The Summer Sun Festival, or: Why Does This Happen Now?

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As it usually did, Celestia’s sun rose gently over the horizon, painting Ponyville in it’s warm, welcoming light, the moon sinking away. As the small town bid goodbye to the Mare in the Moon, the radiant light slowly moved across the town, forcing the tired ponies inside to greet the day. In the distance, one of the Apple family’s roosters called out into the morning.

Close to the town center, sat a lovely little bookstore. Cover to Cover, it was called, though most ponies simply called it “the book store” and only went when the local library was unoccupied, which was most of the time. It was a simple building, with the first floor being the main store with a wooden sign out front advertising the name. The second floor on the other hand, housed its owner. And its with her, that our tale can begin.

As a gentle sunbeam passed through the window, it landed on the homey room’s occupant and her very comfortable bed. With a grunt, she rolled over in an effort to get away from the sun’s light. Content that the light wouldn’t hit her anymore, she let out a content sigh, eager to get a little more sleep in. At least until the birds started singing, that is. She growled, trying to shut out the feathered pests, when a loud pounding was added to the early morning cacophony.

Sitting upright, the now thoroughly annoyed mare glared at her open window. “What in Equestria is making this much noise?!” she snapped angrily. Pulling her blankets aside with her magic, the Unicorn stomped over to the window and glared out into the small town. At this particular time of day, it should have been easy given how few ponies were usually out this early in the morning. Instead, it seemed like everypony and their aunt was out and about this morning.

“Morning, Page Turner!” called a brown Earth Pony who noticed her. She turned her magenta gaze to him as he continued hammering away at a large stage. As she looked over what he was building she quickly reminded herself of the occasion. Of course, with the large sun motifs and the elongated semi-circle facing the horizon, she would have to live under a rock to not realize what was going on that day.

Right, the Summer Sun Festival is today, she thought as she shook her bedhead out of her face. For some reason, Princess Celestia wanted to host it here of all places. Shaking her head, she closed her window and turned her attention to the bed. Quickly fixing it up with her magic, she quickly ran a brush through her mane. Content her black and grey mane was properly brushed and her crimson coat in order, she left her room, ready to face the day; or at least as ready as somepony like her could be.

After getting herself a cup of coffee to start her day, she took a moment to glare at the thick stack of paper on her dining table, simple string binding the pages together. “Stupid writing career,” she muttered as she levitated it to a smaller table. “Keeping me up late to work. I should have been sleeping but no, creative geniuses don’t get to sleep.” Her small rant was cut off when a polite knocking came from downstairs.

“Page, darling, its me~!” sang a mature voice. Rolling her eyes at the pony in question, the mare grabbed her coffee before heading downstairs to her store. Once in the store proper, she trotted over to the door and opened it with a red glow. “Page! How lovely to see you!” greeted the white unicorn.

“Good morning, Rarity,” Page said back, taking a long sip of her coffee. “How can I help you today?” At one time, it was annoying and rather difficult for her to be used to being called “Page Turner”, but after a couple years of using the alias it was now even more familiar to her than her actual name.

“Well, darling, I’m hoping your store has exactly what I’m looking for.” Without asking, let alone being invited, the fashionista walked into the store. As much as Page Turner wanted it to bother her, the book salespony couldn’t be mad considering it was Rarity she was dealing with. Not only was it par for the course with the designer, but she was one of the few ponies in town Page would consider some manner of friend. “I was hoping to find a book at the library on Canterlot fashion and style for some last-minute inspiration for tonight’s decorations, but unfortunately it was all locked up! Can you imagine that?” she asked in shock.

“Maybe Mayor Mare got sick of foals trashing the place?” Honestly, there were a number of reasons why Golden Oaks should be locked up, her profits being a very big one to her personally. Other than that, though, there were all sorts of problems, from ponies having to volunteer to be librarian for fixed periods, foals hanging out in there when they shouldn’t be, and a certain cyan Pegasus liked to avoid reporting any times she crashed into it doing her stunts.

“Perhaps,” replied Rarity, as she was already browsing the few fashion books Cover to Cover stocked. “Anyways I was hoping you had such a book within your store’s collections.” She looked over to her fellow Unicorn with a raised eyebrow. “Do you?”

Nodding, she set her now drained coffee cup on the counter top. “I may not have a book on fashion, but I do have something more useful.” Grabbing a particular volume from the architecture section, she showed it to the mare. “Canterlot Through the Modern Era,” she recited. Opening it up to a section labeled “Ceremony”, she presented it back to her friend. “This should tell you everything on how the Summer Sun Celebration is set up in Canterlot.”

“This is perfect!” cried the white mare as she seized the book. Eagerly devouring the information before her, Page Turner was able to hear the designer muttering about color palates under her breath. Looking up with a large smile, Rarity’s eyes were filled with an excitement the crimson Unicorn was quite familiar with. “Thank you darling, this is exactly what I needed. How much is this one?”

“6 Bits,” Page told her as she walked behind the counter. “Since I’m running a business,
I can’t exactly let you just borrow it. Sorry, Rarity.”

The other mare waved a dismissive hoof at her. “Don’t fret, dearie. I know all too well about needing to ensure your business stays afloat.” A small coin bag floated out of her saddlebags, with the unicorn extracting the right amount. “Don’t you worry, I have a feeling I’ll be needing this book quite a bit if the Summer Sun Festival goes over well.”

As the store keeper rang up the purchase, Rarity slid the book into her saddlebags. “Have a nice day, Rarity. See you tonight.”

“Same to you, Page. Tata!” With that, the unicorn made her exit, allowing Page Turner to change the sign on the door to “Open”. Not that anypony would notice considering everypony was getting ready for the Raising of the Sun ceremony.

From there, her morning continued on as she expected it to. Business, while not non-existent, was slow enough that she was able to not only return her coffee cup to her kitchen, but also retrieve her book and a bagel on her way back before her next customer, a strange stallion who called himself “Doctor” came by. As usual with his visits to her store, he never failed to have one random book mixed in with his usual four books on advanced mathematics and science. Although, him wanting a copy of The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide was more out of left field than usual. (1)

It wasn’t until it was getting close to lunch time, and after another couple customers, that she got another strange visit in the form of Pinkie Pie. “HIYA PAGE TURNER!” she screamed as she slammed the door open. The walls themselves shuddered from the force of her opening the door with her arrival eliciting a surprised yelp and almost ruining the page she was writing with her quill.

“Hello, Pinkie Pie,” she replied cautiously. Not only was she dreading her door finally breaking because of the local Party Pony, but said pony had a crazier look in her eye than usual. She looked more excited than usual, and that was saying something. “How can I help you?” She really hoped Pinkie wasn’t doing something bizarre today. The last thing she wanted was Pinkie Pie spreading her unique form of joyful mayhem the day before the Princess arrived.

“You’ll never believe it!” she exclaimed as she ran over to the sales counter. “I was just walking around Ponyville, and then I saw this purple Unicorn looking lost. So she said ‘Hi!’ and I was all like ‘huuuuuh!’” She took such a loud gasp, the Unicorn was almost convinced Pinkie was just breathing for the first time in an hour. “So then I thought to myself, ‘NEW PONY IN TOWN!’ because I didn’t know her and I know everypony so then I ran off to start planning a party to welcome her to Ponyville and then I started inviting everypony in town so now I’m here telling you there’s gonna be a party in the library tonight before the Summer Sun Festival!” She was yelling by the end and looked extremely proud of herself for the long sentence.

Page Turner smiled at her friend (not that she had a choice in befriending Pinkie) and nodded. “Okay, Pinkie. I’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss one of your parties if I can help it.” Not that I have a choice, she thought sarcastically. She once tried refusing a major party invitation from Pinkie Pie back when she moved to Ponyville. The pink pony had gone berserk and gone so far as to relocate the birthday party in question so that she would have no choice but to be at said party.

“Great! Now then…” With that, the pink Earth Pony sped out as a pink blur, slamming the door behind her yet again. Shaking her head at Pinkie Pie’s antics, Page Turner pulled out the loosely bound book from where she had quickly hidden it lest Pinkie see her real name on the cover. Humming to herself, she put up her break sign before heading out for a quick lunch, making sure to put a spare cover over the book so nopony could see the name on it.

As she walked through the streets of Ponyville, she took in the decorations around town with a smile on her face. Sure, Ponyville was nowhere near as big as Hoofington or Manehatten, but it was nice to see that the whole town was decorated for the occasion whereas most cities she had lived in only decorated a small section for the celebration.

It was around this time that she got a glimpse of the pony she assumed Pinkie Pie had informed her of earlier. The unicorn in question had a light purple coat with her mane and tail laying straight colored primarily in a dark violet with a single stripe of a lighter purple and pink. Her cutie mark was a pink and white bursting star with five smaller stars around it. What she found truly remarkable was the fact that the mare had a small dragon following her around holding a scroll.

How in the name of Celestia did she get a dragon to not only carry that scroll but also work with her? She couldn’t think of something that wouldn’t be socially unacceptable, but that might have something to do with her writing style. The dragon aside, Page couldn’t help but shake the feeling that there was something… odd about the unicorn. Not exactly in her personality, but that there was more to the unicorn than meets the eye. Again, she suspected that had something to do with the horror stories she wrote where she would use such a concept quite frequently.

Shaking off the feeling, she realized the unicorn was approaching her. “Greetings,” she awkwardly said to the author. “I don’t suppose you could direct me to where the head of the weather team spends their time? I need to speak with her and I’m afraid I don’t know where the office is.”

Page Turner raised an eyebrow at the forward statement. “I’m sorry, but that’s not exactly how somepony introduces themselves where you’re from, now is it?” She suppressed a chuckle at the scowl the purple unicorn gave her. “See, I would like to help, but I prefer knowing who I’m helping with situations like this.”

Her nostrils flared in frustration as she sighed and rubbed her eyes. The dragon at her side snickered and nudged her flank with a muttered comment about being friendly. “Fine. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m here to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Festival. And you are?”

The red unicorn smiled and offered a hoof. “I’m Page Turner, I own the local book store here in Ponyville. It’s nice to meet you, Twilight.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Page,” she said while shaking her hoof. “Now can you tell me where I can find the pony in charge of the weather?” The dragon jabbed her in the side again. “Please?”

She nodded before gesturing to the clouds. “Rainbow Dash is probably sleeping on one of the clouds lying around. Just look for a cyan pegasus or a rainbow-colored tail hanging off a cloud. If she’s not sleeping, she’ll be practicing her stunts.”

“Either sleeping or messing around…” muttered the dragon as he jotted it down on their scroll.

“Thank you, Page Turner. Have a nice day.”

“You too, Twilight.” She started walking again to go get lunch. “Feel free to stop by my store some time if you ever need somepony to talk to or you need a book. Celestia knows my shop needs the visitors.”

Page had to admit. As anti-social as she tended to be in order to keep her real identity a secret, there was nothing quite like a Pinkie Pie party. The music was varied enough, everypony was friendly and sociable, and there were plenty of sweets to go around. She felt a little bad when Twilight ran off to hide in her bedroom. After all, Pinkie could be a little… much for somepony who didn’t know what they were getting into.

Not wanting to dwell on it, however, she quickly occupied herself by finding her friend Rarity and catching up with her after their conversation earlier that morning. The white unicorn was over the moon with excitement over Twilight moving to Ponyville since she was a Canterlot native. Fortunately, Rarity had the decency to still be embarrassed when Page pointed out how a similar eagerness was the start of their particular friendship when she moved to Ponyville herself. After a couple hours of chatting and dancing with the other townsponies Pinkie Pie had invited, the moon was high overhead as night had fallen over Ponyville.

Eventually at somepony’s recommendation, the party began to wind down as they realized the sunrise was in a couple hours. The townsponies gathered at Town Hall to watch the sun rise. Page herself found a nice spot closer to the front of the crowd to get an excellent view of the balcony where Celestia would make her appearance. While it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before, Page found herself excited for this. After all, Princess Celestia was going to raise the sun in their town!

With the sunrise at hand, Mayor Mare began the opening ceremonies as a chorus of songbirds began to play the national anthem. As the curtains began to move for Celestia’s entrance, Page was extremely excited to see the Princess raise the sun for all of Ponyville. Except the balcony where she would be standing was empty.

Return of the Sun; Did That Just Happen?

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If there was one thing the young author prided herself on, it was being able to usually keep a level head in most circumstances. Unlike Lily, Daisy and Roseluck, she could generally keep her head on straight and not panic at the drop of a hat. That being said, for Page to see a distinct lack of a Princess and for nopony to know the whereabouts of said Princess was very concerning. What made it go from concerning to terrifying was when Nightmare Moon, a FOAL'S TALE, appeared instead of Celestia. Needless to say, when the mayor declared a state of emergency after six mares ran off after said foal's tale, among which was Twilight Sparkle, Page Turner was all too aware of how serious things now were.

As the mayor began trying to organize everypony and keep the panic to a minimum, not that the aforementioned sisters were helping, Page took a look around herself. Sure, there wasn't panicked screaming and hysteria, but the adults were restless, and the foals were either crying or about to start. Deciding what she should do, she walked over to where Cheerilee had corralled the foals and was doing her best to keep the crying to a minimum. "Hey, Cheerilee. Anything I can do to help with the little ones?" she asked.

The teacher looked at her in slight surprise, considering the most they spoke about was textbooks for the school. Before she could reply though, one of the fillies, a baby-pink Earth Pony, cut in. "What do you mean, 'can do to help'?! Princess Celestia is gone! We're all doomed!"

"Diamond Tiara, calm down," hissed a small grey filly of the same type.

Ok, clearly I have my work cut out for me, she mused as Cheerilee tried talking down both fillies. Let's see if I can't come up with something to try and calm them down. "Well, I wouldn't say that so quickly," she casually told the students. When the group of foals, especially the two fillies, looked at her incredulousy, she gave a soft smile. "For starters, if the stories are true, then Princess Celestia has defeated Nightmare Moon before, and can easily do it again." I hope. By now, she had their attention and figured out enough of a story to lighten the mood. "Besides, we ponies have lived through ages of darkness before. No matter what happens, we always find our light."

"What do ya'll mean?" asked a pale yellow filly, her red main tied back with a large pink ribbon. "How can ponies 'find our light'?"

"Well," she said, shooting the grateful teacher an "I got this" look, "a long time ago, before even Princess Celestia, Equestria didn't have a sun. The ponies lived in darkness with nothing more than the stars and the moon to light up their sky. Nopony had ever known differently, so for many years they lived in that low, dim light."

"So, what happened?" asked a cream colored Earth Pony. Her eyes were shining from behind her glasses.

"Well one day, a mighty dragon descended on Equestria. However, to the ponies, he was nothing more than a large, menacing shadow, which only served to make his roars all the more terrifying." Page Turner had a soft smile on her face at the eager smiles and looks as she kept talking. The foals were now focused on her story, and not on the current situation. "Eventually, the dragon came upon a small village named Cantorbury. There, he demanded the ponies bring him all of their gems and precious stones. The citizens, however, couldn't do so, as they had never been able to reliably create a form of light to help find such stones." She took a very quick pause, allowing the foals to think on her story so far.

"Angered, the dragon roared to the skies. 'How dare these ponies not appease him?' he thought. In his anger, he unleashed a wave of fire on the small village before flying off in anger." Several of the foals gasped, and looked scared at the thought of a dragon burning a village to the ground. "At first, everypony was terrified. Though they didn't know what fire was, they were able to figure out what it was doing to their homes. However, one Unicorn saw something the others didn't. Everywhere there was fire, there was light. And wherever there was light, there was color. He was amazed. Never before had somepony seen something like colors. It was beautiful.

"However, he saw that as fires went out, so too did the light they created. Terrified he would lose those beautiful colors, he called upon his magic and brought the fires together in the center of town and bound it to that spot. With the fires contained, he called for every pony to gather around and see what he did. As the town came together, they were amazed by this fire. The warmth it gave off was unlike anything they had ever known, and the light allowed them to see one another clearly for the first time."

"Wait, a minute," interrupted an orange Pegasus filly. "They hadn't been able to see each other before? How does that work?"

Before Page could continue, a white Unicorn snapped back at her. "She means they couldn't see what color everypony was or how they actually looked. Not that everypony was unable to see anything!" As the two continued arguing, Page chuckled before continuing with her story.

"As I was saying, the ponies of Cantorbury were amazed at this new source of light, and in time were able to recreate it with their magic. As for the Unicorn who first harnessed this power, he became known as Torch Bearer, and lead Cantorbury for many years. As time moved on for Cantorbury, the ponies there were able to harness the flames and use it to light their journey to explore Equestria. As they did so, they found numerous villages all across Equestria who remained lost in the darkness. The ponies of Cantorbury, knowing all too well how long they had suffered in the dark, decided to share their flames with all of Equestria. And so, an age of light was ushered into Equestria.

"Unfortunately, the ponies quickly realized how limited the scope of their solution was. As helpful as the fire was, the ponies of Equestria were struggling to keep their towns lit as they continued to grow into larger towns and even cities. What was more troublesome was that as the ponies of Equestria continued to master their control of fire, other races began to covet the ponies' ability to control this light in a way that not even the dragons had achieved. Ultimately, Cantorbury, the home of the greatest fire of them all and a now thriving city, came under attack as other races desired the light that the great fire had to offer. The ponies of Cantorbury fought to protect what they held dear, and were afraid of how they could fall should they lose the first fire. In the end, the son of Torch Bearer, Solar Burst, decided only one solution would be effective, and gathered the Unicorns of his court for his final risk." She deliberately stopped here, a smile on her face at how eager the foals all were.

"What happened?!" they all whined/demanded. "What was the plan? What did they do?"

"Everypony, look! The sun's coming up!" yelled Cloudchaser from her place in front of the window. A collective gasp ran through the crowd, and everypony ran outside to see the Pegasus was right. On the far horizon, the sun was rising up once more as the moon slowly sank down. Everypony was eagerly muttering and cheering at the sight of the familiar orb of light.

"That's what he did," he told the foals that were still paying attention. "He placed that great flame in the sky, so that everypony, be it dragon, pony or even griffons could enjoy the light of the great fire."

Any further discussions were prevented or cut off as a blinding light appeared in the center of town in front of the city hall. When Page opened her eyes, she gasped before quickly bowing like everypony around her at the sight of Princess Celestia standing before them, a group of six familiar fillies standing beside her. "Citizens of Ponyville," she declared loudly and commanding their attention, "As you know, Nightmare Moon has returned from her prison of the last thousand years. However, through the efforts of Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, and her friends, Nightmare Moon has been vanquished once more!" There were brief cheers and some sighs of relief, which the Princess cut off by flaring her wings up. "In doing so, they have not only saved Equestria from great danger, but have saved somepony very dear to me. Citizens of Ponyville, may I present to you, my sister: Princess Luna!" She stepped to the side at this, and revealed a smaller dark blue Alicorn with a pale blue mane and tail.

There were a number of gasps through the crowd as nopony knew there had been a second princess. Princess... Luna? thought the author.

"And so, now that we have all come together and my sister returned to me, I hereby declare that the Summer Sun Celebration... begin!" The Princess's declaration was met with cheers as everypony cheered to welcome the younger Princess back from wherever she had been.

Page Turner had to admit, this year's Summer Sun Celebration easily surpassed every prior instance of the celebration. As the day-long celebration went on, Page was able to speak some more with Twilight Sparkle, the Unicorn everypony was talking about since she had saved Equestria with her friends. Apparently, she was quite the fan of books, though she was clearly more of an intellectual in her preferences than a fan of the fantasy Page preferred to write. Fine by me, she thought to herself. Makes it that much easier on me.

"So, what do you do besides run your book store?" asked Twilight.

"Well, I publish my own personal work to supplement the income I get from my store," Page replied, trying to hopefully not come off too conceited... not that she was, but everypony tended to think she was when she mentioned her work. "I mostly submit short stories and the occasional poem to a couple of literary magazines in Canterlot and Manehatten." Among other projects of mine.

"Wait, your that Page Turner?" she asked in amazement. "I've been subscribed to Canterlot Literary Digest for a while and I love the stories you write for them. I'm amazed that's you! I always thought you were... ah... well..."

The author smirked and raised an eyebrow. "A stallion?"

"Y... yeah..." she admitted shamefully. "Sorry about that."

Page chuckled at that and waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Unfortunately, my parents thought it would be a perfect name for me well before I was even born. If I had been born a stallion, that is. Nice to see it still throws everypony off from figuring out who I am.

"Twilight!" Pinkie bounced over wearing a party hat and with a large chocolate cake and extra plates balanced perfectly on her back. As was expected when Pinkie Pie was involved, the plates on her back did not move in the slightest. "Oh, hi Pagey! Twilight! Have you tried my super double choco-deluxe chocolate cake?"

The purple mare laughed nervously at the idea of such a thing, while the crimson Unicorn heartily chuckled at Pinkie's antics. "Pinkie Pie, you know I could never refuse a piece of chocolate cake. I think we'll each take a Pinkie Piece of that," she told the Party Pony. If she had one weakness, it had to be chocolate cake. A side effect of her upbringing and home town. Somethings were just ingrained into somepony that they couldn't just ignore it.

"Pinkie Piece?" If her tone of voice was anything to go by, Twilight sounded somewhat skeptical about the term and how big that meant a piece would be.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pulling a cake knife out of nowhere, she quickly carved it into fourths before somehow managing to plate two of the fourths and presenting them to the two Unicorns. "Here you go! Enjoy!" Her work, done, the pink mare bounced off to continue to handing out cake.

"Are we seriously supposed to eat this much cake?!" asked Twilight in shock. "There's way too much cake!"

"Trust me," Page told her as she took a bite, "if it's a Pinkie Pie cake, it's worth the stomach ache." Wishing her farewell, Page walked off to enjoy the rest of the celebration and her cake. Everypony was having a huge blast, and she got quite a few "thank you"s from Cheerilee's class and their parents for keeping the foals calm and occupied during the initial panic. She could have done without a couple of students coming up to tell her they knew she wasn't telling the truth, but the thought was there.

When she went to grab some more food, she wound up in front of both Princesses. "Oh, your Highnesses. It's an honor," she said while giving both sisters a quick bow. "My name is Page Turner."

The white alicorn chuckled while Luna nodded to her with a small smile. "Greetings, my little pony. It's a pleasure to meet you. I've been rather taken of late with your stories."

Page chuckled nervously. "Oh, you know who I am?"

The princess nodded as she took a bite of her own slice of cake. "Yes. I'm rather fond of stories that deal with pushing the limits of somepony's imagination." She gave a knowing smile to Page Turner. "In fact, they remind me of another author I'm rather fond of."

"Oh... do they?" she asked hesitantly. Oh no... don't tell me she made the connection between the stories I write under my alias and my real name.

"You're a fan of Hoofcraft, aren't you?" It took everything she had to loudly sigh in relief at the question. "I noticed you write similarly to how they write, and use very similar concepts to whichever book she just published."

Deciding to play along with Princess Celestia's assumption, she nodded. "Yes, that's right. I happen to enjoy a good horror story myself, so I try emulating the style she uses in her writings for my own stories." She noticed Princess Luna staring at her with narrowed eyes at her explanation, but chalked it up to how casually she was speaking with the older sister.

After a couple more minutes of discussion over the merits of horror fiction, the elder princess took note of the time and whispered something to her sister. With a gentle smile, she excused herself from the conversation before calling for the attention of everypony's attention. After a few words of celebration over the occasion and congratulating Twilight and her friends, she got to why she called for everypony's attention.

Evidently, it was time for the Princesses to return to Canterlot and Twilight was to go with them. Much to everypony's (un)surprise, Twilight decided to stay in Ponyville with her new friends. Princess Celestia allowed it, something Page very much expected to happen considering how much she seemed to care for the Unicorn. With the Princesses' departure and the party winding down, Page decided to head back to her shop/home. Upon arriving back at her home, she did a quick check to make sure her store was ready for the following day before returning to her home on the second floor.

Much like she left it the night before, the loosely bound book was still sitting on her dining table with her quill and inkpot beside it. She looked at the book with a confident smile. "Alright book, this is the night I finish you. I know just what to do." Quickly getting herself a cup of tea, she opened to where she had left off and grabbed her quill. Time to get to work. As she worked well into the night, she wondered what would happen for Ponyville after tonight. After all, the events of the last 24 hours were probably just a one-time thing... right?

Princess Celestia smiled gently as she watched Luna happily raise the moon for the first time in a thousand years. "Oh, how I've missed this, sister."

"As have I, Celestia," she said joyfully, evidently still too happy to bother with her obsession with adhering to court manners. "Although, I am amazed at how much has changed in my absence."

Celestia chuckled at her sister's blunt statement. "Yes well, a thousand years is quite a long time. Nothing stays the same forever, Luna."

"Is that why you allowed that red unicorn to lie to your face the way that she did?" Celestia blinked, not quite knowing where her sister was coming from. Seeing the confusion, Luna clarified. "When you were speaking with that mare Page Turner, I noticed that she was lying to you for most of the conversation. It was strange. She was honest in her statements about her passion and preferences of writing, but any time she mentioned her personal life or inspirations I could tell she was lying."

"Are you sure?"

Luna nodded. "Though I am no longer its bearer, I retain the ability to notice great dishonesty within ponies before me." Celestia nodded at her sister's explanation.

That's right, she thought to herself. Luna was the first Element of Honesty, wasn't she.. But that left a much bigger question. What was Page Turner lying to her about? And why?

Chaos in Ponyville; Why Does Everypony Want to Bother Me?

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It had been several days since the events of the Summer Sun Celebration and Twilight moving to town. Since then, much like she had expected, things quickly returned to some manner of normalcy. Twilight had stopped by at one point to check out her shop, which only served to remind Page Turner of how while the library was filled with books on any number of subjects, she was still the primary supplier of fiction in Ponyville. She had to admit, it was pretty amusing to see Twilight purchase a literal book on the history of checklists while Spike, her assistant and a LITERAL dragon, picked one of the few comic books she kept in stock for the colts who liked to check out her store after school. After that particular visit, Page's business continued on as it tended to. That is to say, the occasional customer who always bought two or more books.

Currently, she was waiting on the local mail mare to show up to see if her publisher had written back to her about her book. She had submitted it the day after the Summer Sun Celebration, and was eager to see if it had been printed yet. Sure, it usually took much longer for her books to get printed and produced, but her publisher and agent often told her they were able to get a book on the shelf within a day of getting a draft. Although, to be entirely honest, part of her wanting to hear back was out of wanting to put her new book on the shelf. Sure, some ponies might say it isn't right to sell your own book while using an alias to run a book store. In response, she would pointed out that book stores exist to sell books, regardless of who wrote them.

Knock knock knock As she polished the counter top, there was a loud pounding on her shop's door. "Mail delivery, Miss Turner!" called a cheerful voice. Smiling with a shake of the head, Page opened the door to find a pale grey Pegasus with yellow eyes looking in different directions. "Good afternoon, Miss Turner! Got some mail for ya." Digging around in her mail bag, she withdrew a decent stack of envelopes which she proceeded to hand over to the unicorn.

"Thank you, Derpy," she told the mare as she pulled the envelopes into her store interior. "Have a nice day." As she closed the door, she could hear Derpy returning the well wishes before flying off. There was a brief moment of panic when she heard a loud crash from outside, but hearing Derpy yell out that she was fine caused Page Turner to shake her head in amusement. Walking back to the sales counter, she carefully sorted through the mail she had been given. True to what usually happened with the wall-eyed mare delivering her mail, almost half of the stack was for somepony other than her. By her count, only four of the ten letters belonged to other ponies. Although, she prayed none of the mis-delivered mail was further correspondence from her publisher or her agent.

Setting the wrongly delivered letters on her counter for when somepony came by for them, she flicked to one of the two letters in the stack from her editor/agent. I hope there wasn't a problem with the manuscript, she fretted. The last thing I need is for there to be a problem with my book. Before she could open the envelope, the door slammed open and closed. "EEEK!" she shrieked, dropping all six of her letters in shock. She quickly breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a familiar white Unicorn with two toned blue hair. She was holding the door shut in terror, with her sunglasses strangely being absent.

"Hello, Vinyl." The DJ waved nervously before quickly peeking out one of her windows in fear before ducking down. "Hiding from Octavia again?" She received a quick nod. Shaking her head, Page gathered up the letters she had dropped before moving back to her sales counter, making sure to stash the letters from her publisher in the middle of the pile. "Let me guess, either that dishwasher of yours broke something she cared about, or you wasted your food money on equipment." She raised an eyebrow at the nervous Unicorn. "So? What was it?"

"The Grand Galloping Gala," she quietly replied, as if afraid her voice would attract the cellist. "I accidentally ruined Octy's ticket when I knocked over a flower pot practicing my new set. I lost my shades when she threw her cello at me, and I'm pretty sure she's out for my head."

Page Turner Rolled her eyes at the dysfunction of the two musicians being roommates. "Well you better think of a way to make it up to her. I'm supposed to be open right now and I can't hide you here while I'm doing my job." Much to her mild annoyance, the DJ didn't seem to be paying her any attention. Rather, she was back to peeking out the window in case Octavia came near the store. The white mare was so transfixed that she didn't notice an envelope wrapped in a red aura floating behind her until it tapped her shoulder.

"AAAAAHHHH! I'M SO SORRY OCTAVIA! DON'T KILL ME!" She curled in on herself in terror, hiding her head behind her forelegs. When she instead got nothing but laughter, she opened a magenta eye to see the envelope floating there for her. She glared at the laughing mare as she took it in her magenta magic. "Not cool, Page. Not. Cool." Seeing her name on it, she opened it up before gasping at the golden glow inside. "No way..." She quickly yanked the door open. "Sorry Page, but I gotta go see Octavia!" After the door slammed shut, there was a sudden peaceful silence in the book store.

Taking the moment of peace, she pulled out the stack of letters again. "Now that Vinyl's gone, I can finally- *SLAM* not open my mail..." she muttered. Looking up, she checked to see who her newest guest was. Much to her mild amusement, the pony in the door was struggling to get through on account of how large his body was.

Fortunately, he was able to squeeze through with a very proud (if not slightly angry) look on his face. "YEAH!" he yelled. The force of his being great enough that it blew the mare's mane back and left her slightly disheveled and blinking in a slight daze.

Shaking her head to fix her mane, she smiled cautiously at the Pegasus who was standing in her shop. "You know, Bulk Biceps, you don't need to slam the door like that. Simply opening it will suffice."

"SORRY!" he yelled to her.

"How can I help you today?" she asked, wincing as the ringing in her ears started to subside again.

He raised up a letter in his right hoof. "THIS ARRIVED AT MY HOUSE! IT BELONGS TO YOU!"

"Oh, thank you, Bulk Biceps." Accepting the letter from the Pegasus, she placed it on the counter as he turned to leave.

"NO PROBLEM!" After working his way back through the door and another "YEAH", the Pegasus gently closed her door before going on his way.

As she grabbed her mail again, she briefly paused before trying to open it again. Quickly running over to the door, she took a quick look back and forth to make sure nopony was coming to interrupt her again. Content that she was going to be able to do this in peace, she closed the door and walked away with letter in front of her. "Alright, time to-"

"Hi Page Turner!"

"Oh come on!" she yelled in frustration as she slammed her mail onto the counter. Turning around with an annoyed look, she saw Pinkie Pie casually bouncing in her store. With a deep breath and a twitching eyebrow, she gave the pink pony a strained smile. "How can I help you Pinkie?" she almost growled.

"We~ll..." she dragged out with an oblivious smile, "I'm throwing a little party to show Twilight why I'm her absolute bestest friend, and I was hoping you would come along to help me prove it!" Her bright blue eyes were wide and sparkling with excitement at the idea of throwing Twilight Sparkle a party.

Page let out a heavy sigh before picking up the pink Earth Pony with her magic. "Sorry, but I can't. I need to be here to run my store, and I can't go to every time you arbitrarily decide to throw somepony a party around here. Good bye." She sat the pony down on the ground outside her store and let her go.

Pinkie stared at her for a long moment before brightening up. "Okay! Bye Pagey!" Getting up, she bounced away humming to herself. Shaking her head, Page closed the door before noticing the clock on the wall. Seeing the time, she quickly opened her door again to put up a small sign saying she was at lunch. Grabbing her mail off the counter, she quickly went to the back of her shop and headed up the stairs to get back to the house part of her shop. Once in her home, she quickly made her way to the kitchen to make herself lunch. Ten minutes later, she had a lovely grilled cheese and tomato sandwich ready to be eaten.

Taking a seat at the table and a well-deserved bite out of her sandwich, she picked up the envelope from her editor and finally managed to open it. Ok, let's see here...

"Page",

I reviewed your newest book, and gotta say, some good stuff kiddo! The guys in the editing department tried to change up some of the language, but the senior members who know your work threatened to get them blacklisted if they did. Gotta admit, it will never not be funny watching these guys freak out over somepony trying to change your text.

Page snorted in amusement at the image of the editing board being threatened by the higher ups for doing their jobs. Of course, she knew all too well how passionate some of those ponies were about authors like her after the few times she's had to personally visit the editor's office. Done imagining the chaos described in the letter, she kept reading.

The book went all the way through the approval process, and we sent it to the printing office. There was a small argument over the cover design, but it's all settled now even if everypony involved got their tails in a twist. We'll have the first batch of paperbacks out by next week, and I've arranged for ten to be sent to your store in Ponyville. Hard covers won't be printed out for another two weeks, but I'm certain they'll cause a spike in sales.

On another note, the publishers are asking whether you can write and submit your books faster. Flashing Lights and I have been stalling and telling them no, but they're getting a little annoyed with you and how long you can take sometimes to get your books out. Let's just hope the next Yearling book can distract them enough to drop it. You just work at your pace and let us handle them. Celestia knows you can't rush your books.

Good luck on the next book and with sales!

-Type Set

Smiling at the fond words of her editor, she finished her sandwich while setting the letter to the side. "That was thoughtful of her," she mused. "I'll have to see if I can help get her a raise." Moving her plate to the sink, she picked up the second letter from her personal life. Considering the name "Flashing Lights" was in the return address, it was clearly from her agent. As soon as she opened up the envelope, there was a loud pounding on the door downstairs.

She looked at the clock, and decided to let it go since she was still on break. When the pounding resumed, she did her best to ignore it while pulling out the letter, until the yelling started. "Delivery for Page Turner!" came a stallion's voice from the street. Sighing, she walked to her lounge room and opened the window to look down at the entrance to her shop. Standing there, with a medium-sized box wrapped with string, was a well-built Pegasus stallion dressed in a uniform from the intercity mail delivery service.

"I'm up here," she called down. When he looked up, she waved him over to the second floor window. Picking up the package by the string loop on top of it, he flew up to her window. Lighting up her horn, she took the parcel from the stallion before setting it down on the floor. "Do I need to sign for this?" she asked him.

"Yup, let me just grab the board." Reaching behind him, he presented a clip board with the top held in his mouth and a pencil connected to it by a string. Quickly signing on the page, she used her magic to place the clip board on his back for him. He tipped his hat to her. "Thank you. Have a nice day, ma'am."

"You too, sir." Business done, she closed the window and let him go on his way. "Now what in the name of Celestia even is this thing?" Untying the string and breaking the seal on the box, she slowly opened up the box. If one of her fans had found out where she lived this time, it wouldn't be the first time one of them tried mailing themselves to her. Although, the box was too small and light for a pony to be inside, so that probably wasn't it. When the box was finally open and nothing came out, she took a look inside. Her hoof promptly met her forehead when she was met with a box full of letters.

"Seriously? Flashing Lights needs to stop saving up this much fan mail before forwarding it to me." With a reserved sigh, she carried the box into the kitchen to sort through later. As much as she hated getting the large boxes of fan mail, it still made her happy to know how ponies enjoy her books. With the box in place on her table, she picked up the letter from her agent.

Page,

Type Set told me you submitted your newest book. Honestly, I wish you would start telling me about these things before you come up with the titles for them since it would give me more time to promote them. Not saying Calls of a Darkened Village is a bad name, but it would be nice if I could see how well they can be promoted without just having a little over a week to do all this marketing and get excellent publicity.

Speaking of publicity, I've been getting hounded my the Manehatten Times to let them do an interview with the actual you for your next book and about your career as a whole. I've told them your policy on interviews and similar events, but those headstrong horses don't know when to call it quits. It doesn't help that after the last time your identity got out, a couple of sources got very minor details about who you are. So far it seems they only know you're a mare and that you were born in Seaward Shoals. Hopefully we can prevent that from getting any worse.

"He better hope so," she growled. It was bad enough that those two pieces of information got out. "I swear, if I ever find the stallion who decided to tell the press he vaguely remembered me from elementary school, I will make him wish he was in Tartarus."

Speaking of your identity, there's the matter of a rather big, high-profile event coming up. I've included the letter in the next box of your fan mail, but you've been invited to the Grand Galloping Gala by Princess Celestia herself. Apparently she's a fan of your works and wants to meet you in person. I was half tempted to reply in your stead, but I figured it wouldn't be fair to reply to the Princess without letting you reply to it. I know your stance on public appearances, but I can tell this is a decision only you can make.

She took a moment to dig through the box and find the aforementioned letter. Sure enough, it was an invitational letter complete with a ticket that had her actual name on it. She also took note of the letter being written and signed by Princess Celestia and couldn't help but sigh. She was all too aware of the Princess being one of her fans since she had written one or two letters in the past. But this? Going to the Gala was a big step up from one of the personal letters she usually sent to the press. She went back to Flashing Light's letter, but quickly realized the rest of it was him going on about the pros and cons of finally making a personal appearance. The only highlight was him complaining about her choice of pseudonym for day-to-day life, but that was a common trait of his letters.

After putting the two professional letters and her invitation in her bedroom, she returned to the first floor to reopen her store. Who knows? Maybe after a day of work she'd be able to make a decision about the Gala.

"I don't know where she found them, but I really need to thank Type Set for finding this artist." The first order of her newest book had come in the night before, so she was currently finishing up the display rack she used for when new books first came out. Of course, she usually had to buy said new titles out of her savings, but this was the one benefit she had when it came to being a published author herself while running a bookstore. At the moment, however, she was admiring the art that Type Set had chosen for her newest book. The title, Calls of a Darkened Village was written in a gothic script she had chosen ages ago that was colored red. The cover itself was largely adorned by an interesting painting of a blighted village with a dark overcast sky.

Done admiring the cover, she placed the book she had been holding into its place on the display rack. As she did, the door opened behind her. She turned around and saw that it was simply Twilight Sparkle. "Oh, hello Twilight. How can I help you?"

"Hi Page Turner. I was just stopping by since I heard you got a new shipment of books in." She was barely containing her excitement and to be entirely honest, it was mildly humorous to see Princess Celestia's prized student acting so giddy over new books. "So?"

"So?" she asked back, choosing to try feigning ignorance. "I don't know what you're asking me Twilight."

"Did you get anything good in?" she asked in slight exasperation.

"Well that depends on your definition of good," she shot back. She turned and went to lead the other unicorn to the "New Arrivals" section. "All of the books we either just got in or restocked after a while are put over here for the first couple weeks until we get our next shipment."

"What's this table?" She turned around and saw Twilight investigating the table she had been setting up. "Calls of a Darkened Village?"

"Oh, those. That's the newest book from one of the most highly acclaimed authors in Equestria right now. They've received very high praises from the Manehatten Times for their writings," she explained, doing her very best trying to not get too proud explaining the success of her actual income. "She writes a lot of gothic horror with a lot of detail into cosmic horror. I happen to be rather fond of her their writings and try to sell the books as they come out."

"Hoofcraft, huh? I've heard that name get thrown around, I've just never read any of their work," she said almost to herself. "And you said she's pretty acclaimed?"

"She's been named author of the year several times." Largely because they kept trying to get me to show up in person, she thought to herself.

Twilight thought about it a bit more. "Alright, I'll give it a shot. And you said you had all of her books?" Twilight sounded pretty hopeful about the number of books in the overall set.

Page chuckled at the possibility of getting a new fan. "Yes, I make sure to stock all of her books. I think to get started on the books you'd be better off starting with this new book and maybe the first one that got published." Turning, she lead Twilight to the section that was specifically set aside to stock all of the books she had written; all eight of them not counting her new one. Quickly looking along the shelf, she pulled the 1st one off the shelf and presented it to the purple mare. "Here we are, The Cries of the Ether. The first published book in the overall set, even though there's no real order to it."

"Wait, the first book isn't technically first?!" she yelled. "What kind of madness is that?"

"Well, Hoofcraft didn't write them in the form of a large continuous narrative," she explained, trying to do everything in her power to not reveal herself or too much information. "The whole series consists mostly of separate stories in a large, expansive universe. Continuity is mostly for the shared concepts between each different narrative."

"Wow." Twilight looked amazed at the concept, but the way she was looking at the shelf made her suddenly regret explaining the continuity of the books. "You know what, I think I'll take one of each book!" With a wide smile, she pulled one of each of the assembled books and looked proudly at the collection of nine books. "I'm going to have so much fun reading these!"

I'm sure you will, Twilight, thought the author as she watched Twilight deliberate an order for reading the books. Just don't turn into one of the worse members of my fanbase. "Alright, I'll ring you right up. Just remember to not waste your life away picking them apart."

"Don't worry, even if I only read them each once, I doubt I'll have too much trouble with them." Her confidence made Page smirk. She clearly had no idea what she was getting into.

"Well, for that whole set, it all comes up to 100 Bits." She expected Twilight to put a couple of the books back, not the laugh she got instead.

"100 Bits? That's nothing compared to my usual book budgeting!" Pulling her coin purse out of her saddle bags, she quickly had the requested amount neatly piled up on the counter with an excited smile as she began packing away the books.

"Alright, have a nice day and enjoy the books, Twilight." When she looked back to the other mare, she frowned to see Twilight already had her nose buried in her first book as she left the store. She sighed heavily at the mare's behavior. "Geez, it's okay to like books and all, but that pony has a one-track mind." As she went to resume setting up her new display table, she had to abruptly stop, as a sharp pain worked its way through her head. "Damn, not again..." she grunted. Straining from the pain, she pulled her emergency pain killers out from under the counter before taking a couple. As the headache slowly faded away, she took a deep breath.

Why now? Why get one of those headaches now? she thought. Sure, the headache killed her, but for some reason she never understood, they usually preceded her getting a substantial amount of ideas for her next book. She just hoped there wouldn't be anymore headaches for a while after this one for a while.

Problems with Ponies; Forced to Socialize

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“I’m never eating any muffins that pony offers me *hurk* ever again.” Page quickly grabbed a basin being offered by Nurse Redheart before emptying her stomach for the fourth time that afternoon. “I will never look at any muffin for the rest of my life.”

“Sorry…” whined Pinkie Pie from her own gurney. “I didn’t mean to hand out those baked bads.”

“Sorry about the delay, Miss Page Turner,” apologized the doctor who came over to her gurney. He and one of the nurses began to push her towards an examination room. “We’ll have you up and at ‘em in no time!” She let out another painful groan as her stomach felt like it was trying to tear its way out of her body. “Uh, let’s get started on pumping your stomach.”

“Twilight Sparkle!” The mentioned Unicorn jolted in shock as the local author stormed up to her. It took a while, but she managed to track the mare down to Sweet Apple Acres. “I’ve got a bone to pick with your friend Applejack. Where is she?!”

She looked slightly ashamed as she let out a nervous chuckle. “Sorry, Page. She’s currently working herself to the bone and won’t let anypony help her.”

“That doesn’t excuse giving me food poisoning!” snapped the irate Unicorn. “Either do something about that pony or I’m going to the police for attempted poisoning.” That said, Page turned to leave and return to her store.

“Please don’t do that!” begged Twilight as she teleported in front of the leaving author. “She’s just a little stubborn about doing the applebucking by herself. She wasn’t trying to hurt anypony, I swear!”

Page lifted Twilight up with her magic and moved her to the side. “It’s poisoned muffins today, Twilight. But what’s next? If that pony doesn’t cut it out or get help, I will go to the authorities for this.” Done with the conversation, she stormed away from the farm. Stupid Earth Pony pride. Stupid apple farmer. Stupid food poisoning. Had to be closed almost all day. Celestia knows how many customers I lost today because of that mare. As she made her way back into Ponyville, she turned her thoughts to how stubborn Twilight had been in defending Applejack. More importantly, why the heck was Twilight so adamant to defend her? Is that what their friendship is like?

Friendship wasn’t exactly a foreign concept to her, as she had made friends with ponies all over Equestria from the number of times she had moved over the years. Of course, those friendships were all short lived and incredibly cautious as her primary concern had been making sure nopony found out who she was. Of course, the several aliases she’d had to use over the years didn’t help things. Ponyville was the most relaxed she had been considering it was the most rustic place she had lived in since leaving home. But… did she have real friends?

Page quickly shook her head to stop that train of thought. Knock it off, she told herself. You’re here to work, not worry about your social life. Besides, she knew she had at least one friend considering Pinkie Pie prided herself on being everypony’s friend. At the moment, however, her primary concern was getting back to her store and reopening after being in the hospital for most of the morning.

I’m half tempted to just skip going to the authorities and just deal Applejack myself, she thought angrily as she stormed back to Sweet Apple Acres. While launching Rainbow Dash into the library was a problem (one she only just found out about after this most recent incident), the stampede of bunnies tearing through town was another thing entirely. Sure, she wasn’t as affected as everypony else, it was still a problem brought about by the farm pony’s current trend of causing mayhem.

As she walked through the gate to the farm, she immediately made her way into the orchard, following the path of cleared trees. As she marched through the orchard, she quickly organized her list of grievances for yelling at the mare. Much to her confusion, the one clearing the trees wasn’t Applejack. Rather, it was Twilight and the rest of her friends. “Excuse me,” she called to the five mares. They quickly turned to look at her. “Can somepony please tell me why you five are doing this and Applejack is nowhere to be found?”

“Hello, darling. She’s currently laying down,” explained Rarity. “We finally managed to convince the poor thing she was working herself to the bone and was finally able to see reason and get the rest she so desperately needed.”

“More like she collapsed and we picked up the slack while she was brought home,” chimed in a raspy voice. A cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail flew down with a bucket full of apples in her hooves. “So, we decided to lend a hoof and pick up the slack.” Setting her bucket down but not landing, she extended a hoof. “I’m Rainbow Dash: the best flier in all of Equestria.”

Rolling her eyes, Page shook the mare’s hoof. “Page Turner: Small time author and owner of the local book store.”

“Wait, you’re the pony who runs that place?” she asked. “I thought that was some boring shut-in of a Unicorn. If you run that place, what the heck are you doing out here?”

“First of all, I’ll have you know I actually get out quite a bit in my spare time since nopony can stay in their home or job indefinitely,” she explained while giving Rainbow a flat stare. “And second, I’m here because I was going to yell at Applejack if she was here for causing more problems.”

“Page was one of the ponies who got food poisoning the other day because of Applejack,” explained Twilight as she came over to join the conversation. “You… didn’t go to the authorities already, did you?” she asked nervously.

The red Unicorn shook her head. “Fortunately for you all, no. Apparently the mayor has all of them helping with taking any complaints or damage reports from all of those bunnies.” She looked around at the mostly cleared orchard. “However, now that I can see she’s finally stopped being so unbelievably stubborn, I think I’ll let it slide so long as you five keep her from doing something that stupid in the future.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got this all under control!” the librarian declared with a smile on her face. “I’ll also make sure Applejack learns from this.”

“Good.” She turned and began to trot away from the mares. “I’m going home. Have a nice evening, girls. And don't forget to keep this from happening again.”

“BYE PAGE!” yelled Pinkie.

Another week had gone by for the author, and she was currently doing some much needed cleaning around her store. With all the mayhem that seemed to have been springing up around Ponyville lately, a bit of dust had begun to accumulate around her store. Currently, she was walking up and down the aisles with a feather duster, eliminating any and all spots of dust she found lying around. As she finished up the mystery section, there was a knocking on the door.

“You know, one of these days everypony will realize they don’t need to knock on the door to a freaking store,” she muttered under her breath. Setting down her feather duster on the sales counter, she went to the door and opened it up, thinking there was a delivery or something. Instead, there was absolutely nothing out there. “Stupid foals,” she muttered with a shake of the head. Closing the door, she picked up her feather duster once more before noticing a patch of dust on the end of the sale counter. “How did I miss you?” she asked.

Extending the duster with her magic, she went to brush it away with her duster only to instead see a streak of white paint on the counter where her duster brushed. “What in the name of Celestia?!” Her shock was interrupted when she heard laughter from two girls. Running to one of the open windows, she saw Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash running off with a small can of white paint while laughing to themselves. She wanted to be angry, but was well aware of the pink pony’s love of pranking everypony. So instead, she merely chuckled a little before tossing the paint-filled duster in the garbage.

After that little prank from the two mares, she resumed her cleaning with a dusting rag for another hour before deciding she was done cleaning. As she finished up with her task, she grunted it suddenly felt like there was a nail going through her brain. “Damn, not again.” She staggered over to her counter and tried getting her trusty bottle of pain killers. “They never get this bad.” Not even bothering with her magic on account of the pain, she practically tore the cap off before pouring a couple into her waiting hoof.

Quickly swallowing them, she let out another grunt as the pain only sharpened. Dropping the bottle in the process, she held her forelegs to her head as she tried to get the head-splitting pain to go away. She wasn’t sure if it was a delusion from the pain or herself, but she could almost hear a soft hissing as the pain seemed to reach its limit. She panted as the pain began to decrease much faster than the pills should account for. “This can’t be normal.” Once she recovered enough to be able to use her magic, she quickly grabbed a broom to clean up the mess her headache had caused.

I should really get looked at by a doctor, she thought to herself as she finished getting the mess cleaned up. Especially since they’re getting more common. It’s almost as bad as being brought to the clerics of Yak’Shek to commune with their God, Lord... She stopped her train of thoughts at the comparison she was about to make. “Where the heck did that idea come from?” As she tried to remember or figure out where the idea of clerics of some strange sounding place came from, she instead started thinking of an entire city lost to the sands of time.

As all this began working out in her mind, she sighed when she realized what she was thinking of. “Great… I just thought of my next book.” Shaking her head, she pulled out a notebook from under the counter. “Good thing I keep this on hoof in case I get ideas like this.” Sitting down behind the counter, she quickly began jotting down notes about the city of Yak’Shek and the cleric lords who ruled over it in the name of an Eldritch being they called their god. The notebook itself was well-used, and often saw use immediately after one of her death-headaches. Usually since they somehow got her thinking about new ideas for her books. As she began writing a few ideas about the city’s history, however, she stopped when she started writing the approximate location of where the city would have been. “Is there even anything in that area of Equestria?” She pondered the approximate geography but wasn’t certain. Deciding to solve this before moving forward with the writing process, she quickly put the notebook away before heading to the door.

Putting up a sign that she was on break, she quickly made her way to the Golden Oaks library. Along the way, she began to feel the pain killers from before kicking in as she felt a dull numbness began to settle on her. When she arrived at the giant tree, she quickly knocked on the door. Come on, Twilight, she thought to herself, hurry up and open the door.

“Hello?” The door open, revealing a soot-covered Twilight who looked like she just got caught in an explosion. “Oh, hey Page Turner. Need something?”

“I didn’t cause… that,” she gestured to the other Unicorn’s face, “did I?”

She giggled at the implication. “No, it’s just the result of a prank from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They swapped my ink with invisible ink and while I panicked my experiment blew up.”

Page Turner let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Celestia.” She gently moved past the purple mare and into the library. “But to answer your question, you can help me. I’m doing some drafting for a new story of mine, and I was trying to remember the details of Equestrian geography. You still have the atlases of Equestria, right?” She was quickly scanning the shelves trying to remember where the map books were kept.

“Of course,” she replied cheerfully. She quickly went to a shelf on the left wall and pulled a heavy volume out of the middle shelf. “Atlas of Equestria by the Royal Canterlot Geographical Society, fifth edition.” She placed it on the table in the middle of the room for the other mare.

“Thank you, Twilight.” With a nod to the librarian, Page began flipping through until she could find the section of Equestria she was looking for. Alright, southern Equestria… page 30…

“So Page, I really have to thank you for suggesting those Hoofcraft books to me.”

“Uh huh,” she muttered as she flipped to the page she needed.

The purple Unicorn continued on, without acknowledging the non-answer. “It’s just so well-written. I thought it was going to be just another horror story after another, but the amount of depth in them is breath-taking.”

“Uh huh.”

“I only just finished reading Cries of the Ether and started Tales of the Void, but there’s so much lore wrapped up in those books!” she enthusiastically continued.

Page didn’t hear what came next as she stared at the map in front of her. While Equestria having a roughly hewn coastline was nothing unusual, the southwestern coast of the continent was a large cliff standing over the ocean. What startled her, however, was the notes and photographs of the coast itself. Not only did the book mention how divers occasionally found old artifacts at the bottom of the ocean, but the pictures of the cliff face itself showed the roughly hewn surface. What concerned her was the properly rendered coastline. Even with erosion taken into account, it still looked like something took a bite out of the coast line. Something that doesn’t belong in Equestria… she thought to herself.

