The Minuet

Chapters

The Troubled Dentist
Existential Operator
Without the Crown
London Bridge
The Narrowing Everfree
Far Sighted
So Many Lights
Mind of the Mage
Little Foal Blue
May We All be Smiling in the End
From Eternity
The Minuet
Commend Thee to Thy Dearest Friends
Mastering Harmony

The Troubled Dentist

The Minuet
-The stories of a pony with extraordinary magic who only wanted to be a dentist.

Time and space await…

Chapter 1: The Troubled Dentist

Brushie…Brushie…the mare brushed her teeth as the day began with princess Celestia raising the sun. Her name was Minuette, but her friends liked to call her Colgate because her mane looked like the toothpaste that she was so fond of, a calm mix of blue and silver. Brushie…brushie… Colgate rinsed and grinning into the mirror, made sure her teeth were pearly white like they needed to be. After all, who would trust a dentist with dirty teeth? She had a hard enough time getting anypony to agree to let her clean their teeth. It wasn’t that she was a bad dentist, but Colgate wasn’t like other mares. Any normal pony would assume that if she was a talented dentist, then her cutie mark might look like a tooth or something. Not Colgate’s. It was like her soul was confused. All she ever wanted to be was a dentist, but her special talent, according to her cutie mark, was not dentistry, but magic. Her cutie mark was a plain, mild brown hourglass that stood out against her pastel blue fur.

Being a unicorn, Colgate was of course capable of using magic, but had never taken the time to study it like she had dentistry. Her cutie mark came from a day when she was a filly and she and Berry Punch had been playing around Sugarcube Corner when a boulder that had apparently been knocked loose from the force of an explosion n the sky nearly crushed them. By no intention of her own, Colgate used magic for the first time and somehow inadvertently teleported both of them back to her own home out of fear. When she opened her eyes to realize she was okay there it was, that nonsensical cutie mark. Since then it had gotten worse. It was like her magic developed a will of its own and it would pull her from place to place. She would be trotting along and suddenly her horn would light up and spark and she would end up a street over or one time randomly in Canterlot with the ground at her hooves scorched and the feel of a sort of static cling in her mane. One time she had even woken up to find that the day was exactly the same as the last. Her power had actually reversed the flow of time while she had been asleep.

At one point she had even been offered a place in Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns being told that she had more raw power than any other unicorn, but had declined. Not an easy thing to do when the Princess asks you herself, but all Colgate wanted even as a filly was to be a dentist. It fascinated her. She didn’t want to learn anymore about her power, in part, because it frightened her. She only wanted her power to go away so she could be a normal dentist and so ponies could trust her not abruptly vanish halfway through cleaning their teeth or accidentally pull a tooth because her flow of time suddenly fell out of sync with everypony else’s. She found recently that if she concentrated enough when she knew her magic was beginning to act up she could stop it. This made for a few awkward silences or perhaps dramatic pauses when having conversations, but it was better than ending up in a field of slime in Froggy Bottom Bog or crashing one of Fancypants’s dinner parties again. It was a fix Colgate hoped would last.

Time and space were complicated things and so on this breezy Equestrian day, instead of getting a headache over the implications of time travel or getting tied up in string theory, Colgate trotted across Ponyville to help her friends Berry Punch and Bon Bon harvest fruit. It would be a run of the mill exercise, the products of which would likely be used by Berry Punch to mix up her fruity cocktails that she was not only known for selling but consuming as well. She mentioned that she had been growing something new in her garden this year, but had refused to tell Colgate what it was saying that it was better to wait until it was ready. Perhaps she had just been trying to avoid any shame under the circumstance that whatever it was she was trying to grow died because she couldn’t take care of it properly. This way if it didn’t pan out, no pony would be able to judge whether or not her gardening skills were actually bad or the plant was just temperamental. But Colgate was probably reading far too into things like she always did.

When Colgate arrived Berry Punch was in her garden rolling watermelons around and picking blueberries from bushes that were so green they made the grass look pale. Berry Punch waved to her friend as she saw her approach glancing strangely from left to right.

“Hey there Colgate,” Berry Punch greeted.

“Hey,” Colgate answered.

“So, are you ready to find out what I’ve managed to-”

“Wait,” Colgate interrupted. Berry Punch sunk a little bit looking worried. “Before you show me anything, let’s see those teeth.”

“Oh…” Berry Punch looked around shyly, casting awkward glances and giving Colgate an uneasy close-mouthed grin. “I’m sure they’re fine Colgate. Don’t you want to-”

“No excuses,” Colgate demanded. “Give me a great big smile. Like this.” Colgate smiled as wide as she could, showing off a set of pure white chompers that she was proud to declare that she brushed every day. Berry Punch lowered her ears sheepishly trying not to make eye contact. There was a moment of silence in which the only sound was Colgate muttering the words “Brushie Brushie” through her grin as she stared glittery eyed at her friend who had resorted to twiddling her front hooves still refusing to show her teeth. Colgate frowned.

“Come on,” She egged on.

“You don’t have to check everyday.”

“I don’t. But I care about my patients. Now give me a nice healthy smile.” Berry Punch waited a few moments and seeing no way out gave her friend a reluctant and self-conscious smile.

“Hmmm,” Colgate squinted.

“You make me nervous,” Berry Punch stated through clenched teeth.

“Berry?”

“What?”

“Have you been brushing like I told you?”

“Well…” Berry Punch closed her mouth and put her hooves over it. “You can te- I mean of course every…well most of the…every other day…perhaps…I’m not sure.”

“Berry…” Colgate raised her eyebrows.

“Okay, not everyday! It’s hard to keep track.”

“Well you need to brush if you want to drink all that fancy wine.”

“Um…okay…” There was an awkward silence which was only broken by the approach of Bon Bon with two full bags strapped over her back.

“Oh hey Bon Bon!” Colgate said excitedly and rushed over to her. “Your turn. Give me a big grin!” Colgate put her hooves to Bon Bon’s face and forced her lips to a smile. “Hey you remembered!” Bon Bon turned abruptly tripping Colgate with one of the full sacks of fruit her face falling back to a stoic expression. Colgate toppled onto her back as Bon Bon simply acted as if it were natural.

“So what’s in the bags?” Colgate inquired as she rolled herself over. Berry Punch rushed straight over throwing a hoof across Bon Bon’s back.

