Chapter 1 - The Journey Begins

Prelude

A breeze whistled through the dark corridor of the castle in the Everfree forest. The breeze whipped right and swished up, following the stairs leading to the top of the tower. It entered a room decorated by torches that had been burned away a long time ago. A stallion was standing on the balcony of the room facing towards Canterlot, the capital of Equestria.

The pony’s white coat was faded out by the gray mist covering his entire body. His aqua mane and tail wavered as the breeze reached him and continued its journey towards the night sky. The stallion followed the breeze with his eyes. His eyes lacked any irises; their sclera were gray with darker pupils in the middle.

The mist around his horn began swirling, and a new breeze flew from it to his mouth. He began speaking in a deep, almost mournful voice. “Harbingers of darkness, your time has come. Bring fear and dread to the farmers of the east. Let their crops wither away! Let their agony begin!” As he spoke, the breeze became wind and travelled deep into the misty forest.

He fixed his gaze on the mountainside city again. He sighed deeply. “I feel your pain, Princess of the Sun. Thousands of years, seeing your beloved subjects wither away. It’ll be the greatest honor to end your long-lasting suffering.”

He bowed towards the city, then turned and retreated into the unlit room.

Healing Smiles

Written by Servant Phoenix

Pre-read by Bobdat, OkemosBrony, MrMinimii, Mesunare, ping111,
sourichan, Cormac McCloppy, Slendermare, and Fr0zenph0enix

Cover art drawn by Jayesixx

Laughter.

How could she represent something sounding so joyful and happy when everything was dull and boring? Yes, Twilight was there, standing a few steps away, but she needed quiet. Pinkie Pie hated quietness; however, she was not a pony who gave up easily. Maybe something to look at? She checked her surroundings: test tubes, vials, books, notes and various magic stuff.

Not too much luck with that idea. She could have tried fetching one of the books if her front legs weren’t strapped to this… thing. She looked at her pink hooves as they lay on White Paw’s torso. At least the little rabbit was comfortable in his miniature hospital bed. Funny how she had learned all of Fluttershy’s animals’ names since—

“Hm…”

Pinkie jerked her head up at the voice. The purple unicorn mare stood in front of her, gazing at one of the devices that was printing papers. Her frown deepened under her purple bangs as she was checking the values.

Pinkie grimaced. She would have found Twilight’s expression amusing if she hadn’t spent the last few hours watching her look like this. She sighed. Her friend wasn’t any fun either.

Pinkie looked up, just to feel the huge metal hat shift on her head messing up her bouncy pink mane. The hat, as far as she knew, was adorned with flashing green, red, and blue lamps. That could have been fun, if a pony could see the top of her own head.

After another sigh, she hunched down, putting her chin on the cold table. Why did research have to be so boring? Even the sounds, just this monotone beeping and clicking. She wished there were somepony there to talk with.

But Twilight, she just wanted that stupid quietness.

It would have been so great to be at a party now. Playing games, eating cakes, dancing... Dancing! Her eyes flashed. She straightened her back quickly and glanced down. Her lower body was completely free! She couldn’t prevent the huge grin appearing on her face as she began swinging her hips, her puffy pink tail following the movement.

“Do you feel anything?”

“Nope, Twilight. Nothing!” answered Pinkie Pie. She gradually began swinging her whole body.

Twilight sat down and put her hoof on her head. “We’ve been doing this for two hours now, Pinkie. Are you sure you haven’t even felt anything like what you’d felt last time?”

She shook her head, which elicited a groan from her partner. The poor unicorn always wanted to understand everything, she just couldn’t give up! Not that Pinkie Pie disliked her for it. Last time when they had been here together like this had been because of Twilight’s lack of belief for her future-predicting ability, the Pinkie Sense. However, this time, it was Pinkie who needed her friend’s help.

Pinkie Pie’s happy mood faded away as her mind went back to the events of the previous months. Depression, sadness and denial; her pegasus friend, Fluttershy, had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Pinkie Pie had not been able to accept the truth; she had locked herself up in her room and refused to go and see her friend dying in the hospital. However, on Fluttershy’s request and the begging of her friends, she had visited her on the last day. In her last minute, Fluttershy had done something that none of them had done for months: she had given an honest smile to her friend. After that, Pinkie had just known what to do. She had surprised everyone, even herself, when she had touched her pegasus friend’s chest and erased cancer from Fluttershy’s lungs with her glowing hooves.

Pinkie Pie, as an earth pony, wasn’t supposed to do any magic, yet she had. It was a little weird… okay, very weird. Maybe even scary. She was happy that her friend got better, and liked the idea of running around and healing everypony she met with. Their sweet smiles, filled with the joy of feeling whole again was worth spending hours strapped down to a machine in a boring room. Speaking about sweets...

“I don’t know about you, Twilight, but I feel like having a big brownie with vanilla sauce now. Aaaah...” Pinkie said, drooling at the thought.

Twilight’s stomach responded with a growl. She blushed. “Ehehe, I forgot that we skipped lunch earlier,” she stood up, “Why don’t we take a break?”

A break? That was like the best idea of the day! “Okie dokie lokie!”

Twilight’s horn glowed, and the straps on Pinkie’s legs untied. Ah, finally! Pinkie pushed herself away from the device, and fell on all fours again. It felt so much better; her front hooves were about to become numb. After rubbing them a little on the ground, she looked up at Twilight.

Twilight trotted upstairs, levitating the mini bed alongside. “I’ll take White Paw upstairs and ask Spike to take care of him while we’re out.”

Pinkie Pie nodded and followed her with small bounces. It definitely felt better to finally move those muscles. Her blissful smile widened as she hopped through the door at the top of the stairs.

The upper level was the library of Ponyville. She took a deep breath, and the scent of oak wood filled her nostrils. Definitely better than the chemical odor of the basement. Bookshelves were carved into the trunk of the hollow tree with curvy designs, giving a place for books with a variety of colors, sizes, and topics. On a ladder leaning against one of the shelves, a small purple dragon was organising the books. His green reptilian eyes were focused on the task at hand, but he still noticed them emerging from the basement door.

“Hey, Twilight! Any luck?” the dragon asked.

Twilight shook her head and gave the dragon a cheerless smile. “No, Spike. We’re taking a break now.” She put the mini hospital bed on the floor next to the door. “Could you please take care of White Paws while we go out and get something to eat?”

“Sure thing, Twi!”

Pinkie Pie smiled at Spike as he climbed down the rungs. She knew both Twilight and Spike pretty well. Her thoughts travelled back three years. In her mind, she saw Twilight and Spike in front of her, standing on the streets of Ponyville. Oh no! We’ve not one, but two new ponies to welcome! Well one’s a dragon and the other’s a pony. How should I name this party? Wow, she’s about to say something! Can’t stop for a talk, better run!

“Is everything okay, Pinkie? You’re so quiet.”

What? Pinkie’s eyes refocused on the unicorn in front of her, and she shook her head violently. While she was in her reverie, she had been following her friend through the bustling streets of Ponyville. “Yes, everything’s all right, Twilight. Just had something on my mind.” She gasped when she saw where they were heading. “We’re going to the Ponyville Restaurant! They don’t sell brownies!” She jerked her head back and forth between the restaurant and the direction of a gingerbread house. “I’ll go and get some from Sugarcube Corner! Will be back in a blink!” And with that, she sprinted away.

“But Pinkie, you can’t—”

Pinkie didn’t like leaving Twilight in the middle of her sentence, but she was in a hurry!

Pinkie reached the pink and brown gingerbread house in two minutes. She almost knocked over the customer at the door, who had been standing in the queue of the confectionery. Giving her an apology, she slipped into the kitchen, drawing the curious eyes of some customers. She closed the door behind her, still panting from the short sprint.

“Oh hello, Pinkie Pie. How are things going with Twilight?”

Pinkie Pie turned to find the source of the voice. Inside the kitchen, a middle-aged earth pony mare operating the ovens was looking at Pinkie with her rose-coloured eyes. Her blue coat and crimson mane perfectly matched the cupcakes she was about to put into one of the ovens.

Pinkie took a great breath and answered the mare in rapid sentences, “Everything’s going fine, Mrs. Cake. Well, except that we couldn't figure out anything. Does that mean that it isn’t going fine? But I don’t feel bad, so then it should mean that things are going fine, or—” Her whistling lungs finally gave up, and she broke into coughs.

Mrs. Cake chuckled at her. “Never mind, Pinkie. So what did you come here for?”

What was it? She came for… Ah yes! Pinkie’s face lit up. “Oh, I wanted to take a brownie with me.”

“You're lucky, we’ve got one left. It’s on the counter.” She pointed to a wooden counter that had a single plate with a brown pastry on it.

After catching her breath, Pinkie Pie trotted to the counter and took the plate with her hooves. However, when she looked at the pastry, she stopped. Her mouth curved down. “Oh no. It has no vanilla sauce.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure we still have some. I wish I’d remember where I’d put it,” Mrs. Cake said as she closed the oven.

Biting her lips, Pinkie Pie put back the plate and looked around with her hooves resting on the counter. Where should she start searching? She really really really needed her brownie with vanilla sauce. But she also had to hurry, Twilight was waiting!