“Um… Page? Are you okay? You look a little pale.” She realized Twilight had stopped her ramblings and was looking at her in concern. She probably was concerned about her staring at the map for so long.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine Twilight,” she replied after forcing a smile to her face. “Just… thinking about how I can work geography into my story. Heheh…” She really hoped her chuckle didn’t make the other Unicorn suspicious.

“Well… If you say so, I guess.” She seemed a little hesitant in her reply but wanted to give the other Unicorn the benefit of the doubt. “Anyways, about those books you suggested to me-”

“Sorry, Twilight. But I had better get going. I’ve got a bookstore to run and a draft to start up.” She quickly closed the atlas with a slam before moving to the door. “Thanks for letting me use that atlas.”

“Um… no problem… I guess.” She watched as the red mare left before looking at the atlas wondering what the other pony could have been looking at that got her bent out of shape.

Ok, how could I have possibly been thinking about that coast? I don’t study geography! As she made her way back to her shop, she was racking her brain trying to think of how that particular coast came up as a detail for her stories. It wasn’t like she studied geography since she was a foal. That’s it! That headache probably made me remember something from when I was in school! That had to be it… right?

Gotta admit, nothing distracts me from my worries like a Pinkie Pie Party. It had been a couple days since the problem headache, and Pinkie Pie had decided to through a party to welcome Rainbow Dash’s friend, a Griffon named Gilda, to Ponyville. Currently, Page was in a (relatively) quiet corner of Sugar Cube Corner enjoying a piece of cake and a glass of punch. Resting on the table next to her was a fresh notebook she was using for writing notes and drafting her newest book.

“Um… do you mind if I sit here?” came a soft voice. Looking up from her food, Page saw a soft yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane and tail with three butterflies as her Cutie Mark. “That is, if you don’t mind that I sit here. If you do, I can find somewhere else to sit.”

She waved off the concerns. “Don’t worry, it’s fine.” Giving a nod of gratitude, the mare sat down on the opposite side of the table. “I’m Page Turner, I run the local book store. I’ve seen you come in to get a couple of books on animals every so often, but I don’t believe we’ve ever actually met.”

“Oh, you’re right. I can’t believe I was so rude,” she softly muttered. “My name is Fluttershy.” She hesitantly extended a hoof towards the Unicorn.

“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy.” She gently shook the offered hoof. “You’re friends with Twilight and the others, right? I certainly see you spending time with them.”

“Oh yes,” she happily replied. “They’re all my very dear friends. The absolute best!” Realizing how excited she was getting, she blushed and looked almost ashamed of herself. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I was getting awfully worked up there.”

Page chuckled at the mare’s embarrassment. “It’s fine, Fluttershy.” The two mares heard a peal of laughter from the main proper of the bakery. “What the hay is happening over there?” The two got up from their seats and went to investigate the commotion. Once they made their way through the crowd, it was in time to watch Rainbow Dash and Gilda have a falling out before the Griffon stormed off. There was an awkward silence until Rainbow went to Pinkie Pie and apologized for the way she had apparently been acting.

As the group of six convened on the two mares, Page couldn’t help but smile at how close the six ponies were. A fashionista, a racer, a quiet Pegasus, a hyper active party machine, a farmer, and a librarian. Can’t say I’m not amazed those six are all friends. There’s almost nothing in common between all six of them, but I guess that’s friendship for you.

Once the six had reconciled over problems the Griffon’s presence had apparently caused, the party kicked back into full swing, and Page allowed herself to join in some of the dancing and games with all the other townsponies. It wasn’t until the next day when she realized something that happened during all of the merrymaking.

Her notebook was gone.

The Great Search

View Online

“Not good, not good, NOT GOOD!” panicked Page. “I can’t believe I let that notebook out of my sight yesterday!” She still couldn’t believe it. Of all the ways she could have accidentally revealed her identity to the masses, leaving her equivalent of a rough draft lying around for anypony to find was the last thing she ever thought she would do. “Ok, deep breaths…” she took a deep breath inwards before slowly exhaling to vent her terror and the stress it was causing. “Alright, I’ll just close up for the day, head over to Sugar Cube Corner, and see if Pinkie Pie still has the book and hasn’t left it lying around.”

Her mind made up, she descended from her dining room and into the store proper. Quickly locking up the door and putting the “CLOSED” sign in the window, she set off at a brisk trot to the bakery where Pinkie threw most of her parties. It’s okay, nopony knows about it… or do they? How many ponies know who I am? What if somepony found it and connected it with me? What are they going to do knowing it’s me?! Spurred on by these thoughts, her trot quickly escalated into an all-out gallop.

Soon enough, she arrived at the bakery and was relieved to see it was currently a slow point for business. YES! Running through the doors, she allowed herself to stop running when Mrs. Cake let out a frightened shriek.

“Oh, it’s just you, Page Turner. What can I do for you?” she asked in a very friendly manner. Does she know?

“Hi, Mrs. Cake. I was wondering if you or Pinkie Pie found a notebook in the corner after that party yesterday,” she explained. “Green, hard bound, relatively new looking?”

“Hmm… I don’t believe so.” She put a hoof to her chin as she thought on it, looking to the ceiling as she did. The action itself frayed on Page’s already strained nerves as she resisted the urge to snap at the older mare. “Oh, but I think Carrot might know! He was more focused on cleaning out here while I cleaned up the kitchen. Let me go get him!” She turned and casually walked into the kitchen, leaving the Unicorn to panic.

Come on, hurry up! She started fidgeting in place. Every second I spend waiting here is a second I’m not out there looking for my book!

The Earth Pony mare walked back in humming gently to herself. “Sorry, Page Turner. But Carrot hasn’t seen it either. I guess somepony else must have picked it up. If you want, I can try finding Pinkie Pie and see if she knows where it-”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine!” she almost yelled back, her fear setting back in. “I can find it myself thanks for trying!” she called as she charges out the door once more, leaving the baker more confused than anything.

To be completely honest, when she found this notebook at Pinkie Pie’s party yesterday, she wanted to immediately bring it to everypony’s attention and try locating its owner. When she noticed the title on it and saw the writing inside, she knew all-too-well who the author had to be and how big this book was. A. T. Hoofcraft herself wrote this journal! It was a once in a life-time find, not to mention this was clearly a draft for her next book! What’s more, this meant that A. T. Hoofcraft was in Ponyville as late as yesterday at Pinkie Pie’s party. How exciting was that?!

To say Twilight was excited as she sat in her room reading it was an understatement of a lifetime. Sure, Hoofcraft was a new fascination of hers, but it didn’t change the fact that she was hooked. Of course, she may have fibbed to Page Turner when she said she had just started the second book. She had actually been almost done with it when her personally studies pulled her away from the immersive world of the Eldritch horrors that lie in wait beyond the mortal world.

“Hmm… the city of Yak’Shek sounds mystifying,” she muttered as she read the notes on the left page. The way it was set up was so that the right side was actual story while the left was the author’s annotations and notes. “Completely ruled by an upper echelon of clerics to the Eldritch being they worshipped. The God…” she narrowed her eyes and tried to make out the God’s name in Hoofcraft’s quick writing, “Ydrex’Ktala… I swear, where does she come up with these names?” On one hoof, it was incredibly charming how much work went into the names of these Gods and the cities that Hoofcraft built to worship them within her narrative, but at the same time it was annoying trying to work out the phonetics of what looked like gibberish.

“Twilight, you up there?” called Spike from downstairs. “It’s time for breakfast!”

“Coming, Spike!” Placing a bookmark in it, she carried the book downstairs with her so she could keep reading from the story part of the draft while she was eating. “Sorry, I’m just so immersed in this book. I can barely put it down!”

The baby dragon chuckled at her eagerness as she sat down and began eating her oatmeal while reading from the book. “Isn’t that what you say with every book you get?” He took a look at the cover of the book she was reading, noticing that unlike the others, this one was personally written on. “Condemnation of the Lost City? While I’m assuming that one’s probably another of those weird Hoofcraft books you’ve been reading, why does that one look so different from the other ones?”

“It looks different because it’s the rough draft,” she offhandedly replied as she took a bite of oatmeal. “So the Yak’Sheki were at odds with followers of Desta’Rakt? I thought those two Gods were at ease with each other…” she muttered.

“It’s what?!” he yelled, snapping her out of her focus. “Twilight, how in Equestria did you get a professional author’s rough draft?!”

She closed the notebook and set it down on the table in front of her. “Well, I stayed behind to help Pinkie Pie clean up after that party she threw yesterday, but while we doing so, I found this book just lying around on a table in the back corner.” She started smiling as she affectionately placed a hoof on it. “I was going to give it to Pinkie Pie and the Cakes so they could wait for the owner to come grab it, but when I took a look and realized it’s a personal journal of the actual A. T. Hoofcraft, I just had to read through it! Who knows, maybe I can give her pointers when I return it to her!”

“Twilight, I’m disappointed in you.” He folded his arms across his chest as he gave her a look. “Not only does that book not belong to you, but you can’t just read somepony’s unfinished work like that! Even if it’s for a book that’s going to be published, it’s not for just anypony to read. You have to bring it back.”

“Come on, Spike! I will return it, I just have to see what her writing process is like!” She brought the notebook closer to her. “Nopony knows anything about her, so not only is reading this a valuable insight into her personality, but it’s not like I even know what she looks like, so I can’t just go up to her and return it.” She tried giving her assistant a reassuring smile. “If she’s looking around for it, she’ll probably come looking for it, and when she does, I’ll be sure to hand it over. I promise.”

“Well… if you say so…” he replied hesitantly. To show her faith at his uncertainness, she placed the book down on the table and made no move to keep reading it. Not that she didn’t want to keep reading the draft, but she knew Spike wouldn’t approve. She would definitely try getting the other girls to help her. Who knows? Maybe together they could figure out who A. T. Hoofcraft really is.

“Okay, thanks anyways.” With a sigh, Page Turner left Lyra and Bon Bon’s house. She had been searching all over Ponyville and so far it seemed nopony had seen hide nor hair of her book. It was starting to feel pointless. Alright, next stop is Carousel Boutique and then get myself some lunch.

“Okay little ones, right this way,” came a gentle voice from up ahead of the brooding author. She looked up and saw Fluttershy leading a small family of squirrels to a tree in the nearby park.

Wait a minute! Fluttershy was with me yesterday before I left that table. Maybe she knows where it went! Her mind made up, she ran over to the quiet Pegasus as she finished leading her squirrels. “Hey, Fluttershy!”

She let out a quick “eep” before looking to see who was yelling to her. “Oh, hello Page Turner. How are you today?” She was smiling softly, making Page suspicious that she knew her secret.

“Well, I’m hoping you can help me with something,” she replied as she caught her breath. Maybe running around all day wasn’t such a good idea. Taking a deep inhale, she gave Fluttershy a concerned but not frantic look. “Yesterday at Pinkie Pie’s party, I had a green hardbound book with me. I’m afraid I misplaced it since I didn’t bring it home last night.”

“Oh my, that’s just terrible!” gasped the yellow mare. She put a hoof to her chin in concern and gave Page a worried look.

“My feelings exactly,” she replied, starting to feel Fluttershy didn’t know her secret. “I’ve been going all around to the ponies I saw at the party last night, but so far nopony has found it. You wouldn’t happen to have found a book like that, would you?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t see it since you and I left that corner and I joined in on the party games.” She gave an apologetic smile to the Unicorn. “If you want, I can ask anypony I see if they found it. Would that be helpful?”

Page let out a heavy sigh. “No, it’s fine. I’ll ask everypony on my own. If you do that we might just wind up asking the same group of ponies. Thanks anyways, Fluttershy.” With that, she took off yet again, this time resuming her trip to Carousel Boutique.

My trek through the streets went on even longer, my wings bound behind me to prevent my escape. Surrounding me with their staves and each holding a chain to my collar, the four arch-clerics of Yak’Shek towered well above me. My pleas, which had long since run my throat ragged, could no longer come to my defense as they led me through the twisted streets. Their headdresses, adorned with long swooping wings and the geometrically abhorrent symbol of their wretched God, shone in the ethereal twilit sun. Long shadows crossed our path as the buildings, as warped and twisted as the cultists who constructed them, towered and spiraled above the winding streets. In the short time I was trapped within this city, I had concluded they detested straight edges within their architecture and art. In a way, I suppose it was fitting, given the very nature of the abhorrent Being they called their God.

Not a single sound escaped my jailers, save the sound of their hooves, if they even were that, upon the cobbled streets. Their long cloaks, woven in an impossibly dark blue with swirling waves of silver that were genuinely dancing along the hems, obscured their bodies from my view. Given the gaunt nature of their muzzles and the impossible slimness and height of their forms, I could only assume they looked nothing like what I would find in regular Equestria. Although, I believe this hell could no longer even be called Equestria. Nopony of reason would allow such a place to continue to exist in this world.

As the buildings grew taller and more elaborate, I began to see other citizens of Yak’Shek. Their bodies were withered, as though they had never eaten a single morsel in their time worshipping the Outer Being they called Ydrex’Ktala. They were trudging the outer edges of the streets, giving the clerics plenty of room to continue unimpeded. The few who I saw look upon me stared in silence at my appearance. I suppose it’s to be expected. The citizens I saw were all regular ponies of the earth while the few clerics who interrogated me had been Unicorns. For there to be a Pegasus, let alone one who had an actual Cutie Mark rather than the symbol of their God, must have been quite a novel sight. I sincerely hoped such was the case, as I could not make out any emotion within those expressionless black orbs darker than pitch.

The procession led me to the edge of the city, and their site of worship. A large altar towered above the gathering masses, with the silhouette of the High Priest standing in the light of the lowering sun. “Children of the Great Lord!” he yelled out in the harsh tongue of their faith. “We gather in the name of our Master to pass Their holy judgement upon this interloper. This… agent of the false Lord known as Desta’Rakt!” There were mutters in the still gathering crowd before the High Priest raised his foreleg. I stared transfixed as his robe parted, revealing a scaly appendage, far too slender to possess any muscle and adorned with fins. “This interloper, who entered this hallowed City through means granted by his wretched Master, has questioned our faith and spoken ill of the Great Lord!”

“Hail to the Master, who granted our life from the sea,” chanted the crowd in a single monotonous voice.

“Bring them forth!” he demanded slamming his hoof to the ground. The clerics ahead of me pulled harshly upon my chains as those behind me jabbed at my flanks with their staves. No cries escaped me as I stumbled towards the altar and the stairs before it. All around me, the citizens were closing their black eyes and joining in a haunting song of Prayer in a tongue that no creature in Equestria should have been able to utter.

“Please…” I whispered before the fear set in. “Please! I’m not an enemy! I’m not meant to be here! Please, you need to believe me!” I tried to fight against my jailers and free my wings, but I felt a sickly aura ensnare my body and begin moving my legs against my will-

“TWILIGHT!” yelled Spike, startling the mare from her reading with a shriek.

“Spike! What was that for?” she asked in mild annoyance. She was enraptured by what she assumed would be a later part of the final novel. From the way it was written out of order, Twilight figured Hoofcraft was using the book to map out entire scenes as she came up with them, only to rearrange the sections and fill in the gaps later. “I was reading.”

“I know you were,” he replied with his arms folded. “But not only were you reading Hoofcraft’s journal again, but I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes now. It’s lunch time, and you need to take a break.” He looked at her with a flat stare. “Without that book.”

She let out a heavy sigh. “Fine,” she acquiesced. Leaving the book on her table, she followed Spike to the kitchen. As she sat down and dug into the daisy and cheese sandwich Spike had prepared for her, she turned to her #1 Assistant. “Hey Spike, after lunch, can you get the girls together over here? I want to ask them to help me find the book’s owner.”

Page turner sighed as she sat at her table outside the local café. She lost count by this point, but she knew that after all the ponies she had spoken to over the course of the day, not a single one had her book. Rarity had been a bust and seemed about to throw a fit when she heard how “unfashionable” the notebook sounded, and not even Pinkie Pie (who she ran into at one point during her search) had a clue where her book was. She “supposedly had potentially maybe saw a book that looked like it” but since she was currently stuffing her face with cake, she wasn’t sure.

Rainbow Dash is out since she doesn’t like books, she thought to herself as she dejectedly sipped her tea. Applejack would have returned it right away, and I’m starting to run out of ponies I know who went to that party yesterday. She took a bite out of one of the muffins she ordered and thought on what to do next. I suppose I could just start over, but if I do, whoever found that book will not only have the rough draft of my next book but will know that A. T. Hoofcraft lives in Ponyville. And if that gets out to the press…

She shuddered at the thought of the press finding out she lived in Ponyville. While Ponyville wasn’t as interesting as some other places she had lived, it was by far the one she’s stayed in the longest. Ponies here could get suspicious but didn’t pry into your personal business as much as the ponies she had to deal with in Manehatten or Fillydelphia. But if the press, and in the process her fans, figured out where she was living, she would have to move all over again. The last thing she wanted was for a repeat of when ponies figured out where she lived in Manehatten. Page still shuddered when she remembered the fan that tried mailing herself to her apartment because she thought Hoofcraft was a stallion.

Maybe I should just cut my losses and move before anypony puts two and two together?

“Slow down, Spike. There’s no need to run, Sugar Cube.” Page looked up and saw Twilight’s dragon Spike leading Applejack somewhere.

“I know, but Twilight said she wanted everypony there to help her figure something out.” Page’s eyes went wide when she heard that. It can’t be…

“Well no point in rushing if it ain’t an emergency.” The apple farmer continued her leisurely pace behind the baby dragon with Page now having a sinking feeling about why Twilight was gathering her friends.

“Waiter check please!” she called as she tried getting the attention of her server. She needed to find out if this was what she thought it was.

“So Twilight, what exactly is so important that you needed all of us here together?” asked Rarity as she sipped at the tea Twilight had set out. The mentioned Unicorn sat across from her, with Fluttershy then Rainbow Dash to her left and Pinkie then Applejack to her right. “Not that I don’t appreciate us all getting together, but I have to wonder what was so big that you had Spike go out and gather all of us.”

“Yeah, I could be practicing all sorts of tricks right now!” complained Rainbow. She was getting restless, especially since she was the first one to arrive out of all of them.

“Alright, well I’ll try to explain this as best I can.” Twilight emptied her tea cup before setting it down and looking over her friends. “So, as you all remember, we all helped Pinkie Pie clean up from that party she threw for Gilda yesterday.”

“Oh my gosh, that party was soooooo fun! Remember when Rainbow Dash started pulling all those pranks and mmmhmm…” The pink pony’s rambling was muffled when Applejack shoved her hoof in her mouth to keep Pinkie Pie from derailing the conversation. Giving the librarian a nod, she kept her hoof in place so the story could continue.

“Well as we were cleaning, I found a book lying around. At first I thought it was just some random novel, but then I realized it wasn’t just a book.” She placed the book on the table from its place next to her on the ground. “This… is the rough draft of A. T. Hoofcraft’s newest book.”

“A. T. Hoofcraft was at Pinkie Pie’s party yesterday?!” gasped Rarity as she stared in shock at the book.

“Umm… Twilight?”

“I’m sorry, but who the heck is this A. T. Hoofcraft and why is it such a big deal if they went to Pinkie’s party?” demanded Rainbow Dash.

“Twilight.”

Rarity gasped at the cyan Pegasus’ response. “Who is A. T. Hoofcraft?! Why, she’s only one of the biggest names in literature! Personally, I’m not a fan of her work, but the legacy she’s accumulated since she’s started publishing is incredible!” Rarity swooned to the side as she posed rather dramatically. “Not only is she one of the Manehatten Times’ top authors! But the most fantastical thing about her is the lengths she goes to by concealing her identity.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me nopony knows who this Hoofcraft is and yet she’s that popular?” The orange mare raised an eyebrow. “Sorry ta say this Rarity, but I find that pretty suspicious.”

“Girls…”

Pinkie Pie spit Applejack’s hoof out of her mouth. “Yeah! I mean, think about it! If nopony knows who she is, who throws her parties and will be her friend?”

“Girls.”

“That brings me to why I called you all here,” Twilight said as she regained control of the conversation. “Since I found this book of hers, I’m hoping you can help me figure out who she is so I can return it to her.”

“Girls!” The five fillies jumped in shock at Fluttershy raising her voice at them. Now that they were all looking at her, she quickly shied away and hid behind her hair. “I’m sorry for raising my voice, but I wanted to tell you that I know who that book belongs to.”

“You do?!” asked all five in varying degrees of shock. She flinched at the volume of the yells and tried hiding behind her hair even more.

“Yeah… I was sitting with the mare who owns it. She didn’t say her name was Hoofcraft though,” she explained. “She introduced herself as Page Turner. I’ve seen her around town for a while n-”

“Wait, this is Page’s notebook?!” Twilight yelled as she slammed her hoofs down on the table surface. “She can’t be Hoofcraft!”

“Well why can’t she?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Don’t some ponies use fake names when they write?”

“While it’s not out of the question for a pony to use a pen name to keep their privacy, I’m afraid it’s simply not possible,” replied Rarity. “After all, according to rumors, Hoofcraft is from Seaward Shoals. Page told me so much about Manehatten that she has to be from there.”

“Well that’s gotta be a lie,” replied Applejack. “She was telling me one time about all the time she spent out it Fillydelphia. Even if she moves, that’s too often for somepony who ain’t got nothin’ to hide.”

“Well that’s extra weird!” chimed in Pinkie Pie. The other five looked at her, expecting her to continue with the statement she made. After some prompting from Twilight, Pinkie realized what they were waiting for. “Oh well, she told me when she moved here that she was moving from Canterlot. Said something about wanting a change of pace.”

“So what you’re saying is, we have one pony who has said she’s from three different cities, and the only thing connecting her to Hoofcraft is this book.” Twilight was thinking out loud, as she tried seeing some connection between them.

“To be fair, I never said I was actually from any of those cities.” The six mares let out yelps of fright before looking to the open door. Standing there was Page Turner herself, her mane looking slightly worse for wear and a slight air of exhaustion around her. Inviting herself in, she closed the door and walked over to the table the six of them were sitting around. When she stopped behind Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, the two quickly got the message and scooted over to let her sit down between them. Once she sat down, she quickly used her magic to grab the book that started all of this and put it in front of her.

There was a long period of silence as the six friends looked at her, nopony was really sure how to start the conversation. “So…” Twilight began, deciding to cut to the chase, “how much of that did you hear?”

Page poured herself a cup of tea and took a long sip from it. “I opened the door as you debated where I came from. And as I said, I never exactly said I was from any of those cities, just that I had lived there at some point.” She stared into her cup, waiting for some manner of interjection. Receiving none, she decided to continue. “I suppose to start with, I should just answer the big question from all of you. Yes, I am in fact, A. T. Hoofcraft.

Revelations

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There was a long silence at the Unicorn’s declaration. Twilight looked ready to explode, while the others were all trying to either rationalize the revelation, or in Rainbow’s Case, trying to care. “I can tell you have questions,” Page/Hoofcraft stated to the gathered mares. “So whatever it is, ask away.”

“Why A. T. Hoofcraft?” asked Rarity before Twilight could get any questions out. “Not to sound rude, but certainly there are better options for a nom de plume?”

She chuckled. “Actually, it’s a shortened version of my actual name. ‘Page Turner’ is a pseudonym I use in order to maintain a personal life while I publish under my real name.” She looked at Rarity with a smirk. “It’s short for Arcanica Transcriptia Hoofcraft. Obviously, that’s a little long for putting on the front of a book, so I decided to simply shorten it to ‘A. T. Hoofcraft’. Page Turner is what my parents were going to call me if I was a colt.”

Twilight opened her mouth to ask a question, only for Pinkie to cut her off by slamming her front hooves down on the table and getting right in Arcanica’s face. “Did you lie to us about when your birthday was? Cuz if I threw parties for your birthday on days that weren’t your birthday, I will be SO ANNOYED!” she yelled at the end, panting a little from the exertion.

The Unicorn author blinked a little after the volume of Pinkie’s question. “No, I actually kept that the same. Seemed a little stupid to have to celebrate my actual birthday by myself and a fake birthday with everypony else.” She shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like I’m the only pony in Equestria with my birthday, so it wasn’t as big a priority as my name.”

“Ooooohhhh. Okie dokie!” Satisfied, she plopped herself back down on her rump.

Before Twilight could even try asking anything this time, Applejack decided to get her own question in. “So, where the hay are you even from? I mean, if you were listening to us, ya probably heard us all knowing you gave those three different cities. So? Where exactly are you from?”

“It’s like Rarity said, I’m from Seaward Shoals.” Arcanica had a smile on her face as she thought back on her home. “It’s a nice little down on the Celestial Coast, right on the ocean and with a wonderful sense of community. I’ve just had to move all over Equestria in an effort to keep anypony from truly realizing who I am.”

“Ok, let me ask a question!” yelled Twilight, startling the ponies all sitting around the table as she slammed her hooves onto the table.

“Well, nopony is stopping you, Twilight,” the author said in a rather concerned tone. “Ask away.”

“Thank you.” She took in a deep breath before releasing it and looking at Arcanica with genuine curiosity. “Why all the secrecy? The moving, the fake name for regular life, the book store, all of it! Why go to such extreme measures to keep your identity a secret?”

Arcanica sighed rather heavily. “And there it is, the million bit question.” She fixed Twilight with a serious stare. “You really want to know why, Twilight? It’s because I wanted to distance myself from the fame. When somepony succeeds in literature or art, it eventually stops being about their work and more about them as a pony. I wanted my books to be separate from my personal life; for everypony to look at my books and say, ‘These are good books, I wonder when the next one will be coming out?’ not ‘Hey Hoofcraft why are you enjoying yourself and not writing?’ You know what I mean?”

“Not really,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I mean, yeah it would get annoying if everypony judged me based on my practice schedule and expect me to constantly be practicing my tricks, but why wouldn’t you want everypony to be a huge fan of you?”

Before Arcanica could reply to her, Rarity cut in for her. “Because, darling, it has to do with recognition. She wants ponies to buy her work because they enjoy her books, not just because her name is on them.” She flipped her hair as she ran a hoof through it. “I get it completely. It’s a rather common occurrence in the fashion community, for a pony’s work to be sold purely by name to flaunt rather than out of appreciation for the clothing itself.” She gave a gentle smile to the red Unicorn. “Is that about right, Pa- I mean, Arcanica?”

She nodded with a grateful smile. “Exactly. Of course, wanting some privacy is also part of why I went to such extremes. I was never good with everypony putting high expectations on me when I was a filly, so when I realized my talent was writing such interesting narratives and that everypony loved what I wrote, I came to a realization that if I started publishing when I got older, I would have everypony harassing me to keep writing when they want me to.” She wasn’t lying. When her cutie mark, an open book with three differently colored sparkles on the right page, appeared on her flank after her first novella received praise from her teachers, she had a feeling her writing would become a new bar for everypony to hold her to.

“So then why all the lies and secrets?” Applejack’s tone, while slightly disappointed in her for lying so much, was still genuinely curious.

“Again, I was hoping to get some privacy in my life despite the rising popularity of my books.” She shook her head with a sigh. “When I started the habit, it seemed like a good idea.”

Fluttershy rested a hoof on Arcanica’s shoulder. “And now?”

She heaved her shoulders with a much heavier sigh and shook her head. “Honestly? It’s starting to become a burden more than anything. In all honesty, I think my next move will be to go back to Seaward Shoals and hope for the best."

“Wait, you’re already moving?!” Twilight was visibly shaken at the revelation.

“Most likely. I was so concerned over finding this book that I practically tore up Ponyville in my efforts to try and figure out where it went.” She shot an unamused look at Twilight for taking her book. To her credit, the purple Unicorn had the decency to be embarrassed over causing the author to panic. “Considering how much of a foal I made of myself trying to find it, it probably won’t be long until somepony else puts two and two together and figures out I’m A. T. Hoofcraft.”

“Well, is that so bad?” asked Fluttershy with a hopeful smile. “After all, I’m sure that if anypony found out who you were or where you lived, they’d respect your desire for privacy.”

“Tell that to the filly who tried mailing herself to me.”

“Ah’m sorry, what?!” Applejack looked visibly mortified at the thought of somepony mailing themselves.

Rainbow laughed at the thought. “Why the heck did they do that?! Not even I would try something that stupid, even if it was to meet the Wonderbolts!” She kept laughing and leaned on the table as laughter racked her body.

Ignoring the laughing Pegasus, Arcanica continued on with her tale. “A young filly was obsessed with my work and because she thought I was a stallion like everypony else did, she decided to mail herself to me as an offering out of her devotion.” She sighed and shook her head. “Fortunately, she didn’t see what I looked like, but she did hear me scream and yelling for the guards. In fact, it’s because of her that everypony first found out I was a mare.”

“You mean, some filly quite literally sent herself to your home in a box… just to meet you?” Rarity seemed a little perturbed by the fact that something like that happened in somepony’s life.

“She wanted to do more than meet me, if her yelling and how she was begging were any indication.” They all shuddered at the implications being made by the author. Who could blame them? Twilight’s plan to track her down at least had the motivation to return her book and maybe meet her. But going that far out of obsession was just… too much.

“So because of that… you’re going to move just because we found out?” Twilight was confused in trying to work out the logic behind Arcanica’s habit, to the point where she wanted to both yell and bang her head on the table. “Look, just because we figured it out, you don’t have to run away from Ponyville. Heck, we could even help you manage all of the crazy fans for you!”

“Yeah!” cheered Dash. “And if they cause problems, I’ll give ‘em the old one-two for good measure!” she proudly declared while shadow boxing in the air.

“Nopony deserves harassment like that, an’ Ah’ll be damned if Ah let somepony Ah know deal with somethin’ like that!” assured Applejack. As the other three joined in on agreeing to help her, Arcanica felt something… off. She couldn’t put her hoof on it.

“Why, though?” she asked. “Why would you all even try helping me? I barely know most of you! At the most, I’m only really friends with two of you!” She didn’t get it. What were they after by trying to help?

“Because it doesn’t matter to us how few of us you were already friends with, just that you are friends with some of us!” explained Pinkie Pie. “Because you’re friends with some of us, that means you’re practically already friends with all of us!”

She didn’t get that logic, but as the others gave some manner of agreement, she felt that strange feeling in her chest. “I… I have to think…” Grabbing her book, she got up from the table while ignoring all of their concerned looks. “Thanks for finding my book and all. I hope you can all keep my identity secret,” she said over her shoulder as she walked out the door. Closing it behind herself, she left the six friends to their own devices.

The walk back to her store was quiet. Nopony tried getting in her way, and she ignored the ones who did try to talk to her as she kept walking. She wasn’t in any rush to get home, so her journey was at a more leisurely pace than she would usually have. Her mind was currently in turmoil as she thought over the events of the day.

Why would they want to help me so badly? With the exception of Pinkie Pie and Rarity, I only talk to them in extremely situational circumstances.

When she arrived back at her shop, she quickly made her way to the second floor. Setting her book down, she sank onto the couch in her sitting room. She honestly had no idea what to think about this whole dilemma. Her gut instinct was to pack up and leave that night with the rent for her building left at the town hall. Of course, that instinct only existed after all the times she had to move in the past.

After her talk with Twilight and her friends, though, she was tempted to not run and instead stay behind and risk it. She wasn’t sure why, but the thought of those six helping her like that left a sort of… warm feeling in her chest. She wasn’t sure what it was, but the last time she felt something like it was the last time she saw her parents when they had wished her luck on her career. Is this… what having close friends is like?

She shook her head to clear that thought. They weren’t friends! The closest ones out of them she could even call her friends were Rarity and Pinkie, and Pinkie had it in her head that EVERYPONY was her friend. But if they weren’t friends… why would they all so quickly agree to help her out? “Uggh… I can’t deal with all this right now!” she yelled as she threw her hooves in the air before flopping onto her side on the couch. “I need a nap. Maybe if I do, I can make a decision about this mess…”

It wasn’t until the sun was starting to descend in the sky that she woke to a knocking on her door. Giving a heavy sigh, she climbed off the couch and descended to her empty store. Half-heartedly opening the door, she found nopony waiting for her on the other side. Instead, there was a medium-sized white box sitting on her stoop. There was a small card stuck to the top with Page Turner written on the top, so she quickly pulled it off and opened it up.

Arcanica,

I’m sorry we invaded your privacy the way that we did. I hope you can find a way to accept our apology.

-Twilight

Her interest intrigued, she picked up the box and brought it inside so that she could see just what the Princess’s star pupil had in mind to apologize to her. Setting it down on the store’s countertop, she cautiously opened the box up. Rather than anything she had in mind, there was a large three-layer cake with a delicious looking white frosting and rose-red decorative icing; obviously the work of Pinkie Pie. What caught her attention was how the top was decorated. The top layer was decorated with her Cutie Mark. The edge of the cake was decorated with the other six mares’ Cutie Marks separating the words of the simple sentence ‘We’re sorry for possibly ruining your life!’

“Why are they so insistent?” she muttered. She carefully scooped a bit of the frosting with her hoof as she tried thinking over why they would apologize so much. As the creamy topping touched her tongue, her eyes widened at the fact that it was coconut flavored. “Coconut…” she muttered. “My favorite… But how did she even remember that?”

“Everypony is my friend! And a good friend knows what their friends like!” she vaguely remembered. If she recalled correctly, Pinkie Pie had once said that in regards to how detail oriented she had been when planning a birthday party for Rarity down to the exact amount of punch to have at the party.

Arcanica had to have mentioned her favorite flavor of frosting once or twice in the entire time she had known Pinkie Pie. Did she really remember it after all this time? Given the fact that Pinkie had gotten the frosting flavor, it wasn’t a stretch to assume it was chocolate cake as well. Does she really think of me as a friend? She thought back on the girls and her talk with them. They all seemed pretty supportive of her if she revealed her real name to the public, and it would make things easier on her stress-wise. More importantly, even after they figured out who she was and why she was lying, they didn’t seem to treat her any differently. Would it really change anything if I drop the façade of Page Turner?

As she looked at the cake and the note that had come with it, she hardened her features. “That does it. My mind’s made up.” When the girls came by the following morning to see if Arcanica had accepted their apology, they found a closed-up store with a simple sign on the door:

We are closed until further notice.

Twilight let out a heavy sigh as she closed her copy of Village. It was only the second time she had read it in almost a week, but what could she do? She had driven somepony away from their home and had failed to apologize to them. This feels worse than the few times I failed an assignment… she thought sadly to herself.

“Aw, come on, Twilight. You can’t beat yourself up over this forever.” Spike had been trying unsuccessfully to get her to cheer up, but she hadn’t been in the mood. She had been beating herself up over what happened with Arcanica and couldn’t shake the guilt over it.

“Spike, I forced somepony to move away from Ponyville because I couldn’t respect their privacy.” She slumped on top of the table as she let out a depressed sigh. “I’m a terrible friend.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say you were friends with Page, or rather, Arcanica. So it’s not like you hurt somepony you were really close to,” he said in an optimistic tone, hoping to convince her to not be so torn up over it.

“But that’s what makes it worse!” she yelled as she buried her face in her fetlocks. “Somepony I barely knew who just wanted to live peacefully here in Ponyville was forced to abandon everything because I just had to read a book!”

“Alright, that settles it!” he declared. Going up to the Unicorn, he pulled her to her hooves and started guiding her to the door. “You need to get outside and talk to everypony! You can’t stay inside forever, Twilight. Let’s go see the others!”

She sighed as she let herself be led outside her library. As much as she wanted to argue with Spike, Twilight knew that he was right to an extent. So, she decided to humor him. Who knows? Maybe her friends would be able to cheer her right up after all. As the two walked through town, she noticed something rather out of place.

“Hey Spike? What happened to the book store?”

“Oh, yeah, they repainted it while you shut yourself up in the library,” he explained.

Of course, they had done a lot more than that. What was once a reasonably large, two-story building with the same cream walls and thatch roofing as most of the buildings in town had been completely renovated. The roof was now stylized to look like an open book placed page-down on top of the entire building, with the walls now being a modest navy blue. The windows were now sporting iron framework and ornamentation. A new sign hung in front of the building, reading Untold Tales with an open book underneath the words. Attached to the sign was a small red sign that read “Grand Opening”

“Apparently, some rich pony bought it and has been paying for a team of unicorns to completely renovate the place. No idea why they’d move here to Ponyville,” he explained with a nonchalant shrug.

“Well, I imagine rent here in Ponyville is much cheaper than in other cities or towns, so it would make sense to open here instead of Canterlot or Manhatten,” she said as she took in the new look. “I suppose we might as well check it out, see how different it is compared to how she used to run things.” Now morose once more, she started towards the door, not acknowledging the groups of excited ponies leaving the store with excited looks on their faces. She did stop when she saw a familiar pink Earth Pony skipping out of the store. “Oh, hey Pinkie Pie. Planning a party for our newest resident?”

The pink mare giggled before answering. “Nnnope!” she sang, making sure to pop the ‘p’. “There’s no need to throw them a party!”

“And why’s that?” Twilight was now more confused than sad. “You throw everypony a party when they move here.”

“You’ll see~!” she sang as she started bouncing away.

The two friends shared a look before resuming their walk into the store, their interest now thoroughly piqued. As they entered the store, Twilight gasped as she saw the mare behind the counter. “PAGE?!”

The red Unicorn looked at the resident librarian. “Sorry, I think you have me mixed up with somepony else,” she said matter-of-factly as she happily bagged up a customer’s purchases before handing it off to them. “My name isn’t Page. It’s Hoofcraft. Arcanica T. Hoofcraft.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized what was just said. “I recently purchased this lovely book store after I decided to settle down for a change of pace.” She quickly turned her attention to a black Pegasus who came up to the counter with a couple of books.

As the author continued helping her customers, Twilight was left in shock. What is going on here?!

“Twilight, if you’re not going to buy anything, I’d like to ask that you move out of my door way,” she said as she sent the black Pegasus on his way. “You’re going to cause a blockage for ponies trying to enter and exit my store.”

She quickly shook her head before quickly moving closer to the counter while being out of the way for the flow of traffic. “Um… Arcanica? Could you maybe explain WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON?!”

The red Unicorn took a moment to rub her ear while wincing and giving an apologetic smile to the mare she was in the process of helping. “First of all, Twilight,” she said as she leveled an annoyed look at the purple mare, “you’re disturbing my customers. I’d rather not the have my grand opening marred by you upsetting my customers.”

“But, you already ran this store before-”

“Second, if you want to know what’s going on with me, you can simply wait for when I go on break at noon.” As she sent off the mare she had just finished helping, she turned to the Unicorn who was now glaring at her. “Look, I have another hour Twilight. But if you want to really know what happened, I took you girls’ advice.”

She waved a hoof at the store. “There aren’t any customers right now! Can you just explain what’s going on?”

Arcanica sighed while rubbing her eyes. “Alright, Twilight. If you must know, I thought back on how you were all reassuring me about letting everything come out. I realized that all I was really doing was just running from my problems, especially when I realized something pretty big.”

“What’s that?”

She smiled at the purple mare, a small spark in her eyes. “I never had real friends until I moved here to Ponyville. I spent so much time trying to hide my identity and keep myself hidden in plain sight, that I just turned into a shut-in. But you six? I realized you girls are the first real friends I’ve had since I was a filly.”

While that was heart-warming, that still left one question unanswered for Twilight. “And… using your real name?”

Arcanica rolled her eyes as she walked around the counter to fix one of her bookshelves. “Like I said. I was getting sick of always having to lie and use fake names. So, I went and finally replied to the Manehatten Times’ constant requests for me to do an interview with them. And, since I decided I was done hiding, I tapped into my personal savings to renovate my store and actually make it more… me.” She shot a playful smile to the purple Unicorn. “Naturally, I avoided specifically giving away my location, and my agent is having a field day with the fact that I’m done actively hiding.”

Done with reorganizing the shelf, she gave Twilight a very short, and extremely awkward hug. “But I have to thank you, Twilight. You girls really helped me out.” Twilight smiled as new customers entered the store and Arcanica quickly resumed working.

Yeah… we really did.

Princess Celestia looked up in interest as a familiar scroll popped into existence before her. Smiling, she set her copy of the Manehatten Times to seize the letter from her prized student. Breaking the seal and unrolling the scroll, she read over Twilight's newest lesson in friendship.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I learned that even if somepony doesn't quite consider you their friend, the bonds of friendship you have with them can make all the difference in facing their fears. Recently, I learned that a resident here in Ponyville has been lying about her identity out of concern for her own privacy as her literary works gained popularity. When the other Elements of Harmony and I talked to her about it, I became convinced that my actions had completely destroyed the life she made here in Ponyville and was going to move out of fear. When I saw her today, however, she explained to me how my offers of friendship and our kindness to her had touched her enough that she decided to come clean to all of Equestria about her life. I look forward to what this new friendship can bring me, and am excited to have been able to make a new friend this way.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

Celestia smiled as she finished her student's letter, knowing her student was certainly improving if she was able to make a new friend outside of the Elements. "And to think I was so worried about her."

Magical Problems

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When Arcanica woke up that morning, she was expecting to have a relaxing morning, especially now that the drama from her big reveal had finally blown over. Get a cup of coffee, read her paper and enjoy her morning. Of course, now that her identity was no longer a giant secret, she also had started getting fan mail directly to her store. Apparently, her suppliers had seen the article of her interview and figured out who she was, so they started spreading the word and sure enough, the occasional fan showed up and the mail poured in.

It was as she flipped through her fanmail behind her trusty counter that she heard a loud commotion outside. Setting aside a letter from somepony asking if there was a theme of class struggles in her books, she went to investigate the noise that had disturbed her quiet morning. After a quick walk to Town Hall, she found the cause to be some showpony in a cape and wizard hat of all things doing parlor tricks on the stage.

Does she seriously think this is impressive? Sure, her own magical skills were nothing compared to somepony like Twilight, Arcanica at least knew that most of what the mare, who apparently called herself “The Great and Powerful Trixie”, was showing off were actually reasonably simple spells. Not the basic stuff they teach young unicorns, but certainly nothing on par with the schools in Canterlot.

Making her way through the crowd, Arcanica was able to track down her friends (still an extremely foreign idea to her; she had actual friends!) and joined them as Trixie continued on with her bragging and showboating. “Does she really think this is that impressive?” The showpony set off several fireworks at another one of her declarations rather than use her magic to recreate the same effects. “Not to sound arrogant, but I’ve made better illusions for foals on Nightmare Night.”

“You’re telling me,” whined Rarity as she rolled her eyes. The others all threw their two bits in, with the genuine agreement being that there was nothing worse than somepony who bragged and showed off how much better they were.

“There’s nothing wrong with being talented, right?” Arcanica threw a look at Twilight. Something in the way she asked that didn’t sit right with her.

“Nothin’ at all.” Applejack sent a reassuring smile to the Unicorn before turning an unamused look at the Unicorn on the stage. “Unless of course, you’re showing off like a schoolfilly with fancy new ribbons.” On the stage, Trixie made a bouquet of flowers appear as she waved her hooves in front of her. Because that wasn’t hard for most unicorns.

Rarity scoffed at the act and threw her mane back. “Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic, does not make one better than the rest of us!” Twilight seemed to shrink at that statement, while Arcanica nodded.

“She’s right. Everypony has something they can do well compared to everypony else.” She narrowed her eyes at another overhyped parlor trick. “But if you go around acting like that and showing off for the sake of showing off, you’re certainly not better than anypony else.”

Rainbow Dash let out a laugh. “Especially since we’ve already got me being better than the rest of us!” Applejack leveled an unamused glare at the cyan Pegasus. “I mean… YEAH! Magic Shmagic!” She loudly started boo-ing at Trixie, all while trying to ignore Applejack glaring at her.

The showpony scoffed as she stopped doing tricks. “Well, well, well. It would seem we have some neigh-sayers in the audience!” The crowd inched back, be it deliberately or subconsciously, leaving the seven of them and Spike standing on their own. “Who is so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Arcanica rolled her eyes at the posing being done in front of her. “Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?!”

Rarity softly blew a raspberry. “Just who does she think she is?”

“Yeah!” Spike pushed his way past the mares to make himself known. “Especially since we all know that Twil-” The Unicorn mare quickly cut him off before dragging him off.

As the two talked, Trixie set off more fireworks and spinners, creating even more fanfare as she posed dramatically, much to everypony’s disgust. Sick of her antics, Rainbow Dash flew up into the cerulean mare’s face.

“SO, Great and Powerful Trixie,” she said, practically spitting the words with sarcasm, “what makes you think you’re so much better than us, anyways?”

Trixie scoffed at the question. “Why, only the Great, and Powerful Trixie has the magical power… to VANQUISH… the dreaded… URSA MAJOR!” She yelled this as dramatically as possible, the horns on her stage firing fireworks into the sky to form a bear made of magical energy, much to the crowd’s amazement. “When all hope was lost, and the ponies of Hoofington had nopony else to turn to, the Great and Powerful Trixie stepped in, and with her awesome magic, vanquished the Ursa Major, sending it back to its cave, deep within… the EVERFREE FOREST!” As she narrated her story, the lights showed a version of her waving a wand before defeating the creature.

“That’s a load of crap,” muttered Arcanica. Fluttershy looked at her sharply, though she was pretty sure it was for the language. “There’s no way a pony can defeat one of those, they’re a class five monster. Only the elite squadrons of the guards could chase one off.” As she explained that to the cream-colored Pegasus, Snips and Snails were arguing with Spike over her claims.

Honestly, she was half tempted to just walk back to her shop. She had mail to finish sorting, and a book to keep writing. But when the mare bragged that she was the strongest in Ponyville and dared them to prove her wrong, she decided that could wait if it meant dealing with a spoiled brat.

Applejack decided to take the first go, deciding to show off her skills with a lasso as she used some of her better rodeo tricks to leap through her spinning lasso before finishing it off with snagging an apple for herself to quickly snack on. The crowd started cheering, happy to see the skills one of their own happened to possess. The mood quickly changed when Trixie made the rope dance like a snake before hog-tying the farm pony and shoving an apple in her mouth.

Rainbow took the second swing at her, deciding to try showing off her own skill and bravado. What better way to beat a braggart than with somepony who actively seeks to back up her claims? While she barely knew Rainbow Dash, the number of times the Pegasus tried doing stunts all over Ponyville was enough for her to know the mare actually had skill. Racing off at her usual high speeds, she returned several seconds later with enough water trailing behind her to slam into her still flared-out wings. The ensuing mist created a distinct rainbow over her head; which Trixie then turned into a tornado to spin the Pegasus fast enough to leave her dizzy and nauseous on the ground.

“Ok, that does it!” Arcanica climbed on the stage, annoyed at the way this mare humiliated her friends. “Being able to turn my friends’ tricks on them like that is one thing, little Miss Boastful, but a simple manipulation is nothing impressive.” She heard everypony in the audience murmur at her declaration as she quickly ran through the prepwork for her favorite illusion spell.

“True magic and talent comes from the depths of the mind, something not possible by just anypony.” Flaring her magical aura, she created an almost life-like image of one of the first creatures she created in her book: the Idrik’Kilan.

Compared to the Gods she often wrote about in her works, it was reasonably tame. With large lion paws attached to the body of an indeterminate reptile, the wings of a large bat, a funtioning claw for a tail and a flower-like head, it was certainly a sight to see. Standing beside her, the illusory beast opened its petal-like mouth to let out a piercing roar of defiance, daring Trixie to best its creator.

“You may have your little fireworks, Loud and Boastful Trixie, but true feats of magic replicate life!” The audience was in awe of her little display, only a few of them knowing about her interest in illusions from when she volunteered on Nightmare Night. Hopefully, nopony would notice the small beads of sweat on her brow from maintaining this particular illusion. “Can you compare to this?”

She scoffed at the challenge. “Trixie does not need lessons on illusions from a nopony like yourself!” She grinned maliciously at the defiant crimson Unicorn. “But perhaps Trixie can teach you a lesson of your foolishness!” With a quick zap of her horn, the Idrik’Kilan jumped in front of Arcanica before roaring loudly in her face. Abruptly, the roar was cut off as it swelled up like a balloon. As it did so, it quickly glowed bright white before bursting like a firework with colorful sparkles filling the air and amazing the crowd.

Arcanica didn’t see any of that, however, as the flash of her illusion bursting like that temporarily blinded and dazed her, causing her to stumble around like an idiot before falling face-first from the stage. As she fell, everypony in the crowd chuckled, not realizing how seriously she was stunned. “Arcanica!”

As her eyes began to force themselves to see straight once more, she could just barely make out a large yellow and pink blob in front of her face. “Are you alright?” Hearing the voice, she was quick to realize it was Fluttershy who was standing in front of her.

She hesitantly nodded. “I think so, just as soon as my eyes decide to start seeing in more than one color.” She could hear Rarity declaring how a Unicorn needed to possess style and elegance. Unfortunately, or fortunately considering what apparently happened next, she was unable to see any part of the following conflict. From what she could hear, however, it must have been terrible for Rarity.

“Come on, Arcanica.” She saw the yellow blur that was Fluttershy vanish from her sight only to feel something gently helping her up. “I’ll help you back to your home. Um… That is… if you don’t mind…”

“That sounds wonderful, Fluttershy.” She turned to the slightly clearer blob with a grateful smile. “It’s above my store, so if you can just get me there that would be lovely.”

She saw the mass of color bob gently before cautiously leading her through Ponyville. The walk was very peaceful, both because Fluttershy was naturally quiet and because Arcanica wasn’t sure what to even talk about with her. Ultimately, she decided to break the silence. “So… um… what kind of animal was that back there? You know… that you made with your illusions… I… um… haven’t seen something like that before…”

She chuckled. “It’s something from early on in my writing career. It’s called an Idrik’Kilan, and it was one of the creatures used by this cult in my works to hunt ponies down.” She still remembered having to explain that one to her editor back when they first started working together.

“Oh. It looked… interesting…” Any further discussion ended as they arrived at Untold Tales. “Well, we’re here.”

Nodding, Arcanica unlocked the door with a quick spell, grateful her eyes were recovered enough to get around her own abode. “Thanks a bunch, Fluttershy,” she said as the yellow mare followed her inside to make sure she was alright. “Would you like some tea before you go?”

“Oh no, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” She hid behind her mane as she gave her reply.

“It’s fine,” she assured the Pegasus. “I could use some after the mayhem that obnoxious blowhard caused, and I want to show you how much I appreciat your help.” She quickly gathered up her mail before moving towards the back of the store.

“Well, when you put it that way… I suppose it wouldn’t be that bad to have some tea.” She cautiously followed the author to the back room, and immediately understood why she went there when she saw the staircase leading up to the second floor. Once up there, she began taking in the apartment around her.

“Wow, Arcanica. I really like your apartment,” she said happily. “It’s nice and homey in here.”

The mentioned Unicorn turned her head to her with a smile as she placed her stack of mail on her table. “Thanks, Fluttershy. It may not seem like a lot, but it’s my home.” Lighting the stove to warm up her tea kettle, she grabbed a couple mugs from a cabinet. “You can go wait in the sitting room. I’ll be in with the tea shortly.”

“Ok, if you say so.” Taking the hint and noticing the direction Arcanica pointed her, Fluttershy went through the door frame, leaving her host to her own devices.

As she waited on the tea, Arcanica decided to make a couple daisy sandwiches for the two of them to enjoy with their tea. That in itself wasn’t a difficult task, so she also added the tea bags, a lovely black tea she ordered from Trottingham, to their cups.

When the kettle finally started whistling, she quickly added the water to the cups while setting up a tray with sugar and the sandwiches. Once the cups were on the tray, she levitated it and started walking towards the sitting room.

CRASH! The tray slammed to the ground, the plates and cups breaking from the impact. “AGH!” She slammed a hoof to her head as she suddenly felt like a spike was going through her brain. WHY NOW?!

“Arcanica? Are you okay?” She heard gentle hoofsteps followed by a gasp as she stayed crouched, holding her head in pain. “What happened?” Fluttershy carefully flew over to her, placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. “Did you hurt your head?”

HeaR… SeE… REmeMBeR…

“The cabinet…” she growled out. “There are some pain killers in there…” She grunted as the pain pulsed again. “Next to the fridge…”

She heard a couple cabinets opening and the sink running. “Here, I got you some water too.” Opening her eyes, she saw the still flying mare offering her a couple of pills and a tall glass of water. Not even bothering with her magic, she used her hooves to grab the pills before downing them. She then practically chugged the water before handing it back to the concerned mare.

“Thanks.” Her headache was still pulsing in agony, but she still forced herself to stand up despite her body’s protests. “Let me just… clean this up.”

“Absolutely not!” she said firmly. “You’re getting into bed, right now!” Arcanica looked at her with what was meant to be a look of amusement but stopped when she saw the mixture of concern and disappointment on her face. “Arcanica, you almost collapsed. You shouldn’t be cleaning when that happens.”

She opened her mouth to argue the point, but Fluttershy held up a hoof to stop her. “It’s either that, or I call the doctor. I don’t want my friends getting hurt. Please, just go to bed and let me clean this mess for you.”

The Unicorn writer wanted to at least try arguing against her friend, but could tell by the look in her eyes that she would regret doing so. Instead, she sighed heavily before nodding. “Fine, I’ll go lay down.” Starting towards the door way to her room, she stopped and looked at Fluttershy. “Also, thanks… for caring so much.”

She got a gentle nod before continuing to her room as Fluttershy began cleaning up the mess.

