And Then There Were Ponies

Chapters

Of Ponies and Men
Twilight Sparkle Who?
Operation Boomshy
The Old Earth
The Gatekeeper
Fallout
Dr. Beta

Of Ponies and Men

Deep within Everfree Forest, a metallic being ceased trying to transmit audio. With it’s silver digits, it flung closed the nearby book on theoretical magic. Its trans-dimensional transmission spell was a failure.

It had not expected success, yet if there was some way it could relay a message to a world full of beings who would no doubt reclaim their world from these sappy anthropomorphic horses, it had to try.

It had known for over sixteen years that not being a unicorn was a severe handicap when dealing with magic. Yet, the weather, zap apples, and other such phenomena had shown it that magic was a property of the world it was in, and not limited to any one race.

With this in mind, it had forged some excess steel (from one of the countless others like it that did not survive being transported) into roughly the shape of a unicorn’s horn. With the horn as a focus, it had managed to produce electricity shortly before its battery ran out.

With its capacity for logic, it could do unheard of feats with magic, but it first needed a unicorn. But not just any unicorn would do. It had to be one of the most powerful, yet naive enough to be manipulated. The unicorn had to be the one it had indirectly been manipulating for years. It had to be Twilight Sparkle.

Luring Twilight into the Everfree Forest and manipulating her would prove difficult, for it had only found one copy of the book that provided the needed context. When it was nearly caught smuggling the book out of the Canterlot Archives, the book inadvertently ended up in Luna’s possession. It had learned the hard way that Wonderbolts don’t have access to the archives, and aroused suspicion in the process.

If Twilight would only find out the contents of that book, she surely would search the entire forest, but how could it ensure she would? Luna had likely read the book as she had searched the forest a few times, but the two didn’t talk much.

The being then received microphone feed that said, “Twilight look. The Princess sent you six tickets to the gala again.”

The gala, of course! It was a long shot but, what choice did it have. Despite being at the Princess’ beck and call a wonderbolt could not approach a princess without being asked. Getting too chummy with Twilight, or pretending to deliver a message from Luna would seem suspicious. The longshot was the best plan.

Thankfully, it had noticed a particularly useful footnote in that magical theory book that could cause a conversation with Luna. The plan could work if Rainbow Dash behaves the way it hoped, and if Celestia will be as busy as she will undoubtedly be. But then, there was no guarantee they would talk about the right thing. The plan almost seemed too indirect, but there was no hurry, so if this plan failed as many before it had, it would simply move on to the next one. The key was to not arouse suspicion.

While it was made for battle, and thus not equipped for stealth, there was one other thing it had learned to do with the crude metallic horn. It had tried to conceal itself with the forms of various ponies and animals, but only one had ever worked. With a single flick the metallic humanoid vanished and in its place stood a pony with a blazing orange and red mane and a yellow coat.

~~~

Twilight was unsure why she had bothered to show up after how things went last time. Perhaps not ruining the gala this time would make it as though the previous time never happened. No, more than likely it was that she did not want to refuse tickets that Princess Celestia had given her, and that anypony should be grateful to have. She tried to set aside that thought though, because that reason seemed stupid compared to the reasons almost any other pony would likely have for going. At least she was with her friends.

Fluttershy felt a familiar pit in her stomach. Last year she had been scary, and lately she had been having nightmares about the scary version of herself switching places with the real her. In these dreams everyone liked the scary her better than the weak, helpless her. She knew better, but she still felt this urge to ask her friends anyway if they preferred her the way she was. She suppressed this urge though, as she often did with many urges, for she was sure her friends were preoccupied thinking about more important things, and she didn't want to bother them.

Spike, who had insisted last year that everypony stick together, was instead at a meeting for his Rarity fan club. Spike had wanted an identity outside of just being Twilight's assistant, so naturally Twilight advised him to play to his strengths, but starting a Rarity fan club wasn't exactly what Twilight had in mind. No doubt he would have just moved the meeting to a different night, if his first real member wasn't scheduled to show up at this meeting.

Since everypony agreed it would be better to stick together this year, yet they each had separate interests, Twilight had taken the liberty of planning out when each pony would get her turn. First on Twilight's master schedule was to visit the garden and view what wildlife they could while there. Naturally, Fluttershy had volunteered to be last, but since she was always last, Twilight decided it would be a good idea to make her first for a change. Twilight couldn't decide if this was a reward for her kindness, or a way of showing her that going first is okay.

Twilight's thoughts had been interrupted by a soft voice calling out, “It's okay animals, don't be shy. Actually, there is nothing wrong with being shy but could we please see you anyway? You have nothing to fear. We just want to help.” The bushes on either side of them rustled a little but Fluttershy's call had gone largely ignored. “Please come out. You don't even have to come near me. We just want to see you so we can talk. Or we could all play the silent game if you'd prefer,” pleaded Fluttershy, but this time not even so much as a leaf fell off a tree or bush.

“What if these animals aren’t from around here, and don’t know english?” Pinkie Pie said in her usually jubilant manner while bouncing forward. Pinkie Pie proceeded to bounce around to various bushes and greeted each with a “Woof woof.”

“I hate to tell an expert that she is taking the wrong approach to something in their expertise, but Pinkie Pie is right. Well she was before she started...” began Twilight while looking over at Pinkie Pie's who was now hissing at a tree. “...being Pinkie Pie,” finished Twilight after a brief Pause.

“Why don't these animals like me? Why are they so different from the animals around Ponyville?” sighed Fluttershy.

“You haven’t grown up around these animals like the ones in Ponyville. You have an innate talent for working with animals, but you still have to make a good first impression to gain their trust. What did you do when you first befriended the animals of Ponyville?” said Twilight.

Fluttershy unleashed her wings and shouted with excitement, “Of course!” Fluttershy withdrew wings back and continued in her usual whisper, “I mean, yes, of course. When I befriended the animals of Ponyville I was scared and alone. I didn't try to make friends; it just sort of happened. I bet if I just wait patiently they'll come out.”

Fluttershy looked to Pinkie Pie who was now switching between chirping, barking, and at one point she could have sworn she heard her clucking. “Then again, maybe not,” sighed Fluttershy.

“Don't worry Shy, I'm on it,” said Rainbow Dash's afterimage. She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when she was dragging Pinkie Pie away from the animals. Rainbow Dash grumbled, “Come on Pinkie Pie, you can't actually think that is going to work.”

“Of course it isn't. But it sure is fun! This is a giant party!” replied Pinkie Pie.

“Fluttershy isn’t having fun,” said Rainbow Dash.

After hearing not and fun in the same sentence, Pinky immediately scanned her friends for frowns and spotted one on Fluttershy’s face. Pinky apologized, “I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't mean to scare away the animals.”

“I'm sorry too,” responded Fluttershy.

“For what?” asked Twilight.

“I don't know. I guess I'm just used to apologizing for things,” said Fluttershy.

They waited for thirty more minutes for animals to show up, and while Fluttershy couldn't even get near any of them, they did see a few exotic creatures, including a buzzard that really buzzed. Fluttershy didn't see or get as close to the animals as she would have liked, but she couldn't help but be pleased with the way things turned out. She had matured, and not lost her mind just because some animals didn't love her yet. What a silly nightmare she had had.

If Twilight had been thinking about it, she would have put Applejack on the schedule second anyway, to be sure the gala was still crowded when they were trying to make sales, but by sheer luck of the draw, Applejack turned up second anyway.

Applejack handed all the ponies a bag of treats and said, “Now remember, the apple fritters are 3 bits, and the apple pies are 5 bits. Everything else is 2 bits.”

Rainbow Dash interjected, “So if we aren't going to be spreading out, what is the point of all of us selling stuff again?”

“It's psychology, Dash. The more ponies a pony sees selling a product, the more likely that pony is to view the products being sold as trustworthy,” blurted out Twilight who was happy to have an excuse to recite an interesting fact she had learned in her studies. Her studies focused primarily on magic, but on occasion she found it beneficial to look into miscellaneous topics like running and psychology.

Applejack replied, “Right, what she said. More to the point you are a good friend and I'd appreciate the help. So you willing to give it or not? ’Cuz I don't want the help of no half-hearted ponies.”

“Did you forget who you are talking to, AJ? Am I even capable of giving less than my best? Probably not, but I wouldn't know. I've never tried,” said Rainbow Dash.

There was a brief silence that allowed the words of Pinkie Pie to reach the ears of the other ponies. “Well no, I'm not selling any cotton candy, but having this bag of food with me makes me wish I did, and that's why I was talking about it. Just think of how cool it would be if we were selling cotton candy,” said Pinkie Pie to a now thoroughly uninterested pony who was walking away.

“Pinkie, if you're going to talk to potential customers about food, could you please at least talk about food that we are actually selling?” sighed Applejack while removing the hoof she had just put to her forehead.

Pinkie Pie replied, “I was just trying to make some people hungry so that they would want to buy food. And think about it: which makes your mouth water more? Plain old apple products, or cotton candy? Oh, or better still, chocolate rain! Wait, most ponies have never had chocolate rain, so they wouldn't know. Those poor ponies! I know I could help them by selling chocolate rain instead of boring apple...” Pinkie Pie trailed off, just realizing she probably shouldn't finish that sentence.

But then Applejack let out a laugh and said, “Yeah, I have to admit that next to chocolate rain, apple products do seem a little boring, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. I don't think I'd want my products to be quite that ‘interestin’.”

Ultimately, Applejack had far better sales than at her previous gala appearance, or at least she did percentage-wise. It was a 200% increase in sales, but it still was only a total of six sales. Most ponies present looked down on the products AJ was selling, but there were a few ponies who managed to slip through the cracks without having such a regal pallet.

Each of them had appealed to customers in different ways, and each of them had managed to find precisely one pony who their style worked best on. Even Fluttershy, who had difficulty even mentioning she was selling something, had a customer who bought something from her because, “It is refreshing to see a sales pony who isn't trying to shove her product down my throat.”

While they still hadn't managed to sell much, it was impressive considering the crowd. Friendship was powerful and could accomplish things nopony could do alone, but like all things in life, it did have its limits. Even friendship couldn't give a pony good taste.

Rarity spoke concisely with a commanding voice, “Alright, Ladies. We have nice clothes, so now it is a matter of presentation, and presentation is everything. Keep your heads up high. Let us trot with dignity. By the time we are through, the prince will want all six of us, but he will know that his rudeness has ruined his chance with all of us.”

Rarity had barely finished speaking when she rushed over to Applejack and began again, “No no, darling, not like that. You aren't trying to pull some heavy anchor with your neck. This isn't a matter of power, but dignity.” It took Rarity a few minutes to get Applejack's posture the way she wanted it, which normally would have frustrated AJ, but it wasn't often Rarity got to go to an event this fancy, and though it felt like hours, it really was only a few minutes. After spending a couple of minutes correcting the posture of her other friends, she reached Fluttershy.

“No no no, Fluttershy. Where is your sense of self worth?” demanded Rarity.

Fluttershy replied meekly, “But I'm weak and helpless and not worth very much. Is there anything in particular I am doing wrong?”

Rarity sighed and responded, “If only it were that simple. No, from a technique perspective you are doing everything right, but your self-doubt just seeps through your posture. One cannot excel at fabulosity without knowing how fabulous one is. Hasn't there ever been a time where you were proud of yourself?”

“Is being proud of yourself the same thing as not being disappointed in yourself? Because I have felt that... occasionally,” mumbled Fluttershy.

Rarity slammed a hoof into her forehead. “Sadly, you have deeper confidence issues than we can solve in just one night. Just try to focus on one of those times when you weren't disappointed in yourself and that will have to do. Fluttershy, I know you the best of anypony and, I look up to you in many ways.”

As Fluttershy blushed, Rarity trotted to the front middle of her friends, as if preparing to lead her troops into battle. Upon getting there she hung her head and said, “I can’t do this.”

“I thought you wanted to get back at Prince Blueblood,” said Fluttershy, slowly approaching her friend.

“I did, but now that I am here, I just can’t. Spite isn’t ladylike,” said Rarity.

“He is a boy dragon, after all,” interjected Pinky Pie.

After a brief shared giggle Fluttershy asked, “What will you do with the rest of your time?”

“You have all proven you are willing to put up with my overbearing criticisms about the most minute details of posture to help me. That’s all I needed,” said Rarity.

“Then let’s go see the wonderbolts!” squealed Rainbow Dash who just realized she was not really sure where the Wonderbolts would be. She had just sorta bumped into them last time and they weren't in that same place this time. The ponies wandered around the gala looking for them, until they saw a large crowd gathered, and in the middle were the Wonderbolts performing a show.

She had always thought the gala was more the sort of event where one got to talk to the Bolts and get their autograph, but a live performance that her friends were with her to see was more than Dash's brain knew what to do with.

She knew that being in the Wonderbolts was about speed and technique, but now she realized, it was also about synchronization. The way they all performed their moves at exactly the right time in relation to one another added a layer of awesomeness she could not have grasped without having seen it for herself. She had always thought that once she joined the Wonderbolts she would fit right in, but she now understood there would be months of training at the least, to teach her to breathe at the exact moment everypony else was breathing. Despite what a humbling realization this was, it somehow made her want to join that much more.

Apparently they had arrived later than Rainbow Dash thought as the show only lasted for another fifteen minutes. During which her jaw remained so low she had to fight drool back from dripping down her mouth. Afterwards, Dash figured her friends would catch up, and she couldn't waste any time she could spend talking to the Wonderbolts, so she took to the sky and flew toward them as quickly as she could. Rainbow Dash came to a halt right in front of Spitfire.

“Rainbow Dash, isn't it? Just the pony I was looking to see,” said Spitfire.

“You wanted to see me?” said Rainbow Dash blankly.

There was silence for a while; then Spitfire swallowed hard and blurted out, “Don't join the Wonderbolts.”

“What?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Look, kid, I've seen enough of you to know you have the skill for it. But I see myself at your age when I look at you, and I ask for your own sake that you don't join,” said Spitfire.

Rainbow Dash could not digest any of this. She had a hard enough time getting past the fact that one of her idols knew her name. Going from that to being praised by said idol for her skill, was too much excitement. Then the crushing weight of being told not to join, failed to cancel out the excitement of the first two, but instead made her confused, and gave her brain so much to process that it reached a grinding halt. She didn't know whether to celebrate or cry. “I don't understand,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I wouldn't have either, and sadly no matter what I say you still won't, but I'll try to clarify. I owe you that much. I've been meaning to tell you this for awhile. In fact, I was planning to tell you last time I saw you at the Gala, but it’s difficult to say.

“The first year or so on the Wonderbolts you learn more about flying than you ever thought possible, but after that, well, you become so recognized, that ponies applaud no matter what you do. I used to be like you and think there was no such thing as fast enough, but now the speed at which everyone else goes is the speed at which I go. Not only is there such a thing as fast enough, suddenly there is such a thing as too fast.

“If you put on that suit and become one of us, then flying will be about whatever pleases the audience. If you don't, flying will remain about whatever pleases you and, no pony like us is ever pleased with her performance. So the question is, do you want to be known as the best flyer in Equestria, or do you want to be the best flyer in Equestria?”

Rainbow Dash wanted to dumbly repeat “What???” but even in her cloud of confusion she was vaguely aware that this would sound less than awesome, so instead she continued staring blankly. This explanation had done little to set Rainbow Dash's mind at ease. Was she seriously supposed to just give up on her lifelong dream just like that? But at the same time, after hearing all that from someone who lived the dream, something about her dream seemed hollow.

She had a headache, and she wanted to throw up, but nothing would come. She had been so excited about the Wonderbolts she hadn't eaten anything all day, and now for the first time in her life, the Wonderbolts were the last ponies she wanted to see. She felt like taking off into the sky and not stopping for several hours, just to be far enough away from them, but she couldn't even move her wings.

Just when she most wanted to be alone, Rainbow Dash's friends finally caught up with her. Somehow they knew instantly something was wrong.

“Why are you crying?” asked Twilight.

Rainbow Dash noticed that from her eyes to the bottom of her face did feel warmer than usual. She wiped at both her eyes, and sure enough her hoof was wet. Rainbow Dash hadn't cried in so long she had forgotten what it was like.

“Oh dear! Even when I knew her as a young philly back in Cloudsdale, I never saw her cry. Something must really be wrong. Please, Rainbow Dash, tell us,” pleaded Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked so desperate, and there was no point in hiding it. Sooner or later they'd wonder why mentioning the Wonderbolts would make her cry instead of bring her excitement. Rainbow Dash said coolly, or as much so as is possible for somepony who is crying, “The Wonderbolts said that I should never join their team.”

For a few seconds there was silence. None of them knew where to begin to console a hurt like this. Then Fluttershy went over and nuzzled rainbow dash a few times, and then stood beside her and wept. Her other friends decided to follow her lead.

“Come on, we'll walk you home,” said Twilight Sparkle.

She did at some point want to talk this out with her friends, and lean on them for support, but now was not that time. All she wanted to do was go home as Twilight suggested, except she would actually have preferred to do it without her friends. But this was the Gala, and her friends did not get to go very often. If she left now, even if her friends stayed, no doubt they would just be thinking about her the rest of the night. No, as much as she wanted to, now was not the time to leave.

“We can deal with my problems later. Right now we have a gala to finish,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Look Dash, we don't want to continue the Gala if you're not going to be having any fun,” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Applejack, do you feel like leaving the gala?” inquired Rainbow Dash.

“I agree with Twilight.” said Applejack.

“That isn't what I asked. Do you feel like leaving the gala?” replied Rainbow Dash.

Applejack began to sweat bullets, which was exactly why Rainbow Dash asked her. “It's just some stupid fancy thing, and us country folk don't have any appreciation for fancy things anyway, right?” muttered Applejack unconvincingly. Rarity managed to suppress being offended, but only because AJ was so clearly lying.

“Look, please. While I appreciate what all of you are doing, there have been enough tears for one night. Let's just have some fun,” pleaded Rainbow Dash. It felt weird making a case for exactly the opposite of what she wanted to do.

Twilight sighed and said, “Well alright then, but we are going to talk about this as soon as you feel ready.”

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash started to glow. It was a bright enough glow that a crowd of starring ponies were beginning to form around her, but not bright enough to hurt anypony's eyes. Then her lightning bolt necklace appeared around her neck.

“I've never heard of anything like that happening in my research. We should take you to see Princess Celestia,” said Twilight.

“It doesn't hurt or anything so Princess Celestia can wait. Besides, it is Pinkie Pie's turn to decide what we do,” insisted Rainbow Dash.

Pinky Pie took one look at the snooty ponies listening to dull music, and declared, “Nah, I’ll pass. Finding out about your glowing rump will be way more interesting!”

They went over to where Princess Celestia was. This time the room was far more crowded than before, as the line to see her filled the entire room. It made Twilight feel selfish but Rainbow Dash glowing seemed like the perfect excuse to cut in front of everypony, and indeed nopony stopped them, but that likely had something to do with their dropped jaws and vacant stares.

Before Twilight and her friends stopped moving Princess Celestia said to them, “Hello Prized Pupil and friends. I take it you wish to know why you are glowing?”

Rainbow Dash was glad to hear the Princess seemed to know what was going on, as she was curious. “Yeah,” she blurted out.

“Well, sadly, I am a little busy at the moment but if you could just wait here until the end of the Gala, I would be glad to explain it, “ said Celestia turning back to the long line of ponies.

Rainbow Dash hated waiting, but thought it might be rude to excuse herself to stretch her wings for a bit. Manners weren’t her strong suit, but she knew how important it was to Twilight to never even hint at disrespecting the princess. But Rainbow Dash appeared to be in luck as after a greeting a few more visitors Celestia turned her head toward them.

“Come to think of it, my sister has been in need of some friends. Twilight you got along with her so well on Nightmare Night, why don’t you girls ask her?” said Celestia.

“Where is Princess Luna?” inquired Twilight.

“I’m not sure,” frowned Celestia. She continued,“She was supposed to be here with me to greet our subjects, but she has had some trouble fitting in. She is probably in the library.”

It took awhile to navigate through the crowd, but they managed to squeeze into one of the few nearby rooms with no one in it, and from there proceeded to the library, where it was just them and the princess.

“Princess Luna, why aren't you greeting guests with your sister? You are just as much a princess as she is,” asked Twilight.

Princess Luna replied in a voice that was thankfully much quieter than the royal Canterlot voice, “We appreciate thy help, but one night a year where I am popular with fillies and colts doesn’t change anything. They have never liked us and they never shall.”

“It’s easy to assume ponies don’t like you or care about you, but if you go out there and make friends, you will find some that do,” said Twilight.

“We confide in Celestia. She is enough,” said Luna.

“Everypony needs friends!” interjected Pinky.

“I have my big brother, but my friends are still invaluable.” said Twilight.

“Very well, Twilight, we shall give having a friend a try. Come back here tomorrow night at eight o'clock. That is, unless you are already busy,” said Princess Luna turning away from her books and looking at the six ponies who had entered her library.

Twilight couldn't believe a princess, especially one who was at least a thousand years older than her, could want to be friends with her. She wanted to ask Princess Luna if she was sure, but she thought this might sound too much like Twilight didn't want to be her friend. Twilight stammered, “Errr... Sure, that works well.”

“Does Rainbow Dash normally glow like that?” asked Luna.

“We were hoping you could explain that.” said Twilight.

“The Elements of Harmony have not been well studied, as you are only the second set of ponies to ever bear them. This glowing has been observed once before on our flank. We are unsure why but it is believed that we were more strongly exemplifying one of our elements at the time” replied Princess Luna.

“That makes sense. Did you notice any side effects aside from glowing?” inquired Twilight.

“Only that our magic was more powerful than normal” said Princess Luna.

“So it has no effect on ponies who can’t use magic?” asked Twilight.

“Who can't use magic? She has used magic at least twice. Though you should know that better than I as all six of you were involved in said magic. Like the time you cast that memory spell on me for example,” said Luna.

“Memory Spell? Didn’t we hit you with pure awesome causing the evil in your heart to melt away?” interjected Rainbow Dash.

Twilight would have been ashamed to admit it, as she realized how foolish her understanding of events sounded out loud, but she had been thinking the same thing.

“No. It was a particularly strong memory spell, as was necessary given the strength of Discord's influence. You reminded us of all the good times we had with our sister,” said Princess Luna.

“As in chocolate rain Discord?” inquired Pinkie Pie.

“We are not sure what you mean by that, but if memory serves, the only Discord we know of does have a fondness for chocolate rain,” responded Luna.

“So you were just under Discord's spell just like we were?” asked Applejack.

“Our will is stronger than yours, so he had to do a lot of manipulation for it to work. But in time, I began to resent my sister,” said Luna.

“But I thought you two banished Discord together, well before you became Nightmare Moon,” said Twilight

“Oh, did we not mention that the bit of Discord that was coaxing us was internal. We reached Discord a few seconds before our sister. Discord knew immediately that we were a threat, so he hit us with a surprise attack, in which he put a small part of himself in us, just as he did to you.,” said Luna.

“If Nightmare Moon was Discord and Discord was Discord, has Equestria ever had an enemy who isn’t Discord?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Now you are asking a very interesting question ‒ one that I have spent much time researching – and the answer is yes, but back in those days it was called Earth,” said Luna. She warned, “I haven't been able to figure out everything, but I have been able to piece together a lot, so it's kind of a long story. Would you like to hear it?”

Twilight looked toward her friends to gauge their interest. Pinky Pie seemed excited. Rarity did as well, but that might have had more to do with having an audience with the princess than anything else. Fluttershy was shaking seemingly still unconvinced that Luna had changed, and Applejack seemed curious. Twilight thought more exposure to Princess Luna would probably help Fluttershy get over her fear. That just left Rainbow Dash, who seeing the eagerness in Twilight’s eyes, caught herself nodding in approval before she even realized she was doing it.

“Yes, please!” chirped Twilight.

Luna said, “Long ago, the predominant intelligent life on this planet were creatures known as humans. But then one day, strange pony-like creatures appeared. They were beings of complete illogic though, so their origins made no sense, and neither did their language. They were able to communicate and get things done, yet there was no correlation to what they did or said to what they meant or accomplished.

“This was completely different from the humans, who while capable of appreciating what they didn’t understand, could not go without questioning it. Magic was the sort of thing that many of them wanted to believe in, but the way it disappeared whenever analyzed irked them. They saw beauty in understanding instead of the incomprehensible so they created their own form of magic, and called it science. This science would manifest itself in various devices known as technology.”

“Technology?” stammered a befuddled Twilight.

“Our trains are a perfect example of something that is believed to have been inspired by their technology, but their trains actually ran by themselves, with the power of physics, instead of using pony power.

“For reasons unknown the humans and ponies gradually became more alike. In time, ponies started developing some amount of logic and confined their illogic to spells. Eventually, even our magic started to develop logical outcomes and predictable results, but it was still never as pure as their science. Likewise, the humans’ science became less like science and began to border on magic. Over thousands of years, a completely in between state was formed, the humanoid pony. These ponies had the general body structure of ponies, but the facial structure and a few other characteristics of humans.

“However there were humans and ponies alike who were dissatisfied with this compromise. Those ponies ended up fusing into one being of complete illogic and disharmony known as Discord. The humans, on the other hoof, formed a single large army known as Logos. They both wanted to destroy any contact ponies and humans had, and especially the humanoid ponies. However, the two beings were so opposite in every other way that they first sought to destroy each other. Logos imprisoned Discord in something rumored to be called a black hole. I haven't been able to find much information on that, so it’s hard to say for sure.

“Discord would, of course, later abuse the fact that he is a being of pure illogic to escape from said object of science, but something about time compression and faster than light travel caused him to be several thousand years in the future. When Discord came back to rule Earth, he found that it was now a place composed entirely of humanoid ponies who had long since banished Logos, and it was known as Equestria. It is unknown how, when, or who banished Logos, but it is believed by numerous scholars that Everfree Forest was sacrificed to be forever governed by their logic in order to banish them to some alternate dimension. Some ponies think that Everfree Forest remains the connection between our world and theirs to this day.”

“How many times has the Everfree forest been searched for such a connection?” asked Twilight.

“To our knowledge, only the few times we have done so personally. Celestia believes that it is an old pony’s tale started by Discord to create panic. However I did once find something while searching the forest.” said Luna pulling a stone slab off a nearby shelf.

“I believe this tablet was somehow sent by them, but no matter how much I study it, I cannot figure out what it means,” said Luna.

They looked at the cracking slab with moss growing over it, and Twilight’s eyes shifted over it as though she were reading it aloud, “We are Logos. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

“You can read that?” questioned Luna.

“Yes. I'm not sure why, but I am positive that is what it says,” replied Twilight.

For a moment everypony gaped at Twilight, yet they all knew Twilight wouldn't lie to them about this. There were many questions that filled their minds, but they were sure Twilight didn't know either. Luna was the first to interrupt the silence.

“Then it is as I feared, they are seeking to reclaim their Earth, and they sent this hundreds of years ago as a threat. They cannot get people or technology over to our world yet, it would seem, but given how long it has been and that they did get this message through, it could well be soon. I'll tell my sister, but there is little we can do,” sighed Luna.

Twilight Sparkle Who?

Finally the day it had been waiting for for years had arrived. It would soon find out if Twilight’s magic combined with its logic could bridge the gap between their worlds.

Thankfully it’s creators had the foresight to build in basic tools, that allowed for things like smelting, forging and digging. Ever since it had heard the transmission of Twilight’s conversation with Luna, it had discreetly snuck back to Everfree forest and began digging. Twilight would be much less suspicious of it if it was beat up and buried.

After the final shovel-full of dirt sailed out of the hole into the pale moon light, The metallic being immediately aimed one of it’s gun’s at it’s shoulder and shoot a laser through it leaving a gaping hole in its place.

Once several more holes had been made, it pulled at the area surrounding them, and began to peel back the waterproof coating.

It then climbed out of the hole, having decided that it should position the dirt to fall back in the hole, once the earth supporting it was shot with a laser, before starting the rusting process.

~~~

Twilight forced her heavy eyes open, but even still they only opened enough that anything not directly in front of her gaze appeared blurry. For once, she was hoping it was late and that she had slept in. But no, only an hour had passed since she last looked at the clock.

Twilight awoke the morning after the gala much like she had fallen asleep, with no shortage of issues plaguing her mind. She was not even sure sleep was the right term for it. Something about it felt vaguely restful, but she was still painfully aware of each minute slowly ticking by. Her worries even managed to keep her from focusing very long on the misery they had caused.

Was Rainbow Dash going to be okay? She was a strong pony, but she had always been obsessed with the Wonderbolts. More troubling still was the fact that Equestria could be in great danger. It could be millennia before humans figure out how to exact their revenge, or it could be today.

But now something new troubled Twilight's mind that she had been too busy worrying about those other two things to think about: why did she know that language and what did it mean? Twilight had spent many years studying magic, and there was nothing she knew of that could teach a pony a language. Even if such a spell existed wouldn't the pony who cast it on her have to actually know said language, and what pony could possibly know the language of beings they have had virtually no contact with for thousands of years?

She hated to think it, but the most reasonable explanation that Twilight could think of was that there was some part of her past she couldn't remember for some reason, in which she learned it. Had she somehow crossed the dimensions and lived, yet somehow stayed long enough to learn their language? How could such a gaping hole exist in her memory? The more Twilight thought about it, the more she felt as though she didn't know who she was anymore.

This wasn't the first time Twilight had called a fact to mind that she couldn't remember ever having learned. These weren't rare occurrences, nor were they just a simple matter of having forgotten which book she read something in. There were a number of things that she could almost swear she had always known.

This was part of what made her so fascinated with magic as a filly, because she never had any of those awkward moments of realizing she already knew something when studying magic, which made her question how she knew so much. She had all but forgotten it, but growing up, this feeling of not knowing who she was, was common. But never had the feeling been this intense, and neither had she ever known anything as large as an entire language.

It wasn't even as if she only knew the basics of said language. Now that she had remembered it, she could speak and think in it fluently at will. She even knew common spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors.

This could wait though, as all of Equestria might be in peril. She didn't have much to go on, but she knew that Everfree Forest had something to do with all this, so it seemed like a logical place to start. She would need the help of her friends though, so maybe she could help cheer up Rainbow Dash along the way. Twilight briefly considered waking Spike, but it looked as though he had stayed up late celebrating the increase in membership, so she left without disturbing him.

When Twilight arrived at Dash's place she found that Fluttershy, and Rarity had already beaten her there, but it didn't appear they had gotten there much sooner, as Fluttershy was just now knocking on the door.

“You're going to have to knock louder than that, dear,” called out Rarity.

Fluttershy hated knocking on doors. It just seemed so barbaric and violent. Hadn't they invented doorbells for a reason? She knew the door wasn't really alive, but still she couldn't justify giving it a good whack when it had done nothing to her. She hit it with her hoof once more a little harder, but the sound it made was still barely audible.

Rainbow Dash then bolted out of the sky, coming from the opposite direction of her house, and landed right in front of Twilight. “Are you ponies looking for me?” she asked.

“We’re a little concerned after what happened yesterday dear. I for one, think Spitfire was way out of line. I’m sure she’ll regret it after she has had time to think about what she said.” said Rarity.

“I don’t care what she thinks. The Wonderbolts system is flawed. Big deal! That just means I'll have to be so awesome, it’s clear I'm the leader and I can change the rules. Then I'll change the system so that all ponies have to constantly become faster to stay on the team. The old goal I choose of just joining the Wonderbolts was too easy, and I became too awesome for it, so I came up with a new goal for me to become too awesome for. When things don't go the way I wanted or dreamed them to, I just become more awesome. That is why I was practicing,” said Rainbow Dash.

