Beginnings

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“Now that is one subject I do not think we have,” I said to the mint green Unicorn. Seeing her expression drop, I looked at the shelves and grabbed a book in my magic. “This book has information on Chimeras, which are creatures that are hybrids of other existing creatures. The Chimeras we usually think of are either the snake, lion and goat combination or the snake, tiger and goat combination, but the name applies to everything from griffins to cockatrices to manticores. Some creatures like Minotaurs and Centaurs are types of Chimeras that are part human, so the creatures must exist. I mean who would make up a creature only to combine it with another?”
“Thank you!” she exclaimed, taking the book up in her own magic. I had to wonder where she heard about Humans. Secrets like that should not have made it out of the castle. I watched her sign the name ‘Lyra Heartstrings’.
Checking a book out is simple, though you have to have an account with the library you want the book from to do it. Basically I have a book behind the counter that says who checked out what book. If you bring it back on time I cross your name off, if it’s overdue you get a red mark. I have a second book with addresses of everypony with an account, so I can go get the book when it’s a lot overdue.
Unfortunately, a lot of ponies do not take kindly to having somepony try to tell them it is overdue. Luckily, I will not be dealing with this much longer. I am only here because Sky Script, a librarian for many years, finally retired and moved back to Cloudsdale. My work is this kind of stuff, filling in for missing positions until they can be filled, or helping out shops at busier seasons when the worker they would hire would be dropped after a few months. Tomorrow is supposed to be my last official day as Ponyville’s librarian, but I will probably spend the next couple days to show them how the system works.
As Lyra left, I levitated down another book. ‘The History of Equestria’ was its title. I flipped to the first chapter; the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve. Its story was vague, and left out many details. If somepony were to question it, they would get no answer to how Celestia became ruler of the land instead of the tribes’ leaders. Really it said nothing about Celestia’s life.
“Why would this one be any different?” I murmered. “They only tell of Celestia’s reign. Everything that truly happened was left for storybooks.”
I levitated the book back on the shelf blowing a chunk of my red-orange mane out of my eyes in the process. I should get it cut soon. Then again I usually procrastinate to the point where I just grab a pair of scissors myself.
I heard a loud noise outside, but I paid it no mind. Though I could not shake the feeling that washed over me. I felt it in my heart, a warm tingle making its way to my hooves and the tips of my wings. I closed my eyes, and it was like looking into another world. I could see a lot of colors I recognized as ponies. Outside the door were a blue-colored one next to a light pink one with a light blue and a chocolate brown in its center. The blue-colored energy bounced through my door. Coming back to reality, that energy was a pink pony pulling a wagon full of decorations.
“Hiya, Feria!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, tossing a purple streamer around my neck. “Guess what? There’s a new pony in town! I saw her and I was like ‘GASP!’, then I ran off to get my welcome wagon, but she was gone by the time I got back! Then I realized she must be the new librarian, so I asked the mayor and she said the new librarian is arriving today straight from Canterlot! She said she’ll be staying in the upper level apartment, so I figured ‘Instead of trying to track her down, why not set up a huge welcome party here where she’ll come home to it?’ so I grabbed even more supplies and ran out the invitations and-“
“I get the idea,” I laughed. Before I met Pinkie, I did not think there would be a pony who spoke entirely in exclamation points. “At least give me time to prepare. I might not be the librarian, but if somepony got frosting on the books I know quite a few who would rain their wrath down upon us.”
With a quick jump I flew to the rafters. Sky Script had kept tarps up here for when something like this happened. Though I can add an invisibility spell to them, so we can still see the books. By the time I came back down Pinkie was already setting up the tables and balloons. She was waiting for me to finish my setup before bringing out the Party Canon.
“You know, I just thought of something!” she said. “You used to live in Canterlot! Any chance you know her?”
“Maybe,” I replied, beginning my work. “I was mostly around nobles and such who probably would not give it up for a job in some small town, but I know a few students from the school for gifted Unicorns that would. What did she look like? As much detail as you can, please.”
“She’s a Unicorn!” she answered. “She was about our age and really pretty! I mean, she wasn’t like Rarity; simple, no makeup or fancy hairstyles, but still pretty. Her coat was lavender and her mane was a really dark indigo!” I heard a crash from behind me.
“It’s alright! I got it!” she shouted as another crash sounded. “As I was saying, her mane also had a pink stripe and a purple stripe. I didn’t see her Cutie Mark well, but it was pink. And she had an adorable little purple and green dragon with her! That has to stand out, right?”
“That must be Twilight Sparkle,” I said. “The dragon is named Spike.”
Pinkie went on to talk about how great of a name that was, but I had to think this through. Twilight was Celestia’s private student. Why would she be sent here? I knew my sister well, she had another plan for this. Twilight probably doesn’t know the plan either.
“And of course the Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow!” Pinkie was still talking. “This party will probably run into that one, so we can just head over to Town Hall later on. This is the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration and it’s in Ponyville!”
Pinkie had been planning this party for a while now. The Summer Sun Celebration involved everypony staying up the night before, and she always makes it a party to keep everypony awake. Of course, this is the first time the Celebration has been in Ponyville during our lifetime, but everypony celebrates no matter where Celestia is.
The reason for the Celebration was part legend, the Legend of Nightmare Moon. If you read the books, they will tell you how Nightmare Moon tried to make an Eternal Night before she was defeated by Celestia. We stay up the night before to symbolize that Eternal Night, and Celestia’s sun rising in the morning is for her victory. I have seen her on those nights before the Celebration, and I knew there was more to this story, a fact that is glanced over in the books.
“Wait,” I said realizing something. “Did you say this was the thousandth year?”
I looked through the shelves for a book. Of course it was under ‘E’. I had not read this passage in years. On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about Nighttime Eternal. I knew that most of this story is truth, Tia had told me its true story, but was this part also true? I could never get an answer from Celestia about this, though when I was young I liked to imagine.
As more ponies showed up to help with the setup, I had to put the book down. Pinkie kept glancing at me with a worried look, and I wanted to reassure her, even if I could not find the words. The more thought about that passage, the more I remember how jumpy Celestia had been these last few months.
As the setup went on, I became more and more sure that the legend was true. No matter the outcome, tonight will be the last time Celestia controls the Moon. But will tomorrow’s Sun ever come?
* * *
“She’s coming! She’s coming!” Pinkie squeaked, dragging me through a group of ponies toward the window. I still have no idea how she could fit so many ponies in a library. She had been right; the pony I recognized as Twilight Sparkle was coming up to the library. Spike was riding on her back talking to Fluttershy who followed behind them.
Pinkie switched off the lights, shouting at us all to be quiet. I watched Twilight awkwardly try saying goodbye to Fluttershy. She was having a whispered conversation with Spike as she walked through the door. I caught a few words: ‘Nightmare Moon’, ‘running out of time’, and ‘make friends’.
“Now where’s the light?” Twilight asked into the darkness.
“Surprise!” Everypony yelled out as Pinkie threw the switch. Twilight stood there in complete shock. I forgot how funny her facial expressions could be, especially when surprised.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie said, bouncing up to her. “I threw this party for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Huh huh huh?”
“Yes, very surprised,” Twilight replied. “Libraries are supposed to be quiet!”
“Well that’s silly!” Pinkie laughed. Ignoring Twilight’s irritation, she followed her through the crowd. “What kind of welcome party would it be if it were quiet? I mean, Hello? Boring! I saw you when you first got here, remember? You were all ‘hello’ and I was all “GASP!”, remember? Y’see, I’ve never seen you before and if I’ve never saw you before that means you’re new, ‘cause I know everpony in Ponyville”
Twilight groaned as we reached the snack table. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy were there, already conversing. She sighed and poured herself a drink.
“And if you’re new that meant that you haven’t met anyone yet!” Pinkie kept going. “And if you haven’t met anyone yet, you must not have friends, and if you don’t havefriends, then you must be lonely, and that made me very sad, then I had an idea, and that’s why I went ‘GASP!’! I should throw a great big ginormous super-duper spectacular welcome party and invite everyone in Ponyville and have it run into the other party tonight! See? And now you have lots of friends!”
“Are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked Twilight, stopping Pinkie from going on.
Twilight was looking a bit odd, her face becoming red and her eyes beginning to water. After a moment she let out a high-pitched scream. Her magic reacted to her surprise and turned her mane into flames. She ran off as Spike looked to see what she drank.
“Hot sauce?” he asked. Pinkie reached over and tipped the sauce onto a cupcake.
“What? It’s good!” she exclaimed, mouth full.
I rolled my eyes and followed Twilight to the librarian’s apartment upstairs. It was a small area, with a bedroom and a kitchen, a small space for entertaining As I entered I saw her looking at the books Sky Script had left from his personal collection.
“Elements of Harmony… Elements… Why is there nothing here?” she let out an exasperated sigh.
“That is because you are not looking in the right place,” I answered, startling her for the second time tonight. She stumbled as she turned, but recovered enough to recognize me.
“Feria?” she asked, eyes widening. “I haven’t seen you in years. What are you doing here?”
“I have lived in this town for a few years now,” I laughed. “It is quite different from Canterlot and the castle, ponies seem to care more about each other here. Sorry for not seeing you as often, but I only get up to Canterlot for holidays, and you are usually with your family at the time. By the way, all books with even a mention of the Elements of Harmony are downstairs.”
“Great,” she grumbled.
“So why are you here tonight?” I wondered, walking closer to her.
“Princess Celestia sent me to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration,” she replied. “She also said to ‘make friends’, but that doesn’t matter right now! Equestria might be in danger and I’m the only one who seems to realize it!”
“I assume you told her about this,” I said.
“Of course I did!” she exclaimed. “She sent me here saying ‘it’s just an old pony’s tale’! Even though Nightmare Moon could be returning!”
I held back my surprise. I knew that Celestia knew about Nightmare Moon’s return, she had become more and more nervous all year. If Celestia was hiding this fact from Twilight she really did have some plan in mind. I decided to keep my mouth shut about this, though straight up silence does not work as well.
“Do you know something about this?” she asked.
“I am not sure,” I replied. I could not figure out Celestia’s plan. Thankfully I did not have to give a full answer as Spike walked in.
“Hey, Twilight!” He shouted over the music from downstairs. “Pinkie Pie’s starting pin the tail on the pony! Want to play?”
“No!” she snapped. “All the ponies in this town are crazy! Do you know what time it is?”
“It’s the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration,” he chuckled. “Everypony has to stay up or they’ll miss the princess raise the sun!”
“Technically it would make practical sense to just wake up before dawn,” I said. “But that takes the fun out of it.”
“You look familiar,” he said noticing me for the first time.
“That is alright, you were still fairly young when I saw you last,” I replied. “I am Feria.”
“Oh! Right!” he exclaimed. “Sorry I didn’t-“
“It is fine,” I assured him. “You know, I never cared for pin the tail on the pony. It just sounds too painful.”
“Okay, well I’m going back to play,” he said. “You sure you don’t want to come, Twilight?”
“No!” she shouted.
“You really need to lighten up Twilight. It’s a party!” he walked back out the door.
“You really need to lighten up Twilight. It’s a party!” she mocked.
“You two are more like siblings than I thought,” I giggled as I headed out after him.
* * *
I made my way through the crowds as ponies began walking to Town Hall. Pinkies plan was to get everypony over in small groups, and she was rounding up the last few. Fluttershy was already setting up her music, and Rarity was adding last minute touches to her decoration.
I reached Town Hall about twenty minutes before dawn. Mayor Mare was trying to keep it together, but it was obvious how stressed she was, just the wrong word could make her snap.
“I assume you’d like to talk to your sister before the Celebration?” she asked. “She’s upstairs, third on the right.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
I headed up the stairs to the hall she said she would be in. As I walked forward I could feel something change. I felt cold. I did not want to move forward. Closing my eyes, I could see two colors. One was large and gold, while the other was a silvery blue engulfed in black. I did not know why, but the sight of it took the breath from my lungs. I opened my eyes again and tried to push forward, telling myself that it was nothing.
“It is time for you to have a taste of what you gave me for the past thousand years!” yelled a voice I did not recognize. “You shall now and forever be trapped in the sun, painfully alone, left to contemplate your crimes against me!”
I saw a bright light coming from behind the door Celestia should be in. I tried to open it, pounding my hooves against the door, but a magical force kept it closed. I shouted out to her, but I could not hear my own voice. All I got was a ringing in my ears.
The door finally opened, but the one who stood before me was not Celestia. She was around the same height, her mane a swirl of night, a black coat protected by blue-gray armor. I could not say anything, I could not think. Her eyes felt like they could stare right through me. All I could do was stare back into angry turquoise eyes.
A noise down the hall caught her attention. When she took her gaze off me, I ran. I galloped down the hall afraid she was chasing me. I got myself lost in the crowd. I stopped next to Twilight and tried to catch my breath. Why was it affecting me like this?
“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” Mayor Mare announced. “As Mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the One Thousandth Summer Sun Celebration! In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year!”
Ponies cheered. They had no idea what was coming. Even I did not know what would happen. I was going to ask Celestia what her plan was, but she was no longer reachable.
“And now!” the mayor got our attention again. “It is my great honor to introduce you to the ruler of our land, the amazing pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of peace and Harmony to all, protector of Equestria, Princess Celestia!”
The curtain opened, but Celestia did not appear. Ponies whispered to each other. I saw Rarity walk backstage to look for her. I knew she would find nothing.
“This can’t be good,” Twilight muttered.
“Remain calm, everypony,” Mayor Mare reassured us. “There must be a reasonable explaination for this!”
“Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games!” Pinkie shouted. “Is she hiding?”
“She’s gone!” Rarity exclaimed as she walked back onstage.
There were more gasps and whispers, Pinkie Pie momentarily praised Celestia’s ‘hiding skills’. But a cloud of purple mist appeared where Celestia should be. I watched as the cloud turned into that mare I had seen upstairs, full armor, black coat, and a magical mist-like mane with a matching tail. She still had those eyes, turquoise and dragon-like, able to see straight through you.
“Oh, my sweet, beloved subjects,” she mused. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, sun-loving faces.”
“What did you do to our princess?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. She attempted to charge at the mare, but was held back by Applejack.
“Why,” the mare chuckled, “am I not royal enough for you? Have you forgotten who I am?”
“Ooh, ooh! More guessing games!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Uh, Hokey Smokes! Or maybe… Queen Meanie? No, Black Snooty! Black Snooty!” she was cut off by somepony.
The mare magicked around us. “Does my crown no longer count now that I have been betrayed, and imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall my legend? Did you not see the signs?”
“I saw!” Twilight shouted. “And I know who you are. You are the Mare in the Moon… Nightmare Moon!” Ponies gasped all around. Shouts were heard before quieting down as Nightmare Moon began to speak again.
“Well well well, somepony who remembers me.” She said to us, a hint of appreciation in her voice.
“I also know who you are, and who you were!” I shouted, shaking as I stepped forward. “You are the Bringer of Night, and one of the rulers. You were and still are part of this world. You can return to it. You will always be able to come back to us!”
Those were the words I felt Celestia would say to her, were she here. She would want to try and reason with her. Our eyes met again, but I stared right back into them. I felt like I could see into her. Those eyes widened in recognition.
“Feria,” she whispered. Her form flickered; her coat dark blue instead of inky black, her voice was softer. In those eyes, could see anger and hatred, but I could also see somepony alone and afraid. It was over in less than a second, but I saw it. I would not let whatever was causing this fear get in the way of this.
“It is too late for that!” she shouted. “If you know who I am, then you also know why I am here!”
There was a silence as the moment built, none of us wanting to say it. While my courage grew, the panic and terror of the crowed skyrocketed. They were trying to decide when would be the best moment to run for their lives.

“Remember this day, my little ponies, for it was your last!” Nightmare Moon yelled as thunder struck. “From this moment on, the nighttime will last forever!”

She threw back her head in laughter and I ran. I kept running, but I did not know where I would end up. I did not stop until I had reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, a dark place where the laws of our world did not apply.
I do not know why my hooves carried me here, but I felt that it is where I need to go. Celestia once told me that her old castle was in what is now the heart of the forest. Maybe something there could help us. Without her, I had no idea how do defeat Nightmare Moon.

I stared into the dark canopy of trees. I listened. Panicked voices were everywhere in town, and monsters hid in the bushes of the forest. My fear began to come back. I wanted to panic with the rest of them, but somepony needed to do something.

I gathered my courage and stepped into the darkness that was the Everfree Forest.

Everfree

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I walked through the Everfree Forest, my paranoia growing as I waited for something to attack. From what I heard from Celestia, in the heart of the forest was a castle from over one thousand years ago. She said she had left memories behind here, and with nopony caring for it, the castle grew wild, and was left to ruin. She said there were a few things she had left there on purpose, not wanting to carry on old memories with her.

I tried to follow the path that had once been here, but it was overgrown. My fear came back, making my breathing shallower and every noise sounded like an attack. The closer I got to where I thought the Castle was the worse my head began to hurt.

I stopped. Something wanted me to go the other way. It was not the fear screaming at me, that I could ignore, but it felt like a tug, more of a warm tingle throughout my body. I listened hard.

Screams came from behind me. I turned and ran toward them though I could not see. I closed my eyes and relied on those colors to guide me. I saw six large colors in the darkness. A blue one was being held up by a red one, the violet being held by a pink one. The orange shape was okay, but the magenta one was not.

I could guess what was happening. They had fallen off a cliff. The pink color and the red color were the only two with wings. But a pony can barely slow the descent of another pony while flying. One of them would have to set down who they had before catching the magenta one, but my then it would be too late. There was no time for them to get her!

I watched in terror as she fell.

I spread my wings, leaping into the air and flying as fast as I could. I knew what might happen if I did not make it. I could not breathe. I could not think. I felt something solid in my hooves. I had caught her. The screaming stopped. I could breathe again, if somewhat shakily.

“Feria?” asked the pony I had caught. I was still looking at those colors. I opened my eyes and looked down to see Twilight Sparkle in my hooves. She had been the magenta color.

“Sorry,” I smiled. “I bet you want me to put you on the ground now, right?”

I looked around to see who else was here. Applejack, who was jumping down the cliff with the skill of a mountain goat, had been the orange one. I knew Pinkie Pie was blue, so Rainbow Dash must have been the red holding her up. That left Fluttershy as the pink and Rarity as the violet.

“Now didn’t Ah’ say you would be safe?” Applejack said to Twilight.

“What are you six doing here?” I asked.

“After Nightmare Moon appeared,” Twilight started, “I went back to the library to find a book about the Elements of Harmony, the only things that can defeat her.”

“We followed her, seein’ as she might know somethin’” Applejack continued.

“And the book led us in here,” Rarity finished. “Although why something as important as the Elements of Harmony would be in a place as dreadful as this, I don’t know.” I saw Rainbow roll her eyes at that comment.

“Anyway,” Twilight said, “we need to keep going to the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. The Elements should be there.”

I contemplated this for a moment. I knew more about those legends than most ponies, yet Celestia still kept her secrets. The known Elements were Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. As far as I knew, it took six Elements to banish Nightmare Moon. Surely Celestia has a better plan than just one thousand more years?

“I will come with you,” I decided.

“Please don’t endanger yourself!” Twilight exclaimed. “Without Princess Celestia, you’re most likely to be able to defeat Nightmare Moon of our plan doesn’t work!”

“And what is it that makes me more likely?” I asked.

“Because you’re an Alicorn,” she said. “Even if you’re not as powerful as Princess Celestia, you can still have more of a chance than anypony else on their own.”

”While I do not agree,” I began, “if that is the case then I will do exactly as Celestia would. I will not let other ponies endanger themselves without making sure the ponies involved will be safe. Should you fail, I will protect you all from retribution.”

I led the way through the trees, not letting them object again. I heard a roar as something jumped onto the path in front of us. It was huge, with a lion’s body but a scorpion’s tail and leathery bat wings.

“A manticore!” Twilight screamed. “We’ve got to get past it!”

The manticore leaped at us, swiping its paws at Rarity on its way down. She turned and kicked him in the face. It roared at her, swiping again as she ran out of reach. It chased her as she ran past me. Its tail flew forward this time. I had enough time to put up a magic shield, but it kept pounding away at it.

“Git along, little doggie!” Applejack hollered as she jumped on its back. She held on to the manticore like a rodeo trick before getting flung into the air at Rainbow Dash. “Your turn, partner.”

Rainbow flew circles around the Manticore. Faster and faster she went, making a colorful tornado around the creature. It was quickly stopped by a fling from the tail.

Twilight made the signal for a full on charge at the monster before us. Six of us formed a line, digging our hooves into the ground. We charged the manticore when Fluttershy jumped between us.

“Wait!” she yelled. We watched as she walked up to it, gasping as it looked about to crush her, but she just smiled. “It’s okay.”

The manticore made more of a mewling sound as she nudged its paw. The creature calmed down, lifting its paw up to her. A large thorn was stuck in the pad of its paw.

“Oh, you poor, poor little kitty,” she sympathized.

“Little? Rainbow questioned.

“Now this might hurt for just a second,” she warned, pulling the thorn. The manticore roared in pain, but then began licking her as a thank you. “Aw, you’re just a little ol’ baby kitty, aren’t you? Yes you are!”

The rest of us snuck by while the manticore was distracted. It finally put her down and leaping off into the forest. I tried to stifle a giggle at the way her mane stuck up from the saliva.

“How did you know about the thorn in its paw?” Twilight asked.

“I didn’t,” she replied. “Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness.”

I smiled as we walked on. If it were not for the feeling of imminent doom, this might be fun. That fear still played at the back of my mind, but I was able to push it down for now. These ponies were interesting.

“My eyes need a rest from all of this icky muck!” Rarity complained. The trees answered by getting thicker, their leaves blocking out the moonlight. “Well, I didn’t mean that literally.”

“The ancient ruin could be right in front o our faces and we wouldn’t even know it!” Twilight exclaimed.

We began bumping into one another. The ground became sticky. I felt the pressure change in the area.

“Oh, wait. Ah’ think Ah’ stepped in somethin’” Applejack said. Fluttershy screamed in response. “It’s just mud.”

Soon we all saw what Fluttershy had screamed at. The trees grew faces, angry ones with teeth. They were growling at us. It seemed like they were creatures about to pounce. But Pinkie was just making faces and laughing.

“Pinkie, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, panic obvious in her voice.

“Oh, girls, don’t you see?” Pinkie giggled. Then she began to sing.

“When I was a little filly and the sun was going down”

“Tell me she’s not,” Twilight groaned.

“The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown”

“She is,” Rarity answered.

“I’d hide under my pillow

From what I thought I saw

But Granny Pie said that wasn’t the way

To deal with fears at all”

“Then what is?” Rainbow shouted, her voice cracking with panic.

“She said ‘Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall

Learn to face your fears

You’ll see that they can’t hurt you

Just laugh and make them disappear’

Ha! Ha! Ha!”With her laughs, the trees became less scary. The trees seemed normal, no face or growling. Pinkie smiled at us, inviting us to try it. I chuckled at the whole idea. I did not know why we even felt afraid in the first place. Everypony joined in the laughter, Pinkie singing the whole way through.

We all ended up in a pile of silly, laughing ponies! Pinkie was practically a squeaky toy, and Rarity was trying to keep herself from breaking down into the loud, nearly breathless laughs that Applejack had already succumbed to. I was actually snorting with laughter. Even with the sense of imminent doom, this is one of the best days I have had in a while. It was not just the laughter that chased away my fears, but the fact that my friends were with me.

I do not know how, but we got up from our pile of giggles and kept going. There was no more awkward small talk between us, but interesting life stories and plans for things we can do once this all is over. Rarity even invited me to come over to her boutique so that she can use me as a model; she rarely gets to work on somepony with a coat as dark as mine. I am glad we came here together.

“There should be a river up ahead,” I said. “We can get across on the bridge.”

We turned a corner on the path, and saw the blue of the river. I could hear its flow from here. They looked at me with confusion.

“How did y

ou know?” Twilight wondered.

“I- I am not sure?” I answered. I just knew it was there. It felt as natural as knowing which turn to make to get to get to Sugarcube Corner. Yet unlike Sugarcube Corner, I had never set hoof in this forest.

“Where’s the bridge?” Rainbow asked. A few others agreed with her, trying to come up with other ideas.

I just stared at the river. This was giving me an even worse headache. It was like overlapping images. One image was the roaring river in front of us, no way across in sight. The other image was a calm river. A beautiful bridge carved into a cloud shape spanned the length between the shores.

I heard Applejack ask if Rainbow, Fluttershy and I could fly them across. I did not need to listen to know the answer; it was easy to slow the decent of a pony, but it would be extremely difficult to pick them up and go across. I heard somepony crying upstream. Craning my neck I could see a sea serpent sobbing into the river, thrashing around in a tantrum.

Twilight seemed to have seen the serpent too. She gestured toward it and we walked up. He did not seem to notice us.

“Excuse me, sir?” Twilight asked as she approached him. “Why are you crying?”

“Well, I don’t know!” the serpent wailed, flailing his hands around. “I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of smoke just whooshed past me and tore half of my beautiful mustache clean off! Now I look simply horrid!” He flailed again, splashing us all with water.

“Oh, give me a break,” Rainbow grumbled.

“That’s what all the fuss is about?” Applejack complained.

“Why of course it is!” Rarity exclaimed, shocked at their reaction. “How can somepony be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him. Such lovely, radiant scales.”

“I know,” The serpent agreed, beginning to calm down.

“And your expertly coiffed mane!” she complimented again.

“Oh, I know, I know!” if sea serpents could blush, he defiantly was.

“Your astonishing manicure!” she sighed.

“It’s so true!” he gasped.

“All ruined without your extravagant mustache!” Rarity exclaimed.

“It’s true! I’m hideous!” he yelled as he began thrashing again. Her compliments had seemed to be working, so why did she stop? What was she planning?

“I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!” she proclaimed.

“Rarity, what are you-?” Twilight yelled.

We watched as Rarity grabbed one of the serpent’s scales, and sliced off her own tail. The serpent screamed and fainted dramatically. Rarity just remained calm. She levitated the tail she cut off toward his face, magically attaching it to the stump of his mustache.

“My mustache! How wonderful!” The serpent exclaimed, reciving another compliment from Rarity.

“Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail…” Twilight said, looking at the small tuft that remained.

“Oh, it’s fine, dear,” she assured. “Short tails are in this season. Besides, it’ll grow back.”

“So would the mustache,” Rainbow pointed out.

“A gift from the heart means more than reassurance,” Rarity replied.

“Allow me,” the serpent said, letting us use him as a bridge. Once we were across, they began to continue down the path. I lingered for a moment. Twilight was about to ask what was wrong, but I nodded for her to go on ahead. As they steadily walked along, I headed back to the serpent.

“Excuse me, mr… uh…” I began.

“Oh, forgive me!” he apologized. “We were never properly introduced. My name is Steven Magnet.”

“A fine name it is,” I said, accepting the handshake he offered. “I am Feria.”

“Like the princess?” he asked. I nodded in confirmation as he freaked out even more than before. “Oh dear I feel terrible. How I acted was no way to be in front of anypony, much less in front of royalty.”

“It is okay, Mr. Magnet,” I chuckled. “Anyone would have reacted similarly.”

“You may call me Steven, if you wish,” he replied, calming down. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Actually I was wondering something,” I said. “Was there once a bridge here?”

“Not for nearly fifty years!” he answered. “And it was a death trap years, probably centuries, before it finally broke down. Somepony moved it into a clearing up the way your friends are heading.”

That confused me even more. How could I remember a bridge in a place I have never been to? A bridge that had been destroyed long before I was born, and out of commission for even longer? Was I going crazy? I could have just been lucky, or saw it on an old map, but why did I see it when I looked at the place it should be?

“Thank you,” I said, beginning to walk off again.

“If I may ask, Princess,” he caught my attention again. “Has something happened? It’s not often we get ponies this deep in the forest, much less a large group. I usually have to travel to parts of the river out of this forest before seeing anypony. And shouldn’t the sun have been up hours ago?” I paused, wondering what exactly to say.

“Do you know the legends of Nightmare Moon?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. The surprise in his eyes told me yes. “The legends are quite true, but do not be frightened. If all goes right tonight, everything will return to how it should be.”

“I hope so, my Princess!” he said. “I do hope the sun rises again soon.”

“It will come back,” I assured. “But do you not think that the night is a very beautiful creation? “

“Yes it is,” he agreed. “But Princess-“

“Please, do not call me ‘Princess’,” I cut him off. “I am just Feria, I am me.”

I smiled at him again, and walked on. It was easy to find the clearing with the bridge pieces. It was even easier to see it was the same bridge I saw in the overlapping images. It was dark gray now, instead of white; overgrown with plants and quite eroded, but still quite beautiful.

I caught up with my friends, though I kept quiet about what was bothering me. I was seeing things I should not have. As we got our first look at the ruined castle, it happened again.

I could see what they saw; a great gray stone, wooden doors having rotted away and stone archways covered in vines. I could tell there were a few magical wards protecting the place from creatures, though some had broken over the years. On top of it I could see the castle as it probably was when t was new; The stones were gleaming white, the gardens well-kept and the entire place brimming with the warmth of life.

“There it is!” Twilight yelled. “The ruins that hold the Elements of Harmony! We made it!”

“Wait for us!” Applejack called to her.

“We’re almost there” she yelled again.

I watched her come to a quick stop as she nearly fell of the edge. There seemed to be a crevice in the ground in front of us. I saw a spot where a bridge used to be, though unlike the river, I was not seeing a new bridge in the overlapping image. I saw no bridge nor crevice at all, just flat grassland.

“What’s with you and falling off cliffs today?” Rainbow asked, pulling Twilight away from the edge.

“It’s a rope bridge,” I said, looking over the edge. “It looks like someone cut the other end, but it would be sturdy enough for us to cross.”

“What now?” Pinkie asked. Rainbow flapped her wings in response. “Oh yeah.”

She flew over the gap, easily attaching the first rope. I felt the pressure in the air change. That fear crept back up. I closed my eyes, trying to get a grip on myself, but I could see those colors again. The silvery-blue was back, but it was the black that engulfed it that terrified me.

I opened my eyes again. Across the gap were three ponies talking to Rainbow Dash. They should have shown up as three colors, but they were part of the silver and black that made up this fog.

“Rainbow, what’s taking so long?” Twilight called to her. She saw them too. “Oh no. Rainbow Dash! Don’t listen to them!”

One of those ponies glanced at us, her eyes glowing. The fog rolled in, though I was the only one to know it was all part of the same thing. The fog muffled our voices.

I could not breathe. It was like something was pressing against my throat. I wanted to fly over, save Rainbow from those ponies, but the only movement I could do was trembling. There was a ringing in my ears.

Next thing I knew I was on the ground, my hooves covering my ears and my eyes closed shut. I tried to block it all out. This was not just fear; this was panic, it was terror. This felt so horrible that it physically hurt just being here.

It felt like forever before it stopped, though it had probably been just minutes. I could breathe again. I could hear my friends voices again. I wonder, when did I stop thinking of them as ponies I wanted to protect out of duty? I wanted to protect my friends.

“I am sorry,” I said, still breathing strangely. I did not want them to worry about me.

“What happened?” one of them asked. Maybe it was Rainbow? The ringing in my ears was still too much for me to tell who.

“I do not know,” I answered. “I just… I felt terrified. It is better now. We need to keep going.”

“Hold up there, sugarcube,” Applejack stopped me. “You shouldn’t be movin’ on after something like that.”

“I am fine now!” I told her.

“That is not fine!” Pinkie exclaimed. “If you were all happy when Rainbow came back, that would be ‘fine’! You were freaking out! I couldn’t even help.”

“She’s right,” Fluttershy said, a lot more calm than the others. At some point she had sat down, putting her wing around me and holding close. “You were like I am during a panic attack. It’s really not pleasant. I don’t mean to make it about me, I’m just, well, I’ve felt similar so-“

“Okay, but it is over now!” I insisted. “I will be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked.

“I can take you back home, if you need it,” Rarity offered.

“No!” I shouted, making them all jump. “I feel like you are all supposed to be here. I will be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked again.

I nodded again. They finally let me up and we crossed the bridge. I wondered why I had such a reaction to that. I know my fear had been growing, but I have never experienced anything like that. Then again, this all was different. Any time I was terrified before, there were never any true consequences for failure. Was that it? No, that could not be it. This terror has been building since I first saw Nightmare Moon. I was glad they were here; I do not think I could have made it here alone.

“If the Elements are here they would be in that building,” I said on the other side. I gestured with my wing to the building on the right without any décor. “It was built as a safe haven of sorts, somewhere for us to hide in case of an attack from the not-so-friendly creatures in the area.”

They all gave me that look I got at the bridge. Did I say ‘somewhere for us’? I did. I was so sure I had never been here. I knew for sure that the building meant for protection would not have been on any map. I cannot explain this one away.

The inside of the building was just a large, almost empty room. A huge stone thing stood in the middle of the room, I guess I could call it a pedestal. Five stone orbs sat upon it, but some spaces were empty.

“The Elements of Harmony! We’ve found them! Twilight exclaimed.

Fluttershy, Rainbow and I flew up to get the orbs. They were heavier than I thought; Twilight scolded me for nearly dropping one. Somehow this did not feel right.

“One, two, three, four,” Pinkie counted. “There’s only five!”

“Where’s the sixth?” Rainbow demanded.

“The book said ‘when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed’!” Twilight recited.

“What in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack asked.

“I have an idea,” she answered. “Stand back. I don’t know what will happen.”

“Come on now, y’all,” Applejack said, herding us out the side door. “She needs to concentrate.”

The place we went looked strange. This overlapped too, but it was not something ruined. I saw this place as a grass courtyard, but it was filled with life-size statues, a lot of life-sized statues. As I looked on, I saw not only ponies, but Dragons and Griffons.

I took a look at the one closest to me. It was a statue of an Earth Pony. I think it might have once been painted green, but it had been long worn off. I looked at the pedestal it was standing on. ‘Little Burst’ was the name it gave. There were numbers underneath ‘9/24/XX-7/15/86’.

“Girls, be careful!” I warned. “This is not a garden. It is a cemetery.”

I heard noises of surprise, but I did not stay to pay attention. Why was this here? I wandered through the statues. Something about it unnerved me. I never felt like this about graveyards. These ponies seemed different than those in other graveyards. When I walked through the one in Canterlot, the ponies I never met seemed almost like they were fictional, like they only existed in a story. This felt real.

I got to the end of the row. The statue here was an Alicorn, possibly once painted magenta. I looked at her name plate. 'Mira 9/3/XX-2/27/794’. To one side were three holes in the ground, meant for something bigger than normal ponies. I looking to the other side, I saw more Alicorn statues, even one that looked like Cadence. I followed them, reading the names and dates. ‘Flora 7/16/XX-5/8/833’, ‘Azura 5/21/XX-12/30/899’,’ ‘Tornata 4/2/XX-3/28/746’. I assumed they had been immortal at some point.

The next one was just a hole in the ground. I recognized the Alicorn mare, even without her colors. This was not just subtle familiarity or resembling somepony I knew. I was staring at a statue of Celestia. Only one date was beneath her name, the date ‘2/19/XX’. The two X’s must have meant the first year, before they even had a system of years.

This was Celestia’s family. A group of ponies and other creatures born in the first year of existence. These were the ones she grew up with. I wondered if there was a time when she thought they would spend all of their lives together. Centuries of loneliness have not helped her.

When I saw the next statue, I forgot how to breathe. She was nearly as tall as Celestia, but she looked almost exactly like me. Every facial feature, her posture, her Cutie Mark, even her mane style was exactly the same as my own. I checked the pedestal; it said ‘Feria 1/1/XX-12/24/19’.

I know Celestia named me after somepony she knew, but this was freaky. Was it my birthday or my appearance that made her name me that? I rechecked the date. She had been older than me by a few months when she died. Why?

I saw a flash of light. Pulling myself away from her, the six of us ran back to the Element’s chamber. Both Twilight and the orbs had disappeared, tendrils of purple smoke still hung about in the room.

“Look!” Rarity shouted. Light was flashing in a building across another courtyard.

“This way!” I commanded.

I led the way through to a hallway, never stopping to think of where I was going. I just took the turns I knew were there. I stopped trying to figure out what was going on, but I used it to my advantage. I knew exactly where to go.

As we got closer, we shouted out to Twilight, hoping she could hear us. We tried to tell her not to worry, but when we reached the hall she was confident. She was talking to Nightmare Moon. I noticed the shards at their hooves, most likely broken orbs; the fear began to creep back up again.

“You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony with a simple attack like that?” Twilight asked as we came up behind her. “Well, you’re wrong! Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!”

“What?” Nightmare Moon yelled, voicing our confusion.

Before we could ask, the shards from the orbs began to glow. They levitated around us, circling my friends. Twilight began speaking again, but the magic empowered her words, making them echo, making me feel like we could do anything.

“Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt,” she began, “represents the Spirit of Honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed an angry manticore with her compassion, is the Spirit of Kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished our fears by giggling in the face of danger, is the Spirit of Laughter! Rarity, who calmed a woeful serpent with a meaningful gift, is the Spirit of Generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who would not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire, is the spirit of Loyalty!

“We got through every challenge you threw at us. At first, I thought the ‘spark’ didn’t work, but it did! It was a different kind of spark!” She turned to look back at us. “I felt it in that very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited in me when I realized that you all are my friends!”

“You see, Nightmare Moon,” she continued, turning to the mare in question. “When those Elements are ignited by that, that spark, which resides in all of us, it creates the sixth Element: The Element of Magic!”

The air above Twilight’s head glowed. A sixth orb appeared. She glanced at me, the only one who was left out. She looked about ready to apologize for something, but I shook my head; I was okay with this.

What I was not okay with was the headache from the overlapping images. Behind where Nightmare Moon stood were thrones. They looked like they were unoccupied for centuries, but the other image showed their owners. I saw Celestia upon a golden throne, and five other Alicorns, ones I saw as statues in the graveyard, sat upon the others leaving one unoccupied.

“Go ahead,” Nightmare Moon laughed. “The Elements lost their power when Celestia used them against me. You may have awakened them, but it’s even less than back then; you can never access their full power. You might trap me in the moon for a while, a few centuries if you’re lucky. I can wait. I am Immortal! I spent one thousand years waiting for this; I can last a bit longer.”

“How could they not be?” Twilight asked. She was starting to lose hope. This was her only chance.

“What should I do with you?” she wondered aloud. She chuckled at the fear that appeared on their faces. “I will not kill you. No, I do not care for bloodshed. Imprisonment sounds better. I cannot keep you forever, but Celestia is suffering the same fate I got when she banished me. It’s what she deserves for leaving us behind, for only caring about herself. She lived on with no regrets. ”

‘Us’ she had said. She left ‘us’. It all clicked in my mind. I knew why the six Elements would not work. I counted the thrones, making sure I was right.

“There were seven Elements,” my voice echoed throughout the hall. Nightmare Moon looked at me, fear and anger in her eyes. “Seven Alicorns, each gifted with an Element. But they became disconnected, mostly through death. The Elements waited and waited for those that would bear them once again.

“Seven Elements,” I laughed. “Did you hear that? The Known Elements are Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth Element is Magic, or the ‘spark’ that ignites a feeling in us, a feeling of Friendship. But that is what it is: a spark. It can die out as quickly as it was lit if you do not care for it. But if you nurture it, feed it what it needs, that spark can become a raging inferno able to change your world.

“Feelings so intense that it creates a physical effect,” I continued. “When somepony you feel that way about is in trouble, you want to help. You ask what is wrong, you comfort them, you tell them they are not fine when they need to hear it, you try to cheer them up, and if it is needed you give up something not as important to help them. But as worried as you are, you can only help them if they want help.”

“And yet you still don’t have it!” Nightmare shouted at me. “That Element was lost nearly two thousand years ago!”

“That is the thing about it,” I said. “As long as even one pony somewhere believes in an Element of Harmony, there is always a way for it to return. We can always rekindle the spark that is the Magic of Friendship, and let it burn into the Fire that is Love.

“That is the Lost Element!” I announced. “The Seventh Element of Harmony is the Element of Love, only there when the others become a raging inferno!”

I felt the Elements power grow impossibly strong. The entire world around us pulsed with energy. I could feel our hearts resonating as a final light appeared; it did not come from the air, but within us.

“By your lead, Twilight Sparkle,” I said. “The Spark leads the Flame. This is your call.”

She nodded to me, and I felt everything synchronize. The shards came together, creating necklaces and one tiara on Twilight’s head. A warm tingle spread throughout my body as we were lifted into the air.

A rainbow colored blast of magical energy came out of us, enveloping Nightmare Moon in its light. She screamed, but it was not a scream from physical pain. I saw memories flashing by. I saw every moment any of us had experienced that spark or flame. I do not know why I felt tears trailing down my face as I saw a memory of the Alicorns I had seen; They were together, laughing and teasing, acting like friends, like sisters. Was this a memory from Nightmare Moon?

As the spell finished, we were slowly set down onto the stone floor. Te Elements of Harmony took on a different physical form. We each had a gold necklace, except for Twilight who had a tiara, each with a large gem in the shape of our respective Cutie Mark. Around my own neck was a similar one, mine containing a pinkish-red gem in the shape of a heart. I also noticed that Rarity’s tail had grown back to its full length.

But the thing that held my attention was in front of me. A dark blue Alicorn was lying in the middle of shattered armor. She was only a bit bigger than me. I closed my eyes, checking those colors. There was no black left within her, just a beautiful silvery blue.

I opened my eyes and walked over to her. She cowered at the sound of my hoofsteps, but peeked an eye open when I sat next to her. She looked up at me curiously with beautiful turquoise eyes.

“Am I dead?”she asked in a whisper. “Or are you a ghost, haunting me for my mistakes.”

“Neither,” I answered. “You ask because I look like a pony from your memories, right? I saw her gravestone. Celestia saw the resemblance, too, she even gave me the name.”

“Why are you talking so calmly to me?” she wondered. I saw a bright light on the other side of the room, followed by a warm presence, but I paid it no mind for now. “You know who I am.”

“I have met you as Nightmare Moon today,” I replied. “But I have heard tales told of who you were before. You are the one who brings the night sky, not just the moon but all its stars. You are the walker of dreams, the one to protect us from the Nightmares, though you never wished to become one. You are Princess Luna, the Mare in the Moon, Goddess of the Night, and Walker of Dreams, youngest of seven Alicorn Princesses and a former bearer of an Element of Harmony. You are a sister to both Celestia and I.”

“I thought you might be one of their descendants, not a sibling,” she said.

“Celestia said that I was created just as you and she were,” I stated. “Though I was much more recent. I have only ever seen the Nights Celestia has created, but on those nights I have seen her cry longingly at the moon. You said she abandoned your family, yet the graves outside have been regularly taken care of. She is not one for being direct, or showing every emotion without provocation, but the little things show it.”

She was about to say something back when we heard a voice from across the room. I looked up to see Celestia. Twilight was being released from her teacher’s hug. After seeing the statue where her grave eventually would be, I saw how tired she looked, the weight of two thousand years showed.

“I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her,” she was saying to Twilight. “But you could not use it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now only if another will as well.”

Celestia turned her head to Luna and I. I backed out of the way as she walked up to us. Luna cowered again, afraid of what she had done.

“It has been a very long time since I have seen you like this,” Celestia said. “It is time to put our past behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?”

I could see the fear in Luna’s eyes. She wanted to accept the offer, she wanted it so much, but I could see her wondering how anypony could forgive her. I tried to give her a reassuring grin.

“I am sorry!” she shouted, jumping up to hug Celestia. “I am so sorry! I missed you so much!”

“I am sorry too,” Celestia replied, returning the embrace. I watched tears fall from both their eyes, streaking one another’s coats.

“You know what this calls for?” Pinkie shouted. “A party! We’re going to need balloons! And streamers, lots and lots of streamers! Oh! Now I’ll finally have a use for the blueberry version of Mrs. Cake’s special Princess Cupcakes! And she said we’d only ever need strawberry flavor! I told her we’d need it soon!”

Pinkie bounced off, planning Luna’s “Welcome back from the moon” party. I laughed at the bewilderment my sisters had on their faces. The rest of us were so used to it, we sometimes forget how she seems to others.

“She is like some strange combination of Azura and Circus!” Luna remarked.

“Well, she is the Element of Laughter,” Celestia chuckled. “And doesn’t she look a fair bit like Frosted? Speaking of descendants though, you’ll need to meet our nieces and nephews. You’ll like most of them.”

“Most?” Luna asked, a mischievous grin coming to her face.

“Well, Blueblood is,” she pause, trying to find the words. “You know, I can’t think of a word to describe him.”

“I can think of plenty!” I chuckled as I began following my friends out. “None of them are ‘appropriate’ for a princess to say!”

As I walked, I could still see this place, how it once was. I wanted to know more about this place, but I decided it could wait. After all, I just got my sister back, and I found a few new friends. I should spend time with them. It was amazing to see Celestia next to Luna. It looked like the weight of the last thousand years was lifted off of her.

“Can I ask you something?” Twilight wondered as I came up beside her.

“Anything.” I replied.

“What’s it like in Ponyville?” she asked.

“It is a lot different than Canterlot,” I answered. “Even if you are not best friends with somepony here, you still know them fairly well. If somepony has a big problem, most of the town would try to help. And the foals are kept safe by everypony; nopony goes ‘Well, they are not my kid, why should I bother? And there is always something interesting happening, whether it is a festival or some creature from Everfree. Were you asking because you want to stay?”

“Well, I, uh…” my question caught her off guard. “I have to go back to Canterlot anyway. I’m the Princess’ student after all, and-“

“You know,” I began. “The mayor told me that our new librarian was scheduled to arrive in town yesterday. She said it was somepony from Canterlot who would be officially starting today. Something you should know about Celestia by now is that she never tells her full plan, but she is quite generous.”

I laughed at Twilight’s expression this time as she processed my words. This was going to be quite the adventure. I could feel my world shift. I felt like everything would be better than I thought, yet something dark lurked at the edge of my mind, mostly just the things about today that were confusing.

But I would not let that weigh on my mind.

Visions

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Anywhere else it would be a fairly beautiful night, but in the Everfree Forest you rarely see the sky. Even on a bright day the thick canopy of leaves make it look like evening, at night you might forget the moon is there. Most ponies would have a lit torch or a light spell, a dangerous game as it becomes a beacon. I guess what I was doing was cheating. When my eyes are closed, I can see everything around me, and every creature, pony or monster, was a bit of color. I could not tell what they were, only their size. I had been able to avoid most creatures.

My luck ran out. A small creature emerged from the bushes. I thought it would be something simple, but I heard its cry. Out of instinct I shut my eyes even tighter, and I ran ignoring the colors that blurred by. I did not get far before seeing three familiar colors; one was green, one was orange, and the third was a dark, almost red, pink. I turned sharply and ended up jumping out at the three of them.

“What are you three doing here?” I demanded when they calmed down from my scare.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Chicken Rescuers!” The caped fillies cheered in response.

“We were stayin’ at Fluttershy’s place when one of her chickens got loose,” Applebloom explained.

“What are you doing here?” Scootaloo asked.

“It is not important right now,” I told her. “The forest is dangerous for even adults!”

“We made it here fine,” she muttered.
Just my luck. Seven adults nearly die on their way in, but a group of fillies manages to get close to the heart of the forest without any trouble. I was about to take them back to Fluttershy’s when I heard the noise again behind us.
“Change of plans!” I exclaimed. “Run this way! Now!” I took off in the direction of the castle. I heard them following me.

“What about the chicken?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying to keep up with me. I grumbled to myself about the fact that fillies run slower.

“Bad idea!” I answered, slowing down enough so that they would not lose me. “Very bad idea! That creature is a cockatrice! They look a bit like chickens so you would probably be attacked before figuring it out!”

I saw the castle up ahead. It was just as it had been last time I was here. White stones faded to gray, vines growing up the side, any wood doors having long rotted away. I saw the wonder on their faces as we crossed the rope bridge.

“What is this place?” Scootaloo shouted to me.

“I’ll explain inside!” I answered back.

I grabbed the stone doors in my magic, pulling them open. I was glad this was protected. A hydra or an ursa would probably get in, maybe a very determined manticore, but we would be safe from most of the Forest’s creatures.

I tried to look at the three of them, but everything was fuzzy. It was those like looking through a broken stained-glass window, colors mixing, shapes obscured. My head was pounding. We were in the throne room, just like last time.

I saw Sweetie Belle looking at me, very concerned. I think she was trying to see what was wrong, but I could barely form words. My vision was clearing, but not how it should. The fillies were disappearing, but other ponies were quickly taking their place. Torches were lit, the hall was decorated, I began to hear their voices.

It was like the window shattered, leaving me in a place I did not know.

I could feel a warmth from this room, not just from the fires lit, but the warmth of life from these halls. I noticed that the dull gray stones were now polished white. The ponies in the room were decorating for a party. There were two Alicorns, one in the center and one flying around putting up streamers, a few Unicorns, Pegasai, and Earth Ponies, and even a few Zebras. There were some types of ponies I did not recognize, some were insect-like, some seemed like living gems. There was even a creature I had never seen anything like; more accurately, he was a Chimera of sorts, not the lion, snake and goat type, but I could count somewhere around ten different animal parts. He seemed to be hindering progress, currently untying the ‘Happy Birthday’ banner.

My focus shifted to the Alicorn in the middle of the room. I had seen her statue in the graveyard, the name ‘Azura’ written on the pedestal. Her resemblance to Cadence was more than just the face. Her coat was pink, though a few shades darker. And the blonde, pink, and purple mane was also tipped with black.

Her blue eyes scanned the room. I had seen that look before, but it had been worn by the Grand Master of Parties. She was making a checklist in her mind, not stopping until everything was perfect. This need for perfection was not out of wanting it for herself, but because she wants it to be perfect for someone else.

“Star!” She yelled to a gray Unicorn by the thrones. “Blue balloons go by Luna, the red ones are for Mira. Amber, put the yellow flowers by the door. Onyx! Take Ambrosia and get more streamers. Go through the kitchens, turn left, third door on the right.

“Be right back,” replied one of the gem-ponies; his coat was almost as black as my own, though his mane was blue. I did not think he was talking to Azura when he spoke, as he gave a quick kiss on the cheek to a red-maned mare next to him. He nodded to one of the insect-like ponies, a orange-maned stallion, and the two of them ran off to what I assumed was the kitchen.

The creature above us could barely hold in his giggles as he finished with the rope holding the banner. It fell slower than I thought it would before landing on top of Azura. She struggled with it for a second but quickly got it off.

“Dissi!” she screamed in half-hearted annoyance, or maybe exasperation. He just cackled with glee. “Can you stop for one night and be helpful?”

“If you manage to get him to stop messing with you, I will eat every single thing cake, cookie, and pastry Frosted makes for the party!”

That was my voice! That was my own mouth moving! I tried to ask what was going on, but my mouth would not move from its laughing grin. Even my hooves seemed rooted to the ground. This was not time travel, nor was it a simple vision of events captured by some spell. I was in somepony’s memory. I stood where they stood, I said what they said.

I began to piece things together. I could still feel my wings and my horn, so I was still an Alicorn; I assume if I was a different type of pony I would not be able to feel them, as this is somepony else’s memory. I was taller than the mare in front of me, and she was taller than the other ponies, again like Cadence. I could see familiar red-orange at the edge of my vision. If I had to take a guess, this was a memory from the mare Celestia named me for, the Feria that died nearly two thousand years ago.

“You will eat all of them anyway!” teased the other Alicorn as she glided down from the ceiling. “Frosted gets to do double the work for your sweet tooth!”

“And she will make triple as we can eat it all again the next day!” I giggled in response. “And are you to tell me that it was not you I saw covered in frosting at Circus’s party?”

I studied the white mare. She was taller than I was right now. Her mane was pink and had waves and curls, but it seemed to flicker; it light up with magic every now and then, floating in the air and adding blues, greens, and a little purple. It was her eyes that let me recognize her. Those purple eyes I had seen many times. I had seen them crinkle in laugher and I had seen them swim with ghosts of the past. This was different completely. Here, Celestia was free, no burdens upon her soul, no regrets or loneliness, just joy.

This was strange. Other than Celestia, I should not know the ponies in this room. As I looked at their faces, it was like seeing somepony from long ago, like a childhood friend you forgot until they day you both ran into the same building to escape the rain. I did not know their names or their favorite things or what their lives were like, but I recognized them, I knew their faces, their coats, I knew the way their bodies moved during different emotions.

The weirdest thing was how they interacted with me. Celestia was teasing me, or the ‘Previous Feria’, I was used to that, she had known me my entire life. What I was not used to was being able to tease her back in the same way, I had only known her for a small part of her life. Azura’s interaction with me was different too. There held a certain casualness that I have only had with some of my closest friends. The medley of a creature she was yelling at earlier, who had by now come down from his fit of giggles and had draped his arm over my shoulders, was said to only listen to me. Was the ‘previous Feria’ closer to him than others were?

“I hope Luna enjoys tomorrow’s party,” Celestia said.

“Me too!” Azura exclaimed. “I mean, she said she wanted something quiet, but how ‘quiet’ does she mean? We cannot just not invite somepony to make it quieter. I have a surprise for her though! After the main party we can have a small little thing of just the nine of us. And we can tell them about the Super Special Secret Surprise Project of Awesomeness!”

“Azura!” The ‘Previous Feria’ cut her off. “The point of the ‘secret’ part of ‘Super Special Secret Surprise Project of Awesomeness is that nopony is supposed to know about the Super Special Secret Surprise Project of Awesomeness.”

“Is that what you five have been working on?” Celestia wondered.

“If either of you try to find out before tomorrow, you will be wearing more colors than Circus!” the ‘Previous Feria’ threatened, looking up at the creature with his arm around ‘her’. She even lit her horn for an added effect.

The creature just smirked at us. He snapped his talon and his coat and scales turned a rainbow of colors. He acting like nothing had happened. The rest of us busted out in giggles that would last a few minutes.

The world began to fade again. The world shattered like breaking glass. When my vision faded back in, I was on the floor of the castle. From the ruined gray stones and the three, still blurry, fillies looking down at me, I could tell I was back in reality.

My breathing was stabilizing as I tried to stand. I felt shaky, but I should be good. I wanted to go home, to just lay down and not think about anything at all. I could not do that yet.

“I am sorry,” I said, my voice wavering but staying okay. “How long was I-?”

“Just a minute or two,” Sweetie answered. “Are you okay? You felt warm, like maybe you were sick. You really shouldn’t be running around when you’re sick.”

“I am fine, I think,” I replied. “I do not think I am sick. It was not from that.”

“Then what in tarnation was it?” Applebloom burst out. She and Scootaloo seemed to have been just as worried, even if they did not show it as well as Sweetie Belle.

“I am not completely sure,” I answered her. “I think it might have been residual magic or something that latched into me and created a vision of sorts. It happens around this place apparently. When I was here last time when we defeated Nightmare Moon, something similar happened. I did not pass out from it before, though. Just overlapping images and senses of déjà vu.”

“Is that your special talent?” Scootaloo wondered, suddenly interested.

“Not at all,” I chuckled. “My talent is actually a little confusing.”

“How can a talent be confusin’?” Applebloom asked. “You’ve already got your Cutie Mark.”

“Just because I know what my talent is does not mean I know what I am doing,” I stated. After a pause where I figured out that made no sense, I continued. “Basically, I know what I can do. When I close my eyes I see things. I use it to find my way in the dark without a light, or to find ponies hiding from me. Objects are just basic outlines so that I do not run into them, but every creature is a moving thing of color, and I can see everyone.”

“You can see ponies’ colors,” Scootaloo repeated. “What color am I?”

“You are a dark, pinkish-red,” I told her. “Sweetie is green and Applebloom is orange. An interesting factor is that I can also see ponies that nopony else can see. You have heard that Mrs. Cake is going to have a foal soon, right?”

“Rarity mentioned it to me,” Sweetie answered. “She said she might make a tiny little outfit for the newborn.”

“Exactly,” I continued. “For the last few months when I saw her I saw the normal pink colors, but I saw a small blue and a brown within that pink. I could see she was going to have twins before she even knew she was carrying them. I still do not know exactly what those colors are or why each pony is what color, but I now that it is my talent.”

“At least ya know about it,” Applebloom sighed, glancing at her own flank. “Must be nice to have a Cutie Mark.”

“It depends on the talent,” I replied. “Sometimes it has to do with expectations. Not everypony gets what they expect. I know Fluttershy did not know she had a talent for talking to animals before she had to, so what did she expect it to be? Some get disappointed. Besides, having a talent is not the most important thing, it is what you do with it.”

“How can somepony do somethin’ different with their Cutie Mark?” she asked.

“Some are more on a set path, but others can be used in many ways,” I explained. “For example, Rarity’s talent is gem finding. She uses it to make her outfits, but potentially she could find gems and just sell them to the highest bidder or she could use them in sculptures. Once you find your talent, you have to find a way to use it. Our destiny is set to use the talent, but we are free to decide our fate of how it happens.”

“Magic is actually fairly unpredictable,” I continued, “especially Cutie Mark magic. Everypony finds their talent, even something as unpredictable as a Cloudsdale-born Pegasus having a talent for talking to animals. When the world thinks we are ready, it will push us in our direction. The really interesting is how many times talents and naming go hoof-in-hoof. Like how Lyra plays a lyre, or how the Cakes make cakes. Sometimes it does not apply, like with Pinkie and her talent to make ponies smile, and other times, like with that mare Octavia, you can guess her talent is musical but you do not know its exact manifestation. I think you fall into the unknown type though, so I cannot be much help.”

“And even if you could, you’d tell us to wait,” Scootaloo grumbled. “What is this place anyway?”

“This is the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters,” I said, ignoring the obvious subject change. “It was once home to seven Alicorn Princesses. Each were talented in magic; it would take a group of Unicorns the size of Ponyville to do what they would every day. They were also Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

“How ancient is ‘ancient’?” Applebloom asked, her eyes roving over every structure. “Ain’t most ‘ancient’ places supposed t’ be all ruined and stuff. This one’s in really great condition.”

“I believe its main parts are somewhere around sixteen hundred,” I answered. “Though its oldest buildings, like this one, are close to two thousand. And it is not in that good of a condition. It’s falling apart, really.”

“Ya’ see that hole up there?” she pointed with her hoof to a spot in the ceiling. “Look at the bricks. If they had gotten old and fallen, the whole brick would’a gone with it. Those up there are all busted. Somethin’ broke ‘em.”

I looked closer at the spot she indicated. She was right, probably an ability she learned because of how many times her barn had been broken. Some of the brick had deteriorated from weather, but I believe the original shape was circular, definitely not made my natural causes. It looked too circular to have been made by a creature breaking through. I would guess it was a blast of magic.

“I bet there’s a spot,” Sweetie Belle began. She ran up the hall to the spot in front of the thrones. “Right here!”

I was about to tell her not to shout when I realized she had not shouted. Her voice did not squeak like it did when she was loud. She was talking normal, yet I could hear her as easily as if she were right next to me.

“How are you doing that?” I noticed I had to shout my question for her to hear me. The three of us made our way to where she was.

“Some places have a spot where the walls make your voice louder!” she replied. “Town Hall has one, and so did the place my cousin got married at. Miss Cheerilee said it was something called acoustics?”

“I thought it was some kind of magic,” I said. “I have only seen those with horns standing in spots like that I guess.”

“Whose thrones are these?” Applebloom asked, looking at one on my far left, though it was to the right of anypony sitting in the throne.

At first I believed the throne to be like most of the outside, overgrown. As I looked closer I could see it was all stone. A large block had been carved into vines and tree bark. I could see a few flowers near its top.

“I only know as much as Celestia has told me, but I will try to guess,” I said. “This throne belonged to a mare named Flora. I heard that she was stubborn, and she was amazing with plants. Tia said she was blunt with her opinions, but the Element of Honesty usually is.

”This one was Mira’s,” I continued, moving to the side. This throne was also stone, but it was carved into shapes of animals; I saw a bunny, a dog, even a dragon. “She was the peacekeeper, able to diffuse arguments between anyone. She had been the Element of Kindness.”

“Who was this one?” Scootaloo shouted, her patience finally wearing thin.

I walked to where she stood. All the way on the other end of the row, was a throne that looked to be made of clouds. No, it was made of clouds, enchanted to keep its form like the structures in Cloudsdale. I smiled when I realized who it was.

“Of course you would pick this one!” I laughed. “This belonged to Tornata, an overconfident and foolhardily brave. She always defended her friends. Her Element was Loyalty.”

My teasing was not lost on her. The filly’s fascination with my friend was very well known by most of the town. It was only natural that she was drawn to the throne of the Bearer of the same Element. Applebloom had done the same for her sister’s Element, and I could see Sweetie standing in front of the throne for the Element of Generosity.

The throne next to Tornata’s was interesting. It was made of colorful gems and crystals. Somehow, it seemed like the pattern was random, yet I could see coherency in it; if you start from one crystal, the colors next to it are its contrast, and the colors next to it, moving out man making a full rainbows of colors.

“Azura sat here,” I continued. “She was strange. She liked to combine magic and inventions, and she created a lot of ways for those without a horn to use the same tools as a Unicorn. She had her own system for everything, so anyone who did not know the system thought she was an unorganized nut. She bore the Element of Laughter.”