A dull, orange sun hung high above her, unmoving. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but the place she found herself in was most certainly not Ponyville. What gave her an uneasy feeling wasn’t so much the strange sun, or the empty streets around her. Rather, it was the dark grey buildings around her. Each of them was monolithic in nature and reached to the sky in warped, tapering points. The shadows being cast ahead of her formed a web of twisted, mangled shadows.

“Hello?” Her voice echoed through the empty streets, not even the wind replying to her call. “Is anypony there? Where am I?” Still nothing replied to her call. She felt a compulsion to move through the abandoned streets. Hesitantly, she began a slow, cautious trot down the empty streets, wishing all the while that she would and wouldn’t find anypony. “Hello?”

sEe…

She put a hoof to her head at the quick flare of pain. What the hell was that? As the pain faded, she heard the sound of soft hoofsteps up ahead of her. Lowering her fetlock to look ahead, she saw an intersection in the strange streets. “Hello?” She started to pick up her pace towards the intersection. “Is somepony there?” The hoofsteps got closer, but when she turned the corner, she stopped in shock.

A large shadow of a maneless Earth Pony was cast on the buildings, somehow standing out perfectly against the dark stone of the buildings. What made her stop was the fact that there wasn’t a pony tethered to the shadow, yet it moved as if there were still somepony connected to it.

SEe…

The world around her shook as a loud roar filled the air. The sun above her began to glow as the world began to shake violently and crumble.

ReMEmbEr!

Arcanica bolted upright in her bed screaming. The voice from her dream still ringing in her ears. Remember? Remember what? The roaring came through again, quickly revealing it wasn’t something from her dreams. “What in the name of Celestia is that sound?!” Jumping out of bed, she pulled her curtains aside, revealing that not only was it the middle of the night, but there was a large bear made of stars and blue energy rampaging through Ponyville. “Is that an Ursa Major?!”

As she stared at the rampaging beast, and the interestingly fleeing Trixie, she watched Twilight appear with her horn blazing as she stood in defiance of the bear. Seeing her about to do something potentially suicidal, Arcanica turned from her window and began a quick run downstairs, intent on at least trying to talk her friend to safety. By the time she opened her door, however, Twilight was floating the creature back into the Everfree Forest.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief and joined everypony in congratulating Twilight for saving Ponyville. That being said, finding out they had actually been attacked by an Ursa Minor did not help her state of mind. What did help her state of mind was watching the “Great and Powerful” Trixie running off like a coward after setting off a smoke bomb. Of course, she quickly became confused when the punishment Twilight assigned to the colts responsible for bringing the Ursa to town was moustaches, but to each their own, she supposed.

Arcanica sighed as she swept the floor of her shop. For the last couple weeks, it had seemed like the world was trying to keep everypony from coming to her shop. It was just one disaster after another with this town. Last week a dragon had apparently decided to make its home in a nearby mountain, so Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony had gone off to get it to go away.

While she had been grateful for not having to tag along to go climb said mountain, the dragon’s smoke cloud had been enough to keep everypony inside all day in fear. Then of course, there was today’s fiasco. Somehow, Cloudsdale had been backed up when it came to their rainstorm quota for the last couple weeks (something that continued to amaze her could even happen), so they had to send out a number of heavy storms. Ponyville was up next, and the storm had been raging for almost an hour now. Naturally, nopony wanted to be out in a storm like this one.

“I suppose I might as well close up,” she muttered in mild annoyance. “Not going to get any customers with a storm like this one.” She flipped the sign in the window before stowing her broom in its resting place. Not that I need this shop considering how successful my writing career is.

Quickly putting out the lanterns that lined her store, she began to make her way to her often used staircase. A flash of lightning lit up the store, briefly showing her the way. As a mighty crash of thunder rang out, the door was kicked open, scaring her as she quickly turned around, her horn glowing.

“Who’s there?!”

Standing in the doorway was a tall, broad figure. Their form, barely visible in the gloom from the storm, had no sign of a mane and flowed almost sinuously from the front, if it weren’t for a strange rectangular shape that broke up the silhouette. “Arcanica Hoofcraft?” came a deep stallion’s voice. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Who are you?” she demanded, trying her hardest to not let her fear work its way into her voice while keeping herself from shaking. “What do you want?!”

“My name isn’t important,” he told her. “But as for what I want? Well, let’s just say I have something for you.”

Dark Tales and Curses

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“I have something for you.”

Those words hung in the air as the storm raged on. The lightning flashed once more, giving Arcanica a brief glimpse of the stallion. Dark brown coat underneath a large black raincoat. The object on his back was some manner of box from the quick glimpse she got of it. After a minute of silence, he seemed tired of waiting for an invitation and let himself into the store, kicking the door shut behind him. Stopping at the counter, he heaved the box off himself with a loud thud as it hit the wooden surface.

The sound snapped Arcanica back to her senses as she glared at the mystery stallion. “Look buddy, if you’re one of my fans, the proper thing to do is either send a letter or show up when I’m open. Not show up in the middle of a storm to-”

“I’m not a fan of yours, Hoofcraft,” he snapped. She took notice of the stallion having an accent, but didn’t get to place it before he kept talking. “I’m here because I found something that an… associate, or rather… a rival, of mine believes you should see.”

Rolling her eyes and blowing an annoyed snort through her nostrils, Arcanica’s horn briefly lit up as she ignited the lantern on her countertop. To her annoyance, the stallion made no move to remove his raincoat, more of a cloak now that she got a good look at it, and instead shoved the box closer to her along the countertop while neve removing his fetlock from the box, as if he were holding it shut.

“Two weeks ago, I was working one of my usual jobs in the jungles of Eastern Equestria,” he began without prompting, as Arcanica studied the box. It was rather ornately designed, being primarily made of a gold-looking metal. The sides of the box were concave and filled with swirling patterns of the same metal and a dark green stone she couldn’t quite place. Small rubies were inset in points created by the green stone, and the negative space was pitch black.

“You see, I’m a treasure hunter of sorts, and I received word that there was once a cult in this particular jungle known for their worshipping of the apocalypse and their habit of seizing valuable artifacts.”

“And so, you decided to see if anything remained of that cult to make an easy bit,” she cut in, predicting where this story was going.

He chuckled. “You’re just as quick to catch on as my associate. But yes, that was my intention in seeking out that forest.” He looked down at the ground. “My associate, an archaeologist, had a similar idea to me, and we both made our way there. We each had heard of a particular relic that this cult had cherished. A tome of ancient magics, said to be powerful enough that anypony could use them, regardless of race or talent.”

The author, listening to this, let out a low whistle at his description of the artifact. If something like that truly existed, who knows what chaos could be unleashed on Equestria…

“As we do in these hunts, I managed to find the artifact before she could, and planned to seize it. Which is when I found something most unsettling.” Her eyes widened as he raised his head, revealing a grey beard when part of his hood slipped. Don’t tell me… “That cult I mentioned didn’t die out. It was still there, waiting for somepony to try and steal that damn book of theirs.” He shuddered, she assumed from the memory of the cult.

“She and I were both captured, and they planned to use us as offerings to whatever sick and twisted god they worshipped. Fortunately, she managed to get us out, but that cult…”

A heavy silence hung between them, only being interrupted by the storm howling outside. “What happened?” she demanded. “What’s in this box? And how does this all connect to me?!”

“Those damn cultists were so caught up in their abhorrent rituals, they never noticed we had escaped. They were more focused on offering my assistants to pay us much mind.” She put a hoof to her mouth at the thought of somepony deliberately killing another like that. Writing about such a thing was one thing. Hearing about it actually happening though…

“Four stallions later, and they finished some ritual to try summoning their god to this world. They called it ‘The Matron of Scales’, and wanted it to descend upon them, granting them-”

“Lives in the form of her chosen avatar…” He turned to stare at Arcanica as she stood there, a look of disbelief on her face. “That shouldn’t be possible though…” She started pacing, her shadow jumping in the flickering lantern light and the occasional lightning flash. “You have to be messing with me! This can’t be true! I only wrote about that Being about a year ago, there’s no way such a cult could exist, especially when I made up all of that up!”

“I assure you, Hoofcraft. This cult was very much real, and they were trying to summon the Being they called Vehstrak.” Her blood chilled hearing the name of the Eldritch snake goddess that drove one of her books. He even got the pronunciation and emphasis right, something most ponies never did. That was one of the things she never published in any of the letters she would write in place of interviews. She took another look at the box, nervous about what she would find inside of it, and realized the significance of the green stone being placed in swirling patterns. They were snakes.

“What happened to them?” Her question was hesitant. Part of her didn’t want to know what came next, but she knew it was important. “What happened next?”

Silence greeted her before he decided to continue his tale. “I’m not sure on the specifics, but from what my rival told me, they managed to muck up the ritual and instead dragged some monster down upon themselves. Apparently, their leader was the one keeping it there since he used the book, yet it made sure to save him for last.” He choked up, and she recognized the sound he made as somepony trying to keep themselves from emptying their stomach. “The mess it left when it was done…”

She shuddered at the thought of what such a creature would do. If her own writings were any indicator of this apparent truth, any creature associated with Vehstrak that wasn’t a worshipper was not something you would wish on your worst enemies. “When it finally left, we recovered their spell book and its container before quickly leaving the area, lest any more of them find us and try finishing their work.” She barely noticed he was done talking; she was in shock hearing this story. Her works couldn’t be real… the just COULDN’T BE!

A loud grinding snapped her out of her stupor; shocking her until she realized he was just shoving the box towards her. “My associate, she knows of your work. And she was able to recognize not only what this is, but how dangerous it is. She said if anypony knows how to keep this safe, it would be you.”

“There’s nothing to keep safe!” Her shock had finally given way to the annoyance that had been there when he first arrived. “There’s absolutely no truth to my works, there can’t be an ancient cult to something I just wrote about last year, and I’m positive there’s nothing dangerous in that box!”

He stared at her for a long while before chuckling. “Sure there isn’t, Hoofcraft. And I lost four of the best stallions I know to a damn daydream!” he snapped back at her. “Believe me or not, this… thing is your responsibility. After what it happened to my companions, I don’t want this, she says it’s evil incarnate… You wrote about it, you keep it!” His piece said, he turned and stormed his way to the door, leaving the box on her counter. “My rival is like you, you know. She says her books are nothing but lies, but she and I both know the truth.” He opened the door and stepped out into the rain. “Just keep an eye on that thing.” With that, he took off running, leaving her to close and lock the door to her shop.

“My books being real…” She snorted at the absurdity. “Please, how gullible does he think I am?” She chuckled before she felt her nerves act up as she looked at the ornately designed box. “There’s nothing serious in here… there just can’t be.” Staring at the imposing box on her sales counter, she weighed her options when it came to the mysterious box. On one hoof, if she simply scrapped the box entirely, she could simply forget it was ever there and go on with her life. On the other, if there really was something significant in it and that stallion was telling the truth, throwing it out would be dangerous. But what if it was dangerous to keep it?

It couldn’t be something from her books. She wrote fiction, as in, fantasy. Although, there was that point where she found out she had unintentionally picked an area for her next book that already looks as though there was once something there. Who knows how many other coincidences there were in her books? Against her better judgement, she grabbed the box and levitated it up the stairs, making sure to extinguish the lantern.

Once she was settled in her sitting room, her brightly lit sitting room, she decided to study the box in greater detail. The box was rectangular in nature, with the two wider sides bearing the swirling decorations that she noticed before. Now that she was in better light, it was now much more apparent that the green stone was meant to resemble the bodies of snakes. A stone she could not identify and showed no signs of being multiple pieces that were inlaid on the box. For all appearances, it was as if whoever made the box had carved the stone as one single piece. Each of the ends was entirely that deep, void-like shade of black, with the exception of a single decoration inset on each end. The decoration was in the shape of a three-pointed star, with a serpent, again made of green stone, wrapped around the star to form a circle with its body. The symbol of Vehstrak.

In terms of weight, it felt consistent with the box being decorated in actual gold and stone. There was no way for her to be positive there was anything even inside of it as it didn’t make any sound when she shook it. Knowing it was unavoidable, she took a deep breath before seizing the lid with her red aura and slowly easing it off the box. No reason to be completely reckless investigating what was most likely a prank. Once it was off, and nothing came out, she decided it was safe enough to look inside the box.

The interior of the box itself was lined with a black material that she very much hoped was velvet and not something more macabre. This black interior was molded around an indentation that snugly held its prize that was currently wrapped in dark green cloth. Despite her unease with the entire situation, the cloth-wrapped bundle was quickly pulled from the confines of the box and placed on the table.

“Ok, Arcanica… You’re doing fine, there’s nothing dangerous about this. Just somepony trying to pull a fast one on you.” Despite trying to motivate herself, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. With a deep breath, she pulled the cloth away from the object and stared in awe of the object before her.

Like the supposed treasure hunter had said, it was definitely an ancient book. One that she knew all too well from the number of times it appeared or made a reference in her works. The cover was made of black leather, with the stitching forming a large spiral made of three-connected lines. A quick attempt at riffling the pages revealed they were stiff and yellowed, as though they were ancient beyond measure. If it was like the way the book was described in her writings, though, they were stiff for an entirely different reason.

Opening it back up to the first few pages, she drew in a shuddering breath as she saw the dark red scratches that adorned the page. “Whoever made this paid incredible attention to detail…” she muttered, still telling herself it wasn’t real. As she looked over the writing, a language that was supposed to be older than the royal sisters, she shook her head. “Honestly, they couldn’t have even tried inventing… a… language?” It was right there, in dark red, was a gibberish language… that looked unusually familiar to her. A thunderclap shook her house as she poured over the first page.

“That can’t be right… Let’s see here…” It shouldn’t have been possible, but the writing seemed almost legible… in a passage that she knew for a fact was never touched upon in any of her own writings.

Harken to the cries of Them

Lords of Void beyond the coil

Heed Their calls, dwelling in slumber

Awaiting in peace, in an Eldritch brood

The masters of Their plane and all beyond

This tome of knowledge, held dear to Them

A volume of death, of great might

She set the book down and stared at the open pages, her mind temporarily on hold after reading what nopony should know opens this particular book. “There’s… there’s no way.” She shook her head, her mane hitting her face proving she wasn’t dreaming. “This can’t be the real thing. It’s just some random pony trying to be funny and make me think he’s got the drop on me. Well it’s not working!” Slamming the book shut, she quickly redid its wrapping and slammed the lid on the box.

“It isn’t real. It just isn’t…”

Arcanica let out a heavy yawn as she walked into Sugarcube Corner. She was supposed to be at her store, but after the week she had been having, she needed a pick-me-up this morning. Ever since that book had arrived at her store, she had been much more stressed out than usual. For starters, her paranoia was back full force since that strange stallion came to her store during that storm. For somepony to show up and deliver a strange box with a far-too accurate recreation of a fictitious book was setting off a lot of red flags.

Furthering her problems was that since then, she had been having that strange dream a lot more frequently. After the first couple times, she was able to realize she was dreaming of Yak’Shek. Since then, she had been spending most of her nights wandering the empty streets of the fallen cult city. She was exhausted from constantly dreaming of running through those lost streets, constantly being followed by a disembodied voice in her head. Not even coffee was fixing her sleep problems.

So, she decided to treat herself this morning to something excessively sweet but oh-so delicious. “Good morning, Pa- I mean, Arcanica,” came the friendly voice of Mrs. Cake. “How can I help you this morning?”

“Hi, Mrs. Cake.” She gave the married mare a smile in spite of her soul-weary exhaustion. “Can I get a slice of Triple-Choco Delight and a slice of coconut cream pie?”

“Oh of course. Coming right up!” Setting a white cardboard box on the counter, she started setting up Arcanica’s order when a timer went off in the kitchen. “Oh dear, I need to get that. Pinkie, can you come down here and finish this order?” she called loudly.

“Sure thing, Mrs. C!” The pink pony came sliding down the railing as Mrs. Cake disappeared into the kitchen. “Heya Arcanica! Whatcha getting?” Saying hello to her friend, she repeated her order to the Party Pony. “Okie Dokie Lokie!” Humming to herself, she set about gathering up Arcanica’s order for her, neatly packing it away in the box. “Alright, that’ll be 7 bits!” As she went to pay her friend for the pastries, the door slammed open as Rarity, Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy came running in with Applejack’s little sister.

“Pinkie shut off the lights!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she started yanking all of the curtains closed. “Zecora is back in town!”

“WHAT?!” They heard a crash in the kitchen as Mrs. Cake screamed at the name of the strange figure from the Everfree was yelled. Pinkie quickly ran around the room turning off the lights once the bits were safely in the cash register.

“Great,” muttered Arcanica as she joined the others in securing the bakery. “The one day I leave my shop and she comes to town.”

“Twilight! Over here!” Pinkie was quickly peeking her head out the door trying to get the mentioned Unicorn to get indoors. After far too much back and forth, she was finally able to convince Twilight and Spike to get inside the bakery.

Once she was inside, they were quick to reveal to Twilight that they were all hiding in there, much to her continued confusion.

“We’re hiding from her!” Applejack was cautiously holding one of the curtains open, allowing them all to look into the town at the hooded figure currently pawing at the dirt in the middle of town. When the figure turned to look their way, all of them quickly ducked out of the window, except for Twilight.

“Did you see her, Twilight?” Apple Bloom was clinging to Spike as she tried making eye contact with the librarian. “Did you see… Zecora?”

As Applejack reprimanded her sister for saying the mysterious figure’s name, Twilight promptly voiced her concerns about their behavior. Of course, Arcanica didn’t expect somepony like Twilight to completely understand why Zecora was so damn terrifying. When she took another look out the window at her, with everypony else following her lead, they were able to see Zecora remove her hood.

“Just look at those stripes! So garish!” Twilight leveled an annoyed look at Rarity.

“She’s a zebra.”

“A what?” Arcanica was amazed at most of her friends, they never heard of Zebras before?

“A zebra. And her stripes aren’t a fashion choice, Rarity. They’re what she was born with.” The white Unicorn collapsed at the horror of such a thing.

Of course, once the others started explaining how the Zebra lived in the Everfree Forest, and Pinkie debuting her newest song, Twilight got down to brass tacks. “What have any of you even seen Zecora do?”

“Twilight, she’s a zebra for Celestia’s sake. Haven’t you heard what they’re like?” demanded Arcanica.

She raised an eyebrow while looking at the author with an expression of unamused skepticism. “Arcanica, have you heard what they’re like?”

“Of course I have! They’re a shaman-like culture. They travel around in caravans spreading curses on any who get in their way! Those stripes are meant to represent their dabbling in the darkest of magical arts!” The others gasped at her revelation while Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Do they really place c-c-curses on everypony?” Fluttershy was doing her best to hide behind Rainbow Dash in case she needed to get out of sight.

“There’s no such things as curses and Zebras are naturally that color!” snapped Twilight. Her eye twitched with annoyance at Arcanica’s failure to help the situation. “Tell me, what does Zecora actually do when she comes to Ponyville?” This led to a heated back and forth between the whole group until they noticed something extremely concerning: Apple Bloom was gone and the door was wide open.

“She must have gone after Zecora!” The mares all charged through the door, with Spike staying behind in case Apple Bloom came back before them. The mares were at a full gallop as they took the road that ran through Ponyville to the Everfree.

As they ran into the Everfree, they found a path that looked as though somepony had cleared it relatively recently. “Apple Bloom! Where are ya?!” From her place towards the middle of their formation, Applejack was trying to call out to her sister.

“There she is!” yelled Rainbow Dash from above the group. Sure enough, the mentioned filly was currently on the other side of a patch of bright blue flowers with Zecora further ahead of her.

“Apple Bloom, there you are!” She turned around to see the group of seven mares charge through the patch of flowers. Applejack quickly scooped the filly up and placed her safely on her back.

“Beware, beware you pony folk!” came a booming voice. As a mysterious fog filled the air, Zecora stood on the other side of the clearing from them, her eyes glowing with an unnatural light. “Those leaves of blue are no joke!”

“You… you keep yer creepy mumbo-jumbo to yerself, ya hear?” threatened the apple farmer as she stood her ground.

Rainbow Dash landed beside the group in the flower patch, backing her friends up. “Yeah, was that supposed to scare us?!”

Arcanica stamped a hoof in defiance as Twilight rolled her eyes. “Get out of here with your voodoo curses!” The zebra only backed away while telling the group to “Beware.”

“Right back at you!” Once the zebra was out of sight, the group breathed a sigh of relief only for Applejack to begin berating her sister.

“See Twilight? What did I tell you?” Twilight glared at Arcanica as she had a smug look on her face at being proven right. “Zecora just tried putting a curse on us.”

She let out an annoyed growl. “Arcanica, there’s no such thing as curses. I’m honestly shocked that somepony as well-read and intellectual as you even thinks stuff like that about zebras!”

The red Unicorn stuck her nose up. “Hmmph. Say what you will, Twilight, but ponies wouldn’t have ideas like those if there wasn’t a basis for them.” As the two Unicorns argued over the existence of curses and whether zebras could cast them, the group began their return to Ponyville, confident in having driven Zecora away.

Arcanica let out a heavy yawn as she stretched her forelegs over her head. “Wow, I can’t believe I slept so well last night!” As she shook her head to clear away what little weariness remained, she felt something wet hit the side of her head, making her sigh and roll her eyes. “Or maybe not, if my mane is that drenched in sweat.” She raised a hoof to brush her mane to the side, only to feel something much… meatier and to actually feel the hoof itself. “What the hell?!” Shocked at feeling something out of the ordinary, she fell out of her bed.

Groaning from the impact, she got a look at her tail, now exposed from her fall. Seeing her lovely tail, she screamed in horror of what happened to it before noticing some of her main in her face… and how it looked exactly like her tail. Her terror renewed, she let out a terrified screech, knowing all too well what had happened.

Zecora had cursed her.

The Problems with Curses

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“Unbelievable, the one time I get involved in their adventures and I get cursed in the process.”

Arcanica stormed through the streets of Ponyville towards the Golden Oaks Library, a black cloak pulled tightly around her body, lest anypony see her mane or tail. She needed to reach Twilight and get her to fix this situation… assuming Twilight wasn’t also under some horrifying effect from Zecora’s curse. As she passed by a bucket of apples, she felt her tail moving towards the barrel and quickly picked up her pace lest anypony see what had happened to her. Once she saw the tree Twilight called her home, she switched to an all-out gallop, running through the door shortly after Fluttershy finished walking in.

“Somepony close that door. NOW!” The girls all yelped in shock as a cloaked figure ran in before the others realized who she was.

“Arcanica? You too?” Hearing her voice, the mentioned author looked to Twilight, and visibly flinched when she saw her friend’s horn hanging limp and covered in polka dots. She quickly took stock of her friends’ conditions and felt slightly relieved it wasn’t just her.

Rainbow Dash, from what she could tell, was unable to control her ability to move, Pinkie Pie’s tongue was swollen to prevent her from speaking and also polka-dotted, Rarity’s coat and mane were frizzy and made her look more like a shaggy dog, and Applejack was now smaller than a bunny rabbit. Apple Bloom and Fluttershy, interestingly, looked completely unaffected.

“Unfortunately, so. Although, I feel you girls got lucky compared to how Zecora’s curse impacted me.” She pulled her cloak tighter to herself, trying to preserve some shred of her dignity.

“Darling, I honestly doubt that.” Rarity used her hoof to lift up the fur from over her face to have some degree of vision. “Have you seen my coat? I look ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS!” Arcanica cut off her friend’s initial response by pulling her hood down, revealing just what Zecora’s curse did to her.

Her mane, normally black and grey and filled with elegant waves, was now a terrifying tangle of inky black tentacles. A few of the tendrils were twitching and undulating, as if waiting to latch on to something… or somepony. As the girls gasped and stared in shock, she pulled her cloak away entirely, revealing her tail was in a similar state only much more active as it was actively moving. She glared at Twilight as she moved a smaller tentacle out of her face. “Still think curses aren’t real, Twilight? Look at us! Zecora cursed us with her people’s voodoo magic, plain and simple.”

“Well, Fluttershy seems fine!” She gestured to the butter-yellow pegasus in an effort to defend her position.

“Oh yes, there doesn’t seem to be a thing wrong with her!” Rarity drawled in exasperation.

“Fluttershy? Are you alright? Is there something wrong with you?” She nodded. “Would you mind telling us what it is?” pressed Twilight, only to get a furious shake of the head. “So, you’re not gonna tell us?” Another nod. “Is that a ‘yes you will’ or a ‘no you won’t’?”

“For cryin’ out loud! Out with it, girl!”

She shrank in on herself. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she replied with a voice deeper than any stallion. Arcanica’s face visibly cringed at how the gentle pegasus was affected.

Spike, however, had a much different reaction: he burst out into uncontrollable laughter. “Oh, this is hilarious! Look at you all! We’ve got Hairity, Rainbow Crash, Spitty Pie, Apple-teenie, Flutterguy, Nightmarica, and…” He trailed off as he pointed at Twilight, despite all of the mares glaring at him. “Yeah, I got nuthin’.”

Rainbow untangled herself from her most recent prison and flapped her wings uncontrollably. “We need to get Zecora to un-curse us!” She haphazardly jolted around the room while speaking.

“It’s not a curse!” snapped their host as Rainbow Dash slammed into the wall.

“Twilight, these aren’t the effects of normal spells on ponies, and she’s no unicorn,” pointed out Arcanica as she smacked one of her tentacles to get it to stop petting Fluttershy’s head. “All of this points to a curse!”

“Well I think what we need to do is go to Zecora’s place and force her to lift this curse!” Rainbow’s declaration was slightly undercut by her inability to stay in one place in the air.

“Ah agree with Dash!”

“I keep telling you all, there’s no such thing as curses!”

“Darling, why is a book tangled in your tail?” Arcanica turned her attention to the shaggy Rarity and the book in question, the same black book that she tried consulting for information about curses earlier that morning. Call her a foal, but she couldn’t help but feel that something in it could provide some manner of insight about curses… even if she still felt it had to be fake. Knowing her luck, her tail had grabbed it and refused to let go of it.

“I walked by it this morning, and my tail won’t let go of it.” She wasn’t a fan of lying to her friends after deciding to give up on being a habitual liar, but the truth wouldn’t sound helpful in her mind. “For some reason, these damn tentacles are not only keeping me from using my magic but will randomly act on any little thought I have.”

“How positively dreadful!” She sounded appalled at the crimson unicorn’s situation, but since Arcanica couldn’t see Rarity’s face, she assumed she was visibly more aghast at her friend’s situation.

“It’s time to pony up and confront Zecora! C’mon girls, are ya with me?” demanded Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie sputtered out her response. “And I as well,” chimed in Rarity.

“Hell yeah! Let’s get that zebra!” cheered Arcanica.

“I don’t know,” muttered Fluttershy. “Seems awfully dangerous.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “What about you, Applejack?” When there was no response, she looked at the table where the shrunken pony had been left. “Applejack?”

Pinkie Pie sputtered something barely decipherable, while Rarity began panicking. “Ah, somepony must have stepped on her!” They all began frantically checking their hooves and the ground around them while Twilight had a different idea.

“Or sat on her!” She began checking her flank and anywhere one of them may have sat down.

Fortunately, none of them had apparently crushed them, but Rarity and Arcanica could have done without Rainbow Dash suggesting that Pinkie Pie check their respective manes and tails.

As Arcanica smacked Pinkie Pie on the nose with one of her tentacles, Twilight noticed something equally concerning. “Uh, girls? Apple Bloom is gone too!”

“Those idiots,” muttered Arcanica. “They probably went after Zecora on their own.”

“Well then we’d better go find them.” Twilight started making her way to the door. “C’mon girls, let’s go.” The ensuing chaos left much to be desired as Pinkie kept stepping on Rarity’s hair, Rainbow Dash couldn’t stand up straight, and Arcanica’s tentacles were insistently grabbing onto random things. With Spike staying behind to search for a cure, the six mares ran off in search of their friend.

After a couple hours running through the Everfree Forest, highlighted only by Rarity frequently tripping over herself and Arcanica’s tentacles kept grabbing onto tree limbs or the other mares, the group managed to reach a large clearing in the forest. The clearing was dominated by a hollowed-out tree that was decorated in tribal masks and bottles of glowing potions.

“Oh my!” yelled Rarity. “I look absolutely hideous!” A couple of them rolled their eyes as Rarity was just obsessing over her coat. Pinkie lifted the hair covering the white Unicorn’s face while trying to say something. “Oh my, that place really does look horrible.”

“This whole place reeks like something I’d write about,” muttered Arcanica as the group snuck closer to the tree. Once up close, they looked inside the home and saw more masks and potions everywhere.

“Nice decorations, if you like creepy,” scoffed the group’s fashionista. No sooner had she finished complaining than the door to the tree-home opened up for Zecora to enter. As the group of friends watched, Zecora approached a large cauldron filled with some manner of green liquid and added one of the bottles to it. Setting the bottle down, she began chanting something in a strange tongue.

Pinkie sputtered loudly trying to tell her friends something. “She stole your song?” translated Rarity.

“Uh, Pinkie? It doesn’t sound anything like your song,” pointed out Twilight. The pink mare got right in her face while nodding frantically before dashing over to Fluttershy and hugging her leg. When the yellow Pegasus looked down to her, she was met with Pinkie Pie’s puppy-dog eyes before sighing in absolute resignation. Pinkie quickly detached herself from Fluttershy as she began dancing and Fluttershy sang.

“She’s an evil enchantress

And she does evil dances,

And if you look in her eyes,

She will put you in trances.

And what would she do?

She’ll mix up and evil brew.

Then she’ll gobble you up

In a big tasty stew. So~

Watch out.”

There was an awkward silence following the two ponies’ performance before they turned their attention to Twilight. “Well Twilight?” asked tentacle haired mare. “After seeing all that, still want to tell us we’re wrong?”

She nervously started pacing under the window. “Scary-looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldron…” From how she was talking, it sounded like she was going over a mental check list. “Everything is pointing to Zecora being… bad.” She brightened up and had an awkward-yet optimistic look on her face. “Or, what if she’s just making soup?”

They looked back in through the window as she sampled the brew she was making. She let out a satisfied hum. “The perfect temperature for ponies, I presume. Now where is that Apple Bloom?”

Twilight immediately looked sick to her stomach at the implication. “Or maybe she’s making Apple Bloom soup!” The friends all screamed in terror at the thought of the little filly being eaten.

Arcanica stomped her hooves angrily. “What are we waiting for? Let’s save Apple Bloom!” As soon as her declaration had been made, somepony decided to act on it in the form of Applejack riding Rainbow Dash like a rodeo bull.

“Ah’m comin’, Apple Bloom!” Against all logic, she was able to steer the pegasus through the wall of the tree house. The sudden crashing and the destruction the two mares were causing startled the zebra from her brewing and to begin yelling in her foreign tongue.

The element of surprise now lost, the remaining five ponies charged through the door. Twilight took charge as the group entered the strange hut. “What’ve you done with Apple Bloom?!” she demanded of the zebra. Unsurprisingly, her demands went unanswered as Zecora was busy yelling at Rainbow Dash as she and Applejack destroyed her shack.

Ultimately, the farmer jumped off her pegasus friend and threw her trusty lasso at Zecora. Given her current size, however, all she managed to do was tie up the zebra’s ear. “Ponies! What is this-” She was cut off in shock when Rainbow Dash managed to slam into the large cauldron and spill its mystery contents all over the floor. “No! You know not what you do! You’ve gone and spilled my precious brew!”

Twilight stamped her hoof in defiance. “We’re onto you, Zecora. I didn’t want to believe that you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming.” Her anger was apparent on her face as she stood up for all of her dear friends.

“You made me look ridiculous!”

“You made me sound ridiculous!”

Pinkie sputtered loudly only. “You turned me into a monster!” yelled Arcanica.

“And you ruined my horn!”

“How dare you!” snapped the now furious zebra. “You destroy my home, destroy my work, then accuse me of being a jerk?!”

Rainbow Dash destroyed another set of bottles as she ricocheted off the nearby wall. “You put a curse on us, and now you’re gonna uncurse us!”

The zebra stomped her own hooves as she stormed towards Twilight. “It is not wise to travel down this road. Your actions will make my anger explode.”

Twilight slammed her own head against Zecora’s. “WHERE IS APPLE BLOOM?!”

“Zecora, Ah’m back!” Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked at the door as a familiar yellow filly walked in. “Ah think Ah got all the ingredients ya asked for!” She opened her eyes and took stock of the chaos that now filled the house. “What in Ponyville is going on here?” As the ponies all stared at the confused filly, something told Arcanica she was going to have a headache in the near future.

“Oh, thank Celestia my mane is back!” Arcanica cheered as she ran a hoof through her now restored mane.

“You and me both, darling,” agreed Rarity. The gathered friends were all in the Ponyville Spa soaking in the potion Zecora had been trying to brew for them earlier. Pinkie Pie was currently babbling a mile a minute, but other than that they were all happy to no longer be afflicted by the Poison Joke.

“Who would have thought there was a plant that could do something so bizarre?” asked Fluttershy as she paddled over to the two unicorns. “I would have never imagined something so unnatural would exist in Equestria.”

“You’re telling me,” chuckled Arcanica. “Not even I would have thought of something like that, not even for my books.” She sighed as she sank deeper into the large pool. “Although, this whole ordeal is sort of worth it if relaxing in the spa is part of it.”

“Well if you find this soak relaxing, you should really join us for our next spa day, darling,” Rarity said with a chuckle. “Don’t you agree, Fluttershy?”

The yellow pegasus nodded with a small smile. “Absolutely. There’s nothing quite like a relaxing day at the spa.”

Arcanica hummed in thought. “I might take you girls up on that.” She snorted a little as she kept thinking it over. “I might have to hire some extra help around the shop, though.” She let out a loud yelp of fright as she felt something pull on her tail before Pinkie Pie popped up in front of her wearing snorkeling equipment.

“So Arcanica, what did you think?”

The red unicorn raised an eyebrow at the question, expecting Pinkie to continue her thought. Receiving none, she motioned with her hoof. “About?”

“You’re first adventure with us!” she said in a matter-of-fact tone as if it were obvious. “This was the first time we’ve brought you along for one of our friendship adventures, so I wanted to know what you thought about being part of the group!”

“Ummm, can we even call Arcanica part of the group?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I mean, we’re the Elements of Harmony, and not to sound rude, but she’s not an Element of Harmony.”

“Ooh, maybe there’s a secret seventh Element that we learn about in a secrety-secret magic cave by a lake!” They all looked at Pinkie Pie with mixed reactions at her suggestion.

“Uh, Pinkie? Ah don’t think that’s how the Elements work,” pointed out Applejack. “Ah mean, what the hay would she even represent?”

Pinkie Pie hummed as she put a hoof under her jaw in thought, her snorkeling mask now gone for reasons unknown. “Ooh! What about Empathy? Oh, or maybe she’s a backup Element of Magic if something happens to Twilight! Or maybe, she’s meant to represent Balance or something!”

Arcanica face-hoofed at the pink pony’s thought process. “Pinkie, from what Twilight told me, I doubt there's an element Princess Celestia didn't know about. Also, I doubt I would represent Empathy, my talent isn’t magic, and I fail to see how I represent balance when I spent years lying about my identity and running around to stay hidden.”

“But you’ve got to be something! You’re supposed to be hanging out with us for some reason and a certain someone won’t write it down!” The mares all stared at her as if she were going crazy… well, more so than usual.

Arcanica shook her head as she brushed her mane aside. “Well, this ordeal was… interesting. I’ll admit, I never thought I’d be going on adventures like that, if you can even call it that. But I’ll admit, a part of me did enjoy being able to be with my friends for it.” She had a smile on her face as she reflected on the events of the past day. “Also, I did actually feel like a part of the group for once.”

“Well then I suppose that’s what counts.” Twilight was beaming at the other unicorn, happy that she was able to make a friend outside of the Elements.

Eventually, the mares all left the comfort of the gigantic tub and dried themselves off. As Arcanica toweled herself off, overjoyed at having magic again, Zecora approached her with a particular book in her mouth. “Oh! You found my book. I was… wondering where that old thing went.” Taking it with her magic, she quickly wiped it off with a towel. “Thanks… I guess.”

“Young author, please listen to me. I have a warning you must heed.” She sighed before looking at the zebra with a raised eyebrow. “Of that book, you must never lose track. The secrets within it are of no innocent fact.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t speak your dialect,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“The spells contained within are good in a pinch, but changes not that they are quite eldritch. Should they fall into hooves unkind, then Equestria is doomed to Gods of a different kind.” She looked ever so slightly amused when Arcanica’s eyes widened at her warning. “I know not what the pages within may carry, but if I were you, I’d be most wary.”

“Look, zebra. I don’t know who told you about this, but there’s nothing unusual about this book. The things I write about aren’t real,” she stated in frustration. “The outer planes, the Outer Beings, none of it! Got that?”

Zecora chuckled at her denial. “Of your books, I have neither said nor read. Although I must say, what occurred to make you jump to defend?”

“Nothing! Nothing happened!” Quickly turning, she stormed out of the spa and quickly made her way home. “Honestly, I should just burn this stupid book. It’s not even real, so it won’t matter if I do.”

A while later, she was sitting at her kitchen table, the book opposite her as she debated her next course of action. On one hoof, it would be easy to just toss it in a fire and never think of it again. On the other, she could just lock it in its box and hide it somewhere nopony would ever find it. So then, why did she not want to get rid of it?

Pulling it closer, she opened it up to where she left off from the other night. The chicken scratches that shouldn't look like any known language were still almost as clear as regular old common Equestrian. "If you're supposed to be a real spellbook of ancient, unholy magic, why can I understand you?" Zecora's statements implied she had tried reading it but failed to. To her knowledge, there wasn't a widely-used or easy spell to keep most ponies from reading a certain book.

As she flipped through more of its pages, she found more of that impossible script. Not that it was impossible to her. It still looked the same, but she just knew what each bizarre, non-Euclopian character meant. Eventually, she found what she was looking for to prove it's validity: spells.

After all, if it's a real spell book, then any spells in it have to also be real. Quickly skimming through the available spells, she decided to settle on the least threatening: a spell called Binding Chains . According to the book, it creates a series of chains whose usual function was to capture a target. After reading through it a couple times and figuring out the spell matrix, she went to the nearest window.

Fortunately for her, there was a bird sitting in a nearby tree; a perfect target. Taking a deep breath, Arcanica began the casting process. Take your time, no need to rush with a new spell. Once she felt the spell fall into place, she allowed it to manifest and opened her eyes.

She almost lost the spell when she saw a circular array of magical symbols appear in front of her in the air. A sharp gasp escaped her muzzle when two black chains adorned with large claws shot out of the circle before ensnaring the unsuspecting bird. Although, it wasn't the magic circle or even the chains that truly shocked her. It was her horn.

Her magical aura was black.

Ending the spell and dispelling the chains, she slowly backed away from the window in fright. "That's not possible..." She snatched the book from the table, her magic now red once more. She stared at its pages in shock. "This thing... is real..."

She closed it before hesitantly taking a seat at the table. It was real. The book was real! More importantly, if this book was real...

What else was?

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“Alright, one more check.” Arcanica sorted through a stack of pages that were irregularly clumped together. As she did so, she looked over a clipboard to make sure the pages were all in order based on the ponies they belonged to. Today was a very important for her, and it was important to make the effort to not screw up. Especially since she had never hired somepony to work under her rather than finding an associate like her editor and publicist.

The last couple weeks had bred mayhem for her shop as a result of all the strange things that had followed Twilight to Ponyville. Between balancing her store with her writing career, studying the black book, and spending time with her friends, she was starting to run herself ragged. It didn’t help that Fluttershy had accidentally started a Parasprite infestation that decimated the town, and that Filthy Rich had gone all out to make everypony go to his daughter’s Cuteceñera.

Ok so maybe that last one wasn’t that bad, but she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that something was going to happen out of it. Well, besides closing her store for the duration of the party. Even going to unwind with Rarity and Fluttershy at the spa had taken a chunk of time out of running the store. Sure, she didn’t exactly need to run a book shop, but it helped supplement her income when she wasn’t publishing new books and gave her something to do.

So, after the last couple weeks and spreading herself thin, she decided to finally hire some extra help for her store. After all, if she was going to join in on “Friendship Adventures” as Pinkie Pie put it, there was no reason for her to miss out on sales with her store. It had taken a couple days after putting out an ad in the local paper, but she had a day of interviews ahead of her to weed through all the potential applicants and find just the right pony for the job.

Content that the papers were in order, she used her magic to open the door from her place behind the counter. A mint green unicorn with a lyre for a Cutie Mark entered with a bright smile, closing the door behind her. “Hello, Miss Hoofcraft.”

“Hello…” she re-read the application form, “Lyra.” She gestured to a seat she had placed on the other side of the counter. “Please, have a seat.” The other unicorn sat down on her haunches, placing her hind legs over the edge of the chair and sitting in a strange upright slouch. And I already have a bad feeling about this one. She cleared her throat. “So, Miss Heartstrings, tell me a little about yourself.”

The unicorn smiled before explaining that she was a musician and that she would get the occasional gig in Canterlot and other cities. Despite her sitting habit, everything about her seemed reasonably normal. Lived in Ponyville for years, roommates with a candy maker named Bon-Bon, well educated. “And what exactly makes you want this job, besides getting a paycheck?”

Her smile dropped, and she looked back and forth as though somepony was listening. “Can you keep a secret?” She leaned in close with a grin. “I’m hoping that by working here, I can find some proof of a theory of mine.”

Arcanica’s gut was telling her that she would regret asking, but she felt strangely compelled to ask. “And that theory is?”

She smiled eagerly as she sat upright again. “I’m certain that we ponies aren’t truly the ones responsible for Equestria. I’ve been finding evidence over the years that it was all the result of another race of creatures.” She leaned in close once more. “They’re called ‘humans’ and I’m positive they once existed in Equestria, and might even still exist somewhere!” And there’s the craziness.

When the mare’s smile didn’t fade to laughter over pulling a joke, Arcanica nervously chuckled. “Well, Lyra, this was certainly interesting. I’ll let you know once I finish going through the rest of these applications.”

“No problem!” She leaned forward in her chair, landing on all four hooves. “I understand needing to go through all the paperwork. It’s only natural to not want anybody to feel cheated by not getting an interview.” Anybody? She cheerfully trotted to the door. “Have a nice day!”

Once she was gone, Arcanica quickly grabbed her quill and put a slash through Lyra’s name. No way was she going to hire somepony crazy if she could avoid it. As another pony walked in, this one a stallion covered in jelly, she just knew she was going to have a long day today.

“So, tell me about yourself,” she told the mare in front of her. She was a dark pink unicorn with a sea-green mane styled similarly to Fluttershy’s. Her smile was unnaturally wide, and her heterochomic eyes unnerved Arcanica in a way that she couldn’t quite place.

She was silent and just sat there unmoving for a while before finally answering. “I have amazing psychic powers and can open portals between all of the dimensions to talk to my mom.”

“Ooooookay then…” She quickly wrote ‘crazy’ next to the pony’s name.

She stayed there unmoving, even after Arcanica made motions for her to either continue or leave. “You want to meet an electric hedgehog?”

“Next.”

She read over the application in front of her. There were numerous jobs all over it, some of which were either at the same time or followed each other within a couple of days. “So you’re looking for a part time job to help supplement your income?”

“YEAH!” screamed Bulk Biceps.

“And… what makes you think you are qualified for this?” she hesitantly asked, the ringing in her ears not fading yet.

“I HAVE TONS OF JOB TRAINING!”

“I see…”

The red author sighed as she massaged her temple with her hoof. “Twilight, don’t you already run a library?” As she said this, she gave an unamused look at the smiling mare.

The purple unicorn chuckled. “Well yeah, but I felt that this was part of being a good friend to help you out!”

She gave her a flat look. “You do realize I’m hiring somepony so I can hang out with you girls, right?”

“And you say you have extensive knowledge on literature and all manner of books?” So far, this one seemed the most promising… not that that was saying much.

“Oh, absolutely,” replied the stallion. “I know all the classics, both academic and literary! Haycartes, Chestnut Dickens, Skyward Blitz…”

“I’m sorry, who? There’s no writer with a name like that in ‘the classics’ that I know of.”

He gave her a knowing smile. “Not yet, there isn’t.”

“Next.”

“So yeah, man, that’s why I think I should like, totally get this job.” The tan stallion in front of her did little to inspire confidence for her. Sure he was reasonably well-groomed, but the fact that he showed up in an old bathrobe and what she hoped were old pajamas ruined his image.

“Yes, well, that’s rather…” she struggled to think of an appropriate word for the strange biography he gave her. “Interesting, Mr. Letrotski.”

“Nah man, just call me Dude,” he said while casually waving a hoof to try and assure her.

“Right…”

The pink unicorn was breathing heavily as she smiled at Arcanica. The author’s eye was twitching in irritation. “You ever wonder about how Electric Hedgehogs breed?”

“Go. Home.”

The unicorn groaned as she slumped over the countertop. She went through every application in her stack, and not one pony was even close to being an acceptable assistant. Lyra and “Doctor” were pretty promising, but the fact that both were delusional in some way made her hesitant. Everypony else, though…

The door opened, probably a customer since she didn’t have any more applications. She sat up and looked at her guest; a white pegasus with a pink and green mane. “Hello, welcome to Untold Tales. Need help finding anything?”

“Oh, um…” She fidgeted nervously before reaching into the saddlebags. “My name’s Blossomforth. I was wondering if, you know…” She pulled out an application with a nervous smile. “You were still accepting applications for that position?”

Arcanica sighed before sitting herself down and grabbing the application with her horn. “Please, have a seat,” she said absentmindedly while skimming over the few pages the mare brought. “So, Blossomforth. Tell me about yourself. What do you do, what are your interests, stuff like that.”

She took a few deep breaths before beginning. “Well, I’m a volunteer member of the local weather team whenever they’re short on hooves. I do enjoy gardening, but my talent refers to making things ‘bloom’ by putting in some effort to make them look right. Then my friend Thunderlane and I are part of a bowling team here in Ponyville that gets together on weekends.”

Arcanica nodded as she took this in. Now that she looked closer at the pegasus’ application, she had experience selling merchandise to ponies. “It says here you worked for flower shops here in Ponyville and in Cloudsdale. Did something happen at both of them to make you leave?”

“Well Cloudsdale was where I grew up,” she explained. “My mom let me work at her flower shop until I was ready to move out, and I was working at the one here with the flower sisters. As for that one well…” She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “There’s only so much of their fainting a pony can handle.”

The unicorn chuckled at that before continuing with her questions. “So now, why books? After all, I’m sure there are plenty of places that could use somepony whose talent is prettying the place up.” She leaned back, watching as the white pegasus got nervous all of a sudden.

“Well, to be completely honest, Miss Hoofcraft, I’m… I’moneofyourbiggestfans!” she rushed out the end of the statement with a blush on her face and her eyes screwed shut.

Arcanica was stunned at the admission, before chuckling. “I’m flattered, Blossomforth, I truly am. But, that’s not it, is it?”

She stared at the unicorn in amazement of how well she had been taking it before remembering she was waiting for a response. “Oh! Well, I enjoy reading and love literature. Honestly, there’s nothing like a good book to help you relax after a long day.” She blinked when she realized she was rambling. “To be completely honest with you, Miss Hoofcraft, I would love to work here. Not just because you’re one of my favorite authors, but because there’s something about working with books that makes it more worthwhile than flowers. When you sell somepony a flower arrangement, it’ll last for a week or two, maybe three if you know what you’re doing. But if you sell them a book, that book will last them a long time.”

“So it’s about selling something that will leave a lasting impression?” clarified the unicorn. Getting a nod, she placed a hoof to her chin. “I’ll admit, that’s a much better reason compared to some of the one’s I’ve gotten today. A rose may capture the eye easier than the words of a page, but the page will remain eternal as the rose withers away.”

“Exactly!” She had a wide smile and her wings flared in excitement. “That’s exactly it!” She noticed the unicorn’s smirk before sheepishly folding her wings with an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said with a reassuring wave of the hoof. “Everypony gets excited when they find out somepony gets how they think.” She took in the pegasus’ body language as she thought over the current situation. She seemed mostly relaxed, a little tense but that made sense she was in a job interview and in front of one of her favorite authors. As she scanned the application once more and thought back on all the ponies she went through today, she smiled. “Well, Blossomforth, any questions for me?”

She seemed a little surprised at the sudden question directed her way but quickly shook it off. “Um… I suppose if I get the job what my duties would be and what my hours would be like, but that’s assuming I get the job.” A nervous chuckle escaped Blossomforth as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Well that can wait until tomorrow morning,” Arcanica said offhandedly as she tucked the application under the counter and stood up.

“Wait, tomorrow?”

The red unicorn smirked at the white pegasus. “Well, mid-morning, since we open at ten.”

As she thought about what the author was saying, Blossomforth’s face lit up with understanding. “Wait, you mean…”

She nodded. “That’s right. You’re hired.”

Her face lit up as her wings flared once more. “Oh my gosh!” She flew into an extremely eager hug that made Arcanica laugh a bit. “Thank you so much, Miss Hoofcraft!” When she realized what she was doing, she quickly detached herself from the unicorn author. “I mean, thank you for the opportunity, ma’am.” She ran to the door eagerly before looking back. “You won’t regret this!”

Once she took off out the door, and started loudly cheering as she flew, Arcanica shook her head. “Something tells me I won’t.”

The following day, Arcanica was amazed that Blossomforth showed up before opening in case she needed to help set anything up. After the usual morning set-up was done, she was quick to start explaining how Blossomforth’s job worked and how running the store worked. She was surprised at how quickly the pegasus took to the job and handled the customers that came in during the morning.

Although, she could have done without Pinkie Pie deciding to throw a party in her store to celebrate Blossomforth getting the job. At the end of the day though, she felt quite proud of her decision to hire the pegasus. Once she was positive Blossomforth could handle the store without her help, she just knew she’d have plenty of time to get more work done on her book.

“So that’s what that spell really does… And those fools deliberately cast it.”

The red unicorn was standing in that twilit city once more. The dream was a common occurrence to her, so she no longer panicked when she found herself in it like she did before. The shadows were now more common, but for once, none were present.

Currently, she was standing atop the altar she had written about in her story about Yak’Shek. She had to admit, the view was truly amazing. The orange sky and the darkened ocean underneath created a startling contrast for the horizon. It would have been a wonderful sight to behold, if she were alone.

There, on the edge of the altar staring over the sea, was a pegasus stallion. He had a forest green coat, with his dark brown mane and tail cut in choppy layers. His cutie mark showed a cloud being split in half by a lightning bolt. What concerned her was the fact that his eyes were red with a black miasma flowing from them.

Arcanica walked up to him, taking note of a familiar black book lying open in front of him. “What spell?” she asked, unable to keep herself from talking to the unusual stallion. “What happened here?”

He chuckled before looking at her. “The ponies here, the worshippers of Ydrex’Ktala, they tried summoning one of Them. They assumed I was here to bring another of Them upon this damnable city, but in the end, I was the one their Lord spared.”

“You mean they’re…”

He smiled. “In a way, I suppose. Ydrex’Ktala rewards those who show faith, but didn’t want to be rid of somepony who can hear Their calls.” He looked back towards the horizon, his eyes losing the black mist but retaining a black sclera. “Somepony who can tell the tales of their existence and remember why mortals shouldn’t attempt to meddle in Their affairs.”

“Who… who are you?” She tried stepping back from the stallion only for chains to wrap around her hooves; the same chains she had learned to use from the book.

He turned to completely face her, his eyes once more radiating with that nightmarish black miasma. “You should know that, Arcanica. You did tell all of Equestria my story.” As he walked closer to her, a loud wailing noise filled the air. It was like a high-pitched call that echoed through the empty city. “Although, you never told anypony what happened after Ydrex’Ktala visited his followers, did you?”

“Y- you can’t be real!” she snapped as she struggled against the chains that were slowly tightening as they crept up her legs. How can I
feel these?! This is a dream! “It’s not-”

“Not real?” He laughed, though it was nothing more than a hollow imitation of a genuine laugh. “I assure you, I’m very real. Or rather, I was. Now I’m a memory, one that you bear for all of Equestria to remember!” The strange cry went up in pitch as he trotted closer, his wings flaring behind him. “You know my name, Arcanica. Even if it is never spoken at length, you know who I am. You know what I saw, what I witnessed, what I DID!”

Desperate to escape, she lit up her horn and to try blasting the chains away from her but found her magic unwilling to cooperate with her. “You’re not real!” she shouted. “You can’t be. They can’t be!”

The ground shook as the wailing got louder. “Oh but They are, and you can’t escape that.” His wings began losing their feathers, revealing a pair of dragonic wings beneath. “They chose you to know what nopony else could comprehend, just as I was chosen, and all those besides us.” Several locks of his mane began to weave themselves together before slowly shifting to resemble tentacles. “You can deny it all you want, but at the end of the day, you will continue to read your Book of Knowledge, you will continue to chronicle the tales of all those who came before you, and They will allow you to know all of the secrets that lie in the world beyond Equestria.”

With a mighty shaking, the wailing reached its crescendo as a great… something began to rise from beneath the ledge. Its blubbery skin was a sickly shade of green with long, frilled spines adorning its head like some manner of disgusting crown. Two beady chunks of obsidian hung over a twisted muzzle that looked as though it were from a wolf only filled with uneven and warped teeth. As the horrible monstrosity raised its head over the two ponies, she knew full well what, no, who this thing was.

