Sword and Sorcery

Chapters

Prologue: Equestria
Chapter 1: Picnic
Chapter 2: Enter Trixie
Chapter 3: Cutie Mark Crusader New World Explorers! Yay!
Chapter 4: Two Impossible Things Before Midnight
Chapter 5: Changeling Tests
Chapter 6: Humanity
Chapter 7: After Breakfast
Chapter 8: Bit, Bridle, and Lawbooks
Chapter 9: Escape
Chapter 10: Letter
Chapter 11: Cautious diplomacy
Chapter 12: Pinkie's Nature
Chapter 13: En Route
Chapter 14: At the gates
Prologue: Elenia

Prologue: Equestria

“Oatmeal biscuits?” asked Twilight, reading from a checklist.

“Check!” said Spike, dropping a packet into the saddlebag.

“Super Naturals?” Despite the unfortunate name, Twilight had to admit that the book contained a lot of useful herbal cures for dealing with a variety of afflictions.

“Check!” said Spike, placing it in the opposite saddlebag.

“Quill and parchment, in case of emergency letters to Princess Celestia?”

“Check!” These went with the oatmeal biscuits.

“Bandages?”

“Check!”

“Sealed bottle of ink?”

“Check!”

“Did you double-check the seal? Remember what happened last month.”

Spike rolled his eyes, but took out the ink bottle and double-checked it. “Check!”

“The Great Book of Emergency Failsafe Spells?”

“Check!”

“Right! We're almost done. Element of Magic...” Twilight raised a hoof, and touched the tiara on her head. “Check.” she answered herself. One item to pack left on the checklist. “Element of Kindness?” she called out.

There was a long pause.

“Element of Kindness?” she asked again.

“Do I have to wear it?” asked Spike.

“Yes, Spike.” Twilight said firmly. “You have to wear it. Now put it on, please.”

Spike sighed. “It's just...”

“You know the reasons, Spike.” said Twilight, firmly.

“Well, yeah, but... why doesn't Fluttershy wear it? I mean, it's her element, right?”

“Because she refuses to. Now, you remember what to do?”

Spike sighed. “I sit next to Fluttershy. If anything happens, I take off the Element and give it to her.”

“Right. And remember, all of Equestria might depend on you handing that Element over very promptly.”

“I still don't see why all this is necessary.” grumbled Spike, under his breath.

“Because, Spike, if Discord return to his former evil ways, then we will need the Elements to turn him back to stone.” Twilight lifted the packed saddlebags to her back, being careful not to entangle her new wings in the strap and marched out the door. She waited a moment for Spike, then trotted along the road with him.

“I thought he'd been all reformed now.”

“Not entirely.” said Twilight. “Discord is using his magic mostly for good at the moment, yes. But that's not because of some sudden inner nobleness of spirit. It is simply because he has only one friend in the world – Fluttershy – and he doesn't want to disappoint her. In order to keep him using his magic for good, he needs to regularly spend some time interacting with Fluttershy; they both need to keep that friendship alive. Hence, once a week, at a time and place of Discord's choosing, we all meet for a meal.”

“So why do all the Elements need to be there?” asked Spike.

“In case Discord suddenly decides that Fluttershy's friendship is no longer important enough to keep him on good.” says Twilight. “Fluttershy promised not to use her Element on him, but if things get really serious, we'll want to have the option of turning him back to stone again. I don't imagine we'll need it today, but it's better to have it and not need it that need it and not have it.” Twilight paused a moment, and then added “Also, I'm beginning to suspect that Discord may be trying to make friends with the rest of us as well.”

“Ah, Twilight, Spike.”

Twilight came to an abrupt halt at the dragonequus' unexpected voice. She glanced around – how had she possibly made it all the way to Fluttershy's house so quickly?

“I do hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of temporarily removing most of the distance from the library to here. Don't worry, I've put it back already. It seems that you're the last of our little group to arrive.”

“Hey, Twilight.” said Fluttershy, softly.

“For today's lunch, I thought we'd go a little further afield than normal.” said Discord, smiling.

“Further afield?” asked Applejack, skeptically. “Last week you had is in Horsetralia. Where do you get that's further afield than that?”

“But that wasn't in a field.” protested Pinkie Pie. “That was in a desert.”

“We're not going to have a picnic atop a Manehatten skyscraper again, are we?” asked Rarity, nervously. “The high-altitude wind was absolutely terrible for my mane.”

“Yeah, but it was an awesome place to watch stunt flying from.” countered Dash, grinning widely.

“I thought the picnic inside the volcano was the best one.” volunteered Spike. All six ponies shuddered at that memory; Discord's chaos magic may have made them entirely fireproof for the duration of that meal, but picnicing on lava had still been a nervous business.

“Nothing like that, nothing like that at all.” said Discord calmly. “Just a quiet little clearing, near a river. Little birds singing. Squirrels in the trees. That sort of thing.” He snapped his fingers, and a large stone archway appeared next to Fluttershy's cottage. A strange mist filled the portal, effectively blocking any view through it. With a sweeping bow, Discord gestured towards the stone arch. “After you, ladies.”

“An' just where is this clearing?” asked Applejack.

“Oh...” Discord's grin widened “...just a little bit outside the city of Cimmura.”

“Never heard of it.” said Applejack. “Twi?”

“Um. I'm afraid I didn't bring the atlas with me...”

Fluttershy trotted past the others and walked straight through the archway, vanishing instantly into the mists beyond.

“C'mon, Spike.” said Twilight, following on behind with some trepidation.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a glance, and then stepped through side by side, followed be Rarity.

“Ooooh! Wait for me!” called Pinkie, bringing up the rear.

Discord allowed himself one, private, extra-large smile before stepping through the portal himself.

Chapter 1: Picnic

A dull BOOM rumbles above the clearing, together with a burst of rainbow light.

“Hey!” said Rainbow Dash, landing neatly next to the picnic blanket. “Did you know there's a city right over that way?”

“Yes, I did.” replied Discord, calmly stirring his tea with one claw.

“And there's not a single pegasus in the area. Or griffon.”

“Maybe it's an entirely earth pony and unicorn city?” asked Twilight.

“They don't have unicorns here.” replied Discord, taking a sip of tea. “Or pegasi. Present company excepted, of course. You'll find some quite... substantial differences between here and Equestria. But I do believe we were going to have a picnic?”

“Awwww... but I've never been here before.” protested Rainbow Dash. “I'd really like to get a chance to look around before we have to go back.”

“It's, uh, probably a really good idea if we all stick together – for the moment.” suggested Twilight, not taking her eyes off Discord.

Discord put down his empty teacup, and waved a lion paw negligently. “I can leave the gate open when I go.” he suggested, calmly. “It's no trouble.”

“Really?” asked Dash, leaping a few metres up and hovering there. “That would be awesome!”

Twilight looked substantially less enthusiastic, but Discord spoke up again before she could form a proper objection.

“Besides, I have something of a question... and I'd appreciate all your input.”

“We'd be happy to help, dear.” said Rarity. “More tea?”

“Don't mind if I do.” Discord waited until he had a full teacup again, before continuing. “It's about the nature of good and evil. You realise, of course, that I'm kind of new to the whole thing, but... is it always a good thing to save somepony's life?”

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

“Obviously.”

“Even somepony who wants to die?”

This question was greeted by a very attentive silence at first. Twilight was the one to break it.

“How exactly do you mean?”

“Well, let's say, as a purely hypothetical scenario, that... um... that, say, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were to die suddenly. Struck by lightning, say.”

Twilight's eyes narrowed to slits.

“And then her husband, what was his name again?” Discord waved a claw around vaguely, as if trying to remember something.

“Shining Armour.” snapped Twilight.

“Yes, Shining Armour, that's the name. Let us say that, after his wife's death, he climbs up, all the way to the top of that crystal palace of theirs. And, let's say that, overcome with grief, he takes the conscious decision to jump off the topmost balcony. And then I just happen to come by as he's about halfway to the ground. I can, of course, easily save his life at that point; but considering that it was his own, conscious decision that put him in that situation to begin with, is it morally right for me to intervene and -”

Discord stopped, apparently noticing for the first time the hostility of the stares being aimed at him. Even Fluttershy looked upset.

Twilight stood up, and marched across the picnic blanket to poke Discord in the chest with one hoof. “That had better be just a hypothetical scenario.” she warned. “If my brother, or his wife, are in any way harmed...”

“Wait, he's your brother?” asked Discord. “I had no... I was just picking a celebrity couple, known for their love. Both of them are fine, to the best of my knowledge.” He waved a claw, as if to try to erase the last ten minutes of conversation. “Substitute in any other names that you want. That doesn't matter. The question is the same. Lovesick stallion flings self from tall tower, on purpose. Is it morally right to stop him?”

Twilight glared at Discord for a little longer, and then said “Spike, take a note. To, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Dear sister-in-law and best foalsitter ever, I hope this letter finds you well. It's probably nothing, but could you let me know if anything odd has been happening to you lately? It might also be a good idea to take special care to avoid lightning for the next few days. Please reply soon. Signed, Twilight.”

“...next few days, please reply soon. Signed, Twilight.” repeated Spike.

“Right. Send it.”

Spike breathed in, and released a burst of fire at the note, It evaporated into smoke, which spun around and dived back through Discord's portal-archway.

“This lack of trust is truly distressing.” sighed Discord. “It really was just a hypothetical scenario. I promise.”

“When it comes to my brother's life, or his wife's -” Twilight sat down abruptly, not taking her eyes off Discord - “I don't take chances.”

“Oh, and I can respect that.” replied the dragonequus. “As to the question at hand, though – if I intervene, then I am restricting the free will of the stallion in question. Not quite to the same degree as, say, I did to your friends during that first incident – with the maze – but I am in effect preventing the stallion from making a certain choice, entirely of his own free will. On the other hand, if I do not intervene, then we have a dead stallion, which is clearly a subop-”

Spike burped suddenly, spitting out a scroll. Twilight snatched it up with her magic, and unrolled it. “Dearest Twilight...” she muttered, reading quickly “...perfectly fine... crystal corn harvest especially good last month... preparations for Equestria Games going well. Will take particular care to avoid lightning... love to hear the story behind your letter. Signed, Cadence.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, and her shoulders sagged slightly with the release of tension. “Thank you, Spike.” She aimed a rather less hostile (but nonetheless definitely angry) glare at Discord and added “And I would rather appreciate it if you wouldn't use my family members as hypothetical examples in the future.” she added.

“Noted.” said Discord. “Though, if I'd known he was your brother...”

“There, there.” said Fluttershy, patting him gently on the back with one hoof. “It was an honest mistake. I'm sure Twilight understands that. Right, Twilight?”

“As to the question, though?” asked Discord. “I mean, it's not exactly the sort of ethical dilemma that one wants to have to solve in the few seconds before a stallion hits the ground. If I could get this worked out in advance...”

“Ooooh! Ooooh! I know! I know!” Pinkie jumped up and down, waving one hoof in the air. “Pick me! Pick me!”

“What would you say I should do in that sort of situation?” Discord asked her.

“You should throw a PARTY!”

“...what?”