After climbing down from the counter, she decided to go for the three cupboards on the left. Bummer, they were full of kitchen appliances and various tools. She rushed to the other part of the kitchen, passing next to... Wow, that brownie looked so tasty with that vanilla on it! She gave it an approving smile, then continued her stride to the other side of the room.

She froze mid-step.

Pinkie slowly turned her head back and rubbed her eyes with a hoof. Her brownie was there on the counter with the desired creamy sauce drizzled atop it. She glanced at the other pony in the room who was preparing the ingredients of the next pastry. Pinkie smiled. “Thanks for the sauce, Mrs Cake!” she said, and put the plate on her back. “I’ll go back to Twilight. Lala-lala-lala,” she sang as she trotted out of the kitchen.

“Sauce? But I didn’t—” The door closed with a thud.

When Pinkie arrived back, Twilight was standing next to a table with two portions of flower soup and a couple of daisy sandwiches on it. The waiter noticed Pinkie’s extra dessert, but when Twilight asked if it was okay, the waiter waved her off and told them that it’s fine.

During the lunch, Twilight also informed Pinkie about her research that she had been doing the previous day. Pinkie was sad to hear that the books in the library couldn’t tell too much about her situation. The only thing she could tell Pinkie Pie was that, according to her book of legends, she was a fainsaarn: ‘A pony with a very rare healing ability that is unlocked when the owner of the dormant talent decides to smile even in a time of great sorrow.’ Her books just loved telling everything in a fancy way.

Her friend finished her two dishes slower than she, but the extra dessert lengthened Pinkie’s eating time. While eating, Pinkie noticed from the corner of her eye that Twilight was lifting the items on the table and putting them back. “Oh great. They forgot to resupply this table with napkins.”

Pinkie looked up from her brownie, her mouth fully covered with vanilla. Was that really a problem? She rolled out her tongue, and with a big ‘slurp’, cleaned her entire face. She grinned at Twilight.

“Uhm, no thanks,” Twilight said with disgust. “I’d prefer a napkin.”

Picky. Pinkie rolled her eyes and started rummaging with one of her front hooves under the table while sticking her tongue out in concentration. She felt something soft. She pulled her hoof back and presented a balloon-adorned napkin to Twilight with a smile. “Luckily, I always have emergency napkins!”

Twilight stared at the napkin, then checked the area under the table. “When did you put that there?”

Pinkie chuckled. “Oh you silly, I put it there when… when…” When?! Her face turned from smile to a shock. She couldn’t remember. Why couldn’t she remember? “I…” She looked at the napkin on her hoof. “I don’t know!” she cried out.

“Pinkie, calm down. It’s okay,” Twilight said with a light chuckle. “This is when we usually say that ‘Pinkie Pie is being Pinkie Pie.’ I never thought I’d see you being surprised by the absurdity of your things.” Pinkie Pie’s eyes were getting wider. “Seriously Pinkie, everything is fine.”

A napkin. On her hoof. How it had gotten there? This was not absurdity, this was downright crazy! Her hoof began shaking. “No! It’s not fine! I’ve never put this napkin there!” Pinkie was almost yelling. “I have no idea how it got there!”

“You said that it was your emergency napkin,” Twilight said while Pinkie was still staring at the napkin. Pinkie felt her friend touch her shoulders. “Seriously Pinkie Pie, there’s no reason to freak out.”

No reason? Couldn’t she see it? Pinkie Pie spun and took Twilight’s head with both of her hooves. “Don’t you see it, Twilight? I don’t have memories I should have! What if I’m a changeling?” Black shapeshifting insect-ponies appeared in her mind, one of them assuming her own pink form.

Twilight pushed her hooves away. “You’re not a changeling, Pinkie.”

She… She wasn’t? “But how can you be sure?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Why would the changeling-you accuse herself of being a changeling?”

“Oh.” Okay, that really sounded stupid. She chuckled with closed eyes. “That’s true. But... why don’t I remember then, Twilight?” She sat down and glanced at the napkin that fell from her hoof to the ground. “It’s scary, and I’m very rarely scared by anything. But this is really scary.”

She felt Twilight’s hoof on her shoulder again. She looked into her violet eyes. “Don’t worry Pinkie, we’ll figure it out,” she said with a reassuring smile. “But until then, why don’t you finish your brownie?”

Pinkie Pie’s eyelids lowered, and she gave her a weak smile back. “Yeah, that sounds great.” She stood up and finished her dessert.

“Twilight! A letter from Princess Celestia!”

Spike rushed down the stairs of the library basement, holding a rolled up paper with a golden sigil in his claw. It was late afternoon already.

Twilight Sparkle pressed her eyelids together for a moment. Then her eyes suddenly opened wide, and she jerked her head towards the dragon. “A letter from the Princess? This must be something important,” she said, taking the scroll. Pinkie Pie was watching the scene, still strapped to the machine and... temporarily forgotten. She scrunched her mouth.

Twilight skimmed through the letter. “Princess Celestia has requested all six of us to Canterlot by tomorrow morning.”

Tomorrow morning? What was so urgent? Maybe she had her birthday? Wait no, her birthday would be in the next month. She still had to figure out what to give to a princess who’d lived for thousands of years.

Spike’s eyes flashed. “Can I come?”

Twilight glanced at him. “Well, the letter says nothing about you, nor our duration of stay. I’d prefer if you’d stay, Spike. Nopony knows when we’ll get back.”

Spike groaned and crossed his arms. “Why’s it that you always get these cool missions while I just stay here in the library?”

“Well, the library needs a librarian, even when I’m not at home. Someone has to stay here to help the ponies in need of a book.”

Spike rolled his eyes and turned his head aside. “Yeah, what an important task. I guess most of Ponyville doesn’t even know what that tree in the middle of the town is for.”

Hey, that wasn’t true! Pinkie Pie frowned. They knew what the library was; they just didn’t care! Her face eased as she suppressed a chuckle. She shouldn’t have said this aloud, now, should she?

Twilight smiled, then walked to Spike and looked at her with pleading eyes. “It’s important to me,” she said with a soft voice.

Spike let his claws hang and sighed. “Ah, okay okay.” He looked at Twilight.

“Thanks, Spike. What would I do without my number one assistant?” She winked.

Spike puffed his chest. “Yes, that’s me!” Cute Spike. Twilight knew just how to convince you, didn’t she? “Do you want me to tell the others that you’re going tomorrow?”

Twilight chuckled. “I’d really appreciate it. We still have some work to do.” She glanced back at Pinkie, who grinned back in response.

“Okay, on my way!” Spike said, jogging up the stairs.

Pinkie followed the dragon with her eyes until he left. So no birthday for the Pri… hey, Lyra! She gasped aloud. “Lyra has her birthday the day after tomorrow! I won’t be able to throw a party for her if we stay too long!”

“Oh don’t worry. You can throw her a party after we visit Princess Celestia. Which makes me think…” Twilight put a hoof on her chin.

“Oh! Oh! A guessing game!” Pinkie cried out. “Did you buy her a birthday present? Or did Spike buy one? Or...” she gasped, “Did Princess Celestia buy a gift for Lyra and now we have to deliver it to her?” She took a hold of Twilight’s shoulders and began shaking the unicorn. “You must tell me! I can’t live like this anymooooore!”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “Stop!” With a swing, she hit Pinkie’s hooves that caused them tumble forward and knock heads. Everything became fuzzy.

Pinkie opened her eyes. Strangely, she was laying on the ground. She sat up on her haunches and rubbed her own head. “Okay, that wasn’t fun.” She turned to Twilight, whose eyes were rolling randomly while she was lying on the floor. “Are you okay, Twilight?”

“Pink cube-root of yellow pi equals flowers with happy grinning cosine bees.”

“Oooo-kay, I take that as a no.” She stood up and trotted over to Twilight. She leaned down to whisper, then she yelled into her ears, “Star Swirl books now have a fifty percent discount!”

Twilight’s eyes immediately stopped rolling, and she jumped on her hooves. “Star Swirl? Where?” She darted her eyes around until they met with Pinkie’s.

“Hihi, glad you’re okay, Twilight. We hit each other pretty bad.”

Twilight frowned. She sat down and massaged her head. “Ah, yeah. Seriously, Pinkie, you shouldn’t just start shaking somepony for no reason.”

Pinkie cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, but I didn’t know what you were thinking in the guessing game. That’s a very, very serious reason. I simply had to know!”

Twilight’s hoof moved from the top of her head to her face. “I’m not even gonna ask how you got away from the hoof-analyser when both of your hooves were strapped down.”

“Oh, that’s great! I don’t know, anyways,” Pinkie said with a smile. Her face quickly darkened. “Wait, that’s the second.”

“The second what?”

“The second time when I did something strange, but didn’t know how,” Pinkie answered, her voice shaking. She stared at Twilight with wide eyes. “Am I crazy?”

“I’d… rather… not answer that,” Twilight said as she stood up. She looked at a machine that was pushing out printed data. Her eyes went wide. “It’s still on!” She ran to the machine and skimmed through the papers, stopped at one part. “Here!”

“What’s that?” Pinkie appeared next to Twilight’s head. Pinkie grimaced. “All I can see are weird lines going up and down.”

“This is your magic emission.” Twilight put a hoof on a certain spike in the data graph, which was followed by a straight line. “And this point shows an extreme amount of it, then the value goes to zero.” She faced her. “Pinkie, you teleported!”

