> Hero Souls: Awakening
>  by SvenFoxx
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> (Rewritten) 1. Soul of Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Written in the most ancient of fables and the oldest of records, you will find whispers of the term ‘Hero Soul’. No pony truly understands what it means. Some think it means those who have this moniker are heroes. Some think it means they are incredibly brave. And others think it a mark of destiny; that they will somehow play a pivotal role in the shaping of history.

And sometimes, they are right, but not for the reasons you would think.

If one were to examine every person in history that was called a Hero Soul, they would eventually find a pattern. Every time someone such as this turned up in history, conflict and struggle was not far behind. War. Tragedy. Devastation. And yet, it is not the fault of the Hero Soul that this happens.

No, the Hero Soul is actually the answer to these trying times. They rise from the ashes of empires that were torn apart, and lead them into rebuilding and thriving once again.

Fake Forge, the Dream of Heroes. A Unicorn who wielded the power to bend reality itself, his desire to protect was so potent. He waged a secret war in the hopes of preventing Armageddon. 

Fury Cutter, the Blue Rogue. A Diamond Dog that dreamed of exploring the unexplored. He thrived on adventure, and rose to the call when the world was threatened by the Gryphons attempting to control ancient magic that even the Alicorns barely understood.

Maelstrom, the Feral Gale. A Pegasus that was given the chance to save all he loved from a terrible fate, cultivating a fire within himself that he claimed was the source of his strength until the very end.

Time Turner, the Oncoming Storm. An Earth-Pony driven by exploring the unknown and experiencing life, yet hiding a painful past and regretting many mistakes. He saved the life of the Princesses when he sacrificed himself in their place.

Black Wing, the Infinite Archive. A Thestral that always strived to better himself, and somehow achieved power similar in scope to the Alicorns. He vanished from the annals of history suddenly and without explanation.

And now, the gears of destiny slowly begin to grind for even more Hero Souls.

---

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she came back to awareness. The very first thing her mind registered clearly was pain. By the Stars was she in pain. Every twitch came with a lance of pain. Every breath felt like her lungs were nothing more than mulch. Every light that hit her eyes felt like a white-hot needle into her brain.

She was in pain… and that was good. ‘Pain means I’m not dead.’ She frowned at that thought. She wasn’t entirely certain where it had come from. However, she could see the wisdom in it. She could feel pain. Therefore, she was alive and in a good enough condition to acknowledge that pain. But still, that begged a question. ‘Why am I in pain?’

Looking around, she tried to get her bearings. Her neck complained at the action, but she ignored it. It was dark out, nighttime. That was important. She knew it was important. But… why was it important?

She was laying in a mess of rubble near a demolished old-looking stonework wall with a hole in it. Dust fell in strands from it, telling her the hole was recent. She tried to stand, and wobbled as indistinct images and sounds flashed across her mind. The only thing she could make out from the mess was… well… some kind of bipedal furless creature.

Her head ached, and she wasn’t sure if that was a product of a concussion or magical overload. It wouldn’t be the first time she had one or the other. Considering the confusing mess her thoughts were in, she was leaning towards concussion.

More images, this time of a bird’s eye view of green pastures and fields of corn. The farm house situated in the center of it all called to her, making her heart heavy with sadness.

She groaned and tried to focus, to push past the haze and fog in her mind. She could think, but it was disjointed and sporadic. Definitely concussed. What hit her?

She leaned her head back with a slow inhale, and opened her eyes, staring at the Moon.

Wait…

The Moon…

She frowned. There was that feeling of importance again. The Moon was important. It was very important. Why? She felt like growling in frustration.

“Ah found her!”

Twilight jerked at the sudden accented shout, and looked over to find an orange Earth-Pony mare galloping towards her, concern etched into her facial features.

“Twi! Are ya okay?” The mare asked, sliding to a stop next to her. “By the Stars… we weren’t sure you would even be alive after that.”

“After… what?” Twilight mumbled.

The mare frowned, the concern in her green eyes growing. “Twi?” She asked.

“Who… are you?” Twilight managed to get out. “I know you… I know you… but I don’t know you.” She knew that she should know this mare.

Stupid concussion.

The mare blinked. “Er… What? I don’t think I get it, Twi. What do you mean you know me, but don’t? It’s me, Applejack!”

“Well howdy do, Miss Twilight! A pleasure making your acquaintance.”

Twilight gasped, her eyes lighting up in recognition… but then the image of Applejack was momentarily replaced with the image of one of those bipedal creatures again, this one female and older. Twilight’s heart wrenched when she saw her. Her smile was kind and eyes full of love and wisdom both.

And then Applejack was in front of her again, her own eyes full of worry.

“Ma?” Twilight mumbled, half asking.

Applejack blinked. “What?” she whispered. Then she shook her head. “You’re not well, sugar-cube. We need to get out of here before-”

“Too late!”

From out of nowhere a black Alicorn with a blue mist-like mane blasted Applejack away from Twilight with a beam of magic. Then the Alicorn charged towards Twilight. Twilight didn’t think. Fear gripped her the moment she heard that horrifyingly familiar voice, compounding when her friend was attacked. Instinct gripped her…

And she proceeded to punch Nightmare Moon so hard in the face that not only did the Alicorn stop, but she rebounded and crashed through the wall with a hole in it, completely missing the hole.

She looked at her hoof in awe. “How…?” she mumbled.

The image of a bipedal creature in green armor surfaced in her mind, and she saw a fist, hers if her perspective could be believed, hitting him and launching him through several buildings. 

“What’s happening to me?” Twilight whispered to herself. With a start, she remembered Applejack and turned, finding the mare laying on the ground some ways away. She got up and ran towards her friend.

Applejack was unconscious and slightly banged up, but otherwise fine. That was all Twilight could determine before Nightmare Moon came roaring back into the clearing and tackling her past Applejack into a nearby tree.

“You are fast becoming a nuisance!” the Princess declared, her eyes flashing with power. “You failed to activate the Elements of Harmony. Your friends are scattered, and you are injured. Just give up and leave! I will not stop you.”

Twilight glared at Nightmare Moon and tried to use her magic. Her horn sputtered and flared, but nothing happened. She gripped the hooves holding her against the tree with her own hooves, but the strength she had struck Nightmare Moon with earlier had vanished. “Never.” she whispered, despite her predicament.

“Why?” Nightmare Moon growled in frustration. “Why do you resist the Eternal Night? Celestia is defeated! Her precious Sun will never rise on Equestria again, and your so called last resort failed! You have no reason to fight, so why?”

Twilight grimaced, before a strange feeling came over her. She stopped struggling and stared at the Alicorn in the eyes calmly. “Because I love Equestria… and I refuse to see it become a land of darkness and oppression.”

“My rule will be firm, but fair. Criminals will be punished. Heroes will be praised.” Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed. “And no pony will be discriminated against because they are different.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she recalled the words of the Tale of the Two Sisters.

 … but as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The Ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night…

“…This isn’t about power or control for you, is it?” Twilight asked quietly, almost shocked as things began clicking into place at a rapid pace in her mind.

“No,” Nightmare Moon agreed. “This is about recognition. My Night will be appreciated… even if I must show the world exactly how terrifying the darkness of the Night can be.”

“But… but no pony fears the night anymore!” Twilight exclaimed. “There are even entertainment establishments that operate only during the night!”

Nightmare Moon paused, and Twilight noticed her eyes, teal colored cat-like eyes, shift into a normal cerulean color and shape. “Truly?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “It’s been over a thousand years, and ponies change. I won’t say that ponies don’t fear what they don’t understand, but now we strive to try and understand what we don’t. Like space. We’ve created devices that allow us to view the space beyond what our eyes can see at night. Ponies… no, creatures all over the world study the stars and the planets lightyears away from us. And it’s all curiosity that drives them.”

 ‘Maybe we didn’t need the Elements of Harmony,’ Twilight thought to herself. ‘Maybe, just maybe, some good old-fashioned talking would do it.’

“There are planets other than Equus?” the Alicorn asked, releasing Twilight and backing away. “Are there Ponies on those planets as well?” she asked in growing excitement.

Twilight shook her head. “We don’t know. We can see the planets, but not what’s on them in any real detail. That question is one of the largest drives for the study of space. Are we alone in the universe?”

Twilight began to relax, but it was short-lived. Nightmare Moon’s eyes flared with dark power and she expelled a magical shockwave, throwing Twilight back against the tree. “No! I will not be distracted by lies!” she growled, her eyes once more cat-like and teal in color.

Twilight squeaked as Nightmare Moon fired a blast of magic at her point-blank, and frantically dived away to avoid it. She ended up accidentally launching herself clear across the clearing, flailing in shock at the action and landing in an undignified mess.

As Twilight tried to get her hooves under her, Nightmare Moon was charging a much larger spell. While getting up, she noticed the spell just as it was fired. She tried to use her magic to teleport away, but it fizzled out again. She panicked and tried to jump to the side again, but only ended up tripping over her own hoof and landing on her face.

She closed her eyes, waiting for her end and hoping it wasn’t too painful.

“No!”

Twilight felt magic surround her body as she was yanked out of the way, just barely avoiding the ball of magic as it roared by. Twilight opened her eyes to find her rescuer, and was never happier to see a Unicorn with a Canterlot attitude than she was when her eyes fell on Rarity, standing at the edge of the clearing.

“I could kiss you right now.” she said frankly as Rarity pulled her closer.

Rarity blushed, but it wasn’t her that responded. Rainbow Dash surprised Twilight by flying over and grinning. “Really, Twi? I didn’t know you swung for that team.” she ribbed her friend.

Twilight blushed as well, now realizing just what she had said to Rarity. “Er… I…”

“We heard Applejack yell, and came running as quickly as we could,” Rarity interrupted, forcing her blush down. “Actually,” she continued. “Where is she?”

Twilight’s hooves touched grass and she was released form Rarity’s levitation field as she answered. “She’s over there. She was knocked out shortly after finding me.” She pointed a hoof towards Applejack’s body.

“Well that simply won’t do.” Rarity commented, lighting up her horn again.

Twilight’s ear twitched, and she spun around and threw her hoof forward. She ended up punching Nightmare Moon in the face again. Once more the Alicorn flew backwards from the force of the punch and through a tree, breaking it in half and making it fall on her.

As Rarity and Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight with dropped jaws, Twilight herself glared at her hoof. She had reacted on pure instinct when she heard the Alicorn disturbing the air on her approach. Just what in Tartarus was going on? 

“Oh dear…” Rarity said faintly, her eyes on Twilight’s hoof.

Rainbow Dash’s shock faded quickly to be replaced with a face splitting grin. “That was so cool! How did you move that fast? How did you hit her that hard? Applejack tried bucking her already, and it only annoyed her!” she asked.

Twilight snapped out of her thoughts at the rapid-fire questions, and looked at Rainbow Dash and Rarity. “I… don’t really know?” she offered, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “I keep having these moments where I’m suddenly really strong or fast, but it keeps fading away.”

Before any more questions could be asked, Nightmare Moon exploded into the clearing surrounded by an aura of magic, flying straight towards Twilight. The Unicorn only had enough time to squeak in surprise before she was soundly punched in the face by Nightmare Moon’s hoof, and Twilight felt the immense magic behind the punch just before she was launched backwards by the action.

Nightmare Moon laughed as she watched the Unicorn disappear into the darkness, confident she had finally killed the pest. She turned her attention towards the two Ponies she was sure were now staring at her in fear, only to find a pair of furious blue eyes glaring into her own from inches away, startling her.

“How DARE you!”

---

Twilight hit a tree, and then she went through the tree, destroying it in an explosion of wood splinters.

Her speed greatly reduced by the obstacle, gravity reclaimed her and she hit the ground, still at a respectable speed. She bounced a few times and flailed, trying to get a grip on the ground, or a rock, or a branch, or… anything! She finally was brought to a stop when her back hit a large boulder with crash and a shower of stone chips and shards.

Twilight groaned in pain, but despite that pain her mind was working quickly to try and figure out just how she had survived her journey through a tree and, after a quick glance at her current resting spot, halfway through a boulder.

At that very moment, more images flashed through her mind. More of those bipedal creatures, a rather impressive city made of stone and metal with very tall buildings, and…

And a stylized red S on a yellow background.

She quickly realized, as more and more sounds and images flooded her, that this wasn’t the madness of a concussion, but rather memories that did not belong in her head. More than that though, she could feel the memories quickly overwhelming her. She was forced to use every meditation trick she knew of to try and just keep her awareness.

Something was waking up inside of her, and it was trying to overtake her own consciousness. Worse, it was succeeding despite how valiantly Twilight was struggling to retain herself. Slowly, inch by inch, it was winning.

Twilight didn’t want to lose herself. She didn’t want to stop existing. She wanted to stay herself!

So focused was she on trying to keep from being swallowed by the foreign memories, that her senses had stopped registering in her mind as she devoted every last bit of her will into fighting for her very existence.

But one sound pierced that silence. It was a scream, the pained scream of a Pony Twilight had only met recently, but had quickly found herself bonding with, just as she did with the other four mares. Her voice was normally so soft, so timid, but so undeniably kind as well.

Fluttershy.

Twilight made a decision. ‘Fine! Take me! Just save them!’

And for the first time since waking up in the clearing, Twilight Sparkle’s mind and soul achieved unity.

---

“Let her go!” Rainbow Dash yelled, struggling under the heavy chains made of magic the Alicorn had conjured to trap her. “Let my friend go!” she screamed, thrashing as much as she could.

Fluttershy, who had arrived with Pinkie Pie just in time to see Twilight get punched hard enough to launch her further into the dark forest, had snapped. She had proceeded to glare at the Alicorn and start berating her. At first, it seemed to work, as the Alicorn had been completely wrong-hoofed and began backpedaling as Fluttershy verbally tore into her.

Just as the rant was building to a climax though, she had snapped out of her apparent fear and struck Fluttershy, sending her sprawling with a pained scream. Rainbow Dash, enraged, had charged Nightmare Moon, with predictable results. She was captured and trapped in chains, and Rarity’s attempt to free her had resulted in the same treatment, but with ropes.

Pinkie Pie was off to the side, working to avoid a Manticore Nightmare Moon had somehow summoned and sent after her.

Then she had grabbed Fluttershy in her magic and raised her up.

“The Predator Stare. To think I would be confronted with his descendant so quickly after my return. But you are weak, feeble. Without courage, the Stare is useless,” she noted.

Her eyebrow twitched, and her left eye flashed cerulean. “Yet, even when only powered by a brief burst of courage, you nearly unraveled everything. I cannot allow such a power to roam unchecked.”

Her horn ignited, and Fluttershy watched fearfully as an ethereal sword composed of magic formed above Nightmare Moon, pointed at Fluttershy’s head.

“NO!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed. She thrashed harder, and harder, and harder still, but nothing worked. “Fluttershy!” She pushed as hard as she could, and further. She stopped caring about limits. She stopped caring about herself, and pushed. The more she pushed, the more she struggled, a fire slowly began to grow in her. Unfortunately…

“Die,” Nightmare Moon commanded softly, almost sadly. And then she fired the sword like a spear.

Rainbow Dash felt the fire go out completely as dread overwhelmed her. “FLUTTERSHY!”

Fluttershy flinched and closed her eyes. There was a rush of wind, what she assumed was the sword as it approached, but…

 Clang.

“You!? How?! I killed you!”

Fluttershy’s eyes opened, and she found Twilight standing between her and Nightmare Moon. She couldn’t see it, but Nightmare Moon’s sword was being stopped by Twilight holding her hoof against the tip, without any apparent effort. She squeaked as the magic holding her released, dropping her.

Rainbow Dash began openly crying in relief, grateful beyond words that her first and best friend was safe. She didn’t care if Twilight was floating off the ground without wings. She didn’t care if it should have been impossible to stop a sword with your hoof like that. She was just immensely grateful that she had saved Fluttershy. “Thank you,” she nearly sobbed.

“No, you assumed I was dead,” Twilight corrected the Alicorn calmly. “You should have checked to make sure.” Twilight then swung her other hoof up and over, bringing it down on the magical construct and shattering it like glass.

As the pieces of magic fell and faded away, Nightmare moon roared in rage and funneled a great deal of magic into a single beam, which was aimed right at Twilight’s head. It was small, the size of a coin, but so powerful it could probably punch through the strongest metals. 

Twilight just rolled her head to the side, avoiding it completely. It lanced into the darkened forest, briefly lighting up the night.

“I assume that was just a warning shot?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nightmare Moon looked absolutely livid, and perhaps a bit embarrassed, but calmed herself down after a moment. She looked at Twilight with narrowed eyes, realizing just now the impossibility of the actions the Unicorn was committing to. “You’re different,” she noticed, observing the absolute lack of fear in Twilight’s gaze.

“I am.” Twilight nodded.

“How so?” Nightmare Moon asked conversationally.

Twilight vanished in a blur, appearing inches from Nightmare Moon’s face and grabbed her head with both hooves. “Allow me to demonstrate,” the unicorn whispered.

And then she drove her knee straight into the Alicorn’s startled face.

Nightmare Moon staggered back, blood leaking from a split lip, but had no time to recover as Twilight spun and bucked her in the chest. She flew backwards, arching towards a tree, but was stopped by Twilight appearing behind her and jackhammering her straight down. She hit the ground with an explosion of dirt and dust.

Twilight flew over to where she had stopped the sword and landed. “Do you know what it’s like, Nightmare Moon, to have memories that aren’t your own trying to flood your mind?” she asked curiously, watching the cloud of dust carefully. “It was overwhelming, and I thought I was going to lose myself to them, they were so strong. No more Twilight Sparkle. No more Celestia’s Faithful Student. Just the meat-puppet of a consciousness you know nothing about. I was terrified.”

Nightmare Moon stalked from the settling dust, her expression thunderous. “You think you know fear?” she demanded, and then reared up. “I shall show you true terror!” she bellowed, charging Twilight.

Twilight began moving backwards, dodging every punch, kick, and the occasional blast of magic with speed and apparent ease. In the back of her mind, she realized they had left the clearing her friends were in as the fight began moving through the forest.

“And you know what? I was losing. Those memories would have overwhelmed me, and likely killed me. But then I heard Fluttershy scream,” she resumed her story.

“Hold still!” Nightmare Moon growled, summoning an ethereal sword and using it alongside her other attacks. Still, Twilight dodged with ease, though she moved faster to keep up.

“That scream pierced everything, bringing a dead stop to the struggle between me and the memories. I decided then and there that I didn’t care. My existence isn’t important compared to them. I would gladly give up everything, mind, body, and even my soul, for them. Because, against all odds, despite how little I knew them,” she paused. “I care about them. They had somehow become my friends.”

Something in her mind clicked, and her eyes widened briefly. ‘Wait, it can’t be that simple… can it?’ she thought.

Rarity and the serpant.

Fluttershy and the Manticore.

Applejack and the cliff.

Pinkie Pie and the fear spell.

Rainbow Dash and the Shadowbolts.

And the reasons behind it all.

It all fit. Everything fit. How had she missed it?

Twilight suddenly retaliated, striking Nightmare Moon across the face and knocking her to the side. “So I let them in. I let all of the memories in, with the the only condition for my surrender being the safety of my friends. Imagine my surprise when I found out the memories where mine all along, just… hidden.”

Nightmare Moon got to her hooves quickly and charged back in with an incoherent scream of rage. “I am an Alicorn! A mere Unicorn is nothing compared to me! Celestia herself could not best me!”

Twilight resumed dodging with apparent ease. “True. A normal Unicorn would have little to no chance against an Alicorn. But I think I’ve already established that I’m not normal.” She jumped backwards, and then slammed her hoof into the ground as Nightmare Moon approached.

The ground buckled and heaved, and Nightmare Moon nearly speared herself on a jagged chunk of stone that was uplifted by the force of the punch. Twilight blurred in and grabbed her in a headlock that was impossible to break from.

“The strange thing is that these memories aren’t just from my time as Twilight, but are the memories of another being entirely. His name was Clark Kent, the Man of Steel. He dedicated his life to the protection of humanity, a species he wasn’t a biological member of. But the kindness of just two humans proved to him that they were worth defending to the very end, and that’s exactly what he did.”

“Is there a point to this insane story?” Nightmare Moon grunted, realizing that though she was trapped, Twilight didn’t seem to be attacking either.

Twilight smiled at the Nightmare, and the Alicorn realized it was not a kind smile. “Clark Kent fought Gods and won, repeatedly. At the end, he was considered a mortal God by the very same Gods he defeated and gained the respect of.” She shifted her hold. “An Alicorn is powerful, and perhaps even ageless, but they aren’t Gods.”

“Blasphemer!” Nightmare Moon roared, resuming her struggling with renewed vigor. “Alicorns are worshiped widely as Gods and Goddesses!”

“Not anymore. Celestia put a stop to it through open honesty about your species. She admitted the very same things, that an Alicorn was a mystery in many ways even to her, and I assume you, but they aren't truly immortal, just ageless and powerful.”

Nightmare Moon stopped struggling after a moment. Twilight frowned when the mare began convulsing, and her eyes widened when the Alicorn’s fur actually started to change colors.

A single cerulean eye shot to her own lavender irises, and a telepathic message lanced into her mind. “Now! We cannot maintain control for long! End this monster!”

Twilight was visibly startled by this, and whoever it was that had contacted her noticed.

 “We are Princess Luna, Alicorn of Dreams and Darkness. Please, whoever thou are. We have no right to ask this of thee, but correct Our sin. End this monster. End the Nightmare.”

Twilight hesitated, and then another message reached her, quiet and resigned. “Please, We cannot hold on for long. We have at best minutes before the Nightmare reasserts control over Our body. Now, while We are open and exposed…

“End it.”

Things started snapping into place in Twilight’s mind at blinding speeds.

1. Luna was the original incarnation of Nightmare Moon, before she gave into rage and hatred.

2. Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon were separate entities, rather than the Princess being evil as the stories depicted.

3. Luna was fighting back.

4. Luna was asking Twilight to kill her.

She could see it in the cerulean eye, the determination that could only come from resignation. The drive to, if not win, then to at least prevent her enemy from winning.

She had seen those eyes far too many times as Clark Kent.

She had seen far too many friends die this way as Superman.

Steel formed in Twilight Sparkle’s eyes. ‘Never again,’ she swore to herself. She leapt away from Nightmare Moon, who only managed to stand up straight with Luna running roughshod over her control. She looked at the cerulean eye that seemed to belong to Luna. “I’ll be back,” she promised, and then vanished in a blur.

---

Rainbow Dash didn’t say anything as Twilight grabbed the chains pinning her down and tore them to pieces like so much paper. She didn’t say anything as she stood up and stretched her body and wings. She said nothing as she looked at Fluttershy, who was standing near her staring at her first friend in concern.

When Rainbow Dash finally turned her attention to Twilight, she still didn’t say anything, but Twilight suddenly found herself holding a shaking blue mare.

“Thank you…” Rainbow Dash whispered, low enough that Fluttershy couldn’t hear her.. “I can’t lose her, I just… I can’t. Thank you so much.”

Twilight smiled after a moment, and returned the hug. She pulled back though and stared at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy seriously. “Go back to the ruins and get the Elements. Bring them here. I’m going to try one more time to make them work. We need them to work now, because I refuse to kill her.”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy exchanged a glance. “Er… I don’t like it either, Twilight, but I’m not seeing any other option. The Elements didn’t work then, why would they now?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight smiled. “Because this time I know how they work. I figured it out earlier. Now go!” she ordered.

Rainbow Dash’s expression became stern and she nodded. She turned to Fluttershy. “Let’s go, Fluttershy. I trust her.” She shot into the air.

Fluttershy followed after a moment of indecision.

Twilight vanished again.

---

Rarity started when Twilight appeared in front of her with a gust of wind, and grabbed the ropes. She tried to tear them away, only to find even her great strength insufficient.

“Darling, those are magical ropes. You would need magic equal to or greater than the magic that created them to break them,” Rarity reminded her fellow Unicorn.

“Magic’s not working.” Twilight explained briefly, emphasizing the fact by trying to cast a spell and the only result is a spark of magic that jumped from the tip of her horn. Her eyes began glowing red as she stared at the ropes. “I have a better idea anyways.”

Rarity flinched when twin beams of hot energy lanced from Twilight’s eyes, neatly severing the ropes. The constructs faded as they were broken, and Rarity fell to the ground, stumbling slightly.

“I just sent Rainbow and Fluttershy after the Elements. I think I know how they work now, and need you nearby when it’s time to use them. But don’t get too close. I don’t think Luna can keep that thing pinned for long and I may need to keep it occupied while we wait. Can you do that?” she asked her friend.

Rarity took a moment to process the request, and then nodded with determination. “Easily,” she said.

Twilight gave a quick smile of thanks, and then flew off towards Pinkie Pie.

Rarity started to canter towards where she had last heard Twilight and Nightmare Moon fighting, but then paused. “Wait… Who is Luna?”

---

Pinkie Pie giggled as she bounced off the Manticore’s head, leaping for a high branch and landing on it easily. “Nah-nah, you can’t catch me!” She poked her tongue out. “Mneeeeh!”

The Manticore, eyes black as night announcing the magic being used to control it, roared and tackled the tree Pinkie Pie was in. The tree shuddered, but didn’t fall. Pinkie Pie, however, did, failing to get a grip on her branch when she was rattled right off of it.

Thankfully, she was caught by Twilight before she could fall into the Manticore’s large and open mouth.

“Hiya Twilight! Fancy meeting you here,” she greeted enthusiastically.

Twilight smiled at her bubbly friend. “Hi Pinkie,” she returned the greeting, flying up and keeping out of the Manticore’s reach. “Hey, I see you’re having fun, and wouldn’t dream of dragging you away from it, but can I ask you for a favor?”

“You need me nearby when you use the Elements on Black Snooty, freeing Princess Luna from the icky darkness, and learning a valuable lesson in friendship at the same time?” the party Pony fired off rapidly.

Twilight sputtered, completely wrong-hoofed. “Wha… how… You knew?!” she shrieked. “You knew how the Elements worked, and didn’t say anything?! Why?!”

Pinkie giggled. “Silly! The Elements only work if you accept friendship! You were just looking at them like tools, and not what they really are.” She shrugged. “If I had told you, you would have instantly tried to claim we were your friends, without actually feeling it.”

Twilight, once again, sputtered, trying to deny what Pinkie said, but ultimately knew it was true. She finally frowned at her friend. “I have half a mind to let the Manticore have you,” she grumbled.

“Yay! Then I can continue playing with it!” Pinkie said excitedly.

The Manticore stopped for a brief moment and shivered, a chill running up its spine. Then it was growling and jumping once more, trying to catch its prey.

“And I’m sure he would love tha… why do you have pigtails, Pinkie?” Twilight asked. She was fairly certain her friend’s mane was like cotton candy not five seconds ago.

Sure enough, Pinkie’s mane was done up in twin pig-tails shaped like curved teardrops. Strangely, the idea of playing with Pinkie was suddenly much more terrifying to Twilight, and she wondered if the Manticore would survive the experience if she really did drop her now.

Pinkie mussed up her mane with her hooves, and it was suddenly back to its normal poofiness. “What pigtails?” she asked innocently.

Twilight hesitated for a moment, before almost visibly deciding it wasn’t worth the headache. She flew over to a really tall tree and placed Pinkie on it. “Stay here,” she said, and then turned her attention to the Manticore.

In Pinkie’s point of view, Twilight vanished in a blur, and then the Manticore vanished, and then Twilight returned.

“There,” she said, brushing off her hooves. “The bad kitty’s taking a cold bath to cool down on the other end of the forest.”

She grabbed Pinkie and took her to the ground. “Head for the clearing that way, but try and stay out of sight of Nightmare Moon.” She pointed her hoof towards the clearing she and Nightmare Moon had wound up in while the Alicorn chased her.

Pinkie saluted in mock seriousness. “Hai, Mon Furer!” she said, much to Twilight’s confusion. She turned and started bouncing towards the clearing.

Twilight hesitated, before shaking her head and focusing on her next task.

---

“Not good.” Twilight mumbled, staring at the bent grass where Applejack had been laying unconscious. This was both good news and bad news. Applejack was awake, meaning she could perform her job as the Element of Honesty, but on the other hoof…

“Applejack!” Twilight called, looking around. “Where are you!?”

“Twi?”

Twilight was immensely relieved when Applejack hesitantly poked her head out of the canopy of a tree. The farm-pony’s eyes lit up when she recognized Twilight.

“Twilight!” she exclaimed in relief, jumping down and galloping towards her friend. “I woke up a few minutes ago, and when I saw somepony flying around the place like a supersonic chicken with its head cut off, ah figured it was Nightmare Moon and hid.” She paused to look around. “Er… where is she anyways? And our friends?”

Applejack yelped when Twilight grabbed her. “Whoa nelly!” she hollered when Twilight flew off the ground.

“No time to explain! I know how the Elements work, but I need your guys’ help.” Twilight said as she flew, at a much reduced pace for Applejacks sake, towards the clearing where Nightmare Moon was. “Just stay out of sight until Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy show up with the Elements. I’ll keep her distracted.”

Applejack frowned after a moment. “I ain’t some coward that’ll hide from a fight, Twilight!” she said, offended. “Especially when my friend is puttin’ herself on the line when ah could be helping!”

Twilight responded by landing, putting Applejack down, turning, and taking a swing at a boulder they landed next to. Applejack’s jaw went limp when the boulder exploded from the sheer force of the hit, stone chips and chunks flying everywhere in the direction Twilight had punched.

“…Oh…” Applejack muttered.

“At the moment, I’m the only one can fight her without getting killed in one hit,” she said. She noticed Applejack frown in confusion. “I’ll explain later, I promise. Just please, trust me.”

Applejack looked at Twilight, and saw the desperation in her eyes. She nodded slowly. “A’right. I’ll try,” she promised.

Twilight hugged Applejack with a grin. “Thank you!” She backed away. “Now, our friends are around her somewhere, also waiting. Try and flag down Rainbow and Fluttershy when they get here and get ready.” She smiled. “Once I get started, it should be obvious what to do. I hope.”

Applejack nodded. “Got it! Now go show that nasty Alicorn why you don’t mess with Equestria!”

Twilight nodded and turned, vanishing in a gust of wind that nearly stole Applejack’s hat from her. “Hey! A little warning next time!” she complained half-heartedly, holding her hat to her head.

---

Twilight flew into the clearing she left Nightmare Moon in just in time to narrowly dodge around a thin beam of magic, the same one Nightmare Moon had tried to attack her with earlier. Twilight looked at the dark Alicorn, and then did a double-take.

Nightmare Moon had changed. Instead of black fur and feathers, she looked to be made of shadows themselves, wisps of darkness wafting from her body like steam. Her eyes, no longer teal or cerulean, were now a solid yellow that glowed. Her mane, no longer the strange nebula-like mist, was now nothing more than a writhing, shifting mass of shadows.

“You…” The voice that came from her was deep and menacing, and not feminine at all. It echoed, giving a strange double-layer to it.

Twilight was startled when Nightmare Moon vanished. No blur. No, fading. Just… gone.

And then she was crashing through trees once more, vaguely aware of a pain in her chest. She was stopped rather abruptly by Nightmare Moon catching her and gripping her neck with both hooves from behind. Twilight struggled to break free, but discovered that not only was Nightmare Moon suddenly a great deal stronger and faster than before, her own strength and power were fading fast at Nightmare Moon’s touch.

 “The plan was perfect,” the dark Alicorn hissed. “This child’s visage would have been perfect to lead this world into everlasting Darkness, but she fought back and I was forced to reveal my hand before I was ready. I was locked away on that infernal rock for a thousand years! But that’s fine. I had time. I could have still salvaged this mess. My return would have heralded nighttime eternal! The Master would have rewarded me handsomely for preparing this world for him. But you…”

Nightmare Moon whipped Twilight around and dove, slamming her face first into the ground. It had hurt, but Twilight’s remaining strength had managed to take the brunt of it.

“You had to somehow get in my way. You, who somehow restored hope within this vessel to make her fight back once more. You, who should by all rights be dead at least three times now. Even now you live when a normal Pony would have died from being abused as such!” The creature snarled. “I will END YOU!!!” 

Twilight panicked when she felt magic begin to gather above them. She needed to move! She needed to get loose! But no matter how much she struggled, her waning strength could not break the Nightmare’s grip.

So she improvised.

“You think it’ll stop at me?” she asked with a cough. It was, after all, a little difficult to breathe, let alone speak. “I was able to threaten you. Me. I was just a slightly above average Unicorn, and yet I’m now the biggest threat against you. You think this was just a fluke? You’re wrong. More will follow.” ‘Maybe. I don’t really know what happened to me, so I can’t be sure.’

“Perhaps.” Nightmare Moon conceded after a moment. “But I have defeated you, have I not? They will also fall.”

“And what if one of them isn’t like me?” Twilight returned. “What if, instead of strength and speed, they get magic? Light magic, to be specific. Light magic the likes not even Princess Celestia can call on. What then?” ‘Come on… Come on… Work already!’

She felt the Alicorn hesitate.

 “…It does not matter. Power is not all that determines a fight, after all. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.”

Twilight grunted when the Nightmare’s grip on her neck tightened. Praying, she turned her head as much as she could and aimed. Normally she needed no time to do this, but her weakened state had changed that, making it difficult to focus.

Nightmare Moon almost asked her what she was doing, but then red energy, stuttering slightly from the drain on her powers, lanced from her opponents eyes. It completely missed her. “Was there a point to that?” she asked, assuming Twilight had been aiming at her.

Crack.

“Timber.” Twilight said with a grin, just before the tree she had cut through crashed down on top of them both. Twilight felt Nightmare Moon move, letting her go, and tried to scramble away herself.

The tree hit the ground with a very loud thud.

Good news; Twilight could now breath much easier since Nightmare Moon had let go of her. She could also feel her strength slowly returning now that she was no longer in contact with the Alicorn.

Bad news; her strength was returning too slowly, and at the moment she only had enough to be as strong as an above average Earth-Pony, and as fast as Rainbow Dash on a good day. The tree trunk was also on her left hind leg, and she was fairly certain it was fractured, if not broke.

Not exactly what she had planned.

Nightmare Moon, to Twilight’s dismay, walked around the leaves of the tree and into her sight, completely unharmed. “You recall that I can turn into mist, yes?” she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Twilight felt like swearing for forgetting about that. She tried to pull her leg free, but it wouldn’t budge.

Nightmare Moon lifted off the ground with a flap of her shadowy wings and rose upwards. Magic began gathering at the tip of her horn. A lot of magic, Twilight noted with dismay. It began to form a light blue ball that grew steadily as more and more magic was pulled into it.

Twilight’s eyes widened and her ears flipped back as the ball of magic grew to at least three times the size of the Alicorn wielding it, and stopped. Then it started to shrink, compacting itself beyond safe limits.  She paled as the Alicorn leveled the incredibly powerful eye-sized ball at her. It fairly crackled with magic. Then the Alicorn paused. “Oh?”

Twilight paled further when her five friends ran from their cover and got between her and Nightmare Moon. Rarity erected a magical barrier around them. They were all shaking slightly in fear, but their gaze was steely as they stared down Nightmare Moon. 

“No! Get out of here! That will kill all of us!” Twilight tried to tell her friends, but they didn’t even move.

“Sorry, sugar-cube,” Applejack said. “I would never be able to live with myself if I just abandoned you to save myself.” 

“I have many dreams to aspire for, true… but nothing is more important than my friends, not even my ambitions,” Rarity declared.

“Those Wonderbolt wannabes didn’t make me leave. What makes you think I’m gonna give up on you now, Sparkle?” Rainbow grinned fiercely.

Fluttershy didn’t say anything. She was shaking so hard she was almost vibrating, but she refused to run and hide, and that said far more than any words could.

“I have a big party planned for you, Twilight! But I can't throw it if you’re not there for it!” Pinkie giggled, despite the sheen of sweat on her brow showing her fear.

 “Very well. I shall end all of you in one move. Die,” Nightmare Moon declared softly.

A massive blast of magic larger than anything Twilight had ever seen erupted straight for her, and she flailed and shoved at the tree, trying to get it to move. Unfortunately, she could only make it shift slightly.

“No!” Twilight screamed, and time seemed to slow in her perspective as the blast of magic drew closer.

In that timeless moment, Twilight felt nothing for herself. She couldn’t feel the pain in her body. She couldn’t hear her heart beating in fear for her life. She couldn’t care less about herself.

She only cared about her friends. Her friends, who even when staring death in the face refused to abandon her.

Her friends…

 ‘Help me save them! Please!’ she cried out mentally in desperation, though to what she wasn’t sure.

Twilight called for help…

And from the darkness, help came.

From out of the forest where said friends had been hiding, five meteors of separate colors burst into the clearing and lanced for Twilight and her friends.

Nightmare Moon’s attack struck, and exploded violently. But, despite feeling wind ruffle their manes and fur, the six friends found themselves unharmed. As the explosion died down they turned to find out what saved them.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the five orbs that were the Elements. ‘Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy must have gotten them here before they came to my defense,’ she theorized.

Not only were the stone orbs of the Elements floating between them and what had been Nightmare Moon’s attack, they were glowing with an aura of power, each one with a different color. Red, orange, pink, blue, and purple.

Twilight grinned at Nightmare Moon, who actually looked visibly scared at the sight of the active Elements. “It’s over, Nightmare Moon!” 

 “How?! The sixth Element is absent! The Elements can’t work without it!” The Nightmare cried.

Twilight felt the tree on her leg shift and move. Looking over, she found a multicolored aura moving it, and then she and her friends began floating off the ground.

The orange element burst apart, and the dust that resulted flew for Applejack. Twilight watched as a golden necklace formed on her neck, an orange apple-shaped gem resting within it. The Element of Honesty.

The purple Element did the same, forming a necklace with a purple diamond at its center on Rarity’s neck. The Element of Generosity.

A pink butterfly for Fluttershy. The Element of Kindness.

A blue balloon for Pinkie Pie. The Element of Laughter.

And a red lightning bolt for Rainbow Dash. The Element of Loyalty.

But… where was the sixth Element?

She felt something spark in her heart, and she had the answer.

“You’re wrong,” she told Nightmare Moon confidently. “The sixth Element was here the entire time, ever since the six of us became friends.” She closed her eyes, and basked in the feeling of the bonds she formed with her friends. They were young, fragile, but at the same time carried a certain kind of strength to them. In time, those bonds would become unbreakable. She could even feel the small bond she had formed with Luna during their brief communication.

“The last Element has always been here, sleeping in our bonds between each other, waiting. And now I know…”

A brilliant light formed above Twilight, descending towards her. She felt not a necklace form, as she had expected, but rather a crown. She couldn’t see it, but a rose colored six-point star was embedded in the gem, and etched onto that star was the S that, in another language she knew well, meant Hope.

Her eyes began glowing a solid white as she looked at the terrified Nightmare Moon. “Now I know that Friendship is Magic.”

She aimed her horn at Nightmare Moon, and brilliant waves of rainbow colored magic flowed forth. It didn’t hit the Alicorn, who began screaming as if in pain, but began circling her like a mini-cyclone. There was a pulse, and the tornado contracted, and then exploded outwards. Pieces of Nightmare Moon’s armor, and the darkness that had covered her, flew outwards, except towards the six friends.

Descending to the ground now was an Alicorn that, unlike Nightmare Moon, was colored a rich navy blue with a sky blue mane and tail. She opened her cerulean eyes to look at Twilight, and smiled tiredly.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Twilight blurred forward to catch the mare as she passed out, distantly noting that her leg didn’t hurt anymore. She slowly placed the Princess down, and smiled at the rising sun.

“It’s over,” she said to herself, turning to look at her friends, who were now all passed out in a pile. “It’s finally over.”

---

“I see,” Celestia said, sipping her tea. “Interesting.”

Celestia and Twilight were seated at a table within the Golden Oak Library. Outside, the Ponyville citizens were still celebrating the return of Princess Celestia. Unfortunately, when the truth of who Luna was and her connection to Nightmare Moon was revealed, it very nearly turned into a riot. It took some fast talking on Twilight’s part to convince them that Luna was nothing more than a victim, trapped within her own mind as a malevolent force used her like a puppet. It was about as close to the truth as she could get without revealing things she didn’t have answers for yet.

There was still distrust, but most had decided on a wait and see approach regarding the newly recovered Princess of the Night. Luna took that as a good sign, as it was more than the Ponies of the past had given her.

They had retreated into the library after it became clear the other bearers were sticking close to Luna, and Twilight had told Celestia everything that happened over tea.

“Tell me, Twilight. Does the term “Hero-Soul” mean anything to you?” Celestia asked, sipping at her tea.

Twilight frowned, and then remembered. “The term applied to ancient heroes? It shows up in historical texts from time to time, usually depicting a hero of great power. Why?”

Celestia took a moment to respond, seemingly considering her answer. Twilight waited patiently. Finally, after a couple minutes, she answered. “All throughout our history there have been villains out to subjugate or destroy us, and heroes to stop them. Alicorns like my sister and I were not always there to combat these forces, so the everyday Ponies were forced to rise to the occasion… and rise they did, displaying powers and abilities that they should not be capable of using.”

Celestia drank some of her tea. “History speculates upon these Ponies and other beings as destined heroes, given power by Fate to prevent a great catastrophe in the near future.”

“Is that what you think I am?” Twilight asked. “A hero chosen by destiny to accomplish something?”

Celestia could see in her student’s eyes that she did not like this idea. Twilight had always held strong beliefs that Ponies were defined by the choices they make, not by destiny. Hard work and determination. Twilight was born to a commoner family, and through hard work and a little luck became Princess Celestia’s student.

“It doesn’t matter what I think you are,” Celestia said, forcing Twilight to look at her with a bit of magic. “You have always been strong-hearted and sure in what you want in life. Destiny has little to no hold over you, beyond what you let it do to you.”

Celestia conjured an illusion depicting a familiar Unicorn silhouetted by the rising Sun. “You could become a hero so great, so loved, and so powerful that history will remember you for thousands of years to come.”

The illusion changed to show the Unicorn seated on a blood red throne, half-cloaked by shadows and sporting a disturbing grin with razor sharp teeth. “You could become a terrifying power-hungry villain, with an empire of pain and misery stretching far and wide.”

The image changed once again, this time showing a relatively normal Twilight, but surrounded by her new friends in front of the Golden Oak Library. “Or you could become a normal librarian, in a normal town, and live a normal life… completely unremarked upon by history.”

Twilight gasped as the images faded, instantly understanding what Celestia was saying. “You’ll let me stay?” she asked quietly.

Celestia smiled and nodded. “I would be the last Pony to try and force you from your friends Twilight, especially since I sent you to make them in the first place. I cannot realistically make them lift their roots to come to you in Canterlot. So, if you wish it, I will speak with Mayor Mare and have the library gifted to you as a home.”

Twilight was excited, that was easy to see, but Celestia could see a hesitation as well. “But what about my studies? Are you letting me go as your student?” she asked meekly.

“Nonsense,” Celestia almost scoffed. Almost. “I am merely shifting their focus.” She stood, her expression becoming serious. “Twilight Sparkle, your studies in magic have continued well, but now you are presented with the magic of Friendship. While you have successfully wielded said magic to save Princess Luna from her curse, you do not yet understand even a fraction of this school of magic. Your next assignment is to live within Ponyville and study the magic of Friendship. I expect weekly reports on your progress. Do you accept this assignment?”

Twilight did not answer with a yes. Rather, she squealed like a school-filly and hugged the Princess, who lost her composure and laughed as she returned the hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

After Twilight managed to reign in her emotions, she left to join her new friends, feeling the need to celebrate even more. Celestia smiled and waved back when Twilight waved a hoof just before vanishing outside the door.

After a moment, a golden aura took hold of the door and gently closed it. Golden magic gently flowed about the room, quiet and stealthy. It seeped into cracks and soaked into the walls. It caressed the books and slid across the tea set on the table. Once her magic fully saturated the room and everything in it, she tightened the spell.

Celestia already knew what she would tell her sister and student. She was not feeling well. The sealing sapped her of a great deal of her strength. She just wanted some peace and quiet right now, not a rambunctious party. 

It was no wonder the Element of Honesty chose Luna over her all those years ago.

Celestia let out a sigh as the entire room pulsed with the privacy and protection enchantments. Along with that sigh, she released her tenuous grasp. The fires of of the Sun flooded the room, roaring just as loud and just as hot as the rage of the Primary Alicorn.
> 2. Ticketmaster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 “Thanks again fer helping me today, Twi.” Applejack said, pulling a wagon with a few baskets of apples in it. “I bet Big Mac ah could get all these apples in the barn by lunchtime.” She snorted. “Now he’s gonna have to wear Granny’s girdle in the middle of town.”

“Not a problem, Applejack.” Twilight Sparkle smiled at her friend… pulling a train of three heavily loaded carts behind her. She wasn’t even straining. “If anything, this is nostalgic. I grew up on a farm as Clark Kent.” She paused before sighing. “I do miss Ma and Pa though.” She worked her jaw for a moment after saying that. “That is never going to stop bugging me. I know I used to have a southern accent, but every time I let it slip through, my body keeps telling me that it’s wrong.”

Applejack shrugged. “I can’t rightly say I understand,” she said. “But ah hope you figure it out, for yer comfort if nothing else”. She smirked. “Though… hearin’ that Canterlot accent of yers almost mixing with a southern drawl sure is entertaining.”

“No… No… No… Blech, this one’s rotten!” Spike, sitting in the front wagon Twilight was pulling, tossed the offending apple away.

“Spike, what are you doing?” Twilight asked her assistant, looking at him over her shoulder.

“We missed snack-time, so I’m looking for a good apple for a snack,” he explained.

Twilight opened her mouth to scold him for not at least asking Applejack first, but the grumbling of her own stomach overcame that idea. She blushed faintly as Applejack smirked at her. “Eheh… heh… Guess I’m hungry too.” She smiled at Spike. “Once we get these loaded in the barn, Spike, we’ll go look for somewhere to eat. I promise.”

“Ya might try Sugar Cube Corner,” Applejack suggested. “Pinkie works there as a cook. Makes some of the best danged cupcakes you ever had.”

Spike suddenly let off a very loud belch and, with a flash of green fire, a scroll materialized in front of him. He grabbed it. “Letter from the Princess, Twilight!” he said, waving the rolled up scroll. He looked at the seal for a moment. “Oh, wait, I take that back. It’s a letter from Raven, her aide.” 

Twilight raised an eyebrow as they approached the barn. “Really? I wonder what she wants. We don’t normally talk, not since the ink in the paperwork incident…” She paused and looked at Applejack’s smirk. “You didn’t hear that. Go ahead and open it, Spike.”

“You sure ah should hear this?” Applejack asked as she unhitched herself from the wagon so she could open the barn doors.

“It would have been tied with a grey ribbon if it was private,” Spike explained, breaking the seal. “Ahem… Hear ye, hear ye!”

“Oh, I’m not liking this Raven lady already.” Applejack mumbled, then yelped when Twilight poked her with a hoof to silence her.

“Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, cordially invites Twilight Sparkle, plus one, to this year’s Grand Galloping Gala, to be held in one month’s time from today in Canterlot.” Spike pulled two golden tickets from the scroll. “That’s… it? She’s normally more pompous with these things. Huh, she must still be mad.”

“The Grand Galloping Gala?!” Applejacks nearly yelled, grinning. “Why, if only ah could get to the Gala...”

Twilight frowned. “I didn’t take you as a pony who enjoyed those stuffy events,” she noted, floating off the ground to help unload the apple baskets. “I tried going with the Princess a few years ago, but I only ended up stuck at the entrance-way with her as she greeted guests. I have never been so bored in my life. In fact…” She looked at the tickets Spike still held. “Chances are she only invited me so she had somepony to talk to during exactly that, and gave me the extra ticket so I had a friend to talk to while she was busy.”

Applejack shrugged. “Sure, ah likely wouldn’t enjoy the Gala itself, but this is more of a business opportunity.” She motioned towards the rather beat up barn they were standing in, as well as the rusted and worn plow. The very rusted and worn plow. “Selling Apple Family merchandise to the nobles might net me a contract or two, and ah can use the money from that to start fixing things up around here, maybe even get Granny that hip replacement she needs.”

Twilight’s frown turned to concern. “Applejack-”

“Whoa!” Thwump!

Applejack and Twilight stared at the rainbow maned Pegasus sprawled on the ground. Applejack glanced up, and had to groan at the blue blanket and rainbow colored pillow in the rafters. “Dagnabbit, Dash! Ah thought you said you were too busy to help today! Nappin’ in mah rafters ain’t too busy!”

Rainbow Dash got to her hooves, waving a hoof at Applejack. “Nevermind that. Did you say you were invited to the Gala?” she asked Twilight.

Twilight blinked. “Well, yeah. Why? I thought you of all ponies would avoid something like that.”

“Are you kidding?!” Rainbow Dash as her incredulously, shooting into the air. “The Wonderbolts will be there! If I could go to the Gala, I could finally meet them in person, and maybe show off some of my tricks! Maybe I’ll even get them to fast-track my application for the team!” She did a flip in her excitement. “And didn’t I happen to hear you say you had an extra ticket?” She grinned at Twilight.

Twilight’s frown returned. “Well… yes, but-”

“Awesome! Now I have a chance! Hey!” She glared at Applejack, who had grabbed her tail in her mouth to get her attention.

Applejack spat the tail out. “Now wait just one moment! I was just about to ask Twi fer that ticket!”

“You snooze, you lose!” Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out, blowing a raspberry.

“Ah’ll show you a loser!” Applejack yelled, charging at Rainbow Dash.

“You want to scrap for the ticket? Fine, let’s fight!” Rainbow flew towards Applejack, grinning confidently.

Just before they could collide, Twilight appeared between them in a burst of speed holding out her hooves. “Girls! Stop!” she yelled, causing the mares the stop before they hit Twilight. They knew they couldn’t really hurt her even if they tried, but it was the principle that mattered. Twilight looked between her friends, her expression firm. “First of all, it’s my ticket to give away, and I haven’t chosen anybody yet. Second of all-” Her stomach growled again, and she groaned. “Ugh… second of all, I’m still hungry.”

She levitated the tickets into her mane, using a spell that would keep them there, and then levitated Spike onto her back. “Spike and I are going to get an early lunch. Afterwards, we’re coming back here, and then we’re going to discuss this.”

With that, she trotted for the door, shutting it with a bit more force then she meant to.

After a moment, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other. “Hoof-wrastlin?” Applejack proposed.

“Hoof-wrestling.” Rainbow Dash nodded.

---

“So… who’re you going to give the ticket to?” Spike asked Twilight as they made their way towards the business district of Ponyville. A town map in Twilight’s saddlebags had shown Sugar Cube Corner to be there.

Twilight sighed. “I don’t know, Spike. But before I give the ticket to either of them, I need to explain a few things to them, and before that… I need to eat,” she grumbled alongside her stomach. “Truthfully, I’ll probably pick Applejack. She has the best reason, if only for her grandmother’s hip, but that just brings me back to-oof!”

Twilight blinked, then stared down at the pink pony that had slammed into her… and failed completely at knocking her over. She had felt it, yes, but... really, knocking over Clark Kent was an exercise in futility on most days, on purpose or not. “Are you okay, Pinkie?” she asked. Then she noticed the golden tickets laying on Pinkie Pie’s snout. ‘I must have lost my concentration on the sticking spell when she hit me.’

Pinkie opened her eyes, which then zeroed in on the tickets. “…Bats!” she shrieked, shooting to her hooves. “Keep ‘em away! Keep ‘em away!” she yelled, running around in a circle. Then she came to such a sudden stop that Twilight was amazed she didn’t snap her neck… or at least get a serious case of whiplash. She briefly checked her friend’s skeletal structure just in case though. “Wait, are those…?” Pinkie Pie grinned widely then, stars shining in her eyes. “They are! Tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala!”

“Should we run?” Spike asked Twilight quietly as Pinkie began singing about how the Gala was the best place to be for a party pony.

“I’m considering whether or not that would even work.” Twilight responded. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pinkie fail to keep up with anyone when she’s like this… even me.” Twilight blinked after a moment. ‘Huh… I could’ve sworn I meant to say anypony, not anyone.’

“The GALA?!”

Twilight, and even Spike, groaned at Rarity’s voice. ‘This is getting out of hand.’ And then she shook her head. ‘Hoof! I mean hoof!’ She looked at Rarity… just in time to hear Pinkie declare Twilight was taking her to the Gala. “Hey! Wait a minute-”

“Oh! If only I could go to the Grand Galloping Gala,” Rarity bemoaned to herself. “The high society… the fashion… him!” She almost growled that out in a very… risqué voice, making Twilight back away slightly. “Surely, when Princess Celestia sees my fabulous designs, she’ll introduce me to him… her nephew.” Twilight and Spike both gaped. “…Prince Blueblood.” Rarity swooned just from saying his name.

“…I’m torn between tearing that ticket in half to save her the disappointment, and begging you to give her the ticket just to watch her tear Blueblood apart,” Spike muttered, his hatred of the stallion and love of Rarity warring with each other.

“I almost agree with you.” Twilight nodded her head, remembering the… words she had for Blueblood when he had called Spike her slave. She was positive the marble under the carpet in that corridor was still scorched.

“Hey!” Spike suddenly lunged away from Twilight in an attempt to catch… a rabbit? He failed spectacularly, but Twilight gave him an A for effort. She saw his claws scrape the rabbit’s fur.

Twilight’s sharp eyes caught the glimmer of gold that could only have been one of the Gala tickets in the rabbit’s mouth as it dashed towards a nearby Fluttershy. ‘Wait… isn’t that Angel?’ she asked herself. She had met Angel the Bunny only once during a visit with Fluttershy. Once was enough. She necer wanted to ever have the pleasure of meeting the hare again. 

She would have chased after him, but then he climbed up Fluttershy’s leg, over her back, and onto her head, presenting the ticket to her. Twilight groaned. ‘Oh come on! Is everyone in town going to find out about this?!’

“Oh! Angel, while this is a lovely gift, I think you should give it back to whoever it belongs to,” Fluttershy’s quiet voice, which was perfectly clear to Twilight’s sensitive ears, admonished the rabbit.

“Yeah! That ticket belongs to me!” Pinkie Pie said, swiping the ticket from Angel… and getting her hoof bitten by him for her trouble.

Fluttershy immediately began trying to calm Angel down, who was having none of it and refused to release his hold on Pinkie Pie’s hoof. Said pink pony was screaming as she ran in circles around Fluttershy. Rarity, amidst the bedlam, used her magic to pick up the discarded ticket and examined it.

“Pinkie, darling, this ticket is meant for Twilight’s guest, whoever that is. Did she give this ticket to you?” she asked curiously.

Fluttershy finally coaxed Angel away from Pinkie Pie, leaving her able to answer as she rubbed her hoof. “Yeah! She dropped it on my nose after I ran into her on accident.”

Rarity quirked an eyebrow. “Did she specifically say it was for you, or did you just assume it was for you? You may have knocked it from her grip after all.” Hope was shining in her eyes now.

Twilight used her magic to take the ticket from Rarity with a huff. “No, I did not. I haven’t decided who to give the ticket to yet.” Her stomach growled. “And I won’t until I finally get something to eat!”

“Oh… um…” Twilight felt her ears droop. She tried. She tried hard not to look, but she couldn’t stop herself. Fluttershy was pawing the ground nervously, looking away, ears folded slightly.

 ‘…I think I need insulin,’ Twilight distantly noted. ‘Maybe Pinkie has some?’

“May I… um… That is… May I have the… well… the ticket?” Fluttershy blinked her suddenly wide eyes, and Twilight swore, she swore to Tartarus itself that there were unshed tears in those eyes.

 ‘Critical sweetness overload! Critical sweetness overload! Switching to auxiliary systems!’ “Uh… the… ticket?” Twilight asked in a daze, her magic beginning to grow lax around the ticket.

“Hey, you said ah’d get the ticket!” 

Twilight blinked and shook her head, regaining her thoughts. She looked over and found a peeved Rainbow Dash and Applejack. She played that statement from the farm pony through her head a second time. “I never told you…” Her eyes flashed in understanding, and then narrowed dangerously. “Were you following me?!” she nearly yelled.

“Darling, please! You must let me go to the Gala with you! This may be my only chance to meet my destiny!” Rarity interrupted her, almost begging.

“You said I had the biggest claim to that there ticket!” Applejack pointed at said ticket.

“I’m begging you, Twilight! Let me go with you! I have to take this chance to impress the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow was on her knees and begging.

 ‘And here I thought she had more pride than that…’ Twilight backed away slightly.

“Party! Party! Party!” Pinkie chanted.

“Please, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked quietly, lips quivering.

“ENOUGH!!!” Twilight finally snapped, her magic flaring and causing a minor shockwave that pushed her friends away. “I. Am. Hungry.” she said slowly. “I am going to go eat lunch. Then I am going to go back to Applejack’s farm to give all of you my answer.” She turned around and started marching away.

The five mares left behind cringed as each hoof-fall made the ground shake slightly. “Do you think we might have pushed too hard?” Applejack asked after a moment of silence.

“Nope,” Rainbow answered easily, taking to the sky. “Later ponies, I’m gonna make sure that ticket’s mine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack asked. “Rainbow! Get back here and answer me!”

“Well… far be it from a lady to turn down a challenge,” Rarity murmured, trotting away.

“Oh… I guess that’s a no…” Fluttershy muttered to herself. Angel rubbed his head against her snout, getting her attention. “Hmm? Yes, Angel?” He chittered away at her momentarily. “Really? Do you think that will work?” She also started leaving.

Pinkie Pie, who was humming to herself as she imagined the Gala, suddenly realized she was alone. “Huh? Where’d everypony go?” She looked around, and then gasped. “Did I miss the scene change prompt? Uh oh, better hurry and get to work!”

---

“Twilight! You’re shaking the ground!” Spike nearly yelled, trying to get through Twilight’s annoyance to point out what she was doing.

“…I just want lunch… Is that so bad?...” she grumbled under her breath.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!” Spike yelled at the top of his lungs directly in Twilight’s ear.

“Eeh!” Twilight shrieked at the sudden onslaught to her hyper-sensitive ears, slamming her hoof over said wounded appendage. “Spike! That hurt!”

Spike cringed. “Sorry, Twilight, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“What made you want to scream in my ear?” Twilight asked as she looked at her assistant. Spike replied by motioning behind them. Turning, Twilight saw how the ground was cracked and holes the size of her hooves made a trail showing where she had been stomping. Twilight winced. “Oh…”

“I didn’t want you to get in trouble with Mayor Mare for causing an earthquake.”

“Thank you, Spike,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just… are these tickets cursed or something? I’m positive at least Fluttershy wouldn’t be so insistent about getting one.” She paused, considering something. “Did Fluttershy even explain why she wanted to go?”

“No, but I bet it has something to do with animals.” Spike said, getting comfortable on his friend’s back again.

“Oh! The Celestial Gardens!” Twilight explained in realization. “The Gala is the only time of the year when they’re open to the public. Fluttershy probably wants to see the animals there.” She nodded to herself, happy with her theory. Then she started trotting again. She pulled the town map from her saddlebags and looked it over. “We should probably avoid Sugar Cube Corner if Pinkie’s going to be there. Anywhere on here you want to go for lunch, Spike?”

Spike shrugged. “Just pick somewhere random.” he suggested.

Twilight nodded and rolled up the map, stowing it back in her saddlebags. “Fair enough. First restaurant we come across we’ll eat at.”

---

Twilight sat herself in the hay by the table, and then sighed as she stared at the flower in a vase. “We both know the Gala is just going to be one big disappointment to them, but how can I convince them of that?” she asked Spike, who sat across from her.

“Why not just let them go and figure it out themselves?” Spike asked as he looked over a menu. “That’s how you and Princess Celestia raised me after all. Learn through experience.”

“I suppose…” Twilight mused. “But I don’t feel comfortable with at least not trying first. But besides that, I only have one extra ticket. That still leaves me the problem of picking between them.” She started picking petals off the flower. “I could give up my ticket I guess. The Princess has done hundreds of Galas on her own, and Luna should be there anyways, so I doubt she would mind… but I would still have to leave three of my friends unhappy.”

“Couldn’t you just ask the Princess for extra tickets? You are her student after all, we both know that comes with perks” Spike pointed out.

“I could, yes, but I don’t like flaunting that power. Maybe...” She groaned as her stomach growled again. “What’s taking the waiter?”

“Have you decided on your order?” a tan colored stallion with a slicked back blue mane asked as he approached.

 ‘Speak of the devil…’ Twilight thought with a slight smile. “I have. I’ll have a daffodil and daisy sandwich please. No stems.”

The waiter nodded and wrote the order down. “And you, sir?” he asked Spike. Twilight frowned when she noticed that he seemed nervous around Spike.

 ‘… I suppose I can’t really blame him. Dragons aren’t exactly popular in Equestria. I wonder if there’s anything I can do to help the ponies here get used to him…’

“Do you have any rubies?” Spike asked.

“We…” The waiter gulped. “We don’t provide dragon cuisine. I apologize, sir.”

“Drats. Do you have meat?” The waiter nodded. “I’ll have a bologna and cheese sandwich then.” The waiter nodded and jotted the order down, leaving quickly. Spike sighed. “I hate going to new places. Everypony’s scared of me.”

Twilight smiled warmly at her charge. “Don’t worry, Spike. Everyone will get used to you like they did in Canterlot. Just give them some time.”

Spike sighed again. “Yeah, I guess…” He paused, then looked at Twilight. “Don’t you mean everypony?”

Twilight flinched. “I said everyone again, didn’t I?” Spike nodded. “Sorry, Spike. It’s these memories. I’m having trouble separating Clark’s subconscious thoughts from my own.” Her eyes went a little distant. “…Nevermind the fact that I’m suddenly a much older guy in a young girl’s body.”

Spike cringed at the very idea. “I would say I wish I understood… but I don’t. I really don’t.”

The waiter returned with their orders at that moment. “Please, enjoy. Just flag me down if you need anything else.” He said, though he spoke more to Twilight than Spike. He left quickly afterwards.

“Chow time!” Spike declared, grabbing his sandwich. Twilight eagerly agreed, grabbing her own sandwich in her magic.

Before she could take a bite though, she noticed some ponies run by in a hurry towards the entrance to the restaurant. She saw their waiter holding the door open for them ushering them inside. He then looked at her and yelled. “Ma’am! Are you just going to eat in the rain?”

“Rain?” Twilight blinked. “It’s not…” Looking around, she realized that it was indeed raining… everywhere but on her and Spike. Twilight sighed and looked up, spotting exactly who she suspected to be the culprit. “Rainbow Dash! Get down here right now!” she yelled.

Said polychromatic Pegasus was in front of her in a flash, grinning widely. “Yes, Twilight? Enjoying the weather? Is it making you feel… generous?” she asked.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, then she smirked. “Why, yes, I am enjoying the weather. This… unscheduled rain storm is rather interesting. I might just go speak with Mayor Mare regarding Ponyville’s apparent choice to use wild weather. I’m very interested to know how Ponyville’s culture adapted.”

