Marked

by Eisen

First published 11th of July, 2015

Twilight begins Investigating Cutie Marks, only to find out more than she ever wanted to know.

Twilight Sparkle is asked by a child where Cutie Marks come from, and begins investigating. However, what starts out as simple research uncovers shadowy forces at work, and with each new clue, she learns more than she ever wanted to know.

(Special Thanks to Doukzor100 for the awesome cover art! )

(I don't know how, but Marked has been featured! Thank you all so much!)

Prologue

Author's Notes:

Click here to listen to "Progress", a song composed for this chapter!

"Where has that old stallion gotten off to now?" muttered an annoyed pony to himself, shifting his weight in one of two red chairs facing each other in a very large library. He glanced from side to side, noting shelves made of polished wood and numerous books lining all visible walls. He had no apparel upon his light gray coat, wearing only a blank, serious expression upon his face, his dull green eyes revealing nothing. He used a hoof to brush back his short black mane with an impatient sigh.

His eyes flicked to the side to see the blank door to the room open, as an older pony wearing a plain gray cloak walked in, slowly placing himself on the chair opposite him.

"Ah, thank you so much for joining me!" the gray pony said, masking his annoyance with a fairly convincing look of admiration. The old pony sighed and adjusted his cloak before responding.

"You said you had something important to discuss with me," he said in a slightly raspy voice, his tone indicating he wished to skip right to the point.

Slipping back into a serious expression, the gray stallion cleared his throat. "Yes, of course. I mean to speak to you today about your profession, and any... Contingencies you have in place," he said, trying subtly to see under the shaded hood of the older pony.

"Contingencies? Contingencies? I've done my duty every day for... Suffice to say an extremely long time with absolutely no issue and you suddenly come to me asking for contingencies?" he asked with a mildly raised tone.

The gray stallion did not skip a beat. "That is precisely the reason I ask, good sir. You've done your duty for so long that, frankly my associates and I need to know what your plans for the future are."

"Mister, what exactly are you saying?" the elder asked, eyeing him suspiciously from under the hood.

"To be blunt, you won't be around forever. We need to know what you plan to do if something happens to you," the younger stallion stated, his expression flat and unreadable.

At this, the older pony seemed taken aback, shifting in his seat, before lowering his head slightly. "I want you to listen to me very carefully," the old one said in a serious tone. "Day after day, year after year, decade after decade, et cetera, I have worked hard, and done that which nobody else could. Honestly, I have loathed every second of it, and not a day goes by that I don't regret thinking up the idea which trapped me in this job for so long... But I have done it, without fail, without falter, without hesitation. I have done so since its initial creation, and I will have to do it for the foreseeable future. And I assure you, despite my elderly appearance, there are numerous contingencies in place assuring my survival. Long story short sonny, you have nothing to worry about." After saying this, he coughed a few times, drinking liquid from an opaque flask he pulled out from under his cloak.

The gray pony seemed unimpressed, but put on a faint smile. "Of course, how foolish of me," he said before returning to a flatter expression. "However, that being said, my associates and I believe that certain... Aspects of your work should be rethought. We think it is time for action, time for a major shift in society."

The olden pony scowled at this. "I'm afraid you and your 'associates' should re-evaluate your ideas. What I do is already bad enough without people like you trying to abuse it. I'm afraid I cannot allow misuse of such a delicate system," he said.

The gray stallion expected this, but needed confirmation of the old stallion's stubborn attitude before moving forward on their plans. He faked a smile and nodded. "Of course, I understand," he said, standing up.

The older of the two stood shakily, patting the younger on the back. "I'm glad you can see reason," he concluded, walking away.

As he left the room, the gray pony frowned. It would have been preferable to have his cooperation, but the lack thereof was only a minor setback. The world would soon change, that much was certain. One life would be a small price to pay for progress.

Chapter 1: A simple Question

Twilight took a deep breath, placing a hoof on her chest, then removing it, pushing it away as she exhaled. "You can do this Twilight," she muttered, nervously shifting her wings. "It's not like we haven't dealt with worse..." she calmly reassured herself, opening her eyes to see a plain wooden door. Twilight had faced countless monsters, villainous entities, and numerous nerve-wracking events, just nothing quite like this...

"And announcing our special guest: princess Twilight Sparkle!" came a cheery voice from behind the door.

Twilight put on a smile and pushed open the door. Nope, she thought. Nothing had quite prepared her for this: speaking to schoolchildren.

"Everypony welcome the princess!" Cheerilee said, which gained a resounding "Good morning princess Twilight!" from the classroom full of kids.

"Hello there!" Twilight said kindly, looking over the occupied desks. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were sitting near each other, and most of the other kids she had seen at least once before, during the little "Twilight Time" incident a few months ago. Good to recognize some of the children, it will make speaking a lot easier, the princess concluded. She took comfort in familiarity, and quietly sighed in relief.

"Now, the princess has come here to talk to you all about friendship today!" Cheerilee announced, being met with a few interested smiles, and some subtle rolled eyes. She motioned for Twilight to take the floor, and stepped back a bit. The princess stepped forward and was about to speak, when she heard some giggling from the back of the classroom, breaking her concentration. Twilight smirked slightly, and despite Cheerilee standing to tell them to stop, she motioned to prevent her from doing so. "Is there anything any of you wish to say before we start?" the princess asked, directing a look at the back of the class.

The giggling stopped, although the group did continue snickering for a bit. "Anything at all?", she asked, eyeing the group suspiciously, but with a small smile. Maybe handling children isn't as difficult as I had originally thought, Twilight mused.

Eventually, one still-snickering young filly, with a turquoise coat and a light blue mane raised a hoof. "Princess Twilight...? You're a princess... And princesses can do amazing things, like raise the moon and the sun, and give love and stuff, right?" she questioned, somewhat shakily.

"Well, some of them, yes," Twilight responded, still half-smiling. She was curious where the filly was going with that thought.

"So, we got to thinking, maybe a princess makes Cutie Marks appear! So, do you make Cutie Marks, princess Twilight?" the child inquired innocently.

Twilight was a little shocked by the question, but quickly laughed it off. "No, no, I don't make Cutie Marks..." she replied, slightly chuckling at the idea.

The child then simply asked "Well, if you don't make them... Then what does make Cutie Marks?"

Twilight's chuckling died down at this question, as all eyes were on her. The Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed intently focused on her, and even Cheerilee cocked her head slightly in curiosity. "Well..." Twilight started cautiously, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "I'm not entirely sure..." Twilight pondered this. Where DO Cutie Marks come from?

"Now now students, the princess came here to talk about friendship, not Cutie Marks," Cheerilee said, trying to get the class back on track.

Twilight shook her head. "Right, of course!" She stuttered out, lightly blushing at getting sidetracked. The Crusaders let out a quiet "aww..." in the corner. Twilight sighed, then looked over the class, beginning her speech. "Yes, friendship: one of the most important parts of our lives..."

Later that night, Twilight walked into her new castle, plopping herself down on her chair in the table room, sighing as she eyed the roots hanging above. The question from earlier still lingered in her mind. Where did Cutie Marks come from? As far as she knew, they just appeared whenever someone found their special talent, but the more she thought about it, the more her concern grew. Something just appearing with no recognizable stimulus? Perhaps it comes from within, but if that were the case, my countless medical books would have mentioned it, surely!

Twilight was no longer sitting, but pacing, her hoof steps echoing in the crystalline room. Perhaps I can dismiss it as simple magic for unicorns, but what of the pegasi or earth ponies, who are inherently non-magical biologically? And why only ponies? There are no gryphons or buffaloes with Cutie Marks. And just what factors determine the manifestation of a Cutie Mark? It's generally accepted that it forms when a special talent is discovered, but are there any other criteria? Thoughts such as these rushed though here mind as she paced back and forth.

Meanwhile, Spike was awoken from a lovely dream of a storm of delicious diamonds by the sound of continuous clacking on the floor in one of the other rooms. The baby dragon groaned as he sat up, quietly muttering something about how the seed should have made the castle less echoey. He walked out into the table room, only to see a distressed looking Twilight, who paid him no mind. "Twilight? Twilight...?" he asked tiredly. "Twilight!"

She was snapped out of her stupor when Spike called out her name for the third time. "Spike? How long have you been standing there?" she asked, trotting over to him.

"Long enough to see that something's bugging you. At least you can't wear a divot into the floor here. Let me guess... Forgot to schedule something?" he questioned, noting her behavior.

"No, everything's scheduled. Sorry Spike... I just... One of the kids asked me where Cutie Marks come from, and I honestly don't know! I mean, who would know something like that?" she inquired, mostly as a rhetorical question.

"Didja ask princess Celestia?" he asked groggily, half tired from being awoken, and half tired from Twilight's worry. Sometimes she'd get so worked up that she wouldn't see simple answers.

"Spike, You're a genius!" the princess exclaimed, levitating him and spinning him around before setting him down.

He shook his head to dispel the minor dizziness, then turned to walk back to the room to sleep. "Well this genius is tired... Goodnight...." the dragon said halfheartedly, hoping he could get back into the diamond-rain dream.

Twilight decided she should best get some rest, quickly writing a letter to the princess to inform her she would be visiting tomorrow afternoon. She levitated a pen and quickly began jotting down a letter herself.

Spike closed his eyes, the visions slowly returning. He saw the sky open, and gems of the highest quality rain down. He looked beside him, seeing Rarity there, and as she opened her mouth to speak, he looked at her hopefully. He was shocked when Twilight's voice came out of her mouth. "Spike? Spiiiike...?"

He jolted awake to the sight of a lightly blushing Twilight standing in front of him. "Sorry to bother you but..." she pulled out the letter she had just written. "Could you send this real quick?" she requested with a mildly embarrassed smile.

He sighed tiredly and sent the message, earning him a "thanks!" as Twilight went off to bed. Spike groaned slightly. Twilight is great, to be sure… Spike thought to himself with a sigh, but beyond any doubt, she is one weird, weird pony.

Chapter 2: Catalyst

Princess Celestia sat calmly on the balcony of her tower, smiling as the wind blew through her white coat, and lightly moved her naturally flowing iridescent mane. The balcony itself overlooked Canterlot, as well as much of Equestria below, and the view was particularly favored by the monarch, who preferred to keep a watchful and protective eye on her kingdom. Often she would come here to relax, or to just watch life down below whenever she could. She always found it a comfort to look down and be able to see her subjects, and she enjoyed watching some of the simple daily activities of the locals. However, today she sat there for a different reason. Today, Celestia patiently awaited the arrival of her former student, the now "Princess of Friendship," Twilight Sparkle.

A light smile crept upon her face as she remembered the day Twilight became a princess. Celestia was so proud when her student reached her full potential and ascended to become an Alicorn, but mixed with the pride was a tinge of almost parental sadness, for it was no longer her duty to guide her, but rather serve Equestria along side her. She wouldn't say it out loud, but for that very reason, she was delighted to see Twilight's letter last night, as it indicated she had something important to ask, meaning she could once again help guide her former student. The princess did find it a bit odd that the letter was so cryptic, not saying exactly what it was she wanted to ask, but any chance to see Twilight in person again was welcomed. So, when she heard the Canterlot train from Ponyville would be arriving sometime soon, she headed straight up to the tower to wait, as the letter specified.

Eventually, the door in the tower's small main room opened, and Twilight trotted in slowly, and was met with a warm smile from her former mentor. Celestia stood and trotted over, giving a respectful bow as she stood under the open archway to the balcony. Twilight returned the formality, happily smiling as they both finished their bows. "Princess Twilight, it is good to see you again," Celestia said calmly, with a smile still upon her face.

"Thank you for meeting with me princess, I know you must be very busy with all your duties, meetings, letters, organization--" She stopped when Celestia raised a hoof with a slight snicker.

"It was no problem at all, Twilight," Celestia stated with a slight chuckle before Twilight had a chance to continue. "Now, what was it that you wanted to ask me?" She questioned Twilight, curious about what would be important enough to warrant being asked in person.

Twilight cleared her throat, a blush fading from her face from the cutoff as she tried to look as serious as she could. She sighed, still slightly unsure of herself, given the odd nature of the question. "Well, princess, I wanted to ask you if you knew where... Cutie Marks come from?" Twilight inquired nervously, but very clearly.

Celestia was stunned, but tried to keep her face calm, which she did for the most part, although she did seem subtly flatter than usual. When reading the letter she had expected a question about royal duties, or about the map, or maybe even a friendship question, but not where Cutie Marks came from.

"Princess? do you know?" Twilight asked, cocking her head to the side curiously. She tried not to dwell on the long pause, but couldn't help but wonder if she had just unintentionally said something wrong.

"No." Celestia said in a very curt manner, with no further comment.

"Oh. I was hoping if anypony knew, it would be you..." Twilight trailed off, looking at the floor in disappointment. She began to think that the trail might have gone cold.

"Why do you ask?" Celestia suddenly asked her, drawing Twilight's gaze back up to meet Celestia's.

"Huh? Well... I was asked where cutie marks came from by one of the kids at the Ponyville school when I went to give a presentation, and I didn't have an answer," Twilight responded, a little confused as to her interrogative tone.

This was quickly followed by another question from Celestia. "Do you remember which child?"

This unusual question warranted a short "Huh?" from Twilight. Celestia repeated the question, with a hint of sternness this time. "I didn't get a name... And they were somewhere in the back of the class so no, I don't know who asked. They thought for some reason that, because I was a princess, I made Marks," Twilight stammered out. She had never seen the princess act like this before... It was unsettling to say the least.

Celestia lightly sighed and turned away. Twilight mulled over her behavior. After she had asked where marks came from, Celestia still had her calm tone, but it was different, less inviting. "I'm sorry, is that a touchy subject?" Twilight apologized.

"No, not at all!" Celestia stated, turning around. "But you see, Cutie Marks are just a part of Equestria, no need to question them," she explained. It was still in a calm tone, but the look on Celestia's face made it seem more like a precaution than a statement.

Twilight nodded. "Of course, how silly of me," she said, smiling, all the while noting Celestia's shift in behavior. Now Twilight knew something was off. Throughout her apprenticeship, Celestia had always encouraged Twilight to learn as much as possible, so to turn around and discourage investigation? It was highly irregular.

Celestia sighed silently at Twilight's words. "Just don't worry about it, my faithful student... Or should I say, princess Twilight," Celestia said with a smile, drawing attention to Twilight's change in title.

Twilight was still concerned, or at the very least confused, but happily bowed again to her mentor, who returned the gesture as before.

Just as the princesses finished their bows, a royal guard came up and opened the door. "Your highness? Mr. Reach has arrived," the guard stated formally.

"Ah, our meeting today! Of course, send him up. And please escort princess Twilight down as well," Celestia instructed with a calm smile, waving once more at Twilight before they left through the large doors.

Celestia sat once again on the balcony, overlooking the railing to look upon Equestria below. A sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, mulling over the previous discussion briefly before putting on her typical calm expression. She had a meeting to host.

Chapter 3: First Clues

Spike sighed as he placed the last of the books on Twilight's desk, earning him a "Thanks Spike" from behind an open hardcover. He would say that her behavior was odd; that is if he hadn't known Twilight. The fact of the matter is, when she got interested in a topic, she usually went all in, absorbing as much information as possible within a scheduled time frame. Spike did have to admit though, she was behaving a little differently this time around.

The first thing she had done the moment she got home from Canterlot was run right in and close the doors and windows. In fact, Spike had barely said hello before she had rushed over to him and told him to get every book and journal that even mentioned a cutie mark. While it wasn't abnormal for Twilight to binge-read and lock herself inside, the fact that she didn't schedule this beforehand was quite atypical. However, being the greatest number one assistant in the world that he was, he got right on it, not risking his title.

When she had begun reading, she calmed down a great deal, and by the time he brought in the last book, she was in her usual study mood. Spike went to leave the room and go make himself a congratulatory snack, when she did something else a little unusual.

"Spike? Before you go, I have a favor to ask," she said breaking the silence and stopping Spike in his tracks.

"Yes?" he replied, his normal curious expression shifting slightly as he noticed an unusual concern on
Twilight's face.

"Please don't tell anypony that I'm researching Cutie Marks," she asked him very simply.

"Of course, but... Can I ask why?" he questioned, curious as to why she would request that of all things. She knew he usually didn't mention what she was up to to anyone, so why make such a request now?

"I got the feeling that the princess didn't really want me looking into it, but I'd like to know more before just giving up." Twilight responded with determination in her voice.

"Good enough for me. My lips are sealed," he said, making a corresponding mouth-zipping motion before walking off to the kitchen.

Twilight sighed as she went back to her research. It wasn't that she didn't trust Spike, it was just, if he had said something off hoof near a royal guard, or around someone living in Canterlot, or something like that, Celestia might have caught wind of it, and Twilight got the impression that it wouldn't turn out well. All that in mind, she went back to her research.

Hours passed (or at least it felt like hours), she was getting tired, and the pile of unhelpful books continued to grow. The more and more she read, the less and less helpful everything became. All she had learned so far were that Equestrians were the only known species to have Cutie marks to date (the only potential exception being Zebras, who for all intents and purposes are still similar enough to the three primary tribes to be classified as Equestrians), that Cutie Marks manifest when talents show themselves, and that the only known Cutie Mark-related ailment, Cutie Pox, has multiple unknown factors, not the least of which is what exactly causes the manifestation of multiple marks. Nothing came up that either she didn't already know, or wasn't common knowledge. Then it occurred to her that she had personally witnessed odd happenings with Cutie marks herself.

After all, the incomplete Starswirl inscription switched my friend's marks! and what about the recent discovery of the town with only equal sign Marks? Yes! I can write a report about all I've seen! She grabbed fresh parchment and levitated a new quill to begin writing.

Firstly, her notes on the Starswirl incident might uncover some useful information. She wrote about how her friend's marks had been swapped around, and how they instantly began doing each others jobs, or at least attempting to. They each had been unable to successfully perform the duties of their new mark, yet seemed to continue trying despite realizing it was fruitless. They appeared determined to try, driven to perform the task specified by their mark. After their marks had been restored, they each easily went back to normal with no difficulty.

What of the initial contact with Starlight Glimmer? That proved that Marks could in fact be removed and contained, yet the moment their containment was broken, so long as they were unimpeded by something like a unicorn holding them back, they instantly returned to their owners, as if drawn directly there. She also wrote down that, once their marks were removed, their natural abilities were impeded. Rainbow had less speed, Twilight's own powers were severely suppressed, and everyone seemed to have a general dullness about them not usually present, as if a significant part of their being were removed.

She had also witnessed and heard accounts from Applejack, Zecora, and many other ponies, from the Cutie Pox incident with Apple Bloom. With the appearance of each new mark, Apple Bloom uncontrollably and masterfully executed the tasks depicted in each mark, to the point of losing control. The more Marks were present, the less control over herself she had.

With these notes put to paper, she began to notice important trends. She wrote down each:
#1: Cutie Marks act as a driving force upon the subject. Regardless of if the person is capable of the talent, they will be driven to attempt whatever it depicts.
#2: Cutie Marks are separable from their subject, but will return as long as unimpeded.
#3: Losing a Cutie Mark significantly weakens the subject, thus resulting in both suppressed abilities and a much duller personality.

It was a good start, and Twilight happily looked over her work, but as she did so, she couldn't help but notice some other clutter around her desk. "When did all that get there?" She asked herself aloud. Glancing about for some indication of time, she wondered how long she had been reading, writing and pondering. Twilight got up, stretched a bit, and trotted out into the hallway, intending to head to the throne room, but freezing in place as she heard a knock at the main castle entrance. She cautiously made her way to the front door, opening it slowly to be greeted by a cannon barrel.

Pinkie Pie fired off the party cannon with a resounding noise. "GHA!" Was all Twilight could manage as she backed away from the door. "Pinkie, what was that for?" she asked rubbing her eyes as the daylight flooded in, and rubbing her ears after the loud cannon noise she had just heard left a dull ringing in them.

Pinkie sharply inhaled. "WELL, see, we hadn't heard from you for the past three days, so we were starting to get worried. Then Applejack thought you must be off somewhere because she saw you getting on a train two days ago, but Rainbow Dash said she saw you come back home later that evening and run in here. So I got to thinking, maybe you went off to take some kind of class and you have a reeeeeeeeeeeeally big test coming up soon, and so you've been studying for it or something, so I came here to throw you a studying party! Or a Cooped-up-inside-for-almost-two-days-and-really-need-a-break Party!" Pinkie said in her fast 'Exposition voice' (that's what she called it anyway, and it was generally accepted that nobody question Pinkie Pie).

Twilight chuckled lightly and smiled at her friend. 'Well, I haven't quite been studying for a test, but I have been looking into something really interesting!" Twilight responded, a little surprised at Pinkie's appearance, but also a bit relieved that she hadn't been studying for any ridiculous amount of time, like a week. "In fact, I'll show you if you promise not to tell anypony," Twilight stated. She knew she could trust her closest friends.
Pinkie gave her 'Pinkie Promise' oath, using a real cupcake (produced from seemingly nowhere), and followed Twilight into the library.

Twilight herself felt this was good. She just needed to tell someone she trusted about all this, and her friends had always helped her before, so maybe they could help her unravel this mystery together. That is, Twilight thought this until Pinkie spoke again.

"You know, I was almost worried when the princess wrote us and asked us if you had been acting differently, and that we should tell her if you were..." Pinkie stated nonchalantly, scratching her chin.

Twilight locked up. "She said what?" the princess asked, a chill setting in.

Pinkie blushed. "Oops, I think that was supposed to be a secret," Pinkie noted with an embarrassed smile. She leaned in close and playfully whispered "Don't tell anypony!"

"When did Celestia write that?" Twilight questioned, shaking at having broken out into a cold sweat.

"Just yesterday actually! But I'm sure she's just worried about you silly!" Pinkie said with a dismissive hoof wave. "Anyway, what did you wanna show me?" the pink pony asked happily.

Twilight had to think of something, she couldn't tell Pinkie now! "Uhh... I found a... Super secret zap apple jam recipe!" Twilight said, running and grabbing a book on rare delicacies.

Pinkie gasped. "But I thought Granny Smith was the only one who figured out how to make zap apple jam!" the pink pony said, looking over the book.

"Well, that's why it's a secret, heh heh!" Twilight explained with nervous laughter. "Anyway, how about you take that book to Sugarcube corner?"

Pinkie ecstatically nodded, threw the book into her hair and hopped to the exit. Twilight sighed. It was a good thing Pinkie hadn't noticed her notes, carelessly left on a desk. I should really get to organizing--

"Waaaaaait a minute!" came Pinkie's voice. Twilight turned around just in time for the pink p ony to be nose-to-nose with her, a very serious expression on her face.

"Y-yes?" Twilight gulped nervously.
There was a tense moment for a few seconds as Pinkie seemed to stare into her very soul...

"This IS Granny Smith's recipe!" the pink pony exclaimed backing up and flipping the book out of her hair and into her hoof, using the other to point to the page.

Twilight nearly collapsed right there, but composed herself with the breathing technique Cadence taught her. It really did work. "Yep, nothing escapes you Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Smiled. "I'll be sure to keep this a secret!" she said with a wink, hopping out the door with a few stray "la la la"'s here and there.

After she had left, Twilight locked the door and ran to the library, packaging up all her notes and throwing it in a saddlebag, fastening it to herself, tightening it and locking it with her horn so that only she could open it. She frantically began re-shelving all of the books to dispose of any indication of her research, but as she did, the cold realization cut into her like a knife.

Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, could no longer trust her own friends.

Chapter 4: Seeds of Doubt

After sleeping for a few hours and thinking deeply, Twilight decided that she needed to look elsewhere for research. She concluded that, given most modern books uselessness on the subject, she'd need to look at much older texts, perhaps texts from 1,000 years ago.

"Spike, I'll be gone for a while, be sure to take care of the castle for me," she said, poking her head into the kitchen where Spike was standing.

"Where you going Twi?" the dragon asked curiously, putting down the cookbook he had been reading.

"I'm heading off to the Crystal empire for research on...ancient pony cultures!" She explained, thinking it a rational and reasonable excuse.

"Alright! You can count on me!" He said enthusiastically. That was one of the things Twilight always liked about Spike; he was so eager to please

With that, she trotted to the train station, occasionally glancing around her as inconspicuously as she could manage, taking the first train she could to the Crystal Empire.

Twilight waited until the other ponies had picked their seats before she selected to sit in the front of an empty car. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment as she sat down on the padded train seat, feeling the vehicle lurch forward seconds later as it left the station. No turning back now she thought to herself.

A few minutes into the trip, after staring out the window for a while, she heard a small voice in the isle. "Princess Twilight...?" asked the voice quietly, almost uneasily. Twilight turned with a short "hm?" To see a young, turquoise filly looking up at her.

It was the same child from the school a few days ago! The one who had initially asked her where Cutie Marks came from. Twilight chuckled a bit at the thought of all the trouble this little filly accidentally started. Ironic to meet her again while hunting for information.

"What's so funny princess?" The little one asked, giggling a bit herself.

"Oh, nothing... say where are your parents?" Twilight asked looking around.

"Oh, they're sitting in the car in front of us! But they said I could come talk to you, if you thought it was alright!" She explained.

"Of course you can, have a seat!" Twilight said, gesturing to the seat in front of her, facing hers. It was relaxing to have some company. It was strange... Twilight used to be perfectly fine being alone, but for some reason now it felt... cold.

"So did you find out where Cutie Marks come from?" The filly asked innocently, causing Twilight's eyes to widen ever so slightly.

The princess looked over the girl. She was smiling up at Twilight, sincerely. Twilight didn't suspect a child to be into espionage, although she didn't let the possibility slide that she might have been put up to asking.

She eventually decided that she wouldn't give any vital information to the girl, in case anyone was listening in, but she'd humor her a bit.

"Well..." Twilight stared, leaning in a bit, the child following suit. "I don't know where they come from... but they're really more interesting than most people know!" She said in an almost playfully hushed tone.

"How?" The girl whispered back, a look of curiosity in her eyes.

"Well... everypony knows that we earn our marks with our talents... but not many ponies know that our marks actually help our talents too!" she said with a wink. "It's a secret!"

Twilight felt rather silly saying all that. Her paranoia had also started to kick in... but what had she really told her? Nothing that an adult pony couldn't come up with on their own through thinking about it.

"Wow!" The little filly said, nodding. "I won't tell anypony!" She said smiling.

Twilight giggled a bit more. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Here she was, worrying about keeping secrets from her friends, but after answering a small girl's question, it really wasn't much of a secret after all, was it?

"Summer? Our stop is up ahead!" came a voice from the car directly in front of theirs.

"Coming mom!" The turquoise filly responded, looking at the princess one more time. "My name's Summer by the way! Bye princess Twilight!" Summer said happily as she hopped down and went to her mother.

Twilight raised an ear and listened for a moment, not sure what she was listening for.

"So, Summer, what did you and the princess talk about?" asked the mother.

Twilight's ears went flat. What was she thinking? Talking about Marks to a child after coming under scrutiny from Celestia herself? How stupid--

"I was just asking the princess about her wings mom!" Summer replied innocently.

Twilight was certainly surprised, but relieved, and sighed with a relaxed smile as the train came to a stop. Twilight looked out the window to see Summer looking back with a wink. The princess smiled and waved back as the train pulled away, heading to the Crystal Empire.

Upon arrival, Twilight wasted no time heading over to the massive library, still briefly checking around her. She questioned herself on the way over as to how exactly she would go about this. That library was far too large for her to navigate on her own, and without a modern organizational system, she'd have to ask a librarian where the books she needed were.

Now, Twilight wasn't about to take another risk by asking the librarian about marks, so she'd have to be a bit more specific. She had a plan in place and recited it mentally to herself briefly, and by the time she entered the library, she knew what to do.

"Hello there!" came a kind sounding voice. Twilight looked over to see an elderly earth pony, stamping a book that seemed to match his non-crystalline coat's brown hue.

Twilight trotted up and spoke in a calm tone. "Hello! I was just wondering if you could help me find books on ancient pony history," she recited politely.

"History, eh?" He said, putting down the book. "Well now! That's a pretty broad topic! Anything in particular you were looking for?"

The princess had anticipated this question. "Actually, I'm looking for history books from shortly after, around or before Equestria's founding, one that really talks about the ponies of that time, maybe some biographies?" she suggested.

The older pony scratched his head, his thinning gray mane shifting slightly in accordance. "Well now...Ah! If you'll follow me," he said, walking slowly and leading her towards one of the back shelves with a calm smile. "Say, if you don't mind me asking, your highness, what do you need these books for?" He inquired.

Twilight briefly wondered if he was probing her, but given his tone, it sounded like he was making friendly conversation. "Well, I just needed a new topic to study, and ancient pony figures sounded interesting!" Twilight said, as they stopped before a large bookshelf.

The older pony kindly studied her for a moment. "New subject eh?" he asked, with a still calm, yet slightly puzzled look on his face.

Twilight tried to keep her innocent expression, but she was never very good at controlling either her body language or facial poses.

After a brief moment, he got a brighter expression and spoke up. "Well, if you were looking for something new and interesting, why not give this a read?" the stallion asked, pulling a book out of a small librarian's saddlebag he had on. It was the same shade of brown as his coat, so Twilight had barely noticed it earlier.

The book she was handed was titled "The Foal and the Fountain". It was a plain looking book, an old tale that she'd heard of but never actually read. She had always thought it was a children's story, but the older pony was very polite, so she took it with a brief "thank you" before she started selecting books off of the shelf.

Just as he was leaving her, he turned around and called out. "Oh, one more thing, princess!"

Twilight looked at him, and was met with a difficult-to-read expression. It almost seemed somewhere between mild confusion, concern, and empathy.

"It gets dark a lot sooner than it does down in Ponyville up here. If you want to head back to wherever you're staying for the night, you'd best leave before dusk," he cautioned.

"Thanks for the heads up!" She said.

He smiled warmly again and headed back up to the front desk. Twilight sighed, and pulled out another blank sheet to begin taking notes, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She reassured herself that it was her imagination, and even looked around just to be sure, and soon enough, she felt a bit better.

...which made observing her much simpler.

Chapter 5: Escalation

After a few solid hours of studying, Twilight began to discreetly write notes on what she found was important. So she nearly jumped when the librarian pony called out to her, his saddlebag full of writing materials and the like.

"Well... my shift is up. It's starting to get dark outside, so I'd recommend you head out soon!" he explained, keeping his difficult to read tone. He seemed to have a somewhat concerned expression as she looked up at him, covering her note page discreetly with her hoof.

"Just finishing up now!" She told him, which seemed to ease his expression by some small degree. Twilight wasn't sure exactly why this unsettled her. He seemed to be giving off an impression of empathy, although the other emotion could have been anything from worry to pity to regret from his own past. After she had reassured him however, he beamed a warm smile and trotted out, the door softly closing behind him.

After waiting a moment to see if anyone else entered after he left, she decided that he was right and should wrap up for the day. She calmly placed each book back, and then looked over her new notes, reviewing once more all that she had uncovered.

What primarily stood out about one of the Crystal Empire's history books about the former King Sombra was that his mark was never described. In fact, from what she had read, nobody had ever even seen Sombra's Cutie Mark, and despite a few descriptions of him without his beloved royal garb, it still said nothing about a mark. Twilight could chalk this up to his mark being a symbol of evil, perhaps a wretched thing to the citizens of the empire. However, In every other biographical book she had read about Pre-Equestrian ponies, not a single mark was mentioned. It is a curious thing for that to be the case, especially since in modern Equestrian history books, it is very important to explain a famous pony's mark, given that it does represent their talent. She made sure to jot down these oddities, perhaps the lack of marks being mentioned was a significant find.

She calmly rolled up the papers and unsealed her bag just long enough to place them inside. She had almost sealed it up when she looked again and saw the book the old pony had given her. "The Foal and the Fountain". Now that she thought about it, it was rather strange to just hand out a story like that, especially when Twilight expressed an interest in history, not stories or fiction. She was thinking of reading it before quickly looking at a window high above her. Nothing was there, but the sun had already gone down, which was a sign that she needed to head out. She casually placed the book in her saddlebag and sealed it shut again with her horn, making sure to tighten the bag around her waist before heading out the door.

It was a crisp, cool night, and Twilight shivered slightly as she trotted towards the center of town. She had made arrangements earlier with Shining Armor and Cadence to stay in one of the spare rooms in the castle.

As her hooves clacked on the smooth crystal street below, she thought about what she could start looking in to tomorrow. "I've already read two large volumes of Pre-Equestrian history, and three biographies on King Sombra..." She pondered, thinking of the other books that she needed to read. "There's still that book on the founders of Equestria, the other volumes of 'Northern Equestrian Leaders', and the autobiography of--" She stopped in the middle of the street, but the hoof-beats didn't. She was not alone. Her horn glowed with a bright light, revealing five ponies walking up behind her.

"Well boys, what have we here? A lonely mare at night! And a princess to boot!" Came the voice of one of them who had walked in front of her, his crystalline coat reflecting some of the purple light from the princess's horn. He wore a smirk and his eyes remained mostly in shadow.
"You might do to be a bit cautious, your highness. These streets ain't quite as safe as the ones back in Canterlot. Say... Nice saddlebag there... betcha it's got all kinds of expensive princess crap in it," said a green one, standing somewhere behind her. He was flanked by two others, with the fifth of the bunch directly at her back. The fifth one gruffly grabbed her leg with his, attempting to yank her aside. She easily shot him backwards with a horn blast to the chest, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him reeling on the ground.

"Did you really think this was a good idea?" Twilight asked, incredulous. The three she had in sight looked hesitant, but the mare of the group got brave and charged her with a shout, the other two following suit, with the gray one who had spoken first brandishing a knife in his teeth. She sent out a magic wave to bounce all three back, charging a blast before the fourth head butted her in the side. She reeled from the impact, coughing as she stood up, re-charging with all four in sight and blasting the one with the knife. He went down with an expression of shock. The mare and the green lackey both rushed her, the mare jumping and flapping her wings to try and strike from above with force. Twilight very easily dodged the strike and grabbed the mare with her magic, tossing her at the other and sending both into a wall, where they collapsed unconscious.

Those street thugs were simple enough to take on, and only one remained. She faced him, and was greeted by a bald pegasus with an ashen coat, the texture of the fur very dull. Unusually, he wore a pair of shades, despite it being the dead of night. Unlike the others, he was in a very defensible stance, and, to Twilight's shock, he managed to avoid the small wall of energy she fired at him with a masterfully executed aerial lunge, sending him up and arching towards her. He just barely missed her as she flew up into the air, the stallion grunting as he quickly recovered and bounded up after her. Also unlike his comrades, he said nothing, and had a very blank expression on his face. She attempted to dodge his straight launch at her, but was caught off guard as he pulled off a near 90-degree directional shift (a move that might even impress Rainbow Dash) and slammed into her side with all of his weight. He succeeded in injuring one of her wings, and she hit the ground with a dull thud. He dived and landed beside her, raising his front hooves to slam down on her--

BOOM! His dive gave her enough time to charge one strong blast in her horn, and just as he reeled up, she whipped her head around and fired, hitting him square in the chest. He flew a good five feet before a wall stopped his movement and cracked. She stood and panted, looking at the five unconscious thugs, but taking an extra moment to observe the bald one. He was much better built than the others, and although appearing in the same fashion as the rest of the thugs, he just didn't carry himself like a common criminal.

She walked away and rubbed her wing painfully. "Guards! Guards?" She called out. It was strange, normally there was a guard on nearly every block, but she traveled three blocks away before finally finding one, who looked very startled when he saw her.

"Your highness, are you alright?" He questioned, looking very concerned. He seemed almost panicked to see a princess in this state.

"You'll find five thugs in the alley three blocks back... They tried to rob me," she stated very straightforwardly, having caught her breath a bit more. He nodded wildly and used his horn to broadcast a signal into the sky, alerting other guards to his location as he ran to the street she had specified.

As Twilight approached the royal palace, she was met outside by a very concerned looking royal couple. Cadence had a look of slight shock, as if she had jumped out of bed in distress just minutes before. Shining Armor, meanwhile, had his armor on, but not all of the straps were in straight, indicating that he, too, had rushed out.

"Twily!" Shining exclaimed, galloping over to hug her with an expression of relief. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, but I met with some unwanted trouble on the way here." She told him, grunting slightly as she tried stretching her hurt wing.

"I know. That signal over there is only used to indicate danger to royalty... I'm just glad you're okay. But tell me what happened, I need to know!" he said, half formally as he remembered his position, but it was still his sister, he was personally concerned. Cadence had walked up next to him, with a calmer but still very worried expression upon her face.

"I was on my way here from the library, and I was met by five street thugs. They tried to mug me, but I was able to knock them all out." Twilight explained, but hesitated.

"Is there something else?" Cadence asked, her voice soothing but still cautious.

"Well... the first four were just run of the mill street thugs, like some of the young colts and mares in Manehattan or Phillydelphia. But the fifth one was different. A bald pegasus, ashy coat, well built. Unlike the others, he seemed... trained. He had a good combat stance and actually landed a few hits on me." She said, rubbing her still aching side where his head had impacted her earlier.

Shining's face dropped at this. "Sure, there have been minor bursts of crime lately but... a professional?" He seemed to be deeply thinking.

Cadence took this moment to try and lighten the mood like she usually did.
"Heh. You've got pros out for you now, Twilight?" After saying this, Cadence took on a playful smirk, as if talking to a child who has just lied about something fairly minor. "You haven't been snooping in anything you shouldn't be, have you?" Cadence laughed off the comment lightheartedly.

Twilight nervously laughed along, but had a hollow feeling inside. Sure, Cadence always said stuff like that in tense situations, it's how she dealt with them. But still... Had Celestia said anything to her? Could Cadence be trusted?

