> Through Martyr's Eyes
>  by ShouldNotExist
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Your Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Your Star-



“Come on, Twilight!” Rainbow groaned, sinking deeper into the chair she had taken residence in. “We didn’t come to Manehattan so you could spend the whole trip in a musty old library.” She turned her head, locating the lavender unicorn with her muzzle buried in one of the many books piled around her. “The rest of the girls are gonna be here soon, Rarity said they’d be done shopping by noon, let’s go!” She tried, shifting her position and motioning with her hooves toward the huge doors leading out of the library.

Twilight rolled her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. However she did close the book. “Yeah, you’re right.” She said, rising from her own seat and bringing the books to the return desk. “You know, you didn’t actually have to come in here with me.” Twilight giggled, dropping the books with a loud thud, shaking dust from the books and the counter under them.

“Well I heard that there were some new Daring Do books out, and I wanted to see if they had them. They didn’t, by the way.” Rainbow said, ending her comment with a sour note. “Besides, if I hadn’t been here, you never would have left this dusty old place.” Rainbow turned, making her way toward the door as Twilight finished with her books. “Come on, I think I saw a poster for a concert or something, we could probably catch that before we leave.” Rainbow said, excitement tracing her voice as she jumped up to hover near the door.

“That could be fun, I guess. What sort of music?” She asked off-hoof, opening the large doors with her magic and exiting into the busy streets outside.

The outside of the Manehattan Library was not nearly as busy a street as some of the others in the city, but there was plenty of city noise all the same. Carts rode by, their pullers yelling to, but mostly at, each other as they passed the library. The stairs leading down were marble, as was much of the building and the surrounding area dedicated to it. It was a classical Romane style, giving it stark contrast to the concrete and brick buildings on the other side of the street. 

Twilight made her way down the stairs leisurely, listening to Rainbow try to explain what she had seen on the poster. “I think it said something about multiple bands, maybe it was a battle of the bands, but I’m not really sure. The poster was awesome, though! And tickets didn’t look like they cost that much, we could probably get some decent seats with what’s left of our bits.” Rainbow said, darting around as she stretched her wings.

“I think that could be great, did you see any bands you recognised?” Twilight commented, finally taking the last step off of the Library’s large and intricate staircase.

“I think I saw a couple- Oh! Hey, there’s everypony else!” Rainbow said, her attention pulled away from the topic at hoof by the arrival of the rest of their friends. She waved them over.

“Ah told ya’ll we’d find ‘er here.” Applejack said, smiling toward the duo as the rest of the group followed.

“Hi girls!” Twilight said, waiting for them at the base of the stairs. “Rainbow thinks we should go see a show, what do you think?” She asked as they gathered around her.

“Hold on!” Rainbow said, darting up into the air. “I think I can find one of the posters. Be back in flash!” She said, quickly darting over the busy street and disappearing.

“That sounds like loads of fun, Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed, hopping up and down as she continued to talk, quickly gaining momentum and being tuned out by the rest of the group.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, dear?” Rarity spoke up, tilting her head and flipping her hair. “After all, our train leaves today, and I’d rather not miss it.” She finished, shaking the large assortment of shopping bags hovering around her.

“I’m sure.” Twilight replied. “Besides, if it gets to being too close to our train’s departure, we can just leave.” She reassured, lifting a hoof to punctuate her statement.

Rainbow Dash flew over, doing a quick flip to bleed off her speed before landing. She had a rolled up paper in her mouth, which she quickly dropped. An apologetic expression overtook her features however, and she spread out the poster. “Sorry, guys. I guess I misread the poster, the tickets are, like, twice what I thought they were.” She finished spreading out the colorful poster, revealing its features to their group.

It was mostly dark shades, a few vibrant yellows and reds highlighting it. Scrawled across the top in bold letters was; ‘BORING BASHER’S BATTLE OF THE BANDS’ and just below it, a list of performers. The names varied from ‘Hoof Tool’, to ‘Succubus’, some of the names becoming quite vulgar as the list went on. Then the list of prices was presented below that.

“Three hundred bits a pop!” Rainbow exclaimed, clearly aggravated by the oversight. “And The Hydra’s performing, too! I really wanted to see one of her shows, and here it is, laughing at me!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said, her quiet voice barely rising over the city’s noise. “that is a shame, I really like them.” She shrank, suddenly realizing that all the attention had leveled on her. “I mean - um .... well, they are pretty good.” She trailed a hoof on the ground, ducking behind her pink mane.

“You like this kind of music, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, noting the obvious ‘heavy rock’ theme of the poster.

“Oh, Twilight. They don’t call her ‘The Hydra’ for nothing, you really should listen to some of her singing, it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s probably the only ‘Rock and Roll’ that I can stand.” Rarity commented, sighing as she observed the price again. “But I must admit, this is quite a lot for tickets, and I’ve nearly emptied my purse.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll have to find somethi-OOF!” Twilight’s breath left her lungs in a rush as something heavy knocked her to the ground, causing a bowling pin effect on the entire group as she fell. The heavy object rolled off her, landing with it’s own groan on the ground next to her.

She looked up, ready to berate the clumsy pony. But stopped to observe the fallen pony first. Her eyes fell on the stallion, his black fur poking out from under the white dress shirt and pants, his silver mane parted messily around his horn. A pair of ratty saddlebags hung loosely over his back, their extended lifetime obvious in the fraying of the material. His hooves were massaging the back of his head, a pained expression decorating his face as he nursed the bruise that had formed there.

“Hey! Watch where you’re goin, buddy!” Rainbow said, hovering over to put herself right in his face. 

He paused his pained movements to look up at her, his expression remaining the same as he looked, but not at her, his eyes remaining in a thousand yard stare. His irises were an almost unnaturally vibrant blue, and his pupils seemed almost shallow in the bright light of the afternoon sun. He took a moment to reply, most likely still recovering from the nasty fall.

“I-I’m so sorry.” He said, his voice was soft, flowing fairly smoothly out of his mouth. Nothing like a Manehattan accent. “I didn’t realize that the stairs were there, a-and I fell. It really was an accident, ma’am.” He said, continuing to stare out the same way. 

“‘Sorry’ don’t cut it, buster!” Rainbow said, poking him in the chest to illustrate her point. The violent tone in her voice made the stallion balk, his ears folding back against his head. “You coulda really hurt somepony, you know!” She continued, her voice making him flinch back.

“Loo-look.” He said, lifting a hoof to try and put a word in. “Maybe I can make it up to you?” He asked, reaching back into his saddlebags and fumbling around with them for a moment. “Look, I’m actually really late for something, but maybe this can make up for it.” He mumbled, pulling out a lanyard with a red card hanging off it.

Rainbow gasped loudly, snatching the card from the stallion’s loose grip. “Holy Horseapples!” She exclaimed, staring down at the card and backing away from him so that she could look at it fully. “This is a VIP pass to the show!” She said, waving down to the others.

“Yeah, you could go see it, or just sell it, whatever works. And that’ll get you into Even Essence’s green room, too.” He said quickly, patting the ground in front of him with his hooves, like a pony looking for his glasses. Only he never looked at the ground, just continuing to search it with his hooves. One of his hooves landed on top of Twilight’s, a sudden jolt sparking up their arms at the sudden contact, both of them pulling away at the same time. “Oh, sorry.” He mumbled, stretching his hoof in another direction.

His hoof connected with a small cane, the end rounded off with years of use. His horn lit up, catching the cane before it could roll away. He hovered it up, resting one end lightly against the ground as he gingerly stood.

“Do you have more of these?” Rainbow asked suddenly, darting back in front of him. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she buzzed her wings to keep herself aloft.

“I have more than enough.” He said, nodding his head. One of his hooves moved back to Twilight, it was extended toward her. “Need a hoof?” He said, his slender arm stretching down to her in an offer of assistance.

Twilight took the hoof, using it as a support to pull herself to her hooves. “Thanks.” She said, reaching back to rub her back where he had landed. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, by the way.” She continued, putting her hoof back out for a shake.

“Oh, you’ll have to excuse my manners. You can call me Marty.” He replied, reaching out his hoof again in a similar matter. She took it in stride and bumped her hoof against his. “Sorry again for falling on you.” He said, his eyes remaining blank as he put on an apologetic frown.

“This is perfect!” Rainbow exclaimed, landing on the ground in front of him. “We can go to the concert now!” She said, waving around the lanyard in her hoof. “And you can get us in! I take it back, you’re pretty awesome, Marty.” She said, reaching out her own hoof to bump against his. “I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria!” She greeted, her trademarked grin plastered on her face.

“Oh, a celebrity then?” He said, not moving to take the hoof. He turned, one of his ears flicking around. “I did mention that I was running late, didn’t I?” He said, turning back to them. Rainbow looked down at him, a small frown of annoyance decorating her features.

“Yeah, ya did.” Applejack spoke up, knocking some dust off of herself. “Where were ya off ta in such a huff?” She asked, looking skeptically at him.

“Well, I was actually on my way to the stadium. Which we should hurry to if we want to catch the first act.” He said, tapping the ground with his cane, still floating in his grey magical glow. “Actually, would you mind leading the way, I’ve ended up getting a little lost.” He chuckled, a sheepish grin on his face.

“I know where it is!” Pinkie said, a sing-songy voice swirling around as she bounced up and off down the sidewalk. “It’s around the corner, not even that far!” She continued, talking excitedly, mentioning a party several times, but whether she was referring to the concert or not was unimportant as Twilight followed next to Marty.

He was walking close to her, his side almost brushing against hers. And he would flick an ear in her direction every few moments, almost like he was making sure she was still there. “So who’s Even Essence?” She tried, a new conversational point coming into her mind as she tried to ignore the unusual closeness of the stallion.

“Even Essence is The Hydra.” Fluttershy mumbled, hiding on the other side of Twilight, using her as a barrier between herself and the stallion. “That’s her name- that is ... She started being called the Hydra because of her unique style of vocal-” Fluttershy continued, but was swiftly cut off by the cyan pegasus.

“Don’t tell her that yet, Fluttershy.” Rainbow said, a mischievous grin decorating her features. “I wanna see Twilight’s face when she sees it.” She snickered, Fluttershy giggling beside her as she quietly complied.

“Oh, come on. Now I have to know!” Twilight said, a feigned desperation leaking into her voice.

Marty grinned next to her. “I’ve heard it’s quite the sight to see.” He chuckled, but the humor escaped her.

“What’s so funny?” Twilight said, actual curiosity starting to leak into her voice now.

“Nothing, just a little inside joke I remembered.” He said, waving off the question easily. His nostrils flared open as he took a deep sniff of the air. “We need to go in the back entrance, near the loading ramps.” He called, Pinkie replying with an enthusiastic affirmative as the rounded the corner to the face the stadium.

The stadium was as classically large as any other, its towering walls casting a huge shadow as the approached it. The Manehattan Stadium had been designed with multiple purposes in mind; hoofball games, baseball games, air shows, it was even designed as a storm shelter. Or in this case, a rather large musical event.

Outside the stadium, ponies had gathered in a huge crowd. A slight resemblance to lines seemed to have formed, slowly wandering toward the entrance to the stadium. It was a veritable sea of bodies, all of them dressed in similar Rock ‘n Roll paraphernalia.

“Hoowee!” Applejack said, casting her gaze over the mob near the stadium’s main entrance. “Even if tha tickets hadn’t cost so dern much, we never woulda gotten in!” She said, shaking her head and flicking her hat out of her vision.

“Sure glad we- you ran into us, Marty!” Pinkie said, quickly snapping back into a bubbly fit of giggles at her joke. 

“Just find the stallion watching the freight entrance, that’s where we need to be. And judging from the crowd, we’re just in time.” Marty said, his cane tapping the ground next to him in time with his hoofsteps.

“Ooh! There he is!” Pinkie shouted, jumping up and pointing toward a large brown pegasus stallion standing next to a door that was clearly labeled; ‘Authorized Personnel Only’.

Pinkie quickly bounced up to him, babbling happily to him in a way that was clearly faster than the guard could follow, not that it deterred her. He looked up from the bouncing pink mare, his eyes locking onto Marty. “There you are! You’re up next, move yer rump!” He called, pushing open the door and motioning for them to pass.

The group quickly rushed in, followed quickly by Marty and the larger stallion. “You six can get some passes on that cart there.” He said quickly, one of his wings extending, and bumping against the back of marty’s head, guided him past the mares.

Marty called back them. “You can see me in the Red section, you’ll be right next to the stage!” He called, turning a corner with the stallion as they broke off into a trot. “Follow the signs!” His voice echoed once again, growing fainter as the stallions rushed off.

“What in the world was that about?” Rarity said, floating up one of the red badges from the indicated cart. She scowled at it, noting how well it clashed with her coat.

“I don’t know, and honestly, right now, I don’t care! We’re in!” Rainbow said, darting over to the cart and putting one of the passes around her neck enthusiastically. She quickly tossed the other four their badges and started down the hall at a slow trot. “Come on! I wanna see the stage before they start!” She said, the others quickly grabbing onto their passes and following Rainbow as she ran past signs. She called out the directions that the signs indicated, theirs being the only color in the more dull hallways of the rear of the huge building.

After a short run, and several twisting turns, they emerged onto the floor of the stadium. The sheer amount of ponies that had been placed in the seats around them was already incredible, and more flooded in by the second. 

Twilight noted, with a guilty satisfaction, that the section marked off with a red carpet was currently empty. They quickly made their way over, Rainbow quickly darting up to look around the stage and the various equipment there before being waved off by a mare in a director’s uniform.

The stadium’s interior had been adjusted for the event, the actual stands having transformed from circular to something looking more akin to a theater’s. All the stands had been shifted over, splitting into two levels to accommodate the sheer number of ponies. The stage had been constructed with a faux building around it, the actual stage lit up by a multitude of lights. A heavy curtain blocked any view of the stage there. The roof had even been covered, creating an illusion of nightfall in the huge building.

They all gathered in the large, red carpeted area. It was set in the perfect position to see the entire stage, but so close that they could make out every detail that was visible outside the curtain. The perfect seat. Twilight wondered for a moment how loud it was going to be this close, her ears flattening against her head at the thought.

In a few moments, the stands behind them had completely filled with wild ponies, all cheering and chanting in anticipation. Soon the gates closed, the flow of ponies ceasing as the last of the ponies fought for a seat. A few moments later, the lights dimmed. Sets of black lights aimed toward the crowd, creating a starscape of luminescent coats and glowsticks. 

More cheers erupted from the crowds around them as a unicorn mare walked on stage. She waved toward the crowds, eliciting more cheers as she lit her horn with an amplification spell. “ARE YOU PONIES READY TO ROCK?!” Her voice echoed, blasting over the crowd and causing even more excitement over the crowd. “ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT!!” She jeered approvingly, walking across the stage. “NOW SHUT UP AND LISTEN UP!” She echoed, the crowd, their cheers dying down marginally, but nowhere near silent. “The first contestant of the day; The mare of many voices, the Hydra of Baltimare, Even Essence!” She jeered, the lights dimming slowly and drawing another hush over the crowd.

Another set of curtains fell, hiding all but the first few inches of stage. And after a few moments they opened again, but revealed little in the darkness. The crowd quickly fell to a hush, the silence leaving a ringing in Twilight’s ears. And as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was able to make out blurry shapes on the stage.

A light dimmed itself on, revealing a white coated unicorn mare, her dark mane falling in waves off of her. The crowd gave a quick cheer, the applause rising and dying in a few moments. Another light lit, casting its glow onto a piano to the side of the stage.

“Hey, isn’t that ...?” Twilight started, quickly being hushed by the rest of her friends as the music started.

The horn of the stallion lit up, casting him into full view as his hooves danced across the keyboard, the grey light glowing eerily. It was Marty, she was sure of it. The stallion had the same mane, eyes, coat, even his magic looked the same. She tried to get a better look at him, but the piano hid all but his head and hooves. However she was able to note that he no longer had his clothes.

She was quickly drawn away from her inspection however, as the mare started to sing, her words flowing smoothly and darkly. She raised her head up with the last drawn out word, dropping it again afterwards. At first her voice seemed to echo, but after she repeated the action she was sure that she had heard a second, and a third vocal. But no other singers were visible on the stage, quickly frustrating Twilight as she tried to locate the source of the new voices.

However her answer came as a sharp surprise on the third repetition of the singer’s actions. She followed the singer’s head as she lifted it up, her eyes opening wide and her mind simply going blank as she watched a trail of ghostly after images follow her movements. And on this third stanza, she held her head high, singing for just a moment longer before the drums began to play.

At the first strike of the drums, and another line of hallowed singing from the mare, she dropped her head. Her mane flew about, the horn on her head shifting into a white glow as two ghostly heads spread to the sides of hers, singing of their own accords. A light lit up behind her, casting the earth pony drummer into her own light.

The title of ‘Hydra’ sprang back into Twilight’s head, the definition suddenly becoming clear as she watched the two ghostly heads shift in opacity as they moved. With every movement they became more visible, every instance of staticity was rewarded with a fading image.

Another pair of instruments sprang to life, the lights illuminating them as they began. A unicorn strummed in determination on a magically amplified bass guitar, her face set in gleeful excitement as she thrummed out the deep beat of the song. But across from her, playing his guitar in downtuned, threatening power, was a griffon. His talons worked swiftly at the strings, forcing the sounds out with his will, and determination.

The performance continued, the varied musicians continuing now in a display that screamed out a heavy, powerful feeling. It was exhilarating, so much so that Twilight could barely even hear the wild crowds behind her as she absorbed herself in the show.

They all worked in pure synchronization, hooves, and even claws, flowing through dips and rises as quickly as Rainbow Dash pulled loops and turns. It was like watching the fire and ice, letting them balance each other in perfect destruction, a show of force and precision.

She watched the heads shift and bob, their ghostly images moving and creating a symphony to emphasize the music perfectly. The piano played lightly, following the cadence of the guitarist to accent each other’s notes in a deepening way. 

The song came to a close, ending much more suddenly than its buildup. The crowd’s cheers suddenly becoming deafening as the lights on the stage brightened slightly, the stage coming into strong light as the band waved out to the crowd. All except one, Marty stood from the piano hurriedly, trotting off the stage quickly.

Twilight jumped, his sudden actions surprising in the aftermath of the show. Twilight followed him off the stage with her eyes, trying to come up with some sort of reason. She started to walk, following the direction he had gone and out of the VIP section. She briefly heard the voices of her friends over the din of the crowd. Before she knew it, she was running, a sudden need driving her forward to the walls of the stadium.

She ran through the door near the side of the stadium, the sounds of the show outside dying as the door closed. She jumped toward a sign that was posted inside the door, a map of the stadium’s labyrinth of hallways. She located Even Essence’s green room in just a moment, memorizing the route needed in an instant. If Marty had been playing with them, maybe he would be in their green room.

The door behind her opened just after she jumped toward the hall needed, she vaguely heard another protest from one of her friends as she darted down the hallways. ‘A right, a left, past two turns, another left, third door on the right.’ She recited in her head, stopping in front of the brown pegasus as she reached the door she had sought.

“Hey ...” She panted, attempting to catch her breath while speaking. “Did- Marty ... come in here?” Twilight asked, eyeing the stallion to try and determine his answer.

He leaned forward, his voice low as he answered her. “I am Marty’s personal caretaker, wherever he goes, I go.” He stated simply, returning to his previous position and taking a step to the side to reveal the door. A star had been mounted to it, a small sign indicating it as Even Essence’s.

She sighed in relief, the answer may have been indirect, but it was an answer. And she planned on getting a few more, her mind racing with questions brought up by the circumstances of their meeting. Twilight finally took a deep breath, steadying her breathing before moving toward the door.

“Twilight, what the hay?!” Rainbow called out, her tomcoltish voice echoing down the hall and freezing Twilight in place. The rest of her friends skidded to a stop next to her, most panting from chasing her through the maze of hallways.

“Yah, Twi. What’s got yer tail in a knot?” Applejack said, her eyes sparkling with an unnecessary amount of concern.

“Don’t you think it’s a little strange?” Twilight asked, lifting a hoof to demonstrate her point. “Marty comes out of nowhere and knocks us all to the ground. Then he just happens to have a bunch of passes to this show. And then he runs off with this stallion, and next thing I know, he’s on stage!” She said, trying to let them see why she had been so flustered.

“Well, he seemed pretty honest t’ me.” Applejack said, moving forward to stand next to her. “And Ah’m not the Element a’ Honesty fer nuthin’.” She finished, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Why don’t ya calm down before ya give the fella a heart attack.” She said, bringing Twilight’s attention to her own nervous twitching.

She hadn’t even noticed how worked up she must have looked. She took a deep breath, calming herself in just a moment. “Yeah, you’re right, Applejack.” Twilight said, pulling herself together and moving toward the door. She put her hoof up to it, but paused when she heard a chuckle from her left.

She looked over toward the stallion, who was trying, and failing, to hide his mirth. “What’s so funny?” Twilight asked, annoyance raising an eyebrow for her. The stallion shook his head, letting out one more explosive chuckle before replying.

“Just wish I could see your face when you find out who he is.” He stated, returning to his static position, a small smile continuing to decorate her face. Twilight huffed, not willing to pleasure the stallion with a response, and pushed open the door.

Contrary to what most ponies think, a green room is not necessarily a green room. It could be any color, or any room for that matter. It’s simply a place for performers to relax when they aren’t needed on stage. And why so many of the bands had their own was probably evident to their level of fame, and the quality of the room as well.

It was large, several  couches placed around a central table that overflowed with various food items. A bar sat near the back of the room, several expensive looking bottle sitting proudly on display there. An icebox sat in the corner across from the bar, most likely stocked with more chilled drinks. Various drawings and names were scrawled across the ironically green walls, their almost luminescent color being both relaxing and eye catching.

Sitting with his back to them was Marty, one of his hooves rubbing an eye with frustrated mumblings. She heard something about sea air mumbled before he stopped, his ears swiveled around to face the door. “Who’s there?” He asked, turning his head slightly but not looking toward them.

“It’s Twilight.” She tried, taking a step into the room. Marty perked up instantly, a smile forming on his face.

“Oh. Did you enjoy the show? Why aren’t you out watching the next act ... why aren’t eny of you?” He said, his ears flicking as he heard more hoofsteps enter the room.

“Are you kidding? It was awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, jumping up in the air. “And we would be watching the rest of the show, if Twilight hadn’t started freaking out after you left the stage.” She said, hovering in place over her friends.

“Yes, what happened, dear? You seemed quite flustered as you left.” Rarity said, starting to walk around to him.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” He started, turning back so that he faced away from the door. Twilight and the rest of the girls followed Rarity around the couch. “My contacts were just starting to get annoying.” He said, lighting his horn with his grey magical aura.

They made their way to the front of him, stopping to watch the strange activity. He was sitting up on the couch, a small tray with water in it lying between his forelegs. He had one eyes squinted and the other opened wide as his magic made it glow. With a gentle tug the color of his eyes came off in a disk, revealing his actual eyes.

They were clouded, completely greyed and without color. He set down the false colored contact lense inside the tray, opening his other eye to remove that one as well. When he had finished, he closed a lid onto the tray and levitated it into the saddlebag leaning against him.

“Much better.” He sighed, opening his blank eyes again and looking toward them. “So how come you’re not out enjoying the rest of the acts?” He asked, tilting his head as he looked in the general direction they had been.

“Well that explains why you didn’t shake my hoof!” Rainbow said, smacking herself in the face. “You’re freaking blind!” She said, taking a seat in one of the couches with a loud thump as she dropped to it.

“Rainbow! That is very rude.” Rarity reprimanded, shaking a hoof toward her. She looked back at Marty, an apologetic smile placed forcefully on her lips. “You’ll have to excuse her, she isn’t nearly as civilised as the rest of us-” Rarity was quickly cut off by a loud burp from the rear of the room. 

They all jumped, turning to the sound quickly. Pinkie sat in the corner, an open can of fizzy drink overflowing in her hoof. She hummed in pure glee, licking her lips as she savored the sugary drink that was still on her lips. How she had managed to open it without them realizing was a mystery in and of itself, but before Rarity could respond to the interruption, Marty started to laugh.

He had a hoof pressed to his muzzle in a vain attempt to hide the already loud laughter. “I can see what you mean, Miss Canterlot.” He said, setting himself into a new set of guffaws.

“Miss Canterlot?” She said, a slightly insulted tone in her voice. “What is that supposed to mean?” She started, a pout forming on her face that he couldn’t see.

“Oh, nothing.” He said quickly, recovering from his laughing fit, barely. “Your voice just screamed ‘Canterlot’.” He waved his hoof in the air, dismissing the comment. “I never did get all of your names. In fact, I’m not even sure how many of you there are in here.” He chuckled, settling back down onto the couch in a more comfortable position.

“Oh geeze, you’re right.” Twilight said, realizing how impromptu their trip had been. They had never even fully introduced themselves. “Well let’s see, I’ve already introduced myself. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s personal student.” She said, walking up to him and taking his hoof in hers for a proper hoofshake. He smiled warmly, but didn’t comment.

“And Ah’m Applejack.” The cowpony said, walking up just after Twilight and pumping his hoof up and down enthusiastically. “I jus’ gotta say thanks fer helpin us get in ta tha show, I can’t wait ti see more of it!” She said, finally backing up as Marty recovered from the violent hoofshake.

“My name is Rarity,” The fashionista said, gingerly taking his hoof in hers as she greeted him. “And while I’ve always loved Canterlot, I’m not from there.” She said, giggling as he suddenly showed interest in the topic.

“Then where are you from? Some sort of prestigious city, no doubt. Manehattan, maybe?” He said as the hoofshake ended, looking at her with his blank eyes and a smile.

“Oh no,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “A lovely little town, Ponyville. It’s much more relaxing than a big city like this, although not nearly so fabulous.” She continued, walking over to take a seat.

“Sounds refreshing.” Marty said, his voice catching a daydreaming type tone to it.

“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” The pink mare said, a fizzy mustache still dripping from her muzzle. She gasped loudly jumping into the air. “Oh my gosh, I just realized! You’re our friend now! And I still haven’t thrown you a party!” She exclaimed, but before she could continue babbling Marty interrupted her.

“Well, Pinkie. You’re my guests, VIP’s even. So there’s no reason, and while I’d be happy to entertain you, it’s a little harder to decorate without eyes.” He chuckled. “So, technically, this is my party.” He said, motioning to the room around him.

“Unacceptable!” Pinkie yelled, a determined face set firmly. “We need more music, more candy, more decorations, and finally more PARTIERS!” She yelled, hopping up and down as she started to imagine the party plans. “I’ll start planning it right now!” She finished, hopping over to the bar and taking her place in a stool there.

“So who’s the quiet one?” Marty said, turning his head in Twilight’s direction.

“Fluttershy? I’m surprised you even noticed her.” Twilight said, looking skeptically at him.

“Well, when you came in there was a new smell.” He said, waving a hoof in the air. “Flowers, and animal feed. And none of you five smelled like that, so why haven’t they introduced themselves?” He said, a confused expression taking place on his normally blank features.

“Fluttershy is jist a little nervous ‘round new ponies.” Applejack said, pushing Fluttershy closer to him. “Go on an’ intraduce yerself, sugarcube.” She whispered in the little pegasus’s ear, trying to be encouraging.

The yellow pegasus slowly recovered from her shivering as she walked up to him. But when she mumbled something unintelligible he just looked confused. “Um ... Hello?” He said, not actually sure if he had been approached. He turned his head from side to side, his ears flicking around as he tried to locate her.

“I uhm ... I’m Flutter....” She tried, her voice continuing to drift back into mumbles that couldn’t be understood.

“I’m ... sorry, I uh ... didn’t catch that.” He said carefully, obviously taking note of the nervousness of the pony.

“I’m Fluttershy.” She finally said, her voice still extremely quiet, but just understandable.

“Uh ... did you like the show, Fluttershy?” He tried, his own nervousness coming out as he was unable to read the quiet pegasus at all.

“Oh, yes!” She said, much more clearly now that the subject had shifted away from herself. “I always loved Even Essence’s music, and it was really fun to see her actually perform.” Fluttershy stuttered out, backing away to take a tentative seat near Applejack.

“Actually, that’s something I was curious about, Marty.” Rarity started, putting one of the grapes she had started eating from the table down. “How do you know Even Essence? I never realized she had a stallion on the piano, and I always thought the pianist was a pegasus.” She finished, drawing the attention of the entire group back on him.

He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, Tickling Ivory actually ended up spraining her hoof the other day, and couldn’t play.” He started, naming the usual mare who played the instrument. “So Essence asked me if I could do it.” He shrugged, a bead of sweat rolling off his temple as he nervously chuckled again.

“You haven’t answered my question, dear.” Rarity sing-songed, leaning forward to glare at him playfully, although he didn’t react to it.

“Okay,” Marty said, raising his hooves up in a placating gesture. “I’m actually-” The door flew open behind him, slamming against the wall loudly and startling everypony as Even Essence walked into the room, a sour glare on her face.

“Eyes Of Martyr!” She said, her voice sounding reprimanding and furious. “What were you thinking? Those ponies wanted a fucking encore, and you just ran off!” She said angrily, leaning over the couch and snorting loudly so that it ruffled his mane.

“Hi, mom.” He said, a defeated sound dipping his voice to a low tone. 

> The Wrong Kind of Fame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-The Wrong Kind of Fame-



“Oh, my.”  Fluttershy whispered, her voice coming out quickly as she covered her muzzle with her hooves.

“‘Mom’?” Rainbow muttered, her eyes flashing open in surprise as she attempted to look back at Marty.

“If you keep doing this shit, the tabloids are gonna go nuts over you, again.” Even Essence said, ignoring the other mares in the room as she continued to berate Marty. He simply sat there, one hoof hanging over his muzzle in defeat. “I don’t think I can handle another encounter with the friendly cameras of those bloodsuckers.” She muttered, hopping off of the couch and walking around. That’s when she finally noticed the other mares in the room.

“Oh.” She sputtered, stopping as she reached the arm of Marty’s couch. Then a look of realization passed over her. “Oh! You were the mares in the red section.” She said with a smile, finally seeming to relax. “How did you get dragged in here?” She finished with a smirk, starting to walk again.

“Dragged?” Applejack asked, almost sounding insulted as she did. She looked over at the skinny unicorn stallion that they had followed to the show. 

“Haha!” Was all Even Essence responded with as she joined the pink party pony at the bar, but rather than take a seat she started grabbing bottles in her magical glow.

“I think I know what’s going on.” Rarity said, a small smirk on her face as she reclined on her couch. She was granted with the confused looks of the others, and a wink from Even Essence as she continued to pour herself a mixed drink. “Honestly, I thought I recognised you! You were that party colt from a few years back that was arrested ... for knocking down a building.” She said, pausing dramatically as she twirled a lock of her mane in a hoof.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Marty said quickly, his shoulders falling in defeat as he heard the confused and surprised sounds of the other mares.

“You knocked down a building?!” Rainbow shouted in surprise, hopping up and giving a more than excited look over at Marty. “Dude, that’s awesome!”

“Not. Awesome.” He muttered, sinking back further.

“I believe that ‘Purple Hoof’ wrote a song about it. Something about ‘Some stupid with a flare spell’?” Even Essence mused aloud, an innocent look decorating her features and her voice. “Yep, there were lotsa big shots at that party.” Even Essence muttered as she took an experimental sip of her drink. She ended up putting it down and dragging several more bottles over to start mixing again.

“Really?” Twilight spoke up, looking at the skinny unicorn again.

“Yeah.” He said, his whole body seemed to deflate as he spoke. “Stupid mare convinced me to try a spell. I was drunk out of my mind, and probably high on more things than I can count. So not the smartest decision at the time, especially with so much loud music, shouting, and other noises.” 

“And then you repented, blah, blah, blah.” Even Essence finished for him. “And you repayed the building’s owner, and you went to rehab. Enough sob story crap. I want to know how you six got mixed up with this washout.” She said, walking over to take a seat on the same couch that Rarity was reclining on.

“He sorta, ran inta us.” Applejack muttered, still looking incredulously at the blind pony that sat across from her.

“Literally.” Rainbow agreed, a smirk decorating her face as she looked over the selection of foods spread across the table on the other side of the room.

“Hehe. Heard that one before, he wouldn’t be falling in the streets so much if he let Ironrod out there go with him, that wouldn’t happen.” Even Essence laughed, motioning to the door and the stallion positioned outside.

“I told you,” Marty said, said with frustration. “I don’t like a rope around my neck every time I go outside. It’s ridiculous and makes me feel like a foal.” He finished, crossing his arms and aiming his head to look at the ceiling while laying back across the couch, not that he could see it.

“Whatever, we did it for awhile.” Even Essence said, taking a sip from her drink as she rolled her eyes.

“Did what?” Rainbow asked, her attention pulled away from the table of foods before her. The comment had caught her off guard, and had almost sounded scandalous for a moment.

“I used to take him around with a rope tied between us so he couldn’t wander off, or get lost. Useful for a blind colt growing up in a city.” She replied, taking another sip of her drink. Marty scoffed quietly as he continued his blind staring contest with the ceiling.

“I was way too old to be led around by my mother on a leash.” He muttered quietly, continuing the blind staring contest with the ceiling.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Twilight asked, surely if he was just a foal that wouldn’t have been too uncalled for.

“I was freaking fourteen.” He explained, rubbing at the top of his muzzle and taking a deep breath through his nose. “I wasn’t blind until about then.” He finished, turning an ear over to her and listening carefully for her response.

“Oh.” She said, surprised at the more private topic that she had unknowingly broached. “I’m sorry.” She said, trying to feebly make up for the sensitive topic that she had brought to light.

“Don’t be.” He said dismissively, putting on a stoic expression that seemed fairly feeble on his thin frame. “It’s not so bad, can still feel around with magic. And it’s only made Etymancy easier.” He finished waving down toward his flank and the cutie mark presented there.

She followed his gesture and looked down at the intricately designed marking. The first thing that really caught her attention was the ring around the center markings, it was a circle of five unicorns with their legs intertwined to make a complete ring. In the center was a marking so intricate that it would take a fairly trained eye to say that it was anything other than a mindless scribble.

But Twilight did have that kind of eye for these things, she wasn’t the personal student of Princess Celestia for nothing. It was a spell matrix, a very intricate one. She couldn’t tell its purpose, that would take a long amount of experimentation and examination that she was pretty sure that Marty would not appreciate. The lines swirled around each other, but in the middle a pentagon was clearly left vacant. It was a pentacle, she realized. One of the unicorn figures in the ring at the point of each arm of the star.

One thing about pentacles, they are not pentagrams. When a pony sees these kinds of markings they can usually, and foalishly, think that it has to do with demon worship. But they can be used in thousands of other circumstances, and usually have nothing to do with demons. Each point represents an old element of the world; Fire, Earth, Air, Water, and Spirit. When a circle surrounds it, it represents the unity and harmony of those elements. It is a symbol that quite simply means ‘Magic’.

“Sheesh, Twilight. How long are ya gonna stare at Marty’s flank?” Rainbow teased, pulling Twilight out of her thoughtful introspection. She felt her face instantly flush with heat as she realized that the entire time she had been thinking, her eyes had been firmly aimed at Marty’s backside.

She quickly looked away, a hasty apology sputtering out of her lips as she tried to hold onto whatever dignity Rainbow would leave her with. But her response only succeeded in drawing a bout of raucous laughter from all the mares present. As it died down she was able to spot a wink directed at her, from both Rarity and Even Essence. It was enough to make her sputter out wordlessly at the teasing gesture, and enough to make them all laugh again.

Marty turned to aim his face at her so that she could see the warm smile on his face. “I don’t mind at all, especially since somepony as intelligent as you must be would know what it actually means.” He said, giving her an appreciative nod.

“Oh, when you didn’t say anything to who I was, I thought you might not have understood what I said.” Twilight said, a slight amount of confusion starting to push away the embarrassment of being caught practically ogling him. “Why didn’t you say anything?” She asked, trying to drive the conversation away from the previous topic.

“When you’re in this business long enough, you tend to get tired of praise. Especially when you hear it day in and day out, but that’s not entirely true either.” He replied, ending the comment with a slight chuckle. “I happen to know a few ponies that literally live off of that.” He said, turning back to the couch that Even Essence and Rarity were lounging in. “Speaking of, when does Hoof Tool come on the stage?” He asked, directing the question to the darker maned unicorn there.

Even Essence lit her horn with its almost-white glow, levitating a magical clipboard to float in front of her face. “Let’s see, looks like they’re on after Dethpony.” She said dismissively, looking back up to him and returning to that reprimanding tone that she had held earlier. “Just enough time for you to tell me why, in the precious name of Celestia, that you ran off like you did.” She said, returning the clipboard to the wall it had been hanging from, some of the numbers on the list shifting around as the concert went on.

Marty instantly returned to the poorly made stoic look he had held earlier. “My contacts were bugging me.” He said sharply, indicating that he would rather not broach that subject.

“Don’t give me that.” Even Essence said in reply, annoyance starting to lace her voice. “Do you want me to guess?” She said, a warning tone in her voice as she raised an eyebrow and looked at him. While he couldn’t see the look she had given him, the tone in her voice must have been enough to elicit a response.

His face scrunched up, like someone was trying to make him eat something particularly foul. “The song, I forgot who it was about.” He said darkly, aiming a particularly peeved look over at the couch that she sat in.

Even Essence sighed, setting her drink down. Her demeanor had gone instantly from an upset look, to one of guilt. But she didn’t comment on it again. She turned to look at Twilight. “Hey, Twilight. Would you mind walking, Martyr out to the red section with you. He can’t get there on his own, and Ironrod should be off duty now. He usually goes after Martyr is done with his performances and somepony else is here to watch him.” She asked, and Twilight would have responded if Marty hadn’t interrupted her before she could begin.

“That’s not my name.” He said, continuing to look at her with that withering glare.

“It’s the one h-” Even started, cutting herself off quickly and taking a large gulp of her drink with a furrowed brow decorating her face. “I think you were going to say something, Twilight. Go ahead.” She said, changing the topic back just as swiftly as it had diverged.