“Glad you asked!” She said excitedly, all too eager to change the subject. Berry Punch reached into one of the bags and yanked out one of the small fruits inside balancing the small shiny red sphere on the flat of her hoof. The thing sparkled in the sunlight and had Colgate perplexed over what it was supposed to be. At first her eyes had assumed it to be a ruby, but those didn’t grow on bushed and someone like Berry Punch wouldn’t be interested in gems.

“Well?” Berry Punch held the fruit proudly. “What do you think?”

“Hmmmmmm…” Colgate narrowed her eyes, stretching her neck to squint at the object as if moving from her place would break her concentration. There was a pause in which the only movement was Bon Bon rolling her eyes at Colgate’s confusion.

“Bet you thought I couldn’t do it,” Berry Punch commented boastfully. Colgate, giving up on identifying whatever it was Berry Punch was holding that made her brag so, simply looked her friend in the eye and asked,

“What is it?” One might have thought that the words Colgate spoke somehow held their own weight in Kilos, as upon hearing them Berry Punch nearly toppled over backwards like the force of them entering her ears shoved her away. She, was so to speak, floored.

“What are-” Berry Punch attempted a stammered repeat. “What are they!?” Colgate lowered her ears from the intensity of her shout and went wide eyed. At this point, Bon Bon attempted to chime in, only to be interrupted by the flabbergasted pony who wanted to be the one to deliver the grand enlightening explanation.

“They’re c-”

“Shh!” Berry Punch shoved her hoof into Bon Bon’s mouth and effectively, the fruit as well. “Quiet Bon Bon.” Bon Bon let out an uninterested huff and contently chewed on the fruit that had been so graciously presented to her.

“These-!” Berry Punch began, taking her hoof away from Bon Bon to brandish the fruit before Colgate only stopping short once she realized she wasn’t holding anything. She stared at her empty hoof for a second and then to Bon Bon who chewed away noisily with a smug expression on her face. Berry Punch’s jaw dropped as if she felt somehow betrayed. Bon Bon swallowed and gave her lips a single lick and stared over Berry Punch’s head ignoring her crestfallen face. Berry Punch shook her head several times to cast off her daze and quickly swiped another one of the small spherical fruits from the sack at Bon Bon’s side.

“These,” Berry Punch began again holding up a now blue sparkling fruit for Colgate to see. “These are crystal berries.”

“Ohhhh” Colgate breathed out.

“Courtesy of princess Cadence.”

“I didn’t know you could grow those here.”

“They’re…different.” That didn’t really provide any insight into how difficult they were to grow. Berry Punch was either being humble by not revealing how painstaking it was or hiding how simple it actually was so that her friends’ lack of knowledge might make her look more impressive. Whatever the case, Colgate knew what was coming next.

“Can you imagine the punch I could make with these?” Berry Punch swirled about elated with the berry on her hoof as if she were dancing with it. Colgate gave a snicker and it was as if Berry Punch suddenly became aware of what she was doing. She stopped immediately and flustered a response.

“It’ll be delicious and you know it.” Berry Punch swiftly put the fruit back into the bag pausing as she did so. She looked confused, like the bag had something in it that it shouldn’t have. Berry Punch reached into one of the bags and pulled out three different colored apples.

“Bon Bon,” Berry Punch frowned. “These aren’t crystal berries.” Bon Bon looked even more surprised than Berry Punch to see apples come out of a sack that was only supposed to have berries in it.

“I didn’t put-” She started, but seemed to realized something and frowned. “Ah screw it…” She started over in monotonous speech, “I didn’t put those in my ba-”

“Surprise!” came a unison shout. Bon Bon still didn’t finish her sentence and fell to her stomach in astonishment, stirring up a thin cloud of dust about her and spilling a few berries as three fillies grinned wolfishly behind her.

“Hey you guys,” Colgate greeted the three. The Cutie Mark Crusaders. That’s what they called themselves and as usual it seemed they were up to anything they could think of.

“Did you three put these apples here?” Berry Punch asked.

“We sure did,” Applebloom beamed with pride.

“We were gonna get our cutie marks in being sneaky,” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Bet you didn’t even see us huh Bon Bon?” Scootaloo smirked bringing her eyes so close to Bon Bon’s that their noses almost touched.

“Not at all,” Bon Bon puckered her brow.

“See!” Scootaloo bounced about energetically.

“But still no cutie mark,” Sweetie Belle sighed checking her flank.

“Hey don’t worry,” Colgate reassured them. “You’ll get there. And here’s your first test. How many of you remembered to brush your teeth?”

“Ooo! Ooo!” Sweetie Belle squeaked perking up instantly. “I did!” She smiled as wide as she could.

“Great,” Colgate exclaimed enthusiastically. “You’ll have perfectly white teeth for when you can’t stop smiling when you do get your cutie mark.” Sweetie Belle looked pleased. “What about you Applebloom?”

“Ah sure did,” She grinned as proof. “Ah made Applejack try it too.”

“Really? What’d she say?”

“She told me ah was weird.” Applebloom’s grin changed to a soft puppy-eyed look.

“Persistence is key. What about you Scootaloo?” Scootaloo brushed her hoof through the dirt.

“Well…I have been using the mouth washy stuff you showed us.” Scootaloo donned an expression that said “good enough” and seemed satisfied.

“That’s good Scoot,” Colgate advised genuinely. “But you really should brush too you know.”

“But with the washy stuff you can blow bubbles!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“You what?” Before Colgate could pry any deeper for an answer she felt a sharp pain in her forehead. She flinched as a blue spark jolted from her horn and flew into the air. Her vision closed in and the worried voices of her friends became muffled. It felt like a rubber band had wrapped itself around her head and was slowly squeezing. This was her magic acting up again. Still mysteriously beyond her control, it took any senses she had left to fight against being borne away to the crystal empire or having to re-experience the entire incident that had just happened. It wouldn’t be a problem, but it did hurt a little. In fact it hurt more than it usually did this time and her line of sight seemed even more narrow and tunnel-like. It was also taking longer for her to get rid of the sensation. And even though her eyesight had close in on her she could still see the frantic patter of hooves about her.