“Well, I mean, you catch him first, right? Because he can't really go to a party if he's dead, and he'll be dead if he falls from a tall, tall, tower, unless it's a hypothetical tower, which means that it isn't really there, in which case there really isn't anything to fall from, and I suppose that would be just like bouncing, and I bounce all the time, so it's not really dangerous, but anyway, then once he's safe you invite him to a party, because people only jump off things if they're really depressed, and the best way to make someone stop being depressed is with a PARTY! Only I guess that it might take a bit of time to make a party, unless you've got a party cannon like I do, only that's not really a problem for you, is it, I mean you can just snap your fingers and then it's PARTY like the party was there all along only it wasn't, right? Only you'd still have to deliver invitations to everyone else, and then wait for them to get ready, and then they'd all have to come to the party, and you can't wait too long in case the stallion tries to go up a tower again, oh, and thinking of that, you should probably hold the party in a basement somewhere, just in case, so that nothing unfortunate happens before he get all cheered up again!”

Discord stared at Pinky. He blinked twice, and stared a bit longer.

“Okaaaayyyyyyyyy....” he said, when the torrent of words appeared to have stopped. “So... save the stallion's life, then.”

“While it does reduce the romantic-tragedy aspects of the whole affair,” said Rarity, “on the whole I must agree with Pinkie here.”

“Hey! You rhymed! Just like Zecora!” volunteered Pinkie.

“Don't expect me to keep it up, dear. However, Pinkie has touched on another aspect of the situation as well; while I have no doubt that the hypothetical stallion would, on sober reflection, regret his impulsive decision, it is nonetheless true that he might have similar impulsive decisions shortly afterward. It is not enough to merely save his life. The root cause of his depression must also be dealt with, in one or another way.”

“Hmmm... okay, that seems clear enough.” said Discord. “However... that's someone who decides to take his life on an impulse. What about -”

He paused for a long moment, looking at Twilight.

“Oh, forget hypotheticals.” he said. He snapped his talons, and a muddy creature appeared, hovering above their picnic blanket.

Fluttershy squeaked, and dived behind Discord. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, flew up and over the creature, getting a good look at its face. The creature did not appear to be impressed – mainly because it was asleep.

“Similar to a minotaur,” said Twilight, walking around the dreature to inspect it, “except without fur, a substantially different head and leg design... I take it he's dying in some way?”

“Alcohol poisoning.” replied Discord promptly. “For something like – oh, must be about twenty years or so – he's been pouring different types of wine down his throat. His liver has been so thoroughly poisoned that he's probably only got days to live. He's got no serious prospect of getting this fixed in this world, but... he drank those drinks himself. It was his choices that got him into this situation, and he got to this point knowing that the drinks that he enjoyed would have a bad effect on him in the end. Now, this clearly isn't an impulse thing, so I'm not sure -”

“Save his life.” said Twilight, promptly.

Rarity and Spike nodded in agreement.

“Um, he, looks like he's in a lot of pain?” muttered Fluttershy, quietly.

“Yes, he is.” replied Discord. “It's a symptom of his condition.”

“Could you, um, fix that too? If it's not too much trouble, I mean...”

“We can throw him a great big glad-you're-not-poisoned-anymore PARTY!” yelled Pinkie.

“Yeah, saving him's definitely the right thing ta do.” agreed Applejack.

There was a brief pause, while everyone waited. Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

“Your input.” replied Discord. “You're the only one who hadn't expressed an opinion yet.”

“What? Of course you gotta save him!”

“Unanimous, then. As you wish.” Discord snapped his talons, and the man's skin reddened somewhat; he seemed to relax, and breathe easier. “There we go. But... that brings us to another point.” Discord took another sip of tea. “Our little teaparty here will only last another hour. If I put this man back where I found him, then he may just poison his liver all over again. We don't have time, before the end of our picnic, to try to resolve any underlying issues he may have. Given that, is it morally right to leave him there, or should I put him somewhere else?”

“Well, I guess his family would be kinda worried.” suggested Applejack.

“Doubtful.” said Discord. “I found him sleeping in a muddy ditch, alone. I don't know if he has family, but he certainly has no-one willing to offer him a bed. I don't for one minute imagine that anyone would miss him here.”

“Well, that makes it a whole lot easier, dear. We'll just have to take him back to Equestria with us.” said Rarity. “He can stay in Ponyville at first, and if he wants to come back, he can just walk through that portal.”

Chapter 2: Enter Trixie

“I feel good. I feel ready to attack the day.”

Technically, it was already late afternoon; but the blue unicorn in front of the mirror felt that a few minutes practicing her new assertiveness techniques before heading into Ponyville would be time well spent.

“Remember,” she said to her reflection, “never apologize when you can criticize. If you block, Trixie show you she rocks. And if you make Trixie lose...”

Trixie paused briefly.

“...after what happened last time, Trixie really shouldn't blow her fuse.” she admitted, quietly, after a moment. “And when Trixie says it, no means no!”

Deep breath. Deep breath again.

“Alright, Trixie.” she said to her reflection. “Remember the Plan. After that Alicorn Amulet fiasco, it's taken you six months of carefully paced exercises to build up your magic, but you've got just about enough magic at hoof to cast one age spell. And you know Twilight can't do one. Or couldn't six months ago, at least. Trixie hopes that's still the case. So. Challenge Twilight to a duel. Find some old pony. That old apple lady(*) should be a good choice. Start out with an age spell, knock a couple of dozen years off her, I'm sure she won't object. With any luck, Twilight won't be able to match that. Then comes the tricky part. Trixie will have to get back to her trailer before she falls over.”

Trixie took a deep breath.

“And when the story of that duel goes around, Trixie's reputation will be restored. Trixie has a new trailer, a fold-out stage, and spare fireworks. Trixie's life will be back as it was.”

Another deep breath.

“Ready to attack the day. If someone blocks, you show them you rock!”

Trixie reared up in the air, neighed loudly, and ran out of her trailer. She was going to do this!

* * *

Twilight Sparkle yawned. She looked over her six friends – and Discord, and Krager. Of all of them, only Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Discord didn't look exhausted. Spike was almost asleep on her back. Krager, who hadn't woken up yet, was draped inelegantly across Applejack's back.

“Ah haveta say, Discord, you sure play a mean game o' hoofball.” volunteered Applejack.

“A mean game? Is that a bad thing?” asked Discord, nervously. “I tried to stick to the rules, I really did...”

“No,” said Twilight with another yawn, “the word 'mean' has multiple mea – uh – multiple definitions. If it were 'mean' as in 'cruel', then that would be bad, but given the context – and the game – the most probable definition is 'mean' as in 'aggressive and - *yawn* - competent'. Which, in a hoofball game, is a good thing... as long as the aggression is not overdone, as that could be - *yawn* - could be cruel.”

“Yeah, you played well.” agreed Applejack. “Though a team of six o' you was a mite unusual...”

“There's nothing in the rules about cloning oneself to make up team numbers.” pointed out Discord, promptly.

“Indeed there ain't.” nodded Applejack. “Ah take it we'll be seeing ya next week again?”

“Same time?” asked Twilight, hopefully.

“Oh, come now.” objected Discord. “Where's the fun in being all predictable like that? I'll get back to you later about the time.” He snapped his claws, and vanished.

“Wait, wait, what about -” Twilight sighed.

“What's the matter, Twi?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“This gateway.” Twilight pointed back at the archway that they'd come through. “I'm not sure that it's a good idea to leave it like this.”

“It's right next to my cottage.” pointed out Fluttershy. “I'm sure Discord wouldn't want to do anything to hurt me.”

“I – actually don't think he would.” admitted Twilight. “But if it really does lead to another world, then we have no idea what could possibly come out of it. We should at least - *yawn* - take some sensible precautions.”

“What sort of precautions?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I still want to have a proper look around there. Maybe there's some pegasi in that city of – what was it called? - cinnamon, or whatever -”

“Cimmura.” interrupted Twilight.

“- yeah, that – who might want to race.”

“And just imagine the fashions of a whole new world!” added Rarity.

“I bet they've got some cool party games!” volunteered Pinkie.

“Girls, calm down! I think that exploring the other side is a great idea.” Twilight yawned again. “When we're not so tired. In the meantime, I think that we should just place a spell around the portal. Just an alarm, so that we'll know if anyone else comes through.”

“Oh! That does seem like a sensible precaution.” admitted Rarity.

“An' what should Ah do with this fella?” asked Applejack, tossing her head to indicate Krager, on her back.”

“Oh!” said Fluttershy. “Put him in my house. I've got a spare room, and I'm good at looking after animals.”

“Ah'm not rightly sure he is an 'animal'.” pointed out Applejack. “Th'way Discord was talkin', Ah think he might be intelligent.”

“Yes, but his physiology is non-pony.” pointed out Fluttershy. “He has binocular vision and opposable thumbs. He appears vaguely simian, only with less fur, and his teeth suggest an omnivorous diet. By analogy with apes, he is unlikely to be able to properly digest hay, so special care must be taken with his diet. He probably needs a certain amount of raw fish for proper health, like a bear. He look bipedal, and he's about twice as tall as a pony standing upright, so he'll need a high-ceilinged room. He has hands with opposable thumbs which he most likely uses to affect his environment, and to hang on while he sleeps. The weather schedule for the next three days is sunny, so once he's recovered he'll probably want to sleep in a tree, but until we can get better accommodation he can sleep in my guest bed.”

“Sleepin' in a tree?” asked Applejack. “Sounds like someone Ah know... alright, we'll take him ta your place. Mainly 'cos it's close, he's sure heavy.”

“Alright.” said Twilight, stepping back from the enchantment that she'd placed around the gate. “So, tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we'll come back here and explore the world on the other side of the gate. In the meantime, let's get some sleep.”

She spread her brand-new wings and took to the air.

* * *

Out on a nearby hilltop, Trixie stared in shock. Wings! Twilight – and that was Twilight, she was sure of it – had wings now! She was still able to cast unicorn magic, plus she had wings!

Trixie's age spell could not, simply could not compete with wings! HOW did Twilight become an alicorn?

WINGS!

Author's Note

(*) More commonly known as Granny Smith

Chapter 3: Cutie Mark Crusader New World Explorers! Yay!

Rarity yawned widely, her mouth briefly extending to larger than her eyes. She reached out with her magic to open the boutique door in front of her, and, without looking where she was going, headed directly for the stairs.

There was a sudden thump as she tripped over something that had been lying on the floor.

Rarity sighed. “Sweetie Belle?” she called out.

“Yes?” answered a meek little voice from the vicinity of Rarity's hooves.

Rarity's eyes widened, and she looked back to see what she had tripped over. “Oh, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity quickly disentangled herself from her sister. “I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there. Are you okay?”

“I'll be fine.” the filly assured her sister.

“And what were you doing in the middle of the floor, in any case?” enquired Rarity.

“Waiting for you.” replied Sweetie Belle, promptly. “Your Discord picnics are always fun to hear about afterwards. Did you go to Cloudsdale this time? Ooo, or Prance? Were you in Prance? Or was it in a volcano again? Or maybe upside down under a bridge...”

Rarity shuddered at the thought of sitting on the no-doubt muddy underside of a bridge. “No, dear.” she said. “We were in a forest. It was very nice. After the picnic, we played a very strenuous game of hoofball.”

