinkie with a great many musical instruments clustered around her. Accompanying her were Noteworthy, Mystic Shield, and Heartstrings, all with an assortment of instruments around them and playing them. Twilight rubbed her disbelieving eyes for a better look, and she then realized that they have become a four-pony band. 

A banjo was slung around Pinkie's neck, with Applejack’s harmonica attached so she can easily reach it with her mouth. A tuba and an accordion were hooked up on her back, the former worn around her midsection. As she alternated blowing into the harmonica and the tuba mouthpiece, cymbals could be seen strapped to her forelegs so that they clashed on every step. She also had a tambourine on her left side. Mystic only had a snare drum and an oboe while Lyra had a generous number of lyres, whereas Noteworthy alternated between a saxophone and a clarinet, held by special harnesses that closed holes whenever a note was played. 

I wonder where Blues got that?, Chronicle wondered (knowing Blues as another name for Noteworthy) as the band marched past him and Twilight.

"Pinkie, we’re in the middle of a crisis here!", his charge was saying. "This is no time for your—" She was interrupted by her bodyguard nudging her side, then pointing up. She looked up as well and lost steam "…nonsense?"

The parasprites have stopped eating and began to bob up and down in time with the rhythm. Gradually, they worked their way down to ground level and fell in step behind the band, forming a bouncy procession that followed them past Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Rarity. None of them could find any words to describe their reaction, and Twilight could manage only a bewildered shrug when she joined them.

The band soon reached the park, and the five and Chronicle were now at the tail end of the very long marching line.

Twilight suddenly pointed upward (again). "Look!"

As Celestia’s chariot touched down, the Chronicle clone ahead expecting it, the six galloped/flew past the four-pony-band, who kept right on playing. They all knelt before the regal winged unicorn once she has stepped out, with the exception of Chronicle and his clone, who bowed their heads and raised a foreleg so that it was in front of their body and perpendicular to their other legs, just like the last time they met her after defeating Nightmare Moon.

"Twilight Sparkle, my prize pupil!", the princess said. 

Twilight sat up on her haunches. "Hello, Princess!" 

Everypony stood to attention. "So lovely to see you again, as well as your friends." The growing sound of Pinkie’s approach stopped her cold and threw a scare into the five mares when they saw the puzzled look on her face. Then came the band, parasprites and all.

Twilight tried to sound casual and said, "So…how was the trip? Hit much traffic?"

"Like there'd be traffic for a pegasus-driven chariot?", snarked Chronicle. And any traffic would've pulled aside or be pushed aside by Celestia herself.

There came a soft gasp from the princess. "What is this?" A parasprite cooed and landed on her wing. She laughed and lifted it for a closer look, and it darted away. "These creatures are adorable!"

"They’re not that adorable.", Rainbow muttered to Rarity, who gave her a pained smile.

I’m terribly honored that you and the good citizens of Ponyville have organized a parade in honor of my visit."

"Parade?", Twilight parroted before catching on. "Oh…yes! The parade!" Both Chronicles rolled their eyes at this.

"Unfortunately, that visit is going to have to wait for another time. I’m afraid an emergency has come up in Fillydelphia. Apparently there’s been some sort of…infestation."

Twilight managed a smile. "An…infestation?"

"Yes. A swarm of incredibly bothersome creatures has invaded the poor town." The real Chronicle did a snark cough. "I’m sorry, Twilight, to have to put you all through so much trouble."

"Trouble?" The bookworm gave a laugh. "What trouble?" 

"Before I have to go, would you care to give me your latest report on the magic of friendship in person?"

Twilight was taken aback. "My…report?"

Chronicle's clone then gazed at the band, who have stopped at the forest’s edge and kept playing as the parasprites bounced happily along the road into it. Haven’t you learned anything about friendship?"

The faithful student thought very hard for a moment and then smiled as an idea hit her. "Actually, I have." Her friends reacted proudly as she began. "I’ve learned that sometimes the solution to your problems can come from where you least expect it." As she spoke, they all (save for Rainbow and the Chronicle clone) approached Celestia as she got back onto her chariot. "It’s a good idea to stop and listen to your friends’ opinions and perspectives…" A big cymbal crash startled them all and Fluttershy wound up hovering. "…even when they don’t always seem to make sense."

"I’m so proud of you, Twilight Sparkle, and I’m very impressed with your friends as well. It sounds like you’re all learning so much from each other.

"Thank you, Princess."

"All in a day's work.", said Chronicle with sarcasm as the chariot then rolled away. 

But just as the chariot passed by the clone, Celestia gave a knowing wink at him, leaving him confused for a bit before understanding; she knew parasprites infested Ponyville but pretended otherwise to spare them the embarrassment. With a knowing smile, he dismissed himself, the knowledge of this passing going straight to his real self as he and his friends crossed to the band, who stopped playing after the last parasprite had passed them and gone into the forest.

"Hey! What happened to the Princess?", Pinkie asked.

"Emergency in Fillydelphia.", answered Twilight.

Rainbow gave a knowing smile. "Some sort of infestation."

"Oh, no! Have they got parasprites too? ‘Well, have tuba, will travel!"

"Just great…", complained Blues and the two unicorns in the band groaned while Pinkie got a lungful of air ready for the tuba, but managed no more than one note before Twilight stopped her.

"I think the Princess can handle it."

"So you knew what those critters were all along, huh, Pinkie Pie?", Applejack asked.

"Well, duh! Why do you think I was so frantic to get my hooves on all these instruments? I tried to tell you."

"We know, Pinkie Pie, and we’re sorry we didn’t listen." As her friends offered their apologies, Chronicle felt something was missing as Blues, Lyra, and Mystic decided to head back to whatever was left of Ponyville. "You’re a great friend—" Pinkie beamed hugely. "—even if we don’t always understand you."

"Thanks, guys. You’re all great friends too, even when I don’t understand me."

"You saved my reputation with Princess Celestia, and more importantly, you saved Ponyville."


C—TS—LH—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—BN

Everyone but Pinkie stared around themselves with obvious discontent at what remained of Sugarcube Corner and several other buildings in what used to be a very nice place to live. A piece of the bakery’s roof fell to the ground. 

"Or not."

"Could've been worse.", Chronicle attempted a tone of optimism as he saw Pinkie play the "losing horns" tune with trombone while facing away from them. Then it hit him. "Oh, wait a second!"

"What?", asked Rainbow.

"There's a another lesson to be learned here! Unfortunately, unlike all the others, the lesson didn't solve our problem because it was only learned after failing to solve it." He then 'produced' a quill and paper and 'passed' it to his charge. "Twilight, write another report. Reserve it for next week."

"Okay."

Chronicle then walked over to Pinkie, tapped her on the back, making her turn around, then said, "Pinkie Pie! We could've avoided all this if you Just. Explained. Why. You needed. All. Those. Instruments. In the first place! If you haven't learned the lesson yet, you're gonna learn it now." Pinkie sat on her haunches as he cleared his throat. 


C—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

(A/N: This isn't what he said, but the message is still there.)

Two weeks later, after the library was fixed…

Chronicle had Spike write a letter while his charge was out.

“Dear Princess Celestia: Now that I look back at the…incident in Ponyville, I have discovered that there was another lesson about friendship. Pinkie Pie is a great friend, always there to give laughs or make you smile. She can also be quite a ditz. This caused a bit of trouble with the parasprite problem I know you knew we had.” Spike stopped writing at this.

"Wait, she knew?", Spike asked.

"She gave me a knowing wink.", Chronicle replied. "You don't wink for no reason. Also, she seemed confused and startled at the parade instead of excited and happier about it. Then again, perhaps she was startled because she failed again to make her visit casual. After all, casual visits don't warrant parades specifically for them."

"But why you? Why does she trust you with this?"

"I don't know. Maybe because she knows I can keep a secret and will not judge others in a heartbeat. Also, she didn't want my friends, especially her student Twilight, to feel ashamed or anything and thus feigned not knowing. Now please continue."

"Okay." And Spike resumed writing while Chronicle resumed dictating.

“Hopefully, thanks to me, Pinkie has discovered that not everypony thinks the same way she does and that explaining yourself properly is the best way to get your friends to heed your advice, especially when you're known for being silly, who don't tend to be paid attention to that much. Twilight Sparkle's stalwart bodyguard, Chronicle.

“P.S. Please treat this as if this letter was from Twilight. She can be quite strict in her need to submit one letter every week. And please reply to assure her that because I'm sending this letter without her knowing. ;)”

"You done?", Spike asked. "And are you sure about this "smiley"?"

Chronicle smacked himself in the face, then said, "Well, it's too late to erase that now. I believe it's safe to send it."

"All right. But I still don't think this is a good idea." Spike rolled it up, then burnt the scroll with his breath, sending it to Canterlot. "Are you sure 'bout this?"

"Sometimes, you gotta help your friends, even if they don't think they need it." Chronicle then paused. "Hey, that makes for another lesson about friendship. But I'll write that later. It doesn't apply for every situation after all. Spike, I'm writing another letter."

"Another?!" The baby dragon seemed tired at this.

"We can have this sent another time, put it in reserve in case Twilight doesn't have a letter to send for the week."

"All right." He then took out another paper and started to write again.

“Dear Princess Celestia: This is not a friendship report, but is still an important lesson nonetheless. No matter how cute they are or how much you like them, taking animals you are not familiar with away from their natural environment is a bad idea, especially if they come from some place like the Everfree Forest. Since they come from there, whatever rules of living they follow there get applied to wherever they go. And since it's 'not natural', it can cause imbalance and chaos. 

“P.S. I'm a bit fuddled in the meaning of natural here. Sorry, if I don't make much sense.”

"You done?", asked Spike.

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Finally."


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

At the present…

Chronicle continued his tirade. "Instead of saying what you said yesterday, you could've said something like…" He proceeded to try to mimic Pinkie's voice. "A parasprite! Don't you know how dangerous they are? THEY COULD EAT ALL THE CANDY IN THE CITY!!!! I'm off to get a trombone! TO SAVE THE CANDY!" 

Pinkie replied, "I don't sound like that. But yeah, I guess I could've easily said something like that."

He resumed normal tone. "See?" He then turned to the others, particularly Twilight and Fluttershy, and said, "And either of you could've said, 'A parasprite? So you know what they are? What does that have to do with a trombone?'" This time, he didn't mimic either of their voices. "We could've avoided all this if we didn't get distracted by things just because they look cute."

"That's right!", Mystic Shield called in the distance as he had Greatstone and a few others, among them not his students, help him in rebuilding his academy. 

"I hope we all learned our lessons here. Now let's get Ponyville back up and running. The town's not gonna fix itself, you know."

With that, his friends sighed in relief (that Chronicle's lecture was over), and got to work.
> Chapter 14: Suited For Success
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Chapter 14: Suited For Success

"You had a parasprite problem too, Chronicle?"

"Yes, Blue. And Pinkie Pie had the solution. Too bad my friends only realized it after losing a lot to them."

The two of them were in Blue Diary's dreamscape, where the white pegasus was busy practicing forming his swords' auras into different shapes as he focused on them. His brother sat behind him as he watched the red-colored aura take various forms. 

"Yeah? Well, Pinkie was the solution here too with our parasprite problem." One of his swords' auras formed into an axe and the other formed into a spear. "Luckily, Ditzy Doo caught on and so did Raindrops."

Blue proceeded to swing his swords and test out his 'weapons'. "While my friends never took so much as a hint, your friends were able to piece it all together? AND help Pinkie out? Man, I don't understand why my friends can be such idiots sometimes. If anything, I'd say you're the luckier one."

Blue Diary changed his swords' auras into two forms of firearms that didn't exist in Equestria (not that they probably exist). "Well, Ditzy knew what it felt like to be ignored, so I guess that's a factor. And you're just saying I'm lucky because you're a unicorn, Chronicle. Unicorns are quite prone to mental disorders, you know. And my Ponyville suffered serious damage."

"How serious?", asked Chronicle as Blue then transformed the aura into a giant broadsword and raised it high. 

"Well, we got a serious food shortage that was mitigated thanks to some of the smarter ponies keeping their food stores closed, particularly BonBon's Confectionarium."

"You really are the luckier ones."

"Why is that?"

"In my world, Ponyville was comepletely destroyed! It took a long time and some help from Canterlot to restore it to what it was."

"What?!" And Blue lost his balance and tumbled, even though the 'broadsword' was technically weightless, which slammed onto the ground pointy end first. He ended up hanging upside down somehow. "Parasprites eat only food, right?"

"Well, no thanks to Twilight, who cast a spell that made them stop eating all the food…I'm sure you can guess what happened next, right?"

"They started eating everything else that isn't food?"

"Yes. Then again, if she hadn't, they might've started eating ponies."

"Seriously?" Blue 'turned off' his sword auras and flipped gracefully to the ground.

"Yes." The two then proceeded to stare at one another for a full minute.

"Are you done venting?", Blue finally asked.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "Yes, I am. Thanks for listening to me."

"Why'd you decide to visit me instead of Timerity?"

"Because she most likely experienced the same problem I did. And you know how less 'in-control' she is compared to me."

"Right. Well, you better head back to your dreamscape. I'll be waking up shortly. I got the morning shift."

"Right. You're a weather manager."

"No. Just a weather pony. Managerial position goes to Rainbow Dash." And with that, he turned around to walk away, only to trip up on the first step. And promptly vanish. Before he knew it, Chronicle was shoved back by an unknown force and when he got up, glimpsing the book "Cupcakes", he realized he was back in his own dreamscape. 

Blue Diary must've woke up.


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

One day in Ponyville…

"What to do, what to do, what to do."

"What to do about what?"

Chronicle and Mystic Shield were at the spa, relaxing as they lay on massage tables. Giving them the treatment were Lotus and her twin sister Aloe, whose hair color and coat color were reversed in comparison to Lotus's. She still shared the same cutie mark and eye color as her sister. 

"It's about the Grand Galloping Gala.", sighed the blue stallion. "While I've been there before, I usually either rented tuxedos or my charges provided me suits to dress up in. I was wondering if I should take a trip there and reserve a suit."

"Why don't you go see Rarity? I'm sure she'll be more than happy to make something for you."

"Dresses are her specialty. I haven't seen a single suit so far. Except for the ones she put on me and Spike during that…ticket fiasco. And it was too frou-frou-y." He was not going to tell Mystic about the few times he has cross-dressed either as disguise or a dare.

"I saw a suit or two. Before the parasprites devoured them, that is."

"I'll have to think about it." He then gave a sigh of relief as Lotus rubbed a sore portion. "Ahh, that's the spot."

"Yeah.", Mystic agreed as he was rubbed on the neck by Aloe.

"I'm surprised you asked me out on this session."

"Hey, what're friends for? Besides, I thought I'd relax a bit and I didn't want to go alone. Also, the coupon did say that it's for two."

"Where'd you get it anyway?"

"It was a gift from Rarity after I helped her when the parasprites were attacking her boutique while I was looking for the recorder Pinkie told me to look for. I did catch her in an uncomfortable position though. Luckily, I was already out before I could be treated to an ear-shattering scream from her."

"Do you plan on inviting her to attend your Academy's classes?"

"Maybe not. She has a pretty tight schedule. She has one or two requests from Canterlot. And I believe she would eventually be bogged down with requests and commissions that she wouldn't have time to attend."

"Yet she has time for the spa." 

"Everypony needs downtime, and attending my self-defense classes is not downtime." Mystic gave a yawn. "At least not for the average pony."

"True. I guess I should go to Rarity's after this. You sure you're not going?"

"I don't have a ticket, remember? And I want to keep away from Canterlot anyway, okay?"

Chronicle got curious. "Just what is it in Canterlot that you don't like about it? Aside from perhaps the upper class snobs."

Mystic turned away at this. "It's not the snobs."

"What is it, then?"

"Somepony important there. I got into…serious blows with him. I was there when I had that request in Ponyville's Request Board. I was planning on starting up my Academy in Canterlot when he told me that was not only illegal, but also unnecessary since the place has their own Royal Guard. Next, he offered me a position in their ranks."

"You refused, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh. I wanted my lessons to be available to the average civilian. Joining the royal guard would keep me from achieving that dream. And so I eventually had my stuff moved to Ponyville, where I encountered Pinkie Pie, then finally met you."

"I see. That's why."


C—MS—L—A—C—MS—L—A—C—MS—L—A

Later…

After the treatment, Chronicle encountered Twilight Sparkle (with a pair of saddlebags) and Applejack on their way to Carousel Boutique. Mystic Shield bid farewell and made his way to the Books and Branches Library (renamed Golden Oaks Library after the parasprite infestation) as the bodyguard joined his two friends.

They entered the boutique, but seeing that she wasn't present in the ground floor, they made their way up to the upper story. Coming to one of the doors and hearing the shimmer of a magical aura, Applejack knocked seven times, then opened the door with a, "Howdy, Rarity!"

As they walked in, Twilight shushed her friends as she pointed to the right. Rarity was working on a dress design, her focus evident on the pair of red-framed, tinted eyeglasses on her muzzle. The dress-in-progress showed darker magenta trim and lighter material for the chest and forelegs. The skirt has been built up in layers.

"Can’t you see Rarity’s trying to concentrate?", Twilight said as the three of them walked up behind her.

"What do you think she’s makin’?", Applejack asked, her voice also hushed. 

"what do you think?", snarked Chronicle as he glanced at a bed on the other side of the room, where he saw a fluffy white cat resting there. She had violet eyeshadow and a darker bow, matching Rarity’s mane, in one tuft of hair atop her head. A jeweled purple collar adorned her neck. There you are, Opalescence. Rarity addressed her as Opal for short.

"Looks like a dress.", his charge replied to the farmpony.

"Well, that makes sense since this is a dressmaker’s shop and all."

A few seconds later, Rarity turned to face the three with a very polite smile, though Chronicle could tell it was a bit forced as he turned back. "Is there something I can help you with?" 

"Oh…so very sorry to trouble you, Rarity, but I need a quick favor.", Twilight said before digging in the bags for a moment. She then pulled out a dress—red, with yellow sleeves—and laid it on a tabletop. One of its buttons had come loose. "Could you please fix a button for me? It’s my dress for the Grand Galloping Gala." 

Rarity gave a shocked gasp. "Oh, no, no, no! You can’t wear this…uh, old thing. You need a glamorous new outfit for the Gala, and I’ll make it for you. No problem at all. It would be my pleasure."

"Oh, that’s really sweet of you to offer, Rarity, but I can’t let you do that. It would be so much work. This dress is fine."

Rarity replied reprovingly, "Twilight Sparkle, I insist on making you a new dress." 

"But—" She was waved a hoof in the face.

"Not another word.  I won’t take no for an answer."

"Well, in that case…thank you for your generosity, Rarity. Knowing your handiwork, I’m sure it will be absolutely beautiful."

"Be careful.", warned Chronicle. "There are those who will take advantage of that. Not that we're gonna do such a thing." He turned to his friends with a stern look. "Right, girls?" The two nodded profusely and the stallion sighed.

Rarity then turned a slightly critical eye toward Applejack. "Let me guess, Applejack. You don’t want a new gown either."

"Gown? Shoot. I was just gonna wear my old work duds."

Rarity gave a bigger shocked gasp. "You can’t possibly be serious, Applejack! You absolutely must wear formal attire!"

Applejack thought hard for a moment before answering, "Nah."

Rarity gave a smile. "What if I just spruce up your, uh…duds…for you a little bit?"

"Uh…okay, sure, why not? Since you’re offerin’ and all. Just don’t make them too, uh…frou-frou-y."

"Deal!"

"Oh, almost forgot.", Chronicle said. "I was considering making a request for a suit for the Gala, but maybe I should go for a mail-order one." He ended his sentence in a somewhat teasing manner.

Once again, Rarity gave a bigger shocked gasp. "Mail order?! Those sub-par quality suits?! I simply can't allow you to wear those things! Allow me to make a brand new suit for you."

"Well, as long as it isn't gonna make me look like a Little Lord Fauntleroy."

"Who?"

"That blue ensemble you put on me and Spike when you were making favors so that Twilight would give her extra ticket to you."

"Oh don't worry about that. While that's a nice suit, it's not exactly Gala material. Speaking of which, where is it? It certainly hasn't been returned."

Before he could answer— "Look out below!" A voice came.

A panicked yell followed and Rainbow Dash smashed through the ceiling, hitting the floor much too hard for her liking, then bouncing backward and ending up tangled among equinequins and cloth bolts, with a bucket on her head.

"Sorry. New trick. Didn’t quite work." Rainbow raised the bucket so that it wasn't covering her left eye, then gave a nervous chuckle.

Just then, Chronicle noticed Rarity think hard. "Hmmm…" This was followed by a sharp gasp, a smile, and a singsong, "Idea!" before resuming normal tone. "I’ll make you an outfit for the Gala too, Rainbow Dash!"

Still standing among the mannequins, the pegasus looked back and forth with great confusion. "Outfit for the what, now?"

Rarity started indicating everypony in the room. "I’ll make one for you, and you, and all of you!" She jumped in place. "Ooh, and of course Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Mystic too." 

"Leave Mystic Shield out of this.", Chronicle cut in. "He has no ticket and would like to stay out of Canterlot for personal reasons."

"Okay. Oh, and when I’m done, we can hold our very own fashion show!"

"What a great idea!", Twilight said. "If you’re sure you can handle it."

Rarity levitated the cloth bolts from a rack. "Oh, it’ll be a little bit of work, but it’ll be a wonderful boost for my business—plus, fun!" 

"Oh, I love fun things!", Rainbow agreed.

Rarity then proceeded to lay out the cloth at her worktable, her measuring tape around her neck and at the ready. "Then it’s settled. We’ll have a fashion show, starring us!" There were cheers from the other girls as she began to cut the fabric.

"Leave me out of this one.", Chronicle requested. "I don't want to participate. Although the suit request still stands."

"So all you have to do is make a different, stunnin’, original, amazin’ outfit for one, two, three, four, five, six, plus yourself—seven ponies? And lickety-split?", Applejack asked.

Rarity gave a chuckle. "Oh, Applejack, you make it sound as if it’s going to be hard."

"Be careful with what you say.", Chronicle said. "Because you may come to regret it."


C—TS—A—RD—R—C—TS—A—RD—R—C—TS—A—RD—R

Later…

Twilight and Chronicle were on their way back to the library, leaving Rarity to work on the dresses (and suit). "So, Twilight. I was hoping to construct something down at the lab."

"What is it?"

"Well, I plan to mount it on my back, and it will most probably take the form of Spike."

"I don't see where this is going, but I'm afraid I can't help you there."

"Well, do you know why the basement is full of gadgets and stuff?"

"It was there when I first checked it out."

"Then how do you know how to work the thing you put on Pinkie's head when you tried to analyze the Pinkie Sense?"

"I found some old notes from the last owner. Apparently, he was a bit of a mad scientist."

"And might I tell you that you show shades of this as well. And that worries me."

"You think I might become a mad scientist?"

"I plan on making sure you don't."

They reached the door and opened it to see not only Mystic Shield, but Tricky Books as well, who was at the table reading Supernaturals. Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls That Are Simply Super. The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide rested nearby, which Tricky planned to read next.

"Morning, Chronicle, Twilight Sparkle.", greeted Tricky as they entered the library.

"Morning. What brings you here, uhh, Tricky Books?", Twilight greeted.

"Glad you at least know my name."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's just poking on your asocial tendencies.", Chronicle explained. "That you probably only know the names of your family, close friends, and other important ponies like teachers and such."

"I'm not like that."

"But you were. As far as I could tell from my time with you as just your bodyguard." Before I extended that to the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony and became Mystic Shield's co-teacher in his academy.

"True."

"As for why I'm here, Twilight Sparkle, it's because I wish to expand my knowledge of the world." Tricky paused for a second before levitating the book he had on reserve. "By the way, is this updated? Because given that the sixth element is finally discovered, the book saying it's a complete mystery would…well…" He looked at whom he was talking to, then appended, "Mystic Shield told me of you and your friends' connections to the Elements, and besides, all of Ponyville knows it anyway."

Twilight 'grabbed' the book from Tricky's aura and perused the book. "You're right. I should send a letter to Princess Celestia about this. Thank you, Tricky Books."

"Happy to help in the pursuit of knowledge."


C—TS—MS—TB—C—TS—MS—TB—C—TS—MS—TB

A few hours later…

Chronicle decided to ask something that was nagging in his head for a while. "Say, if you are the scholar type, why did you decide to enroll in Mystic Shield's class with Greatstone, Chrono Cards, and Bullseye?", he asked Tricky Books. While Twilight was also a scholar type, she had incredible magic to "make up for it".

"The four of us are close friends, longer than the seven of you. Besides, it helps to know some self-defense. That's all you need to know."

"Okay."

"Say, when I saw Spike exit a door—he's upstairs right now—I couldn't help but peek and boy was I surprised to see a lab there. Is it okay if we use them?"

Twilight wasn't sure about this. "'We' being…"

"Me, Chrono Cards, Bullseye, and Greatstone. They may not look the intellectual type, but we all have some experience in building stuff, though we're not crazy for it."

"I'll have to think about it.", the librarian confessed. "I'm not exactly comfortable in trusting four strangers to a laboratory I'm not completely familiar with."

"Would you trust us if Chronicle would watch us?"

"I guess. I still have to think about it, though."

"I'll wait."

All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash plowed through the doorway and right into Chronicle, making the two roll for a while and onto the table. "Oww!", the mare-faced stallion complained. It didn't really hurt as much, but he made it look like it did if it would at least make Rainbow be a little more careful next time. 

Unfortunately for him, she seemed to know that was what he was up to. "Come on, Chronicle. You're tougher than that, right?"

"Doesn't make it any less painful." The two of them got off one another and brushed themselves of the dust. "Why are you here?"

"Rarity's done with our dresses and wants everypony to her boutique."

"That was fast. And one of them's a suit. I'm a stallion, remember?"

Regardless, Twilight and Chronicle followed Rainbow to Carousel Boutique, leaving Mystic Shield and Tricky Books behind, the former not having intervened in the conversation.


C—TS—RD—MS—TB—C—TS—RD—MS—TB—C—TS—RD—MS—TB

At the upper story of Carousel Boutique…

Rarity backed across the room as she led all of her friends inside with their eyes closed, Pinkie Pie hopping with excitement. "That’s it…keep them closed…", she said. "…don’t look…" She proceeded to line the six up, who still had their eyes squeezed shut. "Okay, you can look now!"

Twelve eyes opened wide and six throats gasped in surprise at the six equinequins across them, each decked out in an outfit meant for one wearer. 

Applejack's had a new brown cowboy hat, a green collar and apple bolo tie, green boots trimmed with red/white on the forelegs, a red saddle with brown trim and a long, fringed underlying green piece that resembled a saddle blanket. Every piece was decorated with apples. 

Twilight's had a high-collared royal blue cape, secured by a star brooch at the neckline and gathered into a light blue saddle that sat slightly forward. Stars were sprinkled around the hem, collar, and saddle, and there were star earrings as well. 

Fluttershy's had a light green cape, with butterfly brooch and earrings, a light blue shawl looped around the rump, and flowers at the hemline. Matching green sandals with vine-like ties were on the forelegs. 

On Rainbow's was a rainbow-striped train with a loop of material under each wing to hold it in place, cloud-like white edging at the hem—which Opal nuzzled happily against—and a grape-bunch brooch. Gold laurels rested atop the head, and the forelegs displayed gold sandals with long ties. 

Pinkie's dress had a striped vest secured in front with a large bow, ribbons at the hem, candy corn and lollipops on the skirt’s lacy top layer, ribboned shoes, and a pillbox hat. The skirt and the bows on the hat and collar matched the color of its wearer-to-be's mane, the hem ribbon and shoe bows the eyes, and the vest was done in blue-white stripes. 

As for Chronicle, his suit is a black tuxedo with yellow buttons and a black cape (lined with red). It was partly open to reveal a white dress shirt. There was also a white cowl with lenses to conceal the eyes, and a black top hat.

"These are your new outfits!", Rarity said as Opal played with the fringe. "What do you think of your old duds now, Applejack? Pretty swanky, are they not?" She gave a giggle as her pet cat went over to the next dress. 

"And Twilight, I made this dress for you, and I designed each outfit theme to perfectly reflect each pony’s unique personality." Rarity proceeded to the next. 

"Oh! It took me forever to get the colors right on this one, Rainbow Dash, but I did it." It can also be seen that Opal loves it too as she moved toward it again. "Oh, and it turned out beautiful, don’t you think?"

Opal rolled happily past Fluttershy’s ensemble. Rarity gave a gasp, "And I know you’re going to love yours, Fluttershy. It just sings spring!"

Opal walked over to the suit, purring with approval. "I haven't got much practice in making new suits, Chronicle, but I can assure you'll look very dashing in this one!"

Opal then moved to the rump of the equinequin wearing Pinkie's dress. "And Pinkie Pie, look! Pink! Your favorite!" Rarity now stood in the center of the floor with all six outfits ranged behind her. "Aren’t they all amazing?"

The others just stood there, stunned into total silence for several seconds as she aimed a huge, expectant grin across the room. Finally they began to recover their senses, but their body language gave away various degrees of unease.

Twilight began, "Wow…they’re…"

Rainbow agreed. "Yeah, they’re…"

"They sure are, uh…somethin’.", Applejack said.

"Yes! Something!", Twilight concurred.

"I love something!", Pinkie said. "Something is my favorite!"

"It’s…nice.", Fluttershy answered.

"They…look…great!", Chronicle provided.

Rarity started to catch on, but didn't seem to hear the stallion's comment. "But what’s the matter? Don’t you like them?"

"They’re very nice.", Twilight said.

"And we’re plumb grateful ’cause you worked so hard on them.", Applejack supplied.

"They look absolutely great!", Chronicle told her.

"Mine’s just not as cool as I was imagining.", Rainbow commented, finding herself on the wrong end of annoyed glares from the former three. "She asked."

"I guess what we’re all saying is that they’re just not what we had in mind.", Twilight explained.

"But I still like them! I couldn't ask for anything less!", Chronicle said, guessing where this might be going to. He was also sincere in his opinion as he looked at the gobsmacked designer, then saw his friends voiced general assent, while Fluttershy pawed nervously at the carpet. Rarity groaned and hung her head for a moment, then brought it up with a slightly pained smile.

"That’s okay. Not a problem. There’s plenty more where that came from. They were only a first pass. You’re my friends, and I want you to be one hundred and ten percent satisfied. Not to worry. I’ll redo them!"

Fluttershy said, "Oh, Rarity, you don’t have to do that. They’re fine."

The designer was already levitating Applejack’s new hat and Twilight’s earrings off. "I want them to be better than just fine. I want you to think they’re absolutely perfect."

"Are you sure?", Applejack asked. "I mean, we wouldn’t want to impose."

"I do think they're absolutely perfect.", said the sole stallion. "They just don't realize it yet."

Rarity gave a laugh, floating Twilight’s dress off and letting it drop "Oh, it’s no imposition. Really, I insist!"

As the other mares began to leave, Twilight said, "Well, in that case, thank you again, Rarity."

Seeing that he won't be able to change her mind, Chronicle followed the rest of his friends out, but after he closed the door, he waited until the others were gone, then opened "Surveillance", focusing on Rarity. He saw her face fall as the camera on her zoomed out to frame the six equinequins, all partially or completely stripped. The outfit pieces lay on the floor around them.

"What have I gotten myself into?", the fashion designer asked herself. Opal just meowed plaintively. 

"I have a feeling this won't end well.", groaned the sole stallion.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (video-type) - At a violet backdrop, Chronicle walks in from the left to the center, then 'pulls in' his Gala ensemble from the right. As they collide, a flash of magic obscures them and when it fades, Chronicle is now wearing the suit, looking good. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

The next day, at Mystic Shield's…

After requesting a draft of his suit, Chronicle began to look through it as he stood beside Mystic Shield, who was tutoring his students on double-casting, which (save for his first four) everypony was struggling at doing. After an arduous effort, he decided to give up for today and had them spar before turning to face his co-teacher.

"Chronicle, what are you doing?", he asked.

"I'm going over my suit for the Gala Rarity designed.", Chronicle said. "She insists that I look for flaws in the design, but I don't see any. Seriously, I think it's a miracle the term 'simple' exists in her vocabulary."

Mystic rolled his eyes. "What did she expect from an average stallion? They aren't exactly fashion savvy."

"The ones from Canterlot most likely are. And since I technically came from there as far as she can tell…"

"But you certainly aren't the high-class type."

"But I was Twilight Sparkle's charge, and I saw that her family is high class when I met them."

"That's not valid reasoning."

"Meh, I'm not too concerned about it."

Mystic paused for a while, turned to see his students practicing, then turned back to Chronicle to ask another question. "So… you're not from Canterlot?"

"Not really." Telling the truth was out of the question, so he decided to use a cover story. "I've only been in Canterlot for two years. I lived elsewhere before joining my family there to become a bodyguard."

"And were you from?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay. But, a bodyguard for two years? You look a bit young for such a serious job."

"Well, the art I learned is different from conventional bodyguards, but all I can tell you about it is that it's a family secret."

Mystic just stared at him, giving a suspicious look before resuming normal composure. "I can tell you're not telling me the entire truth, but I won't delve in. It's not like I need to know right now at least."

"Thank you." Chronicle turned back to the draft and 'took out' a pencil from "hammerspace", then proceeded to make some notes. "Let's see… The suit must not hinder mobility. The cowl must not impair vision. Color must go well with blue coat and yellow-and-orange mane and tail."

Just then, the door creaked open and somepony entered the academy, although she wasn't noticed until she walked up to where the two teachers of the Academy were.

Chronicle managed to notice her in his peripheral and greeted her first. "Fluttershy.", he said as he turned to face her. "What brings you here?"

"Umm…Rarity wants you to come over and—"

"Give her suggestions on improvements on my suit?" Fluttershy just nodded, then turned to Mystic since Chronicle wouldn't go off on his own without his permission. 

"All right.", Mystic conceded. "It's been a slow day, anyway. Go."


C—F—MS—C—F—MS—C—F—MS—C—F—MS

At Carousel Boutique…

Chronicle opened the door to see Rarity, hard at work behind a sewing machine (to his slight puzzlement) and with her mane noticeably disheveled. "You wanted to see me, Rarity?", he asked.

"Ah, yes, Chronicle!", the fashion designer greeted as she stopped the machine and crossed the room. "Your new new suit’s ready! I revised it, and I know you’re going to love it!"

"We'll see."

In a while, Chronicle was dressed up, looking spiffy. Although he didn't tell her that his vision's a bit dimmed from the cowl.

"What do you think?", Rarity asked.

"What do I think? I love it." He was sincere in his opinion, although there was a twinge of doubt.

Unfortunately for him, Rarity sensed that twinge. "Oh, you’re just saying that."

"No, no, I do. It’s great."

Rarity was not convinced. "Great."

"Great.", Chronicle repeated.

"If you don’t like it, you should just tell me."

While he wasn't afraid of many things, Rarity was making Chronicle nervous right now with her impatience. "I do like it."

"Like it or love it?"

"Does it matter which?"

Rarity's answer was to continue advancing, and Chronicle backed up before the eyes behind the tinted lenses before realizing Hey, what the hay am I doing? and stopped, bumping heads with the fashion designer and locking horns. 

"Which is it?", she asked.

"Does it really matter?"

Rarity began to push harder. "Well, just tell me what you really think."

Chronicle did likewise. "I am satisfied with the suit you made for me."

Rarity pushed harder again. "Tell me the truth!"

Chronicle countered this as well and they both continued at this shove-of-war. "It is the truth!"

"Tell me!"

"I just told you!"

With mounting fervor, Rarity continued, "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!" She then pushed with such force that Chronicle was sent flying to the wall behind him, which he was close to and thus not much was exerted.

The force left him a little dazed, and a bit surprised that without magical enhancements, Rarity was stronger than he was physically. "Oww…for the last time, I'm perfectly satisfied with the suit you have made for me. No changes are necessary!" Rarity just gave him an angry stare that was borderline murderous. Seeing that he would not be able to leave without an answer, he sighed in defeat and 'procured' the draft from "hammerspace". "…If you're so desperate for a change, here it is." He 'gave' the draft to Rarity, which she took. "That's all I'm gonna ask. I will not give anymore demands…except if you can add a false rose to the ensemble. Other than that, I want no other changes, capische?"


C—R—C—R—C—R—C—R—C—R—C—R

Later…

With Mystic Shield's classes over for today, Chronicle decided to go over at Mjölna's place, where he remembered to pay up the last portion for his shield. They were at the doorway of the house as usual, Mjölna inside and Chronicle outside.

"Here you go, Mjölna.", he said as he 'passed' the pouch of bits to her, which she caught in her mouth. "I'm sorry I forgot about the portion payment."

"It's all right.", assured the earth pony. "As long as it does get paid in the end, I'm all right with it."

"Thanks. Say, do you make armor as well?"

Mjölna beamed at this all of a sudden. "Armor? Sure thing! In fact, I can make better armor than those worn by the Canterlot Royal guard!"

"You serious?"

"Well, in terms of defense at least. Speed leaves a lot to be desired.  Those gold armor the guards wear are actually just for show. I mean, it's not like the Princess actually needs them to defend her."

"Well, there's still crowd control. And I've seen them apprehend whatever few criminals I've seen when I lived in Canterlot."

"When a combatant is skilled enough and/or agile enough, defense becomes less necessary. I saw what they were capable of when I took a trip there once. In a fight against thugs, they got what it takes. Against bigger threats however—and I don't mean Nightmare Moon-level ones, but Ursa Minor-sized ones—they won't succeed without moderate injuries or stress."

"Stress?"

"Unicorn magic, remember?"

"Ah, right. I'm guessing the armor you make is heavy, right?"

"Uh-huh. However…wait here." Mjölna went inside for a minute before coming out with a book on her hand. Judging from the title, it seems to cover possible materials for weapons and armor apart from iron and steel. "Open it on page 97."

Chronicle 'picked up' the book and flipped the pages until he was where Mjölna directed him. "Hold on a second…this…is…"

"Like I said, making armor ain't cheap.", Mjölna reminded.

"Guess so. Still, I don't know if I could even ask Rarity to help in this. I heard she mines her own gems and has a spell designed on finding them, but I don't think her spell covers this. Are there any…uncommon substitutes?"

"I'm not sure. Say, I was about to return that book to the library, but after the parasprite attack…well…I was lucky to keep it intact once they started eating everything else."

"I see. Thanks." With that, Chronicle made his way back to the library with the book. As he opened the door, he saw Twilight Sparkle reading a book on constellations.

"Chronicle.", Twilight greeted. "You're back."

"As if I'd leave Ponyville without telling anypony?" Chronicle 'passed' the book to her as he walked in. "Mjölna's having this book returned. She managed to keep it safe from the parasprites."

Twilight 'took' the book and returned it to a shelf. "I'll be sure to thank her. Many books have been destroyed from the attack. I'm grateful you were able to at least save all of the very rare ones. Countless knowledge would've been lost if they took it."

"That's what I had in mind. Luckily, they didn't get to the basement where I hid the books. Spike took care of that. As it turns out, parasprites hate fire. Thankfully, none of them ended up being sent to the Princess."

"Dragon fire doesn't spread like normal fire unless Spike wants it to."

"Really? I've always wondered the differences between it and normal fire."

"There are plenty of things we still don't know about dragons."

And from what Spike told about himself, I probably can't ask him.

Just then, Rainbow Dash entered through the doorway, but this time Chronicle was ready and put up a barrier around himself, which she slammed into. "Rainbow Dash. When will you stop slamming into stuff?"

"Rarity's calling.", the pegasus answered, ignoring the stallion's question. "She wants us all at her boutique. She's done with the new dresses."

"Finally!", Twilight explained with excitement.

"Let's get this over with.", Chronicle sighed.


C—TS—RD—M—C—TS—RD—M—C—TS—RD—M

Back at Carousel Boutique…

"Okay. I did exactly what each of you asked for.", Rarity said as all of her friends were gathered at the ground-floor showroom. "Now don’t hold back." The six 'customers' were lined up staring ahead incredulously at the new outfits—which Opal is now hissing at save for one. "Let me know what you really think." As the fussy cat swiped at the hem of one and then made a vomiting impression at another, the mares began to voice their opinions.

"Oh, my!" Twilight.

"It’s perfect!" Fluttershy.

"It’s cool!" Rainbow.

"Why, they’re the best duds I ever did see." Applejack. 

"It’s exactly what I asked for!" The five. 

As for Chronicle, while his eyes were easy on his suit, he couldn't stand what he saw from the others and ran over to the window to catch some air, recovering from the shock he got. If anything, Rainbow Dash's looks cool in a different way. Other than that, they all look ridiculous for a fashion show.

As he heard Rarity sigh in relief, he turned back—averting his gaze on his friends' dresses—to see his charge walk up to her. "Thank you, Rarity.", she said as Pinkie hopped over with a little gasp.

"Are you as happy with them as we are? Huh, huh, huh?"

As Pinkie backed off, the white unicorn gave her careful answer, "Well, I’m…happy that all of you are happy. I’m just relieved to finally be done." Rarity then turned to the lone stallion in the boutique, grinning. "Chronicle, what about you?"

The stallion—still keeping his gaze off of his friends' dresses—turned to face her and answered between deep breaths, "It's…perfect."

"You don't look like you think it is."

"Sorry. …It's…just…that…" He never got to finish as the front door opened, revealing Spike, who had just entered and was trying to catch his breath. It took him a moment to get enough air into his lungs to speak.

"You are never gonna believe this! You’ve heard of Hoity Toity?"

"The bigwig fashion hotshot in Canterlot?", Twilight asked.

"Uh-huh! He heard about your fashion show—well, maybe I happened to mention it to him." 

Chronicle was somewhat amazed. Wow. I had no idea Spike knew how to contact him.

"He’s coming here, all the way from Canterlot, to see your work, Rarity!" 

Applejack’s eyes popped at this. "Whoa, nelly! You could sell a ton of dresses to this guy! Your business will be boomin’!" 

As the others began to voice their joy for Rarity, Chronicle turned to the dresses again, made as if to barf, then turned to the window once again to cat his breath.

"Hoity Toity?", Rarity said with unease. "He’s coming here? To see these dresses?"

"Yep.", Spike agreed. "Get ready for all your dreams to come true.

The blue stallion, who had to tolerate a lot of burdens over his time in Ponyville, but never something like this, turned to the harried fashion maven, whose eye began to twitch uncontrollably at this news. It's going to be such a disaster. I just know it.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later that night…

Refusing to take part in the fashion show, Chronicle stood just outside Carousel Boutique. A runway had been set up, leading from the front door—which now had a set of elaborate curtains set up across it—to a small stage on the lawn. At first, only Bon Bon, Cloud Kicker, Minuette, and another pegasus pony were with him, but within seconds a lot of familiar faces gathered for the fashion show, followed by nearly every Ponyvillian, as well as a few outsiders who happened to be in town.

He could see Opal peek out from the curtain, followed by Rarity puts her head out as well. She had put away her glasses and measuring tape, but her mane was still very much out of order.

"Oh…" Rarity gave a sharp gasp. "There he is!"

Chronicle turned to where she was looking and saw a dark blue-gray earth pony stallion making his way through the crowd. He wore white jacket lapels edged in black and secured with gold studs, a dark magenta ascot, and mirrored sunglasses. His long mane and tail were striped white/light gray and carefully styled, the former tied in a loose ponytail that hung forward over one shoulder, and he had a folded paper fan as a cutie mark.

Hoity Toity’s passage prompted hushed murmurings from the onlookers as he came to the edge of the stage. Clapping his front hooves, which were clad in white shirt cuffs secured with gold studs, brought another stallion up—who either looked like or was Doctor Whooves—to nose a cushion into place. Hoity sat down a bit too quickly, though, and the servant got most of his face squashed into the ground.

Chronicle turned back to face Rarity, who was taking a few deep breaths to try and settle herself. "Okay…relax, Rarity…your friends like their outfits, and so will he.", he heard her say. Just then, the lights dimmed, prompting her to cry out in fear. "What’s wrong with the lights?" She then calmed down. "Oh, yes, that means the show’s starting. Good." She then pulls her head back through the curtain.

As the music started, Chronicle turned to see a DJ’s turntable, behind which an off-white unicorn mare could be seen, who bore a long unruly mane striped in light and electric blue and whose eyes were hidden behind violet shades. He recognized her and knew that her cutie mark was two beamed notes in black.

If it isn't DJ P0N-3, also known as Vinyl Scratch., he thought as he watched her levitate the needle (in a blue aura) to rest on one of the records and nod her head in time with the music’s soft groove. From what he remembered, she is a famous disc jockey in Canterlot, popular among those who were not high-class snobs and even to a few who are. In fact, from what he heard from a previous charge of his—a real gossip girl—the DJ has an affair with a classical musician in spite of their clashing genres. And nopony has seen her eye color either.

His thoughts were interrupted by a spotlight in a cluster fixture above the runway snapping on, followed by the rest of them; the glare completely whiting out his vision for a moment.

"Since the beginning of time, the elite of Equestria have longed for pony fashions that truly express the essence of their very souls.", he heard Spike say in a dramatic way as his vision cleared.

Chronicle gave a mental groan as he glimpsed the spotlights rove here and there. Oh, being such a large ham. Spike sure knows his stuff.

"Patiently waiting decades—no, centuries—for the perfect pony gown. Today at long last, Equestria, your wait is over. Let’s hear it…" The curtain went up to expose the silhouettes of five ponies, standing before a backdrop that depicted Rarity’s eyes framed by a curly lock of her mane. The latter was shaped to resemble a capital letter R without the vertical stroke at the left. "…for the breathtaking designs of Ponyville’s own…Rarity!" The lights then came up on Spike’s last word to fully illuminate his five friends—the pegasi hovering above the other three. 

It was everything Chronicle could do not to retch at the sight, although he seemed to be adapting to it. Now, it was just a mere eyesore.

For Twilight, she had a purple gown, decorated with the sun, moon, and constellations (technically accurate), covering everything except the head and tail. She had star earrings, a brooch, and tail clip, with a blue-green collar and bow on the tail, and a headdress consisting of stars on antennas. 

For Pinkie, she had a green blouse, with a huge, pale yellow bow at her neckline and a ruffled, light blue skirt that resembled a ballerina’s tutu. There were yellow bows on all four hooves, a cupcake-shaped hat, and a bunch of balloons tied to her tail. 

For Applejack, she had a getup that resembled a pair of denim overalls in front and a garishly checkered horse blanket in the back, with patches and small saddlebags. She wore four yellow galoshes, a green bandana, and a bright red ten-gallon hat whose band displayed a green apple. 

For Fluttershy, she had a voluminous, light green, flower-patterned cape with a darker green hem, a huge flower collar, green shoes, and a hat styled as a bird’s nest complete with eggs and stand-up flowers. 

Finally, for Rainbow, she had a gold-trimmed, lightning-bolt-topped helmet whose rainbow-striped crest was swept straight back from her head, and four winged gold sandals with rainbow leggings. She wore a red collar secured with gold clips to a small triangular saddle/blanket piece on her back that displayed a cloud and lightning bolt.

Their advance onto the runway was marked by a collective gasp and shocked murmurs from the audience. As the five models reached the center of the stage, which slowly began to rotate, Chronicle could see the onlookers reacting with varying degrees of revulsion.

"Talk about tacky, huh?", a voice came. Chronicle turned to his right and saw Mystic Shield. 

"Yeah.", the blue stallion agreed.

Mystic turned to his co-teacher. "Is yours like theirs?"

"Hardly. Although Rainbow Dash's outfit looks cool. Just not fashion show material."

The self-defense teacher turned back to the models. "I'll have to agree with you there."

Applejack was first to catch on to something being amiss. "Why’s everypony lookin’ at us like that?", she asked softly, though Chronicle was close enough to hear, actually just below them.

Twilight began to eye  her own clothing with sudden concern. "Oh, dear."

Rainbow turned to the orange earth pony. "You think we overdid it?"

"Nah."

"Ya think?!", snarked Chronicle.

Applejack immediately had second thoughts upon eying those four thick-soled galoshes—and the other four soon began to share her sentiments. "Okay. Maybe a little."

Chronicle (and Mystic) turned to Hoity, who spoke in an accent the former identified as the “Long Island Lockjaw” as the music stopped. "Oh, those amateurish designs look like a piled-on mishmash of everything but the kitchen sink!" There was laughter from the crowd. Upon later peeking via Surveillance, it would turn out that there indeed was a kitchen sink with Rarity, who moved it away with a cringing expression as Opal sat near her. "It’s a travesty, it’s what it is. Those outfits are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen, oh, for shame! Who is responsible for subjecting our eyes to these horrors—not to mention wasting my valuable time?"

Spike jumped out onto the runway and beckoned toward the backstage area. "Come on out and take a bow, Rarity! You worked really hard for this." She emerges, head hung low, as he applauded. "Yes! All right! Woo-hoo! Go, Rarity!"

Immediately, Chronicle teleported close to him and whispered, "Spike! Do you even realize what Hoity just said?! You just subjected her to a huge amount of humiliation."

Spike turned to see his "beloved" as the spotlight followed her long, lonely procession down the runway and past the murmuring spectators. On the still-rotating stage, one face after another began to fall at the realization that this show had become a public train wreck. 


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—HT

Eyecatch (video-type) - At the walkway, the five walk from the right to the left in their "tacky" outfits in double speed. The show's logo is seen on the upper right while the "fast forward" symbol of two triangles pointing to the right is on the upper left. The music is also played at fast forward.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—HT

Days later…

In the hallway outside the closed door of Rarity’s upper-story room in the Carousel Boutique Rarity's six friends stood, the five models out of their dresses, much to the stallion's relief. 

Pinkie Pie knocked on the door. "Rarity? You okay in there?" She then put her ear to it. "You haven’t come out for days."

"I’m never coming out!", Rarity cried out from inside and Pinkie backed off. "I can’t show my face in Ponyville ever again!" Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash then approached the door as the designer continued to lament. "I used to be somepony. I used to be respected. I made dresses—beautiful, beautiful dresses. But now everypony is laughing at me. I’m nothing but a laughingstock!" This was followed by sobbing.

"You’re not a laughingstock, Rarity.", Twilight assured.

"She kind of is!", Rainbow said to her.

"And whose fault was that?!", Chronicle scolded.

His charge shushed them both, then turned back to the door. "Come on out and talk to us."

Rarity was still sobbing as she replied, "Leave me alone! I vant to be alone! I want to wallow in…whatever it is that ponies are supposed to wallow in!" Chronicle smacked himself in the face at this. "Do ponies wallow in pity? Oh, listen to me! I don’t even know what I’m supposed to wallow in!" She sobbed harder. "I’m so pathetic!"

Back outside, everypony else was at a loss. "If Rarity weren't our friend, I would've been having fun listening at this brand of melodrama.", Chronicle sighed as he stepped back.

"Now what do we do?", Twilight asked the others.

"Uh, panic?", Fluttershy suggested.

"That’s your answer for everything!", Rainbow groaned.

"Well, we can’t just leave Rarity like this.", Applejack said as she gestured to the door.

"She’ll become a crazy cat lady!", Pinkie added.

"She only has one cat.", Twilight told her.

"Give her time…"

Twilight then decided to step forward and put an eye to the keyhole. She gave a "Hmmm…" of thought, then withdrew her face, only for Chronicle to follow her example. From what he could see, there were stripped equinequins, a rack of materials, Rarity crying on her bed while wearing a pink robe and bedroom slippers (with her mane a tangle of random curls), and what seemed to be a half-finished gown meant for her on its dummy, apparent from a sketch tacked to the bulletin board.

I think I know what Twilight's up to…


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

An undetermined amount of time later…

Rarity was standing resignedly before her mirror. "Exile. I guess technically I’d have to move away to live in exile. Where would I go? And what would I pack? Oh, it’s going to take me forever to do all of that packing. What are you supposed to pack when you go into exile? Are you supposed to pack warm?" Her wallow in the pity pool was interrupted by a loud, frightened meow. "Huh? Opal?"

The meow repeated itself as she walked to the window and opened it for a better view. After a panicked look left and right, she turned to a nearby tree branch—and saw Opal there, shaking like a leaf and keeping a death grip on the wood. "Opal, how did you get up there? Hang on, you poor dear. Mama’s coming!"

In an instant, she burst through the door, only to skid to a stop with a huge gasp. Rainbow Dash was up on the tree as well, sitting on a branch not far from the cat, who tossed a slightly vexed glance her way. 

"Rainbow Dash? How dare you strand my poor Opal in a tree!"

"Well, how else were we gonna get you out here to show you this?" The pegasus pointed one way and the unicorn glanced there to see all her other friends back away to reveal the equinequin they were hiding. 

The ensemble consisted of a full two-layer magenta skirt trimmed with jewels and light yellow sashes, a blouse of a lighter shade, a deep magenta collar with additional yellow trim, a cape trim, foreleg sleeve cuffs, and a gold tiara with jeweled earrings.

Rarity could only stammer at the sight. "What is it…it’s not…you…" She then gave a lung-inflating gasp.

"We all finished your dress for you!", Pinkie explained.

"Thanks to Fluttershy’s freaky knowledge of sewin’.", Applejack said.

"Though her know-how on design leaves much to be desired.", Chronicle added. "I mean, 'blanket stitch on a gala dress'? Half of the critique she gave out on you, which she had allowed me to look through, was complete nonsense." The others stared at him in puzzlement, which he noted. "I didn't deem it important to tell you I once had a charge who was a designer like Rarity. By the end of my contract, I have unnecessarily memorized a lot of terms concerning design, but didn't reveal it because and I don't really care too much about fashion and if I did my suit would've ended up just like those…disasters."

There was a moment of silence before they put this bit of trivia aside. 

Fluttershy then spoke up with a blush. "Do you like it?"

Rarity was listless. "Like it…" She walked cautiously around to see the outfit from the back side. "Like it…", she repeated, with some life in her voice.

"Uh-oh. She doesn’t like it."

"No, I don’t like it." There were "Awww…"s from the girls and a groan from the only stallion in the group. "I love it!" 

The girls cheered at this while Chronicle thought, Didn't see that coming.

"You ponies did an amazing job! It’s exactly the way I imagined it!" 

"We just followed your brilliant design.", Fluttershy said.

"Like we should’ve let you do for our outfits. Those first dresses you designed were perfect., confessed Twilight.

"We’re so super-sorry.", said Pinkie as Rainbow flew down with Opal on her back.

"You worked really hard to make our dresses exactly the way we wanted them—and we all saw how well that turned out."

"And it was stupid of me to not point it out and solve the problem before it got to this level.", finished Chronicle.

Rarity moved close so Opal can jump to her, then addressed everypony. "Oh, I forgive you."

"Well, that’s mighty big of you.", said Applejack.

Suddenly, Rarity went distraught, putting a hoof to her forehead. "But my whole career is still ruined!"

"Oh. Right. That."

Twilight turned her attention away from the tableau and to the corner of the building, where Hoity Toity was standing. "Maybe not."

"All right, I haven’t got all day.", said the style expert.

"I also called in a few favors.", Chronicle told Rarity. "After all, I don't think one fashion critic will be enough to get your reputation back."

"Who did you call?"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—HT—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—HT

Later, at the ground floor showroom…

As Opal batted the curled end of Hoity's ponytail like a ball of yarn, Rarity—now properly groomed and out of her robe—faced the style expert uncertainly, then gazed at some hastily-made bleachers. 

There, a small audience was gathered, consisted of a select few Ponyvillians, among them Mystic Shield, a couple of his students, and some of their companions. They all observed the closed curtain in the middle of the room, a few expectantly, many uncertain given the last show.

"Take two!", Hoity said as he tossed his head back, startling Opal into leaving his mane alone. Rarity looked across the room, the signal for Spike to close the window drapes, shrouding the room in shadow. 

[screen mode]

{Fade in to a close-up of Rarity, eyes closed and horn blazing, and zoom out. She takes a few steps forward, away from the curtain, and the screen fills with purple light around her. Hoity and the audience gasp softly at the sight; when the view clears, it has shifted to a night sky filled with flying stars. Several of these settle onto the hem of Twilight’s first dress in close-up, with four light-blue shoes visible beneath it. Zoom out to frame all of her, turned mostly away from the camera; she rears up briefly, pivoting to face front and put herself in profile as fireworks burst behind her.}

{The background dissolves to the showroom and the opened curtain that surrounds Twilight.}

Hoity: (from off-screen) Hello… (Cut to him, lowering his sunglasses, exposing a pair of blue eyes behind the mirrored lenses) …oh, this can’t be the same designer.
Chronicle: Oh, but it is.

{Hoity turns around to find the speaker, but is unable to pinpoint his location. The dress hem waves across the view, one of its stars flying loose and growing to flood the screen with white. Fade in to the brilliant sun in a clear blue sky and zoom out to frame it shining over Sweet Apple Acres. A pan across the laden trees brings one sparkling red apple into full focus; it is quickly lassoed, pulled loose, and whipped away. The other end of the rope is in Applejack’s teeth, and she lets it go as the background becomes a light green checked pattern accented with red apples. After a quick rear-up, she crosses one foreleg over the other and smiles with narrowed eyes, showing off her original outfit. Her mane and tail have been braided.}

Hoity: (from off-screen, as curtain dissolves into view around her) Simply magnificent! (Cut to him.) And I suddenly have a fierce craving for some Dutch apple pie, candied apples on a stick, apple turnovers, apple cobbler…
Audience: Mmmm…

{A mass of clouds moves into view, blocking him out. Candies of all sorts begin to rain down, and candy corn kernels and lollipops settle onto the lace trim around the blue/white-striped vest of Pinkie’s original dress. The pink bow drops neatly into place on her pillbox hat; in extreme close-up, she sticks out her tongue to catch a gumdrop and eats it blissfully. Zoom out to frame her, standing in a meadow amid confections that seem to have sprouted up from the grass. She wears pink, blue-bowed shoes on all four hooves. As she beams for the camera, the scenery dissolves to the open curtain. Back to Hoity.}

Hoity: Brilliant!

{An o.s. lightning strike nearly sends his shades flying off his head; cut to it—cycling quickly through the colors of the rainbow. When it lets up, a wisp of smoke floats into view and crosses the cloudless sky toward the sun; once it gets there, it and the heavenly body both vanish to leave the sky gray. Shafts of light in different hues pierce the gloom one by one and blend to form a rainbow, which resolves into the billowing, cloud-trimmed train of Rainbow’s first-run outfit. She flies confidently along, her mane tied back in a loose bunch and longer than usual, and glides to a stop as the curtain dissolves into view around her. Cut to Hoity.}

Hoity: Oh, spectacular!

{He is caught off guard by the green tendrils that snake up from the bottom of the screen. The rest of the view fades away as these begin to sprout leaves and burst into bloom; the flower petals then fall away at once and become a shower through which butterflies flit here and there. One comes to rest by Fluttershy’s ear and the flowers woven into her mane, becoming an earring, and the camera backs up to frame her standing demurely amid the flowers in her "Mark I" dress. She now wears green sandals on all four hooves, but only the front ones have vine-like straps. The curtain dissolves into view around her. Cut to Hoity.}

Hoity: (clapping, accompanied by the audience) Now this is a fashion show! Oh, these dresses are absolutely amazing! (looking around) Who is responsible? Step forward, show yourself!

{A blaze of light from o.s. forces him to shield his eyes. It is coming from Rarity’s horn, and a zoom out reveals that she has donned her own dress, tied her mane as in her sketch, and taken a position alone before the closed curtain. Her horn throws spots of light on the walls and floor that dance like the reflections from a disco ball. These die down as the curtain opens to reveal the other five ponies—with the addition of Chronicle donning his suit—who hold their places as she steps proudly to the edge of the floor.}

Hoity: (from o.s.) Brava! Brava! (Cut to frame him, her, and Opal; he claps wildly.) Magnifico! Encore!

{At the bleachers, the audience follow suit, each of their faces displaying express delight and joy.}

Rarity: Oh, thank you! Thank you! Oh, thank you so much!

[end screen mode]

"But might I ask…", Hoity appended. "Why did this dashing mare not have an entrance like the rest?" His face seemed to contort a bit in wonder, perhaps on why a mare would wear something meant for a stallion's.

"I specifically asked Miss Rarity not to include me in the lineup.", Chronicle answered. "Plus, in spite of how I look and sound, I'm a stallion." He proceeded to 'take off' his cowl and hat and give a look.

This revelation caught the style expert a little off guard as his eye twitched for a bit behind the shades. There were a few knowing giggles from the audience.


C—TS—T—M—LH—AS—LH—S—GH—BB—A—RD—R—F—PP—D—DH—G—MS—B–CC—M—BP—HT

After the show…

As usual, while the audience started to leave, Twilight started to dictate a letter to Spike, who wrote diligently as always. 

“Dear Princess Celestia… This week, my very talented friend Rarity learned that if you try to please everypony, you oftentimes end up pleasing nopony, especially yourself. And I learned this. When somepony offers to do you a favor like making you a beautiful dress, you shouldn’t be overly critical of something generously given to you. In other words, you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” 

This last sentence got Chronicle's thoughts in high gear as he thought of the implications. Wait! Slavery was legal here?! Oh wait. Was. Right. And it would be rude to stare down the throat of someone who's giving you a present anyway. He shook his head as his charge laughed to herself, then said to Spike, "Don't send that scroll just yet. Add a P.S.." He then dictated, "Don't interfere in an artist's creative process."

"May I send it now?", asked Spike.

"Yes you may." With that, Spike rolled up the scroll and hit it with his fire breath to send it on. The smoke drifted out the window and past Hoity, who crossed to Rarity, whose cat was nuzzling at her feet. "Rarity, my congratulations to you on a most impressive fashion debut.", he said. "Would you do me the great honor of allowing me to feature your couture in my Best of the Best Boutique in Canterlot?" Her eyes steadily widened as these words made their way from ear to brain, and she gasped ecstatically after the last of them. "Now, I’ll need you to make a dozen of each dress for me by next Tuesday."

Rarity's joyful reverie went straight out the window when these words make the trip from ear to brain—seventy-two dresses that quickly? The only response she could muster up was a combination of a gasp, a twitchy eye, and the sort of unstrung giggle that might turn into a crying jag at any moment. 

"I might have to advise against that large a demand, sir.", Chronicle put in as he approached Hoity. 

"And whyever would that be the case?"

"Let me tell you how all this began…"
> Chapter 13: Fall Weather Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13: Wall Weather Friends

In the dreamscape…

Chronicle meditated, just like he did some nights before the prospect of visiting his siblings came up. Glowing ripples emerged underneath his feet as if he were stepping on a very shallow and very large puddle.

I miss meditation. It really helps soothe the mind.

Suddenly, he sensed something not from his dreamscape coming. Rather than 'open his eyes' and look, he continued meditating as he tried to pinpoint the location of the disturbance. He hasn't been able to improve on it much and still has a bit of trouble meditating in regular environments. Finding the source, he 'launched' a 'shuriken' skyward…hitting a thundercloud that wasn't there before.

"Ahh!", a female voice came, but not Timerity's or his mother's, not that his mother had visited him yet. A second later, Chronicle stepped a few paces away from his current position, and the intruder fell where he would've been, kicking up dust as she crashed.

When it cleared, he saw that the intruder had the same cutie mark as he did, indicating that she was a member of at least the Story Crew if not the Timer family. He also saw that intruder has the form of a pegasus mare, with an orange coat, a medium-length platinum blond mane with a "peek-a-bang" hiding hiding her left eye, and a matching tail that was longer than Fluttershy's, and was even styled like hers.

After getting up and coughing, she shook the dust off of her, looked up at Chronicle, then said, "Sorry, Cousin Timmy."

He groaned at this. "And you are…" The Timer family was rather extended, perhaps even comparable to the Apple family in Equestria. Unlike Applejack, he wasn't completely familiar with all its members. 

"Kitty. But my pony name is Ginger Cloud."

"That's a strange name for a pony. At least mine and Blue Diary are somewhat passable."

"And yet your sister takes the name Timerity and that isn't strange enough. A mix of the words 'time' and 'temerity'."

"Point taken." Ginger then swished her long tail, which was very prehensile, and produced a small glass vial containing a white liquid. This surprised the unicorn somehow. "Did you make that out of the dreamscape? Because we're in mine and you couldn't have."

"Actually, I pulled it from hammerspace." Ginger then balanced the vial on the tip of her tail.

"Like Pinkie Pie?"

"Who?" Ginger lost focus and the vial smashed into the 'floor', creating a white cloud.

"Pink earth pony who constantly defies the laws of physics. Bears the Element of Laughter, at least in my Equestria. Oh wait." Chronicle smacked himself in the face. "I forgot to ask which one you're assigned to. Maybe she doesn't exist there."

Ginger hopped backwards and onto her cloud. "I was recently assigned to Recast Equestria, where Twilight Sparkle bears the Element of Magic and is Princess Celestia's student. From what your sister told me, her origin is the same as yours. However, instead of the other five you are familiar with bearing the other elements, she befriends five stallions."

"Charming."

The orange pegasus then started wishing her tail like a rotor and started circling Chronicle. "As for your earlier question, did you know that non-unicorns have access to a small pocket of hammerspace?"

"No, I didn't." The unicorn stayed in place as his eyes followed his cousin until she was behind him. "Although I did question where my…farmer friend gets her lasso." His eyes focused on Ginger once she came full circle. "I usually thought she got it from under her hat, but I couldn't find a logical reason nor could I locate it after borrowing it after I saw her use it." And the issue of Apple Bloom's school items. I never see her with saddlebags whenever she, or the other Cutie Mark Crusaders for that matter, goes to school.

"Well, while it doesn't work like the unicorns' magicspace, earth ponies and pegasi do have it."

"Well, that's interesting. Any reason why you're here? Apart from my sister and younger brother, Uncle Tycho was the first visitor."

"You mean Clockwork in Rainbow Equestria?"

"Yes."

"Well, I got news about him. He's already finished in his mission."

"And by that, you mean…" Although Chronicle felt like he knew as Ginger stopped circling him.

"Meaning he's no longer in Rainbow Equestria. Although it's still being 'watched'."

"Ah." By 'watched', it means that the Story Crew haven't stopped surveillance on it; they just withdrew their Field Operative. "…Say, you wanna spar?"

Ginger shook her head. "No. Unlike your immediate family and Cousin Rokuban's, I'm not trained in combat, but when I do need to fight, I use this." She tapped a hoof on the cloud she was on.

"Lightning bolts from clouds?", Chronicle guessed.

"Yeah."

"I'm not sure if Blue Diary knows this hammerspace thing yet. Why don't you go see him?", the unicorn suggested.

"That's a great idea. Thanks.", Ginger then moved to flap her wings. "See ya!" With that, Ginger took to the 'sky', taking the cloud with her as she shortly disappeared.

Once she was gone, Chronicle thought to himself, "Hmm…speaking of Rokuban, I wonder how he's doing? Darn, I don't know how to travel to unfamiliar dreamscapes. I should ask Blue or Timerity on this."


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

Daytime at Sweet Apple Acres…

For some reason one day, Chronicle was somehow strong-armed by Rainbow Dash into playing horseshoe toss with her and Applejack. The three of them were at the throwing line and the pegasus was first to go. Rainbow picked her cyan horseshoe up with her teeth, then tossed it at the horseshoes court ahead, where the stake was driven in. When the shoe landed close to the stake, the pegasus somersaulted in the air. 

"Woo-hoo!"

"Hoo-wee! Not a bad pitch for a pony who works with her head in the clouds.", Applejack remarked as Chronicle 'picked up' a red shoe, then 'set' it on his horn. Being a unicorn, a handicap was set on him for this game; no using of magic. 

"Oh, yeah? Think you can do better, cowgirl?", Rainbow retorted as the unicorn moved his head so that the shoe began to spin in his horn, then he let loose. The shoe bounced once before landing just short of Rainbow’s throw.

"I know I can." A tap of Applejack's hoof flipped a yellow shoe up from the ground; catching it in her teeth, she let fly. It landed well short of the previous two throws. "Oh, for Pete’s sake!"

"Hah! Looks like this pegasus can pitch better than the workhorse." On the end of this, Rainbow flipped Applejack’s hat forward from the back to cover her eyes. "The object of the game is to get the closest to the stake."

Applejack settled her hat back. "All right, all right." She then flipped a shoe onto Rainbow’s nose. "You got another throw there, pony girl." The pegasus's second throw sailed over the stake and into the grass far ahead. 

"Wow, Rainbow. Heh. You couldn’t hit a barn door with that kind of a throw."

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow kicked the last yellow shoe to Applejack. "I still have the closest throw, Apple Snack. Just try and beat it."

"Not yet.", Chronicle reminded as he 'set' his last red shoe on his horn, then used his head to hurl it. His shoe landed just past the stake and hit the border of the horseshoes court. "Darn. Your turn."

The blond farmer got the shoe in her teeth, focused for a bit, then blew out her breath and let fly with a nervous face, the shoe’s shadow tracing its path toward the goal. Her throw clattered down the stake neatly. 

Applejack reared up briefly. "Yee-haa! It’s a ringer! That’s how we do it down here on the farm."

Rainbow was stunned at this and softly muttered, "I lost."

As for Chronicle, he just shrugged. "Guess we can't win 'em all. I think I would've been less accurate if I used magic to throw." 

"Ah, don’t feel bad, Rainbow. It’s all in good fun.", Applejack said.

"I hate losing."

"Besides, you’re a mighty good athlete. I’m just better." The farmpony trotted off chuckling, but Rainbow recovered herself and flew to catch up, Chronicle following.

"All right, Applejack. You think you’re the top athlete in all of Ponyville?" The three of them stopped. 

"Well, I was gonna say “in all of Equestria,” but—" She dusted Rainbow’s face with her tail. "—that might be gildin’ the lily." She then trotted off.

"And I think I’m the top athlete. So let’s prove it." 

Applejack leaned back. "Prove what?"

"I challenge you to an Iron Pony competition." Applejack began to think this over. "A series of athletic contests to decide who’s the best, once and for all."

"You know what, Rainbow? You’re on."

Both spat on a front hoof, slapped them together, and then brought their heads down to stare each other dead in the face. A second later, they both turned to look at the only unicorn around. He noticed this. "What?"

"Say, why don't you join in as well?", asked the pegasus.

"Me? I know I'm quite athletic myself for a unicorn, but I know I still pale in comparison to the two of you. In fact, Rarity throws a better right hook than I do." He reared up for a while and swung a hoof to demonstrate, then got down on fours again.

"Well, I guess we can allow you to use some magic, but no telekinesis or any of those other fancy spells."

"In short, the only spells I'm allowed to use are those that affect my body."

"Yeah.", said Applejack.

"All right. I'm in." He then spit on his hoof, then the three of them did a three-way hoof-bump. "By the way, just what are the events? We're gonna need to do some organizing, and I don't think the eight of us will be enough." By "eight", he meant the three of them, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

"True. Who're you thinking of bringing in?"

"I don't know anything about the Iron Pony competition except that it is an athletic event, so somepony's gonna have to fill me in." 

At that, Rainbow went up close and wrapped a foreleg around him. "Allow me to explain…"


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

The next day…

At the Sweet Apple Acres orchards, Twilight Sparkle (with Spike on her back) and Applejack watched Rainbow Dash do squats and stretches to limber up. Chronicle was doing similar exercises right next.

"So you three are doing what now?", Twilight asked.

"An Iron—", Applejack spoke up before the pegasus interrupted her.

"—Iron Pony competition.

"See, we’ve set up a bunch of events to decide which one of us is—"

"—the most athletic pony ever!"

"Although we gave Chronicle a handicap so that he could keep up with us. Those spells he casts on his body, that's all he's allowed to cast."

"And I’m here to…?", Twilight said as Rainbow stopped stretching.

"Uh…uh…" The polychromatic-haired pony shrugged and turned to Applejack. "…I don’t know. Why is she here?"

"To be our judge and keep score."

"Right. Heh. Somepony’s gotta record my awesomeness for the history books. " As she resumed stretching, she failed to catch the puzzled look her friends traded. 

"Since some of the events required special equipment, I called in a few favors.", Chronicle said as he paused in his stretching.

"What favors?", his charge asked.

"You'll know soon enough."


C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD

Later…

A field has been set up in the manner of a track and field meet, with various areas dedicated to different events and a set of bleachers for spectators. Applejack and Rainbow were making final adjustments to a long zigzagging row of flower-filled barrels. A scoreboard has been set up, with apple-shaped placards giving a score of zero for each competitor, and so were several tents.

"Hello, everypony, and welcome to the first annual Iron Pony competition!", Spike announced, still seated on Twilight’s back and holding a twig with one leaf on the end to serve as a microphone. The two of them and Chronicle were watching from the sidelines; no other spectators were on the scene.

"Uh, Spike, who are you talking to?", Twilight asked.

Spike looked around. "Um…them!" He pointed back behind Twilight on this last word, where Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity came up the path right on cue. Followed shortly were Mystic Shield and his First Four (Greatstone, Bullseye, Tricky Books, Chrono Cards), and then Graphite, Mjölna, and her twin sister Tasty Snack, who looked just like the blacksmith, but had a sandwich cutie mark.

Spike then jumped onto Twilight’s head, surprising her considerably. "Let the games begin!" Everypony cheered in unison.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS—G–TB–B–CC—M—TS

Event 1: Barrel Weave

Applejack was first on the course as she pawed at the ground a bit.

"Ready?", Twilight called as Applejack crouched. "Set?" Spike procured a stopwatch. "Go!"

Spike start the time as the earth pony rocketed past with enough speed to blow Twilight’s mane/tail out straight. She did a serpentine through the barrels, gasping just before she brushed against one so that it wobbled in place. "Dagnabit!" As she reached the end, Spike stopped the watch.

"Time, Spike?", Twilight inquired, the other two competitors standing near her.

"Seventeen seconds!" 

Applejack skidded back. "You’re kiddin’. That breaks my record from last year’s rodeo!"

"But you got a five-second penalty for nudging the barrel."

Applejack sighed, kicking a rock. "Nuts and shoes! Still, that’s twenty-two seconds—not too shabby." Rainbow started to sweat while Chronicle kept his cool. "Hey, don’t be nervous." She nudged the pegasus in the ribs. "Remember, it’s all in good fun." She then nudged the unicorn. "Now get on up there."

Once Chronicle was on the line, his charge cried out. "Ready? Set? Go!"

Spike clicked his stopwatch and the stallion was off, not blowing his charge's mane as he ran. As he cast a spell on his legs, he strafed through the barrels, and eventually made short jumps in between them, not once slipping in his footing. And since his tail was short, any scrapes with the barrels didn't noticeably nudge them as he eventually reached the finish line.

"Time, Spike?", Twilight inquired.

"Twenty point five seconds!"

"Wow, Chronicle! I didn't think you'd be that fast."

"Thanks, Twilight.", said the bodyguard as he walked back. "Still, I only managed to beat Applejack's time because of the penalty." He turned to Rainbow. "Your turn. The multi-hued competitor shortly took her place at the line.

"Ready? Set? Go!"

Again, Spike clicked his stopwatch, and again Twilight nearly got her hair blown off in the wake. Rainbow raced through the barrels, her tail leaving a short contrail behind her, and reached the end without hitting any of them.

"Whoo! That was some fancy hoofwork there, Rainbow.", Applejack cheered as the pegasus flew back, trying to catch her breath.

"Thanks, but I couldn’t have been as fast as you."

"What was the time on that, Spike?"

The baby dragon gave a gasp of surprise. "Eighteen seconds!" Rainbow gasped as well.

"Eighteen seconds?", Applejack parroted as she leaned a foreleg on Rainbow’s back. "Rainbow, are you sure you’re not secretly a rodeo pony?"

Twilight raised one of Rainbow’s forelegs, in the manner of a boxing referee lifting the arm of the victor in a bout. Rainbow Dash wins the barrel weave, with Chronicle as runner-up!"

At the scoreboard, Fluttershy replaced the 0 placards next to the pictures of the pegasus and unicorn and replaced it with a 2 and 1 respectively.

Rainbow hovered in the air in victory. "I can’t believe I won!" Applejack nudged her down flat shortly.

"Yeah, well, don’t you go gettin’ used to it."


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—C—TS—S—A—RD—F

Event 2: Bucking Contest

In another area, as four extra spectators came (Daisy, Bon Bon, Heartstrings, and Rainbowshine), a carnival “high striker” had been set up—the old game in which one would hit a lever with a mallet, trying to drive a weight up a vertical scale to hit a bell at the top. This particular rig was modified in one way: instead of a lever, a bulls-eye target was mounted at ground level, with the weight resting on its top edge. 

Chronicle was first up as he stood in front of it. Focusing a spell of strength on his hind legs, he then reared up, turned around, and hit the target, sending the weight up and hitting the bell.

There were cheers from the spectators as flowers and horseshoes were tossed up.

"That's quite powerful for a unicorn.", Greatstone remarked. 

Rainbow Dash was next, and while she was able to ring the bell, the weight hit it harder and it rang louder. Stronger cheers came from the spectators as she floated up to the top of the scale with a smile, with flowers and horseshoes tossed up after her. Chronicle gave a sigh of defeat as Applejack, meanwhile, rested on her haunches under an apple tree, hat tipped forward over her eyes and a stalk of wheat in her mouth. Rainbow flew over to her, and she flipped the hat back for a clear view of the smug pegasus.

"Mighty respectable—", Applejack said before spitting out the stalk, and walking past. "—but let me show you how it’s really done." 

She took her position, glanced casually up the scale, and proceeded to deliver a one-legged buck that smashed the target to splinters. The weight not only hit the bell, but broke it loose and launched it out of sight. As the crowd cheered and waved pennants, Applejack walked back to the confounded Rainbow, who collapsed onto her haunches by the tree.

"Years of applebuckin’." A casual hit from one rear leg knocked several apples loose so that they hit Rainbow’s head in a rhythm known as “Shave and a Haircut.”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy updated the scoreboard and spread her forelegs wide with a grin to show off the standings. The score was, in order of Applejack-Chronicle-Rainbow Dash, now 2-1-3. 


C—A—RD—F—G—C—A—RD—F—G—C—A—RD—F—G

Event 3: Bronco Buck

At the bleachers, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh have joined the spectators and have taken seats to watch the proceedings as they did a three-pony wave.

"Wahoo."

"Woo-hoo!"

"Ee-yup."

Spike now wore a ten-gallon hat and was sweating buckets atop Applejack’s back. "Why me?", he asked. 

"Go!", Twilight yelled.

At once, the orange-tan pony launched into her best bucking-bronco impersonation, trying to flip Spike away; he quickly lost his hat and yelled time after time while keeping a death grip on her tail. One final heave launched him into a haystack that stood in the corner of this fenced-off corral. He stuck his head up and spit out some hay.

"Ouch." The rest of the stack shook apart, revealing Rainbow inside; he has landed on her back.

"Ready for another pony ride?", the pegasus asked as she got moving.

"No!"

"Go!", Twilight called.

Rainbow's strategy was to start jackhammering in place, bouncing the little dragon up and down so quickly that he was soon flung over the field. But before he was out of sight, as the pegasus flew up to enjoy her victory, Chronicle 'caught' the baby dragon in his telekinetic grip and 'placed' him on his back. 

"My turn.", the stallion called.

"Go!", his charge cried out.

Immediately, Chronicle did a bucking bronco like Applejack, then—noticing that Spike was holding on to his mane and not his rump like he did on the girls—immediately pulled back for a split-second, bumping his head into Spike's, making the dragon lose focus. Then, Chronicle started doing the bronco in circles, getting Spike off of his back in four seconds flat and sending him flying.

"Rainbow Dash wins the bronco buck, with Chronicle as runner-up!", Twilight announced.

At the scoreboard, Fluttershy updated the score to 2-2-5. A loud thud came nearby and she put her front hooves to her mouth in surprise; Spike had hit the board and was dangling over the top edge. 

"And I lose.", he said woozily.


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—C—TS—S—A—RD—F

Event 4: Lasso Contest

Back at the corral, its bleachers have begun to fill with cheering fans. The three players stood in it and were each twirling a lasso in their teeth, with Spike standing between them and wearing a horned helmet. 

Rainbow was having considerable trouble getting her rope to behave and so was Chronicle, though less so, even without magic to help him. Spike, meanwhile, just stood there with a sullen “why me?” expression. Applejack handled the lasso with her usual dexterity, working it back and forth before casting it ahead. 

Chronicle did the same thing and both of them caught Spike. However, while he caught the horns, Applejack snagged all four of Spike’s limbs to hogtie him and dragged him over to herself with a yell. The helmet fell off and Chronicle was left with it. Roses are thrown onto the field in honor of Applejack's coup.

"How do I get roped into these things?", Spike wondered.

Meanwhile, Rainbow had managed to snag herself to a tree, dangling upside down from one branch, having tangled the rope around both it and herself. "Does this count?"

Several birds perched atop the scoreboard tweeted and shook their heads in disagreement, and Fluttershy updated the scoreboard to 4-3-5.


C—S—A—RD—F—C—S—A—RD—F—C—S—A—RD—F

Event 5: Ball Bouncing Contest

Back at the field, Applejack was doing her best to bounce a ball off her head. Chronicle was having a hard time like she was, though he remained focused as he bounced his ball on the helmet on his head. The helmet was to keep the ball from being punctured by his horn.

After a couple of contortions, the earth pony lost her balance and went face first in the grass, the ball sailing away only to bounce atop one of Rainbow’s upraised rear hooves. It balanced there perfectly as she kept her own ball going off her own head. As the unicorn slipped in his step a second later, more cheers and roses came for Rainbow, this time from some pegasi watching from the clouds overhead.

Fluttershy caught one flower in her teeth as updated the score to 4-4-7.


C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F

Event 6: Hay Bale Toss

The three competitors now stood at one end of a strip marked off for distance, surrounded by a still-growing crowd on the ground and in air. Each had a hay bale before her/him. 

Rainbow got her teeth around the ropes binding hers and heaved. She then flew to the far end of the run just in time to see the bale land exactly on that line. When Chronicle hurled his and it fell short of hers, she blew a raspberry, which was cut off when Applejack’s bale landed neatly on top of her, smashing her flat—and outdoing her throw to boot. The cheering spectators carried Applejack past the scoreboard, where Fluttershy’s rabbit Angel popped up behind her head to mark the point. The score was now 6-4-8.


C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F

Event 7: Hoof Wrestling

Applejack and Rainbow took the first match, which the latter quickly won, causing Applejack to lose her balance, drop to the ground, and lose her hat. 

Chronicle took on the pegasus next and, as much as he bolstered his foreleg power, was overwhelmed and he spun from the force before tumbling to the ground.

He took on Applejack for the position of runner-up, but the farmpony proved stronger and dominated him.

As a result, the score became 7-4-10.


C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F

Event 8: Football Kick

The trio stood on a hill, each with a football in front of her/him. Rainbow kicked her ball—rainbow-striped, naturally—with a hind leg, facing straight ahead. Applejack and Chronicle, on the other hoof, bucked theirs with both hind legs. 

In the sky, several pegasi watched Rainbow’s ball sail past beneath them, and Chronicle's below that, but ducked to avoid being hit as Applejack’s rocketed over their heads, then gasped as they turned to the scoreboard, where Fluttershy had the 11 placard in hoof to post up. 

Upon seeing the football coming, she gasped and raised it over her head for protection. The brown pigskin sailed down  and hits it, knocking it neatly into place on Rainbow's score. She promptly changed Applejack's to a 9. Scoring zero, Chronicle's score remained the same.


C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F—C—A—RD—F

Event 9: Jousting

For this particular event, the contestants were clad in plain iron barding forged by Mjölna, and had wooden dummies in the form of Spike created by Mystic Shield's First Four on their backs, which wielded lances on loan from Graphite. The baby dragon was not amused as he watched beside Twilight.

As Chronicle got ready to play, the weapons dealer and blacksmith went over to him.

"Remember your payment.", Mjölna reminded.

"My weapons are bound to be damaged, so you're paying for that.", said Graphite.

"Okay, okay, I get it.", sighed Chronicle as he and Rainbow Dash went to opposite ends, standing to their right of the long, low fence between them.

"Go!", Twilight gave the signal. As one, the competitors charged towards each other, their "mounters"'s lances aimed for each others' "mounters". Their lances made contact. As the two passed each other by and slowed down, it was revealed that Chronicle's "mounter" was intact though it began to lose its grip on its lance while Rainbow's was disarmed and its right arm was dangling. Chronicle won this round and his charge announced it.

He took part in the next round as well, this time pitting himself against Applejack. The unicorn's "mounter" was given a quick fix by Greatstone (which basically consisted of compacting soil on the 'injury') before he was ready. On Twilight's signal, both he and the farmpony charged and clashed. The end result was that Chronicle's "mounter" lost its lower arm and lance while Applejack's, in spite of keeping hold of its weapon, lost its head, which flew into Spike's arms. Naturally, he was spooked and he shrieked.

The final round was between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. New "mounters" were brought for them and their lances were re-used. The end result: Rainbow Dash's "mounter" was disarmed (again) and Applejack's was on the verge of losing its head.

"Chronicle wins the jousting competition, with Rainbow Dash as runner up!", Twilight announced.

"YES!!!", the bodyguard whooped as he jumped and did a back flip, exuberant that he finally won an event. And the score was updated to 9-6-12.


C—TS—S—A—RD—G—G–M—C—TS—S—A—RD—G—G–M

Event 10: Horseshoes

Chronicle let the feeling of nostalgia pass him by as he, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are about to play the game that spurred this event in the first place.

Applejack tossed her shoe and it landed on the stake like before. Chronicle was next as he hurled it via his horn (not magic) and it landed on the stake as well. Rainbow followed right after, but her shoe did not make it at the stake, overshooting instead. 

A tiebreaker was done since there can't be two equal winners in an event. Instead of going one at a time, the two tossed their shoes together, although it wasn't synchronous given their different methods of throwing. The earth pony's shoe left her mouth before the unicorn's left his horn. The two projectiles flew in different arcs, Applejack's going in a higher one. Chronicle's reached it first, slamming into the stake and spinning before resting on the ground. Applejack's reached the stake, but it made contact with the tip and it flipped, landing on the other side and not around it. This marked Chronicle as the winner with Applejack as runner up.

The score became 10-8-12.


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

Event 11: Push-ups

Twig microphone in hand, Spike continued to announce while standing on Twilight's back, who was reading a scroll. "Fillies and gentle-colts! At the halfway point, here's our competitors standings. Applejack stands at ten points, Chronicle has eight, and Rainbow Dash leads with twelve!" He then added with a whisper, "If it were just the girls, they would be tied at five and five."

Twilight dismissed the scroll to "magicspace", a bit exasperated. "Who are you talking to?"

"Them!" Spike gestured…at dozens of ponies having now congregated to watch the showdown and were thoroughly enjoying themselves. For some reason, she hadn't acknowledged their presence until he pointed it out.

Shortly after, the eleventh event began, with the three competitors doing push-ups, and Twilight keeping count. For all of his endurance, Chronicle could not compare to the farmpony and weather manager and fell over at the count of sixty-three. For now, all he could do was rest. To his left, he could see Lemon Hearts stacked on top of Berry Punch and Golden Harvest. On his right, he could see Cherry Berry, Twinkle, and Shoeshine. 

"Ninety-five…ninety-six…", his charge was counting, watching their straining, sweating faces. "…ninety-seven…ninety-eight…ninety-nine…" Applejack finally falls, unable to rise again, but Rainbow came back up—with the help of her wings. "…a hundred!"

"Yes!", the pegasus whooped as she raised her forelegs in victory, her front end staying clear of the ground. Her opponent did not notice this as she went flat in the grass.

"Be a good sport, Applejack.", the farmpony reminded herself. The score became 11-8-14.


C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD

Event 12: Shocking Duel

The next event consisted of the three ponies sticking their front hooves on a metallic panel connected to a generator with a counter. Prior to the competition, Chronicle asked if Mystic's First Four could create the device needed for the event. Thankfully, they obtained Twilight's permission to use the laboratory in the basement.

Mystic Shield kept an eye on the counter, which measured the voltage the panel had and was passing into the three competitors. He also steadily increased the voltage, but not too quickly or he might risk eliciting injuries. Basically, the three to keep their hooves on the panel for as long as they can. The winner would be the last one still standing.

As the voltage kept steadily rising, so did the tension. It was getting harder and harder to stay on the panel, and then Chronicle noticed that Rainbow wasn't as affected as he and Applejack were. Then he realized a flaw in this challenge; the average pegasus pony had higher resistance to cold and electrocution than unicorns and earth ponies. And Rainbow was a weather manager and thus would have had a lot of exposure to lightning. She has the advantage here. Still, that didn't mean he was gonna fold. And Applejack wasn't about to either.

Half a minute later and two ponies jerked their front hooves away, a half second apart from each other. Another followed suit three seconds later. That one was Rainbow Dash.

"I can't believe this sort of event was along the ones we had to go through.", Applejack complained. "Had I remembered what exactly Rainbow could endure, I would've had another event selected."

"I'm with you there.", concurred Chronicle.

"Rainbow Dash wins the shocking duel, with Chronicle as the runner-up by half a second!", Mystic announced.

Fluttershy updated the scoreboard accordingly, which now read 11-9-16.


C—A—RD—F—MS—C—A—RD—F—MS—C—A—RD—F—MS

Event 13: Cornhole

The next event was the cornhole, also known as bean bag toss, corn toss, baggo or bags. It's a lawn game in which players take turns throwing corn hole bags at a raised platform with a hole in the far end. 

Three platforms lay side by side, measured two-by-four feet, with a 6-inch hole centered 9 inches from the top. Each platform was angled, where the top was 12 inches higher than the bottom.

Twenty-seven inches from the platforms were pitcher boxes where the "corn bags" were placed, colored yellow, red, and blue respectively. Applejack, Chronicle, and Rainbow Dash stood just outside their respective platforms.

"A corn bag in the hole scores 3 points, while one on the platform scores 1 point.", Twilight explained as the three players stood in line just outside the pitcher's box, where four "corn bags" lay, weighing 9 ounces. "You have twenty seconds to score. The timer begins once you step into the box. Once twenty seconds are up or everypony has hurled their bags, we'll start calculating. Then we'll proceed to the next inning. We will continue having innings until a player reaches 21, then the other two will continue for position of runner-up. If two players reach 21, they will have a tiebreaker." She didn't say the following, but it was in the rules, And in the event that all three reach 21, one final inning will be done and whoever scores the most wins. If there's a tie from there, we'll break that tie to reach a conclusive score.

The three competitors entered their boxes, then picked up a corn bag and started tossing. While the mares faced front, Chronicle swung sideways. And he seemed to be doing a better job, scoring one in the hole and three on the board, making a total of six points. Rainbow only managed to land three on the board, scoring one point for each. Applejack got one lucky hit on the hole and one on the board, scoring four.

At the next inning, the earth pony and pegasus were faring better, Rainbow nailing two cornholes (a bag in the hole) and one ace (a bag on the board) but overshooting the last, and Applejack scored the same hits as Chronicle; one cornhole and three aces. As for the unicorn himself, He missed with the first bag, but scored two aces before getting a cornhole in the last. And thus the cornholes score became 10-11-10.

In the third inning, Applejack got one cornhole, one ace, and one miss before running out of time for the fourth, scoring five points. Chronicle, getting a tad hasty, only managed to score four aces, his first two corn bags getting in the way of his chances for a shot in the hole. Rainbow meanwhile overshot her first, undershot her second, nailed a cornhole with the third, then ran out of time for the fourth, the score becoming 14-15-13.

Come the fourth inning, the three started getting their act together and Chronicle reversed his facing, the platform now to his right instead of his left. Applejack scored two aces, missed the third, then scored a cornhole with the last. Chronicle scored a cornhole with the first, landed an ace with the second, just overshot with the third, and—thanks to it bumping into the second shot—landed another cornhole, scoring seven points. Rainbow's first two throws were unremarkable aces, but when she reared up and flapped her wings to balance herself, she managed to score two cornholes, earning eight points total and thus making the final tally 19-22-21.

After analyzing the score, Twilight could see that while two players indeed reached 21 (well, one exceeding), one was clearly higher, and so… "Chronicle wins the cornhole, with Rainbow Dash as runner-up." And so the Iron Pony competition scoreboard was updated to 11-11-17.


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Event 14: Long Jump

Applejack was in full gallop, leaving her competitors behind as she proceeded to go first. Reaching the chalk line ahead, she launched herself in the air and came down for a four-point landing in a sand pit. She then threw a challenging glance over her shoulder and leaped aside, leaving four hoofprints in the sand to mark her distance. 

After a moment’s hesitation, Rainbow charged toward the line and jumped—but upon seeing that she would fall short, she flapped furiously and stopped with inches to spare above the sand. A little more wing action let her touch down ahead of Applejack’s mark, prompting an angry glare.

Chronicle soon followed, using a spell to increase his running speed, and soon jumped upon reaching the line. However, he had forgotten that he had a spell to increase his jumping power and so even with the distance he covered, he fell short of Applejack's. He grunted at himself for this mistake of his.

And so the score became 12-11-19.


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

Event 15: Hurdles

The event was pretty basic; reach the end of the finish line while jumping the hurdles. However, it soon became more and more obvious that Rainbow Dash was getting the upper hoof. Using her wings, she glided over at least two hurdles at a time while Chronicle and Applejack had to leap over each and every one of them. Even with a 'jump enhancement' spell, the unicorn was still "toe-to-toe" with the earth pony.

Once the pegasus cleared the race a few seconds ahead of them, the two left behind quickened in their pace…and it cost Applejack a time penalty as her hind legs bumped the last hurdle as she beat Chronicle by a split second. The score became 12-12-21.


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

Event 16: Ladder Toss

They were back at where the cornhole event was conducted, except the platform was replaced with short three-rung ladders propped straight and the four "corn bags" with three bolas, which were two balls connected by a string. The strings were colored in the same scheme as the corn bags and horseshoes.

Like before, Twilight explained the rules as the players stood in line just outside the pitcher's box. "A bola on the bottom rung is worth 1 point, the middle 2, and the top 3. Also, if you manage get a bola on each of the rungs, that's an automatic 10 points. There is no time limit. The next round begins once everypony has tossed their bolas. Otherwise, scoring goes the same way as in the cornhole."

The three competitors entered their boxes, then picked up a bola and took their time tossing. Like last time, Chronicle swung his projectile sideways. He scored a one-two-two. Rainbow managed to score a one-zero-three, missing with the second bola. Applejack almost got a bola on each rung but missed the top one, getting a one-two-zero.

In the next round, Chronicle got a three-three-zero, Applejack scored a one-two-two, and Rainbow got a three-three-two. The total score was now 8-11-12.

The third round displayed a three twos in a row for the earth pony, a one-two-one for the unicorn, and a zero-zero-three for the pegasus, making the ladder toss score 14-15-15.

The fourth round was when the three started getting their act together and Chronicle once more reversed his facing like before. Applejack landed a bola on the top and middle rungs, but her third was overshot and landed on the middle as well, making her final score 22. Rainbow once more reared up and flapped her wings to balance herself when she tossed hers, landing her three bolas on the top rung, making her final score 24. As for Chronicle, his first bola landed on the bottom, his second landed on the top, and he perspired with pressure as he finally tossed the third. He nearly thought it would sail in between the top two rungs, but to his luck it found its way into the middle, scoring him 10 points and bringing his final score to 25. He got up and raised his forelegs in triumph with a wide grin.

After analyzing the score, Twilight could see that all three players exceeded 21, but their scores gave a clear difference. "Chronicle wins the ladder toss, with Rainbow Dash as runner-up." And so the Iron Pony competition scoreboard was updated to 12-14-22.


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

Event 17: Chick Wrangling

At three parallel muddy trenches, three squawking chickens settled down on one end . They settle down, having been placed one end as they waited for their chicks, four each who were nestled on the three competitor's backs on the opposite end. At the ring of the bell, the three trotted into the mess.

The mud began to splatter all over Applejack, annoying the chicks so much that they quickly left her back and—she only realized this after reaching the other end—went over to Rainbow's, who had spread her wings so that her now eight chicks can perch on them and stay clean during the ride. As for Chronicle, he had cast his water-walking spell and discovered that it worked on mud as well, although he still tread lightly.

His cautiousness resulted him in reaching the end last, but since Applejack failed to deliver her chicks (this not sitting well with her), he scored second place and the Iron Pony competition scoreboard was updated to 12-15-24.


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

Event 18: Wire Loop Game

Thanks to another contraption Mystic's First Four had created, the next event consisted of the three ponies holding a stick with a loop out of iron in their teeth. They were supposed to pass that loop through a wire that was rigged with a buzzer that would sound if both metals touched. The wire had been bent into the form of a tidal wave (not that anypony has been to or even seen the sea). At the point where the wire bent high, there was a stepping platform so as not to inconvenience the competitors, although it certainly wasn't a problem for one of them.

Chronicle was the first to take on the course and he started moving. He wasn't accustomed to holding something in his teeth for long periods of time, let alone rotating it. He went through the "incline" easily, but took up a number of precious seconds right after reaching the "crest" of the "wave" as he struggled to flip the loop around while standing on the platform. Once he passed it however, it became a piece of cake to reach the end. 

Applejack was next and she managed to scale the "incline" quite easily. However, as she reached the "crest" and was about to turn the loop around, a little wind worked with gravity to blow her stetson down and cover her eyes. As she tried to get it back up, her loop touched the wire and the buzzer sounded.

Rainbow followed and it became quite easy for her. She followed the loop through the wire at a steady pace, ignoring the platform and using her wings to keep level with it, and almost reached the end with less time than Chronicle when she got a bit too hasty and buzzed the wire right after going past the part of the "wave" that would crash upon reaching the "shore".

As a result, Chronicle won the wire loop game, with Rainbow Dash as runner-up, bringing the score to 12-17-25.


C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD—C—A—RD

Event 19: Sack Race

Chronicle had no idea how a sack race was done without hands to hold it up, but figured out the means soon enough. Each pony was tied up in a large sack up to their necks. At the neck of the sack was a rope looped to tie it up and its end was put in the competitors' mouths so as to keep the sack from falling off their bodies.

Once the three were positioned on the same starting line as where they did the hurdles event (the hurdles removed, of course), Twilight called, "Go!" as Spike waved a checkered flag. Immediately, the three got hopping.

It was a difficult course the the unicorn was struggling just to keep himself balanced, eventually falling behind the earth pony and pegasus, the latter making greater bounds. And even a non-astute observer could see wings flapping inside the sack, somehow helping her reach first place, Applejack following in second.

The score became 13-17-27.


C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD

Event 20: Tug-o-War

The final event had to have some sort of compromise as well as some clever thinking. There were three competitors and doing three matches not only didn't seem fair, they day was already coming to an end.

So what was done was that—with some clever knots and a powerful adhesive concocted by Tricky Books,—the fight somehow became three-way, with the rope stretched above a circular mud pit. Its ends were held by the three competitors with their teeth, and at the center keeping the whole thing tied together along with knots and adhesive was a red flag.

"All right, you three.", said Twilight as she stood in the area in between Applejack and Rainbow Dash and opposite Chronicle. "This is the final event." Spike, who was on her back, climbed up on top of her head. "Give it all you’ve got."

Spike waved a checkered flag to start them off. All three ponies dug in their heels, but Rainbow found herself being dragged toward the mud. Chronicle had managed to dig his hooves deeper, but now he can't pull his way to victory. "Looks like the workhorse might come out ahead in this one!", the dragon said. 

Applejack then hauled on the rope, unable to pull Chronicle in yet, but pulling Rainbow so far that her hooves grazed the edge of the pit and she toppled forward. Only the latter’s wings kept her from taking a mud bath, and she quickly flew upward to lift her two competitors off the ground. Taking gravity into account, the earth pony and unicorn collided with one another, but neither jerked their mouths open which would have given them a drop to the pit.

Now this is clearly blatant., Chronicle thought as he did everything he could to keep his grip steady.

"That’s not fair!", Applejack complained. "You can’t use your wings to help you win!"

Rainbow put a hoof to her ear, obviously feigning deafness from what the unicorn could see. "Huh?"

"You’re cheatin’!"

"I can’t understand you with that rope in your mouth!" 

Stupidly, Applejack let go and hung in the air. "I said—" She then noticed a second later. "—uh-oh."

Just as gravity returned from its "coffee break" at this point, she quickly grabbed Chronicle's tail by the teeth. This was extremely painful for him and he did what he did next out of reflex apart from opening his mouth and crying out in pain, which he fought the urge to; he bucked her in the face and she dropped squarely into the mud.

This is crazy., the unicorn thought as he got an idea. Keeping his grip strong, he began to swing. This constant change in force caused strain for Rainbow as she tried to keep herself aloft. Chronicle took her movements into account and each swing got stronger. Applejack stayed in the pit meanwhile, refusing offers to get her out.

"Come on. Just give up already." the pegasus taunted. "I already win."

"That don't mean I'm makin' this easy for you.", retorted the unicorn as he continued swinging. Eventually, he swung so strong that his altitude was above Rainbow's and gravity, centripetal force, and his momentum soon brought him straight to her.

Seemingly disappointingly, he missed, landing on the ground—and he quickly pulled. The sudden lack of pulling and its just-as-quick return jerked Rainbow down to the mud. "Oww.", the pegasus grumbled as the crowd cheered wildly at this turnabout.

"You know, I would've lost had you not started flying.", Chronicle commented. "A test of pure strength, thanks to you, now needed some more strategy. But victory's still yours."

Immediately putting her close loss behind her, Rainbow took off into the air and the crowd cheered louder. At the scoreboard, Fluttershy stared in concern as the victor went and updated the score herself. "Woo-hoo!" The final score was 13-19-28. "I win by a landslide!" She flew to Applejack. "Or mudslide, in your case." The besmirched competitor seethed in the pit as Rainbow flew up with a laugh and Parasol and Derpy Hooves stretched out a rainbow-striped banner behind her. "I am the Iron Pony!"

Finally accepting help, Applejack got herself clean and out of the pit. "Only ’cause you cheated!", she then said.

"What?!", Rainbow gasped as she flew down to face off.

"You used your wing power to help you win over half those contests!"

"Sounds like sour apples to me."

"Are you sayin’ you didn’t use your wings?"

"Well…no…but you never said I couldn’t use my wings."

"I didn’t think I needed to tell you to play fair!"

"I still would’ve won even without my wings."

"I'm tempted to agree.", Chronicle said as he went in. "But given a number of the events can be won easier with flight, I'm doubtful you could."

"Ha!" Applejack then turned to the pegasus. "Prove it!"

"Gladly! How?"

"Tomorrow’s the annual Runnin’ of the Leaves. I challenge you to race me in it."

"Heh. Easy, schmeasy."

"Hold on!" The pegasus was yanked down by her tail and the earth pony planted her hooves on it to keep Rainbow from flying off again. "There is one condition. The point is to run, so no wings allowed!"

"No wings?" She then bucked, flipping Applejack away. "No problem!"

The earth pony then turned to Chronicle. "And no teleportin' either."

"That would defeat the purpose of the running. But just to make sure, I shall Pinkie Swear.", the unicorn said as he did the necessary motions, but without the oath. Once he was done with the last part, he and his friends each spat on a front hoof and touched them together, leaning in close to stare each other down. The mood broke when Rainbow blew a raspberry. She and Applejack both chuckled for a moment, then resumed their glowering. 

I can feel the tension between them. So thick you can cut it with a knife.


C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD

Eyecatch (video-type) - From left to right are the final scores from the Iron Pony competition etched in square wooden panels on a wooden wall. The 13 is smashed through by a hind leg buck from Applejack. The 19 is blasted through by Chronicle as the earth pony jumps through the hole she made. Then as he jumps through as well, the 28 is busted as Rainbow Dash flies through, then lands with the others. She and Applejack then turn to each other and begin to glare at each other across Chronicle, who begins to grin nervously as the show's logo appears in the hole he made.


C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD—C—TS—S—A—RD

The next day…

Twilight Sparkle, with Spike on her back, walked away from the Golden Oaks Library, but stopped to look at a passing butterfly. Chronicle had already gone ahead, waking up early for once. He was amazed that it was already autumn; guess time flies when you're having fun or seasons aren't as regular as he was used to.

"Twilight, hurry up! We’re gonna be late for the race!", Spike complained.

"Why are you so excited about the race?" She then started off again. "It’s only for ponies."

"But I’m hoping I can be the announcer again." He pulled out his twig. "Just listen.  Fillies and gentle-colts…"

"…welcome to the annual Running of the Leaves!", another voice came as if through a megaphone in sync with him. Both were taken aback at the sound as they finally arrived at the race's starting line, where quite a few ponies have already gathered in the park land outside the town proper.

Spike had lost steam as he looked up and saw Pinkie Pie riding in a hot air balloon and speaking into a megaphone mounted at the basket’s edge. 

"This is Pinkie Pie, your official puh-eye-in-the-sky announcer.", the party pony continued, marking a play on her own name. As she floated higher, Spike angrily threw his twig away.

"Sorry, Spike.", said Twilight as the balloon floats over a stretch of forest.. "I guess that job’s already taken."

"As everypony knows, the Running’s a very important tradition, for without it, the autumn leaves of Equestria would never fall. So get ready, ponies." She then returned to the starting line. "The Running of the Leaves will begin in five minutes!"

Several ponies moved into position, stretching and limbering, each of them having a number pasted over their cutie mark. As Chronicle did some deep breathing exercises, he observed the competitors. Aside from nearly every earth pony he was familiar with—though Big Macintosh had stayed behind to tend to the farm—he saw a couple of pegasi as well and even a few unicorns, like Lemon Hearts, Amethyst Star, Greatstone, and…Mystic Shield?

Prior to the race, so as to conserve his energy, he had summoned two magical clones, one to join Pinkie Pie shortly and the other coming from the audience to talk to him. 

Mystic, wearing number 21, noticed him come over. "Chronicle.", he greeted. "You racing?"

"Yeah." He the pointed to the real him, who was wearing a 31. "You too?"

"Uh-huh. Believe it or not, I am quite good at running."

"Really?"

"I've had to run from some angry guard dogs chasing a burglar back home. They chased me because I also ran, but for different reasons. I don't wanna talk about what happened after that. Since then, I've built up on my running to increase my stamina. That, and because being able to run away fast is good for a last resort or when you're obviously out of your league."

"Ah. Say, why don't you add running to the lesson plan?"

Mystic seemed to light up like he hadn't thought of it yet. "That's a great idea. Thanks!"

"Pardon me!", a voice came. The two unicorn stallions turned to see Rainbow Dash advanced through the crowd as number 11, and Derpy Hooves (number 13) and Dizzy Twister (number 1). "Excuse me! Make way for the Iron Pony!" She went over to Applejack, whose number was 8.

"The Iron Phony, you mean.", retorted the farmpony.

"So, Applejack, you ready to win second place?"

"I’m ready to run a good clean race."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You are not allowed to use your wings!"

Rainbow flapped a bit. "I could win this race with both wings tied behind my back."

The Chronicle clone beside Mystic groaned at this upon seeing a devious idea occur to the earth pony, confusing the cynophobic stallion. A few minutes later, both of them and the real Chronicle groaned again upon seeing what she thought of; ropes were wrapped around Rainbow’s midsection, pinning her wings to her flanks, and she groaned as they were tightened. 

The pegasus glared over her shoulder at Applejack, who put the finishing touches on the job and smiled. "Trussed up like a turkey…well, a turkey who can’t fly, that is."

Rainbow snarked. "Very funny."

"Hold on.", said Chronicle as he walked over to them. "Trussed up like a turkey? Whatever do you do to them?" Certainly not for Thanksgiving, given you're vegetarians.

"Tell you later.", Applejack said before continuing her conversation with the pegasus. "’Least now we know we’re racin’ fair and square."

As the “Call to the Post” bugle call sounded off, the real Chronicle observed some of the other racers and identified them. Golden Harvest had a 00, Bon Bon a 10, Berry Punch an 88, and Shoeshine with an 81. He also saw Heartstrings, who had an 18, as well as what seemed to be specialized runner's horseshoes clamped on her hind legs. From a human standpoint, they looked like sneakers.

As he walked over to the mint green unicorn, Pinkie Pie's voice sounded over the megaphone. "Racers, please take your positions!"

Meanwhile, his other clone, accompanied by Spike, hurried past and spotted her. 

"Um…Pinkie Pie…", the baby dragon called. 

She noticed and spoke off the megaphone. "Hey, guys! What’s up?...Oh, wait. It’s me. I’m up!" She gave off a laugh.

"Uh, yeah, uh…I know you’re doing the announcing today and stuff, and…I’m sure you’re gonna do a great job and all, but…I was just wondering…"

"What? 

"Uh…forget it."

Pinkie however seemed to get what he was thinking. "Spike! Would you like to be my co-reporter? We could comment on the action together."

Spike brightened at this offer. "We could?" A rope was dropped for him. 

"Climb on up!"

As he did. As for the clone, he teleported to the balloon, also conjuring a barrier around himself so any roughhousing on him won't dissipate him.

Back at the line, the Chronicle who'll be racing—after noting that his charge had joined the race as well with a 42 on her flank—managed to catch Heartstrings's attention. "Lyra."

The unicorn mare turned to face him. "Hi, Chronicle."

"May I ask what are those on your hind hooves?"

"Oh these?" Lyra raised one for him to see. "I've had this…strange interest since I was a filly. I plan to be the first pony in the history of Equestria to run this race bipedally."

The blue stallion stared for a second before replying. "Oh. I see."

This seemed to surprise Lyra. "That's it? No incredulous stare? No laughing at me?"

"Why should I?"

"Because it's not normal for a pony to go on twos."

"Personally, I see no problem with that. Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"I know."

"Okay. …So, how's your stay with Bon Bon? She treating you well?"

"Oh, she is. Definitely." She gave a sleazy smile at the end of this, giving some inappropriate implications. 

"Do you mean it both ways?"

"That's up to you to figure out. Hee-hee."

"Fine."

"There's something else. Bon Bon is getting an apprentice."

"For her candy-making business of course, right?"

"Uh-huh. An earth pony like herself. She's such a sweet filly. And that lisp of hers sounds so cute!" Lyra ended this by getting up on her hind legs and pushing her forelegs to her face so that it was squished up like Rainbow Dash's during that "Applejack Appreciation party".

Chronicle had an idea on who this apprentice was. "Does she wear glasses and have frizzy hair?"

"Why, yes!"

"And is her name Twist?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't asked either of them." Just then, Bon Bon came over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, completely surprising her.

"Good luck, sweetheart," the earth pony said, winking at her and making Lyra smile, also ignoring the fact that Chronicle had witnessed this sweet event.

Their conversation was prematurely ended by Pinkie Pie, who announced through the megaphone, "All right, ponies! Are you ready?" 

Spike popped up alongside and spoke into the sound amplifying device. "Get set!"

A few of the racers dropped into a crouch, among them the three competitors of yesterday's Iron Pony competition, and Lyra. A hand signal from the dragon set off a bell to start the event.

"And they’re off!" Quickly, they all started running at varying paces. Having enhanced his legs prior to the race, Chronicle quickly reached the front of the group, although he managed to glance Lyra slowly rearing up to her hind legs, earning stares from many other racers and a cheer from Bon Bon. He also dismissed his clone from the audience.

Autumn leaves fluttered down from the trees as they all thundered past them. The balloon floated along to keep pace. "Welcome to the official coverage of the Running of the Leaves." Spike was given an old-style microphone to boost his own voice, which weren't connected (wirelessly or no) to any speakers the clone with them could see. "You know, Spike, despite its name, the leaves don’t do any of the actual running." Spike was a bit puzzled at this. "No. That’s left to my little ponies."

"Why...yes, Pinkie. It’s the running of the ponies that causes the leaves to fall.", he replied as the group sprinted past a stand of trees, the leaves falling in a dense shower to leave the branches entirely bare.

"Ugh! Those lazy, lazy leaves."

"Not everything should be taken at face value.", said the clone. "Just because something is named something doesn't mean it literally is." 


C—TS—LH—S—GH—BB—A—RD—DH—DT—S—MS—G–BP

A short while later…

As Chronicle caught up with the front, he saw (and expected) Applejack and Rainbow leading the pack, with him following right behind.

As the balloon floated along the route, Pinkie continued commentating. "But this year, the run is about more than the weather. It’s about the race to the finish and the two runners who want to win it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash."

"You know, Pinkie, these two ponies have a bit of a grudge match they’re trying to settle, trying to prove who’s the most athletic.", commented Spike.

"Yes, and “grudge” rhymes with “fudge.”"

"Yes, it…does." Spike then realized what he just said. "What?"

"And I like fudge. But if I eat too much fudge, I get a pudge and then I can’t budge." 

"So…no fudge?"

"Aw, no thanks. I had a big breakfast." 

"Let's not get off topic here.", advised the Chronicle clone. "You're gonna distract the racers."

"All right. Let’s check in with our two competitive ponies…Applejack and Rainbow Dash! Having come fast out of the gate, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are evenly matched, running neck and neck, and with fellow Iron Pony competitor Chronicle right behind them. But what’s this? Applejack is making a move! She’s now ahead by a nose! But Rainbow Dash won’t let Applejack have it and takes the lead! She’s ahead by a half a nose! Or maybe three-quarters of a nose!" Spike had let his mic hang over the side in frustration. "No! About sixty-three-point-seven percent of a nose!" Pinkie gave a sheepish grin to her fellow passengers. "Roughly speaking."

"Aha-aha-aha. Guesswork, or that's actually true?" Pinkie was about to answer when he cut her off. "No. Don't tell me. For all I know, you may actually be right."

The ditzy announcer got back to announcing. "Applejack sees this move and punches forth with her strong workhorse legs, leaping ahead by three hundred fifty noses!"

Below, Applejack commented as she looked over her shoulder. "Not so easy without wings, is it?" 

This question was obviously pinned at Rainbow, who eyes her own roped-down pinions. "Come on, Rainbow. Show ’em a little dash!", she said to herself before galloping on.

Back on the balloon, Spike laughed a bit. "Hold your horses, Pinkie! Rainbow Dash is catching up to front-runner Applejack!"

"What an upset! I thought Applejack had this in the bag!"

"It's too early in the race to tell.", said the Chronicle clone.

Below, the real him was still behind, but catching up to the two fierce competitors.

"You didn’t think I was gonna let you off that easy, did you?", he heard Rainbow say.

The taunt distracted Applejack’s attention long enough for her to not see a rock in the path. She tripped… "Whoa!" …and went face first in the dirt.

She lifted her head in time to see Chronicle land in front of her after a jump and for all the other ponies to speed past her. 

Whoa., gasped the "31" marked racer. Better watch my step. He then looked ahead at Rainbow, who was in the lead. Nah. I'm not here to beat her. I'm just here for a good run. And I better pace myself too. Can't have myself getting tired quickly.


C—S—A—RD—PP—C—S—A—RD—PP—C—S—A—RD—PP

Later…

Chronicle slowed enough to that he wouldn't get fatigued easily, though not enough for Rainbow to exit his vision. As he did, somepony caught up to him. At first he thought it was Mjölna, but after looking at her cutie mark he saw that it was her twin sister Tasty Snack.

"Hey, Chronicle.", she greeted.

"Hey. Say, is Mjölna in the race?"

"No. While she may be physically strong given her skills in blacksmithing, she's slow on her feet."

"Ah."

Before they could say any more, Applejack zoomed past them. Almost immediately, not wanting to stick around Tasty for some reason, Chronicle picked up the pace as well.

"Wait up.", Mjölna's twin called out as she caught up with Chronicle. As they did, they saw the farmpony bypass a trotting Rainbow Dash.

"See you at the finish line!", Applejack said and Rainbow stopped short and gapes after her, giving Tasty and Chronicle time to bypass her as well.

"I don’t believe it!", gasped Spike from the balloon. "After a huge setback, Applejack is back at the front of the pack!"

"She’s the head of the pack, all right! The pick of the litter! The cat’s pajamas!...Oh, wait. Why would Applejack take some poor kitty’s PJ’s?" The boys on board with her were perplexed at this. "That’s not very sporting of her."

"Okay…let’s get back to the race."

Meanwhile, Rainbow had managed to bypass Chronicle and Tasty and was slowly pulling up next to Applejack. "Not so fast, Applejack! This race isn’t over yet!"

"It is for you!" A quick bit of acceleration put her out in front again. 

"Watch out.", Tasty tried to caution Rainbow.

It wasn't heeded as she tumbled forward from a tree stump instead. "Whoa!"

"Told you." She shrugged as she and Chronicle went around and continued ahead after Applejack. 

"Later, alligator.", the unicorn taunted before leaving the pegasus in the dust and giggling after. Tasty gave him a look. "I always wanted to say that." He then gave a sigh. "I got a feeling this entire conflict will escalate."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, Rainbow just tripped. Given how much she hates Applejack, she'll assume she cheated."

"How did you get to that conclusion?"

"I know them personally."

"I see."


C—S—A—RD—PP—TS—C—S—A—RD—PP—TS

Eyecatch (video-type) - Above an autumn forest, the hot air balloon flies in from the left, Pinkie Pie and Spike visible on board as the former then pulls out the show's logo and displays it.

Below, the following ponies run from left to right: Applejack, Chronicle, Tasty Snack, the crowd of ponies, a bipedal-running Heartstrings, Mystic Shield, and Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle trots in shortly after.


C—S—A—RD—PP—TS—C—S—A—RD—PP—TS

Farther ahead in the course was a bridge over a river at the mouth of a waterfall. The balloon had floated ahead there as the crowd were soon approaching it.

"Welcome back, Ponyvillians!", said the announcer. "It’s me, Pinkie Pie!"

"And Spike!", said her co-host as the first four placers crossed the bridge; Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Chronicle, and Tasty Snack. "Looks like Rainbow’s doing her best to catch up, with Chronicle and an earth pony named Tasty Snack right behind them!"

"I’m not sure how ketchup is gonna help her in this contest. Now in a hot dog eating contest, it can make them doggies nice and slippery, but personally I prefer mustard." Spike and the Chronicle clone on board again tried with no luck to make head or tail of her commentary. "How about you, Spike?"

"Uh…I like pickles?"

"Hotdogs? What's in them?", asked the Chronicle clone. Since we're vegetarians, hopefully they're really veggie dogs.

Pinkie just ignored him and went back to announcing. "Aaaaand…it looks like Applejack has found herself in quite a pickle as Rainbow overtakes her!"

Back on the ground, indeed that was the case. "Look, Ma, no wings! ", Rainbow taunted as they entered a new stretch of trees, while the balloon floated up to clear their tops.

"As the racers enter Equestria’s Whitetail Wood, Rainbow Dash is back in the lead!", Spike commentated.

Rainbow’s face went slack with shock as she noticed a low branch at head level. She chuckled and caught it in her teeth, pulling it briefly out of the way without breaking stride, then let it snap back. This branch struck Applejack and Tasty and knocked them down, but Chronicle slid under it as its leaves brushed his mane and horn. This caused him to lose some speed however and as he worked to speed up again. 

"Oww!", groaned Tasty as she was left behind.

"Hey! Rainbow!", he heard Applejack say, then looked ahead to see the pegasus blow a raspberry.

"Why, I oughta shoot you down right now, but we're in a race.", the unicorn scolded.

"Stay out of this!", Rainbow replied.

"No can do. I'm running to win as well." While he wasn't running to beat her, he's still gonna give his all.

"Heheh. You can't catch up with me!"

"We'll see."

The pegasus just turned away and said to herself. "Nice one, Rainbow."

Just then, something collided behind Chronicle and he and it began to roll ahead for a few seconds. "Later!", he heard a familiar voice as they got off each other and continued running without losing speed.

"Applejack. Watch where you sail.", he scolded the second time in the race as she began to go ahead.

"Sorry.", she replied but it wasn't sincere. She then looked back and Chronicle did so too and saw Rainbow gaining on them fast.

Applejack then spotted a beehive on a branch up ahead and stopped just long enough to buck the tree in which it is hanging. The hive came loose right after Chronicle passed the tree. A second later, he heard a scream, looked back, and saw Rainbow fleeing a swarm of bees. As they were headed his way, he picked up the pace as well, using the bees as an incentive.

Up ahead was a trail junction, with branches leading left and right, and a sign with an arrow pointing right to indicate the racecourse. While Rainbow reached this and dove into a nearby bush, Chronicle continued to run and thankfully the bees did not chase him.

Damn that Applejack! She could've killed Rainbow if it turns out she's allergic to bees! I'm so smacking her later! Chronicle slowed down a bit after that, remembering to breathe through the nostrils. He would dehydrate faster if he breathed through the mouth. Heheh. Looks like I'm on first now. Boy would they be surprised to see a unicorn win the race.

This thought was cut off upon hearing faint barking. He didn't turn around, deciding to watch where he was going. A few seconds later, a frantic Mystic Shield bypassed him, followed by a quick-running dog he failed to catch the breed of (though he was certain it wasn't Winona). Indeed a unicorn was about to win the race, but it wasn't going to be Chronicle.

Oh for—as much as I like Mystic Shield, I'm not gonna allow myself to lose to a cynophobic pony with a proper incentive! Quickly, the unicorn began to intensify his leg enhancement spell and started running faster.


C—S—A—RD—PP—MS—TS—C—S—A—RD—PP—MS—TS

Later in the race…

Chronicle was faltering, but he couldn't give up now. Even when Rainbow Dash had managed to overtake him. Even as the leaves continued to fall. Even with the rest of the racers right behind. And when he checked them, he noted that neither Bon Bon nor Lyra were in the crowd. Still, Mystic had gone too far ahead for even Rainbow to consider him. He probably didn't even cross her mind. And Chronicle wasn't about to tell her.

Just then, the balloon where the announcers were drifted down with Applejack hanging onto a dangling rope. She swung down ahead of Rainbow and flipped her a sardonic little salute, prompting a shocked gasp.

Needless to say, the pegasus was shocked. "What the hay? You said no flying!" 

Applejack let go to start galloping. "No, I said no wings."

Chronicle didn't ask how she fell behind as his clone would probably know. They all charged on through an area in which each tree’s trunk had been fitted with a half-pipe chute, through which sap ran to drip into a bucket hung on the end. What the— I don't recall trees having to be sapped around this season.

"I must say, Spike, that this has been the most interesting Running of the Leaves in Equestria history!", Pinkie commented. 

"With the most interesting announcing.", the dragon added under his breath.

"You got that right.", snarked the clone on board. Back on the ground, Applejack raced on, kicking a bucket loose so that its contents spilled all over the path.

"But it isn’t the running that’s been fascinating.", Pinkie said. When the sky-blue sprinter hit the sap, she soon found every hoof glued down in it. "It’s the lack of running!"

As Rainbow tried to pull free, Chronicle bypassed her and all the others rumbled past as well, bringing down plenty of leaves. Just a little more., he thought to himself.

As he ran for another minute with Applejack still on his sights, he saw a large bump ahead. He jumped over it…and a sailing Rainbow zipped right under him in the split second he was in the air. This caused him to lose focus as he tumbled along the forest floor, but he quickly found his footing again and continued on as he saw the farmpony was set spinning as a four-legged tornado. This little twister veered along and apparently sucked up Rainbow as well, if the color was any indication.

With both of them screaming, they veered off the path and up a rocky incline for a short distance before wiping out. As Chronicle continued to run, panting on the inside, he could see the finish line up ahead just outside Ponyville proper, attended by a cheering crowd.

A little more and I can rest., he thought as he allowed himself a smile.

As he neared the finish, he could see Mystic up a tree shivering on a branch as the dog chasing him barked up it. He was then caught off guard as Doctor Whooves caught up to him, looking quite fresh.

"Hey Chronicle.", he greeted. "I'd love to chat, but I got a second place medal to win." He added under his breath, "Sad to say…", as he zoomed ahead.

Dammit! I'm on third now! He then risked a look back and saw Carrot Top about to catch up as well. And right behind her, Twilight Sparkle was moving fast. Geez! He tried to run a bit faster, but he was running on empty. Still, the finish line was just up that last incline and he was really close now. He can't give up just yet. Come on, come on, come on!

Upon passing the finish line a few seconds later, he quickly slowed down as his charge and the carrot farmer passed him by and before he knew it, he was down on the ground, breathing heavily, and was later out like a light.


C—TS—S—GH—A—RD—PP—DH—C—TS—S—GH—A—RD—PP—DH

Less than a minute ago…

Back at the balloon, the Chronicle clone watched with Spike and Pinkie as it kept pace with two certain fierce competitors after they had gotten down the rocky incline. Spike had again let his microphone hang over the side, wondering if should have his head examined for signing on as announcer.

"Once again, Rainbow Dash and Applejack are neck and neck, jockeying for position!", announced Pinkie. "Applejack inches ahead…now it’s Rainbow…it’s Applejack…it’s Rainbow Dash…it’s Applejack!"

Below, both faces brightened upon seeing the finish line, although they failed to notice those who already crossed it. Rainbow then suddenly eased over and bumped into Applejack. "Oh, no, she di-in’t!", Spike said. 

Applejack did likewise. "Oh, yes, she di-id!" 

After another bump from Rainbow, Applejack said, "Cut it out!"

"No, you cut it out!"

"You started it!"

"And now I’m gonna finish it!" Rainbow pulled ahead.

"Oh, no, you won’t!" A mouthful of technicolor tail was all she needed to yank Rainbow backward and move ahead—but the latter moved up fast.

"Oh, yes, I will!"

She pulled Applejack back in the same fashion and charged up. When Applejack tried again, she missed Rainbow’s tail but got a mouthful of the ropes tying her wings down—which snapped and unwound, leaving the pegasus to start flapping and lift off. "That’s it! All bets are off!" 

Applejack jumped up after her. "Oh, no, you don’t!"

Paying no heed whatsoever to the flabbergasted spectators, she tackled Rainbow out of the air. Dust floated up from below as the two crashed down and got into a rolling brawl on the home stretch. And Chronicle finally saw Lyra and Bon Bon just behind. The former was still on twos, but her forelegs were now on the latter's back as support.

"Is that-?", Lyra gasped.

"They are!", Bon Bon cried.

They shared a look. "We're not the last ones! Go, Bon Bon, go!" Lyra shouted, rearing back up on her hind legs. "Run! We can make it!" 

The two of them ran ahead together and the unicorn waved her front legs triumphantly in the air as she crossed the finish line on her own two legs, only a yard behind Bon Bon and almost ten yards ahead of the bickering athletes.

And as those two neared the finish line, Spike was beginning to enjoy himself again as Pinkie continued to announce, "It’s Applejack…it’s Rainbow Dash…it’s Applejack…it’s Rainbow Dash!" And the two finally crossed the finish line. However, the the beat-down continued until they have rolled with a loud crash. 

Rainbow was the first to get up, her mane, wings, and coat in total disarray, and smiled once she caught her breath. "I won!", she whooped.

Applejack was up as well and in just as bad a shape. "No, I won!"

"I won!"

"You tied!", Spike called from the balloon.

"Tied?!?", both said.

"For first?", Applejack asked as they turned to the balloon.

"For last!", Pinkie corrected.

"Last?!?"

"Then…who won?", Rainbow dared ask.

Twilight—and another magical clone of Chronicle summoned since the real him was currently passed out—walked over, a medal hanging around the former's neck.

"You?", the two dirty fighters gasped. 

"Oh, no, but I did get fifth place—which is rather good, considering I’ve never run a race before."

"What?", Applejack gasped. "How’s that even possible?" 

"You ran so slow, and looked at the scenery!", Rainbow said.

"Exactly! I paced myself, just like my book said. Then at the end, when all the other ponies were worn out…" She glanced back to a group of winded and collapsed pegasi, among them Cloud Kicker (number 5) and Dizzy Twister. "…I sprinted to the finish."

"I don’t believe it. Twilight beat us!"

"Not just you.", said Chronicle. "For the actual first placer, that privilege goes to Mystic Shield." He pointed at the unicorn, who was finally coaxed down the tree and was wearing his medal proudly over his ascot. "As it was, a dog had chased him and gave him the boost he needed. Following was Doctor Whooves, who actually has a lot of experience in running." He indicated the drab brown earth pony, who looked proud for himself. "I came in third…" He gestured to the real him, resting peacefully with a medal around his neck. "Barely beating Carrot Top by half a nose…" Said carrot farmer turned to Applejack and stuck out her tongue, clearly relishing her victory over her. "…and Twilight by two noses."

"Well, with all your horsing around, it was quite easy.", said his charge.

"Huh. You’re right, Twilight.", said Applejack. "Our behavior was just terrible."

Rainbow gave a sighing. "We weren’t very good sports."

Just then, several of the spectators gasped at the sound of the next voice and knelt. "Sounds to me like an important lesson was learned.", it said as its speaker stepped into view.

"Princess Celestia?!", the pegasus and two unicorns gasped.

"What are you doin’ here?", Applejack asked as they all knelt.

"Fall is one of my favorite seasons, so I came to celebrate the Running of the Leaves.", Celestia explained as they stood.

"I’m sorry you had to see us being such a poor sport, Princess."

"That’s all right, Applejack. Anypony can get swept up in the excitement of competition."

"It’s important to remember that the friendship is always more important than the competition.", said Twilight.

"Exactly, Twilight. Now unfortunately, because the two of you were busy tricking each other instead of shaking down leaves—" She turned to a stretch of forest whose trees were still fully loaded. "—many of the lovely trees in Equestria are still covered." 

"Why, Princess, I bet we can knock those leaves down for you lickety-split." Applejack offered, then turned to Rainbow. "What do you say, friend? Wanna go for another run?"

Rainbow limbered up a foreleg. "I’d love to stretch my legs."

She took off like a shot, Applejack rearing up and doing likewise a moment later, and teacher, student, and bodyguard watched them go. Once they were gone, Chronicle turned to Celestia and said, "I'll have to say that this year's running was interesting in more ways than one."

"What makes you say that?", Celestia asked as Twilight went off somewhere.

"Well, I'm not sure how many unicorns reached first place or even ranked high in the standings, but I think I can say this one had the most. Twilight reached fifth by tactics, I barely reached third by my own athletics and a boost on my legs, and my friend Mystic Shield reached first thanks to a dog chasing him; he's afraid of dogs."

Celestia gave a hearty chuckle. "I'll have to agree with you. Until now, no unicorn has ever placed high in the Running of the Leaves. And I'll have to say the one who ran on twos really showed a lot of daring to do that. And it was kind of the earth pony who helped her through the end."

The two glanced at Lyra, who was lying on the ground aching all over, with Bon Bon bringing in Nurse Redheart to help her. "Yeah. Although running bipedally with a quadruped body does have severe consequences."

"I see. And did you know that during the last Running of the Leaves, Pinkie Pie was the winner?"

"Really?"

"From what I heard, she went so fast the leaves followed her through the force of the wind she created, nearly eliminating the purpose of the event."

Chronicle gave a chuckle as he imagined the scenario in his head. "For some reason, I think that would've been hilarious."

Celestia chuckled along with him. "…Say, could you tell me about Mystic Shield?"

This confused the bodyguard a bit. "Why would you want to know about him?"

"…Never mind. I realize that isn't the right way to know a new friend."

"So you've been learning through your student's letters?", Chronicle wagered a guess.

"That's right. And Luna too, given everything she's been through, not to mention how outdated she is with the times."

"A thousand years of imprisonment will give you that."

The two of them spoke no more as they looked over the forest, which was slowly losing all its leaves. The clone then dismissed himself afterward, along with the one that was on the balloon, which continued to fly as Pinkie decided to watch her friends run.
> Chapter 19: A Dog and Pony Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Chapter 19: A Dog and Pony Show

Daytime in Ponyville…

Taking the advice he received from the last Running of the Leaves into account, Mystic Shield began taking his students into jogging sessions. He had considered inviting Rarity to try and at least participate in one class, but she had recently received a request from the Pony of Pop, Sapphire Shores. The entire class had managed to see the Canterlot celebrity walk out of Carousel Boutique as they passed by.

Sapphire Shores was a long-legged earth pony mare with a light yellow-brown coat, eyes a darker shade of this color, lavender eyeshadow, and curly hair striped in two shades of bright blue. She wore four purple shoes with light green jewels, a ruffled white blouse/dress trimmed with light blue-gold-and-purple accents and a white-and-light-blue powder puff over the tail, and a small white top hat with a purple ribbon. She also either amazingly didn't have a cutie mark or had concealed it somehow cosmetically.

At the sight of her, nearly everypony gushed at the sight of her and immediately ran over to her presumably to get an autograph, much to Mystic's consternation. Thankfully for the class, who had brought out paper and writing materials for the autograph, the celebrity had the time to sign them. Chronicle also decided to get one as well if only to use as a trading material; celebrity fans usually accept signed autographs as tradeable goods.

Once they were finished, the entire class ended up following Sapphire until she reached a hotel she was staying in, and where her bodyguards barred them from continuing on. Mystic then got back his class's attention and they continued in their jogging exercise. As they did that, Mystic noticed that his co-teacher was sad and deep in thought, even when he was requesting for Sapphire's autograph.

Concerned, he brought it up. "Chronicle.", he called. 

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? You've been like this since our exercise."

"Oh. You see…" Just before he could explain, he felt his eyes go very sore for some reason. He 'took out' a napkin from "hammerspace" and rubbed them, put it back, then continued. Of course, he did not tell Mystic everything.


C—MS—SS—C—MS—SS—C—MS—SS—C—MS—SS

Last night, in the dreamscape…

Chronicle was busy meditating when a ripple in the dreamscape came. Somepony was entering. When he opened his eyes, he saw it was Blue Diary.

"Chronicle. I have an urgent message for you.", the pegasus immediately said, looking a bit tired.

"A message? What is it?"

"You shall meet me in person in the future. But what I will eventually know now I will not when we meet."

Chronicle raised a hoof in a stopping gesture. "Hold on. Is this what I think it is? I will meet a past you or something?"

Blue nodded. "Yes. And the Elements of Harmony in my world will also meet yours."

"Oh dear, we're gonna have some trouble there. Hold on, since you already took care of it, could you tell me how it goes?"

"Sorry, but I don't recall all the specific details. And I wouldn't want to change how things go or have you follow events step-by-step. You know how time travel can give migraines to those who dwell in it too far or too much. And following things step-by-step have their own problems."

"Oh, right. Very serious problems. It may make you look…immoral, and we don't exactly have omniscient morality licenses."

"We aren't even on that level."

"I know." The unicorn then realized something. "Wait. If I can't do anything to change what will happen, why are you even telling me this?"

"I'd rather it be sooner than later. That, and I might probably forget. My memory isn't as strong as yours, where you remember nearly everypony you meet."

Chronicle blushed mildly at this. "Hey, I'm not that good."

"Sure you are. The only names I'm familiar with are those of the Elements of Harmony, their immediate relatives, their co-workers, and our foes, including that Duke Greengrass. Damn, I hate that politician."

"You and me both. I guess it runs in the family. Hate for politicians, especially—"

"Lawyers.", they both finished. "Because we can't fight them like we do other bad guys."

"Although Trixie has some experience in law, which me and my friends will most definitely need. Nearly everypony in the Night Court is a very corrupt politician or a puppet for them." Blue began to look desperate. "Each of them are making their bid on taking control of the Elements of Harmony for various reasons related to protection against Corona." Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I'm in over my head just thinking about it. And I can't not think about it because I know how the Night Court can ruin our lives, and that includes little Dinky and her mother Ditzy. I just can't bear the thought of a broken family being broken further."

What the pegasus did next was something Chronicle should've expected but still surprised him nonetheless; Blue threw himself into the unicorn's arms and started crying. The older brother could do nothing but pat Blue on the shoulder. Apparently, the knowledge of the Elements of Harmony in Luna Equestria is widely known while in Equestria Prime only Ponyville and Canterlot Castle (not the city as a whole) know. And because of that, no politicians—to Chronicle's knowledge at least—are on the move to take advantage of his friends.

Finally, Blue was done and broke off from his brother, still sniffling for a bit. "I'm sorry, brother. I shouldn't be burdening you with this. It's not like you have to face what I'm facing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; you're lucky where you are, Chronicle."

"You're right. I guess I am." The unicorn seemed to have an idea. "Say, have you considered asking Mom or Dad about this?"

"No. You know Dad's not into much hard thinking and Mom's only has minimal tolerance for lawyers."

"What about asking any relatives who are in the political business? Or asking our parents of them?"

Blue lighted up a bit on this. "I guess. Thanks for the pep talk."

"It wasn't really. Speaking of which, could you teach me how to visit the dreamscapes of other members in the family I haven't been to yet once you're feeling better?"

"Why don't I teach you right now?"

"Maybe another time. I'm not sure I'll be able to listen after just seeing you cry like that."

"Okay." He brushed off a tear. And with that, he disappeared back to his own dreamscape.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "Poor Crais. So torn up from the politic interference in his friends' lives. I guess I really am lucky."


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

Back in the present…

Throughout the re-telling, Chronicle felt pressures on his body that usually came when he was pulled physically by something grabbing onto his body and trying to pull him back. He ignored this and did not show any obvious signs.

"So basically, your brother—who is also in the bodyguarding business like you—is having trouble coping with the fact that there are some corrupt political figures after his charge and her friends."

"Yes." He didn't tell Mystic that Blue Diary was technically no longer one, or that Blue's friends were the Elements of Harmony in a different universe.

"Wow. That must be really hard for him."

"Yeah. He's tougher than I am in a fight, but politics are out of our league, and it brought him to tears."

"I see."

"Thanks for listening to me."

"Hey, what're friends for?"

Just then, the class made its way to the town square pavilion, where Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were. They were standing around, not doing much of anything until the pink earth pony noticed the group.

"Hey, Chronicle!", she greeted. "Mystic Shield!" She proceeded to name everypony else. "Greatstone! Bullseye! Chrono Cards! Tricky Books! Heartstrings! Twinkle! Lemon Hearts! Minuette! Amethyst Star! Dinky! Pokey Pierce! Sea Swirl! Holly Dash! Firecracker Burst! Comet Tail! Ponet! Written Script! Dinky!"

Just after she named the only foal in Mystic's class, there came a cry in the distance that was steadily getting closer. Everypony turned around to see a frantic Spike rushing towards them, arms raised into the air in panic.

He skidded to a halt right before them and quickly started pointing and gesturing in the direction he had just come from. “Rarity! Woods! Jewels! Dogs! Taken! Save her!”

Everypony shared a collective look of confusion but the little dragon’s panic made it clear something was wrong. Grabbing Spike with her teeth, Twilight tossed the dragon onto her back and rushed off in the direction he had been gesturing to. Her friends immediately followed close behind her. 

Due to some kind of crowd instinct, Mystic Shield's entire class followed for a while before the realized one by one "What the hay am I doing?" and slowed in their stop before stopping. Rarity wasn't their friend, and her friends seem to have the situation handled, so why accompany them?

Mystic also stopped as well, to Chronicle's confusion as he paused in his run, leaving his friends behind. "Huh? Aren't you coming?"

"I just realized Spike mentioned dogs. I can't help you there."

Chronicle was about to counter when he remembered that Mystic was afraid of dogs. "Fine. May I go?"

"Sure. You're dismissed." 

"Hold on. May I borrow your ascot?"

Mystic conceded as he 'took' it off and 'gave' it to Chronicle, who 'stored' it in "hammerspace". "Why?"

"I know a pinpointing spell, and I feel we might be going a very long way, so—"

"You're gonna use the spell on my ascot as a means to find your way home?", the teacher finished. "Genius."

"Yeah. Thanks." Immediately, the bodyguard cast a spell on his feet, then he was off after his friends, leaving a small wind in his wake.

Once he was gone, Mystic then turned to his students. "All right, class. Let's head back to the dojo. We'll take a 15-minute break, then we'll practice double-casting." The class groaned at this.


C—TS—T—M—LH—AS—LH—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—SS—D—MS—G–TB–B–CC—CT—FB—P—WS—HD

As Chronicle continued to run, he began to look back to remember just what Rarity had been doing during his jogging session. If he recalled correctly, Rarity had gone to the rocky woodlands (which were not in the direction of the Whitetail Wood or, Celestia forbid, the Everfree Forest) to find gems.

Spike had accompanied her to help dig, not to mention also help himself to some of them. Now that he thought of it, this was probably the reason why—without enhancements—he was weaker than Rarity in terms of physical strength; before Spike, she probably had to mine the gems on her own and thus would have had to build up a strong body for the task of carrying them back home.

And then another thought puzzled him; during the one time he went gem-hunting with Rarity, accompanied by Twilight as she learned a spell from the fashion designer, he noticed that the gems they dug up were not only bigger than he expected, they were also naturally flawlessly cut and perfectly shiny, even while they're still in the ground. From what he was taught, uncut gems are indistinguishable from ordinary rocks to the untrained eye. He then decided to chuck it off as magic. If the weather was manually managed, what other differences does Equestria have in comparison to what he was once familiar with?

He slowed in his step as he finally caught up with his friends. He could see Spike on Twilight’s back, hyperventilating into a paper bag. As he joined them, Applejack asked him, "What took you?"

"I was trying to convince Mystic Shield to come with us, but after hearing that dogs were involved, he stayed behind."

"Coward.", grumbled Rainbow as she flew above them.

"Hey. He might've been detrimental in our quest. And you remember what happens when we have to drag a phobic pony every step of the way." He nudged his head to Fluttershy—who flapped her wings as she ran with the others—as a silent reminder of the "dragon in the mountain" incident.

"Oh, right. Wait! By quest, you're implying something similar to our trip to the mountain?"

"Yes." Finally, they reached the rocky expanse where Rarity had been searching for gems. 

"How did you come to that conclusion?", asked Pinkie.

He was about to answer, but was cut off by his charge. "Spike! Can you breathe now?" 

The dragon lifted his face from the bag. "Yes…" He said with a pant. "…I think so. 

"Good. Now tell us what you know." 

"Yeah, ’cause all you said earlier was…", Rainbow began before Chronicle cut her off.

"Rarity. Woods. Jewels. Dogs. Hole. Taken. Save her.", he recalled. "Is that right?" Spike nodded.

"Not a whole lot to go on there, sport.", Applejack mused.

"Sorry. Rarity and I were in the woods looking for jewels, when these creepy guys showed up."

"Creepy guys?", Twilight echoed.

"They called themselves the Diamond Dogs. They grabbed Rarity and disappeared down a hole in the ground!"

"Well, this sounds mighty easy.", said Applejack. "Just take us to that there hole and we’ll save Rarity!

"Sounds easy, but if I know my adventures well, it very well won't be.", warned Chronicle as they soon arrived at an empty patch of woods, stopping short on a ridge with a round of gasps. They overlooked a wide stretch of earth pocked with dozens of holes. 

"Holy moley, that’s a lotta holeys!", Pinkie said as Twilight and Spike passed everypony else.

"Come on, girls, boys.", the bookworm said. "Let’s get started."

Everypony went to a hole and started checking them. "Hellooooo?", she called down a hole.

Chronicle, on the other hoof, took out his Surveillance and furrowed his brows at what he saw. While the 'camera' on Rarity was still functional, all he got was gray random dots and white noise, the combination of which he called static. "Darn, I pinpoint her location.", he said. "I think there's interference somehow."

"What do you mean by interference?"

The stallion then realized that his friends probably don't know what he's talking about. "It means something's preventing me from seeing what Rarity's camera is seeing. Maybe she's deep underground in some caves below."

Suddenly, as he failed to pay attention to the hissing growl, the hole he stood in front of spewed a geyser of earth spewed up into his face, covering it and leaving the shaft blocked. The same happened to the rest, one after another and as they started to fill, Twilight—having gotten a face full of dirt herself— shook herself clean.

"Quick! We gotta get down one before they’re all filled up!", she said.

"Easier said than done!", growled Chronicle as he—after cleaning himself up too—saw open tunnels block themselves off around Fluttershy. "We may eventually have to do our own digging!" Around him, he could see Pinkie get hoisted by an upwelling of soil, Applejack was pushed off from one geyser in spite of her efforts to bulldoze her way through the soil splattering out.

"We can’t muscle through it!", Applejack said as she got up without her hat but with a fresh face full of muck.

"We’ll see about that.", Rainbow dared.

"Rainbow! Pick me up! I got an idea!", Chronicle said.

Without a word, she went over to him, picked him up, ascended for a bit, then went into a screaming vertical dive straight toward one of the last two open holes. As they began to pick up speed, Chronicle teleported out of the pegasus's grip and straight for the other hole. The unicorn stallion began to spin "like a drill" as he 'drew' his "magic horn blade".

Eventually, both holes began to fill up. Rainbow hit the brakes just short of the fresh dirt pile and ending up lying atop it on her belly before rising off it with a winded gasp. As for Chronicle, he continued into the pile and managed to dig through part of the dirt before stopping, dangling upside down in the air thanks to his "horn blade".

"Dammit!", he cried out as he 'dismissed' his blade and landed on the dirt pile horn first. "I thought I could pull it off."

Applejack cleaned herself up again and donned her hat. "Whoo! Heavens to Betsy! Now I’m used to pickin’ myself up and dustin’ myself off, but Rarity won’t even touch mud ’less it’s imported."

The girls and Spike all looked up worriedly. "Oh, Rarity…", Twilight said.

"I hate diggers…", cursed the stallion as he got up and rubbed his head. "I wonder how Rarity's faring. I certainly hope she isn't fussing over dirt. Hopefully, it'll be rocky."

"We gotta save her!" said Applejack.

"But they blocked up all the holes!", Fluttershy pointed out. 

Applejack jumped onto a dirt pile. "Don’t mean we can’t dig ’em out! Come on!"

"Just what I had in mind.", said Chronicle. "Pinkie, you got a shovel?"

"Whyever would you assume I have one?", she asked as she and Fluttershy joined in the digging in separate piles.

Just then, before he could answer, he saw something pop out from a pile behind the pink earth pony. It was presumably a Diamond Dog. This one wore a dark gray vest whose pockets bulged with gems and have diamond-studded black collars. he also had brown fur, had black eyes, and was slightly smaller than an average pony. 

The stallion's eyes lit up in recognition as he identified the canine. Months ago, he had taken up a rescue mission in Canterlot's Request Board. From his experience in the mission, the culprits were a trio of Diamond Dogs he had identified by the names Rover, Spot, and Fido. The one he was seeing right now was Spot. 

As the canine grabbed Pinkie's tail and pulled it, Chronicle let loose a 'shuriken' and it hit the canine. He yelped in pain as he let the tail snap back, knocking Pinkie down her pile.

He then turned to where Fluttershy was, and saw another Diamond Dog. This one also had black eyes and was rather large. This one was Fido. As he picked her up by the rump, this act blew a fuse in Chronicle's mind as he swiftly charged straight for him and drew his "horn blade". As the canine dropped her, the equine swung the "blade" as the Diamond Dog went underground, striking the pile, but there was no howl of pain. 

This irked him further as he saw Spike trip up thanks to Fido sticking a leg up. As he slowly began to lose patience, he saw Fido and Spot come up just behind Twilight and Rainbow. bracketed between the two as they realized it. 

"Get ’em!", the pegasus yelled as the three charged on hoof and wing, but the enemies plunged away just in time. While Twilight and Rainbow slammed squarely into each other and tumbled down, Chronicle swung his blade again at the mound below them, but did not get any cries of pain either, further shortening his fuse. 

As he turned to Applejack, he saw a third Diamond Dog come up for a look. This one had red reptilian eyes with yellow scleras, a yellow gem attached to a diamond-studded black collar, a short, warty tail, and a red vest whose pockets were stuffed with gems. It was their leader Rover.

Applejack threw him a glare and stretched out one foreleg to hit him. He ducked down and popped up in a hill behind her, so she swung across to hit that one instead—still no good. This happened twice more, after which Applejack glanced to one side and voiced a surprised gasp. 

Pinkie jumped to where Fido was, only for him to drop out of sight, then grab her tail, dragging her away to slam into an earth pile. The ensuing tussle got entirely chaotic. Chronicle's friends were tripped up or had their tailed yanked while he missed every single attack he pulled off. In the end, the Dogs were gone and, they were all sprawled-out and exhausted and lay among the blocked holes, but they were soon up again.

"All those scary monsters popping up everywhere!", Fluttershy said. "Oh, poor Rarity must be terrified!"

Twilight moaned at this. All this was too much for Chronicle as he closed his eyes and screamed skyward at the top of his lungs in frustration. Then, to the surprise of his friends, a blue aura burst around his body and the force of it blew his mane and tail upwards. This aura also sent out an invisible force pushing outward from it, blowing away stray dirt and knocking down everyone around him as they stared in shock as they got up. Ten seconds later, Chronicle calmed down, the aura faded, and his hair fell back into place as he breathed heavily.

His friends gave him a few more seconds to regain his composure, then Rainbow started the question. "What. Was. That?" 

He turned to the cyan pegasus. "Sorry. I just hate those guys! Cowards, that's what they are."

"So you're familiar with them?"

"Yeah. I once took a rescue mission from the Canterlot Request Board." 


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"The kidnapped pony was Banana Fluff, who is a gem collector and jeweler.", Chronicle said in the present. "The Diamond Dogs are experts in digging and are gem hunters but I don't know their motives for it. They're also not particularly smart."

The unicorn freelancer (as he was back then when without a bodyguard contract) was walking down the underground tunnels the Diamond Dogs use, which were thankfully lit by orange covered lanterns. 

"The pack I encountered were led by a trio I eventually identified under the names Rover, Spot, and Fido. They were the ones who attacked us earlier."

Chronicle stopped for a moment and gazed at the tunnels, wary of attackers.

"Wait! There were just three?!", Pinkie interrupted. "It felt like there were a lot more than that!"

"Believe me, it was just three. Like I said before, they're experts in digging. Now no interruptions, okay?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

After deducing that the coast was clear for the moment, he 'took out' a "Missing" poster from "hammerspace" he was provided to help in finding his target.

"Thank you. Anyway, these three and their pack are not above kidnapping anyone whose gem-finding abilities prove to be better. And Banana Fluff was one of their many victims. She isn't from Canterlot by the way, but a friend of hers—the one who posted the request—is."

From what he could tell by looking at the picture, Fluff was a unicorn mare, bore a pale yellow coat, purple hair with a streak of a lighter shade, magenta eyes, and the same cutie mark as Lemon Hearts; three hearts, two of them blue, and one of them green. It was awkward to call her Banana, especially after hearing a certain rumor about them that involved Princess Celestia. He then 'returned' the poster and continued walking.

"Unlike Rarity however, Fluff doesn't use a spell for her gem-finding but instead owns a special dowsing device. Due to their…mediocre intelligence, rather than just steal the device, they decided to kidnap her as well."

After exiting another tunnel, he stopped short at what he saw. Right ahead, wearing a large, dirty harness chained to a cart filled with gems was Fluff. She looked like she hadn't eaten or washed in days. Held aloft in a magenta aura was a piece of iron that held on one end a blue crystal ball, most likely the special dowsing device she owns. Surrounding her were not only Rover, Spot, and Fido, but also large canines clad in armor and wielding spears. He would later identify these as Dig Dogs, the grunts of the pack.

"When I found her, she was tired and hungry, although they still gave her water. "

Everydog sensed him and immediately turned to face the intruder. Sensing a battle, Chronicle 'drew' a sword hilt from "hammerspace", then used a spell to form the blade. This was his "magic horn blade" spell before he began implementing it on his unicorn horn. Rover then ordered the grunts to charge and Chronicle followed suit.

"Of course, they weren't about to give her up so easily. That or they were gonna make me one of their workhorses. I gave them what for."

It had been a grueling fight and he wasn't experienced in fights as he is today, receiving scratches and slight wounds on his body. In the end, all of the Dig Dogs were incapacitated, Rover and his cohorts were cornered with Chronicle's 'sword' pointed at them, and Fluff was set free. After revealing that the Dig Dogs weren't actually killed but could easily have been, he was allowed to leave with Fluff and her "dowsing wand".


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"In the end, the mission was a success. I managed to get Fluff back to her friend, who sent her to a hospital since in case of other traumas I failed to see, I got my pay, and what happened after that is no longer relevant."

There were various murmurs, oohs, and aahs. After that, Pinkie had a question, but not related to the Diamond Dogs. "Say, about that burst of magic you pulled off earlier. What does it do?"

"I've never seen anything like it before.", remarked Twilight. "And I don't think it's something that just happens when a unicorn gets angry. I should know, since I've had greater outbursts than he did and I never pulled that off."

"We can talk about by mysterious outburst another time.", Chronicle decided to change the subject. "Right now, Rarity's been ponynapped and we're no closer to rescuing her.

"You're right. I'll just look it up later." She then gave a sigh as Spike moved to the fore. "Poor Rarity! What are we gonna do?"

Just then, the dragon's reptilian green eyes flicked to one side—and spotted across the heaps of topsoil a single unfilled hole. "I got it!", he gasped, then dug in a "pocket"—unusual, since he is not wearing any clothes—and produced a blue gem bigger than his claw. "I’ll save you, my sweet!" As he then ran off, the ponies looked at each other in confusion.

"Huh?", they said.

"So dragons have access to hammerspace too?", Chronicle added in wonder. "That's new."


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—S—F—R

Eyecatch (video-type) - A whack-a-mole game is in play, but in place of moles are Rover, Spot, and Fido. A hammer is telekinetically moved in an attempt to whack the Dogs. The screen then pans up from its view of the playing field to the score board, which shows the show's logo in between the score of 23 and high score of 42.


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—S—F—R

Shortly after…

Pinkie provided a fishing rod, where Spike tied the gem to where a hook would usually be. Everyone was at the hole, Spike at its edge as he worked the reel while Twilight watched. Chronicle however then wondered why would ponies even fish. Then, as an image of Opalescence came to mind, he realized that the fish they catch is probably for fish-eaters like griffons, cats, etc.

"Spike, it is very noble of you—", his charge began.

"Shhh!"

She resumed in a lower tone. "—to sacrifice the gem Rarity gave you."

Spike began to smile dreamily. "Oh, Lady Rarity, my damsel in distress."

Chronicle looked up and imagined along with the dragon, implementing his memories of his own encounters with the Diamond Dogs.


V—I—S—I—O—N—T—I—M—E

In the middle of a dungeon was Spike, but he was heavily muscled and most likely adult, though not by the standards or style of a regular dragon. He wore a red cape, armor plating on his arms and belt, black leggings with red boots, and had a lance on one hand.

"Show yourselves, you dogs! You curs!", he called out. Three glowing-eyed, roaring silhouettes rose to face him. "Ah. There you are, you mangy mutts!"

The three Dogs stepped into the light and Rover retorted, "Who are you calling mutts?! Unleash the hounds!" He then pulled out a dog whistle and blew a blast so high-pitched as to be nearly inaudible. Behind them, three large canines clad in armor stepped forth with a loud growl. The chivalrous dragon did not stir a scale as these and many more began to barrel toward him in a howling, gibbering mass. 

It took them nearly ten seconds to get to his end of the cavern, and when they did, that was when Spike made his move. He lifted his lance for a mighty strike, sending yelping dogs flying backward. He then got his tail swinging to knock a few others out, then began to flick the lance back and forth, effortlessly batting more away from above. As a fresh wave came at him, he casually let go with a blast of fire aimed straight at them; a last-second duck let them keep their heads but singed their tails to a crisp. A quick bit of side-to-side flamethrower action clears the place out in a hurry, he soon cornered Rover, Fido, and Spot to a wall, pointing his lance at them.

"Now, where is Lady Rarity?", Spike demanded. Three paws pointed in unison, sending Spike into a run that ended with him smashing a cell door off its hinges. Here he found Rarity, standing in a single gold/blue/violet striped shaft of light and dressed in a fairy-tale princess outfit in these three colors; blue body, violet shoulders/chest, blue shoes and pointed cap, plenty of lace around the hem, gold trim. 

"Spike!", she gasped happily. "I knew you would save me!"

"Nothing could stop me, my lady."

Her voice began to tremble a bit. "Oh, Spike, you are my hero." She batted her eyelashes at him and puckered up for a kiss. Spike leaned down and did likewise, the two faces inching ever closer to lip contact. 


E—N—D—V—I—S—I—O—N—T—I—M—E

The blue unicorn suddenly snapped out of the vision as he heard the puckering of lips, then saw the real Spike about to plant a big wet one on a very perturbed Applejack, who smiled once he realized that the dream is over.

"Ho-ho there, lover boy.", teased the farmpony. 

What the hay was that?, Chronicle wondered as he completely shook off the strange vision.

Just then, something below the surface threatened to rip the fishing pole out of his hands. "Huh?" Spike tried to haul it in. "Whoa!", he gasped as he was dragged toward the hole. "Wh—whoa, whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa! I got a bite! I got a bite!" 

Applejack grabbed his tail in her teeth. "Hold on there, little fella!" However, both of them were hauled down.

"Applejack!", Twilight gasped as she rushed in and got a mouthful of tail hair.

"Twilight!", Rainbow gasped as she does the same as the unicorn went goes down. 

Fluttershy then moved in. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"

She bit onto Rainbow’s tail as the latter got yanked into the hole. Chronicle soon followed and grabbed her tail by the teeth as well, then cast a spell on his feet to try and keep himself steady. Pinkie then hoped merrily over to the site of this very weird tug-of-war.

"Wait for me!", she said as she her teeth then locked onto the short orange-yellow tail as they began to get pulled in.

He hated to admit it, but they were losing this tug as his feet were slowly dragged ever closer into the hole. His left foreleg gave out, then his right. Just before his hind legs and the rest of his body followed, he thought, Why do I even bother?, then got plunged in, taking Pinkie with him.

"YAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!", he hollered through his teeth.

"Whee!", Pinkie whooped right behind.

Somewhere below the surface, the would-be angler and his six would-be rescuers were dragged screaming through a tunnel at ludicrous speed.

"Whee!", Pinkie continued to whoop as she then sat on Chronicle's back, laughing as the chain sailed out the end of this path, across a wide chasm, and neatly into a second tunnel on the other side. 

Here, a vertical shaft cut into the floor of this passage sent them in a whole new direction, dropping them through it as they all crashed and ended up sprawled every which way in the dirt. Spike was the first to get up.

"Ha-ha! It worked! We’re in!", he whooped. "Now we can finally save Rarity!" 

The others began to peek up.

"Um…which way do we go?", Twilight asked.

Around them all, there was a myriad of tunnels that branched out from the walls and ceiling at all manner of strange angles. At this, Spike made an  upraised, anguished face as he screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!"

The magic specialist then turned to her bodyguard, "Chronicle, can you try and locate Rarity now?"

"Let me try." He pulled out his Surveillance and looked through it, but all he could see was static. "Nope. Apparently, I need clear skies for this to work. And no, despite being here before, I'm not familiar with these tunnels." He then began to walk forward in a certain direction and his friends silently followed. "However, I do have a spell that can pinpoint somepony's location. I just need something of theirs first. Do any of you have anything she owns or has made contact with physically or by telekinetic aura for the past day?"

"Teleki-what aura now?", Rainbow asked.

"Anything you see floating mid-air near a unicorn is held by a telekinetic aura."

"Ah." His friends then looked at each other, then turned to him and shook their heads.

"Well, there was that gem I used for bait, but it's gone now.", said Spike.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "All these tunnels…how are we ever gonna find Rarity?", his charge wondered as they all moved slowly ahead.

"Guess we’re just gonna have to start goin’ down them one by one.", Applejack guessed.

"That could take forever!", Rainbow complained. "There’s gotta be a way to narrow it down."

Suddenly, Spike had an idea and lifted a finger. "I know! I bet they’ve taken Rarity down the tunnel with the most gems!"

"Well that's a start.", said Chronicle.

"But, Spike, Rarity’s the only one who knows how to find gems.", Twilight reminded.

"No, Twilight, you can! You can copy Rarity’s gem-finding spell!"

Something dawned on her in an instant. "Oh my gosh. You’re right! Rarity showed me how she did it a while back! If I can just remember…"

After a bit of very hard concentration, her horn threw off a quick burst and then glowed steadily. Across the nearest stretch of tunnels, images of buried jewels winked into view on the walls and floors.

Okay, this is different from Rarity's spell. Hers is only visible to her and acts like a dowsing rod. I can see the gems too in Twilight's version.

"That’s it.", gasped Spike. Apparently, everybody else could see it too. You did it, Twilight! Come on!" He jumped on her back, and she reared up and led the others in a charge. "We’re coming, Rarity! We’ll save you! Just hold on!"

As they ran, Chronicle quickly came to the front and drew his "magic horn blade". "We gotta be careful. No doubt the Diamond Dogs may come around to attack us now that we're in their territory."

"You seem to know quite a bit about these Dogs.", remarked Applejack. "Care to tell us more?"

"Sorry, but it's been quite some time since I last encountered them. Other than what I've told you before we fell down, my memory on them is still a bit fuzzy."


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP

A few minutes after…

As the group continued to run, as they reached a 'room' similar to the one they ended up in, they stopped in confusion as Twilight's gem-finding spell suddenly failed to provide them a good answer. An equal number of gems lined three tunnels and they now had no idea which one to take.

"Now what do we do?", Pinkie asked.

"Wait.", Chronicle said as he sheathed his "blade" and turned his gaze on a tunnel not lined with as much gems as the three paths. "Something's coming this way. Hide. I got a plan." They all retreated back into the tunnel as the shadow of the figure became larger. "What I'm about to do next may be morally questionable for all of you, so I advise you all not to interrupt me until after I do what I'm going to do." They turned to each other, then nodded.

It didn't take long for a Dig Dog to emerge into view. Immediately, he charged forward, and headbutted the Dig Dog (making a slight dent in the canine's armor thanks to his own horn, though it hurt quite a bit), sending him to a wall. Before the Dig Dog could make another move, he was pinned in place when Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade" and pointed it up to his neck.

The Dig Dog was about to speak, most likely a distress call when Chronicle shoved his "blade" up close to the canine's throat. "I wouldn't move if I were you.", he warned. "If you do, this pointy end will enter your neck, and I believe even you know what will happen."

The Dig Dog struggled at first, but when the "blade"'s tip poked his neck, he stopped, nodded, then asked, "What does little pony want?"

"What I want is to know where a friend of mine is. She's a pony like me, and has a horn, but she's white, and her mane is purple. Now tell me where she's being held. And take off your helmet so I can tell you're being honest." He didn't want his friends involved since they may question his actions, even though Applejack (the spirit of Honesty) or Rainbow (who was not bad at finding lies herself) could help him.

The Dig Dog did as was directed, revealing eyes similar to Spot's. He then pointed to one of the three tunnels. 

After verifying that he was truthful, Chronicle said, "Thank you.", then quickly 'took out' his frying pan from "hammerspace" and smacked the Dig Dog on the head, knocking him out cold. He gestured to the others to where the Dig Dog indicated, then they all moved along, but not before Pinkie conspicuously left a "Sorry" cake.

Everybody was silent for a while as Twilight continued to lead the rest of the way. Noticing it, Chronicle said, "I'm done with what I did."

Unsurprisingly for him, Fluttershy was the first to speak up. "How could you do such a thing?"

"You mean make a death threat? I'm sorry you had to see that, but we're running short on time and when that happens I can't resort to niceties. Besides, it was a bluff." That sentence was a lie. He gave a sigh. "I'm not sorry for what I did, only that you had to see me do it. Now let's keep moving."


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP

About half an hour later…

The party continued down a tunnel, led by the images of embedded jewels that were a result of Twilight's spell. So far, they have not been attacked by any more Dig Dogs.

"We’re getting close. I can feel it.", Twilight said. Just then, the sound of Rarity’s sobbing drifted into earshot. 

Spike pointed ahead. "It’s coming from down here! Come on!"

Everypony hit the brakes, finding no unicorn but hearing her through the rock wall to their left. "She must be in there! Let’s go!", Rainbow said.

Before they could shift directions, six of the Dogs’ front-line grunts got the drop on them, one per pony. They got the jump on me?!, Chronicle 'gasped' in shock.

The one on Fluttershy’s back said, "More workhorses! ", then slapped a rope bridle on her snout. Everypoy else got the same treatment. Just as the one on Chronicle did his part, this was the last straw for him. "I've had just enough of you sons of b████es!", he said.

"Ho, doggies.", said Applejack. "If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!" She began to leaping and buck. "Come on, ponies! Kick ’em up, kick ’em out! Buck ’em up, buck ’em down!"

Everpony followed her example as the canines get a very rough ride indeed, getting slung out of the saddle in short order and sent into a retreat.

"Yee-haa! Get along, little doggies!", the farmpony called. However, the Dig Dogs grumbled, turned around, barked, then charged again.

In response, Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade" and swung it in a threatening manner, then charged. He engaged one of the Dig Dogs, while the others bypassed him and went for the others, who scrambled. One of those dogs had missed and struck a rock wall hard. For the Dig Dog he engaged, the canine brought up a paw and swung down. The unicorn deftly dodged the blow, then initiated a slashing combo on the Dig Dog with his "blade", finishing with a move that ended with him past the Dig Dog.

Conventionally, there would have been plenty of cuts on the Dig Dog and would probably be in pieces, but his "horn blade" had another property; if he willed it, he can make it phase through anything he wishes and leave a stinging feeling. The Dig Dog had experienced the pain he would've experienced if Chronicle had really slashed him, but without the wounds. 

As the Dig Dog crumpled to the ground in pain, he turned to the next one, doing a downward slash on one that threatened to pounce on his charge even as Spike prepared to breathe fire. He then turned and shot a flurry of 'shurikens' on another that was trying to get its paws on a bouncing Pinkie. Following that, he went after another that was running straight for Rainbow, who was about to deliver a karate kick. Just as the pegasus's hoof connected, his "blade" did too—which he willed not to skewer the canine—and both attacks hit to their left and the Dig Dog spun from the force. Chronicle promptly went off to look for another Dig Dog, leaving the one just beat up to Rainbow.

He found Applejack knock back her opponent with a kick, then do another decisive attack, knocking him out cold. Seeing she was capable of handling herself, he then turned his attention to Fluttershy…who was staring at 'her' Dig Dog—the one who had first bumped into the wall—who in turn was whimpering in a corner. Huh? Is this what Mystic Shield meant by not being "able to look her in the eye for a long while"?

He shook off the thought, then told the others to round them all up. Using the ropes the Dig Dogs used as bridles (save the one on his charge for some reason), Rainbow and Applejack tied them all up, then Twilight tightened the ropes with a knot she learned from a book on knots (well, about sea sailing). Pinkie gave a smile and a small cheer, then turned around and gave Applejack and Chronicle a mock salute. The farmpony gave a tip of her hat to the crazy pink pony and the bodyguard nodded in turn.

Chronicle gave a sigh of relief, his stress finally leaving him thanks to this little fight. "That wraps it up." Pinkie gave a laugh from getting the pun. Just then, there came a clattering from behind a barred door to one side, the same place where they heard the "distress cry".

Breaking a stalactite loose from the ceiling, Spike brandished it as a lance. "I’m coming for you, my lady!", he cried out. "Hi-ho, Twilight, away!"

This "Lone Ranger" bit got him nowhere but did earn him a dirty look from the "noble steed". "And just what do you think you’re doing?", Twilight asked.

"Please, Twilight. Just give me this?"

She gave a loud groan. "Fine." She then reared up with a neigh and charged ahead, followed by the others. The door was reduced to scrap metal in an instant—not from the charge but from a few 'shurikens' from Chronicle—and she stopped along with the rest.

"Lady Rarity, I’m here to save you!"

And then everybody's eyes popped in surprise as Spot, Rover, and Fido run to them, shouting a babel of pleas and importunings. They all wound up huddled in front of all six ponies and the little dragon knight, then their irises shrunk at the sight of the stallion.

"We meet again.", Chronicle gave a sneer.

"Excuse me?", his charge said as he saw Rarity approach from behind, serenely pulling a cart.

"So picky!", said Spot.

"And critical!", added Fido.

"She won’t stop talking!"

"And crying!"

"We, uh…give her back! Yes!", Rover pleaded as Spike jumped down and hugged his "beloved".

"Rarity! You’re safe!", he said.

"Why, yes. Hello, girls, boys. You arrived just in time to assist me."

"Assist you with what?", Applejack wanted to know.

Rarity looked over her shoulder. "With those." Everyone else turned to see at least a half-dozen enormous carts parked down the way, each piled with jewels to at least twice its height. None of the rescuers can believe their eyes.

"You’re letting her leave?", Spike asked. "With all these…" His eyes widened greedily. "…jewels?"

"Yes!", confirmed Rover. "Take them, and her with them!"

"Please!", pleaded Spot.

A knowing look passed between Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow. However, Chronicle began to feel pity for them for some reason, especially after seeing the trio sigh and whimper over their loss. "Hmm…"

Fluttershy noticed this as they all took a cart each and began to walk away. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah. I don't think we need all of this." He removed the harness on him and pushed it until it began to wheel itself toward the Diamond Dogs. He then summoned a magical clone to accompany it as he moved to the front of the line, quickly now that he no longer had a cart, 'took out' Mystic Shield's ascot, and cast his pinpointing spell on it. "Girls, I know the way home. Follow me."

As they did, Twilight had a question as she 'removed' her bridle. "Hey, is that—"

"Mystic Shield's ascot, yes. I'm using the spell to find him, who would most likely be at Ponyville."

"Why did you decide to leave a cart full of gems behind for the Diamond Dogs?", asked Rarity.

"I don't know what happened between you and them, but those whimpering faces tell me that while they probably deserved it, they should at least keep a small percentage. Also, what if they decide to take revenge on you someday? That's why I left it and a clone behind to dissuade that thought and teach them what to do in case they end up encountering gem-finders like you again."

"And what is your clone probably teaching them?"

"How to make a deal. Both sides could be satisfied if the Dogs offered a percentage of the gems the finder locates and they dig up. And that they treat them nicely. Violence and non-violence have their place in solving the problems at hoof. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it will stick, given how…dim I know the Diamond Dogs are." He then decided to change the subject. "By the way, what did happen back there? Tell us everything. Entertain us."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—F—R

Later…

By the time Rarity was done with her story, the party was back at the rocky woodland where it all began. 

"I can’t believe you found all these gems!", said Pinkie once their not-rescuee was finished.

"Heh. I can’t believe you tricked all those Dogs!", Rainbow remarked.

Just because I’m a lady, doesn’t mean I cannot handle myself in a sticky situation.", Rarity told them. "I had them wrapped around my hoof the entire time."

"For some reason, I knew you weren't completely helpless.", said Chronicle. "After all, you were the first to attack the manticore when we first encountered it."

"And I can't believe you still remember that."

"I can’t wait to write to Princess Celestia to tell her what you taught me today.", Twilight said.

The white unicorn was surprised at this. "Me? What did I teach you?"

"Just because somepony is ladylike, doesn’t make her weak. In fact, by using her wits, a seemingly defenseless pony can be the one who outsmarts and outshines them all."

Riding on Rarity's cart, Spike was eating a gem. "Mmm…“outshines” is right.", he said with his mouth full. "Now you have enough gems to cover Sapphire Shores’s costumes." 

Rarity whisked a half-eaten stone from his hand and teeth with a smile. "Not if you eat them all, Spike."

Everypony laughed at that, then Chronicle said, "I still think it's a good thing we went to find you. Although I believe you would've just 'convinced' them to show you the way out, am I right?"

"Why yes, I had that in mind before your convenient arrival."

"At least we managed to find out more about you. But, you know, while everypony thought you were a helpless damsel in distress, I knew you were at least capable of taking care of yourself. However, learning that you were also witty enough to do this is new to me as well. Come to think of it, if you weren't in the dressmaking business, I'd say you'd make an excellent spy."

This compliment caught everybody else off guard, Rarity most of all. "Are you serious about that?", she asked.

He gave a teasing smile. "Maybe. Let's pick up the pace, girls. Or else we'll slowly lose our 'earnings' to Spike's stomach."

"Hey!", the dragon retorted. Everypony laughed shortly after as Ponyville grew ever closer in the distance.
> Chapter 22: A Bird in the Hoof
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 22: A Bird in the Hoof

In the dreamscape…

Chronicle was trying to get back to meditation when he sensed two newcomers, having practiced it ever since Cousin Ginger Cloud and Uncle Clockwork. Upon turning around in anticipation to greet them, he saw that not only were they two, they were also very familiar to him. One was trotting and the other was bouncing.

Wh-wh-what?! He should've figured they would've someday found their way here. Pinkie Pie had some very strange abilities that his sister called Toon Traits, which probably included dream-intruding. And Twilight Sparkle probably discovered a spell that can do the same. But what was uncanny was that they were heading to him together.

He retained his state of shock until the two of them were now up to his face. And then when they turned to show their flanks, he saw—instead of a trio of balloons and a six-point star with five stars around it—cutie marks identical to his own. Also, "Pinkie"'s mane was an afro and her tail was like a poodle's, not to mention she looked older too. As for "Twilight", her coat and hair colors were switched though the streaks remained the same.

"Little Timmy! How nice to see you!", "Pinkie" greeted in a voice that was definitely not hers, but was still vaguely familiar. "I'm guessing you thought we were your friends, huh?"

Chronicle was still speechless. She was right. "Twilight" then spoke up in a teasing manner, "Looks like he's just surprised to see his favorite aunt and her daughter."

Aunt? Now I know! The stallion's irises shrunk upon realizing who it was. "Aunt Fanny?!"

The pink earth pony giggled at this. "Oh, Timmy! I almost thought you forgot. And after I gave you and your siblings your walking lessons too."

"Right. And your alias in the Equestria you're on is Fuchsia, right?"

"That's correct. Pinkie Pie Equestria is full of pink as far as the eye can see. Of course, there are also male versions of her and the Princess is also a Pinkie Pie."

"I imagine life's simple compared to mine?"

"Oh I wouldn't say that. But enough about me, come greet your cousin here.", Fuchsia then indicated "Twilight" and Chronicle turned to face her.

"Um, hi."

"Hello, Timmy. Or maybe it's better to call you Chronicle.", the other unicorn greeted. "I'm Cathy, and my pony alias is Nightfall Twinkle."

Chronicle could only smack himself in the face as he said, "And which Equestria are you from?"

"Dusk Harem Equestria, where Dusk Shine is the student of Princess Celestia."

"So it's like my Equestria, but replace Twilight Sparkle with her male counterpart from Solaris Equestria."

"Not exactly.", put in Fuchsia. "Given the nature of the 'gender swap' in respect to your Equestria, the other five Keepers have romantic feelings for Dusk for some reason."

"And I'd like to wake up soon.", interrupted Nightfall. "I want to get back to making love with Dusk. I know it's a friendly competition, but still—"

"I get it, I get it.", Chronicle cut her off, getting uneasy on the harem implications as she turned away and began to murmur dreamily.

Fuchsia approached her nephew and whispered, "I pity the poor girl. She doesn't take rejection well, and from my visits with her all she can think of is Disk Shine and keeping him safe, especially after it turns out Nightmare Moon—and by extension Princess Luna—is also into him and so is Trixie, who has become a live-in student."

"Ouch. I bet Solaris Equestria's Dusk Shine would be both grateful and jealous if he heard of that."

"I haven't went to your sister yet, I should probably go soon."

"And I don't even wanna know if there's a Twilight Harem Equestria."

"As a matter of fact—"

Chronicle quickly stuffed both of his hooves into his aunt's mouth. "I told you I don't wanna know!" Fuchsia nodded as he put his hooves down. "I hope you can convince her to be a "harem nanny" instead, it could help. Anyway, curious question. What're Nightfall's abilities in combat? Just in case I decide to ask her—"

"On a date?", Nightfall shoved Fuchsia away, looking infuriated.

"To spar with me. You know I don't do kissing cousins. The only relationship I wish to be in is a conventional male-to-female one. No gays, no lesbians, no family incest, all right?"

"Okay. As for your question on my abilities, anything Dusk can do I can do too, and I also take after Aunt Jenny." Aunt Jenny was Chronicle's mother.

"Ah." Jenny's combat style centered around casting spells of various (classical) elements (fire, water, air, earth, lightning, ice, etc). and is dubbed by others in the Story Crew as a "Black Mage", which he figured was slang for "caster of offense magic and dabbling in 'status effects'.".

"I want to leave now, do I'm gonna try a new spell of mine on you." Nightfall's horn flared in an aura similar to Twilight's. "I'm not sure how it works in the dreamscape, but if it works…" Before he or Fuchsia could stop her, she let loose a blast of light at him.


C—NT—F—C—NT—F—C—NT—F—C—NT—F

In the Golden Oaks Library…

Chronicle woke up with a start and stumbled out of his bed with a thump. The resulting crash jolted him to his senses. "Oww! I'm so getting back at her for that.", he grunted as he got up. When he looked around, he found that the room was clean and neither Twilight Sparkle nor Spike could be seen.

Wha…, he wondered as he took out something from "hammerspace". It was a white glove that seemed to be meant for Spike, but was filled out with an unknown substance that made it very easy for him to manipulate in nearly every position a hand can do. This was the gift Pinkie Pie gave him during Mystic Shield's (and Gilda's) welcome party. He 'stretched' a finger from this "hand" and had it 'tap' his head as he started to ponder. 

What's the occasion today? What could be happening today that Spike and Twilight would leave me to sleep? Something so urgent they had to leave and managed to forget me? Did they think I needed a break? Did they think I would be able to catch up with them in my own time? …Wait a second. I remember now! It's Princess Celestia's second visit to Ponyville! He turned to the clock. And I'm late! Instantly, he stowed his "white hand", went to Twilight's vanity set, used a comb there to quickly get rid of his bedhead, then teleported out of the room and into his "training range". 

"I hope I can still get in.", he muttered to himself as he tried to remember where the visit was taking place, then recalled it. Right! She's at Sugarcube Corner for the big brunch! He failed to watch where he was going and collided with somepony, knocking him back a bit. "Oww…"

"I'm so sorry.", a familiar voice came.

"Me too…", he replied as he opened his eyes to see— "Fluttershy?!"

Indeed it was her and she reacted similarly. "Chronicle?!"

"Hi. You headed for Sugarcube Corner?" He didn't wait for an answer and quickly helped her up. "Let's go!"

Half a minute later, they located the bakery (and Rainbow Dash pulling faces on the pegasus guards at the door in an attempt to make them laugh), and they started to run there. Right after they saw their polychromatic-maned friend zip back inside, they reached the entrance, pausing to catch their breath. as the only unicorn in the area looked up to see that that their expressions (and presumably guarding behavior) were comparable to the "British Royal Guards".

"Phew! Made it!", said Fluttershy. But just as she headed for the door with Chronicle, each guard put out one wing, crossing them to block the entrance, eliciting a gasp from her.

"Halt!", said one of the guards.

"Who goes there?", demanded the other.

Fluttershy gulped and backed off. "No one. Never mind. I’ll go home."

Chronicle however wasn't having any of this. He stepped forward and answered. "Chronicle. Bodyguard of Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia and Spirit of Magic. With me is Fluttershy, Spirit of Kindness."

Just at that moment, he saw his charge and Pinkie Pie walk past behind the door. Only the former stopped and caught sight of the two at the entrance.

"It’s all right, sirs.", she declared. "They're on the list."

The wings were folded away and Fluttershy gave a grateful smile as she and Chronicle entered. Indeed, the bakery's shop floor had been set up for a party, with treats, presents, and decorations.

"Thanks, Twilight.", said the yellow pegasus.

"I’m so glad you could make it, Fluttershy. It wouldn’t be the same without you."

"Could you give me a reason why you didn't wake me up?", Chronicle asked his charge sternly.

"Sorry. I really wanted to be first to greet the Princess, and Spike was needed to help the Cakes in making the treats."

"Okay. You should've tried harder, though. And wait a second, there was a guest list? That doesn't make sense given the visitors." He saw nearly every Ponyvillian he could identify by name, even seeing Mystic Shield at a corner, and not all of them were familiar to his charge.

"The list covers everypony in Ponyville. Also…" She leaned over to his ear and whispered something. He then nodded his head in understanding as he pulled away.

In the crowded shop floor, Mr. Cake can be seen balancing a tray of browned tarts on his head as he navigated the room. "How’s everypony doing? Good? Good.", he was saying.

Mrs. Cake was bringing a tray of cupcakes to Celestia, who sat at a long table near the back. A few other ponies sat there as well, among them he identified as Golden Harvest, who wore a flower in her hair and a fancy saddle on her back. "Anything else we can get for you, dearie?", the baker said before catching herself with a yelp. "I-I mean, esteemed guests?" Mr. Cake joined her shortly.

"Everything is fine, Mr. and Mrs. Cake.", Celestia replied. Her relaxed demeanor contrasted sharply with the couple’s sudden uptight affect. 

Meanwhile, Twilight and the two late arrivals crossed the floor, the former glancing nervously about with a fixed grin on her face.

"Sorry I’m late. I had to finish taking care of a patient first.", Fluttershy said.

"And I was late because somepony decided not to bother waking me up.", snarked Chronicle. "I know I'm a deep sleeper, but…"

Twilight ignored him and answered, "Oh, you and your tender loving care of little animals. I just know Princess Celestia’s gonna love that about you." She began to sweat heavily. "I mean, I hope she will, I mean, of course she will." Her bodyguard just rolled his eyes at this.

"Wow, Twilight.", the pegasus replied. "I thought I was the only one who got nervous at social gatherings."

"Oh, it’s not that." All three stopped. "I just want the Princess to approve of my friends."

"But she’s met us all before." The three started off again.

"And read about you in my letters. But this is the first time she’s spent any real time with you. I want everypony to make a good impression." 

"Well, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Besides, it’s just a casual get-together, right?"

"Don’t touch me!", a voice came. The three turned to see Rarity decked out in her self-designed dress for the Grand Galloping Gala. Shoeshine, Cherry Berry, and Parasol were distancing themselves from her. "Watch the dress!" Lemon Hearts, carrying a cup of tea in her teeth, nearly approached her. "Careful, you’re gonna spill that on me!" Lemon turned away from her and walked off as Mrs. Cake brought a tray of cupcakes to Rarity. "Ooh, ooh, that looks delicious! What is it?" She then suddenly became unhinged. "Oh! Does it stain? Keep it away from me!" She then cowered on the floor.

"Or perhaps not that casual." 

"Some ponies just can't comprehend going casual with the Princess, who seems to want this to be casual.", Chronicle said as they turned to see Applejack at a table loaded with savories of all types, most of which look to be made from Sweet Apple Acres’ produce. She had removed her hat and tied a napkin around her neck, but so far her nerves had kept her from eating a bite.

"Uh, which is the salad and which is the appetizer again?", she said to herself, sweating in nervousness. And which am I supposed to eat first?" She leaned toward a salad, then a sandwich (which had a slice of something red), then a fritter, then gave up and pushed the food away. "Aw, never mind. I’m not hungry."

While his friends watched this display of gluttony’s polar opposite, alarms began to ring in Chronicle's head as he flash-stepped to the table, 'snatched' the sandwich that had what he suspected to be meat, which he assumed was not safe for ponies, then flash-stepped back. 

"It’s okay, Twilight.", Fluttershy assured her friend. So our friends’ manners aren’t perfect. I doubt the Princess will even notice."

"Or maybe she does, but is okay with it.", the unicorn stallion said as he investigated the sandwich. I sure hope this isn't what I think it is.

Meanwhile, Pinkie’s gleeful, giggly bounds across the room put the lie to Fluttershy's assertion. "Woo-hoo! Cupcakes, candies, and pies, oh my!" She leaped past tables loaded with the first two treats in time with her words, then picked up a pie and smacked herself in the side of the head with it. She then went to a chocolate fountain on a table, with assorted fruits laid around it for dipping, putting her head up from behind it with a quivery moan. "Chocolate fountain-y goodness!" She shoved her entire head into the flow for a moment, let the chocolate harden, then ate as much of it as she can as the flakes crumbled away to leave her face clean of pie residue. 

At the seat of honor, Celestia levitated a cupcake and was about to bite down before the hyperactive pink pony zipped up to her along the table. "You gonna eat that?" Without waiting for an answer, she chomped the whole thing out of the air, scattering a few dishes but not perturbing Celestia much, if at all. The Cakes, on the other hoof, get a real scare—he recoiling, she gasping in horror (like Pinkie during his first encounter with her) —and Mrs. Cake dashed over to grab Pinkie’s tail in her teeth and yank her away. "Hey!"

Just as quickly, Mr. Cake rushed in, with a fresh cupcake and teacup on a tray in his teeth, and served the ruler. "A thousand pardons, Your Majesty.", he said as he backed off.

"That’s quite all right. Thank you."

This time, she successfully levitated both items, took a bite, and sipped her tea without interruption. The moment her empty cup clinked back down onto its saucer, both Cakes sprung into action.

"Empty teacup at four o’clock!", cried out Mrs. Cake.

"I see it, honey bun!", Mr. Cake replied as he swiftly refilled it.

"Oh! Um…thank you.", said Celestia.

"Not at all, Your Highness." 

The regal pony’s next sip brought Mrs. Cake galloping with a teapot of her own to refill. "Thank you again."

"Oh, but of course, Your Majesty."

This sequence repeated itself twice more, with first the stallion and then the mare topping off the cup. After a quick sidewise glance, she levitated it again but only pretended to take a sip. When Mr. Cake instinctively leaned in with the pot, the tea slopped over the brim. "Gotcha!"

The bakery owners smiled sheepishly at having fallen for this joke. At one end of the table behind them sat the three, with Chronicle still checking out the sandwich's red something. Twilight sank down with a scared little moan, while the sole pegasus in the group stared intently past her.

"And what about you, dear?", Celestia called as she turned to face them, ignoring the stallion's scrutiny on the food item. "Fluttershy, is it?"

"Me? Oh, yes, Your Highness."

"I understand from Twilight Sparkle’s letters that you enjoy tending to the needs of woodland creatures." 

"Yes, I love to take care of animals."

"As do I."

Taking a break from the 'investigation', Chronicle 'put down' the sandwich and turned to look at the Princess, and saw Applejack farther down the table. He also saw a gold birdcage that seemed to stand empty next to Celestia. "As Princess, I care deeply about all creatures great and small."

The cage surprised the ponies surrounding its owner by emitting a choking cough and a spurt of feathers seemingly from nowhere then repeated. Zoom in as it repeated the performance. "Nothing means more to me than the well-being of all my subjects."

More feathers went flying as the source made its presence known: a very sickly, emaciated pink bird that rose up from the cage’s deep bottom to land on the perch. It had been merely hiding out of sight. The head wobbled and drooped, and one pale blue eye was slightly bugged out compared to the other one.

"Ah! Philomena, my pet!" Celestia leaned in close. "You’re awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts."

The bird responded by shedding a few more feathers, coughing in innovative ways, and twisting her head around to stare up at the ceiling. Fluttershy was slightly horrified and hunkered down. "Oh…my."

"She is quite a sight, isn’t she?"

For sore eyes, maybe.

"I…I…I’ve never seen anything like it."

As the bird gave a cough, Chronicle decided to ask the Princess. "Umm, Your Majesty?"

"Yes?"

"About…this thing…" He showed the sandwich to her. "Is this safe for ponies to eat?" He then showed what suspected was meat. 

Celestia took a good look, then said, "Well, while meat can be digested by ponies, it isn't encouraged and leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. I remember one time I visited the Griffin Kingdom—" Before she could continue, a guard approached to whisper directly into her ear. "Really?" The guard nodded. "Well, if I must." At this point, Rarity joined Fluttershy at one end of the table. "I’m sorry, everypony. I’m afraid I have to cut the party short." Her faithful student nearly choked on/spit out her mouthful of tea she was drinking. "The Mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls. Thank you for a wonderful time. It’s been a joy getting to know you all better."

She made her stately exit, followed by the guard, as the crowd of guests bowed her out of Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy’s (and Chronicle's) attention, however, was fixed on the raggedy Philomena, whose eyes squeaked audibly when she blinked them. 

As for Applejack… "Phew! Now I can eat somethin’! I’m starved!" Before she could dig in, Mr. Cake walked across, grabbing one corner of the tablecloth in his teeth and bundling every last item up into it. The hungry pony stared sadly at the now-cleared table and moaned. Across the room, the orderly exit of guests was broken up by Pinkie turning cartwheels toward the door; laughing and whooping, knocking a couple of them through it in the process.

"Stay right where you are.", Rarity said menacingly as she backed up toward the door like she had a hostage with her. "All I want is a clear path to the exit. Nobody move, and my dress won’t get hurt! Stay back! Back, I say!"

Thankfully for Applejack, she managed to salvage a sizable stack of leftovers and was balanced precisely on Applejack’s nose as she too left the premises, hat back on and napkin still tied, and licking her chops at the idea of finally being able to get a decent meal. Twilight and Spike (and a few others) were left alone on the shop floor, the dragon still wearing his chef’s hat and apron.

Twilight gave a sigh. "Well, Spike, I don’t know for sure how things went with the Princess, but at least no big disasters happened."

Little did they know that Philomena’s cage was now really empty except for a few loose feathers and with its door standing open. 


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—MCC—MCC

Eyecatch (video-type)

{Six cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a trio of brilliant-cut diamonds, a trio of stars, a trio of tornadoes, a sun behind a white cloud, a pair of linked horseshoes, and a pair of cherries.}

{The six cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of six ponies. The top depicts (from left to right) Shoeshine, Twinkle, and Dizzy Twister. The bottom row depicts Cheery Berry, Amethyst Star, and Cloud Kicker. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—MCC—MCC

At Fluttershy's cottage…

The owner of the place opened the door as she went in, carrying the distressed bird on her back. Chronicle followed her, looking a bit unsure as he glanced upon a pet-sized bed sitting in one corner of the room.

"Oh, you poor little thing!", said the animal caretaker. "How did you ever get in such bad condition?" Fluttershy set Philomena on the couch. "Don’t you worry, Philomena." The bird's head flopped onto the cushions. "I’ll nurse you back to health as a favor to the Princess, who’s obviously just far too busy to care for you properly." Out came a hacking cough/feather-shed combo that left the pet’s neck bent double again, putting Fluttershy at a moment’s loss. "I’m sure the Princess will appreciate the help." She lifted the head back up, only for another spasm to send it bending over backwards. "Oh, my!" The bird was picked up. "I’d better get you to bed right away." 

As she moved Philomena to the bed and placed the bird there and covered her with a blanket, Chronicle spoke up. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

He was ignored as she settled the bird down. "There."

Picking up a thermometer in her mouth, Fluttershy slipped into the patient’s beak. A second later, the mercury shot up and Philomena went beet-red from overheating, sweat and steam pouring from her head. Fluttershy gasped, yanked the blanket away, and set an ice pack on the boiling-hot skull. The temperature quickly drops in response, but now Philomena gets a case of the shivers and goes ice-blue, her pupils turning to ice cubes as well.

There was another gasp from Fluttershy as Chronicle smacked himself in the face again; the ice pack was removed and the blanket replaced, causing her to boil over again. What the hay? The two are switched time after time in an increasing tempo, the thermometer cycling faster and faster until its bulb shattered. Fluttershy’s ministrations ended with the blanket on and the ice pack off. Alarms rang in the unicorn's head. Is she what I think she is?

"This is far worse than I thought. What you need is some medicine—stat!"

Philomena gave a cough that sent the remains of the thermometer flying past their heads. Oww, I didn't know she can affect mercury like that so quickly.


C—F—P—C—F—P—C—F—P—C—F—P

Later…

A saucer with a very large capsule was placed on the table.

"Here you go, Philomena. This will fix you right up.", Fluttershy said. Philomena gave it a cautious sniff and made a sound of disgust, letting her tongue hang out of her beak. She perched on the end of the couch now, facing Fluttershy across a small table, who sat on the chair there. Chronicle stood beside her. "Dr. Fluttershy expected that." Grabbing a bag of birdseed, she dumped enough onto the saucer to completely bury the capsule. Now, after a cautious lick, Philomena attacked the food with gusto, digging down into it like a jackhammer. The pegasus gave a smug expression to her friend. "Always works."

Chronicle gave a snide look (not to mention 'snapping' this picture via Surveillance) and said, "Oh really?" They both glanced back and the pegasus quickly changed gears with a surprised little gasp; on the saucer, the birdseed was gone but the medicine remained untouched.

"Almost always."

"Right." The decrepit thing coughed and dropped a few more feathers onto the table. "Maybe it's in the diet. You know that some birds are…" He gulped on the subject. "Carnivores, right?" To his surprise, she seemed to take it well as she nodded her head. "Okay. Maybe this will help." He opened his "hammerspace", 'took out' the sandwich he had been investigating during the brunch, 'removed' the confirmed meat from it, and 'wrapped' it around the pill. "There. Hopefully she will eat it now. Although I wonder why such a sandwich was there in Sugarcube Corner in the first place." Wait. How do I know Philomena's a female? Oh right, Celestia addressed her as a 'she'.


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Fortunately, Philomena consumed the pill with the meat, but it didn't help her condition if not make it worse.

Plan B consisted of a bowl of hot soup, which now stood on the carpet. Fluttershy leaned down to blow on it, then pushed it across to Philomena, who was down on the floor as well and with her back to the fireplace (or was it a stove?).

"There’s nothing like homemade soup to cure what ails you." After a skeptical look, Philomena turned her head away petulantly. "Come on now. You’re not gonna get better if you don’t cooperate. Fluttershy pretended to sip the soup. "Mmmmm, see? It’s delicious. Good and good for you." It was still a no go as the bird folded her stubby wings, so the aspiring veterinarian picked up the bowl. "Here comes the choo-choo train. Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga, woo-woo!"

Her attempts to present the meal from different angles caused the bird to twist her head around so many times that her neck ended up kinked like an over-wound clock spring. Eventually, she popped into the air, her body spinning to unwind the neck, and pitched face first into the bowl, which was set down after the last failed attempt.

"Oh, dear!" She lifted Philomena's head. "Don’t worry, Philomena. I know what’ll make you feel better. Wait right here." She then trotted away. "I have just the thing."

As the forlorn cranium crashed back into the soup, Chronicle just gave a sigh. Now where have I seen her kind before? He tapped his head with his hoof and got down on his rump. Think, think, think. Oh great, now I'm acting like that yellow stuffed bear I used to read about as a child. 


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Plan C…

While Philomena was nibbling a few pellets from a leaking bag of mouse food by the fireplace/stove.

"Look, Philomena!", Fluttershy called as she returned with a hummingbird perched on one raised foreleg. "I brought a fellow feathered friend by to cheer you up. Hummingway here was sick once too, but he let me help him and got better in no time." She nuzzled his cheek. "Didn’t you, boy?"

Hummingway made a tiny “mmm-hmm” sound and nodded in agreement. He then landed by Philomena, who had gone back to eating the mouse chow.

"Say hello to your new friend Philomena."

The little bird jumped onto Philomena’s back and nuzzled against her neck, humming a welcome.

"Aw, look." Hummingway then flew across the room. "I think he likes you."

The little avian met Fluttershy in midair; she vocalized a few familiar notes Chronicle remembered to be a tune his mother used to hum to herself. Hummingway he responded with the next five. Chronicle found himself vocalizing the second line of the jingle, earning looks from the two.

Fluttershy then turned to the sick bird. "Your turn now, Philomena." She then hovered down near ground level, with Hummingway perching on her head. "Go ahead. You can do it."

As Philomena’s gut began to rumble, Fluttershy vocalized the first five notes again, shortly taking a direct hit to the face from the load of half-digested birdseed that the patient heaved up. Curiously, the meat wasn't also expelled even if it went in after the birdseed.

Chronicle gave a sigh as he 'picked up' a napkin and wiped his friend's face with it. He was given a smile in return before Fluttershy turned back to face Philomeena. "Um…good try?"


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Plan D…

The two ponies and Philomena were now at the cottage’s bathroom, which boasted its share of birdhouses and mouse holes to match the rest of the domicile. Fluttershy had filled the bathtub, wrapped Philomena in towels, and stood her on a towel rack. "I know what’ll clear up that tickle in your throat." She approached a radiator, which she called— "A humidifier!" 
She gave the valve a turn, releasing clouds of steam into the room, and the two ponies took a deep breath. "Refreshing. How’s that feeling for you now, Philomena? Better?"

Philomena took a breath of her own as Fluttershy gave her a huge, wide-eyed, encouraging grin (another priceless face saved by Surveillance)—and then it came out as the same half-strangled cough. The hapless caretaker moaned sadly, and Philomena shed a few more feathers.

Fluttershy forced a smile. "That’s okay. I know lots of other ways to take care of you. Don’t worry. You’re gonna get better. How about…" Her unicorn friend groaned at this.


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Plan E…

A fire now burned at the fireplace/stove, and candles and incense have been lit. Philomena was in a basket among this lot as Fluttershy leaned down to her.

"…aromatherapy?"

"Well, I'm certainly feeling better.", Chronicle commented as he lay down on the couch, ignoring Angel's attempts to kick him off.

The sickly avian got a lungful of the vapors, pale blue eyes widening, then sneezed violently and lost some more plumage to Fluttershy’s dismay.


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Plan F…

Back at the bathroom, Philomena was placed in the tub, which was filled with steaming hot water.

"Warm bath?"

All this did was cause Philomena’s body to bloat up to tub-filling proportions as she absorbed all the water like a sponge. And there went some more feathers. 

I'm starting to think she's what I think she is.


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Plan G…

Back to normal size, but with her eyes akin to Derpy Hooves's, and one of her eyes bugged out, a bit of ointment was squirted on Philomena's head. What happened next was a very bad allergic reaction, breaking out in a full-body rash and shedding some more feathers. Chronicle smacked himself in the face again. This is getting ridiculous.


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Plan H…

Fluttershy was nervous and sweating, now with a doctor’s reflector strapped to her forehead and a stethoscope around her neck. Chronicle, who sat down in front of her, smacked himself in the face again at what he was seeing. And his face was getting sore from all the facehoofs he had been doing on himself.

"Scalpel!", she called. It was passed to her from Angel (who wore a reflector as well), who was in charge of the implements as his mistress she worked for a moment. "Surgical tape!" Angel slapped the requested roll of tape into Fluttershy’s hoof, and she worked intently for a second. "Feathers!" Angel gave her a basket of the ones Philomena had been constantly shedding, then mopped the sweat from her brow as she worked again. 

Once she was done, Chronicle grumbled at the sight of Philomena, rashes cleared up and sitting on the floor, with feathers taped back on to cover any bare spots. Needless to say, the results were far from convincing, and she coughed and let her head flop over onto the floor. All the signs are pointing to Philomena being…but can it be? Seems to be plausible. There's no doubt about that.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Angel did away with their reflectors and the stethoscope. "Oh, Philomena," She held the bird's head up. "I thought it would be easy to nurse you back to health. But I’ve tried everything I know, and look at you." She lifted Philomena on a foreleg. "You’re worse than ever!"

"If this is what I think it is, I think Philomena's a—" Before Chronicle could finish, there came a knock at the door. Fluttershy, setting down the bird on the little table by the couch, slid over to it at lightning speed, much to his surprise. Before either of them could open the door, it burst open and Twilight walked in.

"Hi, Fluttershy. I just wanted to drop by and say thank you so very much for making such a good impression on the Princess today.", she said, then turned to her bodyguard. "Chronicle, I was wondering where you were." She then stopped short with a huge gasp upon seeing Philomena. "What is Celestia’s pet doing here?!"

"Oh dear."

"I couldn’t leave the poor thing there.", Fluttershy explained. "She needed my help." 

Twilight was obviously in a state of panic. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no." She then did a facehoof. "This is bad!"

"How could I just walk away and not do anything?"

"But-but she doesn’t belong to you!" Philomena keeled over.

"I tried to tell her.", Chronicle said. "But she was surprisingly stubborn when it comes to sick animals."

"I had to do something!"

"Without telling anypony? Without asking permission?!"

"Again, I tried to tell her."

"But—" The supine bird coughed…

"I know you had good intentions—" …and slid off the table. "—but you have got to return the Princess’s pet!"

"But—" The debate ended when Philomena climbed partway back up with a wheezing inhalation. Fluttershy gave a sigh. "You’re right. Okay, let’s—" The breath came out as a cough. "—go." As she got a basket from the floor, Twilight yanked the ailing bird off the table by the tail, then stowed her in the basket, which was now on Fluttershy’s back, and the lid was clapped down. 

The reason why they didn't use Chronicle's "hammerspace" was because if anybody tried to look at its interior, their minds will break from trying to comprehend it. He had first told Twilight and Spike this during his first few days as her charge when he decided to share it. After the events concerning Nightmare Moon, he told the rest of their friends about this as well as anybody else who knew of his "hammerspace", which wasn't many.

Twilight galloped to the door. "If we hurry, we can put her back before anypony even realizes she’s missing." She hit the door with a burst of telekinesis to open it, but froze in place with a gasp and a start that made her tail stand out straight. On the step were the two royal guards who kept watch over Sugarcube Corner during the brunch. Twilight bit down on her lower lip so hard that she might've drawn blood at any moment. 


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Eyecatch (picture-type) - The door to Fluttershy's cottage open, revealing the two guards. The show's logo is seen on the bottom left.


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The two impassive guards advanced slowly into Fluttershy’s cottage. "We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here.", said one guard.

"We regret to inform you, miss, that the royal pet has gone missing.", continued the other as Twilight grinned fixedly. 

"Really!" There was wheezing from Fluttershy’s basket. "You don’t say!" She managed a couple of little giggles to try and mask the sound, but the lid-lifting hack that followed it was a real stretch. Zipping to Fluttershy’s side, she worked up a few coughs to try and pass the noises off as her own; every time the basket sounded off, she turned her own up a notch. Eventually, she nudges Fluttershy’s flank, prompting her to join in. Chronicle just kept a straight poker face, not betraying any emotion. He also rolled his eyes at this ridiculous cover-up as the two guards traded a puzzled look and it eventually die down.

"It’s that dry night air.", Twilight said in a hoarse tone of voice and a grin as sweat rolled down.

"But it’s daytime.", Fluttershy pointed out. 

"Well, day air’s even drier!" She gave a laugh.

Deciding to play along with this as his charge began to push the guards out. "Well luckily for me, I took my cough syrup today."

"You guards better be on your way if you’re gonna find the Princess’s missing pet—Philomena, was it? Thank you ever so much for keeping me in the loop. Byeee!"

She magically slammed the door and turns away from it, heaving for breath, before risking a look out the window to make sure the guards were really leaving. As she turned back toward the room and gave a sigh of relief.

"I'm surprise that actually worked.", Chronicle remarked. "The ones I had to deal with back in Canterlot are more competent than this."

"Wait, you had to deal with guards before?"

"Let's just say a past charge of mine got mixed up with a criminal and leave it at that, okay?"

"Uhh…okay." And then her eyes popped. "What are you doing?" As it turns out, Fluttershy was on her way toward the door.

"Going to return Philomena, remember?" Twilight blocked the way.

"We can’t now!"

"Why not?"

Twilight was really freaking out now. "You have no idea what the Princess is gonna do if she finds you’re the one who took her pet, do you?!?"

"Do you?"

"Well…no. But it can’t be anything good! She might banish you—" 

"To the moon? Oh, please.", Chronicle interrupted. "That joke's already old and Celestia only managed to do that once with Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony. And that's assuming she can still use them now."

"Well, maybe not the moon, but she might banish her from Equestria! Or throw her in a dungeon! Or banish her and then throw her in a dungeon in the place that she banishes her to!" 

"You really think the Princess would do that?", the pegasus asked as she began to pace the floor.

"Okay, granted, that probably won’t happen—but do you want to take any chances?"

"All that really matters to me is that poor little Philomena here gets well." The critter in question popped out of the basket with a wheeze that left her hanging headfirst over the edge.

"That’s very noble of you. I’ll write to you when you’re banished—unless I’m banished too, somewhere there’s no post office. Then you’ll have to write to me. Deal?" Chronicle just rolled his eyes at this ridiculous notion, then seriously hoped it wouldn't come true.

"Please, Twilight. You just have to help me get Philomena healthy, and then we can return her to the Princess…" During this, Fluttershy pivoted to give the unicorn mare a close look at Philomena's sweaty brow and bloodshot, oozing eyes. "…and everything will be fine." 

"Did you give her any kind of medicine?"

"I tried to, but she wouldn’t take it."

"Actually, she did, remember?", reminded the sole stallion in the house. "But apparently it wasn't enough."

Twilight groaned loudly as Philomena fell out. "Then you have to make her take more, Fluttershy! You can’t be such a pushover! You need to show this patient who’s the boss! Make her straighten up and fly right!"

"She can’t fly!"

"It's a figure of speech, Fluttershy.", said the blue unicorn.

His charge rummaged around for a second and came up with another capsule. "No excuses!", she said. A push on one taloned foot caused the beak to open as if it were a hinged trash can lid, and the medication was dropped in and swallowed. "Done! Okay, what else?"

"Uh, well, she keeps pulling her feathers off—the ones that haven’t fallen out yet from all the coughing, I mean.", the pegasus provided.

Indeed Philomena was nipping at her own feathers. Twilight’s solution was to clap on a conical collar, the sort used to keep dogs from trying to chew at an injured spot. "There you go." 

Philomena tumbled over and tried to pull the collar off. "I don’t think she likes it." The bird started walking, head doubled over with the collar scraping the floor.

"Tough love, baby! You want her to get well, don’t you?" Philomena began to roll around the room.

"Of course, but—"

"Next!" Chronicle felt this wasn't right, but couldn't figure out what to say. He still didn't know much of Philomena's kind, and he knew nothing about bird care since none of his past charges were bird keepers.

"Well, she desperately needs some bed rest, but I can’t get her to stay put."

When the patient walked past, Twilight plunked a hoof down on the collar edge to stop her and flip her back upright. "One step ahead of you."


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The plan of making Philomena stay put was to trap her in a birdcage and cover it with a sheet of cloth, and removing the collar beforehoof. Angry noises were heard beneath it as she tried to break out.

Chronicle was lost in thought on whether or not this was the correct procedure. "It’s for your own good, Philomena, I promise.", Fluttershy said to the bird as Twilight looked at the soup she made. "Please just relax and try to get some sleep."

"What’s this soup over here?", the unicorn mare asked. "Smells delicious."

"I made it for Philomena, but she wouldn’t eat it." Twilight levitated the bowl off the table it rested on.

"Oh, she’ll eat it, all right." With a half-crazed smile, she brought the bowl over to the cage and whisked the cloth away. As soon as she popped the latch on the door, Philomena jumped out with a screech and ran off, knocking the soup to the floor. Since Chronicle had been lost in thought, he didn't react fast enough to stop her as she headed out through the door. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"No! Philomena! Come back!", Fluttershy cried out as the three of them took pursuit.


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The three followed Philomena through the park outside Ponyville, chasing her to a tree and around it several times, the speed increasing until they couldn't bee seen under the thick cloud of dust thrown up by the chase. Chronicle quickly braked into a stop, looked up the tree, and saw Philomena taking refuge here and running off along a limb. He instantly teleported to the treetop and followed her, leaving his friends behind.

Unfortunately, chasing Philomena proved to be harder than chasing a cat and for some reason his pinpointing spell had no effect on her feathers and he soon lost her. While looking for her, he bypassed the guards showing a sketch of Philomena to Caramel, who shook his head.

Later, he reunited with his charge and Fluttershy at the park. As they passed by a bench, they noticed a figure reading a newspaper. The three ponies doubled back and stopped at the bench. The figure lowered the paper and the two mares coughed a bit to see if the bystander might recognize it as a tip to Philomena. After the bystander shrugged and went back to the paper, the three ponies traded a puzzled look and galloped off again. 

However, Chronicle screeched into a stop upon realizing something. Wait a ******' second! He shook his head vigorously, turned back, and realized that the bystander was Philomena with a bushy brown mustache hung over her beak. How the **** did she fool me?! How the **** did I let myself be fooled?! He was seriously angry not only at her but at himself. He charged straight for her, but before he could catch her in his aura, she was off. And once again he lost her.

Eventually, he reunited with his two friends and chastised them harshly for falling for such a transparent disguise, and cut them off before they could call him out on falling for it as well; at least he realized it while they didn't until he told them. As they caught sight of Philomena again (who had shed her disguise) as she ran, they then encountered the pair of guards again. Thankfully, they were looking the other way as they sneaked past them.

In the middle of the chase, Chronicle found himself astray from the others and dizzy after a round of haphazard circling. By the time he found them again, he saw Philomena in an alley between two buildings, each of which had two doors facing the other. 

He saw the bird peek out from the front right door, then run to the front left, staying just ahead of Twilight as she went in after her. Philomena then emerged from the back left and went into the back right, Fluttershy following from above. The bird and unicorn then exited the 'back' doors and crossed each other to get to the 'front' ones. Fluttershy then exited the 'front' right door and entered the 'front' left.

The sight of this boggled his mind as an image of a monster chasing a Great Dane and his friends flashed in his mind. He managed to see Philomena peek out the 'front' left door and Twilight out the 'back' right. The former retreated back in while the latter charged forward…straight into Fluttershy as she exited the same door Philomena was a second ago and they crashed headlong into each other. He then felt something brush against his tail, turned to the 'culprit', and saw Philomena.

"That-a-way!", he called.

They took chase, but lost her yet again. Tired of this, he decided to split up from the girls, as they entered the town square. He stopped at the pavilion to look around in case Philomena was in the area. He saw the guards walk up to a flagpole and stick their sketch of the bird onto it. Just before he looked away, he saw Philomena go over to it, draw a bushy mustache and eyebrows onto the picture to throw off her trackers, then run off again.

He immediately gave chase, but lost her yet again as he reunited with his two friends. I know I'm a better tracker than this!, he cursed himself. Sure, it's not my special talent but… damn, that bird must have learned ninjutsu. He then decided to ask, "Hey girls. Why didn't we, after hearing that the guards were looking for Philomena, just sneak her into the backyard and then rush out to them some time later and explain that we found her? Yes, it would've been a bit dishonest, but…"

"I never thought about that, given we were panicking unlike you.", Twilight said.

"I was too. I'm just better at hiding it."

"I don't think it would have worked anyway, seeing as it might have looked suspicious if we 'found' Philomena so soon after she went missing in a suspicious manner."

"I could've come up with something, but you never gave me the chance to. And yes, it's my fault for not trying harder." 

The conversation was interrupted as Rainbow Dash flew in above them. "What are you two doing? Are you having a race? Oh, can I play? One-two-three-go!" She streaked ahead and the other three threw each other a slightly confused look and carried on. 

They reached a fountain decorated by a rearing-pony statue, where Applejack (balancing an apple on her nose), Pinkie (eating a cupcake), and Rarity were. That's when the searching became ridiculous. Pinkie was suddenly lifted off her hooves by Fluttershy—who was checking the ground beneath for any sign of Philomena—and was now balanced on her back.

"Excuse me.", said the yellow pegasus.

"Hi!", greeted Pinkie as Applejack consumed the fruit she was playing with. 

"Beg your pardon.", Twilight said as she grabbed Rarity, lifted her, and looked underneath.

"Put me down!", Rarity demanded, and Twilight did so.

Despite the impossibility of it, Chronicle decided to check Applejack's hat and 'flipped' it in the air before it landed back on her head. She ain't hiding there., he deduced.

"What in tarnation?", the farmpony complained.

"Sorry, but we’ve gotta find—", Fluttershy said before she was cut off by the guards, who were now nearby and looking upward.

"The Princess’s pet bird!", one of them said.

Perched on the statue's head was Philomena is perched here, having lost all her feathers except for a few fragments and still coughing wretchedly. How the hay did she get up there? 

"Philomena, come down from there!", Fluttershy scolded. "You’ll hurt yourself!" Just then, the last tail feather popped loose, then Philomena hacked and wheezed her way through a string of full-body convulsions and ended up collapsed on her back atop the statue. After an uncomfortably long pause, she snapped upright and delivered an encore that sent her into a headfirst dive to the ground. "I’ll catch you!"

Applejack and Pinkie gasped as she zipped ahead. Even though they were very close to it, she ran as if she were meters away. Chronicle was closer and he prepared to catch Philomena in his telekinetic grip as she didn't seem to fall straight down and slower than would be normal. Then, before the race between gravity and leg power could be decided, Philomena was enveloped in a burst of flame. Fluttershy gasped in pure shock and threw herself into a slide just in front of Chronicle, who had been paralyzed in shock as well, but for different reasons. 

That slide would've earned a nod of approval from Willie Mays., he thought, then banished the idea as Fluttershy stopped with front hooves outstretched, the fire dying out and leaving a little pile of ashes. That's not the time for that! Looks like Philomena's definitely what I think she is. He did his best to remain neutral as he knew it wasn't what it looked like, but didn't want to look unsympathetic.

The rest of their friends, Rainbow joining them just after the spontaneous combustion, gasped and the catcher did everything she could to keep from bursting into tears on the spot. However, the little whimper from her throat clearly stated that she was losing the battle as the ashes trickled to the ground.

With the guards staring aghast, the situation took yet one more bizarre turn when Celestia walked onto the scene. "What is going on here?", she asked sternly. The guards bowed and backed off, while the others followed suit except for the 'backing off' part. The only ones who didn't were Fluttershy, who regarded the ashes despairingly, and Chronicle, who gave his respects in his usual manner. "Twilight?"

Her student quickly straightened up. "Yes, Your Majesty? There’s been a terrible accident."

"Philomena spontaneously burst into flames.", Chronicle answered, earning him a shocked look from his charge. "I'm not going around 'death' words like the rest of you."

Fluttershy stepped ahead, then said, "It’s all my fault." 

Twilight then stepped ahead. "No, Princess. Fluttershy didn’t know any better. It was my fault." 

"I’m the one who did it." 

"But you were only trying to help."

"Some help I was." It was becoming obvious that they were trying to take the blame for the other. If Chronicle had any fault in this, it was not trying to stop the petnapping from happening in the first place.

"Will you let me do this? She’ll go easier on me!"

"But it’s my fault!"

"No, it’s my fault!" 

Pinkie then popped up. "Nope, it’s my fault!…Wait. What are we talking about?" She then zipped away, completely missing the violet unicorn’s grimace.

Fluttershy stepped ahead to Celestia and said, "Thanks for trying to protect me, Twilight, but, Princess Celestia, I’m the one who took your pet bird. I really was only trying to help the poor little thing. Then I was gonna bring it right back to you, honest." She continued to confess as Celestia walked over to the pile of ashes now next to the grass by the fountain. "So, if you want to banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to…" Fluttershy lowered her head. "…then that’s what I deserve."

"Please, if she let Pinkie Pie live after stealing a cupcake she was about to eat, I'm sure what you're gonna get won't be as bad as you think.", Chronicle tried to assure her, then turned to the regent with an unsure face. "Right?" Celestia eyed the contrite yellow pony for a moment before turning her attention back to the earthly remains of her prized pet. Closing her eyes, she lowered her head toward the pile—then opened them and cheerfully addressed it.

"Oh, stop fooling around, Philomena! You’re scaring everypony."

As the ashes wafted into the air seemingly on their own, bringing gasps from the four uninvolved ponies, Chronicle dared asked, "Is she what I think she is?" The ashes then reconstituted themselves into a bird. However, it wasn't the sickly, molting, cross-eyed wreck that drove Fluttershy up the wall. This one had plumage of red, orange, and gold, long tail feathers, and an impressive size and wingspan. The new bird briefly silhouetted itself against a burst of light as everypony save Celestia and her guards gave various gasps, oohs, and aahs. The bird then soared down toward them, trailing licks of fire from its wings. 

And Chronicle wasn't scared of it at all (given it had fire coming out of its body), which his friends save for Rainbow and Rarity noticed as they weren't present when he first showed his fear back at that incident with the hydra at Froggy Bottom Bog.

"I don’t understand!", Fluttershy said as the bird landed on Celestia’s raised foreleg. "What is that thing? What happened to Philomena?"

"Let me guess.", said Chronicle as he made his way to his friend's side. "That is Philomena, right?"

Celestia nodded in affirmation. "She’s quite a sight, as I said, but nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn’t that right, Philomena?" Her pet let off a happy little cry.

"A…a phoenix?" Philomena leaned down to look Fluttershy straight on and gave a nod.

"A phoenix is a majestic and magical bird While it appears healthy and happy most of the time—" Philomena lifted off from the foreleg and circled high above. "—every so often it must renew itself by shedding all of its feathers and bursting into flame." She then leaned toward the two and whispered as her pet gave another happy cry. "Rather melodramatic, if you ask me." She then straightened up and resumed normal volume. "It then rises from the ashes, fresh as a daisy." The phoenix then perched back on her foreleg. 

"Right, phoenixes are known for reincarnation.", said the unicorn stallion. "I also read that their tears—or maybe it was their song—have healing properties and that their feathers can save anypony (and maybe other non-ponies) from near-death."

"You read up on phoenixes?", asked Twilight.

"It was prior to our transfer to Ponyville, when only you were my charge. I found a book on them while doing some lazy browsing in the library we and Spike used to live in."

"I’m afraid mischievous little Philomena here took the occasion to have a little fun with you, Fluttershy.", Celestia apologized. Philomena covered her head with one wing on this line, embarrassed at being called out as she was lowered to Fluttershy’s level and sternly scolded. "Say you’re sorry, young lady." A whimper came from the bird.

"So—aren’t you gonna banish me, or throw me in a dungeon or banish me and then throw me in a dungeon in the place that you banish me to?", Fluttershy asked. There were befuddled looks from the uninvolved ponies sans Pinkie.

Celestia gave a smile. "Of course not, my little pony." Philomena lifted off. "Where on earth would you get such an idea?"

The involved mares traded an anxious glance and then smiled. "I guess I have some imagination."

"Actually, your faithful student was the one with that idea.", Chronicle told the princess, ignoring the sweaty look Twilight was giving him in an attempt to get him to stop. "And given that she's probably known you on a personal level, I'm surprised she came up with such a conclusion." Celestia gave a knowing shake of the head in response.

Twilight gave a sigh, trying to set aside what her bodyguard had told her teacher, and said, "Fluttershy really did do everything she could to try to take care of Philomena for you."

"And I do appreciate that your heart was in the right place, child.", Celestia said. "But all you had to do was ask me, and I could’ve told you Philomena was a phoenix and saved you all this trouble."

"I know.", confessed Fluttershy. "I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Next time I’ll ask before taking matters into my own hooves." 

Twilight reacted with mild surprise, then asked, "Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?"

"No, that’s quite all right." Philomena perched on her back and she glanced toward her. "I think I can remember."

"I still think it's necessary to have it written down.", Chronicle stated as he 'produced' a quill and parchment. ""Wouldn't want Twilight to forget she did, now would we?"

"Come on, you really think I would?"

"Helps to be certain when it comes to you and your schedules."

As the two guards brought over the birdcage, the reborn pet swooped into the sky, stuck one of her feathers behind Fluttershy’s ear shaft first, then dropped another to Chronicle, who 'caught' it in his aura. The two looked up to the hovering Philomena, who cooed softly.

"It’s beautiful.", said Fluttershy. "Thank you, Philomena. No hard feelings."

"I'll accept this feather as compensation for everything you did.", Chronicle told the phoenix. "Thank you, Philomena."

As the bird swooped off again, Rainbow eyed the two stolid-faced guards, then pondered to herself before getting a sudden inspiration. She then flew up to whisper to Philomena and got a nod in response. The phoenix perched on top of her cage and spread her wings just enough to tickle the guards’ noses. They tried to hold their composure, but soon lost it in roaring fits of laughter. Philomena trades a midair high five with the sky-blue prankster.

"Yeah!", whooped Rainbow as her own laughter mingled with a raucous caw from her accomplice. Everypony else followed shortly. 

A few seconds after that, Celestia then bent down to Chronicle's ear and whispered, "By the way, about phoenix feathers being able to revive those from near-death…"

The unicorn stallion's ears drooped. "Let me guess, that's actually false?"

"No. It's really true." She then gave a wink. "Gotcha."

Chronicle groaned at being "trolled" by the princess before resuming a smile.
> Chapter 17: Stare Master
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a piece of trivia for you guys: I was planning a ship tease between Rarity and Mystic Shield, but then I remembered Spike, so I decided to discard it.

Disclaimer: I own only the following: My originally designed OCs, and anything that doesn't happen in the show proper.


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

Chapter 17: Stare Master

One day in Ponyville…

Chronicle was with nothing to do. Again. Mystic Shield was down with the flu and had also contracted the poison joke thanks to a prankster (who was not Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash), rendering him weak in magic and disaster-prone. Effectively, he is unable to protect anyone, let alone himself, which is his cutie mark's meaning. He sent a request for that special bubble bath from the spa, and the Blossom twins (Lotus and Aloe) said they would get in touch with him soon as possible since they were very busy at the moment. 

Twilight Sparkle had plans on going to the Everfree Forest and despite his insistence she didn't wish for him to accompany her for reasons he couldn't recall for the moment. He managed to ask her to get some ingredients for the poison joke cure. Already bored of library work with Spike, he decided to head for Carousel Boutique to ask for a little more improvement on his suit for the Grand Galloping Gala. Upon hearing him head there, the baby dragon asked if he could get something else for him from her.

He shook off the thought as he finally reached Rarity's home and workplace. Just as he reached the door however, he bumped into somepony, knocking him back a bit. "Oww…"

"I'm so sorry.", a familiar voice came.

"Me too…", he replied as he opened his eyes to see— "Fluttershy?!"

Indeed it was her and she reacted similarly. "Chronicle?!"

"Man, this is the second time around, huh?" The first one being from the last brunch that was later followed up with the fiasco involving Princes Celestia's pet phoenix Philomena.

"I guess."

"Hey, what's that?" A distance away was a pretty basket with a blanket tucked over the contents. Thankfully, it had remained upright in spite of their collision.

"Oh, it's Opalescence. I was just bringing her back from her grooming."

"I see. Let's not keep her waiting, shall we?"

They knocked on the closed door first, but there was no answer, even though the sign read "OPEN". "Maybe she's upstairs working.", Fluttershy suggested as she hoisted the basket back on her back.

The blue unicorn nodded. "That must be the case. Now where's the doorbell?" His question was answered as his friend did just that, pushing on something on the wall he never noticed before. "Oh." The door then creaked open. "Let's go."

And they did just that, reaching the second floor, where they found another doorbell next to a door where they heard voices. They rang that and the door opened, revealing Rarity, who was hard at work on a sewing machine. He also saw Sweetie Belle there, having learned at some point that the two were sisters. She hasn't learned any magic yet, so Mystic Shield hadn't taken interest in taking her in as a student, not that Rarity would allow it even if it were the case.

"What now?!", they heard the designer groan as Fluttershy put down the basket.

"Oh! Sorry. I thought the OPEN sign meant you were open, but…" The pegasus began to back out. "…I-I must have been mistaken." Chronicle stopped her shortly.

"It's not a mistake. We just caught her at a bad time.", the unicorn stallion whispered to her.

Rarity noticed the two and gasped. "Fluttershy!", she greeted as she crossed the room. "Forgive me. I was so wrapped up in my work that I forgot you were bringing Opalescence back from her grooming."

Fluttershy came in again. "No worries, Rarity." A fold of the blanket on the basket came loose revealing the cat’s face in the shade beneath it. "I’ve left her there in the basket." Opal promptly jumped out with a grumbly meow to show off her spotless coat.

"Ooh, she looks great. I just don’t understand how you’re able to do it.", said the designer as her sister joined her. "Oh, Chronicle! What brings you here?"

"Just here for another 'practical revision' on my suit." He 'procured' the draft and passed it to Rarity, who 'took' it and 'placed' it somewhere before leaning down to Opal, who was now rubbing her head against Fluttershy’s foreleg and purring contentedly.

"You know, I can’t get near Opal without getting a swipe from her claws.", she commented. Then she got one aimed at her nose, with a complimentary snarl to boot. She then turned to face Fluttershy. "Did you use…" Her eyes widened at this. "…the Stare on her?"

Chronicle was shocked at this news. Mystic Shield had fallen victim to this once when he accidentally injured a manticore cub while doing a request on the Request Board. He stumbled into the animal empath while doing so and she misinterpreted the situation. And so the Stare had been used on him. Mystic had told this to him sometime after the parasprite incident.

Fluttershy's response to Rarity's question was, "Oh, no! I wouldn’t! I couldn’t! I-I don’t really have any control over when that happens. I-It just happens." 

Chronicle rolled his eyes. Liar. You have control over it. You just don't have the personality to use it liberally.

"No. I’m just good with animals." She knelt to nuzzle Opal’s cheek. "It’s my special gift, you know."

Rarity gave a wink. "Well, you should have a picture of Opal as a cutie mark instead of those butterflies." 

Just then, Sweetie got an idea and rushed to Opal. "Oh, oh, oh, oh! Oh! Oh! Maybe I can be good with animals too!" The cat was clearly not thrilled with this suggestion and took a swipe at her mane, severing one of its curls. A big nasty smile stitched itself across the fluffy white face. "Or not." She then galloped away as the two mares had a laugh, the stallion giving a groan. Once it died out, Opal made her own stately exit.

"I’m sorry I can’t invite you to stay and chat, Fluttershy.", Rarity apologized. "I’ve bitten off a bit more than I can chew with this order."

Sweetie was now by the sewing machine, the curl Opal had cut now having grown back out. "But you’re not eating anything." 

Her older sister went over to her. "No, Sweetie, it’s an expression. It means that I’ve taken on more work than I can handle. I’ve got twenty of these special robes to make tonight. They’re due in Trottingham tomorrow morning." Ducking her head briefly to the floor, she came up with the edge of a piece of glittering yellow fabric that briefly waved across their faces. Both of Rarity's visitors gasped happily when it settled. She then held the material up on a foreleg. "See? I’ve lined them in this special gold silk. It took so long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don’t you?" While she spoke, her younger sister was eying the silk with undiluted wonder.

"These are lovely, but twenty?", asked Fluttershy. "By tonight? How will you get it all done?"

"Well, I, uh…"

"Oh, oh, oh!", cried out Sweetie. "Maybe I could…" She lost steam as Rarity glared at her. She began to trot away. "…just…just stand over here and watch."

"I’ll manage."

"Well, maybe I should get out of your mane so you can work.", the pegasus offered.

"Yeah, I think we should.", the sole stallion agreed. Before they could reach the door, the hunched-down figures of Apple Bloom and Scootaloo barreled in past them. 

"As they raced along, they greeted the two and Rarity simultaneously as they passed them by (the designer giving off a weak reply) and stopped dead just in front of their fellow Cutie Mark Crusader, who was looking quite glum.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle!", they both greeted.

And suddenly Sweetie was all smiles as she greeted them back. "Scootaloo! Apple Bloom!"

"You ready for tonight?", asked Scootaloo.

Sweetie gave a salute. "Yep! Cutie mark planning session is a go!" 

"Tonight is the night we each try to find our own special talent!", announced Bloom. 

"Even if it takes us all night!", said the pegasus filly as Bloom leaned over to her.

"I’m ready. You ready?"

Scootaloo gave a wink. "Very ready."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT RARITY’S!!", all three of them cried out. "YAY!!" The force of their triplicate yell was enough to shake the whole building and every pony in it.

"Aaand…look what I made us!", Sweetie announced as she donned a red cape with a blue patch that displayed the yellow silhouette of a caped, rearing filly. There was enthusiastic approval from her fellow Crusaders.

"What does that patch on your cape mean?", Chronicle dared to ask as he and Fluttershy walked over. He felt like he knew the answer.

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!! YAY!!", they all answered, blowing the two's faces as they squinched them up against the intensity.

"We’re on a crusade!", said Scootaloo. "A mission!" 

"To find our cutie marks!" Bloom.

"Yep, and look." Sweetie then lifted one foreleg, exposing the inner lining of the cape—a very familiar-looking yellow fabric. "I lined ’em with this special gold silk. It took so long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don’t you?"

***k., thought Chronicle as he saw the silk.

Rarity saw it too as her face went slack with a very unpleasant thought, then here eyes contracted to panicked pinpoints and one of them starts twitching on its own.

"Ooooh!", cried out the other two Crusaders.

With a rising moan, Rarity flashed past everypony to reach her sewing machine. She grabbed the edge of the gold silk in her teeth and pulled it free, exposing three rectangular holes where Sweetie cut it out. ""Sweetie Belle!", she gasped as the culprit gave a sheepish grin. "What have you done?!" She then let the scrap fall to the floor. "That was the last of the gold silk! Oh, now I’ll have to make more!" She gave a shudder. "Oh, I hope I can make more. I’m gonna have to work all night! Which means…" She turned to face the Crusaders. "…sorry, girls. I’m afraid the Crusader sleepover is canceled."

"What?!?", gasped her younger sister.

"Nice job breaking it, Sweetie Belle.", snarked the sole stallion in the room.

"I just won’t have any time to watch you if I want to get these robes delivered on time."

"But—"

"No buts this time. I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, it’s just the way it has to be."

All the Crusaders dropped their heads. "Awww…" 

Fluttershy then walked to them. "I, uh…I suppose I could take them for the night."

Three little heads bobbed up and aimed huge ingratiating smiles toward Rarity. "I couldn’t ask you to do that."

"Oh, it’s no problem at all."

"Have you met my sister and her friends?" The Crusaders' smiles vanished. "A problem is all it would be."

"Did I have a problem with Opal? You’ve seen how well I handle small creatures." There were smaller smiles from the three now.

"I suppose that’s true, and I do have a lot of work to do."

"Come on, it’ll be fun." The smiles vanished.

"I assure you, they’re quite a handful." The smiles widened.

"These sweet little angels?"

The smiles became positively beatific as a halo appeared above each Crusader’s head. Chronicle was a bit confused as to how they did it, but he knew they were anything but 'good little girls'.

"Well…all right.", Rarity relented as the halos vanished.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT FLUTTERSHY’S COTTAGE!!", the trio of fillies cried out, eliciting the usual reaction from the others as they zipped out the door. "YAY!!"

"So cute.", Fluttershy said as she looked warmly after them, then suddenly panicked. "Wait for me!" She kicked her wings into top gear and flew out, leaving the overworked designer to voice an uneasy moan by herself as Chronicle swiftly followed. 


C—AB—R—F—S—SB—C—AB—R—F—S—SB

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The screen is filled with gold silk, save for a cut out rectangle shape in the center, where the Cutie Mark Crusaders smile at the camera with halos over their heads. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—AB—R—F—S—SB—C—AB—R—F—S—SB

Outdoors… 

The Cutie Mark Crusaders galloped through Ponyville, Sweetie having ditched her cape. Chronicle and Fluttershy were bringing up the rear.

"Maybe we should hire a foalsitter.", the unicorn stallion suggested to his friend. "I know somepony who has moved from Cloudsdale who is very good with children."

But he was ignored as Fluttershy began to wonder. "Oh, won’t this be ever so fun? We can have a nice little tea party, and braid each others' tails, and sit quietly and color, and tell each other fairy tales, and—" 

She was cut off by Chronicle coming up from below her. "No time to dawdle lest we lose the kids." He then sped off with her on his back.

A short distance ahead, the Crusaders flashed past Twilight Sparkle in a giggling mini-stampede that left her spinning in place. Once she regained her balance and got her eyes re-focused, she found them goofing around at a well. Turning away from the scene, turned back and saw her bodyguard coming up with Fluttershy on his back.

"Hello, Fluttershy, Chronicle.", she greeted as the two came over.

"Oh! Hello, Twilight.", Fluttershy greeted in return. "Where are you off to?"

"I’m heading to the Everfree Forest, to Zecora’s, to get some of my favorite tea."

Fluttershy was suddenly unnerved. "The…th-th-the Everfree Forest? Uh, you’ll be careful, won’t you?"

"And you're sure you don't need me?", asked Chronicle.

"Of course." Twilight answered both questions. "How about you? What are you two doing with the girls?"

Fluttershy jumped off of Chronicle and landed to his right. "Rarity has a big order to fill tonight, so I volunteered to take the girls over to my cottage for a sleepover."

"Wow! Sounds like everypony has their hooves full today."

"I was considering getting Skyla to foalsit them.", said the blue unicorn. "She's very good with children."

"Unfortunately, I just saw her already taking care of some other foals. I think it was Snips and Snails."

"Oh. That's a shame."

His charge then turned back to Fluttershy as the three Crusaders popped up from the well. Bloom was on its roof, Scootaloo behind it, and Sweetie in its bucket. "Taking care of those three fillies all by yourself? You sure you can handle it?" The three ducked away. 

"What? These sweet little angels?" The three zipped up and smiled hugely with halos popping up over their heads. "They’ll be no problem at all."

"And since you obviously don't want me to escort you, I guess I'll just help her out." Chronicle then went in closer and whispered. "You sure you don't want me to at least have a clone of mine accompany you?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay." He then turned serious. "But if anything bad happens to you there, you're not going to the forest ever again without an escort, you understand me?"

"I understand. But you're still watching me, right?"

"While my Surveillance can see you, given I'll be busy foalsitting with Futtershy, I won't be able to check."


C—TS—AB—F—S—SB—C—TS—AB—F—S—SB

Sunset at Fluttershy's cottage…

Having a better look at the place in spite of the setting sun as the rest went inside, Chronicle could'nt help but feel impressed that Fluttershy's penchant for taking care of animals extended even up to this level. A couple of birdhouses were mounted on the sides of the chimney as well as around the house. He circled the place and began summoning magical clones to stand guard. He was able to at least make four now. He also allowed himself a relatively quiet tour of the place, keeping watch of the Everfree Forest nearby.

Evening came and the lights were turned on. The owner of the place closed the top falf of her front door. Inside, the Crusaders were making themselves heard in an excited cacophony.

"Wow, look at this place!", Sweetie Belle cried out as she and the other Crusaders flung off saddlebags they had picked up back home and packed for their sleepover. One nearly hit a squirrel and bird in their dwellings as the trio of fillies zipped from one place to another, rooting out every surprise they can find in drawers and cabinets.

"No problem at all.", Fluttershy said to herself in a fixed smile. She then addressed the Crusaders. "Okay, girls, uh, what should we do?" 

"I’m gonna get my mark first!", Scootaloo said, ignoring their caretaker.

"Girls?" 

Sweetie was next. "Nuh-uh!"

"Should we—" 

Bloom followed after. "I am!"

"Girls…o-okay now, settle."

The three of them then leaped into the basket Angel was using as a bed, its owner waking up and jumpig clear as Scootaloo entered first, who briefly knocked herself cockeyed upon landing. 

"I’m staying up all night!", the pegasus filly said as the others jumped on in time.

"Me too!", agreed Bloom.

"Me three!", Sweetie added.

"Uh, I know you’re excited, but—" Fluttershy was cut off upon noticing that the basket was now empty; the Crusaders had quickly departed. "Girls…"

Back outside, Chronicle finished his little tour of the place, checking for any possible places where intruders and spies could come in or where any of the animals in Fluttershy's care could escape. He quietly 'patched up' those places, then made certain his clones were standing guard. Once he was sure everything was covered, he decided to take a quick break and access his Surveillance.

He first checked on Rarity, who was busy at making the robes to be sent to Trottingham. She looked seriously stressed. He then checked on Rainbow Dash, who was sound asleep in her cloud bed, drooling a bit. He then checked Pinkie Pie, who was snoozing like a baby, embracing Gummy around her front hooves. The little alligator didn't seem to mind one bit. Applejack was next; she was sound asleep on her bed, looking almost tired. He then checked on Twilight Sparkle; she was just on her way out and Spike bid her farewell.

Though he worried for Twilight, he decided to let her go by herself for once and made his way back to the cottage. He needed to relax a bit on his bodyguarding. Upon passing through the door, he saw the Scootaloo on Fluttershy's left, Bloom on her right, and Sweetie on top.

"A-And…and we…um…yeah! What they said!", the little unicorn was saying.

"Mmm—I don’t know.", the already-harried babysitter said as sweat began to run down her face. "How about a nice, quiet little tea party?"

"Or…" Scootaloo looked out the window. "…we could go adventuring in the Everfree Forest!"

"Yeah!", her fellow Crusaders agreed. They made a beeline for the door, but Chronicle stopped them short with a force field around himself. Since the door was behind him, it was effectively blocked. Fluttershy joined him.

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh.", he warned. "The Everfree Forest is much too dangerous for little girls like you." 

"It’s filled with far too many strange creatures.", his friend added.

"But you could go with us and we could catch those creatures.", Sweetie suggested. "We could be…um…creature catchers!"

"YAAAY!! CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CREATURE CATCHERS!!", the three chorused, the usual effect they had occurring in the cottage and the two grown-ups.

Scootaloo then flipped an empty basket onto her head, then grabbed a rug in her teeth and wrapped it around herself and Bloom while standing on the latter’s back. Somehow, Scootaloo’s eyes glowed beneath the basket’s shade. as the “creature” tottered forward.

The little pegasus gave a growl. "I am a dangerous creature from the Everfree Forest!"

While Chronicle rolled his eyes, Sweetie flipped her eyes one way and another for a few seconds before catching on to the game. She then advanced slowly. "Halt, dangerous creature of the Everfree Forest! I am Sweetie Belle, the creature catcher, and I’m here to catch you!"

"You can never catch me! I am far too powerful and dangerous!"

"You cannot run from me!"

The “creature” growled and fled across the room, with a laughing Sweetie in hot pursuit. A moment later, the unicorn filly was the one trying to get away. 

Fluttershy watched the spectacle with visible fear that her house would not be standing at the end of this game. "Um…oh, maybe that’s not such a…uh, now, girls, how about we do some nice coloring—" Sweetie bounced off her back and Chronicle's as the “creature” passed by. "…oh!"

The only male in the room rolled his eyes again as the unicorn filly cried out, "Come back, dangerous creature…" Fluttershy ended up sitting on her haunches and chewing her lower lip. She then jumped onto and off a table. "…so I can catch you!"

"Never!", 'it' replied.

"Careful…you don’t…" There came a crash. "…break anything.", Fluttershy warned too late.

The table Sweetie jumped from was smashed into pieces. Scootaloo had dismounted from Bloom’s back, but was still wearing the basket on her head, and the trio and the pieces are sitting on the rug they used as a creature pelt.

The only reason Chronicle didn't make a move to stop them was because he once took up a foalsitter request on the Canterlot Request Board. The client's foals weren't as rambunctious as the Crusaders, but he had realized it was a much more difficult job than bodyguarding; his charges in the request weren't too behaved and he can't treat them like his usual adult charges. He didn't want to be too hard on them.

"Sorry, Fluttershy.", Sweetie apologized.

"Yeah, sorry.", agreed Scootaloo as the two and Bloom huddled down.

"I guess we aren’t creature catchers." The two grown-up ponies walked over. 

"Oh, girls, it’s okay. I—", Fluttershy began before being cut off again. 

"I know!", said Bloom. "We could be…Cutie Mark Crusader carpenters!"

"Carpenters?"

The three aspiring woodworkers galloped past the two grown-ups and returned to the wreckage one by one. Each now had a stethoscope around her neck and a doctor’s reflector strapped to her forehead. 
Left to right: Bloom, Sweetie, Scootaloo.)

"Hammer!", Bloom called. She was at one end of the line.

"Hammer!", Scootaloo replied before picking one up in her teeth and passed it to Sweetie, who stood between the two and passed it to Bloom. 

"Hammer!", the unicorn said.

"Hammer!" And the pegasus filly got a second one and passed it to her. "Hammer!" A brief pause. "Hammer!" Having realized that she must get the tool herself, she picked up a third one and the three glanced sideways at each other with a nod.

Once the three got to work, Fluttershy got startled clean off the floor and into a huddle at the sound of vigorous power tool operation. Chronicle could only stand confused as he picked up the sound of not just hammers, but also a saw and a power drill from the dust cloud that had kicked up from the table, blocking it and the working Crusaders from view. The ruckus was enough to scare the bird and squirrel from before back into their homes near the ceiling. 

When it ended and the dust cleared, Chronicle could see that the four pieces that made up the top have been sloppily nailed together into a shape that might very vaguely resemble a humanoid if he had been completely inebriated on a whole bottle of wine, which he had taken only thrice in his entire life, and he had very good reasons for drinking during those times. This shape stood atop the upside-down base. The Crusaders have done away with their hammers and medical gear.

"Um, that doesn’t look like a table.", Sweetie commented.

"We were making a table?", Scootaloo asked.

"Somepony needs to put this thing out of its misery.", Bloom said.

"We are definitely not Cutie Mark carpenters." As she and Sweetie walked away, Fluttershy reached in and whisked the "table" away. Chronicle would request for it later and collect it for his "training range".

"Who wants a picture of a hammer on their flank, anyway?", commented Sweetie.

Chronicle took offense and retorted, "Hey, Mjölna has a hammer on her flank and she's—apart from a carpenter—an awesome blacksmith. She makes shields and armor." He specifically left out the mention of weapons.

"Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, how about a game?", Fluttershy asked as she flew across.

"A game?", Bloom parroted. Elsewhere, the other two Crusaders have already taken seats on a couch.

"It’s called “Shhh.”" Bloom then popped up behind the couch.

"What’s that?", Scootaloo asked.

"Well, it’s a game about who can be quiet the longest. Sound fun?" 

"Sounds interesting.", Chronicle quipped.

As for the Crusaders however, they gave a three-way combo of skeptical stares, but Fluttershy soldiered on. 

"I’m the world champ, you know. I bet you can’t beat me." Throwing them a big squeaky grin, she sucked in a huge breath and clamped her mouth shut so that the air bulged out her cheeks. 

Chronicle merely slowed in his breath and made himself discreet. His horn glowed, but he was able to make the shimmer near-inaudible as well. Dead silence reigned in the cottage for perhaps three seconds.

"I lose!", Scootaloo yelled.

"Me too!", Sweetie chorused.

"Me three!", Bloom followed. They then took off like a shot, but were stopped by a force field from Chronicle, who only winced a bit. 

Ooh. They're too clever for the quiet game.

"Hey! What's the big idea?", Scootaloo asked as the three of them pushed at the barrier. They were answered by him pointing at Fluttershy, then at himself, then he made a zip-your-mouth-closed gesture.

"Oh, they're still playin'.", Bloom realized. She then turned to the other two. They all grinned, turned to the barrier's conjurer, and started attacking the barrier with their front hooves.

In spite of how pathetically weak they were, Chronicle resisted the urge to taunt; he would lose the game to Fluttershy if he did. Still, if he concentrated too much, his horn's shimmer would become audible enough to be heard. Eventually, as he continued to concentrate on keeping the barrier up, he felt a hoof fall on his back. He turned to see Fluttershy, who had quietly let out her breath, shook her head, and then made a few gestures to signal that she heard his horn's shimmer. Sighing in defeat, he dismissed the force field, freeing the Crusaders as they cheered and zipped off.

Scootaloo started jumping on the cushions in Angel’s basket, Sweetie climbed on a cabinet, and Bloom popped up from a corner.

"Okay, now what can we do?", asked the pegasus Crusader as Bloom galloped across the room and into the fireplace.

"Ooh!", the earth pony Crusader popped her head out—upside down, covered in soot. "How about Cutie Mark Crusader coal miners?" The other two emerged next to her.

"Yeah!"

"No!", said Fluttershy.

"Awww…" They filed sullenly past her and Chronicle, no longer streaked with fireplace residue. 

"I mean, it’s time for bed, don’t you think? Aren’t you excited to get all toasty and warm in your snuggly-wuggly wittle beds? 

“Snuggly-wuggly?”, retorted Bloom. "But we have more crusading to do!" 

"We’ve got plans!", added Scootaloo. 

Sweetie laid their Crusader capes by their saddlebags. "And capes!", she finished. But they continued heading glumly up the stairs.

"Uh, okay, um, maybe the crusading can wait until morning…when it’s light…and not so…dark?", Fluttershy suggested as she shepherded them along.

As Chronicle followed right behind, just as he was halfway there, his horn began to spark wildly with magic. "Huh?", he said as he paused for a few seconds. Once the sparks stopped, he suddenly felt stiff all over and couldn't move, although he could still see and think. "Hhhnnnggg…" He could also still breathe, but not as much since he cannot move his body enough.

After making certain the Crusaders were upstairs, Fluttershy turned to see him not moving. "Chronicle, let's go.", she urged. But he didn't budge. Curious, she walked back down and poked him, but he seemed to be as hard as stone. She then pushed at his mane, then his tail, and found that each strand was just as stiff as the rest of his body. Just before she could panic, he was mobile again, breathing heavily for some reason. She went to his assistance and helped him catch his breath, panic coming in for a different reason. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah.", he replied between breaths. "I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. All of a sudden, Twilight came to mind, my horn was spewing sparks of magic, and then I was suddenly unable to move, like my body was turned to stone. I'm fine, though. Don't worry about me." But what was that?


C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB

Everypony was now at Fluttershy's bedroom, which had its own fireplace and plenty of small-animal dwellings, a bookcase, and various bits of artwork. Bloom and Scootaloo were thoroughly discontented. Sweetie stood by the footboard, also not too jazzed at the prospect of turning in.

"How are we gonna find our special talent in our sleep?", Bloom complained.

Fluttershy flew up and blew out a candle on the mantelpiece, leaving the room dark. "Maybe you’ll have a lovely little dream about your special talent."

"But we’re not even tired!", Scootaloo said, all of them now tucked in by Chronicle, who then nipped the blanket in with his teeth as Fluttershy joined in.

"How about I sing you a lullaby?", she suggested. 

"Yeah!", agreed the unicorn Crusader.

"Mmm-hmm!", said the other two in unison with her.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, then came a slow quiet music-box tune in A flat major.

Now Playing: Hush Now Lullaby

Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head♪

Bloom and Scootaloo started to nod off, but Sweetie stayed wide awake.

Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to go to bed♪

End Song

"I know this one!", Sweetie cried out.

