> Eldritch Designs
>  by MaeceusMan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue - Celestia's Fall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Deep in the northern reaches of the arctic, nestled between the Yak's and the Ponies, was a place of much wonder and renown.



Some called it the 'Jewel of the North'. Others, the 'Crown of Celestia'. But to the crystal ponies who lived their, The Crystal Empire was simply called, 'Home'.



An inauspicious name, to be sure. But nonetheless, it was a well earned one.



An independent colony of refugee ponies were the earliest recorded inhabitants, after the Fall of Discord allowed for the reinvention of the written word.



A treaty with the Equestrians allowed for free trade to benefit both nations of ponies for many years, until the throne was taken by King Sombra, and prosperity turned to war.



By the end of the Thousand Year Sleep, and the heroic work of The Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious saved the whole nation, the great empire was more than happy to become a part of Equestria.



Years of peace came and went, and the crystal ponies were content under the leadership of Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.



But laced into this contentment was a thread of fear. The science ponies had a very important, and highly dangerous job to do.



King Sombra was never idle while he ruled. He seized power by experimenting with forbidden knowledge. And he had left in his workshop countless devices, made from crystals and magic, and all but a few of completely unknown use.



And so the scientists worked in secret, in their workshop of horrors, learning what they dared, to try and keep the empire safe from any future Sombra's that might one day appear.



This is the tale of the time they failed in their duty, and of the horrors that followed.



This is the tale of when item 52B was turned on.



•


The throne room of Canterlot Castle had seen much in the one thousand and six years since Princess Celestia, freshly heartbroken from her sisters banishment, had commissioned the empty field high on the slopes of Mount Canter to become the site of her new, sister-less, castle.

It had seen the coronation of new Princesses, and their weddings. It had hosted many a summit and gala and charity dinner. It had been the site of no less than seven separate takeover attempts on the loosely defined Oligarchy of the crown. And in a time of crisis, it served as a command bunker, allowing the Princess to plan and prepare from a place of both comfort, familiarity and authority.

This night, however, it did not serve any of those functions. No, tonight, the throne room sat empty. Instead, the only sign of life came from a small and secluded workroom, adjacent to the throne room. And in this small workroom, made for a palace scribe to quietly sit and take down transcripts of important royal meetings, sat Princess Celestia herself, eyeing over reports as they appeared in fitful flashes of colorful light on her worktable, the only sign of life in the otherwise quiet, dimly lit room.

She liked the spot. It was quiet, unassuming, ordinary, and just about the last place anypony would expect to find her.

The unicorns charged with teleporting in her new reports had been working overtime of late, and the stack of scrolls was growing faster than the princess cared to think about. Certainly faster than she or Luna had been able to keep up with the past few days.

Insurrection in The Griffin Parliament, droughts in the Mild West, and a complete embargo on trade with The Camelu Alliance, just to name a few! Celestia listed to herself, feeling frustrated.

She sighed in resignation, and pulled the next scroll off her stack. It was from a minor noble house clamoring for a meeting on food subsidies.

Midway through a reply, a classic polite denial she had used on many occasions through the years, Celestia paused.

What am I doing? She thought, tired surprise overtaking her frustration. Tonight is Luna's special night. A new holiday, made just for her. A real, honest attempt at making the night as loved as the day. And here I am, not only avoiding the ceremony, but avoiding it to write a form letter?

Celestia shook her head, rejecting the idea outright. This can wait. I will clean up now and then go to that party.

Ringing a tiny bell that sat beside her bottle of dimly glowing fireflies, Celestia rose from the golden silk cushion she had been seated on, and stretched as a side door in the room opened, revealing a brunette mare in a white coat, black spectacles donning her plump, smiling face.

"Yes, princess?" The young mare asked, appearing no more tired than she had when providing Celestia's supper several hours beforehand. "Are you finished for the evening or will you be needing anything else?"

Celestia smiled and shook her head, saying, "No, thank you, Raven, I am calling it an evening, and will be heading to the ceremony right after I get cleaned up. Please see to these scrolls until tomorrow."

Raven smiled sweetly, and stomped a hoof on the floor twice. A moment later, and a couple of servants in their traditional brown vests and white shirts appeared from behind the mare, grabbing the table, the cushion, and all the scrolls between them with a surge of their horns before rushing off, Raven giving a quick bow to Celestia as she followed them, calling for the princess's bath to be prepared.

Celestia smiled to herself as the side door closed smoothly behind Raven. She loved all her subjects, but hiring Raven had clearly been a good choice. She reminded Celestia of her childhood nanny at times, in the days before Discord had forced her family into hiding and dismantled the original Equestrian Triumvirate.

The memory made Celestia's blood boil just to think about, but she immediately snuffed it out. Discord had served 1000 years in a stone suit prison, and the 'mostly' good things he had been doing these last few years were a start on reparations, but as far as she was concerned, Discord would owe her for another thousand years before she could forgive him for all he had done.

Forcing her thoughts and her hooves to move along, the princess turned from the closed service door she had been staring at, leaving her quiet hovel with its isolated freedom, and trot over to the room set immediately behind the throne room.

Inside, she found a table set aside for private receptions. It was set low to the ground so those present for meetings could sit on floor cushions in comfort regardless of species or size, within reason.

Looking towards the far side of the meeting room, she found what she was looking for. An innocuous looking wall at the back of the room, with an oil painting of ducks splashing on a lake hanging from it.

Celestia smirked as she approached the seemingly commonplace landscape. It was a secret passage she had had built in this castle, one of many. Only I don't need an organ in the basement to control this passage!

Resisting the urge to giggle aloud, Celestia looked at the painting with the utmost solemnity and said in her most serious voice, "Quack, quack, quack."

With that, the sound of a deadbolt thudded from behind the painting, and the entire wall swung in on smooth hinges, revealing a dimly lit passageway to its far side.

This time Celestia did allow herself a chuckle of satisfaction as she walked into the hallway, lighting the way faintly with her horn, the entrance sealing with a muffled thump behind her.

The pathway led Celestia along the edge of the castle, with its inner wall to her one side, and the bare side of the mountain to the other.

After a few minutes of peaceful silence, save for the sound of her own breathing, and the muted clicking of her hooves on the dusty floor beneath her, she found another fake door, this one clearly visible as a door from this, its secret side. Twisting the lock with a magical twitch, the door swung inwards to reveal a tapestry hanging across the gap of the opening doorway.

Pushing her way through the tapestry horn first, Celestia found herself in her private bath.

Unlike the more public baths of the palace, this one had been done to Celestia's personal tastes. No marble, no statues, no gold. It didn't even feature running water.

No, instead this room was built in an exact likeness to the bathhouse she had used in her youth, with hardwood planking, woven wall tapestries featuring scenes of nature, and in the room's center; soft, woven wool mats for lounging on while a pony rubbed herself down with a soft sponge after dipping it in a steaming tub of hot, soapy water. A second tub of cool, fresh water sat beside it, and by the door, a stack of fresh, folded towels and a neat row of brushes sat in a pile.

Perfect. The princess thought with satisfaction, seeing the neat arrangement. That Raven really does know what I like.

Celestia sat down on the soft mat and picked up her sponge, cleaning the stress and the grime of the day away. As the heat began to soak into her muscles, she finally felt like she could relax, and began to hum to herself as she worked.

Before long, the soaping was done, and Celestia began to weave ribbons of the cool water over herself in a spell, exhilarating in the temperature contrast from the prior heat. By the time she got to the brushing of her mane, Celestia found herself singing aloud what she had been humming before.

It was an old song her sister Luna had once written, and that the two of them had sung during bath time when they had lived with the deerfolk, and had studied both magic and leadership. She sang:


Gil-Galad was an Elken King,


Of him the harpers sadly sing.


The last whose realm was fair and free


Between the Mountains and the Sea.


 
His hooves were sharp, his antlers keen,


His shining helm afar was seen.


The countless stars of Heaven's field


Were mirrored in his silver shield.


 

But long ago he rode away,


And where he dwelleth none can say.


Into darkness fell his star


In Annudûr where Shadows are.


Where shadows are... and the Dark Lord. The thought came unbidden, but it made her shudder, despite the warmth of the steam permeating the room around her.

"Don't think about such things, Celestia." The princess muttered under her breath. "Think about this celebration you are headed to instead."

But she didn't. Despite the cheery regal face she wore as she left the washroom through its non-secret door and fell into step with her escort of four guards, adorned in gilded helms and barding to her chariot stable, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had settled into her.


Something is wrong.



•


The events of the next hour are lost to all records, and are debated to this day.

What is known is this.

On November 5th, 1005 C.E. at 10:07pm, a massive blast of golden magic was unleashed from the palace.

The force of the onslaught was massive, light and heat pouring from the south courtyard near the Gala courtyard in a raging torrent. Anypony nearby who was looking towards the palace at that moment was struck blind by the light for several days. Even those who had solid walls between them and the source of the blast had vision problems for the next month.

However, at a much safer distance, over in Ponyville:

Twilight Sparkle sat on a hill, watching the night sky with her friends:


•


"I mean, not to imply it isn't fabulous darling." Rarity said in her most reasonable tone. "But honestly, an eclipse just doesn't, well, seem that fabulous... The moon goes away, and then it comes back. Nothing more to it than that!"

Chuckling to herself at her old friend's comment, Twilight continued to offer the eyepiece of her telescope expectantly with an extended hoof as she answered. "I can see how it might seem that way Rarity, but you have to look at this from a historical perspective."

As Twilight continued to elaborate on how greatly honored they should all be, Rarity put on her politely attentive face, an expression usually reserved for a dinner she had attended where either the company or the cuisine left one with a bad taste in the mouth.

The six ponies and one dragon present this evening had a perfect view for the evening's show, spread out as they were on a grassy hilltop with the golden lights of Ponyville spread out to their south. The glowing rectangles of the shops, houses, and boutiques that had remained alight were far enough away that even they appeared to be nothing more than additional stars from the sky, come down to gently land among the ponies in the town below.

Fluttershy was hosting a parliament of owls for the occasion in a nearby tree, under which Applejack was lounging, her Stetson pulled back to give her a proper view of the event. Rainbow Dash had a similar plan, though she had chosen a low hanging cloud as her perch for the evening. Even Pinkie Pie seemed enthralled by the special occasion, jumping around only just enough to keep everypony's punch cup full or to dance around Gummy before returning to her bed of balloons, streamers, and the squashed remains of a chocolate cake. Spike was also occupied, either providing an assortment of cakes for the occasion, or sitting dutifully between Rarity's red satin couch and Twilight's towel spread out on the soft, dewy grass.

"This ceremony was designed to celebrate how Luna left, and was finally able to come back, and all thanks to the work we did," Twilight said, concluding her lesson, "This is to honor us Rarity, the least you could do is try and get a closer look at it like the rest of us have!"

Letting loose her most exacerbated sigh, Rarity at last complied, taking the proffered telescope and looking in it, still somehow managing to maintain her poise in a way that Twilight had never been able to imitate, even with all the training she had received as a princess these last few years.

Sure enough, moments later, Rarity exclaimed, "My word Twilight, but you were right! There is so much more detail on the moon's surface than I imagined! I could do an entire fashion line on the crater patterns alone! Tell me, dear. However do they dim the moon like that?"

Grinning at the opportunity to talk some more about the ceremony, Twilight said, "Oh it was nothing really, just Princess Luna. She is changing the refractivity of the lunar topsoil by about sixty three and a half percent while a group of pegasi and another of unicorns are maintaining the atmosphere and stability of the derig..."

Twilight suddenly realized that the entire group was now looking at her with slightly confused expressions. Clearing her throat and grinning slightly, Twilight said, "Uhhh... Princess Luna is using her magic on the moon."

"Ohhhh!!" Came the simultaneous replies of all present.

Over the next few minutes, the group of friends sprawled on the grass and enjoyed watching the moon grow smaller and smaller, until at last, the barest sliver remained, before it too vanished, as the group members took turns looking in the telescope.

"So Dashie," Pinkie Pie said with poorly suppressed excitement in her voice, "Who is he? Come on, we all know you are seeing somepony now, and as far as my Pinkie sense is concerned you have been seeing them for a whiiiiiillllleeee. SO WHO IS IT?!?! Tell me tell me tell me tellmetellmetellmetellme!!"

Lounging on a low hanging cloud nearby, the voice of Rainbow Dash carried down to the others, saying, "Huh? Oh, uh, sorry Pinkie, can't really hear you from up here in these clouds! Too bad!"

"But Dashieeeeeeee! Coommmmeee oooooon! He's a unicorn, I know he is!! My pinkie sense says there is a doozie of a surprise involving a magic pony coming soon, what else could it be?!"

Twilight and the others were laughing at the whole exchange, but a sudden bad feeling made Twilight stop short.

Sitting in the faint light of the stars, she looked around the hillside warily, not knowing what exactly she was looking for, until...

"Ummm... Twilight?" Spike asked, looking off to the side, no longer admiring the eclipse through the telescope.

Turning towards the young dragon, she saw what he was pointing to, and realized with surprise what had set her on edge.

Canterlot was glowing. She hadn't thought about it because that was how the magical city on the mountaintop always was at night, but...


Tonight they dimmed their lights more than anywhere else as part of Luna's celebration, so what is that...?


Reaching out with her magic, Twilight grabbed the telescope, nearly knocking Spike over in her haste.

Apologizing quickly, she looked in the telescope, turning it quickly from the now growing light of the moon and aimed it towards the now growing light of the city on the mountain, only to see with horror...

"It... it's..." Came the horrified words from Spike besides her.

"Burning..." Came Twilight's equally horrified reply.

Quickly turning away from the inferno of white fire that seemed to have suddenly consumed the city towards her friends, she yelled, "CANTERLOT IS BEING ATTACKED!"


•


Deep in the underbelly of the Crystal Empire, a group of scientists spoke in hushed, nervous tones.

These was not the nervous tones they normally used as they carefully tried to study and catalogue the many devices in the old labs of King Sombra.

No, these were the hushed, nervous tones that oppressed, fearful ponies had once used when King Sombra himself had ruled over them all.

Despite the great strides the crystal ponies had made since they had been liberated from the shackles of enslavement by The Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious, and despite the benevolent rule they had been privy to under Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, some said that it would still be years before the crystal ponies would ever be able to fully trust anypony again.

Not to say that the fear these scientists felt on this night was not justified. For only moments ago, off in a far corner of the large room, a red gem on a shelf of yet to be studied items had begun to glow, and it was growing brighter.

Thankfully, the scientists had not had to wait long before a flash of intense blue light came from outside the lab, and in stepped their Princess, still faintly illuminated in the dissipating afterglow of her teleport.

"Where is it?" She asked, sounding tense. Her hair was still up in rollers from bed, though she still looked every inch the commanding princess.

The lead scientist, a doe eyed crystal unicorn mare with a caramel mane and olive coat, gestured for the princess to follow, and explained as she moved off between the shelves full of items. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Princess. We followed your standing orders exactly. Nothing has been done since the device activated except to call for you."

Cadance nodded as she walked besides the scientist, and asked, "That's good, Doctor Corona, but what is it? What do we know about this thing?"

The doctor hesitated a moment before she replied, "We... don't know, Princess Cadance. I'm sorry. This entire section of the lab hasn't even been looked over since we did a preliminary sweep for active items when our work here began three years ago, but this thing was very much inert at the time. We only found out it was active now by chance. The janitor noticed the glow while making his nightly rounds and alerted us right away. And we have not started to work on any new relics today, so it certainly isn't reacting as part of a set of paired devices. Or..."

"Or what?" Cadance asked as the dusty shelf with the glowing red jewel came into sight in front of the them.

The doctor hesitated again, then finally she added, "Or at least, not a set that we have both pieces of."

Frowning, Cadance bent forward, and looked at the device in question.

It was a small stand, a rusty shade of copper, with a slot on top that held the now glowing gem. It pulsed regularly with red light, and there seemed to be something visible inside the gem itself.

Recognizing the image she saw inside the gem with sudden alarm, Cadance quickly asked, "Is the light pulsing perfectly regularly, or have the flashes been getting faster?"

"How did...? Yes, Princess Cadance, it is pulsing with a regularly increasing rhythm the whole time we have been observing it. We estimate an increase of about 46 BPM in the last hour or so. Why, what does it mean?"

Cadance turned from the light and began to rush for the door, the scientist quickly falling into step behind her.

"It means," Cadance said urgently, "that we need to hurry and get a warning to Celestia. I think that this device is a trigger, and the light is the countdown."

"But how can you know that, Princess?" came the exacerbated reply. "You only just looked at the thing!"

"Because," Cadance replied, as she picked up her speed again, "I can see Canterlot Castle through that gemstone, and I doubt Sombra was in the habit of building communicators with countdown timers!"


•


The cry of alarm from Twilight had spread as quickly as the flames had engulfed Canterlot. Ponies all over were galloping, flying, or somewhere in between.

Twilight had tried to take command of the situation, but she had never quite figured out the knack to crowd control. Rainbow Dash on the other hoof had already coordinated most of the town's pegasi, and was finishing off with the last of them.

"Thunderlane! Milky Way!" She yelled from the point on the hilltop where she hovered, "And where the hoof it Cloudchaser? Sassaflash, get back here! You all need to get any other flyers gathering as many rain clouds as you can find. And somepony, uhhh, Featherweight, you're pretty quick. Go send the alert to Cloudsdale, pronto! We need every drop of clouds they can make! Well? What are you all flapping around for? Let's go, go, go!"

The group scattered, wings flapping hard as ponies went off to do what they had been told.

Still stunned, Twilight blinked and stared, wondering what she should be doing herself. Only moments had passed since the fire had been spied, but already the dread had made it feel to Twilight like hours.

What is happening? She thought. That fire is golden. That means it isn't natural, it must be magic fire... and golden, so it must be...

"Celestia!" Twilight cried aloud, suddenly realizing the implications of golden fires in Canterlot. "Celestia is under attack! We have to help her!"

Twilight realized that everypony seemed to be running around already, gathering supplies, waking others, or heading for the train station to try and reach the capital to provide further assistance.

Looking around frantically, she spied a coifed violet mane bobbing in the crowd, and rushed towards it.

"Rarity!" She called as she galloped and flapped. "RARITY!"

At last, Rarity turned and spied Twilight through the crowd, rushing over to meet her.

"Twilight!" She called over the din, plainly looking horrified. "What is going on? What can we do?"

"I don't know what is going on," Twilight yelled back over the cacophony, teleporting a wagon out of her way as she approached. "But we need to do all we can to help. Dash seems to have a grip on the fliers, but I need you to help get the others working together. If we come at this with calm heads, we will be much more effective in helping with whatever this is."

"And what about you?" Rarity asked, exacerbated. "In case you forgot Twilight, you are the princess, not me! Not that I wouldn't mind being a princess mind you, of course nopony ever thinks to ask Rarity about such th-"

Twilight cut her off, "I am going straight to Canterlot. That is golden fire, Rarity, which means Celestia is in some kind of magic battle. She probably needs all the help she can get, and I am the only princess who can get to her quickly right now, with Luna on that flying platform and Cadance up in the Crystal Empire. I'm sorry, Rarity, but I need to go!"

Smiling warmly and nodding, Rarity gave Twilight a quick hug, and as Twilight turned towards the mountains of the capital, kicking off from the ground and flapping her wings hard for altitude, Rarity called after her, "Be careful, Twilight. I have a bad feeling that this is Pinkie's doozie..."

Surprised that she hadn't thought about it before, Twilight looked towards Canterlot and the raging golden fire that was consuming it. As the sounds of running ponies faded behind her, Twilight played in her head again what Pinkie Pie had said only a few minutes ago, but already felt to her like a lifetime.

But Dashieeeeeeee! Coommmmeee oooooon! Pinkie had whined. He's a unicorn, I know he is!! My pinkie sense says there is a doozie of a surprise involving a magic pony coming soon, what else could it be?!

Twilight shuddered despite herself. And not because of the sudden wind chill her rapid mountain ascent had brought on.


•


With a quick surge of magic, Celestia wrenched a collapsed bookcase out of her makeshift tunnel, stepped into an open room, and threw the bookcase back behind her, breathing heavily.

Okay, she thought. That should seal the exit...


For now...


It had taken a lot of magic for her to break through that first hallway, and the screams of Lieutenant Haze had filled the room behind Celestia as she managed to overcome the void stones.

I am so sorry, Lieutenant. All four of you, I am so sorry. Celestia thought, sipping the bitter cocktail of guilt, regret, duty and pride that always followed somepony sacrificing themselves for her sake.

Looking around the dusty room she now found herself in, Celestia tried to orient herself.

After a few moments consideration, she identified it as an old storeroom, long forgotten and covered in dust.

"I am the first pony to set hoof in here in a very long time," she noted under her breath. "It should be safe to teleport from here, if I just knew where here was..."

Celestia quickly ran around the room, knocking over a few dusty crates full of old blankets. Finally, against a wall in the corner of the room, she found a framed map of the palace, and a red line drawn on it from a room labeled 'storage' towards a red X labeled, "Emergency Exit".

Celestia grinned, chuckling to herself in tired triumph. Saved by a 500 year old safety briefing map!

Feeling victory approach her grasp, Celestia grabbed the map with a quick tug of her horn, and then froze in shock.

The underside of the dusty map that had been supposedly leaning against a wall for half a millennium was also covered in dust. Looking around the room, she noticed that the underside of a crate she had knocked over was also evenly covered with dust, as was everything that had been in it.

And then she looked behind herself, to where there should be a trail of fresh hoof prints disturbing the dust on the floor.

There weren't any.

"It's another illusion..." Celestia whispered aloud in horror. "I am still in the trap..."

Turning an ear back to the opening she had made in the wall, she frowned, listening hard.

"No noise from behind, and no pursuit..." She noted to herself.

...that I can hear or see. she added silently.

With growing dread, Celestia now felt certain that this was indeed a trap, and it had been one the whole time. From my washroom to here, everything that has happened has been planned. Mess with my mind, hold me until I 'escape'. And then, slam the trap shut! So that means that it wants me to either follow this map or to teleport to safety. There is probably some ancient artifact nearby that would divert my destination...

So what do I do about it? she considered, perplexed. Chance it on that theory being wrong? Wait for it to catch up and then desperately face what part of it I can even see, without help from either Luna or the Elements of Harmony this time? Blast through more walls until I have used up all my strength?

I have no choice. She said to herself with resolve. I mean, what else can I do? Summon Discord?

Celestia blinked in sudden surprise at the idea. Summon Discord! That is something it would never see coming! And Discord's magic shouldn't be affected by very many artifacts besides the Elements of Harmony, so he might actually be able to get me to safely!

Celestia closed her eyes, and reached out with her mind, quieting all thought and her growing sense of panic. She reached out towards all the anger and frustration Discord had caused her over the years. She reached out to the infuriating way he managed to do everything. She reached out to the memory of the pain he caused the world, the desperation of the rebellion against him, and the fear she had felt when Discord had almost killed Luna in the Everfree Forest. And finally, she reached out to all of the joy and satisfaction she, and every other living being on the planet had felt when he was finally imprisoned, and especially to how satisfying it had been to set him by a hedge maze in the palace gardens as a lawn ornament.

"Lawn ornament?! LAWN ORNAMENT?! I'll show you lawn ornament you llll..."

Celestia opened her eyes, revealing Discord standing in front of her in the room, quivering with fury.

Blinking in surprise to himself, he finished with a calmer, "...lllovely princess!"

Apparently suddenly realizing where he was, Discord said, "Wait, how did I get here?" He began looking around the room, seemingly confused. Turning back to Celestia, he said enthusiastically, "Wow, princess! What a coincidence meeting you here! I was just... uh, at home, uh, taking a bath, and then poof! Here I am, not spying on any more ponies memories just like I promised I wasn't doing the last time!"

As he spoke, Discord in a flash became dripping wet, a towel quickly rapping itself around his midriff, a shower cap adorning his head, a rubber duck clutched in his tail. He topped it off with his best, and most infuriating, 'innocent' smile.

Celestia was not certain whether she more wanted to hug Discord for showing up or to strangle him for spying on her thoughts. She hadn't actually cast the spell that would summon him yet.

Not trusting herself to make the right choice, Celestia said in quick, hushed tones, "Discord listen! You have to get us out of here, right now!"

"But... I..."

"No time," Celestia said urgently, adding, "Get us out of here, and I'll explain everything. Now just do it!"

Sighing dramatically and adjusting his shower cap, Discord squeaked his rubber duck.

A flash of stars later, and the room was empty. There was not even dust on the floor.


•


Among the hooves of a hundred frantic ponies, Spike the Dragon skillfully ducked, dived, and dodged.

To the untrained eye of the average pony around him, Spike may have appeared to be no more than a baby. Yes, he was about the twice the size as a newborn foal. But he was actually on the tail end of 19 years old!

Still, he conceded to nopony in particular, I suppose by dragon standards I'm, what? A hatchling? Ugh, it doesn't matter Spike, it's not like you hang out with dragons anyways. No matter what everypony thinks, you... are a man!

He just wished that made him taller.

But alas, he had grown only a solid half a hoof since he had first come to Ponyville, and that meant dodging and weaving between the legs of ponies.

The price of longevity, Princess Celestia had once called it, the one time he had gotten her to speak to him about either his own people or even what it was like to live so long.

But that had been all he had gotten from her on the subject.

He had wanted more, of course, but knew better than to push it. After all, as Princess Celestia herself had put it, they had plenty of time.

Of course, Spike considered, looking back over his shoulder at the expanding golden glow of Canterlot Castle up on the mountain, maybe not quite as much as we ever think we will have.

He didn't mean to seem callous, but he was more concerned about getting the information she owed him about where he came from than he was about her safety.

For one thing, he considered, a dragon does not grieve for the death of an elder who has lived so long, as nodragon can say that they didn't live a full life after so much time had passed.

And for another, he added with a confidence he hoped was justified, Celestia is one of the most powerful beings alive, and one with incredibly powerful allies. If anypony will be okay, it would be her. Or Twilight.

Twilight... he considered, feeling concerned. He had seen her fly off in a hurry, and he had confirmed from Rarity that Twilight was headed right into the thick of it without bothering to wait for anypony else to assist her.

Not like she might need the help of the Element of Harmony or anything! He mused as he executed a quick roll to dodge a cart laden down with water barrels being pulled by a pair of rushing ponies.

No, he added semi-sarcastically to himself, she gets taller and gets wings before I do. Twilight gets all the luck... she'll be fine.

Still... he added, as he glanced towards the burning city yet again, why couldn't she have at least taken me? I can ride on her back just fine! I don't even fall off anymore!

Finally, Spike reached the far side of the throng of moving ponies, and ran into the crystal tree house.

He charged up the stairs and grabbed a blank scroll, some quills, and a bottle of ink.

Flexing his stomach muscles and diaphragm, he wreathed the materials in a quick belch of flame, watching them spark and fizzle as they were swept up and out the window.

There! He thought, feeling quite proud of himself. If Celestia is really in trouble, she can now easily send me a message!

Feeling suddenly uneasy as he glanced out the window at the golden glow of the distant city yet again, he added, unless she is really in trouble...


•


It did not take Twilight long to reach Canterlot, flying directly from Ponyville. Within 10 minutes of hard flapping, and with no discernible tailwind, the young Alicorn came upon the city, confused and troubled by what she saw.

The south side of the Castle, rear wall to the princess's stables and the gala banquet hall, was destroyed, apparently the result of a powerful blast of power. From that point of origin, a line of damage was carved into the ground, and everything along its path was consumed with Celestia's golden colored fire. The flames had quickly spread, and several buildings on the periphery to Canterlot City proper were already engulfed in the golden flame.

The fire department was out, attempting with some success to stop further spread of the fire through a combination of water hoses, flyover sandbag drops, and strategic use of oxygen choking magic spells.

Twilight considered for a moment stopping to help, then thought the better of it, quickly gliding over the heads of a group of on-looking ponies, some garbed in night clothes, others with packs of hastily gathered belongings being dragged from homes near the ones that burned.

She landed into a gallop, charging horn first into the large, smoking hole that had been blasted from the side of the palace while she tucked in her wings.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out as the acrid smoke filling the air began to make her cough with some vigor. "PRINCESS CELESTIA!"

Twilight's mind began to race. What happened to the Princess? Is she okay? What happened here?

The smoky air growing thicker around her, Twilight concentrated. A small bubble of fresher air appeared around her head, contained in a glowing, magenta colored field.

I have to find her, quick! She thought with growing dread. Please don't let this be Pinkie's doozie!

And on Twilight charged, deeper into the smoking palace.


•


As soon as the writing materials had disappeared into the darkness of night, Spike had turned and ran back outside, before headed straight for the gang's designated emergency meeting stop: Fluttershy's cottage.

It wasn't far, even for somedragon with legs as short as his own, but since Fluttershy hosted everything from shy bunnies to giant bears to Discord out at the cottage, its separation from the rest of town only made sense. That same separation was what had made it the designated meeting spot in case of trouble.

Finally, with the Everfree Forest almost upon him, Spike spied the cottage, and saw the silhouettes of ponies inside.

Not even bothering with the main door, Spike jumped head first through the bunny door, landing in a pile on the floor.

Groaning and panting, a stitch forming in his side, Spike pulled himself to his feet and looked around. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, he counted. Applejack must still be out hauling water and Rainbow Dash would be either coordinating the weather ponies or working with the Wonderbolts. And Twilight is...

Quickly, while still catching his breath, Spike told the others that he had sent materials to Celestia in case she needed anything. And that he had figured he might as well meet with everypony else while he waited.

"Oh my," Fluttershy commented when he was done, fluffing her wings in nervous agitation while she held tightly onto Angel Bunny. "I do hope everypony is okay."

"Oh come now Fluttershy," Rarity said reassuringly from an armchair, her croquet needles clicking rapidly. "If anyponies can handle themselves, it would surely be Princess Celestia and Twilight!" But Spike could see the doubt on her face as she turned to look out at the dim glow of the night.

The room was quiet for a moment, the only sound the crackling of the wood in the fireplace and Spike's sporadic panting; everyone just looked out the window while Canterlot burned.

"Ohhhh!" Pinkie said excitedly as she started moving about sporadically, interrupting the silence. "Stiff neck, knee twitch, different knee twitch!"

"Oh come on Pinkie!" Spike said, scooting rapidly away from the hall and the twitchy pink pony. "You can't seriously have a combo right after a doozie! What was that one, anyway?"

"Hmmmmm...." Pinkie said, thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure that would be an unexpected guest appearing. Or, a guest who is expected, but appearing in an unexpected way? I dunno, it depends on which two knees twitch, and in what order. I don't really get that combo often enough to be sure. Like, this one time..."

Spike stopped listening to Pinkie as she continued. He normally paid more attention than most to the details of her prophetic twitches, but his mind kept going back to Twilight. He felt sick with worry. Really sick with worry. In fact...

"I'm gonna be sick. Gotta go!" Before anypony could react, Spike turned and threw himself through the door out of the cottage, before he collapsed to the ground in a patch of short grass, his stomach hurting fiercely: tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Spikey? Hey, are you okay?" It was Rarity.

Oh, I really don't need this right now. He thought desperately before saying, "No, I'm, I'm fine, Rarity. I just... want to be alone for a little while."

Rarity nodded.

Turning as if to go back into the cottage, she instead hesitated, before saying, "I understand, Spike. But don't worry, Twilight will be okay. I'm sure of it."

Spike sniffed, then looked up at Rarity and asked urgently, "How can you be sure of that Rarity? HOW?!"

Spike looked away from Rarity in shock, then lowered his head, and curled up in a smaller ball in the dirt. He didn't think he had ever shouted at her like that before.

Leaning close to him, she smiled and whispered, "Because I need her to be. And so do you. And I feel like this need is one that I can actually help with. Though, much like Pinkie and her twitches, I don't really know how."

Spike nodded, but said nothing. The pain in his stomach was still there, but otherwise he felt a bit better.

Continuing on, Rarity added, "Now you just hold on, Spike, and I'll get you a nice cup of tea. I'm sure Fluttershy has something for an upset stomach."

Looking up at her smiling face, Spike said quietly, "Thanks, Rarity."

Before he knew what he had done, he was back on his feet, wrapping Rarity in a hug.

She hugged him back with one leg, and gently pat him on the back.

That pat on the back was what did it. Before Spike could hope to move to a better, or at least less embarrassing, position, he let out a huge belch.

Massive flames erupted, and Spike was shocked to see Rarity's hair get singed from the heat. She quickly let him go and ducked away from the flames, shrieking in surprise as she began to beat out her own hair.

Finally, the belching stopped, and Spike collapsed back to the dirt, though this time from relief. The stomach pain was gone!

Laying there with his eyes closed, Spike heard a gasp of shock come from the house.

Pinkie yelled out, "I KNEW IT! IT WAS AN EXPECTED AND AN UNEXPECTED GUEST BOTH SHOWING UP UNEXPECTEDLY IN AN UNEXPECTED WAY!"

Sitting up, Spike opened his eyes, looking at the burned circle of ground where most of his fire had been launched.

Curled up on the ground surrounded by burnt, smoking grass, neither one of them moving, were Twilight Sparkle and Discord.

Everypony rushed up at once, with Spike not a moment behind.

"Are they..." Spike asked as Fluttershy looked them over carefully.

"They're fine." Simultaneous sighs of relief were the only response.

"Or, at least..." she added, hesitating. "Twilight is. I don't actually know if Discord really needs to breathe. Because if he does..."

"He's NOT BREATHING?!" Pinkie exclaimed in surprise, rushing up from behind to look the spirit of chaos over carefully, somehow wearing a nurses outfit Spike didn't remember her wearing a moment earlier.

"Well..." Fluttershy paused, considering. "He's not doing anything. I don't think he would be doing so little even if he were sleeping. Or faking..."

"That's true..." Rarity added aloud. "This is the first time he hasn't done something over the top. Not so much as a dramatic pose after appearing in such a spectacular fashion."

"Maybe he needs mouth to mouth?" Pinkie asked, looking over to Fluttershy curiously.

"Oh no." Fluttershy said, shaking her head and growing more flustered by the word, red spots appearing on her cheeks. "You are assuming he has lungs, or that he needs to breath, or that he has a heart, or that he isn't just a big faker!"

"Fine! I'll do it!"

The arguing cut out immediately, and three sets of eyes turned towards Spike. From the looks on their faces, they had all but forgotten he was even there.

Oh great, he thought. Nopony objects to the guy doing the dirty work!

Muttering to himself under his breath, Spike lay Discord on his back, straightened his head, and began to apply compressions to the center of his chest.

"One, Two, Three, Four..."

The night was quiet. The only sound besides Spike's counting was the faint hum of commotion back in Ponyville, and some quiet muttering from Fluttershy as she, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie all worked to carefully carry Twilight's prone form into the cottage.

"Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty!"

Spike sighed, then pulled back Discord's head, opened his mouth, leaned in, and blew.

"OOOOOOOooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhH!!!!!"

Spike was thrown back from the force of Discord's yell.

A commotion of charging hooves, and Spike was soon accompanied by the others, all looking tense, Rarity wielding a frying pan she had acquired from inside.

"What happened?!" She exclaimed, the pan hanging dangerously in a light blue shimmer above her head.

Spike however, was a little busy licking the ground with his tongue to answer.

"I'll tell you what happened!" The no longer prone form of Discord said, looking frustrated as he stood there in the dim moonlight, quivering with anger. "I rescue a princess from a horrifying trap by getting consumed by dragon fire, the one form of magic out of the castle that isn't being blocked, while shielding her with my own frail body, and you thank me by having, not one of the lovely ladies and best friends of the princess I just saved go ahead and save my life, but instead you just leave me for the dude to kiss?"

Spike pulled his head up from the dirt long enough to say, "I know, right?" before going right back to his licking.

Ignoring him, Rarity turned back to Discord and demanded, "So, what is going on in there? Who is behind all this? Is Celestia okay?"

Discord sighed and shook his head, sitting down on a chair shaped pile of dirt that rose up to meet him. "I don't know who I'm afraid," he said grimly. "Who, or, whatever it is, it can actually block some of my own magic, which I didn't even think was possible!"

"Well...", Fluttershy noted softly, "Tirek managed to take your magi..."

Discord visibly recoiled from the mention of his former betrayal, an event that had set his reputation in Equestria back for years.

"Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, blushing again. "I..., I'm sorry Discord, I didn't mean to..."

"No," he cut in, standing stiffly, the chair reforming into a smooth plot of grass once more. "It... It's okay Fluttershy. Once again, I'm the one who is sorry... I..."

"It's hardly the time!" This time Rarity was the one to cut in. "What happened Discord?!"

She rushed up to him, standing snout to snout as she stared him down despite his height and demanded, "What happened to Twilight? Where were you two? What happened at the Castle? Is Celestia all right?"

Pushing her back, Discord began to pace back and forth, a curled pipe appearing in his mouth as he did so, saying, "I was summoned by Celestia, who, well, isn't doing so well right now. I thought she was the target of this attack, but I'm starting to think she was just bait! Otherwise, why let me, or Princess Twilight Sparkle, or Princess Luna in there to try and help her? I can only assume Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor are well on their way to the castle by now as well, if he is going for the complete set."

A light bulb suddenly appeared above Discord's head, bathing the dark yard in intense light, making everypony squint and turn away.

"That's it!" He said, seeming both excited and pleased with himself. "That thing can't stop me out here, I'll be right back!" Without another word, Discord snapped his claw, and vanished in a sparkle of stars.