Eventually it began to subside. The invisible band about her head began to loosen, the feeling in her limbs began to return, and her vision brightened and as everything became clear, Colgate was met by the worried eyes of everypony that had been near her. They were all standing to her left, either with a concerned or shocked expression. Even Bon Bon who had seen it necessary to abandon the bags of crystal berries to move out of the way, looked like she had just seen a dragon. What had surprised them? It should have just looked like she cringed from a migraine or something, but the look in their eyes betrayed that it wasn’t that simple. Colgate looked down at her hooves. She had physically dug all four of them at least an inch or so into the soil and next to her right hoof was what used to be a crystal berry only instead of having its normal gem-like gleam it was singed and black as if someone had thrown it into a fire or roasted it for too long.

“Golly Miss Colgate,” Applebloom said shakily. “What was that all about?” Berry Punch walked up to her slowly and placed a hoof around her back.

“You okay Minuette?” Berry Punch whispered. Now Colgate knew something was wrong. Berry Punch rarely used Colgate’s real name unless it was something serious and now Colgate could only imagine what could have spurred such a reaction while she was struggling against her own magic. “I think you should run along now fillies,” Berry Punch suggested.

“O-Okay…” Sweetie Belle agreed halfheartedly. Applebloom trotted over and picking up one of the apples they had snuck into the berries with her mouth, laid it at Colgate’s feet.

“Maybe it’ll help?” She suggested tentatively. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle began to walk off, Scootaloo reluctantly turning to follow her friends.

“Gosh, hope you feel better Colgate,” Scootaloo parted with Colgate’s gaze with worried eyes. Once the fillies’ backs were turned Colgate felt the urge to cry wash over her. It hurt to think those three were actually afraid of her. They had seemed terrified and it was her fault. It was her stupid magic. She hadn’t meant to do whatever it was she did that frightened them. She stomped a hoof and suppressed any tears that might have betrayed her feelings. Berry Punch was thankfully empathetic to her friend and knew she was upset. Bon Bon was still at a loss for words.

“Was that your magic?” Berry Punch asked.

“Yeah…” Colgate admitted. “But what happened? Usually I just get a big headache and it goes away after a bit.” Even as she said this though, Colgate had to admit that it had been much more difficult to resist this time. And usually the pain subsided after an episode. This time it lingered like a stuffy nose after you sneeze too many times.

“Beats me,” Berry Punch shrugged. “Your horn just stated shinning and throwing sparks everywhere. Me and Bon Bon had to stomp out some small flames so the bushes didn’t catch fire.”

“Really?” Colgate looked down sullenly. She hadn’t meant to cause such chaos and such a thing had never happened before. Was her power actually beginning to fight back against her attempts to repress it now? It sure looked that way.

“Hey…you okay?” Berry Punch’s concern made Colgate’s chest twinge. She was grateful, but at the same time felt bad for making her friends worry. It was a useless predicament.

“I just need a few moments,” Colgate sighed lifting Berry Punch’s hoof from her back and wandering off, not really knowing where she was going and leaving the apple that had been placed at her feet undisturbed.

“Hey. We could really use your help Colgate,” Berry Punch appealed after her friend.

“Nah. I need a bit to think. Besides, I don’t want to set your garden on fire.”

“Hey don’t say that. You can have the first glass of crystal berry punch.” Berry Punch gave a placid grin, but Colgate didn’t turn back to see it.

“I’ll pass.” Colgate floated off, her hooves listlessly moving themselves as she walked. Berry Punch’s face saddened and she lowered her ears. Colgate didn’t know what else to do though. She didn’t want to risk ruining all the fruit Berry Punch had worked so hard to grow, especially the crystal berries. She seemed especially proud of them and in light of what had just happened, Colgate didn’t trust herself around them. Perhaps that wasn’t the way to phrase that though now that she thought about it. It wasn’t herself that she didn’t trust. It was her magic, which from the very start Colgate never really considered a part of herself. It was like a separate spiteful force inside her even more its own entity now than ever. It pained her to think that the solution she thought she had found to her problem was turning out to only have been temporary.

Colgate found her solace under a lonely tree outside Ponyville. From the start, she didn’t really know where she was headed when she left her friends to harvest the rest of the crop without her. She didn’t want to go home. It would have made her feel lazy and unaccomplished going home so soon. To add to this, it didn’t seem like coming back the next day to help with whatever didn’t get done was really plausible as Colgate observed from the activity of the Pegasi, it looked like they were planning a rainfall in the near future. She sat there under a leafy shade tree in the grass needlessly pondering what she would do if she couldn’t get her magic under control for far longer than she should have. She knew it wasn’t good for her and she knew that no matter how hard she thought about it a revelation wasn’t going to just fall into her head out the tree she wallowed underneath.

A twitch at first. It was in her eyebrow. Then, the sensation of that band around her head began creeping back. Colgate cursed her luck. It was happening again. At least this time there was nopony around for her to hurt. The first spark shot from her horn and her vision tunneled down to a cylinder again, all other noise masked into a muffle like the band around her head was squeezing her brain in a way that was preventing certain signals from reaching it. Her limbs locked up as she struggled against the biting pain, a fierce pounding in her head as if her heart had decided that was where it was supposed to be. It was even worse now. At this point, she was practically blind, but too fearful of what might happen to give up and let the magic run its course. Her entire consciousness was locked up. Was she even breathing? She couldn’t tell. It was taking every cell in her mind to stop her magic.

Then it was like something clicked. She felt that constricting feeling around her head begin to loosen and the pounding of her pulse slowly make its way back into her chest where it was supposed to be. She could feel her joints soften from their stiff state like oil being poured on creaky gears. Her eyesight rippled like pond water as it recovered from its comatose state. Her head spun for a few moments and Colgate clapped her hoof against her skull to fight the disorienting dizziness. Then, her hearing began to come back to her as the final pressure in her head was released like steam was coming out of her ears. They popped and then she thought they popped again. As her dizziness faded she could make out what she first thought was her ears popping but now discerned it as a crackling noise accompanied by snapping sounds. The air was hot. Abnormally hot. At first Colgate assumed it was her body reacting to the surge of magic she had just experienced. But the heat wasn’t coming from her body, but from a different source, namely behind her. Colgate had recovered enough at this point to think logically and see plainly although still slightly dizzy. She turned around merely out of curiosity

Her eyes were met with a brilliant display of red and orange light blinding even against the sun behind it. The whole tree she had been standing under was ablaze in a sweltering pillar of fire. It was a good thing Colgate hadn’t stayed to harvest fruit. She was right not to have trusted herself. She had no doubt caused this. She attempted to back away instinctly, but tipped back onto her hindquarters due to lack of balance. The dizziness was still affecting her. For a moment she thought the flames would lash out at her and that would be the end of it. What a terrible way to go. But before she even had time to recover herself a large rain cloud overshadowed the blaze from above. And then a distant screaming gradually getting closer.