Rainbow Dash’s hopeful grin immediately dropped, replaced by a pale complexion. “No!” she shouted, before catching herself. “I mean… You don’t have to do that… She’s a busy mare after all,” she tried to play it off… and failed spectacularly if Spike’s chuckles were anything to go by.

“Very true.” Twilight nodded sagely. “Though… now that you mention my generosity…” She leaned forward with a grin, making Rainbow’s hopeful expression return. Once she was a few inches from Rainbow’s head, she began whispering. “I don’t take too kindly to my so called friends trying to bribe me,” she growled.

Rainbow jumped away, waving her hooves in front of her as she tried to back-peddle. “Bribe? I would never try and bribe my kindest and most bestest friend!”

Twilight sighed. “Just… get rid of the storm, Rainbow, before the weather patrol comes to investigate and you get in trouble.”

Rainbow pouted, realizing her plan had failed. Twilight was also right, the weather patrol would be by to investigate the unscheduled storm soon, and she was already in hot water with them thanks to a misuse of lightning clouds charge. She flew off at high speed, incidentally kicking up the water that was gathering under them. This in turn ruined Twilight’s untouched sandwich and Spike’s half-eaten sandwich.

“Oh come on!” Twilight exclaimed, slamming her head into the table in exasperation.

“Twilight! It’s raining!” Rarity’s voice piped up from nearby.

Twilight looked over and spotted Rarity with a garishly frilly umbrella held in her magic. She deadpanned at the white unicorn. “No, really? I never would have noticed without your peerless observational skills.”

“Well! I never!” Rarity huffed. “I was simply trying to point out that you should get out of it before you catch a cold.”

Twilight hung her head. “I’m sorry, Rarity. I’m just a bit stressed… and hungry.”

Rarity smiled. “Come, dear. Let’s get inside where it’s dry.” She motioned towards her home nearby. “I spotted you through my window. Were you arguing with Rainbow Dash?” she asked as they trotted away towards the boutique. Spike was close behind, staring lovingly at Rarity.

“Not really. Rainbow was just making an obvious attempt to get the ticket.” Twilight explained.

They entered the boutique, and Rarity levitated a fluffy white towel to Twilight. “How dreadful. Is that why you were the only one in town not getting rained on?” she asked, handing Spike a towel as well.

“Yeah. Rainbow was trying to make me feel like I owed her by starting a town-wide storm, and then leaving the spot I was in clear,” Twilight grumbled, her stomach giving a roar. “The rain ruined my sandwich as well.”

Rarity was silent for a time as she dried herself off. Finally, when she was done, she sighed. “I apologize, Twilight. I initially planned on trying to garner your favor as well, but after that scene earlier and then hearing about what Rainbow attempted, I think it might be better to just offer you some tea and some lunch.” She smiled.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “No strings attached?”

Rarity nodded. “No strings attached. You need not feel like you owe me for it.”

Twilight finally smiled gratefully. “Thank you for your honesty, Rarity, and I would love some tea and lunch.”

“Same here,” Spike grunted. He had only gotten maybe three bites of his sandwich before Rainbow’s exit had ruined it.

---

“… so I smiled and said I would be very interested in discussing Ponyville’s wild weather management with Mayor Mare. She was tripping over herself trying to talk me out of that.”

Rarity giggled. “Oh my! That explains why I saw her become pale when I was watching through the window. I thought some kind of invisible vampony may have found her.”

Twilight sighed after minute, putting her empty teacup down. “Rarity, were you being honest when you said that the reason you wanted to go to the Gala was to meet Blueblood?”

Rarity swooned. “Oh my, yes! I would enjoy the Gala itself, certainly, but my main reason for going is to try and get his attention.” She paused. “Why?” she asked curiously.

Twilight didn’t answer for a moment, staring into her empty teacup thoughtfully. Unknowingly she was mimicking her teacher, something Spike noticed and got a smirk from. “…I grew up in Canterlot, Rarity, and I lived inside the castle for over a decade before coming here. As you can likely guess, I’ve run into and spoken with Blueblood repeatedly in that timeframe… much to my regret.”

Rarity blinked. “Twilight?” she asked uncertainly.

“If you truly want to meet and get to know Blueblood, you don’t need the Gala to do so. I can arrange to have you spend a couple weeks in Canterlot, housed in my old room in the palace. I can even pull some strings to get you as one of the designers that arranges Blueblood’s wardrobe every week. This should give you plenty of opportunities to see and speak to him.”

Rarity’s eyes shined. “Oh, Twilight! Would you really do that?” she asked hopefully.

Twilight smiled at Rarity. “For a friend? I would.” She nodded. But then she sighed again. “But Rarity, you need to listen to me.” Once she was sure Rarity was paying attention, she continued. “I know you have your heart set on him, and going by what the magazines and such are always saying about him, I don’t blame you… Just promise me you’ll look into who controls those magazines. Look into who controls the media of Canterlot.”

Rarity slowly nodded in confusion. “I… of course, dear. May I ask why?”

Twilight shook her head. “If I told you then you wouldn’t believe me. I don’t want to get in the way of your happiness though, so I’m going to help you.” She got to her hooves. “Ready, Spike? We need to get to the library so I can write a letter to the Princess.”

“Aww! Can’t we stay just a little longer?” Spike begged. 

Twilight smiled at him, then levitated him onto her back. “Another day, Spike. I promise. Right now I need your help with the letter.” She waved goodbye to Rarity

She trotted over to Rarity’s door and opened it, only to shriek and jump as she found Applejack’s grinning face in front of her.

“Howdy, Twi!” the farm pony said, before motioning towards the cart she had with her. It was piled high with apple styled food. “I know you said you were hungry, and I thought ah’d whip up some good old Apple Family recipes to help you there,” she explained. “Ah got everything ranging from apple fritters to the classic apple pie.”

Twilight took a moment to process that, and then she frowned. “And let me guess, in return you want the ticket?”

Applejack smiled. “Well ah certainly won’t say no to a trade like that.”

Twilight growled and marched past Applejack, completely ignoring the food. It helped that Rarity had made her a sandwich and she finally wasn’t hungry anymore. “Take your food to a restaurant or something, Applejack. I don’t accept bribes from my so called friends,” she grumbled on her way by. She made sure she wasn’t stomping this time.

“…Oh” Applejack ears wilted as she realized just what she was doing. She pulled her hat in front of her face. “Fer the love of… Granny’s gonna tan my hide when she hears about this.”

---

Twilight could only give a relieved groan as the Golden Oaks Library came into view. ‘This day is finally almost over.’ she thought to herself. “You would think getting showered with favors from your friends would be great…”

“Could be worse.” Spike piped up.

“How? I fail to see how it could possibly be worse,” she said as she opened the door.

“The whole town could be trying to get the ticket from you.”

Twilight paused, imagining that scenario. Oddly, a strange saxophone piece played in her mind as she imagined the entire population of Ponyville chasing her across town. She shivered. “Don’t even joke about that, Spike.”

Humming caught her attention as she closed the door behind her. Looking around, she realized her home looked… clean. Unbearably so. The scent of lemons permeated the place. She spotted Fluttershy cleaning the banister of the second floor staircase, and Angel Bunny off to the side working on a tossed salad.

Twilight’s eye began twitching.

“Oh! Twilight! How does your home look?” Fluttershy asked when she noticed Twilight standing in front of the door.

“…Clean,” Twilight said through clenched teeth. “And I’m guessing the salad’s for me?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded with a smile. 

“Would you happen to be doing this in the hopes of getting the ticket from me?”

“Oh no, I would never do that…” Fluttershy paused at Twilight’s disbelieving stare and Angel’s glare. “I mean, yes, yes I am.”

Twilight growled to herself for a minute, before she sighed. “…Just… Just leave, Fluttershy. In fact, if you really are feeling helpful, go and gather up our friends. I’ve made my decision.”

Fluttershy brightened up at that and nodded, leaving. Angel was left behind. He shrugged and started eating the salad he had been making.

Twilight grabbed the rabbit in her levitation, pulling him away from his food. “Nope. I’m well aware that this was likely your idea. Get out.” she said, tossing him out of the window. She smiled. “Now then. Fetch me some stationary, Spike. I’ve got some letters to write.”

Spike saluted and went to gather Twilight’s supplies.

---

The door to the library opened and five mares walked in just in time to see Spike breathe green fire on a few rolled up scrolls. “Was that…?” Rarity said hesitantly, watching the ash vanish out of the open window.

Twilight turned to her friends and nodded at Rarity. “I should have a response soon, depending on how court is going today.”

Rarity smiled. “Thank you, dear. I really do appreciate this.”

Rainbow Dash looked between them suspiciously. “What was that about?”

“I’ll explain later,” Twilight said, and then clapped her hooves together. “Now then! Let’s discuss today, shall we…” She paused. “Applejack, what happened to your eye?” she asked in concern. Yeah, she was upset with them, but they were still her friends.

Everypony turned to look at said farm mare, realizing she had a black eye over her right eye. She wasn’t even trying to hide it. Applejack sighed. “When I realized what a danged fool I was being, I asked Big Mac to sock me in the eye. After telling him why, he did so happily.” She smiled when Twilight lit her horn for a healing spell. “Don’t, Twi. This is something Mac and I do when one of us starts strayin’ from our codes. When we finally realize what we’re doing, we ask the other to belt us one. It hurts, but that just means ah’ll remember it easier next time.”

Twilight hesitated, before nodding and cutting the the flow of magic to her horn. “Okay. If you say so.” She cleared her throat, grabbing everypony’s attention. “Now then, I called you all here because I’ve finally made my decision regarding the ticket. But before that…” Her horn ignited, and everypony looked around in slight worry as the library itself began glowing. After a moment, the glow faded. “There. Now no one can leave the library until I’m done.”

She held up the tickets in her magic. “I promised all of you that I would tell you my decision just as soon as I ate lunch. That meant I was going to go have a peaceful lunch, and then return to the farm to give you my decision. That’s what should have happened. It didn’t. Instead, four of you made plans to try and make me feel indebted to you, of which only three of you actually went through with. Rarity…” She motioned towards the suddenly bashful Unicorn. “… had the common decency to realize those favors were causing me undue stress, and was upfront and honest about it. She even made me tea and lunch after promising me that she expected nothing in return. For that, thank you, Rarity.”

“No problem, dear. And just to be clear, everypony, I will not be accepting the ticket if that’s what Twilight decided. I was being honest when I said I expected nothing in return.” She looked at Applejack. “Unlike a certain Element of Honesty.”

Applejack hid her face behind her hat, not denying how badly she messed up.

“Pinkie Pie is the only one among you who made no plans whatsoever and actually waited. Why is that, Pinkie? You were certainly excited about the possibility of going,” Twilight asked curiously.

Pinkie grinned. “Oh, that’s easy. Someone else already did it! It wouldn’t be a good story if the author just completely reused the canon plot.”

Five mares and one drake blinked at her in confusion, before unanimously deciding to pretend the last fifteen seconds never happened.

Twilight quickly regained her thought process. “Rainbow Dash started a town-wide storm and left the area I was under as the only dry spot in all of it. Since it took you half an hour to clean that up, I imagine the weather patrol caught wind of it.”

Rainbow Dash cringed. “Yeah. I got kicked off the weather team for three weeks and no pay for that stunt.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m not surprised.” She turned to Fluttershy. “You… I never expected you of all ponies to try and curry favor like that, however I’m fairly confident a certain hare coerced you into it,” she said, making Fluttershy shrink in on herself. “Why do you even want to go to the Gala? Someone as shy as you would have a heart attack in a crowd like that.”

Fluttershy looked down. “The Celestial Gardens are supposed to be inhabited by all kinds of animals. Really rare animals. I really want to make friends with them.” She smiled slightly at the idea.

Twilight nodded. “I imagined as much.”

Finally, Twilight turned to Spike. “Spike, whenever you’re ready.” Spike held up a sheet of parchment and a quill. 

 “Dear Princess Celestia,

“Today, I was put in the unenviable position of wanting to share my blessings with my friends, but not having enough blessings to go around. It was made worse as my friends argued and clamored for my favor to try and get me to pick them to give it to. Finally, I was forced to put my hoof down. Besides, if I can’t share my blessings with all of my friends, then there’s no point in me having the blessings in the first place. As such, I am returning my Gala tickets with this letter. I’m sorry, Princess. I was looking forward to spending time with you, but I can’t this time.

“Your Faithful Student,
“Clark Kent”

Spike blinked, and looked at a furiously blushing Twilight. He quirked an eyebrow. “… I’m just going to scratch that out and put your name down,” he decided, getting a nod of thanks from the embarrassed Unicorn.

 “P.S. Spike here. In case it’s not obvious, Twilight’s struggling with her new memories. Is there anything you can do to help, Princess?”

With that, he rolled up the paper, tied a seal to it, and set fire to it, watching the ash fly out the open window and towards Canterlot.

“Now then,” Twilight gathered attention to herself again. “Applejack, you said the reason you want to go to the Gala is for business, right?” Applejack nodded. “Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but the nobles of Canterlot won’t even look at you.” At Applejack’s hurt expression, she realized her slip. “What I mean is that the nobles are arrogant and, to be honest, stupider than a starved dodo. They’ll take one look at the fact that you’re a farm worker and snub you on that alone, deeming you below their notice. You could cook food fit for Gods and they would still do so.”

“Oh…” Applejack’s ears drooped as her expression fell.

“However!” Twilight yelled, getting the farm mare’s attention. “I can use my status as the Princess’ student to pull some strings. I don't like doing it... but you have a good reason for wanting that contract. Come time for the Gala I may be able to have you involved with the catering, which on its own should earn you enough money to at least get your grandmother’s hip replacement. If you’re lucky, the nobles will realize you’re working as their caterer with the Princess’ approval, and might approach you for some contracts regarding their own businesses.”

Applejack smiled warmly at Twilight. “Thank you, Twilight. Ah know I don’t rightly deserve it after today, but thank you.”

Twilight hugged her friend briefly, before turning to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, I know you were looking forward to enjoying a big party bash at the Gala… but that isn’t the kind of party you’re used to. The Gala is nothing more than uptight jerks pandering to their own egos. They’ll sooner kick you out of the Gala then willingly shift the party to your style.” Pinkie frowned, and Twilight saw her hair start to uncurl. ‘Weird. Her hair reacts to her mood?’

“But the Hearth Warming Eve party in Canterlot Square is the kind of party for you, and I can easily get you in as a coordinator for the event. Snow Cloud, the normal coordinator, owes me for doing his taxes for him for the last eight years. If I ask, he’ll happily let you take over this year.” Twilight braced herself as the party pony grinned and tackled her in a hug.

“Thank you, Twilight! Oh, this is going to be great!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing away.

Finally, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, who was looking hopeful. “Even if I gave you the ticket to the Gala, you wouldn’t have made it within ten feet of the Wonderbolts. Do you know why?” Twilight asked, confusing Rainbow Dash. “Do you really think you would be the only pony there trying to get their attention?” Rainbow’s eyes widened as she realized what that meant. “The Wonderbolts will be spending the entire evening fighting off both fans and paparazzi. A fan trying to worm her way into their good graces is not something they will want to see that night.” Twilight sighed. “I could easily use my pull as the Princess’ student to arrange for Spitfire to visit Ponyville though, telling her that I know a mare who would be a perfect candidate for the Wonderbolts roster…” She paused, seeing Rainbow Dash’s hope start rising again. “But I won’t.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Unlike the others who tried to get my favor, you’re the only one who doesn’t even regret that she tried to manipulate me.” Twilight scowled. “This is me reminding you that there are some lines you simply don’t cross shamelessly when your friends are involved.”

“But… But… The Wonderbolts… The Gala…” Rainbow stammered, trying to come up with a response.

“Are beyond your grasp.” When Rainbow Dash’s head fell, she grabbed the Pegasus and made her look her in the eye. She smiled. “There’s always next year, Rainbow. Just… try and learn from this.”

Rainbow smiled a bit sadly. “…Yeah… I guess I deserve that, don’t I?” She chuckled. “Will you forgive me, Twilight?”

“Forgiven,” Twilight answered easily, hugging her friend.

Rainbow backed away after a moment, and then Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “It’s not the Gala you’re interested in, right? Just the animals in the Celestial Gardens?” At Fluttershy’s nod, she also nodded. “The gardens are, of course, only open to the public during the Gala, but I myself have twenty-four seven access since some of the lessons in magic I had happened in there. I can take you with me to Canterlot sometime to visit if you want.”

Fluttershy smiled happily.

“But,” Twilight began again. “You should know that the animals there are extremely sheltered and skittish. It will take more than one visit for them to even consider coming out of hiding to see you. But if you’re patient and listen to Vine Shear, the head gardener, you’ll eventually get to make friends with those animals,” she explained.

Fluttershy smiled brightly. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“No problem.” Twilight returned the smile.

Rainbow frowned suddenly in thought. “Hey, what about Rarity?”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, that’s right. When Rarity offered me food and tea, as well as a bit of an escape from you guys, with no strings attached, I returned the favor by promising to get her into Canterlot as one of Blueblood’s staff. That way she can have her attempt at his heart… if she still wants it by then.”

Rarity frowned at Twilight. “You’re making me think you have a very small opinion of the Prince, Twilight,” she noted.

Twilight chuckled. “That’s one way of putting it. However, I won’t let my experience mar what may very well be a happy ending for you, Rarity, so try and make good use of your opportunity.”

Rarity smiled and nodded. “Oh, believe me I will.”

Spike suddenly exhaled a gout of flame, which coalesced into a scroll with a red ribbon tied around it.

Spike grabbed it and opened it. “Ahem…”

 “Dear Twilight,

“That’s quite the list of favors you’ve asked for. However, they are easily doable and I understand why you asked for most of them.

“It’s very wise of you to allow your friend to make her own conclusions instead of trying to force your own opinions on her. I happily agree to allow one Rarity Belle join me in the castle for two weeks. She will take up residence in your old chambers. When she arrives, we’ll discuss how best to go about getting her the opportunity she desires.

“Applejack and whatever family she wishes to bring are invited to the castle this weekend to undergo testing by my personal chefs. If they impress them, I’ll happily sign off on a contract to have her family cater at the Gala.

“I will see to it that the scroll you sent also makes it into Snow Cloud’s hooves. As you’ve requested, I did not read it. You said it would be a pleasant surprise, and I trust you.

“Also, I’m very proud of you for choosing to give up the tickets instead of trying to pick between your friends. I apologize for the fact that you only got two tickets in the first place. You were supposed to get seven. I have included them in the letter”

“Sincerely,
“Princess Celestia

“P.S. I want you to join Applejack on her visit, Twilight. Spike has made me aware of your struggle with the memories. I know of someone who can help you with that. At least this explains why your last letter was signed Clark Sparkle.”

Twilight gave Spike the stink eye, but sighed after a moment. “Thank you for looking out for me, Spike.” She smiled. He was only worried, after all. She would have done the same in his position. She picked up the seven tickets and held them out to her friends. “So! Who still wants to go to the Gala?”

Rainbow smiled, but then she frowned. Finally, she sighed. “No thanks, Twi. I think I need to learn that lesson, and going to the Gala feels like I’m getting rewarded instead of punished.”

Applejack tilted her hat over her face. “I feel the same. Besides, if ah’m going to cater the Gala, ain’t no point in me having a ticket.” She chuckled.

“I’ll go! I’ll go!” Pinkie declared, grabbing one of the tickets. Twilight shrugged in response.

“Certainly, darling. Even if I’m not going to for the Prince, I still think this would be a fabulous look into Canterlot society,” Rarity stated, grabbing her own ticket.

“Um… if I’m already going to be visiting the gardens, then there’s no point in me going,” Fluttershy turned her ticket down.

Twilight turned to Spike. “Spike?” she asked, holding up a ticket.

Spike thought about it for a moment. “…Are you going?” he asked.

Twilight nodded. “Now that I don’t have to feel bad about choosing between friends, sure,” she said.

“Alright, I’ll come along,” he said with a smile, grabbing the ticket.

After that, everyone began filing out of the library, leaving Twilight to go to her room upstairs for a nap after sending the unused tickets back. ‘Overall… today could’ve been better, but it could’ve been a lot worse too. Wonder what tomorrow has in store…?’

> 3. Downswing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 My name is Clark Kent. I have lived a long and eventful life. I started my life as the son of farmers. As I grew though, I noticed oddities about myself. I was strong. I was fast. I was durable.

I could shoot lasers from my eyes.

That last one freaked me out badly. I think that was when I stopped trying to rationalize the strangeness and began asking questions. After an accident at school involving a glowing green rock, my parents finally told me the truth.

I was not their son, not biologically. They found me when a small ship from space crashed in front of them on their way home one day. They showed me the ship. The ship still worked though, as it had opened up on my approach. A message from my biological father explained why I was on Earth. Krypton, the planet I was born on, was dying, and the Council was being too stubborn to let him do anything about it. Not willing to let his son die, he built a ship and sent me to Earth.

He told me my name was Kal-El, but that the name given to me by whoever raised me was likely the best option to go by. He told me that he expected great things from me. A Kryptonian who lived under the light of a yellow sun could become either the greatest threat in the universe, or the greatest hero. He told me that humanity was a young race, but it was also brilliant in its absolute determination to survive. He said that humans struggled to find their place, but if I took up the mantle, I could be the Guiding Star of Humanity.

He said they would stumble. He said they would fall… but in time, they would get up, dust themselves off, and keep chasing that star. It was up to me to show them the path. They would follow it in their own time.

I had this strength, these powers. I was raised as a moral man by the Kents. The choice was obvious to me. Donning a red cape and a blue Kryptonian battle-suit, I became Superman. It was time to show the world that there is always a better way.

And Jor-El, my father, was right. I lived my life saving lives and stopping evil. I even helped found a team of superheroes dedicated to protecting the Earth. We called ourselves the Justice League.

Sometimes it was easy. Sometimes it was hard. But in the end it was always worth it, even if I only saved one life. It would always be worth it. I never once regretted my decision to become Superman.

---

Clark shot out of bed with a gasp, only to stumble as he found himself getting tangled up in his… hooves? 

He tried to stand up, but was forced to fly in order to keep from landing on his face. He examined his body… his now purple furred body. His now equine purple furred body. He looked at the hooves that had replaced his hands, eyes wide. “What… happened to me?” he asked. Then his eyes widened and his hooves flew to his throat. “My voice…! I sound… I sound like a girl!” A terrible chill went through his body, and his hoof went southward. “Oh Ral…” He turned a pasty white.

---

Spike was startled from his sleep by a shrill scream of terror that he instantly recognized as Twilight’s. Instincts he never knew he had forced him from his bed and charging through the library towards his caretaker’s room. He threw the door open. “Twilight!” he yelled.

He found Twilight floating in the air, trying and failing to hold her blanket over her body. She looked beyond panicked. “Twilight, what’s wrong?” he asked urgently, approaching her.

Twilight’s eyes snapped to him, and he saw them widen in surprise. Then she did something Spike never would have expected her to do. Her eyes glowed red briefly, and instincts once again flared in Spike’s mind. He dived to the side, narrowly avoiding twin beams of red energy. However, just as he was doing so, something registered in his mind.

Twilight’s eyes were sky blue.

“Twilight! Calm down!” Spike said, jumping to his feet and turning to face his friend.

---

Clark floated away from the lizard thing that had charged into the room. In his panic, he had accidentally unleashed his heat vision on it. He was grateful he missed, but… wait, was it talking to him?

“Please, Twilight! What’s wrong?!” the lizard begged.

“Twilight?” Clark asked after a moment. That word rang in his heart. It resonated with something deep inside him.

 “I did it! I did it! I got my Cutie Mark!”

Clark groaned as his head began pounding. “Who… what are you?” he asked the lizard.

The lizard blinked at the question directed at him, then he frowned. “Twilight, are you okay? It’s me, Spike? You’re number one assistant?”

 “You… want me to raise him, Princess?”

“Spike, get back here and apologize to Fancy Pants!”

“Thank you for looking out for me, Spike.”

Clark… no, Twilight shook her head. She grabbed her head with her hooves. She… no, he needed… he needed to think… Twilight Kent moaned as more and more memories that were not his own began filtering into his mind, mingling and mixing with the memories already there. “What…? Who…?”

“Twilight…?”

Twilark looked up, and her heart melted at the concern in the green eyes of the dragon in front of her. “Spike…!” he gasped. Blood was beginning to leak from her ears, she could feel it. Something was wrong with her mind. “Princess… HELP!!!” And with that, Clight’s eyes rolled upwards and he passed out.

---

Spike just barely managed to catch Twilight’s head as she fell from the air, likely saving her from a concussion. He grabbed her pillow from her bed and placed it under her head. After making sure she was no longer thrashing and would be okay if he walked away, he went to get a scroll and quill.

 “Princess! Twilight just woke up and was having a panic attack! She looked at me like she didn’t even know who I was at first, and passed out after I reminded her. Her ears were bleeding! Please! I think she needs help!

“Spike”

He flamed the letter away instantly. “Please hurry, Princess,” he muttered, going back to Twilight and petting her mane as she slept. He did it often to calm her down whenever the Princess was forced to put her under a sleep spell when she was having a panic attack. It usually helped.

---

Some hours later found Spike waiting in the main room of the library with his and Twilight’s friends, pacing impatiently as Luna examined Twilight in her bedroom. Celestia was with her, though he didn’t know why.

As soon as Celestia had arrived with Luna, she told him to go gather Twilight’s friends and bring them back. Considering how early in the morning it was, this took a bit of time, especially since he couldn’t get up to Rainbow Dash’s home on his own. He eventually had to enlist the help of Derpy, who had been just starting her mail route.

“What exactly happened, sugar?” Applejack asked Spike, bringing him to a stop from his pacing.

“I woke up to Twilight screaming. She sounded scared, so I went to see what was wrong. She nearly shot my head off with some kind of weird laser vision, and didn’t recognize me at all. When I tried to remind her of who I was, she started panicking again, started bleeding from the ears, managed to tell me to get a letter to the Princess, and passed out.” He paused for a beat. “Oh, and her eyes weren’t purple. They were light blue. I don’t know if that means anything.”

Applejack looked stumped, before her eyes flashed with an idea. “Hey, wasn’t she having issues with those memories? I know she accidentally tried to call herself Clark Kent last night after that whole ticket situation.”

Rainbow looked at her in confusion. “What’s that got anything-”

“Get BACK!!!”

Everyone’s eyes snapped towards the stairs. That had been Twilight’s voice.

“Clark Kent, please, calm yourself. You are perfectly safe,” Luna’s voice said calmly. Spike noted that her dialect sounded much more modern then it had at the party a week ago, though it still sounded overly formal.

“See?” Applejack said somewhat smugly. A crash and the library shaking wiped the smugness from her face. They would have charged upstairs, but Celestia had warned them that they could not enter the room until she said so. She had said something about distracting Luna as she worked.

“How do you know who I am? Where am I? Why am I in this body? Why am I a girl?!?” Twilight was panicking again. Spike instinctively made to run up the stairs, but Applejack stopped him, shaking her head at him.

“Mr. Kent! If you don’t calm down you’ll have another panic attack. Please, we’ll explain as best as we can, but first you must calm down,” Celestia’s voice spoke slowly and calmly.

The sound of someone struggling to control their breathing was all that was heard after that.

---

“Do you feel better?” Celestia asked, keeping her distance in case Twilight, or rather, Clark, panicked again.

Clark nodded slowly. “Yes… Yes, I think I’m okay.” He took a deep, steadying breath. “…Where am I?” he asked calmly.

“The planet Equus, in the country of Equestria, and the town of Ponyville,” Celestia answered.

“Equus? I’ve never heard… no… wait… I know that name. In fact, I know all of the names you mentioned. How do I know them?” He frowned. “I’m… a Unicorn? Twilight Sparkle?” He shook his head, then looked at Celestia. “Princess Celestia,” he nodded, getting a nod in return. He looked at Luna. “And Princess Luna.” He sighed. “What’s going on?”

“You and my student, Twilight Sparkle, share a soul, Mr. Kent. She recently managed to awaken your memories and obtain your abilities, but your own subconscious appears to have overwhelmed her and taken over, forming a consciousness based on those memories.”

Clark blinked owlishly at her, before groaning and bringing a hoof to his head. “I only understood…” He paused, before screwing up his face in confusion. “All of it?” He shook his head.

“This… unscheduled rain storm…”

“Gah!” Clark leapt up and flew to the ceiling, looking around. “Who said that?” He nearly shouted.

“Clark Kent, you must remain calm!” Luna said harshly.

Clark winced, floating down. “I’m sorry…” he mumbled. “…I heard a voice in my head. It said something about unscheduled weather.” He blinked. “Wait… Pegasi control the weather? That is so cool!” He was almost childish in his revelation. His head throbbed and he stumbled backwards, grunting.

“If you draw on young Twilight Sparkle’s memories, even unintentionally, you will begin drawing her subconscious towards the surface,” Luna explained calmly.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Clark asked, rubbing his head. “I would think you’d rather have her than me.”

“You would be correct, if not for the fact that your subconscious and hers are vying for dominance over your body,” Luna explained. “An inner struggle such as that can cause irreversible damage if we do not find a solution to it soon. Right now your subconscious has overtaken Twilight Sparkle. Her subconscious is now dormant, but drawing on her memories will awaken it, leading to a struggle for control again and a repeat of the incident that had squire Spike demanding our aid.” Luna shook her head. “Tis the downside of sharing your body with another entity. Trust Us, we would know. Though...” She paused, considering. "Mine own situation was similar, but it was matter of two souls fighting for control, not two personalities in one soul."

“But… wait, you want Twilight back... does that mean you intend to kill me?” Clark asked, carefully altering his stance for a quick exit, through force if need be. 

“You and Twilight are one and the same, Mr. Kent,” Celestia, said, making Clark look at her in confusion. “My student is your reincarnation after death. This entire situation has occurred because, I believe, my student has refused to accept that she was you, subconsciously rejecting the memories.”

Clark furrowed his brow. “But…” He groaned, this time from a migraine that thinking about this was giving him. “Okay, let me see I’ve got this. I died.” Celestia and Luna nodded. “I don’t remember it though, but whatever, we’ll come back to that. I died, and then I was reincarnated as Twilight Sparkle. Recently she awakened the memories of my life, as well as gained my powers, but she is subconsciously rejecting the memories?” They nodded again. “Because… she’s isn’t accepting that she was once me?” He was obviously have trouble wrapping his head around this.

Celestia shook her head. “Imagine if you will, Mr. Kent, that the roles between you were reversed. You grew up as a… Kryptonian, I think Twilight called it?” Clark nodded. “Imagine you spent your entire life, short as that may be, knowing without doubt you were Kryptonian. Then, suddenly, you have memories of another life as a Unicorn. As a female. You would initially reject such a thing as well, would you not?”

Clark shuddered. “I… kinda don’t need to imagine it. I’m currently living it.” He just barely managed to stop his hoof from reaching towards his crotch. 

Celestia nodded. “Twilight accepted your powers because they helped her save my sister and her friends from certain doom, but she rejected the memories after she had the time to look through them properly, though whether it was a conscious decision on her part or not, I do not know. We’re operating under the assumption that she did this subconsciously.”

Clark nodded. “But memories are stubborn things. They can’t just be shoved to the side because you don’t like them.” His eyes lit up as he began putting the pieces together. “Because she rejected them, my memories were kept separate from her own. Because of this, her subconscious mind could not govern over them, and my memories constructed one in its stead… me. And then my subconscious tried to assert itself, which began causing issues. It culminated in me taking her spot at the helm and her getting thrown into the deeper part of my… her… our mind.” He grumbled. “Something tells me terminology is going to be a pain until this gets settled.”

Luna nodded. “That is the basic situation at hand. And, as we have explained before, Twilight Sparkle’s subconscious is actively fighting to regain control, and drawing on her memories will bring it closer to the surface. Then it will only escalate into another struggle for control and may lead to brain damage.”

“Which is bad,” Clark added. “So how do I fix this?” he asked.

Celestia hesitated, unsure. But Luna stepped forward. “Think back, Clark Kent, to your previous life. Remember it. Remember that final day. Remember the day you finally exited the mortal coil. Then, try and recall your birth as Twilight Sparkle. Your mind will not be able to recall such early information… but your soul will. Do so, and your mind will bridge the gap between Clark Kent and Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia glanced at Luna with a raised eyebrow, before nodding to Clark. “It’s the best we’ve currently got. At worst, we’ll just have to think of something new.”

Clark nodded and sat down, leaning his back against the door, closing his eyes. ‘Think back. Go back. Throw yourself back towards that day. What is the last thing I remember?’

As he continued to concentrate, something happened. A sudden feeling of rushing ran through him, and then vanished. He opened his eyes, and found himself staring into the violet eyes of Twilight Sparkle. Looking down, he found himself in his Kryptonian body. He looked back up and looked at the Unicorn more closely. She looked… regretful?

“Did you hear all of that?” he asked.

Twilight nodded. “I woke up in here just as you were beginning to panic again. I heard the whole thing.”

“So… Do we both do as the Princess said?” he asked.

Twilight nodded. “I think so. I think I should focus on my birth, while you focus on your death.”

Clark nodded. “Better than nothing I guess,” he said with a shrug, sitting down. He closed his eyes again and began searching.

Clark didn’t know how long he and Twilight sat there trying to pull up the memories. It felt like hours had ticked by, but he knew enough about meditation to know it may very well have been only seconds.

Twilight suddenly growled. “Oh, this is hopeless!” she yelled. “No matter how much I try to remember it, all I keep getting are flashes of your life!”

Clark opened his eyes and nodded. “I keep getting your own childhood memories.” He shook his head. “You would think something like dying would be easy to remember.”

Twilight grunted. “At least you’ve got the easy part. I have no idea how to search my soul for memories.”

Clark blinked, then his eyes widened as an idea came to him. “Your soul… Of course!” he exclaimed, startling Twilight. “We’re approaching this as two separate beings. The whole point of this is to get you to accept that you and I are the same person!”

Twilight’s eyes widened in understanding, then she groaned. “Oh for… WHY is the obvious conclusion always the hardest one to come to?” she grumbled. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to calm herself. “Okay, so… do I try and remember your death, and you try and remember my birth?” she asked.

Clark shook his head with a smile, finally understanding the situation now. “No. You try and remember your birth and your death,” he explained, getting Twilight to look at him in confusion. “You’re me, Twilight. You are what I become.” He motioned around them. “This is your mind. We’re in your body. I’m only here because you created me and stuck the memories of Clark Kent in me. I’m not really him, just a copy that you made.”

“But… the Princess said…” Twilight tried to respond.

“She said that the memories of Clark Kent created me.” He shook his head. “But they were wrong, Twilight. The memories didn’t make me. You did. Subconsciously, yes, but you did. I’m nothing more than an interactive jar you used to keep the memories away from you when you realized what they meant.”

Twilight opened her mouth to try and deny it. She tried to deny that she didn’t hide from the truth like that. But… nothing came out. Clark was right, she realized. She didn’t like that she wasn’t always Twilight Sparkle. She was scared. She was terrified that accepting the much larger amount of memories from Clark Kent would somehow make her stop being Twilight. They shouldn't, she hadn't changed when she accepted them in the forest... but fear hardly ever ran with logic.

She had to laugh, though Clark realized it was also a sob. She smiled through unshed tears. “I have been an absolute foal, haven’t I?” she asked. “I’m just… what will happen to me? Will I stop being me if I accept that I’m you?”

Clark knelt down next to her and hugged her. “The memories were always in you, Twilight. They were always there. They were always a part of you. Accepting that you are Clark Kent and Twilight Sparkle won’t change anything. You’ll just have more knowledge to go by is all.”

Twilight shivered in his grip as she fought with herself. He held her, providing comfort for… himself, he supposed. ‘If we’re not a prime example of a nutcase, I don’t know what we are,’ he chuckled to himself.

“Clinically insane,” Twilight answered.

Clark blinked, before smiling. “See? You’re already accepting it.” They started to glow softly. “Go on, Twilight. Remember.”

Twilight nodded, closing her eyes.

The landscape shot by as she rushed as fast as she dared. She had to get there. She had to hurry.

The warnings of the fortune teller flashed through her mind briefly, and she wished she had heeded them, knowing what she did now.

Clark watched as his legs began breaking apart into motes of light, which Twilight began to absorb. He smiled. “That’s it. You’re doing it,” he encouraged her.

She hit the ground hard, cratering it. She slowly pushed herself to her knees, her body trembling in agony. A sudden coughing fit revealed blood.

Blood… mixed with a green glow.

“Finally… I have waited so long for this day...”

She painfully looked over her shoulder, finding an old Lex Luthor standing behind her in his latest technological kryptonite powered suit. “Lex… Why?” she asked.

“I only ever wanted one thing,” Lex answered, walking around her and kneeling in front of her. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “I just wanted to make humanity strong. I believed that by leading it I could.” He shook his head. “We both know I’m not a tyrant. I would be strict and harsh, yes, but I would also be fair. After all, we humans become great only when under duress.” He sighed, letting go of her head.

She felt her arms give out and fell on her face. She looked at him, and found him pointing a simple revolved at her head. She could see the green glow of the Kryptonite bullet down the barrel.

“But you had to stop me at every turn. Every single loss I experienced, I grew more desperate. I grew more… unhinged.” He shook his head and sighed again. “I am no longer the man that can lead humanity into greatness. That’s why there are two bullets in this gun. Once you’re gone, I will stop myself from becoming the monster you always feared I was. I only hope someone else steps up to help humanity grow.” He pulled the hammer back. “For what it’s worth, Clark… I cherish the friendship we used to have.”

Twilight gasped, the bang of the gun firing dislodging her from the memory. Her eyes flew open, and she only gasped again at the sight of Clark fading away into light… light that she was absorbing. “Clark…?” she asked hesitantly.

“It doesn’t hurt, Twilight.” He assured her with a smile. “It actually feels nice… like I’m laying down after a long day.” He hugged her tighter. “Come on. Almost done,” he said.

Twilight nodded after a moment, then closed her eyes. Slowly, she sank into her own soul… and found the light of creation that birthed her.

She looked around in confusion. Where was she? The last thing she remembered… Her expression fell. “…He did it. He actually did it” She murmured to herself. She looked at her hands. “So… I’m dead now. It’s not what I was expecting.” 

“It rarely ever is.”

She spun around, and found herself face to face with… herself?

“Welcome to judgment, Clark Kent. And yes… this is indeed the day you die for good.” Her double nodded. “It is rare that a soul such as yours crosses into the beyond. Rarer still for it to do so repeatedly.”

She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Er… that’s… not going to count against me… is it?”

Her double laughed. It had a musical tone to. “Goodness, no! You only were able to come back to life because I allowed it. Simply put, you still had work to do, which is why I did not stop you. But… that work is over, and now you stand before me for the last time… or is it?”

Her double grinned an innocent grin. “Your life in this world is over. There is no denying that… but it would be a waste to just let you go on to Paradise without first extending an offer to you.”

She felt unease at this. She had worked with Bruce far too often to not recognize when she was about to make a deal with the devil… figuratively speaking of course.

“Existence is vast and varied,” her double began. “No two universes are the same. This variation gives birth to wondrous and beautiful things… but it also births terrible and monstrous things. I do my best to guide heroes to combat whatever malevolence that threatens their universe, but sometimes… sometimes that threat is simply too big for even the best.” She watched her double shake her head with a sigh.

“So I decided to create a team, much like you yourself did. I began recruiting heroes, but not the strongest. Oh no, strength isn’t going to solve those biggest threats. No. I recruit heroes who show a certain… aspect upon their death. Then, when those threats show up, I reincarnate the heroes. With the help of Destiny, we prepare you for the coming danger. Then, when it’s over and done with, you live your reincarnated life however you wish, and return to my service upon your death.”

She felt her heart drop. More conflict. More war. No peace. “So I’m just going to be thrown back into the fire?”

Her double frowned at her, surprising her. “You misunderstand me. This is entirely your choice. Additionally, when the weight of you service begins to wear on your soul, I will release you and let you go into Paradise. Once you’ve recovered, you may at any time return to my service. As I said, the choice is entirely yours.”

She considered that, but a question arose in her. “If I turn it down now… if I wish to spend time in this Paradise first and get away from what I’ve already gone through, will I be able to join at a later time?” She asked. “I want to help, I do… but I was looking forward to some peace.”

Her double smiled and nodded. “My offer will stand for as long as you wish. You may accept it at any time, even if you initially turn it down. But be warned, I will not allow knowledge of Paradise to escape into the mortal coil. If you join me, I will take from you the memories of your time in Paradise whenever you are reincarnated, but I will return them upon your death.”

She nodded, seeing no real issue with that. “I’d like to go to Paradise… How do I contact you when I’m ready to come into your service?” she asked.

Her double waved a hand. “I will know when you are ready, do not worry.” She was given a kind smile. “Enjoy your Paradise.”

There was a flash of light, and she was gone.

---

With a flash of light, she was back. She looked upon her double and nodded. “I’m ready,” she said.

Her double nodded. “Clark Kent, from this day forward you are a Hero Soul. I recruit heroes based on aspects that they display throughout life. For you, it was your ability to instill hope into others that drew me towards you. There is no other with your capacity for hope. Just being in a place without hope, doing nothing but stand there, your very presence begins to lift spirits and encourage passion. Hero Soul, I name you the Soul of Hope.”

And suddenly she was falling. Shrinking. Becoming light. “Go now to your rebirth. You are needed.”

And then she was looking into the face of… A Unicorn? No… more than a Unicorn. Her mother. “Twilight,” her mother said with a teary smile. “Your name is Twilight Sparkle. Welcome to Equestria, my little girl.”

---

Twilight opened her eyes, finding her teacher hovering over her with a worried gaze. “…Princess?” she asked. She rolled over slowly and gently got her hooves under her.

Celestia helped her up. “Careful, Twilight. Slowly. How do you feel?”

Twilight did a mental check on herself, and had to smile at the warmth she felt coming from the center of her chest. “I feel… relieved, actually. Like I had a headache all my life, but didn’t know it, and suddenly it’s gone.”

Celestia smiled, walking her student towards her bed. “I’m glad. Luna said you might feel a bit off balance for a few days. Your body can now begin adapting to the awakened memories without the memories vying for control.”

Twilight caught the brief frown on Celestia’s face though. “Princess?” she asked in concern.

Celestia shook her head. “Don’t worry, my faithful student. It’s nothing important.” She helped Twilight into bed, using her magic to pull the blanket over the Unicorn. “Get some sleep, Twilight. I’ve instructed Spike to close the library for today. Consider it a day off.” The aura of magic around her horn intensified for a moment.

Twilight yawned, feeling her mind grow fuzzy. She was tired, despite the fact that she couldn’t have been awake for longer than an hour total since her breakdown. “What… What about my friends? I heard them earlier.”

“Luna is speaking with them now. There’s no more danger, so they can go about their day. They’ll be there when you’re ready to go back outside.”

Twilight frowned, a thought drilling through the haze of exhaustion. “But… I don’t hear them…” she mumbled, her eyelids getting heavy.

“I cast a privacy spell on the room to let you sleep peacefully. Only if you yell in pain will sound get through,” Celestia explained. “Shhh.” She put a hoof to Twilight lips, silencing any further questions. “Spike can send me a letter with whatever questions you have… after you get some sleep.”

Twilight pouted. “… fine,” she grumbled, then turned on her side and snuggled into the warm blankets. “G’night… Princess…” And she was out.

Celestia shook her head with a smile, releasing her hold on the sleep spell she had cast once Twilight was in bed. Twilight began to snore softly. “That spell is taking longer and longer to work every time I use it on her.” She sighed, walking through the bedroom door. “Her magic’s getting stronger. Still no sign of slowing, either.” She shut the door and went to join her sister.

“An ageless Hero Soul… Is it destiny, or chance? I can never decide…” she mused to herself.

> 4. Nobility
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 “Are you sure you’ll be able to handle Applebuck Season without us?” Applejack asked, looking at her older brother, Big Mac. “I can always try again next year if you need my help.” She was doing her best to not insinuate that her brother couldn’t manage the farm workers because of the bruised rib he got recently. 

They, along with Granny Smith and Applebloom, were standing in Ponyville’s train station… which was currently little more than a platform on the side of the tracks. 

“I’m injured, AJ, not brain dead,” Big Mac grunted. “I promise I won’t be doing any of the physical work, just management.” He pointed towards Canterlot in the distance. “You three go show those nobles how homemade cooking is done.” He smirked, before turning and slowly walking away.

Applejack sighed before sitting down next to her little sister. Granny Smith was on the other side of Applebloom. “I’m worried,” she muttered, glancing back at the exit of the platform. It was easy to see she was debating giving up on the contract and going to help her brother. Thwap! “Gah!” She looked over at Granny Smith while rubbing the back of her head. The old mare was holding a broom. Applebloom had ducked away as soon as she saw the broom make an appearance and was now giggling at her sister’s misfortune.

“Don’t go doubting your brother, missy!” Granny Smith said with narrowed eyes. “He managed the farm just fine during the Apple Family Reunion in Fillydelphia three years ago.”

“He wasn’t injured then,” Applejack grunted, only to get the broom handle upside her head again. Applebloom’s giggles became outright laughter. “Ow! A’right already! I give, I give!” Applejack hollered, holding her hooves above her head.

“Don’t back-talk to me young lady! I raised you to have a sensible head on your shoulders. You know as well as I do your brother never breaks his promises.” She glared at Applejack a little longer, likely contemplating a third hit. Just to be sure.

Applejack sighed. “Ah’m sorry, Granny. I guess I’m just nervous.”

Granny Smith smiled at her granddaughter and pulled her close. “Yer brother will be fine. He’s smart, unlike his old man,” she grumbled, getting a smirk out of Applejack and Applebloom.

Their father, may his soul rest in peace, had been a hard worker and great at any physical labor you put in front of him. Mental labor, on the other hand, was not his strong point. He wasn’t stupid by any means, but…Well, Applejack distinctly remembered walking into the house for dinner one night and found her mother holding her father down and trying to pry a box of matches from his hooves. He apparently was going to torch the ‘demon-spawn paperwork’ that he had been trying to work on all day. That was when her mother had taken over all the paperwork responsibilities. That was also the only time she ever saw her brother absolutely howling in laughter.

She wasn’t real great with numbers herself, but at least Applejack could do the basic paperwork for the farm. Big Mac though took after their mother, who had come from Canterlot and had an education behind her. She had taught him as much as she could before the… well… before they left.

Big Mac was now home schooling Applebloom. Applejack and him had already decided that, if they get the contract, the first thing they were doing with the money, after Granny’s hip replacement, was get Applebloom in the schoolhouse Cheerilee had recently opened in Ponyville. The replacement equipment could wait a little longer for that.

“Good. We’re not late.”

Applejack and her family looked towards the stairs for the platform and found Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie approaching, Twilight pulling a wagon loaded with their luggage. Applejack quirked an eyebrow when she noted Twilight was not actually walking, but rather just floating along about an inch from the ground.

“Hiya, AJ!” Pinkie greeted enthusiastically, rushing over and hugging her friend, incidentally hugging Applebloom and Granny Smith as well.

 ‘Probably considers it a bonus,’ Applejack chuckled to herself, returning the hug. “Howdy, Pinkie!” She returned. “I understand Rarity and Twi, but what’re you doing here?” she asked.

“The Princess sent me a letter this morning with Snow Cloud’s response,” Twilight answered in the party pony’s stead. She landed on her hooves and began undoing the knot keeping the wagon tied to her. “He wants to meet Pinkie himself before he lets her take over, so she’s going with us.”

Applejack nodded, and everyone’s ears jumped as the shrill sound of a train whistle reached their ears. Looking down the tracks, they spotted the pink train. “Up and at ‘em, Apples” She said, getting to her hooves. “Train’s here”

---

“So how will the chefs test you, Applejack?” Rarity asked after she finished helping Twilight store their luggage in the luggage car. The train had already left, evident by the rolling landscape outside the window of their car.

“The Princess sent us a message earlier today saying we’ll be tested on the three meals of the day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and dessert. We’ll be tested on breakfast as soon as we get settled in at the castle today” Applejack explained.

“So soon?” Rarity questioned. “Don’t you need time to prepare and gather ingredients from the market?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nope. The chefs are deciding what we’ll cook, and providing the ingredients as well”

“Ooh! Maybe they’ll ask you to make a birthday cake!” Pinkie gushed as she bounced by, apparently just wandering the train.

“Pinkie! One does not eat dessert for breakfast?” Rarity said dramatically.

“You don’t?” Pinkie asked, stopping to look at Rarity in confusion. “I do!”

“That don’t surprise me one bit.” Applejack chuckled.

“Hey everypony,” Twilight said with a smile as she joined them. “Did I miss anything?”

Applejack shrugged. “Just Pinkie’s daily sugar intake,” she said, poking the pink pony and getting a ‘squeeee’ sound for her trouble. “One of these days you’ll make sense to me, Pinkie.” She shook her head.

“I hope not!” Pinkie said with a grin. “Then I wouldn’t be in character!”

Everypony blinked at that blankly, before Applejack sighed. “Less and less sense every time,” she grumbled.

“What about you, Twilight?” Rarity said, getting Twilight's attention. “Did the Princess say who it was you were going to see?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, and I’m not entirely sure why. Normally she’s pretty open about stuff that has to do with me… barring the whole Nightmare Moon thing.” She chuckled sheepishly. “But I trust her. Whoever it is will be trusted by her, so I’ll trust them as well unless they prove I shouldn’t.”

“How about you, Rare?” Applejack asked. “Any plans yet on how you’ll get yer Prince?”

Rarity nodded. “A few, but the Princess said she wished to discuss it with me personally before anything was put into effect, so we’ll see what may work or not.” She sighed after a moment of hesitation. “Truthfully though, I cannot get Twilight’s obvious dislike of the Prince out of my head.”

“You’re angry that I don’t like him?” Twilight asked curiously.

Rarity shook her head. “No. Just the opposite. Everypony has different tastes, their own likes and dislikes. A fashionista learns that lesson early on in their work. It’s well within the realm of possibility that not everyone likes the Prince. No, I just can’t help but find myself questioning what I know of the Prince. I did as you asked, Twilight, and it took me a while to figure out why you wanted me to look into who owns the Canterlot media. I was… not thrilled at the picture I was discovering.”

“Let me guess, it’s Prince Blueblood himself?” Applejack asked.

Rarity shook her head. “No. That would have been too easy. It’s a variety of ponies that own the individual media companies of Canterlot. Star Ledger owns the local news station, Black Tie owns the Canterlot newspaper distribution center, Upper Crust owns the ad company, and Jack Trade owns the country-wide newspaper distribution center. Tell me, Applejack, do you know what those four ponies share in common?”

Applejack frowned, realizing it was a rhetorical question. She knew there was a variety of ways these ponies could be similar. Wealth, stocks, social circles… and suddenly she felt like smashing her face into the wall at the hidden-in-plain-sight answer. “They’re all nobles?” she guessed.

Rarity nodded. “Correct. Or, to be more accurate, they’re all nobles that Blueblood has in his hooves the ability to coerce because of the large stocks he owns from their companies.” She shook her head. “Of course, I don’t know for a fact Blueblood actually does that… but the more I go over the media involving him, the more I realize he seems… perfect. There’s hardly a flaw in his image. As you know, it’s impossible to be perfect, so therefore the only conclusion I am left with is that either he is forcing them to pad his resume, so to speak, or they are doing it without his knowledge.”

Twilight noticeable would not meet Rarity’s eyes when she looked over at her. “Tell me the truth dear… What kind of pony is Prince Blueblood?” The fashionista asked pointedly.

Twilight stared out the window at the passing landscape, a frown on her face. Just as Rarity was about to ask again, she sighed. “… Are you sure you want to know my opinions, Rarity? They may influence how you deal with him when you meet.”

“It is commendable, as the Princess has told you already, that you wish for me to make my own conclusions. However, now that I know something is amiss I refuse to go into the situation unprepared. Besides, I am still making my own conclusions, yours will just be one of the many opinions I will get while I’m at the castle,” Rarity answered.

Twilight smiled at her friend, and then closed her eyes. “…I met Blueblood roughly ten years ago. I don’t remember the exact date, only that it was shortly after the Princess took me in as her student. He was… less than pleased to discover a commoner was walking next to the Princess within the castle. He called the guards on me, telling them to kick me out. He had believed Celestia didn’t know I was there.” She snorted. “She’s an Alicorn for Starswirl’s sake! Her senses are nothing compared to a grown dragon in their prime, but they’re still sharper than a normal pony’s. If she didn’t know a child that was yammering in her ear and tripping occasionally was there… well, I would have to question her ability to rule.” That got a chuckle from her friends.

“Anyways, Celestia stopped the guards and informed Blueblood that I was her new student, and that I had full access to nearly every section of the castle, including her own bedchambers. Blueblood looked so adorably confused that I almost tackled him. The media got one thing right, Rarity. Blueblood is handsome, very much so.” She giggled. “He knows it too. Oh, the times I’ve seen him ham it up in front of the nobility. If it wasn’t for the fact that it would get the Princess disappointed in me, I likely would have been laughing hysterically every single time.”

“So… he’s just narcissistic?” Applejack asked.

“I wish,” Twilight grumbled. “No, Blueblood is more than narcissistic. He’s arrogant, belligerent, a massive bigot, and self-centered!” She paused and brought her emotions under control. “Blueblood is the finest example I have ever seen of how not to be a noble. If I was in your shoes, Rarity, I would just give this up and go home.” She smiled almost sadly after a moment of staring at her friend. “But I also know you. I recognize that gleam in your eyes. You see a challenge.” She chuckled ruefully. “You’re a lot like Applejack and Rainbow in that regard. Once presented with a challenge, you will see it done.”

Rarity blushed demurely, but declined to respond. The rest of the train ride was spent in companionable silence, and then a few games of poker when the rest of the Apple Family joined in. Applejack, predictably, was cleaned out in three rounds.

Once in Canterlot Pinkie and Twilight broke off from their friends to leave with, of all ponies, Princess Luna. Twilight had been surprised it wasn’t Celestis picking them up. Some guards led Rarity and the Apple family to the castle.

---

“Do you have any questions?” Princess Celestia asked the Apple family, standing by a door within one of the corridors of the castle. The door led to where the family would be staying during the weekend.

“How long until the first test?” Granny Smith asked.

Celestia nodded to her. “You have an hour to make your way to the kitchens. If you’re late that will be marked against you. I advise leaving your luggage for unpacking later, or you can let some of my servants handle the unpacking”

“No disrespect intended, Your Majesty,” Applejack started. “But I’m uncomfortable leaving my stuff in the hooves of strangers.”

Celestia nodded again. “Very well. If you’d like, I will lead you to the kitchens once you drop off your luggage.” She sat down to wait.

“Thank you kindly, Princess.” Applejack smiled. “Ah’m not sure we’d be able to find the kitchens, even if you gave us the entire day.” She chuckled as she walked into their room.

“Take your time. I have no duties left for the day, so I am not needed elsewhere,” the Princess called.

Once everypony had dropped off their things, they left and Celestia began guiding them to the kitchens.

Once there, and after an interesting conversation regarding the maze-like structure of the castle, Celestia ushered them inside.

Applejack and her family found themselves standing before an old looking Unicorn mare with grey fur and a black mane, wearing the stereotypical chef’s uniform. “My name is Excess,” she stated to the three ponies. “I am the head chef of the Royal Kitchens, as well as the one who decided what meals you will be making.” She motioned towards a dry-erase board with a list on it. “Princess Celestia has stated you wish to cater for the Grand Galloping Gala. Normally, this would be impossible. The catering was decided months ago, but it seems her student has finally realized her position comes with political power, and has asked a favor. If you managed to impress a board of four nobles, with Princess Celestia herself as a tie-breaker, we will allow you to take over catering this year. In case it’s not clear, that means you are cooking for five.” She pointed at the first item on the list. “Starting as soon as we are done here, you will be cooking a breakfast meal. It will be pancakes and eggs. The eggs will be sunny side up and served on top of the pancakes.” She looked at each member of the Apple family. “Are there any questions?” she asked.

Granny grinned. “When will you stop yapping and let us get to cookin’?”

The mare gave a bark of laughter. “Ha! You’ve got fire, I’ll give you that!” She pointed towards a table laid out with ingredients. “All the ingredients you’ll need are already here. You may begin at any time. I will remain here if there are any further questions.”

The Apples nodded to each other and got to work. After cleaning themselves up, Applejack started sorting through what ingredients they would be using, Applebloom began the mixing process for the batter, and Granny Smith began going over the stovetops to make sure they would work properly, as well as to memorize the layout for their later tests.

---

“Okay, I’ll bite” A monocle wearing stallion with a white coat and light blue mane stated after nearly ten minutes of silence. He also had a blue mustache. “Why are we here, Princess?” he asked curiously.

Celestia looked at her long-time friend and smiled. “I have a surprise for the four of you, Fancy Pants. I have received a request from a special family to cater at the Gala. Once I discovered why they wished to, I was all too happy to allow them to do so, but I knew I couldn’t just replace my chefs like that, so I arranged a series of tests. Today, they are cooking a breakfast meal for the five of us. Tomorrow, they will cook a lunch for us, and on Sunday they will be cooking a dinner and dessert.” She nodded towards the doors. “My chefs will be bringing us the food shortly, and I’d like you all to say whether or not you like it. I will pitch in on the vote myself if there is a tie.”

“A test?” Upper Crust asked curiously. She was yellow coated Unicorn mare with a white striped lavender mane. Pink ball earings were in her ears, and she wore blue eye shadow. “I must say, this is… unusual. The Castle’s staff has always catered the Gala. Why change this now?”

Black Bag frowned in thought. He was a brown coated Unicorn stallion that wore a pair of simple glasses and had a slicked back yellow mane. “I imagine it has something to do with why these ponies requested they cater the Gala. Would you be willing to share, Your Highness?” he asked.

Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid it is their business. If they wish to share, I see no problem with it, but I will not break their trust in me for idle curiosity, just as I know they would never betray my trust in them.”

Brow Beat smiled. He was a dark grey coated Unicorn stallion with a white mane. “Of course not, Princess. If you trust them, they must be important ponies indeed. No point in angering a family when there could be profit to be made instead.”

Upper Crust and Black Bag nodded at this, but Fancy Pants was staring at Celestia in slight suspicion. ‘…I find myself wondering if I’m about to be at Ground Zero for one of my friend’s pranks,’ he mused to himself.

“Ah, the food’s here” Celestia stated, startling Fancy from his thoughts. All of the nobles turned, realizing servants were rolling in trays of food. “I have been informed beforehand that this is a simple breakfast of pancakes and eggs.” Celesta nodded in thanks as her servants laid a tray in front of her. “Please, enjoy,” she said as the servants gave the rest their own trays.

Then the lids were lifted off, and everyone was instantly entranced by the heavenly smell of the pancakes.

“Well! They certainly smell delicious!” Black Bag commented. “Let us see how they taste, shall we?”

“Oh my!” Upper Crust declared after swallowing her bite. “That is… how did they get it so fluffy?”

“The texture is perfect, and there’s not a wasted bit of butter or syrup anywhere.” Fancy agreed, swallowing his own taste. “Whoever these ponies are, Princess, they certainly know how to make breakfast.”

“The eggs are cooked almost flawlessly as well. In fact, the only reason it’s not perfect is because of personal preference,” Brow Beat added.

Celestia smiled as she ate her own pancakes. Fancy noted that it was mischievous. ‘…She is definitely planning something… but what?’ he thought.

After everypony had eaten and the trays were taken away, Celestia stood and moved to the front of the table so all four nobles could see her. “Now then, how was the meal?” she asked.

“Excellent. I vote for a pass.” Fancy nodded.

“Agreed. Pass,” Upper Crust said, dabbing a napkin on her lips.

“I truly can’t say I’ve ever had pancakes that good before. Pass.” Black Bag nodded.

“Pass,” was all Brow Beat said.

Celestia nodded. “I’m pleased you all enjoyed the meal. Now, would you like to meet the ponies who cooked your meal?” At everyone’s nod, the Princess signaled one of her guards, making him leave to fetch their chefs for the next couple of days.

Fancy suddenly had a sinking suspicion he knew what Celestia was up to. ‘Well… I suppose it does not matter who cooked it,’ he mused to himself. He glanced at the other nobles. ‘Though I believe my friend may be overestimating my fellow nobles if she is, indeed, doing what I think she’s doing’ Fancy shook his head, deciding that if this went south then he would, as always, support his friend.

After a time, the doors to the dining room opened and admitted three… Earth Ponies. ‘Oh dear’ Fancy winced. He looked towards Black Bag, and could already see the beginnings of one of his infamous meltdowns as he frowned in confusion.

“Earth Ponies?” Upper Crust asked curiously. She looked to Granny Smith. “What family do you come from? I imagine you must come from a different city, since there are very few Earth Ponies in the nobility in Canterlot”

“We’re from the Apple family, in Ponyville,” Granny Smith said, narrowing her gaze at Upper Crust.

“Apple family?” Fancy asked, a little quicker than he had meant to. “As in the famous apple farmers the Princess helped get started? Oh, forgive my rudeness. My name is Fancy Pants. The one who just asked you about your family is Upper Crust, and those two are Black Bag and Brow Beat,” he introduced, stalling. He was desperate for a way to mitigate the upcoming blowup from Black Bag.

“That’s us alright.” Applejack nodded. “Ah’m Applejack. This here little filly next to me is mah sister Applebloom, and the wrinkled old bat on my other side is Granny Smith.” Thwap! “Ow!” Applejack rubbed her head. She looked at the broom her grandmother was holding. “Where the devil did you even get that from?” she asked in confusion as Applebloom giggled at her sister’s misfortune.

“Behave,” Granny Smith said, waving the broom.

“…Farmers?”

The voice was almost too quiet to hear, but it still brought a dead stop to everypony, drawing attention to Black Bag as he glared at Applejack. “Did I hear that correctly? You’re farmers?” he asked.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “You did, indeed, hear that correctly. I helped establish the Apple family as the top farmers in Equestria, providing not just top grade apples all over the country, but other apple products as well. Eventually, their farm drew settlers and the town of Ponyville was started next to Sweet Apple Acres, the home of the main family of Apples.”

Fancy could hear the subtle warnings in the Princess’ voice, but Black Bag seemed not to. “Farmers…” The stallion nodded his head. He looked at the Princess. “You not only let peasants into the castle, Princess, but you let a family of mud ponies cook our food with their disgusting hooves?!” he nearly yelled.

Fancy could only let his head hit the table with a groan. “You foal” He grunted. Upper Crust and Brow Beat had also scooted away from Black Bag, realizing they were standing probably far too close to him.

Applejack was on her hooves in an instant. “You come over here and say that to my face!” she roared, her sister right next to her. Strangely, Granny Smith simply smiled, relaxing. Fancy found this odd… before he noticed her gaze occasionally glancing at the growing storm that was Celestia’s eyes.