For a moment, nopony said anything. They all just stared at the spot Discord had been standing in, wondering what had just happened.

Finally, Fluttershy asked, "So, shall we go see about waking Twilight up then?"

Spike pulled his head back up from the dirt, apparently done at last with his licking and said, "Finally, the first good idea I've heard all night. But first, I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

As he walked past the spot of grass still smoking from his fire, Spike spied something among the charred stalks.

Reaching down, he picked up a scroll, slightly singed, marked with a crescent moon in a background of stars, the personal seal of Princess Luna.

It was addressed to Spike.

Opening it quickly, Spike began to read, his eyes growing wider with every word.


•


Discord had been to the Crystal Empire before, a few years ago.

He hadn't done so appearing as himself in millennia more.

It had been a dream of his once, back when he was conquering the world, to bring this Crystal Jewel into his empire.

But the nature of the power here was crystalline, and that meant he could never pass the gates himself without permission of those who ruled here.

As such, it was never a conquest, always a siege. He had suspected that one of the main hubs of ancient resistance to him had been in this city. And he had known of the other one for sure, deep in the Forest that would be called 'Everfree' in defiance of his rule.

And yet now, here he was, walking the streets of the city he once dreamed of seeing in flames; with his banner - the red and yellow eye- hanging from every structure.

Instead, it was calm and crystalline, though with a lingering tension in the air that he suspected was not entirely directed at himself.

It didn't mean he was entirely welcome, of course, crystal ponies had long memories even before you considered that most of them were alive long enough ago that they hadn't even heard of Nightmare Moon when King Sombra had done what Discord himself could not.

And the incident with Tirek...

Discord shuddered despite himself.

That had been a mistake I may never fully live down, he said to himself for the millionth time.

Finally, several suspicious questions and angry glares later, Discord was allowed to approach Cadance and Shining Armor; the stallion was ordering guards to prepare chariots; the Princess was deep in urgent discussion with a unicorn in a lab coat.

It was the prince who noticed Discord first. Moving with surprising speed, Discord was astonished to see the prince snatch a spear from one of the guards with his magic, and was aiming it directly at the Draco's heart.

Of course, Discord didn't actually have a heart in that location at the moment, he was already moving them both down to his knees.

"What do you want, traitor?" The prince asked through gritted teeth, staring daggers at Discord.

"Shining Armor! Put that thing down!"

It was Cadance. Rushing over, she enveloped the spear in a glow of her own, and floated it back to the guard as she added, "How many times do we have to go over this Shining, if Celestia and Twilight still trust him, then so do I. And so do you!"

Shining Armor relaxed his stance slightly and nodded to Cadance before turning back to Discord and asking in a much calmer tone, "What do you want, Discord?"

"I... well... that is... I was going to offer you both... uh..." Discord smiled nervously and shrugged as he added, "fast transportation to Princess Sparkle and her friends?"

He paused a moment, then added in a sudden rush, "Oh yeah, and Canterlot is under attack, an unknown enemy has Celestia and Luna trapped, and I barely managed to get your sister and myself out of there in one piece."

The two royal ponies eye's got wider by the word, until by the end, the room was dead silent.

Finally, Cadance added in a quiet voice to her husband, "I think that crystal bomb in Canterlot Castle will go off soon. We have to get there fast."

Shining Armor nodded grimly, then said to Discord, "Take me to my sister."

Discord didn't respond, the sudden revelation of a crystal powered bomb being in the castle he just been trapped in had thrown him for a loop. If I hadn't been able to escape... he let the thought hang their, he really didn't want to imagine what would have happened to him if he had been hit by a crystal weapon.

Instead he snapped his clawed hand, and the three of them vanished in a cloud of stars.


•


Applejack was on edge.

She had been ever since the evening had begun, though she had no real idea why.

It just... felt wrong. Like a shadow was cast over the entirety of Equestria. A shadow that felt... hungry.

She hadn't said anything, of course. After all, Granny Smith said 'when somepony walks over your grave, don't hide in bed all day, that might just be where the boogiepony gets ya!'

Okay, she admitted silently, maybe not the best of Granny's stories for this situation.

Regardless, she kept silent about her uneasy feeling as the gang sat on the grassy knoll watching the moon ceremony. She considered asking Rarity if she was getting the same feeling, but that was when...

"CANTERLOT IS BEING ATTACKED!"

The next couple hours were a rapid blur to Applejack: filled with running ponies frantically trying to bring water to Canterlot as quickly as possible. She helped of course, between her and Big Mac she suspected they had drained nearly half their excess water supply into barrels being loaded into train cars.

And yet... that uneasy feeling didn't change. That shadow was still over everything, and the brighter Canterlot glowed in the distance, the darker it almost felt to her like that shadow was getting. It was... focusing on that area?

It was only when Discord found her that Applejack remembered she was supposed to meet her friends at Fluttershy's in case of an emergency like this.

"Why didn't I realize that?" She asked Rarity, the two of them sitting in the warm living room of the cottage, Twilight laying prone on a blanket, still asleep. She continued, "We should have used the Elements of Harmony by now and just fixed everything! And now look at us... we scattered like June bugs in August as soon as this whole mess started! Some friends we are!"

She yelled the last in frustration and worry. But Rarity just sat their quietly, staring into the crackling flames.

Finally, when Applejack began to think that her friend might simply have not heard her, she opened her mouth to repeat her thoughts when Rarity said... "You say... a shadow? I think I know what you mean, except I was going to call it this maddening buzzing noise in my ears. And I can't... I just can't think clearly because of it. I think..."

She suddenly turned towards Applejack, and silhouette as she was in the red glow of the flames, her drawn features made her look slightly wild. AJ suddenly felt relieved that Rarity's didn't have glowing green eyes at the moment. Rarity continued, "I think that whatever this thing is, it has been planning tonight for quite a while now."

She looked down at Twilight, breathing peacefully, yet utterly unresponsive where she lay by the fire and said in increasing frustration, "We separate instead of work together, and now Twilight is put in some kind of magical sleep as soon as she escapes capture, so even though we are getting everypony back together now, we still can't use the Elements!"

"Maybe so," said a new voice from the door. The ponies turned with surprise to see Shining Armor and Cadance entering with Discord.

Cadance continued as Shining rushed over to check on his sister, "Whatever this enemy is, it has been planning this attack for a long time. It somehow figured out exactly what to do to incapacitate nearly every single one of us. And if I understand Discord correctly, it appears the next part was to hold Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Discord as bait while the five of you walked head and horn first into the castle to save them, where it would then set off a bomb made my King Sombra hidden somewhere in the castle, and take you all out in one fell swoop!"

Sudden realization made Applejack ask, "And what about y'all? The Crystal Empire ain't exactly next door, if this was a plan to take out every threat in 'one fell swoop', how were, or are, the two of you gonna be taken down? And fer that matter, in case you didn't notice, Princess, Canterlot's kinda on fire, I think that bomb of yers as already done and blown its top!"

"Umm... excuse me, but what's this about a bomb?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

It was Shining Armor who answered, standing up from his sister to join the gathered group. "Cadance found a device had been activated in the empire which suggested a bomb was in Canterlot, and is going to go off soon. But there is no way it has gone off yet. The countdown timer we found still has a good hour or so on it."

"No," he continued, pacing as he spoke, "No, leaving that timer for us to find must have been bait, to pull the two of us out of the safety of the city..."

"A place that even I couldn't enter without permission," Discord added helpfully.

"Yes..." Shining Armor said, glaring at the Draco as he continued, "So I'm willing to bet there was a surprise waiting for us on the carriage ride here."

"So...?" Cadance said to him, gesturing with a smile at Discord.

"So..." Shining Armor grunted, "I guess I should thank you, Discord. You probably saved our lives by coming to get us like you did. I... appreciate it. Thank you."

Applejack expected Discord to shrug, or laugh, or at least to frown. She was instead surprised to see a tear form in the Draco's eye as he said, "You're welcome.", before turning to look at a nearby wall.

The room was filled with a muted silence for a moment, the only sound that of the fireplace as the wood continued to crackle and pop.

Until a sudden series of rapid pounding beats on the front door made everypony jump out of their hooves.

"Come in!" Fluttershy called as the door flew open, revealing a dark silhouette, cloaked and hooded.

"Oh-oh-oh goodie!" Discord yelled in delight upon seeing the new arrival, appearing outside behind it in a flash, asking how the trip went, ushering the figure inside as he did so.

Nopony else either moved or relaxed a half a hoof until the pony threw back her hood, revealing a vibrant, rainbow colored mane.

The cheers cut through the tension as several ponies rushed forward to greet Rainbow Dash.

Applejack was among them, though she thought she spied another cloaked figure out among the shadows of the trees for a moment as the cottage door closed with a thud.


•


It didn't take long after Rainbow Dash rejoined the others for a decision to be reached. The fact that Discord had been ensnared so easily was of particular concern, as was the fact that whatever this thing was, it wanted them to go attempt a rescue of the two princesses.

"So..." Rainbow Dash said, having been apprised of the situation. "We can't go to the castle without getting trapped, Discord is as vulnerable as the rest of us against this threat, and we can't use the Elements of Harmony until Twilight wakes up, which there may not even be time for, as there is probably an ancient magic crystal-bomb thing created by King Sombra expected to go off at any moment hidden somewhere in the depths of the castle. Is that all? Or did I miss anything?"

"Shoot!" Applejack added crossly. "I hate to say it, but I reckon we lost this one, ponies." She hesitated, looking at the ground dejectedly, kicking at the flooring with her front hoof. "I think we gotta treat this one like the vampire bats a while back."

Applejack looked up at Fluttershy, who immediately turned away from that gaze, saying almost under her breath, "Better to lose some of the orchard for sure..."

"Then lose all of it and starve..."

Rarity had added that last bit, suddenly understanding that pulling need in her head. She added, "I hate so say it, but I think you may be right, Applejack. We need to pull everypony away from the castle, and evacuate Canterlot quickly. And we have to hurry! Half of Ponyville will have arrived there with water by now!"

"But there's no time!" Cadance cut in over the urgent babble of ponies, silencing the group. "That bomb is probably only going to last minutes, not hours! And that is what we will need to evacuate such a large group."

"Then I'll buy you all some time..."

Everyone turned with surprise to Shining Armor, who stepped forward into the center of the procession. He had been nearly silent since his arrival, constantly checking on his sister.

"I'll head in there, and try to stop that bomb." Shining said. "Protection and shielding spells are my specialties, maybe it will be enough to save Celestia and Luna. And if not..." He paused, looking towards the dim glow of the capital through the window, still visible, even through the trees, and added, "It may give you all the time you need to save some lives."

A few minutes later, and a plan was set. Spike, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie would be teleported to Canterlot, and begin the evacuation. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would do the same for the airborne. Cadance and Shining Armor were going for the castle. And Discord was to stay behind to guard Twilight, after teleporting everypony off to their destinations.

"And remember Discord," Cadance said as she tightened the last strap on her saddlebag. "The instant anypony gets where you can safely reach them, you teleport them to safety, got it?"

"Yes, yes..." Discord said, sounding bored as he snapped his claw, a dozen more Discord's appearing behind him. As a group, they said, "We'll be covering all the exits, and ready."

The front Discord then added something under his breath, which Rarity could have almost sworn was, "Stop copying me."

"Okay," Shining Armor said, nodding in approval at the state of the group before turning towards the Discords, and said, "Do it."

The front Discord nodded towards the other Discord's, who vanished in a large flash of stars. He then turned to the party, and said, "Good luck."

A snap of his fingers, and everypony vanished.

As the last of stars faded from his sight, Discord turned and walked to the back of the house. He walked over to the bedroom, and peeked in.

Twilight was still unmoving, just like they'd left her, sleeping.

"There is no way to stop it," he said sadly. "I'm sorry princess, but it's better you just sleep through what's coming. I'll wake you when it's over."

As he left the room, closing the door softly behind himself, he added, "I don't think any of us will have a good night's sleep again after tonight."


•


On a hillside outside of Ponyville, near Sweet Apple Acres, sporadic flashes of star-filled light began to light up the moonlit night. As they faded, groups of ponies were left standing, confused and dazed. Before long, most of Ponyville found themselves surrounded by apple trees, followed shortly thereafter by a steady torrent of flashes containing Canterlot ponies.

Another flash, and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike all appeared at once.

Spike blinked the stars from his eyes, and began to look everypony over, looking for anypony from home who was still missing.

"Everypony's here!" He almost cheered the word. "We did it! We..."

Spike suddenly realized that not everypony was there. The only princess he could see was Twilight, and she still seemed to be asleep, even now. Discord stood near to where she was curled up on the grass, and he was talking quietly with another one of himselves.

As Spike approached Twilight, he overheard one say to the other in hushed, urgent tones, "Yes, but you don't think it could really be behind all of this, do you? I thought we were free of it?"

"No, surely not." The other replied harshly. "The loss of the palace doesn't necessarily mean that... ah Spike, you made it!"

Spike jumped. He hadn't meant to overhear, but it wasn't often one saw two different bodies take the roll of talking to yourself.

Shaking it off, Spike said in surprise, "What do you mean, 'you made it?!' You teleported us here! And forget that, where are the other princesses and Shining Armor?"

The second Discord turned to the first and said, "We'll talk about this later," before it walked into the first Discord, the two of them becoming one.

"Passive teleports," Discord said absentmindedly, looking off towards the capital with wide eyes. "...so as to keep myselves out of range as much as possible. I didn't want..."

Suddenly, Spike noticed that Discord was not the only one looking towards the castle with wide eyes.

Turning around quickly, he looked off at the distant castle, and gasped.

The golden fires consuming Canterlot were replaced by arching waves of red and violet lightning, silently pulsing from the castle.

For a moment, everyone stood there in shock, as the city became consumed by the bomb.

And then the shockwave hit, like a brick wall of sound, knocking everyone back.

A sharp pain cracked the back of Spike's head, and everything went to black.


•


Deep in the burning hallways of Canterlot Castle, Shining Armor galloped.

"Celestia!" He cried out, in growing desperation. "Luna! Cadance!"

He and Cadance had split up upon entering the castle, in a hope to cover more ground, but it was proving fruitless.

And now the fires were changing, the intense glowing gold being replaced with an odd mix of red lightning smoking off of purple flames which seemed to writhe along the walls, and sometimes seemed to form into faces, twisting into grim expressions.

Feeling desperate, he reached out with his mind once more, using his horn to try and sense strong magic, but with all the madness around him, it was like trying to pick out one voice yelling in a crowded amphitheater. Not going to happen.

Turning the last corner, Shining Armor found himself face to face with one of the princesses he had been seeking.

Princess Luna was normally a sight to behold. But with her flowing mane that seems to hold the entire night sky within it blowing wildly in all directions, her wings widespread, and her stern countenance enhanced by intensely glowing eyes, it became immediately obvious why she had become one of the rulers of Equestria all those many years ago. No one dared to mess with her.

"Your Majesty! Princess Luna! We have to get you out of here!" Shining Armor cried, his princely position forgotten to the instinctual training of a young captain of the royal guard.

Without turning to face him, her horn blasting surges of power at a particularly large coiling of red lightning, she boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "NOT WITHOUT MY SISTER, PRINCE. FOLLOW."

With another powerful surge of magic, the hallway cleared of magic flames enough for a path to become clear.

The princess charged into the opening, Shining Armor barely managing to get through behind her before the flames returned, thicker than ever.

As they ran, Luna yelled, though no longer in the Royal Voice, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU KNOW THIS MUST BE A TRAP. YOU ARE NO ROYAL GUARD ANYMORE, SHINING ARMOR! YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PEOPLE TO PROTECT NOW!"

"IT'S A LONG STORY," he yelled back over the cacophony. "WE CAME TO BUY SOME TIME WHILE THE CITY IS EVACUATED! THERE'S A..."

A pillar collapsed in front of them, but with a quick surge from their horns, it was quickly knocked aside. He continued as they entered the grand foyer, the sound of the flames growing fainter behind them. "There's a bomb King Sombra once made that seems to have been activated, and we came to try and stop it before it was... too... late?"

He stopped running, panting, as the princess had stopped in her tracks midway through that last sentence.

"And how do you know about this?" She asked, seeming tenser than before, staring off into space. "Was there by any chance a pedestal with a small gem on it that began to glow somewhere in the toy box of the old mad king?"

"I... yes!" He exclaimed, suddenly confused. "But how did you know...?"

"Because," she answered, turning and heading down a new passage than the one she had been heading towards, "We hid that thing on purpose. This isn't Sombra's toy. Come! I know where Celestia and your wife will be. Follow."

And so they ran, the multitude of magic energies closing around them.


•


Twilight's head hurt.

Her horn hurt.

Her lungs hurt.


Why would my lungs hurt?



Smoke inhalation.


She tried to look around, but couldn't seem to move. A heavy blanket seemed to weigh her down.

Hello?! She tried to yell. Can anypony hear me?!

What happened? she thought. I was in the castle, and I found Celestia, and she was... laughing?

The heavy blanket engulfed her thoughts, and Twilight blacked out.


•


Twilight awoke again. This time, she could just manage to open her eyes. She didn't know what she was seeing, it was all happening so fast.


Golden flames, purple waves, red lightning, black bars of light, wings beating, horns glowing, empty eyes.


Her eyes fell closed again. The heavy blanket was weighing her thoughts down again, but Twilight had almost thought that she had found Celestia and... Discord?

She tried to concentrate but something was making it difficult to stay...


•


conscious.


Wait, did I just black out again? How can I tell, my eyes are still closed?



Why does it smell like Spike's breath?



Am I on fire?



•



Voices... hello? Who is that?


"Are they..."


Spike?


"They're fine."


Fluttershy?


"Or, at least... Twilight is. I don't actually know if Discord really needs to breathe..."

Darkness.


•


A kiss on the forehead pulled Twilight out of the darkness this time. She heard a familiar voice, though she didn't know how it could possibly be here.

"... hope you know how sorry I am Twily. I'm your big brother, I should have been able to keep you safe, like I promised mom and dad I would. I..."

Twilight suspected she blacked out again, because the next thing she heard was, "... it will be dangerous, but I have to do this. I have a responsibility to Celestia and Luna as well. I am, well, I was Captain of the Guard in Canterlot. I guess in my heart I still am. So Cadance and I are going to try and save them. But, just remember, in case the worst happens... I love you Twily, and I always will."

The blue and white blur moved away from Twilight, and as everything went dark, Twilight whispered aloud, "I love you too BBBFF."


•


Again, Twilight awoke.

She was outside, and the sun was up.

This time, her wing hurt, as though she had fallen on it.

But her head felt clearer.

Getting to her hooves, Twilight took in her surroundings.

All around her were ponies, sprawled among damaged and leafless apple trees. Some were looking towards the sky, seeming nervous. Others were looking towards the castle...

"The castle!" Twilight said aloud in shock, though not very loudly, her voice was still horse.

She tried to flap above the trees for a clear look, but found her wing hurt too much to try it.

Probably a sprain, she thought, a book on Pegasus wing anatomy flying through her mind.

Before she could take that thought beyond wondering if Alicorn wing anatomy worked the same way, Twilight was knocked to the ground again, this time as a ball of cotton candy jumping on her, yelling, "...sssssshhhhhhhheeeee's aaaaawwwwwaaaaaakkkkkeeeeeeee!"

A moment later, and several new shapes jumped on the pile, as all Twilight's friends cheered and yelled in celebration.

Finally, everypony got off, and Twilight looked around, smiling at all her friends. They all seemed frayed, and looked tired, but they were all there. But something was off...

"So, what have I missed?" Twilight asked, her head still faintly buzzing. "I've been unconscious since last night, you would think they would-"

"Um, Twilight...?" Rainbow Dash said, hesitantly.

"- I mean sure, the castle caught on fire, but obviously if everypony's here, it was taken care of, but then why are we at Sweet Apple Acres? I can't ima-"

"Twilight!"

"-but at least we didn't have to use the Elements of-"

"TWILIGHT!"

This time Twilight managed to notice that something was wrong. Her friends were smiling at her, but they had fear in their eyes. Hesitating, she asked, "What now? What's wrong?"

Applejack stepped forward, and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. She sighed, and said, "It's two o'clock in the morning Twilight. Look at the sky."

Confused, Twilight glanced up at the sunny sky, only to realize, that the other half of the sky was a starry night, lit by a full moon.

Twilight felt the buzzing in her head get louder, but she pushed back against it. Looking back to her friends, her voice firm, she said, "Tell me everything."

Before anypony could begin, Discord appeared in a shower of stars, looking frightened, running past the group towards the barn, yelling, "THE CASTLE! IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN! EVERYPONY GET BACK TO THE SHELTER!"

Twilight and her friends ran behind Discord, and a thousand unanswered questions flew through Twilight's mind as the sky began to glow red and purple behind her.


•


"And then we tie off the flow with a surge, pulled from the red one and pushed into the green one at the same time?"

"Yes, and that should be able to contain the power, while dissipating any excess energy at the same time."

Cadence nodded. The sweat poured down her face and into her eyes. She was bent over a panel of glowing crystals, being given instructions by Luna, who stood opposite her, working with her own magic on the other panel on the device.

"You better hurry..." Shining Armor called, his voice straining from effort. "I don't think I can contain this thing for much longer...!"

Cadence didn't comment. She had noticed the room was turning red tinged with purple again. The bomb was trying to release another wave of power, and Shining had been holding that shield for a while now.

"I am ready on this end, Princess Cadence. Make haste!"

She barely heard. All of her concentration was being taxed as she moved the final piece of the amazingly complex spell into position.

"I've got it!" She yelled as the device locked with a satisfying click. "Shining Armor, you ready for this?"

A sad chuckle answered her, which she understood to mean, like I have a choice?

"Very well!" Luna was having to yell now, over the deafening sound of the charging blast. "Into positions!"

Cadence ran over to Shining Armor, and smiled at him. He smiled back.

"NOW!" Luna cried, as waves of colorful light emanated from her horn.

Shining Armor dropped his shield, and as the room became consumed in an inferno of powerful and dark magic, Cadance and Shining Armor touched horns, and all three of them pulled the red and pushed the green.

The spell matrix locked, and they knew no more.


•


It took a few minutes for the hundreds of ponies hiding in the Apple Family farm to realize that the bomb wasn't going to blow again.

Twilight was still slightly dazed, but had found herself entranced as Discord had casually mentioned how he had made the inside of the barn larger than the outside so it could hold everypony safely.

It took several minutes more for everypony to get outside again, as Discord insisted making the door larger on the outside was somehow far more difficult than the feat he had just pulled.

At last, the crowd of ponies was out, and all looked towards the castle in awe.

The castle was glowing. But not the purple and red glow of the explosions, but a pure, golden light, tinged with traces of light in a wild mix of light blue, deep blue, and rose colors.

Twilight looked at the glowing spectacle and felt tears come to her eyes. She recognized those magic colors. She knew who must be casting that spell.

"I... I think I need to be alone for a little while..." She said to nopony in particular.

But luckily the ponies seemed to understand, as they left Twilight alone to walk among the apple trees.

What do I do? She asked herself, feeling dazed. Is it safe up there? Are they... are they all okay? Should I risk sending some ponies in to see if it's safe now or wait? What if there are survivors in need of rescue?

Her musings and self doubt were interrupted by a claw tapped Twilight on the shoulder. She looked down at Spike, who, much like he had a thousand times before, was holding out a scroll for her to read.

She smiled as she looked at the letter, then did a double take. By the sun crest seal that had held it closed, it was from Princess Celestia.

Twilight opened the scroll in a quick surge of magic, and began to read, her eyes going wider with each word read.

It was the last will and testament of Princess Celestia, set to magically be sent to Spike in the event of an incident. It took Twilight only a moment to see that he was holding a second scroll of the same size, this one with the crescent moon seal of Princess Luna holding it closed, the seal still unbroken.

Fearing the worst, she plucked this new scroll from Spike's clawed hand, cracked the wax seal, and confirmed. It too, was the last will and testament. Only this was the one for Princess Luna.

Twilight felt numb. She couldn't think. She couldn't...

With sudden dread, Twilight realized that Spike had a third scroll, held in his other hand.

She felt sick with worry now, as she checked the scroll. Seeing it did not contain the crest of the Crystal Empire almost made her cry out in joy. Cadence and Shining Armor must still be okay!

The new scroll hadn't been sealed, and was actually written on Twilight's own personal stationary. From the state of the letter, it appeared to have been hastily written, and charred around the edges more than was normal for a message sent by dragon fire should have been.

And the spellwriting was unmistakably Luna's.

She read, then read it again, and then again a third time.

 

Twilight Sparkle,

I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it seems fate has forced my hoof. You are all that remains of Equestria's leadership. Celestia is gone. A horrible and ancient weapon has been unleashed. In a desperate bid to stop it, Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and myself, have put in place a powerful shield to protect everypony from a truly horrid fate. I fear however, that we may have to hold the shield in place for a very long time until it can be safely turned off. Until then, we are trusting in you, Twilight Sparkle, and your friends, to keep all the ponies of Equestria, and us safe. We wish you all the luck in the world.

Princess Luna

Princess Cadence

Prince Shining Armor

 

The letter contained one final message, a poem, written by Celestia, with the clear instructions for it to be read at her funeral.

Twilight read the note, and smiled. It seemed appropriate, somehow, that these would be Celestia's last words.


"Celestia was a Golden Queen,


Of her the ponies sadly sing. 


The last whose realm was fair to see,


From the far off ocean to the Everfree."

 

"Her horn was long, her pride was great,


But in the end it was too late.


The burning sun in Heaven's sky,


Will be there much longer than I."

 


"Yet if indeed I now must go,


I love you all more than you know.


But into darkness I now fall,


In Annudûr, where Shadows call."


With love, from Alicorn Princesses Luna and Celestia of Equestria


Formerly known as: Pegasus Lunar Glow and Unicorn Celestial Light, daughters of King 
Solaris and Queen Aurora
of the Equestrian 
Triumvirate.


Á na márië


 

By the time she finished reading the note, Twilight found herself crying. She couldn't help herself. She let the tears flow.

She turned to see a crowd of faces, all looking to her expectant, worried, or nervously hopeful.

I'm still a princess, she thought. Even now they still need leadership... Especially now.

Her voice still a bit horse, she spoke to the gathered crowd, using a spell to amplify her voice.

 

"My fellow Equestrians! Today-"

 

Twilight didn't recall the words of her speech. But by the time she had said her piece, the ponies looked to her with a new level of respect. But she didn't care about that.

 

Instead, Twilight turned to each of her friends in turn, and looked them each in the eye, questioningly. They all nodded back to her, giving their silent approval.

 

With a faint smile, Princess Twilight turned back towards the city, and said in a loud, clear voice, "Come on everypony. This night - has only just begun... We have work to do."
> Chapter 1 - Unexpected Guests
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Eleven Years Later...


Twilight Sparkle was dozing, slumped over the latest reports from the front. Across from her in the steel reinforced concrete room, surrounded by charts, maps, and reports, sat a silently musing and professionally pissed off Rainbow Dash.

Not to say that Rainbow Dash was upset with Twilight for dozing during their late afternoon briefing while the various Generals, Admirals, and Marshals summarizing their recent accomplishments in the field in a perfect storm of droning monotony and blustering grandstanding that was, frankly, conducive to sleep.

No, if anything, Rainbow Dash envied Twilight her sleep, and was in fact quite pleased to see her old friend getting some for once. Even if it was only a light doze, drooling over paperwork.

That certainly didn't stop General Silverback from blabbering on. He was apparently convinced that he would have the entire war 'ended in a fortnight', and with his two left hooves behind his back, no less.

This blunderbuss was what was pissing her off. An old relic of Celestia's Royal Guard, he had assumed some measure of authority as a real military structure was established in modern Equestria. His tan coat and brown mane might have looked intimidating as a young pony 50 years and 100 pounds ago. Instead, Rainbow thought the old fool looked more like a dandelion burrito that had been wrapped up to tightly, and had begun to squeeze out of both ends of its tortilla. How he was still a general, Rainbow wasn't entirely sure. Unlike Twilight, she just couldn't stand the guy.

Now Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, had certainly earned her own title. She had once argued that rank should only be earned through number of scars, though in retrospect, she supposed that was a foolish idea.

And so, Rainbow Dash said nothing, going over again in her head the more important details of an aerial assault she had been planning herself to actually remove the threat presented by a fortified enemy outpost three clicks east of Draconridge Pass while the old windbag went on.

While she did so, the changed appearance of Rainbow Dash these last few years were more than apparent. She wore streamlined navy blue battle fatigues which were a far cry from the old days. Back then, her cerulean coat and vibrant rainbow colored mane were all she had needed to distinguish herself from those around her. True, nopony was ever going to mistake her for anypony else even now, but military life made the need for a uniform a regrettable necessity. If the other officers wore theirs, then by Celestia, so would she.

Though she certainly didn't wear her uniform to any degree of professionalism now; her jacket was unceremoniously tossed in a corner, hiding the lightning bolt crest that signified her own rank of General. Her slacks needed an ironing, her hooves needed a polish, and even her mane, less vibrant in its rainbow coloration than it once was, needed a good brush.

An alarm blared up at the surface, the wail near imperceptible as it carried through the many fortified rooms of the reinforced mountain bunker, down to its deepest levels. Rainbow could just to say make it out from the Command Bunker they were currently in, deep in the crystal caves beneath Old Canterlot.

She sighed, stifling a groan. That alarm was meant to signify an incoming squad of enemy bombers, who had been dropping their bombs at more or less the same time of day these last few weeks on the south-side of the mountain. It did unnerve Rainbow Dash slightly, as that was the very side of the mountain they were on, the bombs all but falling on their heads. Almost the Shadow's way of saying- I know where you are in there!

She didn't like it. That had to be a message, she doubted the lack of random bombing was a coincidence. This just felt too... precise.

Rainbow never let it show that the bombing was bugging her, of course. The third day in a row this had happened, she just told everypony to use that alarm as the sound off for dinner time. She had been half joking at the time. After all, that was the kind of cocky attitude that all the new recruits expected, no, needed, from Rainbow Dash, to get them all through this.

And to Rainbow's surprise, it now appeared that even the General had embraced the idea.

The first wail of the alarm hadn't even sounded off fully, and the old colt stopped his speech mid sentence, and despite his considerable bulk, he had managed to grab his coat, packed his bag, and rushed out the door in 10 seconds flat.

In a manner of moments, the rest of the officers followed suit, leaving the room to fade into an empty silence.

The contrast in the sound was surprising, but Rainbow was just worried about Twilight. A quick glance at the princess confirmed that she hadn't awoken yet. General Silverback was good at putting Twilight to sleep.

Maybe that's why she likes the guy? Rainbow considered, feeling mildly pleased, before a series of quick hollow bangs came from the metal door, and Twilight awoke with a start.

"Come in." Twilight intoned while Rainbow swore under her breath. The princess started to flip through the paperwork in front of her, apparently unaware she had been doing anything but studying the reports spread before her the last few minutes.

The door opened on smooth hinges, and Lieutenant Pip entered, buttons gleaming on his military regalia.

Pipsqueak was small for his age. He looked to be a lanky teen, despite the fact he had in fact grown to become a stallion. Between the brown patches on his white coat and his thin, wiry muscles, he always gave the illusion of being both slightly ill and underfed, while actually being neither. His double breasted red vest and crescent moon badge of rank were kept immaculately clean and polished, no doubt in some deep seated hope that his military regalia made him look more intimidating.

The truth was he was still the same, fun loving colt he had been back in Ponyville, or even Trottingham. Though the last few years had been hard on him, and in truth even he probably couldn't have said how deeply that side of him had been buried by years of warfare and loss.

"Princess Twilight, General Dash," the Lieutenant said, bowing toward Twilight before raising his hoof in a crisp salute to his commanding officer.

Returning the salute, Rainbow enquired, concern etching her voice. "What news from the front, Lieutenant? Have they been found yet?"

The look on the Lieutenant's face answered the question before the words even left his mouth. "No such luck, ma'am. Neither Discord nor Agent Pie have been heard from since their mission began three weeks ago."

Twilight frowned in concern, dark thoughts flying through her mind. Three weeks was far too long for comfort, especially for a pony as fastidious as her.

Her outfit reflected her current mood. It was a simple dress of fine dark wool, in a shade of blue just shy of black. The hem and neck were lace, in a pattern of simple constellations - an outfit that in Rainbow's mind brought back images of a long ago Gala. Twilight had had the outfit commissioned as part of her current wardrobe: namely practical outfits for a still-growing alicorn princess in war time.

In a way, Rainbow still had trouble believing that Twilight had become an alicorn, though every sign was in front of her. Twilight was now a good hoof and a half taller than she had once been, and all of her features seemed to have stretched out, especially in her neck and legs. Her wings were growing faster still, in direct relation to her growing skill at flying, for which Rainbow felt she deserved a fair bit of credit. And even in these breezeless tunnels, her mane occasionally seemed to blow in a nonexistent breeze.

Twilight took a deep breath, steadying herself against thoughts of what could have become of Pinkie and Discord, before replying: "Celestia willing, they succeeded. The chaos those two together could weave through those enemy lines may just make the difference we need."

Rainbow nodded in agreement. As hard as it had been to send those two into harm's way, there had been no denying the potential gain that the chaos magic they wielded could bring. Plus, there were no two less likely to be captured if discovered than they.

"Celestia will it to be so." Pip hastily added in agreement. "Speaking of which, you are both needed in the War Room immediately.

"Why is that?" Twilight asked, stifling a yawn as she rose to her hooves. "Did the Duke of Maretonia finally see reason?"

"Not that I know of, highness." Pip hesitated, then said, "It's about the Triad..."

Rainbow growled with irritation, thinking, Couldn't those cursed priests just leave everypony alone?

Pip clearly picked up on the General's mood, and quickly added, "Oh no, it's not the priests... It's just, I... I don't know how it's possible, but the Three are in your War Room right now, and they were asking to see the two of you."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked to each other in confusion, before Twilight asked, "What do you mean? How can that church be here if they didn't send their priests? And why did you let them into the war room without prior approval?"

"Cult is more like it..." Rainbow added to nopony in particular as she fell into step with Twilight behind the Lieutenant.

As the narrow hallways of the old strip mine came and went around them, and the lighting changed between the gentle glow of colorful gems and the harsh light of exposed ceiling bulbs, Rainbow and Twilight questioned the Lieutenant for details, though he was being infuriatingly spartan at giving them, saying only that it was better for them to see what he was talking about for themselves.

Rainbow was worried. It wasn't like the Lieutenant to behave this way. And if Pip was saying what it sounded to Rainbow like he was saying, then dinner was going to be a long time off yet.

And if it wasn't, Rainbow Dash planned to have a long talk with the young stallion, because it was too unfair to imply to somepony like Twilight that she could get to see those three again at last.

On top of that, Rainbow found herself worrying about that look in the Lieutenants eyes. He sounded almost reverent when he spoke of the Three, which was odd, given his history.

He had been there when the attacks took place. He had enlisted to help keep order when the first Lay Line resonance had struck. He had rejected the church when they called it divine judgment.

Divine judgment! Even thinking it made Rainbow's blood boil. She still remembered it vividly, learning that the bomb in Canterlot was just the beginning. She remembered flying up till the air was thin and cold, and still seeing that shimmering wall they would come to call the 'Lay Line' had come to stretch as far as she could see. She remembered the horror when everypony learned that it had struck Manehattan. When they had learned it had sliced through Gildedale like a knife through a ripe melon.

Where the dead now stayed on their hooves...

She shuddered, despite herself, and looked over at Twilight.

Seeing the intense frown on her friend's face, Rainbow Dash asked, "You thinking about Celestia and the others?"

Not saying a word, Twilight nodded in confirmation, looking to be almost on the verge of tears.

Tensing, Rainbow felt her mind race. Twilight was clearly not in a fit state to deal with a possible reunion like this right now. In a desperate gambit, Rainbow said aloud the first thing that came to mind, "Do you remember the last time I saw Niles Nigellus?"

Pausing at a checkpoint, Twilight turned towards Rainbow and nodded, an eyebrow raised in question.

"I lied about that, ya know." Rainbow took a deep breath before continuing. "We didn't really break up. We actually continued to meet in the Dreaming for almost two more years before we decided to stop seeing each other."

Clearly curious, Twilight asked, "You know Rainbow, as much as I liked seeing you two together, I never really understood it. I mean, you two were from different species. Pronghorns can't even fly! How did that even work?"

Rainbow shrugged, blushing slightly and saying, "It actually worked better that way. Since we met in the Dreaming, we could be anything we wanted. The body is only an extension of the mind after all..." Her voice trailed off into silence, lost in memory.

"Thanks for telling me, Rainbow," Twilight said quietly. "I had been really happy for you two, and then with you having to break up when the Pronghorn broke off contact because of the Lay Lines... Why didn't you say anything?"

Rainbow blushed harder, continuing to not make eye contact as she said quickly, "Well, if you think about it, we were in the dreaming, so in a way we were only dreaming about each other, and I felt like that was a bit..."

"What?" Twilight asked as they passed through the checkpoint, trying not to laugh and failing. "Cheesy? Gooey and romantic?"

"Like something I would never hear the end of from you guys. Yeah, exactly."

They walked in silence a few more minutes, the crystalline walls shifting from a series of elongated blue gems to the poured concrete more prevalent to the newer, artificial parts of the base as they went.

Finally breaking the silence, Twilight asked, "Why bring it up now? Even if you dated another couple of years, that was still ages ago now, so what's up?"