Twilight almost jumped, realizing that she may have just been dragged into an old family argument. She decided that agreeing to her proposal might be smarter than staying within the destruction radius of something that could quickly turn ugly. “O-Oh, yeah. I was just going to say that I could do that. Come on, Marty. You can tell me some about this band.” She said, standing from her own seat and moving toward the door.

Marty stood wordlessly, his magic gripping the weathered cane that he had been carrying, but leaving the bags where they sat. He made his way out of the door along side her, keeping himself close to her and tapping the ground in a sweeping arc in front of himself. When the door had shut behind them, he relaxed almost instantly.

“Sorry you had to hear that.” He said after a moment, Twilight guiding him around a corner and following the sign that pointed with a green arrow toward the stadium. His apology took her off guard however.

“What do you mean?” She said, starting down the pathway and listening as the sound of a very heavy bassline started to reveal itself, even through the walls.

“That was family business, and you got caught in the middle of it. I don’t like dragging other ponies into my personal problems, especially when they’re my guests.” He said, one of his ears turning to her in a gesture that she was starting to realize was almost equal to somepony turning to look at her.

“Well.” Twilight replied, but mostly just trying to fill the space as she tried to think of what to actually say. “We all have problems, and everypony has their secrets, so I won’t press you for it. Why don’t you tell me about this band you were talking about. What was it called?” She finally settled on, drawing the subject back to something that was less stressing.

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded, following her around another corner and continuing to walk closely beside her. “They’re called, Hoof Tool. But most ponies just call them, Tool, for short.” He nodded, his ears flicking up to the ceiling as the last of the heavy music faded away. “They have some pretty interesting lyrics, put together with this really interesting aggressive style that they have. It’s actually all really cool, especially when you stop to think about the lyrics. They manage to sound incredibly awesome and still stick to a song that has meaning that’s more than; ‘My marefriend left me, and now I’m sad.’ or ‘angry’ or whatever.” He said dismissively, walking out into the stadium alongside Twilight.

The last band had just finished, a loud and drowning cheering hitting their ears with an almost palpable pressure. They made their way quickly over to the red section, the satisfyingly soft, red carpeting a welcoming comfort among the intensely loud crowd nearby. They took a seat near the velvet rope that separated the section from a short amount of green and then the actual stage.

“You might like it!” Marty shouted over the slowly dying cheers as the next band set up. “But it does get pretty intense, so hold on tight!” He said, a joke lilting his words in a cheery way.

Twilight managed a forced, and barely noticeable, agreement. She turned back to the stage to see the other band making its appearance. The first thing that she noticed, was that they were all stallions. It seemed a little strange, especially since most bands were in a herd together. But the other thing was, she couldn’t spot a singer. Could one of the instrument players be a singer? That didn’t seem to fit though, seeing as a microphone had been set up near the front of the stage and none of the stallions had moved to approach it.

The music started soon after they had set up however, the deep tones of another downtuned guitar, and a bass filling the air.



The music picked up quickly from its relatively gentle start. Smoke started to pour into the stage, a sickly green that started to hide the stallions as they concentrated on their respective instruments. A light flickered in a strobe pattern, a shadowy silhouette of a pony looming out from behind the microphone. The ponies cheered instantly at the sight, but the sheer mix of ‘boos’ and other cheers made it impossible to tell if the crowd was happy or incredibly disappointed at the show.

In a moment of speed, the figure zipped forward. Its wings creating eddies in the air behind it as it pushed forward, the insect-like hoof snatching up the microphone. His scratchy voice echoed out over the stadium, a strangely metallic and still organic sound that its strange vocal chords created.

It was a changeling. Twilight stiffened almost instantly at the sight of its chitin covered body, the fangs on its muzzle presented in glinting lights as his shadow cast itself on the smoke, looming high over him. While she knew that the changelings had been signed into a peace treaty with Equestria, the events at the wedding still loomed heavily on her mind. She couldn’t help the almost instinctive disgust and hatred she had for the creatures. She hadn’t exactly enjoyed the fact that their queen had been feeding off of her brother.

All the same it continued to sing, practically drinking in the crowd as he did. The lyrics almost fitting perfectly to her view of the strange creatures. Her mind looked at the irony of how he sang it, the lyrics fitting perfectly with her opinion of how she saw them. He jumped up into the air, the clouds of smoke shiting from the movement of his insect’s wings. The darkly themed lyrics echoing out as he practically begged the crowd to give him their worst.

She was so engrossed in her own thoughts of hatred for the creature that was singing that she almost didn’t hear the cheering coming from right beside her. A short dip in the volume of the music revealed it to her ears however.

She turned her head in surprise at the darkly shaded unicorn beside her, his enthusiastic cheering completely throwing her off guard. Did he not know what the singer was? She would think that somepony as integrated into the musical business would at least know who the band members were, right?

The music dipped down again, a dim light shining from the stage and drawing her gaze back to the front. She almost jumped right out of her fur as she did though, the changeling had walked down from the stage and was standing just on the other side of the rope. He was smiling, smirking being a better fit to what his insect-like features made, as he looked straight at her with his compound blue eyes.

He sang softly, as if the lyrics were directed straight toward her. He looked right into her eyes, and she couldn’t tell if this was only a coincidence that he had used those lyrics to speak to her, or if he had purposely come down to taunt her. He was a changeling, he definitely knew who she was.

He turned suddenly, his attention shifting to Marty beside her. The changeling tapped his chin, raising the microphone up to Marty’s mouth in expectation. For a moment, all Twilight could think of was how disrespectful this changeling was being. It was painfully clear that Marty was blind, in the black lights, his clouded eyes practically glowed. But Marty surprised her further when he happily sang part of the lyrics into the microphone before him.


“The universe is hostile,


so impersonal.


Devour to survive,


so it is,


so it’s always been.”


The verse was short, Marty’s voice going scratchy and deeper as he replicated the way that the changeling sang. When he had finished, he raised his hoof in the expectation of it being met with a hoof bump. Twilight almost scoffed, the changeling had been teasing him, he was a bully, not his friend. But Twilight was surprised, yet again, when the changeling not only returned the gesture, but had a genuine smile on his face.

The changeling lifted into the air again as he returned to the stage, singing again as he went. The lyrics returned violently, their scratching sounds once again racing out to the crowds. he finished with a flourish, putting on a dramatic bow as he finished and hovered over the stage on his wings.

The crowd returned with a deafening mixture of hatred and cheering. She watched as the changeling shivered, he must have been using the performance to feed. Maybe that’s what Marty had meant when he said that he knew some ponies literally lived off of the attention. Maybe he actually personally knew the changeling. Twilight made sure to make a note in the back of her mind to ask him about it.



The next song started almost instantly after the crowd had died slightly, the changeling’s voice echoing out again, but this time slightly less scratchy as it had been before. He had landed on the stage again, the smoke and lights leaving so that he could sing without the distracting haze that hid the rest of the band.

She listed to the lyrics more carefully this time, taking another glance at the changeling with her new revelation in mind. The changeling was singing while standing on his hind legs, punctuating the words of the song with movements of his hooves, or whatever they were.

The lyrics confused her for awhile, that is until a kangaroo was mentioned. She almost instantly knew what the lyrics said after that. He was referring to hypocrites and kangaroo courts, as well as unsupported prejudice, if she had to guess. She almost felt bad as she realized what they meant.

A kangaroo court was a court case in which the accused was assumed guilty before they really got a fair trial. They were popular in old times, but it was an unfortunate fact that they still happened today. He was referring to the hypocrisy of accusing of a crime, when the court itself would have been committing one.

She felt regret for instantly labeling the changeling as a monster, even if her personal experiences gave her good grounds to do so. She really didn’t have any reason to know who this changeling really was, after all, they had all been being controlled by Chrysalis during the invasion. And with the peace treaty in place, even with most ponies, including herself, thinking that they would go back on their word, they had no reason to fear them anymore. They were supposed to be gaining the nutrition they needed in more civilised ways now, performing in a concert being one of them.

The song died easily, being met again with the mixed response from the crowd. Although it seemed that the song had had a similar effect on the crowd as it had had on her, there were far more cheers for them now than before. She jumped slightly as a hoof poked her in the side.

She turned quickly to see Marty beaming in her direction, a happy smile on his face as he got her attention and called to her over the crowd. “Wanna go meet ‘em?” He yelled, nodding toward the stage as the group of stallions walked off. “Their set’s done for now, we could go meet ‘em in their room.” He encouraged, nodding back toward the way that they had come from.

Twilight had to strain her voice to be heard over the cacophony around them as the next band was revealed on the stage. “Sure! I’ve got a few questions, too! Is that alright?!” She said loudly, standing with him as he nodded. 

He wrapped his hoof around hers as he led them both back to the side of the stadium. His cane tapped the ground in front of him like he had done in the hallway, except this time his horn lit up brighter. Every time the cane would connect with the ground, she could see a visible shimmer of magic spread out in a wave from it. That must have been what he meant by ‘... feel around with magic.’ 

They entered the side door to the underground hallways, the sound of the crowd instantly dying as the door closed. Twilight sighed as her ears continued to ring in the absence of all the noise. “Could you find them on the map? There should be one around here.” He said, catching her attention as he moved to the side of the door, not wanting to get in the way of any ponies who might come by unnoticed.

“Oh, sure.” Twilight replied, moving over to the chart and beginning her search for the room that would be housing the last band that had played. While she looked, she directed her attention back at him. “So, did you know that changeling?” She asked, attempting to hide her still present hatred for the creatures.

He smiled happily toward her, nodding an affirmative. “Yeah, I met him a little after the treaty. The whole band is actually changelings, they were getting together for years when they could, before the actual attack anyway.” He shrugged, waving off the incident as easily as one would a bad novel. “They’re really nice though, you should meet ‘em. I bet you’d get along with them.” He said, talking as if he already knew that she had reserved feelings for them.

“I think that that would be fine. After all, we’re supposed to a country that uses harmony and tolerance as our main policies, so I should at least make an effort to get to know them before I assume anything.” She said, spotting the room that they were in and mapping out a path in her head. “Found it.” She proclaimed, moving to his side so that she could lead him over there.

‘This is going to be interesting.’ She thought to herself as she walked down the corridors leading to the changelings’ room. ‘Hopefully there’s nothing to worry about. Yeah. Hopefully.’ She thought hesitantly, butterflies starting to flit about in her stomach.
	
	

> We All Change
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-We All Change-



“HEY!” The cheerful greeting flooded out from the room the second the door opened. The green room was almost identical to the one she had left with Even Essence, although this one was far messier.

The group of changelings, varying far more than she had originally expected, beamed up from various points across the room. Some held bottles of drinks, although none seemed to have touch the food. They all looked cheerful at their arrival however.

“How’s it going you guys? Long time, no see!” Marty said, taking the initiative to walk into the room past Twilight. One of the smaller of the changelings jumped up and pressed against him, a happy giggle escaping its (Hers? The voice sounded feminine.) fanged mouth. Marty lit up happily at her touch. “Cherry?” He asked, more a greeting than a question, but she answered all the same.

“Yes!” She said enthusiastically, nodding dramatically as she pressed harder against him. “It is to be good seeing you again!” She said, the words coming out light and bubbly. Twilight heard a small amount of accent hidden under them, perhaps the words weren’t the same in … whatever changelings speak.

“You too, Cherry!” Marty said, nuzzling the top of the changeling’s head with a bright smile.

“MART-AY!” Another voice called, yet a different accent tilting the voice there. It sounded more like a Manehattan accent. It was a much thicker changeling that called, he wasn’t fat, just big. “Where have you been?” He bellowed, waving a fizzy drink happily from the icebox where he was perched. Strangely his huge bulk didn’t crush the box, but the sides did seem to dilate under his weight.

“Is that that brick-headed mammoth that I think it is?” Marty said, letting Cherry lead him further into the room.

“Yes!” The huge changeling replied, answering yet another rhetorical question. “Have a drink!” He said, reaching to the side of the box and throwing a can across the room.

Twilight panicked when she saw the drink flying through the air, reaching out with her magic to snatch the drink out of the air. But that seemed to silence the entire room, her presence suddenly revealed to the whole room as she stopped the drink from reaching its intended target.

“Who’s your friend, Marty?” That scratchy voice called, the changeling was lying upside down on a couch, his blue eyes trained on her as she stood stock still in the doorway.

“Oh! You guys, this is Twilight Sparkle! I- Well, I ran into her on my way over to here.” He chuckled, looking back toward the door. “She’s a friend, and I bet you two could have a lot to talk about, Shiny.” He said, turning to aim his head alternatively between the two.

Unfortunately, his words did little to alleviate the tension in the room. All of the changelings had turned to look at the singer of the chitin clad herd. She carefully set the can back down onto the table in the center of the room, trying to remain as unthreatening as possible. He was still staring at her with a blank expression, hanging upside down over the seat of the couch. 

The changeling leader’s wings buzzed for just a second, an upside down smile decorating his face. “I like her, Marty. She cares about ya.” He said finally, turning his cheery smile toward him. “I mean, did you guys see how she just grabbed that can outta the air? She was seriously worried you wouldn’t catch it for him, Cherry.” He said with a light chuckle.

Cherry responded with her own laugh, more cheery noises spreading back into the room. “It is being the okay, yes?” Cherry bubbled, looking over Marty’s shoulder and smiling at Twilight. “You were not knowing how we do these tings, yes? We are doing this every time Marty visits!” She beamed, looking more like a foal with her antics than she did to be an adult. “We are always catching the things for Marty.” She said, bouncing up and down next to him.

He stifled a laugh as she bounced. “Stop that, Cherry. Your wings are tickling me!” He sputtered, flinching away from the affectionate little changeling.

Twilight looked over the room again, there were five changelings in the room, each with differing shapes and personalities as it would seem. There were two others sitting on a couch near the rearmost corner of the room. They were practically identical, in shape and size, even their chitin plates matched each other’s. And they were both staring at her with a very strangely distant expression.

“Oh! Yes!” Cherry suddenly exclaimed, bouncing away from Marty’s head after pushing him onto a couch. She rushed over to Twilight in a rush, bouncing up in front of her. “Cherry will do the introducing of us! This is, Cherry!” She exclaimed, putting a pitted hoof to her chest and smiling up at Twilight. “Cherry is the sounding pony! She is making all the sounds make right music.” She said proudly, a sudden look of realization crossed her insectoid face. “This is meaning that Twilight is our friends now?” She asked, the hope in her voice was so innocent and sweet when she said it, that foal-like demeanor bubbling out happily as she spoke.

Twilight was fairly caught off guard by the foalish behaviour, or it could have even been compared to Pinkie as well. “Uhm- Uh, sure!” Twilight agreed, deciding it best to accept what looked like an offer of friendship. Even though in the back of her head something was telling her that the changelings were trying to trick them, but whenever she looked over at Marty enjoying himself, the thoughts just got pushed away.

“Oh!~ Twilight! You should be acting more careful when we can hear what you is feeling!” Cherry said in a sing-song voice, interrupting her thoughts as she realized where her gaze was aimed again.

“Hey!” Twilight said as she felt her face start to grow warmer, a weak glare aimed back at the uncontrollably giggling changeling. “I just met him- H-he fell on me!” She said, trying weakly to defend herself, but only being rewarded with more cheery laughter from the changelings around the room.

“Oh, yeah he has!” The huge changeling in the back of the room laughed, a large jolly one that fit well on him. Even Marty laughed, and she wasn’t sure if it was at her or for her sake.

“That is being big brother Gap!” Cherry said, pointing back at the huge pony happily. “He is being big drummer pony! He is very good, he likes make lots of music with drums!” She bubbled, taking one of Twilight’s hooves in hers. At first the feeling of Cherry’s chitin covered leg against hers was disturbing, but it was warm against her, so not unpleasant. It was still a very strange texture, however. Cherry led Twilight further into the room, guiding her over toward the seating. 

“And this is Shiny Thing!” She giggled as she said his name, pointing over to the still upside down changeling, who gave a wave at the mention of his name. “He likes that name! He picked it all for himself! And he did picked my name, too! He said I was being eating all the cherries in stalls, so he was naming me Cherry!” She said, happily sharing her story with Twilight as she was guided across the room to the two identical seated changelings.

“And this is being Twitch and Trench!” She said, making a show of pointing out each one with their respective names. They each shifted under the attention to them, their eyes getting wider as Twilight approached. “They are to being the stringing instruments! Liking the Bass and the Guitar! You know the sounds?” She said, nodding up at Twilight with enthusiasm. “They make the very very nice parts of the songs!” She beamed, but in the instant that she said that, one of them burst into green flame and disappeared entirely.

“Where’d he go?” Twilight sputtered in surprise, the other changeling starting to shake at the sound of her voice. Twilight balked at the response, her ears dodging back to lay flat against her head. “W-what’s the matter?” She said, the response very different than the other changeling’s reaction to her presence.

The remaining changeling’s mouth opened, but the only sound that came out was a crackling, buzzing noise, like the kinds insects made. Shiny’s voice broke through the strange sound in its place. “Sorry about Twitch, they still get jumpy around other unicorns.” He said, turning his head to look over at them. “They were in Canterlot during the invasion, the brain control did funny things to them. So don’t think that it’s your fault, they’re just nervous.” He said with a smile, trying to alleviate her confusion. “They’ll be fine if you give them a little time.” He finished, acting more like their father than anything.

“They are really very nice, Twilight.” Cherry said, trying to be encouraging for the scared changeling and for Twilight’s sake. “They are just being a little frightened by how big and strong you are being!” She said, beaming up at Twilight again. 

“What are you talking about Cherry? Twilight lifting stuff?” Marty said from across the room, chuckling as a drink was pushed into his grip by the large changeling. Cherry managed to appear to roll her eyes, how that was possible with the segmented orbs was off putting to Twilight, but she ignored it.

“No.” Cherry said, looking over at Marty as if he had just suggested that Twilight was walking on the ceiling. “You are being the one who is always saying how pretty the magics is! Even Cherry can see Twilight’s, and it is big and bright.” She said, turning back to beam at Twilight again in the praise she gave her. “Cherry is liking big strong Twilight. Twilight will take good care of Marty, Cherry is confident.” She giggled, leaning in and giving the reluctant unicorn an affectionate nuzzle.

Twilight resisted the incredible urge to run as fast as she could from the room, holding very still as the changeling’s fangs brushed against her coat. She couldn’t help it when she involuntarily flinched away from the changeling when she giggled. “W-what do you mean, Cherry?” She managed to stammer out after the changeling had finished. Cherry donned a confused look, staring back up at Twilight.

“Is not even Twilight knowing how powerful Twilight is? Cherry is almost being blind by how much you are being bright.” She said, raising a hoof to shield her eyes away from an unseen lightsource. “Ponies are very silly, even Marty is being afraid when Cherry says how bright he is being.” Cherry remarked, putting her hoof back to the ground and smiling back at Twilight.

“That’s because I’m not as strong as you say I am, Cherry.” Marty said, rolling his clouded eyes. “But she’s right about you, Twilight. Most of the time, I can only just sort of see another pony’s magic, but when ever you’ve used yours, it’s very clear to me.” He said, bringing his own praise to bear.

“What do you mean, you can see?” Twilight asked, suddenly confused as to what he meant.

“Nope, I’m still blind as a bat.” Marty replied, pointing up at his horn as he continued. “But, when a pony loses one of their senses, they start to pay a lot more attention to their other ones.” He explained, his horn lighting up with his grey aura to demonstrate. “I started being able to use my magic to feel around, and tell when other unicorns were casting … a little over a year after I went blind.” He said, nodding his head as he recalled the memory. “One of those things that happens to blind ponies, I guess.” He said dismissively, taking a sip from the drink cradled in his hooves.

“Interesting.” Twilight muttered under her breath, starting to wonder what he meant exactly. And while none of them had been lying, she was a very powerful unicorn, that she could admit, it was the fact that they had been able to tell just by a small example.

“Hey, Twilight.” Shiny said from across the room, calling her attention back over to the couch he had occupied. Shiny had turned over, and was sitting normally on the couch, motioning for her to take a seat near him. “Would it be alright if I talked to ya for a second?” He said, pointing to a spot next to him. 

She felt Cherry break away from her, moving back over to the couch where Marty was continuing to nurse his drink. “Sure, I guess.” Twilight said, breaking herself away from her thoughts before theories started to form faster than she could follow them. She took a seat on the couch with the changeling, carefully leaving a space between them. “Is there something that-”

“I need to know something, for sure.” He interrupted, leaning across the space that separated them and looking straight into her eyes. “I’m worried about Marty. And even from your emotions, I can’t be sure of your intentions for him.” He said, a stern look coming across his features. “Marty is practically part of our family, and I don’t want to see him get hurt. Especially since it looks like he’s trying to be more open to others.” Shiny’s eyes flicked in a jerky movement, like he was quickly glancing over her shoulder and to the couch behind her, where Marty was sitting. “So, don’t lead him on if you don’t intend to … Well, whatever it is that that develops into.” He said, finally backing away from her.

Twilight couldn’t begin to believe what she was hearing, this changeling was actually insinuating that she could be intending to hurt Marty. “That’s ridiculous, especially coming from you.” She hissed, her anger starting to boil over. She had been precariously balanced in between fear and hatred during the entire visit, and this had simply pushed her over the edge. “If anything, I should be worried that you’re hurting him.” She said, pointing an accusatory hoof at the changeling. “What’s your play, huh? Trick a blind pony into letting you take his love, just so you can stay fat and happy?” She fumed, her brow furrowing as she watched the changeling put on a confused expression.

“Not all changelings are like that, Twilight.” Shiny said, his own anger starting to become apparent. “That’s a stupid stereotype, made up from superstition and one crazed, mind-controlling, dictator. We look after Marty, because he looks after us. We aren’t taking anything from him, he gives us that because he actually likes us. And he knows what we are!” He said, his voice starting to rise. “At least we aren’t assuming things before we know the facts about the ponies we hang with.” He said, turning his anger down onto her.

“Twilight, maybe we should go.” Marty’s voice said quietly from behind her, an amount of worry starting to weigh into his words.

“And what is that supposed to mean? I don’t exactly have experience impersonating innocent ponies. And I don’t go around looking into other ponies heads, either!” She said, leaning forward to match the glare that Shiny had donned.

“Maybe you should go, Twilight.” Gap said from the rear of the room, his baritone cutting off Shiny’s rebuke. “Before somepony says something that we all regret.” He finished, crossing his large, pitted arms and aiming his own disapproving glare at her.

“Let’s go, Twilight.” Marty said sharply, cutting off her own retort as he tapped her leg with his cane. She looked over at him, his face was aimed toward the floor, not meeting any of the faces that were now firmly staring at her. Cherry was leaning against him, a sad look decorating her features, and reflecting the feelings that Marty was starting to show. He started to move toward the door, guided by the small changeling that still clung to him.

Twilight snorted out of her nose, not meeting the glares she was receiving from the two changelings. She made her way over to the door, just after Marty had exited. She entered the hall to find Marty waiting for her, facing toward the door with a glare that matched the changeling’s from inside.

“Go on back inside, Cherry. I’ll see you later, okay.” He said, bumping the little changeling back toward the door with a tone of voice that was completely separate from the anger that was clearly decorating his face.

Cherry reluctantly started to move toward the door, carefully walking around Twilight in a large birth. She stopped just inside the door, looking back to Marty as if to protest, but ended up going through the door morosely.

“Twilight! What the hay was that?” He said once the door had closed, catching her off guard with the harshness in his words.

“What?! Me?!” Twilight said, confusion shocking its way through her head as she listened to the accusation in his words. “Those changelings are the ones tha-” She started, but was cut short by Marty’s cane connecting with the floor loudly.

“Those changelings are my friends, Twilight.” He said, his brow furrowing as he stared out at her direction. “And you just outright insulted them! You’re supposed to be a student of Friendship, aren’t you?” He said rhetorically, continuing before she could react. “You didn’t think, that for maybe just a second, that I wasn’t stupid enough to not know when I was being used? I’m not blind and stupid, I know a good pony when I meet one. And I thought that somepony like you, could appreciate the struggles that they go through.”

“I know what changelings are like, Marty.” She said, trying to defend her position against his sudden argument. “I was in Canterlot during the attack. One of them took my friend and impersonated her on her wedding day!” Twilight retorted, recalling her own experience as an example.

“I know what happened in Canterlot, Twilight!” Marty said quickly, stopping her before she could build any momentum to her argument. “I also happen to know that you were blasting changelings left and right. I know that Princess Cadence was impersonated, by Chrysalis, not just any changeling! She was the one who did that to them!” He yelled, pointing a hoof to the room that the changelings were in. “Everypony deals with PTS differently, Twilight. Just look at Cherry, she’s practically reverted back to a foal because of what she’s seen. Twitch and Trench have flashbacks every day, it took me months for me to get them comfortable around me. Do you realize how fucking hard it is for them to get on stage like that, so they can scrounge at whatever emotions come off of the crowd?

“It’s not easy! Living off of a mishmash of emotions like that, is like you or me trying to live off of the trash outside of a bad restaurant.” He said, stomping his hoof back on the ground. “Even Gap and Shiny weren’t unaffected. They don’t like to admit it, but neither of them have had a restful night’s sleep for a long time. And here you are, going off on them like that! Ponies change, Twilight. At least Discord was able to see that, as crazed as he was!” He snorted, little crackles of grey energy leaping up his horn.

“Marty, I-” Twilight tried, her head reeling from the berating that Marty had suddenly put out on her. He wouldn’t even let her get a word in around his. She was starting to grow even more confused, how was she supposed to feel after accusations like those? And the way that he stood up for them only reminded her of how Rainbow Dash would have acted. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t- I wasn’t-” She stammered, noticing something else in the argument he had presented. He seemed very familiar with her past accomplishments.

“You know what! I don’t want to hear it!” He said sharply, lifting a hoof to stop her from continuing. “If you can’t even be considerate of my friends, then we can’t be friends.” He said with finality, turning around and starting down the hall. His cane tapped the ground sharply, a small wave of magic spreading from the tip every time and lighting up the floor in front of him. “Enjoy the rest of the show.” He muttered darkly as he rounded the corner, going out of sight.

Twilight let out a defeated sigh, sinking to the ground as the want to stand simply left her entirely. She groaned and put a hoof to her head, shaking it as she mentally berated herself. He’s right. And you know it, Twilight. She thought to herself, remorse starting to show on her face. Just think, what if they had been anypony else? I never would have gone off like that to anypony else. What sort of student of Friendship can’t look past her own prejudices? A bad one, that’s what sort. I’m a terrible friend if I can’t even tolerate somepony that’s different. She berated herself, continuing to tell herself how terrible she had acted.

Her thoughts tangented, almost faster than she could follow. How had Marty known all those details? Had he been following recent events that closely? He had known quite a bit, that was strange. Maybe there was more about this stallion than she had originally thought.

Her thoughts were cut short however, when something warm and soft rested itself beside her. She looked up from her hooves, catching sight of … herself. The double was leaning up against her, the double’s head resting on the floor and her eyes aimed up at herself. Twilight looked down with mixed confusion at the double.

“Cherry is sorry, Twilight.” Her double said, the familiar changeling’s voice coming out of her mouth. “Cherry knows that you do not like us, that Twilight thinks that we are mean. But Cherry wants to tell Twilight that Cherry is sorry.” She said, looking up with teary, puppy dog eyes. Her gaze dropped back to the floor when she started again. “And Cherry knows that Twilight doesn’t like it when Cherry was nuzzling her, because Cherry has fangs, and hard skin, and that Cherry is not pony. So Cherry thought that Twilight would be more comfortable if Cherry looked like pony. But Cherry is not good at making up ponies, so Cherry had to make a Twilight.” She said sadly, turning little circles on the floor with her hoof. “Cherry is sorry.” She said again, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

“It’s not your fault, Cherry.” Twilight said, trying to stop the disguised changeling from crying by laying a hoof on her back. “Twilight is- er- I’m the one who should be sorry, not you.” She said, stumbling over her words for a second as she readjusted to Cherry’s strange way of speaking. Cherry looked back up at her, her sad eyes looking for more of an explanation. Twilight cringed as she fell under that gaze, guilt washing over her in waves. “I was the one who got angry, I had no right to question Shiny’s intentions like I did. And I’m sorry that you were a part of it, too.” Leaning forward and giving herself a short nuzzle.

“So, can Cherry, be Cherry again?” She asked, that same, sad look making Twilight’s heart melt. Even if it was strange, literally talking to herself, she couldn’t help but be affected by the innocence behind that voice. She nodded instantly, happy to agree.

Cherry smiled weakly, closing her eyes and concentrating. Rather than the violent explosion of green flame that she was used to seeing when changelings performed a transformation, Cherry’s was more like slowly spreading embers. Like a paper burning away without the flame, and revealing the smaller shape of the changeling underneath it.

Twilight started to stand, effectively ignoring her want to cringe away from the alien feel of Cherry’s chitin against her fur as she followed. “Come on, Cherry. I should apologize to everypony else, too.” She said, turning back to the door and leading the Cherry inside.


---


> Everlong
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Everlong-



Twilight had apologized profusely to the changelings, practically begging them to forgive her for her actions. She had been pleasantly surprised when they had actually accepted her apology, happily knowing that she had changed her mind.

It turns out that they had often had to deal with a disgruntled pony coming to them after a performance to try and give them an earful. The only thing that had made this time any different was the fact that it had been her. Twilight Sparkle was a name almost held in infamy for the fact of her actions during the actual attack, but she was also held as a hero among them for the same reason. She was seen as the pony that had both freed them and persecuted them, even if their salvation had come at the direct hooves of Princess Cadence.

It had been much more relaxed after that had been explained out of the way, and she had been pleasantly surprised with how friendly they really were. It had only taken her a few minutes to realize how wrong she had been about them, and now she could happily call them her friends. She had eventually asked how they had all gotten together.

Shiny told her that after the attack, many of them had been separated. His group of friends had spread between just Gap, Twitch, and Trench. Cherry had been the most recent addition to their family, as he had called it. After the attack, he had been the first to recover, and had found his friends again.

They hadn’t actually ever had names, and it had been Shiny who had christened them all. But it was Cherry’s story that was most interesting. Like Cherry had explained before, Shiny had found her in the back of a nearly destroyed market cart. She must have been thrown free from the explosion and had crash landed onto the cart, where she had proceeded to stuff her face with as many of the cherries that it carried as she could. They had all decided at that point to work together to scrape an honest life out of what they had, eventually leading up to their musical performances.

She had found their story heartwarming, inspiring even. From a dystopian society that had suppressed everything that made a pony who they were, they had risen up to face the new one that they found themselves in. Banded together against the bigotry and prejudices that they now faced, nobly trying to show that changelings weren’t just monsters to be feared.

Eventually their conversation had led up to how they had met Marty, a story she had found almost surprising. “He met us almost the same way that you met him, actually.” Shiny had said, smiling at her and returning to his inverted position on the couch. “Except that Cherry fell on him, followed closely by the rest of us.” He had said with a chuckle, hooking his rear legs over the back of the couch.

“Big mean boss pony threw us out the door, saying mean tings to us!” Cherry had interjected, a scrunched up, childish grimace donning her face.

“And when Marty heard that, hoo! You should have seen him after that, he freaking tore into that guy.” Shiny had laughed, joined merrily by Gap as he sidled up to listen in on the story. “He ripped that guy a new one, he was yelling hellfire and brimstone at that fat cat, and it didn’t look like he was going to stop on his own either.”

“He hadn’t even realized that we were changelings ‘til afta he had this stallion runnin fer tha hills!” Gap had continued, picking up Cherry with his green magic and setting her on his back. It had been enough to cheer her back up, which had lightened the mood of the room immensely. “Pfft! It only made ‘im wanna be our friends at that point, we couldn’t even believe it. An’ then he took us ta his house, his house fer peat’s sake! Fed us like that good fer nuthin’ restaurant wouldn’t!” Gap chortled, and had bounced Cherry between his shoulders.

It had been after that that she had asked some more about Marty. She had been most curious to know if they knew why Marty would try and hide his relations with Even Essence. After all, wouldn’t somepony be proud of something like that?

“Normally, I suppose the answer would be yes.” Shiny had said, his jovial expression dropping slightly with a sigh. “But recently Marty’s been trying to stand on his own hooves, become more independant. Want’s to be a better pony, you know?” He had said, turning his head so that he could drink from his drink upside down. “No more drugs. No more drinking. No more late nights. All that jazz.” He finished, drinking more from his drink. 

That had drawn her to a pause when he had said that. “Was- … was Marty addicted to something?” She had asked, severe concern donning her features. She didn’t actually know what it was like to use something like that, but she had learned the results from various health pamphlets. She knew that there were some very bad substances out there. Some that made magic stronger, some that made it weaker, some that made magic act out on its own. There were things that could change a pony’s mood, or make them see things.

But they all resulted in a very unhealthy looking pony.

“Something,” he had scoffed. “Marty had been on a lot of ‘something’s. You name it, and he’s probably tried it at least once.” He had said, his mood dropping. “One night, he ended up going too far, and some ponies got hurt. He managed to avoid jail time by agreeing to go to rehab. When he told me this, I could tell that it had affected him a lot. He was inspired by somepony, I think.” He had said, and had looked at her with a strange look.

“Well in that case, he looks great!” She had said quickly. But she still wasn’t sure why he had given her that look. Maybe he had been trying to tell her that a mare had inspired him? Nothing else really could explain that look.

Shiny had agreed with her, though. “Yep, he really did recover. Three years sober, I think. now he goes to charity gigs, and he even teaches other blind ponies how to play music. He’s gotten more distant over the time that we’ve known him, but now I think he’s trying to be more open to other ponies, so that’s good.” He had said, the conversation slowly drawing to a close after that.

She had taken her leave soon after that, her mind awhirl with her thoughts. She had to apologize to Marty now. Now she actually knew why Marty had been so upset with her. It hadn’t simply been because she had blatantly offended his friends, but because he related to what they were going through. His struggle had run parallel to theirs in its difficulty. So when she had started to yell at them, he had felt that she was insulting him as well. She still felt like she had to make it up to them for all of that. Maybe she could come up with something later.

And now, here she was, standing outside of Even Essence’s green room, just staring at the door.

After all of that thinking, she hadn’t come up with a single thing to say to Marty as an apology. She couldn’t just rush in and spout as many ‘sorry’s as she could come up with, that would just sound contrived. And she couldn’t very well act like nothing had happened at all. She just wasn’t sure how she could approach him.

She steeled herself one last time. If she was going to do this, it would have to happen now, or she’d lose her nerve. She lit her horn with its familiar pale-purple glow, opening the door. When she entered, the room was more crowded than she remembered. The rest of the band seemed to have returned, not including what was most likely an army of crew that was absent from the room. Her friends were still there, if moved from their previous positions.

She spotted Rainbow Dash first, hovering next to the icebox and talking animatedly with the griffon. He was large, but not much more than the only other griffon she had seen. And while his coloring seemed fairly standard, his feathers were dulled with grey, a distinctive streak of grey feathers along the lengths of his wings prominent. Perhaps he was older than he actually appeared to be?

Her eyes drifted to the food table nearby next. Applejack and the drumming pony stood there, idly chatting in between bites of the various foods. Pinkie was nearby, carefully ‘inspecting’ the large platter of cupcakes with her mouth. The drummer was a fairly large mare, her deep blue coat accented by a lighter blue mane and tail. Her thickly corded muscles were only accented by the light that shone off of the light sheen of sweat that still clung to her fur. Twilight wondered idly if it was her career as a drummer that had granted her her musculature, or if she worked a heavy lifting job to the side. She was able to catch a glimpse of her cutie mark as she shifted her stance, a snare drum with two drumsticks crossed over it.

She saw Fluttershy and Rarity talking calmly with Even Essence on one of the couches toward the front of the room, Rarity’s shopping bags mysteriously returned. Where she had left them during their entrance to the stadium was unknown, as well as how Rarity had been able to retrieve them. It seemed like they were relaxed, though. And it was nice seeing Fluttershy so openly enjoying herself.

Her eyes eventually drifted to the rear of the room, catching sight of the pony she needed to apologize to. Marty was sitting on a stool next to the bar, slouched over it with a fizzy orange drink nearby. His saddlebags, the torn and ripped canvas ones, leaned against his chair, slumping slightly under its own weight.

Next to him, the unicorn bassist sat. She had a light green coat, not unlike one of her friends back in Ponyville. Her cutie mark was strangely unrelated to music, a smiling mask with a frowning one peeking out from just behind it. Her mane was a light aquamarine, her colors seeming slightly muted in the magical lamps hanging from the ceiling.

She tried not to deflate from guilt at the sight of him like that. He looked like he was miserable, slouching like that over the bar. The bassist had a hoof gently resting on his shoulder, and appeared to be talking to him encouragingly. She seemed to be showing more affection to him than Even Essence had. It wouldn’t be too far fetched to say that she was more likely the mother figure in their herd, as most bands were a herd together.

She took a deep breath, calming her nerves one last time. She figured, if she was going to do this, she would just start with a hello. And see how it went from there.

She walked across the room quietly, taking a seat in the last of the three stools at the bar, on the other side of Marty. She sat there for a moment, procrastinating for as long as she could. Finally pulled toward looking in his direction as she felt another set of eyes on her. The bassist had leaned up to look over Marty’s shoulder at her, a question poised plainly on her face.

Twilight didn’t say anything, but the bassist seemed to decide that it was time to take her leave. She stood from her seat and moved toward the food table, essentially letting her talk to Marty in private.

“Hi, Marty.” She finally said, announcing her presence to him. He lifted his head from the countertop, turning his head and his ears toward her. “I wanted to apologize to you for what I said to you and your friends, and I’ve already talked to them. I want you to know that I regret what I said, I really do.” She said quickly, now that she had started talking, she could already feel herself starting to ramble. “I was completely out of my place to say what I did. And if I had known just how bad it was for you guys, then I never, ever would have said any of that.” She sputtered, stopping to take a breath.

Her pause was long enough for Marty to interject. “You know about that stuff? My rehab, too?” He asked, queuing in on her choice of words. His face donned a look she couldn’t quite place, something between mortification and surprise.