Black Bag responded to Applejack’s demand by getting up and spitting on the floor in front of her. “I will say what I please about peasants!” he yelled. “Guards! Remove them from the castle!” he ordered the white coated stallions around the room.

The guards didn't so much as move. The Nobles had some ability to give the Royal Guard orders, but that ability was completely and utterly pointless in the presence of their Princess. Applejack did not notice, or more likely didn’t care, as she also began moving towards Black Bag.

“Stop.”

Even Applejack froze at the absolute authority ringing from Princess Celestia’s quiet voice. She, along with every pony there, looked over to find the Princess staring straight at a suddenly very pale Black Bag.

“This is my fault,” the Princess whispered. “I had completely forgotten about your… attitude towards Earth Ponies.” She shook her head, closing her eyes. Black Bag began sweating when he realized smoke was beginning to waft from Celestia’s mane, which was also beginning to grow brighter. “I knew most of you would be surprised at this revelation. I had been meaning to play a harmless prank with it… Disbelief was expected. But at the same time I expect the nobility to conduct themselves with both grace and honor, even in the face of adversity… neither of which you have just displayed.” She opened her eyes, revealing red irises.

 ‘Black Bag, my boy, you truly do not know what kind of dragon you have just tried to stab,’ Fancy thought to himself. Celestia, like all ponies, had anger. Also like all ponies, she had buttons and triggers for her anger. For most of them she could hold in her reaction to them being tweaked, but there was one button she didn’t even bother trying to hide when it was pushed.

Celestia despised tribalists. No, it would be more accurate to say she hated them. From the very few clues his friend had given him over the years, Fancy managed to put together a picture of Celestia growing up as a pariah to all three pony tribes because of her horn and wings. It was the curse of being the first Alicorn. Oddly, she refused to even mention her sister in regards to this. He was still unsure how to take that.

“Leave the castle, Black Bag. Do not return,” Celestia said simply, her mane beginning to flicker and crackle like a flame.

“B-but… I… t-they…” He was trembling badly, and Fancy gave him points in bravery for not immediately doing as the Princess commanded. Though, he may just be too terrified to move.

“Now” It wasn’t a yell. It was as calm and quiet as all of the previous words Celestia had spoken… but it reverberated throughout the room like a thunderclap nonetheless. “Guards, escort him out.”

The guards, despite being visibly shaken at seeing their Princess’ rage so openly displayed, jumped to attention and began dragging Black Bag out of the room.

Silence reigned for all of a minute, and then Granny Smith began cackling loudly. “Haaaahehehooo!” She was nearly rolling on the floor. She likely would have been if not for her bad hip. “It’s been too long since I last saw you blow yer top!” she said between laughs.

Celestia took a few breaths and managed a smile at Granny. “Yes…” She stood. “Excuse me. I must go freshen up,” she said, her mane already beginning to return to normal. Everypony took note of how the floor where she had sat was singed.

Fancy wanted to go comfort his friend, but he knew she had left a responsibility in his hooves to handle first. He turned towards the Apple family, and had to smile at the sight of Applejack looking a little shell-shocked and Applebloom staring worriedly at their still laughing grandmother. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

Once all three of them were focused on him, he began. “I apologize on behalf of the nobility of Canterlot for Black Bag’s…” He grimaced. “Unpleasant display just now. You may be happy to know that before you were revealed to us, he, along with the rest of us, had voted to pass your cooking on this test.” He smiled when that did the trick, getting a smile out of the sisters and a confident smirk from the elder. He clapped his hooves together in applause. “Truly, I look forward to tomorrow’s lunch if today was anything to judge by.”

“Additionally, I would like to offer my assurance that we will find a much more neutral noble to replace Black Bag on this panel,” Upper Crust stated. She could be arrogant, she’ll freely admit it, but what Black Bag had done was suicidal to a noble’s career. She refused to feel sorry for him.

Besides, those were some damn good pancakes.

“Would you accept a tour of Canterlot by us as payment for whatever grievances Black Bag left you with?” Brow Beat asked. He believed Unicorns were superior to the other pony races, true, but he didn’t dismiss that they were important in their own way either. Earth Pony magic was an unmatched boon for crops, and without Pegasi the weather would be uncontrollable.

Applejack smiled at them, though it was obviously somewhat shaky. “Thank ya kindly for the offer… but ah hope you won’t take offense if we just want to call it a day.”

Fancy nodded as he stood. “Perfectly understandable. As it stands though, the nobility owes you a favor. Come find me whenever you wish to call it in and I will do my best to see it done,” he stated, then left the room.

The other two nobles left as well, nodding goodbye. The Apple family left shortly after, getting a guard to escort them to their room. During the walk back, Applejack found herself remembering a lesson her mother had taught her regarding nobility.

 “Nobility, TRUE Nobility, is a title reserved only for the most chivalrous of ponies” She had said. “Chivalry is about caring for the kingdom you call home, caring for the ponies within that kingdom, and always conducting yourself with honor. There are very few true nobles left in the world… but don’t assume you’ll never meet one. After all… I did. He was a nice Unicorn by the name of Fancy Suit.”

 ‘Fancy eh? I wonder if that Fancy Pants feller and him are related,’ Applejack mused to herself.
> 5. Lunar Guidance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight Sparkle stared into her teacup, contemplating the Alicorn across from her. She was seated at a table in one of the courtyards of the castle. If any of the servants looked in on them, it would look like nothing more than two friends, albeit one was one of the rulers, enjoying a lunch date.

Earlier that day Twilight had arrived in Canterlot with the Apple family and Pinkie Pie. To her surprise it was not Princess Celestia that had been there to greet her as she expected, but rather Princess Luna. Not that she was disappointed, she had been looking forward to spending some time with the recently reformed Alicorn, but still. She had assumed Celestia would be taking her to see whoever it was the Princess wanted her to see regarding the memories of Clark Kent.

Instead, Luna had been there and had taken her on a walk around Canterlot after giving Pinkie directions to Snow Cloud’s home. The Princess of the Night had been mostly quiet during this walk, occasionally asking a question about her time in Ponyville, or about Ponyville itself. It was… somewhat awkward. Twilight was beginning to wonder what was going on when Luna finally led her to the castle and to this courtyard, where a tea set had been set up and was awaiting them.

“When am I going to meet whoever it was Celestia wanted me to meet?” Twilight asked finally, breaking the silence that had descended when they had sat down.

Luna frowned slightly. “Sister did not tell you?” she asked. She sighed at Twilight’s confusion. “I am who you are to discuss the memories with. After all, the mind and all of its twisted and convoluted corridors are as familiar to me as Starswirl’s forbidden wing is supposedly familiar to you.”

Twilight had to blush at the gentle jab at her tendency to sneak into the Starswirl wing in the Royal Archives when she was young. She couldn’t help it! He was her idol! “I…” She cleared her throat and fought down the blush, ignoring Luna’s small smirk. ‘Great. She’s just as much of a prankster as Princess Celestia is,’ she thought to herself. “I see,” she mumbled.

“But since I do not know you all that well, regardless of the fact that you saved me from my own darkness, I decided to rectify that first, hence the walk we went on and my… admittedly poor attempt at socializing.” Luna grimaced. “I am unfortunately a stranger in a brand new world, one that works very differently than what I remember. I have spent the last few days sequestered within the Archives researching the history I missed.” Luna gained a small smile. “I am thankful for something familiar though. That table is like an old friend…”

Twilight smiled, memories of her own late night study sessions within the Archives flashing through her mind. “The oak table in the corner by the window?” she asked.

Luna blinked, surprised. “Well… Yes. How did you know?”

“I’ve spent nearly a decade at that table myself, Princess. It’s out of the way of most traffic the Archives see, well lit, and most of all close to the bathroom.”

Luna smiled after a moment. “It pleases me to know my old study table has seen use by others besides myself.” She shook her head with a smile. “Tia had that table crafted for me as a birthday gift roughly a century after we liberated Equestria from Discord. It is enchanted with preservation spells, which are also hidden by muffling sigils to prevent anyone from realizing there is an Alicorn enchantment on it.”

“So that’s what that magic I kept feeling at the table was!” Twilight exclaimed in realization, making Luna jump slightly at the sudden declaration.

She smiled though. “Yes.” She paused. “I suppose I should begin our session.”

“Session, Princess?” Twilight asked.

Luna stood. “Twilight Sparkle, I want you to answer my next question with every last ounce of honesty you can draw from within yourself.” She looked straight into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight was starting to get worried. “Have you accepted all of your memories as Clark Kent?”

Twilight blinked. “Er… Princess? Wouldn’t I still be fighting with the memories if I hadn’t?” she asked.

Luna shook her head. “No. The memories were fighting you because you shoved them away and refused to accept that you and Clark Kent were one and the same. You have now accepted that… but have you accepted the things you have done as Clark Kent?” Luna closed her eyes. “…There are and have been Hero Souls out in Equus that have awakened before you. Very few, granted, but they were there. Nearly all of them however have had an identity crisis of one kind or another, and I was forced to step in as they slept and aid them. As such, I am experienced in helping a Hero Soul come into itself… I have even begun seeing patterns.”

“Patterns?” Twilight asked, then blinked, the entirety of what Luna had said hitting her. “Wait! There are others like me in Equestria?! Who?!”

Luna looked away. “I cannot say. They have requested privacy in such matters. Even so, most are dead now… though I have met two in this day and age already, not counting you.” She shook her head. “As for the patterns…” She sighed. “Equestria is a peaceful land. What threats do appear are usually handled quickly and without too much trouble. The same cannot be said for most other worlds, as your time as Clark Kent may have told you.”

Twilight looked into her tea cup frowning. “…War,” she said after a moment. “Nearly everywhere I looked on Earth there was war and strife. I tried so hard to bring peace to so many countries, but in the end I had to learn the lesson that peace can only come to those who wanted it.” She shivered. “And then… there’s the things I was sometimes forced to do. It was rare… but I’ve killed, Princess. It was a last resort, and I had tried everything else, but sometimes… it’s the only way to stop someone who only wants to watch the world burn.” Luna could see that Twilight was lost in those memories now, and pretended to not notice the unshed tears in Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight looked up when Luna placed a hoof on hers. “It is good that you acknowledge these memories of death and destruction. It is better that you admit that it was you that did it, and not try to separate yourself from Clark Kent again. You are strong, Twilight, and brave.” She pulled her hoof back and shook her head. “But that only keeps you out of the largest pitfalls of being a Hero Soul, not the most dangerous.”

“…Am I doing something wrong?” Twilight asked after a moment of silence.

Luna shook her head again. “No… at least, you aren’t yet. Clark Kent lived in a world of strife, and he may have experienced things that forced him to suppress his own memories subconsciously. If ever a time comes when memories such as those surface in your mind, you will be blindsided by it. What may have been a brief but agonizingly painful remembrance for him will become an immensely traumatic and long lasting experience to you.” She grabbed Twilight’s head and forced the Unicorn to look her in the eyes. “Heed my warnings, Twilight Sparkle, and do not hide from who you are. Do not try and ignore your memories just because you don’t like them. Above all else however, do not hide it from your friends. If they are truly your friends, like we both know they are, they will be nothing but supportive of you in your time of need.”

She let go when Twilight nodded after a moment of hesitation. “And of course, you may speak to me at any time regarding this. As of this day I am legally your therapist and psychiatrist… but more importantly I am your friend, and I have experience in helping others recover from such traumatic events. I will not abandon you just because of how terrible those memories may be.”

Silence, slightly uncomfortable, descended. The two ponies slowly drank their tea, one in silent contemplation and the other in practiced patience. After a few minutes of this, Luna finally spoke.

“Tell me about the life of Clark Kent,” she said.

Twilight blinked, looking up from her thoughts. “Uh… well… what do you want to know?”

“Everything you are comfortable with sharing,” Luna answered. “If it helps, I’m told the best place to start is the beginning.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah… but the thing about my life on Earth is that there are so many places you could consider the beginning. The death of Krypton, the Kents adopting me, learning about my powers… becoming Superman.” She shrugged. “I really don’t know where to begin.”

“Let’s start with Krypton. What caused the death of a planet?”

Twilight frowned slightly. “I was never able to get a straight answer regarding that. All I know is that the core of the planet was destabilizing. I don’t know what caused it though, whether it was sabotage or just the planet’s time to die. My father, Jor-El, discovered Krypton was on the verge of destruction and tried to warn the Council. Brainiac, the machine in charge of maintaining life on Krypton, told the Council he was wrong, and that the seismic activity was natural and would pass.” She growled, glaring at a wall. “Brainiac lied. If he had told the truth, he would have been put in charge of evacuating the planet, but instead he saved his own hide, leaving an entire species to death.”

Luna pulled a notebook from her mane, as well as a mechanical pencil. She grinned at Twilight’s surprised look. “I told you I have dealt with other Hero Souls, Twilight, and most come from one version of Earth or another. One of the most amazing inventions I learned of during sessions with these heroes was the mechanical pencil. No need for ink, and easy to fix mistakes. I managed to have a stock of harmless lead and erasers made, and then I forged the parts needed after I learned enough about them to design my own.”

Twilight began to drool at the thought. “…You… wouldn’t happen to be willing to part with some, would you?” she nearly begged. It was an item of nostalgia for the most part thanks to magic, but still!

Luna laughed, and levitated over a bundle from under the table. “When I first discovered you were from a version of Earth, I figured you would like some,” she said. 

 ‘Spike is going to worship me over this…’ Twilight mused, remembering all the times Spike complained about the difficulty in using quills. She tucked the cloth wrapped package under her seat and tagged it with a signal spell only she could detect, making sure she wouldn’t forget it when it was time to leave.

Luna made a few notes, then nodded to Twilight. “Please, continue.”

Twilight paused, remembering that she was in the middle of a story. “Right…” She cleared her throat. “Anyways, since Brainiac had betrayed Krypton, and the Council likely wouldn’t have gone against tradition anyways, my father started making plans. But Krypton was going to explode too soon, and any plans he made to save his family wouldn’t be done in time… except one. A small ship, and fast enough to escape Krypton’s detonation. It was… the size of a cradle.”

Luna’s eyes widened in comprehension. “He could not save his people or his family, so he instead chose to save his legacy… you.”

Twilight nodded. “Krypton rotated around an old star, which had long since turned red in its age. The radiation of a red star inhibits the natural powers of the Kryptonian biology, a state of being Kryptonians had long since grown accustomed to. To give me every chance he could to survive, he sent me to a planet under a young, yellow sun.” Twilight smiled, and floated out of her chair briefly. “There, my Kryptonian biology slowly began to shake off the shackles being born in the light of a red sun placed me under. By the time I was a teenager, I was lifting the massive farming equipment to help my adoptive father, running faster than the eyes could follow, and leaping great distances.” She snorted after a moment. “Would you believe me if I told you I was actually initially terrified of heights?”

Luna took a moment to register that before she snorted as well. “R-really? The mare who can fly faster than Rainbow Dash on a slow day was scared of heights?”

Twilight was chuckling at the memory. “My flight was the last of my powers to develop in my childhood, and I think that was because of my fear of heights. I was subconsciously suppressing the power. However, it developed eventually, and I was forced to learn how to control it or forever wake up in the morning staring at the ceiling… which was two feet from my head.”

“That must have played havoc with your nerves,” Luna noted with a smirk.

Twilight nodded. “It did. I would scream when I finally realized I was flying, then lose control and do a spectacular belly flop onto the hardwood floor of my room.”

“That poor floor…” Luna shook her head in mock sympathy. She looked up at the sky, which was beginning to darken. “I believe we should call an end to today’s session,” she said, standing up. “I want you to come back in two weeks. For the time being I only want you to tell me about your life as Clark Kent. The more I know regarding this, the better I can aid you in acclimating to your new situation.”

Twilight nodded. With that, they said their goodbyes, made plans for the next session, and Twilight left. 

> 6. Family Matters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight allowed memories of her time as a foal to wash through her mind as she slowly trotted through Canterlot’s busy midday streets. The sun was high in the sky and very few clouds could potentially cover it. A nice day, overall.

After last night’s meeting with Princess Luna, Twilight had left to turn in for the night in one of the many guest rooms in the castle. However, as she neared her bed for the night, a nagging in the back of her mind had bothered her, and ultimately prevented her from sleeping until she addressed it. Finally she gave up and went to the kitchens to boil some tea.

Personally, she preferred coffee. Strong, pitch black coffee… that could possibly double as jet fuel… But the late hour had convinced her it was a bad idea and instead went for some chamomile tea. As she prepared it, she was trying to figure out what was bothering her.

More than once in her tenure as the Princess’ student she had spent the night in a guest room instead of returning home or sleeping in the quarters the Princess had prepared for her, so she knew she was not uncomfortable with the fact that she wasn’t in her own bed.

She supposed it could be the fact that, for once in a long time, Spike was not there with her. He was managing the Golden Oak Library while she was gone, and had already sent her a status update this morning informing her of the books returned and checked out yesterday while she was gone. But her instincts… or rather, the finely honed instincts of a reporter from her previous life told her that wasn’t the case.

So she went on a walk around the castle, trying to clear her mind and think. It wasn’t until she bumped into her brother as he patrolled the castle that everything clicked. She had forgotten to tell her family about her awakening as a Hero Soul!

And while her and her brother caught up, another issue arose in her mind.

Superman. He was an ideal of hope, but he was also a mask and a costume. A hidden identity to protect his loved ones from the enemies his life choices would make. Understandable, considering the vast amounts of darkness permeating the Earth. But Equestria was not nearly as bad off as Earth was. Humans were truly a neutral species, being capable of both wondrous and terrible things with the same ease, but Ponies tended towards the Light more often than not. They had their share of idiots and bad guys, true, but it was rare.

Now she was once more faced with the question; does she hide her power as a Kryptonian? Or does she tell everypony? Or, perhaps, just not say anything and let them draw their own conclusions? She wouldn’t be advertising her powers, but she wouldn’t be actively hiding them either.

This morning, her head was no clearer than last night. In fact, it was further muddled. One thing was very clear though, she trusted her family and friends implicitly. No matter her choice with the mask, they would know.

That was why she was currently making her way towards the residential district of Canterlot, towards the home of the Sparkle Clan.

It was also why she sighed when a familiar sound interrupted her walk down memory lane.

“Help!”

“I said shut up, mare!"

That was immediately followed by the sound of hoof meeting flesh, a strangled gasp of pain, and, oddly, it all sounded muffled.

Glancing around quickly, she ducked into an alley and blurred into high speed, moving through the air too fast for her form to be recognizable. She scanned the city as quickly as she could with her X-ray vision and soon discovered the source of the scream. She appeared above the situation and took it in. Two stallions, one mare, all were Unicorns. There was a magic restricting ring on the mare’s horn, a knife magically held to her throat, and a shimmering barrier that Twilight’s encyclopedic brain instantly recognized as a sound muffling barrier. That would explain the slight muffling she heard. She smirked slightly. One more point for ridiculously enhanced senses.

She immediately pinpointed the stallion hanging back as the source of the barrier, as his horn was lit up with magic while the other stallion’s was not.

“Please…” the mare sobbed, doing her best to avoid moving or risk slicing her neck open. “Don’t… Please don’t hurt him.”

The stallion holding her grinned. “You're new to Canterlot, so it's understandable that you wouldn't know, but the Boss don't like it when ponies fail to pay their debts. And you owe a hefty debt.” He chuckled. "I'll admit, you surprised the hell out of me and my boys with that flare spell of yours, but in the end... we have your son."

Twilight blinked, and then scanned over the alley again. She found a third Unicorn stallion holding a small winged foal in his magical grip, holding a knife to his throat.

“Don’t worry, we won’t hurt him,” the stallion holding the foal said with a grin. “But that only remains true if you don't resist."

“Exactly," the one threatening the mare nodded. "So here's the deal. I'll forgive this little incident and grant you another month to get the money together. I will also release your son... but only after you let my boys and I have a bit of fun. So lift your tail. Or don't. You're choice."

Twilight snarled at this and her eyes began glowing. With a crack of displaced air she hit the barrier forelegs first, shattering it like so much glass, and drilling into the would-be rapist’s back. Somewhere in her mind, she distantly noted the fact that the magic of the barrier slowed her down significantly, likely saving the stallion’s life. She just might have snapped him in half messily if she hit him at the speed she had been moving.

The sickening crunch as Twilight cratered the pavement with his body said he would never walk again though. Twilight currently couldn’t care less. She grabbed the now loose knife falling to the ground in her magic and hurled it at the shocked stallion holding the foal, using it to knock the knife away from the foal. She was millimeters behind it, slugging the stallion in the nose hard. He went rolling away. Twilight caught the foal in her magic and floated it towards his mother as she herself fired a binding spell at the thrashing unicorn that had been maintaining the barrier. Her shattering of it had sent a magical feedback through him, leaving him in brief but agonizing pain.

Letting off two more binding spells, as well as a stasis spell for the stallion with the shattered spine, Twilight turned towards the mare and her child, and smiled as they held each other. The mare was currently fussing over the foal, looking for injuries despite the growing bruise on her cheek.

“Are you okay?” she asked, slowly approaching. She knew from the many times she had saved a woman from this exact situation on Earth that the mare in question would be jumpy and not appreciate quick movements.

The mare looked up and smiled at Twilight through watery eyes. Twilight took note of her appearance as a lithe ash colored Unicorn with red eyes and an orange mane. Her Cutie Mark was that of a dusty looking book. She nodded. “Yes. Thank you.” She looked down at her son, a light grey Pegasus with a white poofy mane similar to Pinkie Pie’s. “Stratus, say thank you to the nice mare.”

The foal looked up at her with storm colored eyes. “Thank you, flying lady," he said meekly.

Twilight blinked, and then realized she was flying a foot off the ground. She dropped to the ground and chuckled sheepishly. “You… ah… wouldn’t mind not saying anything about this, would you?” she asked hopefully, rubbing the back of her neck.

The mare blinked in confusion. “But… why not?” she asked.

“I don’t want everypony to know I can do these things.” Twilight grimaced. “The nobility alone would never leave me alone… never mind the media.”

The mare smiled after a moment. “I understand,” she said with a nod. “My name is Ash Winder. My husband, Crimson Fira and I own and manage the antique shop in the market. Consider yourself on a seventy-five percent discount for life for this.”

“I don’t need a reward for doing the right thing.” Twilight immediately tried to turn down the gift.

Ash smiled. “It may have been the right thing, but few ponies these days will leap into danger for a stranger. It deserves a reward.”

Twilight was silent for a moment. “…Twenty-five percent.” She wasn’t taking a seventy-five percent discount. She’d have the ability to ruin them in her hooves… and if they had antique books, she just might on accident.

“Fifty, plus a visit to introduce you to my husband.”

“…Done.” Twilight smiled… then blinked. “… Can it wait until another day? I was sort of in the middle of something when I heard the scream.”

Ash smiled and waved a hoof. “By all means, go ahead. I didn’t expect it today. May I know your name, though?” she asked.

Twilight smiled, floating upwards. “It’s Twilight Sparkle!” She shot off into the air, vanishing quickly.

The mother was visibly stunned after Twilight left. “Sparkle…” She shook her head and smiled., leading her son back on to the busy streets of Canterlot. "I really shouldn't be surprised."

---

Twilight had gone to ground near the home of her parents, walking the rest of the way. She didn’t want anypony seeing her just landing in front of the house after all. As she approached the house, she took it in.

It was a simple house, two stories tall with a triangular roof. A tower was built into the side that extended three further stories higher than the roof, a tower that Twilight knew well was the library. The entire structure was composed of brick and mortar, and painted a soft blue color. The occasional window offered a glance into one room or another.

She walked up to the door and knocked on it. ‘This will either be really fun… or really bad’. She thought, hearing her father’s heavier hoofsteps as he came to answer the door.

The door opened to reveal a blue furred Unicorn with a dark blue mane and tail that was combed neatly and piercing yellow eyes. Twilight smiled widely and embraced her surprised father. “Daddy!” She almost cried.

“Twilight!” Stalwart Shield exclaimed, returning the hug eagerly. “Twilight, it’s so good to see you!” He pulled back and grinned at her. “And look at you! My beautiful little star.” His grin morphed into a proud smile, before he backed into the house. “Come in! Come in! Your mother and I were just cooking dinner. We’re having chili.”

Twilight licked her lips. Say what you will about the hay substitute ponies use for most meat, but her mother made it work. One wall in the living room was dedicated to the dozens of chili cook-off trophies she had won over the years with it. “Yummy!” she exclaimed, just to hear her father laugh at how silly it sounded. Of course, the jovial stallion that he always was, he laughed.

As he laughed, a glimmering from his Cutie Mark caught her attention, making her smile. It was a silver colored tower shield with the words Sui Sacrificium raised in gold on the front. Translated from Latin, it meant Self Sacrifice. He always gave of himself for his friends and family. What some didn’t know was that his talent also included joy and the ability to spread it, hence why his Cutie Mark shimmered like it had as he laughed in joy.

“Honey! Our little star has come to visit!” he called after his chuckling subsided.

“Really!?”

Twilight braced herself and was nearly sent sprawling by the white and lavender missile that was her mother. “Twilight! Sweetie! I’m so happy to see you!” Twilight Velvet exclaimed happily, nuzzling her daughter.

Twilight Velvet and Twilight Sparkle were very similar in many ways, as the similar names may imply. Their mane style was almost the same, their body structure was similar, and they both had a love of the written word, though Twilight’s love was for reading it, whereas Velvet’s love was in writing it. Twilight Velvet was a white Unicorn with a white mane and tail that had lavender colored highlights in it. Her Cutie Mark was a quill with a purple star as the nub. Finally, she had light blue eyes.

“Hi, mom!” Twilight laughed as her mother hugged her. She wrestled her way free from the grip of her mother and smiled at both of her parents. That smile slowly vanished though as the reason for her visit surfaced in her mind. “I wish I could say this was a social visit… but I have some news to share with you. Shiny will be here soon to join us.” She tried to smile after saying that, but it came out as more of a sad smile.

Twilight Velvet and Stalwart Shield both glanced at each other in concern. They turned that worry towards their only daughter. “Is something wrong, Twilight?” Velvet asked.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not that something’s wrong. It’s…” She gave a frustrated sigh. “I honestly have no idea to explain this without actually flat out telling you what happened.” She moved past her parents and entered the sitting room, taking a seat on one of the two couches facing each other.

Stalwart Shield and Twilight Velvet took a seat next to each other on the opposite couch. Stalwart frowned as he observed his daughter. Years of experience came to forefront, and he became to analyze the situation. Twilight was sitting oddly, like that green mare that many in Canterlot considered insane, with her face buried in her hooves. She was frustrated, clearly… but she didn’t appear distraught or otherwise concerned.

A suspicion began to worm its way into his mind, but he ignored it. His daughter needed him, and entertaining old fairy tales was not how to be there for her. But strangely… it would not fade.

Twilight Velvet found herself flipping through possible scenarios in her mind so fast that she was beginning to get dizzy. 'Did she get hurt? No, she’s not in pain and there aren’t any bandages or the like on her. Bad break up with a Stallion? No, she’d be crying and distraught. She seems more frustrated than anything’. She blinked as something her daughter said occurred to her. ‘She said Shining will be here soon… so this must be some kind of announcement. The question now is does it involve both of them, or just her?’

As if cued by her thoughts, there was a knock at the door, and then it was opened. “Mom? Dad?” Shining Armor’s voice rang through the home. 

“In the sitting room, soldier,” Stalwart called out.

The door closed, and Shining walked into the room. He took one looked at his sister and immediately took a seat next to her. “What’s wrong, Twily?” he asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “You seemed distracted last night when you told me to come here, and now here you are looking like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Twilight smiled thankfully at her brother. “It’s not that bad, Shiny. I just… I really have no idea where to begin.”

“The beginning is usually the best place.” Stalwart said.

Twilight chuckled. “It’s funny you say that. Princess Luna said the same thing when I was telling her about… well, I’ll get to that.” She frowned thoughtfully. “The beginning… I suppose that would be when Nightmare Moon returned.”

“Is this about you being the Element of Magic?” Velvet asked worriedly.

“No, mom-” Twilight started, but was cut off by her mother.

“I knew it! I told that old mare that giving you such a title was too much! My little girl was barely out of her studies!”

“Mom!” Twilight almost yelled, gathering her mother’s attention and ignoring the slight against Celestia with practiced ease. Her mother and Celestia really didn’t get along ever since Twilight dedicated most of her time to Celestia for her studies. “First of all, being the Element of Magic is more than just a title. It’s a state of being. I can no more stop being the Element of Magic than you can stop being my mother. It’s just not possible.” She sighed. “And second, the Elements of Harmony have little to do with any of this.”

“Tell us, my little star,” Stalwart encouraged. “As always, we’ll listen.”

Twilight nodded with a thankful smile to her father. She frowned though as she recalled the day. "You already know about what I did during the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. You know I ended up going through the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony. You also know that it was because of the five friends I made in Ponyville that we managed to use them and save Princess Luna." She hesitated, unsure. Then she steeled her resolve and marched forward. "What you don't know is how close I came to dying in the forest, and the consequences from it."

She told them. She told them everything. She told them about the memories. She told them, and showed them. the powers that came with them. She told them about fighting the maddened Alicorn and all but beating her. She told them of Nightmare Moon managing to sap her strength, and pinning her down. She told them of her friends standing between her and Nightmare Moon, despite the almost assured fact that they would die for doing so. She told them of the Elements being ignited by their young but strong friendship, freeing Luna and healing Twilight. And she told them of her conversation later with Celestia.

Stalwart had long since taken on a thoughtful expression as Twilight continued her story, this time telling them about her previous incarnation as Clark Kent, the Superman.

“His name… my name… was Clark Kent. I was something called a Kryptonian. Their bodies were unique in that the light of a yellow sun empowered them beyond belief. They were stronger, faster, and had amazing abilities beyond anything even the Princesses could do. And I’m his reincarnation." She paused to think, and to give them a moment to digest her words.

“Clark Kent was more than just a hero to the people of his world,” Twilight explained. “He was a guide. He selflessly protected the people of Earth at great risk to himself, asking for nothing in return. In time, the people began seeing him as more than a hero. They saw him as a star. He became the Guiding Star of Hope. His presence alone in any conflict turned the tables. Eventually, the people began to aspire to be like him, and it kicked off a Golden Age of peace.” Here, Twilight sighed. “But despite the peace there were those who wanted to remove Clark from the picture. So many tried. Sometimes, with his abilities, it was easy to fend off. Sometimes he barely survived by the skin of his teeth. And then… and then one of them finally succeeded. But that’s only part of the story.”

“There’s more?!” Twilight Velvet shrieked. Her head was already swimming with the knowledge that her daughter was the reincarnation of some kind of superhero. Now what?

“When Clark died he was stopped from going into the afterlife”. Twilight’s eyes became unfocused. “I… don’t really know what she was. A Goddess, I guess, but she seemed like… more. She told me about some kind of danger to reality itself, to all worlds, and that she was recruiting the greatest heroes in reality upon their deaths and reincarnating them in the hopes that they could stop whatever it is that’s threatening all of creation. When I eventually agreed to do so, she sent me into this life. My memories as Clark Kent were suppressed, and somehow she made it so I could use my powers despite not having a Kryptonian body, but before she did all of that, she… well…”. Twilight paused. "She named me the Soul of Hope."

“…The Great Guiding Star…”

Everypony turned to look at an awe-stricken Stalwart Shield. “Honey?” Twilight Velvet asked.

Shining frowned, what his father said registering in his mind. “Wait… you actually think Twilight…?” he trailed off as he considered it further.

Stalwart nodded, and looked into Twilight’s eyes. “My little star… haven’t you ever wondered why I always called you that? Even before you got your Cutie Mark?” he asked softly.

Twilight frowned and thought back. ‘Now that I think about it… he did call me that before I got my Cutie Mark.’ “Not really, no. Is it important?” she asked.

Stalwart smiled and stood up. He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a large, aged tome in his magical grip. Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw, on its cover, the purple star of her Cutie Mark. “I am the Head of the Sparkle Clan. As such, it is my duty to protect and pass on specific knowledge from head to head”. He placed the book on the coffee table between the couches. “This… this is the Book of Magic. Unoriginal, I’ll grant you… but it describes much more than just magic.” He flipped it open onto the first page, and began reading.

 “Cherish the bonds you forge with kin and allies alike, and family will never again be a matter of blood.

“Sacrifice of yourself so others you care for do not have to, and show the world how to be noble.

“Never deceive yourself with shadowed truths and mirrored excuses, and shine so that others will never lose sight of themselves.

“Be happy and joyous, so that others will find cause to also be jovial.

“Be soft like velvet but firm as steel underneath, and walk the path of the gentle giant.

“Sparkle like the Great Guiding Star, and light the darkness of hopelessness and disharmony.” He looked up into Twilight’s eyes. “That is the creed of the Sparkle Clan, taught to every member of the family since Sparkling Wind wrote the words in this book. Ever since then, every member of the Sparkle Clan adheres to at least one verse of the creed, knowingly or not. It is a part our very being.” He motioned towards his Cutie Mark. “I myself have dedicated myself to the second verse.”

He closed the book and tapped the purple star on its cover. “This is the crest of our family, chosen for our deep connection to the only item back then that bore its likeness.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she gasped. “The Element of Magic!” she exclaimed. Her mother looked just as surprised.

Stalwart nodded. “While there has never been a member of the Sparkle Clan that actually bore the Element of Magic… there was a prophecy. It stated that a Sparkle would flourish and grow under the light of the sun, and bloom into the Element of Magic. They would become the avatar of the Great Guiding Star, and an age of conflict and struggle would follow their awakening.” Stalwart closed his eyes. “The prophecy is… it was mostly considered the ramblings of a madpony. It spoke of the end of all things, those who are double blessed with life that would rise up and protect us.” He smiled at the wide eyed look on his daughter’s face. “I always believed the prophecy was true… and ever since you were born something about you always felt special to me… beyond the special that being my daughter made you. I always had this thought in the back of my mind… “Is it her? Is she the Great Guiding Star?” With every challenge you overcame in life, I became more and more sure of it. And then you got your Cutie Mark… and I knew.”

“But…” Twilight stuttered. Her brain was working overtime. Another prophecy with her at its center?! How many were there?! “But… I’m not…”

Shining grabbed his sister’s head and forced her to look at him He gave her a stern look. “If you say you’re not special, I will hit you” He said with every last bit of seriousness he could drudge up. “You are the student of Princess Celestia. You are the Element of Magic… and now you’re the reincarnation of what sounds like a hero I would have been proud to bend my knees to.” He shook his head. “You have never been normal, Twilight. This is just another level of abnormality is all.” He grinned at her. “You’ll roll with the punches, as you always do, and get back up. Nothing has stopped you from moving forward yet.”

Twilight stared into her brother’s eyes and finally smiled, seeing the absolute love and care he had for his younger sister. She hugged him. “Thank you, Shiny,” she whispered

“This doesn't change anything,” Twilight Velvet said, also hugging her daughter. “You’re my little girl, and I will never abandon you just because you have some kind of destiny hanging over your head. If you ever need me, I will be there.” Her eyes hardened. "And woe be to any who threaten my daughter."

“No harm, physical or mental, will get a glance at you so long as we breathe,” Stalwart added, completing the family hug by embracing his daughter as well. “Blood is only one of the reasons we love you. We are so very proud of the mare you have grown up to be… and we can see you becoming so much more. Keep moving, my little star, and only look back to smile gratefully at the loved ones walking in step behind and beside you.”

Twilight finally let go of her tenuous grasp of her emotions, and cast herself adrift on the unending love of her family. There were tears, there was crying, and she would later vaguely recall saying she didn’t deserve that kind of dedication, but in the end she left her home knowing that she had at the very least three ponies who would always stand at her side and back.

Now it was time to make a decision. 
> 6.5. Omake 1: Luna-tic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight Sparkle stared into her teacup, contemplating the Alicorn across from her. She was seated at a table in one of the courtyards of the castle. If any of the servants looked in on them, it would look like nothing more than two friends, albeit one was one of the rulers, enjoying a lunch date.

Earlier that day Twilight had arrived in Canterlot with the Apple family and Pinkie Pie. To her surprise it was not Princess Celestia that had been there to greet her as she expected, but rather Princess Luna. Not that she was disappointed, she had been looking forward to spending some time with the recently reformed Alicorn, but still. She had assumed Celestia would be taking her to see whoever it was the Princess wanted her to see regarding the memories of Clark Kent.

Instead, Luna had been there and had taken her on a walk around Canterlot after giving Pinkie directions to Snow Cloud’s home. The Princess of the Night had been mostly quiet during this walk, occasionally asking a question about her time in Ponyville, or about Ponyville itself. It was… somewhat awkward. Twilight was beginning to wonder what was going on when Luna finally led her to the castle and to this courtyard, where a tea set had been set up and was awaiting them.

“When am I going to meet whoever it was Celestia wanted me to meet?” Twilight asked finally, breaking the silence that had descended when they had sat down.

Luna frowned slightly. “Sister did not tell you?” She asked. She sighed at Twilight’s confusion. “I am who you are to discuss the memories with. After all, the mind and all of its twisted and convoluted corridors are as familiar to me as Starswirl’s forbidden wing is supposedly familiar to you”

Twilight had to blush at the gentle jab at her tendency to sneak into the Starswirl wing in the Royal Archives when she was young. She couldn’t help it! He was her idol! “I…” She cleared her throat and fought down the blush, ignoring Luna’s small smirk. ‘Great. She’s just as much of a prankster as Princess Celestia is’ She thought to herself. “I see” She mumbled.

“But since I do not know you all that well, regardless of the fact that you saved me from my own darkness, I decided to rectify that first, hence the walk we went on and my… admittedly poor attempt at socializing” Luna grimaced. “I am unfortunately a stranger in a brand new world, one that works very differently than what I remember. I have spent the last few days sequestered within the Archives researching the history I missed” Luna gained a small smile. “I am thankful for something familiar though. That table is like an old friend…”

Twilight smiled, memories of her own late night study sessions within the Archives flashing through her mind. “The oak table in the corner by the window?” She asked.

Luna blinked, surprised. “Well… Yes. How did you know?”

“I’ve spent nearly a decade at that table myself, Princess. It’s out of the way of most traffic the Archives see, well lit, and most of all close to the bathroom”

Luna smiled after a moment. “It pleases me to know my old study table has seen use by others besides myself” She shook her head with a smile. “Tia had that table crafted for me as a birthday gift roughly a century after we liberated Equestria from Discord. It is enchanted with the most powerful of preservation spells we could muster”

“So that’s what that magic I kept feeling at the table was!” Twilight exclaimed in realization, making Luna jump slightly at the sudden declaration.

“…You felt the magic?” Luna asked after a moment. “That’s impressive. It’s hidden under a few layers of muffling sigils, masking the spell signature from all but the most sensitive of Unicorns. This particular matrix is… effective”

Twilight blushed at the praise, rubbing the back of her head and looking away. “Uh… Thanks. It’s not that impressive though. I felt it, but that was it. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Though now that I know the signature is scrambled by a masking rune, I could probably translate it… given enough time anyways”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Truly? You believe you could unravel the sigi… I mean, the rune matrix?” She asked.

Twilight nodded. “If I had time I could, yes” She paused. “Why?”

Luna was staring at Twilight now, an unreadable expression on her face. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Luna stood. “Follow me” She said, turning and making for the arch that was the entrance to the courtyard.

“Princess?” Twilight asked, doing as commanded.

“I wish to see this for myself. I want you to try and undo the muffling sigil and translate the spell” Luna explained.

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. “Well, sure… but why? It’s just a masking and preservation rune matrix. Any Unicorn could probably translate it given enough time”

“Consider it a test, then”

“A test?!?” Twilight shrieked, making Luna stop. “But… but I haven’t prepared! I need… I need to study! I need to gather materials! Oh no… was I supposed to study before coming here?! Was there some clue in the Princess’ letter that I should’ve seen?! Oh no… no no no! I’m not ready!” She was rapidly beginning to hyperventilate.

“Twilight…”

“I should’ve brought Spike! He knows where all of my reference materials are! I should’ve brought my notebook! I don’t even have my quills!” Twilight was jogging in place, trying to figure out what to do first.

“Twilight!”

“I have to go to my room! I need to get scrolls! I need quills! And ink! Oh! I also need Cobalt Matrix’s Book of Runes!”

 “Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight shrieked again, though this time in pain as her hooves slammed over her ears. She remained upright only through her ability to fly, keeping her from landing on her face.

“Oh!” Luna gasped in shock at the sight of blood trickling form Twilight’s ears. “I apologize! I forgot your hearing is far more sensitive than the average pony’s hearing” Luna ignited her horn and bathed Twilight’s head in the cerulean aura of her magic.

After a moment, Twilight gave a sigh of relief as the pain began fading. Soon, it was gone and she let her hooves drop back onto the floor. “Thank you” She said with a smile towards Luna, who cut off her magic. She frowned after a moment though. “What was that? How’d you amplify your voice like that?” She asked.

Luna smiled in relief. “That was the Royal Everfree Voice. Though, sister calls it the Royal Canterlot Voice now. It was the standard method my sister and I used to address our subjects one thousand years ago, before I… before my fall” She shook herself before she could allow her mind to travel down that route. “Again, I apologize for assailing your ears like that, but it was the only way to gain your attention. I am testing you, yes, but there is no punishment for failure. I am merely curious if you can actually translate the matrix as you claim you can” She frowned, remembering something. “And it is no normal matrix, my friend. This is a sigil… I’m sorry” Luna caught herself again. Twilight could see what Luna meant about being a stranger in a new world. She was used to the way things were before her banishment. “It is a rune-form that is greatly outdated, but extremely effective. You will find it incredibly difficult to even perceive, let alone translate”

Twilight nodded slowly, using a great deal of willpower to push down a second panic attack at Luna confirming she was being tested. “…If it’s that great, then why is it considered outdated?” She asked curiously as Luna resumed leading the way to the Archives.

“To be blunt, only my sister and I can cast the blighted thing” Luna grumbled. “Only an Alicorn or the rare magically gifted Unicorn, such as Starswirl or yourself, have the power levels required to successfully invoke the enchantment, and even then it would leave Starswirl in the Recovery Ward from severe magical exhaustion” Luna ignored Twilight’s sputtering denials of being as great as Starswirl. “However… if you successfully translate the matrix, I have no qualms with allowing you to learn how to inscribe and cast it. I imagine you will find it very useful”

Twilight’s eyes lit up like a Hearth Warming tree, and Luna knew she had said the magic words… forgive the pun. “Really?!” Twilight nearly squealed in glee. “I can learn an ancient rune-form nopony else knows about?!”

Luna had to smile. “If you show me you can translate the matrix, then yes”

---

“Here we are” Luna said, approaching the oaken table that was set up in the far end of the Archives, right under a window. The moon was visible in the newly awakened night sky. “I do not expect you to be able to unravel this tonight, Twilight” She said. “You will be here in Canterlot for the next two days, so do not feel as if you must rush this” She took a seat off to the side. “Please, begin whenever you wish”

Twilight approached the table. Just as she was three feet from the apparently ancient wood, she felt it. It was a dull thudding in the back of her head. She had learned long ago that the thudding was her magic picking up on the heartbeat of World Magic at work. Any Unicorn worth their salt could feel that double tap drum when they stood over one of the Leylines.

She had always wondered why World Magic was infused within this table, but now that she knew only an Alicorn could comfortably enchant the rune-form it made sense. She closed her eyes, immersing herself in the feeling of the magic, and casting her mind back.

 “What you feel, that gentle beating in the back of your mind, is the feeling of World Magic touching your own magic” Princess Celestia’s voice explained softly. Twilight remembered that she had been engulfed within the Princess’ golden magic at the time, allowing her to feel the World Magic. “As an Alicorn, I am a focus for World Magic. It will gather within me alongside my natural magical reserves, and is the reason why I am so long-lived. Equus itself desires my continued existence, so it extends my life through the influence it exerts with the World Magic within me. If I concentrate hard enough, I can also manipulate the World Magic within me, as I am doing now”

 “Could I control World Magic?” Twilight remembered asking.

Celestia had given her patient smile. “One day, perhaps. World Magic is unimaginably potent, and just absorbing it into yourself risks your inner leylines. If not carefully controlled, World Magic can rupture every leyline within your body and remove your ability to cast magic forever. Then there’s the fact that absorbing World Magic is in effect absorbing the magic of another being, Equus in this case. You remember your lessons on controlling the magic of another, don’t you?”

Twilight smiled to herself. “If the pony is willing to let you use their magic, it’s easy. But if they are unwilling, bad things can happen”

“Correct. If you ever want to control World Magic, Equus itself must be willing to allow it first. While it would theoretically be possible to dominate World Magic like you could with another pony… in practice it is all but impossible. After all, as great as the willpower of ponies can be, it is still nothing compared to the unshakeable will of the planet”

 “But how would I know if Equus was letting me control its magic?”

Celestia had given her a smile. “You will know”

Twilight shook herself free of the memory and refocused on the task at hand. She stared at the desk, ignoring the thudding in the back of her mind with practiced ease, and debated on how best to begin. ‘This is a preservation rune scheme overlaid with a masking rune scheme, creating a rune matrix that hides and preserves. However, in order for a rune scheme to be bound to another scheme there must be a third rune scheme regulating the interaction between the two forces. Find the regulation scheme, and I should be able to start translating from there’ She nodded to herself. She lit her horn and began a deep scan of the table.

Luna smirked to herself. She knew it would take much more than a magical scan to see the matrix.

Twilight frowned, canceling her magic when the only result she could pick up was the gentle beat of World Magic. She couldn’t even pinpoint its source. ‘I suppose it was too much to ask for this to be easy’ She lit her magic again and closed her eyes. ‘So let’s try brute-forcing this’

Luna quirked an eyebrow when she felt Twilight’s magic begin gathering in large amounts. Then her eyes widened when she felt a familiar feeling crawling over her skin. It was a disruption wave! A big one…

Twilight unleashed the spell, and smiled when the image of the oak table wavered slightly, only to frown when it reasserted itself. ‘Damn… Now what?’ She paused, then face-hoofed. ‘And you’re supposed to be smart, Sparkle. Get your head in the game!’ She focused on the table after that, and activated her X-ray vision. As she had half expected, nothing out of the ordinary appeared. She deactivated the vision power and smiled. ‘Okay, I was able to see through illusions back in the Everfree Forest, so I know my X-Ray vision can do that. The fact that it failed here actually provides more answers than if it had worked’

“You could have told me there was a perception filter in there” Twilight noted to Luna.

Luna quirked an eyebrow. “First, I told you the enchantment was hidden under multiple layers, did I not? I never said they were all the same layer repeated” Twilight conceded the point. “Second, how did you figure that out?”

“I have the power to see through any object I want, except things that absorb radiation such as lead. I learned it worked on illusions in the Everfree Forest during the Eternal Night incident”

Luna nodded after a moment in realization. “The fact that it did not succeed here was an instant giveaway” She finished for the Unicorn. “Since there are very few other methods of hiding things with magic, none of which could apply here without a magic generator of some kind, and those cannot be hidden along with what they hide” She frowned in thought. “Well… not that I know of at any rate. I have not begun studying modern spell-form development yet”

Twilight nodded almost absently, debating to herself how best to break the perception filter. There were a few ways… but they all dealt with damaging the matrix. Luna said the desk was important to her, so she would not do that. She could try draining the magic away, but this thing was powered by World Magic, and she had no desire to risk her magic absorbing something like that, not without dire need anyways.

“Princess…” Twilight began hesitantly. “…You don’t expect me to succeed at all, do you?” She asked.

Luna smirked. “I did not wish to break the excitement you displayed, but no. As far as I know the only way to unravel the masking matrix is by destroying it, and that is something I will not allow”

Twilight’s eyes sharpened. She grinned and glanced at Luna. “Well then, I guess I’m about to have a lot of fun” She levitated the table and began examining its underside.

“Now what are you doing?”.

“I’m looking for the flaw in the perception filter” Twilight answered.

Luna understood. Perception filters were used to alter how the beholder perceived something, but mortals could not actually perfectly alter something only the Creator could work. It could be influenced, but not truly altered. This meant that all perception filters had a flaw in what they made you see. Find the flaw and truly realize that it’s a flaw, and your mind will rebel, throwing the perception filter off of you and allowing you to see what it hid.

Twilight stopped after a moment, screwing up her expression. “…Princess?” She asked.

Luna grinned. Twilight had found it. “Yes?”.

“…Why is there an engraving of a giant eyeball here?”.

Luna valiantly held in the laughter threatening to bubble up. “Tia once called me unbearably paranoid because of my insistence on personally checking my food every meal. I called her fat in retaliation. It degenerated from there, and one of the results was her engraving that eyeball there to unnerve me. It failed, but I gave her credit for creativity”.

“… I… see…” Twilight said slowly, her eyes wide. “…You called Princess Celestia fat!?!” She nearly shrieked.

“She called me paranoid!” Luna returned. “And have you seen her flanks? She obviously enjoys her cake far too much” She huffed.

Twilight’s mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. She eventually regained her ability to speak. “… But… But…”.

Luna grinned at Twilight. “Of course… that’s nothing compared to when she and I argued over stallions in the middle of her Day court” She could almost see smoke billowing from the Unicorn’s ears now. “The nobles were so embarrassed, but too scared to actually try and stop us. It only went further south when the Griffon Ambassador got involved in the argument. The nobles looked like they were about to go into cardiac arrest!” She laughed, then glanced at Twilight, smirking. “Much like you do right now”.

Twilight froze, and everything came rushing into comprehension. “You devious witch!” She screeched at Luna, pointing a hoof at her. “You were having me on!”.

“And?” Luna grinned.

‘The troll’ Crossed Twilight’s mind as she ground her teeth. ‘An urban Earth legend of a monster who lives under a bridge demanding a toll for all who cross it; a person who enjoys winding others up and watching them go crazy; Princess Luna’.

Twilight’s eye started twitching harder, and her hair started to frizz slightly. “You…” She growled. Then she gave a primal scream and lunged for Luna.

Said Alicorn laughed and bound away. “You must do better than leaping at me if you want to catch me!” She called, vanishing around a bookshelf.

“Watch me!” Twilight exclaimed, using her X-Ray vision to find Luna.  She spotted the dark Alicorn and blurred into motion. She tried to tackle Luna… but only passed through her. She stopped in mid-air and blinked in confusion.

“Missed!” Luna called right in her ear.

Twilight hissed and spun around, only to see the blurry image of Luna sticking her tongue out at her. Twilight’s jaw dropped. “After images?!” She asked in shock.

“I am the living avatar of Darkness, Twilight Sparkle. Did you think I was slow?” Luna’s voice echoed from all around.

“What’s that got anything to do with you leaving behind after images?” Twilight called.

“Light is fast. Darkness is faster”

Twilight blinked. “Oh… I never looked at it that way”

“I admit, it is a technicality, but still. I have always been the faster between myself and Tia, whereas she was the heavy hitter. After all, with flanks like that, she could double as a wrecking ball”

Twilight shrieked at the further slight against her teacher and sped through the library in search of the culprit. “Quit hiding and let me hit you!” 

“Come now, you don’t expect me to actually do that, do you? I have been hit by you before. I am in no hurry to experience the sensation again”

“I don’t care!”

---

The next day, Celestia could only shake her head after Luna and Twilight explained to her why the Royal Archives were currently a pile of rubble.

Luna was sporting a rather impressive busted lip and black eye. She was also grinning like a madmare. Twilight, inversely, was unharmed but curled in on herself in shame at what she had done. So much destroyed knowledge...

 ‘At least Luna is socializing again…’ Celestia thought to herself.

> 7. Heading Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight sighed as she sat down in the booth. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie joined her. With a groan she dropped her head to the table between them. Just as her head made contact with the wood, the train rumbled and began moving, exiting Canterlot’s station.

After speaking with her family, and recovering from the emotions that had run rampant at the end of that discussion yesterday, Twilight had decided to spend the rest of the day walking around Canterlot and taking in the sites. She had visited Applejack to see how her tests were progressing, and immediately regretted it when the farm mare completed unloaded on her about bigoted nobles and scary as all Tartarus angry Alicorns.

When she finally got away from that, she decided to see her mentor about her apparent blowup. That was the plan, anyways. The only Alicorn she found was Luna, who was maintaining a domed shield around a raging inferno in the otherwise empty throne room. The shield was colored blue and, oddly, flickered with blue flames as well. Luna explained that it was an experiment in combining elemental magic with defensive magic. 

Luna also informed her that Celestia was meeting with the Lion ambassador and would not be able to accept a visit today. Twilight grumbled but thanked her.

After that, she decided to make good on her word to visit Ash Winder and her family. In a moment of prophetic wisdom, she left behind her Bit bag. The whole situation had been a rather unremarkable affair. She was introduced to her husband, a Pegasus stallion with a dark red coat and light red mane and tail named Crimson Fira. He was gruff and slightly rude, but Twilight took it in stride and accepted his thanks for protecting his wife and son. She spent the rest of the evening enjoying a dinner with the family and playing with Stratus, and eventually went back to the castle and to sleep.

Pinkie Pie woke her up that morning by scaring the ever loving crap out of her with an air horn. How the Earth Pony manipulated one without the dexterity of wings or magic baffled her, and no matter how many times she asked Pinkie just kept talking about the plans her and Snow Cloud were making. 

Though, to be honest… she was grateful to Pinkie Pie for waking her up.

“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked in concern.

“It’s just been a long weekend, that’s all,” Twilight answered, lifting her head to look at her friend. Applejack frowned at the bags under her friend’s eyes.

“Wanna talk about it?” Applejack asked. “After the ear chewing I gave you yesterday, it’s the least I could do.”

Twilight perked up slightly. “Oh, that’s right! How did the tests go?” she asked.

Applejack cringed and looked at the table. “We didn’t pass.”

“What?!” both Twilight and Rarity exclaimed. Pinkie… seemed to have vanished.

“One of the cooks supervising us turned out to be accepting bribes from the noble that got booted by the Princess the other day, and we didn’t catch it until after he messed up the lunch and dinner tests.” She sighed. “Princess Luna tried to tell us we could retake the test… but it’s harvestin’ season back at the acres, and we’ve been gone for too long as it is. We plain don’t have the time to retake the test before the Gala.” She smirked after a moment. “I admit, I took some joy outta watching Princess Luna tear the cook apart with nothing but words. He’s no longer a part of the castle staff, and a warrant’s been put out for the arrest of Black Bag. Tribalism ain’t a crime, unfortunately, but bribery is.”

“Good!” Rarity nodded firmly. “I heard all about the sordid affair regarding your first test while working with the Head Seamstress. I was not impressed. I had also heard there was a bustle regarding corruption yesterday… but didn’t know it was about you.”

“Speaking of you, how’d your weekend with Blueblood go?” Twilight asked.

Rarity gave a dramatic groan. “Ugh… He is every bit as boarish as every single pony I asked described him.” She frowned. “At the same time, I feel something is off. I have been told countless times that he is a coward, braggart, and will have the Guard do his work for him. And yet...”

“Is it bad?” Applejack asked in concern.

Rarity pursed her lips, and slowly shook her head. “Not… necessarily, no. He attacked me when we first met… but that was understandable considering the circumstances.”

“He attacked you?!” Applejack and Twilight asked in disbelief, though for different reasons.

Applejack was enraged that one of her oldest friends was assaulted by a noble, further souring her opinion of Canterlot Nobility. Twilight, on the other hand, was not angry, just… shocked.

“He actually attacked you? Himself? He didn’t order a guard to do it?” Twilight asked for clarification.

Rarity smirked. “Yes. It was a valiant attempt as well… but a Lady is always prepared for untoward advances.” Her grin became… unsettling. “He was properly chastised.”

“Did he try to rape you?” Applejack asked in quiet horror. Twilight’s mind flashed back to yesterday, making her grimace and shove the memory away. 

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Goodness no!” she exclaimed, realizing her slip. “No. You see, I resemble his departed mother, bar the fact that her mane is styled differently. And he has apparently had nobles try to use the image of said deceased parent to gain his favor. After all, he loved his mother, and instinctively would want to make her happy. That instinct can carry over to those who look similar. It ingrained in him the idea that any who look like his mother are trying to manipulate him. The Princess cleared it up though, confirming that this is indeed my natural body and not an illusion.”

Applejack went quiet, considering how she would react if somepony had tried to use her dead parents to try and get her to do things. Every time she considered it, she knew her response would always be instant… and violent.

Never mind what Granny would do. Old she may be, dispassionate she was not.

Twilight scrutinized Rarity for a moment, her eyes progressively getting wider. “Oh my Stars…” she whispered in surprise. “You really do look like Lady Cerulean! I can’t believe I never realized that.”

Rarity shook her head. “It’s understandable really. I am similar in appearance, but not strikingly so. She was shorter than me, her frame was a bit thinner, and her coat was apparently a rather light shade of grey, rather than the albino I am gifted with. I am told she also had a vastly different voice from my own.”

“Still…”

Rarity flipped her mane. “Anyways, afterwards he approached me and apologized for his uncouth behavior.” She frowned again. “He settled into bragging and trying to impress me, but, as I said, something seemed off.” She growled. “I swear, I cannot for the life of me figure out why I am unsettled by his mannerisms!” She huffed. “Needless to say, I will be returning at some point. I do not like a mystery left unsolved.”

Twilight and Applejack exchanged a glance, shrugged, and changed the subject.

---

 Later...

The train pulled into Ponyville’s station. Twilight stepped out first, closely followed by Pinkie, Applejack, and then Rarity.

Pinkie looked up at the sky, and frowned. She shook her head, as if trying to dislodge something. Applejack noticed. “Y’alright, Pinkie?” she asked, placing a hood on her friend’s back.

Pinkie jumped, startled, but smiled at Applejack. “I’m fine, just thinking about the Hearth’s Warming Eve party. I have soooooo many ideas!” she squealed. “I gotta start working on them! Bye!” She started bouncing away.

Applejack chuckled. “Well, don’t forget to sleep tonight!” she called, before looking at Twilight and Rarity. “Ah should get going as well. Gotta make sure Bloom ain’t caused another tree to start attacking anything near it.” She shook her head. “Ah swear, the day we finally figure out that filly’s talent will be a family holiday.” She trotted off, waving a hoof briefly as she did.

“What will you do today?” Rarity asked Twilight. “It’s still rather early.”

Twilight shrugged. “I’m going to check on Spike and see how he’s doing… and hope the library’s still standing.” She sighed. “He’s eager to please, but not exactly graceful.”

“He is just a child," Rarity reminded her. "Grace comes with experience, which he currently lacks."

“I know.” Twilight smiled. “I appreciate that he wants to help. That’s why I made him my assistant. It’s a safe job, he gets a paycheck out of it, and we get to stay together.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I do not believe you told us how you two met. How did an Amethyst Drake such as him come under your care?”

Twilight led Rarity towards the library as she told the mare the story of her entrance exam into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Needless to say, both were giggling before long. After all, it wasn’t every day a filly turned an entire group of unicorns, including her parents, into a variety of flora on accident.
> 8. A Prank Too Far
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight had come home to find Spike reading a comic book in the main room of the library. A quick check of the home revealed nothing really wrong, and Spike managed to keep a detailed, if somewhat unprofessional, list of books that were currently checked out. She spent the rest of the day with Rarity, both of them swapping tales from their childhood.

The days crawled on afterwards, each one spent with at least one of her friends. They were great, but… she noticed something.

Rainbow Dash seemed to not be coping with Pinkie Pie all too well. The mare was very high energy, and Twilight understood why Rainbow Dash was getting exasperated, but Pinkie was still her friend. She knew it would come to a head soon when she found out Rainbow Dash was going out of her way to avoid the party pony. She considered intervening, but in the end she decided against it. Rainbow Dash needed to learn to accept that her friends weren't all like her.

Later, she discovered they had collaborated on a prank against Spike, having apparently fixed whatever rift may have been forming. They had scared him with a crack of thunder, leading to him having to deal with the hiccups. He took it well, and Twilight was proud of him for it, but she decided to draw the line. They had no idea just what could have happened.

---

“Why’d you want to talk to us, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering near the ceiling of the library. Pinkie Pie was actually on the ceiling next to her, utilizing some suction cups on her hooves to mimic sitting next to her friend.

Twilight herself floated up to them and frowned at them. “Spike told me about the prank you two played on him earlier today,” she started, only for Rainbow to interrupt.

She let out an aggrieved sigh. “Did we hurt his feelings? He laughed it off, so I thought he didn’t mind.” She stopped at Twilight's quelling glare, suddenly aware that Twilight was faster, stronger, and more capable of twisting the ones who tormented her charge into literal knots.

After a moment, Twilight let up. “First of all, Spike was chuckling about it all the way home, and I’m very proud of him for taking it as well as he had. Second,” she paused, considering how to phrase this. “Second… I don’t think either of you really thought about the consequences of your prank.”

Rainbow quirked an eyebrow. “Consequences? It was a prank, harmless and everything.” She paused, then flinched. “Barring potentially important scrolls that is. Sorry about that, by the way. Didn’t know he could do that.”

Twilight nodded with a small smile. “Apology accepted, and that was part of what I meant. My worry, however, wasn’t about the scrolls.” Her expression firmed up. “Spike is a dragon,” she said slowly. “A baby dragon, at that. What would you have done if you had scared him so badly that he reacted by trying to breathe fire on you?”

Rainbow smiled confidently. “I would have dodged it, of course! No slow flame breath can hit me!” she boasted.

Twilight nodded. “Sure, true… And the houses behind you? The wooden houses?”

Rainbow paused, and you could see the mental calculation in her head as she slowly realized what that meant. Pinkie’s expression also drooped, realizing her prank could have been harmful if something went wrong.

Twilight nodded again. “Exactly. I have nothing against pranks, and in fact encourage them. They certainly can spice up an otherwise dull day… but if those pranks have the potential to cause a house fire, or multiple, then it stops being a prank, and starts being a criminal act.” She levitated a scroll bearing the Royal Insignia. “The Princess was confused about why exactly thirty-four scrolls worth of cataloguing and notes for the library suddenly appeared over her head. She also took it well once I explained the situation, sending them back through Spike, but she also wanted me to make sure you knew what you were doing.”

She levitated another scroll, this one open and blank, to them. “I want you two to think about pranks, the fun you can have with them… and where you should draw the line. I also want you to think long and hard about a set of rules to follow when pranking, to prevent things like the situation I described. Then I want you to write it down in this scroll and bring it back to me.”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie glanced at each other. “Uh… why? We know better now, so what’s the point?” Rainbow asked. She screwed up her face. “And yuck. No thanks. I’m not doing homework.”

Rainbow and Pinkie gulped when Twilight smiled at them. It was not kind. “You will do it. Because if you don’t, I will show you what happens when you anger the guardian of a baby dragon.” She leaned forward, making her eyes glow red, while still smiling. For good effect she used and illusion spell to make her eyes be shadowed over, leaving nothing but the red glow. “I will show you the mare that got into a prank war with Princess Celestia and lost by a technicality, and I will show you the younger sister of the Captain of the Royal Guard, who only loses wargames against him two out of five times.” And suddenly she was smiling cheerfully, as if she hadn’t just scared the ever loving crap out her friends. “So save the both of us the hassle, and do the homework.”