“Ydrex’Ktala…” she muttered fearfully. “This… this isn’t real… YOU’RE NOT REAL!”

sILenCe… came a warped whisper that shook the buildings around them. You kNoW… yOu sEE… YoU hEaR… yOU… REMEMBER! The behemoth screamed its roar, causing the city and the cliff it was on to tremble. The ground cracked beneath Arcanica’s hooves, as the transformed pegasus took to the air.

“Remember, Arcanica! Accept the truth and know the truth of this world!” he cried as the ground finally gave out. The chains never let go of her and instead kept her shackled to the chunks of stone that plummeted towards the sea. She closed her eyes as she fell, waiting for the impact to come to her.

WHAM! Arcanica’s eyes shot open as she slammed into something hard and… wooden? Hastily getting her forelegs under herself, she let out a shuddering breath of relief to see she had fallen out of bed. “At least that dream is over.” She took notice of how dark it was and used a quick spell to light the candle by her bedside so she could see the clock on her wall. She sighed when she saw it was only 3 o’clock in the morning, but was relieved that she didn’t feel tired despite how early it was.

“I don’t think I can go back to sleep after… that…” Her personal dialogue trailed off as she noticed something glinting from the small desk she kept in the corner of her bedroom. Cautiously walking over, she saw it was just her ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala, though she was certain she had left it in her bedside cabinet last time she had looked at it. Picking it up, she noticed something much more troubling than a misplaced Gala ticket.

There on the table, open to a section much further than where she was in it, was the damn book that seemed to be the focus of her problems of late. She wanted to slam it shut until she noticed something unusual: the writing on the pages in front of her was in actual black ink, as opposed to what resembled blood, and in a drastically different hoofwriting than where she was in it. More importantly, this section was written in a dialect of Equestrian that probably hadn’t been used in centuries. The writing that covered the page on the left was rough, and looked as though it were hastily written onto the page with no regard for appearance. Pulling the book closer and setting her ticket aside, she found herself drawn to the words somepony had to have written in on their own.

As I pen these pages within this tome, I shudder in awe and fear of the Hell I have witnessed upon this day of their Majesties. The terrors within that city were of such a manner that I doubt anything Lulu would see in the nightmares of even the darkest beings of Tartarus would come close to that city.

I had heard whispers of ponies who worshipped strange creatures not of this world, yet never in my thoughts had I presumed those creatures of being truly eldritch and unearthly in their nature and form. One can only tremble to ponder whether any other such beings resemble that appallingly green monster.

I intend to make haste upon my return to Canterlot to seek an audience with his Majesty King Solaris to regale the events in Yak’Shek. It matters not whether they refused to be part of Equestria, if something like that fiend now roams Equestria, then he needs to know. I pray this tome’s presence will provide enough evidence to sway his Majesty to believe me. I doubt having even the benefit of Tia and Lulu’s favor will be enough even for this.

Arcanica blinked as she finished the page. “King Solaris?” She put a hoof to her chin in thought. “I feel like I should know who that is. And who the hay are ‘Tia’ and ‘Lulu’ if they were supposed to help this pony get an audience with a King?

Deciding to look into it in the morning, she looked at the right page, taking note of the much more even and measured writing that covered it.

Regretfully, my hopes were for naught. Upon my return from my travels, I was able to gain an audience with his Majesty. I prefer not to come to assumptions in regards to the thoughts of his Majesty, but I cannot shake the feeling from my mind that he assumed I was bringing wondrous tales of the world outside his kingdom.

As I had anticipated, Tia and Lulu were able to help me see him as soon as possible, but he had no room for my stories. Even when I presented this volume to him and told him of the horrors I had witnessed outside of Equestria’s borders at the hooves of the cultists of Yak’Shek, he dismissed it as nothing but a foal’s tale. He claims that since I had begun to chronicle within its pages as though it were a simple journal that this tome couldn’t possibly be as powerful or dangerous as I claimed it to be.

Fortunately, neither I nor my tales are truly without ear. My dearest friends, Tia and Lulu, continue to believe me, though the degrees of each leaves much to be desired. Tia, though wise and knowing I would never lie to her, said that I probably wasn’t sure of everything I had seen since she still remembers the dreams I once had of beings beyond the reasoning of anypony who places a great value upon their sanity.

Conversely, Lulu believes me entirely, though I believe that is largely due to her fondness of visiting me in my dreams. If she has done so, then she knows all too well of the horrors that lie in wait beyond this mortal plane we call our home. She has expressed willingness to join me in reading through the pages of this eldritch tome. Although, I cannot shake the feeling that she only wishes to explore this tome of forbidden knowledge out of her future title as Princess of the Night. Only time will tell, however.

“Wait, Princess of the Night? But that’s…” Her eyes widened as she realized the significance of the names on the pages. “Tia and Lulu were princesses… did… did he know the Princesses? But that would mean…” This book is old enough to have been around when the Princesses were fillies.

A few weeks ago, she would have simply chalked it up to an elaborate prank. But now? After how real that dream of hers was and the actual effectiveness of the few spells she had tried from the book thus far, she couldn’t help but accept that there was certainly more to the book than she wanted to admit.

A dark blue alicorn gasped in shock as she was forced from the dream she had been observing, if it could even be called that. That stallion in her dream… How could that unicorn know about HIM? Turning about, she left her chambers and quickly made her way to where her sister’s quarters were. That had been the first thing she memorized about this new castle upon her return as Celestia’s presence had been an integral component of her recovery.

Arriving at the doors to her chambers and nodding to her sister’s guards, she rapped her hoof against the door. “Sister, are thou awake? We have great need of an audience with thee.” The guards’ expressions quickly went to terror as they made to stop her from waking the elder alicorn, but the doors opening stopped them.

“Luna? What’s the matter?” The white Alicorn was rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she stood in the door way, her royal ornamentation absent. “You haven’t woken me up like this since we were foals.”

“Sister, We have news that we felt thou must know of as swiftly as possible.” She gestured to the two unicorn guards. “News that we feel must not be spoken of before the guards and instead within the isolated privacy of thine chambers.”

The elder sister sighed. “And I suppose this can’t wait until morning?” Receiving a shake of the head, she moved to the side. “Very well, come inside Luna.” The younger sister quickly entered her sleeping quarters and began pacing. Celestia yawned into her fetlock as she watched her younger sister. “Tell me, Luna, what’s troubling you?”

The Night Princess took a moment to ponder what she had to tell her sister, trying to decide how best to tell Celestia what she had learned. “Dearest sister, we have found somepony who remembers details of the past we had presumed lost to the history of Equestria and her annals.”

“What do you mean, Luna?” Her exhaustion forgotten, she placed a hoof on her sister’s back. “What did you see?”

“Celestia, somepony remembers Stormbreaker and the horrors he was forced to bear witness to.”

Author's Notes:

Sweet Celestia, that was a long chapter. It was going to be longer, but I had to cut out a number of gags during the interviews since it got a little too repetitive. Also yes, I included one of the worst/strangest OCs to have graced the fandom in recent years because the character on a whole astounds me and the friends I've described her to.

As for the ones who appeared from the actual show, Lyra appeared because it's Lyra, Bulk Biceps is practically the Larry Needlemire of Ponyville, the Doctor needs something to do, the Dude probably doesn't have a job, and you just know Twilight would apply for a job at a book store. But as for Blossomforth? She's one of my favorite background ponies and yet she's overlooked after getting named.

Also, overall plot really getting into gear. There's a lot of stuff coming up for our unwilling protagonist. The next chapter is going to take a little bit since it's going back to the show's episodes, but I have a pretty good "road map" for the events coming up.

If you're enjoying the story, feel free to follow or drop a comment. Until next time!

Fashion Calls

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Arcanica let out a heavy groan as she nursed a mounting headache. Blossomforth looked over to her boss from where she was setting out a line of new mystery novels. “Something wrong, Miss Hoofcraft? You’re not getting another one of your creative genius headaches again… are you?” She nervously walked over to the unicorn. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s fascinating to see how you get inspiration, just a little…”

“Terrifying, I know.” She rubbed her forehead and slumped against the sales counter. “And it’s not a creative headache. It’s an annoyance one.” She gestured to a beaten-up cardboard box by the door to the back stairs. “I was looking at the dress I was going to wear to the Grand Galloping Gala last night and found out it was a victim of that Parasprite infestation a while back.”

Blossomforth snorted at that. “Come on, if it was in your closet, it couldn’t have been that bad, right?” The unicorn rolled her eyes before levitating it out of the box. It wasn’t an elaborate piece, being a rather simple black gown with a ruffled skirt that would have ended about halfway down her hind legs. The part that would have adorned her barrel was primarily a uniform black with the exception of two strings of white rosettes that wrapped around her forelegs.

At least, that’s what it used to look like. The skirt was now filled with large holes that looked more akin to burn damage than bite marks and half the rosettes were gnawed off or reduced to a clump of strings and cloth. The pegasus inhaled sharply as she saw the damage done to the gown. “Okay, yeah. It is that bad.”

“Exactly. This dress was not cheap when I bought it in Manehatten, and I’m certain it’ll cost quite the hefty sum for Rarity to restore it.” She sighed as she dropped it back in the box and rubbed her eyes. “I’m not even sure if she can restore it, her talents notwithstanding.”

“Well, if she’s your friend, I’m positive she’d be happy to fix it for you!” The white pegasus put a reassuring hoof on her boss’s shoulder. “Isn’t she the Element of Generosity or something like that? I’m certain that she’d happily do anything like that for a friend.”

The unicorn nodded as she thought it over. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right, Blossomforth.” She smiled at her employee and gave her another nod. “I’ll pay her a visit when we close for lunch.”

“Why wait?” asked the pegasus. “You hired me to help cover for you if something comes up, right?” She walked over to the door and opened it. “Just go now. I’ll cover until you get back from Carousel Boutique.”

“Are you sure?” She was a little cautious about this. Blossomforth was right, she did hire her so she could have coverage for when something came up with her friends. At the same time, however, this was the first time she was actually leaving Blossomforth on her own. “I can just wait until lunch.”

“I’ll be fine, Miss Hoofcraft. It’s a slower day than usual, and I know I can handle this.”

“Well, alright.” Grabbing the box, she made her way to the door. “If you say so, Blossomforth.”

“You can trust me, Miss Hoofcraft!” Called the pegasus once she was well on her way.

“My word, Darling, what did you do to this poor dress?!” Arcanica chuckled nervously as her tailor friend looked the garment over in terror. “It looks as though something ate this poor garment.”

“That’s not very far off from what happened,” she told the white unicorn. “I guess a Parasprite or two got to it a couple weeks ago, and well… You can see what happened from there.” She cleared her throat to get the white unicorn’s attention. “Well? Can you salvage it?”

She bit her lip nervously as she looked it over and checked the fabric. “Well, I suppose I can. It’ll take some degree of work to match the fabric in the skirt, and these florets will have to be completely replaced instead of mended. Oh, that’s not to mention any amount of resizing and adjustments to make it fit properly.” As she analyzed the dress, she had a notepad out and was frantically jotting down any related information, be it about the dress or from her personal monologue. “By what time and for what event will you need this, darling.”

“Oh, I’m not in a rush,” she assured the white unicorn. “I just need it before the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“You’re going to the Gala?!” she screamed in shock, startling the red author. “Darling, why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“Um, you never asked?” She took a step back so Rarity wasn’t in her face. “I was invited months ago, but I wasn’t even planning on going until rather recently since it would have revealed my identity to Equestria.”

“Oh Arcanica, darling, I can’t let you wear this to something like the Grand Galloping Gala!” She placed the dress back in its box before grabbing a measuring tape. “I’m already making everypony in our little group a dress for the Gala. I’d be happy to make one for you if you’re going as well, my treat! I promise you, it will be something so marvelous it’ll outshine anything you could buy from Canterlot’s elite designers.”

She pawed the floor nervously as Rarity began taking measurements at different points along her barrel. “Are you sure, Rarity? I mean, if you’re making one for all of us, that means you’ll be making seven dresses. And if we aren’t paying you…”

“Oh perish the thought!” She was quickly jotting down the lengths and circumference of her legs and making a couple of quick sketches. “I’m not the Element of Generosity for nothing, after all. Trust me, I will make you gorgeous!”

Aranica sighed as she realized she wouldn’t be able to convince her friend otherwise. “Alright, Rarity. I’ll trust you on this. Just, don’t go too overboard, alright? I’d hate to get something that could drive you out of business.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGjGu5Zc9J8

“That’s it, keep them closed.” The six friends were following Rarity’s voice as she led them into her studio. “Don’t look!” The other members of the group managed to line themselves up and face the direction Rarity turned them all in. “Okay, you can look now!” They all opened their eyes and gasped at the six dresses Rarity had on display for them all. “These are your new outfits!”

“What do you think of your ‘old duds’ now, Applejack? Pretty swanky, are they not?” The outfit in question looked like a refined Princess version of how ponies who lived on the range were often depicted. She let out a small giggle at her own sense of accomplishment. “Oh, and Twilight, I made this one for you!” Twilight’s was a royal blue gown adorned with stars and a saddle of baby blue. “I designed each outfit to be themed to perfectly for each pony’s unique personality.”

She continued to a dress with a long flowing rainbow skirt and cloud ornamentation. “Oh, it took me forever to get the colors right on this one, Rainbow Dash, but I did it and it turned out beautiful, don’t you think?”

She gestured to the gown that was adorned in flowers and flowing vines of green fabric. “And I just know you’re going to love yours, Fluttershy! It just sings, ‘Spring!’”

The next dress was very dark in coloration. The skirt was a refined charcoal grey, with a red frill along the hem to resemble a petticoat. The waist was adorned with white ruffled fabric. The barrel of the mannequin was covered with a passionate scarlet bodice decorated with black ribbons that tied the back of the gown together and ended with an elegant black bow. A set of black shoes adorned the hooves of the fill-in, and the head was showing off a small black tiara styled to resemble webs.

“Arcanica, I know roughly how you style your literature, so I worked hard to make your gown just as gothic and stylized as any of your pieces. Quite fitting for the ‘Maiden of Gothic Fiction’ as the press calls you!”

“And Pinkie Pie, look! Pink! You’re favorite!” She stood before all six dresses. “Aren’t they all amazing?”

The six stood there silently, staring at their dresses in shock. At least, that’s why Arcanica was staring. It was certainly much more different than the dress she had originally asked Rarity to fix for her.

“Wow, Rarity,” started Twilight. “They’re…”

“Yeah, they’re…” Rainbow tried picking up where Twilight started.

“They sure are uh… sumthin’.”

“Yes!” exclaimed Twilight. “They certainly are.”

“I love something!” chimed Pinkie. “Something is my favorite!”

Fluttershy made a couple noises, almost expecting the red unicorn to chime in. When she didn’t, Fluttershy just sighed. Arcanica was still in awe of the dress Rarity had designed for her.

“Well what’s the matter, don’t you like them?” Arcanica almost winced at the hurt look on her friend’s face. Based on the disheveled look of her mane, she probably worked all night on the six dresses.

“They’re very nice,” Twilight said rather cautiously.

“And we’re plum grateful you worked so hard on them.”

“Mine’s just not as cool as I was expecting,” complained Rainbow Dash. Getting glares from Twilight and Applejack, she rolled her eyes. “Well she asked.”

“I guess what we’re saying is… they’re just not what we had in mind.” The other four elements all voiced their agreement with Twilight while Arcanica walked over to her dress to look it over. As a writer, she knew the devil was often in the details, and wanted to see if there was any minor imperfection before making any form of judgement; besides trying it on, of course.

“Okay, plenty more where that came from,” Rarity acquiesced. “They’re only a first task, you’re my friends, and I want you to be a hundred and ten percent satisfied. Not to worry, I’ll redo them!”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I want to try mine on first. See how it looks.” The others looked at Arcanica as she gently felt the texture and weight of the skirt on her dress.

“Truly?” Rarity sounded very hopeful at the red unicorn’s decision, most likely hoping she didn’t have to redo at least one entire dress.

“Yeah. I trust you to at least know what kind of clothes will look good on me as a friend.” She watched as Rarity cheerfully removed the gown from the mannequin for her and gently handed it over. “It’s sort of like judging a book. Looking at the cover and skimming is one thing, but actually reading it can speak the truth about it.” Keeping the dress aloft, she followed Rarity’s directions to a room she could change in.

Once in what she assumed was her friend’s bedroom, she began slowly dressing herself, being grateful that she had magic for fastening the ribbon on her back. It was as she fastened it that she realized the bodice of the dress was meant to imitate the corsets from the classical era. It was somewhat tight around her barrel, but that was to be expected with a corset. Once she made sure the skirt and the white frills were laying straight, she stepped into the provided shoes and tried fitting the tiara onto her head.

“Um, Rarity?” she asked through the door.

“Yes, Darling?” came the reply. She opened the door a crack. “Can I come in?” Getting the affirmative from the other unicorn, Rarity entered the room and immediately froze to stare at Arcanica in her dress.

“I am wearing this properly, right?”

She quickly shook her head before moving towards her. “Yes, you are. Of course, the ribbon back here is meant to be tied a little more loosely so the bow lays properly.” Arcanica felt the dress loosen up on her barrel. “Hold your breath, but don’t puff up,” Rarity said gently as she fixed the ribbon and tied it properly. “And there we are!”

Arcanica walked over the full-length mirror Rarity kept in her room. She had been skeptical at first but had to admit Rarity had fulfilled on her promise. “Wow, Rarity. I look incredible.”

“Well of course you do, Arcanica. I worked tirelessly to ensure your dress fit you perfectly.” Using her magic, she shifted the bodice of the dress and fluffed the skirt. “Both literally, and metaphorically.” She stared at Arcanica for a moment before grabbing a brush and a curling iron and quickly fussing with Arcanica’s mane. After a couple minutes of work, she had turned the waves in her friend’s mane into proper curls.

“There we are! Well, as good as we’ll get without any form of cosmetics, that is.” She took a step back before nodding with a proud smile. “Perfect! I certainly decided right on this count.”

Arcanica smiled as she looked at her reflection from a couple different angles. “Yeah. It’s great Rarity.” And it was. The brighter red contrasted nicely with the darker tone of her coat and the darker grey gave the overall dress a much more refined look than the usual blacks she went with. Then the extra splashes of color on the hem and waist helped to break up the dress. If she were to be honest, she looked almost like a vampire in the gown and it fit.

“Shall we show the others?” Rarity opened the door and let her out first, although Arcanica felt it was so she could make sure the dress fit properly as she walked around in it. The others were all amazed when they saw the final product and Arcanica awkwardly struck a pose for them.

“Wowie, Arcanica! You look so…” Pinkie trailed off trying to think of a proper adjective.

“Regal?” supplied Twilight.

“Sure!”

“Um, not ta sound rude, Arcanica, but are ya sure that dress is… you?”

She looked at the orange pony with an eye raised. “What do you mean, Applejack?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You’re not exactly the most sociable of ponies. I mean, you spent how many years lying about your identity to everypony?” She waved a hoof at the gown. “And yet now you’re wearing something that looks so…”

“So… what, exactly?” She gently took the tiara out of her mane and stepped out of the shoes while Rarity was gently undoing the ribbons going down her back. “If you have something to say, Rainbow, you can say it.”

“Oh well, it’s um… a little too…” Fluttershy blushed as she hid her face behind her mane. “You know, just a little too…”

“Alluring? Seductive?” provided the red unicorn. When the yellow pegasus bashfully nodded, she rolled her eyes. “Look, I know absolutely nothing about fashion or designing dresses. So rather than nitpick if I don’t like something based on my personal views, I’m going to trust Rarity on this one since she’s the expert here.”

The unicorn was practically glowing at her friend’s statements. “And what an excellent decision that was, if I do say so myself.”

Arcanica placed an affectionate hoof on the seamstress’s shoulder. “And I’m grateful for your call on that. But at any rate, isn’t a large part of friendship putting your trust in your friends to know what’s best?”

“But, the dresses are just-”

“Designed by Rarity to fit each of us by her own hooves to make us look as excellent as possible,” cut in the author. “I’d give have a little faith in her work and see for yourselves before passing any judgement on the dresses.” Her magenta eyes were hard as she gave them all as flat a stare as possible. “Like I said earlier, it’s like judging a book by its cover.”

Twilight shrank back in embarrassment as she remembered the friendship lesson where that had been the defining value. “Well, I suppose there’s no harm in at least trying it on before I voice any complaints.” The others all hesitantly agreed with her and began to cautiously take their dresses off their displays and taking them out of the room to try them on.

“Oh, Arcanica I can’t thank you enough for that!” The white unicorn wrapped her forelegs around her friend’s neck and gave her a powerful hug. “I was so terrified I would have to redesign all of those dresses from scrap and lose my original works. Oh, not to mention all of the materials I would have had to go through!”

She let out a small laugh before patting her friend on the head. “No problem, Rarity. I just find it interesting how they weren’t going to trust you with something you’re an expert with.”

“Well, for somepony new to friendship, you’ve certainly gotten that part down pat.” The white unicorn released her friend and put a hoof over her heart. “I’m most grateful for everything you did today, as minor as you may think it is.”

“Hey, Rarity, can you come here, please?”

“Coming, Twilight!” The fashionista went charging out of the room, a large smile on her face at helping her friends with their dresses.

“Alright ladies, everypony ready? Anypony’s dress not sitting properly?” Rarity, dressed as regal as any princess, was doing the fifth round of last-minute checks on her friends’ dresses. Arcanica nervously danced back and forth on her hooves as Rarity checked everything was right with Fluttershy’s gown.

Against all logic, Hoity Toity was visiting Ponyville to check out whether Rarity’s designing skills were up to par with what they offered in Canterlot. This was on top of a fashion show for their gowns that Rarity had conveniently neglected to mention she was holding once she was done with the dresses. “Arcanica, are you alright?” Rarity’s sapphire blue eyes were staring at her in concern.

She gulped to calm her nerves before nodding. “Yeah, I guess. Just a little nervous is all.” She started pacing and breathing deeply. “I get stage fright every so often, and knowing I’ll be modeling my dress for everypony is a little nerve wracking.”

“Oh it’s perfectly fine to be nervous, Darling.” She wrapped her foreleg behind Arcanica’s neck to reassure her that it would be fine. “Just remember that it’s nothing major, you’re just wearing a dress for anypony who bothered to show. No pressure.”

“Hey girls!” called Spike as he walked through the curtain. “You wouldn’t believe the crowd out there! It looks like all of Ponyville showed up out there!”

“All of Ponyville?”

“Alright, everypony, it’s SHOW TIME!” Rarity walked away from her scared friend as she began getting everypony ready for the big debut.

The things I do for friends… she thought nervously as she followed Rarity’s directions. Admittedly, the show went off without a hitch. Her nerves were completely fried as she walked down the runway, but seeing how much everypony loved the dresses Rarity had made was certainly worth it.

“Wow, Miss Hoofcraft! You looked amazing out there!” Arcanica let out a quick yelp at the sudden cheer backstage. Turning around, she saw her assistant standing there with a huge smile on her face. “Rarity sure outdid herself this time around, huh?”

“Well of course I did, Blossomforth.” The designer had her head held high and a radiant smile on her face, the dress rack being dragged behind her with the other six dresses. “Arcanica, if you would kindly place your dress on the rack?” Nodding, Arcanica carefully levitated the dress onto the empty wireframe sitting on the end of the rack. “Thank you. You can go now, Darling.”

When Arcanica went to leave, she found herself in a bone crushing hug from the unicorn. “Thank you again, for getting the others to put their trust in me.”

Arcanica returned the hug with a warm smile. “No problem, Rarity. Happy to help.”

The walk towards Untold Tales was a quiet one, as Blossomforth was simply keeping her boss company before she flew back to her own house. “You know, you seem more open with others these days.” At the confused look, the white pegasus decided to clarify. “Like, back when you called yourself Page Turner, you spent as little time socializing with anypony as possible. Unless it was a Pinkie Party, I never saw you at any events for that long. But ever since you revealed that you were A.T. Hoofcraft…”

“I’ve been much more outgoing?” she asked with a smirk. “Well, your seeming stalking of me aside…”

“Hey!”

“I suppose you have a point. Part of it has to do with no longer hiding a huge secret, but I would say the larger part was having actual friends since I’ve revealed myself.” She looked up at the stars and the shining moon. “Twilight and the others were so welcoming and reassuring when I told them, and they actively try making me feel like I’m part of the group.” She chuckled and shrugged as they reached the store. “I guess it’s only normal for me to try to return the favor.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” The pegasus sent her a smile before spreading her wings. “Well, see you tomorrow, Miss Hoofcraft.”

“Arcanica.”

“Huh?”

She smiled as she opened the door. “You’re off the clock, Blossomforth. You can call me Arcanica when we’re outside work.” Seeing the elated and overjoyed look on her face, Arcanica rolled her eyes. “Good night, Blossomforth.”

“Good night… Arcanica.”

Sonic Rainboom

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“Alright, let’s see… Conversion of Material…” For once, Arcanica decided to simply give herself and Blossomforth the day off, so she was currently continuing with her studies of the Eldritch book that she had long since accepted as real. So far in her studies of the book, she had found several interesting spells of late. For the most part, there had been mostly combat oriented spells similar to the chain conjuring spell she had started with.

Filling in the gaps between the combat spells were a number of stories of other ponies to hold the book before her and several different curses with a wide variety of effects. Some she could understand being effective, like a supposed bone melting curse, but some just bordered on absurdity. Why would I need to make it so somepony’s clothes turn into lettuce in the rain?

This particular spell looked much more promising though. It says it changes any singular material into another form of matter… So logically… She smiled as she turned her attention to a potted plant sitting on her window ledge. “Ok, take that plant as the target…” Closing her eyes, she felt the now familiar and slowly intoxicating sensation that accompanied the book’s spells and indicated her horn was glowing black. “Ok, from a daisy… into a rose…”

“Hey, Arcanica! You home?”

“AAGH!” Her focus broken, she lost control of the spell and caused the flower to combust. A loud growl escaped the mare as she glared at the remnants of her failed attempt at potentially forbidden magic. There was a loud knocking as the calls for her attention resumed. “Who could that be?” Leaving her seat, she opened a different window and looked down to the entrance to her shop where she saw a familiar purple dragon. “I’m up here, Spike.”

Seeing her, the baby dragon ran over and stood underneath her vantage point so he was looking straight up. “Oh, there you are. What’s up?”

She sighed as she dragged a fetlock down her face. “Nothing much. Just doing some work in regards to my books. Did you need something?”

“Yeah, Twilight asked if you could swing by the library. She’s reorganizing the library and was hoping you could help her with it.”

“Oh dang, that’s today isn’t it?” She brushed her mane back as she realized the original reason she arranged for the day off. “Hang on, let me put some stuff away. Tell her I’ll be right there.”

“Will do!” The little dragon took off as quickly as his small legs could carry him, leaving Arcanica to her own devices. She began heading towards the door to leave her apartment, but the book caught her attention.

“Hmmm…” Flipping back a few sections, she found the entry she had in mind. It had been penned by a unicorn scholar who had lived under the reign of the Platinum dynasty years before the founding of Equestria. “Here it is, Path of the Wayward Shadows. Journey between two points known to the caster based on the shadows.” A small smile at finding it faltered when she saw the notes left on the page by a later owner. More specifically, how badly the spell can go if the user loses focus or miscasts it, especially as the distance travelled got progressively further. “Maybe not directly to Twilight’s library.”

Looking back out the window, she saw an alley across the street being completely shadowed. “But if I were to make quick jumps like from here to there...”

If anypony were paying attention to the ground, they would have noticed a strange blur of shadow darting between darkened alleys and underneath carts. Fortunately, nopony was paying attention outside of Twilight’s treehouse when the shadow vanished into the overhang from the tree’s canopy. A small patch darkened before large tendrils made of pure darkness shot out of the darkened patch before abruptly getting sucked back into the ground. In their place was a shivering Arcanica who quickly ran from the shadows and into the bright sunlight.

“Ok, never doing that again,” she muttered as she smoothed out her mane. “Funny how none of them ever mentioned the things that like hiding in there.” If she were completely honest, she was convinced that the plane she just did a mad dash through was simply an extension of the Eldritch nightmare world she wrote about in her stories. The horrors she had seen simply walking around in there…

Shaking her head in an effort to get the image of those monsters out of her head, she pulled open the door to the library. “Hey everypony, sorry I’m late.” She jumped back in shock as a wave of books poured out of the doorway. Being as cautious as possible, she climbed over the pile and saw everypony but the two pegasi picking up the books. “Um… I wasn’t aware this was how you reorganized, Twilight.”

“It’s not,” she muttered as she picked up a large pile of books and began placing them on shelves. “Rainbow Dash knocked them all off the shelves when she crashed through my wall.”

“Let me guess, she’s still practicing for that Flyers Competition in Cloudsdale?”

“Nailed in one, ‘Canica.” Applejack was stacking books so Twilight could reorganize them. Taking the hint, Arcanica quickly used her own magic to start making several stacks so the five of them could stop standing on all of the books.

“It’s too bad we can’t support her, though,” lamented Rarity.

“I know, right? I feel so bad that I can’t be cheering Dashie on in a competition as big as this!” Despite the randomness of it, Arcanica wasn’t even going to question how Pinkie Pie wound up on top of the bookshelves without a ladder.

“Yeah, but you know how it is, Pinkie. Only pegasi can stand on the ground of Cloudsdale.” As she said that, Arcanica picked up a book that had fallen open as she cleaned. One of the pages was dominated by an illustration of a unicorn with large transparent butterfly wings. The opposite page was covered in text that immediately caught her attention. “Hey Twilight, what do you think of this?”

The book was quickly passed between unicorns and Twilight began scouring the pages for any piece of information. When Arcanica saw her eyes light up, something told her Twilight was excited to give this new spell a try.

Arcanica sighed as she laid down, grateful clouds were so soft. “Everything alright, Arcanica?” She glared at Twilight. Currently, the two of them were sitting in the Cloudiseum with Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy waiting for their friends to perform.

“Sure, if you don’t count the headache I’m suppressing after putting up with Rarity all day.” The purple unicorn had the decency to flinch at the harshness of her tone. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the mare like a sister, but you have no idea how tempted I have been to put a hole in those wings of hers.”

“Yeah… no offense but, um, she has been a bit excessive today. Although, I don’t think it’s needed to go quite so far, Arcanica.” Despite her soft-spoken voice, there was a distinctive edge of “don’t do it” to her statement.

“At least we got to tour Cloudsdale and the weather factory. I never realized just how much work goes into creating even the simplest clouds!” The mares all chuckled at that statement. Leave it to Twilight to find the silver lining in learning about any given topic.

“And now we get to see Dashie and Rarity perform for everypony!”

“That is true.” Arcanica looked over the Cloudiseum and was still amazed at the amount of detail in the structure. It reminded her a lot of the towering temples that had defined the lost city of Marethon. Marethon… She grit her teeth as her head throbbed with a dull pain. Despite actually having knowledge of that historical era, she saw flashes of the city from a first-pony perspective as memories of a time long-past began popping up in her head. Not now. I’m not letting those in now. Shutting away the images of the city being attacked some manner of abhorrent creature, she let the cheers of the crowd draw her back to reality.

Content that the rush of memories was abated, she smiled as she watched Princess Celestia open the contest and the first entrant began to perform. “Anypony know what numbers Rainbow and Rarity are?”

They all turned to Fluttershy, assuming she would know. “Oh… um… well, I’m pretty sure Rainbow Dash was entrant number 2, and Rarity was number 4.” The announcer called out for entrant 2, but the pegasus who appeared was most certainly not Rainbow Dash.

“Ya sure about that, sugarcube?”

“I was positive, but maybe I was wrong about her number…”

“I don’t think so,” muttered Twilight. “That pony was a little confused when she first took flight.”

“You think Dash switched their numbers?”

“But why would Dashie do something like that?”

“I don’t know, Pinkie. I just don’t know.” Their confusion continued when entrant 4 was called out, but never appeared, leaving them to skip directly to number 5. “And now Rarity isn’t appearing for her turn.”

The show went on, with the five friends politely cheering for the other contestants as they performed, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash never appeared until the very end. Apparently, they were running low on time, so the two had to perform at the same time. Rarity’s outfit made them physically cringe at the sheer gaudiness of the entire ensemble while Dash was far too nervous and was letting her nerves negatively affect how she was flying.

“Come on, Rarity,” muttered Arcanica, “stop showboating and being so obnoxious.”

“Come on Rainbow Dash! You can do it!” Pinkie Pie was screaming into a megaphone she had gotten from… somewhere.

“Rarity is going too high.” The others shot Twilight a confused look prompting her to explain. “Those wings I made her are extremely delicate and fragile. Any higher and the sunlight might melt the dew they’re made from!”

“Too late for that!” The five gasped when Rarity’s wings evaporated at the peak of her ascension right before she plummeted downwards.

“RARITY!” The Wonderbolts on duty quickly dove down after her, but the girls became panicked when the professionals’ trails abruptly vanished.

“Somepony has to do something!” The crowd was screaming and terrified at the mounting developments. As the girls panicked, a familiar rainbow blur shot straight downwards towards the plummeting ponies. The cyan mare got closer to the falling ponies before the impossible happened. With a loud crash, a wave of rainbow color exploded outwards from Rainbow Dash with the stadium feeling the shockwave from the Cloudiseum.

“Was that…?”

“WOOHOO! A SONIC RAINBOOM!” screamed Fluttershy as she began cheering like Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash, now flying at a greater speed than ever before, shot back into the arena with Rarity and the Wonderbolts in hoof.

“That explosion…” Arcanica stared in awe as her friend was declared the winner of the contest. That looked… familiar…

“Congratulations, Rainbow Dash!” The seven friends were back home in Ponyville celebrating the pegasus’ accomplishment. Due to house size, Twilight was hosting while Pinkie and Applejack provided the food. “That was so super spectacularly amazingly cool!”

“Thanks, Pinkie Pie.” The mare of the hour was currently wearing a medal and had the trophy tucked under her wing while enjoying the celebration cake Pinkie Pie had baked for the occasion. “Man, this was one heck of a day.”

“You’re telling me, darling.” Rarity, now devoid of that obnoxious outfit, sipped at her punch. “After all that happened today, I think I’ll be sticking to cloud walking spells from now on.” She noticed all of them giving her unamused looks. “And… I suppose I may have let having those wings go to my head.”

“Well, I suppose that admission is better than nothing.” The others all snickered at her comment and resuming the party. As they celebrated, Dash was giving everypony a play-by-play of her performance that she was obviously over-hyping to make herself look much more confident; not that any of them wanted to stop her. It was just too satisfying seeing their friend regain all of the confidence she had lost prior to the contest.

As the party was winding down, the girls all began to discuss their plans for the coming week. Twilight was planning on researching the creatures native to the Everfree Forest in the near future, Rarity had a line of dresses she needed to finish for a client from Canterlot, Applejack had farm work, and Arcanica had a deadline coming up.

“A deadline?” asked Twilight. “Didn’t you just publish a book recently?”

“Please remember I do more than just books, Twilight,” she said good-naturedly. “Ever since I went public, my publicist has been getting more deals for me to have some of my short stories featured in various collections. The deadline is a story that’s going to be featured in an ‘Authors of our Time’ book.”

“Oh, I see.” Her eyes lit up as a coy smile spread across her lips. “Ya know, if you ever need somepony to proof-read before you ship it off…”

“Twilight I have my editor and a publishing company for that.” Twilight blushed at the slightly annoyed look the other unicorn was sending her. “I’m not letting you proof-read my stories before I ship them off. You finding Lost City was the definition of a fluke.”

“Wait a minute!” The sudden outburst got everypony to look at Pinkie Pie as she thought something over. “There’s something about this week…” She began digging around in her mane before pulling out a small calendar and looking it over. When she found what she was looking for, she gasped dramatically. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I didn’t think about it sooner!” They kept staring at her as she babbled to herself about frosting scheduling and confetti rationing.

“Um… Pinkie? You okay?” asked Twilight.

“No, I’m not!” She slammed the calendar onto the table so all of them could read it. “Arcanica’s birthday is at the end of the week and I need to start preparing.”

“Oh, so it is.” The author shrugged before taking a bite of her cupcake. “It’s not a big deal, Pinkie. There’s no need to get all bent out of shape over it.”

“No big deal?!” She grabbed the unicorn’s face and got in extremely close. “Arcanica, how can you say that about your birthday?!”

She found herself ensnared in a pink aura as Twilight put her back in her seat. “Pinkie! Give the mare some space!” She sent an apologetic smile to the author and got a nod of gratitude in response.

“If you must know, I barely celebrated my birthday before moving to Ponyville. Even back before I invented ‘Page Turner’ I didn’t celebrate it that often.” She shrugged and finished off her cupcake. “As long as it’s nothing big, I don’t mind you throwing me a party. I’d honestly be fine if we didn’t throw a party and treated it like any other day.”

“But it isn’t any other day! It’s a birthday! That’s one of the most amazing days besides Hearth’s Warming and Nightmare Night!” Once again, she was in Arcanica’s face, only this time she was standing on the table and leaning down. “How can you not care?!”

This time, the red unicorn levitated the party pony back to her seat. “I just don’t see the big deal. My parents never made a big deal and I saw no reason to after I left Seward Shoals. Now can we drop it?” Arcanica took a drink of her punch, confident that she had defused Pinkie Pie’s fixation on throwing her a party. She never noticed the looks the Elements of Harmony shared nor the look of sheer determination on her pink friend’s face.

It was much later when Arcanica finally made it home. Emptying her mailbox, she went up to her home and turned on the lights in her kitchen. Setting down her mail on the table, she set a kettle on the stove to brew herself a cup of tea to unwind before bed.

“Why didn’t you do something?” she didn’t have to turn around to know who was sitting at the table behind her. “You and I both know you have learned plenty of spells in the book to have at least done something when her wings evaporated.”

“The most I would have done is make things worse for everypony and raise questions about how I learned magic like that.” Her magenta eyes met misty black as the green pegasus chuckled.

“Perhaps,” he admitted. “But if push came to shove, would you have been so concerned for yourself that you would let your friend perish just to save your flank?”

“I don’t have to answer you. Especially considering just who you are.”

He laughed at her jab. “Oh, come now, Hoofcraft. What difference does it make when we compare my actions to your inactions?”

“My inactions don’t destroy cities!” He kept smiling as she glared at him unwaveringly. Behind her, the kettle began whistling. “Why are you even here? I thought you were content being among Them in the Void Beyond.”

“Oh believe me, Hoofcraft, I do enjoy my ascension to Their world. However, you’ve been much slower than the rest of us when it comes to that book.” His smile melted into a look of unamused irritation. “Considering you can see the horrors of the Void Beyond and how they impact Equestria, I’m honestly baffled. Most of us have to learn through experience. You have the most knowledge of the past out of all of us, yet you are the most hesitant to understand what you’ve been given.”

“Not all of us are so willing to give up our mortality and sanity for Their blessings.” She removed the kettle without breaking eye contact. “I may not completely buy into everything I’ve read in the book, but I do know that some of what’s in there shouldn’t be messed with.”

“Oh, like the shadow walking spell.” She blanched. “Oh yes, I know all about your usage of that particular one. Don’t worry though, They wouldn’t let something happen to you while you use it. If anything, They are much more overjoyed that sompony is utilizing their gifts to Equestria once more.” He leaned in, his smile revealing fangs in place of normal teeth. “Tell me, Hoofcraft, have you started to hear the calls? The soft whispers of the power offered by the book? The seductive feeling of the power no mortals should wield without Their blessings?”

“Leave.” He chuckled. “I mean it. GET OUT!”

“Very well,” he said simply. He stood, his dragonic wings shifting to lie more comfortably on his sides. “I look forward to seeing your progress, Hoofcraft. After all,” he sent her a dangerous smile, “you know what you’re doing better than the rest of us.” She blinked, an involuntary reaction to his statement, and found nopony there. It was as if the stallion was never there. She’d be content thinking nopony had been there at all, if it weren’t for the half-empty cup of tea sitting in front of the empty seat with a large bite taken out of it.

Birthday Troubles Part 1

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“Okay, everypony, we know our mission, and we know our purpose!”

“Um… Pinkie?”

“Failure is not an option, here!”

“Pinkie.”

“Some of us may not survive what we must do…”

“PINKIE PIE!”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“You do know we’re just planning a birthday party, right?” The Element of Laughter, dressed in military fatigues and with a crop stuck in her tail looked at her friends incredulously.

“Just planning a birthday party?! Private Sparkle, we’re doing more than just planning some party!” She resumed pacing, once more playing the part of a drill sergeant. “We’re throwing Arcanica the bestest birthday party ever!”

“Darling, that’s not a word.”

“What are we even goin’ ta do, Pinkie? Didn’t she say she didn’t want us ta make a big deal?”

“That doesn’t matter, Corporal Applejack! Even if the party isn’t big, she deserves the absolute best!”

“Well, if she doesn’t want a party, maybe we could… um… get her something she’d really enjoy? If that’s not too much work…” The soft-spoken pegasus nervously toyed with her mane.

“My thoughts exactly, Captain Shy!” She stomped her hoof down. “We’re going to get her the bestest present she’s ever received from anypony!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “And that is?”

“I have no idea!” The other five all groaned or face-hoofed. “I was hoping one of you could suggest something.”

“Maybe we could make her a special wardrobe? Her own special line of clothes to make her look absolutely extravagant.”

“Rarity, she hates gussying herself up.”

“Oh… right…”

“Um… I have an idea.”

“Not to mention she probably makes plenty of money with her books. So there’s the matter of whether or not she could just get it herself,” pointed out Twilight.

“Girls.”

“But you’ve seen her house, Twilight,” pointed out Rainbow Dash. “She barely spends any of those savings. Remodeling her store was probably the most money she’s spent on something she didn’t need.”

“Um, excuse me.”

“Well what if we made her sumthin’ by hoof?” suggested Applejack. “Ah know first-hoof how touching it is to get sumthin’ homemade.”

“But what could be so spectacularly made by hoof that it would outshine any previous birthday present?”

“Girls!” The sudden increase of Fluttershy’s voice, now at an above-average speaking voice, got the other five to stop discussing ideas and look at her. Fluttershy, realizing everypony was staring at her, quickly hid behind her mane. “Oh, I’m sorry for raising my voice like that, but I think I might have an idea.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Well, while we were celebrating Rainbow Dash winning the Flyers Contest, she mentioned how long it’s been since she’s gone home, and she once told me she hasn’t seen her family since she left Seaward Shoals. So… um…”

“I think I know what Fluttershy is saying,” Pinkie Pie said to herself. “We’re going to bring Arcanica back to Seaward Shoals!”

“Or,” cut in Twilight, “we could just surprise her by inviting her family here to Ponyville.”

“Oh… yeah that would make a lot more sense than somehow trying to bring her to Seaward Shoals without her realizing it.”

“That’s a wonderful idea, Darling!”

“Ah think so too, Fluttershy.” Applejack smiled warmly at the thought. “Nuthin’ is more special than bringin’ family back together.”

“So it’s settled then! Let’s bring Arcanica’s folks to Ponyville!” The other five ponies cheered with the cyan pegasus’ suggestion.

“Um, not to ruin the mood, Darlings, but well… Does anypony actually know who her parents are?” The ensuing silence to her question was deafening.

“Okay, so maybe it won’t be as easy as we first thought.”

“Twilight, package for you!” Spike called as he carried a moderately sized bundle into the library.

The bundle glowed dark pink before floating over to Twilight as she poured over a large book. “Thank you, Spike.” Turning her attention away from the book, she unwrapped the parcel to reveal another book. “Perfect, just what I needed!”

“What’s that, Twilight?”

She smiled at her assistant as she opened the new book. “A copy of the list of everypony born and currently living Seaward Shoals. I needed it for a project I’m working on.”

“Why do you need to know all the ponies who live in Seaward Shoals?” he asked in concern, staring nervously at his mother figure as she flipped through the book.

“Because, Spike, there’s a certain group of ponies who live there that the girls and I need to find.” Finding the ‘H’ section, she smirked when she found her friend’s name and the names of her parents. “And I think I just found them. Spike, take a letter!”

“Hiya, Arcanica!”

“Hello, Pinkie Pie.” She was currently reorganizing a set of foals books. Snips and Snails had come in the other day looking for Daring Doo books and “conveniently” forgot they had put their gum down on the shelf when they grabbed a couple books. Once she had cleaned off and restored the books the two imbeciles had ruined (and billed their parents for the damages), she had set about cleaning the shelves while Blossomforth handled the cash register.

“How’s the week before your birthday been going?”

She sent a flat stare to the bouncing pink pony. “I just had to clean gum off one of my shelves and a collection of popular books. You tell me.”

“Well, are you looking forward to your birthday?”

“You’re not throwing me a town-wide party, are you?” She looked at the pink pony suspiciously. “Please remember I said I don’t want you throwing me a huge party for this.”

“I know!” she said cheerfully. “And don’t you worry your pretty little head, I’m not throwing you a massive party. It’s just a regular party, with a small group! Nopony you won’t know!”

“Really?” She quirked an eyebrow at her smiling friend. “You’re not inviting anypony I don’t already know?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!” She went through the motions of her signature promise before smiling widely. “You will know everypony coming to your party! Besides, it’s how fun the party is that matters, not how many ponies show up!”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it.” She resumed putting books back onto the shelf, making sure they were organized properly. “So, did you need something? A specific book perhaps, or did you just come by to visit me?”

“Just stopping by. I wanted to ask Blossomforth something, but I also figured I’d visit you while I was at it.” She bounced over, leaving Arcanica to resume her work. “Hiya Blossomforth!”

“Hey, Pinkie Pie.”

She leaned in close, a serious look on her face. “Alright look, Blossomforth, I need your help. This Friday is Arcanica’s birthday, and I need you to keep her busy and away from Sugar Cube Corner that day. There’s a huge surprise in store for her and we need to set up.”

“Oh, for her party?” Getting a nod and a motion to quiet down, the white pegasus smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep her away while you finish setting up.”

“Thanks, Blossomforth. You’re a life saver!” She bounced to the door with a smile. “Okie dokie lokie! I’ll see you both later!”

The two book sellers made eye contact. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what all that was about?”

She laughed a bit at the unicorn’s bluntness. “Sorry ma’am, no specifics on her plan. Just that I need to make sure you’re at Sugar Cube Corner by a specific time.”

“So you’re my chaperone for the day.” She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a box of new releases. “Good to know my friends think so highly of me that I need somepony to watch over me.”

“They just care about you.” She smiled as she wiped down the countertop. “I can’t even begin to tell you how many times Thunderlane does stuff like that for me whenever he wants to make sure I’m at a certain place.”

“Ah, Arcanica! So lovely that you could join us!” Rarity gave her friend a hug as she entered the Ponyville Spa.

“Thanks for inviting me, Rarity. I’ll admit, it’s a little early in the week for us, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“Yes well, after everything poor Fluttershy went through last night, I felt an early spa day was an absolute must!” The mentioned Pegasus blushed sheepishly at being mentioned by the designer.

“What happened? I thought you were just babysitting the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“Oh well, there was a cockatrice out and about last night, and the girls went into the Everfree Forest to find a chicken of mine that went missing.”

“Let me guess, they found it and the cockatrice, forcing you to save them?” When the pegasus shrank behind her mane, Arcanica dragged a hoof down her face. “Unbelievable. What did they think they could even do?”

“Please, darling, it’s in the past,” admonished Rarity. “Besides, our spa day is calling!” Sure enough, Aloe and Lotus were standing there with smiles on their muzzles, happy to see their most frequent guests. “We’ll take the Pampered Princess special, please.”

“Really?” Arcanica was a little amazed at that. “That’s not exactly the usual treatment, Rarity.”

“Yes well, since poor Fluttershy had so much trouble last night and your birthday is tomorrow, I figured we could all use a little more pampering than usual.” She smiled warmly as Aloe and Lotus cheerfully led the three mares to the steam room to begin their treatment.

“So that’s your angle.” She chuckled as she tied her robe. “I had a feeling there was something you two weren’t telling me. But, I suppose a surprise Spa Day is much better than I was fearing would happen.”

As Rarity closed the door to the steam room, Fluttershy looked at her curiously. “You were afraid something big would happen?”

“Well, not quite. Pinkie came by my store the other day and I had a feeling that she was planning something so over the top big that it would ignore my requests for a small celebration.” She closed her eyes to enjoy the warm steam, not noticing the two sharing a concerned look. “I mean, she did swear a Pinkie Promise that it would only be ponies I know, but that can be interpreted pretty broadly.”

“Eheh, right.” Rarity leaned in close to Fluttershy. “Why in Equestria would Pinkie say that?!” she hissed.

“I don’t know, but I just hope she doesn’t figure out we invited her parents.”

“What was that?” she lifted the towel that was covering her face so she could look at them with her left eye. “Did you two say something about parents?”

“Uh…”

Lotus interrupted the discussion by opening the door and letting the steam escape. “Excuse me, Misses Rarity, Fluttershy and Arcanica, but the steam portion of your treatment is over. We’re ready for you in the massage parlor.”

Thanking the blue spa pony, the three followed her to the mentioned parlor. Pretty soon, the three were enjoying their treatments. Rarity and Arcanica were both laying on benches and savoring the massages to their shoulders and backs while Fluttershy contented herself with a hoof massage.

“So, anypony going to tell me why you two were discussing parents?” she asked. “Not to pry but- oh sweet Celestia…” Her inquiry was cut off when Aloe found a particularly tense knot in her withers, making her croon in pleasure.

“Oh um… well… you see…”

“My parents wrote to me the other day from Cloudsdale.” Had she not been melting under Aloe’s ministrations, she would have been much more suspicious of how quickly Fluttershy provided an answer.

“Oh? And what did they say?” She groaned again as the pink mare moved further down her back, beginning to work on her flanks.

“They just wanted to catch up,” she said, a hint of relief seeping into her voice as her masseuse changed hooves. “My brother just started stylist’s school and they wanted to let me know.”

“Oh, Zephyr Breeze is resuming his training… again?”

“Oh Rarity, you have no idea,” lamented the pegasus. “This time he’s getting into Mane Therapy, saying it’s ‘his calling’.”

“Well, I’m grateful Sweetie Belle is- Oh, right there, darling- is so young. Let’s her get all her energy out and find what it is she truly loves in life.”

“You know, it must be nice knowing how your siblings are doing,” muttered Arcanica as she rolled over to let Aloe begin her own hoof massage.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, darling. Are you an only foal?” The two felt a little guilty since they might have upset their friend.

“No, I have a younger sister.” The two let out a sigh of relief. “In fact, I believe she’s right around the Crusaders’ age.”

“You believe she is?” The two shared a confused look. “Um… Arcanica? What did you mean by it being nice to know how our siblings are doing?” Fluttershy had a sinking feeling about this topic.

“Exactly that,” she replied. “I haven’t seen Bookworm in years. Not since I left the Shoals and first moved to Hoofington to start my career.”

“Well, couldn’t you, I don’t know, keep in touch? After all, letters are always a viable option.” Rarity let out a soft whicker as Lotus worked her flanks over before turning to her crimson friend. “Why not send a letter asking how she’s been doing?”

“I did for a while. But she and I fell out of touch after I moved to Manehatten. And, of course, our parents weren’t helping things.”

“Your… parents?” Despite how heavenly the massage was, she had a bad feeling about where this was going.

“Yeah, I’ve always sort of been the black sheep of the family. They wanted me to be a professor in Canterlot, I wanted to be an acclaimed author. They wanted me to write research papers and give symposiums, I wanted to write horror and give ponies a thrill.” Her massage done, she got up from her table and was led over to a mane-washing station. “We had several fights over it, especially when I got my Cutie Mark. So, when I finished my basic schooling, I moved out to become an author.”

“And, did you ever resolve the issues about your career choice?” It was a good thing Rarity was getting a hooficure at the moment. Otherwise she’d be chewing her own hooves. “And how did that cause you to stop writing to your sister, exactly?”

She snorted as another spa pony began a hooficure for her while her mane was being treated. “When they found out I was writing to Bookworm and she was writing back, they wrote to me to leave my sister alone and that she didn’t need a bad influence like me in her life.”

“Oh my…” whimpered Fluttershy.

“Yeah, I know. Not pretty,” agreed the author, not seeing the looks of terror her two friends were sending one another. “After that, I never heard from my little sister and I had to move since my address got leaked to the press.” She shook her head before trying to send them a smile with her head tilted back. “But enough about something as sad as my family. Tell me how things have been going for you girls.”

“Twilight, we have a major problem!” screamed Rarity. She and Fluttershy had rushed over to Sugar Cube Corner as soon as they parted ways with Arcanica.

“In a moment, Rarity. Okay, a little lower, Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus lowered the right side of the banner she and Pinkie Pie were helping Twilight set up. Happy Birthday Arcanica was written across the fabric in large red letters. “Now Pinkie, a little higher on the left.”

“Twilight, this really can’t wait.”