“Uhm … yeah, I asked Shiny about it. He told me about how you were … how you recovered from that stuff.” She said, his words enough to break her from her ramble before it gained too much ground. She watched him carefully as she continued. “I can’t even imagine what it must have been like …” She said, remembering the pride that had dawned on Shiny’s face when he told her that.

“Most don’t …” He mumbled, still looking toward her. He tapped his hooves together nervously a few times, his mortification dropping to a nervous look. “I should apologize, too. I was … louder than necessary, and you didn’t really deserve that.” He said after a moment, his ears drooping.

“No, you were perfectly justified in your response. I was the one that was … totally in the wrong.” She said, watching as he relaxed slightly.

He dropped his hooves back to the countertop, reaching forward until he touched his glass. He carefully grasped it with his hooves, carefully lifting it to his lips and sipping at it. He set it down after a moment, turning back to her with his ears pointed toward her. “You’re not really enjoying … all this. Are you?” He asked, lifting a hoof and motioning at the sounds of another band that jumbled out from the stadium walls.

Twilight paused for a second, happy for the change of topic, but surprised at the same time. How he had been able to key in on her mood toward the music was surprising. He seemed to be more perceptive than she really expected. “Well, no … not really. I’m don’t really like this sort of music. But it was really nice to see you and Even Essence play, and you were sort of right about the lyrics of their songs.” She finished, referring back to the changelings.

“Then, what kind of music do you like?” He asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Well, I’ve always preferred music with a … lighter mood, than what most of these bands are playing.” She admitted, shrugging sheepishly.

Marty paused for a second, swishing the drink in his cup for a moment in thought. “Well … I know a place that you might like more, then.” He said sheepishly, setting the drink down and scratching at his forelock with one of his hooves. “Lots of ponies go there to sing, and just … you know, have a good time. Would you like me to take you there? I’d love to show you where I prefer to sing.” He said. She couldn’t quite tell, but it felt like he had tried to force the words out, his nervous scratching coming to a halt as he waited for a response.

“Oh … I’d love to Marty, but … my train leaves in just a little while,” she said, regrettably looking at the clock on the wall. “Just an hour actually.” She confirmed, looking back at him.

“We could be back before then.” Marty said, starting to sound a little excited. “We would have to bring Cherry along, she’d be the one to take us there. But it would take like- a half hour, tops.” He said, looking back at her with a nervous smile.

“Well, okay. But only if I’m back in time to catch my train, okay.” Twilight said, consenting after a moments hesitation. If Marty was sure that they could be back, then there wasn’t really any harm in going, right?

“That’s great!” Marty said, perking up instantly. He reached down with one of his hooves, trying to locate his bag on the ground next to himself.

“I’ve got it,” she said, grabbing his bag with her magic and lifting it up to his hooves. “Here you go,” she offered, waiting for him to get a good grasp on it before fully releasing it. Strangely, it felt heavier than she expected. She couldn’t tell what he had stored in it, but there was something rather weighty in there.

“Thanks,” Marty said quickly, opening the bags carefully and reaching inside with a hoof. He carefully felt around inside the bags for a moment, trying to find something inside the bag. His movements grew less and less careful as he continued, frustrated in the delay he was causing. Twilight was about to offer to help him when he stopped suddenly, a confident sound of discovery escaping his lips. “There she is,” He proclaimed, lifting out a small, glittery ball of twine. He chuckled lightly as he felt it with a hoof. “Cherry made this for me a little after we met, she told me that she put a lot of cherry colored sparkles on it. I put an enchantment on it, so now I can talk to her.” He explained, lifting it up so that she could look at it clearly.

It was a monkey fist knot, she had read a few books detailing knot tying that showed how to create one. She had never tried, but she knew that knot tying was a taxing task for anypony unfamiliar with it. It was made from a loose twine, the rough threads coming slightly undone from the length itself. It was covered in bright red glitter, a few shimmering bits falling off as he pulled it out.

Twilight smiled at the image that made for her. A tiny changeling, covered head to hoof with glue and bright red glitter. Beaming as she proudly offered her new friend the present she had made for him.

Marty moved the glittery ball of twine in front of himself, stopping to concentrate on it. She watched as he rolled the free end of the twine in his hoof, focusing on its texture. He mumbled something wordlessly as his horn started to glow a weak grey color, the aura rippling along his horn and lighting the charm with a similar glow. After a second, he aimed his ears down at his hoof, bringing the charm close to his lips.

“Hey, Cherry,” he whispered into it, a playful tone decorating his voice. “Cherry, you know the cafe we were gonna go to tonight, like we always do. Twilight wants to come. What do you think about that?” He asked the charm, one of his ears twitching as he supposedly heard a response. “Great, but we have to leave now, because Twilight has to catch a train in an hour.” He said, listening again for the inaudible response.

“Woah,” Pinkie said loudly from across the room, drawing Twilight’s attention away from Marty for a second. “Hold on! Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch.” She listed off, the actions dramatically demonstrated as she did. “That’s weird. Achy shoulder, too? Achy shoulder! ACHY SHOULDER!” Pinkie yelled, diving for cover behind the table. “Watch out for scary doors!” She yelled, huddling down and pulling a hoofball helmet from who knows where and putting it on quickly.

Just then the door actually did burst open, an ecstatic, tiny changeling bouncing through with a squeal. All of her friends donned various faces of shock as Cherry rushed over toward them. She caught site of the griffon as he grabbed Rainbow before she could rush to intercept, thankfully. The rest of her friends remained where they were, looking on with confusion at the happy little changeling.

Cherry rushed over to them, an overly excited smile gleefully plastered on her face. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She yelled out happily, bouncing circles around their chairs. “Twilight will be loving Trumpet Cove! Go! Go! Go!” She squealed, pushing against Twilight’s leg and then Marty’s. She proceeded to attempt to push them toward the door while continuing her excited chant. “Quick! Quick! Cherry wants to hear as many songs as Cherry can!” She yelled happily, finally managing to get Marty to drop from his stool.

Cherry quickly grabbed up his saddlebags, throwing them hurriedly onto his back. She turned to Twilight, grabbing onto her hoof and pulling back with all her weight to try and get her moving. “Come o~on!” She groaned, her surprisingly light weight doing little to actually move Twilight until she dropped from her stool.

She darted over to Marty, repeating the action and leading him toward the door. “Marty is so slo~ow!” She groaned again, pulling with all her tiny strength at Marty to lead him.

“Twilight, what’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked with confusion, motioning toward Cherry.

“That’s Cherry, don’t worry. She just wants to show me where Marty usually goes to sing. I’ll meet you girls at the station.” She explained, although it seemed like Applejack was still unsure. She caught sight of Rainbow grumbling at the griffon before she followed Cherry out the door.


---


It took them about ten minutes to navigate the streets of Manehattan with Cherry leading the way, she seemed to know every shortcut and hidden turn like the back of her hoof. All the while she continued to express how excited she was that Twilight was coming with them, bouncing around them randomly and still managing to guide them.

At the moment, they stood in an alleyway, facing a set of stairs that led to a door below street level. There was nothing significant about the door at all, other than the brightly colored sign hanging from a chain above the stairwell. It was a bright yellow trumpet, tiny white wings sprouting from its sides. It was perched on top of a small branch, the bottom of its valves balancing it on top of it.

Cherry beamed from the top of the stairs, looking up at them with a smile as Twilight examined the area they had led her to. “Is being more fun inside, Twilight! Come on!” She bubbled, buzzing into the air and waiting for them. 

“What is this place, exactly?” She asked, leading Marty to the stairs carefully. She was starting to become unsure if she really wanted to go anywhere that was under the streets, even if Cherry was this excited.

“Its like a little restaurant, only the food isn’t really what ponies focus on here.” Marty said, taking a first tentative step while feeling out the stairs with his cane. “Most of the ponies that come here, surprisingly a lot, are here to sing in a fun, safe environment. I even teach some lessons here on slow days, for ponies that are just starting out.” He said, continuing to carefully guide his hooves down the staircase.

She watched him carefully, staying near enough that she could halt a fall, but far away enough that she wasn’t going to accidentally trip him. Even though it didn’t show in his words, he looked like he was struggling. Every step seemed to put him further on edge as he went, until he was finally safe on the concrete of the bottom step.

He sighed in relief as he settled off of the last step. “We come every night, tonight there should be some more of the professionals. But it’s always about having a good time for the singer. No having to worry about crowds, or criticisms. Unless, of course, they ask for somepony’s opinion.” He finished, moving toward the door in a memorized pace as Cherry landed beside it.

When they opened the door, a flood of music poured out. Where the street had been almost completely quiet before, it was now filled with a cheery beat. They entered and were swallowed by the music, while not deafening as the concert had been, it was still a good volume toward loud. The music was loud enough that it was impossible to miss, but was easily talked over as apposed to having to scream just to get a pony to notice that they were talking. They had walked into the middle of a song, a pony standing in the center of a well lit stage singing and nodding along with the music.


“I hear the songs,


from the places where I was born.”


The stallion sang, his voice calling clearly from the stage as he sang into a microphone placed before him. Around him, various other ponies had been assigned to instruments strewn about the stage. The way they were laid out was not messy, but was random enough for it to almost feel like a foal’s toybox.

Below the stage, a large number of tables sat close to one another, leaving barely enough room for ponies to sit, let alone maneuver between them. A large number of ponies filled them, there wasn’t enough for her to call it teeming, but there was definitely a crowd. Near the far side of the room was a bar that opened into a kitchen, the various smells of foods lingering lightly in the air from it.

There was another, much wider, set of stairs that led down into this maelstrom of tables, decorated with brightly colored carpet. The lighting was dim, but not dark. It got brighter near the stage, where various lights had been aimed toward it from a scaffolding hanging above it.

Cherry led Marty, and consequently Twilight as well, into the sea of tables. She wound their way through the tables, toward the kitchen near the rear. They were able to find a spot near the center before the stallion started to sing again, letting her listen more carefully to the music.


“Up on the hill across the blue lake,


That’s where I had my first heartbreak



“I still remember how it all changed,


my father said,



“Don’t you worry,


don’t you worry child


See, heaven’s got a plan for you



“Don’t you worry,


don’t you worry now”


The stallion let the music take over for a moment, still bouncing along to the music. Everypony that was here, either seemed to be having a conversation with the rest of their table, or happily watching the singer and the music players. She listened as the instruments warped in time to a unicorn’s careful manipulation of a mixing board that had been turned to display all of the complicated knobs and lights that she used.

Overall the mood was much more relaxed, and she felt like she could actually enjoy some of the experience instead of being deafened by it. She watched as Cherry guided Marty into a seat that faced the stage, quickly taking a seat next to him. Twilight followed suit and sat on the other side of them, letting her both see the stage and be able to talk to Marty easily if she wanted to.

The music paused for a moment, slowly picking up as the stallion singer started his next verse.


“There was a time,


I met a mare of a different kind



“We ruled the world,


thought I’d never lose her out of sight



“We were so young,


I think of her now and then



“I still hear the songs


reminding me of a friend”


She felt a tap on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from the music as it continued. “So what do you think?” Marty asked, his hoof still raised from the motion to get her attention.

“I think I like this a bit better.” Twilight said, having to speak slightly louder than normal to be heard over the music. She didn’t have to strain her voice, but it was noticeably louder than she would normally have spoken. “How did you find this place?” She asked, wondering if there was anything interesting he could tell her about it.

“Cherry was the one who found it,” Marty said, nodding over his shoulder to the bouncing little changeling. “She loves this place. There’s so many good moods flying around, not like at the concerts. It can get a little overwhelming for her sometimes, so she really likes it when she can come here.” He explained, motioning toward the ponies around them. “Everybody is really supportive here, so that makes it really easy for her to enjoy herself. I made friends with the owner a little after Cherry first brought me here, so I started teaching lessons on the slower days of the week.” He said, nodding back behind him toward the kitchen.

“That’s nice, how popular is this place?” She asked, wondering how anypony could find this place since it was so out of the way.

“Pretty popular in the music districts, just about anypony from there could tell you where it is.” He said, settling back into his chair. “Do you sing at all, Twilight?” He asked, the music dying as the song ended and allowing them to lower themselves back to a normal volume. He paused to clap his hooves together for the singer alongside a large portion of the ponies in the room.

“I do every now and then, but not usually … as a performance.” She admitted, shrugging slightly. Marty nodded, but didn’t say anything against it.

“Eggs at twelve and one, biscuit at nine, and your ‘tater hash is on the rest.” A voice interrupted, a plate with the described food sliding in front of Marty. She looked up to see a bright pink pegasus mare hovering over their table, she wore an apron with a pad of paper and a rough pencil sticking out of it. Her mane was a bright orange, a stark contrast in its day-glow appearance. Her cutie mark was a large book, little slips of paper popping out of its pages.

“You always know what I like, Butterfly.” Marty replied, turning to the plate in front of him and running a hoof along the outer edge.

“That’s because you always ask for breakfast, no matter what time of the day it is.” Butterfly replied with a roll of her eyes, turning with a smile to Cherry. “At least Cherry likes to mix it up. What do you want, sweetie?” She asked, her smile growing warmer as she spoke to the changeling.

“Cherry wants hay fries and cherry syrup!” She exclaimed, hopping up to put her forelegs on the table. She smiled up at the pegasus, practically wagging her tail as she hopped up and down in her seat.

“Why am I not surprised? One Cherry flavored breakfast haystack coming up.” The mare said, pulling out her pad and writing down the order. She pulled the pencil from her mouth when she had finished writing, looking over toward Twilight next. “Who’s your friend, Marty? Don’t think I’ve seen you come in here with anypony other than Cherry for as long as I’ve known ya.” She asked, looking over Twilight with a smile.

“That,” he said, motioning toward Twilight with his head, “is Twilight Sparkle.” He finished, running his hoof around the plate to the side with the biscuit perched on it. His horn lit up to pull of a piece of the fluffy bread that he quickly popped into his mouth, ending his introduction there.

“Really! That’s fantastic! Can’t believe you actually met ‘er.” Butterfly remarked, touching down in the miniscule space between the tables next to Twilight. “That twig talks about you all the time, you’d think you were his idol, or something.” She said with a wink. Twilight managed to vaguely notice Marty make a choking sound behind her, but was quickly distracted by Butterfly’s offered hoof. “Name’s Butterfly, I own the Trumpet. Whadd’ya think a’ the place?” She asked, cheerfully introducing herself.

Twilight met the hoof happily, tapping against it with a friendly smile. “I like it a lot better than the concert I was just at.” She said, nodding around at the room. “It’s much easier to enjoy the music here.” She commented, watching the pegasus smile warmly.

“That’s the idea!” She beamed, standing a bit taller. “So, what do you want? We got breakfast stuff, or anything that I can cook on a stove.” She said, shrugging. She put the pencil in her mouth again and the pad to meet it as she waited for Twilight to ask for something.

“How about just a daisy sandwich?” She asked, watching as Butterfly nodded and scribbled down her order. 

Butterfly lifted back into the air, replacing her pencil and pad into her apron. “Good and simple, I like it. I can be back in a few minutes with your food.” Butterfly said, starting to move off. But she halted herself at the last minute and turned back around, a devious smile on her face. “Hey, Marty.” She said, much louder than was necessary and drawing the nearby ponies. “Why don’t you sing us something?” She said quickly, darting off toward the kitchen before any response could be made.

Marty sat up instantly with a shocked look on his face. The response from the ponies around them was almost instant, and unanimous. There was a cheer, and various calls of encouragement throughout. His ears aimed themselves toward the ground at the sides of his head, a defeated look crossing his features as he listened. She vaguely heard him mumble something about a bug zapper before he started to stand up.

Cherry hopped up as well, stopping him and whispering in his ear. “You think so?” He asked, responding to whatever it was that Cherry had suggested. “I haven’t practiced that one as much …” He mumbled, his head tilting as Cherry continued to whisper to him. “Alright, Cherry.” He consented, standing fully and cringing slightly at the encouraging cheer that went up from the ponies around them. “All right, I’ll sing.” He said loudly to the ponies, scooting his way into the aisle.

A pegasus already standing on the stage hovered over, lowering herself so that she could guide him toward the stage. He must come here a lot for the ponies to already be so familiar with him. Twilight thought to herself, thinking to the various things that had happened of their own accord from the moment they entered. Butterfly knew him well enough to not only spot him as he entered, but to have already known what he would have wanted to eat. When Butterfly had suggested that he sing, she could tell that the enthusiasm wasn’t just anonymous encouragement, the ponies here already liked his singing. And the ponies manning the stage had already known to help him to the stage.

Why did Shiny say that he was only now trying to be open to ponies? Were these some of his only friends? Or was he just distant to anypony he didn’t already know? She thought, watching Marty walk onto stage and hearing the corresponding cheer. He started to talk with the ponies on stage, planning out the song they would play with him. He had been so open to bringing herself and all her friends to an expensive show for something as simple as accidentally running into them. How could somepony that instantly generous be considered closed off?

‘... you’d think you were his idol, or something.’ Butterfly’s comment echoed in her head, seeming more like an innocent jibe at Marty more than anything, at the time. Could it have been more literal than that?

“Alright, everypony. I’m about to say something really stupid.” Marty’s voice called over the microphone, the crowd quieting slightly between various cheers. Marty sighed slightly, the band behind him poised at the ready behind a different set of instruments. They had either pushed their previous instruments to the side or had moved over to the new instrument, completely changing the layout of the stage in only moments.

“I’m going to dedicate this song to the mare that inspired me to be the pony I am today.” He said, listening to the crowds reaction with a weary nod. There were various cheers and ‘Aww’s that reached out from the ponies around her.

Finally, she thought. I was starting to really wonder who this pony was? An old marefriend, maybe? She considered, the thought resurfacing as Marty brought it up. She had pushed the question to the side at the time, but now it was returning. Shiny had said he had been inspired, but had never elaborated on it. She had pushed it to the side to consider later, thinking that if she really had to know, she could ask Marty.

“This one’s for you, Twilight Sparkle.” He said, motioning with his hoof out toward her table.

Twilight nearly fell out of her seat when she heard that. ME?! Her head had screamed, complete confusion stopping any of her musings from before. How could she have possibly inspired somepony she had never met before to become a better pony? As far as she could tell, she had almost nothing to do with anything that could have related to his … plight.

The music started, cutting off her train of thought as her attention was drawn to the stage. Two of the ponies had donned guitars, strumming and picking together to create a melody. Marty’s voice wavered out over their instruments, a long drawn out note that shifted up and down. She watched another pony poised over a large drum, his hooves wrapped snugly under the large, padded tip.

The guitars trailed off after a few moments, the pony behind the mixing board starting a high pitched hum that built as it continued. Marty ended his long note, the buzz created by the other unicorn reaching an apex and dropping, the stallion over the drum striking it suddenly.


“I’m waking up


to ash and dust


I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust”


        The drum beat out a steady rhythm, a heartbeat that powered the song on. The buzzing sounds of a synthetic rhythm following it and making the sound even deeper as it powered the words that flowed seamlessly from Marty’s lips.


“I’m breathing in


the chemicals”


        He stopped, the music pausing with him as he took in an exaggerated breath. The pause lasted for only a moment, the exhale coming soon after. The music continued as if uninterrupted, the guitars returning with a light picking that cast a ripple of texture to the already powerful sound.


“I’m breaking in,


shaping up,


then checking out on the prison bus



“This is it,


the apocalypse


Who~oh!



“I’m waking up


I feel it in my bones!


Enough to make my systems blow!



“Welcome to the new age,


to the new age


Welcome to the new age,


to the new age”


        The music kicked up, Marty’s voice suddenly jumping as he hit a high point in the song. The stage practically lit up with the sound that came from it, the crowds reactions becoming less than secondary as she watched. As he continued, the other ponies on stage with him began to sing with him, adding another layer to the repetition that drove the song’s power.


“Wo~oha~oh~oh


Wo~oha~oh~oh


I’m


Radioactive, radioactive!



“Wo~oha~oh~oh


Wo~oha~oh~oh


I’m


Radioactive, radioactive!”


        The music dipped again, the light that had practically made the stage glow dissipating with the sound. The familiar bass beat that drove the song returned, highlighted by the melodic picking of a guitar.


“I raise my flag


Don my clothes


It’s a revolution, I suppose


We’re painted red


to fit right in



“Who~oh”


        A hat from the crowd flew up, catching on Marty’s horn and settling lopsided on his head. He didn’t even pause as he adjusted the hat to fit squarely on his head, slotting his gently glowing horn through the slot that let him press it down over his eyes.

        Wait … his horn was glowing? When did he start doing that? She asked herself, noticing now that the stage actually had donned a slight glow, almost blending in with the bright, white lights that reflected off of it. As she watched, the music began to slowly build with a new, eerie whistle alongside Marty’s singing, and the glow with it.


“I’m breaking in,


shaping up


then checking out on the prison bus



“This is it


the apakalypse


Wo~oh!



“I’m waking up


I feel it in my bones!


Enough to make my systems blow!



“Welcome to the new age,


to the new age


Welcome to the new age,


to the new age”



“Wo~oha~oh~oh


Wo~oha~oh~oh


I’m


Radioactive, radioactive!



“Wo~oha~oh~oh


Wo~oha~oh~oh


I’m


Radioactive, radioactive!”


        The others had started to continue his modulating note that he had opened the song with, adding their voices to the song. When Marty hit the high point again, the stage actually lit up with his magical glow. She couldn’t tell what it was he was doing with his magic, but it was spectacular in how it affected the stage. 

Even as simple as it was, his magic simply touching the stage around him, the effect only added to the song. Every edge, every corner defined itself it shimmering grey light. Every plane or smooth curve shone like polished marble.

        The music fell again though, ending the shimmering light show as Marty sang in a lower tone. Even the bass heartbeat that had been ever present through the song left, leaving only the eerie note that drifted out from the stage and the quiet echo of the generated tones that had accentuated the bass.


“All systems go,


the sun hasn’t died


Deep in my bones,


straight from inside



“I’m waking up


I feel it in my bones!


Enough to make my systems blow!



“Welcome to the new age,


to the new age


Welcome to the new age,


to the new age”



“Wo~oha~oh~oh


Wo~oha~oh~oh


I’m


Radioactive, radioactive!



“Wo~oha~oh~oh


Wo~oha~oh~oh


I’m


Radioactive, radioactive!”


As he came to the conclusion, a spark of his magic arced off of his horn. The grey toned lightning bolt struck the hat on his head, rolling off of it in a sharply pointed wave. As he ended, the magic simply left, ending its existence along with the song that had powered it.

Twilight wasn’t sure what to think, but she knew one thing for sure. She had a lot of questions.

> Train Kept a Rollin'
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Train Kept a Rollin'-



The entire building seemed to explode with enthusiastic cheering, the floor bouncing underneath Twilight’s chair from the sheer force that the ponies put into it with their hooves. Marty mockingly cringed, lifting a hoof to poke at one of his ears with a cheeky grin on his face. Either he had enjoyed the performance as much as they had, or he was simply glad to hear a good response to the song. He bowed jokingly when the cheering didn’t stop, eventually lifting a hoof and trying to tell them to be calm.

“Whose hat is this, anyway?” Marty asked from the stage, his horn lighting up and lifting the hat from his head. The hat twitched in the air, as if he wasn’t sure exactly how it should be lifted and he had to keep changing his magical grip on it.

A loud whistle pierced the air, a hoof shooting up from the ponies near the stage. It was a lemon yellow colt, his mane a bright purple that spiked off untidily from his head. “Over here!” The colt yelled, catching Marty’s ears. The hat launched into the air, aimed in the direction of the colt’s voice. It missed by a margin just large enough for the colt to miss even though he had stretched to get it.

“So close!” Another voice called out. Marty swiped his hoof through the air, a mock scowl donning his face before it broke back down into a goofy grin.

Twilight almost didn’t register these events however, her mind reeling. She couldn’t even begin to guess why Marty would ever even look up to her, or why he would be interested in her in the first place. She had almost nothing to do with the musical community, sure, she knew a few musicians, but that hardly constituted her to have a reputation among them. And she had never involved herself in the darker aspects of chemical sciences, that is, drugs. Investigating them or dealing with them. So that was out as well.

Twilight simply couldn’t find any reason that Marty would ever have even heard of her if not in passing or by coincidence alone, and she didn’t like to believe in coincidence. Whatever reason Marty had had for telling her this, her interest had been piqued.

The world around her returned when a plate suddenly slid into her view, a neat and tidy dandelion sandwich sitting on top of it with a small portion of hay chips set to the side. She looked up to find butterfly hovering daintily over their table, the careful flapping of her wings keeping her from blowing the food she had just set down away. In the corner of her eye, she could see Cherry pouring an entire container of red syrup on top of a large portion of hay fries.

“So …” Butterfly said, eying Twilight mischievously. There was a tiny smile on her lips, like it was barely held back from her mirth. One of her eyebrows had lifted, and she could clearly see the question of what she thought in the pose of her body.

“Well … I can say that I’m surprised …” Twilight mumbled, unsure of where to look. The look that Butterfly was giving her made her face flush hot, and she looked down at her sandwich as a way to avoid it, even though she could still feel her eyes on her. “I didn’t realise that you meant that literally. That he idolised me …” She mumbled to her sandwich.

She heard Butterfly chuckle, a light and almost scratchy sound. Much less than laughter, but slightly more than a giggle. “That’s Marty for yah. I’m actually really surprised he did that, too. Normally he’s a lot more … you know, quiet about that sorta thing.” Butterfly mused, a glance at Cherry eliciting another set of chuckles from the pegasus as the tiny changeling stuffed her cheeks full of the sticky hay fries. “Oh, here he comes! I’ll go get summore napkins for yah, sweetie.” She said, darting back over to the kitchen.

Her attention drawn away from the sandwich in front of her, she was able to confirm that Marty was indeed being led back over to their table. She waited patiently as Marty took his own seat, the leading pegasus moving back to the stage to help reorganize it. Marty sat awkwardly for a moment, shuffling his hooves on the seat of his chair as the sound from the crowd devolved back down to meaningless chatter. He coughed, a vain attempt to fill the silence that had fallen between them and to try and loosen the tension that she could actually feel building.

“I have a few questions-”
“Maybe I should explain a few things-”

They paused, their words tangling in each others as they both tried to speak. The awkward silence resumed as they both waited for the other to continue.

“Maybe you should-”
“You go ahead and-”

They stopped again, both of them donning sheepish smiles. Marty managed to cough out another chuckle, one of his hooves reaching up to scratch at his forelock. “Uh- heh … Y-you start, Twilight.” He said, trying to laugh away the awkwardness of the situation.

She opened her mouth to start, interrupted suddenly by a loud bout of laughter from behind Marty. She leaned out to look toward the source, a very sticky changeling who was practically falling out of her chair with laughter. She was absolutely covered in the syrup that had once drenched her hay fries, her mouth vainly held closed over a too large bite of the fries as she laughed. Marty smiled sheepishly, rolling his blank eyes and otherwise ignoring Cherry’s obvious enjoyment of the situation.

Twilight returned to her seat, glad that the awkward tension had been lifted. She let out her own giggle, shaking her head as she started. “That was … uhm … surprising.” She said, unsure of how to continue as she watched a look of confusion cross Marty’s face. “I mean, I never realized that you- … that you looked up to me.” She said, feeling her face warm despite her inner protests.

“I- I thought you knew!” Marty stuttered, his face practically turning a whole new shade of crimson that clearly shone out of his black fur. “I- I mean- …” He stopped himself, one of his hooves reaching up and supporting his head as he leaned heavily on it. “Now I feel really stupid.” He muttered with a bittersweet grin that he forced onto his features.

“Hey! No, that’s not what I meant! I mean- I thought that it was sort of … sweet,” she admitted, reaching out with a hoof and resting it gently on his shoulder. “I’m still surprised, I had no idea that I could … help somepony like that without really knowing it.” She said, watching him slowly lift his head.

“So … I guess Shiny didn’t tell you that, then?” He asked, looking toward her, his ears locking on her directly.

“Well, he told me that you said you had been inspired by somepony after you went- went to rehab …” She said, pausing slightly at the mention of his attendance of a rehabilitation facility. She wasn’t sure if he would be very comfortable with her saying that in public.

“Oh, wow! So he told you that, but not that! That is just like that-” Marty started, sitting up with a huff. He leaned back in his chair, seeming to relax. “Maybe I should explain …” He said after a moment, scratching at his forelock again. “After I went to rehab- well, I sorta lost my momentum.” He said with a sigh, his hoof returning to the plate in front of him and idly running around its edge. “I was practically on the verge of a relapse. But then I heard about you …” He trailed off, the blushing on his cheeks slowly dying to something less noticeable. “I heard about the stuff you did, and it sorta- got me thinking, you know?” He muttered, starting to seem slightly less comfortable.

“Okay, but how could I have done something to inspire you?” Twilight asked, her curiosity unsatisfied with only the partial explanation.

“You’re gonna think that I’m making fun of you.” Marty said quickly, starting to lose the resolve that would have let him continue.

“I won’t. I promise.” Twilight said, almost pleading at this point. “You can’t just start to tell me and then stop like that, come on.” She tried, leaning forward and putting a hoof on his arm again.

He paused his nervous tracing of the plate in front of him, stopping at the six o’clock position and tapping it for a moment. “Okay, but … don’t be angry with me, okay?” He said, waiting a moment for a signal for him to stop. When it didn’t come, he sighed and continued. “Pretty much anypony who followed current events knew that Princess Celestia’s student was … introverted. Some even went as far as labeling you antisocial.” He said carefully, a nervous smile creeping onto his face as he paused.

“Introverted?” Twilight muttered under breath. “Well, I guess that might be fair. I wasn’t ever doing anything but my studies then, and I usually preferred it over trying to make friends, then.” She admitted, watching Marty relax slightly at hearing that she wasn’t upset with him.

“Yeah …” He muttered, taking a deep breath and continuing. “Well, then you went off and … saved the world. And all the sudden you were this outgoing, and friendly, and just- a good pony. It was sorta inspiring to somepony who couldn’t see, and was stuck scraping the bottom. Sorta made me rethink everything, rekindled those things I had wanted to do before- Well, before this.” He finished, pointing at one of his eyes.

She paused for a second, staring intently at his eyes. They had almost seemed to glow for a moment in the strange lighting of the room, but he blinked and they returned to normal. “... I had no idea.” She muttered, blinking away her more scientific questions. “That’s- uhm-”

She stopped suddenly, the harsh sound of a chair scraping across the floor startling her before she could figure out what she wanted to say. Both of them turned to look at Cherry, who was standing up on her chair and staring open mouthed at a wall mounted clock. “Twilight! Twilight! When does train leave?!” She asked, hopping up and down, waving a hoof toward her and keeping her eyes on the clock.

“Uhm- at seven o’clock. Why?” Twilight asked, slightly put off by her sudden interruption. She almost couldn't help herself from smiling, Cherry was almost soaked in the syrup she had used on her food.

“It is being six forty o’clock!” Cherry said, a look of mortification flashing across her face. “It is to being take more than twenty minutes to get to station from Trumpet!” She said jumping up and pointing at the clock.

“What?!” Twilight asked, jumping up in her own seat and looking toward the clock herself. Indeed, the hands very hauntingly pointed to the six forty mark on the clock. She felt more than saw Cherry light herself with a green smoldering fire, the smell of burning sugar suddenly filling the room. She spun around in time to see a faint trail of smoke drift off of Cherry’s back before she started to speak.

“We have to leave now! If we run we catch train last second!” Cherry announced, grabbing onto Marty and dragging him out of his chair and starting toward the door at a fast clip. Twilight followed, dodging out the door as it started to close behind them.

“How did we wait this long?!” She asked as she ran, huffing as she tried to keep up with the surprisingly fast changeling. How she could be pulling Marty along at this pace she would never know, she was still surprised at all the strange turns that Cherry took.

“I think … that that might ... have been my ... fault.” Marty puffed, obviously struggling to keep up with the pace that Cherry had set. They took another sudden turn, stopping suddenly in front of a large metal door in the ground. “I might have … taken too long trying to ...talk. Cherry, where are we?” He asked, tapping on the edge of the door on the ground with a hoof and creating a dull thundering sound.

“Is door to- UNGH!” Cherry lit up the handle of the door with her green magic, pulling on it hard but doing little to move it. “Underground tunnels. Is shortcu~ut!” She grunted, trying to lift it again.

“I got it!” Twilight said, lifting open the door with her magic. It opened with a creak and slammed onto the ground loudly, revealing a ramp that lead into a pitch black tunnel. “Uh … Cherry? I don’t know about thi~IIS!” Twilight started, trailing off into a scream as Cherry pushed her down the ramp-made-slide and into the darkness.

The slide into the dark was fast, ending with her sprawled on a smooth concrete floor. The air was cold and the only light came from the door above them, and that was very little considering that the sun was going down. A moment later, Marty’s own surprised yell echoed down the ramp just before he ran into her at the base of the ramp.

“Oof! Just like old times, huh?” Marty said, rolling off her quickly.

“Not that long ago, Marty.” Twilight mumbled, she thanked the fact that Marty was a skinnier pony, for the sake of her spine. She heard him chuckle again.

The door above them creaked again, the light waning and then suddenly disappearing with another slam. There was an excited squeal followed by another thud against Twilight’s side. “Hi, Twilight.” Cherry said, standing up and shaking herself off. The only reason that she actually knew that Cherry did that because she was right next to her and felt the air move around her, it was pitch black.

“Cherry?! I can’t see anything!” She said starting to gain a feeling of claustrophobia in the dark and presumably small room.

“Oh no! What a nightmare!” Marty said in a mock spooky voice, breaking down into laughter.

“Sorry …” Twilight said quickly, feeling herself blush as she realized who she had said that to.

“Don’t worry about it.” Marty said cheerily, his laughter falling away. “Just light up a spell, why don’t you?” He suggested, Cherry instantly following suit with her own eerie green glow.

It revealed a relatively thin, but tall, tunnel that stretched off to a cross section that disappeared into darkness. It was wide enough to let two ponies walk side by side, but it would be a close fit. She quickly lit her horn with a rudimentary light spell, hers being much brighter than Cherry’s and a less disconcerting color. The walls were lined with brick arches that seemed to support the cracked and discolored concrete on the ceiling and walls, strangely, the floor remained a constant, clean color.

“Where are we?” Twilight asked, following as Cherry started down the tunnel. She wasn’t exactly comfortable following her down into the dark, but her inspection of the tunnels around them distracted her. The tunnel had a slight decline to it, leading them further down into the ground under the city.

“These tunnels were used by the construction workers during the planning and building of the city. But they cut through buildings, dodge past streets, and are otherwise a shortcut to just about anywhere in the city.” Marty said from beside her, his saddlebags bouncing with a slight jingle as they walked with a brisk pace after Cherry.

“How do you know that?” Twilight asked, examining a particularly interesting looking brick support.

Marty hesitated for a moment, long enough for her to wonder if he had actually heard her. “My dad … he was a big history guy. Archeologist, actually.” Marty said flatly. Something was off about what he said, just the way he had had to pause before he talked.

“That’s … really nice …” She said, settling on not pressing the subject. “So why are we down here? I’m not exactly excited about walking under the city.” She said, a nervous chuckle escaping her lips before she could stop it.

“Cherry knows all the shortcuts, she has a talent for it. I swear, if she had a cutie mark, it would definitely be about navigation, or mazes, or something.” Marty whispered to her, continuing to follow the tiny changeling down the tunnel and around another bend that flattened out their descent.

“Cherry did hear that!” The changeling of the same name said, looking over her shoulder with a proud grin on her face.

Now that they had a little time, she could really appreciate how small Cherry was. She was only just larger than a filly, but small enough that she could easily have been seen as one. She could easily have been the same, or slightly larger than any of her friends’ sisters. It was almost easy to picture her as Marty’s little sister.

They walked in silence for a long time, the fast walking pace keeping her just below a trot. She could tell that Marty wasn’t exactly having an easy time keeping the pace, he must not have been used to cardiovascular activities, like running through the city to catch a late train. If her internal clock was right, they had been walking for about ten minutes.

Cherry stopped suddenly, backtracking a few steps and looking down a tunnel leading to the right. She started up it, the incline now leading up toward the surface again. Twilight led Marty up to the vaulted entrance, pausing suddenly as a strange feeling crawled up her spine. She felt Marty freeze with her, his entire body shaking alongside her own shiver.

“What was that?” Twilight asked, a note of fear creeping into her voice. She could have sworn that she had felt something breathing down her neck, but she didn’t want to turn around and grace her imagination with an actual image.

“I don’t know, I don’t want to know. I just know that this place is creeping me out, and my horn is itching about it. Let’s just keep following Cherry.” Marty said, pushing against her to try and get her moving. It worked well, Twilight instantly starting into movement.

She took off at a brisk trot, quickly catching up to the slightly confused changeling. “Why was you stopping?” She asked with a raised eye … ridge, Twilight wasn’t sure what to call it, but it wasn’t exactly an eyebrow.

“We’re fine, Cherry. But let’s get to the station, because I think we’re starting to get behind schedule.” Marty said quickly, his breathing starting to come harder at the faster pace, but he never complained about it.

It took another long walk up the ramp before they started to hear the thunder of a train over their heads. The fast pace was taxing however, even Twilight was starting to feel winded by the run, and she prided herself in keeping a regular jogging schedule. The tunnel ended abruptly with another steep ramp that ended at another metal door, this one split in two where the other was a single plate.

Twilight didn’t hesitate when the door came into view, her horn illuminating the two halves of the door and swinging it open. The larger half of the door slammed out in the direction of the ramp, the smaller half swung up with a creak and merely tinged against the ground. They scrambled up the ramp as quickly as they could, having to carefully step around the door as they ascended. 

Twilight probably couldn’t have described the feeling that she got when she could finally smell open air again. The smell in the tunnel had been subtle, enough so that she didn’t even notice it until Cherry had shut the door behind them, using her own body as a wedge to close them. It had been musty, with this strange underlying level of animal-like musk. If the sight of more concrete walls, smoother and obviously meant to be seen by ponies in its cleanliness, hadn’t been so disappointing she would have jumped for joy.

That joy was crushed under a very loud, and a very foreboding sound. It was the train whistle, Ponyville’s train whistle. Signifying its departure.