Pinkie flinched. “Who, me?” Her pupils moved to the top of her eyes. “Did I grow a horn?” She tilted her head. “I can’t see it with my mane in the way.”

“No Pinkie, you didn’t,” Twilight said. “This is incredible! An earth pony using magic! And I have a record of it! I have to tell this to…” She groaned. “Ah, yes. Pinkie.” Pinkie stopped trying to catch a glimpse of the top of her head. “Since we’re going to see the Princess, I think we could also ask her about your… state.”

“You mean like telling the Princess that I can heal and do weird things and ask if she could help me master it?”

“Exactly,” Twilight answered with a nod.

“Okie dokie lokie! I gotta go then, pack some stuff.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What... stuff?”

Pinkie waved a hoof. “Oh, just some weird stuff. You know… so I can be fully weird and the Princess can examine me in”—she made a huge circle with her hoof—”all of my weirdnesses.”

Twilight facehoofed. “Whatever you say, Pinkie.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, see you tomorrow at the train station then.”

“Bye, Twilight!”

When Pinkie told the Cakes that she would go away for some time, they weren’t upset at all. She guessed it was because Princess Celestia always provided a very generous compensation when one third of the workforce of the Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie, was missing. However, for Pinkie Pie, the Cakes were more than just her employers. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had always treated Pinkie Pie as their own daughter, even after their own had been born.

And how much she loved their foals! Right now, she was playing with them, showing them weird faces and noises, which the sitting foals appreciated with squeaks and chuckles.

Pound Cake raised his front hooves and stretched them towards Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie!” He said in a squeaky voice.

Pumpkin Cake noticed her brother’s intent, and also raised her hooves. “Pinkie, Pinkie!”

Pinkie smiled at them and took both of them in a hug. “Awww, how I’m gonna miss you two,” she said, her eyes becoming wet. She took a deep breath and put the foals on the ground. “It’s time for you to go to bed.”

“No! Pinkie, Pinkie!” Pumpkin said with a small frown.

“No Pinkie, sleep time,” Pinkie said with sudden firmness.

The foals sighed and bent their heads down to help Pinkie grab them. She grabbed them on the backs of their necks and carried them to the closest bed. There, she balanced on her hind legs and put them one by one into the bed. Even though their parents had bought two beds, the twins preferred to sleep together. She pulled the blanket over them.

“Goo nigh!” Pound said.

Pinkie smiled. “Good night to you, too.” As she walked to the door and turned off the lights, she looked back once more to the now peaceful foals as they began their journey to the land of dreams. Whispering a final goodnight to them, she left and went up the stairs and into her room.

Gummy, her toothless alligator hatchling, was sleeping in a small bed next to hers.

“Oh Gummy, you’re already asleep? Good boy!” She patted him. The alligator kept sleeping, completely numb to his environment. This just made her smile even more.

Pinkie bounced to her cupboard on the left side of her bed. She opened it and began fumbling inside.

“Hm, balloons...” She threw them behind her. “Streamers, sweets, my mask, kazoo, duct-tape…” She kept throwing the items behind herself. “Aaaaaaand... that’s enough weird stuff.” She walked to the suitcase and closed it.

Wait, suitcase?

Her pupils shrank and she jumped back, staring at the the suitcase like it was some kind of monster. “I hope Princess Celestia can fix this. This is getting even weirder than me.” She slowly walked back to her bed, occasionally glancing at the suitcase. She got into her bed and pulled the light- and dark-aqua checkered blanket over herself. After getting comfortable, she gazed up at the balloons attached to the bed. Twilight had said that this is how she usually was. Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. But she didn’t feel like it at all. What was wrong with her? And why hadn’t she noticed all the weird things she was doing before? As her eyelids slowly descended, the questions became more and more hazy in Pinkie’s mind, and in ten minutes, she had fallen into a dreamless slumber.

It was an hour after sunrise when Pinkie Pie arrived at the train station. Most of her friends were already there. Rarity would never have been late, would she? She even had found some time in the morning to fix her curly purple mane. Applejack had woken with the sun as always, she guessed, working on the farm and stuff. Pinkie wondered if Applejack could have said goodbye to Applebloom. Oh, and there was Fluttershy! Aww, it was so good to see her. Since what had happened in the last months, Pinkie appreciated every moment she could she her lively light-blue eyes and her kind smile.

Twilight arrived at the same time as Pinkie, with bags under her eyes. Did she even sleep last night?

Pinkie looked around. Dashie would be late as always, right? She hoped she… Ah, there she was! Pinkie saw a blur of rainbow and sky-blue approaching fast from the west. Rainbow Dash landed next to Pinkie.

“Hi, girls!” Dashie said.

Was Dashie late? Pinkie Pie checked her watch. “Wow, Dashie, you’re still on time!”

When she looked up, her five friends were staring at her.

“What?”

“P… Pinkie darling, since when can you conjure a watch from thin air?” Rarity asked.

“Conjure?” Pinkie glanced at the watch.

“Well, ya didn’t have that watch before Rainbow landed, then yer hoof glowed, and the watch was there,” Applejack said.

Glow? Her watch… She looked at the watch again. It was adorned by three balloons under the hour hands, similar to her cutie mark. But… but her watch had her smiling face with streamers! And she’d left it at home! “Get it off me!” This was not hers! This was made of magic! Her magic?! She did... She had to get it off! She frantically tried pushing down from her leg with her hoof. The watch was a perfect fit on her fetlock.

“Pinkie, calm down!” Twilight cried.

Pinkie screamed and began smashing the watch with her hoof. Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Her hoof shimmered, and when she hit the watch, it flashed and shattered into pieces.

She jumped back from the sudden light and landed on ground on her back. Magic… “I can’t... I can’t… I can’t...“ Her whole body was shaking.

The world became violet. She felt something lifting her. Then something warm.

A whisper, “It’s okay Pinkie. You had a magic surge.”

“I can’t… I can’t…”

“It’s okay… it’s okay…”

She hugged Twilight back. “Why is this happening to me, Twilight? Why?” Her tears wetted the purple coat in her face.

“Psst… It’s okay, Princess Celestia will know about it.”

Pinkie sniffed. “She will?”

Rarity walked next to them. “Princess Celestia has lived for thousands of years. I’m sure she’ll know about it.”

“And even she doesn’t, we’ll find it out,” Twilight added. “Canterlot has the biggest library in Equestria. I’ve gone there for years, and I’ve always found what I needed.”

The train whistled.

Twilight glanced away at the sound, then looked into her eyes. “Will you be okay?”

Pinkie nodded. They released each other and took their luggage.

Rainbow Dash flew next to her while they boarded the train. “Hey, Pinkie. I know it’s weird and stuff, but it’s cool too. I mean, you’re an earth pony doing magic. And your eyes glowed blue! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Not helping, Rainbow,” Applejack said.

“Hey! At least I’m trying!”

“B… Blue?” Her eyes were glowing?

Rarity trotted next to her. “Don’t worry darling. It’s pretty common to have your eyes glow during a magic surge.”

Pinkie took a deep breath then hung her head. “Yeah, I know.” When they’d used the Elements of Harmony, witnesses had told them that their eyes had glowed with blinding whiteness. But that had been because of the Elements. She was now doing magic without her necklace!

She followed her friends as they entered an empty carriage. The rest of the journey was uneventful.

Pinkie Pie and her five friends stepped into the long and vast throne room of Equestria. The windows were adorned with stained glass showing the great events and heroic deeds of the past. Half of those showed Pinkie Pie and her friends. They just looked so funny in them! They kept walking towards the throne, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna seated.

“Greetings to all of you,” Celestia said. “As you know, I have requested you here because of a menace that is threatening our lands.”

Twilight stepped forward. “Could you please give us more information, Princess? You were very vague in the letter.”

Celestia nodded and walked down off the throne, her rainbow colored mane waving in the eternal sun-breeze. “Indeed I was. But only for caution. The enemy we face is strong and could have intercepted my letter.”

Rarity gasped on Pinkie’s left. “Oh dear. I didn’t know that was even possible.”

“Sadly, it is. And that’s why we needed to talk in person.” She motioned to Luna.

The dark-blue colored alicorn stood up and walked closer to them. “We’ve gotten news from Trottingham. The crops on the farms began dying from an unknown cause. The ponies working on the farms are suddenly getting sick.”

“What in tarnation could cause that?” Pinkie glanced at Applejack, who was standing at her right. Being a farmer, she easily sympathized with those ponies.

“We didn’t know at first,” Luna continued. “But one night, a farmer took a photo of something that was lurking in the darkness.” She levitated a photo in front of them. On the photo, Pinkie could see a semi-transparent dark globe that had four tentacles and grey eyes with a green pupil. She wondered how was it gonna eat the cupcakes at her party if it had no mouth.

Twilight gapped at the photo.

After a few seconds of silence, Rainbow Dash jumped into the air. “Yeah, I can see that it’s something bad,”— she spread her hooves—”but what is it?”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s a dark wisp.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Oookaaaay, but you know, a name doesn’t help too much.”

Twilight sighed. “A wisp is a magical creature made of elemental energy. This one is a dark wisp, meaning it’s made of darkness. They only appear at places where the presence of their element is so strong, that it saturates the area with magic. I… I don’t even know how it appeared in the middle of a farm.”