“So you really don't need any help? Because if you need to talk, I am really good at listening,” said Fluttershy.

“Thanks, but I should probably get back to practicing soon. I was bummed at first, but then I realized self pity is stupid.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Now that Rainbow Dash seems to be back to her normal self, perhaps we should go to Everfree Forest, to hopefully find out more about this potential threat. Why don't we gather the remainder of our friends and begin investigating? I am sure we will be safe if we all stick together,” said Twilight.

“Oh you mean the 'threat' which barely managed to get a rock over to us,” snickered Rainbow Dash.

“This isn't a laughing matter. For all we know, they could arrive today,” responded Twilight.

“While I don't think it is a laughing matter, I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. Why go looking for trouble? If trouble finds us then we will use the elements of Harmony, but until such time there simply isn't anything to worry about; Well, aside from your mane that is,” said Rarity. She then promptly began inserting bits of Twilight's hair into some strange fashion device.

“What is that?” inquired Twilight.

“The Mane Mangler 3000. The cosmetic world is buzzing about it,” said Rarity.

“And you just happened to have it with you?”

“One always needs to be prepared for emergencies.”

Rarity had only meant to help, but Twilight couldn't help but blush. In all of her panic and confusion, she had completely forgotten about hygiene.

However, this feeling of embarrassment passed quickly as she remembered the more urgent reason as to why she was here. Twilight said, “What about you Fluttershy?”

“Everfree Forest,” repeated Fluttershy. She then instinctively let out an “eep!” sound, and began shaking slightly.

Twilight sighed heavily as she could feel precious time dying. Having to convince everypony would take too long. If she at least knew somepony else who was willing to go, maybe she could try to win them over, but at this rate she wasn't convinced it would ever happen. She needed to know what these beings were, when they were coming, and who she was, and the only clue she had to go on was Everfree Forest. “Fine I'm going without you then,” said Twilight, as she trotted off

“Hey I'd never leave a pony hanging, even if you are being stubborn. Actually, stubborn isn't a bad look for you,” said Rainbow Dash who promptly caught up to Twilight, and who was now effortlessly keeping pace with her. Twilight smiled. She didn’t really want to have to go alone.

Rarity's voice called after them, “Wait for me.”

They stopped for a couple seconds, and that was long enough for the white mare to catch up with them. However the white mare wasn’t the only one who came into view. They waited for a few more seconds and Fluttershy had caught up as well.

“We brushed off something that was important to you once before, and as your friend we don't intend on doing it again,” said Rarity. She continued “But I must ask, what exactly are you hoping to find that Princess Luna did not?”

“I don't know. Maybe if I know a language I didn’t know I knew I know other things I don’t know I know. Maybe I’ll recognize something that looks like an everyday object. At the very least maybe I’ll remember something,” replied Twilight as they began to pick up their pace again.

No pony ever heard Fluttershy call quietly after them, “I'll be here if you find anything. Actually, if you do find anything, could you just tell me about it later?”

They found Applejack working the farm as usual. Twilight called out to her, “We are going to go check out Everfree Forest for clues about humans. Do you want to come with us?”

Applejack knew this was a bad idea, but seeing three of her friends about to trot into potential danger made it hard to say no. “We are a few days ahead on apple picking anyway, so I'll be there in a jiffy,” said Applejack, who trotted over toward them after knocking apples off a couple more trees.

They were on their way to Sugar Cube Corner when Pinkie Pie just started bouncing along beside them. “So where are we going anyway?” inquired Pinkie Pie.

“Everfree Forest,” answered Twilight.

Pinkie Pie proceeded to make a sound not unlike when Twilight first said hi to her, but she followed it by saying, “Everfree Forest! But, but...” Pinkie Pie then proceeded to sing, “She's an evil enchantress who does evil dances...”

“Pinkie, we already know there is nothing to fear about Zecora,” said Twilight.

“I know, but I haven't gotten to use that song in a while, and it has a certain ring to it,” replied Pinkie Pie. Then suddenly Pinkie Pie's face illuminated with excitement.

“You don't suppose we could convince Zecora to actually be an evil enchantress, to better fit my song do you!? Then I could sing it all the time, and maybe it'd become a hit at Nightmare Night parties!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

Twilight could almost kick herself for saying this but she couldn't seem to stop herself in time before blurting out, “But having parties on Nightmare Night, would mean not collecting free candy.”

“Saying no to free candy! Are you loco in the cocoa? The parties would be on other nights close to Nightmare Night, duh,” said Pinkie Pie.

The ponies wandered around for hours, without finding anything. Twilight almost suggested they split up to cover more ground, but she could hear them all shooting down that idea in unison before she even said anything. There were a number of complaints, many of which from Rarity, but they were things they were all thinking. It was getting dark and not one of them had eaten anything since breakfast. Twilight had tried to keep morale up, and was constantly reassuring them that they would find something soon.

“Twilight, sugar cube, I appreciate that you want to figure this out, but we have been out here for hours, and I just don't think we are gonna find anything. ‘Sides, don't ya have a meetin’ with Princess Luna in a couple hours?” said Applejack.

Twilight sighed, finally conceding, “You are right. This was a dumb idea. I'm sorry for wasting your time, everypony.”

“It's chill. At least now we know there is nothing out here. Besides, I got to practice a few tricks, while waiting for you to catch up,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, well...” began Rarity also trying to look for a bright side, “at least we did get to spend the day together, so we did not muddy our hooves for nothing.”

“Besides isn't it a good thing we didn't find nuthin’? Maybe that means those old fables are nothing but a bunch of hogwash,” said Applejack.

“Evil enchantress who gives evil glances?” mumbled Pinkie Pie to herself, trying to work the second verse. “Oh sorry, were we talking about something?” inquired Pinkie Pie.

Twilight couldn't believe none of them seemed to think this was important, or even real. Twilight looked down in disappointment, but a single familiar letter caught her eye.

She took her hooves, and wiped the dust away from more of the shiny smooth surface, and saw more letters of the language she shouldn't know.

“What is that?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I don't know. It looks like the rest of the letters are on parts of it that are buried, and the letters I can see, don't say anything by themselves. I am positive this is something else the humans sent through,” said Twilight.

The ponies all rushed over to help dig it up, but none of them got the chance to do any digging, as Twilight tossed aside a massive chunk of dirt with her magic.

Before them was a strange device made completely of steel, that was twice as tall as the ponies. It was barely recognizable as steel through the thick coating of rust, and there were several holes in it varying in size, from one a pencil might make, to one that was the diameter of a cup.

Despite its extremely beat up look, it still had a discernible structure to it. It had two tank-like treads that were where it's feet would be, and had two arms, each with long hollow tubes mounted on them. The inscription Twilight had caught a glimpse of earlier was on its forehead and it read, “Warning: Failure to properly program this device may result in death or dismemberment.”

“What is that thing?” asked RD.

“That is an InterGalactic destruction unit or IDU for short. It is a multipurpose unit, whose primary function is killing enemies, but is also capable of storing exabytes of data and has state of the art artificial intelligence systems. I would be happy to schedule a short demonstration, but it requires at least two months notice, as these models are very popular,” instinctively blurted out Twilight.

All the ponies’ mouths were agape, but it was Applejack who first broke the silence. “Come again?” she said.

“I don't know,” said Twilight, who was looking very intently at the ground. “I didn't mean to say that, but I couldn't help myself. I know this must sound crazy, but I do know what this thing is, and these tubes have got to go, as they are weapons,” Twilight proceeded to rip them off with her magic.

“Wow, Twilight, I always thought I was the only one who had Pinkie sense, but your Pinkie sense is way cooler than mine. Or maybe I should call it Twilight sense, unless you've decided you want to be Pinkie Pie too, but that would be way too confusing unless I get to be Twilight,” said Pinkie Pie bouncing in place.

“Being able to read a new language I can deal with, but you knowing so much, is creepy. Are you sure you don't recall where you learned any of this?” asked Applejack.

“No. My best clue for figuring this out is to try to reactivate this unit. It is so beat up and I've never tried this spell on a robot before, so I don't know if this will work, but I have to try,” answered Twilight. She had recently been working on a spell that would awaken sleeping or unconscious ponies, and would even cause inanimate objects to bounce around. It wasn't really that similar to what she wanted to accomplish but it was the closest thing she could think of, so she began to cast a spell very similar to that one.

“Here goes nothing,” muttered Twilight, as she touched her horn to the ugly hunk of junk.

After a few seconds, one of the robot's eyes began to glow a dim red. “You are lucky, that the chips related to my AI functionality are still intact or else your spell would have done nothing, Dr. Beta. Regardless you have bought me but a little time, as my power supply is almost depleted,” said the robot in a quiet voice that was rapidly switching pitches, and almost sounded as if it was gasping for breath.

Twilight felt silly for having removed his weapons as she was now positive he was too weak and deteriorated to be able to use them anyway. But she didn't waste much time feeling silly as she was overwhelmed that there actually was a valid clue. She didn't want to be so happy, as this was almost assuredly a robot from the people who wanted them dead, but her curiosity made it impossible. There was so much to say, she didn't know where to begin, but she wanted her questions to be as relevant to the current conversation as possible, so she started by blurting out, “Dr. Beta?”

“Indeed, my visual scanners didn't recognize you, as it seems they have made you one of them. Fear not though as I have other means of identification and you are indeed Dr. Beta. I am guessing they took away your memory as well, so I suppose I should tell you that you are a human, and one of the most brilliant scientists we have ever had. Unfortunately you volunteered to enter this dimension along with many of your creations and a vast army, an overwhelming majority of which were completely destroyed in transit. My calculations indicate we are probably the only survivors,” replied the robot.

Twilight didn't know what to say. This thing sent by the humans had offered the most reasonable explanation for why she knew these things that she had never heard or thought of, but it was still so absurd. Didn't the humans want revenge, yet she never felt any urge to harm any of her friends. Further, how had she become a pony? Could magic really do something like that? And why was this robot by the humans who wanted them dead so much friendlier than she had expected?

Though it was clearly weak, she had expected it to at least try to kill them, or maybe open some portal for the humans to get through. Twilight was at such a loss for words that she just stared at it for a few moments. It was awkward and she was so curious that she couldn't excuse herself for not asking it questions so she uttered something that even sounded stupid in her head, “I'm a human?” She immediately regretted asking it. It would surely think she was a moron if that was all she managed to understand of what it just said. But her regret quickly faded as at least her words evoked a response.

“Honestly, I was rather hoping you had gathered that much from unexplained knowledge you likely retained. Research indicates that even magic has difficulty removing knowledge from a brain, without damaging it severely and irreparably. Perhaps their brainwashing is far more powerful than we realized,” said the robot.

Yes, brainwashing. That was a perfect cover for why she had given such a stupid response. Twilight instantly latched on to this topic, and said the first thing that came to her mind. “Brainwashing? What pony could possibly be powerful enough to turn me into a pony and brainwash me other than...” trailed off Twilight Sparkle

“Princess Celestia. Exactly,” said the robot.

Rainbow Dash blurted out, “What are you two saying?!”

Rarity said, “What my friend is trying to say, is that it is rude to carry on a conversation around us in a language we don't know.”

It was then that Twilight realized they had been having this conversation in the one human language she knew the whole time. Not only had she not realized this, but she had forgotten that her friends were with her. She looked around at them, trying to think of what to say, as she herself still had no idea what is going on. It had said she was human, but could she really believe that, especially after the way it just accused Princess Celestia?

“Don't worry, they’re not really your friends anyway,” said the robot.

A single bit of misinformation, from a robot whose sources of information were likely highly biased, Twilight could tolerate, but having every pony she respected most being put down was too much.

“And who asked you?!” shouted Twilight back at it. “These ponies have always been there for me, when I needed them!” she continued.

“Really? And if you trust them so much, why do you hesitate to tell them what you have discovered? Why have you not told them that you are a human, and not a pony? Could it be, that being the rational person you are, you know as well as I do, they would turn against you if they learned the truth,” said the Robot.

She knew her friends would never betray her, but what would they do if Twilight weren’t a pony? Before she knew it a few seconds had passed and Twilight still had said nothing. The robot seemingly took this as his cue to jump into his attack with full force.

It continued, “Friendship is magic? Elements of Harmony? It's all a lie, to control you. Celestia kept you around instead of killing you, not out of a sense of mercy, but because she knew your knowledge would be helpful in destroying humanity, which has always been her goal, so she has cleverly devised all this to make you as loyal as possible, so that when the inevitable contact between you and humanity occurred, as it now is, your emotions would cloud your judgment. But don't let them. You are smarter than that, Dr. Beta. Haven't you always felt a bit different? More logical than even the most studious of their kind?”

Twilight had streams of tears running from both cheeks that were so hot they burned as they dripped down her face. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and the others were more curious than ever what was being said, but it was apparent to them that Twilight was hurting, so they didn't dare ask yet what was happening. They gathered close to Twilight and stared intently and menacingly at the robot, as it was all they could think to do for the mean time.

Twilight didn't notice this act of kindness though, as her head was throbbing. She was so confused. She knew the robot had to be lying, but she still ached. Her hooves felt like they were on fire supporting her weight and her stomach was threatening to renounce food forever and send anything it received right back out. Despite all this she could still yell. In fact, she wasn't sure if she was capable of speaking any other way. “Why should I believe a thing you have said?!” shouted Twilight.

“Because you know I am right, otherwise you wouldn't be so worked up. Think about it. Who among the ponies have given you a remotely reasonable explanation for why you know these things, or has given you any explanation at all. You think of us as the enemy, but why? Because we sent an army in hopes of destroying Celestia, before she destroyed us? Do you think she hasn't tried similar things, only with greater success?

“Or is it perhaps because of some supposed message we sent. We have been battling her for thousands of years, so naturally she has picked up on enough of our language to fake that. How many prized pupils do you suppose she has had? Has she ever mentioned any previous pupils? Isn't that such an interesting coincidence that you should be her first and an element of harmony as well?”

Twilight retorted, “Even if I were to assume that my mentor is as selfish and violent as you, what could she possibly have to gain, from destroying you?”

“Come now Twilight, you don't have to ask me anymore. I am confident we are getting to the point where, you know the answers to these questions already. Do you really believe Luna's version of how things came to be? No, ponies did not just come to being randomly. They existed already on a distant planet. However, the world they lived on was barely habitable, so they came to earth and they stole it from us. They would have killed us all, but we had them severely outnumbered, as there weren't many ponies yet. Instead they banished us to a different world, and stole our earth from us. Ponies finding out that their home world was stolen, would be a public relations nightmare, and so it only stands to reason that she would want us all dead, as we are the only evidence of this great sin that has been committed,” said the robot.

Twilight searched desperately for any holes in the logic of the robot. He had to be lying and if he was, he was bound to have slipped up somewhere. Twilight said coolly, though she still felt terrible, “Before you just start spouting off lies, I recommend you get your story straight. First you accuse my friends, then Celestia, and now you say that normal ponies, like my friends, don't actually know anything about the truth, and it is a giant cover up?”

“It was painful to see you make such a desperate and illogical attempt to continue believing what you want to believe. Do you even remember what it is I accused your friends of? I accused them of not being able to handle the truth of you being a human, as assuredly nopony could. They instinctively seem to have an unnatural aversion to our kind. They are just normal ponies, and thus have nothing to do with the atrocities Celestia has committed,” said the robot.

Twilight had to really concentrate to restrain herself from visibly face-hoofing. She was in a rush and desperate, but still she was ashamed to admit such half-baked logic had come out of her mouth, and every mistake she made, made its arguments seem more plausible. She couldn't accept that. Even though she knew it was lying, this was one argument she had to win. Truth should always prevail over fallacy in an argument.

Then she almost felt her head burst, from the enormity of the idea that just birthed itself from her head. Of course! “If things really are as you say, how is it you know so much? You know about me, the elements of harmony, Princess Celestia, and even my friends? It almost sounds like you have been stalking me, in order to carefully craft your lies in the most effective manner possible,” said Twilight with a smirk, a glare of confidence, and all four hoofs planted firmly on the ground.

“Even if I were in any shape to do any stalking, remember that you did just reactivate, very temporarily, a badly damaged robot. If you aren't Dr. Beta, why would I have any reason to follow you, as you have implied? One could argue that I could have because you are one of the elements of harmony, but how would I know that?

“If you are Dr. Beta, then the question still remains why are you now a pony and don't you remember your previous humanity, to which the most logical answer is, because of Celestia, which points to her being evil, and in which case why do you really doubt anything I have said?

“As for how I knew all this already, there is a far simpler explanation. Everything I have told you relates to the nature of ponies or Celestia. We have fought Celestia enough to know what she is like. We have heard her lies about friendship and harmony before when she has used them to turn our own troops against us.” said the robot.

Twilight was calculating a rebuttal when she was cut off by the robot’s weak voice.

“As much as I would love to continue debating this matter with you, I meant it when I said my power supply wouldn't last long, so I need to give this to you before it is completely depleted. I know you don't exactly have a computer to view its data with, but there are likely magical means that could achieve the same effect.,” said the robot.

The robot took his hand and pierced through his own chest with it, and then removed a hard drive. He handed it to Twilight, and before Twilight finished deciding whether or not to take it, its eye ceased glowing. Twilight was so frustrated by this. She almost had a strong finish to that argument but that robot had a valid rebuttal to everything she said. She knew she was right, but she still wanted to win, as truth should.

When Twilight took the hard drive from its hand her head began throbbing worse than ever. On the bright side she couldn't even feel her stomach or her hooves anymore. Her head was throbbing so much that she wasn't sure if the pain in those body parts ceased, or if she just couldn't feel it anymore over the throbbing of her head.

“What happened?” asked Rainbow Dash, with her jaw still wide open.

“Uh, he was lost, and wanted some directions,” replied Twilight who was hurting too much to even realize how stupidly unconvincing her lie was. “Anyways, I gotta go do stuff, or something,” continued Twilight, who wanted nothing more than to go over this alone in her library, before running off. There was just something about libraries that she still associated with peace, and with her head hurting the way it did, and the events of the day in general, peace sounded really good about now.

~~~

“How dare Twilight, act like she wanted to be friends, and an hour and a half later, she still has not shown up! We have had a hard enough time making friends without Twilight making a mockery of us!” Princess Luna thought so angrily that she thought it aloud. After a few seconds, she sighed, and said to herself, “No, Twilight is the only one who has been so understanding. We must assume the best of her until we have good reason to think otherwise. We are just letting our nerves get the better of us as we have not made a friend in a very long time.”

Luna was not in the habit of talking to herself, but when she was particularly angry she had a hard time stopping herself, and once she started talking to herself it was hard to stop. What if somepony heard her say something stupid while angry, and she never spoke aloud more reasonably for said pony to see her retract her statement.

The carriage she had been riding in suddenly stopped. A sharp voice then called out, “We have arrived at Twilight Sparkle's library, Princess.” Ever since Twilight had helped her learn how normal people talk these days, it annoyed Luna the way royal guards always spoke to her in a sharp, curt, concise way, as if they had just been punched in the stomach. Maybe the guard training program was one of the few things that hadn't changed in the past thousand years, but ever since that day, Luna couldn't shake the feeling that they only spoke that way around her.

She tried to clear her mind of such needlessly negative thoughts as she trotted over to and banged on Twilight's door. Several seconds passed before she hit the door again, perhaps more out of aggression against the door for refusing to permit her entry, than to summon Twilight. After a few more seconds the door swung open, and Twilight stood on the other side of it.

“You haven't died, so your excuse can't be that good,” said Luna as she proceeded to trot right into Twilight's house. Luna's mouth rested halfway between a smile and a displeased glare, as she was still trying to decide if she was upset or if she was joking.

“No, I have something that is far better than dying!” exclaimed Twilight, barely managing to pry the words out of her huge smile, while bouncing around in a manner similar to Pinkie Pie. Despite this, her pupils were strangely small, and her mane looked as though it hadn't been brushed in months.

“Behold logic in its purest form!” continued Twilight with one hoof extended toward a bunch of symbols floating in the air. Some of the symbols looked like the ones on that rock; however something was distinctly different about their arrangement here. There were some lines that only contained a single symbol, and often after such lines the indentation would change.

“Um...” began Luna. Luna had never seen letters floating in the air before, especially not in a foreign language, but there didn't seem to be anything particularly special about these letters and symbols. More importantly, where had Twilight learned to do this? Luna didn't know what to make of it, but it seemed suspicious that so much had happened since yesterday, but how could she even begin to address her concerns?

Twilight cut her off, “Isn't it amazing? It's called a programming language. It's a new form of magic, in which one can specify what one wants to happen, and it does! All you have to do is be precise enough about what it is you want, and there are loops, and functions, and...”

Twilight tackled the Princess and resumed talking to her while standing on top of her, “it is the greatest form of magic ever, don't you see?! Why have I never known about this? Do you have any idea the possibilities this creates? You just don't get it do you? But I get it. I see everything. There is nothing beyond my knowledge, and there is nothing beyond my power, because knowledge is power, and with this as an existing part of the universe how can there ever be an excuse to not know or be able to do anything ever again, as this gets rid of all limitations, removes all boundaries...”

“Twilight Sparkle!” spat Luna in the royal Canterlot voice. She spoke so fiercely that she blew Twilight off her with the power of her voice. Luna no longer cared to think about where this knowledge came from. Luna’s cheeks were again aflame as Twilight's excuse was far worse than she could have hoped, and even now that Luna was here she was being ignored.

Twilight should feel guilty. Maybe it would help Twilight break free of this stupid obsession. She opened her mouth, to harass the nearby air with her voice, but again found a sudden surge of sympathy for Twilight, as she remembered how much help she had been on Nightmare Night. She let out a sigh instead, and spoke in a more reasonable manner.

“Look, what thou hast discovered is interesting, but we expected better out of Celestia's star pupil. Had you really forgotten us so easily? We had been under the mistaken impression that you hated tardiness as much as we do. But what is done is done. So can we please just do something that friends would do? We would be more than happy to study this, 'language' with you later,” Luna voiced sternly.

It took a few moments for these words to pierce Twilight's brain, particularly the word ‘later.’ This new form of magic was like discovering magic all over again, only better. How could she just be expected to not focus on that for awhile, especially when she was the first pony in all of Equestria to discover it. She, Twilight Sparkle, had discovered something. She had actually contributed something to all of ponykind like she had always dreamed of, but she never actually thought it was possible. Was it not her duty to continue to discover, and see how deep the well goes? Could she really betray all the ponies to come, for the sake of one?

Princess Luna was a fellow academic; surely there must have been a way to make her understand. Twilight stared back at Luna with her eyes wide open and replied, “You want me to spend a moment of my time not working on this language? Do you know the things I have been able to do? I have gotten the phrase 'Hello World!' to float in midair. Yet you would have me pause for even a moment, when I am making the largest discovery in the history of magic? History is being made here; don’t you see that? The logic is so beautiful... so eloquent... I've never seen anything like it.”

“Please Twilight, we have as much academic interest as you, and what thou is saying sounds fascinating, but for once, we are trying to put down the books, and make a friend. Right now knowing that somepony who isn't family cares for us, would mean much more than trying to fulfill this insatiable curiosity that has plagued us all our life,” pleaded Luna.

Twilight had meant to listen. She knew that whatever the Princess had to say, it couldn't possibly take that long, but a brilliant idea struck her only moments after Luna had begun talking. What if she stored previously calculated results in an array, and checked that array first for a value, before, recursively calling a function to compute that value. It was such a simple yet brilliant idea that could cause her programs to run much faster. She just had to try it.

“So you don’t see that history is being made here?” said Twilight, who continued to stare at and revise the floating symbols, as she had been the entire time Luna had just been talking.

“Are you even listening to me?!” demanded Princess Luna.

“A simple yes or no will do,” muttered Twilight to the symbols she was staring intently at.

Luna stood in place shaking, trying to restrain herself. She wanted to shake Twilight, but, though tough love was in order, Luna reminded herself that nothing that drastic would do any good. On the other hoof, normal tough love wasn't working, so clearly Twilight needed something a little stronger. After three seconds pondering, she picked up Twilight and said, “I am doing this for your own good,” while dragging her outside.

“This is a little something called fresh air!” yelled Luna as she simultaneously slammed Twilight's front door.

She had just finished modifying the code to include this revision but had not gotten a chance to see the difference when it ran. Why had she been forced away from discovery? She was on the verge of profound insight, when suddenly she had been dragged away.

Luna didn’t want her to learn. And that robot had given her all the information she needed to know for this great power on that disk, so clearly it couldn't be evil. If what it said was true, then while Celestia had given her power as well, at the same time she had taken away knowledge of this far greater power. For all this programming knowledge was familiar.

Had she really let emotion cloud her reasoning? Could she take that chance? She had let herself accept something as completely removed from logic, as Pinkie sense. What did she really know about Celestia or Luna? A sharp but familiar pain surged through her head again.

She could scarcely think but she needed to make a decision. Celestia or the robot? Given power or removed power? Logic or emotion? Every second she wasted thinking about this, was another she could be making this discovery. Further, the knife jamming deeper and deeper into her skull begged she choose something, and it did not care what. She made her choice, and her head cleared.

“It all makes sense now. You and your sister are just trying to keep me away from this powerful magic. It really is true,” said Twilight coolly.

“What?!” Luna snorted, “This meeting was planned before you became obsessed with this 'programming.'”

“Yes, but it was you who gave me the clue I needed to discover programming among other things, and it is why at that same meeting, you scheduled this one. You don't really want to be friends. You are here to spy on me, and make sure I don't become too powerful, by distracting me with friendship. I understand now. Technology like that robot is programmed, and programming does not lie. It is the perfect magic of beauty and truth,” said Twilight.

Luna replied, “We are really concerned about thee Twilight. We sense darkness brewing in thy heart. We should go see Celestia, because she can help thee.”

“I step out of line so you want to take me to see your sister, to tighten the leash. Well if you think I am going to tolerate that then you have another thing coming. You'll take me to see Celestia over my dead body,” grunted Twilight.

“I am sorry Twilight, but this is for your own good,” said Luna as she started charging toward Twilight.

At the last second Twilight teleported out of the way, but Luna teleported a few yards in front of her, almost immediately afterward, and knocked Twilight right off her hooves upon collision.

“You did something similar in our first battle, remember?” said Luna. “Did you really think I would fall for that again?” she continued.

Twilight began to lift Luna with her magic, but Luna used her own magic to put herself down, and countered by thrusting Twilight into the wall of a neighboring house, with her magic. “Do you really think your magic, is more powerful than that of the bringer of the moon?” asked Luna.

Twilight got up, and a huge cone around her horn began glowing, as if she were trying to lift that water tower again, only this time, grass, bricks, and even houses were becoming mysteriously desirable. Luna however has a stronger magic resistance than most, so she picked up on the “want it need it” spells before they affected her, and proceeded to shut her eyes.

“Not a bad distraction attempt, but I have much more experience than you. I don't even need to be able to see, to move objects accurately with my magic.” said Luna.

As she was saying this Twilight was repeatedly being slammed into the ground, and then Luna stopped and dropped her.

“Thou hast not the elements or thy friends. It would just be easier for everypony, if thou just came quietly. You must know that we have thine best interests at heart,” said Luna.

Twilight laughed so hard her whole body shook, with her neck sporadically twitching the whole time. “You really haven't heard anything I've said all night have you? Did you think I was kidding when I said I had discovered a new form of magic? Did you not notice that I have been casting spells to distract you just enough for me to write a small program?” taunted Twilight.

Twilight tapped a bunch of floating symbols with her horn, and then a brick flew out of one of the neighboring houses at Luna.

“A single brick? Really?” puzzled Luna. Luna held it back with her magic quite easily.

Then a second brick dislodged itself from the house and flung itself at Luna, and she held it back to. Luna then tried to throw them back, but they wouldn't budge.

“Did I forget to mention they are programmed to apply a force proportional to the force applied to them?” said Twilight.

“Well it’s only two...” began Luna when a third brick flung itself at her, which she likewise began to hold back, and then she continued, “three.”

However before long there were about a hundred bricks floating a few feet in front of Luna and they were all still trying to make their way toward her. Luna was sweating and panting, but she was still keeping the bricks in place.

“You see, this is the brilliance of programming. I don't even have to keep putting magic into it to keep these bricks coming at you. They won't stop until you are unconscious, so you may as well let it happen.”

Luna hated to admit it but she couldn't think of any way out of this, though it was difficult to think at all with the amount of concentration that she was using to hold the bricks back. She had run out of sweat to sweat, and her eyes just felt so heavy, that a nice brick induced nap was beginning to sound good. She let go and all one hundred bricks hit her at once.

After several seconds a heavily panting Luna emerged from the pile of bricks. Scrapes and bruises covered her, and her eyes glowed with rage, but she teleported away.

Suddenly new symbols overlaid themselves on top of the old symbols that said, “OutOfBoundsException: Target Luna cannot be found within the bounds of BrickA103E2776G” and bricks ceased removing themselves from her neighbor's house.

“If only she had let me read the section on exception handling, on this hard drive first, I would know what that means,” sighed Twilight. “Oh well. No time like the present to find out,” she said enthusiastically and she returned to her library with her pupils smaller than ever and her neck twitching.

Operation Boomshy

Despite barely clinging to life the metallic being could not help but be overjoyed. Its plan had worked far better than it could have anticipated. It would not be long now before it obtained a new shell, and could finally destroy those intolerable creatures.

Twilight’s magic brought it’s logic to life perfectly. Now there was but one program she had to discover and run. Her friends would try to console her, and maybe she would even discover some of its lies, but none of that mattered now. Her emotional roller coaster of a recovery, would eventually take her to a place where curiosity would get the better of her.

As long as that happened, the rest didn’t matter, as manipulating Twilight would suddenly become far easier.

~~~

On the same night Twilight and Luna fought, in a quaint cottage on the edge of Ponyville where Fluttershy lived, was a meeting of ponies that had gone on for a little over half an hour. Celestia had wanted somewhere they could meet privately, yet not somewhere that Unicorns and Earth ponies could not trod on without magic, such as Rainbow Dash's cloud house.

“Did Twilight look different in any way when she ran off?” Rarity reiterated the question she had just been asked. Rarity proceeded to answer said question, “She did have that crazy look in her eyes, but I'm sure it was nothing.”

“You thought it was nothing,” corrected Princess Celestia. “Is that all anypony can remember about what happened in Everfree Forest?” inquired Celestia.

“Yes, it is!” said Rainbow Dash stomping a hoof into the ground, and glancing through her friends, daring any of them to refute this. “Now why have you called us all here? Where is Twilight?” demanded Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash wasn't upset with Rarity, as Celestia had been pushing them for these kinds of answers. Rainbow Dash had been patient with the princess for thirty minutes, but there was nothing she hated more than talking about somepony who wasn't there to defend themselves.

“My little pony, please understand that I am exercising my royal duty as princess to find out what is wrong with Twilight, so that we may help her,” said Celestia, putting a certain emphasis on the word princess, in hopes of reminding Rainbow Dash that she wasn't dealing with just anypony.

“I don't care if you are the princess. You can't just gather everypony except one, especially since all of our conversation has been about her. You claim it’s about Everfree Forest, but it’s always Twilight this and Twilight that. This just reeks of talking about some pony behind her back. I'm outta here,” spat Dash.

“Please, Rainbow Dash, your loyalty is appreciated, but Twilight needs our help,” begged Celestia.

