Prologue: Ordainment

Penumbra

Prologue: Ordainment

"We ain’t Celestia, darn it! We ain’t gods!" the voice shouted at Twilight. "They deserve the truth, and we do not have the right to tell them they can’t have it!"

She always was determined to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences were for somepony else or even for herself.

"We are gods! Don’t you get that yet?" Twilight shouted back, frustrated by how short sighted the other pony was being. "Don’t you understand that it’s not only our right, but our duty now? We are the overseers of these ponies and the truth will destroy them! I cannot allow that to happen!" She stomped her hoof for emphasis and the ground trembled with her might. "I will protect them... even from you."

"Twilight’s right," a third voice chipped in.

Truly I never expected her to take my side. Especially given how close the two of them were back then.

The voice continued, "We can’t do that to them. You know as well as anyone what it will do. Celestia trusted us and-"

I was glad to see she was thinking ahead for once. Normally she was the short-sighted and impulsive one.

The third voice was interrupted by the first one. "Celestia never gave us this so we could lie to them! You do what you want, but Ah’m doing the right thing." She turned her back and trotted away.

Twilight felt a little part of herself die as she realised what she might have to do, but if it meant saving Equestria from itself…

"So be it."

---

Spike watched from the doorway as Princess Penumbra tossed and turned in her bed, mumbling in her sleep. This happened more often than she wanted to admit. It frustrated Spike that there was nothing he could do to help her, and he worried about the princess deeply. It was a strange relationship they had together. He was some combination of little brother, son, butler, pet and employee, but it worked, and they both cared for each other more than anyone else.

The dreams always started out like this: Penumbra would mutter half remembered conversations and arguments in her sleep. After a while, those arguments would give way to angry yelling, which would be followed by desperate pleading. Eventually she would devolve into whimpering and begging. Inevitably, she would wake up screaming painfully and clutching at her face; trying to block her gaze from some unseen beast of the past. As if she still had eyes. It was quite disturbing to see the most powerful being in existence reduced to such an emotional state. Spike guessed that her eyes must be a real insecurity for the alicorn, which was fair enough given what must have happened to them.

Hooves on the steps behind him alerted Spike to other ponies working their way up the winding staircase of the princesses’ tower. Spike glanced over his shoulder, but he knew who it would be because he heard their voices echoing up the staircase. Penumbra had asked them to wake her up now after all. Princess Spectra and Princess Malus, the two sisters, created from the essence of the blind alicorn mixed with another pony and grown into their own form using powerful magic. Neither “father” had ever been identified, nor had anyone been there to witness Penumbra cast the spell, but if Spike were to guess he’d say that the two did not share the same mortal parent. For one thing, they didn’t look anything alike, and for another thing, one was a pegasus and the other was an earth pony.

Spectra came into sight first, leading the way as she always did. The pegasus had a cyan blue coat and rose-coloured eyes. Her mane, cut coltishly short, was a bright splash of colours from all across the rainbow, and it was a perfect match for her tail. For some reason the two princesses always wore clothes, and Spectra was always garbed in a sleeveless dark jacket. She had an athletic build, her body being sleek and hardened. Her face was almost permanently adorned with a sneering expression, and she looked at everyone around her with something that was between boredom and contempt. (Unless of course she was excited, then her mouth contorted into a feral grin and her eyes took on a dangerous glint).

Following behind Spectra was Malus, or 'Mal' as some called her. She was a well-built earth pony with an orange coat and emerald green eyes; her blonde mane was permanently tied into a single band behind her head. No matter what, she almost always wore a brown Stetson that rested atop her head and a duster coat, and today was no exception. Underneath that coat was a very muscular mare. Every time she moved chords rippled, bunched and unwound making every one of her actions seem larger and more intimidating then it was probably meant to be. Her face was hard to read: constantly bland, not bored like Spectra was, but simply cold and inexpressive.

Spectra always led when the two were together. It didn't seem like Mal deferred to her, more it seemed like Spectra just wanted to be in front and the earth pony simply didn't care who walked through a door first. The two of them did not get along well at all, usually competing with each other or insulting each other during the various activities they shared through similar interests or orders from their mother. Well actually, Spectra usually did the insulting and Mal just didn’t pay attention to her, but it was obvious from the way the two moved around each other that there was no love lost between them. Or at least that was how Spike saw it.

Unsurprisingly, Spectra skipped greetings. "Spike, what’s going on?"

Spike glanced over again before he turned back to the room. "She’s dreaming again," he said over his shoulder.

---

Twilight shivered as she stared down at the wounded body of her friend. Her PFF would be fine after a day or two, but that didn’t change the way Twilight felt about what was she going to do. Horn glowing, she leaned in closer to touch the appendage against the tip of her friends’ own horn.

"No, wait! Stop!"

Twilight hesitated and looked up.

"We can’t do this to her. I mean… I know I agreed with you before but now… We can’t."

Twilight sighed and buried her head in her hooves.

It shouldn’t have to be this hard… We should be working together for everypony, not fighting each other for them.

Looking up, she spoke. "We have to do this. If we don’t then she’ll tell everypony, and when that happens there’s no going back."

The other party nodded, a few tears rolling out of her eyes. "I know, I know… But maybe she’s right." She swallowed, and her normally crackly voice broke more than once as she spoke. "We can’t do this, I mean I can’t do this, she means too much to me for me to just stand by and let you… do that to her."

Loyalty was always her strongest trait. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for her, choosing between her and Equestra like this.

Twilight already knew that she wouldn’t win this argument or convince her friend, but she tried anyway. "I understand and sympathise, but this isn’t about you or me or her. This is about everypony, and she could destroy everything. We can’t let her do that."

Twilight was surprised when the other pony nodded and gulped.

Turning back to the unconscious friend on the ground, the purple pony leaned in closer once more her horn glowing.

"Wait!"

Twilight ignored the voice this time and kept going.

"Twilight stop!"

Her horn was about to touch when something slammed into her with the force of a freight train.

I should’ve known I wouldn’t convince her so easily.

---

Penumbra’s whole body jerked suddenly and she began whimpering and muttering more desperately than angrily.

"Yeesh," Spectra said aloud, watching from the door with Spike. "Must be some dream huh?" Taking a step into the room she was stopped by Spike grabbing her back leg.

"You can’t wake her up," He hissed at her.

"Why not? She asked us to, remember?" With a kick of her leg, Spike was knocked to the floor on his backside. "Besides, it’s not exactly like you’re gonna stop me."

It was typical of her really, resorting to aggression to get what she wanted. Spike sighed knowing there was nothing he could do. Mal pushed past him as well, and he was left watching with growing concern as the two princesses sat down at the side of their mother’s bed.

Penumbra continued to twist and turn in her sleep. Her dark mane was writhing in the air instead of gracefully flowing as it normally would. Every breath was sharp and short, as though the lavender alicorn were exerting herself rather than sleeping. The one pink streak in her hair twisted and turned in the air, giving the impression of a snake with its head missing.

---

Twilight watched on in horror as the two monsters rose to their hooves in front of her, then bowed low in deference to their creator.

"Mother," they spoke together in unison, the drawling accent blending together with its scratchier counterpart perfectly. "Are you pleased with us?" they asked.

The dreamscape rippled around Twilight. Burning buildings formed as corpses seemed to rise into view strewn all over the place. Stallions and colts, mares and fillies, all lay dead or dying. Every now and then, one would sob or scream or moan, but most were already deceased.

The abominations before her, the creatures named Malus and Spectra both stared up at their mother with bland expressions, their fur and manes matted with blood and soot.

Twilight swallowed. "This isn’t what I wanted." She shook her head. "No! This isn’t right!"

"This is what you made us," they spoke as one. "Do you love us?"

A voice that haunted Twilight’s dreams sounded from behind her. "What have you done, my student?"

Twilight, now a unicorn, turned around and looked up at princess Celestia trembling with fear "I’m sorry! I’m so sorry I didn’t want this to happen!" she sobbed.

The pristine alicorn had no sympathy. "I entrusted you, and look at what you’ve achieved." Her stark white visage and flowing multi-coloured mane contrasted heavily against the black columns of smoke rising into the air behind her.

"I-I-" the purple pony stuttered.

"This is unacceptable."

Twilight found herself shrinking down to the size of a filly. She broke down crying as she sat on her haunches and covered her eyes with her tiny hooves, small sobs racking her foalish shoulders.

"You have brought nothing but pain to those you call friends. You must be punished." When Celestia spoke with her commanding tone, it seemed as if the ground itself would have no choice but to rise up and obey her will.

Twilight looked up and saw Celestia’s hooves burning white hot with fire and magic as they moved towards her face. She screamed when they touched as her eyes melted and popped. Her flesh was sizzling and her was fur burning as the stench of carbonised skin filled the air and the water in her cell membranes evaporated.

Screaming, she lashed out with her magic as she rolled on to her hooves. Everything around her raised into the air, lifted by fields of telekinesis. Detecting three living beings nearby, she gripped all of them with her magic. Wrapping a tendril of magic around their throats, she raised them into the air and began squeezing, planning on strangling all three of them.

"Wait!" Spike’s panicked voice shouted out and cut across her fear.

At that moment Penumbra remembered falling asleep. It had just been a dream.

Another one.

How many was that in so few weeks? Her heart rate lowered and rationality was restored to the alicorn princess.

Releasing her grip on magic, she heard the sound of two ponies and a baby dragon falling to the floor. Penumbra stood up and stepped out of bed.

"I told you that you shouldn’t wake her up," Spike muttered angrily.

"Buck you!" Spectra spat back.

Upon hearing her daughter say that, Penumbra felt a thin blade of regret pierce her heart. Even if that had only been a dream, and even though it had barely reflected what actually happened, it was still a reminder of what she’d done to them and why she missed them so much in the first place. Applejack and her stubbornness and Rainbow Dash’s refusal to allow those she was loyal towards to come to harm. Yes, these were the traits that had forced Penumbra to do what she did in the end, but they were still some of the things that made them such likable ponies. Both of them had been wrong, but their intentions had been good, and that, if nothing else, was at least admirable.

Now in place of her two friends she had her two children. Every time either Malus or Spectra spoke she heard an echo of her old friends in them, but they were nothing but a pale shadow of two great ponies. If anything they were a parody, a cruel joke made in memory of the elements of honesty and loyalty. Not a day went by that Penumbra did not in some way regret their existence. They may have been her children, but it was impossible to love anything that was nothing but a twisted version of something you once held dear.

"Everypony," she spoke aloud for all to hear. "Please come with me," she ordered while walking out towards her balcony. Why someone who was blind would need a commanding view of Canterlot was up for question, but then Penumbra supposed this was Celestia’s old room and the ponies of the palace did want her to replace their old deity.

"I assume you’ve awoken me when I asked you?" Penumbra hated speaking like this, but it was necessary that everyone believe her to be her own regal goddess rather than a mere replacement or substitute for the old one.

"Yeah we have, what’s this about anyway?" Spectra muttered following her 'mother' out to the balcony. Spectra was never one for respectful behaviour.

Penumbra didn’t respond to that question. The answer would only confuse and baffle and raise more questions, which would in turn raise more questions and then eventually they would know the truth. That would simply not be acceptable. They were here because Penumbra needed somepony who could see, and she wanted her 'daughters' in particular to help satiate her weighty curiosity.

This was the day that the Canterlot Academy for Magically Gifted Unicorns would be accepting young and promising unicorn foals to be trained in the arts of the arcane. It was also the day that, in another lifetime, the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony had forged a magical bond before they’d ever even met. Rainbow Dash, the cocky young pegasus flyer, had performed the legendary Sonic Rainboom, and with that display of raw pegasus magic had allowed herself and five other fillies to earn their cutie marks. This day also held a special place in Penumbra’s heart because it was the day she had hatched Spike as well, and the young dragon meant very much to her. True that was in another timeline, and Spike had been hatched years earlier than that now. But to Penumbra, this would always be the day that her Number One Assistant was first introduced to her.

Flicking a tendril of magic against Spectra, her blind equivalent of a glance, Penumbra idly wondered what would happen now that Rainbow Dash was no longer here as such. Was destiny going to show its hand? Would someone replace her as the Element of Loyalty and perform a similar display of Pegasus magic to the original Sonic Rainboom? These were all fascinating questions, questions that she would have been eager to find the answers to a world or two ago. But now? Experience had tempered Penumbra with caution.

Penumbra wasn’t sure how to feel about the Elements of Harmony in this new world. On the one hand it would be fascinating to meet her replacement as the Element of Magic, just as it would be to find the replacements for Loyalty and Honesty. But it would be saddening to know that destiny could discard her so easily. And what of Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity? Would they be the bearers again? If not, then who would replace them?

"Watch for me," Penumbra said aloud, standing in the centre of her balcony.

"Watch for what?" Spectra asked, stepping in front of her.

That’s a valid question, what are we watching out for? Just anything that might resemble a Rainboom or maybe something else entirely?

It didn’t take long for that question to be answered. The four of them stood there saying nothing for almost a minute until Malus spoke up.

"Ah see somethin’," she said in her country drawl.

Penumbra extended her tendrils of magic to observe the reactions of everypony else around her. Being blind had forced her to learn another way to see what was happening around her. She had learned to use multiple tendrils of magic to feel her way around the same way a blind pony might normally use a cane. Several tentacles roaming near and beneath her searching for trip hazards while she walked, one or two for each of the ponies she was talking to so she could observe their reactions, a few more roving the room to find anything of note. It allowed her to 'see' and it had taken her a long time to master what limited 'sight' she had with just these short distances to grow accustomed to. Anything outside of her immediate area, for example across the room or out the door, was difficult and required more concentration. Slowly she was pushing her boundaries to observe all things in a larger field around herself. Eventually she would see everything in an area the size of the throne room, but for now she was content to observe the larger part of her own bedroom.

With the tendril she had wrapped around Malus, Penumbra noted that the earth pony was pointing a hoof away from the balcony in the general direction of Cloudsdale.

"What do you see?" Penumbra asked.

Malus shrugged. "An orange streak."

"Can you describe it better than that?"

Malus merely shrugged again.

It was always hard to get that pony to say anything.

"Spike can you see it?" Penumbra asked the baby dragon.

The tendril around her number one assistant allowed her to feel him nod as he answered "Yes, it’s a large er… orange streak in the general direction of Cloudsdale. Umm… It’s orange and yellowish in colour and it seems to be breaking apart as it goes. It looks like a larger than usual, but fairly normal, trail a Pegasus might leave when they- Woah!"

Penumbra waited for him to continue, but he appeared to be too stunned to say anything. "Woah?" she repeated it as a question.

"Um…" the baby dragon hesitated before continuing "It just exploded outwards, like… I dunno but it just spread out across the sky like some kind of fire bomb."

Penumbra took a second to process this information. "Fascinating," she muttered to herself.

Destiny had indeed chosen its new element bearers. Except this time, rather than a rainboom, it was something else, some form of 'fireboom' maybe. The blind alicorn could not help but wonder who the pony that had caused the streak was and how it might affect the cutie marks of her three old friends. This might be proof that cutie marks were indeed ordained or destined. More than that, it might mean she had a way to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least to herself, that destiny did exist and had a hand to play in the world.

Now she wondered what to do with this information. Should she find Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy? Meet them as fillies and 'see' them for herself and maybe try to find the other three new replacement bearers as well. Is their destiny the same as it was before, or have they changed as the rainboom has with the world? As she thought about it, Penumbra realised more and more that if she got involved it would change things, and the future might not turn out as she remembered it. It would never be the same, not exactly, but she wanted these new bearers to have the chance to grow up in the same world she did.

As a goddess, she had a role to play now, and Celestia had never decided to get directly involved in the young bearers’ lives. Even though it was probable that the old alicorn had learned who the bearers were before they themselves did. However, Penumbra could not say so for certain, and she had no doubt that she had yet to master the subtle manipulations that Celestia used regularly. Could she research this without blundering and damaging the frayed tapestry of fate that destiny was so desperately trying to repair in the wake of a world-changing disaster?

The alicorn could order Spike to find the names of all the fillies and colts who had earned their cutie marks this day. Without a doubt she could find the foals that would one day become the key to unlocking the incredible powers of the Elements of Harmony. Penumbra could peek behind the curtains of the universal stage and see the inner workings of destiny, or she could play it safe and try to ensure that things were the way for everypony that they had been for herself as she grew up.

Celestia entrusted me.

And with that thought she was decided.

Penumbra would wait for now, and let fate play its hand.

She turned and headed back into her bedroom. Spectra, Spike and Malus stayed outside to watch fate in action, even if they didn’t know that that was what it was. There were so many things they didn’t know that Penumbra wished she could tell them. She loved Spike like he was family, and really to her he was. That little dragon was pretty much the only thing that had remained constant between her first life as Twilight and this one as Penumbra. Oh, she truly wished that he knew everything and that she could relinquish all her guilt and burdens upon him. But she was not selfish enough to do that to the innocent little one.

She also wished she could tell her two daughters the truth as well, but no, that would not be a good idea. In life, Rainbow Dash had been a short-tempered pony who would hold a grudge; Spectra was even more so. If she ever found the truth, there was little doubt in Penumbra’s mind that the cyan mare would not respond well. Then there was Malus. Often Penumbra didn’t know what to make of Mal. She seemed almost like a polar opposite of Applejack at times. Malus was quiet and reserved where the farm pony had been open and boisterous. The princess constantly hid her feelings, but Applejack had always worn her heart on her sleeve.

Expanding the tendrils she had wrapped around her daughters, Penumbra was overcome by melancholy. How she missed her friends. Not just Rainbow and Applejack, but Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie too. Penumbra would give anything just to spend the day with them. She might even sell her divinity if that wouldn’t mean leaving Equestria without anyone to raise and set the sun. Maybe there was some aspect of Rainbow Dash and Applejack still buried inside Spectra and Malus. Yes, they both looked the same; they were both athletic and strong and had the same coloured coats, manes and eyes. But when you examined them more closely, you began to notice that their appearances were where the similarities ended.

"Penumbra?" Spike asked sounding confused.

Both of them were callous and cruel to their 'mother', where their counterparts where kind and welcoming to an unknown lavender unicorn from Canterlot. Spectra was arrogant and aggressive like Rainbow had been, but even more so and taken to a far greater extreme. Malus was dispassionate and distant when Applejack was down to earth and always giving her all into everything she did. Feeding more magic into her grip on them, Twilight tried to search the two for some aspect of her old friends, some part of their personalities that wasn’t corrupted or wrong. More power swelled into her and she searched harder.

"Penumbra!" the dragon shouted panicking.

If her friends were there she couldn’t find them, not with all her godly powers could she see what she was desperate for. Why couldn’t she find them? Why? What she wouldn’t do to simply sit down over a slice of apple pie with Applejack or to listen to Rainbow inanely recall something about how awesome she was performing some obscure flying feat.

‘Penumbra!’ the dragon’s panicked shouting finally cut through her reverie.

The alicorn turned around. "What is it, Spike? Has the streak changed again?"

"You’re killing them!" he said desperately.

It was then that Penumbra noticed her daughter’s flailing for survival inside of her magical hold. They were suspended in the air, struggling to break free of the magical tendrils that were slowly squeezing the life from them. Letting go suddenly, Penumbra heard the two mares land on the ground. Afraid to touch them with her magic again, Penumbra could only listen to their laboured breathing and Spike trying to aid them.

"What the buck was that?!" screamed Spectra, her voice cracking.

Penumbra didn’t answer. She turned around and walked out the door. Court would be in session soon, and she had better be there for it. Her daughters would be fine. Their supernatural healing would have them back on their hooves soon.

Whether that was a good thing or not was another matter.

Chapter 1: The Players

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Penumbra

Chapter 1: The Players.

Twilight sighed as she ran the hairbrush through her bangs. Staring in the mirror, she examined her sleep deprived reflection and wished that she could just get some damn rest. How long had it been since she hadn’t woken up screaming? A month? Two? The bags under her eyes couldn’t answer the question. A low moan from the corner of the room was all it took for her already thin patience to snap.

"Will you two stop it already?!" she screamed at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, her voice cracking

The two broke their kiss apart to give her a sidelong look before they resumed what they were doing. They moaned into each other’s mouths as they pressed together. From the way their jaws were moving, Twilight guessed they were using tongue.

With a sigh and a mutter, the unicorn turned back to her mirror and examined her reflection again. Tired. That was the one word that came to mind. Just so very tired.

But tired of what?

Noticing a little bit of sleep in the corner of her right eye, Twilight leaned in closer and delicately grasped it with a thin field of magic. She pulled on it gently, and the grain of sand came away from her eye. Except it was also being drawn out of her eye. The small dot of sleep extended into a short and thin bug-like antenna. After a second of more pulling, the small black carapace of some insect became visible from underneath her eyelid. Panic settling in her chest, Twilight really started to drag the feeler out now. Slowly… painfully… part of the writhing creature’s body became visible. Half a centipede was wriggling in the air. Pulling even harder than before, slowly but surely, segment by segment of the creature came out, its wretched legs writhing. Finally, the centipede’s head was out, but before Twilight could toss it away it stung her naked eye.

Screaming in pain and half-blind, Twilight dropped the bloody insect to the ground and fell to the floor. She spasmed and twitched with the pain. She could feel her eye bubbling and dissolving with the venom. Slowly her nerves deadened and she found herself unable to move.

"What’s the matter, sugar-cube?" Applejack asked as she walked over to a duster coat lying on the ground. After putting it on, Malus calmly trotted the distance between herself and the wounded unicorn. "Mother," she added with a respectful nod.

Moving suddenly and violently, Mal grabbed her horn and pressed it to the ground with one hoof. With her other hoof she reached under her coat and retrieved a hatchet, which she brought down on the base of her parent’s horn.

Twilight tried to scream in pain but the centipede’s venom left her paralysed. The unicorn could only` watch as the Mal used the point of the broken horn to draw a bloody scar underneath her own green eye. Turning the horn over in her hoof, Malus walked back over to her mother and positioned it above her remaining eye.

"In the land of the blind, the one eyed mare is queen." Appearing suddenly, Celestia’s mouth twisted into a sneer of contempt. From her face, two mismatched eyes stared down at Twilight, one rose, the other emerald. "Kill her," the deity ordered balefully.

Spectra appeared at her sisters side, and together the two pressed Twilight’s horn down into her eye.

Penumbra sat up and lashed out with her magic, seeking the source of her pain and a way to punish it. With no living creatures detected around her, she realised she was lying in bed. After a few more seconds’ deliberation, the pony remembered where she was. With a sigh, she lowered her head against her pillow again.

Another dream.

---

Spike raised a spoonful of warm oats to his mouth as he watched Malus and Spectra spar in the royal gardens. This was something of a morning ritual. Despite being two ponies that more or less hated one another, Mal and Spectra sure spent a lot of time together. They were the only ones who could give each other any kind of competition in the ring, so the two found themselves having to fight each other in order to get any form of real practice. The last time a royal guard had tried to get in the ring with Spectra, he‘d had to be carried away by the bout’s end. So, not only were the two princesses the only ponies who could give each other any kind of a challenge, but they were the only ponies who would even try.

These bouts typically took one of two directions. In one, Spectra’s superior speed would allow her to win in the early fight, or in the other Mal would hold her off and wear her out until the earth pony’s superior strength and endurance would win out.

It was very entertaining to watch as well. Both ponies were masterful fighters, and their supernatural abilities made sure the rounds were spectacular. Mal’s unnatural strength would leave cracks and dents in the stones they fought on, and Spectra’s speed was just an incredible thing to witness. Spike felt that the truth was if the two ever seriously fought, it would be Spectra who won. Her massive stores of pegasus magic granted her control of the weather and even more enhanced speeds. True, the earth pony had large stores of her own magic, but everybody knew earth pony magic was passive and uncontrollable. Plus the ability to grow crops was of little use in a fight. Still, for the sake of practice, Spectra rarely tapped into her magical reserves, preferring to work her own skills.

This was one of the later morning bouts, and judging by the headlock Mal had on Spectra, Spike guessed that it would be the earth pony who would win this round. Once that mare got a grip, he doubted there were many non-magical forces around that would break it. Eventually Spectra stopped her struggling. However, a wicked grin spread on her face as her mane started to stand on end, as if lifted by static. Mal noticed and let go but not before she was hit with a sharp snap of electricity from the Pegasus. Apparently Spectra wasn’t going to play fair this morning.

The two ponies stared at each other. Spectra loved the fact that she could always defeat her sister if she wanted to and took great joy in letting her know it. Malus merely spat in disgust before turning away and heading back indoors.

Spike shook his head sadly and stood up off the bench he’d been sitting on. He didn’t like those two ponies in the slightest, but it still irked him to see the two of them refusing to get along. They were supposed to be family weren’t they? Picking his bowl and spoon up, Spike walked inside and headed up the stairs. Everywhere around him palace attendants and servants rushed around in preparation for tonight’s Summer Sun Celebration. He took the time to hand his dirty dish to a passing butler.

This celebration in particular was special, as it was the longest night of the thousandth year. Spike couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of some of the wild parties and celebrations that would occur Equestria-wide tonight. Last year he’d snuck out of the palace and joined one himself, and he’d awoken the next morning in bed with a mare! That had been a hard one to explain to a less than approving Penumbra.

No longer the knee high baby dragon he once was, Spike was now on eye level with most ponies, though he still had to look up at the stallions of the royal guard. Arriving at the door to Penumbra’s bedroom, he knocked and waited for a response from inside. After no sound was heard, he pushed the door open and entered her room. Spotting Penumbra standing out on her balcony, he began to walk towards her. She appeared to be concentrating on something in the distance.

As Spike approached, he felt one of her tendrils of magic brush over him before wrapping around him. Most ponies found Penumbra’s magical sight terrifying. Whenever one of those tendrils touched you, you could feel a fraction of Penumbra’s magical might, and it was enormous. Not just enormous but simply staggering in every way. Spike didn’t mind it as much because he had grown up being used to it, but he’d heard other ponies compare the sensation to being like a bug trapped in the grip of a young foal’s hooves. He couldn’t help but wonder how those ponies would react if they ever got caught in the grip of their goddess when she awoke from a nightmare.

"Spike," she greeted him with a smile. "How was your breakfast?"

"Okay I guess,’ he answered. "Spectra and Mal are fighting again."

Penumbra’s smile dropped, and she sighed sadly. "Of course they are." Turning back to the balcony, she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Are they ready for this evening?"

"Yeah, they’re ready." Spike nodded. Even though she was blind, he knew that she’d detect his actions through the magic that now gently brushed against his every movement. "Listen, I gotta be honest. I think that you’re getting worried about nothing. I highly doubt that the Nightmare Moon, the one from the foals’ tales, will return to bring about eternal night time."

Penumbra laughed at that for some reason.

Spike didn't see what was so funny so he continued speaking anyway. "You’re always talking about destiny and whatnot like you've actually seen it or something. It’s been like a decade since that thing with the line in the sky, and you’re still convinced that that somehow proves it exists. I know you never explained much to me about that, but I fail to see how that one event proved anything."

She only smiled ruefully as she asked. "How long have you thought that?"

"I dunno,’ the dragon shrugged. "I didn’t think about it much back when we first started talking about this. But now the more I think about it, the more it all sounds crazy to me."

Penumbra sighed and turned away. "You would not believe how ironic what you’re saying is."

Spike shook his head in confusion. Penumbra could be like this from time to time. Usually she behaved like she did when in front of the court or her children, maintaining a regal bearing and a wise ageless air. But often when she was alone with him, she adopted the speech and mannerism of a modern mare in her twenties. It could be a little irritating actually. When she dropped the act she could often be sarcastic or a little bit of a smart-ass. (Like now for example.) But the especially annoying part of when she behaved like this was when she acted like she knew something that Spike didn’t. As if there was some joke that only she’d heard.

Penumbra looked back over the city. If Spike had to guess, he’d say her magical tendrils were probably out there roaming over something he couldn’t see.

She continued, "Besides, Nightmare returning is only one of three possible outcomes. I’ve told you this before."

Spike rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. The worst case scenario is Nightmare appears and that’s the one we’re worried about. The others are she’s dead when she appears, having died like Celestia and Cadence did, and the last is Luna appears. Although you still haven’t explained to me why that would be different from Nightmare appearing. Aren't they the same pony?"

She didn’t answer. Preferring to keep an eye on whatever it was that she was overseeing.

"Penumbra?" Spike asked after a minute of silence.

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Just make sure everything is the way I told you it should be."

Spike nodded before turning around and heading for the door.

"Oh, and Spike?"

He paused at the door.

"I don’t want to catch you in bed with another mare this year. Got it?"

Grinning impishly, Spike shut the door behind himself.

That was a wild night.

---

The three pebbles sat there unmoving under Malus’s glare. One was a simple white stone of quartz, the other was dark granite and the final, was a light brown sandstone.

Mal knew that to anyone watching she’d look crazy or stupid. This was the sort of thing a unicorn foal might do while learning to control their magic. It was not uncommon to witness a young unicorn gazing expectantly at a stone, or similarly weighted object, with the hopes of levitating it through sheer concentrated effort. However, to witness an earth pony foal attempt that was laughable, let alone a full grown one. Earth pony magic was passive in nature, meaning it could not be tapped into at will. So Malus, who was the most magically charged earth pony in existence, should know better than anyone to try and move stones with her mind. Right?

Under her gaze the quartz skittered across the table before coming to rest in front of her.

Passive hey?

Mal felt a good deal of satisfaction as the two other pieces of stone slid across the table to join the first. Raising her front legs, she picked up the sandstone between her forehooves. Being certain not to tap into her earth magic, and only using her own strength, she pressed her hooves together. With some effort they slowly started to come together and the sandstone was crushed into its namesake. Letting the grains fall to the ground, Malus enjoyed the very light tingle of exertion in her shoulders.

She picked up the granite now, except this time she picked it up with her mouth and carefully positioned it with her tongue between her back teeth. Tapping into her magic now, she began to bite down, and was rewarded by how easy it was to reduce the grey-black stone to a pile of dust.

Oh, everyone said that earth ponies couldn't use magic, and they were mostly right, but they’re oh-so wrong as well.

Between her teeth the hard chunk of granite was crunched into a pile of grainy sand and dust. Mal kept chewing until she noticed a stray leaf by the window move in a slightly unusual manner. There was no wind today, and thus she reached a different conclusion as to why the leave must have moved. Immediately, she released her hold on her earth pony magic, and just in time to as she felt one of her mothers’ tendrils brush over her.

That was close.

If her mother hadn’t fumbled around slightly, Malus had no doubt that she would have been caught controlling a passive magic. She wasn’t entirely sure why yet, but she’d always tried to keep her magic hidden from others. Maybe it was like an ace in the hole. Spectra certainly enjoyed feeling like she could overpower anypony she wanted, so maybe Mal did too. Except that wasn’t it. She might not know why she kept her talent secret, but she knew she didn’t care that much about being able to defeat her sister. She just got annoyed when the other mare insisted on cheating.

Maybe it had more to do with not trusting her own mother. Ever since the day her mother had tried to strangle her twice, Mal felt like she needed some way to protect herself. A way to catch the old alicorn off-guard if worst came to worst.

Thinking of her mother made Mal feel uneasy. She didn’t know why, but she could never shake the impression that Penumbra knew more about Malus than she knew about herself. When she thought about it though, that didn’t sound like much that was worth worrying about. Most mothers claim to know more about their children then they themselves do. But to Mal it made her feel… angry maybe? Worried? Like there was something wrong? She really wasn’t very good at identifying her own emotions. Was this the way it was supposed to be anyway? Penumbra was a deity after all, and her own mother at that. It only made sense for her to know a lot about her own daughter.

The door behind her whacking open ended her contemplations.

"Hey dumb-shit!" a scratchy voice shouted out.

Mal rolled her eyes. Spectra was an idiot. How could one pony be so loud? It was just incredible how much of a complete moron that cyan mare was. Her attitude, her behaviour. Really everything about her was just so… It was almost like she was designed to be as painful as possible to be around. Mal was unsure how she felt about her mother, but she was sure of how she felt about her sister.

Spectra strode through the door and over to her sister’s side. "Come on, let’s go! She’s already in the carriage and we need to…" she trailed off as she saw Mal sitting before a single white pebble. "What are you doing?" Her ears twitched sharply and Mal guessed that she’d just felt Penumbra’s gaze. "And why’s she watching you?"

Rather than answer, she slid the white pebble into her jacket pocket with her hoof. Turning her head, Malus spat out a mouthful of dirt before donning her hat and walking out the door past her sister.

Glancing at the wet soil lying on the floor, Spectra turned and followed her sister. "Were you just eating dirt?"

The hoofsteps behind Malus sped up until her sister pulled ahead and in front of her, where she dropped back to a normal pace.

Spectra chuckled, looking over her shoulder at her sister. "You are retarded aren’t you? You’re like that foal who eats dirt in the corner or something."

Malus did not deign to justify that statement with a response.

Spectra continued to stare at her hoping for some kind of reaction, but when none was given her sneer dropped and she turned to face the front. "Whatever."

They walked in silence for a while until the pegasus dropped back to walking alongside the earth pony. Malus was surprised by this but didn't comment.

"So…" Spectra said. "Summer Sun tonight." She gave a pointed look at her sister.

A nod was given.

"What do you want to do?" Spectra asked.

Mal saw fit not to answer that question.

Spectra seemed to be unable to understand that Mal was more comfortable with silence. "I mean after we’re done with this Nightmare thing. Do you want to go find a party or something?"