“Ooooh, ooooh! Which forest? What teams were you in?”

“Ponies on one team, six Discords on the other team, with Spike as the referee. One of the Discords got in quite an argument with Spike about halfway through. The little fellow was really terribly biased. He allowed us to get away with the most shocking things, but hammered Discord the moment he put a claw out of line. Twilight had to have a word with him about that in the end. And I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea which forest it was, Sweetie. Discord said something about it being a good deal more remote than Horsetralia, but I really have no idea where it could be. We're going to go and explore it a bit more tomorrow morning. I'm sure there'll be all sorts of new fashions to look at there. Now, if you don't mind, dear, I really have to get an early night. After that game of hoofball, I am quite exhausted.”

Sweetie rolled her eyes at Rarity's mention of new fashions. “Okay, I -”

She stopped suddenly as realisation struck.

“If it's further than Horsetralia,” she asked, “then how are you gonna get there tomorrow morning?”

“Discord left a shortcut, dear. There by Fluttershy's cottage.” replied Rarity, thinking only of her upcoming bath. I think I'll use the herbal bubblebath tonight... I probably shouldn't, it's so indulgent, but I'm going to...

“Really...” said Sweetie Belle, rubbing her front hooves together in a way that would have been a red flag to Rarity had she not already been halfway up the stairs.

* * *

There was a clattering sound at Applebloom's window. At first the filly slept through it, but in fairly short order it was repeated.

And again.

Finally, Applebloom roused herself out of bed, and headed for the window. She reached it just as another hooffull of gravel struck it on the outside.

She opened the window and looked out.

...had that bush always been there?

As Applebloom frowned at the interloping foliage, Sweetie Belle's head popped out of the top of the bush. With frantic motions of one foreleg, she beckoned Applebloom down, and then ducked back into the bush again.

Applebloom also noticed that, on the other side of the bush, there were either some very strange flowers or a pair of orange wings. She responded with a complex series of gestures which would most likely not have made sense to anyone except Pinkie Pie, and stared at the bush.

After a few moments, Sweetie Belle popped out of the bush and beckoned again, more insistently this time.

Applebloom sighed. She opened the window wider, and carefully stepped out onto the porch roof. She tippy-hooved along, taking extra care when ducking under Applejack's and especially when ducking under Big Mac's bedroom window. She reached her objective without incident, however, and slid – with some care – down the drainpipe. Then it was simply a matter of dashing across the open space to the small portable bush.

For a brief moment, the bush was a scene of a hasty, whispered conversation. Then it rose on three sets of brightly-coloured hooves, and sneaked away from Sweet Apple Acres.

* * *

In the forest near the city of Cimmura, a stone archway stood where no archway had stood the day before. Emerging from the archway, as if from nowhere, there came a small, ambulatory bush; the branches from which it had been constructed wiped the ground clear of any tracks which may have lain upon it (the most recent being the tracks of a travelling magician and cart, heading out of the archway). The bush rustled and shook for a bit, and finally came apart into a pile of leafy branches.

“Well, Ah sure don't know where we are now.” volunteered Applebloom.

“It's got to be a really long way.” suggested Scootaloo. “All the stars are different.”

“Rarity said further than Horsetralia.” added Sweetie Belle. “Let's go and explore!”

“Why'd we have to come out here tonight?” asked Applebloom.

“Because tonight it's still unexplored.” said Sweetie Belle, promptly. “By tomorrow, our sisters will have gone over the whole place. This might be our only chance our whole lives to try to get cutie marks in being the first to set hoof in someplace!”

“Yeah, Ah guess.” murmured Applebloom. “So which way from here?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “I don't know. Any way will do, I guess.”

“That way!” said Scootaloo, pointing.

“Why that way?” asked Applebloom.

“'Cos that's where the music is coming from.” replied Scootaloo. “I bet you it's griffins. We're probably in the middle of the Griffin Kingdoms.”

“Oh, don't be silly.” replied Sweetie Belle. “The Griffin Kingdoms are a lot closer than Horsetralia.” She listened closely to the music, and added “Besides, that sounds like some sort of pipe, or flute. You need lips to play those, you can't play them with a beak.”

“Seriously?” asked Scootaloo. “Griffins can't play pipes?”

“Nah, but they can do amazing things with violins.” said Sweetie Belle. “Couple of months back, Rarity took me to this recital in -”

“We did Cutie Mark Crusader Music Critics last week.” interrupted Applebloom. “Come on, let's explore!”

* * *

Aphrael the Child-Goddess sat quietly in a tree, keeping her immortal eyes directed towards the portal. The presence of the Chaos Avatar had made it hard to see what was going on near the portal, both while Discord was there and for some time afterward, until the ripples of his presence has quieted; and staying in the castle as Princess Danae had made it even harder, as the minds, hopes and dreams of all the people of Cimmura had swept and bubbled around her. Normally it was comforting, but it certainly made it hard to see what was going on at a distance...

Now, though, the Danae incarnation was asleep in bed; and while the Princess slept, the Child-Goddess was free to roam without revealing herself as the Princess. Now Discord's influence had quieted, and now the only minds that lay between Aphrael and the portal were the simple, straightforward minds of animals. She had sensed the arrival of the three fillies as soon as they had stepped onto the Eosian continent, and had been listening to their conversation.

All other languages, as Aphrael had good reason to know, were degenerate forms of The Language – the language of the gods themselves. In order to understand Equestrian, therefore, Aphrael did not have to learn a new language; she merely had to learn how the Equestrian language had degenerated from one that she knew very well indeed.

It sounded like these three fillies were loquacious. That was good; Aphrael needed only a few more sentences in order to be able to speak perfect Equestrian herself. And, in exchange for learning Equestrian from them, Aphrael took it upon herself to ensure that the Cutie Mark Crusaders remained safe through the upcoming night...

Chapter 4: Two Impossible Things Before Midnight

Aphrael sat quietly on a branch, kicking one grass-stained foot back and forth. She could hear the footsteps approaching – twelve feet, ending in hooves from the sound of it – attached to three minds – juvenile, naïve, innocent minds, minds filled with a sense of wonder and the simple joy of existence – and, most intriguingly of all, three rather strong magical auras.

She could hear every leaf rustle, every quiet breath, even their heartbeats. Aphrael didn't often pay this close attention to her surroundings; then again, she didn't often come across a set of children visiting from a neighbouring world, either.

“Look! There it is!” whispered the one with the accent.

“What is that thing?” asked the one with the occasionally buzzing wings.

“It looks like some sort of hairless monkey.” volunteered the one with the melodious voice. “Told you it wasn't a griffin.”

“Can't be a monkey.” insisted the accented one. “Y'all ever seen a monkey with hair that long on its head? 'Sides, it's wearin' clothes.”

“A plain white cotton dress. And some sort of headband made of plaited grass.” said the melodious one. “My big sis would have a fit.”

“Your big sis has far too many fits.” added the winged one. “Do you think we can get it to come down?”

“Ah could buck it out the tree, no problem. It's not really hanging on all that tightly.”

“Yeah, but then it'll probably be cross and run off.” objected the winged one. “I wanna know what it is.”

“Well, then let me show you how it's done.” said the melodious one. She walked up to the tree, and laid her forehooves on the trunk. “Hello up there!” she called out. “I'm Sweetie Belle, this is my friend Applebloom, and this is my other friend Scootaloo. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What's your name?”

Aphrael looked around for the first time, getting a good look at the three fillies. She smiled, and waved.

They smiled and waved back.

Aphrael raised her pipes to her mouth again, and began to play a little tune, dancing back and forth on her branch. It took only a few moments for two of the Crusaders to spot that something was wrong.

“How the hay does she do that?” asked Applebloom, frowning at the branch that did not bend under Aphrael's slight weight – even when all of it was concentrated on a tiny twig.

“I've got no idea.” replied Sweetie Belle, ignoring the branch and looking at Aphrael's simple pipes.

“What are you two talking about?” enquired Scootaloo.

“Unless the wood's a whole lot harder than the trees back home, there ain't no way that branch can bear the weight o' someone that size without bending a little.” pointed out Applebloom.

“That's what you were talking about?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Eeyup. Why, what did you see that's impossible?”

“There's no way a simple little set of pipes like that can produce the music we're hearing.” replied Sweetie Belle, promptly. “It's not even possible to pull a double stop on a wind instrument like that, and she's doing it!”

“What's a double stop?” asked Applebloom.

“Oh, that's when you play two notes at once. I saw a unicorn pull off a quadruple stop on a guitar, once.”

“If she's doing it, then I guess it must be possible.” said Scootaloo, cautiously. “Maybe music works differently here.” She took another glance up at the strange creature above them, then stood up on her hind legs, placing her front legs on the tree. “Um, hey, uh, would you like to come down and play?”

Aphrael considered this for a moment, then hopped off the branch, landing agilely on the ground.

“Ah'm Applebloom. What's your name?”

“I'm Aphrael.” said the Child-Goddess, speaking Equestrian for the first time. She had an accent that hovered somewhere between Applebloom's, Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's; making her sound not-at-all-Apple-familyish to Applebloom and rather-Apple-familyish to the other two Crusaders.

“Hi, Aphrael!” said Applebloom. “So, what d'ya wanna play?”

* * *

The game had been raucous and energetic, and had involved much disturbance of the undergrowth. But even the most energetic of fillies needed a breather now and then. Aphrael didn't, but she respected the needs of her new friends; and, since the ice had now been thoroughly broken, she had a question for them.

“What's a Cutie Mark Crusader?”

“That's us.” replied Sweetie Belle. “None of us have our Cutie Marks, so we're trying all sorts of things to try to get them. We'll hit on it sooner or later. We're trying Cutie Mark Crusaders New World Explorers tonight.”

Aphrael considered this explanation for a bit, and then asked “What's a cutie mark?”

The three crusaders leapt up and stared at Aphrael, with identically shocked expressions on their faces. “You don't know what a cutie mark is?”

“It's a design that appears on a pony's flank.” said Scootaloo, pointing at the spot where her cutie mark wasn't (and briefly double-checking, in case it had appeared while she wasn't paying attention. It hadn't).

“It tells you what yer special talent is.” added Applebloom.

“And what you're destined to spend the rest of your life doing.” added Sweetie Belle.

“Like a visible symbol of your destiny?” asked Aphrael.

“Yeah, that sounds right.” said Applebloom, cautiously.

“Humans don't have anything like that.” Aphrael told them. “A lot of them never quite work out what their destiny is, actually.”

“Doesn't that make things kind of difficult?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Aphrael nodded. “A lot of the time, yes. Not all the time, though.”

“Is that what you are?” asked Applebloom. “A human?”

Aphrael briefly considered a direct lie, but decided that her new friends deserved better. “Well... not exactly.” She shrugged. “I just kinda look like one.”

The Crusaders instantly looked very worried again.

“Are you a changeling?”

Aphrael frowned. “What's a changeling?”

“They're these creatures that can look like anypony only they're not really ponies and they feed on love and use it to power their magic and -” began Sweetie Belle, as all three Crusaders backed away slowly.

“Well... I guess... my magic is powered by love, but -”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Changeling!” screamed the Crusaders, turning tail and fleeing towards the portal.