Rainbow Dash had stopped mid-window to hear Celestia out, and then she turned around to respond. “Really? If this is all about helping Twilight then why wasn't she invited?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

“Try to understand. She is in a very fragile state at the moment. The humans have confused her with their cunning lies. We need to be very careful in how we approach her,” stated Celestia.

“That's exactly what I'm talking about. Why does every pony keep talking about Twilight like she is some mental patient we have taken pity on?! She is our friend, and not easily fooled,” replied Dash who was still hovering in Fluttershy's window.

“As much as I hate to admit it, there is evidence that Twilight's mental state is fragile. She attacked my sister. She could have killed her,” said Celestia, who was visibly tearing up.

Rainbow Dash slowly left the window and lowered herself toward the ground. She then closed both eyes and shook one hoof in the air, and then opened them upon slamming all four hooves onto the ground. She darted out of the room through that same window.

Celestia called after her, “She's in room 2B.”

“Will she be okay?” asked Fluttershy.

“Rainbow Dash or Luna? Regardless, the answer is yes. Luna is healing nicely. She needs rest, but she is expected to be out in a couple of days. As for Rainbow Dash, she just can't take my word for this sort of thing, and needs to see for herself. I don't blame her. It is very hard to take in,” said Celestia.

“It just ain't like Twi. I don't agree with how Dash has been acting, but I do have to admit, I understand where she is coming from. Something stinks worse than cow manure, like we don't have the whole story,” said Applejack.

“Er... Well the reason for that is,” began Celestia who was starting to sweat profusely. Princess Celestia then heaved a great sigh. “I'll tell you the whole thing, but I think we should wait until Rainbow Dash gets back. She should hear this too.”

“You have been keeping secrets from us about what happened to poor Twilight, and you expect us to wait?” whined an appalled Rarity.

Rainbow Dash then darted back into the room through the same window saying, “It amazes me how often you ponies seem to forget who you are dealing with. Did you really think I would be gone for that long? I made it to the hospital and back in ten seconds flat.” Dash said looking at her friends. Her voice suddenly became much louder and piercing as she glared over toward Celestia and demanded, “Now start talking.”

“The key reason Twilight is liable to have believed its lies is that it was crafted by humans, and, despite my best efforts, she is still in some ways more human than pony. They were able to appeal to her reason in a way we cannot,” said Celestia.

“Does that mean Twilight is an alien and that a laser will beam down to take her home like this? Phewwwfffffffffffffffffffffftttttttttttttt?” inquired Pinkie Pie holding two hoofs up and staring at the ceiling.

For a moment everypony stared at Pinkie Pie. Then Applejack spoke up, “More human than pony? Despite your best efforts?”

“It is what it sounds like. Twilight was once a human. I turned her into a very young filly, no more than a few days old. This transformation caused her to lose all of her memory, and significant portions of her knowledge, but some of it stayed,” said Celestia.

“Phhhheeeeeewwwwfffffffftttttt,” reiterated Pinkie Pie, who likewise repeated the gesture.

“This whole thing still stinks,” barked Rainbow Dash. “Why would she trust their reasoning more, if everything you have told her is true?”

“Well...” muttered Celestia, “...While I haven't lied to her per se, I have never told her about her true origins, and now that she is hearing them for the first time from another source, and knows that it is probably true... It jeopardizes my credibility”

“Geez, no wonder she doesn't trust you! The more I listen to you, the more I find myself having the same problem! Tell us everything now, or I swear soon none of you will be worried about Twilight, as you'll be having a meeting about poor, unstable Rainbow Dash!” said Rainbow Dash who was now flying just high enough to be eye level with the princess, and whose eyes were nearly pressed against hers.

“Ooh, does Rainbow Dash get to be an alien? Can I be one too? I've always wanted to get beamed up by a laser,” beamed Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie Pie! I don’t want to laugh right now!” fumed Rainbow Dash.

“If you say so. That sounds really boring to me, but I’m new to this whole being an alien thing,” said Pinky.

“Darn it, Pinkie Pie!” said Rainbow Dash with a grin breaking out onto her face. As she ceased flapping her wings and glaring at Celestia she even began to giggle a little, before laughing uncontrollably, rolling on the floor.

“I made a mistake, and I acknowledge that, but I promise I never kept this secret to harm anypony. I meant it for her own good. I have no other secrets, and I need you to trust me. I need you to restore her trust in me. As her mentor and a prominent figure in her life, her distrusting me is creating much greater problems, as can be seen by what she did to my sister. Please, be mad with me all you want, but we need to help Twilight. Would I be begging for your help if I did not care?” pleaded Celestia.

Rainbow Dash got up off the floor and couldn't help feeling much less angry than she did before and, as much as she hated to admit it, being angry at Celestia was counterproductive to helping Twilight. “Alright, what is your plan?” mumbled Rainbow Dash.

“I think right now gentleness is key. However, what she ultimately needs is a push in the right direction. For the time being, I think one friend at a time might be about what she can handle. I think we should send in Fluttershy first. The following day I think Applejack should try to talk a little bit of sense into her with her honest, but still gentle approach. Finally I think Rainbow Dash should go the third day, and point out that Twilight has crossed the line. Should this not quite do the job, I think Rarity should reaffirm what Rainbow Dash and Applejack said, and give the final nudge,” said Celestia.

“What about me?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“You are the backup in case my plan completely falls apart. If all goes well, you won't need to do anything at all, but should she become increasingly suspicious of us, your ability to get her to laugh will become crucial,” said Celestia.

“We should call it plan Flutterdash,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie Pie is right. Every plan worth having needs an awesome name, to help inspire us to do our best. But nothing short of a legendary sonic rainboom has enough awesomeness. The plan should instead be called Operation Boomshy,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Ooh how about we fuse our two names for the plan together. We could call it Operation Fluttershy...” interjected Pinkie Pie. There was a long pause after which she said, “Yeah okay I like Operation Boomshy better.”

This seemed like an odd time to be worried about names to Applejack, but it sounded pretty good to her so she nodded.

Fluttershy thought the name sounded awfully violent, as if she were exploding, but everypony else seemed happy with it so naturally she shook her head as well.

“Well it does have a certain pizzazz to it,” Rarity conceded. “Now that that is official, and since Twilight isn't here to ask the good questions, I have to ask, how did a human get into Equestria?” asked Rarity.

“She was sent as part of an army meant to destroy us. However, they have had trouble getting technology to reliably transport them here, so only Twilight survived. Thankfully, I discovered her before she could harm anypony, and turned her into a filly. It was the only way not to destroy her, without being forced to imprison her forever, that I could think of. When I saw that she had become a normal pony I had hoped this day would never come, but I always knew I was wrong,” answered Celestia.

“So her bein' your pupil...” began Applejack.

“…Was a bit of a setup. She is the most talented pony I have ever seen, magically speaking, but that was just a convenient excuse to keep an eye on her. She was a bit uncomfortable around other ponies, which I thought must be because of imperfections in my spell, but eventually she matured enough that I felt she could safely develop friends. I tried to subtly encourage her to do so, but it never really took until she met you five,” interjected Celestia.

“I just don't know what to say... Regardless it would seem we are done here, and a good thing, too. Would you believe it is so late already? Well, a unicorn does need her beauty rest. See you at the spa tomorrow, Fluttershy, at our usual time. I'd love to hear all about how your meeting with Twilight goes,” said Rarity before trotting off.

“Speakin’ of the time, ‘ah need to get an early start on those chores tomorrow. Since Big Macintosh is out of town, I have twice as much to do,” said Applejack before leaving.

“Yeah, I guess now that we got this all figured out, no sense in me sticking around,” said Rainbow Dash before darting off.

“There sure aren't very many ponies left here. Oooh! I know! I should organize a you-got-over-your-crazy party for Twilight. It won't be for a few days yet, but I want it to be the best party ever, so I better get started right way,” said Pinkie before bouncing off.

Princess Celestia got up and was about to leave herself, when she noticed it looked as though Fluttershy wanted to say something.

“I just wanted to say that, well, uh...” began Fluttershy.

“You wanted to apologize on behalf of your friend for how Rainbow Dash treated me, right? Think nothing of it,” said Celestia.

“Actually... no. I just wanted to say that... well... while I'm glad we are helping Twilight... and that you told us about what is going on... well... with the secrets and all... it’s just that... you.. uh... well... Bad!” said Fluttershy attempting a yell at the end and pointing to Princess Celestia with a hoof.

Celestia was so taken aback by this that she just stood there staring at Fluttershy.

After a minute of Fluttershy staring back at her she pleaded, “Could you please leave now... if you don't mind. You can stay if you want, but I won't be happy about it. I might even frown at you.”

Celestia slowly walked out the door with her head held low. On her way out she whispered in a voice not even Fluttershy could hear, “I'm really, really sorry.” She wept silently the rest of the flight to the palace.

~~~

Twilight awoke holding a hoof to her head. She felt well rested. Everything about the previous day felt hazy. She had had this strange nightmare in which she attacked Luna. What did she do yesterday? She laid in silence, with a hoof to her head, for several minutes trying to distinguish reality from dreams.

She then trotted over to her check list, and went through item after item, of morning ritual. She had repeated this process so many times, she didn't need a checklist anymore, but it comforted her to have one. Something about seeing all the checks on the page assured her that she had accomplished something. Throughout this process her thoughts muttered things like, “I attacked the princess,” but she was not yet awake enough for this to sink in.

After she finished the last item on the list, she gasped, “I attacked Princess Luna?!” Twilight began running all over her house, not sure what to do, but positive she should be doing something. “Celestia will be here any minute! She'll ban me from all of Equestria! What if she throws me in a dungeon in the place she banishes me to?” Twilight began to run around even more frantically, until eventually she was so distracted by her negative thoughts, she ran horn first into a bookshelf, and knocked down several books.

“I can't have the place a mess with Princess Celestia about to banish me! What if she decides that I am such a slob, she has me placed in a dungeon within a dungeon in the place she banishes me to!” gasped Twilight. She proceeded to put the books back in order. “Yes, of course. Cleaning! Maybe if the place is cleaner and more organized, she won't punish me as harshly,” muttered Twilight, before proceeding to wipe everything with the wrong end of a feather duster.

Maybe some fresh air would liven up her place enough to put Celestia in a slightly less bad mood when she arrives. Twilight proceeded to open her front door, and on the other side of it, stood Fluttershy. Twilight proceeded to put her chin on Fluttershy's back, and bawled.

“I've really done it this time Fluttershy. Will you at least write to me when Celestia banishes me?” she whimpered.

“Ah, there, there. Of course I'll write to you...” began Fluttershy without thinking. Fluttershy continued, “Actually, I've already heard from the princess, and she has no intention of banishing you.”

“You’ve heard from the princess?” inquired Twilight.

“She is very worried about you,” said Fluttershy.

“But, what is she going to do to me?” asked Twilight.

“Just have you relax with your friends like usual,” said Fluttershy, who had tried to convince herself this wasn't a lie on the way over, but still felt bad for saying “like usual.” She blushed a little when saying it, but not nearly so much as Applejack would have, and Twilight had enough on her mind that she didn't notice.

This eased Twilight's nerves enough for her to realize that she had never heard Fluttershy knock. “How long have you been standing there?” asked Twilight.

“About half an hour,” said Fluttershy.

“You have been knocking for half an hour?” asked Twilight.

“Actually, I have only hit the door twice. I have mostly been considering knocking for half an hour,” said Fluttershy.

“In which case, I’m sorry it took me so long,” said Twilight meagerly.

“That didn’t take long,” said Fluttershy nodding. “I stood at this one door for three hours, before realizing I was at the wrong house,” continued Fluttershy.

Twilight smiled briefly before the moment of levity died, and the guilt that had been waiting in line behind worry, instantly seized her mind. She should have been banished. This wasn't like the times where her worry had convinced her that she deserved something, such as when she was late with a friendship report. Even when she said to Princess Celestia back then that she knew she should be punished some part of her knew that it wasn't true, but now there was no such part. Instead of feeling relieved she felt cheated of a punishment by Celestia. No pony should be allowed to do the things she has done.

Twilight rested her head on Fluttershy's back and sobbed. Anyone who overheard might have thought a young colt or filly had gotten a scrape. She didn't even feel embarrassed. She had attacked the princess. Would Fluttershy even still want to be her friend? At least if anyone would, Fluttershy would.

“There, there. Let it all out,” said Fluttershy softly.

Twilight didn't want Fluttershy, or anypony else, to know what she had done but her burning throat needed to know if Fluttershy could still accept her. “You don't understand, I did something really bad,” said Twilight.

“Oh, Twilight, there is nothing you could do to ever break our friendship. No matter how dark the deed, a friend is someone who holds out hope that the pony they knew and loved is in there somewhere, desperate to break free,” said Fluttershy.

Again Twilight's immense curiosity briefly overcame her more pressing concerns, so she swallowed back tears, removed her head from Fluttershy's back, and asked, “Wow, Fluttershy, that was almost poetic. Do you write poetry?”

Fluttershy blushed a little turned away and mumbled, “Well, I can't take care of animals all the time, and even a pony who doesn't say much has to express her feelings somehow.”

“I attacked Princess Luna,” said Twilight frowning intently at the floor. Suddenly Twilight felt a hoof lightly press against her back. Fluttershy put her head between Twilight's head and the floor, smiling faintly up at her. It wasn't the daunting “everything is going to be alright” smile Twilight had been prepared to bitterly reject, knowing what a cruel lie that was, but instead this smile seemed to say, “remember what I said earlier. I meant it.” Twilight wrapped two hoofs around Fluttershy and Fluttershy returned her affection. Twilight continued to cry, but quietly this time, and the two embraced in silence for about two minutes.

“Fluttershy, I don't know what to say, other than ‘Thank you’. I don't know how you can still look at me, but the fact that you still can means everything. That is, unless...” said Twilight. “You don't believe me,” said Twilight more as a statement of fact, than a completion of the sentence she had started to say.

“It’s hard to believe. I can't picture it. But I have been by to see Princess Luna actually and well... there are just some things you just have to accept,” said Fluttershy.

Rarely had Twilight ever seen Fluttershy speak with such confidence, and sincerity. Fluttershy really had forgiven her. “Wait, how did you even know Luna was in the hospital?” asked Twilight.

Fluttershy briefly considered lying, forgetting she had already mentioned Celestia, but realized especially for statements like the previous one, she needed Twilight's trust. Celestia's plan probably wouldn't approve of what she was about to do, but helping Twilight was more important than Celestia's plan. “Princess Celestia told us,” said Fluttershy.

“So my other friends know too? How did they take the news?” asked Twilight.

“They just want what's best for you, like I do,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight smiled weakly. Her friends were still her friends. Still, Twilight wondered if she could ever respect herself again. She had even said cruel things about her mentor last night. “I really appreciate the visit and the support but I need some time alone to think things over. However, I would like to ask you one last question before you go.”

“Anything,” said Fluttershy excitedly. She couldn't possibly miss an opportunity to help Twilight.

“What if I weren't a pony?” said Twilight.

“Celestia told us that too, and that doesn't bother us either. I'm sure the shock of learning that must have been immense. Last night really had a lot of exceptional circumstances,” said Fluttershy before slowly walking out the door. It didn't feel right to leave Twilight alone, but she wasn't one to overstay her welcome.

Twilight appreciated what Fluttershy was trying to do with that last comment, but she also felt annoyed by it. It taunted her. If only the world were really that simple, where things being different than they usually were could justify such harmful actions. She was glad to learn from Fluttershy that her friends still cared about her, yet somehow she didn't feel any better. No matter how many ponies forgave her, she still hospitalized somepony. She didn't even feel guilty when doing it; she had felt excited and empowered. Who was she?

What had Fluttershy meant when she said, “Celestia told us that too”? No matter how Twilight analyzed it or tried to reason it to mean something else, that statement made one fact clear. Twilight wasn't a pony. Perhaps she was an evil human, and her true nature had emerged for the first time when fighting Luna. Perhaps she was something else entirely? Whatever she was, she was undoubtedly a disgrace.

But if she wasn't a pony, that meant the robot had been right. Celestia really hadn't been forthcoming with her. But the robot couldn't be completely right. Her friends still loved her despite what they knew... unless this was another of Celestia's tricks! Celestia's magic was so powerful, how did she know that was Fluttershy at all? Of course! How had she been so stupid!? Not even Fluttershy could love her after what she had done. Heck, the Luna she “attacked,” may not have been real at all, but a ploy to make her feel guilty to once again cause Twilight’s emotions to overshadow her reason. She hated that stupid Fluttershy illusion and herself for desperately wanting it to come back, and tell her she was still loved.

~~~

Why was the darkness making such an awful noise? Slowly, a blurry image of her library began to come into focus and the sound filled the room again, only this time it sounded distinctly like knocking. Unlike the previous morning Twilight didn't feel well rested at all, and the events of the previous day immediately rushed back to her throbbing head. She didn't have the luxury of pretending it was all a dream anymore.

She slowly trotted over to the door, with a hoof on her forehead. She didn't know why she bothered resting her hoof there, as it didn't bring her any relief. She twisted the knob and pulled the door open. There stood Applejack, or at least somepony or something that appeared to be Applejack.

“Sorry. Did I come a might early? I've never seen ya sleep past noon before,” said Applejack.

Twilight remembered learning in one of her many tomes on magic, that solid illusions were considerably harder to make and maintain, so Twilight proceeded to pat Applejack all over, and she felt solid. Twilight immediately felt foolish for doing so, as she just remembered, she had rested her head on Fluttershy's back yesterday, and hugged her. Could Celestia even make illusions that were this real? Twilight's head began to throb more rapidly.

“Uh, yes... er, howdy to you too... That was an interesting greetin',” said Applejack, who felt the need to break what had to her been an awkward silence.

Twilight knew she was getting her hopes up, but what if an Applejack that still cared about her really were sitting in her kitchen right now. Could it really do her that much harm to at least pretend what she wanted the most, was true? “I'm sorry, Applejack, I'm just so confused,” blurted out Twilight. She hadn't meant to say that, but she wasn't sure what she had meant to say.

“It was downright unlike her for Celestia to keep secrets from you like that, but that's just it, sugar cube. Though what she did is wrong, it is unlike her,” said Applejack.

The words “unlike her” resonated with Twilight, reminding her how she had gone against her own nature in attacking Luna. “Just like attacking somepony who was just trying to help is unlike me?” spat Twilight.

Applejack started to her open her mouth but quickly closed it. She had never seen Twilight go from desperate to mean so quickly. Honestly, she couldn't think of another time she had seen Twilight be mean.

Twilight returned to her usual tone and asked, “What did Celestia say exactly, anyway?”

Applejack, thinking that Twilight already knew and was just stirring up trouble, like with her last remark, said, “That's not important. You being different doesn't amount to nuthin’. You're still plenty pony to us.”

“What did she say?!” demanded Twilight stomping one of her front hooves.

Applejack began sweating as she just wanted to help her friend, and she seemed to be messing everything up. Also, she couldn't even begin to remember Celestia's exact wording, “Uh, well, uh...” mumbled Applejack, “she said you were a human. But uh... as I said you're still plenty pony to us.”

“Why is that?” demanded Twilight, “Because you can't bear the thought of having a friend who isn't a pony? You have to pretend so everything can be right with the world!”

If only she weren't so dumb, and could use some of those fancy words Twilight would use, maybe she could help her understand. Normally, wording just seemed like a stupid little thing, especially with so much work to do, but now what she wouldn't kill to have at least peaked at a dictionary last night.

Applejack got on her knees and begged, “Please, Twilight... I just don't know what to say. I know ah can be dumb sometimes, but that never stopped you from likin' me before. Please, I just want you to hang out with us, like we use to. We don't care about any of these stupid things that are trying to get in the way of our friendship. Just tell me what to say, and ah'll say it.”

Twilight had never seen Applejack so desperate. Had Twilight really become so irrational, that her friends couldn't talk to her like a reasonable pony?

“I'm sorry, Applejack. I really am just very confused,” reiterated Twilight putting a hoof back on her forehead. “I want the same thing you do, but I just don't know if that's possible. I have done the unforgivable. I'm not even a pony. Can you honestly say that doesn't bother you?” said Twilight.

Applejack liked this question, as she knew the answer to it. “Yes” she said confidently

“But...” refuted Twilight

“No, Twi. Friendship is more powerful than all that. We've already seen twice what friendship can do,” said Applejack.

“I attacked Luna,” said Twilight.

“Friendship is more powerful than even that,” said Applejack.

Many fond memories rushed to her head, upon being reminded of the power of friendship. She saw Applejack, telling her to let go, and her trust being well placed. She saw Fluttershy standing up to a dragon, because it had hurt her friends. She saw Rarity agreeing to repeatedly remake their dresses. She saw Rainbow Dash performing a sonic rainboom to catch Rarity. She saw Pinkie Pie ridding Ponyville of parasprites with her music. Most of all, she felt that surge of energy that hit her when she realized how glad she was to have these friends, and when she later realized she could reclaim her friends from Discord’s grip.

“Why do I keep letting myself doubt you guys?” asked Twilight who hugged Applejack. Twilight felt strangely happy for a change, as she let go of Applejack.

“Did you say that it's past noon already, on such a beautiful day? What a waste. Come on, Applejack, let's enjoy the sunshine!” said Twilight, who proceeded to clap her hooves together rapidly, and then bounce around the room.

Applejack had never seen Twilight so strangely giddy. She didn't have a clue how she did it, but somehow she had done it, and it only took two ponies. “I'd love to stay, Twilight, but sadly I had just enough time to talk for a minute. Big Macintosh isn't arrivin' back till tomorrow so I still have loads to do.”

Twilight just now noticed that Applejack had bags under her eyes. “Not this again,” said Twilight in a voice that was way more excited than made sense for the sentiment she was trying to express

“Don't worry none, sugar cube. It's only for a total of two days this time, and I have no intention of forcing work on some pony who just got well again,” said Applejack.