“aaaaaaaAAAAHHHH!” from above something struck the rain cloud and a waterfall’s worth of torrent plummeted to the hillside extinguishing the inferno with a fierce hiss that let off a column of smoke that was swallowed by yet more water. Something poked a hole in the cloud and plummeting through the falling torrent collided with Colgate. There was no time for her to react. She saw a few stars, but at this point they were comforting and the feeling of landing in water logged soil was preferable to fire any day. Colgate shook her head a few times to get the water off and orient herself as the rain cloud dissipated and the last of the water dripped from the charred tree branches. Now who was the pony who landed on top of her?

“Oops. My bad.” a voice said. Why was she apologizing Colgate wondered? The mare, as evident by the voice, had probably saved her life. The unknown Pegasus got off Colgate’s back and settled into a sitting position next to her in the wet grass. “Ohhhhhh” She seemed to be in wonder, looking up at the tree that was practically a giant twig sticking out of the ground now. “Did I do that?” Colgate got to her feet and took a look at her apparently inadvertent savior. It was a gray Pegasus with a blonde mane and bubbles for a cutie mark. Colgate recognized her. Everypony knew this mare somehow.

“Derpy?” Colgate meant it as a greeting but it came across as a question in her slight surprise.

“Oh hi,” Derpy replied. Then she put on a sad face and looked at the ground skimming the water with one of her hooves in a shy apologetic manner. “Sorry about this Colgate.” Why she was apologizing? Colgate affirmed that Derpy had done this on accident, but couldn’t let her look so sorrowful in light of saving her.

“No, no,” Colgate reassured her. “Thank you.” Colgate took one of Derpy’s hooves into two of hers and shook it. Derpy looked at her hoof curiously, a sense of bewilderment in her eyes.

“What?”

“I kind of set the tree on fire,” Colgate admitted. “If you hadn’t dumped all that water on me things might have gotten a bit ugly.” Colgate smiled at her and paused. “So thank you.” Derpy tilted her head, blinking at Colgate. This expression turned quickly into a grin
.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Oh good,” Derpy sighed. “I thought you’d be mad at me. I bet they’ll be mad at me though. I lost all the rain water in that cloud.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Your timing was perfect.” A drop of water fell from Derpy’s mane onto her nose. She sneezed and shook herself dry.

“So I helped?” Derpy asked.

“Most definitely!” Derpy beamed with pride at this acknowledgement.

“So what happened to the tree?”

“Oh,” Colgate glanced away. “ Well I…I don’t…or…I don’t know, I just…” She trailed off and looked away from Derpy. The Pegasus tilted her head again in curiosity.

“What’s wrong?” Had it been anypony else, the question might have seemed pretentious or an attempt to only appear empathetic, but in the light of Derpy’s innocent wall eyed expression it was as earnest as anypony could have possibly been. She was asking honestly because she sensed she had touched on something that made Colgate upset and her sincere concern put Colgate at ease.

“It’s my magic,” Colgate said after a pause. “I can’t seem to control it now. Just this morning I almost set Berry Punch’s garden on fire. I keep screwing things up.”

“Oh I know how you feel,” Derpy smiled. “I screw things up all the time. Like this rain cloud you know. It was supposed to go to Cloudsdale, but here it is.” Derpy poked at the mush below her with her hoof. Colgate gave a faint smile. It was strange how Derpy had somehow managed to relate to her, but at the same time, very touching. It was enough to make Colgate forget, for the moment, that the problem with her magic wasn’t actually solved.

“Looks like both our screw ups made this mess,” Derpy giggled. Colgate giggled with her. Not because she thought it was funny, but because she was glad to have someone understand her on some level.

“Thank you Derpy,” Colgate gave her a light embrace simply because she thought she needed a better way to say thanks that was more than just saying it.

“awh,” Derpy seemed a bit flattered. “Hugs!” Derpy returned the hug with fervor taking flight a bit before letting go so that when she did Colgate flopped back into the swamp that the hillside had turned into. “Well I have to get back to Cloudsdale.”

“Okay Derpy,” Colgate smiled. “Tell them the water was well spent.”

“Will do!” Derpy waved and with that, fluttered off in every direction towards Cloudsdale. Colgate didn’t move from where she was despite the fact she was practically sitting in mud. It’s strange how little things can give one the hope in conquering larger obstacles. That, and the scent of wet grass was one she was quite fond of.

Just then, Colgate spotted Berry Punch trotting toward the hill balancing something on her head. Upon reaching the top she grabbed it with her hoof and presented it to Colgate with a clink. It was a glass with a purple liquid in it with a pungent smell of ripe fruit.

“What’s this?” Colgate asked.

“Well…” Berry Punch explained glancing to side. “I felt bad and…well I did tell you, you could have the first glass of crystal berry punch so…Here it is!” She held it up for Colgate to take. Colgate hesitated for a moment, deciding against using even a simple levitation spell to take the glass and took it with her own hoof.

“Thanks Berry. I’m sorry I walked off like that. Do you still need help?”

“Well of course. Do you feel better?”

“Yeah. I just needed a bit to cool off.” This, Colgate realized when she said it, had happened in more ways then one and now Berry Punch was just realizing what she had stepped in by coming up the hill to give her punch.

“Wh-Why is it all muddy up here?” Berry Punch asked, looking a bit perturbed at the sight of a muddy hoof she had lifted from the mire.

“It rained,” Colgate explained. Berry Punch raised an eyebrow in disbelief and Colgate decided to omit the part where she had set the tree on fire. Berry Punch somehow hadn’t noticed, so instead Colgate took a sip of the punch she had been given. It was indescribable. It was a sweet and tangy myriad of natural sugars that made her taste buds jump around. Even the drink itself still had that crystal sheen that the berries did.

“You have to try this!” Colgate insisted presenting the glass back to Berry Punch. She eyed it with a quirky smile.