She saw fit not to answer that too.

"Come on, it’s Summer Sun. We’re always together for Summer Sun."

True. You know, for somepony that supposedly hates me, you want us to spend an awful lot of time together.

Spectra snorted. "You’re just pissed about this morning, aren’t you?"

Not really.

Getting no visible response from Malus, Spectra rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I’ll go alone then. Maybe I’ll just pick up some mares and take them back to the palace with me. Have my own little party."

Mal’s stomach clenched at that. "Fine then."

"Huh?"

Malus shrugged. "Fine."

"Fine as in go alone, or fine as in…?"

"We’ll hang out."

Spectra instantly pulled ahead again. "Yeah whatever. If you want to then I guess I can spend some time with you. But you know you’re coming off as pretty desperate, right?"

It was Mal’s turn to roll her eyes. Spectra was such an idiot.

They arrived in the courtyard where the flying carriages rested, hitched up and ready to go. Without saying anything the two sisters parted paths. Malus climbed into a chariot and Spectra flew on her own since she was faster than any other pegasus around.

Settling into her seat, the mare turned to face the carriage’s other occupants. "Spike, mother," she greeted each with a tip of her hat.

"Malus," her mother intoned with a nod of her head. "What was your discussion with Spectra about?"

Mal knew that Penumbra had maintained her magical sight on her and her sister from the bedroom to the courtyard. Really, she found it impossible to be relaxed with those little reminders of her mother’s 'love' wrapped around her. Normally bruises, like the ones that Penumbra gave Malus all those years ago, took mere minutes to heal. But for some reason those black and blue patches had lasted for days.

"Plans," she said turning to face the window.

"Plans?" Penumbra repeated as a question.

Malus nodded.

"Plans for what?" Penumbra asked.

"Tonight."

The tendril’s normal roving paused for a second. Then it dipped into Mal’s pocket and retrieved the quartz pebble. "What is this?" the lavender pony asked, sounding perhaps a little perplexed at the white stone floating in the air before her.

Her daughter didn’t answer.

"Spike would you please tell me what this is?" the blind mare turned to Spike.

"It’s a stone. Um… just a quartz stone." The dragon turned to Malus. "Why have you got that in your pocket?"

Rather than answer, Mal took the stone back in her mouth, and returned it to its old place. She could feel her mothers’ supernatural gaze linger on the stone as it rested in her coat. Eventually Penumbra lost interest and her tendrils resumed their normal roving as the carriage pulled away and took to the air.

There were a couple of grains of granite still lingering in her mouth, so Mal gathered them onto her tongue and spat them out the window. One last piece of stone remained so she picked it out with her hoof and wiped it on the empty seat next to her. Spike witnessed this, and leaned over to get a better look at the black speck which had just come from the princesses’ mouth.

He glanced up at her and back down at the speck. Returning his stare to Malus, he said, "Why have you got dirt in your mouth?"

Mal’s response was pretty typical of her.

The trip to Ponyville was almost two hours by flying carriage, and it wasn’t long before Penumbra started to relax and fall into a light sleep. Hearing the change in her mother’s breathing, Malus turned around and watched her mother’s chest’s gentle rising and falling. Her gaze shifted to the scarred patches of flesh that occupied the space her mother’s eyes must have, once upon a time.

How did she get those wounds? Mal had been burned before; she'd been burned badly in her fight with Chrysalis at the battle of Manehattan, and she’d never scarred. What could give those wounds to an alicorn? The only answer she could think of was another alicorn. But the only other alicorn around had been Celestia. Had the old princess done those to her?

That didn’t seem likely. Penumbra was never anything but respectful, or even reverent, towards the old ruler’s memory. For her whole life, Malus remembered Penumbra having those scars. Living alone with her mother and her sister. Being trained in and out, all day every day for something. Then the day arrived when the ruler-to-be announced that Celestia was dead, and that she now was responsible for the entire world.

What colour had her eyes been? Back when she still had them. Were they once green or pink like her daughters were? Or were they as different from her children’s as everything else about her was? Really the three ponies didn’t look anything alike. Both Mal and Spectra obviously took after their respective fathers but then that raised the question: who were their fathers? Was either pony still alive?

"Why are you staring at her?" Spike interrupted her reverie.

She glanced at him before returning her attention to its original place on the passing scenery.

Spike seemed unhappy with that response. They sat in silence for a while before he got bored once more. "So... You and Spectra are fighting again?"

Malus looked at him and tilted her head to the side.

"I mean, this morning. She cheated and you... Well you spat and... I dunno. You just don’t seem like you’re getting along with each other at the moment."

She returned her head to an upright position. "When did we ever get along?"

Spike shrugged. "I dunno. When you were foals maybe?"

Mal snorted and turned back to the window. "Not then either."

"Oh..." he looked dejected. "Why? Didn’t Penumbra ever try to make you two get along?"

She shook her head.

If anything it seemed like she wanted us to fight.

Spike seemed surprised at that. "Really? Why not?"

Malus shrugged.

I’m not sure she was ever interested in having daughters.

Spike seemed a little put off by this. "Well, when I was growing up Penumbra always tried to make me do the right thing. She made certain that I always resolved any problems I had with other ponies."

She gave him a glance.

She didn’t do that with us.

"She always tried to raise me to be a decent pony, well... dragon, but the point is she never let my fights last long."

Was that jealousy Malus was feeling? She crushed whatever the emotion was and tossed it aside. She’d always known that Penumbra never loved her. This was just a confirmation of that. She supposed she and Spectra had been raised differently from Spike because Penumbra wanted different things out of them. With the dragon she wanted a son apparently, and with her daughters she wanted two ponies to do her dirty work. Or at least that was how it seemed.

After that the carriage lapsed back into silence, occasionally punctuated by Spike trying to break it. Mal however was in no mood to talk. She felt that between her conversation with Spectra, Penumbra and the dragon she’d had enough chit-chat for the day. After a while he gave up on trying and lapsed into a bored silence. Malus glanced back at her mother’s sleeping form.

What are you?

She wasn’t sure who she was asking that question to. But it needed an answer.

---

Readjusting the saddlebag on her back, Vinyl hummed an imagined tune under her breath as she trotted down the stairs. There were thousands of songs like this floating through her head at any one time. She could only occasionally get them out of her head when the she stayed in one place long enough to properly write them out on sheet. Even then they’d sound nothing like they would in their final form. With only her own mixing table and no recording booth, the songs she could make were pretty average really. The only gigs that DJ P0N3 got were wedding receptions or similarly low key parties. Events where the songs she could play were crap from a list of shit, chosen by retards who wouldn't know good music if it bit them on the flank.

Classical… eugh.

Still, tonight would at least be fairly awesome if she had her say about it. For a stinking deity, Penumbra had some surprisingly awesome tastes in music. Tonight was Summer Sun, and guess who got to be DJ? P0N3! This was her first real shot at hosting a decent party and she was not gonna mess this up. Plus the list of tracks provided didn’t make Vinyl want to gouge her ear drums out with a screwdriver.

"Yo Seafoam, Sweets! I’m heading out!" she called over her shoulder as she arrived at the front door.

"Wait a second!" Lyra called out in response.

Oh great.

Ignoring the request for an extra second, Vinyl opened the door and headed outside. She trotted down the street for a moment until she heard the sound of galloping hooves behind her.

Damn it.

"Vinyl, wait up!" Lyra called out, and the DJ responded by slowing down enough to let her catch up.

"Sup Seafoam?" Vinyl asked once the other pony was alongside her, though she didn’t stop to speak. Rather the mare kept walking, but at a pace that would make any serious discussion difficult.

The green party panted as she answered. Seriously? She was that out of breath from that short of a gallop? All those sweets from Sweets must be having an effect. "Me *huff* and BonBon *huff* were wondering if you’d like to have lunch with us?"

"Lunch today?"

I already know the answer. She totally wants lunch today.

Lyra nodded "Yeah, *huff*."

Vinyl gave Lyra a sad face as she answered. "Oh, sorry Lye, but I’m gonna be busy with DJ stuff."

And now she’s gonna press the issue.

"How about tomorrow then?"

Vinyl sucked air through her teeth. "Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll still be in Ponyville by tomorrow."

Especially if sticking around means sharing that lunch.

"Oh…" Lyra looked glum. "Are you sure you’ll be too busy for today?"

If not then I’ll make sure I am.

"Sorry, yeah…"

For her part Lyra looked genuinely saddened. "Oh."

Vinyl rolled her eyes, glad that she was wearing shades. She didn’t have to school her reactions as much because of them.

I’m a free loader! Haven’t you figured it out yet? I’ve got no bits and needed a place to stay while in Ponyville so I called up an old high school buddy.

Lyra continued "It’s just… we haven’t seen each other in ages and I never got to thank you for setting me up on that blind date with Bonbon. I thought this could be like a reunion or something."

I set you up on that date with Sweets because I wanted her to set me up on a date with that stallion. I honestly didn't know she was a fillyfooler. I was actually trying to prank her!

With a sad sigh Vinyl responded. "Yeah, me too Lyes... but I’ve got a job now, and it’s the first decent one I’ve had in months. I can’t mess this up. I’m really happy for you and Sweets though. It’s cool that you two are still together after all these years."

Lyra gave her a confused look "All these years? It’s only been about three since we left high school."

Really? Three years? Feels longer than that.

Vinyl shrugged "What evs. Anyway it’s been fun chatting but I got some stuff that ponies are paying me to do."

"Alright. I guess I’ll see you tonight then?" She sounded hopeful.

"Yeah, bet on it." It was true as well.

Everypony on the dance floor will see me.

"Bye."

Vinyl gave a toss of her head by way of a goodbye. It wasn’t that she disliked Lyra; on the contrary she really got along with her back when they enrolled in Manehattan Public High together. But that was ages ago. Besides, Lyra had already forgotten Vinyl’s golden rule.

The rest of the trip to town hall passed peacefully enough for the lone unicorn. Which was boring, but at least it was better than having to dodge Lyra. On the way through Ponyville, she spotted a few ponies getting set up for tonight. It really made her wonder why Penumbra would choose such a small town like Ponyville to celebrate what was basically the biggest event of the decade. Well, biggest if you didn’t count the end of the Blueblood rebellions. There were two general responses to that announcement; crushing despair and wild celebration.

As she came into view of the building, the DJ spotted a white unicorn with a purple mane standing out front of the building next to a cart loaded with… stuff. Lots of stuff. Banners, ribbons, streamers, just pretty much anything you could possibly need to decorate a building.

The unicorn herself was just plain hot. The sort of classical sexiness that Vinyl really wished she had. The DJ herself was generally thought of as a good looker. Long nights spent dancing had left her with a pretty damn hot bod; well-toned but not overly so, skinny but not really thin, it basically struck a perfect balance between athletic and curvy. The point is Vinyl was a mare confident in her own hotness. But this mare with the purple mane? Hell even someone as generally self-satisfied as Vinyl couldn't help but feel a little deflated standing next to her. Even when she ran her most critical eye over her, Vinyl couldn't find a thing about her that wasn’t eleven out of ten on the hot’o’meter.

"Excuse me dear, but are you here to help with the preparation for this evening?" the hottie asked in a voice that just screamed 'high maintenance'.

Not officially.

"Yeah totally."

"Ah. Well, you see I forgot my key, and Mayor Mare’s not around. So I was wondering if you’d be a dear and let me in Ms…?" she batted her eyelashes.

Ok those things should require some kind of weapon license. Bucking Tartarus, how do you get lashes that long? How the heck are you supposed to say no to those things?

"No probs, I’ll let you in. I’ve only got the key to the back door though, so you wait here with your stuff and I’ll unlock the front door for you when I come through."

The classier mare smiled. "Thank you very much. I need to get these decorations prepared for tonight, so I thought I’d get started before the other ponies arrive."

And I really didn’t need to know that.

"Like I said, it’s no biggie," Vinyl responded with a grin as she walked towards the edge of the building.

The town hall wasn't very large, so it wasn’t long before she made it to her destination. Stopping in front of the back door, Vinyl reached into her saddle bag and withdrew a screwdriver and a paper clip. Using her magic, she straightened the paper clip and slid it into the lock before taking the screwdriver and using it to carefully apply clockwise pressure to the lock. After half a minute’s gentle probing, she twisted the lock and unlocked the door. Returning the two devices to their place in her saddle bag, Vinyl stood up and opened the door before stepping inside.

She shut the door behind herself and quickly scanned the room with her horn for any magic sources. Oh yeah, there it was: the burglar alarm. A tiny little three by three alignment of basic frequency crystals set into a non-conductive metal plate. Beneath the plate were several conductive metal wires and one larger crystal with a basic three spell set. The first spell was an incredibly light telekinesis field on the door, that if broken would activate the second spell. The second was a timer that would count down until it hit zero, or it was interrupted by somepony tapping the password into the crystals. If the timer hit zero, then the third spell would activate and a loud warbling alarm would go off.

Stopping in front of the box, Vinyl retrieved a smaller crystal from her saddlebag and held it in front of the box. Normally this would be the first of several steps in successfully disarming an alarm box. But in this case it was the only one required because the first crystal on the top left of the panel brightened. This meant that only one of the nine crystals was magically charged, meaning that it was the only one that had anything to do with the password. Vinyl smirked to herself.

The idiots left the password as one-one-one?

With a grin, the unicorn tapped in the default setting password and gave the box one last check for anymore magical activity. None found, she stepped out into the main room of town hall. It was a pretty damn big room, that is for certain.

Vinyl whistled and listened to the sound echo around the empty space. Carefully tuned ears timed the echo. She was satisfied that as far as rooms built without music in mind go, this room wasn’t bad. Trotting over to the front door, the white unicorn unlocked it from the inside and stepped back to allow the hottie in.

"Thank you dear," the mare said as she entered the room, levitating objects from the cart inside after herself. Setting the supplies to the floor, the unicorn turned around and gave an elegant flick of her mane. "I’m Rarity, it’s a pleasure to meet you Ms…?"

"Nice to meet you, Hot Stuff." Vinyl said officially settling on a nickname and holding out her hoof for a shake.

Rarity delicately shook hooves with her. "I hope you don’t mind me asking but, who are you? And why did the mayor give you a key?"

Vinyl grinned her trademark grin as she turned around. "I’m the DJ for the party tonight. I’m here to set up the sound system."

Both true.

"Oh. Very well then. I’ll start to get set up then, shall I?"

"Yeah no probs."

Turning away, Vinyl made her way over to the main stage and jumped up onto it. Her forehooves made it over the edge of the stage, and she had to kick her rear legs a bit to get the rest of her body up. Once on stage, she followed a set of wires through a door and up some stairs, before eventually arriving at a little sound booth that overlooked the entire hall. Anyone below would have an excellent view of whoever was up here. Set up in the booth was a small terminal loaded with buttons and dials, and two flat panels for playing records. Vinyl’s turn table. Lovingly hoof built by herself, for herself.

Mayor Mare had been reluctant enough to let the DJ set it up here last night. She had utterly refused to allow Vinyl to calibrate the town hall’s sound system to it. The table was plugged in, and it would play over the building’s speakers, but that wasn’t good enough for Vinyl. She wanted it to play well for her first decent event.

Flicking the switch and bringing power up to the table, lights spread across the device’s surface. Giving the mixing table a loving stroke, the DJ took a record from out of her saddlebag and placed it in the appropriate place. She carefully lowered the needle to the record and some thick dubtrot started to play. It wasn’t too loud, and Vinyl really wanted to really crank it to eleven, (she built this table so there literally was an eleven on the dial), but she decided that, given the fact she wasn’t technically allowed to be here, it would be smarter to keep the music at a reasonable volume.

Walking out of the booth, she trotted down to town hall’s centre stage. There she found the first speaker that was blaring out music. Vinyl cringed at the crackly and unclear sounds it was making. Mayor Mare expected her to host a gig with that? With a derisive snort, Vinyl cut the power from the speaker and took a screwdriver out. After the box was opened, she raised her sunglasses and got a good look at what was inside.

"Bucking Tartarus…"

It was a mess, an absolutely disastrous mess of tangled wires, misaligned crystals and poorly cast connecting spells. It wasn’t just the sort of mess an idiot would make. Oh no, this was worse. This was the shit-storm a professional who was being lazy might put together. With a sigh, Vinyl returned her glasses over her eyes and attacked the knotted mess. By the time she was done, she’d completely gutted the speaker.

"Ahem." Rarity appeared and gave a polite cough.

"Yeah?" Vinyl responded with as she distractedly reconnected a wire.

"Have you really been given permission to rewire the entire building’s sound system?"

I was specifically told not to.

"Yeah totally," the DJ answered with.

Hot Stuff blinked. "Are you certain?"

"Yep," Vinyl said while she jiggled something inside the system.

The oh-so-prissy one sounded a little surprised. "Oh... Well, are you positive that you have to be playing this music then? It’s not very… relaxing, to work to."

This mare just loves to complain.

"I need a way to judge how clear what’s coming through is. This song has the right mix of bass, treble and all that stuff. It lets me know how each part of the sound comes across."

Also this song is bucking awesome.

"Oh… Um… Very well then." Silence reigned supreme for a second before the mare decided to try and continue the conversation. "I don’t really understand why we need a DJ anyway. My friend Fluttershy had already volunteered to provide music for this evening."

"Yeah-yeah, I got told about that." Vinyl reconnected the last of the wires and began screwing the sound system back together. "With the bird song right? Heh-heh, you’re really going for the country town theme hey? But yeah, the birds are gonna play the anthem and ceremony, but I’ll be taking care of the night up till then. I mean come on; a bird’s got a voice box like this big," she turned to Rarity and held her hooves close together before turning back to the speaker. "How in Tarturus would you expect those things to sing all night?"

Rarity blinked. "Oh. Yes, I suppose you’re right. I hadn’t thought of that."

"Yeah, the Mayor hadn’t either. She wanted the birds all night. The mare had to read the orders from the princess before she even let me set up my turn table."

Rarity seemed stunned. "The princess? As in orders from Penumbra herself?"

"Yeah. You know for royalty, she has surprisingly cool taste in music. You’d think it would all be classical or something, but no, it’s mostly pretty awesome."

"You know Penumbra?" Rarity looked giddy with excitement.

Vinyl snorted. "No," she chuckled. "Seriously, you could not pick someone further from the royal family than me."

"Well I’m sure that can’t be true. After all, you were chosen by the princess herself, and you aren’t even remotely famous. So it’s not as though your résumé had anything to do with it. You must have some connections."

Standing the speaker up and plugging it back into the power, Vinyl looked over her shoulder at Rarity. When she spoke, her tone was serious, and there was even a touch of anger in her voice. "You can’t get much more 'connected' than a mismatch born in Cloudsdale, dumped off in an orphanage at the dodgy end of Manehattan and who half their childhood friends are dead from either drug overdose or gang war."

Rarity’s face was a mixture of shock and horror. Her mouth hung open for a minute before she crafted some kind of response. "Oh my! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-"

"Nah, I’m totally messing with you." Vinyl turned back to the other unicorn with a grin.

The previously horrified mare went from shock to irritation quite rapidly.

The less elegant mare flicked the power switch back on, and the speaker began to blare out dubtrot once more. Except now the sound was noticeably clearer and fewer static crackles were audible. It was an improvement yeah, but it wasn't perfect. Without any real professional equipment or replacement parts, though it was the best Vinyl could do.

"You hear that static?" The grinning mare asked.

The irritated one answered. "No."

She grinned ever wider. "Exactly."

---

From the balcony outside Ponyville Town Hall, Penumbra listened carefully to the sounds of revellers dancing the night away. The dull thump of bass was coming through the walls, and it served to remind the alicorn of the old days where she might spend the night with Pinkie at one of her parties. Vinyl Scratch was just as good of a DJ as she remembered. It was nice to know some things hadn’t changed between this timeline and the old one.

Penumbra had selected DJ P0N-3 because she had clear memories of the party after Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding. That was a great memory. Twilight Sparkle the unicorn and all her friends, singing their hearts out in celebration of a union and the defeat of the changelings. It was funny how even the frantic battle for Canterlot was now a good memory in comparison to those that came shortly afterwards.

If she hadn’t been a goddess now, Penumbra would have entered inside and danced once more. But now she had to be aloof. These ponies had to see her as a force well over their heads, dealing with the issues that they simply couldn’t. She doubted that any of them would maintain that illusion if they saw her terrible dancing.

One of her tendrils felt the door behind her opening, and she set the same magical feeler to check who it was that was coming through the door. It was Spike with a lampshade on his head. With a wry smile, Penumbra marvelled at the feeling of nostalgia that came over her. This was almost like Pinkie’s surprise party on the original Longest Night.

"How’s the party?" Penumbra asked.

"It’s awesome!" Spike answered enthusiastically. "Who is that DJ? She freaking rocks! I mean, how have I never heard of her and you have? How’d you know she was gonna be so damn awesome!"

Rather than answer, Penumbra asked a question. "Can you see the moon?"

He shrugged and looked up. "Yeah, it’s full. Why, are you expecting Nightmare Moon at any moment or something?"

‘Yes actually,’ the purple mare answered curtly. "'On the longest night of the thousandth year, the star shall aid in her escape.' Or so the prophecy says."

Spike had the decency to only give a sad shake of his head. "So what? You’re saying that a bunch of stars are just gonna…" the dragon trailed off. He stood there open mouthed and staring at the moon for almost a minute. "Woah."

"Let me guess. Four stars just approached the moon, and now The Mare In The Moon is gone?"

"Yes… h-h-how did you-" suddenly the baby dragon was cut off as he belched out a mouthful of green flames. From the flames a green scroll materialised.

Penumbra picked it up with a field of telekinesis and carefully felt the pattern of small bumps dented into the top of the paper. To most ponies they wouldn’t mean anything, but for the blind they were letters and numbers. One of the first things Penumbra had learned to do when she lost her eye sight was read by touch. "Ah. I thought she’d reappear at the old ruins." Pulling the dragon closer to herself with telekinesis, she prepared a teleportation spell. As a unicorn, she never would have attempted this, but as a goddess, this was easy. It was almost effortless for her. To attempt to teleport such long distances was downright foolish for even the most talented spell caster. "First we must gather my daughters, and then we’ll meet up with the guardponies I’ve posted at the ruins."

Spike was thinking coherently now. "Yeah, but what about after that? What do we do when we see Nightmare Moon? I mean, what if she’s still evil? She could be just as, if not more powerful than you, and she might want to make it eternal night again."

Inwardly, the being that once was known as Twilight Sparkle sighed. She didn’t know. How could she? If the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony did not reveal themselves, than she might be forced to kill Nightmare. That thought saddened her greatly. Yes it would just be one more name to add to the list, but Penumbra knew for a fact that she’d always hoped it would be Luna who reappeared. Luna would be somepony else who could stand by her side for eternity, a pony who she could share her burdens with. It had been so long since she’d talked freely with anypony. But if it was Luna, than she could explain everything. They could rule together as she once had with her sister. And Twilight would not be alone forever.

It was an intoxicating idea that had been the main thing that had been keeping the deity sane over the past twenty years. The thought of having to spend eternity alone and burdened with the truth was enough to fill her soul with gut-wrenching fear. A worse thought was that the only ponies who she could share eternity with were Malus and Spectra. The guilt those two alone made her feel was enough as it was.

Penumbra’s only response was a shake of her head and the statement, "we shall see."

Chapter 2: The Tune

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Penumbra

Chapter 2: The Tune.

When Luna’s essence coalesced into Equestria once more, her first thought was not really a conscious idea; rather, it was a sensation. That sensation of feeling muscles returning to their natural position after being stretched taut for far too long. Every molecule of her being was overcome by relief, as the parts of her essence that were blasted across the surface of the moon formed together in their natural place for the first time in a thousand years.

The second thing she thought was vocalised perfectly by her first words in a thousand years. “Freedom!” the alicorn shouted in her full Royal Canterlot Voice. “Joy and Jubilation!” she hopped up to her hooves and began doing a giddy little dance. “Free from the Moon!” she screamed as loud as she could. “And free from The Nightmare!”

Her thoughts were her own, her actions were her own, her joy was her own, and the way she rolled onto her back with a gargantuan grin on her face was definitely her own. Just the thought of grass, fresh green grass, was enough to make her giggle at the possibility. “I think I shall have a plate of grass,” she said to herself. “NO! Pass on the plate; I shall perish upon pasture from the plains!” That alliteration alone was enough to send her into a fit of giggling once more.

“Ahem.”

Luna rolled to her hooves and lowered herself to a combat ready stance instantly. Her eyes narrowed on two white unicorn stallions watching her. Both were dressed in the golden armour of Celestia’s solar guard. Well not exactly the same armour. The design was slightly different, but the colour and heraldry were unmistakable.

Celestia… Luna found herself frozen and unsure what to do. She could kill these stallions. Or she could run and try to escape the punishment her elder sister would no doubt have planned for her. However the truth was she felt she may have deserved it for what she had done. So many ponies had died for what she did. But then no matter how she felt about herself, the thought of being seared to ashes by a beam of solar energy still terrified her.

She was too long in her thoughts apparently, because one of the stallions telekinetically raised a scroll and burned it with a green flame.

Well that was it then. Celestia was alerted to Luna’s return. Yes she could run, but she would be found. Yes she could fight, but even without testing, Luna knew she was at but the merest fraction of her own strength. And even at full power it was questionable that she would be able to defeat Celestia in open confrontation. Without The Nightmare’s power to bolster her own, she’d never been able to overpower her sister. Plus, if Celestia still had any kind of control over the Elements, then in her weakened state Luna would be lucky to last more than a few seconds. No, she would face her punishment regardless of what action she took.

So she took no action, rather standing in awkward silence with the two stallions watching her nervously, which was fair enough she supposed. After all, she was the Nightmare Moon. Not to mention she had been rolling around on her back and giggling like a foal until a few moments ago. Actually that raised an important question. Where was The Nightmare? Luna supposed it was possible the being had been destroyed when she was scattered across the moon just a short millennia ago. But for some reason that didn’t seem like the right answer. Very little was understood about the nature of the Elements of Harmony, but Luna doubted that Celestia had been in sync with them enough to unleash their full powers. True, almost anypony could do something with the Elements. But it took the true bearers to harness them.

As she stood there, Luna took the time to observe the room she was in. A large crumbling hall complete with dilapidated columns and walls with missing windows surrounded her. The whole place seemed oddly... familiar. Turning around, Luna noticed something that made her gasp in astonishment.

The Elements of Harmony.

They were inactive, she could see that straight away. The sixth wasn’t present, but then that was a given when the rest of the elements looked like little more than spherical rocks. Sadly, in this state the Elements were almost entirely useless. They still occasionally showed a spark of magic, but nothing compared to what they were capable of when active and even then such sparks were rare.

With the Elements identified, Luna realised the she was standing in the main hall of Canterlot Castle. Of course it seemed familiar, but it was no wonder she didn’t recognise it in the state it was in. What happened to this place?

The pop of a teleport made Luna turn around. Emerging from a magenta burst of light were two ponies, a young dragon and Celestia. No… that wasn’t Celestia. This was an alicorn, but it wasn’t Celestia.

That’s impossible…

“Luna,” the being that was not allowed to exist greeted her.

As it stood, the creature that could not possibly be an alicorn smiled at Luna. It was tall, being only a little bit shorter than Celestia was. In terms of structure it had a fairly thin and lithe body. Without a doubt the being’s most striking feature was its eyes, or more specifically its lack of them. Rather than eyes, it had two patches of scar tissue. That was concerning. Very, very concerning.

After her shock wore off, Luna examined the others that had arrived with the alicorn. The two ponies were fairly unremarkable except that they were strangely garbed. One was a pegasus and the other was an earth pony. Both were mares, and the most remarkable thing about them was the pegasus’s hair colour. The dragon however was interesting. Dragons were rare, and judging by its size (assuming it wasn’t currently in a greed induced growth spurt) this dragon was in the later years of its adolescence. Why the alicorn had a pet dragon was a question that Luna filed away for later pursuit.

No, this couldn’t be a real alicorn. This had to be a disguised changeling or something. Tapping into some unicorn magic, Luna examined the being with her now magically fuelled sight. Luna fell onto her haunches in shock. This being had the same level of power as an alicorn and it had alicorn magic in it. But it just couldn’t be… No, it just couldn’t be an actual alicorn. But there was nothing else this could be. Magic radiated off the creature in waves. The sheer amount of magic here was staggering. There was just as much as Celestia had had at the height of her power, if not slightly more. The magic radiating from her filled the room; Luna knew without a doubt that she could not face this creature. Not in her current state or possibly even if she was at full power.

She must have not responded for too long because the mysterious alicorn soon spoke up. “I guess you weren’t expecting to see another alicorn.”

Switching back to normal sight, Luna gathered her thoughts. “Who art thou? And where is Celestia?” she said, sounding rather forceful with her Canterlot voice.

“She sounds pretty nightmarish to me,” the pegasus said, lowering herself to the ground in a combat ready position.

The alicorn’s jaw clenched. It was a quick thing and easy to miss but Luna spotted it.

“Spectra,” she said very evenly. “This is not Nightmare Moon, I do not want to hear you suggesting otherwise again. Do you understand me?”

The pegasus, who was apparently named Spectra, glanced between Luna and the alicorn. “Yes mother,” she said returning to a normal position. But judging by the looks she was casting at Luna, she was still sizing the moon princess up for a fight.

Wait… mother? Did she just call her mother?

The lavender alicorn ‘mother’ turned back to Luna. “I’m sorry about Spectra, she is… aggressive, at times.” She gave a polite smile. “My name is Penumbra.” She waved a hoof at the dragon. “This is Spike, my assistant.” She waved a hoof at the two ponies. “And these are Spectra and Malus…” she hesitated before continuing, “my daughters.”

Impossible. There was no way that these normal ponies could possibly be directly related to an alicorn. True, if a Bearer ascended then that Bearer’s existing family could be considered related, but an alicorn could not directly conceive a normal pony.

Penumbra continued speaking. “As you can see… I cannot see. But if you would allow me to touch you with my magic I will be able to ‘see’ you. But I understand that this makes some ponies uncomfortable.”

It took Luna a second to realise that the lavender alicorn was asking for permission, and she hesitated to answer. Penumbra’s lack of eyes was highly concerning. Those were scars, and very few things could permanently damage an alicorn. One of those few things being other alicorns. Had Celestia inflicted those wounds on penumbra? And if so then why?

“Where is Celestia?” Luna asked after a few seconds, this time being careful to speak in a normal tone. “Where is my sister?”

Penumbra hesitated to answer. “Luna… I’m afraid that…your sister, Celestia, is...”

“She’s dead,” Spectra interjected.

“Spectra!” the alicorn snapped, turning her head in the pegasus’ direction.

Luna felt the air rush from her lungs; she could have sworn somepony just punched her in the gut. “That’s not possible…” she said, feeling the shock course through her. Even as warring emotions clouded her mind, part of Luna was thinking logically about the ways that that could have happened.

Penumbra turned back to Luna. “Twenty years ago, there was an event where…” she paused before sighing and shaking her head. “Perhaps this would be easier if I showed you.”

Luna didn’t respond as her mind continued to run rampant inside her head. Strange alicorn that should not exist, is scarred, The Elements are inactive and gathering dust, they claim Celestia is dead. Did they kill her? Is that how she got those scars?

No matter how she looked at it, this was a highly confusing situation. There was no way Celestia could be dead; that simply wasn’t possible. Add to that this ‘Penumbra’. Where did she fit into all this? With the Elements inactive, there was no way that Celestia could have created another alicorn. Nor for that matter would she have really wanted to... unless she needed a replacement for Luna… But no, Luna was not needed. Celestia could manage the sun and the moon well enough without her. Luna could not see a reason for Celestia to create another alicorn. Whatever the case, Penumbra was here, even if she shouldn’t be, and Luna needed answers.

“Show me what?” the smaller deity asked.

“Celestia’s grave,” Penumbra answered while walking towards Luna. “I assume you’ll want privacy. I’ll drop my daughters and these guardsmen off, then I shall take you there and you can see for yourself.”

Luna nodded slowly, but then remembered Penumbra was blind and voiced her permission. “Very well.” She still didn’t trust this mysterious entity but she needed more information, and she had no doubt that a thousand years would have decayed, if not destroyed, all of her old information networks.

Penumbra turned towards the other ponies in the room. “You four shall go back to the party and ensure that the celebration lasts until I’m finished talking with Luna. If I’m late then… improvise.” She turned to the dragon. “Spike, go with them.”

He nodded.

The taller alicorn’s horn started to glow, and soon the whole room was bathed in the magenta light. The energy coalesced and built while Luna watched on with a little awe. Penumbra had incredible control over her magic. Of course the spell was going to take a moment to cast, but Luna knew that, even at her full power, she’d require perhaps five or ten minutes preparation to cast such a spell. Here Penumbra was doing it in just three.

Everypony disappeared in a flash of light except for Luna and Penumbra. The spell was now being cast again, though Luna noted subtle differences in the spell. It was impressive; the slight adjustments that were being made to maximise the efficiency of the magic. Without a doubt Penumbra was skillful, not just powerful. In a moment, there was a flash of light and the ruins of old Canterlot were empty once more.

---

Vinyl’s hoof pumped the air overhead as the repeated thunk of the bass entranced the dancers into movement. This was it. This was her talent and her activity of choice. Sex, drugs, alcohol, whatever. None of those compared to this. Nothing, absolutely nothing, gave Vinyl the same buzz that she got from this.