Twilight then shifted back to her brother. "Oh, I think I should mention that there weren't many guards around during the fight. I traveled three blocks before finding one. I thought it was policy to have at least one guard on each block." She partially brought it up to change the subject, but also was somewhat curious.

Shining glanced briefly at his wife before answering. "Well, I mentioned that there were some crime bursts lately so, in response, I reassigned some of the guards to the higher risk areas." He said it a bit quickly, likely because he was ashamed at almost bringing harm to his sister with the decision, but in Twilight's current state of mind, she couldn't help but think it might be more than that.

"Well after events like that, I'm sure she needs her rest!" Cadence chimed in, steering the conversation to a neutral topic. Twilight definitely agreed.

They all walked in to the palace, wishing Twilight a good night, but not before Shining insisted on posting night guards outside of her door.

So, Twilight crawled into bed, not even removing the saddlebag before falling into a deep sleep.

Chapter 6: Restless Night

Twilight's eyes blinked open slowly, and she sat up in her bed. It was dark, and fairly quiet, but that made her uneasy.

She strained her ear to listen hard for anything she could and... ah! There, in the hallway, what sounded like whispers. Probably the night guards... she thought to herself calmly, but was a little shaken in this concept, as she noted some glowing lights passing the door, yet no hoof steps.

Twilight listened for a few more minutes, the whispers growing slightly, but not intelligible. After considering her options, she decided that, given her status and her defense proficiency, she could risk peering out the door. So, after quietly slipping out of bed and stealthily trotting over to the door, she listened close.

The whispers were still difficult to make out, prompting her to open the door slowly. "Can't a girl get some rest around here?" she asked the guards tiredly, only to find that they were nowhere to be found. "Strange..." she whispered to herself, looking down the hall to the left: nothing there. She looked to the right, however, and saw a faint glow at the end of the hallway.

Deciding she had nothing to lose, Twilight calmly trotted along the lengthy hallway, careful to keep her steps light and quiet. She looked at some of the paintings on the walls, and was surprised to see that they were each portraits of the Cutie Marks of famous individuals. She actually stopped a moment and chuckled nervously. She wasn't sure whether it was more unsettling or ironic, but at any rate, she pressed onward, until she reached the end of the hallway, which led into one of the palace's grand chambers.

She gasped as she looked around the room, discovering the source of the glow to be dozens of floating Marks, each one moving circularly and being levitated by an unknown force. Twilight stood in the center of the room, and finally began to hear the whispers. "Mistake..." one lamented. "Failure..." another croaked quietly.

"Alright, who's there?" she asked, looking around. The doors to the chamber slammed shut, and the Marks lowered to swirl around her. "Glimmer! I recognize your tricks!" she yelled. It was a stab in the dark really, but the only pony Twilight had ever seen manipulate Cutie Marks was Starlight Glimmer, the equality-mandating leader of a small town.

Her yell went unanswered, at least from any pony, as the marks seemed to grow in number, and swirl about her at a quicker pace. "Turn away..." one pleaded. "Seek us not..." Another agreed, less of a whisper this time.

"Cadence? Haha, very funny..." Twilight tried, hoping it was a prank. This much skill of illusion was something that would require great power, and great power was something Cadence certainly had, but still, no answer.

The Marks were speaking at a regular volume now, surrounding her completely on all sides, and closing up above. Twilight had to fly up a bit to avoid some that were sweeping under her now. "Stop." "Halt your search." "Leave us alone," they stated, multiplying rapidly.

"Stop it! Whoever you are, stop it!" Twilight shouted, then gasped in surprise as her own mark glowed.

"You shouldn't have looked for us!" her familiar star yelled at her, warranting a shriek from the princess. The Marks were all she could see now, everywhere, hundreds of them! Twilight plugged her ears, and flapped desperately to stay in the middle of it all. Wait... I'm flapping...

Her wing was fine, and for that matter her saddlebag was gone! She quickly touched her formerly bruised side only to find it perfectly unscathed. Twilight rationalized quickly and uttered a small whisper amongst the loud chorus of voices. "This is a dream."

Quickly, armed with the new realization, she slammed herself headfirst through the side of the swirling marks and into a field of fluctuating darkness. She heard a surprised gasp from behind, and quickly whipped around--

Twilight awoke with a jolt, looking about to see sunlight streaming in through the crystalline window, reflecting off of the pale blue floor. Her brow furrowed in thought. Why would she have a dream like that? Had her paranoia gotten the best of her? Or... had she been manipulated?

She was feeling uneasy, and jumped up as the door swung open. The princess sprung to action, charging a powerful horn blast and aiming it straight at the door!

"GHA!" Exclaimed the servant stallion who had walked in. Twilight panted slightly as she looked up at him. The startled young boy shakily delivered his next words. "Th-the princess sent me t-to inform you that breakfast is ready." He quickly left the room, leaving her behind as she sighed and powered down the horn.

"Already off to a great start," she muttered to herself, as she walked to the dining room.

Chapter 7: Subtle Signs

Twilight tiredly followed the servant down the hallway, curiously peering at the paintings hung on the walls on the way to their destination. They were mostly portraits of famous ponies, or of the Crystal Empire itself, nothing suspicious, nothing like the Marks from her dream. She briefly lost herself in her observations, trying to peer beyond the large door at the end of the hall... She almost thought that she saw something there--

"Uh... princess?" the servant boy asked from behind her.

"Huh?" she muttered, wheeling around to see him staring at her with his head cocked to the side in curiosity.

"The dining hall is through this door, your highness," he directed plainly. He'd seen royalty act strange before, so his curiosity over Twilight's behavior was short-lived, fortunately for her.

"Uh, right! Silly me!" the princess played off with an embarrassed chuckle, falling back behind him as they entered the hall.

Cadence and Shining Armor sat beside each other with their morning tea cups already set out, and directly across from Cadence was an additional untouched tea cup, which is where Twilight was guided.

"Glad to see you're up Twily!" Shining said with a sincere smile, which prompted her to smile in response.

"How'd you sleep last night, Twi?" Cadence inquired simply, a small smile on her face as well, but a harder to read smile.

Twilight, not wanting to give anything away in case that dream was something significant decided to play it off. "Oh, I slept like a log! Guess I spent a lot of energy last night in the fight."

Cadence's expression took on a look of mild suspicion, although Twilight couldn't be sure if it was due to some subtlety that she had given off, or if she knew more than she wished to say. Cadence always had been a master at reading emotion and intent, which in most normal circumstances was perfectly fine, almost comforting, but in her current state of paranoia, she couldn't help but recognize that these were the perfect qualities of a master manipulator.

Her thought was interrupted by the sound of papers being dropped onto the table, eliciting an "Ah, thank you lieutenant!" from Shining Armor. He levitated the bound report in front of him and squinted in concentration as he read it's contents. After a moment or two, his face shifted from one of concentration to one of sternness, a blend of disappointment and concern marring his expression.

"What is it, Shining?" Twilight asked, a bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

"You did say that there were five assailants, right Twily?" he questioned, re-reading the report thoroughly.

"Yes. I can describe each one if necessary. Why? Did they get them yet?" the princess asked, furrowing her brow.

"According to this report, they picked up four thugs... but no fifth. However, investigators did notice a gray feather lodged in a crack found in a wall in the alley," he reported, his eyes not leaving the paper, reading over every detail as he spoke.

Twilight's stomach twisted slightly. Where could he have gone...?
Cadence looked over them both with a face that seemed to radiate something like motherly concern, but she also seemed to be sweating lightly, which was odd given the fairly cool temperature of the room.

"Let's not discuss such serious things on empty stomachs now... see, here come the servers now!" Cadence noted, drawing their attention to the ponies levitating their meals over in front of them, who then bowed and immediately exited from whence they came.

Twilight slowly nibbled on some of the breakfast, but kept mulling over the information in her mind. The fifth thug, the one who seemed the most out of place, was missing. She needed to find out where he went, who he was, or at the very least, who he was working for.

She suddenly and abruptly spoke. "Shining, I need to speak to the thugs that were captured."

He looked like he agreed, and was about to say something, but stopped as Cadence coughed slightly. "No!" She spat out quickly, then calmly collected herself and cleared her throat. "The last thing you need right now is to get dragged deeper into... into... street thug issues!" She was faltering, clearly she didn't have a valid reason to object yet, at least not one that she could say aloud. Her face however, did impeccably well at hiding her insecure speech. In fact, if Twilight hadn't known her personally, she could have easily believed that excuse. Shining sat back and said nothing.

Twilight took advantage of the weak argument presented and took on a serious look. "I have the right to interview my attackers. After all, they did attack royalty, and given my position, I have not only the authority, but also the obligation to learn why any Equestrian citizens would attempt to harm a princess, or any pony for that matter. If left alone, they or an organization may attempt to harm others, perhaps you two, or even Celestia herself! It is my duty to know," she concluded solidly, her expression locked and serious, making very evident that she would not be moved.

Cadence hesitated, she clearly had something she wanted to say, but couldn't counter the argument presented, so she sat back quietly.

"I'll square away the permissions," Shining said, taking a form from the back of the booklet and a quill, writing immediately.

After a brief moment of silence, Cadence attempted to re-ignite conversation. "So, Twi, how was the library? Find anything interesting?" she asked politely, showing no sign of anything other than legitimate curiosity.

"Well, I learned plenty on King Sombra, much more than I've found in any works outside of the Empire! I also looked a bit into the ancient pony history as told from the Empire's perspective, it really does give a much more well-rounded view of the past," she explained, careful not to mention Marks. Everything she had just said was true, so even with Cadence's incredible person reading skills, there would be no room for suspicion.

Cadence looked satisfied, and Shining Armor passed over a signed paper, detailing Twilight's business with the inmates. "Present this to the guard on duty, he'll let you in," he told her.

The servants came in and cleared out the plates, still fairly full. One of the servants, evidently a secretary, walked up to Cadence personally with a checklist. "On the schedule today your highness: at 12:00, a meeting with the architects for the downtown district... At 2:30 the meeting with Mr. Reach on a trade deal... At 4:00 the education summit..." and so on.

While she was focused, Shining Armor looked over at her briefly before leaning in and quietly saying "I hope you find what you're looking for." Strange that he would want to be quiet, it made Twilight uneasy.

"Thanks, I hope so too," she said, giving him a hug before getting up and trotting to the exit.

Before she left, Twilight was stopped by Cadence, who, upon turning around, was holding a hoof to her secretary. "Twilight..." She started calmly, with a very odd expression, something of a genuine concern and an almost familiar look. Empathy, perhaps? She was getting a strange sense of deja vu.

"Yes Cadence?" Twilight asked calmly.

What she said next concerned her deeply, not because of any undertones, but rather for the lack of them. "Twilight... Be careful what you ask... I wouldn't want to see you hurt again." She said it with real, genuine concern, but that only led Twilight to believe that she had more reason to be concerned than just the thugs.

Twilight calmly nodded, eliciting a faint smile from Cadence, who turned back to her secretary and lowered her hoof.

And so, with new questions swirling around in her mind along with the determination to get answers, princess Twilight walked out of the hall and on to the Crystal Imperial jail.

Chapter 8: The Interrogations

Twilight found the jail house along one of the side streets of the empire. It was a fairly small building, likely only capable of holding ten or twenty prisoners, although jails were rarely very large in Equestria, the only major exception being the Canterlot Prisons.

Thoughts aside, Twilight trotted in formally, the sound of the door grabbing the attention of the guard on duty, who was quite obviously just dozing off before she came in, though he was decent at playing it off.

"I have orders directly from Shining Armor to be here," she said professionally, sliding the orders to him across the front desk. He read over it quickly, his eyes darting along the paper before he looked back up and nodded in response, stamping the paper right next to Shining's signature.

"Show this to the warden in the back," he said, his voice surprisingly deep. Given his silence during her entry, she had briefly entertained the thought that he might have a higher pitched vocal pattern, although she wasn't quite sure why. She glanced at his Mark for a moment, not sure what she hoped to find. It was a badge and a pen... pretty standard.

"Thank you," she said with a nod, levitating the paper and heading straight to the back. She was moving through a gray crystalline hallway until she reached a door labeled "Warden" in very plain letters.

After knocking on the door and briefly showing him the orders, he led her across the fairly short hallway to the interrogation room. She entered through the door on the right side and closed it behind her, sitting down in the interrogator's seat. Behind her was a mirrored crystal window, and on the left side of the room was another door for the prisoners.

After a few moments a female jail officer came in and placed a small clipboard in front of her, smiling as she did so. "Here you are princess!" she said kindly, bowing slightly and backing up.

"Thank you!" Twilight replied, looking briefly at the papers. It detailed the names, crimes, and other information on the thugs in question, which would make the interrogations much easier.

"I'll start bringing them in in just a moment," the officer told her, bowing once more as she exited through the left door.

Twilight took a moment to relax and exhale. She needed to be as serious as possible for these interviews if she was to learn who was coming after her.

Looking down at the clip board, she read the first name: "Gravel, Grey." Locked up for assault of royalty, but also for numerous counts of petty theft and mild bursts of violence here and there. Evidently he was the leader of the thugs, and this was not his first time in the jail.

Looking up at the sound of the door opening, Gray walked in with a smug smile on his face, even as the door shut behind him. He sat down and relaxed, his body language showing his brazen, unafraid disposition.

"You're wasting your time," he said with a smile, staring her in the eyes. "You're not getting anything out of old Gray Gravel here!"

She kept her face perfectly blank. "Where is the fifth pony?" She asked in a flat tone.

"I told you, I'm as solid as a rock!" he laughed. He continued to laugh as her horn glowed and the doors locked. "Hah, I know your scare tactics, they won't work! You can't--"

His pride disappeared in an instant as she levitated him and slammed his back up against the semi-flat ceiling, eliciting a loud cough from the pony.

"Where is the Fifth Pony?" the princess asked, tone still flat, but more annoyed now.

Gravel's big bold facade was gone now, easily shattered by that one simple display of force. "Alright, alright look, just put me down okay?" he stammered out as he was lowered back into his seat, his new body language indicating nervousness. How easily he broke as his sense of security disappeared. "Look, I don't know where he went, honest I don't!"

"Who was he?" She asked simply but sternly, her horn briefly glowing.

"I don't know! Look, see he just showed up a few days after I received an envelope full of bits, it said that somebody had a job for us... said that we'd make a lot of cash. There was no return address... and I had to burn it afterwards," he explained, shifting around uneasily in his seat.

Her horn glowed once more. "Tell me everything," she demanded, monotone.

He scooted back a little in his chair. "That's all I know about the guy! Look, it was his idea to rob you in the first place, he said that we'd all get handsomely paid for the job, so we went along with it. So he had us hide in the alley and gave us the signal to attack!"

She raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You thought it was a good idea to attack a princess?" Her question was serious and dry.

"Look, we were thinking maybe it would be some bigwig, and we hesitated when we saw you were royalty, but, dude was creepy... Gave me this stern look... so we went through with it. That's all I know!"

He was very clearly out of information. Somebody from a higher level had used him as a cover for the hit. But who?

"That will be all," she told him, unlocking the doors.

"Wait, don't I get like bail or something for confessing?" he asked as the officer came back in and escorted him out, shutting the door behind them.

Twilight took a look at the next name on the clipboard. "Crystal, Ruby," arrested for assault on royalty, and brought in on numerous accounts of suspicion of theft, but they could rarely pin her for actually stealing.

The mare was brought in moments later, wearing a bored expression, and said nothing. Her eyes rolled and she huffed at the princess, who tried her best to maintain a professional expression and posture.

"Where is the fifth pony?" she asked the thug firmly.

"Dunno," the mare responded with an uncaring shrug. "I was only half-conscious when the guy got up and walked out of my field of view. Beyond that, I don't care," she told her plainly.

No charade to break with this one... But her utter apathy was annoying.
"Who was he?" Twilight asked directly.

"No idea. Some friend of Gray's or something, I guess. Didn't really care enough to listen, I just wanted the cash. It was his idea to rob you, and hey, it was worth a shot," she explained. She was neither disappointed with her defeat, nor afraid of Twilight for defeating her, but she also felt no need to lie.

"Can I go now?" the mare asked impatiently, resulting in a furrowed brow from Twilight.

The princess sighed and opened the left door, letting the officer in to take her away. That wasn't very helpful...

As the door shut, she again looked down at her clipboard. "Two down, two to go..." she muttered to herself with a sigh. Reading over the next one, she slipped back into a focused mindset. Name: "Arrow, Straight" , and according to the report, this was his first time committing a crime. He was actually a prized archer in the Empire, not quite a celebrity, but if you mentioned his name in a crowded room, chances were that two or three ponies might know him.

The stallion escorted in had a pale blue coat and was very nervous, looking around anxiously as the door shut. He was the first one that she had knocked out, the one who had tried grabbing her leg. Twilight maintained a flat expression and told him to sit down, and he did, pulling the chair up to the interrogation table.

Before she had a chance to say anything, he spoke up in a shaky tone. "I'll answer anything, anything! But you've gotta help me!" As he spoke, his eyes darted about.

Twilight was surprised, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "What's going on?" she inquired, letting just a tinge of concern slip into her voice.

"Look... I'm sorry about that alley business... But Ruby told me it would be some easy money or something... I don't normally do this stuff but... I couldn't let her know that. I met her a while back and kinda hit it off but... Now I know it was a mistake," he explained very apologetically.

She thought it over for a moment, then spoke calmly, coolly. "I may consider pardoning you... provided that you tell me everything you know about that bald pegasus that was with you.

He nodded quickly. "Yeah! Uh, I never heard his name, but he came by the hideout after the boss got some money mailed to him. He rarely spoke, and spent most of his time in our hideout working out. He organized the raid against you, and on the night of, he was the one who gave the signal to go. I also saw him open some letter once when I got up one night in the hideout... I don't think he saw me. I couldn't read the letter from there though... sorry," he elaborated sincerely.

She mulled over the information thoroughly. Looks like the leader really was telling the truth...

"I really am sorry, your highness..." he apologized again, looking down at the table.

She put on a small smile, tilting his chin up to her with a hoof. "Hey, It's alright, we all make mistakes. I've forgiven people who have done far worse... and you know what, they turned out alright," she said, thinking back to Discord and Shimmer.

He smiled back, his eyes getting a little misty, but he cleared that up quickly, hoping to face the other prisoners with confidence rather than cowardice. "Thank you!" he said simply, very happy.

"There's hope for you yet, Arrow," she told him, unlocking the door and allowing the officer to escort her out. She nodded at him one last time, eliciting a warm smile from him before the door shut, and she sighed once more. "One more to go..." she muttered to herself, glancing subtly and briefly at the one-way crystal mirror. I wonder if anyone's watching this... and what they think... Twilight thought it over for a moment, then continued reading.

The last profile was a little difficult to understand. Apparently his name was simply "Sieve" and the only crime listed was "assault on royalty", but unlike the others, there were no notes on him, nothing special.

The green pony came in with an unnerving smile, and kept gently scratching at his hind leg. He sat down calmly, and scooted forward so that only his arms and shoulders were visible. Laying one elbow on the table, he listened for her to begin.

She began to speak once more. "What do you know abou--"

"You wanna know where the bald guy went, dont'cha?" he asked, smirking wildly. He leaned in eerily. He eyed the wall like he was being watched and didn't want anyone else to hear. "C'mere, I'll tell ya..." he offered smoothly, and she wasn't sure why, but she did actually lean in slowly...

The blade cut a gash across her right shoulder, forcing her to instinctively jump back and blast him with a paralyzing shot, leaving his body motionless. She heard scrambling in the room behind her, and she backed up against the wall.

As she looked him over, she saw a gash in his lower leg, around the calf area, dripping blood. He stashed a knife under his skin! she realized in horror.

She watched as the officers and the warden came in, carrying off the laughing maniac, but his final words rang in her ears long after the door had shut.

"You're not safe! You'll never be safe! Nowhere, no way, they'll get'cha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he had yelled at her. "You can't hide! In fact, you can't even run!"

Chapter 9: Determination

After a few hours of recovery and patching up, Twilight was trotting back to the palace, shaken up over what had just transpired.

What kind of people WERE these? Mysterious trained thugs, crazy dreams, and now a deranged inmate with a blade lodged in his leg? Had anyone told Twilight something like this before a few days ago, she would have assumed that they were describing a bad Daring Doo fanfiction, but having experienced them herself, she was scared.

And then she meditated on that thought. I'm Scared. That Stallion never went for my throat or anything vital, and that dream never led to any real harm... whoever was after her, they wanted her to be afraid, they wanted to scare her away. She thought back to all the great detective stories that she'd ever read, and in such tales, the only time when the main character was subject to scare tactics was when they were getting close to discovering something.

This lit a spark in her, which caught very quickly and spread with every linked idea. I'm close to something. They want to scare me, but in order for them to want that, I've clearly scared them! She smiled to herself, and that flame of newfound determination spread throughout her whole being. Whoever was after her, they messed with the wrong princess.

She finally arrived back at the palace, and entered confidently, asking the guards where Shining armor was in order to report her findings.

The guard she spoke to frowned slightly and replied "Sorry your highness, but Captain Armor left about an hour ago, leading a large patrol to the southern imperial border. Some strange phenomenon had them worried."

Twilight frowned, but said thanks anyway before trotting back to her room and unwrapping her wounds. She needed to re-clean and re-bandage.

Cadence walked in on her just as she was wrapping the fresh bandages around the shoulder. "Twilight! What happened?" she asked with a fearful tone.

"Nothing major, I'm alright," she replied with determination in her voice.

"You don't look alright, that's a fairly deep cut!" Cadence exclaimed before Twilight finished covering up the edges of the gash.

"It's a superficial wound, I'm alright," Twilight insisted, her tone strong as she pulled the new wrappings tight, flexing slightly to test the bandages and finding that they were well wrapped.

"I'm going back to the library," Twilight told her calmly, but firmly, heading to the door, but before she could leave, Cadence grabbed her good shoulder and looked her in the eyes, and Twilight could read something different in them. A desperation mixed with empathy.

"Twilight... please! I know... whatever it is must be hard, but I beg of you, let it go! It's not worth your life!" she pleaded, and Twilight was taken aback. This was very unusual, and it almost sounded personal, which managed to make Twilight far more uneasy than the fact that the thug was still at large.

She calmly looked back into Cadence's eyes with a reassuring smile. "Cadence, the library has nothing to do with these thugs... I'll be alright." Twilight was hoping in her mind as she said it that it was true.

Cadence simply hugged her close and said "Just be careful... I don't want any thug issues hurting my sister-in-law..."

She hugged back and smiled, reassuring her that everything would be alright before breaking the hug and trotting out the door, not looking back.

Twilight entered the library to be greeted once again by the smiling old librarian, stamping more books. "Slow day," he noted with a kindly tone, gesturing to the empty library.

He frowned with mild concern at the sight of her arm, and spoke up. "Ouch! What happened?"

She just chuckled and looked at it. "Oh, I just scraped myself on a desk, it's fine."

He looked over arm briefly, before smiling again and nodding, but with a furrowed brow. His eyes darted from her eyes to her bandage to her saddlebag, then back to her eyes.

"Say... did'ya read the book I recommended yet? It's a might shorter than those old history books," he pointed out.

"Well, not yet..." the princess started, but didn't want to disappoint the old timer, so she quickly followed it up with "...but perhaps I'll read it today."

He smiled at this and nodded, going back to stamping books. His smile comforted her, much like the smile of a proud grandfather.

"What's your name?" she found herself asking suddenly. She figured that the library would be a good resource for the foreseeable future, and he seemed to be a very eager to help individual. Even if she couldn't reveal the truth of her research, she could at the very least make a friend.

He seemed a bit caught off guard by the question and hesitated slightly, and she almost felt sorry, although she wasn't quite sure for what. After a brief second though, he smiled again and quickly replied "Stamper!"

Twilight almost giggled, partially because of the name itself, but also because he used a rather lighthearted and frankly silly tone to announce it. "Nice to meet you, Stamper! I'm Twilight Sparkle," she said with a smile.

"Oh, Everyone in the empire knows you, princess!" Stamper said with a slight bow, then nodded to her. "Now nobody's checked out any history books today, it'll all be back there for ya!" he announced before returning to stamping.

As she headed back, she glanced to try and see his mark, but found it obstructed by his brown saddlebag. She glanced consiously at her own. It was partially covering her own mark. She shook her head and adjusted the bag as she trotted back to the history section. She had some research to do...

Twilight closed up the final book and sighed, looking over the notes she had taken covertly. She decided to review the major points and hopefully get a better understanding of what she could take away from this research session.

She had numerous points across a few papers, and she read each carefully, starting from the beginning.

-In earlier volumes of history texts, there was quite a bit of content on the original three founders of Equestria, the three celebrated in Hearths Warming festivals. Then, suddenly and unexplainable, later volumes just stop talking about them. There are brief mentions here and there, but nothing in detail. Their lives shortly after Equestria's establishment are left unexplained.

-The final books on Sombra still fail to describe a mark. Not even a hint as to what mark he had. If he had one at all, she thought briefly, then wrote in a small notation "blank?" as a reminder of this thought.

-The most compelling find was a very short phrase in one of the oldest textbooks, and it was found near the very end. She had copied it word for word, and it read as follows:

"Thus our ancestors formed our society, long before the modern age of the Branded peoples of this great land."

She was very curious what branded meant in that context. She could find no other reference to the term in any other books present in the library.

Twilight sighed and placed all of the books back on the shelf, before rolling up her notes and placing them into her saddlebag.

She sighed and saw only one book remaining: the Foal and the Fountain. Twilight glanced up to look at Stamper at the front desk, kindly smiling as he stamped books and hummed what sounded like a very old tune.

The princess levitated the book in front of her, and given the lack of major sources right now, decided to open and begin reading...

The Foal and the Fountain part 1

Once, long ago, in a time of old,
Where the ponies were not yet as one,
There lived a smart and wise young foal,
Who's genius had not gone unsung.

He awed one and all, with his brilliant mind,
For a genius, indeed, was this boy
The people all loved him, they treated him kind,
Not a soul would dare call him coy.

But he was unsatisfied, he wanted more!
For knowledge to him was his pride.
So he looked into stories, he looked into legends,
Until, one day, it arrived.

The answer he sought, his challenge, his mountain,
Was revealed to him in kind.
The legend, it goes, was of a great fountain,
Which expanded anyone's mind.

For hours and days, he researched it more,
From don till dusk he did read.
Until, Finally, a location secured,
He assuredly had what he'd need.

He told all the elders, he told all his friends,
Of the journey on which he'd embark.
But warnings they issued, caution of ends,
But not a single word did he hark.

Thus he left from the village prepared as can be,
Hiking and journeying far.
Until such a time as he reached the peaks,
Where a guardian stood with a bar.

"What seek ye, foal?" The guardian asked,
His staff now raised in alarm.
"to be wisest of all, to have knowledge unmasked!"
He replied, not afraid of the harm.

The guardian pondered, looked over this boy,
Finding mind and strength to be best...
"Alright my dear boy..." The guardian said,
"But first, you must pass my test..."

Chapter 10: the Straight Path

Twilight was interrupted from her reading by a soft toned voice in front of her. "Princess...?" It asked quietly.

Twilight quickly closed the book and looked upwards. She was greeted by the face of Straight Arrow, the pale blue stallion from the jail. He put on a meek smile as she turned to him.

"Straight! Glad to see the guards accepted my pardon!" she said with a relieved expression.

"Thanks again, princess... and I'd like to talk about that, if it'd be alright with you," the stallion proposed, his tone still hushed.

"Of course! What do you need?" she inquired, curious.

"Well, I realize that if it weren't for you, I'd still be in that jail, and I'd like to try and make it up to you." he offered, his expression one of sincere regret.

Twilight casually zipped the book back up in her saddlebag before responding. "What did you have in mind?" She asked cocking her head to the side slightly.

"See, I mentioned that there was a letter that the fifth guy received, and I never saw its contents, but I never saw him destroy it either. It's a stretch, but I can show you the hideout. Even if the letter's not there, maybe there are other clues? The others are still in jail, so it should be empty." He explained, letting it all set in.

She mulled this over in her mind, considering very briefly if this could be a trap, but her analysis of his tone, body language, and other factors convinced her that he wouldn't try anything like that, and he certainly wasn't nervous enough to indicate being forced to do something like that.

"Are you sure, Straight?" the princess asked him, her hoof on her chin in thought.

Arrow was quick to reply. "Of course, Princess! I got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and I feel I need this redemption. Truth be told, if I hadn't found you, I would have gone there alone and looked around anyway, reported stuff to the royal guards."

Twilight smiled kindly and stood up. "Well, lead the way!" she agreed, her tone hopeful. Maybe she'd get to learn a bit more about who was coming after her!

Arrow smiled and they walked out of the library, waving to Stamper as they left, and entered the chilly afternoon air.

After they had been walking for a while, Arrow began to speak up. "Princess... I feel I should explain myself a little better. There's no excuse for crime but... I feel I should explain what led me there in the first place."

Twilight was always interested in stories, so she nodded and trotted next to him with a kind, listening expression.

"I told you in the interrogation room that I met Ruby a while back, and we hit it off. Well, that's partially true. See, Ruby and I grew up on the same street, and she was always kinda quiet, didn't smile much, but when I would practice archery, she'd always crack a grin. Well, she moved, and I didn't see her again until a few months ago. She was attending an archery contest, I found her after it was over, and we talked and caught up a bit," he explained.

Twilight looked him over as they walked. He clearly remembered Ruby fondly, and his expression showed it, but it darkened slightly as he spoke again.

"She still didn't smile much, and she'd become a bit reclusive. She really didn't have any friends that I knew of at the time, and overall, Ruby just seemed kinda down. So I started giving her free passes to all my archery contests. It wasn't much but, I got a hug and a smile out of that deal," he continued, his expression brightening with that last note.

He went on. "After about a month or two, she came up to me with a big smile, and I thought something really good had happened. It was great to see her smile like that. She asked me if I'd like to make a few extra bits with her, and I wanted to see her happy, so of course I said yes..."

He cringed a bit here, clearly thinking of a mistake. "She brought me to the thug hideout, and showed me off to her pals. They started asking me what my 'experience' was in stuff like this, and I... I didn't want to disappoint Ruby, so I lied. I told them that I had dabbled in thievery. I was a stupid foal, and I got sucked into their scheme. They said they needed a few extra hooves for some big gig, and apparently Ruby had told them about me. So... you know the rest..." he finished, sighing in disappointment.

Twilight understood now. Straight Arrow was a stallion with a good heart. He did the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. He just wanted to help out another pony, he never intended harm.

"I know I don't really deserve it princess but, can you ever forgive me? I know what you said in the room but..." He was cut off by Twilight giggling slightly, which caught him off guard.

"Of course I forgive you, Arrow. Really all you did was grab my leg. It's clear you're not a bad pony, in fact you had good intentions! You'll be alright," she assured, which brought a smile to his face.

"Thank you princess! Heh... growing up, my dad always taught me that I should try to make right my wrongs before doing anything else," he said with a smile.

Twilight was a bit curious now about this fellow. "Wise words indeed! What about your mother?" she questioned, trying to make conversation.

He hesitated, then looked down. "Sombra got her when I was young, before we were sealed away..." he trailed off.

Twilight's ears drooped as she quietly apologized, to which he nodded and smiled lightly. He stopped and turned his head up, signaling for her to stop too.

"We're here," he told her. They sat before a plain, one story house, with cruder gray crystal walls and semi-round windows. Arrow walked up to the door and carefully opened it, walking in and then gesturing for her to follow. Her horn ignited slowly, and she ducked inside.

Nothing. Almost an hour of searching had yielded nothing. There were 7 rooms, one living room with a table, chairs, and some playing cards, 4 bedrooms, one bathroom, and one weight room.

The boss's bedroom was simple enough, with a bed and nightstand, which was filled with gold and jewels, likely all stolen. He had some clothes folded on a dresser, and two mirrors. One on either side of the room. The room next door was apparently Ruby's, as it had a desk by her bed, a carpet on the floor, and a desk. Inside the desk were some lock picks, a bag full of bits, a drawer full of stolen trinkets, and in the top drawer, a black crystal heart-shaped necklace, an arrowhead, and some tickets to archery events. On the floor in that room was a small sleeping bag, which evidently was for Arrow.

The third room was rather difficult to sort through. There were clothes strewn about, of all different sizes, and a chest which contained a large number of cleaning supplies on one end, and a large assortment of knives and handcrafted sharp objects in the other side. One end of the room held wood shavings, while on the bed stand next to the old mattress, there were fairly ornate wooden carvings standing on end. Arrow informed her that this room belonged to the green pony.

The bathroom yielded nothing of interest, and the weight room was equally empty. Not even a feather could be found there.

Finally, they did a search through the next room, which had nothing but a military cot in the back, which was cleaned of any hair or feathers, and a desk in the exact middle of the room, with a burnt candle on the top. The drawers contained nothing, which disappointed the two explorers. They sat together in that room, thinking over the whole place.

Twilight, hoping to brighten the mood in contrast to the setting sun outside, mentioned the things in Ruby's drawer. "Hey, she saved those tickets and an arrowhead, that must mean something, right?" she tried.

Arrow sighed and smiled weakly. "I guess she was a better friend that I first thought..." he trailed off.

"Was? Who's to say that you two can't still be friends?" Twilight proposed calmly, as she stood and lit the candle with her horn to brighten the room.

"She's a criminal, and by now she knows I'm not. I don't have a chance to talk with her now," Arrow said with a drooping head.

Twilight huffed. "Well maybe she just needs someone to show her the way! It's clear she at least respects you... I think it's worth a shot to try and stay her friend. Maybe with you, she'll see the light!" she said triumphantly, accenting the word "light" with a glow of her horn.

"You think so?" Arrow asked, hopeful.

"I know so!" Twilight said with a wink, and trotted around near the walls.

He brightened up, his face beaming at this idea. "You're right! I shouldn't give up now! Thanks princess!" he exclaimed, seeming to be warmed with hope.

She nodded with a smile, then took a deep breath. "Hey, do you smell something off?" she asked, sniffing as she walked along the walls.

"Not that I can smell..." he said, curiously looking around. He poked his head under the desk to search for the source, when he exclaimed "OH!" and bumped the table when he brought his head up.

She came over to the desk. "Are you okay?" she asked calmly, looking to see him pull a piece of paper out and plop it on the desk.

"I'm fine, but look what I found!" He said, squinting to try and read. Twilight's horn glowed to provide some more light, and he began to read. "It says... 'too late' ?"

With that word, there was a mighty crash, and the gray pegasus slammed down from a weak spot in the ceiling, tackling Arrow to the floor beside the desk and executing a decisive kick on the princess simultaneously.

The pegasus had his hoof on Arrow's neck, and looked towards the princess through black, unblinking shades.

"NO!" Twilight shouted, scrambling to get up in time!

But the pale blue pony barely managed to utter "Ruby" before the gray pegasus cleanly pressed down with a snap, and Straight Arrow was gone.

Chapter 11: Firefight

Twilight was frozen. She watched as the pegasus slowly removed his hoof. There was no blood, and scientifically she knew that he had collapsed his trachea, and likely severed the spine as well in one clean movement. But this knowledge did little to stop the crippling wave of shivers across her body.

Time itself slowed down, as the gray pegasus backed up, her shivers shifted from those of fear to those of despair, and finally, to those of rage. She was tired. Twilight was tired of running, tired of hiding. Of all the villains she had faced, none had ever killed before her, yet here was a true monster, a murderer, expressionless, and free as a bird.

She was a princess, one of four absolutist monarchs, and although she never thought she'd need to, she had the right and now the duty to act as judge, jury, and executioner.

Time resumed as she let out a blood curdling scream of rage, pent up fear now turned to pure hate. Her horn glowed with a black aura as she unleashed the first blast upon the pegasus, who just barely managed to dodge it, singeing his back.

Her eyes widened in surprise and realization as the wall she hit erupted in flames. The strange smell! The pegasus was intending on burning down the whole place, but not with any old lighter, with a mixture capable of eating through crystal when lit. This shock allowed the grey pegasus to land a hefty blow on her side, knocking her back.

She was too flooded with adrenaline to care about the pain, and after rolling back into a standing position, another black blast rang out, which he did dodge. She was powerful, but uncontrolled. The pegasus knew this, and used it to his advantage, rebounding off the ceiling for a head-dive, which she dodged, managing to land a hoof on the side of his jaw. It felt like hitting a brick.

The room was getting smokey now, and the fire had started to spread throughout the nearby rooms. He looked up to the ceiling, and Twilight growled in anger. She was already lunging up as he zoomed out of the roof and into the night. Not this time! Twilight resolved, zooming out into the night and, with a horn-assisted burst of speed, slammed her head into the assailant. He was knocked below, but stabilized, executing insane turns and maneuvers. Twilight would have none of it, and cleared just enough hate to use a normal attack. She cried out as she let loose a flurry of blasts, twenty two purple streaks flying at the monster in the night, and two making contact: one in his hoof, the other on his wing, sending him spiraling down. She took advantage of his few seconds of confusion to pounce on him, diving straight into the burning building and breaking through the roof of Ruby's room. Upon landing, Twilight heard a satisfying snap of his wing, eliciting a small grunt from the formerly-silent assailant. "WHO ARE YOU?" she yelled, the last week's worth of paranoia and conspiracy evident in her voice.

The fire was lapping at the walls from the hallway, but neither party cared. The grey one yanked himself out from under her, executing a precision roll and bucking her into the dresser, knocking the top drawer's contents onto the floor. She lunged, punching with hooves but to no avail: he blocked each and every strike, and countered with a painfully accurate strike at the base of her shoulder, sending spikes of pain through her arm. The fire had begun to enter the room, the doorframe was crumbling like bread, and the tickets from Ruby's drawer were burned to ashes.