Chapter 5: Changeling Tests

“Changeling!” yelled Applebloom, as she charged through the portal.

“Changeling changeling changeling!” yelled Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, as they followed along.

* * *

And, for the first time since Twilight had set up her alarm spell, someone crossed it, heading out of the portal. The alarm spell buzzed and, in the upper room above the library, Twilight abruptly fell out of bed.

“Gh- wha-”

Twilight staggered to her hooves.

“Alarm spell! Portal!” she cried out, realising with commendable speed what the irritatingly persistent buzzing in her head meant. She took a moment to grab the checklist that she'd left next to her bed last night for just this eventuality, and vanished with a *pop*.

* * *

“Changeling chan-” *pop* *thump*

Applebloom looked up to see what she had run into, and saw a somewhat grumpy-looking purple alicorn.

Twilight sighed. “I really should have guessed.” she said. “What's it this time, Cutie Mark Crusader Archway Architects?”

“Changelings!” said Applebloom. “There was a changeling on the other side of that archway!”

Twilight hesitated. “...are you sure?” she finally asked.

“She said her magic is powered by love!” volunteered Scootaloo, hopping from hoof to hoof.

“And she did a double stop on a set of panpipes!” added Sweetie Belle.

“O...kay.” said Twilight. This situation was not covered by her checklist. With some reluctance, she teleported it back to the library. “So. A changeling disguised as a unicorn?”

“No, no, no, something else.” said Scootaloo.

“A – 'human'” said Applebloom. “That's what she called it, anyhow.”

“Kind of like a monkey, only with no tail and all its fur on top of its head.” volunteered Sweetie Belle. “And clothes that would make my sister run away screaming about fashion.”

“A monkey?” asked Twilight. “With clothes? And able to do magic? ...how odd. So. Did you see her do anything that proved she was a changeling? Any shapechanging? Any flashes of green magic?”

“Well... no...” admitted Applebloom.

“I never saw the colour of her magic at all.” said Sweetie Belle.

Twilight sighed. “Alright, so this is probably just a misunderstanding. No-one's left the portal except for you three, so at least we aren't facing a ravaging army of changelings.”

Sweetie Belle gasped. “What if one of us is a changeling!”

Applebloom gasped in shock. “It's gotta be Scootaloo!”

“What? Why me?”

“Ah know it's not me, an' if it was Sweetie Belle she would'na mentioned it.”

Twilight sighed, again. Her horn glowed, and each filly floated into the air, encased in a separate magenta bubble. “I'm pretty sure that none of you are changelings,” she said, “but in a case like this, it's better to be safe than sorry.”

* * *

Applejack was no happier than Twilight to be woken up at two in the morning.

“So.” she said. “Yer sayin' ma sister's been sneakin' out at night, an' now there's a teeny tiny chance that she's been replaced by a Changelin'?”

“Yes.” nodded Twilight. Two magenta bubbles floated behind her; Applebloom, in the third one, floated nest to Twilight's head. “And if so, it would have been recent, since our picnic yesterday. So if you could just ask her something that she'd know from before then...”

Applejack sighed. “Alright, sugarcube, what did we have fer breakfast yesterday?”

“Apple fritters.” replied Applebloom.

“A'right, that's ma Applebloom. Now, could ya put 'er down, Twi? Ah got to have a word with 'er about sneakin' off at night.”

Applebloom's face fell.

* * *

Rarity was, if anything, even less happy to be woken up at two in the morning than Applejack had been. She was particularly unhappy to be woken up by an alicorn teleporting into her room and seeing her mane before it had been brushed, and she would have been quite happy to spend several minutes describing in great detail precisely how unhappy she was about the situation.

Unfortunately, before she could get a proper head of steam under her rant, Twilight headed her off. “There's a teeny tiny chance that Sweetie Belle might have been replaced by a changeling, since our picnic yesterday. Could you ask her something that only she'd know?”

“Oh, very well, dear.” Rarity considered for a few moments, and then asked “Um... which hat did I wear... last Tuesday?”

“What?” asked Sweetie Belle. “How would I know that? I can't even remember which hat you wore yesterday, never mind last Tuesday!”

“Oh, come on, Sweetie, you specifically commented on it.”

“Oh. Um. The... yellow one? That looked like a lemon?”

“No, that was Thursday. Hmmm. Perhaps I should consider a different question... oh, I know! Sisterhooves Social. Where did we meet?”

“At the mud pit! You were hiding in there, and I thought you were Applejack, and...”

“Oh, I'd been neglecting you terribly!” continued Rarity, hugging the magenta bubble that held her sister. “And I've been doing it again, haven't I? Ever since that big order came through from Fancy Pants... and then the copycat orders from Jet Set... and Upper Crust...”

“You haven't been ignoring me at all!” cried Sweetie Belle. “Even when you're really busy, you spent lotsa time talking to me!”

“Yeah... I think we can be pretty sure she's not a changeling.” said Twilight, as she released Sweetie Belle from her bubble.

* * *

“A tiny chance that my daughter is a changeling?” asked the burly blue pegasus.

“Yes, Mr. Blue Rain.” said Twilight, nervously. Scootaloo's father, the leader of the weather patrol's night shift, was an intimidatingly muscular pony.

“Well, then. Scoots! Nine-seven-five.”

“Um... oh-two-four?” said Scootaloo, nervously.

Blue Rain frowned at his daughter.

“Oh!” said Scootaloo. “Right. Um... three-eight-seven?”

“Five-oh-one.” replied Blue Rain, promptly. “Alright, Miss Sparkle, she's not a changeling.”

“Um... what was that?” asked Twilight.

Blue Rain shrugged. “Family protocol.” he said. “We worked it out after hearing about that wedding in Canterlot. For obvious reasons, the fewer people who know exactly how it works, the better. I'd rather appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about it, Your Highness. But it does work, and that's certainly the genuine Scootaloo.”

“...right. If you say so.” Twilight dissolved the final bubble, allowing Scootaloo to drop meekly to the ground. “If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to sleep. Busy day tomorrow.”

* * *

In another world, the Great and Powerful Trixie woke up early. She'd parked her cart next to the first road she'd found; her internal alarm clock always got her up in plenty of time to get into the nearest city and set up before ponies started their day, in order to get the early crowd.

The only trouble was, she wasn't sure whether to proceed left or right along the road.

As it happened, she chose the wrong direction.

Chapter 6: Humanity

The sun was just rising when Trixie met her first humans. She'd seen a couple from the distance – vague shadows working the fields – but had simply assumed that they were diamond dogs or minotaurs or similar.

However, the two who suddenly stepped out into the road in front of Trixie, with heavy cudgels and unfriendly scowls, were most certainly not a species she was familiar with. She came to an immediate stop – it was that or attempt to ride down someone twice her height with a great big club in his hands.

She spared a moment to glance behind her. Sure enough, three more of the tall creatures had appeared from the bushes in that direction. One of these carried a sword.

A half-dozen more, with drawn bows, stepped out from the sides of the path. Trixie didn't need to hear a word to understand what was going on here.

Highwayponies. Robbers. Thieves. Presumably they were under the impression that Trixie's new cart contained something of value; they would probably take their frustrations out on her when they discovered that it did not.

“Now, sir,” said the one with the sword, speaking to the still-closed wagon in Elenic, “I do hope you're going to be reasonable about this. If you put up a fight, then we'd have to kill you, and I'm sure no-one wants that. On the other hand, if you cooperate, we'll let you go on your way, somewhat poorer but alive. Can't say fairer than that, can I?”

“What?” asked Trixie, nervously. “Trixie doesn't understand you. Do you speak Equestrian?”

The highwaymen watched the cart carefully for any sign of resistance, largely ignoring the nervous whinnying of the bright blue horse with the hat and cape. Said cart did nothing.

“Right, then, sir, this is how it's going to happen.” said the sworded highwayman. “I am going to step up and open the door of your cart. You, and anyone else in your cart, are going to step out with your hands visible, and carrying no weapons. My boys will search you and take any valuables you might have on you, then we'll let you go. By the time you can get to Cimmura on foot, we'll be long gone. Of course, we'll be keeping your horse and cart. Try anything, and you won't live to see tomorrow.”

“Parlez-vous Fancy?” asked Trixie, trying a few more languages in the hope of finding a match. “Ukhuluma isiZebra na? Ta Minotaur hel medeh uu? Trixie doesn't know more than a couple of phrases in Donkey... hey, get away from that, that's Trixie's cart!”

As the highwayman's leader stepped up to the door of the cart, Trixie instinctively took a step forward. Unfortunately, one of the highwaymen in front of her took this as his cue to step forward and apply his cudgel quite firmly to the back of Trixie's head.

Everything went black.

* * *

Krager wasn't sure, at first, if he'd even woken up. For once, his abdomen wasn't in pain. His right shoulder, as well, seemed to have stopped hurting. He was breathing easily, and his hands didn't feel like they were shaking.

For the last several years, this had meant that he could only be dreaming. He knew what had done it, of course; he'd always been a drinking man. There was nothing, in his honest opinion, better than a good Arcian Red. Morning, midday, evening; if he couldn't find a good wine, then a bad one would do.

Anything, if it let him forget. There was – so much – that he wanted to forget. Some of it – a lot of it – probably even most of it – he had forgotten. One thing he did remember, though, was what that doctor had said; that there was no cure for what he had. That his liver would continue to hurt until the day he died.

Is that it? he asked himself, nervously. Have I died? Is this... the afterlife?

If it was the afterlife, he considered, then the biggest surprise was that he wasn't on fire. Krager was under no illusions about the life he'd lived; there were very few gods who were willing to turn a blind eye to rampant murder, theft, kidnapping.

No, if Krager was dead, and he wasn't in some sort of Hell, then that could only mean one of two things; either this was some sort of waiting room, or, just possibly, there had been something of a clerical error.

Could gods make clerical errors? he pondered. He knew that they could certainly make tactical errors, so there was a possibility...

Wherever he was, it was clearly not the ditch he'd fallen asleep in. It had been a long, long time since Krager had slept in a bed; but he still recognised it for what it was.

Very quietly, hoping not to attract attention, Krager opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a rabbit, right in front of his face. It twitched its nose, wriggled its ears, and hopped away.

There seemed to be little else in the room. A bed, a window – the morning sun streamed in, but for once didn't seem to give Krager a headache – a door, and a chair, over which was draped Krager's clothes.

He didn't recognise them at first. They appeared to have been washed; his shirt looked like it had been bleached. Someone had even managed to get most of the stains out.

He heard a quiet voice downstairs. He couldn't make out what it was saying. After a few moments, a yellow horse with a bright pink mane came up the stairs.

“Good morning.” said the horse, quietly. “I do hope you're feeling better.”

“Wait, what? What language are you – what language am I speaking? How can I understand this?”

“Oh. Discord must have done that, I guess. It's Equestrian. Now, I'm sure you're a little confused. You're the first of your species I've ever seen, so you might feel a little out-of-place here. If you want to go back home, I can show you how to get there... if that's alright, I mean...”

Krager shrugged. “This seems like a pleasant enough place, so far.” he said. “I see no reason to leave just yet.”