“I will let you guess on the two on the sides of the middle,” I said, sitting a bit away from the row’s center.

These two thrones were simple, and it was easy for me to see who they belonged to. The one that was on my left, or if I were on the middle throne it would be the right, was solid gold, a picture of the sun engraved into the chair’s back. Its opposite was similar, though the metal was silver and its symbol was that of a moon.

“Princesses Celestia and Luna?” Sweetie Belle guessed.

Exactly!” I grinned. “I will go easy on you and tell you that Celestia was the Element of Generosity while Luna wielded the Element of Magic. Luna was always the better spellcaster. I bet if Tia had become whatever her version of Nightmare Moon is, the fight would have been more evenly matched before the Elements came into play.”

“And the last throne?” Sweetie asked.

The throne she indicated was in the center. It was simple stone. Only the top was decorated, the stone having been carved into flames. Only the three in the middle had a warmth to them, almost radiating heat. It sounds silly to say, but it felt like the throne was calling me. Not with words, but I could hear a ringing in my ears that my mind said could only be stopped by sitting on it.

“This is the mare I know the least about,” I answered finally. “Celestia named me after this mare, and from the one statue of her I have seen, I assume it was because of a similar appearance. That is probably why I asked about her the least; the heartbreak felt fresh. Anyway, she was my Element, too, the Element of Love.”

An odd section of the wall caught my eye. As I walked closer, I saw carvings on it. Taking notice of the seams, I realized it was a door, though there were no knobs or handles. A door like this should open to a spell, but I did not want to waste time trying out different ones.

“We should be going now,” I said, tearing myself away from both the door and the throne still calling out to me. The three of them protested, but I cut them off. “It is very late, far past any of your bedtimes, and I did not forget that you snuck away from Fluttershy to come into the Everfree Forest.”

“We were trying to help a chicken,” Sweetie pouted as I herded them toward the door.

“You never told us why you were in here!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “If it’s so dangerous why’d you come in?”

“I came to see the castle,” I retorted. “And I have many tricks for avoiding the forest’s monsters. I am also trained in various types of combat, so if I were unlucky enough to greet a monster I would be able to fight, though I can also run or fly away fast enough if needed.”

“Okay, but if you came to the castle surely you want to see more than just this one room?” she suggested. “We can totally help you look around!”

“On another day you can come back,” I said. Their faces lit up. “Not too soon, I would like to see what dangers lurk these halls before inviting others, but I was planning on bringing a group of ponies here later. I think you deserve to be with that group.”

They kept talking of the idea of exploring; maybe even getting their Cutie Marks for it. We were across the rope bridge by the time they began to talk about something other than coming back. Most of our conversation was me convincing Sweetie not to try and use her horn for light. I might be able to maneuver around monsters, but it only works if they do not know we are here.

“Girls? Girls!” I heard a frantic, yet familiar, voice yelling from above.

“Fluttershy?” I called up toward the voice. The yellow Pegasus landed in front of us, still panicking.

“Thank goodness!” she exclaimed. “We have to leave now! There’s a cockatrice on the loose!”

All kinds of swear words flew through my brain. If any of those fillies had a mindreading talent they are learning a lot of colorful language. I had forgotten about that creature.

“Why are you here?” Fluttershy wondered, bringing me out of kicking myself.

“It is a long story,” I sighed.

“She found us out here and showed us this beautiful castle back that way!” Sweetie exclaimed. “She said we might come back again sometime!”

Fluttershy gave as much of an annoyed look as was possible for her. It said ‘you brought them someplace like that? Why not bring them home?’

“I was running from that cockatrice when I found these three,” I explained. “The castle is guarded against monsters, especially ones that can fly faster than these ones can run.”

“That makes a lot of sense when I think about it,” she said.

“Yeah, well I could not think much, especially when,” A thought struck me. Not a thought, but more like a minor version of the headache I got when I entered the castle. “Fluttershy, I need you to take them home now.”

“Aren’t you coming?” they asked in unison.

“Not yet,” I answered. “I still need to investigate a few things. I will be fine on my own, and you can stare down any monster that comes your way.”

I ran off before any of them could protest. I headed back to the castle. As I neared my destination, I kept feeling like I needed to be there, I had to be there.

I was lucky to not run into anything. Even without the threat of a creature jumping out at me, I felt scared now. Here, I was alone.

I felt that headache start up again. No, headache was not the word for it. It was like that feeling of trying to remember taking on a physical pressure in my mind. I wondered if I would black out again as I walked through the doors.

I went straight through the room and past the thrones, focusing on the door. I studied the carvings. There were many symbols on the door: two hearts, a swirling pattern with stars scattered in it, a compass rose and a crescent moon.

I ran my hoof around the edge of the door, hoping to find something. I heard a click when I reached the bottom. A physical lock had been undone, but something was telling me that there was a spell keeping the door in place. I reached out to the feeling, grabbing onto it. It was not a pressure like before but a gentle push where I needed, maybe because I invited the feeling in. My horn sparked, casting a spell I did not recognize.

The door opened, air once sealed away rushed out. I stared into the darkness, scared yet invited. Spiral stairs led downward. Lighting my horn again, I walked on. I was not afraid of finding a monster here; anything that was inside when the door was sealed has been long dead.

It was not too far down to go, but in my loneliness it felt longer. As I tried to figure out what was down here, I felt that push again. I connected to it and let my magic work itself. Everything was bright now. I blinked at the change, but tried to look around. It seemed like ponies had lit torches in intervals around the room.

As my vision cleared, I saw there were no torches. There were gems and crystals set in the sconces instead. The spell I had used was one I now recognized, a simple light spell; I had seen Unicorns at the school in Canterlot experimenting with charging small gems with spells, but never had I seen anypony make it work properly, especially not to this extent.

The gems cast colors everywhere, but most of them were whites, oranges, and yellows, giving a similar effect as a flame, but without its flicker. This room was huge, nearly the size of the throne room, and just about as bare. Dust covered the floor and empty bookshelves.
Interestingly, one large crystal stood at the end of the room, remaining unlit. I approached it cautiously. Everything left in here had been moved, so why was this left alone? The crystal almost seemed to glow brighter, and I found myself staring into bright blue eyes.

I stifled a scream as I jumped backwards nearly tripping over my own hooves. The thing in front of me looked like a projection of sorts, but it was coming from the crystal instead of a pony caster. Coming back to rational thought, I realized this was the mare from when I blacked out. Azura, I believe I had called her. She looked about the same, though her mane was crystallized, probably just an effect from the projection. She began to speak.

“Is this thing working?” she asked. Her voice was clear, as if she really were standing in front of me. “Well, if somepony is watching this is did work! Anyway, this is my newest attempt at keeping records, almost like Zyanthi’s journal. Well, we had a journal, but considering it was quite flammable, I looked into other options.

“Firstly, I would like to cover how this works, since it is our records and all. I have always been able to absorb and amplify magic by casting it on crystals, but those are for one time only uses, and I need something permanent. Right now I am using a projection spell on this crystal, and if it works properly I will have a record of my work what will not get knocked into a fire pit.”

“I already said I was sorry!” came a stallion’s voice. The speaker did not appear, so I assumed he was just in the same room when she recorded.

“It does not change the fact that Evening had to spend all day fixing it!” Azura shouted over her shoulder. “And watch your own project! If you leave that on the heat for too long it will-!”

An explosion of sorts sounded from her message, followed by a few interesting swear words. Her form flickered as she began to leave the message’s frame. I had to wonder, I have seen ponies just recently beginning to experiment with crystals and gems in magic, but this mare was from about two thousand years ago. She appeared again, though this seemed to be an entry from a different day.

“Two days from now it my sister Luna’s birthday,” she said. “We have planned our biggest project since the Elements of Harmony! It is similar in a sense, but the Elements’ power is mostly as an offensive tactic. This is more of a defense. I cannot say more on it now, in case someone figures out how to work this. I will update with exact details after the party!”

Her form flickered again. I assume that means the end of an entry. I began to wonder more. It seemed that she helped create the Elements of Harmony. No, she said she was talented at using magic with gems, she probably made them, or at least made the necklaces and tiara.

Her form stopped flickering, but she still moved. Her body was trembling, and her eyes looked like she had not slept. I saw tears streaking her coat, not just down her face but patches on both shoulders. I wanted to grab her, to hold her close and assure her that everything is fine, the only thing that stopped me was the knowledge that this was just a projection.

"Today was Luna’s birthday,” she said, her voice no longer vibrant. “No, by now it is the next day. I wish that day never happened. We had set up for a party; we planned to laugh and dance and eat as much as we could, then we were going to reveal our project. That was our plan, yet things happen. I-I still cannot believe she’s-“

She chocked back a sob; her body shook harder, tears forming in her eyes again. When I blacked out earlier, had she not said that they were setting up for Luna’s birthday party? It had to be the same one she meant now. What could have possibly happened that day? I lifted my hoof to her shoulder before remembering that she was not real.

“Feria is dead!” she finally cried out, freely sobbing now. My eyes widened as I felt my own breath catch. “Star, Evening, Morning, and I, we were h-heading down to the w-workshop. We got t-to the throne room a-and she was j-just lying there! Sh-she was, her b-body was, in a pool o-of blood, her neck w-was- Oh stars I do not even want to think about it!

“I-I remember screaming. That might have b-been all four of us. We tried t-to keep the others from seeing her like, like that. Evening and Star h-had to set up barriers because they kept trying to get in. E-eventually someone broke through, but I did not pay attention to whom.

“They a-are all having different reactions. Most are solemn, crying and staring at the ground as they walk. Luna, she l-locked herself in her room. Morning and Evening are trying to comfort everyone, but they can only do so much. And Dissi is, he s-seems to be having different stages.

I remember seeing him when we found her, after someone broke though o-our barrier; he was shouting and screaming something, but I could not hear him through my sobs. H-he held on to her, clinging to her in his hysterical state. Since then he’s been either hiding away, probably crying like the rest of us, but it is his rage that scares me. He was yelling and breaking things earlier. His magic is going out of control changing objects and colors and-“

She shuddered, shaking off the thoughts. ‘Dissi’ was a name I recalled from the blackout. No, not just a name, but a creature. I wondered who exactly he was, why this scared her. Is it not natural for some to be that upset when someone dies?

“There is one question that needs answered,” Azura stated. “A blade to the throat is nowhere near a ‘natural’ death. Someone killed her, and we have no idea who or why. We cannot even find whatever was used. Luna agreed to dreamwalk tomorrow night, to try to find who could have done this. I am terrified. Can I handle the idea that one of our family did this? Can I handle the retribution they will face from us? What will I do if we do not find out?”

With that, she flickered again and left me with the image of her tears. I sat down, my breathing heavy and my heart quickening. I shuddered in the cold that washed over me. I knew most of the first Alicorns were dead, and I saw the grave in the courtyard, telling me how young the previous Feria was when she died. I never could have thought that someone could have murdered her.

Before I could do anything, the message stopped flickering. Azura appeared again. Before, I would have placed her age somewhere around my own, maybe a little older. She was mostly the same, but I could see tiredness in her face like that on ponies my friends’ parents age, though a fair bit worse. Her coat was lighter and her mane had added gray to its multi-hued length.

“I have not entered anything here for a long time,” she said. “It has been centuries. The eight of us discovered our Immortality when we did not begin to grow old and gray like the rest of our family. There should have been nine of us. When Feria was killed, I would always console myself with the fact that if there were an afterlife we would be together, and if not then I would not feel the pain any longer. I hope that if an afterlife exists, it is a world like our own, but a place where no one gets hurt, where we cannot die. Luna compares the idea to that of her Dreamworld, but I have not seen it.

“We thought we could not die. There was even an incident maybe a year after Feria’s death with Bolero, Nocturne, and Serenade. Flora got what should have been a fatal wound, but her magic healed her. I kept trying to figure out why it did not work for Feria; she was different like the rest of us Immortals. The best I can figure it that something stopped her from using her magic so that she could not heal herself. Now I wonder that even if she were killed would she still be alive? Would she even be with us?

“So much has changed. Most of our friends have died, though out of the first of us, so far every death was from old age, except for Feria’s. Those who still live are no longer around all the time. My sisters are in separate castles, even I have left my home for my own Empire; Only Celestia and Luna remain back at our castle, but I hear they have plans to move to a new city. Dissi kind of travels around, though I know something is very wrong I cannot do anything more than wait for him to break. The Dragons have their own separate colony; they seem to live for a few hundred years, but they are growing old, even if it is at a much slower rate. Chryssi left too, which was something Tornata was upset about for weeks. And four of us are, well we will be going home soon.

“We have found a way to end our Immortality, if we truly want. There is no real spell or given words, just the realization that we want something else that our Immortality cannot give us. Tornata was the first to give it up. She fell in love with a Pegasus named Hurricane. She wanted to spend her life with him, with the children they had, instead of spending the rest of eternity without them. Flora was next, falling for an Earth Pony named Puddinghead, and Mira has a Unicorn named Jade Mist.

“If you have seen my previous entries, you will have probably guessed that I am the same, I gave up my Immortality. It was not until I met Stone Symphony that I wanted to give it up. I would rather spend one mortal life with him than go on forever without. I feel free, in a way. I hope I will be able to see my friends again, my brilliant, fantastic, and marvelous friends.

“So far, no one else had been Immortal. Not even my sister’s children are, though two have been born Alicorns so far. My own daughter, Lazuli, it one too, but she is too young for me to really know if she will live forever. I do not expect her too. And I can only wonder when the remaining four of us will give up their Immortality.

“That leads me into why I made this message. That incident I mentioned, out of habit we tried to use the Elements of Harmony against them. We had not even pulled them out of their hall since months before her death, but we hoped their power would knock some sense into them. We did not get a chance. The Seventh Element, the Element of Love, Feria’s Element, was broken; the gold was snapped in two and the gem shattered. The others are usable, even with other bearer’s deaths. I think it is because they left on their own terms, but their power is severely weakened. They did not have enough power to help, and we.... Starswirl had to...

“But that message is not for this crystal. This message is to say that if there is a need for the Element’s power, someone can take them from where I am about to hide them. I cannot say it for just anyone, yet I can give the words that will lead you to their resting place; ‘The sun, moon, and stars will guide your way’.

“This will probably be my last entry,” she began to cry again. There were no sobs like last time, but just silent tears down her face. “I would like to apologize to all those I left behind, and to those I will never meet. I hope that if there is somewhere after death, we can meet there. I apologize to Feria. I was never able to find out who killed you. We tried and tried again, but we never could do it. They are probably dead by now. Maybe I will learn if I see you again? Most of all, I would like to apologize to the four remaining Immortals. Chryssi, Tia, Luna, Dissi, I love you all. I am sorry for leaving you too, but I hope that one day you will understand why I did. Whether you are together or apart, be happy. Smile and laugh! Remember us all, but do not get so caught up in the past that you forget what you have now.

“Goodbye, everyone. Goodbye, my friends. Goodbye, my family.”

The crystal dimmed, and her form disappeared. I found that tears were running down my face as well. I felt like I could not breathe. My body was trembling. Why did her story affect me like this? I know it should be normal for somepony to feel terrible about another’s problems, but this was not normal. I did not know this mare, so why did this tale make me feel like this? I have been in situations where ponies tell me about the worse of their lives, yet I never feel like this around them. With her, I wanted to pull her close, to tell her everything is alright, to assure her that no matter how bad things are they can get better, and I wanted to mean it, to make it happen.

I ran. I ran away from that room, out of the castle, and into the Everfree Forest. I was scared of this, and confused to why it was happening. It was not just the message that bothered me, but the blackout. I saw somepony’s memories, memories from the night before she died. I kept crying as I opened my wings and took off. I began flying towards Canterlot. I wanted answers. Celestia should know what is going on, and if not she could at least give some comfort to my panic.

* * *

It was a little after sunrise by the time I got to the castle. Celestia could be nearly anywhere. Looking down, I could see the Lunar and Solar guards changing shifts, silver and gold armors mixed together. Some ponies only had half their armor on, the illusion spells that made them uniform were not activated yet, or currently deactivating in the case of the Lunar guard.

I stumbled as I landed, hitting the ground much harder than I meant to. In front of me were the Guard Captains exchanging reports of what happened during the night. The Lunar Captain took notice of me first.

“Good morning, Princess!” she exclaimed, getting into an immediate salute. The Solar Captain followed her lead. I looked between the Unicorn and the Pegasus. The illusion on the stallion’s armor did not matter much as he matched the guard anyway, but the mare’s illusion was only half on; her head was its normal cream and her mane blonde, but the rest of her was gray with a blue tail and the trademark bat wings of a Lunar Pegasus instead of her normal feathers.

“How many times have I said you do not have to do that when I come around?” I said. I had to smile at the familiar conversation. “Good morning, Gale Strike. Good morning Shining Armor.”

“Are you okay?” Gale asked. I probably looked terrible after last night.

“I just did not get much sleep,” that is not a lie, right? “I spent the whole time running around then flying. Do you know where my sister is?”

“I think both of them are in the astronomy tower,” Shining replied. “Is there anything else you need, Princess?”

“No thanks. You can go back to work now,” I turned to leave before looking back over my shoulder at him. “Really, Shining, you do not have to call me ‘Princess’ every time. Especially now. I got a letter from Cadence a few weeks back that says you will be joining the family soon!”

I smirked at the surprised look on his face. He began blushing furiously as Gale congratulated him. I continued on my way through the castle and up the tower. By the time I got to the door, I was trembling again.

I knocked on the door before walking in. It was quite a sight, seeing the Sun and Moon Princesses together again. Celestia looked as she always had, her white coat shining and her mane flowing with magic. I remembered that memory I saw, her mane was a normal pink instead of solidified magic. Luna was different than when I last saw her; her coat was a darker blue, and her mane was longer and darker too. It was not like the ethereal mane Celestia was known for, but I had a feeling it would get there.

“Feria!” Celestia exclaimed. I wonder if it was just surprise from seeing me here, or if I still looked terrible. Luna Quietly turned away. Considering I look like somepony she knew to be dead, that does not come at much of a surprise.

“I-I am sorry to interrupt,” I said shakily. “I- I just…”

“Come with me,” she said, standing up and walking me back into the hall. She looked back over her shoulder. “I will be back in a minute, Luna.”

She closed the door and we started down the way. I made it half way before breaking down. I just stopped and began shaking. I felt Celestia’s wing over me. It was a few minutes before I calmeddown enough to speak

“I-I went back to your old castle in Everfree,” I said. I could see a question in her eyes, the one I did not truly know the answer to. “I do not know why I did. Ever since I went there with my friends I kept wanting to go back, like I had to go back. When I first got there, I blacked out. I saw a dream of sorts. More like a memory, but it was not my own! I left for a bit, but I came back and I found the door behind the thrones. There was this large crystal and-“

“You activated the crystal?” Celestia asked. “I didn’t think you knew the spell.”

“I do not know how I did it,” I insisted. “I felt the same thing I felt when I blacked out, and I just let it work. It was so simple, like riding a bike again after not doing it for years. I just reached out to it, and my magic did something that felt like I had done it so many times.”

“And it played Azura’s messages,” she continued for me. “Tell me more about the blackout. What happened in that ‘memory’?”

“I saw if from somepony’s point of view,” I told her. I tried to take in how calm she was being. “It was like I was her. I felt every move she made from the steps she took to the way the wind blew through her feathers, I even felt when she lit her horn. When she talked to them it was my own voice. You were there, and so was Azura. There were a few other ponies some were types I do not know. Names, she called them ‘Star’, ‘Onyx’, and ‘Ambrosia’. And a creature that was some type of Chimera, though one I have never seen, even in books. She called him ‘Dissi’. We-we were all talking and laughing. We were setting up for a party, Luna’s birthday party she said. I just want to know what is happening.”

“I’m not sure what to think,” she replied. “I remember the night you saw, but I do not know how you saw it. That was the night the previous Feria died.”

“The night she was killed,” I corrected. “You can say it, I know. The message told me. I never knew.”

“I should have told you,” she agreed. “I kept putting it off. First I told myself it was because you were too young, then by the time it really hit me that you aren’t a kid anymore, you were in Ponyville. I would like to look into memory magic later. Maybe it is the connection to the Element that let you see that?”

“I do not think that is it,” I said. “None of the other bearers were pulled to the castle, nor did they see the previous bearers’ memories. Something else is going on.”

Everything got darker. The sun just rose, did it not? Why is it so dark? I tried to focus on Celestia, but even she faded out. How can she not notice? Does she not hear the ringing in her ears? I realized what was happening. I tried to call out to her as everything went dark.

I could tell I was in a memory again. Darkness surrounded me. It felt so cold, like tiny daggers piercing my coat. I lit my horn, or rather, the pony from the memory lit her horn. I was outside somewhere. I looked to the sky, seeing neither day nor night, just more of that darkness. Why did I find it so terrifying? I could feel grass beneath my hooves. To my right was water, though I could not tell if it was a lake or a slow river. I was much closer to the ground; my body was much younger, maybe four or five for most ponies I think.

Time was going faster than usual. I do not know how I was able to measure time as no days went by, but I knew

Time was going faster than usual. I do not know how I was able to measure time as no days went by, but I knew that about every fifteen seconds was a day. Every few minutes, a new foal would appear. The first was a Pegasus, then a Unicorn who lit her horn in an attempt to give us light. The third was an Earth Pony. The next two were those types I had seen in the other memory, a pony like a bug and a pony like a gem. Following them was a Zebra.

One day, just before what I assumed to be morning, a bright light appeared. It was kind and warm, so different from the darkness we knew. When the light subsided, there was another filly, an Alicorn with a white coat, a pink mane, and familiar violet eyes.

The new filly lit her horn, attempting to join the Unicorn and I. Instead of just creating a small light, the sun rose into the sky, which turned a clear, lovely blue. We could see the world around us. We were in an empty field of sorts, the water nearby was a river.

Later into the day, the foals begged the new Alicorn to keep the sun up. She shook her head and put it down, releasing us into that dark cold again. I could not hear their words, but she seemed to be saying that it would not be right, that something else will be there soon, but she would bring it back tomorrow.

Every day was now marked by a rising sun, yet their night still had no moon. The pattern repeated, a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and Earth Pony, a bug pony, a gem pony, and a Zebra. I still did not know where they came from, it was just one moment they were there with us. We seemed to introduce ourselves, though I did not know how we got our names.

The next light brought another Alicorn. This one was a very light purple, and her mane was a stormy gray. She looked around at us before leaping into the sky. She circled her hooves as the air around them seemed to condense. A cloud appeared where she was. As she bounced on its top rain came down, drenching those beneath her.

It followed the same pattern for weeks. Pegasus, Unicorn, Earth Pony, bug pony, gem pony, Zebra, Light. It happened three more times, each light bringing an Alicorn; one was pink with a multicolored mane, the next was a brown one who made trees and plants pop up all around us, and the sixth Alicorn was more yellow orange, her presence bringing many other creatures out of the forest, including dragons and griffons.

The pattern changed. After the next Zebra, no bright light appeared to give a new Alicorn. The pattern repeated as usual, but no bright light appeared. Instead, the bright light appeared on the next week. She was similar to the bug ponies, but not exact. Her wings were larger and her horn longer.

The bright light appeared the next week, throwing all ideas of a pattern out the window. None of us knew what to make of this creature, a younger version of the medley of a creature from the memory at Everfree. I, or rather, the pony this memory belongs to, offered her hoof to the creature, like they had done for all the others. He took hold of it in his talon.

Calculating the time, I realized a year had probably passed for them. Less than half of that year was spent in the sun. The foals convinced that filly to try to keep the sun up instead of setting it at night. I could see the strain on her, but she assured us it was fine. We had a full twenty eight hours of sun before we could not stand it; everything kept getting hotter and brighter, we got even less sleep than we got in that cold darkness. She lowered the sun the next night.

As the sun began to set, the light appeared once more. A deep blue Alicorn filly appeared from it. She watched the setting sun and lit her horn. I watched the moon rise, I felt the cool night air a great change from the sun’s heat and that darkness’ stabbing cold. I watched the filly pay attention to the sky, making stars and constellations, pictures anypony asked to see in the night sky.

It was just about a year by now. These foals spent a year in either harsh sun or total darkness, no real shelter or comfort or even parental supervision. Some even spent time without the sun, just the comfort of other ponies.

As I watched the sun rise on the day lapping a full year, my eyes closed. I could see their colors. I was still in the memory, this was something she was doing. She could see them like I would.

My eyes shot open while my limbs flailed upon realizing they could move again. Looking around I could see that I was in my old room back in the castle. It seemed so empty now that most of my things were in Ponyville. A few things stayed, toys from my foalhood and some of the fancier outfits that I would not need.

I heard a voice next to me. Celestia was standing at my side. I assume she had brought me in here, I think she was asking if I was alright? I was still a bit disoriented. I began to wake up enough to feel things; I could feel tears drying in my coat, and my throat burned.

“How long was I out?” talking did not help, but I wanted answers.

“Just a few hours,” she said, levitating a glass of ice water toward me. I drained it in seconds, thankful for its coolness.”You yelled a lot while unconscious, screaming the names of some ponies. Normally I would not think much of it, but I think you have only heard four of those names before you fell asleep. They were the names of those of us who were Created.”

“Created how?” I demanded. “You are not making sense, Tia! I do not want riddles! I just want to know what is going on!”

“First, tell me about your dream, while it is still fresh in your mind,” she replied.

There was an emotion in her voice I could not place. Was it fear? Maybe it was a glimmer of hope. Whatever it was, I knew I could not argue this with her. I sighed in defeat.

“There was a darkness, horrid and terrifying,” I began. I recounted every detail of what I saw, and every single feeling that went through me. She let me speak without interruption, and at the end gave support in the form of a kind embrace. I leaned into her for comfort. As terrified as I was of what was going on, she had lived through the things I saw. As real as it felt for me while I was out, she had actually lived through that year.

“Everything you saw did happen,” Celestia said pulling away. “I don’t know how you are doing it, but that was the creation of the First Ponies of Equestria. It is an event very few creatures remember.”

“Those were the names you shouted,” She continued, walking to the window. “You were watching from the eyes of the previous Feria, though I have no idea why that memory was triggered here, a place where she has never been. But the real question is why you’re seeing this.”

“Can you… Can you please stop referring her as ‘the previous Feria’?” I whispered. I did not wait for a response before continuing in a panic. “It was just that, when I was in the memory she did something only I can do. She looked into that other world Tia. Everypony is just a blob of color, but I can tell who everypony is. That ability, my appearance, seeing those memories, and from what I can tell from the memories a very similar personality. I cannot think of her and I as two separate ponies.”
I could not tell the reaction on her face. Maybe she was shocked, or maybe she was about to admit me to an asylum. I was one more memory away from admitting myself to an asylum.

“I can’t rule that out,” she finally said. My ears perked up; did she just say she might believe me? “It seems incredibly illogical, and it might just be the vain hope of one who wishes to have who she lost, but Alicorns have not followed most rules of magic too well.

“I wish I could give you a straight answer,” she continued, turning back to me. “But the only research we have on even the potential idea of reincarnation is from Phoenixes, and I don’t think it’s the same. Though I can get a few of the Gifted Unicorns on a research team to try. You have an suggestions on who should be on that team?”

“Ivy, if she can spare the time,” I answered. “Melon Mint seemed to have good, if not out there, ideas too. She might help.”

She began pacing, thinking of who else should be on the team. I almost could not believe this. She was not only taking me seriously, she was making it a priority, hoofpicking ponies to help.

“As for the memories,” she nodded. “I know of a pony who make be able to help you. Convincing her that this is a good idea without getting her hopes up is another matter. I suggest you go back to Ponyville for the time being, and stay there.

“Knowing you,” she did not let me protest, “you’ll want to go right back to that castle and explore. You were lucky enough to be in the castle when you blacked out. If you had done that in the forest, who know what could’ve happened. The magics left in that forest are dangerous anyway, even for you.”

I stayed quiet for a minute. She was right; as soon as I calmed down I would have walked right back into the Everfree. It was practically a miracle I did not blackout and get attacked by some monster.

“Alright,” I agreed. “I will stay in Ponyville, for now, if you answer two questions. First, why are you doing this much? Not that the effort is not appreciated, but surely you have other things to do than just help me. You have a kingdom to run, yet ever since I was little you put things off for a bit.”

“The last time I ignored something about my sister, I lost her for one thousand years,” she answered. “I did not want it to happen again.”

I felt almost guilty for asking. It was hard for me to think about a time when Celestia could ignore sompony’s feelings to that extent. I shook it off, that was one of those ideas meant for later, like when I cannot sleep.

“Next question,” I sighed. “If that memory is from Equestria’s beginning, why do history books say different? Why do our history books say everything is different? I knew ponies who thought you were the only Immortal Alicorn, and that Luna was a myth. What happened?”

Her expression darkened. Times like this remind me of just how old she is, how much history she has seen made. It was a little terrifying to think about.

“Ponies do not like to remember darkness,” she said. “The rewrite history, make it sound nice and decent, they fit it all into a box al nice and neat, not bothering to think about the mess. Those who remember the truth die, or they give up on trying to keep it alive. Even a Princess can’t control her subjects when they truly want something.”

We made our way down to the main courtyard. I wanted to ask more questions, but I think I have learned enough for today. She insisted a guard escort me back, should I black out again. I told her she was worrying too much, but I went along with it anyway. At least she let me pick which guard to take.

I chose a Pegasus, as I wanted to fly back. I looked at my choices. Crimson was interesting, and Archer is always fun. In the end, I chose somepony I had not met. It would be nice to have a conversation that would not get too personal after a day like today.

“So,” I began mid flight. “What is your name?”

He stumbled a bit in the air. I tried to stifle my laughter at his shock. The other guards knew me well enough, but the newer ones are still confused when I talk to them. Though usually the only real attention they got from a Royal about their personal life was Blueblood hitting on them.

“Iridescent Blade,” he answered.

“Nice name!” I commented. “What do you look like without the Armor Enchantment?”

“It’s not really relevant,” he mumbled

“Come on!” I laughed. “The only guard I have seen that did not need the enchantment is Shining. I want to know!”

“Fine!” he sighed, rolling his eyes. He grabbed the helmet from his head and the spell around it broke. The brown coat darkened to a rich mahogany while his mane lightened to white. Something was a little off about it.

“Your mane seems to be changing colors!” I exclaimed. I turned my wing and spiraled around him to get a better look. “Over here it looks like a light blue, but down here it’s orange! Now it’s pink!”

“It’s actually all of those,” he replied, putting the helmet back on. “It’s a lot of very-light-almost-white colors. It just appears different with what I wear and the lighting. Anyway, we’re almost to Ponyville, so I guess I’ll say goodbye soon.”

Before I could answer a blur of colors rushed up in front of us, nearly knocking Iridescent off course.

“Where have you been?” The colors I now recognized as Rainbow Dash demanded. “Fluttershy’s had us looking everywhere for you! Twilight’s going nuts thinking you’ve been eaten by some monster! They’re probably already back at the library by now!”

“What are you thinking!” Iridescent shouted at her after he was sure he was not going to fall out of the sky. “You nearly gave me a frigging heart attack!”

I had to laugh at their argument. After the night I had it just seemed so normal. No spastic memories or hidden truths were weighing on their mind. They were just two ponies having an argument over recklessness.

“Thank you for the escort, Iridescent,” I said, stopping their fight in their tracks. “Since we are back in Ponyville territory, I believe your mission is completed. Please tell Celestia I am safe. Maybe I’ll send you a letter sometime?”

“I’ll tell her,” he answered. With a smile, he added, “And I look forward to a letter.”

I grinned back as he took off. Rainbow and I spiraled downward, and by the time we reached the library he was a spot in the distance. When I opened the door it felt like I was tackled by a tree.

“Oh my goodness! You’re okay!” Fluttershy exclaimed. I counted heads in the room and saw six ponies and one dragon.

“What happened?” Twilight asked. Her mane looked disheveled, like she had been running her hooves through it for hours. “Fluttershy said you ran off in the Everfree forest, but you didn’t show up this morning.”

“I am sorry,” I sighed. “I was exploring the castle in Everfree, and I found some things.”

“Was there a monster hiding in there?” Rarity asked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were using the structure as a nest.”

“No, there are wards in place to prevent that,” I said. I wondered how to explain it to them; I cannot lie to m friends, but even I do not know what is going on. “What I found was information. I was not able to process it properly on my own, so I flew to Canterlot. Celestia is trying to help.”

I could not read their reactions. I guess they were just trying to process what I had said, to figure out what I had omitted. I do not think I would mind if they did not believe me. It might keep them safe.

“Hey! Cheer up!” Pinkie squeaked. “Investigating sounds fun! I can’t wait to get started! Oh! What do I bring? I know where to get a magnifying glass! And I can make snacks! What kind of cupcakes go with mysteries? I was thinking chocolate and mint ones with strawberry frosting and little fondant puzzle pieces on top!”

“Y-you want to help?” I asked. I was not sure I had heard her right.

“Of course we do!” Applejack replied. “Ya need help with this.”

I could not hear the rest of their agreements. I was smiling like an idiot. I could feel the warmth of their support. They did not just believe me, they believe in me. As we walked to our homes, I took a moment to enjoy that feeling. I was as warm as the sun shining on my face. I knew this was something I would never have to do alone.

At the Gala

View Online

I walked upwards on the spiraling staircase, shutting out the sounds of a party below. I did not usually attend the Grand Galloping Gala, but Celestia insisted I come this year. She had found a ‘memory expert’. I do not know who this pony was or how they could help, but I would take the chance to know what I can about my memories.

I stumbled on the hem of my dress. Rarity had originally wanted to design it for me, but I had turned her down at first thinking that I would not be going to the Gala. But when Tia sent me a letter about the memory expert, I relented and let her do her work. The dress was a very dark, nearly black, blue green, with lighter blue green swirls. I could see why Rarity wanted to work with me in particular, as the nearly black fabric showed off the true black that was my coat, a coat that everypony else would have to use dyes to get. The contrast of the blue and green made the red-orange of my mane pop even more than usual.

I will be thankful to Rarity that she made my dress a bit simpler than the others. I would have tumbled down in a dress like Fluttershy’s, but this only hinders me on stairs.

I wondered why Tia told me to meet the memory expert up in the royal chambers wing. Probably for isolation, I do not think I would want random partygoers showing up mid-spell. Ponies tend to wander after a few drinks, but they cannot get up to the royal chambers.

“Third door on the left,” I reminded myself of Tia’s directions as I reached the top of the stairs. My old bedroom was across from this one, but I had never opened it. It had always been locked when I tried to go in, but I always figured it was an empty bedroom, up for grabs next time a royal was born. I was very wrong.

I took in the sight as I opened the door. The carpet was one of the darkest blues I had seen. The bed was larger than a usual one, and covered in pillows and blankets of every shade of blue that seemed to make a nest of sorts. Shelves covered most walls, each filled with books that had obviously been read many times, but were quite cared for. Personal effects like a vanity and a chest for clothes were set in the middle of a room big enough to hold the first floor of the Carousel Boutique.

Looking up took my breath away. There were no candles in the room to light it, but the room was bright all the same. The ceiling was a painted mural of the night sky, and each star was a tiny gem, infused with a light spell. The ceiling was no match for the true night sky, as even magic paint cannot blend the way the sky does, but it was still beautiful.

Hearing a noise, I turned my head to the only wall not covered with books. The final wall was a balcony looking out over the land. A telescope and a table set were already set up out there, yet they were not what held my attention.

The only thing as beautiful as the night sky itself, was its ruler, Princess Luna back to her full power. Her coat had darkened since I last saw her; she grew taller than other ponies, yet still a bit shorter than Celestia. But the most impressive thing was her mane. I had last seen it at a simple light blue. Now, it flowed outward in a nightly hue. I wondered if it would flow with magical power like Celestia’s does.

“Hello,” I said, getting over the shock. “I am guessing that you are Celestia’s ‘memory expert’?”
“I would not call myself that,” she replied, “but I have other skills that may help.” While Celestia’s voice was strong and bold, Luna’s seemed soft and delicate, yet commanding. Celestia’s voice would make you listen, but Luna’s makes you stop on your own. Although, her voice seemed retracted tonight, as if she did not want to talk at all. I could not get a proper feel from her magic, she felt indifferent.

“If you do not want to do this tonight you do not have to,” I said, trying to shake off the awkwardness, but Luna only sighed, turning back to the table on the balcony.

“I apologize if I seem distant,” She finally said. “This whole idea, the idea of you being the same Feria, it seems too much to hope for. I will admit you are very much like Feria, in both appearance and persona. It does throw me off a bit, thinking like that, and the idea of your memories... I am trying not to get my hopes up.”

She was more straightforward than I thought she would be. I followed her out into the night air. The Gala’s sounds were nearly gone, but stayed as a continuous hum at the edge of the background. Neither of us wanted to begin, so we sat in silence for minutes, listening.

“What are you going to do?” I asked, creating the inevitable break in the silence. “I mean, for the memories. How does this work?”

“If we are correct,” Luna answered, “those memories should be locked somewhere inside your mind. We only need to get in there.” She turned to face me, and the air pressure changed, creating her spell.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my heart beating faster.

“Calm yourself,” she spoke “close your eyes, and take deep breaths. Listen to the sound of my voice, listen to the sounds from all around you, but listen to the sound of my voice. Let your body be at ease, relax even more now. Become steadier, easier, until the feeling just takes you over.” I wanted to continue asking her, but there was power in her words. My body stopped moving, my breath was a constant flow, and my eyes were closed.

I felt something shift in the world. All of my senses were at their highest, including my magic. Opening my eyes I saw an unfamiliar throne room. All of its décor were either yellow or blue, and much more like a throne room should be. I knew that if the room was filled with ponies, the ponies on those two thrones would be removed from it all. The thrones at the back fit the pattern, being high backed and not personalized at all, other than the color. This must be the newer throne room in Everfree, the one made for only Celestia and Luna.

“You teleported us to Everfree?” I asked. Unfortunately, Luna was not there with me.”No, it…. This is not the castle.” I said. I could sense something different here. There were no shifting auras of the forest around the castle, or any of the world. It felt like this room was the only thing that existed. It was an odd feeling, to feel so alone.

“You entered here before I did,” Luna stated appearing, quite literally, out of nowhere. Somehow, her presence in this place made the world more real. I felt the magic around me again, but it was a created energy. Nearly everything here was the exact same magic imitating another one. All of the magic here was all part of Luna.

“Where are we, exactly?” I asked. “It… it is not the castle like I thought.”

“Welcome, to the dream world.” She replied, as if it was a normal thing. Ponies cannot freely enter the dream world. One would have to be asleep, and even then they would not know they were there. Although this seemed impossible, Alicorns never followed the rules when it came to magic.

“How did we get here?” I asked in an attempt to take it all in.

“If my spell had worked,” Luna began, “you would have fallen asleep, allowing me to enter your dream and fully immerse you in the world, allowing us to fully interact like we are now. I had planned to be in your dream.”

“If it had worked?” I felt scared. Whatever she had tried had not worked properly. Failed spells can end up disastrous. I had grown up near the School for Gifted Unicorns. Not a week went by without Celestia having to fix a failed spell from a young ambitious unicorn. Effects had ranged from minor transformations to obliterating a wall to half the class teleported to Appleloosa.

“You entered the dream world on your own. In all of my life, I have known only two ponies to have been able to enter the dream world on their own. One is myself, of course. As Princess of the night, I have reign over dreams, allowing myself to flow between them at wish.”’

I calmed myself at the idea that the spell did not fail, but she stopped it. It is a good thing. Yet entering the dream world still seems quite unbelievable. Yet here we are. I had entered. I do not know how. The more I thought on this, the more it scared me. I had entered her realm, a place only she should be able to go. The kind of power that had to be used for that is something I do not have, right? I honestly did not know anymore.

“Who was the second pony?” I asked. I was almost too scared to say it, and Luna was afraid to answer. At first, she awkwardly fidgeted, trying to figure out the best was to say what was already hanging in the air between us. Then she finally did something she had only done once since her return. She met my eyes, holding my gaze. Those eyes had seen so much, been through so much, and told many stories. I returned the gaze, maybe for her comfort, maybe for my own.

“Feria is the other pony,” Luna finally said. The weight dropped on us. The idea of the previous Feria and I being the same pony felt as more of a reality than it had been back when I climbed the staircase. I took notice that she had realized this too, as she picked the word “is” and not “was”.

“If you are her,” Luna shakily continued, “it would make sense that you entered the dream world on your own. Back when… Back in the beginning, when anypony had nightmares, Feria and I would enter their dreams and help them out there. Ponies tend to not be able to sleep when others are waiting for them to sleep, so Starswirl and I worked on a hypnotic sleep spell to use when we needed to enter dreams. I would use it on the dreamer, and we would enter the Dream World together. If you are her, the memory of slipping into the dream world is stuck in your procedural memory, entering on your own when you heard the spell.”

“If I do not remember that past, how can I use a memory like that?” I asked, even more confused.

“There are different types of memory. Procedural memory is the actions you are used to doing, such as walking, or entering the dream world when that spell is used. There is general knowledge, like language or facts. Celestia tells me that your procedural memory was fine when you were ‘created’, and so was most of your general knowledge. The things that you had either forgotten, or facts and such that did not exist back in your previous life, were taught to you over time.”

“So I am like a pony with amnesia,” I stated. I smiled at the way she was talking. She rambled on about things she found interesting. She was happy, almost excited, really. I could not put my hoof on it, but she reminded me of somepony from this lifetime.

“Yes,” Luna continued. “Like most amnesia victims, the problem is episodic memory, which involves conversations, ponies you know, even books you have read, although it is usually accompanied by some kind of trauma.”

“Death seems like plenty of trauma,” I whispered. She seemed shocked at first, then her expression softened. I had seen the expression before. The expression was of one who wanted to break down, but kept it together for others. I had seen it in Azura’s eyes during the crystal message telling of Feria’s… my… death. I had seen it every time I asked Celestia about her past.

“I am sorry,” Luna said. “Standing here, talking with you about random things, it just felt like it did back then back, before Feria died.” She sighed in defeat. “I really was trying to not become too hopeful in the idea that she… that you came back to me. I do not know what to do if I had the dream crushed. I want this crazy idea to be true.”

“Maybe we should not jump straight into this,” I suggested. “Perhaps we could get used to walking through this place.” She thought for a moment on this, thinking of where to go.

“As you wish,” she replied. “I believe there are a few Ponyville citizens that are asleep, we could pop in on what they are dreaming about.” She walked with purpose to the end of the room, throwing open the doors with a push of magic. I followed and marveled in the strangeness of the next room, in part because I had seen forest through the windows on that wall only moments ago.

The hallway seemed, at first, like any other castle hall. There were many windows and open doorways, fairly decorated walls and floors, the usual. But every doorway and window was a portal to a different place. On my left was a dragon cave, while a snowy mountain was on my right.

“It took years to figure out how this place works,” Luna began. She was using that same tone as before, happy rambling, relishing in what she knows without being pretentious that she knows more than I do. I still could not figure out what it reminded me of. “It had no sense of organization, dreams were just scattered anywhere throughout here. When I first started on the organizational system for the dream world, the only ‘organized structure’ was our castle in Everfree. Of course, as more ponies were born I expanded the world into a much bigger place, and it became a castle of my own. Some parts look like Everfree, some look like Canterlot, some are pieces of my own design.”

Still talking, she leaped through a window. I lingered for a moment, wanting to follow, but also wishing to explore on my own. I felt a flick of magic at the edge of my senses; it was the equivalent of movement in your peripheral vision. Something about it was familiar, but terrifying. More terrifying than Nightmare Moon. I shrugged it off, figuring that somepony somewhere was having a nightmare, and it was affecting the dream realm a bit. Yet I did not linger longer, and jumped a little too excitedly through the portal after Luna.

There was bright light for only a moment before the dream fully took form. I was now in Cloudsdale, more specifically at the finale of the Best Young Flyers competition. Just like the Everfree castle, it felt real in the physical sense. The clouds beneath my hooves were soft, the wind blew my hair around my shoulders, I could even feel warmth coming off of the ponies next to me. Yet it was all just magic. This was not Luna’s magic, now it was the magic of the dreaming pony.

“And there we have it everypony!” shouted the competition’s announcer. “She won by a landslide, making her the most super awesomest Pegasus since the legendary Rainbow Dash of the Wonderbolts! Give a cheer for Scootaloo!” I watched as an orange Pegasus mare sped into the arena. Everypony was cheering, but the loudest screams of pride were coming from the ponies around me, and one rainbow-maned Wonderbolt at the judges’ table.

I felt a shuffle of wings to my left, and sense the only magic in this place not created my Scootaloo. Luna had made her way to my side. Judging by the missing seat next to Princess Celestia, she was put there when she entered the dream,

“Why was I over here and not with you when I entered?” I asked over the still roaring crowd.

“When we enter a pony’s dream, we blend with whoever we are most like in the dream. We were already here to the dreamer, but if we enter we overtake our doppelgangers. If our doppelgangers were not here we would most likely be random background ponies. Really, this is only done so that the dreamer does not completely freak out if two of me shows up. Speaking of dreamers, I know this is the dream of that orange Pegasus out there, I think her name is Scootaloo, do you know her?”

“I do not know her very well,” I replied. “But I have met and talked to her a few times. I know she idolized my friend Rainbow Dash. You probably remember her better as the Element of Loyalty. That’s her over with the Wonderbolts. I think this dream is just Scootaloo dreaming about a perfect future. She believes that Rainbow Dash’s dream of joining the Wonderbolts will come true, and hopes to be just like her as she grows. Although Scootaloo is currently just a filly without a cutiemark who can barely get her hooves off the ground, most of us think she will do something great.”

“The young ones are usually the most hopeful,” Luna mused.

“Maybe one of these days you will meet her, and the rest of my friends, face to face,” I said. “For now I can at least show you what they look like in the dream world. You have already seen Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, but there are more of my friends here. Look to my right, do these five ponies look familiar to you?”

“The other Elements of Harmony,” Luna replied, almost surprised at their appearance.

“The lavender Unicorn is Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic,” I began. “I assume Tia has told you a lot about her favorite student. The yellow Pegasus is Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. She can be quite shy, but once she gets comfortable around you she is a really great mare. The white Unicorn is Rarity, the Element of Generosity. She can be a bit overdramatic, but her eye for detail is not to be overlooked. She is the one who designed my Gala dress.”

“I was a bit disappointed it did not manifest when you entered the dream world,” Luna interrupted. “It did compliment you quite well.”

“Oh, um, thank you,” I said. I was actually blushing at that compliment. “Well, to continue, the Pink pony is Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. She is very hyper and strange, and the best at parties and making others smile. Never underestimate her. She may be only an Earth pony, but she seems to be able to mess with reality. The orange Earth Pony at the end of the row is Applejack, the Element of Honesty. Her family is huge, yet really close. There is probably at least one Apple in every town in Equestria, and they keep track of most of each other.”
“She looks like Amber,” Luna stated. “Sorry, I know you do not remember her, but I do.”

“Actually, I think I do remember her. Kind of. During one of the memory-blackout things there was a pony that Azura referred to as ‘Amber’. Her coat looked like a gem, did it not?”

“You do not know of the Crystal Ponies?” she asked. “Of course you would not. They disappeared fifteen hundred years ago.”

“Is that what they are called? ‘Crystal Ponies’? I have been calling them ‘gem ponies’ since I saw the memories. What were the ones that were insect-like?”

“If the rest of what I planned to happen turns out successful, you will remember it for yourself. If I may ask, why are you and your friends in the VIP box of Scootaloo’s stadium? You said you were not very close to Scootaloo, and I assume with the age difference, the other bearers are not in her inner circle either.”

“It is because of those two mares,” I said gesturing to the two in front of us. One was a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane; the other was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and a pink bow in her hair. “They are Scootaloo’s best friends. The three of them even formed a club together called the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’, and they go around town getting into all sorts of fun and trouble in attempts to earn their own cutie marks. The unicorn is Sweetie Belle, who is Rarity’s little sister, and the Earth Pony is Applejack’s little sister Applebloom.”

“The VIP section is not for true ‘VIPs’,” I continued, “but Scootaloo’s closest friends and the friend’s ‘plus one. She knows that her friends would pick their respective sister as their ‘plus one’, Rainbow Dash would be here for the Wonderbolts, Fluttershy could get in easily as she is a Pegasus, and I would have gotten in from my status as princess. That left two of the group out of the stadium, but they would end up getting invited by one of us already here. Yet even in her wildest dreams, quite literally I might add, she could not imagine us even sitting apart from each other.”

“You must have a really close relationship with your friends for that to happen,” Luna replied. We sat there in silence for a while, just watching the show. All of the other contestants and the Wonderbolts joined in with her, each doing complicated yet beautiful maneuvers. But you could always see Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash in the mix. We came here to the dream world to learn about the past, yet this gives hope for the future.
We might have stayed there all night if that flick of magic had not returned. I felt it coming. Cold fear grabbed onto me. I had felt it in Everfree, I had felt it when facing Nightmare Moon. I did not completely understand my terror. True, the magic felt malevolent, as if it could do much worse than kill you. This magic was particularly affecting me. I knew Luna could feel it coming too from the way she tensed up, but the fear did not take hold of her like it did to me.

“RUN!” she yelled, shoving me off the cloud. I plummeted, still frozen with fear. The malevolent magic was altering the dream, turning it into a nightmare. Scootaloo’s wings stopped working, the clouds darkened and began thundering; the crowd that once cheered for their hero was now laughing in mockery and scorn. Luna was circling, trying to bring me back, but I could not focus on her.

I saw it. I saw the magic that threatened us. I do not know what I expected it to look like. Maybe a monstrous creature, or something of the like would have been acceptable, but all it was just a visible mass of magic. It was monochrome gray, swirling around and blocking the sky, threatening to kill us. Or maybe it would do worse.

The magic reached out past the ponies laughing faces and scathing remarks. It reached for those who were real. It reached for Luna and Scootaloo. Luna attempted to dodge, but she could not keep up forever. Scootaloo was not as lucky. The dream’s magic was still working on her wings, stopping them from saving her. We might be in the dream world, but this magic was real. Could it hurt a dreamer? Luna and I were not dreamers, what would happen to us? If we die in the dream world, do we die in real life?

A smoky tendril of the magic knocked Luna out of the sky, throwing her into the same freefall Scootaloo and I were in. The magic was waiting for us below; we would fall into it soon. It is odd what one notices when fear takes over. It all seemed to slow down. The wind whipped my mane around giving it an illusion of flames. I could feel a slight tingle in my wings. I watched at the magic reached out and grabbed us. It grabbed them.

“STAY AWAY FROM THEM!” I screamed, taking back control of my body. My voice seemed to have a magic of its own, physically blowing back anything in its path. My wings unfurled, and I turned to face the magic. “YOU DO NOT DARE TOUCH THEM!” I felt my own energy build. I focused it at the magic attacking us, and it let Luna and Scootaloo go.

“DO! NOT! HARM! ANYONE! EVER! AGAIN!” I screamed at the magic, releasing a burst of my own with every word. I was practically hysterical, but it was working. The magic was backing up from us, the nightmare was calming itself. I could feel that magic weakening with each blast. Everything faded out, and I was suddenly back in the hallway looking at a blank spot on the wall.

Luna was standing nearby, breathing heavily. I realized I was doing the same, my magic fading and the fear fading faster without the malevolent force to empower it.

“What was that thing?” I asked her as soon as I was able to speak. “Why did we come back here? Where did it go?”

“We came back because the dreamer woke up,” Luna stated, still shaking. “It is a failsafe of the dream world; if the dreamer wakes up with a dreamwalker inside, the dreamwalker is shoved out of the dream. As for the thing that attacked us,” she swallowed, shuffling guiltily, “it is the last parts of Nightmare Moon. When I returned from my imprisonment on the moon, one of my first acts after banishing Celestia to the sun was entering the dream world to use my magic to attack this place. I had thought that when I was blasted by the Elements that the magic would disappear too, but I was obviously wrong. Now I have no control over what it does.”

“That magic was not you,” I stated firmly, turning to face her. “I have felt your magic, Luna. It is beautiful and comforting, it fills me with a feeling of serenity. Even when you were Nightmare Moon, through all of the rage and jealousy, I felt your fear; you held fear of what you were doing and what you had become. That magic in the dream was there with you, but it was not part of you. How was it you became Nightmare Moon?” She stumbled at the question, as if it hit her.

“You know the story,” she replied, not meeting my eyes again.

“That is the why, not the how,” I said. “I know the ‘created’ alicorns change size with magic. Tia told me the first time I asked about her mane’s ability to be pure magic. Where did you get the extra magic?"

“I-I pulled in all of my power, all of the power of the night. It is a final ‘hail Mary’ of sorts for the Immortals, us who were created.”

“But Celestia should have been able to match you by doing the same.” Pieces were falling into place, but items were missing. “Were there any other magics you used? As the Bearer of Magic you would have been at the head of investigating into new magics, was there anything you were working on at the time?”

“There was one,” Luna replied. She looked shocked, horrified even. “I had spent years looking into a magic. The Unicorn who discovered it used it to take over a kingdom. Celestia and I tried to defeat him, but both he and the kingdom disappeared. It was my duty to study his magic, and find a way to combat it in case the magic was used again. If there was nothing to use against it, I was to attempt to create something that would work. It was before Nightmare Moon by a few hundred years.”

“Around the time your feelings of hate and jealousy began,” I said. “This is mostly speculation, but I think that magic had a sentience, and it had a power over you. It enhanced your negative feelings. Tia would tell me stories of the happy memories she had of you, and I could not believe that you and Nightmare Moon were the same pony. The ‘eternal night’ bothered me. You were intelligent, so you would have known the effects of not having both night and day; even in a blinded rage you would not put them through that.”

Luna collapsed. The whole thing was too much for her.

“A corruption,” she whispered. “The thought never occurred to me. I still do not understand something.” She looked up at me, seeming a bit broken. “How did you know the magic was not from the dream?”

“I think only I can see it,” I replied thoughtfully. “The ideas of souls and auras have been explained to a point, but it has to do with magic too. Because magic and the soul are tied, you can tell who used a spell if you look for it. It is a magical hoof print, and no two are exactly the same. This dream world you created, it has your magical hoof prints all over it. Scootaloo’s dream was full of her magical hoof prints. That magic was something that did not belong in either place. It was dreamwalking, like we were, but it did not get shoved out when we did.”

“No,” Luna corrected. “It retreated before the dreamer awoke. It is not gone, but it will not bother us for a while. You blasted it with a powerful magic. I do not know how you did it, but it worked."

“Well, some ponies say anything is possible in dreams,” I suggested tentatively. “Although, we should probably hurry with what we came here to do, in case it comes back.”

“Yes, we should,” she agreed. Luna tried to put on a brave face, but I could see it wavering. She wanted to help, and she wanted to jump in and investigate on what this was. But she was scared. If I was right, the magic corrupted her could have destroyed those she cared about, or worse all of Equestria.

“We can stop for tonight, if you want,” I said, laying my wing on her shoulder.

“No, we must-”

“Do not push yourself!” I exclaimed. “You do not have to put your sanity on the line for this! Stop if you have to! You are being just like-!” I stopped, thinking about what I was about to say.

“Just like whom?” she asked.

“Just like Twilight Sparkle,” I continued, letting her name roll off of my tongue. “That is who I was thinking of earlier. When you were enthusiastically describing the dream world and how you organized it, I kept thinking I had seen that before, but I could not place it until now. You both work past your mental limits when it comes to that you do not know, and lately Twilight has been doing it for her friends just as much.”

“I know you would want me to stop, as you think I have suffered enough,” Luna began, “but others have suffered for what I have done. There are those who will only know me as Nightmare Moon, those who I was never able to apologize to before my banishment, and those I can help now. I can help you, and helping you might help others. Please, let me do this.” Her eyes begged, almost crying.

“Okay,” I relented. “What are we supposed to do?”

“Dreams are linked to memories. Every place and pony your subconscious created in a dream is somewhere in your memory. We should be able to access them through the dream world.”

“Where?” I asked. She did not answer. Her eyes closed, and I heard a growing hum of magic. She walked toward the door we had come from before, and I followed, thinking it best not to disrupt her. The humming became louder, soon becoming a vibration throughout the room. I felt it in my heart.

Finishing the spell, she opened the doors. The throne room that had been there was replaced with a golden light. It felt kind and warm, welcoming even. Luna smiled at me, giving me the assurance that the spell was complete. We walked into it, and into darkness.

When my vision cleared, we were in an elegant ballroom. Figures danced in a graceful waltz, keeping in time with music I could not hear. I watched them circle around with their partner, never breaking. Looking out over the crowd, I recognized the ponies as the ones from my memory. They were the first ponies of Equestria.

“We are inside your mind now,” Luna said, appearing behind me. “We entered your memories, but a spot was chosen at random. Because it is a memory and not a dream, we cannot be active players. It will be like watching a play. I have done this with a few amnesia victims, and it will be like remembering the song stuck in your head.”

“This is not a memory,” I stated. “I may not remember everypony here, but I know these are too perfect, especially for that conglomeration of a creature at the center. I saw him in the memory I had at Everfree, and he seemed way to… disruptive to be in this for this long.”

Luna fully looked around this time. She had only taken in the minor details of the place, and not its full glory.

“You are partially right,’ she said. “This is a memory of a dream.”

“That sounds like a song lyric,” I giggled, trying to lighten the mood.

“We will come back to this,” Luna said without giving an explanation. She activated her magic again, and everything blinked out of existence. Not everything, really. I could feel a buzzing sensation under my hooves, like we were on a moving platform.

The sensation stopped as Luna’s horn dimmed, and we were in darkness. I knew this was the same darkness I had been scared of before, but I could not feel it. It was not real, just part of the memory.
Has it begun?” I asked. She did not have to answer, as I saw a smaller me light up her horn. It was sad to see her. Anypony would be sad at seeing a lonely filly, helpless in the darkness, nopony there for her. “I am glad dream world places cannot give off auras other than that of the one it belongs to. I remember this time. That darkness I had once called the sky is made of that magic we encountered earlier. It is much more powerful there. By the way, will this be experienced in real time, or sped up? How long have we been gone anyway?”

“Really?” Luna answered. “That sky is the power we faced earlier? I know I do not remember it, but I think I would have heard more about it. As for the time, it has been maybe an hour in reality. The memories should go at a very fast speed, but can be slowed down if we wish.” The memory went as I expected when the next filly showed up.

“I think I am remembering their names, but can you tell me if I am right? I want to make sure I am remembering and not learning,” I asked and she nodded. “This is Morning Aura, I think.” With every appearing foal, I named each one correctly. Evening Soul the Unicorn, Apple Luck the Earth Pony, Rini who was one of the insect-like ponies, Amber the Crystal Pony, , and a Zebra named Zed appeared after that.

“Next should be Celestia,” I said as the bright light appeared, leaving behind a pink haired filly.

“That light!” Luna exclaimed as the filly Celestia brought the first dawn, resulting in cheers from the other foals. “What is that?”

“I am not sure, but it appeared for all of the Alicorns, and two others. I assume they are all immortals. The one that appeared while we talked was Arctic Rhyme, and this is Starswirl? ‘Starswirl the bearded’ one of the most celebrated Unicorns to ever live and who created many spells?”

“Yes. He grows the beard out eventually,” Luna giggled. I named each one as they came. Platinum, Ambrosia, Diamond, Zyanthi were the next set. Tornata arrived in the next bright light, bringing weather with her. The third set consisted of Thunder, Prophetic Shadow, Bronze Gear, Misa, Onyx, and Zoneru.

“Azura,” I said as the next light hit. “I cannot truly say I remembered her from here, as I saw the crystal message. But I am remembering her.” Following Azura were the ponies Spira, Bubble Splash, Dusty, Kyto, Jade, and Zira. The bright light came again, bringing Flora. The usual set repeated, bringing Lucky Love, Star Mirage, Blade Blitz, Kirin, Opal, and Zetho. Another light brought Mira and her set of, Zephros, Monochrome Storm, Little Burst, Fury, Topaz, and Zoric. No bright light this time, and the set repeated with Virtuous Eyes, Carnival Surprise, Frosted Cake, Xerlis, Quartz, and Zantate.

“Chrysalis,” I announced when the next light dispersed. “She… she was revered to the… changelings! That is what they were called! She was important to them.”

“Yes she was,” Luna confirmed. “After you left us, they began to think of her as a queen. There was no power usurping, but the changelings felt they did not belong, so they tended to go by their own orders.” I thought on this as we waited for the next one.

“D-Discord,” I said, stumbling over the name. This one was different. I do not know why, but just his name made my heart feel heavy. Was he important to be before? More important than the others? When the light dimmed, I could see the medley of a creature that I now know we had named a Draconequus. Why we named what he is if he is the only one, I do not know.

“Can you please slow it down to real time when the next one comes?” I asked Luna.

“Yes, but why?”

“Watch.” And watch we did. The light came as the sun was setting, the dark blue filly appearing just as I knew she would. Luna and I watched as the filly raised the moon and created the night sky. The other foals flocked to her, and cheered louder than they had when Celestia first raised the sun. They knew this filly would not let the darkness get them.