"Oh, how wonderful! Why don’t you sing it with me?"

The little unicorn nodded, coughed a bit, startling her two cohorts out of their half-doze, and threw them a knowing smile before standing up in the bed. The other two crusaders put hooves over their ears, apparently knowing what's about to go down.


C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB

Outside…

The four Chronicle clones standing guard outside were mildly startled at the sound of loud music.

"I wonder what they're doing at this hour?", one of them asked.

"I have no buckin' clue.", said another.

"Why are we even speaking to each other?", asked a third.

"He started it.", the fourth pointed to the first.

"Well, he talked back."

"Could we just stop? We're all extensions of the same pony." The second.

"Hey—" The third.

"And don't start with the cloning blues." Fourth.

"Aww, come on." Second.

"Let's just shut up and quit while we're ahead." Third.

"I'm with you there." Fourth. "The real us is going to know about this."

"Ugh." First.

The avian residents of the chicken coop in the backyard were spooked into a full panic from the song and they started squawking. The closest two clones noticed this.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Back at the bedroom…

Bloom and Scootaloo have dived under the covers, but the latter looked up at the sound of the panicked flock. "What is that?", she asked.

Fluttershy and the real Chronicle meanwhile fixed everything that had fallen off due to the song. They then turned back to see that the bed was empty, then the unicorn got a small migraine. One of his clones had been tackled and dissipated, its memories coming to him.

"They're outside at the backyard.", he said as he turned on the light.

Fluttershy didn't ask him how he knew and looked out the window instead to verify his words. "Girls!" 

Indeed they were there. Presumably, they were why he has three copies left.

"Fluttershy, your chickens are on the loose!", Bloom said. 

"I wonder what could have caused that.", Sweetie said pensively.

Bloom and Scootaloo glanced disgustedly at her.

“Are you really that dumb?”, asked one of the Chronicle clones nearby. "YOUR singing did it."

Scootaloo then addressed the window. "Don’t worry, Fluttershy!" She then gave a salute. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders will handle this!"

"Cutie Mark Crusader chicken herders!", said the unicorn Crusader as all three raced off. "Yaaaaay!"

"No…I don’t think that’s a…come back!", Fluttershy stuttered. At the fenced-off chicken yard, the fillies were chasing the birds back and forth. "Please…" Fluttershy took off from the window and landed in the yard while the real Chronicle teleported there. "Come on, girls, the chickens are fine…oh…girls…" One of the chickens roosted on her head and another on his horn; this move, coupled with Sweetie’s lunge toward it, finally made the animal caretaker blow her cool. "Girls!"

All three stopped in their tracks, Scootaloo and one chicken peeking out from beneath the ramp that leads to the coop entrance. Chronicle clicked his tongue in warning to the Crusaders. "You wouldn't like Fluttershy when she's angry."

This also got the chickens on the two grown-ups to drop to the ground, much to the stallion's mild surprise, then Fluttershy gently nudged several back toward the coop. "Come on…" The little birds stopped on the ramp. "…in you go…" Upon receiving a chorus of uncooperative cackling that annoyed her considerably, she leaned in with her eyes wide open, giving the poultry a good view of a surprisingly intense gaze. 

Chronicle gulped at the sight of the chickens’ noise giving way to frightened little squawks as they slowly back up the ramp while the Crusades watched, dumbstruck. He hasn't ever been on its receiving end before, but he just knew that this was the so-called “Stare”. 

Fluttershy gave them a final one-eyed dose to persuade them to enter the coop, where three briefly got stuck abreast in the entrance before popping in. After they have done so, she resumed her usual sweet demeanor. "There’s some good chickens." She then turned to the Crusaders. "Okay.  You three. Isn’t it about time you got into bed?"

"But—", they began to protest. 

"Please?" Behind her, Chronicle made a couple of frightful gestures to tell them to do as she says. He wasn't really frightened; but hopefully showing that he was (given his reputation as a very brave pony) would persuade them. Thankfully, it did. The Crusaders dropped their heads sadly, getting a little smile from Fluttershy in return. 


C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB

Back at the bedroom…

The light was out, and the Crusaders were tucked back in and Fluttershy was on her way out. Chronicle was downstairs fixing things up, and shortly went to sleep on the couch.

"So, no more crusading for tonight, all right?", she said.

"Yes, Fluttershy!", replied Scootaloo.

"We promise, Fluttershy!" Sweetie.

"Good night, Fluttershy!" Bloom. They then closed their eyes.

"Okay. Good night." She then exited the room to relax right next to Chronicle on the couch, making sure not to disturb him, not that it takes little to do so.


C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB—C—AB—F—S—SB

In the dreamscape…

Chronicle was reminiscing a past event. 

It was a day in Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns. Since there haven't been any new spells to implement in the lesson plan, Mystic had to come up with a couple more ideas. After a casual chat with Elphaba Trot, the teacher of the karate dojo, he decided to implement physical maneuvers in his lesson plan.

"All right, class.", he announced. "We have a new lesson. Today, we'll be doing a physical exercise. Chronicle, help me demonstrate."

Ushering the class to the side, Mystic went to the center of the room and 'held up' a stick. Chronicle had went to one corner of the mat, then made a running start. Just as he reached the levitated stick, he jumped over it, rolled, did a one-eighty upon landing, and conjured a barrier instantly.

"I call this the quick response. Sometimes you're on the run and you simply can't turn around or blindly make a force field around yourself. Or maybe there's an obstacle ahead that can buy you some time from your pursuer. There can be any number of reasons this maneuver can be useful. You just have to use your imagination. Plus, I figured we all need some form of physical exercise. There's always a time when running is your best choice."

And so this jump-roll-turn-and-shield routine became an integral part in the lesson plan. At present, few unicorns are getting the hang of it. Greatstone and Heartstrings were the only ones apart from the teachers to get it easily. Still—


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

He was interrupted from his dream by a couple of generous kicks on from a certain bunny.

"Thank goodness.", Fluttershy's voice rang in his ears as he opened his eyes. "I thought you would never wake."

"Well, I am a deep sleeper. Why'd you wake me?", he asked as he followed her out of the cottage and into the backyard.

"I noticed the place was quiet. Too quiet. And when I checked the bed, the girls were gone."

"What? Just how did they get past my clones?" As they looked around, they could not find any trace of Chronicle's clones. "They can't have dissipated. I would've known first thing like a splash of cold water to my face."

As they then reached the coop, Fluttershy peeked in it. "Girls?", she called, then her eyes popped. "Elizabeak! She’s missing!" She then looked  back. "Girls?" 

"Umm…" He gestured to a hole in the fence and tracks. 

"Oh, no!" There were tracks leading off the property as well as a scrap of cloth on a post, which could only come from a Cutie Mark Crusader's cape judging by the golden silk. "They must have gone looking for my missing chicken!" The two of them trotted onto the tracks. "Which means…they must have gone into…" She gave a hard swallow and let her ears droop, her eyes contract, and her body shiver.

"The Everfree Forest!", Chronicle finished for her, then looked down on the tracks. "And it looks like my clones have followed them." The two then started trotting along the path leading into the forest.

"Those girls have really done it this time! They’ve really bitten off more than they can chew…" Fluttershy stopped for a bit. "…oh, just like me. I never should have offered to watch them."

"It's my fault too, Fluttershy. I haven't been putting as much effort on helping you as a true friend should, no matter how little experience I have with them. But now's not the time to go beating yourself up. Right now, we have to save Elizabeak and the Crusaders. Come on."

With that, he got moving. Behind him, Fluttershy took a deep breath, then put her wings to work and flew ahead, catching up with her braver unicorn friend, who gave a smile as she came up beside him. 


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The Everfree Forest looms on the left. Fluttershy and Chronicle begin to head towards it from the right, the former hovering a few inches, the latter with his horn glowing, and both with resolute glares. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F

Further in the forest…

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, escorted by the three missing Chronicle clones, who were somehow convinced to come along rather than keep them in. Sweetie Belle was in the lead, Apple Bloom following, and Scootaloo bringing up the rear. The three clones covered their backs and sides as they all heard an owl hoot over their heads from a tree branch.

"Here, chick-chick-chick-chick-chick!", Bloom called, then squawked. 

"What are you doing?", Scootaloo asked.

"Callin’ for the chicken."

"That is not how you call a chicken."

"Oh, and you know how to call a chicken." 

"I know that’s not the way." 

"Then show me." At this point, Sweetie had gone ahead as well as one of the three clones. 

I don’t have to show you!"

"You’re just chicken."

"Am not!"

"Oh, wait! Now I know how to call a chicken!" Bloom then said the following in singsong SCOOTA-LOO-OO!! SCOOT- SCOOTA-LOO-OO!!"

The two as well as the other remaining clones stopped in front of a pitch-dark cavern, inside which quite a few glowing eyes opened due to Bloom’s “call”. As they moved ahead again, one of the clones gave a glare at the eyes and flared his horn. 

"That’s so funny I forgot to laugh!", snarked the addressed.

"I didn't.", the other clone said as he then laughed.

"You also forgot how to call a chicken.", Bloom said as she blew a raspberry.

"Why, you—"

"Come on, guys.", Sweetie called, a branch above her creaking in the wind. We’re not gonna find the chicken or our cutie marks by arguing. She walked off just before it could seem to grab her.

"Maybe that’s our special talent! Arguing!", said Bloom.

"Is not!", countered Scootaloo.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!" Bloom turned to present her haunch. "Anything yet?"

"Nope."

"Darn!" The two Crusaders laughed in the wind, then carried on, Bloom continuing her call.

"You girls think of the weirdest things.", commented one of the clones.


AB—C—C—S—SB—C—AB—C—C—S—SB—C

Meanwhile…

Fluttershy was doing everything not to let nerves do her in, despite Chronicle being at her side. "Girls?" She gave a gulp. "Girls?" She huddled down with a little whimper as the wind kicked up. She flicked her eyes from side to side and then constricted in terror. She then let off a gasp as her friend got her on her feet again.

"Come on, Fluttershy. Get a hold of yourself.", he pleaded as the two moved on. "…just put one hoof in front of the other." Just then, he stepped on a fallen branch, the snapping sound causing his friend to yelp and back up.

"What was that?"

"Just a branch." She then bumped into a tree, screamed shrilly, and galloped ahead at full speed, leaving Chronicle in the dust. "Dammit!", he cussed as he went after her. At the path they were going, they could see Twilight’s silhouette framed against the night sky. "Twilight? Is that you?"

A hopeful little smile played across both their faces as they reached the inky figure and stopped. While Chronicle stopped to catch his breath, blaming his quick fatigue on the paralysis he had a few hours ago, Fluttershy spoke. "Oh, Twilight, it is you! Thank goodness you’re here. I need your help." Just then, the clouds drifted away from the moon so that its light shone full. "The girls are out here somewhere and I’m afraid that they’re—" She cut herself off once enough of the moonlight had illuminated the unicorn’s figure. As it turned out, she had been talking to a “statue” made of solid rock and happened to be in Twilight's likeness. Her terrified gasp caught Chronicle's attention and he gave a short yelp upon seeing the statue. "What’s happened to you?"

"I have two theories behind this.", "One is that somepony had the bright idea to bring this statue here, although the expression of this one here could not have been maintained for such a long time. I'll have to ask Twilight later if she had posed for a sculptor before. The other is…" His mind flashed back to the moment his horn sparked and he felt stiff for a few seconds. "…is that Twilight had encountered something that inflicts petrification. There are only a few beasts that I know of that can do this. The gorgon, the basilisk if not looked at the eye directly (direct eye contact results in instant death), the Catoblepas, and one other beast whose name escapes me." Luckily, I have a blindfold for these "stone gaze" kinds of creatures.

Fluttershy poked the statue and when it toppled over, she gave off a strangled cry. "Oh, no! If you’ve been turned to stone, it must mean…oh…oh, no! The girls!" She and Chronicle then took off ahead, then zipped back. "Don’t move! I’ll be back for you."

"Like she can go anywhere.", Chronicle told her as he then summoned yet another magical clone, feeling a bit woozy after. "Make sure nothing moves her.", he ordered, then he and Fluttershy took off, the latter to the air, leaving the unicorn to follow by ground.

"Girls!"


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F

Back with the Crusaders and the clones…

As the group continued to follow the chicken tracks, Bloom and Scootaloo had resumed arguing on the subject on whether or not arguing is their special talent.

Finally, Sweetie had enough of this. "Girls!", she cried out and everypony stopped. "Our special talent is not arguing! Besides, what would the cutie mark of somepony whose talent is arguing even look like?"

"Who knows? But if there indeed is one, maybe you could be the first.", said one of the clones.

"Girls? Girls?", a familiar voice came.

"Fluttershy?" The mentioned pegasus landed in front of them.

"Girls!", another voice came.

"There's our boss." The real Chronicle arrived shortly after.

"Thank goodness we’ve found you!"

"Fluttershy, what—", Bloom began before the Crusaders were forced to step back.

"Girls, we have to leave the forest at once."

"But—we haven’t found the chicken yet.", Sweetie pointed out.

"There’s no time for that. There’s a cockatrice on the loose!

"A cocka-what now?"

"A cockatrice! It’s a frightening creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. Now come on!"

"Oh, so that's that other one I wasn't able to name earlier.", Chronicle realized as he

"The head of a chicken and the body of a snake?", Sweetie parroted as she and the other Crusaders passed a gasping Fluttershy with a smile.

"That doesn’t sound scary, that sounds silly.", remarked Scootaloo.

"Why, if I ever saw one of them cocka-thingies face to face, I’d laugh at how silly it was!", said Bloom before bumping into Chronicle without realizing it. The others stopped as well.

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh.", he warned. "Any beast from the Everfree Forest, no matter how much you want to laugh at it, is dangerous. Remember the parasprites? I'm sure you've seen what they can do. And another thing. Never look a cockatrice in the eye." Just then, a chicken, presumably the missing Elizabeak, ran out of a bush. "If you look a cockatrice in the eye—"

"The chicken!", Bloom interrupted him as she and the other Crusaders dashed after her.

"Girls! Wait!", Fluttershy cried out as she took off after them.

"Dammit, I think Zecora and our trips to the forest are a bad influence for them.", Chronicle said as he followed, his clones running ahead.

"Why do you say that?"

"From what other ponies had told me, nopony has ever ventured to the Everfree Forest because of the old suspicions on Zecora being an evil enchantress. That lessened when we ventured in there to look for the Elements of Harmony. And since discovering Zecora to be friendly, other ponies have been braving it. Still, it's a stretch for foals to brave it for any reason at all."

Ahead, as the Crusaders followed Elizabeak, with the three clones behind them, they suddenly stopped upon hearing a low guttural roar. Sweetie was the first to spot something. From a bush, a white feathered head protruded. "There he is!", she said. 

An identical head then popped up. "Two chickens?", Scootaloo was confused now, as were the others.

"I-I thought only one escaped!", said Bloom. 

"Grab them both!"

Bloom reached in for the snatch, but Elizabeak jumped clear and dropped out of sight. She then went for the other head as she stepped up to eye it closely. It whipped back into the bush, then rose again as she stared in bewilderment. The head was attached to a long, winged, snakelike body with a pair of chicken legs near the front end to allow for running movement. That same grating roar threw a genuine scare into the would-be poultry wranglers, and it opened its eyes fully to expose them as beady red orbs; the beak, filled with deadly pointed teeth, let off a raucous screech. One of the Chronicle clones was caught in its gaze and was petrified, but nopony noticed it.

Elizabeak was thrown into a noisy panic, running to and fro. When the cockatrice hit the ground, its glare petrified her in seconds. The stone bird dropped headfirst and ended up half-buried in the dirt, right in front of the Crusaders. As the beast turned its attention to them, they bailed out with a three-part scream, bumping into another of the clones as they fled with them, dissipating him on impact. Scootaloo, in the lead, stumbled on a rock and went down, taking the other two with her, but not the last one as he stopped short. They ended up inches from the toppled Twilight, whose face had been slimed by a passing snail. The three fillies gasped, the got up and looked her over, ready to jump right out of their hides.

"See?", Fluttershy said as she landed behind them. "Now we have to—" Her—and the real Chronicle's—sudden arrival startled them into a scream that almost ripped their manes off and started racing around them, also bumping into the clone left behind to watch over the petrified Twilight, dissipating him as a result. "Girls, please…girls…listen to me, girls, I, uh…please!" It was no good. She looked off in another direction, gasping as her eyes popped. Down the way, the cockatrice emerged from the bushes and started to close in. 

Fluttershy quickly averted and covered her eyes. The remaining clone, who was facing away from the cockatrice, remained turned away. As for the real Chronicle, he 'produced' a blindfold from hammerspace and covered his eyes with it.

"Girls! Chronicle!", Fluttershy called. "Behind me, now!"

Everypony save the clone fell in before the caterwauling creature got within hoof’s reach of Fluttershy. Risking a backward glance to make sure they were following orders, she inadvertently turned her eye toward the front. Before running into the Crusaders again, Chronicle had warned Fluttershy that he was not adept in fighting blind and would not be able to assist much.

With no warning, just as with the "dragon in the mountain" incident, as the cockatrice was about to lash out at the last clone, she let her voice lash out with a degree of anger that was a complete turnaround from her usual mild tone. "You!" The cockatrice backed up as she looked it straight on. "Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?" Caught off guard, the cockatrice recovered, changed its target to her, and gave her both barrels. As Fluttershy continued, she was slowly being petrified from the tail forward. 

"You should be ashamed of yourself! I have half a mind to find your mother and tell her what you’ve been up to, young man!" Sweating buckets, it dropped to the ground with a shocked gasp, then redoubled its effort. The last clone could see tht Fluttershy was supremely fed-up at this point. "Now you go over there and turn Elizabeak and my friend Twilight back to normal—" During this, she opened her eyes fully to give the cockatrice the same Stare she used on her chickens, giving off the same effect as before. "—and don’t ever let me catch you doing this again!"

As the Crusaders' apprehensive looks turned to smiles, Fluttershy's stone transformation, which had spread to the entire rear half of her body, cracked away like an eggshell to leave a perfectly normal yellow pegasus. Some of the shards hit Chronicle on the side, but he didn't flinch. "Do you understand me?"

The cockatrice can only manage a timid little nod and sound of agreement, after which it ran yelping for the trees. The Crusaders watched it flee and Chronicle removed his blindfold, glad to see that nopony else had been petrified.

Fluttershy turned to the trio of fillies. "Are you girls all right? I was so worried."

"Yeah. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to go into the forest?", Chronicle scolded.

"Yeah, fine.", answered Scootaloo.

"Thanks to that Stare of yours.", Sweetie added, addressing Fluttershy as the pegasus Crusader leaned in.

"You’re like the queen of Stares! You’re the—" She was joined in by the other two Crusaders. "Stare Master!" They then backed off. 

"We’re sorry we snuck out of the house and into the forest."

"Yeah. We’ll listen to you from now on.", said Bloom. 

"We promise.", Scootaloo finished.

Fluttershy then playfully narrowed her eyes and said. "Oh, you do, do you? Well, you better, or I’ll give you…the Stare!"

Turning her head sideways, she aimed one eye at them and succeeded in hypnotizing Scootaloo, much to her own surprise. Once the latter recovered from her trance, all six had a good laugh, the surviving clone glancing the cockatrice flee. Meanwhile, a dazed and back-to-normal Twilight walks up to them. "What…what happened?", she asked as she shook a bit.

"What happened is that you're not going off on your own ever again without me personally or a magical clone.", Chronicle stated as his once-petrified clone now brought back Elizabeak, who was squawking and flapping furiously, her upper half matted in dirt. "I may not take my job as bodyguard as rigidly as most, but I value the safety of my charges all the same."


C—TS—AB—F—S—SB—C—TS—AB—F—S—SB

The following morning…

As the Crusaders galloped by with a laugh, Chronicle and Fluttershy explained to Twilight last night's events. The three of them were seated on cushions at a table, having tea, the purple unicorn levitating a quill and scroll overhead to write up a report.

"And that’s when it brought you back from stone.", Fluttershy finished.

"This is gonna make quite a letter to the Princess. I was wrong about you. You certainly do know how to handle those girls."

"Oh, I wouldn’t go that far."

"Hmm? How so?"

"I assumed that I’d be just as good with kids as I am with animals. Boy, was I wrong. I really learned the hard way not to bite off more than I could chew." 

"You and Rarity both."

"She certainly did.", said Chronicle as his charge rolled up the scroll. "Speaking of which…" He glanced her walking up to them and said, "Good morning, Rarity." 

"Did you finish all those capes?", Fluttershy asked.

Rarity gave a sigh of relief. "Just delivered them. "I have to admit, if you hadn’t come along, I might not have." As she approached them, she nuzzled Fluttershy’s cheek briefly. "Thanks again."

"Won’t you stay for some tea?"

"I really must get back to the shop and clean up." She then turned to face the yard. "Girls, get your things. Time to go." The other two mares gave a shared smile, which was broken by urgency of Rarity’s next words. As it was, the Crusaders were still playing. "Girls! Girls! Time…oh…girls! Your things!" Then with rising impatience. "Girls…it’s time to…girls!" 

Fluttershy stepped up. "Allow me." She proceeded to clear her throat. "Girls…"

They instantly fell quiet and fell in, one by one. "Yes, Fluttershy.", Bloom said.

"You called?" Scootaloo.

"Go and get your things. Rarity is here to see you home."

"Of course, Fluttershy!", said Sweetie. "Right away!" And they all zip off, leaving one full-grown and very puzzled white unicorn in their wake.

"H…how did you…how did you do that?", she asked.

Fluttershy just tipped a wink over her shoulder and got a big smile from Twilight. "I guess I’m just as good with kids as I am with animals."

"Took her a while to reach out to these ones though.", Chronicle added as the Crusaders galloped past, all wearing their saddlebags and shouting thanks to their unconventionally successful babysitters. "They are a very special case." 

"Uh…speaking of which, I could use your help with Opal.", Rarity asked sheepishly as she walked a few paces ahead.

"Of course. How about later today?"

There was a loud, displeased yowl and Rarity turned to present her other flank to the others. Opal was there, with all four sets of claws dug in to attach herself firmly to the white hide. "How about…now?" She winced at the pain those claws were obviously causing her as her cat then gave a yowl and strained moan. 

The two unicorns joined Fluttershy, then while the mares laughed softly, the stallion just gave a knowing groan. "Next time, let Skyla give the Crusaders a try. I wanna see how she will fare with these."

"Yeah.", Rarity agreed. "I guess. Although we'll have to ask Applejack as well as Scootaloo's—"

"I get it, I get it. Well…" He turned to Fluttershy. "I should be going, then. Hopefully, Mystic Shield's all better. Also, I forgot to fetch something for Spike from—"

"I know just what to give him.", Sweetie's older sister cut him off. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Sure."
> BONUS 2: Japanese Opening Theme
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

nightelf37 walks in with a sheet of paper and makes his way to a pulpit and stood behind it.

"Readers, this is nightelf37, writer of this fanfic. This here is another "AMV in script form". I plan to 'write' the Japanese opening theme of the show (with my OCs implemented of course)."

Pinkie Pie pops out from behind him.

"OCs?"

"You'll see. You guys might want to read the rest of the fic before this chapter so far to understand some of the OC-featuring scenes. Now let's sit back and enjoy."

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

"Note: Seiyuu names are typed in surname first, then given name."

Now Playing: Mirai Start by Mimori Suzuko

{scene opens to reveal the "Twinkling Balloon" in front of the daytime sky, with Twilight Sparkle, Chronicle, and Spike as its passengers} 

Dakara Hi Hi Hi! shiawase ga♪

{Twilight looks around from the balloon as it descends into the clouds}

Kitto Hi Hi Hi! utaidasu♪

{cut to Rainbow Dash making loop-de-loop as the 'camera' zooms into Ponyville and enters tunnel vision, and exits it to show the balloon touching down and Twilight jumping off it just before it lands; cut to her face as she brightens up while Chronicle catches up with her}

Kagayaiteru kono kisetsu ni♪

{camera turns around to show their friends ahead: (left to right) Pinkie Pie hops in place, Rarity makes a charming pose, Applejack looks ahead with one foreleg crossed over the other, Fluttershy simply looks cute as she looks sidelong at the camera, and Rainbow flies in and stops just above the four; shift to a series of scenarios: Applejack giving a smile in the barn, Rarity gasping in excitement with a purple backdrop behind her, Rainbow speaking in excitement next to a barn, Fluttershy in the library blushing as she speaks, Pinkie turning from the left to the 'camera', then of Chronicle in front of a large version of his cutie mark turning to the 'camera' and drawing his 'magic horn blade'}

mune ga mune ga odoru no♪

{he slashes down, blinding the 'camera' as it flashes into Twilight looking up with determination, then cut to the to-be-keepers as they were gathered when the Elements were revealing themselves with a bright sphere glowing above them; the sphere then expands it shine to blind the 'screen' again}

(short instrumental)

{when the light fades, reveal a scene of Ponville with Canterlot in the distance; camera zooms out as the title spin-reveals itself and the bottom pops out; the show's title has an added yellow box above reading (in kanji, translating into romaji) "Kiroku no Shizuno"; background then fades  into a simple faded ringed backdrop}

tomaranai♪

{scene of the sun shining brightly in a clear sky during the day, then tilt down toward ground level to reveal Twilight walking through a tree-lined stretch of Ponyville, with Spike on her back and Chronicle to her right}

doki doki wa hajimari no aizu♪


Twilight Sparkle
JAP Voice: Sawashiro Miyuki
ENG Voice: Tara Strong



Chronicle
JAP Voice: Takeuchi Junko
ENG Voice: Alanna Ubach


{split of two different scenes onward, the right one shows Twilight while the left shows Chronicle; she gives a smile to the 'camera' as she faces it with her horn glowing as she faces forward, while he lowers a contract he has signed; she tries to excuse herself from challenging Trixie while he does a facehoof while inside Fluttershy's cottage; she peruses a book and 'flips' its pages while he clashes a sword he's levitating to his own "horn blade"; she smiles as she talks while glancing to the window on her right while he glances to his left to the 'camera' after looking at the Request Board}

sarigenaku mitsumetara mimi ga atsuku naru no yo♪


Pinkie Pie
JAP Voice: Mimori Suzuko
ENG Voice: Andrea Libman


{shift through the following scenes; Pinkie letting off a giggle, then of her commentating on the balloon, then to her talking during the Summer Sun Celebration, and then of her bawling in tears from the two Princesses' reunion, then recovering quickly}

hajimete no waku waku ni tomadoi no merodi♪


Rainbow Dash
JAP Voice: Kitta Izumi
ENG Voice: Ashleigh Ball


{shift through the following scenes; Rainbow bursting through a cloud and showing herself off, then of her in the library saying something daring, then of her seen through a hole in the clouds with the sun framing her like a halo, then of her proclaiming something of herself with an audience in the background, and then of her napping on a cloud}

watashi kara koe kakeru chansu ga hoshikute♪


Applejack
JAP Voice: Tokui Sora
ENG Voice: Ashleigh Ball


{shift through the following scenes; Applejack walking along a line of square buckets piled with seeds while explaining, then of her introduction scene (running to a tree, bucking it, then putting a foreleg in front of the other), and then of her catching and chewing an apple in her mouth before swallowing it}

houkago no hirusagari futoshita guuzen ga♪


Rarity
JAP Voice: Sasaki Mikoi
ENG Voice: Tabitha St. Germain


{shift through the following scenes; Rarity tying a ribbon to a post indoors, then of her turning back just before leaving the Carousel Boutique, and then of her telling about her fantasy for the Grand Galloping Gala}

anata to watashi no mirai wo kaeru?♪


Fluttershy
JAP Voice: Kato Emiri
ENG Voice: Andrea Libman


{shift through the following scenes; Fluttershy conducting for the birds to sing, then of her standing in awe as birds land on her head, and then of a younger version of her as nature's creatures surround her}

oshiete♪


Princess Celestia
JAP Voice: Inoue Kikuko
ENG Voice: Nicole Oliver


{shift to a scene of Celestia in her room, levitating a letter and ink bottle to herself as the 'camera' zooms out, then to a close up of her face as she reads it}

nee oshiete!♪


Spike
JAP Voice: Kumai Motoko
ENG Voice: Cathy Weseluck



Mystic Shield
JAP Voice: Kishio Daisuke
ENG Voice: Christopher Sabat


{shift to a split scene; on the right is Spike reading a letter while inside Twilight's old place and on the left is Mystic glancing to his right to the 'camera' after looking at the Request Board}

{right - Spike sends a letter to the Princess, left - Mystic expands his force field while in the Carousel Boutique}

sonna Hi Hi Hi! shiawase ni♪

{scene of Rainbow circling her forelegs around Pinkie and Rarity's necks, then of Pinkie and the rest of Twilight's to-be-friends in her welcome party, and then of Fluttershy just outside the dragon cave, with the other five mares and Chronicle (below Rainbow) popping out from behind her}

kitto Hi Hi Hi! tsutsumarete♪

{scene of the 'camera' turning to frame Twilight's face in the front right with Spike at the back left wearing a mustache, then to Chronicle being pushed back to the left as Nightmare Moon shoved him off and he lands on his feet}

nanimokamo ga ureshikunaru watashi wo uketomete♪

{scene of Rarity saying her thanks to Hoity Toity as her friends stand behind her and the 'camera' zooms out as she turned to look at them, then to Chronicle 'flash-stepping' away from the 'camera' as Rainbow Dash passes his way}

dakara Hi Hi Hi! shiawase ga♪

{he then gets pounced by Pinkie Pie; scene of him doing a backflip after winning an event, then of him and Mystic Shield relaxing on massage tables as the spa twins did their work}

kitto Hi Hi Hi! utaidasu♪

{scene of Twilight walking forward as her friends and Mystic Shield stand in line before embarking to the mountain, then of ponies in Ponyville running to a celebration}

kagayaiteru kono kisetsu ni♪

{scene of Twilight as she listens to Celestia's decree, then of Chronicle doing a sad smile as he stands among the crowd, and then of the others as the 'camera' pans across them}

mune ga mune ga odoru no♪

{shot of all of them, the speaking Celestia, and more of the crowd as the 'camera' zooms out}

mirai mirai mirai e!♪

{'camera' zooms out from Twilight as her friends are ranged around her; scene of Chronicle 'drawing' his "horn blade" in the dreamscape; then of a three by three grid of gold-bordered rectangles instantly forming, from left to right and top to bottom are the following with their interiors colored in the coats of their occupants: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Mystic Shield, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Chronicle, Applejack, Rarity, Spike (green backdrop)}

{Twilight teleports into a scene that is a fair distance from the library, then the 'camera' zooms out to reveal the rest of the gang; to the right are Applejack and Fluttershy, to the left are Pinkie, Rarity, and Chronicle, and above those two is Rainbow; as the other five mares edge closer to Twilight, Chronicle lowers his head and body and looks ready to charge as he gives a grin; fade to a clearer zoom out of the library, then fade to black}

End Song

A movie projector turns off, revealing to have played the opening theme.

"Note that any assigned voices of my original characters are not present-accurate. I'm imagining Alanna's voice as the one for the titular character of the series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. Junko is best known for her role as Naruto's VA. And yes, both of Chronicle's VAs are girls. Daisuke voices Kaito Dōmoto from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch and Leo/Loke from Fairy Tail. Christopher Sabat voices William Rush from Time Crisis 4."

"Wow! You promoted Mystic Shield to the opening titles!", Pinkie Pie says.

"Yes. I figured he has as much precedence to my story as Spike is. Maybe less, maybe more. Depends on where Chronicle is at the moment."

"See ya on Third! And I still don't know what that means."
> Chapter 16: Sonic Rainboom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16: Sonic Rainboom

Preceding the events of "A Dog and Pony Show" and following that of "Fall Weather Friends"…

In the Golden Oaks Library…

Chronicle had overslept and could not be woken up even if Spike would poke his rump. When he finally rose, he found that the was now alone in the upper floor. Deciding not to go down just yet, he activated Surveillance. He decided to check on Fluttershy, and saw that she was standing out in the meadow with Rainbow Dash, who was pacing in mid-air behind her. He 'opened' a second "window" in his device and he was now looking through Rainbow's camera as well.

"Now, what have we learned?", he heard the sky blue pegasus say.

"Lots of control.", the other replied.

"Good."

"Screaming and hollering."

"Yes. And most importantly?"

"Passion."

Are they talking about what I think they're talking about?

"Right!" Rainbow then landed in front of Fluttershy. "So now that you know the elements of a good cheer, let’s hear one!"

Oh. They're not.

The soft-spoken pegasus inhaled a bushel of air and let it go on a single word… "Yay." …that was is no louder than her usual speaking voice, causing Rainbow to put a hoof over her own face with a disgusted groan.

"You’re gonna cheer for me like that? Louder."

"Yay." This was barely louder than the last one.

"Louder!"

"Yay." This was a bit louder, but not enough.

"LOUDER!!", Rainbow then shouted with such force the camera on her actually shuddered a bit.

This time, Fluttershy sucked in every molecule of air her lungs will hold and cut loose. "Yaaay." Only a bit louder than her previous attempt. This time, Rainbow not only groaned and covered her face, but keeled over backward. "Too loud?"

Chronicle gave a groan and decided to check on the others and nearly balked; everypony else was in the library sorting out the shelves, although Spike was missing. The camera on him was working when he checked, but all he was getting was static. Just then, as he 'closed' all the 'rectangles' showing the others, he glimpsed somepony he hadn't seen before.

In the bushes in view of his camera on Fluttershy was a mare whose coat was white as a ghost. Her eyes were baby blue, and her mane was baby pink, which was held up in a very light yellow bandanna, which looked like the ones the spa twins wear. However, her eyes were not on Fluttershy, but on somepony in the sky. He then came to the only other conclusion; this pony was watching Rainbow Dash. But why was she hiding like that?

Adjusting the 'rectangles' so that they were side-by-side, he kept one eye on the "spy" and the other on Rainbow.

At the right 'screen', said pegasus was now standing on a cloud, a moving bank of them a few paces away. At the left, Fluttershy was looking up and so was the "spy".

"Yay.", said the former.

Rainbow took a a deep breath, bounced on the cloud as if it were a diving board, and plunged into space. She pulled up just short of the ground and buzzed through the flowers, streaking the air with her multicolored mane. "And now, Phase One of my routine.", she said to herself.

Phase One consisted a close slalom through a row of trees, followed by a straightaway run that blew Fluttershy’s (and the "spy"'s) hair sideways.

"Ooooh.", said Fluttershy while the spy gave a light smile.

Rainbow gained altitude and stopped. "Phase Two." This phase consisted of her diving toward a large cloud and flying tight circles around it, causing it to spin in place. As she did the same to two others before zipping away, Chronicle was impressed with how fast Surveillance's cameras can go to catch up with her. 

On the ground, Fluttershy’s eyes had started turning in opposite directions to follow them all, but she quickly shook some sense into herself. As for the "spy", she retained her focus all the way.

"Way to go." 

Rainbow climbed again. "Here we go…Phase Three. The Sonic Rainboom!"

"The Sonic Rainboom?", the spy said out loud to herself, but Fluttershy was too focused on her friend to notice.

Once the sky blue pegasus reached an appropriately extreme height, she cut a couple of vertical loops and went into a screaming dive, one foreleg extended to cut the air resistance. The wind peeled her lips back from her teeth and plastered her mane to her skull, and a rounded wave front formed in front of her due to the sheer speed and started to build. 

Chronicle was surprised to see that he could see the mach cone, waving it off as being filtered by the cameras.

"Come on…" Both sides of the wave front stretched as if made of elastic; now every extra foot that she flwe caused more resistance to build up. Eventually, she stopped dead in midair, unable to punch through. "Uh-oh." She was flung backward and out of sight, screaming all the while, and while Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth worriedly, the "spy" drooped her ears and took off, revealing her to be a pegasus. It also showed her tail, which was unruly like Rainbow's but colored a solid baby pink, and a cutie mark depicting a single tornado like the ones on Dizzy Twister.

He wasn't able to figure out more since Fluttershy was on the move and soon the "spy" was out of sight. Setting the incident behind him for now, he turned off Surveillance and put it away, deciding to head downstairs. Rather than jump down from where his bed was to the floor below, he decided to take it slow and walked down the stairs—noting that it needed a bannister—and casually made his way to the door. 

Just as he opened it, he heard a crash down ahead that kicked up enough dust to reach him. He coughed from the dust, then continued down as it cleared. By the time he could see the ground floor, he could see that all the books have tumbled off the shelves and Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity were sprawled out on top of them. 

As his charge lifted her head, her mouth jammed full of scrolls, the two earth ponies popped their heads up from the scatter before Fluttershy flew in through the window further down the stairs to the left. "Rainbow Dash, you rock. Woo-hoo.", she said before taking in the disaster area with a soft gasp. "Did my cheering do that?"

"Nope.", Chronicle said as he walked down. "It was like this when you entered. I'm guessing somepony else was the cause." One rule of his agreement concerning his Surveillance forbid him to relay to the other four what the two pegasi were doing at the time without their permission.

Rainbow stood up with a sheepish laugh. "Sorry about that, ladies.", she said to the others before saying the next sentence with an annoyed tone. "That was a truly feeble performance."

"Actually, it wasn’t all bad. I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin.", Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow gave an angry sigh. "I’m not talking about my performance, I’m talking about yours! That feeble cheering!"

"What are you two arguing about?", Twilight asked.

"Were we arguing? I’m sorry.", Fluttershy said as Chronicle walked up next to her.

Rainbow gave another sigh and turned to the other girls. "I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale to see me compete in the Best Young Flyer Competition."

"What’s that?", Twilight asked again.

Pinkie gave the answer in an excited manner. "It’s where all the greatest pegasus flyers get together and show off their different flying styles." She reared up. "Some are fast!" She raced around the room, throwing books here and there as she swerved about, then stopped to balance on one front and one rear hoof. "And some are graceful!"

Judging from the way she yelled and stumbled across the floor before crashing down, she certainly is not. At least around these books.

Applejack turned to face Rainbow. "Gol-lee. I’d love to see you strut your stuff in that competition."

"Yeah. I wish you guys could be there. Fluttershy’s a great support, but her cheering isn’t exactly inspirational." 

Pinkie stood up, an open book on her head. "Ooh! I’d love to see you make a Sonic Rainboom! It’s, like, the most coolest thing ever!" She then jumped in place the book falling off. "Even though I’ve never actually seen it, but I mean, come on, it’s a Sonic Rainboom!" Applejack and Rarity had followed her movements with noticeable puzzlement, and Twilight wasn't doing any better. "How not cool could it possibly not be?"

"What’s a Sonic Rainboom?", Twilight then asked.

"Seriously?", Chronicle asked her in turn. "For a well-read mare, you know so little of the outside world. Even I know what it is thanks to a book."

Pinkie then leaned into the bookish unicorn's face. "You really need to get out more." She jumped up to a loft. "The Sonic Rainboom is legendary! When a pegasus like Rainbow Dash gets going so fast…" She jumped over the edge and plunged into the piled books, landing hard enough to clear a space on the floor. "…BOOM! A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!"

"And I read that there are other Special Sonic Booms as well. Like a Fireboom, a Thunderboom, a Frostboom, and even something called a Whispering Yay Woosh. But the Sonic Rainboom's is the stuff of legend and is the most well-known." He then mumbled, "Personally, I think the Woosh is awesome."

"And Rainbow Dash here’s the only pony to ever pull it off.", Applejack finished.

Rainbow played it off. "It was a long time ago. I was just a filly."

"Yeah, but you’re gonna do it again, right?", Pinkie said.

This inquiry left the pegasus flat-hoofed for a second, but she gradually recovered her usual braggadocio, but Chronicle and one other pony noticed. "Are you kidding? I’m the greatest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale. I could do Sonic Rainbooms in my sleep!"

"Wow! If you pull that off, you’ll win the crown for sure!", Twilight said.

"The grand prize is an entire day with the Wonderbolts! A whole day of flying with my lifelong heroes. It’ll be a dream come true!" 

Fluttershy gave off a weak "Yay." Chronicle just smacked himself on the face.

The blue flying ace, threw her a fed-up look and then turned back to the rest. "I’m gonna go rest up. Don’t want to over-prepare myself, you know?" She then gave a brief laugh, then rounded on Fluttershy. "You, on the other hand, better keep practicing!" She trotted toward the window. "I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance." With that, she flew out over the balcony and away. 

Back inside, Fluttershy turned despondently toward the room. "She’s practiced that move a hundred times, and she’s never even come close to doing it. I don’t know if I can cheer loud enough to help her." She then flew out the window as well.

"Well, guess we better get this cleaned up.", Twilight sighed. "Again." She then proceeded to levitate a book.

"Just where is Spike, anyway?", Chronicle said as he joined them.

"Have you forgotten?"

The unicorn stallion tapped his head with a hoof to try and remember, then that was what happened. "Oh, right. Now I remember where he is."

As it was, Mystic Shield had decided to go on a field trip to a place (its name he couldn't remember) beyond Whitetail Wood with his class and requested Twilight that he needed Spike for this. Chronicle didn't join them due to his contract requiring him to protect his charge, and Twilight was too busy studying to join. Others didn't come as well, including Heartstrings as she was still recovering a bit from her bipedal running during the Running of the Leaves. That was a week ago. They were bound to return in two days from now.

Just then, Rarity poked his charge in the rump with her horn, jerking her body and forcing her to 'drop' the book. "Go on, go on." 

"Go on, what?"

"Find a spell that will get us wingless ponies into Cloudsdale. Didn’t you see how nervous she was?"

"I did.", Chronicle said as he began to sort out books.

Applejack however didn't see it. "Nervous? Have you spit your bit or somethin’? She was tootin’ her own horn louder than the brass section of a marchin’ band."

"Oh, puh-lease. I’ve put on enough fashion shows to recognize stage fright when I see it. We’ve got to find a way to be there for her." Rarity then slammed Twilight away with her rump. "Now go on!"

The pony on the receiving end fetched up in a pile of books and stuck her head out of it with a loud groan. "How am I supposed to find a flight spell in this mess?"

"A flight spell? One sec.", Pinkie said as she zipped away and returned an instant later, carrying a book in her teeth which she tossed across the room. "Page twenty-seven."

On these words, the book landed in front of Twilight, open, and she magically flipped the pages. 

"How’d you do that?", Applejack asked.

"It landed on my face when Rainbow Dash knocked me into the bookcase."

"Here it is!", Twilight announced as she levitated the book. "A spell that will allow earth ponies to fly for three days." She then walked ahead with it. "Ooh…it looks really difficult. I’m not sure I can do it." 

"You’ve got to try!", Rarity pleaded.

"Okay."

"I think, 'non-pegasus ponies' would be a more accurate term.", Chronicle commented as he put away another book, then looked over. "Glimmer Wings, huh?"

"It's specifically for earth ponies, although I think unicorn ponies can be targeted without problems. But who’s gonna volunteer to be the test subject?"

An uneasy look passed between the two earth ponies—clearly neither of them was hot to pull guinea-pig duty. 

Rarity lowered her eyebrows determinedly, then spoke up before Chronicle could. "I will! For Rainbow Dash, I will go first."

"I was going to volunteer, but she beat me to it.", he said. "Can't you do both of us?"

"Sorry, but it looks like this spell uses a lot of magic. And I'm not sure if supplying me with yours can help. I was still strained after that Ursa Minor incident even with you providing me your magic, even if I did feel like I could cast some more."

"All right."

"Here goes."

Twilight lowered the book and she got her horn going in fourth gear with a strained grunt. Ribbons of brilliant blue light began to wind around Rarity’s motionless form and contract toward her. As Twilight gave it her all, the white unicorn was slowly lifted free of the ground and enveloped from head to tail like a caterpillar forming a cocoon. Finally, a ball of light emerged from the violet unicorn’s horn and floated slowly across until it was halfway between the two. Here, it stopped and emitted a blinding white flash that threw everypony back.

Once it faded, everypony got up, very woozy and unsteady on their legs. A pattern of multicolored light spot then projected itself in the room. Twilight smiled and the others gasp happily at the sight. "I think it worked." Rarity now had a pair of multicolored, translucent butterfly-like wings.

"Sure did.", Chronicle agreed. "I want to learn that spell too." He earned a funny look from the others. "What? Wings are wings, and until I can somehow find a way to get temporary bird-like wings, preferably pegasus wings, these'll have to do."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—?—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—?

Eyecatch (video-type) - The show's logo appears in the center of the screen, then multicolored, translucent butterfly-like wings emerge from behind it as if opened.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

En route to Cloudsdale…

Taking a balloon that was used during the Running of the Leaves, Twilight Sparkle and the others made their way to Cloudsdale. Rarity had gone on ahead, wanting to "try out her new duds" as Chronicle put it.

He discovered that the balloon had come from Cherry Berry, who also happened to be a skilled hot air balloon pilot. Aside from selling cherries in the marketplace, she rents hot air balloons (under Twinkling Balloon Services) for others to use.

Right now, he could see another of those balloons far ahead, and he thought he could see three familiar faces. As well as one new one, but he wasn't able to pay it much mind as they all began to stare in awe at the sight ahead. Chronicle had already seen it a few times before, but it still got him every time.

Cloudsdale was up ahead, an entire city built in the sky, made of clouds, had rainbow waterfalls in places, and was breathtakingly spectacular. "Cloudsdale…", he sighed. "So nice to visit again."

"Again?", asked Applejack.

"Later, once we meet up with the others. Wouldn't want to explain my story twice."

"All right." A minute later, they were nearing their friends' location. Already they could hear their voices from above.

"Why so shocked?", they heard Rarity say. "We couldn’t leave our favorite flyer without a big cheering section."

"We?", they then heard Rainbow Dash say.

"That's our cue.", said Pinkie. At once, their balloon ascended and broke through the clouds. All four ponies saw their pegasi friends—accompanied by Rarity—give smiles upon seeing them. 

"I…I can’t believe it!", Rainbow managed to say.

"It’s incredible!", said Fluttershy as the balloon touched down. Ordinary ones would've broken through, but all of Cherry Berry's balloons have their baskets (in case it tips over) coated with a special material that allows it to sit on clouds safely. As it was, Cloudsdale clouds are different from those created through the natural water cycle.

"This is so cool! You guys made it!"

"Sure did!", agreed Pinkie as she and Chronicle hopped over the side.

Rainbow's good cheer instantly gave way to sheer panic. "WAIT!!" The eight hooves made contact with the clouds but did not fall through, instead sinking in slightly as if the two were standing on a mattress. Pinkie gave a huge grin, leaving all three flyers greatly confused. Twilight and Applejack did likewise a moment later. "How’d you do that? Only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds."

"Pretty cool, huh?", Pinkie giggled as she turned cartwheels.

"I found a spell that makes temporary wings.", Twilight explained. But it was too difficult to do more than once. So I found an easier spell that lets the rest of us walk on clouds."

"I taught her the spell. Very useful."

"You did?", asked Fluttershy.

"Uh-huh. I've actually been to Cloudsdale before. It was during one of my previous contracts."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"A Canterlot noble named Perry Pierce had requested me to escort his prestigious pegasus son to a school there."

Chronicle and his client were sitting in opposite ends of a desk, discussing the terms of his contract. There was a window to their left showing Princess Celestia's setting sun. The then-freelancer 'took' the contract and started reading it.

"Hey, is this Perry guy related to Pokey Pierce?"

"Please do not interrupt, Pinkie. Although now that I think of it, I'm starting to wonder if they are."

Chronicle then 'put down' the contract on the desk and said. "You want me to escort your prestigious pegasus child to school?"

"Yes. That's right.", Perry answered.

"And the school is in Cloudsdale?"

"Yes. That's right."

"And he's got…bully issues."

"Yes. That's right."

"I appreciate the job offer, but… You do know I'm a unicorn pony, right?"

"Yes. That's right."

"And you know that only pegasus ponies can walk on clouds without falling through, right?"

"Yes. That's right."

"Then why ask for my services if I will be unable to perform them just because of my race?"

His face then changed expressions. "Because I know of no pegasus who can perform this job. And if there is, I'm short of time to look for them."

"…All right. But how do I get to Cloudsdale and stay up there without constantly staying on some sort of aircraft?"

"I have something to handle that."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"And so, along with the job, he taught me the spell that grants me the ability to walk on clouds."

"But there's still that 'Magic Sickness' issue.", Twilight said. "How did you get around that?"

"Well, it was cast on me by his assistant who took me and the child there. It's quite a long story. Maybe I can tell you another time." He then turned to face Rainbow. "Anyway, what's important is that we're now here in Cloudsdale."

"And we came to cheer you to victory.", Applejack finished.

"To be honest, I was starting to get just the teeniest, tiniest bit nervous.", Rainbow admitted. Chronicle rolled his eyes at this. "But I feel a lot better now that you guys are here. Hey! We’ve got some time before the competition. Why don’t Fluttershy and I show you around Cloudsdale?"

There was enthusiastic agreement from the other four mares, while the sole stallion in the group just gave a curt nod. Before they started walking, he turned to Applejack and said. "Could you pause for a minute? There's something I need to do."

"What?"

He flared his horn and a magical clone appeared atop her back. "Last time I did this, my clone fell through the clouds. Very awkward. As it turns out, spell effects don't get copied." He then cast the cloud walking-spell and when the clone jumped off, he landed safely.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later…

As the group neared the top of a ridge, Rainbow announced, "Here it is. The greatest city in the sky!"

While everypony else save Fluttershy made expressions of awe, Chronicle and his clone looked on calmly as they saw a vista ahead. They could also see a few familiar faces from Ponyville.

Rainbow looked ahead with a healthy dose of civic pride, which quickly vanishes at the sound of Rarity’s voice. "Ooooh…" As it was, she was admiring her winged reflection lovingly in a window of a clothing shop. "…ahhhh!" 

Rainbow was uncertain as to what to make of this. "Uhhhh…" Walking on, she and Fluttershy led the rest of the group. "Some of the greatest pegasi in history came from Cloudsdale.", she continued.

"Ooh, wait for me!", Rarity said as she flew away from the shop window to catch up. Elsewhere, three stallions in hard hats, tool belts, and orange safety vests were doing construction work. Two gripped the ends of a tape measure in their teeth to size up a column, while the third used a jackhammer on the cloud foundation. The one with the free end let go, allowing it to snap back into his partner’s mouth, and the jackhammer jittered away over the edge as all three looked off to one side and see Rarity flitting by on her new wings.

"Those wings are gorgeous!", one of them said. Chronicle rolled his eyes at the sight of their being distracted.

Typical construction catcalls.

"Why, thank you!", Rarity replied as she swooped down over the others.

Be careful with those wings, Rarity.", Twilight warned. "They’re made from gossamer and morning dew, and they’re incredibly delicate."

"Don’t worry, Twilight. I’m sure they can’t get worn out from too much attention."

"Ouch.", Chronicle remarked, taking fun in the comeback. "I'm still wondering if those Glimmer Wings are worth learning." He then mused to himself. "Maybe I can reinforce them with magic."

"Since we’re up here, I’d sure like to get a look at where the weather’s made.", Applejack said.

Rainbow seemed to brighten up at this. "Great idea! Come on, girls!" She proceeded to fly ahead. "To the weather factory!"

I hope it's kid friendly…, Chronicle thought, nightmares from the "Rainbow Factory" book Blue Diary gave him months ago coming to mind.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

En route to the weather factory…

As they crossed a street, the eight (seven if the clone is not counted) encountered some familiar faces.

Chronicle was the first to greet them. "Derpy Hooves! Bon Bon! Lyra! Carrot Top! Dinky!"

"Hi!", chirped the unicorn filly.

"Hey, guys!", greeted Heartstrings.

"What brings you here to Cloudsdale?", he asked, his friends still staring in disbelief that there were more non-pegasi in Cloudsdale aside from them.

"We decided to see the Best Young Flyer Competition!"

"And I'm taking part!", finished Derpy.

"You?", the stallion was shocked. "But aren't you a mother?"

"Still just about young enough to qualify. I'll be too old next year and I wanted to show little Dinky I'm not just a klutz." At this, she picked up her daughter and hugged her.

"Oookay.", Chronicle managed to say as his friends regained their composure.

"As for how we got here, I won a lottery two days ago and got tickets for a tour to Cloudsdale.", Bon Bon explained. "And as for how we're able to walk on clouds, which only pegasi can normally do, we've been cast a cloud-walking spell by the guy who took us here."

"And in the event we would want to visit Cloudsdale again, I also learned it too."

"I see. Say, we're headed to the weather factory. Thinking of coming?"

"Sure!", said Carrot.

Derpy however backed out and said, "I think I'll sit this one out."

"Aww…", complained Dinky. "I wanted to go."

Rainbow told Chronicle, "There was a…disastrous incident last time she was there. It's one of the reasons she decided to be a mailmare instead of a weather pony."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Finally…

Leaving Derpy and Dinky to go elsewhere ("I'm gonna buy souvenirs."), the group, now added up by three, made their way up the cloud equivalent of a narrow road winding along a cliff to a building complex built on it. A rainbow laced down into one wing, waterfalls of its light trickle over the edges like a fair number of Cloudsdale's buildings (and Rainbow's house). Black storm clouds hung over other areas and crackled with lightning.

Upon reaching the place, they were stopped by an official, but Rainbow vouched for everypony and they were granted access, but not without donning the appropriate safety attire, which consisted of white hard hats and coats. And thanks to a spell from Rarity, the clone Chronicle was donned the clothes without having to push his body around, which would not be safe for his integrity.

The group made their way to one of the entrances in the factory, its door hissing upward as a magic sensor (explained later) detected one worker and ten escorted visitors. Rainbow led them through and into the factory, keeping her voice down. 

"This is where they make the snowflakes.", she explained, indicating several of them under a magnifying lens on a table, being inspected by workers dressed for the cold—fur-lined lab coats, with earmuffs over the hard hats. "Each one is hoof-made."

So Parasol works here too., Chronicle wondered as he noted the faces of two of them as they stood at workstations on opposite sides of a large vat of flakes. And wait…that can't be Noteworthy. Can it? A relative, perhaps?

"As you could [sic] see, it’s a delicate operation."

"Hmm…the legend of Snowdrop comes to mind.", muttered the mare-faced stallion.

"You read that legend?", Twilight whispered.

"Mm-hmm. Very tear-jerking tale. From what I read, she was one of Princess Luna's cherished ponies." He then lowered his voice further. "I wonder if her passing was one factor behind her transformation into Nightmare Moon…"

Meanwhile, Rarity flew up to check out a couple of large specimens hung from the ceiling. "Ooh, the snowflakes look even better from up here!", she said. But the air currents created by her flapping not only caused these two to swing on their wires, but also sent all the regular-size ones every which way on the production floor. Grumbling ponies galloped after them, many with bowls balanced on heads to catch them, but the sound of delicate flakes shattering on walls and floor came through all too clearly. Bon Bon and Carrot Top gave a disapproving look at the Glimmer Wing-wearing unicorn.

"We better move on before Rarity ruins winter and causes a drought.", Rainbow suggested. She winced at the tinkle of another broken flake.

"Yeah. With winter coming shortly…", Lyra started.

Just then, Chronicle started up upon sensing something. His time as a bodyguard had given him the intuition on whether they were being watched. He turned to Twilight and said, "The rest of you go on ahead, I think I'll see what I can do about this mess." He then gave a wink as well.

Twilight didn't understand the wink, but decided that he knew what he was doing and agreed. As she left with the rest to the next area, Chronicle made a glimpse back as he made to walk after them, then suddenly teleported.

When he emerged, he promptly landed on one of the workers, then took off her hat, revealing a familiar very light yellow bandanna under it holding back baby pink hair.

"All right, missy.", he said. "I want to know why you've been spying on Rainbow Dash a few hours ago."

This seemed to surprise the "spy", who spoke in a highly feminine voice. "How do you know that?"

"Let's just say you're not the only one who knows a thing or two on espionage."

She gave a sigh. "All right. But could you promise not to tell anypony else? And move somewhere discreet?"

"Okay." He then got his companion moving and out of the factory. "That's an amateurish move for a spy."

"That's because I'm not. Not the assassin or infiltrator type anyway. I'm an undercover Wonderbolt. You can call me Skyla." She raised a hoof to shake.

"Chronicle." He returned the greeting. "So… Let me ask again. Why have you been spying on Rainbow Dash?"

"Okay, do you know how we recruit Wonderbolts?"

"No."

"We have the Wonderbolts Academy, of course. However, the only way to get in is by invitation letters."

"And there are undercover Wonderbolts like you investigating potentials like Rainbow Dash?", Chronicle guessed.

"Uhh…that's right."

"HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT, HOT!", a voice came.

The two of them turned to see Pinkie Pie headed their way. Without missing a beat, Chronicle conjured a barrier for her to slam into, which she did.

"Pinkie Pie.", he greeted. "What's up?"

"Too spicy!"

"Too spicy? That's weird coming from you."

Pinkie then turned to Skyla and said, "Hi!"


C—TS—LH—GH—BB—A—RD—R—F—PP—S

Erstwhile…

Rainbow Dash led her company (sans Rarity, who was off elsewhere) to a large round chamber. Three workers criss-crossed its upper reaches, each with a net on a long pole—similar to a pool skimmer—over one shoulder. A freshet of rainbow light spilled out of an aperture near the open ceiling level, down through several suspended pools, and toward the floor. Other pegasi were at work on these platforms, using their own skimmers to keep debris out.

"And here’s where they make the rainbows!", she finished as the others followed her through the area. Pinkie dipped one front hoof into the pool and licks it, smacking her lips to get the taste. 

"Pinkie Pie, I think that's industrial solvent!", gasped Bon Bon.

Pinkie's face then cycled through a quick series of colors and painful contortions, accompanied by a brief burst of flame from her mouth, and she gasped for breath once she was back to her normal pink. The stuff had disagreed with her so badly that she almost couldn't get her next word out. "Spicy!" As she galloped off, Twilight gave a smile, Applejack laughed, and Carrot groaned.

"Okay, now I get what Mystic Shield meant by tasting a rainbow.", Chronicle commented.

"Yeah.", Rainbow agreed. "Rainbows aren’t really known for their flavor."

"I seriously hope they're not made out of…" He didn't know how to put this without sounding like a madpony. "You know…unless…"

"If you're thinking about that tale of the 'Rainbow Factory', that's just a old filly's tale.", said the worker who looked like Noteworthy as he overheard. "A scary story mothers tell their foals to scare them into behaving."

"I'd still like a deeper tour sometime, if just to allay my fears."

"You'd have to ask the boss for that. I believe Rainbow Dash here can take you there."

Chronicle turned to face her. "Perhaps another time."

"Pinkie Swear?"

"Pinkie Swear." And the two of them performed the necessary motions, remembering to close their eye before putting their hoof into them.

"I think she's lucky she only breathed fire instead of, say, her mouth being covered in severe chemical burns.", Bon Bon said. "And the fire breathing's already strange to me."

From what I know, a rainbow is basically just refracted light, so tasting liquid rainbow would probably be like a mouthful of laser beams. However, given that they are like this in Equestria… Chronicle's thoughts were interrupted by a "Whoa!" He would've described the voice that made it to be like that of a typical high-school bully.  

The two turned to see a trio of pegasus stallions (all clad in white hard hats and lab coats like the rest) crossing the floor and keeping their eyes trained on Rarity, who was out for a midair stroll.

"Well, if it isn't Billy Dumbell, Hoops, and Score.", the unicorn stallion said mostly to himself.

Billy had a dark brown coat, light tan hair, a barbell cutie mark, and blue eyes set unusually far down toward his nose. Hoops, the largest of the three, had a dark tan coat, brown hair, and a cutie mark of three basketballs. Score, the shortest and bulkiest, had a gray coat, dark gray/black hair, and a cutie mark of two footballs. All of them had their manes hanging down into their faces, obscuring the eyes of the latter two.

"You've met them?", asked Rainbow.

"Uh-huh. Remember that prestigious child I talked about? These guys tormented him as well. Or at least they would have were it not for me."

"Oh, you were his bodyguard, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Oh, where’d you get those amazing wings?", they heard Billy ask. "I want a pair!"

"Hmmm…yeah, I guess I could see that.", Rarity replied.

Just then, the trio noticed one particular pony. "Oh, hey, look, it’s Rainbow Crash again!"

Hoops laughed at that. "Yeah! Rainbow…um…" He fumbled for the words. "…Crash!"

Chronicle turned to Rainbow and said, "Can't believe Spike wasn't the only one…"

"Rarity!", she scolded as the others went over. "What are you doing talking to these guys?"

"Oh, they were just admiring my wings, Rainbow Dash."

"Yeah. You should forget the Sonic Rainboom and just get yourself some wings like these!", Billy teased, then laughed heartily before suddenly stopping, then turning their gaze on one other pony. They retained this silence for six seconds.

"Finally noticed me, huh?", Chronicle finally said.

"If it isn't that unicorn who's been taggin' with that kid!", said Billy.

"I see you finally managed to find jobs.", the unicorn snarked in return.

"And you, you're hanging out with this loser?" The jock pointed at Rainbow while saying this.

Chronicle responded by flaring his horn and generating his "magic horn blade", but much shorter as if not wanting to attract too much attention. Rainbow slumped despondently at this. "Just a new contract is all. And I discuss their terms with no one." He then lengthened his blade and positioned himself so that it was between his companions and the trio. "And if you dare speak ill of any of my charges again while I'm around, I'll make that scuffle we had last time look like a play fight."

At those words, Billy and his posse backed away, not once showing fear in their faces, then left without a word. Once they were out of earshot, Chronicle sheathed his "blade". Luckily, Bon Bon, Carrot, and Lyra were at the back and did not clearly see what he did.

"Umm…was that what you call a bluff?", Fluttershy asked.

"Maybe.", he replied coyly. "Depends on how they take it."

She had no idea what to interpret from his words, so she decided to change the subject. "Oh, come on, girls. Why don’t we go see how clouds are made?" As the group headed out, she addresses Rainbow. "Don’t listen to them. You’re gonna win that competition for sure."

Rainbow turned to Chronicle, who made a gesture of understanding and backed away out of earshot (knowing he can know what they said anyway later through Surveillance), then said, "Are you kidding? I can’t do the Sonic Rainboom. And just look at these boring, plain old feathered wings. I’m doomed!"

Her three friends present shared a concerned look at this. The other three were unsure of what to do and remained neutral.


C—TS—LH—GH—BB—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—BD—H—S

Later…

The group made their way to an immense circular chamber with a domed, open ceiling. Several pegasi were hard at work here, stirring large kettles that sent up thick white clouds of vapor, while others pumped the bellows to heat the ovens on which they sit. One mare with a wisteria coat, pink lace hair with baby pink streaks, charm pink eyes, a cutie mark of a rainbow, and the name Rainbowshine, flew to one empty kettle and tipped in the contents of a bucket on her head. Instantly, the vessel erupted to life in a geyser of clouds.

At this point, the real Chronicle, Skyla, and Pinkie Pie (now having recovered from her disastrous rainbow taste-test), were returning and making their way to the rest. When Twilight and the others turned, saw her, and asked who she was, the Chronicle clone said, "Ask him later. My memory doesn't get updated to whatever he discovers." He then turned to a very uneasy Rainbow, then to what had grabbed her attention; a babel of admiring voices from a number of workers—Rainbowshine among them—as they looked at Rarity, who was showing herself off once more.

"What, these old things? Go ahead, everypony. Photos are encouraged.", she was saying.

Rarity's friends and the three accompanying Ponyvillians were slightly fed-up, except for Rainbow, whose nerves are starting to chew her up again, and Skyla, who was more than just fed-up. She seemed to be insulted for some reason.

The real Chronicle noticed this and asked, "Do you have anything against Glimmer Wings?"

"No. What I am against are over-their-head show-offs, no matter their wings." At this point, the three have joined the main group.

As the showboating unicorn played to the crowd, Twilight stepped over for a word. "Rarity, we’re supposed to be helping Rainbow Dash relax, remember? Put your wings away and stop showing off!" 

Rarity just flew higher with a contemptuous sigh. "How can you ask me to put away perfection?" She ended up directly in front of the sun, so that its rays shone through her wings and threw pastel spots over the gathered workers. Pinkie was the only Ponyville resident to join the workers in voicing their awe at the display. Seeing the end product of her impromptu light show, Rarity let a wild laugh ring over the crowd.

"Just great.", said Chronicle as he dismissed his clone. "Maybe I should start calling her 'Vanity'."

Twilight meanwhile turned to Rainbow, who was now sitting on the factory floor with her head propped on her front hooves. "Rainbow Dash, are you okay? You don’t look so good."

"Of course.", she replied, obviously hyperventilating. "Why wouldn’t I be okay? Everyone’s so in love with Rarity’s wings that they won’t even notice when I totally blow it in the Best Young Flyers Competition!" 

Just then, Rainbowshine zipped forward. "Hey, there’s an idea!", she suggested to Rarity. "You should enter the competition!" 

An elder worker spoke up, "Yeah! I could watch you fly all day long!"

"There really isn’t anypony who uses their wings quite like me. Perhaps I should compete."

Rainbow gasped, "What?!?"

With that, Rarity shifted away from the sun as more awed mutterings came. The cloud crew followed her off the production floor as well as Lyra, Carrot, and Bon Bon (though they walked at a slower pace), leaving one shocked blue pegasus to gape after them. 

Her other five friends and Skyla gathered around, then she said, "What am I gonna do? I’ll never win the competition now." 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S

Eyecatch (video-type) - The show's logo in the center of the screen, with the multicolored, translucent butterfly-like wings from last time appears. The wings then fold up and disappear behind the logo, then two helices of rainbows come out from the sides, followed by a sonic boom that absorbs its colors.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S

For some reason, Skyla went closer and began to pat Rainbow on the head in an attempt to comfort her. Chronicle's friends turned and faced him, all of them silently asking one question; Who is she?"

Knowing he needed to explain, he said, "Girls, this is Skyla. Skyla, this is…" He proceeded to name each of his friends, ending with the absent Rarity.

"Quick question.", Pinkie said. "What's does Skyla have to do with Rainbow Dash to be this concerned?"

"Aren't we all?"

"We're her friends. But what about Skyla? What is her relationship? Is she an old friend? Just like that meanie-pants-of-a-griffon Gilda?" She turned angry upon mentioning her.

"Well…" Chronicle was unsure of what to do. "Let's just say that in a way she's like Scootaloo."

"Oh!" The others murmured the same as well, agreeing with his story.

Skyla however was confused and turned to face him, still patting Rainbow. "Scootaloo? Who's that?"

"Somepony who looks up to her." He then gave a wink. 

"Oh. I see." Skyla looked to the others. "Umm…we should be heading for the Cloudosseum now. Let me take you there."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S

Later…

After consoling Rainbow Dash enough for her to move, and leading her and her friends to the Cloudosseum, Skyla took them to their places, Rainbow backstage with the rest of the competitors (Rarity was already there), and her friends in the stands. As for Skyla herself, Chronicle assumed she went off somewhere to change into her Wonderbolt outfit. Naturally, since they were outside the weather factory, they discarded their white hats and coats.

As Chronicle sat with his friends, he recalled that  he summoned a clone to guard the balloon, which was parked outside. He also remembered that before parting ways, he gave a Pinkie Swear to Skyla (in Pinkie Pie's presence so she would explain it to the white pegasus) that he won't let Rainbow Dash know about what she told him. When asked what was it she told him, he said he could not tell because it would risk breaking his promise, and knowing what would happen if one breaks a Pinkie Swear (or Pinkie Promise as she sometimes calls them)…he shuddered from the thought.

Shaking the memory off his mind, Chronicle decided to do a once-over of the area. Amidst the trumpet fanfare and the cheering fans that filled the stands, one section seemed different. Here, clouds at three levels have been set up as box seats, with a single large, ornate seat placed dead center at the lowest level. Above it were a large emblem depicting Princess Celestia’s sun cutie mark within a heart, and a statue of a winged unicorn walking on a cloud. Apparently, this was her private lodge.

Deciding he could afford to be a little naughty, though not too naughty, he 'pulled out' Surveillance, though not all the way out of "hammerspace" and decided to take a look at the backstage area through the camera on Rainbow. From what he could see the gathered competitors were talking excitedly among themselves, each with a number pasted over his/her cutie mark. Many of them he was familiar with back in Ponyville, even Derpy. One however—wearing a "5"—looked just like Doctor Whooves, down to the hourglass cutie mark.

That can't be the Doctor. Regeneration doesn't happen this early.

Rainbow herself—wearing number 2—was pacing nervously by herself before the entire group started to move out. Behind them, a pegasus he knew by the name Medley knocked at the closed door of a dressing room. It opened and Rarity put her head out. "I’m going to be a while!", she said as she lifted one gleaming front hoof, blew a bit of dust from it into Medley’s face, and slammed the door. 

Curious as to what Rarity was doing, he decided to take a peek. But only a quick peek; he's not going to disrespect her privacy so liberally. However, before he could do so, he felt a chill of dread as Pinkie Pie's voice echoed in his head, making ghost noises. Remembering the terms of his Promise with her concerning Surveillance, he quickly put it away. Okay. I'm not a pervert.

As he regained his composure, he took another look at what his friends were doing. They were sitting around waiting, just like the rest. Pinkie however was laughing while holding a “#1” foam finger aloft on one front hoof. This boggled him greatly as he glanced up, seeing Lyra reaching down through the cloud seat above them, almost as if she was trying to get the foam finger. And then he remembered something. Right. Trade with other thumbed creatures like griffons or even a minotaur. Yeah, I do remember seeing one before.

He grumbled and decided to poke his head through the cloud seat he and his friends were on and saw Billy, Hoops, and Score, whose laughter was far from lighthearted. He grumbled in disgust before pulling his head back out.

As he did, he then saw somepony come up on a cloud that took him well above the top-level seats. Chronicle recalled his name as he saw the blue stallion with gray-white hair, a dark gray jacket trimmed in white (that hid his cutie mark), sunglasses, and a headset microphone that amplified his voice. It was Madden, the Cloudsdale-famed event announcer.

"Fillies and gentle-colts!", he announced. "Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!" The cheering intensified as the fanfare played again and said princess descended from the sky and into her seat, flanked by two guards, before waving to the crowd. "Please welcome our celebrity judges for the Best Young Flyer Competition…the Wonderbolts!"

On cue, six pegasi flew overhead, leaving gray cloud contrails in their wake. They wore goggles and blue/yellow full-body jumpsuits decorated with lightning bolts on each hoof. Each jumpsuit had a winged lightning bolt where a cutie mark would normally go. 

In an instant, the Wonderbolts launched into a near-vertical climb, then formed a single-file line that became an impossibly tight cluster before they fled apart in a burst of fireworks. Their six trails formed an outline in the sky that bore some slight resemblance to a head-on view of a pegasus with wings spread. Cheers erupted from the audience as three of the Wonderbolts settled into the box seat to Celestia’s left and the other three rose to a box seat further above.

Chronicle couldn't find any sign of Skyla anywhere, though he managed to locate her shortly after, standing alongside the other three Wonderbolts. She wore their uniform and had taken off her bandana, letting her mane hang loose.

"And now, let’s find out who will take the prize as this year’s Best Young Flyer!", Madden continued. Chronicle decided to take this time to check on Rainbow again. 

From what he could see in the backstage, coming into view was a light tan mare with bright orange hair, a pink sweater that hid her cutie mark (which was three tornadoes likke Dizzy Twister), a pair of half-moon glasses on a chain, and a headset mic. Her mane was curly, but her tail was straight. From what he could tell from her ID, she was the stage manager Lucy, whose voice carried a nasal accent and marked her as an older, hard-bitten type.

"Okay, contestant number one, you’re up!", she said.

On the end of this, Dizzy Twister, designated #1, trotted eagerly past Rainbow. The latter looked toward her own rump and let off a startled yell; her number was 2. Outside, Dizzy flew through the curtain and into the arena. 

Back backstage, Lucy called, "Okay, number two, let’s go!"

Now in a total panic at being called up on deck, Rainbow looked here and there quickly. "Um…" She then found #5, a stallion chewing on a tuft of hay (and the Doctor Whooves lookalike. She slunk quickly behind him.

"Come on, come on, we ain’t got all day!"

Upon reaching him, Rainbow switched their numbers, then called out to him. "She’s talking to you!" 

Spooked, he let the hay fall out. "Oh! Uh…" He trotted ahead. "…well, I guess that’s me!" 

As she watched him head out with a smirk, back in the seats, Chronicle mused as he observed, Definitely not the Doctor. His voice is higher than even mine.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—S—BD—H—S—M—L

Later…

While stallion #12 (a Caramel-lookalike) flexed a foreleg muscle to mare #6 (Parasol from Ponyville), Rainbow reached in and swapped the mare's placard for her #5. 

"Okay, number four, time to go!", Lucy called.

The dressing room door opened and Rarity stepped up—mane in curlers, and face covered with her favorite mud mask. "I’m number four, and I need just one more itsy-bitsy minute. Be a dear and have somepony go ahead of me, hm?"

"Look. I don’t care who it is, but somepony’s gotta go on!"

#7, a stallion, was raring to go. "Let’s do this!", he said as he reared up, then galloped out. Rainbow made a little noise of surprise upon seeing her #6.

"What am I gonna do?", she said, then she quickly noted Derpy, who was #15.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—S—BD—H—S—M—L

Later still, back at the stands…

Twilight Sparkle and the others were talking with each other in their box seat. Pinkie's foam finger was already taken by Lyra, who was hugging it like a doll, much to Bon Bon's concern.

"I loved number seven!", Twilight said. "Doing fifteen barrel rolls in a row can’t be easy!" 

Fluttershy put out her opinion. "My favorite is number ten. She just looked like such a nice pony."

"I can't believe number six, Derpy, managed to make such a screw-up so spectacular.", Chronicle commented.

"Mommy's the best!", they heard Dinky call from the box seat above.

"Hm. Wonder how come we haven’t seen Rainbow Dash or Rarity yet.", Applejack pointed out. "The competition’s almost over.",

"Who knows? From how Rarity was showing herself off with those wings, I'm guessing she's working overtime at the dressing room. As for Rainbow, I can only imagine how she's feeling right about now."

"Why don't you check on her?", Pinkie suggested.

"Okay. But you know the rules we made and sealed with your Promise."

"We're not allowed to peek into one another's activities through your cameras without your consent. And Rarity or Applejack have to ask permission to know what your cameras on the Cutie Mark Crusaders are seeing."

"Right." With that, he moved to their backs and 'took out' Surveillance. What he saw made him just want to teleport there right now and comfort her; Rainbow's nerves had reduced her to a bug-eyed, twitching wreck huddled at the base of a column. The backstage was empty at this point, the rest of the contestants already having done their part. 

Lucy came over and prodded her with a hoof. "Number fifteen, let’s go!" Just then, the sound of an opening door caught both of them off guard. They turned to one of the dressing rooms, which had mist swirling out of it and a hazy silhouette visible beyond. As the figure stepped forward, Chronicle did his best not to shriek at the sight. 

The vainglorious unicorn had donned a headdress of pink feathers whose base fit over her horn, as well as a garment styled to resemble her wings—yellow-dotted pink upper portions arcing over her flanks, and yellow-streaked blue ones riding low toward the floor. The two sections joined at a pink collar fringed with fluffy yellow/blue feathers, and she wore heavy makeup and yellow/pink anklets on each foreleg. "Rarity is ready!", she said.

"Look, ladies.", Lucy said, remaining calm as Rarity approached. "I don’t know what to tell you. There’s only time for one more performance. If you both want to compete, you’ll just have to go out there together."

"Well, Rainbow Dash, shall we?"

Her unstrung opposite number could do little more than smile and gibber weakly. Chronicle couldn't take this anymore and 'put away' Surveillance.

"What's going on?", asked Twilight.

"It's…ugh. You're gonna have to see once they come out."

"You look like you've seen something horrifying."

Before Chronicle could reply, they were interrupted by Madden. "And now, for our final competitor of the day…", he announced. The curtain where the contestants emerge parted as Rainbow floated out. "…contestant number fifteen!" Rarity came out after her. "Uh…and apparently contestant number four."

Their friends cheered, with Pinkie waving a spare foam finger and Fluttershy barely making herself heard. Chronicle just remained silent however.

"Good luck, Rainbow Dash.", said Rarity. "Just do your best." She then leaned in close. "I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of changing our music. That rock and roll doesn’t really match my wings."

This was a piece of news Rainbow did not want to hear, judging from her scared gulp. Rarity then did a couple of dance steps and twirled in midair as a pizzicato string introduction was played.

"Oh, I can't stand this." Chronicle groaned as he turned away. "Tell me when it's over."

Twilight turned to face him. "But the one you called Medley also danced to this sort of music. How is this any different?"

"Mixing a dance number and a stunt sequence just isn't right. And Rarity's get-up… it's just…" He shook his head as the music changed into a light waltz. My brother could win this easy. He calmed himself, closed his eyes, and began to put the Best Young Flyer Competition out of his mind for the time being.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Two years ago, in a forest somewhere in an unspecified Equestria…

Chronicle and his siblings (then called Timmy, Tabitha, and Crais) were just about finished with their walking lessons from their Aunt Fanny, whose pony name is Fuchsia. As for the three Timers, they  haven't selected theirs at this point in time.

"Nice work, kids.", she said as she turned to face the three as they all stopped, then narrowed her eyes on Crais. "You, however…" Fuchsia pointed a hoof at him. "Don't think you fooled me. I heard your wings flapping." The white pegasus was about to speak up when she shoved her hoof to his mouth. "And don't give me that old excuse. You already had two days to get accustomed to your wings."

"Told you she'd find out, Crais.", Tabitha snarked.

"Just shut up, Tabitha.", the pegasus grumbled in response. "I'll be headed to Calyndar for flight lessons." With that, he took off and headed eastward.

"Aunt Selena.", Timmy said, remembering Calyndar's real name once his and Tabitha's younger brother was gone. "Isn't she assigned to some place called 'Lunar Republic'?"

"She's the one.", answered Fuchsia.

"Now which side of the family was she in again?"

"Your father's side. Come on. Let's go see Crais do his stuff." Fuchsia started to walk eastward as well. "Your mother won't be back for a few hours for your magic training."

"Right.", said Tabitha as she and Timmy followed. "Because unicorn magic is applied differently than ours."


C—T—BD—F—C—T—BD—F—C—T—BD—F

Later, at a forest clearing…

The three non-pegasi watched as Crais hovered twenty feet above them, his two swords Justice and Retribution summoned. He was having trouble keeping them balanced as he wasn't used to holding them up with red bands. He was swinging his swords with caution, though he was progressively moving faster.

"That's it. Keep those steady.", Calyndar said as she flew around Crais. "Soon you'll be swordfighting in the air in no time." Calyndar was a blue-violet pegasus pony with light blue hair tied up in a bun, both mane and tail, and teal eyes. Naturally, her cutie mark was the same as everypony else in the area; the emblem of the Story Crew. "Okay, Crais. Let's put you into a crash course. Are you ready?"

The white pegasus stopped swinging. "As I'll ever be."

"Okay. Remember, no sword auras, are we clear?", Calyndar reminded. She then clapped her hooves. "Go."

On cue, several spherical orbs with insectoid wings, which in retrospect resembled parasprites, emerged from the trees, then started to close in on Crais. At once, he zoomed straight for one of them, swinging his right sword Retribution at it. The slash cut the orb in half and just before it exploded, Crais was already onto the next one. He wasn't exactly graceful in his movements, but they were still smooth.

Near the end of the exercise however, one orb tackled him from behind and he started tumbling in the air. Tabitha gasped at this predicament, but Crais managed to recover in time to land his hind legs on another orb and kicked off of it, sending it into yet another orb, making the two explode. He charged straight for the orb that hit him, pointed his forelegs (and by extension his two swords) forward, and began to spin.

"Is he…", Fuchsia started.

"I think he is.", Timmy answered. Crais pierced through the orb, but when he stopped spinning, he found himself dizzy as he automatically dismissed his swords as he put a hoof to his head. Thankfully, he was still flapping his wings. 

However, one more orb closed in on him from the right. Fortunately, he managed to see it coming and dropped for a while, letting it pass over him, before flapping again, the force of gravity clearing his head. As the orb turned around for another pass, Crais swung his left sword Justice at it, slicing it in two, then backed away as it exploded.

"Crais, you did well.", the pegasus mare said as she approached him. "But you need to build up your recovery time from that spin move of yours."

"Yeah, I guess I should."

"Woohoo!", cheered Tabitha, alerting the two to her, Timmy, and Fuchsia's presence. "You were great out there, Crai—"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K
 
Chronicle was forcibly 'yanked' from his flashback moment when he suddenly felt a searing sensation in his eyes as an image of Rarity came into his mind. It felt like he something was putting hot iron onto his closed eyes. Of course, he couldn't help but cry out as his eyes seemed to burn, but when the feeling disappeared, he found that his vision was still as good as ever.

When he turned around, he saw Twilight was facing him, looking concerned. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah.", he managed to reply. "Rarity just came into my mind and for a sudden, my eyes seemed to burn. Vision's still 20-20 though."

"Maybe we should see an eye doctor after this."

"Yeah." 

They turned back to the show just in time to see Rarity and Rainbow Dash ascend into the sky, the latter bypassing the former as the wind tried its best to peel her face off. Rarity simply glided serenely up and toward the sun, stopping only when she has centered herself in front of it. If any of their eyes were keener, they would've seen sweat beginning to run down her face due to exertion and/or the heat at this altitude, and she addressed herself toward the crowd far below.

"Look upon me, Equestria, for I am Rarity!" She then spreads her wings, creating a spread of pastel-tinted sunbeams that bathed the entire Cloudosseum and elicited awestruck gasps from the fans. 

"More like 'Vanity' if you ask me.", Chronicle grumbled. "Definitely 'Vanity'." He was promptly smacked in the face by Applejack's hat held by her tail…somehow.

"That was a low blow, Chronicle.", the farmpony told him.

"Sorry.", he whispered back in apology, then let out a short gasp. He could swear he could see smoke coming from the tips of the Glimmer Wings. And then—as the waltz came to an end—they vanished in a sudden lick of fire, incinerated by the sun’s energy, and left behind only flakes of soot that crumbled away from the showoff unicorn’s back. Her eyes went wide as she realized that the laws of physics have just socked it to her. "Oh, Icarus." Okay. Definitely not using them in hot days.

At that second, gravity decided it was time to pull her down screaming toward the Cloudosseum with every limb flailing wildly. "Oh, no!", gasped Twilight. "Her wings evaporated into thin air!"

"If there's an alicorn or some other deity in charge of gravity, she sure has a sick sense of humor.", her bodyguard said as Rarity promptly dropped past all three levels of box seats and out through the arena’s open floor. "Time for me to save the day." He was about to take a step forward when Twilight barred him.

"No need for that. The Wonderbolts are on the job." Indeed, the said three that were seated near Celestia's box seat sprung into action to dive after her. Just in case however, Chronicle summoned a magical clone on his back, and cast the cloud-walking spell on him.

Below, the Wonderbolts were knocked senseless one by one when they caught up to Rarity's windmilling hooves. "They're just a show team.", Chronicle groaned. "And why isn't Celestia coming in to help?! My turn." He turned to his clone, who had jumped off of him. "Jump in after them and once you're in range, teleport them at the Cloudosseum."

At once, the clone jumped off after the falling ponies, his horn flaring as he got ready to teleport. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?!", Twilight asked. "Teleportation only affects position and orientation, not momentum! They'll still fall at the same speed and direction as they are right now!"

"Well my teleportation can change momentum in respect to orientation.", Chronicle answered. "You saw it at work."

"I’m coming!", Rainbow's voice came as she dropped through the Cloudosseum.

On seeing her, he took out Surveillance and checked on Rarity's camera. Right now, he could see her continue to flail as the Wonderbolts continued to fall around her, his clone fast approaching and horn flaring, with Rainbow right behind. His hopes of teleporting them back up were dashed however as he saw Rarity's flailing hoof smack the clone and dissipate him immediately.

"████!", he swore. At the rate they were falling and their distance to the ground, there was no time for him to try a second time. Not unless he was going to risk his own life as well; his clones weren't as quick-thinking as he is.

Beside him, Fluttershy was covering her eyes with a scared little cry. "I can’t look!", she was saying.

Immediately, he opened his screen to check on Rainbow and said, "It's up to you now! Do the Sonic Rainboom!" He couldn't tell if she heard, but he could see that if the wind was trying to peel Rainbow’s skull clean last time he saw her try, now it was toying with the idea of turning all of her inside out. There is one difference from her practice session: she now dove with both forelegs extended, not just one. 

Ahead of her hooves, the rounded wave front began to form just as before. Rarity gave a surprised gasp at this, followed by happy ones from everypony else as Fluttershy uncovered her eyes. Chronicle just tensed up from the building suspense. Can she save them? Will the laws of physics bend enough for her to do that while enduring the G forces pushing at her right now? Does "inertial dampening" happen during Special Sonic Booms? There were too many horrors to comprehend with these "great fall" rescues from great speeds and it was making him nervous.

Back below, the turbocharged pegasus’s eyes watered from the air rushing past her face, and sparks began to crackle from the wave front. It elongated just as before, but this time there was no resisting force to slow Rainbow’s flight.

With a sudden hard kick of acceleration, she broke through the wave, which turned into a rainbow-hued blast that rippled outward from the spot. She continued her plunge at this insanely fast speed, leaving a sparkly rainbow contrail that persisted in the air long after she had gone. When the burst washed over the Cloudosseum, every jaw hung slack except one, whose owner leaped ecstatically in her seat while yelling at the top of her lungs.

"A SONIC RAINBOOM!! SHE DID IT!!", Fluttershy screamed, erroneously sounding like Pinkie. "SHE DID IT!! WHOOOOO!!"

Back at ground level, through the cameras of Surveillance, Chronicle saw Rainbow do yet another thing of the impossible; just as she reached the four fallers and caught them, the Wonderbolts on her back and Rarity hanging onto both her forelegs, she then performed a quick 90-degree turn, rocketing along to barely clear the tops of the tall grass right below. And none of them have suffered any horrifying gravity-related effects. As another—though not as sharp—90-degree turn took them back up toward Cloudsdale, Chronicle was overwhelmed by this violation of physics and passed out, nearly falling unconscious as he slammed his head on the soft cloud floor. All of his friends were too busy applauding Rainbow's achievement to notice.

At the corner of his eye, he could see a rainbow arc over the the Cloudosseum, with its catalyst rising up through its base later with the trail no longer stretching behind her. Once inside, a squad of pegasi (two of them Merry May and Dizzy Twister) helped the three professional flyers off her back and the two mares held Rarity up while Rainbow settled at the edge of the arena. Her hooves have barely touched down before the crowd exploded into a storm of cheers, confetti, and streamers, and she stared around openmouthed as Fluttershy gave her pipes another workout.

"A SONIC RAINBOOM!! WHOOOOO!! YEAH!!"

Whether the tears forming in Rainbow’s eyes were due to the standing ovation, or to the fact that she finally got Fluttershy to do a proper cheer, or even both, Chronicle couldn't tell for sure. The hero-of-the-day then turned to Rarity. "I did it! I did it!"

Rarity, out of breath, managed to reply, "Yeah…you sure did. Oh, thank you, Rainbow Dash. You saved my life."

"Oh, yeah. I did that too." The pegasus gave a laugh. "Best day ever!"

"Sure is…", Chronicle muttered as he began to recover.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—S—M—L

Sometime after…

Twilight Sparkle and the others were preparing to head for home, Derpy and the others already on their way back. Rarity—now out of that eye-sickening costume—sat on the parked balloon while the rest clustered around it on the edge of the arena floor. 

"I want to apologize to all of you for getting so carried away with my…" Rarity choked back a sob. "…beautiful wings. I guess I just lost my head." 

"It’s okay." Fluttershy.

"Oh, don’t worry ’bout it, kiddo." Applejack.

"We still love you." Pinkie.

Rarity then turned to Rainbow. "And I’m especially sorry that I was so thoughtless as to jump into the contest at the last minute, after you had worked so hard to win it. Can you ever, ever forgive me?"

"Aw, it’s okay. Everything turned out all right, right? I just wish I could’ve met the Wonderbolts when they were awake."

A hoof clad a blue jumpsuit sleeve, marked with a yellow lightning bolt, reached in and tapped her on the shoulder. "You might still have that chance.", a familiar voice said. When she turned around, she found herself face to face with the three Wonderbolts who swept down to save Rarity. And Skyla, though she didn't recognize or even meet her due to her breakdown at the factory. 

Rainbow managed a tiny gasp before getting her tongue in gear. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!", she began to say excitedly.

As Skyla moved aside, one of the other three, a yellow-orange mare with a two-tone orange mane, spoke up. "So you’re the little pony who saved our lives. We really wanted to meet you and say thanks."

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

Just then, Princess Celestia came over, accompanied with her guards. Twilight greeted her upon seeing her. "Princess!"

All the Ponyville residents save Rarity knelt briefly and stood up. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle, and hello to your friends too." Celestia greeted. 

"Princess Celestia, I’m sorry I ruined the competition.", Rarity said. "Rainbow Dash here really is the best flyer in Equestria."

"I know she is, my dear. That’s why for her incredible act of bravery, and her spectacular Sonic Rainboom, I’m presenting the grand prize for Best Young Flyer to this year’s winner, Ms. Rainbow Dash."

During this, said Best Young Flyer stared in slack-jawed bewilderment until Celestia finished and set a gold tiara on her forehead, which was decorated with a lightning bolt centered above her eyes and a wing near each ear. As her mouth freewheeled again, she is lifted on the heads of Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie and carried away.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"

"Careful or that might be all you can end up saying.", Chronicle teased, getting a glare from her that lasted for only a second. He had long since recovered from his faint.

"So, Twilight Sparkle, did you learn anything about friendship from this experience?", Celestia asked her student.

"I did, Princess…" The faithful student glanced at a certain friend. "…but I think Rarity learned even more than me."

"I certainly did.", Rarity said as Chronicle 'produced' paper and quill to write down the lesson. "I learned how important it is to keep your hooves on the ground, and be there for your friends."

"Excellent.", said Celestia. "Well done, Rarity."

By this time, the three 'carriers' rejoined them and set Rainbow down, who said, "This really is the best day ever!"

They were accompanied by the three bullies, though all their earlier derision has now vanished.

"Uh, hey, Rainbow Crash—", Billy began.

"Dash!", Hoops corrected as he nudged his buddy in the ribs and Chronicle have them a glare.

"Oh, uh—sorry, Rainbow Dash. Uh, we just wanted to congratulate you on winning the competition."

"That Sonic Rainboom was awesome!", Hoops reared while saying this.

"Heh…thanks, guys." Rainbow was surprisingly cool with them.

"Uh, w-we’re really sorry we gave you such a hard time before.", Billy said.

"Aw, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it."

"Hey, do you want to hang out with us? Uh, maybe you could show us how you did that incredible trick."

"Sorry, boys." The recent champion zipped up to where two Wonderbolt stallions were waiting in midair, dropped a foreleg over each one’s shoulders, and started away with them. "But I’ve got plans.", she finished, not looking back.

As they flew off, silhouetting themselves against the sun, Chronicle wondered to himself, "Hmm…I better check on that book on Special Sonic Booms again. I wonder if we have the book in the library?"
> Chapter 24: Owl's Well That Ends Well
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 24: Owl's Well That Ends Well

After the events of "Sonic Rainboom"…

Late afternoon, in the Golden Oaks Library…

Inside the upper story room, Spike grabbed a telescope resting on a table, then tucked into a small wagon that already held a folded picnic blanket. Twilight Sparkle was at the bedroom loft above.

"This meteor shower tonight’s gonna be amazing!" she said.

Spike jumped onto a hanging fruit basket in the nearby kitchen area. "Awesome!" He tossed three bananas over his shoulder, landing them neatly in the wagon.

"You know, this shower only happens once every one hundred years." 

Spike began to juggle four apples to the wagon. "A centennial celebration!" They started to get away from him though, so he let them roll off his tail and into the wagon.

"We’d better get a move on."

"Don’t want to be late!" He agreed as he went to bring over a full punchbowl, which he had some trouble balancing. "Whoa…whoa…whooaa!" Fortunately for him, he managed to get it on the pile. "Ahhh. There!" 

"Spike! Did you grab my quill and ink?" 

He swept them up from a table. "Check!" 

"Scrolls?" Twilight asked as she went down the stairs. 

They were thrown in as well. "Check!" Spike now had a sprinkling of crumbs around his mouth. "I’ve also packed a telescope, apples, bananas, fruit punch, aaand…" He held up a plate of cookies. "…my freshly baked, homemade triple-decker nut-crazy vanilla creme cookies!"

Twilight giggled at this. "I can see that."

Realizing the mess he had made of himself, the little dragon slurped up all the crumbs with his tongue and flashed a silly little smile. 

As Twilight started down toward the reading room, she said, "Once again you’ve read my mind, Spike. And that is why you are my number-one assistant." 

"I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you," Spike said as he followed until they reached the ground floor.

Twilight repeated, slightly louder and slower, "That is why you are my number-one assistant."

Spike put a hand to his ear. "Missed that. Huh?"

"I said…" She finally figured out the joke and cut herself off with a laugh as the two of them reached the front door. 

"By the way, if I'm your number-one assistant, what does that make Chronicle?"

"Him? I don't know exactly. He's a co-teacher for a self-defense school, my bodyguard, a freelancer, somepony who constantly points out stupid things we do and chew us out on them…and is a friend despite all that."

"Oh."

"Come on, let’s get going." She then stopped short. "Wait! I almost forgot! I want to bring The Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy!"

"The Astronoma—loma—homana—what?"

"You know, that really old big blue book on stars, moons, planets, the universe?"

"Right! Check!" He ran off to an adjoining room in search of it, grabbed a handy ladder, and was at the top shelf in no time. When he found the book in question and brushed it off, a thick cloud of dust rose from the cover—apparently it had sat unused for some time—and sent him into the windup for a sneeze. 

It failed to come, so he sighed with relief and opened the book…only for the sneeze to then burst out of him, bringing a quick shot of green fire that left the pages a smoking, half-burned ruin. The cover was still in one piece though slightly singed, and he tilted it upright while fearing the worst. He got it in spades; the pages disintegrated into streams of ashes that cascaded to the floor.

"Hey! What’s taking my number-one assistant so long?" Twilight called from the main room.

He closed the cover in a panic, slipped it back on the shelf, and climbed down. 


TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S

Twilight (the time, not the pony), at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…)

The two co-teachers of the school were finishing up a meeting with a pony named Elphaba Trot. Elphaba is a grayish emerald green earth pony mare with brilliant purple hair styled like Medley's, azureish gray eyes, and a black belt cutie mark. She's a teacher in the karate dojo Rainbow Dash attends. This wasn't the first time they met though.

"So, do we have an agreement?" Mystic asked.

Elphaba put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm…I will have to inform Sensei about this before we get get started. He has expressed some interest in your school." According to her, Sensei is an earth pony elder who all the martial arts teachers in Ponyville (only a few, actually) answer to. "Other than that, I think your proposal's good. This collaboration will be beneficial for both our schools." She put her hoof down. "I shall give you his response on the morrow."

"Tomorrow, or on something that happens to be called the Morrow?" Chronicle asked. The other two puffed their faces before letting out a laugh. "What?"

"Sometimes, you're just funny," Mystic said as he stopped. "How do you do that?"

"Sorry. It's just that one time somebody said the same thing, and when I expected them the next day, they came a few hours later on their personal carriage called 'the Morrow'."

"Seriously?" asked Elphaba as she raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously."

"Oh. Well, I meant the next day, not on anything called 'the Morrow'."

"All right. Hey, we're going to watch a meteor shower tonight. You comin'?"

"Yes. Sensei has arranged a gathering, same as you with your students, if what I overheard from the one named Tricky Books was correct."

"Right. Well, let's get going."

With that, the three ponies walked out of the dojo.


C—MS—ET—C—MS—ET—C—MS—ET—C—MS—ET

Evening…

The three and a certain duo climbed the hill and found plenty of ponies gathered there, some of them gathered in groups. One group was Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie on their way to join them. Another group was Greatstone, Tricky Books, Bullseye, Chrono Cards, and a couple more unicorns; Mystic Shield's entire class (as well as friends of theirs). A third group consisted of pegasi and earth ponies with a minority of unicorns, in the center an elderly pony in a martial-arts training uniform and black belt.

Elphaba parted ways and headed for the third group, Mystic split up and approached the rest of his students, and Chronicle (as well as Twilight and Spike) made his way to his friends.

"I was sure I put the Astronomer’s Guide back," he heard Twilight say in the (short) distance as they slowly converged. "The book would’ve helped me identify different planets and stars tonight."

"Well…maybe someone borrowed it," Spike suggested. "Besides, you don’t need that book. You can already name all the planets and stars ’cause you’re super-smart and astronomically awesome." The two stopped and she smiled at him.

"Thanks, Spike. You’re such a flatterer."

"Yeah, I’m a sweet-talker."

"And a number-one assistant!" Twilight added a wink. "Right?"

"Check!" Spike then got to work with alacrity: laying out the picnic blanket, setting out the fruit in a bowl, putting a scroll and apple within easy reach, and arranging the punchbowl and cups. As he did that, Chronicle reached the spot and settled down. 

"Hey Chronicle," Twilight greeted. "How'd the meeting with Elphaba Trot go?"

"It went well." 

Before he could say more, Rainbow rushed toward the blanket, snagging an apple in her teeth and taking a big bite. "Wow, Twilight!"

Meanwhile, as Spike had set up the telescope on a tripod, Scootaloo walked over to Rainbow. "You’re lucky to have such a rad assistant. I wish I had someone to do whatever I told them."

Scootaloo jumped excitedly at this. "Ooh, ooh! Me, me, me! I’ll do whatever you want, Rainbow Dash!" 

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow at the filly's eagerness. "Oh, yeah, pipsqueak? How about taking out the trash?" She tossed down an apple core, the remains of her eaten fruit. 

"Yes, ma’am!" The eager little filly snapped it up and galloped away as Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and the rest came over and clustered around Spike, who was around the refreshments.

"Do we have Spike to thank again for this amazing spread?" the fashionista said. "Isn’t he simply amazing?"

"Aw, come on…" Spike's eyes squeezed tightly shut while a giddy little smile planted itself beneath them, as if expecting a kiss from the object of his affections. When it failed to arrive, he opened first one eye and then both, looking a little grumpy. "I said, come on." 

Pinkie decided to give him a noogie. "Little Spikey-wikey! Who knew that big ferocious dragons started off so cutesy-wutesy?"

"Spike, you are such a little star that I had to make this little bow tie for you," Rarity said as she levitated one up. It was bright red and liberally studded with small gems of all colors. As she secured it around Spike’s neck, it proved to be nearly as wide as his entire head.

"Gosh, you guys are embarrassing me. Stop it!" Spike said bashfully, allowing for a moment of silence before continuing. "Twilight, your turn."

Twilight playfully reproved him instead. "Spike, that’s enough."

"Uh, right. That’s enough."

"Hey, everypony! The show is starting!", Sweetie suddenly said, nearly getting run over in the resulting stampede to the hilltop. She quickly galloped over to jump on Rarity’s back, Apple Bloom already having climbed onto Applejack's. Spike, having removed his tie, found himself at the back of the group for the moment. 

Excited murmurs and comments rose from the crowd as brilliant white meteors began to streak across the night sky. Scootaloo had found a spot alongside Rainbow, while Spike was now on Twilight’s back. Chronicle found himself next to Fluttershy, and a little too close to her for comfort. As the others were making a chorus of "Whoa"s, he found himself distracted from the unable to speak, more so after her wings opened for a moment, one of them brushing against his side.

I feel…hot. And like there's…something in my stomach. Feels like…butterflies, but that doesn't make sense. They wouldn't be able to make it with their wings intact, let alone survive. Is this what Timerity's expressing lately during my visits and hers? 

Ever since the Sonic Rainboom, in the dreamscape, his sister—fraternal twin sister—was acting very giddy and light-headed after mentioning being rescued by Rainbow Blitz when she was knocked out by Elusive while trying to rescue him and the Wonderbolts. Apparently, while he merely sent a magical clone to save them, Timerity took the leap herself.

If he could see himself, he would find himself hyperventilating and blushing. Could this be… No. I can't. I can't do this! It's against recommendation protocol. He won't get in trouble for breaking this, but it's inadvisable to do so. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?

He was snapped out of his trance when somepony tapped him on the horn. He regained his composure and found Rarity in front of him and Sweetie reaching out with a hoof. "Ooh. Looks like somepony's in—"

Chronicle cut her off by planting a hoof in her mouth. "Don't… even."

Once he put it away, she said with a knowing grin, "All right, then." Sweetie was making the same grin, but a harsh look from the stallion erased that.


C—TS—S—A—AB—RD—R—F—PP—S—SB

Later…

As the meteor shower ended, the group were also nearly finished with their food as they talked excitedly to one another, though the boys were silent. As Fluttershy got a cookie for herself, Pinkie finished the one she was working on and tapped the plate’s edge, flipping the last three neatly into her mouth.

"Mmm…" Pinkie said before swallowing. "…mmm, wow! These cookies are dee-lish!"

"Spike made them," Twilight said. "Speaking of…" She called over her shoulder. "Spike, can you bring us some punch?" There was no response. "Spike?" They turned to see him out like a light, snoring loudly with his head in the overturned, nearly empty punchbowl. 

As she and Rarity walked up to him, the latter said, "Oh, poor little thing."

"Aw, he’s worked himself to the bone."

"And now the punch has been…Spiked!" Pinkie joked with a smile.

There was laughter from all. Except for Chronicle, who had been drinking a cup of punch, then spat it out right into Applejack's face after comprehending Pinkie's words. "What?!" he gasped.

Pinkie seemed to realize what he was thinking. "Relax! It's just a joke."

He gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. For a second, I thought I—and the Crusaders—would end up getting very tipsy."

"Tipsy?" Bloom didn't understand the word, then turned to Applejack in hopes of getting an explanation.

"When you're older," the farmpony answered as she shook off the spat-out punch off her face.

"Aww…"


C—TS—S—A—AB—RD—R—F—PP—S—SB

Later that night, in Chronicle's dreamscape…

The blue unicorn was doing a practice duel. This time, it was a three-way fight with Blue Diary and Timerity. The pegasus had his swords out while the unicorn mare had a "magic horn blade" drawn just like her brother.

"Ready?", a voice came, but it did not come from any of the three.

"I was born ready!" answered Timerity.

"Ready when you are," muttered Blue as he assumed a stance.

"Let's do this!" said Chronicle.

"Go!" said the voice, and the three of them charged toward each other.

Timerity started by charging towards her brother, who did likewise. When she jumped, he did too, and when they clashed blades, she drove hers down, flipping her brother mid-flight and gaining some air time as she made her way towards Blue. Then, she unsheathed her "horn blade" and 'created' something resembling claws from her hooves.

"The 'cat claw' spell?" mused the pegasus in a deadpan tone as he parried the attack with his swords, then pushed her away with them.

Instead of landing on the ground however, Timerity cast a spell of herself and was encased in ribbons of brilliant blue light A ball of light then burst through the cocoon and there was a blinding white flash. When if faded, it could be seen that she bore a pair of Glimmer Wings, but were of a yellow hue, with blue, brown, and black patterns.

"I see you had the same idea as I had," noted Chronicle as he got up and drew back. As his aura let out ribbons of light, it was soon apparent that he was about to do the same thing.

"I guess our worlds are connected," his sister replied as she prepared to cast another spell.

"Focus!", called the voice.

"Screw you, brother! You never hang out with us!" The voice belonged to their elder brother Mahou, whose pony name was Mystic Wand. He's stationed in an Equestria where Twilight Sparkle is its near-immortal ruler.

"Can you really blame me? I have plenty of studies in my Equestria."

"Maybe you should make some friends," Chronicle teased as his own pair of wings came to being and he ascended.

"Oh, don't you get started on that tale! It's against recommendation protocol to make mutual bonds with its residents. But given the power of one of those bonds, Father has decided that friendships are okay."

At this point, the three ponies were in the air at a standoff. Chronicle has 'unsheathed' his "horn blade", Blue's sword auras extended to double their length, and Timerity's "claws" lengthened by two inches.

"At least try and spend some time with the family," Timerity stated as the three of them charged towards each other. "Even if only to test your skills."

As the three closed in and began assaulting one another in a confusing flurry of slashes, the voice said, "For the record, I do visit our mother. I'm practicing with her this very spell right now I'm using to talk to you guys."

"Perhaps you could promise to to a practice session some time?" Blue suggested. "It can be just as important to try out your skills in the field."

Mystic Wand seemed to let out a grumpy sigh. "All right. But I'm not versed in close combat like the three of you are."

"Exactly. You'll need to practice extensive dodging." In the midst of that conversation, one energy blade from his sword flat-smacked Chronicle in the back, damaging his Glimmer Wings and another from his other sword knocked him in the head i a critical spot, rendering him unconscious…even though he technically is already so in the land of the waking. Unfortunately, Blue didn't notice as he also busy clashing with Timerity, who was being very aggressive in her "cat claw" slashes.

"Fine." Wand seemed to be exasperated at being told off by his youngest brother. "You do have a point there. I guess—" He was interrupted when the sound of shattered glass came, which was followed with the normally black dreamscape turning into a daybreak sky as if the black were a porcelain dome breaking apart.

"What's going on?", gasped Timerity.

"I don't know, but given this is Chronicle's dreamscape, he must be thinking of something else." The two remaining fliers looked down and saw their brother falling. Before they could consider descending though, a pegasus bypassed the two at such high speeds the force of wind that followed sent them tumbling mid-air.

As they regained their bearings, they looked down, then decided to follow whoever is flying down towards their brother. The two made good time before suddenly hearing a crackling noise, almost as if the pony they're pursuing was about to break the sound barrier. As the two were finally close enough to identify the pegasus, struggling through wave fronts of their own, they let out a gasp on seeing who it was.

"Well, I'll be…" said Timerity.

"By Corona's mane!" gasped Blue. "It's—"

Before he could say it, the pegasus broke through her own wave, which turned into a multicolored blast that rippled outward from the spot. However, the two could tell that it wasn't a Sonic Rainboom as it swept them once more. There wasn't even a deafening noise. In fact, it was barely louder than a whisper. The colors were pink and yellow, and there were numerous pink glasswing butterflies about, though their colors were more solid than they were told.

As the two stopped amongst the lepidoptera creatures and the start of the pink-and-yellow contrail, they finally comprehended what was going on. "Oh, he can't be serious," Blue said as he made a face.

"I think he is," replied his sister. 

"What's going on?" Mystic Wand's voice came. "When Chronicle's dreamscape abruptly changed I lost contact."

"He's got feelings for her." Timerity finished as she and Blue watched the pegasus, Fluttershy, ascend with Chronicle in tow, who had a dreamy smile on his face. All the while, the contrail continued to persist.

"Who's got feelings for who? What's going on? Come on! Don't leave me out of the loop!" But the eldest brother was ignored as the two in the dreamscape watched the strange scene take place.


C—T—BD—MW—C—T—BD—MW—C—T—BD—MW

Hours later…

Morning came in the waking world. As a sunbeam made its way to a sleepy Spike, he snapped awake. At the same moment, Chronicle had rolled out of his bed and crashed onto the floor, the impact jerking him awake as well.

"Oww!", he gasped as he got up on his feet.

"I overslept!", he heard Spike gasp before an alarm clock was chucked in his direction and ended up getting skewered through his horn.

"Dammit." Chronicle 'removed' the destroyed clock, and put it in "hammerspace" to dump it at his training range later.

"I know it’s already ten, but I’m scaly-tailed and bright-eyed!" 

Chronicle grumbled at this as he went and jumped straight down from the loft behind the running Spike, then followed him all the way to the kitchen, where his charge was levitating a book into the saddlebags on her back. Right. His tail ain't bushy.

"I’m ready to work twice as fast!" the little dragon continued. "Oh, please don’t be upset, Twilight! What do you want for breakfast? Oatmeal? How about a sunflower smoothie? Grass pancakes?"

"Spike! Don’t worry," Twilight assured as she floated an apple off the table.

"But—my morning chores!"

She gave a chuckle as she put the fruit into her bag. "It’s okay. Owlowiscious did them for you."

A pair of reptilian green eyes popped wide in surprise. "Who?", he asked alongside Chronicle as a scroll and a book went in next.

"He’s our new junior assistant," she answered as she walked past them. "He’s gonna help out with your chores so you won’t be so tired all the time." 

Spike shook his head clear and started after her. "Wh—what do we need a junior assistant for? I’m not tired. I do fine on my own, I don’t need sleep, I—"
"Spike, don’t worry. He’s just here to help out a little. Now I have to go out, so why don’t you introduce yourself to Owlowiscious? He’s in the library."

Once she was gone, the baby dragon began to sweat profusely as he said to himself, "Worried? Do I look worried? I’m not worried. Who’s worried?"

"Oh, come on, Spike," Chronicle assured. "Let's just see who our new companion is before we judge him."

"Don't you have a class to teach?" Spike replied.

"I can spare a few more minutes. Also, you did not think of making me food."

"Sorry."

"It's all right. Just remember that I have needs too."

With that, the two of them descended to the ground floor. While the unicorn reached the bottom, the dragon got about halfway down and stopped, taking a hesitant look around. "Hello?" he called. "Hel-looo?"

They found a small brown owl perched on a book stand and facing the front door. Then, for some strange reason, the lights dimmed ominously and its head swiveled to face the two, the pattern of light and shadow making its eyes seem to glow. 

"Whoa…" Once Spike started in fear, the lights turned back to normal. "Dude, that’s creepy."

"Nah, that's just natural for owls," the unicorn said as they walked up to the owl They're capable of turning their heads one-eighty degrees." Once they reached him, he said, "Hello. Name's Chronicle."

"Uh, hi there. I’m Spike. I’m sure Twilight has told you all about me."

"Hoo," answered the owl.

"Um, Spike. You know, assistant number one?"

"Hoo?"

"Umm, Spike," Chronicle tried to get his friend's attention.

He was ignored. "I’m Spike! And…who are you? What are you?"

"Hoo."

"Who?"

"Hoo."

"I thought your name was Owlowiscious!"

"Hoo?"

Chronicle tried again. "Spike."

"Okay, Who, Owlowiscious, whatever! I’m Spike, okay? Look, all you need to know is that I’m number one and you’re number two! Got it!"

"Hoo?"

"What does that make me? Number three? Or you don't consider me as a fellow assistant?"

Spike’s eye twitched for a moment as Chronicle's response went past his ears before he got himself under control. "So, a man of mystery, huh?" He then stalked away, then zipped back. "I’m keeping my eye on you!" He walking off again, glancing back. "I’ve got eyes in the back of my head too, you know!" If he indeed had them, they did him little good at this point, as he walked flat into the front door and ended up dazed on its mat. "Ugh…well, not really, but…" He angrily opened the door… "You know what I mean!" …and then slammed it behind him, leaving the owl and unicorn inside.

Chronicle turned to Owlowiscious, who was turned to the window, and said, "Oh, don't worry about him. He acted the same way with me when I first entered Twilight's employment. He'll get over it." He then added to himself, "At least he did after finding out I wasn't hired to be an assistant but as a bodyguard. Technically, Twilight's teacher hired me, but still."

Owlowiscious turned back to face him and said, "Hoo?"

"Why am I even talking to you?"

"Hoo."

"Of course that's what you'd say. You're just an owl. Well, see ya later."

"Hoo."

"Whatever." With that, he left the library, en route to Mystic Shield's place.


C—TS—S—O—C—TS—S—O—C—TS—S—O

Eyecatch (video-type) 

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Nine cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a star-tipped wand spreading stardust, an orange circle depicting an open book inside, a lyre, a trio of raindrops, a bundle of three carrots, seven bubbles, a trio of wrapped candies, a trio of smiling daisies, and a safety pin.}

{The nine cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting three rows of nine ponies. The top depicts (from left to right) Raindrops, Blue Diary, and Ditzy Doo (with Dinky on her back). The middle row depicts Lyra Heartstrings, Trixie Lulamoon, and Pokey Pierce. The bottom row depicts BonBon, Carrot Top, and Cheerilee. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—TS—S—O—C—TS—S—O—C—TS—S—O

A few hours later…

Chronicle was walking back to the library, with him a certain pony he didn't expect. "I certainly wasn't expecting you to actually live here, Skyla. Then again, Pinkie Pie did recognize you as a Ponyville citizen."

The white pegasus nodded her head. "Uh-huh."

"But while I'm not as remembering as her, I'm sure I would've recognized you before we actually met at the weather factory."

"Well, I'm usually practicing at Whitetail Wood. And when I'm not, I'm out foal- or babysitting."

"I see. That's why."

"Well, I best be off."

"Bye." And Skyla was gone. And from what he noted, she was headed towards Sugarcube Corner. Sighing, he reached the left side of the library, where Twilight and the rest happened to be, Owlowiscious resting on his charge's back. Spike was sitting just outside the sill of an open library window and reading a book, though they did not seem to notice him.

"Oh, what a fantastical fluffalicious feathery little friend!" Pinkie was saying. "I’m “hoo”-ked!"

Everypony laughed at the silly pun as he finally joined them. "He’s just wonderful!" Fluttershy said.

"He’s just wonderful!" Spike mocked from above in irritation. Everypony turned to look at him and he immediately did his best to sound sincere. "Uh, yes, wonderful. He is quite…" The next words came through his teeth. "…the charmer."

"And Owlowiscious is just such a star I just had to make this little bow for you," Rarity said as she levitated a bow similar to the one she gave Spike, and it settled neatly at the owl’s throat—a gesture that sent Spike’s face into the red and caused him to blow steam from his nose. He then stormed back into the library, slamming the window closed.

"What’s he all saddle-sore about?" asked Applejack.

"He’s probably just jealous of Owlowiscious," Rainbow suggested.

"Maybe Spike feels threatened, or worried that Owlowiscious will replace him," Fluttershy said.

"Replace him? Hah! That’s crazy," Twilight scoffed. "Spike knows he can’t be replaced."

"Twenty bits says he's thinking you're trying to replace him," Chronicle dared. This earned him a quizzical look from all of them.

"Seriously?" Twilight then made a face that told him she has accepted the dare. "You're on."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S

Some time later…

Chronicle was at the restaurant Horte Cuisine was a waiter of. He and Mystic Shield sat at a table with Elphaba Trot and an elderly earth pony, though he certainly did not look frail in the slightest. His eyes were constantly closed, his hair was white and short save for a full beard and mustache, he bore a scarlet coat, and his cutie mark depicted a black belt just like Elphaba, though she has stated they were not relatives.

A short distance away, he could see Skyla gorging herself in cheesecake. As for the four of them, they were treating themselves with quesadillas, hay fries, quiches, and carrot buns. There was also a quince, which Chronicle immediately distrusted.

"It is an honor to finally meet you, Mystic Shield," said Sensei as he wiped his mouth and beard clean of crumbs.

"Thank you, Sensei," the unicorn teacher replied as he took a bite out of a quiche, which had already come with a fork to eat with.

"You have been in Ponyville for quite some time now, and I believe it's about time your school is integrated into our group. It's been a very long time since I've seen a pony with your style."

"You've been at one of my classes?"

"No, but one of my unicorn students attends them. Her name is Holly Dash."

Elphaba was confused, and she asked, "Hold on. Seen a pony with his style? What do you mean by that?" She finished one carrot bun before digging into her hay fries.

"It was a long time ago. I was just a martial arts teacher for a few years when I met him in Baltimare."

Mystic seemed to start up upon hearing that. "Baltimare? I lived there once! Did his name happen to be Aegis?"

Sensei's eyebrows seemed to rise as he picked up the quince. "Why, yes. You know him?"

For the first time, Chronicle saw that his co-teacher friend was being ecstatic. "Know him? He was my teacher! He inspired me to set up my school in the first place! How did you know him?"

"As I said, I met him in Baltimare. We had a casual chat, and he invited me to his dojo. You weren't there however, probably haven't enrolled at that point." He paused to take a munch out of a carrot bun. "By the way, how is he?"

Mystic's hype seemed to leave him completely as he slumped. "He…he passed away."

"Oh." Sensei lowered his head in respect. "I'm so sorry to hear that." Elphaba and Chronicle remained silent in respect as well.

"It's all right. That was a long time ago. …So, what will happen, now that I'm part of your group?"

"Well, given that I haven't integrated a unicorn-exclusive art before, I will need time to think of something."

"I know of one particular technique, and I have learned it from an acquaintance in my pre-Ponyville days." He turned to Chronicle on saying that, who was just swallowing a bite he took. "I don't recall much of it though, but it involved some sort of long jump, tumbling, getting back up, and quickly turning around."

"I think I know about that technique," Elphaba offered, not noticing that there were a few strands of hay around her mouth. "It's an technique in aikido called Zenpo Kaiten Ukemi." She turned to Sensei. "Did I word it right?"

The elderly pony nodded. "You have." He then took a bite out of the quince, which made Chronicle worry a bit. From what he knew, quinces were poisonous to equines. But maybe quinces in Equestria were different.

"Oh yeah! That's it," said Mystic. "By the way Elphaba, you might want to clean up your face." The sole mare in the table rubbed her face with a foreleg and noticed that he was right, giving a sheepish grin. "Thank you."

"Mind telling me who this acquaintance of yours was?" inquired Sensei.

"Sure. He was a minotaur who called himself Harmony Way. Unlike many of his kind, he doesn't tackle 'obstacles' head-on, but instead prefers diversion-type methods. You know him?"

"Not this time. He's not familiar to me. There aren't many minotaurs who do business with ponies. Other than that one self-help guru. Him, I do know."

Mystic seemed to express shock at this. "You met that guy too?! He's been a bad influence to some of my old colleagues while I was still Aegis's student. Personally, I think his assertiveness lessons can be so…I don't know, but it makes them jerks, which goes against the attitude Aegis promotes."

The other two ponies were confused from what he said. "Care to enlighten us on who you're talking about?" asked Elphaba.

"No," the purple unicorn refused. "That minotaur's not a proper influence."

"You mentioned 'assertiveness lessons'," Chronicle said. "One of my friends needs lessons on that."

"I will not letting you take Fluttershy to one of his speeches. And I'm not telling who he is because I'm afraid it would make your search of him easier."

"But if you don't tell me, I might end up stumbling into an ad of his or something and not find out he's the guy you want me to avoid until you find out and then tell me."

Mystic remained silent for a few seconds, at which they could hear Spike pass by telling himself to look for a quill. Once he was gone, the unicorn finally spoke. "…You're weird when you speak in long sentences. Thankfully, no science jargon as with Twilight Sparkle."

"You're diverting from the subject. Just tell me who the self-help guru is."

"I agree with your friend here," said Sensei to Mystic. "But I also agree that that guru is a bad influence. Using force is not the way of any martial art, though many can be used to that means."

"Yeah," agreed Elphaba. "Aikido's not among those offensive arts, being all about diverting blows and immobilizing or throwing opponents in response."

"I believe it's best we do not speak of him. His view of assertiveness conflicts with the philosophy of self-defense."

Chronicle sighed in defeat. "Fine," he conceded. At the corner of his eye, he could see Spike running with a white feather, but ignored the sight. "But don't go berating me if I stumble into him without prior knowledge."

"If it helps any, I believe you're suitable enough to teach her assertiveness," said Mystic. By this time, they were all finished with their food.

"I'm not too sure of that. I have trouble reaching out to her. And sometimes, I have just as much trouble making myself heard to everypony else just like she does, even if my voice is louder than hers."

"You're getting off-topic again," warned Elphaba. "And in case you all forgot, you were supposed to talk about the Zenpo Kaiten Ukemi."

"Oh, right."

"I'm already teaching my students that move, but I'm not entirely sure if I still got it right, given that I learned it from a minotaur, and they use hands, which we don't have." Mystic raised his front hooves in demonstration. "And it's only after a casual chat with Elphaba that I realized that spells alone are not enough."

"I recommend you to see Ebon Belt," suggested Sensei. "He's the resident aikido teacher. I shall take you there."

"Thank goodness," said another voice. The four turned to see Horte Cuisine looking a little miffed. "If you are finished, monsieurs and madame, would you be so kind as to leave the premises. This may not be a fancy restaurant, but dawdlers are not tolerated."

"Apologies."


C—MS—ET—S—L—C—MS—ET—S—L—C—MS—ET—S—L

The four ponies were now walking down a road and through the marketplace. Sensei was leading the way to Ebon Belt's house. Just then, a voice came from behind.

"Chronicle."

The four stopped and turned around. they could see a very pale amber earth pony with long blue hair that had amber eyes, two slightly shorter bangs and was wild at the top, and a full moon cutie mark.

"Who are you?" asked Mystic.

"My name is Lunatic, and I came to inquire about your…combat session request."

Chronicle seemed to remember something as he smacked himself in the head. "D'oh! I had completely forgotten about that."

Mystic turned to face his co-teacher. "Was that one of the requests you put up on the Request Board?"

"Yes. Didn't think about it much after I started teaching alongside you." He turned to Lunatic. "How were you able to identify me?"

"The librarian who lives in the Golden Oaks Library provided a very helpful description."

Twilight. "I see." He turned to his three companions. "I'm afraid I must go."

"It is all right," said Sensei. "You have made a deal of sorts, and you must fulfill its terms."

"Thank you, Sensei."

"I'll tell you everything later, okay?" offered Mystic.

"Okay."

With that, Chronicle left and joined Lunatic en route to his training range at the back of the library. "So. Lunatic, huh? If I remember the term correctly…"

Lunatic interrupted, "I assure you I'm as calm as can be. However, come nighttime, if I'm outdoors and stressed… that's a different story." He heard his companion gulp. "No need to worry. I've had training on emotion control and stay inside, especially when Princess Luna's moon is shining at its brightest."

"Speaking of Princess Luna, what is your opinion about her?"

"Oh, are you talking about her other persona Nightmare Moon? I haven't heard much about that incident in Ponyville, but I believe they are two different ponies personality-wise. I wish to meet her someday, and be part of her personal guard."

"Luna has her own personal guard?"

"The Canterlot Royal Guard serve both Princesses, but are primarily under Celestia. From my time there after the Nightmare Moon incident, I heard that there's a regimen different from the gold-clad ponies. Their armor is darker, and just as the Royal Guards have enchantments that render their appearances so generic, these do too, but with a tone of menace, and with one addition."

"What?"

"The wings of assigned pegasi change into something more bat-like."

"I see." By that time, they were at the front of the library, where Twilight was just walking out, Owlowiscious on her back.

"Hey, Chronicle," she greeted. "I see you've met the guy who was looking for you. If you can, could you find time to get Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy for me?"

"Can't you do it yourself, since you're going out and all? Wait… I thought we already had that book."

"We had. Until I found out that Spike burnt it by accident with a sneeze."

"I'm surprised this place is still standing."

"As I said once before, dragon fire doesn't spread like normal fire unless Spike wants it to."

"Oh, right. Well, okay. When I have the time, I'll go to the bookshop. But after my combat session."

With that, the two of them made their way to the training range. After entering its bounds, Chronicle instructed Lunatic where to position himself. The two then faced one another.

"Shall we begin?" Chronicle said. "Do you have a preferred weapon?"

"As a matter of fact…" Presumably out of the hammerspace non-unicorns have (which his cousin Ginger Cloud told him about), he drew a giant two-pronged sword. It was almost entirely gray, with a short, light gray handle with a black spike set in its pommel. The base of the blade sported a short spike on either of its sides. The tip of each prong was flat and slatted inward.

I'm never gonna get used to that.

Before Lunatic put the sword handle into his mouth, he said, "I am much stronger than you expect."

"At least your neck is," replied Chronicle as he 'drew' his "magic horn blade". Figures, my first opponent and he has a big-ass sword. The two of them then charged. Lunatic started by swinging his sword sideways. The unicorn vaulted right over him, flipping as he did and 'slashing' him.

Upon landing, he turned around to see the earth pony still standing without so much as a stagger. Lunatic swung around, doing a three-sixty. Chronicle managed to jump back to evade it, bt just barely; one of the blades nicked his coat, but thankfully no blood was drawn. At least that's what he felt.

"Now that's a very impractical weapon," the unicorn commented. "In the grasp of a non-unicorn anyway, not that I'm one of those who believe they're better than the other races."

Lunatic said nothing as he made another swing, which Chronicle jumped over…only for the earth pony to quickly swing the other way. Instantly, he 'sheathed' his "horn blade", and conjured a wall of magic between himself and the sword. It did not stop the attack as it broke, but it managed to soften the blow even the blade made contact with his body. As the unicorn managed landed on the ground and got up, he noticed that he's got a large though light cut from the sword.

Lunatic noticed it too, spat out his sword, and said, "Do you wish to stop?"

Chronicle was considering otherwise, and continuing the battle until he was tired, but then he remembered his rules; first to break a bone loses, first to draw blood wins, fight ends when challenger is obviously tired. "Yeah, I guess. You win by rule of first blood."

"I see."

"I guess I didn't really think this through. It's been quite a very long while since I've done a serious one-on-one fight. Apart from that one griffon. Too busy teaching at Mystic Shield's school." He 'took out' a pouch of bits from "hammerspace" and gave it to Lunatic. "Here's the reward money, complete with victory bonus."

The earth pony took the pouch and put it away. "Thank you. Victory bonus?"

"I'd still give out bits even if you lost. It helps invite more challengers."

"I see." He picked up his sword, then put it away as well. "Now that the request is completed, I shall be on my way." With that, he started to walk out of the training range.

"Where are you going?" Chronicle wanted to know.

Lunatic stopped and turned. "Do you need to know?" he asked in a tone that implied that he's not the type to give away anything so easily.

"…I guess I don't. Bye."

"Farewell." Lunatic then left. Once the earth pony was gone, Chronicle looked down at his wound, found that it wasn't too serious, and made his way back to the front door and saw Twilight just on her way back, Owlowiscious on her back. He joined her, managing to hide his superficial injury as she went in…and they saw Spike in a classic dastardly villain costume; black cape, top hat, and mustache taken from the local joke/novelty shop. 

He was scattering feathers from a torn pillow and his footprints were red, though later inspection revealed it was not blood but ketchup. And while he was doing an evil chuckle, he did not seem to notice the two until he backed up right into them. There was a very long and uncomfortable pause, after which he zipped away and instantly returned without his villain getup.

Spike then spoke in an overly-melodramatic manner. "That poor little field mouse!" He pointed to what was obviously a toy mouse for a cat to play, which was— "Torn to pieces! It must have been Owlowiscious!" He resumed normal tone. "You know, since owls eat, you know, mice." Then to full drama mode. "What a terrible, terrible bird! He must be punished!" Then to normal again. "Right?"

The two ponies were thoroughly unconvinced.

"Spike, I don’t know what upsets me more—that you deliberately tried to set up Owlowiscious, or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work," Twilight said. 

"I doubt even Derpy Hooves would fall for that, not that she's stupid, just clumsy," Chronicle added.

"You’ve let your jealousy get the best of you, Spike. I am truly disappointed. This is not the Spike I know and love!"

That seemed to get him in the moneymaker. He reached out toward her, but got no response as she trotted solemnly out the door and Owlowiscious swiveled his head to look back. Once she was gone, he turned to face Chronicle, who gave a sigh and said, "Why are my friends such idiots?" He then turned away from the incredulous dragon and 'slammed' the door.

As he continued to walk for a full minute, he thought to himself. "At least Mystic Shield has a level head like I do. At least Blue Diary's friends are much more sensible. Father did warn me that most of us who make friends with the natives never end up with those who are one hundred percent sensible all the time. What could have gotten Spike to—" He stopped upon realizing something. "Oh no." He then started to run off somewhere. "Twilight!"


C—TS—S—O—L—C—TS—S—O—L—C—TS—S—O—L

Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side of the screen is a grumpy Chronicle in his "training range" with his wound and on the right is Lunatic with his giant blade. On the upper right is the show's logo.


C—TS—S—O—L—C—TS—S—O—L—C—TS—S—O—L

Nighttime…

Spike was trudging through the Everfree Forest with a bundle on a stick slung over his shoulder. "Twilight hates me. I’m cold, hungry, tired, and lonely. Could it get any worse?" A sudden flash of lightning and a few raindrops reminded the little runaway that this was the one question no one of any species should ever, ever ask. The sprinkle turned into an instant storm. "I guess that’s a yes."

Looking around, he spotted a not-too-distant cave and headed for it. Upon reaching it, he peeked inside. "Hello?", he called. "Hel-looo?" The lightning illuminated the outline of some indistinct thing farther back in the cave, and Spike squinted for a better look. "What is that?" Once the glare had died down, he approached it and saw that it was an enormous mound of gems. His eyes snapped greedily back and forth. "Oh…if this is what running away is all about, I never want to go home!" He then dove in. "Gems! Mmm! Woo-hoo!" He began eating away.


S—S—S—S—S—S—S—S—S—S—S—S

Later…

Spike rested at the base of the pile, his belly from eating gems. A pat on his overstuffed belly brought up a hiccup that took his good spirits with it, and he groaned in a discontented way. "Even if my tummy’s full, the rest of me is still empty. I miss Twilight and the pony gang—but she doesn’t love me anymore." He picked up a half-eaten gem. "So I’m better off here—all by myself."

As he began to suck on the stone like a lollipop, wisps of steam floated toward him and set him sweating. He soon had to stop and fan himself with his hand. "Wow. Seems to be getting warmer." He sucked some more, more steam came, and more sweat came. "This steam is great for my complexion, but it’s sure getting hot in here." He tried to resume snacking, but a fresh gush of steam and a hollow roaring sound changed his mind. 

As he glances fearfully toward the source, he found himself in front of the gargantuan head of a rather annoyed green dragon. It had yellow-green head spines and ridges above its eyes, a pale yellow hide running down the throat and on its bat-wing ears; and yellow-orange eyes with pale yellow whites. He would later know its name to be Reginald. Its voice was low, gravelly, and full of malice.

"What are you doing in my cave? And why are you eating my gems?" he said. 

Spike spat out the one he was sucking on. "Uh…heya, bro. I didn’t know this was your cave. And I didn’t know these were your gems, but…we’re cool, right?" The giant dragon's snarling snout pushed into his face answered that one in a hurry. "Whoa, whoa! Hey, uh…we’re like brothers, you know? I mean, you’re a dragon, I’m a dragon, it’s us against the world, right?" Wrong again. A roar and belch of steam threw Spike against the pile. He landed upside down, shuddered, then got up ready for a fight.

"You don’t scare me," Spike said with false bravado. "So you’re big." His adversary growled, prompting his eyes to grow very large and frightened, as he saw that, in length, the head and neck alone stretched to at least ten times Spike’s height. "Really big." One of Reginald's forelimb extended its digits to show a set of very nasty claws. ""And your claws are super-sharp. Tail…" Reginald extended more spines from his tail. "…extra-spiky. But, uh…you don’t scare me! Hah!"

He gathered himself and spat out the best flame jet he can manage—which was far from intimidating. "How’d you like that?" He promptly has to duck under a huge stream of fire that very nearly burnt him to a crisp. It did, in fact, singe the tips of his own head spines and took all the fight out of him again. "Uh, I’d love to stay, but…gotta go! See you!" He began to run off. "Wouldn’t want to be you!"

His escape takes him between Reginald’s legs, who blew a new burst at his former position, and he dove behind a rock an instant before the tail smashed it to gravel. Off he went again, barely staying ahead of the stomping feet and gnashing teeth, but a dead-end wall soon left him nowhere to go. Reginald’s shadow fell over him as he warms up to incinerate Spike.

"Hoo-hoo!" a call came.

Spike looked up in happy surprise. Sure enough, there came Owlowiscious, staying clear of Reginald’s claws and bopping it on the snout. Two swings of the tail hit nothing but air, and the third—aimed straight at Owlowiscious—instead came down on the massive green head when he sidestepped at the last moment.

"Spike!" a familiar voice came. Spike turned to the mouth of the came to see Twilight and Chronicle waving him over. "Over here!"

With Owlowiscious keeping Reginald busy, the little dragon made a run for it. "Am I glad to see you!"

"Hurry! Hop on!" Twilight said.

As he did so, she galloped out of the cave with Owlowiscious following, just before Reginald’s fire blasted out after them. When it cleared, Chronicle was standing there with a force field around himself.

"We meet again. Reginald."

The green dragon just growled and swiped at the pony, who charged forward and out of the claw's range, knowing not to completely count on his barrier to protect him. He then proceeded to pester him with magic shots. He knew very well that all of his attacks would be ineffective, learning that from his fight with the red dragon Basil. In his first encounter with Reginald, he hadn't even intended to fight, just search an item and go.

Reginald let out a blast of fire, which Chronicle teleported away from, not risking his barrier a second time. He reemerged at the dragon's head, then started stomping on it, enhancing his front hooves with magic. Apparently learning from last time, Reginald's tail went at him from the side so that it would barely brush the dragon's own head.

The unicorn saw it coming and teleported down below Reginald's belly, 'unsheathed' his "horn blade", which phased through the scales, and began to run along it starting from the tail. Even if his blade would happen to phase through Reginald's heart, it would not be fatal due to the dragon's physiology, and even if that were not the case, it was set to not kill. He was just stalling for time, and practicing on doing that.

As he reached past Reginald's forelegs, he found himself face to face with the dragon's head, which was upside down. Just as he processed that, he was incinerated by his fire breath, but when it cleared, there was no charred pony body left behind. As it was, it turned out to be a magical clone. Fuming in anger, he stomped out of the cave, and began to pursue the escapees.


C—TS—S—O—L—C—TS—S—O—L—C—TS—S—O—L

Outside, Twilight was running alongside Chronicle, whom they have met up with a few seconds earlier. Spike was confused for a bit, then realized the one left behind was a magical clone.

"Damn, that dragon's more ferocious than Basil!" he swore, then turned to Spike. "I can't believe you found Reginald's cave!"

"Reginald?" asked Spike as the two of them looked back to see the green behemoth finally catching up to them and chasing them through the forest.

"I encountered him once during a trip to the Everfree Forest. Got his name when I attempted to go through him peacefully to find an item requested by a client. Tell you the rest another time."

Soon enough, the forest turned dim, with Owlowiscious nowhere in sight.

"It’s too dark!" Twilight complained. "I can’t see!" 

The owl caught up shortly. "Hoo! Hoo-hoo!" Facing front, he took up a position perhaps two feet from her face and led the way through the natural obstacles of the terrain thanks to his night vision. Reginald tried to keep up, but found his own path blocked by fallen trees and cannot pursue his prey any farther. He then put his head up into the sky and blew frustrated fire jets in various directions. as the quartet raced to clearer ground. Spike breathed a sigh of relief, and in short order the four have cleared the forest. Twilight stopped near a tree, Chronicle did the same, and Spike dismounted while Owlowiscious perched on a branch.

Once Twilight managed to catch her breath, she said, "Spike! We were so worried about you! I was so worried about you! Why did you run away?"

"I thought you didn’t need me anymore, and that you didn’t love me anymore," Spike replied.

She was taken slightly aback, but gave a smile. "Spike! Sure, I was disappointed, but you are my number-one assistant and friend, and you always will be. It’s just that sometimes I need some help at night. I can’t ask you to stay up late. You’re a baby dragon, and you need your rest. Owls are nocturnal, so I asked Owlowiscious to help, but not to take your place."

"Just as I wasn't employed by the Princess to replace you," Chronicle added. "but to protect Twilight, though I would also protect you if I can."

"No one could ever replace you, Spike, not even when you are being a jealous numbskull." On the end of this, she gave him a gentle noogie that got him to smile and hug her.

"I’m sorry, Twilight," said the little dragon. "I never should have been so jealous."

"And I’m sorry too, Spike. I should have been more sensitive."

"Yeah you should have," agreed Chronicle. "And now you owe me twenty bits."

"I guess I do."

Spike turned to the tree where the owl was perched. "And, Owlowiscious, I know now that you weren’t out to take my job. Forgive me?"

"Hoo?"

"Me. Forgive me, Spike."

"Hoo."

The confounded dragon turned away and shrugs helplessly at Twilight, who laughed softly. "He forgives you, Spike."

The stallion turned to the dragon. "Honestly, I don't really blame you. From what little I discovered about dragons, they are very territorial."

His charge turned to face him. "You think Spike's jealousy stems from instinct?"

"Mm-hmm." He didn't need to say it, but Twilight seems to have figured out as much as he did; the two of them (as well as their friends) were considered by Spike part of 'his territory' and therefore Owlowiscious was treated by him as in intruder.

Their thoughts were interrupted by Spike, who asked, "Hey! How did you guys know where I was?"

"It was your ketchup-covered feet." Spike looked toward the ground and lifted his foot to see the tomato residue still on the sole. ""Owlowiscious discovered your footprints and we followed them all the way to the cave."

"Oh, yeah, the ketchup. It looked pretty real, though, didn’t it?" The two ponies gave him a quizzical look. "Uh…heheh."

"And in the event that that wasn't possible, I could just find an item of yours and use my pinpointing spell to track you," Chronicle said. "Failing that, there's always Surveillance. Come on, let's go home."


C—TS—S—O—C—TS—S—O—C—TS—S—O

Later, in the library…

The four of them were in the kitchen, the two ponies near the fireplace, Owlowiscious on a perch, Spike standing on a stack of books to put him level with the table. He had a quill and scroll handy.

"I know Princess Celestia will want to read about what happened today," Twilight said.

"I’m ready when you are." 

She poised herself to begin dictating, then had a better idea. "Hey, Spike! Why don’t you write to Princess Celestia and tell her what you’ve learned?"

"Really? Why, that’s a big responsibility!"

"I know, but nothing my number-one assistant can’t handle."

With that, he began to write. “Dear Princess Celestia: This is Spike, writing to you about my adventures. This week, I learned that being jealous and telling lies gets you nowhere in friendship. I also learned that there’s plenty of love for every friend to share.” With mounting fervor, he continued. “So from here on out, I promise that I, Spike, will—” He abruptly stopped, falling asleep on the table and murmuring.

Twilight was caught off guard at this as she gave a gentle smile as she shook her head a bit. Chronicle just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Spike."

"Hoo?" Owlowiscious seemed to ask.

"Who? Spike. You kn—" She caught herself. "Ohhhh!" Then walked away, laughing to herself at having finally caught on to the reason for Spike’s confusion in all of his “conversations” with Owlowiscious. The nocturnal bird swiveled his head to incidentally face the Surveillance 'camera' on Spike and winked at it.

Chronicle gave another sigh as he dissipated, having turned out to be a magical clone. They may be idiots, but they're my idiots. If only I can get them to be more sensible…It's gonna be a nigh-impossible road.[/i
> (NOT) Chapter 11: Winter Wrap Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 2: Early Spring Reunion
Somewhere in a different Equestria…

In the middle of a room was a tall, oblong-shaped mirror. Sitting atop it was a sign with the mathematical symbol for prime ['] inside a symbol similar to Princess Celestia's cutie mark. At its base was a sign depicting a triangle (which was the Greek letter delta) and was apparently its old sign.

More mirrors stood in this room as well, all of them with different signs. One was like the sign on the first mirror, except in place of the prime symbol was the Mars symbol [♂]. Some had the Greek letters alpha, beta, and gamma. Another had Princess Luna's cutie mark. One had a blue-green heart-shaped jewel trimmed with a gold ribbon. Mirrors with the cutie marks of Pinkie Pie, Derpy Hooves, and Twilight Sparkle were present, along with more depicting other ponies' cutie marks. 

Other symbols include an orange, a burning sun, a darker version of Luna's cutie mark (two of the mirrors had them), a compass rose (two mirrors, one with the Elements of Harmony behind them), a "trollface", a rainbow, grayscale version of such, a heart surrounding Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark (again, two mirrors), a one and zero, a lightning bolt striking the middle of a circle, the Elements of Harmony with curved arrows between the five as if depicting a swap of sorts, and a phoenix feather.

Just then a blue hoof emerged from the mirror with the prime symbol. Then another emerged. Following was a blue unicorn horn, and following that was an orange-yellow mane and the head that held it. The rest of the body shortly followed, the tail coming last.

Chronicle had emerged from the 'portal'. 

Two days after Winter Wrap Up, he had went to Canterlot, asking leave from his friends. When asked why, he said it's part of his contract. In reality, there was an event he had to attend. 

Somewhere in Canterlot was a place operated by fellow Story Crew members, though they weren't Field Operatives like him. They ran a bar that also had a Request Board for freelancers to take as well as a recruiting program for ponies to enter their ranks. They also took care of legal problems that come with…foreign arrivals, and had a secret room for Story Crew member use only.

Chronicle had used the mirror inside that room to emerge in 'Story Crew Equestria', which served as a hub world for the Timer family. Where Princess Celestia rules Equestria Prime (and a few other Equestrias as well), Prince—not Lord—Solaris the world Timerity's assigned to, and Princess Luna (Equestris) Blue Diary's assigned world, Story Crew Equestria has their father, whose name is Thomas, and he takes the pony alias Lord Record Keeper.

As the blue unicorn pondered that while humming a certain tune, another pony emerged from a mirror, this time the one with the Mars symbol. It was Timerity, and she was humming the same tune as he was. When the two noticed each other, they stopped humming.

"Hey, Chronicle," she greeted. "It's nice meeting you in person like this."

"Likewise, Time," he returned.

"Time… Y'know, my friends call me that too."

"Too bad mine can't be shortened."

"Yeah." She decided to change the subject. "Hey, were you humming—"

"Yes. I can't help it. It's too catchy. Especially since it's my first time in the 'Musical Number' phenomenon."

Timerity raised and lowered her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, which Chronicle seemed to get. The two of them then sang in stereo. 

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!♪
Let's finish our holiday cheer!♪
Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!♪
'Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!♪
'Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
'Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
'Cause tomorrow spring is here!♪

Once they were done singing, they both laughed heartily.

Just then, a familiar pony walked in. "How is my favorite nephew and his sister?"

"Uncle!" they both gasped. It was Clockwork, former Field Operative of Rainbow Equestria. His wooden saddlebags were folded up for the moment.

"It's good to see you two! If you're wondering where Blue Diary is, his portal is being…re-calibrated, which will be thankfully finished by the time we finish this conversation. Time travel and all that."

"Why is time travel involved?" asked Timerity.

"You see, while most Equestrias 'start their tale', i.e. you meet with the 'chosen ones', at summer, Blue's starts at winter."

"Does that mean we're growing older than he is?"

"Sadly, yes. Now, we both knew this would happen. Not all Equestrias are 'synced' like yours, as you know from mine. His Equestria's under some sort of time flux."

"Oh, great," grumbled Chronicle.

"From what your father figured out, his world will start going in sync with yours at the Grand Galloping Gala. But that's not important right now. Come on, we're gonna miss the reunion!"


C—T—C—C—T—C—C—T—C—C—T—C

Later…

The three blue unicorns were now in flight, Clockwork with his cloth/leather wings, and the other two with the Glimmer Wings spell they learned, which were—unlike Rarity's and Elusive's—of a yellow hue, with blue, brown, and black patterns. Below them was a simple town with buildings made of concrete, almost looking like a "villa" in one of the Story Crew's many client worlds. In the middle however was a facsimile of Ponyville's town hall. 

"We're here," said Clockwork. One by one, they descended toward the entrance. Upon landing, Clockwork folded up his wings, while Timerity and Chronicle cast a spell that made their Glimmer Wings disappear.

The three of them opened the door and beheld what was inside. Ponies of all races were gathered at long tables filled with food, though there was also the occasional non-pony, like at least four dragons (all of relatively small size), a few griffons and zebras, and so on.

In the center table sat an alicorn stallion as tall as Princess Celestia. Aside from the Story Crew insignia everypony bears as their cutie mark, he had a burnt orange coat, red-brown eyes, and black hair with streaks of orange. He wore black shoes each with a pale yellow jewel on them, cornflower blue leggings on his hind legs, an ornate-looking vest of the same color with gold edges, and a diadem with a hole for his horn.

The alicorn looked up, turned to face the newcomers, and said, "Brother. I'm glad to see you made it. And you managed to bring in my twin children too." Said twin children put a hoof to the back of their head as they made a sheepish smile. 

"Hello, Father," the two younger unicorns greeted in return and they and Clockwork walked to the "de facto" ruler of this Equestria.

"I'm glad to see you could make it. You're the next-to-last ones to arrive." Just as he said that, from one of the open windows emerged Calyndar and Blue Diary, who were making their way down as well. "And now that we're all here, I can ditch this form." 

His horn glowed yellow and he 'removed' his diadem. The moment he did, his form shone brightly and shrunk. By the time his transformation was complete, he was now an earth pony. In place of his 'alicorn attire' was a Wears a blue gi, ochre pants, a white sash over his body, pink bands on his front hooves, and black shoes with white shin coverings on his hind hooves. His mane and tail retained their form, and with his smaller body the latter seemed to be larger.

Normally, when someone transforms right in front of a crowd, the crowd would be making various murmurs, shouts, and general expressions of surprise. However, everybody in the Timer family knows that Lord Record Keeper only uses his alicorn form in very specific occasions/situations and when having 'discussions' with some of the other rulers of the many Equestrias the Timer family covers. Otherwise, he prefers the humble form of an earth pony.

"Why did you even change into that form if you weren't gonna stick with it anyway?" a voice suddenly came.

Record turned to his right to face a unicorn mare with violet-blue-and-purple hair styled like Timerity's, a forest green coat, and blue eyes (it should go without saying that her cutie mark is the same as everypony's). She wore a black hair bow on her mane, a ribbon on her tail, a plain imperial red cape, and a moderate cornflower blue suit. She's his wife Jenny, whose pony alias is Ebony Spell.

"You know why, my dear," he answered her.

"I don't really think it's necessary if all you're expecting are fellow members like us. Even if someone we don't know were to come in, I'm sure it wouldn't make much of a—"

Record gave a sigh. "Jenny, do I have to go through this with you again?"

Before Ebony could reply, she noticed their children, who were now walking together (well, Blue remained a few inches off the ground) and Clockwork and Calyndar were no longer with them. She beamed up at the sight of them, and cast a spell to teleport right into their faces, startling them a bit that even Blue dropped to the floor. She then wrapped her forelegs around her fraternal twins, unable to reach her youngest, who went in and hugged her anyway.

The two blue unicorns were utterly embarrassed, mostly due to the fact that their mother wore a hair decoration and a tail decoration, but her pony form made her look like their older sister. "Mom!" they chorused. She let them go and Blue did the same.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "It's just that it's been a long time since I saw you kids."

"Come on, Mom. You've seen us during training," said Timerity. "By Equestria pony standards, were technically adults."

"Even though they're apparently young enough to enjoy slumber parties," grumbled Chronicle.

"May we go now? We probably have some cousins who wish to greet us."

"Of course," conceded Ebony. "We're having a musical later, and I'm sure the song's still fresh in your heads."

"Let me guess," Blue said. "Winter Wrap Up?"

Ebony seemed to be genuinely shocked at him knowing. "Why, yes. How do you know?"

Blue rolled his eyes. "Mom, I know what they have been doing thanks to the dream-link we have established. Also, the song's still in my head even after the Oaton incident."

"Oh."


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

[A/N: Due to the fact that just about every character in the setting is an OC, and that there are a lot of them, I decided to do away with the character breaks I usually make just for this chapter.]

A few minutes later…

Chronicle was just finishing a conversation with a cousin who was assigned to an Equestria where Fluttershy was the ruling Princess when he got a strange feeling. As the pony he was talking to left, a loud popping noise came from behind, startling him. What followed was a raucous laugh. The unicorn quickly turned around to face the culprit.

It was a bright green earth pony stallion with baby blue eyes, forest green hair styled in a mohawk like Zecora, and a short tied-up tail styled in the same manner as his mane. A burst paper bag was in his mouth and there were corks clogging his ears.

"Hi, Timmy!" he greeted.

"Jackson, did you really need to re-introduce yourself like this?" Chronicle scolded.

"Of course! By the way, my pony name is Hickory Dickory."

"Dock, the mouse went up the clock," the unicorn finished the rhyme.

Hickory giggled at this, then something suddenly crashed on top of him, kicking up a bit of dust.

"That's what you get for sticking your ass into my horn, pervert!" he heard Timerity say a distance away. "Your pony name really suits you, Blue Pen!"

The pony who crashed on Hickory was a pegasus stallion with the same coat color as him, chocolate brown eyes, and sleek hair colored like Trixie's coat, his tail styled like Timerity's. His rump was also sore as a result of a point-blank magic blast. As he recovered, he found himself looking at a very cross Chronicle in the eye.

"Peter, what did my father tell you if he ever found you doing family incest?" 

"Come on, Timmy," argued Pen. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?"

"Wrong. Dad always has ways of knowing if you're being like this."

"You mean my father tattles to him."

"That too."

"Brothers, there you are!" a voice came.

Headed their way was another pegasus stallion. He had the same eyes as Pen, the same hair color as Hickory, the same hairstyle as Rainbow Dash, and the same coat color as Chronicle.

"Joey!" the unicorn greeted.

"Journal!" gasped the two bright green ponies.

"Come on, you two. Father's calling for us. Big sister's already there, and you know what that means."

"We're gonna get 'steampunked'," gulped Pen. "Let's go!" And they were gone.


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

"So, how was your Winter Wrap Up, Blue?" Timerity was asking her youngest brother. They were sharing glasses of sparkling wine, Blue using a special gauntlet that served as a hand to hold the cup. He's not allowed to bring it to Luna Equestria though.

"It went well. However, as it turns out, for the past ten years there, Winter Wrap Up has never been finished on time."

"You know, that also applied in Solaris Equestria."

"And it can go without saying that that also happened in Equestria Prime. How did you solve it, assuming you did."

"Dusk Shine volunteered after realizing his one other talent besides magic; organization. Naturally, we can say Prime's Twilight Sparkle had the same idea. What about you, Blue? Did Trixie being them together?"

Blue refilled his cup, then took a long gulp from it before answering. "No. She went back to be after discovering that fact from the mayor. Since I was irritated by such disorder, I decided to take matters into my own hooves."

"Let me guess. You went and organized them?"

"You betcha. Although I was more 'getting their act together'. I got Cheerilee to take up the role of All-Team Organizer with me as an assistant. Still finished a bit late, but only by a few hours instead of days or even weeks."

"Dusk and I cleared it on time."

"And I'll assume the same's with Chronicle and Twilight."

"He can always deny it though."

"True. 'Dimensional reflection' can be weird. Events in your Equestria somehow seem to be destined to be mirrored in Chronicle's."

The two then looked around for a while, taking in the forms their cousins assumed. "I know we're probably already familiar with the advantages of an earth pony over the other two races we chose, but I still don't get how some of our cousins think it's a cool form to take. I mean, unicorns are very versatile, even though they are 'frail' in comparison to the average pony."

"And pegasi have the powers of flight, weather control, and cloud-walking. Still, I also have some magical items to back me up."

"Ah, yes. The two red aura swords Justice and Retribution. From what Peter told me while just before sticking his you-know-what into my horn, Cousin Rokuban chose the earth pony form because he wanted to use the Armadillo Armor, where he can turn himself into a ball and roll to move fast and tackle enemies. As for Jackson, I haven't the slightest idea, except perhaps to endure retributions after pulling off pranks."

"Maybe." The two of them turned to look at Record Keeper, who was . "Still don't get why Dad prefers an earth pony form over his alicorn form, though."

"Neither do I."


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

It was difficult being Lord Record Keeper. He was not a Field Operative like the rest of his family—including his wife—but was the manager of this 'base world'. Apart from the occasional 'mission control', he and the 'staff' in Story Crew Equestria usually have to handle entities with "Toon traits", "fourth wall"-breaking skills, and dangerous reality warping powers. Common targets are Mr. Mxyzptlk, a few "Q expies", a number of Pinkie Pies (and Bubble Berrys/Berry Bubbles), certain Doctors, a mad clown/god, a dimension/wandering swordsman, a couple of alicorns and "draconequi", one certain genie, and more. 

In one occasion, the one called The Merc with the Mouth stumbled here in search of his target: Thomas Timer, who was Record Keeper himself. He and everybody else involved vowed not to mention the incident for the rest of their lives, but it was one heck of an incident.

He also sometimes communicates with rulers of other Equestrias, but only when they somehow reach out to him first. Otherwise, he keeps his existence hidden. So far, the only rulers he's in semi-constant contact with are Princesses Pinkie Pie, Philomena, and Luna of the Lunar Republic. Princess Molestia often tries to hit on him even after he told her he's married, Princess Trollestia keeps pulling pranks, and Princes Sun Bro and Moon Dude keep inviting him to go "cosmos surfing" no matter how many times he has refused them. Tyrant Celestia of the Solar Empire and Corona Blaze (but not together) constantly try to find a way to invade Story Crew Equestria, but he and his allies constantly keep them at bay. 

That was why he was happy to just relax (as much as he could anyway) while he can in this reunion. Although he still received a few messages from time to time from his staff through an earpiece of his.

"Lord Keeper, we got Mr. Mxyzptlk incoming on Sector Cloud," one operative called.

"You know what to do," he whispered back. "Initiate Procedure Reverspeak."

"Already done, sir."

"Good."

"Lord Keeper, while we were investigating Luna Equestria's past, we found a potential recruit," another operative called.

"Nice work. You know what to do."

"Yes sir."

The Story Crew had an unorthodox way of recruiting members into its ranks. Using methods classified to the common operative, including Field Operatives, the Story Crew locates individuals with any of the following "parameters"; 'part in tale is over', 'verge of death outside of disease or failing immune system', 'died on a bus', 'drifter', 'no one will miss them', etc.

"Father," a voice called him.

Record turned to his left to face his eldest son Mahou, who took the pony name Mystic Wand. He was a unicorn with a dark blue coat, deep blue eyes like Blue Diary, and smooth, but mussed up jet black hair. He wore a cape similar to the one worn by Trixie (whom Record identified through his children's Surveillance cameras), but colored in her coat color, and glasses of the same shade.

"It's time to begin the musical."

Record nodded in response. "Thank you, son. Now go with your mother. You know what to do."

Wand nodded and teleported away. Record then asked for a microphone, got one, and then spoke through it. "ATTENTION! I have prepared a musical for you all to celebrate this reunion."


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

"How did you rope us into this again?" Blue Diary snarked.

"And how are we supposed to memorize our parts in time?" asked Timerity.

"And we're gonna use the 'Musical Number' Phenomenon?" gasped Chronicle.

"Relax, kids," Ebony tried to assure them. "Thomas knows what he's doing."

Before any of them can get into further debate, the three Timer children were teleported onto a stage. Even for the two who have done teleportation themselves, having it done without their consent is still a bit disorienting.

They took a quick look around and what they saw astounded them, due to it having bee set up so quickly. To their left was a band complete with various instruments and other sound enhancers. Behind them were three very large screens, and below those were a few select members of their family. Their mother Ebony Spell, their brother Mystic Wand, Ginger Cloud, Clockwork and his sons Blue Pen, Hickory Dickory, and Journal, were among these.

Now Playing: Winter Wrap Up

A piano and acoustic guitar began to play in ballad style with a backing synthesizer. They started up a slow 4/4 beat in D flat major.

The screens activated and began to play a video depicting what the Surveillance cameras of Record's children sans Wand saw on their friends. As they are influenced by the "Musical Number" phenomenon, it didn't look like they were 'recorded' at all, but as if arranged somehow.

Rainbow Dash: Three months of winter coolness♪
Lyra Heartstrings: And festive holidays♪

The ones who arranged the video muted the videos at specific intervals in a manner akin to a remix.

Berry Bubble: We’ve kept our hoofsies warm at home♪
Pinkie Pie: Time off from work to play♪

Carrot Top: But the food we’ve stored is running out♪
Applejack (M): And we can’t grow in this cold♪

Rarity: And even though I love my boots♪
Raindrops: it's time to end the cold♪

A bass and mandolin went in as the tempo increased. A shaker marked the time as the three Timers on stage started singing over the voices in the videos, influenced by the "Musical Number" phenomenon.

Cheerilee and Chronicle: The time has come to welcome spring and all things warm and green♪
Cheerilee and Blue Diary: But it’s also time to say goodbye, it’s winter we must clean♪
Twilight Sparkle and Chronicle: How can I help? I’m new, you see, what does everypony do?♪
Dusk Shine and Timerity: How do I fit in without magic? 

The videos' voices were then muted.

Timerity and Chronicle: I haven’t got a clue♪

The bass drum came in as the rest of the family onstage joined in the song.

Ebony, Clockwork, and Wand: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪

Hickory, Journal, and Ginger: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up ’Cause tomorrow spring—♪

The green pegasus cut in as he jumped and glided over them.

Pen: —is here♪
All: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

The snare drum came in as the video voices were un-muted.

Ditzy Doo: Bringing home the southern birds, a pegasus’ job begins♪
Rainbow: And clearing all the gloomy skies to let the sunshine in♪

At the next line, Blue Diary decided to sing along.

Raindrops and Blue: We move the clouds and we melt the white snow♪

At the next line, Timerity decided to do so as well.

Blitz and Timerity: When the sun comes up, its warmth and beauty will glow♪

The video voices muted again as the rest of the Timers began to sing again, doing the chorus in two parts. While the rest held out the second “up” in each line, the main three sang the rest of the line.

All: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

Again the videos were un-muted. But this time, the video-voices were played two at a time.

Lyra and Elusive: Little critters hibernate under the snow and ice♪

At the next line, Chronicle decided to pitch in for one line.

Lyra, Fluttershy, and Chronicle: We wake up all the sleepyheads so quietly and nice♪
BonBon and Rarity: We help them gather up their food, fix their homes below♪
BonBon and Butterscotch: We welcome back the southern birds♪
BonBon, Butterscotch, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Elusive: So their families can grow♪

The instruments stopped playing and percussion came in the form of tambourines and hand/hoof clapping, with a bass drum and bongos joining in.

The video voices muted again as the Timers began to sing again, this time splitting the vocals in three parts. Ebony and Mystic Wand broke off from the rest and held out each “Winter” in the line while the other two lines carried on as before.

All: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

The instruments returned as they played in stoptime. The video-voices were unmuted yet again.

Applejack (F): No easy task to clear the ground♪
Carrot Top: Planting all our crops♪
We'll make sure we all have food, even if we work nonstop♪

Applejack (both): Apples, carrots, celery stalks,♪
Carrot and both Applejacks: colorful flowers too♪
We must work so very hard, it’s just so much to do♪

Normal rhythm resumed as the video-voices were muted yet again and the Timers sang their part, Ebony and Mystic Wand joining in the "hold-out" line this time.

All: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪

The sole earth pony onstage went to the center and sang his line out loud.

Hickory: ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
All: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

The music slowed down and all the instruments stopped except for the piano, acoustic guitar, and synth. The main three sang over Twilight and Dusk's lines as the video un-muted their voices for the last time.

Chronicle: Now that we know what they all do, we have to find our place♪
Blue: And help with all of our hearts, tough task ahead we face♪
Timerity: How will we do without our magic, help the earth pony way?♪
I want to belong, so I must do my best today♪
All three: Do our best today♪

The music hastened once more as all the instruments returned, the video-voices were muted for the last time and the rest of the Timers onstage sang over the main three.

All: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪
Hickory and Pen: Let’s finish our holiday cheer♪
All: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪
Ebony and Clockwork: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
All: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪

The drums then stopped as the main three sang their lines.

Timerity: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Chronicle: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Blue: ’Cause tomorrow spring—♪
All three: —is here♪

The three held out the last note until the song ended and the screens deactivated.

End Song

A long round of applause followed and the Timers who sang couldn't feel more proud.

"Still angry at Father?" asked Ebony.

"Yes," Blue answered. "But this song's too catchy for us to stay like that for long."


SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM–SCFIM

Sometime after the musical, Blue, Timerity, and Chronicle were taking a casual walk back to the mirror portal room, which would take the back to their assigned Equestrias. In the meantime, they were having a chat.

"It's some kind of memory-transfer spell," Blue was explaining to his unicorn siblings something he had picked up from his time in Luna Equestria. T be specific, he got it from Trixie Lulamoon. "It sort of copies the memories in one's mind and gives them to its recipient. They'll still know it isn't theirs, but it lets them see things from the caster's perspective. The application involves mouth-to-mouth."

Chronicle raised an eyebrow at this. "You mean kissing."

"Tongue-to-tongue too."

The unicorn mare raised her eyebrow as well. "Prench kissing?"

"Uh-huh. It can go the other way as well. The recipient just has to focus on the memories the caster wants to see."

"Interesting."

"You think you might be able to apply that spell?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sure if I want my friends learning it. Think of the implications."

"I know, right? It felt awkward seeing Trixie do it on Raindrops. And after I got Syrena too."

"Syrena?" Both unicorns were confused.

"She's my pet swan."

"Swan?"

"Hey, don't diss the power of a swan. Their wings can break bone. I'm doing what I can to train her so that she can fight alongside me in fights. You two should consider getting pets as combat assistants."

"I'm not too sure about that," Timerity said. "I've checked Butterscotch's animals and not one of them seem to be my type."

"I don't even want to find out what Fluttershy would do to me if she would ever find that out as my reason for getting a pet," Chronicle added with a twinge of fear.

They paused in their conversation when they saw a pony headed their way. She didn't bear the Story Crew cutie mark they all did, which only meant one thing; she's a recruit.

Upon noticing the trio, the pony performed a salute at them. The three Timers looked at each other, then Chronicle said, "Uh…at ease?" The pony let down her hoof.

Blue immediately went professional. "State your name."

"Stringer."

"Talents? And tell the truth. Past crimes no longer matter here."

"…I'm a con mare. A sort of jack-of-all-trades. I can cook well enough to make you think I'm a famous chef, I could march well enough to look like an angry guard better bribed than argued with, I could juggle, sing, even walk on my two front hooves. Good at anything, but great at talking."

"Reason behind recruitment?"

"Costume Artist and I planned to do the legendary con; to play the cursed Symphony for Moon and Sun. Costume would pretend to be the Princess, who was abroad in diplomatic talks, and I would play the Symphony. Unfortunately, the Princess arrived at the last minute, arrested Costume, and then dared me to play. I did, but it had offended her, just like the eleven times before it. I was sent to prison after that, then that was when one of your guys came in."

"All right. What are you supposed to be doing?"

"Report to Lord Record Keeper for my assignment."

"Do so."

Stringer nodded and went on her way. Once she was gone, Blue turned to his siblings and—not wanting to explain what he just did—decided to change topics. "Did you know that gay pairings and lesbian pairings are a-okay in Luna Equestria?" said the pegasus.

It worked. "Wow, really?" gasped the unicorn mare.

"Yeah. Not that I'm gonna go with a guy. I'm straight, unlike you." Blue turned to Chronicle at this.

"Hey, I resent that remark. In spite of the times I've cross-dressed, I'm still as male as you are."

"I was just teasing you, bro."

"Wasn't funny."

"Not in the slightest," added Timerity.

"Anyway, last Hearts and Hooves Day—which we know as Valentine's Day—I managed to convince Raindrops to go with me."

"On a date?"

"Not quite. I had to accompany and assist her with helping BonBon with her gift to Lyra."

"Oh, I was expecting you to ask Ditzy," Chronicle remarked.

"I just live in with her. Dinky's just too adorable. Also, she's was too busy delivering love letters along with her usual mail."

"Oh. Yeah. The burdens of a single mother."

"So…thinking of asking Fluttershy?"

The unicorn stallion seemed a bit flustered at this and their sister seemed to make a sleazy smile. "Wha…I'm still not sure. It's still months away for Hearts and Hooves Day here. And Twilight certainly needs more social lessons."

"I'm gonna have to say the same thing with me and Rainbow," the unicorn mare added.

Blue Diary gave a sigh. "Looks like our timelines are set apart by months."

"Well duh. It was summer when my 'adventure' began while it was winter in yours. Uncle Tycho told us just after we arrived."

"But much more time is passing in both of yours than mine."

"Must be some sort of time flux…" Chronicle then realized something. "Wait a second! What give you the idea about me and Fluttershy?"

"Just a thought."

"Also, we saw her pull off a Special Sonicboom during our three-way fight while talking with Mystic Wand," their sister added. "It was in your fantasy, of course, so we assumed that." She then turned to face their youngest brother. "Say, if gay and lesbian pairings are legit and okay in your Equestria, what isn't, apart from abusive pairs of course?"

"Child to adult, same gender. Latest case-in-point, Sweetie Belle to Cheerilee."

Both unicorns were surprised. "…What."

"Yes."

"That is sick and wrong," exclaimed Chronicle.

"Still, the matter was cleared up before things got hectic. Also, even my friends are not above poor communication. Ditzy thought Dinky had a thing for Trixie, and I discovered that she had a thing for Princess Luna, though that had to end due to not only the immortality issue, but also its exploitability for the Night Court."

"Hmm…I always wondered if Twilight has similar feelings for Celestia."

"Really?"

"Of course not. Your talk about relationships brought it up."

"And I don't want to know if Duck—I mean, Dusk and Solaris have something similar," said Timerity with a shudder.

"Well, there's also the problem of Gilda beforehand proposing to both Raindrops and me," Blue added.

"No way!" gasped his unicorn siblings.

"It's supposed to be some sort of griffon tradition. The only other alternatives are let them take over Ponyville or have her return our decapitated heads."

"Ouch…" Chronicle then noticed him smirking. "Hey, was that supposed to be a joke?" When he wasn't answered, he said. "That wasn't funny!"

"We're here," their sister announced.

The three of them found themselves inside a building and in front of a reception desk tended to by a dragon with Spike's proportions, but colored orange like the Story Crew's insignia.

"State your callsign and destination," he said.

"Chronicle. Equestria Prime."

"Timerity. Solaris Equestria."

"Blue Diary. Luna Equestria."

"All right. Pass."

The three ponies walked past the desk and through a hall and before they knew it, they were in the room with the mirrors, which would take them to the many Equestrias the Story Crew had links to. They each went to the mirrors they had went through to get here, Blue towards one with Princess Luna's cutie mark. They all stopped just before entering.

"Hey guys," Timerity called to her brothers. "It's been an interesting reunion. See you on the dreamscape."

"See ya," Blue was about to cross his portal back to Luna Equestria when he stopped for a moment. "Oh, before I forget, look for the book Spells 101: Mane Changing. Maybe you can pull off some pranks with it or utilize it for disguises."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Provided that book even exists in our Equestrias," added Chronicle.

"If it doesn't, let me know and I'll give you details so you can ask." With that, the white pegasus pressed a hoof to his portal. "Look to the stars, for hope burns bright." The mirror glowed and his hoof passed through, followed by the rest of him.

Timerity followed suit ("Let no one else decide your fate."), leaving Chronicle for last. "Ally to good, nightmare to evil." The mirror rippled as his body crossed it, and once he was completely through, the rippling stopped and it was as if he were never here apart from the sign of hoofprints.
> (NOT) Chapter 23: The Cutie Mark Chronicles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 3: Chronicle's Duels


Duel 1: Sunset Key


Morning in Ponyville…

Chronicle was in his 'training range', facing an earth pony stallion with a very pale amber coat, golden-blond spiky hair, blue eyes, and a strange cutie mark that looked like a cross of sorts. It was difficult to determine what talent he would have, but then the same could be said for the Story Crew emblem. Chronicle had no talents related to books or anything concerning literature. The earth pony's name was Sunset Key.

In his mouth was a strange-looking sword. It seemed to have a skeleton key mix with it. The blade was curved and notched with a noticeably sharp edge. The whole thing was a mix of white and black. A certain word popped in his head, but he couldn't quite place where it was familiar.

Chronicle decided to humor Key by taking out hs little-used sword hilt and formed his "magic blade" from it. It's only called "magic horn blade" when its formed from his horn.

"You up for this?" asked the earth pony through his teeth.

"I should be the one asking you that," retorted the unicorn.

"Heheh, true." He then swung, and while Chronicle parried the blade with ease, he was surprised at what Key pulled off. No pony—save perhaps Pinkie Pie—was this nimble. He seemed to replicate the sword's movements as if a tall bipedal being were swinging it with their hands.

"What the █—" He didn't get to finish as Key went for another swing, this time it was downward. That attack was parried as well, then Chronicle flash-stepped (been quite some time since he's done that) past the earth pony, quickly turned around, and launched a salvo of magic shots.

Key instantly turned around as well and—against all logic—made his sword spin to deflect the attacks. The double ████?! Chronicle thought as he kept his horn glowing, continued the assault, and summoned a magical clone to where he was a while ago to do the same.

The two way attack worked and as a result the sword was sent flying out of his mouth and into a bale of hay as Key continued to be pounded with shots. His 'sword' still levitating, Chronicle 'swung' it at Key's belly, drawing a minor wound—and ending the fight.

That ended too quickly. "I don't know how an earth pony can swing a sword like that, but it will take more than flashy moves to win a fight," he told his challenger.

"Yeah, I guess," replied Key as he went to retrieve his sword.

"You put up a interesting fight nonetheless. Here's your reward." He procured a pouch of bits and passed it to the earth pony, who seemed to be surprised for some reason.

"But I—"

"The only thing you get from winning is a bonus. Even if you lose, you still earn something. I'm not trying to challenge anybody (even non-ponies can take the request), just trying to hone my skills. Besides, I can fetch more challengers this way. If I were to put a reward ONLY on beating me, my chances of getting a challenge and their difficulty will be completely dependent on my reputation. I can't have that."

By this point, Key accepted the bits and retrieved his sword. "Don't you have friends to help?"

"While all of them can hold their own, none of them are as well-trained as I am."

"Is it possible for me to challenge you again," asked Key.

"Get yourself patched up before that. And unfortunately, due to my job, I won't always be available. Also, I have the privilege to refuse you until you have improved. You got me?"

"Yes, Chronicle."


Duel 2: Gusty


Daytime…

Gusty was a white unicorn with green eyes, Dark turquoise hair with a red streak, and a cutie mark of five red maple leaves. Her special talent though was of aerokinesis. Right now, her horn glowing green, she was blowing up a storm that was trying to blow him away. Luckily, due to an earlier incident, the things in his range were protected from bring blown away thanks to a spell by Twilight Sparkle. He was also protecting himself with his little-used river serpent-scale shield.

"Wind doesn't have much in terms of damaging power, you know," he told his opponent. "Also, knocking me out of the range is not a victory condition."

"Oh?" The wind then stopped. "Whoopsie." Gusty then made a devious grin before casting her magic again. It hit the shield, and Chronicle knew from the impact that she had launched a razor wind. 

She then started to move, trying to get around the shield, which he kept between the two of them while firing 'shurikens'. Gusty couldn't blow these off course since they were not made out of solid matter and thus had to dodge. However, she was quick on her hooves and a few times already her razor winds nicked the ground inches next to where Chronicle was standing.

"Watch it," he warned. "A wound is all I need to lose. Nothing more." He then made a quick move to 'shove' his shield straight at Gusty, but she 'grabbed' it, 'wrested' it from his 'grip', 'tossed' it aside, and launched another razor wind, all in the span of one second. It was too quick for him to make a strong enough barrier to stop it in time. 

The wind smashed through and got him in the front legs, making two cuts as it pushed him back an inch. He winced from the pain, then flash-stepped away from a second that had been launched at the heat of the moment.

"Stop. You win, Gusty." The unicorn mare stopped and gave a smile as Chronicle 'gave' her a large pouch of bits. "I should really work on my reaction time," he grumbled.


Duel 3: Scorchwheel


Afternoon…

"Can't handle the heat?" Chronicle's opponent taunted as he hurled a burning wheel. 

The unicorn just whacked it back with his shield and the wheel made it back to his opponent. "I'm not impressed with your puns, Scorchwheel. What's next? Burning rubber?"

His opponent, Scorchwheel, was a pegasus with a gamboge coat, thick bright red hair styled into slicked-back spikes, a widow's peak, purple reverse-teardrop shaped markings below his green eyes, and a blazing wheel cutie mark. Chronicle did not want to find out how he got that. 

On the pegasus's forelegs were two launchers that held two silver wheels with four spikes protruding from them, four half-circle recessions between those, a blue-gray cross 'handle' connecting them, and some mysterious component that set them on fire when…fired. They also got a homing system that calls them back to the launcher after colliding with a target.

Right now, Scorchwheel was in the air, trying to get through Chronicle's defenses. "Sunset Key's told me a bit about you. He said you're a skilled fighter. Show me what you got!"

"You're the challenger, not me." Chronicle was answered by another thrown wheel, which he deflected. He then shot a flurry of 'shurikens', which Scorchwheel deftly evaded. Dammit, it's no good. Especially after he incinerated my Glimmer Wings. "You're gonna have to try something else, Scorchwheel. I haven't got all day."

"Very well, then." The pegasus began to fly fast in circles around Chronicle, then hurl his wheels at him. The unicorn just rolled his eyes as he deflected the attacks with his shield. He had some practice against this tactic before with Rainbow Dash, even though she doesn't throw stuff at him like Scorchwheel does.

Deflecting sure wasn't going to work; he'd just catch it again. Maybe if… well, he'll need a lot of focus for that. As he sensed a wheel come right at him, he focused his magic on it, and successfully 'grabbed' it just before it could graze his face, completely arresting its motion.

Scorchweel was apparently offended from this maneuver. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Come and take it!" Chronicle dared. The pegasus took it and charged with his remaining wheel poised to strike in melee range. As Scorchwheel neared the ground, Chronicle made his move; he flash-stepped back, drew his "magic horn blade", then flash-stepped forward again, slashing through Scorchwheel as he passed him. The redhead pegasus stumbled into the ground from the pain as the unicorn went forward and made a cut in his body, scoring victory.

"Rats!" swore Scorchwheel as he turned to see his wound. "You're not as good as I hoped, but you seem skilled enough."

"I'm better at going easy enough to maim, not so much when it comes to just drawing blood. And I don't often try to break a bone. Here." He procured a pouch of bits and passed it and the wheel he took to Scorchwheel. The pegasus put the wheel back into his launcher and stowed the bits into his personal hammerspace.

"Thanks. Hope to duel you again."


'Duel' 4: Twilight Sparkle


The next day, late morning…

"Chronicle, could you tell me if I'm doing this right?"

"Doing what right, Twilight?"

The two of them were facing each other in the training range. It wasn't an 'official' duel.

"That spell you often use whenever you fight."

"Oh that? You mean the magic horn blade."

"Yes, that." She then cast the spell the way she remembered him casting it. 
Energy seemed to form around her horn as it then seemed to take in a shape akin to Chronicle's own. However, he did notice that the blade she made was significantly longer than his. He did did best not to feel the slightest bit envious from the size.

"Okay," he said as he stepped aside, then levitated over an old equinequin. "Now, bring your blade down on that."

She complied and successfully did so, but also managed to dig her blade a bit deep into the ground.

"All right." He then levitated a couple of busted pillows in front of her, spacing them evenly so that she can't take them all in one blow. "Now use that blade to cut these up."

As she did as he instructed, he noted that she was 'hefting' it around like it was a heavy sword. Once she was done, she turned to face him and said, "You never told me the magic horn blade holds weight." 

He resisted the urge to say, "You never asked."

Twilight dismissed her "horn blade" and continued, "I mean, being made of unicorn magic, shouldn't it technically be weightless?"

"Technically, that spell is meant to be used on objects and then levitated like you probably would a sword."

"What made you decide to implement it on your horn?"

"I can't quite remember why, but it felt good." He then realized something as he put away the destroyed pillows. "Wait, what do you know about Magic Sickness?"

"Magic Sickness occurs on a unicorn if they were to cast more advanced and concentrated spells on themselves." she continued to talk as her friend 'picked up' a wet broom and started straightening the dirt scattered from her practice. "Symptoms vary from violent coughing, vomiting for a week, headaches, and stomach aches. If the spell is too extreme, it can prove lethal. Teleportation is the only spell unicorns can perform without succumbing to magic sickness because of its mild nature."

"I see. Do you happen to have some sort of natural immunity like I do, or have you used some other method to alleviate it for a while?"

"From what Princess Celestia told me, I'm one of those few unicorns who are immune to Magic Sickness."

"Ah."

Twiight then changed the subject. "So…how did I do? With the magic horn blade, I mean."

"As Mystic Shield had stated lots of times, you don't seem to know how to go easy. Too much power will render the blade too 'heavy'. And thus your movements are slow. I could easily parry that blow. Also, there're a couple more things thatI have that you don't. One, I've had constant, constant practice. Two, you also have to practise your body to swing this thing properly. Three, self-restraint is important with this spell, else you could break something or even kill someone." His last point shocked Twilight, which he noted. "Don't look at me like that. You should know by now that I don't skirt around 'death' words."


Duel 5: Sunny Skies


Noon…

"Are you sure about this, Chronicle?" the challenger asked.

"Don't worry, princess," the unicorn replied, the last word spoken rather teasingly. "You can just pass it off as the weapon being magical. Magical artifacts do exist, right?"

Floating next to his opponent was a pristine white blade that shone like steel, but was really composed of pure, compressed mystic energy. Said opponent was a pegasus named Sunny Skies. White coat, pink mane that almost seemed to flow, and a cutie mark depicting a simple sun flanked by a few tiny clouds. She was no ordinary pegasus however. In reality, she was Princess Celestia in disguise, who was here to take a break from the royal life in Canterlot. 

As to how he knows who she was, just a day after the "Philomena incident", Celestia had come to Ponyville as Sunny to interact with Twilight and her friends. The disguise worked effectively, though Chronicle did sense something unusual about her when they met. One skill of his is that he can sense if someone is disguising themselves via means outside clothes, posture, and mannerisms, but cannot tell who is behind it. She was busted when Spike sent a letter by fire, which went straight for her in front of Twilight and the rest. ('Naturally', Pinkie Pie knew all along but didn't tell because she thought everypony else did.)

Despite this, everything went all right and—under threat of Pinkie Promise—the whole thing was kept a secret. Princess Luna is the only other pony who knows, having suggested the idea in the first place.

"True, but…it's been a very long while since I used this."

"How long? A thousand years?" he grinned as if to jest, but he had a tone of seriousness.

"Longer. I couldn't bring myself to strike down my sister with this blade of magic. And while I've had to fight off the occasional threat my little ponies couldn't deal with, I've never needed to conjure it."

"Oh. This may prove to be a refresher, then. Don't go easy on me, but try not to maim me. And an extra rule, just to minimize suspicion; don't dismiss and re-summon your sword."

"All right," Celestia replied somewhat shakily. She 'swung' the sword in a wide arc, which Chronicle stopped with a panel force field. Celestia followed up with a thrust, which went below the panel, but the unicorn side-stepped and swung down his own blade to parry and pin it down. The incognito princess 'drew' her blade back and made another thrust, which Chronicle dodged by flash-stepping out of reach.

Celestia had her blade follow him and perform sideward swings, which he parried with his own blade. To minimize suspicion, she kept close to her conjured sword. From what Chronicle told her, magical artifacts that can operate from such a great distance are so far unheard of unless they bear sentience, and even then those were rare.

The two magic blades clashed as they attempted to break through the other with sheer force. Chronicle buckled momentarily under the weight of Celestia's attack, but he would not be so easily defeated, not even by an alicorn. A careful turn of his blade sent Celestia's down into the ground. As she struggled to bring it back up, the unicorn used the force she 'exerted' to flip and try to buck her in the face. She pulled away just in time, then before he could complete the turn to wound her with his blade and end the battle, she had her sword back up to attempt to do that to him.

Chronicle flash-stepped to Celestia's side, though her sword managed to nick off part of his tail. As he positioned himself to poke her side, as he thrust forward, Celestia had her sword parry it and turn it upward. She followed up with a buck to his chest, sending him stumbling to the ground.

Before he could think of getting up, Celestia 'drove' her sword's pommel right into his barrel, knocking the wind out of him, then 'slid' the blade gently across it as he recovered from the blow.

"Looks like I win," Celestia said as Chronicle got up to his feet.

"Wow. I didn't expect you to fight like that, Pri—uh, Sunny," he replied. "I took you for the type who would attack from a distance."

The incognito princess gave a short laugh. "If I were in my true form, I would've done just that. But given that I had to dampen my magic to maintain this form…"

"You had to resort to alternate measures, right?"

Celestia nodded in rseponse. "My sister and I have had to battle various creatures over the centuries, some you might have been able to handle with difficulty, to some more powerful and dangerous than an Ursa Major."

"I'm not gonna ask what situations forced you to resort to that kind of spell. Thanks for the fight." He procured a pouch of bits and was about to pass it to Celestia when she—subtly using her magic—forced it back in.

"That won't be necessary."

"Oh, right."
> Chapter 25: Party of One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Chapter 25: Party of One

In the dreamscape…

Ponyville was in ruins, but for some reason, it looked…wackier than usual. Serious fighting can be heard in the background, compounded with cries of rage and cackles of insanity.

Chronicle knew whose cries those were, they were his. Lately ever since Winter Wrap Up, once every two weeks, he's been suffering strange dreams. In those dreams, something had happened that was so bad that he—usually calm outside battle and focused while in—would completely lose it as far as he can tell. He's unable to see the fight though and it seemed to go away from him whenever he tried to head for it. 

As he pondered on that, somepony entered his dreamscape. It was Blue Diary. "Hey, Chronicle," he greeted. "Same nightmare?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a nightmare," the unicorn replied. "Just a strange dream."

"You know, I've seen you blow your top a couple of times, but I still can't find out what would tick you off so much you would go on something like this."

"Me neither." Chronicle then turned to face his brother, then noticed something around his neck. It was a delicate gold chain holding a large pearl. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, this? Just a souvenir from an adventure. In there, we fought salamanders and made an ad-hoc alliance with Diamond Dogs."

"Wait, salamanders? I don't think you mean those small amphibians, do you?"

"Nope. I meant the fire-attribute sort. Tell you another time." 

"Okay. So, what does that do, assuming it does anything?" Chronicle pointed at the pearl around the pegasus's neck.

"This amulet can take the magic of another for me to use. Here's an example, although it may hurt. I just hope it works in the dreamscape." Blue put a hoof to the pearl, then extended his other one to Chronicle's horn. The unicorn felt a bit dizzy as his magic was pulled from his horn to Blue's amulet. The pegasus soon let go and allowed him some time to relax. 

"That doesn't seem too useful unless you have your target immobilized or willing," Blue's brother said.

"Unicorns aren't the only source I can extract it from. Any source of magic will do, like my swords, which is where I often collect my magic from for my amulet. However, with unicorn magic, I can utilize any spell its owner knows." His hoof still on the amulet, he aimed his other hoof to the sky and launched a salvo of shuriken-shaped shots. And they were blue like Chronicle's aura. Next, he teleported the two of them in a flash of light just like he and Twilight Sparkle often do.

They emerged back into…Blue's own dreamscape, which had large photos of peculiar events all over the black void. One showed him team-tagging with Raindrops against an Ursa Minor. Another showed them beating the snot out of Gilda. Another faced him against Philomena while above a burning house. Another showed him, Cheerilee, and Big Macintosh beating up some thugs to save Dinky Doo. Yet another showed Trixie standing a fair distance from himself, Raindrops (wearing glasses), and Cheerilee, all on the road and placing a hoof over their ear as if using some sort of communication device. One in particular had the white pegasus covering his eyes at the sight of what seemed to be Lyra Heartstrings as a …human?

"Is that…" Chronicle asked as he pointed at the last picture.

"Yes. Very awkward experience when I had to explain why I averted my eyes, given that… well… And worse, it was still winter. As for how that happened in the first place, it was due to Trixie experimenting on zebra magic, although she could hardly be blamed because the spell book she was reading from suffered from severe translation errors."

"Oh." He then pointed at the one with Blue and his friends on the road. "What about the one where you seem to be using earpieces?"

"That? Those items were enchanted by Trixie. Along with the glasses Raindrops has, which is a 'surface thought'-reader. We used them during the Oaton incident and we'll probably have more of these items in the future."

"I see. Thanks for taking me out of that strange dream of mine."

"You're welcome."

Chronicle couldn't be sure, but his brother seemed to be a bit nervous about something. He was doing a good job on hiding it, but when it seemed that the unicorn was about to leave, he let his guard down.

"Is something bugging you?" he asked the pegasus.

Blue's ears seemed to droop upon hearing that. "Yes, but it's nothing you can help me with."

"Why?"

"It's Raindrops. She's all smiles and giggles, kinda like Pinkie Pie."

"Which one, yours or mine?"

He then unexpectedly blew his top, which was rare since Blue was the most composed of them all, though not as much as Mystic Wand; then again, he never tells them what he's up to. "Does it matter? What's worse, it's not even raining!"

Chronicle was now curious; from what Blue told him about her, Raindrops has serious anger issues, and is the closest thing (aside from Cheerilee) to a fighter in the group. He conducts semi-regular exercise routines alongside her and with Trixie. In many ways, Blue's friends were more… normal than Chronicle's.

"Ouch, I'm sorry to hear that."

The pegasus calmed down after a while. "Don't worry yourself with it. It's my problem to handle. And my friends'."

"Okay. I probably shouldn't have asked."

"You're right. You shouldn't have."


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

Daytime…

Chronicle took his sweet time getting up, having gotten a good night's rest thanks to his brother. It was a good day today, he could even hear singing outside.

Hold on! Somepony was singing outside! Getting up from bed, he started to head down the stairs and to…the bathroom, where Spike was taking a very long hot water bath. Baths don't come as often as he was used to thanks to being a pony, but good hygiene was still important. Besides, Twilight could tell him later, provided she even investigated.

By the time he was squeaky clean, the song already ended. Luckily as he went down to the ground floor, Twilight noticed him and called for him to come over.

"Good morning, Chronicle."

"Morning, Twilight. What was that song I'm sure you heard?"

"Oh, it was just Pinkie Pie. She gave my a singing telegram advertizing Gummy's first birthday. It's being held at Sugarcube Corner."

"Where is she now?"

"Probably gonna repeat the song to the rest of our friends."

"I hope she's got enough energy for the party. What time is it due?"

"She did not say. Wait." She noticed a small card on the ground where Pinkie once danced. She picked it up with her magic, then flipped it around. "Oh, here it is."

Chronicle walked up beside her and looked at the card. "Okay. Let's be there by then."


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS

Later, at Sugarcube Corner…

The group of friends were having fun in an upper-story room of the bakery. A lively tune was playing on a phonograph. Twilight and Pinkie were dancing, Applejack and Rainbow were at a bob-for-apples tub, and Fluttershy and Rarity were talking by the refreshment table. Chronicle had invited Mystic Shield, who had just returned from a Request Board request. Skyla wasn't available however (not that they were that close as friends…yet), having decided to try and foalsit the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Right now he was "moonwalking" with his co-teacher, which he found was a bit difficult given he had double the feet required. Mystic seemed to be doing well enough though as he "moonwalked" alongside him.

"Thanks for inviting me to the party, Chronicle," he said.

"Hey, what're friends for?"

The purple stallion gave a bit of a chuckle. "I remember saying that to you twice before."

"Hey, boys!" Pinkie greeted as she joined them in the moonwalk and shortly passed them by. 

"Hey, Pinkie Pie!" the two greeted her in stereo, then paused upon realizing what they did, faced each other, and laughed out loud.

At the tub, Applejack dunked her head into the water and quickly brought up an apple in her teeth, which she tossed up and ate in one bite. The pegasus maintained her composure in the face of the workhorse’s smirk.

"Nice one," Rainbow said. "Now let me show you how it’s really done." 

Before she can do her thing however, Pinkie walked over as the music ended.

"Hey, girls!" she greeted.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie."

"Howdy!" Applejack greeted, eliciting a little squeaky giggle from Pinkie.

"Just wanted to tell you how happy I am that you could make it to Gummy’s party."

"Are you kiddin’? I wouldn’t-a missed it for the world."

"Me neither," Rainbow added. "When Pinkie Pie throws a party, I am there!" With that, she she bobbed and snagged an apple of her own. "Ta-da!"

"Aw, just a boring old apple," said Pinkie. "Don’t worry. There are plenty of other surprises in there." 

Rainbow spit out her apple, which bounced off Applejack’s head. "What kind of surprises?"

"I can’t tell you that, silly! Then it wouldn’t be a surprise!" She then trotted off.

The two players turned to each other, then back at the tub before dunking their heads in. Applejack was first to bring something up: a ball attached by a spring to the bottom of the tub. She yanked at it for a moment before the tension dragged her back in. Rainbow, meanwhile, came up to find a party-hatted Gummy firmly latched onto her snout. One very soggy blond mare had a good chuckle at the sight before the alligator got flung off.

At the refreshment table, Rarity was happily sipping a cup of punch through a straw. When it ran dry, Pinkie stepped over and refilled from a ladle in her teeth, quickly setting it aside. The two stallions have stopped 'moonwalking", taking cups of punch themselves.

"This punch is simply divine," the white unicorn said. "Is this the same recipe you used for your “Spring Has Sprung” party?"

"Nope, something new."

She turned to see that Gummy had landed in the punchbowl. The sight caused Rarity to spit her mouthful directly into Pinkie’s face, which didn't shift her broad smile even a millimeter. "It’s Gummy’s favorite!"

At this, Mystic spat out his punch at Chronicle's face, who in turn just resumed drinking. "Gross!" the self-defense teacher said.

"I've had worse."

Just then, a new tune started up on the phonograph. "Ooh! This is my jam!" Pinkie said as she darted away to fix up the apple bob tub. Seconds later, they heard Rarity spit something out, presumably the punch. The two then decided to dance with Fluttershy and Twilight. They were soon accosted by their enthusiastic host, who joined in.

"Having fun?" she asked them.

"A blast!" Twilight.

"Just the thing I needed after a stressful day." Mystic.

"Strangest reason for a party, not that there's anything wrong with that." Chronicle.

"You always throw the best parties, Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy.

"They’re always the best parties ’cause my best friends are always there!" Pinkie got perhaps a bit too lively with her dancing however, hip-checking all four away. "Come on, everypony!"

Twilight was dazed and partially embedded in one wall, Fluttershy had come loose from hers and was tottering around woozily, Mystic slammed into his horn-first and was struggling to get out, and Chronicle smashed into the tub, spiling the water all over.

"Gummy wants to dance!" The four managed to get their heads clear and return to dance around the guest of honor, who stood in the middle of the floor among the dancing hooves. No part of him moved except for the twitching end of his tail. "Go, Gummy! It’s your birthday! Go, Gummy! It’s your birthday!"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Twilight (the time, not the pony)…

"Are you sure you don't want to stay a while longer?" Pinkie asked. "There's still lots more to do!"

"Sorry, Pinkie Pie, but I must decline," apologized Mystic Shield, with Chronicle next to him as they stood just at the doorway of the bakery. "The two of us have a busy day tomorrow." With that, they began to walk to the former's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns. The latter will be staying there for the night.

"Oh, right. Hope you can attend another of my parties soon!"

"Not too soon," said Chronicle. "They can get boring to the average pony if they attend them too many times in a month." He emphasized 'average' to point out that Pinkie was not such.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

Once they were out of earshot, Mystic spoke up. "Some of your friends sure are strange."

"I know, right?"

"How do you tolerate them? I certainly wouldn't be able to stand them if it weren't for you."

"I guess it comes from having been born in a similarly quirky family."

"Oh. Mine telling me a bit about them?"

As they reached Mystic Shield's place, entered the door, and stopped at his room, they talked about each other's lives. Chronicle was very careful with what he said so as not to tell his friend of his true origins. He told him mainly about his family (the Timer family), some of his many cousins, and their quirks, but not their mission or what they really do.

As for what he learned from Mystic Shield, he found out the following things: After his teacher Aegis—who had inspired him to set up his dojo in the first place—passed away, he left home and traveled as an adventurer in spite of his cynophobia. There were numerous things he'd seen, acquaintances he'd made, monsters he'd confronted, friends he'd lost, and so on. After a year, he went home, settled down, and married. Unfortunately, something unfortunate happened and now she's no longer with him anymore. He refused to say what exactly had happened, but he did say that after that he decided to follow his teacher's hoofsteps and start up his own academy. 

"I'm so sorry to hear about your wife," Chronicle said. "How did you get over it?"

"…I don't wanna talk about that," Mystic replied as he prepared a bed for his co-teacher; a simple mattress. "Let's just sleep now. We have a big day ahead of us."

"Oh, all right."


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

The next day…

"All right. Let's get started."

"Mm-hmm."

The two co-teachers of the dojo were awake and standing at one end of the tatami mat, anticipating the arrival of their first students. When the door opened however, the one who came in was—

"Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here?" asked Mystic as she walked across the mat, to his mild irritation. On her head was a wicker basket filled with invitations.

"Here!" She bent down to reveal the invitations. Mystic 'picked up' one, opened it, and extracted a card.

“You are invited to Gummy’s after-birthday party, this afternoon at three o’clock,” he read.

"All our bestest friends are invited, and there’s gonna be dancing and games and cake and ice cream and punch!"

"Hold on," said Chronicle. "By this afternoon, you mean three hours after twelve o'clock noon today?"

"Of course!"

"Sorry, but do you remember what I said yesterday?" asked the purple stallion.

"Yes?"

"Yesterday, I said we have a busy day tomorrow. That means today, which means we'll be unable to attend your party."

"Also, after-birthday parties aren't exactly something anybody would go to," Chronicle added.

"What?!" For some reason, Pinkie seemed to have a problem comprehending this.

"Well, since there was a birthday party yesterday, there wouldn't be as much excitement in an after-birthday party. Unless that invitation is for those who missed the birthday party."

"Oh, all right. I'll make sure to save some cake."

"It better not be a lie." Both Mystic and Pinkie looked at the blue unicorn in confusion. "I was once promised some cake after accomplishing an errand on the Canterlot Request Board, but when I asked them for it they said they were lying. And it was some delicious cake too. At least the bits were real."

"And another thing," Mystic said. "Nobody, especially introverts like Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle, would want to go to a big party the day after they just had one. We all need to work and sleep at some point."

Just then, the door opened wider and a couple of unicorns entered. It was Greatstone, Bullseye, Tricky Books, and Chrono Cards.

"Looks like I better go," said Pinkie. With that, she bounced away, going over the four unicorns as they made their way to the tatami mat.

"What was that all about?" asked Chrono.

"Nothing in particular," Chronicle answered.


C—PP—MS—G–TB–B–CC—C—PP—MS—G–TB–B–CC

Soon, every student was present with the exception of Twilight Sparkle, who had told him ahead of time during Gummy's birthday party that she wouldn't be able to come.

"All right, class. Let's start with the Recoveroll. Form a line, everypony."

Mystic had renamed the 'quick response' to Recoveroll, a wordplay on 'recovery' and 'roll'. He did not call it Zenpo Kaiten Ukemi since that was an aikido technique; the Recoveroll does not end with the defensive stance taught in that martial art, but with both a barrier spell (with whatever form they choose) and preferrably the magic shot spell. However, many of Mystic's students have yet to master the ability to doublecast, so one of the two would have to suffice depending on situation and preference of the caster.

The ponies formed a line along one edge of the tatami mat, turning the corner where it ended. Heartstrings was first in line. Mystic stood in the center, 'setting down' two long sticks to serve as a representation of a chasm. He would adjust the width accordingly for each pony. "You first."

The mint green mare charged forward. Upon reaching the 'chasm', she leaped over 'it', rolled as instructed, and then—as she turned around—got up on twos and conjured a barrier.

"Nice work, Lyra, although if you feel the getting up on twos is necessary, make the barrier before or while doing it, all right?"

"Okay." Lyra then got down on all fours, dismissed her barrier, and made her way to the back of the line.

Bullseye was next. As he flipped during the jump, he fired a shot from his horn, which hit the corner behind where the front of the line was. His landing wasn't graceful though and he stumbled.

"Try and execute the landing softly first before starting a stunt like that."

Comet Tail followed. "I told you. If your left hoof is forward before the jump, roll on your left side."

Next was Holly Dash. "Good try. Keep it up."

Pokey Pierce's horn ended up puncturing the floor as he landed from his roll head first, rendering him stuck. "Remember to turn your head while you roll. Very important, especially for unicorns."

A new student was next. light spring bud coat, light purple eyes, two-toned light cerulean hair, and a cutie mark depicting something like a closing parenthesis and opening parenthesis bisected by a horizontal line; Chronicle identified it to be the astrological symbol Pisces (curiously, that was also her name), but from what he learned, that particular constellation—as well as others he was familiar with—don't exist in Equestria's skies, replaced by different ones.

"Pisces, you're up." The new pony (well, one of them anyway since there were also two more) ran until she reached the 'chasm', in which she executed the jump well enough for Mystic to mark it as a 'pass'. "Nice job for your first time."

The rest of the students did their turn, succeeding/failing to varying degrees. Written Script seemed to be screwing up lately however, at least in the physical exercises. He hasn't improved in the magic department either.

"Written Script, are you even trying? If you can't find it in yourself to focus and improve, I advise you to leave my class." 

"Sorry, Master Shield."

The last ponies in line insisted on going at the same time. The two teachers noted that they were twins; they called themselves the Gemini Twins in fact and were named Castora and Polluxa. Polluxa had a very light aquamarine coat, light purple eyes, and pale, light grayish olive hair with a yellowish white streak. Her sister Castora shares the same eye color and hairstyle, but her hair color and coat color were swapped with that of Polluxa and her hair streak was very pale aquamarine. Their cutie marks were identical as well; something resembling a rectangle but with its vertical sides pulled in closer so that the horizontal ones continued past the corners; the astrological symbol Gemini.

"All right, Gemini Twins. I will not be responsible for any injuries if you bump into one another," Mystic warned. "That's why I insist on one at a time for everypony else."

"Don't worry," assured Polluxa.

"We can do this," said Castora.

The teacher nodded, then said, "Go." As one, the twins ran forth, jumping upon reaching the 'chasm'. However, they screwed up their landing and tumbled somewhat painfully, but they didn't collide with one another. "Another reason why we go one at a time; trying not to collide can result in not concentrating enough on the landing. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Shield," both twins replied solemnly.

"Okay." He then 'picked' up the sticks and raised one to chest level, putting away the other one. "Now let's do the Recoveroll again. This time, jump over the stick."

Again, Lyra was the first to go. And again after the roll she got up on twos, but this time she conjured her barrier whilst doing that.

"That's better, Lyra."

Bullseye followed, but his hind legs ended up tapping the stick, and this slight made him stumble to the ground.

"During the jump, raise your hind legs higher next time." 

Comet Tail followed. This time, he managed to heed Mystic's advice. "That's better."

Next was Holly Dash. "Getting better."

Once again, Pokey ended up jamming his horn into the floor again. At the same spot no less. "I told you to remember to turn your head while you roll. I can't stress it any further that this is very important, especially for unicorns. Again."

Pisces followed up. Again, she executed the jump well enough to for Mystic to mark it as a 'pass', her hind legs having just barely brushed the stick. "Keep practicing, you'll get better. And that goes for everypony."

The rest of the students did their turn, successing/failing to varying degrees. Again, Written Script seems to be having problems.

"Written Script, I will not tolerate you joking around, assuming you are. This is your last warning. If I don't see any improvement, I will have to make you my first expelled student. Are we clear?" 

The light gray unicorn paled as he gave a military salute. "Sorry, Master Shield. I will do better."

"You better. And you don't do military salutes here. Standing straight will suffice."

Last were the Gemini Twins. Once again, they insisted on doing it together. Rolling his eyes, Mystic 'raised' the other stick and positioned himself so that they would jump to his left and right. This time, they managed to perform the move smoothly.

"All right, everypony. Now it's time for…" He made a serious expression. "Intermediate techniques."


C—T—M—LH—AS—LH—SS—D—MS–G–TB–B–CC—CT—FB—P—WS—PP—S—P—GT

Eyecatch (video-type)

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Seven cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a red knight's shield with a white star inside, an orange circle depicting an open book inside, a lyre, a pale purple space, a six-pointed pink star, a safety pin, and a fireball.}

{The seven cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of seven ponies. The top depicts (from left to right) Lyra, Firecracker Burst, and Pokey Pierce. The bottom row depicts Dinky, Mystic Shield, Chronicle, and Twilight Sparkle. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—T—M—LH—AS—LH—SS—D—MS–G–TB–B–CC—CT—FB—P—WS—PP—S—P—GT

The 'intermediate techniques' turn out to be application of spells while performing specific movement patterns. One example they're doing right now is the magic shot spell while strafing.

"All right, everypony. To the side," Mystic instructed. "Heartstrings, Bullseye, position yourselves in front of me and Chronicle on the opposite side of the mat." The two called unicorns did as told, and once they did, they were positioned so that if one were to draw lines leading from one to the other, it would form a rectangle. 

"Now, we're going to shoot you, and you're going to strafe," Chronicle said. "Don't use your shield spell, just step to one side. Go." He and Mystic then fired magic blasts at them, which the two sidestepped with relative ease. Lyra seemed to bend her head more than Bullseye though.

"Good. Now, I want you to implement that sidestep while making your way to us. Move only when we shoot. I doubt you'll actually reach us, but you will be evaluated by distance covered before getting hit. In the event you think you can do it, you can jump forward and make contact with us, but only for that. Otherwise, only sidesteps are permitted. Ready? Go!"

On an invisible cue, the two teachers fired simultaneously, timing their attacks as if timed by a metronome. The two students weren't as synchronous and Lyra was constantly bending her neck to evade Chronicle's shots. Lyra only reached halfway across the mat before she was hit, at which she was told to halt. Bullseye only reached two-thirds.

"Nice job, you two. Comet Tail, Holly Dash, you're next." Lyra and Bullseye walked back to the side while the two called entered the mat. The two of them passed the first step (dodge in place), but they didn't reach Lyra's 'record' on the second step (strafe while approaching), though they were still sufficient.

For Pokey and Pisces, The former was struck as early as the first step, and was hit again in the second step while Pisces reached three-fourths the way. She seemed to be a bit miffed for some reason. "Come on, Pisces. This is just the first time. At least you set a record for the moment. Pokey Pierce, the purpose of this exercise is to evade. Not counter-attack, not defend or endure, evade. Once you all get the hang of the basics in this, we'll then practice with different projectiles, different speeds, and different trajectories." There were groans from a few of the students.

Amethyst Star and Sea Swirl followed. Both covered a respectable distance before getting hit. "Nice work."

Ponet and Chrono Cards failed to cover as much distance as the two similarly-colored mares. "Keep it up." 

Next was Lemon Hearts and Twinkle; the both just reached halfway. Then Tricky Books and Greatstone; they reached six steps father than the previous two. 

Minuette and Firecracker Burst outdid them all by attempting to outdo each other. Well, only the blue one was, to Chronicle's mild amusement; he assumed the fire-user would be the hothead, but Firecracker seemed to be calm and preppy. They nearly reached the two teachers' faces before both getting struck at the horn. "Now that's a record," the part-time co-teacher mused.

Dinky and Written Script were soon up. Mystic decided to handle the filly while Chronicle tested their screw-up. "This is it, Written Script. Shape up or ship out, matey," Chronicle warned with a serious face, quoting from a book. At least he thought he did.

Written gave a nervous gulp. And then the first step commenced. Mystic made sure that his shots at Dinky were weak enough not to hurt much (all of their shots throughout the entire session were) and low enough not to fly over her head. Chronicle decided to form his magic shots into a regular shape instead of shurikens; he figured maybe its spinning distracted him. The screw-up unicorn successfully dodged it, and did so with the next ones as well.

Just as they proceeded with their next step, something entered the building, opening the door quietly and managing to remain stealthy in spite of their disguise; an incongruous hay bale with a blue-eyed face covered by Groucho glasses, a gray overcoat, and a baseball cap. Of course, those who saw her gave quizzical looks before ignoring it; it was Pinkie Pie after all.

As the class carried on, the hay bale crept along the wall opposite the one where the rest of the students stood. While Dinky and Written sidestep-approached their teachers, the others watched Pinkie slowly make her way to Chronicle, passing by Mystic Shield who didn't seem to notice. She soon approached the blue unicorn as he finally 'tagged' Written.

"All right. You can stay. For now." Before Pinkie could surprise him, without turning around he then said, "If you're gonna ask me what Twilight or any of the others are up to, Pinkie Pie, you're gonna have to ask somebody else. I haven't left this place since yesterday after Mystic and I left Gummy's birthday party early, and she hasn't come to class today. She told us ahead of time."

"Told you what?" asked Pinkie in an interrogating manner as Dinky reached Mystic and bopped him in the muzzle. He gave a sweet smile at the filly.

"That she wouldn't be attending."

"Did she say why?"

"I didn't ask. Didn't think I needed to know."

"What else?"

"Nothing else."

"You sure?"

"Absitively."

"May I check—" 

"Chronicle. It's the Gemini Twins' turn," Mystic cut them off.

"May I borrow him for a while?" Pinkie asked him.

After Chronicle summoned a magical clone, the self-defense teacher conceded. "All right. You can use my room for your private talk, but don't mess with anything. And Pinkie, please discard your disguise. You're not fooling anypony here. While I have to admit it covers you completely, we all know only you would pull that off."

With that, the two friends walked to Mystic's living quarters. Once they were 	inside, Pinkie, having shed her disguise as advised, resumed in a somewhat quieter tone. she leaned in to whisper. "May I check Surveillance?"

Chronicle raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten our Pinkie Promise covering that? If I haven't gotten their consent ahead of time, which I haven't, I'm not allowed to show you. The only exceptions are Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, and even then only either Rarity or Applejack can ask."

"What about Scootaloo?"

"If she's with any of the other two, rules go as above. As for her alone time, only I can know. Still, if Rainbow Dash wants to find out through me, all she need do is ask. But don't tell her. She has to figure it out on her own."

"Okay. Speaking of her, can you help me find out what she and the others are up to?"

"Sorry, but unlike you apparently, I respect my friends' secrets not to snoop. Even if I do end up snooping, I don't tell them that I know, and I don't bring it up to anyone other than them. Besides, aside from some other parts in the 'fine print', that's part of our Pinkie Promise too." Before she could speak again, he shut her up. "And I did the uncancellable kind of Pinkie Promise for this, remember?"

"Oh, right. Well, they're up to something, and I'm going to figure it out."

"Do you have to? What if it's a delicate operation that cannot handle an interruption from the likes of you?"

"It's not one of those! I just know it!"

"Care to explain everything? I might need to know this after all."

And that's what Pinkie did.


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Erstwhile, the two teachers fired magic shots at the Gemini Twins, whose synchronicity was simply perfect. Sometimes they mirrored each other's movements, sometimes their movements were identical, but either way they moved at the exact same time. Mystic was tempted to throw them off by shooting out of sync with the magical clone of his co-teacher but decided not to as the twins finally reached the two and—to their surprise—gave them a kiss on the mouth.

The magical clone had enough integrity not to dissipate from such simple a move, but they didn't have the same capability of emotion the real one has so he didn't so much as react. Mystic however felt flustered, as nearly anybody would when kissed. The twins soon broke off and when he spoke, he was cross. "Girls, I don't know what you're taught back home, but we do not kiss indiscriminately here. And you do not kiss the teacher. Now, you two go to the side while I see what my friend is up to. Remember to practice whenever possible. That's very important when learning any spell not under your special talent."

He turned to the door to his room, and opened it to see Chronicle still talking with Pinkie Pie. "Maybe it's supposed to be a surprise for you," he was saying. "And making them tell you would spoil it, and that would be bad. Have you ever considered that?"

Pinkie just put a hoof to her chin. "Hmm. Looks like I won't be able to find out through you."

"Pinkie, have you even paid attention to a single word I said?"

She pointed an accusatory hoof at him. "I bet you're in on whatever they're up to and you're stalling for time!"

"Me? Stalling for time?! You're the one who came in and wanted to talk to me!"

Pinkie just glared at him, which was scary given who she usually is. That, and the grimdark Cupcakes book.

"I promise—no, Pinkie Promise that at and before this point in time I do not know whatever it is our friends are up to!"

Pinkie shoved her face into his. "Are you certain? You do know the consequences if it turns out you've broken your promise, right?"

"You think I don't? I was there when you punished Mystic Shield for breaking one. If that didn't scare me, then I'd be an imbecile." He then performed the necessary motions. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

The party pony pulled away. "All right, then." With that, she walked out, bypassing Mystic and leaving the building. Without so much as a hop, everypony noted.

"I don't really know Pinkie Pie that much, but I can tell that something's wrong with her," Mystic said as his co-teacher returned to the dojo part of his residence where the students still awaited.

"I think we can all agree on that," concurred Chronicle.


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Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side, Pinkie Pie is leaving the Self-Defense Academy. On the right side, Chronicle and Mystic Shield turn to each other in worry. In the middle, a crowd of unicorns look at Pinkie in confusion. The show's logo is seen on the top left.


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Classes continued, although the atmosphere seemed to have dampened a bit. Apparently, seeing Pinkie Pie in such a foul mood seemed to have a negative effect on everypony.

Due to this effect, Mystic Shield did not feel in the mood for implementing a new lesson and instead settled for a review on the basics. "Okay, let's review the shield and shot spells. Remember to practice double-casting. We can't advance further in the lesson plan without it."

Groaning, everypony took a partner. Unsurprisingly, the Gemini twins chose each other. Dinky was for a change tutored by her sister Amethyst. Chronicle found himself assigned to whip up Written Script into shape.

"All right. I won't go too easy on you, so you better get serious." Barrier up, he fired at the screw-up unicorn. To his credit, he seemed to be taking things seriously this time. "Your shots are still very measly. Exert more power."

The student did as advised, launching another quill-shaped shot, which hit the barrier.

"You won't be able to even so much as crack a window with that shot. Harder."

Written's next shot was so, but only slightly.

"Harder!"

The next was harder, but still not passable.

Chronicle resisted the urge to shout at the top of his lungs like one friend of his. "Harder!!"

The following shot was still pathetic however.

Finally, he couldn't take it. "HARDER!!"

This not only caught everypony's attention as they stopped and turned to face them, but also startled the student and he charged his horn and finally fired a 'quill', which struck Chronicle's barrier with such force that it not only made cracks at it, but the shot itself was still embedded at the barrier.

Written seemed to be panicked at the sight and began rambling. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't… I shouldn't have…"

"Wow," gasped Bullseye. "That shot was insanely fast, just below half-subsonic speed."

All of a sudden, an image of Pinkie Pie flashed into Chronicle's mind and he felt a jittering sensation behind him. Everypony's reaction was instant; they all, including Mystic Shield, erected force fields over their heads.

Chronicle was bewildered at this. "…What?"

"You do know what a twitchy tail means, right?" asked Written, the exhilaration of his success put behind him for the moment.

"Well, I know that a twitchy tail from Pinkie Pie means that something's going to fall."

"Then what does it mean when your tail is twitching?"

"What?" He turned around to see that indeed his tail was twitching. He was utterly boggled by this. "What?" he repeated, but in a disbelieving manner. Something else then happened; his mane and tail seemed to inflate like a balloon, and then burst as if they were overfilled, even making sounds akin to their air coming out. As such, his mane was drooped down so that the front part of it obstructed one of his eyes.

Nobody made a sound for ten full seconds before Mystic finally broke the silence. "What. In the name. Of Celestia. Was that?"

Chronicle couldn't find an answer either as he thought to himself. What's happening to me? Whenever my body reacts unexpectedly, I see an image of one of my friends. For Fluttershy, my heart beat out of rhythm, and she turned out to be in danger from the hydra. For Rarity, my eyes burned, and then she ended up falling from the sky. For Twilight, my horn sparked magic, then my body went stiff, and she turns out to have been petrified by a cockatrice. Now, for Pinkie, my tail went twitchy, and then this happens. Are there different signs to represent Applejack and Rainbow Dash? If so, why didn't any such sign come from the former's fatigue during applebuck season? Is this a consequence of my partial exposure to the rainbow of light that put a stop to Nightmare Moon all those months ago? I will have to ask Princess Celestia about this.

"Uhh…Chronicle?" a voice asked.

The deep blue unicorn returned to his senses and saw Mystic Shield facing him.

"Chronicle. Are you all right?"

"Uhh, yeah."

"Your mane looks like its lost much of its volume," remarked Holly.

"It's okay." he cast a spell and before everypony knew it, his mane and tail were back to normal. "Nothing a quick spell I learned from Rarity can't take care of."

"But what did that mean?" asked Sea Swirl. "Could it be that…you have something that acts like Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense?"

"If so, It's certainly new to me. I mean, I'm sure even Pinkie had no idea how her Sense worked when it first acted up. Tell me, can anypony recall anything concerning the Pinkie Sense in action in the past? By the past I mean before the Nightmare Moon incident." he turned to Sea Swirl, Comet Tail, Firecracker, Ponet, Written, Pokey, Holly, Pisces, and the Gemini Twins.

"We're sorry, but neither we nor Pisces have been to Ponyville during that incident," Castora answered for herself and her twin.

"We and ten others only arrived in this town a week after this town's Winter Wrap Up," Polluxa added. 

"Aries expected them to be late again and was surprised to see it finished on time.
Chronicle beamed in pride. "All thanks to this town's librarian Twilight Sparkle, who is also a student in this class, but is absent today." He then returned to the subject. "Anypony else?" One by one, each of those he addressed shook their heads.

"I was born in Ponyville, but as far as I know, Pinkie Pie has had full knowledge of her Pinkie Sense ever since entering the Cakes' employ," answered Written.

"I see. I guess it was too much to ask. In any case, I'm okay now. Your quill shot sure was strong. We have to find a way for you to tap into that power without panicking."

Some ponies had looks of confusion or worry from his apparent reversal in mood and quick subject-change, but before they could dwell in it further Mystic brought their attention back to him. "Okay, I think that's enough odd incidents for today. While I'm quite lenient in my schedule, could we please resume class?"


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Once again, class continued, although the atmosphere seemed to be more subdued than before. Despite this, Mystic wasn't about to call it a day. He was determined to see this through in spite of the strange interruptions. 

One time, there was a second parasprite incident when Lemon Hearts brought some home in her mane. As it was, she—as well as Minuette, who was absent for a different reason—was out of town during the first one.

Another time, Snips and Snails barged in and asked him to "teach them his ways". Thankfully, he didn't have to answer as the latter's older sister—who was also Derpy Hooves's friend—Raindrops, went and took them away, apologizing for the trouble. He said he was fine with it and even gave her a pamphlet about his Academy. Chronicle was absent at that time, having taken a trip with Fluttershy to the Everfree Forest as an escort.

Yet another time, the Cutie Mark Crusaders crashed in through the roof after testing the 'explosive capability of lemons'. He also met their overworked foalsitter-at-that-time Skyla. It was an awkward moment when they talked, and the Crusaders and some of the students teased them about it.

And yet another time, Rainbow Dash crashed through the roof. Again. Which was followed by an accidental lightning bolt from Dinky and Amethyst's mother Derpy. The two of them had been moving a thundercloud for reasons he didn't bother to remember.

Before he could continue in his reminiscence, there came a knock on the door. Mystic grumbled; he should seriously consider investing a magic lock to keep unwanted intruders out. The door then opened and an earth pony poked her head inside.

"Golden Harvest!" greeted Written Script.

"Hello," she returned. "I'm looking for somepony named Chronicle."

The mentioned pony raised his head and called, "Yes?"

"Applejack sent me to tell you that she and her friends are waiting for you at the barn in Sweet Apple Acres."

"Which barn? The Apple family has a fair number of them."

"I'll take you there."

"Hold on." Chronicle summoned two magical clones, one to continue classes alongside Mystic and another to stand by at his room in case anything happens to the first one. "Okay."

"Fine," Mystic conceded. "I'm sure you clones can take over for the rest of the session."


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As Chronicle followed Carrot Top to Applejack's farm, he decided to ask her a few questions. "Say, Carrot. Why did Applejack ask you of all ponies to run this sort of errand? And why did you accept it?"

"Well, while she indeed ask me, it was Rarity who paid me. I needed the bits."

"Why? I didn't think you had financial problems."

"Well, I don't really want to talk about this, but…" 

"Did Golden Harvests fall on difficult times somehow?"

"No. It's my father. He suddenly found himself in debt. He had to sell the farm to pay it off. He hopes to get enough money to buy it back, but for the time being, he's leaving it in the care of the…" She seemed hesistant in saying the next two words. "…Apple family."

"Did you have any say in the matter?"

"I was a bit angry at first, but then I realized that my 'rivalry' with Applejack was admittedly childish. While her family isn't exactly the best in business sense, they are the closest ones in the area. Also… I just can't explain it, but I have the feeling that she can be trusted, and not just because she bears the Element of Honesty, that she wouldn't bring my farm to ruin, in spite of the disasters last applebuck season."

Chronicle didn't get what she was saying, and frankly didn't think he needed to know, so he just nodded as if he understood, then asked, "Where's your father now? And if he's not in Ponyville, why and how are you still here?"

"My father's away, that's all I can tell you. And I'm stil here so I can see for myself that the Apples will keep their word. I work part-time at the herb/flower shop."

"Where the Flower Ponies live? Two of them, at any rate?" Rose(luck) had her own house, and Lily (Valley) and Daisy (a.k.a. Flower Wishes) resided in their shop.

"Yes. If you need to ask me anything for any reason, I'll be at Derpy Hooves's."

"Her? But isn't she…"

"Sometimes, she's busy at work in the post office, and she can't find any better pony to trust Dinky with than me."

"How did you even become friends with her, anyway?"

"It all started when I had to deliver a package to Hoofington for her once. Her wing was injured after she crash-landed through the roof while I was about to have breakfast. Deciding to be a thoughtful friend, I decided to go in her stead while she healed up. I—"

"You don't need to elaborate further. Besides, I think we're here." 

Sure enough, they were in front of a farm in Sweet Apple Acres. Everything seemed to be closed, as if hiding something. Since it was his friends who were there, the notion of anything dangerous or forbidden (save perhaps an experment by Twilight) was quickly purged from his mind. Surprise party was a viable option, but for who?

His thoughts were interrupted by Carrot saying, "I see. Well, see ya." And with that, he was shortly left alone.

Sighing to himself, he turned to the barn door and knocked. While he could teleport inside, there was the risk of 'splinching' with anything in the spot he would emerge in, and that was not a pretty sight. The door creaked open and before he could comprehend what was going on, he was pulled inside, then was shuffled around in complete darkness. It didn't make sense, there should be some light coming out from the cracks. Then again, his vision needed to adjust to the darkness.

"Shh!" one whispered voice said. 

"Let's get him into position!" another voice said.

"Could anybody—" he asked.

"Anypony," a third corrected.

"—anybody please explain what's going on?" he insisted.

"I'm sorry we weren't able to notify you of the plan, we got too busy throwing her off when she began to suspect," a fourth voice.

He quickly pieced everything together, and was angry at what he realized. "Wait a second! Her?"

Before he could be answered, another voice came. "We’re…here…" It was Rainbow Dash.

"Quick!" one of the voices whispered as she strapped a hat on his head, then moved him about. "Try to maintain a neutral expression." Given his bad mood, it was unlikely that he would be able to smile without making it look fake. The door was then opened magically and since he hadn't been in the dark for long, his eyes adjusted quickly as he eyed himself next to the rest of his friends, all wearing party hats decorated with their respective cutie marks (he assumed the one on his head was decorated likewise). All around him, he could see various party decorations. They were planning a party? But for who?

As for Rainbow herself, she had Pinkie Pie in tow. At least he thought it was Pinkie. She seemed to be different. Very different. First, it looked like her general appearance was darker. Second, her mane and tail were completely straight and drooped as if it lost all of its volume. Third, her mood was completely reversed from normal, and it looked like she wanted to murder them all. Oh, and Gummy was there too.

Unfortunately, his friends seemed to be oblivious to the 'danger' as they cried out, "SURPRISE!!"

Pinkie was caught off guard by this, but her face hardened as Rainbow pushed her into the barn. Her silent snarl now put the others on edge, Chronicle most of all. Another phobia of his is adorable individuals turning berserk, psycho, or just plain "scary wrong". He began hyperventilating as he backed away, though he did his best to keep as quiet as possible about it.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight and wondered, "I’d really thought she’d be more excited."

"Excited? Excited?!? Why would I be excited to attend my own farewell party?!?" Pinkie said in a pessimistic tone.

Twilight didn't seem to get it. "Farewell party?"

"Yes! You don’t like me anymore, so you decide to kick me out of the group and throw a great big party to celebrate! A “Farewell to Pinkie Pie” party!"

Her rancor gave way to a low-spirited slouch facing away from the others. Applejack went over to her as Gummy scooted away. "Why in the world would you think we didn’t like you anymore, sugarcube?" the farmpony asked.

Had Chronicle been able to answer, he would've chewed her out on what they did after hearing it from Pinkie herself before…this. 

Since he was still scared out of his mind, he didn't as the dejected pony replied with mounting anger, "Why? Why? WHY?!?" As Fluttershy fell backward from the shout, Pinkie did a backflip that left her hanging upside down. "Because you’ve been LYING to me and avoiding me all day! That’s why!" She then touched down. 

Rainbow gave a smirk at that. "Uh, yeah, because we wanted your party to be a surprise!"

"We’ve been planning this party for such a long time," Rarity said as she lifted/batted a balloon "We had to make excuses for why we couldn’t attend Gummy’s party so that we could get everything ready for yours." 

"If this is a farewell party…" Twilight added as she made her way to a table with a large cake on it. "…why does the cake I picked up from Sugarcube Corner say “Happy Birthday Pinkie Pie”?"

Resentment gave way to confusion as the muted pink pony’s eyes shifted around the room: to a table loaded with presents and a punchbowl, to the overhead decorations, and finally to the cake frosted with hearts, flowers and her own smiling face. 

In an instant, her mane and tail fluff back up and her bright pink coloration restored itself, along with her usual cheerful demeanor. "Because it’s my birthday!" she said as she gathered the other six into a giant hug. Oh, how could I have forgotten my own birthday?"

While the other mares sighed with relief, having brought a peaceful end to the crisis, the sole stallion was calmed down but still silent and a bit uneasy as Pinkie let them go.

"And you like me so much, you decided to throw me a surprise party!"

"That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you, darling," Rarity said.

"You guys are the best friends ever!" Her mood chaned do sadness, but thankfully didn't turn 'dim' again. "How could I have ever doubted you?" 

Twilight walked over to her and said, "It’s okay, Pinkie Pie. It could’ve happened to any of us." There was general assent from the other four as they gathered around, but Chronicle remained silent as ever.

"I’m just glad I haven’t been replaced by a bucket of turnips," Rainbow said. 

"Huh?" 

A nervous grin came from Pinkie.

"You don’t want to know."

"If you like, I can show you," Chronicle finally spoke up, getting everypony's attention. "With Pinkie's permission, of course." He turned mildly serious. "Girls, I'd like to talk with you all about something very important, but as I don't want to spoil the mood, I'll do it after the party." He turned to face Applejack, who was now at a side table with a phonograph. "Hit it."

"All right, girls, Chronicle. Enough of this gabbin’." She nudged the needle onto the turntable. "Let’s party!"

The six girls danced and laughed as the music played and confetti sprinkled down over them. Chronicle just stayed at the side, eating cake with Rainbow while Fluttershy and Applejack batted a balloon back and forth over Gummy’s head, who futilely jumped in an attenpt to bite it, which he instantly noted; alligators can't jump.

As the party went on, Rarity dances with Spike briefly before Twilight and Pinkie formed a two-pony conga line, which the others shortly joined one by one. During the conga, Pinkie had a question. "You girls wouldn’t mind if we celebrated Gummy’s after-birthday party too, would you? His party was cut short and he’s pretty upset about it."

Said after-birthday guest of honor had caught a balloon in his mouth and was trying to bite down on it. There were voices of approval of the idea.

"Yeah, why not? Let’s have a party for Gummy," Twilight said before giggling.

"Why not celebrate it right now along with Pinkie's birthday?" Chronicle suggested. I think it's clear to me now that Gummy was a birthday present somehow. Or his egg hatches before her birthday "It's possible to have celebrate more than one event with one party, right?"

Pinkie seemed to like the idea. "Oh, right! That's a wonderful idea!"


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After the party…

Once the barn was cleaned up of party regalia, with his friends' permission, Chronicle showed them all the 'important events' covered by Surveillance. They were impressed with the cameras' excellent pursuit capabilities, Pinkie in particular although that one usually emits "white noise" between unexplainable 'teleports'.

Upon seeing Pinkie's interrogation session with Spike, Twilight was surprised and angry that he spilled juice over one of her books and planned on scolding him later.

"Push somepony hard enough, Pinkie, and he'll tell you he started the great Canterlot fire—now, that don't necessarily make it so," he added to the pink earth pony while they watched that scene. "You could've just asked him what our friends were doing that afternoon, and you wouldn't have entered that…slump."

After that, he gave everypony (save Pinkie) a slapping session (nothing naughty), which he had given twice before, once during the poison joke incident, and once during the ticket fiasco. As usual, he 'went easy' on Fluttershy (just a tap).

"Okay, girls," he began. "Why didn't any of you let me in on your plan? I could have, say, run interference or do some other countermeasure to deal with the fact that Pinkie Pie could catch you setting up." None of them had an answer to that. "You all easily looked like jerks here, you know. I'm feeling very sorry for Pinkie here."

"As I said to you before Rainbow brought Pinkie in, we intended to tell you about it, Chronicle, but we knew she might be stalking about and so we didn't have the time," Twilight said. "Still, you do have a point about running interference. I admit that I never thought of that."

He turned to his charge, then smacked himself in the face with a hoof. "Seriously? Speaking of, how did you fail to notice the tin can telephone dangling just inches above your head until you were ready to leave. Even a curious foal would've noticed that." She just blushed sheepishly at that. "By the way, was Spike in on this? Because I find it rather offensive if he's told and I wasn't."

"He wasn't. The less who know, the better. And I don't think Spike is a good secret keeper."

He gave a strong sigh. "Just so this doesn't have to happen again, if any future birthday parties for Pinkie Pie are to be done, she should be the first to know, okay?"


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“Dear Princess Celestia: I am writing to you from the most delightful party. I am not only having a great time with my friends, but also was given the opportunity to learn a valuable lesson about friendship. Always expect the best from your friends, and never assume the worst. Rest assured that a good friend always has your best interests at heart. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. (from Chronicle) Just because your friends don't want to play all the time doesn't mean they don't care about you any more. Sometimes, real life takes precedence over partying.”
> (NOT) Chapter 18: The Show Stoppers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 4: Alt-Equestria Music Numbers


Blue Diary


Morning, Luna Equestria…

Blue Diary flew over a hill to the the town square, which is packed with ponies. As a pony and a pegasus, he didn't need much clothing to keep himself warm, although the red bands on his front hooves remained; those he never took off. The sun—in where Corona the Tyrant Sun was sealed until a week or so ago—was up, its rays reflecting brightly off the snow that covered rooftops, trees, mountains, and various scattered areas of the ground.

"If what Ditzy Doo told me was correct, the team vests represent the three teams for Winter Wrap Up, which is a community activity in Ponyville," he mused to himself as he saw a number of ponies wearing colored vests. "Blue for the weather team, green for the plant team, and tan for the animal team." He noted that the blue vests had a patch marked with a cloud, the green ones a leaf, and the tan ones a rabbit silhouette. A few of them had stars on their vests as well and one from each team an additional matching starred band on one foreleg. Unlike his brother Chronicle, Blue Diary wasn't too good at remembering faces and names. "Given that I'm entering weather management soon, I can expect myself to be in the blue team, but maybe…never mind. I'll just have to wait and see."

He finally reached the town hall, where Mayor Ivory Scroll stood at the front doors.

"Thank you, everypony for being here bright and early," she said. "We need every single pony’s help to wrap up winter and bring in spring." There was general cheering from everypony. Once the hubbub died down, she continued. "Now, all of you have your vests and have been assigned to your teams, so let’s do even better than last year and have the quickest Winter Wrap Up ever!" There were more cheers from the crowd. "All right, everypony. Find your team leader and let’s get galloping!"

The crowd quickly dispersed, leaving Blue alone among the snowdrift. "Wrapping up winter…" he mused to himself. "Now that's something you don't see in Canterlot; they use magic to quickly change the seasons." He then looked around, seeing his new friends among the teams, although one of them was missing. He tried to figure out who it was as he put a hoof to his chin. "Now where do I start?"

[screen mode]

Now Playing: Winter Wrap Up

{The background behind his wondering face goes black as if someone had shut off all the lights at once, and he fades away as well.}

Piano/acoustic guitar ballad with backing synthesizer, slow 4 (D flat major)

{A spotlight comes on, illuminating Lyra Heartstrings in a tan vest as she begins to sing.}

Lyra: Three months of winter coolness and festive holidays♪

{The light fades to leave her in silhouette; a second spot picks out Cheerilee, in a blue vest.}

Cheerilee: We’ve kept our hoovsies warm at home, time off from school to play♪

{Lights down on her; now Carrot Top, in a green vest, rises into view in a third spot.}

Carrot: But the food we’ve stored is running out, and we can’t grow in this cold♪

{Lights down on her; a fourth spot brings Raindrops donning a blue vest into view. She has a cloud just above her head.}

Raindrops: And even though I love these clouds, it's time to end the cold♪

{She turns to buck the cloud into smithereens before the lights turn down on her.}

Bass/mandolin in, shaker marks time; faster tempo

{Dissolve to a close-up of Cheerilee's trotting hooves and tilt up to frame her and a number of foals following from right behind.}

Cheerilee: The time has come to welcome spring and all things warm and green♪
But it’s also time to say goodbye, it’s winter we must clean♪

{Cut to Blue as he lands on the rooftop of Trixie Lulamoon's residence. The top window was visible and open, revealing Trixie herself, who looks like she had just gone out of bed and was in a grumpy mood.}

Blue: How should I help? I’m new, you see. What does everypony do?♪
Can I do this all by tradition? I really have no clue♪

{The camera zooms out as he holds out the last note. Below, Trixie glances up and then facehoofs from his subpar rhyming.}

Bass drum in

{Quick pan to BonBon—also on the animal team—and Lyra as they trot up alongside one of the stallions in the plant team.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪

{Cut to another group moving off elsewhere and passing by Carrot's farm.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪
Carrot: ’Cause tomorrow spring—♪

{The camera cuts her off as it zooms up to the sky, where Raindrops is flying. She is shortly accompanied by other pegasi, among them Cloud Kicker and Rainbow Dash.}

Raindrops: —is here♪
Raindrops, Ponies: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

{They pass by Ditzy Doo, who is escorting birds through the sky, and the camera stops on her.}

Snare drum in

Ditzy: Bringing home the southern birds, a pegasus’ job begins♪

{One pair of blue team members fly past clouds to dissipate them, another kicks them apart, and a third fans them away with wings, doing a 'high hoof' after.} 

And clearing all the gloomy skies to make the snowing end♪

{Raindrops flies up into the air next to Ditzy as she takes over the melody. A cloud bank moves past them and the camera pans left to reveal three in the weather team having blown them away.}

Raindrops: We move the clouds and we melt the white snow♪

{The sky instantly shifts into nighttime and moonbeams pour through a break in the clouds.}

Raindrops: When the moon comes up, its silver beauty will glow♪

{Blue spreads his wings wide as he and Trixie bask in the light. Quick pan to to a basket of straw, twigs, and ribbons being carried in Rarity’s teeth (who is in the animal team). It is daytime again. Behind her, three ponies in the plant team haul wagons loaded with these materials. This chorus is sung in two parts, with one part holding out the second “up” in each line as the other sings the second half of it.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪

{The supplies are dumped in front of the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity has set up a table and empties her own basket.}

Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪

{Plant team ponies pull plows in snow-covered fields owned by the Apple Trust.}

Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

{Dissolve to a burrow in which two small white mice are waking up to the sound of a bell in a pony’s teeth. Pan across the meadow; many others are doing likewise, including Lyra as she sings with some squirrels. The area happens to be close to Fluttershy's cottage, and its owner can be seen peeking through the window, barely visible.}

Lyra: Little critters hibernate under the snow and ice, we wake up all the sleepyheads so quietly and nice♪

{Two raccoons are given a basket of vegetables; a mouse gets its burrow dusted.}

BonBon: We help them gather up their food, fix their homes below♪

{Back outside, It's revealed that BonBon has sidled up beside Lyra.}

We welcome back the southern birds♪
BonBon, Lyra: So their families can grow♪

{Birds roost in the trees and flutter around both Trixie from her position at the window and Blue as he casually cruises the sky. The latter falters a bit upon seeing the earth pony plant a giant kiss on the unicorn's cheek. Lyra seems surprised at this as well.}

All instruments out; tambourine/hand-clap percussion, with bass drum/bongos joining in

{The vocals now split into three parts. First part sings only each “Winter” and holds it out; second part sings the first half of each line and holds out the second “up”; third part sings the second half. Quick pan to a Ponyville street; several animal team ponies pace across, each with a hedgehog on her back.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, let’s finish our holiday cheer♪

{Pegasi knock snow off branches and into waiting carts; two mares pop out of one to sing.}

Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪

{One load buries Applejack; she pops out and glares up to find a not-so-sorry Blue on the end of this one, smiling sheepishly.}

Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

Instruments in; stoptime

{In Carrot's field, two members of the plant team are helping clear the snow with a rake and shovel. Pan to the field's owner, who is working alongside them, rake in mouth. A cart of vegetable seeds stands next to her.

Carrot: No easy task to clear the ground, planting all our crops♪

{She gives a death glare—or at least a shoddy facsimile of one—to a quickly recovering Applejack at the next line.}

We'll make sure we all have food, even if we work nonstop♪

{Quick pan to other farmers, growing the following plants Carrot sings in the next line.}

Carrots, kumquats, celery stalks, and colorful flowers too♪

{Back to Carrot, whose teammates who have helped her are now standing close by.}

We must work so very hard♪
Carrot, Ponies: It’s just so much to do♪

Normal rhythm resumes

{The two-part chorus resumes as Dinky Doo hops along with rabbits in the park. Snails is behind them, but is instead walking.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪

{Pegasi use snow shovels to throw and push snow off the roofs. In her residence, Trixie joins in the singing.}

Let’s finish our holiday cheer♪
Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪

{Others move the clouds away from a frozen lake as Cheerilee—with ice skates on all four hooves—glides out to the center.}

Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪

Cheerilee: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Ponies: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

Slower tempo; all instruments out except for piano/acoustic guitar/synth

{cut to a split scene; on the top is Blue flying against a backdrop under a spotlight as vests in all three colors float past him; on the bottom is Trixie closing her window and lumbering back to her bed. The two sing their lines simultaneously.}

Blue: Now that I know what they all do, I have to find my place♪
Trixie: Now that I've heard all of them sing, I can get back to bed♪

Blue: And help with all of my heart, tough task ahead I face♪
Trixie: Don't know why they work so hard, but waking up I dread♪

{Blue flies along the ground up a snowy slope, and as trees pass the camera, it zooms closer and closer to him as he sings. Trixie reaches her bed and begins to clamber up it.}

Blue: Can I follow all their traditions, help the pegasus way♪
Trixie: I know they'll manage without me, not like I'd know the way♪

{He reaches the outcropping at the top and lands his feet on it; she 'pulls' her blanket over herself as she tries to ignore the sounds outside.}

Blue: I have to take part, so I will do my best today♪
Trixie: I'll crawl under the sheets and sleep in today♪

Blue: Do my best today♪
Trixie: And sleep in today♪

Faster tempo; all instruments in

{The top split expands to cover the one on Trixie and the chorus, in three parts, comes back in over the two's last repetitions as Ditzy and Raindrops spiral up into the sky, followed by several other pegasi.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪
Ditzy, Raindrops, Ponies: Let’s finish our holiday cheer♪

{Quick pan to BonBon, Lyra, Carrot, and Cheerilee as they sing and do their part, then to the town hall and quickly zoom out to the rest of Ponyville.}

Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up, ’cause tomorrow spring is here♪
Ponies: Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up♪

Drums stop

{Fade back to the outcropping as Blue sings.}

Blue: ’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪
’Cause tomorrow spring is here♪

{As he holds out the last note, the camera zooms out in a long overhead shot to frame him in a spotlight, with the three teams arranged around him in a circle. He looks at each of them, only to see the plant team, then the animal team disappear from view. He turns to the weather team, and his ears droop a bit as Ditzy and Raindrops break from the team and fly to him.}

End Song

[end screen mode]

Blue gave a sigh of prediction as his two friends landed in front of him.

"Hey, Blue Diary. Why not join the weather team?" Ditzy suggested. "You're a pegasus after all."

"You could use some early practice given that you're going to be a weather pony like me," added Raindrops.

"All right," Blue conceded, then took off with the two and later acquire his vest and assignment.


Timerity


Nighttime, Solaris Equestria…

Timerity was taking a walk through the park, wandering along its cobblestone path. She was not alone however. 

Accompanying her was a purple unicorn mare (a shade darker than Dusk Shine's) with lime green eyes, hair in two dark shades of blue, a conservatively-shaped mane, a slightly messed-up tail as long as her own, a red bonnet around her head and a a cutie mark consisting of a yellow-outlined red knight's shield depicting a white star inside. Her name was Magic Armour, and she runs a Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns, which the two of them are teachers of.

The two of them passed a few statues, a fountain, a lake, some nice shrubberies, and some other stuff. Timerity looked skyward at the rolling clouds, noting how dark it was. The rolling of the tiny waves of the lake drew her attention. Magic made a face of worry as her friend seemed to fight a headache and sit on a bench at the shore. As she followed, Timerity gave a sigh, resting her chin on its cold hard surface and stared unseeing at the lake.

What is the matter with me?! the blue mare thought. Why do I feel like…there's a fire inside my heart? Is this… No, I can't! It's against recommendation protocol!

She sat on her haunches, took out a Wonderbolts trinket Rainbow Blitz had bought, and recalled the incident.

"What's that, Time?" Magic asked with genuine curiosity.

"Nothing important."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Elusive had let the attention of his Glimmer Wings get into his head. And he was currently ascending, dressed up in an extremely garish suit. Timerity's eyes had hurt greatly somehow during that, forcing her to get up after hiding her face in embarrassment from Rainbow's screw-ups in his tricks.

When she had screamed from the pain, Dusk Shine had turned to face her, looking concerned. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she managed to reply. "'Lucy' just came into my mind and for a sudden, my eyes seemed to burn. Vision's still 20-20 though." Like Rainbow Blitz, she sometimes calls the dandy stallion 'Lucy'.

"Perhaps we should see an eye doctor after this."

"Yeah."

They turned back to the show just in time to see Elusive and Rainbow Blitz ascend into the sky, the latter bypassing the former as the wind tried its best to peel his face off. Elusive simply glided serenely up and toward the sun, stopping only when he has centered himself in front of it. If any of their eyes were keener, they would've seen sweat beginning to run down his face due to exertion and/or the heat at this altitude, and he addressed himself toward the crowd far below.

"Equestria! Feast your eyes on me, Elusive!" He then spread his wings, creating a spread of pastel-tinted sunbeams that bathed the entire Cloudosseum and elicited awestruck gasps from the fans.

Timerity gave a disgusted groan, then let out a short gasp. She could swear she could see smoke coming from the tips of the Glimmer Wings. And then—as the waltz came to an end—they vanished in a sudden lick of fire, incinerated by the sun’s energy, and left behind only flakes of soot that crumbled away from the showoff unicorn’s back. His eyes went wide as he realized that the laws of physics have just socked it to him. "Oh, Icarus," she swore. Okay. Definitely not using them in hot days.

At that second, gravity decided it was time to pull him down screaming toward the Cloudosseum with every limb flailing wildly. "Oh, no!", gasped Dusk. "His wings evaporated into thin air!"

"If there's an alicorn or some other deity in charge of gravity, he sure has a sick sense of humor," his bodyguard said as Elusive promptly dropped past all three levels of box seats and out through the arena’s open floor. "Looks like I have to save the day." She was about to take a step forward when Dusk barred her.

"No need for that. The Wonderbolts are on the job." Indeed, the said three that were seated near Solaris's box seat sprung into action to dive after him. 

Below, the Wonderbolts were knocked senseless one by one when they caught up to Elusives's windmilling hooves. "They're just a show team," Timerity groaned. "And why isn't Solaris coming in to help?!" With that, she jumped off the platform and after the falling ponies. "I'll save you!"

"Time! No!" gasped her friends, but it was too late. She was already closing in fast, reducing her air resistance as much as she could. Her horn began to flare as she prepared to teleport them all back to the Cloudosseum.

"Hang on, Lucy, Time! I'm coming!" Rainbow said as he zipped down after the falling ponies, unaware of what the blue unicorn was intending to do.

Okay. Closer… closer… Timerity thought as she fast approached the Wonderbolts and Elusive. In range. She was now ready to teleport them when she realized that she was closing in too fast on Elusive's flailing hooves.Oh, shiitake— His hoof smacked her on the horn and she found herself spinning wildly as she began to lose consciousness from the blow. She couldn't think straight from the pain. Damn. So this is how I die, huh? From a failed rescue…

As she finally stopped spinning, she struggled to open her eyes, and could see Rainbow continue to descend to Elusive's, the Wonderbolts, and (now) her rescue. She could see that if the wind was trying to peel his skull clean last time she saw him try, now it was toying with the idea of turning all of him inside out. There was one difference though: he now dove with both forelegs extended, not just one.

Ahead of his hooves, the rounded wave front began to form just as before. Elusive gave a surprised gasp at this, and Timerity followed with a more subdued one. Please save us. Please save me. She could see the turbocharged pegasus’s eyes water from the air rushing past his face, and sparks began to crackle from the wave front. It elongated just as before, but this time there was no resisting force to slow Rainbow’s flight.

With a sudden hard kick of acceleration, he broke through the wave, which turned into a rainbow-hued blast that rippled outward from the spot. He continued his plunge at this insanely fast speed, leaving a sparkly rainbow contrail that persisted in the air long after he had gone. One by one, he caught them all, starting with Timerity as she was the closest, followed by the Wonderbolts and finally Elusive as they neared the ground.

And then Rainbow blew away her expectations; with all of them in tow, he  performed a quick 90-degree turn, rocketing along to barely clear the tops of the tall grass right below. Her mind was blown despite her gratefulness of not becoming a splatter on the ground; either her friend just defied the laws of physics, or the Special Sonic Boom did. As he did another—though not as sharp—90-degree turn back to Cloudsdale, she passed out completely, overwhelmed by this violation of physics.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"It can't be nothing important," Magic interrupetd her thoughts. "That certainly looks like a souvenir for a fan to buy."

Timerity ignored her friend as she gave a sigh, got up, walked down a path, Magic following, and began to do one of her favorite pastimes before her assignment to Solaris Equestria; sing.

Now Playing: I Won't Say I'm In Love by Susan Egan

Timerity: If there’s a prize for rotten judgment♪

She approached a small statue depicting a pegasus archer, something she guessed was a counterpart for a cupid.

Timerity: I guess I’ve already won that♪

She 'turned' it away from her in disgust as she continued walking.

Timerity: No pony’s worth the aggravation♪

As she passed some bushes, she sensed some ponies in them. Five pairs of eyes were rendered visible.

Timerity: That's ancient history, been there, done that♪

She distastefully tossed the trinket over her shoulder. It was promptly caught by one of the hiders, who popped out and parted the bushes with encouraging smiles. It was her friend Berry Bubble, Applejack's elder sister Macareina, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders (they've been thinking of changing Crusaders to Cavaliers, haven't made up their minds yet). 

Magic was startled for a bit as Berry clutched the trinket in his hoof and the five of them began to join in the song. 

Five: Who’d you think you’re kidding? He’s the earth and heaven to ya♪

Timerity rolled her eyes and sighed as she decided to let them roll with it and play back-up singer to her, given the Musical Number Phenomenon.

Five: Try to keep it hidden, honey we can see right through ya♪

Timerity furrowed her brow as she turned her nose up and sang her next line as she jumped onto a bench along the path, Magic staying to her side below.

Timerity: Oh noo-h’ohhh!♪
Five: Girl, you can’t conceal it. We know how you feel and who you’re thi-i-i-inking of♪

One of the Crusaders, Elusive's younger brother Silver Bell, levitated the trinket and 'waved' it at the unicorn mare's face, who got off the bench and walked away, making him sigh in disappointment. She and Magic crossed a bowed bridge as they followed.

Timerity: Ohh'ohh! No chance, no way, I won’t say it, no no♪

Five: You swoon, you sigh, why deny it—uh oh!♪

Timerity: It’s too cliché, I won’t say I’m in love♪

The formation of one mare, one stallion, and three colts continued behind the emotionally confused unicorn mare and her confused-for-a-different-reason friend along the park path and under a tree. As they scampered behind it, the clouds slowly parted, the silver beams of moonlight illuminating the night, casting an ever-expanding spotlight on Timerity. She thrust herself from behind the tree, thrusting out her chest to belt out higher notes and Magic walked out casually.

Timerity: I thought my heart had learned its lesson, it feels so good when you start out♪

The five began to sing a high note gospel-style as she sang her next line. 

Timerity: My head is screaming, "Get a grip, girl!"♪

The five suddenly stopped after that as Magic seemed to be enlightened on what was going on and decided to join them in the singing.

Timerity: Unless you’re dying to cry your heart out♪

She leaped upon the lip of another fountain as Magic and the five followed, their la-la-la’s chorusing after her as she danced across it and let out another note. 

Six: You keep on denying who you are and how you’re feeling♪

She gave her mane an energetic toss, and walked away, only stutter-step for a bit. 

Six: Baby, we're not buying. Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling ♪

Timerity let out another note as the six fanned out around and pinned her to yet another fountain. She felt a bit betrayed as Magic joined Berry, Macareina, and the Crusaders in singing.