“Yes’m,” Rainbow and Pinkie both squeaked, grabbing the scroll and leaving the library as fast as they could.

Twilight gave a refreshing sigh, before falling to giggles. “Heheheh! I haven’t done that since Blueblood called Spike my slave. It’s fun to let go once in a while.”

Needless to say, the returned scroll was well written and detailed a set of rules one should follow when pranking. Twilight was impressed by the research the two friends must have done to come up with such a comprehensive list. She also felt a bit bad about scaring them like that, but really, the old adage is true.

Don’t meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and go well with ketchup. Twilight may not be a dragon, but it was her job to care for one.
> 9. Bonding and Griffons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight shook her head with a small smile, hearing with her over-sensitive ears as what sounded like Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie rummaged around in her lab. She had stepped out for a moment to clean up after her most recent mishap with chemicals.

Ever since the two had discovered common ground in pranking, and Twilight scared… sorry... set them straight in regards to pranking common courtesy, they had seemingly declared war on the rest of their friends. Rarity had been tricked into sniffing a flower arrangement with sneezing powder in it, and Applejack had discovered the entirety of the Sweet Apple Acres now played host to apples of all colors and patterns. Thankfully they were just painted with flora-friendly paint.

She was honestly curious what the duo had planned for her. As such, she didn’t spy on them with her x-ray vision.

Once the sounds of one tip-toeing pony and one very lightly flapping pair of wings vanished, or at least got outside, she exited the bathroom and went to her lab. With a quick glance she noticed nothing seemed out of place.

Slowly, she walked to her chemical set. Her book was still open to the page she left it at. None of the beakers seemed to have been moved, and they didn’t appear to have anything extra in them. Good. She’d forgive a lot for a well done prank. Potentially endangering her life by tampering with her chemical set was not on that list.

Well, she knew they did something, and so far she couldn’t find it. She considered using her x-ray vision, then decided against it. ‘Well, I guess that means the only thing left to do is set it off,’ she decided.

As such, she grabbed her clipboard, quill, and returned to studying the chemicals. She once more got them reacting, and started taking notes.

Two minutes in, she noticed something in the chemicals and checked her notes to see if she already noted it. Nothing. She started writing again, and then froze. “Wait…” Once more she checked her notes. Blank. There were no notes whatsoever. Curiously, Twilight drew a line. It stayed. She looked at the quill. Nothing seemed odd about it. She looked back at the sheet of paper. The line was gone. She frowned and drew another line.

No matter how long she stared at it, it didn’t faded. 

 ‘Well, that rules out disappearing ink.’ She scratched her head, looking back at the quill. Did they swap her quills? No, it was one of hers, and as far as she could tell it hadn’t been tampered with. She looked back at the paper. It was blank. Okay, so maybe it was disappearing ink.

She frowned. ‘Well, they got me, there’s no denying that. Now I just want to know how they did it,’ she admitted to herself. There was no doubt she had been pranked and had not predicted it, but scientist in her was trying figure out how they got the ink to act the way it did.

“Alright, you guys got me. Now tell me how you did this,” she called out her window, where she could hear Pinkie and Rainbow Dash giggling.

Pinkie poked her head in the window. “It’s invisible ink!” she said happily.

Twilight nodded. “Well, yeah, I gathered that much. Why is the timing different every time I write?” she asked.

Pinkie’s grin stretched wider. “There is no timing. It reacts the moment nothing with physical eyes is looking at it.” Pinkie’s smile turned a bit softer. “I had to get some help from one of my sisters to make that ink.”

Twilight curiously made another line. She looked away and then back. It was gone. Her eyes lit up as she grinned. “That is so cool!” she exclaimed, clapping her hooves in excitement. She looked at Pinkie. “Can I have some to study?” she nearly begged.

Pinkie nodded, motioning to Twilight’s inkwell. “Sure. We filled your inkwell, so there should be enough. I have more if you need it.”

Twilight smiled, levitating the inkwell somewhere else so she didn’t accidentally use it. “Thanks Pinkie. You guys got me. I knew you were likely setting up a prank, but this got me by surprise. Nice one.” She glanced at her still blank piece of paper. “This will wear off… right?” she asked.

Rainbow poked her head in, having finally stopped laughing. She was still grinning though. “Yeah. Just leave it in a dark space like a cupboard overnight. It’ll reappear,” she said.

“I have got to get a look at those spell forms…” Twilight mused to herself. She was already coming up with ideas on how she herself would do it, but magic was just as much art as it was science. To see the many ways ponies could accomplish the same thing was almost as exciting as the accomplishment itself.

“We’re gonna go do some more pranks now. You want to join us?” Rainbow asked. If Twilight wasn’t spouting horseapples the other day, she had gotten into a prank war with the Princess once, and almost won. She was bound to have a lot of ideas.

Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. The Princess has me studying evocation spells, so I’ll likely be busy for a few days.”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie glanced at each other, then shrugged. The two friends left Twilight to her studies to continue their two-pony war on the rest of the town.

---

 The next day…

Twilight’s ear twitched just as the sound of a hoof knocking on her front door sounded out. She looked up from her book and, using X-ray vision, discovered a rather upset looking Pinkie Pie at her door. She frowned.

 ‘Is she and Rainbow having a fight?’ she asked herself curiously. She jogged to the door and opened it. “Pinkie? Are you okay?” she asked, not even pretending to be surprised by the mare’s expression.

“Twilight, do you know what a Griffon is?” Pinkie returned with a question of her own.

Twilight frowned. “Well, yeah. I sorta half-lived in Canterlot Castle for most of my life. I’ve met the Griffon embassador quite often. Why?”

“Are they all as mean as the one I just met?”

“Mean?” Twilight blinked, and then sighed. “Come in and have a seat, Pinkie. I’ll make some tea and you can tell me what happened.”

---

“...and then she told me that Dashie didn’t need me anymore, so I should get lost and never bother her again.” Pinkie took another pull from her tea. (Chamomile, and caffeine-free. Twilight had no desire to see what a wired Pinkie Pie would be like.) She sighed afterwards in relief.

Twilight was rubbing the bridge of her nose, wishing at the moment that she had fingers instead of hooves. Hooves just weren’t cut out for massaging. “Well, it certainly sounds like an interesting issue. Have you tried to talk to Gilda away from Rainbow Dash?”

Pinkie looked up. “Why?”

Twilight shrugged. “Well, it sounds to me like she’s scared you’ll take her friend, Rainbow Dash, from her. Try talking to her when Rainbow’s not around. Maybe she’ll calm down then?” she offered.

Pinkie nodded slowly, before grinning brightly. “I know just what to do! Thanks Twilight!” shouted, shooting out the door like a bullet.

Twilight watched the door swing shut slowly, a frown developing on her face. ‘Griffons,’ her encyclopedia-like mind brought up. ‘A chimeric species sharing the traits of both eagles and lions. Extremely territorial. Natural habitat: High altitude mountains. Culture: Cross between warrior and viking. Respects strength above all else. Reacts badly when feels they are being made fun of.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Ever since the signing of the Skyland Peace Treaty three hundred years ago, Griffons have kept to themselves. Ponies are allowed to visit the Griffon Empire, but only for short periods of time. The same is true in reverse. The Emperor won’t let Griffons visit Equestria for any longer than a month.’ Something wasn’t adding up in Twilight’s mind. She was missing something. ‘C’mon Twilight, think! Use those detective instincts Bruce pounded into your head!’

Wait.

‘Pinkie said Gilda went to flight school with Rainbow Dash…’
> 10. Investigations and Instigations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Twilight! Twilight!” Pinkie’s voice thundered as she pounded on the front door of the library. “Twilight! TwilightTwilightTwilightTwilight!”

“It’s a library. The door’s not locked,” Twilight pointed out after opening the door. She looked slightly annoyed. Seriously, it was a public building. What was with all the knocking recently?

“Fluttershy’s in trouble!” Pinkie informed her as if Twilight hadn’t just snarked at her.

Twilight was gone, Pinkie being bowled over by nature’s rapid attempt to restrain an equal parts furious and worried super-pony.

Now that Twilight was paying attention and knew what to look for, she could pick out the sound of sobbing in the white-noise her sensitive hearing generated. With well practiced ease, she followed it back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

On her approach she noted that she didn’t hear the sounds of a struggle, so busting down the front door would probably do more harm than good. X-ray vision determined her course of action when it revealed Fluttershy in her bedroom shaking with sobs, surrounded by a multitude of her animal friends.

She quickly opened the front door and entered. She was soon in Fluttershy’s room, and became the recipient of a rather impressive death glare from Angel Bunny. He did not look happy, and in fact Twilight could feel the ambient magic in the room swirling very slightly around his rage.

It was no wonder he ruled the Everfree animals. For an animal’s emotions to tap into ambient magic, and for its care of another to trigger such an emotional response… Twilight’s respect for Angel formed and rose a few notches.

That didn’t stop her from seizing the magic in the air as he directed it at her and effortlessly rip it from his subconscious control. Her horn flared to life and she lifted every animal in the room off the floor, clearing a path for her to approach Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, enveloping her friend in a hug. She let the animals go as well, and they kept their distance, barring an equally worried Angel, from the powerful Unicorn.

Fluttershy sniffed, making an effort to stop hiccupping so she could speak. “I… I was… I’m sorry!” she exclaimed, before once more delving into hysterics.

Twilight rubbed a hoof along Fluttershy’s back in a soothing motion, and just held her friend. “I’m here. Just let it out,” she whispered.

---

Twilight’s eyes glowed a dangerous red as she flew towards Rainbow Dash’s home, a furious scowl adorning her features.

After Fluttershy had finally calmed, she had explained that she had literally bumped into a Griffon while leading a duck and its ducklings to their new home. She had tried to apologize, but only got insulted and roared at, scaring the ducks into a panic and scaring Fluttershy. Not knowing what to do, and unwilling to possibly get attacked, Fluttershy ran/flew home. After that she mumbled something about bad memories, but Twilight couldn't get anymore out of her.

Twilight managed to get a description of the Griffon, and was somehow not surprised that it matched Pinkie’s description of Gilda. She was quickly beginning to think Pinkie was right the first time, that this was one of those really aggressive and mean Griffons. She certainly wasn’t the first Griffon to think that Ponies were weak due to their peace-loving nature. She wouldn’t be the first to be reminded why Ponies were the peacekeepers of Equus either.

She left Fluttershy to the care of her animals, extracting a promise from Angel Bunny that he would take care of her. He had, of course, been insulted. No pony needed to tell him to take care his best friend. Then she went into town to get an account of how Gilda had behaved while in town, and the picture being drawn was slightly confusing.

When she was with Rainbow Dash, Gilda was crude, rude, and slightly obnoxious, but otherwise she behaved. On her own, Gilda was a boar of person, and more than one resident of the town had seen her being insulting or belittling to others. One pony had even caught her stealing from a stall, but had hesitated on calling her out due to witnessing Gilda tear Fluttershy apart verbally beforehand.

So now she was on her way to Rainbow Dash’s house to tell her the news. She only hoped the polychromatic Pegasus would be reasonable. And if Gilda was there… she had a Plan B.

She wasn’t entirely sure what to expect on her approach to the rather fancy cloud home Rainbow Dash owned. That thought gave her a brief pause, her train of thought derailing. Rainbow worked a managerial position on Ponyville’s Weather Control Team. It was not a high paying job, so how did she afford a house like this? The overall shape could be credited to creative manipulation of the cloud, but there was a liquid rainbow fountain out front. That stuff was expensive, as was the license needed to handle the rather volatile material.

And then the reason for her visit to said home returned, and she shook her head to refocus herself. Still maintaining her flight, since Unicorns couldn’t walk on clouds like Pegasi, she knocked on the door. The cloud door. Which emitted a loud thudding sound with each strike.

Twilight’s eyebrow twitched, but she ignored it for now. She’ll have a mental breakdown over magic’s blatant disrespect for physics later.

The door opened to reveal Rainbow Dash, who looked mildly surprised to see her. The surprise turned into a smile after a moment. “Twilight! Come in,” she stepped back to let Twilight float in. “I’d offer you a seat… but I think that would be pointless,” she pointed out with a smirk.

Twilight smiled back. “Yeah. Wouldn’t want you having to do an insane dive to catch me, would we?” she asked.

Rainbow giggled. “I mean, I could do it easily, but no point in doing something pointless, since you could fly and all.”

“Hey, Dash! Who’s at the door?” a voice unfamiliar to Twilight rang out from the next room. And the a Griffon stepped into the room, and Twilight knew instantly by description alone that this was Gilda.

Rainbow’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Twilight, this is my old buddy from flight school! Twilight, meet Gilda the badass Griffon. Gilda, meet Twilight the badass Unicorn,” she introduced the two.

“Badass, eh?” Twilight noticed Gilda’s eyebrow twitch, but she maintained a rather convincing smile as she extended a claw to Twilight. “High praise from Dash. I assume it has something to do with the fact that you’re flying without magic?”

Twilight shrugged. “That’s a bit of a story. She tell you about Nightmare Moon?” she asked.

Gilda’s eyes narrowed and flickered to Rainbow. “No… Nightmare Moon? Seriously Dash? You go to an early Nightmare Night or something?” She grinned. “Oh! Wait, I know! You dressed up as the Mare in the Moon and scared a bunch of kids, didn’t you?” she laughed. “Classic. Wish I had showed up earlier for that.”

Well, so far she seemed crude and inclined to enjoy pranks a bit too much, but nothing malicious… yet.

Rainbow Dash's eyes were darting around awkwardly, and then they zeroed in on something with obvious relief. “Oh, that’s a neat necklace Twi. What’s the occasion?” she asked.

Twilight looked down at the sapphire gem hanging from her neck by a leather cord. She looked back up at Rainbow and Gilda, who was also looking at the necklace curiously, with a smile. “This? Spike gave it to me as a gift this morning. I promised I would wear it for a few days before I put it in my jewelry box.” She shook her head. “Eventually he’ll figure out I’m just not the type of mare that likes these kind of things,” she said with a sigh.

“Spike?” Gilda asked. “He your coltfriend or something?” she asked curiously.

Twilight snorted, as did Rainbow Dash. “No, he’s my assistant. I have guardianship over him until he’s an adult, and he likes to help me manage the Golden Oak Library, where I live,” she explained.

Twilight was  surprised to discover she was enjoying her conversation with Gilda. Maybe everyone was just overreacting to the fact that a Griffon was in town?

Gilda frowned. “A library? You live in a library? Gag!” she stuck her tongue out. “Laaaaame!” she drolled. “Books ain’t no good for anything but kindling if you ask me.”

...She would burn. Slowly, and painfully. Twilight would personally light the fire and eagerly dump as much kerosine on it as she could.

She snapped out of her quick moment of rage just in time to catch the tail-end of something Rainbow Dash was saying.

“-hink that was a little harsh?”

Gilda looked at Rainbow Dash with a frown. “I thought you agreed with me?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I think books are boring, yeah, but saying you should burn them? To Twilight? That would be like someone else telling us to clip our wings. Books and magic are her passion, Gilda.” Her eyes looked into the distance slightly. “If nothing else, you gotta respect a pony’s passion, at least when around them.”

Gilda shivered. “Clipping my wings… no thanks. I’d sooner die.”

Rainbow started to nod, but stopped. Then she slowly spoke. “I think… if it was for my friends, I’d give up my wings in a heartbeat. Not for anything else though.” She glanced away, and Twilight caught the barely mumbled. “Maybe for Fluttershy…”

Gilda was staring at Rainbow, as if she didn’t understand what she was seeing. “...You changed, Dash,” she said, making it sound like an accusation.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well, yeah. Everypony changes eventually. That’s what growing up is about, isn’t it?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “Life is change. If we never change, we never learn. If we never learn, we never get better. And if we don’t get better… we fail the survival game.”

Gilda thought about that for a moment, before nodding slowly. “I guess I can see that. Never let it be said I’m not able to be better.” She grinned. “Hey, Dash, you mind getting something to drink for… Twilight?” At Twilight’s nod, she continued. “For me and Twilight?”

Rainbow dash nodded and moved off to another room. Once she was gone, Gilda turned to Twilight with an unreadable expression. “Yes?” Twilight asked, forcing herself not to tense.

“...Nightmare Moon. What happened?” Gilda asked quietly. 

Twilight stumbled mentally, having not expected that. “Er… I’m sorry?” she half-asked.

Gilda grunted. “Dash doesn’t get evasive like that unless something really bothers her, and Nightmare Moon bothered her to the point of changing the subject. Why?”

Twilight was slightly surprised at the clear concern on the Griffon’s face. Whatever else she may be, it was obvious she cared about Rainbow Dash. “... Long story short, Nightmare Moon is… was… real, tried to plunge the world into Eternal Night. Rainbow, myself, and four others stopped her, and nearly died a few times in the process,” she gave the highly condensed version.

Twilight gave Gilda a little credit. She didn’t immediately scoff in disbelief. She frowned. “... That must be what the extended Night a few weeks ago was about,” she reasoned, but her frown only deepened. “No… there’s more. If that was it, Dash would have been bragging up down left right and center to anyone that would listen for half a minute.”

Twilight thought for a moment, then remembered Rainbow’s reaction to her saving Fluttershy. “I stopped Nightmare Moon from killing Fluttershy, and Rainbow was extremely relieved over it. To the point of hysterics, which is odd now that I know her better,” she mused.

Gilda scowled at the name. “Tch! That wimpy Pegasus… I still don’t know why Dash gives her the time of day. She’s a failure of a Pegasus that’s so scared of the sky she refuses to live in Cloudsdale.”

It was Twilight’s turn to frown. “That was uncalled for. Fluttershy never did anything to you,” she admonished, and also made a mental note that there was apparently some history between Fluttershy and Gilda.

Gila glared almost hatefully at Twilight, surprising the mare for a moment. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know about!” she growled quietly. “That stupid Pegasus deserves everything she gets and then some!”

Twilight’s frown became a glare. “I’m only going to ask you once. Please stop insulting my friend,” she said with some steel. “Or else.”

Gilda stared Twilight in the eye, and smirked at what she found. “You’re serious,” she said, her hackles beginning the rise. “You’ll fight me over this, won’t you?” Twilight only continued to stare at her, tensing. Gilda laughed. “Ha! Alright, fine!” She reared up, raising her claws. “You asked for it!”  She brought the claw down, intending to rake it across the Unicorn’s face. It would leave a scar, and likely hurt like holy hell, but Gilda wasn’t aiming to kill. Slightly maim, yes, but not kill.

Twilight stopped it cold with her foreleg. She capitalized on Gilda’s shock to grab hold of the Griffon’s arm tightly.

Rainbow came rushing in at the battle-cry from Gilda. “Hey! What’s going-Yikes!” She had to quickly duck to avoid a projectile Griffon, thrown by Twilight.

Rainbow looked at the hole in the kitchen wall Gilda’s body made, and then turned to Twilight.

“She attacked me,” Twilight defended, raising her hooves.

Rainbow nodded. “I got that when I heard the yell. You could have at least aimed for a window though. Do you know how hard it is to repair cloudstuff walls?” she asked in annoyance.

Twilight was surprised. “You’re… not angry?” she asked.

Rainbow shrugged. “I’d like to know why you’re fighting, sure, but Gilda loves a good scrap and likes to pick fights with people she knows can take it,” she pointed out.

Twilight didn’t have a chance to respond due to an angry Griffon rushing back through the hole in the wall and tackling her, sending them both through the closed door.

“Come on! Really?!” they both heard Rainbow Dash call angrily over the now destroyed door.
> 11. Conclusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Gilda reared back as they dived through the sky to punch Twilight, only to receive a punch to her own beak that left her seeing stars. It also allowed Twilight to disengage and get some distance, bringing her fall to a stop. Gilda managed to do the same after regaining her wits.

She flapped her way up to Twilight, who was just floating there, waiting. Gilda was grinning.

Twilight slowly adopted a pose, fumbled, and came to a startling conclusion. Everything Clark Kent learned about martial arts was useless to her. She wasn’t bipedal. ‘Well, worse comes to worst I’m sure I can tank anything she gets in,’ she thought.

Gilda noticed the fumble and snickered. “You sure you can backup your intentions? You look like a newbie fighter to me.”

Twilight huffed. “Taunting? Really?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

 CRA-KOW!!!

When Twilight’s ears stopped ringing and she could see something other than white light, she realized she was falling towards the ground, smoldering sligthly. ‘...Ow,’ she summed up in her mind as she righted herself, narrowly dodging Gilda, who had dived for her.

“...You hit me with a lightning bolt.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Gilda stopped herself and turned to Twilight with a grin. “Set it up after you chucked me through the wall,” she admitted.

Twilight nodded slowly. “I see…” 

Gilda blinked when Twilight vanished in a blur, and squawked when the purple pony was suddenly in her face, hoof pulled back. Her head snapped back from the punch, and she once more saw stars, but she rallied by head-butting the Unicorn hard enough to stagger her. With that the fight resumed.

Down below, the sudden discharge of lightning in the middle of a sunny day had caught the attention of the citizens of Ponyville. At first most believed it was just a stray storm cloud from the Everfree, but upon looking up they realized it was something else.

What they initially thought was a purple Pegasus was fighting tooth and hoof with a Griffon. Belatedly, when said “Pegasus” launched a few bursts of magic, they realized it was a Unicorn. A flying Unicorn. A flying Unicorn matching a Griffon blow for blow in physical combat. It was actually kinda comical, in a way. It almost looked like they were taking turns to hit the other as hard as they could. 

No one was quite sure what to make of this spectacle, so like all living beings in the multiverse they did what anyone would do when presented with such a sight. They sat down and began making bets with others on the outcome.

---

Rainbow Dash alighted on a nearby cloud, keeping her attention on the fight. Twilight had been surprised that she wasn’t angry for throwing Gilda, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t as impulsive as she acted, and had her reasons. One of which was in fact what she had said to Twilight. Gilda was a brawler and loved to fight. She would pick a fight with anyone who she knew could handle a bruise or two, and Twilight could handle far more than a bruise.

Actually, now that she thought about it, according to Twilight Gilda shouldn’t even be able to make her budge, let alone reach her with how fast she was, so how were those attacks connecting, and why did they seem to affect Twilight?

Anyways, to get back on track, Rainbow Dash also knew that Gilda could take a punch with the best of them, and Gilda had been thrown, not punched, through a cloudstuff wall. Only the most physically disabled of Pegasi would have been hurt by that. 

But the biggest reason why Rainbow Dash hadn’t been upset was because she knew.

She wasn’t ignorant to the mutterings of the townsponies regarding the visiting Griffon. She normally would have dismissed it as anxiety over a meat-eater being in town. After all, ponies were still tiptoeing around Spike, and he was a fun loving guy.

Then she had caught sight of Fluttershy fleeing towards her home in tears shortly after leaving Gilda to her own devices in town. The only reason she wasn’t currently comforting her best friend was because she had also seen Twilight racing across town towards the butter-yellow Pegasus’ home. She knew Twilight would handle that.

Still, she was the Element of Loyalty for a reason. She didn’t want to believe her friend had changed that much. After all, Fluttershy tended to jump at her own shadow on the best of days, and anything could have scared her. She wanted to believe in Gilda, so she did. But she kept her ears open and senses peeled… just in case.

She had later caught snippets of the conversation between Twilight and Gilda, and was touched that Gilda had been that worried over her. But then she heard what Gilda had said about Fluttershy, and Twilight’s response.

She was torn. Could she be friends with Gilda after this, knowing the Griffon seemed to have it out for the pony she cared most about? She wasn’t even sure why Gilda didn’t like Fluttershy.

As she watched Twilight dodge a second lightning bolt and nail Gilda with her own magically conjured bolt of lightning, she realized something. ‘They’re grinning. They’re both grinning!’

Twilight liked to fight? She seemed pretty pacifistic to Rainbow when they met. Then again, this could be that weird second life thing. She still had trouble wrapping her head around it...

---

As one, everyone down below winced when a rather aggressive kick launched Gilda spinning end over end through two clouds and into a cloud home.

---

“Oh for crying out loud!”

---

Twilight flew to what amounted to a front porch of Rainbow Dash’s home and peered through the hole that had once been her front door.

The couch was flipped backwards, and Gilda was upside down against the wall, rubbing her beak. The Griffon noticed her and grinned. “Haven’t been kicked like that since I decided to pick a fight with a Minotaur. Put me through three wooden walls and support beam, dropping the ceiling on my head.” She spit out a wad of blood and righted herself slowly. “Thankfully, I walked away with just a scar from an unlucky piece of wood, but still.”

She walked up to Twilight and stuck out a claw. “Nice fight,” she said with a firm nodded.

Twilight grabbed the claw with a hoof, shaking with a smile. “You’re not too bad yourself. I could feel the earth magic behind those hits. If I was anyone else, you would have buried me in the ground with hits like those.”

“You two done trying to kill each other?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying into the room. At nods from both of them, she also nodded. “Good. Maybe now I can find out what this gripe you have with Fluttershy is about,” she said, looking pointedly at Gilda.

Gilda started, before looking away.

“I heard what you said to Twilight before this happened.” She gestured around the room. She got in Gilda’s face, forcing the Griffon to look at her. “Let me be clear. If you don’t tell me what the problem is, I will be forced to choose between the two of you. And though I would hate myself for doing it… you will not like the choice I make.”

Gilda had gone pale at that. “B-but why?! Why would you pick her over me?!” she asked in shock.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Because from where I’m standing she did nothing wrong to deserve how you’re treating her, and I have an entire town of witnesses who admit to you causing problems and generally beings an ass in town when I wasn’t around.” Gilda gulped, realizing the hole she had dug for herself. Rainbow Dash took a step forward, making Gilda step back unconsciously. “Because I know for a fact that Fluttershy couldn’t hate anyone for anything, and would never instigate a bad relationship with someone.”

“I… but…” Gilda floundered slightly.

Rainbow Dash took another step forward. “Because I know Fluttershy is the kindest mare in Equestria, and would give up too much of herself just to make others happy. So much so that she often forgets, or ignores, her own happiness.”

Gilda’s eyes narrowed, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash both noticed anger beginning to build. “You’re doing it again…” she growled, suddenly standing up to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “I’m sorry?” she half-asked, her own train of thought completely derailing.

Gilda slammed a fist into the floor. “You’re doing it again!” she roared, before lunging.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight both dived away, and Gilda stopped at the hole replacing the front door. She rounded on Rainbow Dash and pointed a claw at her. “You’re just abandoning me all over again! Well fine! I’m done getting ditched by my supposed friends! I don’t need you!” She spun around and, with a harsh flap, launched herself away. 

Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other. Twilight was the first to speak. “Did… that make sense to you?” she asked. Rainbow Dash looked rather shell-shocked.

“No…” The Pegasus said slowly, shaking her head. She was confused, and a little hurt at the accusation from her old friend. “I don’t know what just happened either.”

After another moment, Twilight moved towards the entrance. “Come on. Let's go check on Fluttershy.”

Rainbow followed, her mind constantly asking when she had supposedly abandoned Gilda.
> 12. New Show in Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight sighed as she sat at her desk.

The whole Gilda situation could have been handled a lot better than it had been. She wasn’t entirely sure how, but she felt it should have gone better.

She slid off the necklace and stared at the faceted surface of the sapphire. Spike had indeed given her the gem, but not as a gift. She had asked for it, and he had willingly given it up. She had then set the gem in a mount and put the leather cord on it.

She touched a facet with her horn, and the true purpose of the gem revealed itself.

 “Tch! That wimpy Pegasus… I still don’t know why Rainbow gives her the time of day. She’s a failure of a Pegasus that’s so scared of the sky she refuses to live in Cloudsdale.”

With another touch of her horn, the playback function ceased. Twilight sighed and put the gem down. That was her plan B. Get Gilda to talk about what she was doing and record it. Rainbow Dash couldn’t ignore hard evidence like that.

Nothing went to plan.

First of all, the fight shouldn’t have happened. Twilight had let her emotions cloud her judgment and she ended up calling Gilda out. Not only that, but Rainbow Dash apparently wasn’t as hard headed as she had thought she was, and that made guilt crawl up Twilight’s spine. She had seen Rainbow Dash’s jock-like attitude and instantly assumed she was stupid and naive. Well, she knew better now, but she still felt bad for applying a stereotype to her friend like that. For Celestia’s sake, Bruce pretended to be a billionaire playboy philanthropist when not wearing the mask! She should know better than to make assumptions like that!

She sighed again and let her head settle against the surface of the table. ‘Why am I making these mistakes?’ she asked herself. She had long ago learned those lessons and made use of them since, so why now? Why did it feel like all that experience had just washed down the proverbial drain?

She frowned lightly. ‘Maybe it’s because of this Hero Soul thing,’ she theorized. She was, after all, a lot younger physically now, and in a female body at that. Her emotions were bound to be different, thanks to her experience as Twilight Sparkle. In fact, it could be that the experiences of Twilight Sparkle and Clark Kent were at odds. Not like what had caused her mental breakdown, but in such a way that she was making choices she otherwise wouldn’t have. Her emotions were definitely harder to control at least.

She snorted. She was looking at it wrong again. Twilight Sparkle and Clark Kent were not two individual people, but the same person with different experiences. She sighed again. ‘Princess Luna was right. I avoided the biggest pitfalls, but not the most dangerous.’

Her eyes lit up at the sudden realization. “Luna will know what to do!” she exclaimed before heading off to find Spike.

---

Spike wasn't at home, and Twilight only remembered that he went to visit Rarity after her third search of the library. After going to him and convincing him to send of a letter to the Princesses for her, she made her way home. On the way, she came across a flyer that caught her attention.




Coming to Ponyville August 11th
Magic unlike any other!
Tricks beyond comprehension!
Wonders to bedazzle all!



Come see the Great! The Powerful!
Trixie Lulamoon!



8:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M.
Town Square



Tickets can be purchased until the day of the show in the Town Hall.
Ages 13 to 18 - 10 bits
Ages 19 and over - 15 bits
Children under the age of 12 - Free Admission (must be accompanied by an adult)




Twilight blinked at the flyer blankly for a very brief moment, before grinning widely. "Ooooh! A magic show! I love magic shows!" she exclaimed, clapping her hooves together in excitement. She immediately galloped off towards the Town Hall to purchase a ticket. Actually, make that two. Spike liked seeing the things display magic could do too.

Hmm... Should she buy some for her friends as well? 'Why not? The worst they'll do is say no.' With a nod, she decided on her course.

---

Once Twilight finally got home, she stashed the tickets in her room and went to see if Spike had come home yet. She had gotten caught in a line and ended up waiting at Town Hall for an hour before she could get her ticket.

While Spike wasn't home, he apparently had been recently. She found a scroll on her bed, with a note pinned to it from Spike saying it was the response from Princess Luna. Eagerly, Twilight opened it and began reading.

Dear Twilight,

First of all, allow me to thank you for remembering that I am indeed here to offer advice for you if your status as a Hero Soul troubles you. It is nice to know I am valued.

But to get to the point, I know of what you speak of. What you are experiencing is your younger and less experienced memories taking precedence over your older and wiser memories, leading you to make choices that, in hindsight, you really should have known better than to make.

While this is a condition all Hero Souls deal with, it is not a severe one. As you grow accustomed to your status as a Hero Soul and start calling on both sets of memories equally, it will balance itself out. Think of it as experiencing puberty a second time, though without the embarrassment.

In the meantime, the only thing you can do is take extra care to consider what your choices will do before you make them. You are, of course, not expected to be perfect, as emotions running high will circumvent any attempt to be reasonable at times.

I hope this advice serves you well. Also, I wish to remind you that our next appointment is due this Friday.

Your Friend,
Princess Luna

Twilight put the letter down and considered what she learned. It certainly explained why she seemed more emotional. Her mind was basically still sorting and categorizing everything it now had access to, leaving her already sorted memories semi-sort of at the helm.

A second puberty... Twilight shivered. 'No thanks! It's bad enough I have memories of experiencing puberty from both sides of the fence. Let's not make it worse,' she thought.

After having such an exciting day, Twilight decided to call it in early and go to bed. She was optimistic that tomorrow would be a better day.
> 13: The Truth Behind The Power
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Creation.

To some, it is the act of making, of producing, of building, and of forging. But to others, it is the title for all that is. Every world, every universe, every reality. They all fall under it’s banner.

To simplify, it is like a multi-story building, one in which many different and often strange beings reside.

And like a building, there are those who are in charge of Creation’s maintenance. Gods, Goddesses, Divinities, Aedra, Holy Spirits, Demons, Daedra… There are many names, and many entities who bare such names, but they all generally agree that they are Ascended, those who have managed to become so powerful that they simply could not exist in a physical form anymore. So they move on to the Between, the realm between realms. It too has many names, but the most common are The Void, The Between, and The Nothing.

The Ascended all have the job of carefully maintaining a balance and efficiency in their own separate sections of Creation. Some denounce this, deciding to use their not inconsiderable power to do whatever they want, but most work tirelessly to ensure Creation lives.

But there are rules.

Because these ascended entities are so powerful, descending to the more stable portions of Creation can be dangerous. Their power is simply too potent, too great. Creation’s more rigid areas cannot handle the pressure of such a being existing within it. And wars between the Ascended are particularly taboo. When power like that is thrown into the act of Destruction, Creation pays the price.

And so rules were made, and agreements were signed. Never can an Ascended directly oppose another, nor can an Ascended descend on the mortal coil. Any who break these rules risk sparking a war between the Ascended that could end Creation.

Even if their intentions are benevolent, an Ascended must never be direct in their work. After all, even they are denizens of Creation, and if Creation ceased to be, so to would they.

---

Between worlds, in the place where Creation was far more malleable and capable of handling the pressure of the Ascended’s very existence, a single Ascended studied a screen in front of his face.

He frowned, not sure what to think of the information he was seeing. “...what are you doing?” he asked seemingly no one.

Many a time had an Ascended asked if there were levels above Ascended, of entities even greater than them. Most didn’t have an answer. Most didn’t really care. It was a curiosity to them, nothing more.

Most were better off in their ignorance.

But some… ah, but some knew the truth. After all, if the Ascended were the maintenance crew of the structure that was Creation, then obviously there would be a Department Heads, Share-Holders, a CEO... hell even a janitorial crew! Though they tended to be a last resort...

Alfonso the Red was one such Department Head. His job was to oversee the balance of Power within his section of Creation, a section a bit more malleable than most others. He was positive that a low level Ascended could descend upon one particular world with only minor issues.

In fact, some one thousand years ago, that very event happened. Unfortunately, the act of forcing said Ascended's unshackled mind into a physical vessel had twisted him. Thankfully, the residents of that world were hardy and brave, and in time managed to restrain him. As punishment, the other Ascended locked him into that world until such a time he could prove to be responsible with his power.

Alfonso shook his head, forcing his thoughts to get back on track.

A soul was in the Between. A mortal soul. It had entered from one end and was making all haste towards the other, likely attempting to transfer from one world to another. The thing was that dimensional travel wasn’t really possible for a mortal soul. They were too intertwined with the world they came from.

So how had this soul accomplished leaving his world without doing the equivalent of killing himself with the mother of all whiplash?

With a flexing of his power, he grasped the soul and brought it to a stop. Or… he tried to. The soul blasted through his grip like it was so much tissue paper, startling the Ascended and causing him a fair amount of pain through backlash.

More than that though, he now knew how this soul had come to transfer through worlds so effortlessly. He recognized the tinge of power cradling the soul when it touched his own power.

This was one of Her souls, and it was being sent on its next mission.

Curiously, Alfosno transported himself to the soul and moved alongside it, examining it to see if it was anyone he knew of. He gaped after a moment.

“Clark Kent?!” he nearly choked. “What could manage to kill you of all beings?” Alfonso didn't admit this often, but he sometimes enjoyed viewing the events of the DC section, convoluted as it at times was. Superman was a man to admire, even to the standards of the Ascended. Many Ascended actually had a betting pool going to predict when Clark would ascend and join them.

Now honestly curious, Alfonso examined where the soul was heading… and blinked. “Equestria?” he asked, nonplussed. “I mean, sure, that’s where that idiot’s at, but the Ponies can deal with him just fine. Why would that world need a Hero Soul like you?”

A thought occurred to him, and he once more examined the soul. His face screwed up in confusion. “And you don’t have your powers… at least not the ones reliant on your body. Makes sense, I suppose. There’s no Kryptonians in that world.”

He scratched his metaphorical chin for a moment. “Hmm… if the Boss-Lady is sending the Superman himself in, something bad must be coming. It looks like she flubbed the process though. Not horribly, but enough to mess up the power transference matrix. That could have had some interesting fireworks…” Reaching into a portal that appeared next to him, Alfonso withdrew a vial filled with red liquid. “Let’s see…” Carefully, he once more extended his power to Clark, but this time  without aggression. The power cradling Clark let him through once it realized his intent, and Alfonso felt a soft touch on his mind. It was a feeling of gratitude. Seems She knew She had messed up as well. She must have been in a hurry.

He smirked and unstoppered the vial. “No problem, Boss,” he said in response to the gratitude, before carefully directing the red liquid into a small pocket dimension connected to Clark’s soul. “There.” He made the now empty vial vanish. “Godspeed, Hero Soul,” he said, stopping and watching as the soul continued its journey to Equestria.

Blood.

It really was a powerful reagent in almost any kind of magic. And the blood of Superman? Ha! Top quality was almost an insult.

What Alfonso had done was give Clark’s future body the means to ingest the undiluted blood of his original body, and alter their genetics to match that of a Kryptonian body. Clark would still have the body of the race he was reborn as, but said body would be absorbing solar radiation roughly three or four years after his soul settled in.

Alfonso also made it so that was all the body did, preventing incidents like what happened to Clark in his youth when forced to face the truth of his body. All that power… locked away by mental barriers. Such a waste. The restrictions would start lifting once Clark began remembering his life. Hopefully, this made his mission on that world a lot easier.

It also had the potential to backfire horrendously, as power like that was very tempting. That was why Alfonso also limited how much solar radiation Clark’s new body could store, preventing ridiculous levels of strength that could crack planets. After all, too much power was a bad thing, especially in power-rich environments like Equestria. The power of Superman mixed the magic of whatever species he was reborn as would suffice. 

Ah well, it was out of his hands now. Back to work. Nightmare Moon’s power levels had been fluctuating quite rapidly recently, and it was kind of worrying. That power felt familiar, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why… Still, she was scheduled for release from her imprisonment soon, so maybe that’s all it was.
> 14. First Member of the Gallery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight lazily floated above the town of Ponyville, enjoying the warm rays of the sun. She could almost feel her body drinking in the solar radiation.

Of course, the planet’s ozone layer prevented her from absorbing it at any real significant rate, especially since Equestria’s ozone layer was far healthier than Earth’s. Clark solved that by flying into orbit. Though, while Clark’s body could handle that kind of pressure, Twilight was still unsure how her own body would fare. After all, she still had no idea how her body could use the powers of Superman, his soul or not. She wasn’t a Kryptonian.

It didn’t matter in the end, she supposed. She had a couple decades of unused solar radiation on tap. She wasn’t running out anytime soon.

A crash, followed by a scream, reached her ears. She instantly flipped around and started searching Ponyville for the source. After a moment she realized the sound wasn’t coming from anywhere near Ponyville. She concentrated, trying to discern the source of the crash.

“Halt! Royal Guards!”

Twilight blinked and focused on the city in the distance. She gaped for a moment. “Canterlot? I mean, yeah, I guess I could hear it… but still!” she griped.

She sighed, and then the sound barrier was shattered as she made haste for the city. Looks like the life of Superman had followed her. Hmmm… maybe a bit of precaution wouldn’t go amiss. Her horn lit up as she began preparing a glamour.

---

In Canterlot, Pegasi in Royal Guard armor were chasing after a Unicorn that was leaping rather athletically from spire to spire as it dodged every attempt to be tackled, stabbed, or all around caught. It wore a blue suit of clothing that covered everything, and a pair of strange gauntlets covered its forelegs, forming hands of all things. In one hand was a bag that jingled quite loudly.

He cackled loudly as he once more effortlessly dodged a spear thrust from one of the Pegasi. “Come on! Is that the best the vaunted Royal Guard can do?” he taunted. “I never believed it would be so easy! And I haven’t even used magic yet!”

“Celestia burn it all, hold still!” roared one of the guards, a lithe Pegasus with a grey coat, blonde mane, and sky blue eyes. She was wielding a shield of all things as her weapon. 

She dove for him, but he managed to twist in midair just enough to lay a hoof on her shoulder. Suddenly she was spiraling towards the ground with a pained shoulder and he fell to a different roof, and vanished over its edge. The Pegasus crashed into a wooden stand, likely saving her life.

The thief was chuckling as a he rounded a corner, now happy that he lost the Guard. He glanced behind him to make sure.

And ran straight into what felt like a pony shaped wall. He staggered back and looked at who had stopped him, and found…

Well, it was a pony, he could tell that much, but everything else was blurred by a glamour.

“And who might you be?” he asked.

Twilight glanced up at the bright noon Sun, then back at the Unicorn. “You’re rather brave to be robbing a store in broad daylight like this,” she noted, before shrugging. “Either way, give up peacefully and return the stolen property.”

He smirked. “That really is a good glamour. Even your voice is unidentifiable. Kudos,” he complimented. “And I can’t rightly call myself the world’s greatest thief if I just limited myself to nighttime marks.”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “World’s greatest thief?”

“My name’s Shifter,” the stallion introduced, taking a quick bow. “I’m the best when it comes to stealing. It doesn’t matter what, it doesn’t matter when, and it doesn’t matter where… I can steal it, and normally do it without getting caught.” He glanced back at the approaching Royal Guard, the grey mare at their head. Looks like they had found him. “Even the best have off days,” he grumbled, his eyes on the mare in particular.

He made to sprint around Twilight, but she grabbed grabbed his tail, bringing him to a halt. “Not so fast,” she said with a frown. “I’m not letting you escape.”

Shifter grinned at her, and Twilight only had enough time to register the, depressingly, familiar sound of a limb speeding towards her face before everything went black.

---

“Hey. Hey! C’mon, wake up!”

Twilight groaned as consciousness returned to her. She opened her eyes and immediately regretted that decision, her left eye feeling like it was on fire. She hissed softly. “Oooh… what happened?” she asked.

“You got knocked the fuck out,” the voice that woke her up stated flatly. “Pretty hard at that. You’ll probably be sporting a shiner under that glamour for a good month.”

Twilight turned to look at the speaker, and found a grey Pegasus with blue eyes wearing Royal Guard armor sitting next to her.

“You mind telling me why you thought it was a good idea to try and stop a criminal?” the mare grunted, obviously not impressed.

Twilight blinked, and then remembered. Shifter had knocked her out. She frowned. How had Shifter knocked her out? It usually took Gods, or maybe Alicorns, to knock out the Man of Steel. Was her body not as durable as her old one? No, she had gone hoof to hoof with Nightmare Moon and had a tree fall on her leg. Durability wasn't the problem. “I… guess I underestimated him,” she admitted.

“Drop the glamour,” the guard sighed. “I’m placing you under arrest for interfering in Royal Guard business. We would have caught him if you hadn’t interfered.”

Twilight got to her hooves. “Sorry, not an option.” She took to the air, and the Pegasus followed.

“I said you’re under arrest! Don’t make me knock you out again!” she declared, brandishing her shield.

“I have the utmost respect for the Royal Guard, but getting arrested is not on my agenda today,” Twilight said, before turning and leaving at incredible speed.

The Pegasus she left behind gaped. “Whoa… That is one fast Pegasus.” She blinked, a thought coming to her. “She’s heading in the direction of Ponyville… and I know only one Pegasus there that can probably match that speed.” She turned around and started her own flight, this time towards the palace.

---

Twilight had dispelled her glamour once she reached the town. It was kinda pointless here since everyone had seen her fighting Gilda. Once she landed in front of Town Hall she made her way inside.

Time to do some research.

---

“That’s it?” asked an Earth Pony wearing Royal Guard armor. “All you have to go on this vigilante is that they’re fast, likely a Pegasus, and was seen heading to Ponyville? You have a hunch that it’s Rainbow Dash of Ponyville, and want to issue an arrest warent for her. Am I correct so far?” He sounded obviously displeased.

He was Astral Knight, the Commander of the Royal Guard in Canterlot, direct subordinate of Captain Shining Armor. He had a white coat that was only slightly darker than Captain Armor’s and a red mane with green eyes.

“Yessir. Rainbow Dash interfered in Royal Guard business by letting Shifter the thief escape during her attempt to apprehend him. As per our zero-tolerance policy, I wish to go to Ponyville and issue her arrest myself,” the Pegasus said.

Astral Knight sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Alright, there’s a number of problems here. First and foremost,” he glared at her here, making her take a step back in surprise. “We do not make arrests based on a hunch. If you couldn’t identify them, then you do some good old fashioned detective work to determine their identity. Once you have some reasonable proof, then we can issue an arrest.”

He held up a hoof, halting whatever the Pegasus was about to say. “Second, you just tried to get me to sign off on an arrest of Rainbow Dash, a well known hero of Equestria. You are going to need a lot more than a hunch for me to do that and not get our department torn apart by angry civilians and Princesses.”

The Pegasus frowned. “Sir, our job isn’t to pander to the public!” she tried to argue.

“I tell you what your job is, not the other way around!” Astral Knight roared, making the Pegasus jump in surprise. “Our job is to protect our Princess! Our job is to ensure the safety of the people of Equestria! Our job is to do as we are told by our superiors!” His glare intensified. “If I ever catch wind of you trying to even so much as glance at one of the Elements of Harmony again without a damn good reason, I will strip you of your armor personally and throw you in the deepest dungeon of Canterlot for endangering the lives of everyone in this country! Now GET OUT AND DO YOUR JOB!!!”

“Yessir!” the mare yelped, leaving as fast as she could.

But even while she fled the wrath of her commanding officer, Cobalt Doo swore she would unmask that mysterious pony if it was the last thing she did. Vigilantes only made the job of the Royal Guard harder. As far as she was concerned, they were no better than criminals like Shifter.

---

Hidden in the rafters of the building, Shifter smirked as he listened in to the conversation between Commander and subordinate. 'Ponyville eh? Alright miss mystery pony, let's see if you'll be any better of a challenge on your home turf.'
> 15. Training and River Run
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ‘Well, Bruce? Where would you start?’ Twilight mused to herself, staring at the shelves upon shelves of books within the Town Hall Archives.

Like any good government building, the Ponyville Town Hall kept a record of all newspapers that was circulated within town up to fifty years back from the current date, and a record of world news that was circulated up to a hundred years back. They weren’t kept as actual newspapers, as those tended to decompose fairly quickly, but in magically preserved books.

The advent of the computer a decade ago also kicked off what many ponies are calling the Digital Age, leading to many towns and cities to begin the conversion from paper records to digital records. Twilight marvelled for a moment at the difference between Human technology and Equestrian technology. The levels were roughly the same, though automobiles and some other odds and ends were understandably absent. The ways the technologies worked were different. For one, computers were based on crystals instead of computer chips. The make, growth, and even size of the crystal installed within a computer determined both its processing power, RAM, and even memory. Earth computers were far more modular, but Equestrian computers were far more powerful. Magic charged crystals also tended to be the source of fuel for most machines, though electricity was also utilized.

Again, automobiles were strangely absent, even though the ponies had the technology to make them. 

Twilight shook her head and refocused on the task at hand.

Being a small town that wasn’t very invested in technology in the first place, Ponyville had yet to even begin the change to digital records. So that meant Twilight had a lot of work ahead of her. She had come here to search for any mentions of the thief Shifter in the world news archive.

 ‘I guess the best place to start would be recent news,’ Twilight mused, moving to a pull a nearby book from a shelf. It was titled “999-1000 C.E.”.

She had a feeling this was going to take a while.

---

 Two days later…

Her head turned, a bit of blood and spittle flying from her mouth after the solid hit. She rallied by using the momentum to spin around and send a kick at her opponent. It was blocked, though her opponent grunted from the exertion that it required, and got a grip on her leg.

Twilight’s ears drooped as Rainbow Dash grinned. “Oh craaaaAAAAAAH!” she cried as she was flipped up and over, and slammed into the ground back first with a hard impact. Rainbow Dash let go of her and jumped up, her forehooves extended in an obvious attempt to slam into Twilight’s chest.

The Mare-of-Steel-currently-getting-her-plot-handed-to-her rolled to the side and lashed out with a leg, catching Rainbow Dash’s legs just as they hit the ground and sweeping them out. Rainbow Dash squawked as she hit the ground face first in an undignified mess. Twilight leapt on her, but Rainbow Dash lashed out with her own kicked straight into the mare’s face, making her stagger back and yelp in pain.

Rainbow Dash followed up with a second and third kick in rapid succession, using her wings to maintain her closeness to Twilight. She then performed a backflip, catching Twilight on the chin just as she managed to get her bearings. Rainbow Dash landed on all fours in a ready position, wings flared.

Twilight landed on her back with a hard flop, groaning. She didn’t get back up.

Rainbow Dash smirked “Got you,” she declared, before relaxing. She helped Twilight up, and frowned at the swelling on her friend’s face. “You gonna be okay Twi?” she asked.

Twilight nodded, and her wounds glowed with a faint yellow light briefly before slowly healing. She felt her solar radiation reserves drain a good deal, but ultimately still a negligible amount.

A fair amount of passing townsfolk that had been caught up in the spectacle started clapping. They were in Town Square after all.

“Thanks for this, Rainbow,” Twilight said, grabbing a couple water bottles with her magic and bringing them over. She floated one over the Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof flippantly. “Nah, happy to help. Once you told us you needed help refining your fighting style for the pony body, I knew my karate training could help.” She grabbed the offered water and started chugging. After a moment she stopped with a pleased sigh. “Hah… much better. Anyways, tell me again how you made it so I could actually do something to you and not… you know, break my hoof on your face?” she asked.

Twilight finished drinking her own water and answered. “It’s a trick I picked up a few years before Clark died. You know how my powers are fueled by solar radiation, right?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I basically found the hose that funnels the energy to my powers and closed a valve on it, preventing my powers from being active.” She shrugged. “I have to actively be concentrating to keep it up, but it’s not too hard to do during a spar.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at her and narrowed her eyes. “You dumbed that down for the lowly dropout, didn’t you?”

Twilight grinned. “I figured it was better than trying to explain the rather complicated anatomy of a Kryptonian. I wasn’t even sure it would work, considering my body’s not Kryptonian.”

Rainbow Dash sniggered. “Yeah, well, all the same it still felt like I was hitting sandbags and blocking cinderblocks. If nothing else, you aren’t getting hurt by anything less than a mountain dropped on your head from orbit.”

Twilight laughed. “Been there, stopped the mountain, and still only got some minor bruising from it.” At Rainbow Dash’s lowered jaw, she smirked. “There was only one physical substance on Earth that could hurt me, and it’s impossible for it to be here in this world. I could get crushed between planets and the worst I’d get from it is a migraine and heightened levels of annoyance.”

“... I’m beginning to see why the Hero Soul thing is a big deal,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I don’t think even the Princesses would walk away from that.” It was clear she was in awe.

“Hey! That was awesome!” an unfamiliar voice called out.

The two friends looked over and spotted a green Unicorn with bright blue eyes walking towards them. His mane was styled like flames, but colored blue with light blue highlights. He was grinning excitedly.

Rainbow Dash, predictably, preened at the praise, while Twilight blushed and looked away, rubbing her neck in embarrassment. “Thanks! I was just helping my friend here learn Karate. I’m a black-belt myself, so obviously I was the best choice for teaching her.”

Twilight gave an internal sigh of relief at Rainbow Dash’s quick cover. She wasn’t learning Karate, just how martial arts applied to the pony body so she knew how to apply it to her own personal martial arts style.

“I can see that,” the Unicorn nodded. He extended a hoof to Twilight. “My name is River Run.” He shook Twilight’s hoof, and then Rainbow Dash’s. “I was exploring the town when the fighting caught my attention.”

“New in town?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I’m surprised Pinkie hasn’t tracked you down yet.”

River Run looked at her and opened his mouth to ask, but instead yelped when a pink mare was suddenly in his face, her blue eyes drilling into his. “Hi!” she exclaimed with a massive grin. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I work at Sugarcube Corner and like making my friends smile. Who are you? What’s your job? What do you like to do?” she asked.

River Run blinked at the rapid-fire introduction and questions. “Er… hi?” He shook his head and focused, extending a hoof to Pinkie Pie. “I’m River Run. I’m afraid I don’t currently have a job, but I guess that’s more because I tend to get restless when I stay in one place for too long. I like travelling.”

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes at River Run, and he looked distinctly uncomfortable at the suspicious gaze. Then Pinkie was grinning again. “Okie-Dokie-Loki! Welcome to Ponyville!” With that, she began bouncing away.

River stared after her, slightly frazzled. “Ah… Thanks?”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash fell to hysterics at his expression. He soon started chuckling as well, realizing how he must look. “Well, that’s the first time I’ve ever been welcomed to a town like that,” he admitted.

“Welcome to Ponyville,” Rainbow Dash managed through her laughter. “Check your sanity at the door.”

“That’s normal?” he asked in concern.

“No, that’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question her.” Rainbow Dash became serious momentarily. “Seriously, don’t. It only ever ends in headaches.”

River Run nodded slowly. “Okay…” he agreed.

“Come on, I’ll show you around town,” Rainbow Dash offered, beginning to walk off. She stopped and looked back at Twilight. “That is, if we’re done?”

Twilight waved them off. “Go on. I’ve had enough of seeing my dignity get torn up for the day.”

Rainbow Dash snickered and walked away, River Run following.
> 16. Friday Night Live!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The next day…

“Oh! Miss Sparkle! Er… hi. Why are you here?”

Twilight blinked and looked up from the book she was studying in the Archives, and found herself face to face with River Run. He looked slightly startled to see her, and was holding a manila folder in his magical aura. She absently noted that she had been so focused on her research that she hadn’t even heard him open the door. 

“...River Run?” she asked, and then shook her head. “Sorry. I was doing some research on Canterlot’s history,” she explained, indicating the books she had at the table she was seated at.

“Canterlot? Maybe I can help. I lived there before coming to Ponyville,” River Run offered, setting his book on the table and magically pulling a chair up to sit on. “What’re you researching?”

Twilight returned her attention to the book. “Robberies in Canterlot, done specifically by a thief named Shifter.”

River Run froze.

“He seems to have appeared in Canterlot a year ago and attempted to steal Princess Celestia’s crown.” Twilight frowned. “Apparently, he almost did it. The only reason he failed was because the Princess keeps unknown security measures on her crown. He would have been tossed in the dungeon then and there, but she found the whole situation amusing and let him go as a sort of nod to getting closer than most do.” She sighed. “I have no idea why she would do that,” she grumbled.

“So… what exactly are you trying to find out?” River Run asked slowly.

Twilight closed her book and shoved it towards a pile of already read books. “Mostly, just why he steals. I’m also trying to figure out how. He doesn’t seem to care about monetary value, stealing both expensive and and cheap things, nor does he care about sentimental value. I can’t find any links between the ponies he’s robbed, and I can’t figure out how he robbed them in the first place.” She indicated a small stack of manila folders. “I managed to requisition his case file by asking the Princess to send me a copy, but… Grrr!” she let her head drop to the table with a crack and an explosive sigh.

Twilight winced and hoped River Run wouldn’t realize the crack was the table actually cracking.

“Shifter? Yeah, he was a bit of a figure in the city for a while,” River Run offered. “Unfortunately I can’t really say I know much about him.” He looked at her and frowned. “Maybe you should take a break,” he suggested. “You look like you need it.”

Twilight looked up and saw the concern in his eyes. She imagined she must be a mess. She wasn’t even sure how long she had been in here today. “What time is it?” she suddenly asked, alert.

“Uh… seven-forty… ish. Somewhere around there.” River Run waved a hoof. “Why?”

Twilight leapt to her hooves and started packing away the books and files frantically. “Crap! I’m late! We were going to catch the magic show tonight!”

River Run stopped Twilight with a hoof. “Go on and go see the show with your friends. I came here to file my home ownership paperwork, so I’ll just take care of your books while I’m here. I’ll bring your files on Shifter by the library tomorrow, alright?”

Twilight hesitated, but then smiled in gratitude at her new friend before running out the door.

Once the door was shut, River Run turned to the table stacked with books and files. He sighed. “Well… I wanted a challenge,” he grumbled to himself, a spell forming on the tip of his horn.

---

“I’m sorry I missed the magic tests, Spike. Thank you for offering to help either way,” Twilight said as she and Spike walked towards the Town Square. “I lost track of time.”

Spike shrugged. “Sure, though I was looking forward to the tests.” He pouted. “Especially the cosmetics spell,” he grumbled.

Twilight giggled. “Sorry, but you know any magic that changes your appearance isn’t permanent. It would need to be refreshed every few hours.”

“Not fair,” Spike continued to pout.

“Oh, don’t worry Spike. I’m sure you’ll find another, truer, way to impress Rarity.” Twilight nuzzled him, earning a smile from the dragon.

---

As the two made it to the Town Square, they realized they were, indeed, late. A blue Unicorn wearing a purple hat and cape speckled with stars was on a stage, facing…

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked herself, curious why her speedy friend was currently on stage talking down to who must be Trixie.

Applejack, with Rarity in tow, noticed Twilight and heard her. She approached. “Varmint started this whole thing off by declaring herself the “most magical Unicorn in Equestria.”” She huffed. “Lot-a huey, that. When she heard RD and I grumbling over it, she challenged us, and… well, you know Rainbow Dash.” She waved a hoof towards the Pegasus in question, who was now in Trixie’s face.

Twilight facehoofed. “You realize it’s a performer’s job to make declarations like that, right? They have to appear greater than they are to complete the act.”

Applejack snorted. “It’s dishonest is what it is,” she grunted. “If ya have to make a living by lying, I’m not interested in yer show or stories.”

Twilight shrugged, deciding it wasn’t her place to correct her friend.

“... only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!”

The two friends turned their attention to the arguing ponies again, and Twilight frowned as fireworks went off and the crowd began to murmur. “... Alright, I’ll grant that she’s coming off as arrogant, but still. Her job.” She smirked. “Something tells me she’d wet herself if she ever saw a real Ursa Major. Even Princess Celestia claims she wouldn’t fight one of those without a lot of backup.”

Rarity nodded in agreement, and Applejack looked at Twilight curiously. “They’re that strong?” she asked.

Twilight paused. “Well, yes. An Ursa Major is very strong, but that’s not why she’d hesitate. They are incredibly magic resistant, to the point even Alicorn-level magic barely scratches them. It usually takes roughly twelve Archmage-level Unicorns firing at full blast and a good few squadrons of the Royal Guard’s finest, combined with the Princess’ full power, to send one packing.”

Applejack gave an impressed whistle. “Wow… so not a beastie we ever want to run into. Got it.” She shuddered.

Twilight felt a bad feeling crawl up her spine as Trixie told of sending an Ursa Major back into the Everfree Forest on her own, saving the town of Puffington. And then Snips and Snails began almost worshipping her, and she just… sat there, head held high as if awaiting her due praise.

She frowned. “Okay, you’re right Applejack,” she said.

Said farm pony smirked. “Told ya. Dishonesty ain’t the way to entertain folks.”

Twilight sighed. “No, I meant that Trixie isn’t acting like an entertainer. She’s bragging about herself, and not doing anything to enforce that image. She lying and expecting everyone to believe it.”

“Don’t believe the Great and Powerful Trixie?” the aforementioned showmare suddenly announced, looking straight at Twilight. “Well then, I hereby challenge you Ponyvillians…” She grinned.

“Anything you can do, I can do better!”
> 17. X Race
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What?”

Trixie smirked and backed up to the center of her stage. “You heard Trixie. I challenge anyone who will accept. Name the game, name the rules, and Trixie will prove her claims.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “A race!” she announced immediately, landing on the stage.

“A race? And I suppose you’ll be so kind as to inform Trixie how she is to do such a thing against a Pegasus, especially one of your reputation… Rainbow Dash?” Trixie asked with raised eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash scowled when she realized what Trixie was insinuating. “You want me to not fly?” she asked in distaste.

Trixie shrugged. “Well, Trixie supposes she will just have to spontaneously sprout wings and instantly know how to use them. After all, it is entirely unfair if you can take shortcuts that Trixie cannot.” She grinned. “Of course, if it’s an unfair race you want… Trixie is capable of playing ball.”

Slowly, a grin spread across Rainbow Dash’s face. “You’re suggesting an X Race.” Her grin became vicious. “I’m game! Draw the line. We’re racing to the library, you have to touch it, and back. First across the line wins, and I’ll acknowledge you as better than me at racing.”

Trixie magically drew a line on her stage. “And the rules of engagement?” she asked casually.

Rainbow Dash flew to the line and got into a ready position behind it. “Nothing that can kill or cripple. And no endangering the spectators or buildings.”

Twilight made herself known with a sigh, trotting up as Trixie got into a ready position. “Fine, if you two are going to do this, I’m going to referee. I’m going to make my way to the Library and then send up a flare. That will be your signal to start. Agreed?”

She got two nods, and then vanished in a flash of teleportation. Trixie quirked an eyebrow. “Not many Unicorns can teleport. Who was that?” she asked her competition.

“Twilight Sparkle, the owner of the Golden Oak Library,” Rainbow Dash explained.

Trixie’s eyes widened. “That was Twilight Sparkle?” she asked in shock. “The very same Twilight Sparkle that is Princess Celestia’s personal student in magic? The same Twilight Sparkle that nearly levelled the examination center all those years ago on accident?”

Rainbow Dash nodded with a smirk. “What? Worried that there’s a Unicorn out there more magical than you?” she taunted.

Before Trixie could respond, a purple tinted flare of magic shot into the air. Trixie acted immediately. A spell shot from her horn to Rainbow Dash’s hooves and then she was off like a shot. Rainbow Dash tried to follow, but...

Her face hit the floorboards of Trixie’s stage. She looked at her hooves, and found them frozen to the floor by strong ice. She grimaced. “Okay, I should have expected that when racing a Unicorn in an X Race,” she admitted, to some chuckles from the crowd.

“That no good cheater!” Applejack roared in anger, before hopping up to the stage and rearing around to buck the ice holding her friend in place.

“Wait, Applejack! Stop!” Rainbow Dash cried, stopping her friend just before she unleashed. “If you help me, I’ll have to forfeit. What she did was legal,” she explained. “Honestly, she could have done worse. At least I’m not hurt.”

“Legal!? In what way is attacking other racers legal!” Applejack was having none of it.

“She can do whatever she wants in an X Race, Applejack, so long as she adheres to the rules we agreed on.” Rainbow Dash said, examining her hooves. She frowned.

Applejack was still scowling. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to. You’re not the one racing.” Rainbow Dash slowly bent her legs at the hooves. There was a sound of cracking. “Almost…”

“My friend is! I like seeing my friends win!”