“I figured you did not remember your first few minutes of life,” I told Luna. “You may speed it up now, if you wish. I remember their names, and their basic personas. More will come with the rest of the memory.” She did not have to say a word, I could feel her gratitude. She remembered her first acts, and now knew what it meant to these ponies. The rest of us lived in that darkness, but Luna never got to experience it as we had. There was no protector, only one to keep it at bay for the short time she could.

I realized that while others had Celestia’s day, or other ponies to stand by them, I had spent my first few days alone with it. No protection or support. The very idea was terrifying.

After that, Luna sped up the memories for us. They went by so quickly, but I remembered all of it. We gave ourselves names, became friends, earned cutie marks, and grew up together. It was strange, as our memories had been like what Luna described; all of us had procedural memory and general knowledge of creatures and plants that existed, but no true ‘memories’ until we blinked into existence.

As we grew, we realized we needed our own home. With all of the Unicorns and Alicorns working together, it only took a few weeks to construct the castle. Eventually, the others decided us who arrived in the bright lights would be the leaders. None of us really wanted to, but even we had to agree that we were the best choice. Well, most of us. Discord was not fit for leadership, and Chrysalis reasoned that she was too much like ‘just another changeling’ for her to rule, even with all of us protesting.

We met different animals. Some were able to understand and speak like we did, and they had already developed their own societies. Each group only had a few members, maybe a little more than our group of Unicorns, and every one had different colors. Mira was an ambassador to them, talking with their leaders and inviting them to join our group. Some, like Griffons and Dragons, agreed under the condition that they have equal say in our ruling, meaning that the Alicorns cannot rule over them. It was odd seeing a full group of little dragons. I guess we were all still kids then, were we not? Did we know how big these dragons would get?

Our society was strange compared to today’s. We seemed more like a group of foals at daycare than a small kingdom. Our money system consisted of trading, mostly of gems, but we did not really stick to it; we shared everything, and took care of each other, and the animals.

“It is weird to see this from another perspective,” Luna interrupted.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “It gets stranger when I think about it. I mean, my memories are returning faster than I can watch, so I see things that are maybe a few months ahead. And I keep seeing different ponies that look like ones I know, or I at least physical connections to them. It is amazing really. Appleluck looks a lot like Applejack, but she is colored like Applebloom. To think the Apple family literally goes all the way back to the beginning! And that Unicorn, Virtuous Eyes, his eyes are the same shape and color of Rainbow Dash. Frosted Cake’s mane color is exactly like Lyra! Are these the only dragons? Because their leader is the only purple one so he should be related to Spike, right?”

“You always did go on and on when you found something interesting,” Luna giggled. It surprised me into silence. She really is believing me about this is she not? Before I could think about it much I began giggling myself.

“Sorry about that,” I replied. “I just, well, I started getting interested in genetics during one of the Castle Guards’ bring your family to work day a few years back. Clashing Lance brought along his wife and daughter. Both Lance and his wife were Pegasai, but the filly was a Unicorn. When I asked him about it, he told me that while both he and his wife were Pegasai, they both had a Unicorn and a Pegasus as a parent. It is amazing to see where all these traits come from, you know?”

“I understand the feeling,” Luna said. I waited to see if she would elaborate, but when she did not we fell back into our silence.
I was able to see every moment, even the ones some would see as insignificant, but it all happened at fractions of seconds. While nothing as slowed down and fully analyzed, id did not have to be. As soon at the scene went by, I could remember every detail of it as if it had happened only a day ago. Some moments I asked to see in real-time, I remembered they were important to me.

I saw the creation of the Elements of Harmony. We discovered the Element’s power on our own, each giving the abilities to spread the Magic of Friendship to others. But it was Azura who found a way to make them into what they are now.

I watched as I grew up, I watched myself learn. I even watched myself dream. It was strange to see myself not only growing, but growing bigger than I currently was. I was at nearly Celestia’s height. Well, not ‘me’, but the ‘me’ in the memories. All of Immortals were bigger than even the largest earth pony. My mane was like Luna’s, long and flowing, yet not magical.

Something seemed familiar about the next scene. Not because the memory was returning, but because I already have this memory.

“Slow this down!” I exclaimed. Luna was startled by my sudden outburst, but quickly did as I asked. It was the memory I had seen at the Everfree castle. Azura setting up for a party, with her, Celestia, Discord, and myself just talking and having a good laugh.

“This is it, is it not?” Luna asked. “I knew the end of the reel was coming soon, but to see it is just… can it really be?”

“This is the night I die,” I confirmed. It was strange to say aloud. “You never did find out who killed me, did you? You will tonight.”

“Two thousand years, I have gone without knowing what had happened to you, never knowing if it was one of our friends, or somepony else.” I nodded in agreement. I watched myself walk away from the decorations, watched myself go to bed, watched myself slip into the last dream I would ever have.

“This dream is the one we entered when we started the memory.” Luna said. I watched as the place came to life again. A gold and silver ballroom, with dancing figures. I now know that they were all of the first group, those of us who were created. We circled in a simple dance, keeping in time to music we could not hear.

“I walked your dreams this night, and I saw what you saw.” Luna was standing still. She would not elaborate on it, so I continued watching. I saw myself blink out of existence. Nopony noticed other than Luna and I. Other ponies faded out slowly, soon leaving only the Immortals. They danced longer than the others, but soon began to fade. First was Tornata, then Laruta, then Mira, and finally Azura.

I expected the others to do the same, but they blinked out, just like I did. First Chrysalis, and then Discord. After a while Luna blinked out too. I waited for Celestia to disappear, but her dance only slowed. She looked so sad, so alone. We watched her dance alone for a long time, almost as long as the time before she was alone.

“It should not be going on this long.” Luna said. Her timing was perfect, because something strange happened.

Without a true explanation, I had blinked back into existence. We waited again, and Luna reappeared, too. Then the dream was over. I watched myself awake in my bed, gasping for air.

“What did you mean when you said that it was going to long?” I asked Luna.

“The dream only lasted to the time when Celestia was alone. You and I coming back were not part of it. Something manipulated it. There is something else, too. Do you see the way you look like you had woken up from a nightmare? I remember the feelings that accompanied that dream, even though we cannot feel them now. It was the presence, the one that attacked us in Scootaloo’s dream, the one that belonged to the sky, and the one that corrupted me.

“What does that mean?” I asked as we followed my memory out to the hall. We wandered with me into the throne room, all perfectly decorated for Luna’s birthday parts. Azura’s decorating skills could give Pinkie a run for her money, but I think Pinkie could still easily win.

I watched as something walked towards me, the ‘Memory Me’. It was not a real pony, but it took a pony’s shape. It was the gray magic from before. I watched a blade appear as it was pressed into the Memory Me’s throat. I shifted my wing out over Luna’s shoulders. I needed reassurance that she was there, I wanted to tell her she was not losing me again.

“Checkmate” the magic said, bringing the blade across the Memory Me’s throat. The wound opened, blood pouring out. I could not breathe anymore. I was scared. Terrified. Have you ever watched yourself die?

The Memory Me’s body glowed, and the wound began to heal. The gray magic swirled with rage. It kept drawing the blade across the Memory Me’s neck over and over again, each one healing itself. I, she, tried to move away, but she could not do much more than writhe in pain.

“Immortality,” The magic mused. “It will not last long, Darling, just long enough.” The magic overtook the Memory Me. I watched the magic snuff out the light in her, my, eyes. Everything became black.

“It’s not over,” Luna whispered. Was it an observation or a warning? As I looked around I realized that even though everything was black, you could see where everything is. I could tell which way were the doors, and where each throne was. I could see every balloon, even if I no longer know their color. The gray magic was still there, but much larger, almost like gray flames. Really, it had even more of a defined pony-like shape than when it killed me.

Another presence was in the room. It was a large fire, just as big and powerful as the gray swirl. Flames licked the ceiling, but nothing was burned. Outside the walls were many presences, some as big as these here. Eight more were this size.

“This is the realm of souls,” I said. I felt Luna jump next to me. She probably forgot we were only observers, forgot that I was next to her.

“The Realm of Souls?” she asked quietly.

“It is like your dream realm, yet not a place I can control. I can see the magic in everyone and everything. I have done it many times before, and I will apologize for using it to cheat as games of Hide and Seek.” She raised an eyebrow at my last comment. “Sorry, trying to diffuse the tension.”

“Why did we not see it in your memory before?” She asked.

“I think the memories only show what I had done and where I was. It said it could not kill me, but keep me away. I do not now how I know exactly what he did, maybe it is because souls are my thing, but it separated them. It separated my soul from my body, dispersing it enough for me to not come back until, well, until now.”
The memories ended, and we were returned to Luna’s bedroom. The sounds of the gala returned, although a much lower decibel than before. The night must be at least half over by now. I slipped my sight into the Realm of Souls, trying to get a feel for what is happening by pony’s locations. For some reason, my friends were out of the castle and in town, at a donut shop I think.

“After that night, the Elements never worked the same,” Luna said, bringing me back to our world. “We never got them to full power, even with you there. It caused a rift between the rest of us. We thought we were the only ones in the world. For a while, we became suspicious of one another. It did not last that long, we knew in our hearts that none of us could do something like that. What I do not know is how you came back.”

“Well, maybe-,” I began. I had turned to look at her when I spoke, but this was off. We were still sitting at the table on her balcony, but my view was different. Before, I had to look up to see Luna’s face, but I was currently staring straight ahead. Actually, I was looking slightly down at her.

“You are taller,” Luna stated. She levitated a mirror onto the balcony, and I gasped at what I saw. I saw a pony with a coat as black as charcoal. Bright red and orange hair cascaded from the pony’s head, curling and flipping to imitate flames. A long, dark blue-green dress had grown to fit the pony’s body, still flowing off and sweeping the floor. I looked like I had in my memory, in my previous life.

“What happened? How did I-?” I could not find the words to even ask.

“The Immortals grow with their magic power,” Luna explained. “Celestia told me that when you came into this world again, you were about three, stayed like that for a few years, then continued growing until you were average pony size. You were gaining magic power as you aged, and I wondered why it had stopped. You should have been this size almost a year ago.”

“Er… yeah. I… Do you have any ideas on getting me back to the normal size? I mean, this looks, oh sweet Sunbutt this looks amazing, but it draws attention.”

“Sunbutt?” She asked, giggling.

“One of the nicknames I use for Tia. Try it out later. But can you fix this?” She thought on it a moment before answering.

“ think I have a transformation spell that should work.” She levitated an old book off a high shelf and began flipping through pages. “Here it is. It is called a magic suppression. It should temporarily cut down your magic, though I do not know how much you will have afterward.”

I looked over the spellbook. It was fairly simple of a spell, even if I have no idea why one would have made this. I concentrated on its idea, letting my magic flow through my body; it was a tingling feeling like when a limb falls asleep. I could not believe how much magic I felt running through my system. I felt it lower down to half of what it was, or more accurately, I could only access about half of it. Even so, it was still more than I had before. I glanced in the mirror when the feeling subsided, glad to see my usual form back.

“To answer your question,” I said to Luna, setting the book on the table,” I think I know why I came back. I did not give up Immortality, and even so I did not truly die. I just had to reform. Why now I have no idea.”

She held my gaze again, I could see so much in her eyes, so many memories. I slipped my vision into the realm of souls, and I could see all of her. Her soul was a giant, silver, night sky, spinning and swirling, forming constellations and comets. I could see each emotion. She wanted to break down and cry. She wanted to cry out of happiness, out of loss and loneliness, out of the fear and hope for our future.

Slipping my vision out of the realm of souls, I moved forward and wrapped her in a hug. I wanted her to know it was okay, that she could have the outburst of emotion she needed. I wanted to assure her that everything will turn out fine.
Celestia had come to check on us, and sensed what had happened, joining us in our embrace. I wanted to assure her of everything, as I could tell she wanted to break down too. We let it all out, no heavy sobbing or wailing, just three sisters who had found one another, and who were determined to not let go.

Returning Chaos

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I trotted into Sweet Apple Acres, not knowing what I would see. Weird things were happening all over Equestria, but so far it had been more wacky than dangerous. Twilight Sparkle sent a letter to my house after her staircase had become a waterslide. She asked me to show up at her place, but when the barn’s bell began ringing, another letter sent me to the orchard to help the others. I did not know what to expect, but this was, well, not ‘under control’, but the problem could be put on the back burner for now.

I had seen many strange things in my life, in both my lives, but this was something else. Really, who thinks up bunnies on deer legs eating a cotton candy cloud that is raining chocolate milk? Pinkie Pie was trying to jump back into eating the cloud, but she was not having much luck. I came up beside Fluttershy in time for Spike to burp up a letter.

“Glad you’re here, Feria” Twilight said, picking up the letter with her magic. Her eyes widened as she read it. “Come on, girls! Princess Celestia wants us in Canterlot immediately!”

Without much other conversation, we loaded ourselves on the express train to Canterlot, a ride that should take a little over an hour. I took the time to ask what had happened to everpony this morning. I knew about Twilight’s waterslide and the fiasco at Sweet Apple Acres, but the others had their own tales to tell. Rarity’s dresses would not stop switching colors; Fluttershy’s cottage had turned upside down and reversed gravity; Rainbow Dash woke up to her cloud home being made of cotton candy; Pinkie had been baking when her confections quintupled in size.

“Basically, these were fairly harmless things,” I said. “These are the level of Unicorn school fraternity pranks. Nopony gets hurt, no real damage is done to possessions or workplaces, and it is basically a mild inconvenience.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up covered in cotton candy?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“I had to spend all morning getting my dresses back to normal!” Rarity added in.

“It was still just a minor inconvenience,” I replied.

“Why are you defending this so adamantly?” Twilight asked. I blinked at her, startled in the realization that that is what I had been doing. I was acting like I had done those things and did not want them to be mad at me. I knew I had not, but why did it feel like it?

I thought back through both of my lives. It is a weird sensation, to think you were five years old twice, to know you grew up twice. The memories do not overlap. It is more like thinking of a specific time in my life and having two memories pop up, one from each life. It is easy to tell which memory is from which life.

Apologizing and defending a prank gone overboard, those were memories that popped up so easily. I had to calm ponies down a lot because of one friend. I smiled, laughing at one of the more exciting bits of magic. This is similar, is it not? If it was possible for one to last and for two to return, another can be here, right? Was that too much to hope for?

“I know that look!” Rarity said before I could answer Twilight’s question. “You are thinking about somepony you love.” One of the perks to having a dark colored coat is that nopony can tell when you blush. Not that she was right; I just tend to blush at even the thought of a relationship with anypony.

“OOH! REALLY?” Pinkie squeaked out, bouncing at the idea. She looked like she was about to throw a “congratulations-on-having-a-special-somepony/you-two-should-date” party. I do not know if such a party exists, but Pinkie would be the one to throw it.

“What, you remember some prank-master stallion back in Canterlot?” Rainbow asked, nudging me with her elbow. “He’ll have to go through the hoops of pranking mastery before I acknowledge him!”

“No, it is not like that,” I tried to say. Leave it to Rainbow Dash. As soon as she realizes it can be used to tease me, she is all over it, although Rarity was the one who pointed it out. I let them discuss it for the rest of the ride, better to think if they are distracted. Love? Was that not a bit strong of an emotion for who I was thinking of? I had wondered occasionally about that, but hearing somepony say that out loud brought up a cacophony of questions.

We arrived in Canterlot soon after, and ran our way through its streets. I did not have time to look at it all, but I could see it was in even stranger condition than Ponyville. I led them through a shortcut, halfway up Main Street and a left onto Starswirl Avenue, through the Unicorn school, down a few alleyways and into the palace gardens. Along with the oddities, something seemed to be missing from the garden, but I could not place my hoof on it. I shook off the idea as we continued into the throne room, where Celestia was waiting for us.

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight exclaimed, slightly out of breath. “We came as fast as we could!”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia said, a little too calmly. “Thank you all.”

“Is this about the weather?” Twilight asked. “And the animal’s weird behavior? What’s happening out there? Why isn’t my magic working? Is there-?”

“Follow me,” Celestia said, cutting her off. She hurried to a chamber hidden behind the throne, we had to run to keep up. We were met with a door, the emblem of the sun emblazoned on it,. I could see no way of opening the door; I assumed it could only be opened with magic. I smiled at its similarity to the old castle.

“I’ve called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old…. Foe of mine, someone I believed to be gone long ago has returned. His name… is Discord.” To be honest, I smiled at the thought of him. I knew the strangeness happening in town was familiar. It was his Chaos. But she was referring to him as an enemy. Why?

“Discord is the mischievous spirit of Chaos,” Celestia continued. “He had managed to turn the world upside down. Ponies were miserable, so Luna and I stood up to him. We used the Elements of Harmony and rose up against him, turning him to stone.”

“All right, Princess!” Rainbow Dash interjected. Celestia ignored the outburst and kept on talking.

“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”

“No longer connected?” Twilight asked her.

“We are the Elements of Harmony now,” I answered for her. “The spells that were cast by the previous bearers have reset. Apparently some bonds take longer to break.”

“This is Canterlot Tower,” Celestia resumed. “This is where the Elements were kept since 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 again.

“Hey, look! We’re famous!” Pinkie exclaimed before anypony could answer. I looked over to where she was bouncing; a stained-glass window gleamed in the midday sun. Its picture showed seven ponies shooting magic at one large pony. It was obviously us against Nightmare Moon. I found the whole thing quite charming, we shall forever be remembered on a window, and generations later somepony will ask about the picture and hear our tale.

Yet it reminded me of the other windows. There were windows and paintings and even a holiday dedicated to Celestia’s defeat of Nightmare Moon. They were dedicated to the worst day of her life, and for one thousand years she bore that burden. Every day she saw the pictures, and every night Luna’s likeness stared down from the moon’s surface. One thousand years of being reminded of her biggest failure, until the day we saved Luna from herself.

“You seven showed the full potential of the Elements by harnessing the magic of your friendship to beat a mighty foe,” Celestia said, interrupting my thoughts. “Although Luna and I once wielded the Elements, it is you who now control their power. You have to be the ones to do this.”

“Hold on a second” Pinkie yelled. “Eternal Chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys. Chocolate rain!”

“So far, I’m with Pinkie on this one,” I said. “Some chaos in the world does not seem that bad, and I think maybe we all can work together to regulate what is “overboard” in terms of what he can do? I mean, we can at least try before blasting him, can we not?” Celestia’s expression dropped. For a moment, she wasn’t ‘the Princess’, she was somepony concerned for another. It only lasted a moment before her performance was back.

“We’d be honored to use the Elements of Harmony again. Although, will they work against him this time?” Twilight asked. She glanced at me, confused on why I was disagreeing with Celestia. We watched as Celestia opened the door with the Sun emblem, and levitate out a beautiful gem encrusted box.

“Have no fear, ponies,” Celestia announced. “I have total confidence you will be able to defeat Discord with these!”She opened the box and we all let out a gasp. It was empty.

“Oh well,” Pinkie stated. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be outside in the chocolate puddles with a giant swizzle straw.” I grabbed her by the tail to keep her in place.

“The Elements!” Twilight exclaimed. “They’re gone!”

“That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break!” Celestia boomed. “This doesn’t make sense!” I heard a familiar laugh in the air, a type of laugh that makes ponies smile at its sound. Well, it would if they were thinking of the one laughing as a friend, not a foe.

“Making sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?” the voice said. It was a sentence I had often heard around the old castle.

“Discord, show yourself!” Celestia commanded. One of the stained glass windows glowed. The painted figure of Discord began to move around in the glass, even to other windows.

“Did you miss me, Celestia?” Discord chuckled. “I missed you. It’s quite lonely being encased in stone but you wouldn’t know that, would you? Because I don’t turn ponies into stone.”

“Enough!” She replied, stomping her hoof. “What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?”

“Oh, I just borrowed them for a teensy little while.” He snapped his talon and made the pictures of the Elements disappear to prove his point.

“You’ll never get away with this, Discord!” Celestia shouted at him. I wanted to say the line was quite cliché, but I held my tongue.

“Oh, I’d forgotten how grim you can be, Celestia. It’s really quite boring.”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Nopony insults the Princess!” She flew at Discord, forgetting that he was just a picture in a window. He teleported away as she smacked directly into the glass.

“You must be Rainbow Dash, famed for her Loyalty, the Element of Harmony you represent.”

“That’s right!” She replied, angrier than before. “I’ll always be loyal to the Princess!”

“How does he know that?” Twilight asked quietly. She probably was asking herself, but I felt the need to answer anyway.

“Chaos can affect ponies in both a major way, like giving bunnies deer legs, or in a more personal way,” I said. “He is able to know about ponies so that the personal Chaos can be more effective. It does not get too personal, but he will know our biggest strength and weakness.”

“How do you know that?” She asked. I sighed. I knew I would need to tell her about my previous life eventually, although here is not the place, nor is it the time.

“I can’t believe we’re wasting our time talking to a tacky window!” Rarity said interrupting us.

“The beautiful Rarity,” Discord replied, ignoring the tacky comment, “Representing the Element of Generosity, if I’m not mistaken.”

“So you know who we are, big deal,” Applejack interjected.

“I know much more than that, honest Applejack,” he said his painted form growing in size.

“You seem to know our strengths too,” Twilight said.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle, and yours is one of the powerful and elusive of all, the Element of Magic. Fluttershy is Kindness and Pinkie Pie’s is one favorite of mine-Laughter!” True to her Element Pinkie began laughing as Discord began dancing on the painted Twilight’s head. Twilight glared at her for a moment.

“He’s standing on your head!” Pinkie laughed, as if that made it a good idea.

“Hold on a moment,” Discord laughed. “Seven little ponies? Tia, I’m shocked. Bringing in an extra pony won’t do much. You know the seventh was lost. ”

“It has been recovered,” I stated, approaching the window. For a moment, Discord’s face registered actual shock, but it quickly went back to his lopsided grin.

“Oh silly Celestia, you found a good replacement! She even has a likeness to your precious older sister! The same name too! What luck!” I was confused. Was this denial or did he really not realize that I am me? I mean, somepony coming back to life is weird, but why did my heart grow heavy at his words?

“Stop stalling, Discord!” Celestia shouted, stepping between me and him. “What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?

“Oh, so boring, Celestia” Discord replied. His painted form grew again as he floated around the windows. His voice began to echo off the walls. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’ll only tell you my way. 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.” He laughed as his painted form became a painting once again.

“Can we go home now?” Fluttersy asked as Twilight began pacing.

“What do you reckon he meant?” Applejack asked. “Twists and Turns and endin’ back where we started?”

“Twists and turns… Twists and turns,” Twilight contemplated. Her gaze drifted to the window. “Twists and turns! That’s it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!”

“Good luck, my little ponies. The fate of Equestria is in your hooves,” Celestia said to us.

“Thanks Princess. We won’t let you down.” Twilight led the others out of the tower, yet I lingered for a moment.

Celestia was returning my gaze, her Persona dropped. I no longer saw a Princess, but a kind mare who had seen and experienced too much heartbreak in her lifetime. Seeing her like that makes me want to protect her, to stay here and bring what comfort I could.

“Tia,” I began, but she put her hoof up silence me.

“You have all your memories,” She replied carefully. “While I did not see them, Luna told me what she observed. Your friendship with Discord was different than what either of us thought. What were you to eachother?”
“I think I died before either of us truly figured that out.” I replied. I found myself staring at the carpet. I hated that. I hated the fact that I died to leave them behind, to not know things like that. I left words unsaid and questions unanswered. Yet if I had not died that night, I might not have met the friends I have today. Is one of those a better option?

“Just remember, things changed while you were gone. He has changed while you were gone. Do not let your memories block what is there now.”

I nodded as I left to join the others. Could he have changed that much while I was gone? Celestia did have to turn him to stone. My heart grew heavier as I realized that it was probably my fault. I died, leaving him to be alone. I remembered what Azura’s crystal message had said. He was angry and out of control when he found out. She said he went between letting his magic loose on the castle to yelling to trying to hide crying. She was worried he would descend into madness. That’s what he did, did he not?

I drove him mad. My death drove him mad. I wanted to blame that magic that had murdered me, but I kept feeling the blame was my own.
My friends had just made it to the labyrinth entrance when I caught up. I noticed what was missing from the palace gardens. A statue had once stood on a pillar a few yards to my left, but was currently empty. That is the place Discord had been when he became a statue.

“We have to go in there?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nope!” Rainbow Dash stated flapping her wings. “Dopey Discord forgot about these babies! I’ll just do a quick flyover and we’ll have the Elements in no time!” I knew it would not be that easy, but I let her try anyway. She flew up high before immediately dropping back to the ground.

“Are you okay?” I tried to ask over her panicked screams.

“My wings!” she yelled. I thought she hurt her wings, but I was shocked to see that they had disappeared altogether. I heard Fluttershy scream, and turned around in time to see Twilight and Rarity’s horns vanish. I did not need to look to know my wings and horn were gone as well. By instinct I tried to shrug what qualified as my wings’ ‘shoulder’ and shake out the ‘wrist’, but I could no longer even remember what muscles I was supposed to flex to do that.

A glowing light appeared in front of us. As the light began to take on a true form, Discord’s laughter filled the air. We finally got to see Discord in his true form, a long brown-furred body, a lion paw and an eagle talon, dragon tail, a lizard leg, a goat leg, deer and goat antlers upon a horse’s head, and his wings were a feathered one and a leathery one.

“You! You should see the looks on your faces! Priceless!” As he laughed at us, I began laughing too.

“Why are you laughing?” Rainbow asked me, obviously annoyed.

“It is the beard!” I got out between gasps of laughter. “I did not expect him to have that beard! It looks good! But I did not think he would have it!”

“Give us our wings and horns back!” Twilight demanded, ignoring my laughter.

“You’ll get them back in good time,” Discord promised. “I simply took them to ensure there is no cheating. You see this it the first rule of our game: no flying and no magic.”

“The first rule?”

“The second rule is everypony has to play or the game is over, and I win. Good luck, everypony!” And with that he disappeared in a flash of light.

“Never fear, girls. We have each other.” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed. “Like Twilight said, there’s nothing we can’t overcome if we all stick together!”

“All right girls! Let’s do this!”

“Together!” We yelled, stepping into the maze. Almost immediately new hedges popped up, separating us from one another.

“Stay calm!” I heard Twilight scream to us. “Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we’ll regroup there!” I heard them reply in confirmation before heading out on my own.

Soon I could not hear them anymore. I began to think about him again. He seemed like himself, like the Discord I know. Yes, he had taken the Elements of Harmony, but he did not want to be a statue again. Who would?
I knew this maze better than any of the staff, so even with its alterations I made it to the center fairly easily. Discord was waiting for me. He sat upon a hedge throne; different flowers grew out of the top, roses and camellias and hydrangeas all on one bush.

“Nopony should have made it through that quickly.” He stated.

“Nopony else was the master of hide and seek in this maze” I retorted with a just as overconfident grin.

“You are just like my Feria!” he laughed.

“But I am-“

“Now darling, pull up a seat! Wait for your friends to get here! If they want to get here.” He pulled a chair out of thin air, picking me up and placing me on it. ‘Chair’ is not the right word for it. It was large enough to be a bed and was made up of random patches of fabric, the back shaped in a spade almost as tall as him. It was quite comfortable.

“My friends will come for me,” I stated.

“Yes, well you never know,” he said, ruffling my hair. It was easy for him to do with my horn missing. “You might think you know everypony, but then they pop out a surprise and turn out to be something you never thought possible!” His words seemed carefree, but I could read between the lines.

“You are talking about ‘your Feria’. Or at least whoever killed her.” I stated. His form stiffened at the thought, but returned to his normal happy demeanor.

“So you know of the lost sister!” He pulled a cotton candy cloud out of the sky and filled chocolate milk with a glass, and yes that is how he did it. He added a swizzle straw made out of some red candy and released the cloud back into the sky.

“That’s because I-”

“She was fun, unlike the other princesses. She and Azura were great! I assume you are a princess too, judging by the whole being-an-Alicorn thing. Were you a crafted Alicorn? Or are you from one of the other sister’s lines?”

“Crafted Alicorn?” I had never heard of that.

“I assume not, since you don’t know what that is. Celestia said something about ‘understanding a magic so well one is able to ascend to being an Alicorn’ but whatever. It was all a theory to her. I say, if Starswirl, the pony who figured out everything about magic that is still in today’s magic systems, could not get this so-called ‘ascension’ nopony can.
“Speaking of, I already visited the other royals. That Blueblood fellow was quite shocked to awake to his house becoming a bouncy castle. I do love those things! The fun with Princess Cadence was a bit more thoughtful! It was easy to tell which Alicorn she was related to, she looks almost exactly like Azura! Anyhoodle, her and her fiancé were hilarious to see! Maybe I should just show you!

He pulled up a magic ball of light which expanded into a screen of elsewhere in Canterlot. Two familiar ponies were panicking in a room. One was a pink stallion with a pink, purple and yellow mane, the other was a white mare with a blue mane.

“Is that-?” I was doubled over laughing.

“I like calling them ‘Prince Bolero and Glimmer Shield’. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“You should make sure they know the names.”

“Everything with their names have been changed to that until I feel like taking the spell off. Even if they speak it or write it down it will change.”

“Why did Celestia say you needed to be defeated? This is hilarious!” I realized that struck a nerve. His carefree attitude and cocky smile stayed, but his movements were a bit more ridged.

“I did go quite overboard, more than just these type of pranks,” he said. “A lot of ponies found full Chaos to be unbearable in normal life.” It made sense. Everyone can take fun too far, and those with as much magic as he did, it would be easier.

“One more question,” I said. “You know- er… you knew the… previous Feria very well. What was she to you?” I was getting used to shocking him with things like this. His body language was not as rigid, but it was slower, a bit sad. He even calmed down his speech and attitude.

“I truly don’t know,” he said. Did his expression darken? It looked too intense for how I knew him. “Oops! Almost got serious there for a minute! Can’t have that happen, now can we? What would Equestria do if I decided to sit here and brood all day?” His smile was forced, his movement was erratic. He was pretending it never happened, trying to force himself into what he calls ‘normal’. I should want to help him, should I not? Why was I hesitating on this?

I heard voices on the other side of the hedge. My friends had come for me, I was filled with joy. Yet my joy fell when I saw something blue streak across the sky. Why was Rainbow Dash flying away? The hedges dropped, leaving a crater where the labyrinth was. The chair I was in disappeared from under me. I saw the rest of my friends, their coats grayer than usual. They probably just got dirtied up on their way through the maze, although I couldn’t explain why Rarity was carrying a giant boulder.

“Well, well, well!” Discord cackled. He was back to his previous demeanor, fun and carefree. With a snap of his fingers my horn and wings were back. “Somepony broke the “no wings, no magic” rule. Game’s over, my little ponies. You didn’t find your precious Elements. Looks like we’re in for a big old storm of Chaos!” He conjured up a broken umbrella and threw back his head in laughter, and I couldn’t help but laugh with him.

Author's Notes:

Discord is difficult to wirite. I want to keep him in character, yet show what headcanons I had for him. Obviously, as Feria didn't exist in the show's "reality" some things were different, so not the exact same things happened, but the basics are the same. I always think that Discord had something and lost it, but tries to put it out of his mind. He had always been so convinced that friendship wasn't as good as the Mane six think, and that made me write him and Feria into these roles.
Of course, after I did that, I realized that writing for them was similar for writing for two other characters I have. Those other characters had a romance and it kind of began to form in my mind here, and once I get an idea like that it's hard to say no to. In the original plan they didn't get along at all, but then I just...

The Truth

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Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this was strange, but I cast it aside. This was a lot like before, silly pranks and laughter. I was enjoying it. Yet my friends were…. Arguing? It didn’t seem to be directed at Discord. They bicker often enough, but this is a little excessive wasn’t it? Discord had created movie theater seats and some popcorn for himself.

“Stop it, Discord” Twilight yelled to end their fighting. “You’re not playing fair!

“I’m not playing fair? Perhaps we haven’t met. I’m Discord, spirit of Chaos. Hello?”

“How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony when you took away the labyrinth before we could get to the end?”

“Oh, wait, did you…?” He began laughing even harder now. “How funny! You thought the Emements were in the labyrinth?” With a flash of light the world around us changed. It was a projection of a memory. We were back in Canterlot Tower, hearing Discord give his riddle. ‘Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began.’ And with another flash it was all back to normal.

“I never said they were in the labyrinth.” He said.

“He’s got a point,” I mentioned. Twilight glared at me. Why? It was a fact? She loved facts, didn’t she?

“Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle,” Discord teased. “Maybe the magic of friendship can help you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Chaos to wreak.” With a last flash of light he disappeared. Thunder roared as cotton candy rolled across the sky. Chocolate milk came down from the sky.

“Chocolate milk? I hate chocolate milk!” Pinkie yelled. That was strange? Maybe she was getting annoyed at Discord like Twilight was, hating even his most fun chaos.

“Think Twilight,” Twilight said to herself as she began pacing again, “think! ‘Find the Elements back where you began.”

“Which beginning?” I asked. “We began many things. Did he mean where we began today? Or where we began together? Maybe it is where we began our quest to find the Elements?”
“Ugh. I just want to go home. Wait a minute. Home! ‘Back where you began!” The Elements must be in Ponyville!”
“Well then, we’ll need transportation, won’t we?” I asked her.
“Something faster than the train,” she contemplated. “The chairiots”
We galloped our way to the guard barracks. Twilight looked a little excited to get there. I guess she didn’t know her brother had the day off, or rather, was hiding at home. I wondered who was filling in for him? I got the answer as we walked through the door.

“Iridescent!” I exclaimed seeing the temporary captian. His armor was mostly off, letting his true coat colors shine through; a beautiful mahogany with a mane that seems to reflect colors. “I haven’t seen you since. Oh wow, that was over two months now, isn’t it? Wait, I thought Star Bolt was the replacement captain!”

“Star got transferred to the Lunar guard, gives her better hours for family activities, and I got promoted since last time,” the stallion replied. “I actually expected you would be here today. I heard an ancient enemy of Princess Celestia’s had been released. I assume you’re attempting to blast it with the Elements of Harmony as we speak? Unlike our captain, who decided not to show up today.” That was sassy. He was getting used to being around me.
“Pretty much!” I giggled. “Well, Discord isn’t that bad. But we probably should get the Elements anyway.”

“Not that bad?” Twilight shouted at me. “Have you seen anything this morning.”
“Don’t mind her,” I smiled to him. “She’s just grumpy because her staircase became a waterslide. But I should introduce you all, shouldn’t I? Iridescent Blade, meet the Elements of Harmony! You probably already know Twilight Sparkle, since she’s Tia’s student; she’s the Element of Magic. Applejack is the Orange one and Element of Honesty, the pink one’s obviously Pinkie Pie, Element of Laugher. The Pegasus is Fluttershy and the other Unicorn is Rarity, Elements of Kindness and Generosity respectively. The one you met last time I saw you was Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty. She’s kind of missing at the moment, but I think I know where she is!”
“Nice to meet you ladies,” he replied, getting various responses back. “I wish we could have met in better times.”
“Speaking of better times, the Elements of Harmony are over in Ponyville, so we need to t there quick, and I thought maybe could get some chariots and a couple guards to fly us over?” I added in more smiles, if I am nice he should help, right?
“I don’t know how many we can spare. Things are a bit chaotic here in Canterlot, and most chariots are only big enough for one and a half average ponies, so that’s two pegasai per chariot, and you would need four chariots.” He began looking through lists of what I assumed were ponies’ stations all over the city.
“So do I need to use the ‘I’m the Princess’ line, or the ‘but we’re on a mission to save everypony’ line? Or is it the ‘if we do what we’re supposed to we’re helping you by eliminating the problem’ line?” I smiled back mischeviously. He sighed taking a final look at the papers.
“I think I can pull a couple from the Noble’s district. Most of them are overreacting anyway, so I think they’ll be happy to get out of dealing with them.”
“I feel terrible for whichever pony had to deal with Blueblood!” I laughed. It got a few chuckles.
“Okay, eight guards and four chariots coming up.” Iridescent sighed through a grin.
“Thanks!” I smiled in return.
“Although, I would suggest paying them back,” He added as the others went to the next room to get chariots that were not messed up by this morning’s magic. “Not in money, of course, but they do like interesting stories. And entertainment.”
“How about both!” I said, practically jumping. I knew that anything I said having to do with a fellow guard would be treated as if the information was given to most siblings; major teasing and never letting it go, but all in good fun. I lifted my forelegs up on his desk, and leaned closer into a more secretive position. “I bet you all would just love to hear just why your Guard Captain didn’t show up this morning.”
“I figured he happened to get sick! Or it was some pre-wedding planning thing we forgot about.” He said, leaning closer in interest.
“Oh he’ll wish that’s what it was with all the jokes the guard will make once this gets around!” I exclaimed. I had to drag it out a little bit.
“Well come on!” I was getting him hooked on the idea.
“Well, Discord paid a visit to him this morning,” I said, I would milk this as long as I could. “And he decided to change his appearance a bit.”
“Please tell me he is bright freaking pink!” He exclaimed. I began giggling again. This was fun!
“No, he’s not ‘bright freaking pink, as you put it,” I said, trying to calm my giggles. “What did happen though, was he has spent the entire morning , you ready for this? He has spent all morning as a mare!” There was a pause before Iridescent doubled over on the floor laughing.
“Oh sweet Celestia that is amazing!” He shouted between breaths. “Do you have any idea what they will do to him when they find out?”

“Oh just wait! That’s not even the last of it!” I said as we caught our breath. “First off, the spell includes changing his name too! As long as he’s still a mare, any time his real name is spoken or written, it changes itself to the female one!”
“Glimmer Shield,” he said trying it out. He began laughing again. “Glimmer Shield! That is just too much!”
“Hold on, the best is for last!” I said, checking over my shoulder. The others were still looking at chariots. I think Twilight had to change a few back. Discord’s magic is making that difficult, so that should take a few more minutes. “His fiancé’s under a similar spell. She’s a stallion by the name of ‘Prince Bolero’ today!”
“NO!”
“Yes!”
“Do you think they’ve…?”
“I don’t know, but I know many a mare and stallion who would try, given the chance!”
“It’ll be the first thing he’s asked when he gets back! Wait! If he’s a mare now do you think he could…?
“Nah. That specific spell is designed with a failsafe. They should be back to normal by tomorrow, with no lasting effects! Other than embarrassment, of course.”
“That’s perfect! I’ll send for those guards now.” He walked off still chuckling. I joined Twilight and the others in the other room. Soon enough, we were in chariots and on our way back to Ponyville.
“Do they seem strange to you?” Twilight asked as we flew over the Everfree Forest.
“What do you mean?”
“Our friends. Aren’t they acting weird?”
“I think they’re just a bit on edge from the whole “having to save the world” thing.” I smiled. That was it, wasn’t it? Just a little tension from a high stress environment.
Of course to add to the stress, our Pegasus guards turned into Earth ponies. As we fell to the ground Twilight and I both used a cushioning spell. It didn’t save the chariots, but we all only had a few bruises and scratches. We thanked the guards, promised their wings would return, and hurried on our way back home.
“Come on, girls!” Twilight said to cheer us on. “I’m certain this is what Discord’s riddle really meant. If we get back to the library, I have a book that I just know can give us a clue!” Then she screamed as she was trampled by bunnies with deer legs. It was so shocking it was almost funny.

“Good boy, Angel. Mama’s so proud,” Fluttershy said as day turned to night.

“Wow, ah’ can see so much better,” Applejack sarcastically stated. I felt the ground beneath my hooves become slippery and heard multiple thumps in the darkness. “Ah’ meant to do that.”
“Discord’s turned our dirt roads into soap!” Twilight shouted as night became day.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Discord said, skating by us on the road. He gestured to the place in front of us. “This is the new and improved Ponyville, and these are only my first of changes.”

“This may look fun, but it’s not.” Pinkie Pie told us as she executed professional level figure skating moves on the soap.

“Picture it!” Discord exclaimed, holding Twilight up as day turned to night again. “The Chaos capital of the world.”

“I can’t see anything. It’s took dark.” Twilight retorted.

“Well wait a few minutes and you’ll see it in the light of day,” he said dropping her back into the soap. “Or not” He leapt into the air and disappeared again.

“Ponyvile, Chaos capital of the world? Not if I have anything to say about it!” she led the way to the library. It was slow going as Rarity was still carrying the boulder. AT some point she had named it ‘Tom’, but who am I to judge? When I entered the library, Spike was soaked and confused. Although I was a little more confused when Rarity’s boulder burst through a wall.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” Spike asked as he tried to dry himself off. “Why does everybody look so… gray?”

“Ugh. No time to explain,” she replied. “We’ve got to find the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony before somepony does something she’ll regret?”

“The Elements of Harmony? Oh, I know exactly where that book is.” Spike pushed a nearby ladder to the opposite wall and climbed up near the top.”Found it!” Fluttershy grabbed it from him.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight growled, “you’d better give me that book!”

“Keep away!” she sang in reply, tossing the book to Applejack. I lost track of the book for a while as it bounced around the room. It hit me a few times, but it always ended up somewhere else before I could register where it was. It was almost a full out brawl before Twilight got the book.

“Get back! All of you!” she yelled. “This is my book, and I’m going to read it!”She opened it, and let out a gasp. “The Elements! They were here all along!” True enough, inside the now hollow book were six necklaces and a tiara, the Elements of Harmony.

“I figured you would be more focused on the destruction of that book,” I said. She glared at me again, and I could see her mentally reminding herself to be mad about the book at a later time.

“This is great!” Spike cheered. “Now you guys can defeat Discord and put everything back to normal!”

“See girls?” Twilight asked “we did it! We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!” she was met with unimpressed stares.”You don’t even care, do you?” Some part of me cared, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about the part that cared. Again, I felt this was wrong, but I couldn’t get myself to care about it.

“I never thought this would happen,” Twilight sighed. “My friends… have turned into complete jerks!” I knew I should care about that too, but I felt she was just overreacting to our fun. Discord has really put her on edge. She levitated the Elements of Harmony around our necks and the tiara onto her own head. “Come on everypony. Let’s go!”

“But Twilight, “Spike interjected, “Aren’t you missing somepony?”

“Nope. We’ve got the liar, the grump, the hoarder, the brute, and the uncaring. That just about covers it.” Uncaring? Did she mean me? Since when do I not care? Then again, since when were the rest of them what she had called them? She’s probably just tired by this point. We’ve been at this all day, and I don’t think she has eaten. Yes, that’s it.

“What about Rainbow Dash?” Spike asked.

“Congratulations Spike,” She said after a moment of thought. “You’re the new Rainbow Dash.” She levitated the Element of Loyalty around his neck and ran off. He protested a bit, but eventually gave in. We looked back and saw Rarity trying to move Tom back outside. Twilight took it up in her magic yelling “Move! Look out, here comes Tom!” The boulder smashed through another of the library’s walls, nearly hitting Pinkie Pie in the process.

“Well, well, well,” Discord said as he appeared, “I see you’ve found the Elements of Harmony. How terrifying!”

“Discord!” Twilight yelled at him. “I’ve figured out your lame riddle. You’re in for it now!”

“I certainly am. You’ve clearly out-dueled me, and now it’s time to meet my fate.” He was quite sarcastic, putting on a ridiculous pair of sunglasses. I could not help but laugh. “I’m prepared to be defeated now, ladies. Fire when ready.” A simple target appeared on his midsection, taunting us.

“Formation now!” Twilight yelled. “All right, let’s get this over with!” She activated the Elements. I felt a magic filling the air as we levitated upward. It seemed to be working, but I could tell something was wrong. Just as the magical glow was started, we all fell back down to the ground.

“Well that failed,” I said as I lay there in the dirt.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked.

“Mine’s workin’. There must be somethin’ wrong with yours,” Applejack replied. Fluttershy tossed her necklace off, only to have it caught by Rarity.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Spike sheepishly apologized. “I guess I’d better get back upstairs and clean up the library. Good luck!” He ran back to the library, tripping on Fluttershy’s tail along the way.

“Bravo, ponies, bravo!” Discord said, clapping as he walked over to our group. Well there were more than just your regular clapping sounds, but that was normal for him. “Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools.” He laughed while Twilight growled at him.

“Well, Tia does occasionally drool in her sleep,” I replied. “Also, it is ‘brava’, not ‘bravo’. We’re all female.”

“Easily changeable,” He chuckled. Although his way of correcting it was magically swapping my gender. As weird as it was to suddenly have a stallion’s body, this was familiar. Gender swapping and color swapping were some of Discord’s favorite minor pranks, especially since ponies freak out more than they complain as it usually will only last a few minutes. Even still, I had to turn around in some confusion, looking at the new body. It takes a moment to get used to the height and strength difference. For a moment everything was clearer, why was everypony mad at each other? They should not be like this.

“It’s all your fault it didn’t work!” Pinkie yelled.

“Who are you talking to?” Twilight asked.

“Any of you. All of you! I’m outta here!” Pinkie screamed as she walked off.

“I better go,” Applejack said, heading toward her home. “I’ve got new, better friends waiting for me at the farm.”

“Yeah! I’m sick of all you losers.” Fluttershy commented before flying off. She was being mean? Something was definitely wrong.

“Fine” Twilight shouted at their backs. “Leave! See if I care! I don’t need you guys either! With friends like you, who needs… enemies…?” She began crying, and slowly turned and walked away, leaving me alone. I watched as her coat turned gray like the others. That was completely not normal.

“Wait! Girls!” I called out to them, but nopony turned back. I was about to run to them when I felt Discord’s paw on my head. I felt the magical shift as my body returned to its normal feminine form.

“She has a point,” he said. “Your friends will turn against you eventually.” He was talking about his own friends this time. Whichever pony he thought to have killed me, when Celestia and Luna turned him to stone, who knows how many more times his trust had been broken.

I nodded in agreement. This would have happened at some point, right? Friends always have to leave for some reason or another. Better to get it out of the way sooner. And even if they had tried to stay they would’ve left. I was supposed to be immortal. Celestia lived for two thousand years, so they’d grow old and die before my eyes. Better to not watch that.

“What should we do next?” I asked him, smiling wide, wanting to ignore the feeling that I was missing something.

“What do you mean ’We’?” Discord asked raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I might as well do something, and your Chaos is really fun to watch. Probably more fun to participate in!” I cast my magic and got my revenge for him turning me into a stallion. In front of me now stood a surprised female draconequus.

“How did you..?” He was trying to understand how I was able to change his form. I forgot he didn’t know who I was. He thought I was a lookalike, not the real Feria.

“Well, I think I’ll just call you ‘Eris’ until the spell wears off. Do not worry ‘Eris’, you will be back to normal soon!” I was laughing again, harder than before.

“’Eris’?” he asked, snapping his talon and turning back to normal.

“Why don’t you take all the fun out of it!” I said, faking a pout. “And did you really think I wouldn’t know about the ‘Eris’ thing? It was a common joke for you back then!”

“Aha, dear Tia must have told you about our fun. Or was it Luna? She did like to talk on and on, especially about the time I made her mane into blueberry taffy!”

“I remember that one! Celsetia’s mane was strawberry taffy!” I replied. We were howling with laughter. We went on for a bit like that walking down Ponyville’s main street, spreading some Chaos, occasionally to each other, and laughing at some of our oldest memories. I still did not know why I was sad that he thought I had learned all of this from Luna or Celestia, but I did not care. Just being around Discord again was making me happy. It was a little intoxicating, truthfully.

Eventually we started talking about things we had done other than just fun bits of Chaos. I told him about this lifetime, my time at the castle and my time in Ponyville. The only thing we avoided was what he had done after I died. I tried to tell him who I was, but something would always interrupt. One time it was a banana pie falling from nowhere, another time we ended up on a gravity defying slide of maple syrup.

Discord disappeared for a few minutes. I had suggested an upside down bear in a dress on a unicycle, and he left to set it up. I think it was becoming a project with a full skate park complete with impossible loops and jumps and spins. I felt a bit lonely, but I was happy. Discord was doing something for me. The unpredictable Spirit of Chaos that cannot be tamed, was doing something I had asked for, and not only that, he was improving on it, making it even more wonderful.

I was then tackled by a large purple something. I remember panicking for a minute before I heard her words. Twilight Sparkle had jumped me and was currently asking a question. No, she was not asking, she was pleading.

“Feria, snap out of it!” She begged. “Discord’s put some kind of spell on all of our friends, including you!”

“He didn’t do anything,” I replied levitating her off of me, noticing her coat was no longer a dull gray. “You all left me, and I chose to stay with him.”

“Think about it! Before today would you have done that?”

“Actually, yes I would have. He is fun to be around. I was smiling and laughing the whole time I was with him.”

“But would you have abandoned us?” I thought about that. Didn’t I try to go after them when they left? But Discord stopped me. He didn’t use magic, he just restated that friends will leave. He couldn’t have used magic on me, could he?

“There is no way Discord would use magic on me,” I stated to her, but we both knew I was questioning it. Was I scared? Why was I scared? Would it matter if he used magic on me? I knew I had to find out, and the easiest way was to check the Realm of Souls. Souls and Magic are connected, so I should be able to see if there was anything wrong.

I calmed myself and slipped my vision into the Realm of Souls. At least, I tried to. I tried again, and a third time. I could not slip into it; I could not see it at all. I tried doing minor soul sensing, which is just sensing what souls and magic are near me without being fully immersed in the Realm. I could not even feel Twilight standing less than two feet in front of me. I began to panic. Was I panicking due to the lack of my power? Or is it from the realization that Discord must have done this?

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked. My fear was probably visible on my face, and I knew my breath had become quicker.

“I cannot access the Realm of Souls,” I replied. Saying it out loud made it all too real. Seeing her confusion I began to explain. “I- I can see the souls of living things, including their magic. Souls and Magic are part of the same thing. But I cannot do it! It is blocked! That-that should only happen if I am disconnected from myself.”

“Like if he put you under a spell,” she replied.“Do you have any ideas on how to reverse it?”

“I am not sure. I-it seems to work by making you want something else, probably something that would stop one from using their Element of Harmony…” I began panicking even more at that. If the Elements’ power was disrupted, my immortality was at risk. While I do not care for Immortality, I was suspicious about the thing that had killed me. It needed to kill me for a reason, and I believe it was immortal, since it could corrupt Luna nearly one thousand years later. I think it would be safe to assume it would want to kill me again, and I would like to avoid that.

“Maybe we can remind them who they really are?” Twilight suggested. What was she talking about again? Oh, right. Fixing our friends. I think the spell might be affecting my ability to want to help them.

“Wait!” I exclaimed. “Reminding them might work! But I think we will need to do more than just speak it. Did Cadence ever teach you her signature spell?”

“You mean her love magic? I do not know how to do it, but I don’t think romance will help.”

“Different kinds of Love, remember? The spell focuses on a memory of feelings. When Cadence uses it on an arguing couple, she remembers the feeling of loving somepony. When casting the spell it creates a link between the caster and the other pony, and the memory of that feeling comes to mind, bringing up memories of specific events with it. In theory it could be done with any emotion from love to sadness to joy to fear. We would need to focus on feelings of friendship.”

“And this will work?” She asked. I can understand being wary of trying a new, powerful spell that might not even succeed, but this is my only idea.

“I think it will be strong enough to work on somepony who is fighting Discord’s spell” I replied, trying to put her worries to rest. “We would need more magic for one who thinks they are normal. Try it on me first. Please.”

Twilight hesitated, but nodded in agreement. Her horn began to glow a magenta color. I wondered if it was working. Soon my mind was flooding with a feeling of love and friendship and happiness. I felt some resistance to it, as the part of my mind that was under Discord’s spell fought back, but I fought against his spell as well. We broke through as memories of ponies I loved flew through my mind. I saw my sisters, the group of First ponies, and even some dragons and griffons. The memories transitioned into this life. I saw Twilight and the other Element Bearers, I saw Spike and the Crusaders, and Zecora. There were even a few ponies I had barely began to become friends with, some in Canterlot, some from Ponyville. I saw Cadence and Shining Armor and Gale Strike and Iridescent Blade. Even the most annoying Royal Prince Blueblood fleetingly flew through my mind.

I began crying as I saw these memories. So many friends I had never said goodbye to, so many ponies I had barely begun to know, yet cared so much about. I cried for joy and for sorrow, to mourn those who mourned me, and to hope for the future. But mostly I cried for today; I cried for how I acted to my friends, not caring about what was happening to them. I did nothing to stop what Discord was doing. His spell might have made it easier to do, but my memories of him had blinded my judgment. If I thought of him as an enemy, I would have stayed away, I would have kept y guard up, constantly checking for a spell to have been put on us.

The memories of Discord lasted longer in my mind. Or it just felt that way, as this all happened within a few seconds. I saw many memories, both from long ago and from today. How could I count the time I spent with him today as a good memory? I should hate him for this day. Because of his spell I nearly lost my closest friends. I was furious at him and ashamed at myself. As I saw these memories fly by, I realized how much he meant to me. But I was nowhere near ready to forgive him.

The vision stopped as the spell ceased. I was in shock momentarily before running forward and gripping Twilight in a fierce hug. I had never been so happy to see her. I was still crying, but I was nearly leaping for joy.

“Thank you!” I exclaimed. “I am so sorry for today. I cannot make up for what I had done.”

“Feria you were under a spell.” Twilight’s words were an attempt at comfort, but I would not let it go. I released her from my embrace, almost wanting to stay in that moment, to not face what was coming.

“His spell justified some of my decisions, but they were my decisions.” I said to her. “I did not lie when I said I would have left to go with him today, but I would have tried harder to stop some of this. I would have worked more toward a compromise between Discord and us. I could have saved us. All of us.”

“Why did you want to be around him? Celestia told you what he was.”

“It is a long story Twilight, but I will say what I can. I know who he used to be, back when the world was new and everypony was taking their first steps in life, he had been a good soul, a great soul, a really incredible, sometimes infuriating but easily loved soul. I remember that Discord. Today, his spell was supposed to begin to work in reverse. It plants a seed of uncertainty in one’s mind. He talked about friends not only leaving me, but betraying me, and the spell began to convince me he was right. The spell made me not care about you all, it made me think it was better if I did not care, but through his words and your actions I could have grown to hate you. That is the worst part of the spell. He could not make me hate you, but he could make me consciously choose to hate you. What he had not counted on, were two magics. One was my own power. Discord believed me to be on the same level as most Unicorns, not as an Alicorn. The second, was the power of love and friendship. I was able to see through the spell at times. I would realize something was strange, but not do much about it. And allowing me to spend time around him, one I considered a friend but had not proven to betray me, I was seeing more clearly than I should have.”

“How could you care for somepony like him, after all he’s done?” she was questioning how it works. I smiled at the idea. Twilight Sparkle might be the Element of Magic, sometimes called the Element of Friendship, but she had a lot to learn about how friends work. We all had a lot to learn.

“For now, let us save our friends.” I was avoiding the subject, was I not? “Sweet Apple Acres is closest, onward!” I walked forward past her, and we were soon galloping to the farm. As we neared our destination, we saw everything just as weird as we left it. Pigs were flying, Granny Smith was tap dancing, Applejack was eating in reverse, and Big Macintosh thought he was a dog. To be fair, he was still just as quiet as before.

“Applejack!” Twilight shouted to her. “We came to fight for our Friendship!” I laughed as Big Mac popped out of the ground and licked her on the face. She was not glaring at me like before, but I should save it for later.

“Oh, now you want to fight?” the mare replied, standing on her back legs and mocking punches. “Where were you when I was fighting Discord?”

“Snap out of it!” Twilight and I said as we tackled her. “This is not you! You are not a liar!” Twilight and I combined our magic into the same spell that fixed me. I watched the color return to Applejack’s coat. I do not know what memories she witnessed, but I could tell it was working on her.

“What happened?” Applejack asked, coming back from the spell. “Twilight! Feria! I saw a vision of us feudin’ and fightin’. I couldn’t face e truth, so I started tellin’ lies. Can you ever forgive me?”

“We already have.” Twilight answered.

“Come on!” I exclaimed. “Fluttershy is next!”

It went on pretty similar to that afterward. Fluttershy was quick, but telekinesis and Applejack’s rope skills fixed that. Rarity was easier, as she did not want to move away from ‘Tom’, who was thrown out the door as soon as we lifted Discord’s spell. Pinkie Pie was particularly tricky, but the live bait of a laughing pony was enough to keep her still long enough to break the spell. Soon enough We were at Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.

“Uh? She’s not here.” Fluttershy told us from up at the window.

“Without Rainbow Dash we can’t use the Elements!” Twilight answered.

“Well, at least not to its full potential,” I muttered, “Though I am not sure what just us would do.”

“She could be anywhere by now!” Applejack exclaimed. “We’re never gonna find her!”

“Yeah, we will, ‘cause she’s right there!” Pinkie squeaked. I looked up to see Rainbow Dash laying on a cloud. How did we miss that?

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow yelled down to us.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Twilight replied back. “Discord’s still on the loose! We need you to help us defeat him with your Element, Loyalty!”

“Loyalty schmoyalty!” She scoffed. “Have you guys seen Ponyviliie? It’s a disaster! I’m staying here in Cloudsdale where everything’s awesome.”

“How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of clouds is Cloudsdale?” Rarity asked, mostly t herself.”

“The same way he got you to think that cheap rock was a bona fide diamond,” Applejack replied with a smirk.

“I thought we agreed never to speak of that again.”

“Keep it together, girls,” I said, smiling at their banter. I like this much better. They were teasing each other, and playfully fighting, but not arguing or truly being mad at one another. This was good.

“Time for plan B,” Twilight stated. Her plan consisted of a hot air balloon and a few ropes. Oddly enough, it is easy to find stuff in Chaos if you know where to look. Or really, where to both look and not look, as it will always be in a place where it easily could be, but probably will not be. It was in the library’s basement. Soon, we were in the air and back to Rainbow Dash, who was snoring in the comfort of her little cloud.

“Okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered, “you grab Rainbow Dash and hold her down. Applejack will lower me down from this rope so I can cast the memory spell on her.”

“Why can’t Feria hold her down?” Fluttershy asked. It was easy to see that the timid Pegasus would not want to harm a friend, even if it is the best thing for them.

“I need to concentrate on casting the spell,” I told her. “If her struggling messes me up, nopony knows what would happen. Fluttershy nodded and flew quickly toward Rainbow Dash. I thought it would work before Fluttershy poked her awake.

“Um…” She began, “I’m just wondering if it’s okay if I hold you down against your will for a little bit?” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Twilight pressing her hoof to her face.

“Nice try!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, suddenly wide awake. “Ponyville’s your problem, not mine.” With that she zoomed off,

“Come on!” Twilight yelled. “We’ve got to catch her!” I jumped out off the basket and joined Fluttershy in pulling the Balloon through the sky. I was a bit faster than her, but she could keep up fairly well, although we would not be able to catch Rainbow Dash if she kept flying away. Fortunately, she was fairly overconfident. Rainbow came back flying at us with ridiculous maneuvers. Applejac k threw a rope, landing it perfectly around Rainbow Dash’s midsection. Before I could wonder what the rope was secured to, a white, pink, and purple blur went shooting past us, screaming the whole way.

“Rarity, Pinkie, hold on!” Applejack said, reading another rope. “y’all are slowin’ her down!”

“Oh, Fluttershy,” Rarity shouted, “Would you do us a favor and fly faster, please!”

“I can’t!” Fluttershy whimpered.

“If you can’t catch her, Discord wins!” Twilight yelled to us. Those words seemed to set off something in Fluttershy. Her expression went from terror to determination.

“That big…Dumb…Meanie!” Fluttershy screamed, gaining a large burst of speed. I was surprised to hear her actually insult somepony. We were able to close some distance as Applejack threw our last rope. It caught Rainbow Dash, and through the collective power we were able to pull her to the ground.

“Let me go!” She shouted. “I don’t need you guys! Leave me alone!” The others kept her restrained as she bucked and struggled against the ropes. Twilight and I worked our magic. It just hit me that Rainbow was the last one. Next we would have to face Discord. I did not think I was anywhere near ready for what was coming.

“Wh-what happened?” Rainbow asked, coming back from the spell. She gasped in recollection. “How’s Ponyville? Where are the Elements? Did we stop Discord?” We all ended up cheering and hugging one another. We were glad we were back to ourselves, and that we had our friends back. Our reunion was interrupted by four buffalo dancing ballet through the field.

“Maybe it’s a little too early for a group hug,” Twilight said. We let go of each other, put on the Elements, and trotted on our way to defeat Discord. I was terrified. I was enraged and sad and I knew that whatever I did I would regret later. I did not know what I would do. What I wanted was to make everything okay with just a simple use of my horn. I hoped I knew what to do when the time came. Although, the time seems to be now.

“Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing!” Discord laughed, lifting a glass of chocolate milk to his mouth. He was sitting on a throne of his own creation in the middle of Ponyville and the center of the Chaos. I felt like I could not move, let alone speak. How could I use my Element in my state?

“It’s not as wonderful as friendship!” Twilight said, announcing our arrival.

“Oh, this again?” he asked. He drank the glass and threw the milk elsewhere, making an explosion in the process.

“That’s right!” Applejack confirmed. “You couldn’t break apart our friendship for long!” She was picked up in Discord’s magic and brought inches from his face.