Six: Face it like a grown-up. When're you gonna own up that you got, got, got it bad?♪

The unicorn mare teleported out of their grip and onto a stepping stone bridge, which she began to hop across.

Timerity: Ohh'ohh! No chance, no way, I won’t say it, no no♪

At the last one however, she slipped in her step and reached out for something to prevent her from landing on the ground. She managed to hold onto a statue's extending hoof and when she looked up at it, she saw that it was of a valiant pegasus hero whose name she couldn't place at the moment. And for some reason, it resembled Rainbow and he looked like he was helping her up.

Six: Give up! Give in!♪

Applebuck, Macareina: Check the grin, you're in love♪

Upon that line (and realizing that the six had found her once more), she realized that she was now leaning up to it, standing on her hind legs, a dreamy grin on her face. She quickly quit that as she stepped away.

Timerity: This scene won’t play, I won’t say I’m in love♪

As she held out the last note, she found herself back on a path in the park and trotting as the six now walked in a line beside her.

Six: You’re doin' flips, read our lips, you’re in love!♪

Timerity: You’re way off base, I won’t say it♪
Six: (Shoo-doo, shoo-doo! She won't say "in love"!)♪

She went back to the fountain where she had been cornered and hopped onto its edge and sat down on it. The six shortly surrounded her, but Timerity was too tired to run away.

Timerity: Get off my case! I won’t say it♪

Six: Girl, don’t be proud. It’s okay, you’re in love♪

As they sang that line, Scooteroll, an idolizer of Rainbow Blitz, set down the trinket on the fountain, then backed away as Timerity's tail brushed against it and she stopped upon noticing it. She 'picked' it up and brought it in front of her face and hummed the last line. 

Timerity: Oh’hh… at least out loud, I won't say I'm in… love…
♪

As she lay down on the fountain's edge, the five interlopers began to back away, singing a few more notes before mysteriously disappearing into the night, leaving Magic with Timerity.

Six: (Shoo-doo, shoo-doo, shoo-doo, shoo-doo, sha-la-la-la-la-la) *sigh*♪

End Song

Screw protocol, Timerity finally decided. It led to Father's birth, anyway.

"Time!" a voice called. "Time! Timerity!"

"Huh?" The blue mare got up and saw Dusk's number one assistant Barbara headed her way. She waved a hoof at the baby dragon. "Over here!"

"Thank Solaris!" Barbara ran over to Timerity. "Dusk has been worried sick. He doesn't feel safe without you home with him."

The blue mare raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? She wants a girl to protect him?"

"But you're an awesome girl! Whenever I'm not dreaming of being with Elusive, I dream of being a great personal protector like you!"

"Gosh! I'm flattered!"

"Don't be," assured Magic Armor. "You deserve it. There're a couple of things I have yet to learn from you."

Timerity was blushing now. "Seriously, girls! Stop it!"

The two just laughed as Barbara took her by the leg and they all walked back to Ponyville proper.
> Chapter 26: The Best Night Ever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Chapter 26: The Best Night Ever

In Chronicle's dreamscape…

He and his siblings save their eldest brother Mystic Wand were gathered together, talking about their plans for tomorrow night.

"The Grand Galloping Gala is tonight! I'm so excited!"

Timerity was bounding around like a certain pink pony they all knew, though in her world, their gender was different.

"We all know all our Galas coincides with one another," Chronicle stated. "What of it?"

"I'm going to see the Wonderbolts with Rainbow Blitz! What about you, Chronicle?"

"Me? I'm just glad I get the chance to meet again some ponies I acquainted myself with back at Canterlot. One of them a fortuneteller named Moonbow Peek."

"You met a fortuneteller too? So have I! His name's Moonbow Watch, though."

"It's strange that even our friends outside the Elements of Harmony are the same apart from gender as well." In Solaris Equestria, Timerity found out an undercover Wonderbolt by the name of Skyler, who was essentially the male counterpart of Skyla.

"If it makes any difference, I know a Moonbow Peek as well," Blue Diary finally said. "However, she serves as a neutral informant for who's who in the Night Court. Speaking of which, unlike the two of you. I won't be having the time of my life."

Both unicorns turned to him. "Why not?"

"Because, as of right now, Ponyville is just recovering from the aftermath of a magic accident between Trixie and Zecora, who I have to remind you is a villain in my world. A bottle of bourbon was involved too."

Timerity was a bit confused. "A bottle of bourbon?" 

"The end result was akin to a zombie apocalypse, except replace zombies with perpetual drunkards who wish to spread the alcohol. I was spared thanks to my strict more code in drinking."

"How were you able to stop it?"

"Not me. The credit goes to Dinky Doo, Snails, Twist, Diamond Tiara, Bee Bop, and Scootaloo."

"Bee Bop?" Now Chronicle didn't get it. "Who's Bee Bop?"

"A pegasus filly with a tendency for loudness and DJ music. We also had the assistance of Applebloom—one word—and a reluctant and shrunken Zecora, who became that way thanks to Poison Joke. She escaped unfortunately after all was said and done."

Timerity put a hoof to her chin. "Let me guess. All that partying, not to mention the possible damage I assume was done while the townsfolk tried their best to 'infect' you all, did a serious blow to Ponyville's economy?"

"That's…rather spot on. Despite that, for some reason, Canterlot, or at least the Royal Emergency Management Ministry, which is supposed to help towns like Ponyville in such a crisis, refused to help."

This was shocking news to the two unicorns. "WHAT?!" they both gasped.

"As it was, Night Light, Twilight Sparkle's father, is the head of the REMM. And given the Ursa Minor incident that was inadvertently her fault and resulted her in being a fugitive… well…"

They came to the conclusion rather quickly; Night Light blamed Trixie and was making the town suffer for it. "That can't be," Timerity said. "Surely the entire Night Court can't be entirely corrupt. Can it?"

Blue lowered his head as if not wanting to contradict her statement. "As much as it pains me to say it, it can, and it is." This delivered another blow to the two of them. "And it served as a very serious blow to Trixie, who had dreams of taking a high position there. Princess Luna long since knew this, and has repeatedly stamped them out over the centuries, but to no avail. It was also led to Celestia's descent to madness. Thanks to Luna, we managed to get the money needed to rebuild the town, but there was still the Night Court to deal with, which has been messing with my friends for too damn long."

"So no time to relax at the Gala?" Chronicle guessed.

"No. Because it's at the Gala where me and my friends will begin our mission; expose their true colors to all. With the use of a truth serum."

"A truth serum?!" the unicorn stallion gasped. "Aren't those…"

"Yes, me and my friends are going to have to stoop down to their level to bring them down. This particular truth serum is different from other kinds we're familiar with; this one not only makes the imbiber speak their mind, they can't keep silent." He sunk his head lower. "I didn't want them to do this, and I was hoping we could stop them while being true to ourselves, just like heroes. But…sometimes, you have to do what needs to be done, no matter the methods. After all, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." He looked up again, seeing the worried looks in his siblings' faces. "I'm sorry to have made you worry on something you can't do anything about."

"It's okay, Blue," Timerity said as she placed a hoof on his shoulder. "You should let out your emotions. Keeping them bottled up won't do you any good."

He turned to face his sister. "Thanks, Time. I needed that."

"We're here for you," said Chronicle as he placed a hoof on their younger brother's other shoulder. "If not physically, at least in spirit, and to keep you from going insane from isolating your thoughts."

Blue turned to the unicorn stallion and gave a weak smile. "You're right, brother."


C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD—C—T—BD


Somewhere near Carousel Boutique…

"I…can’t…believe…the Grand…Galloping…Gala…is…tonight!" Pinkie gasped as she jumped on a trampoline.

A short distance away, Twilight Sparkle was sitting on her haunches with an open book in front of her. Chronicle was nearby as well, having taken out Surveillance and was reviewing it. As he checked that everyone's cameras were accounted for (the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders), he noticed something else, then remembered; Surveillance also has a 'camera' on himself. Silly me.

"Pinkie, please stop shouting!" his charge said. "I’m trying to concentrate!"

Rarity stepped out of her boutique, then made her way to the trampoline. "Pinkie Pie! Stop that right now! It’s time to prepare for the Gala, and I refuse to let you put on your new dress if you’re all sweaty."

The jumper skid to a midair stop, hooves barely touching the trampoline, and hopped down with a dirty look. Spike joined the group shortly, while Twilight now levitated the book.

"What’s Twilight doing?" Pinkie asked the dragon.

"She’s got an awesome magic spell she’s been working on for the Gala."

"Where are the others?" Rarity wondered. "It’s getting late."

Before Chronicle could tell them that they would arrive in a second, Applejack and Fluttershy walked up to them, with Rainbow Dash flying overhead.

"Hold your horses, girl," said the farmpony. "We’re here."

Twilight suddenly closed the book and let it drop. "Perfect. I’m ready." 

"For what?" asked Rainbow as Spike brought in an apple.

"All right, Spike."

Once he set it on the grass, Pinkie asked, "An apple! Are we having pie?"

"Shh! Watch."

The versatile violet unicorn directed her glowing horn at the fruit, which began to bulge and swell and finally turn into a carriage ready for a team of…well… Chronicle didn't want to think of that, memories of Appleloosa already surfacing. It retained its apple shape, and an appropriately decorated pennant was attached to the stem on top. Five of the ponies expressed their admiration, and one began to feel nostalgic.

"Thanks. But that’s just the start," Twilight said. "Fluttershy, did you bring your friends?"

"Yes." Four small white mice peeked out from the pink mane, then scampered to the grass when she put her head down. "Will they be safe, Twilight?"

"You have my word." She then hit them with a new spell that transformed them into a quartet of white stallions in full livery, with curly yellow manes and tails. However, their heads and faces retained a distinctly mouse-like character, complete with long whiskers. "Ta-da!"

The rest of the gang did their best to be amazed, but the effort quickly fell flat. Chronicle on the other hoof was completely boggled and his jaw was wide open in shock. This was getting more and more familiar.

"Neat, huh?"

"Yeah, if a bit uncanny, given what we are," Chronicle answered.

"And don’t worry. They’ll be mice again at midnight."

"Midnight?" Another moment of nostalgia. "This is reminding me of a fairy tale my mother used to read when I was a colt."

At a nearby bush, Rarity’s cat Opal emerged and lets her eyes go wide at the sight of the mice-turned-horses. She then pounced.

"Opalescence, no!" Fluttershy gasped, but it was too late. Opal has obeyed instinct and launched herself at what she regarded as lunch. Her leap dropped her neatly on the rump of one mouse/horse, throwing the entire team into a panic and sending them galloping over the hill, one of them going a separate direction. Opal get dumped back onto the grass as a result.

"Wait! Come back!" Twilight called out, to no avail. She then turned to the others. "Those horses were supposed to pull our carriage! How will we get to the Gala?"

Rarity entered "drama mode" putting a hoof to her forehead. "Whatever shall we do?" She tosses the hint of a calculating smile to her friends and approached four earth pony stallions at a fence, Opal now sitting among them, grooming herself. Chronicle recognized three of them to be Caramel, Noteworthy, and Lucky Clover. Lucky had a bluish gray coat, dark gray hair styled like Doctor Whooves, light blue eyes, and a cutie mark of three four-leaf clovers. Caramel had a light brown coat with darker brown hair cleanly brushed, cerulean eyes, and a cutie mark of three horseshoes.

Rarity cleared her throat, catching their attention. "Uh, excuse me. Uh, would you boys mind pulling our carriage to the Gala?" 

She got a round of eager smiles in response from Caramel and Lucky. And in short order, the two steeds went and took the carriage for a short test pull. Once they were done…

"Oh, yeah. Right," Twilight said, managing an embarrassed little smile at having overlooked this obvious solution. 


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—LC

Later…

Chronicle and Spike found themselves outside a large changing room in Carousel Boutique, waiting for their female companions inside. While the stallion was respective of their privacy and patient (partly from old instincts that aren't normal for a pony), Spike was banging the door to try and get them to let them in.

Outside, Spike pounds on the closed door with a groan.

"Come on, you guys!" he was saying. "Let me in!"

"Sure thing, Spike!" Rainbow said from the other side. 

"Heavens, no! We’re getting dressed!" Rarity replied.

"Come on, Spike," Chronicle told him. "Let's give the girls their privacy."

"Dressed? Uh, beg pardon, Rarity, but, uh, we don’t normally wear clothes," Applejack pointed out.

"Wouldn't want to be perverts by—" He caught himself upon realizing something. "Wait a second…" I've seen them without a stitch in their body for a long time now. He smacked himself on the face with a hoof. "Nothing wrong with seeing mares wearing nothing."

The door was soon 'opened' by Rarity, who said, "I’m sorry, Spike. Some of us do have standards."

"And I respect them," said the stallion as he and Spike followed her in. "Most high-end Canterlot mares don't want to be peeked at by any males—stallion or no—while dressing up. I should know, having been charges to some of them." He noticed that Rainbow had her mane wrapped in towels, and the others had their heads in salon-style hair dryers lowered over their heads, Fluttershy reading a magazine.

"I still can’t believe we’re going to be in Canterlot tonight!" Spike said as he reached Twilight. "Our hometown, Twilight! And the best part is that we all get to hang out together all night long!"

Across the way, Rainbow now sat on a couch. "Uh—I don’t know, Spike."

Rarity began to put on false eyelashes, which turn out to be what she wore all the time. "We’ll just have to see."

Applejack, her mane wrapped up now, did a bit of spit-shining on one of Fluttershy’s front hooves, the latter recoiling a bit at the “spit” part. "We’re gonna be a mite busy."

Pinkie lifted the dryer hood over her head, exposing a mane that had been completely straightened out. "Busy having fun!" The magenta hair instantly fluffed back up to its usual style, surprising her a bit.

"I do have other plans now that I get to go to the Gala on my own," Chronicle admitted. "See ponies I once acquainted myself with. Ponies I miss, ponies I'm better off not seeing again, maybe even some non-ponies I used to know."

Spike sulked at this. "Oh. Okay." 

Twilight levitates a brush to apply some makeup. "Don’t worry, Spike. We’ll all get to spend some time together." 

"Great!"


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Later that night…

He and Chronicle sat side-by-side in the driver's seat of the carriage, the former in a black tuxedo with ruffled shirt and red bow tie, with reins in hand, and the latter in his Gala suit. 

"’Cause I’ve planned out my insider’s tour of Canterlot!" the dragonling was saying. 

Inside the moving carriage, the mares’ muffled, excited chatter could be heard from within. As for Lucky and Caramel, they were tricked out in white shirt collars and black bow ties.

"I’ve gotta show Rarity the crown jewels—" Chronicle's ears perked upward suddenly on hearing that. Naughty, naughty… "—and Applejack the Princess’s golden apple tree!" He turned to the window behind him. "And Pinkie, we gotta go to my favorite donut shop!" He turned back to the reins. "Then let’s get moving! Hyah!"

He snapped the reins, only for Caramel to turn angrily to him. "Excuse me?"

"Um…I…"

"If you weren’t friends with our neighbor Rarity…hmph!" grunted Lucky.

Still a bit miffed, the two stallions began pulling as Spike wiped nervous sweat from his brow. Chronicle tsked at him, saying, "Be careful with those reins. I would've smacked you upside if you did that on me."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—LC

Just outside the city…

Their carriage was just one of many to drop off their passengers. As they got closer to the resplendent white-and-gold city, Spike and Chronicle could see that all the trees were outfitted with lights, and many more ponies have gathered on the grass and made their way toward a drawbridge that led over a waterfall and into the heart of the action. Once they were at the road leading to the city, the two of them jumped down from their seat and Spike opened the door with a bow.

The first hoof to step out was Rarity’s, clad in a sparkling glass slipper. As Spike held his bow in the line of passing shadows, he popped one eye open for a peek, then suddenly snapped up to balance on his tail. "Whoa!"

"Whoa indeed," agreed Chronicle as he adjusted his cowl.

All of them were now wearing their Gala dresses, their manes styled to fit as well. There were two minor changes though. Rarity has added a deep magenta cape atop her outfit, and the glass slippers adorned only her front hooves.

"You all look…amazing!"

(A/N: I originally planned on creating my own stanza for Chronicle and putting it somewhere in the "At the Gala" song, but I decided to mix things up and switch over to Timerity's version. Also, the one I made sounded rather lame compared to theirs. You can see the draft here.)


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Solaris Equestria…

[screen mode]

Now Playing: At the Gala (Colt Version) by philsterman10

Lush, bright orchestral setting, moderate 4 (B major)
All crowd/ensemble lyrics are in square brackets

Zoom out to put the six stallions and one mare in the foreground, Butterscotch and Rainbow Blitz hover above the other four, and Timerity in the middle, who was clad in a simple light blue dress and matching shoes on her hooves.

Dusk Shine: I can’t believe we’re finally here! {Cut to the drawbridge and pan around the city; he continues o.s.} With all that we’ve imagined, the reality of this night is sure to make this… {Fireworks explode overhead.} …the best night ever!

Dusk: At the Gala [at the Gala]♪
{Butterscotch flies through a double line of mares.}

Butterscotch: At the Gala, in the garden, I’m going to see them all♪
All the creatures, I’ll befriend them at the Gala♪
{A wavering dissolve puts him in the gardens of Solaris’s palace, among assorted friendly critters and seen in soft focus.}
[At the Gala]♪
{A squirrel perches on his foreleg.}
All the birdies and the critters, they will love me, big and small♪
{He sets it down and flies up among the butterflies.}
We’ll become good friends forever, right here at the Gala♪
{Wavering dissolve (WD) back to him, now marching ahead with a line of Gala guests.}
[All our dreams will come true, right here at the Gala♪
At the Gala]♪

{Applejack moves front and center. WD to a softly focused pan along a line of customers waiting their turn at his apple cart.}

Applejack: At the Gala [it’s amazing] I will sell them [better hurry]♪
All my apple-tastic treats [yummy, yummy]♪
Hungry ponies [they’ll be snacking] they will buy them [bring your money]♪
Caramel apples, apple sweets [gimme some]♪
{Cut to a huge pile of coins and tilt up to frame him atop it.}
And I’ll earn a lot of money for the Apple family♪
{WD back to him; half a dozen unicorn stallions circle and form a double line as they sing.}
[All our dreams and our hopes from now until hereafter♪
All that we’ve been wishing for will happen at the Gala♪
At the Gala]♪

Gentle string/harpsichord melody
(A flat minor, then back to B major by the end of the next verse)

{Their lowered heads form a barrier of horns, but they lift these away to let Elusive promenade through the line. On the next line, a WD takes the action to a set of closed doors, which open so he can enter a magnificent hall within the palace. Soft focus again.}

Elusive: At the Gala, all the royals, great Elusive's who'll they'll see♪
{He walks through the crowd, prompting surprised stares.}
They will see I’m just as regal at the Gala [at the Gala]♪
{The camera pans from him to a dark-blond unicorn mare looking like a high-ranking noble.}
I will meet her, my fair princess, and a beauty she will be♪
{They touch horns lovingly. Dissolve to a long shot of the hall and tilt up toward the floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows.}
And I'll treat her like a lady♪
{WD back to him; zoom out to frame the onlookers, who proceed toward the city.}
Tonight at the Gala♪
[This is what we’ve waited for, to have the best night ever♪
Each of us will live our dreams, tonight at the Gala♪
At the Gala]♪

Brass fanfare, then rock with strings; drums/electric guitar in 
(A flat minor, then back to B major by the end of the next verse)

{The Wonderbolts soar over Rainbow and Timerity. WD to him on the next line, suited up and flying with two of them. Soft focus.}

Rainbow: Been dreamin’, I’ve been waitin’ to fly with those brave ponies♪
Timerity: The Wonderbolts, their daring tricks, spinning ’round and having kicks♪
{They buzz past a packed grandstand, leaving disheveled and amazed spectators in their wake. Tilt down from a rain of diamonds to the trio; he stands with the other two in his Gala suit and with Timerity by his side.}
Rainbow: Perform for crowds of thousands, they’ll shower us with diamonds♪
{WD back to them.}
Timerity: The Wonderbolts will see him♪
Timerity, Rainbow: Right here at the Gala♪

Drums/electric guitar out

{Six Wonderbolts gain altitude overhead and sail through the fireworks.}

[All we’ve hoped for, all we’ve dreamed, our happy ever after♪
Finally will all come true right here at the Grand Gala♪
At the Gala]♪

Drums in; double-time feel

{Berry Bubble hops along toward the palace, bouncing well over the other attendees.}

Berry: I am here at the Grand Gala, for it is the best party♪
But the one thing it was missing was a pony named Berry♪
{WD; he hops along past banners and cheerful ponies as confetti rains down on the softly focused grounds.}
For I am the best at parties, all the ponies will agree♪
{Quick pan to each attraction he names, with him taking part in each, then WD back to the excited pink pony.}
Ponies playing, ponies dancing with me at the Grand Gala♪
Drums out
[Happiness and laughter at the Gala, at the Gala]♪

Majestic feel (C major)

{Prince Solaris flies through the night sky, the camera zooming out to frame the arc he describes between two clouds above the palace. Quick pan to Dusk.}

Dusk: At the Gala [at the Gala] with Solaris [with Solaris]♪
Is where I’m going to be [he will be]♪
{WD to a huge hanging light fixture in the palace, then tilt down to Dusk and Solaris in the expansive, softly focused hall.}
We will talk all about magic and what I’ve learned and seen [he will see]♪
{Solaris and the background fade away to leave him standing in a red spotlight against a black field.}
It is going to be so special, as he takes time just for me♪
{The crowd fades into view around him.}
[This will be the best night ever]♪

D flat major

{WD back to him, marching ahead and followed by rank on rank of ponies.}

[Into the Gala we must go, we’re ready now, we’re all aglow♪
Into the Gala, let’s go in and have the best night ever♪
Into the Gala, now’s the time, we’re ready and we look divine]♪
{Dusk and Butterscotch move to the fore; zoom out in steps to frame all seven, Timerity at the far left side of the line.}
Butterscotch: [Into the Gala] Meet new friends♪
Applejack: [Into the Gala] Sell some apples♪
Elusive: [Into the Gala] Find my princess♪
Timerity: Show the Wonderbolts♪
Rainbow: All my greatness♪
{Cut to each singer in turn, framed against an appropriate background; Berry is upside down, and Timerity is with Rainbow.}
Butterscotch: To meet♪
Applejack: To sell♪
Elusive: To find♪
Timerity, Rainbow: To prove♪
Berry: To whoop♪
Dusk: To talk♪
{Cut to all seven and zoom out to frame the lines of guests behind them.}
[Into the Gala, into the Gala]♪
{Tilt up to the sky above Canterlot as two rockets sail up, their paths intertwining.}
[And we’ll have the best night ever]♪
{Long shot of the city, the rockets bursting in one last brilliant display, then zoom in quickly to the seven at the drawbridge.}
[At the Gala]♪

End Song

[end screen mode]

{Snap to black.}


T—DS—A—RB—E—B—BB—T—DS—A—RB—E—B—BB

Back at Equestria Prime…

At the end of the epic musical number, Chronicle was feeling giddy from having his own stanza in the song as he sang. It represented his dream to see old acquaintances, which was more certain than dreams to make friends at the garden, selling apples, finding a dream prince, having a blast, or even talking with the (most likely busy) Princess.

Spike then slid over to the group on his knees, "Yeah! This is gonna be the best night ever! You know why? ’Cause we’re all gonna spend time at the Gala to—" He was cut off when the mares bugged out in six different directions, setting him spinning and yelling from their wake. He ended up sitting on the red carpet by himself. "—gether," he finished in a dejected manner "Or not."

"Why not stick with me?" said Chronicle, who didn't leave. "You know, spend some boy time."

"No thanks. I'll just head to Joe's. Have fun." He began to walk away, leaving Chronicle on his own.

The stallion gave a sigh. "Why do I have a feeling that this will end badly?"


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (picture-type) - A scene split into six, depicting each of the mares fulfilling their dreams. Chronicle and Spike stand in a circle in the center of the picture. The show's logo appears on the top.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Finally making his way to the Gala's venue, Chronicle took a look around, recognizing a few familiar faces, but none of them recognizing him; the cowl really must work too well.

However, one pony seemed to identify him, and she began making her way towards him. She was clad in a sienna cloak that made it hard to identify her race, but it seemed to be…silkier than he remembered it. She also wore shoes suited for the Gala. Her eyes were silver-pink, her coat was green, her mane purple with an orange headband, and her tail long and alternating between those two colors.

"Moonbow Peek? Is that you?" he said. Moonbow was a fortuneteller Chronicle had the pleasure of meeting a few times during his time in Canterlot. He even once tried taking Twilight Sparkle to meet her and read her fortune, but she called it worthless hoodoo. Unlike most of her 'customers', he knows Moonbow's race and the reason why she's concealing it; she's an earth pony, and she hides her race because not only is her type of cutie mark—a crystal ball with diagonal stripes in three colors (red-yellow-blue)—not common for her race, she fears she won't be seen as 'believable' a fortuneteller as unicorn ones.

"I'm glad you still remember me."

"Well, now that I look back, one of the fortunes you told me long ago came true."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

Three weeks before the Summer Sun Celebration, while Twilight Sparkle and Spike were waiting just at the exit of a tent where Moonbow conducted her fortune telling, Chronicle sat at the opposite end of a table with the fortuneteller herself, who was waving her hooves at her crystal ball in the center. 

"Chronicle. You're in luck," Moonbow said. "There's no dark fortune for you today, at least nt a much as my usual." Moonhow was known for telling fortunes that are always negative, but also always have a light at the end of the tunnel. She bent closer to her crystal ball, which seemed to actually glow with some magic. "I can see that you will take part in a great prophecy. In some great event, something sealed for longer than many lifetimes will be released, and the balance of life will be threatened. Two ponies inside this tent will have an important role in stopping this threat."

"Wait, you mean she's involved in this fortune too?", asked Chronicle as he glanced at Twilight, who paused in her reading.

"Maybe. She, you, and five others will be the key to salvation, but for that to happen, she must accept the one thing she has been constantly shoving away."

The bodyguard pondered this for a few seconds before lighting up in realization. "I see. Thank you, Moonbow Peek."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Aside from the prophecy, you're the only pony I know who predicted Nightmare Moon's escape."

The fortuneteller took this with a little bit of pride as the two of them now walked together, the garden to their side and making their way to the lawn. She then asked, "How's your charge?"

"She now has friends, and is learning its magic as we speak, sending letters to Princess Celestia every week."

The fortuneteller raised her eyebrows. "So that was Twilight Sparkle you were with that time?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow. I didn't expect to see her around a fortuneteller like me, given her practical mind."

"Actually, she was just there because I decided to take a stop. Besides, that wasn't my first time with you, just my first 'session'."

"Right." She has seen him a few times before when his charges went to her to have their fortune read.

They shortly reached the lawn, where not only there were many other Gala guests around, but—much to his surprise—a couple of familiar Ponyvillian faces. One of them was Doctor Whooves—who was wearing a classic tuxedo—and with him was Derpy Hooves, who was surprisingly not wearing anything silly like maybe a muffin-themed dress. Instead, her Gala dress was an elegant dark gray color with chiffon yellow accents, her hair was tied into a short ponytail, and her ensemble had a bubble motif. He had to admit that she cleans up rather nicely.

"Derpy! Doctor!" he greeted.

The two turned to face him and while they didn't recognize him at first, they seemed to after a few seconds of looking; there weren't many mare-faced stallions like him.

"Oh, hello there!" greeted the Doctor. "We meet again!"

Derpy turned to face him. "Again?"

"Come now, he's a Ponyville citizen. Of course I'm bound to encounter him sometime." He then noticed Chronicle's companion and turned to face her. "Oh, who's this? Certainly not a Ponyvillian." He turned back to the masked stallion. "I was expecting you to be with one of your friends."

"No sir," said Moonbow. "I'm just an acquaintance of his from Canterlot."

"I see."

"Doctor, could we get something to eat?" Derpy interrupted. "And not any of those 'English muffins', please."

Chronicle took a glance around, and then noticed something. It was Applejack, who was pushing a wheeled, apple-decorated cart with her head through the knots of guests on the lawn. She stopped for a look around, and then delivered a solid buck to the cart. The top instantly folded outward to display an apple sign and expose rows of fruit inside, while both sides expanded to show off bins and trays of other goodies. Each side was topped with an apple pennant.

"Why not over there?" the unicorn said, pointing at his friend's stall.

Derpy seemed to lighten up a bit on seeing a familiar face, while the Doctor seemed to be a bit nervous. "Might I ask, is Applejack's little sister there too?" asked the earth pony stallion.

"No."

"Okay." He turned to his companion. "Shall we?" The pegasus mare nodded as they walked off to Applejack's stand, where a Wonderbolt was just finished ordering an apple pie. "We'll tell here that you recommended her stand, okay?" he called back. "And we'll tell everypony we see as well."

"Thanks!"

Chronicle gave a little smile, then Moonbow turned to face him and said, "So, that's one of Twilight's…"

"Yes."

"I see." The two resumed walking aimlessly. "By the way, I've seen a stain glass window depicting your friends defeating Nightmare Moon in the castle. At least that's what I can assume from seeing Twilight Sparkle there. For some reason, you weren't in the picture."

For a moment, he felt indignant from being excluded from such an important event, but then recalled said event; all he did was stall for time until Twilight was able to realize the Elements of Harmony and as she and their then-new friends 'activated' them he just made sure Nightmare didn't get away or attack. While that was an important part, it wasn't exactly hero-worthy as he didn't even acquire anything as a result, except for new friends, a new contract from the Princess, and a permanent residence in Ponyville.

Moonbow noticed her companion's silence. "Is something wrong?"

Chronicle started upon hearing her. "Oh, nothing. Nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Okay. I won't impose."


C—DH—DW—MB—C—DH—DW—MB—C—DH—DW—MB

Some time later…

Chronicle and Moonbow entered one of the many ballrooms the Gala was taking place in via one of the outer doors. As they stopped at one of the tables, Moonbow had a question.

"So…any reason you decided to dispatch a number of copies all around the Gala?"

"I wanted to see how my other friends are doing, see if there are other familiar faces, and advertize Applejack's stall, although I think only Ponyvillians would bother to buy. I wonder how a fair number of them made it here?"

"Why do you say that?"

He explained to her the entire 'ticket fiasco'.

"Oh." 

Just then, somepony familiar entered the room with a hop; Pinkie Pie. "The shiny dance floor…the pretty party ponies…ooh, the fancy band!" she said.

At "band", Chronicle turned to see who the band was. They were a classical quartet, playing the piano (how was that possible?), cello (or was that a double bass?), tuba, and harp, all earth ponies. The cellist immediately caught his attention since he recognized her. 

She bore a light gray coat, elegant dark gray hair, light purple eyes, a white collar with a pink bow, and a purple treble clef cutie mark. It was Octavia Melody. And there was a rumor that she has an affair with some Ponyvillian, and that that somepony was also adept in music, though of a different type from Octavia's.

"Shiny!…Pretty!…Fancy!" Pinkie continued as her teeth chattered and was very psyched-up. "Gotta dance!"

With that, she zipped further in, hopping and capering around the guests, singing a song, and taking absolutely no notice of their horrified stares.

"Another bearers of the Elements?" asked Moonbow.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "Yes. Pinkie Pie, Spirit of Laughter." 

In the middle of her song, Pinkie startled the band, though Octavia seemed to only slump, almost as if she knows Pinkie or is familiar with her sort. At the end of the song, she has ended with two guests in a headlock, and the ire of everypony else in the room. Finally, she realized the economy-size faux pas she committed and let go of the two guests, who joined all the others in indignantly walking away from her.

Chronicle also caught sight of Twinkle, Amethyst Star, Parasol, Daisy, and Goldengrape. "I wonder how the they got their tickets?" he asked himself again.


C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB

Elsewhere…

"Thanks!"

"Anytime." Chronicle (one of the clones anyway) waved at Lyra and Bon Bon as they were soon en route to Applejack's stall. Wow, I can't believe they made it to the Gala too. and they seem to be awfully close. They wore very elegant dresses. Bon Bon's was colored mostly in navy with pink accents, and Lyra's was white with gold accents and with her mane tied back in a short ponytail. However, what was most notable about their attire was that they each had items related to the other pony; Bon Bon had lyre-shaped earrings, and Lyra had a gold choker with a wrapped candy in place of a bow.

"Psst."

Immediately, he was on the defensive as he readied to cast a spell. Upon seeing who it was, it was a light gray earth pony stallion, with darker gray hair, his mane tied back in a braid and hidden under a round red/brown cap with no brim, and light brown eyes behind pince-nez spectacles. He also wore a red scarf, a brown shirt with rolled-up sleeves over a long-sleeved white sweater, and a darker brown smock over his hindquarters, its pockets stuffed with small items and secured by a belt.

"What do you want?" the unicorn cautiously asked. "If you're selling something…" He glared at the mysterious stallion. "Let's hear it."

"Oh, for a moment, I thought you wouldn't be interested."

"That might be the case for most morally good ponies, but I'm willing to listen. But be quick about it."

"Thank you. Here's a list of my wares." He procured a slip of paper from his pocket. "As well as my address should you wish to visit."

Chronicle 'took' the paper and began to peruse its contents. "Hmm…interesting. Hold on." He then seemed to recognize the pony. "I remember you. I bought the flank stickers from your shop."

"Nice to see that I've acquainted myself with a previous customer."

"Yeah." Something on the list then piqued the unicorn's interest. "Hmm. What are these… crystals?"

"Oh, those?" He bent in closer. "They're special artifacts that enable a pony—not just a unicorn—to manipulate certain classical elements. Water, earth, fire, air, lightning…"

"Are you sure you're not pulling my leg here?"

"Oh, no, no, no. As a matter of fact, I have them with me right now. But we need to be someplace discreet. I'm sure you could already tell that given the nature of my store, this isn't exactly legal."

"Where do you think we should head to?" 

"I suggest the garden."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Fluttershy came to mind. "One of my friends is there right now, attempting to make friends with the local fauna. Don't ask why."

"The garden's a big place, I'm sure we can avoid her," assured the earth pony

"Still…"

"Do you want me to prove the crystals' capabilities or not?"

Now that got him thinking. Hnnh…if he's telling the truth, these crystals can be very useful. Most of my friends aren't good enough fighters like I am. Who knows what other threats we may have to face? What if friendship isn't enough? What if I'm not enough? With that in mind, he made his decision. "All right. But I'm afraid I don't think I have the bits to pay for it. Could you reserve some of them for me?"

"We'll see."


C—?—C—?—C—?—C—?—C—?—C—?

Back inside the ballroom…

Moonbow has taken out her crystal ball and was about to read Chronicle's fortune. At another neaby table, Pinkie Pie was sitting by herself, totally bummed out, and not really noticing them. The green earth pony began to wave her hooves at the ball and it seemed to emit a faint glow as she did so.

"Are you sure you want me to read your fortune, Chronicle?" she asked one last time. "You know how dark they can be." She peered closer at her orb and was disturbed at what she apparently predicted. "And from what I can see here, we're all in danger."

Chronicle gave a short gasp. "If that's so, I need to hear it all the more."

Moonbow gave a sigh, took a deep breath, then began her fortunetelling. Before she could do so, Pinkie interrupted her.

"No!" she said. "I’ve waited all my life for this moment, and I’m not going to let it slip by. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna make this…the best night ever!" Both her friend and the fortuneteller started to look worried as she began to enter a thinking pose. "Now, what to do…"

"Should I continue?" asked Moonbow.

"Yes, let's," answered Chronicle.

"Okay." Composing herself, she pulled her hood further in, then began. "There is a storm coming. And it will come in…" She raised one eyebrow at this. "…delicious flavors."

The unicorn had no idea how to respond. "…What?"


C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB

Eyecatch (picture-type) - A scene split into six, depicting each of the mares not being able to fulfill their dreams. Chronicle and Moonbow Peek sit in opposite ends of a table, the latter waving her hooves over a crystal ball. The show's logo appears on the bottom.


C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB—C—PP—MB

Elsewhere…

Another Chronicle clone managed to enter the VIP area where the Wonderbolts (and Rainbow Dash) were when he noticed Rarity walking with somepony familiar. Somepony that riled his nerves and made his blood boil. 

It was a white unicorn stallion who had a somewhat larger build than the average pony, almost Big Macintosh's size, although he knew it was built just for appearance's sake. He wore black tuxedo lapels with a boutonniere and a blue bow tie over his dress shirt front. His hair was dark blond, his eyes were the palest blue, and his cutie mark was an eight-point compass rose.

"Prince Blueblood," he spat to himself as he saw the two stop in front of a spilt drink and conversing with one another on what to do. His blood boiled further when he used Rarity's cape to cover it up. As the two walked on (Rarity retrieving her now-wet accessory), he decided to walk up to them.

Blueblood seemed to be miffed at this. "Who dares stand in my way?"

Raarity wasn't, and was in fact happy to see him. "Chronicle?"

The prince seemed to recognize the name. "What?! You?!"

Chronicle gave a smirk. "Yes. Me. Your bodyguard before your auntie Princess decided to hire me out of you. I'll have to thank you for that."

Now this seemed to throw Blueblood—as well as Rarity—off guard. "Thank me?"

"Yes. She wouldn't have even known of me until I entered your 'service'. And she wouldn't have assigned me to Twilight Sparkle." He then faced Rarity with an expression that said, While it was a terrible experience, I do not regret having taken it. "I haven't regretted it since." He turned to face Blueblood again and said, "You don't mind if I borrow her for a while, do you?"

"By all means," Blueblood answered haughtily. "I shall be at the table—" He pointed to a long one with a punch bowl and other fine food items. "—Getting drinks."

Once he was off, Rarity turned to Chronicle and said, "What do you think you're doing?"

"During your ticket fantasy last summer, I was going to tell you that Princess Celestia's nephew is no Prince Charming."

"I'm pretty sure I already know that by now."

"Then why are you still accompanying him?" She was about to answer when he stopped her with a raised hoof. "No, don't tell me. You're trying to make him eventually show his nice side, right?" Rarity gave a nod. "Well, good luck with that. Don't go crying over my shoulder when I'm proven right."

"Why would I ever do that?"

"Just a figure of speech. What I mean to say is…don't come for me complaining about him, okay?"

"I'm pretty sure I won't. You never told me of your involvement with him until now, anyway." With that, she made her way back to Prince Blueblood, and looked a bit miffed that he didn't get a drink for her.


C—R—PB—C—R—PB—C—R—PB—C—R—PB

Erstwhile, back at the ballroom…

Moonbow began to tell Chronicle's future. In the 'background' Pinkie Pie was whispering to the band, probably suggesting a song. In spite of that, in spite of Chronicle advising her they move somewhere else, in spite of her gut feeling that things are about to go south very shortly, she was determined to see this through.

"The natural order of things will be turned on its head," she said. "Reversals will abound, and its head is an immortal evil sealed long ago, only to be released by an accident. Bonds will break, personas will be inverted, ponies will be broken, true feelings will be realized, and colors will fade in all the wrong places."

Chronicle raised an eyebrow as Pinkie began to sing her song, contrasting the set mood. "That doesn't make any sense."

Moonbow looked back at Chronicle with her silver-pink eyes. "This evil revels in not making sense. Towards him will be not only despisal, but laughter in the wrong times. And about you and your friends…"

"What else do you know about them?"

"Only what is depicted in the castle's stained glass, nothing more. Now, this is what I can see of their fates." The crystal ball seemed to emit specific colors as she spoke, starting with orange. "One will be easily deceived by something blatant." Then cyan. "One will turn serious by redirection." Violet. "A new 'friend' will impede your travels." Green. "One will learn to sting others, at one's heart most of all." The fortuneteller pointed at Chronicle's at this statement as the crystal ball's interior then glowed red. "One shall take wing, and they and another will abandon the team."

"Who?"

"It is not clear—very few fortunes are—but there's also something concerning what you shall endure…" The inside of the crystal ball then glowed a deep blue.

"What?"

"You possess something that shields you from this evil, but it will only make your suffering worse." Chronicle seemed to be a bit surprised at this, mostly the 'protect' bit, and then confused on the 'worse; bit. "After hope turns into despair, your duty will turn into a vendetta. Even after victory, its scars shall remain for a long time, with you most of all."

"Hold on. Victory?"

"Yes. As with all evils, this one will still lose in the end."

"Again with the dark futures with an absolute hope, huh, Moonbow?"

Moonbow gave a sigh. "It's my specialty, sadly."

"Sadly?"

"Yes. In spite of the guaranteed light I grant at the end of my fortunetelling, it scares a bit of my potential customers."

Suddenly, Chronicle felt a little headache he usually feels whenever one of his magical clones dissipate and got not only the fact that Rarity is with Prince Blueblood, Lemon Hearts (who also made it to the Gala) was a cameramare. An image of Fluttershy also flashed in his mind for some reason, and that began to worry him.

"Anyway, I feel like it's best that I leave now." Moonbow took her crystal ball, stowed it in the folds of her cloak, and made to leave.

"Huh. Why?"

A cup flew out of nowhere and headed straight for Moonbow's head. Before he could warn her, she ducked her head as it sailed right over. "The future of others isn't the only thing I can read. I also have a limited amount of foresight, which is helpful for dodging. I suggest you leave while you still can. Things are about to go south very soon." With that, she left through the door they used to enter the ballroom just as Pinkie Pie finished her song.

Go south? What does that—

He was cut off when somepony (he recognized her as a previous charge of his named Lyrica Lilac) call out to Pinkie. "Young lady, this is not that kind of party!" she said.

Pinkie was shocked at this. "Ohhhhh! They don’t want a party…" She suddenly beamed. "…these ponies want a par-tay!"

Celestia help us all, Chronicle groaned as he buried his head under his hooves. This isn't what I was expecting at all. He began to recollect the memories he got from his dissipated clones. Applejack's not getting any sales apart from the other Ponyvillians who made it here, Rainbow Dash is faking a hero to get the Wonderbolts' attention, and Rarity's hopelessly trying to reach out to that snob Prince Blueblood. Hopefully, Twilight isn't doing anything too drastic, and I haven't heard from Fluttershy, or at least anything concerning her. I wonder if I should head out to the garden and look for her?

By the time he was finished pondering, the classical quartet seems to have (wisely) evacuated the ballroom stage as Pinkie began spinning tunes at a DJ turntable. 

"Come on, everypony!" she said as she jumped down to the floor. "You wanted a par-tay? Now let’s par-tay!" Another leap drove her up against a party-goer's rump. "Yeah! Uh!" She got two guests in a headlock. "Now that’s a beat! Yeah!" And she soon got into bouncing ponies into the air. "Uh! Come on, dance! Yeah! Woo-hoo!"

Next, a set of closed doors opened to admit Applejack and an eight-layer apple cake she was wheeling in on her folded-up cart. "Okay, all you high-class ponies," she said. "Here’s a highfalutin apple cake for all your hoity-toity taste buds!"

"STAGE DIVE!!" Pinkie suddenly called back on the stage and she flung herself out into space, missing all the guests who scooted out of her way, but nailing the edge of Applejack’s cart. That impact catapulted the cake across the ballroom. 

Elsewhere, a resentful Rarity was holding the door so Blueblood can enter. Both cried out in fear as the huge dessert arced down toward them on a collision course, and Rarity founds herself being used as an equine shield. The masterpiece dress she designed, and that her friends worked so hard to finish, became a bedraggled ruin in one terrible instant. The turntables wound to a stop, and Rarity rounded on her companion with a feral snarl as her face went crimson.

"You, sir, are the most un-charming prince I have ever met!" she said as she backed Blueblood up to a wall. "In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!"

Blueblood cowered, but not from her outburst apparently. "Ewww! Stay back! I just had myself groomed!"

"Afraid to get DIRTY?!?" A good full-body shake threw fragments of cake and frosting all over the unlikable royal heir, who fell back and knocked himself out against a pedestal. Not just any pedestal however, but the one holding a winged unicorn statue. As the sculpture began to topple, it turns out that Rainbow and the Wonderbolts were in the ballroom as well. 

"This is my chance!" said the polychromatic-maned mare as she then rocketed past the Wonderbolts — "Wananananana~" — just in time to catch the statue and hold it off the ground. "Yes!" However, she began to lose her balance. "Whoa!" The weight shift sent her tottering crazily to and fro, with the result that the statue thumped against the column at one end of a semicircle behind the pedestal. 

It went over, the topmost section falling loose, and banged into the next one in line as the crowd watched aghast. One by one, all the columns crashed down like dominoes and kicked up a good amount of dust from their impact. Once it cleared, it showed Rainbow in the center of the surrounding rubble and spectators. The statue was still intact on her back, but it too quickly fell apart around her.

Now, and only now, did Twilight enter the ballroom with Celestia. About damn time, thought Chronicle as he saw both their eyes go wide and mouths go slack at the sight of all this chaos, and their disheveled and discombobulated friends. 

"Well, it can’t get any worse," he heard her say.

A tremor then shook the entire room, scaring every guest with hooves to feel it. "Dammit, Twilight!" Chronicle called out to her. Another set of doors—the one Moonbow just used to exit the ballroom—burst open. The cause was a stampede of animals big and small, on the run from something that scared the unicorn stallion so much he could've taken a dump on the spot; a certain scuffed-up, panting yellow pegasus who has quite obviously completely lost her mind.

"You’re…going to LOVE ME!!" Fluttershy bellowed from the top of her lungs.

Not only did this set the guests into a full-scale stampede, it scared Chronicle so much that he shrieked like a filly—to the shock of everypony who can hear it—and fell over fainting on the spot as Rarity would sometimes do, overwhelmed with fright as his still focused friends gasped at this sight.

Twilight had no words to describe this. "Um, um, uh…" She gave a strangled little gasp.

Celestia whispered to her a quick bit of advice. "Run!"

Having had enough of both greeter duty and this general silliness, Twilight whistled to her friends and waved them toward the door. There followed a general retreat, Fluttershy dropping a squirrel in her teeth, and Applejack pulling out a lasso and grabbing their unconscious stallion friend with it. As they shuffled down a staircase, his head bumped on the stairs enough times for him to wake up.

"I'm up, I'm up, I'M UP!" he screeched as he got the lasso off of him. Luckily, Fluttershy was already further ahead so he didn't see her and therefore get scared again. 

Just then, one of Rarity’s glass slippers fell loose on the stairs next to him. Pinkie stopped next to it as well and said, Ooh! Rarity, your glass slipper! Now your prince is sure to find you!"

The thought of the old "Cinderella story" having any validity to it scared the bejesus out of Rarity as she raced up the stairs with a panicked shriek and brought her hooves down on the slipper, "Let's go!" she said. Pinkie eyed the remains with some puzzlement for a moment before Rarity yanked her bodily down the rest of the stairs. Chronicle shortly followed uneasily, though was still scared from what caused him to faint. More memories began to flood his mind as the chaos behind them dissipated his remaining clones back at the Gala.

"I could've scooped it up," the stallion grumbled.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP

Somewhere outside the Gala's venue…

Spike—out of his tux and in the depths of sullen self-pity—was drowning his sorrows in cocoa and donuts in the donut shop he was talking about.

"Hey, Pony Joe. Another donut," he said as he sat at the counter. No doubt this was the one he mentioned en route to the Gala. Behind the counter was a light tan and slightly chubby unicorn stallion with brown hair, dark green eyes, a frosted donut cutie mark, and he donned a white shirt, apron, and paper cap.

"Don’t you think you’ve had enough?" Joe said to him.

Spike just slammed his mug, splashing cocoa. "Another donut! Extra sprinkles!" Joe regarded him with great concern as he rested his head in his hands, elbows on the counter. The jingling of the door’s bell perked them both up.

"Twilight Sparkle! Chronicle!" Joe called, then gave a chuckle, seeing her and her friends come in with trashed dresses and downcast faces. In spite of everything, Chronicle was less messed up than the others, though he has taken off his cowl and gave a very wary glance at Fluttershy, who had herself under control again. "Long time no see!" 

"Good evening, Joe," Chronicle managed to say as Spike ran to them.

"Hey, how was the Gala? How was your best night ever?" asked the dragon.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—J—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—J

A few minutes after, the group was now gathered around a table set with a plate of donuts. Twilight’s mood was improving now.

"That sounds like the worst night ever!" Spike said after hearing all that had happened. 

"It was!" said the mares all at the same time, then there was raucous laughter all around when they realized that they had talked at the same time.

"And thanks to them," snarked Chronicle as he gestured to his friends. "The same thing applies to everypony else still at the Gala. I still had a better time though." In spite of that disturbing fortune…

"I just hope Princess Celestia isn’t upset with us for ruining the Gala," Twilight said in a sad tone.

"That was the best Grand Galloping Gala ever!" a familiar voice came.

Popping eyes were soon joined by a round of smiles, the Princess herself was now inside. 

"Princess Celestia!" everypony and Spike gasped as she joined them.

"Pardon me, Princess, but tonight was just…awful!" Twilight said.

Celestia just chuckled a bit before saying, "Oh, Twilight, the Grand Galloping Gala is always awful."

"It is?"

"You never been to the Gala?" gasped Chronicle. "I assumed that as her student, you would be there, unless you were all 'study time' back then and couldn't bother with it."

"I was."

"Oh."

"That is why I was thrilled you were all attending," Celestia then said. "I was hoping you could liven things up a bit. And while the evening may not have gone as you planned, I’m sure you’ll agree that in the end, it didn’t turn out so bad for this group of friends."

"You’re right, Princess," Twilight agreed as their pegasus friends smiled. "Friends have a way of making even the worst of times into something pretty great."

"Yeah! Hanging out with friends!" Rainbow said.

"Talking!" Fluttershy.

"Laughing!" Pinkie. 

"You mean doing exactly what I wanted to do the whole time?" asked Spike.

"Yes, Spike," Twilight agreed "You were right."

"As horrible as our night was…" Applejack.

"…being together here has made it all better." Rarity. 

"In fact, it’s made it…" Pinkie. 

"…the best night ever!" everypony finished with Spike, then laughed along with Celestia. 

Chronicle suddenly realized something, stopped laughing, and said, "Hold on. Princess, what did you mean by 'the best Grand Galloping Gala ever'? I mean, they totally wrecked the event. I know I certainly didn't. And where was Princess Luna? I was hoping to see her."

As the laughing stopped, Celestia gave a smirk, then said, "The truth is, it's actually something of a tradition for the Gala to end up being ruined somehow. You should actually feel honored to be a part of it. Not many get to say they were a part of one of the most elaborate and high-profile pranks of the year."

"Hear that Pinkie?" Rainbow said, grinning as she looked across the table at the pink party pony. "We were prankin' and didn't even know it!"

"Imagine what we could do next year at the Gala when we're pranking and do know about it," Pinkie replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"Assumin' we get invited again, that is," Applejack told them, killing their buzz a bit. "I reckon the kinda folks that go to the Gala might not cotton to seein' the likes of us again."

"And even if we do, I'll thank you to leave me out of your machinations," Rarity added. "Though I admit it does shed a whole new light on why I always end up with so many repair jobs on Gala dresses immediately after the event."

"And as for Princess Luna not coming, she didn't feel ready to face the ponies, and frankly she's still behind in current times," Celestia finished. "Not to mention she still has lingering guilt from her time as Nightmare Moon."

"I see. I never saw what disaster happened last Gala when I was under Prince Blueblood's service though, where you then hired me and assigned me to Twilight."

"For that one, the prank for the Gala was…no prank. Just to throw off those guests who have become prepared for it."

"Oh. Well, I still think we all deserve some compensation for the mess we did, not to mention losses." He glanced at Applejack upon saying this.

"Chronicle does have a point." Celestia gave a smile as she then 'summoned' a large pouch of bits, then 'passed' it to the farmpony. "Take it."

Feeling that it would be rude to refuse the Princess, Applejack accepted the gift and thanked her.

"I'm kinda surprised they even let her set up shop," Chronicle then said. "I would've expected an official to evict her, gently or with force." He turned to the pony he had least expected to get a scare out of. "Fluttershy, from what I can deduce from what my clones have seen, I think the animals ran away from you because it was nighttime and you weren't letting them get any sleep, they didn't know you unlike the ones in Ponyville, and maybe you were—for all I know—in heat, hence your…" He gave a shudder. "…crankiness."

There were a few seconds of awkwardness from the mention of 'in heat', and when somepony spoke, it was Fluttershy herself. "I guess you do have a point, now that I look back at…what I did. I wasn't in heat, though."

"Oh." He turned back to Celestia. "By the way, your Highness, did you already know the Gala would be boring and merely failed to realize those who didn't know that would be so eager to go? Oh wait, you already answered that question."

"She did indeed," said Pinkie. "We were invited as a prank."

"Right. Princess Celestia, if we're ever invited to the Gala again, will you be able to…tweak things a bit so that all of us will be able to enjoy it?" He glanced at Pinkie on saying 'enjoy'. 

Celestia just gave a smile that could mean anything. "We'll see."

Chronicle then turned to face his friends. "Now that we know what the Gala is like, I'm sure we can all behave ourselves next time, right?" There were general murmurs of agreement from all six of them, Spike not having attended the Gala at all. "All right."
> BONUS 3: OaC&A Report
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus 3: OAC&A Report

A few weeks after the Grand Galloping Gala, as well as an extremely special event, Chronicle found himself being called to Story Crew Equestria once again. He was currently in some sort of interrogation room. His twin sister Timerity sat beside him and opposite them was their father Lord Record Keeper, who was looking rather cross. Right now, he was in his humble earth pony form, but was no less intimidating. 

As it was, they were involved in a serious breach of Story Crew protocol; unless they already do so on their own, inhabitants of a world without reliable and "commercial" means of cross-world/space/intergalactic travel are not allowed to discover the existence of other worlds through Field Operatives. They're also not supposed to know that the Field Operatives are not "world natives" if that is the case.

"All right, Chronicle," Record began in a stern tone. "Explain to me how you and your friends ended up in Solaris Equestria where your sister is assigned in." He pointedly aimed his eyes at Timerity on finishing this sentence.

Th unicorn stallion gave a deep sigh. "All right, all right, Dad. It's like this. For starters, I did not take them there. My friend Twilight Sparkle is to blame. No, she did not intend to teleport to where we ended up. In fact, it was supposed to be just a trip to Manehattan, where Applejack once went to as a filly to live with her cousins the Oranges. Anyway, after our…crash landing, it was only when we saw her world's versions of Bon Bon and Heartstrings did I have an idea on where I was."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

As Twilight and company looked over the park, a pair of manes peeked over the edge of a bench's back. A mint-green with a stripe, and a more curly pink-and-purple do.

Suddenly all six mares and one stallion were tripping over each other as they galloped to the bench. Twilight was the first to round the corner as she spun and faced them. "Lyra! Bon Bon! It's so good to—" She stopped in mid-sentence as she stared in wide-eyed confusion. The rest of the group caught up with her, and one-by-one, they too paused and stared, Dash adding a gaping mouth to hers.

The two ponies on the bench were giving them confused looks of their own. The green one was a unicorn, perched on their rear with their back against the rest, hind legs draped over the edge in exactly the way a pony doesn't sit. Curled up next to the pony, was a cream-coated equine with wide blue eyes.

What surprised the group was the fact that these two also possessed sloped and squared noses, a slightly larger stature, and toned chests. Though the green pony had a lyre cutie mark, and the earth-pony a trio of candies... these two were unmistakably stallions.

"Um..." the not-Bon Bon started. "Can we help you?"

Oh dear, Chronicle grumbled. Dad's gonna kill me if he finds out.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Still, I managed not to have to explain my origins…yet. Even when my friends speculated on Gray Equestria, where the Sonic Rainboom didn't happen and where our cousin Mindy a.k.a. Dark Narrative is, even hinted on Luna Equestria, where Blue Diary is assigned to. Anyway, we then went to the library to look for answers. Thankfully, it was empty… or so we thought. As it was, Dusk Shine's assistant Barbara was there and nearly found us."

Timerity decided to join in the explanation. "Dusk was outside where he found the place they arrived in, while I was at Magic Armour's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns."

The unicorn stallion turned to his sister. "Even now, I still can't believe you actually met with and are a co-teacher with your world's counterpart of Mystic Shield in mine."

The mare agreed. "Strange, isn't it?"


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" came a voice from upstairs, followed by the patter of dragonoid feet.

"Let me handle this," Chronicle said as he took out his black coat and quickly put it on, completely concealing his identity. He then got the others to leave just as—

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was napping! I'll be down innaWOAA-HOHOAAH!!"

The small dragon had tripped, their journey down the stairs a bumpy one. As they finally landed in a heap at the bottom, Chronicle got a good look at whom Timerity called Barbara. This small dragon was indeed about as big as Spike, but she had lime green spines, which were smaller and a bit limp, and her ears were also somewhat larger and were folded down, acting like bangs.

The purple lizard got back on her feet, before dusting herself off. "Sorry about that. Just not my day today... oh!"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Anyway, she didn't recognize me or connect me to Timerity and just saw me as a customer who was new in town," Chronicle continued. "She did suspect the cloak though, but I managed to make a good excuse. I requested Supernaturals, the very book that provided the cure to poison joke. I also ran into Dusk Shine, but he didn't notice anything that would've connected me to my sister either. I made it out without problems, but then I encountered a new one.

"Because this is their first time in another world, Twilight thought 'never the selves shall meet' lest we pull a paradox and cease to exist. We needed a place to hide, but she also reasoned that whatever they knew, their male counterparts did too. That extended to my 'female counterpart'."

"Even though it's obvious that I'm not him as a girl nor is he me as a guy," Timerity pointed out.

"That was before they found out our family connection. Or that I indeed ended up in your Equestria. Anyway, we received some help from her world's Cutie Mark Crusaders and got them to take us to a hideout called the Hedge, which was in the Everfree Forest. No encounters with Zircon—her world's counterpart for Zecora—thankfully. I should also note that Silver Bell, unlike Sweetie Belle, knows some magic. 

"He was considered by Magic Armour as a potential student, but refused him because of his clumsiness. The only reason me and my friends didn't end up in their Equestria as well is because the events in my world that mirror his are separated by a couple of minutes, maybe half an hour or more. From what Dusk told me, he was even considering trying out the mass long-distance teleportation spell before sensing the anomaly that was Chronicle and company arriving. 

"When I came in, he was reading the book his female counterpart had read that led to this, then realized something; the stranger who had visited had a blue coat, an orange-yellow mane, and sounded like a mare. He thought it was me, but I said it wasn't, even though I owned a similar cloak. He then asked me if I had any relatives with similar colors, I said I did, but did not go into any specifics.

"He then read deeper into something Twilight apparently didn't, although the dimension-travel could be reason enough for the 'event mirroring' to not happen."

Chronicle then spoke up again, their father listening intently. "Meanwhile, even though I already volunteered, Fluttershy went shopping since we were in hiding and all, and none of us were good at foraging, not that the bushes that made the Hedge had anything edible. While I was doing reconnaissance elsewhere, hiding from my sister's magical clones, she bumped into Butterscotch, and they nearly got…you know…"

"In any case, the two eventually parted without much suspicion, but then Rainbow Blitz met up with his fellow pegasus buddy and talked with 'Scotch for a while before the subject went on romance, which Blitzy wasn't into."

"Blitzy?", Chronicle interrupted with a teasing laugh.

His sister blushed as she turned away. "Hey! I have the right to call him whatever I want, okay?"

"Okay." He turned back to Record. "Anyway, I got back shortly after Fluttershy and met back at the Hedge. There, they discovered that that paradox thing between the 'meeting the selves' is wrong. However, there came a new problem Twilight discovered; problems in the long run about 'meeting the selves' and that it should be avoided for as long as possible. Very aggravating. She asked me to be careful since my 'female counterpart' could get suspicious, and we all know we have our differences apart from gender."

"Right, though again they didn't know that yet. Dusk was reading more on the theory of alternate selves when Blitz went in and told him about Butterscotch's encounter and that he's seen my possible 'alternate counterpart' thereabouts. At first, he thought Chronicle was just another of my magical clones, but he bumped into some stuff and did not dissipate."

"Hey, I couldn't've used that black cloak for long," her brother retorted. "It would make me conspicuous in a different way."

She ignored him. "After seeing me in the library, when he asked if any of my clones were out in Ponyville wearing whatever by brother was wearing, when I said no, Dusk then told Blitz to notify him at once if he sees anypony he doesn't recognize. And to make it easier, he ordered me to dismiss all my clones immediately, that any further ones will be attacked on sight just to be safe, and that I stay by Dusk's side until then." She seethed on recalling the memory. "The nerve! Even though it could be just a relative of mine, he wanted to make absolutely sure."

"On the second day, I had to work extra hard on my reconnaissance and shopping due to that condition. Of course, having to have to stay in hiding got my friends cranky. While I'm not above stealing, my friends are and Applejack was sent off to buy supplies. I put my stealth work to the limit and got into Sugarcube Corner a few minutes before Applejack did, ordering some snacks, though I lay off of the cupcakes."

"Still getting those nightmares?" Timerity teased.

"A bit. Anyway, I saw Applejack leave and continue buying, only to run into Applebuck (his counterpart in my world Apple Bloom), who was tending to his brother's stall. She also encountered Butterscotch. And her male counterpart."

"Things got a bit tense and she almost said something Applejack had said exactly some time before. Before he could delve in the matter any further, we all saw Blitzy chasing Rainbow Dash. There was no way she could've outflown him, yet she did, and even did the Double Rainboom."

"I'm sure it was done thanks to both of them. I mean, there's a reason it's called the Double Rainboom, right?"

"No, your Rainbow pulled it off without him; the force of the boom pushed him back. And while my friends were watching, you and your Applejack slipped away."

"Yeah. Anyway, we made it back to the Hedge without any followers, where Twilight voiced her worries of them falling in love with our gender-swapped selves. But you know we're not into that sort of thing, right?"

"All too true. Again, they didn't know we were brother and sister at that time, though."

"Of course, Twilight was ballistic from all this. And worse, her friends—" he emphasized on his sister. "—or Dusk at least at that time, were now aware of us."

"Back at the library, I haven't since left, even though I haven't yet asked for a leave of absence from Magic Armour. Thankfully, she came and asked and I told and she understood. Anyhow, Blitz returned with a bruise on his face. A bruise left by Dash. After hearing about the Double Rainboom, Dusk soon confirmed an idea on what Twilight already knew; alternate worlds."

"At the third day, Rarity was already complaining about her hair condition, and I still couldn't transfer my magic to my charge. She had to go out because the sunflower oil, an ingredient we used to get here unintentionally, had slipped all our minds, even me. I still offered to go, and I also learned a temporary cutie-mark removing spell while I was at it. And some more disguising techniques. Little did I realize until later that she planned to meet—"

"Elusive. A very interesting encounter even though I don't like the guy too much. Seriously, he tries every so often to make a dress for me." 

Chronicle raised an eyebrow at this. "Wow. Not once did Rarity ever thought of forcing a suit on me."

"Another reason we're so different. I probably have that look that calls, 'Dress me up!'. Sometime after Rarity and my brother left, Dusk, Barbara, and I were searching in the forest for you-know-who."

"Meanwhile, I was planning to go to the library to see if I would indeed see you instead of an actual female counterpart of myself. Of course, you weren't home."

Record was a little confused on the inconsistency of the 'report'. "I thought you knew you ended up in her world."

"That's what I assumed too at first, but I later had doubts and needed to be absolutely sure. Anything's possible with so many alternate worlds out in the cosmos."

"All too true," their father agreed. "Continue."

Timerity decided to take it from here. "Anyway, While Rarity was making love with Elusive, at least that's what I think they were doing, Rainbow Blitz came in and tried to oust 'Lucy''s female counterpart, but it wasn't doing well, so he convinced him to have her stick around while he fetches Dusk Shine. Meanwhile, speaking of him, our stakeout continued and we kept ending up ending our search near where Chronicle's friends were hiding. Just as Dusk was wondering if they were in there or not, Blitz came over with the news. Immediately, we were off. I wanted to stay behind, but he insisted I stay with him until all those 'weird ponies' have been rounded up."

Chronicle decided to take over once more. "During that time, I checked the library and no one was there. I then checked Magic Armour's dojo, and she was there with her students. And believe me I never thought she'd be such a beauty."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

After bypassing Alex and Lexi, the male counterparts of the spa sisters Lotus and Aloe, Chronicle, wearing a cloak similar to what Zecora wore, went up to Magic Armor's dojo, and opened it to take a peek.

Inside, ignoring her students, his eyes locked upon Magic Armour. Obviously, her colors and cutie mark were similar to Mystic Shield, but her mane was styled in a bob (styled that way for the week it turns out), her tail was clean and shaped like Twilight Sparkle's, and in place of an ascot was a bonnet. And she looked gorgeous, something Mystic never pulled the effect on. Then again, he wasn't attracted to males. 

And the way she moved, the way she cast her spells, and the way she directed her students… 

Just then, he saw Magic notice him, and he quickly left before he was found out and was left slightly flustered.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Still nothing on Fluttershy, though. Speaking of which, she came up to Elusive's boutique to fetch Rarity, disguised of course, however crude. They managed to get away, and I soon returned in a separate time."

"As for me, Dusk, and Blitzy, we arrived a few minutes too late," Timerity continued. "Already, I was beginning to prefer Elusive less and Dusk was beginning to doubt himself much more. Of course, we never thought to ask Silver Bell or Applebuck as we didn't think they met them."

"Back at the Hedge, all the ingredients were ready, and after bashing Rarity on what she did, we prepared to go home. Unfortunately, not only did the spell fail, I still can't transfer magic over to her nor could I assist in her spell since not only does it need power, it needs skill, and I don't have the time, patience, or knowledge to help her. Asking Dusk wasn't an option as Twilight still feared the worst, even though the 'paradox risks' have already been proven false. The next day, we faced another problem, rather than Dusk Shine coming over, it was—"

"Berry Bubble. Upon reaching the Hedge, his Sense went wild."

"Coincidentally, Pinkie's went off too. Then again, nothing's a coincidence when it comes to the Pinkie Sense. And Berry Sense." He gave a look to his sister. "Anyway, he called out to us and what he said eventually made Pinkie vanish and join Berry. We couldn't follow because Angela, her Equestria's counterpart for Angel, was in and was gonna snitch us. We locked her in our pantry, then took off with Applejack after our friend, with disguises of course."

"Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Elusive encountered the two, then fainted on the spot. The two then went to Sugarcube Corner and started working."

"Unfortunately, we hadn't gotten around to Pinkie Swearing, so she ended up blurting out our secret, but since Pinkie's like Berry it was passed off as randomness. They then started to leave to shop for partying supplies. Applejack and I came in together and asked Mrs. Cake—who was colored like Mr. Cake in my world, and the same goes vice-versa—about our friend. After getting directions, we continued our search and encountered two fillies named Sugar and Spice."

"Counterparts for your Snips and Snails, I presume?"

"Yes. Anyway, we had them in our sights and caught them, only to encounter her Applejack. We tried to leave, but things got complicated. Applejack made a slip of the tongue by mentioning the Clover Derby—which I never got the chance of participating in—and was known only by the Apple family and the Mayor. With that, the three of us bid farewell and got the hay out of dodge."

"Only to then really hightail it when Dusk, Barbara, and I saw you and we took chase, followed by Applejack and Berry."

Record interrupted their (overly long) report by raising a hoof. "Please hold up. I'm getting confused with the two Applejacks. It doesn't help that they share the same name."

"Apologies," said his (only) daughter. "That's the problem with gender-neutral names. Anyway, I caught up with my fellow farmpony and we tried to reason with them. However, things took a turn for the more hectic as my Applejack began to use the lasso. I also began to open fire on my brother, whom I thought was just a gender-swapped version of me just like he did."

"It was a tense chase," agreed Chronicle. "Running from my 'female self'—as I thought at that time—and trading blows one who shared my skills never felt so…so…" He couldn't find the words for it. "I don't know. Midway, I broke off from my friends in hopes of getting any of our pursuers to come after me. Unfortunately, I got my sister and I eventually stopped to face off against her. Even though I had a clear look on who she was, I didn't think it was her until much later."

"We dueled. Hard. We even drew our 'magic horn blades', but that wasn't proof enough to show each other that we weren't just gender-swapped versions of each other."

"However, she then used some other spell that I knew only my sister had knowledge of; the 'cat-claw'." Timerity demonstrated—even though their father already knew—by raising a hoof, then magic began to form around it, taking the shape of claws. "I knew immediately that the mare in front of me was my sister…and that she wasn't in the mood to listen, so I escaped after pretending to just duck behind a tree." 

"I was so frustrated from that, then I decided to check up on my Applejack, only to find out that he lost them. Dusk, Barbara, and Berry caught up by the time I found him. When Berry mentioned where he found Pinkie, Dusk asked him if he remembered the place, only to find out he doesn't. He got so frustrated he entered a state my brother would've been scared of had he seen it."

"Which one? The fire one, or the psycho-cute one?"

"Fire."

"Oh. Back in the Hedge, we discussed what happened, and Twilight got into a point of despair, thankfully snapped out by Fluttershy, who then asked if she felt…weird when her other self was nearby. Everypony else had those same feelings too, save for me for obvious reasons. My charge considered us leaving, perhaps to Manehatten, but the other alternative came; meeting up with them on our own terms. 

"Of course, she was vehemently against it, but only because she was scared of meeting Dusk and of what might happen, not to mention all her other paranoid thoughts like being locked up or being sent to the moon. Believe me, I once asked Celestia about this and she said she can't do such a thing without the Elements. In the end, she decided to go, and as her bodyguard, I accompanied her. We went to the library, and saw Dusk poring through a heavy book."

"I was there with him, being a late sleeper," Chronicle's sister continued. "While my charge read Aristrotle's rules of Causality, as he did, I heard Twilight begin to quote from the book in tandem with him. Once they finished the Final Cause, he then asked her what she needed, and and she answered…" 


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"...All we want…all we want... is just to go home..."

Dusk Shine, mane in disarray from the late night reading, remained still for a few more seconds before turning around and seeing his female counterpart for the first time with her hooded companion. His pupils shrunk at the sight as he then gestured Timerity to turn as well.

And she did, seeing the hooded mare-faced stallion. She didn't attack him though; after all, she was just caught up in the moment during the chase earlier in the day.

"My name is Dusk Shine," her charge said. "I am the prized student of our benevolent leader, Prince Solaris, ruler of Equestria. And I am also the librarian of the Books and Branches Ponyville Public Library, renamed Golden Oaks Ponyville Public Library after the…parasprite infestation."

After a while, Dusk's counterpart said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the prized student of our benevolent leader, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. And I am ALSO… the librarian of the Books and Branches Ponyville Public Library ALSO renamed Golden Oaks Ponyville Public Library after the…parasprite infestation."

Timerity tuned out their small talk and comparisons of each other's friends as she continued perusing the hooded pony as he then revealed his face. He looked like her brother all right, but he could easily be a male counterpart of herself. There's only one way to find out…

Just after the two finished comparing their fellow Keepers of the Elements of Harmony, Dusk then said, "Timerity?"

Twilight replied, "Chronicle."

Upon hearing that name, Dusk's charge raised her eyebrows, speechless and sputtering for a moment, then turned to the mare-faced stallion in front of her and said, "Chronicle… if that's really you… recite the oath our father has made us memorize each day."

He took a few deep breaths, then began to recite as he 'took out' the white glove Pinkie Pie had given him and 'made' a series of complex motions with it, manipulating its fingers and moving it around. "In fearful day, in raging night."

Timerity 'took out' a similar glove and made maneuvers with it as well, complimenting it with Chronicle's but not mirroring them. "With strong hearts full, our souls ignite," she continued.

"When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars—for hope burns bright," they finished in tandem.

Why did Dad have to make us memorize the oath of the Blue Lanterns?, Chronicle grumbled before finding his sister's front legs around him in a hug. 

"Oh, brother! It's so good to see you again!", she exclaimed. Definitely my brother; a male counterpart of me would've mirrored my moves. He returned the hug for a few seconds before they broke off…after which she then punched him in the face, shocking and leaving their charges puzzled.

"What was that for?!" Chronicle managed to sputter, still in disbelief that his sister punched him.

"What else do you think?! It's for sending your friends here! You very well know we're not supposed to do that!"

Luckily for Chronicle, Twilight butted in. "Actually, that was my fault."

Timerity turned to the mare version of her charge and gave a "Hmm?"

"We were just trying to visit Manehattan. Applejack said she knew the place well, and I had found this book called—"

"Exploring the Aether for Fun and Profit?", Dusk cut in, taking out the spell book from the shelves.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"They then pieced together all of the events that have transpired, and they figured out the time gap between our Equestrias and that the arrival of Chronicle and his friends perhaps spared the possibility of me and my friends experiencing what had happened in my world in theirs."

"And as I suspected, All this 'keep away from the other self' was not because of wanting to affect it since that was unavoidable; Twilight was afraid of Dusk because she didn't know how to treat him. Once they finished talking about Spike and Barbara, and about the awkwardness of talking to oneself, though of a different gender, and the issue of where to sleep…"


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"Dusk, I-I...Do you want to... y'know... share the bed?", Twilight asked.

The male bookworm stopped in his tracks, and looked at her in disbelief. Slowly, he turned his body back around to give her a long gaze. She returned his look with equal curiosity.

"...um... are you sure that'd be... proper?"

"Well... why not? Either way it's okay, I'd still wake up with myself."

Timerity groaned. "Are you sure about that, Twilight? Why not sleep with me while my brother sleeps with Dusk? I'm still not comfortable sharing a bed with Chronicle."

"Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you about that," Dusk said.

"About what?"

"Your brother."

"What about him?"

"Unlike the rest of us, not only are you two actually different in ways aside from gender, you two actually seem to know each other very well," Twilight pointed out. "Just who are you two?"

The two blue, carrot-top-blond unicorns turned to one another,Timerity with a sheepish grin, and Chronicle with a stern glare. While he was indeed partly responsible for coming here, it was she who implied they were related, which would not be the case were they really just gender-swapped versions of each other.

"Umm…is it possible for you to keep this between ourselves?" Timerity asked. "Or will you be telling the rest of our friends?"

"Why don't we save this matter for tomorrow?" Chronicle suggested. "If we are going to tell our friends, might as well do it all at once. We got a lot of explaining to do, and we don't want to tell it twice." And depending on whether or not Barbara will be in on this, I'll be telling Spike, too.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K

"In the end, our charges slept with each other and I slept with my sister. It wasn't that comforting, even with our current forms. The next day, we went to the Hedge to get my friends out and gather them to Ponyville, where we talked about what we could've done. Just as we reached the library however, Dusk left a note for Barbara to gather the others."

"Applejack, Blitzy, Berry, 'Lucy', and 'Scotch. I considered letting Magic Armour in as well, but decided against it. Anyway, once we reached the library, all sorts of conversations ensued, especially comparisons between our Equestrias. Once that was over, Dusk and Twilight reminded me and my brother to explain our…origins."

Record turned stern at this and spoke in a manner that made it clear he was not happy about this. "What did you tell them and how much?"

"All we said was that we hailed from another world, and that we were sent down on a secret mission. And that we were sworn not to tell what it was, only that there was no ill intent, which we Berry and Pinkie Swore on. We didn't mention our true forms either."

Their father seemed content with this as he nodded. "Good."

"While Dusk and Twilight got to work, the rest of us played games like Go Graze—which is their version of Go Fish—and Texas Hold 'Em, we also began comparing stuff I did to my sister's. Like after Berry sang his Laughter song, Timerity joined in the laughing at the end and continued laughing louder for so long that she had to be dragged along."

"Come on. A bunch of scared boys is much funnier than a bunch of scared girls."

Timerity's brother agreed. "True. Or that a slumber party was awkward with boys. Or that you managed to evade Applejack's buck on your face whereas I didn't back when they overworked themselves during applebuck season."

"Or that I don't share your fear of beings-with-fire-coming-out-of-their-bodies-save-for-phoenixes-and-firebreathers or cuties-going-mad."

"And that you jumped in yourself to try and save the Wonderbolts and thus needed Rainbow Blitz to save you as well after Elusive knocked you out."

"Uh-huh. And a lot more comparisons. Soon, our charges were finished with the preparations and it was time to leave. While we knew Chronicle and I could see each other anytime via our dreams, it was highly unlikely for our fellow EOH keepers to meet again. They even asked if they could pass messages to each other through us, although we gave a perhaps-false assurance that after this, our events will mirror one another's again."

"Even though we aren't the same pony but of different genders. Just as the ritual began, the Crusaders crashed in. As it was, Fluttershy had left them a note of thanks. There were tearful farewells from them and—surprisingly—from both our Rainbows. In the end, we finally returned home."

"A few days passed, and when Spike asked where we've been, Twilight jokingly recommended he read some sci-fi Nann-ga—otherwise known to us as manga—and took him to the Hedge, where the rest of my friends were waiting. Along with our Crusaders and Spike, we had a pizza party, although I still had no idea how ponies would eat it."

"Incidentally, we had a party on the Hedge as well. There, Dusk asked Barbara to send a special letter to Solaris—still can't remember if he was a Lord or Prince."

"You're still confused as to what his title is?" 

"I'm sorry, okay?" Timerity seriously needed to be certain. "When I asked him later through a curious letter, it turns out that not only the letter was actually meant for Princess Celestia, the two of them have means of contacting each other. Things went normal after that."

"Also, since Barbara was in on our secret, I thought it'd be fair to tell Spike too." Chronicle finished. "I'm sorry."

Record just rubbed his head with his hoof, taking in everything, then finally said, "Well it can't be helped. Is that all on that incident?"

"Yes, Father. Yes it is."

"All right. I'll try to appeal with the higher-ups on your case. No promises on what they'll have to do in response though."

"Yes, Father," both of them sullenly replied. Responses to these violations usually result in a lot of interference by the Story Crew, most involving selective memory wipes and evidence removal. It was very tiring work. Worse, the Field Operatives might be pulled out, all trace of their time in their assigned worlds removed, down to the memories of whatever friends they made. 

That was what happened with the Shisno siblings Idano, Aixata, and Moritz, who were assigned to the world Four Nations. They had done so many 'deviations', have told their native friends from the get go (well, after one of them suffered an accident that revealed a non-natural part of him) that they were not native to the world, and have openly used technology ahead of its time, they would've been long since pulled back were it not for the discovery that their rivals the Book Troop were doing the same. 

Once the bad guys were taken care of (i.e. the Book Troop Field Operatives killed or detained for arrest), the three were pulled out, and their friends' memories wiped, but the damage has been done, and the 'recorded' results to be sent to the client worlds were rather…"less than satisfactory" in their point of view.


C—T—RK—C—T—RK—C—T—RK—C—T—RK

As Timerity and Chronicle left the interrogation room, they were greeted by their younger brother.

"Blue Diary!" they greeted.

"Hey guys," he greeted in return. "How was the…interrogation?"

"It went well," Timerity answered. "How was the Gala? Ours were total disasters no thanks to some of our friends." Chronicle nodded as the two unicorns scowled a it, since their events mirror one another in a lot of ways.

"There was a disaster in the form of…somepony we had to hire who had opposed us in the past turning on us and putting a wrench in our plan. Still, the plan was a success. Luna chewed out the Night Court, and now they'll now behave themselves from now on, especially Duke Greengrass. Also, me and the Elements of Harmony were 'knighted'. Now we got some real political power and are not merely pawns to be manipulated."

"You must be proud," said Chronicle.

"Not really. Given the underhoofed methods we had to use."

"I see."

"Well, I better get back to my 'world home' soon," said Timerity. 'World home' meant their homes in their assigned worlds. 'Home base' meant Story Crew Equestria, also called Hub Equestria, which they were in right now. 'Home' home meant their actual home world, where most people in the Story Crew were born, which is called Hadithi.

"All right. See ya."

With that, the unicorn mare walked away. Once she was gone, Blue raised a forehoof and turned it so that he could see its underside.

Chronicle noticed and said, "Um, what are you doing?"

"I know I should've had time to do this by now, but I've been doing most stuff either by wing, mouth, or sword aura. I haven't actually tried out my hooves for anything other than standing or feeble attempts on walking. Cheerilee is giving me lessons though. Chronicle, do you have something to poke my hoof with?"

The unicorn was a bit confused, but did as told, taking out the white glove from "hammerspace".

"Lightly scratch my hoof with it."

Chronicle complied, and he could see that his hooves weren't hard and smooth like horse hooves, but have a fleshy interior. Blue winced as if trying not to laugh. Suddenly, he felt something grab the glove. "Huh? What was that?"

"What was what?" Blue asked as he looked at his hoof again.

"I sensed something try and grab the glove."

"Hmm…" Four little, narrow bumps suddenly moved around the skin inside his hoof. "Hey, do you have something that would normally be held by hands?"

"Those would be equine phalanges, also called digits."

Blue looked up and Chronicle turned around to see their father standing close to them. "Father!" they gasped.

"All ponies have such, although I can expect unicorns to not use them normally thanks to magic. Those digits are used to hold books, stir with spoons, grab onto a small pile of sticks, things like that. Of course, they're more limited than hands, as they only extend out a couple inches out and don’t really allow for much grasping. They’re mostly to be used for stable holds of things that ponies normally wouldn’t find comfortable holding with their mouths if they can help it." Record turned to the pegasus and gave a stern glare. "You haven't had much practice with them, have you?"

"No." Blue put the hoof he raised behind his head as his brother retrieved his glove and put it away.

"This lesson should have been mandatory for all non-unicorns, even if they have artifacts that grant telekinesis-like abilities. Did you skip them, Crais?"

"Yes, Father."

Record's frown deepened. "I am disappointed in you. You should know how to hold items by hooves the next time you come back, am I clear?"

Blue instantly saluted him — "Yes, Father!" — then was off, leaving Chronicle alone with the older earth pony, who turned to face him.

"Chronicle. I got this message during our…interrogation session; there are three off-worlders who have arrived in your Equestria. We didn't evict them outright—but have kept a close eye on them—because they were wielding 'SWORD-K's."

"SWORD-Ks?!" SWORD-K was a code word for a special kind of weapon capable of eliminating for good certain enemies code named HAT-7378. 

"Yes. If you hurry, you could still see them off. Failing that, Surveillance is sure to catch it."

"Thank you, Father."


C—T—BD—RK—C—T—BD—RK—C—T—BD—RK

Some time later, Equestria Prime, Canterlot…

In some nondescript bar, Chronicle emerged into the sunlight, basking in its radiance, even though it was daytime back in Hub Equestria. He then remembered why he was back already. Well, he went because his father called so he and Timerity could explain their…cross-world incident, and it might've taken too long to do so in the dreamscape.

There was a train station, but it was still under construction, so after running as fast as allowed in the Canterlot streets, once he was outside its borders, he began making his way back to Ponyville with a combination of running and long range teleportation. It took him significantly shorter amount of time than when they first headed to it for the Gala, but it was also significantly taxing for him on his body and magic. Still, he had more stamina than the average unicorn and (he discovered) able to expend more and more energy before needing to rest and even then he doesn't seem to suffer from over-channeling for some reason. 

Twenty minutes later, he was finally back in Ponyville, breathing heavy. The first pony to greet him was Skyla.

"Chronicle! You will not believe what just happened! We had three newcomers to Ponyville! And what's more, they did not seem to know who the Princesses were!"

This surprised the unicorn. "What?! Shouldn't she be known even in the farthest corners of Equestria?"

"That's what Twilight Sparkle said! And then, said Princesses, both Celestia and Luna, arrived, wishing to speak with the newcomers in private, the former also saying that it was possible for somepony to not know of her."

"That's sounds pretty suspicious. Where did they go?"

Skyla took off, making a motion for him to follow her, which he did. "I know! Your friends thought so too! They gathered at the library, probably looking up answers. But that was minutes ago; they're already at the forest as we speak."

"Everfree?"

"No. Whitetail Woods." As she said that, they entered said area, and a bright light emerged from somewhere in the woods.

"They must be that way! We must hurry!"

"Allow me!" Skyla then suddenly turned around. Seeing where she was going and understanding what she was about to do. Chronicle stopped, then positioned himself to be picked up by the pegasus, which was what she did.

Despite how fast she was flying (and she had to be fast to be a Wonderbolt), it took another minute before something else happened. In the sky, a portal opened, wide enough for both Celestia and Luna to fly through. Then, three small items were hurled from the ground into the sky, and they transformed into what seemed to be personal vehicles. Three figures then leaped onto them, and used them to cross the portal. He was too far to do anything about them though.

"WE PROMISE WE'LL COME BACK TO VISIT!!!" the two of them heard three voices say as they disappeared through the portal, which also closed.

"Aww, we sure missed something awesome!" Skyla said as they continued.

"Just drop me off to where they last were," Chronicle told her, and she complied.

By the time the two of them made it, he saw that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, and the two Princesses. He could swear that Luna was a shade darker than when they last saw her.

"You should probably sit down, it is a long story…" Celestia was saying by the time he was within earshot.

"Yay, story time!" Pinkie Pie cheered, pulling a pillow and teddy bear out of nowhere.

Before she could begin, Skyla landed in front of all of them, but thankfully Chronicle wasn't harmed much. Everypony cried out his name, and those who were introduced to Skyla cried out hers as she bowed before the Princesses, profusely apologizing for crashing right in front of them.

"How did you get here?" asked Twilight. "How did you find us?"

"That shining light in the woods got my attention," the sole stallion answered. "And from what Skyla told me, something extraordinary happened while I was gone. Something involving three visitors." He furrowed his eyebrows at his friends. "You know I'm gonna figure it out eventually." He was talking about Surveillance, but he couldn't very well say it in front of Skyla or—them forbid—the Princesses.

Twilight looked at him, then to her teacher, who seemed to give a weak smile. "All right." Luna meanwhile was just finished getting Skyla to stand up and that it was all right. The white pegasus bid farewell and took off, headed back to Ponyville.

Chronicle didn't know why Skyla was leaving, but figured she didn't want to know. He turned to face Celestia, who began to narrate the events that took place while he was gone, as well as a lot of other things he had no idea they knew, things the Story Crew should know; they had been involved with wielders of the SWORD-K.

Father must know of this as soon as possible, thought Chronicle.
> New "Season", New Format
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Season 1" "Mini-Recap"

Two years before the Summer Sun Celebration, Chronicle was sent down to Equestria Prime (which was once called Equestria Delta) on a secret mission. (If you've been paying attention to Special 1, you will know what it is.) With help from the Story Crew, he works as a bodyguard/freelancer, traveling the world and learning more about it, though his 'base' is Canterlot. 

A month before the fated event, while under the service of Prince Blueblood, he has entered the notice of Princess Celestia, who then hired him out of the snob and assigned him to protect her star student Twilight Sparkle. The rest is history…

During his time in Ponyville, the new Keepers of the Elements of Harmony aren't the only close friends he has made. One pony has entered his life though hasn't become a rigid part of the 'circle'. He is a self-defense teacher named Mystic Shield, who has been an adventurer in the past and hails from Baltimare.

More 'casual' adventures as well as dangerous ones brought him closer to his friends, but one particular one involving a dragon in the mountain sparked something a bit more in his heart… He knows what it is, but he lacks the confidence to go through with it, mainly due to certain rules imposed by the Story Crew.

Throughout these adventures, Chronicle has gotten stronger, more skilled in combat, and has acquired more spells in his 'arsenal'. Like Twilight, he can learn other spells quickly. Unlike her, he's selective in what he learns. 

He's prepared for any opponent, ranging from other combatants like him to large beasts like the hydra, only holding back for appearances sake (i.e. that he is not a dangerous killer) or for the sake of protecting others. When he has to get absolutely serious, he will take on even foes like Nightmare Moon. However, he was read a future that seemed to herald dark times. Victory is certain, but the personal cost for it will make him doubt. Just what is this oncoming threat? Can it even be fought the same way he usually fights? Only time will provide the the answer.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

And that's all. See ya on Third!
> The Spirit of Disharmony (The Return of Harmony, Part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Spirit of Disharmony (The Return of Harmony, Part 1)

Chronicle was having strange dreams for the past couple months, and they were getting more and more frequent. It involved a whacked-out Ponyville, an insane villain, and him apparently ticked off so much that he was now in a berserk state. At first, he was just hearing the events from a far off spot, but now he was actually seeing them. Well, as much as he could anyway since everything was a blur, including the sounds.

However, the last few seconds of the dream before inevitably waking up were somewhat clearer. From what little he could deduce, he was delivering some sort of final attack on the villain, and dedicating them to each of the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony. And their order was consistent: Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle.

There would then be a blood-curdling cry as he would deal the final blow. After that, he would either be in his blank dreamscape, or—more often—awake. Right now, he was outdoors, following some strange clouds. Far above, he could see his friend Rainbow Dash pursuing a pink cloud, en route to Sweet Apple Acres. From what he knew, clouds don't come in pink, and their precipitation definitely didn't come in brown.

Is/Was the weather team, local or Cloudsdale, performing an experiment of some sort and did it go awry? he thought. "Hey!" he called one of the pegasi in the area as he followed Rainbow.

"Yeah?" asked one pegasus, which he identified to be Raindrops as she descended so that the two were side by side.

"Is the weather team performing an experiment of some kind?"

"No."

"Cloudsdale?"

"They're suffering a similar predicament."

"Did some mad scientist release a substance that would cause this?"

"How the hay should I know that?"

"Never mind. Thanks anyway." And with that, just as he reached Applejack's farm, Raindrops left.

Seeing Applejack herself at the cornfield, harvesting the crops, he quickly made his way to her. To his ire, more pink clouds moved in, and were bringing along their weird rain. As he reached her, Rainbow descended to them too.

"Rainbow Dash, what’s goin’ on with this rain…I mean, chocolate milk…I mean, chocolate-milk rain?!?" asked Applejack as the pegasus hovered near them. 

The unicorn stuck out a tongue, tasting a raindrop, and realizing she was right. "There’s crazy weather all over Equestria!" Rainbow replied. "Cloudsdale’s getting soaked by a major cola storm right now."

There goes the mad scientist theory, Chronicle thought as the corn started to pop. No wait, it's still plausible.

"But don’t worry. I’m not leaving you ’til I get control of Ponyville," continued the pegasus before peeling out.

The unicorn then cast a spell. Instantly, any chocolate rain within a small radius around himself flew straight into his mouth, and down his stomach. Before Applejack could ask what the spell was for as he licked his mouth, one of the corn ears machine-gunned its contents straight into her face, knocking her back into the growing fluffy mounds. 

He had picked up this 'rain-drinking' spell from one of the many spell books in the library. This was to make drinking the rain easier, after making sure it was potable. He also knows how to collect them to other 'points' aside from his stomach so as to collect it for later storage. As for why he learned it, it was, to be honest, from a simple case of boredom.

In another section of the fields, Pinkie Pie was blissfully diving among the popcorn. "Why would you want to stop this?" she asked no one in particular before licking the raindrops off her face.

Rarity then arrived shortly after and cleared her throat as Applejack surfaces. The elegant unicorn donned a violet raincoat and hat, as well as a saddle with an ornate blue umbrella attached to keep the storm off her. "I heard about your troubles, Applejack, and I came to see if there’s anything I can do—without getting wet. Or dirty. Or out from under my umbrella."

"I'm afraid there's no fixin' this mess while staying clean, Rarity," Chronicle said as he then 'pulled out' his umbrella from "hammerspace" and followed her example. 

Just then, another sound draws the three's surprised attention; the apples on a nearby tree suddenly grew to several times normal size. The weight of the gargantuan fruit caused this and other affected trees to bend over until their leaves nearly scraped the ground. One squirrel after another popped up from the leaves for an easy snack.

"Fluttershy, do somethin’!" Applejack called.

The animal expert, whom he didn't notice until now, was watching her rabbit Angel chomp into one of the apples. "Now, Angel, you really shouldn’t—" In a trice, the four short white legs have sprouted hooves, became very skinny and horse-like, and grown to perhaps three times the length of hers. "No! It’s not possible!" Other bunnies strode past on their own ridiculously long shanks. "I must be seeing things!"

"We all are, duh," snarked Chronicle. "This must be some sort of hallucination we're all in, be it by chemical or spell."

Just then Twilight Sparkle and Spike arrived, the former levitating a book so she can read from it. "Don’t worry, everyone!" she said as she closed the book and tossed it away. "I’ve learned a new spell that’ll fix everything!"

It took her only a moment to conjure up a beam from her horn and let fly, the sky dimming briefly from its brilliance. The popping corn ears, the monster apples, the flipped-out clouds—all took the full blast, and she topped it off with a radiating blue/purple shock wave and a flash of white light that washed out everything. As it faded away, the caster looked up, puzzled to see that…her spell had had no effect whatsoever.

"My failsafe spell…failed!" she gasped.

"Did you practice it prior to casting it now?" Chronicle asked.

"No."

"Then that's why it failed! How many times do I have to remind you to practice spells?"

She didn't answer him as she then wondered, "What do we do?"

"Uh, give up?" Spike suggested. 

"Spike, Twilight will come up with something," Rarity said reprovingly as she walked over to them, then levitated the umbrella saddle off her own back and settled it on Twilight.

"Hmmm…time for Plan B." Twilight looked up. "Rainbow! Can you corral all those clouds in one corner of the sky?"

Said airborne pegasus was mired at a cotton-candy cloud several of the funky rabbits were nibbling at. After a quick shake to free herself and scare them off, she saluted and gets her wings in gear. 

One fugitive cloud after another was swiftly rounded up to the surprise of Pinkie, who enjoyed wallowing in the chocolate precipitation until it moved away from her.

Step two. "Applejack! I need you to bring those high-strung storm clouds down to earth!"

Back into the sky, Rainbow was cutting tight circles around the mass of clouds to force them all together. Down below, Applejack twirled her lasso in her teeth and let fl.; Rainbow peeled out to stay clear of the loop as it dropped around the giant pink clump. Pinkie shifted position to stay in the rain and fill her mouth, but this trick left her high and dry again. "Hey! What happened?" she asked as the single weird thunderhead was dragged toward ground level. 

Twilight, putting away the umbrella, then whispered to Fluttershy, whose face brightened as she grasped the plan; the yellow flyer addresses herself in a loud, slightly stilted voice. "Oh, dear! I hope that none of the animals see these delicious chocolate-filled cotton-candy clouds!" The (affected) critters perked their ears at these words as Applejack, finished tying the free end of her rope to a fence post to hold the clouds in place. "I’d hate to have to share them!"

On the other side of the mass, Pinkie is stuffing her face, otherwise cleaned up from her wallow in the puddles. "Ah! You and me both, sister!" she said before being instantly beset by a rush of animals that take her place at the all-you-can-eat candy/weather buffet, the speed of their charge knocking her backward. "Hey!" Her protest did nothing to dissuade the gorging critters. 

As the rest gathered a short distance from the cloud, Applejack said, "And when y’all are done that, feel free to have some popcorn for dee-ssert!"

"It's dess-ert," Chronicle corrected.

"You see, Spike? You should never give up," Twilight told her assistant. "There’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all work together."

The sole stallion in the group furrowed his brows. "I got a feeling this is just the beginning, though."

Suddenly, Spike sucked in a huge, cheek-bulging breath and let it out in a green fiery blast that solidified into a scroll. Twilight picked it up and read it—Pinkie joining the group—then sucked in a sharp gasp, her eyes briefly popping in surprise. 

"Come on, girls! Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot immediately!"

As everypony traded a properly worried look at this bit of news, Chronicle groaned to himself. Oh no. I was seriously hoping it's just some mad scientist/magician. But if the Elements of Harmony are being called, either it's not one, or they're too dangerous it needs them… 


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

Canterlot Castle…

The six Keepers of the Elements of Harmony, accompanied by Chronicle, threw open the main entrance as they made it to the entrance hall where Princess Celestia and Twilight stood together during the Grad Galloping Gala. They saw Celestia herself looking out one stained glass window at the main landing of its staircase.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called as the seven rushed inside. "We came as fast as we could!"

As the group stopped at the foot of the stairs, Celestia spoke with a slightly fearful urgency that stood in sharp contrast to her usual gentle tone. "Thank you, Twilight. Thank you all."

"Is this about the weather, and the animals’ weird behavior? What’s happening out there? Why isn’t my magic working? Is there—" She studious unicorn was silenced by her teacher raising a gold-shod hoof.

"Follow me."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC

The group followed Celestia as she led them down a corridor with stained-glass windows on both walls.

"I’ve called you here for a matter of great importance," the Princess told them. "It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned." Fluttershy suddenly stopped for a better look at one particular window, then angled her head up toward the window itself. Chronicle noticed and turned to see what she was seeing. "His name…is Discord." While Fluttershy yelped in fear and darted ahead to rejoin the others, Chronicle gave a small gasp. 

Depicted on the window was a long, winged, reptilian creature, none of whose body parts match each other, standing on its hind legs. Its tail was very long. Its head was a strange amalgamation shaped more like a donkey or mule than a pony, with a long neck, bushy eyebrows, one antler each from a goat and deer, a snaggle tooth in the wide-open laughing mouth, and a goat’s beard protruding from its chin.

A draconequus, full term draconequuscervuscaperleonaquilalacertavespertilioserpens, he thought as he rejoined the group as well. Father has been warding them off of Hub Equestria ever since my family has started their mission. They're supposed to be so difficult that he has to call for assistance from the Story Crew if more than one is attacking.

"Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony," Celestia continued as she stood before them. "Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness." 

She showed them one window depicting the creature manipulating an earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn on the ends of strings attached to marionette control crossbars. at the bottom of the window, pink flames burned below the ponies, and Chronicle could swear he heard screams of agony. 

"Luna and I saw how miserable life was for earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike. So after discovering the Elements of Harmony…" She took them to another window, which depicted Discord, caught between the two circling princesses, and petrified. "…we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone." 

"All right, Princess!" whooped Rainbow. 

"I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever. But since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements…the spell has been broken." The group stopped as she walked on.

"No longer connected?" asked Twilight as they reached the end of the hall, which had a balcony above it, decorated with a multitude of varicolored tapestries.

"This is Canterlot Tower…" They now stood before a pair of closed double doors in a gold frame topped with a carving of a winged unicorn. A column and a unicorn sculpture stood to either side. "…where the Elements are kept inside since all of you recovered them. I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again and stop Discord before he thrusts all of Equestria into eternal chaos!" 

"But why us?" Twilight asked as Pinkie zipped away. "Why don’t you—"

"Hey, look!" she interrupted as she pointed to another window. "We’re famous!"

They turned to see what was depicted; the six bearers of the Elements using their powers to bring down Nightmare Moon. Applejack was portrayed without her hat, and Chronicle was mysteriously absent.

"You six showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe," Celestia explained. "Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power, and it is you who must defeat Discord!"

All seven gathered before her again, exchanging a few seconds’ worth of uncertain looks and drooping ears before their usually-fearless leader found her resolve. "Princess Celestia, you can count on—"

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie interrupted. "Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!" 

"Not. Worth it," Chronicle shut her up.

Twilight slid up to Celestia. "Don’t listen to her, Princess. We’d be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again."

Stepping up to the closed doors, Celestia inserted her horn into a hole bored through the center of the gold starburst. As something naughty flashed in the mind of the sole stallion in the area, she hit it with a quick shot of magic and backed away. Vivid blue light shone around the sunburst’s outline and spread along the seams that split the doors radially into six panels. Machinery began to grind as the camera zoomed out and two columns of three blue spots each lit up on the doors, one by one. The blue brilliance spilled outward from the doors, washing over Celestia, and one swift flash later they were standing wide open.

Inside the vault was a jeweled lockbox on a pedestal within. Rarity shuddered up on seeing it. "Oooooh…You can keep the Elements. I’ll take that case!"

"Have no fear, ponies. I have total confidence that you will be able to defeat Discord…" On the end of this, she levitated the box forward. "…with these."

When the lid flipped open, the contents were framed in full detail: absolutely nothing. A round of gasps from the seven Ponyville residents shocked Celestia into letting it hit the floor. The thud echoed prominently in the silent hall.

Chronicle was the first to break the silence. "With… what, Your Majesty?" he asked, uncertainty in his tone.

Pinkie was the second to get any words out, in her usual cheerful tone. "Oh, well." She began to trot away. "If anyone needs me, I’ll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw!"


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's second eyecatch.]

{Seven cards fly in from varying directions as if dropped onto a table, depicting the following in the following order: Twilight Sparkle, Chronicle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy.}

{The seven cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting the seven together, the mares with their Elements of Harmony. In the center is Twilight Sparkle. Clockwise from the top are Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Chronicle (with his "magic horn blade" drawn), Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Everypony was gathered around the empty box. "The Elements! They’re gone!" Twilight said.

Celestia meanwhile was pacing about. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn’t make sense."

Suddenly, a fruity, malicious laugh asserted itself in the hall, giving way to a male voice whose unctuous, semi-playful tone did very little to disguise the suggestion of malevolence at its core. "Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" Instantly, Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade"

Celestia instantly went serious. "Discord! Show yourself!"

Another contemptuous laugh rolled around the vaulted ceiling. "Did you miss me, Celestia?" The window depicting him pulling strings flashed, then the draconequus image began to move and speak in this voice. "I’ve missed you." He then leaped away, his form disappearing past the edge as if on a 'screen', and appeared in the next window—the ponies gathered around the jewels that represented the Elements. "It’s quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn’t know that, would you? Because I don’t turn ponies into stone!"

Chronicle gave an uncertain look at Celestia as the image ended up lounging against Fluttershy’s panel, which he tapped with a claw. "Enough! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?" the Princess demanded.

Discord was now in his own panel at the top. "Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while." A snap caused the jewels to disappear from the center of the design.

Celestia stomped with one hoof. "You’ll never get away with this, Discord!" 

Discord just reclined on their pedestal. "Oh, I’d forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia. It’s really quite boring."

Rainbow took offense at this. "Hey! Nopony insults the Princess!" She launched a flying charge at the window, but he disappeared an instant before she smacked into the glass. Once she got her eyes refocused and peeled herself loose, he reappeared—now large enough to block most of the picture. Chronicle just remained on the defensive, prepared to act on the slightest act of offense.

"Oh! You must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her loyalty—the Element of Harmony you represent."

"That’s right! I’ll always be loyal to the Princess!" 

Discord vanished. "We’ll see about that."

Rarity, standing before the window that depicted Celestia and Luna defeating him(but he was gone from the center), said, "I can’t believe we’re wasting our time talking to a tacky window." 

He reappeared at its base. "The beautiful Rarity, representing the Element of generosity, if I’m not mistaken." 

Applejack walked up. "So you know who we are. Big deal." 

He grew to full size. ""Oh, I know much more than that, honest Applejack."

"You seem to know our strengths too," Twilight said.

He then popped over to the window of the six, appearing in small size atop Fluttershy’s panel. "Yes, Twilight Sparkle. And yours is the most powerful and elusive Element—magic. Fluttershy’s is kindness—" The yellow pegasus’s eyes popped when she was mentioned. "—and Pinkie Pie’s is a personal favorite of mine—laughter." Pinkie had a hoof to her mouth to stifle the giggles that mingled with his.

Twilight was naturally annoyed. "Pinkie!"

She began to laugh full force. "He’s standing on your head!"

As a matter of fact, he was. He was dancing even, akin to a "shuffle". "And Chronicle," he continued. "Is the one guy in the group who makes up for his lack of Element of Harmony with remarkable fighting prowess and clear head." The stallion just twitched his eye a bit from this.

"Stop stalling, Discord!" Celestia cut him off. "What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?"

"Oh, so boring, Celestia, really! Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’ll only tell you my way."

He vanished with a flash, then began his riddle as he weaved among the mirrors. 

"To retrieve your missing Elements,
Just make sense of this change of events.
Twists and turns are my master plan,"

He returned to the window in which he first 'came to life'.

"Then find the Elements back where you began."

One last flash left him in stained-glass immobility again, his unsettling chuckle echoing and dying out as Twilight, Applejack, Chronicle, and Fluttershy stepped up.

"Can we go home now?" the pegasus asked as the stallion recited the riddle in full to himself.

"What do you reckon he meant?" mused the earth pony. "Twists and turns and endin’ back where we started?"

Twilight walked toward a window as she mused on the riddle as well. "Twists and turns…twists and turns…" She ended up at a spot that gave an excellent vantage point of the hedge maze. After staring out over the green walls and the gloomy gray sky, it hit her. "Twists and turns! That’s it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!"

"Good luck, my little ponies," Celestia said as she bowed to everypony, who bowed in return. "The fate of Equestria is in your hooves." The regal pony actually bowed twice, inclining her head so that her horn swung down close to each of Twilight’s shoulders as if she were using a sword to knight her.

"Thanks, Princess. We won’t let you down."

[screen mode]

{Screen shifts into black background with a blue column in the center that shows Chronicle's back.}

Chronicle: All right, everypony! {He turns around, showing a determined face as the blue column slims.} Let's do this!

{Six more columns of coat-matching colors fly in from the top or bottom, showing the others. Starting from the right is Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, then Applejack. Starting from his left is Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.}

Rest: Right!

{Barn door wipe to the seven ponies now outside the castle and in a hurry.}

[end screen mode]

"Twilight! Are you absolutely sure they're in the labyrinth?" Chronicle asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Twists and turns, remember?"

"Yeah, but another answer came to me, and I was thinking of heading off there while I leave a couple of magical clones with you."

"We need you with us Chronicle," his charge protested. "If Discord could remove the Elements of Harmony from the vault, who knows what else he can do? If it comes to a fight, you're our best hope. Why not send clones to wherever you plan on going?"

"Because where I plan to go is too far for them to take without risk of dissipation. But I'll defer to your judgment for the time being, for I am your bodyguard." His face hardened. "Don't make me regret it. This is a crisis more serious than Nightmare Moon, and we have no room for errors."

Twilight gulped nervously at this, but her attention was redirected upon seeing the maze entrance, which was imposing and adorned with flying banners that adorn it. A collective gasp is heard from the mares as they all stopped before it.  

Fluttershy was terrified. "W…we have to go in there?" 

Rainbow walked forward. "Nope," she said as she flapped her wings. "Dopey Discord forgot about these babies!" She went airborne. "I’ll just do a quick flyover and we’ll have the Elements in no time."

I have a bad feeling about this. Chronicle's fears proved true when a sudden flash of light left no trace of “these babies” on her flanks. All her forward momentum then went bye-bye, leaving her to drop like a ton of blue bricks.

"My wings!"

Fluttershy promptly lost hers as well, prompting a yelp, and a double flash stripped both unicorn mares of their horns.

"Your horn!...My horn!" they both gasped, then screamed at the realization.

Chronicle braced himself for the loss of his own horn as well…but for some reason, it never came.

A ball of light suddenly appeared at the maze entrance, and solidified into Discord, who straightened his mismatched body up to full height as lightning forked across the sky. After his exultant laughter died out, he leaned down to point at the ponies with his lion-paw foreleg. His bushy eyebrows and goat beard are white, the eyes are beady and red with yellow scleroses, and one was slightly bugged out.

"You…you should see the looks on your faces! Priceless!" he said giddily, then giggled.

"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight demanded.

"You’ll get them back in good time." He then teleport over to Applejack, then nudged her flank as he continued. "I simply took them to ensure there’s no cheating." He slithered to the pegasi, then to Twilight. "You see, this is the first rule of our game—no flying, and no magic."

Rainbow was unnerved at this. "The…first rule?" 

He rested on the nearest hedge, "The second rule is, everypony has to play, or the game is over—and I win." Suddenly, he noticed something and frowned upon seeing it; Chronicle still had his horn. "Strange. I was sure it would be gone." He 'slithered' over to the stallion's face and everypony else turned to face the two. Discord snapped his fingers, which was apparently supposed to make something happen, but it didn't. He tried again, but still nothing. After three more snaps, he then he moved even closer, at which Chronicle responded by drawing his "magic horn blade" and swinging it at him.

Discord however managed to dodge it, then with a look of irritation, he snapped his fingers and a flash of light came and went. Chronicle was now encased in a block of jelly, but there was a small dome of empty space around the unicorn. Everyone, even Chronicle, was surprised at this, though they showed it in varying levels. "Oh, now I see," the draconequus said.

"See what?" asked the stallion.

"For reason even I cannot comprehend, your boy friend seems to possess immunity to my powers." He then snapped his fingers again, and the jelly moved towards him, shoving Chronicle with it as his rear end met the food substance. When he stopped moving it, the unicorn tumbled. "Some immunity, anyway."

Twilight was quick to ask. "why didn't you tell us about this, Chronicle?"

"I'm just as new to this as you are!"

"Regardless…" Discord continued as he then hovered into the air. "You Chronicle are still under the rules. And since I can't actually stop you from using magic… should you actually use it to make crossing this maze easier, you all lose. Good luck, everypony! "

He then winked out with one last laugh, also dismissing the jelly, to Chronicle's relief and Pinkie's irritation as she was about to east it. Instantly, Fluttershy dropped into a fearful huddle on the grass.

"Never fear, girls," Twilight said as Chronicle helped the 'pegasus' up. "We have each other."

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "Like Twilight said, there’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all stick together."

Applejack and Fluttershy traded reassuring smiles, and Pinkie and Rarity did the same while standing behind Rainbow. As they took up positions before the entrance, Chronicle had something to say. "All right, girls. Let’s do this." 

"Together!" the mares said as they all took one step ahead… Just as Chronicle realized something to his horror. 

"WAIT!"

But it was too late. They were all startled into an assortment of panicked responses by the hedges that suddenly shot up from the ground to wall one off from the next, though Chronicle managed to stay with Twilight. As it was, they have been split up into six parallel lanes; in addition to that, another hedge had sprung up behind to cut off their retreat.

"Stay calm, girls!"

"Dammit, I figured this would happen!" cursed Chronicle.

"Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can and we’ll regroup there!"

"Moving out!" Rainbow responded.

"See you in the center!" Rarity.

"Yee-haa!" Applejack.

"See you guys there!" Pinkie.

"WAIT!!!" Chronicle, louder this time. Thankfully they haven't took off yet. "Hold on a minute, girls. Given what we've seen Discord do, anything—and I mean anything—can happen! I'm sure he will trick you with his powers, and will stop at nothing to make us fail! So before we go, I want to make sure this is absolutely clear!" 

"What?" asked Applejack.

"Stop for nothing, no matter how much it catches your attention. Stop for nobody, no matter what they say. Let nothing make you stray from your path. If you see me and I give the Signal, you will know it's really me." 

The Signal was a trust system he 'established' ever since seeing that foreboding fortune from Moonbow Peek back at the Gala. It works by one of them saying a phrase specific to them, then he would whisper to their ear something they know nobody else knows that he caught via Surveillance. This was the first time they would actually implement it in action, though.

He would know if it the friend he sees is them using Surveillance. Also, he has a special sense that tells him if someone is disguising themselves via means outside clothes, posture, and mannerisms. "Applejack, am I clear?"

"Yeah!"

"Pinkie Pie!"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

"Rarity!"

"Crystal clear!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Loud and clear!"

"Fluttershy!"

No response.

"For Celestia's sake, Fluttershy, speak up!"

Her reply was faint, but from what little he could hear, he was able to tell that she understood.

"All right! Elements! Move out!"

With that Chronicle ran along the path, Twilight with him. Presumably, the others were on the move too, although he guessed that Fluttershy would stick back for a while before finding her nerve and going as well.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—D—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—D

"What made you say all that Chronicle?" Twilight asked as they made their way through the maze.

"Let's just say story books often have words of advice in between the lines and leave it at that, okay?"

"Okay. I thought fighting was the only thing you're more experienced at than the rest of us. I didn't expect you know a lot more than that."

"Well, I did mention a couple of times my various adventures. I've traveled the world through Request Board requests and some of my past charges traveled around as well. Battling isn't the only thing I'm good at. It goes to show what you can learn when you see the world."

"I see." Twilight decided to change the subject. "Say, how are you immune to Discord's magic? From that dome of space around you while you were in the jelly, it seems to have a specific range that encompasses you and your immediate vicinity."

Chronicle turned away. "I…honestly don't know." What did the Story Crew put on me without me knowing? And why didn't they tell me?

"Oh."

Just then, they stumbled into some kind of puzzle in one of the hedge walls. It was one of those sliding panel types, where one has to slide them to form a picture. It was a three-by-three depicting Applejack.

Before Chronicle could focus his aura on one panel, Twilight beat him to it by sliding them with her hoof, since she lacked hers. The stallion gave a sigh of relief, as he had difficulty dealing with that kind. In eleven seconds flat, it was instantly solved and a mild rumble ensued before stopping. 

"Strange. I was expecting something else to happen," said Twilight.

"If my guess on Discord is right, it's that things never go as expected when it comes to this game of his." With that, they continued traversing the maze. All of a sudden however, as they were about to turn a corner, an image of Applejack flashed in his mind and his legs started to buckle, as if they were unable to hold his weight. Twilight was quick to steady him.

"What's wrong?"

Chronicle gave a sigh as his legs continued to buckle. "I haven't told you guys yet, but I think I have attained a special kind of sense, something like the Pinkie Sense."

"Seriously?"

"I have no other way of explaining it. I'm still getting used to it myself and so I won't be able to answer all your questions, but from what I'm able to deduce, an image of somepony, one of you six, flashes in my mind, then something in my body reacts, each different depending on the pony, and then whatever is happening to them then happens to me for a short while.

"For Fluttershy, I think my heart begins to beat out of rhythm. For Rarity, my eyes begin to feel sore, as if something hot was placed on them. For you, my horn sparks magic. And for Pinkie Pie, my tail twitches."

"What about Rainbow Dash?"

"I haven't experienced any signs for her yet."

"Applejack?"

"I think I just experienced it right now." Suddenly, a migraine came up in Chronicle's head and he began to try and rub it off. "Nnnh…"

"What's wrong?"

The feeling faded quickly as the two then turned the corner and resumed running, swearing they could hear voices. "This sign. I haven't experienced this before. I don't know what misfortune could have befallen her."

As they ran, a section of hedge to their right slid open like some sort of hi-tech door. While Twilight passed it before noticing, Chronicle instantly stopped at where it opened, turned, and gasped as his charge backed up to join him.

On the other side was Applejack in an empty clearing within the maze, but he could see something was wrong. Her entire form, hat included, seemed to take on a faded, washed-out tone. Due to her facing away from them, he couldn't tell if the same went for her eyes.

"Applejack! Thank goodness!" Twilight said as the two walked over to her. "I thought I heard voices over here. Who were you talking to?"

The farmpony glanced at them before speaking up. "I was talkin’ to, uh…nopony! Nopony whatsoever." The movement of her head revealed that her eyes were faded as well. As soon as the last two words were out of her mouth, she cut her eyes from side to side and avoided looking at either of them straight on, all the while keeping her lips firmly clamped shut.

Twilight was in a state of great disbelief. "What?"

"Nothin'." Applejack passed them by. "Come on, uh, we best be goin’."

Chronicle furrowed his brows as Twilight spoke to herself. Hmm…something's definitely wrong with her. And I bet Discord's behind it. But how do I fix this?This is beyond my capabilities.


C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A—C—TS—A

As the now-trio continued on, for some reason, Chronicle was feeling a little uneasy around Applejack and it didn't seem to be fading away anytime soon. And so he now walked ahead of his friends as he scanned the hedges, ground, and sky for anything suspicious.

"Chronicle. I'm pretty sure you didn't have that…" She tried and failed to make a name for it. "…'Sense' of yours before meeting us. But…where did it come from?"

"Like I said, I don't know. But my personal theory is that I somehow acquired this… magical bond to the Elements of Harmony and its keepers. How or why I cannot say, but I'm guessing my indirect exposure to them when you girls activated them to stop Nightmare Moon is one factor. It's still a theory though."

"Oh." There was silence for a few more seconds before she had another idea. ""Hey, why don't you use…you know…"

He understood the message immediately; still walking, he took out Surveillance, but not all the way out of his pocket as he doesn't want Discord to know, and 'opened' the 'screen'. Everything seemed normal enough, but when he decided to check on Pinkie Pie, instead of what her camera is seeing, or even 'static', there was a red-and-yellow swirly pattern behind Discord's face and waggling lion paw.

"Ah-ah-aah… no cheating," he was taunting. "Ah-ah-aah… no cheating."

What the ████?! He's hacked into Surveillance?!

"Chronicle?" Twilight asked. "What am I hearing over there?"

He turned to face them as he put it away and said, "Surveillance is not working. Somehow, he was able to hack into my cameras on you. Thankfully, the cams don't seem to be susceptible to his effects like me." Suddenly, after an image of Pinkie Pie flashed in his mind, his tail began to twitch, almost in the same manner as her when her Pinkie Sense goes off.

"Uh, is Chronicle bein' the new Pinkie Pie?" inquired Applejack.

"No," answered Twilight. "For some time now, he possesses some kid of…Sense like the Pinkie Sense that goes off whenever something bad is happening to us. Right now, from what he told me, something's happening to Pinkie." And then another migraine occurred in Chronicle's head and he put a hoof to his head to try and alleviate the pain. Despite this, he continued walking. "However, he can't seem to figure out just is apparently happening to her."

"Girls!" he suddenly gasped, the headache gone once again. "Follow me!" He started to gallop off, and the two mares followed suit, though Applejack seemed to do it with less urgency in her mind. By the time they caught up with him, he was in front of an entrance to a courtyard, which was barred by…balloons? And he was trying to burst them with 'shurikens', but to no avail.

The two of them reached him and looked curiously as he continued trying to burst them. 

"Happy? I don’t think so," Pinkie could be faintly heard. Then the balloons started to pop, finally revealing her. To Chronicle's worry, she looked…washed out, just like Applejack.

Twilight however didn't seem to notice. "Pinkie Pie!" she said as she galloped in. Are we glad to see you!"

"Oh, you are, huh? Why?" Pinkie scornfully replied as she trotted past her. "Need a good laugh?"

"Pinkie?" The not-so-pink pony exited past Applejack and Chronicle, who stayed at the entrance. Twilight trotted back to them. "What do you suppose has her so upset? It’s not like her."

"I didn’t notice anything strange about Pinkie," Applejack instantly replied, doing her shifty-eye bit again before walking out.

"Weird." She then headed off, Chronicle following. "Better pick up the pace before the stress of this gets the better of all of us."

"I don't think it's just stress," the stallion said as he frowned at this revelation. "Something is definitely going on. And I'm certain Discord is behind this. Didn't you see how different they looked?"

"No."

"What?!" Before she could answer her, he turned away, thinking, Did Discord influence her vision or perception? It must be. He had no evidence to this matter, but he had a feeling that was the case. And that he might actually be more right than he thought.


C—TS—A—PP—C—TS—A—PP—C—TS—A—PP


Chronicle began distancing himself a bit further from his friends as he continued leading the way. He stopped at a fork in the path they were currently on, seeing three potential ways. As his friends caught up to him, he cast a spell and summoned three magical clones near him. Unfortunately for him, three bolts of lightning emerged from the paths and instantly vaporized them, startling the unicorns, though the earth ponies seemed unfazed. 

"Well, there goes scouting ahead," he grumbled in disappointment. "Which path do you suggest we should take? And no splitting up."

Twilight took this in consideration before finally deciding… "Right." As the four took the right-hoof path, just as they turned two corners, an image of Rarity flashed in his mind and his eyes felt like hot coals were shoved into them. Of course, he cried out in pain. 

"What's up with him?" demanded Pinkie.

"It's another sign," Twilight explained. "Chronicle has ability that works like your Pinkie Sense, except it predicts something bad happening to any of us. Right now, it seems to be that something's going to happen to Rarity." Just as she finished her sentence, the stallion doubled over as another migraine took him. Despite this, he continued walking. However, it could be seen that it was taking its toll as this headache lasted longer than the last two. "Chronicle!"

The instant she called his name, the headache cleared, though he was left a bit woozy. "Don't worry. I'm okay." He then noticed that they were now in front of a rock wall. On it was a series of sliding panels on a wide space, rhombus-shaped symbols akin to Rarity's cutie mark, and a rod seemingly stuck to another panel. It reminded him of a puzzle he used to play back home called sokoban.

"Now how do we solve this thing?" asked Twilight. As it was, the puzzle was too big for her to complete by hooves alone.

"Leave it to me." Using his telekinesis, Chronicle used the panel-with-a-stick to move the "box" panels into the "marked" spaces. In twenty seconds, the second he placed the last "box" onto the last "mark", the wall started to crack, then it collapsed in a belch of dust, revealing—

"Rarity! Are we glad to see—" She cut herself off in shock as she and the others saw that the ex-unicorn—now faded as well—was looking greedy and… "Why are you carrying a humongous boulder?"

Rarity flipped it off her back, then said, "What do you mean, boulder?" She then started stroking it. "This big, beautiful, bedazzling rock is a diamond! And it’s all mine." She then zips up with it on her back. "Keep your envious little eyes off it! I found it and it’s mine, fair and square!"

She began to haul it away, followed by Applejack and a hunkered-down Pinkie, and Twilight’s and Chronicle's concern grew by a few orders of magnitude as they moved out. 

Things are getting worse. We have to stop Discord as soon as possible.


C—TS—A—R—PP—C—TS—A—R—PP—C—TS—A—R—PP

As the group continued walking, Chronicle no longer distanced himself from them. Now, he made sure the boulder with them impeded them as little as possible. Without her knowing it, he cast a "decrease weight" spell on the boulder.

"Dammit," he said to himself as he now 'led' the group with Twilight beside her. "I receive a headache, then we encounter a lying Applejack. I get another, and then we see a grumpy Pinkie Pie. Another headache later—granted, a longer one—and we see Rarity with her big rock."

"It's a diamond!" Apparently, she heard him.

"Which is a shiny and precious rock, but a rock nonetheless. I don't think this is all just a coincidence. I think—no, I'm sure Discord is behind their changed behaviours, Twilight."

He then paused in his step as he felt his heart beat faster than normal and an image of another friend flashed in his mind, filling him with intense worry. "Oh no. We have to hurry and find the others before—AAAGH!"

Instead of a mere migraine, it was something he could only describe as a mental attack. And this 'attack' forced him to rear up as he put his front hooves to his head, trying to contain the intense pain. Three seconds later, it was over and he fell to the ground.

"Chronicle! Are you okay?!" gasped Twilight.

"He's fine," said Applejack, uncaring.

"Yeah. I'll be," Chronicle agreed as he righted himself. "If my guess is right. Another of our number has fallen, and I think she has been changed with brute force…" His eyes widened on seeing something at a dead end. Immediately, he got up, and ran straight for it. On reaching it, he saw on the wall was a space he figured was for placing jigsaw puzzle pieces and on the ground were said pieces depicting—

"Whats going on?" his charge asked as she and their friends walked over to him.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" He entered a state of panic as he began to 'pick up' the pieces and began completing the puzzle. Several times he 'dropped' a few, only to pick them up again as he frantically put them all together. In thirty-seven seconds, he finished the puzzle. The instant the final piece was placed, the dead end retracted into the ground, revealing— 

"No… no… no…" he sputtered out, his hearing and sight turning blurry. Before he passed out from the revelation, he had time for one depressing thought. They got her.


C—TS—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The "core" Timer family posed together. In the center are a stern Record Keeper (in his earth pony form) with a golden aura and a beaming Ebony Spell ready to cast an ice spell. Positioned below them are their children. From left to right, Mystic Wand casting a fire spell, Timerity with a hoof up and her "cat claw" spell in action, Chronicle with his "magic horn blade" drawn, and Blue Diary hovering with his swords ready. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.


C—TS—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—R—F—PP

Chronicle slowly came to…and found himself being dragged by the tail, which was held by a lasso. 

Once he was completely awake, he saw that it was Twilight pulling him instead of Applejack, and the former unicorn seemed to be carrying the boulder in addition to that. 

"Must…find…Rainbow Dash," he heard Twilight say in a grunted tone, "As a team…we’re…unstoppable. Rainbow Dash won’t let us…down."

"Huh?" he managed to sputter out as he quietly slipped out of the loop and got himself upright.

"You're awake!" Twilight gasped weakly as he caught up to them, then turned to face her.

"Let me help you with that." He cast another "decrease weight" spell on the boulder.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." He turned to face ahead again, only to see their 'changed' friends. They had found Fluttershy, but her appearance stung something fierce in him and he couldn't afford to look at her and thus turned back to Twilight. "Please tell me this is all a nightmare, I can't go on with her being so nasty. Please oh please wake me up."

"Chronicle, I truly wish this were all a nightmare, I really do. But I need you with me. More than ever. If Discord's really as powerful as he shows himself to be, you and Rainbow Dash are our only chance if it comes down to a fight, you especially since you're somehow immune to his magic."

"Yeah…" Just then, he felt a pulling sensation on his back. Notably, for some reason, he realized that it was on the part where his wings would protrude from were he a pegasus. It felt like invisible wings he knew he doesn't have were being pulled. "Oh no. The last sign."

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah. She's next." Right after that, he felt another headache, but he didn't try and massage it off as he stopped walking and grunted.

"Oh, is Chronicle actually hopelessly frail on the inside?" once certain voice teased. This voice made him feel worse.

"Stop it, Fluttershy," Twilight scolded.

Once the headache finally stopped, he spoke in a quiet and despaired tone. "We're too late."

"What's too late?"

"He's got Rainbow Dash."

"Who?"

"Discord. Who else?"

"How do you know?"

"I don't. But I can't find any other culprit. Unfortunately, there's nothing more we can do for her."

"Well, looky there," said Applejack as the two still-normal ponies caught up. "Rainbow Dash is flyin’ away. She’s abandonin’ us!"

"Now I know that’s a lie," Twilight said as she flipped the boulder off her back and looked up, though, she gasped as she (and Chronicle) found that the suddenly dishonest farmer was telling it straight for once; indeed, Rainbow (faded like the rest) was soaring overhead and out of the maze to disappear into the clouds. "How can it be?"

"Game over, man, game over." Chronicle sunk deeper into despair as the entire maze shook and a layer of even darker gray clouds moved in to cover every square inch of sky. Blocks of hedges swiftly retracted into the ground, throwing up curtains of dust in all directions. When these cleared, the group found themselves in the middle of a wide tract of bare earth.

"Well, well, well," Discord said as he emerged from the dust. "Somepony broke the “no wings, no magic” rule." A finger snap put Twilight’s and Rarity’s horns and Fluttershy’s wings back where they belong. "Game’s over, my little ponies!" He leaned over Twilight for a moment. "You didn’t find your precious Elements." He produced a pink umbrella that meowed softly when he opened it—the canopy opening upside down on the shaft, so that it would catch rain instead of letting it run off. "Looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos."

Lightning ripped the sky as he laughed crazily and Twilight stared in total disbelief. As for Chronicle, he was now in a sorry state as he stared blankly into space. If the Elements of Harmony cannot stop him, there's nothing we can do. Well, I can call for something to take care of this, but I would break protocol if I do it. Will it be worth the risk?

Discord continued laughing even as he then 'put away' his umbrella, then fell all over himself before a confounded Twilight as he eared drooped and her face ready to hit the floor. 

Pinkie suddenly popped up in front to address him very sourly. "And what are you laughing at?"

The draconequus wiped a tear from one eye. "Oh, you ponies are just the most fun I’ve had in eons!" 

She got in his face and poked him with a hoof. "Well, quit it! You’d better think before you laugh at the Pink…ie Pie!"

At Chronicle's peripheral, if he were noticing it, Rarity was now guarding her boulder—oh sorry, diamond. If he were listening too, he would have been hurt at what Fluttershy said.

"Oh, yeah? Well, ha, ha!" 

Pinkie zipped over to her. "Quit it!"

"No. Ha, ha!"

Pinkie covered her ears. "QUIT IT!!"

"No. Ha-ha-ha, ha, ha!"

Meanwhile, Applejack sidled out from behind the boulder. "Uh, Rarity?" The unicorn wheeled to face her. "This here diamond of yours?" She traced along its surface. "Twilight said we should split it six—no, seven ways since we, uh, found it together."

Rarity just hit her with a flying kick. "Hai-yah! Try it, punk! He’s mine! All mine!" She threw herself at the dishonest pony, forcing her to back up past Twilight before a flurry of strikes.

"Girls, why are you all acting like this?" she asked. "We need to stick together!"

How can she be so dense? Chronicle thought as he tilted his head to the ground and covered his ears so as not to hear Fluttershy speak such harsh words.  It's obvious that Discord's involved. Why isn't she seeing it? I bet he muddled her perception along the way. That or only I can see it due to what I really am. He looked up and glared at the draconequus, who was now sitting in a row of movie theater seats with a box of popcorn.

"It’s just too entertaining," he said as he ate. 

"Stop it, Discord!" Twilight said. "You’re not playing fair!"

"I’m not playing fair? Perhaps we haven’t met." He stood up. "I’m Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony?" He leaned into her face. "Hel-looo?" Then he backed off and returned to his seat, examining the claws on his lion foreleg.

"How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?!?"

Her query brought a slightly surprised look from him. "Oh, wait. Did you…" He started to guffaw. "How funny! You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?" 

As he and Twilight disappeared in a flash, the riddle he provided came to Chronicle's mind.

To retrieve your missing Elements,
Just make sense of this change of events.
Twists and turns are my master plan, 
Then find the Elements back where you began.

It finally came to him as he was snapped out of his slump. He was willing to consider it as a Plan B before, but now he was absolutely sure. The Elements of Harmony were in Ponyville! With that answer in mind, and with no time to waste, he teleported without a word. As that happened, Applejack saw him do so, and would tell Twilight that he had abandoned them just as Rainbow did.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—D—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—D

Chronicle emerged at the entrance to Canterlot, but whatever it was now he would never know as he was focused on getting to Ponyville. There were  reasons he decided to go off on his own. One, he realized he wasn't that much of a team player. Two, he couldn't stand being with whoever had 'replaced' Fluttershy, not to mention the rest of their friends. Three, he didn't think the Elements would work with their current bearers. And four, he was mad at Twilight for her drastic mistake.

Dammit, Twilight. Why didn't you think the riddle through completely? I asked you if you were completely sure, and you said you were. Now, thanks to you, our friends have fallen to Discord's magic.

She wasn't the only he was mad at though, aside from Discord. He was also mad at himself, for not being fast enough to stop them from going in. For not being assertive enough to keep opposing her in her plan. For not being fast enough to save his friends from Discord's mind-altering spell he was sure he used.

He wouldn't admit it to himself, but given reason number three, he has losing faith in the Elements. He was going to take matters in his own hooves.

He was currently using a combination of running and long range teleportation to get there. However, he was thrown off when after emerging from a teleport it was suddenly nighttime. He immediately 'braked' at that, almost thinking he accidentally traveled across time, and was lucky to do so as several banana peels blossomed all over the road. And they were all fresh. With that in mind, he then continued running—and didn't slip one bit.

"Darn it, I thought that would get you," a familiar voice came.

Chronicle didn't turn as he addressed Discord, who was jogging with bunny slippers that barked with every step as he could see from his peripheral. "My feet are more steady than anypony's," he replied. "Also, you used the 'wrong' bananas."

"And what exactly are the 'right' bananas, hmm?" the draconequus asked as he decided to 'sail' right next to the unicorn, who teleported away in response. He teleported right for where he emerged though—as the sky turned into day again.

"You figure it out. Now leave me alone." He launched a 'shuriken' at Discord, who casually dodged it.

"Oh, you're just like Celestia. So grim."

"I am nothing like her!" He teleported again, only for it to turn into night by the time he re-emerged. And Discord managed to follow him still.

"Of course you're not." He snapped his talon and the path ahead turned into an ice course. And the sky turned into night again. "Watch your step."

The unicorn responded by jumping, 'taking out' his river serpent-scale shield from "hammerspace" underneath him instead of beside as usual, and landing on it as he entered the ice path.

"Ooh." The draconequus was impressed with Chronicle's course of action and his suddenly revealed expertise in ice surfing. He decided to mix things up a bit by 'conjuring' all sorts of silly obstacles. It turns out the unicorn didn't have that much skill in ice surfing after all as he just blasted through anything that needed more than just hanging on. Getting bored, he decided to teleport away to mess with somepony else.

As much as he hated Discord right now, Chronicle had to admit that the ice course was fun. That mood instantly ended upon finally seeing Ponyville.

It was now in a state that would make any "seventies" surrealist painter swear off anything stronger than orange juice. Trees and buildings were on floating midair islands. the town square pavilion was completely uprooted and hovering upside down. Bright pink water was in the stream at the border. Separate pastel blue and pink checkerboard patterns covered different stretches of ground. Houses were plunked on crazy-quilt hills. And there were clouds over the whole town, but only one section was getting rained on; a faded lime-green sky.

At the sight of the drastically changed town, he remembered his 'task' and made a sworn oath to himself. "If it's the last thing I do, Discord will go down for this. That's a promise!"

To be continued…
> Chronicle's Promise (The Return of Harmony, Part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the moment I've been waiting for for so long. I've done a lot of work on it ever since watching the episode and finally, finally I get to show it to all. I regret nothing at all and I'm glad to get this out of my mind.

The following will appear in this chapter, I apologize if you don't like these: 
(Literal) Discord-bashing
Seemingly irrelevant battles
Possible overpowering of some characters
Start of a Mane 6/OC shipping

Warning: A bit more censored swearing than usual. And serious use of the D-words.

Disclaimer: I own only the following: My originally designed OCs, and anything that doesn't happen in the show proper.

I was going to go for something a bit more negative, but decided to go with this current title. I think it works well.

New syntax
"word" - spoken through the other end of Surveillance


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Chronicle's Promise (The Return of Harmony, Part 2)

Putting away the shield he used to 'surf' down Discord's impromptu ice course, Chronicle made his first steps into the now-wacky Ponyville. At first glance, anyone would think he was simply wary, but he was also ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice. His 'mission', to find anybody who is not corrupted by Discord, and see if he can amass substitute Bearers of Harmony. Twilight Sparkle was still normal, and so he would look for four other ponies—and they don't have to be ponies—to stand in for the missing ones. Obviously, he himself would be one of the stand-ins as well.


His first encounter came in the form of Pokey Pierce. Expecting anything now that he knew Discord was here, Chronicle drew his "magic horn blade". From what he could see, Pokey wasn't just in a washed-out tone just like his friends, he was without a doubt completely grayscale. And he responded by forming a giant drill-shape around his horn (mysteriously, his aura remained its color), then aimed it at the normal unicorn with full intent to ram him.

"Oh great," Chronicle groaned to himself.

Pokey started off in a full gallop, and if he were to reach his target… well, he would never find out as Chronicle did a sidestep flash-step, then slashed at him as he passed by. The attack inflicted enough pain to cancel his spell and be knocked unconscious without drawing blood.

I'm lucky the corruption didn't keep his mind straight, if he was so to begin with. He promptly cast a barrier around himself—and repelled a kick from behind by both Caramel and Lucky Clover, who were also corrupted. Turning around, he swiftly put them down the same way he did Pokey.


Nopony else attacked him after that (for the time being) as he then dispatched three magical clones to look around. Unfortunately, as they wandered, they saw that nearly everypony was…for lack of a better term, corrupted. Bon Bon and Heartstrings (no wait, it's Lyra Heartstrings now, since she went for an official name change) were in a very heated argument. Golden Harvest was hiding in a corner, looking very timid and scared. Cheerilee was chasing Snips and Snails, ruler in her mouth as if about to smack them. Twist, Silver Spoon, and another unicorn filly were tormenting Diamond Tiara. As for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom was singing, Scootaloo was making stuff, and Sweetie Belle was dancing. 

Chronicle frowned at all this. Hnnh…first things first. I gotta find Mystic Shield. If the Elements of Harmony need to involve friends, there's no other better one than him. At least with me His search was interrupted when he heard sobbing. He turned and noted that it was coming from a house. Derpy Hooves's to be exact. And the door was left ajar. Dinky. Cautiously, he creaked it open, and saw the unicorn filly. 

She looked really dejected, but seemed to be normal in the dim light… until he cast a simple illumination spell. She was actually corrupted as well, and in front of her was a simple crayon drawing torn in half. When Chronicle walked up to it and picked up the pieces, he saw that they read "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!" and showed the two of them together.

His first impulse was to promise to deck whoever did this (Discord). His second was to ask her, "Dinky, who did this?"

The unicorn filly let out a sniffle, then answered, "Mommy. She doesn't love me anymore."

These words drove a needle into his heart, which gave him another drive to stop Discord. He'll pay for this. He was about to leave and continue searching, but felt bad in simply leaving the poor filly without a word. "Don't worry, Dinky. I'll get her back." He wished he could've provided better words, but he needed to hurry.


The moment he exited the house, he was relieved to find Berry Punch, who was thankfully normal, if quite panicked. "Berry Punch! I'm relieved to see you're all right!"

However, the earth pony didn't seem to notice him as she ran off. "Ruby! Ruby! Where are you, Ruby?! Ruby Pinch!" 

Chronicle followed her in an attempt to reach out to her. "Berry!" He ended up chasing her for a good minute. When she turned a corner however, as he did so too, what he saw caught so much of his attention that he didn't notice her run the other way.


In front of him were Daisy, Lily (but not Rose), the Mayor, Amethyst Star, Twinkle (changed her name to Twinkleshine), Medley, Cloud Kicker, and Raindrops. They were all corrupted by Discord, and they looked like an angry mob.

"Get him!" the Mayor declared.

Not wanting to use up too much of his magic, and having no time to deal with them, Chronicle decided to run…only for that option to be suddenly unavailable as Cherry Berry, Sea Swirl, Shoeshine, Noteworthy, Rainbowshine, and Merry May closed in from the other side. Of Berry Punch there was no sign. Slowly, they began to surround him, even as he drew his "blade".

Long range teleportation was too risky as since Ponyville has been changed, he would have no clue as to whether or not he would end up 'splinching' with something, resulting in a "telefrag". No choice, then. Chronicle prepared himself as the mob made as if to dog-pile him. 


C—T—AS—LH—GH—BB—AB—SS—D—DH—MM—M—DT—S—S—CK—MM—D—L—PP—C—T—DT—SS—S—SB—BN—C—LC


Elsewhere…

After seeing a trio of tutu-clad buffaloes and a googly-eyed mare who was flicking her bottom lip with a hoof while floating by with help from the propeller beanie pass by, another Chronicle made his way to Ponyville's hospital, which had finished construction just two months ago. 

He stopped short of the entrance, a dark thought entering his mind. A medical pony is a good thing to have, but if they have been corrupted… Disturbing images of mad doctors and killer nurses flashed before his eyes. Before he could run, a creepy voice came from right behind.

"Prepare for your examination!" Nurse Redheart jammed a giant syringe right onto Chronicle's back…and he instantly vanished.


At a tree a fair distance away from the hospital, Chronicle gave a sigh of relief as he saw the corrupted nurse whip her head around in confusion. "Figured this would happen."

Suddenly, he glimpsed something that was not gray apart from the ballerina buffaloes and the googly-eyed mare he decided to dub as Screwball. Using an enhance vision spell he picked up from Bullseye, he saw that it was a pale turquoise pegasus mare with vanilla hair, carrot orange eyes, and a cutie mark of two lightning bolts. Wind Whistler, also known as Sassaflash.

His hopes lifted for even a bit, he followed where she was going. Unfortunately, upon glancing to his left, he saw that Redheart has spotted him and has rallied a couple more medical staff. ████. I'm glad this isn't Silent Hill. No Field Op sent there ever returned alive. He hurried as the doctors, nurses, and medics began their pursuit. Unfortunately, that was his last act as he saw Parasol—corrupted—slam into his face…dissipating him.


C—LB—P—NR—C—LB—P—NR—C—LB—P—NR


Back with the mob…

Chronicle was panting somewhat heavily, surrounded by all of his defeated foes. None of them were dead or have any lasting crippling injuries, just down on the checkerboard ground unconscious. He was skilled like that, because he knows killing will not only be bad for his image, it would scare his pacifist companions more than his sometimes-violent methods already do. That and he 'set' his "magic horn blade" to "phase through", which does exactly that and leaves his targets feeling as if he really cut through them, but without the wounds and damaged internal organs. The only things affected would be the nerves, which respond to the pain he would inflict.


After getting his bearings, he took a good look at his surroundings. Locating the spa, he made his way there and entered it. Unfortunately, it was very dark inside, just like the Hooves household where he found Dinky. He knew very well that darkness often can conceal danger, so he cast an illumination spell from his horn…then, as he walked forward for a few seconds, put it on full power in an instant, blinding anypony who might've attacked him in the dark.

"I've dealt with plenty of assassins before, even though I'm not usually the target," he decided to call out.

The lights were turned on and he found himself confronted by the Blossom twins, both corrupted, Lotus with a couple of acupuncture needles and round basalt rocks ready to throw, and Aloe wielding a pair of cucumber shaped devices (back massagers) and standing on her back hooves. The 'weapons' were vibrating, ready to make him feel like mush on contact. The two didn't seem to be affected much by the flash he did.

Acupuncture needles? How the hay do earth ponies apply them on their patients?

He didn't have enough time to consider it as both masseurs went in on the attack. He blocked them off with a dome barrier around himself, then blasted them with magic shots, but they were too nimble and easily dodged them, doing flips all the while. He swiftly put an end to this by a four-step plan. First, after making it so that the barrier doesn't follow him, he expanded it and let the twins enter but not exit it. Second, he flash-stepped out of his force field's bounds. Third, he compressed the barrier until it slammed the two together so hard it knocked the wind out of them. And fourth, he knocked them both out with a slash of his "magic horn blade".


With that taken care of, he left the spa, and continued on his way. At that point on, there were no more attacks on him. In a few minutes, he reached Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns, which was miraculously not modified in the slightest like the adjacent houses, which were apparently turned into scenery flats like the cardboard cutout ones set up in stages. Still, that could only possibly mean that the inside was changed. Steeling himself, he threw the doors open, thinking he was prepared for what was beyond them. 

He was wrong.

The inside of the dojo part were painted in gaudy pastel colors, the tatami mat was turned into a chocolate milk jacuzzi, there were various items strewn all over the edges (all of them dry), and in the far end of the pool was Mystic Shield, completely normal, relaxed, and looking like Chronicle had caught him with his hoof in the cookie jar.

"Um…I can explain," he said to his flabbergasted and understandably furious co-teacher.

"You better have a good one," the blue unicorn replied as he entered and closed the door behind him—just as Twilight Sparkle and company (minus Rainbow Dash) arrived.


C—L—A—C—L—A—C—L—A—C—L—A

A minute later, at the edge of town…

Passing by an upturned TARDIS (which he suspected Doctor Whooves was hiding in for whatever reason instead of perhaps, say, stopping Discord himself) dangling at the tip of a rooftop, Chronicle (this the real one) made his way to the Everfree Forest with the intent to ask for Zecora's help.


Prior to this, after checking out Sweet Apple Acres and seeing a dancing Granny Smith, Big Macintosh digging and acting like a dog, and flying pigs, he had to face off—one by one—against karate black belt Elphaba Trot (who had a higher dan than Rainbow), Wonderbolt Skyla, aikido black belt Ebon Belt, and martial arts master Sensei. All but one proved difficult to throw off and incapacitate. 

Elphaba proved swift enough and daring enough to actually successfully swat his "shurikens" but went down in a minute. Skyla showed him that the Wonderbolts weren't just a show team, in spite of their…failure to save Rarity during the Best Young Flyer competition, and took at least a hundred seconds before he finally knocked her out. Ebon, whose martial art did not have any offensive maneuvers, was easier to knock out. 

Sensei however, had experience in anti-sword and anti-shot combat, and was not only a master of all martial arts (the ones compatible with ponies anyway), but rather savage in his attacks thanks to Discord's corruption. It was only thanks to a lucky fallen flower pot that he was able to incapacitate the expert, and that was while distracting him with "shurikens" as he charged zig-zag.


To his mild surprise, the "unnatural" forest was unchanged, except for the cotton candy clouds dousing him with chocolate rain, which he took the chance to imbibe with his "rain-drinking" spell. There were a lot more poison joke than usual though, and he had to make a bridge out of panel barriers to cross over them. While he turning into a mare again wasn't much of a problem for him, he learned that poison joke doesn't always give the same 'ailments' every time for each pony.

Finally, he reached Zecora's hut. Unfortunately, it seems to be abandoned, as if the zebra had fled hastily. When he entered the hut, he saw that the cauldron was gone, as were many of her many brews, although a few stuff remained, including the 'hello' and 'welcome' masks, and a note on a table propped against a bottle of ether.

Curious, he picked up the note and read it, amazed that Zecora had learned how to write in their language so quickly.

To whom it may concern,

I have sensed a dangerous force headed this way, so I have decided to leave to find a safe refuge. I shall return once this—as you would call it—"blows over". If it hasn't been taken already, the bottle you see with this note is an ether bottle, which will cure a unicorn of overchanneling. Use it well.

Zecora

"Huh. I expected Zecora's writing to rhyme just as much as her speaking." Chronicle then saw the ether bottle, and decided to take it, storing it in "hammerspace". I certainly need this. With that, he left the hut and made his way back to Ponyville, a little more desperate than before; he seriously hoped the zebra could help him, but now…


Upon re-entering Ponyville, he saw a familiar pony in the distance. Gray pegasus mare, bubbles cutie mark, it could only be Derpy Hooves. Aww hay, I'll accept even her help. As he ran, a thought suddenly stuck her. Oh no. All corrupted ponies are gray. How will I know if Discord hasn't gotten to her too?

His fears were confirmed when she turned around, malice in her face. And as he got closer, he saw that her mane was completely gray and not chiffon yellow. He's got her. Also, she was headed straight for him, as if to pummel him for whatever reason. Having no time to deal with her, Chronicle primed his "magic horn blade", then executed his one-slash knockout maneuver. Unfortunately, he was able to sense that his attack was a miss and one second later he felt a drop kick from behind, which sent him tumbling forward.

He swiftly got up and faced Derpy, who was on twos and assuming a martial arts stance. "Just great," he groaned. "She knows martial arts too?" Chronicle began to form a barrier around her, but she swiftly swerved to the left, then closed in on him from the side. He flash-stepped out of the way, and turned to fire a magic shot only for her to be on him already. She tackled him and began to take him to the air. He immediately resolved that with a teleport to the ground, making sure not to 'get' her as well since she was too close.

This'll be a bit harder than I thought. If Derpy's defining trait was (mild)incompetence, reversing her into someone efficient is scary.

[A/N: Unimportant, but my version of Doctor Whooves has three companions; Derpy Hooves, Roseluck, and Minuette.]


C—DH—C—DH—C—DH—C—DH—C—DH—C—DH

Meanwhile, inside Mystic Shield's place…

The self-defense teacher, still in the chocolate pool, finished explaining what had happened in Ponyville while Chronicle and his friends were in Canterlot.


Mystic was conducting a class when Discord popped in out of nowhere and—getting through the barriers instantly—struck Lemon hearts, Firecracker Burst, Comet Tail, Ponet, Written Script, and Holly Dash before they could react, turning them into a med-kit, an unlit torch, a hanging solar system model now in the ceiling, a sketchbook, an inkwell, and a giant strawberry respectively.

Bullseye, Greatstone, Chrono Cards, Tricky books, and Mystic Shield himself were quicker and managed to fire shots at him, but Discord proved impervious and instantly turned the First Four into a hay target, a boulder (though much smaller than the one Rarity thought was a diamond), a pack of playing cards, and a tome similar to Tricky's cutie mark respectively.

Having seen this, Mystic was left devastated that not only did he fail to protect his students, he failed them bad. This feeling has been mitigated a bit upon hearing just what Discord was capable of. He was also shocked at Chronicle's "plan" on seeking out "substitute Bearers".


"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Mystic asked. "I mean, the Elements chose them. Even if we and your 'substitutes' can stand-in for honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty, will the resulting 'harmony blast' be strong enough to put a stop to him?"

Chronicle (the last magical clone, it turns out) remained where he was; at the end of the doors. He answered, "I admit that it's not exactly the best well-thought-out plan, but how else can you plan with six magical artifacts we still know so little about? My last-ditch plan is to fight Discord myself, and fight to kill."

"What?! Are you crazy?! Even after seeing what he can do, after trumping Princess Celestia herself, you think you have a chance?"

"No, but I have something nopony else has. For some reason, I have some sort of protective barrier around me that nullifies his magic, protecting my mind and body. Still, anything he conjures can hit me if he moves them to me."

"But if he can practically do anything, what's stopping him from killing with a thought, or crushing you with a mountain or something?"

"His behavior. From what I've seen and from what little I was able to deduce from him, he's extremely playful and does what he does for his own amusement. I'm guessing a swift kill is not amusing for him in the long term. Unless he's capable of bringing back the dead. In perfectly healthy condition unless he wants boring zombies."

"I'm not sure…I mean—" Before he could finish that sentence, Chronicle gasped as he saw something—Discord's lion paw—emerge from the floor behind Mystic. 

"Look out!"

It was too late as the paw made contact with his head. From there, the gray spread all over his head as his eyes went swirly as if mesmerized. It continued all the way down to his body and presumably ending at his submerged tail and hind legs. As the paw vanished, Mystic flared his horn, but nothing seemed to happen. Then, it turns out the barrier had been made outside the dojo as it closed in fast from behind. The Chronicle clone was dissipated on impact.


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS

Meanwhile…

The real Chronicle found himself pinned to the ground, Derpy constantly tapping his horn with her hoof to prevent him from casting spells. Despite her lacking hands to hold him down, he couldn't pull free even with one free leg, which he used to block her punches. Luckily, she didn't do any headbutts, which would risk her skull going through his horn if she wasn't careful.

He was distraught that his search was completely fruitless, which he head learned from his dissipated clones. There were barely any uncorrupted ponies left, and the few that weren't were such hopeless cases he can't get them to get a hold of themselves. And now, Discord decided to take a direct approach on his corruption of his closest male friend; Mystic Shield. Is this what he did to my friends? Is this what he did if he didn't pay mind games?

Just then, he sensed a surge of magic before seeing a familiar light shine in the distance. The Elements! He didn't want to do this, but time was of the essence. Collecting up saliva, he spat at Derpy's face, hitting her in the eye. Her subsequent reeling back gave him enough time to teleport away. Once he was upright once again, he immediately ran for the source.

When the light fade after nine seconds however, he began to fear the worst. However, his pondering was interrupted when he felt a drop kick from behind, making him stumble. 

"I am not done with you yet!" Derpy said as she landed behind him.

"I am!" he retorted as he cast a barrier around himself. As she charged right for him with full intent to smash through, he swiftly strengthened and expanded it, slamming it into her face and sending her flying. With no more time to waste, he continued heading for where the light was.

However, one more obstacle impeded his run. He tripped over "Screwball", who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Already losing time, he shouted a quick apology before moving on. Being so focused on making it to the light source, he didn't notice one pony who bypassed him, although he would've faltered in his step if he did see her.

He saw that it came from the library. Twilight was there, the Element of Magic atop her head, but the corruption was already beginning its work, starting from the tail/hind legs and working forward. "TWILIGHT!!!" he cried out as he instantly teleported to her face, then touched her horn with his and poured his magic in an attempt to fight off Discord's magic. He had no idea what it would do, but he was desperate to try anything.

His magic expanded from the horn and through her head, 'clashing' with the corruption at the neck. However, it was a losing battle, as Twilight's will has already been shattered. "Chronicle…"

"LOOK AT ME TWILIGHT! DON'T YOU GIVE UP ON ME!!" She didn't so much as raise her head as the corruption started to win over Chronicle's magic.

"The Elements didn't work. Discord has won. It's over." Finally it covered her completely and repelled her last friend's magic. Only the jeweled tiara on her head retained its original hue. One tear fell from her closed eye, and it splashed on the ground to form a heart that split in two.

The (perhaps) last free pony in Ponyville raised his head, knowing he has failed to keep her from corruption, and gasped silently in despair as tears began to well up in his eyes.


C—TS—DH—C—TS—DH—C—TS—DH—C—TS—DH


Eyecatch (picture-type) - Image depicting three indviduals. To the left is a defeated and corrupted Twilight Sparkle facing left. To the right is a torn up and angry Chronicle facing right. In the middle is Discord laughing maniacally. The background is the warped Ponyville. The show's logo is seen in the center between the two ponies.


C—TS—DH—C—TS—DH—C—TS—DH—C—TS—DH

Some time later…

While Twilight began to dejectedly walk around Ponyville, Chronicle was still a fair distance from the library, doing something he had promised never to do; cry. And he was sobbing a great deal. "Why?" he said to himself. "Why did things turn out so badly? Where did we go wrong?" After ten minutes of self-pity, he finally stopped crying and began to pull himself together. 

"No, I can't be like this to myself. There's only one way left I can think of; I will have to fight Discord. But I need to know more." He took out Surveillance, and saw that Discord was not 'hacking' it anymore. "I need answers. I need to confirm my suspicions. See if my guesses behind his powers are well-founded." He Started with Applejack, 'rolling back' the recording to the point they entered the labyrinth.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C


"When all the truth does…is make your heart ache…sometimes a lie is easier to take."

Chronicle 'lowered' Surveillance, anger evident in his face. "Stupid, stupid, Applejack! I told her from the beginnning not to let anything or anyone make her stray from her path, and what did she do? She let some apples distract her!"

Pinkie Pie was next.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C


"Oh, poor Pinkie Pie. And here I thought laughter made you happy."

"Happy? I don’t think so."

After watching this, Chronicle smacked himself in the head with the Surveillance "device" six times. "Figures. Can't really count on Pinkie to stick to the plan. While she can do so when serious, she certainly wasn't here. She sure is a wild card, and this time it went against our favor. With such a fragile mind…" he didn't finish the sentence as he proceeded to check out Rarity.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C


"No! No! I shan’t succumb to such fabulousness! …Must…get to the center…to meet…the others! …MINE!!"

Chronicle gave a sigh as he ended the "video". "So that explains the prolonged headache." He finally found the reason behind his migraines; Discord was influencing their minds but since he was immune to them, his "Harmony sense"—as he decided to call it—apparently decided to give him a headache. 

His hoof hovered on Fluttershy's "icon", but stopped short on pressing it. For some reason, dread filled his mind as he suddenly lost the courage to check. So he decided to check Rainbow Dash instead.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C


"A weighty choice is yours to make—
The right selection, or a big mistake.
If the wrong choice you choose to pursue,
The foundations of home will crumble without you."

"Cloudsdale…crumble…without me…NOOOO!!"

"That box contains your wings. You can take them and leave the game, or you can carry on aimlessly wandering this maze. Your choice."

"I honestly can't tell what I would've chosen if I were her. While I am confident in Hadithi's residents, Cloudsdales's I'm not. But it's not fair that he corrupted her before she could decide." Chronicle lowered his head and grumbled to himself.

Giving a sigh, he took a look at Fluttershy's "icon". He was going to have to check and see what Discord did to her in the maze that made her such a "meanie-pants".

Already regretting his decision, but lacking the will to turn away, he tapped the icon and steeled himself for what he would see.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C


Somewhere in the labyrinth, two very scared blue-green eyes peek out, then their owner leaped out into the path. Fluttershy's nerves have not calmed down one bit since this funhouse began.

"Okay, I can do this." She began to move ahead. I can—"

The sudden appearance of three pink butterflies right in front of her spooked her into a scream and a full-speed retreat. Matching the ones in her cutie mark, they hovered around her rump as she tried to burrow back into the hedge. As soon as she got all the way in, they flitted away and she put her head back out with a smile.

"Oh, wait a minute! Butterflies?" She began to gallop after them. "Wait! Don’t leave me here!"

"Dammit, don't follow them," Chronicle futilely said as he watched her run. The insects continued their flight, but she spotted them from around a corner and hurried to catch up. In short order, she skid to a stop at a juncture of several passages, but no butterflies in sight. Just then, they emerged from one side, and one spoke in a high-pitched version of Discord’s voice.

"Fluttershy…" Upon closer investigation, they had his mismatched antlers, snaggle tooth, and bushy white eyebrows. "…looks like you’ve been left behind by your so-called friends, huh?"

Fluttershy just gave a smile. "Oh, no. I’m certain they’re doing their best to find me." 

The lepidoptera began to circle her head. "Well, it must be so upsetting to know how weak and helpless they think you are."

"Not at all. I am weak and helpless, and I appreciate their understanding."

The Butterfly Discord stammered in his normal voice. "Yes, well, surely it burns you up, I mean—" Then he resumed his high voice. "—that they’re always pointing out your flaws, right?"

"Not really. In fact, I think I’m awfully lucky to have friends who want me to be the best I can be."

This seemed to be too much for the trickster, who resumed his normal form and voice, the butterflies disappearing. "Oh, for goodness’ sake!" Instantly, he jabbed a taloned finger into her forehead, hypnotizing her and bleaching out her normal coloration.


F—D—F—D—F—D—F—D—F—D—F—D


Upon seeing this, Chronicle's eyes widened and his irises shrunk at this revelation, his arcanokinetic grip on his Surveillance "device" faltering as he let it drop to the ground. The scene of him corrupting her played itself over and over in his mind.

Time slowed as his mind registered Fluttershy's refusal to be swayed, her strong will…and the fact that Discord had to brute-force corrupt her, resulting in the strong mental attack he felt. 

And who knows what she was feeling when this bad side now on the outside took over her? 

Why… that… Of all the atrocities Discord did, he felt this was the worst of them all. The most unforgivable. In an instant, all of his anger on the draconequus finally erupted out of him like a volcano. "That's… IT! NOW! IT'S! PERSONAL!" He continued to fume as he 'put away' Surveillance. How dare he do that to her? I might've settled for letting the Elements of Harmony do its work on him, but no, he just had to turn the most kindhearted pony into a heartless █████. No, he's gonna die, I don't care how, or even if I can! He won't get away with this alive if I can help it!


It suddenly turned into nighttime and then a familiar voice came in a no-nonsense tone. "Pack your things, Chronicle. We’re leaving." He looked up and saw that Twilight, still with her crown, was facing and soon about to walk past him. "And don’t ask where we’re going, ’cause…I don’t know yet. Just not here."

Normally, he would've asked, or argued, but with his anger at its peak… "No."

Twilight stopped upon hearing that. "No?"

"No. I'm going to make Discord pay."

Keeping the same tone she argued, "There's no way you can win. Even if you're immune to his magic, there's still a myriad ways he can stop you, or even end you."

"I don't care. I'd rather go down fighting than admit defeat like this. Elements or no Elements, he's going down."

Twilight seemed to sense that he was dead serious, and that there was no stopping him. "I guess this is goodbye, then."

"If I don't make it back, that's probably the case."

"Goodbye, Chronicle."

"Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle." 


And with that he ran off, ready to do what nopony else has ever done as far as he knew; fight Discord, and make him pay for his atrocities.


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS


As he ran across Ponyville, he looked for a suitable place, stopped there, then called at the top of his lungs. "Discord! Show yourself!"

As if on command, the Spirit of Disharmony appeared…right behind him.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little immune pony Chronicle. What brings you to call me in exactly the same manner as Celes—"

The unicorn turned around and fired a 'shuriken', which the draconequus effortlessly dodged. "Cut the crap. I'm here to end this!"

"End what?"

"Don't you play dumb with me!" He started to flare his nostrils.

"Seriously, I have no clue as to what you're talking about." But his tone was that of a total liar. He then feigned suddenly getting it. "Oh. This is revenge for Twilight Sparkle, isn't it? Looks like I completely broke her. And I didn't need to do anything to ruin her friendship with you."

Chronicle refuted him. "You're wrong."

Discord seemed to not expect this answer as he showed confusion. "Excuse me?"

The stallion turned his head to glare at the draconequus. "Up to that point, Twilight is my friend. But even now, she is still my friend, as well as everyone else! I may not have shown it, but I still care for them as much as they all have for one another before you tore them apart. Maybe the Elements of Harmony are now unusable, but as long as there's somebody who still stands in your way, you have yet to achieve complete victory!"

Discord gave a mad laugh before saying, "Oh, you think you can defeat me?"

"Well, to be frank, by this point, I could care less if I even make it out of this alive!"

The draconequus seemed to be amused by this answer. "Oh, a death seeker, huh? Come on, you should chill out a bit. Besides, can’t you see that this is all just a game?" He threw his arms out to the side grandiosely. "My own little game of chaos, no rules, no points. Just me and all of you and chaos!" He smirked evilly. "A game that only I can win!"

"We'll see about that!" A blue aura burst around his body and the force of it blew his mane and tail upwards. The unicorn retained his hateful glare at the draconequus. "In the name of whatever deity that has conceived Princesses Luna and Celestia, I shall bring you down! For Equestria! For the worlds beyond! And most importantly, for…my…friends!" Immediately, the aura that covered him completely burst further in an bright and intimidating manner, forcing Discord to avert his gaze for a few seconds.

When he looked back, he saw that Chronicle's mane somehow turned spiky and more yellow. The blue aura was flowing violently, as if it was meant to intimidate.
The stallion then opened his eyes and it turns out that the sclerae and pupils have exchanged their colors; the former was now brown and the latter was now white. For some reason, this gave a chill up Discord's spine.



He fired up another spell and in a flash of light, he now possessed Glimmer Wings. Discord would've guffawed at their ridiculousness were he not fazed by the murderous intent he could see in Chronicle's eyes, not to mention the amount of power he was exuding.

The pony then folded his ears back, entered a charging position, then let out another huge snort. "My name is Chronicle! You brainwashed my friends! Prepare to die!"


In an instant, he was onto him with a flash-step, delivering a magically-enhanced punch to the face. While the Glimmer Wings weren't streamlined like pegasus wings and catch a lot of wind, they still did their job well; keeping him in the air.

Needless to say, Discord was momentarily shocked when the hit connected, probably from the fact that he got hurt. Chronicle didn't give him a chance to recover as he followed up his punch with a couple more, adding kicks whenever he can, using his wings to keep himself aloft. He managed to land seventeen hits before Discord caught him in his claw and hurled him away, sending him spinning.

However, for all his rage, the unicorn was surprisingly focused as he teleported out of sight. He reemerged from behind the draconequus, and landed another punch, this time on the back, forcing him to bend forward. Chronicle followed up this attack by 'unsheathing' his "magic horn blade", and swinging it on him leftwards. However, as his "blade" wasn't set to "phase through", he ended up pushing himself past the spirit and he quickly balanced himself to land on the ground on all fours.


Damn, looks like his skin is nigh-impenetrable. I put everything I had into that slash. Despite looking like he's lost it, he could still think coherently enough to do things like change tactics.

Chronicle rectified this error and slashed through Discord before he could regain his bearings. The resulting phase-through attack seemed to deal intense pain, but he wasn't going to stop with just that. He was going to inflict as much pain as possible. He only managed two more before Discord decided to teleport away.

His instincts, which turn out to be heightened by his current "form", told him that he was right behind him.


'Sheathing' his "horn blade", Chronicle let forth a giant shuriken of magic from his horn, which Discord playfully avoided by somersaulting to the side — quickly getting over his earlier shock and fear. 

"Whoo," he whistled at the leaving shot, "That might've hurt… if it, y'know, hit." He was answered by another three shurikens, which he answered to by coiling his body into a circle, head to tail, imitating a target. "Oh, good shot! Five, ten, twenty points!" He announced as they passed harmlessly through the loop. They were quickly followed by another, which met an equally pointless fate. "Yeah, you own that nothing in particular." And another… "Me. Hit me, not the tree." With a healthy dose of childlike laughter, he proceeded to weave through the onslaught with grace - dancing, spinning, rolling, and teleporting back and forth. And that was why he somehow failed to notice the unicorn 'hurl' an entire wall of shurikens until it slammed right into him, knocking him off his feet but not piercing through.

Chronicle followed this through by 'picking up' some random heavy boulders that "just happened" to be in the area. Normally, he'd experience difficulty 'carrying' them, but with his powers magnified he can 'lift' plenty with ease. Also, he wouldn't normally wreck the environment while fighting, but he didn't care anymore. Nothing but Discord's demise mattered to him now, and by every good deity he could think of apart from Celestia and Luna, he will carry out his promise.

He hurled them right at Discord, who recovered enough to turn them into random stuff before they could reach him. One became a giant gumball, another a fluffy pink cloud. One burst into flames, and another sprouted a top hat and began a song and dance number. One was even turned into a flock of "Angry" birds.


Chronicle changed tactics right that as he charged once again; if Discord's that evasive with shots, then coming up close and personal is the only way. 'Drawing' his "horn blade" he charged at Discord once again, only for him to bring up his tacky umbrella, fold it up, and use it to parry the attack. The draconequus spun and opened it to shield himself from a subsequent shuriken attack, and then turned it inside out, sending a deluge of chocolate milk rushing towards the unicorn, who brought up a barrier in time. Once the barrier faded, Chronicle's "horn blade" began to glow brighter and he rushed once more. 

Discord folded up his umbrella, ready to "clash blades" again, but upon swinging it to parry the unicorn's attack, the "horn blade" sliced through it like it was nothing more than paper. Chronicle then diced it into smaller pieces before landing an attack on the spirit and knocking him back. 


Discord, wincing a bit, asked, "Fun as this is, don't you think it's my turn?" he settled down on the grass and plucked a massive strand of…pink bubblegum from the air, as thick as a hoof. He twirled it like a lasso, twisting it into various shapes. He hurled it at the pony, who deftly cut it to pieces.

"You got the nerve to call this fun?! Once I'm through with you, you'll be nothing but a memory!" Chronicle flash-stepped close to Discord, then began to create five copies of himself, all "charged up" like he was and with the "magic horn blade" 'unsheathed'. Before the spirit could react, Chronicle and his copies began their assault in earnest. "I am going to kill you, and kill you, and kill you!"

Amidst the agonizing storm of blades, Discord managed to get away yet again, then create a contingent of distorted clones of Chronicle—which instantly dispatched the magical ones—to deal with him. But they were no match for the furious stallion.

"Eat this!" White sparks appeared around Chronicle's body before he released powerful bolts of magical energy all around himself, diverging in all directions, destroying all his distortions and striking Discord once more. The resulting attack seemed to mimic electrocution, if how the draconequus was reacting to it any indication…unless he meant to spasm around like that.


Chronicle decided to take this chance to deal a long "slash combo", which Discord responded to by resummoning his umbrella, good as new, to deflect the attacks. He seems to have reinforced it further so that it wouldn't break again. Discord then teleported right behind the unicorn and was about to spray him with bubblegum when his target teleported as well. But instead of behind, Chronicle emerged from the side opposite the umbrella and launched a ████load of "shurikens" at it and its holder, mercilessly tearing apart the entire area (a couple of empty market stalls) as well as the umbrella.

Immediately after that, he charged and followed up with a sequence of upward slashes, making nine before proceeding with another attack. Not missing a beat or letting Discord recover enough to counterattack, he shortened and lengthened his "magic horn blade" in rapid succession, doing a flurry of skewer attacks on the spirit. He managed to reach forty-two stabs before the last one ended up pushing Discord a fair distance.

He rushed in to close the distance, but Discord was very quick to recover this time and already had his counter-attack set. He managed to grab him and sweep him onto a wild dance. Chronicle brought his head down to slice the draconequus's smug mug, but he teleported away in the last second and a square in the checkerboard ground thrust itself upward, sending the unicorn high like a pinball and through two cotton candy clouds. 

It was the draconequus turn to charge, closing in on the unicorn for a sucker punch to the gut, but on impact it dissipated, having turned out to be a clone. The real Chronicle teleported in from behind, his Glimmer Wings dirty with cotton candy, but still workable thanks to him magically reinforcing them.


Before he could attack, a storm of pies assaulted him from the right, hitting his wings enough to render them unusable for flight. Losing the only thing keeping him in the air, he started to fall, only to teleport away. Discord expected him to reemerged from above and summoned a cotton candy cloud to catch and ensnare him. Instead, the unicorn emerged at another nearby cloud at 5 o' clock, his feet not sticking thanks to his water-walking spell, which actually worked on any substance he would normally fall through.

"PERISH!" he cried out as he 'elongated' his "magic horn blade", which was already aimed at Discord's gut. The spirit swimmingly evaded the blow, then gripped it with his talon.

"You have been quite entertaining but it can only last so long," Discord teased, reinforcing his talon with his own magic. Despite Chronicle himself being immune to his spells, his magic was fairer game once it was out of whatever 'shield' he had. Using his paw, the spirit created and hurled a ball of tree sap at the unicorn, which was easily repelled by a barrier. 

Chronicle 'shortened' his "blade" to his usual length, and replied "I agree." before flash-stepping out of the cloud and into Discord's face. The spirit prepared to weave out of whatever attack the pony was going to deal, but he didn't count on him teleporting again so quickly, this time from above and behind. He landed on Discord's neck, wrapped himself around it, then 'shocked' him with magical energy, exuding lots of pain.

"For, Luna, Celestia…" He named each pony he was sure Discord had affected while he was free. While he wasn't sure on Luna, the fact that the moon was wrested from her control made it all the more likely. "…the Crusaders, Dinky, Skyla, and Mystic Shield!"


The two slammed through a fountain, which was spouting out chocolate milk and the statue there in Discord's likeness. Amidst the rubble, Chronicle was blasted away by a beam of concentrated magic and slammed down a fair distance away. Discord emerged from the ruins of the fountain, irritated by the unicorn's persistence and perhaps the fact that he had to resort to something simple and boring. 

Chronicle quickly got back up and his horn glowed a brilliant blue as he prepared to cast a spell. "I'm ending this! Now!" All of a sudden, a "magic circle" appeared underneath Discord. Unlike the one he used to pin down Nightmare Moon, this was much stronger thanks to his current state. And surprisingly to both of them, the spirit found himself stuck as he attempted to move his legs and tail out to no avail, then saw also that he couldn't teleport out. Next, the "magic circle" acquired a clock pattern, complete with numbers from "1" to "12".


It's not known if this was a coincidence or not, but Chronicle was in line with the "7" and "1" in the circle. He then primed his "magic horn blade", then charged with all his might. As he did, his body became surrounded by a brighter version of his aura and now appeared white and black from an outsider's point of view.

As he began to see Chronicle make his way towards him, Discord realized that while he somehow can't free himself, he could still use his magic outside the circle. Snapping his talon, he created an upwards slope in front of him so that Chronicle will end up running up it and miss him entirely. However, what happened next caught him off guard completely; Chronicle somehow smashed through the slope and created a hole in it, still charging straight for him.

"This is for Applejack!" Chronicle cried out.

He slashed through him, then teleported so that he was a distance away once more and now in line with the "11" and "5" in the circle . Also, the "7" and "1" there now shone.

Discord snapped his talon again and a series of fire walls appeared in between the two, forming a labyrinth. Instead of slowing down and/or navigating around the walls, the unicorn just plowed straight through them. It didn't matter if the fires were real or not; he just conjured a barrier to ward them off.

"This is for Rarity!"

He slashed through him again and he teleported so that he was now in line with the "4" and "10", the "11" and "5" now shining. 

Discord's counter this time was a ginormous tsunami of chocolate milk. Milk or not, there's no way a unicorn could breach that wave with a barrier without losing speed or getting pushed back. No ordinary one, anyway; Chronicle once again defied the spirit expectations by plowing through the wave, not losing any momentum as his barrier diverted the liquid with ease.

"This is for Pinkie Pie!"

He repeated the process as he now lined himself with the "9" and "3", the "4" and "10" now shining.

With another snap of his talon, the cotton candy clouds in the sky unleashed green lightning bolts, which sprouted random obstacles—ranging from things like dancing boulders and balloons with dragon scale under them to bubblegum walls and 'mines'—from where they struck, and were effortlessly shrugged off by Chronicle's aura when they hit there. The obstacles were blown out of his path as well like they were nothing.

"This is for Rainbow Dash!"

Again he struck and again he teleported so that he was now in line with the "2" and "8", the "9" and "3" now shining.

Discord's next move was to create a trio of giant tornadoes filled with sugar. Even without the sweetener, this should surely veer him off course. However…

"This is for my dear Fluttershy!" Tears fell from his eyes like a sparkling stream as he said this, jumped, and magically spun like a drill, just to enhance the force of his blow. 

As he spun, he plowed through the tornadoes, immediately dissipating them on contact, building up his speed in the process. Taking these to his advantage, by the time he was through the third tornado, he reached Discord and struck him hard. And maintained his position instead of passing through. As a result, his attack continued for longer than usual before he teleported himself farther, now in line with the "6" and "12" (the "2" and "8" now shining), and no longer spinning.

In spite of his tunnel vision induced from this attack, he could see that Discord looked desperate. As if he was unable to think of some creative way to stop the rebellious unicorn, he charged up a beam of chaos energy from his hands, then fired it. Unlike last time, it didn't go straight but went in all different angles before hitting him. Unfortunately, he seemed to forget that Chronicle had some kind of barrier that nullified his magic and seemed to realize it as his beam just dispersed around the invisible barrier.

"And this is for Twilight Sparkle!"

His horn glowed brighter as he picked up speed. Just as he reached the draconequus, he jumped so that his 'magic horn blade' was now aimed at his head. He slashed right through and then landed on the ground behind Discord, his back turned to him.

Now that all 12 numbers shone, the seal began to shine brightly and create a magical dome around the draconequus. Behind him, he could hear the magic power do its explosive work, although he thought he heard Discord snap his fingers as well. A brilliant pillar of light emerged from the circle, completely engulfing Discord and sending a beacon into the sky.


Chronicle maintained his position to give himself a moment's rest as his mane, tail, and eyes finally reverted to normal. As his mind also cleared from all his anger and desire to end Discord's life, he practically felt the resulting light shine as it hopefully decimated the spirit. 

The "Time Seal Revenge", he recalled reading it from a book. It allows a unicorn to deal a massive amount of pain to one target. It needed a couple of specific conditions that happened to be met though. One, he needed to have at least three special somethings or someones to dedicate this attack to. (He had six special someones for this.) Two, these have to have been wronged somehow by the intended target. (Discord wronged them, all right, without a doubt.) Three, it had to be activated in a state of sheer rage. (Chronicle couldn't be any angrier than he was when he pummeled the draconequus.)

The rushing part was optional; any attack will do. It's a very complicated spell and with its conditions, it was highly impractical for battle and more suited for vengeance and finishing blows. Never thought I'd end up using it. Or did Moonbow's fortune influence my decision?

As Chronicle calmed down some more, the recent memories of the beatdown he delivered on Discord began to dawn on him. Wow. He was amazed with himself as he recalled just how much pain he inflicted. How was I able to release that much power? And utilize it in battle? I bet I might've gone hoof-to-hoof with Celestia like that. I'm surprised I was still focused enough not to pummel head-on over and over again. He also began to shudder in fear. Hold on. This kind of power… I've seen it before. My father has similar powers, even when not in alicorn form. If I remember correctly, his father hailed from V—

His thoughts were interrupted by a raucous laugh from behind and a slight chill went up Chronicle's spine; in spite of everything he did, Discord had survived the attack!


"O-ho-ho-ho-ho, that was hilarious!" he said. Chronicle didn't turn around. "You…yelling the names of each of your friends as you delivered what you thought would be your finishing blow on me. Oh, it drives me to tears!" After laughing for a while longer, his tone then turned serious. "I'm not about to go down from your kind of brute force, no matter how epic-looking it might be. And while you did say Twilight's name in your final blow, she isn't the most important reason you're attacking me, isn't she?"

Chronicle refused to answer. 

Discord then began to talk teasingly, "Oh, I know. It's that bearer of the Element of Kindness. Fluttershy, was it?"

Ignore him. Ignore him. Give yourself time to recover.

"You know, I don't understand why you hate me so much for what I did to her. I mean, compared to what I did to the rest, what I did to her was pretty tame."

"Actually…" Chronicle did his best to keep himself composed, in spite of wanting to lash out on him again. "Of all the things you've did, that was the most atrocious of them all. To turn the sweetest pony I've ever known in my entire life into a cruel and unsympathetic █████ who does bad things just for the ████ of it…" He finally snapped as he turned around to face Discord, once again bursting in an aura of magic, but without the spiky mane or color-reversed eyes. "I'll never ████████████' forgive you for that!!!"

"Ooh, language," teased the draconequus. "Because of your colorful mouth, I'm gonna have to step up my game." Discord then 'conjured' a sizable boulder for him to toss at the one immune rebellious pony. 

Chronicle widened his eyes in shock from Discord essentially stating that he didn't fight him at one-hundred of his potential. 

"Oh, come now. Did you really think that was my best? That you really had a chance of beating me? Then again, you said you didn't care. And that you would take me down, 'even at the cost of your life'? Well, I don't plan on letting it come to that, so I think I'm gonna settle with making you suffer." Discord made an evil smile as he hurled the boulder at Chronicle, who sliced it in half with his "magic horn blade" before charging at Discord again.

[A/N: Sorry, but I intend to do all the episodes on Season 3 as well, so in spite of all my hate for Discord, which was soon calmed down after one certain episode, Chronicle is not going to win. That would be a touch more unrealistic than it already is.]


C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D


Eyecatch (picture-type) - Discord is having the time of his life as he hovers behind Chronicle is utterly determined to defeat the spirit as he turns his head to face him. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D


Ten seconds later…

Chronicle continued to fight, even without whatever form he had assumed at the start of the battle. He has no idea how he entered that state, but it certainly required lots of rage. Unfortunately for him, not only has that rage been long since subsided, Discord's strategy has changed as well.


Right now, he was assaulted with a constant wave of an unknown substance. It stung something fierce, and he instantly cast a barrier around himself. For the second time since befriending the Bearers of Harmony, he found himself dangerously low on magic, the first time being when he transferred magic to Twilight during the Ursa Minor incident. As it was, when he reverted to normal, while he retained the magic he had during his "rage state", it was not much since he used plenty of it upon executing the "Time Seal Revenge".

And he only realized this just as he shielded against the stinging substance. He was running on empty, and he no longer had enough magic to teleport away to safety. In four seconds, he was finally depleted and as his barrier faltered, the liquid struck his body and inflicted serious pain and he fell over as Discord dismissed it.

"Do you feel the Schadenfreude?" Discord asked as he hovered over the unicorn.

"Why don't you just get it over with?" Chronicle spat. "Because if you don't, I will never stop trying to kill you."

"Like you ever had a chance? I'm the spirit of chaos and disharmony. It required both Princesses using the Elements to defeat me. What can one mortal pony do? Ta!" Discord then disappeared, probably to cause more chaos.


Chronicle struggled to get up, but found himself too fatigued. Dammit. Completely empty. I can't even access "hammerspace" to get the ether. Just then, his horn began to spark with magic. Oh no. What's happening to Twilight now… All of a sudden, he felt himself enveloped in a magical aura. From what he could see, it wasn't his own as it was in a magenta hue. And then, the most miraculous thing happened; he felt himself being filled to the brim with magic. Once the aura was gone, he wondered something, 'took out' Surveillance, checked on Twilight, and saw—

He couldn't believe his eyes; her's colors have been restored! But was this because of her? Or did his bond with the Elements of Harmony have something to do with it?

"It’s all so clear!" she was saying as she levitated Spike (who didn't look so good) up for a hug. Can’t you see?" She began to jump, floating him in a circle. "Discord’s trying to distract us from what’s important! He knows how powerful our friendships are and he’s trying to keep us from seeing it! Do you remember what I said the first day we arrived in Ponyville? I told you that the future of Equestria didn’t rest on me making friends. But the opposite is true! The friendships I’ve made since I’ve been here are what saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon." She levitated Spike into his basket. "And now they need to save it from Discord!"

His only response was a barely audible moan.

"You’re right, Spike. I’ve got to fight for my friendships. For them! For me! For Equestria!"

Chronicle decided that now was the time to speak up. "Glad to…see you're…finally back, …Twilight Sparkle."

She started up in surprise, then remembered Surveillance. "Chronicle? Where are you?" It then dawned on her. "…Oh no, don't tell me—"

"Yes. I am."

"Let me—"

"Help me by getting the rest of our friends back. We need the Elements of Harmony. They may not be our only hope, but it's the best one we got. Go. Now."

Before she could reply, he put it away and marched forward. If Discord were to find this out, he would be able to stop them, and possibly for good, so Chronicle decided to fight the spirit again. This time, he knew he wouldn't be able to kill Discord, but he could probably stall for time.


Deciding to catch his attention a different way, he launched a "giant shuriken" skywards. It did its job, and Discord returned. "Oh, Chronicle. Ready for round two so soon?"

"You bet," the unicorn replied with a severe expression.

"Before we begin, I'd like to tell you something."

Normally, Chronicle would not stand for small talk with the enemy, but given his new task, he decided to humor him. "Go ahead."

"I have to admit, you're the second mortal pony who's managed to hurt me, and you beat her by a landslide in terms of damage."

The unicorn couldn't help but be impressed. "Oh."

"See this tooth? The other mortal pony who hurt me knocked off the other one by bucking at supersonic speeds." 

Okay. Not as cool. Then again, she was a native, and I'm not.

"I did not like the pain and ended her. I guess you can say this is why I'm still cool with you even if you did deal a lot more. But if you insist on going on with this…oh well." 


Before Chronicle knew it, his legs were bound by bubblegum. Then they started to pull in four different directions, but not on the verge of tearing him apart. Before the unicorn could cast a spell, Discord lashed out another bubblegum whip and wrapped it around his horn. 

"Maybe I can't affect you directly, but there is always another way." The bubblegum that bound the unicorn's legs surfaced like underground ropes being pulled upward, nothing on the other end. "Let's see how much you can take." He snapped his talon and Chronicle was assaulted by what seems to be an invisible boxer hitting him from all directions and at all parts of his body. The legs, the gut, the posterior, the neck, and it only stopped when the unicorn was sure he could feel a bone break.

"Is… this kind of… brutality… your style?" Chronicle asked, still hanging on the bubblegum ropes.

"Not really. But like I said, I can't affect you directly." Discord snapped his talon and the ropes disappeared, letting the unicorn drop to the ground. "Ciao." With that, he vanished once again.


Dammit. I forgot I'm still tired. Chronicle could feel fatigue kicking in, as well as the pain Discord just doled out on him. Even with his magic restored, his stamina was dismally low thanks to his earlier… roaring rampage of revenge, and now his physical condition wasn't good either. 

Just then, he felt his legs wobble for a few seconds. Applejack. Then, an orange aura enveloped his entire body. This time, he felt not his stamina being restored, but his physical injuries completely wash away. Once the aura was gone, he checked his 'screen' and saw that Twilight had, to his slight disdain, restored Applejack.

"Wh…what happened?" he heard the farmpony say as she got up, presumably after Twilight knocked her down for some reason. "Twilight! Oh, I saw a vision of us feudin’ and fightin’." The purple unicorn seemed to smile in understanding. "I couldn’t face the truth, so I started tellin’ lies." She removed her hat. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"I already have." Twilight galloped off. "Come on!"

The restored blond pony allowed herself a fierce smile and followed, donning her hat. "That's great, Twilight," Chronicle called through Surveillance. "One down, four to go. And Applejack, either you forgot or ignored my instructions back in the maze, or Discord messed with them and/or your head. Either way, I'm gonna have a very stern talk with you after this."

The farmpony just lowered her head, thoroughly ashamed. "Yer right. I don't know what got into me when I saw those apples."

"Later. I'm about to get my flank kicked by Discord. I'll buy as much time as I can."

Before he could hear her reply, he 'stowed' away Surveillance, and took off once more, feeling almost like new. With that, he launched another "giant shuriken" skywards. 


It did its job, and Discord returned, and he was quite surprised to see the unicorn ready to fight again. Chronicle didn't give him enough time to utter a word as he drew his "horn blade" and lunged at Discord again.

Instead of following through, he flash-stepped right behind the draconequus and then followed through. But Discord seemed to be ready and teleported right behind him. He swung his talon, but the unicorn flash-stepped behind the draconequus and swung again, only for him to mimic his actions. This went on for a good while, and not always from behind. Sometimes it came from above, and when it did, it sometimes also came from below.

One of them slipped up, and unfortunately, it was Chronicle. He thought Discord was right behind him and teleported accordingly, but the spirit turned out to be at the side, and instead of another talon slash, Discord brought down a green lightning bolt from a cotton candy cloud above, electrocuting the pony continuously.

"How's this for a taste of your own medicine?" Discord taunted. "Did you know that because of their horns and magic, unicorns are more vulnerable to lightning than other ponies?" He then stopped the lightning, turned away, and pointed at something as the unicorn fell to the ground. "Oh, look. Is that a still-normal pony I see? Let me just twist her mind a bit, and I'll get back to you, okay?" He then teleported away.


I hope that's not Twilight… Chronicle hoped as he felt his heart beating fast. In spite of being effectively as good as new after that orange aura, he felt he was about to have a heart attack any second now thanks to that electrocution. Just as he thought it was coming, he felt his heart beat more rapidly. 

This is it. I can't take another step. 

Following that however was a pink aura enveloping his entire body. He then felt his heart slow its beating and he felt himself calm down. Once the aura was gone, he checked Surveillance and saw, to his relief, that Fluttershy was restored. She seemed to have been hogtied, probably to restrain her meanie-pants self.

"Thank you, Twilight," he sighed. "Thank you."

"Oh, no! Twilight! Applejack! I just had the worst dream!" the pegasus said.

"I wish it were, Fluttershy. I wish it were. Unfortunately, whatever you thought was a dream was all too real. And I'm gonna make him pay for making you like that!" Before he could hear her reply, he put it away and readied himself.


Discord appeared just a few seconds later. "I'm ba—" He was cut off by a back attack from the unicorn, who impaled him with his "horn blade". 'Turning off' the "phase through" setting, he then 'carried' the spirit and slammed him through a cardboard cutout of a house (which he began to regret), then to the ground on the side.

Since neither of them were standing, the draconequus slammed his lion paw on the ground and some of the checkerboard squares below them launched the unicorn into the air—turning him around as Chronicle crashed into the ground on the other side. He then teleported himself out of the "blade"'s grasp, and then—as he reemerged—summoned distorted versions of the unicorn.

These distortions summoned "magic horn blades" of their own, then charged straight for their lying-down original. Chronicle was quick to get up, flare his own "blade", and charged at his distortions as well. Before they could reach him, he teleported away, emerged behind them, then shot a flurry of "shurikens", destroying them all.

He proceeded to slash at the draconequus again, who brought up his umbrella to parry it. "You haven't learned, huh?" the unicorn taunted. "I can cut through that if I want to!" He increased his power and struck again…only for the umbrella to remain intact. "What?!"

"Oh, I've learned," the draconequus taunted. "I learned that your previous state increased your 'power level'. And that I can use my own magic to modify the properties of anything I make." He summoned two cotton candy clouds above and below the unicorn, then the bottom one began to deluge him with chocolate milk, raining it upwards. The torrent slammed him into the upper cloud, which started to 'fight back' with its own torrent.

Due to the quickness and the strength of the torrent, Chronicle couldn't focus enough to focus the rain-drinking spell at a point away from him to save himself. Before he could drown, the storm stopped and he was then sandwiched in between the clouds. To add insult to injury, Discord hovered over him and summoned a living gummy worm to wrap itself around the unicorn's horn, disabling his magic.

The draconequus began to laugh at the result. "A-ha-ha-ha-ha, looks like I outdid myself this time. I think I'll leave you for later. I got more chaos to spread!" With that, he disappeared and the 'cloud sandwich' fell to the ground, in the midst of a large puddle of chocolate rain.


Chronicle could feel completely constricted and bogged down by the chocolate that has dried up on his coat. Even though it was giving him a little extra energy, which he seriously needed, the combination of dried chocolate and cotton candy was considerably impeding his movements. Just then, he felt his eyes ache for a second. He felt something pull all the food off of his body, and then the cotton candy was violently blown away. The worm was gone too.

When the unicorn landed on the chocolate milk puddle, he saw that not only was a violet aura enveloping his body, he was completely squeaky-clean. Once the aura vanished, he checked Surveillance and saw that Rarity was restored. There came a scream, then he saw the boulder (which she had named Tom, turns out) being shoved out of the boutique.

"Let us never speak of this again," she said.

"You got it, Rarity," he spoke up. "Two more to go, Twilight."

He then terminated the communication, used the rain-drinking spell to suck up all the chocolate milk, not minding that he stepped on it and it was on the ground, and launched another "giant shuriken" skywards. When it didn't "summon" the spirit, he used his pinpointing spell on the area, hoping that Discord's signature was on them. After getting a reading, he cast an enhancing spell on his legs, and proceeded to jump across the rooftops of Ponyville.


C—TS—A—R—F—D—C—TS—A—R—F—D


Ten seconds of searching later, Chronicle located Discord, who was sitting on a throne atop a hill. He could see long-legged rabbits stampede past a house built of giant playing cards, a house he was hiding in. With a devious grin, in one swift move, he teleported behind the throne and shoved his "magic horn blade" through the backrest and Discord's unsuspecting back.


"Guess who?" he couldn't help taunting. He then sensed the draconequus teleport out of his 'hold' and re-emerged right behind him. 

"I know who." He delivered a sweep kick with his right dragon claw, but the unicorn flash-stepped behind him. "And I'll have to say I'm beginning to lose my patience with you."

"What can I say? If you don't put an end to me, I will never stop trying to do the same to you."

"And when will you accept the fact that you can't? The Princesses had a very hard time sealing me. A mere mortal like you can't hope to exceed them."

"Hey. Mere mortals defeated an immortal. I believe you know who." And my father's dealt with any of your ilk that invade our home base and home world.

"Oh, please. Nightmare Moon can't hold a candle to my power. You're barely even a flicker." He lashed out his tail at the unicorn…and realized it was a magical clone.

"Power isn't everything." A lance of energy pierced through Discord's throne and into his…gut. The instant it entered there however, the draconequus teleported right behind him and picked him up.

"And my throne is for me ONLY!" He then drop-kicked the unicorn into the sky with his left hoof. He then 'ordered' some of his clouds to go after him and bog him down again.

Chronicle quickly saw them coming and teleported…once Discord was out of his sights, so as to make him think they got him. Using the momentum from his being thrown, he re-emerged and bucked the draconequus in the chin, then flipped and rolled down the hill it was atop of. He then teleported again and reemerged at the rooftop of the card house, which did not topple from his weight.


Discord appeared in front of him a second later, and 'drew' his umbrella as the unicorn 'drew' his "magic horn blade" in response. "Admit it. Even if we didn't head for the maze, you still would've made one anyway if we actually headed to Ponyville like I intended."

"You intended?"

I sometimes go off on my own, but I do what I do for my friends. He didn't say this out loud as he swung his blade again, which was deftly deflected by the umbrella. He twirled his blade around, shortly disarmed the draconequus, then blasted him with "shurikens". 

Discord countered this by seamlessly weaving around the attacks, had the roof of the card house open up, throwing off Chronicle's balance as he ended up doing a split, and then had it closed up again before he delivered a side kick with his right dragon claw, sending him flying through some cotton candy clouds before crashing into a random chocolate milk lake.


The unicorn surfaced, feeling a bit discouraged that he has to fight this long. With his "rage state" gone, and with no immediate way to re-entering it, he was beginning to have doubts. Even though defeating Discord was no longer the point now, he could feel himself losing the will to continue. 

I can't go on like this. Why am I even still fighting? Shouldn't I just call for Story Crew help right about now? Suddenly, he felt his tail twitch, and then a cyan aura enveloped his body. He just knew that Pinkie Pie was restored, and—somehow—any uncertainty that began to fester was instantly dispelled. No. I can't give up! My friends are counting on me! And I'm not about to let them down!The only time I call on the Story Crew for help is during the bleakest of times, and this is certainly not bleak.

Once the aura disappeared, he checked Surveillance and saw Pinkie Pie, back to normal as he suspected, giggling while on a wheelbarrow pulled by Applejack.

"Oh, and I…I turned gray! Can you believe it?" she was saying.

"All right, Twilight," he called. "All that's left is Rainbow Dash. Please hurry. I don't know how much longer I can last. Make every second I buy you count." 


Without waiting for a reply, he put it away again, used his rain-drinking spell to consume some of the lake. Then he took out the ether bottle he got from Zecora's hut and took a swig, feeling his magic return. Before he could take off however, he got a tingling feeling that came with drinking too many fluids.

He had to go relieve himself. 

Dammit. Why now of all times?


C—TS—PP—D—C—TS—PP—D—C—TS—PP—D


A quick break later…

Chronicle gave a sigh of relief as he exited from a candy cane bush. "To think I had to resort to this. I'm adding another reason to deck Discord; the chocolate milk is too delicious." Taking a look around, he found that he wasn't that far off from Discord's throne. And the draconequus was busy eating a cotton candy cloud.

This will be my last, he thought. If I know her, Rainbow will be notoriously difficult to catch. And she'll be in the air. I hope Twilight knows a slow spell, or Fluttershy gets the necessary adrenaline rush.


Flaring his horn, he attempted to pull off a spell he saw on a book that he had been about to practice before the chaos began; to render invisible his magic, or at least when it leaves him in the form of a projectile. Concentrating on what little he has memorized of it, he formed the "shuriken" in front of his face. He then concentrated on making it disappear. Slowly, it faded until he couldn't see it save for a faint outline, which the book said was what he should see. Focusing some more, he finally launched the "shuriken" at Discord. 

His invisible attack hit the glass of chocolate milk he was drinking…and it went kaboom in his face. Disoriented for a bit, he glared in the presumed direction of the attack…and saw Chronicle giving a smirk as the unicorn readied himself to fight once more. The draconequus swiftly arose from his seat, his expression severe. "You sure are a glutton for punishment, are you, Chronicle?" he said, feeling furious for the second time since his freedom.

"You better believe it!" he retorted as he charged, "magic horn blade" on the ready. Ten seconds however, what seemed to be a "sugar"-storm buffeted him from behind, blowing him forward in a tumble. Discord was already at the bottom of the hill and he had a golf club on the ready. 

The unicorn immediately formed a barrier around himself, inadvertently conjuring an orb around himself, which he now began to roll in. The draconequus swung and hit him like one would a golf ball. It smashed through the barrier, but the blow was softened enough so that it wasn't a disorienting one. As Discord followed through, he saw Chronicle fly a good mile before teleporting back to the ground, where he dug his feet into the ground to slow himself down.

Before he could regain his bearings completely, Discord made the ground below him thrust itself up, sending him sailing into the air once more. As he did, he figured that getting a 'status report' was now imperative as he 'took out' Surveillance just enough to get into audio contact.


C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D—C—D


Meanwhile, Twilight and company finally tracked down Rainbow Dash, who was resting on a cloud, uncaring for the world and thinking the cloud was Cloudsdale. Since it was impossible to get her down as she was too high, they decided to head up to her level, "borrowing" one of the Twinkling Balloon Services hot-air balloons. Miraculously, one has been spared from Discord's magic and was quickly set to work.

On the balloon, they ascended right behind the indolent pegasus, who they saw was asleep on her cloud and snoring mightily. Applejack was riding on top of the balloon, Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity in the basket, and Fluttershy flying separately and checking to make sure Rainbow was not faking. Seeing she wasn't she then flew up to the balloon, which has stopped a short distance above.

"Okay, Fluttershy," Twilight whispered. "You grab Rainbow Dash and hold her down." A rope end tied in a loop was lowered to her. "Applejack will lower me down from this rope so I can cast the memory spell on her." Above, Applejack waved vigorously while holding the other end of the rope. "Chronicle's buying us time. We better not waste it."

Fluttershy gave a salute— "Got it!" —then dropped into a fast dive and braked to a stop alongside the cloud, her whole body tensed for a pounce onto the sleeper. Just as quickly, she relaxed and prodded Rainbow gently. "Um, I’m just wondering if it’s okay if I hold you down against your will for a little bit?"

Realizing that her friend’s timid nature had come back at the worst possible moment, Twilight groaned and clapped a hoof to her forehead while Rarity rolled her eyes. 

The query did, however, bring Rainbow out of her nap in a hurry. She lets off a disdainful little snort. "Nice try! Ponyville’s your problem, not mine." She then, dropped back onto her cloud, wrapping all four legs around it, and zoomed away in a gray/white blur. 

Fluttershy was left perplexed as a doubled-up rope was dropped to her. "Come on, Fluttershy!" Twilight called one end tied to each hoof. "We gotta catch her! We can't let Chronicle's efforts be in vain!"

The yellow flyer clamped her teeth around the rope and got her wings going, but it soon became clear that she was trying to fly above her weight class.

"Oh, I wish Chronicle had at least sent a clone or something. He'd be a great help right now," the purple unicorn groaned to herself.

"But he's currently fighting Discord," Rarity pointed out. "And it's because of what happened to us he's doing it in the first place. I don't think he can spare a moment to be distracted."

"Rarity's right," Pinkie said. "He's counting on us to do this."

"Hey, girls." Chronicle's voice came from somewhere, getting looks of confusion from all the mares in the area, including the corrupted pegasus, and then all but Rainbow remembered that he can communicate with them via Surveillance. "How's the search?"

"We found her," Twilight answered. "It's just a matter of catching her."

"What do you mean catching her? She's on the move?" Suddenly, a lightning strike could be heard from his location and a cry of pain followed. A thump followed.

"Chronicle! Are you okay?"

"I've had worse scrapes," he grunted. "Don't lose her!"

"All right." She then snapped the rope reins on Fluttershy. "Hyah!"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


Back with Chronicle, he was now defending himself against torrents of chocolate milk coming from all sides with a sphere barrier. For some reason, he was contemplating on why it was always chocolate milk and decided to ask him. "Hey, Discord. Is chocolate milk the only liquid you can make?"

"You're on the verge of defeat, and still you have the audacity to taunt me?!" Discord seethed as he unleashed a bolt of electricity from the clouds above.

Uh oh. The liquid instantly became electrifying, even though the fact that it was not water should've changed something. The electricity began to make cracks in the barrier, but he held it before it suddenly fell apart and he fell to the ground with a thud.


"Pinkie! You were supposed to secure the rope!" the unicorn heard Rarity say.

An "Oops." came in reply from the party pony.

"Don't screw this up now…" he growled. 

"Talking to yourself?" Discord asked. "Now that's something even I would find crazy. I'd just make another me to do that." He then unleashed a gout of flames, which took the form of swarming ferrets.


"Rarity, Pinkie, hold on!" Chronicle heard Applejack say as he formed another force field around himself. "Y’all are slowin’ her down!"

"Oh, Fluttershy, would you be a dear and fly faster, please?!" he heard Rarity cry out.

From what he could hear from the yellow pegasus, she was shuddering. "I can’t!"

"If you can’t catch her, Discord wins!" Twilight called. "And everything Chronicle has done for us…will be for nothing!"

Just as said unicorn heard her say that, he failed to notice said draconequus snap his talon…and a small column of earth erupted from underneath, slamming right into his gut.

Losing concentration in the barrier, he was sent flying from the attack, screaming in agony at the top of his lungs as he was plowed through a few "fire ferrets" before crashing into the ground. As he landed and tumbled, he began to pass out from the pain and battle fatigue. Just before losing consciousness, he heard the following words.

"That…big…dumb…meanie!"

And as he then heard the wind pick up from where those words were spoken, he was out like a light with a smirk on his face. He didn't intend to cry out in agony, but it turned out to be the proper incentive. As they had learned back when they went to request Basil to leave, a friend getting hurt was all that was needed for Fluttershy to push herself past her limits.


C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—D—C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—D


He didn't know how long he was out. He didn't even dream. But he suddenly felt an aching sensation at where his wings would be were he a pegasus. Then, something washed over his entire body, giving him enough energy to open his eyes. What he saw surprised him a bit, from what he could see from his hooves in front of him, he was surrounded by a red aura. 

From what he could deduce in spite of his blurry senses, or most likely just hope, he just knew that they did it; Rainbow Dash was back. Finally. He gave a smile of satisfaction as the aura faded… 

"Wh…what happened?" he heard the speedster say. "How’s Ponyville? Where are the Elements? Did we stop Discord?"

Before he could attempt an answer, he could feel himself get picked up by a taloned hand.


"Well, well, well, you proved way too much of a nuisance for my tastes," he could hear Discord say as he was positioned to meet his eyes. "Now that you're absolutely wiped, I'm sure whatever protection you have that is barring me from affecting you is gone."

Chronicle then felt a finger of Discord's lion paw on his forehead and he began to expect the worst. He could feel intense pain as it woke him up and he screamed. He could also hear the panicked cries of his friends as they presumably heard it through Surveillance.

However, it turns out that pain was just from the pressure of Discord's finger on his head. His mind was still the same, and when he weakly raised a hoof, he saw that his hoof was still deep blue. The next thing he knew, he was dropped to the ground. "Oww!"

"Guess I was wrong. You have stopped being amusing. I think I'll just leave you here and revel in your defeated state."

Severely beaten up, Chronicle tilted his head up and saw that he was in front of Discord's throne. The house of cards was to his left. And before he could think of anything else, he was run over by a stampede of long-legged bunnies. Now pain was all that was in his mind. He still had sufficient magic left, but with his objective accomplished, he decided to just rest as much as he could.

It's up to you now, Twilight. Succeed in what I tried and failed to do.


Thankfully, he only had to wait only one hundred sixty seconds before he heard some voices cry out his name. 

"Chronicle!"

There were galloping hooves and once they stopped, he saw his charge nudge his head to try and get him to stand up to no avail.

"Are you okay?" asked Twilight.

"If you mean 'okay' as in 'still alive', then yes," he managed to say. He noticed that all of them were now wearing their Elements of Harmony, the two pegasi in the air. "Just go and do your thing. I've done my part. Now it's time for you to do yours."


He turned his head back at Discord, who was filling his glass with chocolate milk from a cotton candy cloud. The action was normal enough, except for the fact that the glass filled from the top down rather than the bottom up. As the cloud moved away. "Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing," the draconequus said as he got ready to drink.

Twilight decided now was the perfect time to cut in. "Not as wonderful…as friendship!"

Discord gave a loud groan. "This again?" He drank his glass—literally, leaving the milk, which retained its cylindrical shape. The chunk of milk was then thrown back over his shoulder, exploding after it landed somewhere behind him.

"That’s right!" said Applejack. "You couldn’t break apart our friendship for long!"

Discord lifted a glowing lion-paw digit. "Oh, Applejack, don’t lie to me." His powers dragged her ahead by the necklace she wore and hoisted her up for a face-to-face chat. "I’m the one who made you a liar." 

How could he not see it? Am I the only one who can, or has he become arrogant while I was busy hurting?

Lifting his talon forearm, he gave all the others but Twilight a dose of the same to leave her standing alone with the downed Chronicle. "Will you ever learn?"

"No!" the stallion weakly cried out. We've come this far, only to— His thoughts were interrupted when his supremely exasperated charge teleported herself to the center of the midair ring formed by the other five. Her next move caught the unbalanced tyrant completely off guard: a spherical pink force field that enclosed all six of them, breaking his grip, and floated them gently down to ground level. 


The field flexed slightly like an inflated rubber ball, and as its lower portion phased through Chronicle, he felt his energy return once again. Again… I just know I'm gonna drop for good sooner or later. The 'bubble' flattened out upon making contact with the ground around him, this patch turning from blue checkerboard to ordinary green grass as the energy dissipates. He heard everypony touch down or hover within its perimeter.

Discord was slightly puzzled, but still amused, from this, even as the stallion got up on his feet.

"I’ll tell you what we’ve learned, Discord," Twilight said as the seven ponies advanced. We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy, but there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for!" 

He leaned down to them. "Ooh, gag! Fine, go ahead, try and use your little Elements. 'Friend' me. Just make it quick." A flash took him back to his throne, where flying pigs were passing by. "I’m missing some excellent chaos here."

Chronicle couldn't help but snort a bit at "'Friend' me.", then shook off the thought as he prepared himself, charging his hooves with a spell. He had no idea what the Elements of Harmony planned to do, but he intended to make his mark this time, and earn his place on the stained glass. I know the Story Crew's likely to erase this piece of evidence upon sending it to their client worlds, but it will remain at least in my memory.

"All right, ladies. Let’s show him what friendship can do!" Twilight said.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Pinkie cried out. As it was, she was standing under a raining pink cloud with mouth open to catch the sweet brown stuff. Her happy little gargle drew six confused/embarrassed/fed-up stares, but she quickly joined the squad with a fierce snarl, her face and mane now clean. 


Pink light spread outward from Twilight’s tiara to encompass the others, who actually meant business this time, but Discord’s only reaction is a bored yawn. Now, though, the cutie-mark jewels began to throw off their own radiation, followed by beams that flew past Discord’s head and leave him really bewildered.

"Huh. What’s this?" he wondered, then saw more shots fly around. He also saw Chronicle's legs glowing brightly. "No."

Twilight’s eyes blazed white, as do those of the other five as the entire group rose into the air. The stallion remained on the ground, but it was apparent that he was ready to make his move. A multicolored blast wave similar to that from a Sonic Rainboom exploded outward from them. In addition, a broad rainbow shot skyward. A second after that, Chronicle jumped right after it as it reached the peak of its arc. As it began to thunder down toward the incredulous whatever-the-heck-it-is that has turned Ponyville upside down and inside out, it also passed straight through the stallion.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!" 

As Discord screamed the rainbow engulfs him and he slowly froze into solid stone, working from the tail up. He then looked up, and saw that Chronicle, his eyes glowing white like the others, was running down the rainbow as he primed his "magic horn blade".

"For Equestria!" He then let out a battle cry as he began to spin like a drill, taking the harmonious energy around him and speeding up until he felt himself collide with (and skewer through) the spirit just before the petrification reached his disbelieving, open-mouthed face.

From one who was seeing all this from the outside, the rainbow split into two copies that folded out and down to either side toward the ground. The hemisphere described by their movement grew in brightness until it had gone pure white.


When the light faded, Ponyville was back to normal. Grass, sky, houses—everything is back as it should be, and the Six bearers descended gently to it. Discord, on the other hand, took a rather faster and less pleasant trip down when his petrified form toppled onto the grass. A panting Chronicle landed a second later next to it.

He turned to the girls, who landed after using the Elements, gave a smile, and said, "We did it." 

All of a sudden, the fatigue from his "finishing blow" as well as this entire ordeal crashed onto him once his adrenaline rush had passed and he began to pass out. Before he collapsed to the ground, he heard the six of them crying out his name, and a certain pegasus's worried face as she quickly closed the distance was the last thing he could remember before unconsciousness took over.
> Extra 1: The Wounds That Remain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Extra 1: The Wounds That Remain


"Final Words in a Dark Future"


If anybody's reading this, I will have already been long gone from the dimension of the living. In layman's terms, or laypony's, or just to put it simply, it means I'm dead.

I have spent the past two to three years as a bodyguard-for-hire who also takes side jobs. Over the months, I have traveled far and wide and have met plenty of ponies. I have learned much through my charges, but not as much as when I entered the service of Princess Celestia where she would make a contract that would bind me to Twilight Sparkle.

I know that I do not bear an Element of Harmony, but I have one thing they don't; experience in battle. Sure, Applejack and Rainbow Dash might give me a hard time, but I'm sure I can beat them if all bets are off.

It may be too late or a moot point by now given the events that have led me to make this letter, but I now realize I have deeper feelings for one of my friends, and it's not with Twilight Sparkle, as much as a 'bodyguard crush' would imply. 

I've been warned not to make strong attachments, but with the fact that the resident heroes' power is friendship, I felt I had no choice.

Anyway…

Here's what happened. The Elements of Harmony were stolen. Twilight thought they were in the maze, and I thought otherwise. I voiced my opinion, but I couldn't split off from them as they needed me.

And then after my friends wings/horns were removed, we all realized something else about me; I was immune to Discord's magic, which we all, even he, found puzzling. Nevertheless, I followed his rules just like the others. You may think I was lucky, but it only made the pain all the worse. Personally, I wish I could've been corrupted just like the others. In the maze, Discord cut us all off from one another, though I managed to stick with my charge. 

"Stop for nothing. Stop for nobody. You'll know when it's me when I give the signal." Well, that was the basic gist of the warning I gave my friends. But did they listen? Apparently not. And for some reason, Twilight either doesn't realize it or she had been planning something and not telling me. Again. Really, why can't they tell me stuff? Is it because I'm a stallion? Is there something in me that makes them not deem me trustworthy sometimes? 

Either way, my friends fell to his magic one by one. And each time, my body reacted negatively to the effects because of a bond with the Elements that has formed within me, probably due to my indirect exposure to them when they were first used to purge Nightmare Moon from Princess Luna.

At the end of the maze, I had a mental falling out with Twilight and left her to go off on my own. I was so angry with her. How could she be so stupid?! I felt that they were so useless; that's why I left them to go off on my own and find help. That, and Fluttershy had been changed so drastically I couldn't bear to be in her presence. It was like a gut-punch to the heart.

However, upon arriving at Ponyville, I realized things were much worse. Every step I took, everywhere I turned, every place I went, his magic had done serious damage. A few times I had to escape or fight, and everything I saw added another cut into my already aching heart. Zecora had vacated her home, although I didn't know how long she would last. And the Doctor was safe too, though one of his companions Derpy Hooves wasn't.

Speaking of Derpy, she was the last one I confronted—a vicious mare with no love for her despaired daughters—before I saw a familiar flash of light. I somehow knew it was the Elements in action, but when it faded by the time I came, I saw Discord teleport off, and my friends break up. And finally, even as I rushed to stop it, I couldn't stop his magic from consuming Twilight completely. I was completely devastated and I did something I promised myself never to do. I cried in despair.

I stopped eventually. It never helps if I keep at it for too long. I then checked my Surveillance to find answers. Each scene I witnessed was heart-rending, but upon seeing that Discord was directly responsible for what happened to Fluttershy, I knew there was one thing I must do. He. Must. Die. Not just for Equestria or the worlds beyond it. This matter became personal.

With that in mind, I set off to find him, even when the now corrupted Twilight said it was a hopeless cause. I didn't listen as I ran off. I didn't care anymore. All that mattered what that that draconnequus's life must end. I eventually found him, and gave him what for.

As it was, Twilight was correct, but it didn't matter. I knew not if I was holding out for a miracle or just being plain suicidal. As it was, either it was the latter or the miracle wasn't going to rescue me. In any case, it was the end for me. In an out-of-character act of mercy, Discord permitted me to write this letter. 

Since I was at his mercy, I had no other choice. Also, he had a large boulder over my head to crush me with. While it was too dull for him, given my invulnerability, he had no other choice either and he was growing tired of my persistence. Well, before he finally decides to crush me out of my misery, there is one final thing I have to say to him; He can go to the deepest pits of Tartarus for all I care.

- Timmy "Chronicle" Timer, Status: K.I.A.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


The first thing Chronicle did at the end of such a horrible nightmare was fling himself from a lying-down position. The second thing was to look around, and realize that something was up, panting and looking around confused.

He lay in a low round bed, a fire was burning in the fireplace nearby, the entire floor was purple, and the walls were a royal blue.


"Where…am I?" he asked himself.

"I see you're finally awake," a soothing voice came.

He turned his head, and was surprised at who he saw. "Princess Celestia? Wait, awake? For how long have I been asleep?"

"Three days."

"Three days?!" 

"From what I've observed, you've somehow used way too much magic than you should logically be able to. More than twice, I think."

This confused him a bit, but his mind was immediately on something else. "Wait. Discord! Where is he? Did we beat him?" All he received was a nod. "Okay. But why am I here in Canterlot instead of Ponyville Hospital?"

"The reason why you're here is because I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

"Huh?"


C—PC—C—PC—C—PC—C—PC—C—PC—C—PC


Two ponies began to walk down an hallway in the castle. One was basically the ruler of Equestria and possessed great power. The other was a mere unicorn who, while not possessing as much power, was well-versed in combat, and for some reason not part of the Royal Guard. The latter was also levitating a bottle of bourbon whiskey he requested from the kitchens and the former granted.

"So…your Majesty," Chronicle started. "What is it you wish to talk about?"

"About you," the princess replied.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Uhh… what about me?"

"Well, it's about that burst of power I sensed in Ponyville. I know Twilight Sparkle's magical signature very well, and that surge I felt did not come from her or Discord."


Chronicle paused in his walk, the bottle still beside him. "And you're thinking it came from me?"

Celestia did so as well. "Yes. While reports of such things are rare, some books have records of exceptionally magically inclined unicorns performing a “rage-shift”. This shift occurs when a unicorn’s anger feeds into their magic to cause a physical change to the unicorn’s body. There's no other unicorn I could think of with such exceptional magic than Twilight and you.

"Most rage-shifts are temporary and rarely utilized except only for expressing anger or intimidating another individual. Yours however, was not only longer-lasting, but your power seems to have been amplified immensely. At that moment, your power only fell short to mine and my sister's."


"Oh yeah, speaking of your sister, just where was she during all this?"

"Luna? Well, as it turns out, when Discord was set free, he cast a spell so that she wouldn't be noticed by any of us. And she was also incapable of making physical contact or forming any sort of message. She's currently recovering, as is everypony."

"I can see how maddening that could be. To be nothing more than a ghost, yet without their intangibility. Not to mention the prospect of a life forever alone, I could almost see Nightmare Moon returning." Chronicle shuddered at the thought  as the two of them resumed walking.


"You know, you're the second mortal pony who has actually injured Discord."

"Oh? He did tell me about that one. According to him, she knocked out one of his teeth by kicking him at supersonic speeds. She died in the end though."

"Her name was Mimic. One of the greatest unicorns in the past. Before Luna and I discovered the Elements of Harmony."

"She must've been as valiant as I was. Maybe she didn't even do what she did out revenge for her friends… unlike me."

"We'll never know. Neither Luna nor I got the chance to know her well enough before Discord killed her."

"Oh."


A minute of silence ensued, after while Celestia decided to start up another subject. "I know I might've invaded your privacy doing this, but during the time you were unconscious, I took the time to study your magic. After learning that the rage-shift I felt came from you and how different it was from usual ones, I was had to say I was curious with what I discovered." 

Chronicle was disturbed by this. "What did you see?"

"Your magic, while it works the same way an ordinary unicorn does, there is some sort of…difference when it comes to limits. Normal magic-users like them and alicorns like me have thresholds that stops us from using magic for casting spells for too long. As for you, you can keep on casting and casting for much longer without suffering overchanneling as long as you have enough magic in you."

The unicorn was a little confused with her explanation. "Uh…what?"

"Let me try this again. Typically, unicorn magic works like a generator; it keeps working until it overheats. For your magic, it operates like a device that runs on fuel; it only stops working when you run out."

"Ah."


At this point, the two found themselves at the throne room. Curiously, there were no guards. The two were now in front of a new stained glass window. "I saw how disappointed you were when you weren't depicted in the image that showed Nightmare Moon being defeated, no matter how hard you tried to hide it."

The new window commemorated the valor of the heroes who defeated Discord. At the bottom were the six Bearers of Harmony (Applejack without her hat, again), and at the top was the draconequus transfixed in the Elements’ power. Above him however was another pony. It was a depiction of the unicorn who valiantly confronted the spirit to buy time for the Elements to be gathered together once more. And it showed him with his "magic horn blade" drawn, as if to deliver a finishing blow.

Chronicle couldn't help but smile and shed a single tear of joy; he finally earned his place on the stained glass. "Thank you, your Majesty." He turned to a clear window and walked towards it. "No words can express my grati—" He stopped short upon seeing something.


Through a window next to a full-length mirror, he found himself looking over the Canterlot Statue Gardens, where he and his friends entered the labyrinth and made a very critical mistake when they faced Discord. He could see his petrified form there, posing as one of the many statues. This made him frown. "Your Majesty, why is Discord out here in the garden? I figured that after all this you'd put him someplace much more secure."

"I understand your worry. But you see, no matter where I keep him, no matter how secure it is, the prospect of him being unleashed, even by accident, just keeps nagging me. I keep feeling I need to check on him to see if he's still imprisoned, especially after I had to banish my sister to the moon. Besides, the garden is on royal property, which is protected by my guards. If I had placed him in some other forbidden place, some poor pony might stumble upon him and accidentally release him."

"What about, say, a secret chamber in the castle?"

"Then I'd have to take a fair amount of time to make visits there, time I could have taken in running the kingdom. Also, same deal. That's why I put him in the gardens, where it's not only well-guarded, I can also just spend a few seconds to see for myself if Discord's still there or not."

"That…actually makes perfect sense."

"I also put him there as a monument to one of our greatest triumphs."

"I see." He then gave a sigh. "I very well know we won a great victory here, but this feels like my fourth greatest failure."

Celestia was curious. "Fourth?"

"I've had three before, though not as great as this. The first was when some assassins—out of many—carried out their mission on a charge of mine."

"Out of…many?"

"Yes. She was quite a big target, and I failed to protect her. Do you know why I use the -body suffix more than -pony? It's because of a wish I made on a shooting star—or was it a wishing well?—to try and protect her. Silly, I know. I wished that for at least one day, nopony would so much as harm her. I slacked a bit as a result, and that ended up in my charge's assassination. The reason the wish didn't work was because the successful assassins were not ponies, but a zebra-griffon duo.

"The second failure was when another charge of mine was kidnapped by cultists, who I now remember were supporters of Discord, I'm sure you know about that. I hadn't been paying enough attention during the kidnapping, as I had been busy beating the living daylights out of the cultists. By the time I realized she was gone, I took it to myself to rescue her. I think I killed a lot of them that day when I infiltrated their base. But it was all for naught, for by the time I found her, she had suffered…Cutie Fracture, and ended her own life days later."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But, you know, the day you rescued her was the day you eliminated the last of them."

"I guess that softens that blow a bit. Moving on…the third was when I accidentally killed my charge, who had a reputation of being a molester of mares. Not one of my finest times, even worse than Prince Blueblood. Despite constantly reminding her that I was a stallion, one night I found myself at her mercy. I had a rough tussle with her and…I knocked her head into a dresser. Luckily for me, the only witness to the scene was somepony who didn't really like my charge and let me go scot-free."

"That doesn't sound like something that would be like a great failure. Unless it was on your pride."

"…Oops. Must've confused it with another case. My real third greatest failure did involve a molester, but it wasn't my charge. Rather, it was a pony I was supposed to be protecting my charge from. She never forgave me after that and for a while discredited me, making it difficult for me to find a job." He turned to his bottle. "And now, I'm going to do… what I always do… whenever I suffer such a great failure."

"Drown your sorrows?" Celestia guessed.

"That's right. Just this one bottle, I promise." He prepared to open the bottle, not caring that the Princess of the Sun was right in front of him. "I'm pretty sure you did something like this after… Nightmare Moon. But I'm not gonna ask if it's true."

"Well, before you do that, there is something I'd like to ask you."

"Anything, Your Majesty."


He shouldn't have said that. "Where are you from, really?"

"Um…what?" He was genuinely confused with the way she asked him. He felt that giving the 'default' answer would be perceived as a lie.

"You're not the only 'foreigner' who has entered this world, you know. Your records were plausible enough, but that of your 'family' raised a few questions."

What?! Dad swore that Uncle Reggie covered every agent so that the Undead Tax Exemption clause is averted. Personal records, official citizenship, birth certificates, everything. He's basically our professional fraudster, and one of the best at that. How could she have seen through them?

Celestia noted his silence and surprised face and gave a face that meant she knew she was on the right track. "I seem to be onto something. Please, what is your purpose for being here? Do you or do you not have any ill intentions for being in Equestria?"

Chronicle was left speechless, and was hyperventilating. He hadn't been prepared for this, for having been found out. No Field Operative ever is. Normally, the Story Crew would 'swoop in' and do selective memory wipes, which would work even on somepony like Princess Celestia. 

Before he could sputter any sort of reply, the mirror they were nearby suddenly had ripples, as if it were a pool of water. Once it stopped, there was a number.


70.3 Kiimehertz


Celestia raised an eyebrow at this, motioned for Chronicle to stay put, approached the mirror, leaned forward, and touched her horn to it.

The frequency of magic vibrated the mirror, ripples forming in the center and pooling outwards again, like a drop of water in a pond. Her reflection bent and wavered in the undulations, the form on the other side undergoing a change. For a few seconds longer, she held the frequency, before stepping back and taking another look. Standing on the other side of the mirror was—


"I figured it would have come to this," Lord Record Keeper, in his alicorn form, spoke.

"Father?!" Chronicle couldn't help but cry out.

"Yes, son." Record turned to face him. "After I sensed your…power surge, I just knew your discovery was inevitable." He then turned to face Celestia. "I am addressed as Lord Record Keeper, but you need not call me by my title. It is an honor to meet you, Princess Celestia." He lowered his head in a bowing gesture.

Celestia seemed to be trying to hide the fact that she was stunned to see him, keeping a stoic face. 

Record continued as he raised his head. "I know I might have entered at an awkward time and probably a shock to see another alicorn, but I know what you were about to ask my son. Don't worry, I'll explain all you need to know. But before I can answer your question, I'd like you answer me this. I probably know the answer, but I'd like to hear it from you; what do you know of alternate worlds?"

The princess was allowed a full minute to recover from the fact that somepony other than Prince Solaris was on the other side of the mirror. "It's…a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Record Keeper. You seem to be familiar with this sort of mirror, and the fact that you were able to reach out to me shows that you know that I can communicate across worlds."

"And what worlds have you been in touch with?"

"Only one. That would be one where everypony's genders are swapped."

"Would its ruler happen to be Prince—not Lord—Solaris?"

There was a moment of silence as she was mildly surprised that he knew of him, then answered, "Yes."

"I see. Before I begin, I would like to request that this conversation never leaves this room. Nobody, not even your sister, can know of this through you."

"Through me?"

"During your student's teleportation mishap that took them and my son to Prince Solaris's world, Chronicle had to do the same thing after a slip of the tongue of our pony assigned there." He was being careful in his words, not wanting to explain that that assigned pony was his daughter. Not yet. 

Celestia was startled for a bit. "How do you know about that?"

"Allow me to explain the nature of this…Timer family…"

Of course, after this, the Story Crew will come in and inhibit her memories of this incident so that it will not influence her decisions not related to alternate worlds. I'll be pulling plenty of strings here, Record thought as he began to explain in the form of a prepared cover story that would not revel their true (but not sinister) purpose. 

He told Celestia that he, Chronicle, and the rest of the family are part of a multiversal police force tasked mainly (not solely) with preventing cross-world scenarios and off-world invaders. When the princess inquired on the incident Record mentioned he replied, "For every one of those incidents that has happened, we have averted at least a hundred more."

She almost asked him of his involvement with her faithful student and her friends before remembering that she gave him a contract for him to sign that assigned him to them.

[A/N: I really hate cutting off from here, but I don't want to go into the finer details of the Story Crew not covered by the Specials in the (NOT) Chapter ##s. Partly because I'm still building up on them myself. ]


C—PC—RK—C—PC—RK—C—PC—RK—C—PC—RK


Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library (which was about to be renamed Books and Branches Library again)…

The town was at peace again, although there were some loose ends left behind by Discord that weren't removed by the healing wave the Elements of Harmony did after turning him back to stone. 

Some ponies needed extensive therapy after what he did to them, notably many of Mystic Shield's students, who had been turned into non-living objects, and Mystic himself, who was blaming himself for failing to protect Ponyville, even after being told that nopony had imposed that duty to him.

There was also some construction work to repair some of the damage not repaired by the healing wave. From what few guessed, the destruction was not something made by Discord and therefore wasn't undone when he was re-petrified. Oh, and there was a new train station linking Ponyville to Canterlot. 

During the three days Chronicle was asleep in Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle had asked Pinkie Pie to arrange a party for the six of them, not only as a form of celebration, but also to patch any cracks in their friendship that have remained from what Discord did to them.


Right now however, she was reading The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. The reason why was because she was curious about Chronicle's strange condition. To have some sort of bond with the Elements without bearing one themselves…does the book have any answers?


Finally, she seemed to find it, and began to read aloud. "Harmony Link. This link is acquired by a friend who for any reason does not obtain any of the Elements of Harmony, provided that this friend's bond with the to-be-bearers is strong.

"The Harmony Link operates when any of the bearers of the Elements is in imminent danger. First, an image of the 'endangered' pony will flash in their mind. Next, they will experience a 'symptom', which varies depending on which of the bearers is in danger. Any part of the body, be it on the outside or an internal organ, is susceptible to a reaction of sorts, but none of them are fatal.

"Third, they will sometimes experience a fraction of whatever the endangered is about to experience. If the danger is in the form of mind-altering magic however, the one with the Harmony Link will experience a headache, its severity depending on the manner of the spell. On the other side of the spectrum, when a bearer under the influence of a mind spell is released from its effects, the Harmony Link acts up and follows the first two phases. In place of the third phase, a restorative effect is bestowed on the pony, effects also varying depending on the bearer.

"Even if for any reason should the Elements lose their connection to their bearers, the Harmony Link binding its owner to their friends will remain for as long as they live."


Suddenly, she heard the sound of a pegasus-pulled carriage landing just outside. It made her pause in her reading. Usually, when she was so engrossed on a book, she wouldn't even notice anything louder than that until it actually bumped into/near her. But with Chronicle still in Canterlot, she was hoping for his safe return. They all were. Especially since he just passed out after Ponyville was returned to normal.

She exited the library, then made her way to her bodyguard's "training range"…and saw some royal guards. Four were pegasi guards at the carriage, and three were unicorn guards, and they were…'carrying' a statue that resembled Discord. It certainly startled her, even after another look told her that it wasn't the draconequus they worked so hard in imprisoning. For one, the base was deep blue and she could sense non-draconequus magic from it. For another, this statue's position wasn't the same; she didn't need a keen eye on details like Rarity to see that.

She couldn't help but ask. "Um, sirs." The pegasus guards turned to face her. "I can't help but ask what is this for?"

"Twilight Sparkle," greeted one of the guards. She didn't know it, but he was one of the guards during the Philomena incident. "We were ordered by Princess Celestia to bring this statue to this location. We haven't been given any further details though."

"I see." She wagered a guess; from what little she could deduce, this was probably a gift of sorts for Chronicle. Given his despisal for Discord, which was worryingly greater than anypony else's, he could probably use it for target practice and a means to vent his anger.


TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS—TS


Back at Canterlot Castle…

"…and now you understand why we had to keep all this a secret," Record Keeper finished.

"I see," answered Celestia.

Chronicle, who hasn't opened his bottle and stored it in "hammerspace", had remained silent through the whole ordeal save for when his father asked him to answer a few questions.

"Now that we have concluded this matter, I'll try and minimize the legal damage caused in my organization by your discovery. If you'll excuse me, it turns out that your male counterpart has found out my daughter as well. We will meet again someday." Although depending on what the Story Crew decides to do, you probably won't remember me or any of this.


Record moved his horn to adjust the mirror's magical frequency (presumably to 'save' Timerity from Solaris's questioning) and the vision of him began to waver once more, the harmonic energies infused in the mirror wearing off. As the surface rippled back into its previous silvered form, she turned to face the blue more-foreign-than-she-thought unicorn, who faced her as well.

"Uhh…" He was interrupted by a knocking on the doors.

"Your Majesty, the nobles are here to conduct court with you," one of the guards called from the other side.

"I think I've spent a little too much time with you I nearly forgot my royal duties," Celestia said to Chronicle. "You're free to go."

"Thank you, your Majesty." 

Just as he turned to leave, Celestia raised a hoof. "Wait. I want you to have this." As she put her hoof down, her horn flared and something appeared around Chronicle's neck. He held it up with a hoof, taking a good look at it. 

It seemed to be a pendant held by a simple sturdy string. The 'jewel' depicted something akin to his own cutie mark, and was colored a deep blue like his own coat. From its design, it looked like it would've been what his Element of Harmony would look like if he had been selected as one of its bearers. Well, except for the pendant part. "This…" he sputtered.

"It's the least I could aside from putting you in the stain glass. You did say something about an award before the new contract, right?"

Chronicle remembered. It was during the party after Nightmare Moon's defeat, Princess Luna's return, and the knighting of his then-not-yet friends. "Right. Well, thanks." With that, he stowed his pendant into hammerspace, then made his way out of the room as the doors opened (having turned out to have been locked by the Princess), letting in the guards and Canterlot nobles, the latter looking at the blue unicorn in puzzlement as he passed them by.


C—PC—RK—C—PC—RK—C—PC—RK—C—PC—RK


Chronicle was wandering the streets of Canterlot, a destination in mind, and it wasn't the new train station. Not yet. As he entered a narrow alley, he located a certain shop he had been to before. A certain shop whose owner he (in a way) had met in the Grand Galloping Gala.

He walked up to the shop, opened the door, jingling the bell mounted above it, and entered. The room was filled floor to ceiling with random items. As he regarded the haphazard mélange, a voice greeted him.


"May I help you?" The unicorn turned to see the shopkeeper, who reacted upon seeing his face. "Oh. It's you. You're here for the 'elemental crystals', are you not?"

"Yes, sir." Now I certainly need them. After Discord, I'm not taking any chances.

"I see." He walked over to the counter and began to dig into something behind it. He took out a saddlebag, opened it, and showed six spherical marble-sized crystals. "I know you asked to reserve an Ice crystal, but I'm afraid it's been taken. All I have left are Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Lightning, and a magical amplifier."

"They'll do." Chronicle then procured from "hammerspace" a large amount of bits in a bag. After paying for this, I'll only have just enough for a ticket back to Ponyville, but it'll be worth it. Anything to make sure my friends will be safe. "Will this be enough?"

"Yes." The shopkeeper took the entire bag, then shoved the one with the crystals to Chronicle, who stored them in "hammerspace" so they wouldn't be stolen. "Thank you for your patronage."


With what he needed to do done, he left the store without a word, then made his way to the train station, ordered a ticket, and waited. During his father's conversation with Princess Celestia, he asked her to write a message that he was coming home, and to send it after her talk with Lord Record Keeper is over. He also began to ponder another surprising revelation about him.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"This emblem?" Record said when Celestia inquired of his and his son's cutie mark. "This is a symbol of our allegiance. It represents our force." He turned to Chronicle, making a face that said he was revealing something hidden from him for quite some time. "We conceal our cutie marks due to protocol, which I am not allowed to confide to you."

"That explains a few things," Celestia said. "I was wondering why he had flank stickers."

"I had what?" gasped Chronicle, then felt something be peeled away from his flank. He turned to see Celestia peeling away his cutie mark. Underneath it was…a different one. It still had the Story Crew Emblem (an orange circle depicting an open book inside), but it was inside a shield, and a sword was pointed downwards behind it.

The unicorn tried to contain his surprise. Was I a blank flank the entire time? Or have I contracted Cutie Shift sometime during the ordeal?


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Chronicle continued to ponder. Of course, his 'turned-out-to-be' flank stickers have been replaced. Should I tell me friends about it? Why didn't I ask Celestia what ponies who have experienced Cutie Shift did? What can my 'old' cutie mark mean anyway? No, it's best they do not know. Not yet. I'm still in turmoil over my failure. I can't have this adding up to my problems right now.

Just then, the train finally arrived. "About time," he muttered as he boarded it. Since he was in quite a slump, he paid very little attention to the details to remember them. Once inside the train, after making sure that it was headed to Ponyville, he 'took out' the bottle of bourbon, popped the cover open, and instantly started to down the whole thing.


C—?—C—?—C—?—C—?—C—?—C—?


At the train station in Ponyville…

Twilight and her friends, as well as Spike and Mystic Shield, waited for Chronicle to arrive. Pinkie Pie had a few flags up and was ready to celebrate Chronicle's Welcome Home Party.

"Are ya sure he's comin' home at this hour and not later?" asked Applejack.


"I'm sure," answered Twilight. "Princess Celestia herself sent a letter, although she did warn me that he might need some assistance."

"I wonder what that could mean," mused Mystic.

Just then, they saw the train arrive. Pinkie was quick to wave her banners in celebration. But when the train stopped and opened its doors, only a couple of ponies came out, and none of them were the friend they were waiting for. Thankfully, he emerged a few minutes later. But something was strange about his walking.

"Chronicle's sure walking funny," Pinkie said as she stopped waving her flags.

"He ain't walkin' funny," replied Applejack as he pointed at a levitated bottle next to him. "He's drunk!"

"Sweet Celestia," Mystic grumbled as they ran to him before he could drop. Rainbow Dash was the first to reach him and kept him steady as the bottle, now empty, fell from his grip.

"Oh my stars!" gasped Rarity as she went to his face. "Just how much did you drink, Chronicle?"

The blue stallion raised his head, his eyes glassy, "Just the one bottle. Trust me."

"He probably hasn't recovered yet from, well…" Fluttershy cut herself off as she looked at the others, all of them knowing just what she didn't want to say.

"Let's take him home," Twilight volunteered. "Come on, guys. Help me."

And that's what they did. They helped him all the way to the library and all the way up to his bed, where he ushered himself to it. The moment he felt the soft mattress and pillow, he was out like a light.

"What should we do now?" asked Spike.

"Let him rest," Twilight decided. "I'll talk to him in the morning."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


Evening…

Chronicle woke up with a splitting headache. The lights were off, but there was enough moonlight to see by. He thought he could hear voices downstairs. Still a bit sleepy, he went down the stairs, cursing Twilight for not setting up a bannister yet, and made his way to the ground floor. He could see his friends and Spike talking about something. What it was he'll never know as some kind of force suddenly pushed the seven of them into the walls. 

What's going on?! Chronicle thought as he went on alert mode instantly, unsheathing his "blade".

His question was easily answered when Discord teleported directly into the middle of the library.


"Discord!" Rainbow shouted, immediately trying to fly towards him, but to no avail. 

"Really? Discord?" the draconequus commented with the air of one who was merely talking about the weather. "I think we've known each other long enough for you to just call me 'Q'."

"Q?" Twilight asked. 

"It was a nickname given to me in my youth. I could never figure out what it meant…" Discord admitted. 

"Um, Discord? If you don't mind me asking… What are you going to do with us?" Fluttershy queried. 

"Well, I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine, so to speak. But first…" Discord walked over to Spike, "You're the dragon who can message dear old Celestia, correct? Here, send her this" He held forth a letter. 

Spike did as he asked, immediately deciding Celestia would be the one pony they would need about now. And then his eyes turned to gaze at something.


Discord noticed it and swiftly turned around… catching Chronicle in the neck with his talon hand, who had jumped with the intent to sneak attack him. He then slammed him to the ground, ready to choke him. "I hate having to do this by hand…" He started tapping the unicorn on the horn repeatedly to prevent him from casting spells. "But given your immunity, I'm forced to do this to you."

"How did you escape?" he snarled.

"You see, this time, the Elements of Harmony weren't at full power because their bearers' friendship was still fractured from what I did."

"I swear when I get out, I'm gonna finish what I started!"

"If, you mean."

"No. When. I will get out of this!"


Just then, Celestia arrived via teleportation. "Discord!" she snarled, obviously angry at the draconequus. 

"Ah Celestia, how nice of you to join us," he greeted, quickly hitting her with the same magic he used on the others. 

"What do you want from us?" Applejack asked. 

"It's quite simple. I'm going to do something I've never done before, but you have done twice. Have a guess."


"Ooh! Is it a party!" Pinkie answered. 

"No. Guess again." Discord had the air of one who could do this all day. 

"You're going to seal us in stone until the end of time!" Celestia growled. 

"The end of time? You were going to keep me in there until the end of time?" Discord asked, sounding a bit hurt, "You were close. You all will get to have a day in my prison. It might just re-evaluate your opinions. Oh, except you Spike. You didn't have any part in my prison, so you're free to go. Luna is also exempt, as I believe the moon was enough. And Chronicle, I'm gonna find a way to do that to you too, but first…"

He snapped his lion paw and two things happened. One, Spike disappeared in a flash of light. Two, seven statues replaced the seven other ponies.

Unfortunately for Discord, seeing them all in stone was just the motivation Chronicle needed. Instantly overflowing with anger, he screamed at the top of his lungs. His aura burst out and his eyes changed once more. As Discord paused in shock, the unicorn grabbed the draconequus's arm with his forelegs, then flared his horn. A flash ensued and they were both gone.


The two emerged somewhere above the Everfree Forest, the angry stallion right above the spirit as they began to fall.

"Impossible!" gasped Discord. "You managed to teleport me?!"

Chronicle didn't answer as they crashed through some trees and into the ground. Now free of the talon, he started kicking the spirit at the same spot where he delivered his final blow before Discord was re-petrified. He then started bouncing on him, something Pinkie sometimes does when excited. Of course, given that he was trying to hurt Discord, his legs were landing with more force, bolstered further with magic.

"I am going to enjoy this!" Chronicle said with an evil grin. It turned into a frown when Discord melted into the ground, emerged from it like it was water, and started floating away. "You won't escape from me!" He then pursued him further into the forest.


The chase went on for a few minutes. Sometimes the draconequus would teleport out of sight but somehow Chronicle would find him again. Discord seemed to be looking for something, but the unicorn wasn't going to let him succeed. Finally, he found him standing up and holding something behind him. With a grim face, he charged head-on. 

He counted on Discord flipping that object to his face once he was close enough and so the moment he thought he moved, he teleported right behind the draconequus…only to find himself staring in the eyes of a cockatrice. And this one had been affected by Discord somehow. Unfortunately for Chronicle, he wasn't immune to "stone gazes", and he felt himself begin to stiffen near-instantly. The last thing he felt was Discord catching his stone form and backpedaling from his velocity. 


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—D


"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

For the second time, Chronicle flung himself from a lying-down position. He found himself in his bed. And miraculously, Spike and Twilight didn't stir from their sleep. Also miraculously, he wasn't feeling any hangovers.

He put a hoof to his head and gave a sigh. Ugh. Stupid nightmare. I need to vent. Getting up from bed, he jumped down to the reading room, skipping the steps, then teleported to his training range. Unbeknownst to him, Twilight did stir and his teleport woke her up.


He rematerialized just outside the training range…and was glad he did. In the center of the range was a statue with the likeness of Discord, but his position was different. Also, its base was deep blue, which made him wonder. He quickly dismissed the thought, drew his "blade", and began slicing the statue with a quick slash combo.

It quickly fell apart, the pieces dropping to the ground. A few seconds later however, the statue's base glowed and a purple flash came. Once it was gone, the statue was back to normal. Chronicle was both miffed and excited from this, miffed because seeing the statue come back together began to flare a bit more of his hatred for Discord, and excited because he could vent his anger again and again.


"Chronicle?"

"Hmm?" 

He turned to see Twilight looking at him worryingly, standing just outside the training range. "What are you doing?"

"Just venting my anger. It's what I do after a twice-in-a-row failure, aside from drinking." Before she could speak up, he continued. "I know in the end we actually won and defeated Discord, but the fact remains that I failed to protect you from him. Not only that, I also failed to avenge you for what he did."

"I don't understand." 

"There's no way you could. It's a burden I bear from bearing a 'fighter's mentality'. And there's a difference between being a fighter, like me and perhaps Mystic Shield, and being able to fight, which I know all of you are capable of. The difference is while you can fight to defend yourselves, it's not in your hearts to end a life so casually. When you're forced to do so, it's a huge matter every time, and if done wrong can turn you to a criminal. 

For me, it's just part of what I do. Yes, I might feel some guilt over doing in anyone higher than what I call 'mooks', but I just tell myself that if I don't do this, more lives will be at risk. I also try to finish them off swiftly, so that they wouldn't have to suffer. Discord is a different case though.


"When I fought him, I wasn't fighting for our friendship. I was fighting for my friends. And friendship wasn't my drive. It was…revenge." Chronicle dealt a few more 'slashes' on the Discord statue replica and let out a deep sigh. "It's like this, Twilight. I don't forgive him for everything he did to all of Equestria, but what I can't ever let him get away with is breaking and mentally raping the six of you, not to mention most of Ponyville, and turning you into the antitheses of your respective elements. That was my fuel for revenge. And no matter how much I try, I just can't get it out of my head."


Chronicle turned his head to face his charge. "I know it's all in the past and that I should put it behind me, but that's easier said than done. I hold nothing against any of you because I can easily pin the blame on Discord doing his magic on your minds. His brainwashing caused our friends, especially Fluttershy, to think and act the way they did by force. I admit he played mind games with them, but that all turned out to be unnecessary after I saw he can brainwash directly."

Twilight didn't need to ask how he knew; with his Surveillance, he can find out.

He turned away and walked up to the statue. "The same can't be said for me, since he didn't even try to mess with my mind as far as I can tell. Every decision I made was my own, and mine alone. If I was influenced by anything, it was my own desperation to stop him and eventually hate and desire to kill him. He may have made it more likely for me to do what I did, but in the end it was all me."

He turned his entire body around so that he was comfortably facing Twilight. "I'm glad I had this talk and I know you'll all be working on…'re-harmonizing' me." He gave a weak smile. "Just wanted to know what you'll be…up against, so to speak." The two unicorns looked up to the sky and at the moon, which was glowing rather brightly tonight. "It's late. we should go to bed. I'm sorry to have worried you."

Before Twilight could speak to him, he teleported away. She gave a sigh, knowing that he was not feeling all right. But with what he has told her, she'll find a way to help him come to terms with his hatred. This cannot be healthy.
> Extra 2: The Dangers of Vengeance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Extra 2: The Dangers of Vengeance

Daytime…

Okay. Time for a spells test.

Chronicle stood in front of the Discord statue in his training range. It had been 'delivered' by Princess Celestia as a gift. The scars of his defeat still hurting, even after it's been two weeks since then. He hoped it healed, but apparently not.

Ever since the dream where he got petrified by a Discord-enhanced cockatrice, he's been getting other nightmares. In each of them, he was being hopelessly beaten by Discord. Sometimes it was by his friends turning against him, sometimes it was by befalling a(n un)natural disaster, sometimes it's being suffocated/drowned by cotton candy/chocolate milk, and sometimes Discord himself was doing the beating.


His family hasn't been in touch with him since Discord. A 'dream letter' from Lord Record Keeper told him that there had been an 'outbreak' of draconequui in most of the Equestrias they were on. A few have even invaded Hub Equestria and crossed over into the others. It took a good fraction of the Story Crew's RWCA (Reality Warper Control Agents) to stop them and even convert a few to their ranks. 

As with most invasions, there have been casualties, a few of them Timers, a couple of worlds considered lost causes, and even one revelation that one of the Equestrias was actually a subcontinent of a client world sent into a pocket dimension by that world's Discord (after that Discord was defeated, it was sent back to that client world, which itself no longer became treated as one due to this). Also, the portal mirrors the family would normally use to travel to Hub Equestria and back have been thrown out of whack from the attack, causing mass fluctuations both in space and time. Transportation between worlds was extremely dangerous, even by dreamscape, which uses the mirrors as a means to link the family's minds. 

There have also been time portals that were opened due to all the reality warping, and even a few have been sent a few years ahead/back in time or rendered in a state of stasis.

While Lord Record was busy fixing up home base, Timerity had experienced problems identical to Chronicle's and was taking it much harder than he was. Apparently, either "Eris" was "bitchier" than Discord, or she had a greater hatred for "her" draconequus than he did for "his". Mystic Wand was spared from this crisis, but he was currently focused on a huge project given by his Princess herself, and he still didn't socialize that well. Blue Diary was spared as well—his world's Discord not having run loose—but due to the portal mirror problem, he was unavailable, not to mention his world having also been sent forward in time and under stasis thanks to an off-world draconequus. Their mother Ebony Spell was busy consoling her world's Elements of Harmony, who were recovering slower than the ones in his.


He banished those thoughts as he began to list his arsenal in his mind.

I already know my blade's strength, telekinesis power, barrier sturdiness, teleportation range… Let's start with my magical clone limit. He flared his horn, then summoned as many clones as he could. Six of them now stood around him. Okay. Six is good. He then had them line up. Water-walking spell, cloud-walking spell… no need to test that. Binding Circle.

One clone began to draw a large circle with his hoof, making various designs in it as well. Once that was done, two clones cast the spell, one at the bare ground and the other at the drawn circle. Two "magic circles" formed. The magic exuding from them showed him that not only was the one in the pre-drawn circle more cost-efficient, it was more powerful. Also, he realized that a binding spell on a pre-drawn circle is self sustaining; it's just that the first time he performed it, it was on Nightmare Moon, whose own magic had enough potential to break out were it not for him maintaining it.


Satisfied with the results, Chronicle had them move over to the back of the line. Okay, now for the enhancement spells. He flared his horn again and his legs began to glow. Testing physical strength. He approached the statue, got up on his hind legs, reared a foreleg, then landed it on the stone. The resulting impact made him wince, but he saw that he made a crack on the statue. Hooves were certainly tough.

Let's skip running power, and go for jumping power. He had one clone do just that, and then leap as high as possible. At the apex of its jump, the clone teleported himself back down on the ground. 

Now what else do I got? Enhance vocal power, decrease weight on items, rain-drinking spell, magic transfer, pinpointing spell, Glimmer Wings…


Deciding to check Surveillance, he took a look around to see if there was anybody who would see him with it. To his disappointment, there was Twilight Sparkle, and she was making his way to him. Giving a silent sigh, he dismissed all of his clones.

"Chronicle," she greeted.

"Hey, Twilight."

"Having fun with that statue there?"

"I guess you can say that."

"Well, Mystic Shield is here, and he's wanting an explanation as to why you haven't come over or even sent a magical clone in your place."

The stallion smacked his face with a hoof. "Dammit, I forgot."

"Well, you better limit your time with the statue and find some other way to spend your time that doesn't involve fighting." She turned around, then gestured for him to follow. Deciding to take a break as well, he followed.


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS


In the library…

"So…"

"I was spending too much time with my gift from the Princess. At least I think it's from them."

"It is. The royal guards brought them in themselves while you were at Canterlot. I was there to see it."

The three unicorns were at the ground floor of the library, reading books. As expected of her, Twilight had loads ready. Mystic only had a hoof-ful, while Chronicle had at least a dozen, all of them books on spells.