Rainbow Dash smiled at her friend and opened her mouth to say something. Suddenly, the ice shattered from the force she was applying. “Yes! Later!” She zipped away with a rainbow contrail immediately, intent on winning.

---

Twilight saw Rainbow Dash approaching at speed. “She was just here! Hurry and you can catch her!” she shouted as quickly as she could. Rainbow Dash looped around the trunk of the tree, striking the bark as she did, and shot off in the opposite direction.

Twilight instantly vanished in a teleport.

---

Everyone saw Trixie as she came running into Town Square, but roughly ten feet from her stage Rainbow Dash came blasting in as well. Trixie noticed just as Rainbow Dash passed her, and saw Twilight appear in a teleport on the stage. An idea hit her.

What happened next was too quick for anyone to follow. The end result, however, was Trixie and Rainbow Dash in a tangle of limbs on the other side of the finish line.

As they untangled themselves, Twilight approached. “The winner is Trixie Lulamoon,” she announced.

“But Rainbow Dash was in the lead!” Rarity protested it. 

Twilight shook her head. “Yes, but then Trixie teleported directly in front of Rainbow Dash, ending with Rainbow shoving her over the line. Technically, Trixie crossed first, so… she wins.” She glanced at Trixie as she dusted off her hat and cape. “I trust you know how incredibly dangerous what you did was?” she asked more quietly.

Trixie waved a hoof. “Yes, yes, teleporting blind and all that. Trixie will repeat herself, she is the best.”

Twilight got in her face, growling. Trixie quailed slightly. “You could have exited that teleport inside of my friend. You would have killed her and you in one of the worst ways possible.” she whispered fiercely. “If I see a stunt like that again tonight, I will snap your horn myself!”

“Yes ma’am.” Trixie shivered. For a moment she had forgotten this was supposedly Twilight Sparkle. She was likely the only Unicorn in Equestria that could make that call and get away with it.

Trixie took a moment to regain her bearings before turning to Rainbow Dash with an expectant grin.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine, you’re a better racer than me,” she admitted, but then she also grinned. “But I intend to challenge you again one day! I ain’t second best to anyone at speed!”

Trixie nodded. “And Trixie will be waiting.” She turned to the crowd. “Next?”

Applejack stepped up. “Alright. Ah suppose I should have a go at this,” she smirked. “I challenge you to a Bucking Contest!”
> 18: Magic Apples
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “You do recall that Trixie’s claim was that she is the most magical Unicorn, correct?” she asked. Applejack frowned in confusion. Trixie sighed. “Trixie is not an Earth Pony, hence she does not have the physical strength to buck trees. The most Trixie will accomplish is breaking a leg.”

Applejack flushed, realizing her mistake. “Oh… er… Wait a minute!” She scowled. “Then why did you race Rainbow Dash? That was a physical challenge,” she pointed out.

Trixie nodded. “Yes, but it was a race Trixie was allowed to use her magic in, hence allowing her to prove the strength of her power.”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped open, quickly realizing the Unicorn had neatly manipulated her into an X Race without actually demanding it. She wanted to be upset, angry, even a little pissed, but in the end she settled on awed respect. She had been thoroughly played, and likely by an old hoof at the art.

Again Applejack floundered, but before she could think of something to say, Rarity stepped up. “I shall take Applejack’s place, and we’ll make this a competition of who can magically harvest the Apple orchard fastest. Is that agreeable?” she asked both Applejack and Trixie.

Trixie waved a hoof. “Trixie does not care, so long as she can prove her excellence.”

Applejack frowned, half-remembered lessons on honor her Aunt Orange taught her surfacing in her mind. “You know that if you lose, I also lose, right?” she asked her friend.

“It’s worse than that, dear,” Rarity commented, not taking her eyes off of Trixie. “If we do this, it also counts as a magical duel. If she defeats me, she has the right to call for a favor. I can refuse the favor, but it will look bad on me and tarnish my own reputation.”

Applejack hesitated, before sighing. “Do you want to do it?”

“For a friend? Always,” Rarity assured her.

“... Fine, do it.”


“Have you reached an agreement?” Twilight asked, deciding she may as well be the referee for this as well. Applejack, Rarity, and Trixie nodded. “Alright. The challenge is to magically pick one hundred apples and place them within your container.” Twilight’s horn lit up, and she conjured two large wooden tubs with a Woomph! Trixie’s name was printed on the right tub, while Rarity and Applejack’s names were printed on the left tub. “The rules are that you must magically pick and transport the apples. Apples must be picked from a tree and not the ground. Any apple that is transported physically is considered a dud, and any apple that hits the ground at any time is also considered a dud. The first to gather one hundred apples is the winner.”

Rarity frowned. “Wait, are we supposed to transport the apples all the way from the farm to here?”

Twilight nodded. “This is a challenge of magical might and coordination. Therefore, you must be sufficiently challenged for this to be considered as such.” Twilight motioned to the line Trixie had drawn earlier. “Please take your positions.” Trixie and Rarity did so. “Do the both of you agree to the rules I have laid down?” They both nodded. “Then on my mark of three. One… Two… Three!”

The two Unicorns did not move, but they did however look to be thinking. Applejack siddled up next to Twilight. “What are they doing?” she asked quietly.

Twilight smiled. “Magic is an art form just as much as it is a science, and vice versa. They only have so much magic available to them, and are considering how best to approach the task.”

Trixie’s hoof rose, catching Twilight’s attention. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has a question!” she declared.

“Yes?”

“Are we allowed to magically control a physical platform of some kind, or would that disqualify us?”

Twilight thought about it. “... I’ll allow it, but only because it’s technically more work than holding the apples separately,” she decided.

“Thank you,” Trixie nodded, then started making her way to the Apple farm. After asking Applejack for directions of course.

Rarity soon followed. Twilight went with them.

---

The crowd had to wait roughly ten minutes, but the first sign that the competition was progressing came when Trixie showed up first. In her magical aura was a large wooden… well, some wanted to call it a platform, but it was shaped more like a bowl, and held a large amount of apples. The bowl was roughly twice the size of the average pony.

Carefully, Trixie tipped the bowl, spilling the contents into her tub. A three digit meter of magic spun into existence over the bowl and stopped on fifty seven (057). Trixie nodded to herself and trotted off back to the farm to gather her last load.

No long after Trixie arrived, Rarity arrived. Her horn was glowing brightly and her face was screwed up in concentration as she made a line of apples levitated in a beautiful pattern through the air and into her tub.

Twilight face-hoofed. Rarity was a pro at levitation, and in fact could probably outdo Twilight in sheer skill with the spell, but her magical reserves were lacking somewhat. Rarity seemed to have forgotten that this a competition of skill, not beauty, and was going for a spectacular performance.

As Rarity’s meter slowly ticked up, and she looked progressively more exhausted, Trixie arrived once more carrying her second load. She began to tip it in.

Trixie’s meter hit one hundred (100) just as Rarity’s hit forty two (42). Twilight sighed. “The winner is Trixie Lulamoon,” she declared.

At that point Rarity collapsed. Rainbow Dash and Applejack went to her and checked on her. Meanwhile, Twilight spoke with Trixie.

“That’s two for two now. How’s your magic?” Twilight asked, noticing a light sheen of sweat on the Unicorn’s forehead.

Trixie smirked. “Trixie is never better!” she said happily. “Trixie is still ready to continue.”

Twilight smirked. “Good, because I challenge you to a magic duel!”

The Unicorns in the crowd, and the ponies who knew of magical etiquette, gasped. The rest grew slightly concerned over how big of a deal this apparently was to everyone else. Ponies began murmuring as they considered what this meant. A magic duel? Between an admittedly talented Unicorn and the Princess' personal student? No one was quite sure what to think about it.

At no point did anyone notice the absence of two Ponies.
> 19. Magic Duel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The Everfree Forest...

“Are you sure we’ll find one in here?” Snips asked Snails as the two young foals ventured deeper into the Everfree Forest.

“Yeah! The forest is full of monsters! How hard can it be to find a massive bear? And when we find it, we’ll bring it to Ponyville for Trixie to vanquish!” Snails said passionately. “Then they’ll all see how great she is!”

Snips seemed to take comfort in his friend’s enthusiasm. “Yeah! What could go wrong?”

---

Town Square...

“A magic Duel?” Trixie asked. She seemed surprised.

“I didn’t stutter, did I?” Twilight asked. She smirked. “Or is the Great and Powerful Trixie… scared?”

Trixie scowled. “Trixie isn’t scared of anything! Trixie accepts your challenge!” She stomped her hoof. “As the challenged, Trixie executes her right to declare this a no-holds-barred Magic Duel. No restrictions beyond the law, and the duelists must remain on the stage. No touching the ground outside the stage. First to give up, touch the ground outside the stage, or be incapacitated is the loser.”

Twilight was downright grinning now. “And as the challenger, I execute my right to name the stakes. If I win, you have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth whenever I ask you a question. You will bind your magic to that oath to enforce it.” By the end of that declaration, the Unicorns in the crowd had gone wide-eyed and Twilight was glaring at Trixie.

Trixie hesitated. She was beginning to realize Twilight didn’t seem to like her. “... And if Trixie wins?” she asked.

“I will publicly declare you my better in all ways magical, and likely on the level of my teacher… Princess Celestia,” Twilight said solemnly.

The crowd had gone deathly quiet, and Trixie’s eyes lit up. “Deal!”

“To the count of three?” Twilight asked, tensing.

“One… Two… Three!” Trixie counted down.

On the three, Twilight tested the waters, so to speak, with a simple Magic Missile. It hit Trixie... and blew a hole in her chest. Twilight panicked momentarilly before realizing there was no gore. Trixie faded away like dust on the wind, grinning the entire time. Her grin was the last to fade away.

Twilight swore to herself, and focused on limiting her own powers as much as she could. If Trixie hit her physically and realized it did nothing to her, she may call foul and force Twilight to forfeit for cheating.

Thankfully, the blue Unicorn seemed to be sticking to magic, as a telekinetic aura enveloped her tail. With a shriek of surprise, she was hurled through the air and towards the ground outside the stage. Thinking quickly, she teleported. Unfortunately, she forgot to account for momentum. On exiting the teleport she hit the stage hard.

 “That’s the second time you’ve teleported today in front of Trixie,” the Unicorn’s voice called out. It seemed to come from everywhere and echoed. “On top of conjuring two large tubs, a Magic Missile, and the flare from the race… Trixie is impressed.”

Twilight looked around, looking for distortions in the air. “I assure you, it was not my intention to impress you.”

 “You do not seem to like Trixie.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “No, why ever would I dislike someone with the arrogance to claim to be better than Princess Celestia?” she said sarcastically.

“Trixie never claimed as much! She specifically said she was the best Unicorn!”

Twilight suppressed a grin. Trixie may have excellent control, if her rather impressive illusions were anything to go by, but the moment anyone gets emotional their control slips. However, while she now knew where Trixie was, timing was important. She didn’t want to tip her hoof yet.

“You claimed to vanquish an Ursa Major!” Twilight made herself sound angrier than she was. “Even the Princess can’t do that alone! Therefore, you say you’re greater than her! I call bullshit!”

“... Oh.”

Twilight suddenly spun and aimed her horn to the top of the stage. A blast of lightning split the air explosively and connected with something not there.

There was a comical moment of being able to see Trixie’s skeleton, and Twilight noted that magic was more… cartoonish compared to the magic she saw on Earth. It wasn’t ridiculous like that Looney Tunes show she vaguely remembered, but enough to be funny in hindsight. Then a blue Unicorn thudded onto the floor of the stage. She was lightly smoking.

“Had enough?” Twilight asked, trotting up.

Trixie gave a wheezing cough as she stood up slowly. “Ow… Trixie would like to file a complaint.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, leaning over to hear the mare more clearly. “Oh?”

Suddenly the Unicorn grinned. “Gotcha!” She faded away into a whirlwind of leaves.

Twilight had only a split second to realize she had been played before she was hit from behind by what felt like a backhand from God, sending her flipping through the air. She managed to stop herself before  she hit the ground. Thankfully, she had the awareness to envelop herself in magic to make it look like she was levitating herself. She spun around and glared at Trixie, who looked shocked. “Okay, I’m done playing nice.” she declared, before she conjured a warhammer made of magic. Then she vanished in a blur, racing towards Trixie.

Trixie’s eyes widened at the speed before she was hit hard by a blur of purple. She went skidding backwards. Her nose was busted, she knew instinctively. She ducked the next blow and tried to lash out with a wave of raw magic, which seemed to slow Twilight considerably for a moment, before the hammer connected again on the third pass.

When Trixie woke up next, it was to the feeling of grass under her and the sight of Twilight grinning down at her.

“I win,” she said simply.

Trixie scowled and opened her mouth.

“FIRE!!!”

Trixie shot to her hooves and Twilight spun. They both saw a Unicorn pointing at the Town Hall, which wasn’t far. Smoke was billowing from windows, and the occasional lick of flame could be seen, alongside the dull orange glow in the windows. At the same time, a loud angry roar shook the night air. Trixie paled considerably. She knew that sound. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what that was. There could be no mistake. She could never mistake that sound, a sound she had only ever heard once before. A sound the source of which nearly killed her.

An Ursa Major.
> 20. Terror Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a very brief moment Twilight and Trixie were united in expressions; horror. However, experience Twilight was still adjusting to allowed her to force her shock and fear into a small ball and lock it up for now. She could panic and fall apart when ponies weren’t in danger. 

Her head spinning around, her eyes glowed blue as she scanned the town for the location of the Star Bear. She found it easily just inside the Everfree Forest, chasing two young colts towards Ponyville.

Next she scanned the fire in Town Hall. To Twilight’s surprise, the building was completely and utterly empty of any living being, so the fire wasn’t an immediate danger. That didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous though. It could still spread.

Next she examined Trixie, and wasn’t all too surprised to find her frozen in fear. Her heart was pounding so fast Twilight was sure it would explode if it kept it up. Her eyes were staring into the distance, she was breathing raggedly, and sweat was beginning to drip down her face. She looked… terrified. Unreasonably so.

Twilight wondered if her tale of encountering an Ursa Major may not be a complete lie.

All of this took all of three seconds for the super pony.

“Rainbow! Tornado!” Twilight barked to her friend.

Rainbow Dash’s weather-inclined mind instantly understood the message and shot off to gather some Pegasi for help.

“Applejack, get the townspeople out of here!” she shouted to her friend over the growing roar of the fire.

Appplejack, Rarity still passed out on her back, saluted and got to work herding ponies who were just now beginning to panic. “This way, ponies! To the Farm!” she bellowed.

Twilight turned to Spike, who looked at her defiantly. “I’m not leaving,” he said quietly, eyes shining with determination. “Not again.” That made Twilight wince, remembering she had forced an overpowered sleep-spell on him before they chased after the Elements of Harmony.

Twilight smiled at Spike for his bravery. Despite his determination, she could see the fear in his eyes. “Go help Rainbow make sure the Town Hall is clear. I already checked, but better safe than sorry. You can walk through lava like it’s warm water. Fire would barely be a warm breeze for you.”

After a moment, Spike nodded and ran off.

Finally, she turned to Trixie… and slapped her.

“Gah!” the show-mare gasped at the sting, before her eyes focused and she remembered the situation. “Oh Stars, we have to run!” she panicked. She would have done just that if Twilight hadn’t grasped her by the shoulders and forced her to look at her. She gasped at the intense look on the librarian’s face.

“If you have any experience with Ursa Majors, I need it Trixie. I won’t let a rampaging Ursa destroy my home and likely kill dozens of ponies in the process,” she said fiercely.

Trixie shuddered. “Y-you don’t understand! Magic does nothing to them! We’d be helpless!”

Twilight shook the mare as she started to once again fall into panic. “Details! I don’t need you fighting it, just tell me anything you can about weaknesses or strengths.” Trixie nodded shakily after a moment, andTwilight let her go. That turned out to be a mistake.

Trixie vanished in an overpowered teleport. She would probably be exhausted wherever she emerged...

“Rao damn it all!” Twilight swore, before taking to the air. She shot off for the Ursa Major, and found herself admiring the massive purple bear made of constellations and magic. She was a bit upset, having hoped it was an Ursa Minor. Unfortunately, that good ole Kent luck seemed to be active, and it was most definitely an Ursa Major. Magic would be useless.

Her expression froze. Magic. “... This is going to be painful,” she decided, remembering that a fully grown Ursa was something even Celestia hesitated against.

She picked up the pace.

---

“Derpy! I need your help!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pounding on the door to the clumsy Pegasus’ home. Not for the first time since she met the natural disaster on wings, she wondered at the logic of a Pegasus choosing to live on the ground instead of a cloud home. Even Fluttershy occasionally napped on a cloud. It was usually tethered to her house and weighed down to keep it no more than five feet from the ground, but still. Derpy slept on ground-bound beds, lived in a ground-bound home, and ran her mail route by galloping instead of flying.

The door opened to reveal a disheveled and tired looking Ditzy “Derpy” Doo. “Rainbow-” she gave a jaw cracking yawn. “-Dash? What’s wrong?”

“Fire at the Town Hall! I need a team of Pegasi to kick up a tornado and put it out!”

Derpy's still half-asleep mind took a moment to process that statement, but she froze when she remembered a critical detail. Dinky and Amethyst were at the magic show, the same magic show that was in Town Square, the same place that Town Hall stood.

Rainbow Dash blinked owlishly as Derpy took to the skies faster and in a far straighter line than she had ever seen.

---

Trixie exited her teleport screaming, having pushed her magic too far. She was in pain, the leylines her magic used to traverse her body electrified and burning. She could feel her consciousness trying to fade, and she so dearly wanted to let it… but fear pushed her on. She knew she didn’t have enough magic to get far enough away. Looking around, she noticed a familiar apple farm.

Still too close.

She grit her teeth as she tried to get up, but her body ached too much from the sudden rush of magic that had blitzed through her body in her escape. She collapsed.

“Noooo…” she moaned.

Another, though slightly duller, roar spread from the town.

Trixie’s eyes snapped open, and for a moment madness filled them. She threw safety to the wind and reached into her soul. “Overdrive!” she cried in panic.

Magic exploded from her body in a raging aura, and Trixie screeched in a kind of pain that couldn’t be described. But her fear pushed her past it, if only momentarily, and she initiated another teleport. She vanished again, her departure heralded by an earth-shaking bang.

Everything went black. Then, for a very brief instance, she was staring into the worried gaze of a light brown Earth-Pony wearing a wide-rim hat. After that she fell into blessed unconsciousness.

---

Twilight crashed through a house at an angle, exited the house, and hit the ground so hard she dug a short trench with her body. She groaned as her nerves provided confirmation of the fact that an Ursa Major was, in fact, a creature composed of magic. It completely and utterly bypassed her enhanced durability, leaving her just as susceptible to blunt-force trauma as any other Unicorn.

She was lucky she was alive after that.

“Miss Twilight!” Twilight blinked woozily and tried to focus her swimming gaze, and found herself staring at a light pink filly with a yellow mane and short horn. She looked familiar. The filly grabbed her with her magic and started levitating the older Unicorn away.

Twilight gasped, a lance of pain shooting through her body at the movement. Something most definitely broke. She managed to examine herself with her X-ray vision, and found at least three of her ribs were snapped and four were fractured. Her left hind leg was broken as well.

She looked back at the Unicorn filly that was rather bravely trying to get her away from the fast approaching Ursa Major.

Options raced through Twilight’s mind.

1. She could get up and keep fighting, and likely die. Her powers meant nothing against a magical creature of this level. However, there was a very thin chance she’d find a way to win. Unlikely, but still.
2. She could run away. The very idea made her physically ill, as that would be leaving innocent ponies to die. But still, an option, even if it was one she had no intention of going through with.
3. She could… maybe… er...

She sighed internally. Really, those were her only choices. Fight, and likely die, or run, and leave ponies to die. Honestly, there wasn’t even a choice.

Unfortunately, she was currently engulfed in a field of magic as the Unicorn filly tried to help her.

“Put me down,” she stated with a ragged breath. Her eyes were on the approaching Ursa Major.

The filly stumbled. “What?! But you’re hurt!”

“Put me… down.” It was a little hard to talk. Broken ribs did that. Breathing hurt.

“No! Momma taught me that good ponies help other ponies! I’m a good pony!”

Twilight had to smirk at that, despite the blood dribbling from her lips. Stars, her body was a mess. She tried to kickstart her accelerated healing, but the magical field around her was interfering with the solar energy in her body.

The Ursa Major stomped the ground in front of them, bringing the filly to a stop, and jostling Twilight. She groaned in pain.

Twilight was a little fuzzy on what happened next, the pain was starting to get to her, but she remembered a roar, a large shadow, a horrified scream… and her voice.

“Overdrive!”

A purple Sun blossomed in the streets of Ponyville.
> 21. Only The Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Flashes of different scenes assaulted Twilight’s senses. Her thoughts were a mess, and distantly she realized that being backhanded by the Ursa Major probably gave her a severe concussion, as she kept fading in and out of consciousness.

The first scene she was aware enough to recall was a familiar bright eyed grey Pegasus dragging her and the filly along the ground, shouting frantically.

The next one was of hearing angry shouting and seeing a yellow and pink blur darting around a large purplish blur.

Then she was being moved again.

A white blur this time, and a yellow flash that heralded the pain fading enough for her to sink into a deep, if fitful, sleep.

And now she was here. With a low groan, she opened her eyes. She yelped at the stinging this caused when she saw searing white. 

She heard a snort, and a snoring she hadn’t even realized was happening came to a sudden stop.

“Wha…? Huh?”

Twilight tried to sit up to see who it was. This… proved to be a mistake. With a cry of pain she fell back. Her chest hurt!

“Twilight!” She felt a hoof on her forehead. “The Doctor said you shouldn’t move. Try and relax while I go get him.”

Twilight did just that, relaxing. She recognized the voice, but at the moment she couldn’t be bothered to put a name to it. Her body hurt too much from trying to move. All she knew was her instincts weren’t screaming at her to get away, so she decided she could wait for some answers.

As she waited she slowly got her eyes accustomed to the light. She realized she was in a hospital room, likely in Evergreen General. Well, that explained the smell of disinfectant and blinding white.

The door opened again to admit two ponies. She turned her head to see and immediately recognized Derpy, the loveable mailmare that delivered her mail every morning, and a black Pegasus in a white coat. He had a blue mane that was professionally done up in a topknot, leading Twilight to wonder if he or his family migrated from Neighpan.

She frowned. ‘Huh… That’s interesting.’ Now that she thought about it, Equestria had a lot of parallels with Earth. Neighpan and Japan, Prance and France. Yakyakistan and Pakistan. Canterlot and Camelot. In fact, the only places she could immediately think of that didn’t seem to have a parallel on Earth was Ponyville and Cloudsdale.

The black Pegasus smiled at her and grabbed a clipboard on the table near her bed. “It’s good to see you awake, Miss Sparkle,” he said, his eyes scanning what Twilight assumed was her medical records for this visit to the hospital.

Derpy approached and grabbed Twilight’s hoof with a watery derp-eyed smile. “Thank you for protecting Dinky, Twilight,” she said without preamble.

‘Dinky… Oh! That pink Unicorn. That’s right, Dinky is Derpy’s daughter,’ Twilight remembered. She gave a chuckle, and cringed at the spasm of pain it caused. She smiled a bit sheepishly at Derpy. “Oh… I don’t… I can hardly remember it, just flashes. A shadow, a yell, and… that’s it.”

The Doctor nodded. “I’m not surprised. You have… or I should say you had a rather severe concussion. No one was quite sure you would even wake up, at least before we realized your body was healing at an alarmingly accelerated rate well beyond normal for a Unicorn, even one such as you.” He looked at her over the clipboard. “The concussion has healed for the most part, and your body seems to be putting its focus more on your broken ribs right now.”

Twilight tried to shrink in on herself at his pointed gaze. “I… um…” she tried to say something.

The Doctor put the clipboard down. “Princess Luna has assured us that your accelerated healing is natural to you, and has in fact instructed us to keep you in a room with easy access to sunlight. On top of that, she and Princess Celestia both have issued a blanket order to the staff of the hospital that not a word of your physiology leaves these walls or gets put down on paper or in electronics.” That shocked Twilight.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know if you realize this, but that makes your medical file a risk to your health.”

“How so?” Derpy asked. “I mean, I was there, and I’m still trying to make sense of everything that happened.” She shook her head. “A fire in Town Hall, a massive glowing bear rampaging through Ponyville, my daughter dragging Twilight’s battered body through the streets, Twilight… doing something. And then there’s Fluttershy… Ponyville’s weird, but this was ridiculous.”

Twilight’s ears perked up in alarm. “Fluttershy? Was she hurt too?!” she asked in fear for her friend.

The Doctor and Derpy exchanged a looked, before the Doctor spoke. “Not… necessarily.”

Twilight blinked.

“I asked them not to say anything yet.”

The quiet voice made everyone look over at the door, where Fluttershy stood. Twilight immediately noticed that Fluttershy was both unharmed and… odd. It took a moment, but she realized that Fluttershy was standing straighter, her eyes were sharper, and there was a certain confidence in that gaze, but they also appeared haunted and jaded, as if she had seen the worst the world could throw at her, and had become used to it.

Twilight realized it was the gaze of a soldier.

John Stewart and some of the other members of the Justice League who had a military history, back on Earth, also had eyes like that. Often they had told her that it was a price normal people paid to gain the skills and abilities they needed to protect their home and loved ones. You got desensitized to it all.

“What happened to you?” she asked in quiet shock. What could have changed Fluttershy so much in such a short time? Wait... “How long was I unconscious?” she asked.

“Three days,” the Doctor supplied helpfully.

Twilight shook her head. “No, I have to have been unconscious longer. How else can you explain such big change in Fluttershy?” she gestured to the Pegasus.

Fluttershy smiled and approached. “It says a lot that you could see it almost immediately, Twilight.” She sighed and sat in a nearby chair. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than ever!” she grinned happily.

Twilight relaxed after a moment, seeing that Fluttershy was happy. Then she remembered something. She turned to the Doctor. “You said something about my medical record?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded. “Your record is based on the “fact” that you are a Unicorn, with a Unicorn physiology. We both know that’s not true, at least not anymore. Unicorns don’t normally use what appears to be photosynthesis to accelerate their healing factor. Usually, such a deviation from the norm in your body would be documented and noted in your record, but with the order to suppress that information… we are effectively barred from treating you in the, admittedly unlikely, chance that your are once again hospitalized.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. She was surprised when Fluttershy answered for him.

“Because your physiology is different, meaning any medical procedure they use on you that would normally work on a Unicorn may in fact be incredibly dangerous to you. Your body may resist it beyond normal, or it may not resist it at all, leading to an accidental overdose of medication. Or your bio-chemistry may react severely with the medication and cause further problems.” She blushed at the questioning looks sent her way. “I work on a variety of different animals every day. I have to keep track of what medications work for what species, or I risk hurting them.”

Everyone went, “Oh,” in understanding.

“Miss Fluttershy is correct,” the Doctor picked up the conversation. “Normally we would fix this with a variety of tests and examinations to determine what would work… but since we can’t lawfully record the results anymore, it’s pointless.” He shook his head in frustration. “If this was just a Noble being stubborn I would have ignored it, but both Princesses have agreed, knowledge of your altered body can’t get out.”

Twilight was quiet for a moment as she digested this.

“What if i give you permission?” she asked. “Doesn’t my opinion in this matter supersede their order?”

The Doctor shook his head. “Not in this case, no. This is apparently so important that your body has been classified as a Military Secret. Not even the subject of the secret can go against the order.” He shrugged helplessly at her shocked look. 

“It was a temporary order.”

Once again, the group turned to the door. This time they bowed at the sight of Princess Celestia. Well, Twilight tilted her head.

“Rise, my ponies. We have much to discuss.” She looked at the Doctor as she entered the room. “I understand your frustration, Doctor Tender. Know that Luna and I never meant for the order to stand as it is for long, just until things calm down.”

“Calm down?” Twilight asked.

Celestia sighed. “A lot happened while you were unconscious, my student. The Ursa Major was just the tip of a very cold iceberg.” She sat down on the floor. “I should probably begin at where you Overdrived.”

The harsh look sent her way made it clear to Twilight that this was far from the only conversation the two would be having. She groaned. “I’m not going to like this story, am I?”

“No, you aren’t, but you must be informed of the threat aligned against you, and possibly your friends as well if the theory Luna told me holds true,” Celestia said.

That instantly turned Twilight serious. “Tell me everything,” she said with quiet force.
> 22. The Star Spangled Pegasus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Fluttershy kicked off the story first.

“I was at home getting ready for bed when Rainbow Dash showed up at my house. She told me about the fire at Town Hall and about needing Pegasi to start a tornado to put it out. She didn’t tell me about the Ursa, probably knowing I would have run away.

“I had just started making my way to the Town Hall when I came across said Ursa… just as it was bringing a paw down on you, Derpy, and Dinky. You shouted something, and suddenly there was far too much light to see much of anything.

“That’s when things got strange.”

---

Fluttershy frantically rubbed at her eyes, trying to get them to stop stinging from the impromptu flash grenade that was Twilight Overdriving. Not that she knew that yet.

When she could see again, it was to the jaw dropping sight of Twilight surrounded by a veritable hurricane of magic. The Ursa Major was thrashing around in the air directly above Twilight, held aloft by a thick haze of purple magic.

“Full Expel!”

Suddenly, the magic around Twilight compressed into a brightly glowing circle that floated around her horn. Symbols and markings Fluttershy had never seen before filled the circle. Then, swinging her horn upwards, Twilight pointed the circle and her horn at the Ursa.

 “Magic Missile!” There was a pulse in the air, and then a massive beam of magic exploded from her horn, hitting the Ursa Major and completely overwhelming it. After a moment, the magic died down.

Fluttershy realized her jaw was hanging open just as Twilight collapsed, unconscious.

---

Twilight groaned. “Stars, no wonder I feel like crap,” she grumbled.

Fluttershy blinked. “Wait, that hurt you?”

“What you heard Twilight shout before that was Overdrive,” Celestia explained. “To summarize, it empowers the user immensely, but damages their body proportionately to how much magic they drew on.” She glared at a cringing Twilight. “Then my foolish student went and used Full Expel, which does exactly what the name implies. It funnels all of the user’s remaining magic into the next technique they used. That much raw power running through the body has killed ponies before. It’s nothing short of a miracle that she’s alive.”

“Oh.”

---

Fluttershy’s awe was cut short when she heard a roar come from above. She looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of the Ursa, smoking and damaged, but otherwise okay, hurtling back towards the ground.

Back towards Twilight and the other two ponies with her.

Fluttershy wanted to run, but something inside of her didn’t just resist that idea, it flat out demolished it with an unholy vengeance. Something clicked in her mind, and timed seemed to slow as she began running. She felt something rushing through her body, like adrenaline. Looking up, she saw the bear falling in slow motion. It was angling itself, raising a paw. By the glare it was sending Twilight, Fluttershy correctly assumed it was going to use the momentum of its fall for greater striking force.

Her body was moving faster now. Her wings began whirring with how fast they were flapping. She realized she was flying. Her eyes caught a trashcan lid in the path to Twilight. She scooped it up on her way by. Looking back up, she judged her speed, the speed of the falling Ursa, and her chances.

‘Not enough time to move them. Gotta hope this works.’ she decided firmly. She dived towards her friends and the ponies she had saved. She felt strength flooding her body. As a bonus, she started feeding her Pegasus magic into the trashcan lid, strengthening it. ‘This is gonna hurt…’

And the Ursa came down like a boulder at terminal velocity, slamming its paw into the yellow Pegasus. The force of the strike shook the ground.

Under that paw was the straining form of Fluttershy, using the trashcan lid to stop the paw from hitting the ponies at her hooves. Her face was screwed up as she exerted herself in ways very, very few Pegasi ever managed.

As she did, Fluttershy saw images run through her mind. Bipedal hairless creatures, humans she realized based off of Twilight's description of them. Some were dressed in simple clothes, and worked in a simple town. Some were dressed in greens and browns and looking serious, carrying strange long objects, rifles her mind told her. And some where dressed in important business suits, with cameras flashing in the background as she waved.

The Ursa pulled its paw back and stared at Fluttershy, obviously shocked. Fluttershy panted and groaned. Her body was going to hurt in the morning. The Ursa suddenly roared, and Fluttershy reacted by hurling the trashcan lid like a discus at the bear's face with all of her might. The bear's head snapped back as the trashcan lid bounced back. Fluttershy caught it as she flew towards the Ursa, and struck it in the face with a hard kick that once more made it stagger back.

She remembered being frail and weak. She remembered being bullied relentlessly for her weakness. She remembered life being hard. She thought she would have hid from the world at that point, but the man these memories belonged to didn't give up. Like a certain mare Fluttershy looked up to in her current life, the man, Steve Rogers, fought back. He almost always lost, but he never gave up. He never stopped believing one could succeed if they just tried hard enough.

The bear tried to take a swipe at Fluttershy, but she contorted around the swing, and then once more sent the lid into it's face. It roared in pain and frustration. Fluttershy then flew around its head and bucked it right in the back of the head, sending it staggering forward. She had never felt this strong and fast before. Even now she could feel her body slowly bulking up, gaining strength and speed. Her wings were becoming as strong and efficient as they possibly could, and her mind was getting sharper and sharper.

She remembered joining the Army, wanting to protect and enforce the America way; Truth, Justice, and Liberty for all. She remembered being turned down, and then given the opportunity to become greater than a soldier, to become greater than some piece on the board. If she survived the process, she would become a super-soldier. Captain America.

The bear tried to backhand Fluttershy as it turned towards her, but she deflected it with her makeshift shield. Then she got in its face and reared back, before solidly punching it in the forehead with the shield, using every scrap of strength her enhanced body could call on.

The bear went down like a sack of bricks, out cold. Fluttershy landed a little roughly. She was panting, sore, and all around exhausted... but victorious.

---

Twilight stared at her friend in shock. "You... you're a Hero Soul?" she asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "I am. I'm the Soul of Justice, Steve Rogers, Captain America."

"I think it goes without saying that the order to suppress medical information on Twilight now extends to Fluttershy," Celestia told Doctor Tender.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes, Your Highness," he said.
> 23. Shadow the Doer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy looked at the trashcan lid she was gripping, and had to laugh. It was bent, crumpled, and dented severely. All in all, it looked like it had gone ten rounds with a compactor. Tossing the now useless lump of metal away, she sat down to rest.

She winced, instantly reminded that she had blocked a strike from a massive creature falling at great speeds. Considering her body had still been in the process of being upgraded when it happened, she was incredibly lucky she only got away with minor injuries. Well... she hoped they were minor.

She frowned as a thought occurred to her. She looked at her hooves and the legs attached to them. Yes, she was most definitely showing a lot more muscle now. She knew she was faster too, and she was spotting a lot more details wherever she looked.

How did she have the Serum? It was in Steve Rogers’ body, not his soul… right? After a moment, she decided to worry about it later.

A flash of blue light heralded the arrival of Princess Luna, and Fluttershy stood to bow, again wincing. “Your Highness. What are you doing here?” she asked.

Luna looked at the Ursa Major with a raised eyebrow, and then back at Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked away and cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the attention. “I do not believe I have ever seen a single pony, a Pegasus at that, defeat a Ursa Major before. Most impressive,” she complimented.

“Ah…” Fluttershy blushed. “T-thank you, Princess.”

Luna nodded. “To answer your question, Kind Fluttershy, I received an urgent call for aid from Squire Spike that an Ursa Major was attacking Ponyville. I immediately mobilized the Lunar Guard and teleported us all here. Sister is currently dealing with an urgent matter as well, else she too would be here with her Solar Guard.”

---

 “Urgent matter?” Twilight asked her teacher.

“It ties into the reason behind your medical record being frozen. We’ll get to that later though,” Celestia promised.

---

“Are you well enough to help your fellow Pegasi?” Luna nodded towards the Town Square, where Fluttershy’s enhanced eyes could pick out in the sky a multitude of Pegasi and… Thestrals in armor? Ah, the Lunar Guard. They were flying around in a circle at high speed, slowly getting a whirlwind started. 

Fluttershy stretched her wings, but the moment she flapped them she winced. “Ow… I’m sorry Princess, but I may be more of a hindrance than help for now.”

Luna nodded. “Perfectly understandable.” She once more glanced at the Ursa, and shook her head in wonder. “When this is over, I would like to hear a recounting of your battle with the Ursa, and why you felt the need to do so in the first place.”

Fluttershy gasped at the reminder. “Oh! Twilight!” She spun around and looked at the Unicorn, who was unconscious next to a frantic looking Derpy and Dinky. “Princess, Twilight’s hurt! Can you help her?”

Luna immediately galloped to Twilight’s side and began running diagnostic spells over her. She winced at the sight of blood dribbling from the mare’s mouth. After a moment, she cancelled the spell. “Twilight Sparkle has sustained grievous internal injuries, alongside a broken bone in her left hind leg. Her body is also in a state of severe shock.” With a flash, a blue glow settled over Twilight. “I have locked her in suspended animation to prevent the wounds from getting worse, but it will only hold for an hour. We must get her to a Healer now!”

After assurance that you could punch Twilight’s body and only hurt your hoof while she was in suspended animation, Fluttershy helped Luna carry the now stone-stiff body of Twilight towards the town Hospital. Derpy and Dinky followed, worried over the mare that had saved Dinky from the Ursa Major.

---

 “I pretty much spent the rest of next few days here when I wasn’t working at home. Our friends have been visiting often as well,” Fluttershy explained.

“What about the fire? Was it taken care of?” Twilight asked, worried.

Celestia frowned. “The fire was put out easily once Luna’s Guard began helping. Right now the Solar Guard are investigating the cause. I suspect it was more than just an accident.” She shook her head. “But that’s for another time. I suppose I should tell you my side of the tale now.”

---

Celestia, on rare days such as today where Luna was being kind enough to handle Court for her, could be found in one of the gardens around the castle. In particular, she was in the statuary garden, examining the many statues and enjoying the memories each statue brought her.

Not many today knew that each statue held a story behind it. Like that one there, of a Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth-Pony standing side-by-side. Most assumed it was related to the Hearth Warming Tale, but that was not why it was carved. The statue was made in the image of three very brave children back during the time before the Fire of Friendship, to remember their story, and remind Celestia of her failure.

They had formed powerful bonds of friendship between them, and refused to heed to orders of their tribes to hate each other. It was those three children that had truly begun the movement that would unify pony-kind. Unfortunately, they were unable to see the fruits of their labors. An assassin from the Pegasus tribe had killed them on the orders of the Pegasus child’s father.

There was a reason why the time before the Fire of Friendship was referred to as the Dark Heart Age. Ponies were more concerned with politics and power than their own family. Celestia had personally seen to the dismantling of that pony’s power structure. He spent the rest of his days in the darkest prison she could find.

“Princess! I bring urgent news!”

Celestia was snapped from her memories by one of the Royal Guards approaching. “What is it?” she asked.

“A thief has been apprehended trying to steal medical documents from the hospital.” The Guard bowed. “He’s been detained and is currently being interrogated.”

Celestia frowned. “Medical documents? Whatever for?”

“They were the medical files of Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia’s eyes widened, before they hardened. “Take me to him,” she ordered, standing.

“At once, You Highness.”

---

 “You may not realize it Twilight, but the day you became my student you were dropped into the world of politics and power plays,” Celestia said quietly. “That was far from the first time the Royal Guard, Solar Guard, or myself have prevented something like this. There have even been a few kidnapping attempts. None got anywhere near you, of course… but you became a target when I took you in.”

Twilight’s mouth was dry. “Why…” she hesitated. “Why didn’t you tell me?”she finally asked.

Celestia sighed. “I wanted you to retain that innocence I saw during the Exam. You were so full of life… and I didn’t want to ruin it by making you look over your shoulder during your every waking moment.”

“Oh…” Twilight supposed there could be worse reasons for keeping something like that from her, but it still hurt. Not wanting to think about it, she changed the subject. “So that attempt to steal my medical records was what caused the freeze order on them?” she asked.

Celestia shook her head. “No, it was what happened during my talk with the thief that did that.”

---

Celestia entered the room and found a pitch black Unicorn with a black mane cuffed to a table with a magic restraining ring on his horn. His fiery orange eyes immediately locked onto hers. “Princess Celestia.” He chuckled. “They were right. The moment your student got involved, you would come running.”

Celestia frowned. “Who are you? Who are “they”?”

The Unicorn bowed his head. “Shadow at your service, Your Highness.” His voice was oddly respectful for a criminal. “I’m a doer. If the price is right, I do what I’m asked to do. Usually that involves high profile thefts or assassinations.”

Celestia scowled. “And this “they” that you spoke of? Did they hire you to kill Twilight?”

He laughed. “Heavens no!” He exclaimed almost jovially. “No assassin worth their salt would target Miss Sparkle, no matter the price. We like our lives and freedoms, and getting you focused on us with vengeance in your head? Ha! Suicide.”

He calmed somewhat, but still grinned. “No, I was hired to look into Miss Sparkle’s medical history for any abnormalities.”

“Why?”

Shadow shrugged. “Dunno. I don’t ask questions unless it pertains to how it affects the job. I figured they were conspiracy nuts that bought into that talk about her being your personal super-soldier and wanted proof.”

Celestia sighed at that. Some ponies take one look at two completely different facts and leap to the most ludicrous ideas. Twilight was powerful, extraordinarily so, and she had taken her on as her student. They took two and two and combined it to, somehow, get two thousand two hundred and twenty two. Conspiracists went nuts that day about armies of super-soldier clones that were fanatically loyal to her.

Really, that was Luna’s schtick, not hers. Er… the fanatically loyal army part, not the super soldier clones. The Thestrals worshiped Luna, despite her distaste of the treatment.

“Who are “they”?” she asked again.

Shadow shrugged again. “Hell if I know. I was contacted through recordings at dead drops. All I know is that they’re good at playing from the shadows. The recordings self-destructed the moment they finished their playback or if any magic was used within twenty feet of them. Nearly lost my hoof to the first one.”

He scoffed. “They promised me a distraction that would keep you and your Guards off of me while I worked, but it looks like it wasn’t enough.” He indicated his shackled hooves. “If your student could handle what they threw at her so well that you weren’t even called in, I think they have a nasty surprise waiting for them.”

“Distraction? Twilight?” Celestia asked, concerned.

Shadow nodded. “They told me that on the day of my attempt they’d set up a distraction that was sure to have you running straight to Ponyville, taking most of your Guard with you. That would have made getting the records easier… if it had worked.” He honestly didn’t seem that put out that he had failed his mission.

“What was the distraction?” Celestia asked, a horrible feeling sinking into her gut.

He grinned. “An Ursa Major.”

Celestia didn’t even bother running. She teleported straight to the throne room. She surprised Luna, who was there for Court. “Luna! I ne-”

“Sister, Squire Spike has just sent word that Ponyville is under siege by an Ursa!” Luna interrupted, recovering quickly from Celestia startling her. Sure enough, there was a scroll in her magical grip. “I was just about to send for you. My Lunar Guards are gathering as we speak.”

Celestia forced herself to calm down and be rational. If Spike was in any condition to be sending a message, it wasn’t too late. They had time. And if Luna and her Guard were going…

“I know,” she said, making Luna blink in surprise. “The Royal Guard apprehended someone trying to steal Twilight’s medical record. After being interrogated, we found out about the Ursa Major. It was supposed to be a distraction to keep me away from Canterlot.” She turned around and started towards the doors. “You go help Ponyville. I’m going to try and get more information,” she said.

“Understood,” Luna said with a nod.

---

 “After that I sent along word to have your medical record frozen while we tried to figure out what in Tartarus was going on,” Celestia said. “I poked at some of my contacts, but nobody has heard anything about any major criminal turning their attention on you or me. When Luna sent word that you were hurt pretty badly, I came to Ponyville to see for myself. That was when Luna suggested something that… honestly, it worried me.”

“What?” Twilight asked. 

Celestia looked Twilight in the eyes. “She theorized that whoever this is… they knew you were a Hero Soul.”
> 24. Aspects, Avatars, and Thestrals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door opened. Twilight looked up from her book (an Equestrian version of War and Peace) and smiled at the sight of Luna. “Princess!” she greeted, waving a hoof. “Please, come in.”

Luna smiled as well, stepping into Twilight’s hospital room. She sat in a chair next to the Unicorn’s bed. “Hello, Twilight. How are you doing today?” she asked. As she did so, two Thestrals in armor took up position by the door.

Twilight patted her chest, grinning. “Good as new! According to Doctor Tender my body is pretty much completely healed. I leave tomorrow. He advises a few more days of relaxation, but honestly, managing a library isn’t really a hard job.”

Luna nodded. “That is good to hear.” Her smile slipped. “I admit, seeing you in the condition you were in… It distressed me.” She shook her head. “It had caused some rather unpleasant memories to resurface.”

“Princess?” Twilight asked.

Luna waved a hoof. “Luna, Twilight. My friends may call me Luna, at least when not during a formal occasion.”

Twilight seemed to hesitate, but then decided to change the subject. “Luna…” She cringed instinctively at addressing a royal informally. “I was wondering something after Princess Celestia and Fluttershy told me about what happened after I passed out.” She motioned towards the Thestrals. “How come you seem to favor the Thestrals for you Lunar Guard?”

It was a genuinely curious question, Luna was relieved to note, and not one born of tribalism. Not that she expected Twilight to have tribalist tendencies, but still. She leaned back with a sigh. “That actually ties into the unpleasant memories I spoke of,” she admitted.

“Oh.” Twilight winced. “Nevermind then. I’m sorry.”

Luna waved it off. “No, no, it is not unbearable. In fact…” She looked thoughtful. “... In fact, speaking of it may help.”

Twilight couldn’t hide the excited expression at the idea of learning something new, making Luna chuckle. After a time, she nodded. “You know the Thestral race worships me, correct?” Twilight nodded. “I do not like it, but I will not force them to not believe in something. I can only try and change their minds, unsuccessful though I may be,” she grumbled.

“What do you know of Thestral culture?” she asked.

Twilight frowned in thought. “Um… I know they mostly live underground due to their sensitive eyes and ears, and have a close relationship with the Minotaurs due to providing them mineral ores for their Forges. But their culture? I only know that they have a religion about you.”

Luna nodded. “Yes, the Church of the Between.” She took a moment to consider how best to continue. “The simplest way to describe how the Thestrals see me is to say they believe I am Death.”

Twilight screwed her face up. “Death?” she asked, seeking clarification.

Luna chuckled at her expression. “Even that is difficult to describe in its entirety. Simplified… they see me as the one being in all of existence that holds absolute authority over Souls.”

“Authority over Souls? Is that even possible?” Twilight asked.

Luna paused, before looking at the Thestrals and waving a hoof. They saluted and left the room. Twilight instinctively shifted into a serious demeanor, realizing she was likely about to learn sensitive information. “You know that Existence is composed of an infinite number of worlds, yes?” Twilight nodded. “Well, Existence needs help to remain balanced, to keep track of everything and prevent bad things from happening. So it crafted Aspects, beings who would handle certain areas for it. At first there were many, but as time wound on they were either subsumed into the current four, or destroyed due to imbalances they caused.”

“Current four?” Twilight zeroes in on that piece of information.

Luna nodded. “Love, Time, Magic, and Death. They are the four Aspects of Existence, and are the four most important beings you will ever learn of. They are the absolute authority in their respective areas, but even they are sometimes not enough. And so the Avatars were born, beings who have displayed a particular affinity for one of the Aspects. They were granted a portion of the authority of their patron to ease their burden.” Luna motioned to herself. “I myself am an Avatar of Death.”

Twilight took a moment to take this all in. “I have two questions,” she said.

“Go ahead,” Luna encouraged.

“What’s Death like? If you’ve met them, I mean,” Twilight added as an afterthought.

Luna smirked. “I have met him, and… actually, one moment.” She concentrated for a moment, and then conjured an illusion.

The illusion displayed a lanky human with messy black hair, piercing green eyes, and wore a doctor’s uniform. He had a cheerful smile. Twilight immediately noticed the odd lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

She stared. “... That’s it?” she asked after a moment. “I mean… realistically I knew he wouldn’t be what I expected… but he looks like a normal human!”

Luna smirked, letting the illusion fade. “You of all ponies should know better than to judge a book by its cover,” she pointed out. “Harry, that is his name by the way, is a very fun loving person, and in fact very easy to be friends with. I met him shortly after I became an Alicorn. He had apparently felt the connection between himself and I due to my being one of his Avatars and came to see what had caused it. He left three days later with an open invitation from sister and I to visit whenever he wished.” She seemed lost in memories for a moment, before remembering where she was.

“What was your other question?” Luna asked.

“What does this have to do with my original question?” Twilight asked. “Not that it isn’t interesting!” she added hastily. “But… I guess I just don’t see the relevance,” she admitted.

Luna nodded. “Perfectly understandable. I revealed this to you because I believe you are trustworthy, and because it provides context,” she said, getting a nod of understanding from Twilight. “Now, as to why the Thestrals worship me… it is because of something that happened before Nightmare Moon, and back when I was still relatively new to being an Avatar of Death. A Necromancer had set his sights on the Thestrals and, feeling the call to protect Souls, I immediately set out with ten of my Guard’s finest and most trusted.”

Luna’s gaze became somewhat unfocused as she recalled the memory. “We arrived to find the last of the Thestrals in their capital fighting an army of Undead wearing the faces of their fallen comrades. We joined the fight… but it was too much. The necromantic magic sapped my power in ways I’ve never experienced. Before long I had lost all ten of my own comrades, and were now fighting their risen remains.”

Twilight watched in worry as tears started to fall from Luna’s eyes. “I forced myself to strike them down. I remember feeling like I had somehow betrayed them with each one I killed… only for them to get back up and force me to kill them again and again…”

“Prin… Luna,” Twilight said, laying a hoof on her shoulder. She didn’t react.

“Eventually I called for a retreat, and the last Thestrals and I took shelter in a place that the Necromancer had yet to find. But we knew it was only a matter of time. I made the decision to face him head on, and told the Thestrals they were welcome to join me. I told them we would likely lose… that we would likely die and become puppets for him… but I’d rather die fighting than whimpering in a corner like a coward!” she roared.

“Luna!” Twilight shook her shoulder.

Luna gasped, and her eyes focused on Twilight. She breathed heavily for a moment, before wiping away her tears. “I apologize, Twilight. It seems I am not as over the event as I believed myself to be.”

“No, it sounds like you faced something horrific,” Twilight said. She shivered. “Being forced to kill my friends over and over again… I don’t think I can do that. You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” she assured her friend.

Luna smiled at Twilight. “Truly, you are a good friend… but I am fine now. The story gets better from here.” She settled again. “We assaulted his hideout, and the coward threw waves of Undead upon us to try and stop us. But we were fueled by righteous fury and a burning desire for justice. We tore through them all like so much paper. It was not long before we stood before the necromancer himself… and I engaged him myself while the others held off the Undead.”

Luna shook her head. “He was a coward… but he was a powerful and ferocious coward. I very nearly lost that battle, but in the end my blade found his heart, and I ended his life. Then… then something amazing happened.”

Twilight was taken aback by the teary smile Luna directed at her. “The moment he died, every single soul he had shackled to his whims appeared before me...and bowed, thanking me for freeing them. Then they moved on to the Afterlife. The Necromancer’s soul, on the other hand, I personally sealed within Tartarus to endure eternal torment. The Thestrals have since worshiped me and hold me above all else. This is why so many of them are in my Guard, because, quite frankly, the very idea that one would betray me is ludicrous.”

Twilight was unsure how to respond. She had, after all, just heard a rather heart-wrenching tale, and had even seen Luna fall apart slightly.

Luna gave a sigh, one that sounded relieved. “I do feel better after telling you that,” she admitted with a smile. “It still hurts… I lost some of the best friends I ever had that day. But… it is not so painful to remember now."

Twilight smiled. "I'm glad," she said.
> 25. Rise of the Shield
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Twilight had heard the beating of wings that were flapping in uniform as they drew closer to her home a while ago. As such, when the sound of something large thudding into her front yard reached her, she wasn’t too surprised.

She still tripped over herself answering the door after using her X-ray vision to check on it.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight greeted. “Please, come in!” She moved back and out of the way, allowing Celestia and two of her Solar Guards to enter the room. “Would any of you like some tea? I just put a pot on.”

Celestia smiled at her student. “Yes, please. That sounds lovely right now,” she said. She looked at her guards. “At ease, gentlemen. You may relax if you wish and accept some tea.”

The two albino Pegasi with blue manes and golden eyes relaxed.

When Twilight returned, it was with four cups and a largish pot of tea held in her magic. She poured everyone their tea before sitting down with her own. “It’s good to see you again, Princess.”

Celestia smiled. “You as well, my student. It is good to see you up and about so quickly. Luna was telling me yesterday that you had recovered fully, even if Tender wasn’t convinced.”

Twilight sipped her tea. “I won’t deny that the small vacation is nice. Spike has been such a sweetheart and managing the library chores for me, even though I insist I’m capable.” She looked down into her cup and sighed.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Is something the matter with Spike’s attitude, Twilight?” she asked curiously.

Twilight shook her head. “No, nothing like that, although…” She trailed off, before forcing herself back on topic. “I just can’t get over how…” she paused, searching for a word, before sighing. “Stupid. I can’t believe how stupid I was during that fight with the Ursa. I did everything I shouldn’t have done when fighting it. I used magic against it, I used brute strength, and I got close enough for it to take me out in a single blow.” She growled. “I know better! I should have at least tried wrapping it’s legs up in null-chains, but it’s like all of the experience in my head just went out the window the moment the fight started!”

She sagged after a moment. “Princess Luna told me it’s because my memories are still settling. My pony memories are going to take precedence in terms of instinct until I finish getting used to all of this.”

Celestia hummed in thought. “I suppose it makes sense. I’ve rarely dealt with Hero Souls personally, so I only know so much. Luna was their guide whenever they cropped up throughout history.”

A silence, though it wasn’t uncomfortable, settled as the four ponies enjoyed their tea.

“What of Fluttershy?” Celestia suddenly asked. “How has she adapted to being a Hero Soul?”

Twilight frowned. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t seen her too often in the last few days, though whenever I do she insists she’s doing fine. She seems happy enough, so I don’t question it.”

“I ask because I’d like you to pass on a message for me if you get the chance,” Celestia said.

Twilight looked at her curiously. “Sure, but you could have just sent her a letter. Why go through me?”

Celestia put her teacup down and began refilling it. “Two reasons. The first is because the message applies to you as well. The second reason is because I do not wish to risk this mystery pony that sent the Ursa against you intercepting it.” She took a longer than normal pull from the freshly brewed tea. “I have had Doctor Tender stationed here at Ponyville as a private physician for you and Fluttershy, and potentially anymore Hero Souls that pop up. If you have need of medical service, go to him. He is the only person in Equestria with an up to date medical record on you.”

“Isn’t that a risk? Leaving documents like that for someone to steal?” Twilight asked.

Celestia smirked. “Who said he had documents?”

---

“So what’s it like?” Rainbow Dash asked, walking among the market stalls with Fluttershy. 

“What’s what like?” Fluttershy responded, somewhat distracted with examining some tomatoes.

“Having the memories of another pony in your head,” Rainbow Dash said.

Fluttershy took a moment to pay for some of the tomatoes before smiling at Rainbow Dash. “Strange,” she said simply at first. “I really have no other way to describe it, other than to say it’s indescribable. Not entirely in a good way either.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“How do you think you’ll handle having the memories of being a man… I’m sorry… stallion?”

Rainbow Dash shivered. “Yikes. No thanks,” she stated.

Fluttershy nodded. “There are upsides, such as the Super-Soldier Serum somehow working on me.”

“Super-Soldier Serum?”

Fluttershy paused, considering how to explain it. “Steve Rogers was a weak and frail man. He was also prone to getting sick often,” she started. “He was often bullied for his weakness, and to make matters worse his family struggled to make ends meet.”

“He was a nerd?” Rainbow Dash asked in distaste, before frowning. “Wait, then where did you get all that strength?” she asked, speaking of Fluttershy’s bulkier frame.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, Steve was just an unfortunate child born with a lot of problems in his body, problems that the medicine of that day and age couldn’t fix.” She smiled. “But that didn’t mean he didn’t have a strong heart. He was raised to know right from wrong, and always believed that you should offer help when you see someone who needs it. Even when his body made it difficult, he always tried to help people, always tried to stand up to bullies and the like. He believed in Justice.”

Rainbow Dash considered that, and could see how that would end for someone who was weak and frail like Fluttershy had described. It didn’t matter how many times you tried, you would get knocked down again and again. But the way Fluttershy talked of this Steve guy, it sounded like he didn’t quit, even when he probably should have.

Rainbow Dash could respect that kind of dedication.

“And then World War Two happened,” Fluttershy said with a dark expression.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Wait, world war, as in a war that spanned the entire world?” she asked in shock.

Fluttershy nodded. “Humans are a passionate species, and often let their emotions guide them over their common sense. This has led to two world wars, but has also produced incredible people, people you would be proud to just know of. One such person was Steve. Even though he was weak, even though his own body seemed to be against him, he didn’t care. He tried to sign up for the army to help protect his home and country.” She sighed. “He was turned away due to his physical inability.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash screeched. “They couldn’t have assigned him some kind of desk job? Maybe put him in the intelligence division of their army?” she asked.

Fluttershy smirked at her, and Rainbow Dash blanched upon realizing how nerdy she sounded. After a moment Fluttershy sighed. “As homesick as Steve was for that time, even he knew the world was a brutal and unfair place back them. He wasn’t entirely surprised that he got denied. Dismayed, yes, but not surprised.

“On his way out the door, he was approached regarding a chance to become more than just a soldier. He was told the procedure was untested, likely to kill him, and may even have mental side-effects if it did work… but he took a chance, and agreed.” Fluttershy placed a hoof over her heart, smiling. “He was injected with a chemical cocktail that enhanced his body in every way, pushing him to absolute peak of the human body. He was as strong, fast, and durable as a human could possibly be.”

Rainbow Dash whistled, impressed. “A Super Soldier, hence the name of the serum,” she concluded.

Fluttershy nodded. “And somehow, I have no idea how, that serum got in me as well when I awakened his memories, making me the same thing he was. I was pushed to the absolute limits of the Pegasus body.”

She turned to focus on her shopping again, never noticing the look that came over Rainbow Dash’s face at that declaration.
> 26. Skyland Complications
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That was really all you had on them?” Celestia asked calmly, not turning from her dinner.

A chuckle sounded from the shadows, making the four members of the Solar Guard in the room with Celestia tense and look around warily. “Please, you know me better than that.”

A folder dropped onto the table in front of Celestia, next to her dinner plate. No one could find whoever had dropped it. Celestia didn’t even try to search.

“That’s everything I could get. We nearly lost one of our best deep cover agents to get it too. Unfortunately, it’s worrying.”

Curiosity peaked, Celestia opened the folder. There was only a single photo in it. She frowned, levitating the picture out and examining it closely. It’s quality wasn’t the best, but there was no mistaking the red gem encrusted into the black necklace. “The Alicorn Amulet?”

“I personally chucked that thing in a volcano after it tried to manipulate one of our sisters. How it’s not molten slag right now is beyond me, nor do I know why this group has it.” The voice turned serious. “If your student was to ever wear this thing…”

Celestia closed her eyes. “ ...I don’t know that I could stop her, even before she became…” she trailed off.

“There’s no hiding that your student is different, Celestia. She hasn’t exactly been subtle. Whispers of fanatically loyal super-soldier clones are circulating the underground again. The only reason we haven’t tried to take her out to prevent her turning that power on Equestria is her position as the Element of Magic.” There was a pause. “... If she should ever lose that connection to the Element…”

Celestia nodded and sighed. “I know,” she whispered. “I have absolute faith in her, but if she became that kind of danger, one that would make the Element of Friendship itself abandon her… I’ll do it myself. It would be the least I owed her for failing her that badly.”

Silence reigned for a few moments, before a card landed in front of Celestia. She instantly tucked it into her mane almost without thinking. “As per usual, you can only contact me with that card once. Remember Celestia, ask and the shadows will guard you from the scorching Light. Demand, and they shall burn you far faster than the Light ever could.”

Celestia gave no indication that she heard him. She knew he was already gone anyways. She glanced at her personal guards. “I believe it goes without saying that this conversation didn’t happen.” All four Solar Guards saluted in unison. She nodded. “As you were,” she instructed.

A few moments later, as she was finishing her dinner, three Royal Guards entered the room. The middle, a Captain, saluted. “Your Highness!”

“At ease, Captain. How can I help you?” Celestia asked, standing and levitating the folder with her.

“I’ve just received word from these two recruits that the prisoner, Shadow, is missing from his cell. It appears he has escaped.”

Celestia nearly dropped her folder in shock. “Scramble the Wonderbolts for a manhunt!” she ordered after a moment. “Find him! And station a platoon in Ponyville. I don’t want him anywhere near Twilight and her friends.”

The three saluted. “At once, your Highness!” the Captain declared, before they left.

“... That was him, wasn’t it?”

Celestia glanced at one of her Guard, the one that had spoken. “I have no idea who you’re talking about,” she stated firmly.

The guard took the hint and dropped it.

That was when Celestia happened to glance at a window. She blinked, not quite sure if she should believe what she was seeing. Then she groaned. ‘I do not need this right now…’ she thought, staring at the pitch black smog that slowly, almost carefully, stretched over the sky from the horizon.

---

Twilight looked at her gathered friends, each of them occasionally glancing at the smog in the sky in worry. Spike was at her side, looking determinedly at the sky, almost angrily.

“The letter from the Princess came almost immediately after I sent an inquiry to her regarding the smoke,” she began. “Thankfully, she says this isn’t an inferno spreading across Equestria. Unfortunately, what is generating the smoke is worse. Mares… and drake,” she added, remembering Spike. “There’s a dragon, full grown, in Equestria.”

Everyone gasped, and Spike’s dark expression shifted fully into anger as he glared at the sky. Twilight noticed, but said nothing. For now.

“Why is there a dragon in Equestria?” Applejack asked. Half-remembered history lessons dug their way to the forefront of her mind. “No, better question. How?! I thought all dragons had to uphold the Skyland Concord?” She glanced at Spike after a moment. “Well, besides dragons born here, I reckon…” she mused to herself.

Twilight shook her head. “Unknown. All we know at this time is that this dragon has so far only come into Equestria and promptly fallen asleep. He is unconsciously expelling a highly magic resistant smoke in said sleep, which is worrying, almost more-so than the fact that he’s here.”

“Why?” Rarity asked.

In place of Twilight answering, Spike took a deep breath and expelled a rather impressive gout of green fire at the ground between Twilight and her friends, startling them. After a moment the fire died down. In place of the grass there was now a burnt circle.

And no smoke.