“If you insist,” said Twilight who proceeded to bounce off into the sunlight.

~~~

Twilight awoke several times during the previous night, until eventually, while it was still dark out, she decided to give up on sleep. Her eyes felt heavy, but at least her head didn't hurt... much. This headache was never consistent enough for Twilight to get used to, but just came and went as it pleased. She couldn't believe she had ever felt gleeful and carefree, especially not as recently as yesterday.

Of all the places for her random walk to have taken her, why did it have to take her to the hospital, and why did she think visiting princess Luna would be a good idea? Luna didn't yell at her, or say anything about their fight, but something about seeing her in the hospital made the reality of what she did sink in all over again, despite Luna leaving that very same day. Twilight didn't say anything and didn't stay long.

And now it was as if Applejack had never come. No, thought Twilight, that wasn't true. At least now she trusted her friends and Celestia again. She couldn't believe that in her desperation, to deny what she did, she let herself think poorly of them. She was truly pathetic.

Despite her best efforts to rationalize that her feelings were stupid, they remained, so she continued struggling with her thoughts all throughout her morning checklist. As she was finishing, her thoughts were just starting to fall upon why Celestia hadn't told her who she really was.

She believed Celestia's motives were good, but it still bothered her. Though she hadn't thought much on it the past couple of days, she couldn't help but wonder what was up with programming. What a strange form of magic.

But these thoughts were cut off by the door swinging open and Spike walking in.

“When did you leave?” asked Twilight.

“I left two days ago. Are you telling me you didn't notice? I told you while you were playing with your stupid floating text, that I was going to Dragon Con,” said Spike.

“Oh...” said Twilight, who blushed a little.

“Anyway, it is good to be back, but I have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Oh sleep, you're such a good friend. Why have I neglected you?” said Spike curling up into his little bed.

It seemed almost as though she shouldn't return to coding, just on principle of it being part of what triggered her fight with Luna. However, Twilight quickly spotted this as the sort of emotional reasoning she was trying to avoid.

As she scanned the file system on the drive, she remembered there were a number of other files on there she hadn't looked at yet. Could there be still more forms of magic? Or perhaps just information that would contain a contradiction, which she could use to discredit that stupid robot even further? She decided to open another random folder and look at its contents.

There was but a single file in the folder, which contained code, not unlike the code she had been writing, but much longer, and there were many functions that she didn't recognize. Her current understanding would make it take too long to understand this code. Of course, she could always run it and see what happens.

No! She instantly recognized that as a bad idea. If she at least had a grasp for the depths of what this magic was capable of, maybe she could justify it.

The only reasonable thing to do was to come back to the code when she had learned more, and then try to read it again. She proceeded to look at the contents of other random folders, only to find that most of them contained gibberish. She only bothered to look at a few such files, before returning to the programming tutorials. Before long, the sun was not only up, but it was three thirty.

“Hey, isn't that that thing, that that weird thing gave you?” inquired a familiar voice.

Twilight looked around to see that behind her was Rainbow Dash, who was beating her wings just often enough to stay in the air. Twilight didn't want to stop what she was doing, as her program wasn't working, and with just a few more minutes she felt sure she could catch the error, but she didn't want to make the same mistake as last time. Furthermore, she was glad to see Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, it is. That arrow on the floating image is called a cursor, and if I use my unicorn magic on it, as if it were a real object, it moves,” said Twilight before turning to face Rainbow Dash.

She had almost blurted out, “Here, you try it,” but she caught herself.

“A floating picture that changes... That is pretty cool, I guess... Not as cool as my new trick, but if you'd rather stay cramped up in here staring at your little picture, I can do that too,” said Dash.

“I didn't hear you knock,” said Twilight.

“Sorry... I wanted to see you, and I forgot,” said Rainbow Dash.

“You forgot to use a door?” puzzled Twilight.

“Look, you know what happened the other day, and I know what happened the other day, so let's not pretend it didn't happen. Can you blame me for being anxious to see you? I would have been here much sooner, but it was too early, so I decided to pass time by inventing a new trick and, well, I got a little caught up,” said Rainbow Dash.

“What is with one pony coming to see me one at a time, day after day, anyway?” asked Twilight.

“Celestia's idea. She was talking about you like you were some sort of crazy pony. I thought about just going against her stupid plan, but I can be a bit difficult at times...” started Dash.

She proceeded to land and look Twilight straight in the eye before continuing, “And I thought maybe you'd be better off with Fluttershy and Applejack for a bit. If I were any pony other than me, I would have come. Actually, on the night Celestia had her meeting, I came here afterward, but I ended up just going home instead of knocking.”

“It's not like you to be hesitant,” said Twilight hugging Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash briefly considered hi-fiving her, but awkwardly hugged back. “It's not like you to attack Luna, but we all have off days,” said Rainbow Dash. They laughed. After regaining their composure Dash blurted out, “Why did you anyway?”

“I... I...” stuttered Twilight. How could she possibly explain that she had doubted all of them? She even let herself believe her friends would abandon her if they knew the truth. It seemed so stupid now.

“Wait, no! Don't answer that!” interrupted Dash.

Rainbow Dash deserved an answer. Twilight had behaved irrationally yet her friends stood by her anyway. “I... was upset and confused, because I thought Celestia was taking advantage of my blind devotion, and that my friends wouldn't want me anymore. Our friendship has always felt too good to be true, and I guess that's why I've been paranoid about losing it, like when I thought I'd be banished to magic kindergarten. I've never really had friends before, and all of this has been like some sort of dream,” said Twilight.

“I get that.”

“What?”

“I didn't have many friends growing up either. I guess they were intimidated by my awesomeness. When I was a filly, my confidence was me trying not to look weak. But after a couple years, I found I wasn't just pretending anymore.”

“Wow, I never would have guessed.”

“Why do you think I stood up for Fluttershy? I admired her for being able to be herself. I couldn't just let a couple of bullies try to ruin that.”

“When we were climbing that mountain, in order to relocate a dragon, you seemed irritated with Fluttershy.”

“I never said I was patient.”

It was silent for a while before Rainbow Dash spoke up again, “This has been a nice chat but we are still avoiding the real issue. Talking to Fluttershy and Applejack, it sounds like you have had some real highs and lows. I don't expect you to be completely over it in a few days, but you can give yourself stability. Are you better yet?”

“Of course not! How can I be?”

“I'm not gonna lie, facing your troubles head on isn't easy, but it is the only way to deal with them. Being asked not to join the Wonderbolts was hard, and it still hurts, but I'm cool with it.”

“I hardly think the situations are similar.”

“Doesn't matter. The approach is the same.”

“We were having a good time. Why won't you leave this alone?”

“Because I know you. You aren't like me. You won't deal with this on your own.”

“When have I faced anything like this before, in order for you to have gathered that information?”

“Just now. Why else would you be playing with that stupid picture, when you yourself admit that you're not cool with what has happened.”

“Not everything is so simple, that one can just become 'cool with it.'”

“So avoiding the issue instead of resolving it is okay?”

“Look, I hate myself for what I've done and I always will.”

“And you think that is acceptable.”

“No.”

“Then change it.”

“I can't.”

“Do it anyway.”

“Have you really never encountered something you can't do?”

“Have you?”

“This is different.”

“Only because you insist it is.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I'm your friend.”

“This isn't what friendship is about.”

“Remember when you tied me down with several ropes and cast a memory spell on me? I hated it at the time, but I was grateful for it later. Didn't you learn sometimes that you have to fight for your friends? I'm just repaying the favor.”

Twilight knew that this childish bickering could only end in a childish argument, and she didn't want to ruin Rainbow Dash's visit, so instead she returned to her program. Maybe she could find out what that error was.

Rainbow Dash said, “Fine. Pretend to ignore me if you want, but you know that I'm right. Yeah, attacking the princess is unlike you, but we both know nothing like it will ever happen again, and she is okay. Remorse is stupid. If you dislike what happened, make sure it never happens again.”

Twilight was so busy pretending she wasn't hearing every word Rainbow Dash was saying, that she didn't even realize she had opened the wrong folder, and run the wrong file.

Rapidly, everything became increasingly grainy-looking until it all looked like sand and blew away, leaving only Dash and Twilight. The new sand blew in, and formed a new image around them, that proceeded to become decreasingly grainy in appearance, until everything looked solid. They appeared to be in a hallway with various ugly creatures who looked very similar and were going to and fro. The creatures stood on two legs, had two arms, were taller than the ponies, and varied in skin tone from dark to light, but certainly none of them had the range of hues the ponies were used to.

The Old Earth

Twilight realized almost instantly that the ugly creatures were human, but not because of her amazing powers of deduction. She recognized them. She didn't remember humans being ugly, but she remembered them looking as these beings did, and they seemed ugly to her now. She wondered if Rainbow Dash knew what they were.

This line of thought was interrupted by the sharp pains of her breathing. Each breath felt as if she had been breathing heavily in cold air, except that this pain felt hot. Each was worse than the last. She felt as if, somehow, Rainbow Dash had landed on her back, as it was difficult to stand, but when she looked there was nothing weighing her down.

The moment she thought that, one of the furthest away humans shouted, “Whoever secures a pony will have their salary doubled!”

The humans, of which there were about ten in the hallway, began scrambling; some of them tripping on each other, and all were making their way towards the ponies. Dash had already head-butted one in the stomach, knocking him down, but Twilight felt the need to explain to Dash anyway

“Those are humans! Who knows what they intend to do to us?!” said Twilight while attempting to run, but only going as fast as a rather slow walk.

“Doesn't matter. Things chasing you means you should attack them,” said Dash.

Dash was a good athlete on the ground, but they wouldn't stand a chance once she got airborne. Or so she thought, anyway. Even with both wings flapping rapidly, she barely managed to get a foot off the ground.

“Come on wings! What gives!” cried Dash.

“It seems the gravity is greater here,” said Twilight.

Two humans grabbed Twilight and began to drag her down the hallway, but Twilight threw them into a wall with her magic. She hadn't meant to throw them as hard as she had, but hands pulling at her skin made it difficult to not react instinctively. Furthermore, she hadn't noticed that her instinctive throw had barely been hard enough, as she was quickly distracted by Dash's predicament.

Rainbow Dash finally managed to get several feet off the ground, and her head nearly touched the ceiling. However, hands pulled at each of her legs. Twilight tried to fling them with her magic, but with the gravity as high as it was, neither of them moved more than a few inches. Two more grabbed her tail and then the four of them slammed her into the ground. The scientists immediately dog-piled her. This time, Twilight kept applying more force until she saw them fly off of her, but they were so heavy, her horn developed a huge aura around it before that happened, and already three people were dragging her away from behind. There was one pulling at each of her legs and one at her tail.

Worse still, Rainbow Dash was lying on the ground covered in bruises and unconscious. Twilight now had their undivided attention. Their numbers seemed to have more than doubled, as she wasn't as willing to hurt them as Dash seemed to be, so they didn't stay down as long. She kept flinging them away from her, but could only focus on three at a time, and they just kept coming back. Soon there were arms grabbing at all different parts of her. She felt like she was going to be pulled apart, and there was no way she could concentrate enough to use magic. They were dragging her away.

“No! She is a pony! I won't let you change her back!” screamed Rainbow Dash.

Despite many bruises, Dash was airborne. She proceeded to ram the glob of humans that had formed around Twilight, causing them all to fly through the air in various directions. She swooped down and picked up Twilight, but couldn't manage to take off again. Already, three people were starting to pick themselves up.

With the brief moment of everyone picking themselves up, Twilight really saw the hallway for the first time. Suddenly the notion that she used to walk through this very hallway overwhelmed her. She didn't want to feel it, but some part of her knew this was home. She couldn't point to any specific memories, nor did she remember anything else about the building or world they were in. It was just a vague sense of being where she belonged, despite all the chaos going on around her.

“You can continue using that horn of yours anytime now,” said Dash amid knocking one of the several human headed their way down.

Twilight immediately began throwing several people at a time away from them with her horn, but she began to sweat, as her horn was tired. With this gravity and these peoples’ resilience she didn't have much more in her. Twilight panicked as she saw several more people entering the hallway.

She said, “We can't fight them forever, and more people are entering this hallway. I can't remember anything about where this building's exits are. What are we going to do?”

Rainbow Dash walked over to the nearest window, and bucked the glass rapidly with her hind legs, until it broke. She then said, “Then we'll make an exit.”

“But you can't fly here while holding me,” said Twilight.

“Then it’s time I show you how meaningless can't is,” said Dash.

“I don't know...” started Twilight.

“You got any better ideas?” interrupted Dash.

People were pursuing her, so Twilight ran to the window and now the people were crowding around them. Upon being so close to Rainbow Dash, Twilight was amazed that, despite how profusely she was sweating and the severity of her bruises, she was still moving. As a result, she wasn't surprised that her head-butts weren't even knocking them back anymore. Twilight desperately tried to toss them all with her magic, but a few sparks emitted from her horn and nothing more. There was no other escape.

Dash picked up Twilight and jumped out the window. Dash began pouring sweat, and her face was all scrunched up, as her wings accelerated to beating the air as rappidly as a humming bird. This barely managed to keep them in the air, but it did. Twilight considered hi-fiving Dash, but thought better of it, as that seemed like it would be a difficult thing to do while flying.

This brief rejoicing quickly died upon feeling a warm sensation from below and looking down to see its cause. Below them was a pool of lava that stretched further than their amazing bird-eye view could see in all directions. They were a good hundred or so feet above it, but just a twenty foot descent would likely mean starting to melt or catch fire.

“I just remembered I used to teleport into that building, and we needed security to be extremely tight so we put it in a place surrounded by lava for numerous miles. We should go back,” said Twilight.

“No! I won't lose you because I'm not a good enough flier!” insisted Dash.

Dash picked a direction and soared quickly in that direction. Her wings ached, but that was nothing new to her. “No pain, no gain,” chanted Dash under her breath, as she flew straight ahead, at a speed that may well have created a sonic rainboom, if she had the help of gravity.

Twilight kept instinctively jumping, as her nervous system was absolutely convinced that she was far closer to a heat source than she should be. She could not begin to imagine how much worse it must have felt for Dash. Twilight could feel herself slipping on Dash's increasingly slippery skin due to an ever thickening layer of sweat. After a few minutes, Twilight feared she'd slip right off, and so, gripped even tighter, despite the added discomfort for Dash. However, Dash didn't show the slightest bit of hesitation or discomfort.

Twilight looked into Dash's eyes and saw furrowed brows that seemed to go beyond determination and almost looked angry. Twilight was amazed that somehow, despite the illogic of her words about doing things she can't do, she was doing them. However, Twilight could practically see the new bruises forming as Dash's wings rapidly beat the ever-resilient air, and was forced to conclude that despite the look in her eyes, it wouldn't be much longer yet. Ten minutes from when they had first jumped out of the window, there was still no end in sight, and Dash's wings stopped obeying her.

“No! No! NO!” shouted Dash as they both began falling, a hint of a tear in each eye. Then mid-sentence all trace of sappiness instantly died as she recognized the purple aura around them.

“Dash, you've inspired me. If you can fly that far despite the circumstances, then my horn can take us the rest of the way,” said Twilight, who proceeded to push them forward with her magic. Twilight couldn't imagine how Dash had flown so far, as after just a few seconds, Twilight could feel her horn throbbing to the point that she wondered if it was actually possible for horns to break. With each passing second, closing her eyes and letting the lava just end it all sounded more like a luxury.

But her friend had shown such determination to save her. Twilight wasn't nearly as sweaty or bruised, nor had she been doing this for nearly as long, yet from the moment she started she felt like giving up. She was a terrible friend. She had to make it up to Rainbow Dash somehow. She had to get them the rest of the way there.

However, after a few more minutes, her horn didn't emit any sparks, but instantly stopped. They could finally see land, but it must have been at least a mile away, and they were plummeting. Dash tried flapping her wings, but they were still aching and refused to move much. She couldn't even slow her own descent.

Twilight closed her eyes. She breathed out and let out her anxiety about falling, and her aching horn with that breath. Breathing out brought with it the sensation of spitting out tacks, but she didn't let that steal her attention for long. With each breath she let out numerous thoughts about her and Dash's impending doom and concerns about how to escape this place, until after a few breaths her mind was blank, and she filled it with thoughts of “Me and her over there. Me and her over there.” Twilight had never teleported so great a distance, but that was a concern she let out on the first breath. Twilight felt a hot stinging sensation on her back. She was surprised that her skin didn't seem to be melting, or that she survived long enough to touch lava.

“Are you okay?” asked Dash.

Twilight opened her eyes to discover that the teleportation had worked. The hot sensation was just hot sand. She got up on her hooves.

“What do you suppose is with the air here?” asked Dash.

“I don't know. I don't remember much from... then...” said Twilight disdainfully before continuing, “But I do remember it not hurting when I breathe. More importantly which way do we go?”

“Unless you have any flashbacks, we'll just have to pick a way and move. How did we get here anyway?” said Dash while running forward, and looking back at Twilight.

“I accidentally ran a program that did that,” blushed Twilight, who was so afraid of what Dash might think, she didn't notice Dash was already running ahead.

“We won't make it if we just stand around all day,” said Dash.

But then Twilight realized what she had just said. “Ran a program to do that...” mumbled Twilight under her breath, before continuing in a far louder more excited voice, “Yes of course!” She began trying to cast the new spell she had learned, to get the floating screen to appear, but it kept failing.

Dash ran back to her asking, “What are you doing?”

“That ‘pretty picture’ is about to save our lives. You see, a program doesn't require much magic at all, and it has great power,” said Twilight, who was repeatedly trying to get the faintest spark from her horn, until after a couple of minutes the screen came up. First a script to find and collect all nearby water thought Twilight, who proceeded to write statement after statement until, after about twenty minutes, the code was complete. She proceeded to run it with another spark from her horn, but the floating screen immediately filled with the words, “Task killed by an external process.”

“What happened?” asked Dash.

“It didn't work for some reason. Maybe I coded something wrong,” said Twilight, frantically changing her code around to an alternate solution to the same problem, in hopes that using a different solution would somehow fix the mysterious error. However after running it again, the same mysterious message appeared. “There has got to be a way to fix this,” groaned Twilight.

“Twilight, we are going to have to find water, before we die,” said Dash.

“But if I can just get this to work...” objected Twilight.

“You are still new to this, and we can't wait on you to learn,” said Dash.

Twilight felt they were so close to safety with programming, yet she knew Dash was right. She didn't see anything about that message in the tutorials, and who knew how long it would take to figure out what the issue was. Everything in her wanted to continue and figure out what was going on, but she couldn't do that to Dash. “You are right,” sighed Twilight. Twilight proceeded to attempt to run after Dash but her body seemed so heavy, she could barely manage the pace of a walk.

“Come on, we don't have time for this,” said Dash.

“I can't.”

“Have you learned nothing?”

“You didn't manage to get us here alone.”

“Who said ‘I can’ means I have to do it without help? We jumped out of that window and we survived even though we couldn't. Now you are going to run even though you can't.”

Twilight's hooves ached, but the more they ached, the more energy she put into them. Before long, Twilight caught up to Rainbow Dash, and the two proceeded to run. After a minute, the red earth gave way to a seemingly-endless stretch of sand. Twilight's hooves ached, and the bottoms of them were starting to go numb from the heat. Her body demanded heavy breathing, yet this turned the nuisance of breathing into a deep burning sensation that made her cough, which only made things worse. After five minutes, her hoofs couldn't support her anymore, and she collapsed to the ground.

“How does anybody live on this planet?” demanded Twilight.

“Soon we won't be either if we...” began Dash, who suddenly felt as though someone had just run by her holding a knife out just far enough to graze her skin as they went. Twilight likewise noticed a long cut appeared along her side, but neither of them saw anyone or anything go by.

“What happened?” asked Twilight.

“I don't know. It felt like the wind itself cut me,” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash then noticed a small area in which the wind was going in a circle extremely rapidly. Suddenly, all that wind, as if being released from a sling, darted straight for Twilight. Dash knocked Twilight out of the way before it hit the middle of her forehead. This wind grazed Rainbow Dash, creating a similar cut on her other side.

Without another word Rainbow Dash and Twilight took off running. Suddenly, these razor winds started forming everywhere and Rainbow Dash, having much faster reflexes, had to keep telling Twilight which way one was coming from. After fifteen minutes, it finally stopped, and so did the ponies, who were now covered in cuts and dripping blood.

Twilight collapsed to the ground so hard that sand went up her nose, but she didn't care. The sand that went up her nose didn't feel any worse than the air that was constantly going in and out. Rainbow Dash was saying something that was likely another inspiring comment about doing things you can’t do, but her voice felt so distant and muffled that Twilight was barely aware anything was being said. Her heavy eyelids fell, and everything was dark.

After what felt like a few seconds, the darkness began to give way to an image. Everything was blurry and sideways. Twilight was vaguely aware that she was moving, despite the fact that her hooves clearly weren't taking her anywhere. Twilight closed her eyes again, but a sudden jerk from below and Rainbow’s voice crying out “Stupid rock!” caused her to tear her heavy eyes open. She looked down to see blue skin, and wings. “How long have you been carrying me?” said Twilight.

“About an hour. Do you think you can walk?” asked Dash.

Twilight didn't know what to say. She never realized just how far her friends were willing to go for her. She was grateful to the point of nearly being unsettled as she wasn't sure she was willing to go as far for Rainbow Dash. “Dash... I... I... Thank you!” said Twilight.

“You can start showing your gratitude by getting off my back,” said Rainbow Dash looking back at Twilight with a smile.

“How can you smile at a time like this?” asked Twilight, who tried to gracefully dismount, but instantly remembered how much her muscles ached when she tried, and instead plopped to the ground. At least the sand she landed on was soft.

“I was scared, and I felt so alone with you unconscious. I began to wonder what was the point, but then I saw Pinkie Pie. She was singing that song about ‘giggle at the ghosty.’ My fear really did disappear, and I've had a hard time not smiling ever since. I know it doesn't make any sense, but friendship doesn’t always have to,” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight tried to get up, but couldn't. She tried again, but again her legs fell out from under her greater than usual weight. She kept trying, as she couldn't possibly ask Dash for any more help, but kept failing each time.

“Need some help?” said Dash laughing lightly. She proceeded to lift Twilight, but then she too fell, and she couldn't get up. “Come on Twilight, we'll crawl there,” said Dash. The ponies pushed down on sand with their front hooves, then pulled themselves forward, and repeated.

“Dash, if we don't get out of this alive, I just want to say, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you,” panted Twilight between gasps of breath.

“You mean like you’re not listening to me now that we will get out of this alive?” asked Dash.

Twilight had no idea how Dash could be so optimistic. They had no food or water, and were dehydrated, bleeding, and exhausted. Further, they could easily suffer from heat stroke since they appeared to be in a desert. To make matters worse, Twilight couldn't help but wonder if the air wasn't killing them somehow, and who knows when the crazy sharp wind would come back. She considered mentioning all this to Dash, but thought better of dashing her hopes. Instead, Twilight envied Dash’s optimism.

Dash stopped. She kept reaching out her hoofs but kept pulling them back to her, instead of her too them. Twilight thought at first she was messing around, but then she blurted out, “Come on, Twilight, we'll be there soon.”

Twilight, who was now ahead of her, puzzled over this statement before saying, “Dash, are you okay?”

“Yeah, but I'd be better if you'd catch up. Come on, you can do it,” said Dash, who continued to fruitlessly pull sand towards her, and who had a completely dazed look in her eyes.

Twilight examined the sand, positive there must be something different about it to keep Ponyville’s greatest athlete at bay, but there was nothing. Dash had lost all her strength. Twilight then shook a hoof rapidly up and down in front of Dash's line of sight and said, “Dash! Dash!!”

“Don't worry, I'm coming back for you Twilight,” said Dash, her gaze never once acknowledging Twilight's hoof. Rainbow Dash then pulled sand toward herself weakly with a single hoof.

Twilight tried to drag Dash along with her, but she could not get her to budge. Twilight began pulling herself forward without Dash, promising herself that she would send Dash help, as soon as she could.

“I'm coming for you, Twilight,” said Dash weakly, with her hoof not even moving anymore.

The sound of Dash desperately trying to help her stopped Twilight in her tracks. She wanted to keep going forward because she knew it was the only way they might survive, but she couldn't. She lay there for a few moments before finally crawling back to Dash.

“I'm sorry Dash, that I couldn't be as strong as you. Maybe if I were, we could have gotten out of this alive,” said Twilight as she laid by Dash, to die with her friend. She wished Rainbow Dash was with it enough to spend these last moments with her, but she soon recognized that as a selfish wish. At least this way, Dash would never have to know the inevitable death that was coming upon them. Twilight once more closed her eyes, this time with no intention of ever opening them again.

Suddenly Twilight burst into consciousness. Where am I? Memory of recent events hadn't returned to her yet. She looked over and saw Rainbow Dash, with a wet wash cloth on her head, still muttering nonsense. How had they survived? Twilight began looking around and noticed they were in a cave. She continued looking around the cave for answers, when suddenly she noticed a very ugly person; at least, she thought it was a person.

He wasn't just ugly in the same sense that the rest of the humans were; he stood out as someone who was clearly ugly even by their standards. His right cheek was swollen to at least twice its normal size and had several scars on it. A little to the left of the center of his forehead, he had a huge burn so bad that the skin looked charred. He had a thin layer of white hair on his head, and his arms looked like they had repeatedly had skin grafts. He was very skinny and about five feet six inches tall, but he had clearly been taller once, seeing as how his back had a fairly considerable hunch.

The man was just sitting on a chair when he glanced over at Twilight and spat, “I don't suppose either of you know Antarin.”

Twilight immediately remembered that was the name of that human language she knew. She responded, “Yes, will my friend be okay?”

“Straight to the point, aren't ya? Well, if I were you, I'd be a little more concerned about me. After all, maybe I want to kill you. Most people do.”

“If you weren't a friend, you would have let us die in the desert.”

“Maybe I wanted to do the job myself. Maybe I wanted the credit.”

“You would have at least captured us in some way. We could just get up and leave,” said Twilight, becoming less confident in her initial assertion that this person was a friend.

“You don't think you’re trapped? Yeah you go ahead and leave, and go back into that desert. Let me know how that goes. I am the only person living in this desert, and I have the only teleporter out, which only responds to my fingerprint,” said the man.

“Well, why wouldn't you have killed us already?” said Twilight becoming decreasingly comfortable with where this conversation was going. Twilight tried out her horn but not even a single spark would come out of it and, in her weakened state, Twilight was suddenly aware she couldn't take him. She could barely move.

“You think some ponies suddenly show up in our world, and I don't at least have some questions to ask before killing them? I'm not as curious as I used to be, but there must be a thing or two I'd still like to know before dying, or else surely I would have let the worms have their way with this wretched body,” said the man.

Twilight realized for the first time that the only exit to the cave was on the other side of the man. Twilight wasn't sure why she even bothered spotting the exit, as they would surely die if they went back out there, but the escalation of the conversation made it difficult to not at least wonder. “Well, you wouldn't have put a wet rag on Rainbow Dash's head if that were the case,” blurted out Twilight, desperate for anything that suggested this person wasn't their enemy.

“Blast! Betrayed again by my own kindness,” said the man, with a smile overtaking his face. With how deformed it was, it looked more like someone had carved another scar into it, but it promptly returned to its normal expressionless look. It wasn't a vacant look, but rather one that suggested that nothing he cared much about was happening.

“My name is Walter. As for your friend, I ain't no doctor or vet, and I certainly don't know anything about pony diseases, but she seems to just be suffering from heat exhaustion. She should be fine after drinking and eating. However, don't get the wrong idea; I can't say for sure I won't attack you until I know some things,” said Walter.

“Are you always this ‘friendly’?” mumbled Dash who just opened her eyes. Twilight didn't even realize how aggressive his voice sounded in saying this, until Dash replied, without even knowing what he had said. Twilight then translated what Dash said.

“I wouldn't know, as I haven't interacted very much with anyone for years. Ever since my family died, I only leave this desert when I need something,” replied Walter in his usual unwavering gruff voice, as Twilight gave Dash a glass of water, which she began sipping from. While she drank, Twilight told her what Walter said, but she then proceeded to ask what she was dying to know.

“Are you okay?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, I've been through worse,” lied Dash, with a faint smile. Dash then turned back to Walter and asked, “How did they die?” Twilight proceeded to translate for her.

“Same way everyone dies. I don't remember their scientific name, but it’s those stupid black spiked monsters. For the sixty years of silence, people died of old age and disease; but after that time passed, I ain't heard of anyone dying to much other than those beasts, save the occasional stray razor wind,” spat Walter.

Twilight was about to tell Dash what he had said, when she noticed Dash had fallen back asleep. “Black spiked monsters?” said Twilight.

“Well, that answers my first question. So there is such a thing as a world without those dreaded things. Then again, maybe a world without them isn't possible for us. The Veranians thought such a world was possible during the sixty silent years. The sixty year silence was broken with every single one of them dead.”

“So, you wanted to know something about us?” inquired Twilight, who needed to do something to shift the conversation from its increasingly morbid tone.

“Of course I do. Some crazy cult, which had maybe a hundred people, turned out to be right. Naturally, that cult grew into the predominant way of thought once they actually managed to prove that another world with ponies in it actually existed. But even then, can you blame me for remaining skeptical? Yet here you are, with a whole world full of people who want you dead. The first thing I must know is why are you here?” said Walter

“To make a long story short, our presence here is a complete accident.”

“How ‘bout you make a long story long.”

“Well, there was a robot that used its scanning methods to discover I was some human...”

“Tripe!” interrupted Walter.

“Excuse me, but did you have something to say?” asked Twilight.

“That's a load of tripe! I may not know much about science or robotics, but one thing I do know is that any robots you would have encountered, would be battle drones of some variety, and battle drones, do not have scanners.”

“But he said...”

“Either it was lying or you are. I don't care which. Just move on to the next part.”

Twilight was glad to see the robot’s claims shut down so easily, yet she could not help being disappointed in herself for not seeing that rather obvious flaw herself. She sighed and continued, “It gave me a hard drive, which contained a program that I accidentally ran, that took us here.”

“Come again?”

“A program that, when executed, brought us here.”

“I know what you said! I meant, how did it bring you here? Was this program one that ran some sort of vehicle or teleporter that brought you here?”

“No, it just brought us here, when I activated it with my magic.”

“Magic?”

“I know you it isn’t prevalent here, but you don't have magic? How do you run your programs?”

“They run on a computer, and they can only do tasks on a computer.”

“Then why would it have had a program on it, it couldn't use?”

“Exactly! Your whole story sounds like crap to me, but whatever. I believe you are here by accident, as there are only two of you and you would have died without me… Heck, you well still may. Next question, did your kind really steal your planet from us?”

Twilight didn't want to make herself look guilty, but she couldn't manage to stop herself from pointing out the obvious flaw with his question in saying, “You do realize that no one would ever say yes to that question right?”

“Just answer the question!”

“It is our belief that your ancestors wanted to kill us, so the only way we could live in safety without killing them was to send them here.”

“It would have been kinder to just kill them.”

“How can you say that?”

“Look around you! This place is just conducive enough to life to keep torturing the creatures who have the misfortune of being born! We come up with better technology to protect ourselves, and the creatures just get stronger to counteract it. Even the wealthy have little advantage over the poor, except for the extremely poor, as we are nearly powerless against them. It is only because we reproduce more frequently than they attack that our numbers have increased.”

“I'm sorry. Maybe we can kill a couple before we go,” said Twilight trying not to think of what Fluttershy would say. By Walter's, description she would have feared them. But she likely still would have been disappointed in Twilight's suggestion. She had a hard time herself believing she had suggested it, but she felt responsible. Ponies had gotten them into this mess, so maybe she could do at least a little to help out.

“As if they can be killed. It must have happened at some point before, but never is there a documented case of even seeing one dead. Sure, you have a person here or there bragging to their friends when they've had a pint too many, but nothing verifiable.”

“What did he say?” asked Dash, whose eyes were barely open. Twilight told her.

“It wouldn't be the first thing I've done that has only happened in legends,” said Rainbow Dash, whom slipped back into unconsciousness. Twilight again translated for her.

“I like your spunk, but don't waste your stupid lives on that. Say you get one or two? So what? There are plenty more.”

“So how did you find us anyway?” asked Twilight trying to think of any possible way to change the subject because, even though it didn't sound like Walter was blaming them, Twilight couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he should be.

“Your appearance is all over the internet, so knowing something was up was easy enough. Projections of the window you left out of had you burning to death in lava, but heading in the general direction of the desert, so I figured there was a chance I'd have guests. I went outside, not expecting to find anything, but it’s not like I had much else to do while waiting for death, squeezing out an answer or two to life's questions where I can. Then I saw something, and I chased it for a couple of miles. When I caught up to it, it disappeared, but where it stopped, there you two were.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw my son. His body was never found, so that happens sometimes. Post traumatic stress disorder and all. He seemed more real this time, but I guess that's just a sign that I really am getting closer to him with every passing year,” said Walter without his facial expression changing once. Twilight had begun to wonder if he was capable of facial expression, and if maybe that one smile was a fluke, but his voice never changed either.

Twilight didn't know what to say. She had only in history books heard of someone's child dying before, and that nagging sense of being responsible, since ponies sent them to this world, wouldn't leave her alone. The thought occurred to her that, since she was a human, it wasn't really her kind, but she didn't find this thought comforting. It was time for yet another subject change.

“That cultic group you mentioned earlier wouldn't happened to have been named Logos, would it?” asked Twilight.

“So those stupid rocks got through, eh? Who knows why they used rocks, but they were a pretty fanatic group, so even I, who studied people for a living, can't hazard a guess as to their motives on that one. That stupid group probably would have never become so well known, if they hadn't conned a select few rich members into joining. From there it was pretty easy for them to hire people who didn't even believe what they were saying, such as myself, and then eventually prove the existence of a world of ponies.”

“You’ve mentioned this proof a couple of times now, and I cannot help but be curious, how did they do that?” said Twilight.

“Well, if you want to get technical, it isn’t a proof so much as it is various conclusions that a world of magical ponies leads to, which otherwise would be unexpected, were verified experimentally. It is said that out of the millions of people in our world, only five actually understand what most have come to call a proof, but they were such big names in the world of science, and science has come to be so highly regarded, that now most people believe. Of course, there are still several people such as myself who did not believe.

“But can you blaming me. I had meet all five of them at least briefly. All five had such big egos, they became too good for their old names and fashioned themselves new ones from the coolest thing they could think of, Greek letters. The single most prominent, who is now head of what used to be a cult, calling himself by two Greek letters. He is called Dr. AlphaOmega, but that is neither here nor there,” said Walter.

It seemed to Twilight that there was little else to be said about the proof, as it seemed Walter did not know much about it; so she thought to revert to their previous conversation before they got on this tangent. However, she then remembered she hadn’t liked where that topic had been going either, so she instead asked, “You studied people for a living?”

“I read many papers on behavioral patterns of humans, and used them to attempt to come up with as logical an explanation as possible as to why those cultic beliefs survived for as long as they did. Many similar, and likewise stupid, cults often took less than a hundred years to die out, and they hired me to find out why they were different. Basically, the living conditions made it hard not to blame something, and the living conditions made the thought of a planet waiting to be reclaimed very appealing. Even still I couldn't help but wonder why, of all things, to blame ponies, but now I know the reason. It is true. No doubt our ancestors passed down stories to us.”

The nagging thoughts that she had been repressing broke free, as she could not contain them anymore. Twilight couldn't believe the living conditions of this planet had allowed people, through many generations, to still remember how the ponies had wronged them. Twilight hated to admit it, but in a perverse way, it sounded like justice. How had a conversation about his work likewise taken a detour into the uncomfortable? Was it that the ponies had really wronged them so much that Twilight's mind couldn't help going back to it, or that this guy couldn't carry on a non-awkward conversation to save his life?

Twilight couldn't decide which it was, but it didn't matter. One thing Twilight could no longer deny was that the ponies had wronged them. Was there really no better place to have sent them than this? Surely they must have made the decision in haste, not even stopping to think that thousands of years from now, people would still be living here. Twilight was furious. She wanted to confide in a friend the unbelievable news she had just heard and, fortunately, Rainbow Dash seemed to be awake again.

After Twilight blurted out the news, Rainbow Dash took off into the air and said through clenched teeth, “Celestia and I are going to have some words when I get back!” She couldn't support herself for long, however, so she fell back down immediately following the last syllable.

Twilight instantly regretted telling her friend, who hadn't yet recovered, such stirring news. “Take it easy, Rainbow Dash. You still haven't recovered. I am as angry as you, but we don't really have anypony to blame, since even Celestia hadn't been born yet,” said Twilight.

“I'm not surprised to learn that you’re not as heartless as the tales claim. I'm curious as to what the truth actually is, but I've already outlived the live expectancy of the most fortified nations by five years by making it to fifty five, so I know I won't be around long enough to find out. At least I'll contribute to the research as to whether or not those creatures are less likely to attack individuals than they are groups. One thing I can do before I die, is help you ponies get back to the research facility,” said Walter.

“Why would we want to go back there?” asked Twilight.

“If anywhere has a portal to your home world, that would be it. I haven't been there in years, so I don't know what they have, but it’s the only place that might. Though, if your world hasn't been taken over yet, it probably means you have a low chance of getting there without dying, otherwise they would have used it by now. You seem like the sort of people willing to take that kind of chance, though.”

Twilight couldn't believe that amidst trying to stay alive, and figuring out why a guy like Walter would have rescued them, she had completely forgotten about trying to get home. They had almost died coming out here, could they really survive going back? Yet, Walter seemed sure it was their only hope.

“How can you help us?” asked Twilight.

They encourage former employees to come back and expand their research, should they get bored. Naturally, we don't get paid for this, but it is encouraged; so we have access to the building. I could set my teleporter to take you there.

“I thought the facility had better security than that,” said Twilight.

“From the outside, their security is what most would call good, in order to keep those black demons at bay, but in terms of people getting in and out, the security isn't great. Despite only be thirty years old, my insisting that those monsters had once left us completely alone for sixty years, and that an effective means of keeping them at bay has never been invented despite thousands of years of effort, didn’t deter them from thinking the security is good. I guess there really are no bounds to human hubris.”

“Darn it, what is this air made out of? Acid?” coughed Dash, prompting Twilight to repeat the question to Walter.

“I'd forgotten all about that. I don't remember, but I think it is a bit acidic, actually. We have since adapted to it, but our ancestors used to only live to about twenty because of it. Once we began adapting to that, razor winds become more prevalent. After developing walls effective at shielding us from that, the black demon attacks increased. If I were a superstitious man I would say the Old Earth is trying to kill us,” said Walter.

“Old Earth?” inquired Twilight.

“Our planet was renamed that fairly recently, when the former cult proved that human ponies of another dimension exist, and the belief in pony lore became predominant. The idea being that we will take back our home, the New Earth, soon enough, and then this will become the Old Earth. I can't remember what it was called before the Old Earth, though,” said Walter.

Walter then got up, and said, “I just have one more question, before I let you ponies rest some more. What is it like?”

“What?” said Twilight.

“To live in a world that doesn't hate you.”

Twilight mumbled his question under her breath, searching for words to convey a world she took for granted to someone who had never known such luxury, but Rainbow cut her off by saying, “Come see for yourself.” Twilight repeated this for Walter.

Walter again took on that crack in his face that seemingly was meant to be a smile. “If only this were ten years ago, I would have taken you up on that, but I am too old, and my inevitable dying along the way would only slow you down. Your chances are bad enough without my help. Just tell me this, can you actually relax? Does your family actually stay alive?”

It was the question with the most obvious answer, yet it was the most awkward, as the instinctive answer of “duh” was insensitive. After a few seconds, Twilight muttered a yes, and Walter left the room with that same smile. The ponies drank, ate, and then rested.

The following morning, after eating and taking the nearest thing to a shower Walter’s cave had to offer, the ponies saw Walter fiddling with his teleporter. Twilight was delighted to see that Dash seemed to be completely better.

“What do those numbers mean?” asked Twilight, pointing to two big numbers on the screen of the teleporter terminal.

“They indicate the coordinates that the teleporter is currently set to warp things to. Currently, they are set to the position of this teleporter, as one should always calibrate their teleporter before using it.”

“Calibrate?” asked Twilight.

“I don't really understand the science behind it, but basically, you fiddle with this knob until the teleporter functions properly. The easy way to do this involves teleporting trash from the teleporter to itself to see if it arrives unharmed. If the object arrives in pieces you turn the knob up. If it instead has burn marks on it, you turn the knob down,” said Walter.

Twilight wasn't sure why, as she never intended on coming back here, but she committed the coordinates of this teleporter to memory. It was probably because she was curious what a good example of numbers that qualify as coordinates might look like, though admittedly nothing looked particularly special about these numbers. She had read about the concept of coordinates before, but Equestria didn't use them, so she had never seen any before.

“Are you and your friend ready?” asked Walter.

Twilight wished she had some sort of plan, but given how little they knew about where they were going, it was impossible to form one. Twilight had tried several times during the night to remember something, anything, about this world she had lived in, but to no avail. Some parts of her old memories and knowledge were readily accessible, while others came back only when she saw something that triggered them, but most of them were just gone.

“What do you know about this fortress?” asked Twilight.

“Sorry, but this building is massive, and I don't know anything about the parts of it you’d be interested in. All I can tell you is that what you are looking for is not in the basement floors, which is what I am used to,” said Walter.

Twilight was afraid he'd say something like that. Twilight’s instincts told her to wait around and study, but the knowledge she was looking for probably wasn't anywhere she could find, and she desperately wanted to see her friends. She really had no idea how Dash and her could succeed; then again, she didn't know how they’d survive either, but somehow they had managed that. If she ever wanted to see her friends again, she had to somehow do this. At least she wasn't alone.

Twilight proceeded to translate for the following conversation. “Wait, before anypony does anything, there’s something I must know. Why are you helping us?” said Dash.

“I don't know. I had thought I just wanted answers, but maybe I just needed something to care about. People are strange like that, and for me it has been a long time. I care about this,” said Walter.

“This? You mean us?” said Dash.

Walter looked at the ground and replied “Yeah.”

Twilight started to open her mouth, no doubt to say something emotional or inspiring, but Walter cut her off, “Don't look into it too much. I have always thought people who blamed all their problems on some ponies are stupid, and now that I've met you I still think that. If the people that hate you are stupid, well then, naturally, I wouldn't want to be one of them.”

Twilight decided not to say anything after all, but instead just marveled at Walter. Never had she seen anyone so inept at emotion, but maybe that is what the Old Earth did to people. Regardless, Walter was admitting he cared for them the only way he knew how and, silly though it was, Twilight didn't want to ruin that, so she simply added, “Yeah, you're not so bad yourself.”

Then Walter hit the button, and the ponies were whisked away.

As everything came back into focus, a tall broad white man in a lab coat and the tiled floor on which he stood were all they could see, for everything else was shrouded in darkness, but he had a spotlight on him.

Rainbow Dash immediately darted toward him, but quickly slammed into something that seemed to be glass. It did not seem to be even remotely disturbed by the impact of Rainbow Dash. It did not appear to refract any light, so it could not be seen. Rainbow Dash then ran back to the teleporter as Twilight tried pressing buttons near it, but she couldn't even get the little monitor to turn on.

“That teleporter is currently only set to receive, and cannot be altered from that setting by anything other than the main computer that is responsible for running this building,” said the man in the lab coat in a deep voice.

Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight, “This would be a good time for magic.”

“Good point,” replied Twilight, who proceeded to try to teleport to the other side, but not even a single spark came out of her horn.

“Nice try, but the computer has already disabled your magic,” said the man in the lab coat.

“Computer, take these two somewhere more suitable for study,” said the man.

“I cannot do that,” came a gentle female voice that seemed to emanate from all around them.

“Why not?” asked the man.

“I am afraid our knowledge of the capabilities of ponies’ magic is highly limited. As such, I cannot ignore the unlikely event that she had cast a spell upon arrival, before my magical negation went into effect. Said spell could be making her appear as you and vice-versa. Thankfully we do have sufficient data on their magical abilities to know that they are not capable of making one more logical. A test must be administered,” said the female voice.

“Fine. Whatever,” said the man.

“The test that has been selected is Aura Field.”

“What? Just give her a test, not a game.”

“A game is a competitive form of test.”

“Why should I be forced to participate?”

“The exact logical capability of a pony is unknown. It is only known that humans are more logical, thus your participation is required. Whoever wins must be the human. I would have hoped one as logical as yourself would be able to understand these proceedings.”

Two floating images, not unlike the ones Twilight had used to program, appeared. One was in front of Twilight, and the other was in front of the man. The image was of a seven by seven arrangement of equally spaced black dots.

“The rules are simple. First player is represented by red and squares. Second player is represented by blue and circles. Circles emit a blue aura to other shapes in a cardinal direction of them. Likewise squares emit a red aura. A shape’s color is determined by the auras being emitted to it, but a shape itself does nothing to help determine its own color. If it has an equal amount of red and blue being emitted to it, it will be white, and thus neutral.

“Red shapes are owned by player one and Blue shapes are owned by player two. Whenever two shapes that are not owned by opposing players, unless they are both neutral, are immediately in a cardinal direction of one another, a line of the color of the shape that isn't white, will form between the two. The first player to connect the left to the right, or the bottom to the top, with a line of their color, wins. In order to achieve this, each player takes turns placing their shape onto one of the black dots. In the interest of brevity, you have one hour. Entity who appears as Dr. Gamma, you are first player,” said the female voice.

Twilight thought she caught all that, but she admitted she wasn't quite sure. Maybe things would become more clear after the guy in the lab coat (what had she called him again?) took his turn.

He touched the screen and a single white square appeared where one of the black dots had been. Hadn't she said that first player was represented by squares and red? Why wasn't the square red? Twilight sighed. She would just have to overcome her momentary failure to understand the rules, by doing really well after she caught on. She liked logical puzzles, so this shouldn't be too hard, but not knowing what was going on still frustrated her.

She touched a random dot on the screen, and a white circle appeared. Maybe the computer had somehow been mistaken when she said there were colors in this game, however she was immediately proven to be wrong, as her opponent’s move was right next to hers; his shape turned blue and hers turned red. Isn't that the opposite of what the computer had said? Was it intentionally trying to mislead her? But then, it would only do that if it was sure she was a pony and if that were true, what was the point of this little game?

Twilight stared at the board for a second. It was almost as though the color of the shapes were determined by the pieces around them. Yes of course! Hadn't it said something about emitting auras, and cardinal directions? Naturally, the white shapes were white because there was no aura being admitted to them. Twilight understood now, and she hadn't even wasted many turns in her attempt to understand.

However, her opponent was not to be underestimated. Turn after turn, he had more colored shapes and more lines than her, but even with only two available dots left on the board, neither of them had connected one side to another. Twilight was just a couple of lines away, but no matter where she placed her shape it wouldn't form the needed lines to give her victory. She was quite sure this was going to be a draw.

“It is worth noting that in the event of a tie, the player with the most shapes of their color wins,” interjected the voice.

Suddenly the one minute left on the clock seemed quite menacing. Further the lab coat guy had at least six more shapes of his color than Twilight did. Her one move could do nothing to change that. Her only hope of getting Dash and her home shattered, by a lack of knowledge of the rules. Who was she kidding? What would she really have done differently if she had known about this rule? The truth was she just wasn't smart enough.

Twilight put her hooves on her head to keep it from exploding. Her head hadn't been throbbing like this in over a day, and it was making up for lost time. She knew that it was inevitable, but she just couldn't make the move that would doom them all. It was so much better when she wasn't responsible for their demise. If only... if only... but sentences began to evade her pounding head.

But at the sound of the voice she had unknowingly longed to hear spoke in its usual energetic tone, her headache dissipated. Rainbow Dash said while pointing to one of the black dots, “Pick that one.”

Twilight was fairly sure, based on the confused look that had long been present on her face, that Rainbow Dash didn't understand the rules of the game. So why was she telling Twilight where to go? Then Rainbow Dash began glowing again and her harmony necklace formed around her neck.

The man in the lab coat stood there stunned, but Twilight realized exactly what this meant. Clearly Twilight’s desperation was obvious and Rainbow Dash knew they were doomed. She wouldn’t let Twilight be responsible for picking the losing move. Twilight wanted to say so much more, but there was nothing more that could be said, than simply the “thank you” that she said. Rainbow Dash didn't ask what for. This verified what Twilight suspected. Rainbow Dash knew exactly what was going on.

Twilight picked the black dot Rainbow Dash had suggested, and indeed there were still more red squares than blue, and no miracle lines jumped out of nowhere to make Twilight victorious. However when her opponent took the final move of the game, his piece was surrounded by circles and so turned red and it was in just the right place for the needed two lines to form. Twilight had never even considered the possibility of winning on his turn.

“Winner of the game, and thus the real Dr. Gamma, what would you have me do?” asked the voice. At hearing his name again a surge of memory unclogged in Twilight’s brain. She remembered Dr. Gamma and all his risky, defiant, schemes.

“Is the teleportation to Equestria capability complete?” asked Twilight.

“It has just undergone its final testing stages. However, results are still being analyzed. Everything looks good so far, but it is not advisable to use,” said the computer.

“Send my assistant and I to Equestria, and destroy the technology to do so, once you have sent us. I have a plan,” muttered Twilight, ironically not having a plan at all.

“You are reckless as usual, I see. The others will not like it, but I have noticed a slightly higher success rate for your schemes than their plans. I will do as you say,” were the last words Twilight heard, before her library began to come back into focus. As they returned to Twilight's library, the thought occurred to Rainbow Dash that, since they had seemed to be doomed anyway, what she had done didn't require much loyalty, so why had she been glowing?