Whatever you said, Twilight. Hm… shaky hind leg, itchy nose. There should be something to celebrate! Now, where were her streamers? She was pretty sure she took out it from… that suitcase. She dipped her nose into her saddlebags, still listening to the conversation.

“It was forced into existence,” Luna said.

“Forced? But… how? That required not only an extreme amount of magical energy, but so much purity that the only pony I could imagine summoning a dark wisp is…” She stopped.

“Nightmare Moon,” Luna finished for her. “Indeed, my dark and twisted form could achieve such a feat. However, I can assure you that it was not me and neither did it just appear.” Ah, there were her streamers! And there was the kazoo! “The area completely lacks the purity and intensity needed, even in the darkest nights. The only possible conclusion is that it was summoned.”

“And that’s why you’re here,” Celestia said, while Pinkie pulled out her muzzle from the saddlebags and hid the streamers in her mane. “A creature as strong and dark as Nightmare Moon was can only be stopped by the Elements of Harmony.” She stepped to Twilight and gave her a scroll. “You are hereby given permission to access every archive in Equestria. This afternoon, you will meet with the best scholars of Canterlot, who will be working under you.”

“Me? A leader? But… I”

“Twilight, You’re not just my student, but the best researcher in Equestria. You’ve proven through your years in Ponyville that you are more than a scholar. You are a leader. That’s why I give you this task.”

Pinkie jumped, the streamers shooting out of her mane. “Happy promotion day, Twilight!” She blew the kazoo.

Twilight glanced at Pinkie. “I... Thank you, Princess.” Her expression suddenly changed to determination. “I’ll start planning the work immediately.”

“I didn’t expect any less from you. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Twilight scratched her head. “Uhm, actually there is. We have a strange situation with… well… Pinkie Pie.”

“What?! And you only noticed this now?!” Princess Luna asked with wide eyes.

Twilight smiled and scratched her neck. “Well… the problem actually is that she notices it.”

“Yeah, and it’s really scary!” Pinkie said, spitting out the kazoo. “I mean, Twilight needs a napkin, then I pull one from under the table, but I don’t remember putting it there. Then, when I’m packing my stuff I just start throwing them behind myself, then poof, a suitcase appears out of nowhere—”

“I also did some research on what she did with Fluttershy.” Twilight didn't let her finish! What about this morning at the—“In one of the books, I found an entry that identified Pinkie as a ‘fainsaarn’. Do you know anything about them, Princess?” Why did ponies always interrupt her?

Celestia nodded. “My first idea was also that Pinkie Pie is a fainsaarn. However, she doesn’t meet certain conditions of being one and that’s why I can’t state it for sure.”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked.

“Well first of all, you’re not using your ability voluntarily. The very few fainsaarns I encountered across the centuries were in full control of their abilities. Secondly, according to what they said, a fainsaarn should never fall into despair. You told me that on one of your birthdays, you fell into depression thanks to a small misunderstanding.”

Pinkie Pie winced. She remembered how she’d been when Rainbow Dash had found her. She’d been talking to common objects like a bucket or a bag of flour, while animating them with her hooves. She had thought that her pony friends had given up on her, while they’d actually been preparing a birthday party for her in secret.

“I’m sorry for mentioning it, Pinkie Pie, as I know these are not your most pleasant memories, but they are what I am basing my assumption on. However, my knowledge is very limited in this topic. I would suggest you to go to the Canterlot library to find more information. I can give you unlimited access too, as long as you promise to remain quiet while you’re there.”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She finished the movements by putting her front hoof on her left eye.

Celestia looked at Twilight with a cocked eyebrow.

Twilight chuckled. “That was a Pinkie promise. It’s an unbreakable oath.”

Celestia smiled and turned back to Pinkie Pie. She summoned a scroll and begin writing. “I’d ask Twilight to do this, but she must concentrate on this unknown enemy for now.” She finished writing and levitated the scroll into to Pinkie Pie’s saddlebag. “Do you need help finding the library?”

“Nope! I know where it is! Thanks, Princess!”

“Anything else, Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia asked.

“I think we’re ready.” She turned to Pinkie and her friends. “Let’s go and find this unknown enemy!”

A deep, anguished voice came from the side of the throne. “Why do you seek your own destruction, young unicorn? Maybe you realized the pointlessness of your life and happiness?”

Everypony in the room turned to the direction of the voice. From the shadow of the throne, an elderly grey unicorn stallion stepped forward. Or was he really gray? Mist was surrounding him. And those eyes! His whole eyes were grey too!

“Who are you?” Princess Luna demanded.

“My name shall remain hidden, as it is as useless as the lives of the ones who would know it.”

After a few moments, Rainbow Dash raised her hooves in mid-air. “Hey! I’m not useless! I’m one of the most important ponies in Equestria!” She met with multiple pairs of eyes glaring at her. “Why are you looking at me like that? It’s true!”

“True in whose eyes?” asked the intruder. “In your friends’? They’ll all die someday, just like you. Who will think you’re important after that?”

“Enough!” Princess Celestia said. “This is a closed meeting, and you didn’t just eavesdrop, but you interrupted it. I demand you answer my questions immediately or you’ll be taken into custody: Who are you, and what do you want?”

“If you really want to call me something until the end of your pitiful life, call me the Embodiment of Agony.” His voice began echoing. “My desire is to end your rule, your life, and bring despair to your lands.”

After the last word, he raised a hoof, and a black beam shot from it towards Celestia. Woo, battle! Celestia answered with her own sunbeam which collided with the first spell a few meters away from her. Go Princess, go! However, Agony’s beam was stronger. It was Cadence’s wedding all over again!

“Your impurity is your weakness, Celestia. You will fall today.”

“Never!” Princess Luna shouted and shot a blue beam from her horn. Okay, where in the heck had Luna been during the wedding?!

Agony dodged the spell, but also had to stop his own. Celestia’s beam shot forward and made a huge hole in the opposite wall. The power of the explosion shook the room, and Pinkie was fighting to keep her balance when she noticed that Twilight’s horn was glowing.

Agony stood up on his hind legs and pointed a hoof towards each princess. He didn’t notice that Twilight had sent a small purple bolt towards him. He got hit in his midsection and fell to the ground. The two guards at the door entered the room and, realizing the situation, rushed to the fallen unicorn. He looked up and his eyes met with ten angry ponies, six of them charging an attack spell. Okay, maybe nine. Pinkie was already planning the “I’m glad you became a good guy!” party.

“Surrender now!” Celestia ordered.

That was their mistake. Agony suddenly emitted a black orb from himself and jumped into the air with magic. The black orb knocked everypony away from him. Pinkie fell on her side, far from Agony. She also saw the two guards hit the wall and collapse unconsciously. Agony hovered over the princesses. “You cannot oppose the true power of death!” Two beams shot from his hooves. One hit Celestia and one hit Luna. They were screaming as darkness engulfed them, something gleaming flying out of their mouths and noses.

Twilight shot another purple bolt at Agony, which he dodged effortlessly by flying away, keeping the rays on the princesses. Rarity threw everything she could at Agony, but they evaporated on contact with him.

Pinkie Pie caught a glimpse of the two alicorns glint with a rainbow colour for a moment.

Heal them.

But... it was magic… She c…

Suddenly, the voice of her grandma came into her mind, Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall. Learn to face your fears!

She frowned deeply. “No, no, no!” She jumped on her hooves. “You can’t kill the princesses! I won’t let you!” She galloped to the alicorns and stood up on her hind legs. Her front legs began glowing a yellow color. She didn’t care about magic now or that her voice echoed too, she just had to save them! She aimed her hooves towards Celestia and Luna. Two light-yellow beams shot from her hooves and hit the princesses.

“What?!” Agony shouted. He frowned and groaned as he tried to keep his spell going. He jerked his head to the side and looked at Pinkie Pie. “How dare you, fool!”

Another purple bolt.

Agony fell to the ground with a thud. Rainbow Dash shot at him, hooves forward, but when she reached him, he vanished. She hit the floor and rolled a few times before stopping in front of the wall.

“Where is he?!” Applejack shouted.

“Princess!” Twilight cried out and galloped over to Pinkie. The alicorns were laying motionless on the floor, their eyes unfocused. They were not breathing.

Chapter 2 - Assasination

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“No, you can’t, you can’t!” Twilight fell on her haunches next to her mentor and friend. Pinkie Pie and the others surrounded the weeping unicorn and the two princesses. Twilight leaned forward and hugged Celestia. Tears were flowing from her eyes onto Celestia’s white coat. “Please, wake up. Please…”

Applejack took of her hat and gazed at the ground.

Fluttershy whispered, “I’ll… I’ll go and check Rainbow Dash,” and flew to the fallen pegasus.

Pinkie gazed down at her hooves, her eyes wet. Why hadn’t it worked? She had healed Fluttershy, why couldn’t she heal them? Or maybe… She stretched out a hoof and touched Luna.

Her hoof glowed on touch, and she felt warmth flowing from her hoof towards her heart. She gasped. “She’s alive!”

Everypony looked at her incredulously. Pinkie stepped to Celestia and touched her. Same feeling. “She’s alive too!”

Twilight sniffled. “Pinkie… she’s… she’s not breathing… How could you say that she’s alive? She’s… dead.”