Still, being a good DJ was about more than just mixing the tracks. You had to keep an eye on the dance floor to make sure everypony was having a good time. Vinyl liked to think of herself as a good DJ who just lacked experience. If she’d had experience, or had lived in Ponyville for any extended amount of time at all, she would have known one of the first and most important rules about partying: keep an eye out for the beast in pink.

“Hi there!” an unnaturally cheery voice exploded in Vinyl’s ear.

Vinyl jumped into the air and turned around with her hooves ready to fight whatever screeching abomination had found its way into her booth. “What the f-”

The being pressed a hoof into Vinyl’s mouth. “No, that’s a bad word and not a happy word.”

With both front hooves, Vinyl shoved whoever this pony was away and tried to spit the taste of dirty hooves out of her mouth.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” The thing bounced right up into Vinyl’s face like it was the natural thing to do.

“Swell,” Vinyl said as she spat out the last of the taste of… “How the heck do you get your hooves to taste like cotton candy?”

“They do?” Pinkie paused and licked her own hoof. “Oh wow!” Her ears perked up. “They do! I never tasted my own hooves before! I mean I’ve tasted lots of hooves because ponies are always shoving them in my mouth-”

“Yeah, I wonder why.”

“-but never my own! Maybe I could make a flavour out of them or something!”

Vinyl stared at her for a second trying to decide if she was joking. “I for one would not buy that.”

Pinkie tilted her head to the side. “Silly, how do you know you won’t like it if you won’t even try it?”

Vinyl looked at her for a second before her default grin split her face. Fastest way to end a conversation is to smile and nod. “That’s a good point. I’ll be sure to try Pink’s ‘hoof flavoured’ milkshakes next time I’m in Ponyville.”

“Oh that’s great,” Pinkie said happily. “I’m glad you can be more open-minded.”

Yeah... Cause that’s what’s wrong with me.

“What are you doing up here anyway?” Vinyl asked as she fixed her slightly askew glasses and turned back to the table.

“Oh, well you see, I always throw parties for ponies who are new to town and when I saw you up here tonight I was like ‘gosh, that DJ’s new here, I should throw a party for her!’ but then I realised you were already at a party so I was like ‘maybe she wants a smaller party’ and then I had the greatest idea ever it was like ‘I can have a small party up there with her, because she’s already at a big party so it’d be like a small surprise party inside an even bigger party,’ which makes it a party in a party and here I am to have a party in a party up here with you!” There was a burst of confetti over her shoulders as she reared up and held her forelegs out wide as though presenting something.

Vinyl watched this over her shoulder. No one else could see it due to her shades, but one eyebrow was firmly raised and her eyes held a highly incredulous expression. Everyone else just saw her usual trademark grin. “Did you… breathe while saying that?”

Pinkie paused and tapped thoughtfully. “I’m pretty sure… But I don’t really remember.”

Vinyl blinked. “Of course… Um… listen, Pinks… I can see from here that you’re not quite all there,” she tapped a hoof against her head.

The less than sane mare interrupted. “Oh no I’m totally all there…” she paused. ‘Depending on where ‘there’ is. If there is here then I’m totally there, but if there is down there then I guess I’m sort of there.”

Nodding, Vinyl started again and decided to ignore what Pinkie had just said. “Look, the idea of a party in a party sounds… Kinda cool in a crazy sort of way but… I’m kinda happy with just the one party at the moment.”

The smile on Pinkie’s face only grew wider. “Then imagine how much you’ll be smiling with two parties!”

Those blue eyes bored into Vinyl, and everything about them just screamed ‘I want you in my basement’. At that moment Vinyl had no doubt that, if she wasn’t wearing shades, her soul would have been sucked out and consumed by the bottomless depths of the pools of blue that lay before her.

Pinkie continued. “And I live to make other ponies smile,” she placed heavy emphasis on the live.

That was so creepy that Vinyl’s grin almost dropped. Almost.

Normally Vinyl was a clear and concise speaker. But at this moment she was just a little bit creeped the buck out. “Listen, Pinks, um… DJ’ing is my special talent… and while I appreciate the thought, I’m happier just being the DJ for this party at the moment than I would be if you were to have a second party up here.”

“Oh…” Pinkie’s grin faded and her eyes looked like they were taking on water.

“But what would make me happy,” Vinyl rapidly continued, “is if you were to go down to the dance floor and have a good time yourself.”

Also just staying the heck away from me while I’m in the middle of my gig would be nice.

“Oh…” She looked like she was starting to perk back up. “In that case I better get down there and have a super fun splendiferous time! Cause then you’ll have a super fun splendiferous time!”

Is splendiferous even a word?

“Exactly,” Vinyl nodded and her grin started to feel a bit more genuine. Relief was a good emotion. “So why don’t you head on down there and have a…” She coughed. “‘super fun splendiferous time’?”

Pinkie gave a firm salute before turning and heading out the door. Just as she was about to leave she paused. “Oh, I still don’t know your name. Who are you?”

Damn it.

Vinyl shrugged. “I’m DJ P0N-3. I know I’m not famous yet but I scratch the records pretty damn well.”

“Is that your name?” Pinkie asked quizzically.

“Huh?”

“Is DJ P0N-3 your name?”

“It’s my stage name.”

“Well what’s your real name?”

“I-’”

Vinyl didn’t answer that question, because at that moment Mayor Mare came up the stairs.

“Oh excuse me Pinkie,” Miss Mare said to the pink pony. “Mind if I have a word with Miss…” She paused and turned to Vinyl, “I’m sorry but I still don’t know your name.”

“Oh that’s fine,” Vinyl said with a wave of her hoof.

“Yes…” Mayor turned back to Pinkie. “Mind if I have a word with the DJ in private?”

“Sure thing Miss Mayor,” she said with a nod. “Bye Scratchy!” she waved to Vinyl enthusiastically as she walked down the stairs.

Ok, that’s just gotta be coincidence.

“Yeah, see yah Pinks.” Vinyl gave a wave too. The moment she was out of sight Vinyl turned to Mayor Mare. “Ok, what drugs is she on and where can I get them?”

Miss Mare chuckled a little at that. “Pinkie is… well… Pinkie is Pinkie.” She paused and shook her head. “Anyway, Scratchy was it?”

Vinyl shrugged. “It’ll do.”

“Yes…” she paused for a second. “I’ve just received word that Penumbra may be late for the ceremony and raising of the sun.”

The DJ’s eyebrow rose.

Yeah, sorry to be late in raising the sun and all but I’m just a little busy at the moment... I swear I’ll get around to the whole daytime thing real quick, I promise.

“Why?”

“I wasn’t told, but I was instructed to try and delay the opening ceremony until the princess can get here.”

“Okaaay…”

“So I need you to play some more music then we originally intended. Just to help keep the ponies distracted for as long as possible.”

Vinyl shrugged, “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good,” Mayor Mare seemed very relieved. “I better go and warn some of the other organisers about the change of plans and put out a few other fires while I’m at it.”

What evs.

“Cool. I better get back to my table before anypony notices that it’s just on a play list.”

The mayor said something else but Vinyl didn’t pay attention as she returned to doing what did best. Finally, back to what she loved. Her small bit of bass-fuelled paradise could only last so long before it had to be interrupted again.

This time it was a tap on the shoulder that grabbed her attention.

Oh for bucks sake! First gig in months that’s actually cool and some idiot keeps interrupting me!

“Sup?” she asked as she turned around with a grin. A grin that barely stayed in place when she saw who it was that had tapped her on the shoulder.

A purple iguana with green spines was staring at her with a ‘this be serious business’ expression on his face. “You’re DJ P0N-3?” Vinyl was surprised to hear that the lizard could talk.

“Yeah,” she glanced past him and blinked when she saw Spectra and Malus, the two royal princesses, standing there.

What the buck are they doing here?

“Right.” The iguana stopped to examine some papers in his hands. “Did Mayor Mare stop by to tell you that-”

“Penumbra doesn’t feel like raising the sun just yet?” Vinyl grinned, this time genuinely. “Yeah, what’s up with that?”

Spectra moved closer while hovering and chuckled. “Yeah, it’s the craziest thing. You know Nightmare-”

“Spectra!” the iguana shouted. “That’s probably classified.”

“Pfft, whatever,” the princess waved a hoof dismissively. “She’s gonna know in the morning anyway. Come on Spike, it’s not like it’s a big secret or anything.”

The iguana, who was apparently named Spike, sighed in an irritated way. “Regardless, I think the princess would want us to keep it quiet for the moment. Okay?”

She rolled her eyes. “Like I care. Anyway as I was saying, Night-”

“Spectra,” Malus said quietly.

Spectra stopped and looked back at her sister. Malus shook her head firmly.

“Fine, whatever.” Rose coloured eyes were rolled. “Not like it matters anyway.”

Spike turned back to Vinyl. “Anyway, I’m here to discuss your pay in regards to tonight.” He glanced up at Vinyl and she nodded her head in understanding, so he continued. “We’ll pay you for any hour overtime. Just keep the party going for another hour or two until Penumbra arrives.”

“Yeah, no worries,” Vinyl nodded. “But I’ve only got so many tracks on the list she gave me. Should I repeat songs or just mix some other songs onto the list?”

Spike shrugged. “Whatever works for you.”

Vinyl was still grinning, but now she was smiling. Complete freedom to run the party? Tart yeah, I can live with that!

“Alright, now that that’s sorted, what else needs doing?” Spike muttered to himself as he shifted through the papers in his hands. He mumbled under his breath as he turned and walked away, heading back down the stairs.

Facing her turn table once more, Vinyl paused when she noticed that Malus hadn’t left. Spectra hadn’t followed the iguana out either. Spectra paused to watch her sister who was staring at Vinyl with an expression of… Ok, Vinyl was actually really great with faces and expressions but she seriously couldn’t read Mal.

“Uh… Sup?” Vinyl asked hesitantly, feeling a bit nervous about the scrutiny.

Mal only continued to… Ok was she glaring? Or was that just how she looked at most ponies?

“Mal, what’re you thinking?” asked Spectra.

“Who’re you?” Mal asked while staring at Vinyl.

“Just the DJ,” Vinyl said with a flick of her mane. Ok this was really uncomfortable.

“Why’d Penumbra hire you?” Malus asked as she slowly moved closer to Vinyl.

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder. “Maybe she likes my work?”

“Who’re you?” the princess repeated the question.

“No one. Just DJ P0N-3.”

“Why would Penumbra hire you? Ah’ve never heard of you.”

“Maybe you should get out more?” Vinyl grinned like her life depended on it. A nice big toothy smile that showed off her pearly whites.

Malus reared back on her back hooves as she lifted Vinyl with her forelegs and pressed her against the wall “Who. Are. You?”

“No one special.” For Vinyl, it was a struggle to keep her smile in place. Her glasses were askew on her face revealing her crimson red eyes. She tried to shift the limb that was being pressed against her throat. Damn, this princess was strong! It was like trying to shove a boulder with your bare hooves.

“Mal…?” Spectra moved into Malus’ field of vision. “What the buck are you doing?” her head was cocked and she was looking at her sister curiously.

The earth pony was silent for a second as she glared (and now Vinyl was sure it was glaring) into Vinyl’s uncovered eyes. “Something’s happening.”

It took a second for Spectra to come up with a response. “What? What’s happening?”

“Something…” Mal glanced over at her sister. “Ah’m not sure what but… It’s big. Something important is happening.”

Spectra shrugged, “Well just earlier tonight we met-“

“No not that.” Mal shook her head. “Something… else…”

“And you think she has something to do with it?” Spectra indicated Vinyl.

What the buck could Vinyl possibly have to do with this…? Whatever this was.

She considered her for a second longer before Malus stepping back from Vinyl and dropped back onto all fours. “No.”

Vinyl used her magic to place her glasses back over her eyes.

Spectra just shook her head. “You are such a bucking retard.”

“How fast can you get to Canterlot?” Malus turned to face Spectra.

Silence hung in the air for a second.

“Well that was a sudden turn in conversation,” Vinyl said aloud.

“…What?” Spectra asked sounding confused.

“Canterlot. How fast?” Mal repeated

“Er… I don’t know, an hour maybe?”

“Go there.”

“What? No! Why?!” Anger crept into her voice.

“Ah need you to go to Canterlot,” Malus stated.

“I don’t take orders from you,” Spectra said, sounding really pissed off.

“Ah don’t care,” Malus said. “Go to Canterlot. Find out what Penumbra’s doing.”

“What?” Spectra asked confused. “Why do you need me to check up on mum?” Then her face darkened. “And why the buck do you think you can order me around?”

Malus quietly said, “Please.”

Spectra continued ranting angrily. “For that matter what the buck do you… Please?”

Mal stared into Spectra’s eyes. “Please.”

There was a moment’s silence, and all Vinyl could do was try to figure out what the heck was going on and hope these two forgot she was there.

“Alright,” Spectra said and continued after a second. “But you owe me, right?”

Malus nodded.

The pegasus turned to fly away but was stopped when Mal said, “Spectra.”

She paused and glanced back at Mal.

Malus hesitated before saying, “stay safe.”

Spectra blinked in surprise before snorting and rolling her eyes. With that she took to the air. She flew up over the dance floor and down towards the building exit. This left Vinyl alone with Malus; A not unfrightening prospect.

“Okay…” Vinyl said aloud. “Not that that was really weird or anything, but could you go away now? You know, let me do the job that you’re paying me to do.”

Malus just looked at her for a second before she said, “You lie to everypony.”

“…What?” Vinyl asked exasperation creeping into her voice and her smile dropping. “Enough with the freaking crazy! How could you possibly know that!?”

Vinyl honestly hadn’t even lied to Malus.

Mal paused. “That’s a good question.”

“…What?”

Malus turned and walked down the stairs.

Shaking her head, Vinyl tried to make sense of anything that just happened. “Whatever.” She shrugged. Facing her turntable once more, Vinyl genuinely grinned and set back to doing her job. It was time to get these tracks off the play list. With her magic, Vinyl pulled a new record out of her saddlebag and replaced one of the records currently sitting on the turn table. Twitching her head to the left produced a satisfying crack. Back to doing what she loved.

It was time for DJ P0n-3 to own the night.

---

Reality was a nice place, Luna decided upon arriving there. She was well used to teleporting, but nopony could make a jump from the old Canterlot ruins to… wherever this was anything but painfully uncomfortable. It was a sign of Penumbra’s power that they hadn’t simply popped like blood-filled balloons on their return to this plane of existence. Nopony, other than Luna or Celestia, ever attempted such long distance teleportation. Well, apparently Penumbra did. Luna doubted that in her current state that she could manage a jump like that without some serious assistance.

Once the sensation of the world collapsing around her died down, Luna raised her eyes and saw a city. And not just any city. A grand white city made from marble. It had palaces and fountains and… It was just an impressive, healthy looking city. What was more impressive was that it was set into the side of the mountain.

“Welcome to Canterlot,” Penumbra stated.

Luna could feel the other alicorn’s gaze in the form of the tendrils of magic gently slithering across her skin. Penumbra was frighteningly powerful. Luna knew that all it would take for the princess to kill her would be a sharp tightening of those thin streams of magic. A mere thought and they could snap taut, splitting Luna into nothing but meaty chunks and bodily fluids.

For an alicorn, who once wielded the power to control the moon, to shift the tides and set the stars, it was deeply disturbing. Only once before had she felt so powerless.

“This cannot be Canterlot. The ruins from whence we left were Canterlot,” Luna denied aloud.

“The city was destroyed in the wake of the final battle between Nightmare and Celestia. Celestia ordered a new capital city to be built here and the ruins were left to their own devices.” Penumbra paused. “I think she didn’t want to be reminded of what became of you.”

Luna stared up at the grand city, feeling morose. It was horrifying to think that she’d destroyed an entire city and that her own sister had rebuilt it elsewhere just to try and forget her. “What of the Elements? Why did she leave those behind?”

Penumbra paused for a moment. “I’m unsure.”

Having lived for centuries, Luna recognised a lie when she heard it. A well-told lie that would without a doubt deceive most, but not well told enough to slip past an immortal being.

“I believe she was planning on using them to cure you upon your return,” Penumbra continued.

Luna couldn’t help but doubt that. She knew what she did, and she knew that for that there would be no forgiveness. Even from Celestia.

“What of you… From where did you come?”

Penumbra sighed. “That’s a more complicated explanation I’m afraid; one that may have to wait. It’s a tale that will take some time to tell, and I have the sun to raise in less than an hour. For now, we should discuss the fate of Celestia.”

Luna felt her hackles rise. Dodging the question like that was not the way to set Luna’s mind at ease. She still did her best to keep her body language unreadable, though she could feel her heart rate elevate slightly.

“There is one more teleport for us to make before I must leave you and return to my duties. But rest assured that I shall explain everything in due time.”

And with that, Luna felt herself get dragged through a hole in existence once again, though this teleport was much better controlled. She did not feel as though the energies of the universe were trying to turn her inside out. That must have meant they were teleporting somewhere that wasn’t as far away.

With a pop they arrived in…

Luna fell to her knees in shock. Her mind reeled at the sight before her. There was no way, no way that… No, this simply couldn’t be.

She checked her magical sight to make sure that this wasn’t just some illusion. No, her magically enhanced eyes told her the same thing her normal vision did. Still there was no way she could accept this. This simply couldn’t be.

But it was.

“This is an illusion.” She tried to believe it but couldn’t convince herself.

“No it’s not.” Penumbra’s voice didn’t tremble or waver. It sounded detached and empty. “This is reality.”

Stretching out before her, as far as the eye could see, extending from one horizon to another was a graveyard. Row, upon row, upon row of grave, after grave, after grave. Small square grave stones, simple and blocky, carved from common rock types dotted the flat earth. The amount of dead was… It was mind boggling. Luna wasn’t even sure that there were this many ponies alive in Equestria a thousand years ago.

And in the centre of it. Standing before Luna was a monument that was almost 20 feet tall. A statue of a pony with her wings folded and her eyes closed. Her face seemed to be one of a pony at peace. At the base of the statue was carved, “She guided us all in life. She guides our loved ones in death.”

This was not a statue. This was a tombstone.

“What did this?” Luna asked her voice trembling as she was faced with her sister’s remains.

Penumbra was silent for a second. “Twenty years ago… There was an… event. Where all over the world, millions of ponies-” She paused. “Well I suppose we’re not just talking about Equestria; we’re talking about the larger world too… hundreds of millions of people everywhere simply slumped over dead. Almost one quarter of Equestria’s population, dead in an instant. I don’t know the statistics of the whole world, but I do know they were similar. The Griffon Collective was the worst hit, with almost a third of their population gone. The yaks were the least affected, losing only an eighth.”

Luna was stunned. She tried to speak but couldn’t think of anything to say.

“During the twenty years since, almost one quarter of all pony children have been stillborn. Though, counting the mismatches, thirteen out of every sixteen births could be considered at least partially successful. Mass graves like this are now found outside every major city in Equestria and most major cities across the world. This is Canterlot’s mourning site. Almost five hundred thousand ponies are buried here. Stillborn foals are also buried here. Those newer graves are towards the back.”

‘Mismatches’…? What? That- what? Stillborn….?

Luna crushed her emotions and brought logic to the fore. Now was not the time for that. Slowly climbing back to her feet, Luna turned to face Penumbra. “Did you kill them?”

There was a pause. “What?”

Luna repeated the question. “Are you responsible for their deaths?”

Penumbra hesitated before answering. “Some of them.”

Luna blinked in surprise but didn’t say anything.

“No one pony is responsible for this.” Penumbra said as she turned to face the graves. “This is the collective weight of all our sins. Mine included.” She sighed. “It’s a complicated situation. It involves things you would never have believed existed. I want to tell you everything, but that must wait. I have to raise the sun now.” She turned to walk away but stopped when she heard Luna’s next question.

“Did you kill Celestia?”

Silence answered Luna.

“Did. You. Kill. My. Sister?” Anger laced each word.

“…No.” That single syllable was thick with guilt. There was no way that it wasn’t a lie, or less than half the truth.

Luna brought magic to her eyes again, and observed Penumbra once more. Except this time she looked at her as closely as she could. She funnelled more magic than was even practical into her vision, but that didn’t matter. Luna needed to know. There had to be no doubt in Luna that all this wasn’t an illusion. That this wasn’t some elaborate cosmic prank her mind was playing on her while she was still trapped on the moon. It had to be. There was no way it couldn’t be. It had to not be real.

But it was.

Her eyes were gaping black voids, sucking in light with the shadow magic that was her natural talent. Far more magic then was needed was funnelled into her sight to make it as sharp as possible. This was no illusion. It simply couldn’t be. The wave of grief that came over Luna was strong. So strong that it almost overpowered the burning rage that had taken hold of her mind. Almost.

Luna could see something that made her jaw clench and blood rush to her ears. Something that forced her to resist the urge to attack Penumbra right then and there. Chaos magic. There was a fount of chaos magic inside Penumbra. And there was only one naturally occurring source of that in the entire world.

Discord.

Penumbra was not Discord, but she’d obviously been influenced by him. And that was all that Luna needed right now.

“Would you like to come with me?” Penumbra asked. “Or would you prefer to stay here with your sister?”

It took some effort but Luna managed to keep her voice flat as she trotted closer to Penumbra. “I shall go with you.”

The monster smiled. That blind bucking chaotic abomination actually had the nerve to smile. Penumbra raised her magic and began to form the component of a teleportation field. All the while, Luna watched, and when the spell was all but ready, she lashed out with all the fury of an enraged dragon. Long range teleporation was a difficult and potentially dangerous thing, being a far stretch from the quick hops that were appropriate for battle or escape. They were unstable in the extreme and Luna took full advantage of this.

Seizing her magic, Luna lashed out against the delicate fields that were handling the teleport while at the same time seizing the reins on Penumbra’s other fields. It was only because she caught Penumbra by surprise that this worked; otherwise she simply wouldn’t have had the power to affect or influence the spell. But because Penumbra hadn’t expected the attack, she offered no resistance.

With a snap, reality buckled, and Luna and Penumbra were flung apart. Luna used Penumbra’s magic to guide herself back to the ruins of Canterlot. When she returned to reality, she fell to her knees and vomited. A meal that had been consumed almost a thousand years ago now decorated the floor of what was once her home.

Luna couldn’t be sure what happened to Penumbra during that teleport, but it was easily possible that she’d died. When you abuse reality like that, it has a tendency to simply kill you. But if Penumbra had recovered quickly enough, she could saved herself. Still, whatever had happened to her, it would certainly have left wounds. There was no way that the alicorn could have escape from that unscathed.

Standing back on her hooves, Luna took the moment to consider what she’d just done. She’d just made an enemy of what was most likely the most powerful being in existence. Luna couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Oh, it was truly great to be free.

Celestia still tugged at the corner of Luna’s mind, but she tried not to think of that. Now was not the time to mourn something that happened twenty years ago. Now was the time to act. She needed a plan.

To be honest, attacking Penumbra like that was probably not the brightest move. It would have been better to wait until she knew the full situation. But she had a fount of chaos magic in her, and she’d lied about killing Celestia... That was enough as far as Luna was concerned.

She’d need The Elements unbound and active if she wanted to defeat Penumbra. Maybe in a year, when Luna’s powers had returned, she might risk facing her head on, but unless Penumbra was an idiot, which Luna doubted, she’d begin hunting for Luna immediately. So she didn’t have a year to work with. That led her back to the Elements.

For The Elements to become active, she’d need to find their Bearers. Once that was done, Luna would be faced with the choice of leaving The Elements with the correct bearers, or using all six herself with much less effect. She would make that decision when the time came. Who knew? Maybe the new bearers would be capable of dealing with Penumbra without Luna’s help… Or maybe they would be loyal to Penumbra and turn the Elements against Luna… Regardless, Luna needed the Elements.

With that, Luna turned and floated the five inactive elements down to herself. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness and Laughter. A sob escaped Luna’s throat and she clutched Laughter to her chest.

“Oh Celestia.” Luna squeezed her eyes shut. “I cannot believe that you died…" And the worst part was, the last time Luna had seen her, still trapped in the Nightmare, she’d promised that she’d kill Celestia. Shielding the precious Element of Laughter with her wings and her forelegs, Luna whispered to it. “Celestia, I promise that I’ll find out who did this. Not just to you, but to all the Equestrians. Not even that, but to all the people the world over. I will find out who’s responsible, and I’ll make them pay. I will make up for what I did.”

With that, she dried her eyes and stood up.

Even inactive, there was a magical link between each Element and its bearer. For a spell caster like Luna, it was simple fare to find the link and trace it. Interestingly, three of the links were all pointing in the same direction, while the other two were pointing in seemingly random directions. It was a little hard to say, but she thought one of them was pointing towards New Canterlot. There was no way to tell how far each link was from its original source, and she didn’t wish to return to Canterlot, so Luna decided to head towards the group of three.

Flying there would be sufficient. Luna was faster than any natural born pegasus, teleport hops were draining, and there was no way she’d risk a long range teleport without knowing exactly where she was headed. Plus, with her powers weakened, she wasn’t sure she could manage a very large jump. So flight it was.

And a flight it was. To travel through the air was fun and invigorating at the best of times, but it was especially so after being freed from a thousand year banishment. The Elements she floated in the wind alongside her whistled against the air and Luna felt almost giddy. Yes, she was alone and drained of power in a world that was nearly alien from her own. True, she’d just made an enemy of the most powerful being in existence. But she didn’t give a buck. She was free and flying and loving every second of it.

Sadly all good things had to come to an end. After only half an hour of flight, Luna found herself landing outside the small village that the three Elements had led her to.

“Welcome to Ponyville,” a single picket wooden sign read.

“Original name,” Luna murmured to herself.

It was nighttime, so of course no one was around as Luna walked through the empty streets.

“All still asleep,” Luna couldn’t help but bitterly note.

Eventually though, her ears perked at the sound of… What was that sound? It seemed vaguely rhythmical. There was the steady thump of a bass instrument, but Luna couldn’t identify which. Over the top of that was a weird alien sound that she simply couldn’t describe. It was almost like music.

The Element were all leading her towards the noise, towards a large building that looked like a meeting place. Inside it, Luna could see the silhouettes of ponies moving and dancing in rhythm to that sound. Okay, so apparently it was some kind of music.

Luna felt vaguely sad about that. She’d always had an appreciation for the arts, and the knowledge that she’d missed out on more than a thousand years of cultural progression was a bit upsetting. Imagine all the visionaries that had revolutionized their respective fields, and she hadn’t gotten the chance to appreciate a single one of them.

Shaking her head, Luna chastised herself. Now was not the time for that sort of thought. After all, it was her own petty jealousy that had led to her banishment.

Walking into the building, Luna found herself bathed in a strange multi-coloured light show. Around her, ponies threw themselves about and grinded against each other in some strange approximation of a dance. Luna didn’t stand out too much because she wasn’t as tall as she normally would be. To most, she just looked like another pony until they took the time to notice both her wings and horn. But those that did were soon swept away by other dancers, and she was dismissed as a trick of the light.

The orbs soon found themselves pointing in different directions, so Luna decided to follow Laughter, if for no other reason than this seemed like the place she might find it. She floated the other four and hid them under her wings, which were still larger than normal pegasus wings.

Actually, she kind of liked this music. There was a strange depth and complexity to the various sounds that all layered and complemented one another. She found her head bobbing up and down as she trotted through the party, a smile lighting up her face. Nothing in the world could change your mood as rapidly as music. Sure it was only a quick fix, but the light headed joy she felt now was much better than the melancholy about all the things she’d missed out on.

Soon Laughter led her to the place where the crowds were thickest. Luna spotted her right in the middle of them: a pink pony surrounded by a crowd of onlookers doing an impressive and complicated dance. Her hooves barely seemed to touch the ground as she seemed to smoothly slide across the floor.

The ponies around her were chanting “Go Pinkie! Go Pinkie! Go-go, go Pinkie!”

No prizes for guessing the identity of Laughter. Luna thought as she watched her. It was quite impressive actually. If time was less urgent Luna might have-

“Luna!” a voice shouted out behind her. She turned around and saw a strangely garbed earth pony mare staring at her. “What’re you doing here? Where’s Penumbra?”

It took Luna a second to recognise her. Yes, she was the earth pony that Penumbra had said was her daughter. Another lie, that was simply impossible. Or at least Luna thought it was impossible… She supposed it might be possible to grow a… No, that wasn’t the point. She had to deal with this mare now.

“What?!” Luna shouted out, pretending to be unable to hear over the music. She held a hoof to her ear and shrugged.

The earth pony- Oh that’s right Malus was her name… Malus’ eyes narrowed. Ok, if Luna wasn’t an alicorn she might be scared. That was one Tartarus-worthy glare. The mare herself just looked intimidating too. Her strange garb and remarkable musculature just made her appear impressive.

Luna noticed the dancing around them had stopped and ponies were backing away fearfully. More were glancing at Malus nervously first, then at Luna, but a few frightened looks were cast her way. Why would they be reacting like this?

Malus reached out with one hoof and took the Element of Laughter out of the air. She held it up with one hoof and glared at Luna. Her question required no words.

The music was still playing, but Luna could hear snippets of conversation. “Malus is…”

“Who’s the alicorn?”

“The Demon…”

Demon? What demon?

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but then spotted something towards the back of the club. The dragon that had accompanied Penumbra earlier was in the middle of breathing out a sealed message. On the back of the scroll was Penumbra’s cutie mark. The dragon picked up the message and read it. His eyes widened and he glanced up at Luna fearfully.

Dropping all of The Elements out of her grip, Luna tapped into her pegasus magic and blitzed the distance between herself and Spike. With the pegasus magic roaring through her, she crossed twenty metres of crowded dance floor in an instant.

The adolescent dragon didn’t even have time to drop the paper he was holding before Luna had it floating in the air before her.

“Luna attacked me, alert the-” that was all Luna needed to read. The dragon stood before her and took in a deep breath in preparation for a fire attack. She was not going to let that happen.

Stepping to the left of the jet of flame, Luna wrapped her forehooves around the dragon’s neck and pitched him at the nearest wall. He smacked against it face first, and didn’t even have time to get to his feet again before Luna smashed a hoof into the side of his head. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped back to the ground unconscious.

If he’d gotten a message to Penumbra, then everything would be over. But he hadn’t, so Luna was safe from reprisal for now. At the moment the most she had to fear was a slightly intimidating earth-

Crack!

A blow that sent Luna flying slammed into her, and she found herself smacking into a wall. Looking up, she saw the pony Malus leaping towards her. Luna wrapped her in telekinesis and slammed her to the left. Or she tried to. For some reason the telekinesis was having almost no effect. All she managed to do was nudge her to the left enough that her hooves slammed through the wall next to her head, as opposed to punching holes through her skull.

No normal pony was supposed to be that strong.

Luna decided that she did not want to fight this pony under these circumstances. Teleporting with a pop of magic, she appeared on the other side of the room.

Malus yanked her hooves out of the wall and turned to face Luna. The music stopped playing with a strange sound Luna had never heard before. Silence reigned in the building for a second and Luna had the time to notice the line of ponies she’d bowled over in her rush for the dragon. They were all standing up unharmed but they were looking panicked and confused.

Malus examined the message that had just come from Penumbra. “You just cut our communication,” she said looking up.

Luna nodded.

Malus turned to a white stallion that was in royal guard heraldry. “Get to Canterlot. Find Penumbra.” He nodded and turned to run.

Luna knew that that didn’t matter. It would be hours before Penumbra arrived, and in that time she’d have what she needed. Now seemed like a good time to gather information.

“Who’re you?” she asked. “Why did Penumbra tell me you’re her daughter?”

“Because I am.”

“Impossible,” Luna stated simply.

Malus tilted her head to the left.

Just then an onlooker shouted out, “She’s the Demon!”

Her head snapped around to face whoever shouted that. A black pegasus stallion gulped and shied away under her gaze.

“The Demon?” Luna repeated.

Malus turned her gaze back to her.

“Why do they call you Demon?”

“Because she’s a murderer!” a voice near the back shouted out.

“She killed Blueblood!” another voice agreed, “and took his head as a trophy!”

And like that the flood gates started.

“- is the Butcher of Manehatt-“

“Thousands-“

“-eats ponies!”

“Penumbra’s pet monster.”

“-tame demon!”

Luna could scarcely credit what she was hearing. “Be silent!” she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Everypony did so. “Is what they say true?” she asked.

Malus didn’t say anything.

Luna switched over to her magical sight and was surprised by what she saw. Malus was radiating earth pony magic. There was more earth pony magic in her then there was in Luna! Even powered down, Luna had truly vast reserves of all three pony magics. Ironically, this confirmed her suspicions that Malus wasn’t actually an earth pony. Luna intensified her magical sight and another magical effect became visible. There were hundreds of tiny lines of chaos magic covering her. They almost looked like stitching, like they were holding her together. Luna could start to see some potential credence in the theory that she was a demon.

“What are you?” Luna asked. “You are certainly not a pony.”

Malus’s eyebrow rose, but her face returned to its emotionless state quickly. “Ah’m gonna have to hold you here till Penumbra arrives.”

Luna smirked. “Your dragon messenger is unconscious, and it will take hours until Penumbra arrives with a pegasus carrying the message. I am an alicorn. Do you think you can hold me here for five minutes, let alone several hours? The wounds you inflicted upon me earlier have already faded.”