“Smoke is produced when a fire isn’t hot enough to completely burn the hydrocarbons in the fuel source, sending carbon and tar particles into the air,” Spike explained. “Dragon fire is a lot hotter and more powerful than a normal fire, meaning there’s very little that it won’t burn completely. If this dragon is producing smoke in his sleep, his fire is trying to burn something… and failing.” He blushed at the pride filled look Twilight sent him.

Twilight looked around at her friends, her expression firming up. “Due to the Skyland Concord, Celestia can’t officially force the dragon to leave. As far as we can tell he’s not actively trying to endanger us. But if we leave him be, he’ll eventually blot out the Sun with the smoke he’s producing. If he does, it will take decades, maybe even over a century, for the smoke to clear, and that’s only after he wakes up and stops producing it.”

Twilight point off towards the horizon, where the smoke is coming from. “Celestia can’t send the Royal Guard or any other official military or law enforcement organization to wake him without possibly incurring the wrath of the dragons, so she’s sending us with the Elements of Harmony in the hope that we can use them to help the dragon if he needs it… or banish him if he's malicious in his intentions.” She looked at her friends. “Get your hiking gear, girls. We’ve got a journey on our hooves.”
> 27. Journey to the Center of the... oh, wait.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How fast do you think you can fly now?”

Fluttershy paused in step for a moment and looked at Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry?” she asked, the question having caught her off guard. Realizing she had stopped she continued walking with her friends towards the mountain.

“Well…” Rainbow fidgeted for a moment, looking uncertain. Fluttershy wondered if something was wrong. “You said you’re basically the best thing a Pegasus can hope to physically achieve. So… how fast are you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy hummed in thought. “I… don’t know? I mean, the top speed Steve Rogers ever reached was roughly thirty miles an hour in a dead sprint, but humans weren’t built for speed, nor could they fly under their own power.” She shrugged. “I don’t know how fast I can go, not without trying first. Why?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, but paused. She seemed unsure about something, before shaking her head. “It’s nothing, Flutters. Just curious.”

She jumped and flew up ahead towards Twilight. Fluttershy watched after her with a feeling that she was missing something important.

---

“Hey, how much further is it, Twi?” Rainbow asked, flying up next to Twilight, who was walking like the others.

“At the rate we’re going, we’ll get there maybe an hour before nightfall. We may have to set up camp at the base of the mountain and continue in the morning,” Twilight said after a moment of consideration.

“What?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “You mean we’ll be doing nothing but boring walking all day?”

“Gee, I didn’t think you hated us that much,” Applejack said sarcastically from behind. Rainbow Dash winced, realizing how that sounded.

“Darling, none of us are happy about this journey,” Rarity commented. “My mane is going to be matted with sweat and grime before long, and I have a backorder of outfits that need to be finished before Monday.”

“And ah got work on the farm that needs to get done. We fall behind, and our income suffers fer it,” Applejack reminded her friend.

Pinkie bounced by. “I’m happy! We’re gonna make a new friend! The Cakes can run Sugarcube Corner without me for a day,” she exclaimed happily.

“I’ve got research to do at home,” Twilight explained. “I’m studying for the Archmage test. If I pass, I become a registered Archmage, with access to the highest tier of spells in the Archives!” She looked giddy at the idea.

“I’m normally gearing up for a sweep around the edge of the Everfree for wild weather… or maybe a nap,” Rainbow grumbled.

After a moment, everyone looked at Fluttershy. Said Pegasus was looking at the ground, obviously lost in thought. She looked up and blinked at the fact that everyone was staring at her expectantly. “Oh! I’m sorry, what did I miss?”

“We were talking about what we do at home for work,” Twilight explained.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said. “Well, I take care of the animals of the forest if they come to me, as well as the pets of the townspeople, and… ” she trailed off and looked down again.

“Are you okay, dear? You seem awfully distracted lately.” Rarity asked.

“What?” Fluttershy asked, looking up. “Oh! I’m sorry, I just… well…”

“Fluttershy? Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying to her friend.

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m fine!” she said, smiling. “Just… had a nightmare last night, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked in concern.

“I’m sure,” she reassured her friend.

Rainbow Dash didn’t look convinced, but let the matter drop. “If you say so,” she said.

---

The group, as Twilight predicted, reached the base of the mountain shortly before sunfall. As they were unpacking their camping gear, Rainbow Dash thought of something. “Hey, Twi!” she called.

Twilight pulled her head out of her pack, pulling a… stack of books with her? “Yes Rainbow?” she asked.

Rainbow stared for a moment, before remembering herself. “First, how did you fit that many books in your saddle bags?” she asked, unable to hold in her curiosity.

Twilight blinked, looking at the books and her bag, before realizing what she meant. “Oh! There’s a rune for space expansion stitched into both of the packs, as well as a rune that links them. I did it a few years ago when I got worried about the muscles I was developing from carrying so many books everywhere I went.” She shrugged. “I would have just made a Master Book, but I don’t have the fine control necessary to weave the spells together correctly, and pre-made ones are expensive.” She frowned. “Really expensive.”

Rainbow Dash sweat-dropped as Twilight started to run off into a mumbled tangent about ridiculous prices, greedy store owners, and ponies that corner the market in enchantments. After it became clear she had lost Twilight’s attention, she cleared her throat.

“What?” She looked up. “Oh! I’m sorry Rainbow Dash. What was the other thing?” she asked in mild embarrassment.

“Why don’t you and I just fly up to the top real quick and see what the situation is? Between your strength and my speed, we could kick any dragon’s butt with ease,” Rainbow asked.

“Ah, that.” Twilight pushed her saddle bags aside so she could focus on Rainbow Dash. “Well, on paper it’s a good idea. After all, we’re not entirely sure what’s going on, other than the fact that there’s a sleeping dragon up there. Once that was confirmed, Celestia ordered the Guard to withdraw.”

“So… why don’t we?”

Twilight glanced at the mountaintop, where an eagle-eyed pony, or a Unicorn with telescopic vision, could spot a cave with black smoke billowing from it. “Because politics suck.”

“Eh?” Rainbow Dash said in confusion.

“The Skyland Concord forbids a pony from trying to force a non-aggressive dragon to do anything. You could be imprisoned for up to twenty years for trying. If we fly up there as fast as we could and start demanding answers, the dragon would be well within his rights to have the Royal Guard detain us for being unnecessarily aggressive,” she said the last bit sarcastically.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t quite stop the disbelief from showing on her face. “Unnecessarily… He’s blotting out the Stars-be-damned Sun!!!” she exclaimed. “How is that not an aggressive action on his part?!”

Twilight sighed. “Because we have no proof that he’s doing it on purpose. For all we know he could be injured and unable to move, and expelling smoke because he’s trying to burn something from his body and failing. The possibilities go on, but the point remains the same. If we move aggressively now, we get fingered as impatient, uncooperative, and generally the bad guys on the national stage. It doesn’t matter if we had good reason to be suspicious. We need proof. That’s why I said politics suck.”

She looked away. “Besides… there’s another possibility the Princesses shared with me, one that’s kind of worrying.”

“More so than the potential century-long Night?” Rarity asked, having overheard the conversation.

Twilight nodded. “What if the dragons are doing this one purpose? What if they’re hoping this will provoke an aggressive reaction?” Her eyes narrowed.

“What if they’re trying to drag Equestria’s name through the mud?”
> 28. Meanwhile...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the basement of a home that had recently been purchased, a green coated Unicorn sat hunched over a table against a wall. Within his magic he manipulated a variety of tools, each and every one being used upon the two devices sitting on the table.

River Run physically reached a hoof into the opening he had made and pulled out a clear crystal. He examined the crystal critically, using a magnifying lens at one point.

There was nothing wrong with it.

He sighed and let his tools and the crystal fall to the table. He rubbed his forehead with a hoof. Glancing up at the wall the table sat against, he stared at the only thing he had hanging there. It was a crystal that was the same shape as the one he had pulled from the device on the table, but badly burnt and cracked in a lot of places.

When he, while in his role as Shifter the Thief, had punched the mystery mare back in Canterlot, the Manipulator Gauntlet he had hit her with had instantly suffered a catastrophic failure. Every readout he got from it points to the arm hitting something immovable. He had since been trying to recreate whatever it was that had done so, with no luck.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “I hit her, and she went down, but everything in the gauntlet acts like I had tried and failed to knock down a metal wall.” He picked up said gauntlet, looking at the fingers and servos that were the knuckles. “The kinetic amplifiers are stressed to the point of overheating and being slagged, the servos were completely overwhelmed, and the outer plating is dented inward in such a way that it would be easier to just replace it. But the carbuncle lines are completely intact.” He looked at the crystal on the wall again. “Not only that, but I burnt out the central processing crystal just from punching her.”

He leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “Who are you, miss mystery pony?” he asked himself. “Obviously my first impression of you was wrong if I couldn’t physically hurt you. The only conclusion I can draw is that you are, for some reason, abnormally affected by magic, and the magic running through my Manipulator Gauntlets knocked you out when I blew out the crystal trying to punch you. The burst of unrestrained magic that caused would have been a headache at worst for anyone hit by it, but it’s the only thing I can think of that could have been in a position to do anything to you.”

Absently, he started to twirl a screwdriver in his magic. “You can fly like a Pegasus, you have the physical endurance of an Earth-Pony, if amplified to ridiculous levels, and if the glamour was yours, the ability to use magic like a Unicorn.” He frowned in thought. “An Alicorn?” He shook his head. “No, the Princesses are the only known Alicorns, and they would have no reason to hide themselves like that.”

Unbidden, his mind cast back to when he ran into Twilight Sparkle in the Town Hall. He hummed in thought. She was a powerful Unicorn in her own right, certainly powerful enough to levitate herself with a degree of skill. But what about the super endurance? A spell maybe?

Possibly. He himself was a master of self-reinforcement spells. Of course, even a master could only reinforce themselves so far. There was, after all, a limit to just how much magic the body can have running through it. While it’s possible that’s what the unknown pony was doing, he doubted even Twilight Sparkle could reinforce herself to the point where the Manipulator Gauntlets did nothing physically. Even Earth-Ponies wouldn’t walk away from ten pounds of steel to the face unscathed.

Besides, self-reinforcement also granted a degree of magical resistance as a side-effect, meaning the magic burst from his CPC breaking shouldn’t have done anything.

He groaned. “I need to take a break. I’m thinking in circles.” He grabbed the still functioning gauntlet and moved to a closet. Within was a blue body-suit. He grinned, grabbing it with his magic. “I know just how to relax.”

Time for Shifter the Thief to make himself known to Ponyville.

---

Trixie sighed as she dropped the reins of the cart she was pulling. She looked back at what she was hauling and, not for the first time, wondered to herself what’s so important about rocks of all things that they would need to be farmed.

After making sure the cart was secured and would not move easily, she left the barn she had dropped the cart off in and made her way towards the nearby house. Looking around the farm as she walked, Trixie felt her mood darken slightly at the almost dreary landscape. There wasn’t a speck of flora to be seen for miles.

Again, Trixie wondered what the point of farming rocks was, especially if the process required this kind of barren landscape. It was the opposite of what you’d expect to see at a normal farm.

“It’s… depressing,” she murmured to herself.

Upon reaching the house’s front door, she instinctively used her magic to grasp the door handle. She hissed in pain, her horn sparking erratically, and lowered her head. ‘Of course, the landscape wouldn’t be a problem if it was safe for Trixie to leave in the first place,’ she thought harshly, riding out her sudden splitting headache as best she could.

Overdriving as she had to escape the Ursa Major, especially as stressed as her body had already been from magic use that day, had very nearly flash-fried her body’s ability to channel magic completely. As it stood, she couldn’t even manage a simple tactile manipulation spell without her horn protesting violently. Hence why she was physically pulling the cart full of rocks, rather than gathering them with her magic, as she had in the magic duel with…

Her expression darkened.

‘The friend of Twilight Sparkle,’ she thought with no small amount of anger.

Twilight Sparkle. Just the thought of that mare sent Trixie’s mind into a fit of rage. She had heard of Twilight before going to Ponyville. Who hadn’t? Princess Celestia’s prized student. Debatably the most powerful Unicorn in Equestria.

Wielder of the Element of Magic.

Trixie scoffed. Twilight Sparkle was picked as the bearer of the Element of Magic because of her position, not any magical talent. Trixie was certain of that. Princess Celestia had played favorites, and then foisted the rest of the Elements on a bunch of no-names from a backwater village.

‘I will return, Twilight Sparkle,’ she thought darkly. ‘And when I do, I’ll show everyone who is the most magical Unicorn in Equestria.’
> 29. Dark Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 “I had him on the ropes,” the young man said.

 “I know you did,” she agreed, despite having just saved the young man’s life.

 The sound of a familiar weapon powering up had them both spinning around. Blue light filled her vision.

 “Get down!”

---

“Get down!” Fluttershy sat up with a scream. Instantly she dove for cover, only to wind up tangling herself in her sleeping bag and tent.

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash came out of her own tent a moment later, having been awoken by the scream. Twilight also appeared from another tent, having been startled awake by the, to her, piercing sound.

Fluttershy took a steadying breath. After a moment, she let it out and began to untangle herself. “I… I’m fine. Just a bad dream.” She shook her head. “Just a bad dream,” she repeated to herself.

Twilight frowned. “Another one? Is something the matter?” she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, really. I’m fine,” she said, smiling at her friend.

Twilight’s frown remained, and then her eyes glowed and odd purplish blue for a moment. She sighed. “Alright. But please remember that we’re here for you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy didn’t immediately respond, bowing her head.

---

“Alright ponies, here’s the deal. The climb up the mountain isn’t going to be the easiest thing we’ve done.” Twilight conjured an illusion of the mountain in the middle of the circle her and her friends had formed. “Rainbow and I have scouted out a path that will be relatively safe.” A dotted line formed, slowly circling upward around the mountain. “Unfortunately, even that is still dangerous. The ground isn’t stable, so we’re moving slowly.”

“Question!” Pinkie raised a hoof.

Twilight blinked, a bit startled by the interruption. “Yes?”

“Can’t you just carry us up there?” Pinkie asked. “According to you, something like that would be really easy.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say no, but then she actually considered it. It wouldn’t tire her out in the slightest, and Fluttershy and Rainbow could already fly, so… why not? “Huh. I’m kind of surprised I hadn’t thought of that myself.” She looked at the illusion she had conjured and sighed. “So much for that plan,” she mumbled to herself, letting the illusion fade.

---

Fluttershy had taken Twilight’s offer of carrying her up the mountain out of habit. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bad idea.

“You only got a ten second window! You miss that window… we’re bugs on a windshield.”

 “Mind the gap.”

 “Better get moving bugs!”

Fluttershy shuddered, gasping and curling in on herself.

“Should I hurry up?” Twilight’s voice sounded in her ears.

“Please!” Fluttershy whispered hoarsely.

Twilight nodded and held Fluttershy closer, moving a good deal faster.

Once she landed with Fluttershy on a ridge close to the top, she eased the Pegasus onto the ground. “Hey, we’re here Fluttershy. You’re on solid ground.” she said calmingly to the shivering Pegasus.

Fluttershy slowly uncurled and, shakily, stood up. “T-thank you, Twilight.” she said. She adamantly refused to look at the edge of the ridge.

“I don’t get it,” Twilight said after a moment. “From what you’ve told us, you were a soldier, and a good one at that. How are you being affected by heights?”

Fluttershy looked away. “Fear isn’t something you can fight easily…” she muttered.

Twilight nodded thoughtfully. “True… Very true.” she agreed. “Will you be alright on your own for a moment?” she asked.

“I’m fine now, thank you,” Fluttershy said, visibly looking better now that she was on solid ground.

Twilight nodded, looking uncertain for a moment, before taking off in a blur over the edge and towards the base of the mountain. Fluttershy watched her go.

Suddenly, the landscape below wasn’t that of a grassy plain, but a mountainous snowy region. Alongside one of the mountains was a train track, and on that track was a particularly fast moving train.

“Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?”

 “Yeah, and I threw up,” she recalled with fond exasperation.

 “This isn’t payback, is it?” her friend asked.

Fluttershy turned and looked up. There was a zipline from the edge of the cliff all the way to the tracks.

“Now why would I do that?” she asked with a smirk.

Fluttershy gasped as the vision vanished, but found herself giggling at both the byplay between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, and the context behind it she could remember.

She would be fine.

---

“Oh my stars and stripes…” Fluttershy heard Twilight whisper in horror. Honestly, as terrified of dragons as Fluttershy was at the moment, that fear was currently overridden by her empathy towards any creature that suffered unnecessarily. And this dragon…

Once everyone had made it to the top, they all all collectively made their way into the cave, ready for anything. Fluttershy had forced her own fears and doubts into a tight little ball and locked it up, knowing her friends needed her at this moment.

Due to what Twilight had said before about the possible intentions behind this situation, everyone had been half-expecting a massive fireball to be the first thing that greeted them. Either that, or a pile of riches and a rather indignant dragon laid upon it.

Instead, they have found a barren cave, not glimmer or sparkle of gold or jewels… and a red dragon slowly tossing and turning on the ground and groaning in obvious anguish. Thick smoke billowed from his mouth.

What had Twilight horrified, and everyone else nearly rushing out of the cave to vacate their stomachs, was the fact that a black and green smoke, clearly not part of the smoke the dragon was creating, was slowly eating away at this dragon’s flesh.

The dragon’s eyes snapped open, revealing green irises and a narrowed pupil. He zeroed in on Twilight and Fluttershy. A claw shakily reached out towards them. He coughed. “The smoke… The flame...” he wheezed.

Twilight and Fluttershy approached. Fluttershy nearly ran over to the dragon in an attempt to help, or at least ease its suffering.

The dragon’s tail slammed down between them. “No…” he coughed. “Stay… away…”

“But I can help!” Fluttershy tried to urge. She looked at Twilight in betrayal when the Mare of Steel grabbed her and dragged her away. She was shocked to see Twilight glaring at the dragon. Or, rather, at the greenish black smoke. “Twilight?” she asked.

“Stay away Fluttershy,” she said. “That is very potent dark magic.” Her gaze caught the dragon’s eye. “What happened?” she asked.

The dragon grunted. “Stellar Beast…” He rolled again. “So many lost…” he sighed, but then his eyes hardened and he tried to stand. “Must… warn…” With a trailing groan, his limbs failed him and he flopped to the ground.

Twilight once again stopped Fluttershy from moving forward. “Is there anything we can do?”

The dragon made an effort to focus on Twilight, but only ended up coughing up blood while trying to speak. Giving a silent prayer of hope, Twilight threw a numbing spell at the dragon.

It did absolutely nothing.

“Twilight, we have to do something!” Fluttershy cried, her enhanced strength useless against Twilight’s super strength as she struggled.

“No,” Twilight said, holding her friend back. “I have no idea what that is, other than it’s some kind of dark magic. I can feel that much. I don’t know what will happen if you get close.”

The dragon suddenly focused on Twilight with a startling intensity. “Warn them!” he growled, physically dragging himself towards the two mares. “Tell the council! Tell them!”

Twilight frowned. “Council? What council? Warn them of what?”

But the dragon was out of it again, and had stopped struggling. Smoke stopped billowing from his mouth, and the green-black smoke slowly faded away. Hesitantly, Twilight used her X-Ray Vision to see his vitals.

She lowered her head and directed Fluttershy towards the entrance. “Let’s go…” she whispered. “He’s gone.”

---

Twilight had made sure Applejack knew the route back to town and had the map before she took off straight for Canterlot. She spared no hesitance, and cared not who saw her flying through the air. She had passed more than one startled Pegasus on her way.

Every noble and petitioner in the Throne Room had jumped when Twilight slammed the doors open and strode in with a purpose.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked in mild surprise, before noticing the hard expression her student wore. “Clear the room and ensure our privacy,” she ordered the Royal Guard.

Once the room was clear, Twilight approached. “Dark magic killed the dragon,” she said without preamble. “It was some kind of greenish black smoke that ate away at his body. He was delirious with pain, and mentioned something about a Stellar Beast. He also said to, “Warn the council,” but he… passed on… before we could get him to elaborate.”

Celestia frowned. “That is… not good.” she said, thinking quickly. “I can’t say I recognize the type of magic of the top of my head, but… At the same time, it sounds strangely familiar.” She shook her head. “ And the council...He may have been referring to the Council in the Stars, the ruling body of the dragons. As for this Stellar Beast… It could be any number of things.” She sighed. “I suppose the only thing I can do is send a message to the Council and inform them of these events, and hope they know what’s going on.” She refocused on Twilight. “What of the Dragon’s remains?”

Twilight shuffled nervously. “I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, so I left the body there. I didn’t want anyone touching him in case the dark magic was still there, and it spread on touch.”

Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “Likely a wise decision, despite the fact that the Dragon nobility will be clamoring about disrespect.” After a moment, she nodded to herself. “If that is all Twilight, you may leave. Thank you for this, and I’m sorry you and your friends were exposed to it.” She paused. “Are your friends okay?” she asked.

Twilight nodded. “They’re fine. They were all a bit a sick when they saw the state the dragon was in, but otherwise fine.”

Celestia nodded, and Twilight left afterwards, knowing there wasn’t much else to discuss.
> 30. He Said, She Said, I Said, They Said
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following two weeks were relatively calm for the six friends and one dragon. There were three incidents of note, but nothing world shattering.

The first incident happened a few days after Twilight returned home from reporting to Celestia. Spike had approached her regarding the fact that he was the only Dragon he knew of in both Canterlot and Ponyville. This latest crisis had driven home in his mind that he was essentially alone in this world, and found himself yearning to learn about his heritage.

Understanding the feeling due to her own memories as the last Kryptonian in the Universe, Twilight promised to look into any information or possible Dragon locations she could. After an exchange of letters between them, Twilight managed to convince Celestia to send her copies of any books regarding Dragons in the Royal Archives. She was in the process of studying them now and compiling a lesson plan to teach Spike as much as she could.

The next incident happened during a rather severe storm one week later. Applejack and Rarity had been caught as it started and, not wanting to trek home in a raging downpour, had shacked up with Twilight for the night. This eventually evolved into Twilight’s first ever slumber party, which her two friends hesitantly agreed to.

Unfortunately, due to the vast differences between Rarity and Applejack in both life-choices and personalities, it very nearly turned into a disaster and a loss of friendship. But when Twilight’s home was threatened by the raging storm outside due to their bickering, they pushed those differences aside to help the Mare of Steel fix the problem.

Afterwards, they realized that they had actually gotten along during said crisis, and came to the conclusion that you didn’t need to be the same as your friend in order to be friends. You just had to accept that they were different, and respect their choices. And if those choices resulted in a clash of opinions, try and bring in someone to mediate between you.

Twilight of course was hesitant to try for another slumber party anytime soon, but thanked her friends for indulging in her desires nonetheless.

The final incident of note was the string of robberies going around Ponyville. Nothing truly valuable was stolen, but Twilight and, surprisingly, Rarity had begun investigating to determine the culprit. So far leads were few and far in between, though Rarity had realized that everything that was stolen was taken from high end security systems.

It was after those two weeks that something more interesting happened that made Twilight excited over both something new to study… and in the end knowledge of a good ally in the forest.

Of course, it very nearly didn’t turn out that way

---

“Okay, this is creepy,” Spike said.

Twilight found herself in silent agreement as she looked around the empty streets of Ponyville. It was around noon now, and usually the streets were full of ponies out and about, either on a lunch break, enjoying the day, or shopping. But now…

Well, the town was almost barren. It looked like a ghost town, but not rundown.

Her eyes caught movement. Looking over, she found a pony wearing a brown cloak in the Town Square. Judging by the black stripes on their legs that she could see, it was likely a Zebra. A quick use of X-Ray Vision confirmed her suspicion. Cautiously, Twilight approached. “Hey, do you kn-grk!”

A lasso of magic had snared Twilight and yanked her into one of the nearby houses. Spike yelped at the sudden abduction of his guardian, but before he could do anything else he was grabbed by a lasso of rope and pulled into the same building.

The two hit the floor in darkness. The magical rope around twilight dissipated while someone Spike couldn’t see undid the normal rope around him.

Twilight got up and lit her horn, creating light to see by, and glared at Applejack and Rarity. “Ignoring the moral quagmire of kidnapping… What the buck was that for?” she growled.

“Sorry Twi, but we weren’t sure whether or not she could hurt ya,” Applejack apologized as Rarity carefully peeked through the blinds over a nearby window.

It was at this point that Twilight realized all of her friends were in this building, and they all looked scared and/or nervous. “Hurt me?” she asked Applejack after a moment. “Who? The Zebra?”

“Zebra? What’s a Zebra?” Rainbow Dash asked from a cloud near the ceiling.

Twilight projected an illusion of the Zebra in the Town Square, minus the cloak. “She’s a Zebra. They’re a subspecies of Ponies closely related to Earth Ponies. Their culture revolves around ritualistic magic and souls.”

She watched Applejack shiver at the sight of the illusion. “Yeah, that’s her. That’s Zecora. Everyone in town is terrified of her.” Suddenly, Applejack’s eyes narrowed in anger. “And fer good reason! She lives in the Everfree Forest and can control the creatures there. She…” Applejack trailed off here, and Twilight frowned.

“She what?” she asked, curious about someone that could apparently control the wild creatures of the Everfree.

Her answer came not from Applejack, but from a sad Pinkie Pie. “Applejack’s mother and father died in a Timberwolf attack,” she said quietly. “Zecora was there, speaking to the Timberwolves.”

Twilight had gasped at the revelation, and then she frowned. “I’m sorry, but…” she shook her head. “I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“Are you callin’ me a liar?!” Applejack roared in understandable outrage.

Twilight winced at her blunder. “No!” she said, waving her hooves. “No… I mean, I don’t see how Zecora could control the Timberwolves. Zebra magic is fairly potent, tapping into the Veil to power spells, but it’s a magic that hinges on a delicate balance.” She paused in thought. “... Though, since Timberwolves are technically Wood Golems, I suppose you could use Zebrican Golemancy to control them.”

“Golemancy?” Rarity asked, frowning. “Isn’t that forbidden magic?”

Twilight waved a hoof. “Not really, no. It’s frowned on, but only because it has the potential to lead to a Flux buildup.”

Rarity and, surprising both Unicorns, Fluttershy nodded in understanding.

“... What?” Applejack and Pinkie both asked in confusion. Rainbow also looked confused. “What’s Flux?” Pinkie continued.

Rarity and Twilight exchanged a glance. “Without going into a long discussion on the nature of magic and how it interacts with the world,” Twilight began slowly. “Flux is the result of an imbalance in localized magical fields. It causes Taint to spread. And Taint is the warping and twisting of the land. Just a heads up, if you ever find yourself in a perpetually dark environment and under constant assault from monsters, get out of there as fast as possible and inform the Mages Guild in Canterlot as soon as you can.”

“And this ties into Zecora… how?” Rainbow asked. “I got as far as Golem… something-or-other, and you lost me.” She frowned, a thought coming to her. “Is she spreading this Taint thing around? Is that how she controls those monsters?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, we would most certainly know if there was Taint nearby. Any Unicorn, and magic user really, can sense Flux. That’s why I hesitate to agree that Zecora is controlling the Timberwolves. To get the kind of control she’d need for coordinated attacks, she would have to dabble in the forbidden aspects of Golemancy, and that produces Flux.”

“How long does Flux stick around?” Applejack asked thoughtfully after a moment. “The attack happened ten years ago.”

Twilight nodded slowly, seeing what she meant. “The surrounding magic fields will work to fix the imbalance that caused the Flux in the first place, so I guess it’s possible that It has faded by now.

“However, all of this is irrelevant, because I refuse to condemn someone based on what they may be responsible for. You say she was talking to the Timberwolves? What did she say?”

Applejack shrugged. “I don’t know. It was a language I don’t know. Always figured it was some kind of mystical hoo-doo words or somethin’,” she said.

“How did she say it?”

“Pardon?”

“Was she calm, commanding, scared, or angry?” Twilight explained.

Applejack frowned in thought, digging through her memory. “I think… actually, now that I think about it, she was angry, almost shouting in rage. She was waving around a stick with some kind of metal cap on it.”

“Was she yelling at the Timberwolves?”

Applejack nodded. “That I remember. She seemed angry at them.”

Twilight stared at Applejack. After a full minute, Applejack was starting to get uncomfortable. “What?” she asked.

“It never occurred to you that she may have been, oh… I don’t know… trying to stop them?!”

Applejack jumped at the sudden shout. Twilight didn’t give her a chance to respond and instead grabbed Spike and made her way out of the building.

“Twi? Twi, wait! Where are ya going?” Applejack called after her.

“To get some answers!” Twilight called back.
> 31. Nakama
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight’s first intention was to go back to Zecora and start asking questions. Unfortunately, by now she was gone. If her friends were right, Twilight guessed Zecora was likely in the Everfree now. Destination in mind, Twilight began her march towards the forest.

She crossed the border of the forest just in time for shouting to reach her ears.

“Twi! Twi, wait up!”

Twilight turned and found all five of her friends running up to her. “Girls?” she asked.

“You’re going to see her, aren’t you?” Applejack asked.

Twilight nodded. “I have to. Either Zecora is innocent,” Applejack winced. “And deserves recognition for her attempt to save total strangers, or she’s guilty, and therefore I am duty-bound as a Unicorn, and magic user in general, to stop her before she spreads Taint into town.”

Rarity nodded. “She’s right. If I had been thinking, I would have realized the same thing a long time ago. Every Unicorn in town would come down on Zecora if she’s dabbling in things that generate Flux.”

“A lot of Pegasi too, as Flux messes with our ability to manipulate weather. Ponyville’s weather would be thrown completely off,” Fluttershy added.

“We should probably tell everyone before we head in, get a large enough group together to bring Zecora in,” Rainbow said.

“No,” Twilight said with steel in her voice. “The last thing I want to do is bring together a group of ponies that have vengeance set in their heads, especially since Zecora may be innocent.”

“But she lives in the Everfree!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What kind of good pony does that?”

“We won’t know until we talk to her,” Twilight said, turning to once more begin her walk into the forest.

“We’re coming,” Rainbow Dash said. “Even if Zecora is innocent, even if you could probably handle the entire forest yourself,” she said, remembering Twilight’s abilities. “We’re still your friends. We won’t let you do it alone.”

Twilight turned her head to smile at her friend. “Thank you,” she said, and then looked at Applejack. “By the way, I’m sorry for snapping at you. I just found it a bit hard… seeing people… ponies… treat a single person like that. It brought up some old fears of mine.”

Applejack smiled and hugged her friend. “All’s forgiven, sugarcube. I figured something was bothering ya. Besides, it’s not like you were wrong. I thought about it as we chased after you. Yer right, she was probably trying to help.” She tilted her hat down a bit. “Honestly… lookin’ back… I feel like one o’ them bigots up in Canterlot, treating a pony like that.” She sighed. “If nothing else, I owe Zecora an apology for this. It’s mah fault the town is so scared of her.”

Twilight hugged her friend. “If she’s a good pony, she’ll understand and forgive you,” she comforted her friend.

---

Half an hour into the forest, the group of friends were no closer to discovering the location of the Zebra they searched for. Twilight was also beginning to suspect something was up when they had pass through the same field of flowers four times now. It wasn’t until a scream echoed from the forest that they got anywhere.

Applejack had instantly paled at the sound of the scream. “Applebloom!” she cried, not caring one bit as she pelted off through the thick brush of the forest. “Hang on, Bloom! I’m coming!”

Her friends were behind her every step of the way.

When the group broke into a clearing they came upon the site of a massacre. There were burnt sticks and leaves all over the place, and the ground in places was blasted as if a small bomb had gone off. That didn’t hold their attention long, though. Because on the other end of the clearing were two ponies they recognized.

Applebloom was huddled up behind Zecora, shivering in fear and grasping her right front hoof. Zecora’s aquamarine eyes glared hatefully at the pack of seven Timberwolves that slowly approached them. Like them, she was growling menacingly. She brandished a darkened wand in one hoof with gold caps on the end. There was a second, red, cap on the end she wasn’t grasping, and it was smoking lightly.

Applejack and Applebloom’s eyes met, and Applejack saw the terror in those eyes, mixed with pain. She saw tears of fear and desperation. Time slowed to a crawl, and Applejack felt despair as the Timberwolves lunged in. She knew she couldn’t reach her sister in time. She knew there was no way she could save her sister…

But she didn’t care.

“I want to live!”

 Applejack, time still slowed in her perspective, never even considered that Twilight may already be moving. She never considered that the faster of her friends were already lunging forward to save the two ponies. She never considered that Fluttershy was already in a dead sprint.

She only saw a threat to her family, to her Nakama(1).

“This room can’t be here anymore! I’ll destroy every place she doesn’t want to be kept in!”

Without thinking, barely even acknowledging the blur that the forest had become, or the crater her sudden departure had left behind, Applejack pulled back a hoof as she zeroed in on the Timberwolf closest to Applebloom. “I won’t let you!” she cried almost savagely.

 “Who… are you?”

 “Me? I’m…”

“Gum Gum…” Applejack breathed, passing Twilight and Fluttershy as her hoof trailed behind her… stretching.

“Monkey D. Luffy! I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!”

“Pistol!”

The Timberwolf had just enough time to turn and see the hoof right before it impacted, turning it into so much kindling.

Applejack slid to a stop next to Zecora, snorting as she glared at the rest of the Timberwolves. Chunks of wood fell in a rain around her. Her eyes were narrowed to near pin-pricks as rage and the desire to protect coursed through her veins.

“Many thanks,” Zecora panted from next to her.

“Thank me after we get out of this,” Applejack grunted.

Twilight, Fluttershy, and the others slowed to a stop as they watched Applejack. “Did her leg just…?” Fluttershy asked slowly.

“Yeah…” Twilight answered just as slowly.

Applejack reared back as the other Timberwolves approached. “You won’t take my sister!” she roared, her two front hooves flying back and stretching. “Gum Gum Gatling Pistol!”

Suddenly her hooves were flying as high speed as they continuously punched, retracted, and punched again in a massive blur.

Zecora, not one to stand by and watch, levelled her wand. “Ignis!” she cried in an echoing voice. The red cap on the end ignited, and a fireball launched from the wand. It hit one of the Timberwolves and exploded violently, shattering the golem of wood.

It was over seconds later, Applejack’s attack having destroyed the rest of the Timberwolves. She stood panting in front of her sister, and knew she was victorious.

The Soul of Family had awoken.
> 32. Aftermath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once everyone took a moment to gather themselves after the surprise that was Applejack stretching her body like rubber, something happened that, in hindsight, shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

“That was so cool!”

Applejack jumped at the sudden near squeal from behind her. She turned, and saw Applebloom looking at her with stars in her eyes. “Er… huh?” she asked, having trouble recovering.

“The way you stretched! And, and then when you shot your hoof at the wolf like a crossbow bolt! And then, and then that thing where you moved so fast it looked like you had hundreds of limbs!” Applebloom was clearly amazed.

“Applejack?”

Applejack looked over and saw Twilight staring at her intently. She frowned, trying to figure out why. Suddenly, a few of Luffy’s memories flashed through her mind, mostly focused on the stoic and determined Zoro. Applejack stumbled backwards, a hoof holding her head as a headache came on. “Oooh…” she moaned, suddenly dizzy. “Wha…?” she tried to speak, swallowed, and then tried again. “What happened?”

“Another Hero Soul?” Twilight murmured to herself.

Applejack fought past the rising nausea she could feel and tried to focus. “Hero Soul?” Oh, right. That thing where Twilight, and Fluttershy she guessed, had the memories of someone else. Memories and abilities.

Is that what happened?

Zecora stepped up, her eyes focused on Applejack. “Have you overtextended yourself?” she asked, then paused, silently realizing her accidental pun.

“No. Ahm fine. Just…” Applejack swallowed her nausea again. “No, Ah… don’t feel too good,” she groaned again.

“She can’t already be going through rejection… can she?” Twilight continued to mutter to herself.

Fluttershy, the ever compassionate and caring mare that she was, noticed something everyone seemed to have momentarily forgotten. Behind the obviously not well Applejack was her sister, Applebloom. Applebloom, despite her clear awe for her sister at the moment, was still cradling her hoof. She approached.

Applebloom noticed her, and tried to hide behind her sister.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack, realizing who Fluttershy was talking to, spun around to face her sister. She promptly fell on her face as the nausea stole her legs out from under her. “Oh stars…” she murmured with wide eyes, right before she promptly hurled on the grass.

Fluttershy, realizing what was about to happen, grabbed Applebloom and flew off the ground just in time to avoid them both getting vomited on.

Zecora reached into a pouch connected to a belt she wore and pulled out an herb. She held it in front of Applejack. “Chew,” she instructed. “Don’t swallow, just chew.”

Applejack opened her mouth and took the herb. “Minty,” she muttered after a moment.

“Mint?” Twilight asked Zecora.

The zebra nodded. “It should hopefully ease her stomach. I wish I could help more, but I am unsure what caused her sickness to begin with.”

“Ahm fine,” Applejack said around her full mouth.

“You are not,” Zecora said firmly. “Fine ponies do not vomit.”

“She’s got you there, AJ,” Rainbow Dash said, smirking.

Fluttershy, while everyone was preoccupied with Applejack, tended to the hoof of Applebloom. “Does it hurt?” she asked, pointing at the hoof.

Applebloom nodded. “I think I sprained it when I fell earlier. I was running from the wolves.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely sprained,” Twilight said as she walked up. Her eyes were glowing a light purple, almost blue, color as she looked at Applebloom’s hoof. “Not horribly, but I strongly suggest keeping off of it for at least a week.”

“She’s fine?” Applejack asked.

Twilight glanced at Applebloom, who had, surprisingly, turned to Zecora and began conversing with her about plants and their uses, before looking at Applejack and answering. “Physically, it’s just a moderately sprained hoof. That will heal relatively quickly on its own, faster with medical or magical aid.” Twilight glanced at Applebloom again. “Mentally… Well, I worry she may need therapy after this. Her life was just threatened after all.”

Applejack looked at the filly, who had taken to talking animatedly about herbs with the zebra. “She seems fine to me. Are you sure?” she asked.

“She’s currently riding the high of her adrenaline and the excitement of seeing her sister being so cool. Eventually that energy will fade. Eventually, she’ll realize how close she came to dying. Whether that will adversely affect her or not… well, I’m not a psychologist. Everything short of the paperwork to be a geneticist and geologist, but not a psychologist.”

After a moment, Applejack nodded. “I’ll make sure she goes,” she swore.

“You doubt me?” Twilight asked, not unkindly.

Applejack shook her head. “No, nothing like that,” she promised. “I just… how can you trust a pony that tells you how you’re supposed to think?” she asked. “It just seems like a bunch of hogwash to me.”

“Psychology isn’t about telling ponies how to think, Applejack,” Twilight said. “It’s about discovering how the mind works, and helping to heal the minds of ponies who have had psychotic breaks, or are victims of PTSD. It’s also there to help ponies recover from traumatic experiences, like Applebloom.” She placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “Do you trust me, Applejack?”

Applejack nodded without hesitation. “I don’t understand a lot of the things you talk about, or do… but I trust you,” she said with conviction.

“Let me take Applebloom to see Luna tomorrow. In fact, you should come with us. I need to speak to the Princesses about the fact that all of my friends are awakening Hero Souls. Two is a coincidence. Three? Something’s going on.”

Applejack nodded after a moment. “Alright. I’ll leave the farm in Big Mac’s hands tomorrow, and excuse Applebloom from her homework.”

Twilight smirked. “You mean hooves, right?” she asked.

Applejack blinked, then realized her slip. She groaned. “Oh man, this is going to be hard, isn’t it?” she asked.

“It’ll pass eventually,” Twilight reassured her friend.

“How is your stomach?”

Twilight and Applejack looked at Zecora, who had stepped forward and spoke. Applejack looked down at her stomach. “I feel… fine?” she asked in mild surprise. She smacked her lips and grimaced. “Gonna gargle some mouthwash though. That did not leave a pleasant taste in mah mouth.”

Zecora nodded with a smile. “That is good to hear.” She motioned towards Applebloom. “I have given young Applebloom a poultice made from magical herbs for her hoof. It should ease the pain and swelling, as well as boost her body’s healing factor slightly. I have given her instructions on how to produce more are well, so she may change it when necessary.”

Applejack noticed the green leaf-like wrapping around Applebloom’s hoof. She then looked at Zecora. “Thank you,” she said sincerely, before sighing. “To think… all this time I had thought you were…” she hesitated.

Zecora smirked. “Indeed, I have heard the whispers when disguised within the town. Many believe I am the cause of the timberwolf attack that stole your parents. However, I understand the day was traumatic to you. Truly, that your anger towards me gave you the focus you needed to recover was enough for me to let it be. I was happy knowing you survived and thrived…” She sighed here. “Even if your parents did not. I truly am sorry for failing to protect them,” she said.

Applejack surprised herself and Zecora by pulling the zebra into a hug. “I’m sorry too, for putting the town against you,” she said. “I don’t care what anypony says, you fought to protect the Apples twice now. As far as ahm concerned, you’re an Apple, and a friend. You will always be welcome on the farm.”

Zecora smiled after a moment and returned the hug. “Thank you,” she said.
> 33. Zebrican Thaumcraft
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So why do you live in the Everfree?” Twilight asked as she, her friends, Zecora, and Applebloom on Applejack’s back travelled to Zecora’s home in the forest.

“Tis a land full of magic, and a land governed by none but itself. The Everfree is just that, forever free.” Zecora responded. “It reminds me of the jungles of home, where zebras do not command nature, but rather live in harmony with it.”

“Why are you here though?” Applejack asked. “Why leave the zebra nation?”

Zecora reached into her saddlebag at her side and produced a large leather-bound tome. “I am on a pilgrimage to complete my Thaumonomicon, a journey all Shamans undertake at least once in their lives.”

Twilight stared at the book in awe. “No way... “ she breathed. Her hoof steadily reached out, but Zecora pulled the book away from it. “I never thought I would ever see one of those with my own eyes…”

Zecora was smiling as she put the book away. “Indeed, it is not something we let just anypony see. A Thaumaturge is nothing without their Thaumonomicon after all.”

“So it’s a spellbook?” Applebloom asked.

Zecora gave the filly a smile. “It is no more a spell book than you are a pony,” she said.

“Excuse me?” Applejack asked, eyes narrowing.

Zecora held up the book again. “It is indeed true that there are many spells you can find within the confines of a Thaumonomicon, but spells are only a single chapter. There is far more to this book than the magic it can teach me, just as there is far more to you than being just a pony.” She poked Applebloom on the nose. “It is why such a journey is undertaken in the first place, to provide experience to forge and temper the knowledge we gain.”

"So cool..." Applebloom breathed, clearly fascinated.

“Don’t you miss your home?” Applejack asked after a moment. “I tried that once… I just couldn’t take it,” she said in remembrance of her own journey to discover her Cutie Mark.

Zecora nodded. “Not a Moon goes by that I don’t long for the canopies of the Zebrican jungles. But the knowledge that I will one day return is enough to ease my woes.”

“How complete is the book?” Twilight asked.

Zecora smirked at her. “You, who has the wisdom of two ages, should know the answer to that.”

Twilight and Fluttershy froze just as they entered a clearing with a wooden hut.

Zecora nodded, stepping in front of the group. “All Thaumonimicons are different in one way or another. Such difference is usually because of their owner, but mine…” she flipped open the book, peering into the pages. “There is a chapter within with but a single entry. I read it only once before, and do not remember the contents. All I remember is the knowledge it imparted unto me, of you, your friends, and of the message I must repeat.”

A glow from the pages of the book illuminated Zecora as she began to read aloud. “The Eater of All comes, and none may End him. Death cannot reach him, and Life will not free him. His herald shall be the rise of Reality’s Chosen, his vanguard their shadows. The First will be the Bridge Between the Dawn and the Dusk. The Second shall be the Mother of All. The Third shall be the Heart of all Love. The Fourth shall be the Shattered Soul. The Fifth shall be the Thief of Excess. The Sixth shall be the Prismatic Blur.”

The glow intensified, Zecora’s eyes turning white and glowing as well. “Three times shall the Gatekeepers bell toll. One, the Architect of the Bridge will know the other half’s pain. Two, the The Illusion will fall, halting Genocide. Three, he is here. All has been consumed.”

The book started to float. “But Beware the tale of the Eater of All. It is all paved in gold.”

The book slammed shut, falling from the air. The thump of it landing on the grass was punctuated by the near deafening silence that followed.

Slowly, Zecora picked up the book. With eyes shining with all the colors of the rainbow, she looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Soul of Hope,” she greeted, her voice multi-layered and echoing.
> 34. Dismiss Me Not
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight gasped in shock. “It’s you!” she accused with wide eyes, pointing her hoof at Zecora.

The mare nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“Twilight?” Applejack asked in confusion, the rest of her friends looking between her and Zecora in confusion.

Twilight glanced at Applejack, then back at Zecora. “Was Zecora even real?” she asked.

The mare giggled, the sound like chimes in the wind. “Zecora is very real, and is currently allowing me to speak to you through her. It is a subconscious permission though, as her conscious mind melding with mine would be… disastrous.”

“But… why?” Twilight asked. “Is it already happening? Whatever it is you sent me here for?”

The mare sighed. “I wish it were not so, but the -” her mouth moved, but no sound came out. “- seems to have set his sights on Equestria specifically, drastically advancing the timeline.”

Twilight blinked. “Say that again, please? I didn’t quite catch it,” she requested.

The mare shook her head. “It is through no fault of your own, Soul of Hope. As your Princesses may tell you, the higher up on the food-chain you are, the more you will find yourself restrained by rules and regulations. I am bending the rules as it is appearing to you now. The powers that be are actively suppressing anything else I try to say or do.”

Twilight frowned. “What can you tell us?”

The mare smiled. “The prophecy Zecora spoke to summon me is the extent of the information I am able to grant you. The summoning itself was to insure you did not dismiss said prophecy.”

Twilight sighed. “I suppose cryptic riddles are better than nothing,” she mumbled.

The rainbow coloring in the mare’s eyes started to fade. She smiled at Twilight. “Worry not, Soul of Hope. With your friends there to guide you, you will reignite the Light in the Darkness.”

“No pressure,” Pinkie said with a grin.

Twilight noticed the dimming colors. “Is something wrong?” she asked in concern.

The mare shook her head. “I have simply reached the end of my time limit. To stay any longer would both undoubtedly break the rules, and cause great harm to this mage.” And with a final breath, the mare closed her eyes and breathed out.

When those eyes opened again, it was to the more familiar tones of Zecora. “I…” she rubbed her forehead. “What happened?” she asked.

“I think we all want that answer,” Applejack said, looking at Twilight.

Twilight nodded.

---

“What you just saw is the being that turned Clark Kent into a Hero Soul after he died,” Twilight stated without preamble after everyone settled within Zecora’s hut. “I don’t know what, exactly, she is. I imagine a goddess of some kind, maybe even THE Goddess, or maybe she is just a simple divinity whose responsibility is the maintenance of the Hero Soul system. I don’t know.”

“How do you know her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Remember when I had my mental breakdown shortly after awakening my memories?” Everyone nodded to Twilight’s question. “The solution was to bridge the gap between Twilight Sparkle and Clark Kent’s memories. I had to do some literal soul searching, and found the memory of her turning me into the Soul of Hope before she reincarnated me here in Equestria.”

“...I don’t remember that,” Fluttershy offered after a moment of thought.

Applejack shook her head. “Can’t rightly say I do either.”

Applebloom yawned, and her head slowly drifted down on Applejack’s back. “Ah… don’t really understand it myself,” she muttered.

Applejack glanced out the window to judge the time. “It’s alright, ‘Bloom. Don’t make much sense to me either,” she said, deciding she should probably be getting her sister home. “Ready to head home?”

“Do we have to?” Applebloom whined. “Zecora’s so cool! And so is her magic!”

Applejack chuckled, remembering Zecora mentioning a few of the things she could do on their walk back. “I won’t deny that. Her Alchemy almost sounds like magical cooking.” She looked at her friends, old and new. “I should be getting Applebloom home. She has a busy day ahead of her tomorrow,” she said. She nodded her head to Zecora. “Remember, you’re an Apple now. If you need anything, even just an ear to talk off, yer welcome at the farm. We will, at the very least, listen.”

Zecora smiled a bit bigger. “And I consider it an honor. Thank you.” She pointed at Applebloom. “Remember that her poultice must be changed every evening before she sleeps. When she sleeps is when the magic will work most efficiently. She will also feel the urge to sleep off and on for a few days. Be mindful of that if you find her napping.” she reminded the farm pony.

Applejack nodded her head and made for the door.

As the friends began making their way outside, Applejack looked at the trees, or rather their branches, and a had a thought. “Hey ‘Bloom, fancy taking the express way home?” she asked.

“Express way?” the filly asked.

Applejack grabbed her hat, reared back, and launched a hoof at a nearby branch, grabbing it and essentially grappling her way to it. She then repeated the process, quickly making her way to another.

They made their way home at speed, Applebloom screaming in glee and Applejack not even hiding her wide grin.

Twilight could only shake her head with a smile as she led her friends down the more mundane path.

---

Twilight woke up the next day feeling like something was, decidedly, off. After spending five minutes under her covers trying to puzzle it out, she eventually decided that it was unimportant and got up to address her morning routine.

Her feet hit the wooden floor and sent a shiver up her spine. 'Cold,' she thought, stumbling her way to the bathroom. Her hand fumbled with the handle before she pushed the door open, and

Thunk!

"Ow!" Twilight yelped, her hand massaging her head gingerly as she glared at the doorway. She ducked under it and continued.

Once her bathroom activities were complete, only one thing was on her mind now, piercing the haze of her still half-asleep mind.

"Coooffeeeee!" she almost moaned, stumbling down the steps with a hand on the banister. She followed the smell of fresh brewed coffee,

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Spike could be heard in the kitchen. "Give me five minute to finish your pancakes."

Twilight pulled out a chair and sat down. She let her head clonk onto the table, and winced. "Ow," she said again, before frowning. "Wait a second..." she sat up and crossed her eyes, trying to look at her forehead. "Ow?" she asked. "Since when did something like that hurt me?"

Normally she's be more concerned about the door frame and table than her head. But she had categorically failed to harm them accident or not, and had in fact been harmed by them.

Her hands came up and rubber her forehead. She winced. Yep, definitely bruised. After a moment however, several facts clicked in her head at once, instantly banishing her sleepiness. Hands?' her hands flew to her forehead again. "Where's my horn?!" she screeched, shooting to her feet. 

Thunk!

Twilight was forced back into her seat, seeing stars. Her head had hit the suddenly much lower ceiling. "Ow..." she groaned, rubbing her head once again.

As Twilight nursed her poor abused skull, one thought drifted through her mind.

"What in the name of Rao is going on?"
> 35. Nos Non Facimus Normalis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You woke up like this?” Celestia asked, circling Twilight and examining her human body.

Human. Not Kryptonian, not pony, but human. Her powers were completely and utterly gone. It was, to be blunt, a harsh shock to her system.

Said body was also naked except for a sheet she had grabbed to use as a makeshift toga/dress. It had brought back memories of Clark’s Kansas University college days, and she was half-grinning, half grimacing at the thoughts. She had sent Spike to Rarity’s with her new measurements to acquire some clothes, with a bag of Bits to pay for said clothes.

That had been three hours ago. Twilight was beginning to get worried, but could do nothing until her impromptu meeting with the Princess concluded. Speaking of which...

Twilight nodded. “I felt something was wrong when I woke up, but didn’t realize what until after I sat down and bumped my head on the table,” she explained, nursing the comparatively tiny cup of black coffee in her hands. She rubbed her head and winced. Yep, the bump was still there.

Celestia’s horn pulsed yellow with magic, and she shook her head. “I have absolutely no idea how this could have happened,” she admitted. “Based on everything I’ve ever learned about human anatomy from speaking to previous Hero Souls, you seem to be a perfectly normal, healthy human female. Just no useable magic.”

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. “I have no magic?” she asked, dread rising in her heart.

Celestia shook her head. “No, you do. You have a soul. Therefore, you produce magic, just not enough to do more than sustain yourself in Equestria’s magical environment.” she sighed. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think this was Discord’s work… He was always good at toeing the line but not crossing it. Well… before he went mad at any rate...”

“Discord?” Twilight asked in confusion..

Celestia paused, a thought occurring to her, before again shaking her head turning and levitating a crystal into view. “A discussion for another day,” she said firmly, shelving her own thoughts for later review. “Hold still,” she instructed, funneling her magic through the crystal.

A beam of blue light shot from the tip, and began to run up and down Twilight’s body. After roughly four runs, it flickered out. “I’ll take this to Doctor Tender and see if he can make any sense out of these readings,” Celestia said, placing the crystal in a pouch on her saddlebags, which were leaning against a nearby wall. “In the meantime, it would probably be unwise to let the populace see you like this. Try and stay here until we find a solution.”

Twilight raised a finger. “And if there is no solution? Or, at least, one isn’t found easily? I can’t just confine myself to the library for the rest of my life.” She paused here, before giving a sheepish laugh. “Regardless of how much my younger self would have liked the opportunity,” she said.

Celestia smirked. “Yes, you did have a distressing habit of spending weeks at a time in your library,” she teased, enjoing how much Twilight blushed in embarrassment. “Still, you are right. I will let you know if we find anything tomorrow. If not, feel free go out, just….. Be careful.”

Celestia left at that, levitating her bag after her. Her ever present squad of Solar Guards fell into step on either side of her and slightly behind as she walked out.

Twilight sighed, looking at her hand. “Well… I always did want to know what it was like to be normal,” she muttered. Then she groaned. “Who am I kidding? I should just put the words Nos Non Facimus Normalis on the front door of the library. It would at least give fair warning to any visitors,”

---

Twilight managed to another hour before deciding she could wait no more. She gathered up some stationary and penned a quick message on a scroll, rolled it up, and tried to send it to Spike via the postal magic he had developed, trying to find out if he was okay.

She was forcefully reminded of her lack of both a horn and her own useable magic when absolutely nothing happened. Realizing she was stuck until Spike returned or someone visited the library, Twilight went about cleaning the bookshelves. She may as well be productive, at least.

---

Twilight heard to door of the library open and turned just in time to see Spike back into the room, carrying a large bundle of clothes tied together with twine. “Twilight! I’m back!” he called, kicking the door shut as he came in.

Twilight emerged from a row of shelves and eagerly took the clothes from him. Thank you Spike. Being half-naked is driving me nuts,” she said with a shake of her head.

Spike scratched his head. “Aren’t you normally naked anyways? You hardly ever wear a jacket, let alone a full set of clothes.”

Twilight paused. “Huh… That actually never occurred to me,” she realized. “I wonder if it’s because of my body? Is it causing subconscious behaviours to become more prevalent according to what kind of body I’m in?” Twilight began muttering to herself as theories played across her mind.

Spike’s claws snapping in front of her face got her attention. “Huh? Spike? Is something wrong?”

“First of all, you were getting lost in ideas again. Go get dressed first at least,” Spike reminded her. “Second… actually, go get dressed. This might take a minute,” he changed his mind at the last second.

“Okay?” Twilight half answered and half asked.

---

Now wearing a pair of simple denim pants and a red cotton shirt, Twilight came back downstairs to find Spike fidgeting with his claws at one of the reading tables. “Spike? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I… don’t know?” he half asked. He seemed confused.

Twilight blinked. “Um… Okay? Is it Rarity?”

Spike nodded after a moment. “Yeah… That’s why it took so long for me to get back. I got Rarity’s place easily enough, but I ended up spending a half hour just trying to get her to open the door. She was yelling about her mane and coat being an absolute mess. When I finally convinced her to let me in, I saw what she meant.” He paused here, considering how to continue. “She was fluffy. Like… her fur and mane overgrown and untamed. And no matter what she did, comb it, cut it, even gelling it, she couldn’t get it to go down.” He shrugged. “I spent another ten minutes convincing her that you need clothes to specifications you wrote down. Ten more minutes trying, and failing, to get her to accept the Bits for it, and another five minutes talking to Sweetie Belle.”

“Sweetie Belle?” Twilight asked, unfamiliar with the name.

“Rarity’s younger sister,” Spike explained. “She’s staying with Rarity for a while since their parents are currently on a vacation in Las Pegasus. Likes to ask questions.”

“Oh…” Twilight said, surprised Rarity had never brought her up in their conversations before.

“Anyways, Rarity asked me who needed clothes meant for bipedals, and I told her what happened to you.” Twilight winced, but said nothing. “After a moment, she asked me to check with the rest of your friends to see if they were going through anything strange as well. Hence why it took so long to get back.”

“And? Are they okay?” Twilight asked in concern.

Spike winced. “Are they hurt? Well, besides Rainbow and Applejack’s pride, no. Are they okay?... also a no.” He started ticking off claws. “Applejack got shrunk to the size of a hoof, which is apparently messing with her newly awakened memories. Something about gears. Rainbow Dash has her wings on backwards, which has her effectively grounded as even that odd mailmare was flying in a straighter line than her. Fluttershy refused to even open the door, but Angel shooed me away, so I’m assuming she’s at least not hurt. And finally, Pinkie Pie’s tongue was all swollen up, preventing her from talking. She could breathe easily though, so there’s that.” He looked at Twilight. “Is there some kind of spell that could do all that?” he asked curiously.

Twilight thought for a moment, before nodding her head slowly. “Transmogrification of that level really isn’t that hard. It would be more taxing to maintain than anything else.” She paused in thought. “Did Rarity mention feeling any kind of background spellwork?” she asked.

Spike shook his head. “Between the sobs of her coat and mane being ruined, I understood enough to know she has no idea how this happened. Sweetie didn’t say anything either.”

“That rules out the standard transmogrification spell. You can’t disguise the feel of the magic when using it, meaning she would have immediately known if someone was actively doing that to her,” Twilight said.

Twilight let her eyes wander as she thought. When they passed over Spike, a glimmer on his scales caught her attention. She paused. “Spike? What’s that?” she asked, pointing at his scales.

Spike looked at his shoulder, where she was pointing. He squinted, before running a claw over the spot. Twilight and Spike both looked at what was on his claw, then at each other in confusion.

“Blue powder?” they asked each other.
> 36. Toxic Gag
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight Sparkle is many things. A (normally) Unicorn of great power, the reincarnation of perhaps the strongest being she knows of (not that she advertises that fact, mind you), and the very faithful and loyal student of Princess Celestia. As such, when Celestia had told her to remain in the library until the next day, she took it as if God had just handed down an immutable command. (With the experience of Clark now bolstering her, she realizes she has issues. She is just unsure how to confront said issues.)

That did not, however, prevent her from becoming bored and antsy. So, with the revelation of the blue powder, Twilight took to studying it with gusto. At the very least it would keep her mind off of her changes.

Without access to her magic, her methods of study were limited to the magitech devices she owned. Taking some samples from Spike, and sending him to check on their friends to see if he had gotten it from them, she settled in for a somewhat uncomfortable study session. (Being bipedal really did not make things easy with quadruped designed furniture.)

Then she began to analyze it with some of her stronger microscopes, being very careful to not let the dust spread. She has since discovered two things.




The dust was biological in nature, some kind of flora if she had to guess. It was unlike any flora she had ever seen though.

The dust was infused with a magic she had never seen before, capable of causing physical mutations in the extreme. However, it did not seem to be malignant in nature, as when she had accidentally touched it, the worst to happen was her fingernails growing.



These two things combined led Twilight to suspect the powder came from the Everfree Forest, a veritable hotbed of all manner of strangeness. It also led her to wonder if the powder itself was the cause of her transformation. A quick but thorough search of her bed and bathroom confirmed that the powder had been on her as well, lending credence to her theory.

When Spike returned later with confirmation that their friends did in fact have the blue powder on them, Twilight began researching in earnest. Throughout all of this Spike documented every observation she made.

Near the end of the day, Twilight sent the information off to Celestia via dragonfire, hopeful her mentor and Doctor Tender could make use of it.

---

With a flash of green flame, Celestia was startled from her book by the appearance of a stack of papers stapled together, and then a plastic bag full of a strange blue powder with a simple scroll attached to it. Taking the scroll, she began reading aloud for the benefit of Tender, who was currently sitting in a chair across from her, apparently doing nothing.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

“I discovered this blue powder first on Spike’s scales, and later within my bed and shower. Spike also later confirmed that the same was true for my friends. Initial studies reveal that this powder, organic in nature, is capable of extreme physical transmutations on contact. Due to the organic nature of the substance, I have theorized that it is from the Everfree Forest and in fact the cause of the transformations of both me and my friends.

“(Yes, we later discovered that my friends have also been altered, though not in quite the radical way I have.)

“I have performed as much of a thorough examination of the powder as I could without access to my magic and Spike documented the results for me. The provide sheaf of papers are said results. I hope this aids in your research for a cure.

“P.S. Spike just raised a very good idea. Tomorrow morning I will gather my  friends and we will seek out Zecora. As she lives within the Everfree itself, she may know of this powder and if it is indeed the cause of our transformations. And, hopefully, how to revert them.

“Your Faithful Student,
“Twilight Sparkle."

Celestia could only shake her head with a smile. “She really has changed,” she mused.

“Oh? How so?” Tender asked.

“Before she awakened her Hero Soul, Twilight was actually quite meek when it came to socializing with new ponies. Now she actively seeks them out when she sees the need.”

“Perhaps it is just her pragmatism overriding said meekness?” Tender guessed. “From what I understand, this Clark Kent was a stallion that valued secrecy, but threw it to the wind in favor of accomplishing his goals. She may still be hesitant in the face of casual socialization.”

Celestia shrugged, picking the power bag up in her magic. “Who knows. Now that we have a lead, I say we attempt to figure this out.”

Tender nodded and grabbed a Scanner Crystal from his desk. “Let’s.”

---

Twilight awoke the next morning a bit grumpy. Due to her now bipedal frame, sleeping on her relatively smaller bed was uncomfortable at best. Her back hurt and her head was pounding.

Pushing that aside however, she quickly prepared for the day and set out with Spike to gather their friends.

Applejack was easy. The mare was steaming mad about her size and eager to find a cure.

Fluttershy was not. The Pegasus refused to leave her home, or even show herself or speak. Rainbow Dash, who had been bunking with Fluttershy until she could actually regain the ability to fly home, left with them after assuring them that Fluttershy was fine. She just refused to be seen until she could be returned to normal.

Pinkie Pie was also pretty upset about being unable to talk, and had forced Applejack to start a song about Zecora being an evil enchantress. That had been cut off by Twilight, who had not been pleased Pinkie had fallen into accusing the Zebra without proof.

Granted, circumstantial evidence could in fact say Zecora had the opportunity, but that was why circumstantial evidence tended to not be valid in court. It pointed out possibilities, not facts.

Rarity had been even more angry than Applejack and eager to “politely” reprimand whomever was responsible. Twilight would have been worried if she didn’t see a giant, hugable, ball of fluff every time she looked at Rarity.

Actually… now that she thought about it… all of their situations were kinda funny. Well, most, since she didn’t know what actually happened to Fluttershy. It was a borderline cruel kind of funny, but still.