“They is leaving without Twilight!” Cherry yelled, whether to the train or to them Twilight was unsure of, but it was of little concern seeing as how Cherry was right. 

They ran up another crowded ramp, finding themselves on the edge of the boarding platforms for the trains. There were several long, raised concrete platforms, each labeled and separated by a large set of double tracks. The train yard was crowded, as it always was in a city like this. But it wasn’t enough to hide the colorfully decorated train leaving for Ponyville among its more industrial cousins.

“Oh no!” Twilight yelped, running full tilt toward her platform. 

She practically leapt over the conveniently placed bridges near the rear of the platforms, barely registering the fact that Cherry and Marty were following closely. The train was leaving without her, she didn’t have time to worry about crowds. With a grunt she lit her horn again, a bubble shield surrounding them as they ran, practically squashing ponies as she barrelled past them.

She didn’t know if they had broken any records, but they had to hop over five other platforms before they were able to get onto Ponyville’s platform. And by then the train was already halfway out of the station and gaining speed.

I’m going to be stuck in Manehattan if I can’t catch that train! Her mind practically screamed, urging her tired legs forward as she gave chase to the retreating train. And I don’t have any bits to buy another train ticket! Her mind screeched, the revelation driving her forward. She could actually see the last train car, Applejack hopping up and down on the platform there, urging them on.

She poured on as much speed as she could, almost ignoring the fact that Marty and Cherry had kept up with her the whole time. There were still twelve of the twenty cars in the station, but she wasn’t close enough yet. She became glaringly aware of the sudden drop into unforgiving and stabbing gravel at the end of the platform, another burst of speed desperately pumping her forward. 

At this point she was sure that her legs couldn’t pump any faster, the wind resistance and sheer amount of speed needed to move her legs to maintain her momentum already starting to drag her down again. She could actually hear Applejack’s wordless encouragement for her to keep going, the train car and the end of the platform growing nearer with every second. She didn’t have a chance, she was slowing, and the train was still gaining speed.

She knew that a train of the design that Ponyville used could easily reach sixty miles per hour, and she knew for fact that she couldn’t keep up with that. She wasn’t Rainbow Dash, not by any margin. But the last car was getting closer, even as she kept telling herself it couldn’t be done.

“Jump!” A voice suddenly yelled, a light impact on her back commanding her to follow the order. Before she knew it, Twilight was leaping toward the last car of the train. It was a bright pink car, a rear platform allowing passengers to stand outside during the trip.

She barely made it.

She felt herself land hard inside the railing on the train, bouncing slightly as a bump nearly tossed her off. The concrete platform whizzed by, revealing not only the unforgiving gravel she had expected, but a rusty gate that had been left open. If she hadn’t jumped when she did, she would have landed right on the rusty metal of the gate. If her legs had hit, she could have been looking forward to some nasty cuts on her legs. But if she had landed on her stomach, she might not have been able to make it to the hospital.

She shuddered at the thought, even as she clutched to the railing she found herself doubled over on. The colorful, but thankfully not sharply angled, railing pressed into her stomach. She could feel the ache from the impact under her ribs, she would be sore later.

“I gotcha!” Applejack’s voice yelled over the increasing wind. Twilight looked to see Applejack rushing forward, she jumped to the railing beside her, grabbing onto a pair of black hooves. A bue aura grabbed onto Twilight, pulling her forward the rest of the way off of the railing and into the safety of the train’s platform, and she was able to turn around and see who Applejack was helping up.

“Marty?!” Twilight yelled out, the black and silver unicorn being pulled up from over the railing in a similarly unceremonious fashion.

He landed with a grunt, Cherry clinging to his back breathlessly. He was breathing fast, trying to fill his lungs even as he had to empty it to get more air. Cherry seemed to be in a similar predicament, practically melting off of Marty’s back as she found a chance to relax. The run must have been torture for them.

“Ya’ll cut it pretty close, there.” Applejack said with a reprimand, picking up Marty and dusting him off with a hoof. “And jus’ what’n tha’ hay were ya thinkin? Jumping after the train like that?” She asked, turning to look at all three of them with a glare.

“Stop harrassing them, Applejack, and get them inside!” Rarity’s voice called from the door. There was barely enough room for two ponies to stand comfortably on the platform, yet all four of them had squeezed onto it at the moment. 

Currently, Twilight was closest to the door, so she was pulled in first. The difference in sound and movement was immense, it was suddenly quiet and she didn’t have all that wind pushing her around. Applejack pulled a very exhausted looking Marty next, mostly having to drag him as his legs wobbled out under him. Cherry wobbled in after them, the door swinging closed behind her.

“Hey!” Rainbow yelled out, drawing Twilight’s attention to the front of the car. She was standing in the door leading to the other car, a frustrated look on her face. “Can’t go anywhere for two seconds without missing something awesome. What happened?” She asked accusingly, shooting an examining look at the tiny, exhausted changeling but otherwise waiting for an answer.

“Twilight near’ missed the train.” Applejack said as she led Marty to a seat carefully, he collapsed onto it without further resistance. “Looks like Marty and … uh … Cherry, followed ‘er.” Applejack explained, watching Marty flinch at a sway of the train car.

It seemed that Cherry recovered first, taking a deep breath and sitting up to look around the room. “Hi!” She said enthusiastically, waving out to the other ponies in the car, which mostly consisted of Twilight’s friends at that point.

“Hi!” Pinkie jumped up, instantly jumping up to follow the greeting. “I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?” She asked happily, bouncing up to the little changeling with a beaming grin.

“Cherry is Cherry!” She said happily, bouncing up and rushing toward the pink pony.

“Hi, Cherry! Oo~oh! You smell like cupcake frosting!” Pinkie said, scooping up the changeling into a tight hug.

“I guess if Pinkie thinks she’s cool, then I’m alright with her …” Rainbow said warily as the two laughed at each other. “I still don’t understand how you guys got on the train, especially these two.” She continued, shooting a questioning glance at Twilight.

“They jumped.” Applejack deadpanned, a less than amused expression on her features.

“... Jumped? … As in, onto the train?” Rainbow asked incredulously, taking a moment to process what she was just told. “That is ... so totally awesome!” Rainbow said, pumping a hoof in the air. “You guys gotta make sure I’m there next time, that sounds so cool.” Rainbow finished, chuckling and falling into her own seat.

The train car swayed as they pulled around a small turn, a groan rising in response to it from the seat where Marty had been dumped. Twilight turned to see Marty clinging to his seat, eyes screwed shut as he swayed with the train. He looked very uncomfortable.

“Ya alright there, pardner?” Applejack asked, turning an eye to him with concern.

“I think I just realized why I’m not a fan of trains …” Marty said, flinching as the car rocked. “Everything is moving, and all these noises. I can’t ever tell when the car’s gonna sway, or when it’ll-” The car suddenly bumped, a track switch as they finally started on their way out of the city.

“Do ya need a bucket?” Applejack asked reluctantly, taking a step back just in case.

“No, but-” He froze again as the train swayed. “J-just gimme a sec.” He said, trying to control his breathing.

“He’s probably got motion sickness.” Twilight said with concern, raising herself from the floor. Her legs protested the movement, still tired from her mad dash to the train. “It can only be worse in the fact that he can’t see anything. Otherwise he could just concentrate on the horizon and he’d be fine.” She muttered, walking over to him and laying a comforting hoof on his back.

“I’m fine.” He protested weakly, starting to sit up. He didn’t flinch in panic with the sways this time, but he wasn’t comfortable with them at all. “Just gonna take a sec to get my uh … train legs. I guess.” He said with a chuckle, interrupted by another bump that made him cringe. “Maybe if I just try and read, or something …” He muttered, twisting around to reach into his saddle bags.

“Don’t worry, the ride usually smooths out once we’re out of the city- Hey! Wait a second!” Twilight said, a thought suddenly springing to her. “What are you doing here?” She asked, shocking Marty out of his saddle bags with a thick book clutched in his mouth. “Shouldn’t you have stayed in Manehattan? Why did you get on the train too?” She asked, causing Marty to drop the book messily back into his saddle bags.

“I don’t see a problem, I wanted to go on a vacation anyway.” He said, surprisingly calm. “Ponyville sounds great! I can get away from the city noises, the smells. No more crowds, or bad air. As far as I’m concerned, Cherry did me a favour pushing me onto the train with you guys.” He explained, dragging the book out with his hooves and setting it in front of himself.

“A vacation-! Marty,” she dropped to a harsh whisper, anger and frustration starting to crawl in where desperation and adrenaline had been. “You don’t have a ticket! They’ll kick you off at the next stop!” She hissed, the sudden feeling of a presence behind her stopping her from continuing her rant.

She turned around to see who it was that was looming over her, and cringed at the sight. It was the train conductor, All Aboard. His large mustache wrapped around his head and connected to the base of his ears. Normally a very cheery stallion, she knew that he could make a very convincingly scary look using just his eyes and that mustache, and he was wearing it now. And then he said the two words that she had dreaded he would say.

“Tickets, please.” 

> Don't Stop Me Now
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Don't Stop Me Now-



“Tickets, please.”

For some reason, those words made Twilight cringe under a sense of dread. While she herself did have a ticket, Marty did not. He seemed very calm for having the conductor right next to him, and having no ticket to show his permission to board the train. If Marty was forced to leave the train, stranded in whatever town the train stopped in next, she would never be able to forgive herself for dragging him into that.

She felt a sense of deja vu at that, having had a similar reaction to her previous actions. Once again, she felt like she was the cause of some grief to him and almost felt foalish for it. She knew that if she had simply paid closer attention to the time, then Marty and Cherry would never have gotten into a situation like this. They had followed her onto the train, and now, they could easily be stranded miles from home because they had all overlooked the fact of an absence of tickets.

“Your tickets, Miss Sparkle? Sir?” All Aboard repeated, looking to them respectively as he spoke. All the while he kept that look about him that simply showed he would not tolerate foolishness.

“I- Uh … Right here …” Twilight said, trying to stall him for a few moments as she carefully pulled out her own ticket from her saddlebags. It was slightly wrinkled, the ticket that gave her pass both to Manehattan and back to Ponyville on the train. She slowly levitated it toward the conductor, allowing him to take it in a hoof and fiddle with his hole puncher.

She turned her gaze to Marty, who was patiently waiting with his ears pointed toward them. Twilight leaned in, whispering to him so that All Aboard wouldn’t hear as he carefully fiddled with her ticket. She took a moment to thank that he wasn’t in a hurry, she knew that he could easily have the ticket punched and ready to go, but seemed to have decided to take as much time as he liked.

“Marty,” she whispered to him, drawing his ears to her voice. “Do you have any bits? Maybe All Aboard has a few extra tickets he can sell you.” She tried, drawing a thoughtful look from him.

“Yeah, I do.” He said, tapping one of his hooves against his chin. “But depending on what they cost, I might only be able to afford one ticket. And I won’t leave Cherry alone in the train, as much as I trust you guys.” He said, quickly adding his compliment with a smirk aimed toward her.

“… At least you’re over that motion sickness …” She said, rolling her eyes as he smiled wider. It didn’t surprise her that he would buy a ticket for Cherry if he couldn’t afford a second one for himself, but she couldn’t let him wander around a strange city alone if he got kicked off.

“Here you go, Miss Sparkle.” All Aboard’s voice said again, Twilight’s ticket setting itself gently on the seat beside her. A weight dropped in her stomach as he turned to Marty, who was still smirking in their direction from his seat near the window. “And your ticket, mister?” He said, that same no nonsense look returning in an instant.

“Don’t got one, mister conductor.” Marty said enthusiastically, smiling toward All Aboard innocently.

All Aboard’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, he hadn’t expected such an open admittance to that. Twilight promptly placed her hoof over her face. How could he have just done that all the sudden? She had hoped that he would at least try and say something clever, maybe try and be nice to All Aboard, but that’s not what he apparently had planned.

“Do you realize the policy of the train system? I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.” All Aboard said, a hoof tapping on the floor of the train car. That no nonsense look returned in full force, the look of an angry stallion making Twilight cringe.

“I’m Sorry to say, sir, that that would be difficult at best for me.” Marty said, nodding toward the stallion and opening his eyes wide to show him his clouded spheres. “But if you have two extra tickets, I’d be happy to pay you for them.” He finished with a grin, blinking toward the train conductor.

All Aboard blanched, snorting in surprise as he realized Marty’s predicament. He obviously hadn’t noticed that Marty was blind, making walking on a rocking train car difficult. “W-well, I’m sorry, I don’t have any extra tickets to sell. Unfortunately, I also cannot allow you to ride free. You can stay here in your seat until we get to the next station, but you’ll have to get off there.” He said, the weight of his position forcing him to remain stoic in his decision.

“I see that there’s no convincing you then,” he said with sigh, his hoof moving up to scratch at his forelock. All Aboard nodded, thankful in the fact that Marty had complied as easily as he had. Twilight could, however, see a slightly guilty look on his features as he did. “However,” Marty interjected, cutting off All Aboard’s nod midway through. “I do have one … other thing. So nopony has to leave.” Marty said, turning to root through his saddlebags again.

The book balanced on the edge of his seat started to fall, prompting Twilight to grab onto it instinctively with her magic. She had dealt with precarious stacks of books before, so much so that it had become reflexive to grab onto books as they fell, almost instinctual. Both she and All Aboard watched as Marty rooted through his saddlebags, eventually lifting his hoof free of it.

Around his hoof, he had wrapped a worn, green lanyard. Hanging from it was a laminated card, barely the size of a playing card. He turned his hoof toward them, the card swinging around from the motion. All aboard leaned down to look at the card himself, squinting as he read whatever was printed on it.

All Aboard’s eyebrows suddenly made their best imitation of birds as they flew upwards to hide under his hat. “I suppose that means that you and your friend are in the clear, sorry for bothering you about it.” He said, standing up and moving away.

“What?” Twilight asked, moving to look at the card herself. Apparently Marty was faster than her however, as the card quickly made its way back into his bag. “What was that? How did you suddenly convince All Aboard to let you stay? He never just lets that sort of thing slide.” She said, remembering the time that Spike had been caught sneaking onto the train. To say the least, All Aboard had been displeased.

Marty carefully closed up his bags again, turning to her with a confused look. “I didn’t do anything.” Marty said with a grin, turning the look into a playful smile as soon as he was looking toward her. He was acting like nothing had happened at all.

Twilight groaned inwardly, rolling her eyes as she saw the game he had tried to start playing. She wasn’t going to be caught in that, having enough experience with strange wordplay and Pinkie Pie. “Fine, what was on the card then?” She asked, shaking her head. He’s playing games now, at least he wasn’t as worked up as she had been.

“Aah, that’s the right question.” He said, chuckling slightly. His chuckle died in his throat as he turned he placed a hoof back on his bag. “... It was a royal travel pass, lets the owner travel without purchase of a ticket.” He said, turning his hoof to the cushion where he had left his book.

“How did you manage to get one of those, even I don’t have access to most parts of the castle, let alone free travel expenses.” Twilight said, watching Marty search for his book with his hooves.

“I was sort of a … gift ...” He continued to mumble, something about a promise, but it quickly became unintelligible. “Twilight, have you seen my book? I was sure that I put it right here …” He said, patting the seat’s edge in front of him.

“Oh, I grabbed it when it started to fall.” Twilight said distantly, her thoughts kick started again. That sounded like he wasn’t really sure about what he said. She thought, noting how his statement had turned into something as more of a question. There was something that he was trying to avoid talking about. She pushed aside the thought however, deciding that Marty could have personal reasons for not approaching the subject.

In that moment she looked down at the book in her magic, noting its appearance. It had a worn and faded red fabric binding, slightly frayed along the edges and corners. She flipped the book over, revealing the title to her. “Advanced Magical Infusion and Enchantments,” Twilight read aloud, looking over the strangely textured front. Underneath the lettering, there was a pattern of raised dots. Braille. She thought idly, examining the pattern.

“That’s it!” He said, turning to her with a smile that quickly turned sheepish. “It’s … uh … sort of a pet project I’ve been working on, that’s all.” He said, jumping slightly as the train hit another bump.

“Oh, well maybe you and I could share notes sometime.” Twilight said, setting the book gently in his hooves. “I might be interested in seeing what sort of things you’ve been working on, it would be a welcome break from theoretical dimensional rift physics.” She said, watching him flip open the cover of the book and pause. 

He seemed to be confused for a moment, blinking as she listed off her most recent study subject. Perhaps she had lost him.

“That … Uhm … I might not be able to follow a … mutually intellectual conversation on something quite that advanced. But that might be nice, yeah.” He chuckled, his hoof running along the edge of the pages until it found a stiff page marker. He hooked the tip of his hoof into the marked page, flipping it open to pair of pages that were covered in a neat pattern of the raised dots. “So is that why you were in Manehattan? New study material, that is.” Marty asked, resting a hoof on one of the pages and idly moving it across the raised patterns there.

“Yeah, but it looks like I’m going to have to put in a special order from the publisher. I couldn’t find anything on this theorem that I’ve been looking into.” Twilight said with a smile, glad Marty hadn’t cut off on a sour note. She already had enough anxiety when talking with Fluttershy, it seemed like anything could turn the tiny pegasus into a quivering ball if she wasn’t careful. “It has to do with some ancient carvings that were discovered a few years ago, some ponies are starting to examine them more closely and I found their opinions and observations on it fascinating, and strangely relative.” Twilight explained, already feeling the dull ache that always came with searching through catalogues. It was a little known fact that Twilight actually didn’t like reading those books, she found it tedious even for her.

“That’s too bad,” Marty remarked, tilting his head with a thoughtful frown. “I might have an old favor I could call in for you, if you like. She might be able to help you out.” Marty said with a smile, his hoof still gently searching about the page in a seemingly random pattern. It looked like he was searching for a specific spot on the page, and still managing to pay attention to their conversation.

“Could you?” She asked, smiling warmly. “That’s really generous of you, thanks.” She said, watching him smile and shake his head.

“Not a problem, I’m sure she’d be glad to get rid of my favor in exchange for a conversation with you, or something.” He said, waving off her compliments as he kept searching on his page. The train swayed slightly more than usual, making him tense up until the train had settled back into its place. “She hates having unpaid debts, so she’d only be happy to come see you if I asked her.” He finished, settling his hoof over a spot on his page and pausing it there.

“I can’t even tell you how great that would be. To quote a certain pegasus; ‘It would be so, totally awesome,’” she said with a giggle, Marty replied with his own reserved chuckle. “I feel like I’m taking advantage of you, though. What with all the music, and now you’re offering to call in a favor for me …” She said, watching Marty’s face flush with color.

“Heh heh, yeah. It’s no problem really.” He insisted sheepishly, seeming to find the book in his hooves suddenly much more interesting. His hoof stopped over a point on the page, apparently settling on the place he had been searching for.

A loud yawn interrupted them, drawing their attention to its source that had wandered to the seat of their bench. Cherry still had her mouth widely open, showing off her long fangs and the flat, enamel plates that constituted as teeth. Her eyes had scrunched closed, and only opened halfway as she tiredly walked past Twilight and to Marty. She tiredly clambered up onto the seat between Marty and the window, leaning against him with sleepy eyes.

“Tired, Cherry?” Marty asked, letting the exhausted changeling snuggle up against his arm. He must have recognised her yawn, otherwise Twilight couldn’t know how he would have recognised her. Cherry replied with a tired hum, eyes fluttering closed. “Careful, Cherry. Don’t poke me with your teeth.” He whispered to her, the smile on his face softening as she settled into place next to him. She flipped over onto her back, her little legs folded up against herself in the air as she used Marty as a pillow.

Twilight couldn’t stop the “Aww ...” as it left her lips, her smile growing warmer. She was reminded of that image of Cherry as Marty’s little sister. “You know, before I met you guys, I probably never would have been able to consider a changeling cute.” She said quietly to Marty, his ear flicking to her.

“Glad we could change your mind.” Marty replied just as quietly, both of them trying not to wake up the dozing Cherry. “Lately she’s been finding the strangest places to nap. Once we found her inside of a breakfast cabinet, sleeping like a rock.” He said, smiling as Twilight repressed a quiet laugh at that image.

They fell into silence after that, Marty’s hoof starting to move along the page from the place he had held, and Twilight taking the chance to look around the car. The sound of the train’s wheels could be heard throughout the car as it swayed down the tracks on the five hour ride back to Ponyville, otherwise breaking the relative silence of the car. 

The dim light of the low heat lanterns that were placed down the aisle lit it well enough to see by, but not so much that a pony couldn’t ignore it and sleep during the ride. Not that she would be able to, she would just end up waking up with a start. The movement of the train almost always gave her a false sense of falling that would shock her awake, mitigating any sort of rest gained from the few minutes of sleep.

The seats were laid out before her, her own positioned near the rear of the train. There were four sets of seats on each side, two that pressed up against the front and rear walls, and four in the center that shared a backrest. Darkening windows matched up with each, one larger window next to the doubled up seat.

Rainbow had employed the entirety of one of the wall seats at the other end of the car as her bed, sleeping soundly through every rock, bump, and sway. Rarity and Fluttershy sat across and to the right of Twilight, chatting quietly with each other. Applejack sat to the right of Twilight’s seat, staring out the window and fiddling with her hat. It looked like she was well on the way to where Rainbow had already found herself. Pinkie was wandering around the car, mumbling something about a catapult that simply couldn’t be safe.

Her gaze eventually drifted past the train car, to the darkening sky behind the slightly reflective glass. At this point, the light was low enough outside that it was becoming difficult to see past the reflections on the glass that would have let her appreciate the landscape. But she could clearly see the waning light in the sky, now reaching its second stage.

This was her time.

She always felt like it was almost poetic, every part of her namesake. First, the sun would hide itself below the horizon, but its light would shine for so much longer, and still so bright. And as it set further, the stars would gently peak out from behind Celestia’s blanket of light, enough to start navigating by. And then the sky would truly become black, in the Astronomical Twilight. 

She simply watched as the stars slowly revealed their mosaic of light in the darkness, basking in the near silence as she tried to avoid a startled awakening at the hooves of the train’s motions. The quiet of the car was at one of those levels where any small, or soft sound would simply have been lost. However, it was at that point that her ears perked up at the sound of a soft muttering, just to her left.

Her eyes turned toward the noise, her heavier than normal eyelids slowing her down. It was Marty, his hoof moving steadily along the page as he read. As he did, he appeared to be mouthing out the words, which at some point had drifted into a soft muttering. “... that can be forced to flow, at power, through a foci is limited by the thickness and makeup of the foci. Represented by the equation …” He muttered softly, the words drifting up and down in volume and cutting off certain parts of his aural concentration.

After a few more minutes, he replaced his marker and closed the book. It surprised her that he had only read such a small portion before finishing. He raised his hoof to scratch at his forelock again, a frustrated scowl decorating his face. As she watched, he repressed a yawn, lowering his hoof in search of his saddlebag. He pulled it off of his back after gently unbuckling it, sliding it around carefully so that he wouldn’t bump the dozing changeling.

As he pulled it away from himself, the bag opened up and dropped out the card from earlier. He didn’t seem to notice as he replaced his book in the bag, gently setting it down on the floor. His shifting made the card finally fall completely out of the bag, landing on the edge of the seat between them.

She picked it up in her magic, lifting it toward herself. She hesitated, Marty seemed to have been reluctant to even pull out the card, which would be why he had actually tried to buy another ticket. In fact, he had been very fast to change the subject, as small a subject as it had been. In that moment, her tired mind was subjected to another bout of its insatiable curiosity.

She glanced at Marty, a decision making its way into her mind as she couldn’t stop herself. She looked down at the card, a small note scrawled on the backside of it in a slanting hornwriting. ‘Happy Birthday, Junior! ~ Pops’ It said. This had been a present, to Marty from his father. 

She paused again, a thought recurring to herself. She took another glance at Marty, seeing him trying his best to rest in the still gentle swaying of the car. He had seemed reluctant to mention his father when the subject had fallen there during their walk. Could Marty have had a bad experience with his father? A falling out, perhaps? It would justify his unwillingness to remind himself of a bad memory. Or maybe he didn’t want to think that he was still relying on his father? Shiny had told her how important it had become for him to stand on his own hooves, having to resort to using something his father had earned probably was the last thing he wanted to do.

With a split decision ... she returned it to his bag. She would hate herself for going any further, it would be too intrusive. She would feel like she was taking something from him, and she couldn’t imagine what he would think of her if she so thoughtlessly intruded on his privacy. Once again, she thought to herself, I would never be able to forgive myself for betraying a friend’s trust like that. She thought with a sigh, closing up his bags for him.

“I’m at that point where I’m too tired to concentrate, and-” The train hit a slight bump, causing Marty to pause as he flinched. “There’s that, so I can’t just go to sleep.” Marty finished quietly, turning toward her with a tired grin. His eyes were only mostly open, even though they didn’t make a difference, he still held them open like any other pony would.

“I know what you mean, I can never sleep on trains.” Twilight replied, throwing a knowing smirk toward him before she realized he couldn’t actually see it. “And I always end up reading until I fall asleep on the book.” She joked, drawing a small chuckle from Marty. “So, are you stuck on something?” She asked, remembering the all too familiar look of frustration that had donned his features before he had closed his book.

“Yeah …” He said reluctantly, stretching it out as he tried to stall his admittance. “I want to set up a complex system of signals that can be repeated, stopped, and edited. But I also want it to be as compact as possible. So the problem comes in with storing all the potential energy I need to run and maintain the signal, and that anything small enough simply burns up from the intensity of the magic. I need to find some sort of balance, or system that makes that possible.” He explained, a tired look dominating his features as he waited for her response.

“That’s interesting.” She replied, considering the idea. He hadn’t revealed the purpose of his project, but the premise seemed simple enough. An enchanted device that could remember a pattern of signals, and replay them on demand. “Maybe you could show it to me while you’re still in Ponyville and we can do some brainstorming. It sounds like a fun project. How long have you been working on it?”

She watched Marty take a deep breath, his eyes drifting closed. “Since before I went blind, that sorta put it on hold. But after I heard about you, I tried to start it up again.” He yawned, twitching as the train swayed again. “It was a really cool idea, especially at the time.” He was starting to sound very tired, his words becoming slightly slurred. “Can you imagine? A portable record player, but without the record …” He said, drooping slightly and jerking his head up again. He blinked rapidly as he fought the need to fall asleep, a losing battle.

“That does sound interesting.” Twilight whispered enthusiastically, the ideas that that presented slowed by her fatigue. “I’m not sure how you’re going to manage it, but I’m definitely interested now. How are you going to store the music? A variant on a stasis field spell, maybe?” She asked, turning to look at him. She stopped her questions when she realized that Marty wasn’t listening anymore, he had fallen asleep.

She clamped her lips shut, not wanting to disturb the scene before her. Marty had shifted, leaning his head against the glass of the window. His arm had moved around Cherry, pulling her close to his side in an embrace. His mouth had fallen open slightly, his breathing gentle and quiet as he snoozed.

She turned back to the window, seeing her reflection in the glass before she looked past it to the starry sky. “Good night, Marty.” She said quietly, fighting her own need for sleep. 

Another three and a half hours to Ponyville.


---


Train wheels screeched along their tracks, the car’s sudden motion rousing the entire car. Twilight was shocked out of the trance-like half sleep she had found herself in during the remainder of the ride, though the feeling of rest was absent. Marty sat up quickly, as if somepony had just poked him with something sharp, shaking off his sleep and stirring Cherry’s own sleep.

Twilight heard Cherry mumble something in defiance of the noise that tried to wake her. Rarity and Fluttershy had never actually joined them in sleep, Fluttershy suffering from Twilight’s own predicament in train travel, and Rarity had decided to keep her company. Rainbow and Applejack both roused themselves with a snort, jumping up in their seat and mumbling various things about apples and weather, respectively. Pinkie was sitting next to a window facing the town, bouncing happily in her seat to the pattern of some unheard song.

“Mhmm …” Marty mumbled, blinking wearily as he tried to rouse himself. “Where are we?” He asked, the words floating somewhere between tired and still attempting to remain quiet.

“Ponyville station.” Twilight replied, starting to stand from her seat as the train slowed to a stop. “Do you want me to help you with your saddle bags?” She asked as Marty started to slide from his seat as well.

Cherry clung to his arm as he did, a frustrated groan of protest leaving her lips. He kept himself next to the seat, making sure not to drag Cherry off and onto the floor. “Sure,” Marty said tiredly, his own nap not doing much in the way of resting him either. Twilight lifted up his bags with her magic, placing them across his back for him. He reached down with his other hoof, and with intermittent tired fumbling, he buckled the straps of his bag together.

“Put Cherry on my back for me? I can carry her.” Marty said, shifting his arm in Cherry’s tired grip. Twilight wrapped Cherry in her magic, gently pulling her off of Marty’s arm. She made a quiet sound of protest before she was placed on Marty’s back, where she quickly wrapped her hole filled arms around his neck and buried her face in his silver-grey mane.

Twilight smiled at seeing that, once again seeing them as siblings in a way. “They should be letting ponies off of the train now, come on.” Twilight said, pulling one of his hooves and leading him into the aisle. He followed sleepily, a blush showing through his dark fur. She let him stand next to her as they walked toward the car door, where the conductor was setting up a step for them to leave the train on.

They reached the step and she carefully guided him down it, that same look of nervousness he had had at the stairs going down into the Trumpet returning to his features. It must have been a little disconcerting to him when he went down stairs, the idea of tripping and falling becoming much more prevalent when you can’t see the steps.

“Ah’ll take Fluttershy to ‘er cottage, Rarity.” Applejack said as they joined them on the dim platform, turning to talk to the two. “It’s right on tha way, an’ Ah don’ like lettin’ ‘er walk all that way by ‘erself in tha dark.” She said, walking up to stand next to the timid pegasus.

“Thank you, dear. I’ll be heading home then, I’m absolutely exhausted. Tah tah!” Rarity replied, taking her leave after that with the massive assembly of shopping bags floating beside her.

“Me too,” Rainbow said, hovering up and doing a stretch mid-air. “See you guys tomorrow.” She said, zipping off into the air in the direction of her cloud home.

“Ya’ll two behave, now. Ya hear?” Applejack said, winking at Twilight as she left with Fluttershy. Twilight rolled her eyes, waving to them as they turned down the road. Applejack wasn’t usually the one to make those types of jokes, so she must have been in a good mood, if tired as the rest of them. 

“So, is there a hotel nearby?” Marty asked, drawing her attention back to him. “You can just drop us off there and we can find you some other time.” He said, turning his tired eyes toward her blankly.

“I’ve got a guest bed you can use.” The words left her mouth before she even realized what she had said, freezing her in place. Why did I say that?! Her mind screamed. There’s only the foldable bed, and there’s only room for it in … my room. Her face flushed hot as she realized what predicament she had walked herself into, and she couldn’t just play it off now that she had suggested it.

“Really? Okay, lead the way then.” Marty replied, unable to notice the distress plainly written on Twilight’s face. 

She flinched at that, it was what she knew he would say, but all the same had wished he would have insisted on a hotel … not that there were any in Ponyville. Ponyville was still such a small town, that most ponies who came here were visiting relatives. So, there were no rooms for rent around the little town. A conclusion that some impulse had happily made for her, and then proceeded to offer what little space she had.

“Alright, let’s go.” She said, already wondering how this would play out. Not in a way that avoids awkwardness. A little voice teased in the back of her mind.

They set off at a lazy pace, the walk from the station to the library being a relatively short one. Marty walked close to her side, their careful pace set in lieu of his forgotten cane, most likely still in the green room in Manehattan. His cautious walk seemed forced however, their fatigue weighing on them.

If anything, the walk took five minutes. The trip would have been shorter if not for their careful pace, Twilight having to be vigilant in the darkness of the night. But they made it to the Golden Oaks Library without incident, at least until she opened the door.

Spike was waiting for her, a dim candle illuminating himself and Owlowiscious. They didn’t exactly looked pleased with her.

“Where have you been, Twilight?” Spike asked angrily as she entered, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. “You said that you would get back before the sun went down and help me look for my topaz!”

“Shhh!” Marty hushed sharply, stopping Spike mid-rant as he entered with Cherry balanced on his back. “Don’t wake up Cherry, she’ll never go back to sleep if we do.” He whispered, moving in as the door closed behind him.

“Uh … Twilight?” Spike asked, the sight of the newcomer, with a changeling snoozing on his back, drawing only confusion from him.

Twilight decided that now would be a good time to set up that guest bed, motioning for Spike to follow her as she took the candle in her magic. “Just come help me set up the guest bed, Spike. You can wait down here with Owlowiscious, I won’t take too long. And then we all can get to bed.”

“Hoo?” The owl hooted, his head turning around to face her.

“Oh, right. You guys, this is Marty. And that’s Cherry. I met them in Manehattan, and they decided to come visit, is all.” She explained, introducing the rather sudden new houseguests quickly. “Marty, this is Spike. He’s my number one assistant, best there is, ever.” She said, allowing the little drake to preen himself in the complement. “And that’s Owlowiscious, our resident night owl.” The owl hooted again, punctuating his introduction with a ruffle of his feathers.

“Just wait here while Spike and I get your bed set up.” She said, whisking the grinning dragon up in her magic and heading up the stairs to her study and loft.

They heard the owl hoot again as they ascended the stairs, Marty’s confused response coming a moment later. “It’s Marty. I thought she just told you that?” They heard, the last of the conversation between the blind pony and the owl muffled as they reached the study.

“What’s going on, Twi? Why’s this Marty guy staying with us?” Spike asked once they had passed the threshold, his confused expression illuminated by her magic’s glow.’

Twilight huffed in exhaustion, she was too tired to deal with this. “First off, I’m really sorry for coming home so late. We ended up deciding to wait for the last train because Marty got us into this big concert show, and then I met Cherry and all the other changelings, and then we went to this little restaurant, and we lost track of time, and then we were rushing, and-” She stopped herself, realizing that she had become redundant. “Long story, short. We had to catch the train at the last minute, and Marty and Cherry got stuck on it with us. So, I offered to let them stay here … for a few nights.” She said, unsure as to when Marty planned to make his return trip.

“Okay, so you brought your new coltfriend home. I get it-”

“He’s not my coltfriend.” Twilight said, if a bit too quickly. She quickly dropped Spike back on the floor so that her horn’s light couldn’t reveal the heat on her cheeks. Is that really what it looks like? She thought, even though the idea wasn’t very unpleasant. After all, Marty was nice, and generous. And he was pretty cute- No! Stop that! He’s just a friend. She told herself. And I’m happy to help a friend. She concluded.

However, it seemed that she hadn’t convinced Spike. “Then why’d you bring him home? This isn’t gonna be anything like the Pinkie Sense incident, will it?” He asked, suddenly becoming suspicious.

“No, Spike. I promise. I put that behind me for good, okay.” She said, remembering just how bad she had gotten with that whole debacle. She sighed again, this time simply because she had to fight off the yawn that would have replaced it. “Let’s just get the other bed set up, we’re all really tired.” She said, moving over to one of the storage closets.

Thankfully, Spike seemed satisfied with that for the moment. They worked together, and quickly had a second bed set up for Marty and Cherry. Although, the construction was intermittent with a few curses and stubbed claws as they fumbled in the dim light of the library. Spike had suggested lighting a lamp, but she had decided against the trouble since they would be going to sleep as soon as they were finished.

She came back down to find a confused looking Marty staring blankly toward Owlowiscious. “Twilight? What’s up with this stallion, all he does is ask questions.” Marty said, continuing to aim his confused look at the owl.

Twilight huffed out a laugh, moving to Marty and leading him toward the stairs. “Owlowiscious is an owl.” She said flatly, watching realization dawn on his face.

“Oh. So when you said ‘night owl,’ you really meant that he was an owl. That’s kinda punny.” He said with a smile, feeling out the first step with his hoof. “You know, this place smells like paper and dust.” He said, slowly ascending the stairs with Twilight.

“Well, this is a library.” She said, rolling her eyes at his terrible pun. She led him around the first turn in the windy staircase, now was the only time she felt that the architect of the tree might have been a little silly in that design. “Golden Oaks Library, to be specific. I live here.” She said, starting up the last leg of the stairs’ length.

“Oh, yeah.” Marty said, his eyes opening slightly more from their fatigued droop. “I read about that, must’ve slipped my mind.” He said, punctuating his sentence with a yawn.

They reached the top of the stairs, Twilight noting that Marty’s anxiety with stairs didn’t seem to apply to ascending them. Maybe it was that open space in front of him that made him so anxious, like standing at the edge of a cliff with every step. “Just a few more stairs, and then we can all get some well needed rest.” She said, leading him through her study and to the staircase that wrapped around to her loft.

She cringed as she looked around her study, in the dark it looked like ground zero of some natural disaster. She really needed to clean this place, especially since she had company now. And with that last flight of stairs, they were finally there.

She guided Marty toward his bed, letting him steady his tired legs against it. She helped him remove the saddle bags from underneath the fast asleep changeling, setting them down next to the bed. They had to wrestle with the changeling for awhile in order to separate them enough so that they could actually get onto the bed.

But finally, Cherry was tucked into the covers, snoozing soundly. Twilight helped Marty carefully navigate under the covers as well, and as soon as he was settled Cherry pulled herself over to him and draped herself over him. They were both asleep almost as soon as they had gotten into the warm bed, an exciting, and long day, finally taking its toll.

Once they were settled, she followed their example. She clambered unsteadily into her own starry bed, wrapping herself comfortably in the covers and slowly drifting into sleep. Her eyes landed on her clock, it read eleven forty three in the evening. She could hear Spike’s less than gentle snoring, the dragon having gone to his own bed at the foot of hers as soon as they had finished with the guest bed.

Tomorrow would be interesting, to say the least.