Malus shrugged.

“You may be a demon, but do you really think you can stand before a god?”

Malus regarded her for a second. “Do you really think you’re a god?”

Luna tilted her head curiously. “In what measure am I not?”

There was no answer. Malus eventually just took off her hat, and lay it on the ground next to her. “Let’s just get this over with.”

With her magic, Luna looked around and picked up the five Elements of Harmony. Spotting a small alcove overlooking the dance floor, she posited them up there. Remembering something else, she turned and spotted the Bearer of Laughter. She raised her up to the alcove too, though the bearer seemed a little panicked about it.

Turning back to Malus once more she spoke again, only this time aloud for everypony to hear. “I advise everypony here to leave.” But to her disappointment none heeded her warning.

Oh, well. Maybe Luna could-

That line of thought was never finished. Moving at shockingly fast speeds, Malus crossed the distance between the two of them and powered a blow at Luna with her forehooves. With a flap of her wings, Luna pulled herself to the left out of the path of the attack. Malus brought her fore hooves back to the ground and pivoted so her rear legs smacked around into Luna’s head. Luna was dazed by the move and only just managed to block the mighty two-legged kick that followed. Bones in her limbs snapped and Luna was tossed backwards into the wall with the sound of splintering wood.

Ok, this was definitely not just some earth pony, as if that was ever in question.

With a crack of alicorn magic, Luna’s limbs were restored. She ducked down just in time to avoid an attack from Malus that would have crushed her head. She brought one hoof forward and punched the rearing Malus in her exposed gut; punching through stone was easier than hitting that. Mal grunted from the blow, and pulled back. Luna capitalised on this and brought her other hoof around to strike her in the head. Rather than reeling like Luna hoped, Malus’ shoulder charged into her, knocking Luna back. She then wrapped a hoof around Luna’s neck and body slammed her face first into the floor. The alicorn cried out in pain as her horn snapped off. She rolled to her feet as quickly as she could, but wasn’t quick enough to evade the next attack from Malus. With her nose bloodied and her horn gone, Luna resorted to ducking under Malus’ next swipe and striking the offending limb. Malus didn’t have time to respond because Luna slid underneath her and slammed all four hooves up into her torso.

With a flick of her wings, Luna righted herself and tossed Malus to the side. Having bought herself some time, Luna paused to heal her horn with alicorn magic. It was becoming apparent that Malus was a skillful, strong, fast and just plain dangerous hoof-to-hoof fighter. In her weakened state, Luna wasn’t convinced she could overcome her with just her hooves. Well, it was a good thing Luna didn’t need to be close to kill somepony.

---

Vinyl watched the fight from her booth with a massive grin on her face. By Celestia’s flapping mane was this awesome! She always appreciated a good dust-up, but never had she seen something like this before!

From her booth, Vinyl saw a bolt of magic fly through the air at Malus. She rolled down under the attack before springing forwards at... that alicorn chick, Vinyl had no idea who that was. Malus had to dive to avoid a table that just got telekinetically flung at her before grabbing the table with her teeth and tossing it back. The alicorn flapped her wings and dashed to the left, only to be met there by Mal who coat-hangered her. She went down with a thunk, and Malus moved in to try and grapple with her. But she teleported away with a flash of magic and Malus had to duck another shadowy blast.

Vinyl was already placing odds inside her head on who’d win. It was the alicorn who was taking the most damage, but she just kept healing it. If she could keep that up, then eventually Malus would wear out. Mal didn’t show any signs of wearing just yet, and Vinyl had heard stories of her endurance, but still, the alicorn was an alicorn! Vinyl didn’t know how that reflected her endurance. The alicorn had magic and flight which she was putting to good advantage, and most of Mal’s time was being spent dodging attacks and trying to close in with whoever that pony was. At the moment it looked like the alicorn was winning, but Vinyl wouldn’t count the princess out just yet. She’d heard stories about the battle of Manehattan and Malus the Demon’s fight with Chrysalis. She’d won that, and from what Vinyl could tell, that was a similar situation to this one. Chrysalis with flight and magic, fighting the princess with her skill and ability to break stuff.

Vinyl’s grin was as wide as it could be. This. Was. Awesome!

The ponies on the dance floor had started to catch onto the fact that this fight was gonna have collateral damage, and were now galloping for the door in droves. The room was soon empty of all but the fighters, and those who were far enough from the fight to feel safe.

Pinkie stood up from the floor woozily. When that alicorn had dropped her up here she’d landed on her head. Vinyl had decided not to touch the weird stone balls just in case they were magical or something.

“What’s happening?” Pinkie groaned as she walked over towards the balcony.

Vinyl paused before answering. “That alicorn chick picked a fight with Malus.”

“What?!” Pinkie gasped before she moved to the balcony and looked down at the fight.

The floor was being utterly shredded in the wake of the two combatants. Both had the strength necessary to slam through tables and crack the floor, and the walls were looking ragged. Malus managed to land a a kick with both hind legs that put Luna on the other side of the room coughing blood.

“They’re gonna kill each other!” Pinkie shouted, horrified.

“I know right?!” Vinyl answered happily. “I think that’s Nightmare Moon.” Vinyl pointed at the alicorn. “It is the longest night of the thousandth year, right?” She paused as she stared at her. “You know, I never thought that the alicorn who tried to bring about eternal night would be so adorable.”

Pinkie just shouted at Vinyl, “You have to do something!”

Do something?

Vinyl looked at her for a second before she decided Pinks was right. She had to do something.

With her magic, Vinyl pulled a record out of her saddle bag, removed it from its case and placed it onto the turn table before lowering the needle.

“The mare in the back said everyone attack, and it turned into a ballroom blitz!” the dubtrot remix belted out.

“There,” Vinyl said, satisfied. “That’s an appropriate battle track.”

Pinkie just looked at her in shock.

“What? I did something,” Vinyl said defensively before turning back to the fight. She leaned in closer to Pinkie, “I bet you ten bits that Malus is gonna win.”

“What?!” Pinkie spluttered.

“Damn that earth pony can move!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Go, bitch, go!”

Malus jumped from the top of a table that had just been flung at her and used it as a stepping stone to get closer to Nightmare once more. She didn’t make it far because a well-aimed speaker set smashed apart over her.

Speaker set… Wait, what!?

As she watched, Nightmare pulled up another sound set from the wall and tossed it at Malus.

“No!” Vinyl shouted, slamming her hooves down on the balcony in frustration. “Bitch! Do you have any bucking idea how long it took me to calibrate those?!” Vinyl’s eyes widened, and she threw herself to the ground in time to dodge Malus who just flew overhead and landed in the booth.

Vinyl picked herself up and looked up to see Malus sprawled on the ground. Mal gritted her teeth in frustration before she stood up and walked over to the turn table.

“Oh buck no!” Vinyl shouted. “No don’t you bucking dare-”

Malus picked the entire turntable up overhead and the music stopped as the record scratched.

“No!”

The entire turn table was thrown at Nightmare who dodged it in mid-air, and the entire table shattered to pieces on the floor of the club. Malus growled as she dived out of the podium and slammed into Luna mid-air. The two smashed to the ground on top of the destroyed table.

“You bucking pieces of blood-soaked crap!” Vinyl screamed down at them. “I built that myself! From scratch!”

Pinke sidled up next to Scratch. “I don’t think they really care.”

Vinyl wasn’t listening. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get your hooves on a flux crystal! Those things are illegal!”

Malus kicked Nightmare and she smashed into the wall just below their balcony. Mal jumped after her, and both Vinyl and Pinkie lost sight of the two of them. Something slammed into the floor beneath them, and the balcony shuddered as wood splintered.

Both Pinkie and Vinyl stiffened. “Uh oh…”

Pinkie dived for the stairs instantly and accidentally caught Vinyl in the kidney with her hind leg. Gasping and falling to her knees, Vinyl noticed the world tilt sideways as the entire balcony began to fall. With a crash, the balcony, with Vinyl and the five Elements, smashed into the floor.

“Ow…” Vinyl groaned as she rolled to her hooves.

She checked herself for damage and was glad to note that nothing appeared broken, though she felt bruised. Her glasses were lying amid some splinters a small distance away. Walking slowly to them, she stopped over the shades and picked them up with telekinesis. There was a crack in the lens, and she scowled.

“Scratchy, are you okay?” She glanced up and saw Pinkie running down the stairs towards her.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Vinyl answered painfully as she quickly put her glasses back on, but not fast enough to stop Pinkie seeing her eyes. She took a ginger step forward, and her hoof bumped into something. Looking down, Vinyl noticed one of those weird stone orbs that Nightmare Moon had thrown up to the balcony. She looked around and noticed that all five of the stones had landed in a circle around her sunglasses.

Magical sparks arced between the stones.

“What are these things supposed to-”

The spark jumped into Vinyl.

“Love is in bloom! A beautiful bride, a handsome groom!” The speakers on either side of Vinyl rang out. She thought this was an appropriate selection of music. Twilight Sparkle was a surprisingly good singer too. “Two hearts, becoming one! A bond that cannot be undone!”

Vinyl still had trouble believing that she was the DJ for the royal wedding. Sure, P0N-3 was a household name, but this sort of event really wasn’t her style. It was Octavia that convinced her to take the job.

Still, the Royal Wedding. It was hard to think of a much bigger event. Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard, and Cadance the royal princss were getting married. And better yet, the changelings had just been defeated, and everypony was celebrating victory.

Everypony was dancing. Even Celestia was off to the side moving with the rhythm. Vinyl pushed up her glasses and watched the revelry for a second before she settled into an eyes closed hoof-pumping action.

The party lasted a long time, though Vinyl was unhappy when she had to stop playing for long enough to let the Element of Honesty, err… Applejack was her name right? Yeah that’s right. Anyway, Vinyl was unhappy when she had to pause for long enough to let Applejack play a song on a fiddle. She was as good as anypony without music for their special talent could be, but Octy was so much better.

Ugh, thinking of Octavia put Vinyl in a slightly darker mood. She should totally be here. It was freaking crap that because Pinkie had wanted the Pony Pokey played at the Grand Galloping Gala, Octavia got snubbed. Tart, Pinkie was here right? It was freaking horse apples that’s what it was. It was unfair that Vinyl, the DJ who didn’t really want to be here all that much, got chosen to host, when Octavia, a great musician who actually wanted to be here, was snubbed.

Stupid upper class ponies and their dumb snooty memories. It just wasn’t fair that Octavia kept getting overlooked for things like this because Pinkie had bucked up the Grand Galloping Gala. Tart, from what Vinyl had heard, all The Element Bearers had done something wrong. Why was it Octavia that got remembered for it? Ok, so yeah, the Bearers had saved Equestria a whole bunch of times, but still.

Eventually Applejack was done, and people called for more of Vinyl’s music. The rest of the party passed for Vinyl as any other would, and she did her job just as professionally as she should, but she just didn’t feel it. Once the party died down and all the ponies had left, Vinyl set about packing up her sound equipment. She was so caught up in her bad mood and rolling up cables that she didn’t notice a large shadow cast over her.

It took a few minutes before she eventually noticed that she wasn’t alone. Turning around, Vinyl found herself looking at the white chest of somepony. A very tall some pony. Vinyl’s neck craned up until she found herself staring into the eyes of none other than Princess Celestia.

She ducked back and made a hasty bow. “Uh, Princess,” she mumbled.

“Ms. Scratch,” Celestia said with a nod. “You know the palace does have attendants who could pack this up for you.”

“What? And let a bunch of nonprofessionals handle my table? Not while Celestia’s alive.” Vinyl then realised who she was talking to. “Oh, uh I mean… no thanks… er Princess.”

Celestia laughed. It was a good laugh, and it made Vinyl feel better. “I see you’re unused to royalty.”

Vinyl’s relaxed grin returned. “Yeah, Octy was always better with you upper class types than me.”

Celestia tilted her head. “Octy?”

“Oh! Uh, Octavia,” Vinyl corrected. “Octy’s just my nickname for her.”

“Ah.” Recognition dawned on the princess’s face. “So you two are close?”

Vinyl was surprised that the princess was taking interest in her. “Uh… yeah.”

“Why wasn’t she here at the wedding then? I’ve heard her music and I recognised her contrabass in a few of those songs you played.”

“I’m not sure. I think her invitation got blocked because of that Grand Galloping Gala thing last year.”

Celestia smiled. “Personally I quite enjoy the Pony Pokie, and am just a little sad that I didn’t get to see it played.”

Vinyl laughed. “Yeah, those stupid upper-class gits like Blueblood should just sit on Celestia’s horn and rotate.” She began to laugh at her own joke and then realised who she was talking to. She covered her mouth with both hooves. “Oh, buck me dead.”

Celestia stood there with an eye brow raised and an amused expression on her face. “‘Sit on my horn and rotate’? I’ve heard my name used in vain before, but never quite like that.”

Vinyl just stared at the ground embarrassedly. She coughed awkwardly. “Um… Is there a reason you came over to speak with me, Princess? Because I should probably clear all my stuff out before you need to use this place for uh… royal… stuff?”

“Yes, there was a reason I came here. I meant to ask about where you get your flux crystals from,” she asked with a coy little smile.

Vinyl straightened to ramrod stiffness. “I don’t have a flux crystal.”

Celestia’s eyebrow rose. “No? So there isn’t one mounted inside that… Actually I’m afraid I don’t know the technical terminology for this device.”

“Uh… MCI, your highness,” Vinyl mumbled.

“Regardless, I know that you have a flux crystal in there.” Celestia turned to Vinyl with a glare. “You do know that they’re illegal.”

“Not if you have a license.” Vinyl grinned.

“Do you have the technical qualifications to even apply for a license? Let alone actually possess one?”

Vinyl coughed into her hoof.

“Why did you think it wise to bring a flux crystal to the royal wedding?”

“It’s been stabilised,” Vinyl defended herself. “I know what I’m doing, and I’ve got low enough magic levels to be unaffected by them. ‘Side’s, I have it mounted in a vibranium case and everything.”

“You have a mana fount small enough to safely handle it?” Celestia asked with what sounded like genuine curiosity.

Vinyl blushed and mumbled, “one fifth of the safety minimum…”

Celestia blinked with surprise. Her eyes glowed white as she turned on her magical sight. Vinyl couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about her utterly tiny mana pool. By Tartarus! Most foals have a fount much bigger than hers by the time they learn to reliably access their magic. By the time they get their first surge they usually manage at least four times what Vinyl could do on a good day.

Celestia’s eyes returned to their normal state. “Even if you would be unaffected by flux, most of the ponies that were present at this wedding have quite large founts. The Sparkle family is present, and they’re quite the powerful bloodline, but both Shining and Twilight are particularly powerful. Twilight especially. My sister Luna and I are both powerful enough to move heavenly bodies. Cadance is nearly as strong as Shining. The unicorn royal guards are all well above average. And this is just counting the unicorns,” she said, sounding stern.

Vinyl was busily staring at the ground

“If we include the pegasus and earth ponies, most of them manage an average bit below a unicorn, but I know for a fact that the royal guard has a minimum for its pegasi that’s well above the minimum font size for flux crystal safety. Then Rainbow Dash has almost as much pegasus magic as Twilight does unicorn magic. Oh, and I almost forgot Rarity and Applejack. Rarity is an above average unicorn and Applejack is Apple family. I’m sure as an earth pony she’s approaching Twilight and Rainbow in terms of power.”

Celetia’s voice hardened. “In short, this is a collection of the majority of Equestria’s most magically powerful ponies in their respective fields and you thought it would be wise to bring a Flux Crystal into the middle of that?!”

Vinyl wasn’t looking, but if she had to guess Celestia’s eye were on fire. “Only a tiny one,” she mumbled.

“I’m glad that you do seem to know what you’re doing. If that crystal were to have destabilised, most of the ponies here would be left in a coma, and the royal couple would most likely be dead!” Celestia loomed down over Vinyl. “What possessed you to bring one of those here?” she growled in low menacing tones.

Vinyl was silent for a second. “There’s no better way to manipulate and control magical effects in a complex system. They use less energy than conventional enchantments, conductors and crystal pathways and they make the sound clearer while actually maximising the effects of the spells if you set ‘em up right,” Vinyl shrugged lamely. “They’re dangerous for most ponies, yeah, but they can’t harm me so I use ‘em all the time. I just didn’t think about bringing one of my custom sound systems here… I’m sorry.”

Celestia stared down at her. “You know, I could constitute this as an assassination attempt.”

Vinyl’s eyes widened, and she stared up at Celestia in shock.

The Princess continued. “I’m sure Shining would love to see you behind bars if he ever hears about this… But this is a day of celebration. Get that crystal out of here. Do not ever use any of them again. Do you understand me?”

Vinyl nodded enthusiastically.

“Good. How did you even get it past the royal guards anyway?”

“Oh, well uh,” Vinyl paused. “‘cause it was already mounted in vibranium, all I had to do was set some external facing ley lines to reinforce the casing and further contain the flux. To a magical scan, it would just look like a conductive ball.”

Celestia tilted her head. “How did you get the ley lines to function so close to the flux?”

Vinyl shrugged. “It wasn’t hard. All I needed were some Celestium conductors and a directed magical frequency. Solar magic works best with Celestium, so I set that.”

“That’s quite innovative.” She stated, looking surprised. “And you designed this yourself?”

Vinyl nodded.

“Colour me impressed. Still, it was very foolish and very dangerous to bring that here. Now, I actually did come over here to congratulate you on a well handled party and appropriate musical selection. I was distracted when I felt the flux, but still, I think the original compliment stands.” Celestia’s pleasant demeanour returned. “How is your relationship with Octavia going?”

Vinyl blinked her eyes in surprise. “Oh, um… we’re not in a relationship. I’m not a fillyfooler.”

Celestia looked confused. “Then what about your brief relationship with Vivacious Velocity?”

“That was just a thing. I’m a little bisexual,” she said with a grin.

“What about before that when you had a relationship with-”

“I’m sorry, your uh… deityness but uh… why are you keeping track of my love life?”

“Since fillyfooling and coltcuddling have only been made legal recently, I’ve been keeping track of the more high profile examples of either group.”

“Oh…” Well, that sort of made sense. “But I’m not a fillyfooler so you don’t really need to keep an eye on me.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “But you haven’t had a relationship with a single stallion… ever, as far my recollection goes.”

“Hey, I’ve kissed guys!”

“When?”

Before there was a ‘teen’ on the end of my age.

“Um… Anyway, I’m not in a relationship with Octavia.”

“You’re living together.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. We’re just roommates.”

“You kiss and are affectionate in public.”

“We just fool around.”

“Magazines print that you are a couple.”

“Ahhh,” Vinyl waved a hoof. “The tabloids’ll print what they want. Doesn’t mean anything.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I see.”

Yeah, you do see. Totally not a fillyfooler and I’m totally not with Octy.

“As interesting as this has been, I have to return to my duties. My advisor, Denim Blue, wants to go over the treasury with me. Good luck in your… non-relationship with Octavia. And remember what I said about flux crystals. I’ll be watching you, and next time I will not be lenient.”

Vinyl nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah no worries Princess C. It won’t happen again.”

Next time it’ll be mounted in a melded casing with a leyline bypass. No way anypony’ll detect that.

It wasn’t long until Vinyl’s stuff was packed up and mounted in a wagon behind her. The trot home was frustratingly slow with traffic blocking many of the roads, since many roads were still being repaired after the invasion. More than a few people stopped to ask Vinyl for a signature. She was happy enough to oblige, but had to fight down the urge to hurt the journalist who pestered her about how she got asked to play the music for the royal wedding. The stallion all but stated that there was some scandal or conspiracy or something because there was no way that DJ P0N-3 was an appropriate choice of musician.

Remember Octy. Remember Octy. Remember Octy.

She chanted to herself inside her head as she tried not break the guy’s nose. With images of the calm and refined earth pony running through her mind, Vinyl managed not to do anything that she would regret. Well, actually she probably wouldn’t regret it, but it might damage Octavia’s already wounded reputation. You’d think the guy would have more interesting things to report on, what with the recent changeling invasion and all.

Eventually she arrived at her and Octavia’s apartment penthouse. She left her wagon in the local parking structure and set a protective enchantment around it to prevent vandalism or thievery. She may have had an utterly pathetic mana font, but with the right equipment, Vinyl was pretty certain she could make any magical spell work in a bound enchantment form.

The elevator ride up for her was agonisingly slow. She just wanted to see Octavia damn it! After that reporter Vinyl was feeling edgy and she felt like she needed to feel her totally-not-a-marefriend’s calming presence. She just didn’t like spending time away from her. That sounded weird, but she just preferred to be with Octavia. When they were separated, everything felt… ugh. Vinyl hated trying to identify her emotions. Just let the stuff that you feel be the stuff you feel. Do you really need to name it?

She banged open the door to their apartment with a cry of, “I’m home!”

The apartment was nice and spacious with a generally classical deco. Though she was one for style, Vinyl was not one for interior decoration so that was mostly Octavia’s choice, hence the tasteful paintings on the walls. Only occasionally were there one of Vinyl’s posters or various pieces of memorabilia visible. Vinyl wasn’t one for cleanliness, but Octavia couldn’t stand any kind of a mess, so the place was almost always in immaculate condition as long as Octavia was around.

The earth pony herself was lounging on a sofa with a novel open in front of her. Octavia happily smiled at the sight of Vinyl, though her eyes were bloodshot. Vinyl glanced to the dust bin and saw a large number of rolled up tissues. Checking the sink, she spotted an empty glass of wine with a single drop of crimson liquid lingering at the bottom.

Vinyl’s grin dropped as she made her way to the mare on the couch. “Octy, what’s up?” she asked with concern in her voice.

“Nothing,” answered with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “How was the wedding.”

Vinyl shrugged. “It was fun, would have been better if you were there. Why were you crying?”

Octavia’s smile survived a second longer, fighting to the last to stay in place, before it dropped and she started sobbing. Vinyl moved closer and wrapped her in a hug, and Octavia gratefully accepted the shoulder.

This lasted for brief moment before Octavia sniffed and answered. “I wanted to go to the royal wedding.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Think of it as being lucky that you completely missed the changeling attack on the upper mountain districts.”

“Oh, Vinyl. It’s not like that. I’m not some school filly sad about… Just let me explain.” Octavia looked at Vinyl with big pleading eyes.

Even bloodshot and puffy cheeked from crying, Octavia was still utterly adorable with her pink bow tie, silky grey coat and lovely lavender eyes. Vinyl couldn’t resist; she leaned closer and their lips laced together in a slow sensual kiss. After a while, she broke it off and the two separated.

“Yeah, Octy, go ahead. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Octavia smiled. “Vinyl, you’re just so… so wonderful. I… yes. I know you didn’t really want to do the wedding and you only went because you knew I wanted you to.’

Vinyl nodded.

“Well, the reason I wanted you to go was to prove to myself I could stop being petty and jealous about… Ever since that cursed Grand Galloping Gala, my career has been all but dead. I can’t find work, I get passed up for orchestras that I know I’m the best for and critics still use my name as a cautionary tale! As though I’m one of the fallen greats! The only music I play is what you record from me. Your career on the other hoof is taking off. You’re only gaining momentum, and each album you release sells better than the last.

“When you got asked to do the royal wedding, the first thing I felt was resentment. Then I felt so guilty about thinking that way and you were going to turn the job down and…” The look on her face was so miserable and guilty.

“Shhhhh. It’s okay Octy. It’s okay.” Vinyl said as she pulled her in for another hug. “You’ve got nothing to feel bad about.”

“Since you left I’ve just been lounging around all day and thinking about how dead my career is and how wonderful you are and how horrible I’m being and-and-”

“Octy,” Vinyl gently interrupted. “I understand, it’s ok. Your career’ll take off again. You’re a good musician. It’s not like you’ve been taking zapstract or something. Nah, the whole Gala thing will blow over and you’ll be back to work as normal. Meanwhile dubstep and techno’ll fall out of trend, and then it’s downhill from there with me. Then I promise to get jealous of you and we’ll totally be even.” She grinned and pulled back, looking into Octavia’s eyes. “Hey?”

Through the stream of tears Octavia couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“Now come on. Let’s go have a shower. I’m still filthy from those changeling’s and you need to dry those eyes. After that, we can spend the rest of the night watching some shitty rom-com with Jewelia Hoofberts in it and eating two minute noodles.”

Octavia smiled. “That sounds terrible.”

Vinyl chuckled. “Not so bad with you there.”

Together the two of them made their way upstairs to the bathroom rubbing flanks and leaning into each other. When they arrived at the bathroom, Vinyl took the time to take off her sunglasses and give her magenta eyes a look in the mirror. Staring at her reflection, she caught Octavia gazing at her plot and grinned. Swishing her tail as she turned around, Vinyl moved in closer and nuzzled Octavia. With her telekinesis, Vinyl untied Octavia’s bow tie and let it drop to the floor. Octavia slowly backed into the shower and Vinyl leaned in closer to-

Vinyl blinked and rubbed her eyes. She looked around and found herself lying on the ground. Her first thought was, Stupid dreams, always end right before the good bit.

Her second thought, once she’d actually processed what happened, was What the flying buck was that?

“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked in concern, looking down at Vinyl.

“How long was I out?” Vinyl asked as she climbed to her hooves again. She noticed her glasses were gone once again and slid them onto her face with telekinesis.

“Out? You weren’t out, you just collapsed,” Pinkie said with a confused look. “Did you bump your head?”

“I have no idea,” Vinyl said aloud as she looked down at the stone before her. She blinked. It’d changed. Before it was as large as a bowling ball, but now it was the size of a tennis ball. She looked around at the others and they’d all changed too.

Vinyl stopped to think about that… thing. It’d felt like… a memory… one of her memories. Except it couldn’t be. That had never happened, and some of the details were wrong. For one thing Vinyl’s eyes were red, not magenta. Also, that was Celestia, and she’d died twenty years before Vinyl was born. And who in Tartarus were the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony? In that memory, she remembered thinking that they’d saved Equestria.

And perhaps most importantly of all: who in the flying, bucking, foaming pits of Tartarus was Octavia? That mare was hot! Not that Vinyl would know of course, she was straight after all. Though she had dabbled with mares occasionally… That was beside the point. The point was, why was Vinyl in a serious relationship with some mare? (Even if that mare was utterly gorgeous.) Her magenta-eyed self may have been self-deluded, but Vinyl knew a real relationship when she saw one.

Whatever. This was too much to think about right now. Right now she had to worry about-

“Crap!” Vinyl spun around. “Where the buck are Mal and Nightmare?”

“Oh, well they went outside.”

“What do you mean they went outside?” she asked, sounding concerned and confused.

Rather than answer, Pinkie simply pointed over Vinyl’s shoulder.

Vinyl turned around. “Oh…”

There was a giant hole in the wall.

Good. If those two were distracted, it gave Vinyl time to grab and stash her highly illegal flux crystal that was now lying amid the wreckage of her turn table. She started to walk away from the orb at her hooves but paused. Ok those memories weren’t real, they definitely weren’t real… But… She had to know what they were. They just felt so… natural. Carefully, she picked up the five stones with her magic and dropped them into her saddlebags. She could examine them later.

Turning to her ruined table, she began to dig through the wreckage until she found what she was after. Ah, there it was, the little black ball with gold wiring running all over it. The vibranium flux crystal container. She ran a check over it. Yeah, it was fine. Of course a little tap like that wouldn’t break vibranium… except for the massive crack running down one half of the ball!

Oh crap-oh crap-oh crap! How did that get there? There was no way that the table shattering like that could damage vibranium. It was then that Vinyl felt a pulse in her mind. Her eyes widened in fear. She turned her head to look at her saddlebags and spotted a faint glow coming from within them. Then she turned back to the ball in her hooves. There was another pulse, and a tiny chip came out of the vibranium casing.

No. Bucking. Way.

Those five stone balls were causing the flux crystal to destabilize, despite a vibranium and leyline casing. That was simply not possible.

---

Malus groaned as she picked herself up again. Looking up, she spotted Luna healing once more. A leg that was practically ripped out at the shoulder and wing that was bent completely forwards at an unnatural angle popped into place like nothing was wrong.

Mal on the other hand, was starting to feel this fight. Luna was not as strong as she was, but she was certainly strong enough to leave bruises and a couple of her kicks may have cracked ribs. Then there was the magic. Oh, the Penumbra-damned magic. That was not fair. Flying and shooting lightning bolts as well as those shadow blast things and… ergh. Malus hadn’t ever fought anyone so frustrating.

Well, except maybe Spectra. But that dumb Pegasus was frustrating for a whole ‘nother set of reasons.

“Ouch,” Luna said as she tested her shoulder.

Gingerly touching a hoof to her swelling black eye, Malus noticed that the ground at her feet was… dirt. She found herself smiling. Before, when they were indoors, there had been no stone for her to take advantage of, but now that they were outdoors… She twisted her neck to the side and it gave a satisfying crack.

Mal reached a hoof into her pocket and retrieved her quartz pebble.

Luna decided to make the first move this time, and blitzed towards Malus with pegasus magic. Tapping into her own earth pony magic, Mal punched her hoof forward and the pebble shot forwards at velocity. It met Luna, and the sound of cracking bone was heard as the alicorn’s skull fractured. The momentum carried her into Malus, and the two of them were sent tumbling down the road together.

Mal landed on her hooves, but almost collapsed when she felt a piercing pain in her chest. She looked down and noticed blood flowing out of a stab wound. Luna’s horn had pierced her flesh. Glancing to the left, she saw Luna’s deformed head melding back into shape. Malus gave her no time to heal; with her earthpony magic, she raised her hooves, and a large chunk of dirt floated out of the ground before her. With a punch of her front hooves, the dirt ball blasted into Luna and sent her flying further down the street. Mal galloped after her, ignoring the pain in her chest.

Oh boy, did she wish she knew she could do this when she’d fought Chrysalis. With a kick at the ground beneath her feet, Malus propelled herself into the air with a jet of earth. She crashed down next to Luna, and a shockwave of dirt and debris radiated around her. The alicorn was pummelled; many of the larger chunks had pierced her coat, and her open eyes were bloodied. Malus collapsed to the ground, the pain in her chest too great.

Malus closed her eyes and tried to tune out all the aches and pains across her body that begged her to just stop and give in. A loud pop forced her to open her eyes again. Standing back up was Luna, her coat covered in her own blood and dirt. As Malus watched, Luna’s eyes reformed, and they fixed a glare on the prone earth pony.

Son of a-

Hopping to her hooves, Mal only just managed to dodge the enormous shadow pike that nearly pierced her skull. Rolling to the left, Mal evaded the explosive shadow ball and had just enough time to throw a ball of earth.

The alicorn also managed to dodge but failed to duck the tackle from Mal that sent them both careening into a sign that said, “Welcome to Ponyville!”

The single picket sign was ripped out of the ground rather than snapping, and Malus managed to land on top of Luna. Using the power of her front hooves Mal began to press down on Luna’s chest. She felt ribs cracking and had the pleasure of witnessing blood burble out of that Tartarus-cursed always-healing alicorn’s mouth before she was blasted away by a bolt of shadow magic. Climbing to her hooves, Malus spotted the princess coughing out the blood that had filled her lungs. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she dove forward and smashed a hoof into Luna’s face before bringing the other round and shattering her horn.

Luna cried out in pain, but used her wings to push forward and tackled Malus, landing with the earthpony on her back. She raised her hooves and began to smash them into Mal’s face, sending teeth flying and breaking her nose. Twisting, Mal threw the alicorn off and grabbed the “Welcome to Ponyville” sign between her unharmed molars.

Luna was climbing to her feet as Mal tackled into her. This time it was the princess who was on her back, staring up at the slightly blunted but pointed tip of the sign post hovering above her eye. Without her magic, Luna raised her hooves just in time to grip each edge of the post, and stop Mal plunging it into her eye. It stayed still for a second but then slowly, inexorably, the sign post moved down, Mal’s strength outmatching Luna’s. Malus’ front legs stopping the princess moving her wings or rolling away, it came down to pure strength. Her horn shattered, Luna could only scream and shut her eyes as the bottom of the post pressed against her eyelid. The flesh compressed slightly before the pressure Mal was applying proved too great and the aqueous humour popped. Then that was it. Luna’s pain was too great for her to keep fighting and the sign post plunged through the eye and into her brain, before bursting through the back of her skull and pinning her head to the ground.

Malus gasped and rolled off of Luna, panting from the exertion. She stared at her, waiting for the alicorn to heal. She watched for almost a minute, ready to attack again at the slightest sign of recovery. Nothing happened. Wonderfully, gloriously, Luna stayed dead. Malus collapsed to the ground panting and found herself laughing uncontrollably. Everything died when you put something through its brain. Everything. Some might take a while like snakes or dragons, but they died eventually. Looks like alicorns were no exception.

“Goddess? Huh, my ass!” Malus giggled, blowing blood bubbles out of her broken nose. “Oh, goddesses this hurts,” she muttered as she gingerly touched the bottom of her jaw. After a moment more, her laughter died and she realised the gravity of her situation. With care, she climbed to her hooves and began to slowly limp back through Ponyville towards the town hall.

Even limping, Mal couldn’t help but feel a grim sense of elation. She’d just killed Nightmare Moon. The Nightmare Moon. How could she not feel a bit smug? An alicorn. A mother bucking alicorn! An immortal being with healing powers and access to all of ponykind’s most powerful magics, a pony that recovered from any wound and according to legend had once struck fear into the heart Celestia herself, the creature that once upon a time moved the moon at night. And Mal was the one who stuck a “Welcome to Ponyville” sign through its face.