Normally, Twilight would be analyzing the situation, carefully planning each move, watching keenly for subtle giveaways, but she had snapped. Killing an innocent pony with a future so bright... she couldn't think straight, and this played in her favor just as much as it played against her. The gray pony attempted a wall-jump to gain momentum with his one good wing, but Twilight teleported and charged a blast from her new spot behind him. He flapped both wings to instinctively correct, but only one worked, sending him into the flames. He ducked and rolled out, putting out a small fire on his coat and jumping high to avoid a powerful black blast.

He charged and slammed her through the brittle wall behind her, sending them into the burning living room. Twilight's eyes were full of fury as she corrected her position and grabbed him, using his own momentum against him as she jumped, slamming him back-first onto the ground, atop his broken wing. He kicked her off, and the two had a moment where they were a yard apart in a building consumed by fire. "Who are you?" Twilight demanded again over the crackling and roaring of the fires, which elicited nothing. They stared for a moment longer, and in her mind he had become everything she had faced so far: her fear, her paranoia, the adversity from the shadows, the subtle signs, and the violence. All of it personified in this silent gray pony.

She teleported, causing him to look back, and she appeared right in front of him, where he'd least expect her to. Her horn was charged, and by the time he reached up to deflect the shot, it was too late, she had blasted him out of the front of the building. She flew over to where he was, and watched him feebly stand up, his right front hoof visibly broken. One of his shades had shattered, but he kept that eye shut. She eyed him and calmed down enough to reach a demanding tone.

"You will confess everything, or you will be sentenced for your crimes," she said plainly. The sounds of the royal guard drew near, and within less than a minute, they would see the whole thing. It was over. She had won.

Then he did something scarier than any other move he had ever performed: he smiled. Not a subtle smile either, but a wide, toothy smile. He still said nothing, but he broke into a sprint towards the building. Twilight attempted to run after him but was too late, for as she got near he had already jumped directly into the hottest flames in the doorway. She sat back in awe of what had happened, with one final observation in mind. As he ran, he exposed his flank, which was emblazoned with... nothing. He was a blank flank.

The guards showed up as she sat watching the building. "Princess! What happened? Are you alright?" one guard asked while the five others surrounded the burning house.

She nodded, but said nothing, as she sat, eyes wide, jaw open, and stayed there until the roof collapsed in on itself, and though she saw him jump into the hottest flames, she could nearly swear that, as the building gave way, there was a deep, hearty, final laugh from within.

Chapter 12: Some Time to Think

Twilight didn't even notice the trip to the palace, being led by two guards. She was still in total shock from what had happened. By the time she finally did enter, she was aware enough to see Shining Armor panicked and running up for a hug. She embraced him back, and after a moment, they broke.

"Twilight... I'm so glad you're safe. Rest a moment here, I will be right back, I just have to check with the guards on the situation," he said slowly, eliciting a nod from the shocked Twilight.

Then, when the door shut, she was finally alone in the dining hall. I'm such an idiot... she thought to herself. She had been so overwhelmed, so caught off guard by his burst of speed, but she should have DONE something. I could have blasted his back leg, or I could have levitated him back to me. Why was I so stupid? she mentally lamented.

Of course, when he had sprinted, she had long since passed fatigue, in fact it was miraculous that she had enough energy to even shoot him through the wall, let alone walk all the way back here. Yet, she couldn't help blame herself.

But what of the events leading up to it? "I should have brought a guard along with us..." she muttered, but then paused, and thought a moment.
No... telling a guard to come with would be trouble. Without knowing who's behind it all, nobody unproven can be trusted. Besides, a guard wouldn't have been able to do anything to help anyways. Maybe just another body... She shook her head at this thought.

Her mind was clearing slightly with all these ideas. This was what she needed: time to think. She wandered to the topic of Arrow's death. His killer had been just so cold and efficient. He had clearly heard everything they'd said, so how could he just be unfeeling? Even Tierek, the most violent villain she could think of, never outright killed anyone. Enslaved and drained yes, but not murdered. What could drive a pony to be so cold?

Her brow furrowed as she mulled over the subject himself. He willingly jumped into the fire. In fact, he seemed triumphant, elated even to do so, but why?

Her eyes shifted over to the door, as her thinking was interrupted by Shining Armor returning to the room, followed directly by a concerned looking Cadence. Shining sat calmly across from her, while Cadence wrapped her arm around Twilight's shoulders, in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. Cadence's arm felt unusually heavy, and rather than warmth, a slight chill graced Twilight's spine.

"Twily... what happened?" Shining asked, still very concerned. She sighed, reorganizing her thoughts and calmed down, gently rubbing the bandage on her arm.

"The gray pegasus was found at the hideout of the thugs. He jumped us and... killed an innocent civilian. His name was Straight Arrow," she explained, her voice quiet when mentioning his name.

Shining's white face somehow became even paler, draining of color at those words. Murder cases were extremely rare, in fact, it was seldom that they ever happened in modern times. The closest he could think was some medical malpractice cases and a few "adventuring gone wrong" tales, but a flat-out murder? Such a concept terrified Armor to the core.

He cleared his throat and piped up. "Straight Arrow? He was one of the original thugs, wasn't he?"

"I assure you he was innocent... I can personally vouch that he was a good pony with good intentions... and a bad decision. I don't want his good name tarnished, he was only there for a friend gone astray," she told him, her voice shaky but stern, so he dared not question her, at least, not anytime soon.

"Right... I understand. So, why were you at that hideout in the first place?" he asked, keeping his tone gentle and calm.

"Arrow and I were looking for clues. He felt guilty for the incident and offered to help me, and I needed answers, so we searched together," Twilight told him.

At this, Cadence chimed in, her tone soothing, but with a hint of maternal scrutiny. "Twilight, why didn't you notify the royal guard? They would have investigated the place and looked for clues."

Twilight began to speak but hesitated, earning her a searching look from Cadence. She couldn't tell her that she didn't trust the royal guard, and that Arrow would have gone alone either way. So, she chose her words and spoke very carefully. "You know how meticulous I am... I had to be absolutely, positively, thoroughly sure of everything," Twilight said.

Thankfully, her reputation worked in her favor, and it seemed that Cadence believed her on this. And why wouldn't she? She'd borne witness to Twilight's OCD and strict attention to detail since she was a little filly.

Shining took this chance to step back in, drawing Twilight's attention back to him. "What exactly happened in the fight? It's clear there was one, a guard saw blasts in the sky and gathered a group to come to the rescue."

Twilight winced a little as she remembered the dark energy she has channeled through her hatred and fury. She decided it would be too much to mention that right now, and kept it simple. "After he killed Arrow, I attempted to completely incapacitate him. He was a very capable fighter, with an abnormally high pain tolerance, able to fight on with a critically broken wing," she explained.

Shining appeared to be taking notes, and she hesitated with the last bit. "Also... after he had been beaten, and the guards were arriving, he... he jumped into the flames," she recounted, and briefly glancing to Cadence, saw that she had completely paled at this fact.

At all of this information, Shining looked angry. "We can't just let this go! We need to do something about it!" he shouted. Twilight was getting a lightened feeling in her chest. Could she finally get some dependable help?

He continued. "I pledge to you Twilight, I, no, WE will do everything in our power to--" he stopped, and as he stopped, Twilight felt a slight shift in the weight of Cadence's arm on her shoulder, but when she looked to Cadence, the face appeared blank. She clearly signaled him somehow, but why?

Shining, in a slightly calmer tone drew her attention back to him. "We will do everything we can to... help." He had uttered help a little quieter, and looked down as he said so, gritting his teeth slightly. I am not blind, something's amiss. Twilight thought to herself, but she just didn't know what yet. "In the meantime, I think you should get some sleep," he said quickly, and she knew her brother well enough to know that he had more to say, but didn't want to. Or coundn't, she thought darkly.

However, she nodded, and received a pat on the back from Cadence as she got up and left, but not before Shining stopped her.

"I'm so glad you're safe, I just need you to know that," he said, seriously.

It was a bad habit, staying up late, but she couldn't just sleep, so she decided to reorganize every bit of information she had learned so far. After laying out her papers, she read through the notes and reorganized them together in one.

•Cutie Marks act as a driving force upon the subject. Regardless of if the person is capable of the talent, they will be driven to attempt whatever it depicts.

•Cutie Marks are separable from their subject, but will return as long as unimpeded.

•Losing a Cutie Mark significantly weakens the subject, thus resulting in both suppressed abilities and a much duller personality.

•Marks are never mentioned in reference to pre-equestrian ponies.

•The Mark of King Sombra was never written down, depicted, or even mentioned. "Blank?" written as a note.

•Early textbooks talk a lot about the three founders of Equestria, but they stop being mentioned shortly after the foundation period. Unexplained.

•Short phrase in one of the oldest textbooks, near the very end:

"Thus our ancestors formed our society, long before the modern age of the Branded peoples of this great land."

•The murderer was Markless, completely blank.

That last note she jotted in seemed to fit in with her Sombra theory. Could Marks prevent violent tendencies? she wondered, sealing everything in her bag. She sighed and felt a lot better about herself as she lay in bed, closing her eyes. She was prepared for sleep this time.

Chapter 13: Shadow of the Night

Twilight was back in the Thug's hideout. She glanced around the living room, noting that everything was the same, pristine, unburned. She was initially confused, but quickly bucked down her thoughts.

Stay focused, she thought to herself, trotting around to look for anything off. It didn't take her very long, because after a brief walk around the room, she began to hear murmuring from somewhere.

Cautiously, she began moving through the house, and the farther back she went, the closer the murmuring got. Her horn began to glow with a familiar energy sound, resonating slightly through the halls. She proceeded all the way to the back room, where she finally found the source of the sound.

Straight Arrow was lying on the floor where he had been earlier, staring up at the ceiling aimlessly, and mumbling quietly. Twilight was afraid, but with a gulp, she got the courage to approach him, and began to listen intently, as the words made themselves clear.

"Your fault... Your fault..." he kept repeating in a hushed tone. She listened for a little while, but that's all it was, on repeat, continuously. She backed up slightly and looked out the windows, scratching her chin in thought. It was unusually detailed. Twilight took a long hard look outside for a moment and touched what should have been her bandaged arm. To her surprise, the bandage was still there, albeit with no pain from contact, but still there.

Her thoughts were beginning to jumble, but she needed to stay focused. So, she approached the window and began to inspect the outside with great scrutiny, turning her back to Arrow...

She was grabbed from behind and turned to see a risen Straight Arrow, eyes white and glowing with energy, almost panicked. Twilight was scared, and shook involuntarily... until he spoke.

"MY DEATH IS THY FAULT!" Arrow shouted at her with wide eyes, eliciting a spark of recognition from Twilight. That seals it, she thought to herself, feeling more determined.

Arrow hesitated, then began screaming "YOUR FAULT, YOUR FAULT, YOUR FAULT!" but at that point, it was too late. Twilight simply looked into the burning white eyes of the shell of a man she had once known, and in a calm voice, she simply said: "Luna."

The Arrow look-alike did not respond and kept shouting, eliciting a sigh from Twilight. She felt a tug of wakefulness, as if something was trying to force her awake, but having anticipated this, she surrounded herself in a dream bubble, preventing her from waking up.

Twilight glanced once more out of the window, taking in the surroundings. Too much detail that way. So the only way out is the one least expected. With that thought fresh in her mind, she charged a beam quickly and blasted a gaping hole in the floor, after which the Arrow double faded away.

A similar gasp as before was heard from the void below, and Twilight wasted not a second. "Not this time," she muttered as she dove right in, spotting the Lunar princess frantically trying to open another dream-walking portal out of there.

Twilight gritted her teeth and diverted her energy to both hold the portal open and grab Luna, pulling her back. This was taking an excessive amount of energy, and Luna herself was resisting the pull, so she needed to make every second count.

"Why are you doing this?" Twilight shouted, sounding as confident as she could while maintaining two holding fields and a dream bubble.

Luna looked absolutely panicked at this, and looked around shakily before shouting back: "We have no choice! Please just give up!"

Twilight was going to ask more, but her bubble began to falter, giving Luna the perfect opportunity to blast Twilight with a solid beam of energy...

...Twilight awoke with a start, sitting up in bed quickly and looking about. The sun was again shining into her room, but no servant knocked on the door this time.

Luna's words echoed in her head: We have no choice! Please give up! Luna was the second most powerful pony in Equestria, and she had no choice? Twilight got out of bed and looked out the window at what would normally be a beautiful sunrise, with a dark thought brooding in her mind. Somewhere out there, a being powerful enough to manipulate dreams, powerful enough to lead a coup against Celestia, powerful enough to control the moon's orbit... lived in fear of something more powerful.

Chapter 14: The Weak Link

Despite all of the recent events, Twilight's mind was fairly blank that morning. It was blank as she got up and re-dressed her wounds. It was blank as she calmly walked out of the palace. It remained blank for her entire walk to the library, and with a sigh, she opened the door and walked inside.

Stamper immediately took notice of her down disposition, and he managed to draw her eyes up from the ground at which she'd been staring for a while when he asked her a question. She hadn't understood what he'd said the first time, and, shaking her head a bit, asked him kindly to repeat the question.

"I asked what the matter was, princess!" Stamper said with a concerned tone, and an equally concerned face to match.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong," Twilight said, straightening herself up, not too abruptly, but the look of suspicion evident on Stamper's face told her before he even opened his mouth that she wasn't fooling anyone.

His voice took on an almost grandfatherly tone as he spoke. "Now I may be old, but that just means I've been around long enough to know a lie when I hear one, princess."

She sighed and paused for a moment as she thought things through. She clearly wasn't fooling him, so there really was no point in hiding her concerns, but she had to be cautious how to word it. She eventually straightened up a bit more and spoke clearly.

"Someone who I thought was a friend did something to me that they shouldn't have... but I get the feeling they didn't want to. And not just the one either, a few of my friends have been acting strange, acting like... not themselves. I'm just not sure what to do." Twilight admittedly was a little relieved that she could tell someone that much, at least.

Stamper smiled at her honesty, and that brought a little more relaxation to the worn mare. He thought for a moment before speaking again. "Well, I'm not gonna ask you for all the details, took you enough guts just to tell the truth. But, if you want my advice, I'd pull one of these friends of yours aside and ask them about it in private. Maybe they're scared of somebody, but if they're truly your friend, they'd be able to tell you in secret!" he finished with a hopeful expression, as if waiting for her to respond.

She nodded slowly, thinking on it for a moment before asking "Are you sure that'll work?"

He simply winked and nodded, which was more than enough reassurance as it was, and seeing her face brighten slightly, he began to chuckle. "The books aren't the only things you can learn from in here. Heh, on that measure, they're not the only things worn by age either!" He broke into laughter at his own joke, before the laughs turned into a short coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" she asked with concern. Twilight moved forward to help, but he stopped her, waving a hoof to indicate he was alright. Amid the coughing, he picked up an opaque thermos that was on the table and drank a bit of it's contents, the coughs subsiding immediately.

He snapped right back into his usual self and put on his typical friendly smile, as if nothing had happened at all. "So, princess, what books can I get you today?"

Twilight mulled over her options and his words before responding with a confident tone. "Actually, there's someone I need to talk to. Your advice has helped me more than any book could right now. Thank you Stamper!" As she spoke, she was already headed back out the door. Stamper had just enough time to wave and say a quick farewell as she disappeared.

The old stallion sat back and sighed, the smile fading from his face. He looked at the thermos briefly and then back down at the desk with a pensive expression. "I hope you find whatever information you're looking for, princess... For better or for worse," he muttered quietly.

Twilight strode into the palace with a fresh air of confidence, walking into the dining hall to find Shining Armor alone, nibbling on breakfast while doing paperwork.

"Is Cadence here?" she asked straight out, drawing his attention up to her entry.

"Oh, hey Twily. No, Cadence is supposed to be out working on a housing--"

"Good, I need to talk to you in private," she stated, cutting him off with a flat tone.

"Now Twilight, I'm not so sure..." he began, but trailed off as he saw his sister's blank expression.

"Do I need to make that a royal order?" she asked, with a hint of sarcasm, but enough of a real threat to convey the urgency of the request.

He nodded and motioned for her to follow him. She looked ahead at him quizzically as they passed by his office, and he quietly spoke as they trotted on. "If we're going to talk, I'd rather not do it in my office. Some crystals can be used to record and play back sounds, and they can be... very easy to hide."

With that comment saying more than enough in the way of reasoning, the rest of the walk was silent, until they finally reached their destination: the balcony of the palace spire. The wind blew past them lightly as Shining walked to the edge and looked around, Twilight walking beside him and sitting down.

They were silent for a moment, neither entirely sure what to say, until Twilight finally got the courage to break the silence. "Your strange hesitation, the looks Cadence has given you, and the brother I know wouldn't back down when he's passionate about something. Something is different, what is going on?"

He was silent for a while, looking down briefly, but eventually sighed and looked off of the balcony into the distance.

"About a week ago, Cadence started acting... different. She began making changes and looking around more and being more reclusive," he began, staring off into the distance as Twilight looked up at him.

"She never told me why, but she started telling me how to organize my guards. The nights before you arrived, she told me that some guards should be re-positioned to better guard higher crime areas, and ON the night you arrived, she told me that multiple guards were required in specific areas... and, I suppose, indirectly, less than others." A look of partial fear and guilt crept onto his face, prompting him to look back down, still avoiding eye contact.

She mulled Shining's words over carefully. My meeting with Celestia was almost a week ago... in fact, at that thought, she couldn't help but notice how this very spire tower, the roof, the smooth floor, the regal decor, all were hauntingly reminiscent of that first meeting place.

"Why would she suddenly start doing things like that? Was there any precursor?" she asked, subtly wondering if Celestia had outright mentioned anything.

"Not that I can think of," he said plainly.

Twilight decided that subtlety had no purpose here, so she bluntly asked if Cadence had spoken to Celestia.

"No. In fact, the only meeting she'd been to before it all started was a large business conference, where big business owners from all across Equestria come together to discuss trade and economics."

Twilight took a mental note of that, but moved on. "Why did you back down when you were voicing your help for me? Whenever you get into a mood like that, almost nothing can stop you from making a promise."

It was hard to imagine his face could have looked any more guilty before, but somehow, he managed to pull it off, closing his eyes.

"See, there are a few signals that she gives me that indicates I shouldn't say something. She didn't use them often, and before this week, she reserved it for rare occasions in which royal orders I had been unaware of overrode what I was about to say. But this week... she's used it more than the past two years combined, not just around you either. What's scarier is that she didn't explain it this time. The previous times, afterwards, she told me why I had to stop. She even revealed a few royal agreement secrets that would have prevented my recommended actions. But this time... I ask, but she doesn't tell."

A chill seemed to hit Twilight, but she stayed silent as he started up again, opening his eyes and finally turning, looking at her, desperation and concern worn upon his face.

"The way she's acting, I think she's under pressure from somebody else. I don't know who, and I definitely don't know why, but she's acting stressed and almost paranoid. I've asked her constantly but she refuses to answer me."

At this, Twilight wrapped a hoof and wing around her brother, helping to comfort him a bit. Shining had always been about responsibility and protecting those he loved, and to see his wife being threatened and unable to help must have been torture to him.

"Don't worry, we'll find out who's behind this..." she consoled very quietly, earning a small smile from him, which was very abruptly cut short by a new voice.

"No, You won't!"

Twilight and Shining both jumped back to see Cadence fly up from her hiding place under the balcony, her face marred by pure fear, her voice shakey and panicked. "I'm sorry!"

Shining didn't waste a second, kicking Twilight back slightly and erecting a shield bubble around them, which absorbed two powerful blasts from Cadence. "GO!" he shouted as he focused all of his energy on the shield, making it opaque.

Twilight, in pure and utter shock, merely nodded numbly, and with a shaky execution, teleported away.

Chapter 15: The Tipping Point

Twilight appeared in a flash of purple light at the base of the palace. Looking up above, she noticed bolts and flashes, indicating that Cadence was still attacking the bubble, giving Twilight a few precious seconds more to escape. She took advantage of this, and with a burst of speed, disappeared into an alleyway nearby.

Twilight was panicking now, her heart racing almost as fast as her mind, as she thought deeply on the situation at hand. What do I do, what do I do, what do I DO? she wondered, closing her eyes and crouching, her hoof splashing in a puddle as she did so.

Initially she froze at the sound, her eyes snapping open to be met with... her reflection: a panicked, purple alicorn with pinkish hair. This gave her her first sense of direction. Okay, I need to lay low, but I can't go out looking like this. She thought back hard on some of the old books she had read, until she remembered a very special technique from one of them. "Never thought I'd actually need this one..." she muttered softly to herself as her horn began to glow, lighting up the dark alleyway.

A purple aura washed over her whole body, levitating her off of the ground, and with a grunt, light began radiating from her coat and hair, as the follicles were restructured.

When she floated back down, she was panting, given the large exertion of energy. She shakily took a look at the puddle again, the water rippling from the event, but as it calmed an image emerged. Staring back up at Twilight was a mare that looked familiar but... different. Her coat was yellow, with light green hair on top, in Twilight's usual fashion. She had successfully changed her appearance.

She messed up her hair after briefly pondering the image before her, and peered at her back. Wings AND horns are abnormal. I need to keep these hidden.

She couldn't sustain true invisibility for more than a few minutes at a time, even less so spot invisibility, so she did the next best thing: she stealthily stepped into an unlit boutique and grabbed a cloak. It was a simple, dark brown cloak, loose fitting, so it perfectly covered her wings and saddlebag. While inside, she managed to find a brush laying on a table, and used it in conjunction with a back mirror to do up her hair in a new style. I guess all those lessons with Rarity actually DID come in handy, she thought to herself.

She didn't want to risk leaving hair behind, so she took the brush with her, and being a mare of integrity, she left enough money for the cloak and brush on the front counter. Just as she put the bits down, she froze. Did I just hear a door? The echoing hoofsteps from the back indicated that she had, and she very quickly teleported out into the back alley, then briskly walked out into the street.

Looking up at the mighty palace again, the light show had stopped, and to the untrained eye, it looked fairly normal. However, Twilight noticed that the blast marks on the spire indicated a lot of energy had been used. Her stomach knotted somewhat as she trotted about, thinking about what might have happened to Shining Armor, but knowing him, if he were here now, he'd say something like "C'mon Twily, you can't be worried about me. You telling me you wasted those extra seconds I gave ya?"

She had to push on, and she had an idea where to start. Twilight hadn't gotten too much information from Shining, but when she asked about precursors, he mentioned the business summit, which was her biggest, and only, lead at this time. If she could find out who was pressuring Cadence, maybe she'd learn more about what was happening here.

Thus, Twilight made her way to the nearest community center, consciously adjusting her gait to be different from usual, paranoid all the way. The ponies were all milling about, not a single one appearing to notice her. So far so good, she told herself to remain calm.

As she made her way to the big bulletin board, the ultimate test of her disguise came along, as a guard walking away from the board bumped into her, and looked her straight in the eye. There was a tense moment from Twilight's perspective, and she almost thought she had been caught, until he merely said "pardon me ma'am" and kept going. She nodded and almost chucked. That deepish voice belonged to the guard who had been at the front desk at the jail. It's moments like that that reminded her just how small the empire could actually be, when put into perspective. That may or may not work in her favor, given that someone may recognize her as different... or just not care.

Moving ahead, she found what she was looking for: a poster for the business council summit. It had been held at the library, on the evening of the same day she had spoken with Celestia. She thought it was fairly ironic that the very thing she was investigating had been hosted in the location in which she had done most of her research, but at least there was a friendly librarian to answer a curious mare's questions.

She was about to leave when she looked at a large poser that had just been put up: with a big picture of her, the real, purple her, smiling on it. Many ponies were reading it, and she furrowed her brow as she looked it over herself.

Her blood ran cold as she read it's contents: "Find Princess Twilight! The princess is hiding somewhere in the kingdom, and if YOU can spot her, you can win a cash prize! Simply tell your local guards to collect!" She tried desperately to understand exactly why it was written that way. They hunt me like a criminal, yet they don't label me as one. They want me captured, but not made an enemy of the state. Why? What terrified her more though was the fact that these clearly had been pre-printed. She hadn't been a fugitive a few hours ago, but suddenly well made, professional signs were out for her capture. But then she read the fine print, and absolutely solidified her determination to get to the library, for there, written on the bottom of the poster was a small legal message: "prize generously donated by the Business Council of Equestria".

Twilight entered the library, very careful that her posture and gait were different from usual, yet believable. Stamper looked up blankly, then smiled at the new library patron approaching the desk. Clearly this place didn't get much attendance, and today was no exception: empty again.

She sighed briefly before preparing to speak. She had been rehearsing a new accent in her head the whole trip here, and now, she had it down packed. She even consciously adjusted the pattern with which she looked about the room before speaking. Perfect disguise. "Hello there! Just came by to ask about the big business meeting that was held here a while back!" she said simply. Her voice had sounded foreign even to her, perfect.

Stamper looked at her for a moment, then lit up. "Sure thing, princess!" he said cheerfully.

Her security shattered. How had he known? And without even a minute of looking her over? Her eyes widened and panic crept onto her face. Stamper just calmly chuckled.

"Hey, relax, I'm not interested in turning you in. Besides, the guards already came by and asked about you. I see you snuck past the one who's patrolling outside though. He looked to be a heavy sleeper, so can't say I'm surprised."

She was confused, and still slightly panicked. Sure he was a friend, but if he could figure it out, what if someone else could? "How? How did you know it was me?" she asked quietly, still in her fake accent.

He merely waved off her concern with a hoof. "Oh I wouldn't worry too much. Your disguise is very convincing but, I have... other ways of identifying people, ways very few ponies still use." He explained, subtly adjusting his own saddlebag as he said this. She couldn't help but glance at the bag with mild curiosity, but he snapped her back to reality.

"So, the business meeting?" he asked, briskly, but retaining a friendly tone.

Clearing her throat, she spoke, asking again about the meeting. Stamper calmly trotted over to the front of the library and flipped the sign to "closed" and returned. "Alright, Princess, what exactly do you want to know?"

Twilight began with exactly what the meeting was, wanting all the basic details.

He got right to it. "Well, it's the largest business meeting in all of Equestria, where business leaders meet to discuss their profits, products, some plans, and economics. It's held in a different city each year. The topic of this year's meeting was the empire actually. They primarily were discussing new products for the more recent Crystal Imperial market, and thought that the arrival would be great for the economy, which was going stale due to lack of diverse markets," he beamed as he finished explaining, glad he could be helpful.

Twilight looked pensive as she digested the information. "Alright... so, who was in attendance of the meeting? I know that Cadence came by here at some point, but I don't know who exactly attended otherwise."

Stamper handed her a list, And it included multiple names that she recognized, such as Filthy Rich. "Cadence was just here briefly to oversee the meeting towards the end, but she did have a more private meeting with the Business Council Officers afterwards.

She scratched her chin as she saw a name that sounded mildly familiar, but otherwise was unfamiliar to her. "Hey, Reach sounds familiar. Who exactly is he?"

Stamper's expression was the same as someone who had just managed to choke on their tea, but he shook it off quickly and responded.

"Well, Far Reach is the CEO of the Reach Mining Co., and in recent years, the Reach Jewelry and Refinery Companies." He got a very strange expression on his face, some kind of mix she really couldn't read, and he asked her exactly why she asked about him in particular.

"Well, he's listed as a council officer, and I could've sworn I heard that name somewhere earlier this week," she explained, unsure how to take his odd curiosity.

He looked very pensive for a moment, as if considering his next action. Eventually he sighed and coughed, drinking from his flask again.

"Any more questions?" he asked simply, returning to his more neutral, helpful expression.

She couldn't quite think up any other questions that he would be able to answer about this, but she now had a new directive in mind. "May I keep this list?" she asked, to which he nodded.

"It's a copy anyway. And something tells me you need it more than I do!" he said with a grandfatherly wink.

She thought of leaving, and began to turn before she halted and faced him again. "Why are you so helpful, Stamper?" the princess asked very suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Why are you so helpful? You aren't turning me in, you're kind, you've helped me throughout my research of... history, and you've been answering all of my questions without a second thought! So I ask again: why are you so helpful?" she inquired, her tone firm.

He sat quietly for a moment, then laughed a bit, shaking his hoof once again. "I'm just an old stallion trying to lend a hoof. I don't need that cash prize, and besides, spreading rumors is is none of my business." His voice sounded true, and almost fooled the princess into believing it. Almost.

Twilight shook her head, and looked back at him with somewhat piercing eyes.

"I don't buy it. I may not be nearly as wise or experienced as you, but I wasn't born yesterday either. You've done more than any typical librarian... you probably know what this is all about, don't you?" She paused here to let him speak, but he merely looked at her with a blank expression, his smile gone. "I'll ask again, why are you helping me?" she repeated, slowly, articulating carefully and with emphasis.

He sat very still for a moment, his jaw set. Then, he sighed and looked down at the floor, his thinning hair casting a shadow over his eyes, hiding them from sight.

He spoke in a raspy tone. "Suffice to say... I have seen the consequences of inaction far too many times to continue turning a blind eye." His tone and diction seemed entirely out of character... but it seemed so much more sincere than his usual disposition. She sensed genuine guilt in his voice, but also a very stern and determined tone.

She was just about to respond when there was a knock on the primary door. Stamper looked up and whispered, face still blank. "the alley out back is unguarded. If you can teleport, your highness, I recommend doing so now." Then, turning to the door, in his more cheerful voice he shouted "BE RIGHT THERE!"

"Thank you, Stamper. For everything," she said sincerely.

He put on a genuine smile and nodded at her, and at that, she disappeared in a final flash, leaving the stallion alone in the library once again.

Chapter 16: Risky Business

Twilight calmly strolled out of the local Big Bucks Bank, with a few pamphlets about them in hoof. After a short stroll to a park not even a block away, she sighed and plopped herself down on a park bench.

She subtly checked her surroundings and, finding only a few ponies out for a stroll, decided to read the pamphlet she was currently holding. As she raised her hoof up to hold it, she couldn't help but notice the yellow coloration of her coat. It was still so strange to her, being so... different. However, she knew it necessary for the time being, and, after shaking her head to refocus, began to read.

"Big Bucks Bank was founded 20 years after Luna's banishment, in a time when depression and insecurity ruled the land, and the people needed something solid to hold their funds, something to give them security again. It was founded by Small Bucks, and is currently run by Lotso Bucks..." Twilight shook her head slightly and stopped reading. There was nothing in here any more significant than what she had learned when interviewing Lotso himself a few minutes ago, who was staying at his local branch office due to the meeting a week prior. She had claimed to be an interviewer, collecting information on business owners to add them to the list of potentials for the "Friendliest Business Award," and that excuse had served her perfectly so far. However, everything in these pamphlets were just repeats of what Lotso had told her... and there wasn't a single shred of evidence connecting him to any of the strange goings on recently.

She casually crossed his name off of the list Stamper had given her, and placed the information and papers in her slowly filling saddlebag, next to the information from other businesses.

For the past two days, she had been doing little more than going from business to business, interviewing people and reading up on corporate histories. The short naps she managed to get were completely dreamless, and she was really unsure what that could mean, if anything.

Her eyes scanned the sheet to look for the next business to investigate, noting many crossed off throughout. She hadn't been able to go in order due to the diverse location of businesses and the readily available information on said businesses, which initially bothered her organized mind, but any irritation subsided with her sense of urgency. Every day she didn't find a connection was another day they could do more harm.

She looked back near the top of the list and furrowed her brow at the sight of a name she had almost unintentionally been avoiding: Far Reach, of the Reach Mining Company. She really didn't know why she'd been steering away from it, perhaps it was Stamper's adverse reaction, or the fact that she only vaguely heard the name somewhere, which in her mind shrouded it in mystery. However, given her constant dead ends so far, and the lack of any evidence after two days, she figured it was time to look into it. So, she got up, and began walking north.

After a long walk to the northern boarder of the empire, she came upon the Reach Mining Co. local office, located not far from the mountain mines where the laborers worked. She gathered her confidence with a bit of breathing, and walked inside, being met with warm air, and feeling a semi-stiff carpet upon her hooves. There were a few fancy chairs, and one very bored receptionist behind the glass of a help-window, chewing gum and casually reading a magazine.

Twilight boldly walked up with a rehearsed smile, keeping in character with her new accent. "Hello! My name is Tara Writer, and I was wondering if Mr. Reach is available to be interviewed for the 'Friendliest Business Award!'"

The receptionist looked up at her with a tired expression, clearly very bored. "He's not here right now. He's in Canterlot or something," she said with a quiet but direct voice, her relaxed posture remaining unchanged.

Twilight was a bit disappointed, but hid it well, moving on to plan B. "Well may I search around the building for information I could use for the award?" she asked, to which the receptionist shrugged.

"Whatever" she said, returning to her magazine, which was enough for Twilight, who said thanks and began walking down the back hallway. She glanced into a few of the offices, the walls all a dull cream color, the employees inside all looking either focused or bored, perhaps both. Nothing of consequence around these offices, so she headed to the very back into the work area to look around.

She started in the Refining area, and she watched as many fine gems were washed and shined, cut and polished. Some of the metals were being melted down into ingots for transport in another section of the room. Nothing too suspicious here.

Next, she entered the processing area, where geodes were being busted open, rocks and dull "common" crystal was being separated from precious ores and gems, with some of that rock and stone being sent to the refinery area to be turned into bricks or building materials.

Finding nothing still, she entered the large storage area, which contained drills, shovels, pickaxes, hard hats, masks, and all sorts of other mining equipment. She had almost given up of finding a connection in this place, when she noticed an eerily familiar smell. She followed that smell until she found a few rows of large barrels, containing mining gel that could melt through crystal. It was the stuff that the grey pegasus had used to coat the hideout before burning it to the ground.

Evidently she had zoned out staring at the barrels, because the next thing she new, a worker had approached her with a voice that reminded her of Braeburn's, but slightly rougher. "Pretty cool huh?" it questioned. She turned around to see a tan pony wearing a white hard hat and a stained, formerly white worker's uniform. Taking advantage of her reporter look and the situation, she decided to ask him exactly what was in the barrels.

He was quite eager to answer. "Oh! That's one of the things Reach himself invented! It's a special sticky gel that coats the solid, worthless dull crystal and stone, and can burn right through it like it was wood, without harming the precious ores and rare gems inside!"

Interesting, so this absolutely was the real stuff. "Do you ever sell this stuff to other companies or people?" she asked.

"No, never. In fact, we haven't lost a barrel in the last three years! Mr. Reach is very big on proper inventory!" he explained, gesturing to the platform on which the barrels rested. Upon closer inspection, it was actually a giant scale, weighing exactly how many barrels there were.

He seemed to continue on his own accord. "That stuff makes us the best and most efficient mining company in Equestria, so not only is it patented, but to prevent anyone from stealing it, we manufacture it on site upstairs!"

She was delighted, and asked if she could possibly see the place, which led to a slight droop in his expression. "Aww shucks. Sorry, but that area's supposed to be off limits," he informed, his ears dipping ever so slightly.

Now Twilight made it a point to use integrity in all dealings, and to encourage freedom from all individuals, so Twilight would never wrongly manipulate anyone into going against their morals.

Tara Writer however, was not Twilight Sparkle, and if he had known that there may have been lives at stake, he may have been more willing voluntarily.

But, one flash from her horn later, he was leading her up the stairs to the lab, and only looked puzzled when they arrived. "Thanks!" she expressed happily, and, being unsure what just happened, he assumed she had somehow been allowed there and happily said "you're welcome!"

They were standing outside of a thick glass wall, looking at a white room with scientists and workers all diligently working over chemical vats. One white mare wearing a chemical hood walked over and came outside of the lab to talk, removing her face mask and smiling, "This here's a reporter looking over our company, and she wanted to talk to y'all! ...I think," the worker said, scratching his head slightly as Twilight and the scientist shook hooves. "Hello! I'm Tara Writer, for the 'Friendliest Business Award,' just wanted to ask a few questions!" she explained.

"Name's Dr. Enay C. Ell, #1 chemist here at the Imperial Reach Mining Co. What can I do for you?" she asked, confidently smiling.

"I'd first like to know how Mr. Reach is as a manager, and please, be truthful!" she said, partially to keep up her act, but also because she was curious.

She was quick to respond. "Oh he's a very calm stallion, not one for dressing up all fancy like other business leaders. All things disclosed though he can be kind of dull at times."

She took a small note on this, then continued with the questions. "Has he made any unusual decisions lately? See, he may have heard of this award in advance and we uh, wouldn't want him cheating to look better for the award now." She had almost faltered in her speech, but Ell didn't seem to notice, and the worker was still scratching his head a bit.

The doctor waved it off immediately "oh no..." but she trailed off and scratched her chin in thought. "Although... just the other day Mr. Reach asked for an extra order, of the gel. We haven't needed an extra order for almost three years now, but according to him, some new employee went and spilled a barrel!"

Twilight quickly wrote and underlined a note of this, and asked if he had brought in any new employees or guests. Knowing she had to quickly cover her tracks with the suspicious question, she spoke up, "I'm trying to get a feel for his friendliness to those outside or just entering the company."

"Oh no, in fact it's quite rare that anyone is let in here, for good reason, but a few reporters have been coming by to ask about the recent opening of Reach Refineries, so I'm not too surprised."

She was relieved that her presence here was not too suspicious, but was quite disappointed that there were no more clues about the place.

She reached out and shook both of their hooves. "Thank you both for your time, have a great day!" she stated in a friendly manner.

After they had both left, she began walking back through the halls of offices, when she came upon what appeared to be the central office. She froze and ducked out of sight quickly when she saw a technician from the lab come in levitating a file.