"Isn't this fun?" said Twilight. "Reading book after book, filling our minds with knowledge…"

"Sure is." Mystic agreed, then faced the other unicorn in the room. "Chronicle, about what I did…"

Chronicle gave an exasperated sigh. "For the last time, Mystic, I do not hold anything against you for anything you did when you got corrupted by Discord. So don't worry about it. Just let it go."

"Easy for you to say. If what Twilight said is true, you never got corrupted."

"Which makes my suffering all the worse, because I had to see everybody I care about fall to his magic, you before my very eyes. And I was helpless to prevent it. I just feel mocked by fate by being spared just to experience all of this, you get what I'm saying?"

He was answered by awkward silence as the two purple unicorns turned to face each other, then at him, then they shook their head solemnly.

"Figures." Hmm…these spells seem useful. Very useful. I gotta try these out.


The two purple unicorns turned to each other again, and the male one said, "I'm worried about him. All those books are on spells."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's just that those books are either combat-oriented, or the spells within can be applied in combat."

"I don't see a problem in tha—" It then hit her. "Oh. We need to find a way to get him to see reason."

"Yeah," agreed Mystic.


C—TS—MS—C—TS—MS—C—TS—MS—C—TS—MS


The next day…

Chronicle was at the training range again, this time with one of the books he read yesterday with him.

All right. The tether spell. Apply to the tail, and operate like a lasso or whip. Use to grab stuff. With that in mind, he took out a lasso, which he hadn't used since the Iron Pony competition. I hope I'm not too rusty, he thought as he tied the holding end to his tail, then started twirling it, getting a feel of it before starting his tether spell.

Some of the details slipped his mind however. A rope made out of magic emerged, but from his horn instead of around the lasso as he thought. This startled him a bit and the lasso on his tail dropped to the ground. Oops. Remembering the next steps, he lashed his head and willed it to grab a shovel. The 'tether' went straight for it, grabbed it by the handle, and contracted, taking the shovel with it. Unfortunately for Chronicle, it ended up flying straight for his head, thankfully smacking him with the flat end instead of the sharp edge.


He rubbed his head for a few seconds, then started swinging his shovel about with the tether spell, getting a hang of how it works. After taking twelve minutes to get accustomed to using it with his horn, he tried to figure out how to 'pass' it to his tail. It turns out that just thinking of it once the tether was cast turned out to be just what he needed to do. Just like that, another magic tether was now 'tied' to his tail.

Letting go of the lasso, Chronicle began to practice some more with his tether spell. Grabbing an old heavy tome with his tail tether, he pulled it toward him, then stopped it from hitting him with telekinesis. Using his magic tethers, he swung his bludgeons at the Discord statue, breaking off parts from it and/or breaking his "weapons". Whenever that happens, he just takes another. That's before he noticed something on the base of the statue.


Now how did I miss this?

There was a control panel of sorts, containing a few knobs large enough to bite into and turn. One was set to "solid stone", with its other settings being "ballistic gelatinous material", "iron", "plasticine", and "smoke". This made him curious. Using telekinesis, he 'turned' the knob to "ballistic gelatinous material". Upon that, a wave of magic washed over the statue, though no noticeable changes were seen aside from the texture.

Deciding to test it, Chronicle levitated the shovel and 'shoved' it into the statue's neck. It dug itself into it quite easily. Using the magic tether still tied to it, he pulled it out successfully. As it was, the magic tether spell can be manipulated around like he was using telekinesis on a rope. Meanwhile, the gash he made on the statue with the shovel vanished.


After one third of an hour, he was satisfied with what he can use the magic tether for, he went for the next spell. Wind Blast. Pretty straightforward. It's just like the magic shot, but you shoot a blast of air instead of your own magic. Now how do I test it out? Oh, I know. He walked over to the statue's control panel, and adjusted the knob to "smoke", wondering how it works.

Upon looking up, he saw that the statue was now smoke, but it retained its shape thanks to a magical aura around it, which was colored blue like its base. Chronicle backed up a bit, then started on the spell. He focused the same way as he does the magic shot spell. Instead of forming magic however, he 'compressed' the air just in front of him, then fired at the "statue". The compressed air made a hole through it, which reformed in a few seconds.

Now familiar with how to execute it, Chronicle fired air blast after air blast, gradually getting faster and faster as he slowly familiarized himself with the workings of the spell. Suddenly…


"Hey, Chronicle!"

He immediately turned to the source of the voice, forgetting that he was still shooting air blasts… and accidentally hit Pinkie Pie six times, making her reel back as she fell over. He gasped as he ran over to her. "Pinkie! Shouldn't you know by now that it's dangerous to interrupt me when I'm practicing? I might've—"

"I'm fine," Pinkie chirped as she got up. "My Pinkie Sense told me that the air blast wasn't lethal."

"That doesn't excuse you from doing what you did. It can't protect you from everything. Apparently it didn't protect you from the danger of what Discord was capable of because you were so into his antics." 

"Sorry." This time, she seemed to mean it.

"Regardless of instincts, it is not proper or even safe to interrupt somebody who is practicing combat skills. As you just saw, I don't have enough precise control to just suddenly stop when I'm—as Rarity would say—in the zone." As a precaution, I'll form a barrier around the area so that I can't harm anybody outside.

"Okay."

"Now what is it that you want?"

"I was going to ask about what theme would you prefer for your next birthday."

"Oh." During his previous birthday as a Field Operative for Equestria, he had celebrated at Hub Equestria with his family and thus she wasn't able to hold a Pinkie Pie party for him. "Tell me, do you know the group P3?"

Pinkie seemed to lighten up. "You mean the idol singers famed in Baltimare, Fillydelphia, and Manehatten, also known as the East Coast? I do now! You did dress up as one of them last Nightmare Night, right? Sound Wave was her name, was it?" That mood was dampened when he frowned at her. "Are you still mad at me about that? I already apologized. And there was that new agreement we made, something about me bringing out stuff at your command."

"Yes. I'd like a P3-themed party. If possible, though I doubt you can, maybe having a vinyl record with some songs by them would work too."

"All right!"

"Anything else, Pinkie?"

"Nopey-dopey!"

"Then we're done here." Chronicle began to walk away, back to the training range. Once he was inside its bounds, he conjured a self-sustaining force field around it, learning the spell from Twilight. "I'll be home for dinner. Okay?"

"Okie, dokie, lokie!" Pinkie then pronked away.


Once she was gone, Chronicle gave a sigh of relief. Good riddance. I need to make more precautionary measures to ascertain that even she won't interrupt me. I need this training. I can't allow any more interferences. My friends don't understand. I don't think even Mystic Shield can understand. My entire family's busy from the Great Draconequus Outbreak. I have to be strong. Strong for them. Strong for Equestria.


C—PP—C—PP—C—PP—C—PP—C—PP—C—PP


The next day…

Chronicle was trying out another spell he learned from the books he picked up two days ago. Small Burn Trail. A small beam was emitted from his horn, which created a small burn on the ground. He aimed the beam around as he was using it as a writing tool to form a magic circle. He then did the same thing in the air, 'drawing' a circle of fire that just floated there.

Good. I can form circles to make the binding spell easier to maintain. He thought as he started using it on the Discord statue, which was at the "iron" setting. Disrupting the circle only slightly increases the effort I need to maintain a binding circle.


"Chronicle." a voice came.

The stallion groaned and turned around to see Twilight inside the training range, even though the barrier was up. Apparently, she teleported in. I'm gonna have to look up a means of preventing teleports into the barrier. "What is it, Twilight? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I know that, but don't you think you're being a bit too—"

"Obsessive? Says the pony who was once one."

"Come on. I'm no longer as bad as I once was thanks to you and the rest of our friends."

He raised an eyebrow. "Your point being…"

"You all taught me the dangers of my past lifestyle, and you're falling down a path similar to mine."

"Since when were you this perceptive of the lives of others?"

"Is it wrong to worry about you?"

"I don't wanna talk anymore." Chronicle then fired some magic into his barrier, which quickly shrunk until it passed through Twilight, then he expanded it again, slowly this time as it pushed her away. "I'll be home for dinner. And if you try and teleport again, either yourself, me, or anybody else…" He purposely trailed off, his threat made very clear. He didn't know if she could actually teleport anyone aside from herself, but with her expanding knowledge and magical prowess, it was a fair possibility.

Twilight only nodded in response as she backpedaled away from the barrier and jumped over the range's fence before she could be sandwiched between the two. She then ran until he could no longer see her.

Thank goodness for that. Twilight wouldn't understand. This is not something an intellectual can solve. Only a fighter like me can. Because I know what it feels like. I hope Father can resolve the issue soon so he can help me.


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS


The next day…

"Drat. This is harder than I thought."

Chronicle was trying two more spells, this time not combat-based, but mobility-based, which still made it applicable for battle. Right now, he was trying a spell that would enable him to "double jump". It was a simple spell, really. At the apex of his jump, he would cast the spell, which would conjure a temporary platform for him to land on, which would only last long enough for him to jump again. For some reason, he cannot cast it more than once in a row without dropping on something solid first.

Currently, he was having trouble getting the timing right. Sometimes it was too early and he would find his jump instantly arrested as the platform spawned through his feet. Other times it was too late and his fall was temporarily halted by the same thing. And the few times he got it on time? He had been too exhilarated on getting the timing right that he failed to jump again on time and fell.


Shaking his head, he tried one more time. At the apex of his jump, he quick-cast the spell. The moment his feet made contact with the temporary platform, it took everything in him not to feel exhilarated. Thankfully, he managed to successfully perform the jump…and landing on the ground without hurting himself. Good. Need a little more practice. With that, he continued jumping, practicing the double jump spell. Before he could get the hang of it though, he landed on something that definitely was not solid ground but a pony.

He looked down to see that Pinkie Pie had went below him, meaning he was on top of her. He didn't even bother thinking of how she bypassed the barrier, chalking it up to her weird abilities. "Hi!"

Frowning without a word, he cast a binding circle below them, then jumped to the side, leaving his friend pinned. Pinkie attempted to pull herself out, but failed, even as Chronicle began using his burn trail spell to 'trace' his binding circle's outline. "Pinkamena Diane Pie," he said. "Did I not warn you the day before yesterday not to interrupt me while I'm practicing?"

Pinkie just responded by quivering her eyes and making a puppy dog face.

He refused to face her, though he saw a glimpse through his peripheral. "Don't give me that look. It's your own fault you didn't listen. You don't ever know me to make jokes in this manner, right? Unfortunately for you, I only know how to teleport myself and items near me, so I'm giving you five seconds to get the hay out of here before I decide to practice on you to see if I can take you on with your Toon traits."


He stepped away, turned to finally face Pinkie eye to eye, his glower fearsome. He then let the binding circle go, releasing the earth pony before starting his count. It took a "Two" for her to get the message and she zipped away, leaving a cloud of dust. I won't have to worry about her anytime soon. She's too much of a nuisance when she doesn't know to shut up. This is a very serious matter. Something she wouldn't understand. So long as I don't anger her, I'll be fine.


C—PP—C—PP—C—PP—C—PP—C—PP—C—PP


An hour later…

Chronicle got the basics of the "double jump" down pat, so now he decided to go for the "wall stick", where he would be able to do exactly that. However, the book stated that he would not be able to cling to a wall, but it should help if he is going to run along them.

Starting the spell, he ran next to the outer wall of the library, the only vertical surface available to practice on. Casting the spell on the surface of his feet, so as to avert Magical Sickness (which he doesn't have) as instructed, he then planted his feet on the wall, all while still running. He failed to execute it properly and fell on his side. "Oww…"

Getting up, he tried again. Again, he failed. The third time, he managed to stick one hoof to the wall before falling again. The fourth, just two. The fifth, he was able to make a couple of steps before gravity pulled him down. Before he could proceed with the sixth, he sensed somepony knock on the barrier.


"What is it now?" he groaned as he turned around…and saw Mystic Shield.

"May I come in?" the other unicorn asked.

"…All right." Chronicle shot a beam of magic at his large dome barrier, which modified its 'settings', then said, "You may enter."

Mystic took a cautious step through, then pulled the rest of him inside. He then walked up to his co-teacher and close friend. He could tell that he was rather impatient right now. "Chronicle, I know I don't understand the pain you suffered from Discord and I know my pain can't begin to compare with yours, but the point is that you're using too much time on your training."

Chronicle didn't give so much as a reply.

"Look, I'm not saying you should stop. Just don't let it dominate your life."

Still no reply, just a harsh face.

"If you won't even listen to me, why did you let me in to begin with?"

And still no reply.

"Since when have you become irrational? I've always known you to be the one with the clear head when your friends don—"


He was suddenly cut off when he heard a familiar blade formed itself inches before Mystic's neck. The purple unicorn glanced to see another Chronicle having unsheathed it, ready to strike. He also realized that the one he was talking to was 

"What are you doing?!"

"Fight me."

"What?!"

"Fight me! I need moving, thinking targets to practice on!"

Mystic broke out in a cold sweat. "You're scaring me, Chronicle. And even if I were to accept, you have me in a position where you would instantly win."

The blue unicorn withdrew his blade, dismissed his clone, then flash-stepped so that he now faced Mystic. "All right. Now let's fight."

"No."

"No? What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no. You're not right in the head." He secretly cast a minor barrier spell at his neck. "I've seen one of my old friends suffer the same way you are now. He may not have experienced the same suffering you have, but—"


Mystic wasn't able to finish as Chronicle unsheathed his "blade" and struck, which would've made him choke instead of literally lose his head. It hit the barrier and sent him reeling back so fast he flipped over. Thankfully, he still managed to land on his feet. 

He had to act fast as Chronicle was now charging straight for him. In an instant, he formed a barrier around himself, stopping his attacks, then quickly backed away as his friend continued to push him…and was able to leave the confines of the large force field. Chronicle stopped just at the edge of his barrier, and watched Mystic dismiss his own, then frantically flee.

Once he was gone, the mare-faced stallion gave a sigh of relief. That should get rid of him. I'm sorry, Mystic, but if you can't commit yourself to help me, I cannot count on you. …I cannot count on anyone to protect my friends, not even my friends or the Princess. There is only me.


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS


Afternoon at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

The dojo's owner as well as Twilight and her friends gathered around the tatami mat, the bookworm having brought them all together. They chose the dojo because they knew Mystic would want to involve himself. Spike was busy at the library, and frankly Twilight wasn't sure she wanted to involve him if their discussion eventually led to— She shrugged off the thought.


"What are we goin' to do about Chronicle?" sighed Applejack.

"Yeah," agreed Pinkie. "He's not being the nice guy he often is. Being more serious, even. I tried being happy around him, but it just seems to make him even more mad."

"I tried talking to him, but he just pushed me away," added Twilight.

"Same with me." Mystic. "He even demanded I fight him. Not as frightening as breaking a Pinkie Promise or the Stare, but it spooked me regardless."

"I went in for a scheduled duel, but unlike most of our 'fights', he took me down in less than three seconds!" Rainbow Dash. "It's like his combat abilities have went up by twenty percent! Maybe more!"

"I was going to talk to him as well, but…the way he was attacking that new statue of his, it scared me." Fluttershy.

"And did anypony notice his hair?" Rarity. "It looks a bit disheveled, like he had even less focus on making himself presentable than normal."

"Just like you to notice that, Rarity," commented Applejack.

"Regardless, given the present circumstances, persuasion doesn't work, it would be wrong to tempt him out of this, trying to cheer him up just makes it worse…" Mystic then swore. "Dammit, it's like our trip to the mountain all over again, except this time, we can't scare our target out of making the problem." He glanced at Fluttershy while saying this. "I only see one choice; I'm pretty sure you all know what I'm about to say, and I know that maybe only one will be willing to do it." 


Twilight answered for everypony. "Are you saying we have to…" Gulp. "…fight him?"

Mystic only gave a solemn nod, eliciting a few soft gasps from the more sensitive mares. "Yes. I can't take him on by myself because he's just too good. Rainbow Dash can't either if she's telling the truth. We all need to reach out to him."

The six mares turned to one another. While Mystic Shield wasn't part of their circle, there was one thing he had in common with them; Chronicle was their friend. And you were supposed to help your friends when they need it. And while Chronicle doesn't think that way, he certainly needs them now.

Rainbow was the first to respond. Placing a hoof forward, she said, "Count me in. Separately we don't stand a chance, but together I know we can do it."

Applejack was next. "I'm in too, sugarcube."

Pinkie Pie. "All for one, and one for all!"

Twilight and Rarity stepped in as well. "Normally, I say we should send a letter to Princess Celestia, but I don't know if that would fix the problem or make it worse," said the former.

"I might have to agree with that," said Mystic. "Who knows what would happen if everypony was to find out that he battled Celestia and/or Luna, or worse, even won? No, it's best we keep that as a back-up and try and solve the problem ourselves." He turned to Fluttershy, then noticed that she hasn't stepped in. He walked up to her "Fluttershy, I know you're against this more than anyone, but we could use your help."

"Wh-wh-why? I don't even know what I can do to help him."

"Now, I know you were lying when you apologized for having to use the Stare on me. You do have control over it, and as much as I hate to say it, it's our best bet in getting him to come to his senses." 

"I might have to agree with Mystic here," said Twilight as she and the others turned to the yellow pegasus. "I know his drive to better himself involves all of us, but from what he said to me, I think you're his main reason."

"You know, for a long time after the meteor shower the night before Twilight got Owlowiscious, I noticed him spend a bit more time with you, and sometimes I can see him being…flustered sometimes," Rarity added. "Now that I said it, I'm sure he's going to be mad at me about this."

"I think he needs all of us to be there," Mystic said to Fluttershy. "You especially. I know you don't want anypony to get hurt, but that would be unavoidable given the situation. Please." 


The pegasus was given a pleading look, and when she looked at the others, she saw that the others were giving pleading looks as well. She knew they didn't want to have to involve her, but this was Chronicle, and they all have figured out that he had some special connection with her. They just didn't know exactly what, or if they did, they had a hard time admitting it.

Finally, she relented, "You're right. Chronicle needs our help. And if this is somehow my fault…" She didn't finish the sentence as memories she thought were nightmares flashed in her mind, namely the ones she still remembered when Discord had forcibly corrupted her.

Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder and she calmed down, then the earth pony turned to the two purple unicorns. "Well, we need some kinda plan first. I have to admit I often took Chronicle for granted since he was always on our side. But now that we have to fight 'im, I'm beginnin' to see just how dangerous he can be."

"And that's exactly why I called you here," said Mystic. "We need to gather everything we know about how he fights, and form our strategy from that."

"And if you hadn't, maybe Twilight would've," added Pinkie.

"Maybe. Now let's get thinking."


TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


The next day, early afternoon…

Chronicle was busy testing his magic shot's firing rate at the Discord statue, which he had propped up at a corner of the training range, when he sensed something make a loud knock into his barrier. Glancing to his right, he saw his friends slamming their hooves into it, knocking but ready to ram. There were circles of varying sizes—all big enough for a pony to stand in—on the ground, set. Conveniently, he would be able to use them as "traps".

Traitors, he thought, having checked on them via Surveillance and found out that they were planning on fighting him. Hah, like they even could. They're gonna regret messing with me. 

Facing them, he said, "I'm giving you one chance to leave and not bother me until I'm done!" They responded with another pounding. "So, you want to get in so bad, huh?" He made a steely game face and flared his horn blade. "Well, come and get it!" He dispelled the barrier—just as the intruders were about to ram it, making them stumble over. The blue unicorn wasn't able to press his advantage though as he noticed that a bigger barrier had been set around his own.

He would later find out that Twilight had set it up prior, also adding a spell that would conceal everything that went on inside, because things were about to get ugly, and they didn't want anybody else to see it.

Chronicle knocked himself out of his surprise when he saw Spike trying to bring himself to breathe fire at him. He sneered, grabbed him via telekinesis, said, "You shouldn't have hesitated," then hurled him at the incoming ponies. "For I sure shall not!"


He unsheathed his 'blade' and—as Spike was 'caught' by Twilight—delivered a series of blows, striking them all—his charge, her assistant, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Mystic Shield, Pinkie Pie, Rarity—save Fluttershy, whom he just 'grabbed' and then 'hurled' away from the fight. As she slammed into the wall, he winced for a moment as he saw her collide into it hard, then crash to the ground, but only a moment.


"How dare you!" yelled Rainbow as she zoomed straight for his face. He countered by using the tether spell to grab her, then spin around with her while keeping the 'tether' short. 

"If she doesn't come back, that's all she's getting." He then 'let go' of her, sending her slamming through one of the fences. "As for the rest of you, you're gonna get a tougher beating unless you back down now." Suddenly, he found himself bucked from behind and was sent tumbling. As he rolled, he saw that Applejack had somehow got into range to kick him. Assuming (correctly, as he was told later) that Twilight was now capable of teleporting others, he quickly got on his feet…just in time to see Mystic fire a magic shot.

He blocked that off with a quick panel barrier before feeling a kick to his gut and knocked up a bit before crashing to the ground. He did now know who it was that attacked him, but instantly teleported away to escape any further attacks.


Chronicle emerged just outside the training range, but still within the bounds of the barrier, and did a quick analysis of the area as he summoned a few magical clones. Rarity was just exiting a martial arts stance, Rainbow was already up, Twilight was in a defensive stance, Applejack has pulled her lasso out, Mystic was looking at him, Spike was on his feet, and Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.

With only battle instinct as his guide, he flash-stepped back…barely avoiding a pounce from the party pony, and blasted her with a beam of magic, sending her flying into the tree even as his clones started firing magic shots at his opponents.


"Oh no," gasped Mystic as he, Twilight, and Rarity erected force fields to repel Chronicle's attacks. Applejack was on standby, knowing that now wasn't a good time to let loose her lasso.

"What is it?" winced the other purple unicorn as she saw Pinkie crash into the tree's branches.

"That glint in his eyes. He's in a state of combat hyper-competence. It means he's completely 'in the zone' and is taking this fight very seriously. He's gonna be harder to reach out in that state."

"What should we do, then?"

"I don't know." Strategy isn't really my thing, to be honest. "All we can do now is continue as planned, but hit harder. He won't go easy on us, so neither should we!"

They then saw Rainbow attempt to ram them from the side, but the clones—all four of them—deftly flash-stepped out of the way, one of them teleporting, and the real one charged forward.

Knowing that the girls weren't very experienced in battle, Mystic was on guard from rear attacks. He noticed the circles on the ground, but couldn't figure out what purpose Chronicle has for them. Assuming they were in his favor, he dragged his hooves to erase them while not looking like he was intentionally doing so.  Just then, as Rainbow then flew straight at the charging one from behind, dodging the "shurikens" being launched by the other clones, two things happened. 

First, the clone that teleported emerged at the wall with the 'weapons'…just as Mystic anticipated. The 'charger' jumped to scale the panel barrier, putting himself in the pegasus's path, then jumped again, going over Rainbow and immediately landing on her back. The one who was at the weapons 'picked up' a frying pan and trashcan lid.


As the pegasus attempted to shake off whom she knew was the real Chronicle, the clone below confronted Mystic, ready to smack him upside in the head. Before charging though, he did a "backhand" smack with the lid…on Spike, who was coming up from his left. The purple stallion opened fire, but his shots were effortlessly deflected by the two weapons. Just as the clone went close, a lasso wrapped itself around his neck, and pulled…instantly dissipating him.

As the trashcan lid and frying pan fell to the ground, Mystic turned to face Applejack and nodded a "thank you". She seemed to be about to tilt her hat in a "you're welcome" when she gasped, "Look out!"

He wasn't able to heed the warning as the two who were in the air earlier crashed on top of him, Pinkie Pie with them. Chronicle instantly teleported before anyone else could do anything and his clones did likewise. With no more "shurikens" bombarding them, Rarity and Twilight lowered the barrier. The Chronicles then appeared right at the wall of weapons, each of them picking up an item. One of them had a tome, one the shovel, one the hammer, and one the xiphos. Two more were summoned and they 'picked up' a piece of fence and a broken bottle.


Everypony gulped at the sight of the sword as they regrouped (sans Fluttershy, who was apparently still out). While it certainly looked dull from disuse, a sword was still a very dangerous weapon, especially since that was its primary purpose. The four of them marched forward in an intimidating manner, 'swinging' their weapons about.

"Oh dear," grunted Mystic as he picked up the frying pan and trashcan lid and gave them to Rarity and Twilight respectively, only for the former to decline. "One on one, girls. Spike, choose who you're tagging along with." The dragon instantly went at Twilight's side, and then the six ponies charged, the Chronicles doing the same. 


Pinkie bounded over "Broken Bottle", then instantly dropped on top of him, dissipating what turned out to be a clone. However, a circle below her began to glow with magic and she found herself utterly immobilized.


Applejack instantly 'disarmed' "Shovel" of his item by grabbing it with her mouth as he swung it, thankfully getting past the metal end, then bucking him as she spun from that move, getting rid of him as well. She then looked down and noticed the circles drawn on the ground. One close by began to glow and her right legs on top of it were pinned there.


Rarity charged at "Piece of Fence", then—as he made to swing with it—performed a forward flip, raising her hind legs into the air and over herself. Just before the fence could strike her forelegs, the force of her jump whisked them off the ground as her right hind leg slammed itself down on his head, dissipating him. She landed on her rump, a bit disappointed that the one she attacked wasn't the real one and so would've been able to execute a cleaner landing. At the same time though, she was relieved as well, as she didn't actually hurt hurt him. 


Rainbow ran straight for "Hammer", her wings flapping as she closed in. At a set moment, she instantly zipped forward, tackling—and dissipating—him. She immediately stopped right on top of a drawn circle, a bit confused. The real Chronicle should've seen that coming. Before she knew it, the circle began to glow and she was bound down to it. No amount of flapping her wings was able to pull her out.


Twilight and "Tome" were exchanging magic blasts at each other, the latter having slowed down, and both were blocking with their items. The unicorn mare was hesitant, especially since a reading tool was being used as a shield. Spike wasn't however as he ran ahead, reaching the suspected clone and blasting him from under the book with a fire breath. Just after "Tome" dissipated from the attack, the dragon said, "I can't hesitate, not for my friends…" 

Twilight then looked around and saw the circles on the ground, then gasped at seeing some of them glow, those rendering her friends pinned down them in the process. "The circles…binding circles!" Levitating the pan, she went over to them and began erasing the circles, which weakened their holding power and eventually released them. She also got Rarity, who was thankfully not 'bound', to do the same with the piece of fence. Spike was already following suit.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


Erstwhile…

Hmm…I'm guessing Chronicle's state of hyper-competence is sapping those of his clones, Mystic thought as he engaged with "Xiphos", whom he guessed was the real one. He was swinging the pan against the sword, making sure it hit flat-end. He also noticed that his co-teacher was actually meaning to hit with the broad side and not the edges.


"Chronicle! I know you're in there!" Mystic cried out as he made sure of his footing and glimpsed Spike and the other two unicorns get to work on the circles. "Stop this madness right now!"

"You speak as if I've been mind-controlled. Well I'm not," he replied as the two continued clashing. "If I had been, or even can, I wouldn't be hurting like this in the first place!" Chronicle managed to find an opening and lashed out his left foreleg, having conjured the tether spell during the conversation. The magical rope snagged Mystic by the leg and he was tripped up, then the tether lashed like a whip and he was sent tumbling forward while flying backward.

That's when he noticed his other opponents surrounding him. They hadn't charged in yet (either one by one or all at once) due to risking 'friendly fire'. The moment Mystic was out of the way however, Spike and Applejack charged. Thinking and casting fast, he added a "magical tether" to his tail, 'placed' the one on his head to his horn, and snagged the two with them. 

He began to spin around, taking the dragon and earth pony in tow and swinging them to dissuade the others from approaching, also shooting sporadically in the air to keep Rainbow from attacking from above and even blasting away Pinkie whenever she attempts to pounce without jumping beforehoof. After a while, he dismissed his tethers, hurling Applejack at the pegasus and the dragon at Rarity. The speedster was pushed back upon catching the farmpony while the white unicorn had it easier with 'slowing' Spike's velocity via telekinesis, then setting him down.

"Bring it on!" the blue unicorn called, both as a dare and as an attempt to dissuade them from this insanity.

Mystic answered by aiming his horn at him and "unsheathing" a blade of magic from it. This was effortlessly swerved this pathetic attempt at the "magic horn blade" as it attempted to strike him.

"I've seen you fight before, and we both know that you're nowhere near as athletic as—" He found himself cut off when the noose of a lasso found itself tied around his neck. The force of the pull made him rear up on his hind legs, and he was also choking.


As it was, Applejack, quickly recovered, was right behind him, and was the one pulling the lasso. "Darn," she muttered through her teeth. "I didn't wanna do this…"

Mystic backed up, went over to Spike, and said, "Someone should check on Fluttershy. She's been out for too long. I'm sure we need that Stare more than ever."

"Why are you asking me?" whispered the dragon as he saw his crush close in on the attack. 

"You're not exactly long-range, and frankly, out of all of us, you're the least skilled in fighting."

Spike grumbled. "All right." With that, he went off to where Fluttershy had landed. Upon arriving there, he saw that she was already awake and standing, but was confronted by a Chronicle clone, who seemed to be just staring her down, and it was working. The dragon went up at the clone from behind, then unleashed a breath of fire…but the clone conjured a barrier just in time.

The clone turned around and unsheathed his horn blade. Thankfully for him, Fluttershy was still frightened enough not to take the chance to do a back attack. Spike shuddered a bit, then steeled himself as his claws heated up. This is gonna suck.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


While Spike engaged with the clone guarding Fluttershy, Rarity galloped toward the real Chronicle and positioned herself (upright) to deliver a sweeping kick. It wasn't a literal one as that would mean dragging her foot along the dirt (!), but it was low enough to do its intended purpose. At least it would have had it hit; Chronicle had backed away, evading the leg and forcing Applejack to back up as well to retain her hold, then cast a barrier around his neck during that time to prevent her from choking him. He could easily teleport away, but he deemed it way too easy. 

Besides, it would permit him to try battling a different way, now that during this maneuver somepony managed to tie another lasso that wound around his horn. While hitting the horn with something cancelled whatever spell he'd be casting, applying pressure to it like this made it very difficult to even perform a spell. Tying a ribbon around it won't do a thing, but a lasso would so long as it was pulling against his horn.


The white unicorn moved about so that they now faced each other, then assumed a martial arts stance. Mystic and Twilight attempted to shoot at him, but he warded them off with barriers. He then put up another atop himself and intercepted yet another pounce from Pinkie, who then jumped away. "Come on!" he sneered. "Let's see what you can do!" Accepting his challenge, she attacked. 

What he pulled off surprised them, particularly Rarity and Mystic. Any punch she did was deflected with a smooth pushing motion at the leg. Any swing to his head he ducked under. His response to any forward kick was to turn to the side, catch her leg with his forelegs, then push so that she would fall on her back. Any kick to his side he would catch, then twist to make her fall to the ground and at risk of him bending and breaking her leg. The barriers he set up prevented her from attacking him from another angle or from anyone trying to intervene. They were also close enough to his body so that no sudden back attacks would work effectively.

"Those moves…they're from Ebon Belt's aikido!" gasped Mystic. "I didn't know he took his classes as well."

"I don't," Chronicle replied. "I learned it back home from my father. Never saw its usefulness until now." He then addressed Rarity as she got up from falling over yet again. "Not that good a karateka, or just hesitant? Either way…" He then decided to teleport, banishing his barriers as well before re-emerging at a corner of the "training range" away from them.


"Oh great, he's going crazy." Like all of his friends have at some point I might add, if what he told me about them is correct. Applebuck season, stage fright, panic concerning the Princess, too much attention, friendship insecurity, and that alleged incident at the Gala… "First he wants us to leave, and now he's practicing on us."

"Can't see why I can't do both." Chronicle poised as if to fire magic shots, but nothing seemed to come. They quickly realized that he was shooting "wind blasts", particularly when one knocked off Applejack's hat as she reeled back her lasso. 

Mystic was quick to erect a wall of magic to stop the attacks while Rainbow decided to fly over it and charge, soon zooming around Chronicle in a circle, trying to decide on whether or not to form a tornado, but given the barrier's restrictions—even if it permitted wind to go through—it was difficult. Chronicle didn't give her the chance as he 'lashed out' a magic tether from his tail and around her wings, making her crash.

"You boasted that you've beaten a honkin' metal titan once. I don't care if that's true; I'm your size, I'm an accurate shooter, and I'm far from sluggish." At the corner of his eye, he saw Applejack get teleported to his side and ready to deliver a buck. This time however, he was ready and flash-stepped a few inches to the side so that the attack would fall short.


Meanwhile, Spike successfully defeated the clone with a fire breath. But not before suffering a few slashes from the horn blade and exchanging claw slashes in return. On the outside, he was relatively unharmed, but on the inside he was hurting a great deal.

"Oh, Spike!" she squeaked, feeling guilty for getting him hurt. "I'm sorry I didn't get back with the others. The Chronicle clone you just sent away scared me from doing so."

While still wincing a bit from the pain, he managed to speak coherently. "Well, we need your help. Chronicle's currently trashing us right now, and we're running out of options. We need that Stare of yours, but we also need a plan. He certainly knows how dangerous it is."

"You're right. I think I got an idea. But…I need help. Are you…"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The dragon approached the pegasus so she can explain in hushed tones. Spike nodded a couple of times as he listened. Once she was done, he asked, "You really think it will work?"

She gave a solemn sigh. "It has to."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


Back in the training range, things were looking bleak for Mystic and the rest. Right now, Chronicle had got two ponies snagged in magic tethers as he spun around, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, with Rarity clinging onto the latter. This maneuver kept Mystic and Twilight at a distance and also kept them from shooting in risk of friendly fire. It also dissuaded Pinkie from just pouncing again, after the many times it didn't work.

"Just how is he able to spin so fast and keep himself focused after?" Twilight pondered to herself. "Sure, he's able to swing it about in different directions without any disorientation, but spinning at that speed should make even him—WHOA!" 

She jumped out of the way as Rarity lost her grip and was almost sent flying straight at her. The white unicorn ended up rolling on the ground before landing on a haystack. Chronicle soon dismissed the tether he had on the farmpony and she plowed through the fence from the velocity. By the time he 'let go' of Rainbow, she was going so fast that when she was hurtled to the library wall, she smashed through the wood and was instantly unconscious upon landing on the interior's floor.


As he slowed in his spinning, not even feeling the slightest bit dizzy, he performed a back flip…and landed on top of Pinkie Pie before she could sneak-attack him. He then conjured a "binding circle" to ensure that she wouldn't be able to pull off any of her tricks. Then, as a stroke of luck, he cast the power transfer spell on the two purple unicorns, taking their magic for his own.

Unlike with Nightmare Moon, this time he was exerting a good amount of effort on the draining, forcing his targets to reel over and slump to the ground as they felt their magic be absorbed.

"Chronicle…" Twilight pleaded weakly.

"I gave you all your chance to back out. You chose not to. And now you're gonna pay the pri—" He was abruptly cut off when something struck him from the left. He had become so focused on draining that he failed to see Fluttershy pounce him.


The two rolled on the ground for a good while, and somehow at the end of it she was on top. For reasons he was unable to comprehend, with only her hooves, she prevented him from pulling away. Before he could cast a spell, he felt a dragon's claw wrap itself around his horn, nullifying his magic. This was enough to make him start struggling. He also closed his eyes, taking the Stare into account.

"Spike! Grab a leg!" he heard her say. A second later, he felt another claw wrap itself around one and pinned it down. "I'm sorry…" Her words seemed to be pained, and five seconds later, he was punched in the gut. The force of the hit was surprisingly strong he cried out in pain and opened his eyes instinctively—and was immediately subjected to the full power of Fluttershy's dreaded Stare.

If he thought seeing her (or his father) getting really angry was scary, this was worse. He could actually feel himself be literally paralyzed by fear, even as her eyes were welling up with tears. It was extremely difficult to think of anything else, and his guilt on seeing her have to do this to him didn't help. He figured that the Stare wasn't a mere psychological effect, but also some sort of non-unicorn magic.

"Chronicle! Please stop this!" she cried out. "Don't you see you're hurting your friends with what you're doing?! I know how much you hate Discord for what he did! I know because I feel the same! When I was corrupted by him, I was pretty much trapped inside my own mind, helpless as I was forced to do things I didn't want to do! When Twilight restored me, I wanted to believe it was all just a nightmare!"

The Stare faltered after that as she closed her eyes, steeling herself for what she has to say next. Chronicle, however, didn't immediately get up, his stamina drained, and his mind losing the fog that was his obsession to train himself. By this point, Spike had let go of his leg and backed away.

"Revenge isn't going to solve anything," she continued. "It may feel like a good thing at first, but it's not. Maybe it might bring you peace, but more than often it will leave your life feeling flat and empty. And if you continue down your current path, you might one day find yourself as bad as Discord, in terms of atrocity if not power. Worse, there may be those connected to him who will then decide to pursue vengeance against you, and before you know it, we have a cycle of revenge.

"You have a lot to live for. Don't throw it all away for this. You have friends who have suffered as you have. Maybe they can't compare to yours, but you're not supposed to do that. Friends help one another. Friends…" Fluttershy couldn't say anymore as she finally broke down to tears and hugged him, who hugged her back. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I had to do this!"


With his mind finally clear thanks to all this, he finally replied. "No, I should be the one who's sorry. I ended up forcing you to do this to me. All of you. After I failed to protect my friends, then failed to even get revenge for them, I was left me with a very bad feeling, even though we did defeat him in the end. 

"I wanted to better myself so that I would be more prepared the next time. I couldn't let it happen again. Not to my friends, most of all you." By this time, everypony else save Rainbow has recovered and slowly gathered around the two.  "You're the second most tenderhearted person I know, the first being my mother. You're also strong and dangerous when the ones you care about are in danger, also like my mother. A clear touch of steel under that silk, to. For Discord to take that all away, and turn you into an unsympathetic █████…it drove all reason out of my head."

"Wh-what are you trying to say?"

"It started ever since that incident with the red dragon, when we saw you stand up to it for the first time. I was utterly impressed with such force you were able to exude. Since then, I felt like I needed to make you stronger both physically and spiritually without changing your sweet personality. Before I knew it, you've become more than a friend to me." He closed his eyes as he struggled to let out his next words. "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, FLUTTERSHY!"

This anguished declaration elicited shock, from everypony in varying degrees, save Rarity seemed gleeful at this confession. Pinkie's gasp that followed was twice as long as the one she made during Twilight's arrival at Ponyville.

Chronicle opened his eyes again, tears beginning to come out. "And I hate the fact that it took Discord for me to finally realize and accept it. I was also afraid of what my family and their friends would say. It's against the rules of my…" He lowered his voice to a whisper; Mystic doesn't know of the cross-world incident to Solaris Equestria. "…secret mission." He resumed normal tone. "I was just too scared to start, and that's another thing that sets me apart from my twin sister." My family doesn't normally accept its members starting relationships before…introducing the outsider and inducting them. There's also the fact that being a Story Crew Field Operative, I would eventually have to leave you, and that's worse. He failed to let out any more words as he embraced her and, for the second time, cried.


During this time, Rainbow Dash crawled out of the hole in the library she was blown through, ready to continue fighting. However she stopped short on seeing her friends in a wide circle around Fluttershy, who was crying. And Chronicle was below her…also crying. Confused, she took a look at the others, and saw that they were no longer fighting. 

She looked back at the two in the center, and was both a bit disappointed and relieved, disappointed because they won the fight without her, and relieved that they even won at all. It was there that everypony realized that the obsession has finally gone from Chronicle's mind, the moment they saw him cry.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS


Sunset, inside the library…

Dear Princess Celestia, 

I've learned a very important life lesson. Revenge is a very costly and sterile thing. Sometimes, when times are desperate, it's all you have that can keep you going. But in all other cases, it can ruin your life and leave you empty, even ostracize you from the life you do have left.

That's where friends, true friends and not "enablers", come in. They're there to comfort you, to remind you that there is more in life to live for, even knock you to your senses if need be. Many times mine can be quite the idiots (and I take it upon myself to fix that), but their positive traits are why I haven't given up on them. It's worth the effort.

Twilight Sparkle's stalwart bodyguard, Chronicle

Once Spike was done writing the letter, he rolled it up, then blew his green fire into it, sending it to the Princess. Everybody was gathered at the ground floor, next to the table that had overturned when Rainbow crashed into it during the earlier fight.

"Girls, Mystic, I would like to apologize for my rash behavior for the past few days," Chronicle said. "It was…inexcusable. My contract swore me to protect you, and I failed that by fighting you all. How could I have let myself act this way?"

"It's okay, Chronicle," assured Mystic. "It's in the past. We all went in knowing we were bound to get hurt."

"At the very least, we now know just how dangerous you can really be to anybody who gets in your way," Pinkie said, her tone not matching the sentence.

"After that fight, I'm glad to say you're on our side," said Applejack. "We all are."

"There's still that statue though," Twilight pointed out skeptically. "The obsession seems to have started there."

"No. I would've fallen to my obsession even without it, trust me," Chronicle replied. "I still need to train anyway. I just have to avoid overworking myself like Applejack once did."

He got a wary look from the farmpony. "Hey."

"Come to think of it, the two situations seemed to be similar, except I was only harming myself, and excessive force was required to put a stop to me."

"How will we know that you won't get obsessed again?" Rainbow asked somewhat worriedly. "I don't think we can fight you a second time."

"You won't, I assure you. 'Sides, I was just subjected to the Stare. I do not want to experience that again. I was incapable of thinking anything else, not even my obsession, and that was what succeeded in bringing me to my senses where others have failed." He turned to the one who did it. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

It's weird to be thanked for scaring someone, but the yellow pegasus knew it was sincere, so she just nodded her head.

"Come on, everypony!" Pinkie suddenly said. "Group hug!" She gathered everyone so that they were around the friend they had 'rescued' today, further warming him in more ways than one.

"Thanks again, guys, for saving me," Chronicle said. Violence may not always be the best answer, but that only means there are a few situations where it is.
> Lesson Zero
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lesson Zero

In the dreamscape…

"Chronicle!"

"We missed you!"

"Hey guys! I'm glad the portal mirrors are up and running again!"

Chronicle was having a short reunion with two of his cousins, Blue Pen and Hickory Dickory. The three were just breaking out from a group hug.

"Well, we did have help from some of the draconequui 'recruited' from the Outbreak," said Hickory. This earned the green earth pony a snarl from their unicorn cousin. "Oh, right. Discord 'Prime' was a real pain in the arse, wasn't he?"

"I think that would be putting it mildly," mused Pen as he frowned as well. "Who knew reality warpers can be such serious lechs?"

"Coming from a sex maniac like you?" snarked his brother. "Now that's something."

The green pegasus unfurled his wings. "Well, after I got 'skanked' by that bastard… even I have standards."

"You wanted to kill him, right?" Chronicle asked.

"Not just kill him. I wanted to ████ him, gut him like a Cornish game hen, pull out whatever ████████s he has that I gutted, and then force-feed them down his throat!"

The other two ponies were shocked with what he said. "Wow, that's dirty," said the unicorn before turning to face Hickory. "What about you? How was your Discord?"

"Well, unlike you, I'm not a full-on fighter partly and I didn't bring any artifacts with me. I had to settle for doing a prank war with him while sweet-talking to him on ending his evil ways." The earth pony gave a sigh. "Unfortunately, given what he did to them, my friends weren't as merciful and re-petrified him. I hope that in the event we are to free him again for whatever reason, Pinkie Pie and I can prank together with him."

For some reason, the mention of that pony made Chronicle turn away in wondering. Pen noticed and asked, "Hey, Timmy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you find a 'special somepony' in Equestria Prime?"

"No." was the instant reply.

"You're lying. I know romance when I see it. Also, Timerity told me right after I…visited her that you do have one, and that she has one too. And before his world ended up time-frozen from the outbreak, Blue Diary let slip that he has one too."

Hickory got interested as the subject changed. "So who are their special someponies? Mine is Pinkie Pie."

"Well, Blue Diary confessed to me that he has a fancy for Raindrops, although he finds it conflicting with the fact that he's still living in with Ditzy Doo and he pretty much serves as Dinky Doo's 'uncle'."

"Teenage pregnancy."

"And Timerity's already dating Rainbow Blitz. And considering the mirror phenomenon between your worlds—"

"No. Even if that's the case, Timerity and Chronicle are like violet and purple."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, they are the same in many ways, but they have their differences. By principle, Timerity's better in fighting and flexibility, while Chronicle is more forgiving and when it comes to a fight between the two, in terms of determination to protect, he will prevail."

Blue Pen turned to face Chronicle. "So, who is your special somepony?"

This question he refused to answer and forcefully woke himself up, evicting them from the dreamscape. Fortunately for him, it was time to wake up anyway; he had someplace special to go today.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Sunrise at Ponyville…

It's been a week after the eventful revelation the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony (and Spike and Mystic Shield) discovered concerning their friend Chronicle, not to mention their…"clash", to put it mildly, that led to it. Things have returned to normal, although rumors of the revelation have spread. It is not certain who spread it (assuming one of them did it) or who found out (assuming no one did), but Chronicle was all right with it; it was about time he learned what it means to be in a romantic relationship.

But that could wait another time. Right now, he and Spike had work to do. He already dispatched a couple of magical clones to various places. In fact, the one who was in the library assisting Twilight Sparkle was a clone as well. Where's the real one? We'll find out later.

"Quill," Twilight said.

"Check," Spike answered as the item flew over his head as he held another one and a scroll in hand. THe quill settled down by two others next to a stack of paper.

"Parchment."

"Check."

"Extra ink."

"Check."

"Extra extra ink."

Spike was slightly bemused by now. "Check."

"Rook to F2. Checkmate," snarked Chronicle, being the one who passed the items to Twilight, who now had three inkwells on the table.

"Is that everything on the checklist?" asked their 'boss'.

"Yep," Spike replied.

"Great." She walked over past him. "Now that we’ve completed the checklist of things we need to create a checklist, we can make my checklist of the things I have to get done by the end of the day. Ready?"

"Ready!"

“Item one. Create checklist of the things I have to accomplish by the end of the day.”

The baby dragon’s eyes popped and he dropped to the floor with a weary groan.

"I think you're going overboard with this bit of work," commented the blue unicorn. "Do you have a checklist fetish or something?"

"What's a fetish?"

This was answered with a facehoof. "Of all the—just forget about it."

Spike went over and whispered in her hear, probably explaining. Upon hearing what he had to say, she finally answered, "…No, I do not."

"Okay."


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Now Playing: My Little Pony Theme Song

{scene opens to reveal the "Twinkling Balloon" in front of the daytime sky, with Twilight Sparkle, Chronicle, and Spike as its passengers}

Twilight Sparkle: My Little Pony, My Little Pony♪

{Twilight looks around from the balloon as it descends into the clouds}

Off-distance choir: Ahh ahh ahh ahhh…♪

{cloud obscures balloon from view, which Rainbow Dash then plows through, breaking it and revealing Ponyville}

Other singers: (My Little Pony)♪

{Rainbow makes a loop-de-loop as the 'camera' zooms in and enters tunnel vision, and exits it to show the balloon touching down. There is now a locomotive train and its station.}

Twilight Sparkle: I used to wonder what friendship could be♪

{Twilight jumps off the balloon just before it lands and trots forward while nodding at a passing Mystic Shield; once the balloon does land, Chronicle jumps off immediately after his charge and greets Mystic as well as Spike climbs out.}

Other singers: (My Little Pony)♪

{Spike gets off of the balloon and runs to catch up with the two unicorns, waving at Mystic as he soon leaves the screen; close of Twilight's face as her face brightens.}

Twilight Sparkle: Until you all shared its magic with me♪

{As Chronicle catches up, camera turns around to show their friends ahead: (left to right) Pinkie Pie hops in place, Rarity makes a charming pose, Applejack looks ahead with one foreleg crossed over the other, Fluttershy simply looks cute as she looks sidelong at the camera, and Rainbow Dash flies in and stops just above the four}

Rainbow Dash: Big adventure♪

{In a sky backdrop, she flies in, then zooms off, leaving a rainbow trail, which covers the screen and serves as a screen transition}

Pinkie Pie: Tons of fun♪

{In a Sugarcube Corner, she blows a yellow balloon, which expands until it fills the whole screen as a transition, then bursts}

Rarity: A beautiful heart♪

{Inside Carousel Boutique, she flips her hair as she stares right into the camera; a twinkle emerges from her eye and serves as the screen transition}

Applejack: Faithful and strong♪

{Outside at her farm, she raises her hind legs and bucks a tree, sending down a bunch of apples, which serves as the  screen transition}

Fluttershy: Sharing kindness♪

{Just outside her cottage, she nudges an apple towards a white bunny; a swarm of butterflies fills the screen from below and serve as the screen transition}

Chronicle: It's an easy feat♪

{Inside his training range, he swings his signature "magic horn blade" from right to left, the streak coming from it serving as the screen transition}

Twilight Sparkle: And magic makes it all complete♪

{A distance from the library, Twilight teleports in and the camera zooms out more to reveal the rest of the gang; to the right are Applejack, Fluttershy, and Chronicle, to the left are Pinkie Pie and Rarity, above those two is Rainbow Dash, and at the left side of the screen near the edge is Mystic Shield; as the other five mares edge closer to Twilight, Chronicle does too, closing his eyes and giving a wide smile while Mystic just crosses one of his legs with the other.}

Twilight Sparkle: You have…♪

All: …my little ponies♪

{Spike pops out in front with a scroll and breathes green fire into it, sending the letter to the far-off city in the mountains; Canterlot}

Twilight Sparkle: Do you know you're all my very best…♪

All: …friends?♪

{Cut to a throne room where Princess Celestia sits, two black unicorn guards a ways below her seat; the smoke that was Spike's letter flies over to the Princess, stops in front of her, and returns to its original form; Celestia then opens it with her magic (golden aura) and a smile; the scroll possesses a picture depicting Twilight and company posed together, with Chronicle positioned in front and sitting close to Rarity and Fluttershy, this time closer to the latter.}

{cut to the show's title, which has an added yellow box above reading "Shisno Chronicles", then switches to the text "Made for Television by Lauren Faust", then to the text (in the same format as before) "Fanfic written by nightelf37"; fade to black}

End Song

"Wow! Promoted to Opening Titles, huh?"

You already said that, Pinkie.

"But that was the Japanese version, where "gala" is a foreign concept."

Same deal. Now let's continue with the story.


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

Daybreak…

Spike was dragging a very long scroll across a busy street, its end thankfully held up by (the clone) Chronicle (and no one getting in its way) as the two of them eyed it worriedly while walking after Twilight.

"How are we doing, Spike?" she asked as they stopped. 

"Let’s see. We’ve already dropped off your cape at the cleaners…" Spike stated. "…returned the blackboard you borrowed from Cheerilee, ordered new parchment and quills from the stationery shop…"

Twilight walked over upon hearing that. "Hmm…seems like we’d just placed an order for those a few days ago."

Spike threw a look over his shoulder at the yards of parchment stretching behind the pair, with Chronicle still on the other end. "Can’t imagine why we go through so many of them."

"Sounds like we’re ahead of schedule. What’s next?"

"Cupcakes!"

The blue stallion gulped at this. Chronicle, snap out of it! Pinkie's not making cupcakes out of ponies! You would know!


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S


In Sugarcube Corner…

Chronicle opened a box on the store's counter containing a batch of pink-frosted cupcakes. Spike eyed the frosted baked goods with an eager, shuddery moan, but Twilight’s eye was a more critical one, with Chronicle being passive.

"Uh—I only ordered twelve," the bookworm said. Mrs. Cake emerged from the kitchen, tray on head…and a distended stomach. I'm gonna have to ask for that 'scene' to be edited out. He didn't know it, but she was pregnant.

"Oh, I know, dear, but I had an extra," replied the baker, taking some boxes back in. "So I thought I’d make it a baker’s dozen."

A baker’s dozen consists of thirteen items rather than twelve. Bad luck.

Spike let his tongue hang out with another shudder, but Twilight magically yanked him back and stepped up for a closer look. "Oh, that was very thoughtful of you." Mrs. Cake returned to the counter. "It’s just, some of the icing from the extra cupcake is getting all over the one next to it. See?"

The older mare leaned over the box…and saw that as far as she knew, all the cupcakes appeared to be evenly iced. She decided to play along regardless. "Oh…sure."

"It’s just that I’m planning on sharing these at a picnic later, and I don’t want anypony to feel like somepony else is getting more icing." Twilight gave a big grin to Mrs. Cake.

"Oh…no, uh, of course not."

"Like they'd notice or care," said Chronicle, but he was ignored as his charge 'picked up' a small scraper off the work counter and whisked it over Mrs. Cake's shoulder, unnerving her slightly.

"Not to worry. I’ll just move some of this one to…" Twilight nudged a dollop of icing away from one and divided it between two others. "…hmm…I think I may have scooped too much…oops, now those two have more. Let’s just try this again." Which she proceeded to do with fierce concentration. 

Mrs. Cake kept her forced smile, recoiling slightly from the bits of flying icing. Down below, Spike began to lose his patience. Chronicle was trying again to convince Twilight, but to no avail.

"Twilight, nopony will notice or care. Maybe Pinkie will notice, but she certainly won't care. I, for one, won't."

"Hmm…no, that won’t do. Let me just…" Spike was hit in the face with some icing, and Chronicle repelled them with a wall barrier; even it can dissipate him. "…hmm, put some here…then…no, that’s not right. A little more on this one, and a little bit…ah, wait…" The three around Twilight began to worry as her face gradually rearranged into a slightly crazed expression. "…I’ll just…ooh, a little bit here…and here…and…perfect!"

'Perfect' being 'stripped of all icing except a small dab in the center of its top'. Mrs. Cake had been liberally spattered, and she woodenly replied, "Hmm, oh, yes, much better." 

Twilight floated the lid on the box. "Okay!" She turned away, levitating the box. "Time to tackle the next item on our—" 

"Perhaps we can put it on hold." As it turns out, her balancing the icing had left all of it on Spike. Chronicle was levitating whatever nearly went on him  and munched on them. This surprised both her and Mrs. Cake.

"Oops. Looks like we’re gonna have to add “give a baby dragon a bath” to our list." Said baby dragon just lashed out his tongue, wrapped it around his body, and yanked it back to set himself spinning in place. The tongue promptly cleaned away every bit of icing and retracted into his mouth, and he gleefully swallowed the sweet stuff as soon as he stopped. 

"Aaand it's been taken care of," snarked the stallion as he and Twilight, with Spike on the latter's back exited Sugarcube Corner, the box floating before them.

"Very efficient! And a little bit gross."

Spike's only response was a noncommittal grunt. 

"Next time, we're ordering muffins," Chronicle said. "They're much healthier."


C—TS—S—MCC—C—TS—S—MCC—C—TS—S—MCC


Back in the second floor of the library…

"Looks like that’s everything," Spike said, checklist in hand, as the three of them entered the room with the box of cupcakes.

"Almost everything," Twilight said as he jumped off her back. 

Spike read the end of the list. “Triple-check checklist to make sure we didn’t miss anything when we double-checked the checklist.” He decided to mark it off. "Uh, check." He then dropped the quill and scroll with a sudden groan, exposing the throbbing, inflamed wrist of his writing hand. "I’ve been holding that quill so long I’ve got a claw cramp!" 

He and Chronicle went over to her, the former with a bandage on his wrist, as she levitated a cupcake. "Good thing we don’t have anything to report to Princess Celestia this week. I don’t think I could write another word."

for some reason, this threw a sudden scare into Twilight so that she let the snack drop. "We haven’t sent a letter to Princess Celestia this week?"

"Why? Is that bad?" She leaned into his face, making his bandage fall off.

"Bad? Bad? Of course it’s bad! I’m supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter every week telling her about a lesson I’ve learned about friendship! Not every other week, not every ten days—" She jabbed a hoof into his chest. "—every single week!" She then backed away.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I'm sure she can let off a schedule slip," Chronicle said. "No matter how much I look at it, I just don't see her flipping her lid from one uneventful letter."

A panicked moan from his charge indicated that he ws being ignored yet again as she went over to her desk, surrounded by scattered and levitating books. "Where’s my calendar, where’s my calendar?" 

Spike reached in a drawer as they flew past. "Where it always is?"

As soon as he fished it out, it got yanked over to a stand with enough force to carry him along. The calendar landed properly and flipped open, but he would ave crashed into the stand’s support and slide down to the floor were it not for Chronicle catching him.

"Would you please be careful around Spike?!" reprimanded the stallion as he set Spike down.

"Sorry. When did we send the last one?"

"Last…Tuesday?" Spike answered Twilight.

"If I recall correctly, that was the day you guys beat the snot out of me," remarked the blue pony.

"And today is…?"

"…Tuesday."

"Do we have any backup letters to send?"

"No. The last one was two weeks ago."

She snapped upright with a cry as she ran up to her bedroom. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She went over to her bedroom window, popped up at it, and looked at the sun. "If I don’t send her a letter by sundown, I’ll be…" As her companions went up the stairs after her, they saw a scenery spontaneously appear behind her. Upon later investigation, from her Surveillance camera's point of view, it looked like the background flared red behind her. "…tardy!"

Spike nonchalantly pushed it away to restore the view of the window, then Chronicle teleported it to his "training range". 

"What’s that, now?" asked the dragon.

"Tar-dy, Spike. Late!" Twilight flopped onto her bed. "I’ll be late! Ooh, how could I have let this happen? I’m usually so organized. She pulled the blanket over herself. "I’ve never been late with an assignment!"

"Oh, please! You’re the most studious student ever!" He threw the blanket and jumped down from the loft. "I’m sure the Princess’ll forgive you if you miss one little deadline."

"It's not like there are other students of hers with better records than you, right? I just don't see her expecting you to be a perfectionist. You've shown her many times that you are not so."

"I’m afraid to take that chance, guys. This is the ruler of all of Equestria we’re talking about. The pony who holds my fate in her hooves!" She stops for breath at this point, but a sudden thought stopped her from continuing. "What if she doesn’t forgive me?" 

"Yeah, I don’t think she’ll—" Spike was cut off when she teleported down to get in his face.

"What if instead she starts thinking I’m not taking my studies on friendship seriously?"

"Why would she—"

Twilight began to pace as Chronicle walked down the stairs. "What if she makes me come back to Canterlot and puts me back in school and makes me prove I’ve been taking them seriously by giving me a test?!?" She stopped and gasped. "What if I don’t pass?"

"But why wouldn’t you pass—"

"She’s my teacher! Do you know what teachers do to students who don’t pass?" There was a a brief pause, during which neither boys had no immediate vocal response.

"They have to either retake the test, or repeat the year?" Chronicle guessed.

"They send them back a grade! But she won’t just send me back a grade. She’ll send me back to… …Magic Kindergarten!"

As she sat on the floor, freaked-out and shivering, she happened to spontaneously summon a window shade…right in front of a Surveillance camera again. And Spike went over and snapped it up, making it disappear. Upon later inspection, Chronicle would see that it showed her mortified, in a classroom, sitting on top of a far-too-small school desk, and being jeered and pointed at by all the other unicorn fillies seated at their own desks.

"Twilight…" Spike nudged her. "Twilight!" 

She finally snapped to. "Huh?"

"That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!"

"We've ever heard, Spike. I think it's stupid too. Besides, Twilight, you helped saved the world. Not once, but twice," Chronicle reminded his charge. "There's no way she'd be that ungrateful to you." And if she is, I'm gonna talk her down about it, Princess or not. The only thing that can get in the way of that is the government.

"You’re not gonna be sent back to Magic Kindergarten."

"You’re right. I have no reason to worry." The dragon smiled proudly as she stood up. "Because I’m going to solve a friend’s problem and get that letter to Princess Celestia before sundown!"

This elicited a very loud groan from her number-one assistant and her bodyguard as she leaned over to the former.

"So…got any problems, troubles, conundrums, or any other sort of issues, major or minor, that I, as a good friend, could help you solve?" Twilight ended this with a big grin.

He thought hard for a few seconds, grunting with the metal effort. "I got nothing." 

She immediately turned to face her bodyguard. "What about you? Any lingering feelings from you-know-what? Or maybe there's some sort of strain between you and—"

"I seriously doubt you know anything about non-family relationships. And for Luna's sake, we haven't even started! Now you scared me off. And no, me sending relationship reports to substitute for you is not a good idea. As for my other issue, that was unfortunately solved last week. And if I do happen to still have a big problem concerning him, I don't need friends to solve it, I need a therapist." Or my mother. Damn, I should talk to her about this.

Twilight's face fell and she backed off with a sigh as she trotted downstairs. "Then it looks like I’m gonna have to find somepony who does have a problem!" 

"This won’t end well," groaned Spike after she's gone.

"Want to send a letter?" asked Chronicle.

"Nah. Hopefully this will be solved before it comes to that."

"Just like with me?"

"Yeah."


C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S

Eyecatch (video-type) - A giant clock ticks as Twilight Sparkle run left to right to left again in panic. Spike and Chronicle watch her as they stand on either side of the clock. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S—C—S—S

"The clock is ticking"…

In Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

The eponymous teacher wasn't conducting class today. Right now, he was enrolling a couple of new students. He had no idea why it was only now, but decided not to dwell on it. A Chronicle clone stood next to him to survey the new students as well, being co-teacher after all. Greatstone was present too, now 'promoted' to an apprentice who can teach in his (and Chronicle's) stead should he be unavailable for whatever reason in the middle of classes. The same privileges have been given to Tricky Books, Chrono Cards, and Bullseye.

The to-be-students were four foals and two adults. The first foal was Ruby Pinch, who is apparently related to Berry Punch, who in turn is a close friend of Minuette. Her coat was carnation, her mane was thulian pink, and here eyes were green.

The second was Tootsie Flute, who was adopted recently by Bon Bon and Lyra. He had trouble thinking about that. She had a baby blue coat, a lavender mane, and an eye color similar to that of the darker portion of her mane.

Third was Snails, though Snips wasn't here as well. Probably because he wasn't learned enough to use magic. It was the same deal with Sweetie Belle, not that he'd allow her in his class anyway, regardless of Rarity's consent. After that explosive lemons incident, he's rather not be involved with them. At least not her or Scootaloo; Apple Bloom was okay.

The last foal was a filly named Firelock, Firecracker Burst's little sister. She had an orange coat, two-toned red hair, and green eyes. Of all the four, only Snails had his cutie mark.

The first adult was a mare named Berryshine. She shared Berry Punch's colors (and cutie mark), except—other than being a unicorn—her hair was kind of like Rarity's, though not nearly as meticulously maintained. The relation between her and the "resident drunkard", who by the way owns a winery, is still unknown, however.

The other was a sleek black stallion with a buzz-cut white mane, a stuffy white tail, and a rectangular mirror cutie mark. His name is Morpheus, which was a bit of an oddball name by pony standards. His special talent is disguises, and can make himself look like anypony he's seen. However, his voice acting is terrible, and his disguises are only as good as the details he has perceived, so that means he has to take a really good look before he can pull off an effective disguise.

Mystic asked by he confided all that in the first place and he said that a pink pony went over to him and asked if he was going to Mystic Shield's academy. He said he was, and then she told him to "Pinkie Promise" that he would not use his lessons for evil or morally questionable purposes whatsoever. He couldn't find a way to weasel out of it, so he decided to relent just to get her off of his back (literally). The teacher had no idea what to say about this, but decided it was not worth dwelling over.

"All right, ponies," he declared. "Before I can accept you in my class, I need to verify that you are capable of casting magic and have enough power to cast the two basic spells I will be teaching. This goes for the adults as well, as cases of magically-weak unicorns exist. Now…" He 'summoned' a brick from "magicspace" and set in in from of him. "Lift the brick."

And, one by one, that's what they all did. Snails barely passed, his magic starting up reminding Chronicle of revving up a car engine, but his efforts were enough for Mystic to accept him in his class.

"Good. Now that you've all passed the first test, Greatstone here will evaluate your magic power." he gestured to the light brown unicorn, who gave a nod. "And if you do pass, he will conduct an orientation class to evaluate your other traits."

As the six new to-be-students went over to the apprentice, the Chronicle clone asked Mystic a question as they walked over to the far wall opposite the door. "Say, not that I want you to pester her about it, but why doesn't Rarity take our classes again?"

"Well, from what her sister Sweetie Belle told me, she already attends Sensei's classes, who teaches Ponyrate, Griff Thai, Zebrakido, Minofu, and weapon arts. She thinks it's a hassle to start attending my classes as well."

"What's their difference between karate, muay thai, aikido, and kung fu, which I think is taught by the other masters in the Martial Arts Group?"

"Karate is a minotaur martial art, while Ponyrate is an implementation of that art designed by an earth pony seafarer named Ocean Rope. Zebrakido is aikido developed by a zebra whose name I can't remember. Its difference between aikido taught by Ebon Belt is that its movements are much smoother and more refined, although they don't take pegasus wings into account, which pony aikido does. Kung fu is a martial art originating from the Griffon Kingdom east of Equestria, and Minofu is based on that, but doesn't take wings into account since minotaurs don't have them. As for muay thai…" Mystic stopped upon realizing he doesn't know it. "What's muay thai?"

Whoopsie. Maybe it doesn't exist here. "…Never mind. Forget I asked."

Just then, Twilight Sparkle entered the dojo, and the two of them can detect a twinge of panic in her face.

"Mystic Shield!" she cried out as she teleported over to them. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"…Um, no."

"You look like you're getting some new students. May I—"

"No," Mystic cut her off. "Only I can give you something to do. Nobody eager to do something for me without me telling them first is permitted, whether or not it's to 'win points' with me. My teacher Aegis, who I learned this 'trade' from, told me that accepting them often leads to disaster due to that eagerness."

Twilight's ears drooped. "Oh. Um, any… uh… problems with your students? Conflicts, troubles, conundrums, or any other sort of issues, major or minor, that I, as a good friend, could help you solve?"

Mystic put a hoof to his chin. "Let's see. Other than some of them not performing as well in class, and a few dawdlers while I lecture, nothing you can help with." He raised a hoof to prevent her from speaking more. "And no, the only ponies I can trust my schedule and problems with are Chronicle and my apprentices."

"Why don't you trust me?"

"The main reason why is because our scheduling methods are opposites of one another. You keep a schedule most convenient to yourself and, as much as you may deny it, expect others to follow it. I, on the other hoof, conform my schedule to others for their convenience, but of course I don't try to please everypony, as one of your friendship reports mention."

Right. Rarity's fashion show.

"If you have nothing else to discuss with me related to my classes, I suggest you leave, please."

Twilight hung her head in defeat at this, then teleported away. Chronicle wasn't too happy about this. Oh dear. Something's wrong with her. But what? I think one of my clones will know.


C—TS—S—MS–G–RP—TF—F—B—M

"Take your time"…

Elsewhere, at Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash, and two Chronicle clones with a reinforced barriers around them were doing demolition work on a barn. All three wore transparent safety goggles. The pegasus started into a flying kick and a savage yell, crashing into a wall and out the opposite one. One of the two 'unicorns' began to barrage the barn with giant magic "shurikens". Normally, these only hurt organics and not damage the environment, but only because Chronicle set his power that way. The other one was cleaving stuff in half with his signature "magic horn blade".

At a nearby ditch, Applejack—with a crash helmet instead of her stetson—took cover. Splinters flew every which way as the trio of "demoponies" continued chopping, bucking, biting, slicing, and blasting their way through every piece of wood they can reach. Further away, one of the chunks whistled through the air and embedded itself in the road just in front of Twilight, bringing her up short in her walk to the farm. 

"What in the world?" she gasped as she took in the full scope of the barn demolition and paused for a moment. "Rainbow must be angry with Applejack!" She gave a shrewd smile. "She must hate her guts! Oh, wonderful! And from what I know of Chronicle's opinion of Applejack, he must've finally snapped! This is great!" She then zipped ahead to deal with the "problem", reaching the pegasus first, who was coming in for another pass. "Rainbow Dash! Stop!"

The latter found herself telekinetically grabbed by the tail, just short of crashing through the barn wall again. The rest of her hung free as Twilight trotted up. The two Chronicle clones stopped what they were doing and one of them walked over.

"Listen, Rainbow." She gave a wink. "I know you’re upset with Applejack, but don’t worry. Whatever it is that has come between you two, I’m sure that I, as a good friend, can help you resolve your problems." 

"Uh, Twilight. This isn't what it looks like," said the clone that approached.

She took no notice of him or the thoroughly confused look that Rainbow was sending her way. When she released her hold on the multicolored tail, its owner hung in the air for a second before thudding to the ground. "Uh, what are you talking about?" asked the pegasus as she stood up.

Twilight pua a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder "Oh, Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to hide your feelings from me." She turned the mare's face toward hers. "I can tell you two must have had a terrible fight."

The magical clone couldn't hep but stifle a chortle. "Oh, I hope you don't mean it like I think it is." Do you seriously think she has an affair with you? Twilight then faced him.

"And Chronicle, I should've known your disdain for Applejack would've gone this far."

"What?"


C—TS—A—RD—C—TS—A—RD—C—TS—A—RD

"…But hurry"…

Rainbow now lay stretched out on her back on a nearby bench, her goggles removed. Twilight sat alongside on her haunches, her mane tied back in a bun, with a pair of glasses balanced on her nose and a quill and clipboard floating overhead. The overall effect resembled a psychiatrist’s office, with Rainbow as the patient on the couch. The clone that was called in was standing nearby, as if in line, while the other was watching discreetly from the barn.

Twilight patted Rainbow’s head, taking notes. "Now, why don’t you tell me all about your issues with Applejack?"

"I don’t have any issues with Applejack," she replied.

"Neither do I," said Chronicle. "Not at the moment, anyway."

"You don’t? Then why are you destroying her property?"

"Because she asked us to." He called toward the ditch, "Isn't that right, Applejack?"

The apple harvester peeked up from the ditch with a smile. "Yes, ma’am." She pulled off her helmet. "I wanted to put up a new barn, but this one’s gotta come down first." She chuckled before putting it back on. "Now get back to it, RD!"

Rainbow sat up and donned her goggles. "You got it, boss!" As she lifted off, Twilight ditched her glasses and undone her mane.

"I’d take cover if I were you," the farmpony advised  the "friendship problem" seeker.

She followed her own advice as the winged wrecking ball rose to an altitude of several hundred feet, directly above the barn. Twilight let off a little cry of shock and leaped into the ditch, landing alongside Applejack and hunkering down just as she has done. The two clones just watched from where they stood, their task finished as they waited to be dissipated. Applejack would no longer be needing their service today.

A shrill whistle of air marked Rainbow’s high-speed descent, joined by her own yell just before she smashed squarely into the dilapidated structure. It disappeared in a cataclysmic blast that briefly tinted the sky a lurid red and threw out a rainbow-hued wave similar to that from a Sonic Rainboom, as well as a multicolored mushroom cloud. 

The velocity of the detonation as well as the resulting dirt and rubble instantly made the clones vanish and a mass of dirt and rubble fell into the ditch, burying the two mares down it. Applejack was first to emerge and threw a cheerful wave upward before jumping up to ground level. Twilight extricated herself a few seconds later and trudged off with a disappointed sigh. The aftermath of this extreme tear-down work had left her mane slightly disheveled.


C—TS—A—RD—C—TS—A—RD—C—TS—A—RD

"We got hours 'til the sun explodes"…

Twilight was now trotting away from town through a stretch of meadowland. "Oh, I can’t believe I wasted all that time. I should’ve just come here first. Fluttershy always has some fear she’s trying to get over. As a good friend, I’ll be able to help her." She finally approached the cottage, then peeked around one corner. Her eyes popped in surprise, at what she saw. 

In a clearing, the meek yellow pegasus was facing off against a very large, angry, roaring brown bear. Chronicle (the real one) stood off from a distance, curiously not in a battle stance. He didn't even look alert and prepared to protect his friend.

"Why isn't he making a move…" the unicorn mare wondered to herself.

The bear rose to its hind legs, and Fluttershy galloped straight between them. After it peeked through with a puzzled grunt, she rocketed in and landed a flying kick to the back. As it tumbled through the air, she grabbed a hind leg and twisted to throw it flat on the grass. Her next move was to yank the leg toward the head, bending the massive body double and forcing a ground-pounding bellow.

Twilight was horrified at this. "Fluttershy?" Chronicle on the other hoof was making a somewhat mesmerized smile.

The pummeling continued with a stomp on the back and a hard twist that forces the beefy neck around 180 degrees, after which Fluttershy released her hold. As the bear collapsed senseless to the lawn, Twilight’s jaw looked ready to fall off its hinge from sheer disbelief. She shook her head clear and paced in place.

"How can this be happening? Of all the days she had to stop being such a scaredy-pony, she had to pick today!" she said as she walked away, her ear twitching briefly. "What am I going to do?"

Chronicle just continued watching as Fluttershy now stood atop the bear’s back. She kneaded the broad muscles with her hooves, eliciting a low groan of pleasure from the slackly smiling creature.

"You really should have come to me sooner. You were carrying so much tension in that shoulder," she said to the bear. She got a relaxed little noise from the bear—having given it a rather extreme massage with no malicious intent as Twilight thought.

The blue stallion just gave a dreamy sigh. "I love it when she stands up like this."


C—TS—F—C—TS—F—C—TS—F—C—TS—F

"Tick tock, doc"…

Spike and the Chronicle clone with him were walking down a path in the park, the former with the box of cupcakes in hand. As they did, they heard talking. They picked up the pace and saw their charge standing on a bench, talking to her reflection in a puddle.

"It’ll be all over! My time in Ponyville! My advanced studies! No, no. You’re a good student. You can do this. Ohh…but what if I can’t? You can! You just have to keep it together! Keep it together!"

"Are you talking to…yourself?" Spike asked. He approached her and waved a hand in front of her feverishly determined face. 

The sound of laughter snapped her upright, then a bubble of magic seemed to manifest around her head and obscured it as she fell over from the bench and wound up huddled on the ground. 

What's going on? Does magic run rampant like this on nervous magically-inclined unicorns? Chronicle thought. The scene in the bubble showed three leering, jeering silhouettes on a scorched plain under a sick red sky pointing at Twilight. Okay, that's creepy.

Spike was the first to do something about it, namely poke his claw at it, bursting the bubble. "SNAP OUT OF IT!!" he yelled. 

Twilight shook her head clear. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Chronicle asked.

Instead of answering, she looked across the meadow. Her two companions followed suit to see three fillies playing jump-rope, enjoying themselves, and laughing innocently. 

(Ruby Pinch was one of those three. It's been a few hours since the orientation class in Mystic Shield's Academy and she was allowed to leave. She passed the test by the way, though she would later get a reprimand from Berry Punch. As it turns out, she did it without her consent.)

"Twilight, I’m really worried," Spike said.

"You and me both. My Harmony Link sensed something wrong, but the signs were too vague for me to figure out what it was." Spike didn't turn in confusion as he's been told about the Harmony Link during the time Chronicle had been…obsessive with his training.

Their charge covered her eyes for a moment, then dropped her hooves helplessly. "I mean, this letter thing is really getting to you." Spike nudged her with the cupcake box. "Here. You’ve been so anxious all day that you completely forgot about the picnic. Why don’t you just relax and go hang out with—" He was cut off as she whirled to face him, suddenly crazed.

"The picnic!" Her assistant recoiled, but she levitated the box out of his grip and galloped off with it. "I should go see my friends!"

"I’m glad you’ve come to your senses."

"I'm getting a feeling she hasn't yet," mused the clone as he turned to face Spike. "Punch me, will you? He'll want to know about this."

"All right." Spike did as requested and the clone disappeared.


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S

"Tik tok, on the clock"…

Pinkie Pie was hopping cheerfully through the park with a picnic basket in her teeth. Finding a suitable spot, she stopped and set the basket down, then nipped away the cloth tucked into it. Three balloons floated up and away, taking the basket with them due to their strings being tied into its bottom. Pinkie aimed a silly grin and puzzled look at the others gathered; Applejack laying out a picnic blanket, Fluttershy sitting on the grass and staring up after the basket, Chronicle sitting next to her and rubbing his head as his clone's discoveries rushed into his brain, Rainbow wearing sunglasses and applying suntan lotion (?!), Rarity rummaging around in a basket of her own, having dumped out most of the contents.

"Please tell me I did not forget the plates!" the fashionista said before straightening up with a gasp. "I did! I totally forgot them! Of all the worst things that could happen, this is The! Worst! Possible! Thing!" The next thing she did was magically whisk a couch—all the way from Carousel Boutique, no less!—and collapsed sobbing onto it. "Why, why, why?…Uh?" She quieted down, finding herself on the wrong end of five puzzled/annoyed looks. "What? You didn’t expect me to lay on the grass, did you?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," Chronicle replied bluntly. This earned him a glare from her. "And then you would complain about the dirt you just landed on." 

Rainbow adjusted her shades (whose supports weren't for pony ears, Chronicle realized) and flopped down across the blanket on her back. The cupcake box landed just behind her head a moment later, with a set of violet hooves visible just behind that. Red-violet eyes peeked up from behind the black lenses. Twilight had arrived, her mane scrambled and her grin deranged. For some reason, a donkey’s bray was heard. 

Six disconcerted picnickers looked back at her, Rainbow getting up. The grin didn't waver even a hair. 

Applejack was the first to speak up. "You all right, hon?"

"No!" she replied. "I am not all right." Her pathetic pout got everypony upright with a chorus of concerned responses. "It’s just terrible."

Everypony save Chronicle leaned closer, the stallion knowing what the problem was. "Yes?"

"Simply awful."

"Yes?"

"It’s the most horrific trouble I’ve ever been in and I really, really, really need your help!"

"Yes?"

"My letter to Princess Celestia is almost overdue, and I haven’t learned anything about friendship!"

As the stallion did a facehoof in response, the other five relaxed with a unison sigh.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought something really awful had happened," Fluttershy said.

Twilight can manage only a monkey-like screech as the others (sans Chronicle, whose face began to twitch) turned back to their picnic. She teleported over to Pinkie and Rainbow, startling the latter into dropping her sunglasses. "Something awful has happened!" Then to Rarity, who spat out the punch she was drinking as she reclined on her couch again. "If I don’t turn in the letter on time, I’ll be tardy!" Finally, she teleported to the center of the group, grabbing at Applejack. "Tardy!"

If the group sigh threw her off balance, the round of laughter that followed this outburst really got her boiling over.

"No offense, sugarcube," said Applejack. "But it looks like somepony’s gettin’ themselves all worked up over nothin’."

Twilight slapped the orange-tan forelegs away. "This is not nothing! This is everything!" She began darting from one friend to another. "I need you guys to help me find somepony with a problem I can fix before sundown! My whole life depends on it!"

By this time, she ended up nose to nose with Pinkie, whose cheerful demeanor hasn't even been scratched by this tirade. "Oh, Twilight, you’re such a crack-up!" she giggled. She promptly tumbled onto her back with a hearty laugh.

"Come on now," said the other earth pony as the party thrower got up. "Have a seat and stop sweatin’ the small stuff."

Twilight just voiced an exasperated groan and trotted away, letting off a second one for good measure before teleporting out of the area.

Fluttershy turned to face Applejack. "Wow. I’ve never seen Twilight so upset before."

"Ugh!" groaned Rarity and the others glanced her way. "What a drama queen!"

"Speak for yourself," grumbled Chronicle, who was keeping in pressure like a kettle.

Rarity gave an embarrassed smile and cleared her throat. "Relatively speaking."

The stallion couldn't take this anymore and blew his top. "WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS ARE YOU?!!!" he shouted, catching their attention. He then summoned his signature paddle, then proceeded to smack everypony in the face with it once each. When it was Fluttershy's turn, he smacked her twice! "I understand that this sort of panicking is probably out of proportion, probably like whatever melodrama Rarity just made, but seriously, you could've done better than just wave her off! Didn't you even wonder what she might do if she lets this obsession continue?!" he emphasized the second-to-last word, alluding to his own…episode.

"Oh…" Rarity then said, "I'm starting to get these…slapping sessions, but I don't get why you hit Fluttershy harder than the rest of us? You usually go easy on her."

He turned to look at the pegasus in question. "Because I expected it least from her. I'm ashamed! Now if you'll excuse me…" He teleported after Twilight, leaving his friends to ponder on what they've done.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (video-type) - The show's logo is seen on the center of a clock face, which quickly revolves its hands.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

"Tick tock goes the clock"…

After checking her out via Surveillance, it was safe for Chronicle to say that from Twilight Sparkle's unhinged expression, she had gone crazy…just like "all the ponies in this town" as she had said during their first visit to Ponyville.

"Spike!"

"What is it Chronicle?!"

The two of them managed to meet somewhere in the park, the baby dragon just on his way home.

"Quill and scroll, now!"

"Okay!" Spike quickly produced the two items and started to write.

"Princess Celestia, 

Your student Twilight Sparkle is undergoing a mental breakdown due to the weekly deadline for friendship reports. There is only so much one can learn before running out of things to send, and I fear for the worst. With no friendship problem to solve, or even morals/life lessons to learn, I'm afraid she might decide to make a friendship problem to solve. Despite telling her that saving the world twice should be enough to let you forgive a few mistakes, she thought otherwise. WTB?! Pardon my language. As soon as you receive this letter, conclude any royal business you are currently in and come to Ponyville A.S.A.P.. The fate of the town may depend on it. 

Twilight's number one assistant, Spike, and her stalwart bodyguard, Chronicle."

Once the last of it was written, Spike breathed his fire into the letter and it was soon en route to Canterlot. "Okay. Now what?"

"Head to the library and wait for Celestia. I'll do what I can to stop Twilight before the hospital decides to take her to the psycho ward. The letter's a backup plan in case I fail. I'm not infallible, you know."

"Good luck."

With that, Chronicle produced a lock of hair belonging to his charge. It was by chance that he had it. Unfortunately, the pinpointing spell doesn't do DNA matches, so this lock would eventually be useless. He cast the spell, found who he was looking for, and immediately set off.


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

"X minutes left in the mission"…

In another section of the park, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were playing a simple game of ball. A few bounces later, it came to rest on the grass and exhibited a marked deviation from normal beach ball behavior, swelling out of all proportion and finally bursting. Twilight now stood among the three unnerved fillies, having teleported into the ball.

"Hi, girls!" she greeted, her face like that of a madpony.

"Oh…hi, Twilight," Apple Bloom greeted in return, unaware of the danger she and the others were in. "How’s it go—"

"Great. Just great." Sweat rolled down and her eye twitched as she walked toward them. "You three look like you’re doing great too! Looks like three good friends who obviously don’t need the help of another good friend." At the end of this, she was face to face with Scootaloo, who had scrunched herself into a scared little huddle on the grass. 

Now Twilight straightened up (as the pegasus filly backed off) and levitated a battered old pony-shaped rag doll dressed in polka-dotted shorts, with a yarn mane/tail and button eyes. "This is Smarty Pants." She nuzzled the toy. "She was mine when I was your age." She then floated it to the Crusaders. "And now I want to give her to you!"

The three intended recipients eyed it uneasily. "Uh, she’s, uh…great," said Scootaloo.

"Yeah…great." Bloom.

Sweetie Belle squinted one eye at it. "I really like her…mane?"

"She even comes with her own notebook and quill—" Twilight gave the items to her and Scootaloo. "—for when you want to pretend she’s doing her homework!" She cocked her head to one side as the fillies put away the accessories.

"That’s…um…great." Scootaloo.

"Yeah…great," said Bloom as she gave a fake little chuckle, then both her and the pegasus filly nudged Sweetie, who squinted again.

"I really like her…mane?"

"I just hope the fact that there are three of you and only one of her doesn’t become a problem," Twilight said, the glow from her horn shining weirdly on her face. "I’d hate to cause a rift between such good friends." The end of this line came through gritted teeth. Scootaloo twirled a hoof near her temple in the classic “screw loose” gesture for her friends’ benefit, now the Smarty Pants doll floated to them. "So, who wants to play with her first?" 

All three Crusaders recoiled from it. "Uh…you should play with her first, Sweetie Belle, you know—" Bloom suggested as she galloped off. "—’cause you like her mane so much."

Sweetie was naturally surprised. "No, no, no, no, no, no." She galloped off. "I think Scootaloo should get to play with her first."

"I’d love to, but, um…" Scootaloo turned away, the others only a few feet distant. Sweetie was bulldozing Bloom toward the doll, careful not to poke her. "…you take her, Apple Bloom." 

They began trying to push each other toward Smarty Pants. "Applejack says it’s important to share."

Twilight was now thinking frantically. apparently, it hadn't gone as planned. "I gotta think of something. Think, think, think, think, think, Twilight, think!" She gasped aloud and slapped her front hooves together. "That’s it!" Across the way, the Crusaders were now enthusiastically trying to persuade each other—by sheer brute force—to take one for the team. "Ooh, you’re going to like Smarty Pants. And you’re going to like her more than anything!"

She leaned her head forward, sending streams of hearts from her horn toward the beat-up thing to disappear into it, and let it hit the ground. The Crusaders stopped their fracas and took notice, their rancor instantly replaced by wondering smiles. As each spoke, her eyes rotated as if they were slot-machine reels, the pupils/irises replaced by hearts.

"I want it!" Scootaloo.

"I need it!" Bloom.

"I really like her mane!" Sweetie.

And then the brawl started all over again—but this time they're grabbing madly at the doll instead of trying to keep away from it. 

Twilight straightened up and said, "The Want-It-Need-It spell. Works every time."


TS—AB—S—SB—TS—AB—S—SB—TS—AB—S—SB

"Before the sun sets on her nth birthday"…

"I can't believe she used that spell!" Chronicle swore to himself as he finally located his charge via Surveillance. Extremely dangerous. What was Princess Celestia thinking when she taught her that, assuming she didn't pick it up from a book, or worse her parents! No, I shouldn't be thinking like that.

During his early months as Twilight Sparkle's charge, she had used a pony plushie to distract him once. Considering himself above such cheap tricks, he hadn't so much as turn his head. However, a sound made him turn, and the Want-It-Need-It spell cast on the doll did its work. The results were utterly embarrassing, and she was introduced to his slapping paddle, which told her that he was not one to be messed with, even if she was the Princess's student. And that he will even speak against Celestia if he has to.

Now if he could just remember what spell he could use to render himself invulnerable to sight-related magic apart from blindfolding. He knew he found one such spell during his training stint. And then it came to him. As he continued to move, he cast the spell on himself.


Just as he did that, he saw Big Macintosh bypass him. And in his teeth was the doll Twilight had used on him last time; Smarty Pants. And there were hearts in place of irises. Chronicle stopped in his tracks…right close by to the Mayor, interrupting her plan to relax in a beach chair with a good book. Macintosh and the Crusaders were running in a circle, an angry clamor coming from the latter. 

"What’s all the commotion about?" wondered the mayor. 

It turns out that during the chase, other mares have fallen under Twilight’s spell.

"They’re fighting over that doll!" said the one he recognized as Dizzy Twister as she and more mares raced in.

"That incredible, amazing doll!" cried out Bon Bon.


Within seconds, (both) Chronicle (and Twilight) were watching dozens of ponies slug it out to get at the doll still in Macintosh’s teeth. The unicorn stallion had to stifle a laugh at the scene. If it weren't for the doll, it would look like Macintosh had suddenly became a chick magnet.

The caster of the spell hadn't noticed him and was lunging here and there. "Can’t…get a clear shot!"

The other immune pony meanwhile was formulating a safe idea on acquiring the doll. Teleporting it wasn't an option as he hasn't learned to do that from a distance. Destroying it wasn't a good idea either as not only will it hurt his friendship with Twilight, who knows if the resulting pieces would make things worse? Charging his feet, he prepared to do a 'stunt jump'. So far, Macintosh seemed to be holding the prize out of reach, but eventually the mass of assailants began to drag him down. Just before he disappeared under the mob, the Mayor—now also entranced—leaned in, just as Chronicle made his jump.

"Gimme!"

Uh-oh! The unicorn stallion immediately teleported to prevent himself from hurting the mayor. Who knows what terrible images that could produce? Upon emerging on the ground, he saw her run off from the brouhaha. And then a pony—namely Skyla, another of the victims—collided into him, sending the two of them rolling. As he spun, he managed to see that the plethora of mares had been involuntarily sent airborne, some of them sailing over the horizon. As he teleported out of the roll—and managed to emerge on his feet, he also saw one angry red workhorse.

"Nn-nope," said Macintosh as he charged after the Mayor. Chronicle decided to do the same. In seconds, he was finally able to catch up and was now running side-to-side with her.

Who am I kidding? There's no non-scandalous way out of this. "Sorry, ma'am," he apologized before blasting her in the face with a magic shot. This forced the mayor to let go of the doll, which he caught in his aura, then teleported to another area of the park.

His reprieve didn't last long however when he saw ponies go close in from all directions. What the ████?! Again?! Just like with the ticket fiasco. He began dodging and weaving around the "attackers", not teleporting as it would be too risky. And even if he were to teleport into the air, it would just leave the doll vulnerable to pegasi.

Oh wait! I could just put this doll in hammerspace! But will they resort to drastic measures if I do that? He would never know as he was tackled by Cloud Kicker, who quickly got off of him to continue chasing Smarty Pants, which had fallen off of his arcanokinetic grip and went into the Mayor's mouth again. This is much harder than I thought. Chronicle brushed the dust off of himself, then set off again in attempts to stop this madness.


C—TS—T—M—LH—AS—LH—GH—BB—BM—AB—SS—D—DH—MM—M—DT—CK—LB—MM—S—P—D—R—L—BP—S—SB—S

"Mission ends in XX seconds"…

Back at the picnic, Appplejack was snoozing under a tree with a stalk of wheat in her mouth and her hat tilted over her face. The sound of approaching hoofbeats and voices woke her up as Rainbow continued her sunbathing and Pinkie packed up her basket. The picnic blanket lay folded on the grass among the five ponies.

"Y’all hear that?" the farmpony asked. The other four took notice just before the Mayor barreled straight through the area, followed by the entire stampede, Chronicle zooming right behind them. "What in the name of all things oats-and-apples is goin’ on here?"

As the Mayor sprinted ahead, Wind Whistler swooped down from above to swipe Smarty Pants. Dizzy Twister promptly moved in and grabbed another part of the doll in her teeth, prompting a vicious tug-of-war that ended with it snapping away from both of them. It landed near Rainbow, whose eyes started to roll over into hearts before she got her head turned away and her eyes covered by Twilight.

"Don’t look at it?" she warned. 

Rarity came up behind them. "Don’t look at what?" Her eyes were covered by Twilight and Rainbow hit the ground.

"My Smarty Pants doll." The six friends were now surrounded by land- and air-based hooficuffs under a late-afternoon sky. The old doll tumbled from one to another as Chronicle darted between them in an attempt to grab Smarty Pants. "I enchanted her and now everypony is fighting over her!" 

Fluttershy came up alongside Rarity and asked, "Why would you enchant your doll?" Behind them, Lyra and Bon Bon were in their own 'fight cloud'.

Twilight was now huddled in front of the others. "Well, I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn’t find a problem, I’d make a problem! The day is almost over!"

Applejack looked skyward. "Not almost."

At the horizon, the sun slowly descended out of sight and the sky darkened into evening. Twilight let her head slump down onto the grass, hunkering miserably down as if trying to get the earth to swallow her whole, her friends gathered around her. 

As he continued to try and get the enchanted doll, Chronicle almost expected a voice to say, You've failed!", followed with a chorus of boos. What he got instead was just as startling, however.

"Twilight Sparkle!" he heard Princess Celestia call out sharply. Those two words threw a full-scale scare into the group of six as rays of white light shone down from above and an approaching aura began to wash out the view. The regent was hovering a few yards overhead and looking plenty sore.

"Whoa, Nelly," said Applejack. She removed her hat just before Celestia flared her horn, throwing off an intense light that washed over the knots of brawling ponies. When it fades, they were seen standing and lying in mid-grapple, their eyes back to normal and with no earthly idea of how they wound up here. Chronicle immediately halted upon seeing that the problem has been taken care of. 

Derpy and the Mayor found themselves face to face, the doll landing near them, and all eyed it with considerable surprise and disgust. The Mayor’s face went bright red (this would certainly qualify as conduct unbecoming a public official) and she trotted away, stepping on the plaything so that it emitted a small squeak. The other ponies quickly dispersed to leave it alone on the grass.

Only the stallions remained, both of them eying it from a distance. Macintosh gave a furtive look around, and saw Chronicle, who did the motions for a Pinkie Swear, vowing not to tell a soul. The earth pony straightened up with a giddy little neigh as he picked up Smarty Pants in his teeth, reared up, and galloped away. The unicorn could swear he saw hearts float up around him, even though Twilight’s spell had been neutralized.

With this episode behind him, he made his way back to his friends as the glow of Celestia's spell faded away and she touched down in front of Twilight. The other five cringed, wondering how bad things are about to get, and Applejack had put her hat back on.

"Meet me in the library," Celestia spoke levelly to Twilight before lifting off. 

Twilight slowly got up and spoke softly. "Goodbye, girls. If you care to visit, I’ll be in Magic Kindergarten…" She began to trudge away. "…back in Canterlot."

Fluttershy turned to Rarity. "Magic Kindergarten?"

"Canterlot?" Rainbow.

Pinkie popped up. "We’re never gonna see Twilight again!" She clap her hooves to her face. "And what of Chronicle?"

Applejack gasped softly, sitting next to her. "What are we gonna do, y’all?"

Rarity went into full drama mode. "Of all the worst things that could happen, this is The! Worst! Possible! Thing!" Four puzzled/vexed onlookers surrounded her. "What? I really mean it this time!"

"It damn sure is," said another voice. 


Everypony turned to see Chronicle. Pinkie was the first to speak to him. "Chronicle! If Twilight's headed back to Canterlot, are you too?"

The stallion shook his head. "No. In case I never told you or you forgot, I'm only a freelancer, bodyguarding being my main job. My loyalty isn't to money though—however good the stipend is—but to what is right. Even if I have to do some 'wrong' things so that others don't have to. I can always arrange a new contract to have me stay here and protect the other Keepers of the Elements of Harmony. That means you girls."

He paused to let all of this as well as Twilight's 'farewell' sink in. Once he was sure that was done, he said, "What are we standing here for? What if Princess Celestia actually does what Twilight assumes she's going to do? We're her friends, right?" He then started to run straight for the library…and smiled a bit at seeing the others follow him.


C—TS—T—M—LH—AS—LH—GH—BB—A—BM—AB—RD—R—F—PP—SS—D—DH—MM—PC—M—DT—CK—LB—MM—S—P—D—R—L—BP—S—SB—S

"Your time's up"…

It took a while, but the group finally reached the library. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie tumbled in, nearly knocking the front door off its hinges. Rarity and Chronicle trotted in past them, but Rainbow flew over them and was first into the reading room. Twilight seemed to have cleaned herself up.

"Wait!" cried out the pegasus. 

Pinkie zipped in. "You can’t punish her!" 

Applejack ditto. "It wasn’t her fault!"

"I’m listening," Celestia replied. 

Now Fluttershy sat by her. "Please, Your Highness. We all saw that Twilight was upset."

"But we thought that the thing that she was worrying about wasn’t worth worrying about," Rainbow said as Pinkie nuzzled Twilight’s neck.

"So when she ran off all worked up, not a single one of us tried to stop her." Applejack. "We're all ashamed that Chronicle was the only one to even try."

"As Twilight’s good friends, we should have taken her feelings seriously and been there for her." Rarity.

"That's right, girls. You should've." Chronicle. Ugh. Being the only sane one has its disadvantages, and even I went crazy once. 

Celestia cocked an eyebrow quizzically at this string of pleadings.

"Please don’t take her away from us just because we were too insensitive to help her." Fluttershy.

And I'll double the smacking if they ever do it again.

The winged unicorn turned this over in her mind for a second, then smiled placidly. "Looks like you all learned a pretty valuable lesson today." 

"Mmm-hmm!" agreed everypony, the stallion's sounding disgruntled.

Celestia's shadow fell over her student as she gave a smile. "Very well. I’ll forget Twilight’s punishment on one condition." She bounded over the entire group toward the door. She then looked back over her shoulder to the sound of enthusiastic responses from the mares. "From this day forth, I would like you all to report to me your findings on the magic of friendship—" She leaned down close to her star pupil. "—when, and only when, you happen to discover them." She backed off, bringing a grateful smile to Twilight’s face as the others cheered this decision. The smile soon gave way to puzzlement as the Princess prepared to depart.

"Princess Celestia, wait! How did you know I was in trouble?" Twilight called as she galloped out to her.

"Your friends Spike and Chronicle made me aware that you were letting your fears get the best of you." Said dragon was peeking out the open doorway, then ducked back in. The stallion in question was walking over to them. "I commend them for taking your feelings seriously." 

"That's what friends are supposed to be for," he said as the the others stepped up. "Also, Twilight, you should know by now that sweating over small problems just makes bigger problems, given the…welcome parade and Philomena incidents." 'Parasprite' was a forbidden word to mention when both Princess and student are present.

"Now…if you will all excuse me, I must return to Canterlot. I’m expecting some mail." She lifted off and flew a short distance through the night sky before disappearing with a flash. After Twilight watched her exit, she walked back in to the rest of the gang inside the door.

"Y’all heard the Princess," Applejack said. "Spike, take a letter."

He instantly produced a quill and scroll. Before anyone can start though, a violet foreleg landed on his shoulders and Twilight pulled him in for a warm hug. She did the same for her bodyguard, who returned her smile.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC

"A last-minute reminder"…

The group was now in the reading room. Spike was at a stand, ready to write, and the others stood/sat/lay around the place. Rarity was seated on a cushion, and Applejack—holding her hat—cleared her throat and started to dictate.

“Dear Princess Celestia: We’re writin’ to you because today we all learned a little somethin’ about friendship.”

Fluttershy was next. “We learned that you should take your friends’ worries seriously—” 

Rainbow. “—even if you don’t think that she has anything to worry about—”

Rarity. “—and that you shouldn’t let your worries turn a small problem—” 

Pinkie. “—into an enormously huge, entire-town-in-total-chaos, Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem.” She punctuated her bit of this report by jumping up, striking a dramatic flying pose while hanging in midair, and thumping back to the floor. 

Applejack at this point replaced her hat. “Signed, your loyal subjects.” She then backed off.

Spike began to write his own section quickly. “P.S. Obviously Spike did not have to learn a lesson because he is the best, most awesome friend a pony could ask for. Unlike everypony else (save Chronicle), he took things seriously and—”

Twilight walked up to the stand on the end of this to give him a thoroughly disapproving look and head shake, followed by more of the same from the others.

Spike gave a nervous laughing. "Uh…yeah." He drew a large X over the last several lines. "I’ll just, um…" He grumpily snorted out a puff of steam as the six mares laughed. 

The stallion however decided to speak up. "Here's another lesson. Enjoy the times when you haven't any trouble. Because for one whose life is filled with adventure, an uneventful day is a good day." He turned to face his friends. "I think I understand why Twilight had this breakdown. You see, she was having post-traumatic stress disorder, and I pretty much think we all had/have that after Discord. Given that and the fact that it was these friendship reports that saved her, of course she's going to value order and her lessons afterward!" So far, out of all of us, regrettably including myself, only Rarity hasn't suffered a breakdown. The drama queen thing must be how she copes.

He paused yet again to let this sink in, then gave a smirk as he looked between two friends he would take more seriously than the others. "Twilight, just for the record, Fluttershy didn't snap that bear's neck. She was just doing chiropractic therapy. That was why I didn't go out of my way to defend her."

"Seriously?!" asked his charge as she turned to look at the pegasus in question, who nodded.

Why do I get the feeling that 'stupidity' is lingering? I'll have to be diligent in keeping my own sanity for their sakes. I will not go insane again. For their sake.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

> Luna Eclipsed (Flashback Chapter)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna Eclipsed

Golden Oaks Library…

Spike was pacing the floor in the library’s reading room…in a costume resembling himself. Its body hide was purple with lighter-shaded spots, the underbelly was light green, and its head's eyes' sclera were yellow. Spike’s lighter purple hand protruded from the end of the arms and his head protruded from the mouth. 

With him was Chronicle, who was dressed in something very special. He was sporting a short dress, with a set of boots to match it. The dress was light blue and the skirt was colored like the sky with three layers and ruffles. The boots were baby blue with pearl bracelets on them. He wore star-shaped earrings and a very wavy blue wig with two star-shaped barrettes on its bangs. To top it off, he had contact lenses to make his eyes look blue as well as fake eyelashes to 'accentuate' his costume.

Finally, the dragon stopped and groaned impatiently. "Come on, Twilight. We’re gonna be late for the Nightmare Night Festival!"

"Now, now, Spike," Chronicle answered, his voice very girly and "genki" thanks to a voice modulator he ordered from Hub Equestria, which he passed off as a spell. "You know girls, they take plenty of time to prepare for special events." He put a hoof to his chin. "Or maybe that's just girls like Rarity."

Finally, she emerged from the top of the stairs and lifted her head proudly. She had donned a long robe and pointed wizard’s hat in three shades of blue, both liberally decorated with stars and moons and hung with jingle bells at hem, brim, and hat peak. The robe’s gold/white collar was secured with a gold brooch, and the a long white beard hung nearly to her knees.

"Huh? Are you that one kooky grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village?" he asked as she came downstairs.

Twilight was annoyed at this. "I’m Starswirl the Bearded!" He just blinked stupidly at her. "Father of the amniomorphic spell?" Still nothing. "Did you even read that book I gave you about obscure unicorn history?"

"Um…" There was a pounding at the front door and he broke out in a sweat. "…that sounds important!"

Off he went, fast enough to set his boss spinning in place so that her cape and beard ended up wrapped tightly around her. Chronicle decided to follow the baby dragon, trotting merrily to "keep in character". Upon reaching the door and opening it, they were greeted by a trio of fillies in costumes of their own.

"Nightmare Night, what a fright!
Give us something sweet to bite!"

One princess, one astronaut, one ladybug, each with a sack hung around her neck—and Granny Smith as a chaperone. Spike eyed them with some relief, having caught a break from Twilight’s chewing out about his lack of history savvy, and stepped back in as she came to the door. Her own outfit was back in order, along with her good spirits.

"Hi, everypony!" she greeted "Great costumes. Happy Nightmare Night, Granny Smith."

"I should have been asleep five hours ago!"

Spike came back to the door, carrying a bowl of candy, and Chronicle levitated a piece into each filly’s sack. A fourth youngster then bulled through them. It was a brown/white pinto earth pony colt, dressed as a pirate complete with eyepatch and a toy cutlass clamped in his teeth. A tuft of two-tone brown mane protruded from the edge of the red kerchief on his head, and his one visible eye was bright and so deep red as to be nearly black. He tried a few swings of the cutlass, but lost his balance and went down on his face. The three library residents smiled at the display as he got up to his hind legs and saluted, speaks with what Chronicle recognized as a British accent.

"Pipsqueak the pirate at your service! It’s my very first Nightmare Night."

"Since you moved here from Trottingham?" asked Twilight.

"No, my very first Nightmare Night ever!"

Pinkie Pie, as a chicken, popped up among the young ponies with a loud squawk. She had even stuck a little beak on the end of her nose and was standing on two legs as the poultry would. "Enough chit-chat! Time is candy!" she demanded as she pecked at the ground.

"Pinkie Pie, aren’t you a little old for this?" Chronicle asked.

"Too old for free candy? *squawk* Never!" The puzzled unicorn mare just groaned to herself.

"All right. One piece for the adult chicken," said the stallion crossdresser as he floated a piece into Pinkie’s bag. 

"Thanks!" She then noticed him. "Hey, Chronicle! Nice costume! Who are you supposed to be? You kinda sound like Skyla."

"Sound Wave, one of the three main members of P3, an idol singer group famed in Equestria's East Coast. …Wow. Didn't think you'd recognize me at first sight." He decided to ignore the comment on his voice.

Before Pinkie could reply, her attention was turned to the bell on the peak of Twilight's hat as she swung it close to her face and showed off her getup. "Do you like it?" she asked.

"Yeah, great costume, Twilight! Oh, you make a fantastic weirdo clown!" she swiftly lunged and pecked at the candy in Spike's bowl (only prevented thanks to a quick barrier spell from Chronicle), then bugged out.

Twilight was naturally irked. "A clown?!" They stepped out, Spike closing the door. "Look at the borders on these robes! These are hoof-stitched!"

"It’s a great costume…" Spike said as he walked off with a derisive chuckle. "…Grandpa!" This elicited another snarling from his boss.

"You know, I thought I was gonna be the first outright crossdresser for Nightmare Night," Chronicle giggled.

"Crossdresser?"

"You know, ponies who dress up in clothes appropriate for the opposite gender. At least I'm 'mare-faced' enough to look the part. This'll be a blast!" Assuming Twilight was going to worry about his sanity, he whispered, "I'm just acting in character, don't worry. Also, try not to tell anypony else who I am. Let them figure it out for themselves. Or let me do the revealing." He let off another giggle.


C—TS—S—GS—PP—P—C—TS—S—GS—PP—P


As the three walked down the town square, Chronicle decided to take a look at the scenery and festival-goers. There were snack carts, strings of lights hung with skulls, and black busts of Nightmare Moon hanging from the balconies. Dizzy Twister was a lion, Lemon Hearts a mouse, and Minuette as a dental surgeon. Big Macintosh was pulling a hay wagon loaded with more happy partiers, and has donned a dark top hat and tailcoat, the latter depicting a skull-marked apple over his haunch. On the wagon was Cherry Berry as a bee, Raindrops as a Viking, and Cloud Kicker as a witch.

"Starswirl the Bearded is only the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era," she ranted amidst cheers from the riders. "He created more than two hundred spells. He even has a shelf in the Canterlot Library of Magic named after him!"

They walked through a dance with a four-piece band, where he saw Sea Swirl as a knight with armored shoes and flail tail, Golden Harvest as a devil/vampire mix, Wind Whistler as Equestria's version of Queen Cleopatra, and someone dressed up as a "ninja". Apparently, one of the extended members of the Apple family named Fiddlesticks is dressed up as a scarecrow along with the rest of her band mates. Curiously, she looked like Octavia Melody, a Canterlot musician.

Eventually, Twilight's irritation began to subside. "Maybe I should start up a pony group to teach ponies about history." She gave off a smile. "I bet everypony would love it. Don’t you, Spike?"

During her rant, Spike had somehow acquired a a mound of candy nearly as tall as he and was gorging himself. "Mmm-hmm! I love it."

"Maybe you should go for somepony more generic," suggested Chronicle. "Star Swirl is from Obscure Unicorn History, after all. I remember the last Nightmare Night I took part in where my charge, an insufferable genius, decided to dress up as the doppler effect. A freaking concept!" He also saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake dressed up as pony versions of Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann, and Lyra Heartstrings as a mummy.

"Seriously?" she asked as they stopped.

"Seriously."

Spike suddenly ran into the crossdressing mare and tumbled to the ground in an avalanche of sweet stuff. "Hey, look, we’re here already! Should we get something to eat?" She then took stock of the supine dragon and his overstuffed belly as he lets off a hearty belch. 

"Perhaps somepony more well-known to the general public and more aligned to your gender."

"This coming from the crossdresser."

"True. Maybe a certain showmare might spark some ideas."

"I am NOT gonna dress up as Trixie and that's final!"

"All right, all right." Speaking of which, I wonder how she's doing? I sure hope she's faring well.

Just then, Pinkie and Pip zipped up to the three. "Twilight, Twilight, look at our haul!" the mare-filly said as she held her own full sack into view and let out a giddy squeal. "Can you believe it?" Just as at the library front step, she started pecking madly at the goodies to stuff her face. 

Chronicle turned to the roof of a nearby, heavily decorated building, to see Rainbow Dash…dressed up as a Shadowbolt. She ran an eye over the scene and ducked out of sight, unaware that somepony had already caught sight of her. And was watching as she moved a black cloud over to them.

"And then, we went to Cheerilee’s house and we got a bunch more goodies—didn’t we, Pip?" Pinkie continued.

"Sure did!" 

"And then we had to stop and wait for Granny Smith and—"

"Watch out!" gasped Chronicle as he conjured a panel barrier—which intercepted the lightning bolt. The crash however prompted her into a terrified squawk and escape. The blast also sent Pip and his friends galloping with a scream and dumped Spike on his back. Rainbow’s belly laugh floated down to an annoyed Twilight, who turned to address her. 

"Rainbow Dash! That wasn’t very nice!"

"Lighten up, old-timer. This is the best night of the year for pranks."

"Look what you did to Spike!" The baby dragon was still laid out by his candy and trying to hack up a piece caught in his throat.

"Aw, it’s all in good fun." Rainbow then noticed who she was with. "Hey, who's that you're with? And where's Chronicle?" She saw the other mare pull up her hair, revealing it to be a wig, as well as showing a familiar carrot-top-blond mane. Her wings unfurled as a result.

"Surprised?" asked the blue unicorn teasingly as he put the wig back.

The pegasus quickly recovered by changing the subject and looking elsewhere. "Oh, oh! There’s another group over there!" She then bulldozed the cloud away. Throwing a slightly exasperated glance at her unconscious assistant, Twilight levitated him onto her back and walked away. Chronicle inspected him, making sure he wasn't going to die. He would later admonish his charge for her careless behavior since Spike was her responsibility.

In the distance, Rainbow set off her lightning once again, prompting a fresh wave of screams, before moving it once again as she laughed herself stupid.


C—TS—S—RD—PP—P—C—TS—S—RD—PP—P

Later…

The trio reached an apple bobbing game which had Ace, Carrot Top, and Lemon Hearts as the players, and Applejack—dressed as a scarecrow—presiding over the game.

"Happy Nightmare Night, Applejack," Twilight greeted.

"Howdy, Spike!" she greeted in return. "Hey, Twilight! Nice costume."

"Thanks! I’m a dragon." 

This got him a dirty look from Twilight. "She means me, Spike."

"With that beard…" The scarecrow toyed with it. "…I reckon you’re some sorta country music singer." This guess got Twilight steamed and groaning all over again as Spike laughed.

"Seriously? Country music singer?" said Chronicle. "How the hay did you even come up with that conclusion?"

And that's when Applejack noticed, but not recognized, him. "Who's this new fella, Twi? Old friend from Canterlot, perhaps?"

The stallion crossdresser giggled. "Friend from Canterlot, yes. Old, not exactly." Once again, he raised his wig to reveal his mane, resulting in a startled reaction.

"Whoa, nelly! Does that mean you're in costume too?"

"Well, duh." Chronicle rolled his eyes.

"Well, who're you supposed to be?"

"He's supposed to be Sound Wave, one of the members of the idol singer group P3, who are famed in Equestria's East Coast," Twilight answered.

"I think I heard a bit about 'em from my cousins in Manehatten. The other two core members of th' group were named Jasmine Trinity and Sealight Glisten, the latter bein' the 'leader'." She soon decided to change the subject. "Anyways, while y’all are here, you feel like bobbin’ for an apple?"

At the tub, Carrot was ready for another game and this time, she was joined by Derpy Hooves—the former wearing only paper bags on her head and hooves. Before the earth pony could even get her face in the water, her pegasus friend surfaced with the end of a chain in her teeth, having gone for a dive without being noticed. One tug on the chain brought up a drain plug and emptied the tub in seconds, to the dismay of both.

"No thanks. This wig might fall off. Maybe after you refill the tub."

The general attention quickly transferred itself to the stage where the band Fiddlesticks was in was seen earlier. A cheering crowd had gathered on the dance floor, and Mayor Mare stood at a lectern on the stage. She had done herself up as a clown, including a red rubber-ball nose and multicolored wig. She also had an oversize polka-dotted tie at her shirt collar. Her tail was done up in stripes as well.

"Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night Festival!" she announced. There was more cheering as Twilight, Chronicle, and Spike made their way through the crowd. "Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of…" She paused to make her next words ominous. "…Nightmare Moon!" She let off a mad laugh.

"Her spooky voice might work better if she wasn’t dressed like that," Spike commented.

"Eh, I've heard of ponies who are scared of clowns," Chronicle remarked. "But yes, it could've been better. Maybe lose the wig and corrupt the design a bit and she'll be a really scary clown."

Twilight laughed softly and the Mayor gestured off to one side. This patch of the stage was unoccupied, but a blast of sparkling, luminescent green smoke promptly filled it. From this rose the head and shoulders of the resident zebra to the sound of appreciative murmurs from the audience. Zecora’s mane was covered by a long white wig filled with spiders, and the neckline of her garment was secured with a gold bat brooch.

"Follow me, and very soon, you’ll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon." On these last two words, she threw the folds of a long dark cloak over in front of the audience.


C—TS—S—GH—A—DH—MM—Z—C—TS—S—GH—A—DH—MM—Z

The onlookers were gathered in front of Zecora in a slightly overgrown clearing (NOT the Everfree Forest). The full moon shone overhead, and behind Zecora stood a statue of the malevolent winged unicorn.

"Listen close, my little dears. I’ll tell you where you got your fears." She leaned toward the fillies. "Of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary…" A bit of glowing green dust was produced and blown upward into the air. "…Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary."

The smoke formed into a specter of Nightmare that dove toward the group; they cry out at it hit the ground and dissipated. Chronicle had been told beforehoof not to interfere, for the Nightmare Moon she's making isn't real. Pip and the ladybug filly (he remember was named Piña Colada) looked uneasily around themselves, not seeing the two staring eyes in the dust cloud behind them. 

"Every year we put on a disguise…" A vicious grin appeared as well. "To save ourselves from her searching eyes." As they screamed and cut out, Zecora emerged from the dust, revealing her to have been the source of the eyes and grin. Pip ran and bumped into the statue’s pedestal.

"But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing—" Pip backed away. "To gobble up ponies in one quick swing!"

He bumped into Pinkie, who had buried her entire head in the dirt like an ostrich. The hit scared the daylights out of both and sent them fleeing in opposite directions. Zecora threw some more dust, creating another Nightmare Moon illusion. 

"Hungrily she soars the sky…" It swooped down toward three fillies, two of whom are Scootaloo as a werewolf and Sweetie Belle as a vampire. Nightmare’s head and forelegs formed, as she peered around, then vanished. "If she sees nopony, she passes by." It went over to Pip and his three buddies for a brief look before floating away. "So if she comes and all is clear," It went up to the sky. "Equestria is safe another year!"

The full-body apparition formed with the moon as a backdrop, then disintegrated into a shower of sparkling dust particles. At the end of the show, Pip tugged at Zecora's cloak. 

"Um, Miss Zecora…" He asked as the others gathered closer. Notably, his accent was gone, probably having affecting it earlier. "…if we were cautioned to hide from Nightmare Moon so she won’t gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy?"

"A perfect question, my little friend, for Nightmare Moon you must not offend." She blew more dust over his head and he backed off as it formed into Nightmare’s full shape. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two…" The specter tensed. "So she won’t return to come eat YOU!"

On the end of this, she leaped at the group with her mouth open to expose every single razor-edged tooth in it. She disintegrated on impact, and Pinkie let off a shrill scream and led a charge over to the statue. Here, Chronicle spotted Apple Bloom dressed as the Bride of Frankenpony, with her mane and tail both done up in the character’s white-streaked black bouffant. Dinky was there too, dressed up as a firefighter.

"Everypony, let’s dump some candy and get outta here!" she said as she threw down her entire stash.

The wind began to kick up, and a nervous glance overhead revealed that clouds have begun to swirl around the full moon and close in to block out the night sky. Twilight and Zecora both stared speechlessly as a flash of moonlight blazed through the clouds and a black silhouette rode the rays toward ground level. 

This consisted of a figure in a spiked, bat-winged chariot pulled by two pegasi on chain reins. A unicorn horn can be seen from the hooded driver’s head.  The mounts revealed to be gray pegasus stallions with bat wings and reptilian green eyes, wearing blue armor with bat-wing crests on their helmets. 

The chariot bore down on the group, all of whom immediately cried out and back away except for Twilight and Chronicle; the mare and Spike eventually ducked and cover as the looming shadow rocketed overhead while the stallion entered a battle stance.

The silhouetted vehicle and pegasi now hovered at low altitude. Chronicle curiously didn't have his "magic horn blade" out but instead had what looked like a special white microphone 'held' close to his lips, as if he was about to respond to this by singing. Wait a second… Bat-wing pegasi? Could this be… His train of thought was interrupted as Pinkie popped up in front of her with a terrified gasp.

"It’s Nightmare Moon! RUUUNNN!!"

She peeled out as fast as her drumsticks would carry her, as did Spike and all the youngsters—with Zecora and Pip bringing up the rear. Twilight and her bodyguard were the only ones left in the clearing. Lighting crackled around the chariot driver’s head, swathed in a dark gray-green hood. Two eyes glowed pure white under the horn and lowered brows, with an unsettling little grin under a mare’s nose. The rest of the face still appeared as only a lightless silhouette, and the eyes and mouth faded from view once the lightning died down.


C—TS—S—AB—D—PP—Z—S—SB—P—C—TS—S—AB—D—PP—Z—S—SB—P

Eyecatch (picture-type) - A bust of Nightmare Moon carved into a jack-o-lantern.  The show's logo is seen on top of it.


C—TS—S—AB—D—PP—Z—S—SB—P—C—TS—S—AB—D—PP—Z—S—SB—P

At the town square…

Back in Ponyville, the merriment was in full swing, but the stampede of the screaming Pinkie—up on her hind legs, with forelegs tucked in like a chicken’s wings—and young ponies drew a round of puzzled gazes, but these soon turned to worry and fear as a broad shadow cast itself over the area. Up in the sky, thick clouds have spread here as well, and the black flying chariot arrived right after them. As the two ponies who haven't panicked from this newcomer's arrival went over, Chronicle with his microphone close to his mouth, the driver leaped nimbly out and down to the street.

The first feature visible under the figure’s gray-green cloak was a set of four dark blue-violet forelegs clad in light blue shoes, and the hood was thrown back in time with a crack of lightning. 

Once it faded, the crossdressing stallion 'lowered' his microphone upon recognizing the face. It was Princess Luna—Princess Celestia’s younger sister, whom they haven't seen since first acquiring the Elements of Harmony. The dark blue, almost black tiara set behind her horn was there, along with the lighter blue shadow on her eyelids, and the edge of her crescent-moon necklace can be seen under the cloak’s edge. 

However, three things have noticeably changed since that first appearance. One: her coat and mane have darkened noticeably. Two: with the exception of the forelock, her entire mane had become a long, sparkly, translucent mass of hair that waved gently on its own as Celestia’s does. Three, the haughty gaze from those blue-green eyes indicated that any traces of fear or uncertainty from before were entirely gone. Four: she also seemed taller, but she was still in fact the same height as before; her confident posture just gave off that illusion, just as one certain hero popular to the Story Crew can conceal his identity by just wearing glasses and acting wimpy.

Everypony hit the deck for a deep bow with two exceptions. Chronicle 'raised' his microphone again in a defensive stance; who knows what this change in appearance could entail? Twilight gaped for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Princess Luna!"

She started forward, but the still-bowing Spike dragged her down and put a finger to her lips. Luna advanced toward the group, her cloak breaking apart into a swarm of bats that flapped away. Her tail had undergone the same change as her mane, and she certainly looked more slender. When she spread her wings, they too were larger than before. Cloud Kicker glanced up just in time to find the royal pony standing over her. The small smile that came over the latter’s face only served to scare the bejesus out of her and every other pony in the vicinity.

Now Luna spoke, making one more change instantly obvious: her voice. Imperious, reverberating, and with enough volume to cause wind gusts that would capsize a battleship. Well, maybe not a battleship, though a water tank would certainly be sent rolling if she were to do what she was doing now in front of it.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TINY VILLAGE WITH OUR PRESENCE, SO THAT YOU MIGHT BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!" She began to walk among them. "A CREATURE OF NIGHTMARES NO LONGER, BUT INSTEAD A PONY WHO DESIRES YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION!" The audience slowly backed away save for Twilight and her bodyguard. "TOGETHER WE SHALL CHANGE THIS DREADFUL CELEBRATION INTO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEAST!"

There came another lightning strike, after which a frightened Pinkie stood up. "Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she’s gonna feast on us all!"

What's next was a collective scream and clear out of the place, leaving a couple of prostrate ponies and a very puzzled Princess. Luna now spoke at a volume closer to normal, but with the same general tone. "What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your Princess desires, not screams of terror!"

She brought down one front hoof, hard enough to crack the ground, barely missing a Lemon Hearts’s nose and prompting a little whimper. Luna’s next look was directed behind herself, toward the Mayor. "Madame Mayor—" The night princess stepped toward her. "—thy Princess of the Night hath arrived!"

She thrust a front hoof toward the Mayor, who sobbed in fear and covered her face. Luna did not notice this reaction for a moment, and it sat very badly with her when she did, and a bespectacled white mare in a devil cape, horns, and tail got a hoof pointed at her next. Gasp, cower, cover the face. "What is the matter with you?" She got the same results with the others that remained and it began to annoy her. Not once were the two crossdressers pointed at.

"Very well, then! Be that way!" she finally said a bit petulantly. Twilight lifted her eyes a hair as Luna walked off. "We won’t even bother with the traditional royal farewell!"

Chronicle eased up a bit as his charge got up. "I’m gonna go talk to her," she said. Before she can even manage two steps, a yank on her robe and a grunt pointed up Spike’s successful effort to stop her.

"You can’t talk to her! She’s Nightmare Moon," he pleaded. The robe was yanked loose.

"No, she’s not. I saw the Elements of Harmony change her back to good." She began to walk off, her bodyguard accompanying her. "But it seems like she’s having some trouble adjusting after being gone for a thousand years."

"And don't worry, Spike," assured Chronicle as he 'put away' his microphone. "I fought Nightmare Moon before. I can do it again." I wonder if Celestia has something to do with this?


C—TS—S—PP—PL—C—TS—S—PP—PL—C—TS—S—PP—PL

Back in (NOT) the (Everfree) forest…

The two crossdressing ponies found Luna sitting in front of the Nightmare statue, lost in thought, and stopped short just a few paces away from the shadow cast by the statue. 

"Princess Luna?" Twilight started. "Hi. My name is—"

Luna cut her off as she stood up and faced the two. "Starswirl the Bearded. Commendable costume. Thou even got the bells right."

"Thank you! Finally, somepony who gets my costume!" 

Luna stared uncertainly at her before turning to face Chronicle, "And thou art dressed as Sound Wave of the P3 singing idol group, correct? Their music is quite remarkable."

"You know of that group?"

"Thy art familiar with their songs."

Twilight then decided to speak again. "Uh…I just came to welcome you to our celebration. My actual name is—"

"Twilight Sparkle," Luna finished. "And thou companion wouldst be the brave Chronicle, who serves as your knight?"

The blue unicorn did his best to stifle a laugh from the 'knight' comment while containing his shock that the princess saw through his costume immediately before she spoke once more. The wind kicked up in time with her voice as she slowly floated free of the ground, summoning a fresh mass of clouds to fill the sky.

"IT WAS THOU WHO UNLEASHED THE POWERS OF HARMONY UPON US AND TOOK AWAY OUR DARK POWERS!"

The two unicorns were blown a few feet backward before the gusts stopped. Chronicle used his magic to keep his wig from flying off.

"And…that was a good thing, right?" asked Twilight.

Luna landed before the two. "But of course. We could not be happier. Is that not clear?"

"Well, you kinda sound like you’re yelling at us."

"But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice. It is tradition to speak using the royal “we” and to use THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!"

The end of this line left Twilight wearing her beard sideways and her hat askew; Chronicle learned from the previous 'shout' and had conjured a barrier around his head. After getting themselves straightened out, the crossdressing mare put on the politest smile she can manage.

"You know, that might explain why your appearance was met with…mixed results."

"I didn't see you as a threat though, just very…uhh…what was the word?" He couldn't use "hammy" due to their vegetarian diet. "Pretentious. Over-the-top."

"I think if you just changed your approach a bit, you might be met with a warmer reception," his charge continued as she moved close to the ruler and put a hoof on her shoulder, but pulled it back upon getting a very funny look in return.

"CHANGE OUR APPROACH?"

"Lower the volume."

"Oh. We have been locked away for a thousand years. We are…not sure we can."

"Oh come on, your…darker self was able to speak normally when we first confronted her," Chronicle said. "Granted, she was instilling fear, but still."

Luna gave no response to that.


C—TS—PL—C—TS—PL—C—TS—PL—C—TS—PL

Later…

The three went to Fluttershy’s cottage, all of whose windows were dark. Twilight and Chronicle led Luna toward the front door.

"Don’t worry, Princess," Twilight said. "Fluttershy can give you some great pointers. She’s delicate and demure, with the sweetest little voice." She knocked on the door. It remained closed, but Fluttershy’s panicked voice came with enough force to nearly burst it off the hinges.

"Go away! No candy here! Visitors not welcome on Nightmare Night!"

Twilight manages an embarrassed little laugh in response to Luna’s dirty look. "She's also extremely timid, and is probably trying to keep others away given the holiday's theme," explained Chronicle. "I've been training her in bravery, but progress is very slow."

His charge addressed herself toward the door. "Fluttershy, it’s me, Twilight!" She remembered Chronicle's request not to reveal his identity and decided to leave it to him, also as he requested.

The door opened slightly, the house's owner peeking out "It is you!" She then opened it to reveal the others. "Oh, and Sound Wave of the P3, and Nightmare Moon." She then realized what she said, and got out a little gasp as her pupils constricted to terrified points within the big blue-green irises. "Nightmare Moon?!?" What followed was a scream, and a slam of the door. 

Twilight forced out another laugh. "Wait right here," she told Luna.

"I'm coming with," said Chronicle as the two of them stepped up, let themselves in, and closed the door.

What happened inside would remain unmentioned in detail. Namely, Fluttershy had picked a bad time to apply her lessons and assaulted them. The 'fight' was rather quick and it only stopped when she had knocked off Chronicle's wig. This distracted her enough for Twilight to restrain her, reopen the door, and shove her onto the step.

"Fluttershy…" Twilight said with a grunt as her bodyguard readjusted his wig. "…you remember Princess Luna."

Luna held out out a hoof. "CHARMED!"

Fluttershy zipped back inside, but was stopped her in her tracks by Chronicle before being levitated by Twilight through the doorway and was turned around to face the blue-violet visitor. "Likewise," she replied in a small voice.

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE HAS SPOKEN OF THE SWEETNESS OF THY VOICE! WE ASK THAT THOU TEACHEST US TO SPEAK AS THOU SPEAKEST!"

Fluttershy was now with an even smaller voice as she huddled on the ground. "Okay."

"SHALL OUR LESSONS BEGIN?"

Still softer "Okay."

"SHALL WE MIMIC THY VOICE?"

"Okay."

"HOW IS THIS?"

Fluttershy replied hastily, "Perfect. Lesson over."

She made a break for the cottage, but Twilight was a bit quicker on the draw to kick the door shut. Fluttershy crashes into it face first, plastering herself across the boards with her mane and tail falling limp. The door also happened to slam Chronicle in the face in the process. "Ow!"

"A little quieter, Princess."

"HOW IS…this?" Her voice was still raised a bit.

"Better! Right, Fluttershy?" 

The pegasus peeled her head free and moaned woozily before falling off the floor. "Yes." Chronicle teleported back outside, still rubbing hs muzzle.

A bit softer still. "How…about…now?"

"Now you’re getting it."

Even softer. "And…how about now?"

"Yes! Well done!"

The former exile had now matched the normal speaking volume of a typical pony. Fluttershy, meanwhile, had made it up off the step and was reaching for the door handle when Luna’s telekinesis grabbed hold and whipped her over for a hug.

"AH, THANK THEE, DEAR FLUTTERSHY! OUR NORMAL SPEAKING VOICE SHALL SURELY WIN US THE HEARTS OF THY FELLOW VILLAGERS!"

The scared mare went limp and gets flopped around like a rag doll as a result. "This won't make for a pretty picture."

And then here came Pinkie, leading Pip and the other youngsters toward the cottage, entered the scene. "Fluttershy, you gotta hide us! Nightmare Moon is here and—" She trailed off into a shrill chicken squawk and a gasp, seeing Fluttershy sprawled bonelessly in Luna’s front hooves. "She’s stolen Fluttershy’s voice so she can’t scream when she GOBBLES HER UP!" She then bailed out, the others screaming and scattered in short order.

"NAY, CHILDREN, WAIT!" Luna pleaded before catching herself. "I-I mean…nay, children, wait!" She glanced dejectedly back at Twilight.

"Come on, Princess. Time for Plan B."

"And while we do that, I'm gonna try and get an explanation from Pinkie Pie. She was there with us when we confronted you, and she certainly wasn't scared. In fact…" Chronicle dispatched a clone—complete with Sound Wave ensemble, but minus the voice modulator—to go after the Spirit of Laughter. "When Nightmare Moon tried to stop us, she just happened to allow my friends to demonstrate the virtues they ended up representing, furthering her defeat. I have a few theories behind that. One is that Nightmare isn't really an effective 'villain'. Two, you were influencing her decisions from the inside. Three, she was actually hoping to lose after realizing the consequences of her eternal night. For a fighter like me, I have a lot of wild guesses in mind."


C—TS—F—PP—PL—P—C—TS—F—PP—PL—P

[A/N: I was a bit disappointed with Rarity's absence in Luna Eclipsed, so I decided to use the events of this comic strip as a basis.]

"My friend, Rarity, is the best when it comes to styling ponies with amazing garments! This is her boutique, Carousel Boutique!"

The three were now standing at the door in front of said building. This time, Chronicle did the knocking.

"GO AWAY! NO CANDIES HERE, PREPARATION ISN'T FINISHED YET!"

"Miss Rarity, are you available?" he then said, making certain his voice modulator was running perfectly.

There was a pause. "Is that who I think it is?"

"I don't know who you're thinking about."

"I don't believe it! Could you be— are Sealight Glisten or Jasmine Trinity with you? Or somewhere in town?"

"Um, no and no."

"That's strange?" the door to the boutique was opened, revealing Rarity (who was not dressed up). "Whyever would you—" she stopped short upon seeing the three. "Oh. You're just dressed up as Sound Wave. And you sound like her too."

Chronicle raised an eyebrow. "Huh. How are you able to tell?"

"I went on a trip to Baltimare with my family once and watched one of their performances. That's how I know of them. It was quite an interesting event. They were about to be ponynapped right in public, but somepony came and saved them just in time." The crossdressing stallion smiled inwardly; he was that savior, and he had also discovered a secret the P3 had (which he kept to himself out of respect). Rarity then noticed not-Sound Wave's companions. "I see that Twilight and Nightmare Moon are here as well." Then, just as with Fluttershy, she realized what she just said. "Nightmare Moon?!?" This was followed with a slam of the door, just like before.

"Allow me," Chronicle offered as he teleported inside the boutique. 

What followed was a shriek as Rarity discovered that the Sound Wave cosplayer was actually a stallion and her friend. And then an explanation ensued. One moment later, she opened the door.

"Rarity, this is Princess Luna," Twilight introduced the princess. "I'm sure you remember her and she needs your skills to make her look less intimidating…"

"'Look'? Uh, yeah, is there something wrong?"

"Yes, Rarity. Is something wrong with thou?"

"N-NO…NOTHING IS WRONG!" She then whispered to Chronicle. "I need to talk with you and Twilight in private."

The stallion nodded, motioned for Twilight to come over, and said to Luna, "Please wait here. And don't listen in."

"If that is what thou desires," replied Luna.

Once she was out of the way, Rarity said, "Twilight, I know you are trying to help, but this is the Princess! And dressing up a princess is a huge possibility… If I don't do it properly, it could be The! Worst! Possible! Thing!"

"I'm sure you'll do fine…" Twilight insisted, then addressed Luna. "Princess…"

Luna conceded and entered the boutique. "If thou insist."

"!!! It's okay, Rarity. Don't panic." The fashion designer distracted herself by turning to face Chronicle, "That dress you asked me to make wasn't for your sister?!"

The crossdressing stallion couldn't help but giggle a bit. "Yeah, I lied to you. Sorry." For the record, Timerity was dressed up as a wolverine for Nightmare Night, as in the animal and not one other certain "hero" popular to the Story Crew. The holiday in question doesn't exist in where Blue Diary is in and therefore is not celebrating it.

"You know, I don't question a customer’s fashion choice when the money is good and the concept is sound. And I'll have to say I had no idea I was making a 'not-so-good' replica of Sound Wave's outfit until I saw you in it. How I didn't realize that is beyond me."

"I didn't want you asking questions. And now you know of this side of me. I don't mind wearing mare's clothes, but I only do it as a disguise or in Nightmare Night. Now get designing! Luna's costume won't sew itself."

"All right, all right. But… why are you still speaking like that even in front of me?"

"I used a voice modulation spell. It will wear off tomorrow."


C—TS—R—PL—C—TS—R—PL—C—TS—R—PL

Later…

"I'll just add a little more ribbon here and…done. Now you look… um…"

Luna was now dolled up in a completely pink ensemble. It admittedly looked nice.

"Rarity, what happened?" Twilight whispered.

"I panicked."

"How did you even tie a ribbon into an ethereal mane like hers, Rarity?" Chronicle wondered. He also 'received word' that his clone failed to find Pinkie before dissipating.

"Though this is a very marvelous dress, we cannot wear this in public," Luna apologized. "We'll have to take this off."

"I'm sorry, Twilight," said Rarity.

"No, I'm sorry for coming on short notice."

"RARITY! YOU GOT TO HIDE US!" a familiar voice came. Everypony present pivoted their heads to peer at the sight of Pinkie, Pip, and their posse to pop in the place. "Nightmare Moon just gobbled up Fluttershy's voice and—" She let off a gasp. "SHE EVEN ATE A PRINCESS! NOT EVEN ROYALTY IS SAFE! EVERYPONY RUN!"

"?!?!" As it turns out, they had caught Luna out of her clothes and a piece of cloth in her mouth, as if she had chewed on them. "NEIGH! CHILDREN WAIT! WE HAVE NOT DONE SUCH FOUL THING!" But it was useless; they were already gone. "But don't thou, at least, realize some changes?"

"Damn Pinkie," cursed Chronicle. "Just what does she think she's doing?"

"By the way, Twilight, very nice costume. Are you dressing as the oldest pony in the universe?" Rarity asked.

"It's Star Swirl the Bearded."

[A/N: And this is the in-story reason that Rarity's section was cut from the show; Chronicle was directly involved in the events.]


C—TS—R—PP—PL—P—C—TS—R—PP—PL—P


Later, back at the festivities…

As the crossdressing unicorns and night princess entered the venue, everypony stopped, bowed, and scraped before their advance, lowering Luna’s spirits considerably.

"It is of no use, Twilight Sparkle, brave Chronicle," she said. "They have never liked us, and they never shall."

"Now don't be such a pessimist, Luna," replied the blue unicorn. "That's what led you to being Nightmare Moon in the first place."

"My friend Applejack is one of the most likable ponies around," Twilight said. "I’m sure she’ll have some ideas."

"Well, what do you know? Looks like there's one pony still standing in the crowd."

Indeed there was. It was a unicorn stallion dressed up as an armored knight from head to hoof, indeed standing but in a defensive stance. What gave away his identity was his red ascot, which he wore outside the armor.

"Mystic Shield, is that you?" asked Twilight.

"Happy Nightmare Night, Twilight," Mystic greeted. "Same to you, Princess Luna." He accentuated this with a respectful bow. "And…is that you, Chronicle? I can't believe you actually went through with that costume."

"Wow, you saw through him that quickly?!"

"He told me he'd be dressing up as Sound Wave beforehoof. I can also see three errors in his costume, aside from the obvious race difference. Sound Wave's a pegasus." 

"What are those errors?" asked Chronicle.

"One, her coat is a lighter shade of blue. Two, she uses the stars barrette ONLY during performances, opting for a cross-shaped one offstage. Three, that kind of skirt is supposed to have one less layer. How do I know this? I'm a avid fan of P3 back when I still lived in Baltimare."

"So you know P3?"

"Mm-hmm. You didn't see it because I am still settling down in Ponyville, and also I believe it's just going to get in the way of my teaching."

"I see." Mystic then turned to face Luna, and she could sense no fear from him. "You're wondering why I'm not quivering in fear like everypony else here, right?"

"That would be so, …Mystic Shield."

"Well, back in my youth, just like Chronicle I now realize, I've traveled the world, seen plenty of stuff. One thing I learned is to not fear or be overtly hostile to any unknown unless they themselves are hostile and even then I only attack when they start or when I personally know for certain they're trouble. It also sort of helps that I wasn't there during the Summer Sun Celebration to witness Nightmare Moon's return."

"…Thou have great courage to speak in front of a princess in such a manner."

"I witnessed your entrance earlier. And I was attentive enough to tell that you were…socially awkward. That and I was lucky enough to have a chat with your Night Guards later on. They're certainly more sociable than the Royal Guard."

"Thoust have a problem with thy sister's—"

"No, no, no," the 'armored knight' interrupted, another daring move, even though Luna didn't ask the previous question threateningly. "It's less the guard itself and more like one particular pony in it. I have personal reasons for that."

"I see." Chronicle noticed her slip in 'accent', but decided to say nothing about it.

"Mind if I accompany you, fair princess?"

There was a mild pause as Luna contemplated on it. "If thoust wishes to, Mystic Shield."

"Thank you. I hope my trust in you can help others do the same."


C—TS—MS—PL—C—TS—MS—PL—C—TS—MS—PL

At the (refilled) apple bobbing-tub…

Pip was balancing on the edge, trying to snag a floater, but lost his balance and started to topple in with a yell. In a flash, Applejack was there to grab him by the hindquarters. "Whoa. Careful there, pardner."

Once she sets him on the ground, he galloped off and she started to walk in the opposite direction, only to find herself face to face with Luna after barely one step. The four-legged scarecrow let out a strangled yelp, then dropped into a bow. 

"Uh…" Twilight cleared her throat, then bent down. "Applejack? The Princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here." 

Applejack uncovered her eyes. "Fit in? Really?" A soft growl from Twilight convinced her to she stand up to face the night ruler with a slightly forced smile. "I mean… *uheh* …that’s easy. All you gotta do is have the right attitude." She began to zip around the princess. "Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, have some fun."

"Fun? What is this fun thou speakest of?"

Chronicle smirked before speaking, "Fun is when you…" He feigned fumbling for the words. "Fun is…it's like…it's kinda…sorta like a…What is fun?" I…" He cleared his throat. "Let me spell it for you." He then surprisingly broke into song. 

F is for friends who do stuff together♪
U is for you and me♪
N is for anywhere and anytime at all…♪

He suddenly stopped. "And I forget the rest." Twilight and Applejack responded with a facehoof while Luna just raised an eyebrow and Mystic rolled his eyes behind the helmet. "Well actually, I know the last line, but I can't exactly apply it here. I learned the song from some seaponies, don't ask where. They do more than just 'shoo-be-doo', y'know." 

"You learned it from seaponies? I learned that it was a draft composition from Sealight," Mystic said. He then scooted over to Luna and added, "The members of P3 compose their own songs."

"I think we're gettin' off track here," Applejack interrupted. "Anyway…" She and Twilight gestured off to one side and Luna and the two stallions followed with their eyes. 

There was a bowl filled with oversized toy spiders. Luna walked over to it and asked, "Pray tell…what purpose do these serve?"

Cherry Berry, who was huddled and quivering in her bee costume spoke up from the ground. "Try…to land the sp-p…sp-p-piders on the web!"

"Using magic would be too easy," added Mystic. "And it's not allowed anyway."

A few yards away was a large spiderweb woven between two poles. Luna balanced one of the projectiles on her hoof, aimed carefully, and let fly. It landed short of the web and bounced squeakily to rest. Luna glanced nervously behind herself toward her companions.

"You can do it, Princess!" Applejack cheered.

The blue-green eyes narrowed in fierce concentration, and her next throw stuck squarely at the web’s center. "Ha! Your Princess enjoys this…fun!" She turned to the others. "In what other ways may we experience it?"

A knowing look passed between the four. 


C—TS—A—MS—PL—C—TS—A—MS—PL—C—TS—A—MS—PL

At another game…

Luna loaded a pumpkin into a catapult’s basket. A crowd was watching cautiously, with the Princess's new friends at the front.

"Fire away, Princess!" Twilight called.

The two blue-shod front hooves pushed down on the basket and let it snap up, hurling the gourd high and far to score…a perfect bullseye. "Ha-ha! The fun has been doubled!" 

There was a hearty round of cheers from the spectators.

"Why don’t you try bobbin’ for apples?" Applejack suggested. "We got the best apples in Equestria here, Princess."

"I ask that thou call us…me…Luna, fair Applejack. Hear me, villagers! All of you, call me Luna!"

The group that gathered murmured excitedly at this pronouncement, as Luna's four escorts led her toward the tub.

"Show me to these bobbing apples."

She stopped short, her eyes popping in shock. At the tub, Pip had again balanced on its edge and was about to fall. "Whoa!" This time, he tumbled in. 

Luna was on the move before Applejack can even get her mouth closed.

"Hey, gals," Pinkie's voice suddenly came.

"████," swore the crossdressing stallion.

"What's wrong?" asked Mystic.

As the apple wrangler looked over her shoulder, Pinkie and the other candy collectors were seen a short distance across the square.

"Anypony seen Pip? We lost him the last time we had to run—" Pinkie let out a sudden shocked squawk and a yelp at the sight of…Luna having grabbed a fold of Pip’s clothing in her teeth and hoisting him out. "Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! EVERYPONY RUUUNNN!!" After a scream and bug out, the foals with her did likewise.

Pip did likewise as he pulled free and galloped off. "HEEELLLP!! My backside has been gobbled!"

Luna was incensed at this. One other pony shared her feelings. "’Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and un-gobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"

A lightning strike threw her grimace and widened eyes into sharp relief. It also threw a good fright into quite a few of the onlookers. As they backed away slowly, she toned herself down again.

"Fair villagers, please do not back away! Let us join together in…fun!"

No dice. Luna looked around, noticed a toy spider from the throwing game, and picked it up in her teeth. This was tossed over to the scared mares, who recoiled when it hit the ground nearby.

"Not enough fun for you? What say you to this?"

A blast from her horn turned the plaything into an actual spider with two pairs of red eyes. the ponies scream and flee as it begins to scuttle away. Her next shot hit the whole bowl of toy spiders and brought them to life, and Cherry fainted as they swarmed over her. Instead of chewing her to pieces, though, they scurried downrange and onto the web to gather at its center.

Luna was fiercely pleased. "Huzzah! How many points do I receive?"

"Since you used magic, you're disqualified," Mystic mumbled. Aside from that, there was not one word from the stunned locals. 

Carrot popped up screaming, with a spider on her head, and galloped off at full speed. All the others scattered an instant later.

"Do not run away!" Luna said.

"That won't work, Your Majesty," replied Mystic as he saw Daisy crash into a barrel of apples, upsetting it and knocking herself out.

"As your Princess, we command you!"


One pony collided head on with Sea Swirl. Next a popcorn cart took a hit and the giant wrapped-candy decoration mounted on its canopy fell loose and started rolling through the square, adding to the general panic. Luna cringed as lights and banners came down, then gathered herself before lifting a foreleg and lightning ripped the sky. 

"BE STILL!!" These two words reverberated in the air far longer than any others she had delivered in her royal Canterlot voice. Everypony save two got scared out of their wits and bowed so low they could be mistaken for throw rugs. The ones who remained standing were Chronicle, who had his microphone out again, and Mystic Shield, who just assumed a defensive stance. 

Once the accompanying wind has died down, Twilight took the big gamble and got up first. ""Princess, remember! Watch the screaming!" 

Luna rounded on her, eyes glowing white. "NO, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WE MUST USE THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE FOR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SAY!"

The young unicorn’s jaw dropped, the 'idol siger' started pounding his head against his microphone, Mystic muttered, “This won’t end well”, and the royal visitor unfurled her wings to hover a few feet above ground. Clouds swirled in the sky, hiding all the stars.

"SINCE YOU CHOOSE TO FEAR YOUR PRINCESS RATHER THAN LOVE HER, AND DISHONOR HER WITH THIS INSULTING CELEBRATION, WE DECREE THAT NIGHTMARE NIGHT SHALL BE CANCELED FOREVER!"

Another lightning bolt flashes over the dumbstruck crowd and the disbelieving Twilight. Chronicle however was thinking something else. I am so going to kill that toon pony once I find her!


C—TS—A—PP—MS—PL—P—C—TS—A—PP—MS—PL—P

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Two busts of Nightmare Moon at either side of a jack-o-lantern, which has the show's logo carved into it somehow.


C—TS—A—PP—MS—PL—P—C—TS—A—PP—MS—PL—P

Luna's four 'escorts' stood among the festival’s wreckage in the town square, three in worry and one in seething fury.

Applejack gave a heavy sigh. "Shoot. We had everything goin’ our way. Luna was happy, everypony in town was happy—now look at ’em."

The square was filled with disconsolate ponies of all ages. "But I wanted to be a zombie next year!" the princess filly from much earlier sobbed.

"This is all Pinkie's fault," Chronicle said. "When I find her, I'm gonna tear her a new ass such that she'll have to get her cutie mark again!" He glanced at a shocked Applejack. "Figuratively, of course."

Taking in the scene for a moment, Twilight moved one hoof and found a Nightmare-silhouette decoration on the ground underneath it. This gave her an idea. "It’s not over yet."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Mystic.

Twilight just gave a smile. "I’m going to do what I do best…lecture her!"

"Good luck," said Chronicle. "I'm going to find Pinkie Pie. Mystic, I'll need your help."

"All right."

"Thank you. But first… know how to call for a chicken?"


C—TS—A—MS—C—TS—A—MS—C—TS—A—MS—C—TS—A—MS

Unfortunately, Pinkie was nowhere to be found. Which was especially bothersome since it normally be impossible to not find her. Well, they did manage to actually see her, but she's usually gone by the time they start pursuing. The lightning pranks by Rainbow Dash certainly did not help.

"Did you honestly think we can find her?" Mystic asked as they rested in front of his place, which was closed.

"Yeah, I probably didn't think this through," apologized Chronicle. "I'm usually better than this." And I was unable to find anything to use the pinpointing spell on to make it easier.

"Is that you talking, or are you still 'playing' Sound Wave? Don't you think you're going a bit too far with the voice?"

"…I used a voice modulation spell, okay?"

"You guys found Pinkie Pie yet?" a voice came. The two turned to see Twilight, who looked determined. Luna was with her.

"No. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Especially when that needle is squirming about inside it like a worm."

"I got a plan, but I'll need a couple of candies."

The crossdresser raised an eyebrow. "Is this what I think it's going to be?"


C—TS—PL—MS—C—TS—PL—MS—C—TS—PL—MS—C—TS—PL—MS

Later…

Across the murmuring, crying crowd in the square, Pinkie Pie popped up with a puzzled cluck and looked around. Something grabbed her attention and brought a little squawk; a piece of candy lying on the ground. She zipped over with a happy little cackle, pecked off the wrapper, and gobbled it down. Next, the pink pony with the cross-species identity crisis looked and gave a puzzled squawk to see a trail of sweets had been laid out at the mouth of an alley. Clucking and cackling, she ducked in and ate the first piece. Before she can start on the second, though, Twilight dove in and clapped a hoof over her mouth to cut off the start of her scream. 

"I can't believe this actually worked," said an exasperated Mystic as he joined them.

"You do know this is Pinkie Pie we're talking about, right?" Chronicle commented.

"You do know I'm not exactly in the circle that is the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony, right?" the 'knight' retorted.

"Touché. Still, I feel we're like molesters doing this. I mean, luring a child to a dark alley with candy? Well, mare-child, but still."

"No! No shrieking! No squealing or screaming either, okay?" Twilight warned their 'captive'.

Pinkie replied with a muffled. "Okay."

"There’s something I want you to see, and I promise that it’s safe, but you really, really, really can’t shriek. Do you promise not to shriek?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Twilight removed her hoof and backed away, and then Luna revealed herself. Pinkie’s first reaction was a string of panicked clucks, but this time she shut herself up with both front hooves over the mouth.

"Pinkie Pie, you remember Princess Luna, right?"

Said princess stepped closer, still a bit wary. "Ah. The ringleader of the frightened children." She relented as she extended a hoof. "Hast thou come to make peace?"

Pinkie thought hard for a second, then smiled and moves forward while reaching toward Luna. As their two hooves were about to touch, a black cloud rolled in over the royal’s head and cracked out lightning, turning her into a grimacing, white-eyed silhouette for a split second. This was enough to freak Pinkie out all over again. 

"Nightmare Moon!"

She squawked, flapped her forelegs like wings, and was gone in an instant, leaving behind a large blue egg with purple spots. 

The ████?! Mystic thought as Chronicle 'picked up' the item and 'stowed' it in hammerspace before directing his head upward like his charge, utterly annoyed and already casting a spell.

"Rainbow!" both of them yelled.

A gale of laughter floated down as the Shadowbolt-costumed pegasus flopped onto her back atop the cloud and thoroughly enjoying the prank she had just brought off. That was before a giant 'shuriken' sliced through the cloud (and phased through her), eliciting a yelp of pain.

"Get lost!" the bodyguard shouted, his voice modulator making him sound like a fidgety girl with a hair-trigger temper and the prankster decided to flee. It goes to show that you do not get on Chronicle's bad side, even if you're a friend of his.


Meanwhile, Pinkie raced toward the mouth of the alley. Twilight teleported over to block her, but got a faceful of feathers instead. The two ponies tumbled a short distance, ending with Pinkie pinned to the turf by one very hacked-off unicorn, followed by one cross 'knight' and one pissed off 'idol singer'.

"She’s changed, Pinkie!" Twilight tried to convince her. "She’s not evil or scary anymore! And she definitely doesn’t want to gobble you up!" 

Pinkie’s eyes popped before rolling. "Well, duh!"

"Huh?"

"What?!" screamed Chronicle.

"I know that. Sheesh, Twilight, I’m almost as big as her. How’s she gonna gobble me up?"

"So why do you keep running away and screaming?"

"Yeah!"

"Sometimes it’s just really fun to be scared."

Twilight reacted incredulously at this. "Fun?" With this, she suddenly got another big idea and aimed a big smile into Pinkie’s face. "Pinkie Pie, you’re a genius!"

"No, I’m not. I’m a chicken." She emphasized this statement with a loud squawk. 

As Twilight got off of her, she was about to scoot off again before being 'picked up' by a very irate crossdresser and throttled to a wall. Mystic was shocked at his friend's behavior and was about to make a move to stop him were it not for a harsh glare that came from him. It wasn't as scary as Fluttershy's Stare, but it still unnerved even him and the blue contact lenses somehow strengthened the effect. The glare also 'told' him to leave, so he decided to go with Twilight.

The 'idol singer' then turned back to face the 'chicken'. "Pinkie Pie! Did you not even realize that what you did could've probably made Luna relapse into Nightmare Moon again?!" he scolded. "And another thing!" He 'pulled out' his paddle. "If it weren't for what I think Twilight's plan will be…!" He smacked her in the cheeks for every syllable/word he emphasized. "You! Ruined! Night! mare! Night! For! Every! pony!" For extra 'torture', he began to 'spin' the paddle like a speedy waterwheel and smacked her in the chin repeatedly.

"Oww…" Despite her innate earth pony durability, the paddle hits hurt like a mother dog. "I'm sorry, okay?" she said once the smacking stopped. "I had no idea she wasn't in on the whole scaring everypony thing. It's her holiday, named after her, in honor of her, and is about frightening others. Of course I'd think Luna was trying to scare everyone and I was just playing along!"

Chronicle smacked himself in the face for that. He hadn't truly celebrated Nightmare Night back then, or maybe it was celebrated somewhat differently outside Ponyville. He was mad at her regardless. There was no way she was gonna get away with this 'unscathed'. "You probably have a point. But the fact still stands that you ruined the holiday!" Chronicle's expression changed into a smirk. "There's only one way you can make up for this."

"W-w-what?"

"We both know just what you're capable of. That's you're different from other living beings. And I'm not talking about your energy, perkiness, or speed. You can take out random stuff out of nowhere, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, when I tell you to take out something, whatever it may be, you do so without question. Unless you actually can't. Don't worry. I won't abuse it. Do we have a Pinkie Promise?"

"Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie answered frantically.

"Good! We'll go on the final details tomorrow noon. Lunch."

The 'chicken''s mood shifted instantly. "So it's a—"

"No."

"Aww."

At that moment, Mystic Shield went over to the two. "Chronicle? Twilight needs your assistance in the plan she has."

The crossdresser nodded before glaring at Pinkie. "If this doesn't fix the damage you made Luna cause…" He then made an "I'm watching you" gesture before joining the 'knight'.


C—TS—PP—PL—MS—C—TS—PP—PL—MS—C—TS—PP—PL—MS

Soon, the plan was put into action. And Chronicle agreed with it.

He, Twilight, and Mystic would accompany the procession of ponies who have decided (under the guide of Zecora, the Mayor, and Applejack) to deliver the candy "for the last time" to Nightmare Moon's statue. Luna meanwhile will be waiting there and would enact their next phase once the delivery is complete. As another consequence for her actions, Pinkie Pie was ordered to stay out of the plan.


So far, it was going well. With them to bring up the rear, the foals were offering their candy as tribute. Right after the ladybug-costumed filly was done, Pip walked up and set down the bag he carried in his teeth. 

He looks up at the statue and said, "Goodbye, Nightmare Night…" He then dropped his head. "…forever." He began to walk away, but a sudden blast of wind froze him and the other fillies in their tracks and put a fright into the adults save for the two stallions.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" Luna's voice came. "YOU WERE WISE TO BRING THIS CANDY TO ME! I AM PLEASED WITH YOUR OFFERING…" Applejack’s straw scarecrow hat was blown off from the wind as the statue 'came to life'. "…SO PLEASED THAT I MAY JUST EAT IT INSTEAD OF EATING YOU!" At the end of this, Nightmare hunches down toward the group, baring mouthful of very sharp teeth and her eyes blazing white. What followed was a collective scream and a stampede out of the place.

"This way! We'll deal with her!" Chronicle yelled as he and Mystic ushered the group somewhere safe (which Twilight was no longer in).

"Are you sure, miss?" asked Pip.

"There's no time! Go!"

And soon the matter of innocents was taken care of, leaving the villainous winged unicorn standing alone on the pedestal, seemingly about to confront the two heroes who decided to stay behind.

Which was what they wanted it to look like.


In one quick flash, Nightmare transformed back into Luna, and she spit out a set of fake fangs—used to help enhance the effect of the masquerade. Luna: "I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, Twilight Sparkle," she said uncertainly as said unicorn walked up behind her while the two stallions walked over.

"Just wait," the crossdressing mare assured with confidence as the princess jumped down. 

"For what? For…for them to scream some more?"

Something tugged on the end of her mane. It turns out to be Pipsqueak. "Um, Princess Luna…I know there’s not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year… and scare us again anyway?"

She looked off past him and saw the other fillies huddled together at a distance, also according to plan.

"Child, art thou saying that thou…likest me to scare you?"

Another slip in accent. It should be 'thou'.

Pip gave a smile. "It’s really fun! Scary, but fun."

Now that sounds naughty.

"It…’tis?"

"Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year."

Luna gave a smile in return. "Well, then! We shall have to bring…NIGHTMARE NIGHT BACK!"

The force of these three words sent the little pinto sliding backward on the grass. "Whoa!" He said as he stood up. "You’re my favorite princess ever!" He zipped back over to her and bowed before galloping away. "She said yes, guys!" 

"YAAAAY!!" cheered the rest of the foals.

"See? They really do like you, Princess!" Twilight said.

"Can it be true?" Luna reared up lightning cracking— "OH, MOST WONDERFUL OF—" Before catching herself. "—I mean, oh, most wonderful of nights."


C—TS—A—MM—PL—MS—P—C—TS—A—MM—PL—MS—P


“Dear Princess Celestia: When you first sent me to Ponyville, I didn’t know anything about friendship. I met somepony tonight who was having the same problem—your sister, Princess Luna. She taught me that one of the best things you can do with friendship is to give it to others and help them find it themselves. And I’m happy to report that all of Ponyville has learned that even if somepony seems a little intimidating, even scary, when you offer them your friendship, you’ll discover a whole new pony underneath. And even if my Starswirl the Bearded costume didn’t go over, this still turned out to be the best Nightmare Night ever.”

“P.S. (from Chronicle): I was about to remark on the fact that you…neglected to update your sister on basic modern customs, which was the cause of all the trouble and even led to a temporary cancellation of Nightmare Night until I realized that you probably had reasons for it. I can name three. One, you pulled a prank, and I know you do such things. Two, she insisted doing this on her own like a "typical younger sister" (you should've told her about the friendship report that centered on Applejack). Three, you thought telling her would've just made her 'go through the motions' without learning or bonding with her subjects, which in this case you still should've explained anyway. There is a difference you know. apologies for the rant, but it's what I do.”
> Baby Cakes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Baby Cakes

Daytime, Ponyville Hospital…

Twilight Sparkle and her friends were chattering excitedly while gathered outside the long window of the maternity ward. Well, one wasn't and was just watching quietly. Rainbow Dash was hovering above the others.

"Can you believe the new baby is finally here?" said Applejack. 

There came a soft gasp from Twilight. "Cup Cake and Carrot Cake must be so proud!"

"I wonder if it’s a filly or a colt," Rarity mused.

"So that's what a pregnant mare looks like," commented Chronicle, who had been the silent one.

"You mean you didn't know until now?" asked Fluttershy.

"Unfortunately, of all the things I've seen prior to living in Ponyville, a pregnant mare wasn't one of them. I was, like, less than two years old when when my mom gave birth to my youngest brother."

"What about cousins?"

"By the time I was eight, I was being tutored my my parents to become who I am now. Didn't have time to see their births either. As for school, it was fairly normal. After all, have to be able to mingle properly with others."

"Just how big is your family?" wondered the pony with a (known) big family herself.

"Counting the branch families, perhaps as big as yours, Applejack. I don't know, I've yet to meet everybody." He flash-stepped over to her. "Honorary members are counted, and during the last reunion, I saw at least one griffon, one zebra, and even one or two dragons about Spike's age."

"Whoa nelly! Seriously?"

"Yes," sighed the stallion. "But we're not here to talk about my family, we're here to see the new addition—or additions—for theirs." He pointed through the glass window.

At the far end of the window, Pinkie Pie was mashing her face excitedly against the pane as if trying to squeeze herself bodily through it. "I want to see the new baby pony! I want to see! Which one is it?"

Inside the ward, there were lots of bassinets and Mr. Cake was standing over one of them. He bore all the hallmarks of a father-to-be who has put in plenty of time in the waiting room: bow tie loose, unkempt mane, cap askew, and a faceful of beard stubble, which still puzzle Chronicle to this day. 

"Meet our son…" Mr. Cake said softly as he pulled the blanket down. "…Pound Cake."

The movement exposed a sleeping, off-white newborn colt dressed in hoofie pajamas, light blue, with a hood that had openings for ears. A tuft of brown mane peeked out from the hood’s edge. Newborn Pound yawned, a pair of tiny wings twitching out from his back to mark him as a pegasus. 

Everypony on the other side of the window save Chronicle (who just smiled) gave an "Aww".

Mr. Cake turned to his other side at another bassinet. "And our daughter…" Again, he pulled the blanket down. "…Pumpkin Cake."

The occupant was a light yellowish-tan unicorn filly in pink hoofie pajamas. The bit of mane under her hood was orange. She yawned and started sucking peacefully on a front hoof. 

Back at the ward side of the window, the mares were confused. Chronicle however was curious.

"Two new foals for me to play with?" said Pinkie before gasping. "That’s two, two, two times the fun!" Her friends glanced her way, puzzled. "This is the greatest day ever!" She darted out and was inside the room an instant later, wearing a party hat and with a noisemaker clamped in her teeth. 

I'm not even gonna ask.

"We need to celebrate your birthday, babies, ’cause you were just born today! Woo-hoo!" She sucked in a bushel of air, intending to let it go through the noisemaker, but Redheart arrived in a flash.

"Shhh! The babies are trying to sleep," she said. The babies had been mildly disturbed and he was able to tell that Pound's eyes were brown and Pumpkin's were blue.

"But I was just—"

"Shhh!"

Pinkie dropped the noisemaker. "But—"

"Shhh!"

"You better do what she says, Pinkie," Chronicle said from the other side as the party pony glanced in the departing nurse’s direction. "You don't want the other babies to wake up and cry, do you?" He was ignored as she slipped between the two newborns and started to sing quietly.

Happy, happy birthday to you and you today♪

A threatening look from Redheart stopped her cold before she can get another line out. She then let off a deflated little moan before the nurse evicted her back to the hall. 

Applejack turned her attention to the twins. "Now how in thunderation is one of them twins a pegasus and the other one a unicorn?"

"Easy," Mr. Cake answered. "My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a unicorn, and Cup Cake’s great-aunt’s second cousin twice removed was a pegasus. That makes sense, right?" 

"Kinda does," Chronicle commented. "My younger brother's a pegasus and my father's an earth pony." When he's not assuming alicorn form, that is. "That naturally makes me, my mother, my older brother, and my twin sister, whom you have met, unicorns."

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow said as she gave a laugh. "Just you wait." She pointed to her wings. "Once little Pound Cake there gets his wings going…" She zipped back and forth. "…he’ll be all over the place!"

"And be careful around Pumpkin Cake," Twilight warned.

"Baby unicorns get strange magic surges that come and go," Rarity added.

Huh, that's news to me.

As Mr. Cake leaned over Pound, Pinkie sprung up with a fully decorated chocolate cake and spoke softly. "Quick! Make a wish and blow out your candles—which is easy, ’cause there are zero candles! You are zero years old, after all!" 

Once again, Redheart leaned in. "Shhh!"

The new father reacted to this intrusion with great consternation, and Redheart’s shushing caused her to twitch backward slightly and hit herself in the face with the cake. She ended up with an embarrassed smile framed by chocolate icing around her mouth and a beard/mustache of white from the cake’s trim.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—NR—MCC—PCT

A month later, morning, Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns…

Chronicle was getting to know the new applicants that had signed up.

Firelock, Firecracker Burst's younger sister. Ruby Pinch, who was related to Berry Punch. Berryshine, who bore the same colors as the "resident drunkard". Tootsie Flute, adopted by Bon Bon or Lyra (living with both, at any rate). Snails was here, though his friend Snips isn't. And then there's Morpheus, whose special talent disturbs him a bit. According to Mystic, he's capable of disguising himself as other ponies, but without detailed knowledge of the target is laughably ineffective at doing it.

"All right, newbies. Apparently, Master Shield has deemed you capable of taking his lessons. Let us begin the basics so you can be up to speed with the others, shall we?"

"Yes, sir!" Snails saluted.

Chronicle raised a hoof in motion to stop and Snails put down his hoof. "No need for formalities with me, Snails. But you shall address this academy's teacher as Master Shield or just Master. Are we clear?" The six new students nodded. "Good."

Just then, Mystic Shield came out of his quarters, and was seen just tying up his ascot around his neck. He exercised his mouth, turned to Chronicle, and said, "I see the new students are here. Let's begin the orientation class."


C—S—MS—RP—TF—F—B—M—C—S—MS—RP—TF—F—B—M

A while later…

"All right, class. Since we have foals present, and I will start with the spell that uses less magic; the shot spell. Now, can you swear not to use it outside classes? In the case of the foals, if I hear you have been using the spell outside classes, I would like to hear your explanation for why. What I will do after depends on the excuse and whether or not you are lying. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Master Shield!" replied the students.

"Let's get started. Everypony, form a line." They did so. "Good." He gestured to the targets propped up behind him. This time,  "Firelock, you first."

The young filly flared her horn and magic began to form, although with difficulty. Dinky's magical prowess must be quite…above normal for her age. Eventually, she fired at the target, hitting the edge…and leaving a tiny burn mark.

"Good enough. A tip for all of you: before shooting, make sure to open your eyes. Right now, you aren't good enough yet to do so blindly. Your magic shot doesn't always go straight at wherever you point your horn at." He tapped his own in demonstration. "Not when you're thinking of trying to hit something. Now, it's your turn, Ruby."

The pink filly stepped up, flared her horn, and managed three shots before seemingly sputtering out. Despite that, the target reacted as if it was still being hit, and Ruby was still concentrating.

"All right, stop," Chronicle said. Ruby complied. "Now that's curious. For some reason, the shots disappeared. At least in the visible spectrum."

"Indeed," agreed Mystic. "We'll talk later, Ruby. Snails, your turn."

The sole colt in the class flared up his horn, but the sound from it reminded Chronicle of someone trying to start a car engine and not having much success. And then, he heard 'it' finally starting, after which Snails opened fire…missing the targets completely. He felt ashamed at his poor show of accuracy.

"Don't worry, Snails. That's what this class is for; to help you improve. Tootsie Flute, you're up."

The light-coated filly let off a small salvo before sputtering out. The few shots she managed to let out hit the targets.

"Nice work. now it's time for the adults."

Berryshine and Morpheus performed adequately, but neither of their magic shots had anything special in their appearances. Berryshine's seemed to be more round however.

"Okay. We still have enough time before classes proper with the rest. Let's see you form a barrier. Imagine a wall forming in front of you, or a dome forming around yourself. For the foals, how strong doesn't matter for the moment. We'll be focusing on form."

With this, the two were able to see the colors of their magic. Snails had a yellow aura, Ruby's, Firelock's, and Morpheus's were green, Tootsie's fuchsia, and Berryshine's purple. They all opted for a wall-type.

"Chronicle, if you will." The mare-faced stallion fired at the barriers of Berryshine and Morpheus. Both were shattered quite easily. Mystic just shook his head and sighed. "You two have to focus more. That's the key to maintaining a good barrier. We're taking a break."

A while later, the two teachers were in Mystic's quarters. "Okay, Chronicle. What's the status between you and…" He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "You know…"

The blue unicorn got the message immediately. "We…we haven't started going out yet."

Mystic seemed disappointed. "What? We all know that it's the stallion who should start. And you already did by confessing during that day. If not now, when?"

"I don't know."

"If you were not bragging, you faced plenty of dangerous foes. How's a simple date able to render you nervous?"

"You'd be surprised how many storybook heroes and the like would rather confront a villainous dragon than ask their girlfriends out."

"Actually, before I married, that's what I was. I get what you mean. But let me tell you that if you don't suck it up, it's only gonna get harder." He then smiled. "I heard that Fluttershy's going on a picnic with her bunny Angel."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I just gave you a chance to go out on a date with her. As teacher of this academy, I order you to take a break. We all know what happens when you overwork yourself."

Chronicle groaned, remembering just what he was implying. "I remember all too well. …All right." He cast a spell and summoned four magical clones. "But I still want to help you out in class."

Knowing there was no way to convince him otherwise on this one, Mystic conceded. "Fine."

"How did you know about the picnic, anyway?"

"I ran into Fluttershy the other day. She told me about the picnic. I'm thinking she wanted me to know so I can tell you. That's just my theory, though."

"All right. I best be going." With that, he made his way out.

"Gotta warn you, I don't know where the picnic will be."

"Don't worry. I have my ways of knowing." Chronicle did not plan on telling Mystic Shield about his Surveillance, or that he now has a camera on him too. Telling the six and Spike was bad enough as it is if Blue Diary's chewing out on him and his sister was any indication. Speaking of which, his world was still in stasis. Worse, even with the portal mirrors back in working order, their father has reported other 'holes' that lead to other time periods opening. He and the rumored 'high creator' of the Equestrias, the Almighty Faust (whom he had once swore on but not by name; he had no idea she was actually real), are at work in finding a way to intercept anything that goes through.


C—S—MS—RP—TF—F—B—M—C—S—MS—RP—TF—F—B—M

In the marketplace…

After pinpointing Fluttershy's whereabouts (she was still at home), Chronicle decided to go buy her a gift. …But he wasn't sure what she would like. Decisions, decisions. Having a girlfriend sure is difficult. I should seriously ask my mom for tips. And hope none of it is embarrassing.

Just then, something caught his eye. Huh? What is that?

At one stall was a jar filled with delicious…jam. Curious, he walked up to it and saw exactly what it was. 

"The Heart Warmer Jam. Magical delicacy for all species!" he read the label, then the 'letter' next to it. "There are about 100 kinds of known magic food in Equestria, but none can compare with this one. It is not only extremely nutritious, but also will warm you up from the very bottom of your heart. Signed, Nectar Seeker, Chairpony of the Magic Food Corporation." He then checked the price tag. "Two hundred ninety-nine bits." 

In a rare moment of sensitivity, he began to swoon and daydream. "Given how oh-so-good it is (having tasted it only once before), I can understand the high price. Lucky for me, I have enough bits to buy it."


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Meanwhile, back in the Academy…

Mystic Shield was busy teaching double-casting when a knock came in the door. It promptly opened to reveal Mr. and Mrs. Cake, the latter with a pair of baby carriers on her back, which had the Cake twins in tow.

"Hello, Mr. Carrot Cake, Mrs. Cup Cake," he greeted. "I'm afraid Pumpkin Cake is way too young for me to even think of taking her in as a student as of yet." When he saw the two of them balk in horror, he said, "Just kidding. What can I do for you?"

"Well, Mystic Shield, I heard that you were once a married stallion," Mr. Cake answered. "We were hoping you could babysit the twins for us, given that you probably have had experience."

"You're right on both regards, but as you can see…" He gestured to his entire class, who were all looking at the cakes with varied expressions, some awed at the sight of the babies, and others irked at yet another interruption. One could always count on at least one of these incidents happening every day.

"Oh," gasped Mrs. Cake. "we're sorry to have bothered you."

"What made you decide to ask me? Surely you know how busy I am during these hours. Who have you asked already?"

"You are somepony who's well-acquainted with Pinkie Pie." Said pony was cradling Dinky and had put a diaper on her, calling out to them to pick her. "We needed someone we can trust. Fluttershy's on a picnic with her pet Angel, Twilight Sparkle is busy with her reports, Applejack is busy on the farm, Rainbow Dash is off to see a Wonderbolts air show, and we see Amethyst Star's here."

(Amethyst Star, or Sparkler as she wishes to be called, has taken up foalsitting while staying in Ponyville. She was presently getting Pinkie to let go of her sister and take off the diaper.)

"Have you asked Cheerilee?" Mystic asked.

"She's still conducting classes."

"Derpy? For all her clumsiness, she's a very caring mother."

"We already asked, but her shift isn't over yet," said Mr. Cake. "And we need to get going as soon as possible. We have a catering order to finish."

"I see. Sorry I can't help."

"What about Chronicle? Can't he babysit for us?"

"Sorry, but he's out on that picnic you mentioned. And these magical clones he left behind here are too…fragile to take you up on the task. Besides, he told me that handling the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been very difficult. I personally think the baby twins would be much harder for him."

"I see. I guess we'll have to ask Miss Rarity, then."

"I doubt you'll get her to babysit either. The few times Sweetie Belle was here, she caused a lot of trouble even without the other Crusaders. I pity Rarity for having to tolerate such a trouble magnet. I can't even begin to imagine the mess your babies might make and how much of a toll it would be. And that's not taking into account all the 'loose items' in the dressmaker's place, if you get what I'm saying."

"Oh. …We're sorry to have bothered you." And with that, the Cake parents left the academy, Pinkie bouncing after them. Dinky was already relieved of her diaper and was back with the rest of the class.

"All right, class," Mystic said. "Let's resume double-casting."


MS—MCC—MCC—PCT—MS—MCC—MCC—PCT—MS—MCC—MCC—PCT

At the flower shop…

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

"Not yet. Picking the perfect flower is hard."

Chronicle was deciding just what flower/s to get and Daisy was losing patience. He was here for nearly an hour already. 

"You got a marefriend, sir?"

At this question, he visibly tensed. The revelation that happened two weeks before Twilight's last required weekly friendship report had been kept secret. And any who asked what happened that day were told that Chronicle and his friends had a disagreement, things went a bit too far, and a scuffle happened. And that was all they would say about it.

"Would that be the only reason I'd take long to buy a flower?" he snarked.

"If you're buying for a lost loved one to leave at a gravestone, you should be ashamed for not knowing. If it's for your mother or something, same deal. A marefriend however—or coltfriend for all I care—is an understandable case."

"What about for eating?"

"You mentioned 'picking the perfect flower'. Nopony would normally say that if they're going to eat it. They aren't known for being very flavorful on their own, though there are a couple of exceptions. Don't worry, I'm not gonna ask who it is. I do need a basic hint, though."

"Animal empath. Tender heart."

Despite these, Daisy's face turned into a wide and knowing grin. "Oh, I think I know just who the lucky mare is. Luckily for you, I know just the flower." She led him to one flower bed. "Buttercups. They taste great on sandwiches."

"…How much?"


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Later…

"Thank you for your patronage."

After buying the buttercups and 'packing' them in a bouquet, he also went to the marketplace to buy carrots (as a 'peace offering' to Angel), then to the bookstore to buy a card before deciding that was going too far. Right now, he was just leaving a shop owned by an earth pony (filly) whose name was Racket Lemongrass (who knew she could be such a good haggler?). After ascertaining that nobody was looking, he went to an alley, then took out Surveillance to check on his friends.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike were in the library, the former fixing up her reports and the latter being slaved around. He's gonna smack her later for such abusive treatment. 

Applejack was harvesting fast as an army of caterpillars continued to close in on the crop. A race against them. 

Rarity is busy finishing some dresses for some tall order. Luckily for her, Sweetie Belle was being foalsat by Skyla along with the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. On an unrelated note, Rarity's parents were such impossibly terrible cooks he was considering obtaining the results of their cooking as useful poisons to utilize. He'd have to find out how long they last before they expire into ordinary spoiled food before getting some though.

Rainbow Dash was watching a Wonderbolts show. Maybe in Solaris Equestria, Timerity is doing the same with Blitz by her side, he thought. Her feelings for him were more prevalent than his for Fluttershy's.

Speaking of Fluttershy, she was at the park with Angel, looking for a place to set up. Oh good. I can still make it.

He then decided to check on Pinkie Pie…and what he saw made him wince; she was assigned as babysitter for the Cake twins, and her first few seconds made him think she should've asked for overtime pay, given their incessant crying. Oh dear.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chronicle with a back background behind him. Two 'choices' are shown. The show's logo is seen on the upper center.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Chronicle was torn between two choices; skip out on the chance of a date with Fluttershy to help with Pinkie Pie in taking care of the Cake twins, or go on the date but have the guilt of not helping a friend in need weigh down on his conscience.

And then he remembered he had a magical clone spell; he could just send a few to assess the situation at Sugarcube Corner and help as needed. Silly me for forgetting. With that, he summoned two clones to go assist in babysitting.

"Now that that's taken care of…" He went on his way to the park.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Back in the Self-Defense Academy…

The foals had pulled off the Recoveroll smoothly, although Snails needed a little more work due to his gangly frame. Everypony's performance was passable in the sidestep exercise. Even Written Script was improving. And there was no flirting, thankfully; he hadn't put a rule against that. Right now, they were sparring with one another.

Minuette still has a one-sided with Firecracker Burst, who continues to talk to her casually and cheerfully, seemingly ignorant as they exchanged shots and shielded against them. Amethyst Star was sparring with her little sister, under Mystic's advice. The clones Chronicle left behind were performing well.

Everything was going swimmingly. And this time, for once, there would be no interruptions for the rest of the day.

At least that's what Mystic Shield had hoped would happen. For the Cutie Mark Crusaders had struck once more. They crashed through the roof (again), riding a makeshift rocket that instantly fell apart after landing (unfortunately, on Snails and Written). The trio were wearing lab coats. And the resulting debris it kicked up hit the Chronicle clone and dissipated him.

"I don't think Cutie Mark Crusaders Rocket Scientists was a good idea," said Sweetie Belle to her companions, who were unconscious from the crash, before falling unconscious herself.

And then Skyla flew in through the hole. Apparently, she was supposed to be taking care of them (again). "I'm so sorry, Mystic Shield!" she said. "They're just too rambunctious. But I won't give up! The Wonderbolts never do!" She then realized that statement could either blow her cover as a Wonderbolt, or make her look like a pony who aspires to be one.

The unicorn teacher sighed in exasperation as Skyla went to pick up the three. Why can't life ever be easy? "Let me help you." He then turned to the door to his quarters. "I need another one out here. Take over for the time being."

And another Chronicle clone entered the dojo area. He and the other two remaining had been listening in throughout the session so that they can be up to speed.

"Oh, and somepony see to Snails and Written Script. Who knows what injuries that might've sustained?" With that taken care of, Mystic exited his Academy, accompanying Skyla and with the unconscious Cutie Mark Crusaders in tow.


M—AB—AS—D—S—MS—FB—WS—S—SB—S

The two clones Chronicle had dispatched earlier to see to Pinkie Pie finally approached Sugarcube Corner. Upon entering, they saw that the bakery was empty. And then they heard laughing.

The two went over to the source to see the Cake twins laughing at Pinkie as they sat on their high chairs, who was completely covered in flour.

Huh. A blond mane and tail, a different-colored cutie mark, and pegasus wings and she'll look like Surprise from the Equestria my mother's assigned to, one of the clones thought.

"Uhh, do we even want to know what's going on?" the other clone asked.

"Just taking care of the Cake twins, that's all!" she answered cheerily. Which had nothing to do with a certain schoolteacher who bears the same Element of Harmony as her in another Equestria.

"Do you require any assistance?"

"After all, babies are such a huge responsibility," the first clone added. "I still remember the one time I went babysitting. It was worse than the time when Fluttershy and I foalsat the Crusaders."

"Don't worry, Chronicles," Pinkie told them. "I can be responsible. Why, Responsibility is my middle name! Pinkie Responsibility Pie!"

"I thought it was Diane," joked the second clone.

"Well, yeah. It's actually Diane, but I prefer Responsibility." At this point, the babies finally calmed down and were doing their best to watch this conversation.

"Are you sure? Would sound very unlike you if anybody were to know your middle name was really Responsibility, given who you are."

For some reason, Pinkie immediately took offense to this and narrowed her eyes. "You think I can't be responsible?"

"Never said you couldn't. Otherwise, you wouldn't be cleaning up any of your parties after they're done. And that's not meant to be an insult."

Pinkie had an unimpressed expression, picked up a bag of flour, and then hurled it at one of the clones, dissipating him on impact as it went through. Both Pound and Pumpkin shared perplexed looks before they started laughing.

"Watch it!" gasped the remaining clone as the flour landed on the other side. "Both of us are clones here."

"Whoops!" apologized Pinkie.

Unfortunately for the other clone, Pumpkin decided that this was the perfect time to practice her telekinesis. She 'picked up' the flower vase, then hurled it in a random direction. Unfortunately, this direction was at the clone's face, sending him away.


C—PP—PCT—C—PP—PCT—C—PP—PCT—C—PP—PCT

Meanwhile…

"Roses are red, violets are blue, buttercups are yellow. Here's some for you. …No, no. Too cheesy. Too cliché. Too simple."

Chronicle was currently hiding behind a tree in the park, trying to think of a good pickup line to say to Fluttershy, who was at the top of a nearby mini-hill and already setting up the blanket with Angel's assistance. The memories of the dissipated clones he had dispatched had come to him and it didn't help with his morale.

"Rrrhhh. Why is love so hard?" he complained to himself before smacking himself in the face. "How did it come so easily for my sister?" He then let out a sigh as he slumped in defeat, his back against the tree. "What am I doing. This is hopeless. Why am I able to talk to her so normally at other times but still feel anxious now?"

Suddenly, he felt something tap against his flank. Chronicle turned to see Angel tapping his foot and staring impatiently.

"Oh, Angel. I was just…I don't know what you're thinking of me. Maybe you don't see me as worthy of your mistress, or you're just mistrusting to anybody who's tried to woo her in the past. But I promise you that I won't break her heart without good reason." The rabbit seemed to raise an eyebrow. "I can't vow not to ever break her heart. It's too cliché, and I want to be careful with my words. I lost someone because of that."

The rabbit stood there, continuing to listen.

"Perhaps I'm not ready for this. I thought I was, but I could easily be wrong. I guess it was just the spur of the moment when I confessed to her." He let off another sigh. "What should I do?"

"Um…if it's all right with you, maybe we can just treat it like a picnic together as friends."

He instantly started and realized that Fluttershy was talking to him from the other side of the tree. Chronicle's unsure expression slowly turned into a soft smile. "…Yeah. I think I can do that."


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F

Back in Ponyville…

Skyla and Mystic Shield were walking together through a stretch of the Sweet Apple Acres orchards. Scootaloo was on the former's back and the other two were on the latter's. 

Of course, the two had made sure that the three were okay and did not need medical attention. Good thing they ran into Nurse Redheart, who was just taking home a recovered victim of Discord's corruption. According to her, the fillies were fine, just asleep. And they continued to sleep thanks to a slumber spell Mystic Shield taught to him by Rarity after yet another CMC incident he didn't want to recall. He used that so they won't be such a bother for a while.

Up ahead was a treehouse that had clearly seen better days and had no maintenance for quite some time. Broken windows, door hanging ajar, sagging roof and platform railings. A ramp led up from ground level to the door, but this also is on the verge of collapse.

Oh wait. That was a long time ago.

The treehouse ramp looked like it had a paint job and renovation less than a year ago, and the same went for the rest of the place. Well, that was what the Crusaders told Skyla when she asked them about the treehouse the first time she foalsat them.

The two grown-ups walked up the ramp and entered the treehouse. The interior was spic-and-span, and there were various decorations on the walls; pictures with frames, a potted plant on a side table, and a crudely sketched map of Ponyville.

After setting the fillies down on the floor, Mystic and Skyla sat down, a little tired from carrying them.

"Whew!" said the white pegasus. "I didn't expect you to keep up with me given—"

"Because I'm a unicorn?" Mystic finished. "Not all unicorns are such 'squishy spellcasters', you know. I train my students' stamina to specifically avert that. While they still won't be as tough as a pegasus, at least they can keep up and not tire easily when they have to run."

"Wow. You must take your job very seriously."

"Mm-hmm. I probably should be heading back now. Don't know how long those clones will last."

Skyla was curious. "Why?"

"For some reason, at least once a day, something's always guaranteed to interrupt my classes. And they always involve pain on either party. And Chronicle's magical clones can't take a hit."

"I see." Mystic turned to leave, but before he could reach the door, she called out to him, "Wait. There's something else I'd like to ask you."

He turned his head to face her. "What is it?"

"Do you have a reason not to have enlisted in the Canterlot Royal Guard? Judging from the times I've crashed into your classes, you look like you could impress the captain with your skills."

For some reason, Mystic's face immediately went dark with anger. "Is the name of that captain Shining Armor?"

"I'm not sure. I don't go to Canterlot often. What do you have against this Shining Armor, anyway?"

"I wanted my lessons to be available to the average civilian, just as my mentor had long ago. Captain Shining Armor would not let me achieve that dream in Canterlot, and tried to convince me to join the Royal Guard instead."

"I see. But I don't get why you seem to hate him so."

"I don't wanna talk about it. Please. …I have to go."

And with that, Mystic Shield was out the door, returning to his Academy, and leaving a confused Skyla with the sleeping Cutie Mark Crusaders.


MS—S—MS—S—MS—S—MS—S—MS—S—MS—S

At the park…

The not-date was going quite smoothly. The two settled down on the blanket, bringing out the food. In Fluttershy's basket were two loaves of bread already cut into even slices, and a large variety of other pony food, no hay thankfully. Fluttershy had accepted the buttercups with a sweet "thank you" and while Angel was still a bit mistrusting, he accepted the peace offering of carrots.

Angel was about to apply some strawberry jam to a loaf of bread with a blunt knife, but Chronicle motioned for him to pause as he 'took out' the Heart Warmer Jam. This surprised him and Fluttershy and elicited a gasp from the latter.

"I bought it in the marketplace. I think it was the last one in stock." Chronicle opened the jar, 'took' the knife from Angel, and dipped it into the jam. He then spread it onto one half of a piece of bread before folding it.

As he proceeded with the next piece, Fluttershy already had another knife ready, holding it somehow with one hoof, which puzzled the unicorn to no end as she took some jam and made more sandwiches to eat. Memories from the dissipated clones he left in the Academy entered his mind, but practice made sure he didn't wince from the slight pain it always did on him.

Most of the not-date would've gone on just making these and savoring the taste of the expensive jam in them had Chronicle not decided to ask something.

"Hey, Fluttershy."

"Hmm?" She paused in eating another sandwich and Angel seemed to stop to listen as well.

"I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Yes?" As she turned to look at him, she noticed his cheeks turn red, then shake his head vigorously.

"I-I-I-I-I don't mean to say it like that! W-w-w-what I mean to say is that I know that under that gentle-hearted demeanor, you're a strong pony inside. I…" He put down the sandwich he was eating and locked eyes with her. "I want to bring more of that out. Not just for myself, but for your own good as well. And I want to do that, all without removing that gentleness you show every day. It's gonna be a difficult prospect for both of us, and I might have to be harsh on you, which is gonna pain me more than it will you. So I'm asking you right now. Do you want this? It will be wrong for me to force you. For this to work effectively, you have to want to change yourself."

The two stared at each other, wearing different emotions. One was offering something that was difficult to accept, and the other knows it's good for them but is reluctant to take it up. He wants her to accept the offer but wants her to do so voluntarily. She wants to accept the offer, but seemed to be afraid to do so. She turned to look at Angel, who had a paw to his chin as if also deciding. Being her animal companion, he also had a right to decide. And his decision already has been made.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Horizontal split screen. The top one shows Chronicle asking his question. The bottom has Skyla pondering on something while the Cutie Mark Crusaders lay around her asleep. The show's logo is seen on the center.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F

Back at the Cutie Mark Crusaders' treehouse…

Skyla stood alone with the sleeping fillies, wondering what Mystic Shield had said. "I wonder what happened between him and that Shining Armor guy. What caused him to not like him so much? Why am I even trying to get involved into this? No, I should respect his problems; if he doesn't want to talk about it, then I have no right to insist."

Any further pondering is interrupted when Applejack entered the treehouse.

"Hey, Skyla," she greeted.

"Hey, uh, Applejack. You done with the harvest?"

"Finally am. And not an apple was lost to the caterpillars."

"Sound like good news."

"It is. How were the Crusaders?"

The pegasus gave a sigh. "The usual. They still have lots of things to try to get their cutie marks and today they tried being rocket scientists, and to be frank I was quite surprised that Apple Bloom can make one in such a short time. That or they managed to get one ordered. I was busy chasing Scootaloo to see your sister in action. They crashed into Mystic Shield's Academy in the middle of class, again. Poor guy. Having to deal with interruptions every single day."

"Yeah."

"Still, I like them. Somepony needs to be able to handle these rambunctious fillies. Even so, I'm unfortunately not available at all times."

"Why not? What else do you do aside from bein' a foalsitter?"

"You first saw me at Cloudsdale, remember? I work part-time in the weather factory." She was obviously not going to tell about her position as an undercover Wonderbolt. "And I sometimes get other foals to foalsit."

"I see. Allow me to relieve you of them. 'Sides, you already worked past the hours you allotted yerself."

"I guess you're right. And I already received my pay from your friend Rarity."

"I hope you'll stay available whenever possible. We tried the other foalsitters in Ponyville, but they all gave up after an hour."

"They're that bad, huh?"

"Yeah. Normally, I wouldn't trust anypony else who ain't my friend in foalsittin' them, but you've proven capable enough."

"But it's too early to call me a friend, right?" Before the farmpony could answer, the undercover Wonderbolt raised a hoof to stop her. "Never mind. You don't have to answer. Bye." And with that, she took off and left the treehouse, leaving a confused Applejack.


A—S—A—S—A—S—A—S—A—S—A—S

At Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns…

The teacher returned, and was a bit miffed to see the door to his quarters open, and only one clone of Chronicle's remained. And classes were over, leaving him, the clone, and the First Four. "Darn. Either I was out for longer than I thought, or classes were already coming to an end when I left."

"It was the latter, Master," said Tricky Books.

"Hnnh…all right. You're free to go."

"Yes, Master." And with that, he, Chrono Cards, Bullseye, and Greatstone exited the Academy. The clone remained in case Mystic wanted to talk with him.

"Is there anything you want me to know?" he asked.

"No. You're free to go too," Mystic answered. "I trust classes went well enough?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

And with that, the clone dismissed itself by slamming into a wall, dissipating on impact. Just then, somepony familiar descended close by. "Mystic," she called.

Immediately, the unicorn's mood darkened. "If this is about Shining Armor—"

"No, no. It's not that at all. I just wanted to say that I appreciated you walking with me today. I was wondering if…we can do it again sometime."

Mystic gave a sigh. "I guess so." He noticed her hopeful smile, which reminded him of an old memory he wished to forget. "But friends is as far as we can go."

Her mood instantly dampened. "Why? Was it something I said? Something about me you don't like?"

"It's not that. I haven't told anypony else, but…I'm divorced."

"Oh! I'm so sorry. It's just that you look so young."

"It was a mistake, but I was happy. Until that day."

Skyla seemed to know what 'that day' meant; something that would've been pegged as a drama scene in stories. She decided she would not poke him further on 'that day'. "I understand. Well, I hope to see you tomorrow. When I'm not foalsitting the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"All right. See ya." And with that, Skyla took off again. Once she was gone, he closed the doors to his home, then went off to the marketplace to buy his non-Academy-related needs.


C—MS—TB—S—C—MS—TB—S—C—MS—TB—S

The rest of the not-date went pretty well. A small chat about today, the weather, things like that. And as for "the question", Fluttershy said she needed time to think and talk with Angel about it. Chronicle understood her hesitation and was a bit glad to see that the rabbit was a bit more trusting of him, probably from the realization that they share a common goal; help Fluttershy stand up for herself.

Chronicle had then asked if they could have another outing like this some other time, and she said yes. 

The two of them have just returned to Ponyville proper and Sugarcube Corner was in their sights when they saw Twilight Sparkle being pushed out its door by Pinkie Pie.

"Well, thanks for stopping by, Twilight. Sorry, I don’t have time to visit. I’m very, very busy with my responsibilities here."

"I’m happy to help. It’s no trouble—"

Any further words were cut off by the door being slammed into her face—close enough, in fact, to squash her nose a bit.

"Hey, Twilight."

She immediately turned to see the two (three if you count Angel) come over. "Hey, Chronicle! Hey, Fluttershy!"

"I see your report sorting's already done," said the stallion as they approached one another…and then he quickly took out his paddle and smacked his charge with it. "And I know you weren't treating Spike well. I'd report your abuse if it weren't for the fact that both of you are my friends and that you're one of Equestria's heroes. That was why I went great lengths on finding both a defense attorney and a prosecutor to help in finding the truth behind the murder of that blackmailer of an athlete. Rainbow Dash just doesn't have that killer's will like I do, and I just hate it when I see you acting like jerks."

While he was saying that, Twilight had been rubbing her cheek where she had been slapped. "Oww."

"Twilight, what were you doing outside Sugarcube Corner?" Fluttershy asked her.

"I was going to offer assistance in babysitting the Cakes with Pinkie Pie, but for some reason, she suddenly refused."

"Perhaps it's from something you said. You and Pinkie are quite prone to saying condescending things or being insensitive to others. Or maybe that's just Pinkie for the latter." Chronicle then looked around to see if there were any peekers. He then 'pulled out' his Surveillance device as he said, "Let's go to the library."


C—TS—F—C—TS—F—C—TS—F—C—TS—F

In the Books and Branches Library…

The three ponies gathered at the second floor (in case the library is going to have any patrons). Spike was there too, dusting the shelves. Once he made sure that nobody, invisible, shrunken, or otherwise is looking (he can do nothing for the ones who use long-range means), he took out the Surveillance device, tapped on Twilight's icon, and 'rolled back' up to the point where Twilight was just finished knocking on the bakery's door.

"Hi!" she greeted as Pinkie Pie poked her head (which had a diaper on it)out. "I finished up the work I had to do, so I thought I’d stop by and see if you needed any help." She was promptly yanked in. "Whoa!" and the door was slammed closed before Twilight's 'camera' teleported in after its target and into the shop floor, where the four watching could see another diaper on Pinkie's rump, which has slid halfway down to her hooves.

"I'll have to say that your Surveillance cameras' pursuit abilities kind of unnerve me," Twilight remarked.

"Yeah, my organization really outdone themselves here," said Chronicle as he 'paused' the monitor. "They can keep up with their targets regardless of speed. Nothing short of a world-hop without this going too can cut me off."

Spike was confused with the stallion's term. "World-hop?" he asked as he passed by.

"You know, like the time the girls and I ended up in that gender-swapped world. That is what I call a world-hop." He then 'resumed' the 'playback'.

"Oh."

In the scene, Pinkie said as she kicked the diaper off, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming! I can’t begin to tell you what my day has been like! I mean, these babies just won’t listen to reason—and don’t even get me started on their taste in stand-up comedy!" For some reason, a rimshot played.

"It’s okay, Pinkie. I figured you would need some help," the Twilight in the scene said as she crossed the floor. "That’s why I stopped by."

Pinkie instantly took offense. "Excuse me?" she said as her friend levitated some scattered toys, placing them neatly on the floor.

"Babies take a lot of work. And some ponies are just not cut out to handle the responsibility."

Pinkie got into her face. "Is that so?!" Before the well-meaning unicorn knew it, the door was opened again and she being plowed out onto it by one angry earth pony. "Well, thanks for stopping by, Twilight. Sorry, I don’t have time to visit. I’m very, very busy with my responsibilities here." She then backed into the building, ready to slam the door.

"I’m happy to help. It’s no trouble—" Any further words are cut off by the door being slammed into her face—close enough, in fact, to squash her nose a bit.

And once that scene was finished, Chronicle put away Surveillance. "From what I can see here, you basically said that Pinkie Pie was incapable of handling the Cake twins. It may not have been blunt, but I can pick up the condescending way you said those words. I don't think I need to spell it out for you."

Thanks to all the times he's had to set her straight, the consequences of her actions with Pinkie began to sink in. At least if the ears drooping were any indication. "Oh no. How could I have been—"

Chronicle was quick to stop her. "I won't judge you. You're still learning. And I don't advise going over to apologize. She's gonna be very busy. And it may only make things worse."

"But what if Pinkie needs help?" Fluttershy asked. "What if Pumpkin Cake's magical surges start up? What if Pound Cake starts flying around? I heard that some pegasus babies can sometimes carry full-grown ponies around while flying."

The stallion raised an eyebrow. "That's a disturbing thought. I don't think I want to know Rainbow's parents handled her when she was a baby. In any case, I'll watch over Pinkie Pie and see if she'll need any help. For all we know, she'll probably successfully solve the problem herself and realize just what she needs to do."

"You think she can do it?"

"Ever since we beat Nightmare Moon, I've learned never to underestimate what you girls are capable of, you getting angry the first of many examples. And that's supposed to be a compliment."

"Um, thanks?"

"You're welcome. I'm sorry to have worried you girls with her problem. Leave Pinkie Pie to me."


C—TS—F—C—TS—F—C—TS—F—C—TS—F

Later that night, while Chronicle slept , a clone he summoned 'rolled back' to the point where Pinkie Pie was putting the twins to sleep, then watched from there. He saw them disappear and be found again, saw the twins' abilities go wild, and sympathized as Pinkie finally broke down only to be comforted in return by Pound and Pumpkin. And then it was smooth sailing from there onward; Pound and Pumpkin were much more cooperative. By the time the Cakes were home, all the damage the twins had made has been repaired. Once that was done, he dismissed himself.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Daytime…

A few minutes before Chronicle would normally conduct classes with Mystic Shield (today was a break day), he, Twilight, and Spike were greeted by Pinkie Pie as she entered the library. 

"Pinkie Pie!" greeted Spike. "What brings you here?"

"Do you remember what Princess Celestia said about all of us getting to report our findings on the magic of friendship when, and only when, we happen to discover them?"

"Yes?" all three answered.

"Well, I have one to send!"

"That's good news!" said Twilight, then turned to her assistant.

"Ready." Spike took out a quill and scroll.

And Pinkie began to dictate. “Dear Princess Celestia: I’ve always had fun playing with little kids, and I thought babysitting meant just more playtime, right? Wro-ooong! Being a caregiver is way more responsibility than just being a playmate. And today I learned that sometimes, our desire for responsibility can outrun our actual ability to handle it.”

Once the dragon was finished writing, he asked, "Done! Should I send it?"

"Duh!"

"All right." He blew his fire and the deed was done.

"So, Pinkie Pie. Was your babysitting successful?" Twilight queried. She was answered with a nod.

"Mm-hmm. I admit it was hard, and I did 'break down' once, but yeah, in the end, everything turned out all right."

"Glad to hear it," said Chronicle. "You think you can handle another day with them? I think Skyla would do a better job."

"It's okay. I got along with the twins now. I'm gonna be their permanent babysitter from this day forth!"

"Heheh. You thought it would be easy as pie… but I think you've learned that babysitting is no piece of cake." This earned him a chuckle from the earth pony.

"Hee-hee. That's pretty funny."

"But in the end, it's all worth it, right?" asked Twilight.

"That's right!"

Chronicle grinned at that. "Glad I didn't have to bust in in your stead when you nearly broke down. Not just for your sake, but for the Cakes too. Wouldn't want them to sorely regret their decision and break any trust between you."

"Yeah. Good thing."

"So…is there anything else?"

"Nope."

Suddenly, a certain white rabbit ran inside the library, a small scroll strapped to his back by a piece of vine. "Angel! What are you doing here?" The coney just responded by standing straight, taking out the letter, and handing it to the blue unicorn, who 'took' it, then 'unrolled' it to read it. "Hmm… Fluttershy wants me to assist her in returning home some animals she's been taking care of."

Pinkie lighted up immediately. "Go. Your marefriend is waiting!"

He didn't bother with the stock phrase "she's not my marefriend" because, to be honest, she is. Instead he smiled, gave an informal salute, hinted at Angel to hop on his back, then set off for another day with his favorite pony.
> Extra-Special Chapter: Visitors from the Stars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Chapter: Visitors From the Stars

It was quite a boring day today for Record Keeper, though not as boring as staying in Hub Equestria.

Right now, he was cruising the cosmos (but not surfing it like Sun Bro and Moon Dude keep insisting him to do with them) just outside his second son's assigned world; Equestria Prime. Around himself was a magic bubble to keep the effects of the vacuum of space and the heat of the sun from affecting him and maintaining oxygen. If he was in outer space, that is, which he wasn't. He was in a dimension called the Sea of the Skies, which was in a few ways different from outer space. In it were the Lanes Between, a series of "roads" that connect various worlds and can take travelers between them faster than space travel, even at light speed.

There was one 'time portal' nearby, and it was situated at one end of these 'lanes'. He was currently setting up the ritual needed to close it. The Almighty Faust was on the other side, supposedly watching for anybody who might travel through.

When the Timer family had first set up their hub world on a deserted and desolated planet, they had encountered Faust, who had been distrusting of them at that time. Record had been forced to explain what the Story Crew really did and after hearing them out, she helped them in terraforming the planet (along with some RWCAs, who are 'reality warpers' themselves) so that they can set up base.

(Record knew from the start that the Story Crew was horrendously overpowered in comparison to lots of their "target worlds" and "client worlds". The higher-ups in the Story Crew and the existence of the Book Troop were the only things preventing them from becoming all-out multiversal conquerors, although that didn't stop a few of their number from defecting or going rogue to do just that. Those were quickly stopped before long however.)

Record kept in touch with a "share sense" spell (he can only use magic in alicorn form), which allows him to see, hear, or smell whatever his spell's target is sensing. Right now, he has it cast on Faust.

"I'm just about doing the finishing touches on the spell," he said mentally. "I want you back in three minutes."

"I understand, Thomas," replied Faust. He picked up her words via "share sense" since she was speaking orally as well.

"Record. Only my family calls me Thomas."

"Right. Sorry."

"Any Interlopers?" Interloper was a Story Crew term for individuals/groups coming from 'target worlds' (an example being the Equestrias the Timer family is in charge of) and entering others. There have been numerous cases, both successfully averted and not, in some of the other Equestrias, but so far none of real significance (that Chronicle has successfully handled) ended up in Prime.

"Nope. None so— Wait. I see something."

"Focus your eyes on it. I want to see it too."

She complied and when Record used the "share sense" to see what Faust was seeing. It seemed to be a space-faring vessel. As it drew closer, he at first thought that it was a YT-1300 "light freighter" from the "target world (cluster)" 'the Galaxy'. As it got even closer however, he saw that it was too smooth to be one, and a bit…blocky.

His mind went on full alert; this was what the Story Crew classified as a GUMI-Type, a vessel specifically built for Sea of the Skies-travel. Pilots/passengers of these vessels are usually SWORD-K wielders, and were the only Interlopers they did not interfere with, though they do keep them under close scrutiny. Less than a year ago, three SWORD-K wielders had stumbled into Equestria Prime. He hadn't been able to do much about it since during that time he had been interrogating his kids on the cross-world incident Twilight Sparkle of Equestria Prime was responsible for.

"Faust. Get back to the portal. Now."

"Okay." Unfortunately for both of them, the GUMI-Type seemed to have detected her and were following her into the portal. "Uh-oh. They seem to have found me," she said as she sped up.

"Cast the full invisibility spell. It will hide you from radar as well as sight."

"Radar. You told me about that once. Detects via means similar to echolocation, but with 'radio waves' instead of sound."

"Just cast it now, please."

"Already am."

Knowing Faust and the vessel were going to emerge from the time portal soon, he moved out of its path and cast the same spell on himself.

From the portal emerged a white alicorn with sky blue eyes, cherry red hair, and a cutie mark depicting an inkwell and tan-colored quill. Faust. While she was indeed invisible, his "share sense" and deduction told him where she was, even in the vacuum of the Sea of the Skies. And then the GUMI-Type followed, slowing down to a stop upon Equestria Prime entering its sights (well, the occupants', anyway).

Record was already acting fast. He immediately cast a spell, alerting his son of the oncoming SWORD-K wielder(s) and his/her/their allies. Once he was finished sending his "message", Faust came up next to him.

"What should we do now?" she asked.

"Wait until they finish their business. SWORD-K wielders don't enter a world without a very good reason. The sealing of the time portal would have to wait until the GUMI-Type has successfully left."


RK—AF—RK—AF—RK—AF—RK—AF—RK—AF—RK—AF

Equestria Prime, Books and Branches Library…

Chronicle was at his training range behind it, practicing his skills against the Discord statue. Mystic Shield has taken another field trip (where, he can't remember) with his class. Chronicle once again didn't join due to his contract, and Twilight Sparkle was too busy studying, although she wasn't doing so at the moment. The only ones who went with him were his First Four, Holly Dash, Pisces, the Gemini twins, and Morpheus. For some reason, Skyla went with him as well.

He wasn't in the mood to see Fluttershy just yet either. His mother had advised him that "items" also needed a bit of alone time every now and then. Suddenly, he received a mental message. He reached into "hammerspace" and took out a coin-shaped object that looked like his cutie mark. He hadn't used this thing since planting the Surveillance cameras on the Keepers of the Elements of Harmony. Once he 'moved' it to his ear, he received another message.

"This is your father speaking. We have detected a GUMI-Type vessel entering the space-bounds of Equestria Prime. Likely touchdown point of occupants is outside the Everfree Forest. You know what to do."

He then returned the device to "hammerspace" and 'took out' Surveillance. The closest of my friends most likely to run into them is Twilight. She's in the Everfree Forest acquiring some special tea from Zecora. Better talk to her.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Everfree Forest…

Twilight Sparkle was walking down the path leading to the exit of the forest when she suddenly heard a disembodied voice.

"Twilight. Twilight. Can you hear me? Keep walking."

She immediately recognized the voice. "Chronicle? Why are you talking to me this way?" she asked in a hushed tone; talking to yourself can lead to others thinking you're crazy, after all. Very rarely does her bodyguard use Surveillance to communicate for this reason.

"Do you remember the 'world-visitors' that came here less than a year ago? You know, those three?"

She spent a few seconds trying to recall. "Oh yeah. I remember. Are they back?"

"No, but there are similar visitors that have now arrived, don't ask how I know."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Act natural, and don't let them know that you know."

"Okay. I think I see them right now."

"So soon?"

She nodded, knowing he saw the gesture. As she got closer (and out of the forest), the sound of her hooves crushing fallen leaves have alerted them to her presence.

The group consisted of five ponies…and two dragons?! They certainly did not look like any she's familiar with.

The first pony was a black earth pony stallion. His mane was brown and very spiny, and his tail was also brown like his mane and was slightly ruffled. On his neck was a silver necklace shaped like a crown, and it mirrored the one in his flank as his cutie mark.

The second pony was a pink unicorn mare. Her mane was cherry red, her tail was straight and properly brushed like Twilight's, and around her body was a small belt holding a small pouch too small to be a saddlebag that seemed to be large enough to hold a notebook. Her cutie mark was a star-shaped trinket made out of seashells that were pale yellow toward the center and pale pink toward the tips and held together by X-shaped stitches. One of these shells had a face drawn into it.

The third pony was a unicorn stallion with a fiery red coat. His mane and tail were also as red as his coat and was very spiny. His cutie mark depicted a spiny wheel similar to what one of Chronicle's 'duel opponents' used.

The fourth pony was a purple pegasus stallion. His black mane was very short and so was his tail. Wrapped around his body was a belt that seemed to hold two mysterious tubes. His cutie mark was a white circle and two mountain range-like shapes near its sides. More abstract than her own cutie mark, she noted.

The fifth pony was a white earth pony stallion. His mane and tail were fairly long for somepony of his gender and was colored cyan. His cutie mark depicted a shield with a yellow outline, a golden crown in the middle, and a four-square checker pattern behind it, violet-blue in the upper left and lower right, and a mix of red-and-maroon stripes in the upper right and lower left corners.

The first dragon was easily recognized by its spiny appearance, with spines on its head, down its back and tail, and on its two wings. It had stout, sturdy legs, and its stomach, neck and face are of a lighter hue than the rest of its bright yellow body. On its arms were two bracers, each seemingly holding six spherical gems. There was also a small bag between the wings. The dragon stood slightly taller than the average pony.

The second dragon was light amber, and seemed to be smooth-skinned instead of scaly. It had large wings (relative to its body), each tipped with a small bony point at the top, huge eyes colored like its skin, and a single fin-like crest on its head. Its tail was long and thick, probably used for balance when on the ground. It was tall enough for its crest to reach a pony's height. On its back was an gold-tinted archer's quiver.

"That's certainly them," Chronicle remarked as his charge quickened her pace. Eventually, she was face-to-face with them and she stopped. "Remember to greet them casually."

"Hi there," she greeted.

"Uh…hi," the black earth pony greeted in return, raising a hoof in greeting.

"Interesting…" Twilight turned to look at the two dragons. "I haven't never seen dragons like you before." Both of them began to sweat profusely in nervousness. 

"Say you'll look it up later," her bodyguard advised. "Don't act suspicious."

The dragons sighed in relief when she said that, giving away the fact that they're both males. However, Chronicle could see that one of them seemed to have picked up that something was up. Thankfully, he seemed to have shaken it off as Twilight trotted past them before stopping and turning to face them. 

"If you like, you could visit Ponyville. It's just up ahead," Twilight invited.

Before anybody could take another step, a strange noise suddenly resounded in the air. Strange creatures then appeared from out of nowhere, surprising the entire group. Alarms rang in Chronicle's head as he identified the enemy's faces. Enemy code name AN-8178! The Story Crew said they were extinct! Why are they here?

There were three types present; sleek midget bipeds, coneys with floppy ears, and legless ravens.

"Unversed!" the black stallion cried out as they suddenly summoned weapons in flashes of light. In his teeth was what Chronicle recognized as a SWORD-K, its type code-named SK-ULTI2.

The pink mare also had a SWORD-K, this one code-named SK-DEP. She had summoned it in her tail, which while prehensile was unfortunately not prehensile enough to properly hold it.

The red stallion had summoned two spiky wheels similar to the one on his flank. Unlike the other unicorn, he seemed to be 'holding' them via telekinesis, his horn glowing green. The wheels certainly looked much more ornate than Scorchwheel's and more red. Chakrams. Now I remember the name.

The white earth pony had a silver weapon that looked like a gun, except such things did not exist in Equestria. And for some reason, it was floating to the left side of its owner, even though he was not a unicorn.

The purple pegasus's tubes floated out of their holsters just like the white earth pony's and extended blunt metal blades from them.

The spiny dragon 'summoned' a similar gun (colored white) in addition to a shield that seemed to be made of wood, with cherry blossom petals lining its face and pointed like spikes.

The crested dragon pulled out not only an arrow from the quiver, but a yellow compound bow as well. It was apparent that these dragons weren't simply going to use their claws (which this one did not have) or fire breath.

Twilight naturally reacted in surprise at all these and so did Chronicle, but for different reasons. She because of the was some of the weapons appeared (and levitated) for the non-unicorns, and he because if SWORD-K wielders are here, it means there'll be more trouble than just the AN-8178s, or Unversed as the black one seemed to call them.

Concerned for his charge's safety, he said, "Twilight, take evasive action. Let these visitors do the fighting." She nodded in response and complied.

The coney-types started by cartwheeling with their ears, but the black pony quickly struck them down with his weapon. However, in spite of being seemingly familiar with quadrupedal movement, his maneuvering was slightly awkward.

The pink unicorn headed for a cluster of midget-types, and cast a spell, her horn glowing blue. Fireballs then appeared around her and spun around, disintegrating the enemies as she passed them.

While the dragons shot down the raven-types with their weapons and not their fire breaths or claws, the white earth pony was doing the same while evading the coney-types to the best of his ability. It was apparent that he isn't too accustomed with a quadruped body (most SWORD-K wielders and/or their allies rarely are).

The red unicorn seemed to be having fun, moving his chakrams around and cutting down every Unversed in sight. Just then, one of the coney-types managed to get behind him and strike his flank with its ears. He lost concentration and 'dropped' his chakrams. He decided to raise his hind legs and kick the little bugger, destroying it before 'resuming control' over his weapons.

For a while, the purple pegasus seemed to be having it easy with manipulating his sabers. Before long, he decided to change tactics. As he 'returned' one saber and moved the other to his teeth like the black earth pony, he saw a raven-type swoop down on him. He seemed to concentrate on it and the avian Unversed seemed to have been locked in place mid-air before being taken down by his saber. A few coney-types surrounded him and started to spin, shooting lasers from their eyes. Jerry dodged by jumping, then left them below as he used his wings to ascend and take on the raven-types.

The Unversed didn't seem intent on just attacking the fighters though as a mass of midget-types started to close in on Twilight. Before Chronicle could tell her to teleport and escape, she conjured a shield, but this type seemed different. Upon colliding with it, a white flash came and the midget-types were sent flying back. As she dismissed the shield, the spiny dragon turned his attention to the midget-types and shot them down. At the same time though, a pair of raven-types swooped down to attack her. Instead of the barrier, this time she teleported, resulting in the two Unversed crashing into one another. 

She reappeared right next to the spiny dragon, startling him a bit. "Whoa," he gasped, but not too loud. She then conjured a fireball and shot it at an oncoming raven-type, destroying it. Before they knew it, all the Unversed were gone, to Chronicle's relief as he watched through Surveillance. He also noted that throughout the battle, not once did the spiny dragon attempt to fly.

As they gathered together, Twilight stared at the visitors and asked, "What were those things?"

"Unversed," said the spiny dragon as his weapons mysteriously disappeared. "Physical manifestations of negative emotions. I don't know how that's possible either. They're a violation of nature."

She then turned to the sole pegasus of the group and the white earth pony. "How were you two able to use telekinesis? Only unicorns can do that."

"It's my weapon that's magical, not me," the earth pony hastily explained as his weapon disappeared back into its hiding place, wherever that was.

"I'm-from-a-secret-cult-of-gifted-non-unicorns-that-harness-their-powers-to-help-others-in-secret," the pegasus quickly said as his eyes shifted left and right and his weapons 'returned' to his belt, sheathing themselves in the process. "And-I'm-still-a-rookie-in-the-keeping-secret-part!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, doubting his 'excuse', then turned to the black earth pony and pink unicorn, who still wielded their weapons. "Is that a Keyblade you're wielding?" Thanks to the previous off-worlder encounter that Chronicle was absent for (while he and Timerity were reporting to their father about their cross-world incident a few weeks prior to that), they knew what a Keyblade—which the Story Crew classified as a SWORD-K—was.

"How did you—" the stallion was about to say, dropping his jaw…and his "Keyblade" in the process.

The spiny dragon quickly cut in, "It's a sword that looks like a key. Wouldn't take a no-brainer to figure that out and make a name like that."

"Except our Keyblades don't exactly look like keys for the moment," the mare whispered to him as she and the black pony dismissed their weapons.

"…You got a point," the dragon whispered back.

The purple unicorn looked skeptical at all this. Their secret hiding wasn't as good as they thought it would be. "Keep up the charade," Chronicle advised. "You'll be able to ask them soon enough once you get them somewhere private."

All of a sudden, the black one's stomach grumbled. "You guys look hungry," Twilight said. As if to reinforce her words, the stomachs of the rest also grumbled. "What about I take you guys someplace to eat?"

"Uhh…sure," replied the black pony. "Oh, almost forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Sora."

"And I'm Jerry." The purple pegasus.

"Name's Kairi." The pink unicorn.

"Call me Wizard." The white earth pony.

"I'm Rael." The spiny dragon. Twilight tried not to note how weird the name was on a dragon. Or just weird in general.

"Tychophon." The crested dragon. 

"The name's Lea. Got it memorized?" The red unicorn. "What's yours?"

The native pony in the bunch made a short giggle, then said, "Twilight Sparkle."


TS—S—K—L—J—W—R—T—TS—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

Back in the Books and Branches Library…

Chronicle was already on the move. His first course of action was to contact Pinkie Pie, but it turns out she had spotted them a while ago. Through Surveillance, she said she was going to arrange a welcome party for them, as she is wont to do when newcomers arrive. It applied to him, Twilight, and Spike. It applied to Mystic Shield (and Gilda). It applied to Mystic's First Four. She even threw a party for the three off-worlders. These seven would be no exception. 

She asked him to try and invite everypony he encountered to help lessen her burden a bit and he said he'd do what he can. He also told her that the visitors are likely to be…unfamiliar with who the Princesses were and that she's to tell their friends about it an keep it secret until Twilight says otherwise.

Speaking of which, he contacted her through Surveillance and discreetly told her to give the visitors a tour while Pinkie prepared the party and invited guests.

He went inside the library, where Spike was fixing up the shelves. "Spike!" he called. "Pinkie Pie's hosting a welcome party. Spread the word."

"Aye aye," the baby dragon wasn't too enthusiastic, but he then seemed to have gotten an idea and immediately ran off. 

He's probably going to tell Rarity first, the stallion thought to himself as he summoned some clones and sent them off to various directions while he went for somepony special to his heart. Of course, he'd tell the news to everypony he thought was worth telling. 


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S

Three hours later…

After Spike and Chronicle got their marefriends (well, crush in the former's case), they were now in Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie Pie has arranged the party. Everypony had their positions, and she had even been able to 'enlist' a few ponies from Canterlot. Who exactly she wasn't revealing yet. Since this was a surprise party, the lights were off.

Right now, the two of them were positioned in a horizontal line with their friends beside them in the following order: Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, Chronicle, Rarity, Fluttershy. There was a vacant space between the last two for Twilight to step in during the inevitable introduction. 

Soon, Twilight came in with the seven visitors. "Who turned out the lights?" one voice wondered.

"I think I know what's coming up next," mused another.

"SURPRISE!" several voices cried simultaneously as the lights were turned on. Two of the ponies and one of the yellow dragons seemed to have been genuinely surprised, while the other dragon and two other ponies in the group just jumped. The last one, a white earth pony, just rolled his eyes, as if expecting this. 

"Sorry if I forgot to mention this, but I have a friend who is well known for throwing the best parties in town," Twilight explained as she walked past us. "And somehow, she always, always, always knows when there's somepony new in town, and likes to throw welcome parties in celebration."

"Was that friend that pink streak that bypassed us all over town earlier?", the spiny dragon asked her.

"Yup!" Pinkie said as she jumped up and down. She then spoke in a very quick pace. "Hi! You must be new in town. I know you are because I've never met you before, and if I never met you before then that means you're new in town, 'cause I know everypony. And by everypony, I mean everypony. So anyways, my name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie Pie. And oh my gosh, you cannot believe how excited I am to see some new ponies in town…"

The group seemed to tune her out as they looked at the rest of the line. Spike was looking at the other dragons with great interest, and in turn one of them was taking interest at Fluttershy. For some reason, Chronicle felt a pang of jealousy, even though he reminded himself they're leaving soon(er than he).

"And then, I was like 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?' And then—" Pinkie continued before Rainbow shoved a hoof in her mouth, stopping her.

Twilight seemed to notice the group look at the line and cleared her throat to get their attention. She then walked up to the line so that she was now in between Fluttershy and Rarity. 

"Oh, let me introduce you to my friends," she said as she indicated them all, starting with Pinkie. "As you probably just heard, this is Pinkie Pie. She threw this party for you guys." She then indicated the blue pegasus. "This is Rainbow Dash."

"Hey there!" Rainbow greeted as she raised the hoof she used to shush Pinkie.

Twilight indicated the farmpony. "This is Applejack."

"Howdy, y'all!"

The baby dragon. "This is Spike."

"Hi," Spike waved in a friendly manner.

The blue unicorn. "This is Chronicle."

"Hello there." The black pony's irises shrunk in surprise. 

"You're a…guy?" he gasped.

Chronicle sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I get that all the time at first."

"I knew he was a dude from the beginning," muttered the spiny dragon.

"A-anyway…" Twilight continued as she then indicated the fashionista, "This is Rarity."

"It's a pleasure to see new faces in Ponyville." Chronicle glanced at Rarity, then rolled his eyes. For some reason, Pinkie insisted their introductions be 'rehearsed'.

Twilight then indicated the last one in the line. "And this is Fluttershy."

"Hi," she greeted in a soft voice.

Twilight then introduced the visitors to her friends. "Guys, these are Sora, Kairi, Wizard, Lea, Jerry, Rael, and Tychophon."

"Now that the introductions are over with, let's par-tay!" said Pinkie.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

Sometime later…

The music played in the party was part classical and part techno (in a slow beat) seemingly mixed quite well.

Rael was at the buffet table, checking out the food. Sora was there too, gorging himself in cake, although he had trouble holding stuff with his mouth. Kairi was helping him out by using telekinesis from her horn, having been taught how by Twilight. As the spiny dragon checked each of the foodstuffs, Applejack came over.

"Now what might be the problem, haystack?" she asked him.

"I don't have a problem, Applejack," Rael said as he took a plate, a fork, and a slice of cake with it. "Really, I don't."

"I thought dragons eat just about anything."

"Not my species," he replied as he cut a slice of cake and ate it, savoring the taste of strawberry and chocolate. "And I'm pickier than most, unfortunately." He then turned his attention away from her as he saw Spike holding a bowlful of gemstones. He was approaching Tychophon, who was eating a slice of apple pie.

"Hey there, Tych," he greeted. "Can I call you Tych?"

"…Fine," the crested dragon relented.

Spike offered a gem. "Here. Try one."

"Thanks." Tychophon absentmindedly took the gem, then bit on it. However, upon sinking his teeth into it, he realized what he was biting into and took it out. "Hey! This is a gem!"

"Yeah. Dragons eat gems, right?"

"Not my kind." Tychophon pocketed it…somewhere. "I can't believe you eat such luxuries."

"Luxuries? They're found in the ground and mountains by the handful. They're so common that ponies use them for dress decorations, and there's enough left for me to snack on. Not that gems are the only things I can eat." Spike had been told by Twilight that Tychophon was probably an off-worlder and therefore would not be familiar with some facts that are taken for granted here. All of her friends were informed, but they were not to reveal it until later.

"Really…"

"Another question… Can you breathe fire, Tych?"

Tychophon raised an eyebrow. "Now what kind of question is that?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, nothing."

"I see. And for the record, I can't."

Spike put his hands to his head in shock. "What?"

"Although I do have some fire-related abilities I can use in combat. Oh, wait. I can breathe fire. Just not as regularly as most dragons."

In another area of the party venue, Wizard was next to the table with the punch bowl, a cup with a straw close to him. "Hey, Pinkie," he addressed the party pony, who stood nearby. "What's that green thing in the punch?" 

Pinkie followed where his eyes were looking, and then giggled. "Oh, that?" she replied. "That's just Gummy, my pet baby alligator." Wizard stared for a while at the bowl, where Gummy popped out of the punch to stare at him with his pinkish-purple eyes. After backing off for a bit should it bite him and staring for a few seconds, he returned to his cup and resumed drinking, much to the puzzlement of Pinkie. "You know, most ponies do a spit take or something whenever I say that."

"I've had filthier stuff," he answered. "I can stomach a lot of edible things."

Meanwhile, in the middle of the room, Lea was casting fire magic and was performing quite the spectacle, making himself a sight to see. He managed to catch Fluttershy's attention and he seemed to notice it too. Slowly, he approached her, still performing his pyrotechnics. Fluttershy seemed to notice as she backed away faster than the rest of the other ponies he was approaching.

Chronicle happened to see it too, and a desire to protect her (as well as a pang of jealousy) overrode the logical part of his brain. He rushed to pounce and keep him away from her, and it turns out Rainbow was about to do the same thing, but they thankfully didn't collide with one another as they were moving in the same general direction. They slammed into him and tumbled for a while before the two ended on top of Lea.

"Were you trying anything on Fluttershy?" they both asked at the same time, then turned to each other in slight surprise.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Lea, seemingly oblivious.

"You know what I mean!" retorted Rainbow.

"No, I do not! I was trying something on that cute unicorn over there."

The two turned to the general location of where Fluttershy had been backing away and Chronicle recognized Minuette.

"Oh. Minuette," he greeted. "Didn't see you there."

"Hey. Is that a cello I hear?" Jerry suddenly said as he stood next to Rarity.

Both the off-worlders and Twilight's circle of friends turned to where he was looking. Chronicle recognized the cellist, and two of her band-mates (a pianist and violinist). Next to them was a turntable with a certain disc jockey. 

"Hey!" said Chronicle after getting off of Lea, who was still pinned by Rainbow. He pointed to the disc jockey. "That's DJ-Pon3, the disc jockey at Rarity's first fashion show." He then pointed to the cellist. "And that's Octavia from the Grand Galloping Gala. As well as some other members of her band apparently. How did Pinkie Pie get them together to manage the music for the party?" He then let out an exasperated sigh. "She's such a random earth pony."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

After the party, early afternoon…

Twilight Sparkle led the seven visitors to the Books and Branches Library. The rest of her friends followed, but Chronicle didn't as he went to the back of the place to practice. That, and discreetly contact his father.

He went to the training range, then after setting up a barrier similar to what Twilight cast when she and her friends fought him once before. Those inside would still hear him though, so he also cast a new spell he learned; a replay spell. With it, others can hear things he isn't presently saying.

Seeing the Discord statue sparked his fury and he 'picked up' a sledgehammer. However, he was not completely blinded this time, still remembering his first-hoof experience with the Stare. He took out his device and spoke through it while 'hurling' the hammer around using the tether spell. All the while, his replay spell is mimicking him attacking something in a fit of rage, namely the Discord statue.

"Dad. We've made contact with the Interlopers." At the end of each sentence, he 'swung' the hammer at the statue, breaking off parts of it. 

To his surprise, a reply came immediately. "Good to hear. Try and get them to finish whatever they need to do here. I received reports of a SWORD-K wielder and his companions in your sister's world. Same goes for Luna Equestria."

He lightened up for some hopeful news. "What? Is the stasis there gone?"

"It's cracking, but time there is still moving very slowly. Too dangerous to re-synchronize the portal mirrors. It'll probably take a week or three before it's safe for us to contact Blue Diary."

"I see. I'm glad I'll be able to see him again soon."

"Me too. Anything else to report, son?"

His expression turned serious as he continued pummeling the statue. "Yes. AN-8178s have been sighted in the general area. Request for the usual procedure for this situation."

"Will do, but not right now. I'm standing by at the time portal the GUMI-Type vessel went through. I was just about to finish the spell to seal it when it came. Can't close it now lest I strand them here, and we don't want that, do we?"

"No. It's best I 'intervene' as little as possible in matters with the SWORD-K wielders."

"Just remember that 'intervening' means something different for Field Operatives. Fighting alongside them does not count, but telling of our origins or anything linking to it does."

"Roger that." Suddenly, he noticed something strange, looked at the statue, and realized that during his conversation, he had smashed it to the point that there was very little of it left and that he had been attacking it too fast for it to restore itself. "That's all, Dad."

"Good luck, son."

And there Chronicle terminated the conversation, then decided to teleport inside the library. But not before getting something to reinforce his 'excuse'.


C—RK—C—RK—C—RK—C—RK—C—RK—C—RK

Erstwhile…

As Chronicle went around the library to his training range, Twilight and her friends led the visitors inside it. They all looked around in awe, one of them noting Owlowiscious, who was sleeping in the rafters above, which was a bit peculiar since her house was a tree.

As they all entered, all of Twilight's friends checked the windows, drew the curtains, then ushered the group of seven to the center.

"Okay. What's up with you girls?" Sora asked nervously.

Twilight finally decided it was time to reveal what she knew. "We know where you're really from," she said with a serious tone and face. "You're from another world, right?" They all reacted in surprise.

"Oh boy," sighed Wizard as he did a facehoof. "Yes. Yes, we are. Did the Keyblade give us away?" Twilight nodded her head.

"We also know of the existence of other worlds, especially something called Kingdom Hearts," said Spike as he got a ladder and was about to go grab a certain book.

"Now where did that come from?" Rael asked. "Although yes, we know it."

"I don't," put in Jerry.

Just then, there was a crash. Everyone turned their heads to the source of the sound, then Twilight and her friends turned back to the visitors.

"What was that?" Lea asked.

"Just Chronicle venting his anger," Twilight simply stated. "Just ignore him. He'll come around soon." She then 'took' a couple of books from various shelves around the library, including one Spike was apparently about to get.

"Oh…okay," Kairi said, then returned to the topic as Spike climbed down the ladder and joined everyone else. There were a few noises outside from Chronicle, but it was ignored.

"How do you know of other worlds, the Keyblade, and Kingdom Hearts in the first place?" Sora wanted to know.

"Some time ago, we met with three Keyblade wielders," explained Applejack.

"They each entered this world at different times," added Rainbow. "And they all happened to know each other."

"Who were these visitors?" Wizard wanted to know.

"I met Terra while he was a brown earth pony at the farm I live in," said Applejack.

"I met Ven as a green pegasus flying among the clouds," said Rainbow.

"And I met Aqua as a blue unicorn practicing elemental magic in town," said Twilight. She then turned to Rael. "I learned that fire spell from her, by the way."

"Wait a second," interrupted Sora. "Terra, Ven, and Aqua?"

"Well, Ven's name's actually Ventus," added Rainbow.

"Could you tell us more?"

And that's what they did. Applejack had first seen Terra headbutting a tree in her farm to try and get some apples. She had then invited him to help buck apples from the trees for Applebuck Season. Rainbow had crashed into Ven while he was enjoying his wings, and he lied that he had an injury that grounded him for three months. Having believed his excuse at that time, she taught him how to fly. Aqua had seen Twilight conjure a mustache for Spike (Sora raised an eyebrow), then practiced some elemental spells, which soon caught Twilight's attention. After getting her attention, as well as a short conversation, Twilight offered to teach Aqua unicorn magic in exchange for elemental combat magic.

During one of those 'lessons', Aqua accidentally teleported herself up in the sky and began to fall. She was saved by Terra, and then Ven crashed into both of them shortly after, resulting in the three being covered in apples and applesauce Terra had been carrying. Once they were cleaned up at the spa, they were led to Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie Pie threw a party for them, just like she did with us. While the three apparently conversed with one another concerning their time together, Twilight momentarily left, only to return with Fluttershy and Rarity.

During that party, there was an announcement that Princesses Celestia and Luna (the co-rulers of Equestria) were coming to Ponyville. Terra, Ven, and Aqua had huddled together and wondered who she was, but Pinkie overheard them and went ballistic upon hearing that they didn't know who the Princesses were. While it was possible that they wouldn't know of them even if they were natives of Equestria, the fact that the Princess Celestia only said that after that revelation got Twilight and the others suspicious.

After the Princesses left with the three to talk to them privately, Twilight and the rest of her friends decided to search the library for information.

In the present, she and the rest showed the off-worlders the books they had searched. Legends of the stars stated that 'For every star in the sky, there is another world'. List of Other Worlds showed details of plenty of worlds outside of Equestria. They were then showed the book's entry on Kingdom Hearts, then the book The Legendary Keyblade: A Reference Guide, one page of which showed a picture depicting a little black pegasus with a messy mane and tail, and wielding the a basic-looking "Keyblade" in his mouth. The book also showed information regarding The Land of Departure, which was where Terra, Ven, and Aqua, originated.

"Just wondering, Sora," said Twilight. "Were you taught how to use the Keyblade in The Land of Departure?"

"The Land of Departure?" Rael said. "Oh please. Sora here learned how to fight with the Keyblade all by himself. And beat up lots of bad guys while he was at it. Well, he did do some swordfightin' back at his home in Destiny Islands…"

"Wow! So Sora's self-taught?"

"Well, he did have to learn magic from someone else. Kairi, on the other hand, learned swordplay from her conscience." Everypony and Spike raised an eyebrow in confusion. "It's a long story, don't ask me. As for magic, she learned it on the way from our other magic-using friends." Suddenly, Tychophon pulled him a few steps back.

"Okay, Rael. Now what was that about?" he asked.

"What was wha—oh, sorry," Rael turned sheepishly to everypony. "I don't know what's got into me. Now where were we again?"

"We were explaining Terra, Ven, and Aqua's time here in Equestria, dear," explained Rarity.

"Oh right. Where were we again there?"

"At the part where we found a picture of them in human form," said Fluttershy.

"Oh right."

Back in the past, it was from seeing this picture that they realized who Terra, Ven, and Aqua really were. Twilight and the others then quickly hurried to where Celestia and Luna were talking with the three. However, they had to leave so soon, and they turned back into their original forms, summoned their armor, turned their Keyblades into aircraft of some kind, and then left through a portal. The Princesses then told them everything related to the subject.

Just then, Chronicle teleported in a few paces from the door. There was a sledgehammer in his mouth, which he then set down on the side. "Okay," he said. "I'm done venting my anger. What'd I miss?"

"We were just telling our new friends here that we knew they're from another world, dear," Rarity explained. "Well actually, only Twilight knew and she just told the rest of us."

"We then told them about Terra, Ven, and Aqua's visit here in Ponyville," added Spike.

"Which also during the time I was away, wasn't it?" Chronicle asked.

"Yes," answered Applejack.

"It's been…how many months since then?"

"Uhh, I'm gonna have to say…six and a half," Twilight guessed.

For some reason, Sora was surprised at this. "Hold on a second!", he gasped. "It's only been that long since their arrival before ours?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because it's been thirteen years since all that happened."

"Do you know what happened to Terra, Ven, and Aqua?" Rainbow wanted to know.

"Please tell us, Sora," implored Kairi. "What did you learn while you and Riku were taking the Mark of Mastery Exam from Master Yen Sid?"

"Who's Riku?" asked Spike.

"A friend of ours."

"What about this Master Yen Sid, dear?" inquired Rarity.

"A retired Keyblade Master," Rael answered for Kairi. "And a very powerful magician."

Sora seemed to sigh. "All right," he relented to Kairi's request.

What Sora told everyone was basically this: Terra's body has been hijacked, Ventus is rendered comatose, and Aqua was basically stranded in a different dimension. Twilight and her friends were saddened by this, but their hope was renewed when Sora said that he's on a quest to find them and "save them from their suffering".

"Wow!" said Pinkie as she popped up from behind Sora. "Looks like an adventure!"

"But that still doesn't explain the time inconsistency," said Twilight. "How could six and a half months pass here in Equestria while thirteen years passed outside it?"

"I have a theory behind that," voiced Chronicle. Everypony (and dragon) turned to face him. "Do you still remember Discord?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow and spoke in an incredulous manner. "Do you expect us to forget him after everything he did to all of Equestria? And to us?"

"Of course not. Anyway, you know he can warp reality, right?"

"That's right," agreed Applejack. "Brainwashed me to become a liar, Pinkie into a grump, Rarity into thinking that giant rock was a diamond—"

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that again," Rarity cut in.

"Oops."

"He also turned me into a meanie, had Rainbow Dash betray us—" continued Fluttershy.

"Gave cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate," added Pinkie as she popped up from behind Rael. "Turned the dirt roads into soap," Then behind Lea. "Wrested the Princesses' control over the sun and moon—", and then behind Wizard.

"And all other kinds of mean things just for his own amusement," Twilight finished with a scowl on her face.

"Wait a minute. Control over the sun and moon?" asked Tychophon.

"In this world, ponies are responsible for everything in nature like changing the seasons, caring for the wild animals, and making the plants grow. Princesses Celestia and Luna raise the sun and moon respectively. However, the Everfree Forest, where I met you guys, is the only place where—"

"The plants grow, animals take care of themselves, and the clouds move—all on their own!" cut in Rainbow.

"That place just ain't natural!" added Applejack.

"Ain't natural?" asked Sora. "But isn't that what nature does? Take care of itself?"

Rael elbowed him and said, "Perhaps that's the case for practically every other world we've been to where there's even nature to begin with. In here, t' just as Twilight said; ponies manage nature."

"Okay, okay. I think we're getting off track here," Lea interrupted. "What were we talking about again?"

"Discord," answered Spike.

"Okay. How was he beaten? You don't look like the sort who fight the forces of evil."

"We stopped him using the Elements of Harmony," explained Chronicle. "With the exception of myself and Spike, we embody one element each. Applejack represents Honesty, Fluttershy represents Kindness, Pinkie Pie represents Laughter, Rarity represents Generosity, Rainbow Dash represents Loyalty, and Twilight Sparkle represents Magic. The Magic of Friendship, to be exact."

"Wow," said Kairi in awe. "I wouldn't have believed that you were magical heroines had you not told us."

"Then again, we probably don't look like such either," Wizard said. "Not until we call out our weapons, that is."

"Why'd you mention Discord anyway, Chronicle?" asked Spike.

"You see, my theory is that while he was warping reality in Equestria, he probably also affected its flow of time in respect to the rest of the universe." It was true in a way, if the Great Draconequus Outbreak was any indication; in reality, the time portal his father was currently watching over apparently leads to the future.

"But why would he do that, if he was aware?" Twilight asked.

"I'm thinking he may not have been. And even if he was, it's not like we can ask him after all that hard work in resealing him."

"Reseal? If he's so dangerous, why didn't you destroy him?" Jerry wanted to know.

"He's disharmony incarnate, the imbalance of order and chaos," the blue unicorn explained. "He's much more powerful than both Princesses combined, and those two are plenty strong. And as much as I am tempted to ask you guys to finish him off for good—and believe me, I truly wish it—I don't trust that you can stop him before matters go out of hoof."

"Wait a second," said Tychophon. "Aren't discord and chaos the same thing?"

"We got a 'chaotic'…" Chronicle emphasized his air quote with one hoof. "…pony as a friend, and she represents an Element of Harmony." He indicated Pinkie Pie, who then popped up from behind Sora, saying "That's right!".

"Oh. How is Pinkie able to pop around all over the place? She's almost like a…like a…"

"Curious question, but…" Wizard interrupted. "Is there anything in this library concerning the Guns of Light?"

"I don't think there is, with them being ponies and all," Lea told him. "It's not like they have the hands to use them."

Suddenly, Pinkie's ears flopped, then her eyes fluttered, and then the knees of her forelegs twitched, shaking Sora as she went. Spike jumped in surprise.

"What is it, Spike?" Kairi asked.

"The Pinkie Sense," Twilight explained in an exasperated tone. "I've long since given up on trying to figure out how it works."

"That 'combo' means 'look out for opening doors'," answered the purple dragon.

Chronicle glanced at the door, then immediately ran to the group and away from it—just in time as it opened and Mayor Mare burst in (had he not moved, she would have bumped into him). 

"Twilight Sparkle!", she called out. "We have a crisis!"

"What's the problem, Mayor?"

"Ponyville is under attack by blue monsters!"

"What?", gasped everypony (and dragon).


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MM—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

Eyecatch (video-type)

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Seven cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a basic silver crown shape, a seashell star-shaped trinket, a chakram, a white circle and two mountain range-like shapes near its sides, a red-blue checker pattern shield w/ a gold crown in the middle, a small bag, and a black star behind a white square.}

{The seven cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of five ponies and two dragons. The bottom row depicts (from left to right) Kairi, Sora, and Rael. The top row depicts Jerry, Lea, Wizard, and Tychophon. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

The party of fifteen exited the library and indeed blue monsters—or AN-8178, or Unversed—were on the attack. There were all kinds of them, chasing ponies, wreaking havoc, and general chaos. In the middle of it all were six other ponies, but they looked…sinister. None of the Unversed attacked them, giving Chronicle the implication that they were either controlling them or are allied with whoever was commanding them. All of them were mares.

The first was a black unicorn with yellow eyes, a mane and tail streaked in maroon, grey, and silver, and had what looked like the moon in a lunar eclipse as a cutie mark.

The second was a purple earth pony with a green mane, blue eyes, a baseball cap worn backwards on her head, a black scrunchie close to her…plot, and her cutie mark was an orange mushroom with blue spots.

The third was a crimson red pegasus with a black wavy mane and tail, green-yellow eyes, a slightly larger build than most ponies, and her cutie mark was a trio of knives.

The fourth was a steel blue earth pony with magenta eyes, a cerulean tail, a mane of the same color concealing half of her face, and…lacked a cutie mark.

The fifth was a purple unicorn with green eyes and eye shadow, a black mane and tail, and a single diamond as her cutie mark.

The sixth was a black pegasus with a thick mane that was the color of the rainbow(the colors on her head were the cooler ones), an equally thick tail with the same color scheme (though they were 'vertically lined', started at red close to the root, and ended with purple), and her cutie mark was a rainbow (blue-yellow-red) entering a single black cloud.

Upon noticing the sixth one, Chronicle immediately felt that they were all somehow the antithesis of the E.O.H. (Elements of Harmony) Keepers or something. Just then, they seemed to notice they were being observed and immediately split off in different directions.

Twilight Sparkle turned to the mayor and said, "Get yourself and the other ponies to safety. We'll take care of this."

Just as the mayor left to do just that, Chronicle finally remembered something. I can't believe I've forgotten about it completely! "Wait a minute," he said before running back inside the library. He then teleported to the second floor, then to his bed, and checked under it (yes, for all his precautions, he keeps stuff under the bed). All right! Taking the saddlebag that was there, he teleported back outside with his friends and the off-worlders.

"You're gonna need these," he then said as he levitated six glowing spherical crystals out of the saddlebag. "Ever since our bout with Discord, I've ordered some very special crystals from some sources I shall not confide, although I assure you they're safe and legal. These crystals are for in case we need to battle a threat that's perhaps more severe than Nightmare Moon's but not as much as Discord's." He then turned to the purple dragon. "And these aren't safe to eat, Spike."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Applejack as she was 'passed' a brown crystal, which was placed in her mane.

"These crystals don't need a unicorn's power to be utilized. A bit like with those tickets back then."

"Tickets?" Sora asked, but he was ignored.

"What exactly do these do?" Twilight wanted to know as she was given a white crystal.

"Your crystal amplifies your already powerful magic," said Chronicle. "You do know a couple of combat spells right?"

"Yeah. Aqua taught me enough. But what did you give the others?"

"The other crystals bestow its bearer powers over a certain element, or boosts it if they already have powers over it. I chose the element they will temporarily use based on their personalities for better control." He turned to each of his friends. "Applejack, I give you the power of Earth because you're strong, hardworking, and have a close-to-earth temperament." He then 'gave' a green crystal. "Fluttershy, I give you the power of Wind because of your grace, and sweet and light personality." A blue crystal. "Pinkie, I give you the power of Water because of your unpredictability and fun attitude." A red crystal. "Rarity, I give you the power of Fire for not only is it beautiful, but gives warmth and light, just like you do." A yellow crystal. "Rainbow, I give you the power of Lightning for…I'm sure you know why."

"I believe I do," said the cyan pegasus.

"Now let's roll!"

"Right!" agreed Twilight and Sora at the same time, then looked at each other in puzzlement from their synonymous answer.

Each of them then split into pairs or threes, each with at least one off-worlder. Kairi went with Twilight. Chronicle joined Sora and Applejack, begrudgingly entrusting Fluttershy to the 'care' of Rael and Tychophon. Jerry accompanied Rainbow. Wizard was with Rarity and Spike. And Lea joined Pinkie.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

Somewhere in Ponyville…

"What's the plan, Twilight?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know. We've never had to deal with an all-out invasion of Ponyville before. Neither Nightmare Moon nor Discord ever employed minions of any sort."

"Who's Nightmare Moon?"

"Princess Luna's corrupt self, whom we purged with the Elements of Harmony."

"I see. Now that I think about it, the Elements of Harmony make me think of the Princesses of Heart."

"Princesses of Heart?"

"The Princesses of Heart are seven maidens with hearts of pure light, devoid of darkness. This allows us to open the Final Keyhole in Hollow Bastion, which is supposed to hold absolute power over the universe. We are also able to sense darkness and keep it away, although it's only powerful if enough are gathered."

"I heard you mention 'we'. Are you one of those princesses?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you compare the Elements with your status as a Princess of Heart?"

"Well, I noticed that while both are very important in holding the fate of the world/universe, neither can really defend themselves against the forces of evil that threaten what they protect. At least not when these forces employ minions like these."

As they turned the next street, they found Derpy Hooves and Golden Harvest under attack by midget-types and blue floating pot-types. To Kairi and Twilight's surprise, they were handling themselves fairly well, with Derpy using a cloud to let out thunderbolts at the Unversed…some of which also hit too close to Carrot Top for her comfort.

"Derpy Hooves! Golden Harvest!" Twilight called.

Carrot bucked a midget-type before running to the two unicorns. "Twilight!" she called back.

Derpy didn't seem to pay attention as she clumsily jumped an ice attack, then stomped on the cloud again and struck the blue pot-type who launched it with a bolt.

"Derpy!" Twilight called again.

The pegasus gave one last stomp on her cloud, letting out a series of bolts that wiped out the remaining Unversed attacking them. She then turned to the two unicorns. "Hey there, Twilight," Derpy greeted. "Could you and your friend lend a hoof here?"

"Get yourselves and the other ponies to safety!" said Kairi. "We'll take care of this!"

"Oh, all right."

As the two bypassed her and Twilight, Derpy suddenly stopped and turned to the latter, holding to her cloud all the while. "Uhh, Twilight?" she said as Carrot disappeared around the corner. "I'm sorry about dropping that pot, anvil, wagon, and piano down on you."

"Already put it behind me," replied the purple unicorn. "Now go!"

"Gotcha!"

Once Derpy was gone, Kairi summoned her SWORD-K (Keyblade), which floated beside her, having learned more telekinesis from Twilight.

"Hold on," said Kairi. "A pot, anvil, wagon, and a piano were dropped on you?"

"Could we talk about this later?", retorted Twilight.

The midget-types jumped into the ground like shadows and approached the two unicorns. The blue pot-types charged themselves with ice and swooped right for them. Twilight conjured a ball of ice and shot it at the Unversed, which split into shards and knocked them back. As the midget-types 'resurfaced', Kairi 'moved' her Keyblade and had it slash at the little Unversed, slicing them down in one hit.


TS—GH—DH—K—TS—GH—DH—K—TS—GH—DH—K

Meanwhile…

Just at Carousel Boutique, Lyra Heartstrings was defending Bon Bon while they were backed up at a nearby tree, which had one certain cat on its branches. Surrounding the three of them were flying yellow pots and boot-shaped things.

The unicorn's horn glowed gold as she shielded herself and her friend from the boot-types with a barrier and retaliated with a few musical note-shaped blasts of magic. However, she seemed to be faltering as sweat ran down her face. One yellow pot-type noticed that the cat wasn't being shielded and was about to tackle her when a blast of light shot it down. Following was a cluster of fireballs that cruised across the air and right into the boot-types, who unfortunately put up shields.

Arriving at the Carousel Boutique were Wizard, who had his gun—which he called the GunDeLuna—ready, Rarity, who had shot those fireballs thanks to the red crystal Chronicle gave her, and Spike, who rode on the former's back.

"Seriously, Rarity," said Wizard. "Couldn't you have sent those fireballs any faster?"

"Forgive me if I'm not as upfront as my other friends, dear," the unicorn replied. "Sans Fluttershy, of course."

"Guys, could we stop arguing?" asked Spike.

During the short argument, some of the boot-types recovered and shattered Lyra's shield…sending her rearing up and slamming her back to the tree. The unicorn leaned there for a few seconds. Then, just as a boot-type hopped to attack her, it was bucked by Bon Bon. Lyra then blasted the Unversed with more "musical notes". All the while, the cat hissed.

"Heartstrings! Bon Bon!" Rarity called to the two mares, who turned to face her. "Would you please get Opal down and get yourselves to safety?"

"We'll handle this," declared Wizard as he shot down more Unversed that were attacking Spike, who had dismounted and run ahead of them.

Lyra said, "Thanks. Will do." She then 'picked up' Opal and 'set' her close to the ground, but still 'holding' her. She then got back down on all fours. "Can we hide in your store for the time being?"

"Why, of course, darling," replied Rarity as Spike rushed a boot-type and started slashing at them with his claws, which were searing with flames.