Blood seeped out through Malus’s broken and missing teeth, and she licked them with her tongue. She hoped those would heal. As far as Mal could tell, wounds inflicted by an alicorn affected her the way they would a normal pony.

At town hall again, she walked through the door rather than the hole in the wall. Pausing at the sight before her, Mal coughed. “Ahem.”

The DJ from before looked up and saw her standing there, next to her was some pink earth pony that Mal didn’t recognise. In the DJ’s telekinesis was a cracked black metal ball.

“Where are the elements?” Mal asked.

“The what?” the pink pony asked.

Malus didn’t answer. It was then that she noticed the glowing coming from inside the white unicorn’s bag. She stepped closer, and the DJ backed away slowly.

“Give me The Elements,” she ordered.

The DJ stopped backing away. With her telekinesis she reached into her bag and took out the five pulsing Elements before dropping them on the ground in front of Malus.

Malus reached out with a hoof and touched one of them-

Applejack grabbed the root with her teeth and stopped her slide down the hill. She glanced up and saw that Pinkie and Rarity were safe in Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s hooves. Then she glanced across and saw Twilight sliding towards her certain death over the cliff edge.

Without hesitation, Applejack let go of the root in her mouth and slid down after-

Malus blinked and just managed to stop herself falling over. What the heck was that? Glancing up, she saw the DJ staring at her curiously.

After a second the DJ said, “I want The Elements.”

Mal blinked, and it took her a second to process that statement. “Are you gonna take them?” she asked stepping forward as threateningly as she could, but maybe it wasn’t as scary as it usually was with her limping.

The white unicorn nodded. “Yeah, I am,” she grinned taking another step backwards. “And you can’t stop me.”

Mal took another step forward and felt something crunch under her hoof. She glanced down and saw the cracked black ball from earlier beneath her hoof. Raising her hoof, she saw a crystal lying in the wreckage of the ball. Half a second later the crystal pulsed.

---

Vinyl had to hold back vomit as she watched Mal die. Oh goddesses, death by flux was not a pretty thing.

One moment Mal was glaring at Vinyl, the next her eyes turned entirely blood shot, and red fluids started leaking from her tear ducts. Her pupils dilated and blood ran out her ears, nose and mouth. She stood there for a second with a blank look on her face before she collapsed, blood now leaking out of her pores and matting her orange coat with brown.

That was what flux destabilisation did. It simply made magic thump. The way Vinyl pictured it was how a sound wave looked at the moment you dropped the bass. The line just spiked suddenly and sharply before returning to normal levels. Well that was what Flux destabilisation did: a violent and uncontrolled spike in any nearby magic. That was dangerous on so many levels for obvious reasons. Flux barely affected Vinyl because she was so weak in magic. For her it just gave a small head ache. For other ponies, it caused massive migraines or possibly permanent brain damage. But for the half-alicorn and possibly-a-demon Mal on the other hoof, who had magic that permeated her blood, it caused pretty much instant death. Vinyl did not want to imagine what it would do to an alicorn; probably just make the entire thing liquefy from the inside out.

Vinyl felt a dim ringing in her ears as the Flux crystal collapsed into dust. Backing away from Mal, she fought down the bile in her throat. That was the first time she’d ever killed someone. Swallowing hard, she stepped forward this time, and gingerly moved over the body lying on the floor. Carefully she moved her prize, The Elements of Harmony, into her saddlebag. Had she really killed for these? Oh goddesses. She’d killed a royal princess for these five rocks!

No, now was not the time for that. Self-recrimination could come later. Pinkie Pie was on the ground clutching her hooves to her ears, probably suffering a bad migraine as her earth pony magic reacted poorly to the flux.

Vinyl moved closer and helped her to her hooves. “Come on Pinks, we need to get out of here.” Murdering a princess, stealing the Elements of Harmony and possession of a flux crystal… Vinyl couldn’t help but grin.

Her criminal record just got an upgrade.

---

Half an hour later, Malus opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry and unfocused. Her head pounded sharply, and her aches and bruises from earlier seemed paltry compared to the full body ache she was experiencing now. She tried to get to her hooves, but her limbs felt weak and the sudden movement made her lose her stomach.

Oh, there was blood in her vomit. And now she was collapsing. Great, a face full of vomit was one thing, a face full of her own blood another, but both?

Mal couldn’t remember the last time she was in so much pain. Maybe being burned alive by Chrysalis…

She lay there for about five minutes until she felt ready to stand, the pain in her body already fading as her supernatural healing took over. The wounds from her earlier fight still lingered though. Climbing to her hooves and this time staying upright, she glanced around. Great, that DJ and the pink pony were gone along with the elements, the town hall was in ruins, and she felt like she’d just been thrown in front of a train. This was without a doubt going to go down in the history books as a remarkable Summer Sun.

She spotted Spike still lying unconscious on the far side of the room and trotted over to him. “Wake up,” she ordered with a rough kick to the gut.

The dragon groaned and opened his eyes. With a moan, he put both claws to his head. “What happened?”

“Luna’s dead. The DJ destabilised a flux crystal and stole The Elements of Harmony,” Malus stated flatly.

Spike just stared up at her, struggling to process that information. Nope, from the blank look on his face, it was too much and he was in too much pain. Information rejected, come back again later.

“What?” he repeated again, sounding confused.

Mal just sighed. “Just take a note.”

He nodded. Yep, that was something he could do without any need for thought.

Dictating to spike, Malus recalled the events of the night.

“Penumbra,

Luna arrived in Ponyville with the Elements of Harmony, we fought, I killed her and the DJ stole the Elements.

-Malus”

Spike rolled it up and breathed out a stream of green flames onto the scroll. He then settled to lying on the ground and massaging his temples. Mal could sympathize.

She turned around and spotted her hat lying exactly where she left it. She trotted over and picked up. Dusting it quickly she placed back over her head. She then noticed that blood stains and rips all over her duster. Damn, she’d need to replace it.

The sound of reality popping made Mal look over her shoulder. Standing there was Penumbra.

“Luna’s dead?”

Mal nodded as she felt her mother’s tendrils wrap around her.

“Where?” Penumbra asked, her voice sounding strained.

Turning, Malus, still limping, lead her mother through town to where Luna lay dead. A small crowd of onlookers, awakened from the sound of fighting, had clustered around the outside of town hall. They all broke into murmurs when they saw Mal’s bloodied and battered appearance.

Eventually they arrived at Luna’s corpse. At the sight of it, many of the ponies that had been following gasped and threw up.

Penumbra just stood stiffly, staring at it with her magical sight. “What have you done?” she asked after a moment’s silence.

Malus was silent.

“What have you done!!?” Penumbra shouted, turning around screaming. Malus felt tendrils of magic wrap around her throat and raise her struggling into the air. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE APPLEJACK!!?” her voice cracked.

Mal couldn’t answer as she struggled to breathe, futilely beating against the magic that had her by the throat.

Penumbra slammed Malus into the ground with her magic, hard enough to leave a mark in the ground and make the sound of bones snapping audible. She then flung her as hard as she could into a house. Splinters went flying and glass shattered as walls broke.

Mal passed through the building and skidded to a halt along the ground on the other side. There was a pop, and her mother appeared above her.

Penumbra pressed hard into Mal’s chest with her hoof. “Do you think you’re strong? Is that why you kill!?” she demanded. “Why did you do this?!”

Malus resisted with all her might, trying to ease up the pressure on her lungs, but she couldn’t do anything. This was what it felt like to be a bug that was about to get crushed.

“WHY?!” Penumbra screamed.

“Attacked… Spi-” was all she managed to struggle out.

Penumbra paused, and lifted her hoof from Mal’s chest. “What?” she asked again more quietly.

“Luna attacked Spike,” Mal wheezed out.

Penumbra paused. “I’m sorry,” she said after a moment.

Mal didn’t respond, preferring to focus on working the air through her lungs. They were silent for a second, Mal lying on her back and Penumbra standing there. The thing that had saved her had been Penumbra’s motherly instinct towards Spike.

She really isn’t my mother.

With a crack, Malus felt her wounds heal instantly. Her broken nose reconstructed, the stab in her chest healed over and her missing and chipped teeth regrew in an instant. She felt Penumbra’s magic withdraw from her.

“Go back to the palace… clean yourself and get some rest.” Penumbra said with some hesitance. “We can discuss this further in the morning. I’ll clean up the mess here and…” She choked out a sob. “-bury the dead.”

Why was she crying? Did Penumbra know Luna?

With a pop of magic, Malus found herself lying on her back in the throne room of Canterlot. Penumbra turned away and began to address a large number of shocked looking guards ponies.

Mal tuned her out as she stood up and began to walk towards her rooms in the palace. Oh, it felt good to not be limping. All the servants that saw her dishevelled state went wide-eyed and backed away.

Her mind was… a mess. She had a lot to think about, but after tonight her brain just wasn’t working right. She kept remembering that strange flashback that the Elements had caused. That name that she’d thought, “Twilight Sparkle,” kept running through her mind. Why did that name mean anything? Other thoughts kept bugging her, like the confirmation of the fact that she could not be Penumbra’s child. That should have shocked her more but… And there were many other things to. What was that name Penumbra has screamed at her? Applejack? Who the buck was Applejack? And was that it? Were the events of tonight the reason why she’d been feeling so nervous earlier? Was this the big thing she’d been worried about?

And then there were the ponies at the dance; they’d hated her. The rage in their voices as they shouted about her crimes was… No she actually didn’t care about that too much. Ponies could think what they liked, but she’d saved lives during the battle of Manehattan. No matter what anypony said. She’d saved one life in particular…

Shaking her head, Malus tried to clear her head of all thoughts. No, she could process this information later. For now she could shower and sleep.

Shortly she arrived at her private chambers and took off her coat and hat. Dumping the hat on the dresser and leaving the ruined coat on the floor, Malus hopped into her bathroom and hopped under the shower. The hot waters were a blessing as it washed away the events of the day. Her dried blood moistened and slowly rolled off her back along with a lather of shampoo. The bile that had been on her face was the first thing for her to rub away. It wasn’t very long at all until she was clean, but she simply stayed there to enjoy the sensation of hot water running down her back. She lost track of time, but eventually she turned the water off and hopped out of the shower to dry herself with a towel.

Her mane was a knotty mess and she helped herself relax by brushing it clear. That done, she calmly trotted to her bed and lay down for rest. Pulling the blanket up she closed her eyes and-

Somepony knocked on the door. Malus rolled her eyes, of course! That was the only thing that could possibly happen right now. Standing up again, she tied her hair into a single braid and put the hat back in top of her head. The knocking grew louder and more insistent.

Trotting over to the door, she calmly opened it.

“Hey,” Spectra said with a smile.

Mal slammed the door shut and turned away.

She heard a crash as Spectra kicked the door open behind her. Malus walked towards her bed, but Spectra pulled ahead of her and blocked her path.

“Is it true that you killed Nightmare?” she asked, sounding, well, pleased.

Mal didn’t answer; she hoped that this would be one of those ignore it and it’ll go away type deals.

“You did, didn’t you?” Spectra. “Man, that’s so freaking badass! Why do you always get the cool kills?”

Malus ignored her as best she could.

“I mean there was Chrysalis at Manehattan, then there was Blueblood during the rebellion and I could probably name a few others.”

Blueblood was not a good kill. He was a snivelling punk who hid behind his body guards and cried like a foal when they were defeated.

When Mal didn’t answer her they stood in silence for a minute, with Mal staring at Spectra hoping she’d get the hint and leave.

After a moment Spectra spoke up. “So did you know that Nightmare was coming or what?”

Mal glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean when you asked me to get Penumbra, were you like, wanting me to actually check on her or like, were you trying to keep me safe or something?”

Mal snorted and rolled her eyes.

Spectra’s eyes hardened. “Yeah well buck you too.”

They stood in silence for a second.

“So uh… Are we gonna hang out?” Spectra asked after a second.

Malus raised an eyebrow.

“Well, earlier today you said we were gonna hang out after the whole Nightmare thing was done, and you took care of that, so now’s the time.”

Mal just turned away. “No thanks.” she said, and walked over to beside her bed.

“Why not?” Spectra asked.

“Why would you want to?” Mal asked, sounding dead serious.

“What?” Spectra asked. “What do you mean?”

Malus turned around. “We hate each other.”

Silence permeated the room.

“Whatever,” Spectra said, “are we gonna hang out or what?”

“No thanks,” Mal said.

“Why not?” Spectra asked sounding annoyed. “You said we would.”

“That was before Ah got mah ass kicked by two deities and a DJ.”

“Lame. Come on Mal!” Spectra whined. “We barely do it anymore.”

Mal just stayed silent for a second. “It?”

Spectra nodded.

Malus snorted. “You know why.”

There was a pause. “Yeah well no one’s here now. They’re all busy with cleaning up the mess you made of Ponyville.”

This conversation was making Mal feel uncomfortable. Why couldn’t Spectra shut up and leave? Malus didn’t want to talk. When did she ever want to talk?

“Come on, you know you love it,” Spectra said as she stalked closer with a smug grin.

Malus shifted backwards, uncomfortable. She shook her head firmly.

“Why not?” Spectra asked silkily. She pressed a hoof against Mal’s chest.

“Ah don’t want to,” Malus said feeling her hind legs bump into her bed.

“Like you said, we hate each other,” Spectra leaned in closer to Mal. “when did I ever care what you wanted?” Her lips brushed her sister’s, tickling them.

Mal felt a heat rising in her. She didn’t say anything as Spectra ran a hoof over her chest lightly caressing it.

“Your move,” Spectra said with a sultry voice, her breath rippling Mal’s coat. She slowly started to pull away.

Mal sighed. She hated it when Spectra left her to take the initiative.

Her lips locked with Spectra, and with one hoof she ripped that stupid black sleeveless jacket off her.

“Buck yeah,” Spectra said as they broke apart for a breath.

The pegasus backed away to close the door and push a cabinet in front of it to stop anypony barging in. She then turned back to her sister and smiled as her wings flared out. With a crack of Pegasus magic, she blitzed the short distance between them and tackled Malus to the bed.

---

“Buck yes!” Spectra said, out of breath and sweaty. “I love how bucking strong you are!”

Mal didn’t say anything as she rolled over onto her back, her head resting on top of a pillow.

Spectra rolled her eyes. Of course Malus wasn’t gonna spoon. Well if she wouldn’t, Spectra could.

Rolling to the left, she nestled against Mal’s back and began to run her hooves over her sister’s chest. Spectra loved this feeling, just after they were both done and it was just the two of them.

“You know what was weird this morning?” Spectra asked.

Mal didn’t answer. She just rolled over and rested her hooves behind her head.

Now Spectra was using Mal’s chest as a pillow. “This morning I overheard a guard praying... to me,” Spectra said aloud.

Malus snorted sarcastically.

“What?” Spectra said, glancing up at her.

“Did you hear anything?”

It took a moment for Spectra to realise what Mal was really asking. Then she laughed. “Yeah, no… But it was weird; this guy was looking to me like some spirit or something. Praying for me to protect him. He had like a little altar in his room with a picture of Celestia and Penumbra at the top and you and me near the middle.”

They were silent for a second.

“Do you ever think about that? That ponies worship our mother?”

Malus didn’t say anything for a moment. “She ain’t a god.”

Spectra paused. “Isn’t she?”

Mal was quiet.

Now Spectra was curious. What was Mal thinking?

“Twilight Sparkle,” Malus said aloud.

That tickled Spectra’s memory for some reason. “What?”

“Applejack.”

That one also sounded really familiar. “Who?”

Spectra looked up and saw Mal propped up on her elbow’s and looking down at her.

“Rainbow Dash.”

That name felt like someone Spectra should know. “What do those names mean?”

Mal frowned and looked away. “Not sure.”

Spectra rolled her eyes and snorted. “You’re so weird.”

They sat in silence for a while, Spectra enjoying the sound of Mal’s beating heart.

“Ever think about the fact we’re sisters?” Spectra asked after a moment.

“Are we?”

“What?”

Mal didn’t answer. She just left the question hanging.

Spectra grit her teeth feeling frustrated. Come on! How bucking hard is it to hold a conversation! “Come on Mal, what’s on your mind?”

Malus was silent again for a while. “Why do Ah have an accent?”

Spectra blinked. “What?”

“We were raised together by Penumbra, Ah have an accent, neither of you do. Why?”

“I don’t know…” Spectra shrugged. “You’ve just always had it.”

“What about mah hat?” Mal said.

“I dunno… I mean, I remember you buying it and you’ve just been wearing one since. Why does it matter?”

Of course Mal didn’t answer.

“Why do you do that?” Spectra asked.

Mal didn’t answer.

“Why don’t you ever talk? You’re always answering with as few words as possible or just not answering. Tart, this is the biggest chat we’ve had in years and you’re barely making any bucking sense.”

Malus paused before answering. “Ever feel like everything you say is a lie?”

“What?” Spectra just stared at her. “Does this have something to do with that DJ?”

Mal didn’t answer, her face darkening.“Come on Mal, don’t shut me out. I-”

“Shut up!” Malus snapped suddenly. “Why do ah always gotta say somethin’? Shut yer yap. Ah’m sick o’ your voice.”

Spectra rolled out of the bed and turned to Mal with a pissed-off expression. “Yeah, well buck you too!” she spat out. “You know why they call you the bucking demon? Cause you’re a bucking freak! A murderer and a Monster! What happened at Manehattan was your fault! You bucking hear me? Your bucking fault and I hope you go to Tartarus for it!”’

She turned and stormed away, shoving the cupboard away from the door. Stalking down the hallway, Spectra muttered curses to herself. She hated Malus, she hated Malus, she absolutely bucking loathed that stupid freak!

Buck her! Buck her to the pits of Tartarus!

A tear rolled down her cheek and she angrily wiped it away with her hoof.

Chapter 3: The Dance

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Penumbra

Chapter 3: The Dance.

Vinyl needed a plan. Totally needed a plan. Really, really bucking needed a plan right now. If she wasn’t panicking, she’d be pointing out to herself she should have had one before she decided to murder the princess.

Okay, okay. Shut up, self. I need to figure out what I need right now. Vinyl glanced over at Pinkie, who was still moaning in pain and not entirely coherent. First thing, I need to make sure Pinks is alright.

“Pinks, do you know your font size?”

“Um… 46,” the normally chipper pony mumbled.

“Buck…” Vinyl cursed. Just over the flux safety limit. Pinks was gonna need some medical attention.

Glancing back the way they’d come, Vinyl tried to figure out what to do. She couldn’t just leave Pinkie here, but she couldn’t take the earth pony with her. They needed somewhere close by so Vinyl could sit her down and make sure she was okay. The hospital was an obvious choice, but given the recent murder of royalty, Vinyl thought it would be prudent not to show her face in someplace that would make her sit through a waiting room and sign a bunch of paperwork.

“Pinks, is there anywhere we can go that’s private?” Vinyl asked, leading Pinkie though town in a direction. She didn’t know which one, but she knew it wasn’t taking her toward the princess she ended, so that was a boon.

“Sugar… Corner,” Pinkie mumbled.

“What? Come on Pinks, you know this town better than I do. Where’s somewhere close that I can take you?”

“Library,” Pinkie murmured, leaning against Vinyl heavily. “Golden Oaks…”

The library? Come on! Vinyl rolled her eyes. Pinkie obviously wasn’t gonna be much help. Leading her through town, Vinyl paused when she saw the library that Pinkie had mentioned.

Glancing around, Vinyl sighed. No one was around and the place looked empty, so fine. It’d have to do. Pulling up to the door, she laid Pinkie on the ground. She levitated a paper clip and a bobby pin out of her bags and began working at the lock. With a click it opened, and Vinyl pulled Pinkie up and entered into the building, dragging Pinkie with her.

She closed the door behind her and laid Pinkie down on the floor. After a look around the building, Vinyl confirmed to herself that no one was in the library. With that done, she settled down to take care of Pinkie.

Reaching into her saddlebag, Vinyl retrieved some basic enchantment creation tools. With her ridiculously tiny font, she sort of had to rely on such tools to get by as a unicorn. Now if only Vinyl knew a thing about healing magic. Pinkie wasn’t in a desperate situation, but still, it certainly wouldn’t be wise to leave her in this state without any kind of magical care.

“Remember Vinyl, remember. What do you do when somepony overdoses?” she tapped a hoof against her head. “Recovery position, uh… call the cops… um… Clear airways… Buck!” she spat. This was useless! She didn’t know anything that would help Pinkie recover.

Standing up and pacing, Vinyl tried to figure out anything she could do to help Pinkie out. After a moment, an idea came to her. How about a sleeping spell? She plopped down on her haunches, and Vinyl set about creating one with the tools she had. Her mind focused on the task at hand, she felt her panic subside as she was swept up in the complex task of making a permanent spell vessel. It wasn’t a very good one, resulting in a sleep that was probably a bit restless, but it’d do.

She laid the copper wire circlet that was the enchanted item over Pinkie’s head with her telekinesis. By the goddess this was quick and dirty enchanting. Still, it did its job, and in a second, Pinkie’s breathing levelled out and her pained murmuring stopped.

She was asleep. Good. That was good... right?

There was nothing more Vinyl could do to help her, so she stood up and began pacing. What now? What now? What to do now?

Information. She needed information on the… stony thingies… The Elements, that’s what Mal had called them. Right before Vinyl murdered- Woah! Not the time to be thinking of that. Practical stuff now, emotional baggage later.

Vinyl turned and took the orbs out of her saddlebag with her mouth. She didn’t want to use her telekinesis too much more tonight if she could help it. Having arrayed them in front of her, Vinyl began to gently probe them with her magic. Nope, nothing. They just felt like rocks, but… There was a magical effect present. Another pony’s magic…

Vinyl channelled a tiny bit of magic into her sunglasses, causing them to glow purple. She didn’t have the power to just channel magic into her eyes like some unicorns could, so she made do with a permanent enchantment on her sunglasses. It was a good thing that the crack in the lens hadn’t severed any of the microfiber ley lines. Those things were a pain to set.

With magic augmenting her vision, Vinyl noticed a very simple spell linking the five orbs. It appeared to be fairly small-scale, so Vinyl decided to risk mana burn and charged the spell with a little from her own font.

A dim… aura surrounded all the orbs, each with their own colour. The auras all drifted off and formed a thin line pointing in various directions. Vinyl scratched an itch above her ear with her hoof as she pondered what the auras could mean. She noticed that one of the orbs had a blue aura and a connection linking it to… Pinkie?

…What? Standing up, Vinyl trotted over to the sleeping pony, and rolled the stone along in front of her with a hoof. She propped the stone against Pinkie and waited for… Something to happen. Nope, nothing. Unless you counted Pinkie hugging the stone in her sleep and a smile appearing on her face.

The Elements. That’s what Malus had called them, right? So these Elements had the mystical power of being some kinda substitute teddy bear? That really didn’t seem like something worth killing-

No, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. There’s still stuff to learn here.

Clinging desperately to the hope that she hadn’t murdered somepony in cold blood for no reason at all, Vinyl began to browse the shelves. The Elements. The Elements… Probably under E.

Vinyl’s mastery of cataloguing was not tested, and soon she found a book called ‘The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide’. It wasn’t the only book with ‘The Elements’ in its title, but the other ones were ‘The Elements of a Good Essay,’ and ‘The Elemental Approach to Investigation’ by some pony named Sherclop. With the book in her mouth, Vinyl trotted over to the couch and lay down. She opened it and began to read.

---

Luna didn’t move; she just lay there, still and unresponsive as she was rolled into a body bag. She didn’t make a sound or react in any way as the zip was drawn and the brown unicorn in golden armour levitated her up onto the gurney.

Penumbra swallowed, unable to say anything. It was still night time, and she knew all the ponies had expected her to raise the sun hours ago, but…

Luna was dead. It just… didn’t seem possible. Twilight had been friends with her, the humorously out-of-touch and endearingly old-fashioned alicorn. By the goddesses, Penumbra could still feel the pain she’d felt as her skin burst and her muscles rippled after Luna’s surprise attack, but she didn’t care. Luna was a friend. She didn’t remember anything, and Penumbra had never expected Luna to lash out at her like she had, but she was a friend.

“We’ll have the autopsy complete by tomorrow, your highness,” a brown doctor in a white coat told her.

“No.”

He hesitated. “Your highness?”

“Luna was an alicorn and a goddess.” And a friend. “She will be buried next to Celestia in the Canterlot grounds, and she will have full respects. A statue of her will be commissioned to match her sister’s, and she will be buried in a coffin. No autopsy, or her body being desecrated any further.”

“Yes, your highness.” The doctor bowed, though he sounded hesitant and confused.

Penumbra sighed as she thought about Luna. How long had it been since she last really talked with her? It was only towards the end of her first lifetime that they became close friends. She hadn’t known her at all during the second and she’d lived to twenty nine then… So twenty nine years on top of the two decades as an alicorn… forty nine years, since she’d really last known Luna. It was funny; technically not a second had passed since their first introduction, but to Penumbra it had been forty nine years, almost two lifetimes…

“Princess.” She shook her head to clear it, and wrapped a tendril around the royal guard that had approached her.

“Yes?” she asked him.

He rose out of his bow. “I’ve surveyed the scene, and it matches Malus’ recount of the event. Nightmare Moon did attack Spike, though Spike was knocked unconscious and doesn’t remember her defending him. Everypony fled once the fight started, but there is significant magical damage to the site, so her claim that Nightmare Moon was the first to attack appears true.”

“She was the Element of Honesty,” Penumbra muttered.

“Princess?”

“Nothing, continue.”

“We found the crime scene largely clear of residual magic, and it appears as though a flux crystal was destabilised. Which would certainly account for some of Malus’ blood residue. All in all, the scene is accounted for, and only one thing seems unusual.”

“That is?”

“There are a few patches of ground in the area that appear broken by magic. It is unusual that Nightmare Moon would try to manipulate the earth with telekinesis, when she has more effective and efficient combat magics available.”

That was unusual, but no great concern. “Anything else?”

“No, but we will need to interview Malus about the DJ.”

“The DJ?” Penumbra asked, feeling confused.

“Yes, the DJ,” repeated the royal guard. He must have seen the frown on Penumbra’s face because he continued, “In the original note that Malus had Spike send, she said that the DJ had stolen the Elements.”

Penumbra felt her stomach drop. The DJ… DJ P0N-3 had stolen the Elements… The Elements of Harmony. The most powerful magical artifacts in Equestria had been stolen by the DJ she had chosen.

The same DJ, who Pinkie had told her was a party animal and a wild drinker. A pony, whose name had been infamously connected to, and the face of, the party hard and drink harder culture of Twilight’s generation.

It was this pony who now possessed the Elements of Harmony.

Penumbra grit her jaw as she summoned her magic.

---

Malus was having trouble sleeping as she rolled around in her bed. She just had too much on her mind to really get any sleep. Her thoughts kept going to that strange memory illusion thing that the Elements of Harmony had caused her to have.

That memory had felt so familiar. It had felt like it was right. Mal had never been at… ease with the world around her. Some part of her had always felt like something was just… off. But that memory actually made her feel-

Penumbra slammed into the reality of her room with a vicious crack. Malus only just rolled out of bed in time as Penumbra flung it aside with her magic, stalking towards Mal angrily. Her mane was billowing out and moving rapidly, the pink streak in her hair writhing like an angry snake.

“The Elements of Harmony. The. Elements. Of. Harmony. Were stolen from you, by a DJ. DJ P0N-3.” Mal bumped into the wall behind her. “They were taken from right in front of you, by a unicorn DJ.”

Mal didn’t answer as she felt herself get raised by magic and pinned to the wall.

“The Elements of Harmony are the single most powerful artifact in Equestria. There is no source of natural magic in existence that has more power than them. Each individual one of them has enough power to reshape the earth. They are tied directly to destiny itself, and you lost them to a DJ.”

“…” Mal decided silence was prudent.

“Did you give them away to her?” Penumbra asked after a moment. “How could she have taken them from you! You’re Malus! You killed Chrysalis and Blueblood, your name is a byword for death in Manehattan. Ponies everywhere fear you, and you somehow lost the Elements, mere hours after you killed a living goddess. A goddess. How?! How could you have possibly been overcome?”

Silence filled the room for a minute, before Penumbra released her hold on Malus and turned away.

Mal dropped to the ground and rubbed her legs where Penumbra had held them. They were probably going to bruise.

“Say something. Defend yourself. Do anything, other than stay silent.”

After a moment Malus shrugged. “Sorry.”

Silence filled the room. It stayed that way for almost a minute, and Mal shifted uncomfortably.

Penumbra’s shoulders drooped, and her mane seemed to shimmer less. The snake in her hair slumped. “These last twenty years have been a stay in Tartarus.” Penumbra sighed. “Wars that were never supposed to have happened… Blueblood, the changelings… Manehattan.” She sighed again. “The constant stream of mismatches and stillborn foals, the gryphon nation is collapsing in civil war and the violence will inevitably cross over to us. This is not the way it was supposed to be.”

To Mal, it didn’t seem like there was any response she was supposed to give to that. She watched as her hat floated off of its hanger and drifted over to land on her head. Why Penumbra would put it on her head was beyond her, but she decided against asking.

“How did Celestia do it? How did she manage to make a perfect world? Was it trial and error? Did she take millennia to get it right?” Her ears turned around as if hoping Malus would answer.

Mal shrugged.

Penumbra snorted. “Of course you don’t know.” She turned back to face Mal. “I’m going to make this world perfect. I’m going to recreate the paradise she perfected, even if it takes me centuries. I’ll do it alone if I have to, but I will do it. At the moment, I’m finding it hard to believe that you or Spectra have a place in a perfect world.”

She let that hang in the air for a moment.

“Find the DJ, bring me back the Elements. Start today. The sun will rise in a moment, and you always were an early riser. Do you understand me?”

Mal nodded.

“Good. Any questions?”

Mal paused. “Who’s Applejack?”

Penumbra stiffened. “… Where did you hear that name?” she asked, her voice getting low.

Mal adjusted the hat on her head. “You shouted it at me… Was he my father?”

Penumbra seemed caught off guard by that, and the snake in her hair stiffened. “No… Applejack was… a very dear friend of mine. Sometimes you remind me of her…”

“What happened to her?”

Penumbra didn’t answer. “Get started today, Malus. I want the Elements back in our hooves. I’ve had enough of trusting destiny.”

There was another flash of magic, and she was gone.

Mal sighed as she surveyed her damaged room. The sun started to rise as she set about cleaning the mess. Yes, there were servants to deal with it, but she was never one to allow others to do her work for her. Once the mess was as clean as she could make it, Mal picked up her ruined coat and stepped outside. The coat was a mess of damaged leather and bloody patches. She’d need a new one.

Malus took the time to toss her coat in a dustbin as she passed and made her way to the royal guard barracks. Every pony that saw her immediately turned around and headed another way, except for the royal guard who took the time to nod respectfully.

The palace was a flurry of activity, and Malus suspected that she was the cause of it. More than a few attendants were glancing at her fearfully. Apparently killing a living goddess spreads your name pretty quick.

It wasn’t long till she was at the barracks. “Princess.” The guard standing at the door bowed as he said her name. “Can I help you?”

“Carriage to Ponyville,” Malus answered him.

“Yes princess,” he told her. “When would-”

“Now,” she cut him off.

“Yes, princess. Most of our flying carriages are in use, but we can have one ready in the hour. Would you like us to hitch it in the courtyard?”

Mal nodded. “Tell me when it’s ready.”

He bowed once more as she turned away and walked towards a different section of the castle. As she walked away, Mal heard murmurs of “Godhunter.” She snorted at the idea. Anypony who went and hunted a god deserved what they got when they found themselves in a lot of pain.

The trot to the royal tailor took no longer than her walk to the barracks did. In general, the royal palace commissioned its outfits from several more expensive and higher class shops in and around Canterlot, but when it came to simple repairs, most of the work came through here. Personally, Mal didn’t like the place. The unicorn that ran it rubbed her the wrong way.

The stallion behind the bench turned to her as she entered. “Princess Malus.” Stitch gave his false smile that never touched his eye as she walked towards him. “It’s a pleasure to serve you.” No it wasn’t. He wanted her to go away. “How can I help you?”

“You can’t,” she answered curtly. “Blood Eyes in?”

He tried to convince her he was happy about his dismissal with another smile, before he bowed and turned away. “Blood-”

“Yeah, I heard her.” The gryphoness, interrupted him and stepped out of the room. “Fuck off, Stitch.” She jerked her thumb away.

Stitches eye twitched, but he turned away. “Excuse me, princess.”

After he’d left, Blood Eyes turned to Malus with a smile, and this one was real. “What can The Royal Hunter do for you?”

Malus actually liked Blood Eyes. The albino gryphon had never once tried to suck up to Mal, or pander to her, or offer her false words of encouragement. No, the first time Mal had approached her, the gryphon told her to ‘fuck off,’ without any hesitation. Malus had been surprised, but shrugged and came back later.