> Sweet Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Sweet Dreams-



Release me!


~~~


Twilight started awake, jumping to a seated position in her bed and throwing her sweat-soaked covers off of herself. She was breathing heavily and her throat felt sore. There was some lingering sense of fear, or dread, hanging onto the back of her mind like cobwebs. But if it had been a nightmare, she didn’t remember any of it.

The loft was empty, her bed being the only one occupied. The curtains along the window shielded her from the early rays of the sun, saving her from the burning light in her still sleepy eyes. The bookshelf across from her bed remained blocked by the guest bed, pressed up along the bottom of it and otherwise cutting off direct access to the shelves.

The sound of claws scuttling up the wooden stairs of the library made her ears twitch to the door in the study below. Spike slid into view a moment later, a chef’s hat and apron on his scaly form.

“Twilight, are you okay?” he yelled up to her. He looked spooked, but the reason for it was beyond her at the moment.

“Yeah,” she replied hoarsely, rolling off of the bed and yawning. “Why? What happened?” she asked, rubbing some of the sleep out of her eyes as she moved to the edge of the loft.

“Well, you were screaming! Did you have a nightmare?” Spike asked, starting to look confused.

“No, I don’t think so,” Twilight mumbled around a yawn. “Gimme a minute, I’ll be down in a bit,” she said, turning toward her dresser at the top of the stairs leading to the loft. It was simple, polished wood with a small mounted mirror. She looked at herself in the mirror, examining her bedhead. “I look like a mess,” she mumbled, lighting her horn with magic in preparation for a spell.

She concentrated, the familiar pattern of magical energies flowing from her. It was a morning ritual of hers, a bit of a cheat around normal cleaning. With a flash of light, the slight sheen of sweat disappeared from her body, leaving her fur clean and fresh. Any blemishes vanished, and the stickiness around her eyes faded. 

She sighed in contentment, the familiar feeling of the magical tug on her horn wiping away the last of her tiredness. The spell was something more complicated than most unicorns could handle, but the magical toll of it was low and made it childsplay for her, even in the mornings.

However, there was no spell that she knew of to brush a mane instantly. She’d looked. She returned her attention to the nightstand, using her magic to pull out the top drawer. Its contents varied, this particular drawer often acting as a dumping ground for whatever she had wandered to bed with. This often included quills, various parchments, random pencils and markers of mismatched colors. But, more importantly, her manebrush.

She quickly brushed out her mane, mostly just making sure there were no hairs sticking out at odd angles. A growl and a tug from her stomach made her pause, and let her finally notice the delicious smell that had wafted up to her.

“Ooh! Spike made pancakes!” she exclaimed, dropping her brush back into the drawer and dashing down the stairs. She skipped the last two steps, leaping to the bottom floor and trotting toward the kitchen in the back of the library. “I definitely smell pancakes,” she announced as she entered.

The kitchen was simple, it could even be called the bare minimum. All the kitchen utensils sat on display on a set of shelves that pushed up against the wall. A set of tables acted as the countertops, instead of the more traditional cabinets. Most of the other plates and silverware were in the pantry, alongside the food that Twilight kept in stock there. A table sat within a nook in the rear, a continuous cushion acting as the seats along the wall surrounding it. The wooden icebox sat in the corner, the furnace and stove separated from it by a length of table.

The furnace was kept separated from the wood of the rest of the library by a lining of brick on the floor as well as a set of safety spells that Twilight maintained on it. After all, it was a tree filled with old, dry, paper. Best not to tempt fate by keeping kindling, as in her house, near the furnace.

Spike had returned to the stove, standing on a stool as he tended to his pancakes. He had laid out his batter and other cooking implements on the nearest table, where a window gave him ample light to work by.

“Morning,” a familiarly smooth voice greeted. Marty was sitting on the edge of the breakfast nook, his forelegs resting on the table as he waited patiently for a plate.

“Hello, Twilight!” Cherry jumped up, waving to Twilight from behind Marty in her seat.

“Oh,” Twilight stopped her pace, “Sheesh, I almost forgot you guys were still here. Good morning,” she greeted, moving to take a seat across from them. “Sleep okay?” she asked them, watching hungrily as Spike’s pancake pile slowly grew.

“We was sleeping rockses, right?” Cherry asked, looking between Twilight and Marty, who nodded. “But, what about Twilight? Cherry was all shivery when the sun came up, and Twilight was rolling around in her bed,” Cherry asked, tilting her head toward Twilight with a confused frown.

“Yeah, you sounded like you were having a pretty bad nightmare, or something,” Marty said, tilting his head in the opposite direction to Cherry’s and pointing his ears toward her. It was almost comical how alike, and how different they were, and how close they were.

“I’m fine, I don’t even remember it. So, no harm done, right?” she assured, stifling a grin at them. “I’m sure that Luna was watching out for me, so it couldn’t have been too bad,” she said confidently, remembering Scootaloo’s story from when she had gone camping with Rainbow Dash. It had been hard to believe before she had confirmed it with the Princess herself.

“I guess,” Marty said with a shrug, his nose twitching as he sniffed at the smell of pancakes in the air. “Spike, I can’t wait to try those pancakes, they smell great!” he said happily, sniffing deeply.

“They’re almost done, and then I’ll bring you guys some plates,” Spike assured, flipping another pancake onto his steadily growing pile and using his tail to pour out the last of the batter into his pan.

“Quick question, Twilight,” Marty mumbled in her direction, attempting to keep his voice low enough that only she could hear him. Not that Cherry couldn’t hear, too. “Does Spike wear anklets, or something? His hoofsteps sound kinda strange, and I didn’t really wanna bug him about it,” he said, shrugging sheepishly.

Twilight hesitated to answer, confused for a moment as to why Marty would ask such a ridiculous question. Anypony could see that- Oh, she thought to herself. She breathed out a laugh and brushed her bangs to the side of her face. “Okay, you remember how you thought that Owlowiscious was a pony, when really he’s an owl?” she asked.

Marty chuckled, smiling with a bit of embarrassment at that. “Yeah. So is Spike a griffon, then?” he asked quietly, scratching at his forelock nervously.

“Well, no. Spike is actually a baby dragon,” she said flatly, watching Marty’s eyes open widely. It was kind of strange to see his faded orbs get bigger, like they had been replaced with eggshells. 

“Really? A dragon? Gah-” he stuttered, blinking quickly down at the table and rubbing at his forehead. “Sheesh, I hate when I do that. At least I knew Silverwing before I went blind, I knew what he looked like. I guess I didn’t expect to be in such varied company while I was here,” he said with a shrug, turning back to the kitchen as Spike walked over with the pancakes and several plates balanced in his claws.

“Here you go, guys. I’m gonna go get my sapphires, I’ll be right back,” Spike said, untying the frilly apron he used for cooking and wandering out of the kitchen.

“Silverwing was that griffon in the green room, right? I didn’t get to meet any of them, really,” Twilight asked as she levitated a few pancakes onto her plate. Cherry had already dived in, drowning her pancakes in syrup and munching messily on them. It seemed that the little changeling had a serious sweet tooth. Twilight almost couldn’t wait to show her Sugarcube Corner. Cherry might have a field day with that place.

“Yeah, he joined my parent’s herd a few years after I was born,” Marty said, sniffing joyfully at the pancakes. He donned a sheepish grin again, his ears pointing back up at her. “I … uh … hate to ask you this, but … Could you help me with my plate?” he asked, tapping the plate in front of him lightly.

“Oh. Uh, yeah, sure,” Twilight said, realizing how awkward it would be for him to try and find the pancakes and then navigate them back to his plate. “How many pancakes do you want, Marty?” she asked, picking up his plate with her magic and then lifting a pancake over to it.

“Just a couple, I’ll start light today,” he said, shrugging almost imperceptibly.

“Okay,” Twilight replied, floating another pancake onto his plate and setting it down in front of him. “Syrup? All we have is maple, but if Cherry keeps drenching her pancakes there might not be much left,” she said with a giggle, glancing back at the sticky changeling again.

“Just a bit, if that’s all right,” he replied.

Twilight complied, lifting up the syrup bottle and pouring a small portion of syrup over the pancakes, just enough so that all of the pancakes could get some on them. “There,” she proclaimed, scooting the plate across the table until it brushed against his hoof.

Marty hummed, reaching forward and tentatively feeling around his plate with a hoof. His horn flashed, a small section of one of the pancakes breaking off and floating up to his mouth in a wobbly hold.

They ate quietly for a few moments, savoring Spike’s cooking. The chef returned a few moments later, a large blue gem and a grinder clutched in his claws. Twilight stopped after a moment to think, her breakfast forgotten.

“What’s on the calendar today, Spike?” she asked, idly pushing her food around her plate.

“Not a lot,” Spike grumbled, crunching on a chunk of sapphire thoughtfully as he recalled the preplanned calendar. “We’re supposed to go visit Rarity!” he said excitedly, hopping up as he remembered. “Yeah. You guys were gonna plan another gem hunt, and she wanted to see if there was a different nearby gem deposit,” Spike explained, shoving another cut of sapphire-sprinkled pancake into his mouth.

“Oh, yeah,” Twilight agreed, thinking back and remembering it. “Hey, while I’m doing that, and since you won’t really get to talk with Rarity, why don’t you show Marty and Cherry around town?” she suggested, making Spike pause and glance back over at the other occupants of the table.

“Are you sure that it’s a good idea to take a blind pony and a changeling around town? It sounds like the set up to a really bad joke,” Spike said bluntly, pointing over at Cherry and shrugging. “After all, Ponyville is a pretty traditional town. Who know’s what everypony’ll do when they see her,” he added.

“Spike,” Twilight said reproachfully, putting down her utensils and looking at him with a glare. “That’s totally out of line, how could you say something like that?” she asked, pointing over to the other two very confused occupants of the table.

“I don’t have anything against walking around town with Cherry,” Spike defended, lifting his claws up in the air. “I’m just afraid that with the wedding only having been a year ago, that some ponies in town might have some ... unresolved issues with changelings. I just don’t want to put ‘em in a bad situation, you know? Like when Zecora came to town, only ponies will actually have something to build it on,” Spike explained, trying to let Twilight see what he meant.

“Hmmm, you might have a point there,” Twilight relented, putting a hoof up to her chin as she thought. When Zecora had shown up, the reaction of the townsponies had been less than pleasant. And at the time, they hadn’t had anything against her but speculation and rumor. With Cherry, they might have more ammunition. And as influential as she was, she wouldn’t be able to stop a lynching.

This was, of course, a worst case scenario. There was no reason for her to think that ponies would instantly attack Cherry or Marty, even as different as they were. “Maybe if we help her make a disguise? That way, nopony would really care. And Cherry isn’t doing anything wrong, especially if Marty’s still giving her his love, right?” she asked, motioning toward Marty and Cherry to see if either of them had any ideas.

“Twilight is to be helping Cherry make up pony?” Cherry asked with a smile that could have put Pinkie to shame, standing up in her seat and looking toward Twilight imploringly.

“I might be able to, but I think Rarity would be better at it,” Twilight said, nodding toward the changeling. “Her boutique is only a short walk away, we could wrap you up in a blanket and just head over there. Then we could get her to help you make a disguise,” Twilight said, starting to like the idea more as she talked. If they could convince her to help them, Rarity’s eye for detail could help them create a totally original pony, and do it so well that nopony will ever suspect her of never existing in the first place. It was a perfect plan.

“If that’s for the best,” Marty said with a shrug, aiming his ears toward the happily hopping changeling.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Cherry cheered, shoving the last of her syrup souped pancakes into her mouth and hopping up again. “Let’s go!” She jumped up, buzzing clear over Marty and hopping up and down in the kitchen.

“Maybe you should take a bath first, Cherry,” Twilight giggled, watching the once again sticky changeling.

Cherry tilted her head in confusion for a moment, thinking. “Oh! Cherry knows what to do!” she announced, taking a deep breath and scrunching up her face as she concentrated. Bright green fire erupted out from the chinks in her chitin, embers tracing paths through the coating of syrup and effectively wiping it away. It did, however, have the side effect of filling the room with the smell of burning sugar. “There! Now we go?” Cherry asked, hopping up and down in excitement again.

Marty laughed, covering his nose with a hoof. “Somepony’s very excited,” he said, lifting up a piece of the last of his pancakes. “Maybe we shouldn’t keep her waiting,” he suggested, popping the last of his pancakes into his mouth.

“Alright,” Twilight said, taking one last bite of her pancakes and starting to stand. “What about you, Spike?” she asked, shifting out of her seat.

“I’ll catch up, I gotta do the dishes and stuff,” Spike said reluctantly, not moving from his spot as he helped himself to another pancake. “Plus, uh … it could get kinda freaky if Cherry’s …” he waved his claws around, wiggling the fingers a bit.

“Okay, just don’t burn down the library,” Twilight said jokingly, leading the way into the front room. Cherry followed, tugging Marty along behind her. “Let me get a blanket to hide you in, Cherry. Then we can go,” Twilight said as she wandered over to a closet, opening it up and looking for a thin blanket.

It was still early fall in Ponyville, the leaves already off of the trees. So any blanket would probably be fine, and she wouldn’t have to worry about making Cherry uncomfortable in a smothering blanket. She pulled out a thin, blue blanket, moving it over to Cherry.

“Go ahead and put that on, Cherry. Then you and I can go see Rarity and get you that disguise,” she said, watching the changeling grow confused again.

Cherry grasped the folded blanket, pausing to tilt her head toward Twilight. “Marty is not being coming?” Cherry asked, looking crestfallen. “But Cherry has to stay with Marty,” she protested, clutching onto Marty’s leg and putting on a determined look.

“Okay. I just thought that it might be easier if we let Spike show him around while you and I set up your disguise,” she said carefully. For whatever reason, if Cherry wanted to stay with Marty, there really wasn’t a reason for Twilight to refuse her.

Cherry smiled once she realised that she wouldn’t have to leave Marty behind. She buzzed up onto Marty’s back, wrapping herself up so that her face was barely visible underneath the blue fabric. Twilight tugged at it, adjusting it and making sure that it was wrapped snugly around Cherry.

They left quickly, the stiff air catching her mane as she led Marty out of the house. It was a little strange for her, even if the walk was short to get to Rarity’s boutique. Her mind vaguely wondered if ponies would think of her walking so closely to a new pony in town as strange. But that had never stopped her before, Marty was her friend, after all. And there was that one time that she’d gone a little overboard, a few times actually, and ponies didn’t really look at her any different for that.

The walk was easy, and there were only a few ponies out this morning. Rarity’s boutique was fairly close to the marketplace however, so they would have to dart in as fast as they could so that they wouldn’t be stopped by anypony.

“Good morning, Twilight!” A voice said not even a moment before the previous thought entered her mind. It was Time Turner, his distinctive hourglass cutie mark and that ridiculous bow-tie letting Twilight recognize him instantly. “I see you have a new friend,Twilight. I haven’t seen you around town. Are you new here, sir?” he asked, motioning toward Marty.

“Yeah, just dropped in from Manehattan for a bit,” Marty replied before Twilight could try and cover for him. “It’s already so much quieter here, makes it a lot easier to concentrate. And no crowds so far either!” Marty said, tapping against the back of Twilight’s hoof. “Keep cool, and keep walkin’,” Marty whispered to her, Time Turner going unaware of the exchange.

“Good morning to you too, Doctor,” Twilight said, starting to walk again. Time Turner was a Physicist as far as she knew, what he did beyond tending the machinery in the clock tower was beyond her. That bow-tie still threw her off, however.

“So, Manehattan,” Time Turner continued, following them along as they walked. “What do ponies do over there? Big city, and all that,” he asked, looking toward Marty.

“Being blind keeps me from doing a lot of the stuff most of the ponies there do,” Marty said. “I usually end up just listening to music, or playing when I feel like it,” he said cheerily, not acknowledging that for every second that Time Turner talked to them, the more likely it was that he would notice the changeling hiding on Marty’s back.

“Oh my goodness, a blind pony? I’ve never met a blind pony, I was starting to wonder if they actually existed,” Time Turner said, dropping back as they finally approached the boutique. “Well, I can see that you three are on some errands, so I’ll leave you be. Tell your changeling friend that I wish her luck, can’t be easy living in this time,” he said, darting off before they could put a word in.

They heard Cherry stifle a giggle from under her blanket, a few folds shifting up to cover where her face peeked out. “He’s funny,” she giggled from underneath her blanket. Marty was grinning wildly. 

“How does he always manage to do that?” Twilight asked herself. Interactions with the Doctor ended with a familiar situation every time it seemed. Shaking her thoughts from her head, she pushed the grinning pair toward the door of the boutique. She knocked firmly on the door, the dull sound of her hoof on the decorative wood of the door making Marty’s ears twitch toward it.

“One moment,” a refined voice called out distantly from inside. The door opened a moment later, Rarity’s familiarly prepped appearance greeting them. “Oh, good morning, Twilight, Marty. Please, do come in,” she said, backing away and letting them come in. “You’re a bit early for our gem-hunt planning,” she noted as they passed her into the boutique.

“Yes, actually we were wondering if you could help us with something first,” Twilight said, turning back to Rarity as the door closed. Marty shuffled around her, using her as an anchor so that he wouldn’t wander into a wall, or one of Rarity’s many decorative pieces around the front room.

“Really? What do you need?” Rarity asked. She balked as the lump of blanket on Marty’s back shifted. Cherry shook the blanket off of herself and smiling wildly as she looked around the room. “Oh! Hello,” Rarity sputtered, surprised at herself for not noticing the changeling.

“We wanted to see if you could help us make up a disguise for Cherry. We were sort of hoping that your eye for detail could really make it work,” Twilight explained, watching the changeling cheerfully examine the room around her. “You see, we’re sort of afraid that everypony might not be very happy with her. Just look at what we did when Zecora came to town. It might be worse with a changeling,” she explained, the tiny changeling hopping off of Marty’s back and looking around from her own hooves.

“Oh, I see,” Rarity said, looking toward Cherry thoughtfully. She carefully glanced between the other two unicorns, an imperceptible hum escaping her lips. “Well, it’ll be a little bit different from designing dresses, but I suppose I could help,” she said with a little reservation. She wasn’t sure of the little changeling, as innocent as she seemed. She simply didn’t know her, but if Twilight was going to help her, then she might as well, too.

She walked over to the little changeling, making her pause her examinations as she became the subject of another’s. “Well, let’s just see what I can do. You said your name was Cherry. Didn’t you, dear?” she said as she looked at her, trying to smile warmly. Cherry nodded but otherwise remained quiet as Rarity looked at her. “Alright, Cherry. Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll go up on the stage so we can get started. How does that sound?” she asked her, motioning toward the back of the shop.

Against the far wall was a small, raised platform. Mirrors surrounded one side of it so that a pony could see themselves from three angles at once in the decorative frames. Cherry happily hopped up to it, jumping into the center and looking up with wonder at the stage’s decorum. Rarity quickly locked the door to the boutique, flipping the closed sign up and shutting the curtains so that nopony could walk by and see them. After all, if Twilight’s worries turned out to be true, it wouldn’t do good for any of it to be aimed toward her fabulous mane.

“Now let’s just see,” Rarity said, tapping a hoof on her lips as she thought. “Okay, let’s try a bright red little filly,” she suggested, motioning for Cherry to transform.

Cherry grinned and nodded happily. She scrunched up her face and concentrated, green fire spitting out from her chitin and burning paper look revealing red fur in its wake. However, that was all that was replaced. Cherry’s eyes remained compound orbs, her horn and insect-like wings right where she had left them. And her tail and mane remained a tattered looking grey frill. Even her fangs had remained.

“Oh!” Rarity said, shocked that Cherry had taken her words exactly to the letter. She had said nothing about Cherry’s mane, tail, wings, horn, or fangs. “Okay … So, are you going to be Marty’s little sister while you’re here, or just his friend? Because if you’re his sister, then you should probably disguise your wings away. And make your horn more rounded on the tip, like a little filly’s,” she suggested, inspiration starting to lick at her mind. “Oh! And fillies don’t usually have fangs, dear.”

Cherry complied quickly, hiding her wings and horn, and fixing the look of her horn in the same way she had changed her chitin to fur. She shook herself as she finished, little sparks of green magical fire flipping off of herself.

“How about, since I never had any siblings, she could be a cousin,” Marty suggested where he stood, unmoved from where he stood. He couldn’t really help with what Cherry looked like, but he could help make them a cover story for them. “Maybe from … Neigh Zealand?” he suggested, shrugging his shoulder.

“Yeah,” Cherry replied, breaking her uncharacteristic quietness for just a moment.

“Sounds good,” Rarity said distantly, pausing to glance over her back. Marty and Twilight remained exactly where she had left them. She hid the roll of her eyes by turning back to Cherry, re-donning her thoughtful expression. “Traditionally, a pony’s magic is the same color as her eyes. What color is your magic, dear? Or can you change it if you want?” Rarity asked, Cherry turning her head to think for a bit.

“Is being green, but is being hard for me to change the colors,” Cherry mused, taking another deep breath before starting to do another adjustment. Green fire burst from underneath her eyelids, and when she opened them they had changed to that of a pony’s. They were a brilliant green, just the same color as the flames that had just passed. “Like this?” she asked.

“Yes, just like that,” Rarity said encouragingly. She had a little sister, so she knew how to help a project along without sounding too bossy by now. “Now, how about your mane and your tail? Maybe a nice, deep blue? That would go well with the red, and it might even bring out your eyes a bit,” she said with a smile, she was starting to get into this.

Cherry complied again, bright green flame giving way to soft strands of deep blue. It was flat and limp, hanging down like Pinkie’s was when she, very rarely, became upset. Rarity hummed in thought to that, looking over Cherry’s new mane and tail.

“Alright, now comes the part where we do the makeover!” Rarity said excitedly, clapping her forehooves together and drawing an excited smile from Cherry. “Come with me, and we’ll get you an absolutely fabulous mane-do!” she said, grabbing onto the newly shaped filly and guiding her toward the stairs. “You’ll absolutely love my bathroom, I have everything a lady could possibly need!” Rarity said to Cherry as they climbed the stairs, eventually disappearing into the balcony above where Rarity’s ‘house’ was.

“Looks like Rarity warmed up to her alright,” Twilight noted to Marty, who had simply listened to the entire exchange.

“Sure sounds like it,” he agreed, one of his ears flicking to the side for an instant as somepony walked by noisily outside. “So,” he said after a moment, “what sort of stuff is there to do in Ponyville? I can already tell there are some real characters here, if that Time Turner guy is any example,” Marty said, nodding his head in the direction of the door behind them.

“Yeah, the Doctor is a bit of an enigma,” Twilight said. He had simply shown up one day, dragging a big blue box no less. “Well, Ponyville has a lot of parks, there are a few good restaurants. And I don’t know if Pinkie already told Cherry about Sugarcube Corner, but I’m sure she’d love it there. That’s the Cake’s shop, selling cakes, ironically,” she said, gaining a snicker from Marty. 

Twilight paused for a bit, glancing around the boutique with nothing else to really do. “Do you want to sit down, Rarity might take a little while with Cherry. There’s a couch right over there,” she suggested, realizing that they had simply been standing in the middle of the boutique. Quite close to each other, actually. She felt her face heat up again at that revelation. It’s just because he doesn’t have his cane, he does the same thing with Cherry, she thought to herself, quelling any other doubt to it in her mind.

“Sure, no point standing around if they’re gonna be awhile,” Marty agreed, waiting for her to take the lead. Twilight quickly walked to the decorative couch nearby, settling in once Marty had climbed up. “She must use a lot of perfume,” Marty noted, taking a few sniffs of the air. “I can hardly smell anything but roses.”

“Rarity’s a pony who is very … dedicated to her appearance,” Twilight said carefully, unsure of what the fashionista could hear from where she was. “But she’s a very generous pony, I’m sure she’ll do everything she can to help Cherry,” she reassured. Marty nodded and sat back in his seat, his ears bobbing to a beat that only he could hear.

After a moment, Twilight remembered the subject they had been on before Marty’s nose had interrupted. “The Running of the Leaves was a few weeks ago,” Twilight stated, gaining Marty’s attention again. “So that means that Nightmare Night isn’t that far off, only about another three weeks,” she said, the antics of the last Nightmare Night in Ponyville bringing a smile to her face.

“Oh,” Marty said with a smile, perking up. “You know, I don’t think I’ve done a proper Nightmare Night since I was twelve. And I don’t think Cherry’s ever had a Nightmare Night! Maybe we should stick around for that, it could be a lot of fun,” he suggested, turning toward her.

“You’d really like it,” Twilight agreed, nodding unnecessarily again. “The whole town gets into it, there’s a big festival, and all the fillies and colts go out for candy. It’s great fun! There’s even Nightmare tours into the forest,” she said, seeing Marty’s smile brighten.

“That sounds like a lot more fun any Nightmare Night I’ve had,” Marty noted. “Manehattan doesn’t really get into the holidays as much as other cities. And candy hunting becomes a chore with all the high-rise apartment buildings,” he said, rolling his blank eyes.

“Judging from how much of a sweet tooth Cherry has, I think that she’d really love it,” Twilight giggled, drawing a snicker from Marty as well.

“I think I’d make a great zombie, with the right costume,” Marty went on, smiling widely as he thought about it. “With the blank eyes, and all. Plus, when I was getting therapy for my blindness, I was taught this weird shuffle thing that was supposed to let me feel out the ground before I take a step. I’ve been told it looks like a zombie walk,” he said excitedly, already liking the idea. “We’ll pitch it to Cherry, see what type of costume she might like.”

“Sounds like you’re really getting excited about it. You’ll just have to stick around for it, I guess,” Twilight said. Hoofsteps from the staircase attracted their attention, drawing the conversation back to a close.

“Ladies and gentlecolts,” Rarity announced, dramatically flourishing her hooves. “I present to you, the fabulous Cherry!” she beamed, stepping to the side and revealing the primmed filly.

Cherry’s coat had been brushed, letting it shine from the lights in the room. Her bright blue mane had been properly brushed and fluffed up, standing and styled now. In all, she looked exactly like a little filly. There was no evidence about her to say that she wouldn’t be.

“Now, admittedly, she probably could’ve looked better. It’s the best I could do. It’s not every day that you get to design a pony,” Rarity admitted, letting the filly run up to Marty.

“She looks fantastic, Rarity,” Twilight said, seeing the filly jump up and down in front of Marty.

“Look, Marty! Look look look!” she said happily, hopping excitedly in front of him. “I has a pretty mane, and tails, and furs. Rarity has so many stuffs in her closets. There was a-a-a qui-billion dresses!” she squeaked. She jumped up and put her hooves on one of his shoulders, as if to accentuate her statement.

“Okay, okay,” Marty said, lifting his hooves up. “Here, let me see,” he said. Cherry sat down next to him on the couch, happily holding still. 

Marty lifted his hooves up, placing them down on Cherry’s head carefully. “Let’s see … Yep ... ooh, your mane is curly,” he said, his hooves brushing over her blue mane. “Hmm ... cute, little ears … A little horn … puffy cheeks and a pretty little muzzle,” he listed off, gently feeling out Cherry’s new features. “All in all, a pretty little filly, if I had to guess,” he said, ruffling Cherry’s new mane playfully.

“That is adorable,” Rarity said, having snuck around to Twilight’s side while Marty had been examining Cherry. “Hmmm, I think I’ve got something!” she exclaimed, hopping up and trotting away toward the stairs again. “You two come back if you need anything later! Sorry I have to run off, but I must strike the iron while it’s hot! I’ve been inspired!” she exclaimed as she ascended the stairs, leaving them be in the abandoned boutique.

“Twilight said we was seeing Ponyville,” Cherry’s voice cut in, drawing Twilight away from questioning Rarity’s sudden retreat. “Can we go? Can we go?” she asked, hopping up and down on Rarity’s couch and bouncing all three of them.

“Sure, now that we won’t cause any riots,” she said jokingly, standing up from the seat and moving toward the door. Cherry led Marty behind her, and they all finally stepped out of the boutique.

Unbeknownst to them, however. Rarity had stopped at the top of her stairs, peering down at them to make sure they left. She smiled wickedly once they had gone. Now that they were gone, not only could she work with the inspiration that she had started herself on, but she could begin her plans.

Honestly, she thought to herself, turning back to move toward her work room. That mare can be so thick at times, as bright as she is. I’m sure that all the dear needs is a little push in the right direction, she mused.

She entered her project room, the organised chaos that was strewn about it comforting. Her horn alighted itself as a thickly bound book floated its way over to her, its metal decorations glimmered in the window’s light. She knew she had a few favors around town that she could call in, and she could simply … help things along, that’s all.

Let’s see, she thought, flipping through her pages before stopping on a specific page. Aha! Gustave le Grand owes me a favor for that repair on his suit. Perfect ...

> Magical Mystery Tour
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Magical Mystery Tour-

        

        This hadn’t been thought out thoroughly enough ...

Although, the tour had gone fairly well, if mostly for Cherry’s enthusiasm. A park, a few nearby shops, and Twilight even pointed out the clock tower as well. However, Twilight found herself at a loss for things that Marty might be able to see … when he really couldn't see anything. A tour doesn’t really do much for someone who isn’t going to see anything. She liked to believe that he enjoyed it anyway. But if he ever got bored, he never showed it.
        
He had often expressed that he liked it better than the city, especially the air for some reason. She hadn’t noticed anything wrong with Manehattan’s air, other than the slightly higher than normal temperature that the day had had. Maybe it simply had to do with blindness? She’d always heard rumors about enhanced senses, and Twilight was pretty sure that she could remember Marty having mentioned something about it.

However, Sugarcube Corner had been an interesting stop. Cherry made a beeline for it as soon as it came into view, and even made the common mistake of trying to eat the plaster decorations. She ended up leaving her own mark next to the few others who had made the same assumption. They were fairly convincing, all the gingerbread and candies that made it look like it was made from the confections sold there.

Re-introducing Cherry to Pinkie had been entertaining as well, the party pony instantly turning the room into a small celebration. She’d called it a ‘Hello Again Party,’ justifying it in meeting Cherry for a second time. It seemed that they’d been made into good friends on the train.

It did leave Twilight suspecting some surprise party for Marty, since the pink pony had still refrained from throwing him one. She could only hope it would go along better than her first attempts with that grumpy donkey.

After they’d left the spontaneous celebration, thankfully without calamity, Twilight led them into the marketplace. More permanent shops ran around the perimeter, large display windows showing off goods and attracting anyone with bits too heavy for their pouches. The smooth cobblestones clicked under many hooves, banners and tarp covers flapped idly in the chill breeze. A small fountain still ran in the center of the space, a trickle of icy cold water flowing out from underneath the decorative statue of a dancing mare.

Fresh flowers, fruit, and vegetables filled the air with a bouquet of sweet smells, undermined only by the smell of hard work. It was an enticing smell, and Twilight could feel her mouth starting to water thinking of the crisp fruits. Might be a good time to do a little grocery shopping, she mused to herself.

On the other side of the plaza, a stage was being constructed. Preparations for the Nightmare Night Festival already underway, banners and flags in boxes set nearby for their moment to flap in the breeze. It even looked like a band was going to use the half constructed stage to play a few idle songs.

“So this is a market? I’ve never been to a market before,” Marty said, sticking close to Twilight’s side as they walked through the crowd. His ears flicking at the various noises and conversations, his head occasionally turning to listen to a pony yelling out something about her wares. Cherry bounced in a wide berth around them, her blue bob of hair peeking out from between ponies’ legs as she cheerily examined the ponies and the stalls as they passed.

“Yep,” Twilight replied, idly looking around. “There are a lot of farmers around Ponyville, so most of them come here to sell what they grow. Otherwise there’ll be days where a shop will set up a stand and put things on a sale,” she said, leading them through the sparse crowd to the fountain at the center. “Do you want some water, Marty?” she asked.

While it was easy to find bottled water among the stands, and often even easier to ask somepony for a glass of water, the fountain next to them was just as viable a source. While some ponies saw it as a bit of a taboo, claiming that the act degraded ponies back to their more animalistic roots, most ponies had no qualms about using public sources of water for just that. During a particular study session, Twilight remembered reading that ever since before the Princesses ponies kept standards of fountain water quality, and that to this day standards kept these kinds of water details completely drinkable.

It was an interesting tidbit, but not much of something for her to simply spout out. She strangely did have the urge to though, an alien want to fill the empty space in the conversation almost overcoming her. But with a deep breath she managed to hold herself back from sputtering out random historical trivia.

Marty smiled, oblivious to Twilight’s sudden internal struggle. “Sure, where are we getting it?” he asked, turning his head farther toward her. It seemed that a small conversation to the side had distracted him for a moment, but now she had his full attention.

“Well, there’s a fountain right here, if that’s alright? But I could always see if there’s a stand with some water, too,” she said, quickly adding in the other option with a small stutter. She fought the urge to plant her hoof on her face for the verbal tripping, still unsure why she felt as flustered as she did.

“Fountain’s fine,” he said, a small chuckle escaping his lips. He hadn’t missed the slip, but thankfully he didn’t point it out. “Where to, then?” he asked, making a motion for her to lead the way with a tilt of his head.

“Just over here,” she replied, speaking quickly to try to avoid another unnecessary stutter. She turned with him toward the fountain, ready to lead him up to the edge of it. She jumped back however, narrowly avoiding a scooter loaded down with fillies. She backed straight into Marty, practically landing on top of him.

Cherry was not so lucky: The scooter, fillies and all, barreled straight into the little red filly and sent all four of them tumbling onto the ground. The scooter clattered away with the wagon still attached loosely with a jump rope, thrown free of the tumbling fillies and landing on its side a short distance away.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle protested loudly, her voice squeaking as she sat up and nursed the top of her head with a hoof. A pained expression decorated the glare that the young unicorn tried to aim toward the daredevil filly.

“Hey! It wasn’t my fault! We hit a pothole!” Scootaloo yelled back untangling herself from underneath Applebloom and aiming a more successful glare. Her purple racing helmet thumped off of her head as the strap came loose, the only evidence of any of them even considering safety equipment now gone as well.

“Yeah right. Scoots, you’d a’ hit every pothole in the whole dang town and we couldna fallen over like that! What’d we hit?” Applebloom asked blearily, her bow bobbing in the air as she rolled off of Scootaloo. A second glare from the orange pegasus, this one much hotter than the last, once again went ignored.

“That really hurted,” another voice groaned, drawing all three of the bickering fillies’ attention behind them. Cherry sat blearily as she cradled her head, eyes rolling as she tried to figure out which direction was up again. Her mane had been ruffled from the tumble, a stick somehow having made its way into a tangle there.

“You alright, Cherry?” Marty asked, carefully taking a step toward where he’d heard her. A calm but worried expression had come over his face, ears erect as he tried to listen for them among the uninterrupted din of the light crowd of the market.

“I is okay,” she replied, giving her head a shake and finally steadying her vision. But when she did finally get her eyes to line up again, her vision was filled by the three other fillies’ faces. She froze under their gaze, pulling away from the increasingly excited expressions on their faces.

“Hi!” Sweetie Belle spouted, eyes beaming as she stared down at Cherry. Her voice made Cherry jump, unsure how to react to the sudden excitement almost literally bubbling off the three of them. 

“Eh … Hi?” Cherry replied with a small amount of confusion. She could easily see the happiness that was fluttering over all three of them, but she wasn’t sure why it had come up because of her. “Why is you standing so close?” she asked carefully, still uneasy about the sudden attention she was getting from the ponies who’d just basically run her over.

“Well, firstly we’re awful sorry fer hitting you with tha scooter, ain’t we Scootaloo?” Applebloom answered, aiming one last glare at the orange pegasus. She ignored the tongue that Scootaloo stuck out at her, turning back to Cherry with a smile. “Plus … are you new in town?” she asked quietly, as if worried that somepony would overhear them in the crowd around them.

Cherry was confused by the sudden secrecy that the fillies suddenly seemed concerned with but she followed along anyway. “Yes, but only for a little bit, me is thinking,” Cherry answered, keeping her voice equally low. She still wasn’t sure why they felt the need for whispering, but she didn’t want to upset them.

“Oh, then you haven’t had a party yet? Have you met a really energetic pink pony today?” Sweetie asked, carefully keeping her voice low as well.

“You is talking about Pinkie Pie. Yes, we has met her. But Marty is not liking parties so much, so Pinkie is said that maybe later,” Cherry said quickly, accidentally stopping her whispering. She was further surprised by the reaction from the fillies, whom all let out a loud sigh of relief. “What?” she asked, finally deciding to voice her confusion.

“We were jist worried ‘bout another pony knockin’ all o’ us over,” Applebloom said with a small laugh. “So, Ah guess we should ask what yer name is, seein’ as we already ran you over with the scooter,” she said, a sheepish smile overcoming her features and quickly followed by the other two who voiced mumbled agreements.

“Cherry, like Marty said. Did you not be hearing Marty? He asked ‘Is Cherry okay?’ and I was saying ‘Cherry is fine,’” Cherry answered, making sure to put extra emphasis on her name. She was happy to see it draw a laugh from them, smiling in the wake of the ripple of happiness that fell off of them.

“You’re funny,” Sweetie noted with a giggle, her eyes widening for a moment. “Hey! Do you wanna join our club?” she asked, smiling widely toward Cherry as she was joined by the other two fillies. “We’re the Cutie-Mark Crusaders! We’re all trying to get our Cutie-Marks together! What’d’ya say?” she asked, turning to display her blank flank. The other two followed suit, turning to show Cherry their equally blank flanks.

“I never been joined a club before!” Cherry cheered, clapping her hooves and smiling widely. She almost couldn’t believe it, it was always so hard for her to make friends before and here were three fillies practically begging her be friends with them. She wasn’t sure if it was just the way she talked or the fact that anypony she tried to make friends with always knew she was a changeling, but that didn't matter now.

“Well come on then! We were just going to see if we could get some rock climbing equipment,” Scootaloo beamed, dashing back over to her scooter and picking it back up. The wagan clattered back onto its wheels, creaking slightly as the abused metal frame settled back into its proper position.

The other fillies quickly jumped up, joining Scootaloo in the makeshift transport. But Cherry hesitated as she too hopped onto her hooves, prancing in place before quickly darting back over to Marty. “Marty! Marty! Can you being alright while I go play with my new friends?” she asked, propping her forelegs up on his chest as she pleaded to him.

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Marty replied instantly, still slightly confused as to the sequence of events. “I mean, I could just hang out with Twilight for know. Just get back to the library before dark?” he said, directing his question toward Twilight, it was her house after all.

“That’ll be fine, I’m sure that they can’t get into too much trouble. Right, girls?” Twilight asked, though a bit nervously. She’d seen a few of the rather extreme antics that they’d gotten into, a strangely large amount ending with the three rambunctious fillies covered in tree sap.

“YAY!” she bubbled, hopping high into the air before zipping into the wagon behind Applebloom and Sweetie Belle who both joined in her giddy laughter as Scootaloo began to pull away. “Twilight is taking good care of Marty now! Bye!” she said as one last farewell, waving wildly with one of her hooves while clutching to the wagon as it lurched to life.

And just like that, they’d disappeared as quickly as they’d come, taking an extra filly with them. “Well …” Twilight muttered, as equally confused by the sudden chain of events as Marty was. He merely chuckled, taking a few careful steps toward the sound of the running water in the fountain.

“Just another set of crazy characters in this town,” she heard him mumble, his lips easily finding the water. After taking a moment to sate his thirst, he stood back up and simply seemed to be taking in the sounds of the marketplace. Water dripped idly from his chin as his ears swiveled around toward the random noises. 