“Well…I may have taken a sip before you…on the way here…and…ihadtogobackcauseIdrankawholeglass!” It took a moment for Colgate to process Berry Punch’s mach speech, but somehow she had understood it. But after tasting the marvelous fruity potion, Colgate could hardly blame her friend for drinking a whole glass. The stuff was irresistible, especially, Colgate imagined, for someone like Berry Punch. She couldn’t be mad at her.

“Well let’s go make some more!” Colgate exclaimed.

“What about your magic?” Berry Punch asked.

“It shouldn’t be a problem now.” There was no way Colgate could be entirely sure of this, but somehow she said it with perfect confidence and not only meant it but believed it. It didn’t seem like another incident was going to happen. Not after Derpy had done such a simple, but perfect job at lifting her lowered spirits.

“You sure?” Berry Punch wasn’t asking because she was worried about her crop, but because she was worried about Colgate herself.

“I’m sure,” Colgate affirmed. “Now let’s go make some more of this awesome punch!” Colgate drank the rest greedily, licking her lips as she swallowed the last of it.

“You bet!” Berry Punch hopped up and down in excitement, splashing in the mush she had seemingly forgotten about. “Besides, even right here is far too close to the Everfree forest for my comfort.” Colgate glanced behind her. The Everfree was distant, but still visible and she knew Berry Punch hated the place. Mostly because of the spiders. Of course, having creepy insects poke at one in the dark might scare anyone, but Berry Punch especially.

“Careful,” Colgate teased. “One of those spiders might get you from here.” Berry Punch cringed at her comment, not finding it as funny as Colgate did.

“Ewww,” Berry Punch wiggled uncomfortably. “Don’t say that. It’s…just…ewwww!” Obviously she had no words for her phobia.

“Hiss!” Colgate enunciated the word and splashed a bit of water at Berry Punch.

“Gah!” With that the two left the hillside and after Colgate had successfully chased her friend all the way back to her garden and angry glares were cast, they met back up with Bon Bon and made a day of picking fruit and making punch. To Colgate’s pleasure, she didn’t have another episode that day. Her magic stayed quiet after the incident with the tree and while she did avoid using it at all the rest of that day, her friends didn’t seem to mind or notice. The day was great and by the end, if a pony were capable of getting drunk on sugary punch, Berry Punch might have accomplished it. Crystal berry punch was probably her new favorite drink in Equestria and at the end of the day she bragged that she had drank nine entire glasses. It was more surprising that she actually kept track. She even poured some into a jar to save for princess Cadence to thank her for letting her attempt to grow them.

It was a success and as the moon came into the sky that night Colgate knew Berry Punch would demand that they go to the Crystal Empire in the morning to deliver her prized new concoction to the princess pony to pony. Colgate would of course agree and closed her eyes with her magic out of mind and quiet as the stars Luna had raised into the sky. It seemed improbable, but it was nonetheless a relief.

Existential Operator

Chapter 2: Existential Operator

Time and Space Await…

Despite going to sleep in a mood free of worry, when Colgate awoke she knew something didn’t feel right. No, there was no immediate danger, nothing broken, nothing burned or scorched, but it was the air around her. Colgate got up groggily, expecting the heavy feeling in her head to go away after brushing her teeth. Burshie…brushie…nothing. The oxygen around her felt stiff and her skull felt like it weighed more than usual. After eating some oats for breakfast and trying to get herself moving by stretching and running in a circle outside, the feeling still persisted.

Colgate had thought that the brisk morning air might help, but her head still felt like there was a balloon trying to inflate inside of it. The slightly chilled air still cool from the night was the perfect kind for cleaning out clogged sinuses too. Again, no effect. At this point, Pegusi were moving in clouds for the rain that they had planned. Perhaps a little cold water would clear it up, Colgate thought. But her intuition kept telling her it wasn’t sinus related. She didn’t feel that sick, just heavy headed. She could still breathe through her nose cleanly. Colgate brushed at her mane in an attempt to get rid of the static that was accumulating in it. She began bumping her head against the side of buildings, perhaps at the risk of looking a bit quirky, to try to force the feeling out of her head.

“What…is…wrong.” Colgate said the words out loud in sync with her head hitting the side of her house. Before she could try and contemplate the issue any further through her muggy conscience, she was interrupted from her head bashing.

“Hey Colgate!” It was Berry Punch with an abnormally cheery greeting. Colgate didn’t look at her, but kept muttering to herself random phrases about headaches and bad luck as she continued to make a hollow bonk without any alleviative effect. “Uhh, what are you doing?” Colgate stopped her antics and looked at her friend through what felt like puffy eyes.

“Trying to get rid of a headache,” Colgate explained. “This probably isn’t the best choice, but I’m waiting for it to rain.”

“Well wait no more!” Berry Punch nearly shouted the words and it was unlike her to be so vocal or even so awake in the morning. She was an afternoon person, the type that would always feel groggy unless they woke up at noon, but could stay awake long into the night without trouble. This was a bit unlike her, but perhaps she had used some of the crystal berry punch she had leftover to jump start herself. Whatever she was about to tell Colgate, she was very excited about. “I talked to Zecora and she said she found a way to suppress your magic!” She went to Zecora?

“You went into the Everfree forest?” Colgate gave her friend a puzzled expression. A lot of ponies were a bit wary of the Everfree, but this mare was terrified of any creature with more than four legs. “Did Bon Bon talk you into this?”

“I was worried about you. I wasn’t going to let the Everfree forest stop me from helping my friend. Now come on! You won’t have to worry about your magic anymore after this.” Berry Punch grabbed Colgate by the hoof and began to pull her along. Colgate resisted at first trying to assure her that her magic was under control.

“Berry, you don’t have to do this,” Colgate persuaded. “My magic will be fine. I-I’ve got it under control.” Berry Punch didn’t listen; she just kept tugging her friend along like her solution was indisputable. Colgate didn’t doubt Zecora’s ability to suppress a unicorn’s magic, but would she have agreed to such a thing? Colgate knew just as well as any mare that just because Zecora could do something didn’t mean she would. She was quite good at being her own power check. Even withstanding this, Colgate allowed herself to be pulled along, not entirely sold on the idea, but believing Berry Punch only had good intentions. After all, even if Berry Punch was being unreasonable Colgate knew Zecora would be reasonable and if Colgate really didn’t want an alchemic remedy to her magic problem, Zecora wouldn’t force it on her.