Twilight was right; they were dead, but… that feeling. Pinkie didn’t know how, but she just knew that the warmth she felt meant life. Pinkie sat down and put a hoof on her head. “This hurts to explain, but she’s both alive and dead. I just know it.”

Twilight looked at Pinkie, then cast a spell. Her eyes went wide. “Pinkie is right! The princess is alive!”

Rarity touched the princess’s chest. “But… how? She’s not breathing, and her heart is not functioning.”

“She’s in a stasis,” Twilight said. She walked to Luna with her horn shining in violet. She touched her with her horn. “And Princess Luna too. They’re between life and death.”

“What? How’s that even possible?” Applejack asked.

“I… I’m not sure,” Twilight said. “I think that at the very same time Agony took away their life, and Pinkie Pie healed them. This caused them to stay somewhere in-between.”

“Can we help them?” Fluttershy asked, supporting a limping Rainbow Dash.

Twilight sighed. “I have no idea.” She stood up. “I’ll try to analyze the stasis and find a spell to break it, in the good direction.” She looked at Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, I’d like to ask you to go the library and learn everything that you can about your heritage.”

“Yeah, you should really learn how to use that stuff,” Rainbow Dash added. “You actually could do something against that guy.” She raised her front hoof. “He ran like a coward!” She winced and pulled back her leg fast. “Ugh, I wish I could have hit his face instead of the stupid ground. Why does everything have to be made of stone here?”

Fluttershy touched her forearm and gently pushed it down. “Rest your hoof, Dash. It needs time to heal.”

“Can’t Pinkie just heal it?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie looked away and sighed. “I wish I could, I but I don’t know how to.”

“Then please go to the library, darling,” Rarity said while examining the princesses’ bodies. “We really need you to master this, for it might be the key to the recovery of the princesses and the prevention of a great national crisis.”

“Ah can come with ya if ya want,” Applejack said.

Applejack barely read. She would be soooo bored in the library, which was anything but fun. “Thanks, Applejack, but I think I’ll go alone. Maybe…” She spotted the two royal guards, who were beginning to recover. “Check the guards.” She motioned to them.

“Are ya sure?”

Pinkie knew that Applejack was trying to be nice, but she would never let her friends be bored for her sake. “Yep. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a blink!”

She looked at her friends once more. Rarity was sitting with a frown, probably thinking through the situation. Applejack was helping the guards to their hooves. Twilight stood over the princesses, heavily concentrating on whatever her magic did. Fluttershy left for bandages. Rainbow Dash was sitting on the ground, waiting for Fluttershy to return. They were all doing what they should, and she should follow their example; her place was in the Canterlot Library.

She turned and began trotting out of the room.

“Pinkie,” Twilight said.

Pinkie looked back. Twilight was looking at her with worried eyes. “Yes, Twilight?”

“Be careful.”

Pinkie smiled. “I will be.” She turned and left the throne room.

Despite the situation, Pinkie Pie was bouncing happily down the streets. She had to keep her spirit up. If she became sad, then who would cheer up her friends?

It wouldn’t take long before the city learned what happened to the princesses. If that happened… “Oh, don’t be silly, Pinkie!” she said to herself. “Twilight will fix the princesses in no time!” Just as she spoke, she remembered. This had been her hope when Fluttershy had been dying. She stopped smiling and bit her lips. “Okay then, maybe she won’t fix them, but she’ll keep it a secret while I can find out how to heal them.” Satisfied with this conclusion, she nodded to herself and hopped away.

“Ouch!” She glanced at her knee. Pinchy. That meant something scary was going to happen. But something scary had already happened. What could be more scarier than what had happened to the princesses? Her muscles tightened as she darted her eyes around her surroundings, searching for the trigger, and places to hide in case the scary thing appears. Since nothing happened—and her friends were waiting for her—she decided to continue her bou… Stupid knee! Well, it seemed as the rest of the way would be walking. So, she decided to continue her walking, glancing around nervously.

After fifteen minutes, Pinkie stopped. She had three ways to go now, all leading to the library. “Okay, now which one should I choose?” She put out her tongue as she was thinking.

Tail twitch.

What the? What was gonna fall this time? She heard somepony running towards her at her left. Pinkie Pie glanced towards the noise.

Then she saw it. From the edge of her vision, a knife reflected the sun into her eyes as it stabbed down. She didn’t even have time to scream.

The running pony crashed into something behind her. The knife fell with blade downwards.

Into her back.

Pain.

She couldn’t breathe.

The world tilted.

Her friends...

Something clinging.

Dead?

Her sisters...

…

...

Something touching her belly.

Green eyes.

Male voice. “Don’t worry, miss. I’m here to help.”

Being lifted. Pain.

Something warm under her belly.

“You’re hurt, but not lethally. I have proper equipment at home that I can mend your wound with.”

Moving.

“If I’m too fast, just say so. I’ll slow down.”

Not lethally? Knife? Magic? Kill?

She opened her mouth, her voice shaking, “He… he tried to kill me!”

“Yes, that bastard. I wish I could see some guards or somepony to send for them.” His head moved. “Hey, miss!”

A dark-yellow pegasus mare entered Pinkie’s vision.

“Call the guards! This mare on my back was attacked by an assassin.” She felt him motion behind. She moved her eyes in the direction. An unconscious unicorn was laying there with a blood-covered knife near him.

The pegasus gasped. “Oh my! Is she alright?”

“She is, just got a shock. If the guards ask where she was taken, my name is Brown Peg, and I’m bringing her to my home at Greenleaf Street 23. I’ve got medicine there for her injuries.”

The pegasus nodded and took off.

“Now, that’s at least taken care of.” Brown Peg continued walking.

They arrived at a furniture shop, and Brown Peg carried her to the first floor, laying her on her belly on a bed. He left the room and came back with a bowl full of water and a kerchief.

“An... assassin?” Pinkie faltered. “But why? I’m… I’m everypony’s friend!”

“Everypony has enemies, miss,” Brown Peg said as he dipped the kerchief into the water. “Or friends who have enemies, which makes them a target. But don’t worry, you’re safe now.” He touched her back with the cold kerchief.

She scrunched her face at the pain and sucked her breath.

“Sorry, I have to clean the wound first.” He continued the cleaning. “You’re lucky. The guy lost control over his knife when I hit him. It hurt the muscles in your back, but didn’t cut deep enough to pierce your lungs.” While he was cleaning her, she could examine him a little bit. The stallion had a dark-brown coat and a short, light-brown mane and tail. When he turned to dip the kerchief, she also caught a glimpse of his cutie mark: a wooden peg. After he finished, he left the room.

Pinkie’s thoughts went back to the assassin. How could a pony hate another pony so much that he would want to take their life? She looked at her own hooves. Could… could she do it? She shook her head. No, of course not! She wanted everypony to be happy; she couldn’t even hate, let alone kill!

Brown Peg returned with wound-contracture, sterilizer and some bandage. He applied them on her back. “Now, looks much better. Give it a week or two and you’ll be jumping around like a little filly.”

Despite her situation, Pinkie chuckled. “I like jumping.” She looked up at Peg. “It’s so fun.”

Brown Peg stared into her eyes but didn’t say a word. What was that look? Admiration? Why would he look at her like that? Ponies usually gave that look to Rarity, since... Rarity!

Pinkie tried climbing down from the bed. “Thank you for your help, Peggy, but now I need to go. My friends need me.” The pain in her back came back, and she collapsed again. “Oh, bummer!”

“You can’t go running around like this. I suggest you to get some rest. If you want, I can tell your friends where you are.”

Pinkie shook your head. “Oh no no no, you don’t understand. We got a big meany that almost killed the princesses, but he couldn’t because I healed them, but I don’t know how so…” She took a deep breath. “I have to go to the library to master my healing ability, or it’ll be really really bad because the princesses will never wake up.” She tried to get up again, but failed the same way. She hung her hooves down the edge of the bed. “I wish I’d know how to use this thing. I mean, I can’t even heal myself, when I really really need it.”

She glanced at him. Brown Peg was staring at her with a mixture of confusion and surprise. She’d said too much, hadn’t she? His reaction made Pinkie remember how Twilight usually acted when Pinkie released a flood of words at her. Twilight was always—

“You’re a fainsaarn!” Brown Peg cried out.

Pinkie’s eyes went wide. “What? How do you know that?”

“Your hooves are glowing,” he pointed at them.

She slowly brought her front hooves in front of her eyes. “Wow, they really are! It’s working again! It’s working again and I don’t know how!” she yelled and let them fall on the bed.

“Touch your back where the cut is!” Peg said, almost yelling.

“Wha?”

“Just do what I said!”

Pinkie obeyed. The closer she moved her hooves, the less she felt the pain. She touched the wound and felt her skin contracting. Peg walked to Pinkie and took something from her back, then showed it to her. Her bandage. She didn’t feel any tearing when he pulled it off.

“It’s healed... completely.”

Pinkie jumped out of the bed and began bouncing out of the room. “Whohooo! Now I can go to the library and learn to—” She stopped at the door and looked back at Peg with frown. “Wait. How did you know I was a fainsaarn?”