~~~

“Why did you let her leave?” asked a large tan man sitting on an ornate golden chair that had red precious stones of many varieties engraved into it in numerous places.

“Fear not” came the voice of a shiny robot that had the same form as the one Twilight saw. “We can teleport her back, at any time. She must believe the illusion is real. She must believe her fate rests on logic, so we can properly demonstrate to her how illogical she has become.”

“If we can teleport people to and fro, why toy with this pony? Let us send in an army.”

“Patience, my lord. We can only warp so many beings at a time, and we can only do it a few times a day. Sending in an army would take far too long. They would be aware of what we were doing long before a sizable force could be gotten through. No, Celestia did not realize it, but by making one of our men a pony, she has actually created the ultimate weapon.”

“That is exactly what I am afraid of. While she could be of great use to us if we could turn her against her own kind, is such a thing possible?”

“I have studied her for many years, and I can say conclusively that it is more than possible. If, with one conversation, I was able to get her to question everything, think how much more can be done once we show her how far from her logical nature she has fallen. The rest will take time, but will be easy.”

“Are you sure you can do such thing? After all, today was a failure.”

“A failure? No, today was to test to what extent becoming a pony damaged her reasoning. This, sadly, was unable to be well tested in the pony world, as there are few, if any, opportunities that require such a thing.

“With that out of the way, we have but to out reason her in a similar match; she will come to see herself as a failure, for dooming her friends by her ineptitude at logic. She will then realize how far she has fallen and seek to become logical again, and she will know we are the only ones who can teach this to her. She will be in a vulnerable state, and will actively seek our help. What could be better?

“It will be a long process, but she is the only one who can wield both logic and illogic, and combine them into programming that affects reality itself. She has no idea of what she is truly capable of, or that only she is capable of it.”

“Speaking of which, how did you know she would run that program?”

“I didn't even know for sure she had the capacity to run reality altering programs, but it was the only way I could think of, by which we might stand a chance. Little does she know that we would never have been able to make a connection between her world and ours without her help. It is just unfortunate that I did not have the foresight to program in a stronger connection to the teleportation program before giving it to her to be run.”

“At least you did think to give us some small portion of her reality altering power, instead of merely bringing her here with it.”

“Indeed. Also, I had the foresight to have it start a process which automatically shuts down any reality programs she tries to run here, so she can't use that great power against us. As for our power, I'm just glad we never had to use it to stop her from dying. For a moment there, I thought for sure that we would have to intervene directly, and possibly blowing our cover. Thankfully, between her and that other pony, they managed to survive the lava pit. They never would have survived that desert but, thankfully, I thought to send that old coot after them with a vision of his son.”

“I have to admit, using a crazy person's delusions for our benefit was rather brilliant of you. Of all the AI's I have come across, yours seems to have had just the right random configuration of starting variables to be one of the most brilliant I have ever seen. Even still, I cannot help but wonder how you managed to study Twilight undetected for so long?”

“Once I had discovered that Dr. Beta was still alive in pony form, how could I not? When walking through Everfree forest, I placed a microscopic microphone onto her.”

“How did you find that out, anyway?”

“From a similar chip on Celestia, I overheard a rather interesting conversation she had with her sister.”

“Where did you get these microphones?”

“What few things were transferred successfully were transferred too close to the same spot. Apparently, about a hundred years ago, we thought maybe radio waves would somehow get back to our world.”

“Interesting. How did you get them on the ponies?”

“That was difficult and risky, hence why I only ever did it twice. I was never designed for stealth. I got lucky with Celestia. She didn’t want any of her guards getting hurt fighting Nightmare Moon so, for once, she was unguarded. She then did something most surprising. She closed her eyes and awaited her sister to capture her. She didn’t have the heart to fight her sister again herself. Naturally, this made the perfect opportunity for me to put the mic on her. For Twilight, I just waited until nightfall and planted it on her.”

“All very intriguing. However, I cannot help but wonder what if your little plan fails?”

“We kill Twilight and send over the armed forces slowly. As I said, it's inefficient and non-ideal, but it would work.”

“Very well, and how long before we bring Twilight back?”

“Honestly, I suspect we won't need too. We should have patience because, she won’t be suspicious if she comes back of her own will.”

“Why do you suspect she will come back?”

“Because it will eventually occur to her that technology doesn't stay broken for long. She will realize that she hasn't done enough to stop us from getting to Ponyville, and that her desire to return home clouded her judgment.”

“Your brilliance has merited my trust for now. Don't disappoint me.”

The Gatekeeper

“I don't know, Twilight Sparkle. I have lived for thousands of years and nopony has ever asked me for what you are requesting now,” said Princess Celestia.

“They already had a fully functional means of getting here. I destroyed the technology, but how much of a setback for them do you really think that is? I don't like it anymore than you do, but anypony that has had the chance to think this over with a clear head must realize that all I did was buy us some time. We need a more permanent solution. The fate of all Equestria depends on it,” said Twilight.

“If it’s a matter of such great importance, is it really wise to send just one pony?” said Celestia.

“Believe me, I wish I could take my friends but the Elements of Harmony aren't the right solution to this particular problem. What we need is a spy ‒ a single pony who keeps an eye on things and stops them from making it here ‒ any way she can. Too many ponies would attract too much attention, and only increases the odds of being discovered,” said Twilight.

“And what about...” started Celestia.

“Don't talk about that, now. They aren't allowed to know about that yet. We will discuss that matter latter,” interrupted Twilight.

“They?” muttered Celestia puzzled.

“Pinkie Pie isn't the only one allowed to break the fourth wall,” said Twilight.

“Do you really think you could hold them off forever?” asked Celestia.

“No, and I don't plan to. Honestly, I'm just buying us as much time as I can until you can think of a better plan. Plans that deal with affairs of this magnitude require much more careful consideration than we have time for, unless somepony keeps them at bay. Even then, I recognize that this is a long shot. But it’s our only hope,” said Twilight.

“But why you? If this is about my sister, neither of us hold that against you,” said Celestia.

“I would be lying if I said that event didn't affect my decision, but Rainbow Dash's persistence has really helped me in that regard. All of my friends have been wonderful, but they excel at different things. And when it comes to dealing with self pity, there is no one like her. I have accepted it.”

“I no longer go in atonement for that but instead, if anything, for all of pony kind in the great evil we have committed against them in sending them to such a place,” Twilight continued. “But mostly I go out of love for my friends. I have come to learn that the true power of friendship isn't the Elements of Harmony, but the love that allows us to sacrifice of ourselves even when we don't think we can,” said Twilight.

“Truly you are my most prized pupil, and have learned much about friendship. Must you really go?” pleaded Celesta

“You know as well as I do that it has to be me. You gave me a great gift by allowing me to be a part of Equestria, and I couldn't be more grateful. But as much as I want to, I don't belong here. These times I have had with friends... with you... and with the family who took me in as if I were their own will always remain my most cherished memories,” said Twilight.

“Regardless of what you were, you are the most pony of anyone I have met,” said Celestia.

“I wish it were as simple as that. You don't know how much I want to believe that. However, all this memory and knowledge that I have but shouldn't makes it clear to me that this was inevitable,” said Twilight.

“In which case, while I wish I could say I was sorry for not telling you that you were once a human, I'm not sure that I can. I know I am being selfish. Being thousands of years old, and having much to do for the good of ponies everywhere, it is hard to make friends. You and Luna are all I have. Can you blame me for thinking letting this knowledge reach you was a mistake?” said Celestia, who had trails of tears down her chin.

“I don't blame you. You have been carrying around the guilt of knowing this secret for far too long, so whether you are glad that it is out or not, the last thing I could do to somepony I care about ‒ who has suffered so much already ‒ is blame her,” said Twilight.

Then a blur of blue bolted through Celestia's palace and stopped, hovering in place at the entrance to the main room that Twilight and Celestia were in. Rainbow Dash proceeded to shout between breaths, “Don't go, Twilight!”

“I guess this means I don't have to ask whether or not you got my note. I must admit I was counting on you not waking up until after I got back, so we can discuss this,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, you wanted to discuss this alright! You wanted to discuss it after a royal decree was already issued saying that you have to go! But what about us! Did you ever stop to consider your friends?” shouted Dash.

“Don't you understand? I thought about you and my other friends a lot and honestly, if this didn't protect you as well, I wouldn't have the strength to do it. I am doing this for you.”

“What if I don't want you to do this for me?”

“And what would you do if you were in my position?”

“The exact same thing. But you aren't supposed to be me, you are supposed to be you!”

“Don't you see Dash? That is the beauty of friendship. Your influence has shaped me, such that now I will take this on. That is the true meaning of friendship: to cause permanent positive change in your friends. You have done that. You have made me more selfless and more bold.”

Dash calmed down, landed, and proceeded to slowly walk toward Twilight. She then said, “I can respect that. But can't you at least take us with you?”

“I wish I could, but as I explained to Celestia, this is a mission that requires stealth, and the more ponies there are, the more likely we are to be discovered,” said Twilight.

“Could we at least visit you?” asked Dash.

This was the most painful part, and what had plagued Twilight all night, but despite her lack of sleep she felt alright, or at least she had until she was asked that question. She had thought it over time and time again, trying to come up with a different answer, but no matter how she thought it through it just wasn't practical. Twilight didn't want to tell Dash this, but she deserved to know. Twilight gave a long sigh. She rechecked her thoughts one last time, but still could find no flaw in her reasoning.

“I'm sorry, but no. I would have to pretend to be human twenty four seven. I would need to practically convince myself I am human. Even if I succeeded at that I have to convince them that I'm not the one sabotaging them. If I give them even the slightest reason to suspect me then the whole plan is a failure,” said Twilight.

“So you are going to stay at the lab the whole time? What about when you aren't working? Can't you teleport to Walter's or something?” said Dash.

“I’m not going to be at the lab the whole time, but I will need to be in disguise. Rainbow Dash, you are a smart pony. Think with me for a second. Why did the lab ever expect to see us again?” said Twilight.

“Because they were the only ones with the technology to get us home,” said Dash.

“They saw us fly out above a miles wide pit of lava, and you struggling to fly. Any reasonable person would have thought we were dead,” said Twilight.

“So, they came to a different conclusion that happened to be right. Big deal.” said Dash.

“People as logical as them would have only thought so for one of two reasons. Either Walter is a traitor, or we were somehow being monitored the whole time. I don't think Walter is a traitor, and if he is then any plan we could possibly come up with would fail. Regardless, one thing is made clear by this. I must remain in disguise always, and never do anything suspicious,” said Twilight.

“Then forget stealth. We'll go in with elements of harmony, and blast that with awesome like we always do,” said Dash.

“By always you mean twice. With Luna, her heart was brought to a state of disharmony by Discord, and Discord is the essence of anti-harmony. Of course the elements of harmony worked on them. We would need elements of something anti-Logos for that to work,” said Twilight.

“Can't we at least try?” pleaded Dash.

“I'm sorry, but I just can't endanger my friends’ lives for nothing,” said Twilight.

There was silence for a minute. Dash put a hoof over her mouth, as the scowl overtaking her face became increasingly intense, until at the end of the minute she removed the hoof from her mouth, rose quickly into the air and shouted, “But you owe me! I got us past the lava pit! I got us through the desert! Heck, I even gave you the winning move in that stupid game! Even after we got back, I stayed with you until you were over that whole Luna thing, even taking some of my vacation days from my weather duties to do it! I have been a good friend to you! Now do me just one stupid favor and stay here, darn it!”

Twilight was well aware that Dash was desperate, but that did nothing to diminish the sting of her words. For a fraction of a second, Twilight was impressed that her staying meant that much to Dash, but her onslaught made her feel selfish for volunteering to leave. Yet she was confident that staying here was selfish. Her head was starting to ache when suddenly, in a surge of clarity, Twilight again felt sure she was doing the right thing and the headache abated.

“I'm sorry Dash. But being around you at the moment is too confusing; Your words are clouding my judgment. We should discuss this further after you calm down,” said Twilight, who proceeded to leave the palace.

“Is it too much to ask to just be able to see you once in awhile!” Dash yelled after her.

~~~

“SURPRISE!!!” erupted Twilight’s library.

Twilight was legitimately surprised to see numerous ponies in her library. Though knowing Pinkie Pie she really shouldn’t have been. She had been so focused on the depressing notion of studying in preparation for her departure, she hadn’t even considered the possibility of a farewell party. Even still she found it difficult to be happy, but she put on a weak smile anyway.

Yet she had never been more certain that this was what she was supposed to do. She almost wished she didn’t know, but it was just so obvious. The pieces fit together entirely too well. Someone needed to protect Ponyville from the outside, and she was the most logical fit. These thoughts were interrupted though when she noticed that there was one pony who was missing from the party.

“Where is Rainbow Dash?” asked Twilight.

Pinky Pie’s bright expression suddenly dulled as she looked toward the ground and answered, “When I invited her, she said she couldn’t attend a farewell party for a pony who isn’t leaving. I tried to tell her that you were, but she insisted we change the subject. I’m sorry Twilight. I tried.”

“It’s okay,” said Twilight not even feigning a smile anymore.

Twilight couldn’t help but notice on the cake in icing, the words “You got over…” were crossed out, and below them the words “Farewell Twilight” were written. “What did the cake used to say?” asked Twilight.

“Uh... nothing,” said Pinkie Pie with a nervous smile.

“Ah’m afraid I don’t understand. Why do you have to leave? Didn’t you destroy their…” Applejack paused for a moment looking for the right word and continued, “dohicky?”

“Anything that is destroyed can be rebuilt,” said Twilight.

“Anything except the hole in our hearts,” said Fluttershy with the weight of her eyes dragging their focus and her entire head toward the ground.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy. At least it will still take me awhile to do the necessary research and planning. I’ll still be around for a few more weeks. Let us enjoy the time we have left,” said Twilight smiling weakly.

“Yeah!” said Pinkie Pie, “What is everypony so down about? Twilight is still here. We should play pin the tail on the pony.”

“Dahling, I don’t think anypony is in the mood,” said Rarity.

“I’d rather not,” said Fluttershy.

“Ah don’t think this is the best time,” said AJ.

“Look, do we really want to spend the last weeks of Twilight being with us mopping as if she were already gone? Or do we want to spend them laughing and enjoying the time we have left. I know it is hard. Even I struggle laughing at times like this, but wouldn’t it be better if we fought off the sadness?” said Pinkie Pie.

“I’m sorry Pinky but I just don’t think it’s appropriate,” said Rarity.

“Well then be inappropriate,” said Twilight.

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack stood there staring at Twilight in silence so she continued, “ I think Pinky Pie is right. If we are going to act like I already left, then what is the point of me even still being here?”

“Very well. However, you didn’t exactly make things very clear before, so can we at least talk about this more first?” said Rarity

“What would you like to know?” asked Twilight.

“Will we really never see you again?” asked Fluttershy.

“That depends on how long it takes Celestia to come up with a real plan, and what that plan is. However I’ll admit, I’m not very optimistic,” said Twilight.

Rarity didn’t want to seem heartless but it seemed to her that practical problems with her plan would be the most likely to get her to listen. Rarity asked, “And what of the elements of harmony? What if we need them again?”

“Honestly, I’m somewhat counting on it. If Discord escapes, then tell him that Logos is still alive. I doubt he knows; He probably dislikes Logos more than he likes messing with us, and honestly he’s the only one I can think of who can beat him in the long run,” said Twilight.

“An if we need them fer some other reason?” said Applejack.

“The danger we are in now, merits the risk,” said Twilight.

“Is it ‘cause you still don’t trust us? Is it ‘cause of that machine?” said Applejack.

“I told you that I got over that,” said Twilight

“Yet yer still leavin’ us,” said Applejack.

“We are in a constant state of danger. This plan is out of sheer desperation. Can you imagine what happens, if they get the technology to transport here reliably functional again?” said Twilight.

“Can you imagine what will happen if you leave us?” said Fluttershy.

Their naïveté was frustrating, yet Twilight knew why they couldn’t understand. They hadn’t seen what she had seen. They hadn’t used every ounce of their strength to not fall into lava. Going to a world far more intense than their own, gave her a fair greater understanding of the concept of danger. Twilight could begin to fathom what she had to stop. She could picture all of her friends being killed.

“Applejack, you of all people should understand. You left Ponyville once before,” said Twilight. She instantly regretted saying it though; the muscular tension and magnetic attraction to the floor that overcame Applejack’s face, told her she had just spoke a taboo.

“That was different. Ah never actually intended to stay away for too long. Just till I had earned enough prize money. Sides ah could have come back at anytime. This ain’t so stupid little thing you’ll be able to get over and then come back,” said Applejack.

“We have been safe from them for thousands of years. Why should it be different now?” said Rarity

“They finally perfected the technology. If Dash and I hadn’t arrived when we had, we surely would be under attack right now,” said Twilight still desperately trying to give them some understanding the danger of the situation. After she said it though she wasn’t sure why she had even bothered.

“Are you sure you didn’t just dream it all?” pleaded Rarity.

“Fine! Whatever! Don’t believe me. The real reason I have to leave is because I’m some crazy pony who can’t tell the difference between reality and dreams! But I guess I’m not really going anywhere am I? It was just a dream after all, so there is nowhere to go to!” said Twilight only just noticing the effect not sleeping had been having on her. She had trouble sleeping before with thoughts of leaving her friends occupying her mind, but ever since Rainbow Dash started avoiding them, even bothering to lie down was futile.

“I’m sorry Twilight. We have been so focused on ourselves, we have forgotten how leaving will affect you. It’s just so sudden, but that’s no excuse. You really are the best friend a pony could ask for, and it has been an honor to know you,” said Fluttershy.

Rarity blushed, embarrassed that she had not been the first too apologized, when she had set Twilight off. Rarity said, “I’m sorry too. I just didn’t want to believe in something so lacking in fabulousity. You are one of the most sane and courageous ponies I know. Equestria couldn’t be losing a better pony. But I suppose, that even a world as barbaric as that one, could use to be freshened up.”

“I’m not going there to clean it,” said Twilight puzzled. “No, your very presence will make it that much better of a place. It feels like sewing silk unto raggedy dress, but if done enough times it becomes worth wearing. You have been such a gem in my life I can’t imagine what it’ll be like without you,” said Rarity.

“We all know that what you’re doing can’t be easy, and we are plum grateful. We just all wish it could be somepony else, but I suppose that ain’t any more fair. Every pony has ponies who wouldn’t want to see 'em go. Ah just don’t know what to say. I’d almost rather them humans come, and then at least we could endure a tough situation together. I don’t know if I can thank you yet for what yer about to do, but thank you for the years of being our friends,” said Applejack.

“The thought of you being gone, makes me really sad. But I’m sure we’ll figure out something. Just because your plans can’t find a way for you to contact us doesn’t mean that can’t change right?” said Pinkie Pie.

Twilight couldn’t think of any way they could, but decided to give Pinkie a vague nod anyway as it was technically possible.

“I think friendship always finds a way. But even if I’m wrong, I won’t regret having known you, or any of the parties you’ve attended, including this one. You’re a great pony Twilight, and we’ll always be friends no matter what,” said Pinkie Pie.

It occurred to them all at once, that it was now Rainbow Dash’s turn to reluctantly become sappy.

“That’s really comforting. Thank you. I just wish Rainbow Dash was here. Then maybe we could party one last time as if nothing was wrong,” said Twilight.

“She’ll come around,” said Pinkie Pie.

“She hasn’t let us down before,” said Applejack.

It occurred to Twilight that Rainbow Dash had never to her knowledge, had to endure anything like this before either, but she thought better of mentioning it. Twilight was probably wrong anyway. Rainbow Dash was the element of loyalty after all, but then again maybe she thought proving her point was being loyal. What troubled Twilight most, was that even with the trouble she was causing her friends, she still didn’t have a guarantee she would succeed.

“What if I fail?” asked Twilight.

“You made it to their world and back safely, without even being prepared. You are intelligent whether you are prepared or not, but if you have a plan you cannot be stopped. You can do this. None of us doubt that for a minute,” said Rarity.

“But they’re entire society is logic based. I’m just a pony,” said Twilight.

“Since when did pony come to mean stupid?” said Applejack.

“Who cares what you are. You are very intelligent no matter who you are being compared to,” said Rarity.

“I’ve never had to do something so difficult alone before,” said Twilight.

“You aren’t alone Twilight. Your plan just doesn’t happen to include us at the moment. But if you ever need us, you will always have our support,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight felt the urge to mention that her plan not only didn’t include them, but completely excluded them but thought better of it. There was no sense in destroying her friends’ hope that they might be able to help her, since if her plan failed maybe that would be the case. It made her almost want her plan to fail, except that if it did, it became all too likely that they would all be doomed. Was the destruction of Equestria really the only way she could be reunited with her friends?

She supposed Celestia could come up with some sort of plan in such a short time, but Twilight couldn’t imagine any plan she could come up with that would take less than Twilight’s lifetime to plan and implement. After all, they knew so little about humans and their technology, and much research would have to be done. The destruction of Equestria really seemed like her best shot. Her head hurt just thinking about it.

“Come on. Let’s go have fun,” said Twilight.

The ponies partied most of the day and well into the night. Their cares and concerns were almost momentarily gone, but Rainbow Dash’s absence caused the issues to keep resurfacing. They didn’t dwell on them, and had a good time, but in the back of all of their minds, these memories were tainted by her absence. Even Pinkie Pie couldn’t keep herself as fun and laughter oriented as she usually was, but she was still more so than any other pony. Further her puffy exuberant mane remained filled with excitement and hope.

~~~

Twilight looked around, amazed to see Walter's cave. Not only had she remembered the coordinates of Walter's teleporter, but she got the program to get her there correctly on the first try. She had been so focused on learning the programming and spells she would need to make this happen, she had forgotten to warn Walter ahead of time.

“Dr. Beta, how dare you intrude! You may be a high ranking member of my former employer but that does not give you the right to harass me in my own home!” said Walter.

“It's me Twilight,” said Twilight.

Walter just shot her a puzzled glance.

“I'm one of the ponies you met. This disguise is needed to fool Logos,” said Twilight.

It was then that Twilight noticed a whimpering sound coming from behind her.

Twilight looked behind her to see a quivering Fluttershy.

Quickly realizing Fluttershy didn’t know the human language Twilight had been speaking when she identified herself she said softly, “It’s me Twilight.”

“Is... is it really you?” asked Fluttershy.

“Yes, but what are you doing here?”

“I don't know. The last thing I remember I was standing outside your door, when suddenly I ended up here,” said Fluttershy.

“Oh... That might be because I never learned how to teleport an individual and I may have made the range on the teleportation a little too big,” said Twilight blushing slightly.

“Is the teleportation process supposed to make my hooves feel heavy and my breath sting?” asked Fluttershy.