“Just give me a moment, Fluttershy.” She refocused on the two mares helping her. “Ok, Dash just a smidge-”

“Oh for the love of Celestia!” Grabbing the banner with her magic, Rarity pinned it in place, making sure it was perfect level and evenly spaced. “There! Now if you don’t mind, we need to talk!”

“What’s wrong, Sugarcube?” Applejack was making sure the table arrangement they had in mind would work for the party, but could tell it was big if Rarity lost her composure like that.

“Well, as we discussed, Fluttershy and I took her to the Ponyville Day Spa for a delightful day of pampering-”

“Cut to the point, Rarity? We don’t have all day!”

“The point, Rainbow Dash, is that as we were at the spa, the subject of family was brought up.”

“She didn’t figure it out, did she?” Twilight’s eyes dilated, afraid that all their efforts were for naught.

“Thankfully not, but that did present us with the problem I mentioned before.”

“Well, don’t keep us waitin’. What is it?”

“Well um… Arcanica and her parents… don’t exactly… get along?”

“What?!”

“According to her, they had a falling out years ago over her pursuing a career in literature, and she says she hasn’t been on good terms with them since then.” Rarity nervously pawed the ground. “I’m afraid we may have to cancel bringing them here.”

“That’s not possible! They’re probably already on the train here! Not even I could get there fast enough to tell them to turn around!”

“Now hold on, everypony. Ah think this might be a good thing.”

“Forgive me for being skeptical, Applejack, but how in the wide world of Equestria could this possibly be a good thing?”

The apple farmer took off her hat and ran a hoof through her mane. “Well, look at it like this. Sure, she and her folks ain’t on speakin’ terms now, but what if we fixed that? Family is the most important thing there is, and if we could fix that for our friend, who knows what could happen from there!”

“Applejack is right.” Twilight nodded her head as she thought it over. “We might have thought it would work to just reunite them, but if we were able to completely fix an argument that’s been several years in the making, that would be even better for a birthday present!”

“It would be the one thing she needs but doesn’t have! That’s the bestest idea EVER!”

“Oh, I don’t know, girls. She seemed like she’s still angry with them.”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. How hard can it be to get a couple ponies to make up?” Despite Dash’s reassurance as the others began planning the reunion, Rarity and Fluttershy shared a concerned look over the viability of this plan.

“Ok, Blossomforth, I get that you’re supposed to keep an eye on me today, but there’s a limit to how serious you can be while doing this.” Currently, the two were walking back from getting lunch at a local café. Nothing too big, since the party was that afternoon, but something small to hold them over. Originally, she had wanted to go get lunch and bring it back for the two of them, but realized she wouldn’t be watching her if she did so.

Therefore, the logical conclusion to their dilemma had been for them to go to a café in the opposite direction of the bakery so that Arcanica was kept as far away as possible. “Sorry, Miss Hoofcraft, but I promised Pinkie Pie I’d do this.”

“I get that, I truly do. I’m just saying there’s following orders, and then there’s following them to the point of absurdity.”

“There you two are!” Looking up, they saw Rainbow Dash flying down to them. “I went to your store and nopony was there! I’ve ben looking all over Ponyville for you two.”

“Sorry, Dash. We were getting some lunch and a certain somepony was taking her role in Pinkie Pie’s plan a little too seriously.” The look she sent Blossomforth’s way, while good-natured, conveyed her mild annoyance with the pegasus’ obsession being her shadow.

“Well come on, then! Everypony is waiting at Sugar Cube Corner!” Without waiting for the two to follow her, Dash took off with her signature rainbow trail following her.

“Well, let’s not keep them all waiting.” Arcanica started off at a brisk pace, not wanting to overexert herself by the time she got to the bakery. A quick walk later had the two mares outside the bakery, staring at the darkened room on the other side of the doors.

“Ready for you party?”

“Not even close.” She sighed before taking a deep breath. “Well, let’s get this over with, I guess.” She pushed the doors open and was immediately welcomed when the lights turned on and she was dowsed in confetti.

“SURPRISE!” cheered the gathered ponies. She looked around and was relieved Pinkie Pie had kept her word in that she knew all of the ponies present. Outside of her six friends and Blossomforth, the Crusaders had apparently also been invited, most likely since their older sisters were attending as well. Including herself, that brought the total number of attendees to 11, certainly a small party by Pinkie Pie standards. “Happy Birthday, Arcanica!”

“Thanks, everypony. Although, again, you didn’t have to throw me a party.”

“Sure, but this is your first birthday in Ponyville where you have spectacu-mazing friends to throw you a bash and where you’re using your real name!” explained Pinkie as she put party hats on the new arrivals. “That’s the ultimate double whammy for throwing somepony a super birthday bash!”

“Well, thanks, I guess.” I want to complain about her making up words again, but I’m pretty sure it’s a moot point.

“And, since we’re on the topic of important events, we put together a little something special for you,” added Twilight.

“Something special?” Her curiosity was piqued. What could they have gotten me? “You know I said you didn’t have to do anything big, Twilight.”

“Well that may be, Sugarcube, but we felt that, what with ya’ll turnin’ over a new leaf and everythin’ we’d do sumthin’ just as special.”

“Okay, but what is it?”

Smiling warmly, Twilight walked over to the kitchen door and stuck her head in. “Alright, you can come in now.”

As soon as she was out of the way, a small orange blur came shooting out of the kitchen and slammed into Arcanica’s chest. “Sis!” She stared in shock at the small filly holding onto her neck. Like her, the filly was a unicorn. Her mane, a soft charcoal black, was braided off to one side with a small red bow on the end. Her bright pink eyes were shining behind her chocolate brown glasses. Her coat was a warm, fiery orange which allowed her Cutie Mark, an open scroll with a quill over it, to stand out properly. “Oh I’ve missed you so much!”

“Bookworm?!” What in the name of Celestia and the Outer Beings is she doing here?! “Why are you here? What the hay is going on here?”

“These friends of yours invited us, Arcanica.” She froze up when she heard that voice. It may have been years, but she would never forget the mare it belonged to. A dark orange unicorn mare entered the room from the kitchen accompanied by a maroon stallion of the same breed. The mare had her smoky gray mane pulled into a bun and her tail braided. Her purple eyes stared directly into her daughter as she placed her own glasses in the pocket on her blouse. Her Cutie Mark showed a bone with a bandage holding it together. “It’s good to see you, daughter.”

“Yes, nice to see you’re still around,” added the stallion. His silver eyes looked his daughters over with a calculating look as he smoothed a non-existent wrinkle in his suit. His mane and tale, both a sharp steel grey, were kept short and tidy. An image of an apple with a pencil through the top decorated his flanks. “We had noticed that you suddenly dropped off the face of Equestria and weren’t quite sure what to make of it.”

“Yes well, some of us prefer a little privacy to ourselves so we can follow our passions, father.” The red unicorn never broke eye contact with the two older ponies, while Bookworm looked back and forth between the three ponies in confusion.

After a tense silence, Twilight cleared her throat, nominating herself to break the ice. “So, Arcanica, we heard from Rarity how much you and your parents don’t get along, so we decided to help you mend your relationship! You know, since you made a fresh start?” She nervously chuckled as the three kept glaring at one another. “So… why don’t we-”

“There’s nothing for us to discuss.”

“For once, I agree with you two on something.” She gently ran a hoof through her sister’s mane, holding her close. “There’s nothing worth discussing between us. Not unless you two are here to apologize.”

Her mother scoffed. “Apologize? For what? Pushing you to your potential? Is that it?”

She sarcastically laughed. “Oh sure, I’m sure that’s what they call it.”

“And there it is,” pointed out the older stallion as he rolled his eyes. “Your foalish obsession with making us into the villains when you don’t want to admit you were wrong.”

“Wrong about what?!” She stomped a hoof to the ground as her nostrils flared. “Your claims that I had no idea what my talent actually was? That I wouldn’t make a career out of what I enjoy and actually got my Mark for?”

“How much of a career do you even have from writing your little Fairy Tales?” She glared at her mother at the bored tone. “If you listened to us, you would have a stable and successful career and this little hobby of yours would-”

“It’s not a hobby and they aren’t fairy tales!” she snapped. “If you two would actually take the time to listen to me-”

“About what?!” yelled the stallion. “That you can make it as a writer of pure fantasy?! It’s not a respectable career, Arcanica!”

“Oh sure,” she drawled. “And those awards I’ve earned are just thrown around like nothing. Just completely pointless titles. Sure.”

“Awards you earned while hiding your face from all of Equestria,” pointed out her mother. “If you were so confident, why lie about who you were?”

“Ok, I think this is getting a little out of hoof,” Twilight said in a pacifying tone as she tried inserting herself in the conversation. “Let’s just take a step back and-”

“Because I knew you two would harass me like you did when I was in school!” she yelled at them, ignoring her friend’s attempt at peacemaking. “Because you two were never happy when I did my best!”

“If you call those ludicrous fantasies you write about ‘your best’, then you clearly have a lot to learn about something you claim is your calling.”

“SHUT UP!” she screamed. “I wouldn’t expect you two to know what it’s like for me to follow my dreams! Especially considering how you tried grooming me to be just like you!”

“We wanted what was best for you!”

“YOU WANTED ME TO BE YOUR CLONE!” The room was deafeningly silent at her scream of hatred. “You two were constantly telling me where I should have been when compared to you two at my age. It drove me crazy! It made me hate everything!” A tear ran down her cheek as she closed her eyes. “That’s why I ran away when I did. Because I was sick of you two trying to make me just like you.”

Her friends stared at her in silent shock. Pinkie Pie looked on the verge of breaking into tears and Fluttershy was staring at her friend with worried concern. Twilight extended a hoof towards her while Bookworm stared at her sister, an unreadable mess of emotions on her face. “Arcanica…”

She pushed the friendly hoof aside. “I’m sorry, girls. But this party is over.” Turning, she ran out of the bakery.

“Arcanica!”

“Sis!”

“Bookworm get back here!” Ignoring her parents’ demands, the little filly ran out after her sister.

Blossomforth started towards the door. “I’ll go find her.”

“We’re coming too.” Rarity and Pinkie Pie began to follow her. “Fluttershy, are you coming?”

“No, Rarity. You go find Arcanica. I want to have a word with her parents.”

“Ah’ll take the young’uns home. No point in them being caught up in this.” That said, Applejack began to shepherd the three fillies out the door; not that any of them argued with her decision to do so.

With the four mares gone, Fluttershy glared at her friend’s parents while Twilight and Dash stood by her side. “Now then, let’s talk.”

Author's Notes:

Whoo boy, longest chapter to date. I think it has to do with the source material difference, but the Arcanica-original chapters are so much easier to write versus having to rewatch episodes repeatedly to get the chapter done/accurate. Also, the first major two-parter that wasn't by the nature of the show.
I hope you enjoyed it, if you enjoy ponies being emotionally destroyed by their past...
Once the second part is done, I'll be doing another one shot, just trying to decide who the focus should be. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments.
Now, onto more serious business, school is back in session! So, I might become a bit more irregular with updates as I juggle writing with college, but what can ya do?
If you enjoyed this, consider clicking that "Tracking" button or leaving an upvote. Until next time!

Birthday Troubles Part 2

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Even after all these years, they haven’t changed a bit! Arcanica was running through the streets of Ponyville doing her best to not break down into tears before she got home. She heard Bookworm calling to her but didn’t wait for her. Wanting to be home, she ducked into an alleyway and used the Shadow-Walking spell, consequences be damned. With the much shorter distances in the plane of shadows, she was able to reach her apartment almost instantaneously. Charging out of the shadows of her closet, she threw herself onto her bed and buried her face in her pillows. They just had to come back into my life, didn’t they?

“Big sis! Where did you go?!” The small orange filly had lost her sister after she turned a random corner, so was left to simply yelling for her from the street.

“Hey, Bookworm, was it?” She turned around and saw three of the ponies from her sister’s party heading her way. Leading the way was the white pegasus with the pink and green mane, followed closely by the nice white unicorn and the bouncy pink earth pony. The three stopped in front of her and caught their breath. “Are you alright?”

Tears that she had tried fighting began welling up in her eyes. “No… mom and dad were screaming at Arcanica and now I dunno where she went and… and…”

“There, there, little one, don’t worry.” The nice unicorn pulled her into a comforting hug, letting her cling to her as she hiccupped from keeping her sobs down. “We’re your sister’s friends. We’ll find her.” She smiled at the other two mares. “Right, girls?”

“Right!” affirmed the pegasus with a smile. The two looked at the pink mare. “Pinkie Pie?”

She sniffled a bit as they realized her mane looked slightly deflated. “I… I wanted to make Arcanica happy today, but that party made her sad…”

The white pegasus put a comforting wing on her back. “That’s why we’re going to find her. To make sure we cheer Arcanica up.” Getting a nod, she withdrew her wing and looked at the two unicorns. “Alright, let’s get going. She’s probably holed herself up in her apartment after this.” Getting affirmations, she took the lead once more as they resumed running to the book store with the young filly in tow.

“Why?” After glaring at them for several minutes and being tempted to use The Stare on them, Fluttershy finally broke the silence between her and Arcanica’s parents. “Why did you treat Arcanica like that?”

“Like what? Our child?”

Fluttershy became even angrier, but Twilight cut in before she could open her mouth. “I think what Fluttershy meant was, what happened between you all to make Arcanica resent you so much?”

The older mare rolled her eyes and scoffed. “We tried raising her to be an academic, to be proud of her intelligence, but she was opposed to listening to us every time we tried helping her. She ran off, and we went on with our lives, end of story.”

“Mend, darling, I think they meant wanted a proper explanation of our daughter’s childhood issues, not a summary of it.”

“Well then they should say so, Marks.”

“Alright well let’s not get too off topic. Start with her as a foal, since that seems to be where a lot of this is coming from,” provided Twilight.

“Fine.” The mare sighed heavily. “My husband and I met during our final years at Canterlot University. We hit it off rather well over our shared passion for the pursuit of knowledge. After we graduated, he and I got together and eventually, nature found its way and gave us Arcanica.”

Her husband took over for her. “Now, our respective careers should be of note here. While my wife, Mended Heart, pursued a career as a doctor, I found my calling in molding young minds as a professor at the local school in Seaward Shoals. Were one of us to be in one of those fields, it would have been one thing, but for both parents to be in such demanding fields was unheard of. Nevertheless, we had Arcanica and brought her up in an environment that encouraged the pursuit of knowledge.”

“Well that doesn’t seem so bad,” admitted Twilight. “So, this is all over her wanting a creative career rather than an intellectually challenging one?”

“No, it isn’t.” Mended Heart glared at the purple unicorn. “We’ll get to that if you would kindly let us continue our story.” She smiled apologetically before signaling for the two unicorns to continue their story. “Now, as we were saying, we encouraged Arcanica to pursue knowledge emphasized the importance of hard work above all else.

“We tried enrolling her in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns when she was a filly, since her magic had always acted up and done the most interesting things. Thankfully, she was able to pass the practical portion of her particular exam and passed the written portion with less-than perfect marks. Her grades were still worthy enough to get in, not that she appreciated it.”

“So how does her going to a boarding school and not liking it have to do with why you’re so angry about it?” Rainbow Dash was regretting not going with Rarity, but knew she had to be there for Fluttershy.

“Because of how she squandered the opportunity!” explained Marks. “After one semester, she was on the verge of being dropped out of the program!” He rubbed his forehead as he remembered his daughter’s academic struggles. “When we were contacted by the school over it, they explained that she was never focusing in class. She was constantly day-dreaming or drawing all sorts of strange, unnatural monsters.”

“And when she wasn’t doing that, she was busy writing stories instead of taking notes and was struggling to complete even the simplest of exams,” complained Heart. “Not to mention her magical abilities were nowhere near where they needed to be to complete the assignments, let alone learning the spells she was being taught.”

“Well of course not.” Twilight pawed the ground. “Most of the foals who go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns have already earned their Cutie Marks or know that they’re incredibly talented in magic. Just doing strange magic isn’t grounds enough for somepony to naturally excel there.”

“But she could have tried to apply herself better!” Mended Heart’s nostrils flared in annoyance. “If she put in the effort, she could have done better in class.”

“Did she even want to go to the School for Gifted Unicorns?” asked Fluttershy. “Did you ever bother to ask her whether she wanted to be put into such an advanced program?”

“Why should that matter?” Marks scoffed at the foolishness of the question. “She would have thanked us for giving her such an opportunity if she had applied herself.”

“But it’s not what she wanted!” Rainbow Dash cautiously put a hoof on the yellow pegasus’ back to get her to calm down. Even after being friends for years, she had never seen Fluttershy get so angry before, not even when they had to deal with the dragon. “Why couldn’t you bring yourselves to care that your daughter was unhappy? Why didn’t you listen to her?”

“Because she was talking nonsense!” snapped Heart. “She was going on about wanting to tell everypony stories for a living and write stories. That’s not a justifiable career, it’s a foal’s dream!”

“But it’s what Arcanica wanted.” Twilight stepped in while Rainbow Dash pulled Fluttershy back, trying to comfort her and get her to calm down. “And she’s done well for herself following her passion.” When the two older unicorns scoffed or rolled their eyes, she sighed. I sure have my work cut out for me.

“Please, Darling! It’s your friends, let us in!” Getting no reply, Rarity sighed before turning away from the door to the other three ponies. “Well, she’s not answering me. So unless we go up there ourselves, I’m afraid we’re out of luck.”

Blossomforth nodded before pulling her wing back from comforting Bookworm. “Well fortunately, Arcanica gave me a spare key to her shop.” Retrieving the key, she opened the store up for them before leading the way in. “The door to her apartment is this way,” she told them.

“Wow, my sister works here?”

“No, she owns this place.” Blossomforth smiled at the amazed look on the young unicorn’s face, happy she was at least finding some degree of excitement despite what was happening. “Arcanica runs the shop itself, I help out so she’s not stretched too thin between running the shop and writing.”

“Wow…”

The group of four approached the door to the back room, with Rarity realizing something important. “Um… Blossomforth? Not to sound rude, but… you do have a key upstairs, right?”

She chuckled at the question. “No need. Arcanica actually doesn’t use a key on this one. You just need a unicorn to get in.” She pointed a wing at a small silver peg in the center of the door. “If you rotate this coat hook counter-clockwise, the door will unlock itself. Nopony would ever think to do something like that and only unicorns can rotate it while opening the door.”

“Oh my, that’s actually quite clever.” Rarity’s horn lit up before twisting the hook in the proper direction. “Oh, it’s spring loaded to re-lock itself. I’d imagine Twilight would have a field day with this.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Bookworm shoved the door open as soon as Rarity finished rotating the hook. “I’m coming, Sis!”

“Bookworm, wait!” The three mares followed her in as she began climbing up the stairs. “We don’t know what kind of mindset Arcanica is in right now!”

Bookworm ignored them and continued until she reached the top of the stairs. Pushing open the door, she ran into what looked like a dine-in kitchen. “Sis? Are you here?”

“Go away!” came a yell from down the hallway. A door slammed, implying the older sibling was trying to isolate herself.

“Bookworm, darling, you can’t just run off like that,” huffed Rarity as she made it to the top of the stairs. She looked around the kitchen area before looking at the other two mares. “So, any guesses which room she’s in?”

“Her yell came from down this way.” Ignoring Rarity’s requests, she made a beeline for the hallway. “Come on!” The three followed her to the end of the hallway where she was listening to the sound of sobbing from the other side of the door. She hesitantly knocked on the door. “Sis?”

“I said go away!” The four of them flinched at the anguish in the unicorn’s voice.

“Arcanica, darling…” Rarity went up to the door and gently placed a hoof on it. “Please, we’re your friends. We care about you… Your sister cares about you. Let us in, please? Even if we’re just a shoulder to cry on it couldn’t hurt to have somepony to talk to.”

“Leave me alone!” Arcanica sounded even more distressed. “I want to be alone! I want to wallow in… whatever it is that ponies are supposed to wallow in!” The sobbing resumed inside as the mares flinched.

“Oh dear, she sounds bad.”

“She almost sounds like you…” Pinkie pointed out in a sedated tone. Now that they were hearing their friend’s sobs, her bad mood returned full-force.

“Pinkie!”

“Girls, now isn’t the time!” snapped the pegasus.

“Arcanica, please let me in. I’m here for you.” She didn’t get a response, so she let the mares lead her to the sitting room. “What are we going to do?”

“Well, I suppose the first thing we need to do is just get her to talk to us again.” Blossomforth was pacing while Pinkie Pie and the two unicorns sat on the couch while Rarity was trying to comfort Pinkie. “Bookworm, did you ever see her arguing with your parents before?”

She shook her head. “No. I heard them yelling the night she ran away from home, but whenever they did argue it was after they thought I went to sleep. They never mentioned their arguments whenever I was around.” She sighed as she looked at her sister’s friends. “Even when she ran away from home she never told me about their arguments.”

“Well unfortunately, I never truly argued with my mother and father,” lamented Rarity. “Pinkie?”

She shook her head morosely. “No. Mama and Papa let me leave when I discovered I wasn’t cut out for the family business as long as I visited when they needed me to.”

“And my parents encouraged me to leave the nest when I grew up, so none of us have a starting point.” Blossomforth dragged a hoof down her face as she thought over their situation.

“Well good for you, you didn’t grow up with control freak parents.” They looked up hearing the sarcastic quip and saw Arcanica glaring at them, her eyes puffy from her crying. “But it’s not just me arguing with them that led to me running away.”

“ARCANICA!” The four quickly pulled her into a group hug, happy she was at least out of her room.

“What made you come out?”

“Hearing you four talking in my sitting room is a bit of a distraction while I’m wallowing in my own misery,” she told them tiredly. She wrapped a foreleg around her sister as she was guided to the couch. “But to answer your questions, it wasn’t the arguments that led me to run away. It was how they treated me that caused the arguments.”

“What do you mean?” Bookworm looked up at her older sister, her eyes filled with concern. “How did Mom and Dad treat you?”

“Like a failure,” she muttered. Rarity placed a comforting hoof on her other shoulder, causing her to sigh. “They spent years always telling me that what I wanted to do was stupid, yelling at me for ‘not applying my intelligence properly’, or for ‘holding myself back’. When I got my Cutie Mark after publishing my first short stories, they were furious that I was wasting my time chasing fantasies and day dreams rather than pursuing academics.”

“But… that’s nothing like what Mom and Dad are like with me.”

“Oh? That’s probably because of how much I yelled at them when I ran away.” She gently brushed her sister’s mane. “But didn’t you ever wonder why I stopped writing to you? I stopped because they wrote to me that you didn’t need a terrible role model in your life and to never write to you again.”

“What?! But, you stopped replying to my letters. You stopped writing to me around my birthday the year after you left. That was why I stopped writing.” Her eyes were widened in shock at how much she was misled. “I thought you just didn’t care about me anymore.”

“I’d never forget your birthday, Book. I had sent you a present that year. I imagine Mom and Dad found the present before you did and reacted badly.” She hugged her sister close. “I sent you my first proper book. I had hoped you would get it and realize how much I cared, but they sent it back to me telling me to never contact you again.”

“What was so special about your book?” she asked in confusion as she blinked back tears. Arcanica smiled before looking at one of the bookshelves in the room. Using her magic, she grabbed a perfectly preserved copy of the first book she had written before giving it to her little sister. “Cries of the Ether,” she read aloud. Opening to the first pages, she gasped at the dedication. “For a certain bookworm, who always made me smile.” She set the book down before hugging her sister tightly.

“Um, Arcanica?” The sisters looked at Rarity as she nervously smiled. “I’m sorry to interrupt this touching moment, but I wanted to apologize for what we did.” She sighed as her smile fell. “We shouldn’t have invited your parents here without asking you about them first.”

Arcanica sighed as she let go of her sister and gave the white mare a hug. “It’s fine, Rarity. It had to happen at some point. I guess there’s only so much running somepony can do before their past catches up with them.”

“Arcanica?” She looked at the pink party pony, her mane still deflated. “I’m… I’m sorry my party made you cry.” She hiccupped. “I… I should have-”

The red unicorn walked over and hugged her. “I don’t blame you, Pinkie. You genuinely tried your best. Thank you for at least trying to help me.” The pink pony quickly hugged her back as tears flowed freely from her eyes. The other three joined in the hug as Pinkie clung to her friend, happy to have been forgiven for her mistake.

“If you’d like, darling, we can talk this all out before going back to Sugar Cube Corner. Maybe talk your feelings out so you’re in a better head space?” She nodded, making Rarity smile before she guided the unicorn back to the couch. “Now, just start wherever you feel comfortable.”

The two older unicorns were seated at a table speaking quietly between themselves. The remaining Elements, joined by Applejack a short while ago, hoped they had given their friend’s parents enough to think about.

“She shouldn’t forgive them,” muttered Fluttershy. She took a long sip from her milkshake after Rainbow Dash pushed it closer, hoping the chocolate would calm her down. The three were still shocked at how angry their friend had gotten over Arcanica’s childhood. “After how they treated her as a foal…”

“Sugarcube, Ah get where yer comin’ from, but she can’t hold onta that kinda anger forever.” Applejack sighed as she ran a hoof through her mane. “They’re family, and family has gotta stick together.”

“But will she even want to forgive them?” Or us, for that matter? Twilight was the most nervous out of all of them. The last thing she wanted was for their friend to hate them over a mistake they had made while trying to mend their friend’s family situation. “I mean, she’s had years of nothing but anger at them. If none of them have tried to ever work it out, will either side even be willing to fixing things?”

“We can only hope.” Rainbow’s answer was cautious lest she anger the other pegasus.

“Everypony, we’ve returned!” declared Rarity as she proudly walked into the bakery. She was followed by a cheerful Pinkie and a smiling Blossomforth.

“Rarity! Oh thank Celestia you’re- Wait… Where are Arcanica and her sister?” She smiled at Twilight before gesturing to the door. The doors pushed open before the two sisters walked in together, a gentle smile on the red unicorn’s muzzle. “Arcanica!” The other four Elements gasped before rushing to hug the author, much to her annoyance.

“I don’t need a group hug. I’m not dying here,” she joked as she accepted a nuzzle from Fluttershy. “I’m fine, girls. Really.”

“Arcanica.” The group of friends moved aside so she could have a clear path to her parents. “I believe we need to talk,” Mended Heart said in a reluctant manner. “Just the three of us.”

“Anything you want to say to Arcanica, you can say to me!” Bookworm left her sister’s side to stand defiantly before her parents. Mended Heart went to tell her to butt out, but her husband stopped her with a raised hoof.

“She’s in the middle of it too, Heart. Her and Arcanica’s… friends.” He looked at them all as they stood with their friend. “They deserve to know everything that’s happening.” She wanted to argue, but simply sighed in resignation before accepting the maroon stallion’s suggestion. “Arcanica, I believe an apology is in order. From both of us.”

Her eyes widened. “Father…”

“We wanted you to be more successful than either of us,” he continued. “Your mother and I had grown up in environments that encouraged us to put academics before anything else. We didn’t grow up like other ponies, and simply saw what we were doing as natural. We simply assumed you would accept it like we had, but I see now that was simply not the case.” He chuckled dryly. “It only took us years to ever figure it out.”

“Father… no, Dad… I understand you two wanted me to succeed.” She sighed. “It’s just, I saw how you two treated me and my grades, but compared to everypony else? I was that one filly whose parents were beyond strict and didn’t let her do anything.” Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her neck to comfort her, an act she accepted. “When I saw how everypony else’s parents treated them, I started to think you two didn’t love me.”

“Of course we did!” snapped Heart. “We did… we just, didn’t see anything wrong with how we had raised you. All we knew was to push you to surpass what we had achieved. To prove we were right to… to…”

“To what? Have me?”

“Not simply have you.” Marks was quick to reinsert himself into the discussion. “But to have you when we did. To prove that… we were right to even be together.”

“Now wait just a gosh darn minute,” interrupted Applejack. “Ya’ll mean ta tell me that Arcanica here…”

“Yes,” he affirmed. “Arcanica is the reason we even married one another. Neither of us wanted to give up our aspirations but we were scared we couldn’t raise a foal as well as we could. I’m sorry we never told you, Arcanica, but we were worried that if you knew-”

“I’ve always known, Dad.” The two unicorns looked at her in shock. “Your sister told me after Book was born. I just always assumed that was why you two treated me the way you did. To make the most out of a mistake.”

“Arcanica…” Mended Heart ran forward and pulled the shocked mare into a hug. “You weren’t a mistake!” She choked back a sob. “It was all on us. You weren’t the one responsible. You had no reason to think that!”

“Mom…”

“She’s right.” Marks gently coaxed his wife to let their oldest go. “It wasn’t your fault that we had you. And I don’t regret making the decision to raise you. It was our mistake to think we could raise you the way we did and not have it blow up in our faces.”

“We simply wanted to be positive that we weren’t wrong to stay together. We had to compromise our own careers for you, and… well, I suppose we put some of our anger on you for our own foalish behavior. We never wanted you to hat us, but in the end, that’s all we did.” She wiped away her tears before placing a hoof on her daughter’s shoulder. “Could you ever forgive us for what we did? For all the years of anger?”

Arcanica was silent for a moment. She looked to her seven friends before sharing a look with her sister. She closed her eyes before shaking her head. “No. I don’t think so.” They gasped before she held up a hoof. “At least, not right now. But, I want to. But most important of all,” she looked at her parents and blinked back the tears, “I just want my parents back.”

“Sweetie…” The two older unicorns pulled their daughters into a hug. None of them fought their tears as they held each other close. “We’re so sorry. We really am.”

“I know, Mom. I am too.”

The seven mares watched with tears in their eyes at the family’s hug. Fluttershy smiled at her friend. You’re a bigger mare than me, Arcanica. I wouldn’t have given them the chance.

The red unicorn disengaged from the group hug before smiling at her friends. “Come on, you girls. Isn’t this supposed to be my birthday party? What’re you all doing just standing around?”

“Yes!” cheered Pinkie as she pumped a hoof. She pulled her gramophone out of… somewhere before throwing a record on it. “Let’s get this Family-Saving Birthday Party started!”

The next day, Arcanica was standing at the Ponyville station with her family. “Well, I guess this is farewell.” High Marks smiled at his daughter. “Take care of yourselves. I don’t want Book to turn out the way I did.”

“Actually, that was something we wanted to talk to you about.” Mended Heart shared a look with her husband. “Since it’s been so long and was our fault you two fell out… Bookworm?”

“Yes, Mom?”

She smiled at the orange filly. “How would you like to stay here with your sister? You know, make up for the years apart?”

“You mean it?!” She squee’d as she nodded. “That would be awesome!”

“Arcanica? Would you mind letting your sister stay with you?”

She looked at her beaming sister with a smirk. “Well, assuming you do your chores and don’t burn my house down, I see no reason as to why my little sis can’t crash with me.”

“YES! Thank you both so much!” She gave her parents a bone-crushing hug, causing both to laugh at her excitement. She quickly galloped over to her sister and clung to her side. “Thank you, sis!”

“We’ll send her belongings as soon as we get home,” promised their mother.

“Thanks. That’ll give us enough time to convert my guest room.” She let go of her sister before hugging her parents once more. “Bye, Mom. Bye Dad. Take care of yourselves.”

“Goodbye, Arcanica. We love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I learned the true importance of one’s family. Sometimes, we may fight with our family and loved ones. When we do, there’s a chance that we may hurt the ones we love, or they might hurt us. That hurt can cause us a lot of pain if we let it fester, and in some cases even tear that family apart. However, if we were to come together and talk out our pain and work our problems out, we can fix our bonds and become even closer.

I would have never learned this on my own, but after seeing the damage an argument did to Arcanica’s family and how close they are now that they’ve made amends, I can see now just how important somepony’s family really is. In fact, I’ll be writing to my own family as soon as possible just to make sure my bonds with them never fall into such a state.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

The elder Princess smiled as she rolled up her student’s report. “Oh, Twilight. It warms my heart to know you’ve learned this particular lesson.

“Sister, are thou in here?” Luna entered the room and smiled when she saw her sister. “Ah, we have found thee. The chefs have informed us that supper is ready for us.”

“I’ll be right there, Luna. You go on ahead.” She nodded before turning and taking her leave. “Oh, Luna?”

She stuck her head back in. “Yes, sister?”

Celestia smiled at the younger alicorn. “I love you, you know that, right.”

She smiled back. “I love you too, sister.”

Author's Notes:

And there we go, the end of the big drama. I'll be entirely honest, these last couple chapters (the ending in particular) were largely inspired by an episode of The Amazing World of Gumball titled "The Parents". The episode really touched me, and when I was writing this chapter, I realized just how much depth i was inadvertently writing into my character's background.
So, now that the doom and gloom is done, I've decided I will start updating this story on Tuesdays, but no definitive schedule for the miscellaneous stories/one-shots I may occasionally throw out there. The way I see it, since I'm back in classes, it will help to have a proper schedule to my story writing rather than just haphazardly updating whenever.
If you enjoyed this, feel free to hit that thumbs-up or give the story a fav or follow. Until next time!

Memories Best Remembered

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As the sun rose over Ponyville, a particular red unicorn hummed to herself in the kitchen as she worked at the stove. Two plates sat beside her, both holding slowly increasing stacks of pancakes. As she placed the last couple on the stacks, she levitated them to the table. “Bookworm! Time for breakfast!”

“Coming, sis!” The orange filly came galloping into the room wearing her saddlebags. “Wow, those look delicious!”

Chuckling, the older unicorn pulled the saddlebags off her sister before letting her sit down. “You shouldn’t wear these while you eat, Book.” She set them down by the staircase before joining her sister at the table. “Just because you’re excited to start school doesn’t mean you need to wear them constantly.”

“Yes, sis.” Her answer was half-hearted, but Arcanica was willing to let it slide since she was busy eating her pancakes. “So, what’s Ponyville’s school like?” she asked around a mouthful of food.

“Swallow, before you speak, please.” She rolled her eyes as her sister sheepishly smiled after doing so. “As for the school, I’ve only met Cheerilee in casual settings, but she’s very passionate about her job. She cares about every foal put in her care and seems pretty reasonable with her students.” She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. “Other than that, I can’t say very much, but I’m sure Sweetie Belle and the others can fill you in.”

“Sweetie Belle? Who’s that?”

“Arcanica, Darling! We’re here!” sang Rarity from outside.

The unicorn smiled as she walked over to her newest addition: a door from her apartment to the streets below. Since Bookworm moved in and she was more sociable, she had hired some construction ponies to install a staircase outside her home to a new door on the second floor. After all, it beat always having to go through the store to greet ponies. She opened the door and smiled at her guests. “Hey Rarity. Hi Sweetie Belle. We’re just finishing up breakfast.” She stepped to the side and gestured for them to enter. “Please, come in.”

The white unicorns accepted her invitation with Sweetie Belle rushing to the table where she took a seat next to Bookworm. “Hi, you’re Bookworm, right? My name’s Sweetie Belle.”

The orange filly smiled and extended a hoof. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sweetie Belle.”

“Book, nopony’s that formal here in Ponyville.” The two older siblings took their seats opposite the two fillies as Arcanica got their guests some juice.

“Oh, uh… sorry.”

“Oh, it’s fine, Darling. Arcanica is just being Arcanica. Blunt, casual, and to the point.” The white unicorn smirked at the annoyed look her friend shot her.

“I’m so excited you’re starting school today! The Crusaders and I are looking forward to teaching you all about Ponyville!”

“Crusaders?” She felt herself get concerned when the older unicorns groaned in exasperation. “What do you mean by ‘Crusaders’?”

“I’m part of a group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Our mission is to find our Cutie Marks and our purpose in life!” declared Sweetie Belle as she raised a hoof and her voice squeaked in excitement.

“They also destroy half of Ponyville’s most fragile property when they go on Crusades,” came a dark mutter from Arcanica. She shuddered at the memories of the “Cutie Mark Crusader Window Washers” campaign and how much it cost her to replace her windows.

The white filly blushed as she apologetically rubbed the back of her head. “But, I already have my Cutie Mark.” Bookworm showed Sweetie Belle her flank, showing the scroll and quill to her. “I got it for writing and reciting poetry.”

“Oh, you did?” Sweetie Belle looked slightly crestfallen before perking back up. “Then maybe you can be our advisor or something! Since you have your Cutie Mark, maybe you can help us find ours!”

“Um… I mean, I suppose I could try?” She was extremely hesitant and looked to the older unicorns for help, but felt a little betrayed as the two suppressed their giggles.

Ultimately, Arcanica decided to “save” her. “Alright, girls, let’s hurry up. We should leave soon if you two want to hang out with the other foals before class starts.” Bookworm, realizing the time, quickly finished her breakfast before grabbing her saddlebags. Once they were properly secured, the four unicorns were on their way to the school house.

“You know, Rarity, I didn’t realize you would walk Sweetie Belle with me today.”

She brushed her mane back with a proud smile on her face. “Oh but of course, darling. I wouldn’t dream of simply leaving you with two fillies on your sister’s first day of school.” She flashed a dazzling smile. “Besides, it’s only natural for us to want our sisters to get along, correct?”

The red mare sent a flat look to her friend. I know that look. “Okay, what do you want?” Her smile faltered at the question. “I… I’m sorry?”

“Rarity.”

She sighed in defeat after being figured out. “Applejack asked the five of us to come with her to Appaloosa to deliver an old family tree in the near future. I was hoping you could babysit Sweetie Belle for me while I was away.”

“Let me guess, your parents are traveling again?”

She groaned at the question and rolled her eyes. “The two of them decided to visit Las Pegasus to ‘reclaim their spark’ or something to that effect. I don’t want to hire just anypony to look after Sweetie Belle, and since you have obligations here in Ponyville…”

Arcanica chuckled. “It’s fine, Rarity. Just know you're walking these two back home. From now on, though, just be upfront about it, alright?” She looked around at the trees as they approached the schoolhouse. “Friendship is built on trusting other ponies, and trust is built by being upfront with those same friends.”

“This coming from the pony who used a fake name for years.”

Arcanica scowled at the smug comment from her friend. “You know full well why I had to do that.”

“Wow, this place looks even nicer when everypony is playing!” The two were pulled from their small argument by Bookworm’s excited comment. Evidently, they had reached the schoolhouse and the two fillies were excited to see their classmates. Bookworm ran back and hugged her sister. “Bye sis, I’ll see you after school?”

The older unicorn nodded as she hugged the orange filly. “Absolutely, Book. I’ll be working on some stuff, but Rarity will be here to pick you up after school lets out.” The two parted as the younger went to follow her new friend. “Have a nice day, Book!” She smiled when the younger sibling waved back to her before turning to follow Rarity back into town. “You think she’ll be alright?”

“Absolutely, Darling. As destructive as they may be, Sweetie Belle and her friends will make sure Bookworm is taken care of.” Arcanica nodded and smiled at her friend’s reassurances. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some orders to fill this morning. Tata!”

“See ya, Rarity.” Now on her own, Arcanica began walking back to her store to open for the morning. She scowled when a familiar green pegasus began walking in time with her. “What do you want, Storm Breaker?”

“Oh, come now, Arcanica. Is it a crime to stop by to see a dear friend?” She glared at the stallion, taking note of the draconic appearance of his wings and his mane squirming like snakes.

“I thought the Princesses were ‘dear friends’ of yours?” she asked quietly. The streets may currently be empty, but she wasn’t going to risk somepony hearing her.

He shrugged before making a strange hissing chuckle. “Celestia and I have not been on the best of terms in over a millennia, and I doubt Luna would like how They rewarded my service.” He turned to her with those terrifying black eyes. “What about you, Arcanica? I understand that Celestia’s student is in frequent contact with her. Why have you not told anypony else about the physical book or the Outer Beings?”

“Everypony thinks my books are fiction, Storm Breaker. None of my friends would believe me if I said that the horrors of the void were real.” He laughed at her comment, but she continued on. “As for why I’m not telling the Princesses about you talking to me, I’m almost certain they wouldn’t approve of my research. I’ve done my research and I can remember what happened to all the cities where other holders of the Book went public.”

“What’s the matter, Arcanica? Do you not want Celestia to try razing Ponyville to destroy the book and its powers?” She began trotting faster in an effort to outpace the specter, but he kept even with her pace without increasing his own. “Well if it helps your conscience, you should know that Luna has been traveling the Realm of Dreams once more.” She froze at the statement, realizing the implications.

“Does… does she… know?” Where the hell is everypony else?! The streets shouldn’t be this empty right now!

“We presume she is at the very least aware of your gifts,” he admitted as he continued on his way. She quickly caught up to the former pegasus. “Whether she knows your name is for anypony to assume, but They have noticed her investigating the visions sent to you through your dreams.” He smiled at her, revealing his mismatched fangs. “I assume it is only a matter of time before Celestia decides to personally investigate you possessing such visions herself.”

“So why bother warning me?” she demanded. “If the Princesses already know who I am and about you contacting me, why let me know?”

“They want you to be aware of the circumstances surrounding your gift,” he replied simply. He turned to face her, all mirth gone from his features. “You need not fear the power they offer you, but know that abusing Their trust is worthy of being abandoned. Celestia and Luna fear what can be offered to you, not out of what you are capable of, but out of fear of what could happen if you are not careful with that knowledge.”

“What does that even mean?!” she snapped at him. “For once, stop speaking in circles and just give me a straight answer!”

He walked up to her and stopped before he would pass her. “If you want to know so badly, look into all of the beings they have had to stop over the years. Not beings such as Discord, but the ponies who tasted the forbidden power of the Void and became a threat to all of Equestria. If you can remember the cities that met their end at our hooves, you should remember all of our mistakes.” He walked past her, and she made no effort to follow his movement. Once he completely left her field of vision, the sounds of the town met her ears, as if she were dropped into the center of a busy city. Ponies were going about their business where nopony had been before.

No, not where nopony had been, she thought to herself. I was dragged somewhere where I wouldn’t see or hear anypony.

She hastened back to her apartment, fueled by the urgency of what Storm Breaker had told her. While she could call upon the memories of previous ponies like herself, the Book was far more reliable than just the memories of others. What mistakes did Storm Breaker want me to remember?

She groaned as she rubbed her head, the area around her riddled in rubble. “Where am I?” From what she could tell, it was some manner of ancient city that was in the middle of a war, if the mutilated bodies of ponies were any indicator. The architecture was filled with columns and reliefs, leading her to realize she was in Marethon. “Oh no, don’t tell me…”

“CEASE THESE ACTIONS AT ONCE, YOU FOUL WRETCH!” came a bellowing voice. A bright light akin to the Sun shone down on the city as Celestia descended from the sky adorned in golden armor.

“Wait, Princess, I’m not-”

“Well, I was wondering when you would bother to grace my city, Celestia.” She froze at the warped voice and turned around to find an ashen Earth Pony stallion dressed as a noble of the time, his robes stained crimson red. Much like Storm Breaker, his eyes were emanating the black miasma that showed one’s complete connection to the Void. “To what do I owe the pleasure, your Highness?”

“You know why I have come here, Pillar.” She slammed into the ground, cracking the cobbled streets where her hooves fell. “The damage you have done to this city goes beyond any hope of redemption.”

“I assure you, Celestia, this was not my design. I truly had better expectations than what my friend unleashed upon my home.” He moved his head to the side and dodged the bolt of radiant magic, remaining unfazed by the explosion behind him.

“You think I would believe you?! I should have done something when I first learned of you!” She readied herself, her horn still glowing to fire another spell. “Countless Heralds have told me the same thing, Great Pillar. Why should I start believing you now?”

“Because no sensible Herald would want to drag Them into our world.”

“Herald? What’s a Herald?” That term is… familiar…

“Very well then!” Pulling a spear from her back, Celestia adopted a fighting pose. “Surrender the Scriptus, and I will grant you a painless demise.”

“Their tome is not mine to surrender,” he told her simply as a large magical circle appeared under him. “I do not wish for blood to be shed between us, Celestia. Nor do I wish to pay for the crimes of another who abused my faith. But if that is what you desire, then I shall oblige you.” The body of a former soldier in front of him exploded in a storm of viscera as a scythe made of bones was assembled from his remains.

“Wait, you can’t!” she yelled. She tried to stop Celestia, but she fazed through the Alicorn’s body. “What? Is this… a memory?”

“SILENCE YOU CUR!” Celestia’s spear glowed with the light of the sun as she fired a blast of magic at the Earth Pony before her. The brightness blinded Arcanica, who couldn’t bring herself to look away from the battle about to occur.

She jolted in her seat, the Book open in front of her to the section written by Great Pillar. “What… was that?”

“My memories of regret.” She shrieked before turning around. Sure enough, much like Storm Breaker liked to do, Great Pillar was sitting on her couch, perusing one of her novels. “Celestia confronted me over the mistakes I had made all those years ago. Not that she bothered to listen to me.”

Taking a look at the Book, she turned around and sat down facing the stallion. “I’ve seen that battle, and I have all of the others’ notes on what had happened to Marethon itself, but I want to know first-hoof. What did you do to anger Princess Celestia?”

He set down the book he was reading with a sigh before turning his shadowy eyes to her. “I myself didn’t do anything,” he said finally. “Rather, an old acquaintance of mine had decided to use the knowledge in its pages for her own benefit.” He climbed off the couch and began pacing. “In my hubris, I had presumed she would take my advice and not dabble in the dangerous ways of the Outer Beings.”

A rock weighed down the red unicorn’s stomach at the implication. “What did they do to her?”

He chuckled before walking over to where the Book lay open. Turning back to an older section, he pointed a hoof to the left page. “Read this spell, and tell me what it could do to somepony’s psyche.”

She looked at him skeptically before looking the page over. “Strength Through the Heart’s Devotion,” she read, long since used to understanding the bizarre and alien languages used in earlier sections of the Book. “When used upon those who hold the user dear, can grant incredible power derived from the victim’s devotion to the user themselves.” She thought it over as she tried to piece together the rest of the page. “So, if I’m reading it correctly, it turns ponies who love you into batteries for your magical power.”

He nodded at her assessment, causing her to keep thinking it over. “As for what that could do to somepony, I suppose it comes down to how powerful they can become and eventually going out of their way to get as many ponies to love them as possible.”

“Exactly,” he told her as he closed the book. “My friend was fascinated by being able to draw power from those who adored her, and so taught herself this spell. She quickly became drunk with power, and began using it to become even more powerful and used that newfound power to make even more ponies adore her.”

Arcanica blanched at the image. “That’s terrifying. Why would somepony ever want such a thing?”

“Because the level of power she now had access to drove her to insanity. She was already adored by the masses, but craved more.” He walked back to the couch and sat himself down once more. “Eventually, Marethon was nothing more than a brothel for her personal enjoyment. Everypony, be they stallion or mare, saw her as the love of their life. Inevitably, I was ordered to confront her on Their behalf for abusing the magic they had given me. I hope you can assume how she reacted to my demands that she release everypony.”

Arcanica nodded. “You were forced to deal with her personally. I assume you were forced to release some manner of Eldritch beast upon Marethon?”

“No.” He smiled sadly at the memories. “I would never unleash something so terrible upon her and her victims. Rather, I cursed her and her most devout. She craved to be adored and had ingrained the spell into her being. So, I cursed her to need that power simply to exist. Giving into the power They offered me, I turned her and her concubines into abominations, doomed to exist solely on the love of others by taking the forms of others.”

“So then, all of those dead ponies were…”

He shook his head. “Not directly the result of her and her brood. Rather, they died trying to kill those among them who were turned. The city devolved into chaos as nopony could tell who was a genuine pony and not one of her ilk.” He looked out the window at the sun as it shone into the apartment. “Naturally, Celestia presumed I destroyed Marethon in a fit of madness and decided I needed to be put down for my crimes. When she struck me down, I had yet to finish exterminating the monsters I had created.”

“Hey sis! I’m home!” Arcanica flinched and saw her little sister stop in the door frame. “How was your day?” she asked happily before coming in for a hug.

“I- I’m fine, Book.” She looked at the stallion in fear, not feeling comfortable having her sister in the same room as any of the spirits bound to the Outer Beings. “How was your day? Nopony gave you trouble after your first day?”

“She’s the genuine article,” Pillar told her from his place on the couch. “No need to worry about her being a fake.”

“Nope!” she cheerfully told her sister. “Everypony was already used to me by now, so nopony really gave me trouble. They treated me like any old pony.”

“Well that’s good,” she said both to her sister and the specter. “Alright, I assume you have homework to do?” Bookworm nodded, so she smirked. “Alright, go get started. I’ll come check on you in a couple minutes.”

“Okay. Thanks sis!” She happily pranced out of the room, leaving Arcanica with the specter of Great Pillar.

“Is there a way to identify them?” she asked after sitting there in contemplation.

“For others, yes. For you? No need. The Outer Beings despise her kind, so you should be able to tell when one of them is before you.”

She sighed in annoyance. “Wonderful, so the best I can do is hope my friends never encounter them? Fantastic.”

“You worry far too much compared to previous Heralds,” he told her.

“That’s another thing. What do you mean by ‘Herald’,” she asked him. “I heard you and Celestia use that term, is that what we are? Heralds?”

He nodded before the book floated towards him while covered in a black aura. “Herald is the term we adopted for ourselves. We serve as the messengers between Equus and the Outer Beings, therefore ‘Heralding’ any events connected to Their power. To my knowledge, you’re the first one to spread knowledge of our lives rather than hunting or suppressing any efforts to call upon Their power.”

Arcanica winced as she was once again reminded of how she vented her visions. “So since I’ve been publishing them as stories, what does that mean for me if Celestia decides to approach me about my books? Will I be doomed to the same fate as you?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. Although, unless you have been using your powers excessively or teaching somepony how to use Their magic, you should be safe from Celestia’s anger.”

She nodded and took a quick look at the Book. “I suppose that makes sense.” When she turned back to the couch, she sighed when she saw that Pillar had left her apartment. “And he’s already left. Go figure.” She rose from the desk without a second glance at the Book and walked out of her office. “Hey Book? How’s the homework coming along?”

She didn’t want to take the powers she was given lightly, but it made her wonder. How many others met that fate for making the same mistake of teaching somepony else?

Dealing With Rarity and Her Sister

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“Thanks for having me over, Twilight.”

The librarian smiled as she served her friend a cup of tea. “No problem, Arcanica. I’m always happy to spend time with my friends, especially since Spike is out helping Rarity today.” She set the teapot down before eyeing a stack of books in the corner. “Normally I’d use the opportunity to do some research or light reading, but I’ve been trying to not simply destroy my social life with studying.”

“Well, I suppose we’re both trying to socialize a bit more,” chuckled the red author as she took a sip. There was an awkward silence between the two unicorns, neither really sure what to discuss. “So… learn any interesting magic lately?”

“A couple spells, nothing too fancy.” Twilight took a sip from her own cup. “Been perfecting a clothes-creating spell I learned while studying Pinkie’s psychic powers.”

Arcanica laughed at that. “Ah, finally witnessed the Pinkie Sense first hoof, huh?” She shook her head as she remembered her own encounter with it. “I’ll admit, it’s a little jarring to get used to.”

“That’s an understatement.” The two fell silent again, only for Twilight to try this time. “So how’s the next book coming along? I noticed you’ve been doing a lot of research and hoofwork on it.”

Arcanica shrugged as she looked into her cup. “It’s coming along, I suppose. Been trying to make sure it’s geographically accurate and that I get any large historical points correct.” And trying to make sure I don’t accidentally reveal the truth.

“Oh, alright. Where is it supposed to be this time?”

“I’m doing a more fantastical take on the fall of Marethon, rather than my usual forbidden town or long lost civilization schtick.” Not that she was making up her own version of history or making towns, but Twilight didn’t have to know that part.

“Marethon… wasn’t that the one that fell apart because of social inequality?”

“So that’s what Celestia told anypony who didn’t see the city. Interesting.” To her credit, Arcanica had grown out of flinching every time a previous “Herald” popped in to visit her. Although, Great Pillar could have picked a better time to pop up regardless of Twilight not perceiving his presence. She tracked him with her peripheral vision as he perused the shelves of the library.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” she told her friend. “Nopony knows for sure what happened 800 years ago, just that there were riots and the whole city burned for it. Seemed like the perfect setting for one of my stories.” Minus the truth of the creatures that were created and why it stopped existing.

“That’s actually pretty interesting, Arcanica.”

“So this one doesn’t know the truth, I assume?” She nervously watched the Earth Pony specter study her friend. “I imagine she would be quite interested to know there’s a whole other plane of existence for her to study. Assuming, of course, she doesn’t go insane.”

“Yeah, it’s certainly something, I suppose.” She was saved from having to continue any further when Spike burst into the library.

“Twilight! Help! Rarity, giant dogs, taken away! Help!” he screamed incoherently at the two unicorns.

Twilight quickly grabbed her assistant and sat him down. “Spike, calm down! Take a deep breath and explain to us what happened.”

He took several deep breaths to stop himself from hyperventilating before starting his story. “Rarity and I were collecting gems for her new line of outfits for Sapphire Shores out in the gem fields. When we had collected a bunch of gems, a bunch of Diamond Dogs foalnapped Rarity and stole all of the gems!”

“Diamond Dogs? HERE?!” Arcanica stared in shock at the baby dragon as he nodded. “Since when was there a pack of those things this close to Ponyville?”

“You know about them?” asked Twilight as she comforted Spike.