Only the sounds of the market were around them, so Twilight couldn’t be sure what exactly he was listening for. “It’s moments like these where I wish I just carried a guitar everywhere with me,” he said suddenly after a long moment, drawing Twilight’s attention from whatever blank silence her mind had produced in her.

“Why’s that?” Twilight asked, thankful for a conversation topic in the silence that had fallen between them. She hadn’t wanted to break the silence, nor had she wanted it to continue. It had been an awkward pause for her, and she had desperately wondered how she could keep things moving. But thankfully it seemed that Marty had simply drifted off into a tangent all his own.

“Just … You know, all this sound in one place. Don’t have to worry about magic, or money, or … anything really. I just feel like I’d like to take advantage of those kinds of moments and just strum a few chords for fun,” he said, rolling his eyes at his own statement. “Sheesh, listen to me, I sound like an old coot,” he joked, shaking his head.

“Well, there is an instrument shop down the road. I’m sure that Vinyl would let you strum on a few of her guitars if you want,” she offered, the particularly loud unicorn coming back to the front of her mind. Actually, now that she was thinking of it, Vinyl tended to be a bit crass when it came to … music, and a distinct disregard to decency added on top of it.

But, what could really go wrong with just a pop into her store to look at a few guitars?

“Sure, maybe she’d even let me rent one,” he agreed, shrugging and taking a step back toward her. 

She stepped up to his side before moving toward one of the streets splitting off from the square, trying her best not to blush as she noticed several glances that they received from various ponies. It’s not that she didn’t like walking with Marty, she actually found it sort of nice being able to stand next to somepony so closely and not have to worry about awkwardness from both of them, it was the fact that she knew what they were thinking.

In a small town like this, rumours spread awfully quickly. She’d just have to take the blow on her pride when ponies started talking about her and relationships. Twilight wasn’t totally blind to why her friends had joked the way they had, she just hadn’t really taken it into account until today. She’d received many glances from various ponies around town and she knew where that would lead eventually. After all, there weren't that many situations in which she would walk, sides practically touching, with anypony, let alone a stallion.

It didn’t matter all that much to her though, words neither scraped nor bruised. And besides, they’d already made it to the store.

The iconic vinyl record shone in the sun, both off of the door itself and from the hanging sign above the window displaying a few instruments alongside an unnecessarily large speaker. Vinyl Scratch’s store always seemed slightly more rundown than the rest of the stores on this road, and it was apparent that she cared more about what was inside the store than the condition of the building itself.

When they entered, the dim wooden walls and stained dark purple carpet greeted them warmly. Polished instruments and various books and records lined the walls and filled randomly laid out aisles. Huge racks of speakers and amplifiers of various sizes filled the majority of the space, a few stools set up so that somepony could try a guitar and amplifier before buying it.

Various party lights whirled and blinked even in the relatively ample light of the room, their effects muted by the white lights keeping the room at a comfortable brightness. An abandoned counter greeted them as they entered, and no bell announced their entrance through the door.

“Gotta love the smell of an instrument shop,” Marty muttered with a deep breath, sighing as he took a few steps forward and narrowly avoided knocking over a large set of ride cymbals. The smell of machine oil and various polishing solutions filled the air, the sign of an attentive keeper of the instruments. Twilight had to wonder if it was actually Vinyl who did the maintenance of them, the store just as absent of music as it was of its normally irresponsible owner.

“I wonder where Vinyl is, she’s normally in here. And I don’t think she’d just leave the place unlocked,” Twilight said, voicing her concern as she eyed a few of the more expensive pieces of equipment that were on display. If somepony had wanted to, they could just take these things if she wasn’t here. Not that Ponyville had much of a theft problem, everypony knew everypony else so there wouldn’t be a way to get rid of it once they’d gotten it.

“Well, maybe she just stepped out?” Marty suggested, somehow having gravitated toward a set of large speakers that he was feeling out with his hooves. They wandered over the knobs, carefully feeling out the raised numbers and the texture of the panels. “I’m sure that if the owner left the door open, she won’t be gone long,” he reassured, his hoof following a wire plugged into the front.

His hoof followed it until it reached another end that had separated from another extension wire. “I wonder why this sound-in cable is just hanging around?” Marty said, his magic picking up both ends of the wires. They felt like they would fit together easily, both round and reinforced cylinders of brass with a few textures etched into them for somepony to grip.

Without really considering what he was hooking up, Marty pressed the connections together. The ends mated with a soft click, and was quickly drowned out as the entire wall of speakers next to him burst into life. 

They both jumped as a heavy bass filled the air, the melody of high pitched screeching noises barely lifting above it between the booms. They both clapped their hooves over their ears, trying desperately to block out the far too loud sound of the wub. Twilight frantically clambered for the power switch with her magic, but through the noise in the air she was barely able to find the speakers at all with her magic.

Whenever her horn gained enough magic to even reach for it, the bass buzzed through the length of her horn and made her flinch. If she even tried lighting her horn the sensitivity of the bony organ skyrocketed and made it almost impossible to even concentrate at all in the onslaught of sound.

But just as quickly as it had started, the speakers went silent, leaving a ringing in her ears. Twilight peaked through her eyelids, expecting to see Marty with the two separated wires again. But he seemed just as surprised by the sudden silence as she was. She cast her gaze around the room, ears still ringing even as they swiveled on top of her head.

A door she hadn’t noticed when they’d come in flew open, slamming against the rear wall. A particularly miffed looking off-white unicorn strode out, her signature sunglasses perched on top of her head among her electric blue mane to reveal the normally hidden, sharp purple eyes. She wore a set of headphones around her neck with a matching color scheme, the cord trailing behind her back into the room.

“That was one hellova entrance, I’ll give ya that,” she muttered, barely heard past the ringing in their ears. “Can’t you two read?” she asked rhetorically, pointing a hoof behind them toward the counter where a small card sat in the open. It read; ‘Recording ~ Be Back Later’ in bold and easily read lettering.

“WHAT!?” Marty yelled, cupping an ear and turning toward them. He squinted as if to peer through the cataracts that marked his blindness, almost like he thought that would somehow let him hear them better.

“She was recording in the back, Marty,” Twilight attempted to explain, speaking loudly to overcome her own partial deafness inflected by the amplifiers. “We interrupted her when you hooked up the speakers.”

“WHAT!?” he asked again, leaning forward slightly and making a second effort to cup his ear to hear a response.

“Honestly, I thought I’d unhooked that,” Vinyl said, walking past them to the counter at the front. She began rummaging around in a box behind the divider, looking up to eye the two of them once it seemed she’d found what she was looking for. “Hold on, I’ve got something here that’ll help with your ears,” she explained loudly, making sure that at least Twilight understood what she was doing.

“WHAT!?”

A light blue aura lit up her horn as she proudly held out a small tuning fork with her magic. She trotted back around the counter and moved back over to them, bringing it up for Twilight to see. But before Twilight could really examine it, Vinyl swiftly struck it against the leg of a stool next to her, creating a similar ringing tone to the one still playing in her ears.

Without warning Vinyl pressed the bottom of the ringing fork to the base of Twilight’s skull, letting it vibrate into the top vertebra of her spine. She felt it buzz through her brain for only a moment, and then her hearing instantly cleared. Her ears popped as whatever magic weaved into the tuning fork worked, a rough but effective spell that had no visible reaction that would have otherwise given it away.

Vinyl swiftly moved over to Marty, repeating the motions and relieving him of his deafness as well. It was only then that she seemed to recognise his blindness, taking a step back and donning a confused expression.

“Hoo, thanks,” Marty said, stretching his mouth out in a yawn as he too felt his ears pop. “Sorry about that, wasn’t really thinking,” he apologized, rising back to his hooves. He seemed no worse for wear, even if he’d felt the brunt of the sound.

But a look of recognition flashed onto Vinyl’s face at the sound of his voice. “Holy shit! I thought I recognized you! You're Marty Microphone!" she exclaimed, practically prancing in place. “Sorry, it’s just- I’m a total fanfilly for your music,” she sputtered, letting out an uncharacteristic giggle and allowing herself a little nervous dance on her hooves.

“Oh … great … an old fan,” Marty said, trying desperately to keep a cheery smile on his face. It was strained, clearly a forced smile. He didn’t seem upset, just slightly unnerved by being recognized.

“Sorry, sorry,” Vinyl quickly said, composing herself. “You must get this a lot, sorry. It’s just- Gosh, you’re in my shop,” she breathed, almost in disbelief. “I mean, you did so many sorts of genres of music that it’s not even funny! Th-there was that wicked solo stage you started with, all vocals,” she explained, turning to Twilight now as she started to list off her various knowledge of Marty’s past career. “Then he got together with some other stallions and started from rock and just kept going. Classic rock, metal, a little bit of screamo, some wicked crossover stuff with classical and electric thrown in for good measure. I just wish I could have seen some of it myself!” she said, finishing with a sheepish grin. Her ears flattened as she saw his facade drop to reveal a tired expression of defeat.

“Yeah, not so much. I try to avoid those kinds of … reminders. Left all that far behind me, won’t be going back on my own terms,” Marty said flatly while simultaneously trying to regain the fake smile and taking a nervous step back from Vinyl. She didn’t follow, allowing him to take his distance as she set the tuning fork down on top of a speaker. “You don’t … like, want an autograph or something, do you?” he asked reluctantly, offering the formality in place of anything else to say.

“W-well actually- I’ve got all my recording equipment set up! Cou- Would you play a bit for me? I’d love to have a few tracks, even just one! To mix into my own music that is,” she stuttered nervously, motioning toward the door where she’d come from erratically. It seemed that the normally confident disk jockey was, for once, quite excited.

“Uh, well … I guess I could play something. I’m actually just here looking for a guitar, I left mine in Manehattan,” Marty relented, turning an unsure glance in Twilight’s direction. It seemed like he wasn’t sure about Vinyl, or whether or not he should trust her.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Vinyl spouted excitedly, taking a few steps back toward the door and motioning for them to follow. “Come on, Twilight, you can come in too. I’ll hook you up with some headphones and we’ll rock out!” she said, her magic already pulling an electric guitar from one of the wall racks.

“I didn’t actually know you played in your own concerts,” Twilight commented as she walked up to his side. She followed Vinyl through the door, watching the guitar maneuver over their heads. It’s body was black, a white sunburst pattern decorating its front face and edged in blue. The entire instrument was carefully polished, tuning pegs gently turning as Vinyl made a few adjustments in the air.

“I did quite a few before I ended up dropping out of the business, I guess a few ponies managed to grab some of my music during them,” he mumbled, clearly off put with the sudden attention to his previous achievements. His voice was quiet, and his whole demeanor seemed subdued. The only explanation Twilight could come to to explain it would have to be that that was the majority of time he’d been an addict, probably not a time he looked on too fondly.

After all, the saying did go: Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll.

The hall they’d entered was short, a door to the right and at the end being the only decorations. Vinyl’s magic pulled open the door into the hallway, revealing its carpet padded interior. The guitar found its way into the room on its own as she ushered them in. Her magic swiftly began moving different things around the room to the sides, a keyboard and respective stand folding and leaning up against the padded wall while a drum set scooted to the rear on a separated platform.

A large window took up the majority of the front wall, looking into the actual studio where reels and machines hummed in wait to carefully capture the sounds inside. The studio was neat, though sloppily lined with empty food containers and a few empty bottles of what was once probably alcoholic in nature. Looking at some of the boxy machines that Vinyl had set up on the other side, Twilight’s mind was drawn back to the project that Marty had mentioned.

The huge machines were in fact some of smaller equipment that could be bought, most likely barely having fit through the door to the studio itself. Marty had said something about a record player that didn’t need a record.

“Right over here, dude,” she said happily, a stool setting itself up in front of a microphone hanging from a track in the ceiling. A small cage surrounded the capture device, a smooth ring of mesh turning to aim toward the stool where she indicated Marty to sit.

He complied quietly, following her voice and finding the stool easily. Once he’d taken a seat Vinyl surrendered the guitar over to him. “What all have you got set up in here?” he asked idly as he tested a few of the strings with a hoof. His ears swiveled around the room, trying to listen to whatever sound the various instruments might be making.

“Actually, I’ve got a bunch of stuff in here right now,” Vinyl admitted to him, putting a hoof behind her neck as she examined the instruments spread around the room. “I really should clean up. But there’s a set of drums, a couple other guitars, an electric base, and it looks like Octavia left her cello in here again. Uh … there’s a keyboard over there, and I’ve got a few mixers set up too,” she listed off, pointing each one out despite it doing no good for Marty.

He listened anyway, nodding his head as if checking off a list in his head. “Cool, hook all of it up,” he said, motioning with a hoof to the whole room.

Vinyl blanched, freezing at Marty’s words before a wide smile spread on her face. “You mean you’ll do more than just a guitar while you’re here!?” she practically begged, a foalish hopefulness springing into her words.

“Well, since you got me in a recording booth … I kinda need to do something a little different to really be able to do anything longer than a few seconds,” he tried to explain, the words not really coming as smoothly as he’d like. “I won’t explain the technicalities, but- Just trust me, I’m about to show you something that will blow the two of you away,” he finished, donning a bit of confidence to try and drive away his own nervousness.

“Sweet!” Vinyl practically squealed, her magic rapidly hooking up every available instrument in the room. When she’d finished she floated a pair of simple headphones over his ears, hooking up the cord to a line of inputs in the wall under the window and making one final adjustment to the microphone hanging just in front of Marty’s face. “Come on, Twilight. We’ll get set up in the other room,” she called to her once she’d finished.

Vinyl quickly led Twilight out from the recording booth, sealing the door behind them so that they could maneuver past a box of dingy records lying abandoned next to the studio door. It creaked inward to the other room, creating a bottleneck as they squeezed between it and a large glass case of recording reels.

The room had little hoof space with the large recorders lining the walls, a large mixing console that took up what space was in front of the large window. Vinyl squeezed behind the console first, taking a seat on a cushion farthest from the door and motioning for Twilight to sit on the one she’d just stepped over.

Once Twilight had taken her seat beside Vinyl, chest pressed up against the edge of the console with its expanse of knobs and sliders sitting rather imposingly before her. Here she had a perfect view of Marty sitting patiently in his stool where they’d left him. Vinyl re-donned her headphones, her magic floating over a pair of matching headphones to Twilight.

She fit the pads over her ears, unsure of how to properly place them as she’d never put any on before. Once she’d settled them over her ears she heard a small static burst as Vinyl hooked her headphones into a small input on the console. She watched as Vinyl adjusted a few sliders and flipped a few switches farther up the console.

“Can you hear us alright, dude?” Vinyl said, a small black microphone sliding toward her with her magic.

“Loud and clear,” Marty replied, the nervousness practically swept from his voice now. “How’s input on the instruments?” he asked, his hooves moving across the strings to produce a rise of different notes. They echoed slightly in her headphones, surprising her slightly at the unexpected noise.

“Sounds great, and just about everything in the room is miked up, so do whatever you want,” Vinyl replied, her magic leaving the microphone after she was done speaking. “Say hi, Twilight. Just press that button on the mic over there with your magic, and Marty should hear you,” she said, pointing Twilight to a similar microphone on her side of the console.

“Oh! Uhm … okay, like this?” she said, her voice echoing in her headphones again as she pressed onto a small button at the base of the microphone beside her. “Hi? Can you hear me?” she asked, taking the pressure off of the button and looking up at Marty.

He smiled and hid a chuckle. “I can hear you just fine, Twilight,” he replied, lifting his hoof from the neck of his guitar to wave toward the window. “Now, I’m gonna do something a little different from what I usually … well, that I haven’t done in a while,” he admitted, his horn glowing slightly with his crackley grey magic.

With a deep breath, Marty’s magic bloomed out in a wave that shook the window silently in its place as the room faded out of the grey he’d flooded it in. The drum set behind him glowed and slid forward slightly and to his right. A bass and and electric guitar followed soon after, scooting across the floor on their respective stands. The keyboard came to life next, turning and sliding up toward Marty’s side opposite the drumset.

“I guess that room’s not as auratight as I thought,” Vinyl mused, looking up toward the roof where some of Marty’s magic was still fading away. “We’re ready when you are,” Vinyl said into her microphone, flipping a switch with her hoof that turned on several ‘Live’ signs both in the studio and in the booth. Marty acknowledged her statement with a nod before leaning forward to press his muzzle against the mesh hanging in front of the microphone.


“Feels like you made a mistake,


You made somepony’s heart break.”


        His hooves plucked at the strings, muted chords popping free. But as he sang, sound flooded through Twilight’s headphones with an exaggerated sweep of his arm. But it somehow seemed like too much sound for a single guitar to be making.


“But now I have to let you go,


I have to let you go,”


        This time she was sure of it, whenever he sung a line there was more sound than his guitar could possibly make. And on his last line that he sang out, she could tell why.

        Every instrument he’d moved was still glowing faintly with his magic, coming to life suddenly as he sang and hiding themselves again once he stopped to leave his guitar along with its muted strumming. And just as soon as it had stopped, they came to life again at the sound of Marty’s voice, this time remaining alive as Marty sang and filling the air.


“You left a stain


On every one of my good days!”


        The drum set came alive with a beat that filled the air with life, cymbals crashing in time to a lively boom of the bass drum. The sticks had a life of their own, swinging and twirling in the air by the hooves of an invisible pony as they struck down hard and fast. The guitar and the bass played alongside Marty’s at first, breaking away to start their own melodies as they leapt from their stands as if a pony had swung the straps over their shoulders and started to play.


“But I am stronger than you know


I have to let you go



No ever turned you over


No one’s tried


To ever let you down,”


        The keyboard’s sound filtered through, the keys pressing down of their own accord and accenting all the sounds around it. It tied the music together in graceful bow, like Twilight could actually hear the structure that the music could make.


“Beautiful mare


Bless your heart



“I got a disease


Deep  inside me


Makes me  feel uneasy baby


I can’t live without you


Tell me what’m I supposed to do about it


Keep  your distance from it


Don’t pay no attention to me


I got a disease,”


        The music paused, dropping a hole in the sound that drew Twilight in just as it started again. Marty’s hooves flew over the strings, a riff trailing from them over the rest of the music as it started again with his voice.


“Feels like you’re makin’ a mess


You’re hell on wheels in a black dress


You drove me to the fire


And left me there to burn,”


        His voice dropped, taking on an almost sinister tone as he sang. Yet the music remained the same upbeat and alive sound that it had been before. The contrast created a thrill that made Twilight’s heart shudder in her chest and drove a distinct shiver up her spine.


“Every little thing you do is tragic


All my life, oh was magic


Beautiful mare


I can’t breathe,”


        The music dipped only slightly before rising again, like it was moving so fast that it couldn’t even stop anymore. And suddenly the magic flashed around him again, in time to the music. The instruments had changed, no longer did invisible forces play them, but similar to Even Essence’s ghostly heads, ponies materialized to play the instruments.


“I got a disease!


Deep  inside me


Makes me feel uneasy baby


I can’t live without you


Tell me what’m I supposed to do about it


Keep  your distance from it


Don’t pay no attention to me


I got a disease


And well I think that I’m sick!


But leave me be while my world is coming down on me


You taste like honey, honey


Tell me I can be your honey


Be, be strong


Keep tellin myself that it won’t take long ‘till


I’m free of my disease!



“Yeah well free of my disease


Free of my disease



“Free of my dise~ease,”


        Marty’s lips pressed into the mesh, battling the arm hanging from the ceiling to keep it in place as he sang into the microphone behind it. It held in place, Vinyl’s magic already having tightened the bolts in the joints of the arm enough for it to be rigid. The ghostly band behind him had taken life of its own, not simply robotically playing the sounds Marty desired.

        It seemed each one had its own personality to it even, flair mixed generously in with the flawless sounds that they produced on their instruments. Hardly a single note was missed or even off beat as they played, all orchestrated through Marty’s wildly glowing horn.


“Yeah well I got a disease!


Deep  inside me


Makes me feel uneasy baby


I can’t live without you


Tell me what’m I supposed to do about it


Keep  your distance from it


Don’t pay no attention to me


I got a disease



“And well I think that I’m sick!


But leave me be while my world is coming down on me


You taste like honey, honey


Tell me I can be your honey


Be, be strong


Keep tellin myself that it won’t take long ‘till


I’m free of my disease,”


        Once again Marty’s guitar rose above the other sounds, and Twilight was only barely aware of Vinyl playing with the knobs and sliders in the peripheral of her vision. The magic surrounding the ghostly figures slowly began to unwind, like all this time they’d been made of yarn just ready to fall apart. Thread after thread came undone and fell away until they began to collapse, the instruments playing on defiantly till the last note.


“H-yeah Free of my disease


Set me free of my disease


Oh~yeah”


        The guitars slowed, the drums petering out with one final crash of the symbols. Marty finished with a defiant strike of a chord, his guitar being the last harsh sound of the song as he drew it to a close.

Twilight couldn’t speak. She didn’t think Vinyl could either as she seemed just as quietly shocked at the display put on. Not only had Marty played more than one instrument simultaneously, he’d somehow managed to play five at once. But added onto that was the glamourous illusion he’d laid overtop it, adding a flair to his show.

And the magic behind it baffled Twilight. Not only would Marty have had to had an incredible level of control over his magic, both working on the instruments and the illusions that he’d so meticulously created, he’d also have had to power it all. The amount was astronomical, each illusion and added instrument exponentially expanding the flow of power necessary to maintain them.

He should have been winded, sweating, absolutely exhausted mentally and magically after an exercise like that. Yet the only reason he was out of breath was from the singing, and barely that at all. He simply sat and caught his breath, the only sign of an effort shown was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead which he quickly wiped away.

“So,” he finally voiced, taking a moment to swallow before continuing. “What’d you think?” he asked, an edge of nervousness pulled back into his words. He’d maintained an air of confidence as he sang, but it had faded away with his magic.

“Dude, I think you broke Twilight,” Vinyl said breathlessly, her voice echoing inside Twilight’s headphones again.

“Not sure if that’s a good thing or not,” Marty said with a bit of worry, it was enough for Twilight to realize her pause. 

She gave her head a shake before depressing the button on the microphone again. “Sorry, I’m fine,” she replied shakily, once again slightly off put by hearing her own voice through the headphones just after she’d spoken. “I just- uh … Wow!” she said, settling on the monosyllabic exclamatory in place of nothing else to say.

“You could say that again! That was so awesome, I don’t even know what kind of word could describe it! Awesome isn’t enough!” Vinyl exclaimed, jumping up onto her hooves and raising her forelegs high over her head to try and demonstrate how much better of a word she would need. “It was- It was-”

“Incogitable?” Twilight suggested blearily.

“INCOGITABLE!” Vinyl affirmed, practically screaming into her microphone. She hopped in place, dancing in an ecstatic display of her happiness. “I can’t believe I got all of that on my tapes! This is gonna be so fuckin’ awesome! Nopony’s gonna believe me when I tell them that this was made by the same pony all at the same time,” she said breathlessly, scrambling at the controls again to shut off the recorders.

The low hum of the machines ended, the presence of the noise having gone unnoticed until it was silenced itself. “Well I guess that’s a vote of approval,” Marty said, leaning slightly around the microphone as if to peer through the glass. “I actually like the feel of this guitar, if that’s alright. Mind if I buy it off you?” he asked, directing his question to the still ecstatically bouncing pony beside Twilight.

“Dude, keep it!” she replied giddily, almost forgetting to press the button to speak to him. “After that, I should be paying you!” she beamed, another uncharacteristic giggle escaping her. For some reason it was off-putting to Twilight, she’d never heard Vinyl do much more than give a cackle that she would normally relate to Rainbow’s way of laughing.

She pushed it out of her mind, marking it down as simply jitters from meeting somepony she’d always looked up to but never had the chance to truly meet. Although, Marty had been a bit more subdued in admitting his admiration of Twilight.

“The guitar’s probably more than enough, Vinyl. Thank you,” he replied, rolling his blank eyes. “Actually, if it’s alright with you guys, I think I might need a break,” he said, finally showing some amount of exhaustion that let Twilight finally latch back to reality.

“Alright, and while you recover, we can share notes. I’m very interested in hearing how you pulled this off, Marty,” Twilight said into her microphone, turning to Vinyl as she stood up. She removed her headphones before continuing. “This was … educational. Thank you again, Vinyl, for taking time out of your recording session,” she said, trying to make it clear that her hospitality had not been unappreciated.

“Twilight!” Vinyl replied in exasperation, removing her headphones as well. “I should be thanking you for finding this guy! Where was he hiding anyway? … I haven’t heard a thing about him since he sort of … dropped off the map,” she asked, following Twilight as they made their way out into the hall.

“As far as I know, he was just lying low while he did some … soul searching,” she replied happily, not wanting to spread too much of Marty’s personal history that he’d trusted with her.

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t pry. None of my business after all,” she said, shooting Twilight a sly wink as she finally lowered her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Keep him around for me, will yah? I’ll go get some stuff for that guitar, a case and stuff. Just meet me outside,” she said slyly, brushing past Twilight to the door leading into the shop proper.

After leading Marty through the door with a bit of juggling with the guitar to make sure it didn’t get too bumped around, they made their way out to meet Vinyl. After a short exchange where Vinyl made sure to reaffirm just how much she enjoyed listening to him play, they packed up the guitar and made their way out back to the library.

Vinyl saw them out, and waited at least half an hour just to make sure they weren’t coming back before moving back into the recording studio, the door locking firmly in her wake. She squeezed back in behind the console, her magic separating one of the panels to reveal the wires that connected everything together.

The mishmash of wiring would have been overly confusing for even some of the more talented ponies with cutie marks pertaining to magical machinery that she knew. But to her, it was only a layer to cover the true purpose for the entire studios systems, and she could honestly live on without truly knowing how it worked.

Her magic pulled the wires gently to the sides, revealing the brightly glowing gems underneath. They each were set in brass and gold rings that allowed the copper wires to wrap in coils nearby them to conduct the magic both into and out of them. She scrutinized the gems for several long moments, taking careful account of the new greyish color and the intensity of the light coming from each one.

Her horn glowed as a gem-encrusted magnifying glass lifted itself from its own compartment underneath the wiring, snaking its unassuming appearance out from the tangles. To anypony else, it would simply appear to be some family heirloom that she kept safely hidden away in case somepony decided they’d prefer to take it from her. However, its purpose was much more than its appearance, as were many things in magic.

The base clicked into a slot among the many different sized input and output jacks in the console, indistinguishable from any of the others. Once it was rooted into its proper place, her magic flowed through the complex system of gems and the glass swirled into an opaque purple.

After a few moments, like smoke clearing, an image appeared in the encrusted spyglass. Glowing yellow eyes stared back at her from the glass, a leathery drape falling across the rest of the face and hiding their owner’s identity.

“I hope this is important, I was in the middle of dinner when you called,” a smooth voice floated gently from it, slight vibrations in the glass creating the sound. Vinyl cringed at the other’s words, unable to stop a shiver from snaking its way down her spine and into her thighs.

“It is important, ma’am,” she said as calmly as she could, swallowing the lump in her throat before continuing. “I found him,” she whispered, as if still afraid that somepony would walk in and find her.

The eyes widened and the drape over the rest of the face went taught. But then they narrowed, and the owner’s voice had turned to a hiss. “Elaborate on this claim,” she demanded, pausing just long enough to cut Vinyl off before she spoke again. “And be very careful what your next words are. It would detrimental to your future health to raise my hopes too high.”

Vinyl swallowed, true fear slithering through her and making her shake. “It’s really him, Martyr. I’m absolutely sure of it!” she said, doing her best to keep her tone respectful. “It’s exactly like the stories! His magic, his eyes, his music. He even admitted to it when I asked! I promise you, mistress, I know it’s him,” she said, ending in a pleading tone.

The eyes softened, a low purr making its way out of the glass. “Don’t fret, my dear DJ-PON3,” she said, carefully pronouncing each symbol of the title that Vinyl had chosen for herself. “I believe you. I can see the readings you picked up now; they are very promising. Is there anything else I should know? Does your partner know anything else?” she hummed, her voice now reassuring, an almost motherly tone.

“No, ma’am, not yet,” Vinyl answered quickly, eager to stay on the other’s good side. “But Twilight Sparkle was with him, and they seem very close,” she admitted, seeing the softness in the eyes change into a smile.

“You’ve done so well, my little pony. We’ll be in touch very soon,” the voice responded, her voice low and sultry. Vinyl shivered and stifled a whimper, watching as the image returned to swirling smoke before clearing in the glass.

She let out an explosive sigh, collapsing into the pillow behind her and simply laying there for a moment. After a little while, her horn glowed and her magic deftly picked up a small, pre-rolled piece of paper from behind her machines. She placed an end in her lips, lighting the end with a spark of her magic and inhaling deeply as herb began to smoke.

She held her breath for as long as she could, letting out the smoke in a large cloud. With another sigh, this time one of contentment, she enjoyed her joint. “Octy’s gonna love this,” she mused aloud, happy to finally have the chance to leave this town. She blew a smoke ring, letting the drug do its job.





> Magic Carpet Ride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Magic Carpet Ride-



“Oo~oh are ya feelin’ satisfied,” Marty’s voice quietly carried over the muted strumming of the guitar in his hooves. Smoothly crafted notes quietly played over the silence that the library would have otherwise held, adding a bit of welcome atmosphere to the tree-house.

Twilight found herself humming along with his music whenever he stayed on one song long enough, even as her mind whirled with thoughts and tangents. Again and again she found herself not unwillingly drawn back to Marty. 

It was not uncommon for Twilight to multitask in this fashion, books unshelving themselves and reshelving in the cloud of her magic. She could still hear Spike organizing the supplies downstairs, which she was thankful for since she’d been considering doing it herself for awhile now but had never put the time aside.

Equations, matrices, and Thaumaturgical values flitted through Twilight’s mind. But no matter what equation, law, theory or process that she tried she could not find a properly feasible way for Marty to have created the constructs that he had so easily. While individually they had not appeared very complex, it was the fact that he had had so many moving independently at the same time. It left her frustrated. 

And she continued an inner debate of whether or not to ask him right out. But she was still afraid that Marty might be unwilling to talk about it. After all, it seemed that he didn’t seem very confident in the method himself. For all she knew it could simply be an intuitive thing, something done instinctually rather than something he’d worked out from the beginning.

“So what are you doing, Twilight?” Marty asked suddenly, startling Twilight enough to make her fumble a set of books she’d been holding in her magic.

“Huh- W-what?” she stammered. A rather uncoordinated bout of magic kept the books from all falling to the ground. “Oh! Well, it’s Reshelving Day … so I’m reshelving,” Twilight said quickly, hoping to draw attention away from her momentary lapse of concentration.

Even if Marty had no way to actually have seen it.

“Reshelving? Do ponies put your books back in the wrong spots or something?” he asked, leaning back into the cushion he’d taken residence in since they’d returned to the library. He’d made a point of familiarizing himself with his new guitar, stating rather bluntly that he felt his hoof positioning had been off.

“Well, yes and no,” Twilight said, rather surprised at the question. Nopony had ever truly asked before, and it seemed most ponies were unconcerned in the why. “Sometimes it’s that, other times I get new books that need to be shelved properly. And there’s the books that ponies borrow and when they return them I have to put them back,” she explained. Several books organised themselves in front of her and slipped into the shelf between another set. “I usually just pick a day of the week, or the month depending on how many books pile up that need reshelving.”

“That makes more sense. I guess you wouldn’t need to reorganize the entire library under different systems every time, that would be a little … chaotic,” Marty said off hoof, returning to his strings. 

“Heh, yeah …” she said, electing not to mention the many times she’d reshelved the library for that exact purpose when she’d been settling in. Needless to say there were many confused ponies trying to check out books during that time. 

But this was her chance, if she was going to ask him about his magic it should be now while they had a conversation started. “Marty, I’ve been wondering about that song you played for us for a little while now …” she started. Her books took a pause as she turned to him.

“Yeah?” he said, stopping himself from getting caught back up in the intricacies of his instrument. “What about it? The lyrics? The tempo? I’m always surprised when ponies ask where I come up with them, because if they did a little looking I bet that most-” Marty started, a conspiratorial grin growing on his face. 

But Twilight cut him off, unwilling to let another tangent overtake the topic she really wanted to address. “I wanted to ask you about how you did it,” she said bluntly, stopping him in his metaphorical tracks. “I keep going over it in my head, but no matter what I do I only come to two conclusions: either you’re hiding some sort of super powerful artifact, or you’ve somehow broken the laws of magical energy conservation,” she said, watching him tilt his ears as he gave her comment thought.

“Oh, that,” Marty said, lifting a hoof to scratch at his forelock. “Well, it’s not actually this simple, but essentially I’ve mastered a school of magic that doesn’t exactly follow the normal rules of magic,” he said carefully, rolling his hoof in the air as he searched for the proper words to use.

“A different school of magic?” Twilight pondered, rolling through the list of different schools authorized by the Ministry of Magic. She’d read it seventeen times. She knew of schools for combat, defense, illusion, thaumaturgy, summoning, various elemental magics, and alchemy procedures. But none came to mind that didn’t follow a similar base of rules that took foundation in - admittedly warped and somewhat unrefined - physics, and she knew all of those rules nearly by heart.

“Well- Yes and no,” Marty said, motioning with his hooves as he tried to explain. “It’s not exactly easy to comprehend or explain, and I’m not really the most talented at giving lectures. But that’s about the closest thing I can think of that it compares to,” Marty started, nodding to Twilight. “Essentially instead of relying on the magic from inside you, it relies on gathering magic from the air and ground around you. Which, on occasion, bends the rules. I don’t know or care to find out nearly enough about it to truly tell you where and when the normal magic rules do and don’t apply, so don’t ask me that,” he said with a nervous grin, offering a shrug.

“That shouldn’t be possible though …” Twilight mumbled, already spinning off on several tangents.

Her previous task forgotten, her magic unlocked the cabinet specifically held for the more advanced textbooks on magic that the library owned. She didn’t keep them in there so much because of their value - she wasn’t truly afraid of book thieves in this town - but because some of the contents could be potentially dangerous to an inexperienced unicorn. There were far too many sections that referred to defending against the darker arts that could lead to some ponies accidentally hurting themselves or others without the proper precautions.

She quickly flipped to a list of aspects that normally defined a spell that would require such precautions; an abbreviated list of typical signs that a spell was being supercharged through unsavoury and immoral means was included near the back of one of the larger books. Black magic was not something very easily defined, summoning magic and most healing magics often rode the border of that definition and took the rules with a good pinch of salt. So often she found herself carefully going over the list whenever she wanted to try an obscure spell she’d found or even ones she’d attempted to infer herself. It was just to be sure that she herself didn’t accidentally fall into that dangerous ditch.

Just as she thought, one of the most common signs of a spell that relied on those means dubbed ‘FORBIDDEN’ by the Ministry was when a spell or set of spells did not follow the rules of base magics. 

“Marty,” Twilight began carefully, not wanting to alarm him with an accusation that may very well just be her being overly cautious … again, “are you absolutely certain that this ‘school’ of magic doesn’t fall into the list of Royally Decreed Forbidden Arts?” she asked, watching him carefully for his answer. There were ways to tell when a pony had been brainwashed by the darker aspects of magic, it could very well be that Marty had no idea of the danger his magic put on himself.

“Completely certain!” Marty answered quickly, putting his hooves up in the air as if he’d just been put at spearpoint. “I’ve read the compiled list- like- a hundred times, or something, now. Harmony magic doesn’t fall into any of the magics on the list!” he rattled off, suddenly very nervous.

“Okay, okay,” Twilight said calmly. She gently lowered his hooves in a placating manner to try and further convey that she believed him. “Alright, I was just making sure. It’s just that it’s a part of my responsibilities as a student of the Princess to be able to spot signs of dark magic and stop it before it can get out of hand. But you seem fairly sure that your ‘Harmony magic’ doesn’t, and since you didn’t lash out you probably aren’t enthralled. It’s alright,” she said, watching him immediately collapse back into the cushion.

“Sorry, sorry,” Marty said, taking a breath to calm himself. He had gotten a little too panicky, but there were still no signs of enthrallment. At least not in any magical sense. “It’s just that- I really don’t think this is gonna do me any favours with staying on your good side, but- I’ve already been tried once for that,” he said somberly, rubbing a hoof at the back of his head. “And found innocent of all charges!” he added quickly.

“Okay, okay!” Twilight said again, once more placing a placating hoof on his to convey her sincerity. “I understand, and I’m not going to get you in trouble. I was just a little worried was all. Maybe a little bit paranoid, but I can’t really help that,” she said, giving a shrug as she tried to lighten his mood a little bit. “Can you tell me a little about it? I’ve never heard of Harmony magic before, other than the Elements of Harmony,” she said, hoping that she might calm him by getting him talking again. 

And to sate her own curiosity, but she couldn’t really blame herself for that either.

“Uh … Sure?” Marty said, catching his breath and laying a hoof over the neck of his guitar. “As far as I know it has nothing to do with the Elements, but I had never heard of them before you came around,” he admitted, a small smile on his face. “Actually ‘Harmony’ magic is just the name I made for it, I don’t think it really has an official name. Ponies just end up calling it whatever their teacher called it, and I wasn’t much of a fan of what mine called it. I call it that because, like I said, it pulls magic out of everything around you.”

Twilight quickly scooped up a parchment and quill, simultaneously returning and locking away her textbooks. She decided that, while she had a chance, she might as well take some notes. Perhaps Celestia would have an idea of what Marty meant and could put Twilights paranoia to a true rest. 