“Oh Applejack, don’t lie to me,” he replied, picking up the rest of us with his magic. “I’m the one who made you a liar. Don’t you ever learn?” Twilight created a magic bubble around us, cutting off his magic. She levitated us back down, the ground beneath our hooves turning back to normal.

“I’ll tell you what we’ve learned, Discord!” Twilight exclaimed. “We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy. But there’s no doubt it’s worth fighting for!”

“Ugh, gag!” Discord replied. He was not even worried at the idea of us being able to defeat him. “Fine. Go ahead, try and use your little Elements, ‘frienemies’. Just make it quick. I’m missing some excellent Chaos here!”

“Why do you not care?” I yelled at him, stepping forward. “You had friends before, but what was it they had done?” his form stiffened, but other than that he kept up his theatrics. Others would think he had no idea what I meant,

“I told you earlier, remember? Friends either leave or betray you. No real honor there. It’s much better ruling at the top with all you wanted. Only one never did that, but she would have left eventually, given the chance. Even your precious Princesses wanted to get rid of me.” He was brushing it off, pretending it was nothing.

“You were going too far, just like you did today.”

“They said the same thing. Never really saw much point in helping those who were not even my friends.”

“And how do you think the one you called a friend would react to what you have done today? You broke apart my friends! If your spell had worked, they would have left me and I would never know why? We both know the feeling of a friend leaving with feelings unsaid and words unanswered. No matter which side left there is always something unresolved! You break down and wonder what you did, if it was something that could easily be fixed. It breaks you inside! You feel anger and sadness and regret and it does not stop! It never stops!” Tears had began to run down my face at this point.

“You know the feeling already, so tell me why you question why I should care about that,” For the first time, his voice had none of the sing-song, carefree nature. It was darkly serious, something that was terrifying to see.

“Your friend did not leave you without reason! She was killed!” I yelled at him. I could feel somepony trying to calm me down, but I could not stop. “You all got suspicious of each other and broke apart on your own! None of them even killed her, it was another force entirely! “

“Celestia told you a lot, but do not take her good-hearted suspicions to be true,” his words were angry but he was still trying to pretend they were playfully sarcastic. Behind him the chaos raged, showing his true ideas. “She wanted to believe in everyone’s innocence. I saw what they had done. Really though, can you not try to play that card? I mean, it is too easy and predictable for you to do it, with the whole namesake and similar appearance and all. Not much fun. Besides, it won’t work. Only in fiction would a character not attack one who reminds him of a mare he loved.”

“You admit to caring for one but you do things they disapprove of with their entire being! Do not tell me I do not know what I am talking about! Celestia did not tell me anything! I was there! I remember it! I remember who you were, and I want you back!” I was screaming now. My rage and sorrow swelled, I felt the magic in the air shift. My emotions had triggered the magic suppression spell on my body, and I could feel myself growing to my full size in seconds. Hot tears were streaking my coat.

“What’s going on?” I heard Twilight ask.

“I am Princess Feria!” I declared, my emotions adding power to my form. My mane and tail had become flames dancing around my head. “I am the fire in hearts, and Ruler of the Realm of Souls! I am the Seventh Element! The failing connection to the Elements of Harmony allowed me to die, but their returning strength brought me back! By their power I will do what I have to do to save what I can, even if I cannot save the one lost to himself! But I can try! I can still try! Twilight, sound the call!” That snapped her out of watching me speak. She shook it off as the others got in formation, Pinkie getting one last drink of the Chocolate milk rain.

“All right ladies,” she exclaimed. “Let’s show him what friendship can do!” I felt the Elements activate, but I could not enjoy the feeling I got from it. The usual warm tingle was just numb to me. I knew what the Elements would do, and I wished I could change it. I wish I could make this work in everyone’s favor. I wish to be able to fix everything.

As the Elements finished their job, I took in the moment of peace. I knew what I would see when I opened my eyes again and I wanted it to not be there. I saw the houses turned right side up, gravity restored, pigs without wings, clouds were made of water droplets, and the ground was once again grass and dirt. Yet the thing that held my attention was the thing in front of us. A stone draconequus was frozen in a look of terror. I was still crying.

I was sobbing now. I kept saying the same words to myself; I should have been able to do more. There had to have been something else for me to have done for this to work out. I did not want us to end like this.

“Twilight, send a letter to Princess Celestia,” Rarity said. I felt her put her hoof on my shoulder as well as she could with my larger form. “Will the rest of you do any necessary clean up, but meet us at the Carousel Boutique in half an hour.” She was polite but firm, everypony nodding to her words and trotting off to do what they can. Rarity coerced me into walking with her down Ponyville’s streets.

I could see out of the corner of my eyes curious faces. Ponies who had been hiding in their homes, or those that were freshly freed from a spell were wondering what had happened. They wanted to know if Discord let them go, or if we defeated him. As they looked out from doorways and behind food carts, all they saw were two mares solemnly walking down the street. One was keeping up an illusion of a smile, assuring everypony that the danger was over. The other told truths, not with words, but with actions. I shuffled my hooves down the dirt path, keeping my head down. I could not think enough to put the magic suppression back on, so I was there in my full form; I was as nearly tall as Celestia, my coat was still black, but it shimmered like coal, my mane and tail were flickering, sometimes hair that imitated fire, sometimes flickering into true flames.

The boutique seemed closer than before, though time can be strange when you do not pay attention. Rarity walked me to the kitchen, sitting me at the table in its corner. I took in the normalcy of her kitchen. Purple walls stayed the color they were. The blue curtains matched the tile. Mulberry colored cabinets and counters stayed on the wall with the stove and sink. Rarity was rummaging through the matching pantry. I kept expecting something strange to happen. I wanted something strange to happen, if only to comfort me. My tears were subsiding when she put a cup in front of me. For a moment, I stared at it, waiting for it to do something.

“I find a cup of tea can be quite helpful in times such as this,” she said, “Though I do have something stronger, if you would prefer.”
“Thanks,” I managed to say. Eventually I picked the tea up in my magic and took a sip. It was sweeter than I expected; she did not add sugar, but it was a little bit fruity, maybe berry-like. I was not used to fruit tasting hot. Somehow the unexpected taste was calming. I looked up at Rarity, who was trying not to burst into questions. I nodded in an indication that I was ready to begin talking.

“That form is quite beautiful,” Rarity said, dancing around the real subject. I think I would have preferred her to get right to the point. “You simply must let me make a dress for you in that size.” I blushed a little at the compliment, and the idea of wearing a dress again brought on more embarrassment from the idea of compliments I would receive.

“I-I was going to ask about that soon,” I replied shakily. I might not be crying, but I was having a little trouble breathing. “Er… actually, it would probably be a very f-formal dress that I need, although I would n-not mind too much if you had to get all of your creativity out i-in one go. But the thing is, I w-would need it to fit both t-this and my usual form.”

“So you can turn back to normal? That is good news. We wouldn’t want you to hit your head on every doorframe, now would we? Making the dress might be difficult, though,” she commented. I could see her mind working, measuring my body and holding up colors next to my coat. “You are a lot bigger now than you are usually, or is this the size you are and the other one is a spell form? Either way, this form would need a lot more fabric than the other. It would end up being either right in one form and too short in the other, or right in the other form and too long in the former.”
“It’s not that,” I tried to explain, my voice still shaking a bit. “I-I accidentally tried it with my Gala dress, and the dress became bigger w-with my form. But I know that the way something is stitched or where jewels or bows a-are added can affect how it fits because they a-accentuate different features. There is more to making a dress look good on a bigger pony than just increasing its size.”

“So true, Darling!” She exclaimed. I was glad, she was acting normal again. I was about to suggest she should go get a sketchbook when everypony else showed up. I was saddened by this. I did not want to think about today. I did not want to think about Discord. But they deserve to know the truth. I downed the rest of my tea in an attempt to build courage. I do not know what was in it, but I did feel better.

“Rarity, can you please get me the biggest gem or crystal you can find?”
I asked her. She seemed confused, but wandered to her workshop.

“That transformation was awesome! Think you can make me that size?” Rainbow Dash asked with excitement. I must have looked terrible if she was avoiding the subject. Usually she gets straight to the point without caring about others getting upset. Although knowing her, she was being sincere about wanting this form.

“I-it is not a spell,” I replied. I hated that I still could not breathe properly. “Some Alicorns forms change in r-relation to their magic. You should see what Luna looked like w-when I saw her last.”

“So you’ve always looked like this?” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Only for the l-last few weeks. Since the Gala,” I replied. “I used a magic Suppression spell to appear normal.”

”Celestia never told me about that,” Twilight remarked. She was both interested in the idea, and a little sad that her mentor had never told her.

“I guess it just w-was not relevant. I mean, it is not a thing known to the public. I had to learn about it because there was a chance I could. I guess you have seen L-Luna do it, as you saw her as Nightmare Moon.”

“Is this your version of Nightmare Moon? It looks a lot more fun!” Pinkie yelled a little shrilly just as I thought she was being too quiet. The others had a moment of shock, and then slight fear.

“N-no, It is not like that,” I assured them as Rarity came back with the gem. “Nightmare Moon is Luna at her m-most powerful. Her magic is the night, and she becomes a part of it. But that is connected to emotion. Think about how T-Twilight’s magic set herself aflame when she was angered about not un-understanding the Pinkie Sense, but much more powerful. Although each has their own form, a representation of their true magic. I-It is the same concept, becoming one with your magic out of emotion. I could do it, and someday I m-might, but I hope it is for a better cause than Luna used it.”

“What would you consider a good cause to become like that?” Applejack asked me

“I did not mean turning evil,” I said as I took the gem from Rarity’s magic and began inspecting it. It was a translucent blue, almost white color, and quite large, its length the size of the average Unicorn horn. “That form can be used for any number of reasons, as long as there are strong emotions involved. Sh-She used it to take over. Somepony else could use it to save loved ones from danger. Yet you also have to agree to use it. Not to say that words will pop up saying “would you l-like to do this”, but supposedly one would have to want to use it, not just be particularly u-upset.”

Pinkie popped up in front of me, disrupting my magic. I caught the gem before it hit the ground. Once it was back in my magic I looked at what Pinkie was holding out to me. A cake. When did she have time to get a cake? When did she have time to make this cake? It was personalized with my name on it and a feel better message in strawberry slices.

“You haven’t smiled in about an hour now!” She exclaimed. “I did not want to leave while you talked, so I just used what was here, although Rarity didn’t have all of the ingredients, so I had to improvise the frosting with a meringue. I don’t know how it will taste, but you were just so sad I had to do something! And I will do more later today! And I will pay Rarity back for what I used though!”

“You do not need to pay me back for that Pinkie,” Rarity replied to her. “You used it to try and help a friend.”
“I- I do not…” I stammered. How Pinkie made the cake no longer mattered to me. I could feel myself beginning to cry again. There were no heaving sobs. Only tears running down my coat, following tracks that were already there.

“Ohmigosh!” Pinkie said panicking. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t want you to cry more! I can go make a real cake if you want! Or did you want something else? Maybe a pie? Or if you wanted to be alone that would be fine and I would leave it alone! Or I could get sappy movies and tissues! Sometimes smiles come from getting all sadness out, right? I should probably do more after everything that happened today. I don’t even know what I was thinking to do that!

“No, Pinkie, the cake is fine,” I said, smiling. “I just… I do not think anything can really make me feel completely happy right away, but you are helping. All of you are helping. Just the fact that you want to help is helping, even if there is nothing to do.”

“And don’t worry about how you were acting,” Twilight added. “Discord put us under a spell, he made us behave like that today, we can’t hold you accountable for that.”

“Well that is not entirely true,” I said inspecting the gem again. It was no longer blue now, but pink. “No spell can fully make one do something they would never want to do, no matter how powerful the caster. I could not use magic to make somepony jump off a cliff. Yet I would be able to convince them that jumping off the cliff is a good thing to do, and his magic worked in the same way.
“The spell actually has three parts. The first two parts can be done in either order. One is to use magic to plant a seed of doubt. For Applejack, it made her think the truth was too terrible, Pinkie was convinced we were laughing at her, and so on. Part two actually requires no magic, but it is the thing that makes or breaks the spell. It has to convince the one under the spell that the first part was right. Using Pinkie and AJ as examples again, both we and Discord said and acted in ways that made them believe that we were the terrible truth, or were laughing. The third part was designed to make the idea permanent. After we were complete jerks to each other and seperated, he cast part three of the spell, which was actually the same as the first part. He made three mistakes on this, one was letting Twilight leave with only step two complete. He made her feel we were no longer friends by using our actions against her, and then put the spell on. He would have needed to do the spell a second time for it to be permanent, so it allowed Twilight to break the spell on herself with only a little outside help from her letters.”
“If it was permanent for the rest of us, how’d ya’ break it?” Applejack asked.
“I was getting to that. Another mistake was interacting with me during step two. After he put the first spell on me, he was supposed to convince me that you all were going to leave me, that our friendship was just an act for your entertainment. But his interactions with me reminded me of the fun friends can have, it broke the first part of the spell. When he went to cast the third part on me, he was actually recasting part one. Part two happened almost immediately, as you left me alone, but part three was never cast. After that, when Twilight found me, I was able to realize the spell, and fight against it, yet only outside influence can break it. This is where his third mistake comes in. He thought that Twilight and I both had the magic level of an average Unicorn.”
“I’m not that powerful,” Twilight interjected. It was easy to see the slight blush on her face. She did not like being complimented like that.
“Like it or not, Twilight, you are one of the most powerful Unicorns anypony has seen. You broke a spell two thirds of the way completed, cast by one of the most powerful beings ever to live, a being more powerful than both Celestia and Luna. My own power is only due to my Alicorn status, yours is talent, luck, and ah heck of a lot of hard work. Yet you would not have been able to undo a completed spell, which is why we were very lucky.”
“And just how is it you know about his magic?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed flying up to my face. Once again I dropped the gem, though I did not catch it this time. “You talk about how his magic works, but I doubt he told you what was going on while you were under the spell! Nopony’s that stupid!” I was shocked at that. It is easy for me to forget that they do not know about what happened in my past life. My memory of my previous life feels like it happened just the other day. While I can tell which memories belong to which life, I forget that nearly two thousand years had passed between those days.
“Rainbow you’re gonna’ make her cry again,” Applejack said, pulling her back by the tail.
“You don’t have to answer her if you don’t want to,” Fluttershy piped up. “I mean, that is, unless you want to, but if you don’t that’s fine.”

“No,” I replied. “I should explain this. I should have done this weeks ago.”

“Are you sure you do not want to wait?” Rarity asked me. “You have been through a traumatic day, and while I do not know the full story, I want you to be ready to tell it.”

“I need to do this,” I said, putting Rarity’s gem into a full levitation, so I did not have to focus on it. “It is time somepony in this world learned the truth about our past. It should not be hidden anymore. Not from you, or anypony else!” I called forth a spell, the same one Twilight and I used to remind our friends of who they were. This time, I shot it at the gem. It glowed brightly as my spell fused with it, shimmering around the room in aurora.

“Gem magic!” Twilight exclaimed, walking cautiously closer to examine the gem. “This is supposed to be only in minor stages! Even when I toured the Magical Testing Center in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns I only saw it being used as lanterns! How are you able to do this?”

“As I said, there are truths that need to be known,” I repeated. The gem’s light dimmed a bit as the spell finished. “What I just did was use both the memory spell and a projection spell on this gem. It will be able to cast what scenes I want onto any surface, as long as it was in a memory I had. Let us start simple, the Creation.”

They let out a gasp as the gem shot a light at the blank wall. An image appeared, full of everrypony I had known in my previous life, including those who were not ponies, like Griffons and Dragons. We were adults, close to the age the seven of us are now. It was probably amazing to them to see so many ponies look so different from one another, not just in type, but in color and shape. No two had the exact same coloring or eye shape as another. They had probably never seen a crystal pony or changeling before. Now that I think about it, I had never heard of them until I remembered them. What had happened? Even I do not have all the answers.

“These were the first of each race. Six Unicorns, Pegasai, Earth Ponies, and Zebras each, and seven Alicorns, along with about the same amount of other races, for the most part,” I began. “I will not cover all of them, but I think you should know about a few.” I changed the scene to a lone Earth Pony, her mane a deep red, and her coat a bright yellow, a simple red apple was displayed upon her flank. “This pony is Apple Luck.”

“Granny always said we had a long history, but Ah’ guess the Apple family does go all the way back to the beginin’ of Equestria!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ah’ guess she was also right about us all bein’ Earth Ponies too.”

“Not really,,” I replied, showing a few more pictures, and even a full scene of her playing with Monochrom Storm, both of them laughing in the Castle’s halls. “While these ponies were created, and have no true biological relationship to anypony, and thought of eachother as one large family, but they felt like the ponies of the same race as them were like a sibling. Nopony is fully Earth Pony or Unicorn because of that. Although, Earth Pony genetics are more dominant than most other genetics, so a Unicorn or Pegasus being born in your family is possible, but it is not that likely. Anyway, here is the next, although I think only Twilight could know him.” Apple Luck was replaced with a gray Unicorn, studying magic and scribbling into a notebook. It was strange to think we had notebooks and a full language back then. It wasn’t until a memory of his famous star and moon hat that she took a guess.

“Starswirl?” Twilight asked in response.

“He got ‘the bearded’ added onto his name when he grew the beard. But here are the final two before we get into the full story.” I changed the scene to two Alicorns. One white with a pink mane, the other in multiple shades of blue. They looked much younger, both by actual years, and the age that comes with tragic events.

“Isn’t that Princess Luna?” Rarity asked.

“So the other one is… Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Yes,” I answered. “To be honest, they were a bit different than now, yet certain things remain the same. Tia would give up nearly anything to help someony else, and Luna is still so interested in everything, investigating anything she can find.”

“As much fun as it is to see the Princesses being young, please tell me you’re showing something a bit more awesome?” Rainbow interrupted. The outburst was met with a glare or two, but it went over okay.

“You are right,” I said. “The pony I want to focus on is one you already know. Yet to show you her, you must know their beginnings, Back when we were about to defeat Nightmare Moon, I told you that there were seven Alicorns. The youngest was Luna, the Moon, Ruler of the Night.”The picture shifted to a yellow-orange Alicorn. “Mira was our peacekeeper. Her most difficult jobs were between those in the castle, and the animals that lived outside.

“Flora came before them,” I said. The picture changed to a brown Alicorn, her mane a deep green with a few streaks of orange. “She was the one who understood the Earth. She helped ponies learn how to grow both helpful and decorative plants, she taught them to respect the earth.” Another shift, this time a more familiar Alicorn appeared.

“She looks like Cadence?” Twilight said.

“Well Royalty has to become Royalty somehow,” I replied. “This is Azura. She seemed a few tacos short of a fiesta platter sometimes, but she was incredibly brilliant. She was a master at gems and crystals, and the first to develop a use for them in magic.”

“It figures that royals are decendants of other royals,” Rarity muttered. “There is no way somepony like Prince Blueblood could have earned the title.”

“If it makes you feel better, he woke up in an unstable bouncy castle this morning,” I said, changing the picture to a lavender mare with a stormy gray mane. “Tornata the Storm. She was first to control the weather before passing it down to the pegasai. The second oldest Alicorn sister was Celestia, the Sun, ruler of the Day.”

“Second oldest?” Twilight asked. “I always heard she was the oldest.”

“Is the oldest the seventh sister?” Pinkie guessed. “You did say there were seven earlier, and you’ve only named six!”

“True, I have only said six,” I replied to them, shifting the picture once again. This time, the six of them were wearing very familiar necklaces, and one singular crown. “When they discovered the Elements of Harmony, Azura used her magic of gems to craft pieces to let ponies wield the Elements, though it has been debated on if the necklaces were needed, as each bearer could use its magic without having the necklace on. Azura herself could bear the Element of Laughter, Flora was Honesty, Tornata was Loyalty, Mira was Kindness, Celestia was Generosity and Luna was magic. The reason the Element of Magic was given shape as a tiara instead of a necklace, was because of Luna’s role.

“When the first ponies were being created, all around them was a terrible darkness. It is one of the most terrifying things anyony has felt. There was constant darkness until Celestia was created. Her day would keep that darkness away, but only until night. She had tried keeping it up all the time, but eternal sunlight is a bad idea, so every time the sun lowered, that darkness came back to them. When Luna was born, her Night was created. Ponies no longer had to fear that dark power. They loved her for it, so they asked Azura to do something special for Luna’s Element.”

“You’d think with love like that she wouldn’t have gone all evil and tried to take over,” Rainbow said. This time I glared at her.

“To you, it may seem like that,” I said, trying to contain my annoyance. “But she never knew the darkness she saved them from, and one thousand years later the only one around to remember what it was like had been Celestia, who was getting the praise Luna once had. Even now, only those who were alive two thousand years ago know of this stuff, other ponies changed it, to clean up history into something nicer, while the Princesses did all they could to stop them! They took their tragic history and made them heros! Their weakest moments of not being able to save a friend were turned into triumphs over an evil creature!” I took a breath calmed myself. I should not be angry at her. I cannot control what ponies did while I was not there.

“Um, you never got to the seventh princess,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, you were probably building up to it, but in case you forgot. Not that you would forget, but just in case.”

I sighed, trying to think which memory to show them. How do you use your own memories to show yourself? I glanced around for an idea, landing my gaze on a mirror. Perfect! There had been enough mirrors in the castle, although memories will be limited.

The picture on the wall changed to what I would see looking in the mirror of my Everfree Castle bedroom. I saw my friends’ confusion; all they could see was me in a mirror. I saw their mouths open to ask just what they were supposed to be seeing when a colorful blur jumped into view. Azura had tackled me into a hug, nearly knocking me off balance. I remember what she had said to me, even though I had no way to broadcast the sounds I remember; ‘Since when do you care so much about how you look? Come on! It’s Bronze Gear’s birthday! Join the party!’

“Feria, was the oldest,” I stated. “She was the first of all ponies, and the only one to fully know the darkness that enveloped them before the Sun and Moon. She spent days alone in that darkness, and became able to appreciate other ponies’ company because of it.”

“She looks just like you!” Futtershy exclaimed. “I can see how Princess Celestia could give you her name.”

“That was why Celestia named me, but it is not coincidence that I look like her. I am her. I am Princess Feria, the Fire in Hearts and Ruler of the Realm of Souls, the seventh Element of Harmony.”

“But you’ve only been around as long as we have?” Twilight asked. “You couldn’t have…”

“I died in that lifetime,” I said to confirm her thoughts, “but my soul is connected to the essence of the Elements of Harmony. As long as their power is in this world, I can be in it, and that is what happened. The Elements weakened, I died, and nearly two thousand years later, the new Bearers of the Elements of Harmony were born, their power grew, allowing my return.”

“That’s…. a lot of information to take in at one time,” Rarity said.

“Go ahead and say it; it sounds ridiculous,” I replied.

“As ridiculous as it sounds, Ah’ believe ya’” Applejack said.

“Hold on! Isn’t that ‘ruler of the realm’ line what you used on Discord?” Pinkie asked. “He seemed shocked by it! Did you meet him before? Ooh! Did you defeat him like the other Princesses did?”

“Er, no I…” I was a bit shocked at her outburst, though it was usual for Pinkie Pie. I did not specifically want it to, but the gem switched to a memory without me telling it to. We watched from behind a pillar as ponies wandered into a ballroom. When nearly all of them had arrived, a talon reached into the memory’s field of vision. The talon snapped and the floor turned to ice. Everypony was slipping and sliding around. A few of them managed to get their bearings, but the projection was showing us the ceiling, rocking back and forth. I had been laughing my flank off at the time of this memory. I could hear our voices in my head:

“This is the best one yet!”

“Really? My vote goes for the slide on the stairs. Or maybe it was when I turned Tia’s throne to chocolate cake!”

“Well we will not have to hear for days about chocolate stains on somepony’s flank with this one! And we can participate in this!” I attempted to gallop into the ballroom, only to slip and spin on the ice. He was much more graceful, skating out and pulling me up with him. We were laughing, we were happy.

I knew his face would pop up in the projection any second now. I knew what I would see, that same familiar face. But compared to today, he would look much younger, no constant weight on his shoulders that he tried so hard to pretend did not exist. His laugh was ringing in my ears, that truly carefree laugh belonging to one who has nothing to do but have fun. When Discord’s face showed up, I was barely able to keep it together.
The projection looped through a few more memories of him, from the first memory of holding out my hoof to a small Draconequus as a sign of friendship, to us playing pranks on others, to us just hanging out or flying around. I wanted to cry again. The difference between who he was and who he is now was terrible to see. It felt worse to know my death had kick started this change.
“He was a friend. He had been sweet and kind and a lot of fun. He did like to pull pranks and mess with ponies, but there was a limit on what he would do to them. Nothing would ever be permanent or harmful, just silly bits of Chaos magic like the stuff he did early this morning. I spent a good amount of time calming down the others who got annoyed at his activities.”
“That’s what you were doing on the train,” Rarity said. “You didn’t know it was him at the time, did you?”
“No, I just… the magic was so familiar that I felt the need to do that. My procedural memory fell into the pattern,” I sighed, hoping an inevitable question would not come. “I do not fully know what changed him, but my death was what made it begin.”
“How…. How did you die?” Twilight asked. There it was, that question I was hoping nopony would ask. The gem’s projection changed to the one memory I wish I could forget. The monochromatic swirling magic in its pony form was walking towards us. A blade appeared. The blade appeared. Even though I knew it was a projection, it scared me. No. I did not want to watch this again. With a blast of magic, I stopped the projection. The gem lost its glow and clattered on the tile. The six of them were still staring at the wall, mesmerized by the idea. They knew what it was, but nopony wanted to say it out loud. But somepony had to do it.
“I was Equestria’s first murder.”

Nightmare Night

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“Hold still, darling,” Rarity said. “This is much harder than one would expect.”

I did not think I was fidgeting that much, but I tried to stay still anyway. I felt one brush go through my mane and one on my coat, with a different type of brush applying makeup to my eyelids. She had me up in the dressing room. Her own makeup was applied, though she was not yet wearing her dress, a long black thing with a slight purple tint, silver lined and decorated the skirt. I do not know why, but she had asked me to be a bit bigger than usual, yet not full size. I was around Big Macintosh’s height, not including my horn. I wondered why she needed this.
Truly, I just wanted to crawl back into bed. Since Discord’s defeat, that is all I have wanted to do. But I put on appearances. I act normal when all I want to do is hide away. Is this what Celestia felt when she defeated Nightmare Moon? If so, she is a stronger pony than I.

And tonight was Nightmare Night, a holiday that cemented Nightmare Moon’s role as a monster. One of two holidays Celestia had to endure for one thousand years. I had never cared for the historic part of the holiday, but as a filly I liked dressing in a costume and staying up past my bedtime to eat sweets at the castle’s party. I loved when older ponies tried to jump out and scare me, mostly for the surprise on their faces when I did not jump.

“What are you doing?” I asked her, as more makeup was applied.

“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “And keep your eyes closed, this costume is supposed to be a surprise! If you insist on doing this, you might as well look your best.”

I sighed. Rarity knew better than most ponies that I was pretending to be okay for others. She had wanted me to stay home, but I insisted on participating in Nightmare Night activities. I tried to thank her for understanding though, by making her my “plus one” to a party being thrown by Filthy Rich. She was honored, but refused to let me use it as a ‘thank you’, instead thanking me with a hoof-made costume.

I wish more ponies saw this side of her. I had heard whispers, asking how the Element of Generosity can be a pony viewed as so, as they put it, ‘greedy and selfish’. They would never say it to our faces. She might want many things, but if a friend wants or needs something, she would try to help in any way she can. Unless she happens to be under a spell of sorts.

I frowned at myself for thinking that last thing. I cannot stop thinking about Discord. He keeps popping up in my mind. My own fault, really. I keep letting my mind wander that way. I sighed, waiting for the usual crashes that would happen in the upper floor of the shop to distract me.

“Where’s Sweetie Belle?” I asked, noticing a lack of noise.

“Oh, she and the other Crusaders are already out,” she replied, not breaking concentration. “I think it’s them and four or five others, along with Pinkie as their supervision. You should have seen her costume! She wanted to be a vampire like I was, but it’s so hard to make her look scary or intimidating. She’s probably the most adorable little vampire.”

“Knowing the things you design, I believe it.”

“She wanted to come with us to the party, you know,” she sighed. “Something about not wanting to be a ‘little kid’ and joining in more ‘adult’ activities. I had to convince her of how boring it would be. ‘After all, if I like it, how fun could it be?’ Besides, she couldn’t bring her friends, and all the foals would be shoved to their own section, which would include putting her with that Diamond Tiara. As much as I hate how that filly treats my sister, Rich has been amicable to the rest of us. It would be terrible to intentionally sabotage our presence at the party.” I nodded in agreement, causing another round of ‘stay still’s.

It was then that a knocking came at the door. I could feel Rarity tense up as the brushes stopped. Nightmare Night can make you paranoid of even the smallest sounds.

“It’s probably just somepony needing a last minute readjustment or repair to their costume,” she said, more to assure herself than me. “Stay there and don’t look at your costume. I’ll go see what they need.”

I hear her hooves clop on the tile as she walked out of the dressing room and across the showroom. As tempting as it was to peek at the costume, I kept my eyes shut. I had a feeling she’d know if I looked.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique!” I heard her say as the bell over the door rang. “What would you-!” I heard her gasp, and a thud of something the size of a body landed on the floor.

I panicked, getting up to run and help. Even I was paranoid of a Nightmare Night Movie Monster coming to get us. Keeping my eyes closed, I slipped into the Realm of Souls, and was surprised at who I saw. I opened my eyes again as I came around the corner to the showroom. I understood why Rarity had fainted when she saw her guest, and honestly I might have done the same.

Her form was taller than most ponies, with a deep blue coat. Her mane now swirled in its full ethereal glory, stars and nebulae on a background of the night sky. The stars seemed to be moving, occasionally creating comets and auroras. Turquoise eyes returned my stare. Though she was looking at me for the half-done costume, I was looking at her for her beauty.

“You are looking a lot better than when I last saw you, Luna,” I said with a smile.

“Your friend here seems to have been scared by my appearance,” she replied, gesturing with her hoof to a fainted Rarity. “Though I seem to have that effect on ponies tonight.”

“To be fair, showing up on a Holiday that was created to see you as a monster is bad planning,” I said grinning. “That, and Rarity has a flair for being overdramatic.”

“Oh my,” Rarity murmured as she awoke.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, offering a hoof to help her up.

“Yes, it’s just I thought-“she gasped as she saw Luna again, but thankfully didn’t faint this time. Instead she dropped into a small yet respectful bow. “I apologize, your highness. I should have acted much more appropriately for your arrival. May I offer you something to drink?”

“’Tis fine,” Luna replied, surprised by her actions. “Thou wert the one who had the most proper reaction to Our presence. We came hither only to look for Our sister.”

“What is with the old time-y speech?”I asked, stifling my giggles.

“Now it is my turn to apologize,” she sighed. “Back before I became Nightmare Moon, it was a tradition of the Nobles to speak like that. They thought they sounded sophisticated. I thought they sounded pompous, but I indulged their request.”

“Pompous is a word to describe somepony who talks like that,” I smirked. “Did you use the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ with it?” The embarrassment on her face told me everything.

“You do realize that you do talk strangely sometimes too?” Rarity pointed out. “You don’t use words like ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t” most of the time.”

“Yeah, but it is not as pompous,” I replied with a wave of my hoof.

“Thank you for pointing it out,” Luna said. “Please do it in the future if I talk like that again. Most ponies are too afraid of offending a royal to say anything. Though your friend Twilight was one of the ones who was not afraid of correcting me tonight.”

“Well, Twilight has been around Celestia from the day she earned her Cutie Mark. Tia always had fun testing ponies. At parties she would speak freely and see how much she could get away with before somepony would speak up.” I chuckled. It was strange to laugh. As terrible as I felt, I could still feel joy.

“It seems a good test of character too,” Rarity interjected. “It would tell you who is a friend and who wants something. I had my fair share of ponies looking for a free outfit.”

“As fun as it is to discuss the political ramifications of ignoring quirks,” I began, turning to Luna. “You said you were looking for me? Was this just a social visit or did you have something in mind?”

“A little of both,” she replied. “Celestia did say I should get myself reacquainted with the world, and your friend Twilight Sparkle has already helped with that tonight. But I also wanted to check on you.”

“What exactly was it you wanted to check on?” I asked. All I received was a sigh.

“Miss Rarity,” Luna addressed the Unicorn in question. “May I have a moment with my sister? I do not know what all she would want you to hear.”

“Please, just call me Rarity,” she answered.

“And as noble as your intention is,” I said, “she already knows about what you would want to discuss. I told them about what we learned that night.”

“Them?” Luna wondered. “Who all counts as ‘Them’?”

“The Element bearers,” I stated. “I had to tell them about it. Especially after that day. I know you would like to talk to me alone, but I wish that she be allowed to stay.”

“If you wish, I could pretend not to hear anything,” Rarity offered. “I could concentrate completely on finishing Feria’s Nightmare Night costume.”

“No,” Luna sighed. “You are right to want somepony with you. Friends are what you need most right now. As much as I would like to keep you to myself, I cannot deny you what happiness you can have.”

“Thank you,” I smiled.

“Where should I begin?” Luna asked as Rarity continued with my costume. I closed my eyes once more, letting her makeup brush work over my coat again. I should have used the opportunity to peek earlier.

“I suggest being direct. Prancing around the subject would drive me crazy.” That was poor wording on my part, considering who we would be talking about.

“Then, in general, how are you feeling about what happened with Discord?” she asked, obliging my wish.

“Terrible,” I admitted. “If I could, I would stay in bed and try to escape my emotions. I would hide away and pretend the world does not exist. But I cannot do that. I have things to do, and friends who care about me. They want me to be better, and hiding from the problem will not fix that. Normalcy will not help much either, but it is better.”

“That is what we expected,” Luna nodded as Rarity began working her makeup magic on my flank. I think she was altering my Cutie Mark to match the outfit she would put on me.

“It is not the best plan,” Rarity said, not breaking her concentration. “But as one who has had similar feelings of wanting to hide away from the world, this is better than other approaches.”

“Now for a more specific question,” Luna continued. Her face softened, knowing how her query would affect me. “How do you feel towards Discord? Both then and now?”

I felt Rarity falter in her brushstroke. Even if she had not been listening, I knew she would now. This was one subject I had not talked to her about. I knew she had taken guesses at what I felt.

“I-I honestly do not know,” I admitted. “Before I died, I had barely began to figure that out. I still have not figured out what exactly I felt for him. It was new and different and I was not sure how to handle it but I never got the chance to. All I know for sure is that I was happy around him, and when he thought that I was just a look alike I felt terrible.”

“And after everything that happened?” she asked cautiously. “After what he did, what do you feel toward him?”

“Confusion,” I answered. “I feel like I should hate him. Yet I cannot bring myself to do it. I am scared, and devastated by it, but I have this stupid, ridiculous hope for something else. It would be so much easier if I hated him. Getting up in the morning knowing what I did!” I shuddered. I should not get angry at her because I am angry at myself.

“You only did what you had to do,” Luna told me. She was trying to be comforting, but that was not what I needed to hear.

“I should have done more!” I was shouting again. “I should have talked to him as me, not as a ‘look-a-like’! I should have not gotten put under a spell! I should have listened to Celestia telling me not to trust my memories! I should have stopped it all before it happened! I should not have died!”

“How can you blame yourself for that?” Rarity exclaimed, dropping her brushes. “You were attacked! You had no control over how your first life ended!”

“I could have fought back!” I was shaking again. “I was terrified and I let it happen! I might have won, I might have lived! He thought it was one of our friends who killed me! I did not know about that magic until that night! Nopony else knew until the Gala! And with the way Alicorn Immortality works, he thought I gave it up! That’s how the others died! They gave it up! The loneliness and betrayal and the idea of my immortality sat in his mind and drove him to madness!”

“Now listen here!” she said, putting her hooves on my shoulders. “We all have regrets for things we did or did not do. But we have to move forward from them! We can’t blame ourselves for everything that goes wrong, or wonder what might have happened. Look at what happened because of it. You met us. You had friends in this life that you might have never met. Maybe if you hadn’t been killed that night you would have lived the two thousand years to meet us, to meet me, but would it be the same? Had you lived that night, would we be here preparing for a party? Would you have met everyony in Ponyville, participated in out festivals and traditions and changed our lives for the better?”

“But what about the things I have done to hurt those I love? I did not just leave him! I left all of them! Every pony and dragon and griffon and minotaur and buffalo and everyone else was left behind!”

“Had you lived you would have left them behind anyway. More accurately, they would have left you behind. You would have been Immortal. You would have lived to see two thousand years of friends growing old and dying around you. You still might do that. But do you really think they would blame you? I’ve been left behind by somepony before, but I never blame them for what happened. I enjoy the memories of our time together. The things we leave behind is what is important.”

“And what if all we leave behind is broken hearts and minds?”

“If you think that’s all that was left behind, ask one you left.” We turned to Luna, who had been shocked into silence at Rarity’s outburst. I did not know what answer to expect.

“You did leave more than that,” she agreed. “Your death broke some apart, but it strengthened other relationships. Your sisters came together to mourn you, other ponies found solace in the company of one another. Quite a few pairs of ponies wanted to thank you for the part you played in their lives. You are a linchpin for many things, both happiness and sorrow. Yet nopony blamed you directly for the sorrow. They blamed whoever killed you, and their suspicions of each other did not last long.”

“That does not mean it is alright,” I replied, staring down at my hooves.

“They way I see it,” Rarity said, picking up her brushes and adding a finishing touch, “as long as you are trying to make up for the things you feel guilty of, you can make up for it. Even if others feel you have nothing to make up for. You can’t change the past, but your future still has a chance, doesn’t it?”

I stared at the floor. She had a point. I could try to change things, but how much can I do now? After all that has happened, what can I do to help them?

“I am sorry, Feria,” Luna said. She laid her hoof on my shoulder. “There are two more questions, I need answers for. One of these might help you.”

“Go ahead,” I sighed. She could not make me feel worse could she?

“Do you think Discord had any chance of… potential reformation?” she asked, wording it as carefully as possible. My ears perked up at the idea, yet my eye kept staring at the floor. Reformation. I-I could help him. I could make this right, or at least better than it was now. But was there a chance?

“I-I want to think he can,” I replied. “I do not know if that is an honest opinion or if I just really want to hope for it. I am going to rationalize it with the Elements of Harmony. Everypony has the ability to uphold the Elements’ ideals, even if they cannot wield the Elements like the bearers. But if they reject the Elements completely…. I do not know what will happen, but I feel it is something bad. That magic was the first thing I had sensed to not have the Elements’ power radiating from it. I know that now. But is that what one could become if they reject every Element? But I do not think he has.”

“You say he has not rejected the Elements after all he did?” Luna asked.

“After everything he said against even the idea of friendship?” Rarity interjected as she finished her work.

“He rejected the Element of Love first, after losing me,” I reasoned. “Then when everypony was suspicious of each other about who murdered me, he rejected the Element of Friendship, or Element of Magic as it is better known. Loyalty probably went next, considering those suspicions. Generosity and Kindness followed sometime along the way. But when I talked to him, there was some left. Laughter was in the process of being rejected, but he was still able to laugh with me like we used to instead of laughing at ponies misery. While Laughter was deteriorating, his Honesty was still mostly intact.”

“Correct me if I am wrong,” Luna interrupted, “but did he not put you and your friends under a spell? I also was told that he told you the Elements of Harmony were in the Castle’s labyrinth when they were in Ponyville the entire time. How is his Honesty ‘intact’ as you put it?”

“I said it was ‘mostly’ intact,” I replied. “While the riddle he gave us seemed to imply the labyrinth, he never sad they were there specifically. It mostly said ‘back where we began’, which could mean a lot of things. And the spell had a loophole effect. He did not say whether or not a spell was being used. If it was asked he probably would have admitted it. Though in a way he did admit it when we went to confront him. He said he ‘made Applejack a liar’, which was the truth in a way.”

“Be that as it may, I need a definite answer,” she said. “And, to be honest, it was Celestia’s suggestion. The letters Twilight has sent since worried us. Tia got this plan in her mind that might not work out, but she wanted to see what you thought on it before doing anything else.”

“That is something Tia would do,” I sighed. “Two thousand years have not changed her Generosity. My answer is yes. We should try to reform him. If not only for me, then for how he could help Equestria. Yet I do not want to try right away. I do not think I could face him now.”

I thought on that while Rarity began giving me costume pieces. I kept my eyes closed while she helped me into them. Did I want to risk hurting him a third time just because of what might happen? I did not want to hurt him like that. I did not want to hurt anypony like that. Turning him to stone felt like I was giving up on him, and if I did it again, could I live with myself for it?

In that moment, I made a silent promise; it was a promise to myself, to him, to my sisters, and all those I left. I would not use my Element of Harmony against anypony I still believed could be changed. As long as at least one Element’s ideals are mostly intact in their soul, I would try to save them.

“This is my last question,” Luna warned, tugging me back to reality. “This one has nothing to do with the events with Discord, nor does it have to do with any plans Celestia is thinking up. She does not even know I am asking this.”

“If it has nothing to do with that, why are you warning me?” I asked.

“Because the information might be… triggering,” she said carefully. “The next birthday of yours is different than just another birthday, and not because of the usual reasons of growing up. It is because this is the birthday you never reached.”

As the pieces of my costume clicked into place so did her words. ’The birthday I never reached’. I would surpass myself. I would become older than I had been when I died. I felt my chest tighten. I do not think I was afraid, but a feeling of dread came over me. To think that my life had been ended so early, that I had barely began to live.

“You mean to include both lives,” Rarity said for me, the pieces clicking into place for her too. Luna did not respond for a moment, she only sighed.

“I wanted to know how you were reacting to this,” she said. “I am guessing it had been denial or ignorance.”

“I think it was a bit of both,” I admitted. “Now that the idea is presented, I am… anxious? I am not worried that I will not make it, but I… I think I would rather not be alone on that day. Actually, that whole week before my birthday I do not want to be alone.”

“Easily fixed,” Rarity replied.”Between all of us, we can figure out a way to make that happen for you. Twilight probably would make a schedule to have at least one of us with you at all times. Pinkie Pie might even want a full week-long party if she could!”

I smiled at the thought. That is exactly what they would do. All six of them would try in their own ways to help. Who knows what would work in the end, or if it would work at all.

“Thank you,” I replied.

“So we just need to figure out how to stay together the whole week before….” She paused in confusion. “You know, I don’t think you ever told us your birthday. Why, we haven’t even had a birthday party for you in the years since you moved here. I bet Pinkie Pie goes crazy, well, more crazy, over that.”

“Oh, well, I just,” I stammered. “Well, I did not want anypony to make a fuss out of it, especially given the day. Er, it is the same day as Hearth’s Warming, actually.”

“Now it makes more sense that your Cutie Mark resembles the Fire of Friendship in the stories,” she replied.

“Actually,” Luna inturupted. “The Fire of Friendship resembles her Cutie Mark. The holiday was created for her remembrance, after all.”

“Then I assume the story told to us is one of those falsehoods she mentioned,” Rarity said, taking that news rather well. “One of those historic facts that ponies changed to make history less dark and tragic?”

“Thank you for putting it so kindly,” I smiled.

“Well you did seem quite upset about it when you told us, so I figured some dramatic flair would be appreciated,” she replied.

“Then another thank you,” I retorted. “and thank you, Luna for coming to check on me.”

“And I must thank you both,” Luna said. “I am glad I got to spend time with you, even if most of it was spent making you feel terrible. And Miss Rarity, I thank you for playing host, and allowing me into your place for this short time.”

“It was an honor,” Rarity replied, dipping her head into a respectful bow. “I would be glad to offer it again at any time.”

“You make it sound like you are leaving,” I said.

“I have to,” she replied with a nod. “As much as I would like to stay, there are things I have to do. As Princess, I have to attend the noble’s parties with Celestia, and after that I have to continue doing my duties as Ruler of the Night; Many foals have nightmares on nights like tonight. Besides, I seem to be keeping you from a wonderful party.”

“You were not keeping us,” Rarity assured her. “I still need to get my dress on and finish up her makeup.”

“More makeup?” I wondered. “How much are you putting on me?”

“The rest of this is mostly magical effects,” she replied. “Which is why I am putting my dress on first.” I heard her hoofsteps go to the other room momentarily. I hoped that by the time she came back she would have forgotten about adding more makeup, but when I heard her come back and felt another brush, I sighed in defeat.

I felt her magic run over my body. The last spell focused on my still closed eyes, but I did not know the spell. Even without slipping into the realm of souls I could feel what her magic was like, and it was different than what I felt when others used magic on me. Celestia’s magic felt like laying in a sunbeam, Luna’s magic felt like taking a midnight walk, and Twilight’s felt similar to the magic of the Elements of Harmony, though not as intense. Rarity’s magic felt like the emotion of when you receive a gift that you really wanted, joyful with a tingle and that need to thank her for it.

“Finished!” Rarity exclaimed. “You can open your eyes now.”

“You look beautiful,” I said when I opened my eyes.”You really went all out for this one!”

Her mane and tail had been fluffed to make her look taller and wilder, with light lavender streaks going through. It alluded to the idea of a sophisticated mare hiding her inner monster. The black dress stood out against her coat, the silver accenting her beauty. Around her neck was a silver necklace with a ruby in its center. Her makeup had been applied heavier than usual, a thick layer of black lined her eyes, with more mascara and eye shadow than usual. The eye shadow itself was a deep blue instead of her usual cornflower. Ceramic fangs were on her teeth, and her eyes tinted to an alluring red.

“Thank you, darling,” she said. I was amazed at how well she could speak with the fake fangs in her mouth. They must be high quality ones for that to happen. Though, what should I expect from her?

“You are not wearing colored contacts,” I said, looking closer at her eyes to confirm that there was no lens. “How did you…?”

“I was going to use them,” she replied, “but when looking into contacts for your costume, I found a spell for changing eye color. I took it to Twilight and she helped me modify it for your needs.”

“My needs? What do my eyes look like?” I turned to Luna and was able to see the expression on her face. She seemed worried, maybe even afraid. “What is wrong?”

“Sorry,” she replied, her expression not changing. “The costume is quite… effective.”Wondering what in the world Rarity could have designed for me and why it needed a modified color change spell, I walked to the showroom’s stage. With mirrors on all sides I finally saw what they could see.

My mane was dark and wild, almost disheveled. Normally its colors would mimic flames in a hearth, or a campfire, it was the burning love. Yet now I thought of forest fires, houses burning. This was hate. My coat seemed to be made of coal dust. Upon my body were pieces of armor. They seemed gold, though I doubted it was real gold. They were glowing as if they were still burning hot, as if my mane and tail were heating it as it hugged my body. My shoes were made of the same metal as the chest piece, covering my forelegs. The chest piece had a large ruby in a shape similar to my Cutie Mark. Speaking of my Cutie Mark, she seemed to have darkened it, making it just as angry as the flames in my mane.

My vision shifted up to my head, taking in everything Rarity had put on me, or altered. Upon my head sat a matching headpiece, a crown actually. It was jagged and looked like it would be sharp to the touch if I were to test that out. While Rarity’s eyes were lined with black, mine were done in crimson; red and orange eye shadow played across my eyelids and trailed off to create burning smoke. And my eyes, oh sweet apple fritters what did she do to my eyes? They gleamed with madness. The whites were a light red, not pink, but red; my pupils were longer, dagger-shaped, like a cat. Like a dragon.

“What did you do?” I asked. I was astonished, and a little frightened. Mostly, I was entranced. This was incredible.

“The fun in Nightmare Night is fear,” Rarity replied. “And it is traditional to dress us as something we fear. I have only seen true terror grip you twice since we’ve met. Once was when you showed us your memories, the memory of what killed you. That might have been overkill for a costume, but the other time is not. You were shaking when we faced Nightmare Moon. For one reason or another, facing her terrified you. I hope you take no offence to that, Princess Luna.”

“None taken,” she responded. “The mare I was had been a monster, it is normal for ponies to fear her. Yet you did not make her Nightmare Moon. What you did was-“

“Fantastic!” I interrupted. “This is brilliant! Inspired! My own equivalent of Nightmare Moon!”

“Thank you,” she replied. “but really, it’s not that great. It’s just what I do.”

“But this is metal working!” I exclaimed. “Surely you did not-!”

“I did,” she said. “It is strange, I cannot make a sculpture or a sword with metalworking, but if I need to make something I’m going to decorate with the gems I find, it’s so simple to do.”

“That is awesome!” I shouted.

“Not really,” she replied, blushing slightly at the amount of compliments I was giving her.

“Interesting,” Luna mused.

“What?” I asked as I stopped bouncing.

“It was just similar to something I remember,” she replied. “Did you hear the words you shouted?”

I paused as I realized she was right. I had done something similar many times before. A creative mind’s art coming to fruition, being given to the pony it was made for, and receiving so many compliments from everypony for their work, even if they feel it is not worth as much praise. They always said it was no big deal.

“Morning Aura, Evening Soul, Azura, and Starswirl,” I said smiling. “Our team. We always had some project together. That reminds me, our big project from right before I died, the one I was supposed to reveal on your birthday. What happened to it?”

“It worked for a while, but it was lost,” Luna said, her expression darkening. “As much as I would like to stay, I do need to leave. And the two of you need to get to your party. Goodnight, my friends.”

“Goodnight, Luna,” I replied.

“Goodnight,” Rarity continued as Luna walked out the door. “Did I hear her correctly? She called me a ‘friend’.” She was softly smiling. Simple things can mean a lot to somepony.

“On that note, we should head to the party,” I said. We headed through the town on our way to the party. We got many looks from the ponies we passed, though the ones they gave were looks of shock, while Rarity was getting looks for her beauty. Everything was decorated in some type of scary bobble or cutout, and everypony was in costume. I do not think I saw anypony in the same type of costume. There were stalls for shops and games and food along the road.

I felt a tingle on the back of my neck. The air pressure changed. There was a flash of light with a loud crash that made us jump. I looked up to see Rainbow Dash in her Shadowbolt costume, laughing on a thundercloud. From the way the ponies around us were quickly recovering, she had been doing this all night. I tried to smile as an idea popped in my head.

“Rainbow Dash!” I shouted, making myself sound as intimidating as I could. I stomped the ground and flared out my wings; I even added magic to make my voice louder and add an echo. “Are you such a foalish pony that you would dare to attack your new queen? Or have you forgotten your place in this miserable little world? Maybe you should be taught the lesson you deserve!”

I summoned my own lightning as I threw my head back in laughter. My evil cackle quickly turned into a silly giggle as I saw their faces. Rainbow looked like she nearly had a heart attack, which was fair as that is what I felt like with her lightning. Rarity joined my laughter as the crowd began to calm down.

“Okay, you got me,” Rainbow admitted in defeat.

“It serves you right for scaring us like that!” Rarity exclaimed.

“By the way, Feria,” she said, ignoring Rarity, “Princess Luna was here. I think you just missed her.”

“We know,” I answered. “She stopped by on her way out of town.”

“Oh, well, uh…” she stammered. “Have a great Nightmare Night then!”She took her thundercloud and zoomed off into the night, probably to scare other ponies. The rest of the walk to the party was fairly unobstructed, except for those who stopped us to compliment our costumes.

We walked up the path to Filthy Rich’s house. I do not think ‘house’ is the right word to describe it, as it is larger and taller than most in Ponyville, but what do you expect from the wealthiest stallion in town? Yet it is nowhere near the size of Canterlot buildings. The white exterior walls, while different from the rest of town, were quite plain, built for structure, not for design. It had three stories, and I knew the ground level was mostly for hosting events like this party and business meetings, or both, as inviting certain ponies to a party is a good way to show how much you care that they get your business.

Off to the side of the yard was a small playground, with a small group of fillies playing on it. I could see two of them were Rich’s daughter Diamond Tiara and her friend Silver Spoon; Diamond was dressed as a little princes with a fancy pink dress and a tiara fancier than her usual one; Silver was a merpony, a silver dress tapered into a tail shape with shiny fins, her hair was done up with blue seashells. They actually looked adorable, and by the way they were playing with the other few fillies I could tell they were not completely heartless. I wonder why they were mean to the Crusaders specifically.

I was not given much time to think on it as we had reached the front door. Rarity reached and rang the doorbell, while I got into ‘character’. I figured if I could scare Rainbow Dash with that, whoever answered the door would be much easier. I straightened my body, fluffed out my wings, and switched to a more sturdy position. I held my head high and tried out a condescending smile.

“Welcome, to my House of Horror!” Rich’s voice boomed at the door opened. He let out a scream and jumped away from the door, only to slip and land on his flank. I could not help but laugh at his reaction. The hood of his costume had fallen off when he fell, revealing his normal brown coat and black hair. But from the cloak and fake scythe, it was easy to guess he was a grim reaper.

“Rich, let them in,” came a voice I had not heard. An Earth Pony mare walked up and helped him up. She jumped at seeing Rarity and I, but kept herself under control. Her shiny, white mane was quite wavy, and currently tied up. She had used body paints to make herself into a stylized skeleton, but in places where the paint had begun to rub off I could see her pink coat.

“Hello, Mr. Rich,” I said, quieting my giggles. “I would apologize for the scare I gave you, but is that not the point of this holiday?”

“So very true,” he responded with a chuckle. “Please, come in!”

“Wow!” Rarity whispered as he closed the door behind us. The house’s interior was done up with jack-o-lanterns and cobwebs and spooky lighting. The catering staff was also dressed as skeletons, but they were simple, unlike the mare next to us. Many ponies were already here, mostly some of the few wealthier ponies in town, along with a fair amount of friends Rich had made through his work, along with their spouses.

“Thank you for the invitation, Rich,” I said to begin the conversation. “You really got into the spirit of things. As for introductions, this is my friend Rarity. She is the one who created the costume you were so afraid of.” The mare laughed as Rich seemed slightly flustered over his actions.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, miss Rarity,” He replied. “And I would like to intoduce the two of you to my wife. This is Rose Quartz.” He gestured to the mare in the skeleton costume.

“And what a lovely mare you are,” I complimented. “Though I had assumed as much from the way you two act around each other.”

“Thank you,” Rose Quartz giggled. “Nopony really needs to introduce you, Princess.”

“Please, call me Feria,” I insisted.

“Just like Rich,” she commented. “preferring a single name.”

“To be fair,” I replied, “not many ponies would like to be addressed as ‘Filthy’, though I know many a pony who would like to be princess.”

“That is quite true,” Rich said as he tried not to frown at his first name. “I must thank you for being the only pony to not slip up and call me that.”

“No need to thank me. When I was little, I was taught to always call a pony by the name they want,” I replied. “No matter if the name is a part of a whole, a shortened version, or a new name entirely; it is a sign of respect to give in to that wish. Not to say that those who slip up do not respect the pony they are talking to, especially if the pony corrects themselves afterward, but it helps to show it.”

“Where does one learn a skill like that?” Rose asked. “I figured most ponies wouldn’t want to correct a princess of their name.”

“Most ponies would,” I replied. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has asked everypony to call her ‘Cadence’ since before I came to be. Enough ponies had ignored the request to make her quite upset. Nowadays everypony calls her ‘Princess Cadence’, though on official documents and such it will use her real name.”

“I’ve always heard her called ‘Princess Cadence’,” Rarity said. “Though I guess I was quite little at the time.” We heard the door ring again, and Rich excused himself to answer it, leaving Rose with Rarity and I.

“I’m sorry to change the subject here,” Rose said, “but if I don’t ask this it’ll drive me nits all night. Miss Rarity, do I know you from somewhere? It seems strange, I mean I know you probably live here, but -“

“It’s not strange at all, darling!” Rarity exclaimed. “I wasn’t going to bring it up, but I usually pass by you when I pick up Sweetie Belle, my little sister.”

“Sweetie Belle? Isn’t she-?” Rose gasped. “Oh, you must think Rich and I are terrible for how Diamond acts toward her!”

“No I don’t think that at all!” she assured. “I’ve heard you talking to Diamond Tiara about what punishment she’ll get when the two of you get home. Not that I mean to eavesdrop but what you do sounded more than fair. It just hasn’t worked yet.”

“From what I hear she’s acting fairly typical for a filly her age,” I said. “Especially for one from a family that is better off than the other ones. The foals up in Canterlot are much worse. Especially because their parents protect them or pay off others to shut up when their kid does something wrong. Ponyville’s citizens work on a system of justice, Canterlot citizens work with wealth and political power.”

“You seem to hold a grudge against them,” Rose commented.

“Many foals think that being friends with a princess means they can get away with anything,” I explained. “If I heard about them using my title, or even their own title, to do something like that I would make sure they got what they deserved. Unfortunately, the foals grow up and apply that same logic to their adult life. Even some royalty fall to that system.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and let out a grumble that told me she was thinking about Blueblood. He truly was the worst royal in the family. I smiled at the thought.

“I just hope I’ll get Diamond out of it,” Rose sighed.

“The quickest way is a shock,” I said. “If she is put on the receiving end of what she does, it might shock her into realizing what she has done and make her better. It does not always work.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said warily.

“Everypony is staring at us!” Rarity exclaimed gleefully.

“With those costumes, what do you expect?” Rose asked with a laugh.

“You can thank Rarity for that,” I said. “She designed and hoof-made everything.”

“That’s amazing!” she exclaimed.

“Not really,” Rarity replied. “It was a simple knowledge of fashion and holiday themes.”

Heads turned when a crash came from the other side of the room. Then came the yelling. From what I could make out, one of the caterers had tripped and his tray of food landed on one of the businesspony’s marefriend, who was completely outraged at the whole thing.

“I should probably go sort that out,” Rose sighed. “Enjoy the party. It was fun talking to you two!” With that, she trotted off to get a handle on the situation.

“You know,” Rarity commented. “I was wondering if this was just a kindly invite or if they wanted to use your presence to show off. So far I think it’s the former.”

“While they are truly being friendly,” I replied, “I do not doubt that the idea of using my title to their advantage crossed their minds once or twice. They wanted me here out of kindness, but the advantage is just a bonus.”

For a while, we mingled. Some ponies I knew, some I did not. I kept praising Rarity’s work by making sure everyone we talked to knew she was the one who made these costumes. The food was good. It was not as great as things that come out of Sugarcube Corner, but I might be biased.

It was a while before anything different happened. A magical swirl of green flames entered through one of the windows. Most ponies freaked out, some thought it was an illusion to scare us and remained calm, even laughed at the ‘cheap trick’. Both groups felt stupid as the magic came down to hover in front of me, reforming itself into the shape of a scroll. It was simple parchment, but those closest to us could see the important part of it: a ribbon with a wax seal, stamped with the Emblem of the Sun.

“They act like they’ve never seen a letter before,” Rarity mused. We moved to the side of the party to have some privacy fro curious eyes and ears.

“To be fair, most of them have not gotten a letter this way,” I said. “It is a higher level Unicorn spell.”

“Then how does Spike use it?” she asked.

“Celestia modified it,” I answered, breaking the seal. “Just like you modified the eye color spell, she made it so that Spike’s flame can send letters. She did it back when Twilight first became her student. As talented as Twilight was, she could not do this spell at the time, and sometimes Tia would have to be doing her Princessly duties and could not give her all the attention needed, so the letter makes it look like important work, or she would be off in Saddle Arabia or Zebrica and could not take Twilight with her. The letter gets to the other pony nearly instantly.”

“Think it could work on shipping out my orders?” she asked.

“It only works on paper or parchments. Which is a good thing, considering that it would mean anything Spike breathed fire on would get sent somewhere, usually to Celestia.”

“Imagine that,” she said. “He sneezes and sends half the town to the Princess.”

I tore the seal off and opened the letter. Rarity nudged me to point out some ponies wandering nearby and we shifter further out of the main crowd. My eyes scanned the first few lines for an indicator. I wanted to know if this was an emergency, or if it was something private, before reading it to Rarity.

“Dear Feria,” I read aloud. “Luna has informed me of her time in Ponyville. This, of course, includes her conversation with you at the Carousel Boutique. I wish to have been able to come myself, but I currently cannot leave Canterlot. There are some issues that we should discuss face-to-face.

As for the idea of Discord’s reformation, I will put it on hold for now. When you feel you might be ready, we can try it. I must also say that I never wanted to turn him to stone in the first place. Luna and I didn’t even know what the Elements of Harmony would do to him. There are only two things that we know about the Elements effects. One is that the outcome is unpredictable. The other, is that they do not destroy.

Yet that is not what I need to talk to you about in this letter. I had an idea the other day, one that would give us a way to teach ponies the true history straight from a Princess. As usual, I am working on the Hearth’s Warming play. Unfortunately, our lead cast is out of commission. The ones who play Clover the Clever and Smart Cookie are both on maternity leave, and the pony that plays Commander Hurricane has broken his legs and will not be able to participate. The ponies who would play Princess Platinum, Private Pansy, and Chancellor Puddinghead have moved on to better things performing on Bridleway in Manehattan. I couldn’t ask them to return to our stage for just one show.

Luckily, I happen to know six ponies who would love to help. If you can convince the Element Bearers to take on the roles, I would be happy to write something up. Of course, we will still have to put on the normal play, as if we did something different right away many nobles would be upset and not even listen to us. But if we add something afterward and make it dramatic, they will be hanging on the edge of their seats. Some of your friends will be easier to convince than others. From what I’ve heard, Fluttershy seems to have trouble with crowds. Though your friend Pinkie Pie seems like the type to want to help out.