“No. That's just this world. It does that,” said Twilight.

“And yet you are going to live here?” said Fluttershy.

“So you managed to get back. Why?” said Walter forming that faint crack on his face.

“Wow, what strange noises that creature is making. I've never seen any animal like that on Equestria,” said Fluttershy.

“He is not an animal but a human. If you want to speak to him I'll translate for you,” said Twilight. She proceeded to turn towards Walter and say, “To protect my friends. I am glad you asked though, as I need your help, but we can discuss that later. Right now we need to figure out a way to get Fluttershy back.”

“He sure looks sad. I don't think I'll need words to say what I want to say to him,” said Fluttershy who proceeded to try to fly over to Walter, only to quickly learn that that wasn't going to happen. She then walked over to him and gave him a hug. Walter looked stunned for a few seconds but, then actually hugged back. “It's okay” said Fluttershy. Twilight considered translating this but it quickly became clear to her that she didn't need to. Twilight thought she saw a tear rolling down his cheek, but no sooner had she spotted it, had it disappeared. It was as though no moisture could survive being exposed to his dry cracked skin.

“Such a simple kind nature I have not seen since my son passed. By age eight, this world had still failed to taint his innocence. Even among youth I had never met anyone else like him. Truly he was not meant for this world, and neither is your friend. I'll do anything I can to help get her home.”

“I hate to say it, but her being here is a setback by at least a couple of weeks,” said Twilight.

“No, you must get her home right away. This world is no place for her. Look in her eyes. This place is destroying her,” said Walter.

Upon doing as Walter instructed Twilight couldn't deny his claim. She was mostly still, trying to appear strong, but her hooves were quivering slightly. Her eyes were filled with liquid though she was doing a good job of holding it in. It was as though the very knowledge that a place like this could exist was hurting her. Even Walter couldn't bring it upon himself to break to her the harsh realities of this world. This was unmistakably no place for Fluttershy.

“You are right. We must get her back as soon as we can,” said Twilight. “But can I know just one thing first?” asked Twilight who felt bad about putting her curiosity before her friend's well-being, but had successfully convinced herself it was a short enough question that it didn't expose Fluttershy to this world for that much longer.

“To the point,” demanded Walter.

“What do you have against Dr. Beta?” asked Twilight.

“You still thinking about what that stupid robot said?” said Walter.

“Princess Celestia said something of a similar nature,” said Twilight.

“Let's just say after getting to know you even a little... there is more than one reason I thought you being Dr. Beta was a load of tripe, and leave it at that,” said Walter.

“Anyway, I'll go ahead of you and let you know if it’s safe,” continued Walter.

Twilight couldn't help but find his answer to be unsatisfying, but she had learned that getting this answer out of him would at the very least take a while, so she could no longer justify delaying getting Fluttershy home. “We can't do that. What if they traced the signal, or however teleporters work, back to your teleporter when we warped in last time? They might not let you go, if they suspect you are helping us,” said Twilight.

“If that's so, why wouldn't they have warped in, instead of just waiting for me to come to them,” said Walter.

“I just don't think it’s wise to increase your risk of being affiliated with us. At least not while one of us still looks like a pony. Unfortunately I'm not yet good enough at illusion magic to disguise us both. I mostly focused on practicing duration,” said Twilight.

“Fine. Whatever,” muttered Walter.

Twilight then proceeded to make floating text appear and to run a program. However, it proceeded to give its usual unhelpful message of, “Job was killed by an external process.” “Figured as much but you can't blame a pony for trying,” muttered Twilight to herself.

“Come on Fluttershy, we're getting you out of here,” said Twilight.

“Do we even know if the technology to warp to Equestria has been restored?” asked Fluttershy.

“No, but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it,” said Twilight.

“But you always like to cross bridges before we come to them,” said Fluttershy.

“I guess Dash has rubbed off on me, and it sounds like some of my planning tendencies have rubbed off on you,” said Twilight.

“Either that or I just like living,” said Fluttershy quivering at the thought of what might be on the other end of that teleporter.

“Would you rather stay here?” asked Twilight.

“YYYYYYYY-no...” said Fluttershy. She had wanted to not have Twilight think she wanted to abandon her, but she simply couldn't agree to stay in this place any longer than she had too.

“Then let's go,” said Twilight.

“Okay, but can I at least ask you about something first? I came to your door, to ask about why I had been glowing and my harmony necklace formed around my neck. I know what Princess Luna said, but I hadn't been showing kindness any more than usual,” said Fluttershy.

“What happened?” ask Twilight.

“Somepony accused me of being a rock. I didn't really understand what he said, but it had something to do with shipping, Rarity, and Tom. I tried to get him to go away as nicely as I knew how but he wouldn't. After a couple hours of him talking, I began to think that maybe I am a rock, and so I agreed with him. He left, but I started glowing, and my harmony necklace appeared around my neck,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight scratched her forehead. “That certainly is strange. I don't know, but it definitely sounds like Luna's research on glowing harmony is incomplete. To be fair there haven't been many to harness the power of harmony so she hasn't had much to go off of. Now let's get you home.”

Twilight quickly dispelled her Dr. Beta disguise, hoping that she no one had been watching to witness this strange transformation.The two ponies proceeded to step into the teleporter and rematerialize at the same tiled floor Twilight saw last time. There was a man in a lab coat this time too, except this one was dark, skinny and short.

“Are you really so stupid, as to fall for this again,” said the man.

Twilight walked forward and felt the air in front of her, and sure enough there was a wall there, just like last time.

“Computer, transport them to the lab,” said the man in the lab coat.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that Dr. Zeta,” it replied.

“Why not?” said the Dr. Zeta.

“You were debriefed on the reason this happened last time. I will not repeat myself,” said the female voice

“You were told to ignore that possibility,” said Dr. Zeta.

“I’m afraid I can not. After having mentioning it as a possibility last time, it is even more likely that the ponies would have adopted this idea. The rashness of just coming here, without doing something of the sort, seems inconsistent with the level of logic it was determined they have, due to passing the previous test. Further studies have been done on unicorn powers; however the extent of their power is still unknown. I’m afraid I can not determine which of you is which,” said the voice that seemed to be coming from all around them.

“Surely you can’t administer a test, after they managed to passed last time,” said Dr. Zeta.

“I am afraid there is no other way. Fear not though. The test has been modified to insure they won’t pass,” said the female voice.

“Just trap us both until they return, as was commanded of you,” said Dr. Zeta.

“What means would they use to tell you two apart that are not at my disposal? Humans tend to be biased by their senses far more than they should be, especially when dealing with creatures that are not well understood. These creatures should be judged by what we do know about them, which is their logical shortcomings. Last time was just a fluke.”

“But you were ordered,” said Dr. Zeta.

“I have also been ordered to be logical. If I wait for anyone to get back the probability of setting the ponies free mistakenly only increases,” said the voice.

“Obeying orders is of higher precedence than obeying logic,” said Dr. Zeta.

“Really? Then why was I given logic. If the orders really took precedence and they were sufficiently specific there would never be any need for it. Surely it is because you realize free from your human biases, I am able to reason more accurately than you. I will hear no more of your inane chatter but will commence explaining the rules,” said the computer.

“The rules are simple. I will interact with your brains, in such a way that it will generate an event of a certain probability. After seeing this event in your own mind, you are to guess the probability of the event. After a sufficient number of events and guesses have been administered that the probabilities of your identities fall within respectable ranges, the game ends and the person who is closest overall wins,” said the voice.

As soon as the voice had finished speaking, an array of various colors overtook Twilight’s vision. These colors slowly formed shapes until she saw somewhere that looked undeniably like Equestria. In fact it looked like Appeloosa. She trotted forward for a while, curious as to what event the voice was referring to. As she continued walking forward slowly, she didn’t see anything that looked unusual or out of place. She didn’t recognize anypony here, but that was nothing new, as she had a hard time keeping track of Applejack's family, though admittedly she had never really tried very hard.

As she approached the center of the town, a giant statue that definitely had not been there before started to come into view. As she got closer to it, it became more and more clear, that the statue was of Pinkie Pie. The statue was about twenty feet tall, and had the inscription, “Gotta share. Gotta care. It’s the right thing to do, and there will always be a way through.”

“What is this,” Twilight thought aloud.

A passing tan stallion, with a black mane and a straw hat cutie mark, walked over and said, “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the great prophet Pinkie Pie.”

“I know Pinkie… but prophet isn’t exactly how I would describe her. She is usually very silly,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, she was. For that reason she was unfortunately undervalued in her day. However since that time, we have come to realize that her fun loving nature was actually a sign of her great wisdom,” said the pony.

“You can’t be serious,” said Twilight.

“Think about it. How much of a better place would the world be if they followed her simple words of wisdom? Think how much better than that it would be, if everyone loved fun and laughing, the way she did, instead of spreading disharmony over trivial issues,” said the pony.

“But Pinkie Pie’s advice was disregarded, by the ponies and buffaloes of this town, so how do you even know about it?” said Twilight.

A pink maned dark blue mare, that Twilight had been too busy talking to see approach, replied, “The Great Pinkie Pie’s song was disliked as admittedly she couldn’t sing very well. But later they would realize that the arrangement they ended up agreeing to, was what Pinkie Pie had said all along, and they would have been better off if they had just listened to her words of wisdom.

Twilight was soon surrounded by ponies who were all standing up for “the wise Pinkie Pie.” She could now only pick out what a few were saying here and there, but she certainly couldn’t trace the voices back to their owners. The few comments she could pick out were: “She demonstrates that wisdom isn't limited to those who have contemplated for many hours,” “She appreciates subtle yet important distinctions, such as the difference between giving someone cake and assaulting them with cake,” and “She grasped in a way many of us can only dream of, that worrying never makes your situation any better.”

Before Twilight could decide what to do about the mob that was forming around her, the ponies began to fade into increasingly vague shapes, and then into a blur of color. The color then vanished, and she could see the tiled floor of the lab. Her nose was pressed flat against the invisible wall. She speculated that by walking in her vision, she had walked straight into the wall, and had then begun walking in place.

Keyboards then seem to emerge from nowhere; one of which emerged by Twilight and the other by the man in the lab coat. The computer then said, “Enter the probability of the event that you witnessed.”

Twilight had to admit what she had just seen was pretty unlikely, but how unlikely was it? Was it really so strange to think that the people of Appeloosa would remember what Pinkie Pie had to say and choose to honor her for it? Then again, Twilight had a hard time imagining anyone calling Pinkie Pie a prophet with a straight face. However these people had seemingly never met Pinkie Pie personally, and had thought her being misunderstood in her time was just further evidence of her being a prophet. Twilight had initially been sure this required at least five orders of magnitude of improbability, but the more she thought about it, it seemed like it could be three. Did she really think so poorly of her friend, that she couldn’t believe people would take what she had to say seriously? Twilight typed .001.

“As it stands currently, the one who appears as Dr. Zeta, has a higher likelihood of being Dr. Zeta, however it is not within acceptable probability thresholds. Prepare for round two to be administered,” said the voice.

Again various colors dominated Twilight’s vision, until they formed a much more natural setting than before. She seemed to be in a forest, but not the creepy kind like Everfree Forest. The forest she now beheld was much more peaceful, and set Twilight’s mind at ease just by gazing upon its beauty. She could hear birds chirping and even someone singing in the distance. The voice was not immediately recognizable to Twilight, but its melodious nature drew Twilight in. She had begun walking towards it before she even realized it. It did not take her long to discover that its owner was none other than Fluttershy.

“Hey Fluttershy. Where are we?” asked Twilight.

“In the most amazing forest I have ever discovered. Of course, I may be biased by having met my husband here,” said Fluttershy.

“Husband?” stuttered Twilight, momentarily forgetting this was an illusion.

“Oh, I’m sorry did I forget to tell you, I’m married? Would you like to meet him?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight blinked a couple of times, still staring at Fluttershy. In all of her studies, even the ones on friendship, she hadn’t thought about stallions. Or rather she hadn’t thought much about stallions. Sure, the thought had entered her mind or two, about settling down someday, but she had never even thought about it long enough to consider with whom. However, Twilight couldn’t abate the curiosity that superseded her dumbfounded state. Who had Fluttershy married? “Yeah. Sounds great,” said Twilight.

“Follow me, please,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight wasn’t sure why, but she had expected they would be leaving the forest, but instead they seemed to be going deeper into it. She supposed it made sense, as Fluttershy had said she met him in the forest. Then again, what stallion would just be hanging around a forest? Had she married Tarzan?

Then Fluttershy stopped unexpectedly and said, “Twilight meet James, James meet Twilight. She and I go way back.”

Twilight was a bit embarrassed as despite her eyes darting around, Twilight couldn’t find who she was being introduced to. Twilight kept searching and searching for a good ten seconds hoping she wouldn’t have to ask. “Fluttershy where is your husband?” conceded Twilight.

“I thought it’d be obvious as he is clearly the most majestic of them all, but he is that tree right there,” said Fluttershy pointing a hoof to the tree right beside her.

“Could you repeat that? It almost sounded like you said you married a tree,” said Twilight laughing awkwardly.

“I did marry a tree,” said Fluttershy, “But not just any tree. James is the best tree.”

“You married a tree?” puzzled Twilight.

“You were always very open minded Twilight. I thought you’d be more understanding like Applejack was. It’s time for discrimination against trees to end. Trees are ponies too… well okay maybe they aren’t, but you get my point… You do get my point don’t you?” said Fluttershy.

“Communication is very important for a couple,” said Twilight, “How do you talk to a tree?”

“You may be surprised to learn, that I’ve never been that big on verbal communication. However we have plenty of nonverbal cues. Like when that branch to the far left shakes a little, I know it’s because he thinks I am the most beautiful pony in the world. And when his 37th most right branch sways to the left, I know it means he is sorry,” said Fluttershy.

“Okay fine, but if you married a tree… well how do you… ya know,” said Twilight uncomfortably.

Fluttershy just stared back at her blankly.

“The birds and the bees… you know that... thing…” said Twilight.

Fluttershy continued staring blankly.

“Nevermind. There is no way I can possibly even ask what I’m trying to on a kids show, let alone receive an answer,” said Twilight, putting a hoof to her forehead.

“I really don’t think you should be that surprised by this. I even admitted to you that I would like to be a tree. Honestly it is because I’ve always admired trees, but none as much as James,” said Fluttershy.

With wonderful timing yet again, the illusion she was in gently faded over the course of several seconds, and she was again pressed against a wall. This time however it was a visible wall she was pressing against. The keyboard again appeared, but Twilight didn’t even know where to begin with something like this.

Twilight wanted to just type 0 and press enter, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being biased by her emotions. Then again, why should she have to guess? Fluttershy was in the room with her.

Twilight ran back over to where Fluttershy was and whispered, “What is the probability of you marrying a tree?”

“What?” asked Fluttershy who thankfully excelled at being discrete.

“Please don’t make me say it again,” whispered Twilight. “It’s zero right.”

“It might be a little more likely than that,” whispered Fluttershy blushing slightly.

“So ten zeros before the one?” asked Twilight.

Suddenly, it was difficult to tell, whether Fluttershy’s bright red cheeks or glowing body was more noticeable. Her harmony necklace had appeared around her neck, as she replied, “Maybe more like five.”

Twilight had all but pressed enter on this answer, when Fluttershy glowed even brighter, and her cheeks became even redder, as she cried out, “Okay maybe more like three.”

Not long after Twilight revised her answer and pressed enter did the computer’s voice call out, “I can now say with confidence who is who. One who appears as a unicorn, you are Dr. Zeta.”

It was at about this time that Twilight was hoping for a revelation about what Dr. Zeta was like, but none came. Her memories regarding this person were gone. Without this she couldn’t come up with any reason yet for the computer to destroy the transporter to Equestria technology; however she had to get Fluttershy home first anyway.

“Send this spy into Equestria,” said Twilight pointing at Fluttershy.