It made Twilight suspicious that Mr. Mxyzptlk was involved somehow. Being capable of dimensional travel, she wouldn’t say he couldn’t reach her. Though, considering how their last encounter went, she seriously doubted it.

---

Zecora couldn’t quite contain her smile at the sight of the five mares and one drake. “I suppose this stands as a cautionary tale for future endeavors into the Everfree Forest,” she mused. “Avoid the accursed blue flower, for it is no hoax. It will play quite the cruel joke.”

Twilight looked relieved at that. “Oh thank Rao! Please tell me this means you can fix this?” she asked. “I mean, I don’t necessarily mind being human, it’s certainly a new experience, but… the way the other ponies in town seemed scared at the sight of me makes me not want to go through that again.”

Zecora entered her hut and came back out with her Thaumonomicon. Flipping through the pages, she came to an entry. “Yes, here it is. Poison Joke. It is a magical species of flora that bears little to no resemblance to poison oak, of which it is named after. It develops a blue powder on its leaves, giving the illusion of blue leaves, which are imbued with minor chaos magic, and will cause a physical and sometime magical mutation in those who come into contact with the powder. The change itself seem to be guided by the users subconscious discomforts rather than any direction from the plant itself.”

“Well sakes, that explains why ah’m so small. I never liked the aftereffects of Gear Third…” Applejack muttered to herself.

“The change itself is temporary and will run its course after roughly a week, shorter if-”

Suddenly, there was a poof amidst the ponies, and then a startled purple Unicorn had replaced the human. "Zah?"

Zecora smirked. “Shorter if the afflicted is gifted with particularly powerful magic reserves. There is also a potion I can brew that will sap the chaos magic from you and return you to normal.”

“Oh PLEASE tell me you can do so quickly?!” Rarity all but pleaded.

“But it is quite the unpleasant concoction… and you must bathe in it.”

That took a moment to register for everyone, and as one they shuddered.
> 37. Regrets, Part One: Believe In The Me That Believes In You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come ON Rarity!” Applejack growled, pulling hard on the rope she had wrapped around her friend’s leg.

“No! I will not debase myself so!” said Ponyville’s resident Drama Queen, gripping the frame of her front door with both hooves and her magic.

Twilight was nearby lazily floating in the air as she read a book.

“Are ya gonna help or not, Twi?!” Applejack asked.

Twilight looked up. “Why? She clearly doesn’t want to take the poison joke cure bath, so what’s the point? It’ll wear off on its own eventually.” She returned to her book. Honestly, the only reason she was even still there was to make sure Applejack didn’t get carried away.

Rarity decided to go on the offensive and grabbed some of her mannequins in her magic, tossing them at Applejack. This made Applejack yelp and let go to duck away from them. She retaliated by charging Rarity and tackling her. The resulting scuffle spilled inside of the boutique and Twilight sighed, going inside as well to make sure her friends didn’t hurt each other seriously.

---

“I still don’t get it. What’s so different about your transformation from Twilight’s?” Rainbow Dash asked as she sat next to the tub Fluttershy currently sat in.

Fluttershy sighed, using a hand to pull back her dark hair from her face. “It’s not the fact that I’m human that’s bothering me.” She stared at her hand, the skin lightly tanned, in consternation.

Waking up to find the face of Felicia Beyer staring back at her in the mirror yesterday morning had been a harsh shock to her system.

“So what is the problem?” Rainbow Dash asked, mildly frustrated. “You know I won’t make fun of you, and I won’t tell anypony if it really bothers you that much.”

Fluttershy continued to stare at her hand for a moment, before letting it fall back into the green liquid she was sitting in. “She just… brought up some bad memories.”

Rainbow looked at her friend. “From when you were that Steve stallion?” she asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “Remember when I said I was a frail man with little to no hope of accomplishing my dream?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I didn’t just happily take the opportunity Erskin gave me. I all but bodily threw myself at him in desperation.”

“Well, yeah. You wanted to help ponies. Nothing wrong with that,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Fluttershy was quiet again for a time. “Some time after I became Captain America, I found myself in a fight with four individuals, each of them having styled themselves after drugs.”

“Drugs?” Rainbow Dash asked, not quite sure what she meant.

Fluttershy paused, remembering that in Equestria substance abuse wasn’t nearly as big of a problem as it was on Earth. “People who abused drugs for the kick and highs that could get from them were a problem on Earth. It’s a crime to use specific drugs without the proper licenses, and for good reason.”

“I get it,” Rainbow Dash said. “They basically represented the idea that drugs should be free to use.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. Anyways, I ended up fighting them, and defeated them.”

“That’s good… right?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. They were hurting ponies and destroying public property. I never questioned the need to stop them.” She looked away. “What I questioned was what lead to me being the one to stop them.”

Rainbow tried to piece that together, failed, and said, “Okay, I don’t get it.”

“Shortly after I stopped them I was answering questions at a press conference. I usually addressed the public after any situation to answer any questions they may have had. It built trust between me and the public. This time though, they had a question I wasn’t expecting.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes. “Captain America! What are your thoughts on the fact that you owe your powers and position as Captain America to drugs?” she recalled quietly.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “What?” she asked.

“The Super Soldier Serum,” Fluttershy reminded her gently, making Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as she realized where her friend was going. “Despite the fact that a great hero was born from it, Erskine’s formula was for all intents and purposes a drug. Not only that, but it was a mind altering drug as well. Granted, the only change to my mind was it enhancing my processing power to frankly ridiculous levels, but still.”

She looked down at her body. “This body is the body of one of the four I fought, and seeing it just brought back all those questions of uncertainty, of if I deserved to be the hero I was.”

Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy for a moment, looking surprised. Then, surprising Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash brought her hoof around and smacked her on the back of the head. Not hard, but enough to be a bit jarring.

“That’s stupid,” Rainbow Dash said with a scowl. “I mean, yeah, you may owe your powers to something you fight against now, but what if you had refused it? How many ponies… people… would you have saved without that serum? How many villains would have succeeded because you weren’t there to stop them. What if… What if… What if…”

Fluttershy looked away and Rainbow Dash scoffed. “My mom and dad are my biggest fans. They have never doubted I would be as awesome as I want to be. Even when I would come home dejected over one thing or another, doubting my own drive to prove myself… they never doubted me. They never doubted I could become the mare I am today.” She grabbed Fluttershy and forced her to look her in the eyes. “I will never doubt that you made the right decision that day, Fluttershy. You saved so many lives that it’s not funny. Earth would be so much poorer had you made the “right” choice. Asking yourself “What If” is just torturing yourself at this point.”

Fluttershy eyes teared up, but it was clear she still doubted herself. “But…”

“No one’s perfect,” Rainbow said quietly. “Not me, not you, not Twilight, not even the Princesses. We all make mistakes, make questionable choices. It’s a fact of life. The trick isn’t to not make the mistake. The trick is to keep moving forward despite that mistake.”

The tears started to fall freely, and Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow Dash in a hug. “Thank you…” she sniffed quietly.

Rainbow Dash noticed how fast Fluttershy had been in grabbing her, and an increasingly familiar feeling made itself known. However, she buried it. Fluttershy was more important.
> 38. Mitternacht... Do You Accept?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So you are the source of such terror.”

Blue and red electricity arcing around him as he writhed on the ground, the Thestral barely found the strength to look up at the voice. Look up he did however, and found the most wondrous sight he had ever seen.

There, every bit as majestic as he imagined she would be, was his sovereign and ruler Princess Luna. He immediately, through sheer force of will, got into a respectful bow. “M-my sovereign…” he managed to ground out through the pain in his body. “What will you have of m-me?”

Luna did not show it, but the sight of a Thestral ignoring pain and torture to worship her caused her heart to pang. She glanced around, examining the nightmare that drew her to one of her loyal subjects.

It was quite clear this was a Hero Soul’s mindscape. The sprawling metropolitan landscape made that clear enough. There were few such cities in Equestria, and none like this. Another clue was that the Thestral was shifting between a pony form and that of a bald human with a scar under his eye. Oddly, his human form’s clothing kept shifting between blue, black, white and red variations, the scar on his face worsening and healing sporadically as well.

The source of the nightmare however was not quite as clear. There was no mistaking that this was a nightmare, but there were no enemies, no shadows, and no monsters. The clarity of mindscape told her this was a Thestral that spent much of his life sharpening his mind. He should therefore be capable of recognizing this as a nightmare and acting accordingly.

However, that only applied to normal ponies. Hero Souls… Hero Souls were different. There were consequences to shoving an entire lifetime of memories into an unprepared mind. The most common result was a crisis of identity, the afflicted pony questioning whether or not they were who they thought they were. This usually solved itself with time.

In more extreme cases, total mental meltdown was possible. Much like Twilight, who initially rejected her memories, the bearer of the memories risks killing themselves through their mind fighting itself.

Worst case scenario was the Hero Soul going insane and becoming no better than the monsters they were meant to be fighting. Luna made it her mission to do everything in her power to prevent this outcome. She had seen the results of such insanity. Never again.

With an almost casual thudding beat of her wings, Luna banished the nightmare. The dual-colored electricity, the city, and the human form that kept showing up shattered like glass, leaving Luna and the Thestral to stand in an empty black void.

The Thestral did not relax, remaining bowed.

“Rise, my subject.” The Thestral stood and came to attention. Luna internally sighed. She knew there was no point in trying to get the Thestral to relax. ‘Choose your battles, Luna. Starswirl taught you the difference between a difficult fight and a pointless endeavor.’ she thought with mild exasperation. “What is your name, Thestral?”

“Mitternacht, of the Black Ivory family in Silver City,” the Thestral, Mitternacht, stated crisply.

“Do you know what you are, Mitternacht?”

“I only know that I am not a standard pony due to these memories and powers.”

Luna nodded. “Have you rejected these memories? Or have you accepted them?”

The Thestrals gaze hardened for a moment. “I am Thestral before all else, Your Majesty. My mind, body, magic, power, and soul is yours before anyone else. It matters not what I feel regarding the memories. I will embrace oblivion at your command.”

Luna couldn’t quite stop the frown that soured her expression. Mitternacht did not budge despite this. “As your sovereign, I order you to inform me of your personal feelings towards these memories.”

Mitternacht hesitated, but rallied when he remembered who he stood before. “I am… unsure what to make of them. They are not my memories, yet they come from my mind as if they were. Further, the powers of the one who these memories belong to are also mine to command, though I have found that it is somewhat difficult to make use of them without a steady source of electricity.” He frowned. “These memories are slowly killing me, or perhaps the powers are. My nightmares stem from the idea that my early death will prevent me from serving you as I desire.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “You would lie to me? In my very domain?”

Mitternacht blanched. He did not, however, respond.

Luna waved a wing, and a swirling portal formed to the side showing images of the nightmare Mitternacht was experiencing. “That was not a nightmare borne of fear for others. That was a nightmare borne on the wings of uncertainty and doubt. You doubt the power you command, and that doubt has become fear, and that fear has become nightmares of it turning against you.” With but a thought Luna shattered the window into the nightmare. “I cannot command you to be honest to me. I can command you to speak, but despite what the Thestrals believe, I have no sway over the minds of others. You may lie to me as you wish.”

Luna turned and began walking away. “Just be aware that I cannot help those who will not let me.”

She made it three feet before Mitternacht called out, “Wait!”

She did, indeed, stop. She did not, however, turn.

Mitternacht bowed his head. “Please forgive me for my foolishness, my sovereign. I am simply confused and uncertain.” He sighed. “My nightmare stems from my lack of understanding in regards to where the memories and powers come from. Like all Thestral families, mine was intimately aware of the fact that you would return with my generation. As such, I was trained extensively to be your soldier… among other things.”

Images of a young Mitternacht going through intense physical training, so intense that Luna could only call it torture, flashed around them. Luna clenched her teeth in anger as she watched a particular memory of Mitternacht going through interrogation resistance training.

At eight years old.

“I was trained to doubt anything I could not verify myself, and this is something I know nothing about. I cannot bring myself to trust the memories and powers. However I cannot get rid of them, and so I have grown to fear them. This is the source of my nightmare,” Mitternacht admitted, sounding as if he had just confessed a great sin.

He flinched when a wing wrapped around him.

“You wish to serve under me?” Luna asked quietly.

Mitternacht hesitated again, before shaking his head. “No… I wish to serve directly under you. I wish to be the pony that turns all of your loyal followers into a well-oiled machine. I wish to be your Herald, your flag-bearer, and your executioner if it comes to be. I will be your greatest tool.”

Luna could feel the honest want and desire in those words. Furthermore, the memories Mitternacht willingly let her view told her it was not a desire for power, but a desire to be important to her, to his most holy of figures.

In a way, he wished to be her right hoof. He wanted to be the instrument upon which she enacted her will.

“You are what is commonly referred to as a Hero Soul. The memories and powers are yours because you are the reincarnation of this…” Luna trailed off, searching for a name.

“Cole Macgrath,” Mitternacht supplied.

Luna nodded in thanks. “You and Cole Macgrath are one and the same. You are simply his latest incarnation. This does not mean you must follow the same path as him, just that his power and experience is yours to make use of.”

Luna paused. “Due to the fact that I feel no true Mark on your soul, I surmise that you are a minor Hero Soul. Regardless, to become a Hero Soul is not a small accomplishment, and I can see through glimpses into those memories what made him become as such. Great Valor sleeps within you, young Mitternacht.”

Luna turned Mitternacht so that they stared at each other in the eyes. “I will give you everything you need to become the Knight of Valor you so desperately wish to be.” Her gaze hardened. “This will not be an easy road, as you know. Your body will be pushed to the absolute limit, and your mind will be forged to be able to withstand the fear that currently grips it.”

Luna smiled, and Mitternacht felt a weight lift from his heart. “It is within you to become great. What kind of greatness you achieve… well… that remains to be seen.”

Luna stepped back, and saw Mitternacht straighten himself in determination. “So, Mitternacht… I offer you the position of Captain of the Lunar Guard. To be clear, you will be responsible for creating and maintaining the force that bends its knees to me. You will train them to becomes great, much as I intend to train you. You will be my personal guard, my confidant, and my advisor in a world I am wholly unfamiliar with. I can assure you, you will see much in your time with me.

“Mitternacht… Do You Accept?”
> 39. Second Session
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna finished writing the date down on her notepad, checked her clock, then looked at Twilight. “And we’ve begun,” she said. “Last time we spoke, you told me of the destruction of Krypton and how your biological family sent you to Earth with the hope that you would not only survive, but also thrive. Then we touched upon you discovering your powers as you grew.” She made a note in her book. “Let us pick up from there. How did others react to your powers as they developed?”

Twilight looked away. “For the longest time only my family knew about them. My father was, perhaps justifiably, terrified of what the government would do to get a hold of me if my powers were ever discovered.” She looked at a hoof. “I think… I think my greatest regret in my life as Clark Kent… was not saving my father when I could have.”

“You saw your father die?”

Twilight nodded. “I lived in Kansas, in the United States, and that area of the country was well known for tornadoes. At around the time I graduated from High School a tornado had fallen on our home town. As everyone ran for shelter, I saw him. He had gotten stuck in the car trying to save our dog. The car door had crushed his foot, and he couldn’t walk on it after he got it out. His eyes met mine, and we both realized at the same time he wouldn’t make it to the shelter. He saw me tense, I think. Just before I could shatter the secrecy of my powers by rushing out to save him… he held up his hand. He was telling me to stop with that action alone. And… and against everything my mind screamed at my body… I froze.”

Luna said nothing as Twilight took a moment to wipe tears from her eyes, allowing her to compose herself on her own terms. Once Twilight had dried her tears, Luna continued. “Tell me about the elder Kent. Other than his strong moral fortitude, what kind of man was he?”

Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Jonathan Kent… was all about morality. To him the greatest happiness in life was doing God’s work, keeping your hands and soul clean, and loving your family. He was a farmer, perhaps stereotypically so. I suppose he was the backbone of our family, as mom and I fell out of touch after he died.”

“You grew distant?” Luna asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No...No, we never lost our strong relationship, but dad’s death hit me hard, and I began travelling the world. I left Kansas and didn’t look back until many years later.”

“You left home after your father died, a death which you had in your power to prevent, if not for his wish to not be saved. It sounds to me like you were lost and confused. You were taught to always do the right thing, but when your father prevented you from doing so you had no idea what to believe was right anymore.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I spent a lot of time doing hard labor jobs in very difficult environments after that, interacting with more and more people.” Twilight smiled a little to herself. “I also tended to be at the center of catastrophes in those jobs, and more often than not revealed my powers to the people I worked with to save lives.” Twilight grew quiet here, and Luna knew she was experiencing a likely very vivid memory.

“It was when a man I saved later grabbed his daughter and just held her… I think that was when the idea of “Superman” started to form in my head. It was nothing more than a wisp of a feeling, but that feeling of being responsible for a man returning to his family stuck with me.”

Luna nodded. And while her curiosity burned, she knew she had to change the subject. Therapists straddled a line they had to be careful not to cross. By guessing at how the death of Jonathan Kent had affected Twilight, some would say Luna had tried to subtly affect Twilight’s way of thinking. So, while she wished to learn more about the formative days of Superman, it was best to leave it for another session. “Superman, as I understand it, became quite the hero throughout his life, but I cannot help but wonder what his first real fight was like. Often do we stumble our way through the first time we do anything, especially when it comes to being a hero. So let us talk about that. How did Clark Kent handle his first fight to save the world?”

Twilight once again grew contemplative, before becoming slightly downcast. “It… wasn’t pretty,” she said after a moment. “It turned out another Kryptonian had survived the destruction of Krypton, and was determined to remake Krypton… by terraforming Earth.” Twilight glanced away. “I’ve had a lot of time to think of Zor-El, about his ideals, his motivations, and every time I thought about it… I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.”

“Terraforming a planet… I imagine that would end with the current inhabitants dying out. But you could not hate him? How come?” Luna was genuinely curious and not judgmental. Many Hero Souls had told her of villains they had faced where the villain was only considered such because of their methods, and not their motivations. Heck, some Hero Souls had even been good friends with those villains when they were “off the clock”, so speak.

“Zor-El just wanted to save the Kryptonian people and their world. His methods and decisions about how he would do that forced me to stop him… but I don’t think I can hate a man that just wanted to save his people,” Twilight whispered.

Luna wanted to ask how Zor-El planned to save a mostly dead race, but the fact was that this information was currently unnecessary, so much like her curiosity regarding Superman’s formative years, she had to leave that one alone unless it came up later. “How did Clark Kent handle fighting one of his own people?”

“Badly,” Twilight shivered. “Zor-El was a space explorer. It was how he survived the explosion of Krypton. Due to his travels he had been exposed to yellow sun radiation far more than I had at that point, and was far more experienced in the use of the powers that gave him.” Twilight shook her head. “Most of Metropolis was leveled in our fight, most of the damage from me crashing through buildings.”

“But you eventually won, right? How?”

Twilight looked up, and straight into Luna’s eyes. Luna immediately knew by the way Twilight's coat of fur paled that she had asked the wrong question. Before she could tell Twilight she didn’t have to answer though, Twilight beat her to it.

“I snapped his neck.”
> 40. Morality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just after the train pulled into Ponyville’s station, which ultimately consisted of a single platform and a small employee kiosk, Twilight, Spike, and Rarity exited the train looking somewhat drained.

Twilight stretched, almost sighing in relief at the feeling of the sun on her fur. “Ugh,” she sighed. “This year was by far the worst Gala I have ever been to,” she grumped. Spike nodded from her back. “I didn’t even get to speak with the Princess this time, and Blueblood…”

Rarity’s eye twitched. “I admit to having little desire to be near that… that… ruffian at the moment,” she nearly growled. “Why he thought it was a good idea to have an ice sculpture set on fire escapes me.”

“At least he didn’t insist on a fencing contest with polo mallets in his own honor this time…” Spike said, recalling that particular fiasco. He shivered. Blueblood was a buffoon at the best of times, but the Stallion could swing a mean hammer.

Rarity slowly looked at Spike, her jaw dropping. “Please tell me you are joking…” she almost begged.

Twilight sighed. “No. Blueblood seems to make it his life’s ambition to make some kind of obscene plan during the Gala. I have no idea why the Princess lets him do it.”

Due to Rarity’s shock, she failed to notice the piece of paper on the wind before it smacked her in the face. “Ack!” she cried in shock, nearly jumping out of her fur. Twilight grabbed the paper with her magic and pulled it off Rarity. Rarity sighed in relief. “Thank you dear.”

Twilight examined the paper and frowned. Then she scowled. “Oh come on! Seriously?!” She started ranting to no one about the designer of the interesting times curse and what she’d like to do to them, also dropping the paper.

Rarity, curious, grabbed the paper.


Shifter The Thief Spotted In Ponyville!


It was the front page of a newspaper, which seemed to detail the fact that a thief was robbing ponies in Ponyville. While Rarity normally scoffed at this kind of news, she found herself interested despite herself. She continued reading. The article went on to say the thief was well known for robbing high profile targets with tough security. And… that was it. The story was continued on another page, which was missing.

Her curiosity was so powerful that she decided to later purchase the full paper. For now she tucked the paper away and turned back to Twilight… who was still muttering to herself.

---

“Interesting,” the Unicorn mumbled to himself, reading a book. It was one of the first books issued to the new Town Hall, and one of the few that ever will due to Mayor Mare using the fire as a means to upgrade to electronic storage.

The book detailed the most recent events to happen in Ponyville. And one such event that garnered River Run’s attention was the fight that happened between Twilight Sparkle and Gilda the Griffin. He had his suspicions regarding the mare he fought back in Canterlot, but they had been flawed… or so he thought. It appeared Twilight was gifted with unique abilities most Unicorns don’t have, abilities that don’t require her magic to utilize.

Still, that he had knocked her out told him those powers came with weaknesses, he just wasn’t sure what, exactly, those weaknesses were, only that it something to do with his Manipulator Gauntlets.

He put the book down and stood up. He looked over towards the wall of the room that carried both of his gauntlets. He grinned. “I heard she’s supposed to be back today. Let’s see if she can catch me this time.”

---

Rarity hummed to herself as she sat at her dining room table. Floating in front of her was the complete paper that detailed Shifter’s activities. It went on where she left off to describe that Shifter prided himself on being the best, and only targeting highly secured items, stuff most thieves wouldn’t even consider trying to take, or those that do fail horribly. 

Shifter tended to succeed where all others failed.

The Pink Pony Diamond, the entirety of the vaults of the Soaring Griffin Casino, the Eye of Somnambula, Three of the Seven Swords of Muramara, and very nearly succeeding in getting Princess Celestia’s crown some years ago.

Those were just some of his successful thefts. Rarity admitted to herself that he was certainly impressive in terms of skill, but she could not find it in herself to be anything other than disgusted with Ponies like Shifter. His impressive skills only furthered her disgust. And yet, reading about him triggered a strange sense of deja vu within her, and it vexed her fiercely that she found any kind of familiarity with him, understood or not.

Ponies that stole from other hardworking Ponies are trash. When a Pony chooses to steal despite having the obvious skills to survive an honest life, they were worse than trash.

She looked at his image on the paper and her frown deepened. Eventually she growled to herself and got to her hooves. “I need to stop thinking about this. Maybe a snack will help.”

---

River Run leaned back in his seat, a steaming cup of coffee floating in his aura next to him. He was seated in the outdoor portion of a small bakery known as Sugar Cube Corner. A newspaper also floated in front of him in his magic. He was not, however, reading the paper. Periodically, he would glance to the edge of his eyesight. There, seated at a different table than him, he saw a mare with a white coat of fur and a purple mane. She too was reading the paper.

‘Rarity Belle. Daughter of Fashion Wishes and Silver Magnum. Star actor of most school plays she participated in as a child, and creator of most of her own costumes. Discovered a talent for gemology during high school and combined that talent with her sewing skills to create unique outfits. Now runs the Carousel Boutique as both a fashion designer and seamstress. On top of everything else, she is now also the bearer of the Element of Generosity,’ he mused to himself, sipping his coffee.

‘Rumor around town is that she dreams of the high society life, and hopes to one day open a shop in Canterlot. A mare with that kind of ambition and drive…’ River Run grinned. ‘She’s gotta have something locked away from prying eyes, something secured quite well.’
> 41. The Thief Code of Conduct
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight snorted awake and looked blearily at what had awoken her. She found Spike standing in front of her, arms crossed, and tapping his foot with a frown. She noted the darkness outside her window and immediately knew why Spike was upset. “I can’t just ignore this, Spike.”

Spike sighed. “I’m not saying you should. If that person that spoke to you is right, you’ve got a very big fight in store. But that fight’s not happening tonight or tomorrow. Go to sleep, Twi.”

“But we have no idea when he’ll arrive! I have to prepare! I have to make sure I have plans, contingencies!”

Spike frowned at her again, then he started quoting the prophecy Twilight had told him. “The Eater of All comes, and none may End him. Death cannot reach him, and Life will not free him. His herald shall be the rise of Reality’s Chosen, his vanguard their shadows. The First will be the Bridge Between the Dawn and the Dusk. The Second shall be the Mother of All. The Third shall be the Heart of all Love. The Fourth shall be the Shattered Soul. The Fifth shall be the Thief of Excess. The Sixth shall be the Prismatic Blur.”

“Three times shall the Gatekeepers bell toll. One, the Architect of the Bridge will know the other half’s pain. Two, the The Illusion will fall, halting Genocide. Three, he is here. All has been consumed.”

“But Beware the tale of the Eater of All. It is all paved in gold.”

Twilight looked at him in confusion, and he explained himself. “Ever since you discovered Star Swirl’s prophecy regarding Nightmare Moon, I’ve been looking up prophecy and the magic that surrounds them. That the prophecy was recited to you means you’re a large part of it. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say you’re Bridge between Dawn and Dusk. You’re one of the heralds, Reality’s Chosen. Considering there’s six heralds, it’s safe to assume all of our friends will be heralds, and likely will all awaken Hero Souls before the Bell starts ringing. You've got time.”

Twilight considered that. “But why us?” she asked. “We’re nothing special. A scholar, a farmer, an entertainer, a seamstress, an athlete, and a veterinarian.”

“Says the point one percenter Unicorn,” Spike said with a snort. Twilight blushed at the reminder that she was at a magical level that quite literally only point one percent of the Unicorn population of Equestria ever reached. Spike sighed. “Look, I don’t know why all of this stuff surrounds you and the girls, Twi. What I do know is that exhausting yourself like this looking for answers that probably aren’t even there isn’t going to end well.”

Twilight went to argue, but Spike stopped her. “The Reality Eater shows up tomorrow,” he said so suddenly it took a moment for Twilight to process this. “What do you do?”

“Well… I… I don’t know, Spike! That’s why I need to do research on this!”

“You have spent the entire night researching. Before you go to bed, the Reality Eater has arrived. You are running on no sleep on top of no information. You miss crucial details due to exhaustion and you and your friends die in vain.”

Twilight’s expression drooped. “But…”

“No buts, Twi. You are terrible at catching obvious details when you’re exhausted. Go to bed, and come back to this when you’re not tired,” Spike almost ordered.

After a tense moment between the two, Twilight finally sighed and gave Spike a small smile. “You’re right, Spike.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder which one of us is really the guardian here. You seem to take care of me just as much as I take care of you.”

Spike shrugged with a smile, and made sure Twilight was getting ready for bed before going back to bed himself.

As Twilight curled into bed however, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she was missing something important.

---

Rarity yawned and settled in to bed herself, having just finished a rather important order for tomorrow. She turned off the lights in her room and fell asleep fairly easily.

She was completely unaware of the figure lurking outside her home, waiting for just this moment.

Shifter the thief nodded to himself when he felt a magical ping alerting him to Rarity’s sleep. He had managed to tag her with a low level spell that had only one function; break connection between it and Shifter when the one it was planted on fell asleep. It was a useful piece of work for him, at least when it came to these small building heists.

As he slowly approached the front door, he found himself thinking of the Thieves Code. All thieves quickly learn of the code when they begin thieving, and for the most part its rules are more suggestions than anything. But there are three codes that the thieving community enforced viciously.

Taking a pair of lockpicks from a pouch strapped to his front left leg, Shifter made quick work of the rudimentary lock on the front door. Small town homes, Shifter mused with a silent chuckle. Small communities tended to trust each other quite a bit, and rarely went out of their way to drastically secure their homes.

And Ponyville was no exception to the rule. It was like one massive family. Good ponies.

Rule One: Never ruin the lives of good ponies.

It was incredibly easy for a thief to ruin the life of their victim, Shifter mused. Some deserved it. Greedy nobles, corrupt government officials… there was a fairly long list of people who could use a nice wake up call that their lifestyle was wrong.

Longer was the list of ponies who didn’t deserve to looted to bedrock. Ponies who gave to charity, ponies who helped lost children find their parents, ponies that gave to other without expecting anything in return. These were the ones that thieves refused to rob blind, and for good reason. Not only did a thief hold honor and integrity quite high, but if a thief did ruin the life of a good pony, it tended to severely rattle the hornet nest and set the community against them. Nevermind the fire that gets lit under the collective plots of law enforcement…

As Shifter went from room to room trying to find where Rarity likely kept her stuff, he thought to himself that having a crew right about now would be helpful. It would surely speed things up. Unfortunately, Shifter had no crew so he had to do his heists alone.

 Rule Two: Never betray your crew.

The price a thief paid for betraying your crew was a steep one. You would lose the trust of any thief you may come across, no thief would lift a hoof to help you, and the pooled resources available to all thieves in the many hidden caches around Equestria was kept out of your reach. Magic made that all too easy.

A steep price indeed.

Shifter opened an upstairs bedroom door and crept in, knowing it was only a guest room and had no one in there. He closed the door and turned, beginning to scan the room. A portrait, a discolored section of wall, or even a slightly out of place rug. Those where some of the things he sought.

“Ngh… sis…?”

Shifter froze, his eyes swivelling to the bed. A tiny form shifted under the blankets, small enough that it could only be a foal. A white Unicorn with a two toned pink and purple mane sat up, rubbing her eyes.

There was a knife strapped to his leg. A quick motion and it would be lodged in her throat. She wouldn’t be able to do anything more than die silently and slowly. Quick and quiet. Shifter could do it before the small filly even realized he was there. Easily. Easy.

Rule Three: Never take a life.

The knife never left its sheath, and Shifter hastily hid behind some garishly plush and pink curtains to avoid getting made. He dared not move, barely even breathed, and could only listen.

“Nnn...Guess it was just the wind…”

Shifter heard the covers of the bed rustle a little more, and then still. Straining his hearing, he listened. He waited. Eventually he heard what he was waiting for. The filly’s breathing evened out and slowed. She was asleep.

Very, very slowly, Shifter left the room. ‘That was too close.’ he thought to himself once in the hallway and the door had been shut silently. ‘Hmm… she said sis. That must be Sweetie Belle, Rarity Belle’s sister. She must have come over to stay with her sister when I wasn’t paying attention.’

He had thought of his knife, Shifter was ashamed to admit to himself. The inclination to use it to prevent being caught had, very briefly crossed his mind. Thank the Stars he could control himself.

A thief was not an assassin. They did not kill. A dead pony was a blatant trail, and a sign that the thief was incapable of stealth. More than that, a thief held honor above all else, whereas an assassin sold their honor to the highest bidder.

Violators of the third rule... well, there were no violators of the third rule. None alive anyways.

Shifter turned to check a different room and froze. There was a simple looking wooden cane pointed at his face not a foot in front of him. It had a heavy looking wooden ball on the end of it. The one gripping the cane in her blue magic was Rarity.

“Son of a biscuit eating mother trucker…” Shifter swore quietly, wide eyed. “How the heck did you know…?”

He had been caught.
> 42. The Master Thief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity did not waste her moment of surprise, immediately swinging the cane in her magical grip at Shifter.

Shifter did not boast about being the best for nothing though. Seeing the cane move had instantly snapped him out of his shock. The dimensions of the hallway, his position in the hallways, Rarity’s position in the hallway, all of it ran through his mind. Then he decided on his course of action.

He lashed out with a gauntlet clad hoof, making Rarity yelp when he smacked the cane so hard that it was torn from her magical grip, sending it skidding along the carpeted floor.

“Please… don’t attack me,” Shifter said almost conversationally, believing the fight was over. After all, most high society mares couldn’t tie their own dresses, let alone fight.

That line of thought was shattered by an aura of magic gripping his neck, yanking him off the ground. He very briefly got a look at Rarity’s enraged brown eyes. ‘Wait… brown?’ he had thought in confusion, before finding himself tumbling through the air and through a window.

Shifter noticed a nearby tree and leveled his gauntlet at it. The hand on the gauntlet opened, and then fired with a concussive blast. The now projectile hand grabbed a branch on the tree, and the rope connected to the hand instantly started reeling Shifter towards it and away from the sharp glass falling with him.

Inside, Rarity was too far gone into her anger to notice as she grabbed the cane in her magic and leapt through the window with far more agility than she normally would have been able to.

“... Instructions on how to perform my ancestor’s………. ire Jump, a technique……………into the thickly fortified castles of feudal Japan.”

She never noticed how she twisted in midair, making use of her magic to redirect herself lightly, to land on an upturned branch on the same tree as Shifter. She adopted a pose that equally distributed her weight and maintained her balance, taking into account the heft of her cane.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rarity was marvelling at the feat of gymnastics. That part of her mind was still clouded over in rage though. “Trying to steal from me was a mistake,” she growled.

Shifter eyed Rarity with new eyes, instantly revising any thoughts he had on her, and also mentally kicking himself for assuming a country-town pony would be incapable of fighting, regardless of their personality type. He needed to escape.

Small town Ponies tended to be trusting, yes, but they also had a revenge streak miles wide.

Smiling at Rarity, he said, “Well, when a pony with ambitions like yours lives in a backwater town like this, it makes a thief… curious.”

That said, he flung an object at Rarity.

Rarity reacted instinctively, batting at the object with her cane, only for it to explode on contact and blind her with a brilliant flash. Shifter leapt at another branch, then sprang off of it towards Rarity to tackle her. He yelped in surprise when she managed to somehow backflip out if his way. He was forced to roll on the ground to avoid hurting himself.

He stood up and looked at the tree, spotting Rarity, her eyes squinted shut, looking straight at him. “Alright, you clearly are not the kind of mare I thought you were.”

“Call it a talent, darling. You’d be surprised what one can do with the right words in the company of the right ponies,” Rarity responded, smirking.

“I hope you know I didn’t actually do anything to your sister, right?”

Rarity scoffed. “Please, do you take me for a fool? I would have known instantly if Sweetie had so much as cut herself. If you had killed her, you would not have escaped the blast radius.” She frowned after a moment. “But why me? I really don’t have anything of real worth, except perhaps the deed to my home and business, but that would be useless to a thief.”

Shifter tilted his head forward with a growing grin. “I’m a thief, darling,” he said, affecting her own accent rather well. “Most of us do this because we enjoy it, not because we need to. I’m not out for money, or riches, but rather the challenge of tackling a difficult heist. I’m not like most thieves though, and want the world to know of my exploits.”

“...by stealing from other criminals…”

Rarity shivered, before shaking her head. “So you set out to steal another person’s hard work… for fun?”

Shifter frowned. “No, I…” He had no time to actually argue, as Rarity had launched her cane at him like a missile. He had only a moment to react. Most ponies couldn’t react that quickly. Shifter was not most ponies. His eyes flashed the color of his magic, and then he simply rolled his head out of the way. The cane buried itself a quarter of the way into the dirt behind him. Then he was calmly weaving around Rarity, who had dropped down to try and take the fight to him personally. “You are rather rude, you know that?” he noted, even as he continued to dodge.

“Says the thief with delusions of grandeur,” Rarity responded.

Shifter noticed with curiosity that Rarity's attempts to attack him were sloppy at best. However, as he continued to dodge, he realized that he was beginning to have to put some effort into dodging, as her punches, kicks, and cane swings seemed to begin blending into each other. It was like every miss seemed to make her just a bit better.

“It all began when I was just a kid, bouncing on my father’s knee. You see…”

Rarity staggered this time, and Shifter took the opportunity to counterattack.

Rarity’s last thought before she was seeing stars was, ‘What’s happening to me?’. By the time Rarity managed to regain her senses Shifter was long gone. A little unsteady, Rarity grabbed her cane and stumbled her way into the boutique.

An image flashed through her mind as she crossed the threshold into her home. It was that of a large, leather-bound book.

“My name is Sly C......I come from a long line of…….., who kept all their secrets of……….. in an ancient book.”

More images flashed through Rarity’s mind, portraits of a variety of raccoon-like bipedal creatures. Each portrait had a name on the bottom, but Rarity couldn’t make them out.

“The Thievius Raccoonus. Anyone who read it learned to be especially sneaky.”

It suddenly occurred to Rarity that this may be what her friends had been experiencing. The awakening of a Hero Soul. With that, she focused more, and finally the words she had been hearing became clearer.

“Which is why we specialized in stealing from criminals.”

“What?!” Rarity yelped, before her oncoming headache doubled over and make her stumbled, then slump down. She groaned.

“After all, there’s no honor, no challenge, no fun stealing from ordinary people.”

“No no no no…” Rarity muttered to herself shaking her head in denial.

“You rip off a master criminal, and you know you’re a master thief.”

“No!” Rarity yelled, suddenly shooting to her feet. “I’m not…” Her headache, getting worse by the second, made her wobble and cut her declaration off. “Ooooohh,” she moaned.

Then, unceremoniously, Rarity fell over, out cold.

The Soul of Honor had Awoken, and did not like this.
> 43. Risky Romp
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Metropolis had been fairly quiet for once, Twilight found herself thinking. Even as she coasted through the skies of the great city, none of her enhanced senses were picking up on anything that really needed her attention.

Maybe she’d have a chance to relax for once. While her unique biology prevented her from needing to sleep all that often, it still felt nice and had a rejuvenating effect on her psyche.

Of course, having just thought that, she had invoked Murphy quite badly.

With a clap of harsh thunder and brilliant flash of light, a Boomtube opened in front of Twilight, and from it stepped Darkseid.

“Kal-El,” he said, before uncharacteristically starting the fight. By blasting her point blank with his Omega Beam.

Twilight pinwheeled through the air, but managed to straighten herself out easily enough. She looked up just in time to see Darkseid on the approach.

Only for him and everything around her to freeze, and then shatter like glass. Twilight blinked at the void she found herself standing in, where swirls of dark blue, rose red, and yellow mingled and danced among themselves alongside bright dots of white.

“I apologize for extracting you so harshly, Twilight,” came a voice from behind her. Twilight turned and found Princess Luna descending towards her. “However it is a bit of an emergency.”

“Princess?” Twilight asked in confusion, before her mind finally made the connection. “Oh. I’m dreaming.” She blinked again. “Wait, emergency? Has something happened at Canterlot?”

Luna reached her level. She shook her head. “Not quite that bad, my friend. However it involves one of your friends.” With a wave of her wing, Luna made a door with mirrors for a frame appear. 

“You’re friend Rarity has awakened her own Hero Soul tonight during a confrontation with the thief Shifter,” Luna explained, opening the door. “However, Miss Belle has wholeheartedly rejected the Hero Soul she reincarnates from.”

Twilight paled, and tried to rush through the door, only to find herself held fast by an invisible force. “Why are you stopping me?!” she demanded of Luna.

“We are in the realm of dreams, Twilight. Here the mind is unfettered by physical limitations. If you were to leap into the deeper realm lost in your worry for your friend, the realm will respond to such worry. Even I do not know how it will respond, but it will be entirely too easy for your soul to become lost forever in the twisting labyrinth that it spawns.”

“Then why tell me Rarity’s in trouble?”

Luna frowned at Twilight, before Twilight felt an invisible wing knock her alongside the head. “You must control yourself, Twilight Sparkle, or you will be unable to help her. I came to acquire your aid in saving your friend, but if you cannot control your impulses I will simply look elsewhere.”

Twilight took a moment to reign in her worry and annoyance at being held back, drawing on the meditation techniques she learned while studying under the AI designed to mimic her biological father. She relaxed. “I’m sorry, Princess Luna. I’m just worried.”

Luna nodded. “Quite understandable, but we are about to venture into the second level of the dream realm, the Shifting Sands, and I cannot let you go there ruled by passion.

She beckoned Twilight to follow, and they both walked through the doorway.

Twilight found herself standing in a pure black void, but it only lasted a moment. From where her hooves touched solid nothingness, wood flooring appeared in what could only be described as a slow shockwave, spreading outwards.

Then shelves began appearing, alongside tables, walls, doors, and windows. Before long the duo found themselves standing in a library they could not see and end to.

Luna chuckled. “I should have guessed that the student of my sister would shape the Shifting Sands into a library.”

“This is my doing?”

Luna nodded. “Aye. I am not technically asleep, therefore my mind is still constricted by its physical limitations. The Shifting Sands do not perceive me because of this, and therefore does not react to my presence.” She looked around. “Generally, any doorway you find will lead you to the dream of another entity, provided they are asleep. The doorways will appear closer to your own doorway depending on the closeness shared between the two of you.”

She turned and pointed behind them. Twilight looked and found a bevy of doors on both sides of her own blue, red, yellow, and purple door. A small green and purple door with a green flame on the front, obviously Spike’s. A white and lavender door with a purple quill and star, her mother’s. A blue and white door with a shield on it, her father’s. A two toned blue door with a purple shield on it, her brother’s door, and a pure white door with a stylized sun on it, Princess Celestia’s door.

Luna took up explaining again. “The Shifting Sands is where all dreams connect to one another, and the means by which I traverse dreams. It also is an immaterial plain, forging itself based on the surface thoughts and desires of those who entire. If you come here with nothing but chaotic emotions controlling you, the Shifting Sands will become a landscape of pure chaos, with no sensical direction to take and no way to return. It is why you cannot enter this level of the dream realm without the aid of a dreamwalker, such as myself, and why I refuse to take a pony ruled by passion into it.”

Twilight continued to look around, and found five doors grouped together, each with a familiar Cutie-Mark on them. Said Cutie-Marks informed her that these were the doors to her friends’ dreams. Her gaze soon fell on a specific door however.

It was a white ornate door with purple swirls on the frame, and had Rarity’s three diamond Cutie Mark painted on the front of it. Curiously, an illegible leather bound book that was ripped and torn up sat behind the Cutie-Mark.

The door was also cracked severely in multiple place, and more cracks were appearing periodically.

“Miss Belle has seen what lays in the beginning of her newly awakened memories, and has chosen to deny them. This immediately put her mind and soul at severe odds and caused her conscious mind to shut itself down in a last bid to save itself,”

Twilight frowned. “But… it took over a week for me to reach that point. Didn’t you say Rarity just awoke her Hero Soul?”

Luna nodded. “This is true, but you had not consciously chosen to deny your birthright. It was a subconscious fear that slowly built up a backlash.” She opened Rarity’s door. “Rarity made the conscious choice to deny them.”

They walked through the door, and found themselves standing at the edge of a volcanic crater. Within the crater they saw a large stone platform at the center, and at the center of it was Rarity. They also noticed a massive metallic owl flying around the platform, occasionally dive bombing the platform in an attempt to hit Rarity.

Rarity would scramble out of its way, sometimes nearly failing, but the owl would then hit the platform with a tremendous amount of force, causing large chunks of it to fall away and into the lava.

Luna was the first to leap into action, conjuring what Twilight could only describe as a cage of pure force around the owl and stopping its assault. Twilight also acted, blasting her way towards Rarity.

As she approached, more details became apparent. Rarity was rolling around on the ground, seemingly struggling with something. Twilight landed on the platform and it became clear that Rarity continuously ripping off a blue long-sleeved shirt and black cloth mask over her eyes, only for the garments to repair and re-affix themselves to her body. “Rarity!” Twilight shouted.

Rarity stopped struggling and looked up. “Twilight! What are you doing here? And… what are you wearing?”

Twilight blinked, then looked down. “Huh… wasn’t expecting that,” she noted, seeing the blue kryptonian battlesuit adorning her body and… yep, there was the red cape as well. She was not, however, wearing the red boots, and the S she was so famous for back on Earth adorned her flanks where her Cutie Mark would normally be displayed.

“It’s… well, I want to say an eyesore, but it actually seems to fit you rather well, for some reason,” Rarity commented, sounding slightly confused.

Twilight shook her head, and came forward to help Rarity. “Listen to me, Rarity. You have to accept the memories. You’ll die if you don’t!” she urged.

Rarity growled, actually growled, at Twilight. “I refuse to become a thief, Twilight! I will not become the very thing I despise more than anything else!” She gripped the blue shirt and tore it off completely. It promptly reattached itself to her and repaired. 

Twilight grunted and decided to help Rarity so they could talk in peace. She grabbed the shirt and shredded it. Or… she tried to, but it didn’t even so much as budge. Frowning in confusion, Twilight gripped it with both hooves and tried to tear it with all her might.

Nothing.

Luna floated down beside her, her horn glowing with the continued spell holding in the giant metallic owl in place. She watched as Twilight continued to struggle to even move the outfit, whereas every time Rarity went to tear it off it tore easily. Of special interest to her was how the outfit repaired itself and reappeared on Rarity.

She placed her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. She shook her head when Twilight looked at her. “Miss Belle alone must resolve this,” she said, making Twilight blink in confusion. She motioned towards Rarity. “The outfit represents the memories of her Hero Soul attempting to mesh with her own as they were supposed to when she awoke. However, because your friend chose to reject them, her dream avatar is in a continue battle to remove them.” She reached forward and tugged on the outfit. As with Twilight’s attempt, it failed to budge. “Only Miss Belle has the power to remove it, and even then it persists.”

Twilight frowned. “Then what was the point of coming here?” she asked heatedly. She almost immediately deflated. “I’m sorry, Princess. I just… isn’t there anything we can do?”

Luna smiled at Twilight. “Soul of Hope indeed,” she commented. “We cannot solve this for Miss Belle. In order to save her she must choose to accept her memories. All we can do is help her make that decision.”

There was a crash from above and the light around Luna’s horn burst apart. She stumbled backwards as if she had been struck. Twilight spun around and found the metal owl now diving for them. “Go away!” she growled, rearing back.

“Twilight, no!”

She struck at the owl, hitting it square on the beak. To Twilight’s great confusion, and pain, this did nothing. In fact, the owl kept right on going and slammed into her, sending her flipping over the lava. She hit the wall of the volcano in a shower of stone and obsidian. “Ow…?” 

Luna appeared in a flash of light to catch her as she fell from the wall. “That owl is a part of the memories of the Hero Soul Miss Belle awoke. Just as with her outfit, we cannot stop it from getting to Miss Belle, at least not for long,” she explained.

Twilight groaned. “Good to know. Thanks for telling me,” she managed to sound sarcastic.

Luna set Twilight down on the lip of the volcano. “I was hoping your presence would help Miss Belle accept her memories, much as you have, but she seems particularly stubborn.”

“She said something about becoming a thief. I thought only heroes could be Hero Souls?” Twilight asked.

Luna frowned. “While that is indeed the case, you must remember that what is good and what is right are not always the same thing. Sometimes a hero must work from the wrong side of the law to accomplish their goal.”

Twilight frowned, recalling a few members of the JLA who were similar, or had similar backstories. Heck, even Bruce had started off with Gotham believing he was a villain. “True.” She looked around at the landscape. “Is there anything we can actually do here, besides speak to Rarity?”

Luna hesitated. “There is plenty we can do. Whether or not we should is another matter. If you mean in regards to saving Miss Belle, then no. Anything else would do more harm than good.”

Twilight nodded. “Then let’s go home. I need to do some research, and contact Princess Celestia.” She looked at Luna. “If you could, can you please get a hold of Doctor Tender for me? Let him know what’s going on?”

Luna nodded and formed a doorway into the Shifting Sands. “I’ve already had word sent to him. Miss Belle and her sister should be on their way to Ponyville’s clinic now.”

Twilight nodded in thanks, then walked through the doorway. Determination flowed through her, as well as a bit of anger at the situation. She would not let Rarity down, even if she had to research every memory spell she could find.

The Shifting Sands shuddered at her entrance.

Luna paled. “Oh Stars no…” she muttered, just before the doorway behind them vanished in the sudden raging winds.

Twilight was not in control of her emotions.
> 44. The Hunt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Swoop down under the wave of ink.

Roll to the side to narrowly avoid the following five foot long, extremely sharp, quill.

Spin kick the book that tried to eat her face.

Backflip over the rolling inkpot that came from behind.

Behead the golem of notebook paper with a conjured scythe.

Spin around and neatly bisect the group of origami hellhounds that formed around her.

Rolled again to avoid a paper sword in the grip of a paper mache knight.

Parry the next blow and leap over it, performing a front flip and cutting the knight neatly in half with her scythe.

Princess Luna was not a young pony by any stretch of the imagination. She wasn’t some grizzled old wrinkled mare, but her experience, even discounting what she remembered of her time as Nightmare Moon, far outclassed that of most other ponies on the planet.

Combine that with Luna’s warrior training back when the world was still in the Dark Heart era shortly before Discord began his reign of chaos, and Luna was not someone you surprised easily. That said, Luna knew better than anyone that you do not underestimate the Dream Realms. No amount of experience will prepare you for the mind unshackled and unfiltered.

This was what led to Luna fighting against a veritable hurricane of stationary and office supplies. She really needed to speak with her sister regarding Twilight’s obsession with knowledge… and maybe some anger management classes.

Her posture and wings wilted slightly when she turned and found a wall of far too many book bearing down on her. Spinning around, she took off with a clap of displaced air.

She was ducking, dodging, weaving, and narrowly twisting out of the way of all manner of leather, paper, and ink projectiles that appeared in her path. Then she flying through an obstacle course that featured book-made platforms and loop-de-loops. At one point she had even had to contend with a tornado of dense script text. ONLY dense script text.

Ink could be deceptively sharp. The small cuts and nicks along her body could attest to that.

Despite everything though, a small grin played along her muzzle as she continued her harried adventure through the Shifting Sands. If she was completely honest with herself, she had missed this feeling. The adrenaline, the chase, the frantic fight to move forward, to survive. It was… it made her feel alive for the first time since her return.

She saw a flicker of lavender and banked hard, utilizing her magic to propel herself in ways similar to a jet engine, something many Hero Souls had explained the concept of to her, and a couple even gave her the knowledge necessary to recreate one if she ever decided it was necessary.

There. She saw Twilight blasting through the stationary that tried to assault her as if it wasn’t even there, rocketing forward in a straight line at blistering speeds. Her red cape flapped harshly in the non-existent atmosphere. Luna poured on the power of her jet spell, pushing harder than she had in a very long time, and even then she found herself only just breaking even with the speed the reincarnated Man of Steel was effortlessly putting out.

She noticed Twilight perk up, and then the sound barrier was shattered and Luna once more lost sight of her ward.

As Luna resumed her frenzied search, she found herself hoping the shockwave she managed to snap off just before the Shifting Sands had closed them in had gotten to her sister.

---

Celestia was indeed awake and aware of the situation, though only to point where she knew her sister was trapped within what she had called the Shifting Sands. Celestia herself had never been allowed to traverse the Dream Realms, her far too overwhelming power a very real threat. The sheer pressure she put off around her, while it did not affect the physical realms, greatly destabilized any and all immaterial realms.

This fact had been key in the defeat of Discord, as he had been fond of yanking powerful opponents into his own personalized realm of chaos where errant thoughts shaped the world around them. For most it had been disorientating. For Celestia? A single shockwave of magic had collapsed the entire dimension in on itself, and had in fact severely injured the Draconequus when they had been ejected. That had left him open for the Elements of Harmony to finally hit him.

Powerful the Elements may be. Easy to use, especially in the hooves of only two ponies, they were not.

Luna had long ago explained to Celestia why no dreamwalker would let Celestia leave her own dreams, but Celestia, wishing with all her might that she could be there for her sister when she did her job, had convinced Luna to design a shockwave-like spell, one that was meant to mimic her sister’s method of dealing with immaterial realms. It had failed, but they had discovered one night that if Luna used that shockwave while traversing the Dream Realms Celestia would feel it through her own dreams and immediately snap into wakefulness.

They had agreed it was only to ever be used in the event Luna found herself trapped in the Dream Realms.

ANd, as Celestia had suspected, when she entered her sister’s room she found said sister laying on her bed with her eyes closed and horn lit with magic, but completely unresponsive. Even more alarming the Celestia was the mildly bleeding cuts she could see occasionally forming on her sister.

Whatever had happened, she was fighting.

Celestia’s grim expression deepened as she left the room. She noticed that only one Night Guard stood at attention at the door to her sister’s room. There were supposed to be two. “Where is your partner?” she asked.

“Sov...Princess Luna has sent him to deliver word to Ponyville that one of the Bearers is in danger and requires medical aid,” The Thestral explained, correcting himself when he recalled that Celestia was not as understanding as Luna about their desire to call her Sovereign.

Celestia’s mind ground for a moment at the information, then panic set in, but then she quashed it. Pegasi, at the very least, would have informed the Solar Guard if something major was happening in Ponyville. “Do you know what happened?” she asked.

The Thestral shook his head. “I only know that the message said to wake Doctor Tender and inform him that a soul had rejected their memories. A Miss Rarity Belle, I believe the name was.”

‘Oh buck,’ Celestia thought, already beginning to see what Luna’s actions would have been after discovering that. While Luna was the unquestioned guide for Hero Souls, there were times, especially after Luna was banished, that Celestia had taken that mantle. ‘Rarity rejected her memories? It must have been a conscious rejection, or things wouldn’t be this severe this fast. And Luna… she likely pulled one of the other awakened Bearers into the deeper Dream Realms to try and convince the now unconscious Miss Belle to accept them.’

What had happened to her to trap her in the Dream Realms afterwards, Celestia could only guess at. She didn’t need to know how it happened anyways. She knew enough to know Luna was trapped and needed her help.

“Will you do me a favor if I call in a couple Solar Guards to stand guard over my sister?” Celestia asked.

The Thestrals respected her, yes, but that was all. Celestia had no power to give them orders once Luna returned. She could force it, but she really had no need to. Her relationship with the Thestrals was good enough that they usually would do as she asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” came an increasingly familiar voice to Celestia. She turned and found Luna’s relatively new Captain of her Lunar Guard, Mitternacht, on approach.

“Mitternacht, hello,” Celestia greeted, bowing her head slightly to the minor Hero Soul.

“Greetings, Your Highness,” Mitternacht returned the bow. “How can I help you?”

“Luna’s trapped in the Dream Realms,” Celestia said bluntly, having learned through interaction that Mitternacht appreciated when you didn’t beat around the bush with him. She gave Mitternacht props for his only reaction to this news being the slight widening of his eyes.

“What?!” His subordinate, however, was not as disciplined.

“Return to your duties, soldier,” Mitternacht commanded, his eyes now locked on Celestia’s own eyes.

“But sir!”

CRA-KOW!

Even Celestia winced at the sudden crash of electricity that ineffectively struck the stone floor in front of the soldier, making him leap a foot in the air.

“Your job is to protect our Sovereign while she is vulnerable during her own duties. Her dedication to the mental well being of not just Thestrals, but all of Pony-kind, is thus that she rarely ever sleeps herself, pushing her mind, body, and soul to such drastic lengths that more than once I have had to watch as Princess Celestia forces her to sleep for her own wellbeing. We can only follow her example and remain dedicated to our own jobs in our effort to show our gratitude and loyalty.” His eyes narrowed. “Return. To. Your. Duty,” he repeated, blue electricity crackling along his eyes to give the illusion of a sinister glow.

“Y-yes sir.” The soldier managed a shaky salute.

“Please follow me, Your Highness,” Mitternacht said, walking past Celestia and finally breaking eye contact with her.

Once the two were a ways down the corridor, Mitternacht stopped and face the Alicorn of the Day. “Please, tell me how I can help my Sovereign,” he asked Celestia.

“Luna managed to inform me of her status that she was trapped. I came here to confirm it. Now that I know she actually is trapped, I was going to ask your subordinate to gather a few ponies together so we can stage a rescue.”

“Who am I to go get?”

Celestia inwardly smiled. She only wished her own Solar Guard was even half as dedicated as Luna’s Captain of the Lunar Guard. She hadn’t even asked yet, and Mitternacht had accepted the task. Luna really had found a gem here. “Hazy Glow, Doctor Stitch, Moon Dancer, and Rosy Crystal.”

Mitternacht frowned. “The Archmage, Tender’s apprentice, a magical researcher, and one of the most powerful conjurers in the Royal Guard?”

Celestia nodded. “A lot of power is required to punch a hole between dimensions and physically enter the Dream Realms,” she admitted.
> 45. Journey To... Wait a minute...I did this already
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I thought it was impossible to travel between dimensions?”

Celestia glanced up from the book she was reading. Said book was from Luna’s room, and detailed everything the Lunar Alicorn knew regarding the Dream Realms. It was a good idea to refresh her own knowledge on it, after all.

She found Mitternacht standing there, apparently having finished his mission of gathering the ponies she asked for. Said ponies were standing behind him, all of them looking as if they had just been sleeping.

She stood up and closed the book in her magic, bringing it with her as she walked around the desk to stand in front of the group.

“You just found out your Sovereign is trapped in another dimension,” she commented, glancing at Luna’s body over in the corner where it continued to maintain a connection to the Dream Realms. “Are you going to let something being supposedly impossible stop you from breaking down the doors and saving her?” Fire flared from Celestia’s briefly ruby colored eyes. “Because I won’t.” 

She nodded when she noticed Mitternacht’s eyes narrowing and electricity briefly sparking around him. She looked around at the others. “I told you I needed power to open the way. That wasn’t a lie, and all of you are very much powerful in your own right… but I am fully capable of handling the power requirement. Instead I need you for other reasons. The biggest is that I myself cannot enter the Dream Realms without possibly destroying them on accident. Instead, you all will be going in.”

She looked around, before her eyes settled on one of the gathered poonies. “Rosy Crystal, I need a variant twelve Ward that will encompass your group and be mobile.”

The pink coated mare in a Royal Guard uniform paused. “Twelve? An Empathy Ward?” she asked after a moment. 

Celestia nodded. “The Dream Realms shape themselves based on the emotions of those who enter.”

Understanding filling her eyes, Rosy grinned and summoned a circular pink shield with a spiral pattern on it. She immediately began tweaking it with her magic.

Celestia looked at the next pony. “Doctor Stitch, your job is to stay here. Tag us all with a charm that will monitor our vitals. If at any time you feel anyone is on the cusp of completely losing their mind, you will pull the afflicted member from the Dream Realms immediately and get them treated. You’ll be stationed here with me.”

The tan colored Unicorn nodded and immediately began hitting everyone with a variety of charms.

“Hazy Glow, your job is perhaps the most vital. You will use your exceptional magical senses to navigate the Dream Realms and locate my sister. When you find her, aid her in whatever she needs to do to get back home.”

The dark red coated Archmage nodded and immediately began preparing himself.

Celestia looked at the pony that, frankly, resembled her own student far too much to be a coincidence, fur coloring or not. “Moon Dancer. I can imagine you feel a little overwhelmed and wondering why you’re here,” she offered not unkindly.

The yellow Unicorn was understandably confused, and gave a shaky nod at being addressed. She had never believed she’d ever be personally requested by Celestia herself.

“I don’t need anything complex from you, at least not magically speaking. I've heard great things about your ability to spot important details most tend to miss. What I need is for you to watch the environment and try and learn as much as you can. You’re going into effectively unknown territory. Anything you can learn, anything at all, may be useful.”

Moon Dancer gathered herself together and nodded. “O-of course, Your Highness.” 

As she spoke to the different ponies, Celestia gave off more and more magic, the air around her growing hazy and distorted by the sheer magical pressure she was beginning to generate. She looked at Mitternacht. “I won’t insult you by asking if you’re going. I will however ask that you keep yourself under control. Uncontrolled emotions in the Dream Realms, I am told, are a very bad thing.”

Mitternacht nodded.

Tossing the book in the air, where it proceeded to float in her magic in front of her and start flipping to different pages, Celestia concentrated. There was a muted whump sound, and then magic flooded the room as a circle spiraled out on the floor around the Princess, shining brilliantly. Symbols of all kinds burned themselves into both the circle and the marble flooring of Celestia’s room.

Mane lit up like an eternal bonfire, eyes shining like floodlights of pure red, and coat flaring with what could only be described as mini-prominences, Celestia grinned. “Let’s see if I still remember how to do this.” Slowly, she inhaled. Then, when she could inhale no more, she let it out slowly. “Open.” she whispered. There was a sound similar to glass breaking.

Hazy Glow blanched and had just enough time to throw up a light filtering shield before there was far too much light in the room.

---

Luna tripped mid-swing, her scythe ineffectively glancing off the armor she had just a moment ago been about to cut through. The tripping in and of itself was not inherently a bad thing, as her recovery roll had her dodging a sword of paper she had not seen, but what had caused her to trip in the first place was.

She sighed, backhoofing a wad of ink like it was a solid and sending it careening away. “I suppose this is what I get for trying to get help from the wrecking ball that is my sister,” she grumbled.

The Shifting Sands had just been breached, and it had not been done gently. Thankfully, Celestia appeared to have the good sense to keep the new entrance magically sealed. That meant the magic of the Dream Realms could not escape and wreak havoc on the physical realm.

She waited a moment, and sure enough she felt more presences enter the Dream Realms. Thankfully none of them seemed to be her sister. That would have been a disaster and a half.

Dispatching her current paper foe, Luna began making her way towards the team her sister sent in.
> 46. Death Comes to Town
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna spotted a large domed barrier on her approach and noticed a small gaggle of familiar and not-so-familiar ponies. She closed in for a landing, and smirked when it was her direct subordinate Mitternacht that noticed her first.

He walked up to the edge of the barrier and bowed. “My liege. We have come to ensure your safe return to the waking world.” He motioned towards the large portal behind the group, a literal tear between worlds.

The Royal Guard pony stepped forward, and Luna noticed a conjured shield that seemed to be the source of the barrier. “Now that we’ve found you, our job is to either successfully extract you from the Dream Realms, or aid you in doing what you must to return.”

Luna peered at the barrier curiously. “This is a fascinating barrier. My awareness cannot pierce it, meaning it is meant to block mental influence?”

The Guard bowed. “It’s an Empathy Ward, your Highness. It prevents emotions from leaking through the barrier. Princess Celestia informed us that this place will be influenced by our emotions and told us to guard them as such.”

Luna nodded. “Celestia is correct. Though, I am unsure what the rules are in regards to physically entering this realm, so remain aware.” She looked around. “Very well. My mission is to locate Twilight Sparkle and return her dream avatar to her dream. If this mission fails, Twilight Sparkle will never awaken again. I refuse to leave without first ensuring her safety.” She looked at the Guard. “Can you generate more than one of those shields?” she asked.

The Guard shook her head. “No ma’am. I have to continually power this one, and any real distance between the shield and me will break the ward.”

Luna frowned. She had been hoping the answer was yes. “Twilight Sparkle is capable of speeds I can not keep up with. Unless you are capable of following me somehow, you will not be of much use.”