“Uhm… because your hooves were—”

“No! How did you know that if my hooves’re glowing, then I’m a fainsaarn?” She pushed her muzzle to his. “Are you a spy?" Wow, that sounded so much like Dashie! She wondered what Dashie was... No! She had to focus! This guy knew too much. “Are you?” She pressed Peg’s muzzle even more.

Peg gulped.

Pinkie’s face eased. “No, you can’t be.” She stepped back. “Spies don’t carry their foes to their homes to heal them.” She looked behind her. “And how in the frosted banana cupcake am I here, when I was standing at the door?”

“Need.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Your ability is based on need: what you, or the others around you need. You felt that you need to push your face into mine, so you teleported here to do it.”

Pinkie slightly blushed. “Yeah, sorry about that. But you still didn’t answer. How do you know this?”

He walked to a closet, opened it and took an old book out of it with his mouth. He put it down in front of Pinkie Pie. “This is my great-grandfather’s diary. He was a fainsaarn, just like you.”

It was a mid-sized brown book with three white waves on it. Pinkie opened it. The Diary of Eternal Breeze.

“I’ve read the book several times, trying to figure out how to use those powers.” He gazed at the floor. “I hoped that maybe I didn’t need a rare talent to use some of the techniques to help my daughter, but none worked.”

Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “You have a daughter? Can I see her?”

Brown Peg smiled. “This way.”

They walked into a room. A little filly with dark-pink coat and long, light-pink mane was sleeping on a bed.

“She has leukemia.”

Pinkie’s smile curved down. She felt a knot growing in her throat as she was watching the filly breathing peacefully. This filly in front of her would… die. She would die before she even got her cutie mark. She had to do something. “You told me that my power is based on need, so…” Pinkie raised a hoof. “I need to heal her.”

Nothing happened

“Your ability is not based on incantation, but the need in your heart. Have you ever activated your ability consciously?”

Pinkie shook her head. “It just happens.” She fiddled the floor with her hoof. “It always just happens.”

She caught a few words from Brown Peg whispering behind her, “...I selfish? … too much… hope… nothing bad…”

Selfish? Bad? “What did you say?”

“Her name is Lilly.”

Pinkie glanced at Brown Peg.

“She’s eight years old. She was seven when we learned of her sickness. She was playing outside of the school with the other fillies. She was always smiling. Her friends loved her so much for her smile; it was refreshing, full of life. Then, she suddenly began to feel weak.”

Pinkie saw her hooves glimmer from the corner of her eyes, but she didn’t care.

“An hour later, she was in the hospital. The teacher came to my home to tell me the news. I almost collapsed on the spot.” He was crying now. “Her mother died of leukemia two years before. I couldn’t believe that it appeared so early in her body. She now only has a few weeks left.” He sniffled. “She… she wanted to be a nurse, to help other ponies. She wanted to make other ponies smile, even in their afflictions.” He sniffled again. “Her friends need her, I need her, the sick ponies will need her. Please, Miss, don’t let her die.”

Pinkie’s hooves were now shining like the sun with small particles orbiting around them. She saw her eyes glowing blue in a mirror behind Brown Peg. “I won’t,” she stated in a firm, echoing voice.

She raised her hoof and touched the filly. Her hoof flashed, and at the same time, she began shaking.

The filly opened her light-yellow eyes. “Daddy?”

Brown Peg ran to them. “Lilly!” He took her out of the bed. “How do you feel? Everything okay?”

Pinkie felt a little dizzy.

“Y...Yeah. It’s fine. Nothing hurts and… I feel fresh,” Lilly said, blinking. “What happened?”

Pinkie’s hooves stopped glowing, and she couldn’t help but smile at the pair, even if she could barely see them. Everything was blurry.

“This wonderful lady… Oh, what a horrible pony I am, I didn’t even ask your… Oh no.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes rolled back in their socket, and she collapsed on the floor.

Soft.

“Daddy, she’s waking up!”

Hoofsteps.

She opened her eyes. Brown Peg stood in front of him and sighed in relief. “Thank heavens that you’re okay.”

What had happened? She tried to remember. Princesses, healing, assassin. “Uh…” She put a hoof on her head. “This hurts.”

“Here, water,” Brown Peg gave her a glass.

She drank it all, then gave back the empty glass to Brown Peg. It felt so good. “Lilly, is she okay?”

The little filly was standing at the door with concerned eyes. “Yes, I am Miss. Thanks to you. But are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine I just… Uh.” Why did her head hurt? “What happened?”

Brown Peg sat down on a chair and hung his head. “I’m so sorry miss. I… I wanted my little Lilly healed so much that I didn’t even think of…” He sighed.

Pain jolted through Pinkie’s head. Make it sto… Wait, wasn’t this something she had already heard somewhere? Ah yes, Twilight! She always said that when she used too much magic her head began to hurt. “I overused my magic, didn’t I?”

Brown Peg nodded. “And it’s my fault. I know how your abilities work and I overloaded you. I thought you would be able to manage it, concerning how I’ve met you.”

How he… Ah yeah. He had been the one who knocked out her attacker. He had came in the last second. But why… “Why did you think I’ll manage?” She tried to speak gently, not to make him feel accused. All she wanted for him to be happy. After all, he had saved her.

“I was walking on the streets to cool myself after some unsuccessful business with a noble. The stupid unicorn felt offended by how I was handling him. Spoiled brat. Then a flash blinded me, and when I could look again, I saw a small, colorful orb in front of myself. When I tried to say a word, it flew away, so I began chasing it. It stopped sometimes, but when I was about to catch up, it always flew away. After I rounded a corner, it suddenly disappeared, and I saw you ahead of myself and a cloaked unicorn walking towards you with a knife in his magic grab.”

He paused for a moment. “I thought you were sent by the heavens, as an answer to my prayers, to heal my little Lilly. At the same time, I knew that an untrained fainsaarn might exhaust herself so much that she could even fall into a coma.”

A coma? Now that sounded serious. She glanced at Lilly, then smiled at her. “Don’t blame yourself.”

Brown Peg looked up, and Pinkie gazed into his green eyes. “If I’d been you, I also would’ve done everything to see my little filly smile again. And I’m awake, so everything turned out fine in the end, right?”

Brown Peg gave her a weak smile. “Thank you.”

“What’s your name?” Lilly asked.

“Oh, yes, I completely forgot to ask.”

“My name is Pinkie Pie.”

Lilly gasped. “Pinkie Pie? The Pinkie Pie who defeated Discord and Nightmare Moon with her friends?!”

“Yup!”

Lilly screamed. “I knew I saw her before! I can’t believe it! The real Pinkie Pie! And she healed me! Wow! Wow!” She ran to the front of Pinkie and looked up at her with wide eyes. “Have you made any super parties this month? Had any cool adventures? What’re you doing in Canterlot?”

Pinkie chuckled. “Let me see: yes, I made a party for Fluttershy; I haven’t had any cool adventures—well, I still had a fight in the throne room—and I’m here because some big meany decided to send dark wisps to some farmers and killed the princesses.”

The little filly’s face turned from amusement to shock. “What?”

“Don’t worry, they’re fine. Well… except that their bodies are dead, but Twilight said that they were in a stasis so they still can be revived. We just have to find a cure.”

Lilly slumped down. “That sounds really bad.”

Pinkie sighed. “Yeah, it is. That’s why I have to learn how to use my abilities properly.” She climbed out of the bed. “And that’s why I have to go to the library.”

Brown Peg snorted. “You won’t find anything useful there.”

She turned her head towards Brown Peg. “How do you know?”

“Because I went through them: every book, every pergament that mentioned fainsaarns. I once even broke into the res…” He stopped.

Pinkie opened her eyes wide. “You broke into somewhere?!”

He flinched at her sudden voice raise, then stared into her eyes. “I was desperate.” He raised his forearms high. “And it’s not like I stole anything! I’ve just read a few books in the restricted area!” He sighed. “But in the end, it didn’t matter.”

Pinkie glanced at Lilly again. “I won’t tell anyone, but why didn’t it matter?”

“The only book I’ve found to be detailed enough was my great-grandfather’s diary.” He stood up. “I’ve read the book several times and even practiced the movements. If you want, I can teach you the basics.”

Pinkie’s face lit up. “You really would?”

“After what you’ve done for my little Lilly, that’s the least I can do.”

She bounced on the spot. “Wheeee! So, when do we start?”

“Right now.”

Chapter 3 - Training

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Pinkie Pie and Brown Peg entered the basement of Brown Peg’s house. Brown Peg pressed a switch that lit up a weak magical lamp and walked into the room. “Your head must have stopped hurting by now, and if you learn how your powers work, you can avoid it in the future.

“The power of a fainsaarn can be used to alter reality in whatever direction they want to. However, it has a strong affinity towards life and light, which results in these types of alterations being more efficient.”

He turned. “The first thing have to learn is the stance. As you have experienced, you cast spells with your hooves.” He hunched, then shot upwards both of his front hooves. He straightened his hind legs, and after few steps back and forth, he was standing on two legs like a bipedal creature would do. With some effort, he turned his shoulders outwards, resulting his front legs to be at his sides “And having two hooves to cast with is a great advantage. It might take a few hours to—”

Pinkie jumped on her hind legs, mimicking the stance perfectly.

“—succeed.” His mouth fell agape. “How did you...?! It took me hours till I could stand like that for even a few seconds!”

Pinkie shrugged. “I dunno. I could do this since I was a filly.”