"Thanks, Rarity," said Bon Bon as Lyra opened the door. They then both entered the Carousel Boutique, Lyra still 'carrying' Opal.

Just before Bon Bon could close the door, Rarity asked, "Wait a second. Have any of you two dears seen my sister Sweetie Belle?"

"Sorry, but we haven't," said Lyra as she 'set down' Opal on the floor. Once the door was closed, Rarity and Wizard ran to it to bar the Unversed from entry. Spike reeled back to join them after being spazzed by a Yellow Mustard's thunder pounce.

"Let's get this over with," told Wizard. "Then we'll find your sister."

"Right," agreed Spike and Rarity simultaneously.


LH—S—BB—R—W—LH—S—BB—R—W—LH—S—BB—R—W

Elsewhere, outside Ponyville proper…

"Hurry up!"

Rainbow was at the lead, Jerry slightly struggling to keep up. Fluttershy struggled too, but not to Jerry's extent. Tychophon zoomed as best as he could behind them. As for Rael, he apparently wasn't quick to adapt to his wings, and so took out a scooter that hovered instead of having wheels, bringing up the rear as a result. Once, the party ended up speeding right into a boulder. Everyone else swerved around it, but Rael used his wings and propelled himself and the scooter right over the big rock before 'landing' back on the ground.

"Why was there a rock in the middle of the road, anyway?" he wondered out loud.

"Hey Rael," Rainbow said as she turned her head.

"Yeah?"

"The way you ride your scooter and made that jump…you remind me of somepony who looks up to me."

"Oh, I think I know who you're referring to, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy.

"Hurry up, Scootaloo!" a young filly's voice came.

Rainbow seemed to react in shock. "This way!" she shouted as she quickly changed direction. They all followed suit. Eventually, they saw the source of the scream, although they were still too far to be of any help. Setting his scooter on autopilot, Rael took a look with a pair of binoculars.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

Scootaloo was driving her signature vehicle, which had a wheelbarrow attached to it. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Dinky were riding it, and all but the last one wore helmets. Running alongside them were Cheerilee, Twist, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon.

Chasing all of them were a dozen mechanical creatures lacking legs. Their bodies were wide, bulky, and sported two small headlights. Their arms each ended in large, conical lance heads. Their heads were black and partially fused with the body, and they had a large turn key sticking out of the top. They came in several color varieties, including blue, yellow, and red, but all of them sported the same red eyes set in an angry expression and the Unversed emblem on the front of their bodies.

"Hey, Scootaloo!" said Diamond. "Give us a lift!"

"No can do, Diamond Tiara!", replied Scootaloo. "This wheelbarrow's only got room for three!"

"We saw you give your two friends and Pinkie Pie a ride. Surely there's room for, like, one more!"

"Now now, fillies," said Cheerilee in a slightly panicked tone. "This isn't the time to argue. Especially when we're being chased by monsters who want to do who knows what on us!"

Immediately, everypony picked up the pace. And not just them; so did the Unversed. 


AB—C—T—DT—SS—S—SB—AB—C—T—DT—SS—S—SB

When Rael told the others what he saw, the party of three pegasi and two dragons picked up the pace as well as they tried to close the distance. However, there was a fork in the road where the Unversed and their targets were running down. The ones in the scooter and wheelbarrow went one way, the rest another, and the windup-types both ways, six each. The five reached the fork and stopped there, wondering which way to go or who should go where.

"Okay," Rael said quickly. "Which way and who?"

"I'm helping the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" declared Rainbow. "Jerry, you with me!" Immediately, she zoomed off where the scooter-driven wheelbarrow went off to, Jerry following.

"Looks like we go the other way," said Tychophon as he took off for the other fork, also taking out his bow.

"Hey! Wait up!", Rael yelled as he and Fluttershy immediately followed a second later. As the three yellow ones zoomed down the road, they could see the windup-types up ahead.

"We need to go faster!" said the Shoyru. "If we could only get the wind on our side… Oh, wait… I can do that!"

With that, he seemed to channel the power of wind in him and picked up speed. Seeing this, and remembering what the crystal she was presently carrying in her mane did, Fluttershy decided to try it out. Being a pegasus, she knew the ins and outs concerning flight and so used her crystal's power to reduce the air resistance around them. Rael turned to face her and saw what she was doing and gave an encouraging smile.

Soon enough, they finally caught up with the windup-types, which were still chasing the four ponies. Tychophon took out an arrow, drew it, aimed at one of the Unversed's head, and let it loose. The arrow struck home and it began to spin out of control. As it bumped with its fellow windup-types, Rael extended his left arm and one of the gems in his bracers began to glow. An instant later, it was as if an invisible ceiling dropped on them. 

A bit caught up in the battle and enjoying a little from the power she had been bestowed, Fluttershy whipped up a tiny tornado, which blew the Unversed about, disorienting them long enough for Rael to finish them off with his weapon, which he called the DirLuxGun (he didn't name his shield). 

She felt a twinge of guilt from that, but then remembered what Princess Celestia had said about the Unversed; they were extensions of an individual named Vanitas, just like how the magical clones Chronicle summons are just extensions of himself. Different methods, same principle, he had said. It was one thing to hear and claim to understand; it was another thing having to apply it. Once the Unversed were taken care of, the four chased ponies stopped. Fluttershy then approached them and checked if they were okay to distract herself.

"Cheerilee, are you all right?" she asked.

"Thank you and your friends for helping us."

Fluttershy then turned to the fillies an addressed them each by name. "Twist?"

"Yes, miss."

"Silver Spoon?"

"Uh-huh."

"Diamond Tiara?"

The pink filly nodded. "I'm okay." 

Suddenly, Twist widened her eyes as if remembering something. "Wait! Where's Apple Bloom?", she said.

"If I recall correctly, Rainbow Dash took off to where they went," Tychophon answered. "I'm sure she'll save them."


F—C—T—DT—SS—R—T—F—C—T—DT—SS—R—T

At the other fork…

Jerry and Rainbow managed to catch up to the Unversed that were chasing the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The cyan pegasus explained that (with the exception of the helmet-less one) the fillies are a trio who lacked cutie marks (which define their special talent) and do all sorts of hijinks just to find them. The earth pony with the ribbon was Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister. The unicorn filly was Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister. The scooter rider was Scootaloo, who idolizes Rainbow. As for the helmet-less filly, all she knew was that her name was Dinky.

"I just hope they haven't decided to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders Glidewinder Dodgers," Rainbow added. She only knew the Unversed's names from Jerry, who seemed to know them.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders Glidewinder Dodgers! Yay!" came three voices.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?" snarked Jerry. "But how do they know the Unversed's names anyway?"

The cyan pegasus shrugged. "I dunno. Guesswork?"

"There are wind-up devices in this world?"

"Yeah. Why'd you ask?"

"Nothin'."

Erstwhile, at the other 'side' of the Glidewinders, Dinky was firing magic shots at the Unversed. However, her shots were just as effective as throwing a stone; not very much. Double however, they were all on the head, which seemed to be doing visible damage as the Glidewinders shook each time they were hit on that spot.

"Could you teach me how to do that, Dinky?", asked Sweetie.

"Teach you what?"

"That. The way you shot at their heads with such precision."

"Err…" Dinky tried to think of an answer. "I don't really know. I've always been able to hit things with such skill with whatever I throw." It was actually thanks to Mystic Shield's lessons, but Sweetie didn't know that since she doesn't attend, only coming in during one of many of her and her friends' "Crusades". Dinky would later wonder why she lied, and would find no answer.

"Is that how you got your cutie mark?"

"Hmm…maybe."

"Faster, Scootaloo!" cried out Bloom in a not-distressed manner. "Faster!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" cried out the pegasus filly.

Two Glidewinders caught up with them and flanked them. They began to spin their claws and were about to ram themselves into the Crusaders when Scootaloo suddenly slowed down just in time for them to bump into each other and temporarily spin out. However, a third Glidewinder managed to bump into the wheelbarrow from behind, knocking Sweetie off balance. Before she could fall off, Bloom caught her by the tail with her teeth and got her back on the wheelbarrow.

Just then, they saw Rainbow descend from the skies, carrying a black cloud. The cyan pegasus raised her hooves, then brought them down on her cloud, releasing a powerful lightning bolt, more powerful than naturally possible. The bolt scarred the ground, destroyed three Glidewinders, and made the fourth one that was close to the Crusaders spin out before being destroyed by a bolt of blue lightning. Jerry came into view, one hoof forward slightly smoking.

"Nice work with that cloud!" said the purple pegasus as he saw the yellow crystal glow in Rainbow's mane. He then sped past her and the fillies, and prepared to confront the two remaining Glidewinders. The two Unversed turned their heads to see Jerry 'unleash' another lightning bolt that destroyed them.

With the enemy gone, everypony slowed down. As it turned out, the Glidewinder chase took them all the way to Ponyville's Schoolhouse.

The four fillies got off their rides and the Cutie Mark Crusaders checked their flanks…which remained blank.

"Aww…" the three complained.

"Still no cutie mark!" Bloom groaned.

"Are you kids okay?", Jerry asked the fillies.

"Sure are!" answered Scootaloo. "But…what are kids?"

"Uhh…kids are young 'uns like you."

"Here, we call them fillies." Rainbow whispered to Jerry.

"Okay," Jerry whispered back.

"Oh," the Scootaloo said, then changed the subject. "Wonder what we could do next?"

"Maybe we could try hitting targets by throwing stuff, like Dinky," suggested Sweetie.

"Maybe we could try finding out how he got his cutie mark!", suggested Bloom, pointing at Jerry's flank.

"Maybe we could help chase these monsters off of Ponyville!" suggested Scootaloo.

"Or maybe you could go and hide somewhere safe before those monsters decide to eat you!" came a menacing voice.

This voice spooked the Crusaders and they boarded the scooter/wheelbarrow, ready to go. Dinky daintily followed them. As for Rainbow, her eyes shrunk into pinpricks on seeing that the voice was from Jerry.

"Creepy voice," he then said in his normal voice. "Works every time. Let's get these ki—uhh, fillies somewhere safe."

(A/N: Jerry is also a ventriloquist.)


AB—RD—D—S—SB—J—AB—RD—D—S—SB—J

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville…

"The horror! The horror!" three voices were crying out at the same time.

Rose, Daisy, and Lily were surrounded by two types of Unversed; Glidewinders and giant bipeds, the former circling them over and over, staring at them as they turned their heads.

"Pinkie Pie to the rescue, Flower Ponies!" a bubbly voice came.

Out of nowhere, a beach wave came in from the street. On a red surfboard were Pinkie and Lea, the former with a blue crystal glowing in her mane. In the wave were other Unversed that were washed away prior to their entrance. Lea conjured fireballs and shot down more Unversed with them. This wave then washed down the Unversed surrounding the Flower Ponies, sparing the trio of mares while Pinkie was at it.

Just then, coney-type and boot-type Unversed appeared. Pinkie 'dismissed' her wave (and surfboard) as she and Lea landed on either side of the Flower Ponies, protecting them from attack. The Unversed charged, but Pinkie just hopped on each of them as they passed. Once she was past them all, she manifested a whip of water and tripped them up.

Meanwhile, Lea had his chakrams make a protective ring around the Flower Ponies, who were understandably terrified. The pyrokinetic then used his magic to do various fire spells. He was controlling numerous fireballs that made their way to the Unversed, setting them on fire, only for them to then be drenched by water from Pinkie (much to his disappointment), which did them in anyways.


PP—D—R—L—L—PP—D—R—L—L—PP—D—R—L—L

In another part of Ponyville…

"Back! Back, I say!" Doctor Whooves was saying, a strange, cylindrical, metallic contraption (which had the general shape of a pen) on his mouth, which he called a "sonic screwdriver". He shot green beams from it, which paralyzed the giant-type  and red pot-type Unversed that were attacking them, the latter with fire attacks. By them meaning himself, Minuette, Sora, Applejack, and Chronicle.

"Remind me again how we got into this mess?" asked Sora as he whacked back a giant-type with his Keyblade.

"Doctor Whooves and Minuette were in trouble. We came and helped. How's that difficult to follow?" Chronicle asked, his "magic horn blade" drawn.

"It's not that it's difficult. It just popped into my head."

Minuette blasted a red pot-type with an ice spell from her horn. A giant-type went in to attack from the side, but it was bucked away by Applejack.

"Let's see if this gem o' yours really works for non-unicorns," the earth pony mare then said to Chronicle.

"It does work!" the blue-coated brown-eyed unicorn insisted as he slashed at a giant-type in front of him. "Trust me!"

Applejack raised her forelegs, her crystal glowing in her mane, then brought them down on the ground. Upon contact, the ground rumbled and earth pillars popped from underneath the Unversed, sending the giant-types to the air and the red pot-types into non-existence. Sora then shot a high-level ice spell at them with his Keyblade and Minuette cast ice spells as well. The attacks destroyed these Unversed.

Suddenly, a new kind of Unversed appeared; near-bipedal balloon-types with valves on their back. 

Chronicle did a few slashes at the first opportunity, but all it did was make them glow red and swell. "Aww, horse apples!" he complained once he realized what this meant. Applejack had bucked one of these balloon-types at the front, experiencing similar results. She was then hit by gusts of air from their arms. Some of them then started to bounce around and everypony ran in different directions, although they still stuck in the general area.

Amidst the mayhem, the Doctor managed to find a weak point. He told Minuette about it, who then 'shot' an inflated balloon-type at the back with an ice bolt. The Unversed released air in its body as it seemingly deflated. Sora however already figured that out seconds ago and was expertly taking them down. Chronicle managed to catch on, although Applejack struggled to follow.

In spite of this, a few balloon-types ended up swelling to the point that any attacks on them were now useless, even back attacks. As the Unversed began to roll around, Sora realized what was about to happen.

"Run for it!" he said at about the same time. "They're gonna blow!"

"I got this!" assured Applejack as she stomped on the ground once more. Immediately, pillars of earth popped from underneath the balloon-types and sent them up into the air like a plunger hits a pinball. The Unversed then harmlessly exploded in the sky.

"Nice work there, Applejack!" commended Chronicle. "Although I forgot to mention that you better be conservative in using those crystals. Like unicorn magic, those crystals can take out a lot in you if you use them too much."

"Same thing applies with my magic," said Sora.

"In any case, I think you know what I'm trying to tell you, right?"


C—M—A—DW—S—C—M—A—DW—S—C—M—A—DW—S

Later, in yet another part of Ponyville…

Snips and Snails were on the run. 

Chasing both of them were two different kinds of Unversed; one-wheeled wheelbarrow riders with pickaxes for arms, and average height skinny bipeds.

The two colts were chased across alleyway, the Unversed finding them wherever they went. Eventually, they were cornered into a dead end. The Unversed slowed in their run and began to approach slowly. Both colts shook in fright as they awaited their end.

"Snails," said Snips. "If we don't make it…I just wanna say…"

"Ya don't have ta say it, Snips," replied Snails. "We're toast aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"Delicious, buttery toast. I'd love to have some when he get home."

Snips did a facehoof in response. Suddenly, a small purple dragon jumped in between the colts and the Unversed. Following were two white ponies; a stallion with a cyan messy mane, and a mare with a styled violet mane and a unicorn horn.

"Tell me again why we had to enter in this fashion?" asked Wizard.

"Aww, come on!" complained Spike. "I always wanted to do this!" Just then, a skinny-type slashed him with its claws. It didn't hurt him much, but the force of the blow pushed him back.

"Perhaps we should focus on the task at hoof, boys," advised Rarity as she called up a fireball with her crystal.

"My thoughts exactly," said Wizard as he summoned his GunDeLuna.

As the two colts they were protecting backed further away, Spike started by unleashing a breath of fire on the Unversed, sending them reeling back. Rarity then shot her fireball at the skinny-type that hit Spike, destroying it. Wizard followed with a couple of shots from the GunDeLuna. Just then, the Unversed stood in a line and began to charge, only to be thwarted by a line of fire.

"I can't fathom what Chronicle was thinking when he decided that I should have this element," complained Rarity as she maintained the spell. "It's too dangerous and risky if you ask me."

"I think that's exactly the reason you have it. You're the only one who can best utilize it," guessed Wizard as he and Spike repelled the skinny-types that jumped the wall. "From the little time we had so far with you girls, I saw how…not-all-there Pinkie can be, how Rainbow can be reckless, how Fluttershy seems to be too meek for him to even think of giving it to her, and Twilight's already got that amplifier. Not sure about Applejack though."

"Take that!" Spike cried out as he dodged a wheelbarrow-type that plowed through the fire wall and tried to slash at him with its pickaxes, countering with his own claws and fire breath.


S—R—S—S—W—S—R—S—S—W—S—R—S—S—W


In Sugarcube Corner…

Blue pot-type and midget-type Unversed were invading the store. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, whom no one in Sora's group were able to see at their welcoming party, were in a corner as they came in.

With them were Octavia and Vinyl, the former with her cello bow held on her right front hoof, and the latter with her horn glowing as she repelled the Unversed with a barrier. The two were supposed to leave after the party—Octavia's band-mates already having done so—but they had decided to rest up beforehoof. And unfortunately, that was when the Unversed incidentally attacked.

Just then, the door flew open as Lea jumped into the scene. Following was Pinkie Pie. With a saddlebag holding water balloons.

"Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" said Pinkie. "It's Pinkie Pie to the rescue!"

"And Lea! Got it memorized?" Lea then summoned his chakrams and launched them at the Unversed. They went through many of them, all without setting the whole store on fire. Any remaining Unversed were doused by Pinkie's water balloons, then encased in spheres of them. Lea then 'sliced' them with his chakrams. However, another 'wave' then appeared. They composed of skinny-types and yellow pot-types.

The skinny-types clasped their hands together before rushing…at the Cakes. Some of them managed to breach the DJ's barrier, but were whacked away by Octavia, who swung her bow at them. Each of them then got trapped in water spheres manifested by Pinkie as she then moved the Unversed towards her. However, a few yellow pot-types Lea was handling reached the pink earth pony and tackled her with their electrically-charged bodies. She was sent tumbling across the floor, but somehow ended up landing on her feet again.

"Did they just…don't tell me they just…" she stuttered.

"Oh, I think they just—"

Immediately, her expression changed into something crazy. "You wanna get wild? Let's get wild!" Immediately, Pinkie began to spin round and round, creating a tornado of water around her that began to suck in the Unversed.

"Uh oh," gulped Lea as he proceeded to shoot down the yellow pot-types before they could get to Pinkie. "Doesn't she know that water conducts electricity?" Just then, one of them reached the tornado, but a pink hoof shot out and bucked it right into Lea, who 'cut' it down with one chakram. "Okay. Looks like she knows that, but it's still risky." He turned to the Cakes and the musicians. "You four better go somewhere else safe." The three earth ponies and one unicorn nodded and ran off into the kitchen (and upstairs, hoping the twins were safe, which they were).

(A/N: I have standards regarding fight scenes, and I draw the line on babies fighting—as awesome as it would be writing Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake doing so—unless they're already established in canon as such, like Hana Stoppable from Kim Possible.)


PP—MCC—L—VS—OM—PP—MCC—L—VS—OM—PP—MCC—L—VS—OM

Somewhere in the outskirts of Ponyville…

Sora was following Chronicle and Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres. Ahead, they could see a dogpile of giant-type Unversed, apparently trying to keep whatever they were pinning down from trying to get away. Winona was barking at the pile.

"Who's under that pile?" Sora cried out in distress.

"Let's hurry so we can find out!" answered Chronicle as everypony picked up the pace, especially Applejack. Just then, the giant-types were sent flying in all directions, some even over the afternoon horizon, much to Sora's utter surprise. "Okay. No need for that." It was Big Macintosh.

"Big Macintosh!" Applejack cried out. "You okay?"

"Eeyup," he responded as he shook off some dust from his coat.

"Winona!" The dog perked her ears in response as her owner and her friends arrived. "Mac! Have you seen Apple Bloom?"

"Last saw her with the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"What about Granny Smith?"

"In the barn."

"I'll see to her safety," Chronicle offered as he launched a 'shuriken' and hit a giant-type on the head that was trying to get up, dissipating it.

"A shuriken," Sora commented to himself as he sliced down some more of the knocked down giant-types.

Just then, as Chronicle made his way to the barn, Winona following for some reason, more of the giant-types that were knocked away got up and began to attack again. Following that, balloon-types and raven-types appeared.

"Hit the ball-like ones in the back!" Sora advised as earth spikes protruded from the ground by Applejack's crystal, striking the balloon-types on their weak spots.

"Easier said than done for me," said Macintosh as he bucked a giant-type right into a tree, and it somehow bounced right into a balloon-type, sending it tumbling so that its valve end was open for him to buck again, destroying it.

"I'll deal with these!" Sora then cast a lightning spell with his Keyblade, summoning small thunderclouds that appeared above the raven-types and struck them down.


C—A—BM—S—C—A—BM—S—C—A—BM—S

In the barn…

It was a good thing Chronicle decided to help Granny Smith, for she was in trouble. Granny was trying to hobble away from the midget-type Unversed surrounding her. Two earth pony stallions were with her, but neither of them seemed capable of defending the old mare or themselves.

"Caramel? Noteworthy?" gasped Chronicle. "What are you two doing here in Sweet Apple Acres?"

"We got chased all the way here by these blue monsters," said Noteworthy as he jumped away from an attacking midget-type.

"Oh won't somepony help me get this blue pest off my back?" the elderly mare yelled in distress as a midget-type got onto her back. Her two companions were too scared to help.

"Got it, Granny!" answered Chronicle as he came in, then shot it down with a 'shuriken'. He shot a few more, taking out all the midget-type (and Winona pouncing on a few as well) with one each as he ran to the elderly mare's assistance.

"Why thank you, lad," said Granny. "Such a brave pony. Unlike these two." She sneered at Noteworthy and Caramel, then turned her attention back to Chronicle. "How're my children? I sure hope they're safe."

"Applejack and Big Macintosh are keeping the big blue 'pests' out with a new friend of ours. Not sure about Apple Bloom, though. Mac said she's with her friends."

"Uhh…could we save the talking for later?" Caramel cut in as he pointed to where Chronicle came in. Upon turning, more midget-types appeared. Chronicle conjured more 'shurikens' and readied his "horn blade", ready to protect the three ponies.


C—GS—BM—C—C—GS—BM—C—C—GS—BM—C

Back at Ponyville…

Jerry and Rainbow Dash were leading the Cutie Mark Crusaders (and Dinky) back to their homes and to safety. Around them, ponies were either running, hiding, or fighting the Unversed. For those who were fighting, pegasi were using clouds to send down lightning bolts (although they weren't as strong as Rainbow's); unicorns were conjuring barriers, firing blasts of light from their horns, and tossing/swinging stuff around like bludgeons; and earth ponies grabbed whatever they could in their mouths and started swinging them at the Unversed or otherwise just bucked them.

As the six ponies crossed a street, they saw two mares and a filly on the run from a herd of blue pony-sized…alicorns?

The three escapees were Amethyst Star, Berry Punch, and Ruby Pinch. Both 'parties' met at the road, with Rainbow quickly naming the three to Jerry as they stopped after passing by the two. She then turned his attention to the blue pursuers before he could as more about them and they saw something odd.

The 'alicorn''s eyes were red, not round like that of a regular pony, and strangely shaped in an angry expression. Their hair was spiny and as blue as their coats, they had yellowish-green markings on their hooves, and their cutie marks were all the same. These marks have been seen in all the blue monsters that have been terrorizing Ponyville. For all intents and purposes, these ponies were actually Unversed.

"I knew there was something wrong with those ponies!" cried out Rainbow.

"You only figured it out just now?" Jerry snarked.

"Yup!" In her anger, she didn't realize that thunderclouds manifested right above these 'false alicorns', her crystal glowing. By the time everypony saw the clouds, the clouds were already delivering lightning bolts on what Jerry decided to name Suicorns (for some reason).

Some Suicorns took flight and raised barriers to block the thunder while others charged, their horns glowing red with magic. Jerry had his sabers ready. As they reached him, he swung his weapons at their legs, paralyzing them on the spot as they stumbled. (Jerry's sabers were coated with a substance that causes burns on contact and temporarily paralyzes the surrounding area to mimic the effect of losing a limb…not that that worked on the Unversed.) These Suicorns weren't done and began to bombard him with fire and ice spells. However, none of them made it to him as a barrier formed.

"Thanks for keeping Dinky safe," said Amethyst. As Rainbow sped at the Suicorns, tackling them down with her super speed and electricity coursing through her body thanks to her crystal, Jerry turned to see the unicorn casting the barrier, her horn glowing violet-red. "Now go kick their flanks!"

Jerry nodded and manifested a moderate amount of energy in front of him. He then shot it at the Suicorns, destroying one and pushing asunder the others nearby. The force of the blast was enough to disturb the flying Suicorns from casting their barrier, not having realized the thunderclouds were no longer bringing down lightning bolts.

They were then tackled by Rainbow, who then followed up by taking a cloud above and unleashing her crystal's element down on them. The ensuing bolts completely eradicated the remaining Unversed. However, more of them immediately appeared out of nowhere, appearing in the same fashion as when emerging from a teleport spell.

"Oh, come on!" Jerry complained as he 'moved' his sabers back to him.

Rainbow returned to his side, then turned to Scootaloo. "Hey, Scoots."

"Yeah?" the pegasus filly perked up upon hearing.

"Get yourselves and these ponies to safety! Things are about to get rough!"

"Anything for you, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo saluted, then turned to her fellow Crusaders. "Anypony got a suggestion of a safe place?"

"I know of one!" voiced Berry Punch.

"Lead the way for them, ma'am!" said Jerry as he and Rainbow Dash held the line. Berry nodded as she led her daughter, Amethyst, Dinky, and the Crusaders down a detour Jerry had failed to notice earlier. "Now how did I miss that?" he wondered as he quickly turned back to the Suicorns, whose horns were now charged with various elemental magic. He turned to the cyan pegasus. "You think we can still handle these fellows?"

"Sure we can!" Rainbow assured, confidence in her voice, although there was the slightest twinge of uncertainty.


AS—AB—RD—D—BP—S—SB—RP—J—AS—AB—RD—D—BP—S—SB—RP—J

Somewhere outside Ponyville…

After seeing Cheerilee and her three students to safety, Fluttershy led Tychophon and Rael down a road leading to her cottage.

There were houses and shelters for an assortment of small animals, although their usual residents seemed to be absent, replaced with coney-types, raven-types, and midget-type Unversed. There was also another kind of Unversed; they had pots/tops for their lower halves, pink flowers on their heads, and green thorny vines with leaves at the end for arms sprouting from either side of their heads. 

"Hmm…why are we being introduced to many kinds of Unversed right here in Equestria?" Rael muttered to himself. "Hold on a second!" he then gasped, catching both of his yellow companions' attention. "Is that…a white bunny fighting them?"

Amongst the Unversed, Angel was wearing a pasta strainer upside down on his head and holding a carrot as if it were a two-handed sword. Being as tall as the midget-types, he was deflecting against their claw attacks with his carrot. 

"White bunny?" Fluttershy seemed to react in shock. "Angel!" Immediately, she picked up speed, leaving her two dragon companions in the dust.

"Whoa!", gasped Tychophon. "Didn't think she'd be the speedy one."

"Maybe only when provoked," Rael guessed as they immediately followed. They took out any and all Unversed in the way, although they had minor problems with the top-types, with them spinning and trying to smack them with vines. The area was small, so it was quite crowded. Even though flight was possible, there were also the raven-types to worry about.

Angel was visibly struggling against the Floods attacking him. Fluttershy was trying her best to each him, but wasn't making much progress. Even with her crystal's power to blow the Unversed aside, as well as her companions' assistance, she couldn't get to him, as he was now getting pushed right into some coney-types.

These Unversed began to spin and began shooting lasers. Another of Rael's gems in his bracers glowed, creating a small vortex that pulled the coney-types and other Unversed into it, but it was a second too late as the lasers made it to Angel, hitting him multiple times. The resulting attack made him lose his grip of his carrot and fall over as if beaten. 

Time seemed to slow as Fluttershy gasped in shock, and then her "mama bear" instinct kicked in, and it showed in her expression of fury. It was like her eyes could look deep into the soul.

Rael sensed what was coming and started to retreat, taking out other Unversed in the area as a strong wind began to build up around her, beginning to form a small tornado as her crystal glowed bright. Tychophon turned to see what was happening and immediately went over to Rael, conjuring a shield of wind to protect themselves as Unversed, starting with the ones gathered by the vortex spell, were sucked into the tornado that formed around Fluttershy, which then began to move away from the cottage before it could cause any extensive damage to it. After a couple of seconds, the tornado suddenly…ceased to exist.

Fluttershy was in the middle of where it used to be, cuddling Angel (without the pasta strainer helmet) in her forelegs. Around her were various debris, which began to drop to the ground, and the various Unversed, which 'popped' into dark flames one by one. Tychophon and Rael could only stare dumbstruck as she slowly landed on the ground.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry you had to see that!" she apologized as soon as she regained her composure. "I just don't know what got over me! Angel got hurt, and I…and I…"

"If anybody hurts your friends, they're gonna get it, right?" Tychophon guessed. "And these Unversed certainly got what was coming to them. Especially with that crystal Chronicle gave you. I could see another reason why he chose Wind as your element; one can never know when it'll go crazy."

Suddenly, more Unversed appeared, surrounding the three. The yellow trio gathered together, their backs to each other. "Leave the fighting to us, Fluttershy," Rael advised, half from concern, and half from fear. "You just blow them about when they get close, 'kay?" The pegasus nodded her head as she put the resting Angel on her back.


F—R—T—F—R—T—F—R—T—F—R—T

Elsewhere in the Everfree Forest…

Twilight Sparkle was leading Kairi through the woods, both of them in a hurry. Both made certain not to touch the blue flowers known as the "poison joke". When Kairi asked what it does, Twilight assured her that she doesn't want to know. When Kairi insisted, saying she's been through a lot in her adventures, Twilight conceded and explained. At the end of the explanation, Kairi was at slight giggles, especially with the "Flutterguy" and Chronicle falling for her.

Just then, they heard the sound of fighting. Quickly, they picked up the pace. Eventually, they reached the battle. There were a number of giant-types, top-types, and a few Suicorns surrounding one certain zebra. 

"Zecora!", Twilight called, an ice spell on the ready.

The zebra turned her head in response, a knife between her teeth. "Quick! Close the distance!" she said. "I need some assistance!" Zecora then jumped from the arm whips of the top-types. Kairi and Twilight quickly did as she requested, both of them taking down the Unversed with spells, and the former with the Keyblade in her tail.

"Hey, that's rhymes," mused Kairi as she followed up with light-element spells, Twilight doing the same.

"Zecora has a tendency of speaking like that," said Twilight as she hurled a ball of light at a raven-type about to attack said zebra, who bucked a giant-type at the side, then sliced at it with her knife.

"Why are we having a conversation in the middle of a fight?" Kairi aimed her Keyblade at a top-type and shot a thunder spell.

"You must be rubbing in to me." Twilight conjured a thundercloud that then brought down lightning bolts on all the Unversed, only for them to be directed at just the Suicorns.

"I must've gotten it from Sora and Rael." Kairi dodged a Suicorn's charge, striking it with her Keyblade as it passed her.

"I can't believe the nerve of whoever made these kinds of Unversed!" Twilight seemed to be taking down the Suicorns with more prejudice than any of the other Unversed. "Seriously! Alicorns? As far as I'm concerned—"

"If you two are done talking, could you focus on fighting?" Zecora interrupted as she landed her forelegs on a weakened giant-type, then drove her knife into it, destroying the Unversed.

The two unicorns turned to each other with a nervous giggle, then decided to focus on the battle.


TS—Z—K—TS—Z—K—TS—Z—K—TS—Z—K

Meanwhile…

Ponyville wasn't the only place under attack by the Unversed. The far-off unicorn city of Canterlot was also a victim of the invasion. And the populace was being escorted to safety as the royal guards repelled the invaders. While the Princesses were advised that they stay at the palace, they were out with the guards, showing the Unversed just how powerful they really were and why they should not mess with the rulers of Equestria.

"What could the summoners of these things be possibly thinking?" Princess Luna wondered out loud as she manifested storm clouds that made their way into the Unversed, sucked them in, and destroyed them from the inside. "Attacking the city of Canterlot where we the Princesses reside. If this is an invasion force, then clearly the summoners are out of their minds." She then turned to her elder sister. "What do you think, Tia?"

Celestia was busy fending off a number of Unversed, including some Suicorns, which mildly irked her at the sight of them. After blasting them with a beam of light, she then noticed Luna ask her and turned her head. "Now that you mention it…" She turned to one of the pegasus royal guards, and called for his attention. She then told him to report on the current situation.

"We're slowly having the situation under control, your Majesty," he said. "However, these blue monsters have been progressing in strength."

"What's the status of the neighboring villages?"

"I'll take a look!" With that, he took off to the skies, dodging a couple of raven-types along the way. Below, the rest of the royal guard (alongside the Princesses) did their part in removing the Unversed from Canterlot.

One pegasus guard was sent back by a Glidewinder, only to quickly recover and rush at the Unversed, sending it twirling before being struck again by the guard, dissipating into dark flames.

Another pegasus guard flew in a low altitude, utilizing his innate pegasus magic to generate a razor wind in his wings to cut through the pot-type Unversed that were in his way.

One unicorn guard leaped over a balloon-type, hopping off its head, quickly turned around, and shot a bolt of magic from his horn, which hit the Unversed in the back. He was then hit by a giant-type from behind before it was pounced by a pegasus comrade.

A few Suicorns foolishly charged Luna—and paid the price as a storm cloud from her swallowed them up and shocked them to oblivion. A couple of giant-types rushed at her from behind, only for her to jump over them and bring down another storm cloud on them, bringing down on them the same fate the Suicorns suffered.

A couple of skinny-types jumped from a window and were about to land on Celestia when they were held fast in a yellow aura from her. She then flung them down to the ground, where they dissipated on impact.

Just then, the pegasus guard Celestia had called earlier returned. "Cloudsdale's safe for now," he reported. "And so are most of the other towns. However, for some reason, Ponyville seems to be under the same predicament as Canterlot." Celestia seemed to realize something, but the guard noticed only her lack of a reply. "Is there a problem, your highness?"

"I'm fine," Celestia assured. "You carry on in your duty." After straightening in attention, the pegasus guard took off to continue helping purge the Unversed from Canterlot. Oh no. Twilight Sparkle. I hope she's okay. Just then, there was a crash. Both Princesses turned to see a large Unversed joining in the invasion. It was bipedal in shape, although it seemed to be made of three parts; legs, arms, and torso with head.

"I believe our assistance would be of great help there," Luna suggested, shaking Celestia off her thoughts. "The guards don't seem to be faring too well." Sure enough, even with lots of guards attacking, the large Unversed proved difficult for them as it blasted lasers, shot energy balls, threw punches, and loads of other attacks from its three parts. Nodding to her younger sister, Celestia took flight and charged together with Luna as two more of its kind came into their view.


PC—PL—PC—PL—PC—PL—PC—PL—PC—PL—PC—PL

Back at Ponyville…

"Well, that's all of them, I think." Tychophon, Fluttershy, and Rael were on their way back to Ponyville, with Angel left behind at the cottage to rest.

"Whew," the spiny dragon said as he wiped his forehead. "Clearing a town sure is hard work, even if the local populace are capable of defending themselves. Also, in those other worlds with towns I've been to so far, their streets were always empty."

"If I remember correctly from what your Meridell friends have told us, that was just Agrabah, Halloween Town, and Port Royal," Tychophon argued.

"Oh right. Radiant Garden has a considerable defense force. And so does Twilight Town, which only has Nobodies to worry about."

"Nobodies?" asked Fluttershy.

"Another 'species' of bad guys we take on in our travels, although some are more sympathetic than most. And we won't be calling them Noponies in Equestria."

"Now where did that come from?" the crested dragon asked. All of a sudden, our pegasus pony friend seemed to have experienced a mental 'attack', for she placed a hoof on her head and cringed in pain. "Uh oh! What's wrong?"

"I feel…like we need to go somewhere," said the pink-maned pegasus.

"Lead the way."

"Call me crazy, but I have a feeling we're gonna run into those six mares we saw," Rael said.

"Is one of them a black pegasus with a rainbow mane?" guessed Tychophon.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Had the same feeling too."


F—R—T—F—R—T—F—R—T—F—R—T

Back at the Everfree Forest…

The three equines managed to destroy all the Unversed in the area and were inside Zecora's hut for a short break.

"If I may be so polite, who is this stranger by your side?" the zebra asked Twilight.

"This is Kairi. She and her friends are helping us take out these Unversed—as they call them—that have attacked Ponyville."

"Once we find whoever summoned them, Equestria will be safe once more," said Kairi. "I just hope nobody thinks us as the cause."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, they only came sometime after our arrival." Suddenly, Twilight clutched her head with one hoof as if having got a migraine. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. But I'm getting a feeling that something's leading me somewhere. Somewhere that's—"

"I have a hunch on what that feeling is," interrupted Kairi. "Let's go there."

With that, they thanked Zecora as they made their way out of her hut and the Everfree Forest.

"Good luck!" the zebra called out as they ran.


TS—Z—K—TS—Z—K—TS—Z—K—TS—Z—K

Back in Ponyville proper…

"I hate these Suicorns!", Jerry complained as he and Rainbow took down the last of them they could see for miles.

"Why'd you even call them that?" the pegasus mare asked.

"I dunno. Just a spur of the moment, I guess," Suddenly, Rainbow seemed to experience a headache. "Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?"

"Yeah. But I think I know who caused this! And I'm gonna get 'em for it!" With that, Rainbow took off, leaving a seven-colored streak. Jerry quickly followed as fast as he could.

"Hey! Wait for me!" he futilely called.


RD—J—RD—J—RD—J—RD—J—RD—J—RD—J

Inside Sugarcube Corner…

"I think it's best you don't go doing that again." Sugarcube Corner was a mess, thanks to the water tornado and the Unversed, and Lea was scolding Pinkie Pie about it. "Even in our wildest, we do little damage to our surroundings when we fight. Then again, none of us ever battled in a bakery before."

Suddenly, the pink earth pony's body began to shudder completely. "Uh-oh!" she said, her voice shaking. "There's gonna be a doozy!"

"A doozy?", Lea was confused.

"And I know just the place!" Pinkie then stopped shaking. "Grab on to me and hold on like your life depends on it!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!" All of a sudden, Pinkie appeared right below Lea in such a way that he was now on her back.

"Whoa! How did you—" Before he could speak any further, she was off in a pink streak, and so fast that Lea literally had to hold on for dear life.


PP—L—PP—L—PP—L—PP—L—PP—L—PP—L

In another part of Ponyville…

After taking Snips and Snails to a house that was safe from the Unversed, Wizard, Spike, and Rarity walked down the near empty streets, with only the occasional midget-type Unversed, which Wizard shot down, and the occasional pony interacting with the other kinds of Unversed, which meant either running or taking them down themselves.

"Okay," the white earth pony said. "Just a few more until Ponyville's perfectly safe." Suddenly, he heard a scream, then the sound of fainting. He quickly turned around to see that Rarity had fainted, with Spike cradling her head and calling her name over and over in concern. Seconds later, the unicorn got up, much to the dragon's relief. "What's just happened?", Wizard asked.

"Oh, I just had the most horrible vision!" Rarity explained in a melodramatic manner.

"What? What is it?" Spike wanted to know.

"I feel like we have to go somewhere. And only I seem to know where to go."

"Takes us there," told Wizard. "I think I know what's gonna happen next."


S—R—W—S—R—W—S—R—W—S—R—W

At Sweet Apple Acres…

Sora, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Chronicle (after seeing to Granny Smith's safety and leaving Winona, Caramel, and Noteworthy with her) managed to wipe out the last of the Unversed in the farm.

"I hope that's all of them," said Sora.

"Eeyup," agreed Macintosh. "That's all of 'em, all right." He then went to check on Granny Smith.

"Thank goodness," Applejack sighed in relief. "For a minute, I thought we'd never be fi—Aaaagh!" Suddenly, she stopped as she put a hoof on her head and cringed as if in pain.

"Is something wrong, Applejack?" asked Chronicle as he then pulled out Surveillance. It was okay to let Sora see it; he won't be sticking around in Equestria for long.

"Yeah. I feel like I'm supposed to go somewhere."

"You're not the only one." The blue unicorn then showed his screen to her and Sora. The screen showed various images of the rest of Sora's party and their friends running (or flying) with a purpose. "Apparently, the other keepers experienced the same thing."

"How do you know?" Sora wanted to know.

"Ever since they began to wield the Elements, I've had magic cameras up watching my friends and recording what they do." Sora widened his eyes at the idea, and Chronicle could tell that he was thinking of plenty of indecent thoughts. He quickly changed his tone. "But I'm not a pervert! It's not like ponies normally wear clothes anyway! Now let's go!"


C—A—BM—S—C—A—BM—S—C—A—BM—S

Elsewhere…

Twilight Sparkle and Kairi were on a road the former knew led to the far-off town of Canterlot. Just then, they three certain yellow comrades come over and join them.

"Rael! Tychophon!" Kairi called.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called.

"Kairi!", Rael called back as he slowed to a stop and put away his scooter. "Twilight!"

Seconds later, we heard something come from behind. We stopped and turned to see a rainbow streak headed our way.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy called.

The streak slowed down to reveal that it was indeed her. Jerry caught up a few seconds later, totally winded, now trotting on the ground.

"Wow!" said Jerry between wheezes. "You…sure…are…fast!"

Then, a pink streak bypassed him, making the purple pegasus spin around. The streak then stopped to reveal Pinkie Pie…with a dizzy Lea on her back, who was doing his best not to vomit.

"Oh, hi there, friends!" said Pinkie as Lea dropped off of her. "Why are we all gathered here?"

Just after the finished her sentence, there was a flash. In an instant, Chronicle, Sora, Wizard, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike were with them, the former having teleported them all.

"My head's spinning from all these sudden arrivals!" I began to complain.

"Apparently, the author couldn't think of a better idea to get us all together in short order!" Pinkie commented.

"Pinkie!" Chronicle immediately scolded. "What did I tell you about the fourth wall?"

Pinkie immediately scowled. "To not break it." She then went back to her usual happy expression.

"What's this about a fourth wall and an author?" asked Sora.

"About time you came," we heard a voice echo.

The fifteen clustered together, their backs to each other, wary that the speaker may come out at any direction. And indeed they came out. One by one, they came into view, seemingly surrounding us. It was the six mares they saw earlier during the Unversed attack in Ponyville.

"Ahh. The keepers of the Elements of Harmony," spoke the black unicorn. "I was hoping it would just be the six of them coming here, and I would've tolerated their dragon friend and stallion-who-looks-like-a-mare-at-first-sight." Chronicle frowned at the insult clearly directed at him. "But I should've known from your new acquaintances that they'd be coming as well."

"Well, if your plans are of taking over this world, of course we're gonna put a stop to you!" Sora replied. "Especially if Unversed, Nobodies, or Heartless are involved." He turned to the world natives, who were confused. "Nobodies and Heartless are other minions employed by the bad guys we deal with in our travels." During this whole conversation, Rael took out a few bottles from his bag and shared them to everyone. They all took it and wordlessly consumed their contents, the off-worlders assuring the world-natives that they were safe to drink.

"Who are you?" Chronicle demanded as he was offered an Elixir. "What business have you with us?"

"Well…we have been selected by the draconequus Discord to wield his spin on the Elements," said the purple unicorn in a manner somewhat classier than Rarity's.

"Let me guess…they're called the Elements of Discord." He drank from the bottle.

"A rather unimaginative guess," snarked the crimson pegasus in a gruff tone. "Although I suspect anypony who knows of the Elements of Harmony would be able to come up with that name."

"Unfortunately, we aren't as tight-knit a bunch as the rest of you," said the black pegasus as she pointed a hoof at Twilight and her friends. "I even plan on leaving after all this."

"Only our common motive in freeing Discord once more is what keeps us together," said the earth pony with the cap. "Although I'll admit we might fall apart any minute now, so we're gonna cut to the chase. I'm Fungus Amongus, representing Deceit." Immediately, Applejack scowled.

"I am Jewel," said the purple unicorn. "Representing Avarice." Rarity made a loud gulp after she took her share of Rael's Elixirs.

"Bluebird," said the steel blue earth pony, although it was difficult to hear. The black unicorn then seemed to cast some magic and the earth pony spoke again. "Bluebird. I represent Despair." Pinkie Pie looked away, as if ashamed or something.

"Warmonger's my name!" said the crimson pegasus with pride. "I represent Malice!" Fluttershy immediately cringed in fright.

"I am Black Rainbow!" cried out the black pegasus. "I represent Betrayal!" Rainbow Dash sneered at her.

"And I'm Midnight Shadow," declared the black unicorn. "And I wield the element of Curse." Twilight Sparkle felt…wrong somehow and frowned. "So, now that we're getting to know each other better…" Midnight's horn then glowed with dark energy and so did the rest of what Chronicle decided to dub the E.O.D. wielders.

"Now didn't I mention that line sometime before?" Lea mused as everyone prepared for battle, rejuvenated thanks to whatever was in the bottles Rael provided.

"…it's time for the 'Divide and Conquer', girls!'"

"Oh yeah!" said Warmonger.

"Ha-ha!" Black.

"Joy." Bluebird.

"Let's do it!" Fungus.

"Okay!" Jewel.

Immediately, the earth underneath them cracked as light erupted from them, which converged right for the fifteen. Since none of them thought they could stop it, they all split up in a state of panic. When Chronicle got up, he saw that the light has extended upwards as far as the eye could see, effectively separating everybody from each other. He then looked around to see that Pinkie and Wizard were with him, and they were confronting Bluebird.

He checked Surveillance and was able to glean the following; Rarity and Jerry were about to fight Jewel. Rael, Tychophon, and Applejack faced off against Fungus. Rainbow Dash and Lea faced Black Rainbow. Sora was up against Warmonger, with only Fluttershy for support (he cursed himself for not being able to accompany her). As for Twilight and Kairi, Spike was now with them as they faced Midnight.

"Now comes part two of the spell." the blue earth pony said as he put away Surveillance and turned his attention back to her. The ground began to glow underneath them and shine brightly. Presumably, the same thing was happening to the rest.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T—FA—J—B—W—BR—MS

Eyecatch (video-type)

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Seven cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a moon in a lunar eclipse, an orange mushroom with blue spots, a trio of knives, a blank steel blue space, a single diamond, and a rainbow (blue-yellow-red) entering a single black cloud.}

{The six cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting two rows of six ponies. The bottom row depicts (from left to right) Bluebird, Midnight Shadow, and Black Rainbow. The top row depicts Jewel, Fungus Amongus, and Warmonger. The show's logo shows up on the top left.}


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—K—L—J—W—R—T—FA—J—B—W—BR—MS

"Hey! I remember this place!"

Twilight, Spike, Kairi, and Midnight were now in a place that was familiar to the former two. It was the library in where she lived before moving to Ponyville. 

"Bring back memories, Twilight Sparkle?" asked Midnight in a suggestive manner. "Back then, you were very antisocial, with just Spike and Chronicle as your companions, the latter only with you under a contract as your bodyguard."

"Just how do you know all this?" demanded Spike.

"Being the wielders of the Elements of Discord, we are able to read the minds of our opponents. But don't worry. We can only look into your fairly distant past, so no probing for battle strategies for us." Midnight's opponents just frowned, obviously not trusting her as her horn glowed a sinister yellow. "Although, whether you trust me or not is your choice, of course."


TS—S—K—MS—TS—S—K—MS—TS—S—K—MS

"That's because we aren't really at Cloudsdale.", Black Rainbow was saying to her opponents. "This is just an illusion manifested by Midnight Shadow's spell." Rainbow Dash (who had asked Black Rainbow) and Lea confronted the wielder of the Element of Betrayal in what looked like a town square, only there were plenty of clouds in place of the buildings and the ground. Black then looked at Lea. "Now hold on a second. Looks like this fight is gonna be interesting."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Dash.

"Not only am I gonna face the keeper of the Element of Loyalty, I'm also gonna face someone who was a traitorous double-crosser in a previous life. Constantly switching sides for the sake of a friend, even if it's not with his consent, and even he switched out one for another."

Lea said nothing as Dash turned to face him. "Wait! What did she mean by previous life?" The red unicorn refused to answer.

"As a wielder of an Element of Discord, we can look into our opponents' past," answered Black as she prepared to take off in a charge. "But enough of that. Let's get started."


RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR

"Do you really think you can defeat me?"

Warmonger confronted Sora and Fluttershy in a forest below a large cloud, which the latter remembered as the pegasus city of Cloudsdale.

"That line's clichéd," scoffed Sora. "And I've beaten baddies much tougher than you."

"True, but did you have to face them alone?" Warmonger countered. "You've had friends watching your back during those times, especially that boy with the shield. You can be stupid at times, but never when your enemy tries to fool you? Just how do you do it?"

"You know, I never given it much thought."

Warmonger raised an eyebrow in confusion, then resumed her usual frowning. Next, she immediately rushed at Sora, who brought up his Keyblade to defend. However, she proved much stronger than expected, pouncing Sora, bypassing Fluttershy, and crashing the earth pony into a tree.


F—S—W—F—S—W—F—S—W—F—S—W

"You puzzle me, Jerry," said Jewel as she manifested three crystals, which were currently shooting beams of light as her horn glowed green. "You're a thief, yet you keep little for yourself?"

Jewel, Jerry, and Rarity were in an area in the rocky mountains, which the latter seemed to be familiar with; it was the clearing she used to mine for gems before she was ponynapped by the Diamond Dogs.

"Just what does she mean, dear?" asked Rarity as she manifested a barrier and countered with fireballs, which were deflected with a barrier from Jewel.

"I have a Robin Hood-like lifestyle," explained Jerry as he deflected some of the lasers with his sabers. He had received some serious hits from Jewel's crystals and was on the defensive. "'Steal from the rich, give to the poor' and all that. Although the poor I give to is just the orphanage. Also, I don't really have a desire for power. Such thoughts have strictly been purged from my mind. That means you can't tempt me, Jewel."

"I don't plan on tempting you," said the other unicorn as one of her crystals stopped shooting lasers and started to shoot a beam at the ground, shaking it. Immediately, Jerry took Rarity in his forelegs and carried both of them up, the white unicorn gasping in fright and surprise, as cracks began to form in the ground and release beams of light and ejected crystals.


R—J—J—R—J—J—R—J—J—R—J—J

"Hold on a second," said Wizard. "Why don't you have a cutie mark?"

He, Bluebird, Chronicle, and Pinkie Pie were in what the latter remembered as the Pie Rock Farm in which she spent her early fillyhood in. The sky was also dim and cloudy.

"Yeah. About that," lamented Bluebird. "I never really found out my purpose in life. And I don't think I ever will." Pinkie was about to speak when Bluebird raised a hoof in refusal. "And don't bother trying to cheer me up. That never works."

"Just why are you with the Elements of Discord anyway?" Pinkie asked.

"I represent Despair. I want to release Discord so he can remove cutie marks altogether." There was a trace of anger in Bluebird's voice. "I want them to feel the despair I have felt over the years, mocking me and calling me 'blank flank'."

"Okay," said Wizard. "Now that's the lamest reason I've ever heard."

"Not that Discord would stop there," Chronicle reminded, then turned to Bluebird. "You know, we know some fillies who've had the same dilemma as you. But I have a feeling we'll have to beat you up first before we could convince you."

"So…you think defeat means friendship?" snarked the white earth pony.

"Worked once with the Elements of Harmony. We did in Nightmare Moon with them, although for Discord the best they could do was reseal him."

"You can't hurt me," cut in Bluebird. "I've been hurt too much already."

"Okay. Now I think this pony's off her rocker," Wizard stated as he aimed his GunDeLuna and fired at Bluebird, who didn't even bother dodging. The beams of light hit her, but for some reason, she didn't get hurt. However, Wizard felt a few stings in his body. "Hey. That hurts."

Chronicle then rushed at Bluebird, his "horn blade" ready and aimed at the blue earth pony. Just before reaching her, he teleported so that he was behind her, and then slashed. The move ended with him in front of her…and he stumbled over in pain. "Oww," the unicorn complained. "It's like I just attacked myself."

"Uh oh!" Pinkie gasped. "It's like zero-seven-three of that Foundation that contains all that anomalous stuff!"

"What did I tell you about the fourth wall?"

"Oh, sorry."

All the while, Bluebird just stood there, a slight smirk on her face. "So, what are you gonna do?", she taunted. "Unless I'm defeated, you cannot leave. And anything you do to me just gets back to you."


C—PP—W—B—C—PP—W—B—C—PP—W—B

"Ooh. Looks like I'll also be fighting a liar.", Fungus remarked.

Applejack, Tychophon, and Rael were facing Fungus in what the former remembered as Manehattan, where she spent a portion of her fillyhood in. Fungus was spawning mushrooms, most of them dangerous.

"What the hay is she talkin' about?", Applejack asked the spiny dragon.

"While lying almost comes naturally to me, I'm more on the 'not tell the truth' type."

"You liar," replied Fungus as she picked up a(n explosive) mushroom and hurled it at them, which was shot down by Tychophon. "You lie pretty much all the time."

"I do not!" Rael retorted as Applejack put up a wall of earth (well, concrete) that stopped another mushroom. "You must be talking about another."

"No. I'm pretty sure you are a consummate liar." Fungus continued to pluck and hurl mushrooms, eventually breaking Applejack's wall.

"Now I don't even know what that means." Rael then shot at the projectiles, which exploded in a spectacular manner, but when the smoke cleared, they couldn't see Fungus.

"Yes you do." They turned to see her to our right, riding a big dragon seemingly made out of mushrooms. "You know what it means."

"Now I know that's a lie." The three backed away, readying their means of attack.

"Why are you even arguing with her anyway?" Tychophon asked his companion. "She represents Deceit. Of course she would lie."

"And unlike my corrupted self, I'm sure she'll also sometimes tell the truth, twist it, or tell half of it," Applejack added.

"Oh, so you're an expert on lies now?", teased Fungus as her giant mount reared its head to let out a breath of poisonous fumes. Rael immediately cast a wind shield spell with one of his bracer's gems to keep out the fumes and Tychophon used his inherent wind abilities to strengthen it.


A—R—T—FA—A—R—T—FA—A—R—T—FA

Midnight was casting dark ice-elemental spells at Kairi, Twilight, and Spike, who were countering with fire attacks.

"You don't have what it takes to defeat me," Midnight taunted as she then slammed her hooves on the ground and covered it with a layer of ice.

"You don't know that!" Spike countered as he unleashed a fire breath, melting some of the ice and hitting Midnight, who put up a barrier. "Twilight's the best unicorn there is when it comes to magic!"

"We'll see about that." Midnight then shot a beam of darkness at the dragon, only for it to be countered by a light-element spell from Kairi. Midnight turned to the pink unicorn. "You're not cut out for this, Keyblade wielder. You're nothing compared to your friends."

"That may be the case," Kairi argued as she prepared a spell. "But I'm not gonna let that stop me."

"Well, maybe I should be the one to stop you then." Midnight prepared another spell.

"Not if I can help it!" Twilight countered as she also prepared to cast a spell.

"Don't you think I'm sitting this one out!" added Spike as he prepared to breathe fire again.

Four things happened at once. Midnight unleashed a vortex of dark energy, Twilight fired a beam of luminous energy to counter it, Spike bolstered it with his fire breath, and Kairi…teleported. Three seconds later, as the beams pushed one another, she reappeared behind Midnight to attack her, only for the black unicorn to teleport away, resulting in Twilight's beam hitting Kairi. Midnight then reappeared behind the bearer of her Element's counterpart, only for Spike to turn in time and rush at her. At that same second, Twilight then realized that her beam was not countering Midnight's, stopped casting, and turned around to see Midnight 'toss' Spike right at her, resulting in the two sliding in the ice and bumping into Kairi, who had been pushed a fair distance away from the beam. Midnight then teleported to their location.

"I'll admit, you almost got me there," said the black unicorn. "But you're gonna have to do better."


TS—S—K—MS—TS—S—K—MS—TS—S—K—MS

Lea was getting confused and disoriented from the two rainbow trails around him. One was a horizontal seven-colored streak (Rainbow Dash), and the other was a line of multicolored rings (Black Rainbow). In occasion, Black rushed at him (of course he wouldn't know it until it was too late), but Dash always tackled her out of the way. As it was, Black was stronger than Dash, who in turn was faster than her. Lea could barely do a thing to help, not without doing any accidental friendly fire. Even though the two rainbow-maned pegasi's streaks were clearly different, the colors alone made it hard for him to distinguish comrade from adversary.

Eventually, he decided to just shield himself with his chakrams and fire, even if his element didn't exactly excel in defense. He could only hope that Dash doesn't end up hitting him.

Suddenly, Black rushed at Lea once again, quickly getting through the measly 'ring' he called his defense, getting a slight scratch from one of his chakrams, and pouncing him before he knew what hit him. A second later, Dash got her again, knocking her off of him, and the two began to roll along the 'clouds'.


RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR

Sora was sent flying to a tree…again as he fought Warmonger. He got up and continued to dodge her relentless attacks and keep Fluttershy away from her. Neither of them noticed that she had been following them the best she could.

Fluttershy wanted to help, but this was out of her league, something more suited to Chronicle. Also, she couldn't find any particularly useful application with the crystal he gave her; her pacifist nature rejected all ideas of 'razor wind'. That and she didn't want to hurt Sora in the process.

But as she saw Warmonger knock Sora's sword out of his mouth, then pushed her forehooves at Sora's neck, her feelings were in a state of turmoil. She had to help, but how? The only way was to fight, but she didn't want to fight. She didn't feel confident enough. 

Staring down a dragon and a cockatrice was one thing. That chiropractic session Twilight witnessed (and misinterpreted) was another. But straight up fighting another pony, even if it's to save someone, was a completely different matter.

"You may have defeated foes tougher than I am before, but in this form, in this world, against me, by yourself, you're nothing!" Warmonger said as she continued pushing.

"Once again, that line's clichéd," Sora managed to sputter.

"Still able to sputter jokes on the verge of defeat? Maybe you got a concussion from all those trees I slammed you through. Once I'm through with you, I'm gonna enjoy torturing that bearer of my Element's 'good' counterpart. She looks so helpless, I'm gonna enjoy breaking her. I just love hearing the cries of my pitiful victi—"

That snapped her out of any doubt she had, and generated intense fury at Warmonger. Upon realizing it, Fluttershy saw in her what she could've been had Twilight not 'restored' her and Discord not have fallen, saw in her everything she wished to never be. With speed she wouldn't think possible for her to normally do, she pounced the red pegasus off of Sora, and the two were soon rolling across the ground. Eventually, the smaller of the two ended up on top.

"You big, dumb meanie!" Fluttershy yelled as she punched her savage counterpart in the face over and over. Warmonger then kicked her upwards in the air, then charged after her, only to be swiftly grabbed and hurled back down on the ground. The few karate lessons she had learned under Rainbow's…persuasion, as well as some of the moves she applied during her chiropractic sessions had paid off.

As Warmonger crashed and left a crater in her wake, her opponent then slammed down on her, resulting in further damage. For some reason, her strength had diminished when Fluttershy was in close proximity. Still, she wasn't completely helpless in spite of the loss; she was still fairly strong. 

(No one knew it, but the Elements of Discord provided its wielders various powers. However, they are nullified when the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, especially their respective counterparts, is in close proximity.)

She had to get away regardless. After kicking Fluttershy off of her, Warmonger flew upwards to Cloudsdale, only to collide into the city's base like it was a ceiling. She then remembered that this place was an illusion, and that it had 'boundaries'. And then Fluttershy reached her and slammed her into the 'ceiling'. Below, Sora watched in awe, unable to believe what he was seeing.


F—S—W—F—S—W—F—S—W—F—S—W

Jerry continued to fly Rarity across the ravaged field caused by Jewel's magic crystals, which have seemingly gone rampant, the cracks in the earth continuing to spew out crystals. 

"I've never seen this level of magic before from a unicorn," Rarity commented. "I think only the Princesses could accomplish this. If not them, then Discord."

"Maybe the crystals Jewel has are making this level of magic possible for her, just like the crystals Chronicle gave you and your friends."

Just then, one crystal from the ground hit him on the back and the two started to fall, heading close for Jewel. The purple unicorn didn't move as the two crashed close to her position, kicking up some dust. Some of the dust hit Jewel, and she looked "a bit" freaked out. Jerry saw this, and had an idea. Getting off of Rarity, who was still slightly dazed, he began to kick up more dust by flapping his wings, directing them right at Jewel, who freaked out more and used a spell to block off the dust. This diminished her focus as the cracks in the earth began to seal up and crystals no longer shot out from the closing cracks.

"Stay back!" she panicked. "You will not mess up my coat!"

"Why?" replied Rarity as she got up and joined Jerry, an angry smirk on her face. "Afraid to get dirty?" She didn't wait for an answer and proceeded to shoot fireballs at Jewel, who cast a barrier. As Jerry continued to kick up dust, his weapons began to move under his mental command as he 'ordered' them to attack. Jewel was now completely on the defensive. 


R—J—J—R—J—J—R—J—J—R—J—J

After a couple of 'experimenting', Chronicle and the others have discovered something that gave them the advantage in their battle against Bluebird. For some reason, whenever the blue earth pony was at close proximity to Pinkie Pie, or was encased in water manifested by the pink earth pony, her pain-reflecting powers were nullified.

Bluebird was currently encased in a water bubble by Pinkie, although her head was left open for Wizard and Chronicle to attack with shots and magic shurikens. They both felt bad on having to take down their opponent is such a torturous manner, but it was the only way for them to get out of here.

Just then, as Wizard and Chronicle took a short rest before attacking again, Bluebird let out a long chuckle. Her three opponents paused as the did.

"You…You just managed to make me angry," she said. "Only a few have managed to do that. And none of them have escaped my wrath!" She seemed to well up a lot of emotion inside her, which somehow disturbed the water that held her, then she let out a blood-curdling scream. In an instant, her normally flat hair suddenly became poofed up and spiny. Her entire body also became a shade brighter and her expression changed from gloomy to crazed.

Wizard and Chronicle were completely surprised and scared. While this didn't scare Pinkie somehow, she was more surprised than anypony else and her gasp was much louder than the others.

"Okay! Now this is the second pony I've seen with a expressive mane!" said the only unicorn in the area as Pinkie dropped the water holding Bluebird.

"Who's the first?" Wizard asked, doing his best not to quiver in his hooves.

"Pinkie Pie. Her mane isn't always as poofy as you see right now. When she gets utterly depressed, it goes straight and she becomes dimmer."

"How'd you know about that?" asked Pinkie.

"From Spike," the blue unicorn answered as he turned to her. "After you interrogated him, or so he claims. Also, you did tell me and the Crusaders about how 'Equestria was made'."

"Hey, losers!" Everypony turned back to Bluebird, who was now somehow twice her usual size. "Prepare to enter a world of hurt!" She then rushed at them, plowing them all aside. As she bypassed them, Wizard quickly retaliated with a few shots from his GunDeLuna, but upon impact, he received the pain.

"Darn it!" the white earth pony cried out. "Her powers are in effect again!"

"We'll have to get Pinkie on Bluebird somehow!" said Chronicle as he and the others got up.

"I can do that!" said Pinkie, still ready to help out.

"Not without a plan." The three of them dodged Bluebird again as she charged them. "She ain't gonna let you get on her as simple as that, if you know what I mean."


C—PP—W—B—C—PP—W—B—C—PP—W—B

Applejack, Tychophon, and Rael fled down the streets of 'illusion' Manehattan as Fungus followed on her 'mushroom dragon', wreaking havoc in the (empty) place, although the usual stand was upturned.

"Equestria's technology level sure is strange, huh?" Tychophon remarked as they turned to an alley.

"Is this really the time?", Rael retorted.

Applejack didn't know what they were talking about, and honestly didn't care.

"You can't hide from me!" Fungus said as small ponies out of mushrooms spawned from the ground, ready to attack.

"Hold on!" Applejack said as she then brought her forehooves up, then down on the ground. Immediately, as her two dragon companions shot down some of these monstrosities, the earth underneath them rose and they then hopped off it and onto a rooftop. They confronted Fungus, who was on the head of her 'mushroom dragon'.

"Ah, there you are," she said. "I was so worried about you."

"Sincere or sarcastic?" Rael snarked.

"Don't even bother," Tychophon retorted as Applejack shot spikes of earth from the pillar she used to raise us up. Fungus's dragon let out a breath of fumes and corroded them before they could reach it.

"Earth spikes?" Fungus taunted. "That's the best you can do, right?"

All of a sudden, as the earth pony and the crested dragon continued to fend off Fungus's attacks, Rael seemed to space out for a second. Then, something in his bag glowed. He reached for its interior and took out a pendant with three strange symbols. He then put it on and it looked like he received a surge of power.

Then, perhaps for the first time since his arrival, he used his wings to lift himself off of the ground. He followed this up with a 'shield' out of wind to shield himself and his allies from a fume breath Fungus's dragon made. He then rushed at the purple earth pony. Her dragon reared up its head to bite him, but he let out a screech, which sent its head further back, also knocking off Fungus. As she slid down the dragon's back, and as Applejack and Tychophon started to deal with it, Rael shot at her with his 'DirLuxGun', but kept missing. He then decided to dive right at her. 

The stetson-wearing pony seemed to worry a bit. Tychophon seemed to notice and said, "Don't worry about Rael. He's may not be as brave or as upfront a fighter as Sora, but he's fought tougher monsters." He then followed up with an arrow to the mushroom dragon's head, breaking off a few of its parts. Applejack cursed herself for not being too creative with the 'earth' crystal Chronicle gave her as she used it to help defeat Fungus. Earth spikes, earth pillars, and rock throwing were the only things she could think of (that would not cause too much collateral damage) in the heat of all this fighting. 

Thankfully, the mushroom construct seemed to be losing integrity as Rael continued to fight its mistress. Eventually, an arrow from the crested dragon followed by one medium-sized rock from Applejack, both aimed for the head, defeated it.

As the dragon quickly crumbled to nothing, Fungus fell and Rael's weapons vanished as he swooped down in an attempt to grab her. However, she called up a mushroom to break her fall, and he decided to recall his weapons and back away. Fungus landed on the mushroom and crashed through it, smashing through it, but it did break her fall. Tychophon descended after them, carrying Applejack in his arms. As the three landed, they all turned to face Fungus, who lazily got up from the ruins of her mushroom, and shook her head.

"I think I know her weakness," Applejack voiced.

"Hmm?" Rael asked without turning.


A—R—T—FA—A—R—T—FA—A—R—T—FA

Midnight cast another spell and knocked Kairi, Twilight, and Spike into the wall. Kairi was the first to get up, but the other two were too tired to do that or even open their eyes.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" sneered Midnight—moderately winded—as she prepared to cast a spell to finish them off. Kairi didn't answer as she moved her Keyblade with telekinesis. "Any last words?" Kairi remained silent. "Oh well. Nice knowin' ya." Midnight began to gather dark energy, ready to utterly obliterate her enemy. While some might say it's overkill, she prefers to think of it as being thorough.

As she watched Midnight prepare for her attack, Kairi gulped in slight nervousness. Just then, something shone in her pouch. Still wary of Midnight, she took out whatever it was that was shining. It was a charm similar to the one depicted on her flank as her cutie mark. A feeling of rejuvenation washed over her body.

Midnight seemed to notice it as she then unleashed her dark magic spell on them. However, a split second before the dark energy converged, a shield manifested and repelled the darkness, although she wouldn't know that until after she stopped casting. The moment she did, she saw Kairi with a barrier, and Twilight getting up to cast a curative spell on all of them.

Kairi then dismissed the shield, rushed at Midnight and 'hurled' her Keyblade, which spun and struck the black unicorn. She then recalled her weapon, and knocked Midnight into the air with the her weapon before slamming her down to the ground. Suddenly, multiple black swords manifested from above and converged right at Midnight, who teleported out of harm's way and reemerged behind Kairi. Before the black unicorn could attack her, she was struck by an ice-elemental spell from Twilight.

Kairi took advantage of this, aimed her Keyblade at Midnight, and shot a number of dark orbs. As these struck the black unicorn, Kairi seemed to feel disturbed. Twilight noticed as she covered for her ally, and gestured to her assistant to snap her out of whatever trance she's in.

"Come on, Kairi!" Spike called out. "We almost got her!"

This shook the pink unicorn off her thoughts as she then aimed her Keyblade once more and a searing purple fireball emerged from it. Before it could hit, Midnight 'picked up' some water from the melted ice and brought it out in front of her to shield herself, 'boosting' it with her own dark powers. However, a fire breath from Spike evaporated it and to make things worse for her, Twilight shot a Light-bolstered ice spell. Both dark fireball and shining ice shard struck…each other and exploded, resulting in a cloud of fog that confused Midnight.

"Arrrgh!" the black unicorn cried out as the 'fog' seared at her coat from the light and dark energy that came with the two colliding spells. "Really clever!"

"Not exactly what I was expecting, but…" Twilight remarked as she stood a few paces away from the fog.

"I'll handle this," assured Kairi as she seemed to know what to do. She rushed into the fog, Keyblade in her teeth like Sora and ran at Midnight, who was still confused and unable to move. She struck, then teleported so that Midnight was in front of her again. As she continued to do this multiple times, Twilight and Spike noticed from what little they could see that Kairi wasn't teleporting like unicorns do . Just then, columns of light rose from the ground, dispersing the fog…and attacking Midnight. Kairi was a pace away, her Keyblade stabbed on the ground. She then turned around, 'picked up' her Keyblade, leaped into the air, and brought it down on Midnight. The moment it hit, there was a flash of light that engulfed everything and time seemed to slow.


TS—S—K—MS—TS—S—K—MS—TS—S—K—MS

The two rainbow-maned pegasi continued to roll along the 'ground' until they ended at a wall, where Black was now on top of Dash.

"You're pretty bad-flank, I'll give you that," remarked Black. "Nopony who has ever fought me lasted this long. Say, what about I join you chums and—"

"You're not convincing me, Black Rainbow!" Dash retorted.

"Of course I'm not. We bear contrasting elements. I'm a constant backstabber, tied to my allies only by purpose, while you'll never leave your friends hanging, regardless of the circumstances. I have quite the silver tongue, you know. I can tell anypony anything and they'll believe me. Of course, I'll have to spice up my game to convince your fellow keepers once I'm through with you. Oh wait, they'll be goners to my 'fellow' wielders. Then again, I don't really care if they fai—"

"One shouldn't monologue until they're sure they got all their enemies down or are playing mind games," Lea's voice came.

Black noted the voice, but didn't let go of Dash. "Okay. Now where are you, you chronic backstabber?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you that. How stupid do you think I am?"

In an instant, Lea was there, about to 'swing' a chakram at Black, who quickly moved so that Dash was in his way. However, Lea and his chakram suddenly blinked out of existence as he then appeared at Black's other side, 'swinging' his weapon. She wasn't able to counter in time as the bladed wheel hit, forcing her to let go of Dash. He then followed by shooting a fireball from his horn, then followed with his second wheel, which he summoned during that last move. Before anypony knew it, he was in a frenzy, blinking about whenever Black managed to get an opening for a counterattack. Dash could only watch as her comrade attacked at such marvelous speed.

"You…really…are…the…Flurry…of…Dan…cing…Flames," Black said in between hits, knowing she had already lost. "Can't…believe…you…still…got…your…skills…when…you…were…a…No…pony."

"That's 'Nobody', bitch!" retorted Lea as he did one more slash. At this attack, there was a flash of light that came from Black, which seemingly slowed down time and blinded everypony.


RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR—RD—L—BR

Fluttershy continued to pummel Warmonger, who was now counterattacking. By this point, she realized just what she was doing and it was unnerving her, but the adrenaline from the fight—and the knowledge that Warmonger will not stop hurting others, including her and Sora, until she's stopped—kept her from turning meek again; now was not the time.

Warmonger was more experienced in pegasus combat than she was, but Fluttershy refused to let it waver her determination. She just hoped Sora would recover in time to step in; for all her friends saying what's she's capable of, she can't handle this alone. Seeing her coming, she redirected her mid-charge and hurled her downward.

Sora, seemingly having recovered (and his necklace was glowing for some reason), was running as fast as he could to the fight. Just as he the red pegasus crash into the ground—resulting in a small crater—, he hurled his Keyblade at her in sch a manner that it began to spin mid-flight. It was a direct hit and she was awoken. As he recalled his Keyblade, he brought himself up with it, then performed some kind of sliding attack towards Warmonger…who suddenly caught him, then easily hurled him aside.

Just as she did that, Fluttershy swooped down and slammed down on her. Warmonger then tossed her aside (with difficulty) once more, only for Sora to rush in with his Keyblade charged with electricity. She made a close dodge, then bucked him away once again, only for Fluttershy (who blew herself back with her crystal's wind powers) to rush in sooner than she expected. And that was how Warmonger held out; one of them would rush at her, and she'd throw them off, only for the other to come in at her, and she'd repeat the process.

Of course, this didn't last long. After going on at this for a while, due to the rate of one of them headed back at her, Warmonger eventually had to kick both of them off at the same time. Fortunately, she managed to do that. Unfortunately, both of them were next to each other now, and they'd be able to make a plan, and she was already getting tired.

"Wow!" Sora said. "I never thought you'd be this strong."

"Well, I couldn't keep letting my friends get in danger because of me," replied Fluttershy in her usually sweet voice and a worried tone. "And you've been risking your life for me even though we aren't close friends."

"I guess that's just me; I help anybody who's in trouble, even if I don't know them."

"Thanks."

"I got a plan."

As the two made small talk, Warmonger righted herself, ready to charge at the two. She didn't know what they were up to, but she couldn't fool around any longer. She bent down, dragged a hoof across the ground, let out a snort, then charged. At about the same moment, so did her opponents. She charged at Sora, who had his Keyblade turned so that it was pointed forward like a spear. Fluttershy was above him, but Warmonger planned on making a quick dodge at the last second.

She didn't get that chance as Sora suddenly picked up speed, and zipped right past and struck her. As he quickly turned around and struck again within a second, Warmonger knew she was doomed as Fluttershy was already right above her, somehow diminishing her strength. Sora finished his combo for five more slashes, then he quickly followed up by spinning rapidly toward Warmonger. He reached her and she was unable to escape, even when the keeper of the Element of Kindness was no longer close to her as she moved out of the way. In the middle of this frenzy, there was a flash of light that engulfed the entire field and slowed down everypony's sense of time.


F—S—W—F—S—W—F—S—W—F—S—W

Jewel was backed into a corner as Jerry and Rarity continued to attack her. Only a little more and the wielder of the Element of Avarice is going down. Just then…

"Oh, screw it!" she yelled. Then, in one swift motion, she 'hurled' her three crystals at Jerry, all of them knocking him on the head, then lunged at Rarity herself. As the two unicorns began to roll across the stone ground (getting their coats and manes dirty), Jerry slowly recovered from Jewel's attack, only for the three crystals to cast spells, fly about, and attack on their own accord, which quickened his recovery, but were now hurting him bad.

Jerry immediately took to the skies and used his powers to repel the crystals' attacks. He was gonna have to take Jewel down and fast. Unfortunately, at the moment, he'll have to leave that to Rarity as he continued to evade the crystals. Below, he could see them punching one another, rolling, punching again, and rolling again, and so on.

While he did that, he evaded a lightning bolt from one of Jewel's crystals, which struck the ground. He then suddenly had an idea. As he swerved around, dodging attacks, he also direct them the best he could down at Jewel, although he had to make sure she was on top of Rarity and not the other way around. Eventually, he found an opening…

Jewel was on top now, and thoroughly ticked off. Also, she was somehow choking Rarity in spite of the fact she can't strangle with hooves alone.

"You really done it this time!" she shouted. "Nopony messes up my coat and gets away with it!"

"Oh, you are so vain!" Rarity replied as she turned herself and Jewel around so that she was on top of her. "It doesn't have to be the end of the world just because of that, you know!"

Jewel was then on top of her again. "Just how can you be so giving in spite of your high-class demeanor?"

"I don't think you're quite saying it right."

"So what? You're a foal to think—"

Just then, above them, Jerry dodged a lightning bolt. A second before that, Rarity reared up her hind legs and kicked Jewel off of her and into the bolt Jerry dodged. The white unicorn then rolled to the side as Jewel landed on the ground again as her crystals were then 'caught' by Jerry, who then swooped down on her. As Rarity got up, he then 'tossed' them right at Jewel, who was still hadn't recovered from the lightning bolt. The crystals hit her on the head one by one, but when the third hit, there was a flash of blinding light that seemed to slow down time.


R—J—J—R—J—J—R—J—J—R—J—J

The plan was going well. Amidst the chaos, Pinkie had managed to discreetly get inside Bluebird's tail, which thanks to her now doubled size and poofed-out tone had enough space for her to hide in. Chronicle and Wizard were leading the crazed earth pony around, firing beams of light/'shurikens' on occasion and teleporting around whenever she's about to catch up.

"Okay," said Chronicle. "Just a couple more and we're outta here."

"I sure hope so," replied Wizard. All of a sudden however, he spaced out for a split second, and then his cutie mark began to glow.

"Hey, Wizard. Why is your cutie mark glowing?" Chronicle asked.

"Heck if I know, but I'm hoping it's something good." Immediately, he felt something good. He aimed at Bluebird, then 'pulled' the trigger on his GunDeLuna. A periwinkle beam came out of the GunDeLuna and hit Bluebird, who stumbled to the ground and fell. However, she wasn't out of the count yet as she struggled to get up, although it did take some effort. Wizard proceeded to shoot away, seeing that for some reason, the lens of his GunDeLuna were changing colors. And for each of them, they shot different elements, each hitting Bluebird with equal effectiveness.

"Man, this has gotta be the lamest and easiest fight I've ever fought in," complained Chronicle as he teleported himself and Wizard around, evading Bluebird's mad rushes. "I'm pretty sure the others are doing better ones than this." All the while, Pinkie managed not to fall off.

"What was your most epic fight?" Wizard inquired as he continued shooting.

"Against Discord when I was avenging my friends after he corrupted them. Even though I did lose, it was the best I've been in, although I wouldn't fight it again for the thrill of it, but because of how much I loathe him."

"Okay. Now for the finisher!" Wizard aimed his GunDeLuna upward and cried out, "Taiyou!" The clouds began to clear up as if heralding something about to come down from above. Bluebird wasn't about to wait and she rushed at Wizard, but a sphere of water suddenly formed around her head. As she stopped short from the sudden lack of air, Chronicle could see Pinkie pop out from Bluebird's tail and give a wink before popping back in.

Suddenly, a beam of light descended from the sky, headed for the enraged earth pony. In a split second, Chronicle quickly teleported to Pinkie and conjured a barrier around her and himself to protect them from the beam, which hit Bluebird full force. Time seemed to slow down a second after impact as a blinding flash came.


C—PP—W—B—C—PP—W—B—C—PP—W—B

The two dragons and one orange earth pony moved in hard and fast, quickly taking down Fungus's mushroom-spawn and striking Fungus herself. She tried to run, but she seemed to tire quickly. She spawned mushrooms that seemed to bounce her about, but they were taken out before long. As it turned out, Fungus wasn't very athletic.

Eventually, they had her cornered and she was on her last legs, moderately bruised.

"Wait…" she sputtered between deep breaths. "I…"

"I'm not gonna let you trick us," Tychophon quickly interrupted as he nocked another arrow.

"Hold—" Rael suddenly cried out, but it was too late as the crested dragon let his arrow fly. It struck Fungus at the side—and unexpectedly, there was a flash of light that blinded us and time seemed to slow down.


A—R—T—FA—A—R—T—FA—A—R—T—FA

Back on the road leading to Canterlot…

The whole place was empty, save for a giant, very noticeable wall of light that expanded in a wide area and covered a large circle. The sun was about to sink into the horizon as the moon began to rise on the other side of the sky.

Suddenly, this wall of light began to shrink into itself and turned into twenty-one spheres of light (one of them being slightly smaller than the others). Six of them then quickly converged together and the other fifteen circled them. These balls of light then dissipated and released whatever was inside them.

The six E.O.D. wielders fell in a heap together, still able to fight enough for a last stand (and Bluebird back to normal), while the rest emerged in a circle around them.

"Let's finish this!" declared Chronicle. Instantly, he aimed his horn at them and so did Twilight and their horns glowed. The six E.O.D. wielders were then encased in a single bubble of magic. "Everyone attack!"

And that's what we did. Converging at the six were a vortex of wind, two lightning bolts (one yellow and one blue), a torrent of water, a crack in the earth where an earth spike would come out at the end, two streams of fire (one dragonbreath and one magic spell), two beams from the Keyblade, a slim beam from the GunDeLuna, a flaming chakram, and an arrow. For some reason, Rael did not participate in this combination attack.

The attacks collided and pushed at the bubble for a few seconds before exploding and kicking up a load of smoke, which remained for a while. A couple of seconds later, the smoke disappeared, revealing the six E.O.D. wielders sprawled on the ground, defeated and unmoving.

As the off-worlders 'put away' their weapons, Chronicle felt a pang of guilt from the possibility that his friends had to take a life. And not just one, but six. As he turned away, he could see his friends breaking down in tears in varying degrees, from silent sobbing to "ocular gushers" to everything in between. The two yellow dragons had turned away as well in guilt.

Sora went over to Twilight, who let out tears from her closed eyes. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that…that…"

"Not once have we ever consciously taken a life of a living, thinking being, especially a pony," Applejack answered for her.

"And now…we just took six," added Rainbow, who was doing her best not to sob uncontrollably like Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were.

"But what about—" Sora was about to ask again when he was cut off by Chronicle.

"Sealing a perhaps-immortal draconequus—which is what Discord is—in stone doesn't count as killing in their book, even if it may be a fate worse than death," said the blue unicorn. He glanced at Fluttershy, who was being comforted by Rael. For some reason, it kept bothering him, even though it was a certainty that he was going to leave soon.

He then turned to face Sora again. "Look, I don't know what friends you've made throughout your travels, but these friends of mine are still… innocent, in a sense. Yes, they can kick butt, but the taking of a life…they're not used to that. The only reason why they didn't break down to begin with when it came to taking out Unversed is because we've been told about them and what they really are. Still, I'm grateful you guys came when you did. I don't think I could've defended this town all on my own against the Unversed and those girls." He gestured to the defeated E.O.D. wielders. "Especially since my friend was out on a field trip. Well, there is a martial arts community here, that's why a fair number of the townsponies fought as well."

"Yeah, I was quite surprised about that," said Sora. "Most towns we go to usually have empty streets and therefore there's no need for us to go out of our way to protect them."

"In spite of all that, ponies are a peaceful race. Fighting is not in their nature like in your kind."

"Why not?"

This kid's hopeless. I think I'm just a few years older than him. "How do I put this in terms you can understand… Ponies are herbivores. They never rally developed a hunting instinct. And that's all I have to say about that. Ask the others if you still don't get it." And then he turned away, ending the conversation.

"I hear something!" Kairi suddenly gasped.

Everypony who wasn't busy crying turned to face her, then to where she was facing as they heard the flapping of wings. 

Incoming was a carriage pulled by four white pegasus Royal Guards, and in tow were Princesses Celestia and Luna, whom Chronicle identified to the off-worlders. He then informed his friends of their arrival and they gradually recovered enough to bow in respect. As the rest followed suit, Sora just stood dumbfounded, but was quickly 'forced' down.

The chariot landed and the two alicorns got off. As they walked over to us, Chronicle was the first to rise. "Princess Celestia. Princess Luna," he said. "We have—"

"These must be the ones who have summoned the Unversed, am I right?" Luna interrupted as she turned to the defeated E.O.D. wielders.

"I am not absolutely certain, Luna, but they certainly were allied with the summoner, whoever it was. They claim to have been selected by Discord to wield 'his spin on the Elements'. And I personally think that took place after he corrupted my friends back in the maze. Why didn't either of you come when Ponyville was under attack?"

"We…faced similar problems in Canterlot."

"The Unversed attacked Canterlot too?"

"Yes. But for some reason, no other towns were under attack." Meanwhile, Celestia had walked over to Twilight and the two began to talk, the former comforting the latter. 

"I seriously think that whoever summoned the Unversed was after the keepers." Luna didn't reply in confusion. "Of the Elements of Harmony, I mean. And I think Canterlot was attacked because the summoner probably knew that Cele—uhh, Princess Celestia would come and save them. After all, none of the keepers are fighters, although Rainbow Dash is the closest to one among them."

"I was thinking just the same thing! Well, save for the last part."

"Wow. Who knew?"

Luna then turned to the fallen E.O.D. wielders, who were then approached by her sister. "I'll have to say, you all seem to have done a good job in bringing them down."

"It was mostly thanks to our new friends." Chronicle indicated Sora and the others as Celestia's horn glow yellow. "Although we did lend a hoof as well." The E.O.D. wielders also glowed faintly in the same color.

"Speaking of which, you haven't introduced them to us yet."

"Well, I was just about to do that." While Celestia walked over to the other E.O.H. keepers, apparently consoling them, the blue unicorn pointed to each of the off-worlders with his right forehoof. "These are Sora, Kairi, Wizard, Lea, Jerry, Rael, and Tychophon. They're from another world."

"Actually, we're from other worlds," Wizard spoke up. "Sora and Kairi are from Destiny Islands, Lea and Jerry are from Radiant Garden, Tych and I are from Neopia, although I'm not completely sure where Rael is from." Said spiny dragon frowned at him as he said that.

I turned back to the E.O.D. wielders, looking with fear. "Hmm…I wonder…are they really…really…"

"You don't have to worry, my little ponies," Celestia finally spoke up to us, her voice soothing to the soul. "And dragons," she added as she glanced at Tychophon and Rael. "They'll live." Chronicle's friends sighed in relief as they stopped crying. They didn't kill them after all. "These poor ponies have been manipulated, but not in the way you and your friends have been, Twilight Sparkle." The purple unicorn raised her head upon hearing her name as the alicorn pointed her horn again to the fallen E.O.D. wielders, 'pulling' some things out of them.

"What is…" Twilight managed to say. The items that were pulled out seemed to be five simple pendants and one black circlet.

"I can sense Discord's magic in these." There was a hint of anger in Celestia's voice.

"And I thought we turned everything he affected back to normal after we resealed him," Chronicle commented as he 'procured' a wooden tray from his saddlebag. "Apparently, there are still some lasting effects other than our lingering hate for him, just like these. I assume these are the actual Elements of Discord." The two princesses nodded in affirmation as the "Elements" were set down on the tray. "So simple-looking compared to the Elements of Harmony. "

"Wait a second," Sora said. "I thought your friends were—"

"I forgot to mention that The Elements of Harmony are actually powerful magical artifacts. My friends are merely its present bearers." He then pondered to himself. "Or are my friends the Elements and the artifacts amplifiers?"

Celestia then turned her head to face Sora. "You must be Sora, right?" Sora was about to ask how she knew his name, then remembered that Chronicle introduced them just a minute earlier. He nodded to the Princess. "I've heard of you through Master Yen Sid."

"You know of Yen Sid?"

Rael picked up a pebble and tossed it at Sora, hitting him. "Show some respect, Sora."

"That's quite alright," Celestia assured him.

"I was talking about how he addressed his master, not his behavior towards you, Princess Celestia," he clarified.

"Sister, don't you have a message to relay to Sora?" Luna said.

"Right." Celestia then turned to Sora. "We should talk someplace more private." She then turned her head to Luna and they both nodded. Their horns then glowed and then there was a flash. The two princesses have teleported themselves and everybody else away.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—PL—S—K—L—J—W—R—T—FA—J—B—W—BR—MS

In a flash of light, everybody reappeared in Canterlot Castle's throne room. Mysteriously, other than the ones who brought them over by chariot, no guards were around, but Luna explained that that was because since she and Celestia had been outside the palace defending Canterlot alongside them. She then ordered the guards to take away the E.O.D. wielders for medical attention and therapy. As for the tray with the "Elements" they had possessed, that was taken too.

Once that was taken care of and the room vacated of the guards (and the chariot), Celestia then spoke up as she faced Sora. "I am supposed to relay this message to you, Riku, or King Mickey should any of you stop by in Equestria."

"What's the message?" inquired Wizard. (When asked on who King Mickey was, he explained that he was a friend.)

Celestia explained that while whatever quest they were currently in was important, the current threat they were facing was just as dangerous. A group called the Heartless Syndicate, which the group had already ran into two members of, planned to conquer all the worlds using the Unversed. The seven non-natives to Equestria nodded in affirmation to all this.

Twilight and her friends were worried since there was nothing they can do to help them and that it was likely up to Sora and his friends (as well as any other allies beyond Equestria) to prevent Equestria (as well as every world out there) from being conquered. It's not like they doubt they can do it; it's just that the knowledge of a threat out there looming over their world can be very detrimental to one's livelihood.

Chronicle wasn't as worried, though he still was; he plans on informing his father about this (and hope that he'd get in touch with Celestia). While the Story Crew will do everything in its power to stop Interlopers, especially hostile ones, protection is still not a hundred percent guarantee without the possible risk of exposure to their target worlds. While they have measures to resolve that, it's still a major hassle.

"Before we go, there's still one more thing we need to do," Kairi stated. "It's why we came here in the first place." She walked over to Twilight. "Well, it looks like we have to go."

"It's okay, Kairi," the purple unicorn answered.

"At the very least, you guys were around for longer than Terra, Ven, and Aqua," said Spike.

"Don't worry,." assured Sora. "I promise they'll be able to visit Equestria again someday."

"And also, it was fun kicking Unversed butt with you guys!" said Rainbow.

"Will we ever see you again?" asked Fluttershy.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we will," Rael replied.

"Please write to us, or send us a postcard," Rarity requested.

"I'm not sure how we can send messages across worlds…"

"And don't go forgettin' that you're always welcome here in Ponyville," Applejack added.

"And while you're at it, see if you can come back for the Grand Galloping Gala, or The Summer Sun Celebration, or Nightmare Night, or my birthday party, or Twilight's birthday, or Applejack's birthday…" Pinkie rambled.

"And if you ever need any help, we are always ready to listen," finished Twilight.

"Thanks," said Kairi.

Just then, something began to shine brightly. And it was coming from Twilight. There were gasps from everybody except the off-worlders (and Celestia, who just raised her eyebrows).

The same thing was happening somewhere in Kairi's pouch. She 'took' out whatever it was and everyone saw that it was a small ring made out of a clear crystal that could easily fit through a unicorn's horn.

Everybody save the two of them then vanished into the darkness, although they could still see what's going on; they just can't see themselves or each other except for Kairi and Twilight.

Then, just as Kairi summoned her Keyblade, below them appeared the mural as if the darkness hiding it was being purged by a spell. Twilight noted that it was like when she used her memory spell to purify her friends of Discord's spell when he had corrupted them.

Kairi looked down to see that Twilight was the mural's 'main character'. A ring of circles in the edge of the mural depicted her cutie mark, and the miscellaneous circles scattered around her showed her friends, Spike, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the two Princesses. 

Kairi jumped up, where she kept rising at a steady rate. She then turned to the mural, where she stopped moving. Twilight watched her expectantly as she did her thing.

Kairi took out the crystal ring and then 'hurled it at Twilight. As it descended, it spun and increased in size. By the time it reached the Bearer of the Element of Magic, it was big enough for her to pass through the 'hole'…and that's what happened. As the ring landed to the ground, it embedded itself into the mural. A heart shape appeared underneath Twilight, and a keyhole-shape appeared on the spot in front of her.

Kairi 'aimed' her Keyblade at the keyhole and it charged a beam, which was fired. The beam hit the keyhole, then the heart shone, engulfing the two unicorns and the whole mural. When the light faded, they were 'back' with the rest.

"Wh…what just happened, dear?" asked Rarity.

"Well…since you guys already know about the Keyblade, I guess we'll tell you about the Crystal Rings, one of which Kairi just used on Twilight here," Wizard said.

"You see, our current quest involves combating a future threat that's gonna come after the Heartless Syndicate," Rael explained. "We'll need all the Fusils of Shadows, Guns of Light," He presented his own. "…and Keyblades we can get, and the Crystal Rings bestow upon its receiver the power to wield one of them."

"And if I were to guess, most likely it'll be a Keyblade," added Lea.

"A Keyblade?" shouted Pinkie as she suddenly popped out from behind the fire red unicorn. "Now that's cool! When's she gonna get it? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Around a year, at least," answered Wizard. This disappointed Pinkie as she pouted for a second. "But by then, you've probably learned a lot more."

"Don't worry," assured Chronicle. "I'll teach her—and the others—everything I know, starting with self-defense, then combat. Wait. What are Fusils of Shadows?"

"They're like Guns of Light, but with some differences. Unfortunately, we're still don't know much about them."

"Well, is there any way we can help you right now?" Twilight asked us. "Anything at all?"

"Well…" Sora didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, it looked like Rael had an idea. He reached into his bag, and took out a few trinkets that had oblong shapes with icons on them. Attached was a small string too small to wear around the neck and more suited for Spike's hand to hold.

"What about summon charms?" he suggested. "Even though their worlds might not be destroyed, we can still call up for their help with these."

Huh? What do destroyed worlds have to do with summon charms? Chronicle wondered.

"I can help with that," Celestia spoke up.

Rael turned to the Princess. "You can?" She nodded as she then produced something that looked like the charms he took out. However, unlike the ones he held, there was no icon of any sort on it. "Why is it empty?"

"I know of these summon charms you possess; should its holder will it and call their name, whoever the charm calls for will be temporarily teleported to the holder's location to help them out. As for why this charm is empty, it has yet to attune to who it will summon."

"Wait a second, your Majesty," the blue unicorn interrupted. "I think I know where this is going; you're gonna ask one of us to become a summon for Sora and his company?" He was answered with a nod. "Please allow us to discuss things over." And with that, he and his friends huddled and whispered to one another. 

"What is it?" Twilight whispered.

"Given what these visitors are, they use their summons to assist them in battle. That means one of us is going to have to fight or at least give aid on their behalf, regardless of who you're up against. It could be a friend he needs to bring to his senses, it could be a really scary foe, or it could be a deity at or even beyond Discord's level for all we know."

"Are you gonna volunteer? Out of all of us, you're the best when it comes to fighting."

"No. Curiously, one of the terms of my contract—well, one of the rules in my organization actually—says that I cannot engage in binding magical contracts, particularly if the giving party is not from Equestria and especially if I still have a bodyguarding contract. Not certain if by that it means just the country or the world."

"Oh."

"So it's any of the seven of us, right?" asked Pinkie.

"No, I already have two in mind. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle." The former cried out in glee at this. 

"Why them?" Rarity wanted to know.

"Yeah," agreed Applejack. "Why them?"

"As capable as you all are in self-defense, they need someone who can be a great help in a fight. Rarity's got some martial arts sure, but one may never know where they'll turn up, and there's very little chance it would be sanitary." There came a groan from said unicorn. "I know Spike is a dragon, but they're much better fire users. Lea's particularly proficient." A grumble came from the only other male who was Equestria-native. "While I don't doubt what Pinkie Pie can do, I fear she'd be too distracted with everything around her before, during, and after the summon and thus would be less helpful for everybody involved."

Pinkie took offense. "Hey!"

"Sorry, Pinkie, but despite your…abilities, I can't see much use of them without lots of creativity. And with summon time likely being short…" He shook his head. "From what I know about summons, they focus on one skill and help out on just that department. And even if they're random, it at least has one general direction. From what I know of you, you're too random, no offense. Not as good a thing in battle as it is in 'normal' life." At this point, Luna decided she had other matters to attend to and teleported out of the room.

Chronicle then turned to face the other earth pony. "And Applejack, while you certainly have exceptional strength, summons aren't normally called in need of extra muscle, physical anyway, no offense. Again. And most foes are probably too strong for a rope lasso anyway."

"And you don't want me to go because I'm… I'm…" Fluttershy began.

"I'm sorry, but a summon for battle must show no reluctance." Chronicle brought his face close to hers. "We all know just what you're capable of, but no second of hesitation from fear can be spared if you are to help them." He gestured to Sora and company. "I'm not saying they (or we) are gonna hold it against you, but you're gonna be denying this chance to somepony else whose will is less likely to waver."

"I understand."

"So…that means either me or Twilight," Rainbow concluded.

"Yes. One with lots of magical potential, and one with unparalleled speed." In this Equestria, that is, the blue unicorn added mentally. "Only one of you can be selected as summon. Question is, which?"

The two selected ponies turned to face each other, and the two underwent a quick deliberation. In the end, it was decided that the pegasus would be more ideal; Twilight was still a bit prone to panic attacks, and that would be detrimental in a battle. Out of all the girls, Rainbow was the closest thing to a fighter. Well, there was Applejack too, but…

Sora and company had remained silent throughout the entire discussion, just standing there, a few of them feeling awkward. Celestia waited patiently with them. Chronicle finally turned to the Princess and said, "All right. After our little debate, it's been decided that our summon 'candidate' is…Rainbow Dash." Her friends stepped aside as the rainbow-maned mare walked forward, clearly satisfied. Just as she was about to bypass Chronicle, he paused her. 

"You understand the risks, don't you? You don't know when you might be called," he warned. "For all we know, it might be in a time that's most inconvenient to you or your friends."

"That won't be an issue, Chronicle," said Wizard. "While the magic behind summoning is a very complex process, I can tell you this. There is time travel involved for the summoned. The summoning magic looks for a convenient time where the summoned is not busy doing anything important—including sleep—and calls them up at that time. And then—"

"I think I get what you mean. In that case, you have relieved me of my worries." Chronicle then let his friend continue.

"How did you know about all that?" Rael asked Wizard.

"I lent a hand in making your new summon charms and picked up some stuff."

"Oh."

Rainbow walked over to Celestia and lowered her head as if to ready herself for whatever 'ritual' the Princess would have to perform. Celestia 'lowered' the 'empty' charm so that it was just above the pegasus and her horn began to glow brighter. The charm also began to glow as a seal with a pattern of sorts began to appear on the floor underneath it and what it will eventually summon.

In a few seconds, it was over and the light faded. Celestia then 'handed' the summon charm to Rael. As he received it, everyone who could see it saw that the charm's icon was now Rainbow's cutie mark in front of a cyan backdrop.

"Wow," he said as I looked at it. "Thank you, Princess Celestia."

"You're most welcome," she replied.

"Well, it's time we took our leave," said Jerry. He then turned to Wizard, who nodded and opened a pocket of hyperspace in a manner similar to Chronicle's and took out a one-button device, which dropped onto his back.

Rael picked it up, and then motioned for Sora and the others to gather close. Which they literally did, almost snuggling. The two yellow dragons groaned as the crested one put his hand on Jerry's back and the spiny one put his on Sora's mane.

"Be safe," Fluttershy called out.

"I can't guarantee that, Fluttershy," Rael replied. "After all, we'll be fighting enemies all the time, and most probably be fighting for our lives and those important to us."

"But we'll promise we'll try and stay alive," assured Sora.

"Can we please leave now?" interrupted Lea. "You're making me want to act all sappy."

"All right. All right," Rael said, then turned to the natives. "Well, goodbye."

"Goodbye!", they all chorused. Rael pushed the button and he and the rest of the off-worlders were gone in a flash. 

"…Wow." Chronicle gave a breathless sigh. "Today was really… eventful. I still plan on going through what I said earlier. We're lucky to have a town with a community of martial artists AND the addition of Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy. Having a weapons dealer also helps a bit."

"You all look tired from what you did today," Celestia then said. A few seconds later, presumably called in via an unknown spell, a few royal guards entered the room. "These guards will escort you to bed."

"You mean, we get to sleep here for the night?!" Pinkie and Rarity squealed.

"Yes."

Both of them cried out in joy.

"Now off to bed, all of you."

"Thank you, Princess," Twilight said before they left, the guards escorting them.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—PC—S—K—L—J—W—R—T

Back in the cosmos above Equestria Prime…

The still-invisible Record Keeper and Faust watched as the GUMI-Type vessel passed through the time portal, then the former completed the spell to close it the second Faust said they were through.

Once that was done, Record gave a sigh of relief as he and she cancelled their invisibility spells. "Whew! Glad that's over with."

"As am I," agreed Faust as they both faced. "What do you plan on doing now?"

"Talk with my son in the dreamscape. But before that, I'll have a word with Princess Celestia Prime."

"Don't you mean Celestia Alpha?"

"Celestia Alpha is from the Equestria my wife is assigned to."

"I see. Why did you designate this world as Prime, anyway?"

"I'm not allowed to divulge that information other than the words 'Heart World'."

"…I see. You sure have a heavy burden on your shoulders here."

"Yeah. It's a tough job, but I also do it for my family, not just the story Crew." He looked around, seeing nothing but the stars, the planet, and Faust, then said, "I best get back if I'm to talk to 'her'."

"All right, Record." And with that, the two alicorns made to return to Hub Equestria.
> Extra-Special Chapter 2: Lost Recap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Extra-Special Chapter 2: Lost Recap

While his friends were having a nice morning walk in Canterlot, Chronicle was still asleep, still being a late riser like before. Especially since he slept late due to…yesterday's events.

In the dreamscape, he was attempting to meditate when a certain male alicorn appeared in front of him and addressed him by name.

"Father!" Chronicle gasped.

"Hello, son," Record Keeper replied. "I trust the…incident went well?"

"Yes. Although one of them has a Summon's Contract now. One of the 'visitors' assured me that time travel was involved so it wouldn't call her at a most inconvenient moment."

"I'll be the judge of that. Who's the one with the Contract?"

"Rainbow Dash."

"Okay. I'd like a summary of the incident."

"All right. I was at the training range when you notified me of the arrival of the Interloping SWORD-K wielders and their allies via their GUMI-Type vessel. You told me they were likely to touch down near the Everfree Forest. Twilight Sparkle happened to be close by, so I…notified her."

Record did not admonish him for doing this; Twilight, as well as the rest of her friends, knew of Surveillance. Thankfully, all they knew about it was that it was an prototype device Chronicle used to keep an eye on his charges. The reality was that Surveillance was a standard issue gadget for Story Crew Field Operatives, made for keeping an eye on their targets without actually being near them.

"She met them, and I instructed her not to reveal that she knows, which became important when the AN-8178s appeared. After the little skirmish, she took them to Ponyville. Coincidentally, Pinkie Pie spotted them and started preparing what she does best. Meanwhile, I decided to invite my friends and anypony along the way. Spike was told too, naturally. As we did that, Twilight stalled the newcomers (which I will henceforth call Sora's group, since that's their leader's name) with a tour of Ponyville."

"That sounds risky," commented Record. "What if 'Sora' was a bad guy? That would've been free intel."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess Twilight was still learning more social stuff. Anyway, during the surprise party, we did what was usual for such parties, and we both (parties) introduced ourselves." 

Chronicle took out his Surveillance and showed it to Record. While he claimed that nothing short of a "world-hop" can cut off Surveillance's cameras with the main device itself (the monitor), the portal mirrors for some reason do not count. He did have to 'set' new cameras to the Cutie Mark Crusaders after his and his friends' world-hop to Solaris Equestria; all that has been recorded is thankfully 'saved' in the main Surveillance device. 

From his son's Surveillance, Record saw that the visiting group consisted of five ponies (two earth, two unicorns, and one pegasus) and two dragons. Sora, the team's 'leader', was a black earth pony. There was only one female in the group, and her name was Kairi, and she was a pink unicorn. Both of them were SWORD-K wielders. 

The other earth pony was a white one named Wizard, and possessed a weapon the Story Crew designated as a G-HIKARI). Wizard wielded this thanks to it floating and shooting by his will. The other unicorn was a red one named Lea and used twin chakrams. The sole pegasus of the group was a purple one named Jerry and was what the Story Crew designated as a "4CE-USR-666".

The two dragons didn't look like the kind that were native to Equestria, but from another "target world" called Neopia (which did not have any Field Operatives). They were of different kinds, yet they had generally similar bipedal forms. Also, out of all the visitors, only one of them did not have a certain aura that usually tells the Story Crew that they have transformed to 'fit' the world they visit. That one dragon was named Tychophon. The other, Rael, also wielded a G-HIKARI, and there was something especially particular about him, not that it mattered here.

Record watched the progress of the party, then the part where Twilight and her friends led them to the library where they spilled the fact that they knew that Sora and company were off-worlders. During that time, while they talked about the time the trio of SWORD-K wielders visited Equestria, Chronicle had been communicating with his father discreetly at the training range. Record at that time was standing by for Sora's group's GUMI-Type to cross the time portal he had been about to close before it went through.

"Okay," the alicorn said as he returned his son's Surveillance to him. "Continue at the part where you finished conversing with me there and rejoined your friends."

"All right," Chronicle replied, then continued. "After I talked with you on what I should do, not to mention the good news that we'll be able to reach Blue Diary again soon, I went in, and the subject eventually changed from talking about the SWORD-K wielder trio to Discord for some reason, then to the Elements of Harmony. And then, Mayor Mare came in with the news that blue monsters were attacking the town. We went out, and found—apart from said blue monsters—six mares who apparently bore the Elements of Discord, which I supposed was one of many of his contingency plans."

"Oh yes," Record said. "Celestia told me about them. After I…convinced her to spill."

"Dad, I know you and Mom are happy together, but I don't want to hear you speaking like you just did…something inap—"

"All right, all right. I asked her to tell me after I found out that Prince Solaris isn't the only one she's in contact with aside from me. During the 'incident', you told me she knows the great magus Yen Sid, and I confirmed it. Anyway, here're the profiles of the Elements of Discord." Out of hammerspace came six folders, which the alicorn 'passed' to the unicorn. Chronicle didn't open them yet and decided to continue with his summary.

"As we saw those six mares, they decided to split up. That's when I remembered the elemental crystals I once bought after the first time you talked with Princess Celestia. I got them as a precaution after Discord. Then, we decided to split up to stop the attacking AN-8178s. Along the way, we encountered and defeated plenty of those monsters. Thankfully, my friends weren't as hesitant in getting rid of them after a little talk with them concerning the principles of magical extensions of selves, which the AN-8178s and my magical clones have in common. Of course, Fluttershy still had a few issues, being pacifistic and all.

"And then, after a few hours of fighting, each of the Spirits of Harmony received strange signs that told them to gather somewhere, which was the long path from Ponyville to Canterlot, which by the way had been attacked as well (the city, not the path). We met with the six wielders of the Elements of Discord, and we got into two( or three)-on-ones. They all proved to be quite difficult—"

"Chronicle, read the documents I gave you, now," Record ordered. "It'd be best to do that before you talk any further."

"All right." He then opened the first folder and read its contents.

Midnight Shadow, who wielded the Element of Curse, which was the antithesis of the Element of Magic, was a dropout from Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns after she was caught (successfully) learning dark-elemental magic. That wouldn't have been bad in itself were it not for the fact that she intended to use this for evil intentions. She soon found herself wandering Equestria, doing odd jobs until Discord's release. He gave her the Elements and orders to find the other wielders if he should ever fall. The Elements of Discord had granted them various powers; they granted Midnight further knowledge on dark-elemental spells and combat magic. 

Fungus Amongus, who wielded the Element of Deceit, counterpart of the Element of Honesty, once worked in a mushroom harvesting business, but her illegitimate business ethics and penchant for deception soon led to her losing the job. Even before she got hold of her "Element", she already had the ability to spawn mushrooms at will thanks to reading from an unknown "-nomicon" tome; the Element just allowed her to make her "mushroomspawn" move at her command. In further contrast to Applejack, Fungus had the stamina of an average unicorn; therefore, she got tired quite easily in physical terms.

Warmonger had wielded the Element of Malice, the antithesis of Kindness. She had been drafted to join the Canterlot Royal Guard after her cutie mark appeared, but her unchecked and uncontrollable lust for violence resulted in her expulsion and she would've been imprisoned too had she not managed to escape. She spent some time as a thief and in fact had confronted the Spirits of Harmony before; during their trip to peacefully evict Basil the mountain near Ponyville. She was already earth pony-strong, but her Element made her even stronger. 

Jewel had the Element of Avarice, opposite to Generosity. Prior to acquiring her Element, she was just a spoiled Canterlot snob whose father was a corrupt corporate executive. Fortunately for Canterlot, it wasn't large enough to be a big enough influence. During Discord's rampage, he found her as a prospective 'candidate' and tempted her black heart with three special magic gems that allowed her to manipulate the earth to her bidding and shoot beams. She was more of a neat freak than Rarity, but she doesn't break down when dirty enough but instead goes on a rampage on the one responsible; surprisingly, she wasn't a physical pushover, although where and how she trained her body is unknown.

Bluebird was the wielder of the Element of Despair, the dark counterpart to Laughter. A lonely blank-flank, she had been shunned and teased her whole life. Unlike Apple Bloom, who had found friends in Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and together formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she was unapproachable and nopony helped her. It didn't help that she was an orphan. The only reason she even stayed alive at all while remaining a lonely pony is because of a "friend" named Black Rainbow, who for some reason found her…interesting. Bluebird's Element gave her a defensive aura that 'reflected' any and all damage inflicted on her. It also granted her the ability to enlarge herself when sufficiently irritated. Even without the Element, her mane is "expressive" just like Pinkie Pie's.

Speaking of Black Rainbow, she bore the Element of Betrayal, the reverse of Loyalty. She was a former Cloudsdalean, and a former "Transporter". After breaking one of its rules ("3. Never open the package.") and taking its contents for herself, she became a world-traveling thief. During that time, she joined a multitude of thieves guilds (and guilds not exclusively for thieves)…and has been thrown out of each of them because of her penchant for betraying her allies to their capture/death/whatever to save her skin or take all the credit/reward for herself. The only one she never betrayed however was a pony named Bluebird, whom she deemed "interesting". Her talent for speed came from her making deliveries…and fleeing her pursuers. Out of all the Elements of Discord, hers did not bestow on her any extra powers/abilities.

Bluebird and Black Rainbow were the only ones who have…a history with each other before Discord's fall and Midnight gathered all the Wielders together. Their relationship was strange and one-sided. Bluebird would be given her "life essentials" by Black, but the blank flank would ignore her. Black was seemingly okay with this though.

Once Chronicle was finished reading, he returned the documents to Record, then continued, "Typically, the Spirits of Harmony faced off against their dark counterparts as we were teleported to various locations. Spike and Kairi joined Twilight, Tychophon and Rael were with Applejack, Wizard and I assisted Pinkie, Lea got involved with the two Rainbows, Jerry was with Rarity, and I had to count on Sora to protect Fluttershy.

"Each battle had been hard. Midnight and Twilight had been engaged in a violent magic duel, and even with Kairi and Spike to assist, the dark-user was almost wiping the floor with them. Both Rainbows were nearly evenly matched, but Dash also had the extra burden of keeping Black off of the 'helpless' Lea. Sora was getting trounced by Warmonger. Wizard and I were trying to find a way to get around Bluebird's 'shield'. Jerry had to keep Rarity safe from Jewel's 'crystal rampage'. And Fungus was toying with Applejack and her allies.

"Soon, the tides thankfully turned to our favor. Fluttershy's anger soon sparked and she began counterattacking in Sora's behalf at Warmonger. Jerry ended up crashing during his flight…and kicked up dust that irritated Jewel enough to break her concentration. Wizard, Pinkie, and I eventually discovered that in some cases, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony weaken their Discord counterparts, especially if it is its opposite; for example, having the party pony sticking close to Bluebird nullified her 'damage reflector', although we then faced a new problem in the form of her…supersizing. The only definite cases of those though were just this and Warmonger's.

During the fight, Lea found an opening after both Rainbows ended up rolling on the ground and used it to his advantage. Sora, Kairi, Wizard, and Rael seemed to get their second wind and turned the battle further in their favor. Eventually, we managed to win at little cost to ourselves, although it almost seemed we killed them, which was a serious blow to my friends.

"Thankfully, Princesses Celestia and Luna arrived, both to greet the visitors and (seeing them crying) comfort my friends. Once that was done, as well as extracting the Elements of Discord from its wielders (the items in question were five simple pendants and one black circlet), we were all teleported to Canterlot Castle's Throne Room. There, she told the visitors she got a message from Yen Sid. After relaying it, the visitors began their farewell. Just then, something from inside Twilight began to shine, and so did something in Kairi's personal items. It seemed to be a ritual of sorts that would grant her something in the future."

"What is this weapon likely to be?" Record asked.

"According to Rael, Twilight will get what the Story Crew designates as a SWORD-K, a G-HIKARI, or an F-YAMI. And Lea says her getting a SWORD-K is more likely however, not in his own words of course. Twilight then asked if there was any way they could help now, and that's when Rael took out the trinket that led to the Summon's Contract.

"I couldn't make them refuse, not with them eager to try and aid Sora's group in their quest however possible, not without refusing the Princess, who was agreeing with this deal. I've turned her down a few times before on a few things without much trouble, but this…I just felt bad being the only one who didn't want to 'contribute in saving the world'. So, I decided that if one of them was going to be the summon, it would be the one who's most capable of fighting, barring myself because of the Story Crew's rules imposed on a Field Operative like me. I underwent a quick mental analysis on my friends' skills and who would be most useful. In the end…"

"You told me in the beginning. It was Rainbow Dash."

"Yes. Only after that did they go on their way. Celestia offered us to sleep here for the night. But as we did that, I also sent a clone to inquire on the status of the Royal Guard's captain. I also saw that Twilight seemed a bit more worried than usual as we went to bed." Record was about to say something when he was cut off by his son. "Please, don't 'spoil' it for me, Dad. I'm not gonna assume he and Twilight are relatives. I mean, in Luna Equestria, Ditzy Doo and Amethyst Star are only related by proxy, the former having had an affair with a stallion and the latter being his legitimate daughter. Also there, Berry Punch and Cheerilee are siblings. Those are not the case here."

"All right." Record then dismissed the documents. "Just so you know, after their therapy, the wielders of the Elements of Discord will be returned to society. Their memories of what they did will remain, but the higher-ups in the Story Crew feel that this incident is very…disruptive."

"Disruptive?" 'Disruptive' in the Story Crew meant that a world's "story" might turn 'inadequate' because of an off-world source, just like the case with the Shisno siblings in the world "Four Nations" (not all Shisnos had this penchant though, and everybody was aware that the word meant something extremely insulting). 'Disruptive' events like this SWORD-K wielder visit.

"Yes. Disruptive. You know what that means, right?"

Chronicle grumbled at this. "Ugh. It means a mass-memory modification is in order?"

"That's right."

(Apart from 'recording tales', The Story Crew also specialized in memory modification; they were more refined in it that just simple memory wipes though. They preferred 'memory locking', where the subject does remember what has happened, but the 'locks' prevent it from being recalled. A legendary team in the Story Crew was able to refine the technique so that it wouldn't cause mental trauma for those who try to remember and instead are just coerced not to divulge what they know. If multiple subjects have a memory of a blocked event and they all know they all know the event, they will still remember it, but not mention it in the presence of those not in the know.)

The higher-ups of the Story Crew are extremely enigmatic in their decisions, apart from 'the Book Troop must be stopped, but we have to adhere to the rules'. Despite this supposedly feeding plenty of fuel for doubts, Record Keeper and his family did not question them; they knew what they were doing, and they did not necessarily enjoy it, which helped them from abusing it. It would be very difficult for an outsider to understand and it was difficult for its members to provide a satisfactory explanation. That was why they preferred that outsiders do not know of it (although their 'catalyst' is doing their best to explain).

Chronicle gave a deep sigh. "So the…AN-8178 incident is to be forgotten?"

"To a degree, but these Elements of Discord… they're too important a memory to repress without severe consequences. So I've come up with some sort of…compromise." And with that Record began to explain. 

Memories concerning the AN-8178s will be replaced with memories of 'mysterious blue monsters'. Sora and company will be remembered not as off-world visitors, but as travelers from a faraway land yet still in Equestria. Their talk about knowing the previous three off-worlder visitors from months ago (as well as memories concerning those three) will also be remembered likewise.

Only the Spirits of Harmony, Spike, and the Princesses (as well as the former wielders of the Elements of Discord) will still know the truth, but their memories of it would be locked; they will subconsciously never bring up the real incident (in a way that might trigger the memories of those who no longer remember) in the presence of those who don't know.

"I guess that's for the best. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Yes. Your sister and your younger brother have been visited by similar SWORD-K wielders and their allies. They also came in via GUMI-Type vessels, and the residents there have underwent similar circumstances like you. Except for Blue Diary, who did not face any Elements of Discord in the end. Rather, it was just a large AN-8178. We still can't contact him right now however."

"That's too bad."

"Fortunately, we should be able to reach him again in a few weeks."

This disappointed Chronicle. "That long?"

"Yes. One, if we're lucky, but then it will start re-syncing as a result of the time-flux in his Equestria."

"Darn."

"Well, anything more you like to ask or tell me?"

"Nothing. That will be all, Father."
> (NOT) Ponyville Confidential
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 6: Chronicle's Birthday Party

Last year, Chronicle celebrated his birthday in Hub Equestria with his family. The year before that, it was the same deal. This year however was going to be different, partly because Pinkie Pie had convinced him with much puppy-dog eyes to promise to attend it here. And at the day before his birthday, she made him Pinkie Promise not to use Surveillance for the next twenty-four hours.

Today, it was his birthday, although the party wasn't until later this afternoon. Right now, he was walking with Skyla through the Everfree Forest to the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. He knew that this was just a means of running interference, but at least it allowed for some more getting-to-know-each-other time. 

It was a bit ridiculous however when he was joined by Tasty Snack, Graphite (whom he hasn't seen in a while and was carrying a pair of saddlebags), and Big Macintosh. The sole pegasus in the party was at the lead. They all knew whose birthday it was today; this trip was just to kill some time. And some of them had other personal reasons for coming along.

"So, Skyla. Where exactly are we going?"

"I bet you haven't been there before!" she said excitedly. "Mystic Shield and I, as well as some of his class, bypassed that place during their field trip."

"During which those blue monsters attacked Ponyville?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," groaned Tasty. "My sister had quite a field day in selling armor the day after."

"And I was able to sell quite a bit too in weapons," said Graphite as he faced Chronicle. "You haven't been visiting me lately, by the way."

"Sorry, Graphite."

"Eh, it's okay. Your weapon is your own spell. If only I were one of those who can forge special rings to bestow specific classical elements…"

"You know, I've seen such things in the black market."

"Hold on a second! You go to such…"

"Yes. I'm not above such measures when it comes to getting what I need. Of course, I make certain it won't come back to bite me in the tail when I least expect it." He then turned to face Skyla again. "As I was saying, where exactly are we going?"

"We're headed to an old castle. It's rumored that the two Princesses once lived there."

"Oh, that place? Been there already."

This seemed to surprise her. "Really?!"

"Yeah. Found the Elements of Harmony there."

"!—" She tried to figure out what he meant, then started trying to jog her memory.

As she did that, Chronicle turned to the largest pony in the group. "Hey, Macintosh. Why are you here? Don't you have work to do in the farm?"

"Nnnope. All done."

"I find that hard to believe. As far as I can remember, your family doesn't accept hired help in your farm, even though I see Caramel come over sometimes. But your business with him is none of mine."

There was no reaction whatsoever to that statement. "…Applejack insisted I come with you."

"Why? She should know I'm capable of defending myself and these guys. I am a bodyguard, after all."

"It's not that. She says I need to…"

"Get to know me more?"

"Find out why you don't like her that much."

Chronicle stopped walking just as they reached a clearing—the same one where he and his friends confronted the manticore more than a year ago. "Really. She said that, Macintosh?"

"Eeyup."

"Huh. I figured she'd find out by herself." He took a deep breath, noticing Graphite make small talk with Tasty about her sister. "It's just that among the stupid things my friends sometimes do, she has the record for the worst, no offense to her. Still, I'd follow her lead in a heartbeat when her plan's good, and she's a very reliable pony."

Macintosh just nodded before the party resumed walking. "By the way…"

"Yes, Macintosh?"

"Why do you keep calling me that? Why not Big Mac? Everypony calls me that."

"No. No, no, no, no, no. I am never gonna call you that, okay?"

"Why not?"

"A year ago, I was once hired as a bodyguard for a griffon. At that point, I had such a reputation even non-ponies sought my services."

"What was this griffon like?" cut in Graphite.

"It's rude to just interrupt, but I'll continue anyway. Unfortunately, I am not obliged to confer the details to just whoever I like. Ahem. Every day, this griffon always goes to McDonner's, a fast food chain in the Griffon Kingdom. He never stops talking about and eating burgers called Big Macs every hour on the hour while there. Now, whenever I hear 'Big Mac', it just reminds me how annoying he was. So you can guess why I don't want to call you that, right?"

Macintosh remained silent for a moment before replying, "…Eeyup."

Right after that, Skyla finally realized what Chronicle had been getting to earlier. "D'oh! I'm such a dunce!"


C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S

After crossing the river Steven Magnet lived in (and greeting said river serpent [a sea serpent would be in the sea]), the group reached the bridge that separated the rest of the forest from the castle. One by one, they crossed it, and soon entered the castle, beginning at the 'room' where the Elements of Harmony were first seen for a thousand years. They bypassed that and made their way straight into the castle courtyard. It was marked by banners that depicted the two winged unicorn sisters—blue with moon for Princess Luna on the left, yellow with sun for Celestia on the right.

"So…since you've evidently been here before," the sole pegasus in the group began. "Where would you like to start?"

"To tell the truth, my friends and I haven't been here long," Chronicle confessed. "The only rooms I remember are the first one we entered, and then a room in one of the towers. Twilight Sparkle and I got teleported, the rest probably knew a bit more, but since we were in a race against Nightmare Moon, they weren't exactly sightseeing."

"Should we split up in groups?" suggested Tasty. She was answered with a shake of the head from their de facto leader.

"Nu-uh. From my experience, ruins are rife with booby traps. It would be unwise."

"Okay."

"Could we look for the castle armory?" asked Graphite. "I wanna see what weapons they got and if I can restore them or smelt them down for scrap metal."

"Do you really think there'd be any left after a millennium of rust and rot?" retorted the earth pony mare.

"Maybe. Where do you suggest we go?"

"Who cares?" said Skyla. "We're gonna go exploring either way!"

"Lucky it isn't star spider season today," muttered Tasty. "I'm scared of spiders."


C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S

"I'll have to say that this tapestry still looks great even after a thousand years," commented the sole pegasus.

The group of five stood very close to a battered Luna tapestry hanging on a wall elsewhere in the castle. 

"We better not disturb it. Who knows if it might fall apart at the slightest touch?"

"I don't know." The ghost white pony went to the center and tapped the tapestry at the center. "Looks pretty sturdy to me." To her surprise, a decidedly un-tapestry-like creaking noise emanated from it. "Uh oh."

"What's happening?" gasped Graphite.

After a few moments, the entire section of wall suddenly rotated 180 degrees on a vertical pivot through its center, whisking all five ponies around it and to the other side.

Everypony gave a harsh look at the one who had triggered the mechanism. Just how do these things still operate even after such a long time of neglect? Chronicle thought to himself.

"At least we're all still together?" said Skyla sheepishly.

While still frowning, Macintosh replied, "Eeyup."


C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S

A trapdoor opened in the middle of a hallway. Thankfully, nopony fell in since nopony was on it. Well, one did fall in but it was just a magical clone. Chronicle had dispatched one just in case and to find out just what's beneath.

"Good call," commented Macintosh.

Skyla stood a long way ahead of them, looking at her companions at the other side as they then approached her, going around the trapdoor.

"When you've traveled the world and experienced all sorts of things, you're bound to be savvy enough to anticipate much of them," Chronicle said as they caught up with Skyla and continued traveling. "That, and I read a couple of Daring Do books in my free time."

"You read the series?" asked Tasty. "Me too!"

"It's an engaging adventure series. Not all of my reading is on learning spells, you know."

"We never assumed that."

"I know that."

(A/N: Just as Chronicle 'follows' the story the 'main show' is about sans these extras, one of his cousins is assigned to follow Daring Do's 'tales' and is likely her traveling companion who wishes to be written out by the author.)

The five of them reached a doorway to the left. Through it was a long staircase that spiraled its way down the inside wall of a very high tower. The group hadn't realized that they had reached such a high floor during their exploration.

"Down?" asked Skyla.

There was an unanimous agreement. "Grr, an anonymous source tipped me that a rare forging material can be found in this castle," grumbled Graphite as they descended the staircase. Well, Skyla just descended via her own wing-power.

"What kind of material?" asked Tasty. "Plan on having my sister make something for you? If I remember correctly, you only sell weapons. It's my sister who's the forger, and even then she doesn't normally make weapons; just armor and shields."

"I thought it was about time we made a collaboration. Build up stuff for a better self-defense effort. Ever since those blue monsters attacked. I mean, the martial arts community, Mystic Shield's school, and the local police force is good, and I think I also heard a rumor of the Mayor taking after her father, who was also a wrestler before becoming Mayor as well of a different city, but… What I'm trying to say is the town needs to be better prepared for attacks. We can't keep holding out for heroes all the time. We live next to the Everfree Forest, for Celestia's sake."

"But didn't you say that the monsters there rarely ever leave the forest?" asked Chronicle.

"I know, but rarely doesn't mean not at all. After all, with the Ursa Minor incident…"

"Wasn't that because two dimwitted colts had the bright idea of luring it over to Ponyville?" said Skyla.

"I know that. I know we have no need for walls, but if that's the case, then at least its defenders must be prepared enough."

"Could you give us any more details about this collaboration?"

"Well, I'm thinking on talking with the Martial Arts Group first. Blades and bludgeons aren't the only things I have for sale. I got staffs, kali sticks, armored shoes, sorry I can't think up of much."

"I'll tell Mystic Shield about this and see what I can do," offered the mare-faced stallion.

"Thanks, Chronicle."

At that time, they reached the bottom of the staircase and found themselves facing a hallway full of…disembodied pony legs. These legs were pointing upward at an angle, the hooves bent downward, and each had a bracket attached to hold an extinguished torch.

"Okay. This is extremely disturbing," remarked Skyla as they stared into the darkness ahead.

"Eeyup," concurred Macintosh as they cautiously walked down the hall. Graphite cast an illumination spell, flaring his horn to shed some light. Chronicle could've done the spell as well, but only he has a weapon that can be brought up at a moment's notice and has range. Graphite hasn't attended any of Mystic Shield's classes.

"Everypony stay vigilant," warned Chronicle. "One can never know what could be creeping in these halls."

Suddenly, as they walked, something made contact with Tasty's body, making her freeze in fright. "Guys, are any of you touching me?"

"Nnnope."

"Nu-uh."

"I'm way over here."

"Uh-uh."

Tasty looked down to see a hoof stretched across her shoulders. It was a deep shade of blue, and it extended from a hole in the wall. She yelled in fear and surprise, throwing off the interloping limb… which dissipated in sparks and caused Chronicle to twitch for a bit.

"Huh," he said. "Looks like my clone fell into an oubliette and found a hole leading to here."

"How do you know that?" asked Skyla as the earth pony mare hid behind Macintosh.

"Because that was my clone that had touched Tasty Snack. I know 'cause when it dissipated from her panicking, its memories returned to me. Still, it's best we leave this hallway as quickly as possible."

All of a sudden, a melancholy minor melody from a pipe organ began to play. This made everypony's fur stand on end, even Chronicle as he went on high alert.

"Something tells me we're not alone in this castle," said Graphite.

"You think?" snarked Chronicle.

"We'd better find that rare material as soon as possible. I don't think we have a very good reason for staying here any longer than we have to, right?"

"R-right." agreed Skyla. "But let's not hurry. We could get lost, and that would take much more time. There aren't many who would come to help us, given what the Everfree Forest is known for." The reality was that Pinkie Pie and the others still needed a little more time to prepare the party. If they went back now, Even when factoring in the time it would take for them to return to Ponyville, it would be too soon. 


C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S

Much later…

The group finally managed to locate the armory, but it was nearly empty. Only a few spears remained, and their shafts had already been eaten by termites. There were two books that miraculously survived the times. That, or their pages have a spell on them that protects them from rotting. I'm gonna have to ask Twilight about this. 

The first book was merely a log for the guards that were once stationed here. "Well, look at the bright side," Tasty told a disappointed Graphite. "This is an archaeological find."

The second book however had directions leading to said rare material. And they were close by.

The five ponies soon found themselves at one end of a hallway lined with pony suits of full plate armor. "Graphite, do you have a spell that can detect heat signatures?" asked Chronicle.

"No. I'm a weapons dealer. I have no need for such a spell." Since the hallway was dark, he was illuminating it.

"Okay. Stay close everypony, and stay alert. They probably won't come to life anytime soon, but I'm not taking any chances. And don't stand on where the armor suits stand. We saw those flipping walls, there's no telling those could too." As if on cue, the pipe organ played again and one of the platforms whirled toward the wall. Thankfully, nopony was standing on it. "We'd better hurry and find that rare material, then we get out of here no questions asked. And if we ever find the room with that organ, leave its player to me."

At that moment, the organ player decided to stop testing notes and go for a full song. The platforms holding the armors went wild. Immediately, everypony ran, but remained close.

"Graphite, where's this rare material?" Chronicle asked him. "Tarrying here is becoming more and more of a bad idea, and it's my birthday today! I'm not gonna let Pinkie Pie's efforts go to waste."

"It's over here!" He showed him the book's instructions.

"There? Okay, let's go!"

The group managed to make it back to a better-lit and wider hallway…where they'll have to watch out for trapdoors. As extra precaution, Chronicle conjured barriers on the floor for them to step on. Eventually, they made it back to the courtyard, where for some reason the music was louder.

"Hey, I feel we're getting close to the organ," pointed out Skyla.

"Normally, I'd go for it, but not with you guys," Chronicle argued. "I like you all, but we're not that close. And I'm not confident with us right now. Maybe next time. It's not like it's the end of the world if we don't stop that organ, right?"

"I guess not."

"Then let's find what Graphite's looking for, and then get out of here."

Luckily for the group, the place Graphite's rare material was was accessible from outside the castle. It had been stashed at the bottom of the tower where he and Twilight had confronted Nightmare Moon and where they and their friends activated the Elements of Harmony. They reached the tower and located a door. Graphite opened it, cast an illumination spell, and everypony save Skyla went in, the pegasus opting to keep watch.

A minute later, the music was still playing by the time Graphite and the others got out, each with two ingots of the rare material, which were quickly put in the weapons dealer's saddlebags. Chronicle couldn't figure out its name, only that it was yellow in color yet it wasn't gold.

"Got it! Let's get outta here!"

With that, the party of five hightailed it out of the castle, but their leader decided to summon a couple of magical clones and had them investigate the castle without the knowledge of his companions. The organ music continued to play behind them as they fled.


C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S—C—BM—G—TS—S

The group was finally out of the Everfree Forest and Ponyville was in their sights.

"I failed them," lamented Skyla. "It was supposed to be just a simple exploration of the castle. But it turned into a fetch quest for Graphite."

"Which I didn't intend it to be, but I'm thankful for it regardless," said the weapons dealer.

"It was still an interesting trek, am I right?" Tasty asked Macintosh.

"Eeyup." He the looked up at the sky. "Hmm. Afternoon. Isn't it—"

"Oh right!" said the birthday boy. "Now where is it again?"

"I'll take us there." said Skyla. "My present should already be at the venue."

"I'll catch up," Graphite told them as he left. "Gotta drop these off."

Tasty stayed. "My sister should be there. She has ours."

Macintosh turned to leave. "Sorry. Applejack has our gift. We can't all come unfortunately."

"That's all right," Chronicle told the large stallion. "I'm not much of a materialist."

Less than a minute later, the two mares and one stallion were in front of Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns. They opened the doors, and then walked into the darkness ahead. The doors then closed thanks to an enchantment by Mystic Shield… after which the lights were opened.

"SURPRISE!"

Once the lights were on, what he saw put a smile on his face. His friends were here in front of him, not just the Spirits of Harmony (and Spike), but Mystic Shield as well, among the couple dozen ponies that were invited to the party. As promised by Pinkie Pie, the party was P3-themed. The banners were colored in pink, aqua, and green, the three colors of its main members. The balloons were shaped in the form of pearls, seashells, and all sorts of undersea creatures that balloons can be formed into; it was P3's prominent theme. Posters of its members were also present, likely owned by Mystic. 

Of course, there was also a table full of food, complete with a birthday cake, which was designed to look like a seaside stage, and it had figurines resembling the three members of P3.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everypony chorused.

"Wow!" exclaimed Chronicle. "This is a better party than my family ever managed to plan! But…" He noticed something missing. "Where's the music? I was hoping for at least a vinyl record."

"Silly!" said Pinkie. "Why settle for just a record…" She pointed at the door leading to Mystic's quarters, which opened and what came out made Chronicle drop his jaw. "…if you can have the real deal?"

The first pony he saw come out the door was a light blue pegasus, and recognized her to be Sound Wave, whom he had dressed up as during his first Nightmare Night in Ponyville. Her hair was the same shade of blue as Chronicle's own coat, very wavy, and had a cross-shaped barrette on her mane. Her eyes were blue, and her cutie mark depicted a surfing musical note.

The second one was a (fuchsia) pink earth pony, P3's leader Sealight Glisten. Her hair was blonde, though a shade darker than Applejack's, and was short, her mane kept in place by two hair ribbons on either side. Her eyes were also blue, and her cutie mark depicted a lighthouse, which she said represents a beacon of hope.

The third pony was a light green unicorn. Her hair was of a darker shade than her coat, and was kept straight and long (both mane and tail). Her eyes were green like her coat, and her cutie mark was a trio of jasmine flowers. Her attitude didn't imply outright gentleness though. In fact, she seemed like the cold sort, although 'defrosting'.

All three of them winged sea shell necklaces colored in their respective coat colors. (Mystic Shield had missed that particular detail and Chronicle had neglected it in his Nightmare Night costume.)

After being at a loss of words for a while, Chronicle was finally able to speak again as the trio stood at the side of the room, where they came from, which seemed to have been cleared as if a stage was to be set there.
"Pinkie Pie… How…" He knew she was capable of doing impossible things, but this was just ridiculous. Just how would she be able to get these idol singers to come just for one pony's birthday party, while making certain they didn't have anything else scheduled?

"Somehow, without even knowing much of who we are, your friend here delivered a message to us," Sealight explained, her voice implying her as a young mare who insists in seeing the world in a positive light. "Of course, we were a bit skeptical. After all, we aren't exactly hired for birthday parties. But when she told us who it was for, Nicole Seacrest and I immediately accepted."

"Nicole Seacrest is their manager," Mystic told everybody else. "And Sealight's mentor."

"We never got the chance to properly thank you for saving us back then, Chronicle," said Sound. Chronicle's impression of her voice when he had cosplayed as her was spot on; high and perky. "Well, not the others, anyway."

"Wait a second," interrupted Spike. "Who did you save them from?"

"That pony was you?" asked Rarity. This made the others turn to face her. "I was there at that performance they mentioned."

"Huh. To think I was in the same place as a future friend of mine," said Chronicle. "Not counting Canterlot." When Twilight Sparkle was nothing but Princess Celestia's student. "And I never went to Ponyville until that fateful day." He thought it unnecessary to tell the P3 about the Elements of Harmony, and in turn spend some more time explaining "Else Pinkie Pie would've recognized me."

"What exactly happened there?" said party planner asked the trio. "Sounds like an interesting story! We've seen Chronicle do awesome things, but we'd like to hear similar tales from others. Know what other ponies thought of him." Her friends didn't actually agree with this, but were interested regardless.

"I guess we can spare some time for that," said Jasmine. She sounded older and more mature than either of her companions. "Although we can't consider it one of our gifts since he was there."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


At the seaside stage, the three main singers were facing the crowd that had gathered to watch them sing. Sealight was on center stage, with Sound and Jasmine at either side. Behind them was their band, the Merpony Melody. Back then, that consisted of lead guitarist Firm Riff, bassist Mild Strum, and drummer Soft Beat.

"Thank you all for waiting, everypony!" Sound greeted. "This is the P3's second Seaside Live Concert!"

The audience gave a long and loud round of applause.

"Quick question," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "What does P3 mean, anyway?"

"It was meant to be Pitchi Perfect Ponies, but we changed it to its current title because we didn't want to get sued," explained Sound in a somewhat annoyed manner.

All of a sudden, a rumbling came from the sea. And then a sea serpent made out of water surfaced. Some of the audience weren't as scared of this as they should, as P3 sometimes hired stage magicians who specialized in water tricks.

(On an unrelated note, Trixie was not among those hired stage magicians, as she preferred fireworks and hogging the spotlight.)

The P3 took a step back as the "sea serpent" approached, and everypony could see four figures from atop its head.

"That's them, all right!" a voice came. A black pegasus mare jumped off and landed on the stage. Her mane and tail were styled in dreadlocks and were colored yellow and brown. Her eyes were red and her cutie mark was two tornadoes. According to criminal records, her name was Dual Twister.

"Three Merpony Duchesses hiding in plain sight," said another voice as the "sea serpent" lowered its head. A purple unicorn got off, her horn glowing violet, and leered at the P3 with pale pink eyes. Her crimson hair was very wavy and very long and her cutie mark depicted a sea serpent. Criminal records named her Aqua Scale.

One of the band members attempted to hightail it when a blast of ice dissuaded her, nearly freezing her solid.

"Uh-uh-uh. We can't have anypony leaving just yet. We have something important to tell you all." A snow white unicorn jumped down from the "sea serpent" and flared her horn, which shone in an ice blue aura. Her hair was blond and straight, and she wore two ice-themed hairbands on either side of her head. Her eyes were periwinkle, and her cutie mark was a swirling snowstorm. Her name was Sleet Heart.

This got the crowd murmuring in spite of the clear danger. The reason why no police had come over an attempt to apprehend the intruders was because their corrupt chief was bribed into keeping his forces away from the concert. As for security, they had been incapacitated minutes prior by them and a fourth member.

This member also jumped out of the "sea serpent". This member was a vermillion earth pony with very light green wavy hair, eyes of the same color, a gray bonnet, and a piano cutie mark. She went by the name Short Pitch. Speaking of pianos, the "sea serpent" appeared to gently spit one out; a grand piano to be exact.

The P3 took another step back and clutched a hoof onto their necklaces. Pitch noticed it as she seated herself at the piano, ready to play, and said, "Now, now, now. We wouldn't want to make a scene, now would we?"

"Just come quietly and there won't be any trouble," said Aqua as her "sea serpent" moved in to grab the P3.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that."

The new intruder's voice confused the criminals but it was soon clear who spoke when somepony teleported right above the serpent's neck. The pony cast a spell and a blade of energy emerged from their horn. They swung it down and beheaded the creature, turning it into simple water again as they landed between the two parties.

"Chronicle!" cried out Sound.

"Seacrest hired him to be a temporary replacement bodyguard after Pocampus, our usual as well as assistant manager, got sick…" Sealight explained.

"For the record, I was already a P3 fan before I entered their service," said Chronicle.

"Who do you think you are, meddler?" sneered Dual.

"Who?" Chronicle entered a battle stance. "I'm their bodyguard, and I'm not sorry to say that the P3 is not going anywhere."

"Oh yeah?" dared Aqua. "You and what army?" From the sea she 'created' another "sea serpent". Dual crouched, ready to ram into him. Sleet charged up for another ice spell. And Pitch prepared to…play the piano?

"Just me. And that's all I'll need." And with that, he charged.

Short Pitch began to play and blobs of water came out from the sea and began to fall onto the stage. As it was, the piano was empowered with water magic. Sleet then froze them into balls of ice before directing them at the pony playing hero.

Chronicle easily cleaved them apart, also smoothly dodging Aqua's "serpent". But then he saw Dual bypass him, and he knew she was headed to the P3.

Speaking of which, it turns out the piano music had another effect; somehow, the three idol singers looked like they were experiencing a mental attack and were clutching their heads, sans Sound who was attempting to pull both Sealight and Jasmine. The same didn't go for the band members though as Dual sped toward the trio. Sound didn't scream, but just continued pulling. Before the black pegasus could reach them, Chronicle teleported right between them with a barrier and stopped her in her tracks.

"Why didn't you just make a magical clone?" Applejack asked, interrupting the story again.

He then fired a couple more shots at the criminals, keeping Aqua and Sleet away. Pitch continued playing even as a few 'shurikens' whizzed over her head or grazed her piano.

"I hadn't learned that spell yet at the time," Chronicle answered.

He flared his horn and summoned a magical clone, which began shooting side-by-side with him, forcing Dual to regroup with the others.

"Oh wait. I had. Just wasn't that very experienced enough with it yet. Hadn't gotten the time to go for complex commands. Back then, it would just do what I do and follow simple instructions."

All the while, the audience was torn between vacating the premises or just staying. Who knew if that mare would turn its "serpent" on them if they did run? It was amazing in itself that not one of them went into a panic, which would've devolved the situation, which would've resulted in casualties. Some of them must've thought it was all part of the act. That or the music from Pitch's piano also had some sort of subliminal effect on them.

"We can't let this punk get the better of us," growled Aqua. "He's just one pony!"

"More like two to me," said Sleet as she decided to freeze the floor.

Chronicle frowned at the sight of the ice, he knew how to fight on it, but he wasn't too confident with his skills at that time, so he and his clone just continued blasting away. His spell arsenal wasn't as expansive back then; all he had was a 'blade', a 'shield', a shot spell, and sometimes sneakiness. Behind him, the P3 were still being 'bombarded' b the music.

Aqua summoned another "sea serpent" but this time it didn't fall apart from the 'shurikens' since she was maintaining it with her magic. "Hmm…looks like I have to get moving." Chronicle then turned to his copy. "Protect the ponies behind us." The clone nodded and he skidded straight for the foe. Ensuring he wouldn't slip, and using his spells to keep the "serpent" from knocking him off course, he made a beeline for Short Pitch, only for a wall of ice to come up in front of him.

He bumped into it and it halted his momentum. As his barrier dissipated from his loss of focus, Dual pounced on him.

"The fight wasn't easy, of course. I was up against four opponents with actual skill, unlike the Dig Dogs. I knew I was in over my head. But I couldn't give up. I had failed one of my charges once and paid for it with her life."

He teleported himself and Dual and they re-emerged up-side down right above Sleet, slamming into her. He managed to jump off, then draw his 'horn blade' mid-air, which he then swung down on the two of them, knocking them both out with the pain. With Sleet out of commission, the water balls raining down on them thanks to Pitch's piano remained just that.

Just then, the "sea serpent" swallowed him and began to ascend as it drowned him. "Let's see you escape this!"

There was a flash from inside the "serpent"'s body and Chronicle appeared right in front of Aqua, drenched and breathing hard, but still okay. His back hooves already glowing, he spun around to buck her in the face, knocking her out cold. "There you go."

"I rarely go hoof melee ever since I used my 'horn blade', which has more range."

Chronicle then turned to Pitch, who had just finished her melody, and had just realized her allies had been defeated. "Want some more?" he dared.

"You…you're gonna pay for this!" Pitch took out an orb of unknown purpose, which would never be known since the bodyguard shot it out of her hoof before she could use it.

"I think not." He then aimed his blade at her neck. "You're under arrest for disrupting a performance, attempted ponynapping, and assault. You technically delivered the first blow. And I know this is not all an act."

And then the crowd was in an uproar.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"In spite of the attack, after the four were successfully detained, we managed to carry on in the concert as if it never happened," Sealight finished the story. "Sound Wave spent a night with him before his contract with us ended."

"Before you ask, she was the one doing the advances, not me," Chronicle then added. "I did not return her obvious affections, especially after learning she has a crush on another of their mentors, a pianist by the name of Cadent Note." Sound blushed a bit as he said that. "My contract and conditions didn't allow me to find love. And don't ask me about what the attackers meant by Merpony Duchesses, I don't know and I don't care. I'm not overtly curious since it seems to be their 'story', and I'm not part of it."

"But now he finally has found love!" said Pinkie as she went over to him, pulling Fluttershy along. "And these two are officially together!" 

Unfortunately for Chronicle, word of this had spread from Daisy after he bought flowers from her shop. Now the whole town knew, especially when Gabby Gums, a.k.a. the Cutie Mark Crusaders, released the rumor in the Foal Free Press (he personally preferred Equestria Daily if he ever had to read the news). Said rumor however, was whether or not his special somepony was her or Twilight, the latter based on the fact that he spends all his sleeping time in the same 'house' as her. They were unaware it was just professional and platonic.

And just like Rarity to a humongous gem, Sealight went starry-eyed at this affair. "Really? I'm so glad! Best of luck to you both! And I pray this love is not star-crossed!"

This gave the birthday stallion a pang of guilt he managed to successfully hide. "Well I hope you weren't simply invited so we can reminisce about old times."

"Actually, we also have presents for you," said Jasmine. "Starting with mine. We have a song that has yet to be officially released, and we'd like you to be the first to hear it." She turned to her friends. "Shall we?"

Sound and Sealight nodded and the three of them put a hoof at their necklaces. "We keep our idol dresses in these necklaces, which have a special spell to contain them," the latter explained. "Please stand back." Once the stage area was cleared, the P3 invoked, "Pearl Voice!"

As one, their shell necklaces opened, revealing a pearl of similar color inside, and a bright light emerged from it, engulfing the three ponies. It lasted only a few seconds, and when it faded, they were dressed in their signature idol costumes.

Sound now sported a short dress, with a set of boots to match it. The dress was light blue and the skirt was colored like the sky with two layers and ruffles. The boots were baby blue with pearl bracelets on them. She wore star-shaped earrings, her hair somehow grew longer, and her barrette was now star-shaped as well. 

Sealight's outfit consisted of a pink dress with a short skirt, and lacy carnation pink boots, which matched Sound's in form. Her hair was also now in very long pigtails.

And Jasmine was wearing a long halter neck dress with a slit on the side ending at the thigh, long boots with dark green slightly ruffled cuffs to her elbow, and heeled sandals (like the ones in Rainbow's Gala dress), all of them a darker shade of green than her own coat. Just like Sound's, her hair seemed to have increased in length as well.

Everypony was awed at this 'transformation' and voiced their opinions. A few even cheered, being P3 fans just like Mystic. "Thank you, everypony!" announced Jasmine as Pinkie tossed a microphone to her, which she caught with her aura. "Please enjoy the P3 special for today's birthday colt, Chronicle!" Everypony stepped aside to reveal him, even as a party hat was placed on his head by Twilight.

Sealight then turned to a stallion standing by. "Hit it, Tidal Star!"

Tidal Star was a red pegasus with short spiky orange hair and brown eyes. He wore a simple black vest, and his left ear was pierced with a small hoop earring. Hie cutie mark was a surfboard ridden by a five-point star. "You got it, Sealight!" And he nudged the needle onto the turntable, the music started playing.

Now Playing: KODOU (English Fandub) by ChiokuDubs

The P3 bobbed their heads as they waited for the appropriate moment, then as the moment neared, Jasmine began to speak, "Once again, we'd like to thank you all for coming."

"This is our first performance of our latest song, 'Heartbeat'." Sound.

"We dedicate this song for Chronicle, his friends, and the magic of friendship!" Sealight.

As one, all three of them said the catchphrase they always said before singing the first verse. "Pichi Pony Voice Live Start!"

In the distance a dark storm starts to form, and we feel the need to give up♪
But we open our hearts, look deep inside for power…The power of love♪

Will we fight until the battle is won, we will not shatter our promise!♪
Let's bathe in the light that's shining down on our fate! And splash out of the sea♪

We will become much brighter…[much brighter, much brighter] than the sun♪
Our voices will get louder [louder, louder, louder!]♪
It's happening now…It's happening now!♪

Can you hear my heart beating? It's creating a beautiful melody!♪
Coming from the ocean blue, our feelings are profound and oh so true!♪

I take a look at myself in a clear shining mirror,♪
The power of love will fill my heart and it will start to burst at the seams♪
And I'll be born again, in this hot perfect harmony!♪

The entire audience was in an uproar. Although some didn't honestly love the song (without hating it), something in the music just made them feel so happy.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS—M—TS—SW—SG—JT—TS

After the song…

The phonograph was now playing another vinyl record, which was playing other songs P3 has sang. Currently, Chronicle and Tidal were playing Twister, and they were at each other's limits.

"So, what happened at that performance where you save my marefriend and the rest of the P3?" Tidal asked as he moved his hoof to another circle.

"I'm assuming you weren't there." Another call and he did the same

"If you remember, the concert was at night, and I had to sleep early. There was a surfing competition the day after."

"Not a very loyal coltfriend, are you?"

"I apologized to her as soon as I met her again. Also, even if I was there, what could I have done? Not everypony is as combat-capable as you or your friends."

"How did you know?"

"Sealight mailed me that their next performance is in Canterlot, so I figured I'd stick around for a while here until I hear word of their arrival. Your friend Pinkie Pie found me and hosted a party."

"And for some reason she didn't even invite her friends over."

"I learned my lesson from last time," Pinkie cut in. "Too many parties can really get boring if attended too many times, even if it my parties."

"I see."

"Also, you already lost. I didn't want to interrupt earlier since you were talking with Tidal Star!"

"Oopsie."


C—PP—TS—C—PP—TS—C—PP—TS—C—PP—TS

"And now it's time for the gift-giving!" Pinkie announced.

It was decided that his closest friends were to be the last to give their presents, so Mjölna went up first. Her gift to Chronicle was a helmet made out of a rare metal he identified to be mythril.

Accompanying her was an earth pony the same size as Big Macintosh. His fur was dark red and his hooves were black just like Chronicle. His mane and tail were the color of ash and had no particular style. He had a big chin, wore goggles over his eyes, and his cutie mark was a hammer and anvil.

"Ah, so this is Chronicle," he said as they shook hooves. "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"Um, who would you be?"

"Heat Hammer, older brother and mentor of Mjölna." They let go. "I'm also a blacksmith, though I work in Canterlot. You know, you were the first pony to give her a job request of this level. To bring her something so special like a river serpent scale to forge into a shield… I can't thank you enough. Aside from repairing ornamental weapons, there wasn't much smithing for her to do until your request came along. How did you hear of my sister?"

"She was recommended by Graphite, the local weapons dealer."

"Ah, Graphite. I heard the two of them were planning something. Something that concerns the town."

"Yeah. He mentioned it being under-defended and they're likely hoping to better arm the police force, the Martial Arts Community, and maybe even this Academy."

Heat turned to face his sister. "Is this true?" She nodded in response. "I see. Allow me to help you in that endeavor." He turned back to face Chronicle. "Oh, I have a gift for you as well." He took out from his saddlebag a large yellow jewel shaped like a rhombus. "This here is a thunder topaz. One of few elemental-type gems that exist in Equestria. Aside from being absolutely delicious for dragons, if forged into an elemental ring, your magical attacks will attain said element."

"Huh?"

"I heard you're a brilliant fighter, and I figured… well… "

"Oh."

"Unfortunately, while I heard there's a place in Canterlot you can go to for that, I don't remember its location."

"I see. Thanks for the intel anyway."

The two earth pony blacksmiths then left to allow the next one in line to deliver their gift.

Skyla's gift was a pair of standard-issue Wonderbolts goggles. Graphite gave an ornate sword…except the blade was missing, which was all right with him. The Cutie Mark Crusaders shared a single apology letter to him for what they had done to Fluttershy as Gabby Gums (and he had been given an extremely stern word from the Apple family, Rarity and her parents, and Rainbow Dash for his idea of retribution on them). Bon Bon offered a bundle of her best quality candies. Cherry Berry offered a free pass to her Twinkling Balloon Services. 

After a couple of other presents, Sealight was next. Her gift was a carpet straight from Saddle Arabia. Princess Celestia had been there a few weeks ago, during the incident with "Trixie the Dictator". However, on opening it, it was revealed that it was a magic one, the sort that can be used for flying as can be seen by a few glowing glyphs on the borders.

"We got it as a gift after we held a performance there," Sealight explained. "However, we found it to be very fickle around anyone who isn't a stallion."

"What about your bodyguard Pocampus?" Chronicle asked her. "You referred to him as a 'he' in casual conversation."

"Pocampus is not a pony."

"Then what is he?"

Sealight put a hoof at the back of her neck and rubbed it. "A diamond dog."

Nearby, Rarity, who had overheard them, spit out the punch she was drinking. She turned to face Sealight and gasped, "Wait, what?!"

"Less than a year ago, Rarity had been ponynapped by one pack of them near these parts," Chronicle explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Nicole took in Pocampus a long time ago before I got my cutie mark," Sealight told the two unicorns. "I don't remember much of the details, but she told me he was found was the same day I had been ponynapped by a pack of diamond dogs just like you, Rarity. Apparently, she had called for a search party and there was a…rough struggle. Thankfully, there were no casualties, pony or diamond dog. 

"However, in the chaos of the rescue, Pocampus had ended up coming along. We tried to return him, but they refused since he was the runt of the litter. so Nicole decided to take him in."

"I see. Interesting story."

Up next was Sound, who brought in a long white pillow, carrying it in her hooves. "We're quite popular in the island of Neighpon, not just the East Coast," she said. "And Neighpon has these pillows called dakimakura." She flipped it over to reveal that the other side had a teasing image of herself lying on a large bed mattress, as if tempting him to sleep with her. "Sorry about this, but at that time I didn't know you finally found a marefriend. You looked so uninterested in a romantic life."

"I was. Until I found her."

Mystic Shield's was a photo of the two of them that had been taken a month after the cross-world incident to Solaris Equestria. It was during a certain ribbon-cutting ceremony where his Academy was officially acknowledged by the Mayor as a certified 'school' and part of the Martial Arts Group, which is a civilian group dedicated to the defense of Ponyville against unnatural forces. It's also a vigilance committee, and thankfully vigilantism is not frowned upon at all in Ponyville. 

There was also a delivery all the way from Canterlot, the gift coming from Moonbow Peek. It was a small crystal ball, instructions on how to use it, and a letter. Apparently, she had a prophecy for him, but he was going to check on that later tonight. He didn't tell his other friends about it, not wanting them to worry if the prophecy was grave.

And then it was finally his friends' turn to give their gifts. 

Applejack's gift was a green checked blanket with an apple pattern. "I know you prefer gifts that have some practical use, but this is the best I could come up with."

"It's okay, Applejack. It's still practical. And the blanket I'm currently using is too thin anyway."

Pinkie's present was…not with her, but already at home, situated somewhere i the basement for him to retrieve. "I couldn't exactly bring it out here in the open," she had explained. He would find out later that it was something called a party cannon. An S & M model ("Whoa, these things are mass-produced?") that mainly fired streamers and banners. He figured these could tangle a target up close.

Rainbow gave him something she bought on a whim while at Canterlot after the blue monster attack; a 'magic conserver' that reduces the amount of magic a unicorn uses when casting a spell without losing any of its effectiveness. It was in the form of a leg band out of cloth and having a small black jewel attached to it. "Wow, I can't believe such a thing existed," he said to her. "Thanks."

Rarity presented a fancy navy blue cloak that was enchanted to resist all sorts of weather, be it intense heat, strong downpour, driving snow, or even hailstones. It's effects are maintained by the user's magical reserves, meaning it was best used for unicorns. And with the way Chronicle's magic operates, it was perfect for him.

Twilight's present was a book titled Advanced Combat Spells for the Royal Guard. "Don't ask how I got it, but I feel you could really use this book. You're not just our bodyguard, you're a friend we can count on."

Spike unfortunately didn't have a gift to give, but the birthday stallion was fine with that; just attending the party at all was enough. 

And last but not least was Fluttershy, who was understandably nervous. On her back was a gift box. When he telekinetically opened the box, he saw a woolen scarf. It alternated between pink, two shades of yellow, orange, and blue; both of their hair and coat colors were represented in this scarf. It didn't have that touch of perfection that often came with Rarity's works, yet he could tell that this scarf was hoof-made and not by sewing machine.

Both of them said nothing as he continued to examine the scarf with a curious eye. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Did you make this?" Fluttershy didn't answer for a while, but before she could, he said, "As my mother always said, as long as you give it with all your heart, it doesn't matter." A scarf is still a practical gift. "Thank you."

He then put his foreleg around her head and pulled her in. He personally thought it was way too early for a kiss, so he just hugged her. The gathered ponies still cheered regardless, and Sealight and Sound squeeing in delight.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—G—MS—M—SW—SG—JT—HH

After the party…

Chronicle was going to bed after that very eventful day, a stack of still-unopened presents still nearby; he was going to open them tomorrow, and Spike would hopefully not peek into them and take them for himself.

Just as he got on it, he took out the crystal ball that was Moonbow Peek's gift to him. 

"To Chronicle, From Moonbow Peek," the attached letter had said. "My crystal ball glowed with another prophecy without anybody nearby to read. I don't know why or what's happened, it had also told me where I can find such orbs like this gift to you. After I got one, my crystal ball transferred a bit of its 'power' to it. I could tell that the prophecy regarded you, so I sent it over. If it happens to be your birthday, Happy Birthday, although my present may make you anything but, unfortunately."

Following the instructions, Chronicle activated the small crystal ball and it began to give off a faint glow.

Somebody you haven't seen for a long time will arrive, but with them is somebody known to be a foe, yet at the same time it isn't, Moonbow's voice resounded in his head as the ball showed vague images. This 'foe' will try to turn ponies here to their cause and has a connection to the Elements of Harmony. This 'foe' also perceives the Sun Princess to be a villain.

Thankfully, this matter is quickly cleared up, but a new enemy will rise. It will crave nothing but the oblivion of all. There will be a Mare in the Moon again, and the Sun will also have its own 'prisoner'. When the battle is over, choices will have to be made.

Once the last 'word' was spoken, the crystal ball went dim, becoming nothing more than just that. It left Chronicle confused. "Huh. What could this mean?" he said to himself. "Will I meet Blue Diary again (his world has finally got out of stasis)? Or is it some other relative of mine? And this 'foe'… Nightmare Moon? Discord? Gilda? Rover's pack? Trixie? Some criminal I battled before any of them? What does the future have in store for me?" He continued to ponder it as he went to bed.
> Magic Duel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magic Duel

Weeks before Chronicle's birthday, in the dreamscape…

Chronicle was busy attacking a dream version of the Discord statue in his training range. In fact, that was what his 'scape was like. Just then, the statue began to get up from its post and dodge his next attack.

That's when he knew something was wrong. Somebody was controlling his dream, and it wasn't him. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" None of his family, not even his father or mother (the latter not having yet visited), had the ability to completely wrest control over his dream.

He wasn't sure on how to respond to this, so he decided to call out again. "I know you're in here!" He then dispelled his environment, leaving only the regular black void. And found some purple mist he knew he wasn't dreaming up. As with any intruder, he responded to it by attacking. The mist evaded his magic shot and Chronicle gave a smirk. This was his dream, so he had control over this domain.

He conjured a dome of light to trap the mist, but then it smashed through like it wasn't even there at all. Getting a bit more irritated, he conjured an orb of flames around the mist, compressed it, and pulled it towards himself. This mist attempted to escape through like last time, but Chronicle followed it with a small tornado, resulting in a fire twister. 

With a little more overkill in mind, he unleashed a lightning bolt from his horn at the twister, but then dark tendrils began to creep from below his feet. He escaped this by teleporting elsewhere. Upon emerging however, he found the fire twister heading straight for him.

He teleported again, this time somewhere above the twister and unleashed another lightning bolt but from the sky instead. The twister then immediately dissipated to reveal the lead Shadowbolt that had appeared all the way back from the beginning of his friends' first trip to the Everfree Forest, the one that failed to tempt Rainbow Dash and tested her loyalty.

Could this be…

As the Shadowbolt rushed straight for him, he teleported again and emerged somewhere higher, this time with his Glimmer Wings. He could easily have made pegasus wings for himself in the dreamscape, but he didn't know enough of its ins and outs, so he settled with what he was familiar with. 

Using his dream power, he conjured plenty of spheres that would fire loads of energy bolts, even though he knew a good flyer would be able to dodge all of them. And dodge all of them she did, and quite quickly too. Even as both of them began to weave around the blasts, with Chronicle directing the spheres' attacks away from him, the Shadowbolt was just too good.

Chronicle decided to up the game once more. If this was a relative of his performing some sort of test, he wasn't going to fail this one so easily. If it was a sinister infiltrator, he's definitely not failing. In his mind, he willed the Shadowbolt to be larger, and then 'conjured' artillery cannons on the ground. If this infiltrator was actually native, at least the ones he thought of looked like they came straight from a sci-fi story. (He was able to deduce that such existed from a few comics he read and a pony with a robot cutie mark he saw.)

The cannons fired at the Shadowbolt, who flinched at the damage, but managed to recover so quickly and render herself invulnerable. Even as the spheres continued firing, the Shadowbolt then let out a cry and comets rained down from the sky and right for the cannons…which already moved to destroy them and defend themselves and each other.

Chronicle proceeded to unsheath his signature spell and began to spin like a drill. He then poised himself to charge straight for the Shadowbolt, even as he willed for jets (he saw a trio of them as a cutie mark on one pony in Canterlot) to support him. As the spheres pulled away while still firing, the Shadowbolt decided enough was enough and the whole dreamscape shook.

The comets ceased, the spwhees and jets that just came exploded into white lights, the same thing went for the cannons, and Chronicle's attack was suddenly halted as his Glimmer Wings vanished. However, he had remained mid-air, in a sense, as the Shadowbolt then dispersed into mist once more. The two began to descend to the 'floor' as the dreamscape resumed its default void form, only with added white mist.

The purple mist then coalesced into a certain alicorn… "Very few lucid dreamers have this amount of control over their dreams, or realize this early that something was amiss."

"Princess Luna! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Canterlot?", Chronicle asked. "From what your sister told me back when she visited during the Running of the Leaves, you're busy catching up with today's technology. And yes, I remember your Nightmare Night visits."

"I am the Princess of the Night," Luna answered as she walked towards him. "Thus it is my duty to come into your dreams. Also, you may address me as Luna here as well."

"Thank you…Luna. But why me? I heard you only come to those having nightmares. I certainly have no nightmares. Nothing I couldn't solve on my own." He didn't comment that she wasn't using the old speech and the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE, but he presumed that she's more confident in the dream world.

"Ah yes. The torment of failing to avenge your friends when Discord—"

"I very well know that one, and you weren't there to help me. Or at least I didn't see you. I don't blame you though. You can't be everywhere at once."

"I see. I came here because I sensed something peculiar in your mind."

"And what would that be?" It's probably my family meetings.

"One early morning, immediately after the attack of those blue monsters in Ponyville and Canterlot, while I slept the day, I was doing a cursory scan of everypony's dreams when I stumbled into yours. You were talking to somepony else, and it was an alicorn. A male alicorn."

Uh oh. She found my dad. Wait, can she read my thoughts in the dreamscape?

"My sister had confided to me that she was seeing her male counterpart from some other world through a magic mirror," Luna continued. "But that wasn't him, whom she called Prince Solaris."

Okay, so she was told that. "And…"

"When I enter a dream, I can always tell which is the dreamer and which is part of the dream. But that alicorn was neither. Tell me. Who was he?"

"…I'm afraid I'm not allowed to confide that information to anybody. Not even Princess Celestia can make me." If only because she already knows. "Besides, don't you think it's rude to force a pony to confide their secrets, even if you're a powerful princess?"

"Apologies. It's just that many perceive the unknown as dangerous. I do not know what is going on in your mind, but if whatever is entering your dream is dangerous—"

"I promise it's not dangerous," Chronicle assured. "Pinkie Promise." He proceeded to do the motions. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. It does not bode well for a Pinkie Promise to be broken. Trust me, it won't end well. If you want to know what a—"

"I know what a Pinkie Promise is. I ended up making one with her last Nightmare Night."

"I see. You sure took control of my dream so quickly. But I could tell you could've forced your power over me completely if that outburst that ended our 'fight' was any indication." At any point, either of them could've modified the dreamscape, but they decided to keep it as is.

"The night isn't my only domain. Dreams are as well and I have absolute power over those I enter. Only a fellow alicorn can wrest control from me."

"I wonder if this is another reason the Princess of the Night was feared in the past. For all I know, Nightmare Moon probably cursed them with bad dreams."

Luna shook her head. "Nay. I did not have such an opportunity before Celestia sealed me away."

"Oh."

"Another thing I'd like to know, concerning our 'fight'."

"Yes, Luna?"

"What were all those weapons you conjured to attack me? I am not familiar with their existence in Equestria."

"Well, they're not a reality here, but they are in science fiction stories. Literature has advanced over the last thousand years. There are also night-goers with the advent of nightclubs. But surely there were stargazers even in the past."

"Ponies sleeping in the night was just one factor that led to my becoming Nightmare Moon. There were others as well, but I do not wish to confide them to just anypony."

"I understand." Chronicle traced a circle with his left front hoof. "So it's okay if you confide to a dragon, or a zebra, a griffon, or—"

"You very well know what I meant to say."

"I know. It's just that ever since my first greatest failure as a bodyguard, I've learned I should be exact with my words. I have confided the details to Princess Celestia after I awoke three days since Discord's defeat, so you could ask her."

"I see."

"I took a long drink after that, the only time I allow myself to be inebriated. Because I don't take failures that great very well. And surely you can't spend all night just talking to me, can you? Don't you have some sort of court to attend to?"

"Ah yes. The night court." 

This made Chronicle wince, given what the Night Court in Blue Diary's world was like. Thankfully, last he heard, that court was no more, finally ousted by his friends, as well as a criminal they 'hired' named Zizanie. Zizanie herself was turned in after she was discovered to be a "Discordian" and wreaked havoc at the Gala. In the end, he and his friends were knighted by Luna herself in order to give them real political power so they would no longer be mere political puppets ever again. Also, Blue Diary contracted a minor case of Cutie Shift; his mark remained the same, but there were now two crossed swords behind it in an X-formation.

That was what Blue had relayed to him an Timerity right after their disastrous Grand Galloping Galas.

Luna noticed the dreamer's wince and asked, "Something the matter?"

He quickly regained his composure. "Nothing. Nothing you need to be concerned with."

And with that, Luna vanished back to her dreamscape. And then something else happened. An illusion spell dropped, revealing the eldest brother of the core Timer family, which consisted of their father Record Keeper, their mother Ebony Spell, Blue Diary the youngest, himself and Timerity the fraternal twins, and— "Mystic Wand." —him.

"Hello, Chronicle. Your dream showdown with Princess Luna Prime was sure intense, I was sure she'd find me."

"How were you even able to successfully hide from her and me in the first place?"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle taught me the spell. Personally." Wand was assigned to a world where Twilight Sparkle was the ruling Princess. It was still uncertain as to whether or not it was this world's future. "Turns out you don't always need loads of mana to perform high-level spells like these. It's all on the technique and know-how on the inner workings of magic. Blue Diary told me that's how Trixie modifies spells she learns to her needs. Like a sleep-for-chickens spell into a sleep-for-ponies spell. Or make 'call item A' spell to 'call item B'."

Chronicle put a hoof to his face. "Now I remember why we don't interact much. You can get into such a tirade when it comes to magic theory."

"Got it from our mother. We all have."

"Not Blue Diary. Although it's because his friends aren't nearly quite as 'stupid' as mine and Time's."

Wand frowned. "I heard it's not nice to call your friends stupid."

"But they are. And I want them to not be. I like them, but I want them to be smarter and wiser."

"Don't we all?" Wand said as he rolled his eyes.

"By the way, what brings you here, anyway?"

"Well, good news is that I was able to reach our youngest brother in Luna Equestria again via a complex spell. Bad news, it was only for a couple minutes. And he only had time to relay a message."

"What's the message?"

"Something about the talk he had with you about meeting you in the future and both of your worlds' Elements of Harmony. He realized it implied he already undergone the event, but in reality a dream message just told him to say that."

"So it hasn't really happened to him yet, right?"

"Yes. Only time will tell as to when it will happen."

"I see."

"Well, I'm done here. See you some other time." And Wand disappeared, returning to his dreamscape.


C—PL—MW—C—PL—MW—C—PL—MW—C—PL—MW

Daytime, at Fluttershy's cottage…

At the backyard stood the place's owner, her 'coltfriend', his charge, and her assistant. The first of them was hunched down to address several of her animals.

"Don’t be scared, little friends. Twilight is wonderful with magic," she said. Flicking her eyes over her shoulder, she wheeled to face the unicorn mare, her sweet demeanor instantly replaced by naked hostility. "Anything happens to them, Twilight, so help me…" Spike immediately came in between them and shoved them apart as she relented.

"Aw, don’t worry, Fluttershy," the dragon assured. "Twilight’s magic has gotten a lot better since she accidentally crushed me and Applejack with a giant snowball."

"Last Winter Wrap Up," added Chronicle. "And I have improved as well since then, although it's less on magic prowess and more on power limit and combat capability." His charge gave them an embarrassed little grin, blushing as her ears drooped.

"Of course she’s good with magic," Fluttershy assured herself. "Twilight’s great with magic. I guess I just don’t want my little friends to be scared." She started to panic. "Oh, oh, look how scared they are!"

"Looks far from it." Indeed, the animals seemed to be chittering happily.

Twilight stroked her pegasus friend's shoulder "I promise, Fluttershy. Nothing bad will happen to them."

Fluttershy was breathless, speaking through clenched teeth, "I know!"

"That's what I'm here for; to make sure nothing goes wrong," Chronicle told her. "Thanks to many mishaps my charge has done, I've practiced restoration spells, and have succeeded in a smaller-scale version of the failsafe spell." He turned to face Twilight. "Which you had failed to cast successfully."

This earned him a glare from his charge, before she took a couple of steps toward the menagerie and flaring her horn as the focused her mind.

"Stop! Stop!" Fluttershy was crying out as she hunkered down and covered her face, shaking. "They can’t take it!"

“It,” so far, consisted only of the entire group of critters being enveloped in Twilight’s magic, who then aimed a concerned look back at the terrified pegasus and got down to work. One after another, she levitated the animals up several yards and got them moving in a circle, much to their audible delight. As she flicked her horn in a new direction and Fluttershy chewed her hooves—to Chronicle's confusion and concern—and stared pop-eyed, the animals were maneuvered until they were describing a deft figure-eight pattern, or more accurately the symbol for infinity. 

"Twilight! That looks amazing!" gasped Spike.

Sweat had started to trickle down Twilight’s face as a few sparks fell from her horn. At this point, she wound down, gently lowered the volunteers back to the grass, and wiped her forehead. "Whoo!" The animals gathered around her and cheered in their various ways. "That’s all for now, little ones. Maybe we can practice again later, if Fluttershy says it’s all right."

The animals hurried over to the self-compacted yellow/pink ball of equine and tried to raise her spirits, even as the only stallion around tried to do the same.

"Your magic has really improved since we came to Ponyville, Twilight," Spike said. "Princess Celestia’s gonna love it!"

"Thanks, Spike. I have to be at my best when she arrives with the delegates from Saddle Arabia." The prodigy laughed a bit. "I can’t believe she’s trusting me with the entertainment!"

All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash rocketed right into her, plowing her away and into a fence. The violet mage had wound up on her back, with the blue flyer standing over her. "Twilight, come quick! It’s an emergency!"

"What's wrong?" Chronicle asked in his charge's stead, who blinked uncomprehendingly. 


C—TS—S—RD—F—C—TS—S—RD—F—C—TS—S—RD—F

At Ponyville's Town Hall…

A sizable crowd has gathered out front, and Rarity was standing in a clear spot among them. A bolt of red energy lanced in and burst against her, causing a green/yellow/brown-striped peasant-style dress with pink trim to appear on her body. As she looked herself over, her first reaction was a horrified shudder. There were shocked gasps from the crowd.

"You beast!" she addressed the source of the beam. "This shade of brown should only be used for accents!" Applejack galloped up, just in time to catch the fainting Rarity on her back. Pinkie Pie arrived on the scene as well.

"Come on, Applejack. We’ve gotta get her in a nice soothing pink—stat!" she said as they headed off.

Nearby, Mystic Shield lay on the ground groggily, his horn charred black from his attempt to subdue the intruder.

Twilight and her companions then came in, one of them gasping at Mystic's plight as his students helped him up. "What’s going on here?" she asked.

The next voice—female, dramatic, soaked in venom but still oddly familiar—threw a major-league fright into her and her bodyguard.

"Well, well, well." They turned to see that the speaker was a mare in a black cloak. Around her neck was a gray medallion, an upside-down triangle set with a large, red, lozenge-shaped gem. Two red/gray wings stood up from the top corners of the triangle, and a red-eyed, gray unicorn head protruded above the gem. "If it isn’t…" She threw up her hood back to reveal her face, the medallion serving as a clasp for the cloak. "…Twilight Sparkle!"

The violet eyes briefly flashed red, prompting surprised murmurs from the crowd and a shocked gasp from Twilight and her bodyguard. "Trixie!"

"Oh, dear Luna," said Chronicle. "I feared this would happen."

"What’s she doing here?" asked Spike.

Rainbow flew up from the crowd. "You call that great and powerful?"

There came another red-eye flash, accompanied by an aura in the same color around the medallion, and Trixie let go with a burst that nailed her dead on. It left her right wing perhaps four times bigger than her left. She tried to fly but ended up veering out of control, yelling all the while. Down below, Snips and Snails looked on from within the crowd.

"Cool! She’s Rainbow Wobble now!"

"Yeah!" Snails' laugh got cut off by a crazy swoop toward the town square, and only the two colts’ last-second dive kept Rainbow from caving their heads in. Once they were back upright, Snips nodded happily and Snails waved. "Good spell, O Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Trixie was evidently not happy with them, not after what they did. "You two!" And she fired another bolt. "Quiet!" The glare and smoke from this spell cleared to reveal that— 

"Hey! What happened?" Snips stammered, joined horn to horn with Snails and now upside-down.

"Get off of me!" Snails cried out.

The two unicorns galloped back and forth, tumbling and arguing all the while in a futile attempt to separate themselves.

"Stop picking on my friends, Trixie!" yelled Twilight as her bodyguard drew his magic horn blade.

"I may have tolerated you last time," warned Chronicle. "But with what you're doing now…"

"You and I have some unfinished business," Trixie addressed his charge. "My magic’s gotten better since I was here last." She approached Twilight. "And I’m going to prove it. Me and you. A magic duel. Winner stays. Loser leaves Ponyville…" Her eyes flashed red. "…forever!" 

"Forget it! I’d never make a deal like that!" She turned pointedly to face away from Trixie. 

"Hmph. Your choice." She warmed up her horn, and all of a sudden Spike cried out as he found himself being floated up above the crowd. The cries turned to yells, and the red aura squashed him into a perfect sphere and bounced him on the pavement.

"Trixie, put him down!" Twilight demanded, also raising a leg to prevent Chronicle from rushing in, engaging in battle, and probably make a mistake that could cost him.

A hard bounce sent Spike up; next, a basket materialized at one end of a roof and the dragon ball (Chronicle had to groan from the pun that he realized he made) hit the rim, rolled around, and dropped in. The bottom had been removed from the basket so that he fells through as if this were a basketball goal; Twilight turned back toward Trixie.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded.

"Why? Because you humiliated me!"

"Hmm…so those bits haven't helped that much, huh?" Chronicle said to the showmare.

"While those bits managed to get me a new wagon, it didn't help for what came next."

She conjured up a wavering flashback to the events from that fateful day; Twilight using her magic to levitate the Ursa Minor after quieting it (with her bodyguard supplying magic). The natural light dimmed a bit as the 'clip' played out in a frame of red magic.

Huh. Looks like I can play off Surveillance like this. If only I could ask her how…

"After you showed me up with that Ursa Minor…" The scene on the screen changed to that of Trixie’s portable stage wagon being thoroughly defaced with mocking graffiti and garbage, and other ponies jeering and pointing at her. "…I became a laughingstock!" The Trixie in the screen bugged out in a cloud of smoke, shedding her cape and hat. "Everywhere I went, I was laughed at and ostracized."

Ouch. Word sure spread fast. But what were those ponies doing in those towns? Lyra, Berry Punch, Carrot Top, Bon Bon, Daisy, Cherry Berry… I'll have to ask them later.

The next shot framed one very glum unicorn using a levitated hammer to chip at a rock in a field. As it splits open, a stallion Chronicle recognized to be Pinkie Pie's father, who walked up and pointed impassively past her. 

(During the period between the disastrous Grand Galloping Gala and Discord's release, Pinkie Pie took her friends to the rock farm where she grew up in. Introduced her to her parents and two of her sisters, one he almost swore was Octavia in casual look, but he was immediately told otherwise.)

"I even had to take a job on a rock farm just to earn a living!" On the end of this, the Trixie in the scene looked apprehensively behind herself and the 'camera' zoomed out to reveal a tumble of much larger boulders waiting for her. The flashback ended in a poof of red smoke. "A rock farm!"

"Hey!" an incensed Pinkie yelled. "You’re lucky a rock farm would take the likes of you!"

What looked like a small arrow winked into being next to her, similar to what Chronicle identified as a computer mouse cursor, and poked itself onto her nose. After a moment’s tugging, the arrow yanked her mouth and nose completely off her face; now a small trash can appeared as well. The lid popped off, the arrow deposited the bits within, and the lid went back on, so that the entire operation resembled the act of dragging files away to be deleted on a computer desktop. Cursor and can both vanished, leaving Twilight to stare at her suddenly muted friend and then at Trixie.

Trixie's eyes flared red. "Now I want revenge. And I’ll just keep casting spells ’til you agree." She then saw an irate Chronicle headed her way, horn blade drawn, a cry of rage escaping his mouth, and ready to strike her down. One could swear there was a glowing aura about him, but as he prepared to strike, she fired a beam of magic. 

The attack was surprisingly fast and strong, it blasted him straight into somepony's house, making cracks in the wall and leaving him dazed for a few seconds.

He could hear the mayhem Trixie was causing and he knew she had to be stopped, but most of all, he had to find a way to get Pinkie Pie's mouth back. He knew she was one with "Toon traits", but who knows how long she would last? A normal pony would be dead in seconds, and if Pinkie did indeed… If that happened, Trixie will have to die.

"Well, what do you say?" he heard Trixie say as he got his head cleared. He got up, and saw more of Trixie's mayhem. Thankfully, it seemed that Pinkie has not asphyxiating (a normal pony should be down on the ground already, dead). But Trixie will have to go down either way.

And he saw Twilight about to say something, and he quickly got up and teleported in front of her, getting between her and Trixie… right before she could accept the challenge.

"Hold on a second!" he said. "Remember what I said last time about continuing our duel another time? What about we do it right now?"

Trixie just gave a haughty laugh. "Do you really think you can beat me?"

"As a matter of fact, I think I have a better chance than anypony else here. Also, I've faced more powerful beings than you even before I came to Ponyville." He wasn't just talking about Discord; he had confronted one or three great magi during his pre-Twilight Sparkle days as a freelancer. "If I had my way, I would fight you to the bitter end, but there would be dire consequences, regardless if I win or not." Namely, 'public relations'.

"What do you propose, then?"

"Combat duel. Anything goes, be it magic or physical, so long as it's not fatal or permanently crippling. First to break a bone or bleed loses. Remember, this is just between the two of us, so no involving the bystanders."

Trixie gave an evil smirk. "And the stakes?"

"Pride's not high enough a stake? Don't tell me you're chicken."

"I'm not. But maybe you are!" Just as she finished the sentence, she fired another magic bolt, which was dodged by its target and the other ponies that would've been in the line of fire.

"Whoa! You were just about to turn me into a chicken, aren't you?!"

"You said anything goes, right?" Trixie reminded him.

"Maybe, but if the next blow you planned to make would've been fatal to a chicken, that would be against the terms. Also, I haven't even said we could start." Just then, a wall of magic appeared around the two dueling unicorns. 

Trixie was a it surprised at this and took a look and saw the unicorn she had taken down earlier back on his feet, casting a spell along with four other unicorns. "What is this?"

Chronicle didn't so much as react, seeing his friend and the First Four doing the casting. "Just a little insurance. This is between you and me. Now we begin."

"The terms have been laid down, and everypony here has stood witness," grunted Mystic. "Begin!"

Trixie made the first move by firing a bolt of red energy. Chronicle swiftly evaded that and countered with a "shuriken". Trixie fired another bolt that neutralized it.

He continued to shoot some more, and Trixie responded with a large force field, then let out another magic bolt that went through her barrier. Chronicle cast a barrier of his own, which managed to hold against the attack.

Wow. Trixie's stronger than last time, but either she underwent training through Tartarus—I think that's Equestria's term for the underworld—or… He then noticed the medallion…and recognized it. Oh no… the Alicorn Amulet! One of the most mysterious and powerful of all the known magical charms!

Just then, Chronicle's barrier began to crack. And then it shattered…but he wasn't there. Trixie clearly thought she was able to wipe him out, as evidenced by the gasps of the crowd. "A-ha-ha! Looks like the challenger couldn't take my—" 

She was interrupted with a tap to the shoulder. Before she could turn to face whatever did it, she lost her focus on the barrier because she was headbutted by her opponent, who created a barrier around his own head. His horn wasn't sharp enough (like Pokey Pierce's) to make a cut, and too much force could be very crippling and maybe even fatal and he didn't want that.

Chronicle followed this up with a buck to the side, sending Trixie rolling all the way to the barrier. He then charged right at her, ready to make a slash at her with his signature spell, but she teleported away at the last second, re-emerging at the area opposite him. "What?!" he gasped. he didn't expect her to make such a close recovery as he withdrew his 'weapon'.

"Have you forgotten what I said?" taunted Trixie. "Anything you can do, I can do better." She then fired a volley of 'shurikens' that diverged from one another before converging again all on him. He shielded himself against her parody of his attack (and he did not know how to curve his in so many directions), then lashed out with a tether spell attached to his horn and it 'latched' itself into Trixie's.

"It doesn't matter how powerful you are," Chronicle taunted in return. "If your horn is under physical stress, be it pulled, pushed, gripped, or struck, it cannot cast magic. And most unicorns are nothing without their magic."

"Is that so?" Trixie then did the most unexpected thing; she rushed straight at him, then turned around for a buck. But Chronicle was ready for it; erecting a barrier, the attack was successfully blocked, although it was stronger than he anticipated from a unicorn.

"You're gonna have to do better than that." He canceled his tether spell and 'unsheathed' his horn blade, aimed at Trixie's side. He could've aimed for her heart and anticipated that she would dodge but not in time, but he deemed that too risky. She was able to dodge it and unleash a magic bolt that hit the barrier full force.

Unlike the last one, this bolt already started making cracks in the barrier. Damn, how did she get that Amulet? Probably from the money she earned at the rock farm. He shoved off the thought as he teleported away before the barrier shattered. Knowing Trixie would be aware of his previous tactic, he instead emerged to the left of his last location.

He immediately went for another tether spell to snag her horn, but it crackled with energy and the moment the 'tether' latched on, it immediately traveled across it and onto his own horn. The result was an intense pain so all-consuming he nearly forgot where he was. Red-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin under his coat, his head was filled with pain, it was all he could do not to scream (instead grunting) as he rolled on the ground.

He could hear cries of concern and cries of his name, and one voice in particular reached him. No, I can't let this powered-up Trixie beat me! I promised myself not to fall again! I will not let them down! With all of his willpower, he managed to teleport out of Trixie's spell, and…not outside the large barrier's bounds, but right above his opponent, mid-air.

Trixie hadn't looked up when Chronicle landed on top of her, leaving both of them dazed, the former from the crash and the latter from recovering from the previous spell. She soon chucked him off her back, aimed her horn at him, and fired another magic bolt. Her opponent teleported away and back in front of her.

"No more games," he said before casting a different spell. A decorated 'circle' began to form underneath Trixie, glowing bright blue. She tried to get out, but she couldn't. She then tried blasting at the circle, but it was no good either. "No matter how powerful you are, you cannot escape." He would have to end this soon; he was running a bit low, and while he could've done the power transfer spell, he thought that would've been very unfair even for her.

With her nowhere to go, Chronicle leaped, his signature weapon drawn, ready to deal the wounding blow. Before he reached her however, he received a jolting pain on the side. This caused him to lose focus and drop to the ground in front of Trixie, where he saw that she had created a "horn blade" of her own and—upon turning—that it had made a serious gash at his side. It was bleeding too and it hurt something fierce; not something for the kids to see.

"Halt!" Greatstone called. "Chronicle has sustained an injury. Trixie wins!"

"Hah! Looks like I'm the victor!" Trixie gloated as the barrier was dismissed. She then 'picked' him up and hurled him behind his charge, instantly knocking him to near-unconsciousness.

Immediately, Mystic Shield was on it, "Lemon Hearts!" Said unicorn came over and did her stuff, covering the gash with a "magical bandage".

"Nnnh…" Chronicle groaned as he saw Twilight step forward.

"So, Twilight Sparkle. Shall we?" he heard Trixie say. "I'd say you have a bit of advantage since while you're still quite fresh, I'm a bit winded. Not that that matters much. I can still beat you."

Twilight turned to her bodyguard, who was slowly losing the fight to stay awake as a result from the critical hit and his unceremonious throw. "Don't," he tried to warn her. "Her power… it's not all…" But he couldn't finish as he continued to slip away.

The last words he heard before finally passing out told him his warning failed.

"All right, Trixie," he heard his charge say icily. "Let’s duel!"

"Excellent," Trixie had replied.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—S—T—MS—G–TB–B–CC

"Why did you skip the duel?"

Personally, I found it a bit boring. Also, the scene after was quite heart-wrenching for me to type down. With the forced eviction and the sealing of the town. Kinda makes me wonder why the Princesses aren't sometimes a bit more hooves-on on these matters.

"But—"

As for the 'scenes' in "The Return of Harmony" arc, I skipped some of them too, and yes I did make a somewhat heart-wrenching scene of my own with the way Chronicle's battle-obsession was stopped.

"I remember. Fluttershy had to purposely use the Stare, but not before punching him in the stomach to force his eyes open. And then him actually crying, not that I thought he was incapable of doing so. I mean—"

I know, I know. Anyway, the case is, there are some scenes I can't write down because I got too much feels for them (that I successfully keep in) or because I don't feel it's overly necessary to know what Chronicle was doing there. Only on rare occasions will I do them; if not, I resort with my own.

"Oh."

Now, back to the story proper! I intended to do a dreamscape sequence, but…oh, what the hay, I'll do it!





Within Chronicle's mind, Mystic Wand was busy fiddling around at his brother's "memory cathedral"  by way of a complex spell he learned while in his world. Unlike the rest of his siblings (indeed, the rest of his -core- family), Wand was more experienced in magical theory and application than in combat. While his siblings were akin to knights in a sense, he was more of a scholar.

The "memory cathedral" is a place developed by a person who practice the technique called the method of loci. One would order their memories into a visual location of some sort—a cathedral, town, house, carrier, even a submarine—so long as it can be pictured easily and is familiar to the person. It can be used to remember or forget, but he wasn't all too familiar with the how of that.

He was about to investigate the memories of his younger brother's arsenal when he was suddenly whisked to the dreamscape. He found Chronicle looking dazed. Not wanting to tell him he had been snooping about, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Oh, Wand! Am I glad to see you!" He didn't question why his eldest brother was suddenly here, because he needed his help right now.

"Why Wand? Why not Mystic?"

"Because I already have a friend whom I call Mystic, only his second name is Shield. Anyway, I need your help."

"Are you sure? You know we're not supposed to meddle in each others' world's affairs."

"I know that, but…my friend's muzzle—both mouth and nose—has been removed and I need to find a way to get it back. Luckily for her, she has Toon traits, so she isn't dead yet, but I don't know how long she'll last."

"How was it removed?"

"Clicked-and-dragged into a 'virtual' trash bin by a 'virtual' mouse. Caster of the spell was wearing the Alicorn Amulet."

This shocked the dark blue unicorn. "What?! The Alicorn Amulet?! How did—" He cut himself off. "Wait. Is it from some black market?"

"Yes."

"Oh. It's just that in my world, the Alicorn Amulet is sealed in a high-security vault. It's a forbidden artifact made out of…brr, I don't want to say."

"I think I get what you're saying." Alicorn is also a term to describe a unicorn's horn. "What else is there about the Amulet?"

"Well…"

Wand told Chronicle about the Amulet, about its power, about its history of users that went corrupt with it, the fact that it was not the amulet that made them so but the power it granted, and how to part it from its wearer.

"I see. Thanks, Wand."

"You told me that your friend has Toon traits, right?"

Pinkie Pie. Chronicle nodded. "Right."

"And that she managed to fight an 'iris out'?"

"Yes."

"Ah. I'll see what I can do. I can't enter your world. Not supposed to, anyway. But I can go to its 'black dimension' and fix her if she happens to go there. Try and inform her of that when you get the chance."

"How will you go about it?"

"Well, step one, I'll—"

But before he could say anything, both of them were evicted from the dreamscape, one back to his own, and the other—


C—MW—C—MW—C—MW—C—MW—C—MW—C—MW

—back into the domain of the waking. Chronicle felt pain coursing through his back and all over his body and wondered what his brother was about to say before being forced awake.

"Oww…" he groaned before opening his eyes and realizing just where he was.

He was at a stretch of meadow well outside Ponyville, lying on a patch of dirt. He had apparently been tossed, most likely by Trixie, all the way out of town, and rolled for a while before awaking. He turned to the side to see that the same thing has happened with Twilight; she lost her duel, just as he has lost his.

He also saw a gigantic dome flash into existence above the town and was slowly lowered over it as they got to their feet. By the time it landed, it cut the two of them off from the town as well as their friends, the other Spirits of Harmony, Spike, and Mystic Shield.

Rainbow was trying uselessly to smash through headfirst, and Spike and Mystic pressed one claw/hoof against the barrier. The two forced exiles touched their hooves to their respective spots. 

"It’s okay, guys," Twilight assured the others. "I’ll figure something out. Just take care of each other, and keep an eye on Trixie. There’s something strange about her." And then off she went, Spike saying her name as he thumped his forehead against the dome—as solid as any glass or plastic wall.

Meanwhile, Chronicle was saying, "Mystic Shield, I leave this to you and your students while I'm gone."

For some reason, Mystic was feeling at all confident, likely shaken from seeing Chronicle fall and his own failure to oust Trixie earlier. "After seeing what she did, I'm not sure we can."

"I need you, more than ever. Should Trixie try something again, you and your students are the next line of defense. Please," he pleaded.

The ascot-wearing unicorn shook his head. "No promises. I know of no other place where I can set up my academy should I ever cross Trixie and have her ban me. Most everywhere else I tried setting up, they either had very few unicorns if any, or the officials didn't approve. Ponyville's my only way to uphold my mentor's legacy, and I swore to him that I would continue his teachings.

Chronicle gave a sigh. "…Fine. I'll see what I can do out here. Best of luck to you." With that, he took off after his charge, leaving his friends behind, not that he had a choice in the matter; they were trapped here, and it will be up to him, Twilight, or some other wandering hero to save Ponyville. Well, there was still Princess Luna, and despite her night hours she would probably be awake to tend to legal matters in Celestia's absence, but he felt it would be 'cheating' to ask her for help on dealing with some madmare. Maybe as a last resort.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Eyecatch (picture-type) - To the right is Twilight Sparkle and Chronicle running off somewhere, their faces in a determined expression. To the left is the closed off Ponyville, where their friends saw them off. The show's logo is seen on the upper right.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

All right! It seems that I had enough in me to write the sealing of the town. Just shut up, okay?

"I didn't say anything."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS

Somewhere at the meadow…

While Chronicle paced about behind her, deep in thought, Twilight was standing in a grassy area and casting a spell on a flower in front of her. Her shaking lean forward and moan through gritted teeth told just how much mental effort she was putting into this one; the teeth ground and the sparks flew, and in due time the bloom folded itself up into a bud. She smiled at the result, but a moment later the effect undid itself and she voiced a supremely frustrated groan.

"It’s impossible!" she exclaimed. "How could Trixie know such advanced magic? Without Spike, I can’t get a message to the Princess in Saddle Arabia." 

And it'll take a long time to go all the way to Canterlot to inquire with Princess Luna. Assuming we can even get an audience with her in record time, thought her bodyguard. He didn't voice his opinions though.

"So who else do I know who understands strange and powerful magic?"

"What about Zecora?" Chronicle suggested.

"That's a great idea!"


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS

Later, at Zecora's hut…

After the two explained to the zebra their current predicament, Twilight paced the floor while Zecora sat cross-legged on her haunches at a small table, holding a cup of tea, and with Chronicle standing in front of her.

"Your tale of woe upsets me so," the Everfree resident took a sip. "No wonder you’re dour. It’s an abuse of power!"

"I don’t know what to do, Zecora," said Twilight. "I feel like I’ve abandoned my friends, but I can’t take her on horn-to-horn." 

Zecora took another sip before setting down the cup. "If you train with me, so good you’ll be. I’ll show you the way to make sure she won’t stay."

"You’ll train me in magic? But she was doing age spells, weather spells, you name it!" An overly emphatic gesture knocked over the cup, spilling the tea. The herbalist looked at her worriedly and held the vessel in one hoof.

"When it comes to magic, it would be tragic—" She waved her other front hoof over it and it was instantly refilled. "—If somepony licked me, especially Trixie."

"You really think I can beat her?" 

The zebra nodded. "Mmm-hmm."

This got Twilight so excited that she jumped her forelegs onto the table, spilling the tea again. "Okay. When do we start?" This time, she got a slightly nasty look through narrowed eyes and gave back a placating grin. 

"Well, I could use some help too," said Chronicle. "A shame I left the element crystals back home." This earned him a confused look from the zebra. "Twilight had one when those blue monsters attacked Ponyville. And your hut."

"Ah, that memory is quite clear to me," said Zecorra. "She had a companion with her named Kairi. And there is something I would like to ask; how was she when you saw her last?"

"Well, after the attack, she had to leave. She had friends with her, so don't worry. Also, how is this relevant to our situation?"

Zecora had nothing to say to that.


C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z

Later, elsewhere in the forest…

The two unicorns were standing on the surface of a totally still pool, both using a mild version of Chronicle's walk-on-water spell, floating a couple of large, shapeless blobs of water around themselves. Zecora stood meditating on one hind leg at its edge, the other one stuck straight out in front and her front hooves touching. All of them had their eyes closed.

"Ahhh…no noise, no sound, no din, no fuss must interfere with your focus," Zecora said. "Unlearn what you have learned. Only then can victory be earned."

Twilight seemed to be concentrating too much and groaning as she tried to keep focus while Chronicle was still relatively calm. Eventually, the former popped open her eyes and, having lost her concentration, she had just enough time for one yelp before splashing into the pond along with her three water blobs. 

As her head surfaced, Zecora leaned in towards her. "There is much, much that I can teach. But the answer you need may still be out of reach. Chronicle over there, as you can see, in spite of the crisis, remains serene."

Indeed her bodyguard remained undisturbed, although his legs began to buckle a bit, but he remained standing. What followed next was a tickling sensation. While he did his best not to show that he was laughing, his face betrayed the fact that he was resisting.

Twilight surfaced from the pool as her new teacher walked off, stopping when she said, I’m sorry, Zecora. I’m trying my best, but…I can’t stop thinking about Trixie. There was something different about her. It’s like she’s gone from high and mighty to mean and nasty."

"Your thinking needs a re-adjust," Zecora said before walking off again. "Total concentration is a must."

All of a sudden, Chronicle's tail began to twitch before his body was then forced into a series of high-speed dance moves before ending with a wild spin. Naturally, this broke his concentration and he and his blobs of water fell. Zecora stopped one more and turned to look at the lake as he surfaced and spat out some water that made it into his mouth.

"My friends are in trouble," he said. He didn't want to use Surveillance in Zecora's constant presence. "Trixie is tormenting them with menial tasks and punishments as we speak."

"How can you tell, if I may inquire, that your friends' situations are most dire?"

"You see, just like my friend Pinkie Pie can predict certain things with the  Pinkie Sense, Chronicle has something like it, but it works differently," Twilight explained. "It's called the Harmony Link."

"I know what the Pinkie Sense is." Her time in Ponyville eventually taught her what it was. "But not, however, of this Harmony Link."

"While Pinkie predicts random things about to happen, Chronicle predicts bad things about to happen to me and my friends. When Pinkie's tail twitches, something's going to fall. If his tail twitches, something bad's happening to Pinkie."

"For each of my friends, a certain body part reacts accordingly depending on who, then I either receive a portion of what they're suffering, or a migraine if their minds are being affected," Chronicle continued. "For Twilight, my horn sparks magic. For Applejack, my legs buckle. For Rainbow, my sides ache at the places where I would have wings if I were a pegasus. For Rarity, my eyes sting. And for Fluttershy, my heart beats out of rhythm." He then turned to face his charge. "Harmony Link? Not the first name I would come up with."

"It was in The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."

"Really? That means I'm not the first." He then shook his head vigorously. "But let's ponder on that later. Right now, we need to practice. Find a way to stop Trixie and talking about things like these isn't helping."


C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z—C—TS—Z

Back in Ponyville…

Spike peeked out of a curtain, seeing the banners of Trixie attached to various Ponyville buildings and flapping in a strong wind. The sky had gone a dull, cloudy gray. There was also a statue of the vanquishing sorceress—rearing up on her hind legs, dressed in her old, star-spangled hat and cape with jewel brooch. 

He and the rest of Twilight's friends were inside the Books and Branches Library. With them were Mystic Shield, and two of his students: Tricky Books and Morpheus.

Everypony was skimming through the library's books with a speed that would be the envy of any college student cramming for finals. The books had been dumped in piles on the floor, the shelves nearly empty.

Rarity gave a sigh as she magically closed book and threw it aside. "This really doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere."

The book had landed on a pile away from her, from which Pinkie put her head up with a resigned moan and shrug. Just in case, Tricky had cast a spell on her so that breathing wouldn't be needed for her to survive. Food and water is still a problem however, so it was merely a temporary measure.

"I hear you, Pinkie," said Applejack. "I can’t find anythin’ that describes the kinda magic Trixie’s doin’."

Spike groaned. "There must be something. Twilight has every magic book there is!"

"All I can figure out is that the magic isn't really coming from her," said Tricky. 

Meanwhile, Fluttershy found a picture of the Amulet in the book she ws currently holding. She pointed to the picture. "Um, I think I may have found something."
Rarity popped up in front of her, hamming it up, "Yes, it’s time for us to consider our futures in this new, Trixie-led Ponyville." 

Fluttershy shifted position. "Um, this sounds an awful lot like Trixie’s magic." 

And then came Applejack. "She wants me to grow apples with no peels!" She gave a sigh. "Now how the hay am I supposed to do that?"

Fluttershy moved again. "Um, there’s a picture here of that necklace."

The mouthless pink pony stood up with a few irked grunts and gesticulations. None of the others have paid her the slightest bit of attention throughout. Except for Morpheus. 

"Um, girls?" he said. "Everybody!" Nopony paid attention to him either.

"It’s called the Alicorn Amulet, and whoever wears it is blessed with untold—" Spike yanked the book out of Fluttershy's grip.

"Hey, everypony, look! This book has a picture of Trixie’s necklace!" White, pink, blue, orange-tan, purple, and silver-gray heads instantly clustered around for a better look. "It’s called the Alicorn Amulet, and whoever wears it is blessed with untold powers!"

The diligent yellow pegasus had found herself at the back of the group alongside the black disguise-capable stallion. "If you read a little further, you’ll see—"

Rarity was reading. “Even though it provides great power, it also corrupts the user.”

"Yes, but, um, you can’t—"

"You can’t just take the Alicorn Amulet off her neck." Spike. "It has a magical lock. Trixie’s the only pony who can take it off!"

"Maybe we can—"

"We need to get this information to Twilight." Applejack. "She’ll know what to do."

"But…h-how—"

"If any of us try to leave, Trixie’s magical force field will tell her." Rarity.

"Maybe we should—"

"I’ve got it!" Rainbow flew up toward the ceiling. "Trying to sneak past the force field would be impossible without help." She then gave a wink. "But I know who’s got the goods to get into the woods."

"I-It must be—" Rainbow then swooped down and lifted the other pegasus overhead.

"Fluttershy!"

"What?!?" She crashed to the ground and shivered under an open book as Applejack walked over to her.

"What do you say, Fluttershy? Can you handle the mission?"

Fluttershy popped up. "No!" She landed on her haunches, clutching the book. "I’ll crack under the pressure!" She hunched down under it again. "I’ll snap like a twig!"

The brash blue daredevil came to sweep her off the floor, making her drop the book again. "Perfect! Fluttershy’ll sneak out of Ponyville and find Twilight and Chronicle."

"But…but I…I…"

Down she went again like a ton of bricks wrapped in a pink mane and tail. At the center of the room, and four hooves—white, pink, blue, orange-tan—reached into view and piled up. Their owners look hopefully across the room, where Fluttershy huddled miserably with bugging eyes and chattering teeth. Three more hooves—purple, silver-gray, black—relented and did the same.

"As much as they're apparently inconsiderate of your lack of confidence in this mission," Mystic said, "you're really our only chance. Come on."

Fluttershy finally lets off a defeated sigh and hesitantly added hers to the pile of limbs. "Okay."

They broke the pile with assorted declarations of support, confidence, and yielding. 

"And I know just the design, for a dangerous-mission outfit!"

Just in case, I'm sending Morpheus to accompany her," Mystic said. "Should she get caught, he'll serve as the distraction.

The black unicorn took offense to this. "Hey!"

"Twilight doesn't know or trust you enough as she does Fluttershy."

"And why not?"

"Because she knows her much more than she knows you."

"…Good point. I'll need some time to perfect my disguise." And with that, he went over to the shaking pegasus and looked her over, but made certain his eyes weren't too leery or lecherous.


S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—TB—M

If one were to look at Ponyville from outside, they would see dark clouds confined within the force field Trixie put up around it; outside, the sky was still clear and blue. 

Not that Fluttershy and Morpheus could see it from their hiding place. It was a clever plan. Employing three beavers that were stuck inside the barrier, they would hide inside a felled tree trunk with a knothole—both of its sides bitten off to enforce the illusion— and the beavers would take it to the force field. Two of them would then pat at the force field to call for Trixie's attention and one of them would convince her to lift it up for them to pass.

"You there! What are you doing?" Morpheus heard Trixie's voice. The plan was working.

The beaver not beating on the field let go with what was almost certainly a torrent of unprintable language, pointing at the log and the barrier to make its point—they want to move their cargo toward the forests.

From the sound of magic that followed, Trixie seemed to allow them to pass, tipping the whole thing up just enough to let all three beavers carry their lumber out, and let it slam back down. 

A few seconds later, they heard Trixie leave. "Okay," Morpheus whispered. "I think the coast is clear."

One beaver then reached into the knothole and yanked Fluttershy out, with another pulling on his tail to help. She was now dressed in goggles and a dark gray hooded shirt and matching shorts with lighter gray accessories: utility belt, sewn-on covers for her ears, shoes on only three hooves. The missing shoe and her generally disheveled, dazed appearance spoke to the very rough journey she had had getting to this point. Shaking some sense into herself, she propped the goggles on her forehead. 

Morpheus popped out as well, his appearance identical to hers, but cleaner and with the fourth shoe. He noted that the outfit had his not-really-existent wings covered, not that they'll even open up since it was but a disguise.

"Oh…oh, dear!" Fluttershy said as she backed and turned away. "Rarity’s dangerous-mission outfit is ruined! Guess we better go back."

Her retreat was stopped by one frantically chittering beaver in front, then the other two and several birds from behind. One of them chirped in her right ear.

"Oh…okay, okay, you’re right. I need to be brave and find Twilight." Another bird chirped in her left ear. "Oh! Y-You’ve found her?" She then entered a panicky state. "She’s in the Everfree Forest?!"

The scuffed-up pegasus galloped back to the log she rode out on, tackling Morpheus in the way, and dove back into its knothole, but the birds dragged her out by the ears, mane, and tail. She found herself being carried backwards toward the untamed wilds.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake, Fluttershy. Don't back away now!" said Morpheus as he followed her. "Twilight needs you! Chronicle needs you! What will he say if he finds out you were assigned to send a message to them only to chicken out at the last second?"

"Oh, this is me being brave!" she ignored him, trying to “run” in midair as the beavers followed. "I want to be brave at home! Locked in my closet, with my teddy bear!"

"Wow those birds must be very strong," commented Morpheus. "There's no way a pegasus could be this light. Or is it just pegasus magic at work?" He shrugged the question away.


F—T—M—F—T—M—F—T—M—F—T—M

At Zecora's hut…

Fluttershy was seated on her haunches at the table inside, out of her covert-operations gear, picking up a cup of tea, and sipping it. She was seated opposite of Zecora, and Chronicle (naturally dried off) sat between them, an expression that was between being cross and being ashamed in his face. The two of them had similar cups as well.

"I'm disappointed in you, Fluttershy. You, who braved the Everfree Forest with us. You, who decided to go in after me to rescue Elizabeak and the Cutie Mark Crusaders after they wandered here. Being such a…" He couldn't finish and just groaned. "Ugh."

Fluttershy felt extremely ashamed. He had a point, and she had no excuse in his eyes. "Sorry. It's just that after seeing what Trixie can do and is willing to do, I… I…"

Chronicle let off another sigh. "Fine. I'll let this by." He then turned to Morpheus, who was now back in his original appearance. "What brings you here?"

"Backup plan and distraction. And I had to push your friend the rest of the way once the birds and beavers started being not enough." The black unicorn shook his head. "Guess that didn't make for a very good scene, huh?"

"It didn't." When Chronicle had saw two Fluttershys coming over, he fired a weak shot at the pusher, as the one he knew would never force another pony around. The shot had struck Morpheus in the horn, forcing him to drop the disguise.

Twilight, also dried off, was currently pacing the room, taking in the intel their friend had offered. "I can’t believe I didn’t recognize the Alicorn Amulet!"

"And the more she uses it, the more it will corrupt her!" Fluttershy added.

"But is the corruption from the amulet itself, or just the temptation of such power?" asked Chronicle.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of taking that amulet for yourself," gasped Morpheus.

"Yes. Unless the corruption is from the amulet itself, I think I can resist the temptation. I won't use it all the time, of course, and not at all if the corruption is from the amulet itself. Don't worry, I'll have it verified once we have it."

"But how am I supposed to beat that Amulet?" complained Twilight. "My magic’s not good enough."

Her bodyguard then gave a sigh. "And neither is mine. This is why I don't do magic duels; battle's more of my forte. I should'nt've held back. But then I could've killed her."

"Twilight Sparkle, much work have you done. You learned all of my lessons—all but one," said Zecora. "If Trixie’s tricks have you in a fix, You must nix your magic and use the six."

“Nix your magic, use the six”…“nix your magic, use the six,” Twilight repeated to herself. A floodlight then came on behind the purple eyes. "“Use the six,” that’s it! Zecora, you’re a genius!" Zecora allowed herself a contented little smile and nod, and Twilight levitated aquill and scroll over to the table and began to write. "Now we’ll need to get you back inside Ponyville, Fluttershy, Morpheus."

Chronicle turned to face Zecora and asked, "Is the 'six' you referred to the six?" Eventually, as the zebra got integrated into the Ponyville community, she learned about the Elements of Harmony and its bearers. 

Zecora answered with a nod.

"I see."


C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M

Eyecatch (video-type) - On the left side is Zecora's hut. From the right emerges Fluttershy, who was pushed by the similar-looking Morpheus. Chronicle opens the door, and blasts Morpheus, reverting him to his original look and leaving him dazed. As the blue unicorn put a hoof to his mouth in apology, the show's logo appears on the upper left.


C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M—C—TS—F—Z—M

It was a few hours before dusk would set in. 

"This better not be another false alarm, or the Great and Powerful Trixie will—" This threat died with a gasp as the self-proclaimed dictator of Ponyville saw the two exiles, and the Everfree Forest's resident behind them.

"You!" she seethed as she walked over, her voice muffled by the field. "What’s the matter, Twilight Sparkle? Not enjoying your exile?"

"I know about the Alicorn Amulet. I know you cheated," was the reply. 

Trixie feigned offense. "Cheated? Moi?"

Twilight gave a shrewd smile, levitating another necklace. "Yeah. And I thought you might want to see what a real magical amulet looks like." This one consisted of a thick gold band set with a roughly circular piece that displayed three spirals curling in from the edges. "Zecora gave it to me. It’s from beyond the Everfree Forest—" The prodigal unicorn secured it around her neck. "—and it’s way more powerful than your measly little Alicorn Amulet!"

"Ha! Nothing’s more powerful than the Alicorn Amulet!" Trixie boasted. "And nopony’s more powerful than the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Her eyes flickered red.

"Care to put your amulet where your mouth is? How about another duel?"

"Why should I? I already beat you."

"That’s up to you…" Twilight replied teasingly as she walked away. "…but I guess you’ll never see the totally awesome magic from beyond the Everfree Forest. Come on, Zecora."

The departing teacher and student gave Trixie a good view of their rumps and hind legs. Chronicle seemed to be at odds with something, then he seemed to relent and leave as well, but not before giving Trixie an "it's not over" glare.

"Wait!" Trixie then said, her eyes broadcasting her desire to do anything more pleasant—say, pulling her own teeth out through her nose—but she teleported herself out of the force field and let it dissipate. An instant later, she has reappeared next to the confident pair and grumpy stallion. "Okay, okay, you’re on. A second duel," she finished softly and viciously.


C—TS—T—Z—C—TS—T—Z—C—TS—T—Z

Later, at the town square…

Everypony was gathered. All the pieces were set. Chronicle was furious that Trixie caged the mayor. Trixie, Snips, and Snails stood at one side of the open space facing Twilight, him, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Spike at the other. 

Lightning ripped the air behind the scowling blue unicorn, and Twilight planted her front hooves a bit wider to give herself a good stance. Her face was set in a quiet, squint-eyed grimace, as are those of the friends ranged behind her.

"Remember, Trixie," Chronicle warned. "If I see you crippling anybody for life or ending it, I will end you."

"Oh, please. If our duel last time was any indication, you don't have what it takes."

"I was just going easy. It wouldn't do for me to commit outright murder in front of the whole town."

Trixie decide to ignore that and addressed her opponent. "Let’s start with a simple age spell, shall we?"

"Let’s."

"Snips! Snails!" As soon as they galloped in to face her, they get hit with a spell that turned them both into newborns and start crying at full tilt. Trixie smirked. "An oldie, but a goodie." She then gave a dismissive chuckle. "Now let’s see what your little charm can do." 

There came a moment’s thought from Twilight. "No problem." She looked to one side. Um, Applejack, Rarity? Could you help me, please?"

"Huh?" Both of them said, one after the other. 

As they stepped forward, Trixie rolled her eyes and tossed her head as if to say, Is this really the best you can do?

Twilight adjusted her stance a bit, got her horn going, and faced down the two very uneasy volunteers now standing in front of her near a statue. Trixie floated an emery board up to file the edge of a hoof, clearly unconcerned about anything her opponent might do. 

Then came the boom, throwing up a cloud of smoke that dissipated to reveal that both Applejack and Rarity have been turned into fillies and lost their cutie marks. Applejack’s hat was the same size as it was, meaning that it is now far too large for her head. It toppled forward, covering her entire face. 

Across the way, Trixie kept filing her hoof for a moment, then dropped the board with a bug-eyed, slack-jawed stare. Total disbelief was quickly replaced by a bored sigh and gesture. "Ho-hum. So you can do an age spell. Big deal."

Another shot from the violet horn put them back at their proper age—but she wasn't done yet. The third left Filly Rarity standing on Mare Applejack’s back; the fourth, Mare Rarity atop a very old Applejack in the same pose; the fifth, both at their proper ages with all four hooves on the ground. Now Twilight had Trixie’s undivided attention.

"That’s…that’s impossible!"

"That’s nothin’!" A quick over-shoulder glance disclosed Rainbow, who cringed a bit at finding herself such an easy target. She then took the next spell and wound up unchanged when the haze cleared—or so she thought until two additional blue wings popped up from the sides of her head. These rose slightly behind her, joined by an identical rainbow-maned noggin; a moment later, she backed up quickly into the air and was facing an exact duplicate of her, the real deal was on the left of Trixie's visual range.

"Yow!" They eyed each other cautiously from various angles and even traded places to make sure their eyes are not fooling them. 

Down below, Trixie looked as if her eyes might pop out of her skull. "How did you…?"

"Duplication spell. Ever seen one pony play ten instruments?"

Her next sideways head tilt put Pinkie in the line of fire, who was between Carrot Top, and Lyra and Bon Bon, the unicorn drinking a smoothie and seemingly uncaring for the current crisis. A spell then blasted the pink pony, forcing the others to duck, and the smoke cleared to show her rigged up as a one-mare band similar to he get-up during the parasprite incident. She went into a lively polka number, somehow managing to play the tuba around her midsection despite the minor technical hitch of having no mouth. 

Trixie gets a few bits of up-close-and-personal performance, the last of which came from directly overhead and forced her to crouch down in order to avoid eating the instruments. "This…just can’t be!"

"Ooh, one more. I can turn a mare into a stallion! And vice-versa! At the same time!" 

At this line, Applejack's eyes displayed terrified green points, and her teeth were about to chew through her bottom lip. Chronicle, who had moved over next to them during the polka, just gave a big gulp. Before either could get away, they took the full brunt of that “one more” .

Once the haze evaporated, the mare had become a large and bulky stallion whose blond mane/tail were no longer tied back. The hat, coloration, and cutie mark were intact. She—or rather, he—crossed right legs over left with a noticeable degree of embarrassment. "Ee-yup," 'he' said.

"Not again! Why do I always end up looking like my sister?!" the second voice, a female one, came. It came from a mare—the eyelashes confirmed it—with the same color scheme (and cutie mark), but different mane-style. Her muzzle was also more curved than before.

The follow-up spell reversed the transformation just as quickly and left Applejack quite disoriented. Chronicle however managed to keep his composure. Trixie’s jaw hung so low that it might fall out of her head with one good sneeze.

"Well, Trixie, looks like my amulet is more powerful than yours." As Twilight spoke, red aura seized the relic and yanked it off. "Hey! Give it back!" It was floated over to the power-hungry unicorn, who let off a diabolical laugh.

"With this amulet, I shall now rule all of Equestria!" One hard pull undid the Amulet’s chain, the red aura of her horn and eyes flickered away—revealing a pink aura—and she floated Twilight’s charm on to replace it. "Witness, my subjects! Gaze upon an ever greater and powerful-er Trixie!"

As Chronicle entered a battle stance, lightning then cracked around Trixie and she stood up on her hind legs. One of the two Rainbows darted in and snatched the Amulet away. "Hey!" Be she caught herself, smiling wickedly. "I don’t need that old Alicorn Amulet. I have this!" 

Aiming her horn toward the clouds, she let go with a burst of her own magic and hit the escaping pegasus square in the belly. She didn't lose her hold on the Amulet, though, and the energy coursing over her form had no effect except to start her laughing wildly.

"Stop it!…That…" Rainbow struggled to say as the spell faded away. "…that tickles!"

"Tickles?" Trixie began to stammer. "That.was supposed to make you writhe in agony!" She tapped her necklace. "This amulet is defective!" She fired another round, which Rainbow ducked easily. "Give mine back!"

"Sorry." She flew down to Zecora, who held a small, open wooden box. She dropped the Amulet in and closed the lid "This is going back into hiding where it belongs." In reality, after much convincing, it would be given to Chronicle for safekeeping and emergencies.

Twilight sidled up to the was-dictator and said, "By the way, Trixie…" She tapped the necklace. "…the amulet around your neck? It’s one of Zecora’s doorstops." And it chose that moment to fall off the gold band and crack in two when it hit the ground.

Trixie continued to stammer. "But…how did you do those spells? Nopony can do those spells!"

"You’re right. Not even me. Zecora taught me so much about magic while I was in exile. She even taught me when not to use it. My magic alone wasn’t powerful enough to take on the Alicorn Amulet head-to-head. So I needed to use a different kind of magic. The magic of friendship! I also knew that the only pony who could get the Amulet off your neck was you. "

As it turned out, the letter Twilight wrote was instructions for Fluttershy and Morpheus, who would relay it to not only their friends, but also Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, one of Mystic Shield's female students. 

The former three were the ones who posed as Male Applejack, Old Applejack, and Young Applejack. Sweetie 'starred' as Young Rarity. As for the female student, who took the role of "Chronicle's sister", that 'volunteer' was Twinkleshine, who said she didn't "want to miss an opportunity to practice full-on make-up". And Fluttershy posed as Rainbow's double. 

They pulled this off with copious amounts of paint, hair-styling, eye contacts, wigs, and spare stetsons. Oh, and the statue served as a hiding place for the 'doubles'.

"In short," Chronicle teased. "We used 'stage magic', which is supposed to be your forte, to trick you. You know, I've always been comparing the two of you with my charge excelling in power and you excelling in skill. But it looks like…Twilight's got the skill down pat. 'Anything you can do, she can do better…' ring a bell?"

Trixie was left a bit speechless before she managed to regain her voice. "But…what about the pony with the ten instruments?"

"That’s not magic, that was just Pinkie Pie," Twilight answered.

On the end of this, she gestured to the polka-playing party pony, who earned a round of cheers from several onlookers. As the crowd slowly started to advance on Trixie and she backed away uneasily, the impenetrable overcast parted to yield an expanse of cheerful blue and a bright sun above it all.

At around the same time, Snips and Snails returned to normal in a poof of smoke, as the age spell was thankfully only temporary.


C—TS—T—S—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—T—SB

Later that night…

Fluttershy’s bunny Angel floated blissfully under Twilight’s control, along with the rest of her animals, going in an infinity pattern overhead. The performing unicorn stood on a stage in the town square, and ponies watched from the packed bleachers set up on three sides, where they ooh’ed and aah’ed in wonder and delight. Two high private boxes had been set up on opposite sides of the street; one held the Mayor, the other Princess Celestia and what looked like two horses, the delegates from Saddle Arabia. The first was a brown, blond-maned stallion and the other a light blue, purple-maned mare, both wearing finely decorated saddles, bridles, and headwear. 

Fluttershy shivered in Spike’s comforting arms, lifting her face for one quick, terrified glance before ducking away again. Her fears for the animals’ safety were entirely unfounded, though; Twilight maneuvered them into a new aerial pattern while fireworks burst around them, eliciting more awed reactions.

Finally, she brought the critters back down, seeming a bit puzzled at this new development. Turns out it was Trixie—back in her usual starry cape and jewel brooch—standing just past the edge of the stage who did the effects. Chronicle stood next to her, watchful. "Trixie?"

The showmare gave Twilight a smile of genuine contrition as her hat floated down onto her head. She had removed the gold band on which Twilight’s fake amulet was mounted. "It’s the least I could do. I treated you and your friends so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn Amulet. I just couldn’t control myself. You can forgive me, can’t you?" She gave her opposite number a one-two punch—a pitiful pout coupled with the big sad soulful eyes—but Twilight remained unconvinced for a long, silent moment.

"Hmmm…" But she finally gave a smile. "…sure."

Trixie sighed in quiet relief. "Oh…good."

"Here." Chronicle levitated a full pouch over to Trixie. "Some more bits to help in getting you back on top."

"Thank you." After accepting the bits, she resumed her old over-the-top manner. "Don’t you think the Great and Apologetic Trixie is the most magnificent humble pony you’ve ever seen?"

Twilight rolled her eyes disgustedly, but let it shift into a little smile and the merest shake of her head. Chronicle did the same. Maybe someday she’ll get it. Just as in her last, ignominious flight from Ponyville, Trixie reared up and was lost in a sudden burst of smoke, which cleared to show her galloping away from the camera. Her “grand” exit was marred by a stumble that dumped her on the ground, but she was soon up and moving again. 


C—TS—T—C—TS—T—C—TS—T—C—TS—T

In the mist of the "Iris Out" phenomenon, two pink hooves shoved themselves through the tiny aperture from behind and stretched it out so that Pinkie can tumble through. The black ground snapped shut behind her as she entered the 'black dimension', straightened up and pointed out her still-missing facial features, hum-grunting furiously all the while as if to say, “Now how about my mouth, stupid?” 

The sound of a spell being cast came, and revealed Twilight—actually Mystic Wand in disguise—walking out to join her through a portal 'she' created. This winked away, and a quick burst of magic restored Pinkie’s mouth and nose to their rightful place. She sucks in a huge breath, then let out her words.

"You're not Twilight, are you?" she asked.

This caught Wand off guard, who relented before dropping his disguise. "No, I'm not. I'm a resident of this dimension."

"Are you related to Chronicle?" She then pointed at his cutie mark. "Because you share the same cutie mark! Oh, I also remember the time where we went to this other world where everypony there had their genders switched, except his counterpart wasn't simply that, but his sister!" A thought then came to mind. "Oh, maybe he's part of a family full of ponies with the same cutie mark, and that family's on a mission related to stories and such! And maybe you also have a few griffons, a zebra, a dragon—"

During her rant, Wand was already building up a spell, already wanting to get rid of this gal. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to hea—" He suddenly pointed somewhere. "Hey, is that a place that needs a party?!"

She immediately turned to where he was pointing. "Where?!"

He then hit her with his spell…sending her back to Equestria Prime—and modifying her memories so that all she would remember of this dimension is that she somehow got her mouth back…and that would be about it. "Whew," he said to himself. "Didn't think that would work. Everypony in my world is too smart for the Yoink."

Just then, he received an alert in his mind. Mystic Wand, a stern voice resounded. What were you doing with that pony from Equestria Prime?

Wand gave a sigh. "Sorry, Father. Timmy asked me to restore her mouth after it was taken away. If it weren't for her Toon traits, she would've been long dead."

You should've taken it up with me, you know. Record Keeper was very cross.

"Sorry again. I was spending the time looking for a way to reverse the effects of the Alicorn Amulet."

That thing? The dangerous artifact was known to the Story Crew as well, but its degrees of corruption varied from world to world. In some, it indeed slowly leads its wearers to evil. In others, its promise of power is simply too tempting for lesser ponies to resist for long.

"Yes. I can safely presume that—"

Tell me the rest once you return to Twilight Sparkle Equestria and into your dreamscape. That 'black dimension' can drive you mad the longer you stay there.

"Oh, all right." With that, he teleported himself away.
> BONUS: CO2E Report
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

BONUS: CO2E Report
Mid-winter in Equestria Prime…

Chronicle was at Hub Equestria, ready to report to his father about yet another cross-world incident he was involved in. Except he wasn't the one who did the world-crossing like before.

Just as he reached the door leading to the interrogation room where his father was waiting, he saw another pony walk over, headed the same way. The one who world-crossed to Equestria Prime.

This other pony wore a white robe concealing their identity. The front half of the robes featured a hood shaped like an eagle's beak in the center; this was connected to the main part of the robes. The rear portion was layered, with the back of the robes extending farther than the front, parted by their tail. Around the barrel was a red sash, with pouches to hold supplies. The pony also wore a balaclava, which along with the low hood helped conceal their identity.

Chronicle knew this pony. An assassin known as the "Angel of Doom". Back when Luna Equestria's Night Court was full of corrupt nobles and their machinations (finally ended thanks to its world's Elements of Harmony), one thing they feared was the Angel of Doom. Before Corona's release, the Angel of Doom would target a Night Court noble and do what they do best, leaving no trace of their identity and seen only as a shadow in the distance. After Corona's release though, they seemingly disappeared, only popping out every now and then in Canterlot, with their swan song during the Grand Galloping Gala, where the Night Court was finally taught their place.

The Angel of Doom also happened to be his youngest brother.

"Blue Diary, there's no need for that garb," the unicorn said with a frown. "I already know who you are when we 'fought' 'for real' in my world."

The assassin pulled back his hood to reveal spiky blue-and-purple hair, blue eyes, and a mare-face just like his. "I know. It's just that I miss wearing these, now that I no longer need them."

The reason why the Angel of Doom's swan song was at the Grand Galloping Gala was because that was when his identity was accidentally revealed. To be precise, while dealing with a criminal they 'recruited' who decided to do things her own way, his hood and mask got torn off. It was revealed afterward that Blue had been doing the assassinations on the behalf of Princess Luna Equestris. 

But that was none of Chronicle's concern. Right now, they have to answer to their father for what happened.


C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD—C—BD

In the interrogation room, Chronicle and Blue sat opposite their father, Lord Record Keeper, who was looking really cross. Like last time with the unicorn twins, he was in his earth pony form.

"Okay, Blue Diary," Record began in a stern tone, also like last time. "Explain to me how you and Trixie Lulamoon ended up in Equestria Prime where your brother is assigned in." He pointedly aimed his eyes at Chronicle on finishing this sentence.

The pegasus gave a deep sigh. "Okay, okay, Dad. It's like this. For starters, I did not take us there. Trixie is to blame. No, she did not intend to teleport to where we ended up. In fact, it was a complete accident." 

Talk about déjà vu, Chronicle thought to himself. His sister begun with the same general statements.

"First, she tried using the teleportation spell to go from one end of her room to another. Unfortunately, as she was not good at learning spells from books, she ended up pulling herself—and me as I observed her—at some faraway place. During a storm, she tried to teleport again, only for lightning to strike her and me, hurtling us across space and time. It was summer in my world.

"I'm guessing that's what took you there?"

"Well, looks like lightning can do anything. I didn't know at that time, but I had landed unconscious in the park. There, his world's version of Mystic Shield carried me and took me to his home. From what he told me, he did so because he suspected something about my cutie mark, which as you know finally revealed itself upon my and my friends' knighting after the Gala."

Chronicle took over. "Meanwhile, Lulamoon—which I will call his world's Trixie so as to distinguish from mine—was found by Applejack and taken to her home. Twilight and I were notified by Rainbow Dash about that. It was winter again by the way, and Princess Celestia was coming over for a casual visit—and not covert as Sunny Skies—to join Twilight as they examine the Elements of Harmony. When we first saw Lulamoon, we naturally assumed she was my world's Trixie, but…never mind, that comes later.

"I decided to take some time off and conduct class with Mystic Shield, leaving a clone to supervise my charge. Little did I know that my brother was in Mystic's room just behind."

Blue chose the time to join in on the explanation. "During that, I came to, did a once-over of the place, then decided to check out my Surveillance. I had cams not just on my friends, but also BonBon, Dinky Doo, Pokey Pierce, Silver Script, Octavia Philharmonica, and even Duke Greengrass. None of them worked 'cept for Trixie's. And from what I saw, she was awake and I saw Applejack talking with her. I was curious, given what my world's Applejack was, and even as things went a bit out of hoof, I just watched, curious as to why she was saying those things. Of course, at that time, I still didn't realize we had traversed worlds.

"I'll have to admit that sometimes my Surveillance cameras get fooled by Trixie's illusions, but they get back to her eventually. By the time I saw her escaping, with Applejack ready to hogtie her, I knew I had to act."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"All right, everypony. Nice job. Let's take a break."

And then the door to Mystic Shield's room was slammed open, where a certain white pegasus flew out, headed to the door. He put a hoof to something on his chest, the door opened as if by telekinesis, and he got out. As he did that however, Chronicle was shocked beyond words.

"…Brother?!" he cried out. He then promptly glared at Mystic before going after the pegasus. 

The purple unicorn followed shortly after. "Wait! I can explain!" he said.

"You better, Mystic! Whether or not that's who I think it is, you have to tell me why there was a white pegasus in your room."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"We went on a merry chase, both parties," Chronicle said. "From what Applejack and Twilight told me, Lulamoon managed to make her way to the library first and she went under a state of panic upon seeing Celestia. She then managed to escape…with the Elements of Harmony. Mystic and I lost Blue however."

"I was just flying blindly in confusion, and didn't even know I was being chased," Blue continued. "I got the attention of his world's Skyla, who decided to chase me for some reason. I wasn't interested, so I tried to lose her. She was impressed with my skills though and kept on me. It was only thanks to my sharp-angle changing that I managed to get her off my tail."

"As soon as I could, I checked Surveillance, and saw that Lulamoon found Raindrops, but not the one I knew apparently. Turns out that Snails was her brother in Equestria Prime too. And their conversation happened to spur the idea of a 'cloud silo', which Ponyville Prime does not have. My world's Raindrops isn't earth pony-strong like his."

"Again, Trixie did that memory spell, the one with the kiss. Since she used it on the wrong Raindrops, it acted like some sort of brainwash, but Trixie assumed that was due to a mass spell from Corona. They then went off to Lyra's, and I decided to do too, taking in my Angel of Doom persona, which had unfortunately been revealed at the Gala no thanks to Zizanie. Unfortunately, I got into trouble with a burly thug. By the time I managed to incapacitate him, she 'got' Lyra too."

"And I had no idea that Mayor Mare's real name is Ivory Scroll, just like in yours," Chronicle interrupted as he faced his brother for a second. "Anyway, back in the library, Celestia had Twilight and Applejack mobilize the rest of my friends, a shield established around the town. As for me and Mystic, we ended up lost in some part of the town we've never been to before. I was still shocked from seeing a pegasus come out from Mystic Shield's room, so I decided to ask my friend what happened."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"Okay, Mystic Shield. Explain why there was a pegasus in your room. I'm sure you're not doing anything inappropriate, right?"

Mystic was offended. "Come on! You know me better than that!"

"Do I?" The mare-faced unicorn asked rhetorically.

"All right, all right," he confessed. "I found him yesterday while I was taking a brisk early morning walk. He was unconscious, and I saw that his cutie mark was similar to yours—although his had additional swords crossing behind it—so I decided to take him home."

"And not the hospital?"

"I thought you'd know him, and I planned on telling you after the class break."

"I see."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"I then remembered by pinpointing spell, so I took out one of Twilight's broken quills I remembered promising to throw away but forgot."

"By that time—we 'compared notes' in the dreamscape—Trixie's got Carrot (who's currently in the herbal business and part of an amateur dramatics society) and Ditzy and they were making their way to the school to 'restore' Cheerilee," said Blue.

"And my friends managed to deduce that too. Meanwhile, Mystic and I encountered Celestia's barrier and I realized that my pinpointing spell was a bit off and was taking me to the bird where the feather came from, which is odd since it shouldn't do that. I decided to try again, and this time used a different tracking spell I learned.

"At that time, Trixie was just about to 'reassemble' her group, but was confronted by his group. And they got into a fight. I finally made it to the school."

"But so did Mystic and I. Since at that time I didn't know of Blue's other job as an assassin, coupled with his swords' censoring effects, I attacked him once Lulamoon greeted him in relief and ordered him to attack. Out of all my world's versions of Lulamoon's Elements of Harmony, Lyra fared the best, having learned from Mystic's class, which I can attest to. Rarity however, whom she was engaging, while not having taken his classes, had picked up a few lessons from him too. She also happens to be a member of the Martial Arts Group."

"He quickly pinned me down, mainly because of my shock that Mystic Shield was there as a humble Ponyvillian. He was torn and confused, not sure of what he should be doing. I was shocked with disbelief that I was facing my brother in person while not in this Equestria. As Trixie reached Cheerilee however, Celestia arrived."

"I was caught off guard by that, and Blue took the chance to escape my grasp and enter a fighting stance. Apart from myself I think, I've never seen anybody try to stand up against her."

"When Celestia began to talk, I took in every word, judging it on a neutral level. Trixie unfortunately was convinced that this was all a complex take-over spell that altered everypony's memories and personalities. I wanted Trixie to calm down, but before I could do so…"

"Twilight's Element of Magic reacted and Lulamoon accessed its power, much to her and our friends' confusion. She managed to unleash that familiar rainbow, but instead of heading for Celestia as she intended, it went straight for her and the 'friends' she brainwashed and knocked them to their senses. Blue was spared as he did not bear an Element. …Now that I think of it, Lulamoon was doing the same thing Twilight did to my friends while Discord was beating the crap out of me after I tried to kill him first."

"As Celestia then tried to convince Trixie to stop, she turned to me, pleading that I do something. But when I assessed the situation, I just couldn't continue this madness and stood down. Understandably, Trixie felt betrayed."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


The pony clad in white robes pulled back his hood and balaclava, revealing his face, and showing his friend that he was truly sorry and was thoroughly torn as to what to do.

Chronicle however, interrupted the moment of silence with a gasp of surprise. "Brother?! Is that you?!"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"Before he could answer, it turns out that my world's Trixie decided that this was the perfect time to return to Ponyville, and as a result got herself arrested. A lot of confusion ensued as the royal guard was about to report it only to see us. At around that time however, while Spike was managing the library, his world's Twilight Sparkle entered, and she quickly neutralized him before collecting knowledge. They chatted for a while about alternate worlds. She was about to leave when…" Chronicle put a hoof to his head. "I can't remember right now."

Record put a hoof to his chin as he took all of this in. "Hmm…now that I think about it, I did sense a world-crossing. Ever since your friend's world-hopping incident, Chronicle, I decided to monitor transitions between your Equestria and those of other members in this family. Some time ago, I sensed something cross Blue Diary's world and entered yours. I wasn't able to pick up much from it though, as Mad God Discord from Equestria Hell attempted to attack home base. Again."

Blue decided to continue the report. "Before that, Trixie began to talk with Princess Celestia about being the Element of Magic and about Corona. We reached his Trixie's wagon, and before we knew it, both of them got into a heated argument."

"It was both awkward and hilarious, more so as Celestia decided to take both of them back to the library," Chronicle continued. "There, Spike told us that Blue's Twilight was there a while ago and left. We entered the library, ready to think of what to do next when the moon came, and it wasn't even sunset yet."

"As it was, my world's Princess Luna arrived, alongside the rest of our friends."

"I remember that scene."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


As Trixie ran straight for her princess, Blue Diary sped straight for his world's Element of Honesty; Raindrops, the earth pony-tough pegasus.

"Raindrops!" he gasped with happiness as they touched front hooves.

She, however, didn't seem to be too impressed. "Uhh…"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"It was certainly more awkward when my Celestia was pounced by your Luna in a heartwarming and tearjerking hug."

"Unfortunately, thanks to Chronicle, and for Trixie bringing it up, we had to explain to everypony what he and Timerity explained back when they were in Solaris Equestria, including our dreamwalk-link," grunted Blue. "He even brought up that incident. At that point, I had discarded my robes, and my Surveillance was working again on my friends. Also, Chronicle made me Pinkie Promise to explain it to my friends before returning."

"It's fair that they know. Just as I told Spike about that incident, even though he didn't come with us. I didn't even know that you were doing assassin work until one of your friends brought it up by accident." Chronicle was a bit incredulous at the fact that the youngest of their family was doing work that exclusively involved killing.

The pegasus ignored his older brother. "Anyway, what followed next was my Luna explaining that she had entered this Equestria before and had wandered across the cosmos, traveling between worlds."

Record noted this. The Timer family had only started setting up their hub world in what they would eventually call the Equestria Cluster just a few years ago, almost a decade.

"Her encounter with Celestia apparently opened to her the possibility of another world."

"And that her prison for Nightmare Moon had a flaw that would in time grow larger and thus the prophecy that bound me and Twilight with our friends was made," Chronicle finished. "Maybe sometime after, she also acquired that mirror she uses to make contact with Prince Solaris in our sister's world."

"She and Celestia compared what they did during the times they banished their mad sisters, drink for mine, work for his. As it was, when Trixie and I disappeared, Luna thought we were dead. She went to Ponyville and my friends caught up with her in Sweet Apple Acres during the search. She soon realized where we went, and explained to them what had happened. They were supposed to bring my world's Elements of Harmony, but they didn't go for some reason."

"Lulamoon brought news to them that her world's Twilight Sparkle was here, only to find out that they already got her. My Twilight underwent an existential crisis, which Spike snapped her out of. I'm sort of surprised she didn't fall under this one during our trip to Solaris Equestria."

"It could be because Dusk Shine is easily seen as an alternate self due to the opposite gender and all," Record supplied.

"Oh, right."

"Their arguing got worse however, had we known what would've happened, we would've stopped it early," Blue continued "When that sound came, I knew we were screwed."

"The Element of Magic broke in two and its gem bounced once before shattering into pieces. An explosion of light followed, and then a cacophonous boom that threw all of us to the ground. Purple light in the form of a jagged twisting thing shot from the gem into the sky, and after a moment the pieces followed. They finally landed somewhere deep inside the Everfree Forest."

"As a result, both our princesses were cross and as they made us remain silent. They talked for a while before turning to both our Trixies and Twilights. They had shattered the Element of Magic, and thus probably loosed disasters and monsters held at bay. She sent the four of them to get the gemstone back, and intended to have those only when for some reason she then decided that Chronicle and I accompany her."

Their earth pony father gave a small smirk. "That would be my doing."

This surprised both of his sons. "What?!"

"As this was a cross-world crisis, members of the Story Crew are obligated to do whatever they can to stop it." He achieved this not by 'his' alicorn magic, but by the Story Crew's advanced technology.

There was a moment of silence before Chronicle decided to continue the report. "Well, anyway, a band of six unicorns and one pegasus don't make for good company. I still remember the naming conventions we tried to settle with. In the end, the ones from Luna Equestria went by their second names. It didn't help that Mystic Shield decided to tag along."

"I told them that I was called Blue, and would not respond to Diary. They compromised with calling me by my full pony name. I was glad Chronicle packed some antacids. It was extremely confusing to hear them talk."

"Yeah. I was afraid our eyes would end up as wonky as Derpy's. And when Lulamoon found Trixie's secret stash of bourbon, after Twilight stopped her from drinking it, Blue took it, got Trixie's permission, and downed it all. Lulamoon then asked if I drunk, but I said 'only four times in my life'. I ended up elaborating on the causes, just as I once did to Celestia days after Discord's defeat."

"My Trixie then found another bottle of bourbon, but Twilight kept it from her as she checked out a journal my friend shook out of her hat. Twilight then hit on an inspiration; use a tracking spell."

"Which I happily provided, but the theory was over my head, not to mention works differently, and so they had to do it differently. After all, they were looking for the item, and my spell uses an item to find whoever made contact with it. Their spell involved Lulamoon, and a magic circle. Me and Mystic also managed to learn her 'see magic' spell, and her 'call item' spell, the last of which she technically learned from Lyra in Luna Equestria." The unicorn took a deep breath. "Don't know why I didn't teach her my 'magic horn blade', though."

"She'd be able to figure it out just by watching you. Anyway, Twilight managed to perform the needed spell correctly, and before we knew it, we got our heading."

"I think the magic visibility thing crossed over from your Equestria into mine. Damn, cross-world crises are so confusing. I don't think anypony suffered magic sickness."

"It doesn't exist in my Equestria," Blue told his brother before facing their father again. "My Trixie taught him those two spells Chronicle talked about. And both our Twilights began to argue about Clover the Clever. All of a sudden however, we were all sent flying sideways, screaming when something attacked our wagon. It was a unicorn, or it at least assumed the form of one. Even with the two of us, she managed to knock us down fairly quick. Upon seeing our dual friends, she said something along the lines of 'It's like Christmas morning'."

"What she actually said was 'It’s like Hearth’s Warming has come early'," Chronicle corrected. "The pony had deep blue fur like me, wild and unkempt purple hair, and solid purple eyes. Her aura went both deep blue and black. And her cutie mark was an amalga…amal…uhh…" He fumbled for the words.

"Amalgamation," Blue finished.

"Right. Her cutie mark was an amalgamation of Twilight's and Trixie's, but much darker. She seemed to be confused as to what to name herself, and when she attacked, her special talent turns out to be anti-magic, which thankfully didn't penetrate our body-and-mind-altering countermeasures I didn't realize I had until Discord 'tested' it a long time back, but it surrounded it so I was only slightly less helpless. I couldn't even teleport out."

"She said she was made as a result of both Twilights and Trixies shattering the Element of Magic. And she was out to kill us. Well, just the four, but she decided to include the rest of us when it was apparent that we wouldn't let her. She bound us all together and planned to crush us with his Trixie's wagon, then destroy Ponyville and all its residents out of pure spite. She enjoyed being evil."

"Before she could do so however, Lulamoon managed to thwart her with smoke balls. Our foe lost concentration and we attempted to teleport, but she recovered quick enough to try and pull us back, this time penetrating our countermeasures as she somehow hurled us behind her mid-transit. Luckily, as we sailed through, Twilight turned out to have figured out how I teleport while redirecting velocity."

"Thinking with portals…" Record nodded." Remind me to give you an Aperture Science course via dreamscape later."

Chronicle didn't know what to say to that. "…Okay. Anyway, just as we slowed down, I teleported us back on the ground. We assessed our situation, and it apparent that we can't fight her. I still didn't know enough of my 'rage mode' to tap into it. We tried to teleport out, but we found ourselves blocked. We then saw a hurricane, or whirlpool, whatever, over us, which tossed us about whenever we try to teleport. At least the flash-step still works."

"Our Trixies and Twilights began regretting what would happen to them, their princesses punishing them, the other Trixie lamenting about being homeless again, and my Twilight lamenting on her status as a fugitive," Blue continued. "My Trixie managed to comfort her somewhat with her encounter with Night Light back at the Gala. And then we decided to move the old-fashioned way; walking."

"Thankfully, Blue has since been improving in the walking department, though he's still a bit prone to tripping. We had to stop soon enough, and even Blue was feeling a bit cold, and so we decided to start a campfire. And then Sparkle created a wood shelter, Twilight providing pillows. As we talked, the discussion went from Trixie eating pine-cones to the issues of meat. We finally got to sleep though."

"Unfortunately, we were abruptly woken by a deep roar, then some loud stomping. When we turned to see what it was, our Twilights dismissing our shelter, we saw that it was—"

"An Ursa Major, with our foe—who had wings now—atop its head. The very same one I once had to flee from once. I still can't remember how Steven Magnet managed to save me from it."

Blue gave his brother a weird look, but decided not to ask him about it. "Naturally, we fled, but then our enemy picked up his Trixie and placed her on the Ursa Major's skull. During our flight, Twilight decided to give my Trixie the Glimmer Wings."

"I gave myself and Mystic them too, but in spite of my large mana pool, I can only cast it at most twice a day for some reason. I also picked up what seemed to be Sparkle's version of what you called your Soul Nuke, dad."

"Are you sure that was what it was like?" asked the earth pony. "I don't think I've done that in years. My heart's been tainted through experience."

"I helped in the distraction as well, firing bolts of magic from my swords, a technique I rarely use," the white-clad (and coated) pegasus interrupted, getting everypony back on track. "Our foe seemed to be some sort of reality warper rather than a spellcaster like most every magic user we know of. Those fireballs she cast were certainly different from Corona's. Trixie managed to blindside the foe, knocking her off of the Ursa. As she got to the other Trixie however, the foe rose once more, revealing her wings, and taking her down, finally deciding on the name Antithesis."

"Both our worlds' Princesses arrived and Antithesis—surprisingly—engaged them. Even I wouldn't have done that unless I had a death wish, and she certainly didn't. I joined in the battle, only to see her neutralize them all, sending them crashing on the forest floor. Regardless, I fought anyway, only to find out that she can completely shatter my horn blade—my primary 'weapon'—so to speak. Two of the Princesses managed to get up and corner her for a while after she knocked me down a bit."

"Meanwhile, his Princess Luna was trying to get both Trixies off the Ursa Major's head. She succeeded in short order as Mystic Shield and I provided a decent distraction for her. Even after getting them, we still had to find the two Twilights. She found this world's one and deposited them on a cloud, telling them to stay there. 

"She was about to have us do the same, but while Mystic complied, I wouldn't have any of that crap. I was forced to tell her of my connection to Chronicle and that I was just as capable a fighter as he. Having no time to argue, she relented."

"Seeing there was nothing much I could do concerning Antithesis, I decided to watch for a while. Despite how many voids of magic she attempted to make, both Princesses seemed to fill them just as quickly. Suddenly, Antithesis went to the sky and conjured a powerful void that took even them down. I had to catch them both, and believe me when I say they were pretty damn heavy. 

"We were them bombarded with voids, but Celestia managed to nullify them enough for Blue's Luna to dive out and lash out with lightning at Antithesis. However, Antithesis then did something very powerful; seal Luna into the moon, and Celestia into the sun." The unicorn shook his head. "…What happened after that was a complete blur."

"As that happened, my world's Twiight soon returned, with her an Ursa Minor. Upon seeing it, the Ursa Major calmed down and shrunk, but then Antithesis got this world's Luna and banished her to the moon as well. My mind went completely blank save my combat experience and one purpose; destroy Antithesis."

Record nodded sagely. "I see. One fueled by rage, and the other by fury." Each of his children had similar…power surges. Timerity's was (unfortunately) fueled by hatred and its first use was when she decided to kill the reality warper Eris (like her brother wanted to do with Discord). The one Mystic Wand, the eldest, has is fueled by frustration, but unlike the others he never used it in battle.

As he had seen in his children's Surveillance, Timerity's power surge was similar to her twin brother's, except instead of a bright 'burning' aura, it was as if she accepted dark powers. Her eyes, instead of switching colors in their irises and scleroses, turn lurid green and emit a purple haze. Wand's power surge so far has only gone to the bright 'burning' aura phase, and only for a few seconds. As for Blue's, they don't actually come from him but from his swords Justice and Retribution, which are empowered by his fury.

"We engaged her in earnest, our movements synchronized even though we haven't fought as a team before, especially with Chronicle's 'rage mode', which was a bit of news to me," Blue continued, forcing Record to focus again on what he was here for. "She managed to hurtle us a very great distance though, and by the time we got back, my Twilight managed to grab her, and teleport her slamming to the ground at high velocities, knocking her unconscious. I immediately stopped after that, but Chronicle…"


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


As Sparkle successfully got her native world's self, Mystic Shield, and both Trixies down from the cloud, they heard a slamming noise. Immediately, they headed to the source to see a still-enraged Chronicle—no longer with his Glimmer Wings—pummeling Antithesis's face to the ground. Each punch was powered with magic, enlarged the crated he was making with each impact.