She nodded. “They’re one of the more sentient monster types in Equestria. They have an obsession with gems like dragons, but they prefer to hoard them rather than eat them. They practically worship gemstones, and they probably saw Rarity’s gem finding spell and assumed they could use her to find more gems.”

“Then we have to go rescue her!” Twilight put Spike on her back and moved towards the door. “I’ll get Applejack and Fluttershy. You grab Pinkie and Rainbow Dash and meet us at the gem fields. Rarity needs us!”

“On it!” Arcanica followed her friend’s lead and bolted out the door in the direction of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie Pie was the easier of the two to find, and would be the most helpful in finding Dash. Ducking into an alleyway, she used a quick Shadow Walk to get to the bakery sooner, idly noting how much easier the spell was becoming to use.

She slammed open the bakery door, startling Mr. Cake at the register. “Oh, hey there, Arcanica. How can I help you?”

“Sorry, Mr. Cake, not here for a snack.” She looked around frantically. “Where’s Pinkie Pie? We have a bit of an emergency.”

“I KNEW IT!” A pink blur shot out of the kitchen, leaving multiple cakes and pies on the counter before stopping in front of Arcanica. The pink pony had a frantic look on her face. “My flank’s been super itchy all morning and my belly’s been really gurgly! That means somepony close to me was going to need rescuing!”

“How do you even- no, not focusing on the specifics.” She shook her head to derail her inquiries. “Pinkie, Rarity’s been abducted by Diamond Dogs. Twilight and I are getting everypony together at the gem fields to rescue her. Do you know where Rainbow Dash is?”

She nodded before barreling out the door. “I sure do! Let’s go!” Nodding to the baker, she followed the pink mare out the door to retrieve their pegasus friend. Apparently, she was doing tricks around city hall, which Arcanica would have noticed had she run normally. Once they explained it to her, the three quickly made their way out of Ponyville to the rendezvous point.

Fortunately, Twilight and the others were already there. “Alright, I found them. What’s the plan, Twilight?”

“Well normally I’d suggest we go down the hole they used to abduct Rarity, but… well…”

“See fer yerself why that’s not exactly possible.” Applejack pointed at the fields and they saw multiple large tunneling mounds scattered about.

“Holy moly, that’s a lotta holeys!” yelled Pinkie as she looked at the field.

“What do we do now?” complained Dash.

Twilight started into the field. “Everypony pick a hole. One of them has to lead to Rarity.” She was about to go down one when a plume of dirt shot her into the air. “AAGHH!” She landed on the ground and groaned in pain. A Diamond Dog popped out to blow a raspberry at her before ducking back in. “Okay, not the best idea.”

“Quickly everypony! Before they’re all blocked up!” The mares began in earnest, only for the Diamond Dogs to keep rebuffing their efforts at every chance.

“Twilight, can’t you do something with your magic?” yelled Rainbow as she frantically flew from tunnel to tunnel.

“I think I know just the spell!” Igniting her horn, Twilight began casting a spell. Arcanica wasn’t sure what she did, but seeing the mounds collapse into open funnels gave her an idea about her friend’s attempt. “Everypony go!” The red unicorn dove down the nearest tunnel, not noticing she was the only one in her tunnel as she slid down into the network below.

“OOF!” she slammed into the ground under her tunnel. Evidently, the tunnel she had chosen was dug out of the ceiling for some Tartarus-forsaken reason. Getting to her hooves, she looked around the barren, torch-lit tunnels carved in the stone, taking note of the pockmarked walls where gems had probably once been.

“Twilight? Girls? Anypony?!” She received no response, leaving her to conclude she was left on her own. “Great going, Hoofcraft,” she muttered to herself. “You go on another friendship adventure and somehow don’t end up with your friends.”

“Well you still have me,” pointed out Storm Breaker. “I feel offended you don’t consider us friends, Arcanica.” He put a hoof over his heart and pretended to swoon dramatically at the supposed betrayal.

“I chose to associate myself with Twilight and the others,” she pointed out as she set out down one of the tunnels, the former pegasus in tow. “From what I can tell, I can’t get away from you and Pillar even if I wanted to.”

“Wait, only two of us have bothered speaking to you?” He looked amazed as she flew beside her. “Strange. I mean, I understand why Black Diamond wouldn’t want to spend time around you since he hates unicorns, but none of the others? Not even Rune Cluster?”

“I believe I’ve seen her section of the Book, but I was more focused on learning about what Pillar had done at the time.”

“Well, believe me, Arcanica, you two would get along wonderfully!”

She rolled her eyes as she came to a fork in the tunnels. “For some reason I doubt that, Storm Breaker.” She looked back and forth between the two paths. “Hm… which one should I take?”

He floated into her line of view with a confused look. “Why aren’t you using your powers? I’m certain Pillar had chronicled a spell for tracking down life forms.”

Arcanica raised an eyebrow at his statement. “Not even going to question how you know why I’m down here, but I haven’t tried it yet.” She held up a hoof but didn’t feel a breeze from either option, so that technique was out. “If I had managed to try it out, maybe I’d use it. But since I don’t have the Book with me, I won’t even try it here.”

“It’s not even that dangerous,” he pointed out. “Besides, you’ve been using more complex spells that that one for a while now. Just how often have you been using the Shadow Walking spell to get around?” She ignored his comment, but he knew he had gotten his point across. “Just try it out! It couldn’t hurt to embrace your gift, now would it?”

She sighed heavily. She did know the spell he was referring to, she had considered using it to track Pinkie Pie’s movements, but the long-term effects of using the Book’s magic worried her. The more of the spells I use, the more attuned I become to the Void, and the sooner I become like… She looked at the heavily transformed pegasus before nodding to herself. “Fine, I’ll try the spell.”

Closing her eyes, she reached out to the power that she associated with the Outer Planes. It was hard for her to not notice given the siren-like feeling that always called out to her from it. She felt her whole body come to life as she began casting the spell. Sure, the power of the Void was dangerous, but sweet Celestia was it addictive. Focus, she told herself. Find Rarity.

Completing the spell, she felt a pulse extend from herself and pass through the nearby walls. She felt the life energy of multiple beings. Most had a savage, bestial energy about them, but seven stood out to her. The smallest was a small, comforting flame, which she assumed to be Spike. Close to it was a brilliant flare of raw power, a charged storm waiting to break out, a gentle breeze of calmness, a radiant bubble of excitement, and a resolute mountain of conviction. Alright, so there’s Twilight and the others. Now where is… aha! The energy closest to her was like a gleaming diamond bursting with light: Rarity.

“Alright, going left!” She took off down that tunnel, not bothering to dismiss the spell since it was her compass to navigate the corridors. “Ah crud, there’s Diamond Dogs in the way,” she muttered as several of the bestial auras began moving to cut her off.

“Why stop yourself with just a detection spell?” asked Breaker as he flew alongside her. “Don’t you know more than just how to get around?”

He’s got a point. There may not be enough shadows to go directly to her, but I know more than just a couple of movement spells. She was excited as she galloped down the halls. She had never used this magic for so long, and it was exhilarating! The walls, while barren, seemed to have more life in them the longer she held onto the power from the Void. A couple of Diamond Dogs sprang from the walls around her, one armed with a spear and the other holding a rope muzzle.

“Not so fast, pony! You come with us!” snarled the spear holder.

She skidded to a halt and grinned at them. Her right eye felt warm and for some reason, could see a little more clearly than her left. “Sorry, you mangy mutts, but I’m afraid that’s not happening.” Two runic circles appeared behind her before each fired a claw-bearing chain at the two creatures. The one holding the rope dove into the wall, leaving his partner to be quickly tied and pinned to the ground by the snake-like chains.

“It over now, pony!” The rope-bearer dove at her from above with the muzzle in hand, only to be zapped by a black magical energy from her horn.

“Yes, it is.” She pinned him to the roof of the tunnel before covering him in black crystals, leaving him stuck the stone surface, making sure to leave his head exposed. “There we go, that should hold you nicely for a while.”

“Well that spell looks familiar.”

She smirked at Storm Breaker’s comment before giving the spear-wielder a similar treatment. “I never said I hadn’t read Black Diamond’s chapter, just that I haven’t spoken to him. After all, if I was at Pillar’s section then I had to go through Diamond’s section.” Content that the canines were secured, she continued on her way. “He had a variety of interesting spells in there. I imagine that stallion Sombra he mentioned was quite helpful in fleshing out his section.”

The former Herald chuckled. “I suppose you could say that about Sombra. He was certainly quite the genius when it came to magic.”

The two continued in relative silence through the tunnels, with Arcanica crystalizing the Diamond Dogs who got in her way and occasionally using their tunnels to get closer to Rarity. Ultimately, she reached the cavern Rarity was located in. “Alright, now to save my friend.”

“Good luck, Arcanica,” chimed the specter as he began dissolving. “You probably won’t need it.”

Silently entering the room, she was prepared to imprison the dozen or so canines in the cavern, but stopped when she saw Rarity bossing them around to renovate the cave and collect gems for her. She herself was being attended to like some manner of Princess. “What in the name of Celestia?”

“Arcanica?” Hearing her friend, the white unicorn turned to face her, forcing her to release the power she had been channeling the entire time and making her suddenly feel cold and emptier. “Oh, Darling! It is you!” She primly walked over and hugged the other unicorn. “I was simply having these ruffians refurbish their caverns for me.”

“Make the white pony stop!” begged three of the Diamond Dogs as they took notice of the newcomer. “Her whining hurts us!”

“We’ll give her back! Just make it all stop!”

The others arrived from another tunnel, with Spike riding Twilight for some reason, yelling as if they were charging into battle. “What in tarnation?”

“Hey girls, I found Rarity.” Arcanica then gestured to the whimpering and groveling dogs. “They said we can have her back.”

“Well, this was somewhat… anti-climactic.” The group, now including their resident designer, made their way out of the caverns with several carts of gemstones. Evidently, the Diamond Dogs had been all too willing to not only hand them over, but even show them all the way out when Rarity started complaining.

“Alright, Sweetie Belle, you didn’t forget anything at home, did you?”

“No, Rarity.” The small filly rolled her eyes as they stood at the train station. She had her saddlebags on and a small suitcase beside her.

“Toothbrush? Shampoo? Extra Blankets? Stuffed Animals?”

“Rarity!” She was blushing at the older unicorn’s smothering questions.

“Rarity, she’s just staying the weekend at my place. It’s not like she’s going away forever.” The unicorn author rolled her eyes as Applejack and Twilight finished loading an apple tree onto the Friendship Express. “I’ve got things covered. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“I know, Darling. I’m just being sure.”

“All aboard!”

“Okay, behave yourself, be polite, and don’t drive Arcanica crazy.”

“Rarity.”

“Make sure you brush your teeth two times a day, and your mane and tail three times.”

“Rarity.”

“Oh! Also remember to- EEK!” She was picked up by a red aura and placed on the train right before it began to move.

“Your train is leaving,” Arcanica told her simply as she began moving away.

“Bye, you two! See you when I get back!”

“Bye Rarity!” called the small filly as she waved back to her sister. When the train was gone, she picked up her suitcase and looked at Arcanica eagerly.

“Alright, Sweetie Belle. We’ll head back. I’m sure Bookworm is done cleaning her room by now.” The two made their way through Ponyville, with Sweetie Belle literally bouncing in excitement. Knowing what was coming, she grabbed her suitcase with her magic so she could talk.

“I’m so excited! This is my first sleep-over at somepony’s house outside of the Crusaders!” she cheered as she ran about excitedly. Arcanica smiled at her energy, but never broke pace. “Sure, we hang out at Apple Bloom’s house or sleep in the club house, but I’ve never stayed at somepony else’s home like this before! It’ll be so much fun!”

“I’m sure it will,” chuckled the author. The two eventually made it to her building and started up the outside staircase. Once again, I’m so glad I had this built. I was getting tired of always going through the shop. She opened the kitchen door for Sweetie Belle and followed her in. “Book! I’m back!”

The two heard an excited cheer before Bookworm came running out. “Hey Sweetie Belle! You excited for this weekend?”

“You bet I am! This will be so much fun!” Her voice squeaked as she bounced in place with her horn shooting out a couple sparks from her excitement.

“Well how about you two get Sweetie Belle settled in, and I’ll whip up some lunch. How’s that sound?” The two cheered before taking her suitcase and ran down the hall to Bookworm’s room while happily chattering.

“Well they were certainly rather precious.”

Arcanica’s smile dropped as she glared at the visitor calmly sitting at her table. Like the others, her eyes were radiating the now familiar shadows, only hers’ had emerald irises peaking out rather than the red and violet of the other two former Heralds. Unlike the two stallions who preferred to bother her, the mare was a unicorn, with her golden mane and tail braided and a soft pink coat. Her Cutie Mark was of an arcane circle, similar to the kind used in more advanced spells. Her legs however, were a bizarre set with dragon arms for her forelegs and her hind legs were more lupine in nature. Her snout, to complete the chimeric transformation that awaited a Herald, resembled some manner of beak.

“I assume you’re the Rune Cluster that Storm Breaker has told me about?” She turned away from the mare and began making some daisy sandwiches for her and the girls. “You picked a bad time to introduce yourself, you know. I’m babysitting this weekend.”

“Oh I simply wanted to check in and see how the current Herald is doing,” she replied as she took a seat at the table. She rested her head on one of her claws as she watched Arcanica work. “See how much you enjoy using the magic left behind for you to study, check to see whether you’ve begun your metamorphosis… you know, normal things.”

Arcanica set the first sandwich aside and cut the second one if half. “I’m fine, Rune Cluster. And I haven’t started turning into something like you and Storm Breaker.”

“Oh, him,” muttered the unicorn. “I doubt you’d ever be anything like him.” She studied her claws, occasionally picking at the table with them. “His metamorphosis was unlike most of ours. His was directly caused by Ydrex’Ktala driving him to embrace of the Void and Their gifts.”

“As for yourself?” she asked quite simply. Finished with the sandwiches, she went about preparing some glasses of milk for the three of them.

“I transformed after quite literally throwing myself into the Void on numerous occasions in the pursuit of more knowledge,” she replied offhandedly. She shrugged while leaning back to stare at the ceiling. “Not that it helped my case when it came time for my exile.”

“Celestia?”

She nodded. “Apparently, transforming as you study the expansive impossibilities of the Outer Planes around the time the God of Chaos is wreaking havoc is a good way to look as guilty as possible.” She shrugged as she turned her eyes back to Arcanica. “You’re taking this rather well, you know.”

“After Storm Breaker pops up literally everywhere to annoy you, you get used to Eldritch half-pony chimeras walking into your kitchen.” She set three spots at the table before raising her voice. “Girls, lunch time!” She looked at the pink specter. “Sorry, but I’m afraid you’ve gotta go.”

“No problem, Arcanica.” She stood up and started towards the wall. “Time means nothing to somepony once they ascend, so I’ll be fine. I’ll visit you some other time. Farewell, young Herald.” As she touched the wall, her body dissolved into a mist, leaving no trace of her presence.

I wonder if that’s a spell she can teach me…

“Hey sis, what’d you make?”

She turned to the two eager fillies as they climbed into their seats. “Nothing special for a lunch, just some simple sandwiches.” Taking her own seat, the three dug into their lunches, with Arcanica looking at the two. “So, any plans for until dinner?”

“Well, we were thinking about going to play with the other Crusaders, is that alright?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Fine by me, just don’t get into any trouble or come back covered in tree sap.” Sweetie Belle nervously rubbed the back of her head while Bookworm looked confused at the specificity of the statement.

“Tree sap?”

“Don’t ask,” begged the white filly.

“Well you two can go once you finish eating. Just be back by 5 o’clock.”

The two cheered before quickly inhaling their lunches and chugging their milk. Bookworm put their dishes in the sink before the two quickly left the house. “Bye sis! See you later!” SLAM!

She shook her head at their hyperactive antics. “Kids,” she chuckled as she calmly finished her own lunch. No reason to rush. All she had going on today was writing and making a proper Seaward Shoals dinner. All the time in the world.

“We’re back!” Arcanica looked away from the large pot on the stove top. She was about to greet the two fillies but instead simply stared in shock at their condition. “Um, we can explain?” Sweetie Belle nervously provided.

The two fillies were drenched, as if they had just gone swimming. At the same time, there were random tree branches sticking out of Sweetie Belle’s mane and tail, Bookworm had a fish in her mane, and both had random splotches of paint on their coats. “I’m almost scared to even ask what you four got yourselves into, today.”

“Well, Apple Bloom wanted to-”

“Bathroom!” she told them with a pointed hoof. “You two can explain this while you’re cleaning yourselves off and dinner finishes up.” Not wanting them to track paint and water in her house, she elected to simply pick them both up with her magic and haul them into the bathroom. Once the tub was filled and the two were cleaning themselves off, and the fish thrown out the window, she let them resume their story.

“So, what happened was, Apple Bloom and I wanted to try getting our Cutie Marks in water painting,” started Sweetie Belle. “But at the same time, Scootaloo wanted to try extreme ziplining.”

“So, we all decided they could try combining them into one singular activity since that would be an awesome Cutie Mark for any of them to get,” continued Bookworm as she helped untangle the tree branches.

“Extreme Zipline-Water Painting doesn’t explain the fish or why you two were drenched in water and actual paint.” Arcanica ran a heavy-duty scrubber over both fillies to remove the paint from their coats.

“Well, I left my water paints at Rarity’s house, and we didn’t want to break in, so instead we used regular house paint from Apple Bloom’s house.” She then sheepishly laughed. “And since we needed water to do water painting, we had the canvasses in the water to zipline over as we painted them.”

Suddenly a lot of it made sense. “And I’m guessing the zipline broke as you girls went down together and the paints didn’t mix with the water, leading to you all getting covered in paint and such?” The two nodded in embarrassment. “And I’m going to go out on a limb and assume Granny Smith wanted to teach you a lesson about stupidity and that’s why you didn’t get cleaned up there?”

“Well, that, and, we sorta spent most of the day just setting everything up.” Sweetie Belle rinsed off her mane before climbing out with Bookworm following her.

Arcanica sighed as she massaged her forehead. “This must be what being a parent is like,” she muttered. “Alright, well you two dry yourselves off in here. I’m going to finish up dinner and set things up.” She opened the door before looking back at them. “And for this little stunt, you’re both doing the dishes after dinner.”

“Yes, Arcanica.” The two fillies started toweling each other as she went back out to the kitchen. Grabbing three large bowls out of the cabinet and some plates, she quickly set the table. She honestly had no idea how long it would have taken without magic, but she didn’t bother thinking it over. Once the large pot was on the table, she pulled a tray out of the oven.

“So, what did you make for dinner, sis?” Apparently, the two were done drying off and were taking seats at the table.

“It smells really good, Miss Arcanica.”

“Just ‘Arcanica’ is fine, Sweetie Belle, and I’m shooah it does. It’s a traditional recipe from Seawahd Shoals,” she switched to the accent she spent years getting over to give a hint.

“What’s with that accent?” asked Sweetie Belle. “It sounds exaggerated.”

“It’s how older ponies talk back home,” explained Bookworm. “But if she’s talking like that and it’s a ‘traditional’ recipe, then…” Her eyes lit up as she started to figure out what was in the pot.

“Somepony figya’d it out. Tonight, we’re eatin’ sea cakes and chowdah.” She started laughing as she set a dish of the fried goods on the table.

“Sea cakes and chowdah?” Sweetie Belle looked extremely confused, making the two sisters laugh.

“Chowder,” explained Bookworm. “Everypony in Seaward Shoals appreciates a good bowl of chowder, and sea cakes are something we usually have alongside them.” She watched eagerly as her sister gave her a proper serving of chowder and set three of the small dough balls on her plate. “You’re going to love it, Sweetie Belle!”

“And it’s a traditional white chowder. Not one of those gross red chowders from Manehatten.” Both sisters shuddered as Arcanica finished serving everypony. “Well? Dig in, girls!” Sweetie Belle, unsure how to start eating the chowder, watched both sisters for a moment. Bookworm started by eating a large spoonful and humming in delight while Arcanica tore a sea cake in half before dipping it in her bowl.

Deciding to simply try it herself, Sweetie Belle took a sip from her bowl before her eyes widened. “Wow, this is great! Thank you, Arcanica!” She dug in, and even tried it with one of the pastries.

“No problem, Sweetie Belle. I’ve been meaning to make this for a while, but you staying the night presented the perfect excuse.” Arcanica, now out of sea cakes, simply began using her own spoon.

“What’s in this?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I’ve never had stuff like this before.”

“Well I’m not surprised you’ve never had them before, since they’re sort of a regional thing and even then, I don’t think Rarity would eat them since both can be unhealthy sometimes,” she said with a smile on her face. “As for ingredients, the chowder is made with potatoes, cream, some salt water, seasonings, and a bit of seaweed, while the cakes are a little more complicated.”

“Seaweed and salt water?”

Bookworm picked up for her sister. “Seaward Shoals built itself out of the coast line, so there’s a lot of seaweed and salt water in some of our really traditional foods.”

“But, isn’t salt water bad for you?”

The sisters shrugged. “Only if you drink it directly out of the ocean,” explained the older sister. “Seaward Shoals ponies know better than to do that, so our cooking isn’t as dangerous as drinking ocean water.” Dinner progressed from there, and once the leftovers were saved, both fillies went about cleaning the kitchen like they were told. Once they were done and were drawing in the living room, Arcanica smiled at how well they were getting along. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

This was a very bad idea, she thought angrily as she vented her kitchen. The girls, for some reason, decided to surprise her with breakfast. Instead, they had somehow managed to burn not just the eggs and toast, but the oatmeal and even the juice they had prepared. The two fillies were cleaning the dishes and pans they had scorched while cooking while she took care of the room itself. I feel like this is going to be a long day.

Eldritch Magic VS A Determined Pie

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Arcanica sighed heavily as she hid herself behind a bundle of balloons. “Every week it’s something with this town,” she muttered as she sipped at her punch. It had only been a handful of days since Twilight and the others had returned from delivering that tree to Applejack’s cousins, and already something big was happening in Ponyville. That something? Celestia wanted to have lunch in Ponyville to catch up with Twilight.

Normally, Arcanica would have welcomed the Princess visiting their town, especially since she had grown to appreciate her fans, but from her conversations with the former Heralds who had been visiting her, a majority of the last thousand years’ Heralds had one common factor in their deaths or ascensions: Celestia. Sure, she hadn’t used her powers to unleash and Eldritch hell on anypony, but who knew how serious Celestia was about handling Heralds? So, she decided to play it safe in case Celestia knew just what she was.

“Arcanica? What are you doing over here?” She looked up from her drink and snack and saw Twilight nervously smiling. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Not in a panicky sorta way, but in a brisk way! Yeah, brisk!” She nervously chuckled. “Anyways, the Princess wanted to meet you, since you’re my newest friend, and I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Oh, she does?” Not good, not good at all…

“Uh huh!” Twilight teleported her to the other side of the table she had found refuge behind and began dragging her towards the largest table in the bakery. “Apparently, she’s a big fan of your work and has wanted to meet you for a while so if you would just introduce yourself to her- Hi Princess!”

Evidently, Twilight had been moving faster than either of them realized, since they were now directly in front of the very amused Princess. A seemingly empty birdcage stood behind her. “Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Is this the friend you’ve been writing to me about?”

“Yup, this is her, my newest friend! Who I’ve written about in my reports. Here to meet you.” Arcanica resisted the temptation to pull a page out of Storm Breaker’s book and roll her eyes. Clearly, her friends got way to bent out of shape over the Princess, if Rarity and Applejack’s behaviors at the moment were any indicator.

Instead, she bowed her head to the alicorn out of respect. “Your highness, it’s an honor.” Don’t panic, stay calm. It’s just Princess Celestia… who has almost a thousand years of dealing with Heralds under her belt STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Arcanica.” She then grinned coyly at her. “Or should I say, A.T. Hoofcraft?”

This time, she actually did roll her eyes, much to Twilight’s terror. “I’d prefer ‘Arcanica’, Princess. I only write Hoofcraft on my books.”

“She rolled her eyes at the Princess…” From the sounds of it, Twilight might be slightly braindead after her little stunt.

“Then Arcanica, it is.” She extended a wing to gesture to the seat to her right. “Please, sit. I’m excited to finally meet one of my favorite authors from this current age.”

She blushed hearing the Princess’s praise. “I’d hardly consider myself that good, Princess.” She quickly moved around the table, seating herself between Applejack and Princess Celestia. “Even with all my awards, I’m certain most of my appeal came from how mysterious I had been with my identity.”

“Well while I’m certain that was part of what got you noticed, your works sell quite well based on their own merits.” She took a sip from her tea and studied Mrs. Cake as she walked away after quickly refilling her cup. Letting out a thoughtful hum, she turned her attention back to Arcanica. “So tell me, what sort of inspiration does a pony have where they can write stories like yours so well?”

Oh no… What do I tell her?

“How about a half-truth?” She fought down a shiver at the proximity of Storm Breaker’s snout to her ears. Stupid specters… “Tell her as much as you can without mentioning the Heralds or Outer Planes.”

“Well, I’ve been prone to nightmares since I was a filly, I suppose.” The chills left her, so Storm Breaker had left her. “Combined with an overactive imagination, it wasn’t long until those nightmares gave rise to my first stories.”

“Really now? Well I must admit, that’s very impressive, Arcanica.”

“Thank you, Princess.” I don’t think she bought it.

She took a bite of cake, her body shuddering ever so slightly at the flavor before resuming her questions. “So from what Twilight told me and your own admission, you’ve used at least one alias over the years, correct?” Getting a nod, she smiled in a playful manner. “So, just how many authors have actually been the same red unicorn?”

Realizing they were changing topics, she chuckled. “Not that many, actually,” she admitted. “I’ve only used a handful of identities over the years, and even then, I recycle one every so often.” She took a slice of cake for herself as Pinkie Pie got dragged out of the room by the bakers.

“Page Turner was my last one, but before that one, I’ve called myself Quill Stroke, Strange Tales, and at one point I was Fantasy Scripture.” She chuckled as she shook her head at all her fake names. “I went through far too many lies before Twilight and the others became friends with me. I decided to trust they’d support me, and so far it’s been paying off and they’ve been my close friends.”

“Friendship is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?” The two sat there in amicable silence before Twilight brought Fluttershy over to speak with the Princess. As the two mares spoke about pets and the Princess’s bird made its presence known, Arcanica stared at the diseased-looking bird in shock.

The Princess has a freaking phoenix as a house pet?!

“Aw, Philomena is getting ready to combust! How precious!” cooed Rune Cluster from beside the cage. The bird couldn’t see her, but that didn’t stop the former unicorn from admiring the bird. “It’s been so long since I last saw this bird! Last time I saw her, she was a little chick! You know, I never did figure out how or why they self-immolate to refresh their bodies.” Arcanica turned away from the bird but kept an ear open for the pink specter. “My theory was that it had something to do with the residual chaos from when Discord ruled Equestria, but I was never able to obtain a specimen long enough to study the phenomena.”

Fortunately, Arcanica was spared from the previous Herald’s antics by her dissolving into a mist as Celestia rose to announce her departure. Once the Princess and her guards had departed, Arcanica followed Applejack out the door. She had a sizeable plate with her for Blossomforth since she had covered while Arcanica was at the luncheon. I should really give her the week off, she thought to herself.

A quick trip back to her store, and one argument about paid time off, she was left to her own devices in her store. She had retrieved the black book from her apartment as well as the draft for her version of Great Pillar’s tale. She didn’t exactly need to have both books on her, but she felt more at ease knowing where the Eldritch spell book was at all times.

As she resumed writing in the draft of her newest work, she felt something off around her. “Why do I feel like I’m being spied on right now?” Covering her face with the draft book, she felt her eyes warm up as she used the life detection spell. “Oh, that’s who it is,” she muttered. She cancelled the spell before resuming her work. For some reason, Pinkie Pie was outside her bookstore and was watching her. She wanted to question the mare’s reasons, but simply passed it off as “Pinkie Being Pinkie”.

As long as she didn’t do anything with forbidden magic, she had nothing to worry about, so she decided to let the mare be. She kept writing and making notes on the fall of Marethon and how to work the afflicted Loveless Ones out of the plot. If those things were still out there somewhere, then the last thing she wanted was to get their attention, especially since a trip to the library yielded no information on such a creature.

Every so often, she’d use the spell to check for her friend, and began to get a little annoyed at Pinkie Pie randomly leaving and coming back to spy on her. I want to ask, but I feel like I’d regret doing so.

“You do know the pink one is still following you, correct?”

She rolled her eyes as she walked through the market place. She was stocking up on groceries, and another former Herald decided to tag along. The brown earth pony was far from memorable, and had no visible signs of transformation besides his eyes, leading her to believe he hadn’t used his powers for too long before something went wrong.

“Yes, Stone Chip, I’m aware Pinkie Pie is following me.” She made sure to mutter her answers when she wasn’t at a stall and moved to grab a bunch of bananas. As Arcanica inspected the produce, the Herald was most likely tracking Pinkie Pie’s movements. He didn’t speak again until she handed over the bits and placed the fruits in her saddlebags.

“Are you going to do anything about it?”

She shook her head as she read over her shopping list. “Unless it gets too serious or bad, I have no reason to treat her any different for following me around. She does weird things all the time.”

“So then you find it acceptable that she saw you speaking aloud just now?” She froze before hastily putting her shopping list away and making to leave. “She recently acquired a pair of binoculars, and is using them to observe your actions.”

“Well then it’s time to get away,” she muttered. She ducked into an alley and melted into the shadows cast by the two buildings. After the number of times she had indulged herself by using the Shadow Walking spell, she was no longer affected by the disorienting effects of entering the Plane of Shadows, as well as it’s disorienting concept of physics and dimensional proportions. As she stood on the vertical surface that she entered onto, she saw the silhouette of her friend zipping about. It was a little frightening to see the shadows of ponies flit about without their bodies, but she had forced herself to get used to seeing disembodied shadows.

The Party Pony’s shadow stopped abruptly near her and began to look around. The shadow made a series of distorted garbling noises before vanishing past her and along the curving surface that she stood on. “I’ll never get over this place turning a flat alley way into a rollercoaster with its own gravity.”

{We are glad that you find enjoyment from our realm, Mortal.}

She shuddered at the sudden volume driving directly into her mind. Looking ‘up’ (she really needed to figure out directions for when you’re standing on a wall), she saw a much darker shadow than anything else in the naturally black and violet realm. A pair of unearthly yellow dragon eyes stared down at her from a vaguely equine head made entirely of darkness. Given the size of the entity over her, she knew full well who was glaring at her.

“Oh, my apologies, Lord Shevkiral,” she said with a quick bow of the head. “I didn’t realize you were here when I entered.”

{Of course you failed to notice us, Herald. We are this realm as this realm is us. We do not exist within a mere location of this plane.} She winced at its words. This was the one Outer Being she had properly met thus far, Ydrex’Ktala not counting since that was in Storm Breaker’s memories, and its volume and speaking habits were still something she was trying to adjust to. {Now, inform us as to why you have chosen to enter our plane to escape when you are not in danger?}

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m escaping,” she said awkwardly. She made to move, but the god’s tail materializing prevented her from leaving. “My friend was spying on me and I was concerned that she saw me communicating with a former Herald.”

{While we are permissive of your use of our plane per the contract of the Necroscriptus, we are… disturbed by your evident lack of respect for our realm that you would use it as a mere hiding place like those before you, regardless of utilizing it to hide yourself.}

Arcanica winced at the implication the god was making. While Shevkiral was nothing like Ydrex’Ktala in regards to its disposition, she knew it was referencing the habit several Heralds developed of leaving their enemies to wander the Plane for all of eternity. “I assure you, my usage is not akin to how the spell was used centuries ago. I am simply evading a friend.”

The shadow entity made a growling noise that sounded like a pair of stones grinding against one another. {Why do you hide? We were under the impression that mortals form friendships to no longer hide from one another.}

She looked in the distance and took note of Pinkie’s shadow no longer being visible. “It’s not so much hiding on purpose, but I’m trying to see why she’s been following me around for the last couple days.” Activating the spell to exit, she placed her head through the ground, frowning at the disorientation of appearing from the wall this time. With nopony in sight, she withdrew her head. “Alright, coast is clear. Sorry about the misunderstanding, Shevkiral.”

She faltered, seeing that the Outer Being was no longer present, but decided to simply leave and not hang around longer than necessary. She didn’t care what Storm Breaker told her; the monsters that dwelled there were going to eat her one of these days. Stepping back into the alley, she made her way back onto the streets before resuming her trip home.

Pinkie Pie was a mare on a mission. For the past couple weeks, she had noticed something most unusual about her friend Arcanica. The mare, against all reason, was somehow getting around Ponyville faster than anypony and she wasn’t sure how. Nopony other than her moved around like that, and she doubted Arcanica knew all of the shortcuts she did. It wasn’t teleportation, since the mare in question had confessed on numerous that the extent of her advanced magical studies had ended at illusion spells, and her talent wasn’t related to magic as a whole.

At the same time, however, she couldn’t be running everywhere, since she was never winded upon arrival or looked as though she had overexerted herself. Not only that, but if she was running everywhere, how had Dashie not seen her on her way to Sugar Cube Corner from Twilight’s library when they saved Rarity?

What really confirmed something was up to her was the day Princess Celestia had visited Sugar Cube Corner the other day. Pinkie remembered that day well. All of the cakes she had helped make, the music and decorations she had painstakingly picked out, the chocolate fountainy goodness-

PINKIE!

Oh right, getting off topic. Anyways, she remembered Arcanica leaving with Applejack so she could bring some food to Blossomforth. Now the walk from the bakery to the bookshop wasn’t a long one, but it wasn’t a very short one. Which is why when Blossomforth came in to get a milkshake just three minutes after Arcanica had left, she was suspicious. The pegasus wouldn’t leave her job early, and Arcanica would never run with a plate of food, so how was it all possible?

Since then, she had been tailing her friend in the hopes of figuring out just how exactly the mare was getting around Ponyville so quickly. It had been two days so far, and yet still nothing! She had to be hiding something from her about how she was getting around, but Pinkie couldn’t think of anything that would work! Arcanica couldn’t fly, she didn’t know the teleportation spell, and everypony knew that aliens and their UFOs preferred either areas with acres of corn fields or quiet mountain towns, and Ponyville was neither of those!

When she left the store for the afternoon to go grocery shopping, she was convinced that she finally had the mare right where she wanted her… until she saw that Arcanica was casually walking to the marketplace. She kept looking to the side, which immediately set off red flags for Pinkie. Did Arcanica know she was following her? Was that why she wasn’t using her secret traveling technique? Currently, her subject was looking at purchasing a ripe bunch of bananas.

Making sure to keep her distance, Pinkie Pie dug around in her mane before getting out her trusty binoculars and to better observe her friend. Much to her aggravation, she was now reading over her shopping list- wait a minute… was she talking to somepony? Pinkie looked closer, and saw her moving her lips and occasionally looking at something to her left before freezing up and putting away her list.

Who could she have been talking to? She saw the red unicorn quickly make her way out of the marketplace and immediately gave chase. Unfortunately, the unicorn had a sizeable lead and there were no shortcuts nearby, so Pinkie barreled ahead at full speed. Where did she- AHA! She caught a glimpse of her friend’s black and grey tail vanish into an alleyway up ahead. “I’ve got you now!” She skidded to a halt at what she knew was a straight, narrow alley, and saw nothing. No garbage cans, no boxes, and, most importantly, no Arcanica.

“OH COME ON!” She stomped her hooves angrily at having lost her quarry before charging down the alley. She couldn’t have gotten far, so Pinkie just had to look a little… Although, her internal compass/radar felt like she had passed her yet she wasn’t anywhere close to her. Maybe she should get her noggin looked at?

So, evidently using the Shadow Walking spell to evade Pinkie Pie only served to make things worse. She honestly worried about whether Pinkie Pie was even going to work, but figured that based on the points where she would randomly disappear, she was somehow balancing work and stalking. Unfortunately, it was starting to make her remember when her fans would stalk her, so she began Shadow Walking a lot more to stay away from Pinkie Pie.

In a way, she supposed the easy thing would be to simply approach Pinkie, but something told her that would lead to having to divulge the truth of the Necroscriptus (not her name for the Book that had started all of this) as well as the truth of her books. But sweet Celestia, telling her would work wonders on her nerves. Especially since it was starting to affect where she was popping out whenever she left the Plane of Shadows. What should be fairly straightforward exits were instead dropping her out of ceilings and walls, and one time out of an empty trash can.

According to the Heralds she questioned on it, it came down to the effect her nerves had on her concentration. While she would normally enter and exit as if going through a door or curtain, her anxiety was essentially causing her to open large holes for exits and she could come out of any part of said holes. Not to mention her nerves were getting the attention of the various nightmare creatures that called that Plane their home.

“Arcanica!” She flinched at hearing her name getting called. Pinkie was charging her, her mane and tail looking frizzy rather than poofy, and she looked extremely focused and slightly annoyed. So, naturally, Arcanica did what came natural to her in this situation: she ran.

“Shadows, shadows, I just need a patch of shadows… aha!” There, just ahead of her, was a construction site. There was enough of the upper floors in place that she had enough to work with, and enough of the walls that she could vanish without being seen as she dove in.

“Wait!” came another yell. She pushed herself just a little bit harder before getting into the site. Juking, she jumped to the right and dove into the shadows on the ground, only to loop and fly out of the shadow on the wall.

“SHIT!” She slammed into one of the wooden supports and groaned in pain. A creaking came from overhead, but she was more concerned with getting back to her hooves before-

“Finally! I caught you!” Her eyes bolted open at the triumphant declaration. Pinkie stalked closer to her, making sure each step was deliberate and measured. Her expression was hardened and filled with annoyance. “I’ve been chasing you for days, trying to figure out how you’ve been getting around everywhere, and now you’re going to- hey are you alright?”

She abandoned her serious façade and came close to help her friend back up. “What happened?”

“I messed up getting away from you. That’s what.” She grunted at the sharp pain in her back. Probably nothing broken, but she’d most likely be sore after that impact. “Look, let’s just get out of here and-”

“Wait! Twitcha-twitchy-twitch!” Her tail started frantically twitching and trembling. With a loud groan, a part of the site fell near them as the whole building shuddered.

“I must have hit a load-bearing support,” muttered Arcaninca. “Pinkie, we need to get out of here!”

“Right!” The two began moving towards the entrance when a large girder slammed down in front of them. “Okay, maybe we just go a different-” She stopped talking when her tail began twitching again. “Move!” She grabbed Arcanica and rolled the two of them to the side just as a chunk of flooring collapsed where they had been. “Oh no, the whole place is crumbling! Not even my Pinkie Sense can get us out!” The unicorn looked around and realized they were accidentally caged in… and directly on top of a shadow.

“Pinkie, I’m going to do something crazy.” The mare looked ready to complain but Arcanica stopped her before standing. “I need you to trust me. I’m going to get us out of here. Now hold on to me!” Nodding fearfully, the pink mare clung desperately to the red unicorn. Taking a deep breath, her body came to life as the power of the Void flooded her body.

“Arcanica! TWITCHY TWITCH!”

She pierced the shadow underneath them with her magic and felt the whole world start to rotate on its axis. “HOLD ON TIGHT!” The sounds of the collapsing building quickly faded out as she felt herself tumble from the rapid rotation. She groaned, feeling her back get cracked back into place. “Pinkie? You alright?”

“Wowie zowie! This place is super duper spectacularly spooky!” She was staring in absolute fascination of the Plane of Shadows, the world being completely darkened yet completely visible. What should be the streets of Ponyville formed an ersatz mangle of sharp corners and twisted ribbons that looped around, and through various misshapen buildings. Arcanica had to admit that while it was certainly breathtaking the first couple times, it got tiresome once you realized the resident god was the reason everything was so bizarre. “What is this place?”

“Not a place,” she told her friend. “A Plane of existence, and one of many in this world. This particular one is called the Plane of Shadows. It’s how I’ve been getting around everywhere.”

“Oooh. So this is how you’ve been escaping me and hey why is your right eye covered in a weird black mist?”

{HERALD.} The two mares clutched their heads as the shadowed ground rose up above them into the form of a titanic alicorn made entirely of shadows with large dragon wings and a dragon tail. Its unearthly yellow eyes burned with fury as it lowered its head to glare at her. {Do you dare to break your oath to us to not follow the path of your predecessors?!}

“No wait, Lord Shivkiral! This isn’t like that!” she quickly screamed. “I only brought Pinkie Pie here to save her life! I’m not leaving her here!”

{Really?} It extended its right wing, revealing Pinkie was already standing there introducing herself. {Then why is she speaking to us as if we were her friend?}

The Herald nervously chuckled before glaring at her friend. “Pinkie get down here! Lord Shivkiral is not something you want to do that to!”

“Aw, fine.” She slid down the god’s body before skipping over from where his tail met the ground. “So, his name is Shivkiral, huh?”

“Lord is a title of respect, not rank. Shivkiral has no actual gender given its body is made of darkness,” she quickly explained. “It’s also the god of this entire Plane, and is a little annoyed I brought somepony here.”

{We are displeased that you brought another mortal here so soon after giving your word that you would not follow the hoofsteps of the previous Heralds.}

“My apologies, once more, Shivkiral. I’ll just be taking Pinkie Pie with me and bring her home.” She nervously began pushing Pinkie away from the still glaring god. “I will always bring anypony out with me if I brought them here.”

{Do not test us, Herald. We take the breaking of oaths quite seriously.}

As the titan dissolved into hundreds of monsters which fled into the shadowed skies, the two mares began to walk through the mangled paths. “So, what exactly is going on here?” Pinkie stared in confusion as they followed a path that was completely perpendicular to the surface they had entered on.

“I’ll explain everything once we get home. Just know that I promised to never leave anypony in here and we can’t dawdle on our way out.” She leaped upwards, allowing the shifting gravity of the realm to pull her from the ribbon of terrain they had been walking on and onto the ground over them. Pinkie quickly followed suit. “There’s too many horrifying creatures in here, and Shivkiral’s presence should have vanished from here by now.”

“But how do you know where we are? My internal compass is completely bonkers here.” A haunting screech echoed in the distance, sounding like some manner of owl combined with a wolf’s howl.

Of course she has an internal compass. “It comes with the spell,” she said simply. She stopped in front of a sharp drop off that led down a massive pit. “Well, according to my eye, the exit near Sugar Cube Corner is currently down there.”

“But how do we get all the way down there without going splat?” Pinkie was leaning over the ledge in a rather carefree manner while looking one poke away from plummeting.

“Like this.” Grabbing Pinkie with her forelegs, she threw the two of them off the ledge and towards the flat surface below. The pink pony screamed in terror and choked Arcanica in fear, but the unicorn pointed her horn at the ground ahead of them. A crackling purple bolt of energy shot forward and the surface turned pitch black as the two were about to impact it. Rather than hitting the ground, the two melted through the black surface and tumbled through a wall of cloth before entering a brightly lit room.

Pinkie kept screaming before realizing where they were. “Wait, this is… my room?!” She looked where they came from and saw they had launched themselves out of her wardrobe. “How did we…”

“The Plane of Shadows has exit points wherever there’s a shadow. It’s where the foal’s tale of monsters under the bed came from. A couple of Heralds used to use the shadows under beds to get out in a pinch.” She got to her hooves and shook herself out before seeing Pinkie staring at her with questions in her eyes. “Alright, I suppose I did promise to explain. Fire away, I suppose.”

“So, let me see if I got this all down.” Pinkie Pie took a deep breath before beginning to speak. “All of the things you’ve been writing about in your books actually happened at some point and the reason you know this is because you’re the next in line to inherit the powers of these weird gods from another dimension. These same gods, however, chose you to continue their legacy so that you can prevent anypony from accidentally dragging them here and instead help maintain a solid connection between us and the Void?”

Arcanica nodded as she chewed a cupcake Pinkie had retrieved from one of her “Emergency Discussion” stashes. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

The pink pony nodded solemnly as she thought it over with one hoof under her chin. She suddenly perked up and shot one of her usual goofy smiles at Arcanica. “You know, that explains so much, now that I think about it all.”

It had taken her about an hour to explain everything to Pinkie Pie, and the Party Pony had been remarkably patient in listening to her explain everything. “Yeah, I suppose it does. But you can’t tell anypony about this.”

“But why not?” she asked with her head tilted to the side. “I’m certain Twilight would have a field day studying all this stuff.”

“Because if Twilight did study all this, she might go insane.” She dragged a hoof down her face. “She’s not a Herald, so if she learns too much or the wrong things, she could be driven insane and then I’d get blamed for it by Princess Celestia. And I don’t even want to consider what she would do to me for that.”

“But, why hide something like this from your friends? Aren’t you always going on about trust?”

“She certainly has you there, Arcanica.” The two mares jumped at the sudden third figure. That shock quickly gave into annoyance for Arcanica as she realized who was visiting.

“What do you want, Rune Cluster?” She then paused and realized Pinkie was staring at the former unicorn. “Wait, can Pinkie Pie see you?”

“Indeed, she can.” Using one of her claws, Rune Cluster picked up one of the cupcakes before taking a large bite out of it with her inexplicably fanged beak. “She was exposed to one of Them in all of Their glory and retained what sanity she already possesses. I would say that warrants the privilege of communing with us.”

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” She extended a hoof to the chimeric unicorn with her usual smile on her face. “Your name is Rune Cluster? That’s a very nice name, and it’s super nice to meet you!”

The former Herald chuckled before shaking the mare’s hoof. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Pie.” She sent a teasing glare to the suspicious unicorn. “You know, Arcanica, you never told me your friends were so amicable to meeting Eldritch horrors.”

“I specifically wanted to avoid telling my friends I was a Herald, thank you very much.”

“So, Rune Cluster, what are you doing here? Not that I mind since I made a new friend, but I was talking with Arcanica about her being a Herald, and then suddenly ‘poof’ you’re here and how did you even get here? Also what kind of cake do you- mmphmpmph.” Arcanica cut off her friend’s rambling by shoving a cupcake in her mouth.

“Well, I suppose I came here to help prove Arcanica’s claims of her powers and also introduce myself, lest the others decide to appear before me.”

She swallowed before gasping. “Wait, there are actually more Heralds? Can I meet them all?”

“No.” She frowned when both unicorns answered her.

“No offense, Pinkie, but the Heralds and Necroscriptus have existed since well before Princess Celestia or Luna. Heck, they predate the founding of Equestria itself!” Arcanica looked over at the smirking Rune Cluster. “Rune Cluster is from almost 1000 years ago. Heck, it’s partially her fault Discord even took over Equestria a thousand years ago.”

“I resent that sentiment,” snapped the mentioned unicorn. “I didn’t bring him here. The Herald before me did. I just didn’t do anything to stop him once I came around.”

“My point still stands.”

“So, what are they all like then?” she asked. “If I can’t meet ‘em, I wanna at least be ready to meet them!”

“They’re all insane and unpredictable,” muttered Arcanica.

“Each of us is our own being,” clarified Rune Cluster. “Some of us like to visit the current Heralds, others like to keep to ourselves and simply exist within the Void.” She tossed her braided mane back with pride. “I happen to be one of the former, preferring to visit and occasionally guide the next Herald into learning their heritage.”

“Didn’t you spend about 5 years tormenting Cloudburst 800 years ago?”

She laughed. “Of course I did, but that was to get her to actually read the book in an effort to rid herself of what she thought was some manner of demon that was following her about.”

As the two Heralds argued, Pinkie watched them and came to a conclusion. She wouldn’t swear a Pinkie Promise, since Twilight might have to know about all of this someday, but she was going to at least keep this a secret. Arcanica saved her life with the magic she learned from all this, and the creature she was currently arguing with didn’t seem that bad. So maybe, just maybe, the stuff she was wrapped in wasn’t as bad as it looked on the surface.

The Bonds That We Bear

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It was a quiet morning in Ponyville, not that that meant much since Twilight had moved to town. Honestly, she was waiting for the next giant monster to show up or the next social crisis to throw everypony into a panic. It had been almost a week since Pinkie had learned about her and the Necroscriptus, and something told her disaster was just around the corner.

“Hey, Miss Hoofcraft?” She looked up from her sales ledger at the white pegasus. “Are you alright? You’re glaring at the ledger like it insulted you.”

She sighed before closing the book. “I’m fine. Just a little upset over how our profits have been doing.” She looked around the shop, taking note of the few ponies perusing the shelves. “There was a point where I made enough sales that this shop could have become my primary source of income, but now?”

Blossomforth cringed with an extremely guilty look on her face. “It’s… not because of me, is it? You know, since I have to get paid and stuff?”

Realizing how it looked, Arcanica frantically waved her down. “Nonono! It’s not that!” She sighed as she reopened the sales ledger. Turning to a point a couple months prior, she pointed to where the drop in sales started. “Do you know what happened around this date?”

The white pegasus looked at the book and traced the date marker with her right wing. “Um… Isn’t that around the time that the Summer Sun Celebration happened?”

The unicorn nodded. “Exactly. And with it, the library was reopened.”

“Ooooooh. I see your point now.” She looked at their few customers before turning to her boss. “Since the library is open again, some ponies would rather just borrow the books they need instead of buying it.”

She nodded. “Exactly. The only saving grace is that some ponies don’t like dealing with Twilight’s lecture mode and how she becomes a buzzkill when you try learning about anything.” She put the ledger away and got ready to help the customer coming towards her counter. “Those ponies wind up coming here.” As she rang up the stallion for his books on jelly making, Blossomforth returned to organizing the shelves and circulating their new stock. “Have a nice day, sir!”

“Hi, Arcanica!” She smiled as Bookworm came in greeting her, but was immediately cautious when she saw the Crusaders with her. “Do you think you can help us?”

“That depends. What do you girls need?” She left the counter and started helping her assistant with the shelves.

“Have you seen Rainbow Dash around?” asked Scootaloo. She had an extremely hopeful look on her face.

The book salespony shook her head. “Sorry, but I’m afraid I haven’t.” She grabbed a box and began unloading its contents onto the shelf in front of her. “Anything else I can do to help?”

“Well, do ya’ll have a book on findin’ yer Cutie Mark?” She took a breath to calm herself over Apple Bloom’s grammar before setting her box down.

“Well, that’s not really something I tend to stock,” she admitted. Lighting up her horn, she plucked three books off the Health section shelf. “I’ve got Your Mark and You, which is a self-help book for ponies not confident in their Cutie Mark.”

“That could help if we already had our Cutie Marks,” pointed out Sweetie Belle.

“Right… Hmm… A History of the Mark could help, but I imagine Twilight already loaned you three a copy.” The three fillies nodded before looking at the last book floating in front of her. “Well I suppose that just leaves A Study of Cutie Marks, but all this one does is speculate on the origin and the reason we have Cutie Marks.”

Scootaloo sighed as the three Crusaders drooped. “That’s it, huh? Thanks anyways, Miss Hoofcraft.”

“Wait a minute!” Sweetie Belle’s face lit up as she smiled at Arcanica. “Arcanica, maybe you could tell us how you got your Cutie Mark! Applejack and Fluttershy told us how they got theirs, so maybe you could help us too!” The three girls’ eyes lit up as they stared imploringly at the red unicorn. “Pretty please?”

Arcanica looked at the open book on her flank before raising an eyebrow. “Really? You want to know my Cutie Mark story?” They nodded enthusiastically, with Bookworm joining them. “Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” she muttered. “Blossomforth, can you cover the register for a bit?”

“Sure thing, Miss Hoofcraft!” As the pegasus took over covering the shop, she brought the fillies upstairs to her study.

“Why are we up here, Arcanica?”

“Because, girls, this story needs a small prop to be told properly.” She began looking over her bookshelf as the four fillies made themselves comfortable on her couch. “Well, this all happened when I was around your age. I had just been kicked out of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and was on my way back to Seaward Shoals…

“You see, while I was in school in Canterlot, my grades were never the best despite what my parents had wanted. Instead, I was always writing stories in my notebooks rather than taking notes on the subject at hoof. As a result, I was asked to leave the school and seek education elsewhere.

“I was devastated. I wasn’t at the point where I resented my parents yet, so I was more afraid of how they would react when I came home and told them I had flunked out. So, I stalled on my way back, and deliberately missed my train out of Manehatten and instead went to stay with my aunt Pen Stroke.

“She understood why I was avoiding going home and let me stay for a couple days before I had to go home. As I stayed in Manehatten, I kept writing stories since it was the only thing that helped calm my nerves and kept me from worrying about how my parents would react. On my third morning in Manehatten, I decided to sit in the local park near her apartment so that I could do some writing and not feel so cooped up in her home. As I made my way back, I saw something that changed my life forever.”

“What?! What was it?!” demanded the four fillies. She smiled as she found the beat up notebook she had been looking for and remembered the day in question.

-Flashback-

Arcanica sighed, her small hooves barely making a sound compared to the city around her. “I know I have to go home at some point… but when they find out…” She shook her head before levitating her green notebook in front of her. It was a simple green hardback book, standard issue for all new students at Celestia’s School. She was grateful they let her keep it when she left.

She held the book to her chest with one foreleg. “At least I still have this.” It was the one thing that still brought her comfort, and she couldn’t imagine losing all the stories she had written in it. She resumed her journey down the sidewalk while holding the book to her chest.

BOOM!