Something still tugged a little at Colgate though. Perhaps it was just the air bubble in her head clouding her reasoning, but once the trees of the Everfree loomed over them Colgate waited for her opportunity. Unfortunately it didn’t come quickly. She frowned after a bit of walking into the woods yielded nothing she was looking for. She supposed it wouldn’t be too bad if they got to Zecora’s without the chance she was looking for, but she really wanted to clear the air. Not the actual air that is, but rather her suspicions. The space around her still felt thick for some reason like she was surrounded by half congealed oxygen. Even so, despite its odious ambiance if there was one thing the Everfree forest had that was inviting, it was its scents. Especially due to the gathering rain, the forest a brisk and dewy smell to it, the thirsty leaves anticipating water.

The low hanging foliage brushed across her face more than once as Berry Punch made no move to avoid it and if Colgate closed her eyes and just took in the smells, the dark bushes and cobweb covered trees weren’t so creepy. Also, it was only a matter of time before the Pegusi let loose the water from the clouds they had assembled and Colgate wondered if Berry Punch even considered that they might get rained on if they weren’t quick about this. She knew Berry Punch liked warm baths, but nopony liked a cold shower.

Breaking her train of thought, Berry Punch abruptly let go of Colgate’s hoof and kept going. Colgate, finding this odd as well, stopped and waited for her friend to turn around and for a moment wondering if she actually would. She did and motioned for her to keep following her.

“C’mon,” She beckoned. “I got tired of dragging you. You can walk now let’s hurry.” Perhaps the rain did have her in a hurry, but just then Colgate saw what she had been looking for. Before Berry Punch had a chance to turn and keep walking Colgate pointed into the woods with her hoof.

“Aha!” She exclaimed. “Look! Wild berries!” Colgate grinned expecting Berry Punch to take the bait. What she had pointed at was no doubt a bush with multiple colors of berries growing on it. Colgate knew that they probably weren’t the kind that Berry Punch would really like, but she figured the mare that was obsessed with fruit juice would spare at least a little curiosity.

“Yeah? So?” Berry Punch shrugged. “Let’s go solve that magic problem of yours first.” As Berry Punch turned to proceed Colgate didn’t move and narrowed her eyes at her friend. Just then, a spider spun its way down from a cedar branch and landed on Berry Punch’s shoulder. Obviously feeling the mischievous creature on her fur right way, her head jerked to the side and eyeing it, frowned.

“Ew,” She causally brushed it off and it fell to the soil, crawling away with an indignant stride. Colgate had almost forgotten about her headache at this point. Berry Punch’s behavior was far too strange for her to be worried about her headache. Berry Punch, seeing that Colgate still hadn’t moved proceeded to almost scold her.

“Do I have to drag you?” She asked. “I thought you would be happy to get rid of your magic.” Colgate was upset now. This wasn’t right at all and the question that had been sitting in the back of her mind since they had entered the Everfree and she had been looking for that berry bush surfaced into her throat. Something wasn’t adding up. She had wished Berry Punch goodnight the previous day. Why would she have gone to Zecora’s after that? Why was she up so early and why in the world would she risk the rain and the Everfree forest for a problem that wasn’t in an immanent need for a solution? Berry Punch was a good friend, but she was also a reasonable friend.

“Who are you?” Amidst her thoughts, Colgate’s lingering suspicion slipped out almost inadvertently. Berry Punch looked shocked.

“I’m Berry Punch.” She said plainly “Your friend, Colgate. Who else could I be? Are your eyes okay?” Colgate felt a heartbeat jump into her forehead. She cringed, but nothing else came of it.

“My eyes are fine,” Colgate replied. “But are yours? I know you love berries more than potions.”

“I wanted to help you get your magic in check Colgate. Now let’s go before we get rained on.”

“I thought you hated the Everfree forest. And that you were horrified of spiders.”

“I just want to help you.”

“A bit too much,” Colgate added.

“What?”

“How many glasses of crystal berry punch did you drink yesterday?”

“What? I don’t know. I didn’t keep-”

“Wrong!” Colgate stomped her hoof in the dirt. “You had nine. You specifically bragged about how you drank nine glasses!”

“Well you know…” Berry Punch was becoming increasingly flustered, but not hurt or insulted like she should have been.

“What else was in the bag that contained the crystal berries?” Colgate was practically shouting her questions now.

“Colgate, we need to-”

“What else was in the bag!” Silence. Berry Punch didn’t answer. Something was wrong, something was horribly wrong. Had her magic done something in her sleep again? Was that the source of her headache? Had she gone back in time? Forward maybe? No, that couldn’t be. It would be far too perfect of a coincidence for the Pegusi to be planning a rainfall on the exact day she jumped to. Her contemplation was lost and Colgate and her friend nearly swapped expressions. Colgate went from glaring angrily at her friend to going wide eyed as Berry Punch’s expression went from a hurt wide eyed look, to an uncharacteristic smirk.

“Congratulations,” Her voice hissed and dissolved to something not her own halfway through the word. Before Colgate could react, a number of ropes whipped themselves out from under the leaves spun around her hooves, tying all four of them together. In one swift motion she was twirled upward and upside down. The motion ended with Colgate being suspended from multiple tree branches and viewing the world in reverse. There was a flash of green and even though Colgate’s vision was lopsided, she could tell that the thing with her was no loner Berry Punch.

She silently wished her suspicions had never been true and Berry Punch had just been uncharacteristically bold in her attempt to help her. What was in front of her now or rather below her, was a changeling. Its skin was a leathery scaly black with the filmy wings of an insect and a horn like that of a beetle. Its eyes weren’t like other changelings though. Instead of the normal, empty bug-like eyes, this changeling had substance to his. Inside the normal navy-ish blue were dilating black pupils with an aura of green about them. They stared at her satisfactorily content with the result of their venture. Colgate was a bird in a cage now, no amount of flailing would free her hooves from the ropes.

“It’s better if you save your energy,” The changeling’s voice was raspy like there was always something in his throat he refused to clear. “We’re going to need it.”

“What in the world do you need from me!?” Colgate questioned him still struggling a little against the ropes which ground themselves into her fur with every motion. It burned.

“I’ve been watching you. Yes, yes I have. And I have to say I quite like your magic. It would be quite beneficial to me and you don’t seem to be using it. I had to get your attention somehow, but nobody loves a little ol’ changeling so this was my only option.” Colgate was unsure if he had meant that last statement to inspire some kind of sympathy, but it fell a little flat in ears given her position.