"YOU! BRING! THEM! BACK! YOU! BITCH!" he cried out with each attack.

Blue Diary was trying to pull his brother back, but wasn't having much success. He knew better than to tell him to calm down; Chronicle was far too angry for it to work.

"I didn't want to do this," the pegasus said to himself as he pulled back and put a hoof on his pearl amulet. A blunt point colored in his swords' aura protruded from his hoof, which he drove down onto his brother's neck, striking a nerve. Chronicle instantly fell unconscious, and his hair turned back to normal. "Sorry, brother." He then pulled him off of Antithesis, who hadn't so much as sustained any damage, and hoisted him onto his back, refusing attempts of aid from the others.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"It turns out that Sparkle had, during the distraction, teleported to where the Ursa Minor was imprisoned. It seemed to recognize her—or at least Twilight—and she set it free, leading to what happened earlier. Hope seemed lost with the Princesses imprisoned, and it turns out that Antithesis can't tell our Trixies and Twilights apart. That's why she tried to kill them all simultaneously, or else the Element inside of her might 'default' to any survivor. We needed to hide and rest, and Sparkle suggested something concerning the Ursas."

"By the time I came to, I found myself cuddling with my brother. Very awkward." Chronicle found himself blushing a bit and quickly shook his head from such thoughts. "I was angry when I found out that he had stopped me from having my way with Antithesis—" He saw Record raise an eyebrow. "No, not like that, Father—but before we could argue, we heard Lulamoon and Sparkle talking, soon joined in by Twilight and Mystic. Antithesis was a bane on existence, and lacked both conscience and the will to develop one. She doesn't actually cast spells, but tears spell-shaped holes open. I know, it makes just as much sense as Discord."

"We had to stop her, and soon, or else either Equestria would be destroyed, or you or someone in the Story Crew might come in to deal with a potential future problem. So the plan boiled down taking the fight to her, challenge her on our terms, surprise her for a change, and fill her void with our magic. We were about to leave out his Trixie, but she put in her two bits, contributing her style and misdirection as a showmare. She shortly told us her plan."

"It's…complicated. You'll have to look into our Surveillance records, and then probably look into the other 'cameras' the Story Crew planted all over the Equestrias." The ones the Surveillance devices have aren't the only ones 'watching' the worlds to 'send' to 'client worlds', but these don't follow 'targets' like the Surveillance ones do.

Record nodded. "I see."

C: "Trixie would lure her to a designated site, then we would harass her for a while. Once Antithesis was where we wanted her, we would blast her with our magic."

"Technically, I would blast her with my swords' magic," Blue added.

"It seemed to work, and the two of us still had enough magic remaining. but then Antithesis got up, screaming. Her body convulsed a bright pink, glowing veins began to trace their way along her form, looking almost like cracks. Blue and I attempted to resume, but she then conjured a massive void, which took in our magic."

"Naturally, thinking they were doomed, our friends began saying their last words. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But as Chronicle and I stopped, finally drained, we noticed that the void was being held back. Then, the ground beneath them began to glow a combination of blue and purple, and an amalgamation of Trixie's and Twilight's cutie marks formed, which was brighter than Antithesis's. Speaking of, the magic we poured into her began to react once more, bringing her down and eventually the Element of Magic left her body."

"At that, as the area around us became an expanse of white light, my honorary Element of Harmony made its way out of my hammerspace and put itself between Blue and me as the Element approached our four companions. Mystic Shield was left out and did not see any of this. Antithesis began to fade away and dissolve back into non-existence. Then my Element split into two copies, one for myself and one for my brother. Also, our Lunas were finally freed."

Blue took out a pendant from his assassin robes and showed it as evidence. It was colored blue, and its shape was akin to the Story Crew insignia, which all of them (the ponies, anyway) bore as their cutie mark. Well, as Princess Celestia found out, they were really flank stickers for reasons Record won't reveal.

He then continued with the report. "Despite that, there was still one problem; the Element of Magic still couldn't tell the four apart, Chronicle and me standing a fair distance from them. His Twilight finally figured out that it was giving them a chance to choose for themselves. Two, one from each Equestria would claim it, and the others would give up their claims."

Chronicle took over. "In the end, Sparkle mentioned having constantly run away, and that she was tired of it, and thus gave it up to Lulamoon. As for Trixie, Twilight was willing to give it up to her, but the showmare decided not to, because she wanted it for the wrong reasons, and knows it's wrong. With that, the two rightful bearers made contact, and the Element finally reformed, but not without absorbing all of our magic to do so."

"I was the first to come to, finding myself and the others at a hospital. I woke up faster due to not having all my magic drained since I wasn't a unicorn. I had a talk with Mystic when he got curious about his world's counterpart. Having been outside the magic that destroyed Antithesis, he didn't fall unconscious like we did.

"The rest save Trixie followed the next day. And I upheld the Pinkie Promise I made with Chronicle. We hoped she'd recover soon lest they get stuck in Equestria Prime forever." The white pegasus left out that fact that he at least can go back to Luna Equestria via the Story Crew's portal mirrors. "During our adventure in the Everfree Forest, it turns out that both our friends had gotten a chance to know each other, and some of mine got to know their Prime counterparts. In particular, I found out that Prime's Ditzy—whose birth name is Derpy—had a somewhat similar history, including the scandalous affair, except her parents made Castor, Dinky's birth father, pay him support. Ditzy also met Time Turner—"

"Another awkward moment when I found out that a local version of Time Turner, a watchmaker, and the Doctor both exist, look almost exactly the same (how they keep their hair the only minor difference), that they're all right with it, and are both surrogate fathers to Dinky." His unicorn brother cut in, earning a frown from him. "Speaking of the Doctor, he wasn't around, probably in another time and place in his TARDIS with another of his companions. By now, I found out he's not THE Doctor. There's also the fact that Dinky's been having Twilight as a private tutor. Why she was taken in before Sweetie Belle is beyond me."

"Probably too caught up in all the 'Cutie Mark Crusading'," guessed Blue. "No such 'secret society' exists in Luna Equestria. Another thing, during the time we were in the hospital, his Mystic involved himself too in the friend-talk, wishing to pick up some more spells. 

I returned once more in time to see my Trixie awake. She panicked a bit from the IV unit, such things not existing in our Equestria yet, but was calmed down by my Luna. I was shortly followed by the rest of my friends, and we told each other all that had happened."

The unicorn allowed his brother to take a breather after taking one himself before taking over for him. "Soon, they were out of the hospital, and we were waiting for them. All my friends, my world's Trixie and Luna, his world's Twilight, a fair number of Ponyvillians, and the royal guard. As it was, Celestia deliberately remained in the sun to make sure that my Luna doesn't get blamed for doing what she had done as Nightmare Moon and that her return can be showcased as voluntary."

"Luna began to create a magic circle and once it was completed, she cast it and returned Celestia from the sun. Although it turns out that her sister had used magic dye to render her hair 'normal'."

"Just like with her Sunny Skies persona. She quickly reverted it though. Reunions were made, and then the goodbyes had to come. His Luna gave Sparkle a choice; upon using the planeswalking spell to return them back to their world, they would be sent back to the exact point in space they were in when they left. She could either flee, or turn herself in."

"They asked if they could pass messages to each other through us, but we gave no promises. And unfortunately, Luna doesn't have a mirror like Solaris in our sister's world and Celestia do."

"Eventually, the spell was cast and they were ready to go home. However, Twilight had a plan for her alternate counterpart. I can't remember what it was but Blue's Luna seemed to approve. And then they were finally gone." 

"What happened next?" Record then inquired.

"I think Celestia and Twilight decided to resume their initial purpose of their meeting; examine the Elements of Harmony." Chronicle paused for a bit. "And I believe that's all for our report."

"Not quite," said Blue. "Once we returned to Luna Equestria, I verified if it was really the one I left and not some other Luna Equestria. We all came home with a lot of improvement. Ditzy's considering dating again, for one, and need I remind you that two of us never went down that road."

"Yeah. You're going out with Raindrops now. How is it with her?"

"Well, I finally truly confessed to her at the end of her… 'uber-happy phase'—"

"Boys, you can talk about your marefriends later," Record admonished them, eliciting a awkward blush from both of them. I think I'll offer a communications mirror to Luna Equestris, just like the one Celestia Prime and Solaris P-δ. There were a couple of other worlds that had a Solaris, some with the title of Prince, others as Lord. "I'll try to appeal with the higher-ups on your case. Again. No promises on what they'll have to do in response though, especially this is the second time this has happened."

"Yes, Father," both of them replied.

"And Blue, please put those robes away. It's silly when you're wearing clothes and we aren't. Much, anyway." Record still wore his gi, pants, sash, pants, and shoes.


C—BD—RK—C—BD—RK—C—BD—RK—C—T—RK


As the two brothers left the interrogation room, they were greeted by their sister…and one of their many cousins.

This cousin of theirs bore same coat color, hair color, general body shape, and black hooves as the youngest of the core Timer family. The difference was that her muzzle was more curved, her mane was smooth and tied up into a neat bun, and her tail was longer.

"Hey, Time!" Chronicle greeted. "Why're you here with her?" He indicated their cousin, whose name was Azure Agenda. She was assigned to Artemis Equestria, where Prince Artemis was the ruler. Basically the gender-swap version of Luna Equestria. "Unless…"

"Well, believe it or not, I ended up in her world, fought the antithesis of the Element of Magic—"

Blue did a facehoof. "By Corona's mane… I think you underwent the same thing I did."

"By Aureole's mane…" gasped Azure. "Our worlds are connected just like—"

"Mine and by twin brother's," Timerity finished. "I'm guessing our report to Dad will be somewhat identical to ours, won't it?"

"There's only one way to find out. And that's to go in and report." She turned to her cousins. "See ya."

And with that, she and Timerity entered the interrogation room, leaving the two brothers.

"…so, where were we?" Chronicle finally asked.

Blue rubbed the back of his head. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

Chronicle was disappointed, but decided not to press him. "Fine. It's best we head back."

"Yeah."


C—T—BD—AA—C—T—BD—AA—C—T—BD—AA

After Record dismissed Timerity and Azure Agenda, he pondered to himself on past events as he made his way back to his 'post'.

Just a few months ago, the Field Operatives of Edeathstria Prime and Equestria-64, which was an alternate of Equestria Prime connected with the former. It involved Twilight Soulshard Prime having Twilight Sparkle-64 be taken to her world while she posed as her, reasons being boredom. It turned into a crazy adventure Death Note (the Field Op of Edeathstria Prime, no relation to the dreaded object) and Orphic Tome (of Equestria-64) wished to put behind them and never speak of again.

And then there was still the issue of that portal the SWORD-K wielder and his group. It's been long since closed off to any Interlopers, but something else had been discovered of it when a scouting party was dispatched. It wasn't just a portal across space and time; it also led to a different universe altogether, which was also covered by the Story Crew.

This 'division' however was more…ridiculous in employing their methods. Barriers, direct mind-wiping to keep with the tale… That would be like if Record deliberately clamped down on his twin children's power before they could kill Discord/Eris because the Story Crew says s/he still has a role to play in his/her world. He would never do such a thing, and understood why Timerity and Chronicle did what they did in the first place, although the Story Crew's higher-ups did say Discord Prime and Eris P-δ still had a role to play in their respective worlds.

Also, the alternate division of the Story Crew was ready to wage war with their rivals the Book Troop. And there was something else; the particular feeling he sensed concerning one of the members in the SWORD-K wielder's group, it turns out that the dragon named (-_-) was the Story Crew's catalyst! It was that detail that cemented the fact that the portal led to an alternate universe; their catalyst in this one is still safe and sound in his Earth client world.

Record shook his head of the thought and also thought of the other issues he's been dealing with. First, there were the Xenocelestias from the Equestri-Earth Convert worlds, Equestrias that invaded Earths and being forced to convert all of humanity into ponies (else they die from the former's inherent magic, which is usually never an issue). When they had somehow discovered Hub Equestria and what its inhabitants really are, they (separately) made attempts to convert his world (and eventually all of Hadithi) into theirs. One of their 'normal' Equestrias (Equestria-25) was also unfortunately embroiled into their machinations.

Second, the Solar Empire has also been attempting to invade Hub Equestria. Thankfully, their efforts are not as frequent thanks to their Field Operative Nicolas "Annals", the second son of Selena "Calyndar" (Field Operative assigned to the Lunar Republic), who is his wife's sister-in-law. Annals served as their mole and saboteur, and has yet to be outed.

Third, there's Corona Blaze from the Equestria they named after her, who is responsible for the death of his brother Othello "Reversi". Her world's already a wasteland, and she also somehow found out how to get to Hub Equestria. Since she has no soldiers of any sort, having burned them all, she doesn't get to keep coming in as often as Tyrant Celestia of the Solar Empire.

Fourth, even though the portal mirrors leading to those worlds (sans the Solar Empire) have long since been closed off after their Field Operatives have been Killed In Action, their ruling Princesses were powerful enough to cross dimensions and enter this. It is suspected that the Book Troop, which is just as powerful as the Story Crew, had a hand in this. They hadn't been able to enter Hub Equestria until after the Great Draconequus Outbreak.

Diplomacy has never been his strong suit, only being the leader because of his combat prowess and compassion for his extended family. Despite this, he'll keep doing his best to maintain Hub Equestria.

He finally reached the place he intended to go. In front of him was a throne room, which looked identical to Princess Celestia Prime's, except its prominent colors were the orange-ish of his own coat. On it was his diadem, which he wore to assume his alicorn form. He approached the throne, put on his diadem, and—in a flash of light—assumed his alicorn form. He then seated himself on his 'throne', after which screens came to life around him, showing him the status of everything going on in Hub Equestria.

"Lord Record Keeper." One of his communication mirrors is already activated, and the 'caller' was (Republican) Princess Luna. "There is something I would like to talk with you about."

Lunar Republic. Record gave a sigh. His job is never done. "Very well. What is it you wish to discuss?"
> (NOT) Sisterhooves Social
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 5: The Covered-up Cross-World Incidents

In the dreamscape…

Chronicle stood in front of a recording camera.

"Greetings, 'readers'," he said. "My name is Timmy Timer, but in here I'm called Chronicle. So far, thanks to our Catalyst, now with a capital C which we should've done long ago, you've only seen two sides of me. One is my social side, where I can get along with others at least adequately. Another is my combat side, where I'm a serious fighter with varying levels of mercy.

"The other sides I don't show are my dark one, which I already dealt with before even entering Equestria Prime thanks to my father, and this one; my Field Operative side, where I deal with the stuff you're not supposed to see in the show. What are these stuff? You'll see them right now. But first, let me show you my Story Crew gadgets that I should not be using in the presence of my friends. Technically, that would count Surveillance, but that was outed thanks to Pinkie Pie."

Out of his "hammerspace" he revealed a small number of items, the first of which was a small disc shaped like his insignia. He brought that over to himself and in front of the camera.

"This is my communicator. While I can contact my family in the dreamscape, this is for when I have to talk to them while I'm still awake. While mental messages prompt me when to use it, I can't mental message anyone back, hence the communicator."

Chronicle floated the communicator away before bringing something else in view of the camera. It was a device similar in appearance to the communicator, only it was the size of a coaster, which was just s big as a pony's eye.

"This device, the Detainer, is used by Field Operatives like me to detain dangerous off-worlders, mainly Book Troop Field Operatives. But I've yet to face any since my arrival, so for now it remains unused. Well, against them, anyway. It morphs to whatever it needs to be to keep the prisoner from being a threat, like cuffs for a biped, magic nullifier for magic-users, a confined orb for size-shifters, and so on."

He then displayed a similarly-shaped item after moving the previous one out of the camera's view.

"This, the Sender, is for sending the above to Hadithi. It opens a portal that takes them there, where they'll be detained and dealt with, depending on what/who they are. I can also use these for peaceful purposes. Not all off-worlders have evil intents or even mean to be where they end up."

Next was what looked like a magician's wand, black with a white tip (not the ones with a star or anything at the end), between the two was an orange ring.

"This thing, the Off-World Detecting Wand, is for detecting off-worlders, living being or object, but I won't explain how it works mainly because I don't know either, only that it won't 'react' to me, being an off-worlder myself. It also provides the target's identity if they belong to a world the Story Crew covers, we aren't perfect after all. It also tells me in my head where I am if I end up in a different world, but its effectiveness varies. Sometimes it's such a whisper I can't hear it, sometimes it's loud and clear, and sometimes it says nothing at all."

Following was a clear sphere with the Story Crew emblem slowly spinning inside it. The emblem also served as a clock face, whose hands spun with the hour hand going as fast as the minute hand would, which in turn was going as fast as the second hand should, which in turn did not exist here.

"This is a Time Pocket. Time will seemingly stop outside the zone it creates, but in reality it just sends the zone to a previous period in time where there is no interference. Their effects last for 'as long as it needs to' I'm told, be it a couple of minutes, or as long as two hours. Once its effects expire, the inhabitants of the zone will be returned to the same time period as when they 'left'. Of course, that is unless they are teleported out by the Story Crew, which is the reason these things are used; to handle…severe scenarios. And in extreme cases, they can also serve as time-stop bombs. That's right; I have more than one of these, and they 'teleport' back to my hammerspace after expiry and recharge in half a day, not that I use them a lot."

And finally, he took out an item in the shape of a padlock. It was colored rust brown.

"And this is the MemLock. Sometimes I have to tell them the truth so that they'll let me do what I need to do or something. I activate this before telling, and it 'connects' itself to whoever the item's owner wishes to. This will lock those memories away so that they won't bring it up and act as if they never had the memory. Why this instead of outright memory-erasing? The Story Crew finds it too inhumane, and we've all seen how many times it has failed with enough willpower or the right triggers. This works on anybody, even "

He finally put everything away, back into "hammerspace".

"For everything else, I have to count on my own abilities, those that I have learned here, and on other members of the Story Crew after I've informed them. Now, these following events are not in chronological order, and can happen at any point between what you perceive as episodes. This is a totally different side of me, so try not to perceive me as 'OOC'."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM



Event G-097246: Evacuating a Program


(Mid-Season 1)

Evening…

Chronicle was at the ground floor of Fluttershy's cottage, and was—with Angel—observing the little thing they had brought home from their…recent adventure. A miracle his father hasn't found out about it.

The…thing floating in front of them was a bluish-white polyhedral shape, appearing somewhat smaller than a human head, constantly shifting even at rest. 

Angel's mistress was upstairs, already asleep. So were the rest of the animals, the nocturnal ones not getting themselves involved. The bunny was staring at the unicorn, wary of what he intends to do.

Chronicle had gone here after Twilight Sparkle sent her latest friendship report to Princess Celestia, which pertained to their adventure, which happened all because she experimented with a teleportation spell. They were supposed to end up at Sugarcube Corner, but landed in a world-in-a-world the Story Crew designated as "The Grid-L". Thankfully, even though they acquainted themselves with some of the natives, Twilight was able to get them back to Equestria Prime.

"Angel, can you keep this a secret from Fluttershy?"

The bunny gave a distrusting look. The thing, which was called Bit, answered in Angel's stead, stellating into an orange spiky thing for a moment. "No."

"If you don't remember, she, me, and my friends accidentally teleported to a different world altogether. When we got back, we accidentally took Bit with us."

"Yes," Bit confirmed, temporarily stellating into a blue 3-D rhombus.

"It can't survive here for long, so I'm going to find a way to take it someplace else where it can be safe. Bit is a foreign entity of this world. Who knows how long before the ambient magic in this one starts affecting it? I'm not sure if you can understand what I'm trying to say, Angel, but you cannot tell Fluttershy about this. I have to do this whether she likes it or not, and you won't stop me."

All of a sudden, Bit began to spazz about, turning into its "No" state multiple times.

"Uh oh. I feared this would happen." With that, he took out one of his coaster-sized SC gadgets (the Sender) and levitated it underneath Bit. "Codeword: Ghorofa."

All of a sudden, the coaster began to emit a light underneath Bit. It then engulfed the foreign entity before it faded, revealing that Bit was gone. Angel was flabbergasted at the sight, rubbing his eyes in a attempt to convince himself it wasn't real. He then proceeded to faint.

"…Okay." Oh good. Now all I'll have to deal with is him distrusting me for a while. He then took out his MemLock device from "hammerspace", which had been activated the moment he realized they had ended up in a different world. He then deactivated it, makig sure that his friends won't talk about their experiences in the Grid. Not in detail, at least. He would still have to contact the Story Crew to help fix up a few loose ends.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM



Event H-000553: Sending to Sanctuary an Alt-verse Ninja


Three days after the defeat of Nightmare Moon, while Twilight was getting accustomed to her new home and her new friends, Chronicle was fulfilling a request from Pinkie Pie. He was supposed to acquire some kind of mushroom that only grows in the Everfree Forest. He was thankfully given a picture of it since while he has a very good memory when it comes to faces, the same didn't go for flora, fauna (subspecies), or fungi.

All of a sudden, there came a very loud explosion.

The earth shook around his hooves, the explosion only more than a meter in front of him. However, it wasn’t just any kind of explosion. It was a big purple puff of smoke and light, expanding out as it dissipated out into the air. Chronicle slowly moved towards ground zero cautiously, taking out his Off-World Detecting Wand and readying to cast a barrier spell. 

Strange explosions sometimes heralded foreign entities, he was taught. He also noted the mushroom on the way was the item he was looking for. He could settle that later however. Still, he might forget about it, so he extracted it from the soil it came from and put it away in "hammerspace" before returning his attention to the explosion.

What he saw near the treeline was a sight to behold. There was still some purple smoke lingering around a certain point. The purple fog lifted slowly until… a stallion came into view.

The light yellow colored earth pony stallion with a spiky blond mane. He also wore some rather strange clothing; an orange and black jacket, with some swirly patches on the shoulder areas. A similar swirl served as his cutie mark, but there was a patch of orange imposed on it. And then there was his tail; it was akin to a fox's.

Chronicle could swear he was familiar. Not familiar as in a distant family member, but as in familiar like knowing certain "heroes" popular to the Story Crew. But before he could recall, the unconscious stallion mumbled. It was very weak but that meant one thing; he was alive. 

Before Chronicle could even consider bringing him to Ponyville, he had to make certain of who he is. He 'waved' his Wand over to the unconscious stallion…and the wand beeped before saying, "Subject Identified. Name: Naruto Uzumaki." Chronicle tensed. "World: Konoha-17." He then gave a sigh of relief. Oh good. It's not the one from Prime. That would be a serious problem. 

He procured the Sender, and placed it under the stallion. As he set it up , he took out his communicator and said, "Timer to Hadithi. We have a Cross Landing. Subject is not from a Prime world and has assumed a form native to Equestria. I'm Sending him over."

Just as he saw the unconscious pony open his eyes, Chronicle said, "Codeword: Ghorofa."

The Sender then began to emit a light underneath the stallion. As it slowly engulfed him, he mumbled, "Nani?"

Chronicle's knowledge in foreign language was rusty, so he didn't quite understand, but guessed "Naruto" was confused. But before he could even think of saying anything, the Sender did its job and the foreign stallion was gone.

Even with this problem dealt with, there was still the possibility that in another Equestria, another Naruto (but not the Prime one) has ended up in anoher Equestria, and the Field Operative there unfortunately didn't get there alone or somebody else arrived before him/her.

He shook his head of the idea. Nope. No use thinking about it.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM



Event G-531678: A(nother) Disastrous Teleportation Spell


(Mid-Season 2)

Twilight and her friends were in the Book and Branches Library. The bookworm was explaining to her friends about a mass, long-range teleportation spell she learned about.

"Are you sure this will get us to Canterlot?" asked Rarity.

"I'm sure it will," said Twilight as she put down the book she was reading, which covered how the spell worked.

"I'm still a little nervous about this, Twi," Applejack voiced her doubts.

"Don't worry. I sent a letter to Princess Celestia about this. Should anything go wrong, she'll be on it."

"Sounds like fun!" said Pinkie as she bounced up and down. “Is anyone else excited?”

"Not me," said Chronicle. "Have you forgotten the last time you experimented on a teleportation spell? We ended up in the Equestria my sister was in. And it took us the better part of a week to get back." There were plenty of other experimental teleportation incidents that he 'covered' (and obviously didn't bring up) because they all led to worlds outside any Equestria.

"That's precisely why I already informed Princess Celestia about this. If anything should happen, she'll be there."

"I know that, but—" He was cut off with Twilight's horn glowing as she worked her magic. In a flash of light, the seven ponies were gone.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


When the flash was over, the first thing Chronicle felt was him slamming into the ground. And there was something on his back, so that part hurt more upon landing, nearly knocking him unconscious but thankfully not. However, he also heard splashes.

"Oww!" he exclaimed as he put a hoof to his head…only to feel the soft fingers of a hand (he's seen a minotaur before in his pre-Twilight Sparkle days). "What?!" He immediately got up and on his rump…and felt no tail under it. "Could this be…" He traced his hands on his shoulders and felt the strap of a bag. "Oh."

To avert awkward scenarios during a sudden transit between worlds with different sapient beings, every Field Operative has a little something implanted inside their body that transforms them so they would fit whatever world they end up in. Sometimes, it won't activate to also prevent a Field Op from having to explain to whatever friends they made why they transformed in the event they didn't too.

He has assumed the form of a human, and his "hammerspace pocket" has reverted into its "default" backpack form, hence the pain on his back. 

Chronicle took a look at his surroundings and balked at the sight. There were pools everywhere. And bamboo poles were jutting out of many of them. His Off-World Detecting Wand told him his whereabouts. Area: Jusenkyo. World: Furinkan-36.

Oh, ████ me! he thought. If those splashes mean what I think it means, my friends have fallen into one of the pools. Question is, which pool?

He then heard the sound of beings surfacing from a pool close to him. Chronicle turned around to see— No, no, no! I am not a pervert! —six naked girls. His mind shut down for a while.

"Is everypony okay?" one of them said. She then attempted to exit the pool, only to fall down right in front of him. Not noticing him, she got up, then looked shocked upon seeing her hands. Judging from her hair, and the voice, it just had to be Twilight.

And the other girls had to be the rest of their friends. They had been cursed by one of the pools! Their screams knocked him to his senses and his Story Crew side immediately took over. Quickly, he stood up, turned around, took out his Time Pocket and activated it, creating a barrier that sealed off the cursed pools.

Amidst the screams of cries of certain missing wings/horns, confusion, and one case of curious fondling, he then took out his Communicator and said, "Story Command, this is Timmy Timer, Conte E-No. 1943667! I have six cases of Jusenkyo Pool Curses!" He soon heard them calling his name, and more confused questions, but he ignored them. "These six cases are all natives of Equestria Prime! Request for extraction immediately! I'm in World Furinkan-36!"


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


What happened next was completely classified in terms of details; the Story Crew's Extractors retrieved Chronicle and Equestria Prime's Bearers of Harmony, the latter put in stasis for a while as the Extractors debated with the Field Op on what to do. Extractors are operatives who are tasked in removing dangerous items and things of great use, as well as off-worlders who for some reason couldn't be pulled out with the Sender, and stray Field Operatives.

In the end, it's decided that their memories of that incident (including Chronicle's SC side) are permanently locked away with a coercion to never bring it up and to behave as if they never had it (memory erasing is against their ethics and is often less effective). A constructed memory would then be implanted in place of the events', telling them that they got transported into some horrible place and that some item Chronicle had found miraculously transported them back to the library. 

As Princess Celestia is likely to figure that they've gone missing for a while, a similar memory would be implanted in her mind; she would 'remember' teleporting Twilight and company back home.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


In the Book and Branches Library…

Twilight and her friends were returned in the same general are in which they left. Bad news; Spike was around and he might've gotten "telefragged", good news; no such thing or "splinching" occurred.

"Whoa, what just happened?" Pinkie asked, her memories of the real events sealed away.

"What happened is that Twilight teleported us to an extremely dangerous dimension," Chronicle provided the cover story. "If it weren't for me stumbling upon that ██████, I don't think our minds would've been able to comprehend the horrors there by the time we were whisked back here." He then turned to face his charge, secretly tired of all the teleport mishaps. He wanted this to stop. "And can you Pinkie Swear to me this, Twilight?"

"What?" asked the magical prodigy.

"That you will no longer perform any more experimental teleportation spells without Princess Celestia's or Luna's permission and supervision. Improvements on the one we both have is all right. I can't take it anymore and I don't think the others can either. Please! Do you understand me?"

(A/N: And I'm gonna cut off from here. Sorry!)


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM



Event B-51410: Serendipitous Location of an Extraterrestrial Device


(After "Lesson Zero")

"Thank you again for coming with me on this venture."

"You're Story Crew. Of course I'm gonna help. But… why do you need me with you again?"

Currently, Chronicle was accompanying a Special Op from the Story Crew from a team called Noisreve. Being Equestria, he took on the form of a pony, an orange auburn-haired unicorn wearing a lab coat that concealed his cutie mark, which was identical to Chronicle's in a sense.

The cover story was that he, posing as a seismologist named Rift Watcher, needed an escort to protect him while observing in the Everfree Forest. He claims to have heard of Chronicle and his reputation as a reliable bodyguard and wanted his help. When Twilight told Rift that Chronicle currently has a contract, the bodyguard (who has a copy of the contract's terms) stated that he can undergo another bodyguarding job so long as his current charges permit it and if he returns within a week.

"Your bodyguarding skills are one of the reasons why I wanted you with me. The other reason is because what I'm looking for is something we can't let slip to the local populace. You see, there's been a risk of…E-Green Breach. Equestria-107 has reached Ev-Layer N-Dùk."

"Oh no." Ev-Layer N-Dùk was, to put it simply, a dimension that can give Nightmare Moon nightmares. Or inspire her with its idea for torture purposes. It was also a place Discord might've made if his bratty and fun-loving traits were replaced with despotic and "standard-less" ones.

"And a couple of other Equestrias have been subject to E-Green Breaches as well. We think it's because of the Great Draconequus Outbreak. A lot of reality warpers doing their thing must've weakened the EverPoints' integrity." EverPoints were rifts between Ev-Layers that are invisible to the naked eye. "There are very few beings that can traverse between those EverPoints called Eversers, and fewer of these who can do so without breaking them and letting loose those from the lower Ev-Layers."

The default EV-Layer for most worlds was Layer N-O-Sens. Below that were the Layers D-Cep, E-Ro, D-Solé, A-Pre-Hen, Con-fú, Cò-Mo, N-Dùk, and finally N-Ver. Each layer was progressively darker than the last, starting from slight to glaring, the Cò-Mo Layer and below having things not even the worst of Equestria's villains, save one in Tartarus that will not be mentioned, can stomach.

"I was sent to close off the EverPoints in this world and as an Everser I can sense where they are," continued Rift. "Unfortunately, jumping on my foes is my only means of defense, and the Everfree's creatures are too varied for that to keep working, so I called for your…services, so to speak."

"I see," replied Equestria Prime's Field Op.

"I might need to access areas only reachable by flight. Some EverPoints are known to be there."

"Got it. Thankfully, I have a spell that can grant you wings."

"Good. Oh, another thing. Noisreve has found out that Equestria Hell already has Layer N-Duc breaking through, although some of Layer N-O-Sens still remains." Equestria Hell (formerly designated Equestria-20) was a world where Discord was truly evil, much more monstrous, and has turned its Bearers of Harmony into his personal enforcers with more dangerous powers. The Field Op there was K.I.A. and the subconscious memory of that event had leaked in Chronicle's head in the form of a dream during his three-day sleep post-battle with Discord Prime.

One hour after Rift's talk of the EverPoints, he sensed one. "EverPoint located." Just then, they heard the sound of an incoming meteorite. Both of them looked up to see it coming right for their general area. "Oh no, this better not hit near the EverPoint!"

Before long, the meteorite made impact, shaking the earth and disturbing the Everfree fauna. The impact also made the two ponies shake as they tried to keep their balance. Once it was over, Chronicle asked, "Is the EverPoint that way?"

Rift closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Well, it's in that general direction, but it's best we check out the meteorite. Interlopers can often arrive via that method." Thankfully, the EverPoint is unaffected.

"All right." The two ponies ran toward the crash site, finding…a strange watch-like device that was primarily black and gray in color, with a grey/black dial in the middle (like a watch face) which had a green hourglass shape.

Both Story Crew members balked at the sight. "Is that…" Rift stuttered.

"Let's see." Chronicle took out his Off-World Detecting Wand, and waved it over the device. 

"Object Identified. Designation by Story Crew: O-10T-P." Both unicorns immediately backed away. "World of Origin: Galvan Mk II-176."

The Field Op then took out his Detainer and 'slid' it toward the device, and the Detainer morphed into a covered basket made out of steel. They knew that O-10Ts had a tendency to latch on to the nearest living subject who has the capability to use it. And with what it can do, letting it do so is a bad idea.

Chronicle then took out his Sender and placed it under the basket. "Codeword: Ghorofa." The Sender began to emit a light underneath and engulfed the O-10T-P before it faded, revealing that it was gone. "Okay, that takes care of that. Now let's deal with the EverPoint."

Right after exiting the crater, Rift stopped walking and closed his eyes as if to sense something. Chronicle noticed and asked, "Have you found it?"

Rift nodded. "Yes. I sense a different 'music' mixing with the one here. This is definitely it. And you're standing at the point where it is strongest." Not knowing the full dangers of the EverPoints, Chronicle wisely moved away as Rift took out from hammerspace a staff with a white orb on its end. 

Rift pointed the orb-end to the EverPoint, and the orb began to glow. Something else then shone in front of the staff. It looked like there were plenty of lines of light emanating from a single point. It could only be the EverPoint. 

"Codeword: Dead Decapod." The orb on the staff then shot a light towards the EverPoint, whose lines began to fold into themselves and converge into its center before shrinking and disappearing. "EverPoint Sealed. On to the next one!"

(A/N: Now I realize that I just spoiled the secret of the game. Dammit. And no, that one villain I didn't mention is not Tirek.)


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"Well, whoever said only one 'cross-over' occurs at a time, huh? This is precisely the reason why these incidents are covered; they don't make for good writing. At all." 

(A/N: Although I did read one three-way crossover fic between MLP, Indiana Jones, and Samurai Jack. I think it's titled Crossed Paths.)


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Event C-7680: A Revelation and Rant on a Deity's Visit


(Post-"Missing Rainbows Incident")

(Okay, the last one isn't an incident he had to cover up, but it's interesting enough for me to write something.)

"Whoa. I. Can't. Believe it."

"Can't believe what?"

Chronicle and his pretty-much-marefriend were in the latter's cottage, observing the former's Surveillance device, which had picked up something very interesting; Fluttershy having tea with a certain special individual.

"That you had an encounter with His Son," Chronicle gasped in both disbelief and awe. "And not just some glimpse, but teatime! Don't you know how lucky you are?!"

"Um, I don't understand."

"You see, meeting Him is like…" It was difficult explaining what it was like to meet a deity when their deity is also their 'physical' ruler. "Can't find the words… like meeting with a deity that came long before Luna and Celestia. Darn, it's hard to find a good comparison. You see, there are deities who don't reside in the mortal realm alongside their worshipers. Rather, they reside in a…higher plane of existence."

Fluttershy made a face that conveyed confusion and her mouth moved to ask, but he cut her off. "I don't quite understand how that works either, only that it does. The One you've met for tea is the Son of one of those 'higher-plane' deities. There are many out there who worship Him, but there are very few, if at all, who have had a personal encounter like with you, and you're not even one of His believers, not that that's a bad thing. I mean, there's no way anybody could've known he would meet with somebody whose deity rules over them as their benevolent 'princess'. As far as I know, Celestia's pretty much a queen, only she's using the title 'princess' for some reason, not that I'm gonna ask her why. It's best to respect her wishes and while she doesn't have a hair-trigger temper, it's unwise to let it loose. I mean, I will speak up against her if I have to, unlike most ponies, but I know if I'm going too far. Basically, the only thing keeping me from doing just anything I like is that I can be influenced by public opinion, but I will go ahead with what I do if it's for the greater good. Did you know I wasn't even supposed to stick around in Ponyville as your friend, not that I regret it in the least, but thanks to Princess Celestia I now have a steady place to stay, a stipend—"

His rambling was interrupted when a hoof blocked his mouth. He saw that Fluttershy had silenced him. Frankly, he was impressed that she did so instead of letting him continue on and on. He was also ashamed (and it showed in his shameful blush) that she heard him rambling without it being a tirade.

Just like Mom.

"Oh, sorry. I got carried away. I wonder if that espresso I had delivered this morning was the reason. But if that's so, why only now did I ramble?" He would later find out from his father that one of His supernatural messengers took offense to what Chronicle was saying and subtly influenced his mind. "Where was I?"

"Um, you were telling me how lucky I was to have tea with J—"

"Oh yes, that. …I think I've said what I wanted to say. I just didn't know when to stop. Sorry about that. Must've taken after my mother. She can talk for very long if she wants to."

"It's okay."


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Event I-4839: The Human Baby in the Basket


(Some time after the Co2E Incident)

Chronicle was resting for the night at Fluttershy's cottage. As he thought he wasn't ready to share the bed with her, even if she was willing to do so, he settled for the couch.

Sometime around midnight, he heard something making a strange noise coming from outside. From what his ears could pick up, it sounded like the crying of a…baby. Bleary-eyed, he got up, and made for the door to see just what was left there. His Story Crew side made him a bit more alert; these "baby on the doorstep" scenarios also had the chance of Interlopers involved; that is, the baby is not of this world and has to be dealt with. Nothing drastic or death-involved, of course.

He opened the door to see that a basket filled with blankets had been left behind on the doorstop. All right. "Baby on the doorstep" it is. But what is the baby? If it's a foal, it's off to the orphanage, sadly. I'm not ready to be a father! He took out his Off-World Detecting Wand and scanned the baby. As he simultaneously pushed some of the blankets away, he balked at what he saw, barely paying attention to what his Wand said. "Subject Identified. Name: None available. Species: Homo Sapiens Sapiens. World: DC Earth-5."

Indeed there was a human baby, and it—no, he—was shivering in the cool winter air. "You poor thing. I best take you somewhere safe." Covering the baby, he walked off to town. He intended to go to the Everfree Forest, but the late winter night made it sound like a terrible idea. Besides, what if Fluttershy was awake at that time and saw him going there? She would definitely come over to him for sure and he can't have that.

After ascertaining that nobody was looking his way, just to be absolutely sure, he took out his Time Pocket and activated it, containing himself and the baby in the basket. Next, he took out his Sender, and tenderly placed it under the now-crying baby, which he gently shushed. "This place is not safe for you," he whispered, following up with, "Codeword: Ghorofa."

The coaster began to emit a light underneath the baby. It then engulfed him before it faded, sending the child to Hadithi, and leaving the blankets behind. The Sender's destination varies with whatever it sends, so it was safe for both 'sendee' and Story Crew Recipients.

Now he had to find a good excuse as to why he left and, if he was seen with the basket, what it held. But there was hardly anypony up at this hour, so he couldn't just purchase something. No wonder Princess Luna felt resentful of them sleeping through the night.


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Event H-52560: Thwarting an Impromptu Random Adventure


(Early-Mid-Season 2)

It was supposed to be an 'ordinary' special visit by Princess Luna, as in outside of Nightmare Night and in the day. But Pinkie Pie just had to be 'controlled' by a dangerous entity called an Author. Sometimes, while the story Crew performs its work, in the process of sending ideas to "client worlds"' authors, producers, artists, scriptwriters, fanfic writers, and the like, Authors might spawn with the minds of the last of those, take possession of individuals who know of and can breach the "fourth wall" (like Pinkie Pie), and do stuff they like. Frankly, their attitude was identical to Discord's, but minus the sadism (for most of them).

But let's roll back to how it began. Well, a little forward, perhaps…


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Chronicle and his charge Twilight Sparkle were walking through the streets with Princess Luna, who was wearing a large, dark brown bulky cloak over herself. It served its purpose a bit well as a disguise given that while she was drawing attention, there nopony seemed to recognize her (or if they did, they weren't running away or spreading the word).

"I'm so glad you decided to drop by, Pri— uhh, Luna," Twilight said. "I really don't think you need the cloak, though."

"But we must," the Princess insisted as she took a sharp look around town. 'Tis not Nightmare Night and we do not wish to disturb or frighten our subjects. We believe thy friends will understand us, but we are uncertain of the other ponies."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie saw them. Gasping, she dashed over to them. "Twilight, there you are! I have something super amazing to show you! Come on!"

Normally, Twilight would dismiss Pinkie and carry on with what she was doing, and Chronicle would probably either go in her stead or summon a magical clone to check it out. However, they had Luna with them, and Twilight wanted to take whatever opportune social activity was being given to her so as to give the Princess a good time. "Come on, Luna. I'm sure Pinkie has something really fun planned."

"If thou sayest so." Luna was naturally hesitant, given the events of the first Nightmare Night after her 'release' from the moon. 

"All right, Pinkie. Let's see what you have for us today," Chronicle said. He also made himself mentally prepared on his Story Crew side, a fair number of incidents he had to cover were equally her fault as much as Twilight's with her experimental teleports. However, plenty of circumstances prevented him from making her promise not to do whatever she does that leads to the incidents he has to cover up.


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The two unicorns and one alicorn were led to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. In the middle of the street was a a gigantic machine. It was essentially a gigantic slot machine, and there were reels with the silhouette of an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn on display. The machine was painted the same shade of blue as Luna's own coat.

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack were already there, waiting for the others. Rarity was nowhere to be seen, however.

"Hey girls, look who I brought!" Pinkie announced as she bounced into the air, legs flailing with delight as Twilight, Chronicle, and Luna trotted up the street.

"Well would you lookie here, Princess Luna," Applejack approached the Ruler of the Night, unafraid. "How ya been? Uh, your highness."

"You do not fear us?" Luna asked.

Applejack looked down at the ground. "We treated ya pretty dang awful back on Nightmare Night, even nearly got ya ta cancel the whole event."

Rainbow walked towards Applejack to address Luna as well, but didn't make eye contact and instead glanced ashamedly at the farmpony, who shared her expression and guilt. "Yeah, we wanted to apologize. Twilight and Chronicle talked to us about it the next day. Sorry we didn't treat you as fairly."

"That is quite all right," Luna said as she lifted a hoof to silence them. "We understand now that our subjects are still not used to our return, and may not forgive us for a while." Luna put her hoof down. "Nor see us for who we truly are."

Fluttershy, despite also having been told the whole story, still cowered behind Pinkie's machine, whimpering, afraid to approach the cloaked princess. A stern look from her pretty-much-coltfriend however convinced her to at least walk out in the open.

"Hey, Where's Rarity?" Twilight asked. "Is she coming?"

"She said she was finishing up a dress and she'd be right over," Pinkie explained. "Oooh, I can't wait to tell you guys all about this machine!"

"Where did you get this thing anyway?" Chronicle queried, eyeing the machine with curiosity and suspicion, his Story Crew side surfacing all the more. His Off-World Detecting Wand was also sending wild signals in his head.

Pinkie pointed a hoof to the sky. "Draconichero21 gave it to me!"

In an instant, alarms rang in hs mind as he quietly took out the the Memlock and activated it. Also, the Wand spoke to him. "Object Identified. Designation: Super Adventurifier 9001. Proprietor: Alias 'Draconichero21'."

While he was undergoing that, the others looked up and saw nothing, "Pinkie, there's nothing up there but clouds," Twilight said.

"That's because 'he' is from a higher plane of existence," Chronicle muttered, but nopony heard him. Crap. An Author has taken ahold of Pinkie Pie!

"We are confused. What is it we are supposed to be looking at?" Luna asked

"Nothing," the bookworm replied, putting slight pressure on Luna's neck, indicating she could lower her head. "That's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie."

"I'm here!" The all-too-familiar fabulous voice of Rarity was heard as she trotted down the road. "What is it I had to come see, Pinkie Pie?" The fashionista then noticed the machine. "And just what is this?"

"Feast your eyes on this, everypony! This is the super fantabulous Super Adventurifier 9001!" Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her hooves out wide as she appeared at the top left side of the tall machine.

"And what does it do, exactly?" Luna asked, finally pulling off her cloak. 
"I don't know!" Pinkie said. "But it has the word 'adventure' in it. It must be lots of fun!"

"Well, here's a switch." Rainbow pointed to a lever on the opposite side of the machine. "Let's yank it. Maybe something cool will happen."

"I don't know about this, you guys," Twilight said apprehensively. "We shouldn't tamper with things we do not understand."

"I agree with Twilight," Chronicle concurred. "You could easily get us all killed, or worse send us to an evil mind-breaking dimension!" Like Ev-Layer N-Dùk!

"But there is a good chance it causes 'fun', yes?" Luna inquired.

"Absolutely!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Excited, the Princess declared, "WE SAYEST: GO FOR IT, PINK ONE!"

This was getting worse and worse as far as Chronicle was concerned. "You too, Princess?!"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Jumping on top of the machine, Pinkie then waltzed over to its far side and jumped onto the lever before dangling from it by her front hooves and pulling the lever down. Instantly, the reels began to spin. Jack in the box music began to play, but as it did the machine began to bounce and sputter, and produced a multitude of loud noises, scaring Fluttershy as she took cover behind Chronicle.

Suddenly a weird black and white swirl began to emerge from the center of the machine and flow outwards. Weird bursts of lightning began blasting out from the top as it burst off and the machine began to go out of control. The ground began to shake.

"P-i-i-i-i-inkie P-i-i-i-i-ie," Rainbow said, her voice trembling from the tremors. "Wha-a-a-t's going o-o-o-on?"

"I don't know, but isn't this lots of fun?" Pinkie said. Miraculously, her voice was unaffected by the quake.

"We need to shut this off!" Twilight exclaimed as the rumbling turned into simple wobbling that bent and twisted the very fabric of reality like particularly wobbly jelly. Using her horn, Twilight tried to pull the lever again, but the moment she did the bottom of the machine opened and revealed a glowing green portal. The portal began to suck with a forceful gale that even Rainbow Dash would be unable to escape. Twilight tried to deactivate the machine, but that only made the machine pull harder.

Things went from bad to worse when Fluttershy was yanked from the ground by the wind, pulled towards the portal. Her body was long enough that she was able to put her hooves in between the sides of the opened bottom and not get pulled in, but her wings were being tugged on from their tucked in position.

"All right! That's it!" Chronicle cast a teleport spell on Fluttershy and transported her to his position, then tossed a Time Pocket at the portal, which activated before it entered the 'tunnel', seemingly taking the Adventurifier and the portal away (Rainbow and Pinkie had quickly moved away from the 'blast radius'). In reality, the two were just sealed in the Time Pocket until they were deactivated, disarmed, and taken away by Extractors sent inside the Pocket by the Story Crew.

Before anybody else could react, he next tackled Pinkie to the ground, then activated another Time Pocket, sealing themselves inside it. By the time the Time Pocket's effects expire, he would still be on top of her. But in the meantime, Chronicle had this to say.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie!" he began. "What the ████ were you thinking accepting 'gifts' from individuals you don't know?! Didn't you consider the fact that if we get whisked away, we're leaving Equestria undefended against the likes of Discord if he ever somehow escapes again or any other villain who can only be defeated by the Elements of Harmony? What if one of us ends up unable to use the Elements along the way?"

"But didn't you—"

"That 'substitute Bearer' thing I tried was out of desperation. I didn't even think it would've worked and would've been surprised if it did."

"I just wanted an adventure!"

Clearly, the Author has a strong grip. "We don't need to travel across worlds to achieve that. There's enough adventure in Equestria as it is." He then took out his communicator. "Dad, you listening? I got an Author Puppet situation here."

"That's the second time this month," Record Keeper commented. "I'll request for extra defense measures for those things."

"All right." Chronicle then returned his attention to Pinkie. "I already warned you. And you even made a Pinkie Promise!" He knew it wasn't entirely Pinkie's fault, but if she thinks she's guilty (as he can tell from her regretful expression), she's more likely to resist the influence of Authors trying to control her before the Author is dealt with by the Story Crew.

"I… I…"

"I can't promise to clean up after you every time like I did just now. Consider this a warning."

And the Time Pocket soon deactivated.


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"Luckily for me, thanks to the MemLock, the incident is—as usual—contained. However, I heard that my cousin in Equestria-85 failed to curb the Adventurifier like I did and he, his friends, and Princess Luna were turned into humans—Trainers to be exact—as they were transported to 'Pokémon World-21', and Discord-85 has apparently managed to send an image of himself there. Unfortunately, that's not my problem; it's up to my cousin to do that.

"Of course, I'm not the only one handling such incidents. Here're two records on what my family's done."


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Event S-222972: Stopping a Galactical Siege


A huge fleet of space vessels were traveling through outer space, the longer method for reaching different worlds (the other short one being the Sea of the Skies). Composed of frigates, dropships, fighters, and a capital ship, this fleet whose allegiance will not be specified was ready to take over the not-quite-delicate world ahead of them and spread its tyrannical influence.

At least they would be were it not for the single alicorn staring down the fleet's captain at the capital ship's bridge and surrounded by a magic force field. None of the other vessels have attacked, since the force field repelled all weapons, and he was positioned somewhere they can't attack without risking friendly fire.

"You must be joking," said the captain through his vessel's communication system.

Record Keeper had with him a personal communicator that can pick up the fleet's channel and replied, "I'm not. Leave this system be, or suffer the consequences."

"Hah! Our scouts have showed that that planet ahead of us has zero space technology! You can't take on this entire fleet alone!"

Record game a smirk. "Whoever said I was alone?" As if on cue, a copious amount of wormholes appeared, and out of them emerged space vessels of all kinds. Some were of the typical mechanical composition, others were—in a sense—organic, and there were also two…creatures who were mismatched in terms of body parts. All of them already had their weapons charged. "I am Record Keeper, commander of the Conalir Protectorate. This planet is under our jurisdiction. Turn away and you may yet live." But we'll have to lock away your memories of this encounter. "Continue and not one of you will return." We'll induct you into our ranks or start a new life in Hadithi. We'll find a way to put you back home through an evac craft. "It's your choice."


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Event R-25465428: Stupidly Lost Wanderers
 

Twilight Sparkle Equestria…

Mystic Wand was in the Royal Canterlot Library, perusing through a book that contained lots of complex spells.

"Let's see here. Twin portal spell, nah. Too much chance of a laugh from me. X-ray vision spell. A surefire classic. Disturbance proximity spell. Okay. Casting it now." A short flare of his horn later, and Wand was reading again. "Gravity Shift. Sweet, except with the sun and moon circling the planet, I don't know how that works. Homing magic shot. Now this is interesting. Gotta bookmark that. Eagle Vision. Now that's what I'm talking about. I wonder if—"

Suddenly, his newly-cast "disturbance proximity spell" set off an alarm in his head. He immediately turned around, cast a binding circle spell (he and his twin siblings picked it up from their mother) on it, and he nearly lost focus upon seeing who it was.

Human, yellow clothes with black dots on them, a stubborn look in his face…it could only be… Wand made certain by pulling out his Off-World Detecting Wand, and it beeped, making the individual turn around to face him. The Wand (not Wand) then responded, "Subject Identified. Name: Ryoga Hibiki. World: Furinkan Prime."

Oh ████. Unlike his siblings, Wand was knowledgeable in other languages, and he knew just what this one spoke in. "Hey you. The guy in yellow."

This Ryoga fellow turned to face him curiously. "Hm?"

"You shouldn't be here." As the unicorn said that, he 'sneaked' the Sender right underneath his feet. "Codeword: Ghorofa."

"What?" But the Sender did its job and Ryoga was gone. The Story Crew would return him to Furinkan Prime, and probably won't suppress his memories; he was known for impossibly getting lost anyway, traveling worlds isn't too much of a stretch for him.

"What just happened?" a voice suddenly came.

████! swore Wand as he turned around. He saw a scholar had entered and saw…how much? He had to assume the scholar had seen Ryoga and him sending the lost guy away. He came up with a quick lie. "I was testing a summoning spell. Went wrong, and I rectified my error."

The scholar grunted. "That's a violation of protocol. When testing a summon spell, always use an empty room, and get clearance. I'd report you, but you're one of Princess Twilight Sparkle's ace magi, so I'll let this one by. Promise not to do it again?"

Wand gave a sigh. "All right."

Just then, something very loud zoomed by the window, startling both of them. "Whoa!" gasped the scholar. "What in Twilight's name was that?!"

The ace magus didn't answer, his Wand answering for him in his head. "Subject Identified. Name: Masaki Andoh. Vehicle: Cybuster. World: SRW Earth-Alpha." So as to not arouse suspicion, Wand answered, "No idea." Better report this to the Story Crew.


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Dreamscape…

Chronicle prepared to stop the camera.

"There's plenty more, but either I don't have the clearance or I don't think it would be interesting for the catalyst to know. So, see you maybe next time."

And the video was ended.
> (NOT) The Cutie Pox
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 6: The Missing Rainbows Incident

Lord Record Keeper was at his 'throne room', overlooking the goings-on in Hub Equestria when something happened. Two of his mirrors, which he used for contacting the rulers in other Equestrias, began to waver. It can only mean one thing; somepony is trying to contact him. Usually, it was the other way around.

He 'pulled' them over with his telekinesis (as he was currently in his alicorn form), and when his reflection changed into whoever was wanting to talk to him, he withheld his shock. Normally, the Equestrian rulers who would be in touch with him via mirror would be Princess Philomena, Princess Luna of the Lunar Republic, Princess Molestia, and Sun Bro and Moon Dude. Princess Trollestia would often just warp herself over and pull pranks on his "little ponies". And Princess Pinkie Pie could just pop up whenever.

Right now, he was facing Princess Celestia Prime and Prince Solaris P-δ. With them were his twin children. Chronicle looked distressed, but Timerity seemed like she had been sobbing for a good while, if her eyes and stuffy nose were any indication. And she was still crying.

"What happened?" he asked, concern filling his voice.

"It's about Rainbow Dash, Dad," his son said. "Something…terrible happened."

"Blitzy disappeared!" his only daughter blurted out. "As in he's gone! I can't find him anywhere! My tracking spell yielded nothing! Blank!"

Uh oh. Timerity had spoken a code. While she does have a tracking spell, she was secretly talking about Surveillance. There was only one way Surveillance would stop tracking someone with a Surveillance camera; when they are whisked away to another world and the Surveillance holder did not go with them.

"Please try to find her!" Chronicle was saying. "We're all worried, and I fear for Pinkie Pie."

"Hold on, both of you. Start from the beginning."

"Wait, both?" Solaris asked.

"What are you talking about, Record Keeper?"

That's when the 'ruler' of Hub Equestria realized his mistake. "Oops. Well, it turns out that both of you have experienced the same predicament. Lemme just get you positioned." With another telekinesis spell, he manipulated the two mirrors so that they were now 'facing' each other and he was between then without obstructing either mirror.

"Sister?"

"Brother?"

"Solly!"

"Celly!"

Both rulers of the Day blushed when they realized Record and his children had heard them. Only the father made a reaction though; the children were still distraught from what they've yet to report.

Record quickly defused the situation by getting back on the subject. "Timerity, Chronicle, tell me what happened. Start from the beginning."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"I don't think this is such a good idea." Timerity was voicing her opinion.

"Relax," assured Dusk Shine. "I made sure to read the entire manual."

"And you made sure you practiced this time?"

"Umm…yes."

The bodyguard could tell from the hesitance that it wasn't the case. "…You're lying."

"It can't be helped now. I already had this sanctioned by the mayor."

"Fine, but if something happens to my Blitzy, I'm gonna give you a scar!"


T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS


"Twilight, I really think you should stop."

In front of Chronicle was a storm, developed by both the pegasus weather team and his charge Twilight Sparkle. To minimize damage, and to ensure that whatever wild magic the Everfree Forest has doesn't interfere, the storm test took place in a far-off meadow (within view of Ponyville). In fact, it was the same field the cow herd stampeded through before being diverted out of town thanks to Applejack.

It's gonna screw up any minute now! He didn't say it out loud, not wanting something to happen. But then he realized that by thinking about it, it was likely to happen anyway.

All of a sudden, there was an errant lightning bolt, followed by a cry.

"Something's wrong with the storm!" said Lightning Bolt, one of the pegasi in the team.

Why oh why did I have to even think it?!


C—TS—LB—C—TS—LB—C—TS—LB—C—TS—LB


"Blitz, get out of there now! Dusk is getting ready to dispel the storm!"

"I can handle this! I'll be fine!"

"But I won't, much as I hate to admit! Get your ass over here! Everypony else is already out of range!"

Next to Timerity, Dusk's horn was beginning to flare with magic as he prepared to attempt to dispel the storm. Just at the moment he fired the spell, a lightning bolt came out of the storm and connected with it. The result was a strong blast that pushed both unicorns back…and 'consumed' Rainbow Blitz in the process.


T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS


Chronicle coughed from the dust that had kicked up after he and Twilight were forcibly repelled by the reaction between her spell and the lightning.

"Dammit, I should've made a better effort in stopping you, Twilight." He got up and looked around. The sky was clear, and there was no sign of the storm. "Now where's Rainbow Dash?" After making sure that nopony else was looking, he took out Surveillance, and prepared to check on her camera. What he saw made him balk however.

Twilight noticed and walked over. "What's wrong?" She looked at the device and saw that the 'screen' was blank. "Where is she? Why is it not finding her?"

"That's because she's not here. As in, not in this world!"

"How? Your Surveillance didn't show anything like this when we ended up in you sister's world."

"That's because I was whisked along with you." 

"Can you track her down?"

"…No." And there was another problem with Surveillance. It was okay if the Surveillance holder, i.e. Chronicle himself, got transported in another world. As long as the 'camera' is not taken away from the same world the 'device' was in, they will still work even if the 'device holder' goes elseworld. If the 'camera' is taken away from the same world the 'device' is in, and the device fails to "follow" within ten seconds, the 'camera' will teleport back to its target's last location in the world the device is in for the user of the Surveillance to extract (The stuff Surveillance is made of is expensive and difficult to replace).


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS


Timerity immediately ran towards where Rainbow Blitz was last seen, fearing for the worst. When she reached it, they came true.

On the grass was a round gray orb. A casual eye would think of it as an ordinary strangely-shaped rock, but it was really a disabled Surveillance camera. If a camera was rendered visible, it could only mean one thing; its 'target' had been whisked away from this world and the owner of the Surveillance device has failed to follow within ten seconds.

In other words, Blitz was gone, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Not by herself, that is.

Dusk noticed her shaking, as if trying and failing to be calm. After all, her coltfriend just disappeared to who knows where, and she would likely blame him. "Um, Time?" he asked as he went over.

"Send a letter to Prince Solaris," he heard her say, devoid of emotion.

"What?"

She turned around to face him, tears in her face. It didn't make for a pretty picture. "SEND A LETTER TO HIM NOW!"


T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS—T—DS


"I plan to send a letter anyway," retorted Twilight has she and Chronicle made for the library. Well, the latter would just be passing by as he was headed somewhere else.

"Well, add the following: Tell Princess Celestia that I'm on my way to Canterlot, to have her guards let me pass, and to contact my father!"

"Wait, contact your father?"

"I found out from her after my three-day sleep that she knew him. All you need to know about my father is that he can help."

"Hold on a second. Your siblings are situated in different Equestrias. What kind of Equestria is your father in?"

"Well, I did say that we hailed from another world."

"Actually, your sister told us that."

"Right. Well, my father comes from that world. He's also in a way our boss. If Rainbow Dash is in some other Equestria, he'll find her, inform my relative there, and fix this."

"You mean everypony in your family is stationed in one of many Equestrias out there?"

"We'll talk about this another time." They had reached the library, and Chronicle could not waste a second.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"I used every spell short of the Glimmer Wings to come all the way here," Timerity finished, letting out another sniffle. "Dusk's letter came through, and the guards did not stop me, nor did I need to evade them."

Record nodded after hearing his children's recollection, then said, "All right. I'll do what I can. I'll find Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blitz from your worlds (as other worlds have those ponies with the same names and appearance). It's gonna take some time though." He then addressed Solaris and Celestia. "Our family's rather large, possibly greater in number than either of your worlds' Apple family clans."

"I remember saying as much," commented Chronicle.

"And my work isn't free of obstructive bureaucrats either. It could take more than a week." Even longer if it turns out they're not in the Equestria Cluster at all. And I've a feeling that is very possible. "I'll be in touch once I have word. But until then, there's nothing you can do but wait." Record turned to look at his daughter, who has finally calmed down. "Don't worry, Timerity. I'll find him. By the power vested in me as a member of the Timer family, I will not rest until find the missing Rainbows."

"*sniff* Okay, Dad."

Record then addressed Solaris and Celestia once more. "Thank you for informing me on this. I best start my work immediately. I bid you farewell…" He turned to each of the mirrors. "Princess Celestia, Prince Solaris."

"I wish you good luck in your search, Record Keeper," said Celestia.

"We all hope for your success." Solaris.

And with that, the mirrors rippled back into their previous silvered forms. Record then 'pushed' them back to their places, and returned to his throne to start his 'mission'. As the screens came to life, with a simple thought, he opened up communications with somebody in the Story Crew.

"Message to Hadithi Command." 

"Designation?" asked an voice 'edited' to conceal identity.

"Conte E-No. 44926."

"Designation Recognized. Recording Message."

"I have a serious situation here; Codename: 'Porting Crisis. The following are missing from their worlds: Rainbow Dash Prime and Rainbow Blitz P-δ. Worlds last seen: Equestria Prime and Solaris Equestria respectively. No known evidence of Book Troop involvement. Cause of disappearance: Spell gone wrong for both. Caster of spell: Twilight Sparkle Prime and Dusk Shine P-δ. I would like to request that somebody search the other target worlds and even some of the client worlds for them. I will begin searching in the Equestria Cluster. Over and out."


C—PC—T—RK—PS—C—PC—T—RK—PS—C—PC—T—RK—PS


While waiting for a reply from Command, he was of course already searching the other Equestrias and contacting his relatives; siblings, cousins, siblings-in-law, cousins-in-law, nephews, nieces, nephews-in-law, nieces-in-law, cousins once/twice removed, second cousins onward, everything in between, and even honorary members, who are all under his jurisdiction.

Of course, he contacted his wife and his other children first via the dreamscape. Ebony Spell, Blue Diary, and Mystic Wand all yielded negative results. Upon hearing of his crisis, Princesses Philomena, Pinkie Pie, and 'Republican' Luna offered to help in the search, but Record turned them down, saying, "This is my family's problem. I already have my organization dealing with it, and if they hear I got you involved, I'll be in serious trouble."

A couple of hours passed before the reply finally came, which he read on a screen while on his throne. 

"Hadithi Command: Request granted. We're sending over some operatives so you can provide them the details of the missing individuals. They will be tasked in searching the other worlds. Do not forget your task in the Equestria Cluster."

Just as he finished reading the message, the doors to his 'throne room' opened, revealing five silhouettes that were decidedly not equine, or anything resembling a resident of any Equestria (aside from the ones with humans/humanoids).

These five approached him, but the ambiance of the room somehow kept their faces in shadow.

"You must be the operatives they sent me."

"That would be so," one of them replied.

Record then opened a screen in front of them, showing images of the missing ponies he tasked himself in searching. "These are the missing individuals I am tasking you in finding. Rainbow Dash Prime and Rainbow Blitz P-δ. Due to the nature of teleporting, there is a very high chance that their assumed forms may not be what you see right here. Their forms could be akin to any of yours, or something else entirely. For all I know, they might've been sent through time as well, and their bodies and minds might've progressed or regressed as a result."

"That would make the search rather difficult," another of the operatives snarked.

"I am well aware of that. That's why I'm also giving you this." He 'passed' five faintly glowing cards to the operatives, which they took. "Those cards will tell you the Soul Signature of Rainbow Dash Prime and Rainbow Blitz P-δ. I trust you have the means to read them?"

"Of course we do." 

Soul Signatures, which are exactly what they imply, are tracked by the Story Crew via the cameras they use, not just the Surveillance ones, but cannot be accessed normally to prevent abuse. Every sentient being, including machines and even the so-called 'soulless', have a Soul Signature. Even individuals who "sell their souls" will still retain theirs. No two individuals, not even alternate selves from two different worlds has the same Soul Signature. And no matter what happens to their body, mind, or even what their world regards as a soul, their Soul Signature will remain the same.

"Good. I wish you all luck."

The five operatives saluted him before leaving the throne room, one of them considerate enough to close the door.

(A/N: Who or what the operatives Record Keeper communicated with isn't important, any more than that mailpony who gave Rainbow Dash her invitation to the Wonderbolts Academy, or the train pullers in "Over a Barrel", or the Library guard from "It's About Time". That's why I deliberately didn't give them much detail.)


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Two weeks have passed since his twin children had reported on their missing friends, which he decided he would personally record as the "Missing Rainbows Incident". His search in the Equestria Cluster have been turning up nothing so far. Of course, given that he has more than just that to do (like stopping Interlopers, organizing his 'employees' and recruits, thwarting the Solar Empire and Corona Blaze, refusing more invitations to "cosmos surf" by Sun Bro and Moon Dude, surviving pranks from Princess Pinkie Pie), he hasn't finished covering every Equestria.

"I apologize, sir, but after you told me about your situation, I couldn't help but ask them about it. The Time-Space Administration Bureau there offered to provide some assistance. What should I do?"

"Fine. Allow them, but make sure 'Assault Flower' (the other Field Op) and their boss knows too."

"Thank you, sir. Pact out." And a screen deactivated.

Record was just finishing a conversation with one of his Field Operatives (and one of his fourth cousins-in-law once removed) with the pony alias Bright Pact, who was assigned to Lyrical Equestria (f.k.a. Equestria-15).

The Equestria Cluster is only one of many Clusters the Story Crew is in charge of. But let's start on what a Cluster is. As would be known, the Story Crew visits various worlds and sends down Field Operatives there. However, in many cases, many of these worlds have too much in common and are regarded as Clusters. Since it would be too much of a hassle to send down Opeeratives as simple as that, Hub Worlds are established in the same way the Timer family did. Not all Hub Worlds are established by a single family, though.

These Hub Worlds would then connect to all those common worlds by secret methods, and then portal mirrors would be established between them for the convenience of Story Crew members, though 'common' can sometimes be a stretch for some. Among known Clusters aside from the Equestria one are Magical Britain, Halkagenia, Mann's Land, Middleton, Valley of Peace, Arendelle, and Mid-Childa to name a few. The last of them is much more complicated due to its worlds being itself connected to the Time-Space Administration Bureau (TSAB for short), another cross-world organization, via dimensional space, another method of crossing worlds aside from the Sea of the Skies and outer space.

The problem with 'assigning' worlds to Clusters is that there's no telling if it belongs to just one of them or actually two (or worse, more). Lyrical Equestria was one of those problems. Not only was it an Equestria, it was also connected to a dimensional space a Mid-Childa is also connected to. As in more so than normal, with its Princesses being knowledgeable of them and the TSAB. As a result, it's not only part of the Equestria Cluster, it's part of the Mid-Childa Cluster as well.

The Story Crew, the Book Troop, and the TSAB aren't the only cross-world organizations out there however; the former two are merely the only ones involved in the 'provide fiction for client worlds' deal. It's just that the other groups are sometimes regarded as 'target worlds' by them, and very they rarely get themselves involved in the two's war, especially the TSAB.

…Yeah. Saying the rabbit hole goes pretty deep is a gross understatement.

Just then, a notification came telling that one of the operatives he requested wants to talk with him. Finally. He established communications and a screen showing the operative opened up. "Tell me what you found."

"Yes. Well, I have good news: I finally located Rainbow Dash Prime. She's in a client world and is being taken care of by a resident human. He has managed to keep her a secret from the rest of the world."

Record winced a bit at this. Whenever somebody says there's good news, there's always— "And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that it turns out that Rainbow Dash had regressed to very early fillyhood during transit and has lost pretty much all of her memories."

████! "That really is bad news. Pinpoint to me the world so I can establish a portal mirror."

"What do you plan on doing?"

Record raised an eyebrow. "I not required to tell you, am I?"

"R-right. Sorry. Oh yeah. I also crossed a strange portal to get there, and from what I could deduce, this client world is in the future, sort of. It seems that there is a Time Displacement phenomenon here. A day in here is a year out there."

"How are you—"

"I'm on our end of the portal while I have a drone on the other side."

"I see." 

"No. Wait. …I was wrong. The phenomenon here is a Narnian Time Stream."

"Oh great." Narnian Time Streams are a more wonky version of the Time Displacement phenomenon. While the latter sticks to a strict 'conversion system' formula (e.g. year inside, hour outside), the former fluctuates whenever it wants (one moment it's one hour outside-one year inside, and the next it's one day outside-ten years inside).

"Thankfully, it looks like the Stream will stick to 'day here, year there' for the next couple of days on our side, but I think it's best not to tarry before it decide to 'change its mind' again."

"Thanks for the intel." This makes matter so much more complicated.

"So my job is done, then?"

"Not yet. Not until Rainbow Blitz P-δ has also been located. I'll inform the rest of you once one of you has finished doing that, okay?"

"Yes, MCPO Thomas." The communication was then terminated.

Record chuckled to himself. MCPO (Master Chief Petty Officer) was his rank in the Story Crew's Frontline Force (which was its army designed against direct assaults by the Book Troop or other Interlopers who happen upon Hadithi) before all this. He met his future wife Jenny during a mission in a 'target world'. The details as to how they got together is "private", however.

His expression then turned into one of calculation. With the nature of this sort of memory loss, I'll need to have Rainbow Dash Prime's native friends come along to try and trigger any memory that could be left locked deep in her subconscious. And maybe Princess Celestia Prime has a spell that can help. Failing that, I'll have to ask Chronicle to use that special feature in his Surveillance, and that may take some time.

His musings would be interrupted by another of the operatives he requested wanting to talk with him. The good news of that was that Rainbow Blitz P-δ has also been located. The bad news was that his…predicament is identical to Rainbow Dash Prime's; regressed to a very young colt, memories erased, and taken care of by a human in a client world while being kept secret from the rest of it. Thankfully, the portal leading to that world is under the Time Displacement phenomenon.

He would do a facehoof in realizing that. Even outside their worlds, they're still connected. What are the odds? I best get to work. His reply to the operative was to request they would pinpoint the world so he can establish a portal mirror, then a notification to all of them that the search is over.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Afternoon…

It was fifteen days since the search began. Now that he had everything in place, it was time to do what he hoped not to do. He had to pull plenty of strings (literally, a few times) to get permission for what he was about to do. After hearing via dreamscape that his twin children were made to Pinkie/Berry Promise something, the circumstances behind those Promises unknown as of the moment, he's going to have to bring his children's friends and Prince/ss to Hub Equestria.

Since using the portal mirrors would be a huge problem, as soon as he had word on Rainbow Blitz P-δ's predicament, he had contacted Solaris P-δ and Celestia Prime that he would be sending over special teleporters (that thankfully looked like a magical artifact by an Equestrian standpoint) to take them to the worlds their missing friends are at. They were also given specific instructions on what to do so he would not have to coordinate with them from the throne room. He could just transport them directly, but he was running out of time with regards to the nature of the client worlds their missing friends were at, and hearing that his daughter was on the verge of— no, he did not want to think about that!

Record had a room cleared for the teleportation. Having pulled a lot of strings, he was able to pull this off. The room was empty save for a wide window showing plenty of houses the non-Field Operatives reside in. The room was also given a little refurbishing and space was made for the two teleporters that would be bringing the natives of Equestria Prime and Solaris Equestria here. They looked like large circular platforms with nonsensical runes all over them.

A specialized MemLock was on the ready, as their experiences here cannot influence their decisions in their native worlds. This MemLock would be on all of them (except his children) until they return to their worlds.

Now, he was debating to himself as to what form should he assume. Alicorn form (which he is in right now), or earth pony? Naturally, if he were to ever visit an Equestria (well, one that wasn't a human/anthro world anyway), he would have to assume the latter. Nah, he'll have to assume the former. And if he does happen to have to visit either of their worlds at a later time, he could say he preferred using a disguise when in other Equestrias.

The runes on the teleporters suddenly glowed. It's time. Record prepared the complex spell that would operate the teleporters. The lights in the room flickered as the magic in the 'devices' and Record's diadem did their work, crackling with energy and Record's horn was shooting off sparks. It was a difficult spell, and Record was close to overloading his diadem he might not be able to assume alicorn form ever again, and that could be problematic. He could always explain it off as a strong curse, but that's only a short-term solution.

Before he could ponder on it any longer, the teleporters let off a large beacon of light from their entire area, blinding Record for a bit as he relaxed his spellcasting. Then the light finally faded, revealing his children, their friends, and the two rulers of the Sun.

"Welcome to Hub Equestria," he greeted. "It is called such because it is my group's home world. I am Lord Record Keeper, ruler of this realm."

"It is a privilege to finally meet you personally," said Celestia as she nodded her head.

"Likewise," said Solaris.

Everypony else bowed before being coerced to get up by Record. "No need for such formalities. I trust you have cover stories prepared in case you're asked why you were gone?" The two rulers of the Sun nodded. "Good. I shall take you to where the missing Rainbows are. In the meantime, I'm guessing you'd like to catch up with each other? Your transit to the worlds your missing friends are is still under preparation."

The moment was then interrupted with Pinkie and Berry having a happy dance together as they pronked around each other. More subtle greetings were exchanged between the others. Timerity didn't return her brother's greeting, though.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


In a short while, the group consisting of three alicorns, six unicorns, four earth ponies, and two pegasi walked down an open road. The non-Story Crew ponies took in the sight the world had to offer. It was like Ponyville, but with a few more multistory buildings. There were also a couple of griffons, zebras, buffalo, and the odd diamond dog or dragon.

"We're a diverse community," Record explained before either of the other alicorns could comment on this. "Family members aren't all bound by blood. Honorary members count too, though only when it comes to doing what my children are tasked in doing in your worlds. And there's something else." He switched to a telepathy spell. I'm using telepathy because I can't let your subjects know.

While Record talked with Celestia and Solaris through their minds, Twilight Sparkle noticed Timerity was feeling really glum.

"Um, Dusk?" She then gasped as she then noticed a faint scar across his chest. "What happened to you?"

"Time threatened to give me a scar if anything happened to Rainbow Blitz," he explained. "She went through with her promise. I'm guessing—"

"No," Chronicle cut him off. "I don't go that far. Well, I won't resort to scars, at least." He then changed the subject. "I'm guessing Blitz being missing is why my sister's in such a low mood."

"Um, I think 'low' would be an severe understatement," Butterscotch spoke up.

"Why?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well, after she got back from Canterlot, she spent every night weeping," Dusk explained. "And some nights, she would go to Blitz's cloud house and stay there until morning."

"And when I went over to clean up, the pillows were wet with tears," added Butterscotch.

"We were so worried about her cloud-walking spell expiring, or her forgetting to re-cast it upon waking up, so I inflated an airbag right below the house if she ever—"

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Rarity. "She loves him that much, doesn't she?"

Berry Bubble nodded his head. "Mm-hmm. She would also vent her frustration on the Eris statue, demolishing it into dust with a sledgehammer. She would then do it again, over and over. Not even Magic Armor could convince her to stop."

"Magic Armor?" asked his female counterpart.

"Basically Mystic Shield's 'female self', Pinkie Pie," Chronicle answered.

"Oh."

"It was only after I got a letter for Solaris that she started to calm down," said Dusk. "Or at least she was calm on that day." He didn't know that Record Keeper had visited her via dreamscape and consoled her for a while.

"Whoo-ee," said Applejack, the female one. "Who knew love can drive a pony that far?"

"How did you girls deal with Rainbow Dash going missing?" her male self asked.

"Well, we did had to deal with a severely depressed Pinkie Pie."

"Her hair was flat, she looked darker, and she was really creepy," said Twilight.

"It was only for a few days, though," said Pinkie. "I couldn't let my depression spread. I wanted us to try and be happy while Chronicle's father did everything he could to find her. Somehow. I was confused as to how he could possibly find a pony who isn't even in the same world anymore."

"I've wondered the same thing," said Berry. "Instead of asking Prince Solaris or Prince Artemis for help, her father was her first option. I've wondered why him. What can he do that she wouldn't ask the Princes first? We know now."

"As for Chronicle, he was just grumpy, worried, nothing near what you guys told us his sister did. He was also a bit out of focus, but that's about it. Still, with what Timerity went through after Rainbow Blitz went missing, now I feel like we should all fear the day that Fluttershy goes missing like this for any reason."

Chronicle groaned from the ridiculous conclusion. "I assure you I won't be a sobbing, suicidal wreck, Pinkie Pie. Rather, I'd probably take a more active effort in finding her, and I wouldn't let even my father stop me. He takes great value in our happiness, and that's why he even did the search in the first place." And the fact that the Story Crew can't let these incidents happen. "I'd probably worry everybody else, and I'd probably be hurt too, but I wouldn't give up."

"…You'd do anything for her, would you?" said Elusive.

The mare-faced unicorn shook his head. "No. Not everything. If for any reason she'd turn evil, I wouldn't fight as her sworn knight; I'd fight to get her back because I advocate what's good, first and foremost." Actually, I advocate the Story Crew, but they're always on the good side. "And even if it breaks my heart, I will do what's right. I hope my sister remembers that."

If anypony had anything else to say, it was interrupted by Record saying, "We're here."

The group was now in front of a slate gray building. The double doors were the push-type, and so no telekinesis was required. Still, since he had guests, he 'held' them open for them.

Past the door were two portal mirrors, large enough for even an alicorn to pass through. The room itself was empty of anything else and was painted slate gray like the building. Two nondescript unicorn mares in labcoats and strange goggles stood in attention, unresponsive but alert like Royal Guards.

"Apologies for the drab look, but I had to work fast to bring these in," Record explained. "You have no idea just mow much effort I had to put for this, and unfortunately the terms of my work means I can't tell you." He 'tilted' the mirrors as he went between them so that the mirrors now faced his guests. "Your missing friends are through these mirrors. Walk through them and they'll take you to where they are." He gestured to the left. "Rainbow Dash is over there." Then to the right. "And there is Rainbow Blitz. I had to call for outside help since they were not in any of the Equestrias my family covers. From what my sources tell me, the worlds past these mirrors aren't pony worlds at all. It's best to be discreet. Interact only with your missing friend and whoever's taken them in. If there's anything else you need when you come back, let me know."

"Thank you for all you've done, Record Keeper," said Solaris.

"Don't thank me yet. If for any reason there is still something wrong with them, I'll get it fixed. And if you ever need a quick escape, you can teleport here. Our mirrors are specialized to allow for them." He then sent a mental message to the rulers (as well as their students) on the specifics of doing that.

Solaris, Celestia, and their subjects then walked toward their respective mirrors, but then the proteges turned around and saw that Record's children were not coming with them.

"You're not coming with us?" asked both of them at the same time, then they turned to each other from how awkward that was.

Timerity then finally spoke. "Best I don't. Wouldn't want my anger to get the best of me."

"I think it's best we stay behind in case anything happens," added Chronicle. The real reason however was that the mirrors led to "client worlds", and it's against protocol for Field Operatives to go there. Voluntarily, anyway; accidents won't be counted against them, but it would still be a hassle to fix. "Go on ahead. We'll be waiting."

"Okay," said Twilight as she and Dusk went after the others through the mirrors. 
Once they were gone, Record spoke to his children. "Do you now understand why it is advised against to make such close attachments to the natives?"

"Yes, Father," replied his daughter. "But I couldn't refuse the contract Prince Solaris gave me and stick around Ponyville without ponies getting suspicious. There aren't exactly any nearby towns I could stay in that are in reach of it except for Canterlot, and that place is real far."

"Same deal goes for me," Chronicle put in. "And for the record, there is no hamlet named Oaton in our worlds." Oaton is an earth pony hamlet close to Ponyville, at least in Luna Equestria. Their younger brother Blue Diary and his friends had an adventure there.

"I see," replied Record. "There's something else I needed to tell you, something I couldn't tell them." He was also bad at conversing in two separate subjects via telepathy and verbal without accidentally mixing the two. "It's very likely that your friends might have…problems in memory. I don't think it's just from a spell. They've been regressed to early childhood and therefore their memories might've been erased and new ones cultivated. I assume your friends know a memory spell that can fix this, but in case that fails, I'd like you to enact Operation Slate Sentry." 

"Operation Slate Sentry?" 

"Yes. But as a backup plan only. The access code is 'Am Niece Eeea'." Record addressed the two labcoats. "Ladies, ready the mind scanners."

"Yes, sir!" The two unicorns each took out a white wand with long cords at one end. They attached the other end of these cords to their goggles.

Operation Slate Sentry involves using a secret feature in Surveillance. In it, though inaccessible and unviewable by normal methods, is an archive containing the memories of its subjects. Operation Slate Sentry would involve restoring a subject's memories by taking the ones saved in Surveillance. How exactly this works is classified to the Story Crew, however.

Suddenly, one of the unicorns said, "They're coming back, sir. And they're using a teleportation spell. They're taking a lot of stuff with them."

Timerity and Chronicle stepped away from the mirror's 'line of sight' as the invisible lines of magic began to formulate. A flash came and from it emerged Celestia, Solaris, their subjects, the unconscious missing Rainbows…and plenty of personal memorabilia, among them "Nascar" and "air show" posters, and a shoe box probably containing a lot of personal items.

"Guys!" Chronicle gasped as he approached his friends, then looked at Rainbow Dash with a trace of worry.

"Bitzy!" cried out Timerity as she bowled past them, pounced on his comatose form, and started crying profusely.

"What happened?" Record asked Solaris and Celestia.

The princess was the first to answer. "We encountered a 'man' who had taken her in. However, we also found out that she had no memory of us at all. As it was, while she was gone to us for fifteen days, he had been literally raising her for fifteen years." Record mentally slapped himself for forgetting to tell them about that little issue, but his face betrayed nothing. "He also knows of us, saying we're 'fictional characters from a children's TV show'."

That's part of what we do as the Story Crew, Record's son thought to himself.

"I had Twilight cast the memory spell she once used from the Discord incident," Celestia continued, then paused for a bit, wondering if—"

"I'm familiar with him," said Record. "Had to fight one version of him head-to-head when he somehow found his way here, and then I had to fight an a 'female' mirror of his named Eris." He didn't tell them about the Great Draconequus Outbreak or the fact that many of the Equestrias would've been stormed by them (some even were) were it not for him and the Story Crew.

"I see. Before I could do that however, he wished to talk with her one last time. It was…a tearful moment. Once we did, Twilight cast the spell while I teleported us back. And to make sure nothing happened between that world and ours, I removed any existence of Rainbow Dash ever being there. The only things I permitted him to keep were his memories, and his photo album. He deserved that much at least."

"I see." Record then turned to Solaris, who nearly stammered for a second before speaking.

"Celestia pretty much covered everything I would've said, except Rainbow Blitz's caretaker was a 'woman'."

"It's strange that even when we're not in Equestria, what we do mirrors one another," noted Elusive.

"Unnerves me too." Record then addressed the two labcoats. "Ladies, inspect the two Rainbows."

"Yes, sir." The two of them calmly walked toward the unconscious pegasi, the other ponies stepping away after a gesture from Record. The one who would check on Blitz had to gently nudge Timerity to get her to move, which she reluctantly did. The labcoats waved their 'wands' over the cyan pegasi, which began to emit green lights.

Before anypony could ask, Record said, "Due to the nature of magic, mixing different kinds can lead to…severe biological consequences. That can be bad news for some worlds. In fact, in one world where Equestria somehow ended up in another world, its inherent magic proved to be toxic to the natives of the other world. Thankfully, there was a solution to that, but I'm not inclined to provide the details lest you worry. More than you are already." She's a xenocidal █████.

Just then, one of the labcoats spoke. "Positive readings, sir." The other labcoat said the same thing. As with all Story Crew members, they know how to say things that can mean other things to those not in the know. While others would assume they were talking about the unnatural magic, they were really talking about the status of the Rainbows' memories.

"I see." He turned to face the rulers. "Princess Celestia, Prince Solaris, there's something I'd like to tell you, something I can't do in front of your subjects, not even your students. Could you please come with me? And don't worry, this part of my realm is pretty safe."

Thankfully, there was little fuss and the three alicorns left the building, but not before Record gave a glance at his children. Once they were gone, Chronicle took out his Surveillance and Timerity did the same, no longer feeling as depressed as before. 

"I suspect your father wanted Prince Solaris and Princess Celestia out of the way for something," said Dusk.

"You'd be right," replied Timerity, losing more and more of her depression. "As far as we know, neither of them know of Surveillance."

"How do you know that Princess Celestia doesn't know either?" asked Twilight.

"I talk with my brother in the dreamscape, duh."

"And what has Prince Artemis said when he found out?" Berry asked curiously.

And then a smile, however snide, finally came in her face. "You're assuming he has. Well, he hasn't. Not yet, at least."

"Excuse me, but we have a problem," said one of the labcoats, then addressed Twilight and Dusk. "Are you sure you two performed the memory spell properly?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Well, judging by the memories I'm seeing here, the memory spell didn't work as effectively as it should, likely due to the teleportation spell used by your Prince and Princess in conjunction," explained the other labcoat. "In fact, I'm seeing no memories of him with anybody else except his 'mom'."

"Similar case here," said the one checking Dash.

"Oh no!" gasped Pinkie.

"Luckily, that can be fixed, and Surveillance is the key."

Timerity and Chronicle took out their Surveillance devices, activated them, then spoke the code word. "Code Word: Am Niece Eeea." The devices' screens began to flash white as the other side of the device 'opened' and revealed a strange protrusion that looked like a rabies collar, except the short end had a rod that shortly extended itself to a certain extent. These rods were then aimed at the friends they just rescued.

(A/N: It had taken the form of a satellite dish, but no such thing exists in Equestria Prime.)

"Surveillance is able to store all the memories of all of whom it tracks," explained the labcoat who had checked on Dash. "To prevent abuse, it's locked with that pass code you just heard, although it will be changed after this. Operation Slate Sentry will re-insert the memories Surveillance has stored into the subject. I won't explain the process since you probably won't understand it. As you obviously saw, this world is more technologically advanced than yours."

"Subject: Rainbow Blitz," a gender-neutral voice came from Timerity's Surveillance device.

"Subject: Rainbow Dash," a similar voice came from Chronicle's.

"Command: Restore Memory," said the labcoat checking on Dash.

"Memories not in database detected," said the Surveillances' voices. "Erase, Keep, or Lock?"

"What does that mean?" asked Rarity.

"Erase means that all the memories related to what they've been through for the past 15 years there will be removed before replacing them with the memories they have of their time with us," Timerity began. "It is the safest option, but it's not a moral choice for us."

"Keep means exactly that, but mixing memories can come back to bite you, especially if thoughts coming from the two different sets could conflict and greatly influence their decisions," Chronicle continued. "Our family is against such a thing happening."

"Lock is our third option. They will still remember their 'fifteen years off-world', but will not bring it up and act as if they never had those memories. And for 'security reasons', all your memories of your time in our world will be similarly locked. It's not the same as forgetting; you'll still remember all of this, it just won't influence what you do back home." 

"Including this very conversation?" asked Berry.

"Of course. So, what's your decision?"

The ten ponies not native to Hub Equestria turned to face one another. This was a difficult choice to make, and much more so to even comprehend. But they owed it to Lord Record Keeper in finding their lost friend. And given what they do know about his children that hasn't been 'locked away', they can understand the situation they're in.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


"The right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred. No █████ ████ personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien (foreign) life and culture. Such interference includes the introduction of superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely," Record quoted to Solaris and Celestia. "That's our Alien Non-Interference Clause, though it's not a completely rigid rule.

"That is why we haven't shared all this to every Equestria we cover. They need to be able to 'grow up' on their own. Some civilizations (which I'll call civs for short) that have failed to do so and grew up thanks to a more advanced one, they eventually fell apart when the advanced ones died out and weren't properly taught. Other civs reached their 'Golden Age' this way, but eventually destroyed themselves, and in a few cases also destroyed adjacent civs. There are so many things that can go wrong when you add a veteran in the middle of a game with beginners/intermediates. Not a good analogy, I know, but…"

"I appreciate your explaining why you can't share all this to our worlds," replied Celestia as the three alicorns flew over the town, overlooking the various sectors. It had the same general street-and-building positions as Ponyville, but it had a distinctive 'shortage' of farmland, and the forest nearby was less a place fraught with danger and had more of an 'obstacle course' feeling. And while there were pegasi and griffons in the sky, there were also a  few strange contraptions 'driven' by non-pegasi in the air while they traveled.

"But, it's still kind of hard for us to believe your reason for sending your children in our worlds in the first place," added Solaris.

"Well, it wouldn't matter anyway. We've maintained the masquerade for so long that even with the truth told, you wouldn't believe it. Which is to our advantage. And please don't debate with me about the Clause. I am very well aware of its flaws and there is constant debate on what it really means." Record decided to land on top of one of the multistory buildings. The other two followed suit. 

"I have a feeling you just led us out so we don't find out how exactly you would 'fix' the unnatural magic that was found in Rainbow Blitz and Rainbow Dash."

The head of the Timer family held back a chuckle. "Well, given all the explanations I provided you after what I wanted to tell you two, I didn't want to stall the entire process with lots of exposition. We wouldn't get much done if we kept explaining." Record let off a deep sigh. "That's one disadvantage of being technologically advanced and being a friendly civ. You two should seriously keep a closer eye on your star pupils; they inadvertently caused half of…certain problems my children had to fix, some of them bad enough I had to call in some favors like this one I did for you for fifteen days."

"And the other half?" Celestia inquired.

"Pinkie Pie and Berry Bubble. Very deceptively dangerous individuals if they set their minds to it. Thankfully, my kids have managed to exploit their penchant for promises to keep them in line."

"I see."

"Well, since you already figured out I was stalling, I think we should head back to where we left them. Thankfully, we're at the roof of that building they're in, so we'll just have to cruise down."

And that's what the three did. Celestia and Solaris marveled at the height of the building, even though it was just four floors. It was planned to become another apartment for the Story Crew recruits that come from the Equestrias the Timer family has covered.

The three touched down in front of the doorway, and then Record opened it. The two labcoats had the two Rainbows on their backs and everybody else was following them and about to leave the building when the door opened.

"The problem has been solved, sir!" reported the one carrying Dash. "However, it'll take a couple of hours, maybe a day at most, for the process to complete. We'll need to keep them here for a while in the event of some unforeseen error."

"Now this is a problem," grumbled Record. "I was hoping I would only take a few hours of your time, but given the circumstances, I wouldn't want Princess Luna and Prince Artemis to take over your daytime duties longer than they have to." He addressed his fellow alicorns. "You two at least need to go back to your worlds. I strongly advise the rest to go back as well and leave Rainbows Blitz and Dash to my children. I promise they'll be fine by the time they're ready."

"Aww!" complained Pinkie. "I was hoping we could stay and see a lot more of this world! Besides, the way back is always open, right? I know that with your policy of secrets we won't even remember—"

"I told you that you will remember," interrupted the labcoat carrying Blitz. "You'll just act like you won't in the presence of those not in the know. There's a clear difference."

"Staying around is not a good idea," Record said. "There are a couple of things here that can happen that you can't know about. Nothing illegal or shady, I assure you, but this place is a battlefield at least twice a week. I could get in serious trouble if any harm comes to you while you're here. I fact, I'm in enough trouble as it is bringing you here at all. If it weren't for the Pinkie and Berry Promises that have been imposed on my kids (and I know Promises had been made), I would've settled with retrieving the two Rainbows myself (in a sense), and then playing the part of the mysterious rescuer who brought them back."

"Why did you do what you did just so your children wouldn't break their promise?" wondered Solaris.

"Because they showed me what happens if a Promise like that is broken. Even I was scared of the consequences. I, who had engaged more than one draconequus in combat at a time (not necessarily all my myself), would not risk a broken promise because I also value them." Though our way of valuing them is by specifying our words so we won't technically break them if we ever seemingly have to.

The non-Hub Equestria natives took this and everything else they learned about their friends with the open-book-in-an-orange-circle cutie marks into consideration; all the secrets they're keeping, all the mind-blowing stuff, that they'll behave as if they won't remember all of this yet actually will, that the organization the Timer family belongs to has thought this through well ahead of time, and that they're (supposedly) the reason behind how most (but not all) fictional stories are made. The last one is known only to Solaris and Celestia.  

Record gave another long sigh as he gestured for everybody to follow. Thankfully, they all did. "I'm sorry, but this is goodbye. Don't worry, you'll remember me if we ever meet again. It's time i took you back. I'll bring your friends back once they're…fixed, and you'll know they are once my kids return." He then sent a mental message to Celestia and Solaris that if anybody asks, they are the ones who rescued them. 

"Unfortunately, we're staying, so you can be assured that somepony you trust is looking after them," Chronicle put in. "We'll be back, cross our hearts…"

"…hope to fly…" Timerity added, making this one of those Promises.

Her twin brother decided to go with it; the promise was quite simple and easy to go around. The two of them did the final motions. "…stick a cupcake in my eye."

Soft laughs came from their friends at this attempt to cheer them up a bit.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


The three Timers and two labcoats (who still have the two Rainbows on their backs) saw off the natives of Equestria Prime and Solaris Equestria as they returned to their worlds via the teleporters they used to come in. Once they were gone, Timerity turned to face her father and asked, "So what's the cover story they'll remember?"

"What they'll 'remember' is that the Prince/ss themselves cast the spell to take them to that other world, memories of the in-between period 'locked'. Once you return with the two Rainbows, they'll then remember discovering a little flub in the spell that needed the two to stay in Canterlot to recover while the memories were fixed up."

"Whoa," Chronicle let out a soft gasp. "MemLock can do that?"

The brown alicorn shook his head. "Not the ones you have. And it was a headache to work with." Memory mix-ups in the event of any personal meet-ups with Record Keeper again are prevented thanks to the nature of 'locked memories'; they are influenced not to only not have the memories influence their decisions, it also prevents them from being dwelt upon.

"Okay. So, what should we say to them once they wake up? And how are we going to make sure their memories, or the ones we'll be putting in, won't conflict with theirs?"

"First, we'll take them to our house here, let's go." The five ponies left the room with the teleporters and began to walk outside.

"There? How long has it been?" wondered Timerity.

"Three years. Or was it four? After that Draconequus Outbreak, time has gone wonky in a few places. Anyway, the second step is that we'll place them at two separate beds, and you two will be standing by there. Third, once they wake up, you should be the first pony they see, and then you'll cast a sleep spell. I'll be giving you a book of that shortly, if you haven't learned one already. Fourth, you'll be taking them back to your respective worlds via the special teleporters (not the portal mirrors), and follow specific instructions I will give you later."

"Lord Record took an entire day to plan this with Backup Planner Davis," commented the labcoat (still) carrying Blitz. The two of them had enough endurance to carry a pony for an hour or more.

"Davis?" Chronicle addressed his father. "As in your maternal grandpa Davis Thanatos? You didn't tell us he's here!"

"Well, he's stationed in Equestria-83 as Backup Planner. Seriously, he chose that name. And you didn't ask."

"Well, I wasn't under the assumption that our still-alive great-grandfather, or any grandparents (and other cousins twice/once removed) for that matter, would be among the ones under your jurisdiction."

"Not all of them preferred retirement or some sort of desk job, you know."

Timerity let off a laugh. "Wouldn't it be ironic if our friends here woke up right—"

"—now?" finished one of the labcoats. "I can feel him stirring."

"Same for her," said the other.

"Ugh," groaned Record. "Cast the sleep spell and turn them away from anything that can arouse suspicion." The alicorn then cast an invisibility spell on himself.

The two Rainbows were starting to open their eyes, but most of their vision was blocked by their respective Story Crew friend. Timerity also whispered for some reason, "I finally found you."

The labcoats then cast the sleep spell and the pegasi were in dreamland. 

"Whoa. I didn't expect the Slate Sentry process to finish this quickly," remarked Chronicle.

"Well, it technically has," said the labcoat carrying Dash. "It's just that recovery normally takes one fifth of a day at least. Then again, we never had to do this on ponies before."

"I'm guessing this renders the 'take them home' part of the plan moot?" asked Timerity.

Record resumed visibility. "Yes. Time for you to return to where they came from. Come on." With that, her and Chronicle's alicorn father turned around to walk back to the special teleporter. 

"Here you go," said the labcoat carrying Blitz as she passed him over to Timerity. "Do you know just how tiring it is to carry a pony for this long?"

"I can imagine."

The other labcoat passed Dash to Chronicle, and the two of them left.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


A while later, the there Timers reached the teleporters, Record's horn already glowing as he started them up. His children got on the ones they each entered here from, their friends on their backs.

"Remember the plan?" he asked them.

"Yeah," affirmed the two, taking out sheets of paper that held the plan. 

"Good. Stick to it, and improvise if you can't." Record then flared his horn, preparing the magic that will send his kids back to their assigned worlds. 

As the runes glowed, Chronicle turned to face his sister and said, "You know, the ones past the Fourth Wall would regard you as emotional, and perhaps a bit stereotypical."

"Maybe. Only for those seeing your side," she retorted.

"…Touché. See you on the dreamscape."

Before they could say any more, the teleporters took them back to Equestria Prime and Solaris Equestria. There, they will enact Record's plan, stick around in Canterlot until the 'false memory' "becomes plausible". They would also reinstall a Surveillance camera, having been 'disconnected' from the impromptu world-hop.

He knew his children were competent enough not to screw this up, so he let out a huge sigh of relief. Finally, the Missing Rainbows Incident has drawn to a close.

Cricking his neck to alleviate the stress, he made his way back to his throne room, which was a long way from the teleporters. He still had a job to do. Oh, he does take breaks, but he's often just seated on his 'throne' overseeing the goings-on in Hub Equestria. While there was the occasional battle he has to take part in, since he's the only one who can take on Imperial Celestia, Corona Blaze, or any other invading alicorns (or draconequui) head-on, fighting the same foes over and over (with 'varieties' few and far between), he was slowly losing his mind from the boredom.

And while the recent events gave him something to do (as well as get to know a bit more about his relatives' assigned worlds), he had been driven more by his children's happiness. Yes, he did favor them over the others, he wasn't perfect. And it caused him to worry, which wasn't helpful at all.

Finally, he made it back to his throne, sat on it with a weary face, and the screens activated. And then one of his mirrors began to waver. Again? Rolling his eyes, he 'moved' the mirror over to himself and rolled his eyes again at what he saw as his reflection turned into whoever was on the other end.

It was two alicorn stallions. They looked like Princes Solaris and Artemis, assuming the latter didn't get much of his powers back and if the former shaved his beard and his hair was still pink (how beards were even possible for ponies Record will never know). They also had a too-casual look about them, although they seemed to have thought something through.

"Sun Bro, Moon Dude, have you come invite me to 'cosmos surf' again?" Record asked wearily.

"Actually, we wanted to apologize for continuously nagging you," replied Sun, the pink-haired alicorn replied. "It finally dawned on us that you weren't just shirkin' us 'cause you're a uptight snob." Record frowned at him for that remark.

"Shhhh-yah," agreed Moon, the blue one. "After you stopped that uncool tyrant █████ version of my bro three weeks ago, we should've realized you were real cool, but you were still actin' like a snob. We wanted you to relax, take a chill tonic." Record did his best not to roll his eyes at the non-mention of chill pill. "But then your wife's cuz Current Headline, who you sent here in our world, thought it was cool for us to know just what it is exactly ya do."

"Keepin' all of us safe like that, makin' sure our tales're known to the worlds beyond, sounds way cool, dude, cooler than just bein' a boring watcher. Your duty is real important. We won't impose you to go 'cosmos surfing' with us anymore."

"Actually…" Record began. "I'd like to try this 'cosmos surfing' of yours." Sun Bro and Moon Dude turned and faced one another disbelief as the brown alicorn cracked a smile. "I realize I'm getting lots of stress from my task, and that is not going to help me in the long run."

"But what about—" began Moon.

"The others can handle things while I'm gone. Just how long will this 'cosmos surfing' take? If anything should happen at Hub Equestria, I'll have to go back ASAP. Will I be able to do that?"

"Of course! We would never force you to leave your home in times of need. You know us better than that, right?"

"Do I? I'm not supposed to tell you this," Although the MemLock takes care of that. "But some Equestrias under my watch have had its share of irresponsible rulers."

"Dude," Sun replied, looking a bit cross. "Just because we don't act serious doesn't mean we aren't serious."

Record mentally slapped himself in the face as he groaned. "I know that, but while appearances can deceive, they don't always. I just wanted to be sure. So, when the earliest time I can go?"

"…What about right now?"

The 'leader' of the Timer family nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan."
> The Mysterious Mare Do Well
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Mysterious Mare Do Well

The dreamscape…

"It's been a while, Blue Diary! So, how are things in your world?"

Chronicle was conversing with his younger brother, whom he had only last seen since what would be called the "Owlman Incident" on Blue's end and the "Batman Incident" on Chronicle's, both of which took place after the former's cross-world incident. Thankfully, neither the Owlman nor the Batman both encountered were Primes. After Owlman-302 somehow exploited the Elements of Harmony belonging to Trixie Lulamoon and company to power up a teleporter to return to his world, he crossed it only to end up on Equestria Prime where Chronicle and his friends were confronting Batman-203. The Story Crew came in after that, administering "Memory Locks" on all who were involved and the Interlopers were returned to their respective worlds. 

Right now, they weren't practice-dueling, just standing in front of each other.

"Well, instead of fighting Discord, we went to the island of Tambelon, tasked in testing more on just what the Elements of Harmony can do. Also, it was because of…"

"The Demon Ram Grogar?" Chronicle knew of Grogar because their mother had encountered one instance of him in her early days as a Field Op in the world Dream Valley. 

"Yeah. He was a tough opponent, although it only got hectic when Corona's forces entered the scene, though it just consisted of a dragon and Zecora (I'm sure she has more that she isn't using, probably those salamanders). He even managed to go toe-to-toe with both her and Luna (and me for a while) and might've won were it not for the Elements of Harmony. But I'm getting ahead of myself there. Anyway, lots of things happened, and we even had to undergo an ad-hoc alliance with the Tyrant Sun herself." Blue did not mention that he also encountered a Book Troop Field Op (their sworn enemy) siding with Corona, who was 'thankfully' KIA by Grogar. "We learned two very important lessons in the end of all that."

"What?"

"One, we need to work hard to even be half as badass as you and your friends. I really got the short end here. You have a mighty magus, a super strong farmer with lariat skills on the side, a lightning bruiser of an athlete, a pony with Toon traits, a stronger-than-she-looks pony with a unique…ocular skill (your marefriend), and a unicorn who knows martial arts and is physically tougher than you. 

"I, on the other hoof, have a illusionist more suited to stealth, a pegasus with strength greater than an average earth pony's, a teacher with an interesting past and is no less a skilled fighter, a spellcaster-musician with flexibility on the side, a farmer with extensive knowledge on flora and is fairly strong herself, and a protective mother with an excellent memory of things she sees. And compared to you, with your expanding arsenal of spells, all I have are my swords, my skills in flight, and a little trinket that absorbs magic and helps me duplicate them.

"Cheerilee and I are making an effort to get everypony in shape, but I fear my friend might be taking it a little too far. Anyway, the second thing we learned after Tambelon is about Corona; she's become saner, but much more dangerous than before."

Chronicle could not understand. "What? Can there be anybody more dangerous than a delusional madmare with goddess-like powers?"

Blue kept his voice level. "Personally, I think so. And my answer would be 'A delusional protective mother whose 'child' is all of Equestria'. That is what Corona, the Tyrant Sun, has become."

"Oh, dear Ce—" he cut himself off, not knowing the appropriate word when his brother's version of the Princess of the Sun was a bad guy.

"Yeah. This makes it far more difficult for us to make her, pardon the pun. 'see the light', since she now thinks of us as misguided foals. And you know how stubborn those kinds of mothers can be."

"I can imagine." The white pegasus decided to change the subject. "So, what's happened since we last talked like this?"

Chronicle thought for a moment. "Well, aside from the 'Batman Incident' that coincided with your 'Owlman Incident', and the 'Missing Rainbows Incident', not much, really. Just the occasional lessons, and the confidence boost sessions."

Blue knew what exactly these confidence boost sessions were. "Heh. You're a real softie inside, you know that? As in, more than me or your sis."

The blue unicorn rubbed the back of his head in admission. "Yeah."

"Well, I best be ready to get up soon. Wouldn't want her trumpeting again outside my house. Yes, I now have a house of my own. Maybe I'll show it to you some other time." With a flick of his wings, blue Diary vanished from Chronicle's dreamscape.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Daybreak, at Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy…

The lights had been dimmed in the academy, making for an ominous atmosphere that put the students on edge as Mystic Shield was about to begin the lesson. A magical clone of Chronicle stood by, the real one off on some other business. Something about 'heroism'.

"Now, here's a new spell we'll be learning. Or rather, it's a variation from a basic spell," he began. (He picked up the technique from his co-teacher.) "Tell me, does everypony here know how to perform an illumination spell, make your horn glow?" He was hoping everypony did, but as expected he found some who can't; all the fillies in attendance. Once again, Twilight Sparkle was absent, but his schedule wasn't rigid for everypony anyway. Snails and Written Script were absent too, since they were members of the new Rainbow Dash Fan Club. In spite of similar heroics, Chronicle doesn't have one either. As far as Mystic knew, anyway. Ponet, Lemon Hearts, and Dinky were also absent, but for different reasons. "Okay, somepony teach them it later. For now, those who can't do the spell step back and try to practice by example."

The other fillies moved to the side while the rest began to cast their illumination spells, which simply involves flaring their horns with magic and making it brighter. Mystic made sure they did not make theirs too bright; that was important for what he intended to teach.

"Now, sometimes you're in a situation where you're being followed, or somebody is stalking you, or you find yourself cornered in an alleyway. One method of instant escape is teleportation, but not all of us have the raw power to do that. Another method is the smoke ball, but real effective ones aren't widely available. There's also the distraction, but you'll have to know your 'opponent' for it to work. The method I'll be teaching you is also situational, best used in the dark like now."

"Are you gonna teach us to use the illumination spell to blind others?" asked Firecracker Burst with a trace of excitement.

"…Not how I would say it, but that's exactly what I intend. Making the transition from 'bright enough' to 'way too bright' within a second can be tricky, and making the transition back to 'bright enough' instead of just outright cancelling the spell is trickier still. This application of the spell requires you to be fast, and I just realized that this technique isn't exactly the type you can teach to a class and more suited to private tutoring."

The fillies on the side giggled at this and so did a few mares.

"Nonetheless, it is a useful ability to practice, and I'll show you just how useful it is. Pay attention, everypony, and dim your horns." Mystic's horn began to glow, and then stayed at an optimal brightness for a couple of seconds. Then, when it was least expected, the glow began to flash a brilliant white, disorienting most of the class (though a few managed to avert thir gaze in time), before it faded and his horn was glowing in its previous brightness as before.

Mystic resumed. "As with all the spells I have taught you, you alone are held responsible with what you do with them. Blame cannot be pinned on me for any wrongdoings you do with those spells. I have done my best to make sure I'm not teaching you stuff that can only or most of the time be used for bad things, or anything that can be dangerous to teach a civilian. Need I remind you, I'm teaching you self-defense, not combat."

"Is that why you're not teaching us that spell Master Chronicle often uses?" asked Pokey Pierce.

"Yes. You'll have to ask him. Personally." That meant asking the clone nearby is out of the question. "He has his reasons fo not sharing it though, what with the Magic Sickness getting in the way of performing it like he does. Only a few unicorns possess immunity."

"There's also the fact that you also need to train your body to use the spell efficiently," the clone finally spoke. "And I'm betting there are earth pony martial arts you can learn more easily instead. Besides, it's a spell for offense purposes, its defensive uses are for parrying other weapons at best, and there are other spells that can do that better." Seeing that he was diverting from the subject, he got the class back on track. "Anyway, let's get practicing. Form a line, and we'll test your ability one at a time." He then turned to the other fillies. "As for you, try and practice the illumination spell. It's also useful in other situations."


C—T—M—LH—AS—SS—D—MS–G–TB–B–CC—CT—FB—P—WS—PP—HD—GT—RP—TF—F—B—M


Elsewhere in Ponyville…

"Somepony help! I've been robbed!"

"I'm on it, Parasol!"

While Rainbow Dash was accepting praise from her rescue of a baby filly from a well (turns out), Chronicle was chasing a robber who took Parasol's saddlebag. the culprit was a dirt brown unicorn stallion with messy hair of a darker shade, and an abstract cutie mark that was supposed to depict a swift swiping motion.

The freelance bodyguard wasted no time in casting the tether spell, which formed on his horn. He then 'hurled' it at the thief, snagging him. Next, he pulled back, rendering the 'tether' taut and pulling the thief with it. With the culprit down on the ground, Chronicle followed up with a magic circle (and dispelled his tether spell), then went next to him and 'unsheathed' his signature spell, the magic horn blade, at his neck. "You've nowhere to run!" He then 'moved' the blade closer to dissuade any sudden escape tricks like teleportation.

A police officer arrived shortly and cuffed the criminal, also adding a special ring on his horn for good measure. Chronicle (correctly) assumed it was to prevent a unicorn who has it on from using magic. The officer, who was a bulky earth pony (only an inch shorter than Big Macintosh) with a navy blue coat, a dark gray buzz-cut mane under his police hat, a stubby tail, a bushy mustache, fire red eyes, and a cutie mark depicting a raging bull. The officer, who goes by the name Hot Pursuit, claims it represents his talent on maintaining a chase.

"Second time this week," Pursuit commented as he and Chronicle made their way to the police station, the criminal in tow. Parasol's saddlebag has since been returned. "We thank you again, Chronicle, for your services."

"Just doing what any law-abiding pony would do, sir," the unicorn replied.

Pursuit let out a short chuckle as they reached the entrance. "We sure could use somepony like you in the force. Too bad you're under a contract from the Princess herself."

"Eh, I wouldn't accept it anyway even if I wasn't. There's something about working freelance that's appealing to me. I can do what I want how I want it. To be a police officer would mean being a servant of the law, as far as I'm concerned. Rules to uphold, protocols to follow, and it's easy to use the rules to escape justice. My brother, who lives far from here, hated that and took it to himself to take out the corrupt politicians in his city from the shadows."

Pursuit wasn't an idiot and managed to get what Chronicle was saying. "He became an assassin?"

"Yes."

"He hasn't been caught yet?"

"Well…"

"Guys, could you please take me inside already?" interrupted the thief still in Pursuit's clutches in a snarky manner. "If I'm gonna do my time, I'd rather it start now."


C—P—?—HP—C—P—?—HP—C—P—?—HP—C—P—?—HP


Some time later…

Chronicle was somewhere at a part of town he thought needed a serious visit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (assuming such an Administration even exists in Equestria) when he heard a blood-curdling scream. Coming his way was a baby carriage that rocketed over the top of a steep ridge and was barreling along a footpath that paralleled an uncomfortably high cliff. He could hear the carriage’s occupant bawling in terror, surprising a few other ponies in the town proper…and bringing Rainbow out of the cloud in which she had been resting.

As the pegasus sped to avert the befalling disaster, Chronicle had already snagged the carriage with his tether spell, but was then dragged along when he underestimated its speed. He already had his hooves dug into the ground, but at the rate they were going, he and the carriage would fall off the cliff edge waiting at the end.

A kick of speed put Rainbow close enough to clamp her teeth around the carriage’s push-bar, 'pushing' the 'tether' to the side in the process. She then dug in her rear hooves, slowing the rig so that it stopped with inches to spare before the cliff. As she backed it up a bit, Chronicle dismissing his spell as he stood a ways behind, a crowd below—which included the rest of their friends—broke into cheers. 

What the? Were they waiting for us? "Whoa. What’s with the crowd?" he remarked out loud. While he was actually no stranger to ponies cheering him for heroic deeds, he preferred to let those deeds speak for themselves.

As for his fellow 'hero', she gave the crowd a big smile and took a bow. After a few seconds of basking though, she gasped in shock and looked into the carriage. "Oh, no! There’s something wrong with the baby!"

There came a collective gasp from the group. Chronicle however was worried. Oh no! It must be the trauma from the high speed!

As she continued, she smiled and lifted the diaper-clad newborn into full view. "She’s not cheering for everypony’s favorite hero, Rainbow Dash!"

There were more cheers as she carried the filly back to its mother. Cameras clicked and flashes popped during the hand-off from three photographers as they snapped away from just below the top of the ridge. The baby was tossed back to the mother, who caught the diaper in her teeth and walked off with a slightly dirty look as Rainbow posed for the cameras. 

The rest of their friends then came over, bewilderment settling in on their faces; Scootaloo got in closer, admiration written all over hers. 

"There just aren’t enough words in the dictionary to describe Rainbow Dash’s awesomeness!" said the pegasus filly as her idol struck a few poses. Chronicle had his share of the cameras as well, but while he didn't hog in the glory, he didn't shy away either, standing just like a dignified citizen.

Twilight leaned over to Applejack and said, "I can think of a few new words."

"And I bet 'modest' is not one of ’em," replied the farmpony. "Not for Dash, anyways."

On the end of this, the heroic pegasus rose clear of the crowd and blew a few kisses before zipping up a bit higher. Cheers rose after her as she traced out a lightning bolt with cloud contrails and cruised past.

"No, but she is kinda awesome," decided Twilight as his charge gently shoved off any more photographs and teleported away.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


Later, elsewhere…

Three elderly ponies were gathered at a balcony, two conversing mares and a stallion. Just as a second stallion emerged onto the balcony, a cracking noise from below stopped him short.

"Wha—?"

It turns out that the entire platform was splitting across its width just behind him. Confused mumblings turned into cries of panic as the whole thing shook and worried onlookers gathered below. The timbers gave way partially, leaving the four ponies listing at a precarious angle.

"Never fear…" called out a certain pegasus. "…your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is here!" And she was on the move.

A certain unicorn didn't bother with entry phrases and was already on the move. The beams broke apart completely and the balcony plunged away, but both a barrier and a pegasus slowed it down enough for it to land gently in the street. There was jubilation from the spectators that were suddenly there. Cheers were doled out on the two.

"We’d be lost without you!…You’re our hero, Rainbow Dash!"

"Chronicle is the greatest!"

The latter made a mental note to inquire on the integrity of the balcony, while the former lifted off while the group broke into chanting both of their names, then cupped a hoof to her ear. "I can’t hear you!"

This prompted them to add a decibel or twelve. Meanwhile, she did a few celebratory moves in midair, enjoying every second of the adulation. The mare-faced stallion however already broke away from the crowd, wanting to ensure that this disaster won't happen again. He happened to approach the rest of his friends, who were talking with one another.

"Call me silly, but I think this whole hero thing might be going to Rainbow Dash’s head," Twilight said.

"You may be right…silly," agreed Pinkie.

The violet unicorn grimaced at her friend’s ability to miss the glaringly obvious. She then noticed her bodyguard come over and said, "I hope this won't go to your head either."

"Eh, I've done my share of hero work in the past," assured Chronicle. "And I've seen my share of glory hogs like her. Don't worry, I won't let it get into my head."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


Sugarcube Corner…

Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie were all slightly bemused at the sight of a large gathering of enthusiastic fans. Rainbow strutted into view, her favorite black sunglasses propped on her forehead, and Spike—dressed in a trench coat and fedora, with a press card sticking out of its band—taking notes. Chronicle was with his friends, using an invisibility spell he picked up from Luna Equestria's Trixie Lulamoon during the Antithesis Incident. He was hiding from any fangirls and fanboys he might have. He was also gently siphoning magic off of Twilight (with her permission) to maintain his spell without using too much of his own, which he might need in a crisis.

"And then, I zoomed into the well," Rainbow narrated one of her first heroics (that did not pertain to the Elements of Harmony or the Wonderbolts). "I knew it would be dark and dangerous, but I didn’t let that stop me. Danger’s my middle name! Rainbow Danger Dash!" She then lowered the shades.

Wasn't it Miriam? Then again, that's actually kind of embarrassing. I could easily be wrong about the 'Miriam' part.

Spike meanwhile had his pencil flying across his notebook pages as he continued writing.

"Thinking back on it, I acted pretty awesomely heroic that day."

“…that…day,” Spike wrote.

"Awesomely heroic that day and awesomely arrogant ever since," Applejack remarked.

The others with her murmured their agreement.

Pinkie was eating a cupcake, but had no time to offer a bite before Rainbow lay a foreleg across the workhorse’s shoulder, who found herself yanked up onto her hind legs; Rainbow had taken off her sunglasses.

"Hey, Applejack. How would you like to be immortalized as my friend?"

Applejack got all four hooves down. "Immorta-what?"

Too late.

One of the photos from the baby rescue crashed the party and began taking shots of the pair. As Spike continued his note-taking, a skeptical Twilight leaned down to him. "Are you taking notes?"

"Yep. I’ve been hoof-picked by Rainbow Dash herself, to write her autobiography!" Across the floor, Applejack decided she's had enough of this and walked off. Rainbow kept posing for the camera as Scootaloo watched.

"Um, autobiographies are supposed to be written by the pony they are about!"

"Maybe for your normal run-of-the-mill ponies," replied Rainbow. But I’m far too busy saving lives to stop and write." She walked up to Spike, patting his head. "That’s why I hired Spike as my ghostwriter."

This last word spooked Pinkie away from the cake she had been chomping and brought a shriek. "Spike’s a ghost!" And she bailed out, allowing for some brief silence.

Rainbow then began to pace the floor and continued. "Anyway, Spike here writes down everything I say—don’t you, Spike?"

"'Don’t…you…Spike?' Got it!"

"This way, I can stay focused on performing those acts of bravery that nopony else has the guts to perform." She posed in front of a camera as a filly ran up and hugged her. "Yeah, it takes guts." As she spoke, after each flash, a different filly would zip up to pose with her. "But it also takes brains."

Of which I'm certainly better at. Chronicle thought, still invisible. Their friends were unimpressed with her attitude, but she seemed ignorant. 

"And sometimes a big lunch and a nap. Being a hero is surely not for everypony, but I’m up to the challenge."

Twilight and Applejack cut their eyes toward each other for a brief instant, as if either getting the same idea or wordlessly asking each other to throw something at the pegasus with the swelled head.

"Of course, I appreciate Chronicle's aid, as he's certainly an awesome pony as well, but he doesn't have as much time for hero work as I do. As Ponyville's weather manager, I'm able to go to the rescue on a moment's notice. Being a speedy pegasus helps a lot in that regard."

Ouch, she's got a point. Hmm…maybe I should try the hero business. But Mystic's too busy with his academy, so I'll have to ask somepony else to help me. Ooh, I know who to ask.

Suddenly, a filly—Liza Doolots, who was identical to Tootsie Flute in appearance, but had a horseshoe cutie mark whereas Tootsie was a blank-flank—bumped into him, and then cried out, "I found him!"

Some of the Rainbow Dash fans immediately turned to where Chronicle had been hiding and one of them—a unicorn stallion not attending the Academy—cast a spell that cancelled the invisibility spell. The fanclub target wasted no time in teleporting away, and the fanclub instantly left the bakery, (correctly) assuming that he would be somewhere outside.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP


Later, in somepony's house…

Two certain ponies faced each other in the living room as they had a drink. Nothing alcoholic, of course, or even tea.

"You want my assistance?"

"Yeah, Skyla. I think Rainbow Dash is being too full of herself. I need to try and bring her back down to earth, if you know what I mean."

"I do. If this continues, the Wonderbolts won't accept her. I certainly can't."

"So will you help me?"

"…Sure. I'm free for the next week. Will we need costumes?"

"My reputation speaks for itself, and as long as you don't perform any difficult Wonderbolt tricks, you won't be suspected as one of them. No. No costumes."

"Okay."

(A/N: I thought of trying to hide it until the 'end', but I figured you'd figure that aside from Moonbow Peek, there's only one friend outside of the EOH circle that Chronicle would be approaching right now.)


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S


The next day…

A line of Rainbow Dash fans have gathered. At its head, an earth pony filly with a sheet in her teeth walked up to Rainbow, who has a pencil in hers. The document was really to be a grayscale picture of the self-proclaimed hero, who scribbled across it as an autograph before backing away for a bit.

"There you go!" 

After the filly tucked it in her saddlebags, she said, "Someday I want to be just like you."

"Aim high, kid, but don’t aim for the impossible."

A mare’s distant scream surprised the entire group and caused the fans to gasp. There was a punctured hot-air balloon coming down fast, and on it was Cherry Berry, who was wearing a leather aviator’s helmet and goggles.

"HEEELLLP! HEEELLLP!" she was screaming.

"Uh, don’t you think you should go and help?" Snips asked his idol, who was still signing autographs.

"Yeah, yeah. I’ve got a good ten seconds to spare. Just a couple more."

"Better hurry, 'cause Chronicle and his new sidekick are on the case."

Indeed, he and Skyla were already moving, the former preparing a teleportation spell…for the balloon to flip its orientation and momentum, and the latter already closing in on the balloon, being closer.

Once she has finished scribbling on the latest photo, Rainbow took off with great speed. In the air, however, she was coasting upward on her back, not with any particular sense of urgency. Only after covering a few hundred yards did she flip over to approach the terrified balloonist, whose balloon basket was already caught by Skyla, who was already struggling to slow its fall. The balloon was still too far for Chronicle to cast. To make matters worse, his fans decided now of all times to swarm him with requests for signed autographs, one of them cancelling his spell.

"Not now!" he tried to wave them off, but these were insistent.

“The tension is unbearable!” Spike, still serving as Rainbow's 'ghostwriter', wrote at top speed “Will Rainbow Dash make it on time? Will the other heroes be enough?”

The passage of a shadow cast by something overhead stopped his No. 2 cold on the page. Its source landed on a rooftop: a pony clad in a purple outfit that covered every square inch of fur, including eyes, mane, and tail. A long, darker purple cape billowed behind the newcomer, which was of the same shade as the hood that covered the head and the ribbon of the broad-brimmed fedora atop this. Wrappings over each hoof had this color as well. The hat itself and the collar of the cape were a match for the bodysuit. Nothing can be seen of the eyes except for two lavender panels that matched the hue of the large M on the brooch securing the cape. When the figure stood upright, enough of the general facial contour became discernible to mark it as a mare.

She leaped from one rooftop to the next, as sure-footed as a mountain goat, and dove across open space to pull Cherry out of the balloon. The moment the earth pony was safe, Skyla bailed. When Rainbow charged in, she got nothing but a faceful of canvas and dropped out of sight. A thud and a scatter of leaves marked her ungraceful touchdown. The remains of the balloon were now tangled in and around a tree. Rainbow lifted one deflated fold and saw the unknown mare shook hooves with the balloonist in front of a cheering crowd before sprinting away.

"Holy turnips! That pony came outta nowhere!" said Skyla.

"I’ve never seen such bravery in all my life!" 

The Mayor then spoke up. "That’s right. Ponyville has a new hero." Everypony turned to look at the caped figure, seen in silhouette atop a mountain and backed by the sun before running down the far side. A mysterious mare that has done well by our fair city today. I dub this new masked hero…”The Mysterious Mare Do Well”!" There were cheers from all.

Except from Rainbow, who disgustingly said to herself, "Mare Do Well, huh? Well, that mare would do well to stay out of my way! Ponyville’s only got room for one hero, and that hero is me!" She tried to take a step forward, but ended up on her face due to a rigging line snagged around one foreleg. Instead, she propped her head on that leg and sat there sulking.

"Give it a rest, Rainbow," Chronicle said as he successfully escaped his fans and went over to her. "What matters is that the pony is safe. That's what being a hero is about."

"And what do you know about being a hero?" she angrily retorted.

"I know for a fact that you're more concerned with fame than doing the right thing. You're not a hero, you're a glory hound."

"What's that even supposed to mean?!" She waved him off before he could reply. "You know what? Forget it!" She then left him in the dust, leaving him irritated.


C—TS—S—RD—S—MDW—C—TS—S—RD—S—MDW

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Three-way split. The top panel shows Mare Do Well. The right panel shows an indignant Rainbow Dash. The left panel shows Chronicle and Skyla. The show's logo is seen on the center.


C—TS—S—RD—S—MDW—C—TS—S—RD—S—MDW


The next day…

A six-seater carriage filled with screaming tourist ponies was hurtling down a slope at high speed. Judging from the front end having two snapped-off shafts and a total lack of any pulling team…

"Not again!" swore Chronicle as he and Skyla saw it go down. "I swear I'm gonna file a complaint to the OSHA."

"OSHA?" asked Skyla.

"Occupational Safety and— let's save these ponies first! How do we go about doing this?" They were positioned between the carriage and the impending cliff. And it was headed in their direction.

"You use your tether spell, I'll pull you from the back with the lasso." 

"Okay, let's go!"

In a jiffy, Chronicle 'snagged' the carriage, just like last time, and was expectedly pulled along when he attempted to pull taut. Thankfully for him, he 'put' his end of the tether around his barrel, so there was no severe horn trauma. Skyla already had the lasso coiled around his barrel and was attempting to pull the opposite way. The carriage was slowing down, but it wasn't enough.

Then, Rainbow Dash arrived at the scene and flashed in to pull even with the rear end. "Never fear. Your friendly neighborhood Rainbow—" 

"Excuse me!" interrupted one of the tourists. "Uh, do you think you could skip your catchphrase and just hurry up and save us?"

On these last five words, the blue speedster rolled her eyes and groaned at having her intro ruined so in such a thoughtless manner. "Fine." She then somersaulted to the front end. "Picky, picky." Seizing the broken shafts, she dug in her rear hooves.

"Rainbow!" Chronicle yelled. "Get these ponies out of here! The three of us can't stop this much longer!"

"I told you I got— Whoa!"

She found that she cannot get enough traction to stop the carriage on the steep downgrade. She trailed off into a panicked yell as it broke loose again and tossed her aside, plowing Skyla aside in the process, and she can do no more than stare while the rig barreled toward the cliff at the end of this road, with Chronicle doing his darnedest to save the ponies. Skyla was already on the move to get back into the action. However, Mare Do Well leaped into view, planted herself to face over the edge, and lifted her rear legs so that she was standing on her front hooves. 

The front end of the carriage made contact, plowing her ahead, and sending Chronicle slamming into the back of the carriage, no longer being the force trying to slow it down. Mare Do Well dug in against the ground, keeping her rear legs tensed, and gradually brought everything to a stop and Chronicle slowly pulled himself away. Her front hooves ended up so close to the edge that a few clods of dirt kicked up by them clattered over it. There came cheers from the passengers, one of whom jumped out to kiss the ground.

"Oh, thank you, Mare Do…" He trailed off in surprise as Mare Do Well was already bounding away across the mountaintops. 

Rainbow, now upright, watched from the spot where she wiped out quite a way back. "I can’t believe it! Mare Do Well is stronger than me? Well, a hero is more than just muscle—" She began to walk away, much to Skyla's worry. "—and she’s gonna learn that the hard way."


C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW


A new building was under construction, six floors planned. Heavy equipment was in use and the crew was hard at work. The crane snagged a beam to hoist it up. The operator tried to move one of the levers but found it jammed; when he tried to force it, he was rewarded with sparks and smoke from the overloaded mechanism. Out of control, the arm swung wildly in a circle as Ponyville's three civilian heroes caught sight of the disaster.

One of them bothered with her catchphrase while the other two already made for the to-be-disaster area as the rope holding the beam to the crane’s hook began to snap. The one who went and dallied (obviously Rainbow Dash) had to dodge the beam…which smashed into the lowest section of the framework, shaking other pieces loose. Amidst the mayhem, the three civilian heroes got to work, Chronicle working in tandem with Skyla. He hasn't quite mastered yet the art of teleporting others from a distance farther from himself. Besides, all the falling debris made it much more complicated and that much harder to concentrate.

One worker stallion pointed upward. "LOOK!!"

Standing on the crane's pulley was the Mysterious Mare Do Well. As she jumped down, the crane operator pumped a hoof and cheered for her.

The masked rescuer nimbly dodged falling junk, balanced on a trio of rolling barrels, and jumped clear to run a slalom across the site. One upstaged pegasus glared daggers at her from above, but another worker was very grateful to be lifted onto the purple back and carried to safety as Rainbow’s jaw dropped. The latter’s rancor turned to shock when she noticed a pallet loaded with bricks toppling off the highest level of the framework. Seeing Mare Do Well busy, Skyla having just rescued another worker, and Chronicle weathering the debris as he shielded himself and yet another worker (but instead of a dome, he had a panel that tilted to behind himself), the blue pegasus dove in toward a stallion who had found himself in the load’s growing shadow and plowed him away, an instant before it crashed to the ground. 

While she ran for all she was worth, the sole definite unicorn in the area decided to use another spell picked up from Blue Diary's Trixie; the "magic sight" spell. With this, aside from the obvious, he can at least discern a pony's race. But he would be rendered blind for a day if he looked at an alicorn with this spell on. At least if they used too much power in front of him.

I hope that's not either of the Princesses in undercover.

This thought process only took a single second and once the spell was cast, his eyes took on a blue tint. Unlike the pony he learned this spell from, he saw distinct colors as well as little boxes indicating what magic he is looking at. Glancing at Mare Do Well, as well as glimpsing the onlooking ponies, he saw that the masked savior was an earth pony, judging by the forest green aura. Pegasi emitted a sky blue aura, and unicorns emitted a violet aura. He held up his own hoof and saw that his aura was…yellow. Huh, must be because I'm not born a unicorn. The little box even said "█████-█████ ████████".

"Um, could we please get out of here now?" asked the worker he was with.

This broke him out of his reverie. "Right, got it." Drawing a line between their location and where he wanted to go, he teleported himself and his rescuee out of the pile of debris, and next to where the rest of the other rescued workers were put at a safe patch of grass.

From he saw, there were four workers near Mare Do Well, three near Skyla, and one on the far side, the one rescued by Rainbow Dash. Behind them, the framework of the building proceeded to come down with a deafening roar, a great belch of dust, and a moderate tremor. The stallion Rainbow just rescued moaned weakly and went over in a dead faint. 

The blue pegasus flew over to them and said, "Well, Mare Do Well—or should I call you Mare Do Slow? You’re gonna have to pick up the pace if you want to compete with me, ’cause I move like lightning!"

"Actually, she saved all of us. We owe her our lives," said one of the worker stallions with the masked heroine.

The cocky blue face went slack with shock as the red-violet eyes constricted to points, and she dropped to the ground alongside the one she saved on her own. 

"We all took part in saving everypony," Skyla told her 'scouting target'. "We would never have forgiven ourselves if the one you rescued didn't make it."

"This is not a competition, Rainbow Dash," warned Chronicle. "The sooner you realize that, the better it will be for Ponyville. True heroes don't seek fame, but do what is right because it is so."

With that, Mare Do Well led the rest of the cheering crew in a stampede away from the area, and the one the self-proclaimed hero rescued walked after them to leave a poleaxed Rainbow on the dirt. In due time, the face rearranged itself into a furious growl as soon as Skyla and Chronicle were out of earshot.

"Okay. She’s strong, fast, and somehow knows what’s gonna happen ahead of time." She stood up and flew off. "I gotta step up my game."


C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW


Chronicle was en route to Ponyville's dam after Skyla voiced her concern with its integrity. He passed by a high, broad waterfall on a nearby cliff. He could see the river ahead was held back by the large dam, but once he was close enough, he could see a fresh crack with water dripping through it. He also saw Rainbow cruise past…and double back with a gasp, having noticed the fracture as well.

"If the dam breaks, the whole town’ll be flooded! Looks like Ponyville needs a hero!" said the pegasus as she plunked her hoof over it, beaming the whole time. "Easy-peasy. My game is officially back on. If only somepony were here to pat me on the back."

As she said this, the break grew a bit without her noticing. She then removed her hoof from it to give herself the pat. "Heh. Guess I’ll have to do it myself."

Chronicle groaned at this. He was too far from the crack to try and close it via telekinesis. He could use Surveillance and do it a roundabout way by looking through his friend's camera, but he can't risk it being seen by others. Calling for her to put her hoof back seemed a moot point given her attitude.

And then the dam seemed to choose this moment to give out, releasing a torrent that washed her away and turned whatever she was going to say into a series of waterlogged yelps and cries. She ended up floating down the waterway toward the falls and screaming at top volume. "HEEELLLP!!"

"Why was there nopony here to patrol the dam?!" Chronicle cursed himself, summoning a clone to do what he can to help his boastful friend while he checked what he could do about the dam…and scold any neglectful watchers.

The clone ran downstream, finding a way to get Rainbow out of the river, only to see that Mare Do Well was already on the case, having placed a log for her to grab, which she bumped into. The pegasus's mouth was open in wordless disbelief after catching it. She got over it quickly, though, and wasn't exactly thankful. "You?!? Huh. I suppose you want me to thank—"

A toss of the purple head sent the fedora gliding away. Underneath it was a unicorn’s glowing horn, covered by the material of the hood. Rainbow gaped as the shattered pieces of the dam were levitated back toward it and fitted neatly into place. There were two similar gapes from Chronicle and his clone.

What?! Did I read my magic sight spell incorrectly or is Mare Do Well…oh, I think I got it now! It finally dawned on the stallion.

"You gotta be kidding me!" gasped Rainbow as she climbed onto the log.

Mare Do Well is many ponies! Chronicle realized as he saw Mare Do Well vanish from his view, then re-appear on a high perch, floating her hat back on. He cast his magic sight spell and saw that this Mare Do Well was a unicorn, and a powerful one to boot, judging by the bright violet aura. He could also see trace magic that indicated a teleport. And that can mean one of two things. One, Twilight Sparkle is a Mare Do Well, for there is no other mare who can pull off a teleportation spell that easily. Two, it could easily be another mare I don't know who is just as powerful, but has not used it in my presence. I'll need more proof though.

The show of magic had apparently attracted the attention of several ponies, for they now cheered cheer her from the riverbank as then gave an acknowledging wave before darting away. 

The soaked polychromatic-maned pegasus, meanwhile, had made it back to the bank and was shaking herself dry. "Let me get this straight. She’s strong, she’s agile, and she’s magic?" Letting go with a loud, frustrated groan, she flopped backward onto the grass. "How do I compete with that?" A second later, an idea began to form under the vivid mane as she stood up. "Wait a minute. I do have a leg up on her. And that leg is…" She took off, leaving a rainbow contrail. "…wings!" She darted here and there for a second, then went straight ahead. "Hah! Take that, Mare Do Well!"

Instead, she was the one who had to take it in the form of a purple blur that flashed past to stop her cold and leave her spinning. When she glared after the interloper, it showed that Mare Do Well had wings, previously covered by the folds of the cape. She soared over the whooping crowd by the dam and was gone before Rainbow can make it back to the site.

"Oh, for the love of Pete."

At around the same time, Skyla finally reached Chronicle's location, which was on top of the dam. "I'm so sorry I couldn't come!" she profusely apologized. "I had to save two cats who got stuck up a tree by a dog. And I did my best not to get too many scratches."

"I don't blame you," assured Chronicle as he deactivated his magic sight spell. "But I discovered something ground-breaking about the Mysterious Mare Do Well."

"I saw it too. Mare Do Well has a horn and wings, meaning she's an alicorn! Could it be that one of our princesses is disguising herself as the vigilante? My bets are on Princess Luna."

"Or, Mare Do Well is actually multiple ponies. I just saw her fix the dam with magic alone. Yet she just dodged about during the construction site incident. If Mare Do Well was one pony, she wouldn't have challenged herself like that."

"But what does this change?"

"Nothing. But why was it only now of all times that the hero-hailing got to Rainbow's head? I mean, she saved the day a couple of times prior and there wasn't such pigheadedness out of her then." Unless residual memories of the time she was missing from Equestria has some involvement…

"I don't know either. As for two of three cases I know, that glory was shared with the rest of her friends and you, not that you're not her friend of course. …I'm hungry for some candy. Let's buy some at Bon Bon's."


C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW


Later…

The civilian hero duo left Bon Bon's Sweet Treats, Skyla having a saddlebag that now held cheese-flavored candies.

"So, any thoughts on who these Mare Do Wells might be?" she asked Chronicle.

"Hmm…" He sorted out the data he had at the moment. "From what I figured out so far, one Mare Do Well had exceptional strength to stop a downhill-speeding tourist carriage, one Mare Do Well possessed some degree of clairvoyance to dodge all those debris with ease if it wasn't just keen eyes, one Mare Do Well is a powerful spellcaster, and one Mare Do Well is a pegasus."

Skyla tried and summed things up as she took a cheese-flavored gumball and slipped it into her mouth. "Hmm, normally I would sat that that super strong Mare Do well would have to be an earth pony, but after seeing that other-world Raindrops and how earth pony-strong she was, I'll have to re-evaluate that.

"As for the clairvoyant Mare Do Well, there is one pony I could think of at the top of my head, but I've seen other ponies who can perceive the future if only a few seconds ahead. For the unicorn Mare Do Well, one pony is also at the top of my head, but it could easily be some other unicorn who just doesn't reveal that she's a powerful magician like Twilight. And the pegasus Mare Do Well could obviously be any pegasus. I hate to say this, but I have a very sneaky suspicion that those four Mare Do Wells are—"

Chronicle knew where this is going, and didn't want to hear it from her. "As you implied earlier, there are plenty of other ponies who can fit the description. But I will ask them just in case." He summoned some magical clones, gave them directives, and once they were out of sight, he diverted to a different subject. "Say, why the heck does Ponyville even need a steep downhill road leading to a sheer cliff, anyway?"

"It's for the pegasi carriages to land on and take off, of course. Just lifting off won't make the magic work for such heavy loads."

"Oh."

Just then, the two ponies saw Mystic Shield headed their direction and both stopped before they could bump into one another.

"Chronicle, Skyla," he greeted the two.

"Mystic Shield," the two greeted in return.

"Nice day, isn't it? No need to undergo heroics for the time being?"

"Fortunately for us," said Chronicle. They then heard Rainbow Dash fly by. The three then decided to have a walk together, en route to "Probably not for her, though. I'm getting worried. I don't know if Mare Do Well really is as heroic as the town sees her as, not that I have doubts of that, but ever since she entered the scene, Rainbow seems to be getting worse with her ego. I fear she might start causing trouble so she can keep 'playing the hero', and I'll have to put a stop to her if that happens before Mare Do Well decides to go and fix it herself."

"You think she might really go that far?" Skyla asked in worry.

"I plan on making sure she doesn't. I can't let my friends fall to this level. Not again. Not after what Discord did."

Mystic was quick to lift his spirits. "Now, now, don't be like that, lest we end up having to face two problems; the hero with an acquired situational narcissism, and the well-intentioned extremist."

"You sound like you quoted those terms from somewhere," said the pegasus as she raised an eyebrow at Mystic.

"Did I?"

"Thanks, Mystic. I needed that." Chronicle. "I was wondering why disasters started happening frequently this month."

"Yeah. That necromancer who claimed himself to be a Discord cultist three days after you finally found Rainbow proved to be a real pain." The ascot-wearing unicorn shuddered a bit. "I learned that I also need to teach my students to be brave, and that wetting myself like a baby is terrible for my reputation."

Skyla made a face. "Ugh! I did not need to hear that!"

"Just where did they get those 'classical' elemental powers, anyway, Chronicle?"

The mare-faced unicorn took a moment to think. "All I can tell you is that they cost a fortune, but it was worth every bit."

"I see. …Anyway, when will you be available again in pony to help me teach?"

"I'm still worried about Rainbow, and I can't risk just having a clone there to help her out. Maybe after she's learned her lesson."

"I think Mare Do Well is attempting to teach her humility," the pegasus guessed.

"If she is, then she isn't doing a very good job at reaching out to her. If only I can just find Mare Do Well and negotiate, but given that she's multiple ponies, I don't know who I can trust."

"Not even your friends?" queried Mystic.

"From what Skyla almost told me before I silenced her, there's a good chance that my friends are involved, especially if teaching humility to Rainbow Dash is the reason. But without sufficient evidence, I can't point hooves at them, and that would make me look bad. Even if I may be correct, it would be wrong to accuse them rightly for incorrect reasons. 

"Also, if I tell one Mare Do Well about this outright without knowing it's her, I could risk her telling the other Mare Do Wells to avoid me to maintain the masquerade."

"Why would they do that?" asked Mystic. "Don't they know you can be trusted to keep a secret?"

"Only my friends know that. And there's still the possibility that these Mare Do Wells aren't even Ponyvillians and thus wouldn't know much about me. Building up a reputation isn't exactly my top priority."

Mystic raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying you can only trust stallions because they can't be Mare Do Wells?"

Chronicle scoffed at the idea. "That would be sexist, and while faces like mine—" He gestured to his mare-face. "—are a rarity, no pun intended, those who have them can potentially be a Mare Do Well. And those who aren't can still be confidants/secret-keepers." Another thought came to him as the three stopped walking. They were now at the path leading to Carousel Boutique. "Now that I think about it, how do I know that neither of you are—"

His thought process was cut off as he saw a certain creature that was registered as a threat whose level is potentially equal to Discord's. Nopony else was able to see it though.

His abrupt pause caught the attention of his non-EOH friends. "Is something wrong, Chronicle?" Skyla asked.

He quickly calmed himself, secretly summoned a clone, and had it follow that creature. "Nothing. It's just that I realize I would look paranoid with my suspecting of you two as a Mare Do Well or confidant of hers. But just to ease my mind, could you two Pinkie Promise me?"

"Here we go," groaned Mystic. Neither he nor Skyla knew exactly how severe the consequences of breaking a Pinkie Promise were that Chronicle would treat it as a binding contract. While the former did experience the consequences of breaking one, he had managed to waylay her by citing the exact terms of the promise and pointing out the loophole.

"Do you Pinkie Promise that neither of you know anything at all pertaining to the secret identities of the Mysterious Mare Do Well?"

His two friends turned to face each other, then back to him and said, "We Pinkie Promise that neither of us know anything at all pertaining to the secret identities of the Mysterious Mare Do Well?" The three then did the motions, having made Pinkie Promises before. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"And we know what happens if we break a Pinkie Promise, Pinkie Pie!" shouted Mystic. "No need to remind us!"

Pinkie Pie then suddenly popped out from a nearby cloud. "Okie-dokie-lokie!" She then popped back in and when Skyla checked it, there was no evidence of the earth pony ever being there, except for some confetti.

"So, should we start searching?" asked Mystic.

"I don't even know where to start or how," Chronicle replied, then gave a wan smile. "But with you guys by my side, I think I can do it."


C—RD—MS—S—C—RD—MS—S—C—RD—MS—S

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Chronicle with a "deerstalker" hat, Mystic Shield with a bowler hat, and Skyla with her Wonderbolt goggles around her neck. The three are looking at Mare Do Well's dropped brooch, which dissolves and turns into the show's logo.


C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW


The Chronicle clone continued to follow the creature his original spotted earlier through the park. 

The creature was a small white feline, 61 centimeters long from head to tail. It had four ears; two resembling a cat's, and two akin to long tassel-like appendages that split into three sections at its tip, which faded from white to pink and had three red dots horizontally before the splits. It also bore a pair of floating golden rings. On its back was an egg-shaped red oval. The Story Crew's designation for it was "A-E Incubator", and was regarded as a top level threat.

Before long, the creature realize it was being followed as it turned to face the clone, showing that its face consisted of two beady pink eyes with dark maroon irises and a tiny, sigma-shaped "cat mouth". By that time, Chronicle already had his Story Crew-issued Detainer deployed, which turned into an inescapable bubble that encased the creature.

"You're not making any contracts with anybody here. Incubator," he sneered at it.

How do you know of me? it asked him through telepathy.

"My organization has been tasked in, among many things, finding your kind." While he said this, he took out his Sender and placed it under the Incubator, not wanting to hear any of its ████. "Codeword: Ghorofa." In a few seconds, the Incubator was gone, and he returned his Sender back to hammerspace; he'll have another Detainer soon. "Okay, that takes care of that."

Normally, it would. This made him frown. But we've been learning how to elude the Story Crew's methods of preventing us from completing our mission. Chronicle turned around to see another Incubator. This world is completely saturated with magical energy, and there are quite a lot of inhabitants in this world that show potential to become a Puella Magi. I do not understand why your organization would do anything to stand in our way.

"If memory serves, I distinctly remember a Spiral Energy Generator that should solve your problem back in Hadithi."

True, but after the discovery of multiple universes, we find that this generator of yours can only reverse entropy for only a few of them. Our system is more efficient.

"Actually, our scientists have been discussing the population dynamics behind that, and have deemed your system either inevitably doomed to failure or incredibly fragile and volatile." He knew of this because of a visit from those scientists during his school life prior to his family's 'assignment' to the Equestria Cluster. He didn't remembered all the particular maths behind it, though.

Really. The Incubator was skeptical.

"Yes, really. There are certain worlds where we cannot stop you from doing what you need to do, but this world is not one of them. And now that my organization knows you're trying to target this world for harvesting, they will stand in your way, so I suggest you leave now before you waste energy from respawns."

The Incubator betrayed no emotion, if only because they are incapable of expressing such. I will take what you have said in consideration. It made to leave. But we will continue on our mission to save the universes, and you and the Story Crew cannot stop us. It then inexplicably vanished.

(A/N: Sorry for doing a plot line that was ultimately completely irrelevant to "The Mysterious Mare Do Well", reasons on the notes below.)


C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW—C—RD—S—MDW

Elsewhere at the park…

"Stick to the plan, guys," Chronicle said.

"We got it, we got it," grumbled Mystic.

"No need to remind us," sighed Skyla.

They (and a lot of townsponies, including Applejack and Twilight) were facing a stage that had been set up, liberally festooned with balloons, purple flags, and banners showing Mare Do Well’s symbol and likeness. The Mayor, standing at a lectern, tapped a gavel to bring the crowd to order.

"Welcome to Ponyville’s first, but surely not last, thank-you parade in honor of our city’s greatest hero, the Mysterious Mare Do Well!" she announced.

In time with the name, the disguised savior burst through the banner that served as the stage’s backdrop, prompting cheers from the sign- and banner-waving spectators. 

"Okay, let's g—" 

Chronicle's plan immediately went awry when Rainbow Dash flew up to get in the masked vigilante's face. "The Mysterious Mare Do Well, huh?" There was a round of gasps from the audience. "So what are you hiding? Let’s see how mysterious you are without that mask!" She lunges in with a snap of her teeth, intending to rip it off, but Mare Do Well backed out of reach, leaped off the stage, and broke into a gallop as Rainbow chased from the air, Chronicle and his 'team' right behind. 

"Dammit!" the mare-faced unicorn swore as they followed. "I should've counted on Rainbow doing something like this." He began to pound himself with his paddle. "That was stupid, stupid, stupid of me!" he 'put it back' shortly after.

The pursuit moved into the back alleys of Ponyville, with Mare Do Well racing ahead and Rainbow taking a side path to cut her off while Chronicle's team continued the straight way. It was no good; the caped pony slipped by in a parallel track before her pursuers correct course. As they did that, Rainbow asked, "What are you three doing?"

"We were about to just go with what you just did back at the stage, but not in a hostile manner," Chronicle replied. 

"Whose side are you on, anyway?!"

"We're all on the same side! Get it through your he— whoa, whoa, whoa!"

The four over-corrected and bypassed the street on which Mare Do Well had broken into the open, and quickly reversed to pick up the trail. Two sharp turns took the incognito pony out of their sight—but as Rainbow darted toward the last known location, Mare Do Well apparently circled the building in less than one second.

The properly vexed pegasus started to double back after her, mixing her sprint across the far end of the alley. 

"Remember what I said about Mare Do Well," Chronicle told his companions. "Split up!" Mystic and Skyla nodded as they took off to where the last two instances. 

As Rainbow started back down the way after her, Mare Do Well passed Chronicle, using wings rather than hooves this time. Rainbow’s flight after her was interrupted by a sharp whistle from somewhere behind her, and Mare Do Well again galloped across the far end of the block. "What the hay?"

She flew back down the alley—Chronicle following—and found herself facing a dead end formed by high stone walls. They soon found out that Mare Do Well was standing atop these for a moment before she dove out of view. Rainbow snarled to herself as she continued the chase and Chronicle did the same (minus the snarl) and summoned a couple of magical clones to split up to try and corner the Mare Do Wells. 

They followed the purple-clad enigma down a flight of steps that led down from street level and into a tunnel, and emerged in a new alley. Another whistle diverted Rainbow’s attention to the end behind her, but Chronicle kept his eyes on their target—and saw her unfurl her wings and fly over the wall. While he teleported after that Mare Do Well, he summoned another clone to stick with Rainbow, who went back the way when she had seen Mare Do Well there after a growl of frustration. 

A fresh burst of wing-power puts her back in the chase, but she skidded to a stop and eyed a ladder on the side of a building she had just passed. The clone saw this too and was already ascending it. An instant later, they were up on the rooftop and eying Mare Do Well, who was proceeding cautiously along a street.

"I got you now!" The pegasus then dove, plowing into Mare Do Well from behind, and both tumbled for a while before crashing into a wall. As the clone teleported himself down, Rainbow now had Mare Do Well pinned on her back. "All right, Miss Mysterious! Mystery…" She ducked down and came up with the mask in her teeth, tossing it aside. "…solved!"

Gloating turned to slack-jawed shock in a tick, and Rainbow let off an inarticulate cry of surprise as the unmasked heroine smiled sheepishly, and had lost her hat. The sight of this particular face threw Rainbow into a stuttering fit, and the Chronicle clone into a hissy fit.

"Pinkie?! Huh?!"

"I got another one!" another voice came.

Rainbow looked up to see another Mare Do Well, with Mystic Shield behind her. After a gruff movement of his head, she conceded and pushed her own mask up to expose herself as…

"Twilight?!"

"The charade's over," yet another voice came. "Time for you to confess." If anypony were paying attention, they'd also hear, "I always wanted to say that."

The pegasus turned to see Skyla with a third Mare Do Well emerging from a side path, the latter unmasking herself as well. 

"Applejack?!" The two 'extra' Mare Do Wells approached her slowly, ushered by their 'captors'. "There were three of you?" 

"Yep," confirmed the unicorn mare. "We all played Mare Do Well at different times."

"I stopped the carriage bus with these babies…" Applejack glanced toward her own rump, or more precisely her rear legs and lifted them one at a time. "…Bucky McGillicuddy and Kicks McGee." 

Pinkie got up and said, "I saved the construction workers with my Pinkie Sense." She barely finished the sentence before her tail began to twitch uncontrollably, and she quickly pushed Rainbow aside just in time to avoid a flowerpot that crashed to the ground where they were standing. Both look up to see a contrite Cherry Berry at an upper-story window.

"Sorry!" she called.

"It’s all right," replied Pinkie.

Twilight levitated her hat off as she said, "And I used my magic to fix the dam." 

Fluttershy skidded in. "Ooh, ooh! And I did the fly-by afterwards." 

Rarity arrived as well, a cross (real) Chronicle walking behind her, who had a winged Mare Do Well suit on his back, having removed it from his marefriend. "I made the costumes. Fabulous, if I do say so myself."

The string of revelation prompted Rainbow to pace the alley uncertainly while Chronicle dismissed the clone near him, his temper slowly simmering.

"For all the town's claims of you being a humble hero, you sure tooted your own horns," he grumbled, but was ignored.

"I don’t understand." Rainbow then turned to her friends. "Why? Don’t you want me to be a hero?"

"Of course we want you to be a hero," Twilight replied. 

Applejack gave a wink. "But a real hero doesn’t brag."

"Chronicle had been trying to tell you that ever since it gone to your head," Skyla pointed out. 

"Uh…I guess I did start to brag a little," Rainbow confessed. 

"A LITTLE?!" everypony else cried out. Except Chronicle, who just rolled his eyes. The combined force of their retort threw her back so that she ended up sitting on her haunches.

"Okay, a lot."

Twilight walked over to her. "Celebrating your accomplishments is natural, but…"

Applejack zipped up to Rainbow. "…rubbin’ them in everypony’s face is not."

"Yeah," agreed Pinkie. "The only thing that should be rubbed in anypony’s face is chocolate cake."

She proceeded to lick one front hoof and her face with great enthusiasm, as if they were smeared with this very dessert, and paid no heed to the seven bewildered ponies looking on (Chronicle was still "simmering"). 

"Unless you're allergic to chocolate," said the white pegasus as Rainbow stood up.

"Nobody's allergic to chocolate, Skyla. That's ridiculous!"

"Well, I am."

Before they could get into an argument, Applejack cut them off. "I think we’re gettin’ off topic here."

"What we’re trying to say is, it’s great to be really good at something, but it’s important to act with grace and humility," Twilight explained.

"And yet as Chronicle said, you just tooted your own horns by telling your own heroics," snarked Mystic.

And the message does not seem to really sink in until Applejack lay a foreleg warmly across Rainbow’s shoulders as she finally got it. Ohhhh! That makes loads more sense!" She flew up and hovered at roof level. "Yeah. You’re right. And I guess I should also act with grace and humility when others outshine me, like Mare Do Well."

Twilight winked at her. "Sounds like you’ve got a letter to write to Princess Celestia."

She and Applejack glanced to one side as Spike made himself heard, having just arrived in the alley. "Already got it covered." He pulled a scroll from inside his trenchcoat and addressed Rainbow. "As your ghostwriter, I’ve already penned a letter to the Princess."

"That’s nice of you, Spike, but I really want to write this letter myself," the lesson-learner said as she landed next to him.

"Aw, come on!" He held the open parchment into view. "I wrote the whole thing already!"

"Okay, let’s hear it." 

Spike cleared his throat, reading, “Dear Princess Ce—”

"Look out!" Rainbow suddenly pointed urgently. "It’s a real ghost!"

Spike and Pinkie each looked in that direction with a cry of fear and bailed out while the others sans a still simmering Chronicle have a good laugh at the joke. A quill and fresh scroll were levitated up to Rainbow, and Twilight aimed an expectant smile upward as the laughter died down. Catching on, the blue pegasus took the quill in her teeth and apparently tipped a wink to her Surveillance camera. 

It was at that time that Chronicle's anger finally erupted, also exuding his aura in a burst, just like during the Diamond Dogs incident. "Girls, form a line right now!"

This brought his friends' laughter to an immediate halt. Twilight and the others have seen Chronicle angry before, but not at this level and directed at them. Before they could even begin to do so, in his fit of fury, he had enough power to drag his five EOH friends around, intentionally ignoring Rainbow, and brought them in front of himself, arranged in a line. 

"I can see another lesson here," he said in a low voice, creeping them out. "A team does better than a loner. However…" He then took out his paddle and smacked everypony in the face with it twice, except Fluttershy whom he smacked only once. After which he started shouting, "What. The ████. Were you thinking, girls?! Have you not even considered plain reasoning with Rainbow? Sure, that's what I've been trying and failing to do, but I could've done better with your help. Have you not considered how ruined she might be?! Or what would've happened if she did not take this well?! And worst of all, you left me out in your plans! What's your excuse this time? And why didn't you try and let me in on this at any point?!"

None of them answered, the terrible implications of their deeds dawning on them judging by their expressions of confusion and horror.

Rainbow attempted to calm him down. "Hey, it's all righ—"

But he wasn't having any of it. "Shut up! It doesn't matter that you did take it well, what matters is that their actions apparently didn't take that into consideration! Yes, you took things out of proportion and the town might've eventually turned against you were it not for Mare Do Well's debut, but I won't blame you for that." He let out a grunt. "I'm so ashamed to see that my friends would do something like this, but I like you girls so much I don't want to just give up on you. Keeping the Elements together for Equestria's safety is the second reason for doing this."

Mystic and Skyla were amazed with and terrified by their friend's long tirade. Chronicle really did care for his friends, and was ready to chew them out on any stupid decisions they made. Even if they were (unintentionally inconsiderate) jerks sometimes, instead of straight up leaving them, he guided them to what was logically and socially right, be it gently or forcibly. By this point, his aura was no longer bursting.

Twilight gave a long sigh as she finally said, "You're absolutely correct, Chronicle. I guess we got carried away with being heroes ourselves without being boastful that we lost sight of our original objective; to show Rainbow Dash how a hero should act, which you had been attempting to do. We should've helped you there."

"If we had known how she was seein' all this, we'd have done somethin' about it." Applejack.

"Yeah, like change the plan, or come clean earlier, and we definitely should've told you!" Pinkie.

"Why, I'd buck myself in tha face sooner than pull that sort of dirty trick on a friend!"

"Besides, if humiliating her was part of the plan, I would've pulled Rainbow out of the river by magic instead of using the log so she could do it herself." Twilight again.

"We would never mean to try to make her and you think what you both thought," Fluttershy confessed, on the verge of tears. "We never cut her off or kept her from helping, only when she wouldn't, couldn't, or when there was more than enough trouble to go around."

This made Chronicle 'falter'. Great, now I'm making her cry. And after I throttled the Cutie Mark Crusaders for doing the same. Now that he was sure they wouldn't do this again, he brought up another subject. "All right, all right. I'm calm now. But…there is one other issue I'd like to ask."

"Shoot," said Applejack.

"What about all the fans? What would they think if they find out that Mare Do Well was actually more than one pony? And who will continue the mantle of Mare Do Well, now that she has served her purpose?"

The farmpony and all the others who performed the Mare Do Well masquerade turned to look at one another. apparently, they didn't think things that far.

"What about somepony else continues being the Mare Do Wells?" another voice came. Everypony turned to see somepony reveal herself. It was Mjölna's sister Tasty Snack. She looked embarrassed to be here, but soldiered on. "I mean, I know I don't have the Applejack's strength or Pinkie Pie's clairvoyance, but I'll do what I can."

Skyla was inspired by this. "Hey, being the next Mare Do Well does sound like a nice idea. I want in too."

"We'll need to plan this quick, though," Mystic put in, noticing all too well that his muzzle made him illegible to try and be her, and that Chronicle could take up the mantle if he so chose. "We did kind of just ran after the parade. They're probably still waiting."

This elicited more 'crap!' expressions from most of the ponies.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—TS—S—MDW


(A/N: I was experiencing ending fatigue, so I apologize for the brevity of this segment.)

In the end, everypony decided to reveal the following. Chronicle stood on stage and revealed himself to be a (recent) confidant of Mare Do Well. He then explained (with the help of Twilight and the two 'new' confidants dressing up and 'revealing' themselves) that Mare Do Well is actually a team of do-gooder ponies of different races who share the same costume and sense of justice. He also said he would personally take down any 'impostors' who would put Mare Do Well's name to shame.

What isn't told is that Chronicle would also be taking up the mantle of Mare Do Well, his mare-face allowing him to do so seamlessly. He will 'give up' the mantle later though, after Mystic Shield finds a mare in his class who has what it takes (by using a secret test) and the time to dedicate herself to it.

It would be a couple more months before Sunny Skies (read: Princess Celestia) came for a visit, found out about how Mare Do Well and offered (Twilight and friends, of course) to "arrange" a fake villain attack that would allow the hero to ‘heroically disappear’ and retire. Princess Luna would then play the role of Mare Do Well in Canterlot for a while, but that's a different story.

Two friendship reports were also sent. One that explained a lesson that took a while to reach the learner. And one explained a lesson that surfaced after a chew-out on how the first one was taught.

This is the second one.

Dear Princess Celestia, 

I thought that today I would be teaching a lesson about friendship instead of learning one. Sometimes when your friends' mistakes are serious and have the potential to really hurt them and others, you just can't wait for them to realize it on their own.

But I did end up learning something. I learned that if you're not careful and fail to anticipate your friends' reactions then instead of teaching them a lesson you can really hurt their feelings! And it can be devastating to find out that even though they assumed the best about you, that best was still pretty darn bad.

Still, if the bonds of your friendship are strong, everyone can walk away from the experience changed for the better.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Chronicle helped us realize this in his own special way. We owe it to him.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

> May The Best Pet Win!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

May The Best Pet Win!

Dreamscape…

Chronicle was inside a cloud house. It was quaint, minimalist, with only three rooms; a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room, which also held the door to the outside, not that he could go there; this was a dream, after all.

It was also Blue Diary's home, or at least a dream version of it. To be fair, he was a bit jealous his brother could afford his own house, although he stated it was thanks to that money from the Royal Emergency Management Ministry that he was able to afford it; given his new 'relationship', he felt sleeping with Ditzy and Dinky would result in complications. While he accepted his relationship long before Chronicle did, Blue wasn't advancing as fast whereas their sister was advancing rather steadily. They both kinda feel it's wrong somehow.

Speaking of which, the white pegasus emerged from the kitchen with a tray on his back, which held two glasses, one with juniper berry juice, and one with gin (which was made with the former). Chronicle levitated the tray, set it down on the low table in the middle of the room, then took the juice; he only drank liquor when he suffered a great personal failure. Even so, it was impossible to get drunk in the dreamscape anyway.

"So, Chronicle," Blue said as he sat down opposite his brother and took the cup of gin. "What brings you here? Don't tell me it's just so you can check out my house."

"Actually, there are two things I wanted to ask. First, I wanted to try out something, and it has something to do with our dreamscapes. My Twilight's been experimenting on dream-visiting spells and I suspect she'll eventually find her way into mine, and then there'll be complications when she finds me while a relative is visiting. Still pretty darn lucky Princess Luna hasn't found out yet."

"Well, mine already has, but thankfully neither Lyra nor Trixie have any spells that are dream-related and Pokey's more on horn-sharpening so I won't worry about him." Blue took a gulp of his gin, and seemed none the worse for wear. Even if this wasn't the dreamscape, the pegasus could hold his liquor quite well. Weird that the youngest can take it while the older can't, right? Well, their eldest brother (casually) downed a keg's worth of hard cider during their last family reunion and was sober all the way back to his assigned world. That could've easily been thanks to a spell he learned, though. "What do you want to try, anyway?"

"…Hnnh…I was hoping that in the event of…umm…I was considering finding a way to uhh…I can't remember. It's at the tip of my tongue."

"Ask me the second thing."

"Okay. The second thing I wanted to ask is…if I were to get a pet, what would be advisable for somepony like me?"

The pegasus frowned at his older brother. "Getting a pet is no joke, Chronicle. It's a huge responsibility. In addition to all the usual needs, you'd need a pet that can fit your style, and I don't think a conventional 'attack dog' is what you're looking for."

The unicorn fumed a bit. "I know that. It's just that I have this nagging feeling of being…left out, since most of my friends have pets."

"I don't think I can understand that feeling. Of all of my friends, only Cheerilee has pets. Even then, it's merely an aquarium with lots of fish. And I didn't get Syrena from Fluttershy L-δ, but from some other pony. Not gonna go on any specifics though, only that I took pity in her, and that I always wanted a swan." Chronicle picked up his glass and proceeded to drink. "Especially when it was black." He promptly did a spit take, spilling juniper berry juice in his brother's face. The pegasus raised a hoof and said, "I know what you're gonna say, and my reply is 'you never asked'."

"…You're right." The older brother rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof as he placed his glass down. "Strange that you're being the mature one here, given that your friends are themselves more mature than mine."

The younger brother took a sip from his gin before setting it down. "Well, I did basically state before that your friends are more battle-suited than mine and that Cheerilee and I had been getting them into shape after the Tambelon incident. Thankfully, that's over with. And guess what, Twilight Sparkle L-δ is here in Ponyville, living in the same treehouse library just like Prime, and near where I happen to have my house placed."

Chronicle didn't comment on Twilight L-δ's condition, finally remembering what Twilight (Prime) had suggested during the aftermath of the Antithesis Incident. He did have something else to ask, though. "Are you sure it's okay to have your house placed there? I don't know much of pegasus homes aside from a few off-hoof snippets from Rainbow Dash (Prime), but—"

"Relax, I'm doing just fine. Things are going swimmingly, or at least as swimmingly as it can get for Ponyville. Despite all the disasters, we've had no cultist encounters."

"Lucky you. A few weeks after Discord's release here, his cultists have risen again. And I thought I got rid of the last of them. Celestia (Prime) herself told me as much."

"Well, it is difficult to destroy a creed. Even if you take out all of its adherents, destroy all of its writings – these are a reprieve at best. Someone, someday, will rediscover it."

Chronicle stifled a chuckle as he finished his drink. "Quoting from the AC-Prime Codex, huh? No wonder you decided to take up their work and some of their garb."

"Ha-ha, very funny." Blue finished his gin, then asked, "Do you remember the first thing you wanted to ask me?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. If I end up having to start seeing my friends in the dreamscape without them being part of my dream, I'd like to try out some stuff with you and any of them. And I don't mean it that way."

The pegasus gave a sigh. "Please stop with the innuendos. I'm younger than you, dammit."

"Sorry."

"As for that, I think it's a nice idea. Your Princess Luna will find this out eventually, so you better come up with an adequate explanation."

"All right, I will. It'd be nice to see you and Rainbow Dash spar."

Blue raised an eyebrow. "Again? I distinctly remember doing that some time between our waking after defeating Antithesis and having to return to Luna Equestria. And I distinctly remember you and Pinkie Pie making bets during the entirety of that. And I distinctly remember winning. And without my swords either."

"Barely."

"And you want us to do it again."

"With additional obstacles that can only come up in the dreamscape."

"…Fair enough. Let's talk another time for the details, okay?"

"Okay."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Now Playing: My Little Pony Theme Song (Lunaverse Version)

{scene opens to reveal the Friendship Express in front of the twilit sky as it pulls into a town, with Trixie Lulamoon sticking her head out of one of its windows as 'camera' slowly pans right. Blue Diary is looking out another window.}

Trixie Lulamoon: My Little Pony, My Little Pony♪

{Both of them look bored as steam from the train obscures the screen}

Other singers: Ahh ahh ahh ahhh…♪

{The train's steam clears, revealing Ponyville as the 'camera' pans faster to the right} 

Other singers: (My Little Pony)♪

{'Camera' zooms in and enters tunnel vision, and exits it to show the train station}

Trixie Lulamoon: Friendship never meant that much to me♪

{Trixie gets off the train from the right and trots forward to the left of the screen as it then pans left. Blue flies after her, still looking stoic.}

Other singers: (My Little Pony)♪

{Close up of Trixie's face as she gives a faint smile. Snap to Blue's face as he does the same}

Trixie Lulamoon: But you're all here and now I can see♪

{Camera turns around to show her friends ahead: (bottom to top, left to right) Carrot Top gives a generous grin, Lyra Heartstrings hops in place once before standing upright and 'summoning' her lyre, Cheerilee gives a cheerful smile, Raindrops giving a general scowl as she hovers upright, and Ditzy Doo making a goofy grin as she stares ahead as best as she could with her crossed-eyes}

Raindrops: Stormy weather♪

{In a sky backdrop, she hovers beside a dark storm cloud, which she then bucks; the cloud begins to rain and there is a flash from the lightning that obscures the screen and serves as a screen transition}

Carrot Top: Lots to share♪

{Just in front of her farm, she pulls out a carrot from her garden and tosses it to a large cart she has on the right of the screen; carrots rain from above, and serve as the transition}

Lyra Heartstrings: A musical bond♪

{Inside BonBon's house, she 'rocks out' on her lyre, her marefriend watching in awe; a wavy version of sheet music come out from the left, serving as the transition}

Ditzy Doo: With love and care♪

{In the post office, she—in her mailmare uniform—gives Dinky a big hug as they spin around, and letters fly from above as they are scattered and serve as the transition}

Cheerilee: Teaching laughter♪

{In the schoolhouse, she points a hoof to a blackboard with diagrams; a white sheet flaps and obscures the screen, serving as the transition}

Blue Diary: It's an easy feat♪

{In the sky, in his Angel of Doom persona, he flourishes his robes; twin horizontal slashes from his swords serve as the transition}

{As the swords pass, it reveals Trixie's house a distance behind, with Trixie herself facing the camera with a smile}

Trixie Lulamoon: And magic makes it all complete♪

{'camera' zooms out to reveal the rest of the gang; to the right are Cheerilee, Lyra, BonBon, above them is Raindrops with Snails on her back, to the left is Carrot, and above her is Ditzy with Dinky on her back; Blue, without his robes, then descends from above and stops next to Raindrops and Pokey Pierce runs to Trixie's side from behind them before a camera flash obscures the screen}

Trixie Lulamoon: You have…♪

All: …my little ponies♪

{screen returns to normal and reveals Pokey putting a photo in a scroll inside Trixie's hat; pan to the far-off Canterlot}

Trixie Lulamoon: How'd I ever make so many true…♪

All: …friends?♪

{cut to Princess Luna on her throne when a closed scroll suddenly pops up from above her horn; she catches it, opens it and gives a warm smile; cut to the photo, which shows the group with the following expressions; Ditzy and Dinky with loving smiles, Snails with a goofy simper, Raindrops with a neutral expression, Blue with a wan smile, Cheerilee with a more sincere one, Carrot with a happy grin, Lyra and BonBon beaming together, Pokey with a winning smile, and Trixie with a somewhat-forced smile that still conveyed sincerity in it}

{cut to the show's title, which has an added blue box below reading "Lunaverse version", then switches to the text "Made for Fanfiction by RainbowDoubleDash", then switches to a small photo of Blue with the words "'copyright' of nightelf37", then fade to black}

End Song


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


"Wait a second! Why did you write the Lunaverse version of our show's opening theme, but plus Blue Diary?"

Because I can't place it anywhere else, Pinkie. I'm not a Lunaverse writer, and to implement him with his current role would change everything and go against their rules.

"Whose rules?"

Both RainbowDoubleDash's and the Story Crew's. I was going to place this in the Mare Do Well chapter, but I forgot and later deemed it unnecessary to add after publishing the chapter. 

"And why the dreamscape conversation? I don't think the readers even like it if it won't be related to the chapter."

Sorry about that, just saying that things happen even if it's not plot-relevant. Now, time for the real story.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


A few days after that talk…

Rainbow Dash awoke from her morning nap thanks to a strange nightmare. She was atop a tree branch, a pillow placed behind her. It also turned out that Rarity's cat Opalescence was atop the same branch, yowling at something below. That something turned out to be Applejack's dog Winona, who was accompanied by Pinkie Pie's alligator Gummy, and Fluttershy's bunny Angel. Twilight Sparkle's owl Owlowiscious then hovered just above them with a hoot.

The pegasus wiped her forehead and sighed in relief. And then something else happened. Over the hill came a rolling object, and it had gained enough speed to get air time…and it was headed right for her. She caught the object in time, which uncurled itself and she identified it as—

"An armadillo?"

Indeed it was an armadillo, a three-banded armadillo to be exact (Fluttershy had talked a lot about them once). But its exterior was generally a brighter shade of yellow, its legs were a bit longer, and its head was more like that of a nine-banded armadillo. Its eyes were a bit larger too, showing green irises and white scleroses.

"Rock?" a voice familiar to her came. Emerging from the crest of the hill the armadillo came from was Chronicle. He looked at her general position before saying, "Oh, there you are. Nice catch."

Before the pegasus could say more, the rest of their friends crested the hill and were on their way down to meet with their pets, laughing and talking as they went. Owlowiscious perched on Twilight’s back, Gummy nipped bits of Pinkie, Winona retrieved a thrown stick and brought it to Applejack, and Fluttershy chased Angel across the grass. Opal climbed down from the tree and jumped onto Rarity’s back as Rainbow flew down as well. 

As the fluffy cat began to lick herself, Rock, the armadillo, rolled down the trunk and onto Chronicle's awaiting tail. It—no, he—rolled down it, across his back, and up his neck, catching some more air time before the unicorn caught him with a tether spell connected to the tail and was caught there. Both animal and bodyguard smiled.

"Sincerest apologies, Rainbow, if our pets were bothering you," Rarity said to the pegasus. She then proceeded to baby talk hers. "Say you’re sorry, Opal." Opal just turned around and hissed. "She’s sorry."

"What are you all doing out here?" Rainbow asked.

Applejack ran across, throwing the stick with her tail. "Why, we always round up our critters for a regular ol’ pony pet play date in this park." The stick went past the pegasus and the collie chased the object.

"Uh, you do?"

"Same time every week," the farmpony said as she galloped past her.

"I thought you knew," Fluttershy said, Angel now on her back. "You didn’t know?" She turned to the others. "She didn’t know?" She then scuffed the ground nervously.

"Well, we had initially planned on inviting Rainbow, of course, except—" before Twilight could finish her sentence, Pinkie popped up, with Gummy suctioned to her head.

"We were totally gonna invite you, Rainbow." She zipped by Twilight, scaring Owlowiscious off. "Then Twilight remembered that you don’t even have a pet—" She zipped to the fashionista. "—and Rarity remembered that you really like to take naps in the afternoon." And then to the farmpony. "So Applejack figured you wouldn’t be missing out on anything anyway. And Fluttershy and I nodded our heads in agreement like this." During the last two sentences, Rainbow was left slightly bemused as Pinkie rushed to Fluttershy and pushes her head up and down in a nodding motion. The yellow pegasus continued to do so during the last sentence, her entire body rocking as well.

"And there's the fact that I had to be 'initiated' in this weekly ritual," Chronicle added. "Not quite a grueling process, but serious enough." He turned to the armadillo. "Isn't that right, Rock?" Rock nodded his head vigorously in staunch affirmation.

"Oh, please don’t be mad at us," pleaded Fluttershy. 

After a pause, Rainbow smiled after a moment. "Oh, I’m not mad. You all are right. Not much point of a pony pet play date for me if I’m a pony without a pet, right?"

"Exactly!" said Applejack as she tossed the stick off her nose and Winona leaped after it. "So if’n you’ll excuse us…"

And so all the pets and owners proceeded to enjoying their day. The farmpony continued to play fetch, the party pony was bouncing her alligator, the animal caretaker watched her lagomorph run back and forth, the fashion designer lured her feline with a toy mouse, the librarian let her owl perch on a raised leg, and her bodyguard attempted to catch his new armadillo, who was rolling in circles around him.

A few seconds later however, their pet-less friend touched down from the tree, having failed to resume her nap. "Hey! Now wait a minute! Just because I don’t have a pet now doesn’t mean I never want a pet."

"Ooh, I said those very words," Chronicle chuckled as he allowed Rock to roll onto his back and uncurl himself.

His marefriend's eyes then shone with excitement as she turned around to face Rainbow. "Ooh! Oh, really?" She then flew over, with Angel on her tail. "You really want a pet? Really? ’Cause I’ve got so many wonderful choices at my house!" She dove to grab her fellow pegasus and was shortly in flight, lifting Rainbow’s forelegs in her own. "Oh, and I know you’ll just love them!" They were just a couple of off the ground and a slightly vexed Rainbow was having her rear hooves getting dragged in the dirt. "And they’ll love you! Oh! And you’ll be best friends forever and ever!"

As she voiced an ecstatic little moan, Rainbow got her own wings going to provide enough extra lift to get herself clear of the ground. Chronicle followed them, obviously amused with this.

Without much to do, Rainbow asked, "So, Chronicle. When did you decide to adopt Rock?"

"Well, it certainly wasn't easy. I wanted an animal that could help me in you-know-what, but two things got in the way. One, neither a canine nor a bird of prey suited my tastes, and those are common choices for one like me. Two, I had to endure a frightening talk from her…" He did not need to specify who; he sure wasn't talking about his mother, though she can do those too. "…about intending to take my pet into danger."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—c—K


"That's why I'm hard-pressed to find a choice! Because I knew when I gave you my reasons for getting a pet you would say that."

"Why would you want to want a pet if you're only going to put them at risk?!"

"Okay! I get it! It's stupid!" He didn't like it that for the first time he and Fluttershy were shouting at each other. "I wasn't thinking that clearly when I asked you. It was an illogical notion, and I'm ashamed I even acted up on it. I'm sorry. I won't ask anymore."

Just then, there was a crash, and then the bottom flap of the front door—which the two ponies were standing by—opened, which was caused by Angel, who had been sent flying for some reason, and landed at the bridge.

That reason was soon revealed when an armadillo rolled out after him. The bunny quickly evaded the living ball as he got up. When the armadillo  came back around for another go, Angel got down on fours, turned away from the roller, and made to buck him with his hind paws.

The 'attack' connected, and it sent the armadillo flying into the stream. The animal shortly surfaced, keeping himself buoyant by holding his breath and paddling to shore.

This 'fight' halted the two ponies 'argument' and Chronicle asked, "Fluttershy, since when did you have an armadillo in your care?"

"A small circus troupe visited Ponyville and wanted to let him go, I can't remember why. Pinkie Pie brought them over here and I took him in." She saw the armadillo reach shore, shake the water off, and walked back to dry grass before rolling again, en route to the backyard. An irate Angel made his way back to the cottage. "But he's been proving restless, and he's often rolling a lot, disturbing the other animals. And when you last visited, he was missing and I had Angel look for him. I didn't want anybody else to worry, but now I I don't know what to do anymore."

The unicorn pondered the situation, and something in his mind clicked. He turned to face his marefriend. "Why don't I adopt him?"

She was confused at this offer. "What?"

"Why don't I adopt him? Now that I see him in action, I realize that he's the type of pet I want to have."

"Really?" Fluttershy was still wary. While it would take the burden of taking care of the armadillo off of her, the burden would now go to him, and given his reasons for getting a pet, the animal would be…


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—c—K


"To further assure her, I even Pinkie Promised to not get my pet hurt to the best of my ability. And we all know the consequences of breaking it, now do we?"

"To my surprise, Rock got along with Chronicle really well. He's always eager to test his rolling skills, to make his shell tougher by training, and that his new master helps him achieve that."

"Wow." Although Rainbow wasn't entirely impressed; she just wanted to get this over with.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


(A/N: And here comes another TF2 song, this time by 24railwaycuttings. I'm gonna do this at least once per season.)

Now Playing: Find a Gun by 24railwaycuttings

The circumstances behind it was unknown, but the BLU Team decided to have a short play enacted, featuring the Scout looking for a nice weapon, and the Medic being a weapons dealer of sorts.

In the scene, Medic was escorting Scout to his 'humble' store, which was filled with various weapons. The doctor was uncharacteristically happy doing this.

Medic: 	Now then, Scout, mein freund, I cannot express my delight♪
For it's abundantly clear that somewhere in here is a weapon to suit you just right♪
Scout: 	I can’t wait to get started, but first let me set a few rules♪
It’s of utmost importance the weapon I get♪
Simply has to be awesome and cool♪

Medic counted the criteria Scout provided. "Awesome, cool. Got it!"

Medic: 	There are so many wonderful choices, just wait and see♪

Scout made running motions as he circled Medic, who was making his way to a table with weapons.

Scout: 	I need to stay fast so those dummies can't keep up with me♪

Medic picked up Heavy's Warrior's Spirit.

Medic: 	Jawohl! How 'bout some bear claws? They’re big and furry and swift as can be♪

"Big, an' furry? Have you even met me?" As he said that, Scout numbered up to two, then pointed those fingers at Medic before thumbing to himself.

Medic: 	Scout, have faith! You see, I will bet you♪
Somewhere in here is the gun that will get you♪

After putting down the claws, he then urged the speedster towards something covered in a blue cloth sheet. Scout walked after him. "Come on! The sky's the limit!"

"Sky is good. I’d like it to match me when I jump."

"Really?" The dcotor unfurled the cloth to reveal one of Engineer's Level 1 inventions. "'Cause I think this Sentry has your name written all over it." Scout looked real skeptical as Medic rubbed the Sentry's top, even as it beeped in sentience and aimed its turret head at him. "Yes, he does. Ohoho, I think he likes you!"

"Um, pass."

Medic went back to the table.

Medic: 	I have so many wonderful choices for you to decide♪

He came back with a futuristic-looking weapon. 

Medic: 	There's a Cow Mangler here to strike in the fear♪

"Why would I have this, just why?" Scout asked.

"Well, I saw a Soldier soar twenty feet through the air when he used it."

The music stopped again as the two BLUs blinked at each other.

"That’s it. I’m outta here." Scout began to walk away, passing a terminal.

Medic immediately stopped him in his tracks as he typed on the terminal, putting down the Cow Mangler.

Medic: 	Wait! There must be a gun here! Let's see on the computer♪

Two photos showed on the screen, showing a sniper rifle and a shotgun.

Medic: 	How 'bout a Machina or Reserve Shooter♪

"Make it better, and cooler!," Scout demanded.

"Better, cooler. Right." Medic went over to the back of a vehicle and made to unlock the compartment while Scout followed him.

Medic: 	I've got just the thing in the car, Scout♪

He opened the compartment to reveal one of Heavy's precious weapons, but not Sasha. It was propped on a raised and lighted platform and set against a backdrop of glittering blue drapery.

Medic: 	Meet your awesome new gun, Natascha♪

The music stopped again.

"It's a freaking minigun."

Medic picked it up. "Not just any minigun, it slows down your enemies!" But the weight proved too much and he fell down. "OOF! Ugh... Was ist los?"

Scout was totally unimpressed. "…Yeah. So, like I was saying…"

The stage went to black, then a spotlight flicked on to pick him out and follow his walk across the screen.

Scout: 	Medic, ol' pal, this just won’t cut it, 'cause those dummies shouldn't keep up with me♪
I need something swifter, something fast, to shoot them down while I defy gravity!♪

At the last line, fireworks burst from where he stopped as the stage is lit up again. Medic was now next to Scout's left and Natascha was gone.

"I'm guessing you want something to match your speed and agility," Medic figured out.

"Oh yeah, you're real smart, poindexter!" Scout snarked as he turned away from him and folded his arms.

"Schweinehunde…" The doctor swore under his breath. "Ahem…"

Medic threw an arm over the speedster's shoulders and led him to another table, which had two shotguns.

Medic: 	I have so many wonderful weapons to make you an ace!♪
Like a Force-of-Nature or a Blaster owned by Baby Face!♪

Scout started to show hints of a smile. "Better. Any more?"

Medic smiled as he showed three more weapons on the table, leading him leftwards.

Medic: 	Ja. How 'bout a Pistol, Scattergun, or a Winger?♪
There's so many wonderful weapons the likes of that♪

He then picked up two different wooden baseball bats on one hand each, showing off each of them.

Medic: 	Sandman, or Boston Basher! They are both good thrashers!♪

He then put them down and picked up a simple aluminum one with a dent on both hands.

Medic: 	Maybe you want to go simple and just use this bat?♪

"Now you're talking!" Scout lighted up, then backed off to think, putting a finger to his chin. "But instead of one standout, now that's too many." He took a look at all the suggested weapons, as well as a few others.

Scout: 	So many choices, and such riches aplenty♪

"Not a bad thing to have, if you ask me," replied Medic.

Scout: 	Scattergun would be awesome, but the Blaster I like too♪
Scout: 	Is there anything worth more than a stripey hat?♪

"No," Medic answered, then pulled out another shotgun.

Medic: 	But I've got a Soda Popper, which might just suit you♪
Scout: 	What to do, what to do?♪

An idea came to him, and he snapped upright as he stared Medic in the face.

Scout: 	A prize! That's it! There's really just one way♪
To find out which weapon is best♪

He picked up the weapons and put them down again one by one, including the Soda Popper that Medic was holding.

Scout: 	Try 'em out with speed, agility, and guts♪
That will put each one to the test♪

Medic zipped up to Scout. 

Medic: 	Don't forget style, that should be considered♪
Scout: 	Then we'll know for sure what's best in the litter♪
Medic: 	The one who is awesome and cool♪
Scout: 	Just like me♪
Can't settle for less, 'cause I'm the best♪

Both of them raised the arm not on each other's shoulders as they continued to sing.

Both: 	So a contest we will see♪
Scout: 	Who's the number one, greatest, perfect-est gun♪
Both: 	In the world for me♪
Medic: 	Let the games♪
Both: 	Begin♪

The two of them ended the scene together. "And may the best gun win!"


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Eyecatch (video-type)

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Seven cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a trio of butterflies, a trio of apples, a trio of balloons, three rhombus-shaped blue gems, a six-pointed pink star, an orange circle depicting an open book inside, and a red-yellow-blue striped lightning bolt coming from a white cloud.}

{The seven cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting six animals and a nondescript silhouette. The top depicts (from left to right) Gummy with balloons tied to his body, the silhouette, and Owlowiscious. The bottom row depicts Winona, Angel, Rock, and Opalescence. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


"Can we please get back to the main story?"

Already on it, Pinkie.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


A whistle was heard from where Rainbow's friends stood at the Town Hall. In the presence of the presently petless pegasus, who has donned a baseball cap, were the following animals, who were now standing/hovering to attention: a wasp, a duck, an eagle, a flamingo, a bat, a ladybug, a toucan, a falcon, a monarch butterfly, a goose, an owl, and a hummingbird. These were the ones she selected amongst the many Fluttershy had shown when they reached the cottage.

The lively cheers (one was merely for humor) from the spectators came to an end at another blast from the whistle, after which its user paced down the line.

"This'll be fun. Won't it, Rock?" Chronicle said with a trace of sarcasm. The armadillo nodded and smiled in agreement, failing to catch the sarcasm.

"So, you all think you’ve got what it takes to be my pet, do you?" Rainbow said before leaning into the flamingo’s face. "Well, we’ll just see about that." Her lunge had pushed the vivid pink head back hard enough to put several kinks in the long neck. When the bird swallowed hard, the lump followed every new zig-zag bend down to its gullet. "If any of you don’t think you can handle it, bow out now before you humiliate yourself in front of your peers." The end of this line took her past the ladybug, which sank to the ground. "This competition isn’t for the weak." She then addressed the butterfly. "You’d better be prepared to step up your game!" The butterfly was visibly unnerved as its possible owner leaned into its face. 

"You call that flapping?!" the pegasus yelled, then backed off as it flapped harder as she continued. "That’s better." She continued to pace. "There’s only room on Team Dash for one of you, and my future pet needs to be able to take it to the extreme." She zipped upward without warning and stopped several yards above the animals. "Any questions?" 

"I got one," Applejack said to Twilight. "Does she understand what a pet really needs?"

"Yeah, like care and attention." Winona popped up in front of the owl owner. "Love and affection." The dog then licked her face. "Ugh! And breath mints!"

Both ponies turned their attention to the contenders as Rainbow swooped back down. However, there was one new contender to be added. Chronicle saw it during the 'Musical Number' phenomenon that occurred in the cottage.

Fluttershy was talking to the shelled reptile as she pushed him up to her friend. "Now you just pay attention and try your best, and—"

"Seriously, Fluttershy! The turtle?" Rainbow interrupted. "What did you bring that thing here for?" 

Fluttershy licked a hankie and polisheed the shell. "Technically, he’s a tortoise, and he’s always dreamed of being somepony’s pet. He just wants a chance to compete. He won’t get in the way. You won’t even know he’s here."

The blue pegasus’s questioning look was met by a molasses-slow blink from the wrinkled face. "No!"

"Oh, just let him try."

She speedster gave a disgusted sigh. "But there’s no way he can possibly keep up!" The hard shell got a push that sent him rolling toward Fluttershy. "Look at him!" His center of gravity caused the roll to reverse itself so that he stopped upright before her.

Fluttershy held up the tortoise. "It won’t hurt to let him try."

"But—"

She pushed him in her face. "Just let him try." Fluttershy then unleashed a beseeching grin that sent Rainbow into a short paroxysm before she can speak.

The blue pegasus let off a groan. "Fine!" Fluttershy set the tortoise down and Rainbow got in his face. "But don’t say I didn’t warn you. This isn’t a game, you know!"

"Did you sing about the games beginning earlier?" Chronicle called out from where he stood. "I was there, you know."

"Semantic, schemantics," Rainbow brushed him off.

The stallion shook his head, a smile in his face, and said to Rock, "Now this is fun." The armadillo did not even share his master's surface expression and instead was merely confused. Fluttershy in the meantime returned to the pavilion with the others.

The pegasus turned to address the entire group. "All right. Now these games will determine which one of you has the most important qualities I’m looking for in a pet."

"Hypocrite!" Chronicle called out, but without any malice. Rainbow ignored him as she went off to the peak of a nearby hill, sprinting fast enough to leave a trail of multicolored flames and flip the tortoise upside down. Ooh. Burning rubber.

"Speed!" As the pegasus jumped on the hill, Chronicle wondered how she was able to carry her voice all the way to where all the pets were with the same volume without seemingly stressing herself. 

Or am I looking into this too much?

She flashed back through the group, this time leaving a rainbow contrail that marked her hairpin turns among them. "Agility!" She then skidded in front of the pets, stood on her hind legs, flexed her muscles. "Guts!" Next, she took off and flew a tight spiral around a cloud to sculpt it into a likeness of herself. "Style!" She returned to ground level and pulled off various poses. "Coolness! Awesomeness!" She then put on a pair of sunglasses, turned her cap backward, stood up, and crossed her forelegs. "And radicalness!"

Twilight walked over from the pavilion. "Aren’t those all the same thing?" she asked. 

Rainbow peeked over her shades, then through them. "You would think that, Twilight." She then patted her head. "And that’s why you would never qualify to be my pet." And off she went, leaving one irked unicorn in her wake.

Back at the pavilion, Chronicle was pounding his forehead with Rock, who had rolled himself up to protect himself. Stop. Thinking. Perverted. Thoughts.

"Fluttershy, aren't ya gonna ask 'im to stop hurtin' his own pet?" asked Applejack.

"And himself?" added Pinkie.

The animal caretaker sighed as she went over to stop her coltfriend from doing any more self-inflicted injuries. And injuring his pet, however minimal it would be.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP

The competing pets were at the starting line of an oval running track in the park. Rainbow stood by the inside lane, while the other ponies watched from the outfield on the far side. The coach had ditched her shades and turned her cap around again. The ladybug was also missing, having dropped out.

"Speed! On your marks… Get set…" After a hard squint at them all, she blew her whistle and the flyers were off in a cloud of dust. They rocketed around the track and lapped the tortoise even as he was slowly lifting one leg to take his first step. Each of Rainbow’s following comments was aimed at one particular animal as it passed her. 

The bat: "Sorta speedy." 

The butterfly: "Not speedy." 

The duck: "Pretty speedy." 

The owl: "Could be more speedy."

The falcon caught up with a shrill cry and blasted ahead, its wake stripping the owl clean before it crossed the finish line and stopped. "Yeah! That’s speed!"

There were cheers from the other ponies as the other winged racers came in; the owl’s feathers were back on. Only now did the tortoise complete his first step, the foot barely coming down past the edge of the starting line. Rainbow walked over and clicked her tongue disparagingly. "That’s just sad."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


At an elevated obstacle course in the park…

The next 'game' was in session, the spectators looking on.

"Agility!"

The butterfly went through a hoop and a set of uprights. "Sorta agile." 

The flamingo slipped off a seesaw. "Not agile." 

The toucan went through a crazily bent pipe. "Pretty agile."

The tortoise watched forlornly from the ground as the bat went through the uprights. "Could be more agile."

The hard-shelled critter tensed for a jump, but had done no more than stretch up to his tiptoes, the weight shift causing him to topple forward. Rainbow flew slowly past him. "Want to know the opposite of agility? That."

Now the hummingbird got into the game, darting around the contours of an arrow, a crosspiece on which the toucan had perched, and around the interior of the hoop that now held the tangled-up flamingo. Out to the clear air, across to a finish-line banner, and down safely. Meanwhile, the butterfly smacked into the banner and fell down, and the spectators cheered the victory. As always, one was merely for humor.

Rainbow did a loop-the-loop. "Yeah, baby! Now that’s what I call agility!" She held up one front hoof for a high hoof, but the little avian just kept hovering. "Don’t leave me hanging." It delivered with one wing, only to drop due to not using that wing for lift, then rose sheepishly back to her level. "I’m gonna have to shave a point off your score for that." She produced a clipboard and made a note with a pencil in her teeth as the hummingbird slunk away. 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


The next 'game' involved Opal in a pet carrier cage, and a toy mouse. 

"Okay! Which of you has the guts to try and get Opal’s favorite toy away from her?" Rainbow dared as she set down the toy mouse in front of the opening of the carrier, then lifted the door in front of the 'candidates'.

Two glaring yellow eyes flared in the darkness and were followed by the emergence of one rather hacked-off white cat. As soon as Opal extended one set of claws, every single contender—including the birds of prey, no less—was locked up with fear and total panic. Every one, that is, except the butterfly, which flitted intrepidly across the grass to stop in front of Opal’s face. As she brought up one paw to slash it apart, it spreads its wings and swiftly hypnotized her with the patterns of orange and black. The toy mouse was hoisted away and carried back to an impressed Rainbow.

"Ha! Now that takes guts!"

The other ponies smiled at the achievement, but Opal let off a startled yowl once the hypnosis wore off. As it turns out, her carrier was being tipped forward by the tortoise in an attempt to trap her inside. Leaping clear, Opal got on top of the tough shell and tried in vain to claw it apart. The tortoise had pulled his head and legs in, and Rainbow grimaced a bit before turning away.

Chronicle admired the tortoise also had the guts to go in as well; he was merely too slow. Or was that trust in his tough shell?


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


Yet another 'game' was set up before the "Style" one; Instinct. Rock, Chronicle's armadillo, will roll around the competitors in a set area, which also has ramps so as to reach those who would naturally take to the sky (i.e. all except the tortoise). He would then try to knock them down, and they would try not to get knocked down.

At least that's what would've happened if Chronicle was confident enough in giving Rock commands. Unfortunately, it was only a few days since he first had the armadillo, and he can't trust him yet to hold back, not to mention the scolding from Fluttershy. So she went straight to "Style".

"If you weren't going to do this, why put it in in the first place?"

Just trollin'.

"That's not how trolling works, Author."

Don't care.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Some time after the entire event…

Rarity looked through a portfolio containing the pictures of Rainbow Dash with her prospective pets, and the one she finally chose for herself. She was the one who had taken the pictures.

The photo with the bat showed both of them wearing sunglasses and tensed for action. 

The photo with the falcon showed it perched on a leather gauntlet laced around one of her forelegs and standing against a mountain backdrop, the other foreleg on a stool.

The photo with the hummingbird had the two doing a little fencing. 

The next photo had, with her mane neatly combed for once, Rainbow standing alongside the owl in a classroom, both wearing sweaters and bow ties, and the bird was atop a stack of books. 

The photo with the eagle had both of them in a curling match, sweeping the ice ahead of a stone on its way to the scoring area.

The photo with the butterfly had them on a small stage with a curtain backdrop, the pet-owner wearing a scarf and four sandals. 

And the photo with the tortoise had him, on a stool, retracted into the shell, which had a red ribbon on top, and her, cringing away.

If one asked her just how did one of them ended up as her pet, she'd likely sock them for asking.


R—R—R—R—R—R—R—R—R—R


Back to the event…

The "coolness" game was underway, which seemed to translate to 'awesome cry'. 

A hoot. "Sorta cool." 

A quack. "Not cool."

A bat shriek. "Pretty cool." 

A toucan's squawk. "Could be cooler."

A buzz from the wasp. "Not what I had in mind."

Silence from the butterfly. "I can’t hear you!"

A few hoarse, strangled grunts from the tortoise. Rainbow glared down and made a sound of revulsion. 

Then the eagle made its cry. "Now that’s a cool sound!"


RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD


The "Awesomeness" game…

The bat hung upside down from a tree branch and its ears flicked in various directions as it used its natural sonar. "Sorta awesome." 

The toucan flicked out its tongue. "Not awesome." 

A squawk from the flamingo as it balanced on one leg. "Could be more awesome."

The owl turned its head 360 degrees. "Yeah! That is awesome!"

The tortoise got her attention and smiled pleadingly before pulling his head in. "Uh, you did that already. That’s pretty much all you can do, huh?" The head emerged partway with a look of embarrassment.


RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD


The "Radicalness" game…

On a stage, the duck tap-danced into view with a straw hat and cane, but Rainbow was not thrilled. 

Next was the eagle, who knit a sweater decorated with Rainbow’s likeness. She was still far from impressed at the effort. 

Up next was the falcon, wearing a black top hat and standing behind a deck of cards. It brought up the ace of diamonds in its beak, but she flipped over the five of clubs in her teeth—a card trick gone slightly bad. 

The wasp hovered by a switched-on flashlight lying on the stage. In the spot of light thrown on the curtain, it produced a series of shadow puppets—duck, rabbit, sailing ship. However, the display only served to put the pegasus judge to sleep.

Suspended upside down, the bat played the first two five-note phrases of a certain familiar jingle on a row of crystal goblets, then cut loose with a high-pitched shriek that shattered every last one of them. "Whoa! That was truly awesome! But I’m afraid this is the radicalness competition, so I’m gonna have to take some points off."

The tortoise's attempt at "radicalness" was an utter embarrassment. In front of him was a series of obstacles starting with (backward from a finish line) a safety net, flaming hoop, loop-the-loop track, guillotine, shark tank, and springboard. The tortoise stood on a platform at the start of this run, tensed for a leap, but only managed to fall off and land upside down without even reaching the springboard. The curtain fell behind him, and Rainbow sighed heavily and approached the stage.

"Listen, turtle." 

Fluttershy put her head out from backstage. "Tortoise."

"Whatever!" Her friend backed off. "You’ve had your fun, but I think you and I both know who made the cut and who didn’t." There came another of those maddeningly slow blinks, followed by a sad little croak, and a long pause. "You didn’t." She pointed at him. Her next gesture was aimed toward the sky, where the owl, eagle, falcon, and bat winged it as cheers floated up from below. 

The spectators watched, Pinkie jumping in place as she cheered, and Rainbow turned back to the capsized tortoise. "I mean, A for effort and everything. You gave it your best shot." She looked uneasily away, lifting him up to peek beneath. "Maybe I’ve got a gold-star sticker around here somewhere you can have." She set him upright. "But seriously, go home. You’re starting to creep me out."

Her reassuring smile gave way to worried confusion as the beady black eyes just stared pleadingly up at her. Finally, she did a very slow turn away from the stage. "So…aaaanyway…" She faced the four flyers, now landed before her. "You’re all outstanding competitors. But there can only be one of you who is number one. So the final, tie-breaking contest is going to be…" The last word got held out, after which the turned away to… "Pause for dramatic effect." …then back with a grin. "…a race against…" She zipped up to them. "…me!"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


A while later…

Everybody was now at a narrow, craggy ravine, Rainbow at the interior, and without her cap and whistle. "Through Ghastly Gorge! Dun-dun-dunnnn!" The gorge snaked away toward the horizon, and mist wafted up from far below as an eagle’s cry rent the air. she flew over to said eagle, an offered a hankie. "Gesundheit."

The other six ponies, their pets, and Spike watched from one edge. Rainbow plunged past them and landed at the bottom, where the falcon, owl, bat, and tortoise have gathered. The insects and the other birds have since been eliminated from the running towards becoming Rainbow Dash's pet. Somewhere, somebody is playing "Ride of the Valkyries". Chronicle recognized the classic, and wondered just where was it being played.

Rainbow gave a contented sigh as the eagle joined them. "Actually, Ghastly Gorge isn’t scary. It’s fun. Heh. I’ve flown through it a million times myself, so, uh…" The five remaining animals looked at the possible future owner nervously. "…obviously I’ll be at the front of the pack." Rainbow started to limber up. "But whichever of you make it across the finish line with me will have proven you can keep up with me, and will have earned the honor and glory of getting to be my pet." She moved to the edge of the crag on which they were all standing. "Ready?" The flyers lined up. "Set, go!"

All of them went airborne, leaving the tortoise to creep up to the drop-off and helplessly watch them go, dropping his head. Meanwhile, Rainbow was having a ball, laughing and whooping as she barreled along a straightaway. "Try to keep up!" She sped ahead through a series of hairpin turns and the four pursuers pushed furiously to stay after her. Through a gap between some trees and the wall, into a curve, around an outcropping and another tree, and on to a dark tunnel she went. In here, the wind gusts were so strong that she fought to keep her forward momentum going, but she soon broke through to daylight and stopped to dust off her front hooves. The tunnel run had left her mane and tail noticeably disheveled, was otherwise perfectly fine. A quick wipe put the striped hair back in order.

Rainbow took off once more and gave off a laugh. "Can’t catch me!"

As the four racers entered the windy passage, the bat got blown backward and out the entrance as the others muscled through. It came up with an angry little chitter and charged back in. Much further back, the tortoise was sweaty of face and short of breath, but doing his best to move ahead on the course. While that was happening, Twilight and Chronicle were performing a series of mid-range teleports to bring everybody else to the finish line ahead of Rainbow and her competitors, warping from safe point to safe point atop the gorge's edges.

Back in the race, Rainbow whistled a few notes that were coincidentally in time with the music, then zoomed out quickly to frame a dense tangle of thorny vines blocking her path. She stopped to run a calculating eye over the mess, then addressed herself toward the approaching quartet.

"Come on, slowpokes!" she taunted. "You want to win, don’t you?"

Off she went, steering with masterful precision through the overgrowth and even doing a quick twirl around one vine just to rub it in. Once she reached the far end, she used the vines to catapult herself around the tangle and then ahead. The eagle charged in only to get quickly bogged down in the thorns. The owl could see no way through the scramble. The falcon struggled to push through a knotted area and got knocked spinning by the passing bat. The combination of sonar and small size allowed this one to navigate a safe course through the vines, and it blew a raspberry once it got clear. In short order, the eagle, owl, and falcon came out flapping, the last dragging a piece of vine with it on one wing.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP


Farther along the gorge, Twilight's and Chronicle's companions were feeling the effects of multiple consecutive teleports. The ponies and baby dragon shook off any woozy feelings, but Opal and Angel were getting green faces, Rock was feeling a bit light-headed and so was Owlowiscious, and Gummy and Winona looked fine on the outside, inside too for the latter.

And then the stallion began to feel something at his sides; it was his Harmony Link in action, and it was telling him that their friend was in potential danger. His pause brought the others to a stop as well.

"What's the matter, Chronicle?" asked Twilight.

"I suspect Rainbow has reached the quarray eel nests," he said. He had been in the gorge before during a Request Board 'mission'. "And they're not happy to see her or the others behind her."

"I hope they all make it through," said Fluttershy.

"I can't say for sure for the others, but if Rainbow's life turns out to be at risk, I'll be the first to know. But surely she's fast enough to escape danger. She simply shouldn't cut it too close. Let's continue teleporting, we're almost at where we should set up the finish line. Leave our friend to me."

And the group proceeded to resume teleporting.


C—TS—S—A—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—R—F—PP


Erstwhile… 

The blue pegasus took a breather and hovered above the group as they closed in. "Oh, I forgot to tell you! Watch out for the quarray eels! They don’t like it when you get too close to their nests—like this!" On the end of this, she gestured toward a narrow defile between two high walls, one of which was pocked by several large craters. As she headed in, the eels in question—huge, red hide, purple underbellies and head fins, light pink spots—lashed out of the holes and do their best to snag an appetizer of pony tartare. No luck, though. She veered around every strike and got herself in the clear. As the four unnerved chasers watched, the eels retreated out of sight as if daring them to venture into the danger zone.

The bat was first to risk it; one eel quickly snapped it up, but it punched its way around inside the mouth and emerged from one nostril. Another eel slammed its jaws down too close for the eagle's comfort, and the bird backed off with its head seemingly having been bitten off. However, the missing cranium quickly popped back up—the eagle pulled it in just in time. The owl was caught in a third eel’s jaws and had spread its wings wide to keep them from snapping shut. It eventually pulled loose and remained uneaten. A lashing eel retracted with the falcon caught by a tail feather in those fearsome teeth. After a brief struggle however, the bird of prey yanked itself loose.

Somewhere up ahead, Rainbow was taking her sweet time. "Easy-peasy, one-two-threesy." She flipped onto her back. "Right, you guys?" She then smacked into a rock wall, which stunned her and sent cracks snaking all the way up to the gorge’s lip. One large slab slid free and tumbled down as the music reached its climax. The cocky pegasus looked up just in time to get a really good view of the massive stone, then bugged out as it and other rocks plummeted toward her. "AVALANCHE!!" Plastering herself into a cranny, she watched the winged racers flash by and started after them. "Hey!"

Whatever words she might have used next instead turned into a yell as another hunk came down right on top of her and thick gray dust clouds boiled up. 


RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD


At the mouth of the gorge, Rainbow's friends waited for the competitors to reach the finish line. Chronicle decided to backtrack in case anything happened, and was teleporting towards the racers.

He was about to perform another teleport when the Harmony Link began to act up once more, and Chronicle could feel phantom wings beginning to hurt. And then he felt something strong strike him on his back and head, as if it fell on top of him. The 'blow' knocked him to the ground and nearly rendered him unconscious but instead just gave him a pounding headache and temporarily rendered him immobile; a pegasus might be able to shrug it off, but a unicorn had less durability without a barrier, even one as tough as him.

Oh no. Disaster has befallen Rainbow Dash, he thought, helpless for the moment as he lay somewhere in the gorge between the finish line, and the presumed disaster area. Rock, whom he had taken with him, was trying to shake him awake.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C

Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side, Rainbow Dash is escaping an avalanche. On the right side, Chronicle has been knocked down by his Harmony Link. The show's logo is seen on the bottom left.


C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C—C


It took a while before Chronicle's head was was well enough for him to try and get moving again, but as he attempted to get up, he found himself unable to. Something was keeping him down, and from the 'looks' of it, something was pinning down one of his 'phantom wings', which he attributes to the Harmony Link telling him Rainbow Dash is in danger. He waited for a couple of seconds for the 'effect' to wear off so he can go rescue Rainbow, but after trying to 'pull away', he still found himself pinned.

What?! Why can't I move? Twilight's petrification 'wore off' after a while. Darn, I should've read more on the Harmony Link.

Before he could muse any further on his situation, he saw the eagle, falcon, owl, and bat fly past him. Must be the competitors. Either they just abandoned their future mistress or they're hurrying so they can call my friends. In any case, I have to find a way to get out of here so I can help Rainbow.

He tried 'pulling' himself out again, but it was no good. Dammit, if only I could just destroy whatever rock is keeping her pinned down. Oh wait! My magical clones! Of course! Flaring his horn, he was about to summon a clone when he felt something. Well, more like something leaving him. Curious, he attempted to stand up straight…and found that he can. Whatever was pinning down Rainbow no longer was, and he began to wonder why.

He did not need to wait long. In the distance, he could see the tortoise walking towards (or intending to go past) him. But what made him react was what, or who, was on top of him. It was Rainbow Dash! And there were bandages wrapped around her midsection. His Harmony Link was right; one of her wings had been pinned down, presumably by one of the rocks from the rockslide. He still has difficulty attributing "avalanche" to any 'mass falling' that isn't snow. The tortoise probably managed to get the rock out somehow.

He approached her on the way, then began to walk together, Rock walking with them; there was no need to roll about. Well, they and the tortoise did. No words were exchanged; he knew what happened, she knew he knew, and they didn't want to let the others worry any more than they already probably are.


C—RD—C—RD—C—RD—C—RD—C—RD


Back at the finish line…

The others left waiting let off a round of cheers as they heard the falcon make a shrill cry as it passed the finish line first, followed by the eagle, bat, and owl. As the flyers came in though, the cheering steadily died off and gave way to confused murmurs. 

With Rainbow nowhere in sight, Twilight tossed a puzzled glance back up the course. "Hmmm…something’s not right here." She levitated a pair of binoculars into view and peered through them, but Fluttershy promptly shoved her aside for a look of her own.

"Where’s Rainbow Dash?"

The binocs backed away from her just far enough to make room for Applejack to zip in front and get her eyes to the lenses. "Great galloping galoshes!" From what she saw… "There’s been an avalanche in there!" 

"Rainbow!" Spike cried out as he ran forward for a bit.

There were reactions of shock and fear from the others as the dragon and faarmpony kept a lookout. 

Pinkie was the first to break out of the group, jumping happily toward the line and pointing. "Wait! Look!"

Through the binoculars, Fluttershy saw the tortoise stumping slowly out of the dust clouds and a pair of sky-blue legs perched on his shell. A different pair of legs could be seen walking alongside. "It’s the turtle!"

"Tortoise!" the others corrected.

"Whatever." 

Whoever was presently looking through the binocs tilted them up to see Rainbow’s scuffed, smiling face. She was sitting on the shell, with bandages wrapped around her midsection.

"And he’s…carrying something on his back!" Twilight noted. It took a moment for her to register just what was on it.

"Oh, it’s Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie answered and she jumped excitedly. "It’s her! It’s Rainbow! And Chronicle's there too!" She didn't need to mention Rock, as it was obvious he would be with him.

There were cheers all around as the three made their way toward the line—very, very slowly. So slowly, in fact, that the group’s collective patience started to wear thin.

"Maybe we’d better go meet him halfway." Fluttershy suggested to Twilight.

The owl-owner trotted over, levitating the line’s posts and the checkered-flag banner strung between them, and planted the lot inches ahead of Rainbow and the tortoise, Chronicle having decided to stop walking. She got the white line itself in place on the ground just in time for the stumpy feet to touch and move on past, to the sound of a fresh round of cheers. 

While the ponies and pets gathered around the late arrivals, Spike walked up and petted the bald green head. "Huh! Way to go, little guy!" 

Twilight gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you’re not hurt, Rainbow."

"Just my pride." The soon-to-be-no-longer-petless pegasus started to dust herself off.

"I…certainly hope… all of this dreadful dust was worth it." Rarity said before letting out a loud sneeze.

"It sure was if’n it means Rainbow gets to have her own little critter just like the rest of us from now on," Applejack said as she petted Winona.

The tortoise looked up at Rainbow with a questioning little grunt. "Uh…thanks," she said to him as she climbsed off and hunched down to his level. "What you did…I owe you one." They tapped a foot and hoof together.

"Rainbow…" Fluttershy said as she gestured ahead. "…your new pet is over here waiting for you."

The falcon stood proudly on the ground, then spread its wings and soared above the tableau with a cry, bringing murmurs of awe and appreciation before it landed on Rainbow’s back. Up came a sad little noise and look from the tortoise, instantly throwing the blue pegasus for a loop. "Oh…right…yeah. That."

"Well, what’s the matter?" asked Spike. 

Pinkie zipped up and propped a foreleg on his head. "You got your perfect pet, right?"

"The best of the best like you wanted, remember?" Fluttershy added as she trotted up alongside Applejack and Winona as Angel jumped on her back. Chronicle joined the two shortly, Rock somehow standing upright on his back. "It can fly and it’s not a squirrel! Should we sing about it again?"

"Let's not," her coltfriend told her.

"A falcon sure looks good on you, Rainbow," said Applejack.

Rarity’s camera tripod was then planted in front of the two flyers. When she snapped a picture, the flash spooked the tortoise so badly that he yanked his head and legs in, and Rainbow leaned down to pet him, the falcon allowing the two a little space. "Easy, fella. Nothing to be afraid of." She then stood up as the bird of prey hopped on once more on her back. "A falcon sure does look cool. He’s absolutely everything I wanted in a pet." She then chewed her lower lip indecisively for a moment before letting off a sigh.

There came a "Yay?" from Fluttershy.

Rainbow then smiled. "But I said, whoever crosses the finish line with me gets to be my pet." 

Pinkie zipped up to her. "You did! You did say that!" The earth pony began to jump/zip about, increasing in volume. "She did say that! That was the rule!"

"And the only racer who crossed the finish line with me…was the one who stopped to save me when I needed help." Her last few words deflated the falcon's pride in a hurry as she lifted… "The tortoise!"

The reptile had extended his head and legs and gave her a grateful smile. Meanwhile, the falcon let off a dejected squawk and jumped off Rainbow’s back.

"But…" Twilight said. "…what about the…"

Rainbow set the tortoise down in front of the falcon, which extended its wing gravely to congratulate the surprise winner. The tortoise put out a foreleg, the two shake, and the bird of prey walked away with a bowed head. Rainbow patted the shell, and the tortoise grunted softly as he let his smile widen a few notches, just as quickly as he blinks—that is, not very.

"Would you look at that?" commented Applejack. "He even smiles slow." Laughter followed from the ponies and the armadillo, the other pets either busy with other things or just plain not joining.

"Spike, take a letter," Rainbow said. As he whipped out the quill and scroll, she began to relay her message. As she did, Opal began to chase its toy mouse and worry it vigorously.

“Dear Princess Celestia: I used to think that the most important traits to look for in a pet—”

Opal dropped the mouse and eyed it warily before attacking it with her claws.

“—or any best friend—were all physical competitive abilities.” 

The tortoise walked over to Opal, who was now chewing on the mouse. 

“But now I can see how short-sighted and shallow that was.” 

Seeing him come over, she immediately let the toy go and tried to scratch her way through his shell with little success, even as he pulled his head and legs in. 

“Today I learned what the most important quality really is.” 
The tortoise peeked out, snagged the mouse in his beak, and pulled it in. 

“A certain kind of spirit. A stick-to-it-iveness.” 

Opal noticed with surprise that her mouse was gone, and skulked away. 

“A never-give-up, can-do attitude that’s the mark of a real winner. And this tortoise has it.”

"Tenacity," Twilight supplied.

"Gesundheit." The pegasus then walked toward the tortoise. "You just can’t stop that little guy. He’s like a…like a…" She tapped its shell. "…tank!" Out popped the wizened green face to smile up at her.

Chronicle showed extreme confusion, not knowing what exactly a tank was in Equestria, the one he was familiar with being an armored war vehicle. Pinkie seemed to see his confusion and quickly explained in hushed tones what "tank" Rainbow was referring to, also showing a picture. He then understood.

"But, Rainbow, you didn’t want a pet that couldn’t fly because it would keep you grounded and hold you back, remember?" Fluttershy reminded her.

On the end of this, the blue daredevil's face fell severely, with the tortoise similarly unhappy tortoise by her side. She started thinking hard, trying to come up with a compromise. "Hmmm…"


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP

The next day, or a few days later, I don't know…

At the park, the Spirits of Harmony and Chronicle crested the hill, their pets accompanying them amongst the happy chatter. Rock rolled down the hill after a running Winona, Opal simply walked, Owlowiscious was in the air, Gummy was hanging on by biting Pinkie's tail, and Angel rode atop Fluttershy's head. For perhaps the first time ever, Rainbow was bringing up the rear.

The new pet-owner stopped briefly, calling behind herself. "Heh. Come on, Tank! We’re gonna be late for our very first pony pet play date!" as she flew off, the tortoise crested the hill as well—by air rather than on foot for what must surely be the first time in his life. A helicopter propeller had been strapped to his shell, and he wore a pair of aviator goggles. Tank went after the others, ready to join his new friends.
> (NOT) Sweet And Elite
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 7: The Deadpool Incident

Last year, between summer and autumn in Equestria Prime…

If someone else could've been the "Great Overseer" other than Lord Record Keeper, he would've gladly given it to them. Sadly, the some of the higher-ups in Hadithi said that those who don't desire power are best to wield it; that way, they wouldn't abuse it.

Right now, he was about to have a meeting with some of the Branch Heads. Hub Equestria wasn't one 'metropolis'; there were plenty of towns scattered across the land, each of them with a Branch Head. They serve as the equivalent of mayors/governors of towns; Record can't handle everything by himself. The Branch Heads are called such because not everybody is technically a Timer and would want to be the ones who overlook their children's activities as Field Ops without Record hounding on them.

The capital of Hub Equestria was called Canterhub, which 'belonged' to the Aidem-Timer branch (the maiden name of his wife is Aidem), and took care of any recruits they acquire. It covered not only their children, but also their siblings and their children. Any cousins and beyond however—and some of Record's and Ebony Spell's siblings—were either under the jurisdiction of Branch Heads or Branch Heads themselves.

The geography of Hub Equestria was completely different from that of the client worlds it was connected to though, so Canterhub was not built on a mountain like Canterlot. For one, while the world has its share of mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, canyons, swamps, deserts, and volcanoes, every town the Story Crew had managed to set up was on relatively flat land and was all in a single landmass, the sea surrounding them. Naval exploration was already underway.

The first pony to appear on the screens was an earth pony who goes by the "alias" Kage. She was head of the Timer-Ellits branch, and her husband had…similar origins as Record himself. Their eldest son, who goes by Kiroku, has been known to express his desire to prove himself superior to Chronicle in combat.

The second pony to appear was a pegasus who goes by Comic Relief, who was the head of the Scimoc-Timer branch. From what he heard, the Equestria one of Comic's children seems to be "crossed over" with the Marvel Earth Cluster; they shared multiple aspects with "Marvel Earth", but was not connected to it like another of their Equestrias, Equestria-15, is connected to the Midchilda Cluster. Another Equestria that is the 'assigned world' of another of Comic's children has the same predicament, but with the DC Earth Cluster.

The third was Current Headline's unicorn wife, Ivory Diction, and representative of the Toliwis-Aidem branch. Current Headline, Ebony Spell's cousin, is the assigned Field Op for Surfer Dude Equestria, where Sun Bro and Moon Dude rule. She serves as the 'foil' to Current; where he is laid-back she is serious, where she is straightforward he his guileful, and where he lays out the "brilliant" plan she makes the steps. All in all, a somewhat compatible couple.

But you readers probably don't care about the family unless they're gonna be important in the story, right? Moving on…

Once the last of the Branch Heads was on-screen, the meeting could begin. Or it would've were it not for an alert that came in his earpiece. Everybody else saw his face turn into attention that was not focused on anything in his sight, and 'listened in'.

"Lord Keeper, we've got bad news, very bad news, and good news," called the operative.

"Give me the bad."

"We've got a Merc with the Mouth 'screened'. He's making his way to Canterhub as we speak."

"The very bad news?"

"I got word from Field Operative Annals that Princess Celestia of the Solar Empire is about to invade. Again."

"Second time this month," mused Kage.

"It gets worse." Several red alarms shone and klaxons rang. "Corona Blaze is about to breach our 'wall' and is coming here as well."

"And the good news?" asked Record.

"Princess Philomena is coming to visit. Perhaps we could ask for her assistance."

"I plan to do more than that." The family head then turned to the Branch Heads. "This meeting is adjourned. For now, we prepare for battle." With that, the screens were deactivated, and Record 'moved' the communications mirror, emitting the frequency to contact the Lunar Republic. 

The Lunar Republic and the Solar Empire have been at war with each other long before Hub Equestria was even terraformed. It's also unknown how 'Tyrant Celestia' found out about Hub Equestria as Annals did not tell them (voluntarily or through torture, he hasn't even bee found out), but right after that, 'Republican Luna' made contact with Record Keeper and told him of their feud, and that they'll assist him in keeping the Solar Empire out of Hub Equestria's land. Record was still unable to find time to storm Solar Empire Equestria and stop its tyrant ruler for good; while he wanted to be neutral, constant attacks forced him to take sides. And it's very chaotic in Hadithi, at least in the business part of it, so he can't call for their help directly; other Hub worlds might need it more than he. The system is extremely complicated.

The mirror wavered and showed Calyndar, the Field Op assigned there. Blue-violet pegasus, light blue hair tied in a bun both mane and tail, teal eyes. 

"Princess Luna," the pegasus called to one side. "Lord Record's calling."

And then Luna showed up. Republican Luna, just to distinguish from other Princess Lunas. "Is the Solar Empire attacking your world again?" she deadpanned.

"Yeah," the alicorn stallion answered.

"Explains the quiet here. Although we did repel an Alpha Strike from some 'space-farers', called themselves the Komato. Drove them off with their tails between their legs."

Record sighed in relief. The Komato were a warmonger race who travel worlds and destroy them, hunting for another alien race called the Tasen. The former tried to attack Hadithi once, chasing some remnants of the latter. Not one of them returned, though they didn't stop trying. The Book Troop don't like them either. One of the many cross-world organizations that span the multiverse.

"Okay. I'll get the troops mobilized. You just hang tight."

"Will do."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

Elsewhere in Hub Equestria…

Deadpool was whistling to himself as he casually strolled towards Canterhub to do what he was paid to do; assassinate the residing Lord named Thomas Timer.

"No, I'm not! There's no way I'm just gonna stroll there!"

But there are no motorcycles or any other cool vehicles, said one voice in his head. This is a world of ponies! They've got no use for automatic vehicles!

A pity we're possibly a bit out of character, said another voice. This author clearly has no idea how to write us.

Why isn't the author using color for me?! Oh, thanks! Oh, wait! Wrong shade! It's supposed to be darker!

"Chill, guys," said Deadpool as he found something useful. "Oh, wait. I don't say that, do I?"

Like I said. No idea how to write us.

"Eh, whatever. Let's go!" Deadpool managed to assemble some explosives be brought with him. After setting them against a wood panel he found somewhere, then blew them up, sending himself flying. "Whooo!!!"

As he flew in the air, en route to Canterhub, he saw portals open, and out of them came pegasi armed to the teeth with weapons and armor. He did not know it, but they were from the Solar Empire.

"Yo!" he greeted. "I'm lookin' for a Thomas Timer! Any of you know 'im? Supposed to be the Lord of this dump."

"Only Lord I know here is Record Keeper," one of them replied as everypony moved away from Deadpool; they didn't trust any non-pony. However, he looked too dangerous to try and kill right now, with his katanas, and his tiny cannons called 'guns'.

"Oh. Guess I should ask him. Or maybe that's his nickname!"

These are ponies we're talking about, whose names are often just nouns, verbs, adjectives, words you can easily find in a dictionary.

That means Record Keeper is Thomas Timer's name here! I wonder what our pony name would be?

"I don't wanna think about that right now. Maybe later. Oh look! We're about to land!"

Correction, he crashed. Inside a chemical vat. It would take him a while to get out and heal himself completely.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Princess Philomena, who was also dubbed the "phoenix princess" by Record's non-Field Op relatives, stepped out of the portal mirror. She was a red alicorn, with a pure yellow mane that flowed in a non-existent wind, and her wings had orange tips. She had the same kinds of royal trinkets as most Princesses; shoes, necklace, and crown. Her cutie mark depicted a phoenix rising from the ashes.

And outside she could hear chaos. She immediately exited the room, and found a orange dragonling that reminded her of her student's assistant Peewee. He turned around to see her. "Oh good, you're here, Princess Philomena! Lord Record needs help!"

"So I've noticed," she said. "I'm on it!" Casting a spell, Philomena transfigured herself into a phoenix, and quickly sped her way across the town, which had become a war zone. Solar Imperials on one side (identifiable by their golden armor), Hub Equestria's operatives and recruits on the other, with Lunar Republicans (with dark armor) shortly joining the fray via portals.

It amazed and horrified her what Record's subjects could do. One was loading up an advanced version of a catapult to open fire on Imperial pegasi. A non-unicorn used something to teleport themselves away from the Imperials trying to pull her apart…and have an explosive take their her place. A diamond dog was in a contraption shaped like himself but larger that followed his movements. She could understand why Record didn't want to share all this; her world was not ready. And as insurance, thanks to something in this world, she would never bring any of this up to anybody not in the know.

I hope things don't get any worse, she thought to herself. And then a huge portal opened in the sky. And out of it came an alicorn that was reminiscent of her pet phoenix Celestia if she was thoroughly ticked off perpetually. Philomena let off a mental sigh. Rock's right. I should stop tempting fate.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Record Keeper was just finished crushing an Imperial's skull against a wall with his bare hoof. He was in earth pony form, which he was much more comfortable with in battle. He loved fighting (it was in his blood), but he did not like senseless killing. Why couldn't that tyrant just leave me alone?

Unlike most ponies, Record Keeper does not use magic to fight, not even the latent earth pony magic in his current form, not that he knew of any spells they had for combat anyway. Instead, he manipulates a natural life force energy that is made up of "vigor, courage, and being in one's true mind"; ki. He could also use ki for telekinesis and flight, an his body is much more resistant to damage than even an alicorn's; the diadem is merely for the sake of appearances, as well as the feeling of being taller, although he prefers to be as small as possible in combat. Using spells is fun in its own way too.

"Where's that blasted false alicorn?!" a voice familiar to him came. "Too bad he's not an all-loving hero who would risk his life to protect ponies! If only I could get to his relatives…"

Record rolled his eyes. It was Corona Blaze, whom Comic Headline nicknamed the Arson Princess…and the mare who killed Record's brother. He called her Blaze for short, so as to differentiate from the Tyrant Sun, also named Corona, in Luna Equestria. And no, he was not going to use that Princess Bride line on her. He sped his way to where he heard the voice, trusting the Republicans and the Story Crew members under his technical jurisdiction to ward off the Imperials.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Elsewhere, there was pure bloodshed happening, and copious amounts of it was being spilled. Only an extremely skilled or immensely powerful fighter could deliver this much death. It couldn't be Record; his killing blows are often melee and thus wouldn't draw a much blood. It couldn't be Blaze; her carnage would've left charred bodies with any blood opening cauterized. Same goes for Tyrant Celestia, but with less carnage. Republican Luna's were humane like Record's. And Philomena detests killing, but will fight to near-death if necessary.

Come on, Author! We all know who it is!

"So, tell me everything you know about this Record Keeper guy! I'm kinda hired to kill him!" Deadpool was holding up one of the Solar Empire Army's lieutenants. By one of his katanas in the belly. And his wings have already been cut off.

The lieutenant spilled whatever beans he had. Record Keeper was a powerful alicorn. And because he doesn't have the sun or moon as his domain, his abilities don't have a theme, and thus he can be somewhat unpredictable. The ones they've learned so far pertained to utility and combat, and has no elemental preference. He also has an earth pony form, which he is at his most dangerous, moreso than his alicorn form. As an earth pony, he attacks with his bare hooves, is very fast, and only an alicorn can keep up with him in a fight. He also has extremely high resistance to damage in both forms.

Deadpool thanked the lieutenant by getting rid of him. He lost his head when that happened. Then again, the merc had lost it a long time ago.

Don't go confusing the readers, Author. Not even for the sake of a joke.

Well, he is still practicing writing!

I'll admit his grammar and punctuation are spot on for someone like him, but his creativity…

"Voices, shut up!" Deadpool cried out as he cleaned his blades with his suit. "Seriously, I hope he never has to write me again. Now where can I find Record? Ah well, any random direction will have to do." With that, he dashed off in some random direction. Incidentally, it would lead him to where his target would be.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

At the central square of Canterhub, five alicorns were converging, having sensed each other's power. One is a princess with the likeness (and currently, form) of a phoenix. One is a solar tyrant who advocates the superiority of ponykind. One is a lunar ruler who advocates equality in all races with sapience. One is a madmare who torched her world and all of its inhabitants. One is the essential ruler of this world and not really an alicorn.

And one decidedly non-alicorn was about to join in…

The moment the five converged, right before their magic could clash and result in a giant explosion, Record's forces already had something prepared. Due to one previous clash that resulted in millions worth of damage, it's been decided that in the event of more than one alicorn or being of similar potential threat level about to battle one another, they will be transported to a pocket dimension the Story Crew has created/discovered for this situation; the Battle Matrix.

The portal was activated, and it took them all in. And one certain "third party".

The Battle Matrix has been designed to change form and attributes according to the will of those in the Story Crew, and right now that is Record Keeper. He had the Battle Matrix turn into the Earth's moon, complete with what its astronauts have left behind. Of course, as it's a simulation, they're not really there, and Record set the air to breathable, and their spawn points to 'equal distance from each other'.

The two ancient rivals naturally found each other and were beginning to fight bitterly. The phoenix princess faced the great arsonist, the former reverting to her default alicorn form as she fought fire with fire. Record was about to assist Philomena when he sensed a bullet come his way and jerked his head to dodge it…as well as a flurry of more.

He turned to see a certain red-and-black humanoid holding twin pistols, has twin katanas sheathed at his back, and a daring look through that mask of his. "Ciao!" Deadpool greeted.

There was only one reason Deadpool would try to kill someone like him. "Someone hired you to kill me?" Record guessed.

"Why? Think you can one-up the offer? 'Cause I'd love to fight you, anyway."

Record frowned as he wondered what to do; he obviously doesn't want to die, at least not some mercenary (even one like Deadpool) all because of a contract, but he's not sure if he could/should 'use' the Merc to help him fight off the two solar madmares.

"Sorry, but you'll have to get through two others who might steal your contract. They're out to kill me too." And with that, he took off straight for Corona Blaze. He did not fear burning; even like this he can physically withstand anything she can throw at him, it's mentally handling the eventual stress of prolonged fighting that's the problem.

"Oh no you don't!" said Deadpool as he went after his mark.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


It would be promised later that nobody talk about the Deadpool incident, because what happened after was something nobody wanted to talk about. Prior to the incident, Record was known to always fight head-on, using only himself, his abilities, any devices with him, and allies he can count on in a fight, no matter the enemy's tricks. Not once has he ever demonstrated any sort of guile. In this one, he used an 'enemy' who was after him to deal with another enemy after him; not only was it a guileful act, what he did that time was something the higher-ups in the Story Crew frowned at; intentionally getting those from 'target worlds' involved with one another.

He sped over to Corona Blaze, but Deadpool landed on him…and used him as a stepping stone to get to the arsonist. She tried to roast him, but he just laughed the entire time as he attempted to ride her, somehow pulling at her flaming mane. He 'drove' her right into the feuding sisters, crashing into the elder of the two. Record advised Republican Luna to move back while Deadpool burned himself as he scuffled with their opponents.

"Are you sure he'll be fine?" Philomena asked as she, Republican Luna, and Record watched Deadpool burn. His clothes, his skin, and he's still fighting and quipping without a care in the world. It also almost induced them to vomit.

"Don't worry. We know this Deadpool guy," Record assured. "He has regenerative powers so powerful he cannot die, and he's so completely bonkers it makes Princess Pinkie Pie seem completely mundane. The fact she isn't a killer helps too."

"Should we not assist him?" Republican Luna asked.

"He's kind of after me. Apparently, somebody hired him to kill me. Thankfully, in spite of his nuttiness, he can be negotiated with. We just need to get rid of—"

"Incoming!" Deadpool screamed as he was riding Tyrant Celestia and heading their way.

The two good-aligned Princesses moved out of the way, but Record got himself in position…and clotheslined the tyrant, while also blocking Deadpool's katana with a single hoof. Hooves are tougher than hands, and Record was one tough fighter. "Come on, Record!" the Merc said as he followed up with additional slashes while Republican Luna closed in on her sister. "Arent'cha gonna turn your hair gold or somethin'?"

"Don't need to for the likes of you," Record replied as he deftly deflected the swords by the sides. While his body can withstand blades so that they can't even cut deep, his nerves cry out when they slice at him; he's just very good at ignoring all but the blows that reach building-leveling levels and beyond.

And then a torrent of fire came up from behind Deadpool, consuming him and almost consuming Record as well were it not for his timely evading.

"You insolent—" Corona Blaze began.

She was cut off by a couple of spheres of energy from Record, and it felt like he had just punched her. That was because the spheres were generated from Record's ki; a magic attack would've had a distinct difference in feeling and effectiveness.

This also cancelled the fire spell she was using on Deadpool, allowing him to fall to the floor. Thanks to his healing factor, he was back on his feet in an instant.

"Hey! No stealing my contract!" The Merc then leaped right for Blaze, used a teleporter device on his person to dodge the incoming fireball, and landed on her back. "Do I even ride like this? Who cares?" He took out his katanas and was about to drive them into the madmare's neck when she teleported away, leaving him to fall again.

She emerged right behind Record, who immediately sensed her (from the heat as well as his instincts) and brought his head back to butt her with it, then followed with a left hook, and then a right.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


The rest of the fight went solidly to the side of good after that; Tyrant Celestia managed to locate their point of entry and found a way to teleport out of the Battle Matrix. She would then order her forces to fall back, as even she knew the battle was lost. That left Blaze alone with Record and his allies. And the wild card Deadpool. After completely demolishing her, she decided to teleport back to her world…somehow taking Deadpool with her in the process.

Record was relieved after that and—in spite of her objections—asked the Lunar Republic to return to their world, even as its Princess wanted to assist in the cleanup. Princess Philomena was asked to return too, as she had duties to her Equestria. As for him, he'll give his report to the higher-ups in the Story Crew about the incident, ending it with a request to find out who paid Deadpool and to get it off of him. He also decided to leave out his act of guile, which could get him in trouble, and had everyone involved promise not to mention the whole thing. He didn't make it a Princess Pinkie Promise, though; he will not involve her in anything if he can help it.

It was difficult being Lord Record Keeper. But this was the task he was given, and he was going to perform it to the best of his ability while maintaining peace.
> Secret of My Excess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secret of My Excess

Dreamscape…

Chronicle looked like he was meditating again, but instead of clearing his mind or reminiscing, he was thinking of possible activities he can do with Fluttershy on a date that does not involve animals. She seriously has to start leaving her comfort zone more often, and not just when in a pinch.

Just then, thanks to previous 'surprise visits' from his relatives (and Princess Luna), he sensed intruders in his dream. Seven of them. In front of him were four ponies, one dragon, and one griffon.

Two of the ponies were pegasi. One was relatively small, with short platinum blond hair, a white coat, black irises in his eyes, a cutie mark depicting a rabbit about to box, and an intimidating expression. The other was a bit stocky though otherwise average, dark green coat, similarly-colored hair, eyes of a lighter shade, an abstract cutie mark describing his 'slow and steady' outlook in life, which was also shown in his face.

The other two ponies were the only females in the group. One was an elegant white unicorn with purple eyeshadow, green eyes, purple hair with lighter shadings, a bow on the base of her tail, a cutie mark depicting a particular gem, and she held her head high. The other was a deep brown earth pony with white freckles and splotches (kinda like Pipsqueak in that regard), ruffled hair of a lighter shade, hazel eyes, a red neckerchief, a cutie mark pertaining to herding, and a happy-go-lucky demeanor. 

What he thought was a dragon was actually a kirin; a dragon-pony hybrid, the type of child that would be born if Spike successfully managed to win Rarity's heart and they actually… well, he didn't need to say it. This kirin evidently had an earth pony mother. His coat/scales was light green, his hair were a lighter shade and a little curly, his eyes were purple with slight slits, his cutie mark was so abstract Chronicle couldn't figure out its meaning, and looked both expressionless and quirky.

The griffon looked like an intellectual, of which Chronicle had met very few of in his travels. He had pince-nez glasses on the bridge of his beak, dark brown eyes, fur of a similar shade in his lion half, plumage of a lighter shade in his bird half (which markedly didn't look eagle-like), huge bushy eyebrows, and his talons had the feel of magic-use.

The sight of these six were almost enough for the seventh intruder to attack him from behind. Almost. The blue unicorn leaped in a back-flip… dodging (and seeing) a pony-sized ball of iron roll under him. As he landed, the ball turned around and made to charge him again. Chronicle drew his "horn blade", then flash-sidestepped just as the ball reached him—and he phase-slashed through it. He could slice the ball in half, but if this was one of his relatives, that would be a terrible idea, even if that relative would simply wake up in their dreamscape.

The six vanished as if they were an illusion, and the ball flashed and in its place was an earth pony stallion. His coat was dusty brown, his hair very short and of a darker shade, his eyes choco brown, his hooves and snout colored like that of skin (under a pony's coat), and the trademark Story Crew emblem as his cutie mark.

"Your instincts haven't dulled, cousin," he coughed.

"Actually, they have. I just resharpened them."

"I see." The earth pony got up, and Chronicle finally noticed the pieces of armor he had…and they were seemingly familiar. The visitor noticed. "Oh, in case you don't know, this is my Armadillo Armor. Turns me into a sphere I can manipulate and move around in."

"Let me guess… Those six are your world's Spirits of Harmony."

"Um, yes?"

"Would the Princess of that their world be named Philomena by any chance?"

"Um, yes."

"Is your name Rock?"

"Actually, its's Rokuban, but Rock is the name I go by."

What happened next was unexpected from both of them; Chronicle laughed a laugh that seemed to imply he wanted to groan. "Oh, I can't believe it! I think I can already guess your friends' names! Owlowiscious, Winona, Tank, Opalescence, Angel, and Gummy."

It surprised Rock. "That's…spot-on, although it's actually Aloysius, pronounced allo-wishus. Close enough, though. And what's with that laugh? I'm confused."

The mirth was just passing from the unicorn's face. "It's just that those are the names of my friends' pets. And the name you go by happens to be the name of my pet armadillo!" And then it came back as he started to laugh again.

A drop of sweat went down Rock's head. "Oh. That's a very freaky coincidence."

"I think my twin sister and I said as much."

"Okay. I'm guessing you want to know the pets of my friends?"

"Don't give me the names. I'm sure I can tell."

"All right. Aloysius has an owl with purple plumage, Winona has a very dependable farm dog, Gummy has this hyper baby alligator with pink scales, Opal has a slender-looking white cat, Angel has a sweet and shy bunny, and Tank's just got a very unique flying squirrel."

Chronicle raised an eyebrow at the mention of the flying squirrel, but thought it understandable. He also finally stopped laughing. "And have you got a pet yet?" 'Cause you'll probably get one someday and name it after me. It'll be freaky when that happens.

"No. Anyway…" Rock's face turned serious. "I came to tell you about a big situation. Some of our cousins (second onwards) have made a Contract, became an P-Magum: Type QB-Con and were pulled out."

"Darn it. Should've seen it the moment I saw that A-E Incubator in my world." 

"No use worrying about it now."

P-Magum was the Story Crew's designation for what their client worlds call 'magical girl', although the designation qualifies for boys too. P-Magum: Type QB-Con stands for those who made a Contract with an A-E Incubator, who are regarded as top threats. At least when target worlds are involved, anyway.

(Turns out, Chronicle was actually a little outdated on how the Story Crew dealt with A-E Incubators, as 'seen' during his conversation with one (as was that Incubator). They no longer/never really stopped the little ███████ every step of the way. In fact, some divisions of the Story Crew make do with any of their members who are about to/have become P-Magum: Type QB-Cons by a series of rules ad regulations; the A-E Incubators ultimately mean well after all, and the Story Crew always compromise when certain inevitabilities arise.)

Chronicle's mother and sister are magic-users, but they lack some unidentified traits that would make them count as P-Magum. On the other hoof, all bearers of the Elements of Harmony and other parallels of them are regarded as P-Magum as well; P-Magum: Type EOH, so named after the Elements of Harmony. 

A few other P-Magum known to them are Type LinkR-C, which Bright Pact of Lyrical Equestria has become as well as its resident Twilight Sparkle(-15), Type Trink-F, who need to transform using special trinkets to fight (which Type QB-Con is a subcategory of), Type IS, which are used by those who just wish to be idol singers (and is another subcategory of Type Trink-F), Type I-Temu, who already have the power within but need a trinket to use it (which Type EOH is a subcategory of), and Type In-8, where they are naturally able to use their magic powers. The difference between a Type In-8 and a standard magic-user is that for the former, either their species or those they're 'living' with has to normally be non-magic users.

Chronicle bonked himself at the side of his head; now was not the time to be thinking of such things.

"The Incubators have been spreading to this cluster, though Record has managed to keep them out of the 'main' worlds, which ours, your siblings, and my siblings thankfully fall under. Mainly, this means extreme measures like 'forced recruitment' of P-Magum: Type QB-Cons, covert termination of their…evolved forms, and Incubator hunting. And let me tell you that the last of them is really difficult as few can even see them unaided."

Rock lowered his head at the mention of 'forced recruitment'; that was something the Story Crew never want to do to increase their number. Their usual methods for that are their standard recruitment procedure, and childbirth between two of its members. 'Forced recruitment' involves arranging the 'departure' of the recruited that ends in an unsolved missing persons case or a "never found the body" accident, all of which still have a chance of somebody getting suspicious, more so than in a standard recruitment. There'll be a lot of therapy, mind alterations, and is a general headache for those who have to clean up after, not to mention the temptation to keep doing it.

"All right. Is there anything I can do about it?" Chronicle finally asked. "Because this burden is not really the type to share with someone who's helpless to it."

"We Field Operatives have been granted a new device for dealing with A-E Incubators. You'll find them in your hammerspace pocket. They will help you in our new additional task; prevent the Incubators from making Puella Magi out of the Spirits of Harmony at all costs." Rock procured a sphere akin to a Surveillance camera, but green. "This is a Proxi-Turret, currently programmed to stealth-kill any nearby Incubators and nothing else. Install it just like you would Surveillance. There is also an item that will install the Radar feature in it. Right now, it's set to find any and all Incubators in a radius that would encompass Ponyville if you were in the center."

"Got it."

"In addition, you can now check Surveillance without taking out the monitor. An item to install that feature is also provided, complete with quick guide. If you have the experience, you can try fiddling with Surveillance to suit your other needs, but if it gets damaged, you'll be held responible. "

"All right, all right. Anything else?"

"Nope. That'll be it." Rock then saluted and urged his cousin to do the same. "Best of luck to us all."

"Likewise."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


-Now Playing:  Shining Days (TV Size) by Minami Kuribayashi-

{fade from white to four quick shots in succession; split scene of Twilight Sparkle and Rarity in their respective workplaces with Spike in the middle of the split looking cool, then of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flying together (with Skyla peeking behind a cloud), then of Applejack and Pinkie Pie baking dishes baked in pastry-lined pans together, then of Mystic Shield and Chronicle in battle stances together}

{cut to a white background, after which the Elements of Harmony appear; slow pan to the right as silhouettes of its bearers colored in their coats appear in reverse order of their 'realizing'}

{(Twilight's cutie mark) star wipe to a shot of Ponyville, with the show's title in front, which has an added yellow box above reading "Shisno Chronicles"; after a few seconds, the title begins to fade; cut to a short shot of the midday sky}

aozora ippai ni watashitachi no omoi ga 

{slow pan to the right to a lone tree in the part as it shows Twilight reading a book underneath it}

chiribame rarete yuku

{cut to an overhead shot of the clearing, which not only has the tree, but the rest of Twilight's friends and their friends doing miscellaneous activities}

unmei no hito ga

{background is of a Ponyville street, a 'box' showing Pinkie Pie is at the left side and Twilight is at the right looking befuddled; pony in 'box' changes to Applejack, and Twilight's expression changes to one of trust}

anata nara ii no ni

{Spike is now in the 'box', and Twilight's expression turns to loving; and then the 'box' has Chronicle, and her expression is now an "I'm counting on you" smile}

genjitsu wa

{cut to Pinkie somehow catching up to a speeding Rainbow with her flying contraption, then to Rarity fitting a dress on Applejack}

umaku yukanai

{cut to Skyla talking with Mystic Shield as they walk down a street, then to Moonbow Peek looking through her crystal ball; then to Fluttershy using the Stare towards the 'camera', cut to a front view of Chronicle reeling back and falling over, then of the two at the edge of the Everfree Forest as she (who has just followed through a punch!) quickly apologizes as he gets up}

hikaru kaze no naka

{slow pan right at Sweet Apple Acres, where Granny Smith is sleeping at a rocking chair with a resting Big Macintosh; fade to inside Zecora's hut, where the zebra is mixing up a (non-glowing!) brew in her cauldron}

yume no hane maioriru yo

{fade to a split scene of the Cakes at work and their twin children sleeping together; fade again to Cheerilee teaching class; a flurry of spinning daisies coming from the left serve as the screen transition}

yuuki dashite mirai e

{at their treehouse, the Cutie Mark Crusaders to a high hoof as they prepare for their next escapade}

sou utsukushiku

{two hooves join together, then the Gemini twins converge as they cast a blinding spell; spell fades to show them and some of Mystic's students, among them Dinky, Pokey Pierce, Lyra Heartstrings, Written Script, Twinkleshine, and Morpheus}

{a rainbow forms in the sky as it shifts from day to night then day again}

ugokida su 

{zoom out from Spike's face as it reveals him looking straight ahead on a cliff-side with Rarity and Twilight on either side}

atsui kodou ga

{fade to Rainbow and Applejack in horizontal split-screen as they both perform their jobs (weather managing and applebucking)}

ano hi to onaji

{fade to the afternoon in the Forest's edge as Chronicle shields against a yellow hoof, then gives a smile of pride to Fluttershy as she smiles and blushes}

hayasa wo kizamu yo

{cut to a rose red backdrop as Pinkie dances like a ballerina as "chibi" versions of her appear near the four corners of the screen and do cartoon stuff (wobble legs mid-air, inflate self, zip from one side of the screen to the other and wave at the camera}

massugu na

{cut to a starry background, then zoom out to reveal it as Princess Luna's mane as she stands beside her sister Celestia}

manazashi ga suki

{cut to the following 'snippets'; a glimpse of the Elements of Harmony in their accessory forms, Chronicle summoning magical clones at either side of him, Pinkie firing her party cannon, then Rainbow successfully pulling off her Sonic Rainboom, flash to white}

zutto mite itai

{fade to a zoom out of Twilight, her assistant, and her bodyguard, then cut to the rest of her and Chronicle's friends, then cut and quick-zoom out to reveal some of Ponyville's 'notables' plus the Princesses and the Wonderbolts}

{flash to instant shots of each of the Elements being worn by their Bearers in order of their 'realizing', ending with the honorary Element; then switch to the main characters standing together behind a white backdrop}

End Song


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

"Author! Is this another opening?"

Yes. In the style of an animé titled Mai-HiME. I kinda regret not being able to describe your contraption, which has only had one sighting in the show that featured Gilda. In my story, Chronicle was meeting up with Mystic Shield for the first time. I plan to use this same format in my KHR series, so this'll be a time-saver.

"Okay…"

I planned on doing a pan-down on Ponyville's citizens at the part where I decided to put Mystic's students instead, but that was before I even wrote "Suited For Success", in which I was hoping I could request a commission for someone to draw a Gala suit for Chronicle before I decided to make it a Tuxedo Mask expy, but I already said that at the end notes of that chapter, didn't I?

"You did."