Clerical error. he thought to himself. Not only am I in some sort of Heaven, but it's a Heaven for the wrong species. Now I just need to avoid notice for as long as possible...

“Oh, good.” said the horse. “My name is Fluttershy.”

Krager hesitated a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to use his real name here. If he used a false name, perhaps he could stay hidden longer... but if he was caught lying... was it even possible to lie in Heaven? Would he get thrown out for it?

He decided not to take that risk just yet. “My name is Krager.” he said.

“Then good morning, Krager. Can you eat fruit? I've never seen anything like you before, and I've had to guess a bit about what would be a healthy diet.”

“Yes,” said Krager, “I can eat fruit.”

“Oh, good. Then would you like some breakfast? I've got apples, kumquats, grapefruit, grapes, oranges, lemons, mangoes, strawberries, plums, kiwis, figs and bananas. I wasn't sure which you would like, so I made sure to get plenty of variety.”

Chapter 7: After Breakfast

“My goodness.” said Fluttershy. “You do have quite an appetite, don't you?”

“I...haven't had a good meal in a while.” admitted Krager.

“Oh, you poor creature. Well, you just eat as much as you want, okay?”

There was a knock at the door.

“Oh!” said Fluttershy. “That'll be Twilight. She said she'd be coming round this morning. We were going to try to explore your world for a bit.”

Krager almost spat out a mouthful of banana. “Explore... my world?” he asked.

“Oh, yes. It looks like there are going to be lots of little animals there, and some of them might need my help. We were kind of hoping that you might be willing to show us around a bit – I mean, if that's alright with you. You don't have to help us if you don't want to.”

Krager considered his options. “Are you by any chance planning to invade Elenia?”

Fluttershy gasped in horror. “Oh, no! We would never do anything like that!” she insisted.

Pity. thought Krager, keeping his thoughts off his face.

There was another, more insistent knock on the door.

* * *

“This is it?” asked Krager, looking over the portal. “One just... walks through this archway?”

“That's it.” confirmed Twilight. Her, Spike, and the other Element-bearers were standing around the gateway with Krager, preparing for their expedition into a new world.

“And it comes out...” continued Krager

“Near the city of Cinnamon.” piped up Spike, from his position sitting on Twilight's back.

“Cimmura, Spike.” corrected Twilight.

“Cinnamon's easier to remember.” grumbled Spike.

“And much tastier!” added Pinkie. “Well, I imagine it's tastier, anyway. Use properly, cinnamon can be very tasty! But you have to use just the right amount. If you use too much, then it's not nearly as good. But I've never tasted anything called 'cimmura' before. I don't even know if there is a spice called 'cimmura'! But I don't imagine that a city would taste very good at all. I bet it would taste of brick and wood, and those really don't taste nice! Wood actually tastes a little bit less horrible, but you can get splinters in your tongue if you try to lick it, so trust me, it's really not a good idea. Splinters in your tongue are not nice. Not. Nice.”

“Okaaaaay.” said Twilight, when it began to appear that Pinkie had wound down for a bit.

“Are you alright?” asked Fluttershy, quietly. “You're looking very pale all of a sudden...”

“Ooooh! Pinchy knee! Pinchy knee!” interrupted Pinkie, hopping up and down and jiggling her foreleg.

“I can't go.” said Krager, backing slowly away. “I can't go anywhere near Cimmura.”

“And why not, darling?” asked Rarity.

“Because Sparhawk lives there.” said Krager, continuing to back away from the portal. “And if he finds me, he's going to kill me. And probably anyone associated with me.”

“Pinchy knee! Pinchy knee!” added Pinkie. Already, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were looking in all directions, trying to spot the 'something scary' that Pinkie's knee was predicting.

“I think I'm beginning to figure out why Discord picked this human.” muttered Twilight.

And the clouds that filled the archway swirled, as somepony came through from the other world. The visitor appeared to be a tall, shaggy roan stallion, almost the size of Princess Celestia herself. His nose was particularly long, and his eyes were angry, vicious eyes. He wore bridle and bit, and a thick saddle, upon which was seated a big creature.

Though the same general shape as Krager, this second human sported several differences in his appearance. To start with, he was either made of metal or – more likely – encased in a suit of black steel. He carried a wicked-looking spiked mace, and had a sword at his belt. In his hand, he carried a lance; little more than a long, wooden pole with a steel point affixed to the end, with a long flag attached.

Krager paled even further. “Sparhawk!” he said.

“Krager.” said the second human, his helmet facing his old foe. “Is this where you've been hiding all these years?”

He lowered his lance, pointing it straight at the other human.

With a sharp crack of displaced air, Twilight opened her wings to their fullest extent. “Hold it right there!” she shouted.

Chapter 8: Bit, Bridle, and Lawbooks

Pain was the first sensation to return.

“Oooooh. The Great and Powerful Trixie has a great and powerful headache.” she murmured.

...or tried to, at least. There was something in her mouth, muffling her words. She tried to spit it out, but it appeared to have been tied in there. Brief exploration with her front hoof showed that there appeared to be some sort of – leather straps, tied around her head.

“Did you see that? No horses' legs should be able to bend like that!”

The alien language bought Trixie's memories back in a rush. The archway – the new world – the highwayponies. Who weren't ponies. Her eyes shot open.

There were at least a dozen of the creatures around, most of them armed with swords or clubs. More than enough to overpower even the Great and Powerful Trixie. She struggled upright – discovering in the process that her rear hooves were bound. Moreover, the leather straps on her head appeared to be tied to a nearby tree. These factors would make 'running away' somewhat tricky.

“Jus' means the circus will pay more for it.” said one particularly large, bearded individual.

Surprisingly, for all their efforts to restrain her, these creatures had done absolutely nothing to prevent Trixie from using her magic. It would be the work of half a minute for Trixie to untie her rear hooves, perhaps a bit longer to figure out the straps on the bridle, and then she could run for it...

...but it would likely only take half that time for one of these creatures to start poking a sword into Trixie. It only made sense to wait for at least some of them to fall asleep before Trixie made her escape.

“Pack up the camp, everyone.” said the bearded man. “We're taking our new pile of gold to find a buyer. Someone take off that hobble and take its rein. And don't let it get away.”

* * *

“You... talked.” said Sparhawk, looking down at Twilight. “You... talked. You... talked.”

This hadn't been the reaction she had expected; but at least the black-armoured knight had lowered his lance and wasn't trying to kill anyone for a few minutes.

“Yes,” she said, “I talked.”

“You're a talking horse.” added Sparhawk.

“Pony!” corrected Twilight.

“Don't try to sneak away!” commanded Sparhawk, suddenly raising his lance and pointing it at Krager.

“Nopony is killing anypony!” insisted Twilight.

“Yeah!” added Rainbow Dash, hovering above and slightly to the left of Twilight; and she felt the comforting presence of the other four Element-bearers standing behind her.

“That man,” said Sparhawk, grimly, “is wanted in Elenia for crimes including high treason, kidnapping, conspiracy to overthrow the royal family, being an accessory to murder, murder, and attempted murder, among others.”

“My dear fellow,” said Rarity, “even assuming that all of that is true, there are right and wrong ways to go about this sort of thing.”

“Quite.” added Twilight. “For a start, you aren't in Elenia. You're in Equestria, and we have laws about extradition. You'd need to – just a moment, I need to look this up.”

Twilight's horn glowed, and there was a pop as a large book (The Laws and Ordinances of Equestria – A Reference Guide For Princesses, book one of a limited-run edition of one copy, printed shortly after Twilight's coronation) appeared in front of her. Hovering in the lavender glow of her magic, the book opened and the pages flipped; first to the index, then, once Twilight had the reference, to page 142.

Sparhawk stared at the hovering book. He raised his lance to point skyward, and asked “How are you doing that?”

Twilight glanced up. “Doing what?”

“Making that book float.”

“That? Oh, that's just magic.” Twilight shrugged. “Any unicorn can do that.”She flipped past a few extra pages. “Can you do magic?”

“Not in the same way.” said Sparhawk. He reversed his lance, poking the pennoned tip back through the portal and waving it about, back and forth in a horizontal line.

“And what was that for?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“No doubt some sort of pre-arranged signal.” said Twilight. “I'd imagine he's got some friends waiting on the other side of the portal, watching for that flag of his.”

“It let them know I'm still alive and not trying to fight off an army on my own.” explained Sparhawk.

“If you're from another world,” asked Pinkie, “how come do you speak Equestrian? Hey, wait a minute, how come Krager speaks Equestrian?”

“I have absolutely no idea.” mutters Krager.

“I think that Discord made it so Krager could understand Equestrian.” said Fluttershy, quietly.

“In my case,” said Sparhawk, “I have a very good friend who can teach people new languages in about five seconds.” He shrugs. “I don't understand the spell myself, but it works.”

“Oooooooooh!” said Pinkie. “Wait – how did your friend learn Equestrian?”

“She said she'd met some children exploring through the portal.” explained Sparhawk. “If she'd said they were horses -”

“PONIES!” interrupted all six Element-bearers, in chorus.”

“- if she'd said they were ponies,” continued Sparhawk, “perhaps I would have been less surprised.”

“That must be whoever it was who the Crusaders thought was a changeling.” said Twilight. “Ah, here it is. Let's see... in the case of countries with which Equestria has an extradition treaty... hmmm... no, no, no, okay, Elenia's not on the list... in the absence of an extradition treaty... hot pursuit clearly doesn't apply... no crimes on Equestrian soil... the correct and legal course of action would be an extradition hearing, presided over by one of the Princesses. That would be Luna, Celestia, or Cadance.”

“Or you, Sugarcube.” added Applejack, poking Twilight in the ribs with one hoof.

“Hmmm. Yes, or me, I guess. But I really don't have any experience in extradition hearings. I'd really rather one of the more experienced Princesses took this one on.”

Sparhawk's face was well hidden behind his visor. He considered this information for a few minutes. “Very well,” he said. “Do you mind if I go back and talk this over with my friends for a few minutes? I propose further that, we limit any visitors, whether from your world to mine, or from my world to yours, to a few metres from the portal, until we get the diplomatic niceties sorted out?”

“That seems quite reasonable.” said Rarity.

“Hold on a minute.” said Rainbow Dash. “There's somepony here who's been real quiet, and I want to hear what he thinks of this.”

She zipped forward, and poked Sparhawk's horse on the nose. “You have anything to say, big guy?” she asked.

The horse snorted, and attempted to bite Dash's hoof; however, Dash's reflexes were too sharp.

“Faran's got a bit of a temper.” said Sparhawk. “Don't poke him in the nose again, he can do a lot worse than biting.”

“What's that thing in his mouth?” asked Rainbow. She looked over Faran's bit and bridle, working out the effects if Sparhawk pulls back on the reins in his hand... “Oh, that can't be comfortable.”

“Why would anypony want to wear anything like that?” asked Fluttershy. She hovered up, to get a closer look.

“If Ah had ta guess,” said Applejack grimly, “it ain't something he'd be wearin' 'cos he wants ta. Anypony remember the Diamond Dogs?”

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. “He's a slave, isn't he?” she asked. “You've enslaved ponies where you come from!”