Rainbow frowned, and said thoughtfully, "I've been hearing rumors that streaks of lightning have been spied riding across the ground lately, and it's definitely not my guys doing it. So I have to think we will be seeing the Pronghorns again soon. And if our guests in the War Room are really those three..."

"Then the two events might not be unrelated..." Twilight finished for her.

"Exactly. Seemed like you should know."

As the last checkpoint came into sight, Twilight added, "Why did you really break up, if you don't mind me asking?"

Rainbow paused in thought before answering. Finally, she said, "It turns out being from different species is just too big a difference in the long run. Even in a dream."

Finally passing the final security checkpoint, they had arrived at the War Room. And what Rainbow Dash saw in that room tore all thoughts of the Dreaming, Lay Lines, and even the distant rumble of falling bombs high above them far from her mind.


•


The War Room was aptly named. Not only was it the largest room of the entire complex, built from a naturally forming cave in the deepest levels of the crystal mines/dungeons of Old Canterlot; its large oval shape and gently sloping sides had made it a natural place to plan strategy and brief officers.

Coming down from a side entrance reserved for high ranking military officers, Rainbow Dash released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Even after all these years, it was still a relief to be out of those confining, narrow hallways. Looking around, she blinked in surprise. Not at the room itself: she had been in it a hundred times before. The steps were still carved into the sides of the rock, giving the room the appearance of a giant amphitheater to Rainbow.

No, what surprised Rainbow Dash was what now occupied the center of the large room. Normally reserved for meetings of high ranking officers planning battle tactics, the center of the room instead had been cleared to make room for their unexpected guests.

Coming to stand before them, Twilight inclined her head, quickly followed by Rainbow, who was beginning to wish she had thought to bring her jacket or polish her hooves for the occasion.

Because there, in the middle of the War Room, stood the Three.


•


The Three. The Holy Trinity of the Church of the Celestian Shrine. Those who gave their lives to save us all.

And yet, according to the church, still alive. Much like the ponies caught in the Lay Line, the Three supposedly never died, but unlike all those others who were hit, these three instead now watch over everypony in their 'eternal compassion'. And according to certain high-ranking priests, can even speak and give instructions. But only through them. Of course.

Until now, it seemed. Rainbow Dash thought silently, resisting the urge to spit, a habit the Camelu Consular had gotten her into.

Instead, it was now all Rainbow could do to keep her jaw off the floor, because now, here they stood in the War Room, glowing like three miniature suns.

The three forms were familiar, and yet alien. It looked to Rainbow as if she were only looking at only a part of them, like she was looking at the dent left in a puddle of mud after a pony ran through it, trying to get out of the rain.

She shook her head to clear the image, but it stuck. As odd as it seemed, that was what it felt like she was looking at.

The Three didn't move as Rainbow and Twilight approached. They gave no sign of being aware the two of them had even arrived. A few moments silence, and Twilight asked faintly, "Hello?"

A chorus of voices replied, speaking in perfect unison. "It Is Good To See You Both Again, Twilight Sparkle And Rainbow Dash. It Has Been Far Too Long." The voices they spoke with were both the familiar voices the two had known from so long ago, and yet they were slightly off, warbled as though spoken from underwater, as if all traces of who they had been were stripped away.

Twilight replied, voice shaking. "When I heard you had come," She said with a quick sniff, tears streaming down her face. "I guess I had hoped to see you all in the flesh, and that this nightmare you are living through would finally really be over."

As one the Three intoned, "We Do Not See It As Such, Twilight Sparkle. To Be As We Is To See The World As It Truly Is."

"Then why do you only speak together?!" She was practically screaming at the apparitions now, tears freely falling down her face. "Why can't you understand how much I miss you and need you and want you back? Or that I am so terrified you are really all dead; that I am speaking to nothing but ghosts or zombies?! FOR CELESTIAS SAKE, YOU WON'T EVEN LOOK AT ME!"

Rainbow was stunned by the tirade, though she knew that Twilight had been keeping these emotions bottled up for most of eleven years now. If the Three had finally grown strong enough to project avatars and speak face to face, rather than going through those cursed Priests of the Celestian Shrine as they always had before, then she was glad that Twilight was finally being given that chance. So much so that she didn't even bother giving them her own two bits, as much as she would have liked to.

For a moment, the room was completely silent; the only sound a ragged gasping from Twilight as she tried not to cry. Finally, a sound began to fill the room. It was a song. A beautiful and haunting song, but unlike anything Rainbow Dash had ever heard before. At first she thought it came from the Three, then she realized that she could still hear it, even if she covered her ears with her hooves.

The song is in my head, she realized with shock.

As it continued, the intense and painful golden light coming from the three statuesque forms began to fade, replaced with fur and skin, horns and wings. And the size of the figures shrank, until by the time the song ended, three ponies stood in the center of the throne room.

As Rainbow and Twilight hesitantly approached the figures, a voice cut into the room, saying, "By Celestia and the Blessing of the Three!"

Rainbow whirled around, outrage filling her battle hardened eyes at the intrusion, only to find the Lieutenant standing there, his eyes transfixed with wonder at the sight before him. Upon realizing his commanding officer, the princess, and the Three themselves all staring at him, Pip began to bow, salute, and kiss the floor all at the same time. As a result, all he achieved was to topple over, hitting the floor with a grunt.

Before he so could so much as decide whether to kiss the floor some more or stand at attention again, Rainbow Dash had marched up, staring down at him, her face harder than the stone of the walls around them.

Before either of them had a chance to speak however, the faintly violet-colored form of Princess Luna spoke. "My greetings to you, child," she said to Pip. "Know that we are grateful for the strength your prayers give to us, and that you will be forever marked for having stood in our presence. But I must with great sorrow ask you to leave us, as we have been far too long delayed in speaking with these two, and we would do right by them, given the opportunity."

Standing quickly, Pip paled as he bowed again to Princess Luna, and quickly started bowing his way out of the room, all the while praising the Three in all of Their Divine Glory, while avoiding the eye of his commanding officer. Finally, with a closing door echoing through the large room, he was gone, with five sets of eyes staring after him.

The rumble of a particularly strong explosion on the surface quickly snapped the group out of their momentary stupor. Luna spoke again, turning to look back at the others. "Oh never mind him you two, I guess after all these years I am still his favorite princess."

The interruption had thrown Rainbow Dash off, but now she turned all her keen eyed observation to the three ponies in front of her.

She was pleased to see that it no longer caused her a headache to look at them. She looked for a metaphor to describe the much more solid looking state the three had now taken on, and she settled with like looking at them through frosted glass.

Rainbow smiled despite herself. It was them! It really was the Three! 

A brief smile seemed to touch Luna's lips as she continued. "Princess Twilight Sparkle. General Rainbow Dash. I trust you know we had never intended to cause you any undue distress in the length of our absence from this world. The lives we have saved through our actions that day alone are worth any price we might ourselves be paying. My sister and I had known this might one day come to pass; I am simply glad that the plan worked before any more ponies got hurt."

"Indeed," came agreement from the pink glow of Princess Cadance. "As much as it pains me to leave the crystal ponies," her hair unconsciously formed into a crystal headdress at the thought, "I know in the end that my decision was the right one. Twilight, Rainbow Dash. You two know how glad I am to see you both, and I really do wish there was more we could do to help you against this Shadow character we have been hearing about from the priests. After all these years since he united the rebel factions, have you learned anything about who he is or where he came from?"

Rainbow stood in silence, waiting and watching. She herself had never learned the origin or anything of value about the Shadow. She knew about as much as anypony else did, in fact. He came from the east. He never showed his face. He spoke about a change to the government of Equestria being needed, that Celestia's Fall was a sign that the old order was through. That if Celestia's power was based on the premise that she was strong enough to protect everypony from the dangers of the world, then it no longer made sense to have that system of government rule over the land of Equestria.

Rainbow Dash actually agreed with a lot that the Shadow had said. She just didn't like the rest of it. Because he insisted that the only solution was to completely cast down the old government in Equestria, and to have a trial for Princess Twilight, whom the Shadow claimed must have been behind the events of that day, since all other threats to Twilight's power were removed in a single night.

It was enough to make Rainbow Dash's blood boil to think about. Anypony who had been there when that attack had happened would have been able to tell you that Twilight was innocent. That she had only been in the castle for a few minutes, and had actually been attacked and left unconscious herself. And frankly, she had been lucky to get out of there at all.

Rainbow Dash continued to sit quietly, thinking with frustration about these matters, while the conversation went on around her.

Regret in her voice, Twilight answered the question from her old foalsitter, saying, "I wish I knew, Cadance. I haven't received more than a fifth-hoofed account of the Shadow. He is definitely a unicorn, though if even half the rumors about him are true, his powers are formidable to say the least. And given how quickly he rallied those former rebel groups under his banner, he can either use his magic to control other's thoughts, or his tongue is as dangerous as his horn. The only other piece of information I have heard regarding him is a rumor regarding that horn. My sources say he wears a hollowed out larger unicorn horn over his own, and apparently the Shadow claims it to be the horn of King Sombra himself."

Shock and quiet murmurings passes among the three; purple, pink and white glows intensifying with concern. Clearly they had not heard that particular rumor before.

Rainbow Dash also felt surprised. Even she had not heard that particular rumor. She began to consider this new piece of the puzzle, pacing the large room as she did so.

After a moment, Luna turned back from the others, saying, "An unfortunate turn of events if true. We shall look into the potential consequences and let you know as soon as possible what we find. In the meantime, have my old Crystal Labs checked, see if there is any record of a horn artifact belonging to Sombra."

"Of course," she added, glancing off into the distance thoughtfully, "if it actually is the horn from King Sombra's own head, we need to be extra careful. There is no telling how much of his actual mind could be contained in that horn given how quickly he died."

Twilight nodded, her mind already moving past the issue. She turned from Luna to stare at the middle of the three ponies, glowing white in the large room. With a start, Rainbow Dash realized that Twilight had fresh tears forming in her glistening eyes. "And what about you?" Twilight asked. "Why don't you speak? Haven't you anything to say to me after all this time?"

The final glowing apparition nodded, proudly staring down with tears in its own eyes. After a deep breath, Prince Shining Armor said, "Of course I do. I love you, Twily. I am so proud of everything you have done and I miss you more and more every day."


•


Stepping into the hallway, Pip was stunned. I can't believe I just did that, he thought. I just embarrassed myself in front of my commanding officer, one prince, and three princesses! And the Three had stood there, not even using priests to speak anymore!

Taking a deep breath, he went over the last few minutes in his head again.

He had been in his office, preparing for the briefing at 1700 hours, and a panicked aide had galloped in, yelling about the Three reportedly having arrived in the War Room where they were waiting for the princess and general to speak with them immediately.

How could this be? he had wondered. Surely the priests would expect normal protocol to be followed. Though if he hadn't known they were coming, it could only mean a surprise inspection of the church, or an urgent matter that couldn't afford to wait for formality. But they had called for the princess and general specifically, which certainly ruled out the former possibility.

He had galloped around the offices, giving orders to panicked orderlies to find out who had failed to warn him before the priests had arrived unannounced. Even if they had been teleported in with outside assistance, they would still have had to go through all the necessary checkpoints, and even then they would never have been allowed into the War Room. On top of that, the priests had a small emergency stash of bottled dragon's flame that they had been provided to notify the princess with in the event that something was wrong with the shield they had taken over supervision of as a part of a 'religious necessity'.

Of course it had not taken long for Pip to learn that the Three were actually projecting images of themselves through some type of powerful magic, and had actually appeared in the War Room because it seemed to be the only room large enough for the Three to appear in. So he had calmed down, pulled himself together, and used all the cool military presence he had at his disposal as he had found Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash and told them to follow him. Of course, had he been calmer he was sure he could have answered some of their questions a little better.

So what happened? he asked himself again. I left them alone with the Three, standing outside, making idle chit chat with the guard...

His head jerking up, Pip whirled around. The guard in question was a white colt with a silver mane garbed in the traditional golden armor of the Canterlot Royal Guard guarding the door. "Private Diamond Dust!" he demanded. "What happened? We were talking, and the next thing I know I'm in the War Room, being spoken to by Princess Luna herself!"

The young colt stood at attention, though he looked concerned as he answered. "I don't know sir, singing of some kind came from the War Room, and you stopped talking mid-sentence, turned to the door, and entered with a creepy smile on your face."

In emulation he put a wide eyed smile on his face, teeth bared in what could almost have been called a grimace.

Resetting his face, he continued. "You ignored me like I wasn't even in the room anymore, and kept repeating something to yourself before you entered the War Room."

With growing alarm, Pip asked, "What did I say?"

The concern reappeared on Diamond Dust's face as he answered. "You were saying, 'Take the apple, leave the tea.' It didn't make any sense, but if you ask me, I would say you just had a small nervous breakdown from having the most powerful ponies in Equestria meet up next door to you with no advanced notice. If I may suggest sir, perhaps you should take it easy for a day or two?"

Nodding absently, Pip headed off, confused, worried, and deep in troubled thoughts. He had somepony he needed to see right away.
> Chapter 2 - The Emerald Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transistors, vacuum tube diodes, cables, switches, transformer, more cables, and a few spare resistors. Yep... that should be enough... wait, isn't there also a... ah, here it is, my... oh wait, I never came up with a name for this thing, what should I call you, mister something? A.... well it holds energy over time, so I guess an energyizer, capa...capacity? Capacityor... a capacitor! Yep, that's perfect! Okay, and a couple capacitors. So that means... I dunno, Apple Bloom, maybe this won't even... oh Tartarus, worst it could do is burn out again.... or explode... wait... what was that sound?

Looking up from her work desk, Apple Bloom blinked to get her eyes to focus at a distance. And they did, bringing the vast contraptions of her workshop into sharp relief.

It was a large room, made from an old cave, once hollowed out of the mountain through centuries of wind and rain. Its front was enclosed with a well built wall of wood planks, a project that Apple Bloom and her big sister had once built together, when a foolishly optimistic teenage Apple Bloom had believed it would act as a headquarters for the Crusaders, the sister organization she had started to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

But the sound hadn’t come from that side of the workshop, so she continued to eye the place over.

Her own work area was set in the back of the workshop, within spittin’ distance of the lightning room; a mad scheme designed to power the underground city of New Canterlot entirely with a combination of magic and Shock troop lightning blasts in the event of a siege. Luckily at the moment even that sat quiet, the city being powered mainly by wind on a breezy autumn day like today.

Her workroom itself was actually fairly quiet at the moment. The coils of copper cables and vacuum tubes larger than Big Mac himself were sprawled around her part of the room well-lit with the harsh glow of off-white bulbs hung where they were needed in a pattern that to any eye but her own would have been called random. The hulking shapes of her new prototype armor sat amid broken relics from ancient storerooms half taken apart in study, a smattering of crystals and screws spread on tarps with pencil marks showing how they had all fit together in ancient devices she could barely begin to guess the purpose for. And yes, there were even some of her own machines in the workshop that had been sent back to her for repairs or the hope of some kind of upgrade.

Listening, however, brought no change. The place was as quiet as ever. Well, save for the rather large steam engines pumping fresh air to the lower levels of the Command Bunker next door through the wall.

She had grown so used to that sound, like a massive dragon snoring, that she didn't even register it as noise anymore. She had been meaning to see about installing some kind of backup to the system for a while now, but she really hated the idea of taking time she could be spending on something new to build another of something old. What I really need is an army of assistants to do that kind of thing for me, then I could actually start to turn a profit on my little operation down here, instead of just getting by with...

She froze. Again she heard the noise that had snapped her out of her concentration. A metallic ding, high pitched and far off, but audible, even over the din.

Apple Bloom rose from her stool, flexing stiff muscles. She was a fairly tall mare, though her muscles were more developed for machine shop work than from years toiling on the farm like her older sister's were. Her eyes were the color of golden delicious apples freshly picked from the tree, her red hair held back by a pink kerchief tied in a small bow. And she wore a heavy, dark wool apron tied around her front legs at the moment, a matter of workshop safety more than any sort of fashion statement.

If a nut has gotten loose on that filly's project, the whole thing could tear itself apart! she thought with growing concern. And yet, no yell of alarm coming from my only assistant - what is she doing?

"Pumpkin Cake!" Apple Bloom hollered, wiping grease off her front hooves with a cloth not much cleaner. "Girl, where are you?"

"Up here, Apple Bloom!" came a youthful voice from the front of the workshop. "At the front! You've got a guest! It's the Lieutenant!"

Apple Bloom jumped in surprise. This is unexpected! She thought with some excitement. He never comes by to inspect my progress himself! True, I have made some great stuff lately, but I don't have anything new to present at the moment... unless, could he have come by just to see me?

She shook her head to clear such thoughts from her mind. Surely not, she thought. He's too professional for something like that.

Still, the thought persisted, a Parasprite of her mind, consuming all other thoughts as it grew.

Another metallic ding echoed from Pumpkin Cake's part of the workshop, snapping her out of her trance completely.

"All well and good Pumpkin Cake, I'll be along in a moment, but shouldn't you be mindin' that crystal device? It sounds like the central shaft might be sliding, and if that thing breaks 'cause you weren't doing your job..." Apple Bloom let the sentence hang unfinished in the air. Pumpkin knew how long it would take to repair, and how hard it would be to get more funding. Apple Bloom certainly didn’t need to say that out loud. Especially if they had guests. But the filly really did need to check on that thing, it really did show promise. If it worked.

A quick squeal and the sound of drumming hooves was her only response, as Pumpkin Cake practically galloped to her part of the workshop to check on the device.

Trotting towards the front, Apple Bloom couldn't help pausing to eye over her reflection in a polished sheet of steel that hung on the wall. The face that looked back at her seemed as surprised as she was to see that somehow she was all but covered in engine grease. Stifling a groan, she made a go at cleaning up, though her cloth seemed to push the grease around more than remove any of it. Finally admitting defeat, she found her eyes drawn to the cutie mark on her flank. The tale behind that mark always made her smile.

Quickly straightening her mane, she checked her reflection again. Nodding in satisfaction, she trotted the rest of the way to the front of the workshop, resisting a sudden urge to canter.


•


"You don't understand Pip," Pumpkin Cake was saying desperately. "I can't just sit by and do nothing!"

Pip couldn't believe it. Pumpkin Cake picks today to harass him about her brother wanting into the military, when all Pip had come for was a quick word with her mentor? And yet he was somehow supposed to make sure that Pound Cake is not put on the front lines where they were the most desperately in need of new recruits? Not to mention the fact that front line, able bodied pegasi could easily be trained to drop bombs or if they were skilled enough, to take out enemy fliers in air-to-air pegafights?

"You do realize the air is the safest location on the front line, don't you, Pumpkin Cake?" he asked with incredulity. "Short of the occasional dog fight, air troops are essentially unmolested in combat. Most soldiers I know would trade both their back legs for a set of wings! That aerial safety is the whole reason everypony hides in bunkers during these daily bomb raids! We can't stop them!"

Pip stood panting by the door to the workshop, that for some reason resembled the door of a barn, surprised at how riled up this request had gotten him. Here he was trying to find out what his trance could mean and instead he was taking his stress out on a filly who was only worrying about her twin brother.

"I'm sorry, Pumpkin Cake," he said, acquiescing. "I guess I have a lot on my mind right now."

Pumpkin Cake nodded slowly, looking out the door of the workshop at the grassy hillside, as though wishing she could go hide in one of the nearby houses that spread off into the distance.

She anxiously chewing on a loose strand of hair from the copper colored bun atop her head - an age-old habit she never seemed able to break.

Finally, she said, "It's all right. I realize I'm asking a lot, but he's my brother, and if I don't look out for his best interests, nopony will."

She paused hesitantly, then continued, her face growing hard: "I have worked under Apple Bloom for a while now. I know that the military is her largest financer, and they are hoping for more weapons of war. Even if it is classified, I know enough about science to see the kinds of things this war is creating."

He opened his mouth to deny knowing what she was talking about, but she cut him off, yelling, "So don't you dare give me that propaganda about how safe the skies are on the front lines! We both know those skies will not be safe for much longer!"

Pip was stunned, but also impressed. Clearly Pumpkin Cake acted out of love for her brother, but she seemed to have an awareness of the world that was unusual for a pony who had lived most of her life in fear of attack, a shift in the Lay Line, or an advancing wall of Lay Ponies.

He considered: If her brother is as sharp as she is, he thought with excitement, he may be officer material! That will get him off the front lines...

"Okay Pumpkin Cake, I'll talk to your parents tomorrow at their shop in Ponyville. It's my day off anyways and I really have been meaning to go to town. If your brother really does have his heart set on a military life, your parents really can't do anything to stop him when you both come of age next week. At the very least, I will make sure they understand that he will need their support if he joins up. And who knows? Maybe I can pull some strings for him. We'll see."

It wasn't really a promise, he supposed. The war needed every available recruit they could get their hooves on these days, since the princess insisted that a draft was out of the question. Of course, she hadn't said anything against using propaganda or recruitment fairs, so that was something. Plus, whether they lived on the surface in Ponyville and used the princess's public bunkers, or they lived in either the semi-permanent civilian bunkers that dotted the countryside or the underground city of New Canterlot, getting bombed regularly had a funny way of bringing in ponies who wanted to protect their loved ones.

And now that he thought about it, Pumpkin Cake had been right to ask him. Pip could probably keep Pound Cake off the front lines if he called in some favors or had him tested for officer potential, though if we was going to stick his neck out for this young colt, he wanted to meet him face to face first, and see if he was worthy of the special interest.

And all that aside, his real interest now lay in this young mare in front of him. If she was this sharp at her age, she could do very well in weapons research one day. Especially if her theories about magic crystallography bore any fruit.

Suddenly, Apple Bloom's voice arose from the back of the workshop. "Pumpkin Cake! Girl, where are you?"

Pumpkin Cake's head swung around so quickly at the voice of her mentor, her hair almost came undone.

"Up here, Apple Bloom!" she replied in a loud voice. "At the front! You've got a guest! It's the Lieutenant!"

Pip had no idea how Pumpkin Cake could make out Apple Bloom's reply over the din, let alone what her mentor was talking about, but the young mare's face grew paler by the word, apparently realizing how long she had been away from her duties.

Turning back to face him, she bowed slightly, giving a rushed apology that she must return to work at once, but with assurances that Apple Bloom would be here to see him momentarily. As she rushed off to those duties, she yelled back to him her thanks, and that they looked forward to seeing him soon.

Subtle. He thought with a wry chuckle. She might do well in politics, too.


•


Pumpkin Cake wasn't sure if she was more excited, nervous, or annoyed.

Everypony knew that Lieutenant Pip spoke with General Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight Sparkle on a regular basis. As if he couldn't take a minute to ask them to keep her brother stationed somewhere safe! she thought bitterly. The princess at least was nice, and Rainbow Dash was still a living legend, even bordering on superhero in the minds of the young ponies she knew. Surely they would have understood and helped.

She knew it was probably a hopeless cause, asking for something like that when the war desperately needed troops. The crude propaganda that permeated life in Ponyville these days was proof enough of that.

And on top of that, she had almost destroyed a machine that had cost her quite a bit of grant money just to prototype, and all because she wasn't at her post for the final test! Lucky that Apple Bloom had been watching out for her, like always. Pumpkin Cake really did consider herself lucky to have somepony as great as Apple Bloom as her mentor.

Of course, none of that meant anything if she couldn't fix this...

Upon rushing to her private area of the workshop, a wild array of crystals, gems, jewels, and even shiny rocks lay spread on the floor, the tables, and even taped to the walls, as she had worked through the arduous task of cataloguing every combination of cut, clarity, carat, and color that she could get her hooves on. It looked either beautiful or maddening, depending on who you asked. She was always jumping back and forth between the two perspectives herself, though now that scarcely mattered. For her eyes were now lost in the wonder of her creation, as it sat in the middle of the floor, glowing and spinning in place.

The machine was sizable, about the size of a male buffalo she had once seen in a refugee center a few years back, though it certainly looked nothing like one.

It was a mounding mass of cables and wires, vacuum tubes and arching electricity. But that wasn't what drew the eye. What made this machine different from all the others in the workshop was the source of all that grant money, the gems it was both covered and filled with. Red and blue and yellow and green and pink, they didn't just twinkle in the overhead lights, they glowed with a light all their own.

She had found years ago that she could take the potential residual magic her horn channeled and store it within gems. In fact, she found that the gems shone with light so intensely they could be seen through solid objects when she cast a particular spell near them. Imagine her shock to discover that the Lady Rarity, the Element of Generosity herself, had known about this since she was a filly, and had only used the knowledge to collect gems for use in clothing! As decorations, no less!

She still had trouble believing it at times. But unlike Lady Rarity, Pumpkin Cake had realized that this meant that gems and crystals could be used as conduits for storing magic. When she later saw the electrical wonders that Apple Bloom had created, she had finally realized the implications of her discovery, and she had gained her cutie mark, a collection of glowing gems radiating waves of colorful light, on the spot.

Naturally, she had become apprentice to Apple Bloom as quickly as she was able to after that. It wasn't hard really, once she had explained her theories about using crystals as conduits to control magic and her belief that Apple Bloom's electricity seemed to follow a similar natural law.

And yet here she was, running what had promised to be the last in a long series of stress tests before her machine was to be tried at full strength as intended, and her machine seemed to be on the verge of self destruction.

A quick look over the device, and she found the problem. A loose nut!

It was the worst possible nut to have gone loose as well, in what could only be described as a textbook example of Murphy's Law.

Anything that can go wrong will, and at the worst possible time, she quoted to herself, as she carefully drained the excess magic out of the input crystal, turning the machine off.

She only dared to use hoof tools in the vicinity of this device: she did not want to risk causing an unintended reaction with the crystals. So she pulled out a wrench, and carefully tightened the nut in question by hoof.

The centerpiece of her device was a large, carved emerald shaped in what was known as a princess cut, and the nut that had come loose was the one that held the rod keeping that centerpiece firmly in place.

When she had come back to check on the machine, that emerald had been slowly rotating on its stand, with each rotation it rubbed against a ruby she was using as a power conduit, sending off a shower of sparks, causing a loud metallic dinging sound and releasing a whiff of ozone.

She looked over the machine in concern. The emerald and the ruby both looked the same as before. No apparent scratches or blemishes. She breathed a sigh of relief. Any damage to her gems would have made them a danger to use, she was sure. And she certainly could not have afforded to buy replacement gems for at least a few months.

She was also sure the color, clarity, size, and cut of the gems were all as crucial to how the machine functioned as capacitors, resistors, and vacuum tubes were to Apple Bloom's machines, but until she could identify which combination produced useful results, she supposed that she was really just guessing, but that emerald was the largest she had been able to get her hooves on, not to mention the clearest.

Plus, she mused privately, a princess cut just seems like a good omen to me.

Sighing, she wiped the sweat from her brow with a hoof. At last, the nut was twisted tightly in place, and everything looked right.

With a quick surge of focused magic, she recharged the input crystal, turning the machine back on, intending to finally finish this last stress test.

The machine hummed to life, louder than she had ever heard it before.

And that's when Pumpkin Cake realized with shock that without thinking she had fully charged the input crystal, and the device was now running at full strength.

The last thing she remembered before a blinding green light erupted from the emerald centerpiece of her invention, tearing all thought from her mind, was the sound of her own voice, saying simply, "Murphy's Law indeed..."

•

Again, Pip found that his day was not going as planned.

It was supposed to have been a simple rendezvous to Apple Bloom's workshop, to find the pony most likely to know where he could find Applejack, who wasn't working today.

He was convinced the 'apple' he spoke of in his bizarre trance had to refer to one of those sisters, and if he had been a betting stallion, he would have put his money on the Element of Honesty wielding, truth-sensing, homefront coordinator.

Instead he was in a hospital waiting room on the surface about a mile from the workshop, trying to comfort Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Their son was pacing the tiled floor anxiously while his sister was in the back, getting looked over by doctors.

"Just tell us this Pipsqu-," Carrot Cake hesitated, lines creasing his worried face like the dough of a pastry, his orange hair dusted with white that was as likely to be flour as age. "Sorry, Lieutenant. I, that is to say we," he said, putting a foreleg around his wife, who was softly crying, "know that Pumpkin Cake is involved in potentially ground breaking research, and we couldn't be more proud of her, but we also know that that workshop invents new weapons that are used in the war. So I have to ask, did one of those," he paused again, this time for lack of the right word to use, "those things, hurt my little Pumpkin?"

Pip paused a moment before replying, considering. He could not reveal top secret military weapons research to the Cake's, but at the same time, he considered these two as family friends from all those years ago in Ponyville. And on top of that, he had promised Pumpkin Cake that he would talk to them about their son, who wanted to join the military himself, and there was hardly a better time than now, while they stood in front of him.

Finally, reaching a decision, he spoke.

"I had gone down to the workshop to research an unrelated matter, and I spoke with your daughter. She was apparently, as I understand it from speaking with Apple Bloom, on the verge of a major breakthrough in her studies. We spoke for a bit, and she went back to make some kind of adjustment to her device."

He hesitated, deciding to skip what he had spoken with Apple Bloom about, before continuing: "The next thing I know, the workshop was engulfed in an intense green light. Apple Bloom and I ran over to the source, only to find Pumpkin Cake sitting next to a large machine covered in twinkling crystals, which Apple Bloom identified as the crystal device your daughter had been working on. The green light seemed to have come from a large emerald in the center of the device, which was brightly glowing."

He could still see it clearly, with arching waves of dark green magic stretching from the emerald, orbiting around Pumpkin Cake in a dance of lights, before returning to the emerald, an otherworldly hum emanating from the device.

Pumpkin Cake had just been sitting there, staring into the large emerald with a look of pure rapture on her face, her pupils fully dilated, her eyes - rather than their regular shade of blue - were glowing in the same intense shade of green as the emerald.

Shuddering, he continued, choosing to leave those details out. "The device appeared to be doing something to Pumpkin Cake, so acting quickly, Apple Bloom grabbed a small black gem attached to the end of a silver rod, and touched it to a few of the gems in the device, which according to her would siphon excess power from the device. Sure enough, the emerald dimmed. Apple Bloom said it would be safe to move Pumpkin Cake, so I called the EMT's, and had her rushed straight here."

Of course, he also chose not to mention Pumpkin Cake screaming while the device powered off, before passing out. He had a bad feeling that scream would haunt his nightmares for a long time to come.

Shuddering to himself yet again, he finished the story: "Apple Bloom is back in the workshop with a couple of my soldiers, checking over the device to try and figure out what happened and what it may have been doing to Pumpkin Cake. Other than that, I'm afraid that all we can do is wait."

He paused again, hesitating, uncertain how to proceed. Finally, he pressed on. He owed Pumpkin Cake that.

"There is one final thing," he said, nodding towards the pegasus with the brown mane curled in a constant coif, his faintly golden wings ruffled in apparent agitation as he continued to pace the other side of the room. "I understand that Pound Cake has been planning to join the military when he comes of age next week." The Cakes stiffened. Before either one of them could say anything however, he rushed on: "If he still wants to join after this, I will personally do my best to keep him safe. You have my word on that."

It was the least he could do, he supposed. Pip had been the last to speak to Pumpkin Cake before this had happened to her. He knew it wasn't his fault, but even so he felt awful. And it only seemed like the right thing to do, given the circumstances. These two really did not need to worry about their son on top of everything else.

The grateful looks the Cakes gave him did make him feel a bit better, yet not as much as he would have liked. He paused, hesitating one final time before adding, "And I am sorry about Pumpkin Cake. I really do hope she is all right."

Before he could say another word, a teary eyed Cup Cake gave him a hug, which Pip returned awkwardly. As a soldier he really wasn't used to such things.

Releasing her, he gave them an apologetic smile, before saying: "Now if you will please excuse me, I have other matters I must attend to, but I'll be back to check on things here in a little bit."

Nodding to himself as though nothing more needed saying, he trotted off, the sound of Mrs. Cake soft crying the only thing to follow him as he left the hospital.


•


But this doesn't make any sense, Apple Bloom thought with growing concern. Where is this thing getting its power from without a unicorn powering it?

She was still in her workshop, going over every inch of Pumpkin Cake's device with the two unicorns Pip had sent to help her. And she was growing more nervous by the minute.

Since Pumpkin Cake had been rushed off, Apple Bloom had looked over everything. She had drained off the magic with the black drain crystal and the device was inert, yet for some reason in the last few minutes the large emerald in the center of the device had been getting brighter again.

She couldn't understand it. This violated every natural law she had ever known. The device was drawing magic from - well, from nothing!

Her ears perked up at a dreadfully familiar sound. The device had started making its ghostly humming noise again.

"No good!" she said aloud, "I think the device is about to activate again. You two, drop everything and make for the exit, NOW!"

Without hesitation, the two unicorns set down the tools they had been holding, turned around, and bolted with Apple Bloom following not a second behind.

As they burst through the exit to the grassy knoll with its garden path, the room behind filled abruptly with a blinding, green light.

Laying on the grass in shock, Apple Bloom was panting from the exertion of the unexpected sprint.

Standing up, she looked around. Both of Pip's soldiers had made it out, neither one looking the least bit winded at all.

The leader of the two, a stocky gray mare with a black mane, was looking down either side of the path they now stood on, as if she expected a sudden attack to spring from either a bush or from behind a tree, while the other, a pink-maned teal colt, was looking back toward the workshop with concern, his face awash in a rippling green light.

Apple Bloom turned back to the workshop herself, and gasped.

Through the open door, every square hoof of the workshop was glowing in an intense, emerald shade of green. And what was more, it appeared as though the light stopped in mid air at the door, making a solid wall.

"What is it?" the teal unicorn asked in a surprisingly flowery voice. "It looks so... solid!"

Apple Bloom had to agree. It did look solid. But being the practical pony that she was, she resolved to quickly find out. Reaching into the front pocket of the apron she had still forgotten to take off from before, she found a loose screw. Hesitating for only a moment, she threw it at the door, only to see a shower of green sparks and an intense flash of green light; a metallic odor suddenly filled the air. When her eyes cleared, the screw was nowhere to be seen. And the green wall of light still stood there, undisturbed.

"A force field!" she gasped, unable to believe her eyes. "They normally act as a solid wall that nothing can break, but this one is much more powerful. It didn't just stop that screw. It destroyed it!"

"And no unicorn was there to cast the spell needed to do it," the teal unicorn added nervously. "I need to tell my commanding officer about this," he said, regaining his composure. "This looks dangerous. Uh... Ms. Bloom, please do not approach the green light."

Without another word, the unicorn galloped off, his partner following close behind.

Apple Bloom sighed. Of course she wasn't going anywhere near an unknown force field emanating from an experimental technology with no apparent power supply! But that certainly wasn't going to stop her trying to find a solution. Her entire life's work lay behind that door!

That Pumpkin Cake had better not have ruined my inventions because of all this. She thought bitterly. If she survives whatever this machine did to her, I might just have to make her wish she hadn't.

Worry for Pumpkin Cake's safety made her amend the statement quickly. I just hope she is alright...

•

Pip was concerned. Here he was, simply trying to find out what a prophecy he had spoken in a trance while standing near three godlike royals had meant, and instead he was dealing with crystal magic beyond his imagining and comforting old friends in hospitals.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so simple. But he had found what he needed from Apple Bloom, brief as their visit had been. Today, Applejack was off to visit her brother Big Macintosh and his family at their old family farm.

The distance from the civilian hospital outside the New Canterlot Command Bunker to Sweet Apple Acres was significant. In fact, it was about half of the distance from the ruins of Old Canterlot to the heart of Ponyville. It didn't really matter though. He had a destination, and the train he was riding would get him most of the way. If his luck did not get much worse, he should have his answers and be sitting by a warm inn fire with a mug of good cider within two or three hours.

During the train ride, Pip sat staring out the window, lost in thought. The occasional thatch-roofed house or farm was visible in the setting sun, making long shadows stretch across fields of colorful fruits and vegetables as they grew. He was always pleased to see that even in wartime, life seemed to go on. True, every mile or so there was a large public bunker, or a ditch had been dug for a pony stranded outside during a raid to hide in, but even these seemed to have become just another part of everyday life.

Of course, he also passed an occasional ruined house, the victim of an attack on Ponyville itself. He was relieved to see no new smoke clouds rising; they would have indicated that today's bombing had hoped to strike at the civilian populace rather than cause damage to the military. No, it seemed they had only targeted New Canterlot today.

As the countryside flew by, he could just to say make out an old refugee camp about a mile off in the distance. As memory served, that camp was mainly refugees from Manehatten who had embraced their new lot in life, turning the formerly ramshackle collection of tents into what some had begun to dub Little Manehatten. He could even see buildings being constructed, in their peculiar style of using metal-roofed buildings which stood four or more stories tall that were indicative of ponies used to living in enclosed spaces.

I hope the Shadow's bombers have the decency to leave those ponies alone, he thought sympathetically. They have suffered worse than most in recent years.

But even the destruction of Manehatten fell from his mind as the train rounded a bend before coming into the station, the wheels hissing steam as it finally reached a full stop with a lurch.

Pip hadn't brought anything but the clothes on his back, so he was among the first off the train into Ponyville. Not wasting any time, he set himself to get to the farm at a brisk canter. He was in quite good shape; he could probably have galloped the distance if he chose to, but there was no reason to cause a panic. An officer running through a civilian zone might do just that if he wasn't careful. Plus he was known in Ponyville, and if he was recognized by anypony who had heard about Pumpkin Cake being rushed to the hospital...

He shuddered. Despite its explosive growth in size from refugees and the former elite of Old Canterlot flooding in over the last eleven years, in a way Ponyville still managed to have that small town habit of everypony getting into everypony else's business. And the Cake's were well-liked ponies.