Sometimes Mal wondered what her story was. She’d only been working in the palace for about a year now, but her skill with leather and animal skin had made her useful to both Spectra and Malus. She certainly cut a striking image. An albino gryphon who was larger than most males of her species and who covered her eyes with a thin black cloth? Yeah, that drew a bit of attention. Though with a name like Blood Eyes and being white as snow, no one really wondered what her eyes looked like. Despite the cloth, she always walked with a predatory grace, and knew exactly what she was doing at all times, never fumbling or knocking anything over. It was probably thin enough for her to see through it easily.

“My coat,” Malus stated in answer to her question.

“Yeah, you’re not wearing it.” Blood Eyes smirked and waved a claw at Mal’s bare back. “Lose it?”

“Damaged. Need a new one.”

“Damaged?” she repeated. “Dude, I worked that leather for like a week. It was manticore skin, how’d you damage that?”

Malus just shrugged.

Blood Eyes tilted her head upwards slightly. Mal got the impression she just rolled her eyes. “Well I don’t have any leather on me at the moment, none that’s good enough for a new coat anyway. You okay with waiting a few days?”

Malus nodded.

“Alright. I’ll go hunting tonight and see what I can bring back. Probably won’t be anything as nice as manticore skin. Ugh… the shit I do for you ponies.” Mal turned to leave when Blood Eyes spoke again. “Hey, now that you’re old cloak’s damaged, want to try for a new design?”

Stopping to look back over at her, Malus tilted her head.

“I mean, do you want me to make the exact same cloak as last time, or would you rather something a little new and different?”

Mal just shook her head.

“Dude, don’t be lame. Come to the back with me and I’ll show you what I mean.” She tilted her head towards the door that led to the tailor’s work area. “Stitch made your coat, and that guy has no idea what looks badass or not. Come back here with me and I can get you something that’ll make you look like a freaking godhunter.”

Mal thought about it for a second before she shrugged and jumped over the bench. If Blood Eyes was surprised by the unprincess-like behaviour, she didn’t show it. They stepped through the door, and the gryphon led the way to her own work room. She didn’t actually tan the leather here, just cut and shaped it. There was a little fridge in the corner, and Blood Eyes opened it up.

She looked around for a minute before she took out a tray of ice, and a plate of left over fish, which she dumped on the table. Next, she stopped at a cabinet in the corner before she came back with a bottle and two glasses.

“Applejack?” she asked.

Malus blinked in surprise. “What did you just say?”

“I said do you want some applejack?” the gryphon held up a bottle that had ‘applejack’ written across the front.

Malus shook her head. Huh.

“Alright then. I got some other stuff too, like whiskey or whatever. I got some thirty year old scotch, that stuff’s a real rarity.”

Malus blinked at the faint pressure behind her temples and nodded after a second. “Whiskey.”

“Nice.” A bottle of whiskey landed on the table. “I like to mix that with some vodka and a dash of rainbow from time to time.”

Mal put a hoof to her head. “What did you just say?” She scrunched her face up as a headache cut her mind sharply.

“Yeah it’s weird right? Who’d think that some rainbow’d make it taste nicer?” She looked at Mal and noticed her face. “Dude, you okay?”

Mal nodded, though the frown stayed on her face.

Blood Eyes shrugged and turned away. “There was this drink I liked.” She snapped her fingers. “Shit, what was that called? Uh… it was a real pinky colour.” Mal felt her headache grow a bit sharper. “They only sold it at this club in Dice, you know down in Neighvada?” she glanced at Mal who didn’t respond. “I think it was called Flutterbi’s or something.”

Mal scrunched her eyes up and fell to her haunches. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” Blood Eyes turned to her. “What am I doing?”

“…Nothing?” Mal said, feeling confused. The pain in her skull was making thinking hard.

Blood Eyes shook her head in confusion and turned away before she stopped. “Oh! I remember what the drink’s called. Yeah, it’s the Twilight Sparkler.”

Mal crossed the distance between them in an instant and had the gryphon pinned to the wall. “What did you just say?!”

Blood Eyes seemed surprised. “Dude, calm down.”

The throbbing in Mal’s head was like someone had put her brain on an anvil and the blacksmith had set to work. “What was… that?”

“Uh… a drink I liked?”

After a second, Malus stepped away and let Blood Eyes fall to all fours.

“You alright dude?” the gryphon asked, concern in her voice. “Sure you don’t want some applejack?”

The pain between Mal’s ears cleared away. “Applejack…” she repeated.

“Yeah, it’s a nice enough drink.” Blood Eyes said as she put all her drinks away. “Why, does it mean anything to you?”

“…” Mal was about to not answer when… she spoke. “I’m looking for somepony named Applejack.” Mal paused and blinked in surprise. Why did she say that?

“Really?” Blood Eyes shrugged. “Sounds like an Apple family name to me.”

Mal glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Big earth pony family, spread all over Equestria. They used to be huge, but they got hit pretty hard by the event, and since then they’ve had terrible stillborn and mismatch rates. If you’re looking for an Applejack, then I’d start there.”

Mal nodded after second.

“There’s Apple family in Ponyville, which isn’t too far from Canterlot. Maybe you could start there?”

Malus just looked at her.

“Oh, shit. Weren’t we here for a coat? Sorry, I got sidetracked.” Blood Eyes shook her head and turned away. “What Stitch had for you was basically just a big leather coat, but in the Canterlot style, or as close as he could get it. What I’m thinking, is something a bit more like this…” she reached into a cupboard and took out a big heavy leather coat. “This isn’t the real one, just something I had brought in from Appleoosa, but this is what a real duster looks like. I’m thinking I make your next coat look like this, but with better materials and such. You know, get that real badass look going.”

Mal ran her hoof over the garb. After a while she shrugged. “Fine.”

Blood Eyes snorted. “Dude, ‘fine’? Come on… This is gonna be so awesome when you wear it.”

Mal just shrugged again and turned away to walk outside. After a second, she heard the sound of Blood Eyes padding after her, muttering about why she even bothered.

Mal stopped, one hoof raised in the air, when she saw Spectra standing on the other side of the desk. They both stared at each other for a second until Spectra’s eye hardened and her mouth twisted into a sneer.

“What are you doing here?” she asked with a vicious voice.

Mal glanced over her shoulder at Blood Eyes.

After a second’s silence, the gryphon spoke. “She’s here to get a new coat. Her old one was shredded apparently.”

Spectra snorted. “What’s the matter? Too shy to speak for yourself now?”

Mal didn’t answer that; she just hopped over the counter and went to step past Spectra out the door. The pegasus stepped in front of her though, her gaze set in a challenging glare. Malus levelly returned the look.

They were staring at each other for a second before Blood Eyes broke in. “Kiss!”

Both Spectra and Malus balked and turned to her.

The gryphon burst into laughter. “Oh, Celestia. The looks on your faces.” She chuckled and wiped an imaginary tear from her covered eye. “Priceless. Oh mare, how wrong would that be if you two did?”

Spectra and Mal glanced at each other, before Spectra stepped forward and slapped her ruined vest on the bench. “I need this fixed.”

Blood Eyes picked it up and chuckled. “Both of you come to me with ruined coats? What, you tear them from each other’s backs or something?”

Spectra snorted. “As if. Me and her? It’d be a pity fuck if anything else.”

Blood Eyes chuckled. “I dunno, I can think of a few that might try to bag a princess.” She turned the coat around in her hands. “Yeah, this thing’s gone. You’re gonna need a new one. Oh! Yeah, I was just talking to Mal about her new coat. Why don’t you come in back and I’ll see if I can get you something cool too.”

“Whatever.” Spectra said and hopped over the desk with a flap of her wings. The two disappeared through the door.

Sighing, Malus turned and made her way to the courtyard.

---

Slowly, Vinyl opened the door a crack and peeked at the sleeping form on her couch. In the darkness of her apartment, her shades burned with magic as they augmented her sight. They let off a faintly purple glow as Vinyl pumped the tiniest trickle of magic into them.

Thanks to magical sight, she could see everything clearly. The breeze moving the curtains, the cello balanced against the wall, her old fashioned record player sitting on the black glass shelves. The coffee table with the double page art book of her album covers. All of this was visible to her, but instead her eyes stayed on the one thing in the room that really mattered.

The grey earth pony with the black mane, and the rising and falling of her chest. The adorable way she kicked a forehoof now and then, as if playing some ghostly instrument. The little smile that flicked across her lips now and then. She was sprawled on her back, her head no longer resting on the pillow, with her forelegs pointing into the air. She looked so damn beautiful; normally it might have made Vinyl jealous.

Vinyl watched this all for about a minute until a very important thought entered her head.

“What the buck am I doing?” she muttered to herself and pulled away, closing the door. “What the heck was that? Watching somepony sleep.”

She shook her head in disgust as she wandered into her bathroom. She closed the door and flicked the lights on, cutting the stream of magic to her sunglasses and leaving them lying on the sink.

She hadn’t left her bedroom to watch Octavia sleep. She’d just opened the door to check up on her while heading to the bathroom for business. Once business was taken care of, she flushed the toilet and went to the sink to put the purple shades back on. She paused as she did so, catching her reflection in the mirror.

Her eyes were baggy like they always were, and her magenta irises were surrounded by bloodshot veins. Her blue hair was the same spikey mess it always was, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, even if in this case that was what had just happened.

“Looking good, Vinyl.” She snorted to herself sarcastically, and put her sunglasses back on.

“Yeah that’s better… What are you doing?” she asked herself. “Inviting Octavia to sleep on your couch?”

The glasses were slipped off, and Vinyl shrugged at her reflection. “She’s a friend right? Why can’t I help a friend that got kicked out of her apartment cause she couldn’t pay rent?”

The shades covered her eyes again. “Nothing’s wrong with it, but that’s not why you’re doing it.”

The glasses came off and Vinyl blushed. “That’s bullshit. Octavia’s just a friend.”

“Mhmm,” her reflection answered her, and Vinyl didn’t need to be able to see her own eyes to know that was sarcastic. “So, when you met Octavia, the first thing in your head was, ‘Damn. I dig that chick’s cello’? You weren’t staring at her flank at all?”

“No I wasn’t.” Vinyl answered indignantly, her eyes flashing with anger. “We weren’t even friends when we first met.”

The glasses went back on. “How did you become friends?”

Vinyl shrugged. “I dunno… how does anypony become friends?”

“You became friends with her because you made time for her. You were the one who drew her in, Vinyl. Not her.”

“Does that matter?” Vinyl took the sunglasses off. “We’re friends now; that’s it.”

They reflected the light as they covered her eyes again. “It matters, because you have a tiny one bedroom apartment, and you agreed to let her stay here for as long as she needs. It matters, because you were just watching her sleep. It matters, because when you were using the movable showerhead earlier, it was-”

“Woah!” Vinyl interrupted herself. “That’s getting kinda private, don’t you think?”

“Vinyl… I’m you.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Oh… Right.” Vinyl muttered as she stared at her reflection.

The shades covered her eyes again. “The point is, Octavia’s straight. Whereas I’m… not gay… but not reeling in just the stallions… and I might just like mares a little… bit more… and Con Mane is totally not as hot as Daring Do- Whatever! The point is you want things from this mare, and those things aren’t going to happen. Stop pulling her closer, stop leading yourself on, and for the love of Celestia, stop talking to yourself in the mirror. Kay?”

Vinyl took the shades off and stared at her reflection for a second. She turned away from it, and slid the glasses back over her face. Reaching one hoof forward-

Vinyl sat up and stared around the room, her eyes adjusting to the sunlight streaming in. She rubbed a hoof against her eye and wondered why she was in a library. She yawned and reached for her shades, only to find them gone. Glancing around the room, her eyes widened when she saw Pinkie lying on the floor unconscious.

“Oh shit!” Vinyl swore and jumped to her hooves, her memories returning to her. “I fell asleep!” She glared at the book she’d been using as a pillow. “Celestia damn it all. I’m never reading again!” She blinked in surprise when she noticed four of the stone balls at the base of the couch.

Staring at them, Vinyl felt confusion rise in her. They were all clustered around her sunglasses, and they’d been touching her hoof as it dangled over the couch.

“I didn’t leave any of you there,” she stated flatly. When they didn’t answer her, she scowled and reached for her sunglasses with her hoof. As she picked them up, all of the orbs rolled in to touch her.

Find magic! The voice slammed into her head, driving her to the ground. As she looked up, she saw the ethereal figures of four ponies standing before her. You have brought laughter. They all spoke as one. Bring us harmony. Balance WILL be restored.

Vinyl scrambled to her hooves and backed away, eyes wide with fear. She stared, gaping, as the ethereal ponies seemingly blew away in the wind. Which was weird, cause there was no bucking breeze in the library! Oh, nice Vinyl! Because that’s what was weird about that!

Vinyl shook her head to clear it. “What the buck was that?” Not even bothering with preserving her magic, Vinyl telekinetically snatched up her sunglasses. “Oh shit-shit-shit-shit! Now’s not the time to be going crazy.”

She spotted the bathroom and ran into it before turning the taps on and splashing water over her face. Her sunglasses stopped her from clearing her eyes, so she put them on the rim of the sink and wet her face again. With her hooves, she snatched up the towel and dried her face.

“Fuck me dead.” Vinyl paused and blinked. “‘Fuck’?” She looked at herself in the mirror. “I never say that…”

After a moment, she blinked and rolled her eyes. Of all the things to worry about now… She checked her reflection again. Yep, red eyes. Not magenta, red. Just more proof that those dreams were insane and didn’t mean a damn thing. She slid the sunglasses back onto her face before turning away.

“No,” she said commandingly, and stopped to look back at the mirror. Vinyl was staring back at her with the sunglasses covering her eyes. “No,” she ordered. “You killed a pony, Vinyl. You killed Princess Malus, so you’re going to stop, talk to me, and explain to yourself why the fuck you did that.”

Vinyl swallowed and turned back to the mirror, her glasses sliding off her face almost subconsciously.

“Now’s not the time. I need to get out of Ponyville before-”

“‘Not the time’?” she interrupted herself. “I fell asleep Vinyl, and you haven’t been found yet. Yes, I need to move soon, but I can take five minutes to deal with my shit.”

“But-”

“But what?” Vinyl cut in as she put her glasses on. “But nothing. I’m doing this right now.” She paused and glared. “I’m not letting me get out of this.”

Her heart beating nervously, Vinyl sat down and slipped off her glasses. “Alright.”

“Good. Now, tell yourself. Why. did. you. kill. Malus?” She punctuated each pause with a hoof jab.

“I-I-I panicked?” she answered herself hesitantly. “I didn’t think?”

“Yeah, that’s possible.” Vinyl shrugged as the glasses returned to her face. “But I don’t think that’s really it. I don’t really panic very often, do I? I mean, I was a foal when Manehattan was overrun, but I kept calm then. Nah. Tell me, what reason would I have to kill The Princess?”

She slipped them off. “Uh… for the stone ball things? The Element of Harmony?”

“Now I’m getting somewhere.” Vinyl tapped a hoof to her chin as her glasses covered her eyes again. “Maybe.” She shrugged. “That could be it, but then why would you want the Elements in the first place?”

“I…I don’t know.” She glanced over her shoulder at the stones. “I just had to have them. I mean… I don’t know, I just couldn’t leave them behind.”

“Why couldn’t you?” Vinyl leaned forward, the reflection of her sunglasses reflecting her face. “Why did you have to kill Malus for them?”

“I…I… Shit. I don’t know.” She turned back to her reflection and her bare red eyes widened fearfully. “I don’t know why I did that.”

Vinyl leaned back and an eyebrow rose from beneath her sunglasses. “Really? You really, really don’t know…”

She gulped and nodded.

“Shit…” Vinyl sat back… “Well, that’s not good.” She sat there in silence for almost a minute before she continued. “Alright, then… what about these dreams and all this weird magic crap?”

“Huh?” She stared at herself, confused.

“Well, just five seconds ago four ghost ponies screamed at you to bring magic and balance or whatever.”

“Well, I thought that was just me being crazy…”

“You’re not crazy Vinyl.”

“Well… I am talking to myself in a mirror.”

Vinyl smirked and adjusted her sunglasses. “Fair point. No, this is just what you do to deal with your emotions. I have issues yeah, but talking to myself in the mirror isn't one of them.”

“Alright…”

“Anyway, the point is this. I’m not crazy enough to dream up some mare named Octavia, or ghost ponies, or shift those orbs or my shades from one end of the room to the other while I’m asleep. That shit happened by itself. There’s some magic going on here, and it has to do with Nightmare Moon and Malus. I’ve gotten myself mixed up in something, so now I have to consider my options. I don’t know why I killed Mal, so that raises the question. Did those orbs make me do it? Are they possessing me or influencing me?”

The shades slipped off her face and she turned around. “They could be…”

“Alright then, that raises the question… If they’re messing with my head, and they are the Elements of Harmony, the things that banished Nightmare to the moon, what do they want with me?”

Vinyl paused and thought about it. “Well… one of them lead me to Pinkie, and the others are all pointing in different directions… so I guess they’ll all take me to other ponies too.”

“Okay, and what will happen if you take all the Elements to all the different ponies they ask?”

“Uh… I dunno. We all get superpowers and team up to fight evil?”

Vinyl snorted. “Doubt it. The Elements represent Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity and Laughter, right? Well I’m none of those things.”

“What do you mean? I can be loyal!” Vinyl shouted indignantly.

“Please. I oh-so loyally ditched Lyra.”

“Yeah well… Generosity?”

“When was the last time I gave anything away?”

“…I can be kind.”

“When it suits me, and I’m not even gonna joke about honesty. I lie about… heck, name something we don’t lie about? I mean, I was faking my ID when I was fourteen.”

“Well what about Laughter then? That’s not too out there.”

“No it’s not, but come on… Pinkie remember? If the Elements wanted her, there’s no way she’s not Laughter.”

“Wall what about the sixth one? The mystery…”

“I’ve only got five elements, remember? No… What’s happening here is I’m a dupe. A drug mule. The Elements want me to run them to whoever they actually belong to. That’s it. I was conveniently nearby when Malus and Nightmare were having their grudge match.”

“Yeah… Okay. That makes sense, I guess.”

“Now, I don’t know what will happen if we try to leave them behind, but either way we’re on the run from the law. I say we hold onto them for now, and use them as bargaining tools. Try to ransom them off for a pardon or whatever.”

Vinyl snorted as she took her glasses off.

She put them back on. “What? What’s so funny.”

“Nothing just… I’m never getting another gig again, am I?”

Vinyl went to put her glasses on again when a knock sounded at the door and startled her. She fumbled her magic and dropped her sunglasses. They fell down and skittered across the floor under a cupboard.

“Crap.” Vinyl bent down to pick them up when someone knocked on the library door again.

With a final despairing sigh, Vinyl ran out to the main room and threw all the Elements in her saddlebag. After another second, she threw Pinkie’s wire frame circlet in as well. She looked around the room before she threw the bag into the bathroom and pulled the door shut.

“Will you open up please? I can hear you in there.” The voice of a mare in her twenties rang out through the wood of the door.

Vinyl glanced around desperately for a hiding place or something before the voice called out again.

“Please open the door.”

She grit her jaw and silently prayed to Penumbra that the guards wouldn’t have spread her appearance already, or figured out that she was the one that killed Malus.

“Yeah, sorry I’m coming,” she said as she crossed the floor and opened the door. “What can I…” trailing off, Vinyl found herself looking at the purple chest of somepony. A very tall somepony. Vinyl’s neck craned up until she found herself staring into the eyes of none other than Princess Penumbra. Or actually, to be correct, her lack of eyes.

“Hello,” she smiled politely as her astral mane blew against the wind. “May I come in?”

Chapter 4: No One Special

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Penumbra

Chapter 4: No One Special.

When the carriage touched down in Ponyville, Malus didn’t even wait for it to come to a complete stop before she was out and trotting through town. She felt oddly naked without her duster, but she told herself to get over it. No pony else seemed to be bothered by it, so why should she? At least she had her hat anyway.

The guards that pulled the carriage started to follow, but a sharp glare from her made them stay behind. Mal began considering her options. Find the DJ, get the elements. Those were her orders, and ones that she would happily follow. Dying was painful, maybe that DJ should try it sometime?

Mal paused and glanced over at Sugar Cube Corner, taking note of the patrons moving in and out of-

…Sugar Cube Corner? How did she know that was its name?

Mal shook her head and moved on. Whatever. So what if the building was called Sugar Cube Corner? She must have read the name on the sign or something without noticing.

But, as Malus walked in she found herself forgetting entirely about the DJ, Penumbra, and even the reason she was there in the first place. She simply drifted off into Ponyville, guided by a strange familiarity and strong sense of déjà vu. Carousel Boutique, Quills and Sofas, and a few others. She only knew their names when she saw them, but she could have sworn she was only just remembering them rather than seeing them for the first time.

But at the same time, so many things felt wrong. Mal could have sworn there was supposed to be three ponies selling flowers, and an empty lot just felt… hollow. All she knew was something about carrots not being where they should. In fact, despite the overwhelming familiarity and nostalgia, the entire main street of Ponyville felt sadly empty. Like so many of the faces that belonged there were missing.

Malus drew up short when she saw a stall selling apples. She froze in place, her gaze locked on the large red stallion with the yoke around his neck. Slowly, as if hypnotised, she walked towards him, her heart inexplicably racing. His head slowly turned towards her, and his half-lidded eyes took her in. Neither said anything for a moment, both waiting for the other to speak first.

After a moment, he broke the silence. “Can I help you Ma’am?” He spoke in a slow country drawl, almost the exact same as Malus.

Mal blinked, her trance broken. Her brow furrowed, and she considered his statement. “Apple,” she said after a moment.

He glanced down at the produce. “Two bits a bag.” He looked back up at her.

Malus frowned and shook her head. “Apple family.”

He tilted his head at her. “Ah’m Big Macintosh, Apple family. Sorry Ma’am, you are?”

Mal didn’t answer him. Instead, she focused her thoughts and returned to why she was here in the first place. “Applejack.”

He just stared at her, and adjusted the straw in his mouth. It swung from one corner of his lip to the other. “Pardon?”

“A pony. Named Applejack.”

His eyes narrowed on her, and the massive bulk of the red stallion shifted. “Is that your name?”

Malus blinked. “…No?”

He just stared at her for a second. “Ma’am, are you alright?”

She ignored the question. “Ah’m looking for a pony named Applejack.”

He shrugged. “Eenope. Don’t know ‘em.”

They just stood there in silence for a while, eyeing each other up. Both simply said nothing, waiting for the other to take their turn at speech.

It was almost a minute before a smaller, but more high pitched voice broke in.

“Big Mac! Big Mac!”

Mal glanced over to see a small yellow filly with a red ribbon in her hair running towards them from across the street.

“Did ya hear that Princess Penumbra and Princess Malus are in town today?” She smiled up at the stallion widely. “Did ya?”

Big Mac blinked. “Eenope.”

“Twist told me when Ah saw her in the park today! She said that Penumbra teleported and Malus landed in a sky carriage pulled by Royal Guards today. Ah didn’t get to see any of the Princesses at the party last night ‘cause Granny said I couldn’t go, and no one’s telling me what happened.”

Mal stared at the little pony with a heavy pain rising in her chest. As she stared, she felt this horrible growing sense of loss, and she wanted nothing more than to hold this filly to her chest in a tight hug. That was stupid though, instead she just looked.

“The Princesses?” Big Mac glanced over at Mal, his eyes narrowing. “Princess Malus?” he asked after a moment.

She nodded.

His jaw tightened, and he gave a small bow but his eyes stayed firmly locked on hers. “Applebloom, get back here.”

The filly who was named Applebloom, frowned in confusion, before looking up at Malus and her eyes widened. “Princess Malus? Are you Princess Malus?”

Mal looked at her, before turning around and walking away. The filly’s voice faded into the background, but the oddly heavy feeling in Mal’s chest didn’t. What was wrong with this town? Why in Celestia’s holy paradise would it make her feel this way?

She shook her head. Whatever. She needed to find that DJ. So what if that one stallion hadn’t heard of Applejack? Malus would just have to find someone who had.

No. Now she needed to start working her leads. First off, find out who knows that DJ. Where she was staying in town, what her background was and how she got this job in Ponyville. If that turned up a dead end, then find the pony with the pink mane and balloons for a Cutie Mark. Find her and find out what she saw and knew. This wasn’t Mal’s first pony hunt, nor was it the first time she hunted for Penumbra. This time she even had personal investment in finding the target, not that she needed it with Penumbra’s death threat hanging over her head.

But what if it came to that? Could Mal survive if Penumbra turned on her?

She grit her jaw.

Mal didn’t like her chances, but what was that saying? ‘When there’s a will there’s a way?’ or something like that? She had already killed one god, was it so impossible that she take down a second? Maybe actually earn the title ‘God Hunter’.

Whatever. This was all hypothetical. If Penumbra didn’t try anything, Malus saw no reason to try anything either.

---

Vinyl stepped aside and watched, eyes wide in shock, as The Blind Goddess and Regent of the Sun entered the room.

She gave a gentle reassuring smile. “Please, relax. I’m merely here to browse.”

“Uh… okay.” Vinyl backed away and watched as a deity! A living deity! started to calmly browse the books on the shelves.

“The titles for the blind and hard of sight are over here correct?” Penumbra asked. When Vinyl didn’t answer she sighed and turned away. Her magic began removing books from the shelves, flipping them open and then returning them to place. After a moment she smiled. “Ah, here they are! Right where I left them.”

Vinyl blinked in confusion, but didn’t comment as the princess lay down and began to read the texts. She stood there in awkward silence for a while, unsure of what to do.

Pinkie shifted on the couch and sat up right. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Where am I?”

Penumbra stiffened at her voice.

“Pinks, relax.” Vinyl swallowed and glanced at the Princess. “Remember, you passed out?”

“I did?” Pinkie turned around. “Oh, hi Red!” She shot to her hooves. “Oh! I remember what happened. Right after you-”

“Pinkie!” Vinyl shoved a hoof on her mouth. “We have company,” she finished more calmly, and jerked her head towards the princess who was sitting up as straight as a bench. “And the Princess, does not need to hear about that.”

“Princess?” Pinkie turned around and her ears perked up. “Oh!” She bowed low but gave a wide smile and kept staring at her. “I’ve never met a Princess before.”

Penumbra stood up, turned around and smiled back at her, though to Vinyl it looked forced. “Hello, My Little Pony.”

Vinyl blinked. Why did that sound so… stiff? Like it was something she was just copying from memory.

“So, Pinkie,” Her voice cracked ever so slightly on the name. Her throat moved visibly as The Princess swallowed air. “How are you today?”

Awkward silence filled the room for way too long for Vinyl not to break it. “…Well, that was casual.”

Penumbra blushed. She bucking blushed! Blushed! “That is, I mean…”

“Dude, are you sure you’re The Princess?” Vinyl interjected with a grin.

“Red!” Pinkie turned around. “Don’t be mean. So what if she’s nervous about making new friends?”

The Princess reacted strangely to that, straightening up in surprise and almost gasping before she caught herself.

Vinyl blinked in surprise. “Yeah, sorry about that Princess P.” She cracked a grin.

Penumbra gave a small smile. “‘Princess P’? That may be the first time anypony has called me that. You seem unusually comfortable around royalty.”

“Yeah, well I did stare slack-jawed when you walked in.” Vinyl looked towards Pinkie. “So uh, Pinks, now that you’ve woken up, don’t we have that thing to do?”

Pinkie looked at Vinyl, her head tilted to the side. “Huh?”

“You know that thing at your work?” Vinyl’s eyes turned towards Penumbra, hoping Pinkie would pick up the very obvious signal.

“You mean at Sugar Cube Corner?”

Vinyl latched onto it. “Yeah, that.”

“Oh no. That thing we were gonna do there wasn’t for another hour. You haven’t met Fluttershy yet.”

Vinyl blinked in surprise.

“Oh, Red. Don’t tell me you forgot about that?” She turned to Penumbra. “Sorry about that, she’s so silly sometimes.”

The Princess nodded, and her lips were set in a small smile. “I understand.” She sat back down again, and a glass of water floated from the kitchen to be next to her. “So, Pinkie, tell me about yourself.”

“Oh well there’s a lot to tell. Let’s see-”

“Where are you from?” Penumbra interrupted and took a sip of water. “Who are your friends, what are your interests and what’s your special talent?”

Vinyl frowned. That was an… interesting set of questions to start a conversation with.

Pinkie didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, well I’m from Reinsville, but I live here now. My special talent is partying and making other ponies happy, and my cutie mark’s three balloons. Normally I wouldn’t tell you what my cutie mark is, I’d just show you, but you’re blind so I have to tell you that.”

Vinyl winced. “Nice Pinkie, mention her disability like that.”

“It’s fine.” Penumbra waved a hoof. “Go on, you were about to tell me about your friends.”

“Oh, well I have lots of friends! There’s the Cakes, who I live with, and there’s Lyra, Bonbon, and lots of others!” Vinyl tuned out as Pinkie began listing of what had to be every pony that lived anywhere nearby. “-and that’s just in Ponyville! Back in Reinsville I-”

“That’s quite alright.” Penumbra interrupted with a gentle smile, and Pinkie instantly stopped to hear her. “Are there any friends in Ponyville who you’re particularly close to?”

“Oh, well there’s the Cakes and Fluttershy and Rarity and Red’s right here!” She leapt across the room and wrapped a hoof around Vinyl’s shoulder, pulling her in close for a hug.

“Yeah totally!” Vinyl smiled though it felt more like a grimace as she pulled herself out of Pinkie’s choke hold. “BFF’s and all that crap.”

“Really?” Penumbra asked, and Vinyl felt those magical tendrils examine her more closely.

Oh, goddesses she was powerful. And that wasn’t even just from Vinyl’s horribly low standards. The Princess was terrifying to say the least. Could she please figure out a nicer way to look at people? It was like a constant reminder of just how easily she could turn you inside out.

“How about you, Red? What can you tell me of yourself?” Penumbra asked.

Vinyl ignored the urge to swallow that nervous lump that formed in her throat. “Not much to tell, really.”

“Well, let’s start with your full name.” Penumbra’s smile was so gentle and inviting, but Vinyl could only think about how she murdered this mare’s daughter just last night.

“Red Trees,” Vinyl replied smoothly. “I was born in autumn and my parents were real poetic.”

Penumbra nodded. “Where are you from then?”

“A small town near the Gryphon border, called Mareton.” Thank Celestia for obscure jobs taking you to backwater locales. “Not the nicest place, but real pretty in the fall.”

“I’m afraid my magic can only tell me so much, but what of your appearance? What are the colours of your mane and the shape of your cutie mark?” She took another sip of water. “What of your special talent?”

Vinyl glanced at Pinkie, who wasn’t saying anything. “I have a red mane with brown highlights and light green coat.” Pinkie didn’t react to Vinyl’s blatant lie, other than to frown. “My cutie mark’s a rose.”

“Ah.” Penumbra smiled. “So your special talent is gardening then? Unusual for a unicorn.”

“Uh no, it’s for performing. You know, like a rose getting thrown on stage.” Vinyl kept her eye on Pinkie the entire time. Oh, please Pinkie, just don’t say anything. Vinyl could lie her way out of this if Pinkie just didn’t talk.

Having a deity nod at you politely is a really damn surreal experience.

Vinyl changed topic. “So, uh… Princess P, what was that commotion last night about?”

The Princess frowned, and the atmosphere of the room changed instantly. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Vinyl hurriedly cracked a grin. “I mean, there was that alicorn who fought your daughter for no apparent reason. I mean, one of them ended up dead, right? What was that all about?”

Penumbra seemed to examine her for a moment. A moment later the book Vinyl had been reading, The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide, floated up from the couch and floated in front of Penumbra. “An interesting reading choice,” she said. “Are old legends of interest to you?”

“Yeah, sure. I used to love hearing about the Mare in the Moon and Gryphon legends about the days of the tribes and stuff,” Vinyl smoothly lied. “But, I never thought the return of Nightmare Moon would be so… sudden. I thought it was the Elements that were supposed to stop her, not your pissed off daughter.”

The book floated over to the coffee table, and Penumbra turned to stare at Vinyl with her blind eyes.

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment, until Penumbra spoke. “Honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, laughter…” She trailed off.

“And the sixth one that’s a mystery,” Vinyl finished. “What about it?”

Penumbra merely frowned at her. After a moment she said, “Your magic font is too small.”

Vinyl blinked in surprise. “The buck? You don’t just go and say shit like that! I’ve got a tiny font, but come on! Classy move. How about I trip you over because you’re blind?”

Penumbra stared at her for a moment before she sighed and turned away. “You’re right, that was impolite of me.”

“Damn, right it was,” Vinyl muttered. “You can get out of my library now.” She jerked her head at the door.

Penumbra stiffened. “Excuse me?” She turned around and walked towards Vinyl threateningly.

“You heard me.” Vinyl stood her ground. “I don’t care if you’re a god or not; I don’t have to take your shit.”

Penumbra’s eyeless face stared at her for a second, before she started chuckling. “Well, you’re certainly brave.”

Vinyl blinked in surprise, and only watched as Penumbra turned around and walked out the door, as though any of that actually made some kind of sense. She glanced over at Pinkie. “The fuck was up with that?”

Pinkie frowned at her. “Red, you were very rude.”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “You heard what she said about-”

“That doesn’t mean you can throw her out of your library!” Pinkie interrupted crossly. “I don’t think she was trying to be mean.”

Vinyl snorted and rolled her eyes. “She’s a big girl, she should be able to take it.”

“You’re being a bully, Red.” Pinkie pouted. “You should apologise to her.”