And it just felt…unnecessary. Then again, so is this opening. And now I'll proceed with the standard story. After all, you readers aren't after my Story Crew exposition crap, but Chronicle's cover life as self-proclaimed guardian of the Elements… and coltfriend of one of them.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

A few days later…

It was difficult juggling his 'normal life' with his Field Operative duties, and so Chronicle was glad nothing of interest happened during the interim. His worry unfortunately did distract him in his thoughts, and it resulted in a few complications between him and Fluttershy. He went a bit too far in one of his bravery sessions with her and got a full-on Stare for it. Both of them regretted it and he put their sessions on hold as a result for a few days.

At present, he was just waking up from bed. Letting out a yawn, he walked over to Twilight's vanity and began brushing his mane. Once he was done with that, he went to the bathroom to wash his face, lifting the water with telekinesis. He then took a bath, brushed his teeth, the usual morning stuff. He also noticed Spike take out a red gem from a stash somewhere as he got his coffee, giggling as he went down the stairs. 

It still boggled Chronicle a bit that every single house in Equestria was bigger on the inside, just like Doctor Whooves's—sorry, Time Turner's—oh wait, it's actually Doctor Whooves's—TARDIS. Twilight explained to him that a tesseract spell is involved in the construction of houses. She also said they're actually quite easy to perform, but he doesn't plan on learning it.

And then he heard a crash of sorts downstairs. He immediately went down, and saw that every single book was down on the floor of the reading room, all in a mess. There were unlit candles in the area and the curtains were closed. His charge Twilight Sparkle popped out of one of the piles, one book impaled on her horn. Luckily, it wasn't anything that couldn't be replaced at the book shop. 

She was obviously doing her bi-weekly re-shelving day. Usually, during this day, either Spike is preoccupied with something else (be it an errand or trying to advance on Rarity) or is being forced to behave by Chronicle, who knows not to disturb her. This wasn't one of those times.

The bodyguard was now standing next to said dragon, and he got a good look at what he was holding. The red gem was heart-shaped. And judging by its other distinct features he couldn't name, it was an elemental-type gem, few of which existed in Equestria. Chronicle had one such gem as well; a thunder topaz, which he had forged (not personally, of course, but with the services of a smith) into an elemental Thunder ring when he was in Canterlot with Rarity during the week before Twilight's birthday.

"Spike, what are you laughing at?" his charge demanded.

"This little beauty is my birthday present to myself!" Spike said as he looked at his reflection in one of the gem's facets. "It’s a fire ruby!" He then held out a tuning fork. "I’ve been aging it for months, and it’s almost ripe!"

A tap of the fork against the gem caused both to sound off at exactly the same frequency and he giggled at the result. When he started downstairs, one foot slipped on an open tome and he dropped all the way down, losing both items. Up came the end of his tail to balance the fire ruby upside-down on its point. Once he uncovered his eyes and found disaster averted, he looked happily around the mess.

"Hey! You took my advice!" He stood up and chuckled. "Just use the whole floor as one big shelf."

As Twilight looked daggers across the room and snarled threateningly at her self-satisfied assistant, Chronicle said, "Bad idea, especially for a public library, let's not forget that little detail." He went down the stairs and proceeded with fixing up the books into piles to make it easier for her to re-shelf. He didn't know which shelves they belonged to, and Twilight still hadn't worked on using a card catalog system. Just what will it take to convince her?

A few seconds later, as he noticed Spike busy himself polish his fire ruby, he then heard a familiar voice. "Helloooo?" It was Rarity, and she opened the front door far enough to fit her head in. "Anypony home? Twilight?" Her eyes then popped and she sucked in a sharp gasp while throwing the door fully open, looking at Spike.

"Is that a fire ruby?" She rushed over and leaned in close enough to be reflected in its surface, and gave a delighted sigh. "That must be at least twenty carats! No inclusions…pristine facets…"

"And totally delicious!" Spike finished.

Meanwhile, Twilight was floating books around, some from the piled Chronicle made. She had since removed the one from her horn and had given it to her bodyguard for his practice range; it was already broken beyond repair. "Uh, if you guys don’t mind?" she said in mild annoyance.

"Oh! Uh…of course." Rarity walked across the room. Uh, I just came by to see if you had any books on historical fashion." As she said that, Spike ran a claw over the gem’s surface and licked it to gauge the taste. And then she realized what Spike had said and was very puzzled. "Did you say “delicious”?"

"Sure did! Next week’s my birthday—" The baby dragon began to walk off. "—and this is my birthday dinner." 

Twilight walked over, floating books and sending one to Rarity. "Start with this one."

It was promptly opened. "Thanks, Twilight."

The violet unicorn returned to bringing up other tomes and filing them away. Chronicle on the other hoof was done with making neat piles out of the book and took out his elemental Thunder ring, which is meant to be worn on his horn.

"I’ve got a feeling ruffled taffeta capes are going to make a huge comeback this season—" She was now flipping pages and reading the book intently. "—and I want to be ahead of the game." She lost a bit of steam on the end of this, having glanced enviously back to find Spike cradling his prize ruby. As she clamped her teeth onto her foreleg to hold herself in check, she looked behind her to see an open box that sat next to the birthday-next-week dragon. This box was filled with padding that had a cutout to hold the ruby, and he nestled it in place. "I hope it’s as tasty as it is beautiful, Spike," she said. "I have never seen anything quite so stunning before."

Poise and grace won against covetousness, but disappointment started to creep over her face as he lifted the ruby back out and eyed it. "Gosh. You really like it, huh?" he said.

"Like it? It’s…magnificent!"

The lovestruck baby dragon looked at her as she lowered her eyelids and gave a gentle smile. After a bit of eyelash-batting on her part, reality reasserted itself in the library and he sighed heavily, eyeing his pride and joy. "Then you should have it." He pulled up one of her front hooves gently toward himself and set the ruby on it. "This beautiful gem was meant to be with you."

The white unicorn lifted it wonderingly, then floated it up with shining eyes. "I don’t know what to say!" Spike cringed a bit as she circled around him. "This is so thoughtful. Oh, my little Spikey-wikey!" She leaned in to plant a kiss on his left cheek, leaving a prominent lipstick print and snapping him upright. He toppled backward to the floor as if he were a two-by-four, hearts floating up from the spot where he fell. 

Meanwhile, Twilight kept inspecting books, while Chronicle wondered what kind of lipstick Rarity was wearing, since he saw none. And since it left a smudge, it couldn't be high quality, and he can't imagine Rarity settling for anything less whenever possible.

Said unicorn hopped across with ruby as she said, "Thank you so much!"

Twilight and her bodyguard had witnessed the scene and she commended, "Wow, Spike! That’s one of the kindest, most generous things you’ve ever done. I’ve never seen Rarity so happy."

Spike wasn't listening as he dreamily touched his face. "I will never wash this cheek again."

"I hope you don't really mean that," said Chronicle as the dragon went limp with a blissful little chuckle. 


C—TS—S—R—C—TS—S—R—C—TS—S—R


Next week…

It was Spike's birthday today, and the ground floor was decorated accordingly. The unicorn head bust on the center table had a party hat set on the horn, and a cake, among many goodies, rested next to it. Naturally, the shelves behind the table have since been fixed and filled with books. 

Twilight was levitating a table across the confetti/streamer-strewn floor to the wall. A full punchbowl and several cups were brought down onto this. She gave the bowl’s ladle a tweak to place it just so, then looked across the room to look at more streamers strung up over the bookshelves. Chronicle was currently on his way back from…somewhere, bringing his present for Spike.

"Just about finished, Spike?" she asked. Said birthday dragon was on the bookshelf ladder’s top rung and tacking up more decorations. "Everypony will be here soon."

"There! Perfect!" By then, they were finished; plenty of balloons, streamers, and side tables loaded with sweet stuff. "Everything looks perfect!" Spike began to climb down. 

"Not quite everything," his 'boss' corrected as he reached the bottom. As she neared him, she levitated and passed him— 

"A washcloth? I don’t get it." She just gave him a hard, cocked-eyebrow glare and leaned her face down into his. He dropped the cloth and backed off a few steps. "Aw, no way, Twilight! I said I wasn’t gonna wash the cheek that Rarity kissed, and I meant it!" He turned his head defiantly away, showing his other cheek. It did still bear the print from Rarity’s kiss, but a considerable amount of grunge had since accumulated.

Twilight responded with a determined smile, floating the cloth up and pawing the floor. He flicked one unsettled eye her way and broke into a run. "It’s over, Spike! I’m cleaning that cheek!" she said as she sent the cloth ahead. She followed up with a teleport spell on Spike, bringing her to him. However, his still running (and yelling crazily) prevented her from wiping his cheek. To minimize obstructions, she banished all the tables for the time being.

"It’s mine! Stop it!"

"Never!"

"Twilight…!"

The next teleport brought her a genuine surprise. Instead of Spike as usual, the one who emerged was Pinkie Pie, who had a party horn in her mouth, which she blew loudly before zipping away to stop near where Spike reappeared. "Happy birthday!" she said as she threw confetti and streamers. As soon as she backed off, Twilight seized the opportunity and plied the washcloth on Spike’s cheek, scrubbing the crud off in a heartbeat. "Party time! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!"

By then, everybody else was now inside the library. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Chronicle. All but Rainbow held wrapped presents in their teeth by the ribbons, while the last carried a dumbbell tied with a bow.

"Are those…for me?" Spike asked. 

"Duh," said the only stallion as he rolled his eyes.

Applejack walked by, tossing her gift into his arms. "You bet they are, birthday boy."

Fluttershy also walked by, setting hers on top. "Happy birthday, Spike."

Rarity’s present was next on the stack, followed by one from Pinkie, the one from Chronicle, and finally Rainbow’s dumbbell. This last item was the one that overloaded his arms and sent him to the floor. Spike then regarded the now-slightly-crushed boxes with some confusion. Applejack and Fluttershy traded an equally puzzled shrug as Pinkie looked on, Chronicle waited expectantly, and Rainbow descended to the quartet.

"Don’t you know you get presents on your birthday?" asked the Spirit of Loyalty as her 'temporary substitute' (as Chronicle amusingly saw through Surveillance) stood up.

"Well, actually, this is my first birthday in Ponyville." He then added a bit grumpily, "I usually just get one present—from Twilight—a book. At least Chronicle gave me a haul of gems."

Right on cue, down the stairs she came, floating a beribboned manuscript. Surprised at his words, she hid it behind herself and backed off with a blush and a sheepish grin. Literally, in this case, as a sheep’s bleat was heard as she did so. Chronicle would later find out that one of the sheep in Applejack's farm made her way to his training range and was eating some of his hay bales there.

At this time, Rarity put on a gold necklace set with the fire ruby he gave her, which was now positioned as a right-side-up heart. "Speaking of presents…" She levitated a bright pink cape out from behind herself. It had a ruffled collar in dark magenta, with lighter accents and a silver clasp. "…this is from my new line of taffeta capes. I’m gonna make one for each of you." Everypony voiced their appreciation for the garment in response to that. "I’ve been inspired by the generosity of my little Spikey-wikey, who gave me this beautiful fire ruby—one of the kindest acts I’ve ever experienced."

Spike went a bit limp on his feet and let a goofy, tongue-hanging smile steal across his face. Rarity nuzzled his cheek with a blissful little sigh, and then everypony had party hats placed on their heads by Pinkie as the birthday celebration began.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP


Later…

The reading room floor was now littered with presents, discarded boxes, and scraps of wrapping paper as Spike poked his head through the bottom of one box and pulled out a green checked blanket with an apple pattern; the same gift Chronicle received from Applejack during his birthday.

"Applejack, I can’t thank you enough for this great blanket." Said pony was eating an apple as he jumped up to hug her. "I really needed a new one."

"Come on, Spike. You already thanked me fifteen times." She pushed him off gently. "I’m startin’ to get a little embarrassed."

"I know I keep thanking you guys, but I’m just so grateful. I wish this party could last forever." 

During this sentence, Pinkie was jumping on a balloon and she popped it, a party favor in her mouth. "Duh!" she said as the party favor fell off. She then knocked Twilight and Applejack aside on her way to him. "The party can’t last forever ’cause you have to go to Sugarcube Corner, ’cause the Cakes said they have a special surprise for you, ’cause it’s your birthday!" At the end of this, she had leaned a bit too far over the pile of gifts and ended up on the floor.

"No way!" Spike bolted for the open door.

"I said the party couldn’t last forever, but it doesn’t need to end right now!"

Paying no mind at all, he ran off then shut the door behind himself.

Why do I get the feeling something's gonna happen? Chronicle mused, then recalled a fortune Moonbow Peek read to him on his way back to Ponyville with his present for Spike.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"One of your friends' acts of generosity will lead to fueling their own greed," she had said as they sat inside her fortunetelling tent. "And it will reach a gargantuan level before it is finally quelled by one act of defiance."

"That fortune's obscure and a little confusing," he had commented after hearing it.

"The perils of being a fortuneteller."

"You didn't even specify a gender."

"That'll be fifteen bits."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


I wonder if Spike is who she meant? But if the fortune's right, I can't stop it early. But what can I do?

"Hey, Chronicle! No sad faces!" He then realized that Pinkie was now in front of him and immediately shrugged off his pondering.

"Sorry, Pinkie. It's just that…I visited a fortuneteller friend of mine before Spike's birthday."

"Aw, come on! You really believe in those phonies?"

"She never gave reason to doubt, and even turns away those who just want to hear something good when she has none for them. Also, you are kind of a fortune teller with that Pinkie Sense of yours."

"I don't get it, but… point taken."

"Besides, she already predicted two great things correctly. Like the Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration, and even Discord's release. It was only when I reflected back on them did I realize she really was on the level."

"Really? Let us see!"

"Oh, all right."

Pinkie turned to the others. "Come on, girls! Chronicle has something to show us!"

He wasn't going for that, but decided it wasn't a bad thing. "…okay."


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP


After he finished showing via Surveillance the fortunes Moonbow read to him…

"I don't believe it. There was another prophecy?" gasped Twilight.

"I know, right? I didn't give it that much thought either." Chronicle then quoted Moonbow's fortune. "…she must accept the one thing she has been constantly shoving away." 

"She was talking about me making friends."

"Mm-hmm."

"And to think she managed to predict Discord's release, too, huh?"

"Yup. Down to my vendetta."

"Come to think of it, I did see her before," commented Rarity. "You introduced me to her, right?"

"Right."

"When was that?" asked Fluttershy.

"The week before Twilight's birthday. When Rarity and I went to Canterlot. For different reasons, of course."

"Now that I remember, her name was Moonbow Peek," said Rarity. "And judging from her cloak, I think she's—"

The stallion immediately cut her off by planting a hoof in her mouth. "—actually a bona fide seer and not some charlatan like so many fortunetellers." He knows Rarity's critical eye might easily tell somepony's race, no matter their garb. And he doesn't want anyone to know that Moonbow's not a unicorn at all, which most fortunetellers are. Well, there was the earth pony Pinkie Pie, but she has an excuse; she's Pinkie Pie.

"Is there somethin' you're not tellin' us about this Moonbow?" suspected Rainbow.

"Why, yes. I respect her secret, and I won't betray it by telling others about it or letting others who figured it out on their own tell about it."

"It's okay," said Pinkie. "We all understand the importance of a secret." She then pointedly stared at the others. "Right, girls?" Everypony nodded their heads vigorously.

Rarity then approached Chronicle, leaned her head towards him, and whispered, "So, is Moonbow a pegasus or an earth pony?"

"I'll let Moonbow reveal that when she wants to, but only then."

"But why does she hide who she is?"

"Haven't asked her. Never thought it important to know." Actually, he knew why, but he promised not to tell.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP


I think I want to skip ahead to the next day.

"Why?"

Got no good filler to fit in the story. Sorry.

"Yeah. I think you put in too much in the dreamscape segment. Are all of your chapters from this point on gonna start with one?"

I can't say for sure. And I don't want to guarantee it either.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


The next day…

At the crow of the rooster, Twilight shifted position a bit to get away from the brightening sunbeams before finally deciding to get up from bed, stretching as she did so. "Wow. What a rough night’s sleep, Spike." She leaned over the hoofboard, laughing a bit. "I had the weirdest drea—" Her eyes bugged out as she looked at where Spike's bed was located, which was currently between her own and Chronicle's, having usually been set next to the latter. 

Understandably, she was needled at this as she began to levitate the items away. "I can’t believe you! Where'd you get all this—" She cut herself off with a sharp gasp, letting everything crash back down as she looked at the baby dragon’s basket. The problem was that the dragon was no longer a baby; Spike had grown to perhaps twice his length, his arms and legs much longer than before and hanging over the sides. He was wearing a white hat with a red feather, and he sat up with a hissing yawn to look Twilight straight in the eye.

"What happened?" he asked as he rubbed his head as her face rearranged itself into a genuinely horrified grimace. She would shortly wake Chronicle, who normally woke an hour or three after sunrise. He was still a bit of a late riser.


TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Spike's hoard on the left, and Twilight Sparkle in bed on the right. The show's logo is seen on the bottom right.


TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S


The gangly Spike was now standing up and regarding himself with justifiable trepidation, now down from the loft.

"What’s happening to me, Twilight?" he asked as she read frantically at the other side of the room, while he started trying to pull the now-too-small fedora off his head. As for Chronicle, he just stood away from his bed and looked at Spike, wondering to himself what he could do in this situation.

"I don’t know! Think back to last night. Did something happen?"

After pulling off the hat, he inspected himself, flexed the fingers of one hand, then let his mind roam free as he looked around the room in a daze, his tongue lolled out. Twilight managed to notice and went to his face. 

"Spike? What did you do after I saw you?" 

The dragon immediately clapped his head. "Well, I went to talk to…" He trailed off as he looked at a large globe sitting across the room and moved dreamily toward this.

"Spike!" She yanked it away after seeing him toy with it instead of listening, making him fall over.

"Huh?" 

"You went to talk to who?" 

Spike got up. "Oh, um…I don’t remember. Hey, can I have that globe? You’re not using it, right?" Without asking, he reached up and grabbed it.

"Huh?"

He then forwent the stairs in favor of climbing up over the loft’s edge, the globe held by its support in his tail, and added it to his stash. He then took a book from the shelves. "What about this book?"

Twilight teleported up atop the globe and levitated the book toward the ceiling while he kept his grip on it. "Spike, I’m worried about you. You’re usually not so…grabby." The book was yanked free, but he pulled it down again.

"My arms aren’t usually this long, either." His voice deepened considerably on the second half of this sentence, prompting him to clap both hands over his mouth. Two purple eyes send a very hard glare down toward him, while two brown eyes sent a look of concern and worry. "What’s happening to me?"

As Twilight rubbed her chin, thinking hard, her bodyguard was thinking, Could this be…


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S


Option 1…

The three went to Ponyville's pediatrician, which was run by a pony named Doc Top. At present, they were inside the examination room, which had a butterfly wallpaper. There was also a bowl of lollipops for the foals.

Spike sat on the elevated table, Twilight on her haunches by its end, and Chronicle standing next to his charge. The dragon reached for the candy, only to get his hand slapped away before Doc Top arrived. Khaki earth pony stallion, fluffy orange hair, green eyes, a cutie mark depicting a white doctor’s bag and stethoscope, dressed in a white coat, a reflector around his forehead, a stethoscope around his neck, and small round glasses.

"Well, now, what seems to be the problem?" Doc Top asked as Spike reached toward a jar of tongue depressors.

"This is Spike," Twilight answered as she slapped her assistant's hand. "And something’s wrong with him." Another slap. "He used to be half this size, and he keeps trying to take things that aren’t…" Yet another slap. "…his!"

"All right, then, let’s just have a look-see, shall we?" Doc Top approached Spike and started with baby talk. "Wi’l guy not feewing too good?" He then flexed Spike’s arm. "Who’s the brave wi’l boy, huh?" Spike then tried to bite his nose. "Who’s the brave one?" He then tapped a knee as if testing the growing dragon’s reflexes, and got a flaming green belch in the face that left him singed and slightly miffed. 

"So? What do you think, Doctor?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I think I know what the problem is. He’s a dragon!" Chronicle resisted the urge to do a facehoof.

"That’s not the problem. He’s always been a dragon!"

"Oh, well, that would explain it." The doctor said as he cleaned himself up at the sink. "Listen, I don’t know anything about dragons." On the end of this, the one in question grabbed a handful of lollipops. "I know about baby ponies. Maybe you should try a vet."

Spike seized more sugary treats as Twilight's face fell and she groaned. "Okay. Thank you, Doctor."


C—TS—S—DT—C—TS—S—DT—C—TS—S—DT


Option 2…

Spike was now at the veterinarian's clinic, run by a pony named Mane Goodall, who was a light yellow-brown earth pony mare with two-tone light blue hair tied back, dark green eyes, a cutie mark showing dog and cat heads and a white bird, and a white lab coat with a thermometer in the pocket. She spoke in a clipped, no-nonsense manner.

"Hmph. Well, I’m flummoxed," she said. "You bring me a dog, I’ve got it diagnosed in seconds. A snake, even faster. But, to be honest, I’ve never seen a real live dragon before."

Spike was now standing on the table on all fours, then proceeded to angrily snorts black smoke out of his nose. 

The vet patted his head as she baby-talked to him. "Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?" He smiled and drools as she then picked up a jar of dog biscuits. "Sit."

He did so on his hindquarters, panting and begging like Winona might if she were here, and she tossed him a biscuit. Instead of eating it, he eyed it craftily and dropped it into the bowl of lollipops from the doctor’s office—having taken the whole thing, much to the vet's confusion. 

"Thanks anyway," Twilight said as she walked out. "Come on, Spike."

As the dragon followed, Chronicle then spoke to the vet. "Dr. Goodall, I have a curious question."

"What is it?"

"My friend Fluttershy's very good with animals, but I don't understand how she isn't a vet like you. I was wondering if you'd know, 'cause I can't coax out the answer."

"Ah." Mane smiled. "From what she's told me, she lacks ambition for that, although she does do part-time work here from time to time as an assistant vet. Besides, on top of a stipend from her parents (or so she tells me, at least) she also charges for her animal care services. Payment is arranged between her and the client."

"Really? I can imagine…unscrupulous figures attempting to skimp out of paying or threaten her to discount or even render the service free."

"I don't know about that. You'll have to ask her yourself."

"All right."


C—TS—S—MG—C—TS—S—MG—C—TS—S—MG


Option 3…

The three were now at Zecora's hut, with the herbalist poking and prodding at Spike's head from various angles. She then swung a gold pocket watch before his eyes, which he eyed hungrily and tried to snatch, but it bounced away on its chain and he only got a handful of air. Followig that, she got one hand in her teeth and flopped its arm around as the two unicorns observed, one anxiously and one cautiously. In response, Spike's other arm flipped up and smacked Twilight across the face.

"Ooh, he is starting to mature. Of this fact I am quite sure," was Zecora's evaluation as Spike scratched himself.

"Mature? So he’s just growing up?" Twilight asked as her assistant picked up a pot. "But that doesn’t explain why he keeps grabbing things." She levitated the pot away from him as Zecora approached her steaming caldron.

"A dragon’s heart is prone to greed, a steady diet to make growth speed." The zebra began to add powder as the two unicorns walked up to her. "Then, the resulting bigger size only makes their hunger rise." The contents proceeded to glow. If this trait should go unchecked, if Spike continues to collect, more growth will certainly occur. He is going to turn into a monster!"

At the the liquid surface, they had seen a glowing green silhouette of baby Spike. It had then grew a notch, collected several items into itself, and became a fearsome apparition before bursting into phosphorescent wisps. 

Twilight let out a gasp, then said, "You mean, the more things a dragon collects, the bigger and greedier he gets? But how do we stop him before he’s completely out of control?"

As she and Zecora conversed, Chronicle saw Spike looting every item in the hut faster than a kleptomaniac adventurer. He even took the caldron they were standing over without them noticing and he decided to take it upon himself to stop Spike.

As he saw the dragon take more stuff, he decided to intercept him by teleporting outside.

"If his monstrous ways you wish to impede, you must prevent him from practicing greed," he heard the herbalist say.

And then the door opened to reveal a speeding dragon, who bowled over the stallion, sending him flying to a tree branch, but Chronicle was already back to pursuing, jumping on another branch before descending on the forest floor in a roll. Catching sight of Spike, he cast the tether spell and hurled the free end onto the growing dragon. 

It latched on, but Spike's momentum and unrelenting run dragged the unicorn right behind him. Chronicle attempted to cast a binding circle right below, but the dragon was already out of its range before its effect could set in. And when he tried casting it in anticipation of Spike's path, the dragon just swerved out of the way. He even tried casting it on himself, but while Spike's strength was able to pull him out of the circle, it 'snapped' the tether spell, and his end snapped right into his head while the other simply dissipated.

"Oww…" he groaned as he rubbed his head. "How does that even work?"

"Come on! I need your help!" he heard his charge call out.

"I got it, I got it."


C—TS—S—Z—C—TS—S—Z—C—TS—S—Z


In Ponyville…

As the two unicorns galloped back and forth across a street, they were brought up short by a familiar young voice not far off.

"Get away from her, you brute!" it came from Apple Bloom. As it turns out, she and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were engaged in a vicious tug-of-war with Spike over Scootaloo's wheels. And it was a minor testament to the earth pony's inherent racial strength that they weren't being dragged already.

"Spike want!" Also turns out that his voice has dropped a few more notes.

Scootaloo was insistent in keeping her ride. "You’re not getting my scooter!"

Spike grunted before repeating, "Spike want!"

Chronicle entered a battle stance, but a hoof on his shoulder pleaded him not to carry on with what he was planning to do. Even so, Twilight seemed frantic as she looked around for an alternative solution. She quickly found one in the form of a broom propped against a wall.

"Hey, Spike!" she called as she floated the broom over to him and made it do a few un-broom-like acrobatics. "Check out this amazing broom!" It distracted him from the Crusaders so that they can bail out, scooter and all.

"SPIKE WANT!!" A new growth spurt hit right about now, increasing his size by perhaps half, and he hissed and dropped to all fours in order to chase the broom. 

Immediately, the two unicorns zipped down a side street, and into the library, opening the front door in the process as they galloped in, broom in tow, which 'stopped' for a while. "Come on, big boy. Look at this incredible broom."

She then zipped it ahead, and he lunged partway in after it but came up empty-handed, getting stuck in the doorway for good measure. However, a bit of straining popped him loose so that he tumbled across the reading room.

"SPIKE WANT!!" he cried out as he chased the broom. The run took him into an adjoining room (which Chronicle had miraculously never noticed until now), whose door she slammed shut behind him and braced with her back, assisted by her bodyguard. The force of Spike's impacts against it that nearly threw them loose was so strong even the Surveillance cameras on them shook.

"Fight all you want. I am not letting you out!"

"I seriously don't think this is gonna work!"

"I won't let you hurt him, Chronicle!"

"Do you really think I could at this point, even if I tried?"

"Yes!"

"You seriously underestimate a dragon's durability and—" He immediately stopped uon realizing that the door stopped doing the cha-cha, to Twilight's very great surprise. He however knew something was up.

His charge 'opened' the door and walked in…on Spike having swept clean the shelves and all the books and furniture gathered into one giant pile, with him draped over the top of it all.

Twilight let off a groan— "Spike…" —as she levitated the pile away as he was unceremoniously dumped on his back in the process. "…I just re-shelved this room!" She brought the lot back out into the main reading room and kicked the door shut again. However, the two barely had time to catch their breath before a new, louder, longer crash shook the entire building. "What now?" she let off a weary moan.

Chronicle opened the door this time…and saw that Spike smashed through the wall. And not only that, as he went over to the hole, he also saw that his training range had been ransacked of everything that wasn't a fence. He now knew that he had to step up his game.

"Twilight, I'm getting Mystic Shield," he said as he turned to face her. "You get the rest of our friends. Spike has to be stopped." The look on his face also conveyed that he'll go all-out short of any crippling wounds. Before she could get anything out in reply, he jumped out of the hole to fetch his friend.


C—TS—S—AB—S—SB—C—TS—S—AB—S—SB


At Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

Mystic was thankful he didn't have many students in today. Some large dragon (though nowhere near Basil's size) came in out of the blue, plowed through everypony, shrugged off shots, plowed through or climbed around barriers, entered his living quarters, and stole all his things (but thankfully not his mentor Aegis's last possessions, that was kept very well hidden), and left (also taking the tatami mat right under his students' feet).

What's more, the dragon's colors were worryingly eerie. Could that be Spike? But why is he like that?

And it proved to be an embarrassing scenario when Chronicle entered the dojo and took witness of the mess. "Mystic! I need your help!"

"Does it have something to do with a dragon?" Mystic asked as he got up and rubbed his head. He also noticed Chronicle react in restrained surprise. "I'm in, but let's call in Nurse Redheart on the way."

"I'll do it," offered one of them.

"All right, then. I'm counting on you." With that the two co-teachers took off. The ascot-wearing one then said, "Something happened to Spike, didn't it?"

"Yeah. Something about a dragon's greed-induced growth. I worry he might get too big by the time we reach him."

"So we're not going to contact Sensei?"

"I seriously don't think the Martial Arts Group can do much against a dragon, given that so little is known about them."

"True." Mystic then saw Chronicle summon a magical clone, which went off somewhere else. "Where's he going?"

"Calling another friend." I don't know what the Wonderbolts can do, given they failed to save Rarity that one time and needed saving themselves from Rainbow Dash, but I'll have Skyla try and contact them if possible.


C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS—C—MS


The two were en route to Fluttershy's cottage when a larger Spike bowled over the two as he went past, a chicken coop in his claws filled with his new hoard, apples among them, which meant he likely stole from Applejack's orchards. But that wasn't what worried Chronicle; what worried him was that Spike had come from the cottage. Thankfully, Spike didn't seem to have hurt her, or else the Harmony Link would've told him immediately.

The two approached the cottage, but as they ran around to the backyard, they ran into Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. After a few quick greetings, they entered the backyard and stopped near the large tree that was reserved for the birds and squirrels when they weren't being treated inside the house. The girls said they came here after hearing Fluttershy scream. The boys just happened to be headed here (and forgot to mention that they encountered Spike on the way). Both of them proceeded to call out for their friend, who was nowhere to be seen.

And then they heard her. "I’m up here!" She was on top of one of the branches of the tree, terrified and hanging on for dear life along with a few squirrels.

"What happened?" Rainbow asked.

"I was helping my squirrel friends with a dance step, and all of a sudden, a giant rampaging dragon stormed through!" came the stammered answer. 

"That was Spike!" Twilight explained.

"Spike? But why would Spike steal my chicken coop?" Indeed, nothing is left within the fence of the chicken yard but a few fowl and the coop’s entrance ramp and board floor, the latter studded with nails that had secured the rest of the structure. "He just pulled it out of the ground and filled it with a bunch of apples and stuff!" 

Then came a different scream. 

"That sounded like Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow deduced.

"Really?" Mystic argued. "Sounds more like Rarity to me."

"In any case, one of our friends is in trouble!" finished Applejack before it could become an argument.

"Come on, girls!" Twilight ordered.

"Hey!" Mystic was a little offended when they forget there are males in the group. Again. Understandable with Chronicle given his mare-face, but with Mystic there's no real excuse. But they were already on the move.


C—TS—A—RD—F—MS—C—TS—A—RD—F—MS


Sugarcube Corner…

"Back! Get back!"

At an unoccupied bit of Sugarcube Corner, a boiling-mad Pinkie stood on a loaded display rack, a cake on each front hoof. She hurled them at Spike, who was near the stairs. He dodged her throws, holding on to the missing coop he was using as a container for the rest of his loot, and snatched one cake out of the air. This one went in the coop as Twilight's party came in and Pinkie unleashed another salvo.

"Pinkie Pie, stop giving him cake!" reprimanded the 'leader'.

"I’m not giving him cake! I’m assaulting him with cake!"

"Same thing!" Chronicle told the earth pony, who let fly with two more and reached down to reload, but one set of jumbo purple claws darted in and grabbed up all the ammo, resulting in her going over the edge and hit the floor face first before gets up alongside the others.

"How dare you take the cake!"

A roar was Spike's reply, and he started to grow once more, breaking loose the entire upper section of the roof and one side wall in the process. He then left, his tail wrapped around the upended coop and tearing out part of what remained of the roof. 

'Fortunately' for the Cakes, they were at the hospital where Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake were being treated for sore tummies. As For Gummy, he was at Fluttershy's cottage, standing and doing nothing.

"He’s completely out of control!" Twilight said as she galloped off, followed by her bodyguard, the two pegasi, and Mystic. "Who knows where he’ll go next!"

Skyla, I hope you managed to get their help, Chronicle thought to himself as Applejack grabbed Pinkie’s tail in her teeth and began to drag the limp, shell-shocked baker away. He then accessed Surveillance (without taking it out) and checked on Rarity. Thankfully for him, the 'screen' only 'occupies' a quarter of his ocular vision, allowing him to still see normally. Kinda like a "holographic screen" except only he can see it.

Rarity was in her upper-story workroom/living quarters in Carousel Boutique. She had put on the pink/magenta cape she showed off during Spike’s party and was looking herself over in the mirror while humming happily. "Hmm…perhaps some more ruffle," she mused to herself. She also happened to be wearing her fire-ruby necklace, which was underneath the clasp holding the cape on. 

One huge green eye with a slitted pupil suddenly looked in through the window this way, then that, then fixes on her. Upon turning away from the mirror, she let her face turn into a slack-muscled caricature of itself, and cut loose with a high-intensity scream of unmixed terror as Spike reached in through the window, his palm incidentally—

He lost concentration as the Harmony Link kicked in. His eyes began to burn, and while it didn't hurt so much to make him scream, the grunt he failed to keep in caught his friends' attention.

"What is it?" Mystic asked.

"Is it the Harmony Link?" Twilight. She was answered with a nod. "It's Rarity, isn't it?"

"How can you tell?" Rainbow queried.

"Well, she's the only one who isn't with us, and the Harmony Link doesn't activate if its targets (that is, us) are near him and he knows it."

And then what sounded like an air raid siren rang throughout the town. "Looks like the town is on high alert." It was swiftly cut off as the group saw Spike, who was now bigger than ever… and Rarity was wrapped around his tail.

"…Well, ████," said the mare-faced stallion as they took in the problem they had to solve.


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—MS

Eyecatch (picture-type) - The show's logo is seen in the center. However, its color scheme is now akin to Spike's; green and dark purple.


C—TS—S—A—RD—F—PP—MS


"What."

Sorry! I'm running out of ideas for eyecatches!

"Then why not do away with them altogether?"

Because some of the future chapters have eyecatches I want to put in.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

A few seconds ago…

A pair of red loudspeakers mounted on a yellow/black-striped pole sounded off, alerting Ponyville of danger. Until it was yanked out of the ground by Spike, who has grown yet again since taking out Sugarcube Corner. Pandemonium raged up and down the block. Minuette and Cherry Berry ran into each other and barely got clear before one colossal foot slammed down where they were standing. Rarity was wrapped in his tail (and screaming and pounding her front hooves against the scaly purple coils), and the coop was shifted to one hand. His roar was now a bellowing screech that gave no hint of the sweet little guy he used to be, and the babyish contours of his head and face were gone.

The now giant dragon picked up a cart, realized that it won't fit in the coop, then gat an idea and ran off. The town’s water tower was swiftly yanked off its base in his mouth, the contents gushing down as a tidal wave that sent ponies galloping for cover. As Spike dropped his previous haul into the emptied shell, Rarity’s voice is heard and he lifted her into view.

"Put me down, you brute!" she screamed. His deep-set eyes stared against her indignant ones and he uncorked a deafening roar that left her entire mane blown straight back from her head. "How rude." 

And then her two pegasi friends flew past, ready to confront Spike.

"Don’t worry, Rarity! We’ll save you!" Fluttershy said as she and Rainbow approached each of Spike’s ears.

"Put her down right now!" Rainbow demanded, and the situation quickly became a 'good cop, bad cop' routine.

"I-If you wouldn’t mind, that is." 

"I mean it, dragon boy!"

"Uh, we’ll be ever so grateful if you’d be so kind as to possibly consider—"

"Drop her, scaly!"

“Scaly” just backed up a bit and lashed his tail at them. Rarity was not happy, but her mane was back to normal. "Hey!…Now I’m not some…sort of common…flyswatter!" she complained during swings.

The next one took her so close to the two pegasi that they got tangled up in her cape, which ripped loose and plunged them screaming into the stream running near Ponyville. The torn pink fabric floated to the surface, followed by a pair of sodden and very puzzled heads.

"Girls!…My cape!" Rarity put hooves to mouth as Spike cranked off another bellow, after which the "cavalry" arrived. 

Looks like Skyla's call was a success, Chronicle thought as he, Mystic, and members of the Martial Arts Group were working on evacuating the villagers to safety.

Rainbow looked up with a smile. "Look! The Wonderbolts!"

One by one, three elite flyers peeled off and swoop toward the large-scale wreckage Spike had caused, flying straight up the length of his neck and past his head. Another close pass sent him into full “protect” mode. He growled after the trio, then shiftd his attention to a not-too-distant mountain. 

A small part of Chronicle wanted to join in on the action, and the logical part found itself agreeing. "I'm stopping Spike!" he declared, then began to take off.

"Don't hurt him, Chronicle!" Twilight pleaded.

"At this point, I couldn't even if I went all-out!" He then teleported so she wouldn't be able to continue arguing.

He emerged in front of the dragon, then let loose with the Small Burn Trail spell (which he would normally use for writing on the ground or the air), aiming at Spike. He knew all too well that dragons were impervious to heat, but he wanted the dragon's attention.

He got it, and he already had magical clones deployed to attempt to rescue Rarity. Spike put down his hoard and swiped at the unicorn, but a flash-step made it a miss. The dragon then let loose a…roar that caught Chronicle off guard even as he set up his barrier. While it can block attacks, a point-blank loud roar is still very deafening.

While the barrier prevented Chronicle from being blown back, the intense sound rendered his senses extremely out of whack. And left him vulnerable to Spike's next move. Which was to pick him up, then send him rolling right underneath him as the dragon picked up his hoard. As for the unicorn, he found himself rolling  back to Ponyville, stopping short of the stream.

He wanted to get back up, but the experience of a close-range roar was something even he couldn't endure.

Now that the pesky blue unicorn was out of the way, Spike held the water tower with his mouth as he used all his claws to scale the mountain, the screaming, terror-stricken Rarity still in his tail.

The Wonderbolts, who were circling above the area for a way to rescue the hostage when Chronicle was trying to stop the dragon, did another pass, one of them zooming past so close that Spike got the tips of his head spines shaved off by a razor wing 'spell', which was an skill pegasi can learn. A quick pat apprised him of the extreme trim and annoyed him all over again. He climbed further up and reached a cave, where he swiftly dumped his ill-gotten goodies just before the three flyers swooped past his head again. 

Flipping onto his back, he plastered himself over the cave and narrowed his eyes with sudden animal cunning. Up went the three pegasi, silhouetting themselves against the sun and then going into a screaming dive. Spike just held his position. When they are almost on top of him, he lifted the water tower and held it with the open end toward them. All three clanged neatly into the vessel, and he jammed it into the rock face, open end first. A nasty grin toward the imprisoned heroes was followed by a triumphant bellow.

"Oh, be quiet!" Rarity told him as he lifts her up. "You’ve got nothing to be proud of!" Bored, he mimicked her scolding with his hand. "You steal everypony’s things, terrorize the town, and use me as a weapon against my own friends—which, as horrible as it is, I can almost understand because you’re a dragon and all." She then indicated her cape. "But this!" She ripped the ruined garment off, fully exposing her necklace, and levitated the scraps in front of herself. "This is a crime against fashion!"

The dragon hoisted her up to the level of his eyes, which widened in time with his surprised grunt. His jaw then hung slightly open at the sight of such riches, the riches being the necklace.

Rarity took notice and covered it with her hooves. "Oh, no. You are not getting this gemstone!" There came a puzzled grunt. "This was given to me by my dear friend Spikey-wikey—the kindest, sweetest, most generous dragon ever. And it is too precious to me to give to a greedy old beast like you!"

On the end of this, the narrowed green eyes, registered surprise at these last words, and then began to waver. He then spaced out for ten full seconds before his face became saturated with regret. He shook his head clear and put a hand to his left cheek.

"Oh, what now?" Rarity said as the dragon started to tremble. "I suppose you’ll be eating me or something."

One full-body spasm caused him to release his grip on her, and a split-second later he shrunk back to his original size. The laws of physics chose this moment to "take five", leaving both suspended in midair as Rarity shortly noticed the reversed metamorphosis.

"Spike? You’re the rampaging dragon?" Gravity then "returned to its post" and both dropped screaming. 

At the bridge over the stream, Pinkie peering through a set of binoculars, Twilight and Applejack behind her, with the still-disoriented Chronicle pulled over to their location. The lenses were lowered and Applejack covered her face with her hat.

"Somepony do something!" the pink earth pony cried out as she fell on her back. 

Rainbow, already recovered, flew up. "On it!"

Prior to the current incident, she had been doing unspecified test runs for Mystic Shield's First Four, and Tricky Books had given her a potion that would enable her to stretch her forelegs to grab things quickly. And she used that to drag in Fluttershy. They swooped down toward the stream and retrieved the torn section of Rarity’s cape, then flew ahead at full speed with opposite ends clamped in their teeth. Fluttershy began to drop back slightly, but caught up with an embarrassed little smile as Rainbow glared over at her.

And as Spike and Rarity continued to fall, the former said, "Rarity, I need to tell you something, just in case we don’t make it!" Their two pegasi friends continued their approach. "I’ve always sort of had a crush—" 

A white hoof placed gently over his mouth cut him off, and Rarity gave him a tender smile as her eyes well up with tears. This was her first full acknowledgment of the way he felt about her, and he smiled behind her hoof in reply. Meanwhile, the rescue mission continued at full throttle, and Fluttershy and Rainbow flashed across to pick off the pair with only a few yards to spare. The four descended to the bridge, with Rarity and Spike cradled in the fabric, and were met by the ones on the bridge. Applejack had her hat back in its proper place. 

There came a surprised, happy gasp from Fluttershy. "We did it! I can’t believe we did it!"

Chronicle head slowly cleared itself of the headache from his ringing ears and he managed to say, "Yes you did." with a smile.

Up on the mountain, the water tower came loose and tumbled downhill, exposing three scared Wonderbolts huddling together. Once it crashed down, they came out of their panic, looked around, and snapped to hovering attention as if their botched takedown attempt was business as usual. They proceeded to vacate the premises as fast as their wings can carry them. As it was, those three were…the least experienced ones in the entire team.

"All in a day’s work," said Rainbow.

Rarity glanced down at her necklace and what used to be a fine cape, then over toward the rail, where Spike was sitting on and staring glumly out over the devastation he had inflicted on Ponyville. He held one of his own hands out so that its image was superimposed over one gargantuan footprint. His eyes quivered a bit at the thought that he could have turned his home inside out. 

"Spike, I just have to tell you how absolutely proud I am of you," Rarity told him, happy despite the situation.  

"Proud of me?"

"Yes. It was you who stopped…well, you…from destroying Ponyville. You are my hero, Spikey-wikey."

Now it was his turn to tear up and smile, and she gave him a kiss on the left cheek as during the birthday party. 

Thankfully for Ponyville, Mayor Mare got disaster insurance for every building in town (twice) as part of her initial election campaign. Apparently, insurance companies in Equestria are rather easy to manipulate to the average pony’s advantage. So in the end, the damage cost wasn't as bad as it could've been.


C—TS—S—A—AB—RD—R—F—PP—MS—S—SB—S—MP


During the town repairing process…

Everypony was at Carousel Boutique, where Rarity has finished the taffeta capes she was making. All of her friends were there, as was two of Chronicles, Mystic and Skyla. She wanted to give to them too as a further example of her generosity and was levitating eight capes in different colors and styles, five around herself and three behind those five.

Presently, she had donned a fresh cape, identical to the one that had been ruined from the earlier incident. This time, the fire ruby was on display as a gold-framed brooch. 

Twilight's cape was a blue one with white fur trim, gold cord collar ties, and stars on the back.

Pinkie received a lighter blue cape with fluffy white trim and a pink heart brooch. 

Fluttershy's was light blue with white trim, a white bow at the neckline, and a daisy on the lowered hood. 

Rainbow's was blue with yellow hem and a red collar secured by a gold star brooch, the hem and collar styled to resemble flames.

Applejack's was red, with a green collar and brown leather shoulder trim, held by a black bolo tie with a red-jeweled gold brooch.

Chronicle got a simple dark blue one with black accents, suited for hiding in dark alleys and easily removable. Just the way he likes it.

Mystic got a light purple cape (shade identical to Twilight's own coat) with accents colored the same way as a Royal Guard's armor. 

Skyla's was a blue cape with yellow zigzag line accents, suspiciously akin to a Wonderbolt pattern.

There was also a ninth cape that was packaged for sending as a gift. Chronicle planned to gift it to Moonbow Peek.

Meanwhile, Spike was writing his own friendship report to you-know-who. 

“Dear Princess Celestia: Today I learned a great lesson about friendship. Well, you might think that it would feel good to get lots and lots of stuff, but it doesn’t feel nearly as good as giving something special to somepony you really care about. But I learned that it truly is better to give than to receive and that kindness and generosity are what lead to true friendship. And that’s more valuable than anything in the world.”

After he has signed it… "Well…" He noted his lipstick print from Rarity’s second kiss—with a little picture frame stuck around it. "…almost anything."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM

> (NOT) Hearth's Warming Eve (Flashback Chapter)
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Special 8: Inside Chronicle's Mind

Chronicle was fast asleep after taking part in Twilight Sparkle's second slumber party. Last time, only Applejack and Rarity took part because of a storm. This time, not only were the rest of their friends invited, Spike was there too, as well as Mystic Shield and Skyla, the last as part of a "thank-you" of sorts from two of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' older sisters. 

During the end of the party however, Chronicle found himself extremely drained of his stamina and just wanted to go to bed. In truth, it was a combination of a few glasses of punch spiked with sleeping powder, and a subliminal sleep spell. Turns out the party had another purpose; Twilight picked up a dream-walking spell from a book she read, and wanted to try it out. She had remembered her bodyguard saying before bidding farewell to his siblings (two separate occasions) that he'll see them on the dreamscape. She wanted to find out what he does there, but couldn't ask him because then he'd be expecting them and she felt he would be covering his steps accordingly. And so she resorted to this.

He was brought over to a sleeping bag on the second floor, and everypony else (having brought similar bags themselves for the slumber party since there were only two beds) settled down near him. Twilight them prepared the spell to send not only herself, but the others too (after inviting them) into his dream.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—S


Twilight and company found themselves in the center of a tall stone labyrinth. the sky was a clear day, but a shimmer in the air told them that flying over the walls was not an option available to them, especially after Rainbow Dash tried to.

"Why in the hay would Chronicle be dreamin' of traversin' a labyrinth?" Applejack wondered.

"Yeah," agreed Pinkie Pie. "I was expecting him to be in a coliseum. Or a warzone. Or on a date with—"

She was cut off when they heard a loud continuous rumbling. They didn't know it, but it was the sound of a heavy vehicle moving on treads.

"Wh-wh-what's happening?" wondered Spike.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—F—PP—MS—S


At another area in the labyrinth, Chronicle was talking with some relatives he was about to face off against before they detected the intruders.

"MemLock ready?"

"Ready, cousin."

"Of course."

"I can't believe they spiked my drink with sleeping powder. I'm gonna have to pay them back."

"Don't worry, cuz. Bericht is serving as the welcoming committee."

"I don't want them to 'die', even if they wake up."

"Don't worry, cuz. He's good enough to deliberately miss."

"Are you sure you wanna do this? I'm okay with you guys leaving and then I'll just revert the dreamscape."

"And deny us some fun? No thanks. Besides, I'd like to see how they do."

"…Fine. But I'm stepping in if things go too far."

"Okay."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Out of the entrance in front of the intruding ponies was a dark green metallic…thing. It was obviously a vehicle of sorts, but it looked heavily armored, and its top segment was a long cannon capable of turning 360 degrees from its 'base'. On the vehicle's sides were two large thick rings with spinning blades inside them reminiscent of a magic-powered fan.

It was also curiously just twice as tall as an average pony from base to top. The intruders thought it would be much bigger.

"What is that thing?" Skyla asked, mostly to herself as it stopped in front of them.

To their surprise, the thing spoke in a baritone monotone voice. "Subjects Identified: Twilight Sparkle Prime, female unicorn pony. Spike Prime, male dragon. Applejack Prime, female earth pony. Pinkie Pie Prime, female earth pony. Rainbow Dash Prime, female pegasus pony. Rarity Prime, female unicorn pony. Fluttershy Prime, female pegasus pony. Mystic Shield Prime, male unicorn pony. Skyla Prime, female pegasus pony."

"H-h-how do you know our names?" asked Fluttershy.

"And why did you add 'Prime' after them?" inquired Mystic Shield.

The vehicle did not answer and instead said, "Unit's designation (that is, name) is Bericht, male himmel-panzer. Advisory: Intruders must leave premises." It then pointed its turret at their general direction. 

"Or what?" Rainbow decided to dare.

"Threat: Or Bericht will be forced to open fire."

"Wait!" Twilight interceded. "We're just here to see Chronicle. Can you take us to him?"

"Answer: Bericht can, but Bericht won't. He is busy right now. Advisory turned Order: Leave."

"This Bericht thing must be a bad guy!" Rainbow incorrectly concluded. "We have to rescue him!"

"Correction: Your interpretation is wrong. Apologies for—"

"And your way of speech sucks!" The blue pegasus charged forward, despite Twilight's and Skyla's protests.

"Sigh." Bericht then shot a flurry of bullets from a hidden turret on the side of his cannon. The bullets missed as Rainbow dodged them all as she then kicked the "himmel-panzer" on the cannon, which made it turn a bit.

"Ha-ha! I've dodged faster shots than that!"

"Banter: Bericht is aware of your bout with Starscream-17, self-identified male Cybertronian. Boast: Bericht's weapons are more advanced than his." Bericht then barreled forward, forcing everypony else to scatter. "Plea: Don't want to have to fight you."

But Rainbow's mind was set. "Guys! I'll handle this! You find Chronicle!"

"Right!" Pinkie agreed. "Come on!" And she started to run in a random direction to one of the other many entrances to the labyrinth.

"Pinkie, come back here!" But it was in vain and she was gone. Immediately, Twilight got the others to follow her lead.

Once they were gone… "Smirk: Exactly as planned." He then spun his turret to get the pegasus off.

"What?!" gasped Rainbow as she righted herself.

"Explanation: We sensed you coming, and have made preparations." Bericht's 'fans' then began to rotate their blades at an incredibly fast rate and to the pegasus's surprise, he managed to fly. "Comment: Bericht can match your speed, Rainbow Dash Prime. But size of area risks collision with walls." And then fire came out of Bericht's rear as he charged right towards her.


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"Is coward-pwning time!"

"Run!"

After failing to find Pinkie, Twilight and the others found themselves on the run from a giant earth pony, under twice as large as Big Macintosh. His coat was a faded red, his eyes were blue, his head was bald, his tail was short and black, and they were too panicked to see what his cutie mark was like. Despite his size, he was fast. 

As they turned a corner, they saw him jump at the wall, land all four hooves on it, then jump off so that he was still after them, not losing much of his speed. He was also tough, being able to shrug off shots from Mystic Shield.

Just then, the intruding party found Pinkie Pie flying right above them on a contraption of hers: a jerry-built, pedal-powered helicopter, obviously colored in a combination of pink, cyan, and faded yellow.

Nobody asked how she got it, though; it was Pinkie Pie after all. She seemed to notice and said, "Come on! We're in a dream! Think of whatever you want!"

"That only works in your own dream!" Twilight replied.

"Actually…" To everybody's surprise, Spike was now bigger, but not like his greed-induced state. Here, he was heavily muscled, wore a red cape, armor plating on his arms and belt, black leggings with red boots, and a lance on one hand. "I think your spell makes it work for us too."

"Oh, right!"

As the party reached a
crossroad, the floor below them seemed to shift and turn into chevron patterns that seemed to 'tell' them to go a certain way.

"That may be true, but the same applies for us."

Right above everybody was a blue-violet pegasus with light blue hair tied up in a bun, both mane and tail, teal eyes, and Night Guard armor. And she was about to pounce on Pinkie's flying machine.

The pink pony managed to dodge the first pass, but the second came quicker than anticipated and the "Night Guard" scooped her out of the contraption, and the flying machine started to fall.

Just as it hit a wall and exploded against all logic, the chevrons on the floor began to move, whisking the intruders in different directions…and sending Spike right for the giant earth pony, who had stopped in his tracks. "These hooves, they're made of steel!" he boasted as he made to buck the dragon.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Twilight and Mystic couldn't do much as the chevrons took them to a tunnel and sent them hurtling inside. The stallion was quick to conjure an orb barrier to shield their fall and they were rolling inside of it. Until a magic bolt zapped it out of existence.

The culprit, who now stood in front of them, was a dark blue unicorn with deep blue eyes, smoothed but mussed-up jet black hair, glasses, and a star-pattern cape. "It's a pleasure to meet the Prime version of my Highness," he said cryptically. "I would like to engage you in a magic duel, no stakes."

"Wh-what?" Everything was happening so quickly, Twilight couldn't catch up. And neither could Mystic.

And it's because of that they didn't see another pony coming from behind, who would be stalling Mystic…


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Applejack and Rarity found themselves headed toward a round clearing in the maze, and after the 'chevrons' threw them into the middle, where they were confronted by a large earth pony stallion (not as much as the one facing Spike, though) with a brown fedora, brown leather jacket, a bullwhip. His coat was similarly colored brown, and his hair was of a darker shade.

"Greetings, ladies. My name is Brown Archive," he said as he tipped his hat to the lying-down mares as they got up. "We don't take kindly to strangers, so if it isn't to much of a bother, I'd like to ask you to leave."

"Can anypony tell us what's goin' on here?" Applejack got straight to the point.

"We were just going to find out what our friend Chronicle dreams of," Rarity explained. "But we never expected…this."

"We're part of his subconscious, and when properly trained can serve as guards against dream-intruders like you," Brown said. Of course, he said that with the intent of lying, but it was really a fact. "As his dream-guards, we're tasked in 'killing' such intruders." This earned him a gasp from said intruders as they entered battle stances, Applejack pulling out her lasso from…thin air thanks to the dreamscape. "But worry not. You'll merely wake up when that happens." Just don't go too deep.

And then something else arrived right behind him. It had the likeness of an earth pony, but it was…mechanical in structure, and colored brass all over, with a "cutie mark" depicting a gear. It wasn't like the wooden dummies from the Iron Pony competition. It was also as large as the giant earth pony that chased them a while earlier.

"I'll handle the big guy," Applejack whispered to Rarity. "You deal with Brown."

"Okay."

"I was counting on that," said Brown as he 'summoned' a bullwhip while the mechanical pony walked up next to him. Applejack attempted to snag a leg, but his bullwhip lashed it away. "But we're not going to do 'divide and conquer' here. We're stronger and more skilled in combat than you are. You'll need to work together to have a ghost of a chance." He then addressed his companion. "Komatsu, show them what I mean."

The mechanical pony, Komatsu, replied in a monotone voice like Bricht, but higher in pitch. "ACKNOWLEDGED." Its body then began to move its parts as something began to unfold from within it.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Skyla and Fluttershy found themselves pulled another way and right into a bottomless expanse. The former was quick to flap her wings to stay aloft, and she grabbed the latter to give her time to do the same.

Awaiting them were two earth ponies and two pegasi, one male and one female each, the former standing on what seemed to be flying contraptions, akin to Pinkie's own. 

One of the earth ponies was a moderate red-coated mare with silver eyes, silver-lens goggles over her forehead, a black-and-maroon mane styled just like Chronicle's, a stub of a tail, dark freckles on her face, and a denim outfit covering her body from the chest to the cutie mark. Her vehicle seemed to be metallic, had a much faster rotor, and bore small cannons on both sides of the seat. It was also colored blood red and brass.

One of the pegasi was a goldenrod mare with soft lilac eyes that belied her attitude, a short bright yellow hair held up with a headband, a distinct lack of a tail. Both of her forelegs seem to have been replaced with prosthetic replacements that look more like a griffon's talons, but somewhat bulkier and colored exactly like her coat. And on the talons were two tiny cannons with triggers for her talons to pull.

(A/N: Okay, they're guns, but the ponies don't know that.)

As for the other two, they were earth pony mare's brothers Hickory Dickory and Blue Pen, whom Chronicle had met personally twice before, once during the Family Reunion and once in the dreamscape, not that the intruders know that. And Hickory was riding a straight-up copy of Pinkie's machine. Their cutie marks however seemed to be obscured by some strange effect.

"All right, who are you?!" demanded Skyla.

"Quick to the chase, are we?" smirked the red one. "My name's Ruby Gear. Griffon-arms there is Topaz Spring, and the two stallions are my younger bros Hickory Dickory and Blue Pen. I'll let you figure out for yourselves who's who."

Topaz aimed her weapons at Skyla and Fluttershy. "I wonder what he sees in you, anyway. He's such a softie."

"Oh, I wonder if he has slept with her yet?" asked Pen, letting off a sleazy grin.

"Well, he ain't telling us," replied Hickory. "Maybe we can ask her."

During this trade in conversation, they didn't see Rainbow (with Bericht coming right behind her) come in and buck Hickory's device in the back, making it spin out. Pen was quick to steady his brother's machine, Topaz immediately fired her weapons (letting out blasts of magic) but her targets had already moved. As for Ruby, she already had her flying machine moving, and it was fast in turning. Her sights were on Rainbow, firing "tracers" on her but naturally missing.

"Very sneaky," the red mare commented. "For someone so headstrong." She then turned to the himmel-panzer as the two opened fire on Rainbow, who quickly evaded their attacks. "Bericht, I built you better than this."

"Retort: Pegasus pony is more agile than himmel-panzer." The two then dodged Rainbow's charge. The intruding pegasus was surprised that the large machine could do so, but then again her previous bout with Bericht didn't leave much room for him to navigate.

"Fine. But how did you end up here anyways?"

"Explanation: Skimmed top of labyrinth. One high hole in walls big enough for both of us to pass through."

"Ah."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Spike was quick to get on his feet and dodge the oncoming charge from the giant earth pony, who was called Heavy Weapon. Currently, they were still on the 'corridor' where his friends got split up, but the chevrons were not moving anymore.

"You cannot beat me, baby!" the pony taunted as another of his bucks was blocked by Spike's lance.

"Stop! Calling me that!" the dragon, still in his 'knight form', counterattacked with a tail swing. It didn't hurt much, though.

"I call everybody baby!" Heavy bull-rushed toward Spike, tackling him to the end of the 'corridor'. "Not my parents, though. Or grandparents. Or uncles and aunts. Or their grandparents." He was quick to realize Spike already running towards him, his lance gone.

The earth pony was grappled by the neck, but Heavy flipped him up… on his back. And then he jumped backwards so he could land on his back, or more precisely so he can squash Spike under him.

And then the dragon pushed him off as he stood up once more. Heavy quickly turned around and said, "Baby dragon's will is strong to have maintained new form for this long."

"Why are you even doing this?" Spike asked.

"Already told you. I am dream-guard. You are dream-intruder. Dream-guards deal with dream-intruders."

"And why am I a dream-intruder again?"

"Is it not obvious? You are not in your own dream. You are in other baby's dream."

"What if it's Princess Luna entering?"

"…At least we try." Heavy then decided to barrel forward again.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


The Night Guard pony, who was actually one of Chronicle's aunts, Calyndar, wasn't exactly at her wit's end when it came to finding Pinkie, but she was forced to stay sharp with this one. Dealing with a "Toon Traits" entity was always a headache for Story Crew Field Operatives not specialized in the art.

Right now, they found themselves at a garden full of bushes and trees, notably something that wasn't at all devised by any of the Timer family. Darn. Must be Pinkie Prime's Toon Traits. She can already sense that none of the bushes have tunnels underneath them, but that wouldn't stop Pinkie from popping down one and up another.

It was very tempting to use the dreamscape to torch all the bushes, but Calyndar was no arsonist, nor was purging one of her tactics. Leave that to the Solar Empire, not that her eldest son Annals has taken up their way of war too.

"Come on out, Pinkie Pie," Calyndar called out, opting not to add "Prime" to it like Bericht had. No need to let them know more than they already do thanks to Chronicle's siblings and father. "Are you really gonna waste time playing hide-and-seek with me if you can just go find your friend?"

"And have you hunting me down?" argued Pinkie, but it was impossible to tell where.

"Wouldn't that be part of the fun? Chronicle's kinda mad you spiked his drink. And now he has us after you for revenge."

"Does he really hate us that much?"

"No. He figured either you or Twilight would eventually find a way to enter his dreams. Doesn't help that two of his relatives are like both of you."

And then against all logic, as is the norm for Pinkie, the earth pony was on Calyndar's back and has pulled off her flank armor…revealing her matching cutie mark! "Oh! So all you dream-guards are actually his relatives?!"

Calyndar decided not to give a straight answer to that as she then zoomed toward a wall, ready to slam her passenger into it. "Or his mental idea of them."

"So who would you be? You look too old to be a cousin of his, and somehow I don't think you're his mother." With her unnatural dexterity, Pinkie kicked at the wall, forcing the two of them off. "So that means you're an aunt?"

The Night Guard pony didn't answer that question as she decided to spin rapidly, hoping to throw her passenger off, but Pinkie held on with a vicegrip that strangely didn't make her choke.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


While Twilight was engaging the caped bespectacled unicorn, who called himself Mystic Wand in a classic magic duel, Mystic Shield was facing another. It was a tuscan-coated mare with bronze-colored scruffy hair with both mane and tail tied in a long braid, and "earth yellow" eyes. Obscuring her cutie mark was a simple sienna-colored cloak.

Held in her aura was what seemed to be an artist's sketchpad and a writing implement. And it (the former, at least) had to be a magical artifact since she seemed to be able to call up anything with it. Her occasional expressions of confusion and frustration implied it wasn't always working, though.

After destroying a construct of a large crab, which he was able to tell apart from a 'real' one thanks to its translucent beige tone, Mystic saw his opponent 'summon' a pitbull. It rendered him shaking in his legs and he could do nothing but erect a dome barrier around himself while the dog construct pounded its paws at it. Cursed phobia…

Mystic's challenger seemed to notice this… and dismissed the dog construct, much to his confusion… only to then summon a Royal Guard construct. But not just any Royal Guard. It looked like somepony he knew very well. Somepony he presently hated so much. His response was immediate; without shutting down his shield, he opened fire on the construct, destroying it in seconds with a barrage of magic shots. Luckily for the challenger, she wasn't right behind her construct; even now, she was running to the side as she wrote frantically for her next construct.

Meanwhile, Wand countered Twilight's "hurl pie" spell with a "dual portal" spell, calling up one 'portal' to claim the pie and another to send it back to her. She dodged the pie, then followed up by summoning a snowbank on top of her opponent, who set off a surge of blue flames, instantly melting the snow and evaporating the resultant water. The bespectacled unicorn then proceeded to summon a beach ball and quick-threw it. Twilight's answer to this was to summon a door with frame, after which she slammed in front of herself. Since it swung towards the ball, it sent it flying back.

Wand swerved his head to evade the ball, then conjured a small orb of light that absorbed a ball of ice from Twilight, then another that absorbed a series of magic shots also from her. These orbs then fired the projectiles they absorbed back at their caster. Twilight cast a special barrier spell that, instead of absorbed the impact, reflected them back at Wand…who in turn summoned a similar barrier, reflecting them back again. Since this "Reflect" spell isn't a sustaining spell like most other barriers, it had to be cast repeatedly. Thankfully, before long, the trajectory of the spells sent them towards a wall and they stopped casting so they could talk.

"You certainly improved a bit on quick-casting spells," Wand commented. "If your previous magic duels with Trixie is any indication."

"How do you even know about that?"

"As his dream-guards, we're extensions of his consciousness, or in this case his subconscious. Naturally, we'd know what he knows." Well, Wand wasn't 100 percent sure real "dream-guards" were like that, but these intruders didn't need to know.

"Your personality's too distinct for you to be a dream-guard."

I don't like where this is going. "That's because we're based off of his other family members."

"No, that's not it. Princess Luna taught a little about dreams, and neither you nor the pony distracting Mystic Shield fit the description."

Wow, she really is smart, even here. "…" Wand was silent for a few moments before his horn then began to glow again, casting another spell. Before Twilight, the other "dream-guard", and her opponent knew it, a magic circle formed underneath them all, preventing them from moving. "Should've known you'd pick up on the truth real fast. Now let me tell you all of it." What followed next was Wand teleported everypony in the circle…somewhere.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Rarity rolled backward to the ground as she threw Brown off of her. Brown for his part recovered swiftly and rolled back on his feet, then jumped sideways to roll over Applejack, who had been about to buck him from the side. The field was already filled with small craters that came from whatever Komatsu had fired.

"Komatsu!" Brown yelled. "You ready yet?"

The mechanical earth pony had—after devastating the field with explosive spheres of energy that came out from him and attempted to blast the dream intruders—been dormant for the past couple minutes. However, he also proved so impervious not even jamming diamonds (summoned via dreamscape by Rarity) into its supposed weak points did a thing. Because of that, they decided to double-team Brown.

"RECHARGED," he said, then began to run towards the intruders. Everybody rolled out of the way as he barreled through, but the girls were surprised when his body parts began to move in unnatural angles so that when he raised his entire body on his forelegs, by the time he landed, he was now already facing them.

Brown noted their surprise and said, "Komatsu's a machine. And very well-made. He's only a pony on the outside, but he's as much an individual as any of us."

"OPINION: EXCESSIVE SPEECH NOT REQUIRED," said the mechanical pony. "BANTER DEEMED WASTE OF TIME. PREFERS SKILLS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES."

"Armor mode, Komatsu!"

"UNNECESSARY. INTRUDERS CAN BE DEALT WITH WITHOUT IT."

Brown rolled his eyes, pointing out Komatsu's own will. "But we need to deal with them fast."

"MOVE OUT OF WAY, THEN. YOU ARE BURDEN. ALSO—"

"Right, right." Brown moved behind Komatsu, whose body began to unveil its weapons again.

"I think running would be a good idea," Rarity whispered.

"For once, I agree," Applejack replied and, after quickly finding an escape path that wasn't the way they came, bolted there… just as Komatsu's energy balls sailed straight for where they had been. The mechanical pony had unfolded two long tubes from either side of him and he was turning his body so that the 'cannons' were still aiming at the intruders. However, he did not have automatic aiming capabilities and wasn't smart enough to "lead his targets" and they were shortly out of sight.

"WE MUST FOLLOW THEM."

"You think?" snarked Brown.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Topaz was in hot pursuit of a fleeing Skyla, Ruby was expertly swerving her aircraft to evade Rainbow's charges, and Pen and Hickory merely circled Fluttershy, both of them all too aware of how dangerous she can really be, and neither wanted to even so much as push her around, settling with just keeping her away from the others under the "pretense" of protecting her from their sister and cousin. Bericht accompanied the two, his imposing barrel right at her fact keeping her from moving.

The goldenrod pegasus was impressed with the undercover Wonderbolt. Already, with use of quick flying skills, while at the cost of some moderate damage, Topaz had been disarmed of her weapons, but her prosthetic talons were more than enough. Skyla didn't seem to show off a lot of moves though, as if she was just limiting herself to the basics.

"I can tell you're holding back," Topaz said as she narrowly evaded a razor wing "spell" from Skyla. "Why? As Chronicle's dream-guards, we know everything he knows." She then caught her opponent's head-on charge by the front hooves with her talons.

"Two words," the undercover Wonderbolt whispered. "Rainbow Dash."

"Oh. Right. But do you really think flying much better than you are right now is enough for her to pick up on it?"

"Well, Chronicle certainly doesn't give her smarts enough credit."

"I'll keep that in mind." Just then, a brown flare ascended into the sky, catching the attention of everypony (and panzer). "Looks like it's time."

"Time for what?"

"An explanation." And all of a sudden, Bericht, Pen, and Hickory started moving toward where the flare came up, Fluttershy 'in tow', and the panzer. "Follow us!"


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At some unknown section of the labyrinth, in a large cobblestone square with a fountain, Chronicle was observing through Surveillance what his friends were going through. Seeing them clash with his relatives was fun while it lasted, but he figured it was high time he stopped this charade. And so he set off his flare spell. Thankfully, the MemLock has been established, ensuring that whatever happens in his dreamscape is isolated.

And as he anticipated, his elder brother teleported in with Twilight, Mystic, and Beige, all still bound by the first's spell. Next, from one of the many pathways leading to this came Heavy Weapon barreling in with Spike (still in his knight form) on his face. This was followed Aunt Calyndar doing an aileron roll, then a barrel roll, with Pinkie Pie riding her. From another pathway, Rarity and Applejack were running, Komatsu and Brown behind them. And from yet another pathway came Bericht, Pen and Hickory on his sides, and Fluttershy sitting on the panzer's turret. Behind them were Rainbow, Skyla, Topaz, and Ruby.

The second everybody was inside, above his friends' asking what's going on the moment they saw him, Wand extended his binding circle and caught everybody else in its bounds, bringing the flyers crashing. In addition to being a skilled spellcaster, he was powerful in magic, too.

And Chronicle decided it was high time he stepped in. "All right, everybody! Stop!" And with everybody pinned, that wasn't hard to do. "Allow me to explain."


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Once everybody was calmed down, they all stood next to the fountain, the dream-intruders at one side (with Spike returning to normal size), the so-called dream-guards on the other (with Ruby's and Hickory's contraptions behind them), and the "dream-owner" in between, serving as mediator.

"All right," Chronicle said as he turned to face his friends. "I don't need to introduce you to them because I talked about you guys with them. As for who they are, they're members of my extended family." He then turned to face them. "Guys, I already 'briefed' you in on what they know." Mystic and Skyla knew all about Chronicle's family and their 'mission' thanks to mingling with Blue Diary and his EOH friends during and after the Antithesis incident before their departure back to where they came from.

Before the dream-intuders could ask, the giant earth pony began. "I am Heavy Weapon, presently bodyguard like baby cousin Chronicle. I come from Equestria where things went like in yours. Except no Discord (yet), and crimes like murder is unthinkable. Not really good for pony like me. But I learn to live with it."

"And do you guys remember the case where Rainbow Dash was accused of the murder of Ace Swift?" Chronicle asked.

"Certainly," replied Twilight. "Somehow, you managed to call in both a defense attorney and a prosecutor to unveil the truth. And it also turns out they were siblings."

"Morning Justice and Gloam Ouster. Crusaders of the Truth. Rescued them both from an assassination job."

"In my world, same case happened, but nopony willing to defend murderer," continued Heavy Weapon. "So Twilight used summon spell to summon greatest defense attorney. She forgot to add 'in Equestria' and ended up bringing in non-pony defense attorney named Phoenix Wright. Further details classified. Case was won, though."

The two light-green coated stallions stepped forward, the earth pony speaking first. "I'm Hickory Dickory."

"And I'm Blue Pen," said the pegasus.

"The Equestrias we're in—"

"Not the same for both of us."

"—are just like yours on the outside, down to you six as the Bearers."

"There's one minor difference however."

"In mine, everypony's a prankster and I'm with Pinkie Pie."

"In mine, everypony's ███-driven and I'm in a twosome with Rarity and Spike, the latter sharing the former with me." Very noticeable blushes came from the two who were mentioned, as well as all the dream-intruders.

The red earth pony, their elder sister, stepped in. "My name is Ruby Gear, cousin of Chronicle from the father's side, and I'm assigned to an Equestria whose technology level is in what we call the "steam punk" stage. Everything run on steam (and magic), where the internal combustion engine never came to be." She nudged her head at her flying machine. "I built that myself."

The mechanical pony affirmed her statement, "CREATOR RUBY GEAR IS PRODIGY IN CONSTRUCTION. ESCPECIALLY THIS UNIT."

"Hold on!" gasped Applejack as she faced Ruby. "You made…him?"

"Uh-huh. Although I did have some help, the design was all me."

Before any more questions regarding Komatsu could be asked, the goldenrod pegasus spoke. "I am Topaz Spring, cousin from the mother's side, a freelancer, and the Equestria I'm in is sort of like Ruby's, but with a significant history change. In there, the Princesses clamped down on technological advancements, and ponykind rebelled. This resulted in them giving in to evil. In the process, Discord was set free, not as the Spirit of Chaos, but reborn as the benevolent Spirit of Change. Both were sealed, and technology advanced."

"What happened to your legs?" asked Applejack.

"These?" she raised one and turned it into a griffon talon. "I lost my legs due to an accident and a friend of mine made these. Anyway, things happened like Nightmare Moon's escape, her ransoming Ponyville's foals in exchange for obedience, me and the six bearers-to-be deciding to brave the Everfree Forest, we find and activate the elements, yadda-yadda-yadda." She emphasized the last one with a miming of a mouth with her prosthetic talon before facing Chronicle. "And should I really tell them who the bearers are?"

"Why not? In case a cross-over incident happens again. Like with me and my siblings."

"Fine. Aside from a griffon friend of mine named Ursula, who made my new forelegs, the bearers are as follows. Big Macintosh, a farmer with a prosthetic leg after a scam gone wrong, Element of Generosity. Dizzy Twister, Element of Loyalty. Rarity, who in my world is a mechanic and repairpony, Element of Honesty."

"Ugh," complained the addressed pony.

"Sorry. Moving on, there's also Thunderlane, helpful weatherpony with a loving young brother, Element of Kindness, which showed me you don't have to keep showing it on the outside to represent it. Lemon Hearts, librarian with a strange array of spells, Element of Laughter. Finally, unlike most 'configurations', the Element of Magic goes to Time Turner, bookish son of a mayor and a brilliant thinker."

"Hold on," said Twilight. "Assuming that everypony is the same race despite the differences in worlds, are you saying the Element of Magic went to an earth pony?"

"Yes. And his reasoning was sound. After all, why would it be the Elements of Harmony if one of them is only compatible with one race? Besides, Magic isn't about power or talent in…magic, but the Magic of Friendship. And another thing, instead of becoming all jewelry like necklaces or diadems, the Elements also took in different forms for some, like a wrench for Rarity, a new leg for Macintosh after his got crushed by Nightmare, and a bow tie for Turner."

Before anypony could ask further, it was Beige's turn. "My name's Beige Scribe, Chronicle's aunt on the mother's side, and the Equestria I'm in is very much like yours, but with one crucial difference; Spike and Twilight's species are swapped." The two mentioned turned to face each other in confusion. "I'm a reporter, working alongside a fellow reporter whose alias is Purple Prose, birth name Spike Flail, and his dragoness assistant Twilight. In that world, Princess Celestia had no prodigious student to send and fulfill the prophecy, and prepared for the inevitable.

"As fate would have it, Spike was dispatched to Ponyville, and I came along. Things happened, and after Nightmare's arrival, her ransom by putting Ponyville's foals to eternal sleep, after he was forced to speak on her behalf, Spike found himself on the receiving end of a mob. With the exception of a couple of companions he managed to befriend, though one just wanted to be the only one to beat him up or something."

"What's with that sketchpad you used?" Mystic (somewhat rudely) interrupted, still remembering the dog construct she made. He was able to figure it out, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"Oh, it's a Scribblenaut Notebook. With it, I can create absolutely anything I want. Unfortunately for me, it can be very fickle sometimes and refuse to follow me, especially if I want something very big or complicated. Sorry about the dog construct. Anyway, just like every case with the Elements of Harmony, we traveled to the Everfree Forest, and on our way to the castle endured trials that happen to help our friends realize their elements. However, unlike your Nightmare Moon, mine (and Topaz's) was seriously attempting to kill us though obviously still underestimating us.

"Unlike most Element Bearers, our group did not follow the usual race dynamic of two ponies per race; that is, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies. Here… well, let me explain who his (and my) friends are. I got the loyal Big Macintosh, the honest Thunderlane, Ditzy Doo of laughter, the kind Cheerilee, and the generous Time Turner, who in there is Mayor Mare's aide."

"That's, not counting you, one unicorn, three earth ponies, and two pegasi," deduced Skyla.

"Correct," agreed Bericht. "You already know Bericht's name. Bericht was constructed by Ruby Gear (not alone, of course) before she was sent to her assigned world. Bericht's assigned world has panzers like self in place of ponies. As for all other races, they are 'replaced' by other vehicles of war that do not exist in your world."

It was the turn of the stallion in brown both in coat and apparel. "I'm Brown Archive, Beige's husband. Where I'm assigned, The Thousandth Summer Sun celebration took place not in Ponyville, but in Manehattan, because Daring Do, who is real there, found the Elements (early) and shipped them off to the museum. And that's all I'm gonna say about it. Sorry, Chronicle, but I simply won't do it."

The dreamscape-owner gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine, Uncle."

"And before you get any stupid notions of your world having more significance than all the others, all of the Equestrias we're in have their own alternate versions of themselves," said the Night Guard-clad pegasus. "Like gender-swaps, the other sister princess turning evil instead, kids and grown-ups swapped, pets and owners swapped, one or more Bearers get swapped with other ponies or even non-ponies, a different ruler, one little thing not happening, something else happening instead… the possibilities are endless."

"Like, say, a world full of Pinkie Pies, or where the Summer Sun Celebration takes place in Trottingham or Oaton or the Griffon homeland for all I care, or where the Bearers are all 'magical girls' which in our definition does not simply mean 'girls who use magic'," continued Ruby. "Or where Nightmare Moon won the first bout with Celestia or at the night the Elements are meant to be awakened, or where Discord post-resealing decided to somehow impregnate the Bearers with his chaos magic—"

"WHAT?!" gasped all the dream-intruders.

Topaz 'silenced' them by raising a prosthetic talon. "And let's not get into alternate versions of us, who in turn are covering those possibilities. The rabbit hole goes really, really deep."

"As for me," the 'Night Guard' continued. "My name is Calyndar, another aunt of Chronicle's, and I'm stationed at a special Equestria that has unfortunately got itself involved with Hub Equestria, which is our home base. Unlike all the others, I'm not a tag-along with that world's Elements of Harmony. Instead…" she gestured to her nephew, who had brought them all here in the first place.

"*sigh* Her world is called the Lunar Republic, which advocates equality for all races, and is ruled by a Princess Luna. This Republic has been at war with another world like hers called the Solar Empire, which advocates the superiority of ponykind, and is…" He let out another sigh, dreading saying this in front of Twilight, even when she already knows of the sort thanks to the Antithesis Incident. "Ruled by a Princess Celestia."

"The two worlds have been at each other for decades, even before we came, and when the empire tried to attack, we were forced to take sides. Even so, we try not to get involved. My son is in the Solar Empire as a spy and saboteur, and has yet to be caught."

It may seem strange that the dream intruders aren't asking too many questions, but that's because along with them being anticipated, Mystic Wand had cast a complex spell in the dreamscape that inhibits curiosity from everybody except those already in the dream prior to casting. While the MemLock makes certain they don't remember, this spell keeps them from having to explain when they won't (act like they) remember it anyway.

Speaking of Wand, it was his turn. "As for me, my name is Mystic Wand, and I'm Chronicle's older brother."

"Oh yeah," said Twilight. "I remember something you said earlier. Something about me being the Prime version of your Highness. Does that mean in your…'assigned world', I'm the ruling Princess?"

"You catch on. And before anypony else asks," he glanced at the others. "There are other worlds in our family's jurisdiction that has each of you as rulers, too. As for why some of us addressed you as Prime, that's merely because your world happened to be the first our family has encountered. Since it was the first, it can't be helped that we compare more worlds with yours." 

In reality, however, it's actually because Equestria Prime was what's called in the Story Crew (and at least one other Equestria) a Heart World, from which every other Equestria covered (and some that aren't) by the Story Crew diverge from and which anyone still connected to is affected by. These worlds include Ruby Gear's Steampunk Equestria, her brothers' assigned worlds, Solaris Equestria, and Philomena Equestria. Interestingly however, some worlds can "break off" and continue on its own without any connection to the Heart World. These worlds include Luna Equestria, Topaz Spring's Disco-Republic Equestria, Edeathstria Prime, Beige Scribe's Flipside Equestria, and Brown Archive's Manehattan Equestria.

Because of that, Chronicle, who is assigned to this Heart World, should theoretically keep his involvement with its denizens to a bare minimum so as not to mess with the other so-far connected worlds. Of course, his current violations to this rule (for starters, his relationship with Fluttershy) don't seem to have severe repercussions… so far. Being the son of the Great Overseer Lord Record Keeper seems to have its advantages, though he doesn't outright abuse it.

(A/N: I'm not gonna put links again here. Check the previous chapters to find out what these mean.)

"As 'fun' as it was to undergo all this exposition and battle with you, I'm afraid this wasn't even supposed to happen in the first place. Because of that, not only is this goodbye, as a countermeasure, all of your memories of this incident will be 'locked away'. That is, you'll act as if none of this ever happened." Gasps came from Skyla, Mystic, and Spike. Even now, Wand was already working a spell. "Please understand, but your world is not ready for this. 'Fortunately', in the event you encounter a member of this family aside from Chronicle in this manner or by visiting our home world, those memories will be unlocked, until such time you return home, after which it'll be locked again."

"The only reason why we didn't just evict you from the start is because I wanted a little payback for drugging me with a sleeper," Chronicle explained to his friends. "That and some of my relatives wanted to test you out."

"If only you hadn't figured out I wasn't really a dream-guard (those are real, by the way), Twilight, Chronicle would've let us continue screwing with you until you left. Goodbye."

And he cast his spell, setting off a bright flare that blinded everybody. When it faded, all the dream-intruders were gone. And thanks to the MemLock, they will behave as if this never actually happened, remembering only that when they tried to get in, they encountered dream-guards who eventually evicted them back to their own individual dreamscapes and never got to see their friend.

Once that was over with, Ruby turned to face Chronicle. "You should be in big trouble for arranging this."

"Hey, we had this training sim planned long ago. I never expected to get drugged."

"Well, you could've just—"

"I already explained why before Wand evicted them. Don't deny that some of you wanted to mess with them."

"Well, you should've been more assertive to us," the red earth pony mare added. "We would've backed away if you just said so. After all, this is your dreamscape, your jurisdiction, and your friends. Really, you should practice what you preach to your marefriend!"

"Ooh!" said Ruby's brothers teasingly, sensing the tension as the other members of the family surrounded them. 

Surprisingly to them, their cousin didn't lash out, instead remaining calm as he let out an exasperated sigh. "You're right. I should've. But I can't take all the blame. Those of you who didn't urge me to let you mess with them went along with this plan."

"I had to keep my brothers in line."

"Sure, you did," teased Topaz. "You were busy with RD Prime, and I with Skyla Prime, while they and Bericht kept Fluttershy Prime from helping."

"And we didn't tease her, knowing how dangerous she can actually be," quipped Hickory. "We've grown during our time in our assigned worlds. I know we're still a bit immature, but give us a little credit here."

Ruby groaned. "Fine. That was what I wanted to do at first, but you got me doing it, and acting contrary would've tipped them off; Dream-guards don't argue with each other." She rubber her head for a bit before turning back to the dreamscape owner. "Let's just not do this again, all right? If you want to scheme something involving them, do it all by yourself."

"I promise." One by one, each of Chronicle's relatives inexplicably vanished, returning to their respective dreamscapes, leaving him alone as the labyrinth slowly disintegrated as well. He let off a sigh. "Why did I let my relatives get involved in my payback? I should've asked them to help me split the area so I could take part in both." Just like Rarity tried to do until the rest of our friends gate-crashed the garden party. "I can't believe my friends' stupidity is starting to rub off on me."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM



Useless Extra


Unbeknownst to Chronicle, Beige Scribe and Brown Archive got involved with his brother Blue Diary, Uncle Clockwork, a cousin named David (but from the future; there was time travel) assigned to a world governed by musicians (he didn't know the name), and another cousin assigned to "Hasbro Equestria" (f.k.a. Equestria-12), in an adventure. What happened in that adventure was that they along with one bearer from each of their worlds got whisked together by a Discord (designation unknown) to a different Equestria whose Field Operative went Missing In Action (to this day). All of them vowed not to tell anybody about it.

If you like to, go and read it (minus these Timers, of course).
> (NOT) Family Appreciation Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 10: The Issue of Killing

Some time after the events of "Family Appreciation Day", while Spike and Twilight Sparkle were testing a spell from the latter, Chronicle was in the Books and Branches Library, in charge of the place while they were gone. As he looked for more spell books in which he can learn, he noticed something as he stood in the second room whose outside wall was the same as the one 'wall' his training range was at.

On a table was a tray meant for Twilight's 'reserve' friendship reports when they were still being sent weekly. Given the new 'system', this was no longer needed. So it was peculiar that there would be a rolled-up letter in it. Curious, he 'lifted' the scroll and unfurled it. But what he saw rocked him to the core.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

Have you…have you ever wondered what it is like to kill another pony? Wow, right there that means that I can never send any of these letters but, I dunno, I just feel like writing my thoughts out like this. I suppose it is my scientific and analytical mind that brought this on. I have to keep my thoughts on this matter organized and, well; I have always felt the most organized when I am writing to you about what I am feeling.

Well, you're probably wondering what brought this on. It was nothing special really; it all began when I was scanning the library shelves for something to read. I came across this book called The Anthology of Evil: Equestria's Most Notorious Killers. Well, I had never read a book like that before and seeing as how I am a student of learning itself, I took it off the shelf at once. What I read…disturbed me at the same time that it fascinated me. I think the description of The Canterlot Killer's murder of the family of four disturbed me the most. I mean, what drives a pony to do something like that!?

Well…that is exactly what I'm asking myself these days. What goes through a pony's mind that makes them want to kill another living being? Why do they feel the need to tear the life away from an innocent pony? What goes through their minds as they watch their victims take their final breath, knowing that they are the reason behind it? I don't know why, but it's torturing me, not knowing the answers to any of those questions. Normally I'd just look it up in the book, but none of the stories had any interviews with the killers themselves. They were all executed and the interviews they had with you before their executions aren't public records. I'd ask you for them but I don't think you'd be very keen on letting me read them without a really good reason. I don't think you'd ever let anypony read them which is unfortunate. I want to know why.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle"

Chronicle was shaken at the fact that his charge, Twilight Sparkle, was wondering what it means to kill, and did not decide to ask him, who has made threats of it in earshot, who has talked about willing to do so when necessary, who is not afraid to imply it straight up, and openly swears sometimes (though not in earshot of children). Even if he would've refused, at least she would've tried. Then again, everypony has their secrets, him especially.

But this letter… who knows what Twilight is thinking when she wrote it? To what end will she go to quench her curiosity? Will this be a subject she can wisely turn away from without it bugging her for the rest of her life? Or not? This may be a case of paranoia, but Chronicle cannot let this happen. He will not let any of his friends have any sort of want for inducing death; he doesn't like it either, even though he sometimes partakes in it.

And then, as fate would have it, just as he turned to the door, Twilight and Spike have returned and entered the room he was in…and seeing him with the letter. Immediately, he spoke. "Spike, leave the room. There's something I need to talk to Twilight about. Alone." Coupled with the serious glare he was giving, the dragonling immediately did as he asked, and also closed the door behind Twilight, leaving her alone with her bodyguard.

"Chronicle," she began. "Is that letter…" The words left her mouth as he 'shoved' it into her face.

"You want to know what it's like to end another's life?" he began. "Let's meet in the dreamscape. Yours. So please teach me that spell you used to get in mine."

"Why can't we meet in yours?" Twilight asked as she 'took' the letter and walked over to him.

"In the event you're suffering a nightmare, I can rescue you from it. Unless Princess Luna is teaching you something that way, in which case that'll depend. I'll be calling in someone to help."

"You mean somepony."

"You're assuming the help I'm calling is a pony. That's rather…discriminatory, if you ask me."

"Why is that such a big issue for you? Why do you use the -pony suffix only when you're explicitly referring to ponies?"

"You wanna know why I do that?" Chronicle 'snatched' the letter and put it back in the tray where he found it. "Because back when I thought the two words were essentially the same, which it grammatically isn't, somepony died." Twilight gasped in shock. "And at hindsight, I could've saved her with just one different word. But I didn't, all because of that mistake."

This got her curious. "How?"

"Back when it happened, I was a bit more lenient in my bodyguarding job than I am now. I had quite a good reputation, so I was confident in protecting my next charge, who I will not name. That confidence cracked when I realized she was a target for a lot of assassins, though none of them were better than my younger brother. Back then, I didn't ask questions so long as the pay and the charges were good, in terms of bits for the former and in terms of morality for the latter. 

"The contract was for five days, and every night I had to stand guard in her room (and was trusted not to turn on or…ravage her myself) and thwart assassins from doing what they do. And let me tell you that she had a lot of them after her. Not just one or two per night. Sometimes, they even worked in tandem; after all, their mission was the same, and whoever hired them, no idea how many, apparently benefitted from her death. It was strange; she was the nicest pony I ever met before Fluttershy, and rich too, such individuals being—pardon the pun—rarities. Maybe there was some secret she had, something she knew, something special about her, something someone wanted to stop by ending her life. But I didn't care about any of that; all I was tasked on is protection of the charge, and that's it.

"In any case, I quickly grew weary of the constant attacks and was losing sleep from constant vigilance. I didn't learn the magical clone spell at the time. Incidentally, in the city she resided in, there was a wishing well, or fountain, I'm not sure which. There, it was said that so long as the wish you made there wasn't for yourself and wasn't malevolent, it would come true. Silly, I know, but it was reputable for its success. Tired as I was, on the fourth day of my contract, I made a wish that, for at least two days, nopony would come after her to take her life. That night, for the first few hours, there were no attacks. Relieved that the wish worked, I made the mistake of catching a moment of reprieve. The next thing I knew, she had taken a knife to the head. And it shocked me long enough for the perpetrators to get away."

Twilight took his momentary pause to ask, "How? If the wishing thing really worked, how did it fail for you?"

"Isn't it obvious? Try to recall the wish I made. Think of the loophole in it that would result in her death without violating the wish."

It took her a long while to figure out the answer. "The successful killer wasn't a pony, was it?"

"That's right. The one who did the deed was a griffon, with a zebra cohort. And that was my first failure as a freelance bodyguard. As I drowned my sorrows in one jumbo bottle of gin (and no more), I blamed myself for my failure. Not only from my lapse of vigilance, but from the wording of my wish. If I had been more precise, she wouldn't have died. ████, maybe the wish was why I couldn't protect her.

"And that's why ever since, I make sure my wording is precise on anything, because I'm well-aware that loopholes can be very dangerous when exploited. I don't want to make a mistake like that ever again, and it's very easy to, so I watch what I say. Anyway… back to the dream spell. Could you please teach me, or at least provide the book?"

And with that, Twilight was thrown in for another loop; the fact that Chronicle is capable of changing subjects of different tones this quickly. Still, he wanted to help her, and is willing to answer her question.

So why not?


C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S—C—TS—S


Later that night, in the dreamscape…

"You said Twilight would be here to fetch us, brother."

Chronicle and Blue Diary were waiting for the former's Twilight Sparkle to enter the dreamscape, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, that's odd. I'd better check on her. I promised we'd meet her if she couldn't meet us." With that, the blue unicorn cast a complex spell which he would not be able to do in the waking world, but can in the dreamscape since it was specifically designed for that. Only unicorns with an greater amount of magic than normal can use the spell; luckily, he was one of those.

A sort-of-temporal hole opened in front of the two, which led to Twilight (Prime)'s dreamscape (which was what she should be doing on her end), which currently took the form of the library basement with all the "mad scientist" stuff. and they heard the sound of crying. The unicorn identified it immediately, while the pegasus needed a second to do so, never having heard the voice cry before.

"Pinkie Pie!" they gasped, one in concern and one in mild confusion. Immediately, they crossed the portal, which was situated at where the doorway to the basement would usually be. Upon turning to the center, they both gasped again, this time in shock.

The pink earth pony was strapped to the table, her hair flat, her coat a shade darker, and her left hind leg bleeding. And overlooking her was none other than Twilight, who was 'holding' a bloody knife. But the bookworm didn't stop there. She followed up by cutting off Dream Pinkie's left ear and right cutie mark with the knife.

"Twilight," Dream Pinkie was saying. "Why? I thought you were my friend! I thought you liked my parties!"

"I love your parties and I love you as a friend," Dreamer Twilight responded. "But this is for science, Pinkie Pie. Doesn't that make you happy, knowing that you are a part of something larger than yourself?"

He knew what would happen next if he didn't intervene, so he shot the knife away with a magic blast. This caught Dreamer Twilight's attention as she turned to face him and his brother. At the sight of their furious faces, she froze in place. "What the ████ are you doing?!" he shouted.

"Science, of course."

Uh oh. She's still dreaming. "At the cost of innocent lives?! At the cost of a friend, and likely your friendship with the rest?! At the cost of Princess Celestia's respect?!" This statement seemed to strike a nerve and the dreamscape started to shake. "Is this sort of science all worth that?! Ethics still have to be followed! We haven't reached a threshold where what you're doing is necessary!"

"Those who staunchly put their thirst for knowledge over having good relations with others and do not inhibit themselves from doing what society deems as immoral…" Blue added in as he put a hoof to his magic pearl amulet and pointed his other hoof at Dreamer Twilight. Out of it came a red aura that usually manifests from his two swords, and extended straight toward her (while he could do the same with using one of his swords, that could sometimes mess with his aim due to its weight). The red aura grabbed her by the neck, away from Dream Pinkie, and lifted her up.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Blue's brother suddenly asked. He didn't intend to do this, but… Hold on. What was Chronicle's plan to stop a kill-for-science dream version of Twilight? Would simple talking work? This still was the Twilight Sparkle he's lived with for a long time, and he and his brother were just encountering an alternate subconsciousness form of his friend deep inside of her mind. If this was reality, it would break his heart, even as he put a stop to her, but this wasn't reality.

"I'm going to wake her up," the white pony whispered. "She has to believe that killing her friend for science is a terrible idea. That consequences will come in the form of possible vigilantes like us. Well, you, but that's beyond the point. You once said you have a magic clone awake in the night. You do have one now, right?"

"Uh, every single night."

The moment those words left his mouth, Blue had leaped into action, let his hoof on the amulet go and subsequently summon his sword, the one on his left named Justice, to slice at Dreamer Twilight's neck as she fell. The second it reached a point where it would've doomed her (as the head can surprisingly still survive withouth the body for a time before expiring, no joke), the dreamscape began to fall apart and Blue immediately joined his brother out of the portal back to his dreamscape.

The moment the two were out, the portal collapsed as the other dreamscape cease to be upon its owner's waking up, and they collapsed on top of each other.

"Let's not do that again," the unicorn finally said. "I don't think dreamscape eviction is at all fun."


C—TS—BD—C—TS—BD—C—TS—BD—C—TS—BD


As a result of that intrusion, Twilight awoke in a cold sweat, screaming as she got up. This moderately startled the Chronicle clone on standby, but not the deep-sleeping Spike, whose mumblings implied he was either dreaming of work with his pretty-much surrogate parent, swimming in a treasure trove, or a date with his quite obvious crush, nopony cared right now.

"I'm assuming you had a nightmare, huh?" stated the magic-made copy.

"Not… really…" Twilight confessed as she rubbed her head. "Just… weird…"

"Was I in it?"

"Uhh… yeah… Your brother… your younger brother… he was there, too. Don't know why I dreamt of him."

"Just go back to sleep, and enter 'my' dreamscape. He'll explain everything."

"Oh, right." And with that, despite how fitful she was feeling about sleeping again so soon, she did as instructed, performing the dream-entering spell she used once before to infiltrate Chronicle's dreamscape while he was doing some activity with his relatives.

Once she was asleep again, the clone resumed watch, not requiring sleep, which his original was providing.


C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS—C—TS


Back inside Chronicle's dreamscape, he and Blue Diary were just cleaning themselves up, so to speak, before Twilight Sparkle appeared.

"Twilight, you're here," the unicorn stallion greeted, successfully hiding the traumatic incident he had just witnessed. Blue's nerves were tougher given his job and thus was successful in hiding it as well.

"Chronicle!" she greeted back. "So you brought Blue Diary along?"

"Nice to meet you again," nodded the pegasus. "By the way, I believe your plan for my world's Twilight worked pretty well."

"Thank you." The sole mare in the dreamscape then turned to her bodyguard. "So, you said you'd help me find out what it's like to end another's life."

"Wait." He turned to Chronicle. "You were gonna explain that?!"

"I told you I found an unsent letter of her pondering on the issue!"

"Oh, right. And you said to me that your Twilight started getting curious when she read a book about killers."

"Yes, and since we have killed without staining our moral compass (much), I thought we'd be the ideal interviewees."

"And partly because I'm an assassin," Blue finished.

"That and Dad's too busy, so's Mom, our sis is too much like me to make a good argument on this matter, and our big bro's a pacifist."

"Right." The pegasus turned to the other unicorn. "So, Twilight. You want to know what it's like to end another's life? More precisely, the life of a sentient being like you and me? Well…" He took a moment to pause for breath, also urging his brother to 'do the other thing'. "While we certainly know more than the average pony, we're not completely knowledgeable on the subject, but we will try and cover as much as we can.

"The first thing to answer is 'why kill?'. Well, depending on the circumstances, it could be an act of mercy, or it could be a matter of sacrificing for the greater good. Both non-evil reasons, but can be easily misguided. Other reasons why one would kill would be that maybe the victim deserves it (justifiability irrelevant), or they saw something that shouldn't be seen and keeping mum isn't enough or is too much effort compared to killing, or they just happen to be in the way, or a classical case of revenge (who they kill is irrelevant), or an intense illogical hatred of all things of a certain category (which it is is, again, irrelevant), or a pattern in their minds they must follow, or it somehow extends their own lifespan (method also irrelevant), or it's just part of their job, or—as in the nightmare we saw—all in the name of science, et cetera."

As he said this, a single large 'screen' akin to Trixie when she returned for a Magic Duel began to display itself in the dreamscape, depicting individuals committing these acts. And Twilight was starting to reconsider her being curious for killing, which was the intent of this 'lesson'. "Some murders don't pertain to common sense, or any sense of logic," Chronicle took over. "One extreme case is in an alternate world, where one of our distant cousins is now dead, is that the killers ended all life in it because they believe life itself is a crime, since only the living can commit crimes, which to them are all punishable by death.

"In short, the act of murder is supposed to be horrifying. One is not supposed to feel happy they killed, although feeling happy for accomplishing certain things that require it may or may not be justifiable and either can or cannot be countered by the guilt one should feel about taking a life." He indicated himself and his brother. "Like the two of us, for example. 

"Over the years as a freelance bodyguard, and sometimes just freelancer, I've had to kill those who threaten my charge's life and/or that of who they care for when other methods just weren't working. Sometimes, as a pony with a strong sense of justice/morality, I've had to act preemptively to do the dirty deed early when the law would be busy stumbling upon itself to dispense their justice or even work in the to-be-killed's favor if spared. I dirty my hooves so others don't have to. And sometimes, it's very tempting to just kill and be done with it, but I care a lot about how others like the public see me, and so I often hold back, all for that.

"Killing is ugly business, and I won't let you go down that path ever for as long as I can. There are some who can take it, like my family, and may or may not be desensitized over time, there are those who could be scarred for a long time (whether it's for weeks, for months, or for life) when forced as a witness or a culprit of it, and there are those who realize they love it, like an addict to a narcotic. (I'd say drugs, but those're medicinal as well.) Your nightmare—yes, we were indeed in there—showed us you were about to be in the third category. We had to put a stop to it; real friends don't kill unless it's for a very good reason." There was no need to say that Pinkie was the dream victim.

While Twilight was listening, she was occasionally also looking at the screen, which did not actually show a lot of gore. Strange, as she's usually ignorant of everything else around her when she's focused on something, namely taking in what her bodyguard had to say. And then the image showed things (apparently) from Chronicle's perspective—or, more likely, his own Surveillance camera—as he performed the deed on his enemies. One showed him stopping likely would-be assassins of the charge he had failed to protect, another showed him mowing down Discord cultists in a cave amidst cries of rage, and yet another showed him accidentally killing somepony by knocking her head into a dresser.

And then the images changed into something different, which was about the time Chronicle decided to pause for breath; the image of somepony flying with purpose across dark corridors, making their way around a Canterlot mansion by negotiating windows, hiding behind items, sticking to the ceiling, making distractions, and incapacitating guards whenever absolutely necessary. Eventually, the "POV pony" reached a bedroom, where a sleeping pony was covered in their blanket, and where a bodyguard stood by the door. It was quite obvious who the "POV pony" was; an assassin.

This assassin snuck toward the apparent target first, summoned his swords, pulled the sheets with its aura to verify if it wasn't just a decoy under it like pillows or a body double, confirmed the target was the real deal, and drove one of his blades into their heart. He then used the other blade to fire a beam of energy at the now-alerted bodyguard to knock him back, and then make a quick getaway, in which the scene ended.

"That was just one of many of my missions as the Angel of Doom back when the Night Court in my world was a cesspool of elite snobs, power-hungry politicians, and where that was the norm, with the exception of Fancypants," Blue spoke up. "Trixie, who had always dreamed of being part of it, was heavily traumatized at that discovery. Thankfully, after what we did during the Gala, while my older siblings just got themselves wound up in shenanigans in their worlds, the Night Court got a severe talk-down and are now under strict watch by the Princess." He turned to face Chronicle. "Yes, according to Mystic Wand, during the Gala he attended, what was supposed to be a classical series of Magic Duels somehow turned into a Magic Free-For-All/food fight which the Princess was at a loss to stop until it was all over.

"But I'm getting off-track here." Back to Twilight. "As I said about the Night Court, they have done terrible things with the law; usurping each other's positions, not caring who they stomp on to further their ambitions, general blackmail. One would do anything to protect Equestria, even shelter the Elements of Harmony in a bunker as long as Corona was free. One wants everything with worth, though she does take lots of effort to maintain them. One even refused to give aid to a town that needed it all because of a grudge on somepony living there."

"What?!" Twilight couldn't believe the atrocities one could do with such political power.

"Back then, before finally solving the problem, my world's Princess Luna tried and failed time and again to purge them, and thus she hired me (and others) to do what needed to be done. None of us in the family are very keen with politicians, due to it being an altogether different 'battlefield', and Father only has his position because 'the best person to wield power is usually someone who doesn't want it, because it ensures that the person will use it carefully and conscientiously.' or something like that. In this case, he's cool with his physical/magical power, but not so much with political power.

"And to ensure I wasn't merely being misguided, I stalked my targets, not only to find an opportune time, but to see if what they do really is despicable. I don't claim to be the perfect judge, but with the corruption that was there, compounded with the fact that more and more may become so the longer it stays, something had to be done. And I'll admit I felt a bit ashamed in deciding to specialize in this art, and so before Trixie and I got whisked in your world, I didn't even tell my family about it, and certainly not my friends before they found out at the Gala. I mean, what would you think if you discovered your friend killed for a living? Which is different from willing to do so as my family is.

"Well, we were certainly shocked when Chronicle sometimes shows his willingness to kill," Twilight answered. "I'd probably be even more appalled had I not read that book. I'm not sure how the others would take it though if they found out he was an assassin, which he thankfully isn't, right?"

"He isn't. Well, my friends took it a bit better than I anticipated, though they've faced a lot more crap than you have. Before we stopped the Night Court, we dealt wih  foalnapping, a prankster worse than your world's Gilda with a friend in a high place which spurred one of my friends to nearly murder her, spies, settling a village-wide feud staged by a third party, helping a blackmailed pony who believes she deserved it when she really didn't, a raid under Canterlot that required an ad-hoc alliance with the Diamond Dogs, saving a mythical beast from near-death, and a "zombie"-drunkard apocalypse among other things thanks to all the liquor being affected by a spell."

"As for us, regarding "crap", and I'm not counting what happened after Discord here," Chronicle stepped in. "We've only had to deal with a sleeping dragon which was finished without any drastic violence, a bloodless war between settlers and natives, a misunderstanding regarding a zebra… and that's it. Our world's definitely brighter than my brother's, even though dangers do exist. In any case, Twilight, I hoped we satisfied you with what we have told you. It might not be enough, but I hope you won't ever see killing as something you'd like to do."

"I… I definitely won't," the non-Timer shuddered as she spoke. "Thank you for… for everything. I guess I should return to my dreamscape now."

"That you should. See you in the morning, and not a word of this to anypony."

She nodded as she disappeared back to her own dreamscape. Once she was gone, Blue turned his eyes to the screen, which began to disappear, and said, "I know you're in there, Wand. Did you inhibit her curiosity like last time, even though I wasn't there?"

An invisibility spell vanished and revealed his and Chronicle's older brother, a blue unicorn in a star-pattern cape, glasses, and whose muzzle is very identifiable as a stallion's. "Yes, I did," he confessed. "Though I overheard what you intended to do, so I didn't use the MemLock on top of that. And I'm sorry for snooping on your talk, but I knew I wasn't needed for your discussion about killing. I mean, I understand why, but I just don't like it. There's always another way."

"And why were you snooping in the first place?" Chronicle then asked.

"Testing a new dream spell, as well as my ability to conceal myself. How long before you figured out I was here, Blue?"

"Right after the screen was brought up as Chronicle began to speak regarding one of their dead distant cousins. That slight shimmer as you immediately ducked and hid behind it."

"I see. Well, this has been an interesting night. I think it's best we get back to our own dreamscapes. Even if we somehow don't lose sleep doing this, you just feel nasty when you're forced awake while you're in another's dreamscape."

"I can attest to that," agreed Blue. "Well, see ya, Chronicle."

And with that, the blue mare-faced unicorn's two brothers vanished back to their own dreamscapes, leaving him alone. He let out a huge sigh, then said to himself, "Man, I haven't gone out with Fluttershy as often as I ought to. I'll have to fix that."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Apologies again for ending it this way. I just didn't know how to make a proper finish for this premise. See ya on Third!
> The Last Roundup
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Last Roundup

In the dreamscape…

In front of Chronicle was a pony he loathed to ever see again. A white unicorn with red eyes, short black hair, and a fancy blue suit that covered his cutie mark. He was a member of the Story Crew, but he wasn't of the Timer family. Rather, he was recruited from an Equestria, some months after the first day of Chronicle's assignment in Equestria Prime.

The reason for his hate of this pony, who called himself the Director, is because he managed to do something right under his father's nose without his consent. Namely, what he did was—with the help of other SC members—set up a made-up high-tech domed city named Larousse, and manipulated events so that Princess Celestia would send his friends the Bearers of Harmony to that town to investigate a certain problem there. Naturally, he went with them.

And then they got locked in and the girls were plopped into stasis pods while they 'lived' a (necromancer-driven) zombie apocalypse taking place in the city. And thanks to a request to his father, Chronicle's Surveillance was now able to look inside the shared scenario their minds were experiencing, which helped him serve as their benefactor in a way that if they were the player characters in a game, he would be the player 'controlling' them.

But the Director didn't stop there; by a stroke of bad luck, four other ponies from Ponyville (Derpy Hooves, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, and Golden Harvest) ended up in Larousse as well and were roped into the same scenario but in a different sector. The Director had posed himself as somebody who wanted to test their friendship and how strong will it stand in a zombie apocalypse, and that's all Chronicle thought he was.

Eventually, Record Keeper (Chronicle's father) was able to find out about the Director's scheme, got the victims out, MemLocked away the entire incident, shut down and "removed" the city, and gave a rather severe punishment to the Director. So what is he doing here? There had also been evidence that the Director had not come up with this plan on his own, and the search for the "man behind the man" was still in progress. Or maybe it was already solved; Chronicle didn't particularly care.

"Chronicle," the Director began. He did not even seem to be repentant of what he did. "I know what I did regarding Larousse is inexcusable, but I won't apologize for it. It was meant to test their bond, their capability to work as a team even in dire situations. And I'll have to say that by the time Lord Record Keeper found me out, I'm satisfied with the results. As for why I'm here, I was told to confess those reasons to you."

The dreamscape owner collected his thoughts. Despite what they went through in that…simulation, their teamwork had proved to help them prevail and strengthened their bonds; feelings festered by those bonds—for some reason—remain even after a MemLock, just as "shadows" of memories can sometimes linger even after a classic mind wipe. "All right. Anything else you'd like to say? 'Cause while I can be forgiving, that doesn't extend to violators of our rules."

The Director closed his eyes in resignation. "I see. I don't know if the rules permit it, but I wish you luck on your relationship. She's a keeper." And with that he vanished back to the waking world, muttering, "Did I say that right?"


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Daytime…

At the town square pavilion, Rainbow Dash was hoisting up a banner depicting a rearing Applejack, pulling one end up, the other end already been tacked to the second-story balcony. The reason why is… well, you'll see. After a rough day (as well as the burdens of living a double life, and Wonderbolts aren't all fancy tricks), Skyla was resting atop a cloud, watching her 'scout target'—and one other pegasus—do her work, but something was amiss.

Hey, isn't that an Everfree cloud? The difference between Everfree clouds and the ones manufactured from Cloudsdale is that the former are made to be via the phenomenon known as the water cycle, and whatever's inside them is…unpredictable. There could be a little too much lightning, too little rain, off-season snow, sleet, or even hailstones. When she discussed this with Chronicle, the unicorn wondered how a 'natural' cloud can even "store" hail in the first place, and the pegasus just shrugged.

Rainbow's companion was tasked in Bolt Bucking; that is, emptying the Everfree cloud of lightning. But her current position wasn't exactly optimal. And that was made apparent when a bolt nearly struck the speedster and shocked her out of her moment of cockiness with her work and singed the tip of her tail as she ducked out of the way.

"Huh? Now careful, Derpy!" Indeed it was Derpy Hooves, who was cheerfully jumping on a gray cloud, producing a fresh strike with every bounce; indeed, she was emptying the cloud of it. She stopped at the approach of the irate blue pegasus. "Don’t want to do any more damage than you’ve already done."

Indeed, the third-story balcony was sagging everywhere, and the roof had a couple of ragged holes punched through it—doubtless by the constant lightning strikes from Derpy. To add insult to injury, the uppermost piece—already hanging by a thread—broke loose and crashed through the largest hole. But really, the pavilion had already been in bad condition before Derpy did her thing. Boy, was she excited to take part for some extra bits, Skyla mused. And all that noise must've hampered her hearing.

"I just don’t know what went wrong," Derpy said as she jumped again. At the end of that sentence, she managed to shock herself a good one, charring the gray coat and blond mane nicely. 

Rainbow threw her a look while tapping one of the banner’s tacks in with a hoof. "Yeah. It’s a mystery," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm as Derpy, now cleaned up, flew over to the balcony.

"Nice work, Rainbow Dash!" On the end of this, she backed into a support post, which promptly toppled over the balcony rail. With a panicked grimace, Rainbow dove after the timber, got under the low end, heaved upward—and then dropped out of sight with a crash and yell, striking Skyla with a pang of worry. 

She's tougher than that. She's tougher than that. She's tougher than that. She's tougher than that, Skyla reminded herself.

Once the dust cleared, the pavilion’s porch had a brand-new hole from which the pole’s snapped end protruded. Derpy landed next to this and stuck her head inside. "You okay, Rainbow Dash? Anything I can do to help?" 

As a plank fell in, Rainbow flew out. "No! Nothing! In the name of Celestia, just sit there and do nothing!"

The cross-eyed flyer plunked her rump onto the porch, whereupon a circle of cracks started to spread in the wood around her. As soon as the spot gave way, she made a desperate grab at Rainbow that only led to both pegasi plummeting into this second hole. "Oops. My bad," her voice echoed from below. Skyla did a facehoof. I wonder how Chronicle's brother is doing with his world's version of her?


RD—DH—S—RD—DH—S—RD—DH—S—RD—DH—S—RD—DH—S


Somewhat later…

A large crowd was now gathered outside the pavilion and chanting Applejack’s name. A small stage had been set up here, where the Mayor of Ponyville stood at a lectern atop it.

"Everypony, can I get your attention? Attention, please!" The crowd shortly quieted down. "Yes, we are all here to send Applejack to compete in this year’s Equestria Rodeo Competition in Canterlot."

On the end of this, she gestured to one side at Applejack now standing alongside her. Cheers and stomping applause came from the multitude, and the Mayor waited to continue until the noise stopped.

"And I want to thank Applejack in advance, for generously offering up her prize money to fix Town Hall."

Shouldn't Town Hall be condemned instead of having a celebration near it? Chronicle snarked to himself. Incidentally, Skyla had the same thought process.

By this time, Rainbow had climbed up onto the porch, while Derpy hung at the edge of her hole. "Yeah, Applejack!" the gray pegasus then raised her forelegs. "Woo-hoo!" Gravity wasted no time in yanking her out of sight as Rainbow rolled her eyes disgustedly. 

There was more cheering and stomping from the crowd. "Speech! Speech!" Pinkie Pie, among the crowd, demanded as she jumped in place. 

"Oh, shucks. I’m not much for speeches." 

"All right, then, no speech!" With that, she zipped away.

"Buuuuut this here is the nicest sendoff anypony could ask for." Of course, Pinkie Pie wasn't the only one among Applejack's friends to be there. All the others were too, though Spike had to stay behind at the library to manage it. "Y’all have been cheering me on in every rodeo since I was a little little pony." She glanced toward the Mayor. "So it seems only fittin’ to use my winnin’s to fix up Town Hall. I promise to make Ponyville proud!"

Receiving a third round of adulation, she smiled gratefully and pulled her hat forward over her eyes. 


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—DH—MM—S


After the speech, Applejack (toting a pair of saddlebags) and a few others were now gathered at the train station. On the platform with her were all of her friends, her family, and the Mayor. 

"I want you to show all them highfalutin' rodeo ponies what a real rodeo pony’s like!" Granny said.

"You betcha, Granny Smith." 

The Mayor then shoved Granny back. "And bring back all that money!"

"You betcha, Mayor." But before the competitor can make for the train, Pinkie cut her off.

"And have fun, and don’t be nervous. Or if you are, use that nervous energy to do even better than you already would! And eat peanuts and popcorn and taffy." On the side, Chronicle could see one of the Academy's students Written Script talking with Golden Harvest, who was about to board as well with Derpy's daughter. "Taffy gives you lots of nervous energy." She proceeded to start chomping away at the sweet stuff, burying her face in the bag. Reactions were mixed, from annoyance to puzzlement to hungry chop-licking by Macintosh. 

Twilight turned away from the undignified face-stuffing to address Applejack. "Just do your best, Applejack."

"I’ll do better than my best!"

"Before you go, there's something I want to tell you," said Chronicle as he walked over.

"Sure. What is it?"

The two were shortly face to face and he spoke in a whisper. "Don't do anything rash in the event you don't get the money. Personally, I believe you getting many first place ribbons, let alone all of them, is as likely as an eclipse happening without the Princesses planning it. But let that spur you to go further, okay?"

"…Uhh, all right."

"The train to Canterlot is about to leave!" It was a light blue-gray earth pony stallion dressed in a conductor’s jacket and cap, with a white shirt and red necktie. He had dark gray hair and a long mustache, spectacles on his nose, and a pocket-watch cutie mark. He stood on the platform, while the engineer is visible through the locomotive window (light brown earth pony stallion, brown eyes and hair, striped engineer’s cap, and a red bandana around the neck). "All aboard who’s coming aboard!"

"Guess that means me," Applejack said as she stepped to the door.

"See you in a week!" Rainbow called.

"With lots of new blue ribbons!" added Bloom as her big sister entered the train. 

"And lots of money!" reminded the mayor.

"Darn tootin’!" With that, steam pours up from below the platform. As the train began to roll, Applejack began to wave and look out from one window. "See y’all in a week, with a big bag full of blue ribbons!"

The well-wishers shouted their last goodbyes while galloping as far as the platform’s end, though Chronicle wasn't one of them. Once they've reached the edge, Pinkie added. "And drink sarsaparilla!" There came funny looks from the others. "What? It gives you extra sass."

Twilight turned away with a slightly exasperated sigh. 

She won't win that many blue ribbons, if any, Chronicle thought. Ribbons, yes, but not blue. She's a jack-of-all-trades in all things rodeo, but she won't win against those specialists. I should know. I've watched them, and I've watched her practice. Come to think of it, in hindisght, I think I actually saw Applejack in the competition once before. Obviously didn't know her by name back then.


C—TS—GH—BB—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—MM—WS


One week later…

Inside the Sweet Apple Acres barn, Fluttershy and Rainbow were stringing up last week's Applejack banner. Streamers and balloons are present and accounted for as well. And in the guest list, aside from Applejack's friends and immediate family are a couple other relatives who happened to be around, and Bon Bon, who had recently started a business deal with the Apple family, something about apple-flavored candies. All of them were helping set up the area.

"Oh, I hope Applejack is surprised by this surprise party," Fluttershy said.

Rainbow, who was now reeling a streamer from a box as Bloom nipped away one of her own, replied with a little irritation as she flew up to her, "Well, that is the point."

"I know." She caught the free end thrown to her. "But I hope she isn’t so surprised she’s startled." The two tacked up the ends. "Because while being surprised can be nice—" She dropped to the ground and walked off. "—being startled can be very startling."

Naturally, Pinkie chose this very moment to jump into the timid pegasus’s face with a shower of confetti. "SURPRISE!!" 

Fluttershy fell backward with a gasp. "Oh, Pinkie, you startled me."

The earth pony helped her up before hopping away. "Sorry. I was just practicing my “surprise” for when we surprise Applejack with this super-cool party for becoming Rodeo Champeen of Equestria!" And then her head drops into Fluttershy's face from the ceiling. "SURPRISE!!" And the pegasus fell backward again.

"I just at least hope Applejack does return," Chronicle stated. His pet armadillo Rock was with him, tying a balloon on a nail while standing on his master's head. Incidentally, Mystic Shield had scheduled another field trip, taking his class to Baltimare to visit his mentor Aegis's family. "Not that anything wrong has happened to her."

"Quiet, Pinkie!" Twilight whispered, peeking out the doors. "I think Applejack’s coming!"

Bloom meanwhile had taken up a position in an empty feed trough. Pinkie dove in next to her. "Don’t worry, Twilight. Got my lips all limbered up." This consisted of a series of goofy facial contortions in which she worked her teeth, her jaw, and her lips. Bloom just stared at her, thoroughly confounded. 

Above, Fluttershy and Rainbow jumped up to hide in a full hayloft and peeked out over the scene, Chronicle teleporting up to join them, and Rock deciding to roll and jump into the trough. Everypony took whatever cover they can find as the lights went out. 

The unicorn stallion decided to check on Surveillance to see if Applejack was indeed coming, but all he could see was static. Darn it. She better be okay.

After a few seconds that felt like a week, a rectangle of light was cast over the floor from the doors creaking open and a hatted shadow advanced into view. The lights immediately went on and all but Pinkie popped up. "SURPRISE!!"

The noisemaker in Macintosh’s mouth prevented him from shouting with them, so he gave it a hearty blow instead. Pinkie leaped up well after the room had gone dead silent. "Surprise!" A short pause ensued. "Shoot!"

The arrival… was not Applejack, but a telegram delivery stallion. Khaki coat, curly brown hair, medium blue eyes, blue uniform jacket and cap with silver badges, light blue shirt, dark gray necktie, and his cutie mark consisted of a white postage stamp displaying a heart. He had a folded note tucked into his cap’s band.

"Wow! This is the best surprise ever! How did you know it was my birthday?" he said.

Talk about a coincidence! thought Chronicle as everypony else's faces fell and the delivery stallion produced a telegram in his hoof. Where is Applejack, anyway?

Twilight grumpily looked out, levitated it from his grip, and yanked both it and herself back inside. As the door slammed shut in his face, Chronicle teleported down to the floor and smacked his charge in the face with his paddle.

"Very insensitive of you," he said as Pinkie cut a slice of cake, put it on a plate, and opened the door again, showing the delivery stallion pawing the ground listlessly. With a smile, the party pony dropped the plate and shut him outside again, the stallion’s puzzlement giving way to a smile.

Inside, the rest of the crew gathered around Twilight, including Rock as he climbed on top of her head, who was studying the message intently. "Who’s it from, Twilight? What’s it say?" Bloom asked.

"It’s from Applejack. “Family and friends. Not coming back to Ponyville.”" There was shock all around the barn. "“Don’t worry, will send money soon.”" Twilight turned the telegram around in midair to expose its printed side. "That’s all there is."

All the Apples gasped, Rarity standing among them and staring with great concern.

"It's as I feared," Chronicle whispered to himself. "She's done something rash."

"Applejack’s… not comin’ back?" asked Bloom. 

"What do you mean, Applejack’s not coming back?" Rainbow was filled with disbelief. "She loves Ponyville."

"And she loves Sweet Apple Acres," added Granny. 

"And she loves her family!" Bloom was on the verge of tears, aiming her saddest big-eyed pout. 

Rarity let out a melodramatic gasp. "Something just dreadful must have happened to Applejack to make her not return!"

"Maybe she’s hurt, or sad or scared!" Fluttershy suggested.

"So what are we waiting for? Let’s go find her!" Rainbow declared.

The blue wings shifted straight from idle to "fourth gear" and propel her toward the door.

"Don’t worry," Twilight assured as she and her friends made to exit the barn, Rock jumping to his master's head. "We’ll search all of Equestria if we have to. We’ll bring her back."

"Y’all are the best," cheered Bloom. 

"Thank you, girls," said Granny. The M.I.A. workhorse’s six friends were now gathered at the open barn doors, and Twilight snapped a salute before they galloped/flew out across the fields. Macintosh fought to keep his composure as Granny stepped up alongside him. The family’s collective mood had just nose-dived again. "Our little bushel just lost one Apple."

The big brother just wiped and sniffled at the tears that have now gotten the better of him. 


C—TS—BB—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP

Eyecatch (video-type) - The six friends running to the left across a field and making for the train station. The show's logo is seen on the upper left.


C—TS—BB—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP


It was a long ride to Canterlot, and the tension of a missing friend was piling up. Surveillance still wasn't working on Applejack either, so no pinpointing her location from there. Even if it was, if she was in some unfamiliar territory, it wouldn't help much. 

The moment the train pulled in, everypony immediately got off, and Rock was now clinging on Chronicle's back. The group shortly reached a stadium, its open gate hung with horseshoe-decorated banners and flying assorted flags, some of which depicted rearing ponies, and the seats within can be seen to be empty. This could only be the venue at which the Equestria Rodeo Competition took place. Everypony stopped for a moment, then scattered at a nod from Twilight, Rock getting off his master and splitting up from him.

Inside, Rarity carried a monochrome photo of Applejack in her teeth and trotted up to a cowboy-hatted stallion talking to a mare in the stands. Both shook their heads at the picture—“nope, haven’t seen her”—after which a rodeo-clown stallion in garish face makeup and clothes rolled by on a beach ball. Right behind him was Pinkie, on a ball of her own and with a copy of the photo in teeth. Once she had pulled even, she leaned over to give him a good look; no good here either. The dejected pink pony stopped dead, her ball deflating to slowly lower her back to the ground.

Up in the stands, two mares taking a break from cleanup duty—Carrot Top and Cherry Berry (they both got part-time jobs fo extra money)—got a look at the photo when it was floated over to them by Twilight. They traded a puzzled look, then gave her a shrug that pegged this try as a bust. 

Elsewhere, Caramel was pushing a barrel along with his head. Something stopped him in his tracks, revealed to be Rainbow. He aimed a vexed glare at both her and the photo of Applejack in her teeth, then shook his head. 

Next, Fluttershy flew up to the stadium roof, with Rock on her head. , where another rodeo-clown stallion was napping with his hat tilted over his face. She has a fifth copy of Applejack’s photo in her teeth, but he waved her off without even lifting his hat to get a clear look. The armadillo jumped off, nudged the napper, and then pulled off his hat. The stallion then decided to take a look at the picture, frowned, shook his head, then returned to napping and replacing his hat.

As the cleanup crew got everything squared away, Twilight and company made one last, fruitless effort to pick up any hints on their friend’s whereabouts. As for Chronicle, he did his looking around as well outside the stadium, and encountered one old friend of his.

"Hey, we meet again."

"I predicted I'd run into you."


C—TS—GH—RD—R—F—PP—CB—C


The area was soon clean and empty, with Chronicle's friends feeling very glum and off to one side. Rainbow lay flat in the stands, Pinkie slumped over the rail, Fluttershy sat at it, Twilight was slumped face first at a table on the stadium floor, and Rarity stood nearby. Twilight’s copy of the photo lay in front of her, Rock resting next to it. Just then, a passing mare took surprised notice of it and smiled in recognition. All five were up and beaming at her in an instant as she pointed off in a new direction; a stretch of parched desert land and rock formations, over which a hawk’s lonely cry rings out. Everypony save the informant was genuinely thrown off balance by this new tip. Rock remained asleep.

At this moment, Chronicle came over with his friend. "Girls! I figured out where Applejack is!" He then noticed his friends' expressions as the mare who likely gave them a direction left. "I'm guessing you found a lead, huh?" He was answered by them heading off without a word. He turned to his friend. "Let's go."


C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP


Later…

The gang were at the train again, this time headed for wherever their new lead was taking them. There were a few quick introductions to Chronicle's friend Moonbow Peek, whom Rarity had also met before.

"There's no way you can be an actual fortuneteller," argued Twilight. She had put what Chronicle revealed about Moonbow's prophecies behind her back at the day of Spike's birthday (speaking of, he was in charge of the library while Twilight's gone) and dismissed them.

"Despite telling some fortunes I read that came true, you still don't believe, even after you know somepony who does just that?" Moonbow, sitting opposite of Twilight, indicated Pinkie, who was groaning and squirming in her seat. "She pretty much matches the description."

"Pinkie cannot be explained for anything she does, period. She doesn't count."

Moonbow faced Chronicle who at present was seated next to him, who in turn was seated opposite Fluttershy. At the other side of the car were Rarity and Rainbow. "Seriously?"

"Her actions defy logic," he explained. "We've since given up on understanding her. Not just predicting things, but reaching far-off places in an instant, leaving holes shaped like her down to the hair, even carry a room's worth of party material with her." Despite what his cousin Ginger Cloud once said, Chronicle wasn't completely certain that non-unicorns indeed had some form of hammerspace, so he didn't spell that out.

"Really?" The fortuneteller raised an eyebrow.

"I swear it."

"…Fine." Moonbow faced Twilight again. "Well, even if you're unwilling to believe, since you're Chronicle's friends, I'll give you each a snippet of your future, free of charge. Except for Miss Rarity, I already read hers."

"That's nice of you, Moonbow Peek," said Fluttershy.

"I saw you girls in the stained glass, but this is the first time I've met you all face-to-face. Well, except Applejack, though we are headed to her supposed location. I'd be honored to read your fortunes."

"I still say it's a bunch of hooey." Twilight was strangely skeptical.

"Only because I'm not Pinkie Pie? Anyway, I'd like to start with Rainbow Dash. I have to warn you, even I might not understand what I see."

The blue pegasus turned her head upon hearing her name. "All right. Let's get this over with."

Moonbow walked over to the seat opposite the pegasus and Rarity, produced her crystal ball from the folds of her ever-present cloak, and held it in both of her hooves. "Rainbow Dash, I have this to say to you. During one of your demonstrations, an accident will befall you and send you to the hospital for a day. But as you wait to recover, you'll find something else you didn't realize you like." After that, she got off the seat and returned to hers beside Chronicle, rolling her crystal ball along, not noticing Rock rolling along and then substituting himself for the ball.

"That's it?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

Moonbow glanced back. "Not every fortune telling is the length of an essay." She then turned to face Fluttershy as she sat back down and lifted…Rock, and turned him around to face her. "Where's my crystal ball? And who owns this armadillo?"

"I do," Chronicle confessed as he 'took' his pet and placed him between his legs.

"I believe I have it here," Rarity inquired, levitating Moonbow's crystal ball over to its owner.

"Thank you. Anyway…" She turned to look at Fluttershy and held up her crystal ball. "Now it's your turn." The yellow pegasus turned to face her coltfriend, who gave a look of assurance. The fortuneteller looked at Chronicle, her face showing fear of scaring or angering someone, and he 'replied' with a nod of 'go ahead'. "Fluttershy, you will find a way to improve your life. But it will go too far, and turn you into a terror before you finally find a balance in your lesson."

There were gulps from everypony. The very concept of Fluttershy having fear related to what she does instead of what she feels is a foreign one.

Moonbow noticed and added, "I'm sorry about my readings, but I guess that's my specialty; they can be dark, but there's always light at the end of the tunnel. That's one problem with fortune tellers; there are two kinds—true seers and charlatans—and it's hard to tell who's who, with the latter soiling the reputation of the former. Another is that ponies usually want to hear what they want to hear. Charlatans would outright lie, while true seers would be accused for lying when they say dark fortunes. "I do my best to find some middle ground, but even then it's hard."

"I'll be there for her," Chronicle declared.

"I don't doubt that." The fortuneteller then faced Twilight. "Now it's your turn, Twilight Sparkle."

As Moonbow held up her crystal ball, the purple unicorn took the time to analyze the object magically. On the 'surface', it certainly had magical properties in it, so that puts a little doubt in Moonbow being a mere charlatan. And then when she took a closer look, she could see that it emitted blurry (to her, at least) images of what was to come. In the process, she accidentally activated the 'magic sight' spell, learned from Trixie Lulamoon from the world Blue Diary was 'stationed', and saw something strange about Moonbow. If she was reading the spell ight, Moonbow was—

"Huh. Strange." The fortuneteller frowned.

That broke Twilight out of her analysis. "What is?"

"Unfortunately, because "time is meddled with" in what I see, I'm in no position to tell you your future this time. Sorry. What I can tell you however is that in your attempts of deviation, you will still believe it's for naught."

"Time is meddled with? Do you mean time travel?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that. We seers are required to be very, very vague when it comes to events where time is meddled with, as time paradoxes are very dangerous, and can be made by seers with just a stray phrase. Looking into the future is already a risk on its own, since it can e changed just by saying it, and those paradoxes can make it moreso."

Moonbow then left her seat and made her way to the other earth pony in the car, not that they knew that yet as far as she knew; Chronicle had no reason to give her secret away. 

"Pinkie Pie. You'll bear witness to a heinous crime. While the case will get solved, it will turn out your friends betrayed your mentors' work."

The party pony, amidst her shaking, listened intently, and once Moonbow was done, she said, "I'll keep that in mind."

"I believe that's all." With that, the fortuneteller returned to her seat. "If you ever manage to defy destiny, that's only because we fortunetellers read it wrong. At least that's what I believe." She then looked out the window. "By Celestia, this is a long ride."

Currently, Rainbow was gazing gloomily out from a window as well. "I hope this lead doesn’t turn out to be a dead end," she said. "I don’t want to go home empty-hooved after promising we’d find her."

"I don’t know how we’ll break it to the Apple family," worried Fluttershy. 

"I don’t know how we’ll break it to Ponyville," stated Twilight. 

Pinkie now had one rear leg tightly crossed over the other. "I don’t know how I’ll make it to the next stop!" she stated through gritted teeth.

Before anypony can fully wrap their mind around the problem of Pinkie's overloaded bladder, the train’s whistle sounded off to mark their arrival at a station. 

Twilight smiled. "This is Dodge Junction, girls." As they reached the station, everypony could see that the station wasn't too different from Appleloosa's. An outhouse stood at one end of the platform. "Applejack is supposed to have come here after the Rodeo ended." As soon as the car's steps were lowered, the group disembarked. "Let’s fan out and try to find her."

In Pinkie’s case, “let’s make a beeline for the toilet” would be a better description as a moaning pink blur flashed past the others.

"Pickles!" She began to knock frantically at the outhouse door. "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!" She knocked again as she heard a flush. "Hurry it up in there!"

The door was flung open, knocking her silly for a moment, and Applejack emerged.

"Some ponies. Sheesh," she said as her pink friend paid no mind whatsoever, ducking inside and slamming the door… And then throwing it open again with a huge smile.

"Applejack!" She proceeded to alert the others as she hopped around, having apparently relieved herself so quickly. "I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her!"

The others hurried around the corner after her and stopped at her enthusiastic pointing. Sure enough, on the other side of the tracks was Applejack, walking across the main street in the Wild West-style settlement of Dodge Junction. Their lost friend certainly looked surprised, moreso as Chronicle quickly flash-stepped towards her, as if worried she might scramble at any moment, which would be a futile effort since Rainbow was there. 

"Oh, Applejack, thank heavens!" Rarity said as she and Twilight trotted towards her. Rock rolling with them before stopping at the farmpony's feet.

The farmpony turned away from them only to find both pegasi—and their new acquaintance— on her other side.

"We’re so glad you’re safe!" Fluttershy added.

"I found her, I found her, I found her, I found her!" Pinkie continued as she bounced before suddenly stopping in mid-air. There, she clamped one hind leg over the other as she did on the train, having suddenly remembered her urgent need to tap a kidney. "Be right back." She then zipped away and slammed the outhouse door. Seems that she hadn't relieved herself, after all.

As the rest of the group walked past the now-occupied outhouse, it was becoming aparent that Applejack’s wasn't enthusiastic at being tracked down.

"Uh…hey, everypony. What’s up?" she asked.

"'What's up?' 'What's up?'!" Chronicle parroted, his indignation showing. "You don't come back after a week as promised and all you can say to us is 'What's up?'!"

"Why didn’t you come back to Ponyville?" Rainbow added.

"Yes," agreed Rarity. "Why are you here?" There was the sound of a toilet flush.

"Are you okay?" queried Fluttershy.

Pinkie poked her head out, having finished her business. "Do you have any snacks?"

"Tell us what happened, Applejack!" Twilight pleaded with urgency.

The blonde’s reluctant silence was shortly broken by a cheerful older mare’s voice with a Western twang. "Applejack?" 

At a nearby building standing at the door was a cream-colored earth pony whose two-tone deep red hair was carefully curled and piled high about her head and rump. The mane was held by a yellow band decorated with cherries, her cutie mark showed two of this fruit, and a pink scarf was knotted around her neck. Her eyes were light green with pink eyeshadow, and a small beauty mark can be seen at the outer corner of one. 

"Are these some of your Ponyville friends?" she asked as Twilight and Rarity walked over to her.

"Yes, ma’am," replied the bookworm.

"Not me, though," pointed out Moonbow.

"And you are?" asked the fashionista.

"Why, I’m Cherry Jubilee, boss of Cherry-O Ranch," the newcomer introduced herself as she stepped down the street. "Hasn’t Applejack told you?" The passed the two unicorn mares and stopped by Applejack. "I saw her compete at the Equestria Rodeo. Never saw anypony win so many ribbons in all my life."

"Aw, shucks, Miss Jubilee. You don’t have to go into all that," said the Ponyvillian farmer.

Miss Jubilee (he's not calling her Cherry; that's reserved for Cherry Berry back at Ponyville) lifted Applejack’s chin. "Aw, she’s so modest. Anyway, I can always use a pony with quick hooves and a strong back." As she spoke, the rest of the group, including Moonbow gathered around her. 

Chronicle also raised en eyebrow, thinking, Wow, she sounds and looks like a brothel boss. Sure hope she isn't.

"So when I heard Applejack was looking for a change of scenery, I snapped her up quick as I could and brought her to Dodge Junction," continued Jubilee. On the end of this, Applejack's friends traded a round of worried/suspicious glances as Jubilee then walked away, not noticing the blonde's face was running with nervous sweat. "Well, I’ll let you catch up with your friends. See you back at the ranch!"

Once she was gone, Rainbow immediately zipped in to hover in Applejack's face. "Change of scenery? What’s that supposed to mean?"

"It’s no big deal, guys," she replied testily as she walked past. "I thought cherries would be a nice change from apples, so I took the job and came here. That’s it. End of story."

"That’s it? Well, that’s a terrible story!" Pinkie commented.

"Sorry, but that’s all there is to tell. Thanks for checkin’ on me, but y’all can go home now." She began to walked off. "Tell my family hi and that I’m doin’ A-OK." 

Rainbow flew over, looking really sore. "Excuse me, AJ—" She then landed and starts to back Applejack up. "—but we didn’t travel all over Equestria searching for you to come home without you!"

"And seriously, they were worried sick!" added Chronicle as he teleported next to the pegasus. "They thought something terrible must've happened to you! For all they knew, you could've been ponynapped or otherwise coerced to go elsewhere against your will!" He then brought his face to hers and whispered, "And my Harmony Link can't notify me of that."

Applejack responded by walking past them again. "Well, I didn’t ask you to come lookin’ for me! There is nothin’ to tell, and I am not goin’ back to Ponyville!" And with that, she galloped off.

"Is that how Applejack is normally?" Moonbow asked. "I didn't think of her as the uncaring type. She didn't even acknowledge me."

"I'm afraid not, dear," Rarity disagreed.

Clever, Chronicle thought. She knows she can't lie to save her life, so she just keeps mum.

"I don’t care what she says," said Twilight. "Applejack’s not telling us something. 

"Twilight’s right," agreed Rainbow. "We gotta get her to spill the beans."

"What?!? She had beans?!" Pinkie gasped before sighing angrily. "I told her I was snacky!"

The 'newcomer' of the group adopted a look of confusion. Just how does Chronicle take her antics in stride? "So what's your plan?" she addressed Twilight.

"Hmm…"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—CJ—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—CJ


Later…

Applejack and Cherry Jubilee were inside a large room decorated with cherries on the walls that contained the following: a conveyor belt with one end butted up against a hatch in the far wall, two large bins alongside this, one marked with red cherries and the other yellow, and a pony-sized version of a hamster exercise wheel, which the two mares crossed to. Applejack was wearing an apron, a pair of saddlebags on her back, and a white hairnet over her mane in place of her hat.

"You ready to put your back into it, Applejack?" asked the Cherry-o-Ranch boss.

"Sure am, Miss Jubilee," replied the Ponyvillian as she jumped into the wheel.

"Terrific! Come on in, girls! And boy!"

And in came Twilight and the others, Moonbow included, all suited up as well. The fortuneteller still had her cloak, refusing to take it off even if it was against the dress code; she was quite adamant she keep it on her. Pets weren't allowed, so Rock was moved somewhere else in the main ranch building to wait. Of course he was properly fed in the meantime.

Applejack’s surprise soon gave way to annoyance. "What are you all doin’ here?"

"What else does it look like?" snarked Chronicle.

"We’re your cherry sorters," his charge gave the straight answer as they all lined up parallel to the conveyor, on the opposite side from the two bins. "Shall we get started?"

"Fine."

Miss Jubilee chuckled as she indicated the bins as she stood at the free end of the conveyer. "Red cherries go in one bin, and yellow cherries go in the other. Simple as cherry pie. Uh, just one teensy thing to remember…have fun!" With that, she trotted out of the room.

"What are you five up to?" Applejack then interrogated once the boss was gone.

"Well, uh…you made working on a cherry orchard sound so delightful," Rarity replied.

The farmpony was obviously not buying it. "Uh-huh." She then pointed at the green-coated mare. "And what about her?"

"I assure you I am not affiliated with these mares," Moonbow stated. That was partially correct; she's only connected to them via Chronicle.

"Whatever. Well, just remember—no talkin’ about Ponyville!"

"Fine!" Rainbow angrily conceded as she thumped the conveyor. "Why don’t you quit talking and get walking?"

Needled by this jab, Applejack turned her head bitterly forward and began to walk inside the wheel. As it turned and gained speed, the pulleys attached to both it and the conveyor started rotating and the belt itself came to life. From the hatch came a steady stream of cherries, which the seven new workers pushed off into the appropriate bins as they passed. As per the ranch's regulations, magic was not permitted.

Moonbow was closest to the hatch, and was pushing the red cherries early, and Chronicle's friends were mildly amazed at how she's able to take into account the belt's velocity and the force and angle of her push to create the perfect trajectory. She also seemed to also take into account the other workers by pushing yellow cherries to those closest to them and only when they're not preoccupied with pushing one.

This work went on for perhaps ten wordless seconds before Rainbow sneaked a peek in the stoic ranch hoof’s direction. Next, she glanced the other way and gave a furtive nod to Twilight, who smiled sneakily and tipped her a wink.

"So, AJ, how was Canterlot?" Twilight asked, trying to sound casual. Applejack’s eyes popped as she glared back toward the unicorn. "Not talking about Ponyville, talking about Canterlot. Totally different town."

"Canterlot was fine."

"Was the Rodeo fun?" 

"Yes." Applejack's eyes bugged out a bit again as she saw that Twilight has left her post and was now standing by the wheel.

"Did you meet some nice ponies there?"

"Some." 

Rainbow shortly flew over. "Really? Did you see Wild Bull Hickok? Oh! What about Calamity Mane?"

"Yes, I saw ’em both."

The blue pegasus grinned and nodded, hoping for an inside scoop, but got only a dirty look in return. She threw it right back at Applejack as Rarity stepped over to the three.

"And how did you meet Miss Jubilee?" she inquired.

"Um…well…Miss Jubilee had a cherry stand at the Rodeo." Applejack began to speed up to a trot. "Real good treats."

The conveyor accelerated as well, bringing the cherries out at a considerably faster pace. Fluttershy, Moonbow, Pinkie, and Chronicle, the only four sorters still on duty, had to work to keep up. Moonbow seemed to be taking most of the burden, looking a little intense. It was getting a little harder, and the stallion decided a little violation wouldn't hurt in the name of production and conjured little panels to redirect the cherries.

"Um, excuse me?" the timid pegasus tried to bring Applejack's attention, but the stubborn pony paid no mind.

"Cherry winks, cherry cheesecake, cherry tarts. We struck up a conversation, being orchard folk and all."

"So you told her about Sweet Apple Acres?" asked Twilight.

"Yes."

"Did you tell her why you weren’t going back?" Rainbow.

"No, ’cause it was none of her business!"

She sped up again, leaving the four workers still on duty to scramble even faster at the belt. As he was positioned at the far end, Chronicle decided to levitate  the cherries the others missed back to the start. He couldn't sort them out himself, not having that fine-tuning in telekinesis that Rarity had.

"Oh…can you please slow down?" Fluttershy pleaded on deaf ears.

"Rrr…" Moonbow growled; even though her talent for foresight could tell her what to do to keep this under control, her body was struggling to keep up with her mind and the cherries' speed.

"Is it because I made it rain on you that one time?" Rainbow continued to ask Applejack, who was now galloping.

"No!"

And now the cherries were coming so fast that Fluttershy gave up using her hooves and put them to the sides of her head. "Help!"

Pinkie frantically gathered up as many as she can hold in her forelegs and dumped them into an indentation in Fluttershy’s hairnet. The latter aimed a pair of extremely worried blue-green eyes up at the impromptu fruit basket. Getting desperate, Chronicle attempted to filter the cherries by trying (and succeeding in) that "selective property phasing" Mystic Shield was proficient in, attempting to block the red cherries while letting the yellow ones through for himself to sort by hoof; not even Mystic can make two different barriers with two different "settings".

As Applejack kept racing along, Pinkie made another desperate grab at the unsorted fruit. Within moments, she had filled her saddlebags and set a pile on her own head, but these moves bought her precious little time. As for Moonbow, she looked like she was about to burst in anger.

"Is it because you were insulted when I gave you that book on organized orchards?" Twilight asked the pony at the wheel. 

"No!" The gallop sped up, with the result of bringing fresh cherries out by the bushel. They were now piled high in the bins and on the floor, and Pinkie raced to the end of the belt and put her limbered-up lips to work catching them. In a lot less than ten seconds flat, her mouth was stuffed so full that she faced a real danger of asphyxiation. Chronicle has since decided it was a lost cause, but Moonbow was still attempting to salvage the situation.

"Is it because I threatened to smack you with the pan if you overworked again?!" Chronicle joined in. "Because I'm sorely tempted to do so right here right now!" He actually figured out the real reason, but he thought that might lead to a very heated argument right now.

"NO!"

"Is it because you were insulted when I insulted your hair?" added Rarity.

"No, no, no! I’m not tellin’ you why, so just—" 

"STOP!!" Fluttershy cut her off, and the workhorse did, dropping her haunches to act as the brake. A squeal of wood on hide, a few sparks and some smoke, and inertia did that voodoo that it does so well. The cherries’ forward momentum carried them straight off the belt and across the room—with Applejack finding herself directly in the line of fire (which was strange since the wheel wasn't positioned opposite of the conveyer belt to begin with), smashing against her and the wheel, and leaving both of them splattered with the ruined fruit.

At around the same time Fluttershy shouted, Moonbow had reached her limit, grabbed her hairnet, and pulled it off by her two hooves, standing upright temporarily in the process, while letting out a scream of rage, tossing the net across the conveyer belt.

A loud gasp from the other mare, save Pinkie, whose mouth was still way too full for her own good. Chronicle was taking deep breaths, too tired and frustrated to lash out thanks to the sped-up cherry sorting. Applejack got her eyes open, glared at them, and walked out.

"Why? Why can't I keep it under control?" Moonbow was taking deep breaths as well as she spoke those words between sobs. "I saw it coming. Why couldn't I stop it? It was within my grasp. I should've been able to. Why was I fated to fail?"

"Um, Moonbow?" Chronicle called.

That's when she noticed that not only was her hairnet gone, her cloak was now revealing one side, exposing not only her cutie mark (which was a crystal ball on a stand with three diagonal stripes colored orange, green, and purple on the ball), but her distinct wing-less side. In short, her secret was exposed. 

Before she could begin to cover her head, the other mares in the room were now looking at her. She just stared back at them for a couple of seconds before saying, "Uh oh."


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—CJ—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—CJ


As the group ditched their work clothes, Moonbow having put on her cloak again and hiding her head with its hood. Everypony had mops and were cleaning up the mess Applejack inadvertently made. Pinkie (who has since disposed of her mouthful) and Rarity were scrubbing the conveyor with cloths, Fluttershy and Moonbow were at the wheel, Rainbow was working up high, and Twilight and her bodyguard were doing the floor.

"Why were you hiding who you are, Moonbow Peek?" Rarity asked.

The revealed earth pony gave a long sigh before answering, "I hide the fact that I'm an earth pony because fortunetellers aren't normally of that race. In fact, I found out that I'm the only true seer who is an earth pony, at least in Canterlot. I feared I wouldn't be credible if others knew, so I concealed my body with a cloak to keep them guessing. Chronicle found out about me after rescuing me from Discord cultists a few years ago, and I made him swear to secrecy. Please promise me you'll do so as well."

Twilight and her friends talked about it for a moment, then all unanimously agreed, and Pinkie made them Pinkie Promise.

"Thank you. As for my outburst, seeing the future isn't always a good thing, and I can sense what's gonna happen in the next few seconds of the present when I concentrate. The reason it's not good is because when I see what's ahead, if I have the power to prevent a disaster, I always try to do so. As your argument with Applejack went on, I foresaw what was going to happen, predict the disaster that would come if it continued (not that it takes a seer to do that), and I tried everything I could to prevent it from coming to pass.

"Failing that just makes me feel so helpless, and I hate feeling helpless. There has to be a reason why I have this talent, and that's why when I'm not reading fortunes, I do everything I can to make a difference with what I foresee. I'll have to remember to train my body so it can keep up with my mind. Speed and agility is what I need."

"Perhaps I can help," offered Rarity. "Thanks to my new connections in Canterlot, I know a lot of ponies. That includes the owner of one prestigious gym there. I'm sure she can help you."

Moonbow was surprised at this offer. "You'd really do that for me? I mean, as far as this circle of friends goes, I'm only connected to you by Chronicle."

"You can trust her, Moonbow," said stallion stated as he used his "rain-drinking" spell to extract the fluids, but did not send them to his mouth. Instead, they went into a large bucket. "Generosity is her thing. Just don't abuse it."

"I won't. I get a stipend from my parents, anyway." This elicited mild surprise from the others as she addressed the offer-er. "Thank you, Rarity."

"My pleasure," the white unicorn replied.

After that, a pained ten seconds of silence ensued before Twilight tackled the other issue as she cleaned up another patch of cherry mush. 

"Well, girls…" she began dejectedly. "…we seem to be striking out."

"That’s ’cause we’re playing too nice!" responded Rainbow. 

"Yes," Rarity agreed. "Desperate times do call for desperate measures." The blue pegasus descended next to her.

"It’s time to call in the big guns!"

"The big guns?" parroted Moonbow. The two just nudged their heads at Pinkie, who happily used her tongue instead of a rag to pick up a bit of cherry slop, looking unaware and blissful. Moonbow followed their gaze, but she still wasn't following.


C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP

Eyecatch (picture-type) - Two-way split-screen. On the right is the stubborn Applejack. On the left is another split-screen, the top showing Derpy speaking as she bounces on a cloud, and the bottom  shows a forlorn Moonbow Peek with her hood off. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.


C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP

Everypony was now in position around the the Cherry-O Ranch’s orchards, hiding out of Applejack's sight, who was now bucking the trees to fill a pair of baskets sitting nearby. Obviously, she was out of her sorting-room gear and had put her hat back on. After a few hits, she brought down enough fruit to fill the baskets, and that was the cue for Pinkie to zip over.

"Hey, Applejack. Need some help?" she offered.

Naturally, the farmpony was suspicious. "You promise not to ask me any questions?"

"I promise."

The orange-tan earth pony turned away, the pink one followed, and both turned their efforts to harvesting. Applejack bucked as before, while Pinkie shook a tree to fill her own basket. After a few tense seconds, Pinkie spoke up, cheerful as always.

"Have you ever had a cherry-changa?" A pause followed. "Ooh! Sorry. That was a question."

"That kind of question is fine, Pinkie. No, I-I never had a cherry-changa." Pinkie promptly got in her face.

"Well, no wonder, because I made it up myself." As she spoke, she was slowly backing Applejack up. Just as planned. "A cherry-changa is mashed-up cherries in a tortilla that’s deep-fried. Cherry-changa! Great name, huh?" Applejack reached another tree and tried to block out the chatter… "Oh, but maybe I should call it a chimi-cherry. Ooh, that’s good too."  But Pinkie popped up behind her, forcing her to walk off. "Which do you think sounds better? Cherry-changa or chimi-cherry? Or what if I combine them? Chimi-cherry-changa!" After a gasp, she followed Applejack. "What sounds the funniest?"

The fed-up cherry picker just snagged a full basket in her teeth and headed off as Pinkie hopped after her.

"I like funny words. One of my favorite funny words is kumquat. I didn’t make that one up. I would work in a kumquat orchard just so I could say “kumquat” all day! Kumquat, kumquat, kumquat!" A short pause. And pickle barrel!" Pinkie soon caught up again. "Isn’t that just the funnest thing to say? Pickle barrel, pickle barrel, pickle barrel!" After dropping from sight, she thrust a hoof toward the strained orange-tan face, having somehow appeared in front. "Say it with me! "Pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, pickle barrel, kumquat, chimi-cherry-changa—"

As Pinkie rambled on, Applejack’s eyes began to constrict and dart around as she promptly blew her cool. She had since dropped her basket, and the stream of funny words continued under the following. "NOOOOOO!!" She began to huddle down. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

Rainbow darted in and clapped a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, but this only muffled the babbling instead of shutting her up. The pegasus had stuffed corks into her own ears for self-protection, though nopony else had done the same. "The only way to make it stop is for you to spill the beans!"

"Never!" Rainbow promptly uncovered Pinkie’s mouth.

"Speaking of beans, did you ever realize how many words rhyme with beans?" Applejack started to back up toward a nearby tree and Rainbow held Pinkie out toward her. "Lean, mean, spleen, unclean, keen, tureen…" And the continued to rhyme as Applejack confessed.

"All right! All right! I’ll tell everypony what’s goin’ on!" At that, everypony else came out of their hiding spots and closed in. "Just please stop talkin’!" Only now did the motor-mouthed pony can it. Applejack squatted on her haunches by the tree. "But can it wait ’til tomorrow at breakfast? I’m plumb tuckered out."

Rainbow had since removed the corks from her ears. "Tomorrow, huh? I don’t know."

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" the blabbermouth asked. This demand was accompanied by the Pinkie Swear pantomime—“cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye”. 

Applejack mulled it over, then sighed heavily. "I will tell you the whole truth at breakfast." She mimed Pinkie's routine. "Pinkie Promise."

The hoof to her own eye put the others at ease, but Moonbow wasn't as assured, and neither was Chronicle, the former because she doesn't know the significance of the Pinkie Promise, and the latter because he knows of a way one can not meet with them without breaking the promise. And he strongly suspected that Applejack would resort to that.

"One thing, Twilight," he then said, "When we get home, Spike's likely going to be worried, since we've been gone for almost two days without much explanation. Console him, comfort him, explain to him. All right?"


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP


Sunrise, the next morning…

Amidst the rooster's crowing (which isn't always at the sunrise; they just wake up too darn early), Twilight led her six fellow travelers down the hall leading to Applejack's quarters. Rock was returned and on his master's back. 

"Question: Why didn't you reason with Applejack much earlier?" Moonbow asked Twilight.

"Well, the last time I tried to reason with her when she was dead set on something, it took realizing that working herself nearly to death only got half the apple orchard harvested for her to finally admit she needed help. Reasoning with her then would've been a waste of time because extremely stubborn when she's set on something."

"I see."

"In any case, I’m glad we’re finally gonna get some answers from Applejack," she said. 

Rainbow, still unconvinced, brought up the rear. "Yeah…maybe."

"Don’t worry, Rainbow," assured Pinkie. "She’s gotta fess up after making a Pinkie Promise."

"Actually, I know of one way she can worm her way out of that without breaking it," Moonbow suggested.

"What would that be? Hold on." They stopped at a closed door and Twilight knocked before opening. Pinkie was the first to put her head in past the frame. "Good morning, Applejack! You ready for break—" Her face goes slack with surprise, as have the others behind her save Moonbow, who did a facehoof. 

They were looking into a bedroom with a neatly made bed, nightstand, closet, drawn windowshade, pictures on walls—and no Applejack in sight. "Applejack is in deep ████," Chronicle said, breaking the silence.

"She welshed on it," agreed Moonbow.

As for Pinkie, who had voiced a huge gasp as her pupils shrank to points, shock gave way to lip-chewing, eyebrow-lowering rancor, then a paroxysm that sent sweat pouring down her reddening face and bulging cheeks. Her mental steam whistle worked its way toward supersonic frequencies for several unbearable seconds. Finally, she straightened up with eyes burning and steam gushing from both ears. 
"Nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise!" A vivid pink blur marked her top-speed departure, leaving the others to scramble after her as best they can. 

"This is why I, for all my abilities, fear breaking a Pinkie Promise!" Chronicle remarked, also summoning a magical clone to inform Cherry Jubilee of the situation. "If she's lucky, Applejack will only get away with a scolding. But if not…" He shuddered at the thought, instilling fear to the others; if he was afraid of something (that's not pertaining to his phobias), there's often a very good reason to. "If you ever really break a Pinkie Promise, with Pinkie's skills, it's impossible to run from, hide from, or stop her wrath."


C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—RD—R—F—PP—MP


At the Dodge Junction train station, an uneasy Applejack waited on the platform along with a few other travelers. She trotted in place, saddlebags slung up, as if ready to break into a sprint at any moment—and the next voice instantly made her wish she had.

"AAAPPLLLEJAAACK!!" The turned to see the approaching septet and in her mind, she saw Pinkie's eyes burn yellow. The 'weird reverberating' voice was heard by everypony else, though. "YOU PINKIE-PROMIISED!!"

The fugitive had enough time for one strangled yelp before galloping off the platform.

"Applejack, come back here!"

The culprit was making her way to an idle stagecoach in dront of a building with a four-stallion team standing in front of a building.

"Giddy up, fellas!" she said as she jumped in. "I gotta get the heck outta Dodge!"

The stallions started off with a rear and neigh, just ahead of the pursuers.

"She’s gonna get away!" Pinkie gasped as the girls stopped. But Chronicle didn't as he used a spell to increase his running speed, his tether spell on Rock and 'throwing' him to grab on to the back of the coach, and pulled out his river-serpent scale shield from under him via his hammerspace as he jumped. The result was that he was now 'skiing' on the dirt, thanks to the tether spell acting like a rope as it coiled around a place to grab on thanks to physics making Rock go around it to tie it up. Once the tether spell was secure, he held on for dear life.

Okay. I'm now at the coach. But how do I get up there? She'd probably buck me off, and tight-quarters combat is not my thing.

"Follow that stagecoach!" He then heard Pinkie's voice.

Risking a look back, he saw that the rest of his friends were pulling a cart of their own, both unicorns and earth ponies are sitting in it while the two pegasi pull.

On the coach, Applejack risked a quick glance behind herself. She had a decent lead on her pursuers, but they were beginning to close the gap.

"Oh, we have you now!"

But suddenly, he heard them brake. He didn't know why, but he didn't care right now. He just hoped they'd catch up soon. Right now, he decided to summon a magical clone up on the coach to talk with Applejack.

The runaway pony was certainly surprised to see him seemingly teleport where she is. "Applejack!" he yelled. "I've never taken you to be a coward! Why are you running?!"

She only answered by bucking him…and hitting a barrier.

"Applejack!" Another buck. "It's the Rodeo, isn't it?!" Another one, and this started to make cracks. "You didn't get enough money, did you?!" Even as the clone tried to patch the damage, yet another buck cracked it some more. "Surely you managed to win even one, did you?!" The next one shattered the barrier, and she knew it wasn't the real him; he can hold on for much longer. "Say something!" Before he can erect a sturdy barrier, the earth pony smashed through his measly defense and dissipated him.

This pain the clone experienced got transmitted to Chronicle, and it hurt him so that he lost focus on his tether spell and was falling behind, leaving his armadillo at the mercy of the coach. Thankfully for him, his friends were catching up, and with a few smooth moves and Twilight catching him by telekinesis, he (and his shield) was on the cart with them, even though there was little room left.

Turns out the chase has long since moved out of town and into the desert. A while later, after a speed-enhanacing spell was cast on Fluttershy's legs (Rainbow was only holding back for her), the cart eventually pulled even, where he retrieved Rock via levitation. ("I'll be sure to do better," he apologized to his pet) And then they started ramming the side, nearly shaking Applejack out of the driver’s seat.

"Whoa! What the hay?" she looked off to her left, and saw her pursuers.

"Pull over!" Rainbow ordered as the cart banged into the coach.

"Hey! Cut that out!" Another hit, and she lost her balance. "Whooaa!" She climbed back up to the driver’s seat and addresses her team. "I’ll pay you double to outrun them!" And they sped up.

"We’ll pay you triple to slow down!" Twilight countered, and they did so as the cart moved ahead.

"I’ll pay you quadruple to leave them in the dust!"

"Slow down right now or I'll bust a wheel and you could crash!" Chronicle then threatened. This elicited a gasp from his friends, and he added with a whisper. "I won't actually do that."

"He's bluffin'!" their target suddenly said. "Hurry!"

And they wasted no time in literally doing so, leaving the seven chasers choking and coughing in the murk. Once the view cleared after a few seconds, Rarity was the first to speak. "That was rude!"

"That's it! She just guaranteed herself a pan-slapping!" Chronicle said.

"What?" Moonbow was confused.

He ignored her and addressed Twilight, "Why didn't you teleport?"

"We're going too fast," was the explanation. "I could get somepony hurt. Me, Applejack, the driving team…"

"Get them! GET THEM!!" Pinkie was yelling.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" Rainbow urged and both both of them shifted up a couple of gears and quickly cut into the coach’s lead. Applejack got a nasty surprise when she looked back to find them closing in.

Applejack began to snap the reins. "Hyah! Come on, y’all! Go! Go!"

Even this was not enough to keep her ahead of the cart, and once it has pulled up, Pinkie hurled herself across the gap. Applejack soon found a pair of furious blue eyes boring into her own at point-blank range. "Applejack, you broke your Pinkie Promise! Apologize!"

"Pinkie, I did not break my promise!"

"Wha…?"

"Oh dear," said Moonbow.

"If y’all reckon back, I told you that I would tell you everything at breakfast! But I didn’t come to breakfast! I couldn’t come to that breakfast! Not if it meant tellin’ y’all what happened!"

"I knew it. She found a loophole."

"Well, I…I…"

"I’m sorry, Pinkie, but I can’t tell y’all the truth." The unicorn mares looked crestfallen, while the stallion seemed to feel as if his suspicions were confirmed. "I just can’t!" 

"Well, I heard a “sorry” in there, so that’ll have to do for now. I’ll get a real apology later." Almost immediately, she jumped backward off the coach. "Rarity, catch me!"

"What?! Pinkie!" And she screamed as the impact dumped both of them and  Chronicle somehow over the side and left Twilight, Rock, and Moonbow as the only passengers. Notably, the remaining earth pony saw a frying pan on the floor. The unicorn stallion had intended to smack Applejack as soon as he got the chance, but that obviously failed.

"Rainbow! Go back!" the remaining unicorn said. 

"No time! They knew what they were getting into!"

We better come back for them later! thought Moonbow as she picked up the pan.

As the vehicle zoomed away toward the horizon, the three jettisoned ponies sat up—badly scuffed, manes askew and full of cactus burrs. Pinkie grinned at Rarity, who coughs up another burr and shot her an icy glare that would freeze her solid if it were at all possible to do so. Chronicle on the other hoof swore, "████" as he immediately cleaned himself up as best as he could. "Come on, girls. Let's head back to town. It's up to them now. We need to have faith in them."

Meanwhile, Applejack’s coach raced over the parched earth, turning it into a drab khaki blur. Not far ahead of her was a railroad crossing whose barriers swung down to block the way as the warning lights and bells started up. The sight threw Applejack for a loop; a speeding train was coming, right on schedule. She smiled wickedly at the opportunity. "Yes!" She pulled her hat down a bit lower. "Hyah!"

A snap of the reins sent her straining team toward the crossing at a truly ludicrous speed. As the train thundered ahead, the two lead stallions tossed a puzzled glance back at her focused, almost crazed countenance. Fluttershy and Rainbow galloped flat out, but cannot catch Applejack before her coach smashed through the barriers. The train rolled by a fraction of a second later.

The coach finally slowed to a stop as Applejack jumps down. "Yee-haa!"

The four stallions have reached their physical limits, but her attention was focused entirely on the passing train. "Lady, you’re trouble!" they said before galloping off, taking the coach with them… and dropping an extra passenger. As it turns out, Chronicle had summoned another clone in addition to the first and ordered him to hold on until it stopped.

"Hah! Try and catch me now!" Applejack dared through the train. It was answered by the cart's winged steeds taking the whole thing airborne. "Oh, nuts." She can only stare open-mouthed as it soared over her head and landed neatly close by. After which she then noticed the other clone ("Surprise," he said) and started to run.

Back at the cart, Fluttershy heaved for breath as Twilight, Moonbow, and Rainbow looked daggers at their absent friend (though that wasn't the case for the fortuneteller), who glared right back as she galloped away. 

Rainbow, having had quite enough of this high-speed chase, pulled out of the harness. "Not so fast!" she said as she flew after Applejack, who also had the Chronicle clone chasing him. The pegasus reached her first and laid a flying tackle on the escapee that plowed her to the ground… and ejected all the ribbons and medals that were in the saddlebags. 

A disconcerted Applejack lay flat on her belly, with Rainbow standing over her, and the Chronicle clone standing by. A long silence ensued before she began to confess, her voice trembling. "Fine!" She then covered her eyes. "Now you know."

Twilight, Moonbow (with frying pan in mouth), Rock, and Fluttershy, approached the pair, the last of them now out of the harness as well.

"Know what?" Twilight asked as their friend looked up and stood.

"Well, just look!"

Twilight eyed the spread and gave a smile. "I am! You won an amazing number of ribbons, just like Miss Jubilee said!" 

The runaway pony hung a red-ribboned medal in her hoof. "Don’t you get it? There’s every color of ribbon down there. Every color…but…" She slumped onto her haunches, dropping the medal. "Blue."

Twilight and Fluttershy started to understand the reason for Applejack’s distraught tone as Rock picked up one of the ribbons and looked at it.

"I came in fourth, third, even second. But I didn’t win one first prize—and I certainly didn’t win any prize money." 

"What?!" gasped Chronicle. "There was no runner-up prize money in any of the events you places in?! Surely they should have!"

"The Rodeo is a winner-takes-all competition," Moonbow explained. "I should know. I was a spectator there."

"But the telegram said you were gonna send money," Rainbow said to Applejack as she stood up.

"That’s why I came here." She began to walk off. "I wanted to earn some money. After that big old sendoff Ponyville gave me, I just didn’t have the nerve to come home empty-hooved." And she hung her head. "I couldn’t come home a failure." 

"And you thought abandoning your family with little explanation was a better alternative," Chronicle snarked angrily. This just made her lower her head some more.

As for Twilight, she and Fluttershy smiled. "Applejack, you’re not a failure." 

"And we’re your friends," Rainbow added with a wink. "We don’t care if you came in fiftieth place. You’re still number one in our books."

"So…you’re not upset or disappointed?" asked Applejack.

The mares save Moonbow shook their heads. "Mmm-mmm!" 

"I'm only upset you chose to do this rash thing," Chronicle meanwhile said. "I already figured you wouldn't win many, if any, first place ranks. You're good at many things rodeo, but a specialist will always be the best at their fields by virtue of dedicating all their time to them. But I didn't explain that to you because that'd be adding pressure you could do without, which would've resulted in zero blue medals. Which it did."

Applejack zipped to Twilight. "But what about the Mayor? I don’t think I can face her and tell her I didn’t get that money to fix the broken roof."

"Applejack!" Fluttershy reproofed her gently. "We can always find a way to fix that hole in the roof, but if you don’t come back, we’ll never be able to fix the hole in our hearts."

Applejack finally smiled and shared a nuzzle with her friends, Moonbow standing off to the side, shedding some tears as she put down the pan.

Rainbow was hovering a few feet overhead—and crying softly to boot, which she shook herself out of angrily. "Darn it! Now you got me acting all sappy!"

"We can always get the revenue in other ways, like a new tax levy or a bond issue," Chronicle explained as they pulled away, the blonde aiming a warm smile toward her friends. "But you, Applejack, are irreplaceable. As a Bearer of Harmony, as a dependable Ponyvillian, and as a valuable friend, for all the faults I see in you. One of my uncles once told me that lies told in silence are the cruelest. Because of that…" Turning to Moonbow, he 'picked up the pan she dropped and brought it over to Applejack. "I need to make good on my threat."

CLANG!


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP—C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—MP


During the train trip home, Moonbow Peek properly introduced herself to Applejack, was convinced by Twilight and friends to confide to the farmpony of her race, then read her fortune.

"An oncoming threat to your farm is due to come in a season," she had read. "Your defeat is imminent, but victory will be absolute."

"Wha? What the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack had asked. "Can't ya make it clearer?"

"Sorry, but vagueness is a requirement in fortune telling. There is a light at the end of this dark tunnel coming soon. In short, you and your family'll survive the ordeal. Don't worry too much about it."

Upon arrival at Ponyville, she could see—as she waved cheerfully—it was crammed with Apple family members, Winona, Bon Bon, the mayor, and even her "rival" Carrot Top.

Once the train pulled in and the doors opened, as soon as she stepped onto the platform, Winona happily knocked her flat, to the amusement of Chronicle, Twilight, and Fluttershy on the train. Moonbow stayed inside, as the train was headed to her home Canterlot next.

Along the platform; Macintosh tried and failed to hold back his tears of joy as the other ponies smiled in welcome. And then Macintosh, Granny, and Bloom dog-piled on Applejack as the rest of the group watched happily, including a hovering Rainbow. After a good while of this hug…

"Hold on a second!" Chronicle then finally said, ruining the moment. "We forgot our other friends who fell off the cart!"

There were looks of shocked realization from the friends who had taken part, and confusion from the ones who didn't.


C—TS—A—RD—F—MP—C—TS—A—RD—F—MP


Back at the desert railroad well outside Dodge Junction, a hoofcar rolled on the tracks, with Pinkie and Rarity working opposite ends of the handle to keep it moving. Attached to it was a flat car with the real Chronicle keeping  lookout as well as aiding in the pushing with his magic. Since none of the others apparently thought to come back for them, they were making their way home the only way they can, short of walking.

"I mean, which do you think, Rarity?" Pinkie continued the ramble that went on in rhythm with handle motions. "Chimi-cherry or cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa? Chimi-cherry? Cherry-changa?"

"When I get back, you’re gonna get it, Rainbow Dash!" The unicorn mare merely said in exasperation to herself over the earth pony's incessant repetitions.

"Give her a little benefit of the doubt," Chronicle replied. "After the ordeal with Discord, damn that guy, as fast as she is, Rainbow has learned that she can't help out two, let alone multiple, conflicting parties all at once. And so she chose Applejack over us, trusting we'd be able to get back on our own. And we are."

This seemed to soften her mood. "I guess so…"

"But if somepony hadn't wasted time to clean herself up while on the way back to town, we could've caught the train back, and you could've chewed her out right now."

And then it hardened again, but for different reasons."I get it! Let's… just… drive…"

"All right." He let off a sigh as Rarity began her own sotto-voice grumblings . "I certainly hope we make it back soon. And I will smack them for not looking for us after the got Applejack, which I'm sure they did."


C—R—PP—C—R—PP—C—R—PP—C—R—PP


“Dear Princess Celestia, 

It’s a tad easier to be proud when you come in first than it is when you finish further back. But there’s no reason to hide when you don’t do as well as you’d hoped. You can’t run away from your problems. Better to run to your friends and family."
> The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

Chronicle at present was having a strange dream. At first, it seemed that he was recalling the talk he and Blue Diary had with their father after the Antithesis Incident. Except there was more. Either something weird is going on, or he's actually remembering things.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Chronicle. "…With that, the two rightful bearers made contact, and the Element finally reformed, but not without absorbing all of our magic to do so."

Blue Diary. "I was the first to come to, finding myself and the others at a hospital. I woke up faster due to not having all my magic drained since I wasn't a unicorn. I had a talk with Mystic when he got curious about his world's counterpart. Having been outside the magic that destroyed Antithesis, he didn't fall unconscious like we did.

"My brother followed a few hours later, and the rest save Trixie a few days after. And I upheld the Pinkie Promise I made with Chronicle. We hoped she'd recover soon lest they get stuck in Equestria Prime forever." The white pegasus left out that fact that he at least can go back to Luna Equestria via the Story Crew's portal mirrors. "During our adventure in the Everfree Forest, it turns out that both our friends had gotten a chance to know each other, and some of mine got to know their Prime counterparts. In particular, I found out that Prime's Ditzy—whose birth name is Derpy—had a somewhat similar history, including the scandalous affair, except her parents made Castor, Dinky's birth father, pay him support. Ditzy also met Time Turner—"

"Another awkward moment when I found out that a local version of Time Turner, a watchmaker, and the Doctor both exist, look almost exactly the same (how they keep their hair the only minor difference), that they're all right with it, and are both surrogate fathers to Dinky." His unicorn brother cut in, earning a frown from him. "Speaking of the Doctor, he wasn't around, probably in another time and place in his TARDIS with another of his companions. By now, I found out he's not THE Doctor. There's also the fact that Dinky's been having Twilight as a private tutor. Why she was taken in before Sweetie Belle is beyond me."

"Probably too caught up in all the 'Cutie Mark Crusading'," guessed Blue. "No such 'secret society' exists in Luna Equestria. Another thing, during the time we were in the hospital, his Mystic involved himself too in the friend-talk, wishing to pick up some more spells.

"And here's another tale, one that was in the end important for our return, Father. While waiting for Trixie to wake up,my world's Carrot Top and Chronicle's met for a while. When I looked checked through Surveillance, I heard the other confess that she wasn't really that good a farmer, that it was left by her grandmother, and was…quicker to give up."

"Whoa. I didn't know about that," commented the blue unicorn. "Then again, I never gave her reason to. I heard from her that her father being in debt was why the farm was sold to Applejack."

"Who according to your Carrot had run a great risk, due to not really having the money for expansion."

"I guess I really don't get along with Applejack as much as I do with the rest," Chronicle reflected. "But I have little reason to go to the farm often."

"Well, we live to fight and strive to get stronger. Farms tend not to have much use in that. Hnnh. Maybe another me ended up in your Equestria while I ended up in one with a very slightly different you."

"False," interceded Record Keeper, their father. "Both of your Surveillance cams covering the event were checked. Both were consistent in what they recorded." And Hub Equestria's Surveillance confirmed that your cameras 'saw' each other. The Story Crew Great Grandmaster assured us that the AUTemporal Insurance in each and every one of our tech rules out the possibility of seeing a 'perfectly' identical alternate match.

"Possible Book Troop sabotage?"

"…Maybe. But let's hear more before we come to that conlusion."

"Okay." And Blue continued his tale, facing his brother. "The next day, Carrot went to the flower shop and talked with your world's counterpart, getting tips on potions-making and that the one in yours is becoming part of an apothecaries guild. They even helped in finding a way to revive our Twilights and Trixies."

"Yeah. The doctors called my early awakening due to my magic returning quickly an anomaly, but I peg it on the fact that my magic really operates differently from theirs."

"You were at absolute zero mana," explained Record. 

"Absolute zero?" Chronicle parroted.

"Even if you find yourself drained from casting too many spells or using too much magic, you always have at least a silver remaining, which allows your body to recharge, as it draws a little magic to do that, though not at the rate of recharge of course. As for absolute zero mana, it's exactly that, and your body needs a lot of time to restart your mana recharge, in the meantime absorbing ambient magic—a poor man's substitute—to do that. That's what your mother told me, at least."

Blue waited a while before continuing. "The quest to locate the berry they needed took them to the Everfree Forest, and let me tell you that my Carrot's meeting of Zecora wasn't…really pleasant."

"I can imagine," replied Chronicle. "Though Discord's the only one I have a true grudge at. And your rhyming was a little strained. And he's just as terrible in your world, right?"

"According to the stories, yes. And I didn't even mean to rhyme. Before even their meet-up with Zecora, my world's Carrot got startled by yours, whose eyes were glowing thanks to a cat’s eyes elixir, one ingredient of it being cat's tears."

"Cat's eyes elixir? So that explains Zecora's glowing eyes when I first saw her."

"The tonic is incredibly bitter, so you better prep your tongue, and your eyes will sting for a while. Anyway, due to her past in my world, Carrot was understandably suspicious of Zecora, mainly because they look too similar. Your Celestia is vastly different enough from Corona, as would Luna be to your Nightmare Moon. Along the way, they had a run-in with your Steven Magnet—have yet to see mine—after they used his body as a stepping-stone bridge. A very interesting encounter, if I do say so myself. After fixing his problem with a bit of hair conditioning, they were on their way again.

The blue unicorn chuckled at remembering his own group' run-in with Steven, and of Rarity's sacrifice. "Again, he is aided by the Element of Generosity."

The white pegasus seemed to get the joke, too. "Eheheheh. By the way, we also ran into the area where your Pinkie Pie discovered her Element of Laughter."

Now that got the bodyguard confused. "Huh? Me and my company passed that before running into the river serpent."

"Well, you weren't headed for the old castle. And you did nearly fall down a cliffside. Maybe your path's different from theirs."

"True."

"Let me tell you that the nightmares they faced were truly severe. Maybe that explains why even your Rainbow Dash was afraid. Lucky for us we got nerves of steel."

"As long as fiery beings aren't involved in my case."

"They used special necklaces that dispel fear, but are powered by the heart. Even so, they faltered for a bit, including Zecora, but naturally they made it through. At where the plant grew, they had a run-in with a huge Crushing Boar…" The assassin paused as he faced his brother, hoping he'd know something.

He didn't. "Never encountered it."

Shrugging, Blue continued, "It was a harrowing task. After collecting the berries, for some reason, it became a game of catch between them and the Boar, kinda like how school bullies do it, and I saw your world's Carrot was…not really fit."

This confused Chronicle again. "Not fit? That's strange. She made fourth place in last year's Running of the Leaves. I'll have to ask her about that, say that Zecora told me, after asking the zebra herself. Then again, she probably paced herself like Twilight did."

"Luckily, Carrot managed to concoct an adhesive that pinned it down long enough for them to get away. For a while. She had to help yours out and had Zecora go ahead. And they solved the problem when your Carrot located truffles and distracted the boar with it. Once they were back in Ponyville, they burnt the midnight oil making the potion. Which was a complete success. Our Carrot Tops talked with each other some more, yours even considering selling the rights to the potions she makes to help buy back the farm."

"That's good to hear."

"I returned once more to the hospital in time to see my Trixie awake. She panicked a bit from the IV unit, such things not existing in our Equestria yet, but was calmed down by my Luna. I was shortly followed by the rest of my friends, and we told each other all that had happened.

"Before our inevitable return to our world, Carrot decided to visit your world's counterpart's farm one last time, and saw your Applejack clearing the snow. She offered your spirit of Honesty some tips in maintaining it, and your Carrot did feel it would be safer with her."

"That's what she said," Chronicle quipped. "No, seriously. Well, maybe just implied as much."

"Your Carrot also supplies arthritis cream for Granny Smith."

"Huh, that explains her better… mobility these days." The unicorn allowed his brother to take a breather after taking one himself before taking over for him and facing their father. "Soon, they were out of the hospital, and we were waiting for them. All my friends, my world's Trixie and Luna, his world's Twilight, a fair number of Ponyvillians, including Blue's friends' counterparts, and the royal guard. As it was, Celestia deliberately remained in the sun to make sure that my Luna doesn't get blamed for doing what she had done as Nightmare Moon and that her return can be showcased as voluntary."

"Luna began to create a magic circle and once it was completed, she cast it and returned Celestia from the sun. Although it turns out that her sister had used magic dye to render her hair 'normal'."

"Just like with her Sunny Skies persona. She quickly reverted it though. Reunions were made, and then the goodbyes had to come."

"His Carrot gave mine a parting gift of recipes and alchemy tips. And Trixie got confused a little bit between the two before your Written Script resolved the issue."

"And his Luna gave Sparkle a choice; upon using the planeswalking spell to return them back to their world, they would be sent back to the exact point in space they were in when they left. She could either flee, or turn herself in."

"They asked if they could pass messages to each other through us, but we gave no promises. And unfortunately, Luna doesn't have a mirror like Solaris in our sister's world and Celestia do."

"Eventually, the spell was cast and they were ready to go home. However, Twilight had a plan for her alternate counterpart. I can't remember what it was but Blue's Luna seemed to approve. And then…"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Chronicle was sleeping in a tent with Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Outside their tent was a line of more tents stretching all the way across Ponyville. And they were all lined up at Sweet Apple Acres, at the head of a cider stand, where tubs of apples and stacked barrels were on hand, and one barrel had been set up on the counter and hooked to a tap. The first tent in line had three shades of pink and decorated with balloons, both on its fabric and tethered to the frame. Obviously belonging to Pinkie Pie, who had suggested them (and a couple other ponies) to camp in line so they they don't miss out on the cider before the Apple Family runs out for the day. 

It reminded him of big-name conventions in Earth "client worlds", particularly the "waiting nightmare" that is Comic Con ever since the Story Crew decided to 'send down' ideas of the events that have transpired in the 'target world'… well, he can't remember the name, but in "client worlds" the story they got acquired the title of Twilight, a story about vampires that sparkle. In hindsight, that made his current charge's name a little funny.

Despite not wanting any cider ("I only get myself drunk when I've severely failed in my duty as a bodyguard, never at any other time."), Chronicle was forced to come along to help guard their position in the line. That, and his friends seem to want him to take a swig of it, which he was adamant to not do. Rarity was also in line right beind them. Rainbow Dash allegedly misses out every single season. Fluttershy has no real interest in cider. Skyla and Mystic Shield were also in line farther back.

When did my life get to this point?


C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP—C—TS—S—PP


Come morning…

The four local Apple family members were on duty at the stand: Applejack setting up a megaphone on a stand in front, Granny Smith (wearing a green eyeshade visor) and Apple Bloom behind the counter, Big Macintosh at the barrel stockpile. 

At where he, Twilight, Spike, and Rarity waited in line as it slowly moved forward, Chronicle could only wait for them to reach the stand where they can get their cider and leave. Of course, he wasn't going to drink it, but given that it often runs out, maybe he cold strike a deal using it.

"Isn’t this exciting, Spike?" Twilight said as she looked back to face the dragonling. "Opening day of cider season!"

"Yeah!" he agreed. "That means it’s only thirty more days ’til sapphire season! 
The three unicorns near him rolled their eyes at this as he let his tongue hang out.

"Attention, everypony!" arrived Applejack's amplified articlation. "Cider season is now officially open!"

This set off excited murmurs among the ponies, while Granny nodded to Bloom and glanced toward the open, empty cash box on the counter. Pinkie, first in line, hauled up two full bag in her teeth and emptied a shower of coins into the box, prompting Bloom to pump the tap handle and fill a waiting mug. This was plucked away and guzzled down to leave froth on Pinkie’s lips and a blissful expression on her face, which shifted gears into a huge eager smile. 

A moment later, she is toting all the brimming, bubbly mugs that her forelegs can manage. Chronicle witnessed this and growled.

"Whatever is the matter?" Rarity asked him.

"You see that? This is another reason I don't like Applejack that much. She's such a terrible business pony. With a few extra hooves, her family could supply the entire town in under an hour. And yet, year after year, they refused to so much as hire a couple of salesponies—and you know she can easily access them via you—to run the stand while they put on a constant output. And with this demand for cider, they could easily raise their prices and get rich.

"And worst of all? Judging by the inevitable amount of dissatisfied customers once they're out, she doesn't even consider issuing rain checks, rationing it, and even allowing Pinkie Pie to hoard a lot. Although, the last is probably a roundabout way to spite Rainbow Dash after she abandoned her, you, and me."

"Actually, Pinkie does this every season," the white unicorn corrected him on the last part.

"If it's for Sugarcube Corner, I wouldn't be surprised if it or whatever product they make with the cider sells for more. Now if you'll excuse me…" By that time, it was his turn to order some cider. He purchased only one tankard, cross and surprised it was only two bits for such a high-demand product ("I'd pay more for this."). Once he got his drink, he stepped aside for Rarity (and everypony else behind her).

As he found a place to stand by, he took the time to examine the drink. He was aware of the difference between soft cider and hard cider; only the latter was alcoholic. It looked like soft cider, but if the foam from the drinkers told him anything, it was hard, thus it was alcoholic. And he doesn't drink alcohol outside of very specific circumstances, and that was not because he can't hold his liquor.

"Aren't you gonna drink that?" Twilight asked as she took a sip from her cider.

Chronicle turned his head and looked at a certain somepony deep in the line. "I'm gonna save it for a friend."


C—TS—S—A—BM—AB—GS—R—PP


As the hours ticked by, customer after customer purchased their draught/draft of likely alcoholic apple juice. At certain points, Bloom, still at the tap, saw that it chose the moment to dispense only a few drops and a burp of gas. A grab by Macintosh removed the emptied barrel, a nudge from his rear hooves toppled a fresh one from the pile onto his back, and he quickly hooked up the new supply. But Chronicle knew that wouldn't last the entire line. One by one, the reserve barrels began to dwindle. And then it was the final barrel. 

Fluttershy finally made it to the counter. She and Rainbow both paid, and a foamy mug was dispensed for the patient yellow pegasus, who moved off to make room for her friend. The red-violet eyes grew as the tongue lolled greedily out—and then the tap ran dry—and the blue face cycled from anticipation to teary-eyed disappointment to teeth-grinding rage. She did, however, keep herself under enough control to let off only a subdued growl as Applejack walked up.

"Uh…sorry, everypony," the farmpony declared. "That’s it for today."

There were "Awww…"s from all the others in line as Rainbow flew over to her.

"Surprise, surprise," she said with lots of snark. "You ran out again!"

"Yeah, you always run out!" complained Caramel.

"For the record, I don’t mind—" and Fluttershy was interrupted by the cider-deprived speedster. 

"Why can’t you make enough cider for all of us—or at least for me?"

The workhorse found herself without a ready answer as a throng of annoyed, grumbling would-be customers started to hem her in as she jumped onto the counter. "Hold on, everypony." And they all fell silent. "We’ve done our best to improve supply this year."

"You always say that!" replied Caramel.

"And it’s always true. But Apple family cider is made with love and integrity, and only the highest quality apples in Equestria. Sorry, but that recipe takes time." At that, the dissatisfied complainers—with Applejack's friends holding their tongues—all dispersed fromthe counter. "If y’all just be patient, we’ll have plenty more tomorrow."

Rainbow turned to leave, but found the ever-cheerful Pinkie standing directly behind her. "She’s right, you know. You can’t rush perfection, and this year’s batch was perfection!" 

Fluttershy was now standing behind her. "Uh, Pinkie Pie?" 

Pinkie zipped to Rainbow and dropped a foreleg over her shoulders. "I’ll never forget the cider I just drank," she said dreamily as she draped herself bodily over Rainbow. "It was a moment in time that will never exist again."

She voiced an ecstatic little moan, having paid no heed to Fluttershy’s warning or the steadily building fury on Rainbow’s face, its owner launching into a rising growl, the sort that would get any self-respecting dog shot on suspicion of having rabies. 

This was dispelled when Chronicle came over with his tankard of cider. "Hey, Rainbow. You can have mine." I'll have to smack Pinkie later And without hesitation he levitated his tankard over to her face.

Without being the slightest suspicious, she grabbed the tankard and quaffed the entire thing down. Once she was through with the cider, her face with foam, she cried out in appreciation, "Thank you so much!" Rainbow then got up on her hind legs, ejecting Pinkie from her back, and grabbed Chronicle's head in her forelegs. "I… am in your debt!"

Before he could do anything about it, their lips locked in a full kiss, one with eyes closed and full of bliss and the other with eyes wide in shock. The second they parted, Chronicle immediately punched Rainbow in the face, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Hey! What's with you?! There's no way a pony could get wasted this quickly on one tankard! Now I'm more afraid to drink it! And on top of that, you stole my first kiss!"

This got their friends covering their mouths in shock. First kisses, not counting those between family members (relative incest aside), is usually a big deal when it comes to romance, and it should always be reserved toward their first love (whether that becomes their true love or not is irrelevant). It's no longer a surprise that he and Fluttershy have started seeing each other, so it would be a little betraying that he thought he kissed another mare before that.

"Um, actually," Fluttershy butted in softly. "I did kiss you before. During one of our…sessions…"

Now it was Chronicle's turn to be shocked, and his mind started to think dirty thoughts. Dammit, get your head out of the gutter!

Her voice lowered to a whisper. "I accidentally punched you so hard you were immediately knocked out. Though I think bumping your head on that rock also had something to do with it. I took you home instead of the hospital, because I thought it would be awkward for me to bring you there."

"I think I understand why." For him to be knocked out by something so trivial and to be brought to the hospital or even just the library by a usually timid pony like Fluttershy would spring up a lot of questions and scandals. It was already bad enough that Gabby Gums thought there was a love triangle with him in the middle.

"And while you were resting, I was…tempted to find out what it was like to kiss somepony you really, really, really like. I took the chance, and then you woke up a few seconds after."

Like Snow White! I can't believe it! And he started blushing profusely at the thought, and she did too.

Thankfully, before any more dirt can be dug up on this awkward matter, it was interrupted by the honking of a horn. Everybody turned to look toward it and saw a vehicle chugging along the road toward the few remaining ponies in the area. It had wooden wagon wheels mounted in old-style automobile wheel wells, coiled wires, vacuum tubes, and chuffing smokestacks at the rear end of the contraption.

"What in Equestria is that?" Applejack wondered as everypony moved toward it.

Up front on the vehicle, two headlights were mounted on the front fenders, between which a speaker’s platform was mounted. A lectern stood at the front edge of this, and the front edge of a red couch poked into view from the area behind the fenders. Two pairs of cream-colored pony hind legs were extended into view, suggesting that their owners were reclining on the couch.

Macintosh and Bloom stared dumbfounded as the shadow of this thing cast itself over them and the stand, and Granny gaped from her position at a nearby fence. The cowcatcher-style front grille knocked over one post as it chuffed to a stop. The body of the vehicle was red, the fenders and running boards black, and the front wheels were much larger than the rear ones. Overall, the vehicle design was similar to that of a gigantic, open-topped antique roadster automobile, with machinery stacked up where the rear seats would go and various controls and pipes built into the side. Red/white striped hems hung down from the side edges of the front platform.

A jaunty vaudeville melody began to play, a lively 4 in time with machine noises, and in F major. I'm no music genius, so why do I understand it? Musical Number Phenomenon?

A happier-than-ever Rainbow inserted herself among the confused onlookers as the two riders jumped down just in front of the camera to look them over. From this angle, it could be seen that they are both green-eyed unicorn stallions, with carefully styled red/white-striped manes, and one of them had a red mustache. They wore straw boater hats with blue bands, blue-and-white striped vests over white shirts with sleeves rolled up, dark gray bow ties, and had tails that matched their manes. The clean-shaven one had a cutie mark that showed a single apple slice, while the mark of the mustachioed one consisted of a red apple with one slice cut out. It was quite obvious they were twin brothers.

Clean-shaven brother: 		Well, looky what we got here, brother of mine, it’s the same in every town

He jumped over to the crowd and closed one mare’s—namely Berry Punch's—mouth.

Clean-shaven brother: 		Ponies with thirsty throats, dry tongues, and not a drop of cider to be found

He shortly backed up to his twin.

Clean-shaven brother: 		Maybe they’re not aware that there’s really no need for this teary despair

Mustachioed brother: 		That the key that they need to solve this sad cider shortage, you and I will share♪

There came general excited talk among a knot of ponies as the twins both made their way through the crowd, waving their hats.

Brothers: 			Well, you got opportunity in this very community♪ 
Clean-shaven brother: 		He’s Flim
Mustachioed brother: 		He’s Flam
Brothers: 			We’re the world-famous Flim Flam Brothers♪
Traveling salesponies nonpareil♪

"Nonpa—what?" Pinkie failed to parrot, and then Flam (or was it Flim? The song was confusing), the clean-shaven brother, zipped over to her.

Nonpareil is Prench/French for “without equal". Wow, they must've been at or met somepony at Neigh Orleans. Trixie Lulamoon's hometown in Luna Equestria. They also mean those round sprinkles on some cakes, but Pinkie probably only knows them as just sprinkles.

Flim: 				Nonpareil, and that’s exactly the reason why, you see

Several others gathered around him; Apple Bloom, Berry Punch, Golden Harvest, Minuette, Sea Swirl, and one pegasus mare Chronicle couldn't identify. And come to think of it, he had seen these Flim Flam Brothers a couple times before, but them being world famous seemed to be a bit of a stretch. 

Flim: 				Nopony else in this whole place will give you such a chance to be where you need to be

After a kiss on Bloom’s head, and he jumped up to the platform.

Flim: 				And that’s a new world with tons of cider, fresh-squeezed and ready for drinking

Above, Flam (or…well, the other pony), sat on a nozzle and hose he has bent with his magic as he slid down its length.

Flam:				More cider than you could drink in all your days of thinking

"I doubt that!" Rainbow replied.

The nozzle then straightened out as the brothers dropped to ground level and did another soft-shoe bit.

Flim Flam Brothers: 		So take this opportunity♪

And the crowd joined in.

Flim Flam Brothers and Crowd:	In this very community♪
Flam:				He’s Flim♪
Flim:				He’s Flam♪
Flim, Flam:			We’re the world-famous Flim Flam Brothers♪
Traveling salesponies nonpareil♪

Flim:				I suppose by now you’re wondering ’bout our peculiar mode of transport
Flam:				I say, our mode of locomotion♪

Flim then jumped to the lectern.

Flim:				And I suppose by now you’re wondering, where is this promised cider?
Flam:				Any horse can make a claim and anypony can do the same♪
Flim:				But my brother and I have something most unique and superb
Unseen at any time in this great new world
Flim Flam Brothers: 		And that’s opportunity♪

The song then went into D major, modulating back to F major as the brothers started to work the crowd again.

Flim:				Yes, folks, it’s the one and only, the biggest and the best♪
Flam:				The unbelievable
Flim:				Unimpeachable
Flam:				Indispensable
Flim:				I-can’t-believable
Flim Flam Brothers: 		Flim Flam Brothers’ Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000♪

The mustachioed brother then zipped over to Rarity. "What do you say, sister?"

The white unicorn swooned and came within an ace of hitting the ground, stopped only by Spike’s straining to hold her up. Twilight and Chronicle looked uneasily toward the enthralled spectators.

Crowd:				Oh, we got opportunity in this very community♪
Please, Flim, please, Flam, help us out of this jam♪
With your Flim Flam Brothers’ Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000♪

With this synchronized singing and mention of such a long term after just hearing it once, it's confirmed without a doubt that the Musical Number Phenomenon was in effect.

Now Flim stepped up to the counter and bowed gallantly to Applejack, while the rest of the family watched from behind. "Young filly, I would be ever so honored if you might see fit to let my brother and I borrow some of your delicious, and might I add, spellbindingly fragrant apples for our little demonstration here?"

"Uh, sure, I guess." With that, he darted away.

Crowd: 				Opportunity in our community♪
Flam:				Ready, Flim♪
Flim:				Ready, Flam♪
Flim Flam Brothers: 		Let’s bing-bang-zam♪

Two beams of unicorn magic lanced from their horns, and their spells kicked the machinery into gear.

"And show these thirsty ponies a world of delectable cider!" Flim added as the music changed to a D flat major and the overhead nozzle that Flam slid down extended on its hose, and the crowd begins to chant “Cider, cider, cider, cider” in rhythm with the music. Rainbow hovered among them, tongue hanging out. She must really want some more. In short order, the nozzle positioned itself directly above one loaded apple tree and vacuumed all the fruit from its branches.

"Watch closely, my friends!" said Flim as the load was sucked into a drum, which span up to high speed.

"The fun begins!" sand Flam as his brother stood among the machinery.

"Now here’s where the magic happens." A glass reservoir started to fill. "Right here in this heaving, roiling cider press, the coiling guts of the very machine…" Twilight, Rarity, and Spike have now joined the chant, but Chronicle (and Mystic at the back, Skyla was chanting as well) kept a calm posture and critical eye. "—those apples plucked fresh are right now as we speak, being turned into grade-A, top-notch, five-star, blow-your-horseshoes-off, one-of-a-kind cider! "

Flam:				Feel free to take a sneak peek♪

And several did so. suddenly, the song shifted to stoptime E Major as an irked Granny Smith cut in, the crowd stopping in their chant.

Granny: 			Now wait, you fellers, hold it, you went and oversold it

She got into Flam's face.

Granny: 			I guarantee what you have there won’t compare

Then she turned toward the crowd…

Granny: 			For the very most important ingredient can’t be added or done expedient

…who started to nod in agreement.

Granny: 			And that’s quality, friends, Apple Acres quality and care

Now Flim turned his attention to her, having climbed down from atop the rig and normal rhythm resumed, D major, to G major and back.

"Well, Granny, I’m glad you brought that up, my dearest, I am glad you brought that up," he said. "You see that we are very picky when it comes to cider, if you’ll kindly try a cup."

As he produced a full mug on the end of this and then darted away, she took a sip and found that it sits very well with her. Something then cranked up from the machine’s general direction.

Flam: 				Yes, sir, yes, ma’am♪

Seen through the side window are a pair of conveyor belts. Good apples are passed with a bell, and bad ones are buzzed out and dumped off.

Flam: 				This great machine lets just the very best♪
So what do you say, then, Apples?♪ 
Care to step into the modern world♪
And put the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to the test?♪

As the crowd started its “cider” chant again, Flim said, "What do you think, folks? Do you see what the Apples can’t? I see it clear as day! I know she does! So does he! Come on, Ponyville, you know what I’m talking about!"

The music changed to a G flat major. Once the crowd stopped, the brothers did their soft-shoe bit again while Rainbow did high-altitude back flips overhead while the song's pitch changed to G flat major.

Flim Flam Brothers:		We’re saying you’ve got♪
Flim Flam Brothers and Crowd:	Opportunity in this very community♪
He’s Flim, he’s Flam, we’re the world-famous Flim Flam Brothers♪
Traveling salesponies nonpareil♪

Flim Flam Brothers:		Yeah!♪

And with that, the song ended.

"You got a deal!" Bloom was quick to "jump the gun". And there were agreeable murmurs from the crowd. And somewhere in it, the sound of a smack could be heard as well as a cry of pain from Pinkie, but it was mostly ignored in favor of the current situation.

Granny was just as quick to quell the notion with an angry stomp. "Not so fast!" The four Apples then gathered in a huddle. "No way, nohow that machine matches up with the care we put in our cider!"

"But if it really does work, we could make everypony in town happy."

"I just don’t know, y’all." Applejack was unsure as unbeknownst to the four earth ponies, the Flim Flam brothers confidently slipped into the huddle without alerting them. "We’ve always made cider the same way."

Macintosh agreed as curtly as ever. "Ee-yup." And then he finally noticed the unicorn twins in the huddle, as did the others. "Huh?"

"We’ll sweeten the deal," offered Flim. "You supply the apples…"

"…we supply the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000," continued Flam.

"Then we split those sweet, sweet profits…" Both.

"…seventy-five…" Flim.

"…twenty-five." Flam.

"Deal!" Bloom was quick again to "jump the gun", but Applejack’s hoof clapped over her mouth.

"Hold on." The huddle was then broken. "Who gets the seventy-five?" 

Flim leaned over to her. "Why, us, naturally." 

Flam flared his horn briefly. "And we’ll throw in the magic to power the machine for free!"

Applejack stepped away from the brothers for a quick talk with the family. "Cider sales keep our business afloat through the winter. We’d lose Sweet Apple Acres if we agree to this."

"So, what'll it be?" the twins asked.

Macintosh gave the Apple Family verdict. "No deal."

"Hmph. Very well," said Flim. "If you refuse our generous offer to be partners, then we’ll just have to be competitors."

"You wouldn’t dare!" said Applejack.

"Oh, no?"

His nod across the way was Flam’s cue to address the crowd from the 6000’s platform. "Don’t you worry, everypony!" the other twin addressed the crowd. "There'll be plenty of cider for all of you!" There were excited reactions from the crows.

"Once we drive Sweet Apple Acres out of business," Flim then added to the Apples, eliciting a quadraphonic gasp from them.

"What?!" gasped Bloom.


C—TS—S—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—FFB

Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side is the Flim Flam brothers and their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. On the right side is the Apple family and their farm. The show's logo is seen on the upper center.


C—TS—S—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—FFB


The next morning…

It was another day of buying cider, with a very new and very long line of expectant cider buyers stretching over the hills toward Ponyville, just as before. The fence post knocked down by the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 has been repaired. Pinkie was first up, dropping a few coins into the cash box and receiving a mug. Just like yesterday, as the customers kept coming, Chronicle—who was this time standing with his charge, her assistant, and the contender against the Flim Flam brothers—stood nearby, and could see that the cider would run out again long before they reached the end of the line.

"Still worried about Flim and Flam?" Twilight asked her friend as Macintosh brought in a new barrel.

"Granny Smith says they were just blowing hot air," said Spike.

"I’m not so sure," argued the farmpony. "They sounded mighty serious when they threatened to run us outta business."

"They could've negotiated further and come up with a deal that could've satisfied both parties," Chronicle put in his two bits. "And your family should've at least tried to haggle with the brothers. There is no need for all this competition. And you should consider consulting Rarity on business advice, Applejack. She does run deals with various enterprises in Canterlot. And before you shut me down, farms are just as much a business as any other job, and farmers as a whole supply the entire population. A pretty darn important job if you ask me. Being a huge clan can have its merits."

"How d'ya know so much about business?"

"I only know enough to see that this could've easily been avoided. I've served enough charges in the past to get an idea on how business in general operates. And given how old we are, we should know this."

"That's it!" Apple Bloom cried out, indicating the dripping tap. "Last cup!"

The queued-up locals groaned loudly, and Rainbow rose into view from the top of the farthest hill. "OH, FOR PETE’S SAKE!!" 

"Come on back tomorrow, everypony!"

There came general disgruntlement from the denied customers. Rainbow has clapped a foreleg over her eyes in disgust, but lowered it at the sound of the 6000 cranking up. Applejack fell out from her position, looking up wide-eyed as the thing’s shadow advanced over her, and Granny nailed in the new fence post just in time for the front grille to knock it over again. She threw a venomous glare up at the 6000 as Flim disembarked and sidled up to Applejack.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Flim asked as Flam slipped in on her other side.

"Oh my, oh my! Out of cider again?"

At the 6000’s rear end, there was a shelf loaded with barrels and an attached chute. Flim reclined against one rear fender as a barrel was lowered into position.

"What have we here?" said Flim as it rolled down the chute and was flipped upward, landing near the front wheels. "Who’d like a cup?"

Twilight, Applejack, and Spike were promptly swept up in a stampede of clamoring ponies, with dust boiling up while Chronicle—seeing it come a mile away—already got out of the way. In less than five seconds, Flim and Flam stood before them, each with one foreleg propped on the barrel. 

Flam levitated a mug. "Don’t worry, everypony!" Applejack gasped in surprise and ducked down somewhere. "We’ve got the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 to make more in an instant!"

On the end of this, the mug was floated to Rainbow, who slipped a hoof through its handle and prepared to slake her thirst. Before she could get a mouthful, though, Applejack came up with a rope in her teeth and lassoed the barrel away, to the salesponies’ great surprise. It knocked the mug from Rainbow’s grip as she yanked it back and planted it in front of herself, plunking both forelegs on top.

"You can’t sell that cider!" The airborne tankard hit the dirt, its contents spilling out and soaking in as Rainbow frantically leaned down over the mess. With no more liquid handy, she scooped up the saturated earth and shoveled it into her mouth. "That’s made from Apple family apples!"

Rainbow stood up, her face dirty. "Is this some kind of cruel joke?" 

"How can you tell the apples are from yours?" Chronicle asked the farmer after teleporting over. He wasn't answered.

"Don’t worry, everypony!" Flim meanwhile advertized. "There are plenty of apples in Equestria. We’ll find some others and make more cider than all of Ponyville can drink!"

The crowd gasped as Bloom jumped out in front of them. "We’ll make more cider than you could ever imagine!"

Flam reacted with alarm, but the nearest onlookers gasped in her direction. The defiant filly was suddenly yanked away by the tail by Macintosh and was now dangling upside down before Applejack and Granny.

"Now it ain’t about the speed, young’un, it’s about quality," said Granny. 

The crowd "Awww…"ed in disappointment. 

Rainbow hovered over them, her face now clean. "Who cares how good the cider is if I never get to drink any?"

Flim came up to her and pinched her cheeks between his forelegs. "Aw, look at these poor dissatisfied ponies."

"Ponyville is Sweet Apple cider country!" Bloom cried out as Macintosh dropped her.

"Our cider speaks for itself!" added Applejack.

"Let’s put it to the test," challenged Flim as he lounged on the 6000’s couch.

"Anywhere, anytime!" Bloom then smirked over her shoulder as murmurs floated from the crowd. 

Granny leaned in toward her. "Uh, that’s enough now."

"With our machine, we can make enough cider in one hour to satisfy this entire town!" Flam advertised. 

The filly then pushed her grandmother back. "We’ll do it in forty-five minutes!"

As the crowd continued to register its surprise, Chronicle thought, Don't tell me this is what they intended to do the whole time!

Meanwhile, Flim relaxed on the couch with his boater tipped forward over his eyes. "Easy, Apple Bloom, easy," Granny tried to calm her down.

"What’s the matter, Granny Smith? Chicken?" the clean-shaven brother taunted.

That last word hit a nerve under the white mane as Chronicle groaned at the increasing unnecessary conflict that could've been solved with both parties satisfied. It looks like however that the brothers were after a "quick buck" and had as much business sense as the Apple family.

"What did you call me, sonny?" Granny said icily to Flim.

"If you’re so confident in your cider, then what’s the problem?" 

She leaned into his face with renewed ire. "Tomorrow mornin’, right here!"

Flam floated an apple toward himself. "But I’m afraid we haven’t any…" He then spit on it before polishing on the vest. "…apples."

"You can use our south field! It’ll be worth it to teach y’all a thing or two ’bout cider-making!" 

Flim sat up from the couch. "Excellent! We have a bet. Whoever produces the most barrels in one hour wins the exclusive right to sell cider in Ponyville."

Sweat beaded on Applejack's brow as her eyes popped wide open and the green irises shrank almost to points, but the brothers just aimed a pair of cocky grins straight ahead. 

"She's gonna fall for the bait," Chronicle whispered to himself. "She's too riled up."

One cream-colored hoof and one wrinkled green one shortly shook to seal the agreement. "And after we beat you, I don’t never want to see you bambahoozlers around here again!"

And she doesn't even consult her children on the matter. She's putting the family's livelihood in jeopardy.

As Granny stalked off, Twilight and Applejack traded an uneasy look, as did Macintosh and Bloom, while the onlookers talked amongst themselves. From the 6000’s platform, the brothers regarded the scene.

"Until…tomorrow," Flam said as he and Flim bowed and tipped their hats. With that, the rig chugged away down the road, leaving Applejack staring nervously after them. 

She turned to Twilight, who responded, "Don’t worry, Applejack. I know you’ll win tomorrow."

"We’d better, ’cause if we don’t…" The farmpony walked past her. "…we’re gonna lose our farm."

The throng slowly disperses to leave the four kinfolk standing despondently around the cider stand. 

"Wait, what?" This left Chronicle confused as he walked over. "How are you gonna lose the farm if they get the exclusive rights to sell cider? I'm sure I didn't hear anything regarding rights to this property during the entire exchange. They'll need to buy the apples from you after the competition should they win."

"Cider sales is what keeps us afloat through winter. We lose the cider business, we essentially go bankrupt and we'll end up losing the farm anyway."

"But while you might lose the rights to sell cider, you instead just have to sell apples to the Flim Flam brothers, and you get to name the price."

"Maybe. But your doubts about our business sense seem t' hold water. Now that I look at 'em, I dunno whatever the deals those Flim Flam brothers will make with us in the future—"

"I get what you mean. You can't tell if their next deal will be favorable at all for you." Chronicle then raised a hoof and rested it on Applejack's back. "Don't worry. We got your back."

"Thanks. Another thing. The reason I came to what I concluded is because we're still our cider sales here is our only way to recover, 'specially after the parasprites eatin' the farm infrastructure, my failed attempt at makin' profits from the Gala, the buildin' of another new side-barn, and Spike stealin' our crops when he was all big."

"…Oh. Never really realized the toll that must've put. Sorry."

"S'all right."


C—TS—A—AB—GS—RD—FFB—C—TS—A—AB—GS—RD—FFB


The next day…

Rows of ponies have gathered at the fence on either side of the Apple Family cider stand to observe the goings-on. Beyond it was a dirt path leading through a meadow bordered by groves of apple trees, with the Apples and the brothers set up on opposite sides. Mayor Mare stood on the path in the distance, between the two groups and with an hourglass. Spike was near her, as was Doctor Whooves (his look-alike, Time Turner, was in the audience), who had put on a white shirt collar and green necktie for the occasion.

Macintosh was wearing a pair of goggles propped on his forehead, as he trotted in place to limber up his hooves. Granny was at a couple of empty apple tubs, having donned a pair of eyeglasses on a jeweled chain and was sniffing deeply at an apple she wa holding. Elsewhere, Applejack had set up a heavy bag and is taking a few practice bucks, with Bloom hanging on to provide extra weight. Twilight and Chronicle walked over to these two.

"Applejack, are you sure this is such a good idea?" Twilight asked.

"Me and the family are…" Applejack said between bucks. "…a hundred percent confident…in our cider-makin’ capabilities."

"And besides, nopony calls Granny a chicken!" Bloom added before the next buck sent her flying. 

As Twilight turned the situation over a few dozen times in her head, Chronicle took the time to voice his opinion. "Whether or not it's a good idea, there's no turning back. I just feel like you've been warned about this somehow."

The farmpony reflected on this, trying to recall a certain earth pony who had joined the group for a while and told her that warning. But before the name could come to mind, the Mayor's voice cut in. "Attention, everypony!"

"Well, good luck," Twilight finally said before waking off, her bodyguard saluting the competing family before following as a badly disoriented Bloom staggered back to her big sister.

"Thanks, guys," Applejack replied as Bloom collapsed. "We’ll need it."

"The teams have one hour to produce as much cider as they can, after which the barrels will be counted and the winner will be named the sole cider provider for all of Ponyville," announced the Mayor. On the end of this, Flim and Flam were on the 6000’s couch, the former holding a tankard, and they smirked at each other. Murmurs came from the crowd. "Are both teams ready?"

Macintosh socked his goggles into place, Granny glared toward the adversaries with a snort, Bloom blew her mane back from her face, and Applejack stood resolutely at the fore. "Ready!"

Flam raised a foreleg as they replied leisurely, "Ready."

"Then let’s…" The Doctor inverted the hourglass. As soon as the sand started to run— "GO!"

All but Granny raced toward their base of operations, while she shambled after them at her usual arthritic pace. The two brothers didn't stir from their couch. Flam just yawned in a bored manner as both fired up their horns. Extending over the treetops, the nozzle stopped at one particular tree and sucked up its apples. At ground level, Applejack relied on hind-leg power to bring down a load for Bloom to catch in a tub on her head. The filly then brought the fruit over to Granny for inspection and whisked an empty tub away.

The high end of a chute extended behind the old green mare, who sniffed one apple at a time, throwing aside the bad ones and tossing the good ones into the chute. "Ugh! Bad ’un… good ’un…" The good apples rolled toward a large, rotating stone wheel… "bad ’un…" …dropping off the end near the wheel and was crushed to pulp. 

The stone wheel was being run by a treadmill on its other side, with Macintosh racing along to power the press. As soon as each good apple dropped in, the whirling mass pulverized it to generate a steady stream of cider that flowed from a tap into a waiting barrel. The moment the vessel was full, Macintosh stepped off, slapped on a lid, banged the full one aside with an empty one, then got back on the treadmill.

"Great job, y’all!" Applejack called as she bucked a tree. We’ve already filled an entire barrel!"

Her little sister zipped in with a tub to catch them on the end of this, then zipped to Granny to set it down. "I’ll bet you those guys don’t even have—" The sentence trailed off as she Granny, and Macintosh voiced a wide-eyed triplicate gasp at the 6000’s draining reservoirs. "What?"

At the rear end of the vehicle, a full barrel was swiftly ejected onto the chute and flipped away to land neatly atop five other barrels. The brothers waved mockingly at the family. Applejack swallowed hard, doubting the possibility of victory for her family.


C—TS—S—A—BM—AB—GS—MM—DH—FFB

Eyecatch (picture-type) - On the left side is the Flim Flam brothers and their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 in operation. On the right side is the Apple family doing their best to pump out the cider. The show's logo is seen on the upper center and just before the eyecatch ends, colored silhouettes of other ponies flash in on the Apple family side.


C—TS—S—A—BM—AB—GS—MM—DH—FFB


The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000's nozzle continued to suck apples off the trees, its quality control system filtered the apples, and its rear chute continued chucking off full barrels. The machine's smooth and fast operating was doing a toll on Apple Bloom's psyche, leaving her shell-shocked and making her forget to catch the falling apples in the tub on her head.

"Come on, Apple Bloom, focus!" her sister brought her back to her senses. "We gotta forget those guys if we’re gonna have a chance of winnin’!" 

Bloom shook her head clear. "Sorry, sis!" She then rushed to Granny with a full tub. "Better keep up, Granny! We’re fallin’ behind!"

The Apple matriarch now stood among a backlog of loads as Bloom grabbed an empty tub in her teeth and sprinted back, leaving the sweating Granny to wipe her tired eyes. "Good ’un…" Macintosh—incredible as it might seem—was flagging badly on the treadmill hooked to the cider press. "…ugh! Bad ’un…" 

"Rest when it’s over, Big Macintosh!" Applejack spurred him on. "Ride! Ride!"

Summoning up his second or third or seventeenth wind, he put on a burst of speed so that cider positively gushed from the tap. 

At the fence, Applejack’s six friends continued to watch. "This is just dreadful!" commented Rarity as Macintosh sealed the filling barrel and brought in a new one. "Even at top speed, the Apples are only making one barrel to the twins’ three!"

Indeed, at the 6000 and its reclining operators, the fresh loads of product were joining an uncomfortably tall stack. Twilight chewed the production problem over in her mind for a second, then advanced grimly toward Spike and the Mayor.

"Um, Ms. Mayor!" she said as the others joined her. "Are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?"

"Well, I’m not sure." The Mayor then addressed the brothers, whose machine was still going great guns. "Flim? Flam? Would you object to honorary family members helping?"

"Are you kidding?" Flim replied smugly as he drank from a mug.

"We don’t care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helps!" added Flam. "It’s a lost cause."

"Hmm…" Chronicle was tempted to do just that as he pulled out a sleek black ocarina from hammerspace. It was a magical one, given to him by Princess Luna last Nightmare Night, after an impressive duel against her, in the same way he dueled Sunny Skies, a.k.a. Princess Celestia. One tune and she'll be here. But she trusted him not to use it so trivially or when a problem can be solved without her, so he put it back, but didn't remove the smirk from his face.

"Oh, my. I guess it’s okay." The Mayor then turned to the Apples. "Applejack, what do you think?"

Applejack delivered a furious buck to the nearest tree and stood upright, her perspiring face lined with fatigue. "I think I’d love to have the rest of my family helpin’ out." 

Twilight let out a smile, and the rest whooped, "All right!" Behind them, Lyra Heartstrings jumped in time with them in cheer. 

The decision threw only the briefest of scares into the cider hucksters, but the next declaration would throw them a bit more off.

"If it matters, we'd like to assist as well."

From the crowd emerged Golden Harvest, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and another Chronicle, who winked before vanishing, having turned out to be a magic clone. All three girls held resolute stares at the brothers. It was the mare who had spoken.

"We Cutie Mark Crusaders gotta stick together!" added the pegasus filly.

"That's right!" agreed the young unicorn.

"Go on right ahead," humored Flam. The Mayor nodded in approval as the three fell in line with the other five backup troops and stood to attention as Twilight paced sternly down their line.

"Okay, everypony," said the Spirit of Magic. "We’re not gonna let those smooth talkers take our friend’s farm."

"Yeah!" everypony agreed. 

"My father entrusted his and my farm to the Apples," Carrot added. "No way I'm gonna let those twins just take it."

Twilight then moved to each in turn. "Fluttershy, help Applejack with the trees."

"Got it!"

"I'm helping with the bucking," the orange-headed mare said.

Twilight took no time to argue and hoped Carrot would deliver, proceeding to the next pony. "Pinkie Pie, you’re on apple-catching detail. You too, Scootaloo!"

The party pony gave a salute. "Yes, sir, ma’am, sir!" The pegasus filly did the same without a word and Twilight acknowledged that as a volunteer.

"Rarity, you’ve got a discerning eye. Help Granny Smith at the quality control station."

"Of course!" The fashionista turned to her younger sister. "Sweetie Belle, go on and help your friends in bringing the apples. I trust you're not as clumsy anymore, right?"

"Don't worry about me, sis! No way I'll let them down!"

Twilight smiled at the strengthened trust, then turned to the next. "Rainbow Dash, do you think you can help Big Macintosh press?"

"In my sleep!"

"Chronicle—"

Before Twilight could delegate him on a task, he was ahead of her, "I'll assist in the apple collecting."

"Okay." She then addressed all of them. "All right, everypony. Let’s save Sweet Apple Acres!"

"All right!" And they all got to action stations. 


C—TS—GH—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—MM—S—SB—FFB


Just before everypony got to work, Chronicle decided to plant a marker for a relay point, where they would meet with Sweetie Belle and pass their full tub of apples to her so they can quickly get back to collecting, only bypassing it when she's in the process of delivering a tub over to the quality control station where her sister and Granny Smith are. He could trust she can bring the tubs safely, but catching them is a different matter. Besides, it would save on a little stamina for everypony.

Applejack galloped toward a tree to buck it. As the apples fell loose, Fluttershy flew past and disappeard among the boughs of a neighboring tree. A quick shake dislodged all the fruit, and she zoomed to another one for a repeat performance. Carrot Top was bucking just like her apple rival, but needed to do two bucks to get them all down. Ever since her encounter with the other Carrot Top (who was the Element of Generosity in that world), she had started exercising a bit more.

Running past her, Pinkie galloped up with an empty tub on her head. "Over there, Apple Bloom!" she said as she pointed right ahead. "Don’t miss them!" 

Bloom slid up to catch some in her own tub before pointing back. "Right behind you, Pinkie Pie!"

The pink earth pony did a high backflip, the tub making a perfect touchdown on her cranium so that a few apples landed neatly within. Scootaloo rushed past them with a full tub to the relay point. Chronicle quickly caught up with her, levitating two near himself, and using an enhance speed spell on his legs. While he could use magic clones to further speed up the entire process, he didn't do so for the same reasons Twilight didn't just harvest every single tree in sight with her magic; this was a contest of philosophies, Flim Flam Brothers way vs. Apple family way, and adding too much of their magic in the effort would be unfair to both parties as well as defeat the purpose of the entire contest.

The two reached the relay point, where Sweetie just returned from delivering a full tub, bringing an empty tub to pass to the apple-catchers. The unicorn stallion just quickly ran past the point, saying, "All yours, Scootaloo!" The pegasus filly nodded and traded her full tub to her fellow Crusader for the empty one before returning to the orchard.

At the quality control station, Granny was now sorting at high speed. "Good ’un…bad ’un…bad ’un…good ’un…"

Rarity was nearby, standing behind her own clutch of loaded tubs, levitating the apples and filtering through them with her eye for detail and 'tossing' them appropriately. "Lovely…horrid…horrid…lovely…"

Rainbow, meanwhile, was galloping on the treadmill alongside Macintosh. A knowing smile passed between the two while cider poured into the barrel. Once it was full, Twilight telekinetically sealed it, whisked it away, and brought in a new one. While doing this, she took notes with a levitated quill and scroll.

"Based on these figures, we’re making five barrels for every three of theirs!" The crowd cheered at Twilight's analysis.

"Keep it up, everypony!" ushered Applejack. "We’re back in this!"

"They still have a huge lead, though," said Chronicle as he stopped at the relay point to grab a full tub from Pinkie, then running back to the quality control station with it. "I'm not sure we can catch up in time." 

The leading Apple's pronouncement put enough of a scare into Flim to propel his mouthful of cider into Flam’s face. They either hadn't heard Chronicle's doubts or it passed right over their minds.

Flim grabbed Flam’s shoulders. "Come on, brother! We’ve gotta pick up the pace!"

"Right! Uh, double the power!"

Twin beams from their horns kicked the 6000 into overdrive, sending sparks up through the vacuum tubes and flinging the vacuum nozzle toward the trees. It sucked up a fresh load of apples handily enough, but the power boost caused it to pull in entire trees as well. Oh no! Fluttershy's gonna have a fit! Think of all the nests and burrows in there! Rotten apples, leaves, twigs, mulch—all were swiftly rejected at the inspection station as a panicked Flim watched. "We gotta try something else!" 

"I’ve got it, brother of mine!"

Standing next to a set of start/stop buttons beneath a green check mark—the power switch for this module, Flam turned it—the quality control—off. Every piece of junk to hit the conveyors got passed along and winds up in the reservoirs.

"Well done, Flam!" His brother said as nasty-looking barrels were flung off the rear chute. "We’re at top productivity!" They then traded a knee/hoof high five as the crowd cheered. 

Over at the Apples’ cider press, Rainbow was so distracted by the news that she hovers off the treadmill, and Macintosh got dragged under with a yell.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash! Keep grinding!" Twilight called out to her.

"We don’t have time for quality control if we want to win this thing!" The speedster flew off, leaving a rainbow contrail and forcing Granny to cry out and duck among her apple tubs.

"Get back, you!" said the family matriarch. "One bad apple spoils the bunch!"

"Applejack, help me!"

"There’s no point in winnin’ if we cheat!"

"We’ll just have to work harder. Come on, everypony!" Twilight boosted everypony's morale.

With renewed fire, Rainbow decided to get back in the game. "All right, then! Double time!"

The Flim Flam brothers might win this competition, but they're not gonna win the town's favor. …Oh wait! So that's what Moonbow Peek's fortune for Applejack meant!


C—TS—GH—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—MM—S—SB—FFB


Spike watched worriedly at the rapidly emptying hourglass. 

The 6000 kept sucking up trees to fill the mechanism with slop, while Applejack and Carrot bucked for all they were worth and Fluttershy did her aerial agitation. 

Bloom, Scootaloo, Chronicle, and Pinkie hurried across the grove/Sweetie's relay point with full tubs, giving the Rarity/Granny sorting operation no shortage of raw material. 

Stallion and daredevil kept the press whirling at insane RPMs. 

Spike covered his eyes as the sand kept draining. 

Flim and Flam took it easy on their couch. 

Levitating a few more barrels onto the Apples’ stack, Twilight threw a split-second glance to Applejack, who returned a fierce one of her own. 

All the while, while everypony else began to slowly panic, Chronicle's expression was one of certainty, as if the battle's already won. 

The baby dragon uncovered one eye as the last few grains slipped through the neck of the hourglass.

"Time’s up!" the Mayor finally declared.

All the workers in the Apple family team stopped. An exhausted moan from all thirteen throats was followed by all of those bodies hitting the deck and gasping for breath. The crowd erupted into wild cheering as the Mayor started counting the barrels to herself. 

"I’m proud of you, Applejack," Twilight said as she lay next to her friend.

"Thanks."

"Integrity like that…will always be…rewarded."

"That it will," agreed Chronicle, who lay on his belly next to them, huffing and puffing only a bit less than the others. "Even if it…doesn't look like it."

The two mares looked at him in confusion before then looking at the production runs… the brothers’ stack was nearly twice as tall and broad as the Apples’!

"Flim and Flam win!" announced the Mayor.

"What?" the crowd gasped softly. 

Bloom walked up by her now-erect sister. "W…w…"

"We…lost?" she finished as Flim and Flam crossed to them.

"Aw, too bad, Apples," Flim said with mocking consolation.

"Guess you’ll just have to find a new line of work that doesn’t match your names quite so perfectly," added Flam as everypony was all upright.

"Now should we tear down all these tacky old buildings and put up new ones, brother?"

"I don’t see why not, brother. After all…" He magically dropped a cord into view. "…this isn’t Sweet Apple Acres anymore. How about…" He then pulled it. At the cider stand, a rolled banner winked into being in front of the Apples’ sign and opened to block it out. The new one depicted silhouettes of the two brothers’ heads—light blue for Flim, pink for Flam—using their magic on a mug of cider between them. "…Flim Flam Fields!" 

Rainbow furiously rose off the ground. "I oughta press you into jerk cider!" Bue she was stopped short by a yank from the vicinity of her tail by Applejack, who had snagged a mouthful of it to halt her just outside striking distance of the brothers. The farmhoof let go a moment later.

"No, Rainbow Dash. A deal’s a deal." Flim and Flam began to laugh like chiché villains. "Congratulations to y’all. The cider business in Ponyville…" She dropped her head. "…is yours." She then turned to the family and led them away. "Come on, Apples. Let’s go pack up our things."

"Hold on a second!" Chronicle decided to step in. "The deal was for the rights to sell cider, not the ownership of the farm!"

"I guess you weren't here earlier, when we decided to up the ante with the Apples," Flam told him.

"It's true," confessed Granny as she stopped. "A few hours before the competition, they came to me to discuss the new terms. They got me riled up like last time, and before I knew it, I had put the farm at stake."

"And you did not consult this with your children?!" gasped the Ponyvillian unicorn. The aged earth pony just turned away in shame. "And does the Mayor know of this?"

"Yes," the (not-actually-)gray-haired mare replied as she revealed a scroll of paper. "During the competition, Flim showed me proof of their new agreement." Chronicle just frowned at this as the smirking pair turned to the knot of thunderstruck observers nearby.

"Fear not, everypony!" Flim announced. "There’s more than enough cider to go around!" That gloating laugh started up again as Applejack and her kin plodded slowly off. She stopped to address the crowd.

"Go ahead, everypony." But none of them moved. "Go on, y’all." She then turned away, tears in her eyes. "It’s okay."

She then walked past Twilight, a waterfall-crying Pinkie, and a consoling Rainbow. she also passed Golden Harvest, who just gave a look of mixed sorrow and scorn; the look of seeing a rival lose to someone other than them. Sweetie Belle was also crying uncontrollably, and Scootaloo was doing her best to hold back the tears as they gave a farewell hug to their fellow Cutie Mark Crusader. Strangely, Chronicle still looked optimistic, as if there was still a chance yet for the Apple family to win, even after the final verdict had been delivered.

Meanwhile, Flim and Flam have set up shop at the cider stand. The barrels were stacked up behind them, and full mugs of a decidedly strange brew were ready for sampling.

"Drink up, Ponyville!" Flam announced. Three were picked up by Cherry Berry, Bon Bon, and Comet Tail. "Down the hatch!"

They chugged the stuff uncertainly, and the two salesponies smiled confidently across the counter. That certainty disappeard in the very short time that it took for the muck to be spat directly into their faces as the drinkers choked and gagged.

"I can’t get this taste off my tongue!" Cherry.

"Mine’s got rocks in it!" Bon Bon.

"I wouldn’t pay one bit for this dreck!" Comet. 

And with that, Chronicle's smirk grew wider. So they didn't pick the good ones from the bottom of their stack. Such noobs.

Flam was flabbergasted. "You wouldn’t pay even one cent?"

"No!" The crowd was united in their disapproval. 

A quick, whispered conference between the brothers ensued. "How about two cups for one cent?"

"NO!" 

Another one. "Two bits for the barrel?" they pleaded.

"NO!!" And the real final verdict was delivered.

Flam laughed nervously. "It looks like we’ve encountered a slight…" He and Flim doffed their hats. "…problem here in Ponyville." Both did a soft-shoe bit.

"Nopony wants our product." His hat went back on. "Next town?" As did Flam’s.

"Next town." They then raced off, rolling back up their banner and banishing it.

"Let’s go, Flim!" The two then boarded the 6000.

"Let’s go, Flam!"

And with that, the magical cider-making contraption chugged off along the road, back the way it came. A second after that, one of Ponyville's officers seemed to have realized something and immediately went after them.

"Get back here, you're under arrest!" yelled Hot Pursuit. As it was, the brothers crimes were the following: not paying the Apple Family for the apples they used and the trees they destroyed with their machine, and property damage. They could have been arrested. Unfortunately for Pursuit, they had a spell for thwarting pursuers and used it on him to stall him long enough for him to give up on the chase for now and return to Ponyville. He'll be setting up wanted posters, though.

The Ponyvillians surprisingly didn't decide to form a mob to go after them, only caring for the moment that the Apple family won't be leaving after all. "They’re gone!" gasped Applejack as Twilight and Chronicle walked over.

"That means Sweet Apple Acres is still in business!" said the unicorn mare. 

Already, the crowd was forming a line. "Plus, we can have high-quality Apple family cider!" commented Caramel. 

"Because of this silly competition, we’ve made enough of our cider for the whole town!" Bloom added. The crowd then cheered the good tidings as her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders pounced on her for a group hug, and the other three Apple family members traded a round of grateful smiles. Carrot Top in particular gave her rival a smile of relief.

And deciding that cider was cider in the end, regardless of who made it, even if he wasn't planning to drink any, Chronicle called in Mystic Shield and Skyla, the former in turn called in his students, the latter in turn rallied some of the pegasi, and they disposed of the bad cider barrels of the Flim Flam brothers to get to the good cider barrels below.


C—TS—S—GH—A—BM—AB—GS—RD—R—F—PP—MM—S—SB—FFB


Dear Princess Celestia,

“I wanted to share my thoughts with you. … “I didn’t learn anythin’! I was right all along! If you take your time to do things the right way, your work’ll speak for itself. Sure, I could tell you I learned somethin’ about how my friends are always there to help me, and I can count on them no matter what. But truth is, I knew that already too.

P.S. Applejack may not have actually learned anything and instead just reaffirmed a lesson already learned, but if there's anypony who should be sending this letter, it's Ponyville. They were at first ungrateful towards the Apple family for not having enough cider for everyone but finally realized the value of quality over quantity in the end.  Also, I believe the Apples should learn that it's best to have both quality and quantity over favoring just one of the two when it comes to sales.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


"How were you looking so sure of our victory, even after we lost?" Applejack later asked Chronicle as they and their friends stood together around a table (the kind seen in bars without chairs) with their tankards of cider. He still wasn't planning on drinking his, however.

"It's just like Moonbow Peek said; 'An oncoming threat to your farm is due to come in a season. Your defeat is imminent, but victory will be absolute.' It has been a season since she related that fortune to you, and the threat came in the form of the Flim Flam brothers. And you lost the competition, but you still won in the end."

"I still think it's just a very freaky coincidence." Twilight was still skeptical. "Her wording was vague enough to mean just about anything."

"That's the point of non-charlatan fortune tellers, so that you can't change the future just by hearing it. And there are still a few more fortunes of hers that have yet to come to pass. We'll see by then. And 'mean just about anything'? Come now, just how many scenarios can there be where you lose, but yet you win?"

"Hmm… not many come to mind."

"Maybe the threat could've been some sort of huge monster, or bandits!" Pinkie suggested. "And we would get our butts kicked trying to beat 'em before Princess Celestia comes out of nowhere to save the day!"

"A monster I'd believe, but bandits? You know I've been able to handle any ransom situation I concern myself with."

"Yeah," agreed Rainbow. "During that last attack from those Discord cultists, when one of them had a knife on Fluttershy, you went nuts and took down the whole lot of them, and she didn't even get hurt!" She then noticed the pony she mentioned wince. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

"I won't let any harm you can't handle come to you whenever I can," Chronicle assured his marefriend, then turned to face the farmpony. "Another thing, Applejack. The Flim Flam brothers never had a chance of getting your farm. Even if they had won the competition fairly, or if the town didn't hate them by them giving the good batch and thus earning their favor, Princess Celestia wouldn't have let this stand. Keeping the Elements of Harmony together is too important for Equestria's (and possibly the entire planet's) security to allow you to leave us. Also, I don't think she'd allow a pair of con ponies to keep that land after personally bestowing it to your family, who are Ponyville's founders. Yes, it sounds a but unfair, but sometimes those sort of things have to be done."

"Wow," commented Twilight. "I guess you do have a point there."

"Still, it's best not to hold out on her. There are many problems we can deal with on our own, whether it's by diplomacy, competition, charisma, intimidation, guile, or combat. We should call in help only when we need it, and we shouldn't turn away those who offer assistance if we can trust them. Good thing the Flim Flam brothers decided on the contest instead of just selling their cider on the spot right next. Then again, they needed the farm's apples, and and the Apple family could've simply denied them, though the town might not have liked that, and things would've been very different. Anyway…" The sole stallion then raised his tankard. "A toast to another victory for the Elements of Harmony!"

"Yeah!" They clunked their mugs together, and the girls promptly chugged theirs. at the same time, Pinkie used her other hoof to tip Chronicle's tankard up so that he ended up drinking as well. The deliciousness of the pressed apple juice was too delicious for him to clamp up and have it splatter all over his face. He just hoped there won't be any buzzing in his head; that was the first sign of the drink being alcoholic.

All seven of them then put their mugs down to savor the taste of the cider, the stallion amongst them waiting for the buzz of intoxication to make itself known. The mares meanwhile just laughed for a while before noticing their friend remain silent for a full minute. Before anypony could speak up, he went first.

"Applejack, why does your cider foam if it's not at all alcoholic? I thought only hard cider foams. Unless it's different around here."

"I'll admit I've never checked out any cider other than ours, so I wouldn't be able to tell. Sorry."

"Eh, it's worth a shot. You do plan on warning the entire Apple family of these Flim Flam brothers, right?"

"Of course I do! What kinda Apple would I be if I weren't to tell the family 'bout those goons? In fact, first thing tomorrow, Granny and I'll be takin' the train to warn the nearest Apple family farm."

"Good. You will take up my offer, right?"  They'll need it to compensate for their lost apple trees. 

The farmpony gave a sigh, as if reluctantly accepting. "…Fine. I will consult Rarity on business advice."

The addressed pony beamed at the news. "Oh my! That's wonderful! I've been meaning to do so for quite some time now, but due to the fact that you can be stubborn sometimes, I didn't want you to feel like I was imposing."

Chronicle tuned the eventual discussion out as he went to the cider stall for another mug of soft cider. He would later find out that the apple family also sold hard cider on certain days, and while he'll hang out with his friends if they're there, he won't be drinking that cider.
> BONUS 5: MLP CCG Custom Cards
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the following format I'll be using for my custom cards. You can use these for your own custom cards as well.

[Mane Character Card]

1.  Card Title: Duh.
2.  Power Value: 1 (Start), 3 (Boosted)
3.  Color: Blue, Orange, Pink, Purple, White, Yellow
4.  Trait: The character's race. (Because someone's bound to make Human characters due to the potential crossover nature.)
5.  Game Text: Card rulings. (one for Start status and one for Boosted status)
6.  Flavor Text: Extra info. (one for Start status and one for Boosted status)

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Duh.
2.  Power Value: For confronting problems, participating in faceoffs, and meeting the play requirements of other cards. (0-7)
3.  Color: Blue, Orange, Pink, Purple, White, Yellow
4.  Action Token Cost: How many action tokens to pay to play the card. (0-5)
5.  Play Requirement(s): Extra prerequisite Color Power needed to play. (0-4)
6.  Trait: The character's race. (Because someone's bound to make Human characters due to the potential crossover nature.)
7.  Game Text: Card rulings.
8.  Flavor Text: Extra info.

[Event Card]

1.  Card Title: Duh.
2.  Power: Used in faceoffs when flipped from the deck. (2-6)
4.  Action Token Cost: How many action tokens to pay to play the card. (0-5)
5.  Play Requirement(s): Extra prerequisite Color Power needed to play. (0-4)
6.  Trait: Event, Chaotic, Gotcha, Showdown 
7.  Game Text: Card rulings.
8.  Flavor Text: Extra info.

[Resource Card]

1.  Card Title: Duh.
2.  Power: Used in faceoffs when flipped from the deck. (2-6)
3.  Action Token Cost: How many action tokens to pay to play the card. (0-5)
4.  Play Requirement(s): Extra prerequisite Color Power needed to play. (0-4)
5.  Trait: Resource, Accessory, Armor, Artifact, Asset, Condition, Location, Mailbox, Report, Unique
6.  Game Text: Card rulings.
7.  Flavor Text: Extra info.

[Troublemaker Card]

1.  Type: Villain or non-Villain?
2.  Card Title: Duh.
3.  Power: Used in faceoffs or when flipped from the deck. (2-6)
4.  Points: Rewards to the opponent when faceoff is won against it - (0-3)
5.  Trait: Troublemaker, Epic
6.  Game Text: Card rulings.
7.  Flavor Text: Extra info.

[Problem Card]

1.  Card Title: Duh.
2.  Your Requirements: What the player needs to meet to solve the problem. Comes in the following: # [Color] power, # non-[Color] power
3.  Your Opponent's Requirements: What the opponent needs to meet to solve the problem. Comes in the following: # (representing all colors). Must be higher than "Your Requirements".
4.  Game Text: Card rulings.
5.  Flavor Text: Extra info.





Please remember to look up cards in the My Little Pony CCG Wiki to ensure that your cards are plausibly fair. I do my best to ensure that for my cards here.





[Mane Character Card]

1.  Card Title: Chronicle, Freelance Bodyguard
2.  Power Value: 1 (Start), 3 (Boosted)
3.  Color: Purple
4.  Trait: Unicorn
5.  Game Text: (Basic) Home Limit 3. After this card participates in a Troublemaker faceoff, turn this card over. (Boosted) Home Limit 4. Stubborn. After your opponent has played a Villain Troublemaker, only in the turn after, you can rally one Friend for free.
6.  Flavor Text: (Basic) "As long as the pay is good and you are good, I won't ask any questions." (Boosted) "While it's my job to protect you, I'll try and help your friends if I can."

[Friend Card]

Card Title: Chronicle, Stalwart Protector
Power Value: 3
Color: Blue
Action Token Cost: 5
Play Requirement(s): 3 Blue
Trait: Unicorn
Game Text: Stubborn. This Friend cannot be Frightened. When involved in a Troublemaker faceoff, this card gains 1 Power for every other card involved, including flipped cards from the draw deck.
Flavor Text: "Ensuring your safety is part of my contract."

[Friend Card]

Card Title: Chronicle, Magical Combatant
Power Value: 2
Color: Purple
Action Token Cost: 4
Play Requirement(s): 1 Purple
Trait: Unicorn
Game Text: Studious. This Friend cannot be Frightened. When involved in a Troublemaker faceoff against a Villain Troublemaker card or when this card is flipped from the top of the deck in a faceoff, this card gains 5 power.
Flavor Text: "I'm the best there is in what I do."

[Friend Card]

Card Title: Chronicle, Merciful Warrior
Power Value: 3
Color: Yellow
Action Token Cost: 4
Play Requirement(s): 1 Yellow
Trait: Unicorn
Game Text: Stubborn. This Friend cannot be Frightened. When involved in a Troublemaker faceoff, this card gains 3 power.
Flavor Text: "Yes, I'm willing to do things most ponies wouldn't even dream of doing, but if you don't have to die, you won't."

[Friend Card]

Card Title: Chronicle, Spirit of Determination
Power Value: 7
Color: Purple
Action Token Cost: 3
Play Requirement(s): None
Trait: Unicorn
Game Text: This Friend is immediately sent Home if your opponent has no Troublemaker in play. 
Flavor Text: "It's not over until the last spell is cast!"

[Event Card]

1.  Card Title: Not Giving Up!
2.  Power: 4
4.  Action Token Cost: 1
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Event
7.  Game Text: Faceoff: If you have lost a faceoff with Chronicle involved, you can play this card instead of sending any character Home.
8.  Flavor Text: "Why don't you just get it over with? Because if you don't, I will never stop trying." - Chronicle

[Resource Card]

1.  Card Title: Magic Horn Blade
2.  Power: 2
3.  Action Token Cost: 1
4.  Play Requirement(s): 2 Purple
5.  Trait: Resource, Artifact
6.  Game Text: Play this card on a Unicorn character card. That character gets 3 power when in a Troublemaker faceoff.
7.  Flavor Text: "Magic isn't the only thing you need to use this efficiently. You also have to practice your body to swing it like I can." - Chronicle

[Mane Character Card]

1.  Card Title: Mystic Shield, Self-Defense Teacher
2.  Power Value: 1 (Start), 3 (Boosted)
3.  Color: Purple
4.  Trait: Unicorn
5.  Game Text: (Basic) Home Limit 3. When you have participated in one Troublemaker Faceoff or two non-Troublemaker faceoffs, turn this card over. (Boosted) Home Limit 5. Studious. You only need to pay one action token rather than two to rally a Friend.
6.  Flavor Text: (Start) "To live in a completely peaceful world, a world that can be left completely vulnerable should invaders attack, be they dragons, griffons, beings from the stars, or what have you…" (Boosted) "I wish for everypony to be capable of defending themselves should that time come. Alas, I am but one unicorn."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Mystic Shield, Barrier Specialist
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Purple
4.  Action Token Cost: 4
5.  Play Requirement(s): 2 Purple
6.  Trait: Unicorn
7.  Game Text: When a Villain is uncovered, you can prevent one Friend card you control from being Frightened (including this card, or a card other than this one at the cost of this card being Frightened).
8.  Flavor Text: "Get behind me!"

[Resource Card]

1.  Card Title: Mystic Shield's Ascot
2.  Power: 3
3.  Action Token Cost: 1
4.  Play Requirement(s): None
5.  Trait: Resource, Asset
6.  Game Text: Play to your Home. Main Phase: Retire this card to return a Friend from the discard pile to the bottom of your deck, and you're given the choice to shuffle it afterward. You need to have a Unicorn character to use this card.
7.  Flavor Text: "Here. I'll be at Ponyville. Use the tracking spell on that to find your way home."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Rock, Rolling Armadillo
2.  Power Value: 1
3.  Color: Pink
4.  Action Token Cost: 3
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Critter
7.  Game Text: Add one Power to this card for each of your opponent's Ready Phases this card has been confronting a Problem alongside a Mane Character or Friend.
8.  Flavor Text: He loves to practice his rolling skills. Make sure he always gets a chance to lest he wreck havoc on your house.

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Ebony, Feline of Misfortune
2.  Power Value: 2
3.  Color: Purple
4.  Action Token Cost: 3
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Critter
7.  Game Text: Your opponent needs +1 wild power for every two characters you control (including this card) to confront the Problem this card's at.
8.  Flavor Text: Before volunteering to find him, make sure to pick up his favorite sweets and catnip at his owner's house.

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Skyla, Wonderbolt Talent Scout
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Blue
4.  Action Token Cost: 1
5.  Play Requirement(s): 3 Blue.
6.  Trait: Pegasus
7.  Game Text: Supportive + 1.
8.  Flavor Text: Don't tell anypony this; Skyla's undercover, checking out potential pegasi to enlist at the Wonderbolts Academy.

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Skyla, Determined Foalsitter
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: White
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Pegasus
7.  Game Text: This card gains 2 Power for every Foal card you control.
8.  Flavor Text: Got a rambunctious foal other foalsitters can't handle? Then Skyla here's your mare!

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Moonbow Peek, Fortuneteller
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Purple
4.  Action Token Cost: 3
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: Inspired. When a Villain Troublemaker is played, this card is immediately moved to confront the other Problem in play. When this card participates in a faceoff, add 2 Power to this card.
8.  Flavor Text: "If you ever think you defied destiny, it's only because we fortunetellers read it wrong. At least that's what I believe."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Graphite, Weapons Merchant
2.  Power Value: 2
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 1
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Unicorn
7.  Game Text: None
8.  Flavor Text: "I make weapons here, even though not many need them."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Mjolna, Armor Crafter
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: This card has +1 Power during your opponent's turn.
8.  Flavor Text: "Armor? Sure thing! In fact, I can make better armor than those worn by the Canterlot Royal guard!" - Mjolna  "You serious?" - customer  "Well, in terms of defense at least. Speed leaves a lot to be desired." - Mjolna

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Tasty Snack, Mjolna's Twin Sister
2.  Power Value: 2
3.  Color: Pink
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): None
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: When this card and "Mjolna, Armor Crafter" are facing a Problem together, both cards get +2 power. If "Mjolna, Armor Crafter" is targeted by an opponent's card, you can change the target to this card.
8.  Flavor Text: "I'll tell Graphite since I might be too busy and because you might end up paying Tasty Snack instead. She takes advantage of every mistake that comes her way." - Mjolna

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Heat Hammer, Canterlot Blacksmith
2.  Power Value: 4
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): 1 Orange
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: When this card has been moved from a Problem to Home then back again, you can draw one Artifact Resource card from the deck or discard pile.
8.  Flavor Text: "Contrary to popular belief, you can't make a good weapon or armor by just pouring metal into a mold, striking the metal when it's hot, then cooling it by dipping it into water. Those books, comics, and plays always fantasize the entire process."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Elphaba Trot, Karateka
2.  Power Value: 4
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 1
5.  Play Requirement(s): 2 Blue
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: None
8.  Flavor Text: "Stand back! I know karate!"

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Sensei, Martial Arts Master
2.  Power Value: 5
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 3
5.  Play Requirement(s): 3 Orange
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: This card loses 1 Power during a non-Troublemaker Faceoff.
8.  Flavor Text: "In order to understand how someone fights, you must first understand WHY they fight."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Ebon Belt, Aikido Practicioner
2.  Power Value: 5
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): 3 Orange
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: None
8.  Flavor Text: "Walk away, sonny. You're just gonna get hurt if you keep trying."

[Resource Card]

1.  Card Title: Recoveroll
2.  Power: 4
3.  Action Token Cost: 3
4.  Play Requirement(s): 1 Blue
5.  Trait: Resouece, Condition
6.  Game Text: Place this card on a Friend card, except for a Critter card. When a Friend with this card is about to be exhausted, you can exhaust this card instead.
7.  Flavor Text: Also known as the Zenpo Kaiten Ukemi, a maneuver taught in aikido.

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Harmony Way, Serene Pariah
2.  Power Value: 6
3.  Color: Yellow
4.  Action Token Cost: 4
5.  Play Requirement(s): 2 Yellow
6.  Trait: Minotaur
7.  Game Text: During a faceoff, exhaust one of your opponent's Blue or Orange Friend cards.
8.  Flavor Text: Harmony Way doesn't tackle 'obstacles' head-on, but instead prefers diversion-type methods, like redirecting an attack instead of blocking it or enduring it, and not directly counter-attacking.

[Problem Card]

1.  Card Title: Fighting Your Friend
2.  Your Requirements: 1 Blue, 1 Orange, 1 Pink, 1 Purple, 1 White, 1 Yellow
3.  Your Opponent's Requirements: 1 Blue, 1 Orange, 1 Pink, 1 Purple, 1 White, 1 Yellow
4.  Game Text: You and your opponent's Mane Characters are automatically forced to confront this problem, but you now control your opponent's Mane Character and they control yours. Both Mane Characters stay there until this Problem is removed, but also meet both players' Power Requirements.
5.  Flavor Text: It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. 

[Mane Character Card]

1.  Card Title: P3, Singer Idol Trio
2.  Power Value: 1 (Start), 3 (Boosted)
3.  Color: Yellow
4.  Trait: Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn, Performer
5.  Game Text: (Start) Home Limit 3. When you have won at least three Troublemaker faceoffs (or one Troublemaker faceoff against a Villain), turn this card over. (Boosted) Home Limit 5. During a faceoff against a Troublemaker, each of your characters involved gets +1 power.
6.  Flavor Text: (Start) "Pichi Pony Voice, Live Start!" (Boosted) "How about an encore!"