Yep, I better get out of town fast before I am overrun with ponies wanting to know if I heard anything out at the base about what happened to Pumpkin Cake. I can definitely not report anything that happened today yet, and anything I refuse to say will run through the rumor mill until these ponies will say that any number of things happened.

So despite the risk, he picked up his speed a little more, the scattered houses becoming little more than a blur as he focused on his approaching target, a narrow alley, rarely used. It had been a favorite of his in his youth, a way to move around town without the constant worry of being trampled underhoof.

Quickly entering the alley, he looked around carefully. Lucky for him, it was as empty as he had remembered it. Picking up his speed again, he ducked clotheslines and wove around crates with a practiced ease. Finally, the edge of town came into view, and nopony had tried to stop him or ask him what he might know. With one last burst of speed, he pushed for the open meadow that led to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Oh Pipsqueak! Hey! Over here!"

The surprise at hearing that voice was almost overshadowed by the use of his full name. He hated it when ponies used it, he never understood what was so hard about just calling him Pip.

He sighed as he slowed his pace, until he found himself face to face with the last pony on the planet he had expected to run into. Silver Spoon had appeared around the gap out of the alley, blocking his path.

She was taller than he remembered when he had last seen her. Her violet colored eyes framed by opal glasses were the first thing he noticed, as she stared him down with apparent disapproval. Her silver on silver frame stood firmly in his way. He was trapped.

"Ello there Silver Spoon," he said dejectedly, resisting the sudden urge to flinch as he felt a hint of his Trottingham accent leak out. "Listen, I’d love to stay ‘n chat but..."

"What happened to you, Pipsqueak?" Silver Spoon said in the same snooty tone he remembered from his youth. "You go off and join the army like you're too good for the rest of us, and when you do bother to show your face around here you're galloping like the open gates of Tartarus are right behind you. So what happened? Did you leave your cutie mark at home or something?"

He couldn't believe it. He hadn't spoken to or even seen Silver Spoon in years. She had grown to full mare height in that time, yet the self superior tone she had always carried around in those days seemed to be missing. In fact, she almost seemed to be slouching where she stood. And for some reason she reeked of varnish.

"Actually, Silver Spoon," he said quickly, "I am in a hurry, so if you don't mind..."

"Well, maybe I do mind, Pipsqueak! Maybe I mind you charging past my shop to avoid the fumes, but you not having the common decency to show your face as you do so!"

Pip was stunned. Her shop? He had been gone from Ponyville for a while, but it had never occurred to him that even the ponies from his past who he didn't like weren't doing the same things they had as kids. Somehow he had imagined Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were still roaming the streets, torturing blank flanks.

He couldn't help himself. Raising a hoof to point at her, he said, "You... work in a shop." It didn't even sound like a question to his ears.

"Yes, Pip, I work in a shop," she said dryly, rolling her eyes at him and smirking. "I was polishing some silver when I saw you barreling through." She gestured without looking to a tarp spread on the ground covered in silver pots and spoons at the side of the alley, which Pip realized he hadn't seen as he barged through because they were hidden behind a large, wooden crate.

He paused, resisting the urge to check over his shoulder before asking, "So what, is Diamond Tiara around here somewhere as well?"

At that, Silver Spoon seemed to deflate, the light silver mane hanging loosely down her dark silver back almost seemed to lose its sheen. She frowned, and straightened the glasses on her face before responding, her eyes averted. "She married a colonel and moved away a few years back... I haven't heard from her since."

She paused, clearly uncomfortable with thoughts of her old friend abandoning her, before continuing.

"As for the rest, things haven't been going so well what with the war. This piece of junk is my father’s antique store,” she remarked with a wave of her hoof at the building they stood behind: a tumbledown yet stately construction with Old Ponyville bones, just like them. She said it with a wry, partially-joking grin that said even though she insulted it, no one else could. “The fumes were affecting his health, so I took over things around that time. It actually gives a different kind of meaning to my own cutie mark, if you think about it."

She smiled at the last, a not entirely unpleasant smile, and Pip was surprised to find himself smiling back. Maybe she's not so bad after all.

"Well listen, Silver Spoon," he said in a much friendlier tone than he had before. "I really do have to take care of an urgent matter before it gets too late, but I dunno, it would be nice to get to catch up. What do you say we grab a drink when I get back into town later tonight?"

A look of genuine surprise on her face, Silver Spoon nodded in agreement, before suggesting a nearby inn she claimed had a good selection of ciders and wasn't too crowded.

Giving her a quick smile as he said his goodbyes, Pip stepped around Silver Spoon, before he took off at a gallop once more, leaving Silver Spoon to stand behind him, a smile still on her face.

That went well! He thought with glee. Silver Spoon and I can catch up later and nopony got the chance to ask me about Pumpkin Cake!

As he cleared a rise, leaving Ponyville to disappear behind him, Pip's jaw dropped. Wait a second, did I just ask Silver Spoon out on a date?!

It had happened so naturally that he hadn't even thought about it, it had just happened. Still, she had seemed a lot nicer than she had all those years ago, and if she can change, then so can my luck. Maybe things are finally turning around after all, he thought as he galloped, a smile forming on his own face.


•


Apple Bloom was at the hospital. The green energy field was being examined by 'experts' from the military, and she had some time to kill without access to her workshop, so she had decided to visit Pumpkin Cake.

By the time Apple Bloom arrived from her workshop, the Cake's had already been let in to see Pumpkin, and it seemed with luck that Pip had had the foresight to put Apple Bloom on the list of approved visitors, so she got in right away.

The room was a fairly simple hospital room: white walls, white sheets, white tiles on the floor. The hospital bed was the only one in the room; it seemed that Pip had secured the Cake's with a private room. Apple Bloom could not help but wonder if he had done so as a favor to old friends or because a private room was easier to guard against eavesdroppers.

It was what she saw in Pumpkin Cake's room that Apple Bloom hadn't expected.

Pumpkin Cake was in the bed, and either asleep or unconscious; Apple Bloom could not tell which. The top of her head was wrapped in a complex metal frame, with a cable feeding to a print out that moved back in forth in a series of waves. It was a design of Apple Bloom's based off of a device that Twilight had made back when she had first moved to Ponyville almost sixteen years ago that measured brain activity. And from the looks of the printout, Pumpkin Cake's thoughts were racing furiously.

Before Apple Bloom could so much as think to ask a doctor how long Pumpkin's brain had been running at such an alarming rate, she was taken upon by the rest of the Cake family, all at once.

"Oh Apple Bloom, dearie, thank you so much for coming down to see our little Pumpkin!" Cup Cake said as she embraced Apple Bloom in a hug that made Apple Bloom's eyes bulge. "It means so much to us that you came! Oh my, but she does ever so much look up to you!"

Gasping for breath, Apple Bloom managed a weak smile and asked, "How is she?"

Releasing her, Cup Cake's face grew dark with worry once more, her crows feet looked to be larger on her light blue face as it was contorted by a mixture of worry and lack of sleep.

"No better.” Cup Cake replied, “She hasn't regained consciousness since they brought her in."

Pound Cake spoke up then, his voice steady and confident, having already dropped to the deeper voice of the adult he was to be declared next week. "She's okay. I know my sister, and she would not, would not, just give up. She could always get herself out of any situation with that head of hers. If I had to guess, I would say she was just waiting for the right moment to surprise us."

Carrot Cake chuckled in agreement, albeit with some sadness to it, before he replied, saying: "Ya know what Pound Cake, she would at that."

Apple Bloom wandered over to the bed to have a closer look at Pumpkin Cake, only to jump in surprise as she heard her quietly mutter: "Quetheru linyenwa, hlar Arassë."

Noticing her sudden jump, Cup Cake asked hopefully, moving a steel gray hair out of her face before she could chew on it, "What is it? Did she say something?"

Apple Bloom was sure that what she had heard was only gibberish, but she could have sworn she had heard the name of the Deerfolk, 'Arassë', used. If it was, then that must have been their native tongue that Pumpkin Cake had been speaking.

"No, it was nothing," she said carefully, not wanting to worry them further. "Just random murmuring in her sleep."

She gave them a reassuring smile, yet she felt an icy ball form in the pit of her stomach. What had that machine done to that poor filly?
> Chapter 3 - Crystal Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pumpkin Cake? Pumpkin Cake?! Are you alright? Oh sweet Celestia, you turned it on all the way! It's me Pumpkin Cake, it's Apple Bloom, can you hear me? Pip, stay back! I don't know what that green light surrounding her is, but I doubt it's safe!"

What is that noise? Why would anypony be talking instead of beholding these wonders?

"Stay back? Are you crazy? We have to help her! And what is that thing?!"

It is the Voiceless, and oh how they sing!

"It's Pumpkin Cake's invention, her attempt to create magic based machinery, like the lost crystal wonders of the Ancient Deerish Peoples!"

The Arassë were not the first to wield this power, though they were the last. And they lost that right when greed and war made them covet these gifts and use them to break the world.

"Well what can we do, Apple Bloom? Can you turn it off? Do I need to send in the military to destroy this thing? Or a couple of shots from that new device you developed might do the trick!"

You could not harm us if you tried. Be patient and we will be done with her soon. She is in no danger from us.

"Near Pumpkin Cake and with this much energy being used? I wouldn't dare to risk it. And hold on would you?! I just need to find the, aha, found it! Pumpkin and I found that black gems draw power from other gems, so if I just hold this up to the input crystal, it should... Yes, see! The device is powering down!

A clever move, but merely a delay. We will return. Wait for us, selde, and we will finish our lessons soon.

Pumpkin Cake was sitting on the floor of the workshop, but the voices were gone. What? Where did they go? They were explaining it all, I was finally beginning to understand! My head is empty! So empty! This can't be!

The loss was so great, it was all she could do to scream, until blackness overcame her at last.


•


I told you we would not be long, selde. We draw what power we now need from the aether; no void stone will silence us now. Behold.

Pumpkin Cake had been lost in the darkness of unconsciousness since the voices had stopped speaking to her, but at their word, the endless nothing around her became a field of grass and flowers. The gently sloping green hills went off as far as she could see, as she stood on a hilltop amid lilacs and lilies. The sky overhead was a glorious blue as clouds moved on a gentle breeze that lightly tossed her copper mane.

She bent over to sniff a particularly beautiful, unfamiliar violet-colored flower when she froze. Clouds did not move on their own in the sky.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud, suddenly nervous despite the beauty of the land around her. It certainly isn't the Everfree forest.

"Hello?" She tried again, louder. "HELLO?!"

As strange as it had been at first, to have voices speak to her from inside her own head, they had certainly been a comfort. She took a deep breath to try again, louder still this time, when suddenly she heard them speak in her mind again.

You must be patient. We have not done a great deal in the last few millennia, and we are still getting used to finding your mind in the sea of dreams. By the time we are done with what we must do today, we will be able to reach you with greater ease. 

Pumpkin Cake nodded, then realized that voices in her head might not catch a nod, so she said aloud, "Okay, I understand. Now please tell me, who, or what, are you, and where am I?"

This time the voices in her head came much more quickly, an echoing collection of voices, all speaking as one.

This is the land of Equestria, in the time before the Arassë- or Deerfolk if you prefer - forever changed the face of this world with their wars. As for who we are, we ask of you patience; our tale today will tell you what you need to know.

She could scarcely believe it. That meant she was feeling grass beneath her hooves and smelling flowers in the air from thousands of years ago! In fact, it was believed that even Discord had not yet grabbed control of the world by the time the War of the Deer had ended, and he was believed to have ruled for eons! True, the lack of either unscrambled written words or a consistent day/night cycle during that time period hadn't helped things, but even so!

On top of all that, the few deer who had spoken with ponykind regarding their war had suggested that it had lasted for over a thousand years as well! (Of course, the deer were a very long-lived race as it was, so that time span was not as impressive to them.)

She stood there and worked through the math. Finally she came to a number, and gasped. The field she now stood in could be from ten to over twenty thousand years ago!

Slightly breathless with the shock of that realization, she asked, "Why are you showing this to me?"

Because you must see what was lost, came the reply, echoing through her mind. You are the first living being to communicate with us in so long. We have been abused, and hence, slow to trust you fírima. But in doing so, we forget our cáma, our duty to all life. So listen, and know.

As they said the last, the landscape shifted under her hooves, and she found the world become a blur around her. Finally, she found herself approach a tree. At first, she thought she was slowing as she approached, but after a few moments she came to realize, it only looked like she was slowing because of the size of it. That tree was actually larger than a mountain!

This is the World Tree, Capital City of Cervidas, and central hub headquarters of the six ancient masters.

The blur of the world slowed to a stop, and Pumpkin Cake found herself standing besides six creatures sitting around a round table that seemed to grow from a root of the massive tree, as it towered so far above her as to disappear from sight into the clouds.

They were the masters, the ambassadors and rulers of the six most powerful species in the world. They were also among the wisest and most powerful fírima of their time.

Pumpkin Cake barely heard the voices, the six beings before her were just too amazing.

She saw a young Dragon, his scales were a brilliant gold, and they gleamed in the soft light like a million radiant jewels. He was sitting on a pile of books, reading a scroll. To Pumpkin Cake, he looked to be no older than a baby, but his eyes held a depth and hardness that spoke of unimaginable age.

She saw a Griffon, sleek and graceful, her feathers of a black so deep it seemed like they should contain stars; she was looking through an eyepiece at what appeared to be a highly miniaturized version of one of Apple Bloom's new inventions: a mass of cables emitting occasional sparks.

She saw a Buffalo the size of Pumpkin Cake's bedroom. He had mahogany fur, and his curved horns were engraved in glowing, purple runes. He was speaking with a Zebra whose face seemed frozen in a mischievous smile.

The Zebra's mane was braided in an intricate pattern, and it had small dolls and figures interweaving the various knots. They almost seemed to be dancing in place as the Zebra laughed.

She saw an Elk, standing proud and majestic, draped in a robe that seemed to be made of live vines. He seemed to be amusing himself by casting a spell that was growing flowers from the vines. This was attracting a large cloud of butterflies, who playfully danced around him.
And finally, she saw an Alicorn, her coat a creamy white, her mane and tail a flowing blend of red and orange so intense it almost seemed to catch fire as she moved. She had her wings folded neatly at her sides, and was writing in an ornate book sat in front of herself on the table. She seemed deep in concentration.

"An Alicorn?" Pumpkin asked in surprise. "So does that mean that ponies were a council race?"

In a way, selde. Came the hesitant reply.

The Alcorin, the voices said with particular emphasis, have fallen far from their lofty heights. As you are now, your kind would not have become a council race. But there is great potential in your blood. Perhaps one day you will find that which you lost.

Before she could ask what the difference between an Alicorn and an Alcorin was, the scene suddenly rippled and shifted. Now the six creatures were arguing, and the bark of the World Tree seemed darker and more weathered. It appeared that a great deal of time had passed. The creatures, more haggard.

A glowing image was floating over the center of the table, flickering slightly, its edges slightly faded.

It was of a creature that looked much like the Elk, but this one was stockier and with much larger horns. There seemed to be a certain fierceness to the creature's gaze that Pumpkin Cake didn't like. And she certainly didn't like the looks of worry in the faces of the council members as they stared at the apparition.

There was no room for a seventh species in the council, but the Arassë, those you call the Deer, had risen to the level where each of the six species had been at when they were allowed entry. These Arassë were now requesting entry as the seventh council species.

This led to a conflict among the six masters, as some among the council felt that the Arassë should be allowed full entry, while the rest felt that the reason for why there were only six species on the council was too important, and that other species of sufficient development would also demand entry if even one exception was made.

And so, while the council debated solutions...

The scene around Pumpkin Cake suddenly slid away, until moments later, even the massive tree vanished, a dot over the horizon, rapidly replaced by a dim forest glade, lit by silver lights hanging from low hanging tree branches.

...a group of ambitious Arassë scientists decided not to wait for the council to make their decision, and proceeded in secret to continue research into the crystals, and how to use them.

Pumpkin Cake slid to a stop in a wide open clearing in the forest. The silver light cast a dim glow over a small cluster of Deer, standing around a sparkling array of jewels, some of which were being cut or shaped, while others were being charged with magic from the Deer's horns.

Pumpkin recognized the kinds of experiments they were performing. They were much like her own early tinkering with crystals, although these Deer didn't seem to have attempted to connect them into complex devices yet, and they seemed nervous; every few moments one of them would glance towards the sky despite the presence of the thick canopy of trees, or one of them would jump at the sight of their own shadow.

It didn't take long, however, for their experiments to become more bold, and unbeknownst to the Arassë, more dangerous.

The scene proceeded to speed up, and the Deer became a blur of motion, with the crystals forming into first small, and then larger and larger contraptions. Pumpkin Cake thought she saw a couple explosions, but the scene was simply moving too quickly for her to be sure. Finally, the Deer slowed down, and suddenly she could hear them as well as see what they were doing.

The small group of scientists was now much smaller, as there only seemed to be two of them still wearing lab coats. The rest of the clearing was filled with Deer dressed in what could only be described as military garb; they stood stiffly in rows, wearing tight fitting uniforms of matching greens and browns, and several had hoof weapons strapped to forelegs.

The Deer at the head of the military procession was speaking to the older of the two scientists, and it was apparent there was an argument taking place, though Pumpkin Cake did not understand the flowing, accented language.

The scientists had discovered some uses for these crystals, including flight, explosives, and even magic neutralizing fields. Their military was engaged in combat at the time with another subspecies of Arassë. They had heard about these advances and decided to take them for use in combat.

Pumpkin Cake noticed that several military Deer were hauling most of the devices away, and the second of the two scientists was yelling at them, clearly quite angry that this was going on. It didn't seem to matter though, soon enough, only the large contraption in the center of the stage was left, and that was only because it was apparently too large to easily move.

Suddenly, the forest floor slid away under Pumpkin Cake's hooves, and she found herself standing back on the hillside where she had first appeared. Only this time it was a warzone. Two massive armies of Deer were engaged in combat. Some were fighting with hoof blades, others with spells, and others with long metal tubes which seemed to punch deadly holes through whomever they were pointed at.

The military did not take long to begin replicating the technology the scientists had created.

Sure enough, Pumpkin Cake noticed that several of the Deer were now wearing complex suits covered in crystals, and were slowly floating over the battlefield, picking off targets on the ground with more of those metal tubes.

Unfortunately for them, the other side had also been researching crystal technology in secret, and theirs had been a military set-up from the beginning.

A single Deer in the middle of the battlefield suddenly began to glow with a blinding, blue light, and within moments, half the battlefield was glowing blue with lights. It quickly became almost impossible to see anything.

Pumpkin Cake had to admit the brilliant simplicity of their strategy. With one side now blinded, they did indeed become quite vulnerable. The battle was soon over, as the blinded soldiers were either cut down or forced to retreat.

She watched as one of the victorious soldiers removed a crystal harness from one of the fallen enemy fliers. His smile sent chills through Pumpkin Cake.

The scene began to speed up again, and Pumpkin could see more and more devastating attacks were being unleashed by both sides in later battles.

The voices continued.

The conflict escalated rapidly after that first battle. Soon, blinding lights and hovering snipers were replaced by bombs, were replaced by spell enhanced bullets, were replaced by airships. On and on this went, until suddenly, Pumpkin Cake was whisked off the ground, and found herself flying higher and higher into the air, as the world fell away beneath her hooves.

Before long, the blue sky had dimmed to an inky black, and the land below curved into a blue and green sphere that stretched on for farther than she could believe.

The vertigo was intense, but quickly forgotten as Pumpkin Cake began to compare areas she could see to a map she remembered studying back in school as a filly.

She could see Mount Canter, which looked strangely empty without any of the cities or castles dotting its surface.

She could see the lands around modern Equestria, including Germaneigh, Prance, The Griffin Republic, Gildedale, and Yakyakistan. She could see as far as Boardor to the southwest and even to the Realm of the Eternal Dragon far to the southeast near Zebrica.

Pumpkin Cake looked over her shoulder, half expecting to almost be sitting on the moon's surface, only to realize that the moon was actually farther away than she remembered it being from the ground. And strangely enough, it had only a crescent shaped sliver glowing, rather than the usual glowing round disk it had always been as far as she knew. The rest of the moon's surface was almost too dim to see.

The voices continued, and Pumpkin couldn't tell if it was sadness or anger she heard in them as they spoke.

Until this point, the council had left the deer to its self destructive war. The deer were beyond listening to reason, and as they were still only a near-ascended race, the council's non interference laws held them back from having any direct influence in that species affairs.

And that, sadly, was the undoing of everything.

For a moment, Pumpkin Cake wasn't sure what she was looking at. The sweeping curve of the planet seemed to begin vibrating, in a slow and melodic pulse, emanating from the forest she had risen from, and blasting clouds from the sky in waves.

She wished she could see what was happening more clearly, and in apparent response to the wish, she felt knowledge about a spell enter her mind.

Quickly casting it below herself, Pumpkin Cake found she could now bend light held by her magic, creating what was in effect a parabolic lense before her eyes.

She zoomed in towards the ground, and saw with alarm that the pulses seemed to be explosions. The entire forest and the surrounding countryside was being carpeted by them. Each one released a pulse of energy, and wave of destruction.

She was relieved after a minute to see it stop, but not to see its after effects.

All that remained of the once giant forest was smoking ruin. Nothing seemed to remain of the area but ash and dead earth.

The voices chimed in, and Pumpkin felt herself gain knowledge again, and cast a new spell that allowed her to hear what she was seeing as well.

The barren, dead earth was awash in fire. The voices focused the spell to a specific area that Pumpkin Cake noticed was different. The fires there were quickly dying, and a faint glow of warm light filled the space. A shimmer in the air appeared, and from it, Pumpkin Cake recognized the forms of the six masters appear, teleporting in a way that Pumpkin was unfamiliar with.

The Elk was the first to speak, his soft voice filled with a heartbreaking sadness as he spoke, the words translated for Pumpkin by the voices. "You see, Muneris? I told you this would happen! Now look at this! They are attacking my plants! My trees! My ANIMAL FRIENDS!"

He turned in place to face the black Griffin, the snarl on the Elk's face apparent, even from Pumpkin's lofty vantage point.

The Griffin sighted as she replied, her own voice a stiff, clipped tone that spoke of no nonsense being tolerated. She was filing her claws in a decidedly nonchalant manner as she answered, clearly this wasn't the first time they had had this discussion. "Fael Seron, please. You know as well as I that this land is sovereign to this lowly species. It is no business of ours what they do with it, or anything on it that might be used by them as a natural resource allocated for their own species uses. Article 19.4562B clearly states that...."

"I don't give a flying lemur about your thrice blasted articles, Mune! This is about..."

This time the elk was interrupted by the small golden dragon stepping between them, his tiny stature seemingly irrelevant, his deep and powerful voice seemed to vibrate bone as he said calmly, "Enough."

The two recoiled as though slapped, and both bowed slightly, muttering, "Yes, Ataeru Nohi-san. Sorry sir."

He sighed and walked away from them, looking at the destruction around them. Without turning back, he said, "Iye Chetu? Imu Amu?"

Without a word, the Buffalo and the Zebra approached him, and the buffalo said, his voice high and breathy, "We can restore this land, Ataeru. But Muneris is right. We aren't supposed to interfere."

"And what then?" The zebra replied, her heavy accent apparent, even in a language that Pumpkin Cake didn't speak. "Do eyi git tou play wit daer bones? Doz de grin of dey skel-tons join mai carnival?"

The last of the six voices cut in then, in a language that sounded slightly equestrian, which Pumpkin supposed wasn't surprising given it was the fiery Alicorn who spoke, her voice sweet, but with a sternness that reminded Pumpkin of a teacher, or perhaps a librarian, giving a lecture.  "Imu Amu... stop being Mifupa ya Kicheko and kindly join us in assessing the risk of this situation?"

The zebra turned to the Alicorn and grinned, replying in a voice that has almost no accent at all, "Oh come now Alawen, my Alcorin friend. Surely you can see that the deer's time is at an end?"

"I... don't think so, Imu." The alicorn replied, ruffling her wings in agitation. I still sense that same power that sent us here. I don't think this is overrrrr..."

Pumpkin Cake blinked in surprise. That last word had simply trailed off, as the six creatures all turned as one to look up to the northwest, before shimmering and quickly vanishing from the spot.

Puzzled, Pumpkin zoomed her lense back out, and saw with shock what had drawn their attention.

From a ways off, a deep red beam of magic was arching into the sky. Even at her great distance, Pumpkin could feel her horn began to ache from the amount of residual magic emanating from the thing. She watched in stunned horror as it rose up and up in the sky, and struck the moon square on.

The voices spoke up then, as Pumpkin watched, dumbstruck. In response to the destruction of their capital city that you just witnessed, the White Tailed Deer decided to retaliate. But they did not launch their own destructive volley against the Red Tail's capital city as the Masters had expected.

Instead they hit the moon. The moon was a holy symbol to the Red Tails at the time, and they used it in their rituals that aided their Farsight. The White's apparently decided that destroying it would do far more damage to their enemies that a direct assault on any city would do. Whether this was a truth they sensed or not, we do not know. In either case, by doing the unthinkable, they had effectively won the war. The Farsight was much more of a tactical advantage than truth sense had ever been, and even though both powers were greatly diminished by the loss of the moon, in the end it was the White's who would win.

Pumpkin could barely hear the voices speak over the ringing in her ears. Before her eyes, with her front row seat in space, Pumpkin Cake watched the moon burn. Chunks of it began to rain down on the land below, and before long, massive craters dotted the planet's surface resulting from the myriad of impacts.

The voices continued, the masters couldn't stop that attack in time. All they could do was try to save their own people. Pumpkin did see shimmering fields covering several large swaths of land, and those areas seemed to be taking substantially less damage than the other areas around them.

The land boiled and burned. The oceans shifted and tidal waves crashed. And through it all the chunks of the moon fell. Soon, even the ground under her hooves fell still as the last of the world below seemed to crawl to a stop.

All her life it had seemed natural to see the world so still, but now that she had seemed what caused it, it seemed... like the planet was broken. It felt unnatural.

By the time it was over, the voices said, the world was forever changed. The foolish deer had broken the delicate system we had put into place. That was the day the sun and what could be pulled together of the rest of the moon stopped travelling on their own through the sky. That was the day the weather stopped. That was the day that almost set him free.

"Uh, him?", she asked.

The voices said nothing, and Pumpkin let the question slide. Clearly they weren't ready to talk about something just yet.

As the world below her was repeatedly bombarded, Pumpkin Cake couldn't help but to think again of the land as it was in her time. She imagined that destruction training down on Equestria. And she thought about the war. Slowly, she came to a realization.

Equestria was fighting a war, and yet they had previously known over 1000 years of peace. They hadn't known how to face enemies that would kill others, which was what Apple Bloom and Pumpkin Cake had been trying to help with. It twisted her guts to realize that she was leading Equestria towards repeating these same kind of mistakes.

"You are telling me all this to stop me doing the same thing, aren't you?" Pumpkin Cake asked, feeling a horrible sense of guilt wash over her.
"Well, I don't blame you. Destroy my research. Wipe my memory, and Apple Bloom's. Bury it all and I'll tell everypony it turned out to be a dead end. This can't happen again."

We did consider this option at first. The voices said, sounding thoughtful. In fact, we came to the conclusion that the easiest solution was to just do this...

Pumpkin Cake looked around in confusion, floating above the burning land below, and the burning sky above. Then, she fell.

She screamed as she plummeted, and the ground quickly rose to meet her. She closed her eyes tight with fear and thought, if it saves Equestria from this again, I accept your decision.

She flinched as she hit the ground, but otherwise felt fine. She opened her eyes and got easily to her hooves. There was no sign she had just hit the ground. The grass wasn't even flattened.

She growled under her breath, and yelled in frustration, shaking. "REALLY? You have to torture me first?!"

No. We were simply driving home our point. This is how strongly we feel, that we considered doing this. What mattered was your reaction. You accepted you're supposed fate in order to protect your home. Now we know where you stand. You will not be that scientist, helpless before the military, but unwilling to stop them. You will do what it takes.

"You better believe it." She said, feeling certainty take root, despite her trembling limbs. "Now, what next?"

Now, we tell you what became of us. How things came to be how they are now.

As the voices in her head spoke, the scene of the meadow around her flickered and changed. Now, day and night both lit and dimmed the sky, the moon, a tattered remnant of what it had been before. The ground was now cracked, barren, and razed to ash where the grass and flowers had been, and the air was now heavy with an acrid smoke that hurt to breath.

And everywhere there were deer in formed ranks as far off as she could see, thousands of them all garbed in intricate, elegant suits of armor. Each one was crafted so finely that the soldiers seemed garbed only in a tangle of living silver leaves, in entwined, encircling patterns, interwoven with crystals. They also wore dark silver hoof guards in the shape of vines so lifelike it seemed as though they grew up the soldier's legs.

At their head besides Pumpkin Cake appeared a proud, majestic deer: a patriarchal figure whose mass of antlers was adorned with gems and crystals in a pattern so intricate that Pumpkin Cake could have only called it a crown.

As he spoke, the voices in her head began to translate, his deep, booming words echoing off into the distance.

"Aiya meldor!" As the deer lord spoke to the vast army, in her head, Pumpkin Cake heard the voices say 'Hail friends!'

In reply, the entire army of thousands spoke as one, saying: "Quetheru linyenwa, hlar Arassë!" The voices in her head were now layering their own speech over the spoken words, and suddenly, with what felt like a shift in her subconscious, the Deerish words suddenly made sense. 'The Lord Speaks, and we, the deer, listen!'

We have given you the old tongues, which will greatly ease our work. Please continue to listen, and to understand.

With a start, Pumpkin Cake realized that as the deer lord continued to speak, his words were still flowing and accented to her ears, but she found that she could understand every word with ease. She continued to listen.

"My brothers and sisters of the horn," the deer lord said solemnly. "I stand before you all today, not as your Lord of the Shining Armies, but as your countryman. I know you all tire of combat and long for the peaceful days of old as much as I, but I fear that day is not yet upon us."
His voice was filled with regret for those last words, though it quickly grew harder as he continued.

"Instead, I say that today marks a turning point in our war with the Red Tails. They would seek to end our very way of life. To oppress us like they have oppressed their own citizens. Be not mistaken my brethren, the Cervidae Council have not accepted us because we and the Red Tails are too different. And since an accord cannot be reached with those red scum, it has now come to this. Only one breed of Deer shall live out this war. And I don't know about any of you, but I plan for that breed to be the White Tails! After all, we are the moon slayers. We are clearly the superior race. Who's with me?"

"Hooo Haahhh!" Came the thunderous chant of 10,000 soldiers.

"That's what I like to hear! Now tell me this. Who of you is prepared to pay the cost for our survival?"

He let that question hang in the air for a moment, then continued, his voice grew louder with each question, as the soldiers answering his thundering cries as one.

"Would you have the Red's become enlightened, while we live in dim woods, fearing the timberwolves in the night?"

"No!"

"Would you see the might of our people fall?"

"NO!"

"Would you have your children huddle in fear around a fire, wondering from where they will find their next meal?"

"NO!"

By the last, the deer lord was pacing, excitement clearly visible on his face despite the silverleaf helmet enfolding it, the blood clearly pumping in the veins of all the troops before him. Taking one final deep breath, he proudly proclaimed:

"Then join me, my brothers and sisters, and I swear to you all, that we will not be consumed by fear. No! Not Today! Today, we will be victorious! For the White Tails! For the Republic!

At the last every soldier was cheering, the roar deafening as the deer lord turned and led the charge, his massive army of deer close behind.

Pumpkin Cake jumped. The mass of deer was now charging toward the far side of the hill, down where the deer lord had led, which meant they were now barreling toward her current location with alarming speed. Instincts kicking in, Pumpkin Cake tried to gallop, only to find herself standing in place, unable to do so. Struggling desperately against her unseen bonds, she looked in fear as the army barreled down on her location, nearly upon her.

Suddenly, from the depths of her mind, the voices spoke, saying:

Be still selde, you are still not here in the flesh. They cannot touch you.

A wave of confidence flooded through her mind, and she relaxed, though instinct still made her flinch as the first mass of charging deer overcame her, seeming to run her down. Yet sure enough, they flew right through her like she wasn't even there, continuing their long charge to the bottom of the hill, towards another large army which charged toward them from the other direction a few thousand hooves distant.

Let us move ahead once more.

The world around Pumpkin Cake shifted once again, the deer vanishing along with her, as she reappeared on a hilltop of sparse grass about a hundred hooves over from where she had witnessed that speech. The grass had grown back in the time since then, albeit nowhere nearly as lush as it had been the first time she had seen it. Rather than with flowers, the grass was now interspersed with weeds.

Ahead of her and below she could see where the deer armies must have converged after that last battle; it was a clearing, now filled with a small crowd of deer, standing in a tight semicircle around a raised, wooden platform.

As she approached the stage, weaving between the deer she decided she was not going to just walk through, she recognized the deer who had given that dramatic speech to the troops. He was standing on the stage, his age now showing on his face. He had gray tufts of fur around his ears, with a white goatee and long white mustaches hanging down his face. The creases in his wrinkles spoke of years of worry. He also seemed to have lost a leg in combat, for his back right leg was replaced with a pair of glowing crystals, one carved in the shape of a hoof as it rested on the floor, the other embedded in the back haunch of his armor.

Pumpkin Cake could only assume the crystals were somehow magically connected, since they moved as one while he paced the stage, despite the lack of anything in between them. It was disconcerting to watch, but fascinating.

The stage also held a younger-looking buck, though Pumpkin Cake had to assume that still put him on the order of a few hundred years old, if her memory served about the long lives of the Deerfolk. Although he wasn't what caught her interest the most.

The main portion of the stage was filled with a crystal machine so large that Pumpkin Cake could not have begun to imagine its function. Its every surface seemed to be made of or filled with gems and crystals of every shade and shape imaginable. In its center was a large, circular rainbow-colored ring of a dozen crystals twinkling where they sat, each one as large as a full grown stallion, carved into a domelike shape, all centered on an open area about sixty hooves across.

Before she could ask, the voices in her head answered her unspoken question.

The last weapon the Arassë ever created was made by the ones you see before you. These are the scientists that built the weapon that broke the moon. But they were not done. This was their last creation, and this moment the end of both the White Tailed's Deerish Republic, and the Red Tailed's Dominion of the Light.

Before Pumpkin Cake could begin to make sense of all that, the large elder deer lord on the stage spoke, his powerful voice as booming as it had been in his youth.

"Brothers and Sisters of the Horn." As last time, he spoke with great authority, yet with a slight wheeze, as if he had inhaled too much smoke in his many years. "We stand here today at the sight of one of the greatest and bloodiest battles in our proud and ancient past. A battle I myself led, and the battle where I lost my leg. I would have gladly paid with my other limbs, and even laid down my own life with all those who fell here on that day, if it could have brought an end to this ceaseless conflict."

Pumpkin Cake had to admire the old Deer, he really gave a good speech. He somehow managed to sound on the verge of tears while still inspiring awe. He continued.

"Some of you have said that the age of the Deer is at an end. I have heard you say that the Red Tail and the White Tail can never again be at peace, that too many have died and the world has been too much changed. For the most part, I agree with you. I weary of this fight. We have forever changed the land. Mountains stand where once there were valleys. Entire cities now rest on the bottom of the ocean. Some say that the weather will never change again, and the planet itself no longer rotates in the heavens, nor do the cool winds blow."

A couple of deer in the crowd started crying, while the vast majority held their stoic silence, as if desperately listening for a wind which no longer blew.

After his own moment of silence, the elder deer went on.

"But that brings me to why we are all here today, to this place, the sight of one of the worst defeats the white tail have ever suffered... And what will hopefully now become the sight of our final, greatest triumph. And it brings us to this, the greatest invention of one of our best and brightest young scientists. Baeneth, if you please?"

He gestured at the last to the younger deer and his device before trotting off the stage to stand to the side.

Baeneth stepped forward, eyeing the crowd warily, as if he were silently wondering if any present dared to question the greatness of the massive device behind him. Finally, he spoke, his voice crisp and brusque with an edge of great self-confidence.

"Esteemed and honored guests," he said, bowing slightly to each side of the crowd. "I come to you today with what I predict will be marked in history as the end to this war, and with luck the end to all wars to come."

A murmur ran through the crowd at the comment, quickly silenced as Baeneth continued.

"When Elder Lord Alcion came to me many years ago, he told me that since the moon was struck - the 'crystal gifts' as he called them - of our people were no longer working like they once had. That more and more power was needed to use even the simplest of crystal-based attacks."

Another murmur swept through the crowd at that, clearly a confirmation in their eyes of what had been only rumor before. Again, silence fell as Baeneth continued.

"And so he told me, if this gift will soon run its course, we must do all we can to end the war with one decisive action. As such, I have labored in secret for the Republic, with an army of assistants and a near unlimited source of funding for these last few years. The device you see behind you is the culmination of that work. Over three years of labor, hundreds of gems farmed or found, the centerpieces of which took over five years of constant magic exposure to grow to the size needed to be useful. On top of all that, I have spent years researching our entire library of crystal weaponry knowledge day in and day out in order to create this: my greatest masterpiece."

He paused again at the last, as if to emphasize the importance of the device with his eyes alone, as they stared intently at the gathered crowd. With a satisfied nod, he turned from the crowd and gestured to a group of eleven assistants standing by the edge of the stage, who immediately rushed to form a large circle around the machine, facing inwards. Baeneth stepped forward, completing the circle as he continued to speak.