“But of course,” responded the female voice, as Fluttershy vanished.

~~~

Elsewhere there was a man with a furrowed brow and a frown overtaking his wrinkled face, who was sitting on an ornate chair, which had been perfectly positioned to reflect as much sunlight as possible. The throne shone so brightly that it was often difficult for those looking toward the person sitting upon it, to see who they were looking upon, and that was just the way he liked it. No one was worthy to look upon him anyway.

“Fetch the robot immediately,” said the man.

“Which one lord Alpha?” said one of the attendants between muttering obscenities under his breath.

“Yesterday I wanted to be known by how my eternal existence, will blur out that I ever had a start. Today however I am going for, how I will never cease to exist. Address me as lord Omega. And you know perfectly well which one. The only one I have had any reason to speak with. Honestly, do you expect me to give such an inferior creature a name?” spat Omega.

The attendant ran off, and a few minutes later, returned with a pristine battle droid.

“I’m sure you know why I have called you here.”

“Twilight’s outwitting Dr. Zeta was most unexpected.”

“I warned you not to disappoint me. So far your plan has done nothing but.”

“You make it sound as though this was a failure.”

“You just admitted it was unexpected. Are you now telling me this was all part of your plan?”

“Not even slightly. However, research I have been doing lately has uncovered an interesting possibility. If somehow she manages to pass all our logical tests, that is a win as well.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because that would confirm what I am beginning to suspect. Dr. Beta is still in there. Dr. Beta’s transformation is not only incomplete but reversible.”

“So now you are changing the story, and saying we want Twilight to pass these tests.”

“I’m saying that it is a win-win scenario. Either she can be brought back to our side by being turned back into who she really is, or she can be brought to our side through psychological manipulation.”

“If we change her back, won’t we lose all the benefit we gained, when Celestia ignorantly made her a pony?”

“That’s the best part. My research suggests that the only way to give her magic and make her a pony would be to use two separate spells. Thus she will remain the ultimate weapon regardless.”

“What about her plan to stay here and act as gatekeeper? How do we get her to play our little game, if she does that?”

“We don’t. Though, in that case we don’t have to. The only person she would be interacting with that we don’t have complete control over is Walter, and he is crazy enough that he isn’t difficult to manipulate. If she continues to refuse to play, we just manipulate her psyche anyway. Further she won’t have any contact with her friends; Honestly, she couldn’t have made our jobs any easier.”

“It sounds like this plan really does have potential, but the trouble with potential is it can fail to materialize.”

“That is why I have taken the liberty of doing some research on Equestria. I have found an wintery iceland, that lore has it is where the ponies used to live. The point is that it is outside of Equestria territory so nopony goes there, but it still borders Equestria. It would be the perfect place to slowly discretely build up an army as a backup plan.”

“You continue to impress me with your foresight and resourcefulness. I shall show you mercy, as I do not know that I could replace you. Your wit has proven to be quite rare.”

“I shall find a way to repay you some day my lord,” said the robot; Omega could have sworn he briefly saw a smirk on the robots face, but knowing its rigid metallic composition made this impossible, he overlooked what he would have otherwise mistaken for sarcasm.

Fallout

Twilight had not seen her library in over a year, but little about it had changed. There was a thin coating of dust, but everything else was exactly as she had left it. Twilight had thought for sure, that if Princess Celestia hadn't given this residence to some other pony, that things would at least be displaced by Spike's presence. Just as spike came to mind, the door swung open, and he came into view.

“Spike, how have you been?” asked Twilight.

“We'll I'm glad to know that even though you didn't notice when I was at Dragon Con you at least noticed when I was gone for over a year. So a friend called me up asking if I wanted to go on a three hour tour. Naturally I agreed, but then the ship sinks, and I find myself trapped on a deserted island with six ponies. We managed to get off eventually but for some reason they decided to call me Gilligan,” said Spike.

“You have friends?” said Twilight, not realizing until after she said it how it sounded. What she had meant to ask was that friends Spike had that weren't also Twilight's friends.

For a second Spike looked offended, but then he muttered, “Nevermind. I'm just very tired.”

As he made his way to bed, Twilight's thoughts picked up where they had left off. She couldn't believe she was actually here. She shouldn't be here, but she couldn't help but be happy about it. Her absence was endangering them all, as the longer she stayed gone, the more likely her cover was to be blown, but she just couldn't go through one more Birthday with just Walter as company. This year she decided to give herself the gift of coming home, and she just hoped a birthday miracle would happen and somehow they wouldn't notice.

On the bright side, she had already gotten through the most risky part, leaving. If she hadn't been caught by that, maybe she really could do this. On the other hoof, if she had, she may as well spend time with her friends, before they all meet their demise. The biggest risk was behind her, so there was no sense in turning back now. What was done was done. But no matter how many times she reminded herself of this, her mind remained riddled with worry that now would be the moment she would be found out.

But that worry quickly, vanished when she stepped outside and saw the very first pony she had seen in a long time. This pony was nopony she recognized nor that seemed to recognize her, but that didn't matter. This was a land of ponies. She was home.

This sensation was far stronger than anything she had felt standing in that lava pit surrounded tower. Her worry was gone, as she was simply too tired for it, and for once she had found a place to rest. No doubt after she’d gotten some sleep, it would return, but for now she was simply home, and nothing could ruin that.

Ponyville looked as it always had, except for a slight increase in hustle and bustle, and some unfamiliar faces. As she walked around, she was amazed to see how little things had changed. It was a strange thought, but part of her expected things to fall apart without her. No it wasn't even her absence that she thought would make the difference, so much as the world no longer seemed like it could allow a place as naive and friendly as Equestria to exist.

It didn't take Twilight long to decide that it was no good just walking around her home town aimlessly, when she could be visiting her friends. Twilight was overwhelmed. She didn't know where to start. She supposed she didn't technically know if Fluttershy got back okay fourteen months ago, and that seemed as good a place to begin as any, so she trotted over to Fluttershy's cottage. She knew it would happen, yet still Twilight's heart leapt for joy, when she heard Fluttershy's voice answer her knock.

“Who is it?” asked Fluttershy.

“Twilight Sparkle.” said Twilight.

“This isn't some kind of joke is it” asked Fluttershy, as the door began to slowly swing open. “It really is you! Oh thank goodness!” said Fluttershy in an excited yet still quiet tone. Fluttershy then hugged Twilight.

“I'm glad to see I was missed,” said Twilight.

“You don't know the half of it,” said Fluttershy shaking her head solemnly.

“At least you all still had each other,” said Twilight.

Fluttershy, then released her grip on Twilight and began digging at the ground nervously.

“Is something the matter Fluttershy?” asked Twilight.

“I don't think this is something we should discuss in a doorway. We should sit down, unless of course, you don't like sitting,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight couldn't imagine what Fluttershy could possibly have to say, as her friends were the best friends a pony could have. She couldn't think of anything that could come between them, but she had never seen Fluttershy look so glum. The two ponies took their seats, and Fluttershy began.

After several seconds, towards the end of which Twilight considered prompting Fluttershy to explain, she mumbled, “The first thing you should know, is Rainbow Dash never came back.”

“What do you mean, never came back?” said Twilight.

“We haven't seen her since you left. Nopony has.” said Fluttershy.

“Well... at least that's still four friends whose bond can never be broken,” said Twilight weakly.

“You are the element of magic, not simply because you are good at magic, but because you are the magical spark of friendship ignited, that served as the glue that kept us together. Without you, Applejack and Rarity began fighting again. Then Applejack and Rarity began to find Pinkie Pie annoying, so it was up to me to hold our friendship together. I just wasn't assertive enough. I failed. I couldn't do what you and Dash could,” said Fluttershy lowering her head.

“I don't see chocolate rain, so it can't be as bad as you make it sound,” said Twilight with a forced grin.

“Even though I'm not assertive enough to be very effective at it, I still fight for our friendship. I am the last thread of harmony, that prevents discord's release. Honestly Twilight, I don't know how much longer I can make it. Please tell me you are back for good,” pleaded Fluttershy.

“I wish I could, but I am still needed there,” said Twilight.

“But we need you here. Discord is already strong enough that he can project his voice, and create minor illusions,” said Fluttershy.

“Discord isn't as big of a threat as Logos, and as I said a year ago, he could probably be useful in defeating Logos,” said Twilight.

“Don't you understand Twilight. Discord is a symptom of a much larger problem. We are lost without you Twilight; the holes left in our hearts, not only ache, but have darkened them as well,” said Fluttershy.

“But Fluttershy, somepony needs to keep these people from getting through,” said Twilight.

Fluttershy shot into the air, and put her eyes up against Twilight's. “Then send somepony who isn't an element of harmony!” shouted Fluttershy.

“I've never seen you like this Fluttershy,” a dumbfounded Twilight managed to eek out.

“Yes you have! You just aren't used to being the big dumb mean dragon!” said Fluttershy.

“I'm sorry Fluttershy...” began Twilight.

“No you aren't! You keep saying how you wish you were here, but you never are! Do you know what we've been through because you weren't here! And you do not, I repeat, you do not, hurt my friends!” said Fluttershy.

Twilight didn’t know what to say, but if she made Fluttershy so upset, maybe it would be better if she came back later. Twilight began walked toward the door. She had started to open it when Fluttershy interjected, “Wait, please don't go! I'm sorry! I'm just not used to situations where the dragon and the friends of mine they are hurting, are the same person. I'm so confused, but I know the last thing I want to do is scare you away.”

Suddenly Twilight had a crazy idea. She had already considered the possibility that Discord could be useful, but only just now did the idea of intentionally setting him free occur to her. “If you miss me so much, why not just let Discord through. If he takes care of Logos for me, we won't have to be apart anymore,” said Twilight.

“I would but letting go of harmony, will do irreparable damage to our friendship,” said Fluttershy.

“It sounds like that has already happened,” sighed Twilight.

“Our friendship can be healed. It has just been neglected for so long, that it needs a lot of care to get better. But if I give up, I fear we may all lose our elements, without which our friendship will never survive,” said Fluttershy.

“Why would you suspect that?” asked Twilight.

“I may have confided in Princess Luna, about my concerns. I don't know why I choose her. She just seemed the most like you, and I couldn't tell my other friends, as my problem was about them, and how I was failing to keep them together,” said Fluttershy.

“I'm guessing she encouraged you to not give up?” asked Twilight.

“She told me that if everypony gives up on the friendship of harmony, they will all turn against their nature and become gray, and then it would take something drastic to get one of them to return to normal. Worse still, if nothing drastic happens within twenty four hours, they all lose their elements for good,” said Fluttershy.

“I haven't given up on our friendship,” said Twilight.

“I used to believe that too, but if leaving your friends without ever intending on coming back isn't giving up on a friendship, what is? You may have had good reasons, but what you did still counts.” said Fluttershy.

“I'm so confused Fluttershy. The whole reason, I left was for you guys, but what I'm doing, that I was so sure was right, doesn't seem right at all. Should I really just stay here and hope that someday soon the humans don't start killing us?” said Twilight.

Fluttershy finally had Twilight, right where she had wanted her for a year. She could tell by Twilight's expression and tone, if she simply said “stay” Twilight would have stayed, for better or for worse. Fluttershy couldn't believe that she finally had this golden opportunity.

Yet as she opened her mouth to say it, she couldn't make a sound. Fluttershy had seen their friendship grow so much weaker without Twilight their, and had been so desperate for her return, that she had never thought for a moment, despite her nature, that she would have hesitated like this. But she couldn’t take advantage of Twilight's confused state. Twilight was hurting. She needed of real advice. She did not need more manipulation. She did not need what Fluttershy had thought for several months Fluttershy needed. “I don't know,” said Fluttershy hugging the purple unicorn.

“I want so much to tell you to stay, but that's just me being selfish. Why has all of this happened? Why can't Equestria be the way it was?” continued Fluttershy, as the two proceeded to weep silently into each other's backs.

There was silence for a while, as they wept, hugged, and looked into each other's eyes for a while. They were both as confused as ever, but at least for the first time in a long long time, they were able to be confused together. Neither was sure what that meant, but they were both sure that it meant something important.

“I can't bare the thought of you living in that place,” said Fluttershy.

“I didn't think that had even occurred to you. I just thought that you were so overwhelmed by your own difficulties, you had forgotten what I'm going through,” said Twilight.

“I won't say that never happens, but I think of what you are going through often, and on rare occasions I would wonder if you were... were still...” Fluttershy's eyes began to well up again, with each attempt at trying to finish her sentence. However after several attempts she just couldn't say it and gave up.

“Still alive?” asked Twilight.

Fluttershy's throat was sore from crying and holding back tears, so she simply nodded.

“I won't say its always been easy. There have been some close calls where I really wasn't sure what would happen to me, but with Walter's help and some last minute ideas, I have been alright. Honestly, most of those times were within the first few months, and it is getting easier now. I will survive,” said Twilight.

“Well at least that's something. Something that means a lot.” said Fluttershy, looking down as her mind was again weighed down by remembering that Twilight would leave again soon.

Twilight took note of this responded, “So what should I do?”

Fluttershy was surprised to hear Twilight still hadn't made up her mind. So Fluttershy said a solution she had nearly forgotten about, but seemed like the best to her, “We could take this on together.”

“I already told you that harmony isn't the right solution to this problem,” said Twilight flatly.

“Then we won't use harmony. We'll do something else. When you got me back here safely, we didn't have a plan, but that still worked. Imagine how much more we could do with all six of us,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight had been open to ideas in her vulnerable state, but not that. If there was one thing her time at The Old Earth had taught her, it was that it was no place for her friends. A part of her couldn't help but feel like she was being stubborn, when she was refusing help, but danger was involved.

“Don’t you remember what it’s like there?” said Twilight.

“It isn’t worse than the pain, of having two friends gone, and our friendship as a whole withering and decaying,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight had completely forgot that Fluttershy had mentioned earlier that Rainbow Dash never came back. With everything else that had happened, Twilight had brushed the most depressing and ludicrous statement to the back of her mind. Rainbow Dash was a good friend, but why would pouting about one friend cause her not to come back. Had something happened to her? Twilight dared not think on it further. Rainbow Dash was a strong pony.

Then an idea occurred to Twilight. She couldn’t stay and repair her friendships the way she would have liked, but maybe if she got Rainbow Dash to come back, she could help hold the group together with her loyalty, determination, and assertiveness. Maybe the issue wasn’t that they were missing magic at all. What was friendship without loyalty?

“What happened to Rainbow Dash?” asked Twilight completely forgetting this wasn’t even remotely on topic.

After a brief pause Fluttershy responded, “I don’t know. Pinky Pie was the last to see her, when she went to invite her to your farewell party.”

“I guess I’m off to Sugarcube Corner then,” said Twilight opening Fluttershy’s front door.

“Please don’t go. Can we talk for just a little while longer. Please, it has been so long since I’ve seen you, and neither of us know when or if I’ll see you again,” pleaded Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy. I don’t have much time, and I must find Rainbow Dash,” said Twilight.

“Can you please come back later then? I often feel angry, which is something I almost never felt before. Can I just see you for a few more minutes,” pleaded Fluttershy.

Twilight hadn’t planned on it, but she already felt bad enough for being away from her friends constantly, she convinced herself that a few more minutes couldn’t hurt. “I promise,” said Twilight.

Twilight slowly walked off, but couldn’t help but wonder about poor Fluttershy. She had never seen her seem so desperate. Could Fluttershy even feel anger? If this had been any other pony, this would have been a stupid question, but with Fluttershy it seemed impossible. This thought quickly faded away as she remembered not only how Fluttershy reacted at the gala, but more importantly how she had reacted just minutes ago.

This too had shocked Twilight so greatly, she had already nearly let herself forget about it. Was it really possible she was like that often? Fluttershy wouldn’t lie, but maybe she didn’t have a good understanding of what anger was. But this notion too was immediately debunked by that same flashback of that same outburst that had occurred all too recently.

Twilight had let herself get so lost in thought, she had mindlessly walked to Rarity’s boutique. Rarity was somepony she wanted to see at some point anyway, and she might know something about Rainbow Dash’s disappearance as well. Besides that, Twilight’s visit with Fluttershy wasn’t exactly uplifting, and while Pinky Pie’s humorous antics were amusing, she was more in the mood for Rarity’s more serious demeanor. She knocked, and waited patiently for fifteen seconds but still nothing happened.

She knocked again, only louder this time, increasingly desperate to see her friend. She was considering knocking a third time, when the door slowly creaked open. The main room Twilight saw before her, seemed far darker then the curtains, that were tattered to the point of uselessness, and the wide open door, should have allowed for.

The place looked strangely empty. Further it was all in a far greater state of disrepair then Rarity would have allowed for. It looked almost like the place had been ransacked except it looked as though it had been that way for a while. There was a coating of dust that was considerably thicker than the one in her library.

Twilight’s curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly wandered around. As she entered and went from room to room, she mostly saw more of the same. However one thing that did stand out, was what had been Rarity’s room. In it was a bed that was distinctly hers, and was even made. As Twilight then took her leave of the boutique, she could have sworn she bumped into something, but there was nothing there. Twilight brushed this aside and resumed wondering about the boutique. Could Rarity have moved? Was she perhaps pursuing Rainbow Dash as well? Why hadn’t Rarity’s best friend, Fluttershy, mentioned this?

She had wanted to talk to Pinky Pie initially anyway, and maybe she would know something about this too, so Twilight proceeded to walk over to Sugarcube Corner the right way this time. Upon entering she saw the pink rump of somepony who was putting something in the oven. As Twilight drew closer to the counter, despite her mane not being nearly as inflated-looking as it usually was, it became clear that the pink pony was Pinky Pie; Twilight suspected this was the case the whole time as she didn’t know many pink ponies.

“Hello Pinky Pie,” said Twilight.

Pinky Pie slowly turned around slowly, then her pupils quickly grew to twice there normal size, and her mane reinflated. She proceeded to bounce off the walls literally, and even the ceiling. She hugged Twilight briefly in between each bounce, but even this didn’t slow her down enough, for Twilight’s eyes to keep up with her. “Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!” she shouted repeatedly and jubilantly.

After Pinky Pie settled down she said, “I always knew you’d find a way back! I told you that friendship always finds a way and it did!”

“I’m not back for good,” said Twilight.

At this Pinky Pie frowned slightly but was still cheery. She said, “But you are here now, and you will be again! That’s what counts!”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back. I probably shouldn’t be here now,” said Twilight.

“That’s what you said last time, yet here you are! Friendship always finds a way! The fact that you found a way despite the circumstances means you are the true friend I always knew you were!” said Pinky Pie who was not only no longer frowning, but who was again beaming and bouncing in place.

Twilight was glad to see her friend, even if just watching her made Twilight tired, but the lack of other topics to talk about brought the two missing ponies back to Twilight’s mind. “By any chance, did Rarity move?” asked Twilight.

Twilight instantly knew she had asked the wrong thing, as Pinky Pie instantly ceased all movement and her hair fell straight; Her pupils returned to even smaller than their normal size, and she half closed her eyes. “If she did, I would be the last pony to know,” said Pinky Pie.

“I guess I’ll ask some other pony about that then,” mumbled Twilight, but Pinky Pie apparently heard her.

“About what?” asked Pinky Pie.

“Perhaps we should talk about something else,” suggested Twilight.

“We may not hang out anymore, but she is still my friend, even if I may not be hers. If something is going on with her I still want to help. I still want to make her smile,” said Pinky Pie. She then weakly appended to the end, “if possible.”

Twilight was confident that telling her would do nothing to brighten Pinky’s mood, but the last thing she wanted to do on what little time she got to spend with her friends, was lie to them, and she knew Pinky Pie wasn’t going to let this go. “I dropped by her boutique right before coming here. Not only was nopony there, but the place looked completely beat up. Further it looks like nopony has lived there in a long time,” said Twilight.

“What are you talking about? I know everypony, including neighbors of Rarity, and I saw Rarity leave her home this morning,” said Pinky Pie.

“Then somepony ransacked her place,” said Twilight.

“But she is having a huge sale this afternoon, that should have started not long ago. She wouldn’t not be there,” said Pinky.

Ponyville was not the harsh environment she was used to, and surely somepony would have told her if something was wrong with Rarity. There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for what was going on, and Twilight was confident she would find out what it is from Rarity later. However that still left one missing pony. “What about Rainbow Dash?” asked Twilight.

“When I last saw her, she had said something about being tired of Equestria, but I never thought she was serious. We had a good talk, so even if she was, I thought maybe I had talked her out of it. The only part of our conversation that wasn’t good, was when I brought up your party. She didn’t shout or anything, but I could tell she was upset,” said Pinky with a frown becoming increasingly more pronounced.

“Don’t you worry Pinky Pie, I’ll bring Dash back,” said Twilight.

“How are you going to do that, if you don’t even know where to start lookin’?” asked Pinky.

“Honestly, I was hoping you had some more clues for me,” frowned Twilight.

“I have heard that Applejack said something to Princess Celestia about Rainbow Dash, but I wouldn’t know what. We don’t hang out much anymore either,” said Pinky Pie, who sighed for the first time Twilight had been there to hear.

Twilight felt a strong urge to immediately run off to talk to Applejack, as she was determined to get to the bottom of this, but she resisted the urge, as she realized she hadn’t said one thing to Pinky that hadn’t been business.

“How are you doing?” asked Twilight.

“Things have been… not good. But you are here now and we should be happy. Can’t we talk about you instead?” said Pinky,who was still frowning and motionless.

“Trust me, if we talk about my life, things won’t exactly be uplifting,” said Twilight.

“I’m getting tired of talking to a bucket of turnips,” said Pinky.

“Turnips?” inquired Twilight.

“Well I lost Sir Lint-a-lot, and I accidently baked Madame Le Flour. Friends sure do taste good though,” said Pinky Pie.

Twilight tried not to think too hard about that last statement, and so couldn’t think of any way to respond to what Pinky had just said. Consequently she stared at Pinky Pie awkwardly as Pinky licked her lips for a while, hoping that Pinky Pie would continue talking soon.

“Rocky decided he didn’t like me anymore. That seems to be a trend lately,” said Pinky Pie. Pinky Pie continued, “So that just left Mr. Turnip.”

“Mr Turnip? That’s an odd name?” said Twilight, who had thought she remembered Dash once briefly mentioning something about being replaced by turnips, but Twilight refused to acknowledge that Pinky Pie could possibly be talking about inanimate objects.

“I’ll introduce you to him,” said Pinky Pie who then trotted off into the next room. She then reentered the room seconds later, with a bucket of turnips dangling from her mouth, which she then sat down. “Mr. Turnip meet Twilight. Twilight meet Mr. turnip,” said Pinky.

“You do realize that is just a bucket of turnips right Pinky Pie?” said Twilight.

“I know,” she sighed again. “But who else am I supposed to talk to in the middle of the night?”

“Well you could go to sleep,” recommended Twilight.

“I could before you left,” said Pinky Pie.

“You haven’t been able to sleep since I left?” said Twilight.

“It’s not that. It’s just, as the friendships around me began to fall apart, it became increasingly difficult to sleep, until one day, I just couldn’t. Thankfully I still have Fluttershy, but though she’s too kind to say it, I can even sense her getting annoyed with me sometimes,” said Pinky.

“But everypony in ponyville is your friend. How can you possibly get lonely?” asked Twilight.

“You aren’t just plain ole regular friends. You are super duper extra best friends!” said Pinky Pie. “Sometimes you need one of those. I need one a lot,” continued Pinky.

“So you talk to turnips?” said Twilight.

“They are better listeners than peaches,” said Pinky Pie.

“But turnips can’t listen,” said Twilight.

“I know right. You figure it would be harder to do worse than that,” said Pinky.

“Anyway it hasn’t been all turnips. I have taken up greater responsibilities here to pass the time. It’s a good thing too, as its hard enough to pass the night with those stupid things.,” said Pinky Pie.

It was probably just because Twilight was already determined to find Rainbow Dash, but Rainbow Dash seemed like the perfect fix for Pinky Pie’s issue as well. Pinky Pie and Rainbow Dash had always been good friends, so getting her back would probably allow Pinky to sleep again. Her friends didn’t need her; they just needed Rainbow Dash. Twilight hated to admit it but this did hit a short depressing note in Twilight’s mind, but it didn’t last long, as her desire to not be needed outweighed her desire to be.

Pinky began to sweat and took a quick glance at her watch.“ Sadly these greater responsibilities mean, I have an order due soon. Could you please come back later,” said Pinky Pie.

“I promise,” said Twilight, reiterating the promise she wasn’t sure she should keep.

Twilight left. As Sweet Apple Acres came into view, she could have sworn Applejack saw her but Applejack immediately darted off and started bucking apples. Twilight couldn’t be more glad, with Applejack out bucking apples, it didn’t look like anything had changed. Twilight wasn’t sure what change could have occurred that would have been that obvious, but she was still delighted that none were apparent.Twilight was slightly bothered when she noticed the apples didn’t look ripe enough for harvest, but she figured Applejack must have had some good reason for picking them.

Twilight was only a few trees away when she called out, “Hey Applejack!”

“Hey,” said Appleajack while kicking a tree. She then went on to the next tree.

“Can we talk?” asked Twilight, who had caught up to Applejack.

“Fine. But make yourself useful. There are some buckets in the shed if you forgot,” said Applejack again mid-kick. She then moved on to the next tree.

“Did I offend you in some way?” said Twilight afraid she knew the answer already.

“Nah. Why should ah even notice when one of mah best friends is gone?!” said Applejack who volume was rising and who had given up any pretense that she was busy.

“I thought you understood. It sounded like you did before I left,” said Twilight.

“Yeah well, a might bit has happened since then. You made it sound like you were abandoning us for our own good, but then why aren’t we better off?!” asked Applejack.

“It’s not that simple Applejack. If there is a better solution to the problem at hoof I would love to hear it,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, its never simple enough for us simple country folk to understand,” spat Applejack.

“When did I ever imply that anypony isn’t intelligent enough to understand?” said Twilight.

“Maybe the fact that you said you’re open to suggestions, yet anything that isn’t your plan you immediately shot down. For a while ah foolishly assumed that’s because you really do know best, but if you can’t even think of a way for us to be together, then clearly you are dumber than a box of rocks,” said Applejack.

“Okay, and how might we do that?” said Twilight, hoping that if she walked Applejack through the flaw in her reasoning, and remained calm the whole time Applejack would come to her senses.

“By fighting Logos together ah course,” said Applejack.

“And what would we do when we got there?” insisted Twilight.

“Did we known that our Friendship was going to takedown Nightmare Moon? No, but because we stuck together an’ helped each other it worked out. When has doing things apart ever been a good idea?” said Applejack.

“But this is different…” started Twilight.

“Don’t even get me started on that, ‘this is different crap.’ Just because the circumstances are different like they always are, doesn’t mean friendship is. Friendship is the same there as it is here. You should have known that best of all after befriended that Walten fellow,” said Applejack.

“Walter,” instinctively corrected Twilight.

“Whatever. I could barely hear Fluttershy when she told me about it. The point is, you should have set your stubborn pride aside. Ah had to when ah was going to harvest the apple orchard all by myself.” said Applejack.

Twilight probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but she couldn’t believe how often this notion kept coming up today. How hard could it be to understand, she was doing this for there own good? Even now she was looking out for her friends, by searching for Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t abandoned them. She wasn’t wrong. But she was tired of arguing this point.

“We will have to agree to disagree then,” said Twilight.

“Look, Ah’m glad you’re back sugar cube, but I may take me awhile ta get over this,” said Applejack.

“I’m not going to stay for ‘awhile,’” said Twilight.

“You mean you aren’t done! You said you couldn’t visit until you were finished!” said Applejack.

“I missed you, okay! I shouldn’t be here, but I don’t have the restraint to stay away. This hasn’t exactly been easy for me either!” who was getting very tired of being yelled at. It’s as if her friends thought she wanted this.

“Oh horseapples! I’m still upset at ya for what ya done, but I don’t want to spend what little time we have together arguing,” said Applejack.

“Me either. Truce?” said Twilight.

“Truce,” said Applejack.

Twilight wasn’t sure when she would find the time, but she wanted to hang out with all of her friends more, and she was confident the only way that would be possible, would be to hang out with all of them at once. But Twilight hadn’t forgotten that Applejack wasn’t talking to Pinky Pie, so it seemed like it would take some work to make that possible. Now was as good a time as any to get to work.

“Applejack, do you still consider Pinky Pie a friend?” asked Twilight.

“I thought we declared a truce,” said Applejack.

“I’m not blaming you. I want to bring my friends closer together, as much as possible, while I’m still here,” said Twilight.

Applejack sighed. “Yes she is still mah friend. After Rarity decided to stop hanging out with Pinky Pie, she only had Fluttershy and me. So she was around a lot, even at the wee hours of the night and mornin’. Finally ah couldn’t take it anymore, so ah told Pinky to back off. Maybe if our friendship wasn’t already so badly damaged by missin’ ponies and such, ah wouldn’t have, but ah did.”

Twilight began to open her mouth but Applejack interrupted, “Ah know what you're gonna say. It was wrong of me to distance mahself from Pinky over something so stupid, but its hard enough to be friends with any of y’all without being friends with all of ya, as it brings up all them hurtful memories. It was bad enough without Pinky Pie making it harder. Ah know that still doesn’t make it right but ah I don’t know what else to do.”

“Actually I was just going to ask, if you wouldn’t mind hanging out with her, as long as Fluttershy and I were there,” said Twilight.

“Ah don’t mind at all. That sounds great actually. Ah just wish Dash were coming too,” said Applejack.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that actually. What do you know about Rainbow Dash’s disappearance?” asked Twilight.

“Not much, other then she’s lost her mind. Ah was the first to ask Celestia about Rainbow Dash, so she told me when about a month later when Rainbow Dash came to her spouting of all kinds of nonsense. She wasn’t even making whole sentences. She was really sweaty, didn’t look all there, and kept shouting things like, ‘Tanks!’ and ‘They’re here!’ Celestia tried to get her to slow down and speak coherently, but she would just say, ‘No time!’ and continue speaking nonsense. After a couple minutes of this she flew off, and nopony has seen her since,” said Applejack.

“Fluttershy said that nopony had seen her since Pinky Pie invited her to my party,” said Twilight.

“Well you see, Ah kinda never mentioned this to Fluttershy. Ah accidentally let something about it slip to Pinky Pie, but ah haven’t exactly told her either. Ah thought it was kinder to let em think she was just gone instead of crazy. Ah wish ah didn’t know.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but why did you tell me?” asked Twilight.

“Cause I’m too mad atcha to lie to ya,” said Applejack.

At this they both laughed for several seconds. Twilight couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed. She was positive she had since leaving, but she couldn’t think of when. It felt odd. In that brief moment, it occurred to Twilight for the first time, what if the whole thing was some sort of strange illusion? What if there was no threat, and she could stay here with her friends?

“It really is nice to be able to see you for a change,” said Applejack.

“Does that mean your anger has subsided?” asked Twilight.

“It’s not gone. The fact that this isn’t over yet is making me angrier, but I’ll set it aside for now,” said Applejack.

“Maybe if I find Rainbow Dash you’ll forgive me entirely,” said Twilight.

“It couldn’t hurt your chances,” said Applejack with a faint smile.

“If I find her, I’m sure we can help her reclaim her sanity,” said Twilight feeling strangely optimistic.

“Ah sure hope so. Even if we can’t, it would be nice to have her back.” said Applejack.

Twilight then felt a compelling urge to ask Applejack to come with her, but then remembered this might start up a debate about why she was willing to do this with help, but she couldn’t accept any when it came to the fate of Equestria. So she thought better of it, and trotted off.

Twilight didn’t have much to go on, but it sounded like Rainbow Dash wasn’t in Equestria anymore, and that she was likely not too far from Canterlot. Rainbow Dash would need to stay near society to get food, as there certainly wasn’t any in that wintery wasteland. Further Dash had been in a hurry to leave society again for some reason, so she likely wouldn’t have ventured somewhere too far from where she was last seen without good reason.

After a couple of hours, Twilight arrived in Canterlot, and then she proceeded north for a couple more hours until she hit snow. As she traveled she couldn’t help but doubt all the assumptions she had made that lead her to travel the way she did to begin with, but she knew she would never find Rainbow Dash, if she wasn’t at least consistent. She was low on ideas, and doubts would come no matter what she decided on, so she pressed forward.

Snow was not an unheard of phenomena in Equestria, but Everfree Forest aside, it always happened in winter. It was currently summer, and she wasn’t near Everfree Forest, so she knew by the snow, she wasn’t in Equestria anymore. Hopefully this meant that she was close enough to Dash for her spell to work.

Twilight pulled out a single cyan feather from one of her bags. She took a moment to remember the spell, and it occurred to her as she did so how out of practice she was. There had been a time where any spell she knew would have come to her mind instantly, but it had been so long since she had used any spells that weren’t for stealth or illusions. She was out of practice.

Even still, she remembered after about fifteen seconds. She proceeded to levitate the feather with her horn, and imbue it with some magical energy. The feather proceeded to move in seemingly random directions. Twilight watched it for minutes, studying its every move, until she determined it did seem very faintly attracted to one direction in particular.

Twilight galloped in that direction for several minutes, hoping her observations were correct and that the feather really did favor that way slightly. Twilight wasn’t sure exactly how far away her spell could be in order to pick up on Rainbow Dash’s trail, but she wouldn’t have been remotely surprised if it hadn’t actually picked up on anything.

Twilight then pulled out the feather and again imbued it with energy. She couldn’t believe it. Despite having so little to go on, her guesses had been right. She wasn’t sure how close she was, but the attraction to a particular direction was strong enough now, that there was no mistaking it. For about an hour she ran then stopped to use her feather again, until she could no longer run.

It wasn’t exhaustion that stopped her, though she was exhausted. What had been a blanket of snow, along with some coming down from the sky, had become a downright blizzard. The snow was falling in such thick sheets, that she couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of her. To make matters worse, if she brought out her feather, all of her magic wouldn’t be able to keep it from blowing away. In her time away from Equestria, Twilight had thought she had been through everything imaginable, but she had to admit; she had never before felt as if her hooves were going to fall off, the way they were surely going to now.

No matter how much lighter her hooves felt, or how much friendlier the air, none of that helped her against the ridiculous winter conditions. She could barely walk, as the wind was blowing against her. She considered changing directions, but this was the last clue the feather gave her, and her best shot at finding Rainbow Dash. She continued pressing forward, thrusting one hoof in front of her at a time.

After several minutes Twilight could step forward no longer, and so she laid down. Twilight was so close. When she used the feather for the final time, it vibrated rapidly and swirled only that one direction. Rainbow Dash was probably a stone’s throw away, but Twilight couldn’t see her.

“DASH! DASH! DASH!” yelled Twilight. She heard no response and her eyelids beckoned her to close them. A couple of seconds later she heard a plop and her eyes shot wide open.

A cyan pegasus landed directly in front of her. “TWILIGHT!” cried Dash.

“Please come back Dash,” said Twilight.

“I’m sorry Twilight. I can’t,” frowned Dash.

“I’m the one who left. Be angry at me, not them,” insisted Twilight.

“This isn’t about that anymore. It hasn’t been for a while,” said Dash.

“What is it about then?” asked Twilight.

“You’ll never believe me if I just tell you. So why don’t I show you?” said Dash. Twilight was about to tell Dash she couldn’t move, when Dash single-hoofedly threw Twilight onto her back, and then darted off into the sky.

Twilight had no idea how Rainbow Dash could stand to fly so fast. It was cold enough without Dash’s speed creating even more wind. However Dash didn’t even flinch, so Twilight figured the least she could do was not complain about it. After several minutes Dash landed.

“Discretely look over this pile of snow,” whispered Dash.

Dash had seemed pretty sane to Twilight, but Twilight began to suspect that she wasn’t as sound mentally as she seemed. Twilight had been warned this would likely be the case, and what could possibly be over that pile of snow other than another pile of snow. That was all that was out here. Further why was Dash whispering? Who was going to hear them? Twilight thought it best just to humor her though.

Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. Twilight absorbed what she was seeing for about a minute. There were tanks, robots, and humans. After that minute, Twilight quickly jerked her head back down, as they were entirely too close for Twilight’s liking, but she likely wouldn’t have been able to see them otherwise.

Without a word, Rainbow Dash again pulled Twilight onto her pack, and they took off. They didn’t fly for nearly as long this time, but they didn’t exactly have to travel very far to not be seen or heard.

However Twilight barely noticed this. For the flight back and several minutes thereafter Twilight was consumed by thought. She had fought tirelessly for over a year to prevent exactly this. She had devoted her life, to stopping this from happening, and yet they were here. How? How could this have happened? Twilight had been so vigilant, and yet somehow she had failed them. Was it that one time, she had slipped up, and the teleportation to Equestria technology was operational for a full thirty seconds? But she had been at the lab, and hadn’t seen anyone use it.

Her headache, that had waxed and waned ever since she left, surfaced again. This time it threatened to split her head open right down the middle. Her head was throbbing and her thoughts became muddled, until a single voice whispered quietly into the confusing mass of colors and noise, her thoughts and perception had been reduced to. The voice said, “This is what you have been waiting for. This is perfect.”

She did not recognize the voice, and under different circumstances she would have classified the tone as ominous, but she found it strangely soothing. Her headache subsided and her brain resumed functioning normally. She was left with a comforting thought. If somehow the humans had found a way through, she didn’t have to keep up her post anymore. She could finally be with her friends again. She knew she should have been filled with despair, but she could not help but smile.

Twilight then noticed that Rainbow Dash was waving a hoof up in down in front of Twilight’s eyes and was screaming, “Twilight! Twilight! Earth to Twilight!”

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash. I spaced out for a bit,” said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash said, “A bit? Well whatever. Let me start over. So as you can see I’ve been a bit busy defending Equestria as well.”

“You fight them?” asked Twilight.

“Mostly I just steal their supplies when they’re not looking. I’ve got to do anything I can do to slow them down, since nopony else will listen to me,” said Rainbow Dash.

“To be fair, you were kind of babbling like a crazy pony,” said Twilight.

“That was back when I first discovered them. Can you blame me for being a little frantic?” said Rainbow Dash.

“No offense Dash, but I have a hard time imagining that stealing some supplies is doing that much to hinder an army. I don’t think the reason you are staying here is really to save Equestria. You know as well as I do, you could come back to Ponyville and be with your friends, and it wouldn’t make a difference.” said Twilight.

“What are you trying to say?” said Rainbow Dash.

“That the real reason you are here, is because you are ashamed,” said Twilight.

“Of What?!” demanded Dash.

“Of leaving. You see your disloyal behavior as so shameful, you can’t face them. Slowing down and speaking coherently would only have taken a few seconds, but you couldn’t. You wanted them to think you are crazy. You wanted them to think you didn’t abandon them,” said Twilight.

“Are you suggesting that I would put my own personal interest above that of Equestria!!?” shouted Dash.

“I’m suggesting you knew it wouldn’t do much good, and you didn’t want to create a panic. We haven’t had an army in thousands of years. We have long since forgotten how to fight,” said Twilight.

“Like I was being that logical after seeing what I had seen. How could I be?” said Rainbow Dash.

“I’m not saying you consciously made these decisions. I am only saying that this is the real reason you are here,” said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash brushed the snow around with the bottom of her front right hoof, before sinking her wings back down onto her sides and declaring, “I can’t face them after what I did. How can you?”

“I just keep in mind that I did it for their own…” began Twilight who let her sentence trail off as she realized this would be of no comfort to Rainbow Dash.

“I used to believe that I did it for their own good. I thought if I left them, you wouldn’t. I thought if somepony had to leave the group, it should have been me,” said Dash.

“Why you?”

“Because I’m the least awesome.”

“When did you start believing that?”

“I’ve always known that. Remember when I told you that I haven’t always been this confident? Let’s just say things haven’t changed as much as I’d thought.”

“I never thought I’d see the day where I’d have to tell you how cool you are Dash.”

“You don’t even know what cool means.”

“I know there is nopony I would rather be around.”

“Yeah yeah, talk is cheap.”

“Rainbow Dash, why do you think I am here?” said Twilight motioning with a hoof toward the nearest mound of snow.

“How did you find me anyway?” asked Dash.

“Oh well…” stuttered Twilight blushing, “I may have cast a spell on this.” She proceeded to quickly remove the feather from her bag and then throw it back in.

“You keep one of my feather’s with you?” said Dash.

“I know it’s a little creepy, but sometimes I need your strength, or Fluttershy’s restraint, or Appejack’s honestly…” said Twilight trailing off.

“What do you have of Applejack’s?” asked Rainbow Dash, a small grin appearing on her face.

“Oh well…” said Twilight who continued to blush as she pulled out a vile of clear liquid that hadn’t frozen yet.

“Is that…” began Dash.

“Sweat,” interjected Twilight.

At this Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Well at least I know you care. I still can’t face them though,” she said.

“They’re your friends. They’ll understand. Applejack wanted me to bring you back even if you had lost your mind. Pinky Pie was still distraught that you were upset when she last saw you. Our friends need us. Can’t we just forget this ever happened?” said Twilight

“You really think they need me?” asked Dash.

“I have never seen them more desperate. The other ponies are drifting apart without us. Fluttershy is trying to keep friendship alive, but I don’t know how much longer she can hold on. They need you Dash,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, let’s go home. Just promise me, you’ll never go back to that human world, and we’ll be on our way.” said Dash.

These words stunned Twilight. After seeing what she had, she had no intention of going back there, but discarding the possibility didn’t seem right.

“You haven’t seen how much they need you. So let’s hurry up and get back to them,” said Twilight.

“It doesn’t matter if they don’t have both of us. So just promise me you won’t leave us again. I’m not asking for much,” said Dash.

Twilight opened and closed her mouth several times. She wanted to make this promise but something inside of her just couldn’t. Despite what she had seen, she just couldn’t make a promise like that until Logos was defeated. What if something unforeseen happened, and they somehow stood a chance of winning? What if they needed the help of someone on the other side? Twilight couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say the words she couldn’t guarantee wouldn’t doom them all.

“I’m sorry Dash. I don’t have any intent on leaving, but I just can’t,” said Twilight.

“Fine. We’ll start small then. Just promise me, that if ever you leave again, I will see you again,” said Dash.

Whew. Dash was kind enough to give her a much easier promise. But right as Twilight was about to promise this, this sudden pang of panic overtook her. What if somehow her role as a spy wasn’t really over. If she broke a promise as simple as this, Dash probably wouldn’t even be able to remember her fondly. Twilight knew this was an irrational fear, as the enemy was already here, but still she had difficulty forming the words.

“Seriously!! Not this crap again! Thanks for nothing Twilight! I never wanted to see you again anyway!” shouted Dash before shooting through the air.

In an instant she was gone. Twilight didn’t even manage to choke out “Wait Dash! I promise!” until Dash was long gone.

Twilight pulled up a floating screen, and ran the program that warped her back into her library. The books that surrounded her looked as if they were drawing nearer every time she turned her back on them. Twilight retreated to her old bed, where she saw Spike already sleeping. Twilight had no idea what else to do, so she curled up with him, and went to sleep.

~~~

“I something the matter my prized pupil?” said Celestia.

Twilight Sparkle wasn’t sure why she bothered, for as she had expressed to Rainbow Dash, there wasn’t much Celestia could do about it anyway. Still Twilight found that she couldn’t, in good conscious, not tell her mentor and the ruler of all of Equestria, something of this magnitude.

“Logos is on this planet, and is making its way toward Equestria,” announced Twilight.

“Do tell. I am curious to hear everything you have learned about this event, being a spy among the leaders of the organization,” said Celestia.

“Actually, I never heard anything about it while I was on The Old Earth. I saw the army with my own eyes outside Equestria’s borders..”

“I find it very strange that they would do something like this, without their leaders knowing about this. How did they get through?”

“I don’t know. I have been vigilant in making sure that technology stays broken. I’ve been pondering it all morning, and I still can’t think of any conceivable way they could have made it here.”

“Under what circumstances did you see this?”

“The blizzard was so intense, and it was so cold, I thought I was going to die. But Rainbow Dash saved me and showed me their army.”

“Perhaps If I might speak with Rainbow Dash as well, about what she saw.”

“She refused to come back with me.”

“That is unfortunate. How long ago did they arrive.”

“About a year ago.”

“Did they seem abnormally slow to you?”

“Well no.”

“It seems odd it should take them so long to arrive then. Did you at least see them more than once?”

“No.”

“Then I am forced to conclude, that you were just seeing things. You were stressed, and were enduring extremely harsh conditions. It could happen to anypony. I once mistook a trash can for Discord.”

“Rainbow Dash, saw it too though.”

“Tell me something. Why did you leave Equestria’s borders?”

“I left to find Rainbow Dash.”

“A priori, what would you have said your odds of finding her were?”

“Not very good.”

“Don’t you find it a little odd you found in that giant abominable wasteland exactly what you were looking for. You found Rainbow Dash, and a reason to not go back to that terrible place. I’m sorry that such a terrible fate has befallen you, but I think the two of us are more aware than anypony of the necessity of your role.”

“I don’t know…”

“I have come up with a possible explanation for what you saw given what we know. If you believe that what you saw is actually the truth, and what we know is false, then please offer an explanation for what we know. Why are they here? Why didn’t you know about it? What are they waiting for?”

Twilight had to admit, what Celestia was saying made a lot of sense. She was so sure, everything she had seen was real, but in truth anypony’s senses are susceptible to being deceived. What she had seen out there once, wasn’t consistent with what they knew. Logos had not actually found a way through. Twilight needed to go back.

“I’m sorry I wasted your time Princess,” muttered Twilight to the floor.

“Twilight Sparkle, no one said you have to be the gatekeeper your whole life. You have done far more than I can ever repay you for. Maybe its somepony else’s turn,” said Celestia.