Upon close inspection, it appeared to be a production file for the gel

She heard a voice inside the office ask if anyone else had seen the file, and the technician responding not very formally. Her ears perked up as she listened in to hear the voices more clearly.

"Good. The last thing Mr. Reach needs right now is a mouthy technician letting people know we sold gel to a non-employee client. Understood?" the voice asked gruffly. It was definitely a male, and it sounded fairly deep.

She gasped when she heard him and she could see the shadow of the file being put in a safe.

Backing away calmly and eventually making her way past the receptionist, she left calmly and walked outside, placing the notes in her bag.

That file may be the big missing connection between Reach and the grey pegasus. She needed that file, but going in alone would be risky, and she hadn't read too many books on being stealthy or cracking safes.

And then, something clicked in her mind as she thought about it. While she knew nothing about cracking safes, breaking in sneakily, or stealing... she now knew some people who did.

Twilight confidently and quickly began heading downtown. She knew where she had to go, but she had one quick stop to make along the way.

Chapter 17: Among Wolves

Twilight approached the jail calmly and cooly, making sure she had everything she needed. She paused about a block away and gave her saddlebag one last test wiggle, and everything felt in place, everything was ready.

This shifting of the weight brought to her attention just how far she'd come. When she had first placed the saddlebag on her back, it had been light, barely noticeable, maybe some papers or two, but otherwise not much there. At this point however, it was full. Scrolls with all her various notes and theories, money, the book Stamper had given her, bandages... and yet, she hadn't noticed the big difference until now. She could hardly look at it, given that lifting up the cloak too far ran the risk of showing her wings, but she felt it.

Twilight was still a block away when she thought about the whole thing. For the very first time through the whole ordeal, thoughts of giving up finally crept in. This isn't even about Cutie Marks anymore... what if we just turned ourselves in? We're not a criminal, we're not being hunted like a criminal, so they clearly don't aim to actually hurt us...

She looked to a local bulletin board nearby to see the smiling face of princess Twilight Sparkle looking back at her, and in a crystalline window beside it, she saw the yellow face of Tara Writer. It was far more worn, more somber. Is it all really worth it...?

Something clicked inside her at this thought, though she couldn't quite place what. Whatever it may have been, the face in the window reflection seemed to solidify. The somberness turned to pure determination. Yes. We're right, it's not even about Cutie Marks anymore. It's about potentially saving lives. This new fire took root deep in her chest, and with one more defiant look at the smiling visage of the purple princess, the real Twilight pushed on to the jail, her plan ready to unfurl with newfound determination.

She waited in the lobby as two ponies were released from from the back. "About time!" one said in a familiar voice. Twilight smirked as she waited for them to pass by. Gray Gravel... Let's hope your skills are just as sharp as your tongue. Ruby Crystal had on a look of utter apathy as expected, but something was a little different. She was looking at the ground a little more, her gait slightly slower than Gravel's.

After they exited. Twilight walked outside calmly, looking at the two admiring their freedom... well, Gray was at least. "Free at last! About time they let us outa there," he said aloud, earning a sigh of acknowledgement from Ruby.

"Feeling good to be out I see?" Twilight asked, trotting up next to them.

Gravel looked at the strange yellow pony with an expression of confusion, asking "What do you care lady?"

"I believe I at least get to ask your condition, since I just dropped 100 bits on you two," she responded slyly. Twilight had to stifle a short chuckle, because in her new accent, that phrase sounded much cooler than it would have normally.

Ruby and Gravel both looked at each other with utter confusion, then they simultaneously looked back at her, Gravel leaning in slightly, and Ruby tilting her head just a bit. "You paid our bail? Like, why?" he inquired.

"I need two ponies of your... particular talents. It's for a job of great importance," Twilight offered up, hoping they would jump at it, but unfortunately for her, that backfired.

Ruby looked down and Gray got a serious expression on his face, shaking his head. "No way. Last time I listened to somebody OTHER than Gray Gravel, we ended up getting screwed, and a buddy got killed. No deal," he said, Ruby also shaking her head to agree with him.

Needless to say, it was Twilight's turn to be confused. "Wait, how do you know someone got killed?"

Ruby spoke up for the first time today, her eyes still looking to the ground. "The guards in the jail talk, you know. We heard they found our friend's body in a fire of unknown origin."

"So we ain't doin' anything! Not for all the money in the world, no way, no how!" Gravel said sternly, his head shaking for emphasis.

Twilight was thrown off a bit, but she had one last trick up her sleeve, or more specifically, in her bag. She slowly unzipped it and pulled something small and shiny out, sealing it up afterwards. She held the object in front of her, catching Gravel's eye, who nudged Ruby. When her eyes looked upon it, they widened like saucers, and there was silence.

On the way here, Twilight had trotted to the general area where the hideout had been, to find the area swarming with guards. Now, she could turn herself invisible for very short periods of time, and so she did. Using this ability, she managed to sift through the ashes of a former bedroom and find a shiny crystal object unscathed: Ruby's necklace.

Ruby finally spoke, and in a voice barely controlled, she asked directly, "where did you get that?" without ever looking away from it.

"The fire didn't kill Arrow. I'm looking for whoever's truly responsible for his death," Twilight said, calmly, firmly.

Ruby looked up into her eyes, her own eyes somewhat red, watery. "You're bluffing! You didn't even KNOW him!" Ruby shouted, her knees shaking slightly.

Twilight calmly replied. "Arrow liked you too, Ruby, he was a good guy. I only want to know the truth... so did he. But your grey pal made sure that didn't happen. I'll need your help of we're going to find out who he worked for."

There was a very tense moment where their eyes were locked, and Gravel stared intently at her face. They sensed that Twilight was telling the truth, and after looking to Ruby once more, he spoke up.

"...The guards did mention that that pegasus was in the wreckage too. So, look. Normally, I'd totally say no but... Arrow was a good kid. Not as tough but he gave us all some good laughs so... If you're sayin' what I think you're sayin', and this grey guy did him in... I wanna know who put him up to it. ...I'm in."

Ruby slowly took the necklace and put it on, swallowing hard and nodding, extending her hoof. Gravel followed, and all three shook hooves on the deal. Justice would be served, for Arrow.

Chapter 18: The Plan

Shortly after their agreement, Twilight and the other two headed downtown and rented a room at the local inn, where they began to formulate a plan.

After being settled in for a few hours, Twilight and Gray looked up at the door to see Ruby enter, carrying hardware supplies, tools, etc. that she had been sent out to grab earlier. She plopped the bag down and began unloading the stuff, as Twilight and Gray looked over the large sheet she had laid out on the table.

The sheet had the architectural schematics of the main Reach office building, and the central office she had seen. She had written plenty of notes for the three of them, the most common notation being differences between the schematics and the office room, indicating it had been modified after construction.

"Okay gang, here's the basic plan," she started, using her horn to highlight a path on the schematics. Gray stood on her right, while Ruby stood on her left, both looking intently at the trajectory.

"I can't sustain it for long, but I can make all three of us invisible for about two minutes tops, as long as you are both in contact with me, likely at the shoulder, we'll be fine. It should only take about 45 seconds to quickly walk to the main office. Then, picking the lock will be up to Ruby, and I'll scan the room for traps. I should be able to deal with any of them, while Gray cracks the safe and gets that file." Her tone was strong and confident, earning a sly chuckle from Gray.

"That's pretty good, but it's a company, so we'll need to strike when no employees are there, yeah? Nighttime is our best bet, of course," Gray added, nodding. "Ruby, you pack the bags?"

Ruby nodded as well and gestured to the two saddlebags over by the couch, one for Gray, one for Ruby. After looking over all plans again, everything was solidified. They would strike just after dusk.

"Now you two just got out of jail, so you'll need some rest before the operation," Twilight recommended, looking to them for approval.

"Fair, fair, but if we wanna be well rested that late at night, we'll need to fall asleep pretty late so we wake up real late, the way I see it. Midnight should do." Gray spoke with a strategic confidence, but Twilight wasn't so sure about that timing.

"Ruby! Get the extra item I ask ya to bring! We'll need to kill a few hours." At this order from Gravel, Ruby nodded and entered the kitchen, and quickly returned with a 12 pack of hard cider.

Now Twilight was not a heavy drinker. In fact, she wasn't much of a drinker at all, save for some Canterlot Wine from Celestia, and occasionally a special cider brew from Applejack. However, she eventually rationalized the situation. It was bleak, they were up against incredible odds... why not have a few drinks?

In the moonlit night, laughter erupted through the hotel room. It was not the first time tonight, and for once in this whole mess, Twilight was grinning and smiling, some of the big pressure laid off.

"It's all a true story, that's why I'll never touch pickled ANYTHING ever again!" Gray said, laughing. They had been telling stories for the past few hours, although Gravel was telling the most of them all, which was quite fine by Twilight. The less questions "Tara" had to answer, the better.

Eventually, the topic of comrades returned, and Twilight got the chance to ask something that had been on her mind ever since the incident at the jail.

"So, Gray, what's the story on your green friend? Heard he was in solitary when I went to bail you two out." This question had been burning for a while, given that he seemed to have no major link outside of that isolated attack and warning.

Gravel's face contorted and he lay back in his chair. "Well now, Sieve's uh... quite the unique case," he began, taking another swig before continuing. "See, he and I were real pals growin' up. School friend, you know? Anyway, he'd always been a little off, but not too bad. He always loved wood carving, wood shaving, sculpting with wood. I never did meet his parents, but I think they were in the carpentry business. Anyways, so about a year back, after the Empire reappeared, I lost contact with him. This was the kinda guy who believed all those conspiracy theories that ponies spread rumors on, you know the kinds. Now he told me he was on to something big, and he wouldn't quite tell me what, but he started going to the library just about every day after that. THAT was when he disappeared... until about a month ago, he came back asking me for work. He seemed paranoid and a little desperate, so I helped him out. He wouldn't say what he'd seen, but he started buying... strange things, like chemicals and stuff. He seemed to think something was always there, but he didn't say anything outright, and he avoided the topic."

Twilight digested the information slowly. Looking into conspiracy theories and turning paranoid. That sounded familiar. Twi was just about to speak, when she noticed that he still looked deep in thought.

"You know, he said something weird to me when he passed my cell on the way to the interrogation room. He said: 'I've got it! If you embrace the dark, you need not fear it!', and that threw me for a loop. All I know is, next time around he was being dragged to the back with a bloodied gash on his arm." Gravel seemed to finish his thought, then shrug. "But that's Sieve. Hope he's alright in there..."

Could he have been running from the same people I am? Could he have joined them out of fear? She felt disturbed, but was snapped out of it by Ruby speaking up for once. "So, how did you know arrow, huh?" she asked, leaning forward to listen with intent.

Now Twilight couldn't mention that she was the princess yet, so she'd... modify the story a little.

"Oh, well, see a while ago he bumped into me and uh... He hurt my leg by accident. Anyway, he was very polite, very sorry, and I kept saying it was fine, but he insisted on making it up to me. Now, I'm a reporter, so he uh... was looking into a weird story himself: your pegasus friend. He thought he could hand me a story and catch this guy at the same time..." Twilight hoped they were buying her little story modifications, but Ruby seemed too curious to notice any errors in tone.

"Two apples, one arrow..." Ruby said quietly. When she noticed Twilight looking at her confused, she shook her head and cleared her throat. "Sorry, uh, it was a phrase he used to say to me..." Ruby said quietly, a hint of a sad smile growing on her face. "What else happened?" she asked.

Twilight simply replied: "oh, it's all a blur. I remember the gray pegasus being there but... I can't remember much other than... seeing Arrow on the ground..." she said, sulking. Ruby looked down too, but to comfort her, Twilight had one little detail she could give away. "You know... I do remember that his last word was... 'Ruby.'"

Ruby looked up with watery eyes at this revelation. Gray calmly raised his glass and said "to Arrow!" and they all toasted to him.

After a brief moment of silence. Gray spoke up again. "Oh hey, enough about us, what about you, you have any friends?"

Twilight looked down. It was always troubling to think about her friends so far away back home now. "Yes, I do but... I came here to do some research that I don't want them seeing," she said.

"Well why not? They're your friends aren't they? I'm sure they'd understand anything you had to do," he said, smiling to her.

To be honest, this struck a nerve with Twilight. While she had never really believed that her friends would betray her to even Celestia, she always had the feeling that this investigation was a little more than just Cutie Marks. To be frank, she was actually glad she hadn't pulled her friends into the whole mess. Kept them safe back home. "It's best they stay back home," she said simply, nodding, earning a look of approval from Gray.

The alarm began to blare, indicating midnight: their time to begin resting for the long night tomorrow. "Alright everyone, let's all rest up, we'll need it," she said, and they both nodded and headed off to bed, leaving the secret princess alone in her seat.

Finally, she had hope for the whole situation, and a chance at some real hard evidence against whoever was after her. And yet... she felt dread. Nervousness made sense, but she felt a deep knotting in her stomach, and felt close to something.

Her journey had been tough and very long, and she felt something big coming up soon: for better or for worse, tomorrow night would be a defining moment, that much was certain.

And so, new thoughts weighing heavy on her mind, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Chapter 19: Final Links

All three left the apartment separately, with the sun just setting in the distance as they were leaving. So it was that, by the time they arrived at their meeting place, an alleyway across from the Reach building with full view of the door, the sun had long since dipped beneath the horizon. The three lingered in the dark, nodding to one another in complete silence.

Ruby was the first to emerge, with the other two hanging back, silent, and waiting for her to do her part. Ruby had put on a hat and coat as to make herself unrecognizable to any passerby who may happen to see her. She casually strolled up to the door and knocked on it, like a customer who was quite late. After noting zero response after 30 seconds, she knocked again, and began covertly picking the lock as she looked at the open to closed times listed on the door. Anyone who had happened to watch her would have merely thought her a confused, late customer, resting their hooves on a door while reading.

After a short few seconds, the door clicked, and she very covertly left a small crack in it, unnoticeable from any distance. She dropped the thin lock pick in the crack to keep it open, and walked away from the door, with a fairly convincing look of defeat worn upon her face. Any nosy people nearby would merely see a customer who would have to come back tomorrow.

Ruby walked around to the other side of the alley and folded up her hat and coat, putting them in her saddlebag. "Ready?" Twilight looked back to her approaching and nodded, then did the same to Gravel. Both formed up on her sides, and with a quiet grunt, she focused carefully on the three of them, and they suddenly disappeared, completely invisible.

Normally she could have tried teleporting in, but not only was teleportation a skill known only to high level unicorns, so it may have blown her cover with them, but she also ran the risk of running into any secret security that she wouldn't have known of, not to mention that energy detection was certainly not unheard of, and teleportation have off a very large energy signature.

The three invisible invaders walked over to the door, and gently pushed it open, as if the wind had caught it. Ruby covertly stooped and grabbed her lock-pick, and just as soon as they had slipped into the foyer, the door gently swung shut, with no evidence that it had ever been opened.

They traveled a little further until they were well out of the view of the front door before returning to a visible state. Twilight was panting a little bit from having to use a lot of energy to keep them invisible, but better a lot of hidden energy over a long time, than one easy burst of energy that might be noticed.

After catching her breath, Gravel turned to her. "You good?" he asked quietly, and she nodded. They began to walk onward, with Twilight leading the pack, until they reached the door to the big office that she had seen before.

"This is it, Ruby," Twilight whispered, her horn glowing as she searched for anything off in the halls. After a few seconds, a sharp click was heard, but Twilight could have sworn she heard another dull thud somewhere in the building at the same moment. She scanned, but found... nothing.

This is no time to start losing it, the princess thought to herself, as she cautiously stuck her head into the room to scan it as well. Nothing wrong here. She motioned for Gravel to come in, and trotted gently inside.

"Watch the door Ruby," Gray said simply in a hushed tone, eliciting a nod from the girl. He entered the room, and saw the large safe that contained the file. Just as his eyes fell upon it, his face lit up while he walked over.

"Ah, a 2600 series Everfree safe, one of the hardest ones to crack in its day. This brings me back..." he said all this with a very reminiscent tone, as he pulled out his tools and delicately got to work.

This sparked some curiosity in Twilight, who still didn't know too much about these ponies personally. "Say, how did you get into crime anyway?" she questioned, her tone still kept down.

"Well, see, before the whole 'sealed away' thing, Sombra had all the stallions mandated to do work. And my mum... bless her soul, she passed on when I was just a kid. Now a kid can get hungry in the empire, and old Grey Gravel here was NOT about to starve! So I taught myself how to take what I needed. I was crafty enough to either not get caught, or to talk myself out of a sticky situation. But this here safe... when I was a young Foal, I knew a place where a general of Sombra's had a lot of money. Safes weren't nearly this complex back then, it was just a lockbox, but I cracked it. That's when I got my Mark," he said, gesturing with his head to his rear. She looked at it: a lock and some tools.

"A criminal cutie mark?" Twilight asked in surprise. She had never see a mark specifically for a crime before. He quickly cleared things up though.

"Nah, it turns out I'm actually a born locksmith. Ironic, am I right? But that came in handy when I was picking locks... and when I got my Mark, I was sent to work making locks for the jails and the houses. What they don't know is that I hid a release mechanism in each of my locks. Very specific, very hard to find, but if I ever get locked up, I can get out on my own. Only reason I didn't bust out was 'cuz Ruby was in another wing. Couldn't leave without her." He finished on that note, which gave him a bit more honor in Twilight's eyes. He stole from others... but he was loyal to those he trusted.

He was almost done cracking the safe, and Ruby showed no sign of any danger thus far. Twilight scanned again carefully, still finding nothing. Given that everything was going so well, she had time to clear up one final point.

"You said the 2600 here took you back... but the Empire has been gone for 1,000 years! This safe was invented about 10 years ago, how could this take you back?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, well when the Empire returned and was freed, I didn't quite have a stable income yet and... well, old habits die hard. This here was the first type of safe I ever broke into to get money. Pretty sure old Lotso didn't miss it though, they never found me," he said with a chuckle and a wink.

In the next second, a distinct click was heard inside the safe, and it creaked open slowly. Gray gave a slight bow as he opened it for her, revealing multiple files, with the chemical file right on top: the latest addition to their safe's contents.

"Let's see here..." Twilight started quietly, with Gravel looking over her shoulder to read as well. Inside, the file contained just a few papers, and one was a purchase record. It stated that a barrel was purchased directly from the manufacturer by one "Mr. Flak", and that all expenses were paid in full, meaning it would not be entered into the balance sheets. It looked very formal, nothing was too off for the most part... except for one little sheet inside the folder. It was typed, and it looked extremely official, moreso than the purchase record sheet. It read simply "The transaction permitted on this date was approved, and formally authorized at the behest of the council." The bottom of the sheet bore a formal stamped seal, that depicted what appeared to be three parallel arrows, pointing up, but that were attached on the bottom to one, central line, so that it seemed the middle arrow was the largest, with two small arrows attached to the sides.

Twilight was confused, and decided to look for other files with a similar insignia, and she found quite a few. Almost all of them were similarly written off transactions, paid in full, not entered into public record, and approved by some council. Many were purchases of steel and other building materials, but one file seemed very different from the others. She put the transaction files back and read the stand alone file, whose folder was a dark blue color instead of the typical tan or brown.

She opened it up, and saw what looked like some of the other records, but it was prefaced with what looked like an urgent typed paper.

It read simply: "Brander Repair Mandate: Reach Division Responsibilities", with each front letter capitalized and very evenly spaced. This one bore a whole list of materials, markedly more than the other small requests, and it called for steel, strong gems, and other things that would be difficult to just write off.

Then she thought about the title itself. "Brander Repair Mandate."
Brander... Brander! Twilight instantly recalled one of her notes: a history book calling the Equestrians of its time the "Branded peoples of today". "I need to copy these!" she exclaimed quickly, pulling out the files as Grey watched.

"I'm afraid that would be most unwise," a deep voice said from behind them. They wheeled around to see a very strong, blank-flanked black unicorn standing in the doorway, with Ruby knocked out cold, a gash on her right temple. Twilight recognized the voice: she had heard it in this very office when she had been here. He strolled in and the door slammed behind him, sealing the four of them in.

Twilight, panicked, fired a powerful blast straight at him, but he used some barrier she had never seen before. It reflected back at her, and she instinctively jumped out of the way... but the blast curved, hitting her square in the horn, and sending her flying into the back wall. Gray turned to see her fall. "TARA! I--" he froze. Her cloak had fallen off, revealing her wings. "But... only princesses can have wings and a horn! ...Princess?" he questioned, confused.

Twilight nodded weakly in the direction of the unicorn, indicating that they had more to worry about right now. He was walking towards Ruby's crumpled form, and his horn glowed with a powerful energy.

Gravel wasted no time, and although not as built, Gray was certainly no weakling. He jumped and slammed a hoof at top speed into the unicorn's jaw to keep him away from Ruby.

His feet never moved. Nor did his body. In fact, his head only slightly turned to absorb the powerful punch, and based on Gravel's shocked expression, it must've felt like punching concrete. The unicorn's horn had stopped glowing, and in one lightning speed move, he slugged Gravel out cold, leaving a bloodied imprint on his head.

Twilight struggled to move, but taking a direct blast to the horn is not easy to recover from. She could hardly scoot herself over before he was standing over her, looking down with an almost angry expression. "You're lucky someone wants to talk to you," he said plainly, and fired a green aura around her. He walked away, and she began to lose consciousness as she saw the door open, letting ponies in with simple white suits and masks.

"Take these two and put them with the others. Prepare the princess for transport to the facility..."

That was all she could make out before her vision blurred, and her whole world turned to black.

Chapter 20: Illumination

Author's Notes:

For this chapter I've done something a little different, and I hope you'll find it enjoyable. I have composed a musical piece, mysterious and deep, with just a hint of distortion... much like the pony you are about to meet.
So, Click here to listen to "Far Reach" and enjoy the chapter!

Twilight groaned as she finally came to, recovering consciousness with a fading throb in her head. After an encounter like that, she was expecting to wake up in a holding cell, or buckled down with restraints, but the very first thing she could feel was... she was sitting on a very soft chair, her spine resting against its back, and her front legs held up by the cushioned elbow rests.

"Ah, princess! I'm so pleased you're awake. I must apologize for my associate's behavior, he can be quite the brute at times." The voice that spoke was flat overall, but had an air of gladness about it, as if a bored business pony had just been impressed with a successful proposal.

This prompted her to fully open her eyes and look up, and she was met by the sight of another pony sitting in an identical chair, facing her, just a few feet away. He was a light gray earth pony, with short, neat, black hair, piercing green eyes, and a small, almost pleasant smile worn upon his thin lips.

"Where did you take them? Where am I?" the princess demanded with a start. Her horn began to glow, but she powered it down after an ache ran through it. Must still be sore from the direct hit it took earlier. Despite her horn faltering however, her posture and tone still elicited command, and she sat firm in her question.

"Oh, your friends are quite alright I assure you, no harm will come to them. As for where you are, I wish to welcome you to my humble office," the stallion responded calmly, unfazed by her display of authority. It was interesting, his tone of voice was very unique, reminding her slightly of Discord's, but much flatter, and it had a more formal air to it.

His office? She swiveled her head about, and other than the two fancy chairs, the office was actually very blank, much like the mysterious pony himself. The office was very large, with a fairly high ceiling. The walls were about the same shade of gray as his coat, while the floors were made up of polished, ebony colored tiles. There was a plain metal desk just a few feet from her right, and a wooden double door to her left.

Twilight felt very confused about this entire situation. As she looked down to think, she was surprised to see her coat had been returned to it's original purple coloration, which was even more distressing, given that, in theory, only the user should be able to reverse the changes.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, where are my manners? I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Far Reach, CEO of Reach Mining Company... though, I think you're more than familiar with that, given we found you stealing from my Crystal Empire branch." Despite the accusation, he did not sound mad in the slightest. In fact, he almost sounded amused at the fact that she tried stealing from him.

So this was Far Reach, the mysterious CEO himself. "So this is your office... are we in a Reach Company building then?" she inquired.

Reach chuckled slightly and shook his head slowly. "Oh no, we're nowhere so public as a corporate office. We're at my... let's say, more important place of work."

Twilight had had just about enough of all these dead ends and riddles, and her brow furrowed in determination as she stared directly at him, speaking slowly. "What is going on here?"

Reach ceased his laughter and stared back, the two pairs of eyes staring into each other, both asserting their power, and neither noticeably faltering. Finally, Reach relaxed subtly without breaking eye contact. "Would you like some tea?" he offered, pressing a button on the side of his armrest. She looked over on the left side of her chair as a small end table rose up out of the floor with a cup of hot tea on it. She looked over to see that the same had appeared on the right side of his chair, and he was already taking a drink from his.

"I personally prefer Earl Gray tea, straight, no sugar, but we took the time to get to know you a little better. Fresh Canterlot tea straight from your favorite shop, three sugar cubes, just as you like it," he said, nodding at her cup. She smelled it, and it was exactly the same. His smelled rather bitter, but she was more concerned with the matter at hand than some businessman getting her tea right.

"What is going on here?" She repeated the question with more intensity this time, looking back at him. His thin smile disappeared much like the steam from his tea, and after taking at sip and sighing, he put down the half-filled cup on the side table.

"Always with the questions!" he started with a mildly annoyed tone. It was the first real expression of emotion that she could truly believe from him, but even that was subdued. "You know, I can never understand what it is with you princesses always asking so many questions, each of you!"

"What do you mean by that?" the princess asked, slight concern etching features into her face.

Reach refocused on her and began to explain. "You see, each princess at some point decided to start looking for Marks. My predecessors had to deal with Luna and Celestia, and I had to deal with Cadence before you... but you my dear were never daunted, never gave up! Congratulations, you are the first princess to ever make it as far as learning about the Brander." He said the last statement with almost some enthusiasm, as if he was nearly proud of her achievement.

Cadence, Luna, Celestia... Twilight suddenly began to realize why they each had acted so strange and out of character whenever she began her inquiries and investigations. If they had been through similar things, and were persuaded to stop seeking... Who were these people?

Reach continued on with his proud expression beaming on her achievement. "You know, some of the council was actually considering termination, but I saw the potential in you. You're intelligent, you're inquisitive, and most importantly: you care for your subjects. Thus, I actually have a proposal for you."

She suddenly shot her head up to look back to him. "Proposal? What Proposal? What council?" she asked in confused tone, almost desperate for answers.

"Again with the questions," he said nonchalantly before looking into the yearning eyes of the monarch. He closed his eyes for a moment and stretched his neck back before staring directly at her while he explained.

"Princess, I represent a large organization known as the Trident. We have been ensuring peace and harmony in Equestria since it's very dawn. Now I needn't dive into details quite yet, given it's nature, but I'm offering you a job that entails managing and ensuring safety of a large population. Your intellectual ability would make our operations significantly more efficient." He finished his statement with another small smile, and took a sip from his tea.

Twilight sat in silence for about a minute, pondering what she was just offered. She became filled with all sorts of emotions. A secret organization? Forbidden knowledge? This was almost a dream come true! But then, something came to mind that completely overshadowed her fantasies of knowing so many secrets.

"Wait, but your evil henchman committed murder! He murdered and innocent pony! Under your authority!" Twilight accused, leaning forward in her seat and getting very heated.

Reach was taken aback, and wore a new expression of mixed surprise and disgust. "Oh, you accuse me after I offer you a job? I assure you, his death was not my fault, and in fact my excessively violent associate was punished for such a horrendous act... but I'm sure you're aware of the price he paid."

Twilight's face went soft after this comment, which robbed of her righteous anger. "I... I did see him jump into the fire... but you gave him the compound!" she began, still grasping at something to accuse this shadowy figure of.

"Yes, I gave him the Reach gel, based on intel that he was burning an empty, uninhabited building. At most, I was an accessory to destruction of property, but the landowner received a generous compensation from 'an anonymous organization who heard about the fire.' We can both agree that what he did was unacceptable, and I understand how you would make the connection, but you really shouldn't accuse someone you've just met based off of one little sale in a file." He ended solidly, not showing any aggression back towards her, and remaining neutral and fair throughout the discussion.

The princess paused and thought hard about the situation. He has a valid point, and it sounds like he paid for every issue he caused... Yet, she still tried to find something, anything to pin on the guy. "And what about Gray Gravel? And Ruby Crystal?" she inquired, much more mellow now, but there was blood coming from both of them, last she had seen.

"Oh, they're being taken care of, they're alive an well, and in good hands. My associate is getting a stern talking to about harming ponies under my watch, especially potential friends. After all, the ally of our ally is our friend. You are our ally, aren't you, princess?" His question returned him to a smile, looking almost smug as he finished his tea completely, and put it back on the table.

She bit her lip and wondered what to say, thinking about all the pros and cons. Much like his tea, her accusations were completely gone.

Twilight finally asked if she could have time to think about it.

Reach was elated at her consideration. "Of course, of course, take your time! After all, you are a thinker first and foremost. Feel free to walk about this facility, I only ask you not to enter any doors marked with a red arrow. You can see whats behind those if you decide to join," he explained kindly. He pressed a button and their tables retracted into the floor. Hers came back up with her saddlebag, which she levitated and placed back onto her back. It felt exactly the same weight, yet... almost easier to bear.

She thanked him and headed out of the large wooden doors, leaving Reach behind, smiling to himself in his chair.

Chapter 21: Decisions, Decisions

Twilight stepped out of the double doors and found herself in a fairly short hallway, with dull gray walls, a high ceiling, and the same black tiled floor. The hallway was unadorned, featuring only four other doors aside from the one to Reach's office. There was a door with a blue arrow, with the base curved to the right, a door with a straight red arrow, a door with a yellow arrow, base curved to the left, and a blank exit door.

She had so many questions, so much she wanted to know, and yet... her mind was drawing blanks. Perhaps it was the sudden flip from a fight for good to a simple job proposal. Perhaps it was the enticement of so much hidden information that she could now uncover... or perhaps it was something subtle and unnerving. Only one way to find out, she thought as she began to scan the labels on the doors.

She looked at the plain plaque above the yellow arrow door: "Research and Development Department". Twilight thought that this was a good place to start, and walked inside. Inside, she found a much longer hallway, with multiple doors, all of which had the yellow curved arrow emblazoned on their faces. The plaques on each door had clean letters, with the first letter of each word capitalized, like titles. She read a few as she slowly traveled down the length of the hall.

Testing, Research Labs, Development Lab A, Development Lab B, Prototypes, Successful Projects, Documents, and Council Board Room. These were the names that she took note of, and she thought through the options before making her decision, and slowly opening a door.

She had chosen the testing room, and immediately she was shocked and awed at what she saw. The first thing she noticed was a pair of mechanical wings being worn on a subject's back, actually moving and flapping on their own. They seemed very lightweight, and fully functional, with the wingtips themselved coated in what seemed to be some kind of strong plastic, and with a strong flap, he was raised off of the floor for a moment.

She walked in and observed another booth, where some kind of electric tower was set up. She had studied electricity before, but this contrapton seemed to contain an almost unsafe amount of coils. When a flip was switched, a bulb that a mare in the back of the booth was holding lit up, without any wires. Yet another booth contained two scientists hooking up a device to a unicorn's horn. He stood perfectly still as the device glowed, and transferred energy from his horn into a cylindrical container.

The scientists seemed to ignore her aside from a short glance now and then, which was just fine by her, as it meant her observation didn't disturb the events she was seeing. After she had been thoroughly fascinated, she exited that room and walked into the door labeled "Documents", hoping to learn more about this place.

She looked around to see that she had entered a small library of sorts, with documents rather than books. One of the scientists was in the back, reading a plain folder labeled resources. "Ah, you must be Mr. Reach's guest," said a simple, pleased voice behind a desk. She looked over to see a cream colored mare, with a black mane, simple glasses, and wearing only a yellow sash.

"Yes, hello! He told me I could take a look around, and I just wanted to try and get some information," Twilight prefaced, nodding to the librarian respectfully.

She nodded in return. "Of course, I can help you find whatever you need, assuming we have it here," she offered, her tone somewhat flat, but content; more calm than bored. She glanced to her flank and noticed that it was bare. That brought to mind her whole point in getting here to begin with, and figured that, since she was here, she might as well ask.

"I was wondering if you had any information on Cutie Marks," the princess asked, plain and simple. She had a small fluttering hope for a moment that by some miracle all would be revealed here. However, it was short-lived, given that the librarian frowned slightly at the question, and looked mildly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry but... that information wouldn't be in this department. We deal in new technologies and techniques. I could show you to some of our more impressive techniques for unicorns if you would like," she suggested, walking out from behind the desk.

Twilight wasn't too disapointed. To be honest, she felt it would have been a little underwhelming to just find the answer she had sought for so long just sitting on a shelf. So, when the offer was made, she gladly accepted, and took the file she handed her. Opening it, she saw all sorts of unicorn methods she had never thought of before. Direct mind reading, speaking to one other person silently, without talking... She even found the return blast that the black unicorn had used on her back in the Reach building, which sent any physical attack or blast directly back to the source.

There was one technique, however, that caught her eye because she HAD seen it used before. It was a method to remove one's Cutie Mark, and hold it elsewhere. That's what Starlight Glimmer used to make her town of "equality." This is extremely complicated... Is it possible that she DIDN'T actually figure it out on her own?

The librarian skimmed what Twilight was reading, and quite suddenly offered her a new folder. "Perhaps you would also be interested in our technology?" The princess was a little startled, but decided that she might as well take a look, and handed back her current folder in exchange. She quickly got lost in her reading, her eyes swelling with wonder as she read each line she could, fascinated by the contents.

The librarian thinly smiled at her interest, and piped up once more. "I see you've taken quite a fancy there to our achievements. If you'd like, I'd be quite glad to show you our more successful technologies." Twilight didn't need a second to think about it, and after placing the folder back on the shelf, she followed the librarian out of the door and into the next room.

Inside, she had to stop just to take it all in, and a gasp involuntarily left her lips at the sight. The room was organized something like a museum, with tech on pedestals, some even running quietly as a demo, each with plaques in front of them. "Some of these concepts were allowed into the private sector eventually, but I'll show you some of our more... secretive successes. Each plaque states what the invention is, and which of our partners covertly worked on it. If you'll look over here..." And so she read aloud many of the inventions, leaving Twilight to browse along. Guiltily enough, she got so caught up that she began to read ahead.

"Energy Masking Device; made by Equitronics" one read. "Stone reformer; made by Reach Mining Co." , "Magnetic Tracking agent; by the Rich Family Investors". She was absolutely fascinated by everything she was reading! So many ideas, so much potential, and this organization had the resources and the power to make them happen. "Robotic Surveillance Mouse; by Equitronics", "Unicorn Energy Reactor; by Manehattan Energy", "Essence Extractor; by Cloudsdale Weather Corp." The last three were fascinating at first, but then she paused and re-read them. Looking at the power generator and the extractor, she couldn't tell exactly how they worked, as they were almost completely enclosed, and many openings had blockages with warning labels on them. How do they get unicorn energy? How does it generate power? What essence is that thing extracting? Why do either of these companies need these devices? She had toured the open-to-the-public sections of both main buildings at some point, Rainbow even showed her the weather factory personally, and in neither place did she see anything resembling these contraptions.

She turned around and was about to ask the librarian some questions, when Twilight realized that she was still speaking. "...And by using magnetism, the unreliability of magic is negated, and allowed Mr. Filthy Rich to keep track of his assets, and we of ours. But, there are plenty more interesting things to show you than the old, how about the new? Come with me," the librarian said happily, oblivious to both the fact that Twilight had walked ahead, and to her questioning look. She clearly loved working in this department, and although calm and relaxed on the outside, the excitement of being able to show off these technologies to someone new sparkled in her eyes when she spoke.

Twilight hesitated before following along. I suppose I could always ask later... This was decent enough reasoning to her, and she trotted after the mare into the prototype room.

Upon entry, her concerns were drastically overshadowed by sheer wonderment, as she saw fully-functioning concepts working, rather than merely being tested out like in the lab room. She saw a mare put on a cloak and disappear completely from sight, without any unicorns nearby to make her invisible, it was all the cloth's doing. She watched another stallion jump into a pool of jelly-like liquid, and run out into a pit of flames... and walk out completely unharmed. Whatever that substance was, it fully protected his body. "If you do decide to join us, I trust you'll stop by this room fairly often!" she said to the princess, which earned her an affirmative nod.

"I most certainly would! But, I think I should look around some more before making a final decision. I'll go check behind the blue door next," she said. The librarian nodded and shook her hoof formally.

"I must be back at my post, but I'm very glad to have met you, princess!" the mare said gleefully, yet professionally, before leaving to return to the documents room.

Twilight herself however, traveled in the opposite direction, back to the small, initial hallway. She glanced over at the red door, tempted to open it, but she shook off the thought and went towards the blue-arrow-bearing door instead. This one read "Operations", and upon entry, she saw a hallway identical to the R&D hall, save that the doors bore blue arrows and had different labels, but with the same capitalized, clean lettering.

Current Operations, Training Rooms A and B, Local Barracks, Strategic Command, Documents, and Council Meeting Room, among others, populated this hallway.

She briefly poked her head into the training room, which was the same size as one of the labs in the last area. She saw well trained elites fighting each other blindfolded, while unicorns carrying clipboards watched and judged. Their moves were so perfectly timed, she could have sworn that they must be able to see each other, but the thick blindfolds said otherwise. If that gray pegasus was trained here... no wonder he was such a tough match for an alicorn. She thought that to herself as she walked back into the hallway.

She decided to see what kind of administration there was here, and walked into the strategic command room. Inside, she was met with an enormous wall map of Equestria, covered in multiple dots of all sorts of colors, and through the room, many ponies in more formal, collared clothes and blue sashes milled about.