This began a discussion between the ponies regarding the ability to help Luna. However, roughly ten minutes into the discussion, Luna’s ears perked straight up and her head turned to gaze into the distance. “Was that…?” she murmured to herself. “But why? Is me being trapped here involved?”

“My Liege?” Mitternacht asked curiously.

Luna turned to him. “It is nothing, my friend. I simply thought I sensed something.”

Mitternacht tensed slightly. “Dangerous?” he asked quietly.

Luna shook her head. “No. Well…” She paused, reconsidering. “Not malicious at any rate, though possibly the most dangerous entity you will ever meet.”

That did not ease Mitternacht. “We should get you back to Equestria, My Liege. I am not comfortable with exposing you to such a thing.”

Luna waved a hoof dismissively. “He wouldn’t harm me without due cause, and in any case he seems to be focused on another section of the Realms.” Luna paused again as she felt the Dream Realms begin to calm. “I see. He was actually here to speak with young Twilight. I am grateful. He has saved me much time.” She nodded. “Yes, I can feel Twilight’s presence diminishing. She is once more safely in her own dreams.”

“Will you be leaving as well now?” Moondancer asked, having overheard the conversation.

Luna nodded. “Yes. I will ensure the Realms are once more calm, and then return to my own dreams.” She glanced at the portal the group of ponies had used to enter the realm. “Be sure to seal this breach when you return. We cannot chance the two dimensions interacting with each other.”

Mitternacht nodded and saluted. “It will be as you have ordered,” he said.

Luna gave a please nod, lifting off the ground with a flap of her wings. “Inform my sister I will be along shortly, and to expect company. If he is here, then things are about to become complicated.”

With that, Luna took off with an ear-splitting bang.

Rosy started moving. “Alright ponies, pack it in. Let’s go home.”

---

Luna came aware to the feeling of someone slapping her cheek. “Wakey wakey!” came an all too cheerful voice.

A familiar voice.

“Lord Death,” she greeted, rising and looking over towards her ultimate master.

Celestia was giggling to herself, knowing full well most any other person would have been fried on the spot for such an act.

Lord Death, better known to the vast multiverse as Harry Potter, moved away from Luna as she got up off the bed. He was a white caucasian male human with messy black hair, emerald colored eyes, a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and wearing what appeared to be a doctor’s uniform. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s just Harry?” he sighed. “Save the pompous bullshit for the pompous assholes.”

Luna smirked. “But there is an asshole in the room.”

Harry gaped, and Celestia lost it, falling to floor as she laughed. After a moment he point a finger at her accusingly. “When the heck did you get a sense of humor!?” he demanded.

Luna was now almost grinning. “Being locked within your own mind for the better part of a thousand years tends to change a pony,” she said.

Harry paused at that admittance, processing the statement, but before he could respond the large portal in the room flared, depositing the ponies that had invaded the Dream Realm.

Luna bowed to Harry. “Lord Death, may I prevail upon you to close this breach upon my domain? I am afraid I do not know how to do so safely.”

Harry shrugged. “Sure,” he said, waving a hand. The portal closed with a snap.

“Princess?” Hazy Glow asked slowly, staring at Harry. “Who… What is that?” he asked, clearly afraid. “And why do you call him Lord Death?” It was quite clear he was terrified that he was about to die.

Celestia, having finally gained control of herself at this point, stepped forward. “Gentlestallions, mares, this young man is Harry Potter.” She motioned towards the grinning human, who waved cheekily. “As for his title, disregard it. Consider him nothing more than a visiting dignitary with Diplomatic Immunity. In fact, unless we directly state otherwise, his authority is equal to our own. Is that clear?”

Most of the ponies saluted. Mitternacht looked to Luna. She nodded, and he also saluted.

Luna turned to Harry. “Lord Death, may I ask why you have come to visit?”

Harry sighed. “Seriously Luna, call my Harry.” It was a half-hearted reprisal though, he knew full well Luna was too respectful of his position to call him anything else. “And I came to visit because Fawkes told me I might be needed here.”

Celestia smiled. “Ah, Fawkes. How has Philomena’s father been?”

Harry shrugged. “Same old grumpy old man as always. He’s been particularly irritable lately, but we think that may have more to do with his impending Burning Day than anything.” He clapped his hands together. “So! Before we get into a Q&A session, I have a question.”

“Yes?” Celestia and Luna both asked at the same time.

“Who’s the Avatar of Magic I sensed when I entered your universe?”
> 47. Worth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now then, today I would like to discuss memories you may feel hesitant to relive,"  Luna said to Fluttershy, who was seated on a couch across from her, nodded timidly. "Memories of pain, of loss, of desperation. I wish for you delve within the darkness of your own mind, but only as far as you are willing to go. If you don't believe you can handle remembering something in detail, say so, and I will change the subject. Do you understand?" she asked.

Fluttershy nodded again. "I..." she hesitated, as Luna had completely expected her to do. Luna waited patiently. "I suppose... the darkest moment in my life..." Luna noticed Fluttershy's eyes glass over slightly, becoming unfocused. "Would be the day Thanos erased half the life in the universe... with the snap of his fingers."

Luna blinked. She blinked again. Such an admittance deserved two blinks, she told herself. "I'm... what?" she asked, unsure if she heard Fluttershy correctly. Half of the entire population of life in a universe? At the snap of a finger?

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably, delving deeper into her own memories. "His goal was to thin out life in the universe, make it so there were less people consuming finite resources. In a demented way, he was right. Life growing unchecked will consume the universe it occupies. It was why Captain Marvel did her best to institute population control measures across the known universe, to prevent another Thanos from rising. But to get back to that moment...

"He had acquired the Infinity Stones..." she whispered. Fluttershy completely missed Luna's face becoming incredibly alarmed the moment she mentioned the stones. "Thor... Thor tried to stop him. We all did. We threw everything we had at him. Thor had buried his axe in Thanos' chest and was just about to finish him off. Unfortunately, none of us had our eyes on his hand. We had relaxed. We had won."

Fluttershy gulped. "Then he just... snapped his fingers." She clicked her tongue. "All with a smile." She spread her hooves. "There was a flash of light. After that Thanos was left kneeling there, Stormbreaker in his chest. The glove with the stones in it was melted to his arm, smoking, and ruined. I remember how he looked. He was... sad. Then he vanished in a portal."

Fluttershy looked into Luna's eyes. "That was when people everywhere began dissolving into ash, to just blow away in the wind." Her eyes gained a haunted look. "Bucky... T'challa... Sam... Even Fury. Across the universe life vanished into ashes, leaving behind a broken and heavily mourning second half."

"And... And after that?" Luna asked, her mind still reeling from Fluttershy mentioning the Infinity Stones. It was a subject none should know about... at least none in their universe.

"Twenty three days later we were able to track Thanos down again, but..." Fluttershy sighed. "He had used the stones again, this time to destroy them and prevent anyone from undoing his work. It had, by his own admission, nearly killed him." Her eyes suddenly grew hard. "Thor finished that job when it became clear that Thanos had attained the final victory." Then she slumped in on herself. "After that... after that was five years of grief and mourning as planets the universe over tried to adapt and move on." Fluttershy shuddered. "I lost a lot of friends that day."

Luna shook her head. "A loss, to be sure," she said sadly. "Did your world ever recover from the trauma?" she asked.

Fluttershy nodded, beginning to smile. "Yes... Like I said, five years had gone by. The world had changed, but not too much. Good and evil both had suffered from The Snap. When the shock had worn off however, it pretty much went back to business as usual." She grinned. "Bruce had even managed to gain control of his Hulk powers, becoming a beloved hero in New York in the process."

"Five years..." Fluttershy shook her head. "It took five years for Ant-Man to return from the Quantum Realm. A trip, in his own words, that took only five hours from his perspective." Seeing Luna's slight confusion, Fluttershy elaborated. "Ant-Man was a superhero who could shrink and enlarge himself. He had discovered a molecular universe by shrinking himself down far enough, and also discovered that time behaved differently there."

Luna gaped. "No... You did not..." she asked, shocked.

Fluttershy nodded with a grin. "With Tony's help, we created a device that could safely send people back in time." She raised a hoof, as if to stop Luna. "Don't get me wrong, we didn't intend to change the past. Tony and Bruce both made it incredibly clear that Time Travel cannot be used to change the past. But the future... the future we could change."

Luna frowned. "Alright. I am curious. How did you "win" if you did not change the past?"

"By acquiring the Infinity Stones from different time periods. With all six stones, the plan was to do the same thing Thanos did. We would snap our fingers. Then, everyone who had been killed by The Snap five years ago, would be back. After that the plan was to take the stones back to their respective times, making it so that the past was not in fact changed. We simply borrowed things from the past, and returned them."

Luna blinked. Truly, it was an unorthodox plan. Most who had access to time travel tried to change the past, not seeing the inherent flaw in that plan, but the Avengers... it seemed they were smarter than anyone had given them credit for. "It worked?"

Fluttershy frowned. "It did... but no plan survives contact with the enemy. The Thanos of the past caught wind of what was going on and somehow hitched a ride back to the present alongside us." She sighed. "Bruce had done the honors. His powers made him the most likely to survive using the stones, and even then it had destroyed his ability to use his right arm. With his sacrifice, everyone Thanos had killed was back... and then Thanos attacked, leveling our home with an orbital bombardment."

"The battle that followed was... brutal. Every superhero. Every police officer. Every civilian with a cause. The universe was against Thanos, and Thanos took us on with a smile." Fluttershy's eyes grew watery again. "He actually had managed to acquire the stones again, and we thought that was it. He said that he now understood the flaw in his original plan, and this time intended to destroy the entire universe, then rebuild it from scratch. Then Tony flew in and engaged him briefly, only to get knocked back. "I am inevitable," Thanos had said, just before snapping his fingers... to nothing."

"What?" Luna asked. She felt almost like a child hearing a war story from their grandparents. Say what you will about Fluttershy. She knew how to tell a story.

"That was when Thanos realized that while he may have the gauntlet... the stones were not in it." Fluttershy sighed. "Then he looked at Tony in horrifying realization, and found him holding up his hand, the stones affixing themselves to it. Tony said... Tony's last words..." Here Fluttershy choked up a little. ""And I am Iron Man." Then he snapped his fingers."

"Thanos, his army, his ships, and all of his weapons... vanished. Thanos even smiled in respect at Tony just before he vanished. But Tony..."

Luna shook her head sadly. The Infinity Stones exacted a heavy toll on any who sought to use them as one. On a mere human whose strength was his genius? The Stones probably killed him, and not gently.

"Tony sacrificed his life, leaving behind his wife and daughter, to end the tyranny of Thanos once and for all," Fluttershy declared. "I was later sent to the different timelines to replace that which we had taken from them, and had decided to take a page from Tony's book. I stayed behind, and lived out my life like I had originally wanted to. I returned to the present the long way, and, as a feeble old man, I passed the mantle of Captain America onto a friend." Fluttershy smiled. "I died a few years later, basking in the glow of a peaceful universe, and content with life."
> 48. The Doctor Is In... Unfortunately.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight groaned as she stirred awake, and decided based on her aching head that today could go to the birds. She grumbled to herself and rolled over.

That was when someone threw open the curtains of her room and let in the unholy abomination that was sunlight, a beam of which went straight for her eyes. She yelped and tried to twist away, only to get tangled up in her blankets and take a tumble to the floor next to her bed.

She heard a snort. “Wow, she certainly isn’t a morning person, is she?”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. She did not recognize that voice. Sitting up quickly, she turned and found Princesses Celestia and Luna standing in her room, with what could only be a human standing between them.

A familiar looking human.

Wait…

“It was you!” she exclaimed, pointing at the human. “You showed me how to escape the Dream Realm!”

Luna glanced at the human. “I was wondering about that actually. What brought you to the Dream Realms specifically?”

The human shrugged. “I arrived in your room just in time to hear the explanation Celestia gave to that group of people. I decided to help out.”

“And her status has nothing to do with it?”

“I didn’t actually know it was her until we got here,” he pointed out.

Luna scoffed. “I’m well aware you can sense them. How could you have not known?”

“The Dream Realm messes with my magical senses, as you well know.”

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, deciding to intervene before the argument turn violent.

The man stepped forward with a grin. “Harry Potter. Also known as the Aspect of Magic, Aspect of Death, and Champion of both Love and Time.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait, Luna mentioned you to me once. She said something about… Avatar’s?”

Harry nodded. “What do you know about the Aspects?”

“Luna said that there are four, and that they play a pivotal role in the maintenance of Existence, which is basically everything that was, is, and will be. She also said that despite there being four Aspects, you embody two of them.”

Harry sighed. “Yeah. Still not entirely happy about that. At least when I was only Death I had equals. Now that I’m also Magic the other Aspects flat out bow to my whims.”

“Lord Death has never been comfortable with the fact that he is effectively the greatest authority in Existence,” Luna explained. “But getting back on track, the Aspects have what are known as Avatars, beings who do the work of the Aspects to help them in their duty. I, for example, am an Avatar of Death. I have a fraction of Lord Death’s authority over souls, and am also the only Avatar of Death within our universe. This makes me the… well, I suppose District Manager of the souls of our universe, where Lord Death would be the CEO.”

Twilight nodded. “I remember you saying that,” she said. “But… why is he here?” she asked, with a small amount of trepidation.

“You know what a Phoenix is?” Harry asked.

Twilight nodded. “Yes. A magical creature of fire and purity. While they lack the ability to communicate in the same way as us, they are still just as intelligent as us, if not more so. Princess Celestia has a Phoenix that…” she cringed. “Well, I made the mistake of assuming Philomena was her pet. I spent the next two weeks getting burned and slapped by wings for that. I’m well aware that they are friends and that Philomena is an advisor for the Princess now.”

Harry snorted. “To be fair,  being a pet is a role lots of Phoenix’s take, usually to people, or ponies, who impress them. They become something akin to advisors.” He motioned to Celestia. “Celestia here impressed a still young Philomena with her drive to turn Equestria into a country of friendship and love. She’s been with the Princess since, giving advice where needed.”

“So Phoenix’s are tied to why you’re here?” Twilight asked. “Is Philomena okay?”

Harry smiled and nodded. “Philomena’s fine. I’m actually here at the request of the Phoenix Council, or more specifically one of their members. Fawkes, Philomena’s father, asked me to come here because I’m apparently needed for something here. And after seeing you, I would have to agree.”

“Me?” Twilight asked.

“You,” Harry agreed. “I have the power to see souls, and the moment I saw yours I knew I had to step in. It’s unstable.”

Twilight blinked. Then it clicked. “Wait, is that because I’m a Hero Soul?”

Harry also blinked. “Hero Soul?” he asked, turning to Celestia and Luna.

Luna nodded. “Throughout the history of Equestria, the souls of great heroes from all kinds of worlds have been reincarnated here with their memories and powers intact, usually to help fight some kind of calamity. Twilight and two of her friends are the most recent, and apparently there is a reality ending threat they are meant to fight.” She glanced at Harry. “I had assumed you played a part in the creation of such a system,” she explained.

Harry frowned. “No. If there’s one thing I don’t do it’s unnecessarily rip souls from the Afterlife and force them to fight. That reeks of classic Necromancy, and I’ve had to put down too many Blights to accept it.” He peered at Twilight closer, and Twilight suddenly felt as if she was utterly bare to him. It was slightly unnerving. “The souls of Clark Kent and Twilight Sparkle are blended on such a level that it could only have been a primary God that did this, maybe a Titan level God.”

He leaned back and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his hand. “Unfortunately, the blending itself is too thorough to separate the souls without consequences.”

A knocking was heard at the door. “Enter,” Celestia called. A Royal Guard entered, paused at the sight of Harry, visibly rallied himself, and continued to Celestia. He whispered something in her ear before saluting and leaving. Celestia stood. “I apologize, I am needed elsewhere,” she said, leaving the room.

Luna frowned in thought, having a feeling she knew what the issue was. 

“Will this kill me?” Twilight asked, slightly afraid. Finding out a procedure she thought was safe was actually not approved by the ultimate authority on souls kinda freaked her out, understandably.

Harry peered at her again, considering. Tentatively, he answered. “On its own…… no.”

“But…?” Twilight asking. She could hear it in his voice.

Harry frowned. “A big enough shock to your soul could, theoretically, completely destabilize you. Your mixed souls would break down into the material souls are made from, scatter across the universe to one day be reformed into a new soul, and the body left behind could become nothing more than a monster with no morals or ethics.”

Twilight was pale at hearing that. “Is… is there anything you can do?” she nearly begged.

Harry was silent for a time, then sighed. “There is, but it’s not something I do lightly. In fact, I’ve only ever done it once, and seen it done two other times.”

Luna frowned, wondering what could make ever Harry hesitate. Obviously it involved Twilight’s soul, but what escaped her.

“I can complete the blending.”

Twilight blinked. “Er… well, how would that affect me?” she asked.

Harry shrugged. “Normally, soul blending is only done to souls of the same people, if displaced by time and worlds. Compatibility is pretty much perfect, so there’s never an issue, but the souls of Twilight Sparkle and Clark Kent are not entirely compatible. Long time exposure to each other has innoculated them to each other to a certain degree, but I honestly have no idea if it’s enough.”

Harry leaned towards Twilight again, giving her an intense look. “On that note, I won’t force this on you. You are in no immediate danger to yourself or others, so I don’t feel I should step in like that. Sleep on the offer.”

“What will the result be? If it succeeds, I mean,” Twilight asked after a moment.

Harry scratched his chin in thought. “Well, with the usual blending the only real difference is that the souls become one. It doesn’t increase power, or grants insight into things either of you didn’t already know. It just takes two and turns it into one on a thorough level.” He looked at Twilight again. “You, however… Well, I can make some educated guesses, but that’s it. The risk your soul destabilizing will pretty much vanish, and you may find it easier to retain information as well as recall memories of both souls. Hell, you may even find using your Kryptonian abilities easier.”

Something occurred to Twilight and she frowned. “Wait… how do you know who my Hero Soul is?” She glanced at Luna in suspicion.

She did not expect the normally unflappable Alicorn of the night to snort before collapsing into a fit laughter and giggles. Even Harry was smirking.

He leaned back with that smirk still in place. “That’s actually a funny story. My brother took one look at you, turned green, and left this world with as much haste as he could. Considering he’s the Norse God of Thunder… He made quite a spectacle of himself.”

Twilight frowned harder. “How does that relate…? Wait, you have a brother? Wait! You’re brother is Thor?!” Twilight made rapid-fire statements as she made the connections.

Luna only laughed harder. Harry, noticing how this was making Twilight uncomfortable, waved a hand. The last Twilight saw of the Alicorn was the startled yelp Luna gave as magic twisted the space around her. Then she vanished in a flash of light.

After a moment, she reappeared, soaking wet and looking quite miserable. Luna looked furious. “What was that for?!” she demanded.

“You’re making Twilight uncomfortable,” Harry said seriously. “Either pack it in or take it outside. She just had a traumatic night.”

Luna glanced at Twilight, and felt unease at Twilight’s slightly frazzled appearance. Luna sighed, using her magic to pull the water from her body. “My apologies, Twilight Sparkle. It’s just that…” She snorted here, unable to contain a brief burst of amusement. “...just that Clark Kent did not comport himself quite as well as I had hoped an apprentice of my master would have. It was… what’s the word in this confounded modern language?” she frowned, before her eyes lit up. “Ah! It was hilarious!”

“Oh,” Twilight mumbled.

Harry grinned at the Alicorn and held up three fingers behind his back, where only she could see them. He counted down with them. Once the last digit folded, Twilight's eyes widened almost comically.

“Wait WHAT?! WHO?!”

Luna once again fell to hysterics.
> 49. More Than Believed, Less Than Wanted
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Celestia admitted somewhat uneasily.

 The source of her unease was obvious. Harry Potter, the Avatar of Death and Magic both, was currently smoking mad. Literally. There was smoke billowing from his mouth and nostrils. Anyone who knew Harry knew this was a bad sign.

 Harry made a visible effort to calm himself. “...Your student… was an experiment,” he ground out. “That is the only way I can possibly describe how utterly botched this fustercluck of a soul merge is,” he growled in clear rage.

 He sighed after a moment longer of simmering, letting go of his understandable irritation for the moment. “I’m gonna be honest with you, Celestia. I have no fucking idea what will happen if I so much as touch Twilight’s soul. It’s why I gave her every chance to take her time and think about her situation. I don’t know if I even can finish her soul merge.”

 Celestia sat down, ears flipping back in worry. “Is she in any danger?”

 Harry shook his head. “No. I was being completely honest when I told her that she’s in no immediate danger, but at the same time I’ve never seen something this… disgusting… before. I genuinely don’t know what kind of danger she’s in, or if she is in any at all. By all rights her two souls should have violently rejected each other the moment they tried to exist in the same vessel. There are ways around that forcefully, and I’ve seen situations where one soul can act as a sort of guardian over another, but that’s not the case here. Twilight Sparkle and Clark Kent should never have been able to bond like this.”

 Celestia frowned in concern. “What about the other Hero Souls? Are they in similar danger?”

 Harry’s frown deepened. “No, surprisingly. That’s another reason why I think whoever started this Hero Soul thing was experimenting with Twilight. The other Hero Souls, barring Miss Rarity, are for the most part very stable. They have the expected issues with identity crisis and occasional panic attacks from overlapping memories, but Luna’s handling that admirably.” His eyes narrowed. “No, what concerns me is how utterly clean their merges are. If I hadn’t known about this Hero Soul thing, I never would have guessed those souls had been merged.”

 He paused. “... On that note, you may want to keep an eye on Miss Pie. Her soul was damaged. Not extensively so, but it was eerily similar to the damage inflicted by a severed soul bond.”

 Celestia sighed to herself. “I suppose it was too much to hope this situation would become easier with you here. Alas, you have only revealed more issues.”

 Harry shrugged apologetically, before standing and stretching. “I wish there was more I can do, I really do, but until I know more about this I don’t dare get involved.” He frowned slightly. “As it stands I’m gonna be leaving Equestria to go speak with the Phoenix Council. My hope is that they know more than they were letting on. At the very least I need to wring Fawkes’ neck for not telling me about this sooner.”

 “Is there really nothing you can do for Rarity?” Celestia asked, also standing.

 They both left the dining room they were in and began aimlessly wandering the corridors of Canterlot Castle. “Rarity is in a unique situation. She is effectively fighting herself. This is very similar to cases where war vets, or amnesia patients, reject memories that cause them pain. The memories don’t go away just because you don’t like them, and the act of rejecting even a portion of yourself never ends well. In this case, near as I can tell, the Hero Soul system is trying to blunt force the memories onto Rarity, but she simply refuses. The system is strong though, and will eventually overwhelm her… erasing Rarity from existence on accident if she doesn’t accept them.”

 “You can’t remove the memories? I remember stories of Thor and Loki,” Celestia reminded him.

 Harry nodded. “True, but those were both complete and utter eradication of the person who came before, and using the leftover blank soul to create a new life, starting from scratch. In order for me to save Rarity I would have to wipe her clean the same way the memories will if they overwhelm her. And even then I’m not familiar enough with the Hero Soul system to find a way to prevent the memories from trying again. She needs to face this now.”

 Harry stopped. “Based on what Luna and Twilight told me, Rarity’s Hero Soul is a thief of some kind. Considering they were eligible to become a Hero Soul, they may actually be a good person, and Rarity rejected them on principle without seeing that. Maybe try that angle if nothing else works.”

 Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Lord Death, for helping us,” she said, bowing to him.

 Harry sighed. “I had thought better of you, Celestia.” He noticed her smirk at the corner of her mouth. He also grinned. “Then again, I’ve seen you when you prank people.”

 Celestia straightened herself, the very image of regal rule. “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about.”

 Harry waved a hand. “Yeah yeah, political response, blah blah. Let’s take our minds off of everything and go prank one of your ponies.”

 Celestia happily followed along, eager to once again enjoy a day of fun with her old friend. However, in the back of her mind, a plan was forming. She just may be able to save Rarity yet.
> 50. Moral Outrage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Awareness came slowly to Rarity. Almost painfully.

 “She’s regaining consciousness.”

 “Are you sure this is wise, Your Highness? Your sister told us having her awake would make the rejection happen faster.”

 “Thank you for the concern, but I believe this is worth the risk.”

 Rarity groggily tried to remember what had led her to this moment. She was shocked to discover that she could recall nothing. She went to bed and that was it. It wasn’t even the haze of dreams, just… click. Went to bed, closed her eyes, and woke up here.

 That was not normal.

 “Miss Belle? It’s me, Princess Celestia. Can you hear my voice?”

Rarity tried to respond, successfully managing to get her eyes to crack open. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get her mouth to cooperate. Wait… why couldn’t she move?

 Had there been an accident? Was her memory affected?

 “Blink once for yes, twice for no,” Celestia supplied helpfully.

 Rarity opened her eyes a little more, and found she could now see a sea of blurred colors. She blinked once.

 “Excellent. You are currently within Ponyville General after having been brought in suffering from what Luna calls Direct Memory Rejection. Your sister, by the way, is fine and is currently being taken care of by Applejack.” Rarity heard the Princess pause. “Do you recall how your friends have begun waking up Hero Souls?”

 One blink. Yes, she remembered Applejack waking one up shortly before her last memory. How did this have to do with whatever had happened to her.

 “You woke one up yourself a couple nights ago during a breakin within your home. You apparently awakened your Hero Soul while fighting off the intruder, but once you had the time to go over the details of who the Hero Soul was, you rejected the memories. Violently. Hence the name; Direct Memory Rejection.”

 Rarity managed to frown. She rejected the memories? Could that be why she was in the hospital? Twilight had suffered pretty badly when she had rejected Clark Kent’s memories, and that was subconsciously. She had apparently full out denied them.

 “You’ve been sedated and kept within a medically induced coma to slow the decay of your mind from such a thing. Today I convinced Luna to temporarily seal off the memory of your awakening so that I may discuss it with you.”

 Rarity blinked her eyes a bit, managing to get them to focus more. “W...why…”

 Celestia spoke up gently. “Why temporarily?” she asked. Rarity managed a small nod. “Because, for as much as you may deny them, the memories are now a part of you. If I were to erase them, your soul would eventually just regenerate them. This is nothing more than a temporary solution to enable somewhat safe communication.”

 Rarity finally managed to get her legs to cooperate and slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. She could see Celestia now, though she was still a very blurry white and rainbow-ish blob. “Why did I… Why did I reject them?”

 Celestia didn’t immediately answer her question, but when she did, she did it slowly. “I am unsure. I can only speculate that something about the memories caused you to deny them. I was hoping to help you come to terms with whatever that may be today. Can you think of any reason why you would reject such a thing?”

 Rarity frowned and tried to make herself comfortable in her new position. She grimaced. No matter how she adjusted, she could not get comfortable. After a minute she gave up and considered the question the Princess had asked her.

 “Well… I can say honestly that I don’t fancy the idea of having the memories of someone else in my mind,” she started. “The very idea somewhat frightens me. Would they change me?” She shook her head slowly. “I will also be the first to admit that I hold myself to some somewhat strict standards. I could have taken exception to their personal hygiene, their career choice, or even to their gender. I really don’t know,” she said.

 “Hmm,” Celestia seemed to consider that. “I suppose we should discuss that then. First, let us examine the idea of the memories themselves.” She placed a hoof on her chest. “While my sister is by far the expert of Hero Souls, I know enough to assure you of this; the memories are yours. They have been a part of you since you were born, just locked away for your safety until you were ready for them. There will, of course, be some confusion and discomfort with the memories fully integrating with you on a conscious level, my student can tell you that much from personal experience, but in the end they are still your memories.”

 “So… accepting them won’t change me?” Rarity asked. “I mean, Twilight never appeared to change, apart from how she can casually violate the laws of physics without magic, but I still worry. Fluttershy was visibly changed by her awakening. She’s… braver, more courageous, and I’ve certainly heard some interesting bits of wisdom from her.”

 Celestia nodded at that. “Very true, but I think that is a matter of self-acceptance, rather than a direct change by her awakened memories. Fluttershy was once a soldier in a war the likes Equestria has never seen. Such a conflict will change a pony, mark them. Fluttershy’s fear may in fact be partially because her subconscious remembered those horrifying memories. However, gaining access to the full memories, wisdom, and experience on a conscious level also gave her the tools she needed to more readily face that fear. Fluttershy was never changed, just given the means to be a better pony.”

 Rarity considered that. It had never occurred to her that a Hero Soul’s memories could be accessed by the subconscious mind before their awakening. It would certainly explain some of the more interesting dreams and day-dreams she had as a child.

 The fact that said dreams and day-dreams usually involved a lot of gold and jewels made her heart twang, though why she didn’t know.

 “As for the gender difference…” Here Celestia coughed a bit awkwardly. “I’m afraid that is something most Hero Souls must deal with. As you know, the gender ratio of Equestria is somewhat skewed in favor of mares. Most other worlds, Luna and I have discovered, are either skewed the other way, or the ratio is more equal. Unfortunately that means most Hero Souls have to deal with memories from both sides of the fence. It has led to some… interesting… developments, but nothing planet shattering, I assure you.”

 Rarity sat there and absorbed that slowly. She noticed that her head hurt, but pushed it aside for now. “What about career?” she asked after a moment. “I am very proud of my career and have some heavy ambitions for it. Will the memories change that?”

 Celestia also considered that. “Well… bare in mind that a pony’s career tends to be tied to their Cutie-Marks, and your Cutie-Mark is an expression of both your soul and your passion. Combined with the fact that the memories will come from your soul, I really don’t see it adversely affecting your career, not unless you are doing work that you secretly despised.”

 Rarity nodded after a moment, seeing the sense in that. Her Cutie-Mark was an expression of both her talent in finding gems, and of how she both viewed nobility and her aspirations towards the title. She supposed her career wasn’t necessarily tied to her Cutie-Mark, but it was itself an expression, and outlet, of her talent. Gems played a heavy part in her style of design, after all.

 “Last question, then,” she said. “What about morals? I also hold myself to a strong moral code. I don’t want that to change.”

 She noticed that Celestia frowned, appearing to think fairly hard about that. “I would have to converse with my sister regarding that, as morality is a fairly fluid concept to begin with, but I think one of my previous answers ties into this.” She pointed at Rarity. Or, rather, her chest. “The memories were always there, and were even subconsciously accessible. They’ve always influenced you, though granted in a minor way until now. Who you are today you owe, in part, to those memories.”

 As Rarity digested that, Celestia shrugged. “Besides, morality is a choice. One that is sometimes difficult, yes, but a choice nonetheless. Even if your Hero Soul was one of someone you did not like, the memories and talents you inherited are yours, and they are therefore yours to do with as you wish. As I explained to my student once, these memories do not mean you must act on them the same way as your previous incarnation, merely that you have more readily accessible tools to follow your path.”

 Rarity nodded, but frowned at the same time. It almost sounded as if… Oh. That’s right. She had already awakened her Hero Soul. Her memories of the event were just suppressed right now. That meant Celestia probably already knew not only who her Hero Soul was, but why she rejected it. “I see. The only thing about me that the memories change is what I can now readily remember. Er… will readily remember.”

 Celestia sighed in relief, and that Rarity knew she had hit the nail on the head. “You know, don’t you?” she asked, getting Celestia’s attention. “You already know who my Hero Soul is, and why I rejected it.”

 Celestia took a moment, but eventually nodded. “I know what your Hero Soul likely did for a living, but not who they were. If you wish, I will tell you my theory, but only removing the block on your memory will let you know for certain.”

 Rarity considered that. Why would she reject a person based on their career choice? Well, she knew all too easily one career that she may have taken exception to. “I was a criminal, wasn’t I?”

 Celestia frowned here. “That would depend on what you mean by criminal. Were you someone who loved chaos, destruction, and misery? No. There cannot be a Hero Soul who is evil. In fact a Hero Soul must bear a virtue and desire to save people. But I have seen criminals who do the things they do in the name of helping others and protecting people.” She paused. “I believe you were a thief. However, unlike a thief that stole to sate their greed, I believe you were a thief that stole to provide for others, or perhaps one that worked to gather evidence to put away worse criminals.”

 “I see…” Rarity said, taking that in. Yes, she could certainly see why she may have rejected the memories. Even now she can feel a part of her urging her to forsake the memories and let oblivion take her, but the conversation with Celestia before this revelation gave her pause. ‘I wonder… could I use those skills in a way that doesn’t violate my morals?’

 “Please lift the memory block, Princess,” she decided.

 Celestia hesitated. “Are you sure? If I do this, it may kill you if you reject them again. And I don’t mean physically. The Hero Soul system is powerful. In its effort to give you the memories it may accidentally erase you and leave nothing but your previous incarnation if you fight it hard enough.”

 Rarity nodded. “I cannot make a decision without seeing just what kind of person I was. I want to know… I need to know if I can justify such a thing to myself.”

 Celestia still hesitated, but eventually stood and lit her horn. “Alright, but Rarity?”

 “Yes Princess?”

 “Your friends are waiting for you.”

 Then she undid the block.

 “It all began when I was just a kid, bouncing on my father’s knee. You see, I come from a long line of master thieves, who kept their secrets for sneaking and stealing in an ancient book. The Thievius Raccoonus.”
> 51. The Man Behind The Honor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 She watched as a fourth Hero Soul sparked to life in the world below. She frowned. “Why are we waiting master? More and more of those infernal heroes are waking up as time goes on. If we wait too long…”

 There was a rumble from the aether around her.

 She bowed her head. “Understanding the opposition that could be thrown at us is one thing, but I used to be a part of this world. I know all too well how easily it can throw off darkness if given the opening to do so. If we want to win, we must attack quick, fast, and brutally.”

 Another rumble, this one more aggressive.

 She grimaced. “My apologies, master. I do not mean to doubt you, it’s just… I just feel as if I could do my job better if I understood why we are doing this the slow way.”

 A slower rumble. It went on for a moment.

 She perked up. “Truly? This is where it’ll happen?” She frowned after a moment. “But… wait. I was already incarnated in this world once. How can I do so again?”

 The rumble was somehow smooth and confident. Smug.

 Her eyes widened. “Oh… that is…” She grinned evilly. “Oh master, you are far too kind to your faithful subject.” She turned her attention back to the world and frowned after a moment. “Still, even if I can be incarnated again, it would be prudent to plan accordingly.”

 The rumble agreed readily.

 “Can any of the others be incarnated yet?”

 A disappointed rumble.

 “Blast. Can we influence anyone?”

 A rumble that sounded like a curious agreement.

 “Well, that blasted Ascended that gave you so much trouble is sealed here, and his power could certainly weaken the dimensional barrier. Compound that with the sheer raw power that the heroes would need to bring to bear to fight him, and you have a recipe for making a hole one of us could slip through unnoticed.” She grinned as she felt her master’s approval. “We just have to give the heroes incentive to fight him with intent to kill and force him to fight the same.”

 The master chuckled, and began to explain an idea to her most faithful servant of millions of years.

 Yes, Equestria had no idea just what would soon hit it.

 ---

 Rarity looked up from her notebook as there was a knock on her hospital room door. “Yes?” she asked, closing the book and setting it aside.

 The door opened to admit Twilight Sparkle. “Hey,” she said, taking a seat next to the bed. “You doing okay?” she asked.

 Rarity shrugged. “Doctor Tender assures me that I am physically perfectly healthy and able to leave. Unfortunately, he insists on having me remain for a week to ensure there are no problems with my mind after I… well…” She glanced away uncomfortably.

 Twilight nodded.

 Neither needed to say that the Doctor was trying to make sure Rarity had no more suicidal thoughts running around her mind. She had nearly willingly let herself die because she couldn’t get her way after all.

 “Are you comfortable?” Twilight asked, changing the subject.

 Rarity shifted slightly. “As comfortable as can be reasonably expected, given I’m in a hospital,” she admitted.

 Twilight chuckled. “Yeah. Clark hated hospitals, even if he rarely needed them.” She paused. “Can I ask about who they were? What they were like?”

 Rarity smiled slightly. “My Hero Soul, yes?” At Twilight nod she became slightly wistful. “Well, if I had bothered to finish viewing the memories, I could have avoided this whole fiasco, but oh well. His name was Sly Cooper, the last Cooper and leader of the infamous Cooper Gang, and the Hero Soul of Honor. He was not only a thief, but a Master Thief.”

 “There’s a difference? Besides in skill level, I mean,” Twilight asked, slotting that knowledge of Sly being the Soul of Honor away for future consideration.

 Rarity nodded. “A Master Thief is a thief who has become so skilled at the art of thieving and sneaking that they have not only developed an instinct for it, but refined it.”

 Twilight frowned. “Refined it? How so?”

 Rarity also frowned, considering how best to explain. “Well… I suppose I should start by saying that this isn’t a skill only a thief can develop. Anyone who spends enough time honing their skills and talents can reach this point. Beyond that, it’s somewhat different for everyone. For me, I was the stealth and gymnast of our group, and I was not only proud of it, but worked day in and out to further it. Then, one day… well, I just knew. I couldn’t get better. Not because of a limit, but because I had... I guess I achieved a sort of apotheosis, coming into an ability that only I could have developed.”

 She looked around. “Everywhere I look, my mind subconsciously analyzes every crevice, every nook and cranny, and every potential route I could take, then compiles that information, sends it to my conscious mind, and let’s me “see” these possibilities by overlaying these areas with a subtle blue sparkle.” She pointed at the door. “I see a blue sparkle behind that door, in its shadow, and instinctively know that it’s because I can virtually turn invisible in shadows, or clamber onto the top of the door where no one would look initially. I call it my Thief Sense.” She smiled. “That’s how you know you’re a Master Thief, when you develop this kind of ability.”

 Twilight was awestruck. “That’s amazing,” she said.

 Rarity nodded. “My old crew could do the same thing. Murray, the muscle, cook, and driver of the crew could do two things with his. In its unrefined state, he could see food over parts of an enemy, and he would instinctively reach for it. Then he would find himself holding the enemy in some kind of hold, or punching said enemy in the perfect opening. He was amazing to watch fight when he refined it. It was like watching water flow. The other part of his ability let him see candy in a line in front of our van that showed him where to go to best escape our current situations. Murray eventually became a star race car driver because of this ability.”

 Rarity sighed. “And then there was Bentley. Bentley was our technology specialist. The brains of the crew. He made the plans and operated the tech. He was also our hacker. His ability? He could operate any piece of machinery like it was an extension of his body. An RC helicopter? He flew that thing like it was a bird. An exoskeleton suit? He could take Murray two for three falls in a boxing match. Hacking? He literally visualized himself inside the computer as he hacked it, seeing it like a simple video game. He had studied technology so much, dedicated so much information on each piece of a machine to memory, that he instinctively knew what each piece of the machine could do, withstand, and how to break it in the most efficient way possible. He knew what buttons to press to make exact things happen, how to stress the machine without destroying it, and even improve it.”

 Twilight, ever the scientist, was openly drooling at such an ability. At noticing Rarity’s smirk, she cleared her throat and quickly cleaned herself up. 

 “What kind of person was Sly though?” she asked after an uncomfortable moment.

 “Honorable,” Rarity instantly replied, then chuckled at her joke. “Okay, honor was a big part of him, but not all of it.” She leaned back slightly, reminiscing. “Sly was a person who had a sort of roguish charm to him. He kept his cool in most situations and didn’t panic easily. He always had a witty remark on hand and charming smile to offer, especially to the ladies.” She frowned slightly. “Sly easily gave mercy to his foes, but there were some…” she stopped. “Having lost his family to a murderer, Sly dedicated himself to developing a non-lethal style of fighting and was particularly vigorous in helping the authorities jail criminals with histories of murder. Especially murderers that made children watch. He only ever killed a person a handful of times, and it was because of either self-defense, or circumstances beyond his control. He never sought someone out with the intent to kill.”

 Rarity stalled here, and the image of metal wings against a moonlit backdrop flashed through her mind. “No. I’m sorry Twilight, I lied. There was one Sly purposefully killed. One person… that Sly set out to kill. Partly for revenge, partly to stop him from stealing someone else’s family from them…” She shuddered. “Clockwerk, the owl that defied death for centuries through sheer Hate for the Cooper clan.” She paused, then chuckled. “In a twisted sort of way, Clockwerk was the one who made Sly into the man he was. If Clockwerk had never killed Sly’s parents, had never made him watch… Sly would not have been nearly as dedicated to being a great thief as he was before he died.”

 Rarity sighed, but then smiled, almost forcefully. “Anyways, Sly saved the world a few times you know. Once, when Clockwerk was terrorizing it. A second time when someone was trying to hypnotize all of Paris, and a third time when someone tried to change history and nearly succeeded. Of course, Sly never set out specifically to save the world, but always kinda stumbled into it while trying to protect his family legacy.”

 Rarity smile turned brighter. “And he made a lot of friends doing it, some who were even former enemies. Sly was generous and kind like that. He would listen to their side of the story, and often find something of a kindred spirit, or a horribly wronged person, and set out to show them they didn’t have to be alone or criminals. He was a good man, and always honored his world. To him, honor was in building an empire of family and never letting them down.”

 Rarity straightened herself a bit. “Knowing what I do of Sly Cooper now, I am honored to be the latest incarnation of a man so thoroughly dedicated to the people he loved, and look forward to continuing his legacy.”
> 52. Regrets, Part Two: Life March
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Rarity sat back and stretched. She wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. She realized her back was aching slightly, a decent sign she had spent too long hunched over. She picked up the cane on the table in front of her and examined it.

 The client had been very specific in how they wanted the cane weighted. Rarity couldn’t understand for the life of her why one would want a simple hook cane, the kind that looked like candy canes, to have such a distracting weight built into the hook, but in the end it wasn’t her job to ask those kinds of questions. As it stood a plain wooden hook was attached to the cane, one without a weight.

 She remembered wielding the prototype of this cane against Shifter over a week ago now, and supposed she could see combat applications for such a design. Why Fancy Pants, of all ponies, would want a cane made for combat escaped her though.

 She put the cane back down and covered it in fabric for later. It wasn’t quite done yet. The wood still needed to be finished, she had yet to receive the finished head, and she was still debating on whether or not she should leave a signature. And if so, how?

 She smirked as some of Sly’s memories flitted through her mind. Very few people in Sly's life knew just how many skills the raccoon had picked up in his long life of costumes, deception, and thievery. Often times in order for disguises to work one needed to be at least passably skilled at one trade or another, and Sly had picked up quite a few trades. He would never be called a master in anything but thievery, of course, but he could hold his own fairly well in most physical labor trades. Carpentry, demolition, metalshop, mechanic… and even woodworking.

 Rarity had of course known some of what Sly knew, but she also had known a few tricks the thief hadn’t and vice versa. It was also interesting to compare the different ways the two worlds went about their trades.

 For instance, Pony’s couldn’t claim a masters certificate in a chosen trade unless they could perform the trade with their magic blocked. This was equally to ensure fairness and to build familiarity with said trade. Magic removed a degree of closeness from the whole thing, leading to often subpar results.

 Of course, there were exceptions, such as Ponies like Twilight Sparkle, who dedicated themselves to magic itself, rather than how it could be applied to a specific trade.

 Inversely, the people of Sly’s world were considered masters when they devised their own ways to doing their trades. Smiths making their own tools and even new ones for personal touches, cooks cooking based on feeling rather than recipe, and carpenters working so efficiently that they make every movement lead into the next.

 It was enough to have Rarity’s inner muse doing cartwheels while singing “Joy To The World” at the top of her lungs. Ideas simply kept coming, and even her ever useful notebook was beginning to get cramped. She may need to invest in multiple notebooks for different subjects soon.

 Hearing a thud from upstairs, Rarity sighed and turned to go see was her sister was doing. She loved her sister, but it was often a bad idea to not poke her head in on her once in a while.

 ---

 “Really, Twilight, you’ve been a huge help. I don’t think I could ask for more, even knowing it would probably be easy for you.”

 Twilight gently set the large pile of lumber down next to the framework of what looked like a house at first and turned to the pony speaking to her. She smiled. “Really, Cheerilee, I don’t mind. It’s actually nice to use my powers openly like this. It’s like scratching an itch I never could quite reach.”

 Cheerilee, as it happened, was one of Twilight’s acquaintances from her childhood, though only because their mothers went to the same book club. While they hadn’t ever quite been friends, it was never because of bad feelings on either Pony’s part. They had both just been too engrossed in their own types of books. They often helped each other find specific books.

 As such, when Cheerilee asked if Twilight could help her finish her dream schoolhouse, Twilight had been only too happy to help, after the initial surprise of discovering Cheerilee now lived in Ponyville.

 “Still, I feel like I should be repaying you somehow. You pretty well cut the construction time in half on your own!” Cheerilee exclaimed.

 Twilight shrugged. “Then just take it as a favor you owe me. You know I’m not real picky about this kind of thing.”

 Cheerilee sighed, but nodded. It wouldn’t be the first time Twilight had come to her rescue in their somewhat shared pasts. Her taxes alone would have been murder if Twilight hadn’t been there to help, nevermind the sleepless nights the both of them had spent helping Cheerilee study for her exams when she was studying to become a teacher. Twilight could probably qualify as a teacher herself with all the material she had probably memorized alongside her.

 Twilight suddenly stopped, a memory from shortly after she moved to Ponyville playing across her mind. “Actually, there is something you could do for me,” she said, before explaining.

 Cheerilee, once she understood what was being asked of her, agreed all to easily to the favor. It was hardly a problem at all, considering just what she was having Twilight help her build.

 ---

 Fluttershy had to admit that having the peak Pegasus body had it’s good points. For one, her chores around the house had never been easier. Feeding the animals, cleaning the chicken coop, making sure no one was sick... this normally took up most of her day. As such, it had been somewhat startling to finish said chores and realize it wasn’t even noon yet.

 After having an early lunch, Fluttershy settled in to do what she normally did when she finished her chores early; relax and let the day drift by. However, after five minutes of fidgeting on her couch, she realized the downside to her upgraded body. She had too much energy to simply relax.

 She decided to explore her house a bit and see if she could find anything to do. It didn’t take long to realize there was a layer of white fur everywhere. It seemed it was time to clean up Angel’s loose fur again.

 This task did it’s job of keeping her busy, but once again she found herself finishing the job far quicker than expected. Only an hour had gone by. Once again Fluttershy found herself exploring the house in search of something to do.

 So perhaps there were more downsides than she thought to being a Hero Soul. Fluttershy eventually decided to wander into town. If nothing else, she would probably see one of her friends and they would have an idea of what to do.

 At least it was a beautiful day today, if slightly chilly. Fall was beginning to set in.

 ---

 Pinkie Pie was in a slight dilemma.

 Birthday party, or pre-Hearths Warming party? Both? Something completely different?

 Sometimes being the premier party planner of Ponyville was hard…

 ---

 Applejack grumbled as she finished unloading the harvest for the day. Work had gone somewhat poorly, the trees being stubborn due to the temperature beginning to shift. They weren’t quite as willing to give up their apples.

 Of course, any good apple farmer knew the tricks to getting a stubborn tree to let go of it’s fruit. If a good solid buck didn’t do it, then it was time to apply good ‘ole Earth Pony ingenuity to the mix. Usually this involved using what little magic an Earth Pony could manipulate and coaxing it into the tree. This usually made the tree relax and drop apples, but for some reason the orchard trees were being downright rude today.

 Applejack had resorted to just slingshotting herself around the trees like a rubber band and grabbing apples. It worked, but the trees weren’t happy about it.

 As she had done this, she had found herself marveling at how different nature was between Equestria and the Grand Line. Granted, nature in the Grand Line was, to put it politely, bucking weird to begin with, but it was never almost sentient, much like nature was in this world. Trees could move, if very slightly, and could very easily sass at their caretakers on a bad day.

 The strange thing was… the Apple family had been caring for the orchard trees since before Ponyville had been founded. They were as attached to the trees and land around them as a Pony could get, and not just because of their obsession with Apples. There wasn’t a tree in the entire orchard that didn’t adore the family in some way, even going so far as to share life energy with the elderly Granny Smith to prolong her life and ease her burdens.

 So why were the trees being so ornery today?

 ---

 Deep within a vault locked with the strongest magics ponies could conceive of, five gems glittered happily in their resting places. A sixth gem, however, did not glitter. It in fact looked quite dull.

 Then, unnoticed by anyone… a small crack formed in the ruby surface of the Element of Loyalty.

 ---

 “I’m the fastest Pegasus now!”

 “Rainbow Crash can’t even keep up with FlutterCry!”

 “I don’t need a slow pony like you holding me down anymore!”

 “I don’t need a pony like you…”

“I don’t need you.”
> 53. School and Research
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 “Really?”

 Cheerilee nodded with a smile. She sat in Applejack’s dining room with Twilight, Applejack, Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom. She was speaking to Applejack. “I’m well aware that your family has issues with accepting charity, but this isn’t charity. It’s half a favor from a friend…” Twilight sheepishly waved a hoof. “And half my belief that all children should have the chance to reach their potential. That means basic schooling.”

 “Twilight?” Applejack asked in surprise. “Why are you…?” she was clearly stunned Twilight had done this.

 “I remembered you telling me about why you wanted those Gala tickets,” Twilight admitted. “I don’t know what I can do to help Mrs. Smith,” she gestured to the elderly mare, “But I remembered that you wanted to put Applebloom through primary school with the money that contract would have gotten you. Cheerilee insisted she owed me for the help I gave her, so I decided to use that favor to help you.”

 Applejack closed her eyes and appeared conflicted. “I… we pride ourselves on being independent and self-sufficient, and I am very flattered about the offer, but…” She glanced at Applebloom, who was watching the meeting with clearly interested eyes. She looked away. Memories of Applebloom being so amazed by Zecora, and her constant questions regarding Earth-Pony magic since that day. Her eyes always shone with passion as she eagerly ate everything they gave her.

 There were no “buts”, not when it came to family.

 “But Applebloom’s talent… clearly doesn’t lay in apples,” she finally forced herself to say.

 “Nor should it,” Granny Smith spoke up, smiling at her youngest grandchild. “All ponies have the right to chase their dreams. We have no right to force our own dreams on ‘er.” She looked Applejack in the eye. “Say yes, Jackie.”

 Applejack sighed, but nodded at Cheerilee. “A’right. Ah’m willing to accept this gift.” She paused. “On one condition.”

 “Name it,” Cheerilee said.

 “Applebloom and Ah will help ya finish the school house. At least this way we’ll feel like we earned it.”

 Cheerilee and Twilight exchanged glances. “Well, I don’t personally have any problem with that. You’re family is certainly very good at construction with how often you rebuild that barn of yours. It’s just… Twilight’s already been helping with that. It’s mostly finished. We just need to install the wiring and drywall, then the roof and windows, and I’ve already paid a couple electricians to come down from Canterlot to do the wiring.”

 Applejack nodded. “Then call us when you’re ready for the roof. We can do that easily. Wiring and windows… not so much, but shingling a roof is easy.”

 “I’ll help pick up the slack around here while you two are doing that,” Big Mac offered, and Applejack nodded in appreciation.

 Applejack looked at her sister. “So? How’s that sound, Bloom? You get to go to school like we promised, and Ah can even promise you’ll likely learn more about Earth-Pony magic there.”

 “Yes!” Applebloom cried, clearly happy.

 “Why don’t you show Cheerilee out, Twi?” Applejack asked her friend. “We gotta talk more about how this will affect the family with Bloom in school most days.” Twilight nodded and stood. “And Twi?”

 “Yes?”

 “If you ever pull a stunt like this again Ah’ll hogtie you to the flagpole at Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns,” she said with a completely straight face. Twilight gulped at that. “That said, thank you for the help.” She smiled at her friend.

 “N-no problem,” Twilight said.

 As Twilight left Sweet Apple Acres with her friend, a stray though pushed its way into her mind. ‘I wonder what the others are up to? Maybe I’ll go check in on them.’

 ---

 Pinkie Pie smiled and breathed in deeply and then let it out slowly. She gazed upon the truly massive five layer cake on the counter. It had taken most of the day, she was sure she had violated a few more laws of physics than usual to do it, and the Cakes were eying her worriedly from the other end of the kitchen. She didn’t care. This… This was a job well done.

 “Now to get it to Dashie. I’ve been getting a twitchy ear all day.”

 ---

 CRASH!!!

 Fluttershy, having been about to knock on the door, jumped a foot off the ground at the sudden sound, and bypassed knocking on Rarity’s door to rush through it. “Rarity! I heard the crash! Are you alright?”

 A blur of white came around the corner from what Fluttershy knew was the kitchen and shot up the stairs. A moment later another blur, this one slower and tinged with pink and purple, followed the first. The yells of rage it let out gave Fluttershy something of a clue as to what was going on.

 Then Rarity cantered from the kitchen. “Sweetie! Leave Opalescence alone!” she yelled, before halting at the sight of a thoroughly confused Fluttershy.

 “Not until I get her for clawing my leg!” came Sweetie’s cry from the second story, followed by a yowl and then Sweetie screeching in pain. “Stupid cat!”

 “Fluttershy? Er… can I interest you in tea?” Rarity asked, desire for manners overcoming her surprise at seeing her friend ready to fight.

 Fluttershy slowly relaxed. “No, thank you. I actually came to see what you were up to when I heard the crash.”

 “Cat, I will skin you!” roared Sweetie Belle, which was quickly followed by a loud thud, another screech from Opalescence, and Sweetie suddenly came flying from the top of the stairs.

 “I got her!” Fluttershy called, immediately leaping into the air and catching the filly. She brought her down to Rarity.

 Sweetie growled as she was set on the ground. “That stupid cat of yours is a menace, sis!”

 Rarity huffed. “Well! I have never had a single problem with her!” she replied.

 Sweetie showed her leg, which did actually have a decent scratch on it that bled lightly. Nothing that needed stitches, by Fluttershy’s experienced eye, but it probably stung enough to make the filly angry. “Your cat attacked me…” she said slowly, as if the ages of her and Rarity were swapped around.

 “You probably stepped on her tail,” Rarity waved a hoof.

 Fluttershy winced as the telltale signs of a sibling argument began to show. Not wanting to be involved, Fluttershy mumbled a half-thought out excuse and left, letting Opalescence out in the process.

 Rarity was the only one that got along with that cat in any reliable manner. Even Fluttershy had issues with her at times. Unfortunately, it also meant Rarity never believed anyone when they claimed her cat was Grogar reborn.

 So Fluttershy did the smart thing. She got out before things turned physical. Her somewhat spotty relationship with her own brother gave her plenty of experience in such, and she didn’t want to have to deal with that anymore than she wanted to deal with her brother in those times.

 Maybe she’ll talk to someone else today…

 ---

“W-why…?”

 “Hmm?” A stallion turned at the voice, and found another pony sitting within a cage cell near. “Oh yeah, I forgot about you for a moment.”He refocused on his desk, where a variety of beakers and test tubes, filled with different colored liquids, sat. He was examining a large beaker with a red liquid in it.

 “Why… why are you doing this?”

 He paused in his study, ear twitching. “Why? I suppose I have been asked that question many times.” He turned around with a flourish, his lab coat flaring out. “Believe it or not, I do have a good reason, though I imagine you wouldn’t believe so.”

 He flipped a switch, and a brighter light shone on the pony in the cage. Her coat of grey fur was stretched across visible ribs, her red eyes bloodshot, and orange mane disheveled and dirty.

 The stallion held up the beaker he was examining. “See this? It’s a substance that, until roughly a month ago, didn’t exist on Equus. Couldn’t exist on Equus. So, me being the curious little scientist that I am, I got a hold of some of it to study. Wasn’t easy either. My master is very diligent in his note taking and observations regarding resources. He’ll eventually notice it’s missing. Maybe even consider that I stole it. Unlikely, but not impossible. Never impossible. No such thing, you see.”

 The grey mare shivered at the slightly demented way the stallion spoke, almost like he was half speaking to himself, half speaking to her.

 “On its own it’s not really all that special, I’ll readily admit that. In fact, I almost dismissed it entirely as unimportant.” He grinned a wide, face stretching grin, the glasses on his nose glinting as he shifted slightly. “But then the Princess discovered a delightful new plant species which naturally produces a substance capable of catalyzing incredible physical and magical mutations. Random effects, unfortunately, but methods of predicting and ensuring specific effects are being discovered.”

 He removed a small thin vial from his coat, and the mare saw that it was filled with a blue substance. “This is what I call PJ-5, a refined version of that mutagenic substance.” It looked almost like sand. “Combined with this liquid… it suddenly becomes very interesting.” He unstoppered the vial and poured it within the larger beaker with red fluid in it. After a moment of swirling it around, the liquid turned into a sickly green color that almost seemed to glow. Taking out a syringe, he filled it with the fluid.

 “To answer your question, this fluid will ensure Equestria will never be threatened by anything ever again. Unfortunately, I need to perfect it. Terrible side-effects, you see. The first two test subjects died. The third lived, but can’t control what it did to him. The fourth was promising… but her intelligence seems to be suffering a slow decline.” He stepped into the light shining on the mare, casting a dark shadow over his face. The only thing the mare could make out of him now was his silhouette, his glasses… and that terrible, wide grin.

 “You will be lucky test subject number five, and I have such hopes for you. Please try not to disappoint.”
> 54: Nature and Natural
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Chapter 54: Nature and Natural

 Trixie kicked a pebble with a huff as she walked along the edge of the farm. The past few weeks had been hard. Trixie had been shown that the stereotype of Unicorns being physically weak held some merit, her body not quite up to the level of activity that working a farm required.

 That wasn’t to say she was actually weak. Trixie was a nomad at heart, living on the road and towing her own home with her everywhere. Her body was adapted to at least some degree of manual labor. While not up to the standards of rock farmers, she was by no means unfit.

 Thankfully, Igneous Rock Pie had been patient and apparently knew some exercises suited specifically to helping a Unicorn build up stamina and endurance. Trixie had of course questioned him about knowing such a thing, since, reasonably, an all Earth Pony family had no reason to know that, but he just smiled and said that he hadn’t always been a farmer.

 Her frustration however had nothing to do with how hard life was right now. She was smart enough to know she was in for a hard time when she agreed to be a farm hand in return for their aid. Her frustration, right now, was in regards to the thoughts of Twilight Sparkle swimming around her mind. Every time she remembered the magic duel, she grew angry. Every time she remembered Twilight’s friends, she grew frustrated.

 Every time she remembered the Ursa Major, her fear kept her awake.

 “The rocks do not like being treated like that.”

 Trixie did not jump. A week ago she might have, but she had grown at least somewhat accustomed to how Maud Pie could seemingly appear in your blind spot whenever she wanted.

 “It’s a rock,” she pointed out. “It doesn’t “like” anything.”

 Maud moved over towards the pebble Trixie had kicked and picked it up. “You are a fairly well read Unicorn, yes?” she asked, walking back over.

 “Self-taught mostly, but my grandfather filled in a lot of blanks for me. Why?” the Unicorn asked.

 “Did he teach you about the source of magic?”

 Trixie frowned. “I can’t think of a single Unicorn that wouldn’t know about that. It’s the very first lesson in magic you’re ever taught. The soul is the source of a pony’s magic. I think even most Earth Ponies and Pegasi know about it.”

 Maud nodded and rubbed her hoof along the pebble. “Did your grandfather ever tell you why Earth Ponies are so uniquely suited to being farmers?”

 “Something about nature liking you more than it does the other races.” Trixie recalled a lesson on such a subject, but the details escaped her.

 Maud shook her head. “While not entirely wrong, it is more complicated than that.” She smiled when a crack sound came from the pebble. Trixie also heard it and put her attention on the pebble. “Magic comes from the soul, but what makes magic unique from one pony to another? Our souls merely generate the power. The thing that molds it, makes it unique to each pony, gives it its affinities, is our body and mind.”

 She held the pebble up closer to Trixie to show that a small shard of rock was jutting from the pebble. 

 “An Earth Pony’s body will imprint on the magic their soul generates, giving it a natural inclination towards life and nature. This natural affinity, in turn, is focused and molded by the mind with intent and purpose, refining it further with secondary affinities, those affinities determined by the kind of personality and passion you have.”

 Maud set the pebble down and gently patted the rocky ground. The ground shifted slightly and the pebble fell into a small crack that formed, the crack closing.

 “Ignoring the mind for the moment, the nature and life aligned magic flowing through an Earth Pony gives that pony a natural ability to perceive nature and life in more detail than what others would normally see. We see nature not as the rock, or the tree, or even the forest.”

 She patted the ground again, and this time Trixie detected a very small burst of magic coming from Maud’s hoof.

 “For an Earth Pony, nature is just as alive and vibrant as any other pony, just as talkative and just emotional as well. Nature has its own set of likes and dislikes. It likes some ponies and doesn’t like others. Prefers some places over others.”

 Trixie’s eyes widened as a rock, large and almost spherical, began to push its way out of the ground.

 “And just like any pony, Nature is affected by the way you treat it.” Maud reached onto the hard ground like it was soft soil and gently removed the large rock. “Abuse it and mistreat it, and it will twist and gnarl. It will resent those who have harmed it so, becoming angry and lashing out everypony around it. But feed and nurture it with care and love…”

 With a loud crack, the rock split down the middle, and Maud pulled the two halves apart, revealing an amethyst geode. “... and it will in turn do what it can to take care of you, just as you have cared for it.”

 Trixie was in awe. She had just witnessed an Earth Pony unmistakably create a precious gemstone geode with little to no effort. With a start, she suddenly understood the rock farm a LOT more. They weren’t farming rocks. They were farming gems! How were these ponies not rich?!

 “If you guys can grow gems, then how…” she trailed off, realizing her question would be fairly rude, especially to the family that was giving her a roof over her head while her magic recovered.

 “How are we so poor?” Maud asked with a smile. “We’re not. We own this land, and all the land around the farm, including the small town that grew around it recently. But gold is something we aren’t really interested in. We’re just happy to help and care for nature.”

 “Then why here?” she asked, motioning around to the frankly dreary landscape. “This place is… I can’t really see nature being active here. Why not go somewhere else, like the Everfree?”

 Maud lost her smile and looked around as well, and Trixie saw a strange expression come over her face for a moment. “... There’s more to life than wealth and riches. We learned that the hard way.” She smiled. “Similarly, there’s more to nature than green leaves and lush soil. This land may look barren, but as you just saw, it has its own part in nature. It can provide just as easily for those who care for it, just as well as the Everfree would.”

Maud remained silent after that, refusing to answer any more of Trixie’s questions but still walking with her as she finished her trip around the farm. Trixie walked away from that discussion thoughtful, and slightly unnerved.

 Every Unicorn who put enough thought into the source of magic came to roughly the same question. Everyone knew magic was present in everything, infused with the stuff to one degree or another. Most believe it is background magic, excess bled off by others when they use their magic, but anyone with a decent understanding of magic knew it didn’t stick around long outside of where it originated from without some kind of purpose tied to it.

 So then why was magic present in everything, if for all intents and purposes it shouldn’t be? Trixie felt like she had just been shown a glimpse of that answer.