Chapter 9: Escape

The highwayman's camp was swiftly packed up,saddlebags and saddles slipped on the horses. The Great and Powerful Trixie was largely ignored for a full fifteen seconds. She grabbed the opportunity with both hooves.

First, her magic went to the hobble on her rear legs. It took five seconds to untie that. Then the rein, which was tied to a nearby tree. That took another three seconds to untie. Removing the bridle would take longer, simply because she couldn't get a good look at something so close to her own face – for the moment, she simply looped the rein over her own back, to prevent it from dragging and getting caught (another two seconds). Three careful, quiet steps backwards -

“Hey, it's loose!”

and then Trixie was spotted. She reared up on her hind legs, whinnied, and threw a smoke-cloud enchantment at the ground.

By the time the smoke had dissipated, Trixie was halfway to the horizon and still accelerating.

“After it! It's getting away!”

* * *

“Faran is not a slave.” insisted the black-armoured Knight.

“Um...” said Fluttershy.

“He looks like a slave.” replied Dash. “Why would anyone possible choose to have something like that stuck in their mouth?”

Sparhawk considered this for a while. How exactly does one describe the process of breaking a horse to saddle and bridle without it looking very bad to a race of sentient ponies?

“Um... could you...” said Fluttershy, quietly.

“And you stink.” continued Dash, backing away slightly and holding her nose with one hoof. “I mean, seriously, I don't see why we shouldn't -”

“Rainbow Dash!” interrupted Rarity, grabbing Dash's tail in her magic and pulling her friend away from the knight. “No matter what else we might think of him, this... creature... is a guest in Ponyville. Possibly in all of Equestria. And we do not treat guests in such a manner! No matter how unfashionable their wardrobes.”

“That's right!” agreed Fluttershy. “And also...”

“Can we give him a 'Welcome To Equestria' party then?” asked Pinkie. “Can we can we can we? I'm sure he'll be much nicer after a few games of Pin-the-tail-on-the-pony!”

“That might be a good idea, but...” began Fluttershy.

“I still say we kick him out and free his slave before he brings an army of his friends and enslaves us all.” suggested Rainbow Dash.

“Everypony BE QUIET!” shouted Twilight.

A sudden hush fell.

“Fluttershy.” said Twilight. “You were trying to say something?”

“Oh, um, it's – it's probably not all that important, really...” muttered Fluttershy, as every nearby eye turned to look at the yellow pegasus.

“I would like to hear it, please, Fluttershy.” said Twilight, firmly.

“Well, um, it's just that, well...” Fluttershy took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and tried not to think of the number of ponies all looking at her at once. “It's-just-that-we've-got-to-keep-in-mind-that-Discord-opened-this-portal-and-I-know-he's-reformed-now-but-he's-still-a-spirit-of-chaos-and-disharmony-so-we-really-shouldn't-jump-to-conclusions-too-quickly!” she said, all in one long breath.

There was another brief silence. Fluttershy muttered “eep” and hid behind her mane.

“Thank you, Fluttershy.” said Twilight. “That was a very important point. Now, what we have here, is two separate nations, with a portal between them. Neither of us, knows very much about the other. Therefore, I would like to propose that each nation send a small group of, let us say, no more than half a dozen – no, wait – make that seven people, to be given a brief tour of the other's nation. Then we can observe each other's cultures, and thus try to avoid misunderstandings in the near future. What does everypony think?”

“That sounds like an absolutely wonderful idea, darling.” said Rarity.

“I'd need to sort out a few security arrangements,” said Sparhawk, “but we could give a small group a tour in about two hours, if you like.”

“I think it's the right thing to do.” said Fluttershy.

“We're going to meet LOTS of new people!” rejoiced Pinkie.

“I disagree.” said Rainbow Dash. “We should kick him back through the portal and then go and free the pony-slaves.”

“That could just be a big misunderstandin', sugercube.” suggested Applejack. “Ah think we gotta know the whole truth 'fore we start tryin' ta change things. An' this tour sounds like jus' the way ta do that. Ah'm in.”

“Alright.” said Twilight, with a nod. “Two hours, you say? Alright, girls, Spike, in two hours we'll go on a tour. Then we'll lead Sparhawk's delegation on a tour of Ponyville. Okay?”

“What about Krager?” asked Fluttershy. “We can't just leave the poor thing here, all alone.”

“Oh.” said Twilight. “Um. Well...”

“I don't suppose I could take a, um, cart or something, to another city?” asked Krager. “Somewhere far from this portal?”

“Well, if you really want to, I guess you could take the train to, let's say, Manehatten.” suggested Twilight. “It's a bigger city, and easier to get lost there...”

“Trust me,” said Krager, looking up at Sparhawk, “getting lost someplace far away from here is exactly what I want.”

* * *

“I'm lost.” said Trixie, glancing around the forest. The trees rustled and whispered in the wind, mixed with the singing of strange birds and the chittering of squirrels. It was dirty, dusty, absolutely full of plants with very sharp thorns, and the only bright side to the whole business was that the highwaymen, with their larger horses, had had a good deal more difficulty than Trixie had had navigating through it. She hadn't heard any sounds of pursuit for at least five minutes.

It wasn't the first time that Trixie had been lost in a forest, with nothing to her name. But it still wasn't a pleasant position to be in, especially as she still hadn't managed to divest herself of the bridle and bit. Trotting forward with a little more care now that the pursuit appeared to have been abandoned, Trixie continued to head downhill, arriving in short order at a river.

Better yet, the river had a small pool off to one side. With a cry of joy, Trixie trotted to the edge of the pool, and carefully studied her reflection in the still waters.

Ah, Trixie sees! The buckle over there, just loosen it like so and...

Now that she cold see what she was doing, Trixie quickly removed the bridle and spat out the hated bit. And as soon as she had that off her head, she decided to slip into the invitingly cool waters and wash off the sweat and dirt that she'd accumulated over the past several hours. The cool water rippled as she slid into it, and a certain amount of splashing and croaking at the other end of the pond suggested that a family of frogs was in residence. Trixie strolled deeper into the water, until only her neck and head were above the surface, luxuriating in the feeling of cleanliness.

Of course, it was at this point, when she was furthest from the shore, that she heard the sound of pursuit once more; the crashing of a large horse through the forest, accompanied by muttered words in the unknown language of the highwaymen.

It was immediately clear that Trixie would be unable to leave the lake before the pursuer was in sight. Grabbing a quick lungful of air, therefore, she ducked below the surface, and waited for the highwaymen to pass.

There was a terrible crashing and thudding as several horses charged past at top speed. Trixie waited a moment to be sure that they were out of sight, and was about to re-surface for some air when she heard another sound – the squelch of someone stepping in the mud of the riverbank. It seemed that at least one of them had stopped. But why?

There was a jingle of buckles as the highwayman picked up Trixie's discarded bridle.

Chapter 10: Letter

To my faithful student

You are right to be cautious in this matter. We know nothing of these humans, or of what they may or may not be capable of. It speaks much of his bravery that this Sparhawk went through the portal despite the possibility of a waiting army; but now I must ask you to be similarly brave, and especially prepared.

I must also ask that you leave the Elements of Harmony in the library, safely locked in their case. It would not do for the Elements to be taken and lost in another world. Have Spike send me a message just before you leave, and another within ten minutes if all is well beyond the portal; if I do not receive the second message, then I will follow you through the portal.

The charges that Sparhawk levies against Krager are a further cause for concern. In light of this, and in order to keep Krager out of Ponyville during Sparhawk's tour, I would like to ask that you send him along to Canterlot Castle.

I am sure that I would enjoy talking to this human.

Eternally,

Princess Celestia

* * *

“If we're not going to be taking the Elements with us,” asked Fluttershy, “then do we really all have to go?”

“Well... I guess not.” said Twilight, as she put her tiara in the element display case. “Though I did think it would be a good idea for all of us to see this other world.”

“Oh. Um.” said Fluttershy. “But I don't want to leave Krager all alone either. I thought maybe I could go with him to Canterlot, so he's not all alone.”

“I assure you, I have no problems with being alone.” stated Krager firmly.

“But you might get lost.” pointed out Fluttershy.

Krager refrained from pointing out that he'd rather been counting on getting lost.

“I think,” said Rarity, firmly, “that I and Fluttershy should both accompany Krager to Canterlot, while the rest of you girls and Spike go on Sparhawk's tour.”

“I think I'd like to go to Canterlot, too.” said Spike, looking at Rarity.

“No, Spike,” said Rarity, “you need to go through the portal, so that you can send Celestia that letter to say that it's safe. I do not need to go through that portal, because there is a lot of mud on the other side; and Fluttershy and I are the members of our little group who are least suited for a purely physical altercation, should that become necessary. Besides, I've hardly had time to pack for that sort of tour.” She noted Spike's disappointed expression, and added “Perhaps next time, you can give me a tour through Krager's world.”

“Well,” said Twilight, “I guess that seems – reasonable?”

“Yeah, yeah.” grumbled Rainbow Dash. “Come on, it's been two hours, let's go and see the world of the slave-ponies.”

The group going on the tour filed out of the library, leaving only Rarity and Fluttershy with Krager.

“One last thing before we go, dear.” said Rarity to Krager. “Put Laughter and Generosity back in the display case, would you? It's really not worth the trouble of trying to steal them.”

* * *

Trixie's head burst above the murky waters. She took in a lungful of air. It took her only a moment to notice the young man standing on the bank in front of her, still holding the discarded bridle; and half a moment longer to magically zip his mouth shut, preventing him from crying out.

Then she turned about, and swam at full speed for the opposite shore. Once she had hurriedly clambered out of the river, she glanced behind, and saw the creature pawing ineffectually at its mouth.

Strange. Does it not know what a zipper is? Well, I can't leave it like that; it won't be able to eat, and I'm not going to make some strange creature starve.

She reached out with her magic, and tugged at the zipper, releasing it and causing the magic to dissipate. Then she trotted smartly forward, into the forest.

A bright blue pony has a certain amount of difficulty fading unseen into the undergrowth. But with a quick, slightly adapted mane-dye spell, Trixie's coat changed colour, becoming instead a smooth green.

It shouldn't be too hard to find a road – all Trixie needed to do was to loop around and meet the river again some distance downstream; follow it downstream until she found a road; and then follow the road (cautiously) until she found civilisation. It would then only be a matter of time – and a few shows – until she was back on her hooves again.

Maybe she could even figure out how far Equestria was from here.

Chapter 11: Cautious diplomacy

Fluttershy was very, very worried about Krager. The human was clearly getting more and more nervous all the time. It had started when Rarity had spotted him trying to steal two of the Elements of Harmony; he'd put them back, and briefly tried to pass it off as an accident, which Fluttershy didn't believe for an instant.

It was clear that he had no idea at all what it was he'd tried to steal. He'd probably gone after them just because they were shiny, and protected. Still, the fact that he'd tried at all suggested that Sparhawk's accusations had not been entirely without merit.

Still, everypony deserved a second chance; and, thanks to Rarity's intervention, Krager hadn't actually done anything that couldn't be recovered from. Not in Equestria, at least.

Krager's nervousness had only increased when he saw the train. It was immediately clear that, whatever else Elenia might have, it certainly didn't have trains. Nor, for that matter, did it have any form of self-powered vehicle. It had taken some coaxing (and a pretty direct threat from Rarity) to get Krager onto the train.