"Excuse me," she said politely to one attendant standing alone, a light blue stallion with neatly combed brown hair. "What exactly does all this mean?"

"Ah our special guest! This is a major operations center. Those green dots indicate field operatives stationed in the area, while the blue dots indicate strategic control points that we have an interest in. Purple dots are where benefactors are located. I know you're from Ponyville, so you may notice Filthy Rich's land is marked with a purple dot!" He spoke very kindly, and smiled much more than the chill librarian did.

"Very interesting! But, what about those red dots, and the black ones?" the princess inquired curiously.

At this, the stallion's smile turned down a notch, and a bit of mild disappointment could be seen in his eyes. "Aw, I'm sorry princess, but I can't tell you what those mean unless you join the Trident. Truth be told, some people in this very room aren't even allowed to know what they mean."

She wasn't upset about it, but nodded with understanding, which returned him to his former smiling state. "If you have any more questions, I'll be here! And if I may say, I hope the next time you come by, you'll be proudly wearing that red sash!" With that he returned to his former spot, leaving Twilight to observe the map. There were purple dots all over big cities, but only one red dot in each, the exception being two in Canterlot. The black dots were far more rare, but she tried to see a pattern in it anyway. One or two in Canterlot, none in ponyville at all, although there were a few blue dots over her town. There were however, a few black dots speckling the Crystal Empire, indicting more of... whatever it was.

Twilight decided to head back to the main hall after poking her head into the very well organized barracks. Just as she entered the primary hallway, she saw the red arrowed door swing shut. It had looked slightly darker inside than the other halls, and she walked up to the now-closed door and just stared after at it for a moment. The grainy, deep, dark-gray texture of the door was interrupted only by a smooth, solid red arrow straight up the center, as if breaking through cluttered darkness.

She shook her head and started trotting back to Reach's door, but halted. Let's just do a little thinking... she thought to herself as she slowed her breathing and sat on the cold black tile.

This organization is amazing, and clearly very powerful. They have immense resources, brilliant minds, and incredible funding. Their projects are probably the most miraculous things I have ever SEEN, and most of them didn't even use magic! But there were many things that weren't answered... like exactly what this organization stands for, who it really protects, and it's primary goals. I DID spend a very long time running from these guys, after all, so there's still that ambiguity. And I have searched two of the three departments and still haven't found out what this Brander is and what it has to do with Cutie Marks.

As it stood, Twilight had two options. I could ask Far Reach for more answers, being that he offered me this position... She considered it, looking at Reach's door, then looked at the red arrow standing tall on the opposite door. ...Or I could find the answers for myself, unbiased.

"Decisions, Decisions..." she muttered to herself, as she sat halfway between the two paths that now lay before her.

Chapter 22: The Dark Hall

Author's Notes:

I've composed another song for Marked, this one a theme for the halls of the Trident facility.
Click here to listen, and thanks for reading and all your feedback!

Twilight looked at Reach's office and bit her lip in consideration. Reach could answer numerous questions I have about this Trident, and I'll likely get access to that hallway if I agree to join anyway... And yet...

She paused and looked back at the door, both fantastic and ominous at the same time. "Directive," the plaque read. If he lets me in, he may be selective in what he lets me see, and while what I have seen is amazing, it also raised a lot of questions. If I take a look for myself, I'm far more likely to see things as they are, unfiltered.

Thus she was faced with a choice. To go to Reach, or to take a peek for herself. After a long while of consideration, she looked at the door, and set her jaw in affirmation of her choice. Her horn glowed, reflecting the purple aura off of the polished tiles upon which she stood, as she used her power to search for life signatures. She could detect Reach in his office, still sitting in the same spot, likely reading or watching something. She could detect individuals milling about in their rooms in the halls, but there were no hidden observers, no one-way glass rooms. She felt safe.

Twilight took a deep breath as her horn powered down, and tried some deep breathing exercises. Even with her Alicornic power, she could only maintain invisibility for about four minutes, tops. It should be noted that most unicorns can't even turn invisible to begin with, let alone hold that state for much longer than a few seconds, unless they either trained for a very long time, or were extremely powerful. Even her few minutes of invisiblility when infiltrating the Reach building had been pretty exausting.

She closed her eyes, and slowly let out a long sigh of preparation. After one last detection sweep to make sure nobody was in the halls, she slowly began to disappear until the hall seemed completely empty, and the door marked with the red arrow opened and shut silently.

4:00 minutes remaining.

The hallway was more dimly lit than the other two, and the red arrows on each door gave off a soft red light, very likely some kind of polished and cut, glowing, smooth crystal. Twilight very quickly read the doors: Command Centers A and B, Planning Room, Strategic Analysis, Demographics Room, Member Quarters, Documents, and Council Meeting Room. After briefly detecting life near the doors, she found Command Center B to be completely empty, and decided to slip inside.

Within the room, she observed a very large, ring-shaped table. She saw some papers lying on the tabletop in front of a few chairs, and decided to skim the contents. Many of them seemed to talk about the same subject: enacting an "Economic Revitilization Protocol." From what she read, the people in this room were concerned that, becuase Equestrians had only each other to trade with, the economy was winding down. There were a lot of proposals for new colonies and new business in the Crystal Empire, but what caught her eye was a few brief mentions of "The Reach Plan," and whatever it was, it seemed to involve non-Equestrian nations, but she could only derive that much from context.

3:30 minutes remaining.

Twilight walked out into the hall, and knew that she needed more information on these kinds of plans, if she would be working for them. She detected life again, and found that Command Center A was full, but no one was by the door, so she covertly dropped in. Inside, an identical ring-shaped black table was present, all the seats filled, with a dark red colored mare standing in the center of the table and trotting about and looking around at each one of the ponies present.

"Now, if we could redirect to the core topic, I personally believe that Mr. Reach's plan is a bit out there in terms of feasability... but, I must know your input so that I may properly represent you in the upcoming council meeting." She spoke with a mighty tone, reminding Twilight somewhat of Mrs. Harshwhinny, but slightly less posh, much flatter. After hearing the council comment, she took note of the two red sashes she bore, one of which had a golden stripe traveling it's length. So she's one of the council members then... Twilight thought to herself as she listened, trying to ignore the strain from staying invisible.

One member, a light blue stallion, spoke up with a fairly calm voice. "I'm all for it, assuming he can actually get it to work."

Another piped up, this one wearing a Yellow sash with a red stripe. The comment seemed to spur him to add to it. "What makes me concerned is that Mr. Reach never specified exactly how he was going to use the stored unicorn energy we're working on down at R&D, other than simply saying the energy was part of his plan to boost the range of effect. From a technical standpoint, I'd like to know how he's using it."

Yet another member chimed in, reminding the whole that Reach had never steered them wrong before, which earned much approval all around, with nodding of heads and murmuring of agreements.

Twilight was just about to duck out and save her energy, when another member's words stopped her cold. "Regardless of the council's decree, the old stallion's reluctance to repurpose the Brander is, and will be, a significant obstacle, and I find that Mr. Reach was oddly vague about how he would fill the void." This did cause a small stir among them, before he continued speaking along the same thought. "Not that the hermit is ever around when we need him anyway. Why, the guards say he just returned to duty last night after being gone for well over a week."

1:00 minute remaining

At this point, she was very interested in what they had to say, but she had to leave the room, as she was beginning to feel weak. To put the strain of a unicorn constantly exerting that kind of energy into perspective, one could very much compare it to trying to hold a plank for a long period of time, and the more energy needed for an action, the more strain is put on the unicorn, like adding weight to that plank.

That said, she struggled to keep her breathing quiet as she slipped into the "Documents" room, determined to find something out about this Brander before she left.

Thankfully, the only person there was a red-sashed librarian, working behind his desk, organizing files. This made it so much easier for her to slip over and find a document on the Brander, and her knowledge of library layouts and alphabetical organization allowed her to snatch the folder quickly. She found a secluded place to crouch in the corner of the library, where she decloaked with a quiet sigh of relief.

Alright, time for some answers, Twilight thought to herself. She peeled open the folder and found that it was a record of maintainance orders, which explained what she found at the Reach building. It listed all sorts of components that were mandated from companies all over Equestria, and even a few from mage guilds. Lots of orders for metals, various refined crystals, gems, and a few electronic components, but nothing very complex. In fact, a lot of these materials weren't high tech in the slightest, with the few techy compoments mainly dealing with electricity.

She read that more maintainance and supplies had been ordered in the previous year than in the previous two decades combined, which logically in her mind meant that either something broke, something was being added, or was getting significantly modified. She couldn't find anything that gave her a clue exactly what it did, and it was likely that many of these orders were for raw materials, and thus would be constructed into whatever was needed on site.

Then, her eyes widened as she finally found something she could use. It gave a location, and a broadcast range. The peak above Canterlot. The Brander is located in the peak above Canterlot! She read through delivery instructions that there was a small cave, marked by a three-pointed rock formation just under the frigid cap of the peak. The "broadcast range" specification though worried her quite a bit, as whatever it was broadcasting, it did so all over Equestria. The range was far enough to even reach out beyond Appleoosa. What device would need that kind of range? she pondered.

She almost panicked as two mares walked in, discussing the economy. Twilight took a few deep breaths and turned invisible once more, slipping by them and covertly dropping the file back off, which became visible just as she walked away from it. None of them noticed.

She had about another minute left of energy, and it was a straight shot out to the main hallway with Reach's office door. Just stay calm, let's get out of here, she reassured herself, walking calmly...

Then the meeting let out. All those ponies from Command Center A exited and filled the hallway.

30 seconds remaining

She had a small fear-based adrenaline rush, helping her weave between ponies, but she had to back up a few times to get out of the way, losing progress.

15 seconds remaing

She had to get out of there, her knees were starting to shake as she walked. Almost out, almost out, almost-- "oof!"

She froze in fear. "What the--?" A confused young stallion had bumped into her and stumbled, and he looked at the empty air before him, unaware that he was mere inches from a panicked princess, who was trying desperately not to breathe.

"You okay there?" one of his coworkers asked, another looking back as well. He stared at the air for a moment before shaking his head and walking towards them. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright."

0 seconds remaining, cloak unstable.

Twilight was faltering, pushing beyond her limits as she finally ducked into the main hallway, gasping for air as she collapsed on the cool tiles. She rested for a moment, then composed herself, using the breathing technique that Cadence had taught her to relax before looking over at Reach's door.

Alright Twilight, the princess thought to herself confidently as she strolled towards his door. It's time to go get some answers.

Chapter 23: A History Lesson

The double doors swung open, and Twilight calmly walked into the room, noticing Reach staring at the back wall as she approached. As the doors began to swing closed, he turned to look over at her, giving a pleased, thin smile. "Ah, princess, come and have a seat," he offered, gesturing to the opposite cushion once more.

Twilight felt uneasy, though his calmness seemed to ease her nerves. The smile was still a bit odd, given his fairly cold nature, but she gave it little thought as she rested upon the chair.

Reach also relaxed his own posture somewhat. She noted that he seemed stiff at all times, and even this 'relaxed posture' could be taken for formal in many places. "I take it you've found our facilities to your liking? Interesting?" He asked the question wearing a calm, yet generally curious expression.

"I have found it very impressive..." she trailed off, looking down slightly. This drew Reach's attention, and she could feel his eyes on her, reading every small gesture and every expression change. She figured that she shouldn't try and hide her uneasiness, lest he start taking it to mean anything in particular and get her caught, so she decided to make a pressing concern known, both to get an answer, and to avoid his interrogative gaze.

"Quite frankly, I'm rather tired of all the excessive secrecy. I would like some solid, definite answers about this organization," she said, looking up to meet his gaze, firmly.

He laid back, thinking to himself with no expression change whatsoever. "Alright, princess. I will answer any question you have, unless of course it would compromise my people. Feel free to ask."

She tried to read if there was any deception in his speech, but she could detect none. However, he seemed more adept at charismatic control than even Cadence was, so as a backup plan, she covertly cast a lie detection technique, which would work passively as he spoke. He did notice a small flare of light as she activated it, but she tapped her horn as if it merely was some kind of twitch.

And so, although she was a little surpsised at his sudden willingness, she resolved to start asking questions, beginning very simply.

"Okay Reach... What IS the Trident?"

Reach smiled, and began to explain with a professional sort of pride. "The Trident is an organization designed to maintain harmony between ponies, and ensure that Equines continue to advance and progress. We operate in secret, carefully positioning and/or influencing leaders to make the 'proper' decisions. For instance, we recently helped the media influence the people of Phillydelphia to elect a new governor who greatly supports our interests. That same governor has been approached by professional advisors, who he'll never know really work for us."

His explanation was revealing, but still left out a key detail. "What about the princesses? You mentioned earlier that you have influence over them."

Reach responded with little hesitaton. "Oh yes, we have less choice as to who is royalty, particularly with the addition of you and Cadence. Typically their area of control does not interfere with our operations, but even though it is rare, should the Trident need their services, we can get to them, and they will comform to our ideas."

It was concerning, but it also relieved her somewhat, as that meant that Cadence's behavior was not her fault, and Twilight could forgive her actions with a clear conscience.

"Well, if I'm going to work here, I'll need to know the history of the Trident," she stated inquisitively.

Reach grinned a little more, and told her to relax and have a listen, as he begun to speak. "At the foundation of Equestria, the three original founders knew that harmony would not last, as the tribes were already becoming fairly upset at one another, and the three 'leaders' already had disagreements popping up again. Thus, they thought up a plan to give the government a backbone, and influence the people, without removing the leaders from power. They each headed a branch dedicated to something specific. Smart Cookie headed the R&D branch with a few trusted Earth pony innovators, as they were practical, and would think of new ideas to help the people. Private Panzy believed that stealth-trained pegasi could carry out covert ops, and train secret personelle only for use in emergencies. And finally, both agreed to follow Clover the Clever, who lead the group through strategy, organization, etc. She brought in trusted unicorn tacticians and thinkers, to aid in her leadership."

Twilight found herself recalling the notes she took back in the library, and subconsiously adjusted her bag. That explains why the three founders weren't menioned much at all after the initial founding... Things were finally starting to match up with her research...

"That's not all, of course," he said, drawing her attention back to him. He started again, nodding as he had garnered her gaze once more. "Over the years, the organization grew, planting numerous offices, outposts, and bases all over Equestria. In that time, branches were no longer restricted to just their original founder's species, and eventually, each branch having only one leader didn't work out so well either, thus they moved to a brand new system based on a similar principal. In this new council, instead of only three primary members, it changed to three council members per branch, each technically equal, but one acting as a head. The heads of each branch then meet, with the head of the three being whoever controls the Directive branch."

His speech was long winded, but this suited Twilight quite well, as she drank the information right up. "So just as each branch's council has one head, the full council also has one head?" she asked, simplifying her thoughts.

"Yes! Quite right," he stated, looking at her as if expecting more questions, and she certainly did not disappoint.

There was a big glaring factor that kept bothering her about what she had seen overall. "Many of the people here don't have cutie marks, including you, I see... and neither did the pegasus who killed Straight Arrow. Why is that the case?"

He seemed to be in deep thought at this question, and she could nearly swear she saw the thoughts turning like gears in his head through his otherwise blank eyes. He finally spoke again, slowly. "Although I cannot tell you exactly why we are this way quite yet, I can tell you that we are the Unbranded. You could say that this is the case through... unusual circumstances, but saying any more would be risking the safety of those involved, as would elaborating on the Brander I know you're so curious about... But, I intent to maintain integrity with my people and my word... and you can see how important integrity is around here, princess, I'm sure..." He said that last part in way that really unnerved Twilight, so she quickly blurted out another question in an attempt to shift his focus.

"Was king Sombra Unbranded?"

He looked a little surprised, and she used this brief crack in his charisma shield to try and read what he was thinking. Clearly she had triggered some thought process he wasn't expecting, so either he was surprised that she knew that much, or else Sombra was some kind if hinderance to the organization at some point... or maybe both.

"...He did not have a Cutie Mark, no... but that's unrelated." As he spoke, she felt a slight stirring in her horn, indicating that there was mild dishonesty in his voice, but not a flat out lie. Everything else thus far was the real truth though. She thought it might be dangerous to continue in that line of questioning, so she asked the last big question she had.

"So... what exactly do you do here?" she asked him, genuinely curious.

He seemed mildly pleased at the shift, which in turn relaxed her a bit more. "Why, I am the Council Head. I propose ideas, I set goals, and I preside over reports and ideas from all other counselors." She let that sink in for a moment.

He stared into her eyes with a look that seemed to denote authority, not demanding, but almost like whoever was on the other end of that look should already know that he was in charge. She, an Alicorn princess, looked into the eyes of the Earth pony. He was very likely the most powerful pony in the world at the moment, and what scared her most was that, when she looked into his eyes, she could read one thing very clearly. She read cold ambition: he had power, he wanted more, and he knew how to get it.

They looked at each other for a moment, before Twilight said she ought to go and take another look around. Reach said nothing as she stood and walked toward the door, and in fact looked up at the wall again before speaking the words that made her veins run as cold as ice...

"Twilight, I thought I was rather clear that you were not to enter any door with a red arrow on it."

"What? But how could--?" she started, then looked up at the wall as she saw a small map fade into existance on it, with her whole trail marked upon the three halls.

"You are clever my dear, very clever, but you cannot outsmart that which you are unaware of. You see, each and every one of these black tiles are pressure sensors. And you are registered to have walked through all three hallways. And here I was hoping for a peaceful cooperation," he stated, as the doors swung open and four bald, well built pegasi entered the room, all wearing sunglasses that hid their eyes.

Reach looked over to her with a smug, yet disappointed smile, and spoke only three words: "What a shame."

Chapter 24: The Pursuit of Knowledge

Author's Notes:

New song for this week's Chapter. Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading!
Click here to listen to "Pursued"

For a moment, everything was still. She carefully scanned her opponents with her eyes, not daring to ignite her horn in this critical moment.

All four guards are pegasi, and all of them hold a perfect combat stance. Physically, I am completely outmatched... She tried to see beneath their sunglasses, but couldn't manage to see anything. Power wise, I am an Alicorn, meaning my sheer energy could easily take out these guys... and yet... Her eyes glanced from Reach's smug smile to the cold, emotionless expressions on each of the fighters' faces.

"Wait, I am of no value to you dead Reach! We can talk this out!" Twilight said to buy herself a little more time as she looked over the brutes. The last one of these guys I fought put up a very difficult fight, even against my full power... but then again, I wasn't thinking strategically at the time. However... there was only one before, and there were way more than four of these guys in the barracks earlier. If I dispatched these guys, they could just send more...

Reach spoke up after a moment of pondering her words... or was he giving her time to think? Was he so cocky as to literally give her time to think about the futility of her position? "Dead? No, no I have no intention of killing you. However, I did need you to test out a very important project of mine before I launch it. It would have been easier with your voluntary choice to be a part of it, but no matter. If you'll just go with these four guards to the R&D department, we can get you equipped right away," he explained, vague as always.

She continued to think, as she remained in a stance that kept the four at bay. They didn't move, and something told her that Reach was savoring having royalty at his mercy. I could always try to destroy the room completely, that would take out everyone here. But... I don't know what this place is made of, and even if I destroy this room, more guards could still flood in... and then I wouldn't even have enough energy to try fighting them off!

She was running out of options, so she stalled briefly once more. "If I go with them...what will they do to me?" she questioned.

He answered straight away this time. "I can't quite tell you everything now can I? Suffice to say it won't hurt. You'll be testing out a power control rig for me. Now it's quite amusing seeing you stall, but I have a very important council meeting in a few minutes, and I do not intend to be late."

He was toying with her, and didn't even attempt to hide it. She bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment, eliciting a slightly raised eyebrow from Reach. Then, her eyes opened, and she stood still. I might just be faster than these guys, she thought to herself. She had a plan.

She decided to use trickery rather than raw attack power. Her horn exploded in a brilliant flare burst, temporarily stunning the five people present, although Reach's unshielded eyes never showed any reaction. She immediately rendered herself invisible and, mustering her energy, she created an illusion behind Reach's chair of her standing there.

Given the loyalty the guard in the city displayed, literally giving his life for the Trident, she calculated that they would try to save Reach without a second thought. So to make them think she was a threat to him? It worked perfectly.

As they attempted to tackle the illusion, she used the opportunity to slip out of the door. Reach looked up at the facility pressure sensor map and a flash of emotion sparked in his eyes: anger. "She just walked out the door! Don't be subject to her tricks! After her!" They immediately shot towards the door in a diamond formation, charging through. "Morons, all of them!" he muttered, calming down. He sat back in his chair and sighed in annoyance, before pressing a button on the arm of his chair. "Linda. There has been a slight problem here. There will be no test subject for the rig, I want it reset to the original specifications within the hour."

Twilight bolted for the exit door, traveling down a fairly long hallway until she entered a circular room with a high ceiling. There were three ponies inside, all wearing blue sashes and sunglasses. The mare of the three turned around and yelled "HALT!", and the other two, unicorn stallions, charged her as she got to the center of the room. She looked back and saw two scanners much like those used in the Equestria games to keep others from using their powers. Disabling booths...

She distracted them with a dazzling light as they charged her, blasting and missing, and cried out to the blinded guards as they ran straight for the sound... and right into the disabling booths.

She blasted the desk to block the hallway as she heard the pegasi approaching, and ran towards the door which she hoped led out of this place. As she entered and closed it behind her, she noticed that the only thing here was a spiral staircase going up. She dashed up it as quickly as possible, and tried caving in some of the wall around the stairs to slow down her pursuers.

Twilight found only a blank door at the top, and swung it open, finding another door on the other side. Stepping between them, she discovered that the other door was locked and, knowing that the stair rubble wouldn't hold the Trident for long, she blasted open the wooden door, the splinters disintegrating to ash before they even hit the ground.

"SWEET CELESTIA!" came a cry of distress. She looked to see shocked guards wearing police uniforms, none of which seemed at all interested in capturing her.

"Princess Twilight?" one asked cautiously. "Shoot, if she'd done this sooner, I coulda used the prize money from that 'find the princess' contest. Hope the winner put it to good use," said a surprisingly laid back guard.

"Where am I?" she questioned, wasting no time.

"Uh... Canterlot Prison. Not sure why you came out of the board room though. Celestia put you on prison keeping duty or something?" he inquired curiously.

She had little time. "Listen you're not involved. You never saw me. All of you, go home. You are officially royally pardoned." She ran out, leaving the guards to laugh and walk calmly out of the room and off to the staff room. Nobody else needs to get caught up in this...

After checking back and barricading the door to keep the Trident guards from getting out, she ran and ran along the prison halls, hearing faint banging from behind...

Twilight stopped briefly as she saw Ruby in a cell, lying by herself, with no visible injuries. "Ruby! I'm so glad you're okay! What happened?" the relieved princess asked hurriedly.

Ruby however had been knocked out before the black unicorn had exposed "Tara" as the princess, so she merely looked at Twilight strangely, silent as usual. Figuring this out, she hesitantly turned to keep running, and nearly ran into Gray Gravel, who was somehow out and about.

"Good gravy, It's great to see you two in one piece!" Gravel exclaimed. Twilight took a brief second to process that he was even there, given that he seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Gray! I'm so glad to... wait, how did you get out of your cell?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh yeah! Turns out, Canterlot prison uses MY locks! Didn't even need a pick!" he stated, absolutely beaming.

Twilight was impressed, but heard running far behind her in the halls. "Look, no time to explain, but get her out of here. I'm heading to the Canterlot mountain peak, there's a cave near the top. If you get out, I'm there. I've gotta go," she said, not even waiting for a reply as she bolted away.

Eventually, she entered the minimum security wing. She couldn't hear the hoofbeats anymore, and was almost free of this place. Just a little bit further--huh?.

She found Shining Armor in a minimum security cell. He immediatly saw her and made eye contact. "What...?" she questioned, almost involuntarily at the sight.

Shining had an uncanny sense of what his sister was thinking, must be a BBBFF thing, and thus with her one word, he knew what she was looking for. "I was thrown in here and blamed for excessive consumption of intoxicating substances. The guards who put me in here didn't seem like my usual guys. They gave me the impression that this accuation was some kind of warning. It's a charge that'll let me stay captain of the guard, but I'm still in here for two more days," Shining explained.

Armor could tell she was in a hurry, and she was, but she needed another ally. She calculated her risk, and remembered what Reach said about curious princesses... Cadence wanted to know the truth long ago. And if something goes wrong... I think she would back me up. It was a dangerous gamble, but a one day buffer? She shouldn't be in that peak for too long, unless something happened. Two days was good for backup.

"Listen, bro, when you get out, and ONLY when you get out, tell Cadence to investigate the Canterlot Mountain Peak. And bro... thanks for everything. It'll be alright soon," she assured him, hearing the hooves enter the wing. With a nod to each other, she ran away, and finally reached the exit, running out into the daylight.

The princess looked up above to see the peak looming above Canterlot... and beside it, Celestia's watch spire. Ironic... her end goal was so close to her starting point, and yet she had come so far to find it.

Twilight looked defiantly at the spire, and could nearly feel Celestia's gaze from up there. There's no turning back now. Only truth, she thought, and disappeared into the crowds.

Chapter 25: Reaction

Twilight very quickly ran over and ducked into an alleyway, much to the surprise of a few passerby, but this was Canterlot, so everyone had somewhere to be.

Her mind raced quickly as she tried to think of a plan to get to the peak quickly, and avoid guards. Okay, the highest concentration of opposition should be near the city center, so I'll try as straight a path as I can manage.

Having lived in Canterlot much of her life, she knew her way around pretty well, and was able to navigate proficiently, thanks in part to her incredible memory skills. And so she traveled, looking on to the peak in the distance, so close above, and yet so far away...

After about ten minutes of just sneaking about and trying to cut that straight path, she realized how fruitless it was. Even if I get near the mountain base in the city, which, given the information of my plan, will likely be heavily guarded anyway... It would be difficult to make that ascension without being detected, even if cloaked. If I were a Trident operative, I would be waiting near the base of the mountain...

Her eyes scanned the city skyline to try and find some kind of high point or perhaps an unguarded building or something she could use as a springboard... and then her eyes fell upon a tall, porcelain building, so high up that her flight to the peak would be just a few minutes.

Celestia's Spire. It seemed a mad idea when it first popped into her head... but, as she thought about it, it seemed more like a stroke of genius. For one, it would be the last place they would expect a wanted princess to be near. For another, it was the best launching point towards the peak out of all the buildings in Canterlot. Finally, so long as she cloaked, she could fly straight up without detection rather than having to fly cloaked up an uneven mountainside, under surveillance from people who could detect her without visual.

Twilight nodded to herself and, after a short moment of thinking up the map of Canterlot in her mind, she headed out. She used a network of different alleyways to get where she needed to go, only crossing the streets when she needed to, and conserving energy in preparation of the flight. Unfortunately for her, conserving energy meant no cloak yet, and especially no coat/mane disguise again, not without about an hour of recharge time. It also meant traveling through the streets left her exposed long enough to grab the attention of two guards.

"PRINCESS TWILIGHT! HALT BY ORDER OF CELESTIA!"

She bolted. Under normal circumstances, one may try blending into a crowd... but a purple alicorn moving in an odd pattern did not permit something so simple.

She ran. She ran from alley to alley, wondering how a royal arrest order could possibly have been issued already. Unless they already had one out for me the moment I was brought to the Trident HQ... She knocked over some garbage cans and such, just to try and slow them down, but apparently her brother's training regiment payed off, because they went on chasing, unfazed.

Eventually, Twilight tried something a bit more desperate. Wheeling herself around a tight corner, she twisted around and waited for the other two to arrive, and as they did, she slammed them quickly by projecting a wall force-field in front of them, and firing it forward. They were knocked out cold, and would wake up with a headache later, but would otherwise be perfectly alright.

The princess arrived near the base of the tower, after using her horn to detect local life signs, and prepared for her flight. Now, it would have been a snap to teleport up to her balcony, but she had no idea if Celestia was up there at the moment, and so attempting such a thing would be an enormous risk. Not that it matters much. She can sense energy levels without relying on visual. And so, she slowly let the cloak effect engulf her, as she sighed and launched herself straight upwards.

The air whipped past her face, and it took a lot to both focus on the invisibility cloak and fly, but the roof was fast approaching... closer... closer still! Everything was looking great, until she passed the balcony, and was halted quickly, being engulfed by a golden aura.

She decloaked with a gasp, as she was pulled just inside the tower, coming face to face with a very stern Celestia, and if there was one thing nobody ever wanted, it was to get a stern glare from the solar princess herself.

Celestia held the princess in place for a very tense moment, looking her over before speaking aloud with the words that Twilight had found to be more devastating than the glare... "I am very disappointed in you, Twilight, you did not heed my warning."

Twilight was clearly in a very bad situation, and needed to think about what to do, what to say. Trying to struggle would be fruitless: Celestia had more power than her! More power... Celestia's words suddenly clicked in her mind. "It wasn't your warning..." Twilight said quietly, almost to herself.

"What did you say?" Celestia asked sternly, her eyes narrowing as she levitated Twilight closer.

Twilight knew what to do, and she replied quickly. She respected her mentor so much... but this could be her only chance to escape... and only chance to gain another ally. "It wasn't YOUR warning! It was the Trident's warning!" she stated factually, not backing down.

She had learned much from Celestia, some of which was unintentional, like her personality traits. Celestia was fairly motherly, with the people's best interests at heart, and an absolute concern for the greater good. However, when she did act stern, she exerted her authority, and rarely was it met with anything other than submission... meaning that responding back as she did would be just the opening Twilight needed.

All that said, Celestia was in fact thrown off by not only the directness, but also her knowledge of the Trident. "But how--?" She never finished her question, as Twilight began to speak again.

Using what little time of initial confusion she had, the princess kept up the direct points. "You follow their orders because they have power over you! They have power over Luna! They control the whole kingdom!"

Celestia hardened her facial expression, and spread her wings wide in body language that denoted an exertion of authority. "No, Twilight. Luna and I control this kingdom!"

Twilight was nearly terrified, but had a small verbal opening, and fired back quickly with a powerful blow: "DO YOU?"

Celestia suddenly hesitated. She hadn't expected that one at all.

Twilight had little time, and so, with heart racing, yet face bold, she kept on. "Princess, I respect your rule so, so much, and it just burns me up inside to find that our two brave leaders are... puppets."

Something just snapped. Celestia lifted her chin and her horn brightened three fold. Her eyes began to glow solid white as she brought Twilight close. "PUPPET?" she asked, in a voice that could break lesser people.

Twilight made zero indication of fear. She should have, and every fiber of her being screamed that she should panic... but she kept a stone face, and a direct stare into the white abyss. Unmoving. Concrete. Resolute.

"A puppet?" Celestia started to glow less and less. Her wings began to droop, and her eyes slowly faded back to normal. The words really began to sink in. "A... puppet..." Celestia murmured, the aura around Twilight dimming a bit.

Celestia sat back, and looked down with a very contemplative expression. She still looked very regal, but Twilight was nevertheless concerned. This was different.

After a moment of deep thought, the solar princess spoke up, in a quiet, reserved tone. "I originally sacrificed some power to ensure true peace in Equestria, more safety for my subjects. But... since Reach has been in power... I guess a puppet is what I really have become..."

Twilight had never seen Celestia act like this before. Even with changelings, on the floor after defeat by Chrysalis, she kept a stubborn strong demeanor. However, this new mood was softer, almost more open. She felt bad for having cut her former teacher so deep.

"I suppose now, even my power to help my own subjects is limited," she somberly noted, staring off into the sky, through the balcony.

Twilight spoke up, equally soft, to offer a solution. "It doesn't have to be that way," she mentioned, cocking her head sideways a bit, despite her containment.

"It's worked like that for so long... and if I rebel, the Trident may hurt my people. I don't even know where their operating bases are located," Celestia explained, her horn just softly glowing with Twilight's containment.

"Not if they think you're still loyal," the princess offered, which drew the mentor's eyes up to meet hers.

She was silent for a tense moment, but seemed to straighten up a bit more, as she looked towards the door.

Twilight dropped to the floor, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she began to speak. "Thank you. Listen, I'm heading--"

"Stop, Twilight," Celestia stated, holding up a hoof without turning around.

Twilight understood perfectly. The less she knew, the better it could turn out. Something indicated that this little escape would be a one time thing until something was done to the Trident.

"Don't look back," the teacher said quietly, to which Twilight nodded, cloaked, and flew to the top of the spire.

Celestia quickly barged through the spire doors and shouted as she flew down. "Guards! Scour the city! Princess Twilight has escaped!"

Chapter 26: Meeting Your Maker

The frigid mountain air whipped past the princess as she flew closer and closer to the peak. She had been flying for a few solid minutes now, and was finally passing around the peak itself, heading to the other side. It was getting late, as the sun was just barely still above the horizon, balanced like a slowly deflating ball upon the distant land.

Twilight's eyes widened as she saw a three-pointed rock formation, and a very well concealed cave underneath an outcropping, with a flat alcove she could land on. As she dove towards it, she decloaked, eliciting from her lips a soft sigh of relief.

Upon landing, she took a moment to stretch out her wings and legs, catching her breath. The altitude didn't quite help in this regard, but on the bright side, due to the heavy exertion of cloaked flight, the cold didn't effect her very much.

She took a look around the area upon which she had landed, slowly walking about it and looking for anything unusual. The three-pointed rock formation looked natural from afar, but up close, it appeared to have been a little more sculpted. No real surprise there, making an artificial structure look natural to mark a hidden area wasn't unheard of. Formation aside, the only other oddity out here was what appeared to be a well concealed area for small balloon craft to dock, complete with "natural" rocks that could act as perfect tether points.

Twilight shivered slightly as she regained her energy, and decided to walk into the cave very cautiously. There could be guards, traps, or even... nothing?

Nothing. It was an empty cave. That was it. She looked confused, seeing the rounded walls of stone, and finding no door of any kind. Then again, if I built a secret facility, I wouldn't want an obvious entrance either... she thought to herself briefly. She tried to think back on her studies, trying to remember if there was any technique that might help her... Aha!

Her horn glowed dully, and she bit her lip in concentration as she let loose a solid beam on the walls. She swept it from left to right, until she found one section of wall that registered as hollow behind it, but just barely, which meant the wall was thick. She walked over to it and found the outline of some kind of very advanced locking mechanism, which she couldn't operate. Weighing her options, she needed to get in there, but wasn't sure how. I don't know any lockpicking techniques... and there's no guarentee I could blast it... or who would hear me blasting on the other side.

She was left with one very risky option: teleportation. You see, the teleportation technique is typically used for quick movement to a place that one knows, can see, or has been to... most of the time. One can teleport just about anywhere, but without meeting the above criteria, the subject would risk sticking themselves in a wall or something. When Twilight had been infused with all of the Equestrian Alicorn energy during the Tirek incident, she had randomly teleported by mistake, and even that had nearly stuck her in a boulder. However, Twilight was aware of all of these things, and had come too far to give up now.

After scanning the wall a few times, Twilight believed she could make it. All I have to do is overshoot my initial estimate of the wall depth to give myself a margin of error, and I should be just fine, she reassured herself. And so, taking a deep breath, the teleportation field engulfed her, and she disappeared with a flash.

Twilight reappeared with a gasp, tripping forward, as she had appeared about half a foot above the floor. She picked herself up quickly and dusted herself off, shaking her head as she looked backwards. The wall was about ten feet behind her, which was just about where her estimates had put it. She beamed at her success, but only for a moment, as a voice spoke up, forcing her to whip around.

"Princess Twilight. Reach said to expect you," said a deep voice from directly ahead. She turned to see the black unicorn from Reach's building standing a few yards ahead of her, wearing only a red sash with a blue streak along the edge.

"You. Who are you?" she asked. She really wasn't sure what she was expecting his answer to be, he was obviously an agent for the Trident, but she needed time to scan her surroundings.

"You could say I'm Reach's security manager. And you've become a risk to my job," he stated coldly, staring her down. They both knew that she had nowhere to run to, and to teleport back outside would require concentration, which they both knew would put her at the disadvantage. However, he made no direct advances. Not yet.

"Look, we both know the odds here... I might as well know who you are. You said that you're a security manager, but you wear the red sash. Shouldn't the security manager be wearing a blue sash?" she inquired as she looked around subtly.

Twilight analyzed the area completely. The room was large, with a very high ceiling that abruptly stopped and went flat at the very end. It was roughly the width of the stained glass hall in Canterlot, and was about half as long. The whole area was smooth, dimly yet wholly lit, and composed of gray stone, with pillars carved into the walls on either side. The only outstanding feature was the emblem of the trident, the three arrows joined at the base within a circle, like a royal seal, at the end of the room. Long steel strips encased the room's lights, which lined each wall.

"I really don't share Reach's taste for explanations. I am a simple stallion: I know what I have to do, and I do it," he said, voice never wavering. He stepped closer.

"Can I at least get a name?" Twilight tried, knowing that any last minute observations would have to be made here. His stance prioritizes defense over offense. If it comes between defending himself or attacking me, he'll prioritize himself. His physique denotes incredible strength, and I don't know enough about his energy to determine if I outclass him. These observations in mind, she began formulating a strategy.

The black unicorn sighed and rolled his eyes briefly. "I told you already that I don't care for explanations. We have business to take care of," he stated, walking towards her.

She had only a rough idea of what to do, and knew that this was her only chance. She charged up her horn, and flapped her wings to fly backwards. He anticipated an attack, and charged his own horn, the green aura engulfing it beyond its edges.

Twilight fired a solid blast at him, and he attempted a counter... but wasn't expecting the blast to land at his hooves. She had performed a fake-out, and he was pushed back about two feet. He knew he would be stunned for that brief moment, and immediately engulfed himself in a perfect pony-shaped shield.