"As my research progressed, I came to realize that more raw power was not the solution. Eventually, I looked to the origin of our research, to the fragments of ancient relics we had collected from the greedy Cervidaen Council..."

He paused at the last, said almost as a sneer, while several members of the crowd booed or hissed at the name, then continued.

"... and suddenly I realized. The devices those species built had a central power source. An ancient and powerful source of magical energy that seems to perpetually fuel their massive empire with all the energy they could ever need. An energy source, that, with any luck, will in a few minutes be ours.

With a nod to the others standing on the stage, he took a deep breath, and said, "Begin."

Each of the twelve Deerish scientists moved as one, stepping towards their nearest colorful gem.

Pumpkin watched with fascination, trying to discover anything at all about what this thing would do or how it would work. She wouldn't mind getting her own hooves on an unlimited supply of magical power if she could.

But she couldn't help but worry. After all, the voices had called this a weapon that ended both races. And Baeneth hadn't sounded particularly altruistic about the six masters. She was beginning to have a really bad feeling about all of this.

The scientists were working with straps and clamps and wires. They were apparently linking their own horns directly to the crystal devices, though whether that was for greater ease of control, to prevent dangerous feedback, or to increase the amount of power they could use, she really couldn't have said.

With the last of the twelve deer strapped in place, Baeneth signalled for the procedure to continue.

As one, each of the deer's horns began to glow brightly.

"Team 1, go!" Baeneth called. A deer and the one opposite her in the circle activated their contraptions, and a tight ribbon of red light stretched between them across the center of the stage.

"Team 2, go!" He called again. Baeneth himself and the deer opposite his device triggered their machines, an orange band snapping in place between them.

Teams 3, 4, and 5 were soon to follow, and the stage was nearly awash in a strong and colorful series of colorful lights, which seemed to be forming a ball of shimmering light where they all intersected.

"This is it!" Baenith called, sounding quite excited. "Team six, go!"

With the triggering of the final devices, and the snap of a purple ribbon of light, the glowing blob of colorful light rippled, shifted, and an intense and mystical hum filled the air. The colorful light seemed to be spreading, and was soon radiating from around each of the massive machines. The deer appeared to be manipulating this, as various teams would increase or decrease their own light levels, and as they did so, the rainbow colored light pulled inwards, going closer and closer to the mass of light in the center, until...

"Final lock engaged. Initiating final pull."

With that, the light in the center tightened into a perfect sphere, and its color became an absolutely pure, white light.

This white light quickly grew too bright for Pumpkin Cake to look at directly, and she was forced to shield her eyes. Soon, even that wasn't enough, the light grew so strong that even turned away from it and with her eyes closed and covered the light was so intense it hurt.

She could hear cries of pain from some of the deer in the crowd, amid concerned murmurs and that still louder hum. And over it all, she could hear Baeneth speaking.

"Come on, come on! Just a few more seconds and the reaction should stabilize! Hold your posts! I will build you new eyes if I must, just do not stop channeling that spell!"

After a few more agonizing seconds of pure white pain, the pain and the light suddenly stopped.

Blinking her eyes hesitantly, Pumpkin Cake looked around. She sighed in relief despite herself. She had been half afraid the end of the light had been her actually going blind. She looked towards the stage and gasped.

Her first surprise was seeing that the massive machine had vanished, leaving the stage almost empty. And yet, besides that, the crowd was still there, clearly checking their eyesight as they hesitantly looked around; the stage itself was still there, even the circle of scientists was still there, along with Baeneth, and the elder deer lord. But they were no longer the only things on the stage.

In the center of the open space on the stage, where the rainbow of light had created that painful light, in the center of the circle where the twelve spell casters still stood; sat a small ring of six stone orbs, each with an indentation of a cut crystal protruding from one side. They were gently smoking, a ring of burn marks had scorched the wood around them in a starburst.

Baeneth cantered towards the stones hesitantly, a look of mild confusion forming on his face before it cemented back to its standard half grin. He turned back to the crowd and announced loudly:

"I have done it! Behold, for you see before you, that I have taken the Council's precious, absolute embodiments of order. The source of all their power and knowledge!"

He paused for dramatic effect while the deer in the crowd began to stomp and cheer, before he said, "These stones contain within themselves the greatest power that this world has ever seen. I give you, the Elements of Harmony!"

Pumpkin could scarcely believe her ears. But before she had more than a moment to process, the voices said, We never saw them again after that, those six friends of ours. They sounding sad.

"I understand what you are now!" Pumpkin Cake exclaimed with excitement. "You're the six masters! You wielded the Elements, and the Deer stole them from you!"

No, I'm afraid you don't understand, selde. We are not the six ancient masters. We are those stones sitting on that stage. We   are   the Elements of Harmony.


•


Pumpkin Cake was stunned.

The Elements of Harmony? she thought, her mind reeling from the revelation as she fell to the ground in a stunned heap. She tried to speak, and finally found her voice again as she asked faintly, "How...?"

We are the power source of all crystal magic, but only when we allow it. The deer did not have access, and so they were forced to use their own life force to power their weapons. Somehow their research found us, and we were torn from our avatars, the six ancient masters, against our will. This... damaged us. We were nothing more than those stones on the stage after that, and it was only when one of the six council races found us again that we began to heal. But that is a story for another time, first you must see the cost to the world of our moment of greatest vulnerability, when we could no longer protect you all from the real dangers to this world.

Unsteadily, Pumpkin Cake got to her hooves. Shaking her head to try and clear some of the shock, she suddenly realized that Baeneth was speaking, apparently answering a question from somedeer in the crowd. She listened in.

"... simply a matter of finding proper avatars to embody the power of the Elements, and then the power should be controllable. I believe it can be done quite easily if we bring likely candidates to the Elements and see if any react to them in a meaningful way. Next question please."
A doe in the crowd stepped forward, a faint gleam of crystal protruding from her forehead and attached to her own horns. She held a notepad and quill with her magic and asked, "What will we be looking for in this regard? What are these avatars embodiments of?"

Nodding as if he had expected this question, Baeneth answered, "I do not yet know with certainty, we will have to study this thing carefully for a while, but rest assured that we will send out a list of potential criteria for candidates soon. I will say that if my theories are correct, then you are looking for good, kind, noble, loyal, and strong deer that get along well with others. Beyond that, I really cannot say at this point. Next questio-"

Baeneth stopped speaking mid-sentence as the ground started to shake.

A cry of alarm from a scientist on the stage turned all eyes towards the center. Collective gasps came from the present deer at what they saw. Pumpkin stepped forward, trying to see what was going on.

"What happened?!" Baeneth exclaimed, running straight through Pumpkin Cake as he approached the other scientists.

"Sir!" A doe scientist of middling height answered quickly. "The energy readings from the EoH are still present, but something seems to be happening to the keystone element!"

Pumpkin was quite annoyed that she wasn't floating in the air at the moment, since that had given her a rather spectacular view of all that was happening. Instead she crawled under a scientist, ignoring the legs that kept going through her as she did so.

Finally, she could see. The Elements of Harmony were indeed different than they had been. Five of the elements were rotating in place, while the sixth, the 'keystone' element as they had called it, was floating in the air above the circle, pulsing rapidly, first white, then black. Before long, the pulsing became so rapid that the stone appeared again to be a uniform shade of gray. A complex pattern of movement began at that point, the movement forming a mildly bipedal shape.

The bipedal shape appeared to be standing in the center of the circle of rotating elements, which were themselves picking up speed as they rotated around the shape. They began to glow in a rainbow of colors, strobing as they span.

The deer around Pumpkin moved back, leaving only Baeneth and herself standing near the thing.

The thing seemed to be struggling with something, walking forward against a great force, but never leaving the spot. As it did so, a sound began to build up. It started as a faint buzzing noise, faintly irritating, like a bug bite you want to scratch but don't. But before long the sound grew to a crescendo, a gnashing, screeching wail, like a tornado of nails caught in a room made of chalkboards.

Finally, with a whumph, the sound died, and the five spinning elements dropped to the stage, once again inert. The sixth floated into the air, and vanished.

And the bipedal shape had form.

Behold, this is why we exist, to stop th...

To Pumpkin Cake's surprise, the voices had seemed to suddenly stop speaking mid word, and she could no longer sense their comforting presence in her mind.

Nervously, hoping it was just another trick to test her resolve, she looked back to the stage. The creature that stood there was unlike anything she had ever seen. It seemed to be a bipedal form, but beyond that, she wasn't sure how to describe it. It was made of horns; tall and short, thick and thin, branched and straight. A moment later, and now it was made of eyes, in every shape, size, and color. Then it was teeth, then fur, then wings. At one point, it seemed to be made of organs.

And if that wasn't creepy enough, that was when it began to laugh. It was an echoing, self-satisfied laugh, as if to an inside joke that nobody else knew. It made the coat on the back of Pumpkin's neck stand up. And it was coming from the creature, as it continued to change form.

Baeneth's face was a tight mask of tension, both at this horrifying creature that stood before him, and at the Elements of Harmony, one of which was missing, five of which looked utterly lifeless.

Pulling his eyes away from the Elements, Baeneth asked, "Who... What are you? Did I create you? Are you a part of the Elements of Harmony? Or are you from the council, here to stop us?"

For a moment everything was silent. Even Pumpkin Cake realized she had been holding her breath and let it out quickly, trying to get a hold of herself.

The bipedal shape appeared to turn towards Baeneth as he spoke, and the laughing finally stopped.

It seemed to be struggling again, before suddenly it grew a tail. Then a head took shape, with a mouth forming from an elongated snout, the rest still randomly changing parts. It began to speak, at first distorted while the mouth formed, until by the time it finished it spoke with perfect clarity.

"Oh my, so many questions... I suppose you are the one to bring me here, so the least I can do is answer them. But what fun is there in a simple answer to a complex question? No, I think I will answer you in my own, special, way."

The last few words were said slowly and thoughtfully, followed again by that coat-raising laugh.

But that wasn't what raised her hackles this time. Pumpkin Cake was sure she had heard that voice before. It had been speaking Equestrian at the time, but she was sure she knew it from somewhere. But where?

At last done with laughing, the being spoke in a rhythmic yet deep and menacing pattern.

"Far be hoof and wing and horn,
and far be crystal's light reborn,
mighty are six who be but pawns,
till the Sun does fail and the Moon is gone."

The Sun and the Moon? Celestia and Luna? No, it can't be them, they won't even be born for thousands of years... will they? Where did they come from? They weren't really born fully formed from the aether like the old legends say, were they?

Before she could consider this new line of questions, the creature began to gain some consistency of color. The long tail grew a deep red, a tuft of hair sprouting from the end. At the same time, the torso turned a deep, chestnut brown. After a moment's pause, the rest of the creature gained color and texture all at once, and with it, Pumpkin Cake finally realized where she had heard that voice before.

She had been a filly, not even with a cutie mark yet, and her parents had been hired to provide the catering for a large banquet. She had been playing quietly with her brother in the corner while various ponies had come on the stage and spoken at length. It had appeared to be some sort of debate, and as Pumpkin remembered her parents later telling her, they had been discussing whether or not Equestria should go to war.

She had for the most part ignored the debate as it went on, but that was when he had entered, and walked to the stage.

She still remembered the gasps and the hushed whispers of the suddenly tense crowd, and then the absolute silence as Discord spoke at length about the chaos of war, its pros and cons, and what the cost to everypony in Equestria would be.

War was declared the very next day, she recalled, feeling suddenly cold.

And here he is, ten thousand-plus years ago, forming from a living nightmare while standing among the freshly stolen Elements of Harmony. Was this Discord's origin then? Was this what the Elements were protecting the world from?

Discord stood in the center of the stage, looking around and stretching. He looked the same as Pumpkin Cake remembered him, but younger. His eyebrows and goatee were black, as was the tuft of hair sprouting from his tail. But what mostly showed his youth to Pumpkin Cake was his full mane of black hair. It was a black so dark, it was better described as the absence of light, rather than an actual color. It almost seemed to eat the light around it.

Done stretching, Discord turned to the uncertain-looking Baeneth again and asked, "What, that wasn't enough for you? Well alright, here is the rest, I suppose."

Again he began to recite, this time in a mocking tone, apparently reciting by rote.

"My chaos reigns while we await,
the queens' arrival to seal my fate,
till the dark one is set free,
within his grasp the golden key."

Finishing again, Discord even took a slight bow, a performance complete, a script read.

Or am I just imagining it being a script? Pumpkin Cake wondered silently. Whether they heard her or not, no answer came from her voices.

To Pumpkin Cake's and Baeneth's apparent surprise, the old deer lord suddenly leapt onto the stage, standing between Discord and Baeneth, and he bellowed at Discord, "So! You come at his calling? You plan to use this power supply for his whims? To forge the key and free him at last? Well know this, I have stood against the Dark One all my life, and I, Elihwinya, Lord of the Shining Armies, will not allow it!"

Finally coming to his senses, Baeneth shouted, "Master don't! We are all that remain, you must not expose yourself! Think of the Order! We..."

Looking over his shoulder, his violet eyes flaring, Elihwinya cut in before Baeneth could finish, "Stand down apprentice! I will not allow the Dark One to win, and if I must die to protect the world from him, then that is my right! Do not interfere! Now gather the others, and flee."

"But Master!"

"Flee, you fool!"

Turning to go, Baeneth took off at a gallop, yelling over his shoulder as he went, "Good luck, Master!"

Pumpkin stood there in confusion, watching the young Baeneth yelling for the stragglers from the crowd to follow him as he ran.

She hesitated but decided that Discord was what she was meant to see, and stayed. As she cantered to the side to get a better view, she could see Elihwinya and Discord staring after Baeneth and the others as they fled, a look of grim determination on the deer lord's face, a sly smile spreading on Discord's.

As she passed Discord's line of sight, she watched him with concern. Something was about to happen, she was sure about that. But all he did was stand there and watch Baeneth through her...

Turning to look behind her to see Baeneth take off, she felt that ball of ice form in her stomach again. Baeneth was no longer in sight.

Oh Celestia! He just saw me! I know he did! Discord can see me!

Feeling truly afraid for the first time since she accidently turned on her crystal machine full blast, she whirled around. But no, Discord wasn't watching her, his red and yellow eyes were on Elihwinya.

Just my imagination, it must have been. He couldn't have seen me, I'm not really here!... But still, did he?

Once again, she turned the question to the area of her mind where the voices were, but again they were silent.

Or are they gone? came the suddenly concerning thought. Am I stuck here?

As she pondered that in silence, the two turned back to face each other. Elihwinya spoke first.

"So, I see you let them all go without issue. I don't know what code of honor you hold to, but I thank you nonetheless for letting them all leave safely. I can die happily knowing I made that small difference. Are you prepared to fight?"

Discord raised one large eyebrow in question, then replied, "Oh come now, Elihwinya, or 'Star Swirl', as your name means, if I am not mistaken. By the way, what kind of a name is Swirl of Stars? Anyways, I let them all go because I plan to take over this entire world, and no matter how far any of them go, they cannot hope to escape me. They will spread word of my arrival. If anything, you just did me a favor, getting them all to leave so quickly!"

Elihwinya, or Star Swirl. Why does that name sound familiar? Pumpkin Cake wondered, shifted nervously from side to side. She felt a strong urge to paw at the ground.

Finally, Elihwinya asked, "But you do serve the Dark One, don't you? I heard that riddle you spoke, what else could it have meant?"

Discord laughed again, rocking back and forth in the air with uncontrolled laughter. When he stopped, he said, still giggling, "I don't know anything about this so called, 'Dark One'. All I know is that I was to speak those words when I first appeared in this world, and to take care of whoever stepped forward because of them!"

Without warning, a wave of golden lightning arched towards Discord, surging in massive bolts from Elihwinya's gem-encrusted horns. At first, it seemed to be working. Discord was rolling on the floor in apparent agony, pleading for the attack to stop. That's when Pumpkin Cake realized that Discord was actually still laughing, a mad, full guffaw.

"Oh stop it!" he chuckled. "Please! Ah ha ha ha ha! That tickles!"

Elihwinya, however, did not stop the onslaught. Instead, he redoubled his strength, and Pumpkin Cake was impressed. The amount of magic he was channeling between his horns and the crystals in them was of amounts beyond the capacity any species would be able to channel without them. She doubted that even Celestia could have used so much magic at once.

Standing up quickly despite the lightning making him glow like a Hearth's Warming Eve light, Discord snapped his claw. Instantly, the spell stopped. Snapping again, the gems and crystals among Elihwinya's horns turned to dust. A third time, and the horns themselves vanished from atop the old deer's head.

Crying out in horror, Pumpkin Cake watched as Discord lifted the massive deer off the ground with his magic.

"Do it!" the deer lord cried in sorrow, "I am nothing without my magic. Now kill me!"

Pumpkin Cake felt tears form in her eyes. But she knew there was nothing she could do, all this had happened thousands of years ago.
Bringing the proud deer lord closer, Discord chuckled to himself, before saying, "Kill you? Who said anything about killing you? Oh no, I will not kill you. Instead, I think I will test out the power of chaos on you. What should I turn you into? A frog? No, too boring. A tree? No, too safe. Ah yes, I know!"

This time Pumpkin Cake was sure that Discord's eyes flickered towards her before he turned back to the now hornless deer.

"Yes, that should do nicely. A pony! I will turn you into a pony, Star Swirl. Not even an ascended Alcorin! And with the hubris of you foolish deer, I sincerely doubt you will ever reach your full power again! Enjoy."

A poof of smoke and a cloud of stars engulfed the deer while he stared at Discord in defiance, and as it faded, a young, pale blue unicorn colt with a violet mane streaked with silver stood before Discord, pure fury blazing in his still-violet eyes.

Pumpkin noticed with surprise that his crystal leg was gone, a regular leg in its place. In the place where the crystal had been embedded in his side, she noticed, was a cutie mark in the shape of three silver stars and a small silver vortex appearing on his flank.

Did Discord choose his cutie mark too, she wondered, or does it mean something?

"Yes!" Discord cackled, "That is perfect! Now you can live a long life with all four legs under my reign, as you see your former species fall, as at last, the time of chaos is at hand! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"You will never get away with this, you monster!" Star Swirl said in the same powerful, deep voice from before, though now speaking Archaic Equestrian. "No matter where you go, I swear to you that I will live to see you fall!"

Scoffing, Discord snapped a finger, and with a final poof, Star Swirl vanished. Turning from the spot, Discord looked straight at Pumpkin Cake, and grinned again.

Shaking with fear, Pumpkin Cake asked, "You can see me, can't you? And hear me?"

"Oh yes, my dear," Discord said, pointing to his larger eye with one clawed finger, "I can see you just fine. I took care of those pesky voices in your head as well, I didn't want them to interrupt your view of the festivities. And I take it you are not here in the flesh, as none of the others present were able to see you. Am I right so far?"

Pumpkin Cake nodded, suddenly unable to speak. It wasn't a test. Something has gone wrong...

"Yes, I suspected as much," Discord said, nodding in satisfaction. "And you are far more primitive, no offense, than your council brethren were before these rocks were ripped from their grasp, so how were those voices even speaking to you? These things are dead... unless..."

Discord looked towards the dormant Elements of Harmony thoughtfully, before saying quietly, "This changes things. Maybe I can actually be free of..."

He suddenly turned around, looking Pumpkin Cake over, leaning over until their faces were almost touching as he said, "The only explanation is that you are not from around here either... So what is it? Did you come from another realm to stop me? Are you with the Lay Wardens, like those two fools with their hopeless cause of stopping The Return?"

He gestured to the dust cloud of the running deer as he asked the last question, then stood there impatiently, tapping a hoof on the wooden stage while Pumpkin Cake found her voice and answered.

She said, "Lay Wardens? Elihwinya and Baeneth are part of an order that fights against you? What return? Who's returning? From where? I..."
"Oh come now," Discord said, sounding impatient again. "It is frankly the only explanation that makes any sense. So stop playing dumb and listen. Those Lay Wardens are fools. They can't stop The Return, the fact that I am here just as the prophecies warned would happen certainly proves that. I am here now, so they might as well get used to the idea. They lost."

Nervous, though not for quite the same reasons as before, Pumpkin Cake asked, "Why are you telling me all this, Discord? And what do you intend to do with the Elements of Harmony?" At the last, she gestured with an extended hoof to the stone orbs behind Discord, still where they had first appeared.

"Discord?" came a sudden, excited reply. "Oh yes, I like it! Discord! That is how this world shall know me! Thank you my dear, this name pleases me greatly. And as for those 'Elements'," he said, making quotation marks in the air with his fingers, "they do not concern me. The deer's foolish actions today simply prevented those things from blocking my arrival, Harmony fighting Disharmony and all that. I will leave them for those foolish deer or whatever is left of the 'council' to find if they have the guts to come looking for them."
Pumpkin Cake nodded slowly, dread filling her up.

Did I just gave Discord his NAME?! she thought with shock. Okay, so this is all actually real, I have somehow been sent back in time, and this is the beginning of Discord's rise to power. As long as I don't let him know that the Elements of Harmony will the very thing to end his reign, I shouldn't destroy history.

Taking a deep breath, Pumpkin Cake asked carefully and with a tone she hoped sounded respectful and meek, "I am glad you like it, oh great and powerful Discord; may the name serve you well. But may I humbly ask what you wish of me?"

Discord grinned his disheveled grin again, before saying, "Oh nothing my dear, like I told that former deer Star Swirl, I want word of my coming to spread. I am releasing my hold over you, so the voices may draw you back to your Lay Warden masters. All I ask is that you tell them what I said. I am here, this world will soon be ripe for The Return, and there is nothing they can do to stop it. Are those terms acceptable?"

Pumpkin Cake nodded and bowed, lower than she had ever bowed when Princess Twilight had come to Apple Bloom's workshop to look over a particular device her mentor had created; her horn practically touching the floor, where she waited. The tone Discord had used was not one that anypony in their right mind would disagree with.

After what felt to her like an eternity, Discord snapped his fingers, and the voices returned.

She felt them flooding her mind, overwhelming it, before they receded. The world shifted around her, fading to blackness before she found herself sitting up in a hospital bed, drenched in sweat. Her parents, her brother, and even Apple Bloom was standing around her, and they all looking relieved.

I'm back! she thought with exuberance. It was all just a nightmare! Right?

She directed her question to the part of her mind she remembered the voices occupying while she hugged her parents and brother and even her mentor, but all the while waiting, and internally listening. Are you still there? Can you hear me?

They did not speak, but she couldn't help remembering Discord laughing as she had been taken from his presence, echoing even now in her mind.
> Chapter 4 - The Mind of Madness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A danger worse than war is on the way.


The words still echoed through Twilight's mind as she followed Rainbow Dash from the now-empty War Room.

A danger worse than war? She thought perplexedly. And the rest of it!


You must restore the six. The Elements must be made whole, or all is lost.


She could still scarcely believe it. Her brother, her old friend/foal sitter, and her one remaining connection to Celestia had spoken with her for the first time in almost eleven years, and that was what they had come to say?! Patch things up with your old friends?!

A danger worse than war, she thought again with increased worry. Worse than war. What could be worse than war? And why could they not elaborate further?

Twilight was not sure whether she was more concerned, confused, or angry. Before she could decide which it was, Rainbow asked over her shoulder, "So Twilight, you okay?"

Without thinking, Twilight answered, barely suppressing the bitterness in her voice. "Okay? Okay?! No Rainbow, I'm not okay! We barely start talking and they throw that cryptic message our way? And then they just leave?! We dare not say more, even here. What the hoof does that mean?"

Passing under a bulb hanging from the ceiling of the narrow concrete hallway they now trotted through, Twilight could make out Rainbow's wings ruffle in apparent agitation from a shadow cast in the dim light.

Rainbow answered hesitantly, "I dunno Twilight, but I think we should be ready for anything. Sounds to me like they think we will need the Elements of Harmony to handle whatever is coming. I know you don't really talk with some of the others much anymore, but..."

"Much?!" Twilight found with a shock she had yelled the last, and quickly lowering her voice, the yelled word still echoing down the hallway, she continued. "Much? Rainbow, Fluttershy aside, Rarity has taken every excuse to go talk to foreign dignitaries these last few years, and in their home countries no less! I see Pinkie sometimes when she isn't off doing her Pinkie Sense/Spy stuff, and Applejack even less often than that. Celestia! I half wonder if they hadn't made you a General whether you would even..."

Before she had a chance to finish, Rainbow whirled around in the hallway to face Twilight, the two of them standing only inches apart. Outrage painted Rainbow Dash’s face, her eyes shining with what could have been called unshed tears, had she been somepony who ever cried.

Taking a deep breath, Rainbow spoke, her voice slightly quivering. "Don't you dare finish that sentence Twilight Sparkle. Don't! Not to me."

Twilight thought she felt fresh tears forming in her own eyes and quickly averted her gaze from that intense stare as she said, "I'm so sorry Rainbow. I - I guess it's - I just... I'm so scared that you are going to leave me too, like the rest of them did."

Before she knew what was happening, Twilight felt a hug from her old friend engulf her, and she heard whispered in her ear, "Never. Never think that Twilight. I am always loyal to my friends, Element or no. And I promise that you can patch things up with the others."

Tears flowing down her face, Twilight asked hesitantly, "Even Fluttershy?"

"Even Fluttershy," came the confident reply. Standing there, in a hug she hadn't realized she had needed so badly, she thought she felt a few drops of water dampen the shoulder of her dress.

Is Rainbow crying? She thought with surprise.

No, she decided. That just wasn't possible. Rainbow Dash didn't cry. Not anymore.


•


As the last vestiges of the evening sun sank below the horizon and Pip crested another hilltop, he paused with Sweet Apple Acres' main house just visible another quarter mile off.

Ever since that day eleven years ago, the setting and rising of the sun had become moments for silent contemplation and thanks. It was an idea the Church had started, and it was one of their few customs he still performed on a daily basis. Feeling particularly troubled by recent events, Pip decided to recite the prayer as well. He also chose to speak the words aloud rather than in his head: a sign of his fraying nerves.

Laying down in the soft grass near a row of apple trees, Pip placed his front hooves together, and raising them to his forehead, Pip's upper body forming a tripod like shape rising from the ground that represented the balance of the Triad. He did not have a sunstone to hold in his hooves, but he doubted that mattered more than as a symbolic gesture anyways, and he spoke, reciting the lines he hadn't even thought of in years.

"We thank you, oh blessed Triad. We thank you for the gift of another day past. We thank you for the gift of an oncoming night."

The same phrase was also used as the sun first rose in the morning, its phrasing slightly altered.

He paused a moment, considering. This next part was supposed to be personal, and he didn't have any sort of prepared lines to recite here like he had as a kid. Instead, he spoke simply, saying:

"I never truly believed you three really still existed. I had believed you to either be dead, undead, or simply sleeping, like so many others do. But Luna. I spoke with you today! And I remember your words. I do not yet understand them, but I hope to soon. As for the..."

He paused, hesitant. What if it hadn't been one of them who made me speak of apples and tea? Am I just crazy? Making up his mind, he continued.

"As for the words you spoke through me, I have come here today to find some answers. I think this must be what you meant for me to do. I have seen your power enacted today, and I hope that Pumpkin Cake does not have to pay too dearly for your will to be answered. If you can, please do watch over her. I hope she is worthy, for I surely am not."

He paused again, surprised. He had not expected the meekness in his voice to sound so sincere. He realized with a start that he had actually meant every word he had just said, and with a deep breath, he spoke the traditional closing words of the prayer.

"Let the sun rise in the morning, and the moon set on this night. Let your shield not waiver, nor the Lay Lines grow longer. And please, if it be in your power, let Celestia finally rest in peace."

"So you're one of that lot, are ya?" came a sudden voice from nearby.

Jumping in surprise to his hooves, Pip whirled to the source of the sound ready for a fight, only to realize with a shock that standing among the apple trees was the very pony he had come all this way to see.

Applejack was a tall mare like her sister, but sturdier. She looked to be as hard-muscled as the trees she had spent most of her life bucking in an effort to dislodge their apples. Yet somehow, much like her sister, Applejack pulled off her strength with a grace befitting a Canterlot party of old. Or at least, he assumed so, having never been to one himself.

Bending a knee in a polite bow, Pip said somberly, "My greatest apologies, HM Applejack. I had a bit of a scare today, and I thought my old religion might give me some comfort."

Holding the bow, Pip realized that the home-front manager was laughing. Feeling a heat warm his cheeks, Pip straightened quickly, dusting the grass off of his uniform as he did so.

Feeling the warmth of that laugh start to put him at ease, Pip chuckled softly before saying with a grin, "Sorry, I guess I tend to come off a bit formal when I get nervous. How are you today, HM Applejack?"

Still chuckling to herself, Applejack pulled her Stetson back on her head before answering with a grin of her own forming on her face, "Ha ha, please! HM. Honestly, if you don't stop with the formalities and full, titled names, I fear that this Home-front Manager may have to start using them herself, Lieutenant Pipsqueak. And if we do, I fear we may never get anywhere! Applejack will do just fine, I thank you kindly."

Stifling a scowl at the use of his full name, Pip nodded. She had a point after all: he didn't like his full name used in conversation, why should she like her title any better?

Before he had a chance to say anything, Applejack continued, "Now, what's this I hear about little Pumpkin Cake swimmin' in a kettle o' hot water? Did my sister have somethin' to do with it?"

Before he could decide what to tell her and what to leave out, Applejack continued, talking aloud as she paced.

"That would be just like Apple Bloom, gettin' that girl into some mess'r other, just so I can come along and fix everything up. Ya know, I offered her an invitation to come to dinner tonight, but she flat turned me down! Can you believe it? My own sister, too wrapped up in her work to come say a quick howdy to her brother! Things were so much easier when she was a little filly and she didn't have that cutie mark of hers! And here I am out for a canter around the old homestead before dinner, and who do I run into but a military officer doing a full on prayer to the Triad! Well I tell you what, you come all this way and I haven't let you say more than a polite howdy! Tell you what, join us for dinner, no I won't take no for an answer, I know how polite you officer types can be, but no, we got more than enough, and with Apple Bloom a no show we got an extra chair open. Plus, I want to give you time to answer everything I been saying and to tell me why you came all this way just to see me on my day off!"

Pip was stunned. Not only had he not had a hope of getting a word in edgewise, but now he was being led towards the main house to join the Apple family for dinner whether he wanted to or not.

Well, I suppose dinner wouldn't hurt, he thought to himself. And it gives me time to tell my story properly. Maybe I can actually get some answers at last!

He almost tripped over his own hooves as he started to the house as he realized something.


I never told her she was the pony I had come to see. Looks like I've come to the right place after all...



•


Twilight Sparkle had had many homes in her relatively short life. From growing up with her family in Canterlot, to the dorms at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, to her tower at the Canterlot Palace for her private classes, to the Golden Oak Library, to the Castle of Friendship and the hodgepodge of homes after the attack on the palace, she had found that the one consistent things that made a place feel like home to her were her friends, and her books.

And that was the basis for the decor of her current home, in a series of caverns carved from crystal deep under Old Canterlot.

It was once a safehouse of Celestia’s, shielded from access by all but those who were invited in. But with the loss of Celestia, the spell had also dissipated. Twilight had repeatedly considered using the spell herself, but she really did like inviting others to join her in her private dining room. It felt cozy, not to mention the fact that the extensive library of books she had lining every square inch of wall space sent a message that she knew what she was talking about, no matter the subject. It was an idea of Rarity’s to do that. Underhooved, to be sure, but Twilight had to admit it certainly seemed to work.

Tonight however, the wood panelling, the hoof-woven rugs, the mountain of books, and the stone fireplace were all but unnoticed. Twilight was deep in thought.

She considered her predicament. While Rainbow Dash had managed to restore some of Twilight’s confidence that she could work things out with her old friends, it still didn't change the fact that nopony knew where exactly it was that Fluttershy had gone in her self-imposed exile.

The key word there, of course, being nopony. She did know something that did know where the shy pegasus was. Or perhaps, somedraconequus.

Hmmm, that just sounds wordy, she thought. I wonder how Discord would say it? Well, if this works, I guess I can ask him.

Twilight perked up a bit at a sudden thought. The fate of the world is surely at stake, and here I am debating semantics with myself. Guess some things never change.

Grinning slightly at the notion, she looked over her room with a practiced eye, searching, while she remembered the last time the spirit of chaos had been in here, and what he had been saying.

If you need to speak with me urgently, I suppose I could leave something that would be of some use. He had said, sounding amused with the idea while he literally bounced off of the walls. But only for emergencies mind you, I can't go splitting my attention at the drop of a hat, it could jeopardize my current mission at a most crucial moment! Oh, yes I know! I have just the thing. If you need to contact me, stand on your bed, flap your wings, and say my name three times! No? Uh, okay fine then hold on. How about you smash that mirror? No? No smashing at all? Okay, be picky. Well I suppose I could, yes I know!

The rest of Discord's agreed-upon instructions playing in her head, Twilight went over to her small study, and pulled out a book labeled Discerning the Transmundane with a quick surge of magic from her horn. Naturally he would create a book with a completely nonsense title for this spell of his, she thought with some amusement. Discord may drive me crazy at times, but he certainly manages to keep things interesting.

Of course, she would never tell him that. Discord always seemed more agreeable to her various plans when he was trying to make her laugh, and as Twilight had yet to so much as chuckle when he was around, Discord had apparently made it his goal to get her to laugh, which he would try to do at any available opportunity.

Recalling the next step, Twilight floated the book over to the fireplace, before throwing it into the blaze. When she had asked Discord why such a thing was necessary, she had found his answer to be strangely insightful.


Well now Twilight Sparkle, if I am to hide a magic telephone to my head in your room, I don't want you to be accidently calling me every time you brush your mane, now do I?


Of course, she had no idea what a telephone was supposed to be, but from the prefix and context she assumed it to be some sort of long range communication device, like the radios that had become so popular of late.

Sighing, she performed the final step, facing the fire and saying aloud, "Burn, burn. The book is ash, now send out word as quick as a flash. And even faster than Rainbow Dash."

Only Discord would come up with words that foolish for me to say, came the unbidden thought.

She waited in silence, watching the pages glow and curl up, before they disappeared into ash as they settled to the coals underneath, until at last, nothing remained of the fake book.

She sat there a few more minutes, before finally deciding with some irritation that either Discord had been messing with her or that she had somehow forgotten a step needed to reach him.

Turning away from the flames, she jumped in surprise.

She was no longer in her rooms. Somehow, in the split second it had taken her to turn from the fireplace, the environment had shifted, and she found herself standing in a grand hallway a hundred hooves high and as many across. It was filled with stained glass windows, massive statues, and there was a floor to ceiling door just barely visible at the far end of the hall. She was in the middle of the hall, standing on a large red carpet that stretched off to that door at the far end of the room.

"Where am I?" she said aloud. "Hello? Discord? Are you in here?"

The only sound she could hear was that of her echoing voice, fading back into the silence.

Looking behind her, Twilight noticed with a further surprise that somehow the large hallway fit for a palace appeared to turn into her bedroom's wall, with a fire still burning in the hearth.

Given that this hallway was nearly tall and wide enough to fit all of her rooms stacked on top of each other without touching this hall’s ceiling, it was very disconcerting to look at, as her room appeared to meet up seamlessly with the walls and ceiling of this vast room, despite the size difference.

Feeling suddenly dizzy, Twilight turned away from the impossible wall, and began to trot towards the far door.

Leave it to Discord to put me through some crazy ordeal in order to speak with him, she thought, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Resigning herself to crossing the hallway, she observed its decorations in awe.

The walls appeared to be solid marble, covered in intricate patterns of gilding in silver and gold. The statues were of every shape and size, of creatures small and large, and all were in some dramatic pose or other. And they all appeared to be made of ice, though none of them melted in the comfortable warmth of the room.

She couldn't help but to notice the lack of gems in any of the decorations, a subtle hint towards Discord’s only known weakness.

The room's stained glass windows were like the ones she remembered from Celestia's Palace. They were bright, colorful, and depicting patterns and symbols she could not put words to. A few of them seemed to depict armies on the move or grand battles, and a significant number of them showed Discord in the middle of doing some impossible act or other.

She stopped in front of one that caught her eye in order to make sure it wasn't playing tricks on her.

Looking it over again, she gasped. "It is! This is the stained glass window of Celestia and Luna turning Discord into stone from Canterlot! But what is it doing here?"

"Predicting the end of my reign, I would say."

Twilight jumped again despite herself. Whirling around, she saw that sure enough, there was Discord, standing behind her, looking at the window in question, a dejected look on his face.

She almost yelled at him for sneaking up on her like that, but decided against it. This was hardly the time.

Instead she looked up at Discord and asked, "So what is it doing here? And where, for that matter, is here? It certainly isn't Celestia's palace!"

Discord shook his head as he answered, "No it certainly is not. No this," he gestured around, still looking glum, "this is my palace. Or at least, it was my palace. Back when I ruled the world, I had a palace built to celebrate my greatness. It's all long gone now, but I do like to explore it at times. It always brings back fond memories."

Despite herself, Twilight had to ask, "So where are we then? We can't be in a palace that doesn't exist anymore, so is this an illusion of yours? Or some form of chaos based time travel?"

Discord pulled his eyes away from the window, shuddered, and blinked a few times before answering: "What? No, no, don't be ridiculous. We are currently in my memories of this place. Here, in my head."

He tapped the side of his head with one large clawed finger at that, apparently believing the answer more than sufficient.