Once on the train, he seemed to be getting more and more nervous as the distance to Canterlot dropped. There was nothing unexpected about being nervous about seeing the Princesses; most ponies were. Fluttershy herself tended to be nervous about meeting them (or anyone else, but especially the Princesses).

Fluttershy was starting to worry that Krager might do something silly. Like try to jump off a moving train without wings. So she resolved to keep a very close eye on him, and hopefully catch him if he tried anything like that.

Rarity was very, very worried about Krager. His abortive attempt at stealing two of the Elements of Harmony had been the start of it; it was clear that the creature had a problem with the notion of other peoples' property. And it was with the idea of protecting other ponies' property that she had started keeping an eye on him; and that was why she'd elected to travel along with him to Canterlot.

But there was more to her worry now.

Krager was a species unknown to her, but he was still a male; and Rarity knew how to read males. The long glance at the bar when they'd walked past it. The way his nose twitched when they passed Berry Punch in the marketplace. The way he sat in the train, facing the refreshments car but far away from it.

Rarity remembered what Discord had said; that this was a human who'd drank until his liver had shut down, poisoning himself with alcohol over a period of several years. That was more than a casual drinker; that was a symptom of someone who had a serious problem. (That, or humans had astonishingly weak livers. Rarity doubted that.)

Krager was clearly torn between really, really wanting a drink, and afraid that if he drank one, he wouldn't stop.

This gave Rarity two reasons to keep an eye on him; to make sure that he stole nothing else, and to keep him away from anything alcoholic.

Krager was very, very worried about himself.

Trying to take those necklaces had been a mistake; a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. A pity, really; the opportunity had been there, and, from the care that they were treated with, he could probably have found someone willing to pay a pretty penny for them. If they even used pennies, in the land of talking horses.

What he should have done is escape first, and worry about long-term survival later. Now he was on his way, in some kind of strange machine, to meet with some sort of princess. Probably for a brief trial – more than likely nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to find out if he had any information that the ponies would find useful – and then imprisonment, execution, or worse, deportation back to Elenia. Krager had no illusions about what Sparhawk would do to him if he ever went anywhere near to Cimmura again; after all, he had played a part in kidnapping Sparhawk's wife, and Sparhawk did not easily forgive where she was concerned.

Worse yet, both ponies were keeping a very close eye on him (not that he could escape from this terrifyingly fast vehicle in any case), and he hadn't had a drink in close to twenty-four hours (a new record).

The only bright side was, the train was taking him further from the portal all the time.

* * *

Twilight stopped, just short of the portal. “We're going to want to be careful, this time.” she said. “There could be any number of them on the other side, they know we're coming, and we don't know much about how they're arm-”

“Don't be a silly-filly.” volunteered Pinkie. “We're going to be great – oh!”

She suddenly began vibrating on the spot. “O-o-o-o-h-h d-d-d-e-e-a-a-r-r...”

“What is it, Pinkie?” asked Twilight, anxiously.

“Somepony's going to have a life-changing epiphany.” said Pinkie. “I think that's what it means. I've only ever had that one once before...”

“Yes, and there was a hydra.” pointed out Twilight, firmly. “Do you know where, Pinkie?”

“Right on the other side of that archway!” said Pinkie, pointing. “And pretty soon, too. Ooooh! I want to see!”

“No, Pinkie, wait -” said Twilight, but too late; Pinkie bounced through the portal pretty promptly.

Twilight glanced at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Right.” she said. “Be prepared for anything. Spike, send the first scroll.”

With her two friends behind her, Spike nervously sitting on her back, and a shield spell ready in her mind, Twilight rushed through the portal.

* * *

“I still say you should have told me.” grumbled Sparhawk.

“They're not quite as closely related to Faran as humans are to trolls.” said Aphrael. “And you know as well as I do that most humans don't believe that humans are related to trolls at all.”

“It's not in how closely they're related.” said Sparhawk, still watching the portal. The preparations for the strangest diplomatic visit that Cimmura had ever received were as complete as they were going to get (the castle was still a hive of activity, but they'd be busy getting ready right until the guests trotted over the drawbridge, if not longer, in any case), and it was just a matter of waiting for the guests of honour at this point. “It's a matter of how closely they look like they're related. It's like – well, when you're in your real form. You're not human, but you look human, enough to fool anyone.”

The military preparations were complete, at least. Most of the stakes that they'd hurriedly hammered into the ground to break a possible cavalry charge from the portal were still there, but a path had been cleared for the diplomats; close on fifty very well-disciplined Church knights (1) waited, with crossbows ready at hand; and, in case this was insufficient, the Child-Goddess Aphrael herself was present, ready to help protect the family that she had adopted.(2)

“That's silly.” said Aphrael. “No Styric would be fooled for an instant. Even some Elenes can tell the difference between a goddess and a human. Someone's coming through.”

“Hi!” The particularly pink pony that had arrived seemed entirely unworried by the sharpened stakes, or the several steelclad soldiers standing around. “I'm Pinkie Pie! Wow, there's a lot of new people here. What's your names? Anyone want cake? Everyone likes cake, right?” Somehow, she managed to pull a full-sized cake out of her mane, and held it up for all the knights to see.

The first of the Elenians to react to the pink party pony with anything except mildly stunned silence was Aphrael; she simply vanished from Sparhawk's side and reappeared in front of Pinkie.

“You.” said Aphrael. “You are not a pony.”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie leaned back. “Of course I'm a pony!”

“No,” said Aphrael, “you're a -”

It was at this point that three ponies and a dragon hurried through the portal. They looked nervously around at the field of sharpened stakes, at the black-clad knights surrounding them.

“Ambush!” called Rainbow Dash, and there was a flicker as Twilight's shield spell suddenly encompassed the group.

“Oh, don't be silly.” said Pinkie, bouncing among the stakes. “They're all just here to say hello and have some cake!” She started handing out slices of cake on plates to the knights, one by one (where she got the plates from, none of the knights could tell). The knights looked at Sparhawk, Sparhawk looked at Aphrael; Aphrael nodded, Sparhawk nodded, and the knights graciously accepted the cake (though they kept their crossbows close at hand).

“It is not an ambush.” confirmed Sparhawk. “It's just caution. We still don't know what to expect from your side of the portal, so we threw together a few little defenses, in case anything... hostile came through.”

“That's probably a good idea.” said Pinkie, nodding. “The portal's pretty close to the Everfree Forest, so all sorts of dangerous animals might manage to slip in. Timberwolves, for example.”

“Right. Um.” Twilight, noting that most of the knights had their hands full with Pinkie's cake, cautiously lowered her shield. “Timberwolves. Right. Um, you might want some sort of fire to deal with them. I'm not sure what those are -” she nodded at the crossbows - “but hitting a timberwolf with one of them probably wouldn't do much. That axe, on the other hand...” She nodded at the single Genidian knight, a tall, bulky human well over six feet in height, who was holding a huge, double-headed battle axe. “That would probably be just the thing.”

Sparhawk nodded. “We shall keep that in mind.” he said, keeping his voice light, non-threatening. “If you'd like to come along this way, I'll show you the way to Cimmura. A few of my knights will be accompanying us; these woods are fairly safe, but not entirely without dangers of their own. Ulath, you stay here in case of wolves; Talen, Kalten, Berit, you're with us, get your horses.”

Ulath, the burly, chain-mailed Genidian nodded. Three black-armoured Pandions stood up, and went to fetch three horses.

“Hoooold on, there.” said Applejack, grabbing Rainbow's tail in her mouth before she could rush off. “Remember we're jus' here to visit fer the moment.”

“I still say they're slaves.” grumbled Dash, folding her forelegs and sulking.

Faran, Sparhawk's horse, had seen a lot in his time. But even this jaded warhorse took a step back on seeing a pony exhibit that level of forearm flexibility without apparent discomfort.

(1) Mainly black-armoured Pandions, but there were also a mail-shirted Genidian knight and a steel-armoured Alcione in the group

(2)Her incarnation as Princess Danae was simply, for a few hours, not in existence anywhere; which was causing a group of servants at the castle, and her mother, some consternation. She'd reappear quietly there as soon as she was sure that there wasn't an attack coming here. Twenty minutes' consternation was well worth it if she could divert an invading army.

Chapter 12: Pinkie's Nature

In the woods outside Cimmura, Trixie woke up. The Great and Powerful Trixie had been reduced to sleeping under the stars and grazing on the undergrowth – again. Every other time that this had happened, she'd at least known where she was...

Trixie shook her head, and concentrated on the present. Now she had to claw her way up from the bottom – again. For the third time in her life, she had to start from nothing and build up to a reasonable life.

And it was all Twilight's fault – again.

But now was not the time for revenge. Now was the time for recreating what had been taken from her.

* * *

After a quick breakfast of grass, seasoned with wild daisies, and a few leaves from a nearby bush, Trixie struck out along the nearest road. It took her only a few minutes to reach a cultivated field, and there was someone standing out there, working in it. He appeared to be the same sort of creature as those highwaymen had been... only instead of a weapon, he had his hands occupied with some sort of digging tool, with which he was working the field.

It was a bright and beautiful morning, so Trixie called out a cheery greeting and waved a hoof as she trotted past along the road. She was hoping that she could find out from this creature where the nearest large settlement was; or at least where a good place to perform would be.

But when he looked up at her, the man screamed and ran into a nearby house. Mere moments later, the shutters and doors began to close.

Strange, thought Trixie, have these people never seen a blue unicorn before?

* * *

“Well, let me put it this way,” said Sparhawk, as he led Twilight and her three friends towards the eastern gate of Cimmura. “Do you keep pets?”

“Yes.” said Twilight. “I've got an owl, and Rainbow Dash has a turtle -”

“Tortoise!” interrupted Dash.

“...sorry, yes, a tortoise called Tank. Applejack has a cat, and Pinkie back there has an alligator.”

“An alligator?” asked Sparhawk. He looked back to where Pinkie and Aphrael were trailing the group, engaged in quiet conversation. More specifically, Aphrael was engaged in conversation – Pinkie, for once, was mainly just listening. “Please don't tell Aphrael about that one.” he said. “And please don't tell my daughter, Danae, either. If she hears about that, she'll want one too.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he continued, “the horses here are very different to the ponies where you come from. They're really no more intelligent than dogs, or cats, on average. In many ways – most ways, even – they're pets. Highly trained pets, since they're useful in a fight that way, but pets. They're not really sapient.”

Dash snorted. “Likely story.” she muttered under her breath.

“I am not!” yelled Pinkie, suddenly, from behind them. “I'm just an ordinary pony!”

Everyone in front turned back to see what had caused this outburst. Aphrael stepped forward, including the others in her conversation with Pinkie. “I'll prove it, then.” she said. “All I need you to do is answer one question. Pinkie, where were you... oh, let's say... two years before the last time you were born?”

“That's not really something polite to talk about, is it?” asked Pinkie. “I mean, I'm sort of assuming, but it's not something that I've ever heard anyone else talk about before, so...”

“It's not impolite.” insisted Aphrael. “Could you please answer it? Pleeeeeeeeease?”