Vinyl just stared at her in disbelief. “How could I, let alone anyone, bully a god?” She shook her head. “Anyway, you’re fine, Penumbra’s gone, and I need to get out of here.”

Vinyl walked into the bathroom and put on her saddlebag with The Elements. After bending down, she reach under the cupboard with her magic and pulled her sunglasses out.

“Aww, why do you need to go?”

Vinyl glanced over at Pinkie, her natural grin finding her face. “Because I’m probably wanted by the law right now.”

Pinkie gasped and… Vinyl couldn’t explain it. The earth pony seemed to… twitch… or something. One second Pinkie was in the living room, and as Vinyl put her sunglasses back on Pinkie was uncomfortably close to her face.

“The buck!” Vinyl shouted as she stumbled backwards and fell down, her glasses skittering away again.

“Red, are you a criminal?” Pinkie whispered like conspirator as she leaned in closer.

Vinyl was definitely aware at that moment just how poorly positioned she was with her hind legs open and Pinkie failing to understand even the most basic idea of personal space. The default grin found its way to her mouth again, despite her reading nothing but rape in those horrifyingly eager blue eyes.

Get off me, get off me, GET OFF ME! “Personal space, Pinks,” Vinyl pushed Pinkie’s face away from her own and slowly stood up, every fibre of her being screaming at her to run. Vinyl had no doubt if Pinkie was a stallion, right now Vinyl would be kicking him in the dick. She was proud she had managed to stop that shiver running up her spine. “Listen, Pinks. You really need to just… back off a little bit.”

“Why?” Pinkie asked confused, and took another step closer again, making Vinyl flinch.

“Because-”

“Oh, I get it.” Pinkie took a step back and grinned at Vinyl so widely it put her own smile to shame. “You’re totally too cool for things like that.”

Vinyl blinked. Actually, Vinyl totally didn’t mind a hug or a hoof bump, it’s just that this mare was bucking creepy! In any case, she kept her grin in place and nodded. “Yeah, right. That’s it.” With her magic she snatched up her glasses and quickly put them back on. “Anyway, this has been fun, but I need to go.”

“Okay!” Pinkie, replied happily.

Vinyl just stared at her awkwardly for a second before she stepped past Pinkie. Damn weirdo, she mumbled internally. As she peeked her head out the door, Vinyl was glad to see there were no guards around. She wasn’t sure why Penumbra hadn’t arrested her right then, but it could have been because she wasn’t recognised as the DJ, or the guards hadn’t identified her as Mal’s killer yet. Either way she wasn’t taking chances. She needed to get the heck out of Ponyville.

Cautiously she made her way through the streets, checking her corners and staying low and among the crowds. She kept moving like this, keeping an eye out for guards until she came to the train station, and immediately drew back behind the building.

“Shit,” she mumbled. There were at least thirty guards there, all waiting to catch the train back to Canterlot. Why they didn’t just take a sky carriage was beyond Vinyl, but she wasn’t about to ask them.

“What’s the problem?” Pinkie asked suddenly and loudly.

Vinyl barely caught herself from shrieking in shock. “W-What are you doing here?!” She hissed and shoved Pinkie behind a building.

If the stalker was worried about the rough treatment she didn’t show it. “Oh, well you said you were going, and you were sneaking and I thought that looked like fun so I was sneaking too and-”

That voice! Vinyl shoved her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “Okay, okay. You could have just said you followed me.”

“Ihm in’t err-”

Vinyl pulled her newly moist hoof out of her mouth.

“I didn’t just follow you, I super sneakily followed you. I was so sneaky, not even you noticed!”

Vinyl cringed at that loud shout. “Shuush!” she hissed.

Pinkie giggled and covered her mouth. “Sorry.”

Gritting her jaw, Vinyl looked around until she was certain Pinkie’d brought them no attention. After a moment of weighing up her options, Vinyl decided on a course of action.

“Listen, Pinks. You said you know everyone in town, right?”

“Oh yeah!” Good bloody goddesses, that voice was shrill. Vinyl winced as Pinkie continued. “I’m friends with Rarity and Fluttershy and Big Mac and Spit-”

“That’s great, sweetie. Really great.” Vinyl interrupted again with a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “The thing is I need to get out of Ponyville, but the train’s unavailable. So, if you could hook me up with a pegasus that’d be great.”

“Oh! I know lots of pegasi, there’s Fluttershy and-”

“A fast pegasus,” Vinyl emphasized. “And a strong one. Someone that could pull a sky carriage by themselves.”

“Oh, well I know the captain of the weather team. Cloud Kicker’s-”

“No, afraid not Pinks. Weather ponies know everyone, so some pony that’s not as well-known would be great.”

“Well, I guess I might know someone, and they do owe me a favour.”

“Great, who is it?”

“Well, she’s only gonna be back in town later today, but I know she’s a really great flyer. Maybe the best flyer ever!”

“Great, who is it?”

“Oh, and she’s super smart too. She can be grumpy, but she’s actually a really nice pony and-”

“That’s great Pinkie.” Vinyl interrupted, her ire growing. “Really it is, but who is she?”

“Oh silly. That’d spoil the surprise.” And with that she hopped out of the alley. Not walked, hopped. Like she had springs on her hooves. “Come on!”

Reluctantly and quietly, Vinyl followed her. No one really seemed to notice Pinkie, but Vinyl still felt freaked out being next to someone that just stood out so freaking much! Seriously?! How could these ponies be used to this walking bundle of crazy?

Whatever. Vinyl needed to get out of Ponyville, and if that meant tolerating the rape-to-happen-on-hooves she could do that. As long as that wasn’t directed at her for course.

---

Penumbra felt… happy? No, that wasn’t the word for it. It was quite a while since she’d been truly happy. However, running into Pinkie had been a refreshing slap to the face for her. Was that strange? A pleasant shock was now the highlight of Penumbra’s day, if not week, month or year.

Without really thinking about it, she navigated Ponyville with ease. Some part of her was pleased that she could still do that so easily after all these years, another part was saddened by the waves of shocked ponies she left in her wake. But all of her was still feeling more alive than she had in a long time. Ironic, given her inability to die anymore.

When she arrived at the train station, she found all the guards still lolling about, trying to seem useful. Penumbra had left them there so she could squeeze every drop of nostalgia she could out of Ponyville, and that was easier done without a troop of soldiers following her every hoofstep.

Then she noticed something that shook her out of her reverie.

“Please sir, I assure you I’m not the pony you’re searching for.” A high class, well-educated voice assured three skeptical seeming guardsponies. “The mare you said you’re after is that DJ P0N-3 character. My name is Rarity and I see no reason for you to hold me here like this.”

“I was told a white unicorn mare with a purple mane. You match the description, lady.” The stallion stated flatly. “Whether you’re her or not, I’m holding you here until I receive word from-”

“Me?” Penumbra had to admit that she did enjoy making her soldiers jump. For a giant with the strength to crack stone with her hooves, she sure could move quietly if she wanted. Maybe that’s what happened when you relied on sound as much as she did.

“Princess!” The guard snapped a salute. “I-”

“Have the wrong mare, I’m afraid.” Penumbra told him with a gentle smile. At least she hoped it was gentle. “You’re after a mare with a blue mane, not purple.”

The guard faltered slightly. “My apologies Princess-”

“Perhaps I’m not the one you should be apologizing to?” She tilted her head towards Rarity. “Lady Rarity is the one you’ve inconvenienced.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the guard turned and bowed. “I apologize Milady.”

Rarity, as canny as Penumbra remembered, took it in stride. “Oh, pish posh. I’m sure you were just doing your duty.”

With another bow, the guards all backed away and Penumbra found herself drinking in her old friend’s presence.

Apparently this lasted too long and things were perhaps a little awkward. “I-is there anything I can help you with, Your Highness?” Rarity asked, perhaps nervously.

Penumbra would have blinked, but she lacked certain… components necessary for that. “So, you said your name was Rarity.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Would that by any chance be the Rarity that runs that lovely fashion shop, Round Boutique I believe?”

Rarity sounded slightly giddy. “Y-y-yes.”

Penumbra smiled at her. “I’ve been meaning to purchase some attire for the Grand Galloping Gala this year, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about your work.” She waved a hoof over her eyeless face. “I myself have not had the opportunity to appreciate it, but a lady does like to feel beautiful. I trust you would not make a joke of me?”

“I-I-I…” Words were not coming from Rarity’s mouth; rather it was a series of sounds that might be used to one day form a word.

“Is that a no?” Penumbra had to fight to keep the smirk off her face.

“YES!” Rarity interrupted desperately. “I mean, no. I mean, uh… I would be honoured, Your Highness.”

Penumbra smiled. “I’ve yet to lunch; perhaps some tea at your shop while you take my measurements?”

“O-o-of course!” Rarity stuttered out.

The walk to Carousel Boutique was filled with eager chatter about… Wow. It was only now that Penumbra remembered just how much of Rarity’s conversation she tuned out back when she was a unicorn. Talk about high society and fashion and… things that Penumbra wished really weren’t part of the conversations she was supposed to have with the aristocracy. Still, at least it was a much nicer kind of tuning out than the high society’s painfully self-important deluge of worthless information.

It was when Penumbra was in the shop, politely eating cucumber sandwiches and allowing her former friend to take her measurements, when she started paying attention again, rather than just relaxing to the faintly lyrical sound of her voice.

“So, Rarity. Tell me a bit about yourself,” she interjected when there was an appropriate lull in the conversation.

“Moi?” Rarity asked and smiled. “I’m afraid there’s not much to tell.”

“Every pony says that about themselves, but I still find each of my little ponies’ tales worth hearing.” Saying those three words made her feel like Celestia was rolling in her grave. “Earlier today I met a mare named Pinkie Pie who mentioned you.”

“Ah, yes Pinkie Pie. She’s an…” Rarity trailed off, waving a hoof in the air as she tried to find an appropriate word.

“Enthusiastic?” Penumbra offered.

The fashionista smiled. “I was going to say interesting. But yes, she’s a lovely mare, just… she fails to understand some of the social boundaries most of us take for granted.”

Nodding her head, Penumbra continued, “Anyway, you were saying about yourself? Were you born in Ponyville?”

“No, I’m afraid not. I moved here once I had enough bits to start up my own business. I was born in Fillydelphia, in fact.”

“Natural born or mismatch?”

Rarity frowned, which caught Penumbra slightly off-guard. “I prefer the term second foal myself.”

“My apologies,” Penumbra smoothly reassured. “I intended no offense. So, who was your parent?”

After a moment, Rarity continued. “An earth pony and a pegasus. Lovely ponies, but… well a bird has to leave the nest, and some sooner than others.”

“Any siblings?” Penumbra asked good naturedly, perhaps Sweetie Belle was-

“Two elder brothers. Earth ponies, both of them. Natural born.”

The alicorn nodded. “What made you decide to move to Ponyville? It’s far from a fashion hub.”

There was a hesitant pause before Rarity answered, “Fortunate coincidence really. It was not part of my plan, but fate apparently had-”

“Penumbra?!” The alicorn turned her head towards Spike’s voice and the sound of the tinkling bell on the door, as the dragon walked in. “The guards said you were here, and I thought I should…” He trailed off as he laid eyes on Rarity.

Penumbra smirked to herself, as even blind she could tell the dragon was checking her out visibly. “Spike,” she caught his attention a tad sharply. “This is Lady Rarity. Rarity, this is Spike, my assistant.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” He bowed low. The little lecher. When he looked up at Rarity, Penumbra could practically feel his attraction. “I wasn’t aware there were any nobility in Ponyville, let alone any so lovely.”

Rarity for her part just seemed bemused. “I’m afraid Her Highness exaggerates my station. I’m merely a seamstress.”

“I wouldn’t say merely a seamstress, just like I wouldn’t say merely an artist. I’m sure you’re the greatest-”

“Spike,” Penumbra chided. “You were saying?”

He blinked. “Right, uh…” He shook his head to get back on topic. “Well I just thought you should know someone broke into the Ponyville morgue.”

She frowned at him. “What?”

“Yeah, someone broke into the morgue and stole Nightmare Moon’s body.”

For some reason she didn’t fully understand, Penumbra felt a chill run down her spine. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Someone stole-”

“I’m sorry, Rarity.” Penumbra turned to face her. “But I’m afraid this will have to wait. Perhaps you can schedule me in for tomorrow afternoon.”

Without waiting for an answer, Penumbra left the shop in a rush. “Has the investigation started?”

Spike nodded. “Of course. The Guard is looking into it now, but is this really that big a deal? It’s just a corpse, right?”

Penumbra frowned at him. “Spike, I need you to go to Mayor Mare’s office and find out what you can about three mares named Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.”

“Uh… okay? Do you think they did it?”

“In broad daylight? Please, I was just talking to two of them. Just find out what you can please? Also tell me what you can about the current captain of the weather team, and whoever it is that runs the farm Sweet Apple Acres.” After a second’s hesitation she added, “And the mare that runs the library, the unicorn Red Trees.”

Spike frowned. “Penumbra, are you okay?”

“Look, this might be one of those destiny things, okay? Go to the Mayor’s office and get that information for me, please. And also, find Malus and tell her to leave Ponyville, or if she’s not here yet, wait for her and turn her around when she arrives.”

“Why?” He sounded more confused than ever.

“Because if Luna’s alive again, I don’t want her being killed a second time!” Penumbra snapped.

After another moment, Spike left, and Penumbra found herself trotting to the morgue alone, her mind full of hope. Maybe Mal wasn’t enough of an alicorn to have killed her. Maybe Penumbra wouldn’t have to be alone for the next eternity.

---

With a nervous glance up at Malus, Mayor Mare continued flipping through her paperwork. For her part, the Princess sat there quietly watching. After a few more seconds of nervous shuffling, a sheet of paper was hoofed over to her.

“These are the documents she signed, as to where she was staying in town, she said she was covering those costs herself. The only thing she brought with was the mixing table that you destroyed. I’m afraid there’s very little information I can give you on her.”

Malus crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

Mayor blinked nervously, before glancing down at the papers and back up at Malus. “That’s all we have. Perhaps the palace staff would have more on record?”

With a snort, Mal picked up the sheet and gave it a quick read, but mostly it was just the details of business. The only thing of note was the signature. She grimaced as she read it, and put the paper back on the table with a dissatisfied grunt.

Mayor Mare blinked in confusion. “Is something wrong?”

The corner of Mal’s lip turned down in a frown. “Fake,” she said flatly and tapped the DJ’s supposed signature. “Signed ‘Jane Doe’.”

Mayor frowned in confusion before she looked at the paper herself. She swallowed after a moment and looked back up at the princess. “I was unaware that she used a fake ID. With the preparations we had to make for the-”

Mal stopped her with a raised hoof, and decided to chase up another line of questioning. “Pink mare, pink mane with blue eyes and three balloon cutie mark.”

Mayor paused. “That would be Pinkie Pie, why is she-”

“Where?” Mal interrupted again, grimacing as a faint headache formed.

The mayor swallowed again. “She lives and works at Sugar Cube Corner, but I highly doubt she had anything to do with-”

Malus shifted in her seat, and the Mayor quieted again. “What does she do?”

“She’s a baker and an event organiser, but I highly doubt that-”

She cut herself off again when Mal stood up. Malus was about to leave, when there was a buzz over the intercom.

“Mayor, Her Highness’s assistant is here to see you.”

The mayor glanced at Mal as if asking for permission, and when the Princess gave no response, she hesitantly answered the machine, “Send him in please.”

A few seconds later Spike entered the room, and he paused when he saw Malus. “Oh! Hey, you’re here. I was about to go looking for you.”

Mal just returned his gaze flatly.

“Um… I just wanted to uh… say thanks for saving my life last night.” He scratched the back of his head nervously. “I heard that Penumbra freaked out about it, but I think you saved a lot of ponies by killing Nightmare, so uh… thanks.”

After a few moment’s expectant pause, Malus nodded her head in acceptance.

Spike glanced across at the Mayor, who was busily trying to seem like she wasn’t in the room. He turned his gaze back to Mal. “And uh… if you ever want to talk to someone about anything, I’m here for you.”

Malus raised an eyebrow at that.

“I mean, I know you’re really not a talky sort of pony, but like, I’m here if you ever want. And I’m available if you want to call in a favour, you know?”

After a few moments, Mal shrugged.

“Anyway, uh… Penumbra wanted me to find you because she wants you to leave Ponyville.”

Blinking in surprise, Mal frowned.

“I’m not the one telling you to go,” Spike hastily amended. “Penumbra just asked me to find you and tell you to leave town.”

Mal tilted her head to the side and stared at him.

“If you want to know why, I think you’ll have to ask Penumbra. I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you.”

There was a period of uncomfortable silence, before Malus nodded having thought the information over.

“Cool, thanks.” Spike smiled at her. “I know you cop a bit of flak for uh….” He wisely decided not to actually say Manehattan; perhaps her stern warning glare got through to him. He hastily continued, “But I just wanted to say I get why you did it.”

Mal tilted her head at him.

“I mean, it was a mess and you made the decision you had to. The public don’t know it, but historians know you ended the war that day.”

Was he really bringing this up now? Mal’s gaze hardened into a glare. Why, at now of all times, was he suddenly trying to reach out to her?

They just stood there in uncomfortably intense silence for a while, before Mal looked across at Mayor Mare, then back at Spike. “Why are you here?”

Spike blinked in surprise at an actual worded response. “Uh… I’m not sure if Penumbra would like me telling you that.”

After a second, Malus sighed and walked out the door. Why was Penumbra so jumpy these days? Mal and her were never close, but this was the first time she’d been actively excluded from Penumbra’s decisions. She didn’t mind too much, her ego wasn’t that big, but she was getting the feeling Penumbra was starting to reconsider just how much she needed her daughters. Combined with that itch she was getting between her shoulder blades, Mal was starting to feel a little concerned.

Why would she be kicked out of Ponyville directly after being sent there? Perhaps the alicorn was finally starting to snap. Unlikely, but easily possible.

As Malus trotted through Ponyville, she found herself taking in the sights, trying to reason out the mixed feelings of familiarity and loss it gave her. After a while, her ire grew. This town! Penumbra! There were so many lies and secrets and mysteries that Malus was getting a headache. It was making her frustrated, and sick, and… what was with this feeling of wrongness? Why did she feel like something was just… bad! It was the same feeling she got when some pony tried to lie to her. But it didn’t make sense, damn it! Why would she feel this way?

When she arrived at her sky carriage, the Royal Guards that had flown her stepped forward and saluted.

“Princess, is your business in Ponyville complete?”

Mal raised her head to nod, but then paused for a thought. A scowl found her face, and after a second, she slowly lowered it to shake, ‘no,’ instead.

The guard blinked in surprise. “Then… do you wish to return to Canterlot?”

After a second’s hesitation Mal realised she didn’t want to go back to Canterlot just yet. It was only Penumbra’s orders that were making her leave. She shook her head no.

“Well… can we aid you somehow, your highness?”

Mal frowned after a moment, before she turned and walked away, leaving two very confused guards behind her. Mal was just getting sick of it. Sick of being kept in the dark until the last minute, sick of being treated like a dog that constantly needed to be reminded who was Alpha, and sick of feeling like the entire world was wrong, like there was some undercurrent of deception running through everything.

For once, Mal was going to find out something on her own. She didn’t need the bones Penumbra tossed her, and she certainly didn’t need her attention, affection or approval. Penumbra wasn’t her mother; that was a lie. Mal wanted the truth. This was the final straw, the last time Mal had been shoved to the corner, fed another deception and expected to swallow it like a good girl. Whether it was another lie, a half-truth, or just being kept in the dark again, it was dishonest, a deliberate perversion of the truth.

Mal was going to learn who her father was. She was going to find out the truth of her origins, Origins, that she suspected, were tied into the event of two decades ago. Whoever Applejack really was, Mal was going to find out.

First things first, find that DJ. She had The Elements, and The Elements where the first thing to show Malus anything that felt real in a long time. Get revenge? Maybe. First talk to the DJ, find out what she knows. She was willing to kill for the Elements, so they must mean something to her. The only lead she had on the DJ was Pinkie Pie.

A springing sound made Malus glance to her right, and she blinked in surprise. Humming to herself happily, the pink pony was bouncing, literally bouncing, down the street towards the edge of town. Huh. Well, that was convenient.

“You,” Mal said flatly as she trotted towards her.

“Me?” The pony stopped and turned around, smiling brightly as she saw Malus. “You!”

“Me.” Mal said flatly. “The DJ.”

Pinkie blinked. “Oh! P0N3?”

Malus nodded. “Last night. You were with her.” She stepped towards Pinkie, her face set into a dangerous glare. “Tell me.”

Pinkie blinked in confusion. “Tell you what?”

Mal’s hoof pressed into her chest, and Pinkie was backed up against a wall. “Start with her name.”

---

Vinyl crouched low, her heart pounding in her ears as she listened to a dead mare interrogate Pinkie Pie.

Malus. Is. Alive! How is that possible? How in the name of flying buck isn’t she dead! I saw her die! Die! Not get hurt, not get beaten up pretty bad, just flat out, plain old, no other word for it, die!

Vinyl cringed as she remembered the mare she, apparently hadn’t, murdered collapsing to the ground, blood oozing from her eyes and mouth and nose and anus and… her pores! Blood was leaking out of her freaking pores!

Carefully, Vinyl poked her head around the corner of the stall and took another look at the mare. That couldn’t be Malus, could it? Oh yeah, sure she looked exactly the same, and sounded the same, and wore the same clothes, and was asking about Vinyl, and… Oh, who was she kidding? That was Malus!

She ducked back behind the stall and desperately went over any ideas she had to get the heck out of here. How was Malus alive?

Vinyl readjusted her glasses and shook her head.

That wasn’t important. What was important was the fact that she was there, and asking for Vinyl. Vinyl had been trotting behind Pinkie at a distance, when all of a sudden that stern twang sounded out. When she heard ‘you,’ she stopped in her tracks instantly. That voice was distinctive; even if there was only one word said, Vinyl would know it anywhere. It’s kind of hard to forget the first pony you ever killed.

Vinyl had instantly dived around a vendor's stall, and watched in shock as that dead Princess walked to Pinkie from another street. It was damn lucky that Vinyl hadn’t been spotted.

“Her name?” Pinkie asked innocently. “Red Trees!”

“Where’s she live?”

Pinkie hmmm’d. “Um… she said she was from Mareton, but she spent the night in the library. But she doesn’t live there, I know everyone in Ponyville, and she’s not from Ponyville.”

Vinyl breathed a huge sigh of relief. Oh, Pinkie didn’t know anything about Vinyl. She actually thought her name was Red! Mal wasn’t going to learn anything from her.

“Where is she now?” Malus asked.

Vinyl froze. Oh… shit. Looks like Pinkie could tell Malus something after all.

“I dunno,” Pinkie said cheerily. “When I last saw her she said she was going out of Ponyville though.”

“Uh… can I help you?” The pony standing behind the stall asked, making Vinyl jump. “If you’re just standing next to my stall and not buying anything-”

Vinyl held a hoof to her lips in a shushing gesture. After a moment she spoke up quietly. “I’ll give you twenty bits if you let me stay here for a few minutes.”

The stall vender blinked in surprise, before looking towards Princess Malus and Pinkie. She turned back to Vinyl, a mean smirk spreading over her face. “Forty bits and I won’t call them over here right now.”

Vinyl grit her jaw. “Fine, forty bits if-”

“I changed my mind. Fifty bits.”

“Fine!” Vinyl hissed. “Just shut up and I’ll pay you seventy bits!”

The stall vender quirked an eyebrow. “If you’ll pay seventy, you’ll pay a hundred.”

Vinyl breathed out a deep breath of air. “Fine. I’ll give you every bit I have on me, but only once the coast is clear.”

The stall vender smirked and leaned back.

Vinyl shook her head and tried to listen in on Pinkie and Malus again. “-totally friends with her. She’s cool and has a really nice smile.”

“You said you only met her last night.” Vinyl could hear the hard edge of anger in Mal’s voice. Or maybe that was just the way she always sounded.

“Oh, I did,” Pinkie replied happily, and Vinyl could hear her bouncing. Just how did that make sense? That little springing sound shouldn’t exist. “It was a fun night! Except for the part where I passed out from a migraine.” The springing stopped. “That wasn’t fun.”

“You met her last night,” Mal stated flatly. “She’s your ‘super special pony friend forever’?”

Vinyl almost did a spit take. Okay, no. Just no. She did not want to be friends with that rape-crime-to-be under any circumstances.

“Uh huh!” Pinkie answered enthusiastically.

Vinyl had… no words. No words existed in her vocabulary that could express just how she felt about that.

“Uh huh,” replied Malus much less enthusiastically. After a second she let out a frustrated sigh and turned away.

“Okay, bye!” Pinkie shouted enthusiastically as the princess walked away.

Vinyl waited a few moments before she breathed a huge sigh of relief and stepped out from behind the stall.

“Well? Pay up.” The vendor smirked at Vinyl.

“No worries.” Vinyl reached into her saddlebag and rummaged around for a moment. Then she spat a single coin onto the counter. “Every bit in my bag. Like I promised.”

The vender blinked, before glancing at the coin then back at Vinyl. “You said you’d pay a hundred bits!”

“Lady, I would have said anything.” Vinyl grinned. “Come on, do I look like I’m packing a hundred bits?” The hilarious part was that Vinyl actually had about thirty on her.

After a second the vendor scowled and snatched up the coin. “Get out of here. And I don’t ever want to see you around here again.”

Vinyl walked over to Pinkie with her grin still in place. “Thanks for covering for me, Pinks.”

Pinkie frowned at her. “Red, you shouldn’t make your friends lie for you. It’s not nice.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that,” Vinyl reassured her. “But I’m pretty sure that Malus wants to murder me so it wasn’t for no reason.”

Pinkie looked surprised for a moment. “Why would anypony want that?”

Vinyl shrugged and grinned. “Some ponies can just be like that, Pinks. Not my fault that flux crystal destabilised.” Not strictly a lie, but she could have stopped it. “Or that she cracked the casing with her hoof.” That was a plain old lie. She could have stopped it destabilising if she hadn’t rolled it under Mal’s hoof. “Anyway, we were gonna meet your pegasus friend, right?”

---

Sometimes in life, you just needed to hit something. And sometimes you had to hit that something hard. Repeatedly.

This was a lesson that the punching bag was learning the hard way.

Snarling, Spectra flapped back for a second for some build up, before she dove forward with a burst of speed to slam both her hind hooves into the unlucky inanimate object. The chain it was suspended on snapped, and the punching bag flew across the room to slam into the wall.

Spectra watched the dust settle for a moment, before she cursed and walked over to the bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she walked back to the centre of the room where she stood the bag up and examined the chain at its top, and the chain hanging from the roof. The link was completely shattered, and without a horn, Spectra couldn’t fix it.

With a snarl she lifted the bag up over head and threw it against the wall.

“Stupid goddess damn thing!” She shouted as she flew across the room and snatched it up again. “Buck you!” she screamed as she slammed it against a wall. “Bitch! Bloody retarded piece of shit bitch faced whore!” The bag slammed into the wall once more before it slipped out of her grip and fell to the floor.

That didn’t stop Spectra.

Straddling the bag with her hind legs, she sat atop it and pummelled it repeatedly. Imagining that it was Mal’s face she was smashing into the floor. That stupidly awesome hat bloodied and ruined, her gorgeous green eyes crushed under Spectra’s hooves, those perfect white teeth bloodied and choking down her throat. Her… orange coat as soft as velvet, those hard muscles rippling beneath her, the taste of apples on her breath when they kissed, and that smile. That beautiful smile. The one she hid with a scowl and a glare, but couldn’t be unseen once glimpsed.

Only one time had Spectra seen that smile and heard that laugh. In Manehattan, when it was over. It was on that goddess damned night of fire and ashes, with the smell of honey mixed with corpses lingering in the air, and the screams of the dead and the dying echoing from every corner. When that all finally came to an end, there she was, standing atop the stairs of the mayoral hub, a dead changeling queen lying in front of her. And in that moment, she looked at Spectra and smiled. Not a maniacal grin or a smirk of triumph. It was a real smile of relief and joy. Then after a moment she laughed. A small chuckle escaped her lips, and after that…

The battle of Manehattan was over, the changeling war was over, and she was done. Her duster ruined, her hat covered in blood, her fur still sizzling with green hell fire, and coated in sweat and changeling goop. She looked so perfect then, with that look on her face…

Then she laughed heartily. Out of relief and exhaustion and the sheer joy of the end. She laughed beautifully and clearly, ringing out across the street like music to a chorus of crackling fires and screaming wounded.

The soldiers that were there, Spectra, a few others, they knew why she laughed like that. Why she was overjoyed at the end. They were too. Soon two princesses and eighteen stallions were all laughing like they’d heard the greatest joke anyone ever told.

She’s looked so gorgeous, with that light in her eye and her hair billowing out in the wind.

Spectra froze as she noticed the taste of leather in her mouth. She opened her eyes, and realised she was kissing the boxing bag. She stood up and threw the bag away from her.

“What the buck is wrong with you!” Spectra slapped herself. “She’s your sister! Celestia bucking damn it!” She paced back and forth for a moment or two. “It’s wrong damn it! You’re just fooling around! You shouldn’t even be doing that! She doesn’t even mean anything to you. She’s a stupid mule who doesn’t care about anyone or anything. Why do you even want to talk to her?! No one else does!”

With a huff she sat on the ground and glared daggers at the boxing bag that had impersonated Malus.

The practise room door opened, and Spectra glanced over at Blood Eyes as she walked in.

“Spectra,” a smirk tugged at the corner of the gryphon’s beak. “What’s the matter? Tire yourself out?”

Spectra snorted and stood up. “No, just thinking.”

Blood Eyes glanced around the room, and it was then that Spectra noticed the place was in shambles. The wooden floors were cracked, the practice dummies were shattered and the racks of swords for sparring were lying on the floor with their contents spilled everywhere.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment, surveying the wreckage when Blood Eyes turned back to Spectra. “I like the way you think.”

Spectra snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s me. Total egghead. Need a thinking solution? Come to me.” She cracked her neck. “I’ll fix that noggin of yours up real quick.”

Blood Eyes chuckled at that and surveyed the ruined room again. “Well there goes my plans for the afternoon.” Another pause before she looked back to Spectra. “Just got from Ponyville, got the hunt done waaaay quicker than I thought I would. Freaking bitch didn’t even make it hard on me.” She came over and sat down next to Spectra. “And since you destroyed the practice room, maybe we can hang out or something.”

Spectra glanced at the gryphon. “Hang out?”

“Yeah, I know I gotta work on that leather for you and Mal, but fuck that. I just want to take the night off, you know? Watch the rainbows get dashed away by the pegasi and sip some applejack from the castle towers.”

Spectra shrugged. “Well fine, go do that. What do you need me for?”

There was a moment’s pause before Blood Eyes answered. For some reason she was watching Spectra pretty intently. “Well, drinking alone’s not a lot of fun, and alcoholic gryphons ain’t exactly a rarity. Kinda gotta be careful that I don’t get so shit faced I can’t even fly down from the roof.”

“Fair enough, so… why me then? I mean, we’re not really friends are we?”

“Not friends?” The gryphon scoffed. “You got a pretty tight definition of friends if I don’t count after that bit with the mare with the pinky mane. I totally covered your ass there, and that wasn’t some small favour either.”

Spectra cringed slightly at the memory. “How was I supposed to know she was completely insane? All you had to do was tell her I wasn’t gonna be able to see her.”

“And then spend the rest of the night patting her on the back and telling her she’s gonna find love someday and that she’s not a horrible pony while she sobs into my shoulder about everypony that’s ever left her and listen to her fucking pathetic history of constantly being screwed and tossed.”

Spectra coughed into her hoof.

“And then at the end she tried to hit on me, and told me I was ‘the nicest guy she ever met’. Then I had to tell her I was actually female and that my barn door didn’t swing that way.” Blood Eyes shivered. “The most awkward five minutes. Ever.”

“Well you could have just shoved her off,” Spectra mumbled. “You didn’t exactly have to be nice about it.”

“Hey! Suck my imaginary dick!” Blood Eyes jabbed a claw at Spectra. “Just ‘cause I wanna make sure the girl’s okay. Anyway, the point is that was a pain in the ass and I did it cause you asked me to. Dashing some stupid filly’s hopes of marrying into royalty is not how I want to spend my Friday nights.” Blood Eyes looked to the ground and spoke in poetic voice, “And when she shyly fluttered away at the end.” She shook her head and sighed.

“Alright, fine, fine!” Spectra rolled her eyes. “So I owe you.” She paused for thought. “And we might be friends.”

“Great!” Blood Eyes said with a smirk as she wrapped an arm around Spectra’s shoulder. “You me, a view of the sparkling twilight, and any kinda booze you want. Come on. It’s not like you had anything better planned.” She looked around the wrecked room. “Not like there’s anything else for you to break in here either.”

“Shut up,” Spectra growled. “How much did you hear anyway?”

“Hear of what?” Blood Eyes glanced over at her.

“Nothing, forget about it.” Spectra muttered as she walked to the door.

They stopped by Blood Eyes’ room to get some drinks, then a quick flight through the halls of Canterlot Castle later, and soon they were sitting on the roof of the palace.

“Heh,” Blood Eyes chuckled as she opened the bag open and pulled out a bottle of hard whiskey. “Not a lot of ponies can keep up with me, let alone a pansy ass princess.”