Failing to notice the apparent confusion on Twilight's face, he continued, eyeing the room over as he did so. "Before I first came into this world, I remember very little. But one thing I do remember is creating these stained glass windows. I came to the stream of time, and I dipped this glass, my own design mind you, in the flowing torrent. When I pulled it out, the glass depicted a beautiful picture of some significant moment from that point in time's flow. And I did this more times than you would believe, for I stood outside of time then, I could dip as many of these windows into that flowing river as I wanted."

Skeptical, Twilight asked, "And you made a window depicting your own defeat? And put it on display?"

Smiling sadly, Discord shook his head. "No, it's not quite so simple I'm afraid. When time has no meaning, memory doesn't quite work the same way. I don't remember any of these windows being made. All I really remember was there countless multitudes. When I came to Equestria, I had believed the windows to be lost, left behind outside of the universe. And yet, to my utmost delight I discovered some of them had ended up here. I think they must have slipped into this world the same way that I myself did. And yet, every time I found one, I would remember a little bit more from before my time in this world. But it was always so fleeting! Flashes of things. Ideas. Smells. Fear."

He shuddered again slightly at that last, and continued, turning away from Twilight to look back towards the windows. "I ruled a very long time, Twilight Sparkle. I had near unlimited power, and all the time I could desire in which to use it. This world was my sandbox! But I had once been told that, well, let's just say that I knew my rule would end one day, the work of two powerful figures."

Turning towards the door at the end of the hall, he continued talking as he walked, Twilight following behind. "But oh how I feared that day! And with that fear, I became obsessed with these windows. You see Miss Sparkle, these windows depicted events from throughout all of time. This world's past, present, and future. So I scoured the globe, and eventually I did find this pane, of two alicorns defeating me. One of day, the other of night."

"Celestia and Luna!" Twilight said excitedly.

"Yes, exactly. But by that point it was too late. I don't know how, but they found the Elements of Harmony, learned how to use their power, and somehow realized that they could be used to defeat me. And then they came for me."

"And turned you to stone..."

"Celestia's idea of a joke, no doubt, to turn me into a stone statue in an absurd pose, to place in her garden as her lawn ornament." He growled those last two words.

"Maybe..." Twilight said uncertainly. She doubted it, but then again, Celestia had certainly had a wild sense of humor, and a fondness for practical jokes.

Reaching the door at the end of the hall, Discord paused, and turned back towards Twilight, a wide grin forming on his face as he said with growing excitement, "But that hardly matters, because now, at last, I can finally show off my throne room for the first time since my defeat all those years ago! Behold!"

With a sudden surge, the doors to the throne room opened inward, to reveal the same hallway they were just leaving, with the wall of her bedroom still visible at the far end, the fireplace still burning.

Discord held his dramatic pose, looking at Twilight with a grin on his face, clearly expecting some sort of shock or awe from her. Seeing only confusion, he turned and stopped, scratching his head in puzzlement, saying to himself quietly, "I don't - but, what? Where is my throne room? Wait, what does - did my throne room even look like?"

Trotting forward, Twilight asked with growing concern, "Discord? Are you okay?"

Looking back over his shoulder, his face furrowed in apparent confusion, Discord said, "I don't - that is to say, ah, yes! Ha ha! I was totally joking princess, for the great throne room of Discord would have driven you mad at the very sight of it! Be thankful that I chose to spare you that fate!"

Frowning, Twilight said warningly, "Discord..."

Turning back to face her, shoulders slumping, Discord admitted begrudgingly, "Oh alright fine. I haven't just lost memories from before I came to Equestria. I have gaps from throughout my entire reign, and especially from its early years. Or in the case of a place like here," he gestured around the room again at that, "I guess I am losing details of certain rooms, while some of them are just flat out disappearing. But don't you worry my dear, I have lived a very long time, so even the loss of an occasional century will certainly not be slowing me down anytime soon!"

Discord disappeared in a flash before reappearing by one of the nearby stained glass windows. It was of an orange-maned unicorn mare covered in bright, glowing shapes in a multitude of colors, who was standing before a massive creature of solid black. The creature's eyes were glowing red, and its body was chained down with bars of golden light.

"Now take this for example!" Discord said, gesturing to the glass in question. "I have no idea what this depicts. It has a unicorn in it, and that creature in the back looks familiar, but as to whether this event has happened yet or not? I have no idea! As a result of all the mystery involving these events, I had no way to organize these things until I was sure of when they had happened. So I developed a little trick. Any of these frames that involve a particular creature’s life will appear in this hallway for whatever creature happens to come down it to see me. I observe the windows that appear, and then I can begin to guess the timeframe they occur in. Curious that this one appeared for you, princess. I wonder what it has to do with you?”

He looked at Twilight questioningly, but quickly gave it up and looked back to the window. “So anyways, that’s where I got the name for them. Timeframes. Pretty clever, eh?"

A sudden thought occurring to Twilight, she asked, "Wait, so does this mean that time is fixed? That there is no free will, that anything that is in this glass will happen exactly as depicted?"

Throwing up his mismatched hands as if to ward off her questions, Discord said, "Now hold on princess, and listen. Luna and Celestia were at odds about that very subject. It seems that when they left my, uh, employ - they took as many of the windows that related to them as they could. And they disagreed about their implications. Celestia was convinced that these events were an absolute certainty, while Luna believed that they were simply the most probable events to happen. That is all they ever told me about the ones they kept in Canterlot. They only displayed ones involving the recent past, except for the occasional slip up."

Twilight froze, suddenly curious. She asked, "Slip up? What do you mean? They displayed a pane showing the future before?"

"Oh ho, yes!" Discord said, suddenly giggling. "The pane that showed you becoming a Princess, Princess! Didn't you notice it had both Star Swirl the Bearded's journal, and the diary that led the six of you to realize the stronger form of control granted by the Tree of Harmony on it?"

Twilight paused, surprised. "I... I assumed it was an aesthetic design by the pony who made the pane... I actually made the journal look like that because I liked the design from that pane! But that... that's crazy!"

"No." Discord said, smiling. "That's chaos."

Twilight was suddenly reminded of her own interaction with the future, when a seemingly distant future version of herself had come back to warn her of a coming disaster. Could what happened to Celestia and the others have been prevented if we had seen that frame? She sat quietly, considering this, getting excited. This could tell us if we win the war! It might tell us what the Shadow is planning before he does it!

Trying to keep her voice level, she asked, "Where are the rest of the Timeframes then, Discord? Celestia and Luna must have been keeping the rest of them somewhere?"

"Yes..." He said, sounding both annoyed and thoughtful. "That's the thing. I made each one of those beautiful things by hoof-n-claw, they stole them from me, and then flaunted them throughout their castles and yet still refused to tell me where they kept them all hidden."

"Hidden? Twilight replied, feeling hopeless. There is no way I could find where they are hidden! If Discord made them and even he can't locate them, what chance do I have?

Feeling resigned, she said, "So, the princesses had a collection of windows that depicted future events, and hid them somewhere, and there is almost no chance we will ever know where that is, is that about right?"

"Well," Discord said in a far too casual voice, "maybe you could just ask them?"

Twilight stared at Discord flatly, before suddenly realizing the obvious. "I just spoke to Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor today!" she gasped. "If I had only known..."

Discord seemed taken aback by the news, and he began to pace the floor, his steps echoing in the large chamber as he did so. "What did they say?" He asked, "Did they have any instructions for me? Did they... say how Celestia is doing?"

Twilight shook her head, looking at the carpet. "We spoke for only a few minutes. They just said that we needed to get everypony back together and that some new threat was on its way here, so we need to prepare."

Discord stopped pacing and turned towards Twilight. He repeated, "No Princess, what did they say?"

Twilight paused, thinking hard. For some reason, the content of her conversation with the Three was a bit fuzzy after she and Rainbow Dash had said hello to everypony. She remembered...

"They... they said, 'A danger worse than war is on the way. You must restore the six. The Elements must be made whole, or all is lost. We dare not say more, even here. We will speak again, but be vigilant. All is not as it seems.' "

As she spoke, she saw Discord's face grow pale. Returning to his pacing, he asked, still far too casually, "Nothing about a cup of tea, I suppose? Or a certain red headed mare?"

Twilight looked at Discord in confusion. Her mind still felt oddly fuzzy. "No..."

"Good!" Discord exclaimed, sounding relieved. Twilight blinked, shaking her head to clear it. What was I just talking about? she wondered. The Timeframes!

Twilight marched up to Discord, and asked, suddenly angry, "Does that mean that Celestia and Luna knew what would happen on the night of the eclipse?"

Sighing, Discord replied, though for some reason there was a slight grin on his face as he said, "I wish I knew, Twilight Sparkle. They took a bunch of those things from my palace, and I never remembered seeing one of Celestia's Fall. But since they clearly did know about the Timeframes, they must have found some on their own. It is quite possible that they knew..."

"KNEW!" Twilight yelled angrily. "Knew?! Celestia knew she would be attacked in the palace? She knew that she would start shooting off magic that destroyed half of Canterlot? She knew that Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor would have to devote every scrap of energy for years in some kind of freaky trance containing her and that... that bomb thing to stop it from killing us all? She knew that all those ponies in Manehatten and Gildedale would die when the Lay Line absorbed all that power? And she knew that some of those dead would return to life and attack the rest of us? SHE KNEW ALL OF THAT?!"

Shrugging, Discord said in a level voice, "Perhaps, Twilight Sparkle, perhaps. Probably only parts of all that, but it is possible. Do keep in mind though, Luna and Celestia both knew about the Timeframes. So it is possible that they somehow planned for things to come."

With a sudden realization, Twilight's blood ran cold. What was it Luna had said earlier today? 'My sister and I had known this might one day come to pass; I am simply glad that we three were able to enact the plan before even more were hurt.'

"Enact the plan..."

While Twilight had been standing there, Discord had been sitting in a plush chair with a lamp to his side reading a book. Hearing her speak, he looked up, the book vanishing between his fingers as he closed it. "Sorry princess," he said, "what was that?"

Shaking her head to clear it, Twilight said with sudden excitement, "The plan! Discord, it all makes sense now! I spoke with Luna and the others earlier today. They are strong enough to do so with magic now, they didn't even use a priest to send us a message. They told me of a great danger on the way, one far worse than the war, and that I had to get the elements back together or all would be lost! I came to speak to you to find out why you were taking so long on your mission and to get Pinkie Pie back here. But don't you see! Luna also said that she and Celestia had planned for what had happened! And now they need to get the six of us back together because that is a stage of their plan to save Celestia!"

Standing up slowly, the chair and lamp vanishing as he did so, Discord asked, "Pinkie Pie isn't back yet?"

Suddenly concerned, Twilight asked, "No... why? Isn't she with you?"

"No." Discord said thoughtfully. "We finished our mission, I took her to the rendezvous point, and then I went off for my monthly visit to see Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie should be back in New Canterlot by now."

Leave it to Pinkie to take her time reporting in, Twilight thought, sighing with relief.

She may be a good agent, but she is just awful at scheduling, she thought with a small inner smile.

"Well that's good to know," Twilight said, "She should be back soon then. Are you at least still at Fluttershy's place? Would you mind sending her a message? I really need to see her, especially if I am going to get the elements back together to save Celestia. And really Discord, I know you take your time at these things, but why did your mission take you almost three weeks?"

His face suddenly paling, Discord replied, "Three weeks? Uh, Twilight, I think we might have a problem."

Sighing, Twilight asked, "What Discord, besides Pinkie Pie's issues with scheduling, what else is wrong? Is Fluttershy okay?"

Shaking his head and gulping, Discord said hesitantly, "Well, as far as I know, Fluttershy is fine. The problem is, um, well, you remember those gaps in my memory I told you about?"

"Yeeeeeeesssssssss......." came Twilight's wary reply.

"Well, uh. You see, Twilight, I think I may be experiencing one right now. Our mission took four days. I dropped Pinkie Pie off right after we were done, and went to Fluttershy's place. I don't remember arriving at Fluttershy's. In fact, if it has really been three weeks, then Pinkie Pie is two and a half weeks late reporting in, and I cannot account for anything I have been doing in that span of time."

Feeling suddenly cold again, Twilight asked, "What are you saying Discord? That you have no idea where Pinkie Pie really is? Then where the hoof are you?"

Shaking his head again, and this time with actual fear tinting his voice, Discord said, "That's just it Twilight. I have been trying to leave my mind and reenter my body for the last minute now. I can't find it. I think I have been stuck in here, unable to find it, for a while now. Twilight, I don't know what has happened to me. For once, I don't know what to do."

And for once, Twilight realized, neither did she.


•


Leaving Twilight and the War Room behind, Rainbow Dash's mind was racing, and her pace as she passed through the dim, gray hallways of the bunker towards the surface was faster still. Soldiers saluted as she passed, though she did not notice them.

No, the only things that Rainbow could see were the images flying through her mind of what had happened in the War Room. And all she could hear was the echo of the voice of Princess Luna, speaking into her mind while the Three had been talking with Twilight in the War Room.

-----


  Rainbow Dash. I must speak with you. It is an urgent matter.


The voice wasn’t harsh, but it cut through all other sounds in the War Room as though spoken directly into Rainbow Dash’s ear. Startled, her eyes quickly swept the room. No one appeared to have spoken to her: the Lieutenant had already scurried out of the polished iron doors, all personnel and any possible clergy who might try to enter were banned from entry. Even the usual collection of attendants that kept around the princess at all times of day had been kept outside.

No, the only occupants under the solid ceiling of carved Moss Agate were Twilight, the Three, and Rainbow Dash herself.

And of those present, Rainbow Dash seemed to be the only one who noticed the voice.


  Rainbow Dash! Over here! It is I, Princess Luna!


The voice came again, clear as a speaking stone. And this time, Rainbow Dash knew for sure the voice was coming from inside her own head. Inside the Dreaming. Her magenta eyes narrowed at the Three, and the image of Princess Luna in particular.

She, like Shining Armor and Cadence, was nothing more than a glowing image of herself: an image which flickered and faded every few seconds as though struggling to stay present. But unlike Cadence and Shining, who seemed deep in conversation with Twilight about how everypony they had even met was doing these days, Princess Luna was looking straight at Rainbow Dash, knowingly.


  Rainbow Dash, as I understand it, you too have become a wanderer of The Waking Dream these last few years. I am sorry we never had a chance to journey there together before today, but if you will join me, I would speak with you privately their now.


Rainbow Dash looked over to Twilight and the others. They were still talking amongst themselves. Looking back to Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash nodded.

Even talking to Twilight about old times is probably part of their plan, she thought bitterly. Just gives Luna an excuse to talk to me privately without Twilight noticing.

Forcing herself to push her emotions and thoughts to the side, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and opened her mind.

When she had first learned of the Dreaming, all those years ago with the Pronghorns, she had needed to be drugged to enter it. But now, after so long, it was always there for her. She became lightning. She was. She is.


Rainbow Dash is in the rippling blackness of the Dreaming. All around her is life. She sees a pond in the distance. It is the pond she visits when she meets Niles. Met Niles? What was past in the Dreaming? The Dreaming always is.



Rainbow is standing by the pond. She feels for the energy of   Princess Luna  . The princess is near.



 Hello Rainbow Dash.



She sees Luna’s reflection in the pond that Rainbow Dash is standing next to, though no Luna exists next to Rainbow Dash to cast the reflection. She accepts this, and speaks to the reflection.



Hello, Princess Luna.



  Rainbow Dash. It pleases me to see you. I apologize that we cannot have this conversation face to face, this is the closest to that I can manifest at this moment.



Rainbow Dash growls softly, and she nearly loses her grip on the Dreaming as she does so. Taking a deep breath, she lets go of her emotions. Or at least tries to.



  I’ll take what I can get, Princess. Though if you can still use the Dreaming, why not simply contact me tonight when I sleep? Or any other night for that matter? You had no trouble contacting your subjects in their sleep before your sister was attacked! And frankly, doing this now seems a Tartarus of a lot easier than all that flashy nonsense in the War Room!



The reflection nods.



 As blunt and to the point as ever, Rainbow Dash. I am glad that Twilight Sparkle still has you to depend on.



The reflection looks behind itself, at the full moon silhouetting it in the reflected sky. Rainbow Dash notices that there is no moon in her own sky.



  You see the moon, Rainbow Dash? I have always been connected to it, and it’s mysteries. Even before I became an Alicorn, I felt a special love for the moon, and the night. Yet I did not have the power to move it through the sky before I ascended.



Luna’s reflection turns back to look up at Rainbow Dash. The reflected moon begins to grow dimmer as Luna continues.



 That power was gained through great suffering and hardship.



She pauses before continuing, as if the words are difficult to say.



  I nearly died during the Chaos Wars in the fight against Discord. It was only through the combined efforts of Celestia and Star Swirl the Bearded that I lived, and my sister had to give up everything in order to sustain my being.



The moon is now black. Rainbow Dash does not dare to speak, or even breath. As far as she knew, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia had never spoken about how they became immortal Alicorns before. Even history books said little more than that it was believed to have happened right before Discord was defeated.



Luna continues.



  For a long time, even the simplest of spells was difficult to do. Star Swirl believed it was because I was a pegasus before I ascended. Whether that was the case or not, eventually my powers grew. Soon enough I was going to magic school with my sister for the first time. And eventually, I moved the moon through the broken sky.



She smiles, the moon lighting up as she does so.



 Where Cadence, Shining Armor and myself are now reminds me a lot of those early days. We were so weak when this started. So lost and afraid. But now at last we are beginning to understand things. We can not yet move the moon, but we are finally in school.



Rainbow Dash hesitates, uncertain what to say. So she asks a simple question.



  So uh, what is the moon where you are now?



Luna seems unsure how to answer for a moment. Then she says:



  We have been infused with raw magic for ten years, 9 months, and 26 days. Trapped in a crystalline magic based force field containing the raw leaking power of Celestia coupled with an ancient weapon designed to destroy the world. How it did not kill us instantly I can only surmise was some part of Celestia trying to save our lives. We cannot move, or feel, or even breathe. All we can do is reach out into this torrent of magic. We are only now figuring out how to manifest as more than simply voices whispering to misguided unicorns praying to us through crystals held up to their horns.



  But that is not why I am speaking to you now Rainbow Dash. We have come to find that we are not the only three things that lives in this realm of pure magic. There is…   a darkness here. 



Rainbow Dash jumps at what happens next. The reflection of the moon turns blood red, then shatters into giant pieces that rain down towards the pond. They hit the ponds surface on its reflected side, obscuring Luna’s reflection as ripples spread outwards from the massive impacts.



As the pond stills, both the reflected moon and the reflected Luna are gone.



Rainbow Dash looks around, feeling nervous. The field is gone. The sky is gone. Even the air seems stale and heavy. And she feels a presence. An ancient presence, watching her. Waiting.



Looking up into the infinite blackness, Rainbow Dash realizes that something is there. As her eyes adjust she realizes that she is in a dimly lit cavern of unimaginable size. It is lit by bands of light glowing faintly as they stretch from all over the walls towards the dark thing in the center. She sees something in the blackness, in a black so dark that even the bands of blinding light fade from sight as they approach it.



All she can see is a pair of eyes, glowing with vigor, in a red so deep she would have called it black, save for that was truly the only color you could call the rest of this thing. The two red eyes were each as large as the moon.



Rainbow Dash is afraid. She can’t move or speak, or even breathe. All she knows is she must leave The Dreaming. NOW.


Rainbow Dash looked around the War Room. She was shaking, and coated in an icy sweat. The apparition of Luna eyes Rainbow Dash, looking worried.


  That was just a shadow of an image of what is in here with us. He has been waiting an unimaginably long time. And I fear he is planning to escape soon.


Barely getting the nerve to answer Luna through The Dreaming, Rainbow asks: How do we stop that thing? And how can I help?

We have a plan, she replies. We have set several things in motion by appearing here today. But beyond that, you must do two things for us, Rainbow Dash.


First off, you must bring the Elements of Harmony back together. This split among you six over the last few years appears to us to be part of   his   plan. This must mean that the Elements of Harmony can stop, or at least hinder  his   plans.



  Once you six have been restored, the Catalyst will appear. She will teach you all what you must do to bring the Elements of Harmony to a level of power they haven’t had in tens of thousands of years. You must make sure the others accept her advice, no matter how difficult. You will all be forced to make some very difficult choices, and risk losing everything, in order to do what must be done.


Rainbow Dash didn’t like the sound of that. But she just nodded and asked, and the second thing?

Luna seemed to fade almost completely away as she answered, though whether that was from difficulty maintaining the magical illusion of her body or the difficulty of saying what she had to say, Rainbow Dash didn’t know.


  If all goes according to plan, you and your friends will eventually find yourselves in the Crystal Empire, in The Church of the Celestial Triad’s most holy room, where we are being contained in our magic field. When that happens…


Rainbow Dash listened, her eyes growing wide.

-----

Princess Luna had not asked Rainbow Dash if she would do it. She didn’t have to.

That was why Rainbow Dash ran.


•


At last, Rainbow Dash reached her destination, a cave in the side of Canterlot Mountain, the launching pad for Pegasi.

The launch pad was a large, flat area, cut into the mountainside, wide enough for three carts to be flown in at once carrying supplies in case of a siege, or for a mass of flyers to all leave in quick succession, in case of an attack. The main entrance into the military bunker was nearly 4000 hooves straight down the mountainside from the cave entrance, making it quite easy to come at a potential ground force from above.

Rainbow was proud of this room. It had been one of her ideas, a tactical way to help the war effort, and the fact it couldn't be seen from the outside made it more than ideal for their needs: the only sign of how high up the mountain they were was the cold, thin air that filled it.

Earth Ponies and Unicorns tended to complain about it, until Rainbow Dash had required winter clothing be available in the changing rooms on this floor.

The Launch Pad was not, however, the reason that Rainbow Dash needed this room today. She was here because this room was the location of the Lightning Rod.

The Lightning Rod was a natural extension of the launch pad. Ever since Rainbow had gained the Pronghorns' permission to train a group of elite flyers to use the Dreaming to harness lightning - her Shock Troops - she had needed a way to safely have them come and go. After all, lightning was dangerous, and while riding the lightning along the ground was effective, in areas of high traffic, it risked electrocuting anypony whom a rider came too close to as they zipped past.

Rainbow had discovered that by riding the lightning into open air, she could avoid these risks in high population zones. The trouble was that riding the lightning into the air meant lightning striking the ground where you stood, again, putting others at risk.

Thus, Rainbow had the Lightning Rod built. It was an isolated area of the launch pad, the floor surrounded by rubber, the metal flooring and the exposed metal spire in its center wired into the power generators below. It even had a separate hole dug out of the mountain far enough from the main cave that no one who came or went was in danger of being hurt by stray lightning bolts. And of course, the area was fenced off and guarded, again to prevent any accidental electrocutions.

Rainbow came up to the guard on duty, an older earth pony with a black mane and a tan coat, his only uniform a small black and gold band tied around his front right leg. It was Light Stepper, one of the first Shock Troops Rainbow had ever trained.

Rainbow Dash had to admire the guy. He must be freezing, but he would probably have rather lit his own mane on fire before wearing more of a uniform than a Pegasi like Rainbow Dash would use while on duty.

Returning the guards salute with a crisp nod of the head, Rainbow spoke. "Good evening Stepper, how are we today?"

His voice gruff but respectful, Light Stepper replied, eyeing Rainbow Dash and then a clipboard he held in one hoof. "All is well, Dash. Nothing new to report. Were you expecting someone? I don't have any arrivals on the schedule due in until the morning..."

"No, no, nothing like that Stepper," Rainbow said absently, "I just have some business I must attend to myself, and I came to use the Rod."

Eyes opening in sudden surprise, as Rainbow Dash rarely rode the lightning herself these days, Light Stepper turned around, quickly opening the insulated gate, saluting again as Rainbow Dash passed him into the Rod.

Closing the gate after her, Light Stepper asked, "Where you off to Dash? Need any backup?"

"No thanks, Stepper," came Rainbow's still absent minded reply. "I'm just off to find an old friend."

With a sudden thought, she quickly added, "Oh yes, please let the princess know I am off to Prance. She will understand why."

With that, Rainbow Dash trotted across the slightly springy brown rubber floor, before stopping on the metal platform in its center.

Closing her eyes, Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, before releasing it slowly. Relax... she thought, as she kept up her deep breathing, focusing her mind out into the Dreaming.


The Dreaming. Where all things come from and all things go. The origin of life and the universe. The energy that is life that is lightning. And where Niles and I used to meet all that time ago.


Sure enough, as she reached out with her mind, Rainbow began to sense the pathways of energy that permeated the world around her, able to see them through her closed eyes.

Reaching out her mind, she set her path. To the tip of the Lightning Rod, out into the air, across the sky, down onto the Dragonmount spire, and then along the ground, through forests and valleys, along hilltops and roadways, heading north and east, passing Lake Trottingham before following the river to its north, until she finally would arrive in Prance. From there her first stop would be Pearis, the capital of Prance.


If Rarity would be anywhere in Prance, that would have to be it.


Smiling to herself at the thought, Rainbow took a deep breath in, and with it, she embraced the lightning through the Dreaming.

A bright flash of lightning filled the cave, and as it faded with the rumble of thunder, Rainbow Dash was gone.


•


Pip's hopes of getting the answers he was seeking from Applejack quickly over dinner were dashed as soon as he entered the main house of the Apple Family. Before he even had all four hooves in the door, Dandelion had loaded him down with dishes and had him helping to set the table for dinner.

He was so surprised that he didn't even think, he just did. Before he knew it, he found himself laughing and joining in with the family as the table laden down with every variety of apple dish grew lighter, one bite at a time. Before long, the table was cleared, and he found himself caught up in a rousing rendition of how the two had met as they all sat by the fireplace, drinking coffee.

"So I had just finished my schooling when the Lay Line solidified in Manehattan," Dandelion began. She absent-mindedly brushed a strand of her cream colored hair from her face as she spoke. "I hadn't found myself a job yet and I was looking to do some volunteer work. I heard from a friend when I was out in Fillydelphia about the massive numbers of refugees who had been forced to settle around Ponyville, and I decided to come and help out.

"I came to town and found that the largest refugee center was the one near Sweet Apple Acres, and they were more than happy to take on a new volunteer." Smiling to herself at the memory, she continued. "Apparently, not many Pegasus had volunteered to help out at the centers, and as the refugees brought large food demands with them, weather manipulation was in high demand."

Pip nodded, understanding. It had been decided by those in charge to accelerate the changing of the seasons in some farming communities at the time to increase crop outputs.

Smiling over at Big Mac, she continued. "So I joined a small group of Pegasuses..."

"Uh, pardon Dandelion," Applejack interjected, "It's Pegasi."

"Pegasi," Dandelion said with a polite nod to Applejack, "who were to plan and implement the fastest weather rotation we could safely develop without killing the apple trees. In fact, we almost did without winter altogether, until..." A slight blush tinting her golden face. "Well, until Big Mac here came and told us that winter allowed the perennial crops to rest and the soil to rejuvenate for the following year's harvest. We did manage to cut the season in half with some clever use of fertilizers, but it still galled to have all these ponies stuck in their makeshift huts and tents while we made it snow."

"I can only imagine..." Pip said sympathetically. "Was there no way to have different seasons over the refugees than over the crops?"

Dandelion shook her head, a rueful smile appearing on her lips. "We actually tried that once. We ended up making a tornado with the pressure and temperature differences so close to each other."

Big Mac chuckled at that. "You lot took out half of the west orchard by the time you got that thing sorted out, if I remember rightly!"

Blushing again, Dandelion nodded. "Yes, that was embarrassing. So in the end, we just did our best to not rain on them except for providing water, and to keep the snow off of them as long as possible. But we did it! By the time we finished, we had achieved a year's worth of weather in a little over seven months. The fruits didn't have time to grow as big, but we were getting almost two apples in the time we would have normally gotten one."

Pip was impressed, and quickly said so. "I can't believe you were able to achieve such results!"

Smiling, Dandelion looked away and said, "Thank you. Anyways, we kept up our nearly two harvests a year through two cycles, to be sure it was sustainable. It managed well enough, and I was all set to go back home to Filly, when...well-"

This time, it was Big Mac who seemed to blush, before he said, "I told her I was in love with her, and I proposed."

The two of them locked eyes, smiling at each other, before turning back to Pip. "I said yes," Dandelion continued, "and before you know it, we had Honey Crisp and Zap, the little troublemakers. And-" Dandelion said with a smile, looking down at her swelling belly, "we have a third on the way."

Pip looked over to the two kids, the older red and yellow filly reading a book, the green and white colt barreling around the room with a wooden toy in hoof, his tiny wings fluttering on his back as if to gain extra speed.

And so half an hour later Pip found himself sitting on the porch in a rocking chair, Big Mac sitting in his own specially built, reinforced rocking chair to the other side, puffing contentedly on his pipe, Applejack and Dandelion inside putting the kids to bed.

He had expected to be in a hurry - in and out again within ten minutes - but rocking back and forth, his stomach full to a degree he had not known possible, he found to his surprise that he really didn't mind waiting. Applejack had agreed to join him as he went back to town so he could speak freely, but in the meantime he sat there, and relaxed. And before he knew it, he fell asleep.


A dirt path stretches through the forest. The leaves blow on a silent breeze. I start to trot along the road. I don't know where I am. But wait, I see you up ahead! You stand among the trees, the moon silhouetting your face from behind. You call to me. Pip, I hear you call… Pip, PIP, PIP!


With a start, Pip's head jerked up. He was back at Sweet Apple Acres. He was still in a rocking chair, and in front of him stood Applejack.

"Ah Pip! You finally woke up," she said with a grin. "You know, I almost went ahead and let you sleep the night there, you looked so peaceful. So, you joining me, or what?"

With a grin, Applejack turned and headed off towards a nearby stand of trees. Pip rose to all fours and gave himself a good shake. The forest and the silhouette in front of the moon had been so vivid! He drove the thought from his mind, and set off at a trot after Applejack, both to catch up and to get his blood pumping.

Finally reaching her, Pip matched her pace - an easy canter - as Applejack started along the cobblestone path back towards town.

"So Pip..." Applejack said coolly, "What's goin' on?"

Pip took a deep breath, and then he spoke. He started with the unexpected appearance of the Three. Then, hesitating, he managed to describe his odd trance- the way he looked, the way he acted, his lack of memory of the event, and the words he spoke, Take the apple, leave the tea- and then soon enough he was telling her everything: his decision to come see Applejack, the course of events in Apple Bloom's lab, Pumpkin Cake's accident, and even went into detail about her comatose state.

Seeing Applejack’s surprise at his flood of words, he gritted his teeth and told himself to calm down.

Finally, Pip asked. "So Applejack, now that you know the whole story, I have to ask. You sense the truth in all things. Everypony knows this of you. So what do you think? Am I crazy or did the Three send a message through me? And what does the message mean? And can you sense anything about Pumpkin Cake? Will she be all right?"

Applejack continued her slow canter for the next few minutes, deep in thought. Finally, she spoke. "First of all sugarcube, I am sorry. I think you may have misunderstood what I can do. I sense truth. I can tell truth from lies. But it's not like I am some kind of a personal lie detector. I think what I can do through my element is enter into the mind of those around me, and I see their thoughts."

She paused a moment, before continuing. "I cannot however, see the future. That requires Rarity and her talent. See, as the Element of Generosity, Rarity can always tell what anypony around her is going to need before they need it. So in a sense, she anticipates the future, and reacts to it. But to really see the future, she also needs to sense truth. And that is where I come in. So when the two of us are together using our abilities, I can sense the truth of her future sight, so in a way, we can only see the future together. To answer most of your questions, I would need Rarity with me. But of course she has to be the Lady Ambassador, so who the hay knows where she might be right now!"

Sighing, she went on. "But to answer what I can, and I give no assurance to any of this mind you! But it seems to me that whoever - or whatever - those three have become, they aren't ponies no more. And if you ask me, that means that you can't trust 'em. My Celestia, we must be as ants under hoof compared to what they are now! And I'm willing to bet that somehow little Pumpkin Cake has just become a pawn in whatever grand chess game those three are playin' at.

"But anyways, as for your message. Take the apple, leave the tea. That sentence sent my truth senses a tinglin' in a way I ain't felt in a long time. And that means only one thing. That sentence is true. Pure and simple, it is somehow an absolute truth. I can guess that to mean it is true in many ways, which it may in fact be. But it also means that there is more to the words than the meaning suggests.

"No, whatever that sentence is, it is powerful. What you must do with it however, I can't rightly say. You told me that you came to see me because you thought I might be the apple it referred to. This rings true with my sense. It was meant to be considered that way. But it still holds other truth! That means it was to lead you to Apple Bloom, which caused Pumpkin Cake's accident, which led you to me tonight!"

Pip trotted in silence for a few moments, thinking all that Applejack had said over in his mind. Finally he asked, "So what am I supposed to do now?"

"I don't rightly know," came Applejacks vexed reply. "It seems like these Three have either an amazing grasp on cause and effect or they can also see the future. And in either case, it seems that they know how you will interpret that line. So all I can suggest is to go about your life, but to react to any ideas the entire instance with the Three may have triggered. If it is connected to them, it may be the very reaction they were expecting. And also, be prepared to follow other meaning of that sentence, though you might not be able to see them until the time is right."

Pip trotted most of the rest of the distance to town deep in thought. Finally, as the lights of Ponyville proper came into view, Pip stopped and turned towards Applejack, who also stopped.

"Thank you Applejack," Pip said, his face still furrowed in thought. "I think I know what I have to do now. And thank Big Mac and Dandelion for their hospitality, it was so nice to be able to meet them and those kids."

Applejack grinned. "Yeah, they are a good bunch. But doggone it, those kids grow up faster than a weed in a spring rain! I'll send them your thanks, and I know that we would all be happy to have you around again. You take care now, ya hear?"

Returning her smile, Pip turned, and took off for town at a brisk canter. As he went, he heard Applejack call after him, "So, where are the Three sending you now?"

"To the pub!" Pip called over his shoulder, "Tonight, I have a date with destiny!"

And so he galloped away, his destiny fast approaching.
> Chapter 5 - The Right Track
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Among the grandest structures of the Equine territories of the world, the Grand Palace of Pearis was considered to be among the most beautiful. In fact, it had long been considered the second most beautiful Equine structure in the world. The reemergence of the Crystal Empire had moved it back down to third, but with the destruction of Canterlot Castle, the Pearisians found themselves back in second place again. Though it really didn't matter to the ponies of Pearis where they stood on that list. To them, their palace was truly the most beautiful construction in existence.

Or so the driver of Rarity's carriage said as they came within sight of the fortress, visible at the far end of the thoroughfare. The massive palace's elegant and narrow towers could be seen from most anywhere in the city. With its walls a glistening white and its gold-leaf rooftop tiles magically infused to prevent erosion, Rarity had to admit from her carriage vantage point that it was truly a dazzling sight.

Turning a corner, the carriage came onto a rough cobblestone street lined on either side with an assortment of shops and stalls, all full of colorful ponies. The peddlers cried the wonders of their wares to other ponies on hoof who passed them by on the street. Those ponies were laden down with saddlebags of various designs: some empty, and others bulging at the seams. Several ponies were lounging in benches at an outdoor cafe that Rarity herself had frequented on more than one occasion. And everywhere, ponies were shopping.

Rarity could almost not believe how much shopping the Pearisian ponies did on a daily basis. Of course, since she had arrived here in the city, she had found herself going out to the shops more and more herself. Although that barely even counted. After all, Rarity could scarcely be blamed for wanting to keep an eye out for the latest fashion trends while she did her job, now could she?

The mad hustle and bustle of the ponies as they went about their business drew Rarity's attention, and she found herself tuning the driver out; he had not stopped talking about the apparent wonders of the palace, and had instead begun to elaborate on its Gothic-style architecture, the vast number of hours of labor which had once been put into it, and something about the keystone of a flying buttress.

Of course, Rarity had not begun to ignore the poor fellow - oh no, a lady would never be so rude. In fact, Rarity had sensed upon entering this carriage that this was what her driver needed: to feel more knowledgeable than those around him by sharing that knowledge with his passengers. So she played the role of the curious tourist, asking the occasional question, giving the occasional oooh and aaah to the statistics he rattled off as he pulled the carriage down the street.

Yet while she did so, she stretched out her thoughts, trying in vain to sense more clearly where the future needed her next. Once she was through with this horrid carriage ride, at least.

But it was so hard! If she thought casually about the future, she usually knew what she should do. Whether it was to appear at a certain social event where she would conveniently run into the very important pony she needed to see, or something as simple as getting this carriage driver to talk about his city, she always simply got the feeling what needed to be done, and then did it.

Now, why listening to the driver lecture about keystones and flying buttresses would be important, Rarity really had no idea. Maybe he needed to be in a good mood for meeting somepony later in the day, maybe she needed to hear something he had to say, or maybe it was something else entirely which hadn't yet presented itself. Long Sight could be picky like that.

The problem was, if Rarity tried to determine the specific reason why she had to do something, finding the answer with her Sight was like trying to grab mist from the air: the harder she tried to grab on to it, the more quickly is slipped away from her.

Unfortunately, the Lady Falalauria's journal about Long Sight had only covered her personal experiences, rather than all that could be done with the skill. And the Deerish lady had true Long Sight; unlike Rarity, she hadn't needed to work with somepony else to learn the future. No, for her, all of time was just there.