This also comes along with two gifts. One gift is that you all will be invited to Canterlot for more than just the play, but for the few days before and after Hearth’s Warming, and since it is a family holiday, the immediate family is also invited. The second gift, is that the outfits for these characters all need to be remade from scratch. Luna praised the work of your dressmaking friend, Rarity. I believe she would be glad to have us commission this project. I look forward to hearing your response.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia”

I looked up from the parchment to ask Rarity what she thought, but I did not get the chance to ask. Her hooves were up and her face covering her smile and practically trembling with happiness. I could see the wheels turning in her head, ideas flying through her mind. Her answer was an obvious yes.

“So I guess tomorrow we can begin convincing everypony,” I smiled.

“Oh, yes well,” she stammered, trying not to seem too eager. “She’ll have to send us scripts, and I’ll have to measure everypony. I’ll have to look up designs and then sketch everything, then actually make it! All of that along with learning my lines and carrying on with my daily life and other projects… Yes, I can do that!”

“Actually, I think that eye color changing spell would be helpful,” I said. “Well, just the version for coat and mane colors. If we want to accurately represent these characters but still be seen as ‘actors.”

“I don’t know about one for coats and manes, but I can try to find the eye one again and see if it could be modified for-“ Rarity began.

“The guard!” I exclaimed, cutting her off. “The guard uniform has a spell on it to change their manes to various blues and their coats to white or gray. It will be easy to find that spell!”

“Well,” she wondered, processing that information. “ I was thinking of doing the traditional ‘costumes’ for the play, and then doing whatever was needed to be accurate to the true history.”

“Wonderful!” I replied. “I will send Celestia a reply in the morning.”

“This is going to be fabulous!” she exclaimed.

Plays are Fiction

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I paced back and forth backstage, waiting for my cue. I was nervous about this. Celestia had ironed out each detail, and I had worked out a script for myself and the others to work with. We enlisted the help of real actors to play other parts of this. Yet I was the only one with the speaking role. I was the only one who could mess up my lines.

I peeked out from the wings of the stage to see exactly where they were at. I watched as Twilight, playing ‘Clover the Clever’ did the spell that created the Fire of Friendship, a large, pink flame in the shape of a heart. They were doing much better than expected.

“All through the night,” Spike narrated in a fake Braytish accent, “the three ponies kept the fire of friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs, which of course became the winter carols that we all still sing today. Eventually, the warmth of the fire and singing and laughing reached the leaders, and their bodies began to thaw. And it even began to melt their hearts. The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land, and live in harmony ever afterwards. And together, they named their new land…”

“Equestria!” Everypony on stage shouted.

They mimicked telling stories and singing song. Everypony joined together in friendship. The crowd cheered, just like they always did. I did not blame them for it, but I hated that this was the ‘truth’ to them. I was about to set things right.

I looked to the audience and began worrying again. When I had Celestia read the script, she said it might be too dark for some of the younger foals. I had assured her that any foal who was to young enough to understand the concept of death and what it can mean to others would be too young for this to register in their minds. Was I wrong? I shook my head to shrug it off. They can handle the truth, as terrible as it was.

My friends came backstage and began switching into their next costumes. I heard whispers from the crowd. This was the part where the curtain opens to show the entire cast and all cast, crew, and crowd join in singing the Hearth’s Warming Carol. Nopony was onstage. Nopony was singing. Only whispers were heard.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves, but I walked out into those whispers all the same.

“Good evening everypony!” I said, projecting my voice over the crowd. They all fell silent at my presence, becoming even more daunting. “Usually you would be hearing a song right about now, but this is a new part of the play, and I m here to distract you while the cast changes into different costumes.”

For some reason they all laughed at that.

“This might come as a shock,” I said, beginning to pace, “but there have been a couple times in history where our Princesses were not able to stop their subjects from doing something. It was not a battle of armies or riots, but it changed history. It literally changed history. Some ponies thought it was better to idolize the things our Princesses have done instead of tell the true story.

“That does not mean that they were the villains in this story,” I continued. “Far from it. But they were not the heroes. If you want an example of history being changed, I ask you to remember to just a few months ago. Was Princess Luna one you all believed was real? Did anypony think Nightmare Moon was more than a legend? Luna’s anger and jealousy were demonized while Celestia’s actions were called ‘heroic’. History painted her as a righteous force banishing an evil without even batting an eyelid, instead of a mare forced to choose between the sister she loved and the subjects she protected.

“Yet we are not here to tell that story. No, the story I will tell you tonight, is the true reasons behind Hearth’s Warming, what this holiday meant to those that created it. It will also give a little insight into Equestria’s creation, though the two stories are not directly related like in the usual play.

The crowd was asking each other questions during my pause. I could hear them whisper their confusions. In my peripheral vision I could see Rarity nod. They were ready to come onstage. I gave a slight nod back and went into my next line.

“May I present your cast for this part,” I announced as the six of them walked onstage. “They are the same ponies who played the parts of the leaders and their advisors, though they are now in different costumes, two costumes you might be recognizing. On the back of your programs, we listed their real names, so I will introduce the characters to you.”

Papers rustled as they pulled the programs out to learn the names. While the crowd was distracted, I turned to look at my friends. It was quite amazing what a color change spell, body paint, and a new hairstyle can accomplish. I could tell who was who, as their faces and eye colors had not changed, but they looked like the ponies they were supposed to be representing, some more than others. Each one, along with their color change, also had their Cutie Marks painted over and a costume jewelry version of the Elements of Harmony. Each had taken on the role of the previous bearer of their Element.

“Seven Princesses were created in the beginning of Equestria!” I exclaimed to get their attention. Twilight and Rarity stepped up, as each would when I announced their ‘character’.“Luna and Celestia were a part of them, two thousand years ago. The other five were Azura, Flora, Tornata, and Mira. The seventh and oldest sister, was named Feria!”

More whispers. From what I could tell they believed us. They whispered about other royals, how Celestia and Luna had to have had siblings for them to have nieces and nephews, but nopony had thought of it before. It made sense to them; after all, the pony dressed as Azura does look like the beloved Princess Cadence, does she not?

Their whispers quickly turned on me. Why was I not in a costume? Why did I have the same name? As the whispers grew quiet I prepared for my next line.

“Our usual play is a reaction to these changes in history. They made the world dark before these ponies, but only one of the six of these ponies were part of the Holiday’s creation. The other five only had their names used. Commander Hurricane was the Pegasus who married Princess Tornata, while Chancellor Puddinghead married Princess Flora. Princess Platinum was the Daughter of Princess Mira. Clover the Clever and Smart Cookie were siblings, both children to Starswirl the Bearded. Private Pansy was Hurricane’s sister.”

“The sisters were rulers, but they were no higher than their subjects,” As I spoke, more actors came out onstage, some with props. ‘Azura’ began playing games with a large group while others like ‘Luna’ walked with a pony discussing a book they were reading. I joined the act, dancing with a Unicorn, Earth pony, and a Pegasus.

The only thing missing was sound. Mouths moved but no words were said, no songs were sung. No laughter was heard, and no instruments played. Hooves barely made a sound as they met with the stage floor.

“They did not have subjects, they had friends. They had family,” I continued. “All were equal, all were beloved. They helped each other learn, they helped each other live. The ideals of the Elements of Harmony became the basic structure for their society, for our society.

“But something changed them for a while,” I said, stopping my dance. The lights above us washed the stage in a hellish red. The ponies disappeared as I remained center stage. “The oldest of them had been Feria. They looked up to her, not as a leader, but as their older sister. She taught them the element of Love. Not only romantic love, but the love of your family, the love of your friends, and the unconditional love. She gave her all, she made time to have fun with each pony, and made sure each was loved. But all good things come to an end

“She was murdered!” I screamed as the lights shut off completely. Ponies backstage used clouds to create thunder crashes throughout, using the lightning and colored gels to threaten the audience, to make them think they themselves were being attacked, without completely offending them. I used the camouflage of the flashing lights to teleport to the catwalk above the stage. I could see the entire floor and the first few rows of seats.

To my right was a lump of fabric, no not fabric, a full sized stuffed pony, its color scheme mimicking my own. I shoved it off the edge before the lights came back on, using my magic to make sure it landed with its ‘back’ to the audience.

The lights came back on, but dimmed, the only spotlight on the center stage. The ‘body’ was surrounded by the remaining ‘princesses’. Shock and disbelief were their reactions, followed by silent sobs.

“It was a blow to everypony,” I said into a microphone on the catwalk. My voice echoed through the theatre. “But after the mourning, came suspicion. A murder needs both a victim and a murderer, and a knife to the neck is no accident. But who was that pony? If everything was happy, who could have done that? Nopony knew. For a while, it began to tear them apart!

The sisters wielded the Elements of Harmony, but one was lost, leading to the deterioration of the others.”

The ‘body’ was moved offstage, while the cast all came out again. Yet instead of playing and laughing, they stayed alone. No groups were seen, only pairs or singular ponies. Glares were cast, and some straight out began arguing or fighting, still no sound to be heard.

“It took time to get them back on track,” I said. “Back to how they began. Their loss brought them together, they comforted each other, and came together to mourn.” The harsh lights softened, and they ponies came together. They held a silent vigil for the lost pony, and began to act more like they once had.

“Each year, they held a period of mourning. For a while, it was great for them to just take a day to remember one they lost. Though as time went on, so did lineage. Ponies were born after her death. They never knew her, or why her death meant so much to so many. The Mourning was a tradition that was part of these foal’s lives, but they began to question it, to question who this pony was and what impact she made on the world.”

Smaller actors entered the stage. Fillies and colts asked silent questions to the adults, who came up with truthful answers. Soon, most ponies left leaving five ponies onstage. Pinkie Pie as Azura, her fluffy mane semi-tamed and added purple, yellow and black had been left on stage. The others were a white Pegasus with a black and pink mane, a gray Unicorn with a ginger and purple mane, and another Unicorn with a green mane and a light gray coat, and a Unicorn stallion with a darker gray coat, and a brown mane, with the beginning of what would be a magnificent beard on his chin.

“The idea came from a Unicorn named Evening Soul and a Pegasus named Morning Aura,” I announced, as their actresses began to mimic words, waving their hooves around to prove a point. “They suggested the idea of a holiday, a way to remember not only that pony, but the ideals she stood for. Azura was the one who came up with traditions and activities for everypony to enjoy on the day, while Starswirl ironed out the details.

“But symbols are an important part of this holiday. Morning Aura and Evening soul were artists, who created songs and symbols to match the ideals of all loves. Clover was the one who organized everything, but she created the most powerful symbol of all.”

Lights shut off again. The green-maned Unicorn lit her horn, light flying from both her and the stage lights. The famed Fire of Friendship shot from her horn, as a curtain fell to reveal a large picture. It was a painting of me in my full form. The whispers of the crowd already noticed the similarity.

“The Lost Princess is the seventh Element,” I announced. “They have called the Element of Magic the Element of Friendship, but it was also called the spark. The spark could grow into the flames of love for all, creating the Element of Love. The Fire of Friendship we know today was modeled after her Cutie Mark, because she was the flame that kept burning, even in death.”

The spell stopped and the flame disappeared, leaving everypony in the dark again. The Curtain closed as I jumped to the apron of the stage. I released the magic suppression on my body and felt myself once again grow to full size. The flames of my mane had begun to light up the stage. A spotlight landed on me. I heard gasps from the crowd.

“The Lost Princess was still mourned by those who remembered her, but those who did not would live up to her ideals. That is the true reason we have Hearth’s Warming. It was not for Equestria’s founding, nor was it for celebrating these ponies. It was to remember one’s whose life was cut short, but more importantly, to remember what she stood for, and the impact left on the world. It was to remember the love and friendship in the world”

This time, I cast the spell to create the famous Heart-shaped flame. I closed my eyes, tears silently beginning to fall. I began to sing a slow, slightly haunting tune.
“The Fire of Friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns we will not drift apart”

I paused as the curtain behind me opened. My friends joined me on the apron as the cast took places behind us. We became a chorus singing the famous song, and taking in its new meaning to us all.
“The Fire Of Friendship lives in our hearts
As long as it burns we cannot drift apart
Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few
Laughter and singing will see us through(Will see us through)
We are a circle of pony friends
A circle of friends we’ll be to the very end”

There was silence as our song finished, echoes still ringing through the building. The audience stared blankly for a moment, before erupting in applause. I let out the breath I did not know I was holding and smiled. Their faces still registered shock, but I knew the message had gotten through.

We went backstage and changed outfits, once again, to join the after party. Rarity had made the outfits for this occasion. They were much simpler than our Gala dresses, but still beautiful if not a bit festive. My own was red and white, striped like a candy cane. I recast the magic suppression spell as we walked to the ballroom.

We wandered through the crowd of ponies, making small talk with those who came to congratulate us. As we walked on, my friends found their family members. Twilight’s family was the first we found. Her mother Twilight Velvet and her Father Night Light were there, but Shining did not seem to have been able to make it. Tia did say that a lot of the higher-up guards were staying on duty tonight, allowing the newer recruits to spend the day with famly. As much as Tia had assured them they could take time off for the holiday, they stubbornly wished to stay and protect.

Next we found the Pie family, who were strangely calm and still compared to their brightly colored member. Other than Pinkie, the only colored one was the dull orange of her father Igneous Rock. Her mother Cloudy Quartz and her sisters Marble, Limestone, and Maud were all various shades of gray. Even with all the differences in color, it was easy to see the resemblances.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s parents were talking to each other as we walked up. It was fun to learn that Rainbow Dash’s coloring was from her father, Prism Bolt, while her mother Firefly was a simple pink with a blue mane, though Rainbow’s body and face shape were almost exactly like hers. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, did not look much like her parents at all. Daybreak was smaller than her daughter, her orange and red colors reminding me of her namesake, while Rain Cloud was silver in color.

Rarity, Applejack and I wandered through a bit longer. We had not run into their families yet, but they will probably show up with another pass around. I could see my sisters from here, though with their height it was nearly impossible to miss them.

“Feria!” I heard a voice shout. I turned to see a familiar mahogany coat.

“Iridescent!” I exclaimed, waving him over. He weaved through the last few ponies and I could see he look a lot different when not in a guard uniform. His mane was a lot more tamed without it being helmet hair, and the white suit made the colors in his ever-changing mane show up even more. As he got closer I noticed he was walking strangely, favoring his right foreleg.

“I was debating on staying home or not, but when I heard you would be here I had to go along! Now I’m really glad I got to come to this party!” He smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

“I thought the higher-ups were working through the night?” I asked. “Why are you-?”

“Minor accident,” he replied. He lifted the sleeve on his foreleg to show a hidden ankle brace. “It’s a minor sprain, so I should be back within a few days, but it got me time off.”

“Can’t ya just fly instead o’ walkin’?” Applejack asked. “Bein’ a Pegasus and all.”

“That’s what I suggested!” he exclaimed.

“Oh, I should introduce you all!” I said. “Girls, this is Iridescent Blade. Iridescent, this is Rarity and Applejack, my friends from Ponyville.”

“The Elements of Generosity and Honesty,” He said. “We met before, back when Discord was attacking everything.”

“Oh, yeah you did,” I said quietly as my smile dropped. Rarity put her hoof on my shoulder to comfort me. “I have tried to forget most of that day.”

“Besides,” Rarity said to get us moving past it. “We were under a spell most of the day, so you didn’t get a chance to truly meet us! And I must say, you are just as Feria described you!”

“Anyway, to answer Applejack’s question,” I said trying to change the subject even more. “While a Pegasus could normally hover to alleviate pressure from a sprain, a guard would not be able to do this. They have to fly incredibly fast, which puts a lot of strain on all muscles, not just the wings. It could make the sprain a lot worse than it is. You have sprained things before, right? Imagine somepony grabbing your ankle and pulling on it.”

“That’s….. fascinatin’,” Applejack said.

“Do you really think you can get out of what I said so easily?” Rarity asked, she then turned to Iridescent. “She’s talked about you a lot, and I can see why. Usually I would be more subtle when trying to play matchmaker, but-“

“Then do not play matchmaker!” I hissed.

“Darling, you are interested in the stallion,-“ she began.

“Not like that!” I replied. Once again, I was glad for my dark coat being able to hide a blush so well. Though I could still feel myself blushing furiously.

“Y’all could just let it go,” Applejack said.

“Applejack, as much as I would love to,” she responded, “there are some things one needs to push a friend into.”

“But I do not-“ I tried to protest.

“As much as I don’t want to ruin your plan, Miss Rarity,” Iridescent interjected, “I would have to say no to this, even if Feria did have a romantic interest. I already have a Special Somepony.” His mahogany coat did not hide a blush as well as my own.

“Is that how you got the invitation?” I asked. “You had said you ‘came along’ to the party, so I assumed you meant you were somepony’s Plus One.”

“Well now I wish I knew sooner,” Rarity said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to make a fool out of somepony. Well, at least without the promise of their benefit from it. So who is this lucky pony?”

“Oh, well,” he blushed even harder. Now that I was not in the spotlight I could giggle at his reaction. “It might not be as regal as dating a princess, but a Canterlot Noble is still impressive.”

“Maybe y’all should go find your date,” Applejack suggested. “Ah need to look for Granny Smith anyway. Gotta make sure she doesn’t say somethin’ to get us all inta’ trouble. Ah’m tellin’ ya, her loud mouth shoulda been her special talent.”

“Applejack, you can stay for a little longer,” I said. “We will find them eventually.”

“So what is your Special Somepony like?” Rarity asked Iridescent as Applejack sighed and decided to stay. I closed my eyes and slipped into the realm of souls for a moment to calm myself from Rarity’s antics. The Realm of Souls in a crowd is both confusing and amazing, ponies’ souls mixing with one another. Looking at Iridescent, I could see excitement, and a lot of love.

“Well, Sparky should be back soon,” he replied. “The refreshment table is just over that way, after all.”

“I cannot wait to meet the one who makes you feel like that,” I said, slipping back into reality.

“Yeah,” he sighed, his eyes scanning to crowd, only to widen and lock on to somepony.

“Did you find-?” I began to ask.

“Over here!” He yelled waving his hoof in the air, then cried out in pain as his body recognized that it was the injured one. He pulled his hoof back toward himself as a pony ran up beside me.

“You idiot,” the new pony said, lifting Iridescent’s hoof to inspect it for damage. “You souldn’t even be walking on this, let alone waving it around.”

“Well I found some ponies I wanted to introduce you to,” Iridescent said, pouting and sticking his tongue out at the pony. “Sparky, this is Princess Feria, and her friends Rarity and Applejack. Ladies, this is Sparking Thunder!”

Once again, I was glad for a dark coat, as the white-coated Unicorn showed off every shade of red I could imagine. The white Unicorn had a slightly long golden mane with a single, thin black streak running through, tied with a deep purple ribbon. Turquoise magic held aloft two glasses filled with some sort of a probably alcoholic drink. Similarly-colored eyes looked into mine with slight admiration, but analyzing my every move with fear, ready to protect from any threat, even if I was the threat. The one thing that was not anything like what little I expected, was that Sparking Thunder was a stallion.

“I am glad to meet you!” I said, my surprise obvious. I slipped into the Realm of Souls again to see what he was like. It was amazing to see how his soul was reacting to just being near Iridescent. I could not help but smile as I came back.

“Now I really feel like a fool, you weren’t even his type!” Rarity said to me, then turned back to the stallions. “I’m glad to meet you, though I wasn’t expecting it!”

“Nice to meet y’all,” Applejack said, a bit quieter than usual.

“Happy to meet you too,” He replied. The statement was standard, but not sincere. I heard Iridescent sigh.

“You say you are happy yet you look at us with fear?” I questioned. I never was one for dancing around subjects.

“I apologize, Princess,” he said. “But I don’t get many ponies who like me, so if my defenses are up-“

“You are not defending yourself,” I noted. “You are defending the one you love. But in this case a defense is not needed. Do you really think I would disapprove of somepony’s partner just because of their gender?”

“If you want the truth,” he replied. “You can’t disapprove. You’re a royal, and you’re supposed to say whatever pleases the pony you talk to. You aren’t allowed to say what you really think because you have to play pretend for the masses. For everything you say, your initial reactions give it away. Surprise and making fun, pretending it’s amusing. So I’m sorry, your majesty, but I’m used it and don’t feel like dealing with this today. Come on, Iridescent.” He began to drag the Pegasus away, but before I could react Applejack stopped him.

“Now Ah’ know ya didn’t just say that about my friend!” She practically shouted.

“You’re not a royal,” he responded. “So you’re free to tell me what you think of us.”

“What Ah’ think it that you’re bein’ a jerk!” she responded. “Listen up, sugarcube. When ya got defensive Ah’ though it was aimed at me as it should be obvious I was raised with an old-fashioned family who would disapprove of y’all. An’ despite my learnin’ from ‘em, I can think and say as long as y’all love each other go at it. So do ya really think the pony who was raised on basics of love and friendship for everypony would disapprove of you for somethin’ like that? “

“In my experience,” he replied. “Those who praise the ideals of love and friendship only support it when it’s convenient for them. Doesn’t your ‘old-fashioned family’ like the ideas of love and friendship?”

“Why you little-!”she began.

“Enough!” I interrupted. “Something you should know first, is that Royals rarely have to lie. Most lies we tell were created by others. You saw the play, so you know I want the truth to get out. Royals do not lie to please ponies, ponies lie to please royals. A lot of royals can get away with terrible behavior because others are too afraid of insulting them. And you know what? I am happy for Iridescent to have somepony who loves him, while I am trying not to be mad at you for this.”

“Yeah, ‘mad at me for this’,” he said. “I could tell by your reaction what you think of me.”

“I was surprised,” I stated. “I do not have what some call a ‘gay-dar’ so I had no idea. Honestly I assume everypony is pansexual until they tell me otherwise. I do not judge people based on stereotypes. A stallion acting femininte does not mean anything about his orientation, while a mare who acts more like a stallion does not mean she likes other mares. So I apologize for not thinking that Iridescent’s Special Somepony would be male. And Rarity’s joke about me ‘not being his type’ was not supposed to make fun of you. She had thought I was developing a crush on Iridescent, which was the topic of conversation before you joined.”

Sparking seemed a bit shocked, but I leaned in closer. He tried backing up, but there was no room. So he stood his ground.

“I judge ponies based on their souls and their actions,” I said carefully. “Gender means nothing to me. I know you are scared of those who would focus on it, and you are angry at them, but do not think that everypony will be against you. Though it was somepony close to you who reacted badly to make you so afraid, was it not?”

He nodded, then hung his head. I backed up, able to tell he was feeling guilty for what he had said. Iridescent leaned close to him, comforting him and whispering things to calm him down.

“Rarity, Applejack, can you go on without me?” I asked them. “You should find your families.” They nodded and left silently. We were actually lucky to not have caused a huge commotion in the crowd. Very few ponies were glancing this way. Iridescent put himself between Sparking and I.

“Please don’t be too mad at him,” he asked in a whisper. “His parents didn’t take it too good and they, well, basically he’s staying with his aunt and uncle at the moment. This is the first Hearth’s Warming he’s spent without them.”

“It’s okay,” I said loud enough for them both to hear. “I can understand how fear of something takes hold of one’s mind.”

“I’m sorry,” Sparking said quietly. “You’re right, about everything. I just-“

“There are a lot more ponies who approve in the world,” I said. “We started off on the wrong hoof, but we can start again.”

“Now I know I screwed up,” he laughed. “You’re too forgiving to be hateful.”

“So are we good here or…?”Iridescent asked.

“I think we are good,” I chuckled. “Though forgive me if I do tread carefully about what I say and do.”

“Though maybe we should stick to taking about the play,” Sparking suggested, nodding in agreement. “You and your friends were good actors.”

“Well after matching the characters with their personalities,” I replied, “it was fairly easy for them to pay the character. Usually I would have to worry about things like Pinkie Pie getting distracted or acting strangely, but since she was playing Puddinghead, it fit with his character.”

“Why did you have mares play stallions anyway?” he asked.

“As I said,” I answered, “Gender does not mean much to me. Or rather, the ideas of gender are strange to me other than the terms of who has what part. No matter what, you are a pony. Besides, we needed to replace six actors, I had six ponies who could easily play the parts, if given the right character. And they played both parts well, right?”

“That they did,” he nodded. “But the thing I really want to know about is your part in that finale.”

“Sparky,” Iridescent warned. I bet they had already discussed this.

“I was expecting questions about that,” I sighed. “To answer most of your questions, I will tell you now that everything is true.”

“In that case, I’ll skip to the bigger questions,” he replied. “In your story, there was a mare that looked just like you. You used no costume pieces nor dyes and paints to change your appearance like the other actors did, and the picture along with the Fire Of Friendship Cutie Mark are a whole other question.”

“The thing is,” he continued, “Most of the talk is that you’re a descendant of that Princess. Yet, when you mentioned those who mourned, it was always ‘friends’ or ‘sisters’. There was no mention of a stallion or a foal, which even novice writers would know adds an extra effect. This leads me to believe that there was no mate or child.”

“Well, you are close,” I sighed. “There was one that might have been considered a ‘partner’, though due to the unofficial nature of the relationship due to her death coming too soon and the identity of the potential ‘partner’ told me to leave him out.”

“I will inquire to that later,” he said. “Where was I? Oh yes. With no chance of you being a descendant, the next conclusion would be coincidence for most ponies, yet we both know there is a bit too much evidence for that to hold up for long. Still, a pony coming back from the dead is quite unbelievable.”

“Magic can do strange things,” I replied. “Especially something as unpredictable as the Elements of Harmony.”

“You’d think with a name including ‘Harmony’ they’d be less chaotic,” Iridescent interrupted.

“Chaos and Harmony are quite similar,” I chuckled. My gaze dropped to the floor. I had thought of all possible questions ponies would ask. I had played though scenarios in my mind of even the most stubborn pony I could imagine trying to argue with me. The one thing I had not calculated was how many times my mind would drift to Discord. I could handle this.

“So you are agreeing with the idea of a pony coming back to life?” Sparking asked. I could swear he changed the subject on purpose.

“Not exactly,” I replied. “More like an Immortal had her soul ripped out of her body and was out of the world for two thousand years. The connection to the Elements of Harmony was just providing the opportunity to come back.” Sparking’s eyes widened with shock while Iridescent stood there looking bewildered.

“As unpredictable as you say the Elements are,” Sparking began, trying to comprehend how I could say something like that so easily, “do they really have the power of ressuretion?”

“I do not think so,” I said. “Though it has not been tested. As far as I know, the Elements have banished somepony, and turned a pony to stone twice, and at their full power they cleansed a pony of an evil magic.”

“Weren’t they used at full power twice?” he asked.

“They only are at full power when all seven are present and want to use them in that way,” I almost whispered. “If even one of them hesitates the power is lowered. That’s why Nightmare Moon was sent to the moon when Celestia used the Elements against her but was turned back to Luna when we used them.”

“So why did you…?” he tried to ask.

“The Seventh Element,” I replied. “After the previous bearers lost their connection to the Elements, the new bearers were born. The Five Elements create the spark that is the sixth Element. If their power grows it creates the Seventh Element. You know, it is a common misconception that the Sixth and Seventh Elements are more powerful. If you lose one you begin to lose them all. Yet if they begin to come back the others will too. I am connected to the Seventh Element, so when the new bearers were born, I came back.”

“That’s astounding!” he exclaimed. “It seems more like reincarnation than resurrection, right? I’d even go so far to compare it to a phoenix! It seems impossible to believe, yet it makes so much sense! Of course you could be completely lying, but you’ve been honest about everything else why would you lie now?”

“Somehow I think I will have trouble convincing those who do not know me might be a bit more difficult,” I laughed. “Maybe I should get into an argument with them beforehoof? Just to show I’m truthful. “

Iridescent and I laughed as he stammered, trying to respond. We laughed harder as a blush came to his face. Eventually he just sighed and gave in to our teasing.

“I deserved that,” he grumbled.

“I was bound to get some sort of revenge sooner or later,” I chuckled. “It’s better than what Applejack and Rarity will do. AJ will probably be hard on you and out-right make fun until she thinks you have earned forgiveness. With Rarity, she will make some nonchalant comment and you will not even realize it was revenge. Well, you will not realize it until it’s too late to make a comment about it.”

“I’ll be on the lookout for that!” he chuckled.

“Was that your way of saying you’d like to talk more often?” Iridescent asked, practically bouncing at the thought.

“I guess it is!” I agreed as he cheered, attracting a few glances. “I am going to be visiting Canterlot a lot more often, and I think it would be nice to talk to ponies outside of my own family when I am up here.”

“Didn’t you live here for years?” Sparking asked. “Aren’t there ponies you know from back then? You’ve only been in Ponyville for a couple of years.”

“I wish there were,” I replied. “Before I moved to Ponyville, I was mostly only around other royals. I knew a few staff members and I know anypony who had been in the guard for more than a year before I left, but I never really interacted with most of them in a way where I would get invited to parties. And the parties I was invited to were because I am a princess and had to show up at certain events. The only ponies I knew who were, at the time, outside of the family or guard were Twilight Sparkle and her brother Shining Armor. Of course, now Shining is guard captain and about to become part of the family by marrying Cadence, and Twilight is in Ponyville with me.”

“Reporters make royal life sound so fabulous,” he smirked, “but the lonely truth comes out.”

“That is because the royals who talk to them are the ones who do not do anything!” I laughed. “If they actually asked what Celestia does all day they would get a whole list of duties and work and special appearances where she is not allowed to socialize with anypony. Yet all anypony hears from are either younger royals without actual duties, or those who ride on their title to get all they want. Why has a magazine not asked Luna what she has done now that she is back? No, obviously Blueblood’s adventure in Las Pegasus was more important!”

“You have a lot of frustration about that,” he smirked.

“I have gone on half-hour long rants over this,” I groaned. “I think it is just an annoyance at reporters in general.”

“I remember them doing a lot of stories when you first left Canterlot,” Iridescent said. “If I remember correctly, they made a lot of accusations about running away from duties and living off the royal budget.”

“Exactly!” I exclaimed. “They write stuff like that saying I should be shamed by the town, but literally the same week the guards have to escort Blueblood home after a drunken fight and they think of him as entertainment! And living off the royal budget? I will admit that Tia let me use a small amount of money for a house and basic furnishings, but I earn everything else on my own.”

“In that case, I’m looking forward to seeing you again,” Sparking said. “And I should apologize to your friends.

“You will see them again,” I assured. “I think it is a great idea to have my friend groups interact with each other. Though, next time I will be in Canterlot will be for Cadence and Shining’s wedding, so I do not think I will have much time for that.”

“Well, Iridescent will be taking over for Captain Shining for the day, so he can’t make it,” he contemplated, “But I might be able to wing an invitation through my aunt Bluebell.”

“Is that the aunt you are staying with?” I asked. “And more importantly, how?”

“Do you know a pegasus named Windy?” He smirked. “He’s her little cousin, and Prince Blueblood’s father.”

“I should be shocked or something but the question of “what I call my great-times-like-a-billion nephew’s second cousin?’ is the only thought in my head,” I chuckled.

“What, you couldn’t see a family resemblance?” he joked, gesturing with his hoof to the similar coat and mane colors.

“If I tried to guess a pony’s family by the traits they share with another, I would spend an eternity going crazy over the fact that Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie are related,” I sighed.

“They are?” Iridescent questioned. “They look nothing alike?”

“Did I ever mention that my ‘previous life’ was alongside the first ponies of Equestria?” I asked. “Think of it as a chicken-egg question. The pony came before the foal, and nopony was completely related, so they each had their own physical traits. I can tell what of those first ponies one is related to by those. It is easy to tell that Twilight is related to Starswirl by the eye shape and a little bit in the jaw line. Pinkie is related to Frosted Cake, really her face is almost an exact copy, even though her colors are different. Starswirl and Frosted got married and had Clover and Smart Cookie, which eventually those lines went to Twilight and Pinkie.”

“Now that’s shocking,” he said.

“Who do you think I’m related to?” Iridescent asked excitedly.

“I think Arctic Wind and Dusty are in there, due to your coloring,” I guessed. He descended into a fit of giggles. I heard a clink as he dropped a, thankfully empty, glass.

“I should get rid of this,” he smiled, picking up the empty glass. “Or how about I get you both a refill?” I looked down at the glass that was still held aloft in Sparking’s magic. I had not realized the small sips they were taking as we talked on. Only now did I wonder how many Iridescent had before this conversation. I nodded in agreement as Sparking drained the last of his glass.

“I will take anything as long as it has no alcohol,” I said as Iridescent walked off toward the refreshments. I watched as he winced at the weight put down on his foot.

“Be careful!” Sparking shouted after him, seeing the same wince I did. He glanced at me and shuffled awkwardly. I smiled at it. He was nervous about trying to carry on the conversation with me and probably still scared from his earlier outburst.

“I am sorry you felt I did not like you,” I said.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for!” he exclaimed. “I was being stupid and-“

“I do not think my wording there was correct,” I said to cut him off. “I am sorry that those in your life have led you to feel that I would not like you.”

“Oh,” his smile dropped. “It’s not your fault.”

“Honestly, I feel like a lot of things were my fault,” I sighed. “I keep wondering what would have happened if I had been alive for the entirety of the last two thousand years, and maybe ponies would be more accepting of those interested in the same gender.”

“Maybe, but then again maybe not,” he replied. “After all, Princess Celestia wasn’t able to stop it.”

“I know” I said. “But it was different when I was alive the first time. To go with the same theme, gender was not an issue. The only time ‘gender’ played any part in anything was when the idea of making a foal, or when somepony wanted to play a prank by changing somepony’s gender. There were not even gender roles; stallions made jewelry and mares would play sports. Love was about the pony, not their parts. In fact, the first pair to get, well, to be what would be considered ‘married’ today were two mares, Morning Aura and Evening Soul.”

“That still doesn’t make it you fault,” he assured, “especially since it was something out of your hooves.”

“Have you ever made a huge decision and wondered what it would be like if you made the other choice?” I asked. “Even if it was not your choice, you still wonder what could have been. It can drive one up a wall. There are a lot of things that would be different. A lot of lives would be different. So many ponies could have been saved. I could have saved them.”

“You’re talking about Discord, aren’t you?” he asked.

“How did-!” I gasped, jumping where I stood. My ears and eyes flicked around, trying to see if anypony had heard. I felt like I could not breathe.

“You left little hints,” he said, lowering his voice to calm my concerns of being overheard. “You seem to have recently had some kind of emotional buck in the chest. You mentioned a potential partner that was left behind when you died in your previous life, but due to whom he was you shouldn’t mention him. Since you said ‘him’ I assumed it wasn’t because of my situation, but because it was some ponies would know him and disapprove of him for what he did. Just saying the word ‘Chaos’ made your smile falter. And now you talk about who you could have saved.”

“I-I-I just-“ I stammered, trying to find the words. “Have I mentioned you talk like a detective?”

“Compliments won’t make me change the subject,” he replied.

“I know,” I sighed. “You are mostly right, but please do not tell anypony. Most have only seen him as some type of villain, and they think of us Element Bearers as the heroes who saved them. They will not see what I saw in him once. What I think I can still see in him.”

“I won’t tell anypony,” he said. “After what I did when we met, I really have no right to say anything.”

“No, you have every right,” I said. “This is not about his gender, or what he looks like, it is about what he has done. He has hurt ponies in so many ways. I did not want to see that when he came back, but he hurt my friends. I almost lost my friends because of him.”

“And yet you still care for him,” he interrupted. “From what I’ve seen from you, you forgive what you think is right to forgive. You don’t seem to ‘forgive’ him, but you seem like you would like to go forward and try to mend the bridge because you think it can be done.”

“Answer one question for me,” I pleaded. “How does it feel to be in love?” He paused for a moment trying to find words. I was afraid of what his answer would be. I slipped my vision into the realm of souls, waiting for his answer.

“Incredible,” he answered. “You want to be with them all the time. Every emotion is enhanced. When you are with the one you love, you feel joy, you feel like leaping. Anything you do together is fun and happy. You laugh at everything. Every touch sends shivers up your spine, even if it’s just brushing shoulders in the hall. You feel a warm glow, almost a constant tingle in your body. It’s not that you want them to be yours, more like you want them to be happy.”

“When you are apart,” he continued, “it drives you insane. You can feel something missing. You hate being apart. Your chest tightens, and you feel like you can’t breathe. If you see them hurt in any way, it makes you want to scream. And the idea of saying goodbye to them is almost enough to make you want to stop. That warm glow turns into a burning cold. It stings you and you want to just hide away.”

“A warm tingle and a burning cold,” I laughed. “I have felt that before. Not only for him, but for all my friends.”

“Yet do you feel the rest of what I said?” he asked.

“I…” I tried to answer. I had to run this through my head a bit longer. Is this not what I feel? It feels more right than the descriptions in the songs I hear. I could see his soul’s reaction to his words, and I knew he was thinking of Iridescent. His soul shone brighter than I thought it could.

“I will ask you one more question,” he said, taking my silence as a confirmation. “It’s another about the whole reincarnation thing. Why did you come back now?”

“I told you,” I replied, using the question to pull myself out of shock. “The Elements came back, and I am connected to them so I did too.”

“I got that part,” he countered. “But why now. It was nearly two thousand years between your death and rebirth. Why didn’t the Elements return earlier?”

“Well each bearer had to lose the connection,” I explained. “I was killed, which is still a weird thing to say. Within the next few hundred years, Azura, Tornata, Mira, and Laruta also died, though they did it by giving up their immortality. Luna became Nightmare Moon, and Celestia….”

I stopped there. Why did it wait? Why was it only now that the Elements were reborn. If it was waiting for most of them to be disconnected , Celestia was the last one. But all of them had to be disconnected from the Elements, did they not? But she should have been connected. How did she disconnect?

“Are you okay?” Sparking asked. I had been staring at the floor, had I not? My breathing was shallow and my eyes were wide.

“Celestia what did you do?” I asked aloud. “I am sorry, Sparking, but I need to go. I need to ask Celestia something, and no it cannot wait!”

I ran off before he could protest, bumping into Iridescent on the way. I heard him shout for me to come back, but I weaved through the crowd. I scanned the crowd of colorful faces for my sisters. Being much taller than average ponies, they were easy to spot. I pushed through, ignoring grumbles and shouts as I went by.

“Celestia!” I shouted as I came up to her. “We need to talk.” She was startled by the fear I knew was in my eyes, and the desperation I could hear in my voice. Yet she nodded and began excusing herself from the conversations. Luna did the same and we walked through the party to the throne room just a hallway away. The party’s sounds were static in my ears.

“I told you that you would have to answer all the questions on the play by yourself,” She said as the door closed.

“That is not what this is about!” I exclaimed. My horn lit and a barrier was erected around the room, silencing the party, and keeping our conversation away from anypony listening. “Well, it kind of is, because his question is one I have for myself.”

“Feria, calm yourself!” Luna commanded. “Think of what you are going to say before you end up on a rant.”

“Fine,” I said, taking a breath. “The reason the Element Bearers were born were because all of the previous ones were disconnected.”

“Celestia, what is she-?” Luna tried to ask.

“I was dead!” I shouted at her. “Azura, Tornata, Mira, and Laruta were all dead! And Luna was locked in the moon! You were still here, but you stayed connected! You stayed connected for almost one thousand years after the others! Why did you disconnect?”

“Does it matter?” Celestia asked, not meeting my eyes. “Everything is fine now.”

“Yeah, it is fine ‘now’. But why not before?” I retorted. “What happened the year I came back?”

“Why do you need to know?” she wondered.

“Because I want to make sure nothing is happening to you!” I screamed. “I want to know you are not becoming your own Nightmare Moon. I want to know you did not give up your immortality!” That seemed to strike a chord with her. She sat on the floor, gazing down at it for a while before looking up at me.

“I began to wonder if I was needed in the world,” she admitted. “If I was no longer here, life would go on. I felt that if Luna returned, at most all I could do was send her back to the moon for another thousand years, and wait for it to happen again. But If I wasn’t there, she would return, and do as I had done for one thousand years. She wanted eternal night because I got the glory for the day. If she got to rule both, she would see that ponies cannot live in eternal night. It would have gone back to normal. What was I needed for?”

“You are wrong, Celestia!” Luna exclaimed. “I would not have lowered my moon.”

“Luna, don’t sell yourself short,” Celestia replied.

“I am not!” she stated. “If you had given up and left this world, if the Elements had not fixed me, I would never have lowered the moon. I would have let the ponies live in eternal night. Within a few years half of them would have frozen to death, and the other half would have died of starvation!

“I know you, Luna,” Celestia protested. “You would have seen their suffering and-“

“And nothing!” I cut her off. “You never asked who it was that killed me that night. You were afraid to face the answer that it was somepony we knew. But that’s the thing, it was not anypony we knew. It was a monochrome cloud of magic. Of course somepony was controlling the cloud like an Astral Projection, but it was not anypony we knew. That same magic corrupted Luna’s mind. It made her not care for what would have happened to the ponies! She would have let them die!”

I could see what that news did to her. Her mind seemed to crash, eyes glazing over and momentarily forgetting to breathe. The idea of what could have happened was a bit too much.

“Celestia, it is not your fault,” Luna whispered, putting her wing oh her older sister. “Had our positions been reversed and you banished to the sun for one thousand years, I would have eventually thought the same.”

“No, it would not have been the same!’ Celestia shouted, wings flaring into a defensive stance. “If I had become jealous of your night’s beauty, jealous enough to try to bring about an eternal day you would have noticed! You would have done something! I saw your jealousy growing but I didn’t do anything to help you! You wouldn’t have let it get far enough for me to use that power! You wouldn’t have had to use the Elements on me! We wouldn’t have been apart for one thousand years!”

“If that power had grabbed hold of you instead of me I would have!” Luna shouted back, copying her pose. “You would not have known the thoughts were not your own, because they were the things you kept hidden in the back of your mind! That jealousy had popped up long before that corruption! It takes your darkest thoughts and whispers in your ears, convincing you it is the right thing! I fought it as long as I could. It was over a hundred years before I succumbed to its words!”

“But you fought!” Celestia screamed. “You fought and I wouldn’t have done that! I would’ve given in so much sooner, if not right away!”

“Stop!” I commanded, stomping my hoof. “Both of you! We cannot focus on what could have been done unless we can use it to change the future! That is why I am asking this question! I want to make sure that magic does not try again! I want to make sure that it does not hurt either of you again! That it never hurts any of my friends again! Celestia, what did you do with those thoughts?”

She shuffled her hooves, trying again and again to know where to begin. I sat patiently as she did. Luna glanced back and forth between us, trying to decide who to help.

“It started a few years before,” Celestia said quietly. “I began to debate if I was needed in this world. Anypony could do my duty as Princess, yet I was the only one who could control the sun and moon. Though if I was no longer there, the sun and moon would raise and lower on its own. The sun and moon would be as free to do what they wish as the plants and weather in the Everfree forest. That’s why it’s named Everfree, by the way, because it is the one place where our magic does not control, where our sisters’ bodies were buried and were absorbed into the earth.

“Maybe seven years went by before I truly thought of giving up my immortality,” she continued, still not meeting my gaze. “By that time, Cadence was beginning to show interest in actually running a country like a princess, and not just riding along on the title. It was the final piece to put me at the spot where I thought it would be a good idea. I would need somepony to run Equestria after I left it, so I could train her to do the job. That year, I went to the old castle. I was going to decide what I would do.”

“What did you do?” I asked, barely whispering. She looked up at me and I wished I had not asked any of this. Her eyes were near tears and her body was trembling. I almost wanted to stop, to say she did not have to answer, but I needed to know this. I would not be able to do anything else until I got answer.

“I was walking through the oldest parts of the castle,” she said. “I visited every room remembering each one who had lived there. Some places I lingered longer than others. It was nearly dawn by the time I got to the last room. The Throne Room. And I almost-” she stopped.

“I found you,” she sighed. “I found a tiny, barely awake, black filly curled up on your throne; you looked barely old enough to earn your Cutie Mark. At that point, I forgot about my own issues and wondered where you were from. At first I assumed you were some foolhardy filly from a nearby town, trying to be brave. But an Alicorn, well, none had been crafted, I would have known, and your physical age wasn’t timed right for any of the royals to have given birth to you, even in secret.”

“And your immortality?” Luna asked. I was distracted by what she said happened. I had never asked about how she found me, I just accepted the fact. I tried to think back to that time, to my first moments in my second life. I almost smiled at how familiar it was to my first life; I felt nothing but cold and darkness until Celestia’s warmth. In one life it was her sun, in this one it was the body warmth, probably from carrying me to Canterlot.

“I left the castle,” Celestia replied, ignoring the question. “A created Alicorn in the castle was strange. I didn’t know you were, well, you at the time, but I wanted to protect you. The biggest thought was that all created Alicorns were immortal. I told myself that I would put off making the decision for a few years, just long enough to see if you would be immortal.”

“And that only took a couple years,” I interrupted. “I was still quite little when you explained it to me. But after you knew what happened?”

“I thought you only wanted to know up until when the Elements began to be reborn?” Luna asked me.

“I want to make sure,” I sighed. “How long was it before the thoughts stopped? Or have they stopped?”

“A few years after I found you,” Celestia explained, “The day I met Twilight Sparkle. You remember it?”

“The day of the Sonic Rainboom,” I nodded. “That was the first day us Element Bearers all felt connected. We each got out Cutie Marks that day. It was the first time in this life I felt magic, not just what I used or its effects, but the pure magic of the Realm of Souls, even if I could not access its full ability.”

“I knew none of that that day,” she continued. “But I met Twilight, and I knew something. She was just a small Unicorn filly, barely old enough to apply to the school. Yet she had more raw magic power than most adult Unicorns, power that would grow with time. I would’ve believed it to just be that she was gifted, if not for the Cutie Mark that appeared. A Cutie Mark in the shape of the Element of Magic appeared on a Unicorn with a talent for magic. The idea of new Element Bearers came into my mind. For the first time, I had hope that somepony would be able to help Luna when she returned, even if it couldn’t be me.”

“And they all just happened to live in ponyville?” Luna asked. “That seems like more that coincidence.”

“If you’re wondering if I put them there I didn’t,” Celestia said.

“I know you did not,” I agreed. “Only Rarity and Applejack lived in Ponyville. Twilight and I were in Canterlot, both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are from Cloudsdale, and Pinkie Pie lived on a rock farm.”

“A rock what?” Luna asked only to have the question ignored.

We all felt a pull to be there,” I said. “Fluttershy could have picked any town on the ground, but she gravitated to Ponyville because two Bearers were there. Rainbow Dash followed her, wanting to help her friend. Pinkie traveled for a bit, but set down in Ponyville when she got an apprenticeship offer from Sugarcube Corner. When I left the castle, I could have gone anywhere, literally anywhere. I looked over towns and cities, even thought of going to Zebrica or just traveling the world, but I chose Ponyville. I just looked over a map, and when I saw Ponyville’s name, it stood out. I felt a pull in my heart, like I found something. The only thing you did to help me get there was to let me use my Royal Budget to buy a house.”

“While I will believe you did not push us in the right direction, but I do not think you did not know who they were,” I went on. “While some ponies do not know about the Cutie Mark registry, it would have been easy for you to find them all. You had the date the Marks appeared and a general idea of their shape.”

“I’ll admit to that,” she said. “I did want to push all of you in the right direction. I couldn’t do anything until you were adult, but by that time you all had gone to Ponyville on your own. The only one I sent was Twilight.”

“We are getting off topic,” I said. “The thoughts that made you disconnected from the Element, did they completely stop after you met Twilight?”

“Not completely,” she shrugged. “The idea would pop up from time to time, but it didn’t grab hold like it once did. I didn’t truly think of it as the only option. I would hear it in my mind, but I just remembered there was a chance. Even when it was too late to turn back, that idea showed up.”

That was what I was waiting for, what I was dreading. On instinct I dropped into a defense position; my legs were braced low and my wings flared. I slipped into the Realm of Souls and scanned her magic. I knew what I was looking for this time.

Celestia’s golden magic and Luna’s silver magic looked beautiful, especially when next to each other. They practically danced around the room. More importantly, they were large. I combed through, trying to find what I expected to be there.

It was small, just a trace of magic, but it still terrified me. I felt that cold, burning sensation. I almost forgot to breathe. My horn lit. I was not completely sure what I was doing, but I poured my magic into it. It did not destroy that magic, but it negated it. Both magics canceled out.

Of course, magic is not like an apple. When you bite into an apple, that bite is gone forever. As long as magic is connected to its source, in this case, as long as my magic is connected to me, it will regenerate its energy, making the ‘bite’ come back. That magic was not connected to its source, so it cannot come back unless its source recast the spell.
“It may be cliché, but you cannot win this,” the magic said as it disappeared. That just confirmed it, this was the same magic. With the magic gone, I relaxed. I ruffled my wings and put them back at my sides as I stood. My vision returned to this world. Celestia and Luna were staring at me, worried and slightly scared.

“That magic wanted you gone,” I stated. “It wanted to get rid of the Elements of Harmony. It killed me, corrupted Luna, and it tried to make you give up your immortality. It whispered in your ears, and you believe it was your own thoughts. The magic still had traces in yours, who knows what other events it has influenced over the years.”

“I’m such a fool, aren’t I?” Celestia whispered.

“No, you are not!” Luna exclaimed. “It got to us and who knows who else! From what I can tell, it can only be seen in the Realm of Souls or the Realm of Dreams. Nopony would have known.”

“She is right,” I said. “I have only seen a monochromatic swirl of magic energy, but it has a source somewhere. That is what worries me. How many of us were immortal?”

“Nine of us,” Celestia answered, counting off ponies in her head.

“I only counted eight?” I wondered.

“Each one of us that arrived in a flash of light was immortal,” Luna replied.

“Okay, that count is right,” I nodded. “I think there was a tenth. Older than me. Celestia, do you remember the darkness before the night?”

“Yes, I do,” she answered, her expression darkening. Luna never remembered it, as her presence dispelled it, yet she got a taste of it when we walked through my memories. Her breathing became shallow, but she had a handle on it.

“That is the same magic,” I told her. “That magic is not just what the world was before. It is sentient. It is alive. It knows what it wants.”

“You sound so sure,” Luna whispered.

“I cannot explain how I know it, but I know what it wants,” I stated. “It wants to get rid of the Elements of Harmony. ‘It will not last long, Darling, just long enough’. He knew about our Immortality, and how to give it up; I was the most dangerous to him, I was unlikely to give up my Immortality compared to the rest of you. He tried to get rid of us. He tore my soul from my body and corrupted Luna. It tried to get to you, too, Celestia. But even if he got rid of the Immortals, the Elements have nothing to do with Immortality! He would have to stamp out every last piece of the Elements to- Why are you staring at me?”

“When did you start referring to ‘it’ as ‘him’?” Luna asked. Had I been doing that? I was. I was thinking of ‘the magic’ as a pony. It does have a source, as in an actual physical body, somewhere in this world.

“Well I guess because the voice sounded masculine,” I finally replied. “I mean, I assume it would be male.”

“What voice?” Celestia wondered.

“The voice from that magic,” I explained.

“It never spoke,” Luna replied.

“What do you mean it never spoke?” I asked. “You were there for the memory. Remember? It said ‘Checkmate’, then followed with ‘Immortality. It will not last long, Darling, just long enough.’ How did you not hear him?”

“It never spoke,” she confirmed. “It never made a sound. It kept slicing with the knife over and over until he took you.”

“I know I heard him speak,” I insisted. “He could not kill me, but he was not confused. He just could not.”

“You were healing,” Celestia guessed. “A simple knife does not do much to Immortals; we found out about that later.

“That alone did not work,” I said. “So he trapped me. He trapped me in my own magic. He separated my soul from my body and trapped me in the Realm of Souls.”

“He… I think he did,” Luna murmured. “You were in the Realm of Souls a while before the memory stopped.”

“Is it even possible to do that?” Celestia asked.

“I know it is,” I stated. “Luna was trapped in the moon, a physical manifestation of her magic of the Night. She trapped you in the sun. He trapped me in the Realm of Souls because I would not die.”

“This magic has to be powerful,” Luna warned. “Only somepony with equal or more power would be able to do that.”

“An incredible amount of power,” I confirmed. “He has enough power that I think he could succeed, unless we stop him.”

Canterlot Shenanigans

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It was a nice day for a picnic; the sun was out and snow had melted, though it was not yet hot enough to be uncomfortable, and the seven of us had all the food we wanted. It was nearly perfect, held back only by the feeling that I was forgetting something.

I tried to shrug it off and listen to my friends. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already thinking of having a race against each other, but were having trouble deciding on how far they want to go. Rainbow was arguing for the top of the next hill and back, a quick run where her speed would save her. Applejack wanted it to go to the edge of the forest, letting her endurance hold on and let her pass. Of course, they would not get the chance to even start as an out of breath Spike ran up to Twilight.

“Twilight!” he panted. “I… have a… let me just..!’ green flames shot out of his mouth, forming quickly into a letter from Celestia. Twilight took hold of it in her magic and tore off the seal.

“Dear Twilight,” she read. “I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot.”

“That is what I was forgetting!” I sighed into my sandwich. My mind has been everywhere for the last few weeks, months actually, that I had forgotten how soon it was. Well, I never got an official date for it in the first place, though I should have know it would have been tomorrow.

“I will be presiding over the ceremony,” she continued, “but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for the wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music.”

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “What an honor!”

“Pinkie Pie I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception.”

“Hip, hip, hooray!” Pinkie cheered, knocking over the teapot and making a hoofmark on the cake in the process.

“Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception.”

“Well, color me pleased as punch!” she replied. I had to stop and wonder how that made sense.

“Rainbow Dash, I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their “I do’s”.”

“Yes!” she shouted, jumping into the air.

“Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids.”

“Princess Celestia wants me to-!” Rarity gasped, smiling uncontrolobly. “Wedding dress? For a Canterlot wedding? I-!” Fluttershy tried to catch her as she wobbled and fainted to the ground.

“Feria, as the bride’s parents are unable to attend, she has asked that you be the one to walk her down the aisle in place of her father.”

“Really, she wants me to do that?” I asked softly. As much an honor as it is, I felt so sad for her. Parents are supposed to see these milestones in their child’s life. They will never be able to see their daughter’s wedding, or meet their grandchildren. I began to wonder why she chose me, but I assume an aunt would be next after non-existent siblings.

“And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia.” Twilight stopped and reread the page, even checking the back of it. “But I don’t understand! Who’s getting married?”

“He did not tell you?” I asked. What kind of stallion does not tell his own sister about his wedding?

“Who didn’t tell me what?” she asked.

“Oh, wait!” Spike interrupted, holding another letter. “I was probably supposed to give you this one first.” Twilight rolled her eyes and took up the other letter.

“Princess Celestia cordially invites you t the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and-!” she gasped as she reached the second name. “My brother!”

“Your brother’s gettin’ married?” Applejack asked. “Congratulations, Twilight! That’s great news!”

“Yeah,” she grumbled while Applejack shook her hoof. “Great news that I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper!”

“That is what I was talking about!” I exclaimed. “I thought he told you! I can understand not showing up, but I assumed he at least sent a letter!”

“You knew about this?” she asked. I felt almost like she would attack me.

“I found out from the Bride!” I defended. “If he was marrying anypony else I would not have known until you knew!”

“Is it really so hard to come and tell me he’s getting married? Thanks, Shining Armor!” she picked up a sandwich in her magic, moving the bread like a mouth and poorly imitating his voice. “Hey Twilight, just thought you should know I’m making a really big decision that changes everything! Oh, nevermind! You’ll hear about it when you get the invitation!”

“And there lies the true problem,” I said to myself. This is about his decision, not the fact that he did not tell her. She would have been upset when he told her, but the fact that he did not just adds to her anger.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” she asked with a fake and somewhat creepy smile. “Who in the hoof is that?”

“Oh that’s C-“ I tried to respond before she cut me off with a stomp of her hooves.

“Twilight are you okay?” Futtershy asked. She breathed out in an attempt to calm herself. Her stance returned to normal and her breathing was less of an angered huff.

“Sorry,” Twilight sighed. “It’s just that Shining Armor and I have always been so close. He’s my B.B.B.F.F.!” the phrase was met with blank stares.

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever,” I translated for them. I heard murmurs of how it made sense. I got that lesson the first time I saw a tiny lavender Unicorn bounce up to one of the new guard recruits.

“Before I came here and learned the importance of friendship,” Twilight continued, oblivious to my translation, “Shining Armor was the only pony I had ever accepted as a friend. I thought it was silly to go around making friends.”

“That is an understatement,” I agreed. “I am pretty sure I have argued with my sisters in the last few months more than two of you have ever.”

“I haven’t seen him since I moved to Ponyville,” she said. “I guess I hadn’t realized how much I missed him until now.”

“As one of your P.F.F.’s,” Applejack began, pausing to roll her eyes at the confused look she got. “Pony Friends Forever. I wanna tell ya that Ah’ think your brother sounds like a real good guy.”

“He is pretty special,” she admitted with a smile. “I mean, they don’t let just anypony be Captain of the Royal Guard.” That got a scream out of a now-awake Rarity.

“So let me get this straight!” she exclaimed. “We’re helping out with the wedding of not only a princess, but a Captain of the Royal Guard?

“I guess we are,” Twilight confirmed. I giggled as Rarity fainted with happiness again.

“I thought she’d be more excited about the Princess than the guard,” Rainbow commented as we walked home to pack. Twilight was levitating a still unconscious Rarity over the path to her home.

“Well there are a lot of royals,” I said. “Well, twelve currently, and the last Royal Wedding was held over in Zebrica about five years ago, so nopony here got to flip out about it. But there are only two captains of the Royal Guard, one for the Solar Guard and one for the Lunar Guard; Shining Armor captains the Solar guard while a Pegasus mare named Gale Strike is the current Lunar Guard Captain. A guard captain getting married is actually quite rare, as most ponies to get the position are middle-aged and usually married already. Plus, Shining’s actually the youngest pony to ever become captain; He was eighteen, if I remember correctly.”

“Well if you two like him, he’s probably not half bad!” she joked. “Well, I’ve got to go pack. See you on the train!” I rolled my eyes as I continued to my house.

I do not know what ponies expected my house to look like, yet they are always surprised to see it. My place was right in the middle of the path from the Library to Sugarcube Corner, and not too far from the Carousel Boutique. It was not much different from most houses in town, with pale yellow walls and not much of a yard. The inside had the same basic layout as every other house in this section. There were two floors, the bottom one containing a kitchen, a living room, and a small dining room and an office space; the top floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom.

The inside was probably different from everypony’s house. The floor was made of a dark wood and the walls were a deep forest green. I smiled at the fact that I had tried to recreate the forest, to recreate the view from my first home, before I even knew that it was.

I rummaged through the kitchen first; I never was able to finish my brunch after the announcement. I sighed. There was plenty of food but nothing to eat, as it always is in your own fridge. I reminded myself to grab a few extra bits to buy something on the train. I think it should still be cold enough for them to be selling hot chocolate.

As I wandered upstairs, I could not help but feel like something would go wrong. That seems to be how it works lately, a simple event turns into a whole parade of screwing up. The Summer Sun Celebration, the Gala, and on that one day we were going to spend the day having a picnic and just having fun before that happened.

I did not have much to pack. Ponies do not usually wear clothes, and all toiletries I needed I had a twin set for in my bedroom in Canterlot. Mostly, the suitcase was filled with things to read and a few notebooks and sketchbooks. I was not as good at drawing as Morning Aura was, nor was I as good at writing like Evening Soul, but I liked it. I had begun to realize how many times my previous life bled into this one; my house reflected the forest, and the ponies I drew looked quite similar to some I had known back then.

From the closet I grabbed the dress I wore to the Gala. I figured Rarity would make me a new one no matter what I say, but I wanted to show her that I would like to make it easier on her. It would be easier to make the bride look even more beautiful than the mare walking next to her when you already have a basis for that mare’s beauty, instead of trying to create two new beautiful dresses.

I opened a drawer to get the last item I needed. I honestly had not looked at it in months. A wooden box was lifted out and set on the vanity. I looked inside to see a tiara, my tiara. For the first time in forever, I put it on my head.

The tiara sparkled upon my head. I studied it; it was gold like Celesta’s, though a bit smaller. It was cut differently too, almost like a stylized fire drawing, waving a bit instead of being a straight or curved line. The ruby in its center caught the sun’s light and created a glare, of course bouncing off the mirror into my face. I tilted my head, blinking as the spot left my eyes.

I rarely wore this thing because I never felt I deserved the princess title. Do I think I might deserve the title now? After all, I was a powerful, immortal being who had saved the world a few times. I frowned at that thought. Saving the world does not earn you a title, or else so many other ponies would be princess, including my fellow Element bearers. Power and Immortality should not make you royal either.

I put the crown back in the box and shoved the whole thing into my suitcase. Remembering to grab the extra bits, I hurried with my stuff out the door. I might feel better about wearing the crown for events like tomorrow, but I still do not think I deserved it.

* * *

“A sonic rainboom?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “At a wedding? Can you say ‘best wedding ever’?”

“Best wedding ever!” Pinkie screamed as we entered the tunnel up the mountain. I sighed and closed the book I had been reading. I could tell I probably would not get past more than another page before we had to enter.