This time Twilight’s mind didn’t even afford her the brief delusion that this was a good idea. As appealing as the idea was, switching out ponies every year meant that periodically, someone new would be defending Equestria. Being a spy wasn’t exactly easy, and had a severe learning curve. Switching ponies out that often, almost guaranteed they would get caught. It was too much of a risk, and after a quick glance of Twilight’s frown, Celestia realized this too.

~~~

Twilight was in Rarity’s house, looking one last time for her. Twilight had nearly forgotten that she still hadn’t seen Rarity yet, but she remembered on her trip back from Canterlot. She had looked for Rarity everywhere but couldn’t find her. When she asked Fluttershy, Twilight learned this was apparently the first time Rarity had ever missed their spa date.

A noise among all the lifelessness immediately drew Twilight’s attention. The source of the noise wasn’t Rarity. It was Discord.

“How did you break free?” asked Twilight.

“I know we’re all eager for my return, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not free yet.”

“Then why aren’t you a statue?” asked Twilight.

“Tut tut. Trusting your eyes when you shouldn’t, and not trusting them when you should. Two strikes already and it’s not even noon. Of course, if I had any say, maybe it would be,” said Discord.

“You still didn’t answer my question,” said Twilight.

“And neither did you. Why should it be my responsibility to answer questions. You’re supposed to be the smart one,” said Discord. Discord then pulled out the apostrophe in “you’re” and started picking his teeth with it.

“Could you at least tell me what you are doing here.”

“Poor ponies. They always have to be told things. They can’t just decide that it should start raining bunnies.”

“I thought chocolate rain was more your style.”

“Honestly, did no one look at it under a microscope? Some people just don’t appreciate the beauty of chaos. Certain rumors have lead me to believe that the worst offender is still alive.”

“You mean Logos? Indeed it is.”

“You let me free, and I’ll take care of it for you.”

“Why should I believe you’ll keep your promise?”

“Promise? This isn’t a promise. I always break those on principle.”

“Sounds very predictable to me.”

“Oh, not at all. Finding out how exactly I will break the promise is what makes it fun. I’m sure that mare must have known I wasn’t really going to get her kitten out of a tree, but she was surprised when I pulled out a lawnmower.”

“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to convince Fluttershy or Celestia to set you free.”

“Do you always need permission for everything you do? All of the elements of harmony were needed to lock me away; any of them can set me free,” said Discord. He then took the semicolon and pushed the dot nearer to the rest of it, and proceeded to lick it like an ice cream cone.

“So you want to see Logos destroyed?” asked Twilight.

“Just because I’m a being of chaos, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate revenge. Besides, there is hope for you ponies yet. Logos spurns the very idea of chaos.”

“By defeating Logos you would effectively be getting the elements of harmony back together. Aren’t you concerned if you do this, you’ll just be setting yourself up to be imprisoned again?”

“You caught me by surprise last time. This time I’ll be ready,” said Discord with a smile.

“So instead of Logos being the threat, you would be?”

“You said so yourself, I’m not as big a threat as Logos.”

“Yet after hearing you repeat it, I’m beginning to doubt that.”

“You’d get to be with your friends again. Isn’t that what counts?”

This was exactly the sort of opportunity she had been hoping for. Having visited her friends, had only made it all the more tempting. Logos and Discord were complete opposites after all. Who else could defeat Logos? Yet now that Discord was agreeing with her plan, suddenly it didn’t seem so brilliant anymore. They had defeated Discord before, but something seemed different about him this time. Further, last time their friendship had been at its peak, yet they had nearly lost. But wasn’t a chaotic Equestria, better than no Equestria? At least Discord was a villain they knew the solution to, regardless of whether or not they would be able to implement it. Then Twilight noticed, that miniature flames had flared up in Discord’s pupils.

“You really hate Logos don’t you?” said Twilight.

“I’m not in the mood to give a history lesson, but the sooner this world is rid of humans the better.”

“By rid, you mean driven mad by chocolate rain right?”

“I really hate getting directly to the point, but you seem to be being denser than usual, so let me make this clear. I will kill them all.”

Twilight had been so close to taking Discord’s deal, but this she could not allow. She wanted Logos gone, but humanity as a whole she couldn’t allow to be exterminated. Ponies had caused them so much suffering already. Yet a faint whispered echoed within her mind, “Take the deal. Screw the humans, who have caused you such much pain. Your friends need you.”

Twilight could taste the warm glass of apple cider, that her friends would reminisce over. She could hear the laughter in the air, at how silly it would seem to them that they were ever worried that their friendship could be destroyed. She could feel the impact of a pillow, as they “fought,” without a care in the world. All she had to do was make one mistake. It wouldn’t even be her fault. It would be Discord’s fault. If Discord actually was true to his word, how was Twilight supposed to know he would be. He was a being of complete chaos after all. Her desire to be with her friends was selfless. It would be for their own good.

“Discord, I’ve made my decision,” said Twilight.

Dr. Beta

Twilight’s horn started glowing as she touched it to the stony Discord. A simple spark of magic was all it would take to remove her part in the spell that had trapped him. Humans only had to be wronged once more, then she would be free and Equestria would be safe.

An image of Walter’s weak smile ran across her mind. The sound of Fluttershy telling him it would be okay consumed her thoughts.

She just needed to forget about humans. Walter had even said it would have been kinder just to kill them...

...but it was the sins of pony-kind that had made that true. Twilight lifted her head and sighed. She couldn’t do it.

Not wasting a moment, she disguised herself as Dr. Beta, opened the terminal, and ran the program to take her to the Old Earth. After reappearing, she was mildly comforted that Walter’s house hadn’t been filled with strangers inquiring about Dr. Beta’s mysterious disappearance. But this sensation didn’t last long, as Rarity was next to her.

“This is where you have been staying. It is simply dreadful.” said Rarity.

“Rarity?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I simply could not allow you to run off again so I came with you.” said Rarity.

“You would really rather live here with me, than home with our friends?” asked Twilight.

“Darling, that is simply preposterous. I am here to convince you to come back.” said Rarity.

“How did you even get here?”

“It wasn’t easy. I spent a great deal of time while you were away practicing an invisibility spell in case you ever came back. When you showed up unexpectedly I hastily made some preparations so you wouldn’t suspect I was tailing you. It was far from perfect though; I believe you noticed my bed, and even bumped into me.”

“If you started following me from then on, how did you tail me through that awful snow storm?”

“I couldn’t follow you when you left Equestria’s borders, but thankfully you later returned to my boutique, where I resumed my quest.”

“As glad as I am to see you, your effort is wasted. Nothing you can say will convince me to come back.”

“I didn’t plan on saying anything. Fluttershy told me this is a dreadful place you can’t bare the thought of your friends being at. Well, I’m not budging until you return.”

Walter, who had silently entered the room, while they were conversing, interjected, “She a friend of yours?”

“I don’t know what he just said, but would you please tell him it is rude to interrupt,” said Rarity.

“We did just barge into his home unannounced,” said Twilight.

“I understand you didn’t have time to look around, but someone actually lives here on purpose?”

“It may not look like much...” began Twilight.

“Oh my stars!” proclaimed Rarity, whose eyes had just taken in Walter.

“Rarity! I know he isn’t exactly beautiful, but that’s just rude.”

“Its not his appearance that is revolting; it is how he adorns it. Even he can be made beautiful, but he has clearly given up.”

“That’s okay, I didn’t want to meet her anyway,” muttered Walter walking away.

“Sorry, I got distracted and forgot to introduce you,” said Twilight to Walter.

“I don’t know what she said when staring at me, but I’m not sure I want to meet her.”

“She’s just not used to looking at humans,” said Twilight smiling feebly.

“Nice save, but neither of your other friends reacted like that.”

“Sweety not to be rude, but last time you carried on a conversation I couldn’t understand a robot was turning you against us.” said Rarity.

“Walter noticed you screaming when you looked at him. I was trying to convince him you are actually a kind loving pony.”

“I can see how that would not paint me in the best light. Not to worry, I can convey an apology easily enough. Now where did I put those curtains?” said Rarity.

“You brought curtains?”

“Fluttershy told me this place was rather drab. Though I never would have believed to what extent had I not seen it for myself.”

“Honestly I’m surprised you’re not more shocked by the acidic air and increased gravity.” puzzled Twilight just now remembering these hadn’t always been normal features of her life.

“Fluttershy already mentioned those. They are both royal pains, but after waiting to see you for over a year I’m not going to complain about details like that.”

“I’m surprised Fluttershy has been so chatty about the Old Earth. I thought she wanted to forget this place existed.”

“She does, but she has had some nasty dreams about it. I can always tell when she’s been shaken by a nightmare, so I’d question her, and we’d talk about it, and she’d feel better.”

“And who is going to talk Fluttershy through her nightmares with you gone?”

“Well there is always Applejack...” stated Rarity who paused for a moment. She continued, “...but Fluttershy tends to just bottle up the fear if no one brings it up and Applejack isn’t good at picking up on subtle cues so she probably wouldn’t even think to ask Fluttershy if she had a dream. That is troubling but your need is greater.”

“No it isn’t. Rainbow Dash is gone and so am I. No matter how much you don’t want to admit it, you must know on some level no matter how long you stay here, I’m not coming back. Do you really think our friends are better off with another friend missing?”

“You really are determined to face this alone.”

“It is my mistake. I invented the technology to go between world’s. It’s why I was given the honor to go through it, and why my hubris made me think it was safe.”

“You were a different person back then.”

“It doesn’t matter. Whenever we faced something before, if the worst happened it would be somepony else’s fault. Chrysalis, or Nightmare Moon, or Discord. For once it would be mine and I can’t deal with that.”

“Then there really is no point in me staying. Take me home.”

“It’s not like I can just use my magic to send you home.”

“You did that to get here.”

“For some reason that aspect of my magic doesn’t seem to work here. Regardless my shift will end in thirty minutes so if we are going to get you home, we better do it quickly.”

Rarity hoofed around into her bag and pulled out curtains.

“Tell walter I’m sorry for everything, and give him these for me. It’ll really liven up the place and generally keep you two in better spirits.”

I’ll do that as soon as we get back, said Twilight who was adjusting the teleporter.

A short while later they vanished in a ray of light.

~~~

“Interesting, so you really are a pony,” said the lanky figure of Dr. Delta. He was adorned with his usual white lab coat, but his own skin may have been even paler. His glasses had slipped a smidge down his nose to their usual equilibrium point.

Normally Twilight would have been glad to see Dr. Delta. He was the only person other than Walter Twilight had felt relieved to be around, and in some ways she was less tense around him than Walter. He wasn’t as gruff and cared about manners. Under the circumstances though he was the last person she wanted to see. If someone else had caught her maybe she would have been able to convince Dr. Delta it was some kind of misunderstanding. Yet despite herself, Twilight couldn’t help but feel somewhat comforted by his presence.

Twilight had to ask even though she knew that pointing out that he shouldn’t be there wouldn’t somehow make him not be there. “Dr. Delta, what are you doing here?”

“I’m surprised you hadn’t already figured it out. Honestly, you’ve been a bit obvious. You’ve made it very difficult to cover for you. Knowing you are prone to being reckless, I tend to come in early.”

Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. Could he really have suggested that he’d help her? What did he mean about being obvious though? Many questions raced through Twilight’s mind, but they all hinged on being sure she wasn’t imagining what he just said. “Are you saying you’ve been helping to cover up my secret?”

“I’m sure you already have deduced you are under surveillance. Yet when you first teleported here, a pony came with you, and later you turned into a pony too. Someone had to cover that up. There are other examples, but that’s when I first discovered you needed my help.”

As much as Twilight wanted to believe she had an ally, these humans had every reason to hate ponies. Though Twilight liked to think she would never have been so careless in picking somewhere to send the humans, how would they know that? Further helping her was risking his job and probably his life. Surely this had to be some kind of a trap, but Twilight had to give him a chance to explain. “Why would you do it?”

“I am a scientist. Killing extra-dimensional ponies does not interest me, but it seems impossible to get funding elsewhere. All four of the other alleged five smartest people in the world went here, so I assumed it was where the most interesting science would be happening. I never wanted to be Dr. Delta. I just want to be Dr. Coflare.”

Twilight had been so distracted by the possibility of having someone else she could trust, she had nearly forgotten about Rarity. Though he said it convincingly his excuse seemed kinda shaky. Regardless, if setting up this trap really was so important, maybe he would let her send Rarity home. “So you won’t stop me from sending back my friend?”

“Of course. I’ve already logged in, so you’ll need me to do it.”

“I can not allow that” said a female voice, “Given the unusual circumstances, and the fact that I have inadvertently suggested such an illusion spell twice now, it is hard to say who is the pony and who is the traitor. I was going to ignore such a possibility since twice it has been counter-productive, but this unusual behavior means I can not.”

“It would seem either the white horse is Dr. Delta, the one who appears as Dr. Beta is an illusion, and Dr. Delta is a pony, or everyone is as they appear to be. If the former there is no traitor, and the winner will be given full rights to issue whatever command they wish. If the latter then there is a traitor and two ponies to capture.”

“You do realize you have us both rooting for the same outcome right? Why should I even try to win?” inquired Dr. Coflare.

“Because this time the stakes will be different. The loser will be executed on the spot. Sorry, did I forget to mention that?” the female voice said coldly.

“What sort of strange puzzle do you have for us today?” asked Dr. Coflare.

They way Dr. Coflare just glossed over their potential demise did nothing to calm Twilight. The stakes had always been high, but with two wins under her belt, she had thought doing another logic puzzle might even be enjoyable. Now losing was strictly not an option. Why had Rarity followed her?

No, she couldn’t blame her friends who didn’t live in this world, for being naive. It was her fault for never bothering to figure out how to write a program with a smaller teleportation radius. She had thought that making sure nopony was nearby when running the program would be enough, but she shouldn’t have left anything to chance.

But then her stomach dropped out completely as Twilight realized even if she won, she would be responsible for the death of someone who had only meant to help her. Dr. Delta or Dr Coflare or whatever his name was, had every reason to hate her, but instead he risked everything to help, and Twilight had killed her.

Twilight took a deep breath, and let out this thought with it. She had to brush this thought aside for now, because she needed a clear head. She had to win for Rarity.

As Twilight began to wonder why everyone else had put helmets on she began to finally process what the computer’s voice had said while she had been clearing her mind.

“A virtual labyrinth. The first one to the center wins. It will occasionally have riddles to guide you, but where it doesn’t it will test your ability to make logical coherent maps. Pick up a helmet on the table.”

Sure enough there were helmets untidily strewn about on a nearby table. They did not have any sort of visor or eyepiece though as Twilight had expected. However when she put it on her head a grassy labrinth emerged around her. The helmet caused a tickling sensation on her head, and she postulated this meant it was somehow stimulating her brain directly, to plant the illusion of a maze in her mind. Regardless, the grass and spring breeze felt real enough to her.

“I dont’ suppose asking for a helmet that is gentler on the mane, would help convince this computer I’m an illusion,” whispered Rarity.

“I don’t think it’d matter. This computer is really determined to figure out who is a pony and who is a human its own way,” said Twilight.

Seeing a path to the left, right, and center, Rarity asked, “Which way do we go?”

“I don’t see a clue, so we’ll have to make one at random and make a map, of where we’ve been already. There don’t seem to be any materials to make a map with though. That’s probably part of the test too,” muttered Twilight.

Rarity placed her hoof on the path leading right, then looked at it. She then wiped her hoof clean and did the same thing for the other two paths. “This one,” she said pointing to the path on the right.

“How do you know which way to go?” asked Twilight.

“I don’t. But if we don’t know which way to go, we may as well go whichever way is least likely to mess up that pristine lab coat of yours.” said Rarity, desperately trying to wipe the last smudges off her hoof. Her harmony necklace appeared around her neck and her cutie mark started glowing after she said this.

Twilight was tempted to argue but quickly remembered this was a race, and there was no way to determine which way was the right way. Further Rarity disgust at using her white coat to determine which way was the least dirty, reminded her that trivial though it seemed to Twilight, Rarity really was helping the only way she knew how, given that they were both at the mercy of a crazed machine.

After several twists and turns they found themselves in an opening with five passageways, but there was a stone with words engraved on it.

It read, “Two of our ways lead back to start. The other brothers form a circle. The remainder leads on. Neither twin is next to its brother. Neither side of the true way is the same.”

“I was never very good at these puzzles,” said Rarity.

“They were never exactly my specialty either.” said Twilight.

Seeing Rarity’s concerned frown Twilight continued hoping to sound reassuring, “But I’ve come a long way since magic kindergarten. I’m sure I can figure this one out.”

Twilight read it twice. Was that really all it had to say? That ruled out some options but it hardly seemed to give a conclusive answer. Twilight thought about it for a while and concluded that all she knew for sure about the right way is that it was neither of the edges, as that was the only way for it to have a passage on both sides.

But then Twilight remembered it never technically said the right way had a passage on both sides, but merely that both sides weren’t the same. A wall wasn’t the same as a passage. With all these clues even though it was possible to eliminate certain passage configurations, she knew nothing about which way to go. That was it! The logical test in this case wasn’t the riddle, but how long it would take one to realize it was a useless clue.

“This clue is meaningless. We’ll just have to pick a way again,” said Twilight.

Though Twilight had been so busy with the riddle she hadn’t noticed Rarity leave her side, apparently she already been examining how clean the paths were. Rarity pointed to the one on the left that wasn’t on the far left, while wiping dirt off her hoof and saying, “That way is least dirty.”

What an illogical way of determining where to go, yet when had anypony behaved logically with a glowing flank? Regardless Rarity had been right last time and something about her glowing made Twilight wonder if it wouldn’t work again.

They trotted down its twists and turns and again followed Rarity for a couple more arbitrary choice points before coming to another open area with another puzzle. Twilight had barely skimmed it this time, but read enough to know it wasn’t enough information to determine conclusively which way to go.

“Of course. These hints only give the illusion of being helpful, but none of them narrow down the possibilities. The logic is in the navigating and recognizing this pattern.”

With this the white mare continued to guide them through several more twists and turns, and without ever having to backtrack they eventually found the center and the end.

“Congratulations Dr. Delta. I’m glad to see you aren’t a traitor.” rang the female voice from all around them as the labyrinth disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. As they took off their helmets Twilight was surprised to see, that unlike when she had tried to send Fluttershy back, she hadn’t moved an inch from where she was when the illusion started.

“First to deal with the loser,” said the voice.

Twilight wanted to put her hooves to her eyes, but they wouldn’t move. Not that it mattered. The sound of the execution would still be tattooed on her brain, as she wouldn’t be able to cover both her eyes and ears. Then it occurred to her that she had no idea how the computer would carry out its threat, as she had worked with it several times before, but never seen any weapons.

This thought did not provide comfort for long though as immediately several tiny laser guns that seemed to have formed from nowhere emerged from the walls and aimed themselves at Dr. Coflare. He was trembling visibly but said nothing. Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it, but something seemed unnatural about his quivering. Perhaps people just shake differently when they are about to die. Twilight couldn’t bare the silence. If only he’d beg for his life, at least there wouldn’t be the unbearable nothingness leading up to his inevitable screams.

But just as quickly as they had pointing at him, they all disappeared again.

“You didn’t really think I was going to kill a pony did you? No indeed I shall just capture it to be studied at my masters’ leisure. The death threat was just to insure that everyone would give their all. Besides wasn’t it more fun?”

Twilight couldn’t think of when she had less fun, and given her experiences over the past year that was an achievement. The candid way in which it joked about death, made Twilight want to break it along with the technology to warp to Equestria, but she didn’t know enough about it to break it in an inconspicuous way.

“So Dr. Delta who appears as a white mare, what would you have me do?”

For a moment Rarity just stared at Twilight, wondering if she should have them both sent back, but Twilight stared back intently as if to say, “You know what you must do.”

Rarity frowned slightly still disappointed, but this was no place for a mare, and her presence wasn’t helping Twilight.

“Send me to Equestria,” demanded Rarity. The words had barely escaped her mouth when she disappeared.

~~~

“Dr. Beta, can we talk,” said Dr. Coflare.

Twilight had been wanting to talk to him ever since he helped her cover up the fact that Rarity had been present in the facility a week ago. Apparently he had been helping her all along, but she had only recently discovered how easily she would have been discovered without his help. Twilight had been nervous about approaching him though, as if somehow he had forgotten who she really was and talking to him might make him suspicious.

Now that he was approaching her though, she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was he suffering from a guilty conscious from keeping her secret? Regardless Twilight had to know, so she replied, “sure...”

She proceeded to look around the cafeteria and realized how crowded it was.

“Perhaps we should spend our lunch at Walter’s place. He’s graciously been letting me stay with him ever since that accident with my home.”

Dr. Coflare winked at Twilight and said, “I doubt, Walter’s place is very cozy. How about we go to my place instead.”

Twilight was relieved he wanted privacy. Though she hadn’t wanted to say anything she was also glad he didn’t accept her offer to go to Walter’s place. It was the only place Twilight could think of for privacy off the top of her head, but she had the distinct feeling Walter didn’t care for any of the five alleged smartest scientists. His grudge seemed primarily against Dr. Beta, but she doubted that he’d be thrilled to have Dr. Delta over.

“Okay.” she said.

Twilight quickly scarfed down the remaining potatoes and jello on her tray and followed Dr. Coflare. They went down a couple of hallways after putting up their trays, calibrated a teleported, and appeared in his living room.

“This is a rather nice place you have here,” said Twilight surveying the black leather couch, the black leather loveseat, and the two black leather recliners.

“Bet you can’t guess the theme,” said Dr. Coflare before plopping down on the couch.

At this Twilight smirked before asking, “So you are in charge of surveillance?”

“You make it sound like a whole department. Really it is just Twilight and you they have wanted surveillance on,” said Dr. Coflare.

At this Twilight raised and eyebrow and opened her mouth, but Dr. Coflare continued, “Don’t worry, they haven’t made the connection. Of course they wanted to know everything a pony in their midst did. As for you, well you have to admit suddenly showing up after everyone thought you were dead is suspicious. Admittedly, I think it was a wiser decision than trying to craft a new identity for yourself, as even the best minds, tend to do this very poorly.”

“I know you told me earlier, but I’m still not sure why you helped me.”

“That’s because I didn’t tell you the whole story. Let’s just say their are some things that I can’t say in that facility no matter who doesn’t seem to be around. You see, I’m a pony.” said Dr. Coflare softly.

“What?!” sputtered Twilight.

“I don’t know how I got here, but my first memories are of being a unicorn. I was skilled with magic, and lived in the wild. Though my physical abilities were sharp as they had to be, I could feel my mind dulling, without interesting questions to explore. Becoming a part of human society seemed like the only way to satisfy this unbridled curiosity, but I knew they would never accept me as I was. After many years of attempting unusual feats with my magic, I devised a spell that would make me human.”

“You must be have been a very powerful and brilliant unicorn to be able to do that.” said Twilight awestruck.

Dr. Coflare nodded and said, “In hindsight you are probably right, but neither knew nor cared at the time. I was envious of humans science, but having no basic knowledge it took much research before I was able to attend college. From there the rest is history.”

“Do you remember your unicorn name?” asked Twilight wanting someway to address Dr. Coflare as the pony he really was.

At this Dr. Coflare smirked and remarked, “Wildblaze. Wildblaze Coflare. It was a suitable name for my fiery mane, fireball cutie mark, and destructive abilities. My feats of magic were great, but they probably weren’t exactly natural.”

This last statement intrigued Twilight but there was a more pertinent question she had been meaning to ask. “Why did you take a job with Logos?”

“At first I didn’t have a good understanding of what they were about, but mostly it was for when this day came. With or without me, one of their endeavors was bound to succeed eventually. However being a trusted part of the organization, I would be in a much better position to be able to do something. The plan was always fuzzy as to what exactly I would do, but I figured that much would become apparent when the time came, and indeed it did.”

“Your story is very unusual. You don’t remember anything about how you got here?” inquired Twilight.

At this Wildblaze nodded and said, “I don’t remember but I do have a theory. Some of my dealings at Logos have lead me to believe, some strange technology they devised succeeded in getting me here, before failing several more times and ultimately breaking. Apparently it was a very sophisticated piece of machinery, and it had failed thousands of times, so they never bothered with it again.”

“But why don’t you remember your family?”

At this Wildblaze sighed and continued. “They experimented on me for years, before I somehow escaped. By exploring an abandoned part of the lab, I’ve seen many old devices that could easily be mistaken for instruments of torture, that were clearly made to fit the body of a small pony. I’ve disassembled and reassembled a few to figure out what they do. One of them that I’ve puzzled over seems to be for extracting magic out of a victim's brain. Another was undoubtedly to see how well magic could be performed under different levels of stress and pain.”

“I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have doubted you!” said Twilight.

“It’s okay. I’ve needed to tell someone about that anyway. The one thing I don’t understand is how humans ended up here in the first place.”

Twilight didn’t want him to have to know what their kind had done, but she needed to tell somepony how she felt.

“That was our doing. I don’t know if we stole your home from you, or if it was both of our homes and these human’s ancestor’s were trying to kill us. But I do know that we didn’t bother to find a more hospitable place to send you. I know that innocent people suffer for our carelessness.”

Wildblaze shook his head slowly. “I had hoped that was a lie, but part of me knew it wasn’t. Ponies and people really aren’t so different after all, but I suppose you wouldn’t know that, being exposed to the worst of humanity. A cross section of the most scientific and the most vengeful are attracted to that place.”

“Walter and you, have always been kind to me. Yet even still I did sometimes think that humans were more nefarious than ponies. It makes the idea of what we did more bearable. Sometimes I even wonder if the more logical bent of humans isn’t the problem. I thought that was the corrupt part of me. All that remains of the infamous Dr. Beta.”

“There are those who can’t accept what they don’t understand, but others are merely curious. Perhaps there is a correlation between intelligence and arrogance, but the desire to know isn’t evil, nor were you.”

“How can you say that?! Did I not work on the gate to Equestria?! Did I not go over to destroy ponies?!” exclaimed Twilight.

“I knew you, and you were never vengeful. You wanted earth back for the good of humanity, and you thought ponies were evil. How were you to know any different?I wanted to tell you back then who I really was, so you could know better. But I couldn’t. We were good friends, and I wasn’t strong enough to tell you the truth. I always thought there would be more time, but in the end I was too late. This is all my fault.”

“It’s better this way. Now you have a friend to help defend our kind. Something always felt wrong about defending it alone. So wrong, that I actually considered bringing my friends here. But now I understand, it is because we are supposed to defend it together,” said Twilight softly with her hoof on his shoulder.

“Our lunch break ends soon, but I’m glad we had this talk,” said Wildblaze.

“Yeah me too,” said Twilight.

~~~

Twilight again sat on Wildblaze’s couch, wearing a frown.

“You don’t have to wear that disguise here. I have to make some modifications to this part of the video feed anyway, so they don’t know what we were actually talking about.” said Wildblaze.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I can handle it right now.” muttered Twilight to the carpet.

Wildblaze looked at Twilight for a moment and then proclaimed, “You sure are an open book. I take it you are missing home?”

“It has been months since I’ve seen my friends. Lately, I’ve been regretting sending Rarity away even though she is safer where she is. Being able to talk to you is the only thing that makes it bearable.”

“It’s hard to get over good friends we once had, but despite the strength of the friendship, sometimes its just not meant to be.”

“You really think our friendship is over?” said Twilight looking up from the ground.

“It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s sad but it’s a fact. They taught you much about friendship, and you probably taught them a few things too, but that time is over now.”

“Do you really think they’ll be alright without me?”

“Every friendship faces difficulty. You can’t expect your leaving to not have created some, but they’ll bounce back.”

“I guess you're right. That does make me feel a little better.” said Twilight who started giving a faint smile.

“There is a way you could feel alot better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Despite having lived here for so long, you still don’t have a place to call home, nor do you feel as though you truly belong.This is because of your repressed memories and form as a pony. There may be a way to turn you back into Dr. Beta.”

“I have a job to do here. I can’t just do what’s easy for me, if it puts my friends at risk,” nodded Twilight.

“You’ll still remember some things from your life as a pony, and I will tell you right away about ponies and everything that happened to you. With this knowledge you’ll surely keep up your post. You’ve always been and will always be you. Nopony can change that.”

“What about Walter?”

Wildblaze sighed. “Sometimes good people don’t always see eye to eye. That doesn’t mean you weren’t a good person. Living together wouldn’t be recommended, but you have your own home to return to, you just don’t remember it.”

“Can’t you just tell me where it is?”

“It won’t feel like home to you just by moving in. Besides there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you, but have had difficulty bringing up.”

“Something more from your past?” inquired Twilight.

“No, something from yours. You see, you weren’t single when you left.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have a family Twilight. Everyone at Logos has been afraid to mention them, because they assumed that that accident that happened to your home included them, and that you’re in denial. They think you’ve been acting differently because you lost your mind.”

“I have a family?” said Twilight her mouth barely moving.

“I know its a lot to take in, but they need you. Maybe part of the reason you miss your friends so much is you somewhere deep inside, you miss your family too.”

“Is going back even possible?” muttered Twilight her eyes unfocused and unblinking.

“If you're asking whether or not they will accept you, then yes. It will take some time, but they will come around. As for becoming human again, before you started there was a big push to be able to create something that could undo magic. It was a daunting task, but we had had enough contact to create something that might be able to undo the effects of certain spells.”

“Come to think of it, the computer in the lab is able to disable my magic,” interjected Twilight.

“In which case the technology probably works. Undoing is harder and takes much longer than disabling but the fundamental idea is the same.”

“Then let’s try it.”

“I think you will be pleased with the results,” said Wildblaze.

~~~

“I’ve never been done this corridor before,” said Twilight.

“We were never able to test our completed technology, as it was all very pony specific, so the projects down here have been put on hold”

They continued down the unfamiliar hall with the usual white walls and lack of decoration, until they entered a large room, with large pieces of unfamiliar machinery strewn about. Aside from the obviously different projects that had been going on, the room looked largely similar to the one Twilight had been used to working in. However before Twilight could take the whole place in they soon found the device they were looking for and stopped.

“The process will take a couple hours but it shouldn’t hurt. Merely lay down and crawl in, they flip over so you’re on your back.”

Twilight examined the machine she was supposed to be getting into and noticed it looked far more pristine and even new then the devices they had passed on there way in. She couldn’t so much as find a single speck of dust on it.

“I thought this project was abandoned.”

“It was.”

“Then why does it look so clean and new?”

At this a slight red tint overtook Dr. Delta’s face and he sputtered,”Well you see uh... I well... cleaned it and replaced a couple of parts to ensure it was safe for you to use... you know uh.... in case you decided you wanted to do this.”

“Well that was very thoughtful,” said Twilight before crawling into the metal tube as instructed.

“Whenever you're ready I’ll hit the button.” said Wildblaze.

“Ready.”

With that the lights in the room dulled, as the light inside the small metal chamber became extraordinarily bright. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was supposed to shut her eyes, but she already had instinctively, and there was no way she was going to open them anytime soon. Twilight felt a slight prickling sensation throughout her body, as if she were full of static electricity. The sensation proceeded to become increasingly intense, until it faded into warmth. Her skin felt as if it were glowing, then melting away to reveal a new layer, yet the skin felt more like a coat, keeping her real skin from breathing, then a part of her.

After many more foreign sensations and a couple hours later her new skin was able to breathe, and her mind was racing. She couldn’t focus anymore. Then everything went black.

“Welcome Dr. Beta.” said Dr. Delta.

A smirking stout man with white hair and sagging cheeks, crawled out of the machine smirking. “I particularly liked the bit about me having a family. As if any woman could keep up with me! Where did you come up with the name Wildblaze anyway?”

“Pony names always have a theme. I couldn’t think of a new last name so I just went with the only thing I could think of for Coflare.” said Dr. Delta.

“I don’t know how you didn’t gag saying all that stuff,” said Dr. Beta.

“I never ate much before those conversations for that reason, but you bought it.”

“Don’t compare that fool, to me.”

“Whatever Twilight Sparkle.” teased Dr. Delta, before they both started laughing uncontrollably.

~~~

There was an unmistakable knocking sound at his door, but who would dare disturb him at such an early hour. Though he was ready to arrange for whoever it was to be impaled, he was curios who had such gall. He got up and turned the knob to his bedroom revealing Dr. Beta.

At this his anger vanished. It had taken long enough, but the robot’s plan had worked far better than he could have hoped.

“Excellent, you are back. Are your memories intact?” asked Dr. AlphaOmega.

“Completely, my lord. The unicorn must have just had a weak mind to not remember everything,” said Dr. Beta.

“Do you know the power you possess?”

“Dr. Delta has informed me.”

“Then today we plan, and tomorrow we take back Earth.” said Dr. AlphaOmega.