Twilight used his moment of confusion to fire irradically in order to provide cover for a swooping dive-bomb blast. She got fairly close when he discharged his shield, which blasted outward and slammed her backwards. Didn't know he could do that... she thought, resetting her stance just in time to deflect a giant green ball into a pillar, blasting a crater into the smooth stone.

He kept his distance as he fired arcs of green lightning, no less than five bolts at a time, randomly hitting at a range of about ten feet in front of him. She noted the pattern and saw the range begin to expand, and took a huge risk by flying towards him. The lightning did, in fact, only arc forward, unlike real electricity, following a bombardment pattern instead of searching for a path of least reistance. On the bright side, she was safe from the arcs. On the downside, he executed a flawless side-flip, putting him in the perfect position to slam a hoof into her chest with a sickening crunch sound, sending her flying across the room.

The princess hurt badly, but managed to stand back up, processing what had just happened and formulating a new plan. She rushed him again, ignoring the pain in her chest, and he punched-- nothing. Twilight had teleported behind him and, using his own momentum against him, shot him in the back with a stun blast. Because the raw strength of his punch had kept him flying forward in that brief moment, he didn't have time to deflect it. He fell on the floor, his back legs spasming slightly... before they righted themselves.

A stun blast didn't take him down? She was shocked, but when he wheeled around, his eyes looked almost like they were burning with rage. His face remained flat, but she could see the anger in his eyes. Perfect.

Twilight put her original strategy in motion, charging up as strong a horn blast as possible and firing it directly at his head. As it approached him he smirked triumphantly. He muttered "they never learn" under his breath, as he used the same reflection (or return-to-origin) technique he had used back in the Reach building. However, what he didn't take into account was that she had learned the same technique from the file back in the R&D hallway.

She used it to send it back to him, and while he was surprised, he immediately reflected it back to her, back and forth, back and forth... and so on. The ball of energy would be more than enough to kill Twilight, and likely the black unicorn as well, if it sucessfully hit the horn. The ball moved faster and faster between the two, with the stallion not even showing a change in expression. Twilight hovered in the air, hoping to gain some advantage at a higher elevation, and looking a bit distressed.

The unicorn was confident, but not cocky, as he maintained perfect form the entire time. He knew that, of the two, he had more experience using it, and could keep his timing impeccable. It became a waiting game to him. Twilight, however, had a different idea.

Quickly, as the ball flew towards her, she swiched to a normal reflection technique, and shifted the angle downwards slightly. Thus, when the ball impacted the tiles at his hooves, he didn't even have enough time to register what had happened before he was thrown against the back wall, the impact knocking him out cold.

Twilight knew that he wouldn't be out for long, so she quickly levitated him up by a light fixture next to the Trident seal, and wrapped the steel around his body. She then cast the same type of energy over him that the Equestria Games officials had trapped in a booth to disable unicorns. As the glow engulfed him, it wrapped around his horn, completely preventing it's use for at least the next 24 hours.

Sure enough, as she was bending the steel to prevent his incredible strength from ever hoping to break him free, he began to wake up, growling and struggling, as he discovered his horn to be useless.

Eventually he gave up and looked at her with the exact same serious expression as he had greeted her with. "Well? Aren't you going to finish the job?" he asked seriously, waiting for her to kill him.

"No. You can stay here for a while, I think," she told him in a fairly flat tone, but with just a hint of sass. She was quite more relieved than she was pleased at having beaten him... although that's not to say it wasn't satisfying.

She had just hovered down to the floor when he spoke up again. "My name is Flak. I am in command of Reach's personal operations unit. That pegasus that killed your friend? He was under my command," he stated formally. It was like he was presenting some business plan to a CEO. He said it with neither pleasure nor remorse. Like it was just... business.

Twilight flew back up to him once again. "What did you say?" she demanded, remembering Straight Arrow's death very vividly.

"I said that kid's death was my responsibility! And I've killed more. I was going to kill you as well. That's what I do," he explained, staring her in the eyes as he spoke. His eyes were so... cold. So empty. Devoid of feeling, blank, like his flank.

He's trying to get under my skin, I can't let him get to me! she reasoned, but the memories dredged up by his words did not make her solution very simple. "You... you monster," she resolved, gritting her teeth.

"Well if you hate me so much, then finish the job!" he shouted, staring her down.

Her horn charged up and reflected off of the black pupils she saw before her. "...No. I'm not a monster like you," she stated, firing a more powerful stun blast than earlier directly into his disabled horn.

He shook in his restraints for a moment, then finally his head drooped as he was knocked unconsious. If she had killed him, she would have been just as monstrous as he was... right? Didn't mean she couldn't keep him quiet though.

She hovered down, but swung around with horn glowing as she heard weak clapping from a doorway under the big seal, and a raspy voice saying "Well done, well done."

"Who are you?" she inquired immediately, turning to see a hunched over pony in a plain gray cloak, which hid his face from view.

"Woah there missy, you can calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you. In fact, you just saved my life!" he explained, holding up a brown hoof to signal her to settle down.

Twilight sat back and powered down her energy, listening to what he had to say as the light from her horn faded to nothing.

"He was here to kill you, supposatively, but I know Reach wanted me out of the way as soon as you were gone. He wants this facility, you see," the hooded one stated.

The princess paused, standing and approaching him slowly. "You... still haven't told me who you are," she pointed out casually. She felt... almost comfortable around him, although she couldn't quite place why.

"Oh, of course. My name is Mark Maker. You, Twilight, have many questions, and you have spent a very long time to eventually get here. I think it's finally time you get some answers. Follow me," he instructed, coughing a bit and drinking from an opaque vial before turning and walking down the dark hallway.

Mark Maker? Could that really be his name...? Will I finally get some straight answers? Questions were swimming through her head faster than she could process them, but she calmly stood and, after doing Cadence's breathing technique, slowly followed behind the mysterious old stallion. Whatever lay ahead, Twilight was finally ready.

Chapter 27: The Truth, and the Trident

Twilight followed the cloaked stallion until they entered a nicely furnished library. It was fairly small, but each wall was lined entirely with shelves of polished wood, filled with countless books. The high ceiling caused Twilight to wonder just how much knowledge was stored in this room alone. Unlike the rest of the facility, this area was very well lit, a soft yellowish-white light pervading the room, reflecting softly off of the shelves. There were two doors, one they entered from, and one on the right wall from their entry, both wooden like the shelves.

The cloaked pony sat down slowly upon one of two red cushioned chairs, the only furnishings in this room. Twilight sat on the opposite chair, and remained quiet, expecting him to speak first.

He coughed briefly and took out an opaque vial, taking a swig from it, immediately stopping the coughs. As he put it away, he spoke in a raspy, yet somehow familiar voice...

"For hours and days, he researched it more,
From dawn till dusk he did read.
Until, Finally, a location secured,
He assuredly had what he'd need."

Twilight was completely silent for a moment as she tried to understand the words. "I'm sorry... I don't understand," she stated slowly, unsure what to make of what he had just said.

"It's a quote, from an old story. The Foal and the Fountain. Given your curiosity, I thought a line citing the Foal's ceaseless research would be fitting. Surely you've read it?" The voice was calm, yet almost surprised in tone. It still had that air of familiarity about it but something was off...

"Oh! The Foal and the Fountain! Yes, I'm familiar with it... although, I've only read half of it..." she trailed off, looking down slowly. It was unlike her to leave a book unfinished, especially something as simple as a short old tale like that.

The old stallion shifted about in the seat and spoke up again with a sigh. "Ah... I realize you have been busy on this journey of yours but... I was hoping that you would have gotten a chance to read the book I gave you."

"Oh, I didn't mean to--" Twilight registered a little late exactly what he had said, and she quickly looked up with wide, curious eyes. "Wait, what do you mean, book you gave me?"

The cloaked pony brought his hooves up slowly and pulled back his hood, revealing a head of thinning gray hair atop a wrinkled, smiling, brown face. Mark Maker beamed at her, his ears perked up.

"Stamper?" Twilight asked in utter shock, shaking her head a bit. "This... this is... this can't be a coincidence!" she said, attempting to connect the dots she had and coming up with nothing.

Maker laughed and spoke up in a decidedly less raspy tone. "Well, it's certainly not a coincidence!" Her responding look of intent listening opened the door for him to elaborate.

"You see princess, my job here allows a certain degree of freedom that permitted me to roam elsewhere, and it gave me a chance to keep an eye out for people who were curious about Marks. People like you! I worked in libraries all over Equestria for years when I could. I rarely actually helped people along, but more recently... well, you heard what I said back in the Empire. I have seen the concequences of inaction for far too long," he explained.

Twilight was quick to counter. "But to be working in the exact library that I went to? At the exact same time frame?"

The stallion chuckled lightly before responding. "Twilight, you and I both know that the Crystal Imperial library has some of the oldest books in Equestria. When the Empire returned, I knew that any serious researcher would go there for answers," he concluded, leading to the princess merely nodding in understaning. It made sense.

"I do have to fess up to a little fib. My name isn't really Stamper. It's Mark Maker, like I said out there. But, of course, I can't go around with a name like Mark Maker! Besides, the Trident knows almost nothing about me other than that name, thanks in part to this cloak!" he informed her, tugging a bit on the strong gray fabric for emphasis.

"However, that is not why you are here. Princess Twilight, you have come far in your quest for answers, and I believe you deserve some after so long! I'll answer anything I can!" he offered her, eliciting something of a gleam from her eyes.

Immediately she spoke up, more out of impulse than thought. "Why couldn't you tell me anything sooner?" she blurted out. Normally she was quite reserved, and the blush appearing on her face indicated her embarassment, but Mark Maker only laughed a bit, realizing she meant no harm by it.

"Ah... yes, it may seem a bit unfair that I couldn't just tell you everything from the get go... but, of course, I couldn't just tell you at the beginning. That's how one gets in line for termination. Even when I knew your motives for certain, I couldn't flat-out tell you for safety reasons, partially because it gives me plausible deniability, partially because, if interrogated, it can't be traced back to me, and partially because anyone with the power to read your memories wouldn't see me as a link. I can point you the right way, indirectly hint, but never flat-out tell... and for that, I am truly sorry," he stated with a solumn nod, indicating his sincerety.

"Alright... that... makes sense..." she muttered, eyes scanning the carpeted floor as if they contained the right questions. Surely she had many, but... to start with the earliest, or the newest?

After a moment of pondering, she looked up slowly and, with a sigh, made her next request. "Far Reach told me about the Trident, but I don't feel I can trust him. So, what is the Trident, really?"

Mark Maker nodded and spoke up. "Ah. Reach probably only told you part of the story. He does rather love explaining things, but he leaves out many details if they don't directly suit his interests. Given that he was recruiting you based on your research, to give the whole truth may have left you uninterested. Let me tell you the full story, as best I can..."

Twilight's eyes lit up, and she leaned forward a bit, listening intently.

"Well over two thousand years ago, Equestria was founded by the three Equestrian races: the Earth Ponies, the Pegasi, and the Unicorns. The original founders were each brought along with their leaders, in the Hearth's Warming tale that everyone is told. There were three founders, as you well know. One was Smart Cookie, the secretary of the Earth Pony chancellor. Another was Private Pansy, subordinate to the Pegasus commander. And finally, there was Clover the Clever, advisor to the princess of the Unicorns. These three helped inspire initial cooperation among the three tribes, and got the leaders to work together in harmony... for a short while. That is where the Hearth's Warming tale ends, and the truth begins.

He continued speaking to a very intrigued princess. "You see, in those days, ponies did not actually have Cutie Marks. Not everyone truly knew or even really had a special talent, and many a lost pony gave in to violence and... less than encouragable behaviors. We were flawed, we were aimless, and the forcing of the three tribes together created the perfect powder keg under the guise of a new utopia."

Twilight's jaw was left somewhat slack in wonder as she listened, drinking in the information. "The three founders knew that the peace would not and could not last. The peace had caused a golden age, and prosperity, but when that all ran out, they would tear themselves apart. A slight chill had already been noticed after a year or so. The founders needed a way to keep the population peacful without destroying free will. A police state would incite riots just as much as leaving it alone would lead to anarchy. They needed an option C, a way out. A new idea. And they found it... in me."

At this, she finally spoke up. "What do you mean in you? You may be... many years my senior, but, that was nearly two and a half millinea ago!" the curious princess exclaimed.

"That's all thanks to this, princess," he stated, pulling out the opaque flask from under his cloak. "This is a regeneration serum created by some of the greatest alchemists of the age, along with Starswirl the Bearded and I working countless months on it," he told her.

"I... I'm finding this all very hard to believe..." she said, rubbing her temples in thought.

"You've jumped into the fountain, princess! Oh... yes... you've yet to finish the book," he mentioned, correcting himself. "It'll all make more sense in a bit, should I be allowed to continue," he said calmly. He knew she needed a moment.

"Yes, yes please," the princess urged with a shake of her head. It was difficult to imagine... but she needed the full story.

He nodded, and began again with the history.

"Anyway, Smart Cookie specifically knew me personally to be an effective problem solver. I had helped many a farm through the droughts with advanved irrigation when I was just a kid, and you could say I left my mark on the landscape because of it. Hence the name. But I digress, all you need to know is, I was a problem solver, and so the secretary approached me, and asked for a solution," he elaborated.

"So you came up with Cutie Marks?" she proposed. He nodded in response and continued on with the story.

"Well... I created the precursor the the Mark. I proposed a Brand, a label of sorts that would add drive to a pony's personal passions and desires, so long as they be nonviolent, and as a result dissuade violent tendencies. The three founders discussed my idea, and I was well aware the Unicorns had such a power of manipulation, and I drew up specifications and designs that would utilize that ability to do exactly what I had proposed. I had proved my concept, but to permenantly make a change in multiple ponies would require research on a large scale... or impressive expertise. We had the second of these through connections of the founders. Clover the Clever was able to convince her mentor Starswirl of the importance of the event. He, along with Clover and a trusted number of Starswirl's many wizard connections, were able to sucessfully create the first ever Brand... mine."

He stood up and displayed his flank, which bore what appeared to be a circular blank stone slate, surrounded in an energy aura with many tools, some for writing, others for building.

"What does it mean?" she asked reasonably, trying do decypher it.

"I didn't want anyone else hurt in case something went wrong, so I asked to be Branded before anyone else. This Brand enhanced my desire, drive, and skill to design and create complicated devices. I'm not one to brag, but I had always been something of a wonder as a kid when it came to making things that worked well, and worked efficiently. My Brand multiplied my natural ability significanlty, and thus I was able to answer their next question much better than I could have before: how do we Brand all of Equestria?"

Twilight was processing as much information as she could, still unsure what it had to do with the Trident, but she had a feeling he would be getting to that soon.

"I designed something that would take care of that, automatically do what they needed... but it would take a lot of effort, more than just a handful of wizards and hopefuls. So the founders formed a council. A council of three to organize and practically solve how to control the populace with this new method of branding. Clover took the head of the three, acting as organizer, manager, etc. She and I picked this mountain as a good operations center, and she commissioned Smart Cookie to gather workers to build it. Pansy, now with more authority due to helping save the Pegasi's leader, had a few divisions under her command, which she ordered to find a location in the mountain, and transport the Earthen workers up to build. The wizards still with us helped as well, and after a short while, the Council had a first home, the people could be Branded, and we had a dedicated staff of workers, now re-directed to other tasks that better suited our new position as leaders."

"The ponies just accepted these Brands, no questions asked?" Twilight asked skeptically.

He was quick to reply. "No, no, of course not, but in the beginning the Council told the truth. After all of us had been Branded, the pegasi under Pansy went to ensure that the settlements did not destroy themselves in panic, and they explained the situation. The transition wasn't perfect, but considering the circumstances, it was pretty smooth. By the 2nd generation, Brands were fairly well accepted, and clover made the decision that all publications that mention the origin of Brands be kept brief. It was at this time that the serum I mentioned earlier was developed, to ensure longevity of key members of the organization. Our lifespans now assured, the Council decided to be silent about our operations. The people knew we existed still, but with no news of operations, the public eye began to turn away..."

"By the 5th generation, every major settlement had a base under control of the Council, and most ponies thought that Brands were natural, due to the lack of info. Some knew that they weren't, but the Council finally had enough influence to quietly phase the truth out of textbooks and teachings. The Council, aging and believing their time had long passed, refused to any longer take the serum. They stayed alive long enough to become a secret, then all went off and faded peacefully, passing on the reigns of power to new Councilors. The first true 'Trident.'"

Twilight had to step back. This was... a lot of information, almost too much at once. Maybe she wasn't ready for the whole truth, the whole history... No. I am ready. Weeks of paranoia, twists, turns, disguises, secrets... I deserve the whole truth, she resolved, newly determined.

"You alright princess? You looked a little pale there for a moment!" he noted, but her newly renewed expresion of focus looked back to him.

"Absolutely. Please, finish the history," she requested, nodding to indicate she was fine.

Mark Maker nodded, taking a deep breath and sighing raspily before he spoke again. "Over the years, the word 'Brand' had picked up a bad connotation. It implied ownership, lack of control. We needed a new name, something lighthearted, friendlier, much like our newly peaceful populus. Something Cute. A Cutie Mark. It was placed in new publications and at first quite scoffed at, but by the 8th generation of Equestrians, nopony even questioned it. Then came the Discordian era, this newly flourishing culture brought near to ruin by a chaotic being, and since Starswirl had disappeared long ago, nobody could stop him... except the two princesses. You know the tale, they saved us and became our rulers, and after all that confusion and chaos, Not a shred of myth was left about the true origin of Cutie Marks. They just appear when someone discovers their special talent. The Trident had done it. They had made peace, disappeared, and maintained peace for all of Equestria."

His brow furrowed as he began his conclusion. "However... over time, the Trident has gotten... colder. Still they keep the peace, supposatively, but through much more manipulaion than before and much... darker methods that I have seen. Anyone who mentions any of these dark things is labled a crazy conspiracy theorist, and anyone who learns more than they should... well, let's just say you're lucky you are both smart and royalty," he stated in a cautionary tone.

Twilight was very shocked at the sheer lore, but finally, FINALLY, things were adding up. My notes on the founders, on the word Branded in the history book, it fits!

But after all of that, and after all she had been through, it was finally time to ask the simple question. "Thank you Mark Maker, but I have another question, one that's been on my mind from the start. You said the unicorns and you made the FIRST brand, and that you found a way to effect everyone constantly. Now, I have to know..." She sighed as she asked the big question.

"Where do Cutie Marks come from?"

The old stallion smiled and stood up, trotting to the door on the right wall. "Come with me, Twilight. It's time you finally saw the Brander."

She shakily stood up and began to follow him, but was stopped by a leather-bound book held before her.

"It's a fairly long walk, and you read quickly. Maybe you can finally read it through!" he said with a smirk and a wink, walking on.

She looked at the book cover. "The Foal and the Fountain." With a blush, she muttered "Right...!" and opened the cover to start at the beginning, as she slowly followed Maker into the hall...

The Foal and the Fountain: Complete

Once, long ago, in a time of old,
Where the ponies were not yet as one,
There lived a smart and wise young foal,
Who's genius had not gone unsung.

He awed one and all, with his brilliant mind,
For a genius, indeed, was this boy
The people all loved him, they treated him kind,
Not a soul would dare call him coy.

But he was unsatisfied, he wanted more!
For knowledge to him was his pride.
So he looked into stories, he looked into legends,
Until, one day, it arrived.

The answer he sought, his challenge, his mountain,
Was revealed to him in kind.
The legend, it goes, was of a great fountain,
Which expanded anyone's mind.

For hours and days, he researched it more,
From dawn till dusk he did read.
Until, finally, a location secured,
He assuredly had what he'd need.

He told all the elders, he told all his friends,
Of the journey on which he'd embark.
Warnings they issued, caution of ends,
But not a single word did he hark.

Thus he left from the village prepared as can be,
Hiking and journeying far.
Until such a time as he reached the peaks,
Where a guardian stood with a bar.

"What seek ye, foal?" The guardian asked,
His staff now raised in alarm.
"to be wisest of all, to have knowledge unmasked!"
He replied, not afraid of the harm.

The guardian pondered, looked over this boy,
Finding mind and strength to be best...
"Alright my dear boy..." The guardian said,
"But first, you must pass my test..."

"The test is threefold," the guardian told,
"A test of the typing of mind,
And so, to begin, a riddle of old,
If the thoughts of yours is shan't bind.

So he spoke out a riddle, that is lost to time,
Though assuredly it was quite hard.
The foal had no trouble, he answered in kind,
Words smooth and flowing, like a bard.

The second task overshadowed the first,
As the guardian aimed the boy's sight
To a series of tools bound by rope of great girth,
Hoof on it, explaining the second part's plight.

"You see here the distance, from tip to tip,
Of that rather large chasm right there?
Well using the tools found here in my grip,
You must measure the distance, quite fair.

The smug little foal had figured the trick,
And rather than use all the tools...
He gathered the rope, and measured the span,
Thinking much wiser than fools.

"The first and the second, done with ease,"
The guardian said with a sneer,
"But the final task, you won't find such a breeze!"
He said, to destroy his good cheer.

"One of these rocks is a geode you see,
The crystals contained there within!
But you must find it without cracking any,"
He said, with a devilish grin.

The Foal did ponder, and wonder in thought
But just a moment of thinking
For he simply gently tapped on the rocks,
until one left a dull echoy ring.

The haughty young foal did scoff at the tests,
Having passed each one so simply,
"Alright, young boy, you've outdone the best,
So the fountain itself will you see."

And there lay before him the waters of thought,
To increase his prowess of mind,
"Now only take sips, take drops, dive in not!"
But his warning did not come in time.

The foal, wanting knowledge, jumped into the pool,
And drunk deep of the waters inside,
But soon, all at once, he felt quite the fool,
And the warning, he had wished to abide.

The knowledge surged through him, he knew way too much!
This foal did come to realize...
"Please, help me sir, my mind has been clutched!
The secrets are burning my eyes!"

"Well my young foal," The guardian said,
his tone quite solumn and grim
"You now have three choices to deal with your head,"
He calmly explained unto him.

"The first of these all is to share all that weight,
And let it be known to the world!
Profess all those secrets, Improve your own state!
But in so, leave society unfurled."

"The second however, is a much braver task,
Though something quite lonely at times...
You take my place, guard this fountain, I ask,
And keep hidden that within your mind."

"And finally, sir, is choice number three,
The messiest choice of them all.
The drop from this peak is quite steep you see,
All you need do is to fall."

So these were the choices, before the new foal,
In order to relieve his brain,
But no matter what, the choice would be bold,
But also would come with great pain.

Now the choice that he made, I cannot well say,
For lost is a record or two...
But perhaps you know the wisest way,
So, reader, what would you do?

Chapter 28: A Simple Answer

Author's Notes:

Click here to listen to "The Brander" A composition created for this chapter of Marked!

Twilight closed the book with a soft thump, fairly dampened by the walls of the hallway in which they walked. Mark Maker turned his head to look over his shoulder at her, noting her pensive expression.

"Wow, you read even faster than I anticipated!" he commented with an impressed expression, still walking ahead in the lead. He could clearly walk this path by mere memory, given he turned and stepped up where anyone would otherwise have to look ahead to do so.

"Sta--er, Mark Maker, why exactly did you want me to read this story in particular?" she questioned, curious what exactly it meant in relation to her journey.

"Eh... call it a lame excuse for a warning. It's the best story I can think of for the dangers of learning too much, and the burden of choice that comes with bearing it," he explained, accenting it with something of a shrug.

Twilight thought about the story, particularly its ending. The burden of knowledge... If I were in his position, would I make the right choice? WAS there a right choice? the princess wondered.

"We're here," Mark Maker stated simply, holding up a hoof for her to stop. They were in front of an old looking door, but that had many bolts and other things added onto it, as if someone took a very ancient thing and attempted to inject modern technology into it. After completeing some kind of puzzle on the door, he held his face in front of a camera, which let out a soft beep. The door clicked and swung open, and he gestured for her to follow him inside.

She did so with great anticipation, finding the small room nearly pitch black as the door closed. She was about to get into a defensive position, when Mark Maker pulled back a curtain, revealing that they were on the bottom floor of a MUCH larger room. She gasped as she bore witness to the very large object dominating the center of the chamber.

Inside was an enormous dark gray box, looking to be made of something mixed between black stone and steel. The machine featured faintly glowing, yet opaque, light gray tubes connected symmetrically at the corners and sides, a total of 12 tubes in all. Two in each corner, and one in the center of each side. The tubes led into the ground around it, implying even more complicated work underneath.

The duo walked up a metal staircase to a catwalk directly above them. The catwalk surrounded the upper half of the machine completely, with about a yard of space between the railing of the catwalk and the edges of the construct.

The upper half of the enormous invention folded up from a cube to a cone/funnel type shape. In the center of this upside-down funnel was what resembled a large spiraled unicorn horn, extending to a large crystal in the ceiling, which in turn extended higher into whatever was above this room.

Maker walked calmly, slowly up to the edge of the rail, sighing as he leaned his front legs over the edge. He gestured to the enormous device as a whole, and spoke up in a tone somewhere between pride and regret. "This... is the Brander. An automatically targeting, automatically casting, branding machine. And THIS, Twilight, is where Cutie Marks come from.

Twilight's jaw was slack, left agape in sheer awe of the magnitude of the machine. Not only its function, but the final revelation of her quest sat before her, leaving her utterly speechless.

Mark Maker knew she wanted to know how it worked, so, after breifly looking at her, he turned back to his machine, and continued to explain. "Much like the Crystal Heart, there is a central 'Branding Crystal' that stores Starswirl's original branding cast within it... and several backups if something goes wrong. It was quite difficult to find pure enough crystals to store a specific unicorn cast like that, but we managed. However, the cast he put into the central crystals is something of a 'blank slate,' if you will. It inherently will just enhance a pony's natural desires, which in some ponies may be violent or undesirable things, so to counteract this, I developed a special way to make the process a bit more specific. There are layers of crystals within the machine, each of which are moved in or out of the path of the charged energy blast originating from the central crystal. Think of it like holding different colored lenses in front of a flashlight, or using different filters on a liquid. Finally, the then-complete energy beam passes through one final 'template' of what the Mark will look like, before being broadcast up there. The Brand will be fired to a specific, matching pony, who matches the criterion that the second half of this machine searches for."

Here he paused in case she wanted to say something, looking back to her. Her slack-jawed look was gone, replaced by wide-eyed, absolute astonishment. She nodded in a way that indicated she wanted to hear more, and he was glad to oblige.

"This is a two part machine. One part is what I have just described, while the other portion is something of a giant tracking device, using countless crystalline matricies throughout this facility to track and target each and every unbranded pony. These matrices contain data, like criteria for what a pony needs to have in order for a Mark to appear. Lacking a Mark is one criteria, while feeling the exhillaration of the realization of a talent is another. There are many more, but those examples serve well enough. The Brander's broadcast crystal doubles as a reciever, and is capable of checking and tracking every unbranded pony all at once, much like how Celestia keeps track of many of her subjects. Such technology takes up a lot of space, but the most work happens in this room right here," he concluded solidly.

Twilight was able to clear her blind wonder for long enough to ask a relevant question. "So, what about those unbranded ponies, like Reach, or the Trident guards?"

He put on something of a scowl as he responded. "Oh, this baby still tracks them, but I've been ordered to prevent the machine from Branding them. Sometimes, the Trident selects fillies and colts with potential to remain unbranded for a while, to leave their minds completely unrestrained. If they develop into brilliant or... cold enough minds, then they recruit them through one of many partner organizations, or front organizations, whichever would better suit their interests. Personally, I do NOT agree with the practice, I think it rather defeats the point... but I have no power to object," Mark Maker finished with a very tired sigh.

She felt for him, she really did. It was clear that he had only ever wanted good to come of his device, but to see it abused and have no say in the matter...

He surprised her by speaking up again, eyes widening a bit, but head still down towards the floor. "And now, Reach wants to take away even more power, by having the Trident control the Brander more directly for something new... Though... Reach didn't specifically say what... About a month ago, he came here and was pretty vague about a new plan, as he is with many things that wouldn't suit his interests to explain in detail. So, he didn't give me those details, just that whatever the plan was would result in a 'major shift in society,'" Mark Maker said, with a comically accurate, raspier mockery of Reach's unique voice.

"But enough about the lamentations of an old stallion, I can see you're bursting with questions," he observed, looking back up to her with that grandfatherly smile he wore, as if his disappointment a moment ago had never been there at all.

"Well uh... what about Cutie Pox? What causes that?" Twilight inquired, remembering back to one of her very first notes.

His expression turned to one that read something like humor and slight
disappointment, though directed at himself rather than her. "Ah, Cutie Pox. For some reason, the chemical changes in ponies with Cutie Pox seems to act as a sort of copier for the Brander. In other words, every time one pony somewhere gets a Mark, whoever has the condition will not only register as blank, but also as a perfect match, and they both will recieve the same Cutie Mark. Now, with one Mark, the drive is there to complete your personal desires, of course, but it's not overpowering. Cutie Pox, however, demonstrates what happens when too many Marks are placed on one host. The drives overwhelm the user, forcing them to perform as many tasks depicted as physically possible," he explained thoroughly.

"Speaking of the Cutie Marks themselves... follow me..." he prompted, walking to a set of gray, handle-less double doors accessible via the catwalk they were on.

Twilight held her tongue and followed behind him, entering the doors, and this new sight before her nearly overshadowed the Brander itself in her mind.

The hallway was very long, with a shorter ceiling than the rest of the facility, although still fairly tall. The walls were what impressed her, however, for the walls, covered in glass, contained racks and racks of smooth crystals, each and every one holding a unique, detailed Mark on them. She was vaguely reminded of the cave found in Starlight Glimmer's town so long ago. The racks had some small wheels on the sides, implying that they could move, which in turn implied that these were just a taste of how many there were.

"What is this place?" she asked in heightened curiosity, peering at each crystal she passed. They weren't exactly intricate in detail, but there were so many of them that even the more simplistic designs appeared impressive, given the scale of these creations.

He halted as he got to the end of the hallway, and turned to face her, gesturing to the walls around them. "This, your highness, is my primary job: making each of these. These crystals are fed into the Brander, and serve initially as the visual portion of a Brand. Once they are used, however, a marked crystal retains the exact copy of the Brand's 'cast,' so to speak. In other words, if this were put into the Brander and fired, without any adjustment at all, it would give a match the Brand depicted, and the limitations plus desires that came with it. Think of these as... 'charged templates,' or 'premade Brands.' After a few centuries, recycling some of these was the only way to keep up with a growing population, though I still make plenty of new ones when I work." His words were calm, but she couldn't help but hold a heavy respect for all of the time and energy he put into these, as she looked and observed the faint glow of one of the crystals behind the glass.

He was quick to switch to another topic, however. She got the feeling he didn't quite like talking about himself. "Now... do you have any more questions for me...?"

Thinking once again to her notes, she still had another big question that he could answer for her. "In my research, I couldn't find a single thing about Sombra's Cutie Mark, but he existed long after you said the Trident started Branding ponies. So... was he one of the unbranded ones you mentioned?" she inquired curiously.

At this, he gained a dark expression again, though she seemed to read that he was holding contempt more for someone else rather than himself this time. "Many leaders throughout history have been under direct Trident control... but Sombra went rogue. Since he had no Mark, he was uninhibited in his aspirations. What began as simply attempting to build up the Empire turned into a tyrannical dictatorship. Thankfully, the sisters were more than willing to help remove him from power... but only when the Trident failed to do it covertly," he explained. "If they had just Branded him, or taken him out sooner, it could have meant a difference for the better for thousands of civilians..."

The explanation fit every note she had on the matter, but prompted her to dig a little further. "Was he always unbranded? Or... more genreally, is it even possible to remove one's Mark after they have been Marked?" she asked in curiosity, thinking back once again to Glimmer's village.

He took on a pensive expression at this, prompting her close attention. "Funny you should ask actually! A while back, a former student of mine actually looked into the subject. She did research with the Trident on it, and had some success, although there were side effects, such as personality supression."

Former student? That has to be her... Twilight thought to herself. "Did your student's name happen to be Starlight Glimmer?" she asked directly

"You know Starlight? Well, I can't say I'm too surprised, you and her are very much alike!" Maker responded, his face lighting up a bit at the mention of her name.

Twilight wanted to know more now. Maybe she could better understand Glimmer's personality through this. "Well what happened? You did say 'former' student."

"Well... she was a failed attempt at training a sucessor. She had incredible power, but lacked direction. I took her in with Trident permission, and taught her much about the Brander and its operation. I found her in a library actually! She had some interest in Marks as well, but after getting to know her, I took her in to spare her from the Trident's... information supression," he elaborated.

He continued with drooped ears. "My hope that Starlight would carry on my work utterly backfired. Instead, she thought the whole idea of the Brander was scary, she thought it so very unequal. She wanted a way to remove Marks from everyone, believing them entirely unfair... and something inside me wouldn't let me try to stop her. She never told her plans to anyone, except me, so her research was under the guise of allowing the Trident to make people unbranded after recieving a Mark. The R&D branch was fascinated by the idea, and took her up on helping research efforts."

So there was more to her hatred of Marks then just losing a friend... the princess thought. Actually, Twilight found herself wondering how she had ever fallen for the excuse that something so simple would have driven a pony to go to such extremes. Glimmer was brilliant with her powers, but was an atrotious liar.

Mark Maker continued on after a moment of thought. "When she got her answer, however, she ran away. I managed to get the Trident to turn a blind eye for a while, but I haven't heard from her since. Do you know what happened to her?" the old stallion asked of her with a hopeful expression.

Twilight opened her mouth to explain, but both of their attentions were jerked to an intercom speaker in the corner of the hallway as it emitted a sharp tone.

Suddenly, the sound of alarms blared through the facility, and a flat toned voice spoke over the speaker system.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I thought you both should know that this facility is now under my direct control. Twilight, I should have known you'd make it past Flak, I knew you had such potential. Thank you by the way for leaving the door open for me, it was quite considerate!" Reach said with a booming voice.

What? But I never opened the door, I couldn't bypass the locking mechanism! she thought to herself, wondering if perhaps Flak had gotten free and opened it.

"And old Mark Maker, I suppose you're helping the girl! I really can't say that I'm surprised. Your former loyalty is appreciated, and you will be remembered for your service, but as of this moment, you are completely unesessary. I have bypassed your duties, rendered you obsolete. You have finally been freed from the job you so loathe, old man," Reach spoke loudly, earning concern from both of them.

He can't be here this soon! Unless he somehow flew here by himself... the princess found herself noting.

Mark Maker turned to her and spoke quickly. "Twilight, we have very little time. There is a room above the Brander that contains the primary broadcast crystal in the peak. If the alarms are going off, than the hatch to access it from the Brander room is locked, so to stop him, you'll need to head to the primary broadcast room through the main hallway."

She was confused but knew she had to do something, anything, so she started to walk away, when Mark Maker stopped her.

She turned to look, and saw a new expression, one that almost scared her, because it was a very dark, solumn kind of expression, yet dead serious, and full of resolve.

"Twilight. I have one more thing that I must ask of you before you leave..."

Chapter 29: A Simple Choice

Twilight stopped as she saw his dire expression. It unnerved her, such a normally cheerful face marred by a distraught expression, looking guilty, somber... yet determined. She sat and gave him her full attention.

He took a deep breath and let it out, carefully choosing his words as he began to speak. "Twilight. I told you that I had seen the consequences of inaction... and a few decades ago, I resolved to start taking action. Through the years, I have slowly put certain plans in motion. I have covertly spoken to council members, I have secretly nudged projects just subtly enough to put things in place... all without the knowledge of anyone else. As far as those council members know, I only talked to them and them alone... they do not know I spoke to most of them..."

The princess absorbed the information, trying to understand where he was going with this. She still felt uneasy as to what this topic was leading to, but let him continue without interrupting.

Mark Maker looked her over carefully, making sure she was prepared for him to go on. Judging by his expression however, it seemed that perhaps he was unprepared to speak himself, but speak he did, very carefully. "Twilight, what Reach is doing right now will allow for the last, final component of the plan. The Trident had a sucession protocol in place in case something happened to their current head. Keyword being 'had,' as I have disrupted the process. Princess, thanks to my subtle works, I can literally dissolve the Trident within a day. Picture it like putting all of the weight of a building on one support beam and knocking it out... but only if you do one, dreadful thing."

She gulped in fear, a sense of dread creeping up her spine. For something to qualify as "dreadful" to a pony as old as he was... and yet for him to think it necessary... She hesitantly asked in a quiet voice, "what would I need to do?"

"Your highness, I have never asked such a thing of anyone... nor would I ever want to, nor will I ever again... but if we are to destroy the Trident..." He looked up and stared into her eyes, very clear and firm in his words.

"I need you to kill Far Reach."

What? The words resonated in her head. Kill? As in murder? But... that would make me just as bad as Reach! And yet... he's responsible for the deaths of so many... if I were to remove him... wouldn't that save lives? Her mind spun with these thoughts, taken aback by the request... but then she looked back to his face.

Mark Maker looked hurt. His face was worn with not only lines of age, but signs of regret. He very clearly saw no other option, at least, not one that would turn out better.

Twilight was not one to blindly agree, she had to know more. "Why do I have to kill him? Can't I capture him?" she asked, trying to understand his reasoning.

He was very quick to reply. "No. He is a cold genius. If he is captured and imprisoned, he will eventually find a way to free himself. Even worse, he may make allies during his imprisonment, making more problems down the road. Most critically though, if he lives, the succession protocol won't be implemented. They'll be confused and likely try to negotiate terms, but they won't fall apart. This truly is the only way."