“So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding,” Spike said, “But I’m the one who gets to host the bachelor party! I have just one question: What is a bachelor party?” Nopony answered, we just laughed. He will find out sooner or later, but he will not be planning this one. Even if spike could plan the party Shining probably would not be able to go. Though I am sure the guard will do something as a sendoff for him before the night is up.

“Why the long face, sugarcube?” Applejack asked Twilight.

“I’m just thinking about Shining Armor,” she replied. “Ever since I moved to Ponyville we’ve been seeing each other less and less. And now he’s starting a new family with this “Princess Mi Amore Ca-whatshername”, we’ll probably never see each other!”

“Cadenza,” I corrected. “And he would still be marring her and starting a new family if you had stayed in Canterlot.”

“You’re his sister,” Applejack agreed. “He’ll always make time for you.”

“Couldn’t seem to make time to tell me he was getting married!” she shouted, angrily closing the blinds.

“We’re here! We’re here!” Pinkie squeaked. I looked out the window, and sure enough we were approaching the city. The only strange thing was the pink bubble surrounding the perimeter.

I knew what the shield spell was and how it worked in theory, but I still was not expecting it. It works by keeping out things over whatever magic the caster sets it for, and if something gets stopped, the caster analyzes it and decides to let it in or not. One could set it to keep out anypony with a magic level and keep everything out, but I could feel this was designed for those with large magical power or a magical power that was not that of a Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony.

The magic shield let the train pass through like it was not even there. My friends caught on it a little, but not enough for them to notice, except for Twilight, who stumbled as the wall pushed her back a couple inches. I was pushed back nearly a foot before it let me through. I knew Shining Armor was casting the spell, but it was interesting to feel. When the shield hit me, it felt like facing a pony defending their own, but once he let me through, it felt like somepony protecting me.

“Whoa, what’s with all the guards?” Rainbow asked as we began to disembark.

“I’m sure they’re just taking the nessecary precautions. Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies!” Rarity answered. As if on cue, Pinkie sneezed out confetti.

“Now,” she continued, “let’s get going! We’ve got work to do!”

“And you’ve got a big brother to congratulate!” Applejack told Twilight.

“Yeah,” she grumbled. “Congratulate. And then give him a piece of my mind!”

“Rarity, can you take my bag to the castle for me?” I asked.

“You’re going to follow her and make sure that ‘piece of her mind’ doesn’t include a lecture that embarrasses her brother in front of the guard,” she guessed, taking my bag in her magic.

“No, he deserves it for not telling her,” I replied. “I am going to make sure she does exactly that. Maybe I will throw in my own type of punishment for him, while I am at it!”

It was a quick trot around the perimeter wall of the city. The captain would be set up not too far from here, at the gate letting in ponies from the roads. Shining armor was easy to spot on the wall; his armor, while having the standard gold, was also decorated with liberal amounts of purple. I always thought Shining was perfect for a guard. He had the leadership skills along with great physical and magical abilities, and I loved the fact that the spell on the armor to make the guard look similar was useless on him, since his own coat and mane were already the uniform colors!

“I’ve got something to say to you, mister!” Twilight shouted as we neared the gate.

“Twily!” Shining exclaimed, hurrying down from the walkway. “I’ve missed you, kid! How was the train ride? I-“

“How dare you not tell me that you were going to get married!” she said smacking away the hoof he held out to her. “I’m your sister for pony’s sake!

“It’s not my fault!” he defended. “Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn’t you see the guards at the station?”

“Yeah, there’s a big wedding coming up,” she replied, storming of to a nearby pond. “Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

“It has nothing to do with the wedding,” he explained, following her. He turned to me. “Didn’t you tell her?”

“It is not my job to tell her about your wedding,” I said.

“I meant the threat,” he sighed.

“Oh right, that!” I answered. “I did mention it, but even I do not completely know the details. And the threat has only been up for a few days, so that does not explain why you did not send a letter beforehoof.”

“A threat has been made against Canterlot,” he told her. “We don’t know who’s responsible for it, but Princess Celestia has asked that I help provide extra protection. This, you need to see.”

He stepped back from us. Concentrating, he lit his horn; his magic was more of a rose color compared to Twilight’s raspberry pink. A beam of magic shot out of his horn, recasting the shield spell over the city. The magic stopped, and he began rubbing his forehead, he seemed to be a bit dizzy. That seemed to take a lot out of him, though he has to keep out beings with a higher level magic than him, which cannot be easy.

“That was quite cool to watch,” I said, feeling the magic strengthen all around us. As much as I felt protected by this spell, it was different from his usual magic. His magic always felt like somepony protecting me, but this one came with the knowledge that something was also attacking us.

“The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders,” Shining said. He headed back up the stairs to the gate while we followed. “Staying focused on the task at hand is my top priority.”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Twilight sighed. “You’ve got a really important job protecting Canterlot with a forcefeild only you can conjure up. But still, how can you not tell me about something as big as your wedding? You didn’t even send a letter.”

“And that is where I drew the line,” I interrupted, almost laughing when I saw him grimace. “So since you are thinking about things I could have told her, as punishment, I will remind you of something you did not think I knew about.”
“Go ahead,” he challenged. “I have no secrets.” I smiled gleefully. He really thought I did not know. I glanced to the sides, where a few of the guard were eavesdropping on our conversation.

“Just two words, a name, really,” I warned. “Glimmer Shield.”

I laughed as the red came to his face, white coat showing off every shade possible. Twilight looked back and forth between us in confusion, while the eavesdropping guards practically fell over trying not to laugh. Once he recovered from the shock, Shining began rubbing his head.

“When I find the guard that told you about that….” He threatened.

“Who do you think told the guard!” I laughed. “Speaking of guards, where is Iridescent Blade?”

“He should be with Princess Celestia in the observation tower,” he answered.

“In that case, I have done what I came here for. I should be off!” I said, climbing onto the railing. “I should visit both of them, and you two can figure the rest of the mess out! Twilight, do not be mad, and Shining, explain the Cadenza thing for me!”

“Hey!” he yelled. “You can’t just-!”I ignored him and jumped from the railing, unfurling my wings and hovering for a moment.

“See you tonight!” I laughed. “Arrivederci!” As I flew off, all I could think was that I had not said that word in forever. I had not used it since-
I nearly fell out of the sky at the realization. That was Discord’s favorite way of getting out of trouble; he would say that word and teleport away, hiding until the pony he pranked had calmed down. I sighed at the thought. I would not allow myself to think of him today.

“Let it go,” I whispered to myself. I closed my eyes and flew higher and higher, the wind whipping through my mane and tail making them wild. I stopped only a few feet away from where I knew the shield was. I looked into the Realm of Souls.

It was an incredible view. Ponies think they look colorful, but they have never seen this. There were more shades of every color than one would think to be possible! I could actually see more ponies here than I could when looking with my eyes. Buildings were invisible, but the ponies inside were not. Inanimate objects were always interesting to look at in the realm of souls; they were sort of like glass, you cannot ‘see’ them but you know they are there.

I came back to reality and looked over the city as everypony else sees it. It was still beautiful, but not in the same way. This had beauty of architecture and landscaping, the work of ponies. The Realm of Souls held the beauty of the ponies themselves.

I angled myself downwards, flying to what had been a large golden light. In a tall tower was a balcony, Celestia standing watch with an old telescope. I circled the tower before landing next to her.

“Good morning, Celestia!” I said.

“Morning to you to,” she replied, pulling away from the telescope. “Would you like something? How about an early lunch?”

“No thanks, I ate on the train,” I said. I noticed the silence she held instead of another question. “What is the question you are dancing around?”

“You know me too well,” she sighed. “Are you still upset from what happened last time?”

“Not really,” I answered. “I was not mad, I was scared. If he had influenced you more, who knows what could have happened. It could have been worse than Nightmare Moon.”

“The idea that I could have-“she tried to say.

“Do not think of it!” I stopped her. “There are much worse things that could have happened, things that you could have made the conscious decision to do! Tia, you do not need to degrade what you have done because of what you might have done.”

“You’re right,” she agreed. I could tell that she did not fully believe me, but pushing further would do nothing right now. I needed t change the subject,

“Why are you alone?” I asked, registering the lack of ponies in the room. “Are you not supposed to have a guard?”

“There was an emergency,” She explained. “There had been one here a few minutes ago, Iridescent Blade, I think it was. He was the Acting Captain; he had to do all of the things Shining Armor can’t do because of the preparations, the actual wedding, and for next week the Honeymoon. A Pegasus came and delivered a message that somepony he knew had gotten into an accident.”

“Do you know who?” I asked. “Have you heard anything else?”

“I’m not quite sure who,” she answered, “though since the messenger said it was ‘a friend’ and not family member, but the guard was his emergency contact, I suspect it was their special somepony.

“The messenger did say that the pony was fine,” she assured, seeing the shock on my face, “but still in the hospital. The guard said he would stay, but I told him he could leave. It was easy to see how nervous he was; the poor stallion was practically shaking, on the verge of a panic attack. As soon as I assured him everything would be fine if he left for an hour or so he quite literally flew out of here.”

“It is good that the pony is okay,” I said, releasing a breath I did not know I was holding.

“Yes, it is,” she agreed. “As for today, I still have things I need to do. Considering the rehearsal isn’t until tomorrow morning, do you think you can entertain yourself until then?”

“I guess,” I sighed. “Everypony else has something to do to prepare or continue guarding. I was planning on talking to Iridescent then seeing where Sparking was and get to know him better until dinner, but that plan seems to be shot.”

“You could wait an hour for him to come back,” she suggested.

“Well if your theory is correct, Sparking is the one in the hospital,” I said to her surprise. “And I do not think I should intrude on a hospital visit.”

“You are welcome to do nearly anything,” she reminded me. “Zircon and Wavechaser aren’t here yet, they should be getting of the train within the next half hour, but Stormcloud, Desert Rose, Fire Trail, Brave Song and their companions are down in the courtyard.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I said. She returned to her lookout while I wandered outside. I nodded to ponies I knew on the way, but I did not stop to chat.

Out on the grass was a group. I could see four ponies, three dragons, three griffons, and a minotaur. This was a strange group under most circumstances.

“Hey! You made it!” shouted the purple and red unicorn, waving me over.

“Hello, Fire Trail,” I laughed. “How have you all been?”

“Same as always,” Dessert Rose smiled, tying her purple mane out of the way. “But I hear you’ve been up to some shenanigans since my last visit.”

"Maybe you should visit more often then,” I retorted. “And yeah, I would call recovering lost magics and bringing back the moon princess out of the ordinary.”

“Actually she was talking about-!” Stormcloud began before his mouth was covered by Brave Song’s brown hoof. I saw his eyes flicking over my shoulder, towards the statues I knew were behind me. I felt myself burning. Was it anger or embarrassment?

“I will save you from this by asking for introductions,” I said, unable to hide my annoyance.

“Good idea!” Brave Song jumped in. “Everyone, this is Princess Feria.”

“Glad to meet you all,” I said.

“This is Wood Cutter,” he said, gesturing to the green Minotaur beside him.

“Hello,” the Minotaur greeted. “You’re another one of Brave’s cousins, I assume?”

“Technically I am all of their aunt,” I answered her. “Which is strange, considering all of my nieces and nephews are years older than me; except for Wavechaser, she is a few years younger.”

“And these are Welder, Ruby, and Rebel,” Fire trail continued, pointing to each dragon in turn. Welder and Ruby were both red scaled, though Welder had blue spikes while Ruby’s were orange. Rebel’s scales were green and her spikes pink; the spikes matched her name, laying in a way that imitated ponies’ ‘punk rock’ styles. The two females seemed closer to my age while Welder seemed a few years older.

“I’m Pepper,” the black and gray griffon introduced herself.

“I’m Destiny,” he was a lighter brown color than the other.

“I’m Galore,” the other male concluded.

The three of them seemed completely indifferent. I smirked at their game. The thing about Griffons, is that they do not pay much attention to you unless you prove yourself to them. I was already forming an idea.

“Hey, Stormcloud!” I shouted. “How about a race?”

“Around the castle?” he asked

“Hey, I have time to kill here!” I laughed. “ I do not have anything to do until dinner. How about around the city?

I watched him hesitate. We were like Applejack and Rainbow Dash this morning; he was faster yet I had more stamina. Even before I gained more magic we would be this way. He knew how to use his lead to beat me, but he wondered how it would look if he lost.

“You’re on!” he agreed. I could see the griffons perk up.

“Standard fairness rules,” I smirked. “No weather control, no spells. We go from here, north, around once and back to this spot. Des, your call.”

“You really want to do this?” she asked. She sighed when we did not answer. “Fine. Three, two, one, go!”

It was not even a second before we were in the air. I was doing better than I thought I would. He was not the fastest Pegasus I had met, that title goes to Rainbow Dash, but he was still up there. Now we were close enough to talk to each other.

“You’re getting better!” he called back to me. “You get flight training down in that down?”

“Just a crazy couple of months!” I yelled back. “I got a magic upgrade!”

“We said no spells!” he reminded me.

“Pegasai use magic to fly, remember!” I laughed.

If I had wanted to, I probably could have put all my magic into my flight. I could easily pass him. That would be, if I did not need to worry about stamina. Going his speed around the city would leave a Pegasus of his caliber completely exhausted by the landing. I needed to keep some magic going in my stamina if I did not want to fall out of the sky.

I had forgotten how much strain is put on my wings when I race. I could not go at just any pace; I had to keep going with all my strength. Stormcloud was doing better too. Usually I would begin catching up by the half-way point. Flying with griffons can strengthen your stamina.

It was not until the last quarter that he began to fade. I could see the courtyard again. Fire Trail had cast a spell for a finish line: a circle of flames that would surround the one who got there first, just in case they could not tell with their eyes.

We were even now. No, I was pulling ahead. I closed my eyes and focused on his wings. Every beat I matched, maybe a fraction of a second apart. When he tucked them in and went into a dive I did the same. I knew his strategy. He would wait until the last possible second to unfurl his wings. I unfurled my wings first, and saw the magic surround Stormcloud as my hooves touched the ground.

“Now that was quite the impressive show,” chuckled a new yet familiar voice.

“I was wondering when you three would get here,” I grinned, opening my eyes again.

“Zebrica is a bit far away,” Zarnie replied.

“Just a bit further than Des in Saddle Arabia,” Zircon grinned at me.

“Wow, Stormcoud!” Wavechaser giggled. “You sucked today! If you perform like that all the time I’ll be able to beat you!”

“Actually he did better than normal,” I corrected. “He did not even start losing his speed until the last quarter of that.”

“You don’t have to lie to save his reputation,” Zarnie teased.

“Why do you all expect me to be terrible?” I sighed, shaking my head. “It has been a while since I raced him last. Why can you not believe I got better? He just happened to beat me, like always. Maybe one day someone will beat him.”

“No way!” Stormcoud shouted. “I always finish first!”

“Your marefriend must be so disappointed,” Zircon smirked.

We all stayed quiet as we processed that joke. If Stormcloud were not almost as dark as me his face would probably be scarlet. I think it was actually Des who cracked up first, quickly followed by the rest of us.

As we began to settle, I walked toward Zarnie and pulled her a little away. I thought I had seen something in the Realm of Souls when I landed and I wanted to be sure. It was still there when I checked.

“When are you going to tell us?” I questioned, trying to make sure they did not hear me.

“Tell you about what?” she asked in response.

“You are far enough along to have noticed by now,” I said. Her eyes widened when she saw what I was talking about.

“I just found out a few days ago,” she explained, dropping into a whisper.

“Does Zircon know?” I asked.

“Yes, I told him before we left,” she answered. “I was going to mention it after the wedding. I didn’t feel like upstaging it.”

“I do not think you could upstage the event!” I said. “You would just provoke Tia into bugging Cadence and Shining about when they are going to have a child. At worst she would bug the rest of her niblings about when they will get a special somepony.”

“Well that’s good.” she sighed.

“We should join them before they get too suspicious,” I replied, jerking my head toward their group.
With a nod we rejoined them. It felt great to be with my old group again. It had been years since all of us were together. Actually, the last time was when Zircon and Zarnie got married. They rarely made it over for birthdays or Hearth’s Warming anymore, and casual visits were near unheard of.

Of course, I had to explain everything about the past life and my new magical power. When one of the griffons, Pepper, mentioned that I should have won the race, it made Wavechaser and Stormcloud go into another round of arguing. It was a few hours before we began going anywhere.

“Do you want to come to dinner with us?” Fire Trail asked as the sun was going down.

“I would love to, but I already have dinner plans with friends,” I told her. Disappointment began creeping onto her face. “You are going to Sweet N’ Savory, right? If we have time between eating and my dress fitting I can bring them by. If not, I will introduce you all properly at the reception. Okay?”

I got to see her nod in agreement before something hit me. It felt solid, so it could not have been magical. It still hurt to have something smack into you at many miles per hour.

“What the hay?” I groaned, testing my limbs for injuries. I had a few sore spots that might be bruises, but I was okay. It took a moment to register everything. Next to me I could see something, no it was somepony with a blonde mane. I could see gray wings; a Pegasus?

“Are you okay?” I heard a voice say. I think it was Zircon.

“Fine,” I answered. “Head on to dinner without me though. I need a minute.

“Sorry,” the gray pegasus groaned back, rubbing her shoulder. It was her voice that snapped my mind back into it.

“Derpy?” I asked. “What are you doing here? You should be home by now.”

“You asked that your mail be forwarded to Canterlot for the next couple days,” she reminded me. My group was taking my advice and heading away. “It was my turn to deliver the things that come up here.”

“Oh, right,” I agreed. “I just get a little disoriented when somepony tackles me from the sky.”

“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “I should have been more careful! Or I should have just waited for you to land and land after you or something! I didn’t mean to-“

“It is okay!” I stopped her. “Even ponies with perfect eyesight fly into things. Actually, that’s the best crash I have been in, there are no wounds or breaks or even a scrape.”

“That’s good,” she agreed, calming down. “Oh, I should probably get your letters! Where’s my bag?”I watched as she rummaged through the brown satchel, looking for things addressed to me. She was really quite adorable, which is strange to say about a pony older than me, even if it was just by a few years.

“Thank you for coming all the way up here this late,” I said. I noticed a flash of light on her bag. A jewel was tied to the strap with a sea green ribbon. Was the jewel catching the light or did it spark on its own?

“It’s my job,” she answered, holding out a stack of letters; there were more than usual. “I might be clumsy, but I have more stamina than the other pegasai there. I’m the only one in Ponyville’s post office that can make it up here and back in less than a day.”

“I rarely hear that,” I commented. Forgetting about the jewel I took the letters in my magic. I put them into a magical storage, a pocket in between space where I could pull them out from later. “I mean about the stamina. I hear about the clumsiness fairly often.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, wincing at my comment. “Most ponies think that’s all I am. Either that or some idiot or-! Oh! Uh, don’t let me bother you with my issues; you probably have a lot to do. I’ll just be on my way!”

“Now wait a second!” I exclaimed. “I did not mean that we all think you are some idiot for running into things. From what I have seen, those rumors are exaggerated. You do very well for one with no depth-perception. I just said that it is something I hear often, probably because I rarely talk to you directly, which is my own fault, and something I would like to change.”

“You’d like to talk to me more often?” she asked.

“Yes, I would,” I said. “I can count on my hooves how many Ponyville residents I talk to on a regular basis that are outside of my group of Element Bearers or ponies I work with at the time. You can talk to me about anything that bothers you. Come on, I do not think you would want to stay in the garden. And you should have something to eat before the flight back.”

“Well, I…” she began, but paused to walk with me. “They don’t think I’m stupid because of my depth-perception. It’s because of Dinky.”

“How does that make ponies think you are an idiot?” I asked.

“Do the math,” she replied. “I’m only a few years older than you, and Dinky’s just a little younger than your friends’ sisters.”

“That does not make you an idiot,” that was the only answer I could come up with. As we entered the kitchen’s back door, a chef came up to me trying to ask what I wanted, but I just nodded for him to get something for Derpy. He went on his way, looking for something to get her.

“Tell that to the others,” Derpy said. “I was about her age when I had her! I don’t regret having her at all, I just wish that it could have happened later. She doesn’t hear everything, but she knows what some ponies say when they think we can’t hear. At least I learned from my mistakes. The Sex-Ed classes at her school don’t start for another year, which is a fair amount of time for her to be old enough without knowing. That’s how I ended up with her, nopony told me until I was already pregnant.”

“I should see what I can do about that,” I replied. “The schools here in Canterlot might start earlier, but their system is to only teach it for two weeks and mix it in with a general health class about physical exercise and eating right. They cover the basics of how it works, along with things like diseases and such, but mostly they just emphasize that the only safe way is to not do it at all.”

“That’s a trick,” she laughed. “What’s the safest way to play hoofball? Don’t play!”

“Exactly,” I laughed with her. “They barely even touched the subject of sexuality. They only told us that some ponies like the same gender, and that ‘even fewer’ like both genders! My last year of school, I saw a mare burst into tears when a friend told her that it was normal for some ponies to not feel an attraction to any gender.”

“I don’t think anypony in Ponyville knows about that,” she replied. “I didn’t even know about bisexuality until I started working for the post office.”

“Well, I am definitely putting it on my list of things to discuss with Celestia,” I sighed. “I was wondering something. Well, two somethings really. One is about Amethyst. The other thing is who is Dinky’s father? It is okay if you do not want to talk about it but I-“

“It’s alright!” she assured me. “You said I can talk to you about anything, and I’ll take you up on the offer. His name was Ocean Light. I met him at school; he had been a year older than me. Ocean was a talented Unicorn. He did his best work with water magic.

“We started dating when I was around Dinky’s age,” she continued. “Eventually on a date things got out of hoof and, well, while we didn’t know much about what we were doing, but our bodies knew the steps. There was this whole disaster when our parents found out. His parents suggested giving her up for adoption. They didn’t even want Ocean to see me anymore, and at first he agreed, not wanting to deal with it. Then Dinky was born, and he tried being around for us. He even gave up on applying to the School for Gifted Unicorns and helped me raise her.”

“This is all past tense,” I noticed. “What happened?”

“Th-there was a fire,” she answered. I could see her eyes glistening with ready-to-flow tears. “Dinky was maybe a year when it happened, and thank the stars she was with me that night. Ocean’s entire house set fire. The only one to make it out was his little sister, Amethyst Sparkler. They didn’t have any family, so my parents took her in. She was about four at the time, so they think of each other as sisters instead of an aunt and niece. As soon as I was legally able I officially adopted Amethyst as my own daughter.”

“I am sorry,” I told her. “I wish I could help.”

“It’s okay,” she replied. “The girls and I do fine on our own. Amethyst is even getting to work soon. You know Rose Quartz, right? She offered Amethyst an apprenticeship as her shop.”

“That is great!” I exclaimed. “Even so, there are a lot of things I should be doing to help the town.”

“Excuse me, ma’am?” interrupted the chef from earlier. “I got something for your friend.”
I looked over at him, holding a large plate in his magic. I could smell the food, reminding myself that I had my dinner plans to get to. I liked this chef, his name was Honey Mint, and he always knew the best meal. Tonight he had chosen something simple, grilled cheese and tomato soup, perfect for relaxing from a cold night.

“Thank you,” Derpy and I both said. We smiled at the simple act.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything, Princess?” Honey asked me.

“No, I need to-“ I stopped and looked at the clock above the doorway. It was later than I thought it was. “Oh I am sorry, Derpy, but I had made plans to meet my friends for dinner soon.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, beginning on the sandwich. “I did pop up unexpectedly.”

“You are going back home after you eat, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. “I should get home to the girls. Amethyst probably could handle babysitting for the night, but I’d rather be with them than stay up here.”

“Okay, I will see you later, then,” I said. “Goodnight. And tell Dinky and Amethyst that I say ‘hello’.”

“I will!” she answered as I ran out the door. I was half way to the front gate when I ran into another pony I knew.

“I am running into everypony today!” I shouted to him. “Hi there, Iridescent!”

“I wondered where you were!” he laughed. “I can’t stay long, I-“

“I already found out about Sparking,” I cut him off.

“How?” he asked.

“It was Celestia,” I answered, leading the way down the path. “I got to her a few minutes after you left. She said somepony had gotten into some kind of accident, but was recovering. I took my own initiative on finding out ‘who’.”

“Yeah, he’s okay,” he said. “Well, as ‘okay’ as a pony can be after being hit by a carriage. Everypony’s alive. Luckily he was outside Quick Silver’s shop, so he got paramedics got there almost immediately. Speaking of Quick Silver’s shop, notice anything new?”

I looked over him. His armor was already returned to the guard barracks, so it was not that. His mane, while looked purpler in this light, had not been cut or styled in any way. When in doubt, take notice of the stance; he stood tall, sticking his chest out.

A dark purple ribbon was around his neck, holding up a ring. The ring itself was quite interesting. It was made of gold with silver decorating its sides. The gem seemed to change color. No, a miniature storm was raging inside. It was strange to see a Pegasus with a ring, seeing as only Unicorns can actually wear them.

“You got new jewelry,” I commented.

“You don’t know?” he asked, tilting his head. “Haven’t you seen a storm gem before?”

“Of course I have,” I replied. “I knew the first ever gem expert in Equestria. She created Storm Gems by enchanting them with lightning magic.”

“I figured something like that,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Only Unicorns can wear rings, so those without horns have to use other jewelry to propose. Pegasai use Storm Gems, though it can be anything from a necklace to an earring.”

“Makes sense,” I nodded. Then I paused and tilted my head. “Wait a second.”

He burst out into laughter. I suspect I had some sort of dumbfounded expression on my face. I tried finding something to actually say other than ‘Wait, what?’.

“Am I right to assume that you only knew about Unicorn proposal traditions?” he wondered, still laughing.

“Well, I…” I tried to answer. “I know about Zebra engagements from Zircon.”

“Zircon?” he asked. “You said he’s the prince in Zebrica?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “When he proposed to Zarnie, he used her tradition. Over there they use jewelry with a carving of their partner’s Cutie Mark. That was a pain in the butt for him to make!”

“Well usually it would be,” he said.

“Well yeah, but comparatively…”I protested. “Zebra Cutie Marks are different than other ponies; they still get them like any other pony, but they look like a new pattern of stripes. My friend Zecora’s is a spiral with shapes around it, almost looking like a sun. Her talent is using herbs and such to make potions, which to Zebras is considered o be magic, so her talent is magic.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed that from a sun,” he commented.

“Exactly!” I laughed. “Their Cutie Marks have their own language, you would need to know that language to know what it means, and they see it as easily as we can see each other’s marks. But their style of marks make them easy to carve onto jewelry. But Zircon is only half Zebra.

“Really?” he asked. “Well I guess I haven’t seen him so I’d never know.”

“He is I the city now so you might see him tomorrow,” I told him. “It is easy to tell if you see him because Zebras are not Unicorns.”

“That’s kind of how it works,” he replied.

“I sound like an idiot tonight,” I sighed. “His mom’s parents were a Unicorn and a Pegasus, she was a Unicorn who married a Zebra. Wavechaser looks like her mother, brown mane and blue coat, but she is a Pegasus. Zircon is a Unicorn, but he inherited his father’s Zebra coat, so he looks like a Zebra with a Unicorn horn. And as I was saying with Cutie Marks, his is like ours, not like a Zebra’s. It is kind of hard to carve a teacup and leaves into jewelry, at least compared to carving a stylized eye.”

“Teacup?” he chuckled. “I’d have expected something a little more political for somepony running the place.”

“Talents do not have any say in what a pony can or cannot do,” I reminded him. “After all, Celestia’s talent is the sun, not being a ruler. Though Zircon’s talent does have to do with politics, in a way. He is good at getting ponies on his side, letting them know that their concerns are validated, whatever they may be. I have seen him work. The first thing is a greeting, talking to them as a pony instead of as someone that needs something. Offer them a drink, perhaps an already prepared cup of tea, hot but cool enough to drink. He gets to know them, makes them comfortable around him. Of course, this is not an act. He does it all sincerely.”

“Why did you only know the two methods for proposal?” he asked.

“Well, I had only seen those two,” I answered.

“Of course,” he agreed. “By the way, Pegasai are the only ones who use Storm Gems. Earth Ponies use a set of two identical necklaces. Designs vary, but it is always one gem in a silver necklace with another gem in a gold necklace. During the ceremony the couple swaps gems.”

“Interesting,” I mused. “Congratulations, by the way. Though ‘after being hit by a carriage’ is not the ideal time to propose.”

“Sparky said he was going to do it next Saturday,” he grinned. “But he kind of had to now. Quick Silver’s shop is more expensive than others, but it’s the only one in Canterlot that makes things with Storm Gems. He had gone there to pick it up this morning and was going to keep it a secret until he actually asked me. “

“Did he say how he was going to do it?” I asked.

“He did, actually,” he laughed. “It was a recreation of our first date, a candle lit dinner under the stars in the waterfall park. We’d talk and laugh and act like idiots. Well I guess it wouldn’t be an exact reenactment. After all, the night sky has changed, though its increased beauty probably would enhance the whole thing, and after the first date we didn’t-“

He stopped there, both in word and movement. Well, the movement was because we had just passed through the gate to town, and his destination was down to the left while mine was a block forward. It was not until I saw the blush creep into his face that I realized what he was about to say.

“On the first date you did not what?” I teased, a stupid grin plastered on my face.

“It’s times like this that I remember it,” he chuckled gaining a just a goofy smile. “I’m friends with a princess! I am talking to a princess about my stallionfriend. I about to say stuff about that to a princess.”

“That one will get you places!” I laughed. “Just tell ponies ‘I was about to tell a princess about my sexlife without being completely drunk off my flank!’ If it makes you feel better, seven Direct Royals laughed at a ‘finishing first’ inuendo this afternoon.”

“Society is weird,” he said. “And on that note, I should go see Sparking.”

“I figured you would,” I replied. “I need to meet my friends for dinner anyway. Tell Sparking I said congratulations. On the engagement, not to being hit by a carriage.”

“I’ll tell him!” he exclaimed, actually snorting with laughter. “And you can tell your friends that we say ‘hello’.”

“I will!” I answered as he ran into the night. Storm Gems, I had not thought of those in years. Tornata used to love them. I would bet a number of bits that Hurricane started the tradition when he proposed to her.

I stopped before I entered the restaurant. Was that jewel I saw tied to Derpy’s bag a Storm Gem? I could not remember her mention a new stallion in her life, or even a new mare, and if it was from somepony new, she would be wearing it on her, not tying it to her bag. I smiled at the thought. Ocean Light was going to marry her. I am glad there are stallions that would stick around in those situations.

“Welcome back to Sweet N’ Savory,” the hostess said as I entered the door. Her green mane was tied into a simple ponytail, and a spot of what I suspected to be the soup of the day stood out against her yellow coat.

“Good evening, Sweet Grass,” I replied. “Your bother is in the kitchen today? I thought it was your turn?”

“Normally it is,” she nodded. “But with the wedding coming tomorrow, all of your family is showing up and their guests-“

“Let me guess,” I groaned. “Griffons and Dragons showing off by eating meat?

“You guessed it,” she sighed. “Savory’s the only pony outside of the royal kitchen who can even stomach the idea of cooking meat. I’m going crazy trying to keep the other customers calm. I put what I can at outside tables, but they just-ugh.”

“Tell the others that they are just showing off,” I told her. “Also, keep a fire extinguisher on hoof, and do not be afraid to charge them for any damages.”

“You think they’ll-!” she gasped, hooves coming to her mouth.

“Probably on accident,” I assured her. “Pony furniture is not sturdy enough to handle a drunk griffon leaning on it.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I should be the one helping you, though. Would you like to join them, or would you like your own table?”

“Oh, no thanks,” I replied. “I am here with a different group who should already be here. It was a party of eight.”

“Right outside,” she replied.

“I can find my way then,” I smiled. “Thank you.” I walked past her through the rows of tables. I nodded to the window into the kitchen where an orange maned stallion was cooking something that required a lot of fire. I did not care much for the smell, and I have no idea how Stormcloud and Firetrail can handle that every day. I waved as I passed their table, and made sure my expression told them to tone it down.

“Over here!” Applejack shouted when I walked out the door. I watched as Rarity reprimanded her for shouting in a restaurant. I did a head count, one was missing. No, two were missing. The presence of a lavender waitress threw me off.

“Where are Twilight and Spike?” I asked. “They should have been the first ones here.”

“I told her a later time,” Rarity admitted. “I knew we all would be late, and she would be quite early, so I evened it out. They should be here soon.”

I sighed. Giving the waitress my order and Twilight’s regular, I pulled out the stack of letters. The first few were party invitations; one was from Blueblood, which I would not be going to. Or maybe I would go, and bring Rarity to spite him. The strange one in the stack was a light blue one, a wax seal of a winged lightning bolt on it.

“OH my gosh!” Rainbow exclaimed, grabbing the letter out of my magic. “This is a Wonderbolt seal! You’re getting letters from the Wonderbolts?”

“Appearently,” I said. I opened the letter, curious of its contents.

“Maybe it’s a party invitation!” Pinkie suggested.

“It is from Soarin,” I smiled as I scanned its words. “He is looking for a friend of mine he met at the Gala.”

“That wasn’t the best first impression,” Fluttershy whispered.

“Let me guess,” Rainbow interjected. “He’s looking for that amazingly awesome mare that preformed tricks for his friends, and wants her to join the team!”

We all rolled our eyes a bit at that one. I continued scanning the letter. It said he had seen her first at the Young Fliers competition, then again at the Gala.

“So you’ve talked to him before,” Rainbow tried again.

“Let me tell you the one thing that keeps me sane during Canterlot Parties,” I said. “I rarely have anything alcoholic, and when I do it is maybe two drinks throughout the night. But somepony else always drinks too much and gets quite interesting. About two years back, Soarin had a few too many at some party we were both at because he just ended his relationship with B-er the pony he was seeing at the time. He is quite talkative when drunk. If I had a bit for every single thing he told me he and his ex did in their ‘alone time’, I might have doubled my bank account.”

“Lesser ponies would use it for blackmail,” Rarity smiled.

“At least my entertainment is not like what Tia does,” I retorted. “She pushes what she can do and say before somepony corrects her. I think her record is twenty minutes with a sober pony, eight for a drunk one. Speaking of drunk, I bet Soarin was when he wrote this, an probably at the Gala too, since to anypony else it would be obvious to see that the mare he is looking for is an Apple.”

I could see the surprise on their faces as they took that in. Applejack’s face was as red as her brother’s. As for Rainbow, her wings were in a defensive position. Her affection for the stallion was more from idolization instead of genuine romance, something she had for all the Wonderbolts, so she let it go rather quickly.

“So why’s he going through you instead of me?” Rainbow asked me, settling her wings. “Wouldn’t contacting a potential recruit make more sense than a princess?”

“He might now know you two know each other,” I commented, putting the letter away. “I would have been at the Young Flyers Competition whether or not you were competing. It could be easy to assume she was only with me. The same goes with the Gala. It would be easy for him to believe that you got in there on your own. Both you and Soarin both lived in Cloudsdale, while you might not have know one another, you were conscious of the other’s presence. Somepony from Cloudsdale is much more likely to get into the Gala than somepony from Ponyville. The real question is if he will follow through with this infatuation when he learns that she is his ex’s cousin.”

“Wait!” She exclaimed, turning to Applejack. “You had a cousin date a Wonderbolt, and you never mentioned it?”

“Nopony has,” Applejack replied, still colored red. “There ain’t no secrets in mah’ family. If he had been with one of ‘em, we would’ve known. Hard t’ keep anythin’ secret with us, ‘specially if it was someone famous.”

“Well that is exactly why they broke up,” I laughed. “Neither of them were okay with keeping the relationship secret. Soarin would have been okay with them going public, but since it was…. Well, your family is… how do I put this? A good chunk of your family does not like same-sex relationships.”

There came a sound of confusion. It was followed by a collective ‘oh’ from everypony. I laughed even harder.

“I didn’t know he was into stallions,” Rarity said.

“Me neither,” Rainbow added.

“How did Rainbow Dash, the Wonderbolt’s number one fan, not know that one of its top members was bisexual?” I asked. “If it was secret I would understand, but he has been out for years, before he even applied at the Wonderbolt Academy.

“Well other ponies’ sexlives don’t pop up that often!” she exclaimed.

“You sure?” I asked. “This is the third conversation about somepony’s sexlife I have been in today. Fourth if you count an innuendo.”

“So which one of my cousins is it?” Applejack asked.

“A.J., I am not going to-“I began.

“Ah’ know you’re gonna say Ah’ shouldn’t butt in,” she cut me off, “But whoever it is, they’re family.”

“She almost said his name,” Rainbow interjected. “When you were talking about how you found out about this you started to say a name. It begins with a ‘B’.”

“There’s a lot, but it helps,” she said. “Let me see, outa just the stallions in his age range there’s Baddow, Bailey, Belmont, Blackjon and Blacktwig, Braddick, Braestar, Braeburn-“

“I am not telling you!” I stopped her. “I now you want to help him, but this is not the way! I have talked to him since I found out, and he specifically asked me not to tell anypony. If it eases your mind, I will send a letter encouraging him to talk to you about it. But I will not break that promise.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “Ah’ can respect promises.”

“I’m glad Spike was still with Twilight for that,” Fluttershy whispered. “Not that it would be bad if he heard about it. But I mean, he’s still a baby dragon after all.”

“Not really,” I chuckled.

“Did I miss his birthday!” Pinkie screamed, reminding us of her presence. The waitress came back with our orders. I had a taste for grilled cheese and tomato soup after my conversation with Derpy. It really was perfect for a cold night.

“Spike’s birthday is not for another few months,” I assured Pinkie. “Ponies just think that dragons age differently than they actually do. They still age different compared to ponies, but it is a little more complicated. The first few years after hatching a dragon ages twice as fast as a pony though actuall measurements vary from dragon to dragon. It slows down to about the same as a pony by the time they hit the equivalent of twelve. Then when adulthood hits it slows down even more to about one pony year every ten years, and usually live to be anywhere from seven to nine hundred, though I hear the record is twelve thousand.”

“So how old is Spike?” Fluttershy asked. “And how big will he get?”

“He was hatched about six years ago,” I replied, “which puts him pretty close Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, give or take a few months. Though for his size, that is a different question. Dragons seem big, but they are actually around the size of a pony most of the time, they just stand on their back legs. The large form we are used to is either a battle form or a dragon that has been consumed by greed.” They all shuddered at remembering that incident.

“So if dragons age like ponies, is Spike going to go through dragon puberty soon?” she wondered. Just the thought made them shudder again.

“Fairly soon!” I answered. “It will not be that bad, other than his full size and his fire breath, it will be similar to any colt going through it. There is even a special talent involved!”

“Dragons don’t have Cutie Marks,” Rarity stated.

“Correct,” I agreed. “But they still have a special talent. The whole culture around that is pretty interesting.”

“More interesting than our culture about Cutie Marks?” she asked.

“Well it starts with how they are raised,” I explained. “They are raised by the community, everyone is involved in each child’s life. When they hatch, they are given a name based on a physical trait; Spike’s name, while a coincidence, is a perfect example, more are names like ‘ScarletEyes’ or ‘LongTail’. When they learn their special talent, they get another name. If the talent is music, they might be named ‘Rhythm Longtail’ or ‘Sweet Melody Scarleteyes’.”

“Maybe he could join my sister on their ‘crusades’,” Rarity smiled. "So if he's that old, why is he still taking naps like a little kid? I know Sweetie hasn't had to take a nap in years."

“Yes, well, that is actually a problem,” I stated. “Dragons do have some magic, like their fire breath and battle mode, but they need to be taught to control it. And considering how few ponies can do Dragon magic, and even fewer that know how, he will need a teacher.

"The reason he is tired," I continued, "is because he keeps using magic without realizing it. Unicorns can use magic from birth, but other than fire breath, Spike's only had magic for maybe the last few years. And it is similar to a baby Unicorn, in that all he knows is what he wants to happen. I've seen him make himself lighter or heavier, and he seems to have an impact resistance spell down pretty well. Biggest thing is a mind spell that is going almost constantly; it makes his brain work faster, which is needed to keep up with Twilight."

“Speaking of Twilight,” Rainbow interrupted. I looked up to see both Twilight and Spike walking toward us. While Spike sat between Pinkie and Applejack, Twilight walked up to the bar counter. I saw her do something I never thought she would do: order a drink. It was a simple fruity pink thing without much alcohol in it, but it made a statement to us. I glanced at the others and we all had the same look of ‘she must be having a really freaking bad day for that.”

“Bet I can guess what you’re all thinking,” Twilight stated, slamming her glass on the table as she sat between Fluttershy and me. “Cadence is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever!”

“Who, me?” Spike mocked in a high pitched voice, pulling out the little figurine from the cake.

“Twilight, whatever are you talking about?” Rarity asked her as Applejack reprimanded Spike. “She’s an absolute gem!”

“That she is!” I laughed at the joke she did not know she made.

“Rarity, she was so demanding!” Twilight said.

“Well of course she is!” she replied. “Why shouldn’t she expect the very best on her wedding day?

“Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed, turning to her. “Did you know that after she told you she ‘love-love-loved’ your hors devours, she threw them in the trash?

“She was probably just tryin’ to spare my feelings,” Applejack said.

“No, she was just being fake and totally insincere!” Twilight practically shouted.

“She did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal,” Fluttershy offered.

“See?” Twilight insisted. “Rude!”

“But he was singing really off-key,” she defended. The bird in question landed on her foreleg. Instead of singing, it let out an awful shriek that made even ponies a table away jump.

“Pinkie Pie, you have to have noticed how cadence treated-,” Twilight stopped when she saw that Pinkie was playing with Spike and the cake toppers instead of listening. “Never mind. Rainbow Dash, you’re with me, right?”

”Sorry Twi,” Rainbow answered. “Been too bust prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride’s bad attitude.”

“Feria, you’ve known her for years,” Twilight said, turning to me next. “You have to know what she’s like.”

“I have not talked to her today,” I admitted. “But your ‘rose tinted glasses’ were not too far off. She is just like she has always been; sweet and kind, always wanting to help, and a little mischievous. Then again, she is also a little bit of a perfectionist, not as bad as you, but enough that she is probably just trying to make sure the wedding she dreamed of is coming true.”

“Exactly,” Rarity agreed. “The princess is about to get married. I’m sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves.” I had to hold onto my meal to keep if from spilling when Twilight slammed her hoof on the table.

“And I’m sure it’s the result of being an awful pony who doesn’t even deserve to know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!” She shouted.

“Think maybe you’re bein’ just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?” Applejack suggested. That seemed to set her off.

“I am not being possessive!” she screamed. “And I am not taking it out on Cadence! You’re all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn’t even be a wedding!”’ she slammed her hooves on the table again, storming off.

The rest of our meal was eaten in near silence. Soon we all went back to the castle, as there was not much time to introduce the family. We followed Rarity up to the workshop, Spike falling asleep on the way. We were all worried about Twilight and what she might do.

The dress Rarity had made for me was simple. It was almost completely black, nearly the same color as my coat. The trim was red and there was one ruby on the chest. It was simple, it blended with me. It was quite perfect, really; I would still look great, but I would not stand out when net to Cadence.

As I stepped into the dress, I looked over the wedding dress she had made. The chest piece was gold, purple ribbons sown on. The skirt was fluffed out, with multiple layers and gold on the edge of each; the veil was attacked to a crown made up of white and blue flowers.

“Is that why Twilight said Cadence was demanding?” I asked. “No wonder she wanted it changed! Not what I would expect from you at all!”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked. “That’s what she wanted it changed to. I had an original dress planned, but when I showed her the sketch she asked me to make it like that. Then when Twilight was up here she asked for a few more changes. It’s not what I would have put her in, but she’ll still look incredible on her wedding day.”

“Do you still have the sketch?” I wondered.

“I do,” She levitated a picture in front of me. It was interesting. The veil was made of roses, and the chest was simpler, only two sections and a front decoration. Two layers were in the skirt, a short one with a colored trim and a fully white one that would trail out behind her for the length of another pony and a half. A ribbon was attached to the back of the dress. No color had been added but she indicated the chest to be blue and gold, the ribbon was pink, the flowers yellow and white, and the skirt’s trim was gold.

“She wanted to change this!”I exclaimed. “It is perfect! It is exactly what she wanted!”

“I guess she changed her mind,” Rarity shrugged.

“She could not have changed it!” I insisted. “She has been planning this wedding for years. When I was younger I would read her diary, which yes, that is mean to do but I was little, let me have some leeway. She sketched out the dress, and had multiple pictures from magazines in it, and this is nearly perfect to what she dreamed of!”

“I guess she wanted something else,” she said, though I could hear some uncertainty in her voice.

“Hey Applejack,” I turned my head to her. “When Cadence visited you in the kitchen, what did she say about the food?”

“She said she ‘love-love-loved’ them,” she answered.

“Just that?” I asked. “No going on about the different ingredients she could taste, or the how it felt on her tongue or any specifics?”

“No. just that she loved them,” She repeated. That is strange. When complimenting a dish, she always made sure to point out exactly what she liked. It was a way to show a chef how much you really liked it.

“Any input on the dress?” Rarity asked, pulling me back to the situation.

“None about the dress,” I answered. “But do you have my bag? There is something in there.”

She pointed with her hoof to the corner of the room. I pulled with my magic, grabbing the box with the tiara inside. Rarity was quick to realize what it was, using her magic to braid my mane over my right shoulder. I set the tiara on my head, and she added two dark pink roses behind my ears.

I was about to tell her how perfect it was when a guard walked in. I had not seen a full-uniform Lunar Guard in quite a while. She was a Unicorn. The armor had a similar spell to the Solar Guard, changing their colors to be more uniform, but Luna had her theatrics. Instead of just changing their mane to dark blue and their coat to gray the blue colored armor changes other things. Their ears become tufted and their pupils are daggers; On a Pegasus, the enchantment would make their wings appear bat-like.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have a message from Princess Celestia for all of you.” I recognized her, but something seemed off. I think her voice was a little different, but I shrugged off the idea, saying she probably had just been recovering from a cold of sorts.

“I thought Tia would be asleep by now,” I laughed.

“Oh, well, I wouldn’t know about that, Princess Feria” she replied, giving me a small bow. “Princess Celestia has asked me to inform you that the bridesmaids for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s wedding have been gotten rid of. I wasn’t told why. Princess Celestia suggested to her that since you all have been working so hard on this, you could stand in for them.”

“We get to be the new bridesmaids!” Fluttershy exclaimed. I could see Rarity nearly faint with excitement, stopping herself when the realization of how much work she had to do hit her. The guard excused herself and left the room, bowing to me again as she left.

“And Twilight was worried that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was some jerk,” Applejack chuckled.

“I noticed that,” I stated. “You keep referring to her with her full title. Why are you not just calling her ‘Cadence”? Or at least ‘Princess Cadence’?”

“She insisted on it,” she explained. “When she came to the kitchens, ah’ greeted her just as ‘Princess’, but she told me to call her ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’.”

“That is defiantly not normal,” I said. I levitated the crown off of my head. “I am going to check on something.”

I took the dress off, giving it back to Rarity, and hurried out the door. My head swiveled, looking for the guard. She was fast, already at the end of the hall.

“Wait up!” I shouted to her. “I wanted to ask you something!”

“Oh! Er- Yes, Princess,” She answered, stopping for me to catch up.

“Has Cadence returned to her room for the night?” I asked.

“I believe she has,” she replied. “Is that all, Princess Feria?”

“You know, Valor, you can refer to me just as ‘Feria’,” I replied.

“You know my name!” she exclaimed.

“I know most guards’ names,” I told her. That was incredibly suspicious. I had talked to Valor many times, so why would knowing her name now be strange? Looking into the Realm of Souls, I saw gold where pink should be.

“Anything else, Princess?” she asked.

“No, nothing else,” I replied. “Thank you, Valor.”

I ran down the opposite hall. I had to find Cadence. She was acting strange, and that guard was not Valor. The Valor thing could be coincidence; there could be a similar looking guard with the first half of Valor Knight’s name, but I doubted it greatly.

I stood in front of a large door, painted pink with a large blue heart in its center. I took a breath, planning out what I would do, then knocked. It opened to a familiar face. I had not seen Cadence since I got back my memories of my previous life, and it was truly astounding how much she looked like Azura both had a pink coat, both had a purple, pink, and gold mane, they even had blue hearts for Cutie Marks, though Cadence’s had golden ornaments on hers. The only real difference between them was the lack of black in her mane, and the fact that Azura’s eyes were blue.

“Good evening, Cadence,” I smiled. She backed up a few steps, and I took it as an invitation to walk in.

“Feria! Wha- how do you- I don’t!” she stammered, closing the door. That is strike one. “Please come in. And it’s ‘Mi Amore Cadenza’.”

“I thought you were only using that name for servants, not family,” I teased.

“I decided that since I am taking on responsibilities as princess soon, I should use my full title. I would like to be addressed as this by all,” she replied. That is strike two.

“I am so very sorry to inturupt you,” I said, “But I had a question that kept nagging at the back of my mind. Why tomorrow? You could have any day for a wedding, a day when Canterlot is not under a major threat alert, leaving your fiancé to be completely free for the time. Why did you choose this day? It is not like anypoy would charge you for canceling the catering.”

“I chose this day before the threat was made,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “Why would I want to change it for some threat that probably won’t even happen? Besides, Shining gets his time off for the wedding anyway, why does it matter to us?”

“And that is strike three,” I sighed. “Can we stop pretending that you are actually Cadence? It is getting quite old, and I would prefer you told me who you really are before I try to find out.”

“What makes you think I’m not me?” the false Cadence asked.

“Simple, really!” I laughed. “Cadence spent so many years asking to not be called by her full title, that she would never tell anypony to call her by that name, even when she wanted to take on duties. Secondly, the reason the wedding has to be tomorrow is not because of a diva ‘I chose this, I should get it’. Tomorrow would have been her deceased parents’ wedding anniversary.

“Furthermore,” I continued. “You reacted to me. This also gives me a hint to who you are. You recognized me on sight, but not as the Feria Cadence knows. You acted the same way both Luna and Discord did when seeing me; You were surprised, not only that I am here, but that I even exist! So you are someone I knew from back then, and you must be immortal. Nine Immortals, four completely dead, one resurrected, one turned to stone, two ruling the country, but where is the ninth?”

“Clever girl,” she mused.

“So tell me, Chryssi, why are you pretending to be Cadence?” I asked.

“That is a tale for another time,” she answered. “Guard! Come in here!” The door opened again, as Valor stepped through. I could see something was off about her this time.

“And you are not Valor,” I told her.

“No, I’m not, but I can be somepony else,” the fake-guard replied. A flash of gold light enveloped her body; her armor disappeared as her coat grew darker. Her blue mane grew out to bright red. I was soon looking at a copy of myself.

“Nice trick, but my friends know me enough to see through an act,” I retorted.

“Nice trick, but my friends know me enough to see through an act,” she mimicked. “Not too bad, am I? Besides, I sleep tonight, go through the rehearsal tomorrow, and by then we won’t need to do this anymore.”

“So whatever you are doing has something to do with the wedding,” I guessed. “Here is a question. How do you plan on keeping me away from anpony?”

“That’s easy,” the false Cadence replied. Her horn lit a brilliant green definitely not Cadence’s light blue. Flames appeared in a ring around my hooves. I was sinking into the floor. I tried to teleport out of it, or even counteract her spell, but nothing was working. Lower and lower I sank until I could not see anything.

When I could see again, it was completely different. I was surrounded by crystals. I knew about the crystal caverns, but I had never traveled further than the main cavern at the entrance. This seemed to be a separate room, no doors or hallways out, just walls of crystal.

“What? No casual villain monologue?” I shouted at the ceiling. Nothing in reply, not even evil laughter.

I looked around the room, trying to find some small space or secret passageway out of here. I could not teleport out, not even to the next room. I tried the Realm of Souls; there was no way out, yet I smiled at what I found. Somepony else was down here, the only problem was getting to her.

I lit my horn and tried a blast of energy. It ricocheted all over, hitting nearly every crystal before returning and scorching the ground at my feet. I tried again, this time charging the blast. It went through the wall completely, shaking the cavern and dropping a bit of rubble down, but the walls remained stable.

“That was lucky,” I laughed. The mare I noticed earlier was cowering on the opposite wall, face hidden by her hooves. Her multi-hued mane was disheveled, and the gold chest piece and shoes she were scuffed and unpolished, like she has been down here a while.

“Don’t hurt me!” the mare shouted. “Please, just-!”

“Calm down!” I said. “Cadence, it is alright. I am me.” She uncovered her eyes and looked up, I could see suspicion in her eyes.

“They can imitate anypony,” she reminded me. “How do I know you’re you?”

“Well for starters,” I replied. “I know that you are you and not the imposter upstairs.”

“But so would any of them,” she retorted. “Tell me something only the real Feria would know.”

“Does that mean ‘only me’ or ‘only somepony who knows you well’?” I asked. I sighed and began thinking up thing I knew about her, things that would not be found just by watching her. “You started foalsitting Twilight as an excuse to talk to Shining Armor, whom you had developed a crush on in class.”

“It took me way too long to learn not to keep secrets in a diary,” she sighed. “What are you even doing down here?”

”I figured out that the mare up there was not you,” I answered. “I confronted her, and she thought me to be enough of a threat that she sent me here. Lucky for us, Twilight is on the trail to knowing the one up there is a fake, though she has no idea what she is up against.”

“And what are we up against?” she asked.

“They are called Changelings,” I told her. “They can use magic to take on the form of any other pony. In particular, we are dealing with an Immortal; the most powerful Changeling and their leader. Her name is Chrysalis. As to why, I am in the dark. Last I knew we were on great terms, but it was two thousand years ago.”

“That would make a lot less sense if Celestia hadn’t told me about you,” she sighed.

“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “As for now we should probably sleep. We cannot get far on lack of sleep.”

“Right,” she agreed. She curled up where she was, like she had already been asleep when I burst through the wall. She was shivering. I guess it was cold in here.

I thought of starting a fire, but that would only last until I fell asleep. I walked over to a large gem in the floor, and I kicked it until it fell over. It dropped with a clatter, startling Cadence out of what comfort she had.

“What are you doing?” She exclaimed as I levitated the gem closer to her.

“You are cold,” I explained. I used a flame spell on the crystal, charging it with magic. When I was done it radiated heat. It lit up the room as well, but that was a small price to pay.

“Thanks,” she said, settling back in to sleep.

I laid down as well, though I was not going to sleep at first. I was going to try to do something I had never done before. I slipped into the Realm of Souls, and forced my way into the Dreamworld alone.

It was completely different from when I was with Luna. With her, the Dreamworld organized itself into a large castle, with every door leading to another dream. This was a complete mess. I could see magical energy that was somepony’s dream, but when I touched the closest one, I felt that it belonged to Braeburn, who was all the way in Appleoosa.

Maybe it was his dream in front of me because, out of the ponies that were asleep, he was the last I had thought of. I tried thinking of Sweetie Belle, wondering if I could get the Dreamworld to take me to her dream. Nothing moved. The dream in front of me still felt like Breaburn.
Luna had said that she was the one to organize this world, so I assume she has to be here for it to make sense. She was guarding Canterlot by night, which meant that as long as the threat was up, she sleeps during the day, leaving the Dreamworld alone. I would not find her here; I cannot tell her what is going on. I do not know if I could even find the dream of somepony in Canterlot, much less the dream of somepony that could help.

I sighed, coming back to reality. We would have to find our way tomorrow, and we have to do it before the wedding actually happens. I let myself drift to sleep, worried about how this would play out.

Change

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I was awoken by a gentle nudging. I did not remember where I was. I could see stone and crystal walls. Was I in bed? No, I must be on the floor. Maybe I rolled off. I saw a familiar multi-hued mane, which much belong to the pony that nudged me awake.

“Azura, I do not care if Dissi turned the entire castle into cake,” I grumbled, not fully awake. “I need five more minutes to sleep.”

“Who’s Azura?” the pony replied. I shook myself back to today. Time caught up with me; I remembered where I was and who was waking me up.

“Sorry,” I yawned. “She was a pony I used to know. We should focus more on getting out of here.”

“I heard something that way,” she pointed with her wing to the wall she had slept by. “Somepony else is down here.”

I walked up to the wall, putting my ear to the crystal. I could hear two voices, one was actually there, but the other sounded distorted; somepony was using magic to talk to the one in the next room from elsewhere. I heard loud crashes, drowning out the words.

I used the Realm of Souls, searching for who was on the other side. I could not see who had been the distorted voice, though I had a guess ready. However, I smiled when I saw the pony that was in the room. She was shooting beams of magic all over the place, then turned to this wall and began charging her magic.

“Look out!” I shouted as I jumped to the side. The wall crumbled just as I got away. As the dust settled I saw a lavender blur jump ad Cadence.

“Don’t hurt me!” Cadence screamed, now pinned under the lavender blur. “Twilight, it’s me! Please, you have to believe me. I’ve been imprisoned like you. The Cadence who brought you down here was an imposter!”

“Likely story!” Twilight growled.

“Twilight stop!” I shouted, pulling her away. “It is really her!”

“Oh really?” she spat, turning on me. “What happened to ‘she’s an innocent mare who didn’t deserve your insecurities’?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“This morning,” she answered, “When I tried to tell everypny about her, and you all bought her act!”

“Twilight, I have been down here since last night,” I explained as calmly as I could. “Cadence, the true Cadence has been down here for at least a day.”

“Prove it!” she challenged.

“Knowing you, the thing you said I said was an exact quote,” I reminded her. “How often do I use a contraction when I talk unless I am quoting somepony else?”

“It might mean you’re real,” she admitted, turning back to Cadence. “But how do I know you’re not them trying to trick me again?”

“Sunshine, Sunshine, ladybugs awake,” Cadence sang, doing the steps to what I knew was their secret hoofshake. “Clap your hooves-“

“And do a little shake,” Twilight finished. “You remember me!”

“Of course I do!” Cadence laughed. “How could I forget the filly I love to sit for the most?”

“Need anymore proof?” I asked. “I can list off some of your more hidden screw ups!”

“No, I believe you,” she said. “We have to get going. We have to stop her.”

“We have to get out of here first,” Cadence reminded me.

She was right about that. I had no idea how many walls we would have to bust through, and we did not have enough magic. I studied the walls, my eyes landing on the crystal I had used last night.

“Why did I not think of that earlier!” I exclaimed. I picked up the crystal again, expelling the heat magic. I began using the charge spell on it, letting the crystal absorb a large amount of magic. Twilight caught on and began doing the same.

As the crystal charged, I went into the Realm of Souls. I followed the residual magic left in the other crystals to find the direction the exit was; there were a few ponies by the doorway, probably guards. I aimed the crystal directly toward where we would have to go as a large blast came out of it, destroying all the walls in our path.

“You were right about how crystals absorb and amplify magic,” Twilight commented at we ran through the newly made tunnel. We quickly reached something I had not expected: a large chasm, with just an old mine cart as a way across.

“Cadence, are you okay?” I asked. She had been staring at her hooves the whole time. When she did look up, she looked near tears.

“It’s just that this day was supposed to be perfect,” she sighed. “Ever since I was small, I’ve dreamed of this day. I was supposed to get married, celebrate with my friends, and then fly off for a honeymoon on a beach somewhere. Now my wedding bells might not ring for me at all.”

“I wish I could have helped earlier,” I said.

“That’s not even the worst part!” she exclaimed, beginning to push the mine cart. “I might lose Shining Armor. I could handle nearly anything happening to him, if he got hurt or wasn’t able to do be guard captain anymore or if he left me for somepony else. Even handle if he died, I could handle it. But I might lose him to some jerk that wants to use him for some evil plot, somepony that will never love him or even care about him.”

“Now that, is a level of love I rarely see,” I smiled. “You would be okay as long as he is happy, even if you were not his happiness.”
Twilight and I used our magic to move the rocks blocking the cart. We were lucky it was big enough for all three of us. I could see a smile growing on Twilight’s face. The little bit of insecurity about her brother getting married could practically be seen melting away. I smiled at the thought of how Shining would act if she were to get married someday.

“I really do love him,” Cadence laughed as the cart rode down the track. “Even knowing what all could happen today, I can’t stop thinking of him, hoping he’ll be okay. I just hope we’ll make it in time.”

“We will,” I assured her.

“I just can’t stand the idea of what happens if we don’t get there!” she insisted. “We don’t even know why she needs to pretend to be me in the first place!”

“Uh, we have bigger problems!” Twilight warned. We looked ahead to see the track had broken over the years of not being used.

“We have to fly,” I shouted. “Twilight, hold on to one of us!”

I saw her hooves wrap around Cadence as the end of the track came nearer. We all jumped when the cart began to fall. My wings extended, and I could see Cadence doing the same, struggling to hold Twilight up. I lit my horn and used a levitation spell to help. I would carry her too, but our wings would knock into each other.

“There!” Twilight exclaimed as we landed on the other side. I could see where she was looking; a light shone through a pony-size gap at the top of a pile of rubble that used to be the exit.