Aphrael is almost disturbingly good at puppy-dog eyes. Pinkie didn't stand a chance. She sighed. “Oh, alright then.” she said. “I was at a cafe. The 'Sunny Day'. Having a cup of coffee.”

“Wait, you remember stuff from before you were born?” asked Twilight. “I've never heard of anything like that before...”

“The 'Sunny Day'?” asked Rainbow. “Isn't that that place in Cloudsdale? I've been there. How could an Earth Pony have gone there without falling through the floor?”

“I wasn't an Earth pony back then, silly.” said Pinkie. “I was a pegasus. A white one, and my name was Surprise.”

Twilight's saddlebag was open, and she was taking some rapid notes. “You mean, some sort of serial reincarnation?” she asked. “How many lives can you remember?”

“Are you telling me,” asked Pinkie, “that none of you can remember your last lives?”

“Because they didn't have them.” replied Aphrael, firmly. “Most people don't. You're a special case. And there's more to it than that – you should be able to pull simple things out of nowhere, to cross vast distances in the blink of an eye. To always know where you're supposed to be, to get vague premonitions of the future, especially in the short term. It should be impossible for anyone to run away from you.”

Aphrael took a moment to pause, noticing that all three other ponies, and Spike, were paying attention. Dash was even nodding along slightly – she'd often wondered how it was that, any time she tried hiding from Pinkie, there was Pinkie, waiting.

“You're not a pony.” said Aphrael. “You're a mortal incarnation of a goddess. Just like me.”

Author's Note

I could write up a long comparison between Aphrael and Pinkie. Suffice it to say, there is a lot of overlap between their abilities.

Chapter 13: En Route

“She's a what?” asked Dash.

“You're a what?” asked Twilight.

“I'm a what?” asked Pinkie.

“The mortal incarnation of a goddess.” repeated Aphrael, with a firm nod, as if that explained everything.

“No, I'm not.” said Pinkie, firmly. “I'm just a pony.”

“Um...” said Dash, nervously.

“What is it, Dash?” asked Twilight.

“Um... there was one day... Pinkie and I were out chilling by the lake one day... you remember that day with the, um, the invasion of Pinkies?”

Twilight winced, and nodded. She remembered.

“Well, this was... kinda a few minutes before it all went crazy. I was relaxing on the shore, right, so Pinkie decided she wanted to have fun quietly so as not to disturb me...”

“Yes?” asked Pinkie. “And then what happened?”

“You were there, Pinkie.” said Dash. “Um... wait... that was you, right? Not one of those clones?”

“Clones?” asked Aphrael.

“Long story.” said Dash, waving a hoof.

“What was me?” asked Pinkie.

“You swung across, shouting very softly, and jumped into the lake without making a splash.” said Dash. “I mean... you fell slowly. That... didn't seem possible.”

Pinkie considered, and then nodded. “Yep.” she said. “That was me, alright. The one-hundred-percent original Pinkie Pie.”

“Can morta-whatsits of whatsits do that?” asked Dash.

“Yes.” said Aphrael, stepping nonchalantly up onto the air and strolling along a short distance above the ground.

“Whoa nelly!” Applejack reared back and took three rapid steps away from the hovering human.

“So...” said Twilight, in the careful tones of someone who's not going to make a final decision without all the information, “if Pinkie is the mortal incarnation of a goddess, then who's the goddess? It's not Discord, is it?”

“Discord?” asked Aphrael.

“Spirit of chaos and disharmony.” said Twilight. “The one who opened the portal.”

“Oh, him. No, for two reasons. First, Discord's a boy and Pinkie's a girl. They can't be the same person. Secondly, the goddess is Pinkie. Pinkie is Pinkie.”

“Oh my gosh!” said Pinkie, suddenly. She grabbed Twilight by the shoulders, and shook her vigorously. “Do you know what this means, Twilight? Do you know what this means?”

“N-n-n-n-no, P-p-p-p-pinkie, I d-d-d-d-don't.” said Twilight. “C-c-c-c-could you p-p-p-p-please stop shaking me?”

“Oh.” said Pinkie, lowering her hooves. “Right. It means... I'm the doozy!”

“Doozy?” asked Aphrael. “What's a doozy?”

“Ladies,” interrupted Sparhawk, looming suddenly over them atop his horse, “as interesting as this conversation is, I am certain that Queen Ehlana would appreciate meeting your delegation in the very near future. Could you possibly continue walking while you talk?”

* * *

The Great and Powerful Trixie was not all that far away, as the pegasus flies. In this particular case, of course, the pegasus would have to fly over the city of Cimmura in order to pursue a straight line between Trixie and the Elements of Harmony; an activity which would likely cause quite a significant amount of comment from the inhabitants of that city.

As the sun slowly rose (and it was slow, too; Celestia was obviously taking her time raising it this morning) the traffic along the road began to pick up. Trixie noted with some relief that she was meeting a lot of traffic coming towards her, but could see little sign of traffic approaching from her rear; this implied that there was some sort of rest stop up ahead. An inn, at the very least, though the volume of traffic suggested something larger; a town, perhaps, or a small city. Somewhere where she could set up a little magic show, perhaps on some sort of public space, begin to earn a few bits...and hopefully find someone capable of speaking Equestrian.

The reactions of the other travellers to Trixie were not encouraging. A man riding a horse as tall as Princess Celestia had taken one look at her and made a sharp U-turn. A peddler with a cart full of earthenware pots suddenly decided to take a detour through a ploughed field instead of getting close to Trixie; and he kept his hand on a large club and his eyes on Trixie until he was out of sight. A man driving a cart full of barrels had screamed and dived behind the cart, keeping it between him and Trixie all the time.

And either none of them spoke Equestrian, or none of them were willing to speak Equestrian(1). Trixie was rapidly coming to the unwelcome conclusion that she would have to do her act in mime. And she was going to have quite a bit of trouble negotiating a stay at whatever inns they had in this place...

(1) With the possible exception of the first horseman, who hadn't stayed long enough for Trixie to say anything.

Chapter 14: At the gates

City of Cimmura, southern gate

Heavy clouds moved in, and a light drizzle began to fall as the delegation approached the city gates.

“I don't think much of your weather team.” said Dash. “Or possibly, they don't think much of us, I'm not sure which.”

“Weather team?” asked Sparhawk.

“Yeah, the guys who started the drizzle.” She edged a bit closer to Twilight, who was creating a small forcefield as an umbrella.

“Nobody started it.” said Sparhawk. “Rain just happens when it does.”

His horse, Faran, ignored the entire conversation and only stopped on reaching the gate.

“Ah, Prince Sparhawk!” said the gatekeeper with a smile. “Back again, I see?”

“That's rather dangerous, isn't it?” asked Aphrael. “Messing around with the weather, I mean. It tends to have knock-on effects on weather in other places.”

“Yes, I've got some guests to meet my wife.” said Sparhawk, nodding at the four ponies and the dragon. “Could you send a messenger ahead to let her know that they're... well...”

“There's pegasi in the other places, too.” said Dash, shrugging. “We've got schedules and stuff. Quotas to meet. I could clear out this drizzle in ten seconds flat if you like.”

“You're a prince?” asked Pinkie.

Both conversations halted immediately as a lot of mystified eyes turned to Pinkie.

“...what?” asked Twilight.

“Oh, he's a prince, apparently.” said Pinkie, pointing one hoof at Sparhawk. “I was trying to talk in purple, but it came out a bit too pink.”

“Talk in purple?” asked Aphrael.

“Yeah, like you and your friends do.” said Pinkie. “You talk in purple to each other.”

There was a brief moment of silence as several of the Elenians tried to understand Pinkie.

“Words... don't have colour.” said Aphrael, after a bit.

“Of course they do!” said Pinkie. “I'll get the shade right in a bit, I'm sure.”

Sparhawk turned back to the gate guard and said, in a low voice, “That messenger, neighbour? Four of our guests are ponies, and one is apparently a miniature dragon. I'm sure my wife would appreciate a warning.”

“Are you sure it'll be safe?” asked the gate guard.

“If I wasn't,” said Sparhawk, firmly, “I wouldn't be bringing them anywhere near my wife.”

* * *

City of Cimmura, northern gate

The Great and Powerful Trixie was in a powerfully bad mood by the time she reached the city gates. A brewer's wagon left the gate as she approached – pulled by oxen and loaded with beer barrels – and she resolved to try once again to make a good impression. She called out a cheery greeting to the oxen, who ignored her and plodded on regardless – the creature riding the wagon(1) groaned and rubbed at his head, but otherwise ignored her.

...well, it was an improvement on running away, at least.

Trixie marched up to the gate, which most people leaving seemed to pass through without being stopped; but as she approached, a guard stepped forward and levelled a pike(2) at her.

“Talor?” he asked, without taking his eyes off Trixie. “Do you see the same thing as I see?”

“Um... maybe?” replied the other guard, eyeing Trixie warily.

“Hello!” said Trixie, careful to make no sudden movements in the presence of weaponry (but at the same time, another form of caution had her looking for escape routes and preparing a smoke cloud spell). “I don't seem to speak your language, does anyone here speak Equestrian?”

“A... small blue horse that sounds almost like it's talking?” said the first guard, hesitantly.

“Yes, I see the same thing.” said the second guard, slightly relieved. “What on earth are we supposed to do about it?”

Trixie looked hopefully at the two guards. The guards looked back at her.

“Send word to the palace?” suggested the first guard.

“And tell them what?” asked the second. “If we tell them we saw a bright blue unicorn out here we'll get in trouble for drinking on duty.”

“We could bring it with us...” tried the first guard.

“Are you crazy?” said the second. “Then we'll get in trouble for letting a potentially dangerous creature into the city!”

“Then what can we do?” asked the first guard.

“I think we should just chase it away and then forget about it.” suggested the second.

(1) The brewer's assistant, who had imbibed a little too much of his master's product the previous evening and was thus less surprised than he might have been to see a bright blue unicorn.

(2) The weapon, not the fish.

Prologue: Elenia

Princess Danae was not, strictly speaking, human. This was not obvious at first glance. Indeed, of the people who had known her since her latest birth, only a handful were aware of her true nature; of the rest, most did not even suspect anything of the sort. Even her own mother, Queen Ehlana, was not aware of her daughter's secret.

Princess Danae was not twelve years old. She had been born twelve years before; but she had lived thousands of years prior to that, in thousands of previous incarnations. For Princess Danae was, in reality, an incarnation of the Child-Goddess Aphrael; one of the Younger Gods of Styricum, a being of immense magical power, with senses and abilities largely undreamed of by ordinary people – though the mystical Styrics, in their quiet, rural villages probably came closer to those dreams than the more down-to-earth Elenes.

Princess Danae was also the only one of the Younger Gods to be in the city of Cimmura at the time of Discord's picnic.

This was why Princess Danae was the first to notice it. She was not the only one. She promptly turned about and hurried to interrupt her father's meeting; a spirit of chaos and disharmony suddenly turning up a mere few miles from the capital was the sort of problem that he was best at dealing with.

With her help, of course.

And it was entirely thanks to the Princess Danae that her current father, Sir Sparhawk, one of the few people alive who knew her true identity, found himself on the battlements in time to see the Sonic Rainboom.