Brown Peg sighed. “Anyways, then the actual first thing I’ll teach you is some self-defence. As a fainsaarn, you’ll have to be able to defend yourself and the ones you care for. The most energy-efficient spell to do this is the light missile.”

Pinkie recoiled. “Missile? But I don’t want to hurt anypony!”

“You won’t unless you want to. Ponies and other living creatures are only knocked back by the light missile, so unless they’re standing behind a cliff, you won’t hurt them with it. The light missile is only lethal against darkness-based creatures.”

Pinkie blinked. “Like a dark wisp?”

“Exact—wait.” He raised an eyebrow. “Have you faced a dark wisp before?”

“Nope! I just saw a picture of it. The meany guy was sending those to the farms.” She wasn’t sure about her last statement, but it seemed logical.

“Then it’s of utmost importance that you learn this spell.” He pointed his hoof towards the ceiling, then made a swift circle backwards and ended with his hoof pointing forward. “The spell is based on the need to spread light. Try to mimic my move with a wish in your heart to make this room brighter.”

Pinkie raised his hoof, then did the swipe. Nothing happened.

“No, you must have the need in your heart!”

She tried again, then again and again.

“I have an idea,” Peg said. He walked to the lamp switch and turned it off. The basement became completely dark.

“Okie dokie, we got dark. But I don’t feel anything differ—” Something hit Pinkie Pie and fell to the ground with a clink. “Hey!” Another thing hit her. “Stop it!”

“You can’t stop what you can’t see,” came a mocking voice.

“Oh, playing hide and seek? I like that game.” She tried to walk blindly to the source of the voice to catch him. “I’ll find you,” she said in a singy-songy voice. Another item collided with her. “Stop! You’re not supposed to throw things at me!”

“You can’t stop what you can’t see.”

She jerked her head towards the voice. “Stop it! This isn’t fun anymore!” Something hit her nose hard. “Stop it!” Her shout echoed in the room.

“You can’t stop what you can’t see.”

She raised her hoof. “I. Said. Stop!” She swiped. Light erupted from her hoof, and a small comet-like object flung from her hoof and hit Brown Beg in the middle of his face. She caught a glimpse of him falling over.

“Oh, sorry!” She fell to all fours and galloped to him. She raised her hoof. Light! Her hoof glowed, and under its light she could see Brown Peg grinning like a child.

“You did it! You’ve actually cast a light missile!”

Pinkie smiled. “You’re methods are kinda unorthodox, you know?” She offered her a hoof which Brown Peg accepted.

“Sorry for hitting you in the face, I didn’t mean to.”

She touched her nose. It wasn’t bleeding. “Whatever, it worked.” She waved her hoof which resulted in the room wavering in its light. “Though, you said that my powers are not incantation based, yet sometimes my voice echoes when I do magic.”

“Your magic is based on the need in your heart, but if it reaches your mind or your tongue, it’ll resonate with the power that dwells in you.” He walked to the door and opened it. The sudden light blinded Pinkie Pie, and she felt the magic from her hoof disappear. “How about we take a break? It’s dinner time anyways.”

Pinkie’s face lit up. “That sounds great!”

Pinkie and Lilly were playing together in the living room while Brown Peg was preparing dinner. Playing tea-party was something Pinkie had never done when she had been a child. Just farming rocks day and night, nothing fun, as she remembered. Doing it now with Lilly felt like reliving a childhood that never existed. Pinkie was really good at role playing, her facial expressions resulting in giggles from Lilly multiple times.

The will to make other ponies happy was rooted so deep in both of their hearts that it made Pinkie feel like Lilly was more than just a cute little filly; she felt like a sister. Well, she had three sisters already, and she had the baby Cakes, and of course Lilly was not a real sister, but she still felt like that.

Pinkie also noticed during the games that Lilly occasionally glanced at her like if she wanted to ask something, but she continued to play instead. When they sat down for dinner, Pinkie decided to help her a little bit. “What’s on your mind, Lilly?”

She looked up from her dandelion soup. “What do you mean, Pinkie Pie?”

“I know you want to ask something.” With a smile, she tilted her head. “Go on!”

“Oh, uhm…” Lilly gazed at her bowl. “I just wanted to ask you how you got your cutie mark.”

Pinkie chuckled. “Oh, you could have asked that before. It’s not a big secret.”

She told them about the rainbow arc she had seen on the rock farm, then explained in detail her first party and her family’s reaction.

“Actually, it’s kind of funny you asked. Peggy, I just realized that I’ve been doing weird things since I got my cutie mark.”

He gulped down a spoonful of his soup. “Weird things?”

“Yup. Like, teleporting, creating things from air, stuff like that.”

Brown Peg raised both of his eyebrows. “Wait. Your fainsaarn abilities have been unlocked for ten years, and you still don’t know how to use them?”

Pinkie scratched her head. “Well, I dunno. The first time I’ve healed anypony was a week ago. Before that, doing those stuff just felt natural. I didn’t even notice that I was doing magic.”

“Did your eyes glow or your hooves shimmer before?”

“Nope!”

Brown Peg put a hoof under his chin. “The best I can come up with is that the sudden transition from the dullness of the rockfarm into becoming an energetic party pony partially unlocked your abilities.”

Pinkie pressed her lips together. “Well, that can be. I mean, all six of us got our cutie mark at the same time; I guess it was so much magic that it made my magic wake up!”

Brown Peg nodded. “And about the fact that you were using your abilities for all these years without noticing; well, I’m not a magic expert, but I’ve heard about subconscious magic usage.”

“So you mean like my subconscious told me to do magic, then made me think it was the most natural thing?”

“Something like that.” He finished his soup, then stood up. “I think we can continue the training. What do you think?”

Pinkie Pie had already finished her meal. “Well, if you won’t start throwing things at me again.”

“What? You were throwing things at Pinkie Pie?” Lilly asked.

“Uhm… well.” Brown Peg scratched his nape.

“Ah, don’t worry. Peggy was doing that to help me learn how to do flashy things with my hooves!” She stood up.

“Light missiles,” Peg murmured.

“Yup! Light missiles. So, where are we gonna go now?”

They were in the basement again. This time, it was properly lit.

“The next thing I’m gonna teach you is conjuring. The light missile can also be considered conjuring, but it’s a more refined and effective form, therefore easy to learn.”

Pinkie nodded.

“Like I said, a fainsaarn’s ability can be used to alter reality in the direction they want to. So let me ask you a question: what do you need now?”

“My friends!” Pinkie answered without hesitation. She enjoyed the company of Lilly and Brown Peg, really. However, nothing could substitute her closest friends.

“Conjuring a living creature is impossible for a fainsaarn, so is the resurrection of the dead. Think about an object, like something that you’re missing now.”

Pinkie sat down and put a hoof on her cheek.

“Maybe something that you conjured before.”

Something that she… Yes! “My party cannon!”

“Your… what?”

“My party cannon! You see, I’ve always taken my party cannon from behind me, when there was nothing there! Let’s see...” She reached out towards her cutie mark. Party cannon. Need. Now!

Her hoof shimmered, and lots of small glowing tendrils bloomed out of it. The tendrils twisted and swirled, and began filling up the form of her party cannon.

Brown Peg walked to her. “You could have chosen something smaller. With your untrained abilities, this might take half a minute or even more.”

Pinkie gazed at the tendrils. “I don’t understand. When I’ve reached out before, it’s been always there instantly.”

Peg put a hoof on her shoulder. “It will be, you just need practice.”

The glowing faded as the colors of her cannon appeared. Pinkie stood up and touched it. “Yup, this is my party cannon.”

“Or one of them.”

Pinkie looked at him with a questioning eye.

“You didn’t summon your cannon, you conjured it.”

She stepped away from the cannon. “You mean, I can make another one?”

Peg nodded.

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “Wow! That means I can make the biggest party ever! What should I make it for? Hm… Yes! I’ll make it for the awakening of the princesses! I’ll just need to start with the preparations.” Her raised right hoof glowed, and another party cannon began to form. “And I’ll need more streamers.” She sat down and raised another hoof, which began to conjure colorful streamers.

“Wow, Pinkie. You’re really getting the hang of it, but—”

“And cakes! Finally I don’t have to cook for hours!” Some tendrils got separated from her right hoof and began forming a table with cakes on it.

“Pinkie—”

“Oh and games! How could I forget the games?” The tendrils from her left hoof began making various games while creating the streamers. Was she sweating? She didn’t care. “And lights!”

“Pinkie!”

“What?” The tendrils stopped, and the half-made objects disappeared. Suddenly, a huge fatigue overpowered her and she fell over. She heard Brown Peg gallop to her.

“Oh my, if she fell into a coma…”

“I’m fine,” she groaned and tried to get up. She stood up, but her nausea made her totter, almost tripping on one of the few streamers that she had actually succeed to create.

“You should watch out for your power usage until you get stronger; your body still doesn’t warn you consistently when you’re nearing magical exhaustion.” Brown Peg stood next to her as a support. “Come, get some sleep. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

They walked back to the room Peg first brought Pinkie. She shivered as she remembered why she had been carried in here before. Why would have somepony tried kill her? She didn’t even know who he was. Maybe he was working for this Agony guy?

She climbed onto the bed with some help from Peg. “Thank you, Peggy. For everything.”