“You’re not going anywhere,” three voices threatened. I saw those ponies that had been guarding our exit. It was three Unicorn mares that blocked out exit: a pink and gold one in a pink dress, a blue one in a turquoise dress, and an aqua one in a yellow dress. I recognized them as Twinkleshine, Minuette, and Lyra, the ones who were going to be Cadence’s bridesmaids, until last night.

I had wondered why they were picked to be the bridesmaids, as Cadence knew them, but was not close friends with them. Twinkleshine was a Canterlot noble, she had gone to the same school as Cadence, but Lyra and Minuette made no sense. I knew they belonged to the same musical theatre group as Cadence’s parents, but they were down in the Ponyville branch, only ever coming together for a festival once a year. Now that I know Chrysalis was Cadence the last few days, it makes sense for the bridesmaids to be ponies she only sort of knew.

“They are not Changelings,” I whispered to them. “I assume they are under some kind of spell. A distraction would work much better than fighting them.”

Cadence reached out with her magic to a group of rocks, turning them into a bouquet. She waved it in front of the mare’s faces, watching as their heads followed. They were like a dog with a ball. Without warning, she tossed the bouquet, and the mares jumped after it, screaming that it was theirs. Taking the distraction, we climbed out of the caverns.

We galloped up stairs and through halls, not stopping for anypony. The guards that were patrolling probably thought they were going crazy, since the wedding was already almost over, but here was the bride looking like she just crawled out of a cave. Of course, dramatic timing waited for the final hallway for Cadence to trip.

“Go on ahead!” I shouted to Twilight. “Stop the wedding; we will catch up in a second.”

“I’m alright,” Cadence assured me as I helped her up. “I just haven’t run like that in a while.”

“Stop!” I heard Twilight yell as she burst through the doors. We began running again to catch up.

“Why does she have to ruin my special day?” whined the false Cadence.

“Because it’s not your special day!” the true Cadence announced as we ran through the doors. “It’s mine!” The crowd gasped and began chattering, all asking what in the world was going *on.

“What! How did you escape my bridesmaids?” the false Cadence asked.

“Mind control makes them succetable to all suggestions, not just yours,” I reminded her. “Now would you like to give up your ruse? Or would you rather they test to see who is true?”

“Clever,” she scoffed. “But you’re still too late.”

“Ah’-Ah’ don’t understand,” Applejack stammered. “How can there be two sets of ‘em?”

“They’re Changelings!” the true Cadence accused. “They take the form of other ponies and feed off their love!”

“Mostly true,” I muttered.

Ponies screamed as green flames erupted where the false Cadence was standing. I watched as green magic enveloped her body, transforming it. Her coat became black, and her legs lengthened. The multihued mane turned a dark blue-green. Her wings shed their feathers and became insect-like, while her eyes turned green and the pupils daggered.

This was not the Chrysalis I remembered. Her mane and tail that were once flowing curls with volume that was envied by many, was lackluster, limply hanging off her head. Wings that shone like fine gossamer were tattered and dull. And the holes, oh of all the things I could imagine, I never could have predicted the holes in her body. They were everywhere, in her legs, he wings, her mane, even her horn. I glanced to see that even Celestia was shocked at her appearance.

“Right you are, princess,” Chrysalis laughed, walking down the aisle toward us. “And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. This land has more love than any place I’ve ever encountered. My fellow Changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!”

“They’ll never get a chance!” Cadence retorted. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us!”
“Oh, I doubt that. Isn’t that right, dear?” she chuckled.

Her horn lit, recasting some spell on Shining. He nodded back to her, the spell was working. I heard Cadence gasp next to me. She began to charge toward him, only to have Chrysalis block her way.

“Don’t want to go back to the caves, now do you?” she threatened. “Ever since I took your place, I’ve been feeding off Shining Armor’s love for you. Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it. He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now. And I’m sorry to say, unable to perform his duties as captain of the royal guard!”

“Not my Shining Armor!” Cadence gasped.

“Soon, my Changeling army will break through!” she announced. “First we take Canterlot. And then, all of Equestria!”

“No, you won’t!” Celestia shouted, recovering from shock faster than I. “You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects from you!”

“You do not know what she can do!” I screamed to her.

My words fell on deaf ears as they charged each other, locking horns. Celestia jumped backwards into the air and her horn lit gold. Chrysalis’ horn lit green as the two released a constant beam of energy, meeting in the middle. The energy paused for a moment, but I could see how uneven this fight was. The green magic forced its way through to Celestia, exploding in a flash of light.

I heard the screams of ponies as Celestia fell to the floor. Her horn was burned and her crown slid away, lost in the crowd of ponies that was not running away. I felt tears well up in my eyes.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight shouted, running to her teacher.

“Shining Armor’s love for you is even stronger than thought,” Chrysalis boasted to Cadence. “Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!”

“The Elements of Harmony,” Celestia told us. I could tell she was slipping out of consciousness. “You must get them and use their power to defeat the queen.”

“But you’re-“ Twilight began.

“Just go!” I commanded. “I will stay and protect them. You have to come back here anyway to use them on her, so hurry!” I watched as the six of them ran off, leaving me to defend them.

“You can run, but you can’t hide!” Chrysalis teased.

“Tia!” I heard somepony scream. A dark blue something flew toward us, landing in a protective position in front of Celestia and I. Her wings were flared and her horn already lit a silvery-blue.

“Hello, Luna,” Chrysalis laughed, as if she were no threat. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

“You will not harm my sisters,” she growled in responded.

“Luna be careful,” I warned. “You might be more powerful than Tia, but she took her out in one hit.”

“I have to try,” she insisted, attacking Chrysalis with a beam of magic. I watched as the floor frosted over around her hooves. Wind whipped around the room, picking up objects and throwing themselves at Chrysalis. She retaliated with green flames, melting Luna’s ice and singeing her feathers.

I stepped forward, preparing to fire spell of my own, when a beam of golden magic shot inches in front of me, stopping me from entering the battle. I looked to its source to see myself, or more accurately, the Changeling that had taken my form. I remembered what she said to Twilight when she tried to expose Chrysalis at the rehearsal.

My anger rose as I released the magic suppression spell. I walked toward her deflecting the next attack with a small shield spell. My mane seemed to do more than imitate fire, it felt like it had become fire. I towered over my doppelganger, realizing just how much taller I am.
The thing that bothered me more than her looking like me, was her wearing my outfit. The things Rarity makes are made with all her heart. Every good feeling she has toward me went into making that dress, but this Changeling was wearing it instead.

“Those do not belong to you,” I said to her as calmly as I could. She cowered in my presence, like I would strike her down just for that, but slipped her body out of the dress. I levitated the tiara away from her, and put it on my own head. As much as I felt I did not deserve it, I should wear it when I try to earn it.

I heard the sound of something break. When the magical pressure changed I knew Shining’s barrier was gone. The Changeling in front of me smiled, light enveloping her as her form changed. I could see more changelings out the window; I could see their armor, magic armor that thickens their coats, and created a uniform of blue eyes and short gray manes.

The armor of the Changeling in front of me was different, in the way of it being visible. She had the standard coat thickening as the rest, but she was wearing black metal with green decorations. I assume this indicated that she was like Shining Armor, leader of the Army under their ruler.

The wind stopped roaring. A scream of agony came from behind us. Forgetting the Changeling in front of me, my head turned to the battle. I saw lightning everywhere, arcing through Luna’s body. She fell to the floor, landing on her hooves next to Celestia. She favored one leg and her right wing hung limp. There were cuts all over her body, mostly minor and barely bleeding, but there was a particularly nasty one across her Cutie Mark.

In an instant I was between her and Chrysalis. My limbs trembled as my mane flew wildly. I flared my wings and lit my horn, trying to decide on a spell to use.

“Is it your turn now?” she laughed.

“Feria, do not-“ Luna tried to ask.

“Luna, do as I say,” I commanded. “You do not have enough energy left to properly try to fight her and I do. I want you to use what you have to heal yourself and Celestia. Cadence, make a shield around yourself, Shining, and my sisters. Keep up a shield as long as you can.”

“It won’t matter,” Chrysalis scoffed. “You’re just trying to buy time for your friends to get back with your precious Elements of Harmony. Something they’ll never retrieve before my army captures them.”

“I am not going to use the Elements on you,” I told her. I was going to keep her talking long enough for Cadence to weave her spell. “You are mostly disconnected, but not fully. You lost Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Magic, and Love. By lying and pretending to be Cadence, you began to break Honesty, but you did it for those you care about, your Loyalty is still fully there.”

“Why not just blast me?” she teased. “Aren’t you going to ‘restore’ what you think I’ve ‘lost’, like you did with the fearsome Nightmare Moon?”

“It does not work like that,” I replied. “They neutralized the magic in Luna, letting her think clearly and come back to them Elements on her own. Using them on you would not have the same effect. You might get trapped in your own magic or turned to stone, or who knows what else. I promised to never again use them on someone I believe I can still save. But for now, I will fight to protect who I can!”

“You think you can take me?” she asked. “I took down Celestia in one hit. Luna, your magical expert, took mere minutes. Even you can’t take me alone.”

She was right, I could feel how much power she had right now. But as I felt her power, I could feel so much more. I could feel Cadence’s completed shield, protecting her family, I could feel Luna healing Celestia, I could feel everypony outside fighting. Every time a Unicorn blasted a Changeling away from their friend, every time an Earth Pony bucked out and kicked down everything in their path to their loved one, every time a Pegasus picked up their child and fly them to safety. I could feel every Changeling, fighting to make sure their friends and family have the food they would need.

I could feel where everypony was. I felt my friends on their way to the Elements. I felt Minuette, Lyra and Twinkleshine, free from their spell, helping each other out of the city. I could hear my niblings lead everyone to safety. When Zircon blasted a Changeling way from Zarnie, I felt the magic spike. I could feel a small group of ponies across town, led by Iridescent, protecting the hospital.

“I am not alone,” I said. My own voice sounded distorted. It almost echoed, though I do not know if that was just in my own head. My body felt warm. I no longer trembled, but I seemed to be tingling all over.

“Of course you’re alone,” she laughed. “The room emptied long ago, your friends are fighting for your lives, and the only ponies that can help you, well, you’ve safely put them in a bubble.”

“I am not alone!” I repeated. “I can feel their energy, radiating around us. I feel their magic synchronizing with my own heart. I can protect them as they protect those they love, because love burns brighter than any flames you can conjure up!”

She seemed to be looking up at me with slight fear. Why was she looking up? I should be near her height. She was not cowering, was she?

“It’s not going to work!” she exclaimed, though her voice wavered. She was doubting herself.

I did not wait for her to continue. A wave of flames shot from my horn, only to be met with her green flames. I leaped into the air, flying around her, going faster and faster, trapping the flames inside a vortex.

I wondered why this was so easy. I felt like this had taken less effort than lifting my hoof. It felt amazing, like I could do anything, as if shifting my wing could cause an earthquake.

Something cold hit my side, shards of ice I think. I did not get cut by it, but it knocked me away. The vortex dissipating to reveal Chrysalis in a dome-shaped shield of ice. She retaliated with a blast of lightning, which I knocked back.

“When did you update your title to ‘queen’ by the way?” I asked, deflecting another blast.

“You really want to talk in the midst of battle?” she scoffed, taking a hit from vase I levitated. “Besides, anything would have been an upgrade in my title. I wasn’t a princess, after all!”

“That was your own choice!” I yelled. “We offered it! All seven of us, and quite a few of the others, offered to give you the title, but you declined!”

“You offered it because I was immortal,” she retorted. “I was different from you seven. I didn’t wield one of your precious Elements of Harmony. Tell me, didn’t the princesses also offer your royalty to Discord?”

“I offered it to him!” I shouted, flying upward to dodge a blast of light. “Everypony who offered royalty to you wanted you to be royal! I had to convince them to even consider offering that to Discord! I did that because I thought it would be unfair to have eight out of nine Immortals be royal while the ninth was not without a true reason! They did not think he could be any type of ruler, but we thought you could! The rest of us Immortals thought you would be a better ruler than any of us!”

“You were right about that!” she laughed, blasting me with another beam. I took the hit, dropping in the air, but recovered enough to throw a hunk of ice her way.

“How can you say that you have been better?” I asked. “Tell me, why did you have to be Cadence to feed off Shining’s love for her? You can easily feed off any love around you! Why pretend to be her? Why even attack this place when you can get your food so easily?”

“It works so much better!” she replied, taking the opportunity to throw something at me.”I know you can feel how much magic I have now, thanks just to the love of one pony! I’m more powerful from this than I was from feeding off love directed at others!”

“Is that worth what it does to you?” I retorted. “Instead of feeding of the love that exists everywhere, you have to lie and steal it from others! And that is only how it works on your mind! What about your body?”

“I’m fine! Better even!” she insisted. I created a ring of fire around her, closing it quickly and forcing her into the air. My eyes flicked to the small altar, and I levitated it into the air. The altar knocked her sideways, all the way to the ground.

“That is fine?” I exclaimed. “A mediocre Pegasus could have easily dodged that! Your wings do not work as well as they used to! Do you have any idea what stealing love does to you?”

I used my magic to break the enormous crystal chandelier above us. Shards flew toward her, but most barely scraped her. One large shard landed inches in front of her. She tried to back away from it, but I created a circle of flames to push her forward.

“Look at your reflection!” I screamed at her. “Your mane is lackluster, hanging off your head! Your wings are in tatters, barely letting you fly! You and your subjects are full of holes! You are not supposed to live like this!”

As she jumped away from the crystal and my spell, I pushed forward. I stopped when I got to the crystal. I saw my reflection.

My coat had turned the color of a burning coal. My mane and tail were no longer just flame-colored or magic imitating flames; they were complete fire, I could actually feel the heat radiating from them, though I did not burn. My body was larger, my legs slender, my wingspan was wider than ever before. My eyes looked as if they belonged to a dragon, not to me. Even my tiara had transformed, growing in size and becoming curled at the ends like Celestia’s was, though it curled in both directions.

I was astounded. This was what Rarity had called ‘my Nightmare Moon form’. It was not as evil as her costume had depicted, but that was because I was not using it for evil. I needed more power to fight, and my own magic gave it to me. I might have stood there for hours had a voice not brought me back.

“What is she talking about?” asked the voice. It was the Changeling who had pretended to be me. She had put herself between Chrysalis and I. Her helmet was off, and she had taken off the spell that made her look uniform. The short gray mane was now long and pink, curling over her shoulders, with a black streak running through.

One thing about her was different from any other Changeling I had seen today. She was not full of holes; her body was normal. Even her mane seemed livelier.

“What do you mean?” Chrysalis replied, focusing on her instead of me.

“You know what I mean!” the Changeling exclaimed. “She’s right about being able to feed off love without stealing it, isn’t she?”

“It’s possible but not as good,” she admitted. I glared at her from where I stood. I should attack while Chrysalis was not paying attention to me, but I could not bring myself to do it.

“Not as good?” the Changeling questioned. “You’ve complimented me on my abilities. You made me the head of your army and your personal guard because you saw me as the best of the best. I thought I was strange, that I was cheating my friends and family by being able to feed without parading around as somepony else, stealing the love!

“Now I hear that it’s what we were supposed to be doing!” she continued, shouting at her queen. “I was stronger and faster and more talented than everypony else because I was doing what our bodies our supposed to? I’m probably only average compared to what we should be! You think we’re better, but you’ve weakened us!”

“How can you call us weakened?” Chrysalis replied. “With love stolen from one pony, I am equal to an Alicorn at her most powerful!”

“My friends and family are literally falling apart!” the Changeling screamed. “Their bodies are too weak to survive in their true form! They have to take the form of other ponies just so they don’t get sick when it’s cold!”

“What would you do of it?” she asked. “If you feel this way, would you betray us?”

“You already have!” the Changeling answered. “You’ve lied to us! And I’ll tell them! I’ll tell everypony!”

“Even if you did, they’d never believe you,” she replied. “Do not forget your place. You might be captain, but you are still far beneath me.”

The changeling’s anger reached its boiling point. She used her magic to throw lightning at Chrysalis. She retaliated with a large blast of magic. The Changeling tried to make a shield, but the magic shattered it. She went flying across the room when it hit her. Reacting out of memory, I gently caught her in a levitation spell before she hit the wall. Her body was a little burned and I think a leg was broken. She was slipping in and out of consciousness, but she was okay otherwise. That hit my boiling point.

“That spell was too much for her!” I screamed at Chrysalis. “She would not be alive if she had not tried to protect herself! And even then she only lived because she did not break her neck when she hit the wall!”

“She attacked me,” Chrysalis replied, shrugging it off like it was nothing.

“Do not act like that!” I pleaded.

“And why shouldn’t I?” she asked.

“Because it means your connection to the Elements is weakening!” I answered.

“And that is all that mattered to you,” She scoffed. “Your Elements. You seem to be forgetting that I never was connected to an element.”

“You never wielded one, but everyone was connected to them!” I replied. “All ponies and dragons and griffons and every other living thing is connected to the Elements of Harmony from the day they are born! Things happen and they can disconnect, but I have no idea what would happen if someone disconnected from all of them. The only thing I have seen that was not connected to any Element was the one that killed me two thousand years ago!”

“You said at the beginning of this battle, that you wouldn’t use the Elements on me because you thought you could ‘save’ me,” she reminded me. “Now would you use them on me?”

“No, you can still come back to us,” I said.

“Looks like you’ll never get the chance,” she grinned, looking past me.

“What are-,” I began. I looked over my shoulder to see my friends back in the room, escorted by many Changeling guards. I nearly stopped breathing at the sight of them. They were bruised and battered and wiped out both physically and magically. They fought as long as they could, but it was still not enough for them.

I saw slight fear in their eyes, not from the Changelings but from me. They knew I was not evil like Luna had been in this form. But the idea plays at the back of their minds.

“Let’s test your Elements,” Chrysalis laughed. “If you continue to fight me, my subjects will ‘take care of’ your friends. If you stand down, I’ll let them live. Where is that ‘Loyalty’ you value so much?”

I looked to my friends and the guards keeping them in place. I could try and take out the guards, but if I missed or reacted too slowly they would strike. I turned my gaze to Cadence’s shield. Celestia was awake again, her and Luna’s wounds healed. I knew they did not have enough power to help right now. Cadence might have enough power to recreate Shining’s sheild, but she did not have the talent to do it. Shining had been snapped out of Chrysalis’ control spell; he was trying to recreate the shield and throw the Changelings out, but his horn barely lit up.

“As long as somepony somewhere never gives up, I never will. But this is not how I will win against you.” I sighed and closed my eyes. I did not have to say anything, my magic spoke for itself. I felt the power leave me as I stood there. I was back to the size of a normal pony, my magic at its normal level. Chrysalis laughed at my surrender, telling her guards to go back to attacking the town.

“It’s funny,” Chrysalis remarked. “The only ponies to figure out who I was, were the one who’s never met me, and the one who should have been dead years ago. Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding plans to realize it! Had you noticed earlier, you might have stopped me.

“You can put the shield down,” I whispered to Cadence. “If she wants to attack you directly, she would break through.” I sat with them all while she undid her spell. I heard apologies from Everypony. Celestia and Luna were apologizing for not knowing Chrysalis was deceiving them, Shining Armor apologized for getting himself brainwashed, and everypony apologized for everything they said to Twilight when she pointed out how ‘Cadence’ was acting.

“This day has been just perfect,” Chrysalis gloated. “I’ve dreamed of this for so long! Controling everypony, every stallion, mare, and foal! Who says a girl can’t have it all?”

I reached out with my magic to see what was happening. It was not good. Ponies were still fighting as hard as they could, but most of Canterlot does not know how to fight. The Guards and the Unicorns at Celestia’s school were the only ones with any kind of battle training, and most of them were taken. Iridescent was leading what guards were left, though losing their numbers.

The only good part of all this is that I could tell nopony had died. There were many injuries, enough that, if we could defeat Chrysalis, we would have to set up extra medical wards. Yet none had died. I had to wonder, was it just us being lucky, or were they purposely not killing?

“We have to do something,” Twilight whispered at my side.

“What can we do?” Cadence whispered back from the other shoulder.

“I do not know,” I answered them, “but something.”

“We could attack while she’s still looking out the window,” Shining Armor joined in.

“No, she is too smart for that,” I replied. “Glad to have you back though.”

“She’s right,” Twilight agreed. “There’s an invisible shield up between us. Shining, can you make another shield?”

“I’ve been trying,” he replied. “I don’t have enough magic left.”

“If she feeds on love, maybe we can overload her?” Twilight suggested. “Cadence, you could use your spell on the crystal like we did in the caverns!”

“No, Chrysalis would have to be actively feeding on her love for that to work,” I said. “Considering that, for who knows what reason, she thinks that stealing love is better, she will not try again on any of us. At least without separating us, taking our respective love’s form, and hypnotizing us.”

“Well that’s good, I guess,” she sighed. “I really thought the crystal would help.”

“It might actually!” I exclaimed, jumping at how loud my voice was. “But we need a different spell. Can either of you do Shining’s shield spell?”

“No,” she answered. “I can do one, but it would force out everypony from where it begins, not just the changelings.”

“Same for me,” Cadence said. “Though I can connect with a Unicorn to give them a key into it. But it won’t help, even if I connect to every Unicorn in Canterlot.”

“No, we need the specific spell,” I said. “We only need to toss the Changelings out, preferably with enough force to toss them far away from here. I know that if we can toss her out, she will not try this again, at least not for a very long time.”

“What if I try using it on the crystal?” Shining asked. “You said it amplifies magic.”

“Didn’t we already establish that nopony can do that exact spell?” Cadence asked.

“But that is only if one pony uses it!” I almost laughed. “Ponies that are connected to one another can combine their magics and make one spell incredibly more powerful! It is one of the reasons for the amount of magic in the Elements of Harmony. The connected magics multiply on themselves, including the bearers’ magic and every piece of the Elements’ magic it can hold on to.”

“That’s incredible!” Twilight exclaimed. “But we can’t use the Elements right now.”

“We are not the only ones to be connected,” I explained. “The Elements are only one type of connection. Another connection that works like that, is true love. Shining can direct the magic while he and Cadence are both using the connected spell. And using it with the crystal can speed up the process of deciding who stays and who goes, you can scan everypony at once!”

“We can try,” they answered in unison.

“We might want to back up,” I suggested. As the rest of us were taking steps back, Shining and Cadence stepped up to where the altar used to be. Without warning, Chrysalis jumped between us.

“And what do you think you are trying to do?” she asked. “It’s all over for you!”

“Our love will defeat you!” Cadence shouted.

“What a lovely, but absolutely ridiculous sentiment,” she laughed.

Cadence and Shining both lit their horns. Her blue magic and his pink magic combined into a beautiful purple. I did not need the Realm of Souls to see the magic emanating from them; it swirled through the air, creating a vortex of wind that made their manes fly wildly.

They looked at each other with a little uncertainty, not sure if this was supposed to be happening like it was. I would see their fear melt away as they stood closer to one another, closing their eyes and letting their magic do what they wanted. Soon enough, they were lifted off their hooves.

The light shone brighter and brighter, pinks and blues and purples dancing around them. As they opened their eyes to cast the spell, the light reached its brightest, making us actually have to look away. I saw something shift in my vision. The Changeling that pretended to be me had woken up.

As Cadence and Shining’s spell was being completed, I jumped over to the Changeling. I put a barrier around us. It was a sort of override on Shining’s shield spell; He was making it so all Changelings would get thrown out of the city, but within our barrier, when the shield passed over us he would interpret everything in it as ‘me’.

I heard Chrysalis scream as she was forced from the room, and eventually out of the city and far, far away. I felt both Shining and Cadence’s magic wash over me, one felt of protection, the other felt of home. Together, their magic reminded me of a family’s love. As the two of them gently landed back on the ground, Twilight ran up to Celestia seeing if she was alrght.

“Don’t worry about me,” Celestia told her. “I’m fine. You have a real wedding to put together.” I could see Twilight roll her eyes from here. I waited as everypony filed out of the room, going back to redo the wedding. They would not have much to do, really just remake the wedding dress and cook fresher food, but I knew Cadence would want to see everything.

Soon only four of us were left in the room. We would have to go over what would be done about the city, and about the Changeling I was still protecting. I was lucky that nopony else had seen her as they left the room.

“Considering Luna and I are the only ones with enough power left for spells, how about we begin on taking care of all those injured while you work on calming down the panic and telling ponies where to go?” I suggested. “I would suggest setting up at the School for Gifted Unicorns, after all, most of the higher level students know healing spells.”

“Fair enough,” Celestia agreed. “But we need to disscuss the Changeling you are protecting.”

“We can discuss her after the ponies are healed,” I insisted. “Luna and I will set up at the school.”

Without an actual warning, I teleported the Changeling, Luna and I to the Headmistress’s office. The room was empty, its navy occupant probably helping keep her students together after the battle. The office itself was right and neat; the desk, chair and bookshelves were all cedar wood, every surface covered with books or instruments of some sort, yet nothing looked out of place.

“You should have waited for the discussion,” Luna scolded.

“Sorry,” I replied. She shook her head, trying to shake off the dizziness. “You know that she would have wanted to have us wait there, and I wanted to get this going, along with talking to her.” I nodded my head at the Changeling, who was doing worse than Luna when it came to dealing with the feeling of sudden teleportation. The teleportation is disorienting enough without being suddenly sucked into it, especially when injured.

“You have probably put the conversation off until after the wedding celebrations,” Luna warned. “I will let you talk to her. In the mean time, I will find Headmistress Ivy and tell her to prepare the students for healing spells.”
She left the room, leaving me alone with the Changeling, who was being oddly quiet. I wondered for a moment how to start the conversation. What do you say in a situation like this?

“I’m sorry I used your form,” the Changeling said, her voice wavering. “And for everything I said. A lot of it was the Queen’s idea, but I could have said no.”

“Not many ponies would deny their ruler when asked to do something,” I replied. “You were supposed to guard her and discredit anypony who figured out who she was, which is why you posed as Valor. Where is she, by the way?”

“Visiting her family in Manehattan,” she answered. “We could have used any guard that was on vacation or sick leave. All I had to do was intercept the letter that told her superiors where she was. I didn’t worry about acting too much because as soon as the Queen was in place, ‘Cadence’ hired a personal guard.”

“Why not capture them and hid them away like she did with Cadence?” I wondered.

“Because this was actually easier,” she admitted. “When you try to replace a pony, they fight back. It’s why there was a threat made against Canterlot. When the Queen replaced Cadence, a fight broke out and attracted a bunch of guards. She told them somepony attacked her and threatened the city.”

“That answered my next question,” I chuckled. She looked up at me, and I got the first real look at her face. Her mane was similar to Pinkie’s in color, other than black streaks. It curled and bounced and looked like a complete mess, but I knew some of that was just how it worked instead of battle. Her eyes were green with the usual dagger-pupil shape of a Changeling. She looked familiar yet I could not place her face.

“Is there anything else you wish to know?” she asked.

“One thing that I forgot to ask,” I replied. “I never asked for your name.”

“Heart Song,” she answered, looking shocked. She then dropped her head. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to know the name of a prisoner.”

“What?” I almost laughed. “You are not a prisoner.”

“Then why are you-?” she began.

“Because I knew you would be if you had gone back with them,” I explained. “You attacked your ‘Queen’ and threatened to expose her lies. Even if you decided to comply and keep the secret, you probably would have been thrown in jail.”

“What have I done?” She exclaimed, bringing her hooves up to her face. “I screwed up! I’ll never see any of them again! If I’d kept my mouth shut I’d be just fine! I should’ve stayed out of it!”

“Please, do not think like that,” I said, gently putting my hoof on her shoulder. “She was lying to all of you, and as I said, it made you weaker; When I attacked Chrysalis with my magic it did not do much, but when I hit her with the altar it did a good bit of damage. You mentioned that they get sick in cold.”

“Yeah,’ she nodded, her breathing still panicked. “E-everypony around me would get sick in the winter. I thought I was lucky but I guess I just, I can’t believe she’s been lying like that.”
“You did the right thing,” I assured her. “And we are not going to keep you here. I plan on talking to Chrysalis again; somehow I have to prove to her that she’s wrong about this. I will take you back to them, but I will do it safely, and do it in a way that frees the others from the lies they have been told. You will see them again! But I have to ask, do you have any idea how Chrysalis came to think that stealing love is better?”

“Not really,” she said, calming down. “But I did hear the Queen talking to herself before, when she first started making the plans to attack here. She was so glad that ‘he’ told her about the ability, that ‘he’ showed her the true path, away from those who thought themselves better, which I assume she meant to be you. Not that I think you think you’re better than anypony, but from what she said to you when you fought with her.”

“I think I might know who it was she was talking about,” I shuddered. Just the idea of the magic that killed me sent terror running through me. He had orchestrated at least two major events in the Immortals history and tried to do another. He could easily convince her.

“You used to know the Queen well, didn’t you?” Heart Song asked, bringing me out of panic. Did she do that because she could see me panicking? She must have, since the next logical question should have been ‘who?’

“I did,” I answered. “Two thousand years ago, we grew up together. Well, when I say we I mean a lot of us, over a hundred, and just about fifty of them were ponies. In some ways she has not changed. She is incredibly brilliant; I assume she created most of the fine details of your plan? She is also still stubborn and hates being wrong, which will make it difficult to fix this mess.”

“I’d like to help,” she offered. “Knowing the truth now, I want to help them. If they just feed on the love around them without becoming the pony it’s aimed at, like I have, they’ll be like me? Stronger and healthier?”

“You are the only Changeling today to not have a body full of holes,” I reminded her. “And having you help will actually be great. A familiar face, and somepony who already knows the truth. They would not have to ask one of their own to test something they are unsure of, and- I am sorry, we should wait to discuss this. I should not plan ahead before I see what my sisters will say.”

“Do you think they’d say different?” she asked.

“They might volunteer to go instead of me,” I laughed. “For now, we should continue cleaning up from today, which involves healing your injuries. I am not the best at healing spells, so please tell me if this hurts at all.”

I lit my horn and moved my magic through her body. She was not in as bad a shape as I thought. I dread to think what she would look like if she had fallen out the window. The worst part of this was that I had to levitate some bones to keep them in place. I would not want to screw this up and have it heal wrong, my stomach churned at the idea of re-breaking them. Her burns were easy, since it would be pretty hard to screw that up.
While anypony could technically make injuries heal as fast as possible, it would take up a lot of their magic to heal big things like broken bones, so Unicorn doctors usually they speed it up to a week or so because they have many patients to work on. Though all ponies can be doctors, only Unicorns can be Healers. Pegasus and Earth Pony doctors still do know how to treat these without magic, since a Unicorn might not always be around.

However, I was not worried about my magic running out from making Heart Song heal in minutes. When I teleported, I noticed my magic regenerating faster than usual. I think it was because I released myself from my ‘Nightmare Moon form’ instead of being forced out of it like Luna was with the Elements. I was still drawing in energy from around me.

“You knew Changelings before we began stealing love,” Heart Song said. “I-well, if we were not made to steal love, why do we have the ability to transform like we do? I know it’s not just a transformation spell like Unicorns can do, but I don’t know why we do it.”

“I do not know for sure,” I answered as the last few bones clicked into place. “But I will tell you what I think it was for. I think it was meant for you to be adaptable for any situations. Unicorns have magic, Pegasai have flight, Earth Ponies have strength. Changelings can be any of these three at any time they want. You can use their abilities, including things like a Pegasus’ speed or an Earth Pony’s endurance; if I had a bit for every time Ambrosia would use that endurance ability to challenge Bronze Gear to a drinking game, well, let me just say that I could buy a bigger house.”

“Isn’t that a bit unfair?” she laughed.

“It balances out,” I replied. “Even if you take the form of an Alicorn, you only have enough magic to use either the horn, the wings, or the strength at once. You cannot fly and use magic, nor can you cast a spell while carrying a lot of weight.”

“I guess you’re right,” she agreed as I finished with the healing. I heard a knock on the door. Luna came back in, but instead of Headmistress Ivy walking behind her, Celestia entered the room. I felt Heart Song shrink down behind me, trying to hide from them.

“I was wrong about it lasting until after the reception,” Luna joked.

“I figured this would happen,” I sighed. “Say your piece.”

“I just want to make sure that you have a plan,” Celestia said. “I know why you kept this Changeling-“

“Heart Song,” I corrected. “Her name is Heart Song.”

“Okay, I know why you kept Heart Song here,” she continued. “And I know you well enough to know that you haven’t given up on Chrysalis. I want to make sure you’re not planning anything stupid, and that you know what you’re doing with all this.”

“I am not doing anything stupid,” I assured her. “I know to wait for a cool down before trying to get Chrysalis to change her mind. As much as we want to go as soon as the wedding is over, we can wait a bit.”

“And what are you going to do about Heart Song?” she asked. “You might have saved her, but you also took her away from everything she has known. She’ll have to find a house and a job and because of this attack she can’t really go out in public as herself, and even though you believe she will not do anything, I cannot be responsible for her if she does go back to stealing love. Also, as much as I would love to help you find everything, I cannot use the royal budget to-“

“I do not need the royal budget,” I interrupted. “My home has a second bedroom and there are plenty of jobs in Ponyville. As for her being a Changeling, either we can keep the whole attack secret, media blackouts and such, or she can easily transform into another form, whichever she would like to do. As for the idea of her ‘going back to stealing love’, I will be the one to take responsibility if that happens.”

“You don’t have to do that!” Heart Song cut in. “I can live on my own just fine! There ‘s no reason that you have to do this; none of our plan had anything to do with you. You were barely even a factor in the plan! We knew you were here, but when the Queen saw you yesterday she-“

“She looked like she saw a ghost?” I teased. “That is probably exactly what she thought when she opened the door. After all, last time she saw me, I was dead. But that is a story for later. But as for why I would help, only part of it is the nagging feeling that every bad thing that happened the last two thousand years is my fault. The rest of it is just because I want to, because I easily can do this, and it does not burden me at all to do it.”

“Are you sure about all this?” Celestia asked me. I nodded in response. “Very well. You may do all that you said but you still will have to consult Luna and I when it comes to when and how you will be going after Chrysalis.”

She left the room presumably to continue with today’s duties. The three of us stood in silence. I could tell she was upset.

“Do not worry about her,” Luna said. “She is upset that she could not see what Chrysalis had done. I would blame myself as she had, but with the city on its threat alert I was only awake at night while they slept. And Shining was under a spell, so he would not notice. Everypony else either did not know her well enough to notice or did not show up until yesterday.”

“It is not completely fair,” I sighed. “With the Realm of Souls I can easily tell who she was as soon as I saw her, and Twilight was paranoid from the beginning because she was protective of her brother. Tia never was given any hint that ‘Cadence’ was not just strange from wedding jitters.”

“She will get over it,” Luna replied. I doubted it. I could tell Celestia’s train of thought. She will wonder what else could have happened without her knowing, she will go on a spiral thinking she is useless which in turn leads to barely getting through a day by going through the motions. After what I found out from Hearth’s Warming, I wanted to keep an eye on her. Thoughts like that seem to make ponies vulnerable to being controlled by that magic.

“We should continue with today should we not?” I finally answered. “How are we doing on Healers? I know only the Unicorns in the top three levels are good enough at the spells we need, but we can-“

“You have other things to do,” she stopped me. “You should be helping your friends set up again, and they need you more than we do. I can be late to the wedding as I do not play a major part but you have to walk Cadence down the aisle. You cannot be late.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Heart Song, I can take you with me.”

“Should I stay and help Princess Luna?” she asked. “I don’t know any healing spells, but I’m sure I can still do something. It’s my fault for this, after all.”

“I can understand that,” I agreed. “But there is not much you can do here without a healing spell.”
` “Okay,” she sighed. “And before we go I would like to put on a disguise.”

Her horn lit gold as the magic enveloped her body. It is interesting, how all Changelings are technically Alicorns; they all have both the horn and wings, even if they only have enough magic for one. I guess it plays into how they can be every other type of pony. They would need wings to be a Pegasus and a horn to be a Unicorn, so what they do not use disappears.

In this case, her horn disappeared, even though the golden light was still surrounding her. Her face and body were the same, though her coat lightened to white. Her mane stayed unchanged, but as she opened her eyes, I could see they changed to normal green pony eyes. Her wings stayed where they were, becoming feathered instead of gossamer-like. She even created a Cutie Mark for herself, a compass rose with a heart in its middle. I realized why she looked familiar, and I could see Luna was thinking the same.

“She looks just like-“ Luna started.

“I know,” I replied, cutting her off. I could not help but grin.

“I wasn’t trying to look like somepony?” Heart Song replied. “I’ll just change to somepony else-“

“No, it is fine!” I assured her. “The pony you remind us of is a mare by the name of Morning Aura; she was alive two thousand years ago. There are only five that might notice, and two of them are in this room. The third is obviously Celestia while another is Chrysalis.”

“And the fifth?” she asked.

“We will talk about him later,” I sighed again. “You ready?”

“Actually, I thought of a way I can help Princess Luna over here,” she answered, turning to my sister. “You’re still low on magic, right? I can transfer what extra I have to help you. It’s not stolen love! I just got a lot from everypony around here.”

“That would be helpful! If you really want to you can. It is a spell, correct?” Luna asked.
Heart Song nodded, her body lighting up with that golden magic. It was not just like if she had a horn, but more like the spell itself becoming physical. She began to sing.

“It’s a long, long day and you’ve got to make your way
But the world won’t let you fall
So take the light, the magic and the love,
And keep on standing proud and tall”

It was musical magic, which can be incredibly powerful when done right. While it is not directly in a Changeling’s magical field, a talented singer could learn.

“That was amazing!” I exclaimed. “I have not seen that in years!”

“It did work,” Luna laughed. “Thank you, Heart Song, that was helpful, and you really do live up to your name!”

“That she does!” I laughed with her. “Are you ready now?”

She nodded as I lit my horn. While I began teleporting us away, I looked through the window of Ivy’s office. I still had the tiara on my head. I still did not think it suited me, but I think I can tolerate it more often.

Next thing I see is Rarity and Twilight around Cadence in an unfinished dress. All three of them jumped at the pop that put us in here. I was glad to see the dress was coming along nicely, and it looked just like Rarity’s first design.

“Good afternoon!” I greeted while they calmed.

“You scared me!” Cadence exclaimed. “Though I guess we’re all a bit jumpy today.”

“You can say that again,” Rarity agreed. I felt Heart Song shrink behind me. “And who is this?”

“Her name is Heart Song,” I told them.

“You sort of met me earlier,” Heart Song said. “I was the one who was posing as Princess Feria during the attack.”

“Now before you say anything!” I jumped in, hearing the alarm bells go off in their heads. “I am the one who kept her here and we are okay with this, and by ‘we’ I mean my sisters and I. Cadence, you were there. Do you remember the Changeling who, upon hearing that Chrysalis had been lying to them, risked her life to stand up for what she believes in?”

“You’re romanticizing it,” Heart Song said, though the blush on her face said she liked it.

“No, she’s right, I do remember you,” Cadence replied. “That was both brave and stupid of you to do. I’m sorry you were lied to like that. A ruler should be honest to her subjects.”

“You have nothing to apologize for!” Heart Song exclaimed. “I should be apologizing for ruining your wedding!”

“It’s not completely ruined!” Cadence assured her. “After all, I’m still getting married today, and considering most of the reporters are covering the attack, so it won’t be as much of a media circus!”

“Now that is not true!” I laughed. “It will probably be even more of a media circus!”

“Not to sound suspicious,” Twilight interrupted. “But are you sure we can trust her? I don’t want to sound paranoid again, but-“

“Twilight you have every right to be paranoid,” I said. “But I trust her.”

“And I trust your judgment,” Twilight replied, “so if you say she’s okay, I’ll agree to it unless proven wrong.”

“As will I,” Rarity interjected, not stopping her work on Cadence’s dress.

“Thank you,” I said. “By the way, Rarity, I was wondering when your sister and her friends got here. I thought they were still in Ponyville?”

“Don’t you remember?” She asked. “The flower fillies we had got a cold. It was your suggestion to bring my sister in. We sent Rainbow Dash to get them this morning.”

“Actually that was me,” Heart Song admitted. “I heard you mention your sister beforehoof, and when you needed somepony I thought it would make sense for Princess Feria to suggest that. I didn’t realize until after I said it that they’d be brought into the attack, but it was in the plan to leave foals alone. I was still wondering if I could get them out of the direct line of fire, though, if it helps.”

“You were much more dedicated to your part than your Queen was,” Rarity remarked. “She didn’t even try to act like the real Princess Cadence, but you did make a good Feria, for the most part. And I don’t blame you, darling. Applejack and I were both going to suggest bringing them in if you hadn’t.”

“Speaking of the wedding,” I interrupted. “I was going to bring Heart Song with me, but then I remembered that she would need a dress.”

“And you wanted to see if I could make something!” she exclaimed. “Well I am just doing the finishing adjustments on the Princess’s wedding dress, so I-“

“Hold on!” Twilight shouted. “I only scheduled enough time for Cadence’s wedding dress and remaking your dress, we can’t-“

“What do you mean my dress?” I asked. “It was fine, was it not?”

“Sorry, dear, but I think it got caught in a fire blast,” Rarity replied, holding up black fabric in her magic. She was right about a fire blast, the skirt was much shorter now, its hem having burnt through quite a few inches, a sleeve was missing too.

“That was probably my fault,” I said. “I threw a lot of fire around, and I did not think to remember where the dress was. You have to remake the entire thing, right?”

“Yes, I have spells for stains and small tears, but none to fix this,” she answered. “But it won’t be too bad to do; I still have the patterns and plenty of fabric left, and I can save most of everything else, just not the skirt or sleeves. I’d love to make a dress for Heart Song, but I wouldn’t have time to do all the measuring and pattern-making and the actual sowing.”

“If I may suggest something,” Heart Song interrupted. “You don’t have to make something completely new. I’m a Changeling; I can change my size and coat color to match whatever you have on hoof.”

“That’s brilliant!” Rarity exclaimed. “I’ll still make something new, I think we can squeeze it in now, but I will insist on making a new dress with the patterns I have.”

“I think there’s barely enough time for that,” Twilight grumbled, writing in an edit on her checklist. “After finishing on Cadence’s dress of course. After that we just have to check on Fluttershy’s songbirds and then the actual wedding!”

* * *

A few hours later we were all gathered back for the wedding. Cadence and I were waiting in the hall for our cue. Cadence was currently pacing back and forth, while my ear was to the door, listening for the song to change.

“Are you nervous?” I chuckled.

“Completely,” she answered. “So many things have already gone wrong, what else could? Do you remember at Zircon’s wedding when Zarnie tripped on her way down the aisle?”

“Yes I do,” I replied. “And considering everything else that has happened, the universe’s laws of ‘something must go wrong’ should give you a break. I am just happy to hear that your nerves are not due to the idea that you should not be doing this.”

“Before this morning I might have wondered if we were moving too fast,” she admitted. “But now, I feel in my heart more than ever that this is right.”

“Your family has always been good at following your hearts,” I grinned. From the door I cloud hear the music change. “There is your cue!”

She got into place next to me as I opened the doors, the flower fillies got the cue too and began leading the way down. There were a lot of ponies here, some were friends, some were dignitaries and famous ponies such as Sapphire Shores or the Wonderbolts. I saw all of the royals in the front row, including a disgruntled Blueblood; Apparently he was upset after being covered in some kind of goop earlier.

All eyes were on Cadence, as they should be on a day like today. I studied everypony as we reached the altar. My friends and the flower fillies stood to our left, looking great in Rarity’s designs. Twilight was on the right, standing next to her brother, and trying not to readjust his outfit again. Celestia’s annoyance from earlier seemed to have disappeared in the last few hours. Heart Song was beside Rarity, wearing an emerald version of my dress, but with gold and silver lining its edge.

I stepped back, mirroring Twilight’s position. I glanced down to the front row again. Four seats were saved out special. Two were occupied by Twilight Velvet and Nightlight, Shining Armor’s parents, but the other two were left empty. A few ponies followed my gaze, giving a silent acknowledgement to Symphony and Dancing Light.

“Mares and Geltlecolts!” Celestia exclaimed. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza-“

“’Princess Cadence’ is fine,” Cadence interrupted.

“The union of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor,” she corrected with a smile. “The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love is undeniable. May we have the rings please?”

Spike walked forward, carrying the two gold rings on a red pillow. Celestia picked the rings up in her magic and slid them onto the horns of the bride and groom. I could almost hear the crowd hold its breath as we waited for her next line.

“I now pronounce you mare and colt!” she announced as everypony erupted into cheers. The newlyweds walked forward, past Celestia and out onto the balcony. Most of Canterlot was on the Castle grounds, bursting into even more applause as they saw the couple. Celestia nudged Rainbow Dash, who immediately flew up and preformed a sonic rainboom as Cadence and Shining’s lips met.

“Did I miss anything?” Luna asked, landing next to me.

“Most of the ceremony,” I answered. “You got here for their first kiss as husband and wife. “

“Even with Heart Song’s magic it took a while to get everything back on track,” she sighed.

“Sorry I could not help,” I replied.

“It is alright,” she assured me. “You had to make sure the wedding went off perfectly.”

“It did,” I grinned. “It really was their perfect wedding.”

I watched the guests as we all headed to the reception. Everypony began singing and dancing. I saw Rarity holding up a conversation with Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee, a pony coming up every once in a while to compliment her designs. Rainbow Dash had dragged Applejack over to the Wonderbolts; I laughed to see Saorin’s face turning redder and redder as the conversation went on. Heart Song was with Spike and the Crusaders, entertaining them by changing shape into ponies they knew.

Pinkie was at the DJ’s turntable, helping Vinyl Scratch, giving her the records she needed and hitting buttons and levers just out of reach of the Unicorn. Twilight was singing on the dance floor with Cadence and Shining. Even Fluttershy was socializing; she had been introduced to a few of Shining’s friends from the Royal Guard. She was doing well on her own, but her group was close enough to Rarity’s that if she could save the day if anxiety became too much. I should go down with them, introduce everypony like I promised Fire Trail I would do.
“A moment of happiness,” I heard somepony say. “A calm before my storm.”

I looked around for the voice, but nopony was near me anymore. I shook off the cold fear gripping me. I was not sure I had actually heard it, that my paranoia had not just made it up. I would not let it get to me. If this truly is the calm before his storm, I will enjoy it, but that does not mean I cannot make plans for what will come.

The Lost Empire

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Celestia has amazing aim. She is miles away, but every dawn her sun shines directly into my eyes. I resigned myself to rolling out of bed and climbing my way downstairs.

It had only been two weeks since Heart Song moved in with me, but I was getting used to seeing her on my couch in the morning. This morning, she was a Unicorn. She had a cup of tea next to her, and in her magic she was switching between a library book and a full notebook.

“Morning,” she greeted, not looking up from her books.

“Morning,” I mumbled back. I pushed forward into the kitchen, looking for something to wake me up. Out of curiosity I picked up the teapot, pouring what she had made into a cup. It smelled fruity, like the tea I have when I visit Rarity; I think it had been her present at Heart Song’s ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party, which was thrown by Pinkie the day after she got settled here.

When I took a gulp of the tea I nearly spit it back out. It was the same tea from Rarity, but she had to have added as much sugar as possible. That is not the best way to wake up in the morning.

“Sorry about that,” she said, suddenly behind me. “I didn’t know the tea was already sweet before adding the sugar. I’m used to bitter teas.”

“Why would anypony need that much sugar, even for a bitter one?” I laughed.

“You know, I asked him the same question,” she smirked, her smile dropped quickly. “I haven’t told you much about my life before, have I?”

“If it makes you sad you do not have to talk about it,” I told her.

“It’s okay, I should talk more about them,” she assured me, refilling her cup. “My mom used to put a lot of sugar in her tea, a family recipe she said. I don’t like it that sweet, but it reminds me of home.”

“On the bright side, it also helps wake somepony up!” I said. “I am sorry I took you away from that.”

“Could be worse,” she shrugged. “One one hoof, probable lifetime imprisonment with visiting hours, on the other, a couple of months away from everypony and helping them to be better in the long run. I can see what choices can potentially lead to.”

“And that is a good thing,” I replied. A frantic knock came from the door, both of our heads snapping towards it. I looked back at her, but all I got was a shrug. As the knocking came again, I walked up and opened the door.

I gasped at what I saw. Standing on my doorstep was a panicked mare. Her eyes shone like sapphires, her pink coat gleamed in the sun while her mane and tail, which were held back by silver hair twisters, sparkled like a diamond. I would have thought she were a glass statue had she not been talking and waving her hooves around.

“Thank the stars you answered!” she exclaimed. “I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t answer! Can you help?”

“What-I-?” I did not recognized her, but she knew me; I jumped into the Realm of Souls to find out and gasped in realization. “Rose Quatrz? You are a Crystal Pony?”

“So you do know what’s going on?” she sighed.

“What do you mean by ‘what’s going on’?” I asked. “Did something happen?”

“Hello? I look like my chandelier!” She answered. “Does that seem normal to you?”

“Kind of?” I answered. “Crystal Ponies are things that exist, even though I have not seen one in years, or I thought I had not. I did not know you were one when I met you at your husband’s party though.”

“That’s because I wasn’t one at the party!” she insisted. “I wasn’t even like this this morning! I was making breakfast for Rich and Diamond then all of a sudden I just turned into this! I kind of freaked out and ran out of the house, but once I could form a thought I wondered if you could fix me.”

“This is strange,” I said, studying her in the Realm of Souls. “There is no spell cast on you or anything, but you insist that you were just an Earth Pony before this morning. Whether this is an illusion spell or a permanent transformation there should be a magical hoofprint to say who did it, but I am not getting anything.”

“How is that possible?” she asked. “My coat’s always been shinier than usual, but this is ridiculous!”

“That answers some questions,” I said, “But it raises a few more. I am pretty sure you were probably always a Crystal Pony. Before your protest, a Crystal Pony can look like a ‘shinier than usual’ Earth Pony. The problem is, that they can only do that with negative emotions, and I doubt that you have been completely depressed your entire life. Something must have kept you like that. I have to ask, was Diamond Tiara like this too?”

“I didn’t even check!” she gasped. “She was still in her room when I-! I have to go check on her! I’ll be right back!” I watched in astonishment as she galloped off.

“I should go after her,” I sighed. “Heart Song, I might be gone a while. Are you going to be okay on your own?”

“I’ll only be alone for the morning, after that I’ll be with the Harmonics, remember the music group?” she replied. “Bon Bon’s picking me up this afternoon. We’re going to the orchestra’s recital then out to a gig Vinyl has, where she might be able to get me a job. I think she said it was Berry’s bar? I’m still a bit lost here, but I’ll get it.”

“Just be careful,” I told her before taking off after Rose Quartz. I galloped through town after her. Ponies were not even coming out of their houses to go to work yet, so we both had a clear path to her home. She was already inside by the time I got there, though a butler let me in. I found Rose in their dining room, hugging her daughter tight.

“Mom what’s going on?” Diamond asked. I took note of the fact that she was not a Crystal Pony like her mother.

“It’s okay, everything’s fine,” Rose answered.

“Daddy went out looking for you when you ran out,” she said.

“I’m sorry Diamond,” Rose sighed. “I was scared. It’s okay to be scared sometimes.”

“It most definitely is,” I interjected. They both jumped and looked up at me. “I am sorry to interrupt you, but I would like to talk to Rose Quartz about what has happened. And you have school this morning, right Diamond Tiara?”

“Yes, but I-“ she seemed to cower away from me, more than the usual for somepony. It took me a moment to remember how she acts to my friends’ sisters. I almost smirked at the idea that her actions are running through her mind, realizing that bullying foals whose sisters are close friends with a princess might be a bad idea. Not that it would stop her when I was not there.

“Tell you what,” I said, lowering myself to her eyelevel. “Your mom and I are going to talk to somepony very important today. But as much as I know she would love to take you with us, you need to head to school. I will have your mom back to you tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest. Is that alright?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she nodded.

“Okay then!” I smiled.”You should go get ready for school.” She nodded again before turning and hurrying upstairs.

“Mistress,” the butler from earlier interjected, “I assume you would like me to tell Master Rich of your endeavors?”

“If you could send somepony out to find him, that would be great,” she answered.

“Is that all mistress?” he asked.

“Yes, for now,” she replied. He nodded to her and gave me a short bow, then dismissed himself from the room.

“I am going to teleport us now,” I told her. “Have you ever teleported before?”

“No, I haven’t” Rose answered. “Will it hurt?”

“It should not hurt,” I assured her. “But it can be a bit disorienting the first time. The worst thing that could happen is miscalculating where you land; there are fail safes so you cannot land in the air or be trapped in a wall or such, but it will not recognize if it puts you in, for example, a dragon’s cave. We will not be near any dragons though, we will be fine.”

“Thanks for the warning, but I think it’ll take a minute to get my nerve up for that” she sighed.

“I was wondering something,” I began. I felt it would be better to talk instead of letting her mull over teleportation. “What is Diamond’s talent? I have heard a mean spirited comment or two but nopony seems to know.”

“Probably because she doesn’t get to use it often,” she answered. “Her talent is metalworking.”

“That is unusual,” I chuckled. “How do you even figure that out?”

“Stubborness,” she replied. “A few years back, Rich bought her that tiara she wears as a birthday present. A couple months ago, it broke. She was in my jewelry shop at the time, so when I went out for a delivery she went into the workshop and used my tool to fix it.”

“I cannot even tell where it broke,” I commented.

“Exactly!” she exclaimed. “Her talent is metalworking, and I know I should get her the tools so she can get real practice. I’m just scared she’ll get hurt doing it, even if I supervise the whole thing.”

You are allowed to be scared for her,” I agreed. “A lot of parents get that way, even when being supportive.”

“I’ll probably break and get it for her soon enough,” she smiled.

“On that hopeful note, are you ready to go get answers?” I asked.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she sighed.

I lit my horn, reaching out with my magic to find our destination. When I grabbed hold of what I was looking for, I held onto Rose with my magic. I heard the pop of us disappearing, and the pop of u coming back somewhere else. That was quickly followed by a scream of surprise and a groan from Rose.

I shook off the dizziness as I made sure of where were. I miscalculated a bit, but that I what I get for using a pony as my target than the actual room. I assumed we would be in the astronomy tower, but the amount of blue in here told me exactly where I was.

A little away from us, and still recovering from the shock of two ponies popping into existence, was Luna. Her tiara was still at her bedside and her mane was still a mess; I still do not understand how a mane made up of solidified magic can get tousled in her sleep.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her magic worked quickly, running a brush through her mane and grabbing her tiara; those were not to put on a show for me, but for the guard in the hallway, that heard our commotion and came to check on her. She was quick, finishing as he opened the door.

“Sorry to intrude, Princes, but I-“ he paused, counting us then staring in bewilderment. “Uh, sorry princesses and young miss, but I heard a scream and-“

“Everything is fine,” Luna assured him. She looked over us to make sure, her eyes widening when they landed on Rose, who was still too disoriented to tell where she was. “Actually, I need you to go down to the throne room with a message to my sister. Just tell her that ‘it’ has returned. She will understand my meaning. That will be all.”

“Yes, Princess,” the guard nodded, turning and running his way down to the throne room.

“So you do know what is going on,” I guessed.

“Oh, somepony actually knows?” Rose asked, immediately bringing her hooves up to her temples. “Ugh, talking wasn’t a good idea, my head’s till pounding.”

“Are you alright, Miss?” Luna asked her.

“I’m good, I just-“ She stopped, realizing just now that the pony talking to her was Luna and dropping into a bow. “I’m sorry, your highness. I didn’t realize, I mean when she said a friend I-ugh!“

“Rose it is okay,” I I told her as she held her pounding head. I looked to Luna who was better at stifling her giggles than I was. “It is her first time with long-distance teleportation.”

“It’s been a confusing morning,” Rose agreed.

“Speaking of the confusing morning,” I said, “After I regained the memories of my previous life, I realized that in this lifetime I had never seen a Changeling or a Crystal pony. But today I realized I have seen Crystal Ponies in this lifetime, but they looked like shinier Earth Ponies, which would only make sense if every single one had been in a negative mood their entire life. So what really happened?”

“It was the Crystal Empire,” she sighed.

“The Crystal Empire?” Rose and I asked in unison. She seemed to have finally recovered from teleporting.

“Just as most Zebras now live in Zebrica,” Luna explained, “most Crystal Ponies lived in the Crystal Empire.”

“How come nopony knows of it?” I wondered.

“Because it disappeared,” she answered. “Over one thousand years ago, a little before my time as Nightmare Moon, the Crystal Empire was taken over by an incredibly powerful Unicorn who called himself ‘King Sombra’. Azura had been its first ruler, but after her death her daughter Lazuli took up the throne with her husband and their two children. Lazuli’s daughter was the only one of them to make it out.

“Celestia and I fought against King Sombra,” she continued. “We were able to banish him beneath the ice, but he cast a final spell over the Empire; the entire place disappeared, nothing we did could bring it back, it just seemed to stop existing. I wondered if he was able to take the Empire with him into imprisonment, but we could not risk freeing him.”

“Are you saying that is why Crystal Ponies have not had their full crystal coat?” I asked.

“Yes, it is,” she replied. “Crystal Ponies have a connection to the Empire. Tia and I noticed years ago that even newborn Crystal Ponies did not have the full crystal coat. Your friend here is a descendent of one of the other Crystal Ponies that made it out, but since your friend here has her full crystal coat, I believe the Empire has returned.”

“But you still think it was locked away with Sombra,” I said.

“Yes I do,” she nodded. “Even the most powerful spells weaken. I was able to escape my banishment to the moon because the spell had weakened enough for me to break free. If King Sombra has done something similar, it would have released the Empire along with it.”

“You said Azura’s family was the ones that ruled it, right?” I checked.

“By now, that guard has alerted Celestia, and she is sending Cadence and Shining Armor up there,” she assured. “You and the other Elements of Harmony should go as well.”

“If I mat interrupt,” Rose piped up.

“Yes?” Luna wondered.

“Er… My name is Rose Quartz,” she said, trying not to cower back in fear. “I might not be much help, but I would like to volunteer to go too.”

“Why?” she asked. “You realize how dangerous it would be? If they were not the best to send in the situation, I would keep my family out of it.”

“Yes, but I want to know!” she exclaimed. “Forgive my outburst, but all of my life I’ve thought I was just an Earth Pony; I felt like I’ve been something else the whole time, and I want to know about what it is! I’ve felt like a part of me was missing for so long, and now that I know what it is I’ll do anything to keep it.

“I can understand that,” I said. “I think she should go. I will keep her out of trouble.”

“Fine,” Luna sighed. “Let us begin your preparations.”

“If I may suggest one more thing,” Rose said. “There were Crystal Ponies that didn’t disappear with the Empire, but the ponies on the inside should still be there, right? Do you think we could get a list of those that made it out? And maybe try to find their descendants. I feel like they’d want to know.”

“We did have one,” Luna replied, her mouth forming a grin. “And I think I still know where it is.”

* * *

An hour and a half later, Rose and I walked toward the train station. Celestia was telling Twilight about the Crystal Empire and what we were supposed to do. I did not agree with the idea of turning this into a test for Twilight; that would only freak her out more.

“You know what I just realized?” I asked, stopping in my tracks. “Neither of us got breakfast.”

“I’m sure we can get something on the train,” Rose replied.

“The train food is not as good, plus that will be lunch!” I laughed. “Come on, there is a café up on the left here. We have a little bit of time before we need to get on the train. Knowing them, Celestia will drag out her explanations with some theatrics, and then Twilight will freak out about what we have to do for a bit before actually getting in gear and making it to the train, but if it makes you feel better, we can get it as a to-go order. And before you suggest chipping in for your meal, remember that I am the one who dragged you here.”

“Okay,” she sighed.

We entered the building, pausing to take in the scent of coffee and fresh baked goods. I went to the front and ordered a latte, a smoothie, and a few pastries for us. They nervously told us to wait, so we picked a booth if the back corner. Rose Quartz was getting quite a few looks from other patrons; on the street these looks were easier to ignore, as they had to go on their way as well, but here ponies could gawk all they wanted.

“I know you and Rarity are on good terms, but Applejack will be on the train too,” I said to distract her from a few of those looks. “I do not think she will stay quiet when she realizes you are Diamond Tiara’s mom.”

“I think we’ll be fine,” she answered.

“Are you sure?” I wondered. “I mean, I noticed that Diamond Tiara is not mean to everypony, just-“

“Just Applebloom and her friends,” Rose finished.

“Exactly, I was wondering if-“ I began

“If I knew why?” she finished again. “Unfortunately, knowing why doesn’t help to make her stop. Really, it was just the timing of everything.”

“Timing?” I asked. “What does timing have to do with it?”

“It started years ago,” she answered. “Rich’s family and their branch of the Apple family have been friends since the beginning of Ponyville, I’ve never heard the full story, but it had something to do with his grandfather and Zap Apples. Anyway, because we were close, Diamond and Applebloom were friends when they were little, I still have pictures of them in these cute little bunny costumes.”

“What changed?” I wondered.

“As I said, it was the timing of everything,” she sighed. “They started getting older, realizing differences in things they like, just little things like how Applebloom preferred adventuring while Diamond preferred staying in and playing with her dolls. Then Appleseed and Sweet Treat-“

“Who are they?” I inturupted.