She bit her lip in a pensive expression. She understood his plan, and she knew why he felt it necessary... but she couldn't absolutely commit. "I'll consider it..." she trailed off, earning a firm nod from him.

"Twilight, you will choose what you will choose... but just understand. If we dissolve the Trident, I can open this place to the public. Marks will become optional, and more customized. Finally they can be a benefit to society again... and you are more than welcome to help me by my side." His words were hopeful, but not demanding. Clearly, it was his hope, his aspiration to make the Brander a work for good again, and with the Trident gone, he could do it.

"I understand," she replied respectfully. Waiting to see if he had any final comments.

"If you do decide to do it... you can change the color of that broadcast crystal up there by firing a high intensity beam at it. If I see the color change... I'll give Reach a Brand that will limit his thoughts and strategy. That will make it easier to take him out," he offered helpfully. He had mentioned earlier that the unbranded were still tracked...

She nodded solumnly, completely understanding her options. She thanked him profusely for everything he had done for her, and turned to walk back out front.

As she was leaving, he sent her off with one last message. "Just remember Twilight... the choice is yours to make."

Twilight picked up speed as she left, rushing down the long path to the library room, a determined expression worn upon her face. She didn't slow down in the slightest as the facility speakers crackled on again with Reach's voice.

"Oh, now you two may be thinking you should attack me and foil my plans! Well, just a fair warning, you shouldn't try it: you'll be in for a big surprise!" he said haughtily, with a hint of a dark laugh behind his words.

She shook off his comments, powering on until she reached the small library, rushing back out into the hallway... only to be met with two familiar faces.

"Gravel? Ruby? What are you two doing here? How did you even get UP here? Wait... you're the one who opened the door, aren't you?" She found herself asking these questions quickly, rather startled that they were even here at all.

Grey was rather quick to respond. "You told us you were gonna be up here, so one eh... borrowed engine-balloon later, we came up to help! As for the door, she was a challenge, but I got it open, thanks to this baby!" he said with a proud smile, holding up a thin, grey tube, only about twice as thick as a pencil, with a few different small metal extentions on the tip.

"Well, things are getting pretty bad, you guys should probably get out of here while you still can!" Twilight recommended. She was quite glad they were so willing to help out, but she had no idea what Reach was planning, so she couldn't guarentee their safety.

Gravel shook his head in his usual semi-stubborn manner. "After comin' all the way up here? No no no, we ain't leaving before we find out what's going on here!"

Twilight was kind of running in place. There wasn't an explicit statement of a time constraint on whatever Reach was doing, but there also was no indication that she had any time to spare. However, she could tell that he wouldn't budge without some motivation, and she really didn't feel like slamming him against a wall again. Besides, Ruby couldn't have her resolve shifted so easily, so after consideration, she caved to their demands, and decided to give them the abridged version. "Long story short, this place makes Cutie Marks and gives them to people, except certain ponies who work for a big secret organization, which Far Reach controls. The pegasus worked for them. That organization uses Marks to keep ponies calm and nonviolent, and now Far Reach is doing... something," she summarized. It wasn't the most eloquent explanation, but she was feeling pressured as it was.

At this, his face went from smug confidence to pensive concern, with his jaw setting and brow furrowing on his head. "Wait, this place does all that? This... princess, this place can't be allowed to exist anymore!" he told her briskly, almost in a matter-of-fact sort of fashion.

She shook her head and widened her eyes at his suggestion. "Wha--" she managed to get out before he cut her off with an explanation.

"Listen, Twilight, have I ever told you about Sombra? We weren't supposed to talk about it, but... he never had a Mark. Nobody could ever even think to start a revolution because we were all held back by our Marks, if what you say is true. Makes so much sense now, because I know I was. I thought about fighting back a lot before I got my Mark. After it appeared though, I could only barely concentrate on the idea. Also, that pegasus that killed our buddy was Markless. Point is, princess, the whole "Marked and Unmarked" thing is unfair. Everyone needs a chance, Twilight. All of us. We can't just be limited like that. You gotta blow this place to smithereens!" he asserted, eyebrows raised and hoof waving to accent his words.

The princess hesitated, her mind entertaining the thought for a moment. If I blow this place, it would mean no more Cutie Marks, for anyone. Special talents wouldn't be so defined, ponies would be more prone to violence as they once were! But they would be free... and the Trident would lose their primary method of control. Without this place, the puppetmaster has no strings. It could lead to anarchy though... would it really be worth the trade...?

Gray saw her considering his offer, looked at the tool in his hoof, and thrust it towards her, making a final selling point on his idea. "Look, here, take my multi-pick. Made it myself. If you're gonna find a way to destroy this place, you'll need to get through some doors, I'm sure of it. There must be something that powers this place, if it's so complex and makes Cutie Marks, right? Every big factory has, like a generator. Maybe you can sabotage that!" he suggested, nodding as he offered it to her.

Twilight hesitantly took the tool in her hoof, with an unsure expression. It felt heavier than she had expected... or perhaps it was just her imagination...? She put it in her bag and looked back up to a happily nodding Grey Gravel. "...I'll think about it..." she said slowly, and she meant it.

Evidently that was enough for Grey, who gave her a reassuring wink before turning around and looking back. "Alright, we're gettin' outa here, c'mon Ruby!"

He started jogging down the hallway, but Ruby stayed behind for just a moment. She looked into Twilight's eyes, a hoof delicately placed on her necklace. "Make sure Reach is still inside when this place blows, yeah?" she requested. Then she shocked Twilight with a rare sight... a smile, a real, genuine smile.

She turned and ran off after Grey, and they both disappeared down the hall, leaving twilight to think over her options. She needed to press on however, and so, she shook her head and continued forward, making her way towards the entrance.

Twilight entered the grand hall, seeing that Flack was still tied up on the wall. No surprise there... the other occupant in the room, however, was quite a shock.

"Twilight!" Cadence cried out, looking both semi-worn and relieved as she began approaching her.

Twilight instinctively got into a defensive stance, horn charged and ready to fire, if necessary. "Cadence. What are you doing here?" she asked sternly, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Cadence however, with a look of mild guilt, but an air of calm, backed away slightly and spoke in a gentle, yet vaguely desperate voice. "I'm not here to hurt you! Shining got out of prison early, he told me you were here, and that he thought you may need help." Her words were slow, and deliberate, she meant what she was saying. I did tell him to contact Cadence as soon as he was free... I hadn't counted on him getting out early, Twilight thought to herself.

She was rather relieved that Cadence wanted to help... but didn't lower her guard just yet. Not until she had answers. "Why the sudden change in loyalties?" the princess inquired directly, almost demanded.

"Because, Twilight, I spoke with Celestia on the way here, and there's a way for Equestria to belong to the princesses again, for real this time," Cadence explained, clearly lowering her own guard in a sign of non-agression.

"...I'm listening..." she responded, one eyebrow raised, her horn powering down.

The princess of love straightened up and presented her case. "The Trident is the only thing standing between the princesses and the people. But if the princesses CONTROL the Trident, we can not only covertly restore Equestria, but also give power to the monarchy in it's entirety. The way Equestria was supposed to be."

Twilight had to admit, it was a plausible idea, but details would need to be given before she would put any thought into it. "How do you propose we do that?" she asked calmly, almost back to a normal stance at this point.

Cadence was visibly relieved at Twilight's willingness to hear her out, and some of the desperation left her voice as she elaborated. "We know that Reach is the current council head, but if we capture him alive, we can pressure the council to negotiate a new leader. A certain Alicorn princess..." Cadence accented this last statement with a nod in her direction, resulting in Twilight's eyes widening in realization.

"What? Why me?" she questioned in surprise, rather suddenly caught off guard.

"You're the princess of friendship! Your primary concern is harmony between ponies, and celebrating their differences. With you in power, you can move to have all of the unbranded ponies like Reach made to have Marks like everybody else. Equestria would be free again, plus, your attention to details will likely come in handy! Besides... the rest of us princesses have our own kingdoms to run... but an Alicorn princess as Trident head ensures monarchy control indefinitely." Her reasoning was sound, and very tempting.

If I took control of the Trident, I would make sure no ponies would ever be needlessly hurt, and my studies would make me a valuable asset in project direction... And yet, Mark Maker warned me that Reach might be too dangerous to be left alive. And what if the position changes me? These thoughts and more like them rushed through her mind, her eyes subconsciously narrowing in an expression of deep thought.

"If I did agree, what would I have to do?" Twilight asked calmly, still rather undecided.

"You need to knock him out so we can imprison him in Tartarus, where the Trident has no influence. But... be careful, I saw him briefly as he was heading up here, and he was sporting some kind of unusual suit... Here," Cadence stated, handing Twilight a small, dark pink crystal. It looked brittle. "This is a paired crystal. I have another one with me. If you need my help taking him down, just crush it, my crystal will also shatter, and I'll fly in. But... you know more about the Trident than any of us. I trust you'll make the right call," Cadence concluded, smiling weakly to signify her confidence in the fellow alicorn. The weak smile also revealed something more: fatigue.

Everything she's been through... the threats to Shining, the manipulation, being forced to act against her own family... I can only imagine what this must mean to her, Twilight found herself thinking this, then simply nodding to Cadence, in a way that expressed her understanding.

"Thanks, Cadence," she said with a slightly less worn smile of her own. There was a quiet moment of recognition on the two leader's faces, before Cadence spoke again.

"I'll be waiting outside, making sure nobody else tries to sneak up on us. If you need any help, you know what to do," she said, and with one final look, she spread her wings and flew out into the cold mountain air.

Thus, now alone, Twilight turned to look at two doors, both on the ground, on either side of the great Trident seal. The hallway she had just come from was on the left, and the hallway that would lead up to Reach was to the right.

Well... what do I do? she found herself wondering as she considered the two doors, sitting down for a moment, her sense of urgency less intense for the time being.

Gravel had a point about the generator idea. It sounds like the Brander is a delicate system. If I can find what powers it and destroy it, I could disable this place for good... she considered, glancing to the hallway on her left.

Yet... Cadence brings up some very convincing points... nobody has to die if I just capture Reach! Besides... if the Trident has always been part of Equestria, dissolving it could be terrible for everyone, but putting it under monarchy control makes perfect sense... Her eyes wandered to the door on the right, and she bit her lip as her thoughts continued to race.

However... the Trident has become so corrupt, there's no guarentee we could ever truly control it. And then we'd still have Reach to worry about... but if I help Mark Maker, we can start fresh and let ponies choose their own ways. Besides, he's pretty wise, and he's been planning this for so long... who am I to dash his hopes?

All of these thoughts were crashing down on her head, hammered in as the alarms kept on blaring through the halls, much dimmer to her now. All that she had learned... everything that she had encountered on this journey taught her something, changed the way she thought about the world... a world that Far Reach was about to try and change.

And now, all of that information was being boiled down... to a simple choice.

Ending A: Cadence's Choice

Author's Notes:

This chapter's song is meant to convey both Reach's newfound power, and Twilight's struggle to make the right choice. So, click here to listen to "Reach Uber Alles"! Enjoy!

Twilight needed a moment to think over her options, and rationalize her decision. She looked down at the crystal that Cadence had given her, studying its intricate, yet delicate nature... It was comprable to Equestria, as she saw it now.

The Trident wasn't always evil... Mark Maker himself said that it helped everyone at the beginning. The original founders had only the continuation of the nation in mind when they formed it, but over the years, people like Reach have corrupted it to be so much colder... caring more for itself than others. If Cadence is right, then the Trident can be fixed. No more Unbranded, no more tyranny, and with an alicorn in control, there would be no chance for any corrupt leaders to come in and sieze the most powerful position.

She looked up at Flak, still knocked out and bound on the wall. She remembered back to when he had told her to finish him off, and what she felt. If I were to murder Reach, I would be just as bad as he is. In all of the problems I have faced... all of the powerful entities my friends and I have fought, even when the fate of the world hung in the balance, we did whatever we could to save everyone's life. She was right. The only potential exception to this would have been Sombra, but even then, that was the Crystal Heart's doing, and Sombra's fault for remaining within the area of effect.

Twilight's mind was made up. She was going to do the right thing. For everyone.

She ran down the hallway on the right, passing a few doors and many blank walls, before encountering a short upward staircase, which she proceeded to briskly scale, not slowing down in the slightest. As she finally reached the top, there was a short hall with only one door at the end, a heavy stone door with the seal of the trident raised off of the otherwise smooth surface. So, after swallowing back any anxiety, she pushed open the door, ready to face Reach and put an end to all of this. What she saw however, she was not prepared for.

The room itself was very large, and narrowed towards the ceiling, indicating that this was the hollowed out peak of the facility. An enormous crystal raised about 20 feet into the air in the center of the room, and tapered off from a wide base to a thin top. The base descended through the floor, where she had seen the crystal in the roof earlier. She hadn't expected it to be this large, though that was not the most shocking sight in the chamber. She saw Reach right off, hovering above the crystal and slowly beating his wings. Yes. Wings.

Cadence wasn't lying, he had on some kind of mechanized exosuit, almost like a second skeleton over his body. The wings themselves looked identical to the ones she saw being demonstrated in the R&D Department back at the Trident facility, and there was a long metallic horn extending from the helmet, glowing with radiant energy.

Reach turned at the sound of the door and grinned, speaking in a loud voice, with a smile that was far more terrifying than it should be, perhaps merely because this was a full, genuine smile from the otherwise flat and subtle individual. "Ah, princess, so nice of you to join me! I was rather hoping your curiosity might bring you here! Although, something tells me you aren't here to tell me that you'll be giving up..."

"Reach!" she cried out, spreading her wings in a show of authority. "Explain yourself!" the princess demanded, using a technique Luna had shown her to amplify her voice.

Reach did not seem startled in the slightest, as he calmly flew down to the ground and stood before her, his own metal wings spread out in a matching gesture, showing off the mechanics of the device. "I did warn you that you would be in for a surprise, didn't I? To think, I was going to let you test this rig to make sure it was safe... but I rather think it's best that I was the first. You may never have wanted to remove it!" He spoke as if rehearsed, but said it all with genuine happiness, which unnerved her, but she stayed focused as she got a closer look at the rig itself.

The setup was almost entirely built out of some kind of very smooth metal, likely some form of steel. It had many rib-like rungs that wrapped around his chest, and a raised spine that emmitted a faint glow from within. Twilight noted eight of the unicorn power containers lined along his back, each hooked into the spine structure, and shielded on top with a metal plate over each. Most prominent, was the layered, metallic horn raised from his forehead, which connected directly to the glowing helmet on his head, shaped mildly like the top half of a skull. Off of the helmet was one wire leading into some kind of headphone in his ear, and a glass information lens over one eye, with data projected onto it. He noticed her observing the suit, but did not attempt to interfere, and waited for her to speak again.

"What are you doing here, Reach? I want answers, no beating around the bush this time," she inquired with force, attempting to maintain her facade of superiority.

He looked delighted at her inquiry, and cleared his throat calmly. "You see, Twilight, Equestria is one prosperous spot in a whole world of nations, other kingdoms and empires across the planet are completely unpredictable, and many uncontacted. What if one of them decides to attack us, Twilight? Or perhaps worse, what if they do nothing? As it stands, the Equestrian economy is starting to go stale... So, I decided to take care of those issues in one fell swoop. I fully intend to spread Cutie Marks to EVERY sentient being on the planet! Imagine: Dragons with their riches suddenly getting generous, Gryphons suddenly wanting to open trade talks, Bison more than willing to hand over land and territory! Equestria will be led into a new golden age, thanks to me!"

She took a step back, and had to take a good, long look at the pony standing before her. His eyes filled with pure, determined success, his stance one of complete confidence. Not only did he completely believe in this plan, but he believed that nothing could stop it. Even his words had sounded a bit memorized, as if reading to her history of that which had already happened. But, there was one thing he hadn't answered... the means.

"And how exactly would you do that?" she asked tentatively, nearly afraid of what he might say. The alicorn-esque suit certainly didn't bode well.

He took a step toward her, making a metal clanking sound on the stone floor, as he began to explain. "Simply put, the broadcast crystal is too weak to actually reach the whole world... as it is right now. It needs a conduit to spread the area of effect, something that can regulate and process the information going in and out for the whole operation... and that's me. This metal exosuit is the result of countless years of research, designing, and preparation. I contain in these energy cells the combined power of eight unicorn archmages... effectively four times as much power as you currently posess. With this rig and this much energy, I can not only boost the range planet wide just long enough to Brand every single sentient being on the planet, but then I can return every once in a while to repeat the process. I have circumvented Mark Maker entirely. You could say that I alone have become the apex of the world, the centerpiece for energy!" He paused here and looked upwards with a fond smirk. "The entire population of a foreign power could suddenly decide to change their views within a moment... with just a single thought from me."

He's a madman! An absolute madman! Twilight thought to herself, backing away and angling her wings to fly at any moment. Reach himself calmly began to fly upwards toward the peak of the crystal again, chuckling to himself. She knew what she had to do, but if what he had said was true... then she couldn't do it alone. The princess placed a hoof on her bag, and silently crushed the crystal within, then flew towards the crazed leader, swallowing back her apprehensions.

"I can't let you do that, Reach!" she boldly exclaimed, and was met with a burst of laughter in reply.

"Alright, Twilight, you're quite intelligent, so let's look at the facts. I have four times your energy level. This suit multiplies my strength to a point where even the strongest earth pony would be unable to take me down, and my wings contain enhanced machinery that significantly increases my flight speed and maneuverability... which doesn't particularly matter in a fight, since I can teleport just like you can. I literally outmatch you in every way," he noted, shaking his head as if admonishing a child for breaking a fairly minor rule.

"Then I'll just have to outsmart you!" she cried, turning herself invisible and quickly flying silently to the other side of the room to prepare a charge... before she was surrounded by a white field of energy and held in place.

"I likely should have mentioned that I can detect energy levels as well, silly girl." He had clearly dropped much of his normally calm demeanor, and in it's place was a cocky, self-assured stallion who believed he held all the chips.

He would be useless without that suit! I need a way to stop it from running... but how..? Twilight closely looked at the unicorn energy containers, protected by a metal sheath each... but otherwise not well guarded... He's four times as powerful as I am, but if I can at least lessen his power supply... She had a plan, and hoped that she could execute it before Cadence arrived.

First, she began flailing as much as possible, as to make him concentrate on holding her still, and stop him from doing what he would with the crystal. Next, to throw off his energy, she began randomly firing shots all over the room, towards the bottom, making him think she was aiming for the crystal base. Finally, using extreme multitasking skills, she slowly began locking on to the containters... There's two... four... six...!

"WHAT IN BLAZES?" Reach cried, attempting to slam her backwards as he caught on... but not before she managed to pull out four of the canisters. "NO!" he shouted angrily, swooping to try and grab them. She managed to destroy two with horn blasts, and cracked a third before he grabbed it. He growled angrily like an enraged timberwolf, as he defiantly stuck the one intact canister back into the rig, and spread a white, static-looking shield over his entire spinal area.

"I underestimated you, princess. I won't be making that mistake again!" he explained, his cockiness gone. He threw her against the ground, causing sharp pain to spread through her side. She had to ignore the horrible pain and scamper away as he charged a triangular beam she had never even seen before, and fired it onto the stone where she had been sitting, leaving a huge crater. "I am still more than TWICE as powerful as you are!" he reminded her, teleporting in front of her, and creating walls on three sides of her.

She teleported to the other side of the room... only to be met with him again. "You aren't the only one capable of recognizing patterns!" Reach said with an angry smile, throwing her swiftly to the side. She recovered just before hitting the wall by spreading out her wings, engulfing herself in a shield as he fired a hard blast at her. Then she got an idea.

Letting her shield dissipate as if his blast had destroyed it, she used the reflection technique that Flak had first used on her, returning the white ball right back at the sender. He attempted to dodge, but when it began to curve, he did something new: instead of reflecting it back, he grunted and made a shimmering, dummy version of himself, then teleported away. The bolt struck the dummy, vaporizing it to dust, and leaving the real Reach unscathed and darkly chuckling.

"You see Twilight? Even with your little trick I am still double your strength... You cannot beat me," he bragged calmly. "I am going to win!"

"No, you won't!" a familiar sounding voice said from across the room. The last time Twilight had heard those words, they were terrifying, but hearing them now was exhillarating. Cadence had arrived.

Reach whipped around with a quick flash of his wings, his back still shielded. "Cadenza. I should have known you would forget your place. Perhaps I was a little too soft on Shining, but I won't be making that mistake again," he threatened, eliciting a flash of rage from her.

"Cadence! Don't listen, these people try to manipulate emotions!" Twilight cried, remembering Flak and Reach's office. Cadence nodded and put herself silently in a battle-ready stance. Twilight did the same, but Reach merely laughed at them both, encasing himself in a white bubble. Twilight looked over at the fellow alicorn, and remembered back to one more technique she had read up on in the Trident HQ: communication without speaking.

Twilight's horn glowed as she sent words to Cadence's mind. It's me, don't freak out, but I have a plan. The other princess was slightly startled, but otherwise listened. He has five energy canisters powering his suit. He had eight, but I managed to take out three. We need to get him to unshield his back long enough to pull the rest out and disable the whole rig.

Cadence thought, and subtly nodded, which earned an odd glance from the protected Reach, until she fired a solid beam at his bubble. He scoffed at her attempt... until Twilight joined in, power growing.

"You may be twice as strong as one alicorn... but now it's even," Twilight began, surging more energy into her beam with a grunt.

"Less than even really, because we can attack from two angles!" Cadence chimed in, her own beam widening in radius as her expression grew more concentrated.

"Is that so?" Reach taunted, conjuring just enough energy to manifest a white ball behind her and fire it towards her, before refocusing on his barrier. He was unaware, however, that Twilight was able to mentally communicate what he had done, and with a slight break in power, the princess put a small energy wall behind her briefly to block the shot, then she poured all her power into the beam.

Reach's eyes widened slightly. His original plan had been to spawn a dummy and teleport to the other side of the chamber again, but he now had to focus all of his efforts on his shield and his back. His expression otherwise remained cool and calm. He had of course faced errors before, but those five canisters he drew from contained a fixed pool of energy. Living magical beings however had the annoying tendency to go beyond their natural power levels when in distress. He was displeased, but determined to succeed. He took power from his back shield and focused entirely on the barrier.

Twilight noticed the drop in guard, and she felt filled with determination, her heart pounding in her ears. Just need to get his barrier down now... just need to overpower it! She poured every ounce of energy she had into the beam erupring from her head, but knew that that alone would not be enough. So, in a dangerous move, she brought to mind every hateful thought she could. Every failure, every death he had caused, all the pain that this new Trident had created for everyone... and as she did so, the solid purple beam from her horn began to darken to a deep lavender... until finally it was solid black.

Reach was strugging to maintain the barrier. As he looked over to Twilight, he felt a twinge of emotion that he had not felt in decades... something deep and primal. Fear. "Dark Energy?!" he exclaimed, pushing the rig to its limits. Dark energy was exponentially more powerful than even the purest form of raw unicorn power, primarily due to its instability, and he knew full well that this suit couldn't handle it. In a very desperate attempt to avoid overloading the system, he fired every wing-assist system he had and flew straight up, his energy warning indicating that his horn apparatus had been overheated by the exertion.

Twilight ceased her beam immediately as he flew upwards, her eyes still faintly glowing black as she rocketed after him. In her state of mind, the look of shock and subdued terror in his eyes was delightful, as she wrapped her hooves around him and barreled into the ground, near where Cadence stood.

Quickly, Cadence locked on to the canisters as Reach attempted to reactivate his horn, but at that point, they had been removed, and his legs had been pinned by a slowly calming princess Twilight, horn glow returning to a normal, purple coloration.

Reach had very few options before him. If he attempted to escape, they would easily grab him. Negatiation was out, as he was in no position to make a deal, he held no leverage. It was very obvious that he would not achieve his grand plan... today. He had one option left, and it was the most rational of them all. He stopped struggling and simply stated, "I surrender."

Twilight was still panting from her energy exertion earlier, but Cadence walked up and nodded happily at her, earning a weak smile. "You are officially under arrest for conspiring against the Equestrian monarchy. Do you confirm your surrender?" Cadence asked professionally.

Even in this, he took on a smug smile, and calmly replied. "Yes, I surrender. I of course would prefer not to fight, you have clearly won this day. It's always better t--" His speech was cut short by a strong hoof to the jaw from Cadence, instantly knocking him out cold.

Twilight looked over to Cadence, who was proudly beaming back. "I always did hate the way he talked," she said, accompanied by the most relieved laugh she had heard in a very long time.

Ending B: Mark Maker's Choice

Author's Notes:

This chapter's song is meant to convey both Reach's newfound power, and Twilight's struggle to make the right choice. So, click here to listen to "Reach Uber Alles"! Enjoy!

Twilight sighed as the options weighed heavily on her mind, and she looked up to see Flak, knocked out on the ceiling. Flak is a monster... a pony that feels no remorse, and can commit murder in cold blood without so much as a moment of hesitation... and he's only one of many monsters, all created by Reach. I thought that, to kill would make me like them... but perhaps... perhaps I would be hurting far more people by not doing anything.

Her thoughts grew more solid as she trotted beneath the bound pony, observing him with a pensive expression. The burden of knowledge... I now know the crimes that Reach and his minions, the whole Trident, commit! If I were to do nothing... then in a way, I am making a choice. The concequences of my inaction could be hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives. To leave such a monster alive, or to imprison him where he could make more monsters... that would change nothing. ...One life is a small price to pay for progress.

The princess was filled with a new, burning resolve. Her eyes narrowed as she put her head down and dashed through the door on the right, making up her mind to support Mark Maker in his plan. She ran and ran, passing doors in the long hall of stone, until she came to a staircase at the end.

She traveled up quickly, her hooves barely touching the steps as she ascended, until she reached a final, short hallway with only one door at the end. It was a smooth, stone door, with the raised emblem of the Trident emblazoned on it. She cleared her mind, staying focused on what she had to do, as she pushed open the heavy door and dashed inside, gasping at the sight that greeted her.

The room itself was very large, and narrowed towards the ceiling, indicating that this was the hollowed out peak of the facility. An enormous crystal raised about 20 feet into the air in the center of the room, and tapered off from a wide base to a thin top. The base descended through the floor, where she had seen the crystal in the roof earlier. She hadn't expected it to be this large, though that was not the most shocking sight in the chamber. She saw Reach right off, hovering above the crystal and sporting some kind of metallic outer suit, complete with mechanical wings, but she didn't let it distract from her mission.

The gray stallion turned around at the sound of the door, speaking in a very clear, resounding voice, with a smile that might have been terrifying to Twilight had she not been trying to purge her emotions in preperation of the threat. "Ah, princess, so nice of you to join me! I was rather hoping your curiosity might bring you here! Although, something tells me you aren't here to tell me that you'll be giving up..."

Twilight remained silent, her face set like concrete, as she stared directly at the monster before her.

Reach calmly flew down to the ground and stood before her, his hooves clanking on the stone floor with his landing. "I did warn you that you would be in for a surprise, didn't I? To think, I was going to let you test this rig to make sure it was safe... but I rather think it's best that I was the first. You may never have wanted to remove it!" As he spoke, unusually haughty for someone like him, Twilight made as many observations about the rig he was wearing as she could.

The setup was almost entirely built out of some kind of very smooth metal, likely some form of steel. It had many rib-like rungs that wrapped around his chest, and a raised spine that emmitted a faint glow from within. Twilight noted eight of the unicorn power containers lined along his back, each hooked into the spine structure, and shielded on top with a metal plate over each. Most prominent, was the layered, metallic horn raised from his forehead, which connected directly to the glowing helmet on his head, shaped mildly like the top half of a skull. Off of the helmet was one wire leading into some kind of headphone in his ear, and a glass information lens over one eye, with data projected onto it. Her wandering eyes had not escaped Reach's own gaze, and he almost seemed pleased at her assessment of it, so he politely, with raised eyebrow, waited for her to speak.

The energy containers and horn seem to imply that this suit allows him access to immense power, and perhaps even the ability to cast like a unicorn... if I'm going to do this, then my priority will be to disable the rig... but how? Perhaps I could remove the containers... she considered, her train of thought momentarily halting as she noticed the expectant look in his eyes. He was waiting for her to speak, it seemed, so she said merely what needed to be said. "I'm going to make sure you never harm another living soul, Reach."

He seemed to chuckle at this, and briefly said "I'm certain that you will try," while calmly flying up towards the tip of the broadcast crystal again, his mechanical wings beating the air with a faint, yet very bassy sound.

This is my chance... his back is to me! I just need one good shot... Twilight swiftly took aim and fired twelve well-placed, silent stealth shots towards the back of his rig, attempting to neutralize the immediate threat. Unfortunatly for her, she had highly underestimated exactly what he could do.

She didn't even have a second to react as she was immediately blasted in the ribs by a white sphere of energy. She let out a sharp cry as she impacted the wall, seeing Reach walking towards her from a position he had clearly not been in before she had fired. He can teleport!? she thought frantically, knowing that she needed to re-evaluate her strategy.

"Perhaps I should have mentioned beforehand, princess..." he started with a dark grin, as she got up and returned to a battle stance. "...These canisters are filled with the energy of eight archmages... making me over four times as powerful as you are, my dear."

Her eyes widened in mild panic, and she turned herself invisible in an attempt to surprise attack him from behind. He merely chuckled darkly as he surrounded his entire back in a white shield, then to spite her, he fired a long arching bolt of energy in her direction. She sidestepped what would have been its impact point, but was blasted into the air and out of her cloak as it curved and impacted her front legs.

"It's useless, Twilight!" he began, flying back to his original position above the crystal, his back still shielded, much to her dismay. "I can sense your very energy! Even without sight, I know where you are!" he stated, tapping lightly on the glass eyepiece.

Twilight needed a moment to think of a strategy, and thankfully, she knew exactly how to get that time. She interrupted his attempt to do something with the crystal tip by simply shouting: "Why, Reach? Why are you here? What is your big plan, huh?" That ought to buy me a minute or two... the princess reasoned, banking on his need to explain, and looking over Reach above. Knowing Reach, his statement on being four times my power is likely accurate, which doesn't bode well for me. I need to separate him from his power, or somehow find a way to render it useless. His back is shielded, so I need to make him drop his guard...

As she ran through her options, the gray stallion cleared his throat, clearly already knowing what he wanted to say. "You see, Twilight, Equestria is one prosperous spot in a whole world of nations, other kingdoms and empires across the planet are completely unpredictable, and many uncontacted. What if one of them decides to attack us, Twilight? Or perhaps worse, what if they do nothing? As it stands, the Equestrian economy is starting to go stale... So, I decided to take care of those issues in one fell swoop. I fully intend to spread Cutie Marks to EVERY sentient being on the planet! Imagine: Dragons with their riches suddenly getting generous, Gryphons suddenly wanting to open trade talks, Bison more than willing to hand over land and territory! Equestria will be led into a new golden age, thanks to me!" he said proudly, watching her carefully, and his unnervingly out-of-character smile widening as he saw the look of shock dawn on her face.

"Every sentient being? But how?" Twilight asked, bewildered, still analyzing her options, but now distracted by his mad plan.

"Simply put, the broadcast crystal is too weak to actually reach the whole world, as it is right now. It needs a conduit to spread the area of effect, something that can regulate and process the information going in and out for the whole operation... and that's me! This metal exosuit is the result of countless years of research, designing, and preparation. I contain in these energy cells... well, I've already explained how much power I have! With this rig and this much energy, I can not only boost the range planet wide just long enough to Brand every single sentient being on the planet, but then I can return every once in a while to repeat the process. I have circumvented Mark Maker entirely. I can sway governments, shift opinions... I can alter the very fabric of entire kingdoms with a single thought!" he declared, smiling wildly, his eyes actually widening to match.

Twilight flew up into the air, her face one of horror and utter distress. "Have you gone mad? Are you trying to become omnipotent?!" she shouted, incredulous.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm not trying to become omnipotent..." he started, lowering his gaze a bit. "...because I already AM omnipotent!" he cried, letting loose a shockwave that sent her tumbling back. If there was ever any doubt in her mind about what she had to do, it completely disappeared with his last statement.

Now or never! she thought to herself, dashing forward and blasting the broadcast crystal with high energy bursts. From Reach's point of view, it must have seemed like she was trying to destroy it, which prompted another laugh. An enormous white triangle appeared before her, smacking her out of the air violently.

"Oh princess... it would take something nearly a hundred times your strength to destroy that crystal! You can't even begin to hurt it! All you've done is temporarily changed it to a nice shade of lavender!" he boasted, smirking away. That is, of course, until his flank began to glow.

"WHAT?" he shouted as he looked back, looking to see a clown nose and wig staring back at him from his previously blank flank. "THAT BLASTED IDIOT!" he shouted with genuine fury, before a powerful hoof connected with his helmet, sending him flying backwards.

Unfortunately for Twilight, it didn't seem to stop him, although she did notice something unique. His horn... It moved slightly, as if it were spring loaded... After careful examination, she noted that the suit had no charging port, like she saw in the facility, for the energy canisters, it just went from the canisters to the helmet. Because the helmet IS the port! The horn folds in and recieves power! She had a new plan, since her punch had not warrented the shield drop she had originally wanted. However, judging by the expression on his face, her plan would be much more difficult to execute now.

Reach, his face marred by genuine fury, raised a hoof with horn ablaze, staring her down as he flapped his wings about four yards away. As he brought his hoof down, a few dozen white pellets appeared in a spherical configuration around the airborne princess, who panickedly raised a shield bubble just in time to have it broken down by the pellets attempting to ram into her.

Though she had sucessfully defended against them, Reach himself slammed into her, covered in a white full body field, which seemed to multiply the force of the impact. With a desperate move she attempted to clash her horn into his helmet, but he had been moving too quickly, and as she was knocked away, she tried to reorganize her thoughts.

I clearly can't overpower him, but if I could just get close enough for a second-- Twilight's thoughts were cut off as the ground benath her exploded, sending her up into the air. She barely dodged a multitude of energy bursts, erupting from his horn in rapid sucession without so much as a half second gap between each shot. She tried flying backwards as she dodged, only to find herself caught in an energy web of sorts, which, upon contact, shocked her intensely as if it were lightning. She crumpled to the ground with a weak cry of pain, eyes wincing at the feelings endured.

"HAhahahah! You know, Twilight, I've never been a very emotional stallion, and perhaps this is the new Mark talking, but I think I'm rather enjoying this!" Reach yelled down, juggling white energy spheres and throwing them at her, much like one would toss rotten tomatoes. She pitifully rolled from side to side to dodge the spheres, realizing that, at this point he was merely having fun, not even attempting to do serious damage. This sparked anger and a faint hint of hatred from the princess.

That's it! I can't overpower him... but if I can increase my own power just enough, maybe I can make the brief opening I need... Twilight's realization caused her to look up once again and see the despicable madman still juggling and tossing energy at her. It didn't take much more to get her to unlock her dark energy potential, just like she did when fighting the gray pegasus.

Twilight thought about Flak, and all the pain he had caused... about all the horrible things the Trident had done to keep Cadence, and the other princesses under their complete control... She thought about Straight Arrow, and the pain his loss had caused to Ruby, and she thought of all the countless ponies that may have died and hurt people just the same. Then the energy began to swell.

Far Reach cast a cautious glance at the mare's crumpled form, noting a rather unusual glow about her. He noted her horn arcing with black jolts rather than her typical purple. He noted something like black smoke beginning to trail from her eyes, and when she looked up, he himself flew backwards slightly, feeling a faint twinge of actual fear. She stood up, ignoring all previous pain, and flew upwards, making eye contact with the now-defensive leader.

"Far Reach, I find you guilty of treason against Equestria, murder, theft, destruction of property, and assault on royalty. You won't be leaving this room again, monster!" she cried out in an unusually dark tone, casting a powerful black bolt towards him.

He warped to the other side of the room, shielding himself before creating two orbiting white spheres around his body. "My oh my, getting a little edgy there, aren't we?" he taunted, believing he now held the intellectual advantage, given that dark energy users had to give in to nearly-blind hatred in order to sucessfully cast with it. His mild fear was replaced instead with healthy caution. He still had full functionality, so he had no need to worry, he thought.

She teleported behind him, surrounding him in a thick, black smoke screen, which essentially just served as a distraction while she attempted to blast him from multiple angles. His orbiting spheres managed to seek her out and blow her backwards, and as soon as he had her in his sights, he created a very complicated looking construct with his horn. Upon blasting it with what seemed like a jolt of electricity, the pure energy construct erupted into hundreds of triangular glass-like shards, which Twilight had to defend against.

"I'm more powerful in this state, Reach!" she declared, casting a long beam towards him. He countered with his own beam, carefully maintaining his own shield while firing.

"Please. You may be unstable, and difficult to measure, but I still hold more power, and we both know it!" As he said this, he sent a pulse along his energy beam, one that managed to supercede hers and throw her in a backwards tumble. He maintained his kinetic shield in case she bounced back, warily scanning the environment. As the dust settled, all that remained was Twilight, teeth gritted, panting heavily, having made an enormous construct that appeared to be a black bow and arrow, made entirely of dark energy.

Reach actually scoffed at the thing, standing his ground. "Do you really think that will hurt me? You'd have to have more power than my shield to get through!" he boasted, throwing his head back to laugh and increasing energy output to his defense.

She released the black, crackling arrow, sending the bolt towards him. Now, what he said about her needing more power to get through the shield was true... when speaking of pure unicorn power. Dark energy, however, was unstable by nature, and rather than block the shot, the unstable, constantly phase-shifting black bolt only half dissapated, as it fired THROUGH his barrier, and slammed into his upper chest.