Brown Peg smiled back. “It’s the least I can do.”

Pinkie gave her own smile as a reply, then let her fatigue take control. She fell asleep in a few seconds.

“This morning, I’ll teach you how to control your teleportation.”

They were in the basement again, Pinkie’s hooves all bound to a heavy stone.

Brown Peg put down a frosted cupcake on a table at the other side of the room. “Do you like banana cupcakes, Pinkie Pie?”

“Well, not my favorite, buuut definitely in the top ten!”

“Sorry for skipping the breakfast, but I guess some hunger will be an advantage in what we’re trying to achieve.”

Pinkie nodded. Now all she needed to do is use her super fainsaarn powers to get a frosted banana cupcake. Her stomach growled. “Okay, so… I need a frosted banana cupcake.” Her hooves began to shimmer and tendrils were coming out.

“No! Stop!”

The tendrils vanished. “Why?”

“You don’t need a cupcake, you need that cupcake” He pointed at the pastry on the table.

“Why’s that important? I can make cupcakes if I want to.”

“Pinkie, this is just an exercise. In the real life this cupcake might be replaced by your friend who’s about to be hurt.”

“Oh.” She hoped that would never happen, but… “Okay.” She focused in her mind on that cupcake. She had to get there, had to touch it, had to taste it, had to—

“Good job!”

Pinkie refocused her eyes. She was munching on the cupcake.

“You’re really getting better at this. After you’ve finished your cupcake, we can have a proper breakfast, then we can continue with—”

“Daddy!” Lilly appeared in the door, her eyes sparkling.

“What is it, my dear?”

“Rainbow Dash is at the door!”

Pinkie gasped. “Rainbow Dash?!” Sprinting out of the room, she almost knocked over Lilly. She barely registered that reality seemed to warp from her unnatural speed. She spotted Dash standing at the door. “Dashie!” Not even slowing down, she launched herself at the poor pegasus.

“Whoa!” They fell on the ground, Pinkie Pie hugging Rainbow Dash.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Dashie! I was so worried about you girls, but I couldn’t tell you anything because I was training here with Peggy and playing with Lilly. And I also healed her, isn’t that wonderful? She wants...” Pinkie realized that something was not normal. She was used to having her mouth blocked by now, but instead what she felt was Rainbow Dash wrapping her hooves around her back. And were those...? “Are you crying?”

Rainbow Dash sniffed. “I’m not… I… Pinkie… when… when we heard that you were assassinated… I… I didn’t even know what to think. We were told that a random guy took you away and… and you were badly bleeding from your back.”

“Badly? Oh, but Peggy said it wasn’t so bad.” She released Rainbow Dash, who did the same. They stood up. “And even if it’d been, just look at it!” She turned and pointed to the no-longer-visible wound on her back. “You see?”

“I… don’t see… anything.”

She turned. “That’s just it! I healed myself!”

Dash’s eyes went wide. “So you learned how to heal?”

“Yup, Peggy taught me.” She then noticed the bandage on Dash’s hooves. “You came here on injured hooves?!”

Rainbow Dash spread her wings and wiggled them.

Pinkie giggled. “Oh yeah, silly me. Still, we should take care of your hooves. Sit down.” Rainbow Dash obeyed, and Pinkie touched the bandages. Nothing happened.

Pinkie heard hoofsteps from behind, and Brown Peg spoke, “Remember, ‘need in your heart’.”

Need in her heart... Easier said than done. Dashie needed to run again because… the Running of the Leaves! She saw in her mind Rainbow Dash galloping in the Whitetail Wood with Applejack. The only thing Dashie loved more than racing was winning. She remembered Rainbow Dash hoof-wrestling with Applejack. Pinkie’s hoof glowed.

“Okay, it should be healed.” Pinkie removed the bandages, and under it, no injury was seen. “Try it out.”

Rainbow Dash carefully stood up. Then made a weak stomp. Then jumped. “Wow, I don’t feel any pain at all!” She looked at Brown Peg. “Did he teach you?”

“Yup, come meet Peggy.” She pulled Dash to him.

“Hello. My name is Brown Peg.” He held out a hoof that Rainbow Dash shook.

“Rainbow Dash, the one and only.” She looked down at the filly. “And who’re you, little one?”

“I… I’m Lilly!” she squeaked.

“Hi there, Lilly.”

Pinkie began bouncing. “Weee, now one of my best friends knows my other best friends!”

“So… can you now heal the princesses?” Dash asked.

“Oh…” Pinkie stopped hopping and looked at Peg. "Peggy?”

Brown Peg sighed. “Unfortunately, I have no idea. I’ve taught you everything I could. We could practice more, but I don’t know if that would improve your chance to help the princesses’ state.”

“Are you a fansurn, too?”

“Fainsaarn, but unfortunately not. My great-grandfather was one, and I learned things from him, but it turned out that I do not posses the magic myself.”

Dash turned back to Pinkie Pie. “Then it’s only you who can do it, Pinkie. We’ve got some big problems.”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“One of the guards told us that the stuff that was on the picture… well, there are a lot more of them. And they’re coming here.”

Pinkie gasped.

“Twilight and the Royal Guard are now preparing for the defence of the city, but from what she said, it’s more of an evacuation plan.” Dash glanced at Lilly, who moved closer to her father.

“Then let’s go! Maybe I can bring the princesses back to life.” She glanced at the door. “See you later Brown Peg, see you later Lilly! Be a good girl!” She waved and began galloping towards the castle.

“Be careful, Pinkie Pie!” she heard Lilly shout from behind.

Pinkie kept running with Rainbow Dash flying overhead. Mid-way, she realized that she should have taken the fainsaarn diary with her to give it to Twilight for further research. Maybe later. As she glanced at the castle growing bigger and bigger in her sight, she wondered if she could use her fainsaarn powers to get there faster. Castle. Her, there, now! She saw herself glow in an aura, but the aura disappeared, and she was still running on the streets.

“What was that?”

Pinkie glanced up at Dashie. “Oh, I just tried to teleport to the castle. Maybe too far.” She looked forward again and saw something familiar at the end of the avenue. “Hey! Isn’t that Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity?”

Rainbow Dash looked ahead. “It is! What’re they doing here?”

“There they are!” Pinkie heard Applejack shout.

“Oh my, Pinkie!” Twilight yelled.

They two teams met in a big group hug around Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash hovering over them.

“Are you okay, Pinkie?”

“We were so worried, sugarcube.”

“I told you to be careful; never do this ever again!”

“Oh darling, I couldn't believe it when I heard it!”

Weren’t they the bestest friends? She hugged them back. “I’m so happy you’re all here! But why’re you here?” She released them.

Rarity answered, “It was simply awful! Just after Rainbow Dash left, that Embodiment of Agony came back with horrible creatures!”

Fluttershy added in a low voice, “They… they killed the guard ponies. It’s… just…” She trembled as her bleary eyes filled up tears again. Rarity embraced her, and they slowly sat down as Fluttershy continued her sobbing.

“It took us by surprise,” Twilight said. “He teleported in with a squad of elite warriors, shooting incredibly strong dark beams. We barely got out alive.”

“Ah’ve never seen such a thing before!” Applejack said. “A huge dark-purple ball with glowing blue curved swords on the top of it, walking on two legs blacker than a black beetle. It was a living nightmare!”

Twilight sighed and gazed at the floor. “The guards stood no chance.”

The daylight changed, the whole area rapidly going darker.

“What the?”

They all looked up. The sky was swarming with small black creatures.

Twilight gasped. “Dark wisps! They’re canceling the daylight with their magic!” She fell on her haunches. “This makes no sense. They weren’t supposed to arrive for at least two hours. The evacuation has barely started!”

The wind was blowing, and as they stared at the wisps, Pinkie Pie heard a voice coming with the wind.

The protectors of your false joy and happiness are gone, citizens of Canterlot. The princesses of Equestria are no more.

“Did you hear that too?” Rainbow Dash asked. They nodded.

Your enlightenment begins now, my children. Our suffering shall be our joy, our mourning shall be our anthem. Let the agony begin!

“Okay, this is bad. Very bad,” Pinkie said.

Do not fight back against the creatures of darkness, and I’ll spare your worthless lives.

Just as the message finished, the cloud of dark wisps began to move towards the ground.

“Oh my… think, Twilight, think, think!”

They weren’t just wisps. As Pinkie watched the dark forms come closer and closer, she also noticed some dragon-like things that had two legs. She had read about wyverns before, but never thought she would see one.

“The Elements of Harmony!” Rarity yelled.

“Right!” Twilight’s face lit up for a moment. “No! They’re in the castle! We stand no chance against those monsters. We must do something else!”

A dark wisp flew into the middle of the group, then stopped. They all stared at it.

“Oh… my.”

Go back to your homes. Curfew is in effect, Agony’s voice came out of the wisp.

“Nopony tells me what to do!” Rainbow Dash yelled at it before charging.

“Dash, no!” Twilight cried.

The pegasus flew through the wisp. The air at the ends of its tentacles suddenly became pitch-black, and a small dark sphere appeared at the top of the creature. The wisp made a swirl vertically. The sphere quickly circled around its body, following the movement of the tentacles, then became like a small comet with a black trail and flew right into Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash screamed and crashed into the ground.