Plus, magic notes! she thought to herself with a giggle. It wasn’t often she got to discuss different schools of magic with other ponies, so she would try to enjoy it while she could. “What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, taking a seat. “Do you mean that you’re transferring energy from things like plants?” she asked. She could remember a certain lesson in Elemental magic that had involved giving magic to plants to help them grow, it might make sense if somepony had figured out how to take it back.

“Well, again, yes and no,” Marty said, a rather comical grimace coming to his face as he tried to organize his thoughts. “It’s more like- It’s something innate in everything, not specific to anything and at the same time rarely excluded from anything. It’s really hard to explain. But from what I learned, this is basically just taking something that’s used subconsciously and working yourself into using it consciously,” he tried, returning to scratching at his forelock.

“A subconscious form of magic use? Like how pegasi fly and earth ponies grow plants?” Twilight asked, making sure to note down what he said. And she couldn’t help but notice Marty’s little tick of scratching at his forelock when he was thinking.

“Sort of. It’s a bit more involved than that,” he started, taking a deep breath. “Harmony magic is sort of like … like a big spider web that connects everypony and everything. I don’t know how better I could describe it. I guess it’s easier to understand when you’ve actually done it,” he offered.

“Alright, can you teach me then?” she asked.

“Me?” was Marty’s immediate response, startling Twilight with how quickly he’d jumped to attention at the question.

“Well, yes,” Twilight said happily, a smile growing at the idea. It would be a perfect opportunity for the two of them to grow closer as friends, and they could even conduct lessons between Ponyville and Manehattan through letters and scrying. But she didn’t want to impose. “Unless you know someone else I could go to to-”

“Don’t do that!” Marty cut her off, waving his hooves in the air before him as if he were afraid she was attempting to leave to find one now.

“What? Why?!” Twilight jumped, Marty’s sudden alertness enough to put her on edge.

“Just- Trust me when I say that’s a really bad idea,” Marty stuttered, making a visible effort to calm himself again. Twilight was beginning to get the idea that this subject was one Marty was uncomfortable with. “Please don’t go looking for anypony else who knows this magic, you could get hurt,” he finished in a weak voice.

“Hurt? Why would anypony try to hurt me over something like that?” she asked, shocked that Marty was so concerned over this.

“It’s not so much that they would attack you, but every master I’ve met of the art is old and cruel. You’d absolutely hate it,” he said, his voice betraying the how well he knew that fact. “Their methods break your belief in magic, and then they fill your head up with what they want you to think. It took me years to get back to using traditional magic because of it, its so bad that it manifests more like lightning than magic,” he admitted, demonstrating with a crackle of grey that arced up his horn.

For a moment Twilight was shocked. What Marty was describing was almost as horrifying as suggesting that his teacher had tried to break his horn off. Taking away any pony’s magic, unicorn or otherwise, was like taking away a fundamental part of their soul. She found herself with her hooves over her muzzle to hide the sickly grimace that had formed on her face.

For a long moment she was silent, and could tell that her continued silence was making Marty uneasy again. “You wouldn’t do that, would you?” she asked soberly, able to very clearly tell that Marty stopped breathing when she did.

“Of course not, I could never do that to another pony,” he said breathlessly, the idea clearly horrified him as much as it did her. “Ever,” he muttered to punctuate his statement.

“Then why don’t you teach me?” she asked gently, carefully hoping she could make a point to him. “You don’t have to do that stuff, to anypony. There are other ways you can teach ponies,” she said encouragingly. “There’s tried and true methods to teaching of even the more abstract magic, we could try making a lesson plan based around them.”

“I don’t think I would make a good magic teacher,” Marty said slowly, very still all the while. “I don’t even know where to start,” he muttered.

Twilight shuffled forward from her seat eagerly. “That’s why we make a lesson plan. I can help you make it, and we can set up a schedule, and break it down into different subjects, and you can give me tests and I can write reports. With a little bit of creative planning we could even do it through the mail if you wanted to keep teaching me from Manehattan,” she said with glee, clapping her hooves together. She was extremely happy to see that Marty had also started to grin, her cheer must have been more contagious than she realized. 

“How would you start teaching somepony an unfamiliar magic school?” he asked her quietly, though some confidence had returned to his voice.

At this Twilight paused, taking a moment to consider it. “What about a demonstration of something from that magic school? For a unicorn, that would be a very good starting point of what to expect for a student,” she offered, seeing Marty nod to that.

“I … could do that,” he muttered, once more bringing his hoof up to his forelock but he did not scratch. “What’s a good example? …” He paused for a long moment, and Twilight waited patiently for him to sort through his own mumblings. “I think I know something that can both demonstrate the strength and varied applications, as well as its ... potential …” he said carefully, a frown overtaking his smile he’d worn before. “But I’ll need a test subject - not a pony or somepony’s pet, and something that’s animated and large enough to notice the effects of the spell.”

Twilight immediately knew something that might help. “What about a Pakkun Flower?” she asked, continuing at the confused look Marty donned. “Zecora is a friend of mine who lives outside of town, in the Everfree forest. Recently she found a plant growing inside a rotting pipe within some ruins of an ancient bath house she found in the forest. She described it to me as an extremely animated muscipula- a plant that eats bugs. She says that their vines wave around in the air and that their mouths open and close to try and bite her whenever she waters them.”

Marty shrugged. “I’m no botanist, but if they wave around enough it’ll work,” he assented, nodding. “When do you want to do this?” he asked, shrugging the strap of the guitar off from around his neck.

“Well, I’ll have to actually convince Zecora to let me uproot and borrow one of them,” she muttered, tapping her chin. “I could make a run out there to talk to her, a few short teleports and a walk and I could be there and back in less than half an hour,” she offered, “And while I’m doing that, Spike can help you make a lesson plan for us,” she said, smiling at the idea.

Marty simply shrugged with a tight lipped smile, he didn’t really have an opinion.


---


Octavia restlessly paced the floor of the music shop, muttering to herself as she pounded a rut into Vinyl’s carpet. Vinyl sat by and let her pace, eventually even Octavia’s earth pony stamina would be exhausted and she would stop long enough for Vinyl’s words to have an effect. Her hooves tapped onto the large amplifier she’d made her perch.

The door was locked, the blackout curtains drawn against the afternoon light and only a single candle lit the space they took. This was how they met to talk about these things, not because they were afraid of being caught but because their Mistress demanded that the shadows be present.

“How long has it been? Five years? More?” Octavia mumbled to herself, a frown etched onto her face.

“Five years since they lost him, seven since he went AWOL,” Vinyl recited, remembering the tales that she’d heard when she was still in training.

“Seven years he’s been fighting Her. Mistress will be extremely happy to have him back,” she said, finally starting to calm down. “And if we help her catch him again?” she asked, finally turning overtly to Vinyl.

The DJ smirked at the spark playing in her partner’s mulberry eyes. “She looked happy to hear about it, maybe she’ll give us our Marks for it,” she offered, winking down at the grey cellist. “She said we’d be met soon, maybe she’s sending somepony to make sure it goes along smoothly.”

“Who is she sending?” Octavia asked hauntingly, turning a frightened look to Vinyl.

Vinyl understood her apprehension, new bloods like them were looked down on amongst the older members. It wasn’t anything malicious, everypony was new blood at some point. More like being treated as a first year student than actual scapegoats, it had been worse for Octavia than it had been for Vinyl.

“I don’t know, the Mistress didn’t give me any hints. My guess is somepony who knew Marty, they’ll have the best idea of how to contain him and get him back on our side,” Vinyl said with a shrug.

“Should we get started without them? We could make friends, then it’d be easier to-”

“Bad idea, if we screw it up we could lose him again for another five years. We don’t want to scare him off because we screw something up,” Vinyl said, a shiver running up her spine. She’d heard enough rumours of what the Mistress did to punish ponies who fell short or compromised some plan of hers, not to mention what supposedly happened to the ponies that had first gone after Marty.

There were rumours abound surrounding Marty and his rapid rebellion against the Mistress. He was both famous and infamous. When he’d been with them, he’d been a defining aspect of every party and escapade : when he was around it was guaranteed that the event would be exponentially intense and energetic. He’d been the most loyal and most effective of any other caster among them.

That is, until he left.

Octavia expressed a similar feeling of trepidation at the idea of disappointing the Mistress, or even attempting a confrontation with Marty. “You’re right, we should just help the others with what we can when they show up, even if it’s just being their go-fers. Maybe we’ll finally have earned our marks and get to ride on the boat again,” she mused, seeing Vinyl perk up at that.

“That sounds like a plan,” Vinyl said, hopping down from her amplifier. “So how should we pass the time?” she purred, sauntering toward the candle in the center of the room. She lifted the candle up in a pale glow as Octavia turned to her with a deadpanned expression.

“You’re insatiable, Vinyl,” she said, ending with a smirk. She blew out the candle and dropped the room into darkness.


---


Spike was lying on the floor carefully adding swirling calligraphy to a meter-wide chalk circle on the floor when Twilight came back. Five unlit candles surrounded the circle, placed over the points where the inscribed pentragram met the circle. A thin layer of salt had been spread carefully within the borders of the pentagon.

Marty had abandoned his guitar in exchange of a cup of tea and a seat at the center table of the library, several rolled up pieces of parchment were neatly stacked next to him.

“Hey, Twilight,” Spike greeted from the floor. “How was the walk?” he asked, finishing off one of the runes.

“It was just a trip to Zecora’s,” Twilight said, continuing through the door. A covered cage followed her in, small squeaks and rustling sounds were only just muffled by the tarp. “What’s going on?” 

“Well, after I got done with the basement, I helped Marty with the lesson plan like you asked me to,” Spike said, though his tone betrayed frustration at his task. “He wrote everything in riddles, I don’t even understand half of the lesson plan I wrote for him,” he mumbled to her, causing a smile to grow on Marty’s face.

“Riddles?” Twilight said in confusion.

Marty shook his head. “If I let Spike know what was going to happen, he’d tell you about it, and then the lessons wouldn’t stick as well,” he said, taking a sip from his cooling tea. “Spike got to talking, and I think you need to learn a few things before you really decide to follow through with this,” Marty explained.

“What sort of things?” Twilight asked, bringing the scroll to herself.

“We could start with ‘not panicking’,” Marty said smugly. “Seems that’ll be the biggest one if what Spike’s told me about the doll and the time you snuck into the Canterlot Library,” he explained. His horn crackled and the scroll was snatched out of Twilight’s magic before she could open it.

“He-heh,” Twilight laughed nervously. “He told you about that?” she asked sheepishly, aiming a smoldering glare at the prone reptile. Spike offered a nervous shrug as his only defense.

“Yeah, but that can wait,” Marty said quickly, hopping up from his seat. “How’s the circle coming, Spike?” he asked.

I followed all your directions, and I’ve triple checked all the angles three times … and now the runes are done,” Spike replied, standing up and closing a copy of 101 Roamanic Runes and walking over to replace it on its proper shelf. He paused as he passed the covered cage however, his curiosity suddenly overwhelming. “What is that?”

“It’s a Pakkun Flower! Zecora let me have one of the plants she found in the Everfree, it seems mostly harmless,” Twilight explained, lifting the tarp off the cage to reveal its occupant.

Sitting in a polished green pot was the plant. The single most noticeable feature of the plant was its white speckled red bulb that waved in the air atop a long leafy stem that was thicker around at the bottom than at the top. The bulb split in the middle, revealing two rows of white tooth-like protrusions and a flat pink leaf tongue. A bush of vines around its base held its bright green pot lovingly, a few other vines explored the limits of its cage.

Spike stuck out his tongue in a mixture of intrigue and mild disgust as he watched the plant squirm. “Right, and why did you want this?” he asked Marty, slowly resuming his trip to the shelves.

“A lot of the magic that this works with involves living things, but I don’t like to use it on ponies,” Marty explained. “This works out alright, the plant’ll probably barely even notice what’s going on and’ll be able to snap right back after the demonstrations.” Marty stood from his seat, walking carefully and following the sounds the plant was making. 

His hoof met the cage and was instantly wrapped around by one of the vines. The plant squeaked excitedly, tugging on his hoof and making Marty laugh. He leaned in and quietly whispered something to the plant, strangely making it freeze in place. The plant gave a shudder and retracted its vines protectively over its pot.

“Awesome, let’s get started. Twilight, could you please place the plant on top of the salt, just in the center of the circle,” Marty said, turning to Twilight with a smile. “When it’s inside the circle it’ll start moving again,” he said, ears perking up as Twilight opened the cage. 

The plant gently hovered out from the cage and swiftly moved into the circle, the second Twilight’s magic let go of it the plant shuddered back into movement. With a squeak of intrigue the plant’s vines began tracing patterns through the salt, attempting to find more soil to spread into.

“Alright, close the blinds and step back,” Marty said, stepping up to the circle. His hooves edged up to the chalk line, never crossing over it with more than his head.

Twilight did as he asked, using her magic to shut all the curtains and dimming the light in the room. Spike took cover on the opposite side of the center table, he’d had enough experiences with supposedly harmless magic tricks that had left a few of his scales dislodged before.

Marty’s horn crackled with magic, arcing across the circle and igniting all five of the candles. The glow in Marty’s horn died away and he squared his stance outside the circle. The plant turned itself to face Marty, its large red bulb waving hypnotically in the air. He leaned his head into the circle, just outside the reach of the plant’s snapping mouth.

The room grew extremely quiet, even the plant seemed reluctant to break the silence. Twilight looked on in wonder, she could feel the magic in the circle growing through her horn. Marty was locked in an expression of both intense calm and concentration, and something stirred in the air. 

Stray magic crackled along Marty’s horn, but the room only seemed to grow darker as the magic grew stronger. The shadows shifted, the light of the candles became sharp and darker orange. Twilight craned her neck to watch as the ceiling seemed to lift away into deeper shadows, even the walls around them seemed to warp with the sudden lighting change.

And then Marty whispered, reciting the words comfortingly to the plant. “Kneel in silence, alone. My spirit bares me. Pray  for guidance  towards home. In darkest hours.” His words echoed around the room, and once again the plant shivered to a halt in its movements. This time, the plant was simply frozen, unable to move. It seemed to be staring intently at Marty.

Twilight leaned forward, willing herself to see the magic that Marty was using. But nothing seemed to have changed, the magic simply kept building within the circle. To the unicorn’s eyes, the magic swirled in a whirlwind as it fought to escape the circle and its inscribed shapes. 

“Kneel,” Marty said softly to the plant. The room echoed with his voice, but the words took their own shape.

“Dream within dream we travel,” the echo sang. 

“In silence,” Marty hummed. Whether he was ignoring or not hearing the echoes around the room, Twilight couldn’t be sure. But it was an enrapturing display, and she watched intently.

“Empires of faith unravel,” the echo cooed. “Alone.” This time the words came from all around, and it was Marty who answered. 

“Sealed with our virtues treasure,” he recited lovingly to the plant, his voice rising back to a normal volume. He pulled his head back quickly, flinching as if he’d been struck. A line of magic arced across the space, sounding much like an electric guitar chord as it struck.

With a rush of air, the magic in the circle suddenly fled. The air tried to drag at the salt, creating tiny dunes within the pentagon. But it could not leave the chalk borders, it simply piled along the line as it fled where the plant shivered in the center.

It started slowly at first, but quickly the spell took the plant. Grey color slowly spread across the green vines, the brightly colored pot left ignored. The grey quickly revealed stone beneath, and like a mold spreading, it overtook the entirety of the plant. Within moments the plant was completely turned to stone, frozen in a pseudo cower with its mouth held up in the air as if it were screaming.

The candles petered out around the circle, their lines of smoke swirling around the center when the air moved back into the circle. The shadows shrunk back into their proper places, only what light came through the blinds lit the room. 

Marty laid his ears flat against his head and shook loose a cloud of stone dust from his mane. “Did it-” he coughed suddenly, thumping on his chest with a hoof, “- Did it work?” he asked, shrinking away from the circle.

“It did!” Twilight said, an excited smile springing to her face with a speed that could have challenged Pinkie’s. She summoned a quill and parchment as quickly as she could, jotting down everything she’d seen in jittering script. “But what did you do? Is it some sort of Transmogrification? An abstract Alchemy transmutation? Or is it Thaumaturgy, I’ve seen some incredible things done with simple magic amplification matrices not unlike this,” she cited off, scribbling hastily as she danced around the circle.

“Uh …” Marty scratched at his forelock in confusion for a moment as he tried to sort through Twilight’s rambling. “Actually, I’m not sure why it works exactly. I could tell you that some part of it has to do with the sudden lack of magic and at the same time convincing - in this case the plant - that it’s actually made of rock,” Marty stuttered, stumbling over his words in a vague attempt at sounding intelligent.

“How did you ever come up with this? It must have taken years of experimenting, and calculating!” Twilight smiled, creating a copy of the magic circle in her notes as well as quickly sketching a picture of the petrified Pakkun Flower.

“Actually it took about an hour for me to figure out what it would do, a half a day to really apply it,” Marty admitted, sitting down and pressing his ears harder against his head. “It’s still not perfect, but it was enough.”

“You figured out how to do that in an hour?!” Twilight asked, nearly dropping her half page of notes. “How? And … What was it enough for? Why look into a spell like this?” she continued. Twilight could only think of very few applications for it that would not be unsavoury, its potential for exploitation was immense.

“Several years ago, when I was first learning how to use this magic, I ran into a cockatrice,” Marty said.

Twilight froze, startled. “You’ve been attacked by a cockatrice? Were you hurt?”

“Not really, I survived because it couldn’t get into my eyes to cast its spell,” Marty explained. He pointed at his eyes with a hoof. “But I could make out the patterns behind the spell, very suddenly and clearly. It was the strangest thing to me, most of the time magic usually is just a weird shift in the dark, rarely colors,” Marty explained, his thoughts growing distant as he remembered that life changing moment.

“To even start to truly understand this magic, you have to perform a magic never before done by pony-kind,” Marty said, suddenly very grim. “In my case, I recreated a type of magic that only a cockatrice was ever able to perform. I’ll tell you about what it was like sometime,” he promised, though his words still had a haunted quality just under the surface.

“A new kind of magic,” Twilight whispered to herself, forgetting completely about her notes. She wondered at the weight of the task she’d been presented with, and the longer she thought on it the more titanic it appeared.

“So,” Spike said, walking around from his makeshift shelter to approach the stone plant, “does that mean its dead?” he asked, looking with a guilty grimace at the circle.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Marty stuttered, sliding his hoof across the floor until he smeared away a small part of the circle.

The statue instantly burst apart, small rocks spraying out in an explosion. Dust and rock sprayed across the floor and the salt was released from its invisible container in a cascade across the broken circle. The plant gave a victorious screech, twisting and writhing as it broke free from the stone.

“Now, you see, this is where my spell differs from the kind a cockatrice casts with its gaze,” Marty said, pointing in the direction of the circle. “I can never figure out how its supposed to perpetuate the way it gets it to on its prey - But, Twilight, this is your first warning,” Marty said, taking a reluctant sigh.

“Warning?” Twilight mumbled to herself, surprised at the tone he’d taken.

“Yes, one of two.” Marty’s shoulders fell, as if a large weight had settled over him. “If you haven’t already figured it out, this magic is not something you can take lightly. There will be no turning back once you’ve seen the things I’ve seen,” he said, and for a moment it seemed that the white swirls clouding his eyes shifted.

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, finding herself fearing the answer.

“Think about it this way: If you went your whole life believing that your entire world consisted only of a single room, and somepony showed you the world that was waiting outside: How could you go back?”


---


“Of course Cherry can come to your sleepover, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said sweetly, smiling pleasantly at the four ecstatic fillies gazing up pleadingly to her. They answered her with an earsplitting squeal of glee. “Just make sure that Marty agrees!” she shouted over them. “And bring him back with you, I have a few things I want to talk about with him,” she told Cherry, smiling as they ran off to get all the fillies’ things for their party that night.

Rarity smiled to herself at her punctuality, she’d have those two nervous mages falling over one another in no time at all.

concerned about making Marty sound too reluctant to teach her


> Rods and Cones
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Rods and Cones-



“Don’t you feel a little silly using one of my umbrellas as a cane?” Twilight asked as she led Marty back through town. Marty tapped the ground steadily with the end of the umbrella, magic crackling along the fabric and his horn.

“Yeah, but last time we went walking I didn’t need one,” Marty said, his newly blue eyes flicking in her direction. “Whenever I go out without my clothes and my cane, I go out under a perception filter that gives me a headache when I cast it for too long,” he explained, continuing his sweeping taps beside her.

“You make it so ponies don’t notice you? I don’t think it was working,” Twilight said, remembering the rather open gawking she’d seen that morning.

“It’s not so they don’t see me, it’s so they don’t see me. They saw whatever they wanted to see: A pegasus, an earth pony, even a mare,” he said with a chuckle, following her as they took a turn onto a street that skirted the market square.

“Really? How do you get to know these kinds of spells?” she asked, taken back. She was finding it increasingly strange that Marty’s magical repertoire was so diverse yet orbited such a sullen theme. Whether it was illusion or experimental magic bordering black magic, there was an underlying theme of subterfuge.

“The ansa’ will come, grasshoppa’,” he said with a grin, taking on a faux accent that Twilight vaguely recognised.

“Have you actually seen that play?” she asked, remembering the one time she and her friends had let Rainbow Dash pick their entertainment for the night. Kung Fu Colt hadn’t been too bad, but she’d felt the situation was too fantastical for the seriousness the actors seemed to portray.

“I’ve sat through it and listened, I thought it was funny,” he said with a shrug. “But my point stands, you’ll find things you’d never considered being able to do before once you pass The Milestone,” he said, he didn’t seem to notice the emphasis he put in his words. “For now, Divination.”

“Divination?” Twilight asked incredulously.

“Divination!” Marty smiled. “Magic for the employment of gaining information. Here’s a good spot,” he said, stopping suddenly in the middle of the street across from somepony’s yard.

“Divination is mostly a theoretical study,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “Ponies use it to attempt to divine the future or to attempt to find something within nothing. But no results are ever reproducible.”

“You don’t need to look into the future or even that far away, just over there,” he said, pointing with his umbrella directly at the garden on the side of road. “Don’t use your horn, don’t use your magic. Find a center, a calm place, and imagine spreading your senses outward- in that direction if you can,” he said, his joviality suddenly replaced with an eerie calm.

He reminded her of a professor in that moment, so she decided to try it. She had to take a conscious moment to stop herself from using her magic, essentially closing a door over the pool of arcane energy inside her. She slowly cut out her senses, everything until there was only her heartbeat subtly ringing in her ears.

With a deep breath and a sigh, she opened her senses again but not her eyes. She imagined ripples in a pond, and let her awareness roll out with them. The darkness rippled, almost too little for her to actually notice if she had not been looking for it. It tickled strangely on the back of her eyes, like when a hoof presses against a pony’s eyelids and they see random lights. But these shapes and colors, as subtle as they were, were very specific. She concentrated on them, feeling out the shape of the house and the yard with the ripples. For a moment she thought she could feel something slightly ‘brighter’, right where their garden should be.

But as she concentrated on that feeling, she noticed something ecliptic in comparison. Next to the simple garden, this … source of whatever it was she was feeling, was massive. Where the garden was an abstract amalgamation of faint visual noise, this was powerful in a way that nearly hurt the back of her eyes. She concentrated on it, turning her head subconsciously to the side to follow it, honing her senses further until -

“Stop.”

With a snap, the feelings were gone. Suddenly she was back in the road, looking directly at Marty. His expression was sullen, a frown creasing unusually on him. He hadn’t snapped at her, just a simple command that had been enough to shock her out of her meditative state.

“You’re not ready for that yet,” he continued, shaking his head. “But you felt it, scraped the tip,” he said reassuringly. He started walking down the road again without her, not noticing her flabbergasted expression.

“But what was that?!” she asked, shouting now in her excitement. This was an entirely new sensation for her, and knowing there was a science behind it exhilarated her in ways she hadn’t felt since she was a filly just starting her studies in magic. And now she wanted to know exactly what she’d just felt. “That other -”

“A pony who is a practitioner of this brand of magic can be overwhelming to the senses,” Marty explained quickly, cutting her off uncharacteristically sharply. He walked at an even pace as Twilight caught up to him. “But you did really well for your first time, even if your range was limited. I was afraid for a second that you’d try to use your magic and end up with a major migraine, but you didn’t even flicker,” Marty smiled, his previous somber expression completely forgotten.

“That ... presence was you?” she said, forcefully keeping her voice down now. “It was like a- a wall of heat, or- or-”

“Don’t strain yourself; you essentially just tried to look at the sun with a telescope,” he interrupted her again, shaking his head. “You’re not ready to examine things that are more complicated or charged with raw magic, plants cared for by earth ponies is a good start - and there seems to be a lot of those here. Then you can move onto cloud watching: pegasi need to use more complicated magic to keep the wind and the clouds in check than earth ponies do to nurture plants to grow,” he lectured.

“What about unicorns?” Twilight asked, pushing aside her wonder at what she’d just taken in.

“That’s a bit more complicated, and we’ll cover that when you’ve mastered finding the magic in things around you. This magic can actually be significantly harder to learn for Unicorns because of their habits they already have with magic,” Marty said, shaking his head.

“Alright, that’s understandable,” Twilight conceded, taking a breath to calm herself. She wasn’t so used to such a laid back way of studying, but if Marty thought it was the best way to teach her then she would put up with it. 

Another thought came to her: “So, is this just a more sensitive form of basic magic? I mean, unicorns learn how to detect and manipulate magic from an early age. How is this so different?” she asked.

Marty pursed his lips in thought for a moment, pausing again in his walk to address her fully. “Ponies use magic, not just unicorns,” he settled on. “A pegasus can feel the way the air will move and can change the shape and purpose of a cloud. An earth pony can nurture a plant back from the brink of death after being neglected, and can find the most fertile ground by just walking over it,” Marty elaborated, taking a moment to scratch at his fetlocks. “Unicorns are more in tune with the magic itself, and are less specialized,” he continued. “But that really doesn’t make us any different from the other kinds of pony. Ponies use magic almost as naturally as breathing, unicorns just have the potential to use it more diversely.

“But to answer your question,” Marty said, nodding as he considered his words more carefully. “This magic isn’t specific to unicorns, and your foci doesn’t have to be your horn.” he said, pausing in his walking for her.

Twilight flinched, what Marty said went against everything unicorn magic was based around. A foci was what a unicorn used to channel their magic, and even when they used a staff or amulet to channel it through the magic still came from the pony’s horn. The idea of using anything but a horn for magic was outright impossible for a unicorn, nothing else had the conductive properties necessary for it.

She told him as much, but he only smiled. “Observe,” he said simply with a smirk and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and held it, concentrating. In only a second she was able to notice the faintest of glows coming through his chest, lips and nose. He let out the breath slowly. Like smoke, a crackling cloud drifted out through his mouth and nose. It took Twilight a moment to realize what she was looking at, but Marty’s aura was hanging in his breath. The charged cloud drifted over the ground, weakly turning over pebbles and lifting sand and dust into the air.

He let the magic disperse, the small pebbles and sand rattling back onto the ground. “The magic … it was in your lungs?” Twilight said more than asked breathlessly, simply staring at the ground where a few errant sparks of electrical magic were still jumping.

“Magic from anywhere,” Marty said with a wink.


---


The camera clicked rapidly, the two ponies caught in the lens unaware of their uninvited observer. He snapped as many pictures as he could of the couple that had left the Tree only a short while ago, he would continue to follow them for as long as was required of him.

The pegasus stallion was unremarkable in most ways, simply a grey coat and a deep blue mane. He did hold one remarkable feature: the ragged scar at the base of his skull. That was, of course, the one thing he could not hide. His mark was too much of a part of him to let it be hidden from even himself.

Not even his Mark meant more to him than that scar did, but the stallion walking beside the purple unicorn was a close second. 

The faux tent that he perched on allowed him ample cover, and the earth pony magic inside would do well to hide what the other stallion below would see if he was who the pegasus suspected he was. He paused in his rapid picture capturing, a tug from his scar drawing his attention further into town.

He packed the camera quickly and took off in the direction of the pull. The flight took him over the unicorn pair, but he didn’t have to worry about being spotted: It was a yellow mare that flew over them silently.

‘She’d arrived in the small town only a few moments ago, but ‘she’ had no fears of a random stranger popping up to never be seen again bringing attention. Especially if they were just dropping into the local music store, where the tug on ‘her’ scar told the ‘mare’ to go. When ‘she’ stepped through the door, a tall unicorn colt came into the store with a shock of neon red hair.

“A picture of the lady with her wares?” he said once he spotted a familiar electric blue mane bobbing above a speaker nearby. Vinyl looked up and the colt snapped a picture before she could actually answer, she smirked at him.

“These pictures better not be going under your mattress,” she snarked, grinning through several more camera flashes.

The colt’s voice suddenly shifted, taking on an accent that it hadn’t before. “Can you blame me?” he asked, unusual emphasis on his vowels.

Vinyl jumped down and rolled her eyes. “I’m lucky that Octavia actually makes me practice, otherwise I’d never have been able to feel the little wave of magic you brought in with you, Tei,” she remarked, snorting as he took another photo.

The colt’s skin rippled like water, shimmering before the true pony underneath was revealed. A grey pegasus stallion would have been only a fraction of his description. His mane and tail had been dyed a thousand different colors in a spectrum that could have made Rainbow Dash turn green with envy - Or just from shock considering he’d only done it after seeing a picture of her. Tattoos around his joints gave the appearance of robotic plates, and from a distance it could have easily been mistaken for exactly that. His mark was a pair of headphones, a sound display of blue lights from a mixing board running between them. And with a distinct talent for changing his appearance, he could change any of that any time he found it convenient.

A frown dropped onto his muzzle suddenly. “I must be really rusty if even you could feel it.” He ducked quickly as a bucket full of drumsticks sailed past, the smile quickly returning. 

“What are you doing here anyway?” Vinyl asked, walking up to him. “It’s not everyday you get a visit from the stupid colt that couldn’t keep his hooves to himself.” She prodded him in the chest, enough to shake his saddlebags which she noticed were surprisingly full.

Tei gave an exaggerated bow, keeping a smirk aimed at her the whole time. “I am but a servant of the Mistress,” he said in a low voice, only loud enough for Vinyl to hear. She stiffened in surprise and he smiled wider and stood with a flourish. “I’ve had some trouble locating your target. If it’s who you think it is, then its simply a matter of getting these photographs developed.” His bags gave a jingle as he shrugged his shoulders. “And if you are right, then I’ve been told I get to give you your Scar.”

Vinyl knew Tei from years back, when she was only just starting out and struggling to get enough to pay the rent. He’d been close with Martyr since before she even jumped into the music industry. The fact that he was here, meant he was the only one left that the Mistress trusted to be able to stand up to whatever resistance that Martyr might put up when his capture finally was executed.

Vinyl was frozen, from excitement or fear she could not tell. If she was wrong, she knew that wasting the Mistress’s time would not be looked on kindly. But if she was right, she would finally be allowed back into the Mistress’s personal party. And, with this final favor to Her, Vinyl could even be a part of the Mistress’s final act.

Tei’s snicker was enough to break Vinyl’s trance, he laughed when she blushed. “So,” he said once he’d finally caught his breath, “where’s your girlfriend?” he asked sarcastically.

“She’s practicing … something,” Vinyl said with a wave of her hoof. She honestly wasn’t sure what her partner did while she was off alone, and most of the time she didn’t care. “What’s up with the camera?” she finally settled on asking. She eyed the offending piece of hardware on the mount around Tei’s neck.

“I think I spotted our stallion, but I couldn’t get a good look at him. I think he had some sort of veil that made it hard to actually look directly at him, like my eyes just slipped off of him. I got around it by putting him on the edges of the exposure,” he explained, shrugging off the camera.

Tei took his first real look around the shop, giving an appreciative whistle. He sauntered toward a displayed mixing board, giving the turntables an experimental twist. He eyed the wall of differently sized amplifiers and paused. “You realize that this is a virtual armoury as far as Martyr is concerned, don’t you?” he asked grimly, turning to Vinyl.

That caught her by surprise and drew out a strained squeak in question out of her. “He may not have been the strongest as far as brute strength goes when he left, but Martyr has a talent for sound magic. He could knock over half of Manehattan with what’s in here-” He lifted a hoof sharply, cutting off any response that Vinyl could have come up with. His ears twitched for a moment, and with a wave of his hoof the shop was dropped into the dimness usually reserved for closing.

Muffled voices passed the shop, making Vinyl stiffen at the familiar timber of Twilight’s excited voice and the calm, smooth tones of Marty’s voice. They stopped in front, apparently talking to several other ponies, fillies from the sounds of their voices. With a loud cheer from the fillies, the group split away again and Marty and Twilight continued past the shop without a second glance. Tei waited several long moments before he put his hoof down again and the lights flickered back on. 

“It’s fine, you can dump all this stuff and close your shop as soon as we know for certain that it’s him. Then the threat can be nullified,” he said with finality, nodding with a sigh. “Look, for now just show me a place I can set up a dark room, I need to get this film developed.”


---

        
Marty had Twilight wander around the town until the shadows grew as long they were tall. All the while he would stop and ask her to attempt to stretch her senses again, and never again did Marty let her go far enough to notice his magic.

She still found it rather off-setting that this magic didn’t actually resonate among where her other magical senses did, such as in her horn or like a weight in her thoughts. It was like something was buzzing just outside of the frequency she could hear, but she could still tell it was there. She could even say that it was like being blind to it. But she could slowly feel the presence of the other magic becoming clearer - Not by much, but she was sure it wasn’t her imagination now.

By the time the light had started to fade they’d wandered from one edge of town to the other and ended up at the edge of the Apple orchards. Twilight could feel a pleasant soreness in the base of her hooves and all along her legs from the long walk, and her head throbbed painfully from all the raw concentration she’d forced herself through. She was more than a little excited to see a perfect spot to sit down next to the wood fence.

When she looked back at Marty, he was simply standing and facing the trees. He didn’t seem to notice the glare of the sun that was starting to twist through the bare branches and into his blank eyes. There was a sort of intensity there that she hadn’t seen before, the smallest movements of the blank surfaces as if he were reading an invisible book. She wondered what he could be thinking about that would bring about something like that on his face.

“What’s in that direction?” he asked conversationally, breaking the silent moment rather suddenly. 

Twilight turned to look in the same direction more as a reaction than to actually look. “That’s Applejack’s farm, one of the biggest ones in Ponyville. But the Everfree forest is on the other side,” she explained, noticing the rather dramatic stiffening of his ears only in the corner of her eye.

“It has a name,” he said, surprise plain on his face. “How … interesting.” He scratched at his forelock, momentarily hanging the umbrella on the crook of his arm.

“You’ve heard of it before?” Twilight asked, curious now. She’d only meant it to continue the conversation, but Marty stiffened when she asked.

There was a distinct, pregnant pause before Marty gave a rushed laugh. “I was just noticing the magic that was around there. There’s these trees, and there’s what must the be the forest on the other side. I hadn’t expected something like it is all,” he stammered, collecting himself with a shake.

“It always has been one of Ponyville’s strangest features, I’ll give it that. I don’t doubt there’s a lot of Harmony magic out there, that place is teeming with old magic,” Twilight said, standing again. She squinted to see the clocktower in town, just able to make out the time from where they were. “Five o’clock and it’s already getting dark, let’s call it a day.”

“Sounds good to me. I haven’t taken long walks outside of my treadmill for ages, and now I feel like I have a bit better a feel for the town without that viel going the whole time,” he said, walking up to her. “Lead the way-”

Fast paced feet rushing up the road toward them made Marty pause. They both turned toward the sound, finding an out of breath baby dragon skidding to a halt in front of them. “Spike?” Twilight said, surprised by his sudden appearance. Spike held up a claw, struggling to catch his breath.

“Dude,” Spike finally said, turning to Marty, “don’t you remember? Rarity asked you to stop by for some measurements, you were supposed to be there an hour ago!” he said. Spike padded forward, taking the umbrella in his claws and pulling Marty forward. 

“Sorry, it must have slipped my mind!” Marty said, following along at a canter with Spike. “What with the lesson planning, and the magic, and letting Twilight practice, and-”

“We’ll see you later, Twilight!” Spike called back over his shoulder as he led Marty into a trot toward town. Twilight took a long moment to recover from Spike’s panicked arrival and exit, finally settling on ignoring it altogether.

“Guess it’s daisy sandwiches and water for dinner tonight,” Twilight mumbled to herself as she started an easy walk back toward town.


---


The sound of fabric rustling and loud moaning filled the lascivious bedroom. The four poster bed creaked, its covers strewn across the foot hastily and partially caught on its occupants as they writhed together on top of it. Without the sun coming through the windows or fire in the hearth neither of the ponies could see each other, but they didn’t take the time to admire each other.

Their moaning turned to screams of ecstasy that pierced through the heavily padded velvet lined walls. But just before a crescendo that could have been overheard for miles burst forth from them, a frantic knock on the simple door made one of them freeze.

“What?!” she bellowed, not bothering to move from the bed. Her partner continued to shiver and writhe, moaning in unbridled pleasure despite the fact that the other had already stood up over them.

“It’s urgent, Mistress!” a muffled voice shouted from the other side. “This just came for you!” the panicked colt’s voice disappeared as a slim yellow envelope slipped through the miniscule space under the door.

She gave a derisive snort in annoyance as she jumped off the bed, her partner barely noticing. Her glowing yellow eyes shone even in the darkness, leathery wings fluttering at her sides with her laboured breathing. She smiled in satisfaction at the slip her hooves had on the hardwood floor, leaning down close to the envelope and nearly brushing it with her damp chin.

“Apokalýptoun,” she muttered, watching with satisfaction as the envelope jumped into action before she’d even finished the word. It flipped around on the floor, opening with a snap for the single photograph to slide out at her hooves.

This made her pause, she’d expected an encrypted letter and had used a spell appropriate for such. She flicked her ear, sending out a lazy tendril of archaic energy to pull the large-print photograph from the floor. She flinched once the glossy paper was close enough to see with her eyes, her breath caught in her throat.