“You want my m-” a beat in her head again. “Magic?” Colgate finished.

“You don’t seem to like it. Why not…tradesies?”

“Tradesies?” Colgate repeated his foreign vocabulary, although she knew what he meant. “Trade for what?”

“Oh I don’t really have anything. I just thought I could you know, take it. Think of your reward as being set free.”

“Okay…” Colgate pondered. “Just-” another pulse in her head. “Just how are you going to take it?”

“I have my ways.” The changeling was almost drooling in anticipation at this point. Then, something occurred to Colgate.

“Wait…What did you do with the real Berry Punch!?” Colgate flailed trying to get out of the ropes as she feared the worst.

“Hahahhaha,” His laugh was rather hoarse, almost asthmatic. “Let’s just say I made sure she wouldn’t show up and make me look awkward.”

“No no no no no NO!” Colgate thrashed about to no effect. Another chuckle came from the changeling. Colgate was frantic at this point. She had to get out. She had to make sure her friend was okay. She had to get out of here! It was now or never, she thought, panicking. Magic was the only option and despite the pains in her head, if Berry Punch was in danger, it would be worth it to suffer a bit of migraine. Later she might look back at this decision and laugh, wondering how things might have ended up had she not gotten so desperate. But in the moment, it seemed like the only way. She wouldn’t let this changeling hurt her friends. Her mind focused on one objective. Escape. The there was that click in her head again. No, it wasn’t a click. This was different. It was like something snapped…

It hurt…

It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt!!

A splitting pain cleaved through her body starting from the tip of her horn all the way down through her tail. It felt like a large dart had been shot through her with a rifle. She heard the changeling screech and back away as her horn began to shine. Normally at first, but then in a sudden frenzy it burst into a beacon large enough and bright enough to rival a lighthouse. Its sudden fury burned straight though the ropes holding her up and as she toppled to the ground, she found that her magic was shaking the earth itself. It was like being trapped in a speeding train with no way to stop. She had no control anymore. Her magic was a wildfire that beamed atop her head. Her heart raced and each beat was like a hammer being swung at her skull with a mind for the pressure points. She could hear the changeling screaming something, but couldn’t tell what it was. He would have been mad to come anywhere near her.

Her horn shot a beam of light skyward and the air around her began to swirl. Not like wind does in a storm or tornado, but the very space around her began to turn and distort in way it shouldn’t have. The trees began to bend like rubber toys and the bushes were melting like plastic in an oven. Lightning began jumping from her fur to the trees near hear, each bolt sending a wave of reverberating pain through her body out from its source. The beam of light shining towards the sky began spinning, pulling and bending the objects around her at its pace. It hurt. It hurt so much she had to scream. It was an impulse, like she had no choice. But the sound never seemed to escape her throat. The raging tempest about her swallowed it greedily.

Then, an enormous pop. For a moment, everything was still. Suddenly all of reality around her shattered into shards like glass. Was it so fragile? The pain vanished, but Colgate had time for only one exasperated breath and a look of amazement. What was happening? She was in a field of blackness with pieces of reality about her like a broken picture. Before any thoughts could form, all of it caved in around and toward her. It was like she was swallowed by a black hole. After that, there was nothing. Nothing but a low rumble, like the kind a bomb sends echoing through the ground when it goes off.

Interlude 1:

The changeling hisses as the mare he sought to capture sears her way out of the ropes he thought he had so cleverly trapped her with. The light shining from her horn was bright enough to blind even something with next to no eyesight to begin with.

“Don’t think you can run away!” the changeling attempts a protest, screaming against the sheer force that muffles the air. It was pillar of glowing energy hailing ever skyward that seemed to cut the wind itself. This, he thinks, this is the power he wants. He can only imagine what he could do if he possessed a magic that cleaved the very molecules of space. Why he would have even the queen bowing at his feet. But he wanted to take it, not for her to use it. But all this power. Could one body really hold all of this power? This mare’s capacity must have been incredible. The changeling is forced back. He tries to dig into the ground with his hooves, but the mare before him emits a repelling force with the iron will of a magnetic field to which he is a polar opposite.

A thin dome of energy forms about the mare before him. It is space, folding into an event horizon adding barrier upon barrier separating the changeling from what he wants. He can do nothing against this, just as the mare whose frame now warps and twists with the flexibility of clay can likewise do nothing. Dust to dust. It is like her body is being torn, liquefied, and remolded as if reality itself is unsure of what law to employ to make sense of this situation. It becomes confused. Lightening begins to jolt from the mare in random directions, striking trees, bushes, and even sailing into the sky. The changeling stops trying to advance and holds his ground. Daunted by the now deadly situation he does not fancy getting any closer to a lightning storm and lets the outward force push him back a few paces.

Then, nothing. A pop like an enormous firework ends it all and for a moment the still world doesn’t turn. Then, everything collapses. It is like the death of a star. The spatial distortion swallows everything around it, imploding like a building that has suddenly had its foundation ripped from beneath it. A force not unlike wind pulls the changeling toward the anomaly but he holds firm. In one swift wave the energy washes over him and vanishes into nothingness along with the mare that had caused it. Now, everything is quiet. The changeling is finally able to release the tension is his muscles and to his dismay, the scene before him betrays no evidence that the mare he had almost captured was even there. She is gone.

Surely she had not willingly done this. In what little he has seen, he concludes that he saw her struggling against her magic almost as he did. Nonetheless, she is gone and there is no way for him to tell just how far or to where she has gone. He would have to wait for her to reappear. Where that would be, the changeling hasn’t a clue. But, in the meantime, he knows who to ask.

Interlude end…

Wind in the rain…Wind in the rain…We wish only to be strong. Yet, as the strong raise their fists, elbows still bent, to grasp their goal, the weak will always reach as high as they can…

Her head felt light. Perhaps that was only comparatively to how heavy it had felt before. Colgate found herself recovering from a state of unconsciousness, her fur pressed against a surface that felt like a cold ceramic counter top. As she opened her eyes, everything appeared as a shade of gray blurred out of focus. As her mind slowly began to orient itself, Colgate found that she was lying on her side. The scene came into focus and Colgate had to blink a few times to make sure it actually had and she wasn’t still seeing things. There was nothing. It was all just white. Colgate wobbled to her feet, losing her balance once because she was still recovering and again when she looked down and a feeling of vertigo washed through her. She stood on what could only be described as a sheet of glass barely visible against the void below it. She looked up. The same blankness met her eyes even there. It was like she was in a huge empty room with whitewashed walls and no discernible ends or corners. Perhaps what she stood on was ice. But it wasn’t cold enough for ice. In fact, it didn’t feel like any sort of temperature. There was no wind, no sky, no ground, nothing. This wasn’t anywhere she had ended up before nor was it anywhere that she knew existed. Did it even exist?