Spectra rolled her eyes. “Yeah well, being half an alicorn helps.” She watched Blood Eyes pouring herself a glass before she snatched it up with her wing and slugged it down. She smacked her lips. “Nice… smoky.”

“I know, right?” Blood Eyes poured two glasses this time and sipped hers more slowly as Spectra swallowed hers in one go again. “So, what had you so pissed off?”

Spectra rolled her eyes. “Nothing.”

“Sure,” Blood Eyes replied. “Sometimes ‘nothing’ pisses me off like that too… I mean, that nothing, right? It’s a real bitch isn’t it?”

“Shut up, pour me another,” Spectra replied.

The thing she liked about Blood Eyes was the same thing she hated about her. She never treated Spectra like anything other than just a normal pony. It made hanging out with her easy and casual, without any formality or stuffiness at all. The down side though, was Blood Eyes had no clue when to drop things. She also needled Spectra about things that most ponies wouldn’t have the balls to even bring up.

“I’m betting…” Blood Eyes hmm’d for a moment. "Romantic problems?”

“Buck off,” Spectra replied.

“You mean fuck, right?”

Spectra blinked. “What?”

“The word’s fuck, not buck. It pisses me off how you ponies keep using buck. I mean come on, it doesn’t even make sense. I mean, does that make applebucking season an innuendo? Go find yourself an Apple and fuck ‘em?”

Spectra blinked. “Why would you screw an apple?”

“I mean the family. There’s an Apple family.”

“Oh… right.”

Rummaging around in her bag for a second, Blood Eyes came out with another bottle that she passed to Spectra. “See? Applejack from out around Appleoosa. Product of the Apple Family.”

On the bottle was three apples and the wording, ‘Appleoosan Applejack. Best in the west.’

“Huh.” Spectra passed the bottle back. “Those three apples look kinda like Mal’s cutie mark.”

“I know, right?” Blood Eyes smirked at Spectra. “Gotta be a coincidence though.”

Spectra shrugged.

“Anyway, I was saying, who’s the mare?”

“Fuck off, Blood Eyes.”

“Hey! There we go, got the right word this time.” Blood Eyes elbowed Spectra again. “So what’s she like? I’m betting you’re totally into-”

“What’s with your name?” Spectra suddenly turned to the gryphon.

“…Huh?”

“I said, what’s with your name?” Spectra repeated. “You want to ask me awkward questions I don’t want to answer, I can ask you those too. So, why are you named Blood Eyes?”

“I thought it was kinda obvious,” Blood Eyes waved a claw in front of herself. “White feathers and all. I’m an albino.”

“Albino’s have pink eyes.” Spectra replied.

“Well, you know gryphons, melodramatic about everything.”

“Yeah, I do know gryphons.” Spectra replied. “And they don’t have names like Blood Eyes. Their names are like Graciano or Adelina or Pierre. Usually they start with a G. Gryphon names don’t mean anything.” She jabbed a hoof at Blood Eyes. “Pony names have meanings. You have a pony name.”

Blood Eyes shrugged. “Raised by ponies?”

“Not with your hunting skills.” Spectra replied. “There’s a reason we hired a gryphon to be the royal hunter, not a pony.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“So, what’s your real name then?” Spectra asked after a moment.

There was a pause before Blood Eyes answered. “Doesn’t matter. My name’s Blood Eyes now.”

“What, are you an exile then?” Spectra replied. “I know they strip your name when-”

“No, I’m not an exile,” Blood Eyes replied before the question could be finished. “Just… a regular old Equestrian citizen.”

Spectra snorted. “Riiiight. So why does a gryphon want to live with ponies anyway?”

There was a moment’s pause. “Where do the gods live?” Blood Eyes answered. “It’s the alicorns that raise and set the sun. What happens to the ponies affects the rest of the world. If all the gryphons were to die off,” She snapped her finger. “Boom. Dead, the lot of them. If that were to happen, you know what’d change? Not a lot. Our lands would be divided amongst other races, and the world would keep spinning. If the ponies were to die? World’s fucked. The world needs alicorns, and alicorns are ponies.” After pausing for a drink, Blood Eyes continued. “I’m in the place where the future is gonna be decided, the place where fate is shaped.” She shrugged and took another drink. “Make of that whatever the fuck you will.”

Spectra paused for thought. “What makes you say that? Why are ponies more important?”

“I didn’t say ponies were more important,” Blood Eyes replied. “I just said that what happens here affects the world. A gryphon’s worth the same as a pony, it’s just that Equestria’s where the gods and the Elements of Harmony live.”

“The Elements of Harmony?” Spectra repeated. “Never heard of ‘em.”

Blood Eyes snorted. “Then you’re an idiot. Seriously, look it up. It’s pretty damn important.”

They sat in silence for a while, before Spectra broke it. “So, I hear the gryphon empire’s building up to civil war, any idea what that’s about?”

“Yeah, the gryphon royal family all died in The Event, and we tried to hold it all together with some Council of the Clans bullshit. Worked at first, but twenty years later the Kingdom’s no longer a kingdom, and now it needs a king. Whoever wins this war is gonna be that king. A brand new royal family to hold shit together for another thousand years.”

“Huh. Sounds pretty stupid if you ask me.”

She snorted in reply. “Yeah well unlike you ponies, we don’t have goddesses to just be in charge. It’d be better if we did, but we don’t. So, we gotta fight over who we want to be on the throne.”

Spectra grabbed the bottle and tipped it back for a long swig as she stared out over the horizon. She had to admit the view was great from up here. All of Canterlot, from the top of the mountain down to the lowest slum, all of it arrayed in front of her.

This must be what Penumbra sees from her bedchamber every night. If she could see that is.

“What about you, princess?” Blood Eyes asked and elbowed Spectra. “What’s happening in the world of politics?”

Spectra barked out laughter. “How should I know? I hate that shit. Penumbra deals with all that crap.”

Blood Eyes snorted. “That’s really dumb, dude.”

Spectra glanced over at her. “What?”

“That’s stupid. I mean, Penumbra’s basically telling you to sit in the corner and be a good girl while she handles the adult business.” Her head turned so she was watching Spectra with a smirk on her beak. “She’s minimizing you, and you’re happy to let her do it.”

Spectra blinked in surprise before she scowled and snatched up another bottle. “Whatever.”

“I’m just saying, aren’t you like, part god or some shit? I know for a fact that some of the Royal Guard worship you and Mal as the spirits of earth and sky. Shouldn’t you, you know, actually try to make things better for them? It’s fucking dumb to just trust one mare to run everything for you, not when you’ve got the power to make things better.”

Spectra snorted. “How am I supposed to make things better?”

“I dunno, but if you haven’t noticed, Penumbra’s not doing a very good job at the moment. Maybe you could step in, be a better influence? Actually do something other than watch while she does her best to burn the most stable government in history to the ground.”

“She’s not burning the-”

“Manehattan.” Blood Eyes interrupted.

There was a pause. “That wasn’t her fault. Malus was the one who made that call.”

“And Malus made the right call too. I’m saying Penumbra should have been the one to do what her daughter did. Malus ended the Changeling War, right then and there. What she did was harsh, and I doubt Manehattan’s ever gonna be like it was, but the way Penumbra was doing things, the changelings would have burned their way right up to Canterlot. The entire time their swarm would be growing and multiplying, until the entire country eventually would have been overrun.” She glanced over at Spectra. “You know I’m right.”

Spectra was silent. “Is this you trying at getting involved in the future of the world? Trying to convince me to betray my mother?”

“I’m not saying betray her, dude. I’d never suggest that. Loyalty is bloody important. No, what I’m saying is don’t take her at face value. That bitch is messing up too much for you to just sit on the sidelines anymore.”

They were silent for a bit longer. “Where did you even come from?” Spectra muttered as she stood up. “If you’re so smart why don’t you go back to the gryphon kingdom and conquer it yourself?”

Blood Eyes barked out a laugh. “Now that’d be interesting. Me on a throne? You’re telling the punchline to a joke you don’t know the rest of.” She took another swig of alcohol. “Maybe. I mean… the war won’t end anytime soon, right? Once things are wrapped up here, I might have a crack at the homelands. See if I can make my cubs little princes and princesses.” She chuckled and nudged Spectra with an elbow. “Maybe have them take lessons in princessness from you.”

Spectra laughed too. “Yeah, they’d be the most awesome royal family ever.” She paused for thought. “Seriously, who are you? What’s your story?”

Blood Eyes paused. Silence hung in the air for a minute or two, as she weighed up her words. “I’m just… someone who’s seen a lot of things. Who’s been places.” She looked across at Spectra. Smirking, she put on a slower wheezy stoner’s voice. “I’ve seen some shit, man.” She chuckled at her own joke and took another drink.

Spectra snorted and looked back out to the city. “I could probably find out if I wanted. How many albino gryphons live in Equestria?”

“One,” Blood Eyes replied and jerked a thumb at herself. “Shouldn’t be too hard for you to find out with some help from Spike. Sure, have some homework. See what you can find out about me.” She smirked across at Spectra. “You’ll get everything, where I was born, my real name, where I was educated etc, etc, blah blah blah. Go for it, but I promise you, you’ll learn everything there is to know about my life, and you still won’t know a damn thing about it.”

Spectra blinked in confusion at those words. “What?”

Blood Eyes glanced up at the moon. “Anyway, I better go. Long ass leather working session to get to tomorrow.” She sighed and shook her head. “Hey, you want to keep the applejack? I don’t really need it anymore.”

Spectra opened her mouth to speak, when Blood Eyes cut across her again.

“Oh, and just a little more food for thought, but you say all pony names have meanings, right? Well then, what does your name mean? What about Penumbra’s and Malus’?” Blood Eyes shrugged. “Just think about it a bit.”

“I could just beat it out of you,” Spectra said flatly, tiring of the condescension and cryptic questions. “It might be quicker and easier.”

Blood Eyes tilted her head. “Yeah you could. But that’d ruin the fun of it. It’s just a friendly game, dude. Not like it really matters.” She spread her wings and took to the air. “Besides!” She called back. “That’d be cheating!”

And with that, she took off. Spectra watched the retreating gryphon with a frown on her face. After a moment, she shrugged and sat back down. She watched the city for a bit longer, before she picked up the bottle of applejack with Mal’s cutie mark on its face.

“Applejack…” She frowned and scrunched up her face. “Applejack, applejack.” Something about it tickled her memory. Then she blinked as she remembered it was one of the names Mal had spoken last night when she was spouting her random nonsense.

“Applejack…” she repeated as she stared at the bottle.

---

Sweet Apple Acres looked the same as it always did. Row upon row of apple trees stretching as far as the eye could see; the corn field next to that path leading to the barn, the chicken coop and pig pen, all of it was completely unchanged.

It hadn’t really been that long, just six months, but still… She expected the place to seem a little different. At least it looked as pretty at night as it always did. With a sigh, she banked and brought herself in to land on the path leading up to the road.

She trotted slowly, partly to delay the inevitable, partly to take in the sights, mostly because she dared anyone to fly from Featherton to Ponyville and not be a little exhausted. She walked up to the front porch, and paused to listen to the sound of clanking dishes and conversation from inside as the ponies ate their evening meal. With a pause for a sigh, she straightened up her hair a bit and adjusted her saddlebags.

Then she knocked, and listened to the sound of a conversation stopping. There was the sound of heavy hoofsteps as a big boned pony slowly made their way to the front door.

A second later it opened, and there stood Big Mac. They stood there in awkward silence for a moment, as the earth pony looked the pegasus up and down and the straw in his mouth swung to the side.

“Spitfire,” he said solemnly. “What do you want?”

Spitfire scuffed a hoof against the floor and didn’t answer. The awkward silence was louder than her drill sergeant’s voice, and that stallion seriously knew how to scream. She kinda wished someone would scream. It might break the tension a bit.

“Big Mac,” she replied with a respectful nod. “Can I come in?”

There was a heavy silence for a moment, before Big Mac rolled his eyes and broke into a grin. A bass rumble of a chuckle escaped his throat and he stepped forward to wrap Spitfire up into a bone crushing hug.

“Great to see you again, Spits.”

She tried to fight it, but a moment later a smile conquered her face. “Yeah-yeah, great to see you too you big lug.” She hugged him back, and for once it didn’t feel totally awkward.

Macintosh thumped her on the back affectionately, and the blow made Spitfire wince. “You need to visit more.”

“I write all the time,” she defended herself. “And I send back bits.”

“S’not the same,” Mac replied and she winced. “You need tah come home more.”

“Yeah well…” She trailed off and scratched her that back of her head. It was kinda hard for her to say just how she felt. A constant sense of oddness had plagued her as long as she could remember. As if she was some ghost that had possessed another pony’s life. “I’m here now, aren’t I? Isn’t that what really matters?”

Mac smiled. “Eeyup.” He turned around and pushed Spitfire towards the door. “Food’s on the table. We thought you were gonna get here sooner, and when you were late we got started without you.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Spitfire ducked her head to hide her expression. “But I already ate before coming over. You know, work and all that, had to pull extra time so...”

“Oh...” Mac sounded a little crestfallen. “Well ya’sure you don’t got room for some o’ Granny’s apple pie? I know it was a long flight here, and you’ll need the energy.”

“Maybe in the morning? Sorry Mac, I’m not particularly hungry right now.”

Mac paused in the hall, and turned around to examine Spitfire. He seemed slow if you didn’t know him, but Big Mac was as perceptive as any Apple. And though he didn’t say much, Spitfire knew he was a lot smarter than he seemed.

“Spits... ‘s everything, okay?”

“Sorry...” A small smile tugged at her lips. “Boss at work was just... raw today. You know? Kinda put me in a foul mood is all, and I don’t really want to ruin dinner for you all.”

He stared at her for a moment. The straw in his mouth swung from one corner of his mouth to the other. His eyes narrowed for a moment, before he sighed and turned around. “Just grit and bear it Spits. You know how much Bloom missed you.” He looked over his shoulder at her.

“R-Right.” Spitfire ran a hoof through her mane, unable to meet Big Mac’s eyes.

“Come on.” He stopped at the dining room door. “They’re waiting on you.” A moment later he pushed it open and walked through.

For a brief moment, she hesitated, hoof half raised almost as though crossing that line would cause some sort of catastrophe. Then with a long slow breath, she gathered up her courage and walked through the door.

It was instantaneous. “Spitfire!” That high pitched southern twang split the air. Barely a second later a yellow filly-shaped rocket smacked into Spitfires legs and hugged her. “You’re back, you’re back!”

“H-Hey there kiddo, long time no see.” It felt so awkward to ruffle Apple Bloom’s mane, almost as though she was doing it to some random filly she found on the street .

“Why were ya gone so long? And what happened to yer accent?” Apple Bloom stared up at Spitfire, looking nothing but happy.

“I guess I just slowly lost it over time?” Or maybe it had something to do with those lessons, but she wasn’t about to say that out loud.

“Apple Bloom, sit down. Don’t you know it’s rude to leave when everypony’s eating?” Granny Smith scolded, and looked over at Spitfire. Apple Bloom pouted and sat down, and Spitfire stood there in the door for a moment, unsure what to do. “Well? Sit down, Spitfire.” Granny Smith smiled at her. “Don’t tell me you’re too of a big city pony now to enjoy a good ol’ country dinner.”

“Um... I was hoping to shower first... it was a long, tiring flight and I am super sweaty...” Spitfire gave them her most charming smile.

Big Mac coughed loudly, and shifted in his chair, the wood creaking loudly. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. The message was perfectly clear. ‘Spitfire, you’re not getting out of this. Stop trying.’

“But I am pretty thirsty and hungry from the flight over.” The pegasus sat down at the table. “And this pie looks great.”

Bag Mac gave a slow nod. ‘Well done. Now keep it up.’

“Goin’ for the pie already?” Granny Smith chuckled. “Aintcha gonna give your Granny a hug?” Her weathered cheeks turned up into a smile. “And I thought they were supposed to teach you manners in that h’officer training what-cha-ma-call-it.”

“But I’m all sweaty an-” At Big Mac’s glare, Spitfire stood up and gave Granny Smith a light hug, trying her hardest to not touch the elderly mare. It just felt too much like hugging a sorta friend for the first time. She tried to pull away, but Granny Smith didn’t let go for a lot longer than Spitfire was comfortable with.

After a moment that felt way longer than it was, Spitfire was released, but not before she got poked in the side.

Granny Smith frowned. “Yer looking a little scrawny. Don’t they give you much exercise at that school? Or don’t the vittles have that ol’ Apple Family goodness?”

“Granny, all pegasi are like this. I’m perfectly fit and healthy for a mare of my age and size.”

Granny blinked at that. “Well, if you say so.” She watched as Spitfire sat down, her eyes narrowing. “Are you alright, Spits? Ya seem a mite on edge.”

Big Mac shook his head at Spitfire firmly. ‘You’re not ruining this meal.’

“Bad day. Captain was being an utter bit-” Apple Bloom shifted in the corner Spitfire’s eye and she cleared her throat. “Yeah, captain was on edge and that meant everyone was on edge.”

Granny nodded, satisfied. “Well just relax and enjoy ya family and good vittles.” She smiled. “I know they’re the only reason you came home in the first place.” Granny’s voice and eyes made it clear it was a joke, which was far more accurate than she knew.

Home was a joke. The biggest joke that had ever been played by anyone, anywhere, anytime. Home was where she felt safe, as though she belonged and was loved- not that she didn’t feel loved! It was just... uncomfortable. Like clopping in someone else’s house or with ponies sleeping nearby.

“And the pies and cider and zap apple jam. Heh, did I ever tell you about that jar of zap apple jam I took with me to camp?” asked Spitfire. “Turns out, it was so delicious the CO confiscated the entire jar thinking it was zapstract. The next day? Found him holed up in his room stuffing his face with the stuff.”

Granny Smith smiled at that. “Yessun, the zap apples are a mite bit addictive.” She scowled. “Damn waste to turn it into that zapstract hoo-hah.” After a moment she leaned back in her chair. “What was yer little school like? Did’ja make any friends?”

“I didn’t meet any enemies, does that count?”

Granny Smith snorted. “Well, you got plenty o’ friends back here in little ol’ Ponyville. Fluttershy, she’s a lovely girl, Rarity, and that pinky filly. Oh, what’s her name... Pinkie? Yeah, that’s it. You visit us more often, you might be able to stay in touch with them better.”

“Yeah... how are they anyways?”

“Pinkie’s doing fine with the Cakes, from what I hear. Helped us out with the harvest this year too,” Granny’s voice became a little pointed. “We were short a pair of hooves.”

“Give her some coffee and she’s worth ten,” replied Spitfire cheerily, deliberately ignoring the jab.

“One time,” Apple Bloom interjected, “I could’a sworn I saw her with ten hooves.”

Granny Smith chortled at her. “Well, I’m sure you were just seeing things, sugar.”

“For all I care, as long as Pinkie’s mane stays curly, she can breathe fire,” said Spitfire.

Granny smiled. “Well it was nice of her to help, but it’s just not the same without you here.”

“Yeah, well...” Spitfire shrugged and stretched her wings. “What can I say? Nothing beats these bad boys.”

“You could say that you’ll visit more, or you could say that I raised you better than that, or you could just say you’ll stay here and not run off again?” Granny Smith’s voice was hard, and she was practically glaring at Spitfire.

Big Mac sighed, and leaned back in his chair. ‘I give up.’

“Unless you want me to be hunted down for deserting the military, sure, let me get right on that Granny.” The two glared at each other. “You know what, I’m tired from my flight and could use a nice, relaxing shower. Good. Night.”

Granny stared at her for a moment, before she shifted in her seat. “I wasn’t tryin’ to make you leave, or get angry which’a. I just want you to talk to us, tell us why you need to keep leaving all the time. I’ve done everythin’ I could after your mother passed away to make you feel at home, even if you were a mismatch and a pegasus.”

“Well maybe you should just stop bucking trying so hard, ever thought of that?”

Granny Smith blinked at that. “O’course not, yer family. You stick with family, no matter what.”

“I’m a blood pegasus!” Both hooves slammed onto the table, causing the plates to jump. “Every single Apple has always been an eath pony. I doubt there’s even a drop of pegasus or unicorn blood anywhere in your veins. Stop trying to make me fit in, because I don’t alright!? You know this, I know this, so just... stop. Please.”

Granny Smith leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowing. “Just stop? Just stop, ya say? I’ve been raising you and feedin’ you fer as long as Bloom here’s been alive, and you want me ta just stop?” Granny Smith snorted. “Well if that ain’t dumb enough to beat all. Just stop? That’s yer answer?” She shook her head. “You don’t just stop lovin’ somepony. Life ain’t that sweet. I put blood, sweat, and tears into you, when the easier thing ta do would’a been to just ship ya off to some orphanage? No. We’re Apples, you’re an Apple, and we don’t raise quitters, and we don’t take the easy way out.” She pointed a hoof across the table at Spitfire. “And we don’t run away from our problems neither. We work ‘em out.” She added firmly, “As a family.”

Spitfire stood there on trembling limbs before whispering, “I’m... sorry everyone, for ruining your dinner.” Then, without a backward look, she walked out the door.

“Sis!” Applebloom called out. “Sis-”

“Leave her be Bloom,” Granny Smith said. “Give her time to decide what she wants ta do.”

Spitfire heard this from the hall as she trotted away, and tried to pretend she hadn’t. She turned to trot up the stairs to the bathroom, when there was a knock on the door. After a second’s hesitation, she ignored it and continued up stairs. She only reached the top floor when she heard Big Mac open the front door.

“Hi Big Mac!” The most sugary sweet voice anyone ever had, ever, rang out.

“Miss Pie,” Came Big Mac’s reply. “Can I help you and yer... friend.”

“Oh absolutely! You can help a lot of ponies, but right now you can’t because we need a pegasus, and not just any pegasus, but a good flier pegasus, so I thought to myself, ‘Pinkie, who do you know that’s a pegasus that can fly well,’ and I realised Spitfire was coming home today and I was wondering if you’d seen her around?”

“...” Spitfire could practically hear the wheels in Bag Mac’s head turning as he processed that. “She’s busy, sorry ta say. Maybe if ya’ll come back in the-”

“Hey, what’s up?” asked Spitfire as she glided down the stairs.

“Oh!” Pinkie bounced into the room and wrapped Spitfire up in a spinning bouncing hug. “Spitsy! It’s been forever! Well, not forever, because if it was forever then that would mean you wouldn’t have come back at all, but it feels like it’s been forever!”

“Pinkie?” Spitfire untangled herself and pushed the pink party pony back. “Space.”

“Oops!” Pinkie smiled and stepped forward again. “I forgot, because you were just gone for sooooooooooooo long.” She smiled and bounced up and down excitedly. “How was your bossy pegasus school?”

“Great. Just... great...” Spitfire tilted her head towards the unicorn. “Who’s your new friend? You didn’t kidnap someone again, did you? We’ve talked about this.”

The unicorn in the door grinned and stepped into the room. She walked with a confident trot, and the purple sunglasses she had on made it hard to read her expression.“Something like that. You’re Spitfire, right?”

“Yeah... And you are?”

“A friend of Pinks.” She glanced over at Big Mac, and that grin turned into a smirk. “Yikes, you’re freaking huge. What the heck do they feed you guys out here?”

Big Mac watched her for a moment, before he turned and gazed at Spitfire. ‘You deal with them.’ Then he trotted back into the dining room.

“Your name,” repeated Spitfire.

The unicorn grinned over at Spitfire. “What is it with ponies and names? Sure, let’s just call the pink pony ‘Pinkie’, or the giant stallion ‘Big Mac’, or the pegasus whose hair looks like a blowtorch ‘Spitfire’.” She nudged Pinkie. “This town’s even worse with that than the rest.”

“Or maybe it’s because I like playing with fire.” One hoof on the door frame, the pegasus gave them her most sadistic smile. “And I have been meaning to see how quickly a panicking unicorn can put out a flame.”

That grin again, this time with a little chuckle. “Pinks, you gonna introduce us?”

Pinkie nodded at that enthusiastically. “Spitfire, this is Red. Red, this is Spitfire. She’s been my super special friends since forever! Well, not forever because-”

“Yeah, we get it Pinks.” Red interrupted her, and turned to Spitfire. “You okay? You seem kinda on edge. If I’m in the way I can totally come back later.”

“Nah, I’m fine.” The door shut behind them. “So what’s up?”

“Pinks tells me you’re a good flyer.” Red grinned again. “And she also tells me you owe her a favour. And Pinks owes me a favour.”

“I do?” Pinkie blinked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Red turned around and looked over at her. “Remember? You almost got me killed when that balcony collapsed?”

Pinkie perked up. “Oh!” Then she perked down. “Right. That. Sorry.”

“Sounds like one heck of a party. Couldn’t you have waited for me?” said Spitfire.

Red grinned. “So you haven’t heard about what happened in town last night?”

“As long as it didn’t involve strippers, it will never beat that party. But nope, flying all night. Why? Did Pinks get you two thrown in jail again?”

“Nope!” Pinkie announced happily.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.” Red turned to Spitfire. “The point is, you owe Pinks a favour, Pinks owes me a favour, so I think you kinda owe me a favour.”

“Only if you call in your favour to Pinkie so that she’s forced to cash in the favour I owe her,” replied Spitfire. “I’m not letting you get free favours now.”

Red grinned again. “Yeah, totally. Pinks, I’m cashing in that favour you owe me, so that Spitsy has to cash in the favour she owes you. Anyway, the point is, I need someone to fly me to Manehattan, and fast too.”

“Take the train and stop calling me Spitsy.”

“Sorry, but the train isn’t fast enough. It’s like, three days there and back with the train, but a good pegasus can do it in like, a day.” Red glanced over at Spitfire. “Even if you’re not that great a flier, you can still do it in less than three days.” Her head tilted, and she visibly checked Spitfire out. That grin again. “And you look like a damn fine flier there, Burnie.”

“Burnie? You’re really scraping at the bottom of the barrel now.” Spitfire trotted past, trailing her tail along Red’s face as she went. “And I’m the best anyone’s seen in a long time. A day is beyond easy.”

“Sweet.” She turned to Spitfire, “So you’ll do it?”

“Now, now, I never said that, sweetie. I merely said I could do that.”

“Hey, don’t be like that.” Red grinned and nudged Spitfire. “Us mismatches gotta stick together. Come on, a day of your time, me for company, the wind in your mane as you soar away from it all. I can even pay you like, three bits when we get to Manehattan. You can buy yourself a good ol’ Bug City tofu dog.”

“And a day of you riding me?” smirked Spitfire.

“Hey, I can get a sky carriage if you don’t want a little mare on mare action.” She grinned. “But I’m cool either way.”

“More like you’re too fat to top anyways. You’d end up squishing me like a bug if you tried.”

Red smirked. “Bitch, please. You know you want this. I walk into the clubs, and all the stallions be creaming themselves. The mares don’t know what hit ‘em.” She was grinning widely at Spitfire. “You’re hurting my feelings there, Burnie. Fat? You trying to make me insecure? I know a player’s moves when I see them.”

“Maybe in your dreams,” said Spitfire with an eye roll. “Fat as a dragon, that’s what you are.”

“Damn right you’ll be in my dreams.” She grinned and threw a hoof over Spitfire’s shoulder. “I’m filing every second I spend with you away for later usage, if you know what I mean. You should be flattered, I don’t usually go for mares like this.”

With a brush of her hoof, Spitfire pushed Red off her. “Yeah, no. Straight as an arrow, sorry.”

“Me too.” Red grinned.

“Of course you are.”

“Totally.” She grinned wider. “So how about us two totally straight mares take a totally legit and not-a-date flight to Manehattan, where there won’t be any unresolved sexual tension, and a nice tofu dog waiting for you. Come on, did you honestly have anything planned?”

“Maybe a nice relaxing day with the fami- Oh buck it, who am I kidding? You’re on.”

That grin again. “Awesome. No one can resist the charms of DJ P0N-3. So, we doing this bare back and rubbing against each other all day in a totally straight way, or you want me to find a sky carriage first?”

“Sky carriage. You know what they say, always wear protection.”

“Hey, I’m clean, babe. Nothing nasty down there.” Red grinned. “But whatever. I’ll get us a sky carriage no probs.” She frowned and tapped a hoof to her chin. “If you could meet me just out of town in like, an hour or two, we can go.”

“You’re going to steal one, aren’t you?”

“Pffft. No.” Red waved it off. “I can talk anyone into doing anything, I’m just that charming.” She paused for thought. “Or if I had the time I could probably make one. Shouldn’t be too hard, some fairly basic enchantment to replicate pegasus magic, and open leylines to respond to the driver. You’d need some directional control too.” After a moment Red grinned. “Yeah I could totally make one. I just don’t have the time.”

“You? Making something? By the Blind One, save us all.”

Red snorted. “Hey, I can build shit you couldn’t comprehend. You’re looking at the best enchanter in Equestria.” She reared up on her hind legs and puffed out her chest. After a second she fell back to all fours. “Well, at least the best I know. There might be someone out there better, but I’ve never heard of them.” Red grinned. “The things I can do with flux blow minds.”

“More like your slutty mouth can blow minds,” muttered Spitfire under her breath. “Whatever, but nothing illegal, alright?”

“Totally.” Red promised, holding a hoof over her heart. “This’ll be completely legit all the way.”

“I don’t believe you one single bit,” replied Spitfire.

“Thy words wound us!” Red responded. “Doth thou trust us so little?” She adjusted her sunglasses and grinned. “Babe, please. I’d never lie.”

“Unless it’d let you get into my bed?”

“Hey, everyone has their moments of weakness,” Red replied. “Not my fault you’re a total ten, and I get all cold and lonely at night.”

“Just for the record, accidents do happen so if I accidentally let you fall, or if we accidentally hit a storm, it’s totally not my fault.”

Red sucked air through her teeth. “Oh, now that’d be a tragedy. Me dying before you can admit all those feelings you have for me. That’s some Shakespearian shit, all right. My body broken and lifeless before we got the chance to resolve all this sexual tension we’ve got going. Every night you’d tearfully clop yourself raw thinking about your dear DJ that you never got the chance to tell just how you felt.” She wiped a hoof under her eye, and Spitfire got a glimpse of red before the sunglasses fell back into place. “Brings a tear to my eye.”

“Oh, go suck yourself.”

She only grinned wider than ever. “Don’t got the bits for that I’m afraid.”

“Go lick yourself then.”

“Anyway, I’ll show myself out.” Red turned to the door. “Meet me at the gate to the farm in like,” she tapped a hoof to her chin, “An hour? Yeah, that oughta do it.” She stepped out the door, “Hey, Pinks, you coming?”

Pinkie, who had been eating some popcorn and watching the entire time, threw away the food and bounced over. “Sure, I just want to talk to Spitfire for a bit.”

“Whatevs. Later fillies.” The door closed behind her, and Spitfire found herself in a room with Pinkie Pie.

“Hey, Spitfire...” Pinkie smiled. Not grinned, smiled. After a moment that smile faded. “I uh... Is everything okay?”

“Yep, everything’s fine,” said Spitfire with a shrug. “The usual day, you know?”

“Uh huh.” Pinkie scuffed her hoof on the floor. “Are you sure you want to go with Red? This is your first time back in Ponyville in months. If you want to spend some time with your family, I’ll forget that favour you owe me and you can stay here.”

“Don’t sweat it,” shrugged Spitfire.

“Alright...” Pinkie started bouncing again. “Hey, if you’re pulling the carriage can I come too?”

“Two ponies plus a carriage is... um... probably too heavy for me.”

“Are you sure?” Pinkie asked putting on the puppy eyes. “It’ll just be little ol’ me.”

“Well... er...” Spitfire rubbed the back of her neck. “Fine.”

“Yay!” Pinkie shouted and jumped up, confetti exploding from... somewhere. She landed and wrapped Spitfire up in a big hug, bouncing up and down. “Thanks Spitsy!”

“Personal space, Pinkie,” Spitfire pushed her away. “Why do you want to come along anyways?” asked Spitfire.

Pinkie paused. “Because... Red’s... She’s my friend, and I think she’s in trouble. Plus, you need someone to help cheer you up, Miss Frowny Face.” She leaned in closer to Spitfire and whispered, “You want to know something? I don’t think Red’s her real name.”

“I never would have guessed,” said Spitfire with an eye roll.

“Also...” Pinkie continued obliviously, “I think she might be involved in something illegal.”

“Great. Couldn’t you have told me that earlier?”

“I just didn’t want to worry you,” Pinkie replied happily. “You’re all frowny way too often.”

“Whatever,” replied Spitfire. “Just go, I need to prepare for the journey.”

“Okie dokie,” Pinkie smiled back at her. She turned to go after Vinyl and paused at the door. “And you’re sure you’re okay with this? You don’t seem very happy to be going.”

“I’m fine Pinkie. Perfectly fine.”

“That’s a funny way of saying fine. Perfectly fine. Because perfectly means perfect, and fine means it’s fine, like it’s oka-”

“Pinkie? I’m fine. Good, happy, joyful, you know the drill.”

Pinkie stared at her for a moment. “Well it’s a good thing you’re gonna be with me and Red all day! We’ll put a smile back on that dial.”

The door closed behind Pinkie, but Spitfire just continued staring forward. After a minute, Pinkie’s words finally sunk in and Spitfire slowly sat down before curling into a ball, a small whimper escaping. What the fuck had she just agreed to?