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Sound Wave, P3 Aqua
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Pink
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): 1 Pink
6.  Trait: Pegasus, Performer
7.  Game Text: This card gains 1 Power for every Performer you have in the field.
8.  Flavor Text: "I know how to attract the stallions, and I'll teach you!"

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Sealight Glisten, P3 Pink
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Yellow
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): 1 Yellow
6.  Trait: Earth Pony, Performer
7.  Game Text: This card gains 1 Power for every Performer you have in the field.
8.  Flavor Text: "All these ponies are doing their best to find true love! I will not let you laugh at it!"

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Jasmine Trinity, P3 Green
2.  Power Value: 3
3.  Color: Blue
4.  Action Token Cost: 2
5.  Play Requirement(s): 1 Blue
6.  Trait: Unicorn, Performer
7.  Game Text: This card gains 1 Power for every Performer you have in the field.
8.  Flavor Text: "It doesn't matter. Your true nature will come out soon enough."

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Hot Pursuit, Relentless Officer
2.  Power Value: 4
3.  Color: Orange
4.  Action Token Cost: 3
5.  Play Requirement(s): 2 Orange
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: Card rulings. Stubborn. This card can only be Frightened by a Villain Troublemaker card coming into play.
8.  Flavor Text: He never gives up on a chase for a criminal. Whenever it seems like he does, however, he's just commissioned a Wanted poster to make sure justice has a chance to deliver it, even if he can't do it personally.

[Friend Card]

1.  Card Title: Buttercup Beaker, Botany Chemist
2.  Power Value: 4
3.  Color: White
4.  Action Token Cost: 1
5.  Play Requirement(s): 2 White
6.  Trait: Earth Pony
7.  Game Text: None
8.  Flavor Text: We don't talk about Mystic Shield's ex-wife. Not that she was terrible or anything. We just don't.





Yeah, as you can see, I've done a couple of shout-outs. 
- The one for Chronicle, Magical Combatant is straight from the Wolverine. 
- Admittedly, Heat Hammer is a character KnightMysterio (or Waking Nightmares fame) technically created when he mentioned the pony by name in his tumblr. His details seen in the special "Chronicle's Birthday Party" are also from him after I asked (via his askbox) for Heat Hammer's description.
- Sensei is an original character, and his characterization and garb as described in "Owl's Well That Ends Well" chapter is based on Master Sensei from the Disney cartoon Kim Possible.
- The flavor text for Fighting Your Friend is straight up from Albus Dumbledore from the first Harry Potter book. and the name of the card itself is derived from TV Tropes.
- The P3 cards are quite obviously based from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.

See ya on Third!
> Hearts and Hooves Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WCDDtEo) Hearts and Hooves Day

Chronicle was en route to Fluttershy's cottage, with a basket full of carrots and corianders, and a vase with buttercups (her favorite), cowslips, daisies, elderberry blossoms, field lilacs, (yellow) jasmines, longi lilies, pansies, violets, white june lilies, and white verbenas. Admittedly, he selected those flowers after consulting a book regarding the meanings behind flowers when offering them to someone. Well, Flower Wishes (a.k.a. Daisy) did, and had a field day in choosing so darned many (well, just a pair each) on his behalf (except the classic full bloom red roses, they just felt too cliché.) when he just wanted a few. At least she wasn't panicking like she, Roseluck, and Lily Valley often do. And the deal-sealer? The whole thing came at a discount.

Also, on the way, Comet Tail bypassed him at high speeds with a bouquet and a card for Amethyst Star. Comet had a speed spell that wasn't really different from his own "enhance running speed" spell. Only problem is, he's not good at cancelling it without crashing into something first.

He also bypassed Written Script, who not only has been seeing Golden Harvest for a long while now, but has also stopped attending Mystic Shield's classes due to his line of work; script-writing for plays and books, which often take him outside of Ponyville.

Just as he crossed the small bridge leading to it, he could hear the sounds of a haircut session. Curious (but not paranoid, that was not healthy), he approached the door and listened in. From the sounds of it, it seems that Rainbow Dash was there, but what exactly were they doing?

"Wha-ha-ha-ha! You'll never be as cool as me, but at least now you look the part!"

"G-gosh!"

He decided to open the door, which caught the attention of the occupants, and everypony froze.

As it was, Rainbow and Angel had just given Fluttershy a haircut, and now her mane and tail were styled in the same short and ruffled fashion as the speedster. The blue pegasus stuttered as if caught in a heinous act, the yellow one quivered as if fearing the worst from him, the lagomorph remained neutral, and the unicorn just started blankly, verging on dreamy.

"Uuuummm, I-I-I can explain!" Rainbow panicked.

But Chronicle wasn't listening. So far, every time he's looked at Fluttershy's face, either part of it has usually been obscured by her long mane or its presence distracted him enough from focusing on her entire visage when it is all there for him to see. And when those were non-issues, he was often either too busy with other matters to notice her entire face, or she isn't in the correct mood for him to fall for. But now, he was overwhelmed by the sheer cuteness, and he was losing concentration on even basic maneuvers. 

"So dreamy…" 

The next thing he knew, he had dropped his basket and vase, and immediately passed out with a blissful smile on his face.


C—RD—F—C—RD—F—C—RD—F—C—RD—F


"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" was the first thing he heard, and it sounded panicked.

"Chronicle, please wake up." Another voice came, sounding so angelic.

"What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?!"

"Nnngh."

"Oh! He's waking up."

The first thing Chronicle realized that he was on the couch, and the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was Fluttershy's face, with much less hair framing it than he was used to. That face was just too cute, especially when she was looking worried. It threatened to make him swoon again, and his groan confirmed it.

"Stay with me, stay with us." He felt her cradle his head.

"So… cute… with short hair…"

A squeak came in response.

"Huh?" Rainbow seemed calm now. "Huh? I wonder why I don't pull off the same effect."

"I happen to have a…liking for yellow redheads," Chronicle confessed, keeping his eyes closed. "My first ever charge happened to be one." His mouth turned into a frown. "And so was the one I first failed to protect."

"Maybe I should warn Applejack about—"

That frown turned upside-down. "Heheh, don't worry about Apple Bloom. My respect for children offsets that…desire."

"And Fluttershy?"

"Roseheads are close enough. And then I got to know her for who she is, so I'm not gonna… you know…"

"…Okay."

"As for the hairstyle being better on Fluttershy, that's just because her face is so gorgeous, and the reason why I don't pass out at any other time is because my attention also wanders off to her long hair. It apparently distracts me from the face enough."

This left his marefriend confused. "So…do you like my new look? Or would you—"

"While I love your new short hair, I'd rather you keep it long. Passing out from cuteness is not good for my health. Though you could do without the tail extension."

He didn't see her blush. "How did you—"

"Gabby Gums, a.k.a. the Cutie Mark Crusaders. …Wait, what they said about that was the truth?" Silence. "Eh, no need to answer."

"I'm sorry our picnic has to wait a while."

"Now what should we do about that hair? It would be unfortunate if I could not look at your face in Hearts and Hooves Day."

"I-I-I guess that's true."


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Later…

After a visit to the Ponyville salon, and keeping attention away with an overcoat and hat she used once during her time of fame under Photo Finish, Fluttershy exited via the main door with a new hairstyle, which consisted of brushing her hair into smooth and symmetrical bobs.

(On a side note, Applejack was on an Apple Family errand that took her out of town. Rarity was at Canterlot on a business deal. This left the two of them, Twilight, Rainbow, and Pinkie as Ponyville's protectors. Well, aside from the local police, the Martial Arts Group, which Mystic Shield's academy is now part of, and (likely) Doctor Whooves and his companions. The last of those was instrumental in stopping one of his old enemies when they came to invade Equestria. The Story Crew secretly aided from outside the planet, since this enemy came from outer space.)

Chronicle was already waiting, his basket and vase levitating next to him. "Ready?"

She allowed a smile on her face. "Yeah, I think so."

And the two began to walk their way to the park, and he figured that with the current day it was fine to show that he and Fluttershy were a couple. Angel and Rock were accompanying them as well, both on their owners' backs.

As they bypassed the barber shop Snips's parents own, Chronicle said, "To be frank, I've never really been on a date before."

"Well, neither did I."

"I understand that."

"But not you? Not even with… umm…"

"Until the Elements of Harmony, all of my relationships with my previous charges have been completely professional. And sometimes friendly, but never ever romantic. As a freelance bodyguard, I can't afford that, though I did manage to earn favors from them by going above and beyond my 'call of duty'."

"What do you mean?" By this point, they have reached a bridge leading to the park.

"Well, my contracts only call for one individual's protection only, but I try and be a hero when I can, even if I have to do the wrong thing just so nobody else has to. For example, when my charge's relatives are in danger, depending on who they are, I go out of my way to save them when I can, and not once have I failed in that. That at least I can take pride on."

"Depending on who they are?"

"I'm not all-loving like you. There are bad ponies out there who can't be set straight, ponies that society really is better without. I try not to always take the vigilante path for that, but when it has to be done, I'd rather I do it, as long as it won't stain my reputaation. 

"As for why I'm telling you this, It's because I believe keeping secrets in a relationship like this will be detrimental in the long run. I want this to work, and for you to know just what you'll be getting yourself into, even though I'm the one who started this relationship to begin with." Finally, they reached the spot, which was the same place they first ate together alone. "It's also needed for our sessions, so you can know more of what I'm teaching you."

The two (four if the pets are counted) assembled the picnic spread, taking out plates, the food and vase from the basket, as well as a certain Heart Warmer jam they both shared once before, complete with bread.

They both ate in silence, and at one time Chronicle levitated a sandwich to Fluttershy's waiting mouth. He immediately felt red in the face after that.

Eventually, he decided to spark some small talk. "So, do you remember that one time I discovered one of your secrets? Of course, by that I mean without checking Surveillance first."

"Oh, yes. I remember."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


While inside Fluttershy's cottage, doing some spring-cleaning with her at the end of the second ever finished-on-time Winter Wrap Up, which was after the Antithesis incident, Chronicle was sweeping the bookshelves with a feather duster before deciding he could steal a few seconds of reading time and 'grabbed' a book. However, he then noticed something was up with the book he got; it was stuck.

Getting curious, he put a hoof on it…and it bent down, and a loud creak came before the entire bookshelf pulled itself back like a…secret door. Getting even more curious, he decided to sneak in, wondering why Fluttershy hasn't reacted yet. He had a moment of dread on what secrets lay beneath.

Calm down, just calm down. This is not her shed. She's not gonna kill you. And she's definitely not gonna turn you into cupcakes! You already checked Sugarcube Corner for a basement, and all you found was Pinkie Pie's party paraphernalia stash. Which also had archives of every resident in Ponyville. And it even knew exactly what I really am!

Once the entryway was completely open, Chronicle descended the steps, emitting a light from his horn as he went. "Okay. What do we have here?" A few seconds later, he found himself at the bottom of the steps, and in a room that was illuminated with electric bulbs. The tungsten kind, but it did the job. (He remembered seeing fluorescent lights in the hospital.) And what he saw made him drop his jaw.

The entire room was swamped with knitwork. And not just wearable accessories either; these were meant to be models. Aside from shapes pertaining to their friends (lightning bolt, books, jewels, balloons, apples), there were also models of parasprites, Steven Magnet, even some gremlins that once tormented Ponyville with a cloud of despair. In some alternate Equestria, that event was even covered on TV news, but not in Prime, since TV doesn't even exist in here (yet). In that Equestria, the Rainbow Dash there thwarted them after having to get her funk back, which took more than a month. In this one, Chronicle flew up there himself with his new carpet, knocked them down as fast as they came, and had them arrested.

And then he heard hoofsteps; whoever owned this (Fluttershy was the likely suspect) was coming down, and likely found out that somepony else has discovered their secret. Immediately, he look for a place to hide, found it in the form of a huge knitwork bunny, and jumped behind it.

Seconds later, he heard a familiar voice say, "…what I do here in my Chamber of Extreme Knitting!" Despite hearing it a couple of times already, hearing Fluttershy suddenly shout was still something he couldn't get truly used to, especially when it's not directed at somepony else. And it rang in his ears. "I've also considered calling it The Palace of Friendly Pony Grotesqueries, but I thought that might be a bit too much.

"Here in my studio, I've turned a simple craft into a radical art and created objects d'art that scare even me, even though they are all made by my own hooves! Art sometimes takes control of you, Angel!" Oh. He's here too. "Here, I'm trying to show what I think and feel on the very inside, but it also has its practical side!"

Another thing Chronicle wasn't used to either was hearing her monologue; whenever he does it, he keeps it in his head to not only save his breath but to avoid any possibility of being eavesdropped, unless they're mind readers, in which he currently has no defenses for. And he seriously should.

"Look! Chicken cozy cups—both artful and practical. This'll keep their little eggs toasty war—um, Angel? where are you going?"

A few seconds later, Chronicle felt something tap him in the leg. Oh ███t!


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"Must've been embarrassing for you to find me there, huh?"

"It really was. Promise you won't tell, okay?"

"I already told you." Chronicle reminded his marefriend. "Not until you're ready. That is your secret to share or keep."

"Thank you. But why did you just make a regular promise and not—"

"Because it's your secret to keep, and to make that kind of promise risks calling her over, thus revealing it to yet another individual. Besides, even though I know keeping promises is serious business for Pinkie Pie, I just can't trust a blabbermouth with this, which—admit it—is what she is."

"I guess you're right."

After finishing the jam, Fluttershy attempted to get her coltfriend to eat some of the flowers he gave, but while he was very hesitant, he relented to some and found them…okay to eat.

"Um, what game will we be playing for our Board Game Night?" Board Game Night was an activity the seven agreed to attend to every month. This get-together started at the month since Winter Wrap Up was first finished on time.

"Anything but Diplomacy. We are never, ever playing that game ever again."

"Yeah. I understand why."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


In the Books and Branches Library…

“Get ready for a dull time.” Rainbow Dash warned as she and the other girls joined Twilight at the table, which was cleared of its unicorn head ornament. “The egghead found an educational game to play.”

“I’d call it more historical than educational,” Twilight Sparkle said, happily ignoring the lighthearted name calling, as everypony gathered around the table and got their first look at the game.

The board, spread over the oaken tabletop, depicted a map of Equestria and all of its surrounding nations. Each nation was colored differently to easily tell each other apart, and divided into a number of overly-simplified territories. The oceans, which surrounded the whole continent, were also divided into differently shaped spaces. Six notebooks and six pencils were spaced around the board, obviously meant for the players. The slightly crumpled cardboard box contained a number of stacks of tiles, a cloth bag, and an hourglass that looked like it counted about fifteen minutes.

“Diplomacy,” Rarity read, lightly tapping the edge of the box with her hoof and recoiling at the faint trace she left on the dust covering it. “Where did you find this, darling? It’s positively filthy!”

“I just stumbled across it while I was making some room in the basement!” Twilight answered, levitating a feather duster from under the table and brushing off the offending dust. “Somepony had shoved it between one of the roots and a bookcase and must have forgotten about it. It looked like it had been there for years, but all the pieces are still here.”

“So how do you play?!” Pinkie Pie asked, eager to learn a new game. “Is it an exploring game? Or are we building civilizations? Oh! I bet we have to manage resources, like farms and banks and stuff!”

Twilight shook her head and mentally shifted into lecture mode. “No, in this game we each take command of a nation and try to take control of the rest of the board. We do this by marching our pieces into unclaimed territories and pushing the forces out of the other player’s spaces. Each time you take a territory with a symbol like this, you can add a new army to the board. There are three types of units: armies, navies, and air forces, and they each have different ways of moving and affecting the game.

“But here’s the best part! There are no dice or cards or anything like that. Each turn, we each just write down where we want our pieces to go and then we move them! It’s got all the strategy of chess but with far, far more possible scenarios! Why, the fact that six ponies can play it at the same time alone…”

“And that’s the whole game,” Rainbow grumbled. “We just talk to each other for a while and move pegs on a glorified chart. Color me unimpressed.”

“What, don’t think ya got what it takes to win?” Applejack pressed, knowing just how to get the pegasus motivated.

It worked like a charm. The blue pegasus straitened up from her slouch and slammed her hooves challengingly on the table. “You know I have what it takes! Let’s get started already!”

“But… um… won’t it be a little difficult to keep track of everything? I mean, none of us have played this before…” Fluttershy’s question broke apart into mumbles.

“I already thought of that,” Twilight said, placing a reassuring pat on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “The rules book had a ton of examples of what would happen in any given situation. Spike volunteered to be the turn-keeper and he’s been studying them since I found the game.” She raised her voice. “How’s it going, Spike?”

“It’s a lot more complicated than it first looks, you know,” the baby dragon answered from his perch on the staircase, waving a thin booklet at the assembled ponies. “Nearly all eighteen pages of this is ‘what ifs’ and ‘when this happens’. I’m gonna need five minutes each turn just working out what’s what!”

“I’ll help if you need it, but I should remain impartial if I’m taking part.” Twilight turned her excited gaze on her friends. “So, want to play?”

“Well, duh!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Sure, sounds interestin’,” Applejack grinned.

“If she’s playing, I’m in!” Rainbow declared, matching the farmpony's grin.

“If everypony else want to,” Fluttershy said, offering a brave smile.

“Well…” Rarity tapped a hoof lightly on her chin. “I suppose it does sound fun. Why not?”

“Excellent!” Twilight clapped her hooves and levitated the cloth bag out of the box. “Then the first thing we have to do is pick our nations!”

"Hold on a minute! Where's Chronicle?" wondered the pink earth pony. "I'm sure he'd love to play with us!"

"Yeah," agreed Spike. "There's even a alternate way for a seventh player to play."

"Chronicle's…currently busy right now," Twilight explained. "He said he was going to…you know…visit his family."

Everybody nodded. They knew just what she was talking about, and have even met his relatives before. And that what they did was supposed to be a huge secret.

"Really?" A certain voice came. "Is that the excuse you were going to make?!"

Everybody turned to see Chronicle at the door leading to the basement, his mane disheveled, his face angry and tired, marks on his legs indicating he was previously bound, and levitating a ring next to his head. All the individuals in the room were surprised, Twilight most of all.

"H-how did you…" Twilight began.

"If you've been what I've been through for the past few years, you'd understand how. Now step away from the game!"

As it was, while they were down in the basement, Chronicle and Twilight had found that wretched board game. He wanted to burn it up straight away, but she somehow managed to get the upper hoof, incapacitated him, bound and gagged him, and placed a magic-inhibiting ring on his horn. He wasn't new to this situation, and while the ring would prevent an ordinary unicorn from using magic, he was no ordinary unicorn. Due to what he really was, he had ways of channeling magic besides via the horn, but he wasn't about to tell anybody that.


2—x—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"NO, TWILIGHT! If there's anything more stupid than playing this game, it's playing it with friends! This game has been known to shatter the best of friendships, and I'm not about to let this game take ours!" His horn flared as he fully intended to burn the game to ashes. "If you value the friendship we have all forged, you will allow me to destroy it. 

Do not… play… this… game… with them!"


E—N—D—2—x—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


“Oh, come on, Chronicle. It’s just a game. What could possibly happen?” Twilight asked.

"What could possibly happen?" he mocked, and then did something everybody found disturbing and something he wouldn't normally do; laugh like a lunatic. This continued for twenty seconds before he stopped and continued talking, a smirk on his face. "What could possibly happen? Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"Since you're confusing us with that, then yes."

"All right. Let me show you one game of Diplomacy I watched a charge of mine play." Chronicle used a spell he learned from Trixie when she last visited Ponyville with the Alicorn Amulet to summon a screen that showed his Surveillance's screen. He then 'rolled back' to a scene showing him, his at-the-time charge—a dark-coated unicorn stallion—and his fellow players gathered around a table, ready to play a game of Diplomacy.

"Wait a second, dear!" interrupted Rarity as she pointed at two ponies in the screen. "Are those…"

Everybody looked at where Rarity was pointing as Chronicle 'paused' the memory. 

One of them was a large white unicorn stallion in a black morning coat, light magenta bow tie, blue vest, gold shirt studs, and a monocle, his short wavy hair was blue-green, there was a pencil-thin mustache on his face, his eyes were blue, and he had a cutie mark of three jeweled gold crowns. The other was a white unicorn mare of tall stature (nearly as tall as Princess Luna), with long, pink/white hair, blue eyes with dark lavender eyeshadow, and a cutie mark of three fleur-de-lis crests—a gold one flanked by two smaller violet ones.

"Huh. Fancypants and Fleur Dis Lee," Chronicle remarked. "Or was it Fleur-de-lis? Who knew?" And then he got himself back on track. "Anyway, the game started with little incident, just as one would expect."

He let the scene play, 'fast-forwarding' a couple of times to show just how a game in progress was done. 

The game had started out simple enough, with conversations being civil, honest advice being supplied, and Chronicle just watching over his charge, not participating, and keeping an eye on the other players. As the game went on however, even through the screen, his friends could feel the tension of hostility begin to rise amongst the players, but not Fancypants, who merely showed worry, or Fleur, despite playing as well.

Advice always came with a tone of deceit, conversations had a tone of mistrust, bribes and the like were being made, both in-game and out, and one player even attempted to pay Chronicle to spy on his charge, which he vehemently refused to do. Only Fancypants and Fleur did not turn on each other, their alliance being stone-solid. Before long, the players began acting like enemies, as if they were at war. There was shouting, yelling, stares of hatred, and then it devolved to physical assault, magical assault (there were unicorns at the table, after all), vicious rough-housing, all without somehow messing up the game board.

It was a miracle nopony was even permanently crippled in the ensuing fight, let alone killed, and Chronicle certainly helped with that, not wanting any murders to happen on his watch. Fancypants assisted as much as he could as well, and had Fleur call the Royal Guard to control the situation. The freelance bodyguard felt a little weird being taken in by authorities for being in a fight that wasn't in a bar. He did get into bar brawls before when accompanying some charges of his, but never when he's drinking.

None of them were ever the same again. Their lives have been ruined. Any friendships between some of the players have been shattered. Chronicle's charge shortly fired him after a minor incident for not telling the truth about something (even without lying). 

This was a result of a game of Diplomacy between mere associates. Chronicle didn't want to risk this game with the best of friends and, more importantly, bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Either the damage won't be as bad, or the consequences to them or Equestria will be far worse.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"It's not just because we found out just how… willing to win Twilight can really be, right?"

"Yup."

"And I have to admit you sounded… umm…"

"I know, I know. I sounded like a complete fool sounding so serious about something as trivial as a board game."

"You even made all of us Pinkie Promise."

"It's the closest thing to a magical binding contract that I can find that doesn't need the usual risks, like one's soul, a beloved one, or one's own freedom. I believe the ire of Pinkie Pie is enough of an incentive for anybody."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"So you still want to play this game. Even after what I showed you?"

Six nods, but not unanimous, were the response. Spike was busy setting up the game. The board, the notebooks for writing down moves, the game pieces, the works. He would be serving as the neutral party checking the rule book, moving the pieces, that sort of thing.

"All right. Before we play, let's all make a Pinkie Promise, okay?" He arranged for his friends to stand in a close circle around him and outstretched his left front hoof. All his friends then did the same. "We solemnly swear that no matter what any of our friends do while playing the game, especially any lies and backstabs, we will not hold it against them." He then did the motions. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

The six to-be-players followed suit. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Chronicle then turned to the namer of the titular promise. "Pinkie Pie, do you Pinkie Promise that you can make absolutely certain that everypony, including yourself, will uphold this promise?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie! Pinkie Promise!"

"All right. Let's get started."


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"And then while we 'roleplayed' as the six factions, you 'roleplayed' as a finicky…deity who does not tolerate his 'children', the 'players' controlling the factions' rulers, being too…invested in their game and will put a stop to their 'game' if they go too far."

"That's right, Fluttershy."

"You really got yourself immersed in the game, you know. You even made strikes on a 'Reminder Board' to warn us constantly. Nine I believe was the number you said you would tolerate before ending the game prematurely."

"Well, after the last game I witnessed, and because it's you girls, I could not let this game get to you. And it nearly did for one of us."


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Just at the fifth in-game year (it took longer in the previous game Chronicle participated in), it has become apparent that Twilight had gotten herself way too invested in the game. Well, the others were too like Pinkie with her out-of-game bribes, Rainbow's over-competitiveness, and Rarity using her wiles to manipulate the other players. At this point, Spike decided to cower upstairs, perhaps writing a letter to Princess Celestia.

Right now, Twilight has just revealed her moves, which has begun to deal severe blows on all the other players, and she has started to boast on how victory for her was irreversibly imminent.

"Every general I’ve ever read has detailed exactly how to win a war like this!" she ranted. "Divide and conquer! Split up the enemy and sweep through them in their chaos! And I have! I’ve been studying you all since the day we met! I know exactly how to drive you all apart! And now it’s too late for you to stop me! You’ll never pull your fractured nations together to stop the might of Equestria! And soon, I will push my forces to every edge of the map and claim it for myself. And then my rule will last FOREV—”

"Nine strikes! Game over!" At this point, Chronicle marked the final strike on his 'Reminder Board', blasted Twilight with a charged wind blast, knocking her off of the proverbial pedestal she put herself on, then 'gathered' as much of the game as he could and stored it into his hammerspace. And then a beam of magic hit him in the face and onto the floor. Everypony else got out of the way as a very irate Twilight got up, ready to face off against her bodyguard.

"I was so close to winning! Why did you stop me?!" Twilight demanded.

"You're just playing a game! I told you from the very beginning not to get too invested in it! That's what you're doing right now!"

Her answer to that was another blast of magic. Using a spell he learned from his older brother, Chronicle conjured an orb of light that absorbed it (though judging by it now fluctuating, it seems that the orb was now overloaded), then teleported away to just outside the Everfree Forest to take the fight outside. Still livid with his forced "rage quit" despite not being a player himself, she teleported after him, leaving the messed up ground floor of the library silent with their still-befuddled friends for a full minute before suddenly realizing what was about to happen and immediately left the library to stop this madness.


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"Your duel with Twilight was so frightening. She was so powerful, and has learned more since, well, everything. And you looked like you were struggling to keep up."

The ensuing battle had kept Chronicle "on his toes", which he hadn't needed to for a long while since Antithesis, who had contended with one-and-a-half sets of the alicorn sisters, himself, and his brother Blue Diary, who he realized was an Assassin in a lot of ways, and sealed all the Princesses away with moderate effort. Responding to powerful attacks with quick-time teleports, swift strikes, and magical clone fake-outs, it was all he could do to handle his irate charge without permanently injuring her.

And then Princess Celestia stepped in, and when Twilight attempted to attack her mentor to get to him, Chronicle got a first-hoof view of her power, apart from reversing the Want-It-Need-It spell. Her opening move was to make a huge flash in front of Twilight, blinding her (and him) momentarily. With minimal effort, Celestia then followed up by 'holding' her student, and lifting her up, ready to give a harsh lecture. 

When she then asked the others what was going on, Twilight's friends explained the whole Diplomacy board game (and that they promise never to play it ever again), how it progressed, how they ignored Chronicle's warning even after he showed the consequences, and trying to keep things under control with a Pinkie Promise.

"Yeah. I was sorely tempted to cripple her, but I knew that would be a bad impression." Chronicle decided it was time to change topics, but he decided he needed some time to ruminate on that. In the meantime, the two resumed eating, while their two pets decided to 'play' with one another. Well, it consisted of Angel kicking Rock away as he rolled back to the bunny again and again.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F


Elsewhere…

After turning down a fair number of offers from aspiring potential coltfriends, Skyla decided to go visit an acquaintance of hers. Incidentally, the two of them have Chronicle as a friend. 

Ever since chasing the Cutie Mark Crusaders after they had crashed into his place the first time she foalsat them, Skyla had made occasional visits to Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy. Sometimes, it was after getting those three foals out of it after they crashed in for the umpteenth time. Sometimes, it was when Snips couldn't wait for Snails to finish. Sometimes, it's to watch over Ruby Pinch when Berry Punch is in a particularly panicky mood, which is thankfully not often. And sometimes, she's just passing by alone. Right now, she was doing the last.

Skyla knocked on the door thrice, waiting for them to open. Because of the constant interruptions, Mystic had a spell cast on his doors so that they couldn't be forced open by barging into them. They will only open after a few seconds (but not late in the night), or at his consent.

When she knocked on the door (she can't just open them anymore, not after Mystic had a spell cast on them to ward off sudden intruders), when they opened, she saw that the only student present was Greatstone. When she later asked, she found out what happened to the rest, or at least the ones she hasn't seen throughout the day before coming here. 

Chrono Cards loved picking up mares on Hearts and Hooves Day, and Bullseye was surprisingly charming enough to do the same, so they were out. Someone managed to catch the bookworm Tricky Books's attention, so he couldn't attend either. Twilight was doing a research project for the Princess, and didn't look the type to search for love. Dinky Hooves was still at school, and so was Snails, Tootsie Flute, Ruby Pinch, and Firelock. Comet Tail and Pokey Pierce managed to pick up mares of their own. Morpheus was unaccounted for. And all the mares got special someponies (as at least two of them had mares rather than stallions), at least for today.

Well, there would be one new applicant coming in later, but Skyla wouldn't know of it until she arrived. The applicant was a mare, and she has some…bad history with Ponyville. But if Ponyville could forgive Spike after he wreaked havoc with his greed-induced growth, they could probably forgive somepony like her.

"Skyla!" Mystic greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Hi, Mystic," Skyla greeted in return as she walked in . "I'm surprised you're still at work. And that you still have a student today."

"Well, Master Shield is considering grooming me as heir to his mentor's legacy," Greatstone explained. "He's been teaching me everything he knows and more."

"Any reason why you chose Hearts and Hooves Day to do that, aside from the fact that neither of you plan to take any special someponies on a date?"

"I don't intend to celebrate the holiday. Not one of the mares in Ponyville interest me romantically."

"Okay, that explains you, but what about…" She turned to face the teacher.

"All I'll say is that it's a painful reminder of my past, and that I don't wish to be reminded of it."

Suddenly, three certain fillies popped up from behind Skyla and were stacked on top of the pegasus to look inside, making the three adults feel awkward as they saw Sweetie Belle about to say something only to be cut off. The fillies looked at Mystic, then at Skyla, and then at Mystic again. The three then let off a sigh as they they hopped off and left.

"…Okay." Mystic was confused. "Why were the Cutie Mark Crusaders here?"

"I'm not foalsitting them today, I promise," Skyla swore as she walked all the way in so the doors can close and 'lock' themselves. "But judging by their expressions, and looking back at previous escapades…" A sweat drop flowed down her head. "I believe they think I'm seeing you. Or Greatstone."

"Whyever would you assume that?" asked Greatstone.

"Matchmaking was one of their previous escapades. While I know they never seem to recycle their schemes, it looks like the current holiday has inspired them to give it another try. I could tell, since I've foalsat them during that."

"Well, that's good for us, I guess," said Mystic. "At least they won't be bothering my classes today."

"Except there's only one student in attendance."

"…True. By the way, you haven't answered my question, Skyla. Why are you here?"

"Well… I remember what you told me once before, but…" She didn't want to compromise her current relationship status (which is 'friends') with him. "I was wondering if you… if you could tell me about…"

He felt a little irritated. "What makes you believe I trust you enough that I'd tell you?"

She panicked. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I should figure your trip where I came along didn't matter. I just… I got nothing to do for today. No cheesecake is being sold today at Sugarcube Corner, the Wonderbolts have no scheduled public events today…" Remember, the less ponies who know you're an undercover Wonderbolt, the better. "And I thought a friendly visit wouldn't hurt."

Mystic gave a sigh, then said, "Well, I guess you can stay awhile. I was about to tell Greatstone about my mentor Aegis. I guess it's okay for you to listen in too."

"Thank you."

Just then, there came a knock at the doors. A couple seconds later, they opened to let in a yellow-eyed black unicorn mare, who had a cloak to obscure her identity. Judging by her face, she looks like she's holding a lot of guilt and is seeking atonement.

"Um, is this Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy for Unicorns?" the newcomer asked.

"Uh, yes. I take it you wish to enroll in my class?"

"Yes, sir."

"What's your name?"

"Midnight Shadow, sir."


MS—G—S—MS—G—S—MS—G—S—MS—G—S


Back to our couple…

As they finished their picnic meal, the two decided to head to the Lucky Clover Restaurant. He, Twilight, and Spike ate there once, when his charge was wondering who to take to the Grand Galloping Gala, hours before the ticket fiasco began. Angel and Rock were asked to return to the cottage, in which they complied.

As they walked, Chronicle thought it was okay to start talking about something else. "So, um…"

"I was told that at some point, we'll have to meet each other's parents," Fluttershy started hesitantly. "But given what your family does, I'm not sure if that'll be possible on your end."

Surprised at this topic, Chronicle stumbled a bit before replying, "Well, from what my parents told me in the dreamscape, they seem to be okay with you and me, but they said I should still wait. The organization I work for isn't really keen with those like me getting romantic with someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Nothing to do with what you are or who you are. Just the fact that you are too…important for this world, being a Spirit of Harmony and all. If you had been anybody else, I wouldn't be as hesitant in taking the next step. You see, when…someone like me wants to eventually marry someone in this world, one of the two in the couple has to break ties with their home world. So far, neither of us can do that; you for reasons I already explained, and me because I'm still not finished in my mission. It's years-long, so we could be waiting a long time."

"I see."

"Look, even if this doesn't work out in the end, I won't regret falling in love with you." He stopped for a while to lift his left front hoof to caress her face. "I just wish you won't regret it either."

"I won't." She stopped as well to raise a hoof to touch his outstretched foreleg. "You've been teaching me to be brave, and you never forcibly pushed me, even if it would be for my own good. I'll always thank you for that."

Yeah, but I had reasons for not being forceful. Because this is a Heart World, I shouldn't make such fundamental changes. It's bad enough as it is that I fell for you.

"Still, perhaps we could meet my parents."

She then noticed her coltfriend go red in the face as he suddenly took interest in a certain cloud in the sky while they resumed walking. And the head in there seemed to indicate that Rainbow Dash was currently napping in it. She followed his gaze, but knew the reason he turned away wasn't because of the fact that her fillyhood friend was possibly spying on them.

"Why are you so nervous?"

"Well, ever since I started dating you, I've been wondering just what kind of parents you have that would give birth to somepony like you. Well, not all the time, but the notion has reared its head a few. Of course, one of them will probably be meek like yourself, but what about the other parent? I could even be wrong on that. For all I know, one or both of your parents could be Canterlot royalty, in the Royal Guard, some other similar position, or even outright tough and/or boisterous. That boisterous could be very obvious, or very concealed like yours. And it's driving me nuts on what is the case!" 

"Well, they're—"

"And I don't want to be spoiled by you telling me! I'm just not ready yet."

"Why?"

"It's… it's…" He let out a loud sigh. "You know what, I guess I just found out another phobia of mine. And just like that fire-coming-out-of-body deal, I admit it's an absurd thing to be afraid of. And maybe I'm not even using the term correctly."

All of a sudden, there came a giggle from Fluttershy, which made her coltfriend panic a bit. Oh no. What did I do this time?

"Sorry," she apologized. "It's just that it not often I see you this…frazzled. I've seen you angry, calm, resolute, happy, sarcastic, rambling, stressed. I even saw you cry, if only because of what I had to do. But for you to lose your cool, 
it's just…"

"Hmm… that sounds strange coming from you." A smirk came to Chronicle's face. "Saying the phrase 'lose your cool'."

Before any more could be said, all of a sudden, they could hear a commotion. The two stopped just as they reached the restaurant, and saw an earth pony stallion in a green cloak on the run from a circus troupe's worth of animals (and a manticore), screaming his head off.

As he passed them by, the two could only stand there stunned for a few moments before they both decided to chase after the poor guy to help him out. Besides, this commotion can possibly ruin Hearts and Hooves Day.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F


"And that's all you need to know about my class."

"Thank you, sir."

"Although you didn't need to tell me all that much about you."

"I believe baring your past is the first step towards atonement."

After storytelling about his time with his mentor, Mystic Shield was conversing with Midnight Shadow, and Greatstone and Skyla were listening as well.

"Okay, but I can't protect you from my other students while you're outside the Academy. Also, while I know Chronicle can be surprisingly merciful to enemies at times, I can't say the same about Twilight, if what you did to her was true."

"I've done quite a few terrible things in the past. After our therapy, after the others and I parted ways, Princess Celestia decided I be sent to Ponyville under a sort of probation and that I make a friend there. I am under watch by two Night Guards around the clock, and they are hidden so well I can't even detect them."

"What about the others?" Skyla interrupted. "Jewel? Fungus Amongus? Warmonger? Black Rainbow? Bluebird?"

"Last I heard, Warmonger is under the same probation as well. Because she has family there, Jewel is under house arrest in Canterlot. Black and Bluebird are now apparently living together at the latter's home under standard probation, although I heard Bluebird will be visiting Ponyville sometime this week. As for Fungus, she escaped and is currently on the run."

"Elements of Discord, huh?" mused Greatstone. "We should've been there, Master Shield."

"The past is in the past," said Mystic gloomily. "No use in pondering on it. Besides, the Martial Arts Group has been helping in defending the town long before I set up my Academy."

"At least I won't have to start with someone who has seen my notoriety first-hoof," Midnight made an attempt at humor as she added a single chuckle. "My quest for atonement would be very hard then, or I could risk relapsing out of frustration."

"Lucky us, then," stated Skyla, then changed subjects. "Say, about that Warmonger fella, is she that big red pegasus with the knives cutie mark?"

"Yes."

"Huh." The white pegasus then put a hoof below her mouth. "Come to think of it, I did see her once around town. There I was thinking 'hey, she sure looks like she could be in the Wonderbolts'—"

"Really?" deadpanned Greatstone. "A bulky pony like her?"

"Hey, that Bulk Biceps guy is more muscular, and I can see he has the potential to be a Wonderbolt, too. I also saw her make a run for it when she saw Chronicle's marefriend. Or some other pony she happened to see."

"From how you said all that, you're acting like a talent scout of sorts," Midnight stated, her somber mood steadily improving. "In fact, I daresay you're actually a Wonderbolt, albeit going incognito."

The pegasus was taken aback for a bit on the unicorn mare being a little spot-on. "Oh, that?" She then let off a nervous laugh. "I never really wanted to own up to this, but… I'm basically a Wonderbolt nerd. I've read a lot about the Wonderbolts, learned all I could about them, things like that."

"Like Rainbow Dash?" asked Mystic.

"Naw." She waved him off. "From what I know of her, she's just a fangirl who also happened to be able to save them back at the Best Young Flyer competition. While she'd certainly know a lot of their tricks, I know a lot more; their favorite food, number one song, tidbits about their past, love life or lack thereof, life behind the cameras thanks to daring paparazzi ponies, that sort of thing." 

"What's Soarin''s favorite food?" Midnight asked.

"Pie. Presently, apple pie. Specifically, apple pie from Sweet Apple Acres." 

"Is that right?"

"Don't ask if you can't verify. I actually saw him visit the farm itself for a pie a couple weeks ago. And please don't ask me more. I'm not that brilliant, to be honest."

"How did our conversation divert from Midnight's past to this?" Mystic then asked.

Skyla just shrugged. "No idea."


MS—G—S—MS—G—S—MS—G—S—MS—G—S


"Now how did we get from helping out a stallion whom animals seem to hate to this?"

'This' was a run-in with a sect of Discord cultists who were hiding in the Everfree Forest. And right now, they were surrounded. The cultists all wore cloaks splattered with colors pertaining to the draconequus. There weren't just ponies in this bunch; there was the occasional zebra, griffon, and diamond dog. There was even a horse from Saddle Arabia, and it disconcerted Chronicle greatly, but not for reasons most would think.

"Looks like we're in luck!" said one of the cultists "Not only did we find an Element of Harmony, we also found the pony responsible for taking out so much of our brethren!"

Following that was a series of taunts and promises to get rid of him, as well as perverted laughs.

Fluttershy was terrified as she positioned herself back-to-back with her coltfriend. Well, as much as that could be possible as ponies. "Wh-wh-what should we do?"

"I'd say 'leave it all to me', but I figure that wouldn't do."

"Get 'em!" Yelled the apparent cultist leader. On that command, all the cultists proceeded to dogpile the two. But a simple barrier spell staved them off.

I will not let some cultists ruin this date, or Hearts and Hooves Day for Ponyville! "Fluttershy, watch my back!" Chronicle then procured the 'wind crystal' from hammerspace and put it in her mane. "Blow them away." Upon hearing the 'keyword', she nodded as she jogged her memory on what she can do with the 'wind crystal'.

The moment he dismissed his barrier and let off a signal flare spell, a gale force blew from the two and knocked the cultists off their feet. As he then unsheathed his magic horn blade, the cultists were beginning to pull back.

"She's alerted the others!" warned the leader. "Retreat!"

Setting aside the notion that he was once again confused for a mare, Chronicle charged straight for the first cultist in range—a pegasus—and struck them down. Because his blade was set to stun, the cultist merely keeled over in excruciating pain. "We can't let them escape! Every cultist we take in means one less of their number that can threaten Equestria!"

Right after he said that, a gale force blew against the retreating cultists, blowing them back in Chronicle's direction as he continued attacking them. Previous fights like these have assured Fluttershy that they would certainly live and won't be permanently crippled, but it was still a bit frightening to see him come so close to ending a life without actually doing so.

She hopes for this to end quickly; their Hearts and Hooves Day was seriously taking a bad turn.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F


"I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Midnight Shadow. Take care."

"I will, Master Shield."

"Allow me to see her home."

"Have you forgotten she has Night Guards watching her for that?"

"It's so we can learn where she lives."

"Right."

Mystic Shield was bidding Midnight Shadow farewell as she exited the Academy and headed on home, with Greatstone accompanying her. This left the teacher with Skyla, who has yet to leave as well.

"It was nice hearing about your history with Master Aegis," said the foalsitter. "I'm sure your…um, heralds will continue your legacy with that tale. But why set up in Ponyville of all places? Pardon if I have repeated the question before."

"You have, actually, when you came along in my field trip when the Elements of Discord attacked. And you never really told me why you decided to tag along in the first place. The only reason I didn't ask was because I wasn't going to turn down a pegasus willing to aid in scouting ahead." Mystic rubbed his nape with a hoof in a trace of embarrassment. "Never even thought of asking, to be honest."

"I wanted to know you more. You looked like you could use a non-unicorn friend, and not just by proxy through your students or Chronicle." Skyla expressed a little worry. "You really should make some more friends from the other two tribes."

Mystic let off a sigh. "I guess I'm just too busy teaching to take time off. I just want to ensure the future of my master's art, make certain it doesn't die. I owe it to Master Aegis. Until then…"

Skyla sighed as well. "Looks like I'll have to make the advances, then."

Just then, they felt a rumble. Curious, they left the Academy (Mystic locking it first) and followed the vibrations. After making a turn, they saw what was causing it; Big Macintosh was tied to one end of a rope…and a house was tied to the other end. And Apple Bloom was following him for some reason.

The two would say that this was an unbelievable sight, but they would be lying. Unfortunately, unbelievable sights have since become at least a weekly occurrence, though thankfully not often at this degree. Discord must've left his mark deep in Ponyville, because weirdness hasn't been to this level or frequency before his attack.

"Just what kind of harebrained scheme did the Cutie Mark Crusaders come up with this time?" Skyla asked herself.

"Whatever it is, I think it's related to love," Mystic answered, still a little flabbergasted. "As to how, don't ask me that. I'm going home."

"Me too."


MS—G—S—MS—G—S—MS—G—S—MS—G—S


Once there were no more Discord cultists left in sight, Chronicle and Fluttershy (and Rainbow, Pinkie, and Twilight when they came at the former's signal flare) rounded them all up and tied them all together. The stallion then asked his charge to write a letter to Princess Celestia reporting this, and then had Rainbow fly over to Spike back at the library to send it. The wind crystal was also returned for safekeeping.

"That's… twenty-nine more Discord cultists put away," Twilight recorded, then turned to her bodyguard. "What brought you to go looking for them?"

"A lot of things happened one after the other," came the reply.

"It started when we were on our way to the restaurant when we saw a pony who needed help," Fluttershy explained. "For some reason, a lot of animals seemed to hate him, even when he wasn't bad at all. It was all a blur after that, but I do remember then going to the Everfree Forest to lead Manny Roar back home before the cultists appeared."

"I just wanted a regular picnic, lunch, and maybe dinner at home," groaned Chronicle. "That was all I planned for Hearts and Hooves Day. Why can't today have been a completely regular day to celebrate the holiday?"

"We got another problem," reported Pinkie. "Just as I left Sugarcube Corner for the day, I saw Big Mac and Cheerilee all lovey-dovey at each other. They were so sweet even I was starting to feel a little sick, and so were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I really got a bad feeling about that."

"Hold on a second," Twilight realized as she tapped her head to jog her memory, but not before re-casting a sleep spell over the cultists to keep them from getting rowdy. After a couple of seconds, she then realized it. "Oh no."

"What is it?" asked Fluttershy.

"I think the Cutie Mark Crusaders probably tried to make the love potion in the book I gave them earlier."

"Don't tell me the ingredients are readily available," said Chronicle.

"They are."

"And you thought giving them the book was a good idea?!"

"I didn't think they'd actually try it!"

"These are the Cutie Mark Crusaders we're talking about here! I wouldn't put it past them to make friends with Gilda if that's what it takes to get their cutie marks."

"You seriously think that?"

Chronicle rolled his eyes. "I'd say Discord cultist, but that'd sound like I have too little faith in them. Is there an antidote?"

"Well…" Twilight was a little thrown off in how easily Chronicle can switch subjects (and even demeanor) in such a short amount of time.


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


"The pleasure of your company is requested at the Annual Aquastria Race. Attendants and friends are welcome. The race will officially begin after the First Moon Tide.

Very truly yours, 
King Leo, Ruler of Aquastria"

That was what the letter Twilight had received read. When she told her friends, they showed varying degrees of enthusiasm. What was most surprising however was that Chronicle was the most enthusiastic out of all of them, more than even Pinkie Pie. 

Simply put, his reaction was like that of Rainbow Dash upon meeting the Wonderbolts personally for the first time; he was squeeing, and he was also pronking around like Twilight herself did long ago when she told her cutie mark story to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

When he was asked why he behaving like Pinkie Pie in the middle of a candy store, he explained excitedly, "I just loooooove swimming! I never get enough time to do so around here! Indulging on the job is unprofessional, and the nearby lake is too small, not to mention it has a squid living there. I'm so psyched!!!"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


nightelf37: But let's get back to the present.

Twilight answered the question. "The imbibers of the love potion must keep their eyes off of the pony they first set eyes on—in this case Big Mac and Cheerilee from each other—for one full hour for the spell to be broken."

"I see. Let's head back." With that, Chronicle began to run back to Ponyville, summoning a magical clone to guard the cultists until the Royal Guard arrived.

"Right," agreed his charge as she, Fluttershy, and Pinkie followed. "We need to fix this problem of theirs."

"It's also partly yours, you know, for giving that book," he countered. "And let's see if they can't fix it themselves." He saw the shock in Twilight's and the others' faces and added, "Hey, they were able to fix the problem they caused as Gabby Gums. They can't truly learn from their mistakes if they think we'll always be there to fall back to when they do something wrong. But we'll be there when they're seriously over their heads, all right?"

"Do you really think they can fix this?" Twilight was still a little doubtful. Around this time, Rainbow had passed them by, and immediately turned around to follow them as soon as she saw them.

"We'll see when we get there."


C—TS—RD—F—PP—C—TS—RD—F—PP


Ultimately, intervention was unnecessary. By the time the five got to the disaster area, which was just outside Carousel Boutique, the "love poison" was finally 'cured', which 'happened' just after Cheerilee broke through the Boutique's door and fell into a pit the Crusaders dug up (and added a mattress to to cushion the fall) to stall Macintosh, who had been pronking his way to his "schmoopie-doo" while dragging Berry Punch's house (which Apple Bloom had tied him to to stall for time).

Cheerilee figured giving the Cutie Mark Crusaders doing all of Macintosh's chores for the entire day. Of course, Rarity, Applejack, and Scootaloo's caretaker(s) will give them further punishment once they hear of this. And Macintosh offered to move Berry Punch's house back to its proper place. And apologize to the oxen that were delivering a wagonload of anvils, who in turn were both impressed and a little frightened that the earth pony stallion was able to drag both them and their load without even trying.

Chronicle made a mental note never to be in melee range of Macintosh when he might ever need to anger him (Hopefully, that would never come to pass). A full-power buck from him could possibly smash his strongest barrier and break a lot of bones.

After confirming that no more shenanigans will occur for the rest of the day, the five returned to their usual business or retired to their homes. Right now, the couple out of them were returning to Fluttershy's cottage, where they'll have a simple dinner.

"Whew!" he said as they walked. "That was a really weird Hearts and Hooves Day, wasn't it?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Why couldn't we just have one regular day with nothing interesting happening? Ever since this town was turned topsy-turvy by him, completely peaceful days have been few and far between."

"Yeah."

"So, what should we have for dinner?"

"Please leave it to me. I don't think Angel appreciated your cooking the last time."

He was hurt Fluttershy thought the bunny thought that. It's true he wasn't well-versed in the culinary arts, but he couldn't have been that terrible. "At least they're not as bad as the baked bads, right?"

She giggled a little at that. "That's true. Good thing I didn't try them, though."

"Yeah. Maybe a takeout at the new Hayburger place?" He shuddered at that for some reason. "I'm gonna have to work out more after eating there."

"Why?"

"I visited it when it opened. I'm not really comfortable with how they cook their food. I could smell it from their kitchens."

"Wow. I didn't think you were that weight-conscious."

"Hey, I gotta stay fit if I wanna stay strong enough to protect you guys."

"You know, not that you mention it, that got me wondering about something."

Chronicle was curious. "Really?"

"Well, we've all been worrying for quite a while, Twilight and the rest of us, but you seemed perfectly fine, so we never asked you. Um… You see… you seem to, umm… eat less than we do."

"Are you serious?" He has no idea where she was going with this.

"Twilight ran a test, and from what she found, you eat as much as Rarity does for a day, yet you exert a lot more energy than she does." Before Chronicle could make a small retort, she continued. "And that's counting her sessions at the Martial Arts Group. We're worried that you might be taking an unnecessary diet for reasons you won't tell us, but you bear no signs of undernourishment at all."

"So?"

"What is your secret, Chronicle? How can you expend so much magic without needing to eating lots of food to replenish it?"

Now that got Chronicle thinking. Pinkie wasn't the only "big eater" out of all of them (he often attributed her non-fattening to her fourth-wall abilities). Whenever she's done a lot of magic-casting, Twilight also eats plenty of food after that, and doesn't get a distended stomach after all that. "You know, I never really gave it much thought." Is this another difference between me and native magic-users? "But I assure you I don't need to change my diet. I am perfectly fine. I've always eaten as much as I have for a long time. The only time I've felt the need to eat more is after a lot of athletic maneuvering."

"So you only need to eat more after physical exercise, but not after using up a lot of magic?" Fluttershy asked as the cottage entered their sights.

"I'm not sure. My physical exertion and magical use go…umm…" What's a good substitute for 'hand in hand'? "…together most of the time, be it exercise or combat. Guess that really sets me apart from other civilian unicorns. And all the unicorn Royal Guards I've seen so far."

By this point, they're at the door. "Yeah. I guess I like that in you."

"Well, better get started. I'm hungry." He opened the door.

"Yeah." She crossed it and her coltfriend followed before closing it.
> Read It And Weep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read It And Weep

Daytime, outside Ponyville…

Skyla watched over Rainbow Dash in the cloud she was hiding inside as her target began to do a series of tricks. She could recognize a number of them as advanced techniques only the top ones (herself among those) are able to perform without risk of spraining and/or crashing. This worried the undercover Wonderbolt; at this rate, Rainbow's chances of receiving an injury as a result are increasing. Sure, as a stuntpony, that's an occupational hazard, but since Rainbow isn't a Wonderbolt yet…

She also saw Pinkie Pie and Rarity watching their friend from below, and Twilight Sparkle was joining in.

"Hey, Rarity. Hey, Pinkie Pie." Twilight greeted her friends as she then gazed upward. "What are you looking at?"

"Rainbow Dash!" the earth pony stated. "Isn’t she the most daring devil—I mean, the most devilish darer—I mean—"

"She’s dazzling!" 

"Ooh, yeah, that’s a good word. She’s dazzling!"

The next couple of maneuvers almost give the ponies on the ground whiplash. Pinkie's neck began to twist in highly unnatural positions as she followed the pegasus's flight pattern before her body corrected itself by twisting in the same manner, leaving the earth pony disoriented for a moment. Cheering ensued the entire time, though admiration quickly gave way to terror.

"Oh, no…oh, no…oh, no…" Twilight.

"Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay!" Pinkie.

Skyla was also on the verge of panic and was seriously considering charging in, but that would blow her cover. The predicted injury wouldn't even cripple Rainbow, but that didn't mean Skyla wasn't concerned. The maneuvers of Ponyville's weather manager were getting very erratic and out of control. Before anypony knew it, there was a crash on the ground.

After Skyla surveyed the damage, she immediately sped off to the Ponyville Hospital to contact the paramedics. It pained her bad to leave her, but she knew Rainbow Dash won't be permanently grounded, and keeping her identity a secret was paramount (though not life-critical) to her as an undercover Wonderbolt talent scout.

You're among the best I've seen. You better make it out all right.


TS—RD—R—PP—S—TS—RD—R—PP—S


Later, at Room 12 of the Ponyville Hospital…

All of Rainbow Dash's friends were around her bed, which had curtains framing it to keep other patients visually undisturbed. Aside from the four who watched her crash, also with them were Fluttershy, Chronicle, and Applejack. The patient's condition was pending, but what could be seen was that Rainbow's right wing was splayed by the bandages wrapped around its base, a bandage was stuck over one eye, and of course she was in a green johnny as per hospital regulations.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Applejack asked.

"She's tough," answered Skyla. "She'll be okay."

"Oh, I’m so worried!" expressed Fluttershy.

"We all are," Chronicle shares everypony's concerns.

"Is her face gonna stay that way?" wondered Pinkie.

"Now what kind of question is that?" By this point, the patient has woken up and opened her eyes. Upon realizing the extent of her injuries, she tried to work the injured wing around a bit, but quickly gave up with a loud moan.

Behind the visitors was a doctor levitating an X-ray of the wing to examine the broken bone it displays. Aside from being a unicorn, bearing medium blue eyes behind spectacles, a white shirt with a dark gray necktie, a white lab coat, a stethoscope around his neck, and an EKG (electrocardiogram) screen cutie mark, he looked just like Caramel.

"How is she, Doctor Stable?" Twilight asked him.

"She’s going to be fine. Luckily, she has friends like you who got her over here in a jiffy."

Rainbow groaned impatiently. "How long do I need to lie here? I’ve got things I need to do!"

"Well, that all depends on your recovery, but I’d say a few days minimum."

"You guys have gotta get me outta here!" She pleaded to her friends. "I’m gonna climb the walls!"

"Ooh, just like a spider!" Pinkie turned to the doctor. "Did the crash somehow give her super-duper spider powers?"

"Nn-no, nor did it give her amazing healing powers," the doctor replied dryly as he turned away and walked out, Pinkie falling over in the process. "She needs to stay in bed for a few days."

"Few days?" Rainbow fell back onto her pillow. "Might as well be a few months, or a few years." 

Applejack and Fluttershy approached her. "It’s not so bad, Rainbow Dash," assured the latter.

"I bet the chow in here is hoof-lickin’ good," added the former.

"And the hospital gowns…" Rarity—standing near the window—added as she levitated a johnny. "…they match the curtains!" She ended with a big grin. she was telling the truth; they were the exact same drab shade of green.

"And look!" Pinkie whisked away the dividing curtain to expose the occupant of the next bed: an earth pony stallion who had more broken bones than sound ones, if the casts and bandages were any indication. He was Ponyville's resident fireworks specialist (and Firelock's and Firecracker Burst's father), Skyrocket; he also wasn't as good at his line of work as he would've liked. "You have a roommate!"

With his face almost totally covered, he can only acknowledge Rainbow with a few eye rolls. The less-than-excellent news prompted the downed pegasus to turn over in bed and pull the blanket over herself. Applejack directed a puzzled shrug at the other six visitors, who glanced uneasily at each other before all eyes shifted toward Twilight, now deep in thought. Except for Skyla, who was deep in thought herself.

A squeaking noise drew attention to the open door, through which a library cart loaded with books was pushed into view. The noise came from its wheels, and the one nosing it along was a freckled pink earth pony mare with a violet/white striped mane tied in a bun, a similarly-colored tail hanging loose, deep blue eyes, and the same cutie mark as Nurse Redheart. She wore a white nurse’s cap whose design—white cross, four pink hearts tucked in the corners, red circle background—matched the hospital's insignia. 

If Chronicle remembered correctly, her name was Nurse… something-Heart. Nurse Sweetheart? He wasn't sure. He also knows of a Nurse Coldheart (whose unfortunate name fits her just a little bit), but her coat was a shade of pale yellow.

Twilight galloped toward the door and returned a moment later, levitating a book over to the bed. This was used to poke Rainbow gently a couple of times, then set down by her pillow. She regarded it with the clearest loathing.

"What’s this?" She lifted the volume up. The cover depicted a pegasus dressed in a khaki bush shirt and pith helmet, swinging on a vine over a river full of very hungry alligators, and carrying a blue jeweled figurine.

"Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone." She lowered it partway as Twilight leaned close, Skyla courteously closing the curtain showing the injured fireworks specialist.

"This is the first story in the series," Twilight said as the book was lowered away. "I own all of them." This was followed with a big squeaky grin.

Rainbow threw the proffered story away. The curtain has been closed again to block off Skyrocket. "No thanks! I so don’t read. I’m a world-class athlete. Reading’s for eggheads like you, Twilight." Chuckle. "No offense, but I am not reading. It’s undeniably, unquestionably uncool!" She ended this by being dismissive expression and crossing her forelegs behind her head. 

The sulky reverie was swiftly broken by the laughter of five ponies, the remaining two looking offended.

"Is she serious? Who doesn’t like to read a bang-up tale from time to time?" said Applejack.

"Why, a good book is almost as magnificent as silk pajamas on a Sunday morning." Rarity.

"Reading is for everypony, Rainbow Dash." Twilight floated the book back to her. 

"Yeah! I love reading!" Pinkie began to jump in place. "And my head isn’t even close to the shape of an egg." She even outlined it, then started goofing again. "It’s more the shape of an apple, or maybe an orange, but a big orange, more like a grapefruit really?" The descriptive digression ended when she realized that seven very puzzled sets of eyes have trained themselves on her. Well, one of them was less so and just had a raised eyebrow.

"Do you believe the Wonderbolts don't read either?" Skyla then orally prodded.

"My line of work has more athletics involved and is a lot more serious, yet I still have the time to read, too," said Chronicle.

"That's because you're a unicorn," Rainbow brushed him off. "Of course you read. It's the only way to learn more spells aside from tutors or mentors."

"That's racist."

Just then, there came the sound of approaching hooves. Nurse Sweetheart stood there. "All right, my little ponies," she said. "Rainbow Dash needs her rest." One by one, the visitors began to leave. "You’ll have to come back tomorrow."

"I think you’d like Daring," Twilight said as she walked out. "She’s a lot like you—adventurous…fierce, and undeniably, unquestionably unstoppable." With that, she was out the door.

"One-third of my savvy-ness comes from adventure books like Daring Do, you know," stated Chronicle as he followed, Skyla trotting past him. "You're never too cool to read." And with that he was out of the room as well and he shut the door.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—DS—S—NS


The following events occurred in the span of a single minute:

The bedridden flyer bounced a ball off the far wall and the floor so that it returned to her. After a few cycles, though, it hit the bed’s footboard and rolled to a stop on the floor. She hung her head in resignation.

It was then mealtime. The food tray resting on the blanket held a cube of gelatin, a glass of juice, and a green wad of Celestia knows what comprised this repast. Rainbow eyed it with obvious disdain; Applejack’s guess at the food quality was nowhere close to the mark. She nipped the edge of the glass in her teeth and drank, but got the whole thing stuck over her snout. It resisted her attempt to pull it off, but then fell loose on its own, leaving her face temporarily stretched to resemble that of a Saddle Arabian horse.

The disaffected convalescent was impatiently switching her bedside lamp on and off, her face back to normal. She stepped up the pace after the first few jabs at the button, but soon slowed down again. 

Rainbow was telling a joke to Skyrocket, but his lack of enthusiasm—or any verbal response, for that matter—sat badly enough with her to make her close the curtain between then and hunker down in bed.

She lay weary, the circles under her eyes attesting to the physical/mental fatigue that has set in. The wall clock’s ticking made itself heard loud and clear. She glared up toward it, and realized just how little time has passed as the minute hand clicked ahead one notch. 

Rainbow’s jaw dropped almost to the blanket in sheer disbelief. She then reeled it in for a frustrated growl and sigh. Her next idea for passing time was to bang the back of her head against the bed’s headboard a few times. Boredom—or the realization that such activity might worsen a head injury—prompted her to stop, and she unwillingly swiveled her eyes to the book on her nightstand. She turned her back to it and crossed her forelegs resolutely…and then she glanced back toward the nightstand while the book just sat there…and then she started to think very, very hard. 

As the book continued to be a book, she sighed heavily and picked it up. Holding it at foreleg’s length as if it were an old stick of dynamite sweating out nitroglycerin, she eased the cover open. When it failed to explode, she settled down to start reading.


RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD


Just like Chronicle 'records' the adventures of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and their friends, there is a pony who accompanies Daring Do in her adventures, and the writer was convinced to exclude her presence. 

"What about the Daring Don't episode, where—"

Shh-shh-shh! Falling out. Guidance from the shadows. That's all I'll say.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

Okay. Now it's time for our second line of the story.


Shisno Chronicles: Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone



SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


"As Daring Do trekked through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the cool blue sky. But her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing, and she was grounded for a few days. Few days. It might as well be a few months, or a few years. The mosquitoes buzzed loudly. The macaws cried from the high trees. Yet all of these distracting noises were not enough to cover the sound of the predators following her every step…"

Climbing over a fallen tree were two ponies and eyed the area as growls floated up behind them. 

One of them was a pegasus dressed in a khaki bush shirt and pith helmet. Her coat was light orange, her eyes magenta, and her hair are striped in six shades of gray and black. Her cutie mark was an eight-point compass rose. Her name is Daring Do, and she's an adventurer archaeologist. Her right wing was tightly wrapped in a bandage.

The other was a unicorn dressed in a turquoise top, light brown shorts, and  pair of plain saddlebags colored like Daring's coat. Her coat was a military shade of green, her eyes hazel, and her dark blond hair was kept in a short bob. Her cutie mark was an orange circle with an open book inside of it. Her name is Green Account, and she's the Story Crew Field Operative covering Daring Do's adventures for 'retelling' at client worlds outside of this world; Daring also published her adventures around here (under an alias, of course).

Just as the two ponies turned around, they found themselves (well, Daring at least) nose to nose with one very angry tiger that tried to bite her head off. The two jumped clear, but turned to find a panther moving in to cut off their retreat. Unfortunately for Account, unlike the Timer-Aidem branch of the extended Timer Family, her family isn't known for great combat prowess or expansive repertoire of spells. The only combat spell she know that'd be of use is the 'magic shot', the 'panel barrier', and a small-scale 'sphere barrier' (which she can also use to deprive someone of oxygen), but they still wouldn't do much.

A glance in a third direction disclosed a lynx, while a leopard moved in from a fourth. The explorer and her sidekick stood on the tree trunk as the four big cats closed in. And then there came a fifth contender; a very small and fluffy white kitten. 

"Now's our chance," advised Account. While she didn't have much to contribute in terms of combat, she was just as athletic as her pegasus companion. 

The two ponies leaped nimbly over the little furball as it yowled angrily and the other four charged past it to give chase. They galloped through the jungle, pursued by all five felines—the kitten hanging onto the panther’s back—and stopped short upon reaching the edge of a broad chasm. The snarls from behind them tell just how little time there was to make a decision. 

"I got this," said Account as she saw a far-off hanging vine. Luckily for her, she has an abnormally extended telekinetic range as its end was enveloped in a leaf green hue. Most unicorns can only pull from three to four pony-lengths at most, and would need to concentrate real hard to reach farther, but Account can grab from such ranges with ease. "Go!"

Daring immediately jumped for the vine and grabbed it, followed by Account as she grabbed onto Daring. This prompted all five pursuers to slide to an incredulous halt and run into each other as their prey swung to the other side. Daring flipped a mocking salute to the predators before coming down beyond their reach.

Safely landing on the other side, Daring and Account finally allowed themselves a moment to breathe, the former flipping her helmet back from her eyes. Their rest ended abruptly as they turned around to find themselves face to face with the long-lost temple that they had sought tirelessly for over sixty days and nights.

The entrance was a flight of steps leading up into the mouth of a large stone diamond dog's face with two ruby jewel eyes. They eyed it wonderingly as they began to mentally prepare themselves for what they had to do next.


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


"I hate to admit it to myself, and would really hate to admit it to my friends, but…" Rainbow Dash smiled broadly at her hospital bed. "…I love this story!" She held the book at length. "I… I…" She hugged it to herself. "…I love reading!"

She fell back onto her pillow, dislodging a few feathers that waft down around her visage. Rapture then gave way to panic in less time than it took to say “pulp fiction”.

"I’m an egghead," she shortly realized in horror.


RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD


Eyecatch (picture-type) - A shot of the cover of the book Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone. However, it now also has a yellow box reading "Shisno Chronicles" on the upper left, and Green Account is now present, nervously standing on top of an alligator's closed jaw and with her aura around the tip of another vine different from the one Daring is currently on. The show's logo is seen on the lower left.


RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD—RD


Daring Do and Green Account gingerly climbed the steps to the temple together, entering the dim hallway it led to, the only light coming from braziers carved to resemble the canine figure that framed the entrance. Once at the top of the stairs, Daring sniffed the air, eyeing the dark passage beyond the braziers. The smell of decay and danger hit Daring Do as she peered into the dimly lit entrance of the ancient temple.

Her composure and confidence restored, she moved ahead, and Account prepared a spell to scan the surroundings. Ancient temples like these were rife with booby traps, somehow still in working operation even after it's been centuries.


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


The two adventurers walked through a bug-infested stretch of rubble and bleached bones. Account's eyes widened as Daring took a step onto a small patch of floor that sank slightly under the weight of her foreleg, followed by the sound of a mechanism kicking into gear. It had already been too late to warn of the trigger, but not too late to alert of the incoming danger.

"Axe to the left!" she warned as Account and Daring ducked, barely avoiding the three axes that whistled across the hallway and through the space where their heads used to be. They wound up embedded in the wall, but Account already sensed the next trap. "Fire pit!" A hidden joint in the floor slid apart beneath Daring's hooves, throwing her into a very uncomfortable spread-eagle position, and she vaulted ahead just in time to avoid a blast of fire from below. "Gators from above!" Next, several alligators dropped from the ceiling to snap at her; they were suspended from there, forcing her and Account to crawl ahead. 

To be fair, Daring already knew how do dodge every possible ancient trap, but Account's heads-up was more for the unicorn's own benefit and it didn't disturb the pegasus at all. They vaulted over a pendulum blade, weaved past a volley of darts (blocked against them in Account's case), and as Daring leaped ahead a series of spikes that popped up from the floor, Account already scanned their timing and started running, successfully avoiding them and getting ahead of Daring for once.

And there was a good reason for that, a stone slab at the far end of the hallway was beginning to descend toward the floor. Daring quickly galloped after her sidekick through the spikes and slid to a stop on her back—with her head directly beneath the dropping monolith. Seeing her companion's head about to be pasted, Account immediately grabbed Daring (physically) and pulled her in the clear before it slammed down to cut off their retreat.

Daring stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Phew! Thanks, Green."

"We're not out of the woods yet," warned Account as another mechanism kicked up, stones and dust falling from above. 

Daring let off a frustrated groan as the two evaded the next set of traps, and eventually made it past the next doorway before it too could slam shut in front of them, closing the distance with a roll. The only casualty, if one can call it that, was Daring's helmet getting pierced by darts. She promptly brushed those away and put it on again. A look around this chamber revealed a round hole in the ceiling, through which a dusty shaft of light filtered in. This began to move across the chamber and eventually picked out a figurine on a pedestal at the far end. Its blue jewels cast blinding shafts of radiance. Two dog figures sat back to back, holding a large gem at their feet.

That was the Sapphire Stone they were looking for. Their mouths curved into a wondering smile. It's one thing to read about artifacts, mused Account. It's another to see it with my own eyes.


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


Back at the hospital…

Rainbow Dash wore that same smile, positioned partway underneath her bed’s blankets, eagerly hunched over the book, before a knock at the door threw a scare into her. As the knob began to turn, she frantically stuffed the book under the blanket and struck the best nonchalant pose she can. An instant later, Chronicle, his charge, and his marefriend burst in.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash!" all three greeted.

"Uh…hey, guys," she greeted in return.

"We thought we’d come and cheer you up," said Fluttershy.

The sight of a boxed board game being levitated nearby threw the patient off balance. "We brought your favorite board game," said Twilight as it was plunked down and set up on the end of the bed. Two folding displays were placed back to back, with various figures set up on the lower portions. Chronicle remembered this game; it was Equestria's version of Battleship, but with clouds and pegasi instead of naval vessels.

"We know how much you like to win."

Rainbow cast a sideways glance down at her bed and nudged one edge of the blanket down to hide the book from view.

"You go first, Rainbow," Chronicle invited.

Their hospitalized friend forced a chuckle. "No, no. You first."

The three traded skeptical looks. "Right…" the stallion added with a touch of snark, then turned to his charge. "Twilight. You make the first move."

"All right. Uh…Cloud-Three."

"Aw, shucks. You rained on my cumulus. Heh. Go again."

Fluttershy decided to make the move this time. "Um…Sky-Five?"

"Whoa!" Rainbow held up a game piece. "You found my seagull." and then she tossed it aside.

Uh…Cloud-Two?" Twilight again. 

"You zapped my weather pony!"

"Canopy-Six." Chronicle.

The bedridden pegasus chuckled. "You stung my bumblebee!"

"Cloud-Nine?" Fluttershy again.

She let off a groan. "My thunderbolt!"

"Ground-Zero." Chronicle again. This got his two friends confused for a bit, as that spot doesn't even exist in the game, but the patient seems to have missed it as she removed her last piece.

"Aw, and that’s my last cloud." Rainbow then smiled hastily. "You found it. Guess you guys win. I lose." She shifted her emotions without a clutch again, giving a pout and huff, and snatched the game away.

"But, Rainbow Dash, you…you didn’t even get a turn," said Fluttershy.

Rainbow was feverishly cramming the lid back on the box, but caught herself and smiled. "You win some, you lose some." An even bigger grin failed to placate Twilight.

"But you don’t lose some. I don’t think you’ve ever lost a game of—" The unicorn mare was cut off as the patient dropped the game, stretched, and yawned.

"Thanks for coming."

"But yesterday you were desperate for things to do!" 

Rainbow picked it up and shoved it to Twilight. "Do? Who said anything about Daring Do?" This puzzled her three visitors, though one already came to a conclusion. "I told you, I’m not interested in reading." She then switched off the lamp and let out an obviously fake yawn. "It’s nap-time for me!" The technicolor-maned head hit the pillow as its owner let go with some very loud and very inauthentic snoring.

"Glad we could…cheer you up?" Fluttershy said as she and her coltfriend walked out.

Twilight meanwhile aimed a critical eye at Rainbow, who opened one of her own and yawned even louder. Now the unicorn headed for the door. "All right, then."

Once they closed the door and walked away from it so that their shadows couldn't be seen from inside the room, Chronicle decided to speak. "Now girls, be honest. Was anybody fooled with that facade of hers?"

"Nope," his charge responded.

"Mm-mmm," his marefriend answered.

"It's quite obvious that Rainbow Dash has taken a liking to Daring Do, and just doesn't wish to show it to anypony."

"So if it Spike it's fine?" joked Chronicle.

"You know what I mean."

"Right. Of course." He sincerely understood, though his tone was a bit playful.

"You really like pointing those out, don't you?"

"Sub-par grammar can lead to poor communication, which can kill. And many of the previous problems we've face could've been solved easier and earlier with proper communication." He 'took out' his white glove and used it to count them off. "Pinkie and us when the parasprites attacked. The buffalo tribe and Appleloosa. You and Spike when Owlowiscious first came. Applejack and you and me during Applebuck season. You and the rest just before the Smarty Pants incident." 

He turned to his marefriend. "You and Rarity, with Twilight being blocked by a Pinkie Swear. The whole Mare-Do-Well incident. Pinkie Pie during Nightmare Night. Applejack when she left for Dodge Junction." After that, his face turned solemn. "And me just post-Discord. These mistakes have been happening more times than I'd like, and sometimes it feels to me like you never learn. So I have to keep doing it, not only to hammer it in to ensure it sticks, but to ensure it keeps on sticking."

His two friends stood there taking this in. No matter how often he 'bashes' at them—no, he really does care, which is why he keeps doing it.

But before they could say anything else, a light yellow nurse mare came over. She was an earth pony, had the same cutie mark and cap as Redheart and Sweetheart, bore green eyes, had a two-tone light blue hair with the mane bound in a hairnet, and a markedly less sunny disposition. This was Nurse Coldheart, and she didn't look happy to see dawdlers in the halls, and told the three so, after which they politely left.


C—TS—RD—F—NC—C—TS—RD—F—NC—C—TS—RD—F—NC


Back to the other story…

“Daring Do stood at the entrance to the central temple chamber.”

Daring and Account straightened up with a shining-eyed smile as they stared at the jeweled figurine in the fore. Although the latter was getting very sweaty for some reason, and she quickly cast a spell to alleviate it.

“At last, she was face to face with the legendary Sapphire Statue!”

Directly in front of them was a grid of floor tiles, each marked with a picture of a jungle animal; lion, tiger, rat, wolf, and raptor (bird of prey). Daring lifted one foreleg to step ahead, but quickly yanked it back, remembering the gauntlet of booby traps set off earlier. A glance off to one side disclosed a battery of holes in the wall, indicating a set of hidden darts ready to fire. As Account already got to work on analyzing the place, Daring looked around, spotted a rock on the floor, and kicked it onto the grid. Once it comes to rest, its weight caused the tile to sink slightly. The darts flew across the chamber, embedding themselves in the wall to form a pony-shaped pattern, which put a quizzical expression in Account's face as Daring hunched down to study the tiles.

"Hmm…there must be a pattern here," the pegasus mused to herself. "What do all these animals have in common?"

I can't block that many shots at once. If only Daring brought her bullwhip, Account thought as she 'picked up' the rock Daring threw and tossed it to the side of the grid; it looked wide enough for the two to cross and skip the puzzle entirely. But she got the feeling that the temple had a trap to catch such 'cheaters', even though there were no skeletons to prove any have attempted to do that.

Just then, inspiration lays Daring a good one over the pith helmet. "Aha! These animals are all predators, except…rats!"

This got Account back on track and she was quick to stop her companion. "Hold on a second! There's another thing these animals have in common." She pointed at one tile. "These are all mammals… except raptors! Besides, even rats are predators to certain animals."

Daring was a tad skeptical. "Do you really think the trap designers thought that deep?" It bothered her a little that Account was decidedly a little more competent than her, yet was humble enough to not be included in her stories. But Account was the one who came to her, and had proved herself time and again to be reliable.

"Only one way to find out." Account turned to Daring. "You first."

One hoof was lifted and placed ever so gently on a rat tile… and absolutely nothing happened in response. Daring had squeezed her eyes tight shut, but opened one of them to peek through the rivulets of sweat oozing down her face. "Phew!" Getting all four hooves onto this tile, Daring jumps across the grid to zigzag her way from one rat to the next. 

"Well, no trap has ever had more than one right answer." Account followed Daring's lead, watching both her hooves and the path ahead.

Soon, they were at the base of the steps leading up to the Sapphire Statue’s (not Stone, turns out) pedestal. Daring threw a savage grin back at the obstacle she had just conquered and climbed up to the prize, Account catching up with her shortly. The helmet came off and the sparkled play in Daring's eyes as she regarded it with genuine awe. Putting the headwear back on as soon as her sidekick was with her, she got down to business. 

The two inspected the pedestal from various angles, waved a foreleg above it to check for wires, knocked on the pedestal for hollow space, wiped the sweat out of their manes… And just as Daring rubbed her front hooves together, Account procured a large pouch of soil, raised a hoof to pause Daring from just taking the Statue, and analyzed the two items for relative weight.

"On my signal, I take the statue while you replace it with the pouch," said Daring. "You sure you got the weight correctly?"

"As much as I can from a first glance," Account replied as she took out a bit from the pouch. "This isn't a museum robbery where I can analyze the treasure before taking it."

"All right. On three, and not after two, okay?" Daring's sidekick nodded and the two got ready. "One… two… three!" 

Just as Daring snatched the Statue in her teeth, Account set down the soil pouch in its place. Unfortunately, as the pegasus got down to ground level to remove her helmet so she can drop in the Statue, a peg began to extend itself upward from the pedestal.

"Um, Daring?" Account called as she saw her soil pouch get pushed up.

"What?" asked the archaeologist as she put her hat back on and turned around, shortly realizing what was happening.

"I think I forgot to account for weight distribution." The then peg suddenly dropped back into its hidden groove and the ceiling began to cave in. "Time to go!" Before Daring can take a step onto the floor grid, the tiles crumbled away to expose a lake of steaming lava underneath. "Cripes!"

Luckily, the spell Account had cast on herself was 'designed' to shield her from its searing heat and blinding glare; without it, she would've been toast long before the tiles crumbled and blinded the instant they did. As for Daring, she possessed a small artifact she once found on an adventure prior to Account joining her that performed the same thing. She keeps it in her bush shirt's pocket at all times; one never knows when a temple utilizes lava in the same way, and it saves up on Account's magic.

Several of the columns lining the walls toppled into the molten rock as the liquid surface rose inexorably to swallow the pedestal’s lowest steps. Daring scrambled up to the top and urged Account to get on top of her, looking desperately for a way out of this mess. She then let her glance rove from the tumbled columns to the chamber’s ceiling hole. 

The unicorn immediately jumped from the pedestal and onto one of the still-standing columns, casting a spell as the reached it with her front hooves. The spell was the "climbing claw", which conjures such things out of magic from her hooves and dug themselves into the stone. She then proceeded to scale the column; with effort, she can climb the ceiling with this too. They're not really suited for combat, though.

As for Daring, she grit her teeth, then jumped from the pedestal and got herself balanced on one broken end of a column just as the pedestal was engulfed. She almost slipped as she reached the highest it can go. Sweating profusely, and her hooves getting hot because of the lava, she got ready for another jump. Just before that was swallowed up as well, she leaped high and snagged the edge of the hole with her mouth, where Account was already journeying toward via the ceiling with her 'climbing claws'.

Daring then scrambled her forelegs to get herself out of the hole and into the surface (that is, the temple roof). Just as Account made it out as well, the two ponies were flung skyward by a sudden burst of steam, and the lava overflowed through the hole. Thankfully, the two were sent flying in the same direction and thus weren't split up. The dazed explorer did a graceless belly flop onto the forest floor, the Statue falling out of her helmet to land a few feet away. And the sidekick crashed though a couple of branches on the way down and landed in a bush, getting several tiny cuts in the process. It also left her on the verge of unconsciousness.

A purple-furred forelimb ending in a lighter-toned hand slammed down in front of Daring, and she looked up to see who had arrived. This thing rested on all fours, with huge, gorilla-like arms and a dog’s hind legs. The underbelly was the same lighter shade of purple as the hands, as were the muzzle and the extra hand at the end of the long slender tail. Gold circlets ringed the forearms, tail, and neck, and the eyes were set at the end of a long snout above a mouth filled with cruel teeth. Two dog ears stood straight up from the head, showing gold piercings. 

This was Ahuizotl, Daring Do's main nemesis throughout most of her adventures, though she's also had her share of mundane antagonists, among them cultist groups, bands of thieves, and one earth pony she couldn't name at this moment.


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


Hospital…

"Hel-loooo, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie greeted from outside the room. A panicked Rainbow Dash looked up from her book to see the poofy pink party pony at the door. She, Applejack, Rarity, and Skyla entered the room, giving Rainbow barely enough time to hide the novel under the blanket.

"How’s our patient doing today?" asked the fashionista, eliciting a sigh from the farmpony. The foalsitter/undercover Wonderbolt noticed Rainbow sweat heavily.

"We need to get some fresh air in here," said Applejack. "You’re lookin’ sweatier than a pig wrangler on a summer’s day."

Rainbow stammered a bit. "Uh…well, guys…thanks for visiting, but—"

At this point, Nurse Coldheart entered the room, pushing a cart with a dinner tray. "Okay now. Dinnertime for Rainbow Dash." She then deposited the cart by the bed before leaving. 

The patient grabbed the tray off it and feigned enthusiasm over the unappetizing food. "Oh, just in time. I am sooo hungry."

"Oh, well, don’t mind us, Rainbow Dash." Rarity.

"Yeah, just go ahead and eat up." Applejack.

Finding herself hemmed in by these two on either side, and Pinkie and Skyla at the foot of the bed, she had no choice but to dig in. Which she proceeded to do in the most ill-mannered, uncouth, and just plain messy fashion possible. The horrid display, and the particles of flying food that accompanied it, are enough to send three of the four visitors toward the exit.

"On second thought…" Rarity said as she shuddered.

"Uh, we’ll see you tomorrow, Rainbow Dash," Pinkie bid farewell with an uneasy laugh.

After the door was closed, she still continued chewing upon realizing that Skyla was still in the room. After thirty seconds, the bedridden pegasus decided she couldn't take it anymore and quickly spit out the mouthful over the side. Once sh e came up with a clean face, the white pegasus spoke.

"You may think you have fooled your friends, but you haven't fooled me. I've had my share of foals who've tried to hide stuff from me, and I know you're hiding the Daring Do book."

"H-h-how—" The two haven't really interacted much apart from occasional encounters at the cloud factory. And while Skyla didn't know it, Rainbow has noticed the foalsitter spying around while she practiced her tricks, though she never found a good time to confront her about it. And now didn't seem to be a good time, either, for some reason.

"If you really weren't interested, you would've just left the book on the side undisturbed, and not under the blanket." Skyla pointed an accusing hoof at the protrusion it was making beneath the sheets. "But I'm no tattletale. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to come out of the closet." And with that, Skyla made to exit the room. Just before closing the door, she said, "I'll leave it to you, then. Just don't end up making a ruckus of it, okay?"

Once Skyla was gone, Rainbow waited for a few seconds before slowly retrieving the book and plunging back in. 


A—RD—R—PP—S—NC—A—RD—R—PP—S—NC


Story…

From Green Account's impromptu hiding place, she heard Ahuizotl speak. Personally, she found his voice sounded like Dracula’s South American second cousin, whatever that means.

"You thought you could evade me and capture the relic for yourself, but you were sadly mistaken, Miss Do,” he said, holding the Statue in one main hand, and a small gold kitten figure in the one on his tail. "And now, you shall meet your doom!"

As the half-dazed adventurer archaeologist struggled to rise, he brought the kitten figure up to his lips and blew into the tail, generating a shrill whistle. Right on cue, here came the tiger, panther, lynx, and leopard, each with a weapon in its teeth: spiked flail for the tiger, club for the panther, coils of rope for the other two. The white kitten then emerged with a meow from behind one of the tiger’s hind legs and rubbed happily against it. Ahuizotl uncorked a long, crazed laugh to the heavens, and Account could do nothing but watch as the felines tied up Daring; she wasn't a fighter, she was too tired to do anything anyway right now.

Don't worry, Daring Do, she thought. I'm gonna rescue you.


DD—GA—A—DD—GA—A—DD—GA—A—DD—GA—A


"You're not gonna do the whole trap thing? Or the other thing?"

The whole process of watching Rainbow Dash get back to the book all without anybody seeing it was mind-numbing stupid to watch the first time, and the first process was too clichéd. Daring Do is the only reason I didn't skip this chapter altogether. Although on second thought, I think I'll do the trap thing right now.


DD—GA—A—DD—GA—A—DD—GA—A—DD—GA—A


After Account reached wherever Ahuizotl planned to trap Daring, she lay low before accessing her Surveillance. Like every other Field Operative, hers has been updated so that she can see (and hear) what her camera on Daring is seeing without taking it out.

From what she can make out at the corner of her vision where the Surveillance camera's 'footage' was at, Daring was inside a chamber. A large gold medallion was hung on the wall near ceiling level, with the image of a menacing animal face worked into it.  Daring’s heaving breath. The explorer was lashed to a stone table on her back, heaving heavy breaths as the four jungle cats stood around her.

"You won’t get away with this, Ahuizotl!" Daring said.

"But I already have," he (clichédly) replied as he stood by a lever on a wall and holding the Statue in his tail hand. He then pulled the lever and the machinery started up.

"Not again!"

The whole crew bailed out and the door closed as spikes emerged from two opposite walls, which began to grind slowly toward each other. Daring struggled against her bonds to no avail. Meanwhile, spiders crawled out along the spikes, cobras slithered from a hole in the gold medallion, and spouts on the walls began to dispense…

"Quicksand!"

As Daring kept straining as all four perils gradually converged on her, the table starting to sink into the muck, Account could only wait for Ahuizotl and his minions to be far away enough from the chamber as possible before going in to rescue her companion. Before long, they were out of her sight.

Unfortunately, just as she thought she was clear, she heard a growl right next to her. Risking a tilt of her head, she saw the leopard, ready to make a meal out of her. Knowing may also try and report her to Ahuizotl, she decided to fight; maybe she's not as good as the Timer-Aidem branch, but helpless is not what any of its members are in a pinch like this.

Her first move was to block off the feline, then forge a sphere bubble around its head, and then made a break for it; because she wasn't normally a fighter, she trained a lot in dodging, which also helped against ruin traps.

As she weaved around the forest, evading the leopard's claws, she made sure to keep as close to Daring's chamber as possible and last long enough before the leopard began to lose oxygen. As the seconds ticked by, as Daring continued to struggle from her bonds, the big cat's movements began to become sluggish. Before long, it finally lost breath and needed to catch it. But because there was so much carbon dioxide in the barrier around its head, it finally passed out, after which Account dispelled the barrier. 

Like every Field Operative before her, killing was an option; she just lacked many lethal means to enact on that option, and she wasn't cruel enough to kill by oxygen deprivation. Also, Daring wouldn't approve, as the first time Account was about to do the deed on a treasure thief who almost got them killed, the explorer stayed her hoof.

"Now for the door." She was thankful the fight wasn't long; she can't dally when a friend is in need.


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


Eyecatch (picture-type) - A two-way vertical split showing Rainbow Dash's face on the left and Daring Do's on the right, juxtaposed so that each can be regarded as half of one bigger picture, and both showing adventure-ready expressions. This image then fades to a similar image depicting Chronicle and Green Account, expressions grim as if entering yet another battle. The show's logo is seen on the lower right.


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


Nighttime in Ponyville…

He should've been asleep, but the prospect of what Rainbow Dash might be doing regarding her guilty pleasure was just too tempting, so as Twilight Sparkle and Spike slept peacefully, Chronicle accessed Surveillance and watched the events around their recently-discharged-from-the-hospital friend. He plans on telling off the doctors for not making extra sure their patients are 100 percent A-OK and making them leave when it won't guarantee recovery and might instead lead to injury again so soon.

Unfortunately, he Surveillance was inaccessible via the dreamscape for checking in on 'current events'; the images he and Blue Diary showed Twilight once in the dreamscape were at least more than a day old, which is when Surveillance allows him to access them. And so he was awake in a sitting position facing his pillow, where he rested Surveillance and watched Rainbow enact her plan to retrieve the Daring Do book.

At present, she was hiding in a bush at one corner of the hospital, dressed in a dark gray, full-body hooded sweatsuit that leaves only her face, wings, and tail exposed. Not very stealthy. She really should hide her tail. Can't tell her now.

Once all the lights in all the windows have been snuffed, the amateur housebreaker jumped out and slunk toward the front entrance—a standard set of double doors, only to find herself standing in a slit of light issuing from between the double doors. She immediately jumped for the portico above the entrance as the security guard—a blue-eyed khaki earth pony stallion dressed for the job, his grizzled gray hair cut short in a military style, a silver badge cutie mark, and the end of a flashlight in his teeth—stepped out of the hospital interior to make his rounds. Rainbow then glanced upward to an open upper-story window, and promptly snuck in from there.

Inside the hallway that bore the door to her room (and those of other patients), she zigzagged her way down its length, peeking out from one bit of cover before instantly appearing behind the next; prior to the heist, she had snuck into Tricky Books's workplace and stole a potion for short-range silent teleportation. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't work when she's being watched (though Surveillance humorously doesn't count), and lasts for only an hour.

After waiting for a patrolling Doctor Stable to pass by, Rainbow slipped into the open, looked around, and found a beam of moonlight shining through an overhead grate to pick out the closed door of room 12. A big, squeaky, calculating grin stole across the intruder’s face.

Inside the room, whose door was now opened, Rainbow peeked in and stayed low while easing past the still-in-bed Skyrocket in full-body traction. When she reached her former bed, her face registered sudden surprise; it was now occupied by a sleeping yellow earth pony stallion whose mane has been shaved down to stubble; a cancer patient, most like. A few furtive glances here and there informed her that the object of her search was lying underneath the bed, and she hunkered down there to get back into the story.

As she read, Chronicle mused that Rainbow could've easily decided to sneak into the library, though with him there, that would be inadvisable. She really should leave now and read it at her own leisure inside her house.

On an unrelated note, Pinkie's living quarters in Sugarcube Corner had been hit by…something and was being cleared up. In fear it might affect downstairs as well, the Cakes decided to (take their babies and) stay with some relatives for the time being, while Pinkie stayed at Skyla' residence, because the party planner already figured out that she was an undercover Wonderbolt and wanted to know more about her. Of course, the white pegasus made her Pinkie Promise to keep it a secret until Rainbow tells Skyla that she knows (without it being a bluff), and that she can share it with Chronicle, who was actually the first to know.

All of a sudden, the patient above her cried out, "Help! Burglar! Burglar!" This caused Rainbow to start so violently that she banged her head against the bed frame and knock herself silly for a moment. "Someone’s trying to steal my slippers!"

Out she came, book in hoof, finding the bald stallion sitting up in bed. "I’m not trying to steal your slippers!" she corrected as she eased away from the bed. "I’m trying to steal this book!"

And she nearly caught a lamp upside the head for her trouble, flung at her by the annoyed patient. She made it back into the hall, only to be confronted by Nurse Sweetheart.

"Stop, thief!"

From two other directions came Nurse Coldheart and Doctor Stable, ready to throw some hooves. The next contender was either an intern or a junior staff member; a white, pink-eyed earth pony filly with curly black hair, and the same cutie mark and cap as the two nurses. Rainbow took to the air and flew over this last, but a sudden cramp or re-fracture in her right wing sent her crashing into the library cart. She looked wildly about the scatter of books in search of the right one, but a buzzer forced her to clear out ahead of the squad, now well provisioned with flashlights and with the addition of the security guard.

Outside, she burst from the front doors and galloped down a hill littered with stumps, rocks, and other nasty obstacles. Her four pursuers were hot after her, and a dog’s barking did very little to calm her spirits. (As she was too young, the intern stayed behind, as did Coldheart.) As they spread out, Rainbow could see that the guard, Stable, and Sweetheart had lights. The fourth can only be discerned as a silhouette with a badly disheveled mane and tail.

As Rainbow galloped through Ponyville, the three beams of light slashed past the shuttered upper-story window of Skyla's house. Pinkie popped her head out from this, wearing a pink nightcap. "Hey! Nopony invited me!"

Rainbow paid no mind and raced on, her face registering mind-blowing shock before she skidded to a full stop; she had reached one bank of the stream that bordered Ponyville, and a vine hung down above it. As the four hunters closed in, she took the big leap and caught the vine to swing safely across the water, throwing a mocking salute back in the process. However, her heroics were for naught, as the group simply charged over the nearest bridge to stay after her.

Pfft! What an idiot. She's taken into Daring Do a little bit too much.

The chase took a hairpin turn around the Carousel Boutique, all of whose lights quickly came on before Rarity opened the front door to glare out with a disgusted cry, wearing a flowered bathrobe. "Hasn’t anypony heard of beauty sleep?"

As Rainbow led her pursuers back and forth past the library, he heard his charge and Spike wake, immediately hid away Surveillance, and made her way down the steps with them as the lights were turned on. Twilight opened the front door to take in the scene, her untidy mane and the circles under her eyes pointing to the very sound sleep she was no longer getting. As Chronicle joined her, Rainbow jumped to a crouching stop before them.

"Rainbow Dash, what in the world is going on?" interrogated Doctor Stable, the guard and Sweetheart right behind him. "Why are you stealing slippers?"

The fourth member of the crew was now seen in close-up as the pink nurse cast a light over her. It was a light blue earth pony mare, with rumpled gray hair, dark red-violet eyes that pointed in opposite directions, a screw cutie mark, and dressed in the white johnny of an insane patient; she was already like this before Discord's attack, and she, rather than an actual dog, had been generating the barks heard during the entire chase.

"Hey, get back to the hospital!" the doctor ordered, and she galloped off obediently, the guard following her to ensure her safety.

Fluttershy and Rarity then arrived on the scene, the former clad in a white bathrobe with lavender trim, and are quickly joined by Applejack and Skyla.

"What’s all the ruckus?" asked the farmpony before Pinkie popped up, without her nightcap.

"Mmm—I’d say it’s more of a fracas than a ruckus."

"It's a ruckus, Pinkie," Skyla corrected. "A fracas is a noisy quarrel. A ruckus is the act of making a noisy disturbance, which this was."

Now the pegasus was cornered, and her hood was lowered, with Twilight and the doctor glaring at her. "What’s going on, Rainbow Dash?" the former asked. Chronicle was tempted to say that everypony has already suspected, but suspected that wouldn't do any good. 

Sweat trickled down for a long moment before Rainbow sighed heavily and hung her head. "I’m an egghead."

"Pardon?" asked Rarity.

"See, I was trying to get back into the hospital to finish the last chapter of—"

Twilight finished her sentence with a smile. "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue!"

"You got me."

"Hey, wasn't it Stone, not Statue?" Chronicle wondered.

"One of the two turned out to be a publishing mistake," explained his charge.

"Oh."

"Wow. I knew the book was good, but I didn’t know it could drive a pony to petty theft!"

"Good? Try awesomely amazing!" Rainbow then gave a fierce smile. "That book is undeniably, unquestionably un-put-down-able!" Her enthusiasm shortly faded into regret and the doctor’s face went slack with surprise. "But then I had to put it down. I was sent home before I could finish it." She gave a sheepish smile at the end of this.

"Well, I’m glad that’s all this is about."

"There’s no reason to go around causin’ a ruckus—" Applejack began. 

"Fracas!" Pinkie corrected.

"It is ruckus, but you're gonna make it a fracas,"

Applejack rolled her eyes before continuing "—causin’ a fracas just because you like to read."

To keep legal matters from complicating things, Chronicle bribed the doctor and nurse to keep this incident to themselves. He wasn't above such things, and will even take them depending on the situation, though he will never betray his charge for money. As a matter of fact, he has taken bribes from Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara's father, when he told him to lay off when Chronicle tried telling him to get his daughter to at least behave or else he won't stop countering her when she acts like a bully to the Cutie Mark Crusaders (or Dinky Hooves on occasion; her mother's pitifully easy to ridicule). He always accepts the money, but also always warns them of the consequences, because he won't take crap from even a filly.


C—TS—A—RD—R—F—PP—S—DS—NS—SL


Inside the library…

"Like I said, I have every book in the series, and you can borrow them all anytime you like," Twilight said as she levitated out a book from a particularly full bookshelf and floated it down to Rainbow, who had stripped off the stealth gear. Everypony else has returned to their homes, and the pegasus and the library residents were presently in the upper-story room, the baby dragon taking a break from sweeping up.

"Thanks, Twilight," said Rainbow. "I’m sorry I made such a big deal about all this. I thought reading was just for smart ponies like you."

Twilight gently reproved her friend. "Rainbow Dash, just because you’re athletic doesn’t mean you aren’t smart." She ended this with a tap on her head with a hoof.

"Yeah!" agreed Spike as he flexed one arm. "Just look at me!" He then kissed his bicep, but got no love from the two mares, so he grumpily snatched up his broom to get back to work.

"You've seen me be athletic with my training, and you've seen me reading books," said Chronicle. "How would you reading be different? And if you say 'because I'm a unicorn', I'm pulling on that sprained wing of yours." This got a mild scare from the pegasus.

"Reading is something everypony can enjoy, if they just give it a try," Twilight continued.

"Yeah, I get it. I shouldn’t knock something until I’ve tried it."

"That’s a great lesson, and it would make a great letter to the Princess." 

Rainbow leaned over to Spike. "Did you get all that?"

"Yeah?" he replied uncertainly.

"Surveillance has it all covered just in case," Chronicle assured, though that won't be necessary.

"Great!" The pegasus zipped away. "You write the letter, I gotta finish this book!" A lightning-fast nip put it in her teeth and nearly took off a hank of Twilight’s mane. Unicorns and dragon shared a knowing smile after her departure.


C—TS—S—RD—C—TS—S—RD—C—TS—S—RD


Back to the story…

While Green Account tried to find the door's opening mechanism, which only Ahuizotl apparently knew, Daring Do was still in her unenviable jam on the stone table, which the former was still able to see via Surveillance. After a few groans and a bit of thrashing, she flipped her head forward so that her helmet ended up lying on her belly, brim up. Casting her frantic eyes about the room and noting the position of every detail, she hooked one rear leg into the helmet, snagged the brim in her teeth, and pulled back as if trying to launch a slingshot. When she lets go, the helmet was flung across the room to bounce off one spike. It whirled around the edge of the gold medallion on the wall, then ricocheted crazily between several other spikes. Daring sucked in a huge breath and held it as the quicksand enveloped her face, the animals already retreating—and on its last bounce, the helmet banged into the lever Ahuizotl pulled to start this engine. It flipped up, causing the spiked walls to retract and the table to rise above the surface of the draining sand. Now free of her bonds, Daring heaved for breath and knocked a few grains out of her ears.

At around that time, Account had located the hidden switch and used it to open the door, which began to slide open as Daring stood up with helmet in hoof. "Another day…" she said as she put it on. "…another dungeon." A flick of one hoof got it adjusted at the proper rakish angle.

"Sorry, Daring Do," Account caught her attention. "I came to your rescue as soon as I could. I had a hard time looking for the switch to the door after holding off one of Ahuizotl's cats."

Daring hasn't even thought of her sidekick in her escape attempt, and didn't really think of blaming her anyway. "Where is it now?"

"Knocked it out. Now let's get that Stone back!"

"Right!"


DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


Elsewhere…

Ahuizotl sat on a stone throne set up in a stone courtyard, holding the Statue in his tail hand. The tiger and panther nap on either side, while the lynx dozed on top of the headrest. As for the white kitten, it was sitting on Ahuizotl’s lap and purring as he stroked it and laughed.

"With Daring Do out of the way, the world will suffer mightily at my hands!" he said exultantly. "I am victorious!" He then laughed wildly for a few seconds, but a blur of khaki, light orange, and monochrome rainbow stopped him in his tracks. It also leaves his tail hand holding a whole lot of nothing.

"I’ll take that!" Daring called, holding the Statue in one foreleg and gripping a vine in the other to swing away.

"What?!" Ahuizotl stammered as his nemesis landed on a high ledge where her sidekick was waiting and released the vine. "NOOOOOOO!!"

Daring then tucks the Statue at one of Account's saddlebags before taunting, "Better luck next time, Ahuizotl!" She then gave her helmet a nudge and the two galloped away. 

"CURSE YOU, DARING DO!!" he cried out before wailing.

The duo were soon out of the jungle and back into civilization by sunset, where they would deposit the Sapphire Statue, rest and recuperate, and where Daring would write her book under her alias and have it published with the help of a Mrs. Velvet. After that, it won't be long before their next adventure.

“And so, with Ahuizotl defeated and the Sapphire Statue secured, the world was safe and sound once again—thanks to Daring Do!”


The End



DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA—DD—GA


Somewhere else, before the book was published…

"So… what do you think, Account?"

After checking out the pages, the unicorn nodded in approval. "I think that'll be a best-seller, Daring."

"I still don't understand why you don't want yourself to be included in my stories."

"Trust me, you're gonna appear more awesome doing all those stuff alone." And I'm not allowed to be featured, anyway.

"If you say so."
> Dragon Quest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dragon Quest

Daytime in Ponyville…

Somewhere outside its boundaries Applejack and Pinkie Pie are excavating a trench, shovels in their mouths. They were preparing for an event of sorts, and other ponies were similarly preparing in other parts of town or outside it.

As for their friends, they were at Fluttershy’s cottage, trying to convince its occupant to go with them. Surprisingly for most of them, she was being very, very resistant to their insistence, but given what the event entailed, it shouldn't have been.

"Come on, Fluttershy. It’ll be fun," Twilight Sparkle pleaded.

Inside the cottage, she stood worriedly by the fireplace, watching as Rainbow Dash dragged the most unwilling yellow pegasus across the floor by the tail. And Chronicle was doing absolutely nothing to help, simply watching with dreamy eyes.

"There’s nothing fun about dragons! Scary, yes! Fun, no!" Fluttershy quickly broke loose and galloped back, Rainbow flying after to push her across again.

"But, Fluttershy, the Great Dragon Migration happens only once in a generation. Do you really want to pass up a chance like that?"

At this point, Fluttershy has latched all four hooves onto the frame of her open front door, and Rainbow was straining mightily to shove her out. And Chronicle was still doing nothing.

"Now that you put it that way, yes!" 

Twilight teleported onto the step. "Aw, Fluttershy, we just don’t want you to miss out."

"Miss out on what? Dragons? Big, scaly, fire-breathing dragons?"

"Well…yeah."

"Thanks, but no thanks!" 

At this point, Rainbow stopped pushing. "Look, Fluttershy." She then pulled out a photo out of…the rumored limited hammerspace Chronicle's cousin Ginger Cloud claimed all non-unicorns in Equestria had. "I watched that boring butterfly migration with you."

Said photo depicted both pegasi wearing pith helmets and in a meadow. Fluttershy was siting on her haunches, watching a long procession of flitting butterflies through binoculars, while Rainbow hunched grumpily off to one side. Chronicle remembered coming along, and having taken that picture (with a standard camera, though Surveillance also had that covered). Apparently, the Wonderbolt wannabe was somehow convinced when she was told that Spitfire was there. Obviously, it was a flimsy ruse (complete with cardboard cutout), but at least Rainbow didn't leave in a huff after that and stuck around.

Rainbow lowered the photo while Fluttershy looked quite out of sorts. "So now it’s your turn to watch the Dragon Migration with me. You owe me!"

"I…said…NO!!" Executing a lightning-fast 180, Fluttershy plowed the daredevil down to the rug and drove a few too many hooves into her belly. Twilight had time for one shocked gasp before Fluttershy galloped to a rear window with a rising growl. When she reached it, the half-deranged naturalist stood up on her hind legs, ready to smash the panes to atoms—and then she gave the gentlest push to open them before leaping out and away with a terrified whimper. 

Twilight stared after her with jaw hanging wide open, watching Fluttershy gallop across the meadow and turned her attention to the dazed sky-blue pony still laid out on the rug—eyes spinning and butterflies circling her head.

"Okay, I guess I’ll let you off the hook this time," conceded Rainbow.

"I think that was too big a step," said Chronicle, still looking dreamy. "Try something else next time."

"Why didn't you do anything?" Twilight asked her bodyguard, which shook him out of his reverie.

"I promised not to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do, even if it's for her own good."

"Can't you break it just this once?"

He raised an eyebrow. "If you want Pinkie Pie to break a couple of my bones after…"

"You made it a Pinkie Promise?!" gasped Rainbow as she got up.

"Yes." In truth he didn't, but he respected his marefriend too much to force her to watch the migration if she was persistent in not watching. Besides, they can check it out via Surveillance at a later time, after asking permission from the others. And something in what she did "turned him on", which is why he didn't interfere.

"Oh well. Let's head to the trench. I'm sure Applejack and Pinkie Pie are done by now."


C—TS—RD—F—C—TS—RD—F—C—TS—RD—F


At the trench, the two earth ponies were indeed finished, and they had added a few bushes for cover. Everypony present has donned camouflage shirts and either leaf/branch-covered army helmets or leaf-covered (or not) caps, the type used by Canterlot military advance scouts since the royal guard armor was sorely lacking in the stealth factor.

Twilight popped out with a pair of binoculars, and had mud smeared on her face. "I don’t see any dragons." she reported.

Applejack was right alongside with a set of her own, but instead of a helmet she was using a poncho with its hood up. "Me neither."

Pinkie, with a leaf-covered cap, also had binocs to her eyes, but turned the wrong way around. "Me neither, neither. Shoot!"

Rainbow had the same attire as Pinkie, but minus the leaves and plus the mud across her cheeks like Twilight. "You don’t think we missed ’em, do you?"

"No. I don’t think so," said Twilight. We’re just a little early, and I’m glad we are. This way, we can watch every moment of the Migration without bringing any unwanted attention to ourselves."

Also present was Chronicle, who had the same helmet as Twilight, but that was about it, and no mud streaked his cheeks. "Are you sure about this, Twilight?" he asked. "Aren't you worried about things like dragon dung raining down on our position?"

"Do you really think I’d be so eager to witness it this close if I had to worry about that?" retorted his charge. "Do you really think Rarity would would want to be anywhere near it?"

"So…dragons don't defecate?"

"Dragon bodies don’t produce waste at all. They just get bigger. I should know, since I raised Spike since he was an egg."

"Speaking of which, where is Spike?"

"He's coming around with food soon."

"YOO-HOO!!" a certain voice called. Four startled heads and one exasperated one turned in unison towards it, just in time to catch sight of a very long red carpet being rolled out toward the steps leading down into the trench. Rarity walked along this, maintaining normal volume while the others kept their voices down. "Well…"

Confetti and streamers burst from the end as it reached full length. As she approached, it could be seen that the designer was wearing her own version of camo, with the usual greens and browns replaced by a purple background and plenty of bright colors. Yellow ribbons adorned each foreleg sleeve, a matching ascot puffed out from the neckline, and the small hat bore a deep purple feather.

"…what do you think? Am I the toast of the trench or what?" 

"You’ll be toast all right, when the dragons see you paradin’ around in that getup!" Applejack warned. Chronicle stifled a chortle at that.

"You look very nice, Rarity," Twilight said as she warmed up her horn, hitting the carpet and confetti with a burst of magic, making them vanish while Rarity descended the steps. "But could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?"

"'Nice' is an understatement. I look fabulous! Who says camouflage has to be drab?"

"Camouflage is explicitly meant to not attract attention," Chronicle said. "If those dragons see you, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them decided to kidnap you."

"Do you really believe those old fables where dragons kidnapped (non-alicorn) princesses and gallant knights came to their rescue?" Twilight asked.

"No. Just wanted to make a quip."

"Ahoy, mateys!" Pinkie called out. "Dragons, ho!"

"We're not out at sea, Pinkie." Though I wish I was.

As broad winged shadows started to pass over the trench, five pairs of binoculars and one set of opera glasses were brought to bear. Pinkie had hers turned around the right way now.

"Ooooh…ahhhh…"

Right above was a plethora of soaring dragons, in a bewildering range of sizes, colors, and body types. One particularly large orange specimen did a loop-the-loop that carried it low over the trench.

"Wow… Amazing!" Twilight.

Applejack and Rainbow were also awestruck—at least until the latter waved it off with a dismissive raspberry. "Pretty lame move. Is that all they’ve got?"

A vivid magenta dragon got sideswiped in midair by a green one and unleashed a broad jet of fire toward ground level. All but Rainbow hit the dirt and the flames bathing the area in a lurid glow. 

Once that was over, Applejack was the first to stand and was smug in her comeback. "What do you think of that move, Rainbow Dash? Still think they’re lame?"

The gobsmacked blue face was now smudged with soot from the three-alarm close call. Her cap had been blown halfway off her head, and the fringe of her mane was singed and smoking. "Uh, not so much. The word 'fierce' comes to mind."

"And 'formidable'!" Rarity.

Pinkie was hunched down, hooves to head. "And 'super-duper scary'!" Holding out one front hoof, she got a cupcake plunked onto it by a familiar clawed hand with light purple hide. 

"Yeah," agreed Spike, who has shortly joined them in the trench, wearing a frilly white apron with a bright pink heart and wheeling a loaded snack cart. "Us dragons are definitely a force to be reckoned with." As he gave Applejack a cookie, Rainbow toppled on her back and yukked it up as Applejack and Pinkie snacked. 

"Yeah, right, Spike. That’s one of the scariest aprons I’ve ever seen!" Everypony except the unicorns then laughed.

"What’s wrong with wearing an apron?" he protested. "You won’t be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales…uh, feathers. That’s one tough stain! 

"One tough stain against one lame dragon!"

The reptilian green eyes cycled from shock to resentment.

Rarity stared her down in response. "You leave him alone, Rainbow Dash! Spike’s style is unique. He doesn’t have to look like other dragons."

"Or act like them," added Twilight as the other unicorn mare jumped over to the baby dragon and twanged his head spines.

"My little Spikey-wikey is perfect the way he is." 

Spike was puzzled at this. "I don’t act like other dragons?" 

Pinkie jumped over. "Oh, not even close!" 

Applejack then stepped up. "But why would you want to, Spike?"

"Yes!" agreed Rarity. "You’ve got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of."

Spike perked up at this. "What’s that?"

The white unicorn proceeded to pinch his cheeks and do baby talk. "Your cutest wittle chubby cheeks!" She ended this with a happy little squeal.

"And cordial relationships with ponykind," Chronicle added. "You should be proud of that."

Spike was shocked and blushing at Rarity's statement. "Cute?! Dragons aren’t supposed to be cute!…Right?"

"Oh, sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red. It is most becoming."

All five mares were now gathered around the cart and smiling. the only stallion just continued watching the dragons, vexed that his friends were being insensitive to Spike's feelings as his eyes darted nervously from one to the next, after which he let go with a furious growl before climbing/jumping out of the trench and stomping away as the dragons continued their flight. Rarity poked her head up after him, followed by the other mares in short order.

"Oh, isn’t he adorable when he waddles off in anger?" she said.

"Waddle?!" Spike then let off a loud, frustrated yell.

"You girls are being insensitive again," Chronicle warned as he turned away from the migrating dragons and to them. "You know what I do when you do that, right?"

The five mares gulped in nervousness. Sometimes, they're able to heed his warning; sometimes, they don't, and he has to do what he warned he would be doing. For some reason, despite the punishment (slaps to the face and a harsh chewing-out), it was sometimes very easy to forget, and so there are quite a number of those sessions.

Thankfully for them, they didn't reach that threshold.


C—TS—S—A—RD—R—PP—C—TS—S—A—RD—R—PP


Nighttime, at the library…

"What am I?" Spike pondered as he gazed through the bedroom window from his basket. All the lights were out. "Where am I from? Who am I supposed to be?"

Chronicle was already sound asleep in his bed, too deep to be awoken by a dragon's pondering. Twilight however did not have that same talent, and had been jamming a pillow over her head to block out his voice but failing to. Finally, she put it back in place with a loud groan.

"I don’t know!" she said. "For the last time, Spike, you were given to me as an egg. I don’t know who found you or where they found you."

"Seriously? That’s all you know?" Spike asked as he turned away from her.

"I’m sorry, Spike." 

He then sat up. "That doesn’t tell me anything about who I am!" Spike then jumped out of the basket and approached a mirror at the wall. "I need answers! I feel like I’m…" His eyes swelled with tears as he touched the glass. "…I’m looking at a complete stranger." 

He sank to the floor with a dejected moan, as Twilight walked over to him. Oh, Spike…" She then gave a smile. "…why don’t we do some late-night research? See what we can find out." 

He wiped his eyes as she stepped away. "Really?" The lights were turned on, though Chronicle was too deep in sleep to be disturbed by it. "You’d do that?"

The inquisitive unicorn was already in the reading room downstairs and levitating a book off one of the shelves. "Of course! I’m sure we can find something." She then opened it and started reading.


TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S—TS—S


Meanwhile, in the dreamscape…

Chronicle stood in the darkness, with only a beacon of light from somewhere above illuminating a small section of white barren floor. He was in the middle of a spells-reviewing session, to ensure that he's able to remember all the spells he may need in certain situations. Telekinesis, teleportation, the magic shot, the magic horn blade, barriers, clone summoning, his hammerspace, and the Binding Circle were on the top of that list. Next are the personal enhancement spells, water-walking, 'magic transfer', cloud walking, magic sight, Glimmer Wings, and the magic tether. Following that are the pinpointing spell, double jump, wall stick, small burn trail, enhance vision, and airblast.

There are also a few other spells he's been learning as well (and learned during his studying stint post-Discord). There's the vision-enhancing spell, which he picked up from Bullseye, a basic illumination spell from Twilight, an "immunity veil" he decided to pick up on after the Cutie Pox incident, a "Heat Veil" spell he had forgotten but finally recalled during his studying stint, night vision, and a silencing spell that merely blocks speech (and not magic as he thought when he decided to learn it).

There's also a "holding Spell" from Rarity, which constrains its target, but allows for speech and breathing, and uses less energy than his Binding Circle, though it cannot be used on larger targets. And then the "Summon Item" from Luna Equestria's Lyra Heartstrings, which consists of creating a sphere of magic and taking an item from anywhere (as long as he knows where it is) and once the sphere pops, the item is teleported there. He's still struggling to remember he has those spells, and he keeps a 'notebook' in the dreamscape to ensure he at least remembers. I mean, it's not like I have little beings in my brain doing that for me, right?

There's also a lot more spells than that that he's learned, like a Paralysis Scattershot, 'spirit' beams both homing and raining, smoke conjuring, a slow-down spell, mind-hastening, object-hastening, runes, and explosive clones, but it was too much to memorize right now. 

On top of that, he's been trying to learn the spell Morpheus has trouble using; the "full disguise" spell, but without much success, as it was a very complicated spell. He'd like to learn it though, since it was a very useful spell. He found it pitiful that very few civilian unicorns, or even Royal Guard specialists for that matter, learn more than one spell in their entire lifetimes save for ones that pertain to their special talent (and basic telekinesis). Twilight and Mystic Shield were always aspiring to learn more, the former out of curiosity and the latter so he can continue on teaching. As for the latter's students, he wouldn't be a good teacher if he couldn't impose his philosophy to keep on learning. And this could probably be because of her friends, but Rarity is beginning to learn more than what her talent calls for as well in terms of spells.

All of a sudden, there came a presence that meant only one thing; a relative of his has entered the dreamscape. There's a different sign when Princess Luna comes in, and it always heralded by some sort of conventional dream in which he'd have to notice what was amiss before revealing herself, if she doesn't do so after a while.

Thankfully, this arrival came quietly and appeared in front of him. However, he took note that the arrival was not a pony like most of his family members. This one was a dragon, but curiously not like the ones native to Equestria. In fact, they looked more like one fom some other 'target' world. This dragon looked like they can walk of fours or twos, and was very solidly built with a large body, tail, and thighs. They had two small wings on their shoulder blades, spiky ridges down their spine, and a strong tail tipped with a triangular plate. They also had large ears, and an obvious underbite. Their scales were a deep blue like Chronicle's own coat.

"Um, hello, Timmy," he greeted meekly as he raised an arm up.

Keeping calm, Chronicle answered, "That would be me, but call me Chronicle. Who would you be?"

The dragon lowered his arm. "David, real name and assigned name."

"Assigned world?"

"None so far, but I'm due for one tomorrow. From what I'm told of it, in its past, both Princesses Celestia and Luna turned bad, and a third Princess overthrew and sealed them away."

"Third Princess?" Chronicle tilted his head in confusion. It was the same in Topaz Spring's, except Discord is the ruler.

"Don't know her name yet. But it has something to do with music." David put a claw to his chin. "Cadence, I believe."

"Cadence, huh?" Now that's a new name.

"I'm also told music is a main theme in there, and that I'll need an instrument of my own. Luckily, I still happen to have my ocarina." And David pulled one out from the dreamscape, colored brownish-red like the terracotta it was made from.

"I happen to have one too." Chronicle 'summoned' his black one, which was for calling forth Princess Luna. They both then put their ocarinas away. "But why are you here, anyway?"

"Well, I already know what I'm going to do there, but I want to know what is ponykind's stance on dragons? I mean, I know it may differ between each Equestria, but I'd like to hear what it's like in yours."

The answer was easy, really. "Well, in my Equestria…" No need to tell about Spike for now. "…dragons are unknown, rare, and feared. You'll have to work really hard to gain ponykind's trust, and keep on earning it. Don't act as I do; I can only get away with it because I'm also a pony, don't ask how that makes sense."

David nodded. "I think I do. Because dragons are rare, I'll be setting an example of my race, or asserting that I'm not like them. You on the other hand are just regarded as different and nothing more."

"I believe that's it."

"Thank you for your wisdom, Chronicle."

"I'm no idol to revere. Just a Field Operative like most of the rest of the family."

"I know. Well, I gotta go."

"Take care of yourself," Chronicle bid farewell as David vanished from his dreamscape, then let out a sigh. "Now where was I…"


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Morning…

As was proper for an all-night study session, Twilight was now slumped over in fatigue and dishevelment. The shelves behind her were now completely bare, their contents piled up all over on the floor as they moved to the ground floor. By this time, Chronicle had woken up, frowned in disgust over the mess he saw around him, and then deployed a few magical clones to sort the books in proper tiles before going downstairs. 
Unlike Twilight, he doesn't know where every single book goes, and she once flipped out on him when he tried returning books to the shelves so as to not make a mess on the floor, going on an extended rant on which books go to which shelf, which order they go in, and how he should "obviously" know after living in the library with her all this time. He sorted books in piles ever since to at least make it easier for her (and Spike).

Around the same time, at a bed similar to Spike's but smaller, and positioned next to Chronicle's own, the amradillo that went by the name Rock awakened, ready to roll. He saw the multiple copies of his master working in the room, but he knew the real one has already left it. With that, he made his way downstairs.

After prepping himself for the day, as Chronicle made his way down to the ground floor of the library, he saw his charge float a book over to herself and magically flipped pages. "Nothing," she said as she sent it away to 'grab' another. "Nothing in this one either."

Elsewhere in the room, Spike sat among the jumbles and looked through one volume. Nothing at all about dragons?" He then threw it aside. "This is getting ridiculous!" He then hunkered down miserably, eyes tearing up.

"I know! It’s hard to believe, but ponies know next to nothing about dragons. Apparently they’re too rare and too scary to try to talk to or study." She then noticed Chronicle make his way to her. "Oh, Chronicle. Thank goodness you're up. Perhaps in all your travels, you know at least a few dragon facts none of us know."

"Sorry, but aside from Spike, all of my dragon encounters were hostile-on-sight," he replied solemnly. "Although I did discover that Spike's letter-sending fire isn't unique to him; most dragons use it to transfer their hoards. Why don't we ask Zecora? She seemed to know quite a bit about dragons when we last visited her."

"Zecora's currently away. According to the note she left behind, she's visiting her mother since it's her birthday today."

"Ain't that convenient." Chronicle's statement was dripping with sarcasm. At around this time, Rock made it to the ground floor, and joined his master's side. A little sob from Spike’s direction changed the stallion's mood.

"I wonder if…dragons…cry," the dragon asked himself. 

"Of course they do." He said nothing more, as that would ruin the mood. He recalled all the times Spike had cried, the time Basil was brought to tears after Fluttershy scolded him, and one eccentric dragon whose name he can't remember from his freelancer days; that last one was an embarrassingly easy job. If only he had tried making friends with them like he did with Steven Magnet… but the past is in the past.

As for Twilight, she stepped over with a hankie to wipe Spike's eyes and nose. "Aw, Spike…" 

But he pushed it away and stood up, filled with determination. "It’s okay, Twilight," he said as he crossed the room. "I’m gonna discover who I am if it’s the last thing I do!"

The front door was thrown open, exposing Rainbow and Rarity on the step. 

"Hey, guys!" greeted the former.

"Yoo-hoo!" greeted the latter. Spike got out a surprised yell and dove into the nearest pile of books. "Good morning!" 

The two then entered. "You want to join us for breakfast?" offered the pegasus.

"That sounds great," said Twilight. "I’m famished." 

"Sure thing," agreed her bodyguard. "I haven't even had coffee." His pet armadillo nodded.

As for Spike, as he picked a book off his head… "Count me out." He then jumped down. "I’ve gotta get an early start."

"An early start?" Rarity asked as he stood at the door. 

"Yes. I’m going on a quest of self-discovery. I need to learn what it means to be a dragon. And the only way I’m gonna do that is to join the Dragon Migration!"

"What?!" everypony gasped.

Now back inside, he lay a stick and a large square of cloth on the nearest table and walked off.

"Spike, that’s nonsense talk! I know that you’re a dragon, but those dragons mean business!" Rainbow tried to talk him out of this as he retrieved a few items from a pantry cupboard: sandwich, apron, and the apple-patterned blanket he received as a birthday present from Applejack before he returned to the table and set them on the cloth. "They’re big and tough and scary." 

"And I’m small and meek…" Spike finished sullenly as he picked up the apron. "…and I like to wear aprons." …and threw it aside. "See? This is exactly why I need to spend time with ’em."

"All I’m saying is that you could get hurt." Rarity joined the two as Spike started tying up the bundle.

Darling, this time I really do have to agree with Rainbow Dash. I don’t want those big, ugly, nasty dragons—" She then proceeded to baby talk him, rubbing his head. "to hurt one little scale on your cutesy-wutesy head."

With the bundle now knotted onto the stick, Spike hefted it onto his shoulder and stalked off, knocking her hoof away. The show of affection has, if anything, only hardened his resolve. "I’m sorry, but I’ve made up my mind."

Rarity immediately turned to Rainbow and sputtered, "Quick, do something! Stop him before it’s too late!"

The speedster’s wings propelled her over to the door in no time flat and she got the bundle in her teeth, starting a fierce tug-of-war. "Hey!" He grunted hard. Meanwhile, the two library-residing unicorns were deep in thought, though their ideas were different. "Give it back!"

Just then, Twilight teleported over to stand between the two. "Hold it!"

Two more quick teleports removed them from the spot and re-materialized them a few feet back on either side. Once they and the bundle have all hit the floor, she levitated the impromptu luggage and eyed it ruefully before floating it down to Spike. 

"Really?" he asked.

"Don’t tell me you think he should go!" Rainbow argued. Spike, now up, got his bundle on his shoulder.

Twilight just smiled. "Yes, Spike. I couldn’t answer your questions. My books couldn’t, either. I understand why you want to look elsewhere. I truly believe you need to go on this quest. And we have no right to stop you!"

"I suppose not," agreed Rarity. 

At this point, Rainbow was upright again. "I still say you’re nutty, but…hey. I’ve done lots of nutty things."

"We know," everybody else said wearily. She snarled at herself at that.

"We all have at one point or another," added Chronicle.

Twilight hugged Spike. "Well, then, I guess this is goodbye, Spike. We can’t wait to hear about it—when you return."

"Yeah!" agreed Rainbow. "We hope your trip—"

"Quest."

"—your quest answers some of your pesky 'who am I' questions."

"Thanks, everypony. I know it will," Spike replied before walking away. As he left, the four ponies have gathered on the step and waved.

"Goodbye, Spikey-wikey!" Rarity.

"Go get ’em, big guy!" Rainbow.

"We have faith in you!" Twilight.

"You better come back!" Chronicle.

The mares had ear-to-ear grins, while the stallion already knew they were planning something.

"We’re following him, right?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"Of course."

"Allow me to go on ahead," Chronicle replied as he 'took out' the stallions-only carpet given to him on his birthday. Rock shortly got on, but his master wouldn't notice until it was too late. "You girls rally the others, but leave Fluttershy out of this." And with that, he cruised…in a different direction from Spike's.

"Um, Spike's that way," Twilight helpfully pointed out.

"I need to get some food!" he called back. "This is going to be a long trip!" And with that, he was off.


C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R

Eyecatch (video-type)

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Six cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a star-tipped wand spreading stardust, a pink cross with four hearts between each of its 'arms', seven bubbles, a trio of smiling daisies, a compass rose, and a simple spiral sunburst.}

{The seven cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting one row of six ponies. From left to right: Nurse Redheart, Cheerilee, Trixie, Derpy Hooves, Zecora, and Daring Do. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R


It didn't take as long as he thought it would. Even if it did, Chronicle's Surveillance and his tracking spell would help him find Spike. Though the migrating dragons were still a pretty good indicator. And he was a little incensed that Rock decided to come along without his consent. Then again, he did decide on adopting Rock with the express purpose of helping in battle. He just didn't want to start with dragons, but the armadillo's pleading eyes couldn't get him to drop off Rock at the library. It would be much worse if Rock were to take off by himself after him; he wasn't certain that would happen, but Chronicle wasn't willing to take the risk. Perhaps he wasn't thinking rationally, but he didn't care right now.

After recalling the survival skills he utilized in forest trips, especially the one he had when he was Chocolate Sun's charge, he purchased the necessary supplies. Well, more like requested from Pinkie Pie with her abilities and emergency stashes. Thankfully, the sight of him flying on a carpet has no longer become a sight to behold and was now just another regular thing. Well, semi-regular, as he doesn't use the carpet often.

Once he was ready, Chronicle bee-lined out of Ponyville and after Spike, Rock in tow. With the hordes of airborne dragons above him amidst the clear blue sky, he was deep in thought.

With dragons in general being hostile to ponies, who knows what may happen if they encounter him in their territory? Will it cause complications in their relations with Equestria? If only he learned the invisibility spell Blue Diary's Trixie learned. Or even just an invisibility spell learned here. But there's also the case of whether or not they can somehow sense past unicorn magic. So many questions, so few answers. He will have to 'wing it' from here and hide the best he can, using Surveillance to keep an eye on Spike, and keep Rock close.

The weather was clear at first, but eventually it got windy, and then rainy. Spike kept on going, and so did Chronicle as he kept out of the attention of any dragons. Somehow, it was easy, even though a pony on a flying carpet could look like easy prey.

The following morning, while Spike stopped for a breakfast of tea and cookies, Chronicle similarly camped two-thirds of a mile behind him and consumed enough provisions to not go hungry, as well as fed Rock; that would not be good for him if he had to get into a fight. When the unicorn was ready to go, he saw Spike already moving on, but there was also a saucer and teacup left behind. His inner scavenger compelled him to retrieve the items, and that's what he did.

Later on, the trek took the two Ponyvillians (and probably a couple more behind them) up a snowy mountainside in a violent blizzard alongside a couple of rams. Well, instead of bothering with going up (and inevitably down), Chronicle decided to fly around the mountain; no need to make the trip more difficult than necessary, and he can always relocate Spike with a tracking spell on the teacup and saucer the dragon left behind.

After Spike finished descending the mountain, he took a raft poled down a river through a forest by a donkey, with Chronicle still sailing overhead. The two would eventually know his name to be Cranky Doodle Donkey, and he would one day reach Ponyville, but that's another story. Eventually, Spike reached his stop, thanked the donkey, and continued through the forest, passing a nest holding a pair of phoenixes. The unicorn committed that scene to memory; as far as he knows, phoenixes are extremely rare, though they can probably be not as rare as he thought in Equestria.


C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S—C—S


Later afternoon… 

Chronicle could now see a line of smoking volcanoes dead ahead, with most of the migrating dragons making for the craters. Spike had also accumulated a scruffy gray beard out of ram wool and dirt, which was shortly discarded as soon as he saw the volcanoes as well and sprinted ahead, climbing up the steep rock face, though he tripped and slid down once.

Now that he was close, Chronicle had to find a place to hide, somewhere he won't be disturbed as he uses Surveillance to check on Spike. He quickly found it in the forest under a bush. After taking cover there, and deploying a clone to watch for whoever might encounter him, he took out Surveillance and started watching, and made sure Rock wasn't straying by keeping him between himself and the Surveillance device; it wasn't like the armadillo could recognize the significance or think of telling others about it. But it wasn't long before the ones following him and Spike caught up, and they invited him along.

Spike climbed up, peeked warily in over the edge of one crater, and let his eyes go wide in pure amazement. Before him, full-grown dragons of all types glided through the hazy air and perch on the rocky ledges. Chronicle could recognize Reginald and Basil among them, and the latter let go with a blast of fire that came within an ace of torching Spike's stuff; he himself would be fine. A last-second duck kept them unburnt, and he peeked back up to find smoke rising from the impact point and a slab of red-hot rock. As it cooled off into black slag, he swallowed hard and turned his attention elsewhere. He looked around, seeing a couple of other full-size beasts, then tilted down to the crater floor, where a half-dozen smaller ones were goofing off amid piles of gems.

"All right!" Spike cried out enthusiastically. "Teenage dragons!" He began to run down. "Now that’s more my speed…and size."

He didn't notice a rather strange-looking dragon that lumbered up to the lip after him. The hide is green, the neck a lighter shade and sporting a bright magenta scarf, and the ears and back spines displayed a multitude of vivid colors. In addition, the snout was bright yellow-green and various jewels were set into the thing’s carapace; the mouth gaped open and the eyes pointed in different directions. Quite a few details give it away as a not-quite-authentic dragon: the visible seams and stitches, the legs of Rainbow and Rarity protruding from underneath, the blue pegasus wings sprouting from the back, the eye holes cut into the chest so Rainbow can see out, and Twilight’s head barely visible within the shadow of the open mouth. Various grunts and groans pointed up the trio’s difficulty in moving and balancing.

Chronicle had watched them pass by and declined their offer to join up, preferring the safety of his position, and also asked where Applejack and Pinkie Pie were. Twilight replied that they were busy at work, so they couldn't come. And they knew that asking Fluttershy would be a waste of time. Skyla and Mystic Shield had summarily refused as well, as they were also busy.

"I’m telling you, we’ll never pass for a real dragon!" Rainbow complained.

"Oh, pish-posh!" argued Rarity. "This costume is fabulous! One of my finer creations."

"Shhh!" Twilight shut them up. "We’ll never pass if they hear three voices coming out of one dragon. Now come on! Let’s go!"

Rainbow took a step forward over the edge, where gravity did its thing and dragged the group into the crater. Down below, four of the six teenage dragons cheered as the last two square off for a fight. One was red, with yellow-orange back/tail spines and head fin and pale yellow underbelly/wings. The other, much fatter one had brown hide, small red wings, thick blue horns, and a spiked ball on the end of a chunky tail. 
The red one managed to get the brown one in a full nelson before Spike’s voice cut in.

"Um…excuse me?" the new visitor was now standing next to them. "Uh, hi. I’m Spike."

Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the teens stood at least twice as tall as he does. There was general surprise from everybody as the red one dropped the brown one, and a purple dragon moved in close. This one had pale green hide on his underbelly and the lower surfaces of his wings, along with a shock of blond hair that hid his eyes.

"You sure your name is Spike and not Shrimp?" he asked derisively before bursting into laughter with the others.

"No! It’s Spike! I-I mean, I’m sure about that!"

The brown dragon poked him. "You look more like a Pee-Wee to me!" 

More laughter came before the red dragon got them to stop. "Hey, guys, come on, seriously." He then walked over to Spike. "Leave him alone, or he might fly away—that is, uh…" He proceeded to dangle the smaller dragon upside down by his tail. "…if he had any wings!" He then dropped the little guy back to the crater floor, prompting a fresh wave of jeers.

"You flying on your mommy’s back during the Migration?" teased the brown dragon.

"Not exactly," Spike answered.

"No, no! Can’t you see baby Spike just hatched? I bet he still sucks his claw at night!"

"No! I haven’t sucked my claw in months!"

There was more laughter as the red dragon leaned down to him and the thumb that had reflexively found its way into his mouth.

"Well, if you weren’t just hatched…" he interrogated as Spike pulled the digit out. "…how come we haven’t seen you around before?"

"Oh! Well, you see, I live in Ponyville and—" The red dragon straightened up at that. "—and I’m—"

"Ponyville?" the red dragon interrupted with a nasty laugh. "That explains it! I knew there was something vaguely pony-ish about you!" He proceeded to back Spike against a rock. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were part pony."

Spike was really scared at this point. "Who, me? I’m not part pony. I’m all dragon. See?" He then let go with the most vicious roar he can muster up—that is, not very—and thoroughly failed to impress the lot.

"Or maybe you’re a pony in a dragon costume," the ringleader taunted back with baby talk.

The others had a good laugh, not noticing the ersatz bejeweled one that had made its way down here. Back in his hiding spot, Chronicle bit back a laugh. It honestly was funny, given the presence of Twilight and the others, were it not for the fact that it was at Spike's expense.

"A pony in a dragon costume!" parroted the purple one as he fell against the costume. 

Twilight let out a laugh in a faux deep voice. "Yeah. Hilarious."

The purple one then managed a puzzled squeak. Who let this joker in the place? he thought to himself.

"I am a real dragon!"

"Oh, yeah? Prove it!" dared the red dragon.

"Well…how?"

"By acting like one." He then called out to the others. "Who’s up for a little belching contest?"

The brown dragon and three other crew members—white with pink spines; blue with lavender spines/wing hide and light blue horns, and dark gray with forward-swept green hair and brownish-underbelly—cheered this suggestion with gusto. A couple of full-grown dragons took notice of this and decided to watch.

The white one was the first to step up. He cut loose with a jet of light blue flames. Up next was the purple one, who countered with a green blast of his own. The brown one’s louder, more sustained effort generated a sheet of orange fire that briefly enveloped the spectators and burnt the eyelashes off the three mares’ disguise. Thankfully, most of it was fireproof, and the mares also had a heat veil spell cast on them by Twilight to be able to survive so close to lava. The red, gray, and blue dragons voiced their enthusiastic approval as the brown one followed up a smoky little cough.

"You think you can beat that, Pee-Wee?" the red dragon teased as he elbowed Spike.

“Pee-Wee” swallowed hard and walked up to the line as Twilight grimaced within the costume’s mouth. Now standing alongside the other dragons, he let his cheeks bulge out and forced out a little burp of green fire that solidified into a scroll. Confused murmurs floated down from the teens, and their ringleader picked it up and unrolled the document.

“From the desk of Princess Celestia,” he read. “Dear Spike: Please tell—” He then cut himself off with a laugh. "Get this, guys! Spike’s pen pals with a namby-pamby pony princess!"

Spike was mortified on the end of this, and the others laughed themselves stupid.

Hmm. Maybe I could show this to Princess Celestia next time we meet, mused Chronicle as his mind wandered.

All of a sudden, every single dragon in front of him, including Spike, balked as they saw something come up from behind the ringleader, and then quickly zipped away.

The red dragon noticed and said, "Huh? Hey guys! Where are you going? What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Gah ha ha ha!!!" a very familiar voice came. "Namby-pamby pony princess!! That's a good one!! Boy! Girls really must get the hots for you!"

The red dragon began to sweat profusely as he slowly turned around to come face-to-face with the one and only Princess Celestia. And judging by her size, she must've cast a spell on herself in order to look so imposing that the teen is currently only just taller than her leg height.

"You and your jokes, you little wall lizard," she continued. "But now, I have a riddle for you…" Celestia then shoved her snout right into his with a maniacal grin. "What's red, insignificant, worthless, full of crap, and ready to go to the moon?!"

"Ummm…a rotten tomato in a space shuttle?" the dragon stammered.

Wait, what?


D—R—E—A—M—T—W—I—S—T


The last two words broke Chronicle out of his reverie as he realized he was just daydreaming. As a result, he missed what really happened, though he could always check it later; the letter was balled up, and thrown over the red dragon's shoulder to in a lava pool, which promptly incinerated it. Twilight was particularly incensed at such disrespect. 

Nobody will ever know it, but the letter was an invitation to a wedding planned in the future between two ponies Twilight knew very well. They would never know about this wedding until just days before the actual event.

Right after that incineration, the red dragon has turned back to Spike. "Maybe tail wrestling is more your speed," he suggested.

"Uh…"

"YEAH!!" the other dragons agreed before Spike could get a word in edgewise.


C—TS—S—RD—R—?—C—TS—S—RD—R—?


The blue and gray teen dragons looped the ends of their tails together, and stood back-to-back with their legs braced. The ringleader of the group, who went by the name Garble, was on hand as the referee, and all the others watched from the sidelines. Chronicle decided it wasn't worth knowing the others' names and just pegged them by their colors until such time he encounters them again and they supply their names.

"Ready? Go!" Garble declared.

Every muscle in both combatants’ bodies kicked into overdrive, trying to drag the other off balance as Spike stared wonderingly. They remained at a stalemate for several long seconds, but one heave from Blue dropped Gray onto his belly to end the match.

"The winner!" the red dragon announced as he lifted the victor's tail, who flexed for the crowd as the loser nursed his freshly kinked tail. 
Spike, meanwhile, cradled his own with visible unease while cheers rang out around him. "Good old tail wrestling."

Behind him, the ponies under their disguise discussed. 

"We can’t let little Spikey-wikey wrestle one of them!" said Rarity."He’ll get clobbered!"

"Let’s go!" Twilight agreed, seeing Spike jittering and stiff as a board, then spoke in a faux deep voice "I challenge Spike to a tail wrestle!"

"Who’s this weirdo?" Garble asked Blue.

"I think he’s Crackle’s cousin," guessed Purple.

At an overlooking ledge, a rather strange-looking green dragon was perched. Tiny, light-green wings, matching back spines, thick, stubby blue horns, beady red eyes that steadfastly failed to point in the same direction, jewels embedded in the hide. It was a happy coincidence that there was actually a dragon with the same appearance as the costume. Crackle let off a yawp and scratched a spot with one hind leg.

"Oh. That would explain it."

The two adversaries’ tails were extend toward each other, with Rarity’s hoof supporting the fake one. It thumped to the ground as she retracted the limb, it falling over Spike’s tail after another nudge.

"Ready?" Garble called. "Go!"

The purple pipsqueak strained, but cannot even budge the green appendage hanging limply over his own. However, Chronicle, through Surveillance, 'grabbed hold' of the faux tail and flopped it over. It wasn't known if other ponies can do this, but he wasn't planning on having Twilight try it out; bad enough they knew he even had this, it'd be worse if she spends too much time trying to exploit it, as it would be a breach in Story Crew protocol.

Garble hoisted Spike upside down by the tail. "Spike’s the winner!" He announced before dropping the latter. Cheers ensued as Spike sat up. "Nice going, little Spike. Maybe you are a dragon after all." He flicked the short one under the chin and backed off.

"Yeah! Maybe I am!"

As the three mares made their way out of the combat zone, Chronicle contacted them via Surveillance.

"You're welcome," he said. "Please don't do anything to compromise your disguise like say falling over. I won't be able to make it in time to rescue you."

"How did you know that was my plan?!" Rainbow whisper-gasped.

"That was your plan?! Good thing I intervened, then."

Rarity then nudged the pegasus hard. "Ow."

Back outside the disguise, Spike’s confidence has now risen quite a few notches. "All right. Who’s next?"

"Getting a little cocky, huh? I like that. So how about you wrestle…" Garble pointed at— "…him!"

Hunkered down between White and Brown was a small and rather scared-looking blue-green dragon with yellow underbelly/horns and a tuft of orange hair. Only the head and upper body could be seen. Spike threw him a taunting smile, which was the cue for White and Brown to step out of the way to show that the underdeveloped forelimbs were attached to a smallish body that was in turn hooked up to a massive tail, easily three or four times the body length. As a final touch, the last few feet popped out a set of very unpleasant-looking spikes. 

"Go!"

Up near the crater lip, Spike’s panicked yell cut the smoky air and the spiked appendage flung him up to smash into the rock face, from which he slowly slid down. As a couple of adult dragons watched the aftermath of what might be the shortest tail-wrestling match in history. 


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


Later…

Garble was stepping nimbly up along a jewel pile’s slope, carrying Spike under his arm. So, Spike. You haven’t exactly proven yourself as a dragon yet…" He shortly dropped him on the end of this as they reached the top of the pile. "…have you?"

"But I get an A for effort?"

"Uh, maybe. Let’s see how you do in this next contest." A good shove sent the little guy on a long, bouncing, yelling tumble all the way to the ground, ended in a prostate position, and earned laughs from Blue and Brown. And that's when the contest began. "KING OF THE HOARD!!"

On the end of this, Gray, Brown, and Purple yelled and charged toward it as Spike dazedly peeled himself up and joined in. Up top, the dragon on the summit flipped one after the other off the slope. Spike crawled timidly up as the hooligans went flying past him. 

Garble and Brown are left to grapple it out, and Chronicle was exploiting his Surveillance to telekinetically mess with the other competitors like moving the gems under their feet, 'pulling' their tails, 'tossing' gems at their face, and so on.

"This is my chance," Spike said to himself as he continued ascending. Just as Purple made another run up the hill, the disguised ponies dove right at him and knocked him away.

Finally, Spike reached the top and stood up between Garble’s hind legs to knock him off balance. Predictably, down he went, taking Brown with him and leaving Spike alone atop the mound of precious stones. Both eyes were squeezed tight shut, and the sight he found upon opening one brought a surprised smile to his face: dragons sprawled out senseless on all sides. "KING OF THE HOA—" He trailed off into a yell as the gems under his feet gave way and sent him bouncing down like a scaly Superball. The unceremonious descent dropped him on his back at Garble’s feet. 

"Looks like this is another fail for you, little Spike," he said "Can’t wait to watch you fail at Lava Cannonball, too." Spike sweat and swallows hard at that. 

"Actually, he made it to the top and knocked you down," Chronicle spoke, channeling his voice through his Surveillance cam on Twilight. He even used the faux deep voice she used earlier. "I saw the whole thing."

The ringleader turned to face the faux dragon. "Well, he didn't get to stay up, so there," he countermanded "A real dragon must have a secure footing even while atop his hoard, and he just proved he didn't."

"…Okay, then."

"What are you doing?" Twilight hissed at her bodyguard.

"Just defending Spike, that's all. He's got to know there's at least one dragon not belittling him."


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


Later…

The six dragon delinquents and the Ponyvillians were gathered atop a high ledge overlooking a bubbling lava pool. Spike peeked nervously out from the far end of the line.

"Whoever makes the biggest lava splash is the ultimate dragon!" Garble declared before jumping off. "GERONIMOOO!"

His landing in the pool threw spatters of molten rock up to the ledge. Spike cried out and flinches to avoid one, and another nearly burnt Rainbow’s foreleg off. Twilight was looking properly apprehensive in the costume’s mouth and decided it was best for them to back off. "Spike’s on his own this time." While Twilight had cast a "heat veil" spell to keep herself, her friends, and the costume from burning up in the sweltering heat coming from the lava, making contact with lava itself was still extremely inadvisable.

Purple, White, Blue, and Gray leaped off in quick succession, each yelling all the way down to the pool and sending up their own splashes. Brown waited for the hubbub to subside before making his move.

"CANNONBALL!!"

A geyser of lava rocketed skyward to mark his impact. Displaying a look that suggested his desire to grow a pair of wings and vacate the premises post haste, Spike stepped to the edge, looking to his feet, then to the pool, and then back to his feet again. His arms flailed for balance as he got out a choked cry of terror and backed up, plastering himself against a rock face.

"What’s wrong, Spike?" Garble taunted from below. "You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?" This was followed by a round of jeering laughter. 

The brows above the reptilian green eyes lowered in a silent snarl, and a moment later Spike was back at the precipice. He stood tall, paying no mind to the sweat that began to run down his face. Now he took what might be the last hard swallow of his life, put his hands together, and took a screaming leap off the ledge. Instead of generating a splash like the others, he struck the pool surface spread-eagle, face down, and sank slowly into the bubbling mass.

"Ohhhh!" The entire dragon gang winced at the sight.

Spike’s head shortly broke the surface and he spit out a mouthful before seeing the others looking strangely at him. "Uh…was I…that bad?"

Garble instead gave a smile. "No, dude, that was awesome! Nobody could live through a belly flop like that!" He then started laughing as he picked him up by the head spines. "You’re one tough little dragon."

He dropped him shortly after, and the admiring murmurs from the group brought a smile to Spike’s face. 


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


Once everybody was out of the lava pool, the teen dragons held what seemed to be some sort of fraternity-type ritual. Gray stuck a couple of fingers in his mouth and blew a braying whistle, then the tails of all but Garble were extended upward at an angle toward each other—three facing two. An apprehensive Spike was at one end of this impromptu gauntlet, and he slowly advanced toward Garble at the other.

"Spike!" the ringleader called. "By belly-flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy." He then touched each shoulder with his tail. "I hereby dub you “Rookie Dragon” and will now perform the initiation ritual." He then proceeded to pick him up, give a noogie hard enough to dizzy him, and set him down as he laughed. "Now let’s party dragon-style!"

As the others whooped it up in response, "Crackle's cousin" assumed a napping position from a safe position as the ponies inside took the time to eat from the supplies they brought with them. Far outside the craters in their hiding spot, Chronicle and Rock were doing the same thing. The former had deployed a magical clone as lookout.

"Twilight, I hope you're also trying to learn as much as you can about dragons," he advised. "It's not like we may have a chance to come back here."

"I know," she replied as she munched on a hayburger before re-casting the "heat veil" spell. "But Spike…"

"I'll watch over Spike. I promise."

"Not a—" Rainbow suggested.

"Not that kind of promise. I won't have her ditch work just to come and call me out."

"Do you seriously think Pinkie would go all the way out here just to do that?"

"I'm not gonna risk it. I've seen the consequences. We've all seen what happened when she thought a Pinkie Promise was broken. She's done impossible things. You think making her way here isn't out of her league?"

"Shh!" Rarity shut them up. "Multiple voices coming out of one dragon will make us suspicious."

Chronicle relented. "Fine. You're lucky Crackle looked a lot like your costume, you know."


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


The ensuing party was wild, but thankfully "Crackle's cousin" managed to not get burnt. The six goof-offs plus their new initiate were all sprawled out and sleeping off the effects of their party.

"Man…" said Spike. "…was that a great party."

"Great?" replied Garble. "Heh. Maybe by Ponyville standards. Stick with us, Spike." He thumped a shoulder. "We still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon."

"I’m not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out with you guys forever."

Watching behind a nearby outcropping, three ponies showed expressions of disbelief. One much farther away instead showed worry, though worry was also in the three as well.

"Forever?" gasped all four.


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


Eyecatch (video-type)

[A/N: Due to the video not being available, please look for (and envision) Digimon Adventure's first eyecatch.]

{Eight cards fly in from the right and pile up on one another, depicting the following in the following order: a trio of butterflies, a trio of apples, a trio of balloons, three rhombus-shaped blue gems, a six-pointed pink star, an orange circle depicting an open book inside, a red-yellow-blue striped lightning bolt coming from a white cloud, and a couple of green flames.}

{The eight cards then shine into white and form together into something else: A picture depicting seven animals and a small nondescript silhouette. The top depicts (from left to right) Gummy with balloons tied to his body, Tank with his copter attachment, the silhouette, and Owlowiscious. The bottom row depicts Winona, Angel, Rock, and Opalescence. The show's logo shows up on the bottom right.}


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


The three-pony fake ducked back behind the rock before its three occupants started talking.

"Spikey-wikey is going to stay with these awful dragons forever?" Rarity was particularly distressed.

"Oh, no! This is terrible!" gasped Twilight. 

"I shoulda stopped him back at the library when I had the chance!" Rainbow blamed herself. 

"No, Rainbow Dash. This is all my fault. I encouraged him to go."

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, girls," Chronicle assured. "Spike may change his mind yet."

Outside the faux dragon, the real ones were stretching and yawning after a good nap. "You know, Spike, I think you just might be ready for a real dragon raid," said Garble. There were cheers all around. "There’s a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby, and we’re gonna swipe ’em." 

Spike voiced an unsettled little squeak. "Heh. Aren’t you totally psyched to go on this raid?" Brown said before shoving him down to the ground.

The young dragon shortly stood up with false bravado. "Oh, yeah. I’m excited. I mean, I-I’m psyched!"

"All right, then." Garble then gave the order. "Let’s fly!"

The unwilling accomplice can only glance at his own wingless back as Garble, Brown, and Purple lifted off. Pink had been called back by his mothers, Blue was still asleep, and Gray couldn't be bothered to get up with the rest, so they weren't participating.

"Uh, sorry, guys!" Spike called after them. "I guess I’ll meet you back here at the crater—after the whole raid thing’s over? We’ll totally hang then!" Brown then swooped down and snatched him, eliciting a scared yell. 

"Oh, no!" Rainbow gasped, now peeking from the costume mouth. "They took Spike!" she shortly ducked away. "We gotta go after them!"

Without waiting for a consensus, the overeager pegasus did her best to lift the rig off. All she did was get the middle section a couple of feet off the ground, so that Twilight and Rarity were dragged along. The latter's terrified squeal was heard from beneath the gaudy green costume. The head unicorn looked forward, and balked at the sight of the rapidly approaching lava pool dead ahead. 

"Rainbow Dash, stop! We can’t fly!" Twilight yelled. 

"You're getting too close to a lava pool!" Chronicle.

"And you’re ruining my fabulous costume!"

Fortunately, they skid to a stop with only inches to go before plunging into the smoldering liquid. 

"I’m sorry, but we gotta help Spike!" said the pegasus. 

"Well, we’re just gonna have to hoof it!" declared Twilight.

"I'm going on ahead," Chronicle told them as they did just that, passing over the crater lip. "I should still be able to track his whereabouts."

"Don't start a fight with them."

"No promises. It all depends on how they're treating Spike. If they're gonna harm him…"

"Okay, I get it."


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


Evening…

Chronicle was cruising just above the ground on his carpet, Rock clinging onto his back. Thankfully, that teacup and saucer still had enough of Spike's…"scent" in them for the tracking spell to work. It works both better and worse than a dog's nose; even when an object's scent is masked by a stronger smell, the spell can still look for its last physical holder, but some scents can last for longer than the 'scent' the tracking spell checks for.

Anyway, he finally got close to their location, and he realized it was close to the phoenix nest he and Spike saw earlier. Speaking of Spike, he and the other dragons were hunched down behind a nearby bush, with Garble peeking out through and at the nest. He shortly closed it and turned to the initiate. "All right, Spike. Since you’re our rookie dragon, you get to lure the parents away from the nest."

Spike laughed nervously. "Heh. Lucky me."

Garble then shoved him into the open. "Well, go on, then!" 

A beat and a half of silence followed before Spike proceeded to call overhead, waving his arms. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix! I was hoping I could have a word with you?" The two avians just traded a confused little caw. "Um…I’d, um, like to ask you some questions, actually!" 

Already impatient, Garble peeked out… "We haven’t got all day, Spike!" …picked up a rock, and dropped it into the purple clawed hands before ducking away. 

Spike then hauled back for a throw and taunted, "Hey, you birdbrains! Come and get me!" With that, he let it fly.

The rock dropped nearly inside, a loud bonk was heard, and two annoyed phoenixes sat up. The fresh lump on the male’s head told the tale, and he let go with a growling caw that spooked Spike into a full retreat before swooping with his mate, both fully ignited, after this impudent interloper.

After they have gone, the three teens flew up from their bush and hovered by the nest. But what they saw caught them by surprise. "What the—?" Garble gasped. The nest proved to be full, not of eggs, but of five brand-new, happily cheeping hatchlings.

"The eggs have hatched!" Purple pointed out the obvious.

"What do we do now?" Brown asked the ringleader. 

"We take the hatchlings, of course," the "obvious was pointed out menacingly.

All mentioned five screeched and scattered, leaving Garble to grab only a handful of air. One popped up behind his shoulder and zipped ahead, dodging his straight-arm grab—and then two more emerged out of thin air and perched on that limb. A dual dive through Garble’s legs had him snatching at nothing under his tail. The next three appeared on his head and split up as he tried to slam his jaws closed on them. The sum total of all these contortions was to leave his whole body tied in a knot, after which he toppled onto his back as the five baby firebirds blew a hearty raspberry and bugged out. 

Wow. Looks like pranking is inherent in all phoenixes here, Chronicle mused from his hiding place as the brown and purple dragon got their leader untied.

"Get ’em!" Garble yelled and the others took off as he—now back on his feet—got a running start on the nest to catch up. His motion caused part of the structure to crumble away and send an intact egg tumbling over the side. Its shell was a glossy orange and streaked with yellow flames, and it bounced from limb to limb, skimmed off a spiderweb, and dropped from the end of a low branch into some bushes before rolling into the open.

Chronicle didn't witness this since he had immediately went after Garble and company on his carpet. He didn't condone whatever it was they were going to do, even if phoenixes were long-living.

Meanwhile, Spike continued his frantic getaway from the two hot-tempered parents. The male came within an inch of chomping his tail off before the hatchlings’ distant shrieks cut in. When Spike tripped on a rock and went face first in the dirt, he looked up to find the pair doubling back toward the distress call. 

Back at the chase, Garble and company were hot on the quintet’s tails, Chronicle following discreetly from below on his flying carpet. The red dragon tried to munch one down, only to get a huge lick of fire across the kisser instead. This cleared to leave his face smudged with soot and no hatchlings in sight. He looked around, groaned loudly and charged ahead as one of the adults streaked across his path.

"GET THEM!!" he yelled impatiently.

Wow! Chronicle was amazed. Phoenix flames are hot enough to burn dragons?!

All seven birds have since regrouped and sped up somehow to stay ahead of the marauding dragons. A nasty laugh drifted up to them, and Garble very nearly snagged a couple of incandescent tail feathers in his teeth. The male’s counter-move was to turn and face them while hovering backwards, his wings spread to full length. An intense sunburst issued from his body, blinding the dragons so that they ran flat into a tree. Chronicle on the other hand had his carpet stop as soon as the flash came.

Once it faded, he saw the three dragons had embedded themselves in the trunk, with Garble at the top and Brown and Purple below him. A frustrated growl floated down from the boss. "They got away! I hate that!" he cursed before the tree decided that now was the perfect time to fall over. 

Glad that the phoenixes were safe, the unicorn sailed back to the nest, his pet armadillo still holding on.


C—S—G—C—S—G—C—S—G—C—S—G—C—S—G


Back where the raid started…

Spike saw the family of phoenixes flee as he approached the scattered twigs and eggshell fragments that marked the remains of the nest. He then saw the lone egg resting on the ground and walked up to it.

"Huh. What have we got here?" he asked himself as he picked it up, whereupon the three vandals landed facing him, having separated themselves from the timber. As for Chronicle, he was already back at his hiding spot and managed to evade their notice. "What happened?"

"They got away!" Garble growled before noticing something that surprised him. "Hey." He leaned down to Spike. "You stole an egg?"

"Uh…"

"Well, I guess the raid wasn’t a total waste after all." Brown and Purple cheered and he clapped Spike on the back, causing him to almost drop the egg. "Nice going, Spike."

"Well, what are you waiting for, Spike?" Brown asked. "Smash it!"

"Smash the egg?"

He laughed. "Yeah!"

"Yeah!" agreed Purple. "Throw it on the ground as hard as you can!"

The three began to laugh and start into a chant of “Smash it! Smash it! Smash it!” Uncertainty gave way to determination as he raised the egg overhead, ready to dash it against the rocks. 

The trio fell silent.

The green eyes squeezed shut and reopened under a sweaty brow.

They leered down at him.

He tensed himself for the throw…

And then he stared levelly up at them even as tears started to well up in his eyes. And he yanked the egg away.

"No! It’s just a defenseless egg, like I was! And I’m not gonna let you hurt it!"

"What did you say?" gasped an indignant Garble.

"I said no!"

"No one says no to me." Garble began to lean threateningly over him as he started to back Spike up with a snarl. The little guy runs into something green and jeweled, with an eye peeking out through a hole.

It was "Crackle's cousin", their teeth and spines gleamed viciously in the dim light, and the whole thing threw off a burst of brilliant light that caused all three teens to rethink the idea of attacking Spike, at least for a moment, which Chronicle used to discreetly teleport behind them. He had left a magical clone at his previous location for them to find and they debated on a plan; he was not going to be left out this time.

And then the "dragon" revealed itself to have been a costume as it revealed the three ponies beneath it, all with their forelegs up, ready to slug it out. Twilight and Rarity stood on their hind legs, while Rainbow hovered above Spike’s head. Behind the dragons, Chronicle remained on all fours and entered a battle stance for a surprise attack.

"Nobody’s gonna lay a claw on him!" Rainbow.

"That’s right!" Twilight.

Rarity smoothed her mane. "Fighting’s not really my thing, I’m more into fashion…" And then her tone changed with sudden ferocity. "…but I’ll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head!"

Bewilderment gave way to a gale of mocking laughter. "Ooh, scary!" Garble said with sarcasm before chuckling. "Spike, are these namby-pamby ponies your friends?"

"Yes! They are!" he admitted with pride. "And they’re better friends than you could ever be!" He then walked to Garble, jabbing a finger in his underbelly. "Now, if you don’t back off, you’ll see what us ponies do when confronted by a huge group of jerky dragons!"

"Oh, yeah?" He snorted smoke into Spike’s face. "What’s that? 
There was a short pause.

"RUN AWAY!!" Which he did with enough speed to break every sprinting record ever set, leaving only his frantic, echoing cries and Garble’s growl to mark his exit. 

The mares were quick to catch up, but the dragons wasted no time in closing the gap from above. That is if a barrier hadn't stopped them in their tracks.

"Maybe that would apply to most ponies, but there are always some exceptions," a voice said as the barrier was shortly dispelled. The dragons turned around to see Chronicle with his magic horn blade ready and Rock 'tethered' to his tail. "I've fought adult dragons before, but never teens like you."

"You'll do!" roared Garble as the three proceeded to dogpile him. The unicorn responded with a teleport, making the three crash into each other. An armadillo then slammed onto the back of Brown's head. The dragons got off of each other and turned around again to see their opponent looking a little smug.

The three of them charged him again, this time one by one. Chronicle's response to that was to flash-step at them one by one and slash at them, sending them crashing again. He also used Rock to conk them in the heads during his slash maneuver as he passed them by.

"How can—" Garble was in disbelief as they got up again. "Our parents told us nothing could penetrate dragon scales!"

"That's because I'm not trying to cut you," Chronicle decided to answer. "What exactly it is you'll never know." He then fired a salvo of magic shots.

The dragons covered their faces with their arms as the shots struck them harmlessly. "That's it! We're gonna burn you to a crisp!" Brown was the first to let off his fire breath. The stream of flames was promptly blocked with a barrier, and since the flames encompassed it entirely, he took the time to teleport away after hearing his pet whimper in fear. Apparently, dragon flame wasn't something he was keen on testing his armor on.

During the phoenix nest raid, Chronicle had taken the time to summon a few magical clones. Thanks to the magic conserver he had gotten from Rainbow Dash on his birthday, it wasn't as taxing on him as it usually would, though he did wonder how exactly it worked and what it expended in exchange. He would have to ask the speedster in detail later.

When Brown's flame stopped, there was no pony to be seen, not even a charred one. And since they had not heard any screams, there was no way his breath could've completely vaporized them. His breath wasn't that hot.

"Show yourself, you wimp!" taunted Purple.

And he did. All of the clones emerged from their hiding spots, and all of them were prepared for battle. "Let's see if you can find the real me, if I'm even here."

Already having lost their patience, the three charged at one clone each.


C—TS—S—RD—R—G—C—TS—S—RD—R—G


Erstwhile, at a clear patch of grassland outside the forest…

Twilight emerged from a teleport with Rainbow, Rarity, and Spike. While the others slowed to a stop, Twilight crashed down on her belly and slide ahead thanks to the momentum of her run. Spike took a moment to catch his breath. Miraculously, the egg was still unbroken.

"That was a close one," sighed the little dragon. "Thanks, you guys." 

Twilight got up and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Of course. What are friends for?"

"You’re more than friends." He began to tear up. "You’re my family." All three gave him a group hug and Rarity voiced a happy little squeal. Then, he asked, "I hope Chronicle's okay."

"He's faced numerous foes before. I'm sure he'll be fine. I worry about his armadillo, though. He really shouldn't be bringing a pet to a fight, especially against other dragons. Perhaps we best not tell Fluttershy about that."

There were murmurs of agreement as the four broke off from their hug. And then the last member of the party emerged from a teleport. "Present," he said. 

Everybody else sighed in relief. "You shouldn't have brought Rock along in this quest," Twilight warned.

"It was he who came along, and I sorta forgot to drop him back off. Don't worry, I didn't even get to use him much before I decided to bug out." He then winced as a magic clone of his dissipated and its memories transferred to him. "Left some clones behind to stall for time and learn some more about them. Now let's get out of here."

"Way ahead of you."


C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R—C—TS—S—RD—R


Days later…

In the Books and Branches Library, Spike was sitting at a window in the reading room, writing something. The phoenix egg was resting in a cushioned basket on the floor.

“Dear Princess Celestia: Seeing the Great Dragon Migration made me wonder what it meant to be a dragon. But now I realize that who I am is not the same as what I am. I may have been born a dragon, but Equestria and my pony friends have taught me how to be kind, loyal, and true. I’m proud to call Ponyville my home, and to have my pony friends as my family. Yours truly, Spike.”

Just as he looked up from the parchment, the egg suddenly hatched right on cue. Unlike the other hatchlings and the adult phoenixes, this one was entirely deep yellow, with no orange or red plumage.

"Aww…" Spike said affectionately as he leaned down to it and laughed. "Hey, welcome to the family, Peewee!" It then perched on his hand. "Stick with me." He then rubbed his cheek against its head. "I’ve got plenty to teach you about being a pony."
> (NOT) A Friend In Deed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special 11: Two Story Crew Snippets


Chronicle: Experiencing And Retelling A Strange Dream


Fluttershy's cottage…

For once, Chronicle had decided to wake up early. Getting up from one of the couches his marefriend sleeps in on occasion (like when foalsitting the Cutie Mark Crusaders when Skyla isn't available), he made his way to the kitchen where she prepares the food for the animal tenants around, approached the sink, and washed his face. 

Just as he was finished, he felt something tug on his tail. Turning around, he saw that it was Angel, and he looked worried. "What's wrong, Angel?" he asked.

The bunny was pointing out of the kitchen, urging him to follow. He looked pretty worried.

"All right. Lead the way."

And he did. But as soon as Angel started scaling the steps, he started to worry, as he was making his way up to Fluttershy's bedroom. They've yet to reach the point where they would be comfortable in sharing a bed; sure, he slept with Twilight once, though that was more from an issue of space since Rarity and Applejack slept in his that time. He also slept with his sister once when he and his friends had been whisked to her Equestria, but that was beyond the point.

As soon as he reached the room, he saw the reason why Angel was worried.

Sleeping in Fluttershy's bed was not a yellow pegasus. The pink mane, wings, cutie mark, and a detached tail extension was still enough to tell that this was still likely her, but the rest was completely different. The form right in front of him had no coat, exposing pinkish skin. Her hind legs were now longer, bent differently, and had five toes. The same applied with her forelegs, but not by much, and he couldn't see much of them from his current position. Her hips were wider, and that's where her cutie mark was now. Her wings were positioned differently as well, now both on her back, which was now broader to match her new size.

Chronicle's mind immediately shut down from shock as he tried to process just what he was seeing. And then she turned in her sleep, oblivious to what became of her, revealing the other side to him. Her face was as lovely as ever, her "forelegs" now showed her delicate hands, and also right in front of him were two, large— his modesty immediately ground that train of thought to a screeching halt as he also covered his eyes with a raised hoof.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! he thought as he backtracked. How is this happening? Who did this? Can't be Discord! He can't possibly— Once again, it was interrupted, this time by the lack of floor behind him. In his shock from what he saw on Fluttershy's bed, he neglected the fact that the stairs were just behind him. As a result, he yelped as he tumbled down the staircase he just climbed earlier, rolling until he reached the bottom, where he knocked the back of his skull against—


D—R—E—A—M—T—W—I—S—T


—a bunny's foot, which was kicking him there, forcing his sleeping form on the couch to fall from it as he landed on the floor face-first, which then prompted him to wake.

"Oww!" he cried out as he promptly got up and glared at the culprit, Angel. "Do you really have to give me that rude an awakening?"

"Sorry, Chronicle, but we know you're a deep sleeper."

Turning to the voice's source, he saw that Fluttershy was already done preparing breakfast for her animal residents. Now, she had the table set for the two of them. And much to his relief, she was still a pegasus pony.

"Right."

The following breakfast was quiet, both the tranquil and the awkward kind. Today, she made salad, and made sure that there wasn't hay among them, knowing he didn't like it. She wanted to ask why, but with the way he was turning away every time he looks at her, his cheeks taking in a reddish hue, he didn't look like he wanted to speak right now.

Chronicle knew that if he didn't tell her now, it was going to bug him for at least three days. Her saddlebags were already packed for her camping trip with Applejack, which was usually a few days after Board Game Night (he'd come too, but he still had four others to look out for). But did she really need to know? That dream wouldn't make sense for a native Equestrian. And if the rumors regarding Lyra Heartstrings were true… 

And then he felt the harsh glare of Angel, who was also on the table with them. Not that he was scared at all, or anything like that. But he decided it might be best to tell her his dream. He wanted to use the MemLock just in case, but Dad wasn't too keen on Story Crew equipment being used for such trivial purposes. So he'll have to be careful with his words.

"Before Angel woke me up, I had a very weird dream," he began as he chewed on a carrot.

This caught the pegasus's attention and she paused in her eating.

After gulping the piece down, he continued. "I was waking up early—in the dream, mind you—and was washing my face in the kitchen when Angel caught my attention, urging me to go up to your room. And when I did, I saw that you…" He rubbed his nape as he tried to find the words. "…well, there wasn't a pegasus on the bed."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, somehow I knew it was still you, but… in the dream, you had been transformed into something else. I found myself reeling back, then falling down the stairs, then hitting the floor just as Angel in the waking world kicked me off the couch."

"Um, what did I look like in the dream?"

Chronicle blushed at the recent memory of the dream, and unlike others, probably because of his dreamscape, he can remember his dreams vividly. "Thankfully", what he saw in his dream happened in reality in Blue Diary's assigned Equestria, though with Lyra Heartstrings instead. Managing to remember all too well what happened there, he explained.

"Well, imagine you turned into a bear. But you still had your mane, and your wings were now on your back. Follow me so far?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Now remove all the fur, the claws, and tail. Now imagine a slightly shorter and slimmer body with smooth, pinkish skin. Longer hind legs and feet with five toes, four small and one large."

"Okay." Now she was really curious.

"Add wider hips, with your cutie mark there. Forelegs also longer, but not as much. Instead of hooves, you had…" He took out his 'white glove' and showed it. "…Something like this, but daintier. On your chest…" The unicorn was blushing profusely now. "…were… were… udders is the closest words I can think of. Two of them, one teat each. And the udders were half as large as your head right now.

"And your face was…flatter, in a sense. Your ears were on the side instead of the top and cannot be twitched like bear ears or ours." He twitched an ear in demonstration. "Your nose was comparatively small, no snout. Can't tell if your eyes were different, since they never opened in the dream. Basically, you were a full-on biped."

With the full image in mind, Fluttershy now knew what he had 'seen', but she was still confused as to why it was making him feel awkward. "Wow. I…I don't know what to say."

"Well, dreams can get very weird sometimes, heheh. You don't need to dwell on it too much."

"I've had weird dreams, too. Before you confessed your love for me, I sometimes had dreams of being in a snowy white void, and I would see a white earth pony. Somehow, I always think that was Angel, But I never ask why. I just—" Just then, a knock came on the door. "Oh, that must be her."

Thankful their current topic of conversation was over, Chronicle called in his marefriend's stead. "Come in!"

Entering the cottage was Applejack, who also had her saddlebags filled with camping supplies. "Mornin'! Ready to go, Fluttershy?"

The pegasus nodded. "We were just in the middle of breakfast."

"Right. Your monthly camping trip," the stallion commented.

"Why don't you come with us next time, Chronicle?" suggested the farmpony.

He thought about it. "Maybe, but even if I can dispatch or leave behind some magical clones to cover for me, my worry could potentially dampen the fun of your trip if I come. I've been more of an urban/city pony, to be honest. And you remember the last time I had some clones tag along, right?"

The two to-be-camping partners remembered, and it was rather embarrassing. It involved someone's lost limited edition boffyball card, Lacertas (lizards of the same Astral Beast category as the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major), a Bugbear, two prosthetic hooves, a special parasprite lure, a smuggled cormorant, and a zebra-racist former Discord cultist. "Well, it's not like those things'll happen every time," she defended.

"True, but again, I'd rather not ruin your fun. You two rarely hang out together alone otherwise. Same goes for Pinkie Pie and Rarity."

Applejack didn't get it. "Together alone? What the hay is that supposed to mean?"

"Meaning just the two of you without a third serving as the bridge. One example of such a bridge would be Rainbow Dash." As he finished a last lettuce leaf, he pointed at Applejack. "She's a fellow athlete like you…" Then gestured at Fluttershy. "And she's her childhood friend. Both of you share an obvious bond with Rainbow, but as far as those not in the know are concerned, there's not much connecting you two with each other."

"I know another example, Chronicle; you and me."

The unicorn had to admit that was a good point. "Guess you're right. I'd ask for another sparring partner, but I prefer practicing against techniques. Compared to other earth pony combatants I've dueled, especially the weapon-less ones, all you got going for you is your strength and lasso." He was met with un-amusement. "But, after your trip, I'll find some free time if you wish to prove me wrong."

Applejack accepted the future challenge. "You're on."


Blue Diary: Recruiting A Native


Nighttime…

The white pegasus flew as fast as he could to the mare's home, which was a shack that was a good distance from Ponyville. The reason he had to hurry was because she was about to make a terrible mistake with her life, a mistake he could fix, even though it may not be easy.

His friends might have acted out of a millennium-long induced paranoia, but that didn't make them turning her away any better or any more justified. With that avenue closed for the time being, his path is the only one that can save her. Well, there was one other, but certain faiths regard it as unforgivable and would condemn her for such an act, not that she saw her current situation as anything worse.

Blue Diary finally reached the shack, seeing the faint glow of a fire from the grime-coated windows. With one final push, he reached the doorway, its door fallen onto the grass outside, and startling the residing pony as he landed on the fallen door and called out her name.

"Sunset Shimmer!"

The pony inside the house was a unicorn mare. Her coat was a shade of amber, her mane crimson with yellow stripes, her eyes cyan, and her cutie mark a stylized sun split in two colors; red and yellow. She looked disheveled, hopeless, ready to do what many ponies driven so deep in despair would do. She was embracing an oil lamp, raised onto her haunches, and was ready to light it to beyond its maximum capacity, and the results would be very, very ugly if she were to go through with it right now. Blue would be safe with his magic swords and amulet, but he can't guarantee Sunset's own safety, if she even wants it.

"What do you want?!" she demanded of him, voice filled with anguish and frustration as she got down on all fours again. The lantern dropped, landing on its base. "Is it not enough for you to ostracize me just for what I look like?! Are you going to take me away as well?!"

He had to calm her down fast and raised a hoof. "No! Nothing of the sort! I just… I just wanted to apologize on behalf of Trixie Lulamoon and the other Elements of Harmony. You just caught them at a very bad time." As soon as Sunset calmed down a bit, showing she was willing to listen, he continued, "A series of assassination attempts came sometime around last week in an attempt to take out the Elements. We managed to halt the attacks just in time, but some of their blade had nearly ended up mere inches to my friends' throats. I'll come by again tomorrow to escort you, and I'll make sure you're not assaulted just for your looks."

Tears began to fall from Sunset's eyes, and she began to sob in disbelief.  "I don't understand. So many ponies have prejudiced me simply because of that. How do you not?"

Blue composed himself as he entered the shack as he waited for her to calm down enough to listen. "Because I live by a quote from my family that says, 'Judge not from looks, but from deeds.' I'm giving you another chance, Sunset, and I'm not gonna let anybody take it away from you this time."

She turned away, facing the lantern again. "It doesn't matter anymore. I can't keep living like this. So much rejection, from fillyhood to adulthood, all because of my bright colors and my sun-themed name…" She struggled to stop from crying all over again, and just managed it. "I just want peace, and I'm done waiting."

The pegasus became solemn. "Is that what you want? Peace from this nightmare that is your life?"

"Yes." Her tone was resolute, and there was no way to turn her from this line of thinking…except for perhaps one other thing.

"All right, then." This seemed to surprise Sunset as she paused from resuming to light the lantern. He was going to give up that easily? Just let her do what she was about to do? "I've got another offer for you."

This confused her. "What?" As she turned to face him again, Blue procured two objects. 

One of them was a clear sphere with a depiction of his cutie mark (minus the two swords crossed behind it) slowly spinning inside it. The symbol also served as a clock face, whose hands spun with the hour hand going as fast as the minute hand would, which in turn was going as fast as the second hand should, which in turn did not exist here. The other was an object that had a square shape with a bronze exterior and a metal arch shape with its ends linked to one side of the square shape.

The pegasus glared at the MemLock, and the metal arch rose a bit, revealing that one end of it was still connected while the other was not. The arch then rotated itself clockwise once before descending itself again into the square shape, which then turned into a gold hue. Next, he tossed down the Time Pocket and a sphere of magic expanded from where it was thrown, engulfing Blue, Sunset, and her entire shack, leaving everything outside of the area save for the two ponies colored in a shade of amber.

"What's going on?" Sunset asked, getting a little frightened.

"Just some insurance in case for whatever reason you decide to go with your original plan," Blue answered before putting his front hooves down. "Now, for my offer."

"First thing," she cut him off, which he allowed. "Who are you, really?"

The pegasus cleared his throat before beginning. Well, his throat was already clear, but he wanted to make sure she was not being currently distracted by what he just used in front of her. "I'm a member of a multiversal organization called the Story Crew, and I'm here to recruit you."

"Wh-wh-what?" Everything was getting so confusing for Sunset, but Blue didn't look the type to trick others, and he certainly seemed sincere with his offer.

The pegasus gave the unicorn a full lowdown of everything he's authorized to tell about the Story Crew, what it does, why it does it, his position and duties in it, and all other sorts of things still classified to their Catalyst. And what Blue thought would enamor to Sunset was the fact that one's past doesn't matter when being recruited; just one's skill sets, and the Story Crew has facilities to change or add to that.

He also embellished the offer with the services the Story Crew provides for its members, but also had to tell her of the dangers the organizations faced and fought. They weren't heartless enough to throw fresh recruits into the fray; combat (physical or political) wasn't everything that mattered in the Story Crew, just for Field Operatives like him and his family.

Once he was done with his long sales pitch (Field Operatives weren't supposed to be doing this, but were taught how anyway just in case of situations like this), Blue took his time to catch his breath, and Sunset waited patiently for him to do that. Once he managed to do that, he asked, "So… what do you think?"

Sunset had some difficulty taking all of this in, and this was assuming Blue was telling the truth; the time-stopping artifact or that "lock" thing wasn't going to be enough. But given her original plan, maybe this would provide a second chance. And if it turns out he was screwing with her, she could always find a way to return to that plan. What was left for her at this point, anyway?

"What do I have to lose?" She stared at Blue straight in the eyes and nodded, her own eyes filled hope but with a little caution. "I'm in."

"All right, then. Let me contact them." Since she wasn't going to be a native denizen in a short while, using the small hammerspace all non-unicorns have, he took out his communicator, activated it, and said, "Hub Office, this is Field Op Blue Diary. I have one case of recruitment, Type Sui, Sub-Type Torch. Requesting transfer."

"Roger that, Field Op. Sending a portal to your location. What do you wish to request for Cover?"

"Explosive to burn down a small run-down shack. Timed. Within local unicorn magic limits."

"…Granted. They'll be in order in just a moment."

"Roger." Blue turned to Sunset and said, "Because of our secrecy policy, we have to curb investigations that may lead to us by giving a very plausible alternate cause. Burning the house down with the lantern and magic is one such cause."

"I see." Just then, a circle of light manifested itself to Sunset's left (and Blue's right). A box also materialized in the middle of it. All of this was still confounding her. "Is that…"

"That, Sunset, is your exit from this world. Just step on the circle," Blue answered as he picked up the box with his front hooves and then set it down elsewhere. Normally, he would be making this easy for himself with his swords or his amulet, but he's been told by his father to practice hoof use more in the event he somehow loses his items. "And in this box is the explosive."

The unicorn was quick to follow as she made her way to the light circle, then turned to face Blue as she took out something from the box and set it in the middle of the shack, tinkering with it somehow with one hoof on it and his other on the amulet he's wearing. She wanted to ask how that small object could take down the entire shack, but given how frail it was, she figured it wouldn't take much. "Is there any chance I might see you again?"

"Doubtful. By the time I get break time to go to Hub Equestria, you'll have found some work to do, and I'm not entitled to find out how our recruits are doing. Besides, I think I already got a marefriend."

"Think? What do you—" Before she could finish her question, the circle did its work by turning into a column of light, which consumed Sunset completely, and thankfully stopped at the roof to avoid being seen by anybody outside. Even if it did go through, it would've been blocked by the bubble cast by Blue's Time Pocket. When the column vanished, so did Sunset.

Thank Luna I didn't have to answer that question, Blue thought to himself as he set the explosive to do its thing in a couple of seconds. Maybe he was missing a few details, but he was sure the other operatives here could fix that, and he could hear their complaints later. With its work done, the Time Pocket stopped and the bubble vanished, turning everything outside of its coverage area back to normal coloration. Okay. Time to enact the plan.

(A/N: And I'm gonna stop it there. If you read the story provided in the link, or even read the context of this sequence, you all know what happens next. As for Blue Diary's involvement since the Story Crew omits his presence, he performs the Wounded Gazelle Gambit, even though he's actually innocent of murder; catching himself in the explosion, with "evidence" being dirt on his back and a dirt trail after being sent flying as he would naturally barrier himself from the explosion.)
> Putting Your Hoof Down
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Putting Your Hoof Down

Dreamscape…

"Heartsong."

"Excuse me?"

"Heartsong. That's what the Musical Number Phenomenon is called in Equestria. Sometimes, an individual's emotions can be so strong that they manifest though their inherent magic in the form of a song. The music and special effects that go with the song come from the planet's ambient magic. Catharsis is induced during someone's Heartsong, so unless you were a part of the song, it would be rude to disrupt it with your noise. If the emotions were happy enough, there's a strong chance that the Heartsong would become a group number, which explains why strangers can learn the song without prior practice."

"Okay. That's interesting. But what are you even doing here, Wand?"

Chronicle was doing more spell-memorization sessions—the dreamscape being an empty black void with a white spotlight around him as usual—when his older brother came over and spouted out this actually reasonable theory.

"Sorry. I was, to paraphrase my Princess, to socialize some more. I will admit I don't really work much with any colleagues during projects, but—"

"What exactly do you do in Twilight Sparkle Equestria?" Chronicle cut off his brother. "I already know what our other siblings do, and what some of our other relatives are on. But I haven't heard yours."

Wand rubbed his nape in embarrassment. "Well, unlike the Equestrias you, our siblings, Ruby Gear and her siblings, David, Rock, and so on are assigned to, mine's not exactly 'OF Story-worthy' to many client worlds."

"Oh." An 'OF Story-worthy' world means what 'tales' the Story Crew can gather from it have enough worth to be transmitted to "client world" authors, producers, scriptwriters, and/or all other crew essential to making an official fictional work. Chronicle was told that his tale's client world was at the same one their Catalyst's resided in, while the others had their other client worlds. Their tales did make it to the Catalysts's world as well, but only one world per cluster has clearance for 'OF Story-worth' to a "client world" at a time, so the other tales 'have to settle' for fanfic writers.

(What does this mean to you, reader? It means that in an alternate Earth, an AU fanfic series here like "RainbowDoubleDash's Lunaverse" is their "Maneverse" there, while our "Maneverse" would be something like "{InsertNameHere}'s Celestiaverse" or some such instead.)

"As for what I do, all that's done there is discover new spells for the betterment of ponykind and beyond. If there are life lessons being learned by the natives, I'm not around to witness them often. Still, we're not involved enough to get mixed up in Story Crew affairs like the Solar Empire, Lunar Republic, Corona Blaze, or Princess Pinkie Pie. There's even mass production for air transportation that don't involve pegasi pulling them."

"I heard it's just starting in Luna Equestria, while I did see one blimp's maiden voyage once during Rarity's trip a few days before Twilight's birthday." And then Chronicle realized something. "Whoops. Twilight Prime." After all, Wand's Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn princess.

"Oh yeah. Speaking of Blue, I'm afraid he won't be available for dreamscaping much at the moment. Last I heard, it's spring there, and he and the other Knights, a.k.a. the Elements of Harmony, are taking a world tour of sorts. And Corona's started to become more active. Nothing of concern to the Story Crew in general, though."

"I see." After a few seconds of awkward silence, he started again. "Well, wanna spar? I got a few hours left before waking time."

"Sure thing, Brother," Wand agreed as he conjured an orb of light, ready to absorb whatever attacks his brother was going to start with, unless it's to charge with his signature horn blade, in which case he's ready to teleport away before blasting.


SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM—SCFIM


Daytime…

"Just what exactly did you do that made Angel so unreasonably angry with you today that he wanted that special meal?"

Fluttershy and her coltfriend, both equipped with saddlebags, were shopping at the marketplace. Or was it just the town square, and it was farmer's season or something with all the produce stands set up there? He wasn't sure. Curiously, Graphite also had a stall open here. The two shoppers were at his stall now, the unicorn waiting for his purchase.

"To be honest, even I don't know for sure. But it must've been very embarrassing. I did stay away from home for quite a long time after getting away from you guys when you wanted to invite me to see the Dragon Migration."

"I'll admit even I was a bit terrified that time," Chronicle reminisced. "Guess it was a good thing you didn't come. Was it any better showing it to you later?"

"I…guess it was," Fluttershy had to admit. "The roars aren't as loud, and I guess dragons aren't as scary on your 'screen' as they are up close."

"Well, auras of intimidation are hard to replicate. One has to resort to knowledge and proper immersion to give a proper scare that way."

"Yeah. Who knows what happened at the cottage while I was gone? It was early afternoon by the time I returned." The Migration was some time around 11 o'clock, and the gang tried and failed to convince her to come along some time at 10:30.

"Angel must've been working overtime to get the animals under control," guessed the unicorn. "Maybe some of the dragon roars spooked them and you weren't around to calm them down."

"Can you check to make sure? Or…"

"I don't have one tagged on Angel." Being out on the public means he can't mention his Surveillance. "Perhaps I should. Thanks for reminding me." By this point, the duo have reached the marketplace proper. "What did Angel want again?"

She explained the "salad piled high with fruit and topped with whipped cream and a cherry" that the bunny wanted. Meanwhile, Graphite came with what Chronicle purchased and passed it over to him ("Thanks.").

"I see. Well, you have to make it up to him. He did work overtime on your behalf, after all." They bid Graphite farewell and continued on their way. "Oh, here." Chronicle 'passed' his marefriend what looked like a black ball stuffed with grainy material. "It's a pepper bomb. Graphite's been getting another supplier. I know you can take care of yourself, but you can use that to save some poor animal from a poacher or something without having to put yourself between them, especially since you don't like fighting and they might not wish to be diplomatic. Just toss that in their face, and skedaddle with the animal victim."

Fluttershy was naturally hesitant as her saddlebag was opened. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I can."

"I'm not asking you to use it now." her coltfriend assured. "Just keep it with you. Or let Angel keep it or something, okay?"

"Okay."

After a while, they reached their next destination. From what they could see, Cherry Berry was purchasing some apples, Lucky Clover was seeing off Bon Bon (whose saddlebags were green and its clasp depicted Lyra Heartstrings's cutie mark), who was en route to Lyra at a far-off table. 

"All right. What's left on the list?" he asked as the shopping scroll was held up.

"Hmmm…let’s see." Radishes, carrots, and broccoli are checked off, but asparagus and tomatoes (among other things) weren't. "Asparagus."

The two walked over to an asparagus stand just nearby. In front of them, Caramel and Goldengrape just finished purchasing. Just before they could reach it though, an orange-maned unicorn mare with reading glasses zipped in and beats them to it. She appeared identical to Lucy, the pegasus stage manager back in the Best Young Flyer Competition, but with three immediate differences: the lack of a headset microphone, fact that she is of a different race, and a cutie mark of a bunch of carrots.

Chronicle's first impulse was to yell at her for cutting in line, but he then realized this was a good opportunity for Fluttershy to apply what he's been trying to teach her: assertiveness. Teaching has been difficult, as she still finds it a bit difficult to apply to strangers. He doesn't know what he's doing wrong; maybe he's not being assertive enough with her, and the irony isn't lost on him.

"Um…" Fluttershy turned to face her unicorn companion, who in turn urged her.

"Come on," he said. "Best time to start as any."

Nodding, she turned back to the line-cutter. "Excuse me, um, I think you just stepped in front of me?" The line-cutter paid no mind, levitating a coin onto the counter and floating a bunch away as she spoke—with some annoyance—and departed. "Excuse me, I think you made a mistake?" She then hastily begun to follow her, Chronicle keeping her spot in line. "You see, I was actually here first and—" 

"Sorry, didn’t notice you there!" the line-cutter replied, somewhat rudely.

"I know."

Back at the stand, an elderly earth pony stallion approached. His laugh and mumble caught her off guard, and she came up behind him. Her coltfriend has already left the line, asparagus already purchased, and he was urging her to try again as he motioned with his head.

And so she did. "Oh, pardon me, sir."

The old stallion mumbled, holding up an ear trumpet. "Yes? What?"

"I think you just cut in front of me."

"A cut of celery?" He misheard as he lowered his trumpet and let out a disdainful mutter. "This is the asparagus stand!"

"I said…" She leaned toward the ear trumpet to speak into it."…I think you just cut in front of me!"

His response was to flip a coin onto the counter and laugh. "No need, dearie. I’m already in front."

"I noticed," she muttered to herself, a bit annoyed.

Grabbing a bunch in his teeth, he walked off. Two earth pony mares stood up into view to take his place. The first was light blue, with two-tone orange hair secured by magenta bows; the other was light pink, her two-tone blue mane/tail held with light yellow bands, and has lightning-bolt earrings and orange sunglasses. Both were dressed in what Chronicle distinguished as "typical 1980s fashion", and spoke with a "valley girl" accent. Their cutie marks were a palm tree and surfboard, respectively.

He had no idea just how they got there so quickly, given they weren't unicorns, and his Magic Sight didn't reveal any artifacts on hoof.

"…and then I was like, 'Uh, well…'", one of them was rambling.

"Hey!" Pegasus and unicorn cried out. Both rolled their eyes at them.

"Would you mind moving back? You’re in my personal space."

"But—"

"Seriously, do you need your asparagus so badly?" the other asked as Fluttershy began to slink back. "Get a life!" She had her pal snickered softly as the pegasus retreated past Pinkie Pie and Rarity without noticing them.

"Oh, okay. There’s no rush." 

Meanwhile, Chronicle was approaching them, incensed at their rudeness. "Yes, she does. Cutting in line is rude and you two just did so. So…"

If there was anything else he was saying, Fluttershy didn't catch it as Rarity caught her attention. "Fluttershy! You mustn’t let them treat you that way."

The yellow mare just turned away. "Oh, it’s—it’s really no big deal." One bunch of asparagus was left now, the other two having been purchased right after Chronicle shooed them off.

"It’s bigger than big!" insisted Pinkie. "It’s double-big! You are a pony with a problem!"

"What problem?"

The pink pony let out a long gasp. "You mean…he hasn't told you?! What exactly have you two been doing together, if not what I hope he's doing?!"

"Pinkie…" Chronicle warned as he went over to them. "That's not something you're supposed to say in public, especially if it isn't what you think it is."

The other two traded a calculating glance and nodded, after which Pinkie turned Fluttershy to face the stand and zipped up to it so fast that the yellow pony got spun in place and dumped flat.

"Oh, go right ahead, Pinkie Pie. You first."

"Right there!" Pinkie said, tapping Fluttershy’s forehead. "That’s the problem!"

"You’ve got to stop being such a doormat," Rarity told their pegasus friend as she stood up.

She was confused. "A doormat?"

"A pushover, darling." Unicorn mare turned to address unicorn stallion. "How are you not making any progress with her after so long?"

"She was doing well when it comes to being assertive towards me, but it seems she has problems with strangers." Chronicle rubbed his nape as he mulled over something. "I seriously don't know what I'm doing wrong."

Rarity turned her attention back to their pushover of a friend, which they really want her not to be. "You’ve got to stand up for yourself! Promise us."

Fluttershy was still uncertain, walking to stand. "Okay. I promise." She glimpsed at the last bunch of asparagus on the stand. "Oh, good!"

Before she can lay her money down, a geeky earth pony stallion strolled past and nipped the produce away, tossing a coin down in its place. He had an off-white coat, brown hair, taped-together glasses in front of blue eyes, straggly mustache over pronounced buck teeth, and a very bad complexion. He carried saddlebags and wore a green bow tie with white cross-hatched stripes. And his cutie mark seemed to depict a…robot, the kind invented by college geeks with engineering degrees in their spare time or for projects. His name was Gyro, and he was a colleague of Tricky Books' and his friends. A couple of months into the future, he would eventually meet a mare named Berry Dreams, but that's another story altogether.

"Oh, that’s okay, I don’t mind." 

Rarity began to race over. "Watch and learn," she said as she trotted toward the geek, but a magic tether wound itself around her barrel and pulled her back.

"Uh-uh-uh," warned Chronicle as he reeled her in. "That won't be necessary." He promptly produced the asparagus he bought. "Already got one."

"Well, she needs to learn to—"

"Con a pony with her charms?" he finished. "Not happening, ever. Especially not on a poor geek like him. You could scar him into thinking the only reason an attractive mare would ever talk to him would be because of something he has and never for what he is."

"Wow," mused Pinkie. "You're a real considerate small-time hero on top of your bodyguarding! Impressive!"

"Thanks, Pinkie."

"Is it really that—" Rarity tried to reason, but the stallion wasn't having any of it.

"Yes. I try to think of others whenever I can."

"And yet when you do those kinds of things…"

"Better me than anyone else." I don't take pride in my moral compass…do I? Not wanting to discuss this further, he changed the subject. "But enough about me. I thought we were helping Fluttershy here."

Rarity didn't like this, but decided she could confront him about this subject another time as she took out Fluttershy's shopping list and unrolled it. "All right, then! What else is on your list?" 

"Let’s see. I also need tomatoes."


C—R—F—PP—C—R—F—PP—C—R—F—PP


The company of four went over to the tomato stall run by an earth pony mare with a white hat and a cutie mark of three tomatoes, and there were three left on the counter. One yellow swept them gently off, and Fluttershy leaned in to lay down a bit in her teeth.

"Here you go."

"Um, I think you forgot something," Chronicle said as she walked away, seeing the perplexedness of the vendor. As well as the price signs posted on the barrels next to the stand.

As predicted, the tomato vendor cleared her throat. "That’ll be two bits…" Fluttershy stopped. "…not one."

"Oh, but last week it was only one bit."

"That was then, this is now." 

She lay another coin down. "Oh, okay. I don’t want to argue about it."

As soon as she backed away, an indignant Pinkie took her place. Chronicle stepped in, too, but for different reasons. "What do you think you’re doing?" the confectioner/babysitter asked.

"Minding my own business. Maybe you should try it."

"Oh?" said Chronicle. "Perhaps I should then ask for two more tomatoes, then."

This caught his friend and the vendor off guard. "What?!" they both gasped.

"If this sign is correct…" Summoning his white glove, he picked up the sign with it and showed it to the vendor. "It clearly states two bits for three tomatoes." For emphasis, he extended three fingers.

"It's supposed to mean two bits for a tomato. Everypony in Ponyville knows that."

"What if an out-of-towner saw this sign? You could be accused for false advertising. Are you gonna have this kind of argument with every customer who doesn't know better?"

"What do you care? You already bought your tomato."

"Evading the issue isn't going to solve it. At least change the sign as soon as you can. Now, two more tomatoes, as your sign helpfully says, please."

To his mild surprise, rather than concede, the vendor swiped the sign from him, took out a marker, obscured two of the tomatoes, returned the sign to its place, then did the same with the other sign. "There. Happy?"

"…All right, then." And with that, he backed off. 

Pinkie, however, wasn't finished yet. "Two bits for tomatoes is outrageous." She pulled one bit away. "One bit is the right price."

The tomato vendor: pulled that bit back. "I say it’s two bits!"

Pinkie pulled it away again. "One bit!"

The vendor pointed to the sign. "Two bits!"

Chronicle knew where this was going, and didn't bother to stay and watch because it was ridiculous. He turned to the others and said, "I'm just gonna finish up the list while Pinkie continues to haggle, okay? I'll find you girls later."

"All right, then. Take care!" Rarity bid farewell as he left.

As he walked, he tried to recall the unchecked items in the list, and remembered there was a cherry in that list, and nothing else. Looking around, he found the cherry vendor stall, which was tended to by an impassive, stubble-faced pegasus stallion. He took a glance at the price sign, approached the stall, and put down the required bits to purchase the required fruit. As he did, he gave an expression that indicated he was not going to brook any price changes, and the cherry was given with no further bargaining.

With that done, he made his way to one of the many tables around, seating himself, and then accessing Surveillance, the screen appearing in his vision, but not visible to any who would look at him. He then 'rolled back' to one particular moment…


F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Mystic Shield's Self-Defense Academy For Unicorns…

Not many were pleased with their newest classmate, even though their teacher couldn't have known since he was away when the blue monsters attacked Ponyville. She had been one of the six they've seen who were allied with those creatures. Having personally clashed against her, Twilight Sparkle had the most reason to not like her. Chronicle however was merely surprised.

"Now, I'm aware that Midnight Shadow here apparently has some history with this town," Mystic Shield explained amidst the hostile murmurs. "And she has bared everything regarding it to me. But she is here in Ponyville under probation, and while I won't ask you to forgive her so easily, do try not to induce a relapse with excess hostilities."

"I know I have done you all a terrible sin by putting myself in league with monsters that have attacked your town, and your distrust is well-placed," confessed Midnight, standing next to Mystic, the hood of the cloak she was wearing not covering her face, which was filled with grief. "That is exactly why I am here, to try and set things right, one deed at a time. This path I take is long an arduous, but it's no less than what I deserve."


C—TS—MS—MS—C—TS—MS—MS—C—TS—MS—MS


After classes…

The two co-teachers and the Spirit of Magic were discussing a private matter inside the kitchen. Mystic was preparing his own dinner, using a magic-powered rice cooker while he chopped up the ingredients he planned to mix into it.

"I'm not sure if teaching her is a good idea," Twilight voiced her doubts as she and her charge sat at the dinner table. But they'll be having dinner back at the library. "Ever since our encounter with Midnight, I checked the records from Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns just in case it turns out she was once a student. Turns out, she was a dropout after she dabbled in the dark arts—"

"That's harsh," Chronicle commented, thinking on Princess Luna.

"—for malevolent purposes."

"Okay. Justified harshness."

"I just worry she might be using your lessons for her own ends, Mystic."

The teacher let out a frustrated sigh as he continued his own cooking. "Instructions aren't the only thing I hammer into my student's heads. Twilight. There's also philosophy involved." And besides, you, Spike, and some of your friends have caused some chaos in this town before, and none of you haven't gotten much flak for it because of your connections. But he didn't mention that part. "I was hoping you could help in redeeming her, so if she's pretending all this, you can hopefully turn this 'pretend friendship'—if there's any—into a real one."

"I agree with Mystic," piped in Chronicle. "It's always good to have as many allies as we can. There are just some threats where using the Elements is inappropriate, and is best reserved for others. Besides, if anything happens, we can handle it."

Twilight had to agree with Mystic. She spent most of the day scrutinizing Midnight whenever she can, and from what she can see in conversations, Midnight seemed very remorseful, nothing like the arrogant taunting dark-caster she, Spike and Kairi battled before. If she hadn't confessed to her crimes, Twilight'd even swear the pony in front of her was a different individual altogether. Maybe the Elements of Discord also factored in to her personality when they first met, and now it's gone. There's also the fact that Midnight and her companions also underwent therapy, so there's that. 

Besides, redemption has to start somewhere. Princess Luna doesn't count because they used the Elements to purge Nightmare Moon from her. She also did Trixie, but doing long-term hasn't been something available to do or ever occurred until now.

"I guess—"


E—N—D—F—L—A—S—H—B—A—C—K


Chronicle's reverie was broken when somebody whispered to him. When he started paying visual attention to his surroundings again, he saw a familiar big red pegasus mare in front of him. Immediately identifying a familiar hostile, his horn flared. Immediately, the whisperer raised a hoof in plea.

"Shh! I just need to talk to you for a few seconds!"

"Why sneak up on me, then?" he hissed in reply as he returned to the table.

"I didn't. You were spaced out and I just trotted over."

"Okay, so what's this about? I heard from Mystic Shield who heard from Midnight Shadow that you were under some kind of parole here."

Warmonger rubbed her nape as she thought of what to say next. "Well, I've been attending anger management classes, despite the fact that a short temper is not one of my shortcomings. I could use some meditation lessons, though. But my real issue is some unexplainable phobia I developed regarding…" She looked around for something or somepony, and then leaned closer to him. "Your marefriend."

"What?!" he whispered back. "How do you know that?"

"Everypony in Ponyville knows it, and I do listen to gossip."

He mentally slapped himself for forgetting that. "Oh, right. Wait…" He finally pieced together what exactly Warmonger was saying and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Are you saying you're afraid of Fluttershy?"

The red pegasus planted her face onto the table. "I know. It's embarrassing. I know while setting her off is a bad idea I learned first-hoof, I also know it actually takes a lot to get her to that point. But every time I see that face behind her long mane… the image of such fury haunts me every night after I see her. I know I need a therapist, but I didn't even know I had this problem until I got here. I don't react to photos and such of her, but her physical presence…" She moaned as she got up again. "…it makes my fur stand on end."

While this was a very interesting and enlightening conversation, Chronicle did have something else to ask. "I appreciate you talking to me even when we were on opposing sides when we last and first met, but…why are you telling me this?" He titled his head at an angle for a while to emphasize this. "You said so yourself that you need a therapist."

"You're the closest pony to her that I'm familiar with. And from what I've heard around town, among the Elements of Harmony, even though you aren't one yourself, you're the only one who's willing to show mercy to familiar enemies. Or at least be willing to hear them out. The others would've reacted either with hostility or fear."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not that good to be your first option. Surely you've also heard that I'm also more prone to considering violent methods, crossing lines they wouldn't, making threats, and calling out whoever I think is doing something stupid."

"Well, that's true," Warmonger rubbed her nape again. "But…" After a few more seconds of trying to figure out what to say next, she instead opted for slamming her face to the table again. "I don't even know what I'm doing. I just feel so empty, and being the wrathful pony I used to be has lost all of its appeal, now that I've had the time to look back. I don't know what to do next. I've been kicked out of the Royal Guard due to my battle lust, which has been been expunged from my system thanks to therapy. Very. Intense. Therapy."

Chronicle felt a twinge of jealousy, as he and the Element Bearers were provided no such sessions, instead having to resort to their own friendship to fix their problems, as his and Twilight's psychotic episodes can attest to for starters. But he didn't voice those thoughts out loud. Then again, he rarely heard of great heroes ever getting therapy, except he and his friends live normal lives most of the time. Come to think of it, as he continued to spend time in Ponyville, what Twilight had claimed during their first night in the town is starting to ring a little bit of truth; every pony in this town was crazy, though thankfully still functional in society.

His, Spike's, and the Element Bearers' problems aside, Mystic Shield seems to be working a bit too hard on ensuring that his teachings will continue through Greatstone, there's Lyra Heartstrings's antics that veer a little too close to the truth about him (not that he's a target of her investigation), the "Flower Trio" have had plenty of panic attacks with everything that has gone on in this town, Doctor Whooves has actually had more adventures and traumas than Record Keeper's entire roster of Field Operatives combined and having the Hooves family join on occasion isn't helping matters, Bon Bon has a habit of speaking in different voices every day (though thankfully her 'pool' is a bit small), Diamond Tiara's parents are letting her be such a jerk (one even encourages it), and he swears Skyla's interest in Rainbow Dash is a little more than just her mission as an Undercover Wonderbolt (though thankfully not as bad as some conventional stalkers, romantic or otherwise).

"I haven't seen any official therapists here though, but they have all other kinds of doctors," Warmonger continued. "I really should start making friends, but aside from Midnight Shadow, who I know is also here, I don't know where to start."

A quiet sigh followed as a certain pony joined her coltfriend and sat by the larger mare.

"Angel's gonna be so mad at me," she said, not noticing the red pegasus shiver. "I failed to buy the cherry he wanted so much."

Chronicle was caught off guard by this situation, unsure of what he could do without offending or emotionally hurting either of them. On one hoof, his marefriend was right in front of him. On the other, Warmonger certainly needs help and cannot be turned away.

Warmonger removed the choice from him. "Maybewecanmeetagainatanothertime?" she spoke in rapid-fire. "Pleasetellmewhere."

Being friends with Pinkie Pie, he understood her perfectly. "Books and Branches Library. 'Round the back, at the training range. Next Monday morning. Try Skyla."

"Okaythanksbye!" And with that, she zoomed straight up and away…taking the table umbrella with her since she flew straight into it as she fled. Naturally, the quickness of her flight sent a strong wind blowing towards where she just left.

The ridiculousness of this exit left the two now at the table, as well as Pinkie and Rarity a short distance away, stunned silent. Well, there were others, but none of them were relevant. Rarity was the first to break it. "Just who was that mare you were talking to?"

"If I didn't know any better," Pinkie added. "I'd say she was afraid of you, Fluttershy."

"That's because she is," Chronicle said. Warmonger never mentioned needing to keep this a secret from his friends. Besides, they'll all eventually know that she and Midnight Shadow are presently Ponyville residents, and he won't be there all the time to serve as mediator, a role he'd recently found himself taking a little more often than usual. 

As expected, Fluttershy felt terrible, though not as much as during the first day after the blue monster attack in Ponyville. "I'm so sorry for her. What I did to her was worse than…than…" Despite her demeanor, she was used to the concept of death; her animal caretaking career has had her share of animals that were beyond saving from injury or disease, or were simply near the end of their lifetimes. "I traumatized her, but I didn't realize it was this bad."

"Nopony's holding it against you," Chronicle assured. "You had to protect a friend. That's what matters."

"I'm not at all comfortable with that…" Rarity paused for a bit. "…mare around. Why is she here, anyway?"

"During our stay at at Canterlot after we thwarted the blue monster attack, I asked around, starting with Princess Celestia, on what was going to happen to her and the others. From what I'm told, she and Midnight Shadow are here on a probation of sorts, and they have guards to keep them in check, hidden from/in plain sight."

"What about the others?" asked Pinkie.

"Bluebird and Black Rainbow are under probation in the latter's hometown, and Jewel's under house arrest in Canterlot. Unfortunately, Fungus Amongus managed to escape custody and is currently on the run."

"Well, that's a bummer."


C—R—F—PP—W—C—R—F—PP—W—C—R—F—PP—W


Later, at Fluttershy's cottage…

Chronicle watched through the door as a gray goat carrying a basket of envelopes/pamphlets in its teeth, walked away over the bridge spanning the brook. He wore a red necktie and a wireless headset microphone, and a laminate-style ID badge hung around his neck. The mailbox also happened to be stuffed with the day’s deliveries, and he decided to take them out before coming back in.

Inside the cottage, Angel was sitting at a table and tying a napkin around his neck. Across from him was a candle in a bottle. Fluttershy set down the piled-high salad from the cookbook—with everything but the cherry on top. And then the unicorn remembered the cherry he bought earlier and took it out of hammerspace.

"Ta-da!" His marefriend said to her pet as Angel opened his mouth to gulp it down. "Here you go, Angel. Sorry there’s no cherry on top, but—" His ears popped up in surprise, and he pulled out the cookbook for a read. "—the rest of it is exactly what you wanted."

After a couple of glances at the page and the food, his expression turned into the sort that a very small child might display before launching into a full-scale tantrum ("Angel?")…which instantly evaporated when the cherry in question suddenly appeared. He blinked in confusion for a few seconds before shrugging and chowing down.

"You're welcome," Chronicle said to the pegasus before she could ask. "Last time he got that angry, he bodily threw me out of the cottage after I…" She still doesn't know that he was actually lying about his magic aura having a negative effect on insect life. "…dealt with a parasprite that flew in here, destroying one of your books in the process (sorry), and then accidentally stepped on him right after. Didn't think that was even possible for a rabbit like him to do until he grabbed me." He then changed the subject as he checked the mail. "Clearly, I'm not as good of a teacher as I thought."

And then one particular pamphlet caught his eye. Its front cover showed the red silhouette of a bull’s head. "Huh. “The incredible Iron Will turns doormats into dynamos.”" He unfolded it, and a little bull-headed figure popped out. "“Assertiveness seminar today, hedge maze center.” Fluttershy, I think you should try this out. Looks promising."

She turned to look at the pamphlet, then walked over to his side to see the details. Then, her eyebrows descended into a glare of sudden resolve, startling the unicorn a bit. Then again, she came over to his table depressed after failing to purchase a cherry. Perhaps that had something to do with this. "As Celestia is my witness, I’m never gonna be a pushover again!" she declared.

"That's the spirit!" Chronicle replied with a smile on his face.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F


Eyecatch (picture-type) - Fluttershy and her coltfriend reading Iron Will's pamphlet. The show's logo is seen on the upper right.


C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F—C—F


The Hedge Maze…

The two followed the instructions on the pamphlet and approached the hedge maze that was now ahead of them, seen from the top of a nearby hill. Chronicle got flashbacks of the one Discord trapped him and his friends in and corrupted them one by one, and quickly shook his head vigorously to remove those thoughts. There was a banner over the entrance, and a visible stage proscenium at the center. Both carries the bull-head design from the pamphlet.

It also seemed that they weren't the only ones coming, quite obviously. And a lot of them seemed to be Ponyvillians he was familiar with, and they seemed to have enough assertiveness in them he wonders why they're even here. As everypony filed in, he could also see a white goat—outfitted identically to the gray one that he saw left Fluttershy’s cottage some time ago—standing here to keep an eye on things; the only difference is that this one’s tie is blue rather than red.

Well behind the others, Fluttershy peeked timidly around the corner and let her eyes pop when she noticed the goat, whose attention is directed elsewhere. She proceeded to slink in as if wishing she could cast an industrial-strength invisibility spell over herself. Chronicle on the other hand just strolled in casually as he took a look at the stage ahead. Speakers were set up at each end, along with a topiary carved to resemble a muscular minotaur. After a moment, Fluttershy began to ease across the front row, much to his surprise, as he was content to stay at the back, so he decided to follow.

Amid occasional little yelps, Fluttershy said, "Oh!…Excuse me."

She shoehorned herself in between Daisy and Bon Bon, to the amusement of neither, and gave them the biggest “please don’t hurt me” grin she can muster, coupled with her coltfriend's “don't you dare” glare. However, it failed to have any impact, judging from her short and graceless trajectory over the crowd to land in its back row, followed swiftly by two hard slaps with a summoned paddle ("You two know me. What the ████ were you two thinking?") before he teleported after her. Now the speakers blared a pounding rock beat as both goats got into position. The white one started up a fog machine, while the gray one switched on a spotlight on an elevated platform and aimed it at the stage. The illuminated circle settle on the center of the hazy area as the music built into a vaguely familiar tune for him. Something about a tiger.

Through the fog, a caped figure rose into view, bearing the same horns as those seen around the area. One goat darted in to nip the cape away and fully expose the wearer’s silhouette: bull head, muscular humanoid arms and torso, standing upright on a bull’s rear legs, long slim tail. Fireworks burst around this figure, which punched at the air as the fog cleared away to expose more details of what the pamphlet advertised as Iron Will: black necktie, Mohawk-cut dark mane, and black necktie. He punched at the air as the crowd cheered and stomped its approval. Once the light show died down, he can be seen to have dark gray legs and lighter, blue-gray hair over the rest of his body and tail. There was also a wireless headset microphone plugged into his ear, a ring through his nose, and a short tuft of beard, and he kissed his biceps before addressing the crowd and pacing the stage. His overall demeanor lay somewhere between “motivational speaker” and “professional wrestler”, all further amplified by the sound system.

"Welcome, friends!" he greeted as he paced across the stage, the goats descending to the front of the stage. "My name is Iron Will, and today is the first day of your new life!" He then rotated his right arm for a few cycles before putting his hand to his ear. "I want to hear you stomp if you’re tired of being a pushover!"

The crowd did exactly that while cheering wildly. Fluttershy jumped up and down, trying to get a good look at him from the back. Chronicle on the other hoof was getting a nagging recall of a certain warning he was given long ago, but he couldn't quite place the details.

"Stomp if you’re tired of being a doormat!" he said with his arms outstretched as he sidestepped from one end of the stage to the other before assuming the akimbo position. 

They did so. 

"Stomp if you want to pay nothing for this seminar!" he said as he sidestepped again back to the left side of the stage.

They did so again, but this response quickly gave way to confused murmurs and then laughter. Even Chronicle couldn't resist letting off a scoff. A steely glare and huff from Iron stopped them cold.

"That’s no joke, friends. Iron Will is so confident that you will be one hundred percent satisfied with Iron Will’s assertiveness techniques that if you are not one hundred percent satisfied, you pay nothing!" He then leaned over the edge and toward one stallion. Chronicle couldn't identify who it was from his distance. "But I pity the fool who doubts Iron Will’s methods." Iron then got in his face, getting on the backs of his two goat assistants in the process. "You don’t doubt me, do you?"

The audience stallion was nervously sweating. "Oh! Uh-uh, no, sir."

The rest of the audience voiced their agreement, as Iron backed up slightly.

"That, my friends, is your first lesson. Don’t be shy—" He winked "—look ’em in the eye."

All the way at the back, Fluttershy smiled to herself as the crowd talked excitedly and Iron returned to the stage.

"Now, to demonstrate that Iron Will’s techniques will work for anypony, I’m gonna need a volunteer."

Dozens of hooves instantly shot up, but Fluttershy sank out of sight instead while Chronicle just looked on passively. Both goats moved through the crowd, scoping out the prospects. White then stopped to bleat and point at one certain pony, and Gray returned to the stage to tell the boss.

Iron then pointed somewhere. "You in the back row!" The crowd immediately parted, exposing a huddled Fluttershy trying to disappear behind her own mane as Rose and Lily parted as well, with Chronicle standing off to the side.

"Who, me?" she gasped.

"Yes, you! Iron Will wants you onstage!" 

She swallowed hard. "Uh, well…" 

"Now!"

After shuddering, she conceded, to her coltfriend's urging. "Okay."

She trotted behind the crowd and up onto one end of the stage, Chronicle following her up, but White darted in to bar the way as soon as she arrived. Her dodge around the goat was met with a second interception.

"Whoa, he’s blocking your path! What are you gonna do about it?" Iron said.

"Um, politely walk around him?"

Chronicle smacked himself in the face with his hoof.

"No."

"Gingerly tiptoe around him?"

The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Iron was getting a bit annoyed. "No."

"Go back home and try again tomorrow?" 

"This is an assertiveness seminar," Chronicle told her. "That's not a suitable answer."

Iron proceeded to move behind Fluttershy. "No! When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!"

The end of this, which was aimed at the back of her head, was delivered with the intensity of a small gale. Now the self-help minotaur flicked an index finger into Fluttershy’s rump, hard enough to propel her into White and knock him away. She got knocked silly for a moment, while White tumbled down on his back. Her coltfriend felt a little offense for Iron's touching her rump and glared at the minotaur for it.

"Oh! Sorry."

"Don’t be sorry! Be assertive!" Iron admonished. "Never apologize when you can criticize!"

"Getting in someone's way without having a good reason doesn't deserve much apology," Chronicle added as Iron cleared his throat, then leaned down over the supine White at close range. 

"Why don’t you watch where you’re going?" He stood up again and addressed Fluttershy at normal volume. "Now, you try."

The soft-spoken pegasus glanced down at White, then at Chronicle, who gestured her to go ahead, then at White again. "Uh…" After a bit, she worked up a little nerve. "…next time, get out of the way before I bump into you, ’cause I totally won’t be sorry when I do!"

She grimaced as if expecting a blow, but Iron just smiled as coins rang up in his eyes—money in the bank. 

"That's a start," Chronicle said as he nodded.

Iron then proceeded to grab his marefriend's foreleg. "You see, my friends?" He hoisted her up, cut to frame both. "If my techniques can work for this shy little pony, then they can work for anypony!"

Fireworks exploded around them while the crowd cheered wildly, and a smile gradually settled on Fluttershy’s face. 


C—BB—F—D—IW—C—BB—F—D—IWC—BB—F—D—IW


Days later (because lesson applications can't be applied in just one day)…

"Okay." Fluttershy was regarding herself in a large mirror that had one of Iron’s pamphlets taped to either side of its frame; many of her animal friends, as well as Chronicle, were watching. "I feel good. I feel ready to 'attack the day,' as Iron Will says." She trotted determinedly across the room, and to the front door to open it.

The first thing she (and Chronicle as he joined her) saw was an old brown stallion with a streaming garden hose nozzle in his mouth. A ragged blanket was draped over his back, concealing whatever cutie mark he had. A tall, battered hat covered his head (and horn if he was a unicorn, which was unlikely), leaving a few unkempt gray locks of mane to hang down from under its brim. His tail was equally ragged, and he had a long wisp of beard as well and was chewing on a stalk of wheat. He was humming to himself while currently watering a rather swampy patch of flowers.

"Not again," Chronicle groaned as he and Fluttershy galloped over.

"Excuse me, Mr. Greenhooves," the pegasus said. "But I-I think you might be over-watering my petunias…" Greenhooves chuckled. "…again."

The gardener then scornfully replied, "Let the professional handle it."

As she turned around to go back to the cottage, the unicorn spoke, "I'm pretty sure even a novice like me can see that over-watering plants is bad for their health."

Erstwhile, behind him, his marefriend snapped fully upright after only a step or two. As Greenhooves hummed some more, she opened her mouth to speak, closes it, then found her nerve.

“Treat me like a pushover and you’ll get the once-over,” she emulated Iron Will before putting her hoof down on the hose, pinching it off so that the water backed up and caused the tubing to bulge like an over-inflated balloon. Mr. Greenhooves eyed the suddenly dry nozzle.

"Hm?" he mused as she shook and peered into it. "Hmmm…"

Chronicle immediately turned around to see his pegasus friend and was a little appalled by what she did as she then moved her hoof so that the backed-up water surged along the hose. Immediately, he conjured a panel barrier between himself and the inevitable loud splash that deluged Greenhooves, and backed up as the soaked, spluttering gardener did so too.

"Well, perhaps that is enough water," Greenhooves relented with a big, sheepish grin.

Fluttershy replied disdainfully, "Thank you." And she turned away, not noticing the frown that came over the old face, and trotted off, her coltfriend shaking his head in disappointment before following. At the top of the bridge over the brook, on her way off the property, she reared up and let off a giddy little squeal. "I can’t believe it worked!" And she went on with a giggle. 

"You could've just swiped the hose from him, you know," Chronicle said. "Waste less water that way."

Rather than apologize as usual, she just remained silent.


C—F—MG—C—F—MG—C—F—MG—C—F—MG—C—F—MG


Later, elsewhere…

"Showpony business is tough."

"Like, go ahead. Try one of your jokes out on me. I laugh at everything."

Chronicle and his marefriend overheard Cherry Berry and Bon Bon as they approached a bridge. They were standing side-by-side, hooked up in harnesses each attached to a wagonload of garbage, which was blocking their way. Worse, the wagon-pullers were on the other side.

Rude! he thought to himself.

"Okay, okay, okay. A donkey and a mule are stuck on a desert island." Cherry was interrupted when Fluttershy cleared her throat firmly, stepping on the bridge.

"Excuse me! Would you mind moving your carts so I can pass?" 

Both obstructors glared back at her and his coltfriend, not at all intimidated by him for some reason, despite his reputation.

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute. I just want to finish up this story." Cherry and Bon Bon faced front again. "And so the donkey says to the mule—"

Fluttershy was getting irritated, as was Chronicle. "A-hem! Can you move? You’re blocking my path."

"You're being very inconsiderate here," he decided to speak up. "You know who we are right?"

"Yes," said Bon Bon. "And we know one of you is a pegasus, and one of you can teleport. You can get around us no problem, so why are you arguing?"

"What about others who don't have either our advantages, huh? What about them, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll move in a minute!" Cherry said before continuing her story again. "So the donkey says to the mule…" 

"Ugh, everyone's being super-assertive ever since Iron Will came to town," sighed the unicorn. "Bon Bon's right, Fluttershy. We can navigate this easy."

His marefriend however muttered to herself, “When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock.”

"And the mule says—" Cherry's punchline will remain a mystery, as the pegasus chose this moment to buck the rear ends of both wagons at once. They flip up to vertical and back again, dumping torrents of refuse over the two conversing mares. "Ugh! Easy does it, lady!" She and Bon Bon then pulled the carts ahead. "We’re moving, okay?"

"Good!" And as Fluttershy walked on with a smirk, Chronicle just shook his head.


C—BB—CB—F—C—BB—CB—F—C—BB—CB—F


Sugarcube Corner…

The two made it to the bakery for a snack, only to find a long line leading to the counter, with Daisy at the back of it before they joined in, barely making it inside. The pegasus stared ahead with popping eyes, the unicorn let out a sigh.

"Who’s next, please, and what can I get for you today?" Pinkie was at the counter serving the customers.

All of a sudden, a light blue hoof tapped Fluttershy's shoulder, and the mare attached to it, Shoeshine, nipped in to cut ahead of her and bump her backwards, putting herself between her and Chronicle.

And he was not at all amused. "No cutting in line, Shoeshine!" he scolded. "Get in the back!"

Fluttershy was naturally annoyed. "What do you think you’re doing? Didn’t you see me?"

"Uh, I—I guess, maybe," the earth pony answered with audacity, even as she turned to the line right in the face of a fierce glare from the unicorn in front of her, and she returned that glare in kind.

"Maybe? “Maybe’s are for babies!”" A flick of one foreleg against the interloper’s shoulder spun her like a top, and she came out of it half-hunched down and facing one irate customer. "Now go to the back of the line where you belong!" Fluttershy added with harshness.

Shoeshine immediately complied—and, to avoid getting anything worse than a scathing grimace, all the other patrons gasped and hastily backed up out the door. 

"Knocking Shoeshine back was okay and all, but pushing the rest of the line behind us is a tad excessive," Chronicle said to Fluttershy as they made their way to the counter.

His marefriend however just ignored his comment and smirked over her shoulder as they approached Pinkie. Other patrons in the bakery immediately made themselves discreet. One who didn't however was Mystic Shield, who instead looked very worried.

"Heeey! Look at you!" Pinkie greeted Fluttershy. 

Rarity zipped up alongside with a laugh. "Your attitude is so feisty, it’s fabulous!" she agreed. Fluttershy covered the gap between herself and the pair in one graceful, flapping leap while her coltfriend simply walked over.

"Looks like that monster’s workshop really paid off!"

Fluttershy resumed normal tone. "Iron Will’s not a monster, he’s a minotaur, and a true inspiration. His techniques really work."

"A bit too well for everybody, actually," Chronicle added, noting the assertiveness of everypony else they ran into on the way here.

"Well, they’ve certainly made a difference in the way you carry yourself," Rarity said to the pegasus. "You truly are a whole new Fluttershy." 

"Yes, I am." Then, normally uncharacteristically for her, she began to hover briefly. "And New Fluttershy feels pretty stoked about New Fluttershy."

Upon hearing that, Chronicle's worry started to build up, partly because of what he's seen her do today, and partly from remembering something Moonbow Peek said about her, but he couldn't remember the details right now, which grated him since while he didn't pride himself for having excellent memory, this inability to recall certain things until it's too late was bothering him. Was this some flaw of his, or was it a form of Story Crew countermeasure that keeps him from disrupting things in client worlds too much? He'll have to ask his father about this at a later time.

"Well, Old Pinkie Pie feels really proud of New Fluttershy—proud as pink punch!" Pinkie whipped a bowlful onto the counter. "Want some?"

The subsequent gale of snorting giggles sent her to the floor but ticked Fluttershy off quite a bit. “You laugh at me? I wrath at you!” She then shoved, and the punch bowl tumbled off Pinkie’s side of the counter. Rarity stared in mute disbelief as the assistant baker stood up with the thing on her head, while Chronicle's worry grew even more. "Um, I'm pretty sure that wasn't at all offensive."

However, Fluttershy didn't notice, as she was on the way out with her usual sweet expression and tone. "Bye, girls!"

Her coltfriend immediately shook himself out of his reverie and followed her, even as outside the other would-be customers scattered as she exited and jumped off the step, where Chronicle stopped.

"Taxi!" she then called before running off as Pinkie and Rarity emerged and joined their friend, the former no longer wearing the bowl. A taxi carriage pulls up, its design and driver outfitted in yellow and black-and-white checkers. Fluttershy galloped over, but before she can jump aboard, a gray earth pony stallion (whom he barely remembered his name to be Royal Riff) beat her to it and ruined her mood.

What's with everybody being such jerks today? Chronicle mused to himself.

"Oh, no, you don’t," his marefriend said. “Cut in line, I’ll take what’s mine!” She then hopped on and instantly started brawling with him.

"Hey!" yelped Royal. The three ponies left at the front of Sugarcube Corner watched dumbstruck and inclined their heads to mark Royal's trajectory. "Heeeeyyyy!" He finally crashed to the flagstones in front of them. "Owww…" 

"Nopony pushes New Fluttershy around! NOPONY!!" Immediately, the taxi driver galloped off in a fright, Fluttershy in tow, leaving her friends to comment on what they have just witnessed.

"Old Pinkie Pie’s not so sure New Fluttershy is such a good idea after all."

"Old Rarity agrees."

"These signs…I've seen them before," Mystic commented as he joined the three.

"Where?" Pinkie asked as the three turned to face him. 

"The general behavior of the populace reminds me of that one time back in Baltimare when a minotaur named Iron Will came to town and started advertising his work. Some of my colleagues there, back when I was learning from my master Aegis, they've become…hyper-assertive just like Fluttershy." He then turned to Chronicle. "Don't tell me she's attended one of his sessions."

That immediately set off the mare-faced stallion as he remembered that one meeting the two had with Elphaba Trot and Sensei on the day after Twilight Sparkle adopted Owlowiscious. He turned to Mystic, justifiably angry. "He was that self-help guru you were talking about back then?!"

"You mean you advised her to go to him?!" the purple stallion gasped.

"Of course I did! I warned you that I might stumble into him without knowing him, and you didn't give me his name when I asked for it!" He sighed as he sat on his haunches and stared skyward. "What have I done? Because of you, I've turned her into…that."


C—R—F—PP—MS—S—C—R—F—PP—MS—S

Eyecatch (picture-type) - In the center is the "Assertive Fluttershy". To her right is Iron Will. To her right is a concerned Chronicle. Below Fluttershy are a scared Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The show's logo is seen on the lower right.


C—R—F—PP—MS—S—C—R—F—PP—MS—S


The next day…

Chronicle left the Books and Branches Library, which was about to be renamed (yet again) to Golden Oak Library, en route to Fluttershy's cottage. What should I do? Regardless of Mystic Shield's inadequate warning, I pushed her to this. I have to set it right!

On his way, he came beside a gray earth pony stallion in a postman’s blue uniform, with saddlebags slung up, white hair, and thick glasses obscuring squinty eyes. It was the mailpony that passes her place, and he's had a bad habit of delivering the wrong mail so many times he's officially filed a complaint to get a different pony for the job. Given his seemingly poor vision, he's worse than Derpy; at least she can see, and it's the occasional crash that's the problem, but she does get the right address.

Right now, he was at a different house, retrieving a stack of letters from his bag…and he proceeded to try and stuff them into a nearby birdhouse. As the correspondence drifted to the ground, an irate yellow pegasus inserted herself between the mail carrier and the ersatz receptacle. Uh oh. Not even he deserves this. He got off a panicked little yelp and she started to back him up as Chronicle made his way to both of them.

"And New Fluttershy does not want the wrong mail delivered to her cottage!" her marefriend said in third-person. Judging by the "and" at the start of her sentence, she was saying something else to herself before making her way here.

"Oh! Did I mix ‘em up again?" The mailpony pulled a letter from the bag with his teeth. "Sorry about that."

Now she leaned in so fast that the glasses went flying off, revealing scared light blue eyes. “You apologize, I penalize!”

Now plenty frightened, he raced ahead…and crashed run flat into the mailbox, wedging himself partially inside and knocking himself through it, scattering a few letters as he groaned. Fluttershy then produced a stamp on one hoof and slapped the stamp on his protruding rump and snatched the letter from his mouth with her own. In a few seconds flat, a second postal employee pulling a cart whisked into view in front of the box and peeled out. The offending stallion was now gone from sight, having presumably been picked up for shipment to parts unknown, or simply rescued and retrieved.

"I'll admit he had that coming for a long while now," Chronicle began, "But what's with you speaking in third-pony? You're reminding me of Trixie." And because of the Alicorn amulet incident, even after the whole ordeal with Antithesis, which was admittedly all done in the Everfree Forest, Ponyville wasn't very trusting of Trixie. Apparently, despite the incidents everybody else has pulled on this town, hers had quite the lasting effect.

Because she had a letter in her teeth, she did not deign to answer as she walked placidly along the road as a khaki earth pony stallion with short, unruly two-tone brown hair passed her and her coltfriend going the other way. Blue eyes, thick brown mustache and brows, leaf-print sweater over a white shirt, red sun visor, guidebook in hoof, and a generally bewildered expression. Definitely not from around these parts, the tourist galloped over to the two as they approached a puddle. He has lowered the book, exposing a camera slung around his neck.

"Excuse me, do you know how to get to the Ponyville Tower?" he asked.

"Sure!" Fluttershy began. "You just—" She cuts herself off once it dropped loose and landed in the water…were it not for Chronicle 'catching it in time. Regardless, a sharp gasp, and “New Fluttershy” got ready to throw down all over again.

"Awww…that’s a shame." As he said that, Pinkie and Rarity were coming up over a hill, and Chronicle gave a glare alongside his marefriend, though not as strong as he put the letter away.

Speaking of said marefriend, her rising growl was followed by—“You make me lose…I blow my fuse!” She then grabbed the camera in her teeth and pulled.

"Hey!" yelped both stallions in the area.

Slinging him around herself as if warming up for a hammer throw, she let fly toward the town’s clock tower. He landed in a haystack, while the camera came loose and smacked into the bell. The tourist then emerged from the haystack and pointed at the tower; she apparently got him to where he wanted. She smiled tranquilly at the sight as Pinkie and Rarity stepped up.

"Fluttershy, what are you doing?" Rarity asked as her friend's face hardened. "That’s no way to behave!"

"Assertiveness was unnecessary there!" agreed Chronicle. "In fact, that wasn't even assertiveness at all!"

"Didn’t you see what he did to New Fluttershy?" she turned to them. "And he thought New Fluttershy was a pushover!"

Rarity was calm, but reproving. "No, sweetie, he didn’t. We saw the whole thing. The pegasus began to hover in her and Pinkie's face. Now this was really unsettling and a testament to how much Iron Will has changed her; it was Rainbow Dash who usually hovered like this. "We think that you’ve taken your assertiveness training a little too far."

"A little?!" the only stallion left snarked.

Fluttershy was needled. "What? You just want New Fluttershy to be a doormat like Old Fluttershy—but Old Fluttershy is GONE!"

Pinkie was really confused. "New Fluttershy? Old Fluttershy?"

Rarity tried again. "What happened to Nice Fluttershy? We want that Fluttershy back."

"All I wanted for you was to learn assertiveness, not become this easily triggered ███hat!" added Chronicle.

Fluttershy began to fly around them. "No! You want Wimp Fluttershy! You want Pushover Fluttershy! You want “do anything to her and she won’t complain” Fluttershy!"

"Wrong!" he countered. "I want a balance between that Fluttershy and the one right in front of me!"

Pinkie had kept turning her head to maintain eye contact with the ranting pegasus, leaving her neck twisted through at least one and a half circles. The head finally snapped back into its normal position as the mouth let off a yelp and the eyes started jittering in their sockets. "Too many Fluttershys to keep track of!" She put her hooves to her head "Make it stop!"

Fluttershy then tapped Pinkie’s forehead, shoving her back. |Things getting too complicated for your simple little brain, Pinkie Pie?" 

Rarity ducked in to catch her. "Now stop right there! Let’s not let things descend into petty insults."

"Why not? I thought petty was what you’re all about, Rarity, with your petty concerns about fashion!"

The elegant unicorn lost her composure with a gasp and an upwelling of tears. She turned away and covered her eyes with a foreleg as Pinkie rushed in to pick up the slack, standing on her hind legs to get closer to Fluttershy’s eye level."Hey, leave her alone!" she defended. "Fashion is her passion! "

The pegasus was being relentless, though. "Oh, and what are you passionate about? Birthday cake? Party hats?" As she backed away, Pinkie sank to her knees. "I can’t believe that the two most frivolous ponies in Ponyville are trying to tell New Fluttershy how to live her life—" At present, the other two mares were both tearing up and trying not to lose it altogether. "—when they are throwing their own lives away on pointless pursuits that nopony else gives a flying feather about!"

"Language!" scolded Chronicle.

The earth pony’s fluffy pink forelock sagged a bit on the end of this, as if telegraphing the danger that the whole mane and tail will deflate. How and why they failed to do so is a genuine mystery; both mares sobbed a bit on the start of their respective lines.

"Looks like Nasty Fluttershy is here to stay!" wailed Pinkie as she galloped off

"I cannot believe what that monster Iron Will has done to you!" wailed Rarity as she did the same.

Fluttershy called after them. "Iron Will’s not a monster! HE’S A MINOTAUR!!" She then settled to the ground, front hooves splashing in the puddle where she almost dropped her letter, and huffed above gritted teeth.

Finally finding the time to step in, Chronicle stepped in front of her face and glared back. This wasn't the Fluttershy he wanted her to eventually be, and the way she was behaving was leaving him shaking on the inside. But he mustn't run away. He mustn't run away. Not after what he did. Even when she was looking as insane as she had during that disastrous Grand Galloping Gala, which had been terrifying enough for him to faint. But he wasn't in a state of conviction back then like he was right now. "You're right. It's you who's become the monster, and it's my fault."

Even as the New Fluttershy, hearing him say that got her to reel back a bit. "But isn't this what you want? For me to stop being a doormat?"

"There is a difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness, and right now, you're failing to see that distinction. Iron Will's lessons have good intent, but his application has proved disastrous with all the resultant jerks around town, including you."

Despite his efforts, New Fluttershy took back control of the conversation. "If there's anything worse than pursuing something pointless, it's those who take back their word! You were failing in making New Fluttershy, so you took Old Fluttershy to Iron Will to do that!"

Chronicle could not back away now, even with that rage face in front of him, and he put his hoof down. Literally, on the puddle now between them, where she almost dropped her letter. "Had I known his lessons would make you like this, I would've searched for somebody else! Just look at yourself!"

She did as he said, and he did the same, and they saw the water framing her (and his) reflection—distorted by both the rippling surface and her own half-crazed expression. After a long moment, the latter gave way to a look of wide-eyed shock, and said eyes filled with tears as the water settled down and she voiced a crushed little whimper. She hung her head, allowing a couple of tears to drop into the puddle, and the full weight of her personality change hit her like a flower pot, anvil, piano, and wagon to the head.

"You're right. I’m the monster."

The only pony still with her released a sigh of relief. "Finally. That wasn't a New Fluttershy you were becoming, but another old one; the one Discord forced you to become. I wasn't there to see it personally; I ran off on my own that time." I remember what Moonbow said about her: She found a way to improve your life, but it did go too far, and it turned her into a terror. Now for the balance. And then, even though it was fairly wet, he raised his hoof to caress her face. "Now, let's do it right this time. No more of Iron Will."

For some reason, she reeled back, suddenly afraid. "No! I can't! Nasty Fluttershy might come back!"

He was shocked that she would think such a thing. "You can't seriously believe that! And even if you do, we should fix this together!"

"Stay back! Please!" She retreated once more, this time taking flight. "…I don't deserve you." And then, while not faster than Rainbow Dash, she zoomed away.

"Fluttershy!" he called back, but it was an exercise in futility. For some reason, he felt that going after her right now would only make things worse, so he just stood there, reflecting on what had just transpired.


C—R—F—PP—C—R—F—PP—C—R—F—PP


An undetermined long time later…

Chronicle spent some time wallowing a bit in self-blame and doing basic cleanup of the library with Owlowiscious (since both Spike and Twilight were currently in Canterlot, Rainbow Dash was watching another Wonderbolts show, and Applejack was visiting one of her numerous cousins), as well as some halfhearted venting of his anger at himself on the Discord statue in his training range. He also had time to reflect on what Iron Will had been teaching, having watched him teach Fluttershy what he was selling, and he had an epiphany regarding the minotaur's lessons and why they seemed to have the effects they had.

Just as he was finished slashing the statue from the top down (but stopping at the base), splitting it in two, he saw Pinkie and Rarity approach him, concern evident in their faces.

Upon seeing them, immediately knowing why they were here, he nodded and joined them as they ventured to Fluttershy's cottage. And it looks like it has seen better days, despite it being less than a day since the last time all four were together. The sky was a gloomy dark gray, and a bitter wind blew through the area, having already stripped the trees bare. The windows, door, and animal shelters were boarded up, and one birdhouse fell from its branch as a plaintive wolf howl can be heard in the distance as the three ventured up. Once they were at the door, Pinkie knocked.

Rarity then cleared her throat. "Fluttershy, are you in there?"

"It’s Chronicle, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity!" said the earth pony.

From inside, through the door, Fluttershy yelled, "Go away! Go away before Nasty Fluttershy strikes again!"

"Oh, sweetie, we all said things that we regret."

"We did?" Pinkie asked before Rarity clapped a hoof over her mouth.

"Shhh!"

"I've had my share of regrets, too," Chronicle added. "But I'm still here, when anybody else would've left long ago."

"Pinkie’s right," came the reply from the door. "I’m the only one to blame!" If Surveillance was opened, they would've seen the indoors and would find her sitting alone, tied to a chair by the fireplace (or was that the stove?) The only light came from a few openings in the boarded windows, and Angel was securing the ropes. "But don’t worry. I’m never coming out of my house again! Everypony will be a lot safer with me and my mean mouth locked away!"

"You're not to blame, Fluttershy! If anything, it was my fault for suggesting Iron Will to you, even if I was unaware of the consequences." And if you're nitpicky, it's Mystic Shield's fault for not warning me about him when I asked. But he did not say the last part.

"But I chose to go! I chose to take those lessons."

"The blame is on the both of us! I could've easily prevented you from going, but I urged you."

"Sweetie…" Rarity said "…Pinkie Pie doesn’t blame you, nor do I, and nor does Chronicle. You just received some bad advice from that Iron Will character."

"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie. "He’s the one that made you act super-duper-nasty!" Rarity socked her in the chest and a paddle slap in the face from the other unicorn followed. "What I mean is, there are other ways to assert yourself besides yelling at everypony."

"Yes!"

"Iron Will means well, but it's now obvious that his seminars are just not working," Chronicle added.

"You can stand up for yourself without being unpleasant about it," finished Rarity. 

"Uh…I’m not sure I can," came the reply from the door. "I’m too far gone. Whenever I try to assert myself, I become a monster."

"Oh, sweetie, you’re not a monster."

Pinkie then pointed down the front walk. "No, but he is."

Iron Will was there, standing atop Gray’s back on the bridge over the brook, with White nearby. He then jumped down as the three ponies confronted him. "Iron Will’s my name, training ponies is my game." He then did a thumbs-up to a random location, causes Pinkie and Rarity to throw a properly bewildered glance. Incidentally, a Surveillance camera was pointed in that direction, and it was actually mere coincidence that he faced there. That or his eyes can see in a certain spectrum that Surveillance cameras can't hide from (one has to have some way of knowing where they are to even use them, after all).

"What a darling little catchphrase!" Rarity said.

"Your friend Fluttershy loved Iron Will’s catchphrases," Iron said before getting the mares in headlocks while Chronicle retreated elsewhere to serve as a last line of defense. He wanted to see what his friends would try out, and decided that violence would be a last resort. He didn't teleport inside Fluttershy's cottage, though. A barricaded house was a sign of privacy, and he wasn't going to breach it. "Word on the street is that she doesn’t take no guff from nopony." He then let the mares go and proceeded to walk past them. "So, Iron Will is here to collect Iron Will’s fee."

"Fluttershy’s in no shape to deal with that creep!" Pinkie said to Rarity, who then galloped after the creep in question.

She forced a laugh as she spoke. "I’m sure a big, brave, powerful, and rich monster—I mean, minotaur—like you…" Both stopped. "…doesn’t need that money right away. You can afford to come back later."

"Are you kidding? Fluttershy is overdue as it is." They have reached her door, and he picked Rarity up by the head. "Iron Will collects now!" Decorum and chivalry get a boot to the head when he dropped her bodily over the fence. She wound up in a bush near the brook, spitting out leaves as Pinkie got an eyeful.

"Do something!"

Pinkie turned to Iron, who started tearing the boards loose, and planted herself in his way.

"We’re not even sure Fluttershy’s home right now," Pinkie said as he picked her up, mistaking her for a board. "Uh, she might be off frolicking with some woodland creatures, uh…why don’t you give us some time to track her down for you?"

Iron dropped her and pulled out a sheet. "Iron Will does have some grocery shopping to do." He then whipped out a small basket and started off as Rarity climbs up. "Iron Will will come back this afternoon."

"But that’s only half a day!" she protested and he stopped. "We need one full day at least."

"Iron Will will delay for half a day and no longer!"

"A full day!"

"Half day!"

I'm sure half-day is enough, mused Chronicle from his place.

"Full day!"

"Half day!"

"Half day!"

"Full day!"

Pinkie stretched her neck upward to stare him in the face. "We need half a day and no more!" Her body then snapped up as Iron grabbed her tail.

"Well, you’ll get a full day and no less!"

The earth pony turned around brightly and walked away in midair, stretching the arm attached to the hand holding her tail. "Okey-dokey. See you tomorrow." 

The minotaur lowered her to the ground, confused. "Wait, what?" A tiny little sneeze was then heard through the door. Hearing it, Iron walked back up to the door. "Huh. Sounds like the search won’t be necessary." Pinkie gasped. "Iron Will collects now!"

"Uh…but…w-w-we had an agreement!" She climbed up on his chest. "You gotta come back tomorrow!"

"When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!"

Pinkie was thrown over the fence with a scream and splashed into the brook. Rarity cried out in surprise as the mud-streaked mare spit out a mouthful. Looking toward her own hindquarters, Pinkie found White chewing on her tail, having apparently mistaken it for cotton candy. Up at the door, the minotaur ripped the rest of the boards away.

"Your payment is overdue, Fluttershy!" He cried out, and then drew back one meaty arm, tensed for a punch that will surely reduce the door to splinters—and then knocked gently instead. On a unicorn's barrier. Surprised by what his fist made contact with, he looked down to see Chronicle behind the barrier that was generated, his signature spell unsheathed.

"By Luna, I swear if you scare her off or cause bodily harm to her, I'll…" he began.

"Iron Will remembers you. You're the one that took Fluttershy to Iron Will's seminar."

"Yes, and from what I've seen, you're actually a very bad influence here." You even succeeded in where Discord had to resort to his magic to do. "As a matter of fact, I don't think you're teaching your clients assertiveness at all!"

This clearly hit a nerve. "WHAT?!"

"All you taught Fluttershy was berate her and goad her into being rude and inconsiderate. She's still a doormat, only she's now a doormat who acts rude to everybody because you ordered her to. Your lessons don't help overcome pushover-ness, and in fact relies on them being such. All you did was give them the feeling they have power, but you're not actually helping them improve their assertiveness. In other words, you're not giving them the iron will they really seek!"

The tension was broken by laughter from Pinkie, and everybody turned to see her now rolling on her back, and her tail was no longer being chewed. She has done that every time the stallion has made a pun (which he actually prepared for his confrontation with the minotaur) or any intentional form of wordplay.

Iron actually got the pun and let out a single laugh before regaining his composure from the pun and of the tearing apart of his lesson, once more confronting the blue pony, who has since dismissed his barrier, but his horn blade was still 'lit'. "What you say may or may not be true, but Iron Will has made a deal. If Fluttershy is not one hundred percent satisfied with Iron Will's seminar, then she pays nothing! And Iron Will's not leaving until he gets her answer straight from her mouth. And Iron Will swears that Iron Will will not physically abuse her."

The two exchanged glares for a half minute before Chronicle relented a bit. "All right. But I'm stepping in if you do." He then teleported to Iron's left, blade dismissed as the minotaur knocked gently on the door. It opened as Rarity galloped up to help however she can, and Fluttershy—now untied from the chair, not that they knew that—stepped out. Her creditor stood up to full height and huffed impatiently down at her, spooking Pinkie and Rarity but good.

"You were nothing but a doormat—" He began striking poses. "—and Iron Will turned you into a lean, mean, assertive machine!" After hitting his last pose again, he got back in her face. "Now, pay Iron Will what you owe Iron Will!"

Fluttershy's answer was "Um…no."

Pinkie and Rarity were so completely shocked by this declaration that the former toppled over on her side, as if petrified from mane to tail. White and Gray cannot believe their ears either, and Gray uttered a puzzled bleat as White munched on his tie. Chronicle on the other hoof was doing his best not to burst into laughter from the blunt response.

"What did you say?"

Fluttershy repeated her answer. "No."

"Oooooh!" Iron began to limber up against the fence. The other two mares in the area were looking horrified, and the stallion was seeing whether or not Iron was indeed going to act on his physical threat. Sometimes, these were simply bluffs to test the bluffed. "I’d hate to be you right now—because Iron Will is gonna rain down a world of hurt unless Iron Will gets his money, PRONTO!!" He finished by leaning against the fence, stretching it backwards as if it were a rope at the edge of a wrestling ring, and catapulting forward to bellow the last word directly into her ear.

A huff of steam from the ringed nostrils dropped her out of sight, but a moment later she was back up and calmly pacing the front walk. "As I recall, during your workshop you promised one hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed, or “you pay nothing”. Well, I’m not satisfied."

"What do you mean, you’re not satisfied?! Everypony has always been satisfied!"

"Well, I guess I’m the first, then," Fluttershy then moved toward him. "But since I’m not satisfied, I refuse to pay. It’s as simple as that."

Neither of the other two mares can find her power of speech, and Rarity had to close Pinkie’s mouth to keep her jaw from scraping the ground. Chronicle continued to stand ready. Iron, meanwhile, stared incredulously at Fluttershy as White and Gray peek out over his shoulders. One quick goat/minotaur huddle later, he straightened up with a resigned grunt. He was speaking hastily and nervously now. "Are you…sure you’re not just a little bit satisfied?" He adjusted his tie. "Uh…uh, because maybe we could…cut a deal. I-I mean, we’re both reasonable creatures, aren’t we?"

Fluttershy was firm. "I’m sorry, but no means no."

"No means no, huh?" Iron climbed on Gray’s back. "Nopony’s ever said that to me before." His goat then carried him away. "Huh…I gotta remember that one." White handed him his grocery basket. "That’s a good catchphrase for my next workshop." He then turned to face Chronicle as he grew farther away. "Looks like you have a point! I'll will have to revise my program, start fresh! Thanks!"

Once he was gone, Pinkie and Rarity galloped up to Fluttershy. "You were amazing, Fluttershy!" the former said as they hugged her. "You totally stood up to that monster!"

"In fact, you didn’t change at all!" added Rarity. "You were the same old Fluttershy that we’ve always loved."

"The one we missed!"

"It's not nice to call Iron Will a monster," Chronicle reminded. "He wasn't malicious, just terribly misguided." He turned to his marefriend. "Still, it's nice to have you back."

"Don’t worry," their pegasus friend assured. "Old Fluttershy’s back for good. I’m sorry I took the whole assertiveness thing too far. Friends?" 

She got a pair of teary smiles and one without the tears.

"Friends!" the three said and laughed for a while.

Once they finally stopped, Chronicle said, "Looks like I'll have to actually look for a better assertiveness teacher, and I'll make sure they're not like Iron Will or anything worse."

"Why can't you do it?" asked Pinkie.

"If you remember correctly, I said that I had no problems being assertive towards me, but she has problems with strangers. I think it's because we're too close for me to work." He turned to Fluttershy. "But I think I've done enough for you to trust a stranger enough to do that. Now let's get your cottage fixed up."


C—R—F—PP—IW—C—R—F—PP—IW—C—R—F—PP—IW


“Dear Princess Celestia, Sometimes it can be hard for a shy pony like me to stand up for myself. And when I first tried it, I didn’t like the pony I became. But I’ve learned that standing up for yourself isn’t the same as changing who you are. Now I know how to put my hoof down without being unpleasant or mean.”