“Sorry, I sometimes forget you weren’t in Ponyville until the other year,” she said. “Appleseed and Sweet Treat are, well, were Applebloom’s parents. They died a few months before you moved in.”

“I did not know it was that recent!” I exclaimed. “I had asked about it when I noticed it was always Applejack or Big Macintosh picking Applebloom up from school, but they just told me they died in a timberwolf attack, no names or anything.”

“Nopony talks about it much,” she replied. “With a town as close as ours, a tragedy like that hits us all. It brought the siblings closer together, but they pulled away from everypony else. Most of us understood that it will happen, and in time they’d go back to normal but-“

“But the other foals did not understand,” I finished. “That includes Diamond Tiara.”

“It was the last straw for her,” she sighed. “She didn’t get that the reason she pulled away was because of the loss, so she started arguing with her about it, making it sound like something Applebloom did on purpose. By the time she really understood what was going on, the friendship they had was gone, but they keep on aggravating each other. We’ve tried to get them to stop, but it doesn’t work like that.”

“You would need to get to a point where one of them truly wants that friendship back,” I said.

A mare came up to our table, carrying a bag and a tray of drinks. I paid her, giving an extra tip for bringing t over instead of calling us out, and we headed on our way. I was thankful nopony had come up and asked about Rose yet, but I figured we should hurry to the train.

“You know” I said, distracting her from another look, “knowing that I can see how Applebloom got along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle so well.”

“How do you figure?” she asked.

“Mutual lack of parents,” I answered. “Sweetie still has her parents, but they are always on some trip somewhere; in my time in Ponyville I think they have been there a few weeks all together. Scootaloo is sort of in the middle for them, her parents are gone, but she was adopted by a mare in town. “

“I don’t think they told her about that before they were friends though,” she replied.

“You will not believe how much ponies notice without realizing,” I chuckled. “Remember I told you that I asked about Applebloom’s parents because only AJ or Big Mac picked her up from school? It would be easy to see that Rarity is the only pony picking up Sweetie Belle, or that the mare that picks up Scootaloo is old enough to be her mom, but looks nothing like her and is always called by her name.”

“Now that you mention it, I did notice,” she said. “But I didn’t want to try and ask.”

“Yeah, well I am curious,” I answered.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” she teased.

“But satisfaction brought it back,” I teased in response.

She laughed as we rounded the corner of the train station. I saw my friends up ahead. Twilight had begun talking as Rose and I came up behind them. I watched Pinkie set off her party cannon, which quickly sucked its confetti back in as Twilight told her we would not be having a party.

“We’re going to the Crystal Empire!” Twilight announced.

“Crystal what?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Crystal Empire,” I answered, making them jump. “Great place, apparently. I have never been, but I hear it has wonderful ponies, an impressive castle, a lot of magic and an evil Unicorn king that enslaved all of the Crystal Ponies that did not escape before he and the Empire were banished into the ice. Oh, and Luna said that pie made of crystal berries are delicious.”

“Did you just say ‘Evil Unicorn king?” Applejack questioned.

“Yes, she did,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I was going to explain it easier but-“

“OHMIGOSH!” Pinkie gasped, jumping over me and getting in Rose’s face. “New pony! Is she going on an adventure with us? I can throw a mini-train party!”

“Pinkie, you have met her before,” I said,

“Well, you do look familiar,” Pinkie admitted, “but I’ve never seen anypony look so shiny! I’d remember that.”

“To be fair, I didn’t look like this till this morning,” Rose answered. Pinkie, Rarity, and Appleack all jumped, eyes widening and jaws dropping.

“Rose Quartz?” the three of them asked in unison.

“Good job,” she laughed. “Though I believe Feria here holds the record for quickest to recognize me.”

“To be fair, I kind of cheated by looking at your magic,” I laughed.

“Wait, who?” Twilight asked.

“I work at the jewelry shop in Ponyville,” Rose answered. “You probably have met my husband, Rich, or my daughter Diamond Tiara. Turns out I’m a Crystal Pony!”

“Crystal ponies!” Rarity exclaimed. “There are- you are-You look magnificent! Like-like a gem! Crystal Ponies do live up to their name, don’t they?”

“And there’s an entire empire of them waiting for us up north,” I said, herding them towards the train car. “Let us get going! It will only take a few hours to get there, just after lunch.”

“Oh, but what about the other ponies’ stops?” Fluttershy asked.

“Tia commandeered the train,” I explained. “All who had already bought a ticket have been rescheduled, given a complimentary meal at a nearby restaurant for their troubles, and told that if anypony complains that they are late, they are to ‘take it up with the Moon’.”

“Point to Princess Luna,” Rainbow smirked.

“Yes yes, let us get a move on!” I laughed. “Cadence and Shining Armor have already headed out there.”

I finally was able to get them all on the train. With me aboard, the conductor started us moving. Using the time Twilight took to explain everything to them, I sent a pair of letters, one to Cedence and one to Luna, both a simple ‘on our way’. As the green flames flew out the window, I settled into my seat across from Rose. Something was on her mind, but I was listening to Twilight finish her talk.

“Okay, I’ve got to ask,” Rose burst out. “What did you mean by ‘looking at my magic’.”

“Long story short, I can see ponies magic,” I explained. “Well, really I see the soul, but ‘soul’ and ‘magic’ are fairly interconnected. I also used that ability to check that nopony had used a spell to turn you into a Crystal Pony. Most Unicorns can only do this to see what spell was used, but I can also use it to find out who the caster is, and track them down if the spell is still being cast.”

“Now that is amazing!” she exclaimed. “To be able to see a Unicorn’s magic-“

“Not just a Unicorn’s magic,” I corrected. “All magic of anypony.”

“Pegasai and Earth Ponies don’t have magic,” Rainbow interjected. I looked toward everypony else, they were all looking at us, wondering where it will go.

“All ponies have magic,” I insisted. “It just depends on what type they are for how it is used. Unicorns actively use magic. But an Earth Pony’s magic is different, it is a passive ability, they are stronger and more durable because of their magic, and that durability extends not only to taking a beating, but to things like alcohol consumption as well. It takes a lot more to get an Earth Pony drunk than a Unicorn or Pegasus.

“Pegasai are actually quite interesting when it comes to magic,” I continued. “It is active when it comes to weather control, but also passive since, were their magic drained, they would not be able to fly or walk on clouds. Cutie Marks are also another part of magic that everypony has. And Zebras have magic too, it comes in the form of knowledge about the natural world and things like herbs for a potion, which is passive, but becomes active if they actually utilize the ability. Actually, Zecora’s talent for potion making is basically the equivalent of a Unicorn’s talent for magic, or a Pegasus’ talent for flying.”

“What about Crystal Ponies?” Rose asked.

“Now that is the fun one,” I grinned. “Crystal Ponies are both passive and active. Their bodies act like a crystal, able to absorb and amplify magic. The ‘active’ part is that they can chose to absorb the magic or not, and that they can activate the spell again when they want. For example, Rose, if you let me I could charge your body with any type of spell, from a simple lightning spell to a teleportation spell, and it would be amplified, then when you felt like it you could release it back any time.”

“Would that make Crystal Ponies invincible to magic?” Rainbow wondered. “That would be awesome!”

“Depending on the spell it could cause discomfort,” I admitted. “A teleportation spell or transformation spell being absorbed is fine, but the lightning spell would make you feel quite tingle, and a fire spell would overheat them. They would live, but it is not something a pony would do for a while if they had a choice.”

“That’s a bit morbid,” Fluttershy whispered.

“What about Alicorns?” Twilight asked. I looked up at her. I had expected the question to come from Rainbow Dash, not from her.

“Alicorns combines traits from all the others,” I said. “A Unicorn’s spell casting, a Pegasus’ abilities of cloud walking and flight, and an Earth Pony’s strength and durability; tip to all of you, never challenge Celestia to a drinking contest, and if you try against Luna you will probably black out before she gets properly drunk.”

“Sounds like you’re talking from experience,” Rarity teased.

“Yes, but not my own,” I laughed. “Bronze Gear and Ambrosia got into a contest every time they would drink. Last I knew, Azura was our champion. But to continue on, with Alicorns, one must have enough magic to use all the types of magic, Created Alicorns like Luna, Celestia, and myself, have enough magic to keep all six running at once, but there have been Born Alicorns that only had the magic to have some active at the same time. Cadence can only use three at the same time.”

“Since you’re answering questions,” Twilight began “Princess Celestia said that the Empire contains a powerful magic, do you have any idea what it would be?”

“Not a solid one,” I answered. “The Crystal Empire was made a couple centuries after I died, so I have no idea what could be there, but Azura’s family ruled it, so she could have done a lot of her projects. I guess we will find out when we get there.”

“’A few centuries after you died’?” Rose asked, looking quite alarmed.

“I have a lot of explaining to do,” I chuckled. “Where should I start?”

* * *

A few hours and a lunch break later, we arrived in what looked like a frozen wasteland. This must be why we even had train tracks this far north. I stepped out into the cold winds, looking for something, but from the station platform, all I could see was white.

“And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves,” Rarity laughed.

I saw movement in the white, something coming towards us. It was a pony. As I began to make out his form, he shouted to us.

“Twilight!” he shouted.

“Shining Armor?” Twilight shouted back, running out to meet him.

“Twily!” Shining exclaimed, hugging her tightly. “You made it! We’d better get moving. There are things out here that we really don’t want to run into after dark.”

“What kind of things?” Fluttershy gulped.

“Let’s just say that the Empire,” Shining began,” isn’t the only thing that’s returned.”

“Can you be less dramatic?” I asked. “You are almost as big on theatrics as Celestia!”

“Something keeps trying to get in!” he explained, leading us into the snow. I could feel him rolling his eyes at my comment. “We think it’s the Unicorn king who originally cursed the place.”

“But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire!” Twilight shouted. “If King Sombra can’t get in, then it must already be protected!”

We were stopped in our tracks by a sound. It was a howl of sorts. Even if I did not know what it was, I would be terrified.

“Th-that’s one of those things, isn’t it?” Fluttershy gasped.

“We have to get to the Crystal Empire!” Shining yelled. “Now!”

I looked toward where the growls and roars were coming from. I could not move. The cold I felt was not from the snow whipping through my mane. I looked into the Realm of Souls just to be sure. My breath caught in my throat.

“Run,” I whispered. “Run as fast as you can.”

Was I talking to myself or them? It did not matter as I could not move. I felt my body being tugged away. There was a large amount of magic coming toward us. I could see a lot of it was his magic, the magic that killed me. Yet it was combined with something else, another pony’s magic. I did not have long to dwell on that.

I was tossed through something blue, landing on my back. Suddenly, everything was warm, like a spring day. I felt grass beneath me, and the crushing fear was lifted. Looking up from where I landed, I saw an entire city made of crystals and gems; one very large crystal was rising out of the middle.

I got a look at what we jumped through. It was a magic shield, different from Shining’s spell. This one keeps out everypony who does not have a ‘key’ or sorts, set up by its caster. The light flashed as Shining jumped through the shield to us.

“Oh no!” Twillight exclaimed, running up to him. “Shining Armor, your horn!”

Shining’s horn was covered in small black crystals. He tried to light it. All it did was spark a little at the base before dying out.

“Sparkleriffic!” Pinkie exclaimed, looking out from the Empire’s gate.

We galloped to the center, to the Crystal Castle. We did not pay attention to the buildings we passed, but no Crystal Ponies had come out to greet us. That seemed strange for them.

“It’s gorgeous!” Rarity exclaimed as we got to the castle. “Absolutely gorgeous! There are no words!”

“Focus Rarity,” Applejack reminded her.”We’re here to help Twilight, not admire the scenery.”

“Eh, I don’t see what the big deal is,” Rainbow shrugged. “Just looks like another old castle to me.”

“Another old-!” Rarity shouted. “Have you lost your mind! Look at the magni-“

She stopped to see both Rainbow and Applejack laughing. I did not stop to see her reaction. There were a lot of stairs to climb, though they seemed to go fast, quickly letting us into the throne room.

Everything except the carpet and curtains were crystal. At the far end of the hall, there was a large throne, rising up many body lengths. In its seat was Cadence, her horn lit up blue, connected to the shield outside, but her face seemed so tired.

“Cadence!” Twilight called to her.

Cadence ran over to us, doing her secret hoofshake with Twilight. In the corner of my eye, the magic shield flash black, flickering out of existence. Cadence looked like whatever hit the shield had hit her, a downside to the spell.

“One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn’t hanging in the balance,” Cadence sighed.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“Cadence has been able to use her magic to shield the Empire,” Shining explained. “But since King Sombra is actively attacking, she has to keep all concentration on the spell. It uses up her magic faster, and it won’t let her sleep or really eat much.”

“What about your shield?” she questioned.

“It would not cover the entire Empire,” I answered for him. “Shining is more talented at magic, but Cadence has more power. And now with those crystals blocking, it would not matter anymore.”

“I’m fine,” Cadence insisted.

“You’re not fine!” Shining told her. “She can’t go on like this forever, and if her magic were to fade, well, you saw what’s out there waiting for that to happen.”

“That’s why we’re here!” Twilight said.

“That’s why we’re all here,” Applejack reminded her.

“Well with Cadence putting all her strength into keeping the spell going,” Shining began, “And me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic, we haven’t been able to gather much information from the Crystal Ponies.”

“Maybe I can help?” Rose stepped forward.

“When did you get here?” Cadence asked. “I thought all the Crystal Ponies weren’t-“

“My name is Rose Quartz, and I’m from Ponyville,” she said. “I just happen to be related to a Crystal Pony that didn’t get trapped in here back then. I was just thinking that, well, they might be scared because they don’t know if you’re here to help or if you’ll be worse than Sombra was. I know you’re helping, but the two of you have been in here the whole time, and we just arrived, but if they see another Crystal Pony working with you, they might figure it out.”

“That is a great idea!” I grinned.

“Just remember,” Shining told us. “We have to find out how to protect the Empire without having to use Cadence’s magic. One of them must know.”

“That must be part of my test!” Twilight exclaimed. “To gather information from the Crystal Ponies and deliver it to you! Like a research paper! I love research papers!”

“Yeah, who doesn’t?” Rainbow asked sarcastically.

“Oh-oh-oh!” Pinkie squeaked. “Let me guess! Is it Spike? No no, Fluttershy! Rarity?”

“Don’t worry, big brother,” Twilight said, ignoring Pinkie’s antics. “I am really good t this sort of thing.”

The six of them walked off, but Rose and I hung back for a moment. This castle was Azura’s last home, and I wanted to explore it. Rose just stayed with me out of familiarity.

“Have you gotten anything out of the Crystal Ponies?” I asked Cadence. “Anything at all?”

“Not much,” she answered. “They seem to have a memory block somewhere. They don’t remember much, and as soon as we think we’re getting somewhere, they freak out. I think it’s connected to the curse, since when they do remember something, their coats look more like crystals.”

“You got them to remember something?” I questioned.

“We’re not sure,” Shining answered. “When we first arrived, a few of them jumped up, turned to crystal, and bowed to Cadence. But the weird thing is, they called her ‘Azura’.”

“Didn’t you mention an Azura?” Cadence remembered. “Back in the caverns under Canterlot. When I woke you up you called me ‘Azura’.”

“I could tell you, but I might be able to show you!” I smiled. “Let me see, this is the throne room, so she would put it on the left!”

I walked toward the left door and pushed it open. The three of them followed me into another hall. It was a dead end, but you could see what should be here.

“Are there paintings missing?” Rose asked.

“No, this is it,” I answered. “Only two sets of families ruled here before Sombra.”

I looked at the two paintings that were in the hall, right next to the doors. The first one held only three ponies. Azura was the tallest, being an Alicorn and all. You really could see the connection to Cadence, since only the addition of black in her mane and blue eyes instead of purple ones were the only differences.

I was more interested in the other two ponies, according to the plaque, they were Stone Symphony, Azura’s husband, and Lazuli their daughter. The Unicorn Stallion was completely gray tinted with blue, his mane darker than his coat, but his eyes were a very dark magenta, almost red but not quite. Their daughter was a dark blue Crystal Alicorn, which I did not know was possible, with gold streaking through her mane. I wish I could have known the stallion that won my sister’s heart, though I wish that for all of my siblings.

The second painting was just as interesting. An older Lazuli was there, so I assume these were her husband and children. The Pegasus stallion was named Harpsy, he was the color of red wine. The daughter was named Emerald, living up to her name by being completely green. She was a Crystal Alicorn like her mother. From the picture I guessed that she was a little younger than Twilight when she had to leave the Empire. The other child was a Crystal Unicorn, his coat dark gray and his mane nearly black. His eyes were like Stone Symphony’s, a reddish pink. The plaque said his name was Obsidian; he looked closer to my age.

“Am I the only one thinking…” Shining began, staring at Azura’s picture.

“Yes, Cadence and Azura do look similar,” I grinned. “Azura was one of my sisters, younger than Celestia but older than Luna. And yes, she is Cadence’s great-times-a-large-number grandmother. Speaking of family lines, I am pretty sure Cadence and Applejack are distantly related.”

“What makes you say that?” Cadence asked.

“Well two thousand years ago,” I began,” There was an Earth Pony named Appleluck and a stallion named Onyx that were together before I died. By the name ‘Appleluck’, it is easy to tell she was part of the Apple family, the first Apple in fact. Onyx looked a lot like the stallion in this painting, almost identical other than mane and eye color. And the fact that this Obsidian was a Unicorn.”

“Are Crystal Unicorns both Crystal ponies and Unicorns?” Rose asked.

“I do not think so,” I answered. I think the Crystal Coat is a separate genetic from type of pony, but all Crystal Ponies get it, sort of like how only males can be colorblind.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird that at least two ponies look almost exactly like an ancestor?” Shining wondered.

“Yeah, well I think it is something in that particular bloodline, or maybe luck” I replied. “Anyway, Rose and I should of get information. Before I go, was there a secret room behind the throne?”

“Yeah, but it was empty,” Cadence told me. Now that was strange.

We headed out of the castle. Crystal Ponies were milling about now, but their coats were nowhere near as shiny as they should be. I stopped the one closest to us. He was mint green, with a turquoise mane; a chess piece was his Cutie Mark.

“Excuse me, sir?” I said. “What is your name?”

“I-I’m Rook,” he responded, quite uninterested.

“Hello Rook,” I greeted. “We are looking for information. Would you happen to know anything about how to protect the Empire?”

“Why does the Empire need protected?” he asked, suddenly panicking.

“Just precautionary!” Rose jumped in. The shield betrayed us, flickering for a moment.

“It’s not precaution!” Rook shouted.

He turned and ran as fast as his hooves could take him. I thought of chasing after him, but it probably would not do much. By the time we got him we could interview a lot more ponies. I looked around the square, trying to pick out a new pony to interrogate.

“Oh my gosh! Pearl!” screamed a pony. I saw a blur tackle Rose Quartz, and stood shocked for a minute. The mare was holding Rose tightly, not wishing to let go. After that, I noticed she was crystal pony, with the full crystal coat. Her coat was a pale gray, and her mane was a bit orchid colored, with silver rings holding it in place.

“What’s going on?” Rose asked when the mare’s grip released.

“Oh thank the stars you’re safe!” she exclaimed. “I never thought I’d see you again!”

“Fleur! Calm down!” another mare shouted, coming up next to me. This one was arctic blue with a more mulberry colored mane. She was not crystallized.

“Excuse me, ladies,” I interjected. “My name is Feria, and this is Rose Quartz. We are trying to-“

“Rose Quartz?” the mare, Fleur I think it was, asked. Her crystal coat began to fade, the silver rings falling out of her mane, disappearing as they hit the ground.

“Wait! Do not do that!” I exclaimed. “Think about what you were just now! Hold onto it! You called her ‘Pearl’! Who is Pearl?”

“Pearl is my friend,” she answered, a little of her shine coming back.

“Good, now why did you think you would never see her?” I pushed.

“Sh-she was in Hearthstone,” she answered. “That lavender Unicorn said it had been over a thousand years, and she wasn’t here when King Sombra-“

The color left her, and her friend began to panic. She wanted to pull away. I held close.

“Think of Pearl!” I commanded. “She was in Hearthstone, and the Empire disappeared for over a thousand years. She is gone by now, but I have a list! I have a list of ponies that made it out of the Crystal Empire!”

"They made it out?" the arctic one exclaimed. "Emerald! Is Emerald alright?"

"I haven't gone over the list but-" I began.

"Emerald is the princess!" she shouted. "She's... you would have seen her!"

"Right," I did't now how to break this to her. "Emerald did make it out, but-"

"Oh thank the stars!" I swear she was about to break down in tears, but her coat shone brilliantly. "She's alive! She-"

"I am sorry!" I stopped her, a little louder than I meant. "Emerald did make it out. But the Empire disappeared for one thousand years. She's been dead quite a while. "

The mare stopped. The shine in her coat dulled abruptly, leaving her worse than before. She stared straight through me, like I was not even there. I could have sworn she stopped breathing, or at least that she wanted to.

"I know it's not much," I tried to sound as comforting as I could, "but we are getting that list, of the ones who made it out. We can find decedents. A-and Emerald is on that list. Her great, great, and a lot more greats, granddaughter is currently trying to get the Empire back on track, and once we do that we can get onto that."

"You know where their descendants are?" the other one asked.

“Yes!” I answered. “Well, it is just a list for now, but my sisters and I are working on tracking down the descendants of those that made it out. I cannot bring them back to you, but I can find any and all descendants, which might include the mare you tackled.”

“Sorry about that, by the way,” Fleur said, turning back to Rose.

“It’s alright,” Rose assured her. “I’ve tackle-hugged a fair amount of ponies.”

“Now that I really look,” she thought, “You’re not Pearl. You still look like her, but it’s the little things, like her coat was less translucent.”

“Okay, Fleur and,” I looked to the other mare. “What was your name?”

“Oh, uh I’m Autumn Gem,” she answered, her voice hollow. She still hadn't looked up. “You said you and your sisters are working on tracking down descendants? You’d have to be pretty high up for access to records like that.”

“I kind of am,” I chuckled, extending a wing.

“That’s why you looked familiar,” Fleur mused. “There is a statue of you in Hearthstone. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier, Princess, uh-”

"Feria," I offered my name again.

“Where is Hearthstone?” Rose asked.

“It’s, how do I describe it?” she wondered. “Basically the Castle and its surrounding area, right in the middle of the Everfree Forest. I was there a few years back, well a few years plus a thousand apparently, but it was quite beautiful.”

“But the Castle’s quite a bit away from the forest?” Rose questioned.

“They moved it,” I murmured. “Okay, the two of you, I need you to hold on to those happy thoughts, alright? We are going to ask a few questions, but they might be difficult to answer. I want to ask about the day King Sombra took over.”

Both of their coats paled, but they held on. Giving them something to think about made it easier. I waited.

“I-it was Princess Emerald’s birthday,” Fleur finally said. “She was legally an adult. That day she was going to be officially named heir to the throne.”

“Why was Emerald the heir?” I asked. “I never met them, but from the family portrait it looked like Obsidian was the eldest.”

“He was,” Autumn answered. “But Emerald was the Alicorn. Aren’t they supposed to be the rulers?

“Not really,” I replied. “Right now, there is an Earth Pony princess ruling over Saddle Arabia, and the ruler in Zebrica is half Zebra and half Unicorn.”

“I guess it’s not a requirement then,” she said. “It was just all we can think of. Princess Lazuli always had Emerald do the royal duties instead, from events to parties, she was the one they used, even though she hated having the royal duties. She told anypony who would listen that Obsidian would be better than her at any of this.”

“What happened that day?” I asked, putting them back on track.

“I-I remember they all came out onto the balcony,” she told me. “Princess Lazuli was announcing Emerald’s birthday, Prince Harpsy took over, telling the Empire how proud they were of their daughter. There was a darkness that sneaked up from the doorway.”

“The doorway?” Rose questioned. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Fleur answered. “Even before I knew who he was, I felt terrified. I remember seeing blood, lots of blood, then cold iron around my neck, then I-I can’t!”

Her coat reverted to the non-crystal form. Autumn began to follow. I hated this! I understood how scared they were, but I cannot get anything out of them.

“Autumn, just hold on, two more questions,” I begged. “Do you have any ideas on how to stop Sombra’s magic?”

“Something about the fair,” she answered, gold pieces falling from her mane. “I can’t remember why.”

“Last one, hold on a bit longer,” I said. “Where was Prince Obsidian? Lazuli and Harpsy are dead, and Emerald made it out alive, but do you know what happened to Obsidian?”

“Obsidian wasn’t with them,” she cried out, tears streaming down her face. “That thing got him! I- I thought he’d be fine! But then he- I’m sorry! I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you!”

“No,” I whispered. “I am sorry.”

Tears still streaming down her face, her coat became completely lackluster, maybe even worse than before. I released her, letting both her and Fleur walk off down the street. I stared after her, something was nagging at the back of my mind. I could see everypony else coming back to report on their findings. From their faces they had worse luck than us.

“I don’t know much about interrogation, but that seemed unhelpful,” Rose sighed.

“It is probably the most we will get,” I agreed.

Twilight, Spike and Applejack all got back at the same time. Rarity soon walked up, followed by Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy popped up between Twilight and I. Wait, when did Pinkie get a Fluttershy costume? The real FLuttershy showed up a minute later, freaking out when she saw Pinkie’s outfit.

“I got nothing so far,” Rainbow sighed.

“Me neither,” Rarity added.

“Sorry Twilight,” Applejack said. “These Crystal Ponies seem to have some kinda collective amnesia or somethin’. I was able to find out where a library is.”

“A library!” Twilight exclaimed. “That’s out next stop!”

“Back to the ‘collective amnesia’ idea,” I reported as we began our walk to the library. “I was able to find out that, if we can get a Crystal Pony experiencing enough of a positive emotion, enough to crystallize their coats, they remember things. The problem is that asking about Sombra is triggering. They shut down, freak out.

“Before that happened,” I continued, “I found out a bit about the day Sombra took over. He came through the castle to the balcony where three members of the royal family were. He killed two of them, one escaped to a place called Hearthstone while the fourth disappeared. She also said something about a fair, but I did not get much.”

“Why didn’t you ask about ways to protect the Empire?” Twilight asked.

“Because that would have freaked them out more,” I explained. “They are smart enough to know that if I am asking about protecting them, then he is probably attacking again! If you toss them into that they will go right into that trigger and I would have gotten even less out of them.”

“I guess you’re right,” she grumbled.

“Look on the bright side!” I smiled. “You get to visit the Crystal Library.”

“Yeah,” she sighed dreamily. “It’s probably just as big and spectacular as everything else here!”

“Not only that,” I reminded her. “That library has been lost for over one thousand years. Information about that part of history has not been tainted by the last thousand years of information, it is all new. Plus, Luna told me there were a few books that were only found in this library. Imagine that, a bunch of books nopony has read in one thousand years.”

Her smile widened, quickly dissolving into a fit of giggles. She ran for the building, a large blue place with Griffin statues out front. The inside was huge, like we imagined. This was the size of Canterlot’s library!

“I just…” Twilight sighed, spinning to try and see everything. “I don’t even know what to… There are no words!”

“May I help you?” an old mare with glasses asked. Her coat was a light blue violet and her mane rosy, but both were graying. The fact that she was not crystallized probably was not helping.

“Yes!” Twilight answered. “We’re looking for a book.”

“We have plenty of those,” the mare answered.

“You do!” Twilight sighed again. “You really do.”

“We’re lookin’ for a history book,” Applejack explained. “Somethin’ that might tell us how the Empire might’ve protected itself from danger back in the day.”

“Yes, of course,” the mare shook her head. “History, history. Ah, yes.”

We waited for an answer, but she just stared blankly.

“Which is where, exactly?” Twilight asked.

“I… I can’t seem to remember,” the mare said. “I’m not sure I actually work here.”

“We’ll just take a look around,” Twilight suggested. “I’m sure we can find it on our own.”

“Let me know if you find anything!” she called as we wandered through the shelves.

“I like her!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing her way along.

Twilight headed over to look for the history section, but the fiction section caught my eye. I walked over, already using magic to levitate books around me. Rose was still with me, taking the slower route by reading the books’ spines long the shelf.

“Why aren’t we in the history section?” she wondered. I glanced over at her. It was adorable how she silently mouthed the words of the titles she read.

“The Crystal Empire was only on its second ruler when it disappeared,” I answered. “Very few history books about the Empire would have been made, the history section is probably mostly Equestria’s history. Fiction sometimes holds just as much truth. After all, Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Harmony were believed to just be things for children’s storybooks until this past year. Who is to say that legends of an amazing power protecting Empire could be fact?”

“You didn’t go into much detail when you told Twilight about what we got,” she stated. It was a question of sorts.

“That is because I am afraid of the answer,” I sighed. “If I tell you this, please, keep it here, between us.”

“Of course,” she nodded.

“Something seems off about what happened,” I said. “Only three of the Royal Family were there and only two got killed. Why did Sombra not kill Emerald when he had the chance? And where was Obsidian? I could understand being upset that his sister would get the throne; he was the oldest and should have it by right. But the thing about being a royal is that even if you do not want to go to an event like that, you have to. You can sulk and complain all you want, but you still have to go.”

“It’s suspicious,” Rose agreed. “Do you think they’re lying?”

“I believe they were honest, but that is the problem,” I sighed. “Do you remember, that for Fleur de Vere, it was remembering Lazuli and Harpsy’s deaths that put her over the edge enough for her crystal coat to fall?”

“But Autumn didn’t until you asked about Obsidian,” she figured out. “You’re thinking she knows, but are you thinking the same thing I’m thinking happened?”

"When she referred to the royal family, it was quite inconsistent," I stated. "'Princess Lazuli', 'Prince Harpsy', she used their titles. But for Emerald and Obsidian, she used their names. Autumn was not apologizing to me."

Rose fell quiet. I would not allow myself to think past the idea. I should pay attention to the books flying by me. One in particular caught my eye.

‘The Legend of Hearthstone’ was the name. Normally I would have tossed it into the quickly growing reject pile, but it was out of place. It looked much to thin, only around ten pages, and when I cracked its spine I found colorful pictures. It was a children’s book that had been placed in the adult section. Reading through it, I found a story of magic and rainbows, supposedly hidden within the castle. It was a generic story for a generic book, probably written around the time when ponies began to think of Alicorns as something ‘more’ than them.

“Anyone else startin’ to think this is a lost cause?” Applejack asked a few rows over.

“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed happily. “’History of the Crystal Empire!’ I found it! I just hope it has the answers we need.”

Checking the book out was easy, as the castle had a library card. I chuckled at the idea that somepony out there might currently hava a book that was one thousand years late. This particular book never left Twilight’s face the entire walk back to the castle; she even walked up the stairs to the throne room like that.

“You said a pony mentioned the Crystal Fair ad something to do with protecting the Empire?” she asked me, still not looking up.

“She did not say how it protects them,” I answered. “Did you find a passage on it?”

“What did you find?” Shining Armor asked as we walked through the doors.

“Something that might work!” Twilight exclaimed. “A Crystal Fair, one of the ponies mentioned it. According to this book, it was established by their first Princess and became their most important tradition. The Fair was held every year to ‘renew the spirit of love and unity in the Empire so they could protect it from harm’. My friends and I could put it together. Everything we need to know is in the book!”

“That sounds pretty promising,” Shining replied, assuring himself more than us. He gave a worried look to Cadence, who seemed even more tired than before.

“We’ll get started right away!” Twilight said. “Come on, we’ve got a Crystal Fair to put together.”

“Actually, Twilight, I am going to stay here,” I replied. “Well, not ‘here’, I am going to look around for Azura’s personal library, or her workshop, or something of the sort. Rose can help in my place.”

“Fine,” she agreed. “Meet up with us if you find anything.”

“Why didn’t you look for that workshop before?” Shining asked as they walked out.

“I sort of did,” I told him. “It should be behind the throne. Where she always put it, but you said the room was empty.”

He nodded, going back to giving Cadence worried looks. I hoped we could find something soon. Her magic might not last the fair.

I systematically checked rooms in the castle. I found kitchens, the guard barracks, rooms for diplomatic meetings and an impressive ballroom, but no library or workshop. I began mildly panicking; I knew Azura had to have had a room to work on her projects.

I began checking bedrooms. Guest rooms were basically like hotel rooms, just basic toiletries. The room I assumed to be Lazuli and Harpsy’s was full of fancy outfits and musical instruments. Emerald’s room was that of a mare still in school; most books were either storybooks or standard textbooks. Obsidian’s room seemed promising at first, but most of the books were missing from his bookshelves. If anything that just proved there was a workshop.

Eventually I made my way back to the throne room, nodding to Shining, Cadence and Twilight out on the balcony. I stared at the floor beneath their hooves. This was where the takeover had happened, an I half expected to see blood on the crystal. Sometime while I was in Lazuli’s room the fair had started. I should go out there, see what else I can learn, but I could not bring myself to do it. I had made one pony run away, another have a panic attack, and a third burst into tears.

I tried for the room behind the throne. Like Shining told me, it was empty. I checked walls for secret doors, I inspected each crystal. I looked for pictures on the door, like in the Everfree castle, yet there was nothing.

“We’ve got a problem!” I heard Rainbow yell as she landed on the balcony. I didn’t hear much, something about the ponies powering something. Twilight said something about a relic and a missing page.

I sighed. I knew we were in trouble. Cadence’s magic will not last long, even with Shining assuring us it is fine. I wondered what we could do.

“Well, I’ll have to retrieve the Crystal Heart!” Twilight exclaimed.

My body perked up, energy rushing through me. I ran out to the balcony. Maybe I did something faster than running, like fly or teleport, because I seemed to be there instantly. My smile was wide, and I only hoped I heard her right.

“The Crystal Heart is here?”

Crystal Magic

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“You know what the Crystal Heart is!” Twilight exclaimed. “Why didn’t you mention it before?”

“I-I did not know it was here!” I replied. “I did not know where it was! I had not seen it since, well I had only seen our prototype!”

“What exactly is the Crystal Heart?” Shining asked.

“It is a long story, but I will try to be fast,” I answered. “It began with Azura. She was talented, combining magic with inventions, her specialty was using magic on gems. It was Azura who crafted the Elements of Harmony.”

“Wait they were crafted?” Rainbow stopped me. “I figured they’d been some kinda ancient mystical artifact given by some powerful mysterious force. Like something Daring Do would find in some abandoned temple.”

“I bet that rumor flew around for a few hundred years,” I chuckled. “But no, she crafted them. We realized the power of the Elements of Harmony, what just simple acts and personality traits can do. We wanted to find a way to access that magic, and we found a way. Think of the Elements like a cannon; the necklaces and tiara are the cannon, but the cannonball is the actual magic, the spirits of the Elements of Harmony.

“Though everypony has the Elements within them,” I continued, “Only some ponies have enough of that Element to be able to use them, but they have to have a strong connection to the other bearers to do it! So we could have hypothetically replaced one of us with somepony with a strong connection to an Element, but because they are not connected to us, they are not the Spirit of the Element.”

“So back when Discord was attacking us and I replaced Rainbow with Spike,” Twilight followed, “If we hadn’t been under his spell that might have worked?”

“No, it would not have,” I said. “You have to be connected to all the other Elements. Spike is really only connected to you, because you are like a big sister to him, and to Rarity for his crush on her. But while he is friends with the rest of us, those are his strongest connections. Think about it like this: Spike would do anything for you or Rarity if you asked, yet it is easy for him to say no to Pinkie asking something.

“I will get more in depth with those later,” I got us back on track. “We thought it unfair that only the seven of us could use the Elements of Harmony, so we got out team together. Azura, Morning Aura, Starswirl, Evening Soul, and I worked together on the idea of the Crystal Heart. If we got it to work, it would absorb and amplify emotional magic; like Cadence’s specialty spell, it would radiate that emotion to not just the pony it was cast on, but to everypony within its range. As far as testing went, it works best on Crystal Ponies due to their bodies working like gems, but anypony experiencing an emotion could work. Our prototype enveloped an area the size of the Everfree forest and surrounding areas, and with a few hundred years to perfect the design, it might even be able to cover the entire land.”

“Then it must be the magic Princess Celestia was talking about!” Twilight exclaimed. “She said that if the Empire is filled with hope and love, then it’s reflected over Equestria, but she also said that the same would happen for hatred and fear.”

“That is exactly what it does,” I said. “We wondered if we would be able to make it so that the Heart would not pick up on negative emotions, but we decided against it. After all, is it not all emotions that remind us we are alive? Some emotions hurt, but they are a part of us; ignoring sadness or anger or fear is no way to live.”

“As great as that is, what good is it against enemies?” Shining asked. “I don’t think a bunch of emotions could get rid of him.”
“No, the Crystal Heart could not help like that unless...” I stopped, realizing that she had done exactly what I was going to suggest. “Oh, that is fantastic, brilliant, and inspired! Azura you are completely insane and completely a genius!”

“You thought of something?” he wondered.

“Remember my cannon analogy?” I answered. “The Crystal Heart is like a cannon. Usually just the emotion would be the cannonball being shot, but that is only if the crystal heart itself is used as the canon. Gems without a spell on them can be loaded with pure magical energy, that can be turned into a large blast of magic, like a very powerful laser beam spell.”

“They Crystal Empire,” I said, stomping my hooves on the ground, “Is made completely of crystals and gems; every building, every street, any part of furniture that is not cushioned is made out of some crystal or gem.”

“We could power the entire Empire!” Twilight exclaimed. “I can get Rarity and-“

“That will not work,” I cut her off. “We do not need one large blast, but a continuous blast. We could get the three of us, maybe a couple Crystal Unicorns are in town can calm their fears long enough to help, but even then, we would have to continuously feed energy into the place long enough to defeat him. One blast and the magic would regenerate a bit. His magic has to be continually attacked until it disappears. We would all pass out from exhaustion before it finished.”

“Then why are you still smiling?” she asked, quickly getting annoyed that nothing seems to work.

“Because we need a different cannonball!” I grinned. “The Crystal Heart turns emotions of all ponies into magical energy that we can use to charge the Empire! Azura already set the place up! We just need the Crystal Heart and the spell to activate it!

“You said you worked on the prototype,” Twilight said. “Do you remember the spell?”

“It feels like I used it just a month ago,” I had a wild grin on my face. “But I will keep looking for Azura’s workshop just in case, the spell might have changed with the final version. You try to find the Crystal Heart. Look somewhere very hidden, and probably heavily protected with enchantments.”

“We can help,” Shining offered.

He did not get the chance. Cadence stumbled, her magic flickering. She collapsed. Shining caught her, but her magic went out.
I turned to look out over the Empire. The shield disappeared to reveal large shadows on all sides. A face appeared in its center. His irises were red, but his sclera was glowing green; Purple magic streamed from his eyes.

“The Empire is under attack!” Shining announced.

He helped Cadence up, reassuring her that she had the power left. Her horn lit. As the magic shield went back up they let out a breath they did not know they were holding. I did not.

When the shield was not there, I could feel his magic again. Even when it came back up, I remembered just what was out there. I felt that cold fear gripping me once again. I tried to breathe. This was not just attacking me, but everypony here. Every pony here, and maybe every pony in Equestria, depended on this. I would not let my own fears stop me from protecting my family.

“Sh-Shining, stay here w-with Cadence,” I tried to command, but my voice was wavering. I still was breathing far too fast. “Twilight, find t-the Crystal Heart.”

“What can I do?” Rainbow offered.

“You and the rest of our friends have to keep the fair going,” Twilight answered for me.

“With that thing attacking the Empire?” I could tell she was going to tell a story of how she could totally take him on with one wing tied down, but she did not get the chance.

“The whole point of the Fair is to lift their spirits so they can activate the Crystal Heart,” she explained. “If the Crystal Ponies find out that King Sombra is trying to take over the Empire again, their spirits are going to be anything but lifted. It won’t matter if I find the Crystal Heart. They won’t be able to make it work. You have to keep them happy at the fair.”

“Keep the Fair going and keep the Crystal Ponie’s spirit’s high!” Rainbow repeated, beginning to fly off. “Done and done!”

“Twily, be careful,” Shining warned.

“I will,” she replied, running out of the castle.

I stayed in place for a few moments. I was still trembling slightly, not trusting myself to move. I used my time to think of more places either the Heart or the workshop would be.

“Are you okay?” Shining asked. That look of worry was similar to the one he kept giving Cadence when she groaned or stumbled. I must have been in a worse state than I thought.

“No,” I answered. “I am not okay. But I have to be.”

“Why is it that every mare in my family does that?” He said. “You always push yourself too hard. Mom and Twilight do that, Cadence has a few times, including now, I’ve seen Princess Celestia pull more all-nighters than a student in finals week, and I’m going to take a guess that Princess Luna has done the same before. Keep it up, and you’ll eventually burn out.”

“Do you not do the same?” I smirked. “You were using all of your magic to keep a shield up on your wedding day, you did not even stop doing regular guard work until the actual wedding day.”

“Okay, okay,” he sighed. “You’ve got me on that one, but I didn’t burn myself out, I just got hypnotized by an evil Queen. But you get my point. Nopony can go on forever, physically or mentally. “

“You see all the ponies down there?” I asked, gesturing with my wing to everypony at the Fair. “The same thing I am terrified of is part of the reason they are terrified. I assume you know about my oddity?”

“You said a few things that didn’t make sense, so I asked around,” he replied. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to be murdered. That might be a unique experience.”

“In terms of coming back, yes,” I said. “But being a victim of his magic is not just for me. King Sombra is not the one who killed me, but he is using magic that was probably given to him by the one who killed me. The power that stops me in my tracks is the same power that makes the Crystal Ponies run away or burst into tears. Because I know their fear, and I have the power to stop it, I have to keep going. This is not about what I need.”

“I can’t force you to stop,” he warned. “But I can strongly suggest that you let others help if they can.”

“I know,” I sighed, walking back to the throne room.

“It’s got to be here somewhere!” I heard Twilight exclaim form the next room. “It’s just got to be!”

“Twilight, I have already checked every room in here while you set up the fair,” I shouted to her. “I have not even found her usual secret passages.”

“But where else would it be?” she asked as she and Spike entered. “If the Heart was anywhere else, anypony could get it away from the King. He had to have it close by.”

“Let us keep looking then,” I said.

She stared intently at the throne. I could tell she was figuring something out, but I did not see it. Maybe she was imagining Sombra sitting on that throne, which is hard to think about.

“Of course!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Did you find it?” Spike asked.

“No,” she answered. “Because this isn’t King Sombra’s castle.”

“Well, isn’t it where he lived when he was in power?” Spike tried to follow.

“It is but it didn’t look like this!” She replied.

Her horn lit, I could see her strain with effort. The magenta magic surrounding her turned black, purple streamed from her eyes. The black mixed with purple and green, recreating Sombra’s spells.

I did not pay much attention to the hole that opened up in the floor, as I began to panic again. Twilight was using his magic. This was not just a spell created by somepony else, or even anywhere close to how it is when a Unicorn uses Dragon magic. She used and manipulated his magic.

“When did you learn to do that?” Spike asked, obviously in awe.

“That was a little trick Celestia taught me,” Twilight smiled.

“What do you mean by ‘Celestia taught you’?” I choked out. “She cannot have- she could not-“

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Twilight,” I pleaded, “try not to use that spell, or any like it. I hate to have to tell you to not use a spell, but that magic is dangerous.”

“How dangerous?” she wondered.

“Very dangerous,” I glanced at Spike, he is old enough to understand what I will say, right? “The kind of dangerous that has gotten ponies killed or driven them insane enough to kill.”
That got her attention. As she looked at me, the rest of her skepticism melted away. Somehow, I felt even more terrified than before, but this fear allowed me to move forward; it let me fight it, because there is something I can do about it.

“I’ll try not to use it,” Twilight agreed. “But there may be more hidden things like this that would require that spell.”

“And if you have to you have to,” I replied. “But try another way around it first. Including letting others help you. I told Celestia to not turn this into a test for you, but she kept saying she has some other ideas. I trust that all will be fine.”

While she descended the stairs, I went back to the door behind the throne. Twilight was right, this was not the castle Sombra lived in, but it was also not the castle Azura lived in either. These rooms were built originally, but the Crystal Heart’s power combined with these crystal walls. There had to be rooms like the one Twilight uncovered, but coded for a different magic.

As I looked at the door, I promised that no matter what I would not use his magic to try and gain access. I should not have to, since I am looking for Azura’s workshop, not Sombra’s. His castle had been infused with that magic, but Azura’s castle was infused with feelings of joy, hope, happiness and love.

I focused on the crystal above the door, focusing on those feelings. I blasted the gem with that energy. It glowed and transferred that energy to the door.

Inside the room was now completely full. Shelves and tables full of books, including those missing from Obsidian’s room, were along the walls. Tables with tools and instruments and many unfinished inventions took up the rest of the space.

I picked up a cylinder-shaped object that flared out at the bottom. I pressed the button on its side and was met with a blinding light. Blinking the spots out of my eyes I inspected it further. Inside the cylinder was a light gem. The button had flipped open its flared end, letting the light shine through. I pointed it at a wall, the light appearing as a circle on its surface. It was basically an easy way for non-Unicorns to have a non-flammable light source without having a light gem shine all over all the time.

I kept using the light, using it to go over the dark room. Looking at the ceiling there was a large light gem, probably set to turn on if somepony was in the room, but it had been broken. A black crystal stuck out of its center.

I cast the circle of light over the tables. Most tools were simple but broken. A few sets were made of a red crystal. I picked up a red crystal hammer, testing it against a table. It seemed sturdier than normal hammers.

The book shelves were filled with books on spells and types of magic. There was a small one open a podium next to a table with a broken red crystal and a picture frame; it had no title, no pictures, just words. Its contents talked of immense magical power, beyond the dreams of even the most talented Unicorns. The user would be able to do anything they wanted, and prove their worth to anypony who questioned them.

The book’s words whispered in the back of my mind. So much power could be taken from this book. Would I need the Crystal Heart to defeat Sombra if I used this? Sombra was not the only one I could defeat. According to this, a normal Unicorn would be given enough magic to hold their own against the Princesses. But I was no normal Unicorn. I remembered back to the wedding. Chrysalis had beaten Celestia and Luna so easily, but I used my most powerful form and held my own against her.

“I would’ve won if I was fighting to kill instead of trying to save her,” I said aloud. “If I hadn’t done that, I could have won. If my friends didn’t do something as stupid as get captured I could’ve beat her and kept that power.

“All of that magic coursing through my body!” I was shouting now. “I could still have that and we would not be in this situation! I could strike Sombra down where he stands! The subjects would be grateful! ‘Why is Celestia in charge?’ they’ll ask.

“They’d bow to me!” I stomped my hooves on the ground, laughing as the thought came. “I’d have enough power to do anything! I could raise the dead! I-I could alter time! I could stop it all from happening! All of it! I would never have lost them! And I never would have to lose any of them! My sisters, my friends, my family, I’ll have you all, we’ll be happy, we’ll be together.”

I lit my horn, following the books instructions. Think of the thing you want, and what you would do to get it. I felt like I would do anything.

That is when I felt the magic change. The magic I was wielding was no longer mine, it was his. Was I screaming or was that just in my mind? I tried to shut it off, but it kept talking to me. It telling me I could have all that, it wanted me to keep going, but I could not. I could not breathe, I was not just trembling I was shaking violently. Tears streamed down my face.

“Stop!” I cried out. “Stop this now!”

I could not stop. It fed off my fear, my anger. I tried to calm down, but that only made me panic more. I saw my reflection in the crystal on the table. I looked just like Twilight did, just as Sombra does. The sclera was bright green, and purple magic streamed from my eyes. I looked a terrified as I felt; my eyes wide, my breathing heavy, I tried to stop it all.

The picture on the worktable caught my eye. I could see Azura, looking as old as she did in her last Crystal Message, Stone Symphony was next to her, somehow looking grayer than usual. Azura was holding a small green foal that I assumed was Emerald. A blue and gold tail was behind them, its owner was just out of frame.

Remembering Azura brought on more emotions. My stomach twisted itself with guilt. Just moments ago I was planning to bring her back to life. No, I did worse than that. I was planning to rewrite time itself so that we could stay together; I would have ripped her away from her husband, her children, and her grandchildren for myself. I hated that those thoughts came from me. He did not make me think that, he might have made the thought stronger, but those thoughts came from my own mind.

That is what was doing this. My own thoughts were making this magic happen. I tried focusing on happier memories. My breathing slowed, but it was still quite ragged. His magic stopped, finally allowing me to think without panic.

“I have to destroy this,” I whispered. Picking it up in my magic, I could feel it for what it truly was; It was his magic condensed into a solid form, his words on the page, but a trap not meant for me. It tried to fight back. Its magic invaded my mind, trying to show me visions. I could tell that is what they were, because they acted similar to dreams in the Dreamworld, made of one pony’s magic. It showed me my fears.
I saw a full graveyard. I would not need to walk its rows to know who it said lie buried here; I always said that any friendship can be mended as long as they are both alive. Its magic was trying to scare me into using that magic, to tell me I could save them. I could make all of my family immortal.

I set the book aflame. The vision subsided. I used the Realm of Souls to make sure that all of his magic was gone from here. The only part of it I could sense was Sombra at the shield. No, he was not just at the shield, a part of him was inside it, probably a small portion being controlled by him outside.

I had to work faster. I tried to look around the room, but my eyes kept returning to the table and the podium. I had already called that book a trap, but who was it a trap for?

It was not a trap for Azura, I decided. This was once her workshop, but no longer did it belong to her. It had been years before the Empire disappeared when she last entered here. Judging from how old she looked in the picture on the table, it was only a few years after it that she died. The picture in the hall showed Emerald to be a few years younger than me when it was made, probably close to the time that Sombra took over.

But I took notice of who was missing. Lazuli’s tail was in the picture, but she was not in it. This was once a larger picture, probably containing her, Harpsy and Obsidian, since anyone making the picture would have just not put her tail in there if it was just of them. They were taken out. Azura would not have done that, she would have kept her daughter and son-in-law in the picture, and if this belonged to Lazuli or Harpsy they would have kept the other in there.

This workshop had been left to Obsidian. From the way Autumn talked about them, I could guess that Lazuli and Harpsy ended up picking favorites. Alicorns are not always leaders, but we are pressured into it. Some of us do better than others, but Lazuli picked Emerald to rule, apparently preparing her for the throne from day one.

The trap was for Obsidian. It played on his jealousy. He knew he should have been the ruler, and that book used that. ‘Prove their worth to anypony that questioned them’ is the phrase the book used. It knew all the right words to get him to use that magic, and when he let it in, it took hold of him.

I glanced at the red crystal on the table. It was broken, but it looked like it actually had shape before. I think it might have been a group of ponies, but I could not figure out who they were; their heads were missing, along with most of their tails. One might have been a Pegasus, as I could see where her wings were broken off, the other two were wingless, though I do not know if they were Unicorns, Earth Ponies, Crystal Ponies, or any combination.

Its energy felt different than any of the other red crystals for many reasons. It felt like it was made with purpose, other than just another piece, and its broken parts were done by magic, not my simply breaking them off or dropping it. But there was something else.

I reached out with my magic to get a feel magic within it. I had already checked that none of his magic existed, but there was another magic. The pony it belonged to made all of the red crystal objects in this room, but there was a spell on this one.

If I was right, this crystal had a message embedded in it, similar to the large crystal back in the old castle. It was probably shorter, a single message instead of a bunch of diary entries, and I had no idea how the broken pieces would affect the message. I cast the spell to read it anyway. It surprised me to see it pop up, but I still did not expect Obsidian’s form to be the one I saw.

“Will anypony hear this?” he asked. “Is that a good thing?”

It was a life size projection, letting me finally see what he looked like in a form other than paint. He was a good bit taller than me, and he looked much stronger than an average Unicorn. The thing that caught my attention was the lack of a crystal coat. The painting in the hall depicted him exactly like this, but with a Crystal coat; If the crystal coat was really there when it was painted, there should have been more, things like the metal decorations and hairpieces, even on a stallion. The coat in the piture was faked. I had no doubt that he did have one, but it had probably not been seen in a long time.

“I don’t have long,” he shuddered, the projection glitching, distorting his voice, probably an effect of the broken crystal. “I wish I never found that book. I’ve tried to make it right, I tried to stop it! I never should have opened that book. It started with just wanting to help them, then it toyed with me, offering me more and more with every page I read.

“I should have stayed away from it, but we were desperate! She only had another few weeks.”

The image went fuzzy again, scattering colors all over. A sound like crinkling candy wrappers rang in my ears. I do not know what I missed, but when his imaged focused again he was shouting. He was staring at the ground, eyes probably beginning to tear up.

“I couldn’t help them!” he shouted. “All I did was ruin everything again! I know what he’s going to do, and I can’t stop him! He tells me what we’re doing is right, but it isn’t! I didn’t want them-!”

He cut out again, but when he came back he looked worse. His breathing was heavy. I could see a flicker of purple along his eyes.

“I didn’t want them gone!” his voice cracked. “I wanted them to see what I was, but now they’re… by my own hooves. I was able to stop him from harming Emerald. She might not fly for a while, but she should be safe. I-I hope she and Autumn make it out before I-“

The image scattered again. The crinkle noise came back louder, more like a rushing waterfall. I held my breath. I had figured out what happened beforehoof, but I did not want to think of it. I did not want to face this out of a selfish wish to not feel guilty for this.

I wanted to believe that this had been what he wanted, that the magic was only what gave him the ability, that if I had been here I would not have been able to save him. I knew I would think this was my fault, that it was my fault, if I let myself figure it out.

“I’m sorry.” Were the last words before it faded out.

I could not stop the screaming in my head. I could not imagine what it must have been like, for all of them. They were all victims to His magic because I could not stop him. I felt like I might be sick. I had to get out of this room.
I heard a commotion as I ran from the room. Everypony except Twilight and Spike were heading to the balcony. I could hear the sounds of panicked ponies.

“What’s going on?” I shouted, joining them as they headed through the door.

“They found out about the Crystal Heart!” Rose answered.

“And about King Sombra being right on their doorstep,” Rarity added. She stopped running, giving me that concerned look. “Darling, are you alright?”

“I will be,” I said. It was easy to see she did not believe me.

“When we get home, I am making you take a week off,” she ordered. “The first day is a spa day. Don’t even try to get out of it. You need it.”

I sighed, continuing onto the balcony. Cadence was barely holding on. She had already collapsed, being held up by Shining, and her horn kept flickering. We had only minutes left before her magic gave out.

“Now don’t y’all worry your pretty, little Crystal heads!” Applejack shouted over the railing. “The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!”

“I don’t know if they believe you,” Rarity whispered to her.

“Ah’ don’t know if Ah’ believe me,” she whispered back, both smiling and waving to the crowd.

I heard a gasp behind me. I had been wrong. We had seconds, not minutes. I watched Cadence’s magic flicker, only the end of her horn glowing. I watched as it went out.

The shield dropped within the next second. I could feel His magic again, and I wanted to run. I wanted to run and hide, never to feel the way I feel ever again. I did not want to hear the screams of the Crystal Ponies as they did what I so desperately wanted to do.

“Hey! Up here!” shouted a voice. We looked up from the panic above us. Spike was climbing down a quickly growing black crystal. I wanted to shout where Twilight was, but my voice would not work. It came back when I saw something blue in his claws.

“Spike?” Rarity called up to him.

“I got the Crystal Heart!” he shouted.

“That is mine!” came a loud growl. That might be the first words I heard him speak.

Spike ran for us, but with the crystal attacking and he was still racing forward, I did not know what would happen. His form solidified; no longer was he a face in a mass of shadow but a stallion rising into the air on a growing black crystal.

I did not know what I expected, but I know who I saw. He was wearing armor and a decorative cloak, and the crown upon his head was matching silver and red. It disturbed me to say, but his horn, unlike a normal Unicorn’s horn, was curved, sharp, and glowing red.

I watched Spike’s progress down the crystal tower. I gasped as he fell, I could not even think to move, much less fly or form a spell. In the corner of my eye I saw Shining pick Cadence up. Her wings flared, though I did not think she had enough magic to fly.

I think I was surprised as anyone when Shining threw her off the balcony. Gliding takes very little magic, so it was enough. She caught both Spike and the Heart, inches away from the king’s hooves. She looped in the air, flying over the Crystal Ponies before landing. I heard shouts, some calling her Azura, or ‘the Crystal Princess’.

“The Crystal Heart has returned!” She announced to them. “Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not!”

I watched some of them try, but most stayed in fear. Why would they do any different? He killed Lazuli, an Alicorn just like Cadence, without much effort. The Crystal Heart had failed them before, why should it protect them now? Why would anypony think that they alone could stand against him?

That was the answer! I put my front hooves on the rail. Lighting my horn, I cast a spell to make my voice resonate throughout the Empire. Even ponies hiding at home would hear my voice.

“Ponies of the Crystal Empire!” I shouted. “I know your fear! I know you are afraid, and I know you feel that you cannot do anything. You think that you do not have any power to stop this from happening again.

“But look around you!” I went on. “These ponies are ones you know! They are friends, lovers, coworkers. They are your family! One pony cannot do this alone, but we are not alone! We have each other! Our fear allowed him to take over, but being with these ponies makes us happy! We love them, and that is something that cannot be taken away from us! Remember that! Remember the ponies who mean so much to us! Because of our love for them, we can do this! We can blast away his darkness and begin to free ourselves! But only with their help will we truly be free!”

I had no idea what I was saying or who I was saying it to, but it seemed to work. Their coats became fully crystal, shining, sparkling and translucent, with all the decorations. Cadence tossed the Cyrstal Heart into its place below the castle. The ponies bowed, lighting the streets as the Empire absorbed the magic.

He stared around in confusion as the power charged. I waited until the streets were fully lit, creating an almost snowflake pattern. I hesitated before casting the spell that would activate it.

“I am sorry,” I whispered.

I cast the spell, feeling the Crystal Heart spin. I felt the constant thrum of magic running through the crystal beneath my hooves. It was not a beam that came out, but a pulse of magic. I felt it wash over me, and in that moment I could feel everything from them. I felt their love and the courage it gave them, but I could feel that same fear they fought through to make this happen. I could feel a slight regret, maybe from myself, maybe from a few ponies in range of the Heart.

I heard his scream. I did not hear the screams of a defeated tyrant, nor did I hear the screams of that evil magic. It sounded painful, but in a way, grateful, like somepony would feel toward the doctor that set the broken bone. I still do not know if that is a good thing, if I could have stopped the pain in the first place.

“Oh my!” Rarity exclaimed. I looked over at her and was almost shocked out of thought. With the amount of magic pulsing through the Empire, it had enough to make all of our coats temporarily Crystal. Rarity’s mane was done up in beautiful curls, a silver headband holding it together and long earrings dangling.

I looked to everypony else. Applejack’s mane had been braided, green colored crystal tied her mane and tail, a tiara-like headband was carved into leaf shapes. Rainbow’s mane was tamed into a soft ponytail, her bangs curling upward on a thin gold circle. Pinkie’s mane was held back by blue metallic ribbons, and Fluttershy’s was held in place by turquoise flower pins. Shining did not change much, but I saw a small silver hair twist in his mane. I could bet that Twilight probably had something similar to the others, if I had to guess it would involve a silver headband.

Cadence flew back up to us, the Heart’s energy having regenerated some of her magic. Her mane was similar to the up-do she had for her wedding. Spike hopped off her back, a little confused by the way he looked like something he regularly ate for a snack. I was waiting until he realized that every pony here was the same way.

I stared at my own hoof. If I were to describe the stone it most resembled, I would call it obsidian. Sighing, I checked my reflection in the castle’s floor; my mane and tail were like a fire ruby, with multiple braids and gold hair twists.

“You all look amazing,” I said. “And we saved them.”

“That was some speech,” Cadence smirked.

“I had to do something,” I replied. “I just said what came to mind, it was not much.”

“You should follow your own words more often,” she told me. “I just said what came to mind, it was not much.”

“You should follow your own words more often,” she told me. “You aren’t alone. You may think I didn’t notice, but something bothered you when you came back from the library; you isolated yourself. You could have let somepony help.”

“In some situations that would be right,” I sighed. “But this, this is a secret that needs to be kept. Somepony made a mistake, and I feel guilty because I could have stopped it, but I cannot tell anypony exactly what happened. You know how after a pony dies, we only remember the best that they have done? I want the pony that made the mistake to be like that, dead or alive, because it is what they deserve.”

“Out of respect, I won’t try to look into that,” she said. “But I must ask how many ponies know?”

“Rose might,” I answered. “She was with me when I figured it out. There may be one or two who know.”

Cadence nodded, then went to join the others. Twilight had finally found her way back to the throne room, and they were all asking what happened. I waited, looking out at the crowd below us.

I noticed one pony. They were away from the fair; even the ponies on the edges of the cheering group would have difficulty seeing them. I could not see from here who it was, and I did not want to fly out and draw attention to them. I slipped into the Realm of Souls, smiling at what I saw.

One thousand years later, and the corruption that held him was gone. It gave me hope. I would not run from what I could not stop, but I will change the future that I can. I was ready to face them all.

Memories

by Sun Aura

Prolouge: Dreams

Beginnings

Everfree

Visions

At the Gala

Returning Chaos

The Truth

Nightmare Night

Plays are Fiction

Canterlot Shenanigans

Change

The Lost Empire

Crystal Magic