"WHA--?!" he had just enough time to exclaim before Twilight warped to him, slamming her horn into his. Just as she had predicted, it retracted as she pushed, and she was able to plug into his helmet. "H-how did you know about--" he began, completely caught off guard by not only the wound on his chest, but by the exact means of his defeat.

"Never studied dark energy, huh?" she taunted, her eyes returning to their normal hue, the hate subsiding. Her horn began to glow, and his helmet whirred as she began the transfer.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, struggling, but finding his suit frozen in charge mode with the influx of power. Reach gritted his teeth, eyes widening.

"I'm giving you what you always wanted, Reach. I'm giving you power." With that statement, she closed her eyes, and thought back to what the other princesses had done during the Tirek incident. Through a special technique taught to her later, alicorns could willingly give up portions, or all, of their inherent alicornic power, and that was exactly what Twilight was doing. With a painful grunt, she began to drain her very energy into his suit, eyes closed in concentration.

Reach himself began desperately trying to move, unable to budge in the metal cage that surrounded him. "No! Wait! Those canisters have a fixed capacity! They can't take any more power! Especially not alicornic energy!" his cries were useless, and after depleting about a quarter of her power, she removed her horn and stepped back, observing the canisters on his back glowing a bright white, unnatural coloration. "You IDIOT! This won't disable my suit! They will EXPLODE! Take it back!" he said panicked, attempting to use the horn, but unable to, with the overpowered canisters.

Twilight silently teleported to the door, and stared in. "Saves me the trouble," she said quietly as she closed the door.

Reach ran over to it, and began pounding on it. "Twilight! Listen! I can't remove this suit, this is going to literally kill me unless you take the energy back!" he shouted, after failing to remove the canisters by hoof. "Is that what you want? A death on your hooves?"

Twilight sighed with a shakey breath and said nothing, but she didn't need to, because he figured out her intentions after the initial silence.

"Oh. Oh, now, now listen Twilight! I surrender! I realize I have been beaten! Take me away to prison, or Tartaurus, I give up!" he pleaded, pounding on the door. "I know you, Twilight! You're not a murderer! In your mind, that would make you as bad as me! Right? Right?" he tried, as a warning light began to flash on his visor.

Twilight's stomach was knotted tighter than ever before, her eyes closed as she stayed by the entrance, trying desperately to ignore her instincts to save him. This was one villain who was too dangerous to be left alive.

"Twilight! I can give you secrets! I can give you anything, Twilight!" he continued, but to no avail. His suit was beeping madly, his back beginning to grow hot. He didn't have long. He was desperate, for once in decades, he, Far Reach, was not in control.

He slammed his hooves on the door, crying out loudly, face mortified, marred by a feeling he could hardly remember: panic. "BLAST IT TWILIGHT, OPEN THIS DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR TWILIGHT, OPEN THE DO--"

The explosion knocked Twilight down flat, and caused her to look back at the chamber door. The odd stone was fractured, and the raised emblem of the Trident had crumbled to pieces, the left and right arrows warped, and the head arrow had completely fallen off and been pulverized on the floor.

Twilight gulped down the feelings she had welled up inside her throat, as she stood on shakey legs and turned to walk down the hall. It was done. Both Far Reach, and the Trident with him, were no more.

Ending C: Gray Gravel's Choice

Author's Notes:

This chapter's song is meant to convey both Reach's newfound power, and Twilight's struggle to make the right choice. So, click here to listen to "Reach Uber Alles"! Enjoy!

Twilight sighed and spent a moment thinking over everything that had happened through her journey here. All the challenges, all the roadblocks along the way... all for want of a simple answer behind an image on her flank.

And what have I learned? I learned what these Marks really mean. We're branded, like property, all to be subservient to a higher power that no one sees. Even if I took over the Trident and abolished the unbranded, ponies still wouldn't be truly free. Mark Maker even said that some marks have to be modified to better control the people... is that really what I want?

She looked up to see the seal of the Trident on the wall, and her brow furrowed as she continued her train of thought, expression pensive and serious.

And if I supported Mark Maker's plan, which seems to promise freedom, there's no guarentee that someone else won't find a way to take control of it. Besides, would I really be willing to stoop to Reach's level, murderer, in order to stop him? No, going after Reach is a temporary solution to a much more serious problem. Gravel was right, this place has to be destroyed, and the truth will need to be told to the masses. There may be initial chaos... but ponies would finally be truly free.

She narrowed her gaze and looked to the door on the left, and after taking out Gravel's multi-pick, she dashed down the hall, looking for whatever powered the facility.

She ran and ran passing a few doors here and there, passing by the small library door, until she saw what she was looking for: "Central Generators." Plain text on an otherwise blank door, identical to most of the others in the hall she had past. It had a small keyhole on it, and Twilight figured this would be a good time to try out the pick. She gently placed it into the keyhole, feeling it shift and then click into place. She gave it a testing turn, and it surprisingly acted like a perfectly matching key.

Great to know it works, she thought, travelling down a long, dark staircase, hearing a faint hum as she progressed. The sound slowly got louder, the intensity picking up slightly with each step she took. As she made it to the base of the staircase, she found herself in a much darker hallway, with a few doors, some labeled "Mage Quarters", but others with names like "Replacement Crystals," and a new-looking door that said "Maintainance Room."

However, her primary goal appeared to be a very large, circular door made up of three huge stone rings at the end of the hallway, sporting a complicated lock system that seemed to resemble what she detected in the cave entrance. Time to see what this thing can really do... she thought to herself, carefully placing the multi-pick into the central hole, and waiting for the click.

After a few moments of shifting then silence, it did indeed click, and with a cautious turn, the outer ring of the door began to twist to the side, then the inner ring, then finally the center, until all three rings pushed inward and began to slide into the floor with a dull scraping sound. The loud humming from earlier increased in volume as the door opened, revealing that this was in fact the source. With the door clear, Twilight carefully put away the multi-pick, charging her horn just in case as she stepped inside, expecting some kind of security detail.

Much to her surprise, there were no guards around, and as she walked inside, she found herself in an enormous room, easily 40 cubic feet, which contained a lot of modern hoses and wires, slowly getting more primative as she walked in. Eventually, she made it to the very center of the room, standing in awe at the construct found there, casting an eerie pinkish light throughout the whole chamber.

What she saw appeared to be an assortment of hundreds of pink crystals, each glowing with energy, surrounded on the ground by twelve circles with hoof prints carved into each. Ponies were clearly supposed to stand here... but for what purpose? she found herself wondering, only to have the question answered moments later. With a sharp zap, one of two very large generators fired a multicolored stream into the construct's center, causing it to glow with a much higher intensity. It became evident to Twilight that Trident mages must have stood here and periodically injected more power into this thing, until of course they were replaced by these machines. Guess that explains the high renovation costs that I saw back at the Trident HQ... and with these, nobody would every need to be here when Far Reach arrived. Whatever he's trying to do up there, he wanted nobody around but him.

With a faint look of recognition, she approached one of the two generators, looking it over slowly. She recognized it from somewhere... ah! It's the reactor from the R&D display! The "Unicorn Energy Reactor; by Manehattan Energy!" Looks like it either makes or stores unicorn energy for use in projects like this. This unnerved the princess, as it indicated that, whatever Reach was doing, was likely in the works years prior, given the application of a proven Trident technology like this.

She shook her head and refocused on the problem at hoof, casting a thoughtful glance to the construct. Above it was a series of stone tubes, and shots of the crystal energy were occasionally fired upward, at regular intervals. Less often, one of the two generators would inject the construct with short bursts of power themselves, then stop before it glowed too intensely. She had a theory, but needed to give it a quick test.

Twilight fired a straight, pure energy beam into the heart of the rector, and watched it glow brightly, some excess power arching along the sides of the thing, and causing the rotating portions to spin up a bit more. A warning beep chimed in from one of the more modern consoles in the room, indicating irregular activity. She stopped, and calmly trotted over to it to examine what it said, cocking her head to the side as she read the screen.

"Power surge detected. Adjust generators," she muttered aloud to herself, looking over some of the gauges shown on the console. Many gauges had needles that were just barely in a yellow portion of their dials, but there were red portions, indicating that the crystal construct COULD be overloaded. She had a way to do exactly what Gray Gravel wanted, to destroy the whole system... but she had to step back a moment and think: Is it really worth it?

Gray Gravel, Straight Arrow, the Crystal Empire... all were victims of the unbranded verses the branded. Even allowing the people to choose to have Marks would still leave people on unequal grounds... Starlight Glimmer knew that, but couldn't tell the whole story. Now, the princess understood. This is something I have to do. The point of the Brander was to unite the tribes, but that probem is long gone. It's time to give back the freedoms that should have been returned a long time ago.

Those thoughts in mind, she dashed over to one of the power generators and looked for some way to adjust the output. It didn't take her long to find the dials and switches, set to a specific time interval and intensity. After taking a deep breath, and after using Cadence's breathing technique, she turned up the intensity to max, then set the time interval to zero.

A constant stream of iridescent energy began to stream from the generator, slowly increasing the glow of the crystals. She looked over and teleported to the other generator turning its knobs just the same, resulting in two fully powered beams being fired into the center of the structure. It began to spin up a bit more, and the faint beeping from the console drew her there to look at the gauges.

Levels were slowly moving into the yellow zone... and climbing at a steady rate. She decided to help out by firing her own constant stream of energy in, waiting until most of the needles were just red before halting. As they reached the red zone, they strained, but slowly continued creeping on, abeit at a slower rate. Red lights in the ceiling began to flash, as klaxxons blared loudly through the facility. That was her cue to leave.

Running quickly, she dashed up the stairs, looking at the doors and seeing the library door still wide open. She didn't want Mark Maker dying needlessly, so she paused to look in, only to be met by the stallion sitting in a chair, head down, in a sad, yet not broken state.

"Mark Maker! This place is going to blow, you need to get out of here!" she exclaimed, walking in. He looked up at her with a blank, neutral expression, eyes seeming to reflect some kind of bittersweet feeling. She glanced beside him and noticed an orange stain on the room's floor, in front of his empty serum vial. What...?

"I'm not going, Twilight," he said simply, lying back in the chair. A distant rumble traveled through the building, prompting Twilight to speak up.

"Please! You don't have to die here!" the princess pleaded, trotting in place a bit as she spoke.

Mark Maker leaned forward and coughed a few times before clearing his throat and speaking up. "Twilight, without the Brander I have no reason to stick around. It would be pointless for me to stay in this world any longer. I may have hoped to help others once again, but it was but a thought." His voice showed no faltering, no real sadness, yet she felt guilty.

"But... all those years..." she began, but stopped as he held up a hoof.

"I have lived for over two and a half millineums, Twilight, a few decades is nothing. Besides, I have overstayed my time in this life as it is."

"Mark Maker..." she started sadly, only to be met with a serious expression from him, drawing all of her attention.

"Twilight, you have made your choice, and I have made mine. I am staying here, princess, and that's my personal prerogative. If there's one thing I can't let you do, it's to leave here with regrets. My decision to stay is mine and mine alone." Then, he cracked a bittersweet smile, speaking in a more humorous tone. "It's about time I retire anyways!"

She thought for a moment, then nodded sadly, walking up and giving him a silent hug. He returned it, and they embraced for a while, until another large rumble shook the facility. "Go, Twilight. If you must remember anything, remember this... in a way, you have finally freed me," he stated, smiling to her as she walked out the door.

Her walk turned to a sprint, and she actually had to sidestep a few times, as debris had begun to fall from the ceiling and walls. As she made it to the grand entrance hall, she found the upper wall crumbling, and some of the light structures missing from the wall... including the one that had been holding Flak. She considered looking for him, but as rubble began to fall down around her, she knew she needed to run out the door as fast as she could.

As soon as she made it into the cold mountain air, she spied Cadence nearby. She gestured to follow her and began to fly away. She would explain the whole thing later, but right now, they had an engine-balloon to catch up with.

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Mark Maker sighed as he relaxed in his chair, looking around at all the books that surrounded him, and at the empty vial on the floor. Hmph. Such an odd feeling, this, he thought to himself, a curious expression on his face. A few books fell from the shelves around him, but he paid them no mind.

I had almost been convinced this day would never come... and yet I almost hoped it would. Now that it's here... I'm not sure what to do. I suppose it's like waiting for an appointment with a new collegue... or, maybe like reuniting with an old friend... His face seemed to brighten a bit as one of the wall shelves collapsed in on itself.

Yes, an old friend... I wonder what she's been up to on the other side... Princess Twilight reminded me so much of her. They're both inquizitive and brilliant mares... I'll have to tell her all about it.

Suddenly, a bright flash erupted as the room exploded, the walls splintered and cracked, the floor broke open with a thunderous sound, Mark Maker was thrown up into the air...!

...Then time seemed to freeze. He looked around from his spot, hovering above his now splintered chair, seeing the books stuck in place, some burning, some not. He was completely tranquil as he floated there, weightless. He looked up at some unseen thing, and then began to smile a genuine, warm, happy smile, his worries suddenly lifted from his chest.

"Clover," he began, speaking as he closed his eyes for the last time. "It's been a very long time, hasn't it? I've missed you..."

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Far Reach, sporting a complicated exosuit, complete with mechanical wings and horn, flapped to keep himself afloat above the master broadcast crystal. As the klaxxons blared, he defiantly lit up the suit's horn, and struck the crystal with a solid white energy beam.

"I have come too far to be stopped by some meltdown!" he yelled to the empty room, ignoring the cracks travelling up the walls and across the floor. "I will control the Brander!" he cried, sending energy pulses into the crystal beneath him.

Then, with a thunderous sound, the floor began to shatter, and cracks began to form in the broadcast crystal. The energy overload was building, here, in this place, with only Reach standing in its way. He was confident that his exosuit, giving him untold power, built from years of research, would allow him to save this facility, if only he could reverse the massive amount of energy mounting inside the crystal below.

"Come... on!" he grunted, his suit beeping at him to warn of excessive exertion. He poured everything he could into stopping the energy buildup, but as the crystal absorbed more power than he could hope to contain, it changed to a lavender hue, to a deeper coloration, slowly beginning to fracture.

"NO! NO! I CAN'T LOSE NOW! I AM FAR REACH! I AM THE TRIDENT!" he screamed, the entire chamber beginning to fall apart. Then, suddenly, with a deafening boom, the top of the crystal, the path of least resistance, cracked and blew off, sending a beam of pure energy with a diameter of nearly ten feet firing upward.

Reach did everything he could to protect himself, but as his defensive shield began to break down, he refused to try to escape, instead shouting and trying in vain to push back.

"NO! I AM REACH! N-NOTHING CAN STOP... Me... I'm omnipotent... I'm-m... I-Invincible..." The beam engulfed the pony, leaving not a single trace left as it vaporized him, then struck the top of the broadcast room, sparking an enormous explosion.

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Twilight, Cadence, Gravel and Ruby all looked back towards the peak from their balloon, far away now, at the sound of the massive explosion. "YEAH-HE-HE-HEA!" Gray exclaimed, slapping Twilight on the back. She didn't even flinch as she looked at the mushroom cloud above the former peak, now more resembling a billowing volcano.

"We'll have to tell them all the truth, you know. About the Trident, about everything," Twilight said solumnly, earning a very concerned glance from Cadence. Ruby and Gravel, meanwhile, both wrapped a hoof around her back.

"And we will, highness, we will," Gravel said confidently, looking beyond the smoke and rubble, at the sunrise in the distance. A new day had begun.

"Finally, princess. Finally, everyone is free."

Epilogue A: The Greatest Good

Hoofsteps echoed throughout the halls of dull stone, as princess Twilight made her way through the darkened corridor, escorted by a lone guard. "You'll have 10 minutes with the prisoner, for safety purposes. Are you sure you don't wish for me to accompany you?" the guard asked, earning an affirmative nod from the monarch. The guard cautiously raised the barrier door that led into a large chamber, and as she stepped inside, he closed it with a wary look.

"Ah, princess!" a familliar, flat-toned, yet lightly pleased voice said, as she walked up a small flight of stairs to the prison pedestal. There, sitting calmly on a rock in the center of the circular pedestal was Far Reach, wearing only a thin smile, and a look of dull interest. It unnerved her that he had the same expression now as he did when she had first met him, but she showed no outward display of concern.

"Reach. I see you've gotten comfortable here," she stated, looking him over, noting his lack of the chained ankle that more dangerous prisoners like Tierek wore.

"Yes, Tartaurus is not so bad a place, over time. It just takes a little adaptation. But, let us not dwell on me... look at you! Wearing those twin, gold trimmed, red sashes I see! The look rather suits you, Twilight, I must admit." Reach seemed oddly relaxed around her, and not vengeful in the slightest. The fact that he was so calm here seemed to put her on edge, but she offset it with her primary reason of being here.

"I've recieved reports that you have been oddly well behaved... I needed to be sure you weren't up to anything," the princess explained simply, eyeing him carefully to look for any signs that something was amiss.

"Oh come now, I've been well behaved since you imprisoned me here! You mean to tell me that it hasn't been cause for concern for over a year?" he asked, wearing a slightly incredulous expression.

"I just had to see for myself," she replied dryly, eyeing him suspiciously. The thin smiling face stared back at her, sending a mild chill down her spine.

"By the way, how IS the Trident now? I can't imagine the council would let something as small as a change of command interfere with their operations. At least, not to any significant degree," he inquired, watching her patiently, and with intent.

Twilight was quick to respond. "Actually, the council is running much smoother now, I think. Mandating that no pony ever be left unbranded seemed to make them far more cohesive an entity."

"Ah yes, though I suppose acceptance is to be expected. After all, the purpose of Marking was and still is unity," he said, standing and revealing his more recently branded flank. It bore a series of metals and crystals, all with a sort of dull texture, arranged in a circle.

"Oh, but I simply must know how the old stallion felt when you told him that you were in charge now. I imagine he was somewhat relieved at my... replacement," Reach said, leaning towards her slightly, but not threateningly.

Twilight walked around the pedestal, checking the rocky protrusions serving as "walls" for anything suspicious, as she delivered her answer. "While Mark Maker wasn't exactly enthusiastic that the Trident was still operating, he was quite happy that the Unbranded were a thing of the past. I think I made the right decision."

"As do I, my dear," Reach said, keeping his own eyes on her as she strolled about. These words seemed to catch her completely off guard, as she stopped dead in her tracks. Good. "You know Twilight, I like you. You may have pushed me out of power and thrown me down here in chains, which of course the guards eventually found unesessary, but you did it all with the 'greater good' in mind. We're not too different, you and I..."

The princess had an aghast expression at his suggestion of a similarity between the two of them. "I'm nothing like you!" she defended, trying to maintain her air of authority.

Reach merely smiled and visibly relaxed. "Is that so? Think, Twilight, you and I both wanted the best outcome for the greatest number of people. Both of us see the logic of the Brander and Marks as a whole, and both of us do what needs to be done to ensure prosperity overall. I say again, we are not so different." His conclusion was solid, but she stood her ground.

"You were a murderer. I disbanded your little assassin squads within the first week, removed them from deployment, and mandated no fatalities by our hooves," she explained, matter of factly. Her tone seemed ever so slightly colder than when they had first met...

He got oddly quiet for a moment, needing to think of how to convince her otherwise. He chose his words carefully before speaking up again. "Twilight, would I be wrong in saying that, generally, inner city crime has risen since your appointment to the position of council head?" He waited camly for her to respond despite her now-surprised expression.

"How would you know about that?" she inquired with concern, only to have him ask another question.

"And did you have to fight off a pretentious young self-proclaimed 'lord of the Mustangs'?"

"How do you know these things? Who is your informant?" Twilight asked, pointing a charged horn at him. He did not flinch or hesitate for even a second.

"I don't have an informant, Twilight. But I did have plans in place for those problems. I don't use assassination and murder as a go-to, princess. I used it when necessary and ONLY when necessary. The inner-city gang leaders were often deposed by my orders, like trimming hedges that overgrow their bounds," he said smoothly, blankly.

"But the death is entirely unecessary!" Twilight cried, eyeing him with an intense stare.

"Unesessary? While it may be true that actual murder cases rarely happen if ever these days, it is due to the Trident that this is the case. We took out anyone who Marks couldn't control, we removed the troublemakers, we SAVED lives!" Reach's expression was far more serious now, his lightly amused eyes replaced now with a look of bored concentration.

"But to kill at all is an atrocity! Why was death needed?"

"Because Twilight. One day I realized that I could prevent 100 deaths by killing one pony. For every mourning friend we caused, thousands were spared. Had I imprisoned them, Equestria would not only have to invest time, energy and money into prisons everywhere, but we would also run the risk of breakouts and significant violence. You see me as a cold, calculating stallion Twilight, and I don't deny it. But I wasn't always this way. I was much like you, I wanted a perfect world. But as much as the Brander allows us some intense influence, we cannot directly control throusands of ponies. Just look at yourself! But I realized I could help MOST of the world. And that's what I did."

Twilight was silent for a moment as she pondered his words, silently looking him over. He clearly wasn't lying, but she couldn't agree with his methods.

"Everything had a purpose Twilight. The Squads of the Trident, the assassinations, the monarchal control, the factory in Cloudsdale, the mass information collection... it all may seem horrific to you, but all of it, every part of it, went into making the carefully balanced, prosperous world that Equestria is today. But now it's your turn to take charge," he concluded, looking directly into her eyes with a blank, yet rare not-bored expression.

Twilight had heard enough, and after a brief pause, she turned to walk away. "Don't cause any trouble now," she said, trotting in the direction of the door. She was about to head down the stairs before Reach spoke up again.

"Twilight, wait. Before you go, I have a recommendation." He was cool and calm, and she turned around to see a bored, yet sincere look on his face.

"What do you want, Reach?" Twilight asked in annoyance, eyeing him suspiciously.

"There's a politician who should be lined up to run for governor of Fillydelphia. His name is Smooth Talker. He has a plan to increase police patrols in the inner city. It may cost taxpayers a bit more money, but you'll see a crime drop, and avoid killing, if he wins the election." He paused here to let her think.

"And why are you telling me this?" she asked briskly, still annoyed but curious.

"Because, Twilight, you run the Trident now. It's your duty to ensure the greater good, and I know you want to. I'm suggesting you ensure his election via media campaign support through some of our front companies, coupled with internal government support," he explained, looking serious as ever.

The princess had on a mild look of disgust... but kept listening. "Why would I remove the people's power to vote?"

"You're not removing it at all. You are merely influencing the most desireable outcome. I had intention of doing so, but it's in your hooves now," he concluded solidly, a dry smile returing to his otherwise blank face.

Though I hate to admit it... he may have a point there. After all, it would help everyone in the long run... Part of her couldn't believe she was considering advice from Reach... and yet, the rest of her found logic in the support. After all... it was for the greater good.

"I'll consider it," she finally said, walking down and knocking on the door. Just as the guard opened it, Reach spoke up for the last time that day. "I'm not evil, Twilight. Just cold."

With that, she turned and walked down the hallway, not looking back as the door shut behind her. She had a Council meeting to conduct.

Author's Notes:

Twilight's final decision was left not in my hands, but in yours! Do you think you made the best choice? Feel free to leave a comment explaining why you chose what you did, and thanks for reading!

Epilogue B: The Choices We Make

"Twilight! I give up, I surrender! Open the door!"

The princess was back in front of the broadcast chamber, heart pounding as she listened to Far Reach yelling from the other side.

"You'll be a murderer, Twilight! A murderer! A killer!" he said, his voice sounding slightly different. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore him, yet could not move away from the door. Thus, when she heard a third voice, she nearly yelped in panic.

"She already is a murderer. She just can't face the facts," the voice said coldly. The princess opened her eyes to see Straight Arrow, his eyes glazed over and lifeless, standing before her.

"Wha-- how--?" she began, backing up against the door.

"You could have saved me, Twilight... but you didn't," he said plainly.

"Murderer! You're a killer!" Reach yelled from behind the door, forcing her to back up. She found herself backed against something solid again, and as she whipped around, she was met with Arrow staring back at her.

"It's time to pay up," he said, placing a cold hoof on her throat, beginning to push.

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Twilight awoke in a cold sweat, holding a hoof to her throat and panting, panicked, at the nightmare. She took deep breaths, trying to look around slowly and gather her bearings.

The princess noted her room, the warm daylight streaming in through the windows, reflecting off of the dull floor. She lay back on her bed, holding her head in her hooves for a moment as she tried to clear her mind.

Another nightmare... this is getting hard to take... she thought to herself, sighing shakily. Even now, a year later, she still had horrible dreams about Reach's death. Luna had agreed to help a few months back, that is, when she wasn't helping with Equestria's stability. But even Luna couldn't be there every night.

Indeed, Luna, Celestia, Cadence... since the Trident disappeared, a very unexpected crime spike occurred, mostly in bigger cities. As a result, the leaders had to put quite a bit more effort into running their respective towns. Evidently, the strings that had been cut had been holding up more than Twilight had imagined. However, here in ber castle, she could look out and see Ponyville, which, even after the incident, really hadn't changed too much.

Twilight continued looking out her window and thinking about how things had changed, in a attempt to shake off those dark dreams. She sighed, looking over at her clock. It was almost time for work, and today there was a very special appointment that she just couldn't miss. With a smile slowly growing on her face, she spread her wings and prepared to head to Canterlot Peak.

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The cold mountain breeze greeted her as Twilight landed in front of her new workplace in the peak. The formerly hidden door and subtle cave had been remodled into a comfortable, much more obvious entrance, and the complex door left unlocked for service. The baloon dock had been expanded to accomodate the Canterlot airships, and the princess was a bit relieved to see that a ship hadn't shown up yet.

"It's nice up here today..." she noted to herself, walking towards the entrance. Yes. The place where you became a killer... She sped up her pace and walked inside, as if, in doing so, she would leave her darker thoughts behind.

"Twilight! I was almost worried that something had happened! Glad you made it!" Mark Maker said as she flew into the grand hall of the facility. She reflected for a moment on how much better the lighting was in here now, at least from her perspective. Or, perhaps she just took the removal of the Trident seal from the wall as a brightening factor.

"I'm alright, I wouldn't miss today and you know it!" the princess reminded him happily, earning a nod from the smiling stallion. She hadn't told him yet about the harsh dreams, because she felt that he might think himself guilty for asking her to do what she did in the first place. However, ultimately, she knew she had made the right choice, so the point was moot.

"Ah yes, the special young lady. I made sure she was bumped up to the first appointment slot today! In fact, I think I hear the first airship arriving now!" Maker exclaimed, beaming. He definitely seemed a much happier stallion ever since the facility was opened to the public, and while dissolving the Trident may have caused initial societal disruption, the princesses over the last year had been doing a fairly good job of keeping the rate of issues low. The rate of problems started to drop six months ago, when the princesses expanded the royal guard to specifically include a civilian defense corps.

"I'd best get to the Brander, I think you'll want to stay here and see her when it happens!" Maker said with a wink, trotting off before she even had a chance to thank him.

Not two minutes later, Twilight beamed brightly as she saw a familiar, turquoise pony walk through the door,wearing a smile on her face as well.

"Summer! My how you've grown! How are you?" she asked kindly, looking down at the not-so-little-anymore filly who unintentionally started it all.

"I'm great princess! I can't wait for my new Cutie Mark!" Summer said with a short jump. Twilight looked over her to see her mother, standing by the door, wearing a proud smile on her face.

"Well, it should be ready any minute now! Now I have to ask, are you sure you want one?" the princess asked, with a light smirk. It seemed silly to ask, but it was part of her new job to ensure the desire to be Marked. After all, this was permenant, and some ponies had second thoughts.

"Ab-SO-lutely!" she said, holding her chin up high, warrenting a light chuckle from the princess.

The hall's speakers crackled on as Mark Maker's voice was broadcast through the facility. "Attention! We are ready to begin the Marking! Please remain still!"

Summer closed her eyes and stood frozen as her flank glowed brightly for a moment, until her Mark manifested itself. It was a deep blue butterfly, with waves rippling off of its wings. As Summer opened her eyes and looked back, she gasped in both surprise and glee, admiring it before turing around to the princess before her.

"Wow... I guess you really ARE the princess of Cutie Marks now!" the filly stated gladly, running up to her ang giving her a surprisingly warm hug. Twilight returned it in mild shock, but grinned at her appreciation. The princess of Marks... After a moment, not wanting to hold up the others who were waiting, she ran back to her mother, yelling "Thanks so much! You're my favorite princess!" Before she was led out the door and back to the ship. The next patron would be in in a few minutes, and Twilight reflected on what was said.

This all started because she asked if I was the princess of Cutie Marks, and now that it's all over... that's exactly what I am, isn't it? She really wasn't sure if she should feel happy or... or what she should feel. but, did the means justify the ends? she wondered, glancing over to the right doorway. She shuddered as she stared at it. To that day, she'd still never set foot anywhere near the broadcast room... but this was not the time for dark thoughts. She could push them aside... for a little while, anyways. She had given freedom and liberation to Equestria, and by making her choice, she allowed everyone to make their own choices.

And so, Twilight Sparkle looked out on the crowd in front of the door, standing tall in her new position. After all she had been through, after the simple question that started it all... she had truly had become the Princess of Marks.

Author's Notes:

Twilight's final decision was left not in my hands, but in yours! Do you think you made the best choice? Feel free to leave a comment explaining why you chose what you did, and thanks for reading!

Epilogue C: The Price of "Free"

Twilight paced slowly across the floor in the Canterlot throne room, awaiting the arrival of the other princesses. She began to mutter to herself "I hope they're not delayed... what if something happened? What if someone tried to attack princess Cadence again? Or, what if--"

"Twilight, would ya calm down? You do this every time! You know they're probably alright." The voice that had spoken belonged to Spike, who was nonchalantly sitting on Celestia's throne, swinging his legs over the seat.

"Spike! Get off of there!" she said as she looked up at him, before responding to his statement. As he jumped down with a mild huff, she spoke up with a sigh. "...I know, Spike, I know. Sorry it's just, I get worried sometimes! Especially these days!"

"You can say that again!" Spike said, inspecting some of the crystals arrayed about the throne's base, wondering what they tasted like.

Twilight was about to call him out again, but was interrupted by the door opening, and the princesses, with a few other leaders, walking in. They were escorted by guards, each wearing different armor. Celestia's in gold, Luna's in greyish black, Cadence's in light blue, and other guards in colors from their respective city-states.

"Twilight, I'm glad to see you're here early," Celestia stated, as they each bowed respectfully to one another. The leaders all positioned themselves in a circle as the guards shut the doors carefully, standing alert and at attention. Spike, realizing all of the eyes on him, also stood at attention for a moment, but still cast the occasional glance towards the crystals.

"Alright, Is everyone here?" Celestia began, Looking about. This was the more informal call to attendance for these sort of meetings, and one by one, each leader spoke up in the circle.

"Princess Cadence representing the Crystal Empire," Cadence said to start it off.

"Princess Luna, representing the Reclaimed Everfree Lands."

"Princess Twilight, representing Ponyville."

"Acting Commander Typhoon, representing Cloudsdale."

"Sheriff Silverstar of Appleoosa."

"And Princess Celestia of Canterlot," Celestia finished, nodding.

"Now that everyone is present, we should begin with the state of affairs. As you know, this, the 4th meeting of Equestria in Distress, marks exactly one year since the Canterlot mountain incident." Twilight bit her lip lightly as she looked to her former mentor, who continued on without notice. "That said, it has been just under a year since the Trident's attempted coup of the land. Although we have defended our respective territories, have since regained Cloudsdale, and destroyed their operating base in the Everfree, there are still many areas they control. Does anyone have any news to add?" She opened the floor to whoever wished to speak, looking around the room slowly.

Typhoon spoke first, stepping into the circle. "Maretonia couldn't make the meeting, but they have recently requested our aid. We in Cloudsdale sent word that we are currently engaged in a campaign against Trident-held Las Pegasus, but we agreed to send a few arial units their way in the meantime."

Luna spoke next, a grave look on her face. "We regret to inform this gathering that Saddle Arabia has recently fallen under Trident control. We have heard that... HE was leading the charge again," she said in a reserved tone.

"Flak..." Twilight muttered, wincing as if in pain at the thought. If I had only known his plans... I never would have let him escape... Celestia noticed her distraught look, and subtly nudged her comfortingly with her wing.

"It's Las Pegasus all over again!" Typhoon muttered, looking at the floor. "That Flak guy seems to be the only reason they're gaining territory... bah, I'll have to bring him up in the strategy meeting later..."

It was Twilight's turn, and hopefully this news would lighten the mood a bit. "I recently sent an envoy to Manehattan, the Trident's makeshift 'captial'. Governor Smooth Talker has agreed to attempt a peace treaty between Royal Equestria and Trident Equestria."

"We can't let them do that! We know that they'll use that time to train up elite troops! It's bad enough with those agent squads of theirs, do you really want to face a whole army of those guys?" Typhoon protested, slamming her hoof on the ground.

Celestia stood calmly for a moment, and the pegasus commander fell silent. "Typhoon, remember that we took their primary training facility when they failed to take Canterlot from within. And the technology the Royal Engineering Corps took from their labs has put us on par with them, except we have the resources to mass produce the pieces. They don't own too many resource territories." Celestia rarely spoke very much in these meetings, aside from the formal parts and the Canterlot reports, so when she did, as now, they all listened. Her conclusion statement had their full attention. "In a battle of time, we have the advantage."

"It's fair to note that we are not fighting the real Trident anyway," Cadence chimed in. "We are fighting remnants led by a fractured Council. after Reach's disappearance, they apparently had no succession plan, and without validation of life or death, the council still acts as if he is the head, but merely not present. They are not the ruthlessly efficient machine that ran Equestria anymore. They are a creature of the shadows that has been forced into the harsh daylight, and they're thrashing around just like any scared, violent creature." Cadence always did have a way of grabbing the attention of others when she wanted it, with her excellent tone control and soft, subtle gestures.

Typhoon quieted down for a moment, allowing the others to speak.

The Sheriff cleared his throat and stepped forward. It was clear that formality was not his particular forte, but he was a respected leader, so no one felt the need to criticize him as he spoke. "We just finished up a deal with the Buffaloes. If we ever need their brute strength protectin' our town, we've got it." It was short and simple, yet effective. He went and sat down nearly as quickly as he had stood up.

"Alright, with that, does anyone have any internal reports, good or bad?" Celestia asked, moving the meeting along. Spike, who had been trying to stand at attention this whole time, subtly moved over to Twilight's side and sat down, poorly concealing a yellow crystal shard under his arm.

"The Pegasus emergency military command initiative has ensured that the initial crime spike a few months ago has ended entirely. Otherwise, more and more families are helping out in the war effort," Typhoon explained with pride.

"Crime is still hard to control, but Shining has been increasing patrols on the streets of the Empire. Also, the people's warrior history has led them to be more than willing to enlist in the cause, be they guards or reservists," Cadence stated formally.

"Here in Canterlot, I have personally been randomly doing sweeps with some of the guards. The crime spike seemed to level off after that, although the prisions are fuller than ever," Celestia explained calmly.

"A-are they talking about me? Whatever I did was an accident, I promise!" Spike whispered to Twilight, earning a light chuckle.

"You're fine Spike," she said quietly as the leaders wrapped up their reports.

"Now, has all been covered for now? Any questions? Good. The strategy meeting will be at noon as usual, and in the meantime, your rooms have been prepared for you here in the castle," Celestia announced, indicating the end of the initial overview. As everyone stood, bowed, and left with their guards, Twilight and Cadence stayed behind.

"You okay, Twi?" Cadence asked, wrapping a wing around her back, as Spike snuck away back to the throne itself.

"This is all my fault..." the princess muttered quietly, slinking down.

Cadence sighed, pulling her a little closer with a wing. "Twi, I want you to listen okay? You heard in that meeting. We're getting the new crime under control, and you may have found peace with the Trident remnants! Things are slowly getting better Twilight, and they will continue to get better! You made a choice you thought was right," she explained gently, soothingly.

"But... even you told me to just take over the Trident! I never expected things to get this... violent..."

"Oh Twilight... I said that because I was afraid we couldn't keep Equestria going without it... but just look at us! Look at you! We're running Equestria just fine, and we're getting better. You heard back in the meeting, the Trident is confused and out of their element. With their council disjointed and most of their old bases gone, coming out in public to save themselves in a last-ditched effort will prove to eventually be their undoing. I back up your decision 100%!"

Her words were comforting to the princess, who looked up slowly, considering her words. "You really think so?" she asked sincerely.

"Of course I do! Ponies are finally free of restrictions of any kind, all thanks to you. They just have to get on their feet after being chained down for so long," Cadence explained, using the metaphor to show Twilight it would all be okay in the long run.

The princess felt better after hearing it, and, after thanking Cadence, called out to Spike.

"Mm--huh?" the dragon questioned through a mouthful of yellow crystal. He swallowed quickly and waved his arms. "I only took a piece, that's all!"

Twilight chuckled a bit at his antics. "Come on Spike. We should head to the room, I have a few papers to prepare for the meeting," she said, gesturing for him to hop on her back.

She thanked Cadence once again and walked out into the hall, a new air of confidence about her, an extra determined look in her eye. Twilight had learned the hard way that freedom wasn't without concequences, but, in the long run, she had done the right thing, she thought.

Equestria was free thanks to her, and by her efforts, no one would ever again be enslaved by Brands, chained down by a dark organization. In the end, Twilight felt that it was better to be free, than to be Marked.

Author's Notes:

Twilight's final decision was left not in my hands, but in yours! Do you think you made the best choice? Feel free to leave a comment explaining why you chose what you did, and thanks for reading!

(Soundtrack for Marked)

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! As you know, through the later portion of the story, I began composing music for some of the chapters, and made the songs free to anyone who wanted it.

Well, all songs have been compiled here, so feel free to listen or download!

Click here to see the full soundtrack.