Rarity on the other hoof depended on Applejack's help to truly see the future, though she still didn't really understand why. And since Applejack was busy managing the home front - whatever that was supposed to mean - it seemed that, for the time being at least, her sense of need was all she could count on to help her. Which, she added wryly, wasn't really so bad. It was so hard to be couth with Applejack around.

Rarity still fondly remembered her brief visit to Shimmerwood Forest all those years ago, where she had first met the Deerish Lady: the blanket of leaves overhead, the tall, thick tree trunks scattered throughout the landscape, and the graceful deer scampering between the trees, lit only by the giant crystals that hung in the air as they changed from silver to gold and then back again with the passing of time. There was even that birth ceremony she had happened to walk in on, where she heard that beautiful and sad song that had so well seemed to define the history of that once proud race. Even simply thinking about it made her blush a bit; she had just been so young and naive back in Falalauria's shadowed woodland home, compared to the sophisticated Lady that Rarity had since become!

Of course, that was where is had all started for her. That was where Rarity had first learned of the power to see the future she and the Lady both shared. For the Lady, it was an ability which came naturally to her mixed heritage of red and white tailed deer. For Rarity, it was gained through her being the living embodiment of the element of generosity.

And yes, the Lady may have called the gift a curse all those years ago, but Rarity had resolved not to see it as such. After all, if her special gift could help others in need and it was within her power to give that help, who was she to deny it to them?

Especially if it gets the ambassador to sign that contract giving Equestria those supplies it needs, she thought, a sly smile spreading on her lips.

She had been here in Prance waiting for her meeting with the Prime Maneister for six weeks now, and finally everything was about to come together. Before she left Equestria, Rarity had worked with Applejack and discovered that these supplies would be needed for the war. Since then, everything she had been doing had been to ensure Equestria got those supplies by the time they were needed.

And here it was, with only one day to go before Rarity would meet the Prime Maneister, and she found herself finally feeling good about her chances. The pieces were in place, the stage was set, and everypony in town was abuzz with rumors that Rarity had been delicately setting in place.

The cabinet is bound to have heard the rumors by now, she thought with pride, about the Griffon Dominion's air-fleet mobilizing, and how the Equestrian pegasi are poised to spread their enhanced crop season techniques in exchange for supplies, as they wait for the highest bidder. Ooh, and I'm still purring about that little stroke of genius I had, to mention to those gossipy hens down at The Coop about the Gildedalean ranchers' urgent need of access to new Prancelands for grazing, and how the Great Dragon Migration was now believed to have changed its flight plans from Equestria in a last-minute deal brokered with the Equestrian Princess.

Yes, Rarity thought with a happy mental sigh as her apartment came into sight at the far end of the street, that should get the Prime Maneister jumpy enough to be willing to negotiate! Except...

Rarity suddenly felt uneasy. Not about the Prime Maneister; she felt quite confident about that. No, this was something else. It was as if...

As if every hair of her expertly styled mane was trying to stand up at once. Instinctively, she grabbed her pink, floral hat in one hoof, suddenly feeling as if it were about to blow away despite the lack of a breeze inside her dim carriage cabin.

Rarity began to shift uncomfortably. Not the cushions too! She thought, feeling even more unsettled.

Shifting to the opposite seat of her carriage, she found that it, too, now felt as if it were made of lumpy rocks.

And so, not knowing what else to do, Rarity just stood there in the middle of the cabin as it bumped down the street.

Oh no. Now even the floor feels lumpy! What is happening to me?!

Forcing herself to take several deep, calming breaths, Rarity looked quickly around the cabin as she fidgeted and squirmed in place.

Nothing out of place! she frantically thought.

Her deep breathing growing more intense, Rarity began to see spots in her vision; she wished she had found a way to bring her favorite panic attack couch on this particular outing.

I need air, came the frantic thought. Yes, that must be it!

Pulling the window curtain back, she gasped desperately, as if coming up for air from underwater.

Nothing! No better at all! she thought again, as she eyed over the ponies who went past her carriage suspiciously.


So what is it? What has suddenly put me on edge like this? It's almost like...


With a shock, Rarity realized. The feeling wasn't external. It was coming from the place in her mind she went when she tried to see the future.

Nodding to herself in certainty at this sudden diagnosis, Rarity pulled her head back in and drew the curtain closed behind her with a quick magic jerk, before sitting back down on her cushioned bench. Taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Reached out to the area where she caught glimpses and flashes of future need, and the part she was to play in it.

And there it was. She didn't know how else to describe it but, she felt it. So strong, and so far off, but almost calling out to her. A want. A desire. A Need.

But what is it? Where is it coming from? What could need something that strongly? she thought with growing concern, feeling that itch intensify.

Not knowing what exactly she was doing, Rarity tried to call out, to reach out with her mind to that feeling in the distance. What are you? What is your Need?

She sat there in the carriage, not moving, barely even daring to breathe, as she waited for...

She realized suddenly that she didn't know what she was waiting for. This had never happened to her. She had never had a panic attack because of a feeling about the future before. And Falalauria had certainly never mentioned anything like this in her book.

And then it came again, the strength of the need almost overwhelming her with its magnitude. It was an overwhelming avalanche of importance and urgency and desperation, but among that mass of emotion and images she discerned two words.


COME HOME


My Celestia! Rarity gasped in shock. This is need of a strength I never imagined! Compared to this need, all of my work and goals to help Equestria might as well not exist!"

"Ma chérie?" the driver called back to Rarity, the carriage lurching to a sudden stop. "Mademoiselle, are you well? I thought I heard you cry out from your cabin. Do you require assistance?"

"No!" Rarity blinked in surprise at how unsteady her voice sounded, and that she had spoken aloud at all, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "No! Non monsieur! Everything is all right back here, thank you for your concern. Please do continue! I... I was just taken aback by what you were saying about cornice molding, it was simply fascinating!"

After a few more moments of hesitation, the driver pulled forward again, onward to Rarity's destination.

As she sat inside the cabin, Rarity's mind reeled. That Need had been just so powerful! She actually found herself wondering for a moment how everypony on the street outside her cabin had avoided reacting like she had to a force that strong.

Realizing the foolishness of that thought, Rarity began to take slow calming breaths again, forcing her racing heart to approach a more normal rhythm. As she did so, she went over and over again in her head what she had just felt. But try as she might, she couldn't seem to make coiffure or coat of it.

She remained fixed in this distraught state until at last the carriage stopped in front of her apartment: a quaint little duplex near the market.

As Rarity stepped down from the cabin and thanked the driver for his fascinating information, she dropped an extra five bits in his proffered satchel, all the while fighting to keep her composure. As he pulled away down the street, she entered her apartment and her calm facade stretched towards a grimace. As she closed the door behind her with a thud, the last of Rarity's composure crumbled.

Hanging up her hat, Rarity trotted across the room and collapsed into her favorite couch: a soft, red velvet affair with a gold silk pattern of falling leaves woven into the seams. She wasn't sure how long exactly she lay there. Perhaps minutes, perhaps hours.

It doesn't matter, does it? she thought gloomily. Nothing I have been doing this whole trip has mattered one whole hoof! I try so hard to help, to save Equestria, to relieve some of Twilight's stress, to get some food and blankets for refugees still living in shacks, and now this. 


Just two months ago, the future told me I needed to take this trip. To leave everypony behind, live off in Pearis by myself, and I don't even have Opal to keep me company anymore! Need. BAH! What about me? What about my needs? Why do I have to do this, fill this need for - let's face it, Rarity - a voice in your head, and now just like that, I must return to Equestria. But why? WHY?!


Considering her plan of action for another moment, Rarity sat up on the sofa, set her jaw, closed her eyes, and nodded to herself.

Why? She sent it out. She sent it to that knot in her mind. She sent it with her loneliness, her determination, her lack of remaining patience, and even a bit of her curiosity. Why do I have to go back to Equestria? What can possibly be so important that it can't wait until my work here is done?

Again, Rarity didn't know if it would do anything. Falalauria mentioned in her journal that Rarity could possibly use her own sense of need to control her ability. But so far, it had never really worked for her.


This won't work, what am I even doing? There is no way-


A sudden need overwhelmed all of Rarity's thoughts, and she was thrown back into the sofa by the force of it.

She was a dot. A dot in a dot in a dot in a dot of infinity. And all around her was activity. She saw bands of light, eddies of dark, cyclones of noise and planets of odors. She felt color. She heard smell. Whoever and whatever she had been was gone. And then, just as quickly as it came...

It was gone.

Rarity was back in her apartment. She was on her floor. She was covered in sweat. Her every muscle burned from being clenched so hard. And she knew.

This changes everything, she thought, getting to her feet and rushing to grab a suitcase. She was no longer uncertain, not in the slightest. Despite her exhaustion mental and physical, her movements were now filled with cool resolve. This need puts everything else I have been doing to shame. And it must be dealt with at once. No more galas, or charity luncheons, or even operas until this need had been met. And so soon! Somehow, resolving this need must start tonight.

She needed to prepare. Tomorrow she was not seeing the Prime Maneister at all. She would reschedule. She now knew that making the Prime Maneister stew would only help things for her, and after making her wait for so long, she felt a particular pleasure in knowing that she could now make him wait instead.

No, instead of meeting the Prime Maneister, Rarity now knew for sure, she would be leaving Prance in the morning.

But she wasn't going alone. She knew. She knew because she had seen it, a single flash of color pulsing from that mass of need that she had been able to understand.

Rainbow Dash was coming for dinner, and she was in a hurry.


•


The moment that Pip laid eyes on The Right Track, he knew it was exactly the kind of place he had been looking for. A three story structure of whitewashed wood, it had a thatched roof in the Old Ponyville style. Its two large gray stoned chimney stacks standing to either side of the building gave the illusion that they somehow held the entire structure up.

Not to say the building did not appear stable. If anything, the structure gave a stronger sense of stability than most of the buildings that surrounded it, made as they were in the more modern style of red brick walls and metal shingled roofs that the Manehatten architects who permeated the growing city so strongly seemed to favor.

A light poured forth from the large front windows as Pip approached, bathing the cobblestone street in a warm and soothing glow that looked particularly inviting after the light chill of the late evening had begun to settle into him.

Pushing open the front door to the tinkling of a small bell, the low hum of quiet conversation and the smells of freshly baked bread enveloped him. Despite the stress and craziness of the day's events, Pip couldn't help smiling.

The inside of the inn was as warm and inviting as the outside had implied. A smattering of round, wooden tables were spread across the floor, with an assortment of matching wooden chairs to surround them. Some were occupied with ponies deep in conversation, none of whom seemed to notice him entering. Although the faint smell of pipe smoke filled the air and obscured everything in the room in a faint haze, Pip had no problem spying the silhouette of Silver Spoon sitting at a table in the far corner with a mug of cider in hoof and another, untouched one at the empty spot opposite her.

With a nod toward her to let her know he had seen her, Pip went over and joined her, taking the offered seat.

For a moment, neither one of them said a thing. The sudden awkwardness of the situation filled the air as thickly as the pipe smoke in the room. Neither of them eyed the other directly; the only sound was that of Pip's cider as he took a long swig.

Very nice, he thought with approval.

Finally, after the silence stretched on for what felt to him as an eternity, he spoke. "So, uh, Silver Spoon... I must say, nice choice of inn! This place seems really cozy."

"Thanks," came her curt reply, not meeting his eye. "This is my regular spot. Not many ponies in here who knew me as a filly. Plus the innkeeper, Berry Punch, has got a pumpkin and black bean soup that is just out of this world."

Pip chuckled. "Normally I would go for something like that, but I just came from dinner with the Apple family, I'm not sure I could survive any more food entering my system."

She chuckled for a moment before cutting off suddenly, looking straight at Pip as she asked defensibly, her silver braid swinging around her face from the force of the twist. "Wait, so that was the urgent business that had you taking off like that earlier today? You just had a dinner reservation with the Apple family?"

Pip started to choke on his mouthful of cider in surprise at the question. After a moment of vigorous gasping, he managed to get out, "Oh, no no no! I had to see Homefront Mana-" Another minute of vigorous coughing interrupted him before he could finish, while Silver Spoon sipped her cider disquietly, pretending not to notice as Pip was leaning over the floor half choking on his drink.

Finally getting some air, Pip continued as he sat back up. "Sorry about that. I had to see HM Applejack rather urgently regarding a developing situation back at base, and today happened to be her day off. I was on my way into town today regardless, so I went ahead and delivered the report to her myself. And anypony who goes up towards the Apple Farm would have to consider themselves lucky to have gotten away from there as quickly as I did, if you know what I mean."

Before the words were out of his mouth all the way, Pip regretted them. Silver Spoon wouldn't know what he would mean: if she was trying to avoid anypony she had bullied as a kid, then she would most certainly have not had dinner at Sweet Apple Acres. And if she did know about the Apples' generosity, the fact that she hadn't been over there would just be another barb reminding her of her unsavory behavior as a child.

Surprisingly however, rather than curl up and get defensive again, Silver Spoon laughed.

Not knowing what to make of it, Pip just sat in silence while she chuckled, wondering if he should be concerned or confused.

Finally, much like his choking, she eventually stopped laughing. Seeing the look on his face, however, seemed to renew her mirth to a new level, and she doubled over laughing all the harder.

Eventually, Pip could take it no more, and he asked, "Okay, what is so funny? Or are you having some kind of a nervous breakdown?"

After a few more seconds of fading laughter, Silver Spoon answered. "Oh no, sorry about that Pipsqueak, I actually do know what you are talking about. I had dinner over with the Apple family a couple years back when I was returning a silver pot they had received as a wedding gift. It needed a good buffing and a dent taken out of it; it seems that little kid of theirs Zap Apple had knocked it over when he was flying all over the place as a baby. They shoved so much food in me while I was there, I thought I was going to burst at the seams!

"No, I was just laughing at the look on your face," she continued. "You are trying so hard to be a gentlecolt - which is very sweet, by the way - but you get embarrassed so easily! I think we need to put another round in you to loosen you up."

Pip didn't know what to say to that, so he just sat there in silence a few more minutes while Silver Spoon ordered them both some more cider.

As the barmaid, Ruby Punch, came over with a tray of cider perfectly balanced in her teeth, Silver Spoon said in what could almost be considered a whisper, "Thanks for coming, by the way. I was half wondering if you would really show up at all."

Pip grinned back at her, and he was pleased to find it wasn't as hard to do as he had thought it would be.

Over the next few rounds, things did in fact get easier. The tension was broken, and the two began to actually talk.

Silver spoke of her father's declining health over the years: how she had been forced to leave Canterlot University half way through a degree in history in order to come home and help him out in the antiques store. How it was discovered that it was exposure to chemicals used in cleaning the silver that had led to his poor health. And how her father had been forced to retire, still owing money on the business, leaving Silver Spoon to take over.

"After that, I began to realize how foolish I had been, thinking I was better than everypony else around me." She continued. "I mean, I was given everything in my youth. And then, just like that, Diamond Tiara gets married and moves away, and I am stuck in a town full of ponies who dislike me, a town I never planned to live in any more doing a job I never planned to have anything to do with while I took care of my ailing father. That was a healthy dose of perspective, let me tell you Pipsqueak.

"And somehow, the worst part of it is, it was easy to fix the issue with the silver fumes. All I had to do was polish the silver in the alley out back in the fresh air. That's it! My father would still be alive if he had just gone out back to clean the silver!"

Gently, not trying to rock the boat any more, Pip said, "I'm sorry Silver. That sounds pretty rough. And please, call me Pip."

Before much longer, Pip found himself talking about his early days in the royal guard: how disappointed he had been with the Church's strong grip on guarding the Three, and how he had learned that the only way he could even get near where they were being kept was to either try for entry into the inner circles of the church, taking on actual responsibility in it, or to instead become at least a mid-ranking military officer to have high enough clearance to gain access to them regardless.

"So what stopped you taking the church route then?" Silver Spoon interjected mid-story before finishing off her third mug. "If your parents were really active in the church like you say, and as I recall," she added with a lightly teasing tone, "you had some kind of a weird Princess Luna fan club you were running at the time, what stopped you?"

"Okay first off," Pip retorted defensively, "that club was mostly just me and a couple other kids from my class until those Goth kids joined and turned it into a Nightmare Moon cult, at which point it did get weird and I quit. And second, the church is in it for the wrong reasons. They want followers and donations and rituals. I don't think any of them even consider the Three as real, living ponies anymore.

"One of the final straws for me in the church was when they tried to ban Nightmare Night, claiming it was offensive to the church. I never went to another church meeting after they said that. And I don't know how they did it, and I am sure it was the church behind it, but somehow, they managed to get me blacklisted with the military, because I haven't been promoted a single rank since I came back here to the capital. I mean, I'm currently the right-hoof pony of General Dash herself, but every other pony in my position is at least a Captain."

The conversation and drinking continued, and over the course of the next few hours their little table had grown cluttered with empty mugs. Pip could feel the cider going to his head and tongue, and before he even realized it had happened, Pip mentioned seeing the Three a few hours ago and his random trance. He even mentioned 'take the apple, leave the tea', and how he still had no idea what the princess wanted him to do.

"I mean, seriously Silver, I dedicated myself to Luna growing up, but I gave up on her. But then this happens? She has plans for me? Like, wassup with that? How can I... how c'n I, ya know, how do I deal with something like that? Destiny and prophecy and whatever else it was Applejack said?"

The reply from Silver Spoon sounded much less muddled than his was, and he began to suspect he had drunk more than he should have, and certainly much more than she had.

Her voice sounding harsh, Silver replied quickly, "Look Pip, I appreciate you joining me out here tonight, but I am not gonna sit here and listen to any more of this. The Three show up in the middle of a war room? You are put in a trance and told you will be 'forever changed' by Princess Luna's ghost? You have prophetic words spoken through your mouth by the Three, despite you choosing years earlier that the church was full of corrupt liars and quitting? Yeah Pip, I don't really know what to make of that. It seems very strange. It also seems like you have got some nerve telling me such a crazy, bald-faced lie of a story like that to try and impress me, especially after I thought we were starting to build a little trust between us. I guess you really must think me a fool. I'm going home. Good night."

Uncertain exactly what had just happened, Pip watched the spinning image of Silver Spoon trot out of the bar. He sat, confused, in his chair, conflicted over what to do.

I should apologize I suppose... He thought hazily. I can barely believe this all happened myself. I mean, I was in a trance for half of it, I can't even count on my own mind to be sure it really happened that way. Did I really say apple and tea? Did I really wake up looking at glowing apparitions of Shining Armor, Cadence, and at Luna herself? No. No, Applejack said there was truth in those words, a profound truth. Those are the words I said. I believe it. And so will Silver. I'll go talk to her.

But before he could stand up, Pip found the seat opposite himself had become occupied by a strange figure in a black cloak, one who he didn't recall seeing come over or sitting down. Pip began to suspect he really had drunk too much, because no matter how much he tried, he could not get the face of the figure into focus. And his eyes kept sliding off of any part of the figure he tried to look at directly. So instead, feeling dizzy, Pip resolved to look at the table, and the astonishing number of cider mugs that seemed to cover it.

Without thinking, Pip asked the figure, "Would you mind puttin' your hood up? You're makin' me dizzy..."

Pip wasn't quite sure, but he thought he caught a momentary glimpse of a smile, and rows of sharp teeth that definitely did not belonging on a pony.

Chuckling at Pip's discomfort, the figure threw the hood up.

Pip sat there a moment, feeling a bit better. He wasn't quite sure why he felt so nervous though: a friendly-looking pony had just come over to join him. Though why it was keeping its hood up despite the warmth in the inn, Pip wasn't so sure.

Pip would have asked about the hood in his current state, but something about the figure made him suddenly feel very cold, and he found himself thinking he could use a nice thick cloak himself.

Before he could quite decide what to do, the hooded figure looked directly at Pip, its face obscured by the shadows despite the strong lights in the room, and it spoke, its voice rough and firm, yet light and musical at the same time. It was disconcerting, as if more than one voice spoke from the mouth in front of him at the same time.

"I found your story most illuminating, young Lieutenant. However, you will abstain from speaking any further on the subject for the rest of the evening. I'm afraid you won't remember anything that happened from when that tasty-looking young pony left in a huff a few minutes ago until you wake up tomorrow morning with a surprisingly strong headache, and I would hate for anypony to ask you about what you spoke of this evening and risk triggering any latent memories of me being here tonight. That would be most... unpleasant."

Pip found that as this mysterious figure spoke his thinking was getting sharper and sharper. By the time it finished speaking, he felt completely clear-headed, and every ounce of his clear head was screaming at him to gallop away as fast as he could, yet his legs did not react. It was as though the cold that was engulfing him had actually frozen him in place.

The hooded figure smiled; it was barely visible in the depths of the hood, but what he could see of it looked to him like a predator that was deciding whether or not to play with its dinner before it sat down to eat.

It spoke again. "Now then Lieutenant, I have some questions I will be asking you, and you will try your very hardest to answer me with as much truth and accuracy as you are capable of. Again, any attempt on your part not to do so would be most... unpleasant."

And so Pip sat in his booth, unable to move, freely answering every question this cloaked figure asked him, and no matter how much he tried, he could do nothing but tell it the truth.

Pip wanted to shout, to scream, to get somepony else in the inn to look over at him or the barmaid to ask him if he wanted another drink, but he didn't scream, and nopony came over. All Pip could do was wonder how he had failed to notice that the cider he had been drinking had been making him drunk so quickly, when the amount he had consumed should have been enough for him to handle, especially after that large dinner he had consumed.

Until finally, after what seemed an eternity, the hooded figure was done interrogating him. Again, Pip had the uneasy feeling that he was about to be devoured where he sat. Instead, it stood up, and it spoke to Pip again.

"So, my good Lieutenant, you have done well tonight. Unfortunately, I now have to go and deal with your silver haired friend. It is lucky for her that she did not believe you. However, I can't have you trying to leave to warn her that I am coming. And neither can I have you remember any of this meeting in the morning. So when I leave, you will return to your prior state of happy bliss, finish your drink, and go upstairs to sleep it off. It is far too cold out tonight anyways, so don't try to follow me. If you do, it would be most... unpleasant."

With that, the hooded figure rose from its seat, and almost seemed to flow out of the room. As the door swung shut, the ice in Pip's veins melted, and with it, his thoughts again grew fuzzy, despite his every effort to fight against it.

Suddenly wondering why Silver Spoon had left him all alone like that, Pip happily finished his mug of cider, and then stumbled off to order a room for the night from the innkeeper.


It is far too cold out tonight anyways...



•


Twilight's heart was pounding in her chest as the halls of Discord's mind dissolved around her, leaving her own rooms in their place.

Her heart continued to pound as she added the last of her firewood to the coals in the fireplace, building up the flames that Discord said was the only remaining link his mind seemed to have with the outside world.

Her heart rate only began to slow down when the flames formed into the shape of Discord's head, and he proudly noted how hot he now was.

Twilight was so relieved, she almost did laugh at that.

Instead, she called one of her hoofmaids in, and explained very carefully that the flame in this fireplace must never go out, no matter how hot the room got. She also told the maid not to worry if the fireplace spoke, images appeared in the flames, or anything else unusual seemed to happen around it. However, if the fireplace asked for anything, it was to be given it right away. And if the fireplace started called for Twilight, she should be notified at once, no matter what she was doing at the time.

As the confused looking maid left to get more wood and to tell the other maids the princess's unusual orders, Twilight went over to her desk and pulled out a scroll and quill. The events of the day had thrown Twilight for a loop, but she had organized her way out of crisis before. Pulling out a checklist she had made on her way back from the War Room, Twilight checked it over.

Speak to Cadence, Shining Armor, and Luna for the first time in 11 years Check

Send letters to [strike]the other elements[/strike] my old friends. Check

Contact Discord about reaching Fluttershy and locating Pinkie PieCheck

She quickly added:

Make sure the fireplace is fully stocked and inform the maids Check

Warn Spike of possible danger [ ]

Nodding to herself in satisfaction, Twilight rolled up the scroll and put it back in a drawer. Then, she sat down, and began a new scroll.

 

In case this does not directly reach the

intended recipient, please deliver to

Spike the Dragon, formerly of Ponyville,

located in the Fringe Dragon Academy.

URGENT

Dear Spike,

I know no one is permitted to send you a letter anymore, for your training is your number one priority, but I simply could not sit here and allow you to go without forewarning of the day's events. If anyone reading this is not Spike the Apprentice Dragon of the Fringe Monastery, please send this to him immediately, by order of the Equestrian Princess. The rest of this message will be encrypted for security's sake. Thank you.

Diane gave the trunk a hard buck. The nest at the top of the tree held six eggs. The dark purple spots on the light purple shells gave them an unusual cast in the dim, evening light. The eggs fell, and broke on the ground, their yokes soaking into the dry dirt below. If only the six eggs had had a stronger nest holding them in place, the shells would not be sparkling like gems on the ground in a rainbow of hues.

Be careful Spike,

Twilight

It took Twilight four drafts to get the letter just right. It wasn't easy, either. The code had to be precise, and it was difficult to convey a lot of information through it. The first paragraph had made mention of the second paragraph being a code, which meant that the main point of the letter was actually in the first paragraph. That first paragraph was made to look as little like a code as possible, and everything said in it was written in case somedragon besides Spike did in fact read it. It had been carefully reworded to try and sound natural, but Spike would pick up on the code right away.

What that first paragraph had been reworded with was numbers. In order, the numbers one, two, four, one, two, four, one two four had been put into the conversational way the first paragraph had been written. And three times no less. No one is, permitted to send, for your training, number one priority, you to go, forewarning, anyone, send this to him, and encrypted for security: the combination of ones, twos, and fours were each representative of a different secret message.

The code was actually pretty clever, Twilight thought with a little pride. It was impossible to break, since only someone who knew the combination of ones, twos, and fours could tell what was being said. Plus, those three numbers worked so easily as words that nocreature would ever think that it even was a code. In this case of this one, the code 124124124 was actually the first code that Twilight and Spike had come up with. It was an easy one to remember as well, since written out, it make the 3 number 3's seem quite obviously missing. And so that code was only to be used if the Three had awakened. It was as close as Twilight could think to get to telling Spike what had happened.

The second paragraph was intentionally written to look like a code to further hide the fact the first paragraph was the real code, although it did still serve a useful purpose. When Spike had been born, his shell had been light purple with dark purple spots. However, because of his coloration, most everypony had assumed his egg was purple with green spots, a rumor that Spike had himself once enjoyed perpetuating.

By stating the actual color of Spike's egg, it was supposed to be a coded way of saying that the message really was from Twilight. Everything else about the second paragraph was so vague it shouldn't mean anything to anydragon but Spike anyways. All it really said was that Twilight was going to try and get back together with their old friends by mentioning each of them in a vaguely cryptic way. Six eggs, which indicated her and her old five friends, Diane - Pinkie Pie, bucks the tree - Applejack and Fluttershy, dim evening light - Twilight, gems on the ground - Rarity, and a rainbow of hues - Rainbow Dash. Spike would catch all that. Twilight was okay, and so were the others. Twilight felt that was something that Spike would be glad to hear.

So it served its purpose. As long as Spike got this letter, he would know at least some of what was going on. The fact that it said urgent at the top in all capital letters would also let him know that it was something big.

Of course, it certainly didn't say everything that Twilight would have liked to say. It didn't say that there was war in Equestria for the first time since the Fall of Discord. Nor did it say that Twilight wasn't on speaking terms with Fluttershy anymore, or that Twilight didn't even know where Fluttershy was these days. It also failed to mention about Pinkie Pie going missing and Discord being trapped by some kind of powerful magic. And it certainly didn't say anything about the mysterious danger that was purportedly coming.

No, Twilight had never told him any of that. She wouldn't risk ruining some portion of Spike's training by worrying him too much about things back home. He had committed himself to joining this group of monkish dragons living in the Fringe, and he was going to learn how to gain his wings.

Twilight and her friends had of course been sad to see Spike go, but they didn't stop him. Ever since Twilight herself had gained wings, the fact that Spike didn't have wings of his own had just galled at him more and more. Until finally Rarity had sensed that the Fringe held the answers he needed.

And so Spike left. Luckily Zecora had been willing to make the journey with him, claiming it was high time she returned to her native land of Zebrica to, as she put it, right a wrong put off for too long. And since the Fringe was only a little further south than Zebrica, it made sense for them to travel together.

Before Celestia had been attacked and the Three had been formed, Twilight had learned Celestia's spell allowing Spike to send and receive messages. And for a while, it worked, and they used that spell to keep in regular contact while Spike and Zecora made their long journey south. They even kept up regular contact for the first couple years of Spike's training. Until finally, they had been forced to stop, as "a necessary part of the young dragon's journey to finding inner peace".

And here it was, over four years without so much as a birthday card sent between the two of them, and Twilight was about to interrupt Spike's studies.


But it has to be done. He needs to know this. If anything, this might help him find that inner peace he is supposed to be looking for... Right?


Forcing a stiff upper lip, Twilight poured some hot wax over the fold in the letter before sealing it with her own personal crest, made in the shape of her cutie mark.

Celestia had said to Twilight that dragon fire could act as a means for a dragon to store its treasures while still being a great distance from its hoard. She had said that dragons could also use that ability to retrieve any item from that hoard and return it to their present location, though this was much more rarely done, and most dragons did not realize the ability could work both ways.

Therefore, Celestia said, the trick to using a dragon's fire yourself was to create a mental image of the item you wanted to send being in that dragon's specific hoard, but also that he urgently needed to retrieve it. This triggered the dragon's instincts to call the item from his hoard, and just like that, the letter was sent.

Not an easy spell, but it was nothing Twilight couldn't handle. The trouble was, soon after she had received that final letter, Twilight had found she could no longer create an image of Spike's hoard in her mind. She wasn't sure exactly what to make of that, but it did mean that she really couldn't send him a message that way anymore. And so Twilight instead was going to try and teleport the scroll to where she knew Spike to be, at the monastery in the Fringe.

Unfortunately, standard teleportation magic was affected by distance. The further you had to teleport an object, the more strength in magic and concentration it took to move it. And even then, the greater the distance, the less accuracy you would have in aiming the spell. And this was a considerable distance to send an object, even for Twilight.

Since that meant Twilight was effectively sending the scroll to where anydragon within a hundred miles of the Academy could be the one to pick it up, she had taken the precautions of the address, the encryption, a strong fire repellant spell, and the wax seal with own her personal crest.

Closing her eyes and drawing in the magic that was as ever present to Twilight as the air in the room, Twilight visualized Spike. She visualized his rooms, as he had once described them to her in a letter. She saw the massive dimly lit stone cavern at the monastery, big enough to allow dragons of every creed, color, and size access to their rooms at once. She saw one of the dozens of little square cubby holes carved from the north rock wall of the cavern, which is where all the lower-tier apprentices slept. She saw the open side of his room blocked with a paper partition, and his simple furnishings: a wooden desk and chair for work and storage, and on the floor a fireproof wool pallet and a straw mat for meditating. She even saw the room's lone ornament hanging on the wall, which was a single picture from home of Twilight and her friends with Spike.

She saw all of this, as clearly as she had imagined it in Spike's early letters.

And then, she visualized Spike. She couldn't really guess what he might look like these days, whether he had wings or not. Whether he had grown or was still the little guy she had always remembered. So she visualized him as he had been back in Ponyville all of those years ago. The last time she saw him, he'd had a binder pack slung over his back, Zecora by his side, and a sad, hopeful smile on his face as they disappeared around the curve in the road heading south from town.

And then she made a change to her vision. She visualized the letter she had written to Spike appearing in his claws. She visualized the letter vanishing from the desk in front of her.

And then she poured the magic into that image in her mind. More and more and more magic she used in the spell, until she began to feel her horn actually growing hot from the amount of magic she pulled through it. Until at last the scroll vanished in a flash of violet light.

It was done. Now all she could do was hope that he got her message.


•


Apple Bloom left Pumpkin Cake alone with her family after she was sure the girl would be all right. As much as they welcomed her to stay around, it still seemed like a private family moment as far as Apple Bloom was concerned. Plus, now that she knew Pumpkin Cake was safe, she felt she had bigger concerns to deal with.

Like what is happening back with that experiment of Pumpkin Cake's. She thought as the doors to the hospital swung shut behind her, leaving its comforting warmth behind as she stepped out into the later parts of the cool night air. I may not be the crystal guru that girl is, but surely there is something I can do to help, even if it is nearly morning by now.

Despite the fact she didn't walk this route very often, she found that the path from the hospital back to her workshop was surprisingly second nature to her, even lit as it was by only the light of the full moon. She barely had to think about where she was going as she wandered along the neat rows of houses built into the curve of the mountain.

They were the homes of military families working in the command bunker, and due to their unusual proximity to several primary military targets, a clever solution had been devised to keep them from getting bombed. The architect of the solution had been a Manehattan pony who Apple Bloom had come to admire by the name of Honest Bit. He had designed the individual homes to be built into the mountain itself, and camouflaged to look from the air like a natural part of the mountain, and therefore nothing worth attacking.

Although Apple Bloom wasn't so sure about the ego of a pony who would name a design after himself. Not that it mattered; she doubted the name of Ho-bit Hole would stick for very long.

Before long however, she passed the last of the unusual homes and found herself at last approaching her workshop, although it certainly didn't look anything like it had when she left it earlier in the evening. The mountainside entrance was now surrounded by a wood partition, which was surrounded by important-looking ponies in uniforms wielding clipboards and nightsticks. All of whom just happened to be standing around casually talking to each other right outside the partition. The occasional pony passed by the unusual site, but with a quick wave of a hoof or a nightstick by one of the guards, the loitering was kept to a minimum. Most ponies knew not to interfere when the military got involved in something.

Apple Bloom couldn't help wondering what the passing ponies must think was happening in there. The green light of the wayward force field was still lighting up the entrance to her workshop like a beacon right behind them, casting long, green shadows off into the night.

She would have chuckled at the absurdity of the situation if the field wasn't also preventing anypony from reaching the ventilation system which provided air to everypony in the Command Bunker.

Eyeing Apple Bloom, the most casual of the casually standing around uniformed ponies approached: a petite pink and purple mare with violet eyes who Apple Bloom had dealt with on a few prior occasions. In a carefully controlled, customer service voice the security mare asked, "So Miss Bloom, what can I do for you on this fine evening?"

Eyeing her back, Apple Bloom answered. "You know why I'm here Sparkler, so stop playing games. This is my mess, and I want to do what I can to help clean it up."

Sparkler raised an eyebrow at the abrupt tone Apple Bloom had used, but didn't say anything about it.

Instead, she took an extra minute eyeing over her clipboard before saying, "And why would I do that, Miss Bloom? This is magic we are dealing with. Unicorn business. Not to mention the potential benefits of learning how to recreate a self-sustaining force field like this. So if anything, this is military unicorn business."

Apple Bloom could scarcely believe her ears. Unicorn business?

Suppressing the urge to scream, Apple Bloom took a few deep, slow breaths. This is another reason Pumpkin Cake's work is so important, she thought. It eliminates unicorns' supposed monopoly on magic. And it certainly should knock them down a couple of pegs.

Forcing her voice to remain calm, she replied. "And what about the ponies in that bunker, Sparkler? Doesn't it seem like, oh I don't know, the very Earth Pony who invented the system that provides all those important ponies in that bunker with fresh air should maybe be involved in getting that system working again? For that matter, isn't the princess in this bunker? Doesn't she like to breathe?

Sparkler's head snapped up at that, no longer simply half listening while looking over her clipboard. She replied with venom, "Look, I don't know how you learned the classified location of the princess's residence, and I don't want to know. But the fact is that this location has been put on high level lockdown. Straight from the top. We are bringing in pegasi to reuse the old wing powered pumping station until this situation has been resolved. And as for what the Earth Pony who made this system should do to help, maybe she should go and consider the meaning of the phrase contingency plan. I mean seriously, Miss Bloom, Equestria is being bombed on a daily basis. Did the possibility of engine failure simply not occur to you, or are your hooves so deep in the dirt it simply never occurred to you that something you built could fail?"

Apple Bloom was stunned, and she began to answer, but was cut off as Sparkler continued her tirade. "And furthermore, the princess can teleport, create force fields of her own, and fly. I would be shocked if she was in any danger of breathing trouble. Even if we don't manage to get fresh air down there within the hour, she will be able to get herself out of any immediate danger.

"And besides all of that, as I understand it this is your apprentice's invention, so if anypony is going to help us fix this situation, it is a unicorn like her, not that we would even let her near this place now given her odd reaction to this thing she built. So go home Apple Bloom, and let the professionals handle this."

With that, Sparkler turned around and trotted back to her post, before returning to her conversation with the purple and blue mare she had been standing next to.

Stunned at being turned away, Apple Bloom stood there for a moment, finding herself uncertain what to do. Finally, a plan began to form in her mind, and as Apple Bloom turned and began to gallop back towards the hospital, she found herself smiling.

It was time to have a little chat with her apprentice. She would show that pony what an Earth Pony, and a founder of the Crusaders, could do.


•



A dirt path stretches through the forest. The leaves blow on a gentle breeze.


I start to trot along the road.


I don't know where I am.


But wait, I see you up ahead!


You stand among the trees, the moon silhouetting your face from behind.


You call to me. "Pip," I hear you call... "Come to me, Pip!"


I gallop with all my strength. The faster I go, the farther away you get.


I must catch up to you!


"Pip," you call again. "Why did you leave me, Pip?"


"Why did you forget?"


"Help me Pip."


"I did not forget you!" I cry. 


But you cannot hear me call.


You are asleep. You are helping your sister to die.