She looked up, hearing a massive explosion in the sky. As she stared in amazement, a wave of rainbow light erupted across the sky, creating a breathtaking display of spectra that drowned out the sky as it passed overhead with a brilliant arc of a rainbow rising from the epicenter. She had never seen something so amazing and, as such, was not paying attention to where she was walking.

WHAM!

She fell on her backside, dropping her book as the unicorn stallion she ran into dropped a couple of books he had been carrying. “Hey! Watch where you’re going, brat!”

“Oh, I’m sorry sir,” she quickly apologized. “I was just-”

“You think I care?” He quickly scooped up the books that were laying all over the ground with his magic and resumed walking while muttering about ungrateful brats.

Arcanica went to continue on her way, but realized her notebook was gone and that the stallion probably had it. “W-wait! Mister!” She ran after the stallion, her small legs pumping frantically. “Please! You have my book!”

“What in Celestia’s name are you going on about?” he snapped.

She pointed at the green book in his grip. “That… green… book,” she said through her pants. “It’s actually mine. I’d like it back.”

“Is it now?” he asked sarcastically. He pulled the book out and looked it over. “No name on the cover, no identifying marks… How do I know you’re not pulling a fast one on me?”

“Please! I need it back,” she begged.

He rolled his eyes as she continued pleading before opening it up to look at its contents. After a moment of reading, his eyes widened. “Kid… you’re saying this is yours?!”

“Uh, y-yes?” she answered nervously.

He frantically flipped through the book before looking her over. “Kid, you’ve got a knack for this.” He snapped the book shut before gently returning it to her. “Listen, I work for a local literature magazine here in Manehatten. How would you like to have one of those stories featured in it?”

“R-really?” she asked in shock.

“Sure. Why not?”

A few days later, she and her aunt were walking away from a news stand with the new issue of the magazine the stallion had taken her to. “Can I look now, Auntie Pen?”

The mare rolled her eyes but gave the magazine to her niece. “Alright, Arcanica. But I still don’t think it’ll be published.”

The red filly was not listening to her aunt, as she was currently flipping through the magazine until she found it. The short story she had written the morning she saw that rainbow explosion was right there, dominating the tenth page. The Mare in Black, was printed across the top of the page with “A.T. Hoofcraft” written underneath it.

“Look! It’s right here!” She tried showing it to her aunt, but the mare was focused on something else. “What is it, Auntie?”

“Arcanica… your flank…”

Blinking, the filly looked back at her flank and gasped when she saw an open book with three stars on the right side. “I… have a Cutie Mark?” She gasped as she started bouncing in place and cheered loudly. “I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!”

-End Flashback-

The four fillies looked at the notebook, with a clipping from the magazine secured inside. “Wow, you were published that early?”

She nodded as the fillies read her first story. “If it weren’t for that accident, I probably would have never gotten my Cutie Mark that day.” She sighed as she looked at her flank. “I know it’s probably not the most fantastical story ever, but it’s certainly mine.”

“That’s not true!” argued Bookworm. “I never realized that was how you got your Cutie Mark!”

“Who’d have thought somepony would get their mark that way?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo jumped off the couch. “Then let’s get going! Maybe Rainbow Dash’s story will be just as fantastic!” The other fillies cheered with her before the Crusaders went charging out.

Bookworm stayed behind and returned the book to her sister. “Thanks for telling us your story, Arcanica.”

The older mare smiled warmly before hugging her sister. “No problem, Book. Happy to help out, little sis.” The sisters shared a moment before Book went off to catch up with her friends. With the fillies gone, she placed the worn book on her desk so she could read from it later. She was feeling nostalgic enough to reread stories she wrote as a foal after this.

The day passed normally for her from there, with her and Blossomforth continuing to run the store despite the usual slow traffic. Ultimately, as it passed noon, she realized how hungry she was starting to feel. “Hey, Blossomforth, I’m going to go grab something from Sugar Cube Corner. You want anything?”

“No, I’m good. Say hi to Pinkie Pie for me, though.”

Giving her affirmative, she left the shop with her wallet in hoof. Deciding against using a shadow walk, she made her way to the bakery, where she found her friends. “Oh, hey girls. How’s it going?”

“Oh, hi Arcanica!” Twilight smiled as she accepted a muffin from Pinkie Pie. “Rainbow Dash bought us a round of muffins. Want one?”

“Sure. I actually came here for some lunch.” She accepted one of the baked goods herself. “So, what’s everypony been up to?”

“Well, the Crusaders and yer sister asked me about mah Cutie Mark.”

“Oh, you too, Applejack?” The mares looked at Fluttershy. “I told them all about how I earned mine, but they seemed more interested to hear about Rainbow Dash’s.”

“You girls saw them today as well?” Rarity brushed her mane aside. “I told them all about how I earned my Cutie Mark.”

“I wound up telling them my Cutie Mark Story after they came by looking for books on earning Cutie Marks,” supplied Arcanica.

“I told them mine, but only after they asked if I knew where Rainbow Dash was.” The doors slammed open, and the seven mares turned to see the fillies they had just been speaking about enter the store. “Speaking of whom…”

Rainbow Dash smirked as she approached the four fillies, and the other six mares listened as she told them her Cutie Mark Story. As she concluded, one thing really stood out to all of them.

“Wait, Rainbow Dash. That explosion was you?!” They all looked at Arcanica as she stared in shock. “I saw that Rainboom and the rainbow after it right before I met the stallion that helped me earn mine!”

“I heard that explosion and saw that rainbow too!” said Fluttershy as she went up to her friend. “Rainbow Dash, if you hadn’t scared the animals, I never would have learned I could communicate with animals, and would have never earned my Cutie Mark!”

“I heard that boom!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “And afterwards, there was this amazing rainbow that taught me to smile!”

Applejack put a hoof to her chin. “When Ah got mah Cutie Mark, Ah saw a rainbow that pointed me home…” Her face brightened before she pointed at Rainbow Dash. “Ah bet it was your Sonic Rainboom!”

“There was an explosion I could never explain when I got my Cutie Mark,” added Rarity.

“This is uncanny! If that explosion hadn’t occurred, I would have blown my entrance exam!” Twilight gave a warm smile to the cyan pegasus. “Rainbow Dash, I think you helped me earn MY Cutie Mark, too!”

Pinkie Pie tackled the dumbfounded mare and stood over her. “We all owe our Cutie Marks to you!”

“Do you realize what this means?” asked Fluttershy. “It means we’ve had a connection since before any of us even met each other!”

“We’ve been BFFs for ever, and we didn’t even realize it!”

“Come here, ya’ll!”

With a watery smile, Arcanica joined the group hug as the seven of them shared the warmth of their friendship. Scootaloo, disgusted at how sappy everything was getting, tried leaving, but was quickly dragged back in when Fluttershy suggested they all sing a song together.

As they all left, however, Arcanica was stopped by Twilight. “Hey, can I ask you something, Arcanica?”

“Sure, Twilight. What is it?”

The mare looked puzzled by something, so Arcanica was partially concerned the Pinkie had blabbed, but was also curious. “Well it’s just, you aren’t an Element of Harmony, yet your Cutie Mark is connected to all of ours. I was wondering if you had any idea of why that is?”

Not that she’d ever admit it, but some part of her initially suspected the connection was the work of the Outer Beings, but that wasn’t exactly their M.O., especially since they were entities of primal chaos. Why tether their Herald, a pony meant to serve as their focus point and medium, to a series of artifacts that were the opposite of their existence?

“I’m afraid not, Twilight. But I feel like it’s something important if I was able to befriend you six.”

She nodded, as if processing something what Arcanica told her. “Alright. Thanks, I guess.” Arcanica went to leave but Twilight stopped her. “Wait, before you go, I had something else to ask you.” She raised an eyebrow and waved her hoof so Twilight would continue. “Well, actually the Princess wanted me to ask you. Have you seen anything… unusual lately? You know, things like moving shadows, ponies with black eyes, strange creatures that shouldn’t exist?”

SHIT! “Um, can’t say that I have, Twilight.” She desperately hoped her caution and concern came off as confusion by the weird question. “Should I have?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, but the Princess asked me in her last letter, so I’m afraid I don’t know that much about why she would ask something like that.”

Okay, so Celestia is suspicious, but doesn’t know for certain… I think I can work with this…

“Anything else, Twilight? I’m afraid Blossomforth might be wondering what’s taking me so long.”

“No, that should be it.” She stepped out of the way and let Arcanica go on her way yet didn’t stop watching the mare as she made her exit. “See you later, Arcanica.”

“Bye, Twilight.”

If you see her acting strange when you mention my list of items, discreetly keep an eye on her. If you see her use any strange magic, please inform me of what it seemed to do and what she looked like when she used it.

The Princess’s words still rang in Twilight’s head as she stealthily followed her friend. She may have learned this particular cloaking spell to sneak into the Royal Library after-hours, but right now it was incredibly helpful for tailing her friend.

“Alright, time to take a shortcut,” she heard the other unicorn mutter. She stayed behind the red mare as she walked into an alley way.

Why would she go this way? She thought over the street layout, and this alley was a dead-end. As Arcanica walked down the alley, Twilight fought to keep herself from gasping when her friend’s right eye erupted into black smoke and her horn began glowing with a black aura. The shadow on the wall in front of the unicorn darkened into a pitch dark black and she proceeded to walk through the black mass before it lightened to its original color.

“That… doesn’t look good…” Dropping her cloaking spell, she ran through the streets back to the library. The Princess absolutely HAD to know what just happened. As she ran, she didn’t notice a shadow snaking after her until it melded itself with her shadow. When she arrived at her library, she quickly retrieved a quill and a scroll. This message had to be recorded by her personally, and not by anypony else.

Once the message detailing everything she saw was written down, she rolled and sealed the letter. “Ok, now to have Spike deliver this to the Princess.”

“Does she really need to know? You don’t really know what Arcanica was doing with that spell, do you?” She shrieked in fright and looked around.

“Wh- who said that? Is somepony in here?”

“Just you and your shadow,” came the voice. It sounded like her own voice, only distorted and with a slight echo to it. She looked down and screamed when she saw her shadow moving independently of her yet still being connected to her with a pair of ethereal yellow orbs where its eyes would be. “What’s the matter? Never spoken to your shadow before?”

“What the hay is going on?!” She shot a spell at the shadow, but that did nothing. “What are you?!”

“I’m just your shadow, Twilight. And I’ll ask again, does Celestia really need to know about Arcanica using that spell? We don’t know what it did, so maybe it’s completely innocent?”

“But her eye and horn turned BLACK!” She stomped her hoof and glared at her smirking shadow. “That’s never a good sign with magic!”

“How do you know? Do you know any spells that actually do that?” The mare didn’t respond as she thought over the shadow’s point. The scroll began floating towards her from where she had thrown it. “So, why not just destroy this? You know, just put off delivering that report until you know a little more about what Arcanica was doing?”

“But… I… I promised the Princess I would report anything I saw.” She seized the letter and was finding it strangely harder to argue with the shadow. “But if I knew more and could write a full report on what I saw…”

“Hey Twilight, I’m home!” She blinked and turned to see Spike walking in with a pile of new scrolls. She looked at her shadow, but noticed it was back to normal. “You okay, Twilight?”

She stood unresponsive for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I’m fine, Spike. Just wondering if you can send this letter for me to the Princess?” I don’t know what that was, but I gave my word to the Princess. I WILL deliver this report.

“I told you that would not work, Shev,” remarked a strange mare. She sat in the shade of a large tree in the Everfree forest. Despite her appearing as an Earth Pony, a book was hovering in front of her solid black eyes. Her coat was an ethereal bone-white, with her mane being composed of black mist and flowing in a phantom breeze. Her Cutie Mark, if it could even be called that, was a black triangle with two arcs crossing in an X-pattern through it. “The Element of Magic is too enamored with Celestia.”

She set down her copy of Being Mortal and looked down as her shadow changed to resemble a tall alicorn with dragon features. {As you will recall, similar tactics worked when we confronted both Stygian and Luna to dissuade them from informing others of our Heralds and their gifts.}

“And as I’m sure you will recall, both of those instances resulted in one of our Heralds losing their lives.” She glared at the shadow god who returned it without complaint. “But like I told you when you expressed your concerns over the Element of Laughter keeping her vows, the Element of Magic is too devout to Celestia. Stygian idolized the Pillars, but his jealousy overwhelmed him and he stole our secrets. Luna was already envious of Celestia and reveled in possessing knowledge that her sister lacked.”

She paused to shudder as her stomach began to slowly expand. “As for this Element of Magic, she practically worships Celestia, and would never dream of defying her requests in such a way.” She stroked her stomach idly, the swelling not slowing down but remaining at a gradual pace. It was beginning to reach a point that should not have been possible on a pony of her size.

{We still believe our plan would have worked had we been granted more time with her. The wyrmling’s arrival forced us to abandon our efforts.} It looked at the mare, its eyes scrunching in a mouthless sneer as she cooed lovingly at her engorged belly now that it had stopped swelling. {Oh for the love of the World Star, Akzin, what manner of beast did you allow to rut you this time?!}

She grunted with a smile on her face as she felt the creature in her kick. “A manticore. I was curious as to what could happen if I allowed my womb to bare a child of a beast rather than a pony, especially one born of this land’s natural magic.” She rolled onto her side to accommodate her swollen body. “You wouldn’t understand it, Shev, but I truly adore creating new beings for this world.”

{We believe you enjoy being rutted like some manner of sow more than anything.} The shadow god severed itself from her shadow and used the tree’s to manifest itself properly. Without the limit’s of its native Plane, Shevkiral only stood at roughly the height of the younger Royal Sister. {Surely the others are aware of your insistence in partaking in such disgusting rituals?}

“Oh like any of them care what I do, Shev,” she teased as amber liquid splashed down her thighs. “Now if you don’t mind, my newest creation is about to be born and I can feel at least three tails on this one. So unless you’re willing to help me deliver it, I suggest you leave. This one is going to be messier than usual.” The shadow god rolled its eyes before dissolving its body as it returned to its realm, leaving its kin to deliver her child.

“Sister, you are not going to Ponyville.” The younger alicorn was unfazed by the glare she was receiving from her sister.

“Luna, you heard the report from Twilight. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s her.” Celestia went towards the door out of her study, but Luna got in her way again. “You don’t know what I’ve witnessed in your absence, sister. Every time I trusted one of the Heralds, they brought nothing but destruction in their wake. We cannot let that fate befall Ponyville.”

“Is this to protect Ponyville, or to protect thine student?” The older alicorn’s glare intensified, but she did not answer. “From what we heard in Twilight Sparkle’s report, there was no indication that this Arcanica has begun to unleash destruction. If anything, she sounds more akin to the mindsets of Storm Breaker or Rune Cluster, who respected the Void and Outer Planes, seeking not to wield Their powers for mayhem but to study.”

Celestia flared her wings. “Need I remind you that Rune Cluster caused Discord’s arrival in this world?!”

“On who’s word did we believe this? The very serpent thou speak of!” snapped the younger sister. “Discord spoke of the Herald’s involvement, and thou believed his word as if it were the absolute truth when I told you repeatedly that he was lying!” The two glared at each other in an absolute standstill.

“So then what do you suggest we do, Luna?” she finally asked. “Simply let Arcanica do as she pleases until she destroys Equestria?”

“I shall speak to the Herald within her dreams, where no secret may hide from us. Once there, I shall pass our judgement. Should she prove unreliable, I shall permit your plan to terminate her.” She turned to leave the study. “I shall inform you of my decision once I have observed her. Until tonight, sister.”

“Okay, where am I this time?” Arcanica asked out to the void. She had been in the middle of a delightful dream of her home town when she found herself being dragged into the sea. Next thing she knew, she was standing in a starry void.

“Greetings, Arcanica Hoofcraft.” A midnight blue alicorn with a starry mane materialized from the void around her.

“Alright, which one are you?” she asked plainly.

“We beg your pardon?”

“Hmm, speaking with a royal ‘we’ matches Shevkiral, but they hate not appearing in the Plane of Shadows and appearing with a defined sex.” She put a hoof to her chin. “I suppose the dream void matches Anzagtik, but she refuses to take on the form of a pony.”

“Foolish unicorn! We are the Princess of the Night and Moon! Princess of the Dream Realm! How dare thou presume us to be of Their ilk?!” she roared as she took to the air.

She blinked owlishly as she stared up at the mare. “You mean… you’re the actual Princess Luna?” She awkwardly bowed to the alicorn. “Apologies, Princess. But when your dreams become a playground for Eldritch gods, you tend to get suspicious of your own dreams.”

The Moon Princess landed and looked her over. “We understand thine hesitance, Herald. Yet we do not find comfort in you presuming us to be of their kind.” She gestured for the unicorn to rise.

“So, you know I’m the current Herald, huh?” Arcanica sighed as she looked around. “So, is this to keep me contained while Celestia comes to either kill me or lock me up in Tartarus?”

“Hardly.” She stood beside the unicorn as they stared into the void. “Our sister received confirmation of your existence and was planning to storm down to Ponyville and erase you from existence. We dissuaded her on the condition that we judge your worth.”

“So Celestia still holds the others accountable for what somepony else did, huh?” Seeing the alicorn’s confusion, she sighed. “Great Pillar created a race of monsters as a byproduct of cursing somepony for stealing the secrets of the Necroscriptus, but was accused of destroying Marethon in a fit of madness. Rune Cluster was accused of bringing Discord to Equestria, Stone Chip was falsely accused of releasing a flesh-eating plague, Sky Dazzle was executed on the assumption that she detonated a volcano to destroy an innocent city.” She looked over to the visibly sickened Princess. “I’d list more, but that would be almost a thousand years of Heralds and false accusations.”

“So you’re saying there is more to the Heralds than our sister realizes?”

Arcanica shrugged as she watched the stardust swirl around them. “I suppose. In all fairness, the Heralds could have done a better job with their powers, but most of them were not allowed to explain what had happened.”

“It would seem our sister has much to explain, but that is for yet another day.” She fixed the unicorn with a serious stare. “What of yourself, Hoofcraft? What are your plans for the Necroscriptus and the Outer Beings?”

“Honestly? I don’t have one. I’ve only been using the book’s powers since it helps keep the nightmares at bay.” She shrugged as her right eye erupted into shadows. “Something about using the powers keeping my connection to the Void stable and consistent.” The world around them shuddered as she drew on her powers before she released the connection. “I’d be much happier if I could just go on writing my books and not have to deal with anything weird, but something just tells me I’d be better off helping the Elements of Harmony.”

“Is that so?” The two mares sat there in silence for a moment.

“Stop it.”

“Excuse you?”

“That look on your face,” she said while looking out of the corner of her eye. “It’s your ‘I don’t know whether to accept the truth or follow my gut’ face. Storm Breaker found it adorable so I always get his memories of it.”

To her credit, the Princess didn’t blush, but that might have been on account of her dark coat. “So, you remember Storm Breaker’s opinions of us and our sister?”

“More than just that,” she said with a shrug. “I also have access to his memories about the time that you two decided to surprise Celestia by hiding in a giant cake on her birthday.” The Princess choked on air and stared in shock. “I also know about the mess that little stunt devolved into since Celestia had just gone into-”

“SPEAK NO MORE OF THIS!” she yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “WE DO NOT WANT TO THINK OF WHAT OUR SISTER DID BOTH TO AND WITH THAT CAKE AND OUR FRIEND!”

Arcanica chuckled at the embarrassed look on the Princess’s face. “Now you know how I feel every time he brings it up.” She turned to face the alicorn properly. “In all seriousness, Princess, I don’t plan on abusing the powers I’ve been given. I have no desire to try teaching anypony how to use Their powers the way I can. I refuse to repeat the sins of my predecessors.”

As Luna looked the mare over, she took note of just how heartfelt the unicorn was being. “Very well then, Arcanica Hoofcraft. We shall inform our sister of what we hath gleaned from our discussions here.”

“Before you go, Princess Luna, I have one request.”

She stopped and looked into the unicorn’s magenta eyes. “Yes, Herald?”

“If Celestia decides I need to die, I’d like it if they didn’t know that I’m gone. Tell them I had to move, or something.” A tear slid down her cheek as she lowered her head. “I don’t want Twilight and the others to hate Princess Celestia for what she did.”

The younger princess was silent as she contemplated the mare’s request. “Very well. We shall inform our sister of this request upon our return. Farewell, Arcanica Hoofcraft.” The starry void around them began to dissolve, and Arcanica found herself staring up at the ceiling of her room.

She climbed out of her bed and looked out the window as the sun began its ascent from beyond the horizon. “Well, if today is my last day, might as well make it count.” She made her way to the kitchen, intent on making her sister an amazing breakfast.

Going on the Hunt

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“And you’re positive about this, Luna?”

The younger alicorn nodded, making the older of the two pace nervously. “Indeed sister. The Herald seems quite informed of the circumstances surrounding her heritage and its history.”

“I never knew…” She put a hoof to her chin in concern. “After what happened to Storm Breaker and with Rune Cluster, I had assumed all of the Heralds were deliberately causing all of those calamities.” She shuddered as she looked at her own hooves. “The lives I’ve taken… just how much innocent blood was spilled because of my misunderstanding?”

“Sister, while I understand your concern and grief, what has happened is in the past. What matters now is the situation at hoof.” Luna placed a reassuring hoof on her sister’s back and gave her a comforting smile.

“Yes, you’re right.” Celestia took a deep breath before nodding to her sister. “Now then, I suppose I should inform the Herald of my decision, shouldn’t I?”

“Before you do, I believe I should inform you that besides Laughter, the other Elements of Harmony are not aware of who the Herald is,” pointed out Luna. “If anything, your message should take this into account. We believe she is trying to maintain her friends’ ignorance in regards to her status as the current Herald.”

Celestia nodded as she paced while thinking over how to best inform Arcanica. “And any letters sent through Spike would first have to go through Twilight…” Her eyes drifted to an ornate medallion resting on her vanity. “Sister, I believe I have an idea.”

“Wow, Arcanica. It was so nice of you to invite all of us.” Twilight took a sip of her juice as she accepted a plate of food from Applejack.

The group of friends were currently sitting in a field, enjoying a picnic. Not only were the seven friends there, but they had also brought along their younger sisters and Blossomforth.

“Yeah well, I felt like all of us should hang out when Equestria isn’t in danger.” She took a bite of her sandwich as she watched the four fillies play tag. “I just… really wanted to hang out with my loved ones today.” She sighed wistfully as she looked in the direction of Canterlot. She didn’t expect Celestia to show up the way she did in the days of old, what with Twilight and her friends being present and Ponyville not being a battlefield. But she couldn’t help but wonder… Was Celestia coming for her head?

“Hey, Arcanica, you alright?” She turned and saw Pinkie looking at her in concern. “You seem super duper bummed about something.”

She wanted to tell Pinkie, but wasn’t sure how without telling the others, so she simply shook her head. “I’m fine, Pinkie. Just thinking is all.”

She frowned, but nodded nonetheless. “Okie dokie lokie, then…” She knew Applejack was staring at her, most likely seeing right through her lie, but chose to ignore it. No need to ruin a day out with friends. The picnic continued on from there, with the friends telling jokes and swapping stories as the afternoon went on. As the gathering began to wind down, however, she happened to glance in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

She froze as she caught sight of a pony staring into the forest, her body unmoving. Arcanica was too far to notice any distinguishing features, but her coat was an unearthly white, and her black mane was blowing in the wind. Except there was no wind to move it.

“Hey ya’ll! Anypony want one last slice of apple pie?” Her attention was drawn to Applejack as she distributed the last few slices of the dessert, which she gratefully accepted. When she looked back, the strange mare was gone.

I’ve got a bad feeling about that one…

“So, Darlings, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve finished all of the finishing touches and resizings on our gowns for the Gala,” announced Rarity. “All I need is one final fitting for each of you and we shall be ready to go for the most wonderful night of our lives.”

“That’s great Rari-” Twilight stopped as a wailing howl echoed from the Everfree Forest. “What the heck was that?”

“I don’t know,” muttered Fluttershy as the howling rang out once more. “It doesn’t sound like any creature I’ve heard from there before.” The howling persisted, sounding more like whatever was in there was calling out to somepony. “I can’t quite understand its howling, either. It sounds unnatural in terms of animal calls.”

“Well it’s givin’ me the willies.” Applejack shuddered as the howling stopped for a brief moment.

Arcanica stealthily moved towards Pinkie as the others discussed the howling. “Hey, Pinkie. Anything on the Pinkie Sense?” She did her best to keep her voice down, since she had an idea as to what was making the howling.

She shook her head. “Nope. Not even a twitcha-twitch.” She noticed the look on the Herald’s face before leaning in. “You don’t think this is Herald stuff, do ya?”

She nodded. “I’m certain it is. I could have sworn I saw somepony staring at the Everfree earlier, and they had this unearthly quality to them.” She looked at her friends as they started packing up as the howling resumed. “I don’t know what exactly is going on, but whatever is out there, it doesn’t belong in Equestria.”

“So, are we going in tonight?”

“No, I’m going after it once everypony is home. You aren’t getting involved in this.” She began lending a hoof with clean-up, effectively ending the conversation between them. I won’t let my friends get involved if I can help it.

“Alright, last minute check. Rope?” She levitated a coil into her saddlebags. “Check. Water?” Two canteens joined the rope. “Check. Book?” She paused as she turned her attention to the Necroscriptus’ resting place on her desk. On one hoof, it wouldn’t hurt to have the source of her Eldritch magic with her. But on the other, she had never taken it out of her house before and was afraid of damaging it.

“Oh who am I kidding?” she mused to herself as she slid the book into the left pocket on her saddlebags. “If this thing has survived since before Equestria, it can survive me hunting this creature.” Once the book was secure, she resumed her preparations, making sure to add a compass and a quick-light lantern. Her bags packed, she made her way out, grateful that Twilight was helping the four fillies with their homework today.

As she locked her door, she noticed a blonde pegasus at the bottom of her stairs. “Excuse me, you’re Arcanica Hoofcraft, correct?” The mare’s coat was a soft yellow, and she was wearing an ornate golden medallion with braids in her mane. “My name is-”

“Sorry, don’t have time for fans,” she said quickly as she moved past the shocked mare. “I’m busy. Maybe some other time.” Her eye flared to life as she activated the life-detection spell, allowing her to tell the mare was following her. Using her usual tactics, she ducked into an alleyway before slipping into Shevkiral’s domain to evade the mare.

{Herald.} She stopped in her tracks before looking up. She was making progress towards the Everfree when the entity had gotten in her way. {We wish to speak with you regarding your presence.}

“Don’t worry, Shevkiral, I won’t be here long.” She ducked between the towering being’s legs and resumed her trek. “I’m simply passing through on my way to the Everfree.”

{We know. Just as we know what manner of beast you are intending to hunt.} She stopped in her tracks before looking at the deity as it moved to look down at her once more. {We felt it wise to give warning as to the nature of the creature’s heritage.}

“Huh, well this is new. I thought you tended to avoid giving us Heralds a helping hoof?” She winced at the loud grinding hiss that echoed through the Plane. “Okay, so this isn’t what I thought?”

{The creature you are facing is the byproduct of another of Our Ilk and their interests with your world.} It looked in the direction of the mangled forest of spires that represented the Everfree Forest in the Plane of Shadows. {Our sister, whom you no doubt know as Kreeshva Akzin, saw fit to bear a child to a beast of your world. That creature is what now roams the Forest known as Everfree.}

“Akzin was in Equestria?! When?!”

{Though time has little merit for us, it was at the zenith of the sun’s previous cycle.} Translation: yesterday.

She facehoofed at the thought of Akzin entering Equestria. While far from the worst of the Outer Beings to enter her world, Akzin’s… unique perspective on life and procreation always resulted in nothing but disaster. “I don’t suppose she mentioned the beast that gave her a child, did she?”

{She informed us the creature was known as a ‘manticore’.} The god moved its head down to her, its yellow eyes intrigued. {Tell us, Herald. What manner of creature is that?}

She resumed walking, not acknowledging how the god followed behind her. “It’s a chimeric monster,” she explained. “Body of a lion, wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. What I’m wondering is why she would try bearing the offspring of one of those. Doesn’t she usually visit ponies in their sleep?”

{From what we gather of her exploits, Akzin enjoys birthing her creations as much as conceiving them.} The entity shuddered, or at least did the closest thing it could do to shuddering. {She claims that allowing beasts to claim her Equestrian form as their mate is the most satisfying feeling she knows.} Arcanica shook her head to clear away the image of a mare allowing a manticore to mate with her. The anatomical differences alone scared her. {We know not of the creature she sired in this case, but we know it to be something most dangerous. Take heed, Herald.}

“Any chance I’ll be capable of killing it?” Honestly, if she could kill whatever Akzin had unleashed on Equestria out of boredom, she would be a happy mare.

{Doubtful. It is one of her children, and would therefore only be capable of being sealed away.} They reached the forest, and the deity began to dissolve its body. {Remember, Herald. You are not the first to face such a malignant creature. Learn from your predecessors and their… exploits.}

Its piece said, Shevkiral vanished, allowing Arcanica to exit the Plane of Shadows in the shade of a large oak tree. “Well, that was different.”

“He likes you,” supplied Rune Cluster as she enjoyed the atmosphere of the Everfree Forest. “Shevkiral appreciates Heralds who don’t actively blow him off or misuse their powers. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tries laying claim to you when you pass on.”

“Is that what happened to you? One of Them claimed you?” She recast her detection spell, and took notice of the various life forms lingering through the forest. They were all so bizarre it was hard to pick out her target.

“Not quite. I had already chimerisized by the time I passed on, so there was no reason for one of them to claim me as theirs since I fit in enough as I am now.” She studied Arcanica as she tried picking apart the different auras. “You’re genuinely going after this thing, aren’t you?”

“If I don’t then somepony will get hurt and Celestia will blame me for it.” Deciding she might as well get started, she began walking further into the forest. “What about you? Are you here to help me?”

“In my own way, I suppose.” She grinned at the unamused glare Arcanica gave her. “Oh, come now, Arcanica. I can’t give you everything, now can I?”

She shook her head and sighed heavily. “Stupid ghosts.”

“Hmm… where could she have gone?” Celestia was flying over Ponyville, grateful that her disguise was normal enough that nopony questioned her flying around. She had wanted to meet Arcanica under the guise of being a fan of her works (which was admittedly true), but was swiftly blown off by said Herald. “Maybe I made this disguise a little too well,” she muttered. It was one thing to go unnoticed or ignored, but she hadn’t anticipated getting blown off the way she had been.

She tried following her, but the Herald had vanished into thin air from an alley way, leading Celestia to conclude she had at least figured out the traveling technique that Rune Cluster had been extremely fond of in her day. Back before she let Discord’s lies get to her and made her-

No, now wasn’t the time to mourn her old friend. Now was the time to track down Arcanica. “Hmm… well she was wearing saddlebags, so perhaps she was going out of town for some reason?” No, that wasn’t it. If Arcanica remembered the lives of the Heralds that she had personally executed, she’d probably be more afraid of Celestia cornering her in the middle of nowhere. So traveling was out of the question.

Perhaps she was running some errands? Again, that would have made sense, but her saddlebags had looked pretty full. And who goes shopping with full bags? As she continued to muse over the possible locations of the Herald, she let her wings take over and enjoy the flight. She rarely got the chance to fly these days, so this was a welcome change. As she savored her flight, she noticed something strange. The Everfree Forest, which she knew was usually still from the air, was surprisingly active. Birds were fleeing in every which-way along an erratic-looking path, and the trees themselves shuddering and some occasionally collapsing along the same path.

As she watched and flew closer, she could hear an unearthly howling and roaring as the path jerked around erratically. Maybe she’s down there. Pulling her wings close to her body, she flew down towards the Everfree and felt unable to resist the nostalgia. The last time she had truly been to the Everfree was when she had closed off the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, and that was almost 1000 years ago. Deciding to reminisce later, she flew over the canopy and descended near the last site of the commotion.

“Oh my,” she said in concern. She put a hoof to her mouth at the level of destruction surrounding her. The ground looked as though somepony had decided to gouge the soil with a dragon’s claws. The trees surrounding her had large indents as if something was thrown into them while others were missing large chunks after something had clawed at them. This was clearly the site of a battle, but she had no idea who was winning and who was losing.

The howling and roars resumed nearby, far too close for her comfort, and she heard the sounds of conflict resume. “Don’t think you’ll get away that easily!” she heard somepony yell. She heard the sound of rattling chains as the roars turned into a shriek. “Gotcha, you damn monster!” There was a loud crashing as the monster roared. “Uh oh.”

Before she could go to investigate, a familiar red mare was thrown from the brush. She slammed into the ground and rolled for a few feet before stopping. “Ow.” She landed and ran over to the mare.

“Are you alright?”

Arcanica groaned as she stood back up and shook her head. “Okay, chains don’t work.” She took notice of who was standing in front of her. “Wait, why in Celestia are you here?!”

“Oh, well you see-”

The screeching howl echoed behind her and Arcanica shoved her to the ground. “Get down!” A large fireball flew over their heads and exploded against a tree. “Damn, that thing can spit fireballs? What in Tartarus is wrong with you, Akzin?” Much to Celestia’s confusion, she glared at something to her left. “Oh shut up, Rune. I know she doesn’t decide what her children can do.”

“Um, are you speaking to somepony?” This was new to her. Was there actually some merit to Herald’s being insane?

“You wouldn’t believe me. Just know that this is something you won’t be able to help me with.” She got back up and ignited her horn. The left pocket of her saddlebags opened up and she pulled a book bound in black leather. “Alright, time to see what else I can try…” She quickly began flipping pages, her right eye erupting into black mist as she scanned the pages for something. “Alright, combustion beam, petrification, sandwich vision… aha!” She stopped flipping pages and smirked at the page she stopped on. “A proper combat spell.”

“Look, Arcanica. Can you please just let me-”

She ignored Celestia’s attempts at discussion and put the book away. “Look, lady. I don’t know what your deal is, but I’d get out of here if I were you. Things are about to get messy.” She charged off through the underbrush, her horn and eye still radiating with that same black energy. “Where are you, you son of a bitch?!”

“Hey, wait a minute!” She tried rushing after the unicorn, but quickly lost track of her in the gloom. “Hello? Arcanica?”

“AHA!” She flinched as a purple flash of light illuminated an area ahead of her. The creature shrieked in pain and she heard a large crash from the clearing. “Gotcha you damn- OH SHIT!” There was a loud crash before she heard something charging up. “EAT FIRE DEATH!” A tree in front of her exploded as the creature itself was sent flying. Its body was smoking lightly as it crashed into the ground behind her.

She tried to look at the creature, but had to take to the air in order to avoid Arcanica’s next beam of energy. In the air, she saw the creature’s hide resembled an eel in texture, with its mouth being split on the lower jaw. Its legs ended in large claws and had large spikes on its joints. It had three large tails that resembled vipers and were moving independently of one another. She felt horrified to realize it was looking directly at her despite not having eyes.

“What in Equestria is that thing?!” she found herself screaming.

It opened up its mouth and shrieked at her. She was unnerved to see it unfolded, and dodged when a large fireball shot out of its maw. “BACK OFF!” A purple beam of energy slammed into the beast and sent it reeling. The red unicorn came storming out of the trees, her right eye and horn both radiating the black aura she knew all too well when it came to the Heralds. “You know, I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do with you. Part of me was afraid I wasn’t going to be able get rid of you. At the same time, I was convinced I would have to find some way of killing you. But you know what? I have a much better idea.”

She grinned at the eel monster as her left eye erupted into black mist as well, her irises glowing magenta in the black mist. “I’m gonna put you somewhere where you’re not going to be able to survive.” Her horn began to crackle with black and violet lightning before a bolt was fired into the shade of the tree behind the monster. The entire area darkened, and Celestia felt something she hadn’t known in centuries: true fear.

The creature seemed to feel the same way as it tried to escape. It leaped at Arcanica its five tendril-like tongues reaching for her when it found itself slammed into the ground. A large grasping limb, too thin to be possible yet stronger than the beast had extended from the now void-like shadow and grabbed ahold of its tails. Slowly, the limb began to retract, dragging the creature with it. Terrified, the creature began to frantically claw at the ground in an effort to get away. Two more limbs shot out and grabbed onto its hind legs, effectively taking its support out from under it. It screeched frantically as the limbs began retracting more quickly.

“Naah… Nooaagghh…” it howled, and Celestia gasped when she realized what it was trying to do. “Nooogghh…”

“Wait! I think it’s trying to-”

“NOOOOOO! NOOOOO!” She flinched at its volume when its tails were dragged into the black void behind it. “NOOOO!” More limbs extended, latching on to various parts of the creature’s anatomy as it was dragged further into the void. Any further screams were cut off when one of the limbs grabbed its maw and held it closed. Its screams now muffled, it was wrenched into the black void as it struggled futilely against its captors. Once it was gone from sight, the area began to lighten once more as the shadow lost its void-like quality.

“What… what was that?” she asked nervously.

“Well, that monster was the offspring of an Eldritch god and a manticore, and a young one at that. If it was left alone, it probably would have hurt somepony, if not kill them.” Arcanica looked at her, her eyes still radiating that black mist in a way that still reminded her of Sombra’s eyes. “As for the spell, I opened a gate into the Plane of Shadows and dragged it in there, where there are much more terrifying creatures waiting for it. Now I’d like to ask a question.”

Arcanica narrowed her eyes at her. “What’s with the disguise, Celestia?”

“Y-you can see through my disguise?” She was shocked to watch the Herald nod. “But, how? Not even I could dispel this disguise without the proper medium and focus.”

“It’s the eyes.” She blinked and let the Eldritch mist vanish. “They allow me to see the world in ways nopony else possibly could. It’s a manner of blessing from Them. That includes seeing through mortal illusions and spells.” Her smirk from explaining her trick vanished as her stare hardened. “So, I take it you’re here to take me out before I turn Ponyville into the next Marethon or something?”

Celestia dispelled her disguise before shaking her head. “No. I came here to see you myself. Luna told me of your innocence, as well as my errors in judging the Heralds before you. I wanted to inform you that I was planning to allow you to continue so long as you promise to protect Equestria from those who would harm it.” She walked up to Arcanica and gently extended a hoof. “We can discuss this at greater length if you would like, but for now, I believe getting back to Ponyville is a good idea.” Hesitating for a moment, Arcanica nodded before accepting the princess’s hoof and allowing her to teleport them back to her store.

“So that’s what happened.” Celestia sat there in contemplation as she sipped the tea Arcanica had provided. “I had no idea I had stopped Great Pillar from fixing his own mistakes.”

The Herald nodded as she sipped from her own cup. “Yeah. Him and Sky Dazzle were both trying to more or less fix the same problem. The only difference is that she almost succeeded. Sure, there was a great loss of life in both cases, but compared to letting those monstrosities run rampant? They both felt it was well worth the sacrifice.”

The Princess nodded, but still wasn’t comfortable considering one Herald created a potential scourge and another committed genocide trying to destroy said scourge. “Arcanica, though I believe I know your answer, I have to ask. Are you planning to hunt down similar threats to Equestria?”

She sat there in contemplation for a long while before looking at Celestia. “No. I probably should, but I’m not going to throw away my life just to find problems to fix. If something happens here, I’ll get involved. But I refuse to abandon my friends and family just to go monster hunting.”

The Sun Princess smiled at her conviction. “A wise and noble answer, Arcanica. To hold one’s friends and loved ones so close is a truly wonderful thing.” She then got a thoughtful look on her face. “Actually, I have a request, Arcanica. My sister had always been close to the Heralds we knew in our youth, and she is currently struggling to readjust to Equestria. Would you be willing to submit letters to her similar to how Twilight and I communicate?”

“I’m not sure Princess Luna needs a student like me, Princess.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Not quite as a student. But as a friend and to aid you in your studies in the ways of the Void. Of the two of us, Luna is more inclined and knowledgeable in such topics. I believe she can help you more than simply wandering and trusting on the aid of the other Heralds.”

She watched as the unicorn thought her offer over, before she glared at something beside her. “I’m not telling her that,” she said hotly to who (or what) ever was beside her.

Chuckling at the exchange, she used her own magic to summon a scroll. “I know, how about this?” She placed the scroll on the table between them with a friendly smile. “If you decide to take up my offer, this spell will allow you to send your letters directly to Luna. I’m certain she would appreciate the sentiment.”

“I’ll… think on it.” She accepted the scroll and placed it off to the side. “Thank you, Princess.”

“Of course, Arcanica.” She looked at the clock and sighed. “Well, I suppose I should get going. I took a bit of an unplanned personal day coming here, and my duties will have piled up in my absence.”

“I assume this is all off the record and not for Twilight to know?”

The alicorn shook her head with a chuckle. “I’m afraid Twilight would panic if she knew I came here today without letting her know. So I would appreciate you keeping this between us.”

“Of course, Princess.” Arcanica bowed as the alicorn took her leave after disguising herself once more. She cleaned up from the impromptu tea party before looking at the scroll in thought. Maybe I’ll send her a letter next time I learn something.

The Best/Worst Night Ever

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The night was still in Ponyville, as everypony had turned in for the night. The streets were empty, and not a single animal was out this evening. Luna’s moon hung beautifully in the sky, its stars telling their stories behind it. Truly, it was a wonderous night.

Emphasis on was.

CRASH! BANG! The peaceful night was disrupted when something knocked over a number of trash cans behind the local café. A beam of light cut through the night, its owner cautiously walking out from behind her cover. The beam eventually revealed the culprit: a large creature with a bright green lupine body and a pair of dragon wings in place of forelegs. The creature was currently gorging itself on the contents of the trash containers, thus hiding its head.

“Found ya,” she whispered as she crept closer. The beast suddenly froze before snapping its head up staring at its watcher with burning orange eyes. It snarled before opening its beak to roar at her, the force being enough to blow her pink mane back despite the distance. “Wowie zowie. You really need a mint, don’t you?”

The creature snarled as it slowly crept towards her, the spines on its back exposing themselves. “NOW!” came a yell. The creature looked around frantically before black chains wrapped themselves around its body, taking it to the ground. It struggled frantically in an effort to escape with another chain muzzling it. “Alright. That takes care of that.” Arcanica jumped off the roof she had been standing on and nodded to her friend. “Thanks for lending me a hoof, Pinkie.”

“No problem Arcanica!” She briefly shined her flashlight in her friend’s face before pointing it under her own chin. “Not only am I happy to help out, I got to use my monster-hunting flashlight for once!”

The unicorn rolled her eyes before looking at the bound monster. “Well still. I appreciate the extra set of hooves. These things can smell magic, so I needed a non-magical way to get it completely distracted.”

“Wait! Was it super duper dangerous to ponies?!”

She shook her head. “Not really. Only if somepony was stupid enough to corner one of these things. They’re mostly scavengers, but I don’t take chances with monsters.” Her eyes and horn lit up with dark energy as the creature was dragged into its own shadow. “Every so often they make it to Equestria, and I’d rather send it back then let it get out of hoof. Especially considering how busy we’ll be tomorrow.”

“This is so cool!” cheered Pinkie as they started back towards Sugar Cube Corner. “I can’t believe I get to help my friend stop dangerous monsters!”

“Again, things like that Prowler are only dangerous if you make them dangerous. Besides, need I remind you that you more or less forced me to let you help?” She shook her head at the mare’s casual shrug as she continued skipping. It had only been a couple weeks since the incident with Celestia and Akzin’s manticore spawn, and she had already needed to handle a couple of problems that came with being a Herald. Namely things getting into Equestria from other Planes.

After an incident involving the bakery she worked at, Pinkie had demanded that Arcanica let her join or risk the others finding out. Never again will I try arguing with this mare, she told herself.

“So, you excited for tomorrow, Arcanica?” Unlike the Herald, the earth pony was showing no signs of being tired despite how late it was for them. Damn earth ponies, being able to draw energy from the earth and stuff.

She let out a yawn but nodded. “Of course. It’ll be a relief to finally get all this over with.”

The pink pony giggled at her friend’s assessment of the following day’s events. “It’s just the Grand Galloping Gala, not some kind of horrible event.”

“Same thing, Pinkie.” She looked up and sighed when she realized they were now at the bakery and standing under the back light. “Alright, I’ll see you at Rarity’s tomorrow.”

“Sleep tight, Arcanica!” Pinkie Pie gave her friend a tight hug before bouncing through the back door and into the shop, not turning off the light for a moment. Taking advantage of the temporary light, Arcanica slipped into Shevkiral’s domain and made her way along the familiar path home.

A shriek echoed overhead, and she saw the silhouette of some avian creature trailing her before it was snatched out of the air by something that resembled a giant squid that had been hiding in the pseudo-clouds that filled the sky. “This place still gives me the creeps every time I see its ecosystem.” She continued on her way, doing her best to ignore the howls and snarls as different creatures hunted one another down.

Once she slipped back into her study and closed off the path behind her, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Okay, Arcanica. Creature is transported back, Pinkie’s home, time to sleep.”

Turning off the lamp on her desk, she quietly made her way through to the bedrooms. After making sure her sister was asleep and fine, she retired to her room and climbed into bed. Once the lights were down, she sighed in content as she made herself comfortable.

“Hello, Herald.” She groaned and opened her eyes to glare at her bed’s other occupant. The white mare’s smile was more sultry than friendly, and contrasted horribly with the completely black orbs she called eyes. “What? No greetings for a dear friend like myself?”

“What. Do. You. Want, Kreeshva Akzin?” She was not in the mood to cater to the Being’s antics. “I’m trying to go to sleep, and you don’t belong in my bed.”

She giggled, though it came out sounding like the demented snarling of some massive beast. “Oh, I just wanted to see how Our current Herald is holding up, say hi, and-”

“Cut the crap. We both know that’s not why you’re here.” She sat up to properly glare at the Eldritch deity. It was one thing for the other Heralds to visit her quite frequently, but the Outer Beings were supposed to avoid coming to Equestria too frequently. “If this is about the manticore thing I sent to the Plane of Shadows a couple weeks ago, then don’t birth your children near my home.”

“Change is coming, Herald.” Akzin sat up and faded out of the bed, appearing next to the window as she looked at the moon. “We can feel something stirring in this Plane you call home, and it concerns us.”

Arcanica blinked owlishly at the implications that statement entailed. “Wait, the Outer Beings are concerned about something in Equestria? Well, color me impressed.”

“Not in the manner you are probably assuming, Herald.” She smirked at the now annoyed Unicorn. “However, something in the near future is of note to all of us. The Eyes of Eternity, Hurashten, says that the world is approaching an era of change, and I was chosen to relay this message to you.”

That… was troubling. If Hurashten said that something was coming… “I don’t suppose you would be willing to tell me what exactly those changes will be?”

She chuckled before looking back at the moon. “Not exactly, though I suppose telling you her prophecy could present some interesting results. A majority of us have ideas as to the meaning of her Prophecy, but I’m afraid telling you our collective interpretation is off-limits.” She thought it over for a moment, her mane’s flowing becoming more erratic. “No, I don’t believe there will be any problem with letting you know the prophecy she recited to us.”

“The blood of void stirs as the lost awaken to a world of change

With the light of the moon, madness shall prosper and regain.

The frozen heart shall beat with life once more

As the world stands on the precipice of war.

Guiding magic and harmonious faith entwined,

The usurpers of thrones stand ignorant of what they shall find.”

There was silence as the unicorn stared at her, her attention remaining focused on the moon hanging high above. “You translated it on purpose, didn’t you?”

That hellish chuckle filled the room once more. “Naturally. Can’t go giving you all the hints, now can I?”

Arcanica groaned and flopped back in her bed, pulling the covers over her head and shutting out the deity’s laughter. “Go away and let me sleep.” Receiving no answer but silence, she shut her eyes and let herself drift off until morning.

Arcanica groaned as she slammed a large history book shut and threw it on top of a book of legends. The sun was just rising, but she was already wide awake. After Akzin decided to come bother her, she was barely able to get any sleep until she figured out that Prophecy. So, she had immediately grabbed the two most relevant books in order to piece together a suitable translation.

“Okay, Hoofcraft, just think about this. Madness could have meant Nightmare Moon returning, but that could be the light of the moon.” She started pacing as she thought the prophecy over. “But what the heck is this ‘frozen heart’ and what ‘usurpers’ are coming back? There’s nothing in recorded history of somepony trying to seize the throne from Celestia…” Her eyes widened as she looked at the forbidden spell book. “Which means it might not be recorded conventionally!”

Opening the black spell book, she ignited her eyes as she started searching for the key words used in the prophecy. “Usurpers… Usurpers…” Nothing. Nothing about either failed usurpers or hearts being frozen. There was something in Black Diamond’s section about a “Crystal Heart” rather than a frozen one, but it was some sort of relic responsible for some empire that wasn’t mentioned after his section.

Note to self: figure out how to try getting Black Diamond to talk to me. He sounds interesting. She would consider searching through older memories, but that could take much more time than she had. Especially since that meant she would have to go through several thousand (if not more) years of memories and most likely deal with the Herald associated with those memories.

Slamming the book down, she took a heavy breath before calling out for the two ponies she knew would help her. “Rune Cluster? Storm Breaker? I know you’re both there. If you don’t mind, can you lend a hoof?” She stood there for a moment, but felt her stomach drop when she realized nopony answered her. “Great. Those two are out, leaving me to figure this out on my own.” She was able to eventually fall asleep once more, but it was fitful as she was haunted by the inability to figure out the deity’s words.

“I can’t thank you enough, Granny.” Arcanica floated the last suitcase through the doorway of the apple family’s abode.

“Aw fooey, Canica. Ain’t no hassle lookin’ aftah Apple Bloom’s friends.” She elderly green mare gave her a friendly shove which showed just how strong the farmer could be when she wanted to be. “Ah’m sure Bookworm’ll enjoy hangin’ with her friends for the night. Now go on an’ git! The Gala don’t wait for nopony!”

Arcanica rolled her eyes before waving to the fillies sitting in the living room. “Alright, Book. Have fun and behave yourself!” Getting a call from her sister, she turned and went on her way. “It’s awfully kind of Granny to watch our sisters, AJ.” Applejack and Rarity, who had waited for her to get Bookworm settled, were walking in time with her.

“Oh, absolutely, Darling. I can’t even begin to tell you how much time this saved me in looking for a sitter for Sweetie Belle.”

Applejack chuckled as the trio left the farm and made their way towards Ponyville. “Well, Granny loves young’uns, and loves seeing Apple Bloom having so many good friends to spend time with.” She tipped her hat back as she smiled earnestly. “Put ‘em together with how she practically raised me and Mac, and she’s the absolute best foalsitter a pony can ask for.” The three continued this discussion until they made it to Carousel Boutique, where they found their other four friends (and Spike) waiting for them.

“Hey girls, everything all set at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Of course. The girls are ready for their little sleep over.” Rarity gave everypony a charming smile. “But now, let us all get ready for the Gala. The best night of our lives is tonight!” With a flourish of her mane, she opened the boutique’s door and led her friends in. The seven mares all went to the large changing room and began putting on their respective dresses.

“Hey Rarity, can you help me with the ribbon on my corset?”

“I got it!” Pinkie, already completely in her own dress, bounced over and began tugging on the laces.

“No wait, Pinkie hang oooOOON!” She wheezed and gasped. Her barrel felt like it was caught in a vice grip. “Not so tight!”

“Oops, sorry! Let me just…”

“Pinkie, move over. You gotta have a bit of finesse when you deal with this.” Rainbow Dash shoved the pink pony to the side and got to work.

“Thanks, Dash. Just- NOPE! NOT LIKE THAT!” Whereas Pinkie had nearly crushed her entire barrel, Rainbow crushed the upper half of her barrel… and possibly cracked her ribcage.

“Dangit, Dash! Move over!”

“Wait, Applejack just wait for Rarity to come over and- HRK!” Applejack, despite her good intentions, crushed the lower half of her body and her intestines, giving her an hour-glass appearance. “TOO TIGHT!”

As she gasped and shoved the Earth Pony aside with her magic, she suddenly felt the corset loosen up. “Oh, um, sorry but… I figured you could use a gentler hoof.” She smiled gratefully as Fluttershy properly tied the ribbon and left the dress comfortably snug on her barrel.

“Thanks, Flutters.” Once they all finished getting dressed, and Spike got a little jacket to fit in, the group of eight were all set to go. Now, if Arcanica were going to the Gala on her own, she potentially could have just shadow-walked to Canterlot since the distances would have been drastically reduced. Now however? She was a little amused that Twilight decided to recreate a classic fairy tale theme.

Once Rarity had acquired a team of stallions to pull their carriage to Canterlot, they were on their way. “So, Arcanica. What’s your plan for the night?” She tilted her head at Twilight in confusion. “You know, like how I’m going to spend the night catching up with the Princess.”

“Ah’m going to try raisin’ some money by selling home-made treats.”

“I’m gonna hang out with the Wonderbolts!”

“I’m looking forward to having an absolute blast with all the ponies of Canterlot!”

“I’m looking forward to meeting my potential true love.” Rarity swooned as she fantasized about meeting her Prince Charming but did so in a way that wouldn’t mess up her dress or make up.

“And I’m looking forward to meeting all the lovely animals in the Royal Gardens.” They all looked at her expectantly.