“Just as I remember you,” she said under her breath, barely able to pull the words from her lips. The photograph was blurry, expanded so that its target filled the frame. But all the same, she recognised him.

His black fur shone around the simple dress shirt, his silver mane flowing and curling in the wild way she remembered it. And his eyes, even if only in the picture they were little more than a blotch of grey and white, they still held the power and mystery she’d seen in them from the beginning.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, Eyes of Martyr.”

> Sultans of Swing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	-Sultans of Swing-
 
 
 
“Lean against the dark,” Marty said calmly, his voice drifted through the haze of Twilight’s inexperienced sight. “Let it hold you, support you. Trust it to reveal what it will in its own time,” he encouraged, gentle in his voice but strong in diction.
 
Twilight grunted, her face scrunched into intense concentration. She could feel a vein throb in her forehead. Marty let out a sigh. “Stop,” he ordered, and Twilight relaxed explosively. Her eyes opened back to the colorful interior of her library and locked immediately on the exhausted features of Marty’s face. “It’s been two days of constant attempts, Twilight. Don’t you think we should take a break?” he asked.
 
“It’s only been ten work hours, and no,” Twilight insisted despite the pain in her skull. “I know I can do this, I did it in the street just yesterday!” she yelled, frustration grating further on her headache.
 
“I think you might be trying too hard,” he suggested.
 
“Too hard? How can you try too hard to practice?” Twilight was incredulous, had Marty never had an Exam spring up unexpectedly and had to go several nights straight studying?
 
“This isn’t like … It’s not like regular magic, you don’t force it into working for you. It’s like trying to shove the square brick through the circle hole,” he tried, he gesticulated with his hooves and clapped them together to demonstrate. “It just doesn’t work. Maybe that’s why my master tried to rip out the knowledge we had of other magic types, so she wouldn’t have to deal with bad habits,” he pondered as he returned his hooves to supporting his tired head.
 
“They are not bad habits!” Twilight protested, Marty flinched at the volume. “I have practiced and mastered over a hundred spell-types! That’s over one hundred spells each -”
 
“There are over sixty-four to the power of sixty-four spells calculated to be possible within the boundaries of most Harmony Magics, and that’s just an extremely rough estimate,” Marty said with a smack of his hoof on the wooden floor. “You wouldn’t be able to read the name or function of each and every one if you had a million years, Twilight!” he said.
 
Twilight was struck at the tone in his voice. She’d forgotten how forceful he could be, or just how knowledgeable he was in this subject. “Oh,” she muttered weakly, she fell quite quickly off her soapbox. It was a strange and new experience for her, talking with somepony who wasn’t the Princess who knew much more about magic than she did.
 
“And absolutely none of them are going to be possible for you if you keep trying to force yourself into Harmony Magic!” he finished bluntly, his point hammered home. “You have to relax,” he said as he calmed himself.
 
“Alright,” Twilight relented. She paused a moment before she tried again though, a thought had come to her. “How did you do it? The first time that is,” she asked, both interested in knowing his methods as well as him.
 
He looked surprised at her question, and it showed quite well in his milky eyes. He gave a short hum in thought, obviously caught off guard by her question. “Well, actually I’m not sure,” he said to Twilight’s surprise. “My first experience with it was actually a long time before I ever had a master or realized what it was, I actually got my Mark for it,” he remarked. “I remember what happened though, it was beautiful. I fought and studied and practiced for almost ten years before I ever really saw it again.”
 
His expression had gone distant, and Twilight got the feeling that if he could he would be staring off into the distance. Twilight didn’t move, she barely dared to breathe. It was incredible how fast Marty could simply go from an unassuming pony in her eyes to somepony who was matured far past their days. There was wisdom somewhere in this colt, whether he chose to use it or not just seemed to be part of his charm.
 
“Let’s go for a walk!” Marty stood quickly, his magic felt around for his things in waves of silver aura.
 
Twilight jumped, shocked out of her reverie by Marty’s sudden shift in attitude. “A walk? But we’re practicing!” she protested.
 
“You can practice after you show me the Everfree,” Marty beamed, his saddlebags strapped themselves over his barrel and his guitar quickly followed. He must have somehow been able to tell she was pouting because he turned to her with a conspiring smile. “Show me the forest, and I’ll show you exactly what happens when you can make a full dive into Harmony Magic,” he offered.
 
“But the Everfree Forest is dangerous! You could get hurt!” she tried to protest again.
 
“Two powerful mages should be able to handle themselves in any amount of danger.”
 
“But you’re blind!”
 
“You underestimate me, Twilight Sparkle,” he said with a grin as he straightened up.
 
Twilight sighed in defeat, there was no convincing Marty otherwise it seemed. He wanted a walk through the forest, and he wouldn’t help her with this Harmony Magic unless he got it. “Fine …” Twilight grumbled, she watched him pump a hoof in success. “But only on one condition-” Twilight stood herself and pressed a hoof to his chest forcefully, “- you have to stay right next to me the entire time. The forest is extremely dangerous: Ponies can walk in on the same path and never come out the same path, or never come out at all!”
 
Marty only grinned wider. “That’s so awesome.”
 

---

 
Birds screeched in the distance the gnarled trees soaked up the sound and spat it out in a thousand directions. The air was heavy and thick and it was dark even at midday. The ground was soft and spongy underhoof, made up of cold mud and only held together by the intense amount of vegetation all vying for space. Bugs of innumerable colors and wings and legs flitted about in the air and things slithered in the underbrush.
 
And Marty was in love with every second of it.
 
His smile was wide enough to rival any of Pinkie’s, and he swung his head around as if he could actually see the forest around him. He must be able to see some magic in the trees, that was the only explanation that Twilight could come up with that made sense. But what she didn’t understand was where the magic had come from? No one had planted these trees, so how could it have any magic?
 
She had to tug on his saddlebags often to keep him close, he would surprisingly lock onto something in the trees and attempt to walk after it. The umbrella was soaked with mud and bits of green vegetation, but Marty hardly seemed to need it.
 
Finally, Twilight came across a clearing that she knew was nearby Zecora’s hut, one that wouldn’t turn out to be a cockatrice nest or turn into a sinkhole. She stopped Marty here, finally frustrated enough to be fuming. “Alright, we’re in the forest, just like you wanted!” she said not unkindly. “Now can we please go back and practice some more?” she pleaded.
 
To her dismay, Marty chuckled and shook his head. “There’s more to magic than just studying it Twilight,” he laughed as he slipped his saddlebags off. “You have to experience it, drown in it and come back only to want to do it all over again,” he said as he unpacked his guitar.
 
“Okay, now what are you doing?” Twilight asked in exasperation. “If you play too loudly you’ll attract some sort of predator or something!”
 
Marty only smiled as he turned to her with his guitar gripped firmly with his magic. “I thought you wanted me to show you what it was like?”
 
“What what was like?” Twilight asked, thoroughly confused now. All she’d wanted to do was practice today, she’d had it all marked out on her calendar and everything. But Marty was being uncooperative, and there was no way Twilight would be able to make any progress without his help.
 
“Getting a cutie-mark in Harmony Magic.”
 
The forest was silent as Twilight realized what Marty was offering her. “You want to tell me how you got your cutie-mark?” she asked, surprised and somewhat flattered. It wasn’t that sharing such a story was uncommon, but it was still considered fairly personal.
 
“No, show you,” he said, his expression softened as he took a deep breath. “Might want to sit down,” he suggested even as he did so himself. Twilight instantly sat herself on the moist grass; she ignored the water that seeped up into her coat.
 
Marty’s guitar settled into his lap with practiced ease, and his hooves easily plucked out a melody from the strings. He looked up toward the dark canopy above them with his unseeing eyes and started to sing.
 
“Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again,” he sang smoothly, the forest drank in his voice just as much as Twilight did. “Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains … within the sound of silence.” His hooves danced subtly across the guitar's neck, the trees offered just enough acoustics to make the sound come alive.
 
Twilight didn’t notice as the forest darkened around them, she was too locked onto Marty’s words. “In restless dreams I walked alone, Narrow streets of cobblestone ‘Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp.” The temperature dropped considerably, and Twilight could practically picture herself standing on that street. “When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of neon light, that split the night … and touched the sound of silence.”
 
Marty stood up, guitar in hoof, but whether Twilight noticed or not not even she could tell. He was singing to the forest as much as he was to her. His guitar came to life in his hooves, his magic giving the instrument a virtual amplifier that spread his music throughout the forest. “And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening. People writing songs that voices never share, And no one dared … disturb the sound of silence!”
 
“‘Fools,’ said I, 'You do not know, Silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you, Take my arms that I might reach you.’” The forest was dead around him, but Twilight could see it now, there was much more than trees in this forest. “But my words, like silent raindrops fell” -There was magic here, magic so pure and powerful and alive that nopony could really see it because they were too busy looking at their own magic to notice it.- “And echoed in the wells of silence.”
 
The trees glowed with life, and a million other things with them. All connected but separate at the same time, and all beautifully powerful. These trees were ancient, and with that age came power and magic. It got to a point that she thought she saw the still giants turn and gaze at Marty, the beacon of magic that he was in her eyes, and reach out to touch him.
 
“And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made. And the sign flashed out its warning, in the words that it was forming and the sign said 'The words of the Prophet are written on the subway walls! And tenement halls … And whispered in the sounds … of silence.'"
 

---

 
They stayed in the forest for nearly an hour afterwards, leaned against each others' backs so they could stare at the forest around them. Light danced inside everything, static and dynamic all at once with sigils and patterns Twilight had never seen before. Their eyes might have been closed, but there was no end to what they could see and feel and hear.
 
"I knew there was a good reason to follow you here," Marty mumbled, Twilight could feel his voice through their backs.
 
"Huh?" was the most she could reply with, she was too enraptured as she traced the thin, intricate ley lines in one of the trees around the clearing. She kept trying to commit each one to memory, but every time she did something made her move on to the next and forget the notion altogether.
 
"I've heard stories about places like these," Marty explained. Twilight felt him move his head to 'look' around the clearing with her. "Places that are ... alive with magic. Can't you see it? All this magic in one place, it's a demesne with its own perception, emotions even. Hell, this forest is probably so old that it barely even notices you or me," he said in wonder, Twilight could feel the nervous shivers run up his back at the thought.
 
They drifted to silence, just to sit and watch the forest through the eyes Harmony Magic had granted them. Twilight was certain now that, whatever this magic actually was, it was too beautiful to be evil.
 
"You get it now?" It wasn't really a question, Marty already knew the answer before he asked. "Think about it, Twilight; there must be places like this all around the world, powerful and older than any pony could ever be, and you have one in your backyard!" He gave a laugh at that but let it fade away into the hum of the forest. "Listen," he said after a moment more. "Can you hear that? The forest is singing for us."
 
"Yeah ..." Twilight said, her ears twitched. She could hear a thousand instruments, just on the outside of her hearing, but all of them were in harmony with one another.
 
"When I first heard it, I thought I was hearing the voices of a thousand angels ... I thought I was going crazy!" Twilight could hear the smile in his voice. "It took me a couple years before I tried to piece out one song or another from it, even longer before I started singing them myself. My master must have recognized it because she took me in instantly, and I learned and unlearned and relearned ..." He trailed off, the joy in his voice had faded until he just stopped talking altogether.
 
"Marty?" Twilight asked, concern pulled her away from her admiration of the forest.
 
"I miss when things were that simple," he mumbled. Twilight wouldn't have heard it if not for his back against hers and the strangest feeling coming from the forest around them. "There are two sides to everything, Twilight," he said to her, once again as objective as a teacher to his student. "A yin to the yang, a down to the up, a dark to the light, and an ugly to the beautiful. One - it seems - cannot exist without the other."
 
Twilight sat up and turned around to look at Marty. He didn't bother to support himself, he just rolled over and laid himself out on the grass. "Watch," he instructed, and instinctually Twilight found the sensations he'd taught her to see. "I ask for only a taste, enough to wet the tongue, Everfree," he whispered into the grass between his hooves. His words were gentle, like he was speaking to a special somepony.
 
Twilight was enraptured as, all around them the trees and grass and bushes all seemed to turn and look at Marty. She heard the singing of the forest again, this time as a gentle, wordless lullaby. Magic curled through the air, unwove and floated on ethereal currents. The motes of magic coalesced around Marty’s brightly lit shape, caressed him, and wove themselves within his blinding magic. He whispered a thank you and the forest returned to itself.
 
 Twilight released her hold on her sight, it was strange returning to such a clarified picture. It was almost like she'd put on extremely corrective lenses.
 
"That is Harmony magic," Marty said resolutely. "You ask, and if you are deemed worthy, you receive. But you can also take, and that is just as bad as murder, not just theft." One of his hooves dug into the soft sod beneath him, anger was prevalent on his features. "And like black magic; if a pony takes for the sake of power, it won't fill a hole in them, it will only make it bigger. It's a lot like heroine: they start with a needle, 'just to try' they say, then they have to do more and more until before you know it they're OD-ing just to get even the slightest buzz.
 
"Or they start hurting ponies," he continued as he rolled onto his side, his back to her. "They become so addicted to having- taking more, that they decide they'll do anything to keep their high. So they start sucking up other ponies' souls," he ranted. Without pause, his hoof pulled his grey mane away from the base of his neck to reveal the gnarled scar hiding there. "And when you realize what they've done to you, and you finally break away, you're left with scars much worse than this one, hiding just out of sight."
 
"Marty ..." Twilight said, shocked. "Wh- Why are you telling me all this?" she choked out unsure what else would be an appropriate reaction.
 
"Harmony magic, in and of itself is not and cannot be evil. It shapes itself to the user, but it can't shape the user. Ponies can change though; they can get caught up in their lust for power. And that's when they can start doing bad things with good magic," he explained as he sat up. "You can get really far with this stuff, Twilight, just don't let yourself get lost in it," he warned. His blank eyes turned to her, the slightest glow of magic in them.
 
"Of course not, Marty," Twilight said and took a seat next to him. She leaned against him reassuringly. "I promise that I will never let that happen to anypony, especially not if I have a chance to stop it," she said, he sighed in relief and returned the embrace.
 
“That means more to me than you know,” he muttered.
 

---

 
"It's perfect."
 
"It's crazy."
 
"We could totally do it, Octy!"
 
"It's a risk we should take: He'll be out in the open, distracted, and nopony will be close enough to interfere. And in the crowds, nopony will notice a few teleport gems going off among all the other flashing lights, or a few ponies going missing."
 
"But in front of everypony? Is the Mistress approving of such an overt display?"
 
"She is desperate to get him back, Octy."
 
"Hah! When Martyr was around, we did all sorts of things that were a lot more overt. The break-in to the world's most secure vault in Trottingham; all the money gone without any magical or physical trace - except for a wrecked bank; the vault, three feet of cold-rolled steel and ten feet under solid stone, busted through from above. He was there."
 
"Really? The papers said it was some sort of dragon raid!"
 
"How come I never heard of this, Tei?!"
 
"Canterlot buried it deep, they didn't want anypony to think they couldn't pin us down once we'd done it. Anyway, I think the mistress will like it. It's showy, dramatic; just her style. But she won't want anypony to know right away, we can get a few of her Changelings to keep everything quiet until we're in the clear if we can keep it low key."
 
"This is really bad, isn't it?"
 
"Don't worry, Octy. It’s for a greater purpose."
 

---

 
"You can't just use it willy nilly, either," Marty said as he and Twilight made their way back into town. "This magic has to be respected, which means I only want you to use it when I ask you to or if you absolutely need it."
 
"What would I need it for? What sorts of applications does it have?" Twilight inquired.
 
"Mostly the revealing of hidden things. Very little can be hidden from it, even though it is possible to an extent. But don't worry, that's a pretty advanced skill, we'll come back to-"
 
“There he is, 'cuff him."
 
It only took an instant for the order to be carried out. In a cloud of dust Marty was wrenched to the ground by a wave of greenish magic that quickly bound the other unicorn and capped his horn. He was violently jerked off the ground to hang suspended only a few centimeters up. It was only once Marty’s things had been wrestled away from him that Twilight noticed the small group of Royal Guards that had appeared.
 
"What's going on?" Twilight attempted to demand, unfortunately it came out as more of a frightened squeak.
 
"Step aside, ma'am," one of the Guards said simply. The Guard's simple spear lowered between Twilight and Marty to cut her off from him.
 
"Holy shit! At least let me touch the mother-loving ground!" Marty yelled, a distinct shudder of fear in his voice. The Unicorn Guard lowered him only slightly, apparently considerate enough to allow Marty’s bound hooves to scrape the dirt.
 
"What's going on?!" Twilight asked again; she managed the demanding part this time and it seemed to get the Guards’ attention.
 
"I'm sorry, ma'am," a familiar brown Pegasus said as he walked up to her. "Marty is breaking his parole, for the third time I might add!" he shouted in Marty’s direction.
 
"You're his parole officer too-?"
 
"That first time was bullshit and you know it, Ironrod!" Marty burst out. "You were fine with it when you found out I was just at Trumpet Cove!"
 
"You still broke your parole! You left without anypony knowing where you were! I only barely got you out of that one, you ungrateful snot! Now I got no choice! It's out of my hooves!" the large Pegasus yelled, face turned red with anger.
 
"And now he'll be returning to jail,” an even more familiar voice confirmed.
 
“Shining?!” Twilight all but screamed at the sight of her brother in armor and holding his own spear. Simply the fact that the Captain of the Guard was involved was enough to make Twilight flinch, not to mention that it was her very displeased looking brother. It could also have been that he looked only a step away from arresting Twilight as well; though for more personal, protective reasons.
 
“Step away from him, Twily,” the muscular Unicorn stepped forward to take over the grasp on Marty. “We’ll be having a conversation later, for now I have to sort out this guy’s mess-”
 
“No way! I’ve read my stipulations! I am not going back.” Marty bellowed, perhaps if he had seen the scowl on Captain Shining Armour’s face he might have stopped there but the blind pony went on. “I have to be with a supervisor, magical or otherwise at all times when not at home or with family: Twilight Sparkle told me she was one!” he claimed.
 
Shining Armour and Ironrod both turned to Twilight, a scowl and a surprised look aimed at her respectfully. “Twily … ?” Shining asked with a tone that read “warning.”
 
“I … did sort of tell him that,” Twilight admitted. Twilight knew the law, she often found some enjoyment in the study. And while she had not admitted to Marty that she was legally able to determine the effects of black magic and technically to monitor somepony accused of black magic before he had jumped the train with her, she had told him. Now she was caught in situation she truly had no experience with; determining whether to support her brother or her friend.
 
“Fine, but you still left your assigned perimeter without authorization: I’m taking you in,” Shining said. “And you’re coming with me, Twily,” he growled, a rough hoof grabbed her by the arm and Twilight reluctantly allowed her older brother to drag her away.
 
“I will demand trial by combat if I have to!” Marty yelled, only the slightest shake of uncertainty in his voice. However, his outburst had its desired effect. Every Guard froze and she could feel Shining’s arm tense at the threat. It only took a moment longer for Twilight to realize the implications of what Marty had just said.
 
Marty had just called out Shining Armour’s authority in front of the universe.
 

---

 
Shining Armour’s small group of Royal Guards had quickly commandeered Ponyville’s police station and its blue walled drunk tank to hold their ‘prisoner’. However, Twilight had been given an arguably more stressful confinement: the sheriff's office with her older brother glaring her down. The blinds were drawn, and the lanterns unlit. The entire room appeared to have been gridded out by the light from outside, every object striped with a line of gentle light.
 
He hadn’t even said anything yet. They’d arrived and quickly left a silently brooding Marty in the empty drunk tank, and Shining had very simply sat her down in the sheriff's office and sat behind the desk in the big chair; silent. The sheriff's various plaques and baubles appeared as little more than background noise with him there. Twilight knew the tactic: allow the suspect to stew in their own thoughts until they were ready to talk on their own. However it did not detract from its effectiveness.
 
"You know who he is?" Shining said, more a statement than an answer. However, Twilight saw no other choice than to agree with a nod. Shining gripped the bridge of his muzzle with the frog of his hoof, the clearest sign of emotion Twilight had seen from him since he'd arrived. "Martyr is a criminal, and the only reason he isn't lockedd up in the deepest, darkest dungeon in Canterlot this very instant is because he knows how to abuse the system. For all his preaching, which I'm sure you've heard plenty of by now, he does it for the thrill. He likes to test the limits we put on him," Shining grunted angrily, his hoof moved deliberately and slowly to gesticulate his points. Twilight could see the hard muscles tensed in his arms and neck; he was furious. "And now he's challenging my authority, and to top it all off he's gotten you involved in all of this bullshit!" His hoof slammed onto the sheriff's old desk and Twilight jumped.
 
"I'm sorry," Twilight muttered. It was a weak apology; made more in hope that it would allay her brother's anger than it would actually fix anything. "But I am a trained black magic defense practitioner, and if what he was saying was true then he really was-"
 
"Do not defend him, Twilight!" Shining snapped. "We have documented proof that he has broken the agreements of his parole on multiple occasions, but nopony has bothered to recognize the danger that he presents to everypony around him. That ends here!" he barked.
 
"As far as I can tell he's done nothing wrong! Everypony makes mistakes. Besides, what kind of danger can a guitar playing, blind pony present?" Twilight rebutted. She fumed silently inside, her anger on a slow heat. To her, it appeared as if Shining Armour had determined she was to blame for any action Marty might have made.
 
"He's killed ponies with magic, Twilight!" Shining Armour all but screamed. The room was deafeningly silent in the moment that followed as Shining's words sunk in. "Six. On purpose; he admitted it in court. He admitted he would do it again, and more, 'if he had to'. He only got away on a plea of black magic induced madness," Shining explained. He sank back in the sheriff's big armchair. He appeared exhausted and frustrated, suddenly as upset with himself as he was with Twilight.
 
"I- I hadn't realized that ..." Twilight muttered, unsure how she was supposed to react in the vacuum that had been left by that revelation.
 
"Of course you hadn't," Shining said, his voice back to the gentle tones that she was used to. "You're such an innocent soul, Twilight. You haven't really gotten to see how bad some ponies are, and I envy you for that. But you have to realize that this pony is probably using you; to what end, I don't know," Shining said. He leaned forward in the chair, his elbows rested on the old wood desk and he leaned over it to look Twilight in the eyes. "But I guess we'll find out if he's right in a few hours. Won't we?" he said with finality that made Twilight’s heart hurt horribly.
 
Shining would duel with Marty by the time the sun and the moon began their trade of the heavens: sunset.
	

> Street Fighter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Street Fighter-



"I don't git it," Applejack mused as she watched a pair of the Royal Guardsmares continue to carve sigils into one of her recently harvested fields. "What's the big deal about this here duel? Seems a might unfair seein' as how it's the Captain of the Royal Guard up against a blind colt."

Her eyes roamed over to the sides of the field, where half of Ponyville had turned out to watch the fight. They loitered by the fence and sat on picnic blankets but otherwise came no closer. How word had spread so quickly was none of Applejack's concern: Applebloom and Big Mac had actually taken the opportunity to sell drinks and snacks. All the same she wondered what this would lead to, it seemed to her that a mountain was being made of a molehill. 

Marty and Shining Armour sat on opposite ends of the circle, where two smaller circles had been carved seperate from the larger decorated circle between them. Both the Unicorns seemed completely oblivious to the world around them, in apparent meditation. Though Marty remained magically chained.

"A duel like this is different from a fight, Applejack. That circle plays a big part in leveling the playing field. It is magic so old only the Princesses really know it's origin," Twilight explained. "The Trial by Combat was one of the first judicial systems ever established by unicorns."

"Didn't realize Unicorns were so ruff and tuff," Rainbow commented with a grin. "I thought classical Unicorns were supposed to be all stuck up. You know, like in the Hearths Warming stories."

"It's not just a fight," Twilight insisted. "That circle is a prayer to the universe as much as it is a warding to prevent any magical backfire from escaping it's border. Once they get started they have to follow a strictly laid out set of rules; they will first trade blows with increasingly powerful attacks and defenses, more a show of force than anything, and then they attempt to overpower their opponent in order to push them out of the ring. If the circle determines that this won't work, they move onto the final stage; bound weapons," Twilight lectured. Her eyes roamed over the swirling sigils that decorated the strange circle, she'd never seen one outside a book before.

"So what? Still sounds like your brother's gonna wipe the floor with him!" Rainbow grunted. "If it's so important that somepony fights then can't he just- I don't know: get someone to fight for him?" she asked.

"Doesn't quite work that way," Twilight sighed. "The accuser, that's Shining, was directly challenged by the defendant, Marty. Marty could technically get somepony to fight in his name, but that pony would have to claim the right to the trial. Because Marty said it, the circle will only work if he fights in it." Twilight felt a shiver run up her spine, she could already feel the chill of the night moving in and the sun had only just begun to touch the horizon. By the time it was halfway through and the moon began to rise, they would start. "The circle relieves them of all 'chance' in the fight, and gives a few basic laws of logic for fate to follow."

"Which are?" Rarity decided to ask as she lounged on the picnic blanket she had thoughtfully brought for the six of them to sit on.

"'Whoever has the favour of the balance, wins'," she recited. "It's vague, but it essentially means that whoever deserves to win, should. All by the rules set down in the circle, which is also a good way of keeping particularly powerful Unicorns from tearing up mountains during their fights."

"Unicorns did that sort of stuff?!" Pinkie nearly screamed.

Twilight cut her off before she could start yelling about magic rings or a volcano. "It was originally intended for the Royal Sisters to settle disputes among themselves, but because Royals tended to also be very powerful mages they also adopted it. Let's just say that the battle between Celestia and Nightmare Moon beforee the banishment was not in a circle. Just look at how that ended up," Twilight said with a nod toward the distant Everfree.

It was an unfortunate truth. And Twilight knew that her bloodline had a particular legacy in duel fighting because of the particularly powerful mages that came out of it. She had no doubt that if her brother wanted to he could dig a crater the size of the field they were sitting on and pile it up somewhere a few miles away and barely break a sweat, and so could she. Twilight just hoped that Marty’s magic was up to the task and he wouldn't be defeated too badly: He'd said himself that his traditional magic use was limited, and she wasn't sure if the Harmony Magic he'd been teaching her about would even work in the circle.

A low, heavy chime filled the air. Anypony around Marty or Shining Armour took a step back as the circle announced that the opponents should take their places within its bounds. Marty stood and his restraints faded away as his Unicorn jailer stepped back. Shining stepped resolutely into the circle, and the blind pony he was fighting somehow found his way in without aid. They would fight without armour since Marty had none, and magic would be their only weapon.

The inside of the circle was continuous and smooth, wide enough that an elephant might have felt comfortable enough to walk around in. Two smaller concentric circles were within and would dissolve once the fight began. They each stepped into a circle and faced each other. The sun slowly began to dip, it's edge stretched out to spread the last of its light. The circle began to glow, or maybe it had already been glowing but had only become visible in the fading light. Some sigils shifted and grew, a few "stood up" off of the ground to create a low "fence" around the circle. An invisible dome had spread over them, it would ensure that no help could arise from outside and none of their magic could have effect outside it.

The moon peaked out from the opposite horizon, and the circles around the Unicorns' hooves flashed. Once, twice, three times; with the third, brightest flash they dissappeared altogether.

With a roar of power a pink beam of pure force erupted from Shining's horn. The beam struck Marty and slipped past him on a wave of translucent shielding, it roiled and roared like an angry river. The force dissapated into a pink mist once it passed through the circle's edge and ablated a ditch out of the dirt next to Marty. 

A sidestep brought Marty around the girth of the attack and he delivered his retaliation. A boom filled the air with a flash of light as a column of lightning leapt into Shining Armour's own shield that flared to compensate. The smell of ozone filled the air as another crackle-boom of lightning tore up the soil around Shining Armour and turned it into glass, all the while Shining continued to press forward with a never ending wall of force on Marty. The river of pink magic flowed around Marty, and it slipped off his shield as if it were made of greased silver.

The spectating ponies let out a collective gasp at the light show, shocked into silence at the simple fact that someone could match the Captain of the Royal Guard in raw power.

It wasn't until the third strike of lightning that anyone heard the incantation that had summoned it, hidden in the thunder that so quickly followed. "Fulmen!" he shouted below the boom of ionized atmosphere. Sonic waves bounced dust off of the dirt field, which seemed to be what was truly making contact with Shining Armour. Shining flinched with each bolt despite the fact that he dissapated them easily against a solid shield spell.

The lightning came in erratic crashes against Shining's shield, but it refused to give. And through whatever slight of magic Marty had not moved under the constant barge of force that could have easily punched a tunnel through steel wall. If anything, the lightning bolts got bigger the longer the struggle lasted and the thunder from them all the more deafening. The onlookers could only imagine how loud it was for the fighters.

Shining yelled out, and with a surprising feat of performing three combat spells at once he retaliated with his own bolt of lightning. It arched over Shining's beam of magic and connected with a solid ba-boom onto his shield. Marty staggered and Shining pressed the advantage with his force spell. Marty’s hooves slid across the dirt and it was all he could do to keep the lightning from singing him or the pure force from simply knocking him away. Symbols on Marty's shield flared brightly, all interconnected into a web that grounded the electricity and deflected the force beam around him.

"Tenebrae!" Marty shouted. With a boom smoke billowed out around him and rose in a pillar of swirling black and Shining cut off his offensive. Shapes began to writhe and swirl in the smoke, huge maws opened and snapped at the air as the cloud pressed against the invisible dome of the circle and slowly slid to Shining's left. The crowd looked uneasily toward each other, was it some sort of illusion or had Marty summoned some aspect of darkness as his shout might have implied? Shining's eyes followed the cloud, ready to react at the first sign of his opponent. He took a step to his right, his eyes trained on the direction the smoke drifted.

Marty emerged from the right side of the cloud silently, the opposite side he had drawn Shining's attention to, and aimed his horn toward Shining Armour. "Ignis!" Marty shouted. He'd announced his position but the attack had been sprung before Shining could turn again to meet it. A line of wavering heat slithered through the air, and behind it the air combusted into several violent explosions. The concussion  echoed out of the circle and whipped manes thirty feet away. Shining was bounced back in the circle, lifted into the air by the blast. 

He landed back on his hooves, breathing hard just inside the circle's edge. But before they could begin their next barrages the circle chimed low and deep again. The magical attacks ceased immediately, and the swirling illusion slowly faded away behind Marty. Both of the Unicorns turned and marched back to their scarred starting points.

"Woah! Did someone just win?!" Rainbow yelled in surprise. The first among them able to overcome their shock at the display of raw power.

"No," Twilight yipped, "they've moved on to the next stage. The circle determined they were too closely matched in raw power." She almost didn't believe the words that she'd just uttered; but when Marty had said he was a master, Twilight suddenly had the impression that he had been downplaying the level on which he operated. Shining Armour was no pushover when it came to battle magic, he was one of the best of the best. The fact that Marty had stood a chance, even with a bolster from the circle, spoke miles.

"Holy cow!" Pinkie cheered. "You mean Marty just magically arm wrestled with you brother and neither of them was able to win?!" she all but screamed to the heavens.

"Oh my goodness," Rarity gasped. A decorated fan had found its way to her hoof and she was using it to desperately blow away the smell of sulfur and ozone that had drifted their way from the exchange of magic.

Twilight nodded. She knew that many recorded fights were lost by the favored party simply because they were inexperienced in wielding as much power as the circle could grant. This was conceivably the only oversight the circle held, but at the same time was reveared as a part of its judgement: if it's chosen champion could not adapt to using the raw power or could not change how they thought or fought to compensate then that party was not deserving of the circle's favour. The circle never dampened any magic, it only ever enhanced it. Sometimes it would grant power to both sides, sometimes exclusively to one. Many theorized it was so that none suspected foul play with mana draining spells or potions.

The fact that Marty was competent enough to hold ground against Shining most likely meant that the circle favored Marty’s case over Shining's.

"Feeling tired yet?" Marty yelled across the circle as he and Shining stepped back into their respective circles. "You could just step out," he offered even as his breath came short and his mane stuck to his face with sweat.

"I'm fine, how about you?" Shining barked back, equally lacking in breath. He hadn't broken a sweat, not yet, although something warm and wet was rolling down the side of his head and he was starting to think he'd gone deaf in one ear. The Captain had known Marty would be a force to be reckoned with, but he'd never seen it in person. "I'd say the same, but if you step out it'll be right into a jail cell."

"I don't plan on it," Marty said as the circle began to glow again.

The circle let out its deepest chime yet, the sound vibrated in the air as if the heavens themselves had been struck like a gong. Shining's horn ignited and magic coalesced around him, it compressed and defined itself until it became a sword and shield; the staple of the Unicorn Guard. Marty swung his head, spreading silver sparks that grew and connected into a chain; with a flash a large silver scythe with a heavy chain came into existance.

"What in tarnation are they doin' now? And what the hay is that thing?" Applejack asked.

"Those are bound weapons; weapons made out of magic. During this round those are the only things they are allowed to use against each other: No lightning, no force spells, no illusions," Twilight explained. "This round is the last one, they fight until one of them is pushed out of the circle or until one of them can't go on. And that," Twilight said as she squinted at Marty’s  weapon, "looks like a very large kusarigama. It's an oriental weapon, its name means chain-scythe."

"What happens if someone breaks the rules?" Rarity asked, her fan still busy beating away the smells in the air.

"They can't," Twilight said simply.


---


There had been no rush of power from the circle when the duel started. No feeling of lightness or strength where there had been none before. And now Marty was certain that the circle, and by extension the heavens above, had condemned him to fend for himself.

His magic gripped the weighted chain tightly, and the wooden structure of his scythe creaked from the grip he had on it. The first encounter had been grueling. Shining Armour's force spell had put Marty’s wards to their very edge, and the Captain's shield had been almost impenetrable.

But this was Marty’s chance to turn the tide back in his favour. If he was able to win here he could continue his plans. His vision pulsed with magic, the circle's edges were clearly defined and Shining Armour was an aurora of pink light that left a flaming trail whenever he moved. Marty had fought against a sword and shield before, and the defensive strategies used with them tended to be the downfall of the user if Marty could get close enough.

He took a deep breath and let his vision leave him. In the darkness that followed his other senses came alive and he was ready to really fight.


---


The circle pulsed only once for this round before the fight began. Shining charged forward with his shield presented and his sword ready to strike. Marty walked calmly forward to meet him, the weighted end of the kusigarami's chain swung leisurely at his side. Marty only got three steps before Shining's charge met him in what should have been a devestating shield bash. Again a well timed sidestep offered Marty an advantage.

The kusigarami's chain spun out as Marty stepped around the shield side of Shining's attack and tangled in the larger Unicorn's legs. Shining attempted to swing his shield into Marty even as he lost his footing and nearly tripped out of the circle. When he recovered Marty had taken several steps back toward the center of the circle with his scythe held across his chest defensively and the chain swinging menacingly above his head.

Shining had to pause for a moment when he examined Marty. It was his face, a pure mask of the emotionless, calculating fighter that was prepared to meet any attack. This was the Marty he'd read about in the reports, and the one he'd seen in the courtrooms of Canterlot. Shining grunted, ready this time for a sidestep move, and approached carefully with his shield and sword raised. He walked as quietly as he could muster, in an attempt to take advantage of his opponent's weakness and flank him. Marty did not turn to follow him.

A murmur rose from the crowd, it seemed that all Shining would have to do was stay in the blind spot: which they were pretty sure was everywhere. While the blind colt might have made quite the light show, his run was over. There were very few ponies who could match a Royal Guard in combat. 

It was just when Shining appeared ready to strike that Marty made his move. A flick of his horn and the chain's swing changed. The heavy end of the chain struck the ground and kicked up a cloud of dirt and dust into Shining's face. Shining cried out as he was blinded and grunted as Marty hooked his scythe over the top of his shield. A bash drove Marty back, but just as quickly the spinning chain tangled around his bound sword and wrenched him forward with enough force that the bound weapon burst apart. His hooves struggled to stay under him and when he managed to blink away the dust in his eyes Marty was inside his defense. 

Runes flared along the blind pony’s arms, bolstering spells to give them extra strength and integrity. Shining had not considered bolstering himself, but Marty had to an Olympian degree. The scythe did not slice into Shining, but when the handle slammed into his chest it knocked the wind out of him and threw him right to the edge of the circle. There was a shocked shout from the crowd as Marty followed to press his advantage.

The chain swung again in wide circles and Shining was forced to hide behind his shield or gain a concussion from the heavily weighted end. His shield rang like a gong with every hit and Shining's ears rang painfully. When Marty hit next he simply bucked the shield and forced Shining to stumble back another step.

With his hooves against the line Shining made one last push and attempted to resummon his sword. Marty moved again the moment that Shining's horn lit with magic and tangled his chain around the lit horn.

Shining shouted out in pain as the impact jarred straight into his brain, his shield feel apart and any chance of casting for another disappeared. Marty slammed into Shining while he was stunned and finally forced him backwards over the line. The circle flashed as they both stumbled over the line and collapsed on the ground. The runes scribbled hastily across Marty’s arms hissed and faded, tugged away by the magic of the circle even as it began to dissolve itself. Marty's kusigarami faded away quickly as he rolled away from the Captain of the Guard. 

Both of them remained on the ground, each took their time to catch their breath or to dispel a nasty migraine.   The crowd remained silent as they waited for some sort of verdict. They didn't wait long. 

"Let it be known that Eyes of Martyr, first born son of house Essence has been cleared of all charges. By decree of the old laws and of the stars from which all Unicorns find their ancestry," a Guardsmares bellowed with a frown that betrayed her distaste.

Marty’s breathing was ragged, but he still managed to perk an ear up when Shining spoke. "If you hurt Twilight, hell nor high water will stop me from finding you," he growled.

"I would expect nothing less," Marty sighed.