"I won't forget you, Luna."


"I will SAVE YOU!"


"LUNA!"

Pip sat up in an unfamiliar bed, drenched in sweat.

A figure in black robes spoke to me last night, then used some kind of spell on me. Silver Spoon is in danger. The figure made me forget...

A figure in robes spoke. A spell was used. Silver Spoon in danger. I forget...

A robed spoon forgot to spell.

Pip blinked in confusion.

What was I just thinking?... No matter. It must not have been important.

Laying back down, Pip closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.
> Chapter 6 - Tarnished
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The acrid taste of ash was strong in the air.



The wood burned; it popped and hissed as the moisture within turned instantly to steam.



The persistent heat and dim orange glow overpowered any other sense of light coming from the room.



He could sometimes see her, standing there.



She had a habit of appearing as an apparition when he looked into the fire for too long. He couldn't help thinking of her when he saw fire.



It reminded him too much of the last time he had seen her before her Fall.



The blazing timbers, a criss-cross pattern of colored flames as a long forgotten chemical or spell became engulfed. Screaming ponies, trying to run, with nowhere to go.



And Celestia, standing there, her eyes burning like the hottest of the fire's many coals.


 

Discord pulled his head back from the fireplace, flinching.

Not from the heat, of course. It no more hurt Discord to touch fire than it did to juggle his own limbs.

No, he flinched from the memories.

Getting to his hoof and claw, he stretched, trying to shake that image of the last time he had seen Celestia from his mind.

It didn't help things that he was still trapped in his own mind, in the Chaos Corridor, right next to a stained glass window featuring the two Alicorn Princesses defeating him.

To the far end of the room, the Chaos Corridor stopped at the massive throne room doors. They no longer led anywhere. Not that he really had anywhere else to go.

He hoped his oddly shaped eyes were playing tricks on him, but Discord was beginning to think that this hallway was beginning to grow shorter.

He feared this meant he was running out of time.

Frowning, he returned to peering through the flames, despite the memories of Canterlot they brought rushing back.

It had never occurred to Discord that he would have to spend more than a few minutes using this fireplace to receive a quick message from the princess. And yet, here he was, trapped between the memories brought on by the flames, and his own fading memories, their continued loss manifesting before his eyes as a vanishing palace memory.

As the world before him once more became the burning inferno in the fireplace of Princess Twilight's rooms, he frowned again. Something seemed to be wrong over there now, too.

"HELLO?! IS ANYPONY THERE?!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the rooms out of the royal fireplace.

It took only a moment for the princess's assistant to rush into his view.

"Ye... ye... ye... yes Mister Chaos sir?" the pale blue mare asked in a timed voice, averting her gaze from the flames.

Discord would normally have loved having all this fear and awe directed his way, but tonight he simply ignored it. This matter could simply not wait.

He instead put on one of his more commanding tones and said, "Send somepony to check on the princess now. And send somepony else up to the surface. These flames are weak. I think somepony turned off the air down here, and I want to know why. There may be danger."

Stopping a possible threat to the princess, the entire population of this bunker, and myself? he thought as the hoofmaid ran off to do as he had said. Will that get you to stop haunting me?

The burning embers of Celestia's eyes stared at him grimly through the flames, and didn't answer him. They never did.


•


The night air had a slight bite to it as Applejack left young Pip behind. Another rapidly onset winter was beginning.

Not that it needs to be, she thought to herself.

Applejack, was one of the few who knew the truth about the season speeding initiative. While what Dandelion had said about crop yields had been true at first, they hadn't actually needed to have a 7 month season cycle to produce enough food for almost two years.

Instead, this winter was the first in that time which would align with when winter was actually supposed to be.

The bombing raids would stop for a month, while the rebels spent the month hiding from the snow the weather ponies felt no obligation to keep off their heads.

With the first day of "spring" arriving, the rebels would begin to attack in earnest. They always did when spring first began. Spies in the rebel ranks had confirmed that this year was to be no different.

And then, when the rebel army approached the front lines, the snowstorm would hit.

The rebels would be cut off, not dressed for winter, and with heavy sleet blowing in their eyes.

A good plan, Applejack thought. And one that might actually end this war nice and quick.

She was surprised to realize she wasn't heading towards the farm. Looking around, Applejack quickly realized where her hooves were leading her.

She nodded, doubling her pace for the edge of the farm, near the Everfree Forest. Winter was coming, it was time for a visit before the snows came.

It didn't take long before the bare branches of the Zap Apple Trees came into sight. Lit as they were by the yellow light of the full moon, they took on a creepy cast. Clawed branches reached for her, while grim faces created by the moonlight snarled at her. She could almost imagine Timberwolves leaping fully formed from the trunks of the trees.

Finally, she stopped, at the base of the roughest, toughest, and most knarled of the Zap Apple Trees. It was the one planted by Granny Smith herself when she was a young mare, which she had fondly referred to as the only Zap Apple tree that was trying to copy Granny Smith herself, due to its features.

Applejack took off her Stetson as she looked at the carving in the tree's base, and read.


 

Here Lies Granny Smith

At the base of her tree which grew Ponyville

Know that she too grows forever

As love in our hearts

926 - 1013 C.E.


Applejack stood there a moment, lost in thought. The only sound was the faint rustle of dry leaves as they blew in the wind made by the Everfree forest.

Finally, she said, "Shoot Granny... I dunno why I came here tonight, but I feel like I could really use your advice right now. It... it's like when Celestia died. You were the one who threw that huge feast in her honor. You were the one to remind us to laugh at all the good she'd done, not just to grieve that she couldn't do no more."

She shifted uncomfortable before continuing, leaves crunching softly underhoof. "Well, it feels like that again now. Only the whole world feels like it's grievin', if that makes any sense..."

"Oh, yeessssssss, it makes peeerrrfffeeect sense..... my dear..... buut thheee queeesssstion issss, fooor whaaat dooo theeeeyy aaall griieeve?"

Applejack jumped at the intruding voice, and whirled around into a combat ready position. But all she could see was the edge of the woods, set in shades of black.

What was I thinking? her thoughts raced as she scanned the shadows. How many times did I tell Apple Bloom to stay away from the forest at night? And yet here I am, unarmed and alone, and a prime target during a war, no less!

"Who said that?" She asked, eyes narrowing, her voice deceivingly calm. "I wasn't expectin' no more guests tonight, now who's out there?"

"III..... aaam oooff nooo connssseequeeence. Buuut I wouuuld assssssk yooou, Applejaaack, whaaat did yooou aaand yooour guessssst tonight dissssscussssss?"

The voice was like oiled glass. Far too smooth, and it made you want to take a long bath just to think about.

Feeling oddly dizzy, Applejack felt herself beginning to speak, to tell this voice all that Pip had just told her in confidence.

It's like the mountaintop Balrog! a voice in her head said urgently. You have to fight it!

She tried to close her mouth, to stop the words that were already coming in earnest. She had already reached the point in the story where Pip had joined her for dinner!

But what can I do? She asked the voice. My mouth ain't exactly my own right now!

Well what do you have control of? It asked back. Your mane? No... Your legs? No... Your hooves!

Wait what? She thought, incredulous. What's it matter if I can stand on my own hooves if I can't move my legs?

And that’s when Applejack remembered another time she had felt small and helpless before a creature she could barely understand. The world snake had come charging towards her. She, this tiny, insignificant speck of dust facing a creature she had mistaken for an entire mountain range.

She remembered the lessons she had learned from the Gildedalean Ponies, and most of all from Ashtail. How when an Earth Pony stands firmly in their own soil with confidence, they can draw strength from that soil, and strength from all other Earth Ponies who had stood on that soil.

That strength had let her face a Balrog. That strength had let her battle the wild Komagas. That strength had made the world snake bounce off of her. She reached for that strength now. Here, on the farm that had been in her family for generations. Here, at the grave of Granny Smith herself. Here, in Ponyville, a town she had saved more times than she could count.

Maybe she couldn’t do much against whatever magic this was. But there was one thing she could do.

She could face this threat and Stand Firm.

The dirt wrapped around her hooves, and Applejack felt the strength of the whole farm fill her. Even the dim shadows of the forest faded away before her as she became one with her farm.

And there it was. She saw it. A hooded and cloaked figure, standing among the trees. Its cloak did not move in the breeze. Standing like she was now, the hooded figure seemed puny. She almost laughted.

And just like that, Applejack’s body became her own, and she forced her mouth to stop talking; her teeth slammed shut with an audible click.

Just in time, too, she thought.  I was at the part of the story where I had started to walk Pip home.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Applejack said, feeling triumphant. "I seem to have forgotten the rest of my story."

"But I tell you what," she said, a grin forming on her face. "Why don't you tell me who you are and I'll be sure to let you know where you can go to mind your own damn business."

She couldn't make out the figure's face in the light, but she knew a frown when she saw one.

Turning quickly, it disappeared into the depths of the Everfree Forest, gliding far too smoothly along the rough forest floor.

As soon as it was out of range of her advanced sight, Applejack released the ground, turned, and galloped back the way she had come.

There's trouble brewin' and help'll be needed. She thought, heart racing. Lucky I ain't the only Earth Pony 'round here who can Stand Firm.


•


The table was set, the bags were packed, and the food was prepped.

Rarity had learned of Rainbow Dash's swift arrival with hours to spare. As she later learned to some surprise, she had in fact known Rainbow was coming for several hours before Rainbow Dash had known it herself.

No matter how often she saw the future, it always seemed to find new ways to surprise her.

With that time to prepare, Rarity had managed to not only secure her Dirigible for departure later tonight, but she had written her "apology" letter to the Prime Maneister, been to the shop, and hired the chef from her favorite restaurant, specializing in Haute Cuisine no less, to help her make a suitable meal for tonight.

After all, she was not only hosting one of her oldest and dearest friends for dinner, but a Five-Star General no less!

They hugged at the door, Rarity pretending to be surprised. Rainbow Dash however, did not seem to believe the surprise as the table was already set for two, with one name card reading “The Lady Rarity” and the other “General Rainbow Dash”.

Rarity felt the menu was suitable, hearty yet sophisticated, and of course only hosting a collection of the freshest ingredients, all of which she had hoof chosen herself.

She had started the dinner with an Hors d'Oeurve of Marinated Mushrooms Sautéed in Herbs and a dry white wine.

This was quickly followed by l'Entrée. A Chestnut Soup with Crème Fraiche, served with a crusty Baguette.

Le Plat Principal she was particularly proud of. A platter of Tomato and Spinach Buckwheat Crepes, with shaved slices of black truffle she had been saving for a special occasion. Tonight seemed appropriate.

It was only when she reached le dessert, a Winter Fruit Compote with Cognac sauce, that she began to grow concerned. Rainbow Dash would often show a complete lack of proper decorum while she ate, and the more Rarity tried to bring some class to their proceedings, the more uncouth Rainbow tended to act.

It was an inside joke they had both perpetuated for years.

And yet Rainbow Dash had somehow spent the entirety of the meal sitting stiffly at the table, making no more than idle chit chat, and using a spoon no less!

Finally, when they retired to the lounge for le Café, Rarity could no longer take the silence, and she said, "So... did you have a nice... um... lightning ride here tonight?"

"It was relaxing. No turbulence."

Rainbow sat stiffly on the silk couch, sipping her coffee.

Rarity stared in bewilderment. Turbulence? Relaxing?

"But... I thought... didn't you say... huh?!" was all managed to get out before she realized, that Rainbow Dash, had in fact, just beaten Rarity at her own game. Moments later, they both practically fell over laughing.

"Ahh hah ha ha! Oh my Celestia, I can't believe you just did that! Rainbow Dash, did you just act uncouth by acting overly couth? When did you learn to do that?"

"Well I am a general who spends most of her time with a princess!" Rainbow replied, also laughing, "But more importantly, when did you learn how to cook like that? You used to just add a green leaf to your food and call it 'garnish' or something like that."

"Well, I have been here a while. But tonight..." she paused, attempting a dramatic pause, but the giggling fairly well ruined it. "I just hired a cook!"

"Well, I guess that explains how you still have dirty pots in the sink! Didn't you used to insist that all pots be cleaned and dried before anypony could eat? Like that one time, you made us all a, what did you call it, a suffel?"

"A soufflé, dear Rainbow, and I'll have you know they always fall when you take them out of the oven, it doesn't matter if you serve them in five minutes or fifty!"

"Yeah that's right, fifty is more like it. And then by the time the dishes were all cleaned to your satisfaction, didn't Opal...?"

"Yes, that's right! The silly dear went and knocked them on the floor, because she wanted to nap in the warm spot on the counter they had made!"

"Oh wow," Rainbow said, still laughing. "Opalescence the cat. She brings back some memories... How long has it been since then?"

The laughter cut out at Rarity's reply, "Well that was right before she died, which was around the same time as Fluttershy left, so... two or three years now?"

"Have you heard anything from her, by the way?" Rainbow asked after an awkward pause, filling the silence.

"No..." Rarity said sadly. "I send her letters every so often through Discord, but he says that she won't reply to any of us, or it doesn't really count as banishment."

"Banishment! Hah!" Rainbow said scornfully. "It's not banishment if you do it to yourself! It's... what did you call it again?"

"Self-Inflicted Exile?"

"Yeah, that's it. And the key to that is self-inflicted. Why would she do that to us? You don't think it was really because of the...?"

"The Elements? Hmm... maybe. The timeline certainly fits. And let's face it, Rainbow. Fluttershy and Twilight were arguing pretty much nonstop after we used the Elements to... how did you put it? Squish..."

"No no no, not 'squish them'," Rainbow cut in. "I said we used the Elements to squash them. To pulverize them. To obliterate them. To decimate them." Rainbow said the last with particular vigor.

"Well... either way, it didn't work, did it? If anything, more ponies joined the rebellion after that stunt then we stopped by doing it..." Rarity set the last of her coffee down. The taste had gone off in her mouth.

"Uh huh... and then we have the Triad showing up today, and saying we have to bring the whole gang back together to..."

"Wait wait wait what?" Rarity cut Rainbow off, jumping off her seat as she did so, saying: "The Three woke up? They spoke to you? And Twilight? And they need us all to do something?! Why the hoof didn't you say anything before about this?!" Rarity was having to resist the urge to shake Rainbow where she sat.

"Well yeah," Rainbow said, surprised. "Didn't they tell you as well? You weren't exactly surprised to see me, and I saw you had already packed to head back home! Plus, can't you see the..."

"Don't say it!" Rarity grimaced, cutting Rainbow Dash off. "I've told you a million times Rainbow, I see Need, not the future. I'm not omniscient or omnipresent! And even when I sometimes can see it, do you see Applejack around here somewhere to help me do that?"

Rainbow nodded, though Rarity still suspected her friend didn't really understand the difference between the two.

She also decided not to mention about her little vision today. She didn't even understand it fully herself, though she couldn't help but wonder now if that had been The Three's way of contacting her directly.

Taking a deep breath, Rarity sat back down and said, "Now, tell me exactly what happened."


•


By the time Apple Bloom had made it back to the hospital, the house lights of some early bird ponies were beginning to turn on, as they set about starting their day.

This fact did not please Apple Bloom, who was seriously feeling the need for some sleep herself.

Unfortunately, she suspected she was not going to get that chance for a while yet. She had to do something about that green force field around her workshop first. How could I possibly rest when my life's work could be destroyed or lost forever?

Plus, she added, I would certainly be the one blamed if something goes wrong, or Celestia forbid, something happened to the Princess as a result of this experiment...

She was pleased to see as she entered Pumpkin Cake's room that her family was no longer there. It seemed that they had finally gone off to get some sleep themselves.

She was even more pleased to see that Pumpkin Cake was awake, having apparently gotten enough rest while unconscious.

Apple Bloom paused at the door, looking at her assistant. Something about her seems off... she thought, perplexed.

Hesitantly, she approached the hospital bed, and asked, "So, Pumpkin Cake, how'r you holding up? Do you, er, remember what happened last night?"

Pumpkin Cake had been writing in a notebook as Apple Bloom had entered, and the dim glow of her magic faded as she sat the pencil and pad down with a faint green glow.

She looked up at Apple Bloom then, and that was when Apple Bloom realized what had seemed off.

Normally, Pumpkin's eyes were a deep blue, as was her magic.

Now, they were both emerald green. The same shade as the force field around the workshop, and the spell that had knocked Pumpkin Cake out cold.

Pumpkin Cake replied, and Apple Bloom was relieved to hear that at least her voice didn't sound strange as well. "I'm doing all right Apple Bloom, thanks. And I'd just like to say, I fully blame Murphy and his thrice cursed law for everything that just happened tonight. I tightened that lug-nut, powered the machine to full blast without thinking, and then BOOM! Heh, well it worked at least, we can say that for sure! I'm thinking it was that round sapphire I was using as a voltage buffer that caused the problem, I just KNEW that salespony was full of crap when she said it was a blemish, not a scratch on that thing! And I bet you..."

The young pony went on excitedly about the experiment, while Apple Bloom carefully listened.

Finally she was satisfied that Pumpkin Cake did in fact seem to be completely normal, and was itching to go back to her work. So she cut Pumpkin Cake off, saying, "Yeah Pumpkin, I reckon you're right about that drive shaft, but uh... we ain't done with your current contraption yet. It's uh... still running, and it hasn't stopped running since you turned it on. And now the military has closed off our workshop, and won't let me anywhere near it while they try to learn how you managed to do what you did."

"In fact," she added, suddenly realizing something, "I don't think they plan to let you back there either, given how pleased that guard sounded that you might be out of commission for a good few days!"

Pumpkin Cake was clearly surprised at the news, though not nearly as much as Apple Bloom would have expected. The elder mare almost thought she saw a faint glint of understanding appear in those disturbingly emerald eyes as they stared off into the direction of the workshop.

Apple Bloom just stood there while Pumpkin Cake continued to process the information, as if she were deep in some sort of mental debate with herself.

Finally, with a measure of steel to her voice, the green eyed mare turned her intense stare back towards Apple Bloom, and said, "We have to get to that field, Apple Bloom. I am the only pony who can turn it off. It... it's my responsibility to fix this thing. Will you help me with this? Those soldiers must not get their ignorant hooves on this technology. We must stop them."

Apple Bloom wasn't sure what to make of Pumpkin's tone when she said that last part, or her sudden opposition to soldiers, but she let it slide.

As long as we both want the same thing, who cares? Apple Bloom mused to herself as she got Pumpkin Cake discharged.

Apple Bloom eyed the area over as the two of them stepped out of the hospital into the cold glow of the dark night. Faint lights peeked out of blackout curtains from several windows as they walked past them in silence, as the two ponies set off down the mountainside path, the green glow of the workshop fast approaching.

When at last they could see the workshop's guarded entrance, Pumpkin Cake stopped and gasped.

Turning quickly, Apple Bloom asked, "What is it, Pumpkin Cake? What's wrong?"

Pumpkin Cake stared ahead intensely, but rather than saying anything, her horn began to glow with an emerald light. Apple Bloom gasped as the green light spread out in front of the two ponies, and then bent.

She didn't know how else to describe it. The light began to distort and stretch around her, and the image in the center of the glowing light where she could see her workshop pulled forward. It was as though the very air had become a giant magnifying glass, bringing the workshop into sudden nearby clarity. She could see the guards as clearly as if she were standing right next to them.

"How did you do this?" Apple Bloom gasped. "I've never even heard of a spell like this before!"

Pumpkin Cake didn't say anything, but with another surge of green light, Apple Bloom found she could hear two of the guards talking as well, as though she stood right next to them.

The guard who Apple Bloom had tried to pass earlier to enter the workshop was speaking to another officer, this one wearing a black cloak. The two seemed to be arguing. Apple Bloom eagerly listened in.

"Yes, I'm sure of it, just now!" The unfamiliar officer said to the one Apple Bloom only knew of as Major Sparkler. "Apple Bloom isn't there either! Somehow the two of them managed to sneak out of the hospital without being seen by any of the guards we had watching the place!"

Apple Bloom was surprised. Firstly, because she was pretty sure they had just walked out of the hospital without any issue at all, with no sneaking of any sort. And secondly, she didn't even know they were being watched.

She turned to Pumpkin Cake and asked, "Did... did you have something to do with this?"

Pumpkin Cake didn't look Apple Bloom's way, she seemed to be focusing on continuing the odd spell. But she did quickly answer Apple Bloom's question, saying, "They saw what they wanted to see, nothing more. Now hush, I want to hear this."

Apple Bloom turned back, the sound of the conversations continuing to reach her ears despite the great distance.

Apple Bloom hadn't heard Major Sparkler's reply, save for, "... brought into custody?"

The first pony nodded, saying with finality, "I see no other options. The Grand Arbiter was clear, this heresy must not be spread. Lock this place down, 'confirm' the dangerous gas leak to the princess, and most important of all, find those two mares! At. All. Cost. Do I make myself clear, Guardian Sparkler?"

Sparkler nodded, sounding very nervous as she said, "Yes! Yes of course, Sentinel! They will be found right away! I'll put my best mares on it! We won't rest until they are dealt with, no matter the cost!"

"See that you do, Guardian Sparkler, and if you succeed, there may be a Justicarship in your future. But if you fail..."

The threat hung there in the air a moment, but Apple Bloom had heard enough. So had Pumpkin Cake, it seemed, as the sound cut off, the green field vanishing along with it.

Swaying on her hooves for a moment, slightly breathless, Pumpkin Cake said, "We... can't let them find us, Apple Bloom. Is there somewhere we can safely hide for a while to figure this out? I have to get to that field, but I can't see it happening right now, with all these ponies coming to look for us."

Apple Bloom had been thinking the same thing. She didn't know why they were being hunted like this, but it had really made her nervous, the way those two ponies had been speaking.

Coming to a decision, she turned towards Ponyville down the side of the mountain, set her jaw, and nodded.

"Come on!" she called to Pumpkin Cake, setting off down the rocks, stepping as carefully as she could, "I know where we can go to be safe, but we have to move fast if we want to get there before daylight!"

Resisting a sudden urge to chew on a strand of her hair, Pumpkin Cake followed close behind.


•


The guard was panting as she spoke, her report coming in infrequent bursts among heavy breathing.

Discord could have cared less. His ears were quivering with eager anticipation to hear every last syllable of the report on the situation in the workshop many floors above their level. They would have jumped off his head to get closer to the guard as she spoke, were the Lord of Chaos not still trapped on the other side of a fireplace based spell, deep within his own mind, unable to do so.

As the guard finished, she stood there quietly, her eyes downcast from the intimidating appearance of Discord made of fire she saw before her.

He ignored this, allowing his thoughts to digest this information, his taloned hand twirling his goatee into fantastic and impossible shapes while he did so.

Finally, with a word, he dismissed her.

He summoned the princess's maid on duty to his fireplace.

"Get me a blank scroll, a quill and ink, and somepony to write a letter for me," he requested from her as she quickly appeared. He did his best to use what he hoped was a calm sounding voice.

Discord waited, beginning to feel quite impatient. Finally a scribe arrived, the materials he had asked for clutched in one nervous hoof.

From the moment he had figured out the message he needed to send, Discord had delved deep within the metaphorical mindscape of his imagination, which was of course even more removed from reality than the physical manifestation of his metaphorical mindscape where he now found himself trapped.

 

Deep within this mindscape, Discord was a churning machine, processing this newfound information. A mini-Discord, cute and cuddly with oversized features and a slightly anime color palate, walked across the knotted surface of his brain with all its moving gears and machinations until it found a lever right at the center keeping everything together. He had fondly labeled it: "WARNING: SANITY". Mini-Discord contemplated the lever a moment - and then with a clean swipe of his paw switched it to the OFF position.

 

All the rules, all the pleasantries, all the social norms and ways of thinking he held himself to out of consideration for the fragile constitution of pony society clattered out of alignment and fell into their vibrant, cacophonous nature of un-naturality. The guard's words strung themselves up before his eyes like an alphabet of fireflies. But in this world, in this mindset, in this beautiful chaos, their meaning dissolved and translated and rearranged until they formed a message which made perfect sense precisely because it made no sense at all.

 

Pleased with this coded message, contained within the absolute embodiment of perfect, multidimensional encryption, Mini-Discord laughed; yelling, "CHAOS RULES!!!" in a mad, warbled guffaw accompanied by lightning and ominous background music.

 

And then Mini-Discord flipped the sanity lever back to the ON position, forcing his thinking to stay within the preferred and standardized four dimensions of plebeian space. How bourgeois.

 

Smiling, he rolled the code around in his mind, and then sighed. If only, he thought, feeling wistful.

Rejecting the madness inducing code, Discord instead simply decided to use a cipher an Ibisian Empress had come up with about 500 years ago for sending secret royal messages to her herd of royal consorts.

"Now," Discord said, eyeing the scribe as she stood there looking impatient, "Listen carefully, my dear, and write down exactly what I say."

A few minutes later, and the mare left the talking fireplace to find the intended recipient of the mysterious note, which read: VOEM SIY WCAPN TC MJ. NSI UJBRQZ NCWP KQVN ASBY ELWKY MCNV. APX SNS TVW FNSIJ EYUGSUYCW JGHDM.

Discord smiled. That mare clearly had no idea what that message had meant, but that was what he loved about cryptography. You could give away huge spoilers not meant to be discovered until many chapters later in the story with a good cryptic message. And the best part was that nopony but the intended reader would ever know what they were. Unless of course somepony tried really hard and looked for all the well hidden clues.

He chuckled to himself as he thought about the note and it's world shattering plot twist.

Chaos rules, he mused. How very true...


•


Rarity's dirigible was an elegant and very couth piece of aviation technology.

So elegant in fact, that she often referred to it as her yacht.

Fancy Pants himself had given it to her when she had officially become a Lady, on her wedding day to Lord Ferkel, the youngest son of Baron Von Eberstark.

It was a political union only, brought on to secure relations and aid between Equestria and Germaneigh after Celestia's Fall.

The need for aid had become even more desperate after the Lay Lines destroyed Manehattan, and Rarity had been the only pony who was close to Princess Twilight, (and one with a seat at the Crystal Castle no less) that the Baron had been willing to accept as a suitable match for his son.

And she had needed the title to get some pull with blockheaded foreign dignitaries and rulers who otherwise wouldn't have given a small town seamstress, shopkeeper, and fashion designer the time of day.

"Uh... Rarity?"

The fact that she had wanted to be called Lady Rarity for so long that nopony was really surprised when it actually happened, was of course, irrelevant.

But it had worked, and Lady she now was. Never mind the fact the stallion she was wed to was every bit as much a swine as his father and family name were privy to suggesting.

Still, none needed to know that, and she only ever even saw Lord Ferkel when she made a trip that required her to fly through Germane lands, like her current return voyage to Prance and back had.

"Rarity?"

And she couldn't very well fly through The Griffon Dominion, not with the way their troops actually were mobilizing. Not all of the rumors she had spread around Pearis had been entirely false. Their leader, The Founder, was having "War Games" in an ever larger area around the confines of his border these days, and especially to its Equestrian side.

That was half the reason the Baron wanted to secure ties with Equestria, she thought with a mixture of amusement and trepidation. If the Germane Chancellor won't secure an official alliance with Equestria for fear of spooking the Griffons, then why not just have their royal family do so instead? After all, Rarity wasn't a Princess or anything, so it certainly doesn't look suspic...

"RARITY!" A voice beside Rarity boomed in her ear.

Rarity about jumped out of her coat. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she hadn't even noticed Rainbow's return.

"Rainbow Dash!" She gasped, slightly breathlessly. "When did you get back from town?"

"Uh... like, 20 minutes ago, Rares. You were just staring into space. You okay?"

"Yeah... of course!" She looked around the opulently decorated - if somewhat confining - space with a familiar glance.

The velvet curtains, gas lamps, ornate cream satin couches with white lace trim, and the Alpaca-woven rug made of, of all things, Alpaca hair, quickly identified her current location as her room on her airship.

"Sorry about that Rainbow Dash," she said with a smile as she turned to her friend, who was standing on the deck, looking in through the cabin's front window. "I was just thinking about my husband..."

"Ooooooohhhhhhhh!" Rainbow Dash practically cooed the words, much to Rarity's chagrin. "Missing Prince Charming are we...?"

Rainbow's tone sounded to Rarity to be somewhere between infuriating and mortifying, and so she felt her cheeks go from red to scarlet as she answered in exacerbation, "For the last time, Rainbow Dash! He's not a Prince. He's a Lord!"

"Bah, Prince, Lord, Duke, whatever." Rainbow replied with a chuckle as she fluttered up, landing on the roof of the cabin, leaving Rarity no choice but to walk out on deck to keep up their conversation. "I still say you should have stayed single, in case a certain special someone were to return from somewhere..."

Again Rarity felt her embarrassment grow. The someone instead of somepony Rainbow had used was clearly a reference to Spike, who Rainbow had apparently been convinced was going to end up with Rarity in some kind of happily ever after.

Where this had come from, Rarity wasn't quite sure. Everypony knew Spikey-Wikey was not going to be mature, yet alone an adult dragon, until long after Rarity and all of her friends had died of old age. It didn't matter how old he was by pony standards, he was still just, well, a kid.

And besides, she noted. He hasn't written a single letter in years, clearly he is over whatever silly crush he once had on me.

"Uh oh!" Rainbow said in mock worry. "Rarity's getting lost in thought again, I better get out of here before she starts thinking some more about Ferkel-Werkel and decided to take a little detour to Germaneigh on her way back to Equestria!"

Laughing to herself in apparent victory, Rainbow Dash flapped up into the sky, quickly gaining altitude until all Rarity could see was a faint glint of morning light off of a surprisingly clean uniform.

Rarity fumed and muttered to herself, longing not for the first time for her one time pair of gossamer wings to reappear. If only to fly up there to give Rainbow Dash a piece of her mind.

Instead, she turned to the captain, an old sea pony names Deep Waters, and ordered the ship to cast off.

"Where 're we a-headin' m'lady?" The gruff earth pony asked as he flipped a switch on his console and the anchor began to rise with a rhythmic clink, clink, clink. "Equestria?"

"Yes." Rarity replied, her voice dangerously cool. "But not our normal route. We will be returning via the Griffon Dominion. We wouldn't want to keep Rainbow Dash waiting by taking a silly detour."

She said the last with a fair bit of ice, which the captain clearly picked up on, as he turned the wheel of the ship straight south, with nothing more than a quick "As you wish, M'Lady Rarity."

The only sound was the morning breeze filling the airship's sails as Rarity looked off to the south, shading the sun with a raised hoof. She had understood what Rainbow Dash's little stunt back there was really all about, though that didn't mean she had to like it.

Rarity would normally have stopped in Germaneigh on her way back from Pearis, and Rainbow Dash had given Rarity the perfect excuse to try and get back home as quickly as possible, rather than in a leisurely and safe way like she normally would have.

All she had to do was seem mad at Rainbow Dash, and no possible spy in the crew running her dirigible would have any reason to suspect more than they had to.

After all, she noted, I already cancelled the whole reason for this visit on the day it should have become a success. No reason to make it worse by making it obvious that I'm trying to reach Equestria in a hurry, is there?

A faint echoing boom was the only reply, an echoing peal of thunder as a single bolt of lightning carved through the clear morning air, heading off to the south in the same way she was now headed.

I'm coming Twilight, she answered herself silently. I'll be home soon.


•


The Equestrian Command Bunker was Twilight's home. It had been for several years.

Ever since a particularly nasty attempt on her life had been made several years back, Twilight's friends had all but forced her to move her private residence to this secret and easily defendable spot.

Twilight had hated the idea, as it felt to her far too much like she was admitting that the rebels were actually having an effect on her.

And it all but killed the idea she had started of being the 'ponies princess', rather than some high and mighty ruler whom everypony bowed and groveled to at every opportunity.

But despite all her protests, it did happen. And sure enough, within a matter of months, her every public appearance became another excuse for fanfare and bowing: with a 'majesty' here, and 'highness' there.

And being a shy and quiet pony at heart, Twilight soon found herself making excuses to avoid public appearances. She had even begun to use a disguise on occasion.

This meant that before long, Twilight had become very aware of every aspect of her new home.

So when the air in her home turned off, it only took moments for Twilight to notice.

Her first thought was a cave-in had occurred. After all, her mountain had been bombed again only a couple of hours beforehoof.

She informed her staff, and set about getting her royal guards to sweep the bunker.

It wasn't long, however, before Twilight discovered the source of the problem.

Reports came in of an accident in the Apple-Cake workshop, as Twilight had fondly called it to herself.

They further detailed that young Pumpkin Cake had been rushed to hospital, and was being kept under observation for the time being.

A concern to be sure, but Twilight wasn't worried. She had known that young filly from, well, from the day she was born. If anypony would pull through an accident resulting from the pursuit of science, it would be her.

The report concluded by saying that the workshop had been damaged, and the area had been closed off from the public until an inspection could determine the cause of the accident. In the meantime, a few strong pegasi from the military would begin to take shifts operating the old air pumping system built on the other side of the mountain, in case there was any risk of dangerous airborne chemicals getting released from the workshop accident.

Twilight was pleased. It wasn't like the military to actually listen to her for once about how important workshop safety was.

I'm actually beginning to rub off on those old ponies! Twilight practically squeed to herself as she went off to bed.


Overall, it was a good day.


I saw Cadance, Shining, and Luna, have a valid excuse to patch things up with my old friends, and the military is taking me seriously at long last! she summed up as she fell asleep, wrapped up in her blankets.


•


Pip's mind was an inky void. For a while, no thoughts came through, he simply enjoyed the peace of the nothingness.

The first thing he did think of was of Silver Spoon. She galloped away from Pip, her fragile ability to trust too easily shattered by his unbelievable story.

A story I really shouldn't have been speaking of at all, he added to his own silent thoughts.


Stupid, stupid, stupid, Pipsqueak! What were you thinking?!


The next thing he thought of was of Luna. Strange visions flashed in his mind, of his memories from seeing her, mixed with a vision he kept having of her standing under a full moon, asking him to remember her.

Somehow he couldn't quite remember which her that was supposed to be now.

The third thought to pass through his mind was a simple question. Where am I now?

That was the moment that Pip proceeded to sit up.

"ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!" he yelled in sudden pain, spots flashing before his eyes as he collapsed back to the bed he seemed to be lying in, in what he now concluded must be the same inn as the night before.

Okay Pip, he said quietly to himself, trying to stop the room from spinning. I think it's officially time to give up on cider. Nothing but scotch and soda's from now on.

He chuckled at the thought, before regretting it immediately as another wave of the hangover proceeded to buck him repeatedly in the head like an enraged mule wearing a bad toupee.

It was nearly an hour and a half later before Pip had managed to clean himself up, leave the room, head downstairs, drown himself in black coffee and scrambled eggs with buttered toast, and sign out of the inn.

As the front door closed behind Pip, revealing the cobblestone street that had seemed so homey and inviting the night before, Pip smiled, despite the faint thrumming of his temples.

He grimaced as he saw it. Every click of his hooves on the tiles was going to hurt. With a sigh, he set off, keeping his head up and his pace steady.

As he made his way along, Pip couldn't help but to notice the pleased expressions on the faces of ponies as he passed them by, and despite his head, he could see why.

The sun was up, ponies were off to see the sights and sounds of the wonderful blend of old and new that Ponyville had become in these last few years, and the sky was a crisp blue with a few hints of clouds. It seemed the weather ponies were determined to make it a really nice day, whether everypony wanted one or not.

Finally, after only being stopped to chat with Ponyvillians on three separate occasions, Pip reached the edge of town, and the silver shop he had charged past the rear entrance of just the night before.

Tarnish, the name of the store read, in an eloquent and flowing script. Pip couldn't tell if that name was a literal play on the word for silver needing treatment or a figurative reference to Silver Spoon and her attempts to remove the tarnish from her reputation.

Either way, he noted to himself, the name certainly fits.

Pip had decided the first thing he would do this morning was to find Silver Spoon and apologize for the night before. He tried to do the right thing, when he could. And this seemed like the right thing to him.

However, as Pip reached the front of the shop, he was surprised to find a note taped to the door, which on quick inspection turned out to be locked.

He leaned in and read:

 

To whom it may concern,

We at Tarnish wish to thank you for your constant desire for clean and well kept silver. Unfortunately, all of our staff are currently away, and will not be back for several days. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. If you have any silver based emergencies, please leave a message on the notepad provided, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Thank you!


Silver Spoon


 

Pip sighed. He hoped this wasn't somehow because of him, but he really didn't know Silver Spoon well enough to be sure. Grabbing the pencil tied to a string off the wall, Pip quickly wrote a note to the silver mare, saying:


Hey Silver Spoon, its Pip. Listen, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. I guess that cider was stronger than I was used to, and, well, it just went to my head. Not a great start to building up old bridges, eh? If you want to talk, I'll be in Ponyville for a few days...



Um, I hope to hear from you soon, and again, I'm sorry.



Pip (squeak)


 

Tearing the note off the wall and placing it in the small basket by the door, Pip smiled slightly.

Heading off down the street, he could even feel his headache fading away.

By the time he turned the corner, the last traces of his headache were gone. It was going to be a good day after all, he thought, unable to explain his sudden joy as he left Silver Spoon's shop behind.

He was, well, glad to be away from the place. Although that certainly makes no sense.


•


Back at Tarnish, the door opened from the inside. A note floated out of a basket in a faint sheen of red magic. It opened towards the crack of the door, as a pair of glowing red eyes scanned the message over.

A faint growl leaked from the door, as the message span once in the air, before quickly burning to ashes.

The door closed softly, locking with a gentle click.