“Well, I can’t exactly say I have a specific goal in mind, but I suppose that it wouldn’t be that bad if there were any other successful writers there.” She smiled as she looked out the window towards Canterlot. “You know, get a fresh take on the industry and get to know other ponies who didn’t get lucky like I did.” And maybe chat with Princess Luna if she’s around. The others nodded and they continued to enjoy their ride as the sun began its descent.

Ultimately, their carriage fell into line with all the other carriages heading to the castle. Once the door was lined up with the walkway up to the castle gates, a stallion in a suit opened the door for them to make their way out of their transportation.

They were all breathless as they stared at the decorations and the castle ahead of them. The trumpets sounded as they made their way towards the Royal Palace, making them unable to keep themselves from giving into the feeling in their hearts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOF3BkkRPSs

Their song concluded, the girls made their way into the castle foyer. Unfortunately, once they were inside, everypony left Twilight and Arcanica, presumably to go fulfill their own desires for the night. “Well that isn’t inconsiderate,” muttered Arcanica.

“I’m sure everypony is just excited to enjoy their nights.” Twilight sounded reassuring but looked more hurt than anything as they got in line to meet the Princess. “Besides, I would want anypony to put off their plans on account of me wanting to spend time with Princess Celestia.”

Arcanica nodded uncertainly. “I guess.”

“You don’t have to stay with me. Go enjoy yourself!” She motioned towards the ball room with a smile. “I’ll be fine. Go find those other author ponies.”

“Well, if you say so.” Taking the purple unicorn’s not-so-subtle hints, the Herald left the line they were standing in and headed towards the actual gala. “Okay, time to see who else was invited.” She looked around the ballroom, seeing Pinkie Pie trying to talk to various ponies around the room she moved towards one of the stallions carrying a plate of appetizers.

As she took a cucumber hoof-sandwich off the tray, a voice came up from behind her with a thick Canterlot accent. “Ah, you are Hoofcraft, correct?” She turned around and saw a mauve colored unicorn stallion with a silver mane standing there, his nose pointing upwards as he metaphorically looked down on her. “I am-”

“Wicker Hoofspeare,” she interrupted. “I’m aware. Your work is incredible. I’m just surprised you recognize me.”

She chuckled nervously as his stare became very unamused. “Quite. But I’d be regress in my title as a master wordsmith if I wasn’t aware of the current popular neophyte.”

Neophyte?! She chuckled awkwardly at his assessment. “Well, I am mostly self-taught, but I am pretty good, if I do say so myself.”

“I’d hardly call it that.” A dark cerulean mare joined them, her dress being far more elaborate and stuffy than Arcanica’s pseudo-vampony gown. “Your metaphors are far too consistent in their themes and delivery.”

“My… metaphors?”

“But of course,” chimed in Wicker. “Those messages of class inequities and the suppression of the masses are all fine and well, but you harp on them far too frequently.”

“Uh, I don’t use themes like that.” She brushed her mane back with her fetlock and took note of their disproving looks. “I don’t write my books and stories about any of that. I just write about cosmic horror.”

“Oh please, like anypony would believe that tripe,” muttered the mare. “Nopony just ‘writes’ a story without thinking about the themes.”

“But I-”

“Now then, if you ask me…” As the two authors began lecturing and keeping her from getting a word in edge-wise, Arcanica groaned in misery. I hope everypony else is having a better night.

An hour later, Hoofspeare was still going on about moving past utilizing cultists and gods to represent “elements of class warfare” and Arcanica was extremely tempted to break her promise to Celestia and unleash any number of Eldritch abominations on the Gala. Sure, somepony could get hurt, but it would spare her having to listen to this pretentious stallion. As she looked around the hall, she saw a familiar dark blue mare looking at her from one of the small garden doorways. As soon as she was noticed, she turned and walked away.

“Um, excuse me, Hoofspeare, but I’m afraid I’m feeling a bit faint.” He looked a little put off at being interrupted. “I’m going to go and get some fresh air to clear my head a bit.”

“Well I’m not surprised you feel a bit faint,” commented the mare, who Arcanica had learned was Mane Shelly. “With a gown like yours and the attention you’ve been gaining from stallions and their eyes, anypony would feel faint.” Ignoring the jab at her gown, she quickly made her way to the door where she saw the mare vanish. Once she was outside and enjoyed the open garden air, she looked around for her watcher.

“Greetings, Herald.” She spun around and saw Princess Luna standing there. “I am relieved thou hast seen me, Arcanica.”

She smiled and nodded to the alicorn. “It’s great to see you too, Princess.” She walked up to the dark blue mare and gave a half-bow. “I’m happy I spotted you when I did. I was on the verge of unleashing something horrible on that annoying stallion and mare.”

She chuckled at the Herald’s exasperation. It was relieving to be in the company of somepony besides her sister who knew the more personable side of her, as ersatz as it may be. “Then thou understand why I planned to remain within chambers and avoid the Gala this year. The ponies who arrive are arrogant and deprive the entire affair of any form of enjoyment.”

The two shared a chuckle over the attitude of the Canterlot Elite before the Princess became more serious. “Arcanica, I saw how troubled you were last night. Did something happen in regard to the Void?”

“Sort of.” She started pacing a bit but didn’t panic. “I was visited by Akzin last night. According to her, The Eyes of Eternity have foreseen a chain of events unlike any Equestria’s history has ever known.”

“What?!” It was extremely fortunate Luna didn’t use the Royal Canterlot Voice at that moment. “Hurashten has seen something of great importance? Tell me, Herald, what was it?”

Arcanica shook her head. “They wouldn’t say. They gave me a rough translation of the prophecy she gave, but it leaves more questions than answers. All I can figure out is that it has something to do with the Elements of Harmony and your return was the first event.”

“I see.” There was a long silence as the news of impending doom loomed over them. “Tell me something, Arcanica. Why hast thou not written to me?” The unicorn blinked in confusion at the lunar alicorn. “Celestia told me she gave thee a scroll containing a spell so that we may converse in the manner she prefers with her student. So why have I not received any missives?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to say, Princess.” She hung her head as she continued. “I wanted to write to you about the monsters I’ve been dealing with the last couple weeks, but that seemed more like I was reporting like a soldier rather than a student.”

The princess stood there thoughtfully before awkwardly resting a fetlock on Arcanica’s shoulder. “Then perhaps we should simply begin with simple letters before moving on to your studies of the Void, Arcanica. I believe the ponies of this age call it ‘breaking the ice’.”

“Yeah…” She gently smiled at Princess Luna as loud techno music started blasting from inside the ballroom. “I think that is- What the hay is that music?!”

“I know not, Arcanica. But it sounds… intriguing.” The two walked back to the door and looked into the room.

It. Was. Hell.

Pinkie had hijacked the stage with Vinyl and was trying to get ponies to dance, Rainbow Dash was holding up a fallen statue, Applejack was trying to fix her food cart, and Rarity was terrorizing Prince Blueblood while being covered in food. “What in Tartarus is happening here?”

There was a loud rumbling before the doors on the opposite side burst open and a stampede of various animals came charging in with a disheveled Fluttershy chasing them. “You are going to LOVE ME!” she genuinely roared. The uptight ponies all started screaming and running from the animals as the already hectic room devolved into further chaos.

“Perhaps thou should leave while still possible,” suggested Luna. “It is possible that the guards may attempt to seize you and your friends.”

“Of course, Princess.” Thinking quickly, Arcanica ran along the wall in order to grab Pinkie and pull Rainbow away from the statue with her magic. “Applejack, forget the cart and grab Fluttershy!” As the five of them made their getaway with Rarity tailing them, they met up with Twilight.

“Girls? What the heck is-”

“Not now, Twilight. We need to run. NOW.” Seeing the panic and state of her friends’ dresses, the purple unicorn nodded before leading them out of the castle and back into Canterlot. Their destination: a donut shop called “Pony Joe’s” where Spike had apparently spent the whole night. The seven of them explained the mayhem of the night and were content to wallow until Celestia showed up to explain why she had invited them all.

Note to self, find a way to get back at Celestia for deliberately using us as a way to lighten the mood.

Finale: The Return of Harmony

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Arcanica stared into the sky intently. She was positive she saw something unusual earlier, and Celestia damn her, she was going to find out what it was. No matter how much work she put into it, no matter how long it took, she was going to-

“Hey sis? Why are you on the roof?”

She looked down and saw Bookworm standing on the stairs. She had a look of sheer confusion etched on her face as she tried to discern what her sister was doing by standing on the roof. “Go back inside, Book. I’m doing something important.” She returned her eyes to the sky above, desperately searching for whatever she had seen earlier.

“Does it have to do with that weird cloud behind you?” She blinked at her sister’s statement. A weird cloud. Turning around, she saw that Bookworm was correct. There was a strange pink cloud behind her.

“Yes. Yes, it does.” She went to poke the cloud, but it sprayed chocolate milk in her face. “Why you little…” She punched the offending cloud and quickly began panicking when her hoof got stuck in the gummy cloud. “Uh, Book? Get heEEEEELP!” The strange cloud reared back like a race horse before taking off with her still stuck to it.

“Arcanica!”

The pink cloud kept flying at top speed, and her efforts to free her hoof simply got her other front leg stuck to it. “Oh COME ON!” The cloud began to fly in loops and made numerous jerky turns. Unfortunately, none of that shook the Herald loose. “Ok, buster. That does it!” Her horn and eyes lit up as purple lightning crackled around her horn. “EAT LIGHTNING DEATH!” She shot the beam of Eldritch energy into the sticky cloud, vaporizing it in a wheezing shriek.

“YES!” She began falling towards the ground, reminding her that she was currently more than a dozen feet in the air. “OH CRAP!” She was over an empty field, so there was nothing to cast a shadow for her to dissolve into. This is going to hurt.

“I gotcha!” Something slammed into her and she felt somepony holding onto her. Opening her eyes, she saw she had been caught by Rainbow Dash and was being brought to the ground. “You ok, Arcanica?”

She nodded as she was set on the ground. “Yeah. Thanks, Rainbow.”

“Arcanica! Are you alright?” Twilight and the others caught up and looked at her in concern. “What the hay was that all about?”

“I’m fine, Twilight,” she repeated. “I got stuck to one of those pink clouds and it dropped me over that field.”

“Oh, those aren’t just clouds!” Pinkie was bouncing in place and looked unusually sticky. “They’re cotton candy! And they rain super delicious chocolate milk!”

“I’m sorry what?!” That just didn’t make sense. “That doesn’t sound like anything normal, and this town already has a skewed sense of what that word means!”

“She’s telling the truth, Darling. As strange as it may be, that is our current situation.”

“It’s not jus’ the clouds. All the crops on mah farm are either growin’ all giant-like or turnin’ inta popcorn!” Applejack then pointed at Fluttershy. “Not ta mention all o’ Fluttershy’s animals now have giraffe legs!”

“This is absolute madness!” Wait, madness? Is this a part of that prophecy?

“Don’t worry, we’re heading to Princess Celestia to see what’s causing all of this.” Twilight walked close and floated Spike onto her back. “I know it’s sudden, but I’d like it if you could keep an eye on Spike until we get back.”

Arcanica nodded as she ran through possibilities in her own head. “Got it. You girls get to Canterlot. I’ll try keeping things under control here in Ponyville.” Getting nods and affirmations, the six mares continued on their way to the train station. “Ok, Spike, let’s get this under control.”

“But how? You’re an author and I’m a baby dragon! What can we do?”

“He’s got you there, Arcanica.” Spike screamed as Rune Cluster appeared beside them.

“Wh-who’s that?!” He clung desperately to Arcanica’s back as he pointed at the chimeric pony.

“Really? Making yourself visible to just anypony now? I thought you had standards, Rune.” She tapped into the Void’s power and summoned the Necroscriptus. “But as for what we’re dealing with, any suggestions?” Spike tried getting answers out of them as she flipped through the ominous book. “I was originally going to use Death Lightning to get rid of the clouds.”

The chimera-pony nodded before joining her in looking over the book. “That’s not a bad idea, but please remember that spell can get out of control after repeated use.” She put a claw to her chin as she used her own magic to flip to her own section. “You’d be better off looking through my section. I used to have to deal with similar phenomena back in the day. If nothing in there works, I’d check the previous section. Smoke Mirror dealt with more of this than I did.”

“There won’t be anything. I burned myself out trying to contain him before he got loose last time,” supplied an ashen pegasus who appeared next to Arcanica. While his eyes had the same black sclera as the chimeric Herald, only one eye gave off the mist. “I barely understood the powers of the Void, so all I did was keep him in a bubble until he figured out how to get out.”

“THERE’S ANOTHER ONE?!”

“Great, so I’ve got one chapter to use to solve this.” She looked over Rune’s section and kept ignoring Spike’s panic. “And judging by your statements, this is Discord’s work, isn’t it?”

Both ponies nodded. “Yup. He must have broken out of the statue that Celly and Lulu turned him into,” said Rune. She looked around as the leaves on a tree in the distance turned into butterflies and began eating the grass around them. “But this is a pretty tame for him. Something tells me he’s just stretching his muscles now that he’s loose.”

“W-who’s Discord?” asked the dragon.

Sighing, Arcanica turned back to the little dragon. “Basically, he’s the God of Chaos and Disharmony, and he’s managed to return to Equestria after over a thousand years of imprisonment.” She closed the book before handing it to the dragon. “Hold this, don’t read it, and stick close. We’ve got work to do, starting with those trees.”

“Let me guess, Restoration of Form?” guessed the pink mare.

“Restoration of Form,” repeated the unicorn as her horn crackled with white lightning and the usual black aura. Gritting her teeth, she fired the surging beam at the flock of butterflies. They were caught in a nonexistent wind as they were dragged back to the tree and morphed back into leaves. She panted from the exertion but nodded. “Alright. That’s that. Now to try fixing AJ’s farm and Fluttershy’s animals.”

The two other Heralds exchanged nervous looks. “Um, you know that spell isn’t something to be used too frequently, right?” Rune Cluster fell in step with the red unicorn and dragon as Mirror faded out. “Even I found it dangerous to repeatedly use it, and I jumped into the Void face first!”

“Um, what’s this Void thing?”

“It’s a nightmare realm where all of your worst nightmares’ nightmares exist.” He gulped nervously at the blunt description as the party of three continued on. “And I’m aware of that. That’s why I’m hoping the animals are still at the farm so I can reduce my number of casts.”

“I’m still not sure you should be using it for individual changes, but you are the current Herald. It’s your call.” Rune Cluster allowed herself to fade out, leaving Arcanica and Spike to continue on their way.

“So, are you some kind of demon sorceress or something?” he finally asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Arcanica shook her head as she pondered how Twilight regularly carried Spike on her back. “No, not exactly. I just happen to have been chosen to be the mortal emissary of a race of demon gods from another plane of existence.” He seemed more terrified at the explanation, so she continued. “Basically, I was chosen to wield the powers of their bizarre dimension and am under orders to seek out anything that either angers or annoys them and deal with anything that slips into Equestria from their worlds.”

“And this is your spell book or something? Is it some kind of manual to wield all these demon powers?”

“It’s not inherently evil, if that’s what you’re thinking, Spike. The Necroscriptus just keeps getting found by ponies with fewer braincells than a rock.” She reached the crest of a hill and took in the chaos that was devastating the Apple Family’s farm. “And stuff like this is part of why they choose ponies to do their bidding. To keep the balance when others might not be able to.” She lifted Spike off her back and opened the book to the desired page. “Hold this, and don’t read.”

He held the foreboding tome over his head and she re-read the spell in question. “Are you sure this is safe to use on such a big scale? The butterflies might have been one thing, but this much and in such a wide area seems a bit much. Maybe that weird monster had a point.”

“Only one way to find out.” Her eyes filled with darkness once more as her horn lit up. She poured more power into the spell than the first time to accommodate for the scale she was dealing with. Arcs of white lightning began striking the ground as she kept charging up her spell. “NOW!” The concentrated void energy shot out of her horn as a wave that swept over a large section of farm. The rabbits that hadn’t escaped the farm got their regular legs back as the trees and corn went back to normal.

She looked at her efforts and groaned when she realized she had only carved a cone of normalcy through the chaos. “Oh, come on!” She stomped a hoof before charging up her horn once more. “Alright, let’s give this a second go.” And maybe a third and fourth.

It took about an hour, but she was ultimately able to restore the farm and animals to their original states. As a result, however, she was currently panting under an apple tree after the amount of exertion she put herself through. “That was horrible, but worth it.”

“I told you to take it easy,” admonished Spike. The Necroscriptus laid on the ground beside him as he tried tending to Arcanica with a bottle of water he procured from… somewhere. He gave Arcanica another drink of water, and she shut her eyes as she recovered.

If reversing this much chaos magic took this much out of me, it’ll take forever to fix the rest of Ponyville. Twilight and the others better hurry up and stop Discord.

“Uh, Arcanica?”

“What, Spike?”

“Look.” Opening her eyes, her pupils shrank as the corn in the fields began popping again. The stalks that didn’t pop uprooted themselves and began swimming in the popcorn as if it were water. At the same time, the bunnies she had fixed began growing wings and flying around eating the apples that began splitting and multiplying on their trees.

“SERIOUSLY?!” She groaned and tried standing up. “Okay, Arcanica. Time to start over.”

“Oh I wouldn’t bother if I were you, Herald.” The two froze at the velvety yet sinister voice that came out of nowhere. “Your gifts, as wonderful as they are, can’t possibly hope to keep up with MY powers.”

“Discord,” she muttered. “SHOW YOURSELF!”

The wind picked up around them as lightning shot through the formerly clear skies. A malevolent laugh filled the air as a ball of light formed in front of them. With a mad cackle, the ball unwound itself and the Spirit of Chaos stood before them in all his mismatched glory. “Well hello there, Arcanica. It’s so lovely getting to finally meet the Herald of this Age.”

“Cut the formalities, Discord. We both know it really isn’t.” Now that she had gotten her second wind, she stood defiantly before the draconequus. “Now what do you want?”

“Such harsh words, that have been cast betwixt us, Herald. You wound me so!” He melodramatically swooned backwards, a plunger arrow appearing out of nowhere to stick to his chest. She rolled her eyes as Spike hid behind her. Getting no response, he raised his head to look at her over his chest. “Really? Nothing?!” Still getting no validation, he turns to look at you. “Yeesh, tough crowd.”

“Are you going to answer me at some point?” Her horn crackled to life as her eyes followed suit. “Because I’m willing to throw your sorry flank to Shevkiral and let his pets eat you for lunch.”

“Really, now?” He leaned in with a smug grin. “Then why haven’t you?” She snarled at him, so he snapped his fingers, making a large spotlight appear over him in order to cast a sizeable shadow. “By all means, try it! I do so dearly miss Uncle Shevy!”

With a grin, Arcanica opened a gate under his mismatched feet, prompting several tendrils of darkness to latch onto his limbs and drag him down into the void-like darkness. Once he was gone from view, she released the spell. “There. Problem solved.”

“Then why is everything still so weird?” She looked over the farm and lost her grin as she realized he was right. Nothing had changed after she banished him.

There was a loud snap before Discord popped back into existence. There were a pair of sunglasses on his face and he was wearing a shirt that read “I got banished to a world of darkness and all I got was this crummy t-shirt”. He took a sip from a soda in his claw before lowering his glasses. “Honestly, Herald, I give it a 4/10. The banishing wasn’t really all that original.”

She growled under her breath before firing the Death Lightning spell at him in a fit of frustration. Rather than dodge, he merely pulled a hole open in his face as if it were putty, allowing the beam of energy to pass through him harmlessly. “Well that was rude,” he muttered as he let go, his head snapping back into one piece. “I take time out of tormenting Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony and you try to kill moi? For shame, Arcanica.”

“Well maybe you shouldn’t be in front of the pony who’s supposed to deal with problems like you!” she snapped. “Besides, if I can at least keep you busy, that just gives my friends time to stop you themselves!”

“You seem quite confident that they’ll stop me, Herald.” He coiled around her like a serpent, pushing Spike away from her. “Why are you so confident that your friends will even be able to stop me?”

“Because I have faith in my friends,” she told him, not letting go of her power. “I trust them to find a way to overcome any obstacle and stop you once and for all.”

“Yes, they will stop me. Because they are the Elements of Harmony. They embody a perfect friendship.” She followed him with her eyes as he kept circling her, his body constantly extending to accommodate it. “Who better than to stop me than the embodiments of friendship.”

“Is there a pit stop between here and the freaking point?”

“My point, Arcanica, is that for somepony who talks about trusting the Elements, you clearly don’t value their trust, let alone follow the Elements yourself.”

She raised an eyebrow at his arrogant smirk. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Think about it. You say you trust them, yet I imagine not a one of them know what you’re actually capable of, do they?” She went to argue, but he cut her off once more. “You lie to them constantly about just what you were given the ability to do, you’re not exactly kind in doing your duty and take everything far too seriously, and you seem to want to keep the secrets of the void all to yourself. That’s not very loyal, now is it?”

“Arcanica, don’t listen to him!” With a snap of his paw, Spike vanished.

“SPIKE!” She glared at Discord. “What did you do to him?!”

“Oh relax, Arcanica. I just sent him back to Twilight’s little library.” He let his body retract back to his normal length before getting in Arcanica’s face. “But face it, little Herald. You can deny it all you want, but not only are you not a good friend, you aren’t even an Element of Harmony. You’re even more of an outlier than that little dragon.” He stopped before thinking about something as they glared at each other.

Arcanica was frantically running through the list of spells she knew that could potentially handle the Spirit. He was just below the Outer Beings themselves, so it had to be something powerful. There’s got to be some way of actually getting rid of him!

“Oh, I’ve got it!” He grinned before snapping his fingers and vanishing. He reappeared shortly after holding a large yellow gemstone cut into a traditional style. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner!” He stuck the gem to Arcanica’s chest before snapping his fingers once more. With a quick flash, the gem was now shaped like her Cutie Mark and set in an ornate golden necklace. “Now you can cosplay like you’re an Element of Harmony!”

“Are you ever serious about anything?” she demanded.

“No, wait, it gets better!” He pressed the gemstone, shocking her when there was an audible click.

“My little pony, my little pony!”

“See? It plays songs when you push the gemstone!” He patted Arcanica on the head, much to her growing annoyance.

Urge to kill… rising.

“Well, I suppose I’ve hung around long enough.” He pulled back the fur on his lion arm to reveal 8 different watches, each showing a different time. “I’ve got chaos to spread, laughs to have, and chocolate milk glasses to drink. Toodles!” With another snap of his fingers, he vanished with a ‘pop’, leaving Arcanica on her own with the book and her fake Element necklace.

“Okay, first things first,” she told herself. She used her magic to pull the necklace off but went wide-eyed to realize it wasn’t budging. “What the heck?” She yanked frantically on the hook clasp but to no avail. “Great,” she groaned, “there’s a Spirit of Chaos on the loose and he decided to stick a piece of costume jewelry on me.” Sending the black book back to her office, she began her walk to town. Hopefully, Twilight and the others were back by now and could lend a hoof to fixing Ponyville.

“And you’re sure it doesn’t come off?” she asked for the umpteenth time.

Rune Cluster shook her head. “Sorry, but whatever Discord did to this thing, it’s not budging. It certainly looks familiar for some reason, but I’m afraid that’s the extent of how much help I can give you.”

“Thanks anyways, Rune.” Nodding, the specter faded as she blasted a flying singing bathtub back to normal. “Great, so that was a flop.” She groaned as a whole flock of singing tubs flew by, prompting her to give chase. She didn’t get very far before slipping on the soap road.

“Arcanica?” She looked up and saw Twilight and four of their friends approaching her. “What did Discord do to you?!”

She blinked in confusion before realizing her eyes were still emanating darkness. She blinked them back to normal before waving it off. “Oh, the eyes weren’t him. They’re something else entirely and I’ll explain later. As for what he actually did?” She pushed the gemstone and that same song played once more. “He stuck this to me and I can’t get rid of it.” She looked over the assembled group. “Um, why is everypony so grey? More importantly, where’s Dash?”

“She’s tryin’ ta catch up,” Applejack said a bit too quickly. She looked around quickly in fright before shoving past them.

“MOVE IT!” Fluttershy angrily shoved past them as Pinkie glared at them. Rarity followed shortly afterwards desperately clinging to an ugly boulder.

“I’m… not sure. I think Discord might have gotten to them somehow, and Rainbow Dash abandoned everypony back in Canterlot.” Twilight sighed in frustration as she continued down the soap road as the moon and sun switched places again. “We were on our way back to Ponyville. I think Discord hid the Elements in the library.” She took notice of a certain missing someone and started panicking. “Wait, where’s Spike?”

“At the library.” Arcanica joined Twilight in corralling their friends back towards town. “I left him there earlier. Figured he’d be safer there than following me around all day.” She mentally winced as Discord’s words came back to her. Wow, I guess I really do lie to them a lot, don’t I? “So, won’t we need Rainbow Dash to stop Discord?”

“It’ll be fine,” she snapped. Arcanica flinched at her friend’s tone, but figured it was most likely due to the stress from dealing with Discord. They finally managed to get to the library and got everypony inside… and Rarity’s rock Tom. Twilight grabbed a specific book off the shelf and opened it up, revealing the six Elements in the now hollowed-out book. “This is great! See girls, we did it! We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!” The four greyed out ponies didn’t give any response, instead choosing to sulk around Tom. “You don’t even care, do you?”

“Nope.”

“It’s alright, Twilight. I’m sure they’ll be back to normal once we stop Discord.” She really hoped so, otherwise Arcanica wasn’t sure what they’d do.

“Ok, that’s it.” She went around the room slapping the elements onto the necks of their respective bearer before putting on her crown.

“Um, Twilight? You’re still missing Dash,” pointed out Arcanica. “I may not be the expert, but I’m certain you need all six Elements present for them to work.”

Twilight rolled her eyes before slapping the necklace on Arcanica. “Fine. Congratulations, Arcanica. You get to be the new Rainbow Dash.” The actual Element of Harmony clinked on top of the one Discord stuck to her.

“I don’t think this is going to work. At all.”

“Too bad,” she snapped. “Now let’s go defeat Discord so we’ll never have to talk to each other again.”

Arcanica hesitantly followed the two earth ponies and pegasus out, leaving Twilight to handle Rarity. “Look out, here comes Tom!” The large boulder shot out of the tree house before slamming into the ground with Twilight following it soon after.

“Well, well, well. I see you found the Elements of Harmony.” The seven ponies stared at the Lord of Chaos as he balanced on his tail. “How terrifying!” Arcanica pawed the ground as she fought the urge to fire a bolt of Death Lightning at him.

“Discord! I figured out your lame riddle,” declared Twilight as she went front-and-center. “You’re in for it now.”

“I clearly am.” He landed on the ground as he spoke in a beyond sarcastic tone to the unicorn. “You have clearly out dueled me, so it is time for me to meet my fate!” He put on a pair of sunglasses and placed a large bullseye on his chest. “I’m ready to be defeated, ladies. Fire when ready.”

“Formation!” The other four Elements and Arcanica lined up beside her as she took aim. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Wait… he knows this won’t work! “Twilight, wait!”

The Element of Magic wasn’t having it, as her crown and eyes lit up along with four of the five necklaces. As Twilight’s Element reached it’s peak, the light suddenly died out, dropping the five mares to the ground. “What just happened?”

“You knew that wouldn’t work, didn’t you?”

The Spirit of Chaos grinned as he got in Arcanica’s scowling face. “Guilty as charged, Arcanica.” He laughed as he clapped sarcastically. “Because you see, this proves that harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools.” As he skated away on the soap roads, Arcanica gave chase, not willing to admit her defeat.

“Get back here, you overgrown snake!” Her eyes reignited before firing a bolt of Eldritch magic at him. With a pirouette and a large mackerel, he smacked the spell away into a nearby tree. With a snap of his fingers, the road rippled underneath her, sending the red unicorn sprawling.

“Really, Arcanica? You don’t seem to be a very capable Herald.” She growled as she got back onto her hooves. Nearby, a pack of flying rabbits passed them without a care in the world. The Draconequus had coiled around her with a teasing grin. “Also, if the Elements of Harmony failed to defeat me, what makes you so sure a Herald can do it?”

“Because I won’t give up on my friends!” She released a pulse of black lightning that forced him away. “I will fix whatever you did to them, and they will stop you!”

He cackled hysterically at her declaration before poking the gem on the fake element again. “You’re not one of the pack, Arcanica. You’re the side kick. The token background pony, the self-insert. You barely count as their friend and that will be your own undoing.” He booped her nose before standing tall over her. “But by all means, give it your best shot! I want to see just how badly you fail at this.” With another snap of his fingers, he vanished.

Arcanica quickly made her way back to the library and gasped when she saw grey Twilight opening a suitcase. “Twilight?! What are you doing?”

“Oh, hey Arcanica.” She sighed as she put her Element into the bag. “I’m leaving. The girls and I just… we don’t click.” She grabbed a couple books as Spike started burping out letters in rapid succession. “So, I figured I’d leave Ponyville while I still can.”

The red unicorn ground her teeth before lighting her horn up with her normal red glow. “No.” She pulled the crown out of the suitcase and placed it on Twilight’s head. “Twilight, you’re the Element of Magic and Princess Celestia’s student. You showed me what friendship is all about, so I refuse to let you give up.”

“Some friend I turned out to be.” She sighed as she removed the crown again. “I couldn’t keep my friends together.”

“But I’m still here. You haven’t failed yet!” Arcanica grabbed the mare by the chin and made eye contact with her. “And you never have! Twilight, you’ve changed everypony’s lives for the better since we all met you and there’s no group of ponies I’d trust more than you girls!” She pulled away while looking unconvinced and stared at the Element of Magic forlornly.

There’s gotta be some way to make her remember everything she’s done for everypony… Her eyes widened as she got a very crazy idea. Remembering… “That’s it!” She ran over to Twilight and put the crown on her friend’s head once more. “Twilight, if you can’t believe me now, then I know just what to do.” Her horn and eyes turned black as she touched her horn to Twilight’s forehead. It was a bit of a long-shot, but this spell was her best bet: Renewal of Memory. It allowed the caster to dredge up any particular memories in another pony. The only reason it was avoided was because it placed the caster’s memories on full display to the other party during the process.

I don’t care if this is how Twilight learns about me. I won’t let my friends down. She heard Twilight gasp as they dove into her memories from her time in Ponyville. The Parasprites, Zecora’s misunderstanding, the Cutie Mark Crusaders coming together, her birthday party, all of it was on display and she was taken aback at the feelings of warmth and love that filled those memories of their friendship. “I’m here Twilight, and your friends will always be there for you.” The brightest memory she could find of them all together was the connection they all shared through their Cutie Marks. “Now please… Come back to us!”

She felt somepony wrap their forelegs around her neck right before the connection was broken. She gasped at the sudden disruption before realizing Twilight had pulled her into a teary hug. “Arcanica… Thank you…” The purple mare pulled away with a determined look on her face. “We can talk about everything later. For now, our friends need us!”

“Right!” Leaving Spike in his bed burping up letters, the two mares charged out of the library. Their destination: their friends.

“Is gagging her really necessary?” Twilight nervously looked at their farmer friend as she fought with the magic holding her mouth shut.

“Yes. I was getting sick of hearing her going on about almost beating Discord in a fist fight. Now hold her still so I can use the Memory Spell.” Twilight nodded before lighting up her own horn to hold Applejack in place.

“Now you listen here, you-” She never finished her thought as Arcanica made contact with her forehead and dove into her memories.

Wow. This pony has a very monotonous life… no wonder she loves going on adventures so much. Putting her commentary aside, Arcanica quickly dragged up the memories Applejack associated with her friends and the ones that defined her as a pony. When she pulled back, Applejack was back to her regular colors and looked very ashamed of herself.

“Wh-what happened?” She noticed the two unicorns smiling at her. “Twilight! Ah saw a vision of us fightin’ and… Ah just couldn’t accept it as the truth so…”

“It’s alright, Applejack. I’ve already forgiven you. Now come on!” She took off at a full charge, with the two following behind.

“Um… so did you…” Fluttershy’s face was even redder than Arcanica’s coat.

“Yes. I did.” Arcanica nodded to Applejack, who untied the rope around Fluttershy’s legs. “I saw everything, and now let us never speak of anything I saw in your memories ever again.”

As Applejack and Twilight helped the pegasus up, Arcanica shuddered. How she’s supposed to be the innocent one is beyond me.

“No! What are you doing?! Stay away from my gem!” Rolling her eyes, Arcanica cast the spell and quickly brought her friend back to her senses. After an awkward silence, the white mare quickly shoved Tom out the door and into her yard. “Let us never speak of this again.”

The group of six made their way from Sugar Cube Corner with Pinkie Pie in tow. The pink pony was laughing her flank off in an apple cart as Arcanica lay draped across Applejack’s back. Her head ached not from the magical strain, but from the confusing cacophony of mayhem that made up Pinkie’s mind.

“Oh come on. My mind wasn’t THAT bad.”

AGH! How did one of you get into MY head?!

“I dunno. Maybe you’re just going coocoo-bonkers.”

“What do you mean she’s not home?” Fluttershy shrugged as she flew down to them.

“Without Rainbow Dash, we can’t use the Elements.”

Applejack nervously rubbed her chin. “She could be anywhere by now. We’re never gunna find her.”

“Yeah we will.” They all looked over to Pinkie. “She’s up there!” They followed her pointing hoof and saw the pegasus they were looking for sleeping on a cloud overhead.

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Hey guys!”

Arcanica gestured with her head for Twilight to take lead. Her expression got the message across quite well. You’re the leader. You can do it.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Discord is still on the loose. We need your Element to defeat him: Loyalty.” Twilight looked up at the pegasus with a pleading stare, but the pony in question scoffed.

“Loyalty shmoyalty. Have you seen Ponyville?” she asked incredulously. “It’s a complete disaster. I’m staying up here in Cloudsdale where everything is awesome.” Her piece said, she returned to her nap.

“How in the wide world of Equestria does she think that tiny little patch of cloud is Cloudsdale?”

“Same way he made you think that rock was a bona fide diamond?” Rarity glared at Applejack’s smug look.

“I though we agreed to never speak of that again.”

Arcanica stepped up. “Well, time for Plan B, I suppose.” The other Elements looked at her in confusion while she grinned.

A short while later, they had secured Twilight’s hot air balloon with Applejack on top of it and Fluttershy flying alongside it. Arcanica leaned forward as Twilight passed the farmer her lasso. “Ok, Fluttershy. You hold her down and Applejack will lower me down so I can get the real Rainbow back.”

“On it.” With a salute, Fluttershy flew down to the sleeping pegasus before gently nudging her awake. “Um, is it alright if I hold you down against you will for a bit?”

“OH COME ON!” yelled Arcanica.

“You know, yelling like that isn’t good for your throat.”

Shut up, Pinkie. Rainbow Dash laughed at their attempt before grabbing her cloud and flying away from them. “She’s getting away!”

“Way ahead of you.” Twilight quickly fastened a loop of rope between her hooves before throwing part of it down to Fluttershy. “Come on, Fluttershy. We gotta catch her.” Nodding, the yellow pegasus grabbed the rope in her mouth and began pulled the balloon behind her as she followed Rainbow Dash. Seeing them following her, Rainbow began performing various loops around them in an effort to make her capture that much more difficult.

Arcanica tried tracking their friend’s movements but found it easier said than done. “This is impossible. Applejack! Can you catch her?”

“Ah’m on it!” Applejack threw a lasso and managed to snag Rainbow Dash, who only accelerated. Unfortunately, Pinkie hadn’t tied off the rope like she was supposed to, so she and Rarity were now being dragged behind the cyan pegasus.

“Rarity! Pinkie!” Arcanica stared in fear at her friends’ precarious position. Gritting her teeth, her eyes and horn lit up. “Don’t worry! We’ll get you!”

“Arcanica? What are you doing?” She noticed the fear in Twilight’s voice but smiled reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. I’m just going to catch Rainbow Dash and get all of this under control.” She narrowed her eyes as Rainbow Dash began to lose her grip. As she flared her wings, Arcanica fired off a chain that successfully wrapped around Rainbow Dash’s barrel and pulled her back, thus slowing her down. Once Applejack added another rope and Fluttershy caught up, they were able to ground the rainbow pegasus.

Once they were on the ground, everypony held a rope to secure the mare in place as she snarled a snorted like a wild animal. “Sorry, Dash. But this is for your own good.” As she delved into Rainbow’s memories, felt her friend freeze up like a terrified animal. Once the mare was back to normal, she looked more confused than anything.

“Uh, what’s going on?” The other six cheered and pulled Rainbow Dash into a group hug.

Arcanica stalked through the warped streets of Ponyville, her eyes and horn ablaze.

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?”

Shouldn’t you be in your own head by now? Get out of mine! She was honestly getting tired of one of the Pinkies from her friend’s head being stuck in hers. She knew full well how risky this all was, but she had to do it.

“Well, I’m one of the Pinkie’s who can read, but I’m also the one with our supernatural radar but no sense of direction, so I’m kinda stuck here.” The mental fragment of her friend shrugged as she sat around in her head.

Arcanica wanted to keep arguing with the Pinkie in her head but saw her target ahead of her on a throne. “DISCORD!”

The mentioned being rotated his throne to reveal its demonic look, a glass of chocolate milk in claw. “Ah, Arcanica. Tell me, how goes your little plan to defeat me?” He raised his glass to his hand and proceeded to drink the glass itself before tossing the solid milk over his shoulder. A large explosion behind him cast a menacing shadow over his face. “Ready to admit you can’t defeat me, Herald?”

She smirked as a large runic circle spiraled out under her hooves. “No. I’m here for my Plan B. Fighting like all hell.”

He rolled his eyes as she got into a ready stance. “Oh right, because that worked so well last time.” He moved his head to the left to dodge the blast of crackling lightning energy. “Well now you’re just being rude.”

“Not my problem.” Her eyes flaring wildly, she began launching a chain of lightning and fire balls at the Sprit of Chaos. As he stretched open a hole in his chest to avoid another blast of Death Lightning, Arcanica sent a set of chains to wrap around his body and restrict his movement. Once he was properly bound, she smirked at him. “Anything clever to say now?”

“What exactly is the game plan here? Kill me where I stand?” He rolled his eyes as he sarcastically clapped. “Because let me just say, both Celestia and Rune Cluster tried that about a thousand years ago and it never worked.”

“Oh, I wasn’t going to kill you.”

“Oh? Then what are you planning? Handing me over to Kreeshva Akzin or Shevkiral? Ooh, or maybe to Vehstrak or Desta’Rahkt?”

“None of the above,” she replied with a smug grin. “I was just the distraction.”

“I’m sorry, what now?” He spun his head around like a corkscrew to see what Arcanica was pointing at. His jaw dropped when he saw Twilight and the other Elements standing at the ready with their magic jewelry equipped. “Wait when did they get there?!”

“It’s over, Discord! We’ve got our Elements back, and our friendship is stronger than ever!” Twilight had a proud smile as she stood alongside her friends. “Ready everypony?”

“READY!” The six Elements began glowing with their proper harmonious light as Twilight began floating with her eyes glowing with the same light. As the six began shining together, the light sputtered out before they collapsed.

“What the?!”

Discord burst out laughing as he slid out of the chains as if he were covered in grease. “Oh my, I didn’t even think this would work! You really did everything like we agreed, Arcanica!”

Her eyes widened at his statement as Twilight narrowed her eyes. “What are you on about, Discord?”

He chuckled as he patted Arcanica’s back. “Well you see, Twilight, I knew I couldn’t defeat the Elements on my own, so I asked Arcanica to help me out with a little plan I cooked up.” He coiled around the now frozen unicorn and tapped the gem without pressing it. “See this little beauty? I made it to absorb the power in the Elements as she restored you all to your normal selves. This way, when it came time for you all to defeat me, the Elements of Harmony would be drained and powerless for the time being.”

“Wait, Twilight I-”

“And the best part is, none of you suspected it the entire time!” He started laughing hysterically as the Elements stared in shock at her.

“Twilight, please! You’ve gotta believe me! I didn’t-”

The unicorn raised a hoof to stop her. “I don’t want to hear it, Arcanica. Not one word.” The red unicorn felt her heart drop at her friend’s statement before she felt a spell wrap around her. The next thing she knew, she was alongside the other Elements. “Your little trick won’t work on us, Discord. Arcanica is our friend, and I know full well she would never betray us.”

“We trust her with our lives, just as she trusts us with hers,” added Rainbow Dash.

“And nothing a bully like you can say will change that!”

“She may not be like the rest of us, but she’s still our very dear friend.”

“She’s a part o’ our little family.”

“And she cares for all of us a lot!”

“Everypony…”

Discord gagged loudly as he quite literally rolled his eyes. “Oh please, you think that counts for anything? She’s not even an Element of Harmony, for crying out loud!”

Twilight shook her head with a smile. “It’s not about that. What matters is that she’s our friend. Regardless of being an Element. Because friendship is more than that. And its something you’ll never understand, Discord!” With her declaration, the Elements began glowing, this time with Arcanica’s joining them to everypony’s shock. “Arcanica took a huge step today in friendship with all of us, and that was firmly putting her trust in us. She let us see her darkest secrets to remind us of who we all were. She showed all of us an aspect of friendship that even we forgot. Trust.”

“FINALLY! The psychic Pinkie and the Pinkie that reads subtext wouldn’t shut up about that!”

Twilight and the others began floating, taking Arcanica with them. “No… not like this!” The six of them surrounded Twilight as she opened her eyes. “How could my trap have turned into an actual Element?!”

“Because friendship is the greatest magic of all.” With that simple declaration, Twilight released the charged energy at the Spirit of Chaos. The rainbow of energy struck him before coiling around him, quickly turning the screaming draconequus into a statue once more. With him sealed, a bubble of energy exploded outwards from their battlefield, undoing all of Discord’s magic and restoring the town to its former state.

The seven mares landed on the ground and shook off the effects of the Elements of Harmony. “Wow, that was new.” Arcanica looked down and frowned at the necklace. “Annnnd this thing still exists.” She tugged on it and sighed when it came undone and didn’t play any music. “At least it’s kinda normal.” She let out a yelp of shock when Pinkie Pie tackled her in a hug. “What the hay, Pinkie?!”

“You’re an Element of Harmony, now!” she cheered. “Don’t you know what this means?!”

“That this is some stupidly contrived deus ex machina that will upset the commenters?”

How can I hear the other yous?!

“YOU’RE PART OF THE TEAM NOW!” Her scream was loud enough to make all of their ears ring, but the others joined Pinkie in hugging Arcanica.

“Aw yeah, now we have Arcanica for the full experience! Welcome to Team Awesome!”

“I don’t remember asking to join the Elements of Harmony.” Her complaint went ignored as the others kept excitedly chatting and even moreso when Celestia showed up to collect Discord and bring them all to Canterlot.

Arcanica sat on a balcony outside the ballroom. Her Equestrian Medal of Honor hung around her neck as she admired the stars. A glass of chilled wine sat beside her, a stark contrast from the excitement inside.

“Hello, Arcanica.” She looked over her shoulder and saw Princess Celestia joining her. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“Not at all, Princess.” The older mare sat down beside her and they enjoyed the moment of silence. “Why?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did I somehow become an Element of Harmony? There’s so much of this that doesn’t add up.” She looked at the Princess. “I don’t get any of this. I’m the Herald, so why am I now the Element of Trust. Weren’t there only six Elements?”

The alicorn chuckled at the onslaught of questions. “Well, for starters, nothing ever makes sense whenever Discord or the Outer Beings get involved. As for the nature of you being an Element? I think it’s fitting for you to be an Element.” She gently brushed Arcanica’s mane aside. “Trust is something that Luna and I lacked before she became Nightmare Moon, so it makes sense for there to be a missing Element. As for your status as its bearer, what better way to protect everypony from the dangers of the Outer Planes than to be an Element of Harmony?”

Arcanica nodded before her eyes widened. “Say, Princess? You wouldn’t happen to have any spare scrolls and quills lying around, would you? There’s something I think I should do.”

The Solar Princess smirked before summoning said items. “You just get your thoughts out. I’ll write.” She unfurled the scroll and got the quill ready.

Arcanica took a deep breath before finally speaking.

Dear Princess Luna,

For some time, I’ve questioned how I would ever write to you. I’ve always assumed this was to be me reporting my studies of the Void and my own powers, but now I realize it was meant to be so much more.

What I was expected to do is connect to you not as a student, but as a friend. While I’m upset it took stopping Discord and realizing just how much my friends meant to me, I’m glad I came to this realization. I realized that my friends and I have something more than just the bonds of destiny or the Elements of Harmony. They mean the world to me, and I would gladly place my trust in them, regardless of the result.

I was so afraid of what would happen if they learned that I was the Herald that I was unintentionally pushing them away. But now? Now I know better than to think my friends would be better off not knowing. If something were to happen to me and my friends didn’t know, it would hurt them so much more than if they knew what I was doing.

I realized that all I was doing was being the worst possible friend imaginable. But no more. I won’t hide the truth from my friends any longer, and I look forward to conversing with you at length in the future. Not as a student or a disciple, but as a friend.

Your hopeful friend,

Arcanica Hoofcraft

She accepted the sealed scroll from a teary-eyed Celestia. Lighting her horn, she sent the scroll to the Lunar Princess before rising. “Sorry to go like this, Princess, but I believe my friends are waiting for me inside.” As she opened the door, she looked over her shoulder. “And… thanks, Celestia. For everything.”

Author's Notes:

Yes, I know I lambasted the concept of "7th Element of Harmony" a while back, but that was kinda the point. It's a stupid idea, and I'm only fine using it since the Elements are almost never used in the context of the series. Besides, at least 'Trust' makes slightly more sense than Empathy or the random Deus Ex fan elements like "Balance" or "Light".

But yeah, it's over. I'll be uploading an epilogue a little later, but this is not the end of Arcanica's story. I will be writing a follow up story to this one continuing Arcanica's adventures with the Elements of Harmony, especially since now the Herald thing isn't such a big deal.

One final note, and this is more a fun/stupid thing, but the Pinkie Pie mind thing is a reference to one of my favorite Abridged Series ever. I like to imagine that Pinkie Pie's mind is a lot like a particular fish-boy's in that there's tons of Pinkie Pies just hanging out in her head arguing over who gets to control the brain. I hope you enjoyed the ride, and I'd like to thank you all for sticking around through all of this.

Epilogue

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“And that about sums it all up.” The seven Elements of Harmony were hanging out in Arcanica’s sitting room. Pinkie had decided to throw Arcanica a “Welcome to the Elements” Party upon their return to Ponyville and the party was winding down. As the celebration started ending, Arcanica had decided to explain the powers the Outer Beings had given her and the truth of her writings.

“Wow…” Twilight was amazed at all the information presented to her. “That explains so many of the weird things in your memories. Who’d have thought that there was a whole other form of magic that nopony had ever heard of.”

Rarity shuddered. “Unfortunately, these Outer Beings sound most unpleasant to gaze upon, let alone picture.”

“Oh, they aren’t so, bad,” reassured Pinkie. “In fact, that Shevy guy was super normal to look at and was super cool!”

Arcanica facehoofed at Pinkie’s comment. “Pinkie I swear. Please stop referring to Shevkiral like that.”

Fluttershy clung to her punch as Rainbow Dash laughed. “Oh please. We all got together to stop Discord and we’ve got you on our side. How bad could one of these guys be?”

“Well, Anzagtik only has real power in the dream world and can kill through dreams.” Except for Pinkie and Arcanica, everypony screamed at the sudden appearance of a green dragon pony and a pink chimeric unicorn. “Hello, everypony.”

“Hi Stormy! Hi Runey!” Pinkie held out a plate of cupcakes to the two specters. “Cupcake?”

“Sure, Pinkie.” Rune grabbed a confection with one of her claws before snapping it up in one bite. Storm Breaker unhinged his own jaw and several barbed tentacles extended to drag a couple cupcakes into his gaping maw. He grunted in appreciation as he slowly chewed the sugary treats.

“Um, forgive me darlings, but um… How to put this delicately?”

“Who or what they hay are these two?!” snapped Rainbow Dash as she pointed at the two former Heralds.

“Everypony, meet Rune Cluster and Storm Breaker. They’re both the spirits of former Heralds who occupy their unlives by haunting the current Heralds and bothering me.” Arcanica looked at the two with a raised eyebrow. “More importantly, how is everypony able to see you? I thought they usually had to see one of the Outer Beings or be a Herald to see you two.”

“They looked directly into your memories, Arcanica.” Stormbreaker gestured to the gathered mares with a grin. “I’m certain they saw plenty in your head to be able to see us and the others.” He snatched up another cupcake as the other mares stared at the two chimeric spirits.

“So, you two are former Heralds?” Twilight’s eyes suddenly lit up as she came to a realization.

“No.” She blinked at the three ponies’ answer.

“Excuse me?”

“Twilight, none of us are teaching you the powers of the Void if we can help it.” Arcanica took a sip of punch before leveling a flat stare at her. “Nothing good ever comes from non-Heralds learning the powers of the Void. I intend to put off teaching anypony as long as possible.”

“I… suppose that makes sense.” She laughed awkwardly before sheepishly smiling at the two spirits. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, Miss Sparkle.” Rune Cluster grabbed a glass of punch and took a long sip from it. “We’re just here to let Arcanica know that the Outer Beings are now paying attention to all of you.”

The mares looked between themselves at the revelation. “This is because of Discord, isn’t it?”

Storm Breaker nodded. “Partially. Discord, like all Spirits of Chaos, is a byproduct of the Outer Planes. As such, his release got the attention of several of the Outer Beings who have now taken note of you all. Especially considering it’s believed you all play a part in a prophecy that was recently given.”

The original six elements shared looks of confusion. “Prophecy?” Twilight looked at the former Heralds in interest. “What prophecy?”

“So the Harmonious Magic in Hurashten’s vision was the Elements, then?” Everypony looked at Arcanica in confusion. “Akzin informed me of the prophecy, and I was already aware of it referencing Princess Luna’s return to Equestria. But now, I think I’ve established two aspects of it.”

“Madness, and the harmonious magic?” asked Rune. Arcanica nodded. “Then so far your correct.” She noticed the confused looks on the other six mares’ faces. “You see, girls, some time ago, the Being known as Hurashten, the Eyes of Eternity, had a vision of a cycle of change unlike anything Equestria has ever known. Arcanica was informed of its existence and has been left to discern the prophecy’s meaning.”

“So far as I’ve been able to interpret, the Prophecy is started with Luna’s return, and Discord’s return was the next section. And best I can tell, the Elements are a prominent part in it.” Arcanica smiled at her friends nervously. “I would have mentioned it sooner, but… you know…”

“It’s fine, Arcanica. We get it.” Twilight laid a comforting hoof on her neck to reassure her. “But now that we’re all in the know, we can help you as best we can.”

“YEAH!”

“As touching as this all is, I’d like to bring us back to where this conversation went off track.” Everypony turned their attention back to Rune Cluster. “Thank you. Now then, as I said before, the Outer Beings are now paying attention to you all. This on itself isn’t something so great, but something to be aware of in the event that something unusual happens around you all.”

“They’ve interfered with Equestria before in order to better comprehend the current Heralds, but this is one of the first times they’ve taken an active interest in multiple non-Heralds,” continued Storm. “We’re not expecting them to suddenly drag you away to another Plane and make you into one of their avatars in Equestria, but they all have a number of eccentricities in regards to mortals.”

“Just be grateful Cosmos wasn’t around to notice everything that happened yesterday.” The two Heralds shuddered at the name.

“Is she another one o’ these, ‘Outer Beings’?”

“Worse.” Storm Breaker shuddered again as he thought on the mentioned being. “She’s another one of their ‘offspring’ and is nothing but mayhem. Be grateful you just had to deal with Discord and not another one of Their offspring.”

“So if we see something weird happen, it’s probably one of them trying to mess with us? Hah! No biggie. We can handle anything they throw at us!” The Heralds rolled their eyes at Rainbow Dash’s bravado but chose not to comment.

The two spirits hung around for a few more minutes before taking their leave. The new guests gone, the party was finally able to end. Once the other Elements were gone, Arcanica went back to her study and smiled when she saw a scroll resting on her desk. It was bound in a blue ribbon with a crescent moon medallion holding it shut.

She picked it up and looked out her window at the setting sun. She wasn’t sure how, but Pinkie’s parties managed to take up so much time with nopony realizing it.

“Sis! I’m home!” came Bookworm’s call from the dining area.

“I’m in my study!” she called back. She looked back out the window and clutched the letter tightly. I may not know what’s coming next, but I have my loved ones alongside me. No matter what gets thrown our way, I just know we’ll make it through.

The Struggles of Running a Book Store

by arcanica_scripta

The Summer Sun Festival, or: Why Does This Happen Now?

Return of the Sun; Did That Just Happen?

Chaos in Ponyville; Why Does Everypony Want to Bother Me?

Problems with Ponies; Forced to Socialize

The Great Search

Revelations

Magical Problems

Dark Tales and Curses

The Problems with Curses

Looking for Help

Fashion Calls

Sonic Rainboom

Birthday Troubles Part 1

Birthday Troubles Part 2

Memories Best Remembered

Dealing With Rarity and Her Sister

Eldritch Magic VS A Determined Pie

The Bonds That We Bear

Going on the Hunt

The Best/Worst Night Ever

Finale: The Return of Harmony

Epilogue