Colgate poked at what could only be considered the floor with her hoof. It clinked against it. So it was comparable to glass, but why? Colgate turned her head, looking in all directions, a bit frantic. How was she supposed to get out? Where was she? Was this only a dream? A joke perhaps? Before anymore questions could pile up she was met with something entirely unexpected.

“Well, well!” A voice greeted her ears. “I never expected a visitor. Come, make yourself at home young mare. There’s plenty of room.” Colgate froze. There was someone else in here? What was more was that the voice seemed to echo like it was filling up the entire room. Colgate couldn’t tell what direction it was coming from if directions even existed where she was at. She made no attempt at a response. She didn’t even know what she would be responding to or for that matter where the speaker was. Looking about her once again only yielded the same unfilled landscape.

“Oh come now, sit down.” As this suggestion was made, a large fluffy red chair popped into existence behind Colgate. She spun around, expecting something bad. She relaxed slightly seeing it was only a chair, but as soon as she did so, something appeared behind her again and, giving her a bump, pushed her into the chair. Reacting quickly, Colgate spun on one hoof unable to break her momentum. She did a one eighty so when she flopped into the chair, she was actually sitting in it, instead of falling face first into the cushions. She didn’t want to sit, but it seemed she had no choice. But now facing the right way, she could see what, or who, had pushed her. The sight of him made her want to immediately get up and run away. The only reason she didn’t was because she didn’t know where she would go. It was an empty infinite space. Where was there to run?

She knew though what floated in the air before her. The head of a pony, the two different horns, the paw, the talon, and those teeth. Colgate cringed. Those teeth. It was Discord. But how? Wasn’t he supposed to be locked in stone? She had hated the incident when he tore her house from the ground just for fun.

“There,” he said. “Isn’t that better?” For a moment Colgate was inclined to agree with him, but bringing herself back to where she was or perhaps where she was supposed to be, she wanted answers. This certainly wasn’t Ponyville.

“Discord?” She raised her inflection as if she were asking. “What are you doing here?” He seemed shocked at her questioned at first, almost offended.

“What am I doing here?” He repeated. “I’m locked in stone right now. Where else can I go? A better question is what are you doing here?” He was hardly a victim to her, although he seemed to be playing the part for the moment. But when Colgate tried to answer his question, she was at a loss for words. She recalled the incident with the changeling and that horrible searing pain.

“I don’t know…” Colgate said. It was the only answer she could give. Her magic had done something truly ridiculous this time. Somehow she was in the same space that Discord existed in when he was turned into stone. A state of pure stasis. Now the question was how could she get out?

“Oh, well that’s only natural. But this could be quite fun.” Discord seemed almost giddy. “Go on, entertain me.” Discord vanished and then reappeared a few feet across from her in a chair of his own, arms folded in anticipation. Colgate didn’t move. She glanced from side to side returning to meet his endless gaze. Was he serious? After a few moments, Discord frowned. He vanished again along with his chair and reappeared directly in front of her, staring her down face to face.

“Well you’re no fun,” he said. Colgate narrowed her eyes at him.

“You have horrible teeth,” Colgate commented. Discord grinned as if happy about the fact.

“Why there is someone in there!” He bonked the top of her skull with his lion fist hand then changed his expression to a crestfallen one as if he had just realized what he said. He floated away a few feet above her.

“I never insulted you,” He seemed to pout. Colgate reached with her hoof as if trying to grab at the one garish fang in his upper row of teeth.

“Can… can I just,” Colgate wiggled her hoof obviously unable to get at the tooth. “Can I just pull that one?” Colgate surprised herself. She actually had the stupidity to toy with Discord. But given the situation, what else was she supposed to do? Discord turned his nose up to her.

“I can do that myself thank you,” With that, Discord pinched the tooth between two fingers of his eagle talon hand and popped it out like there was barely anything holding it in place. “There. Do you want it?” Discord held the tooth up to Colgate’s nose waving it about.

“Er…no.” Colgate glanced at it and then back to him.

“Then I’m keeping it.” Discord took the tooth and just as easily as it came out, it went right back in. Colgate cringed. She should have taken it. Then she wouldn’t have to stare at that horribly out of place fang. It was irksome. She frowned.

“When’s the last time you brushed your teeth?” Colgate didn’t know what to do, so she reverted back to dentistry, the one thing she knew best. As long as she was stuck here she might as well play the part of Discord’s dentist.

“You’re quite the obstinate little mare,” Discord commented. “You need to lighten up. I know! Let’s play a game.” Discord snapped his fingers and the chair Colgate had been comfortably seated in unfolded into an oversize checkerboard that she flopped down onto. Her whole body fit in just one of the black and red squares.

“Do you like checkers?” Discord asked as he leaned in from above her and nudged her with an elbow. Colgate gave an uninterested huff as she got to her feet. “I see,” Discord seemed to agree. “You’re a bit more of a strategist.” Discord snapped again and Colgate found herself warped to a different square on the board now surrounded by chess pieces that were taller than she was.

“Chess?” Discord laid out a palm in suggestion. Colgate glanced about her, finding that to her left and right were both pawns. The rest of the pieces were behind her. She looked to Discord who smirked, satisfactorily hovering between a bishop and the queen piece.

“Ha ha.” Colgate spoke a sarcastic laugh.

“Oh come now,” Discord lounged back. “This is simply how it ought to be.” Discord snapped again and the whole board and its props vanished. Discord popped up in front of Colgate and floating up beside her put his hands on her shoulders. “Give me something to work with pony! I need a little chaos. I’m starving in here.”

“Why here of all places…” Colgate muttered, knowing Discord was close enough to hear her.

“Well then,” He sighed. “I guess if you’re only interested in leaving, I’ll make you a deal. If you can answer a riddle, I’ll let you go.” This piqued Colgate’s interest. Her ears perked up. Had he said, let her go? He certainly had.

“You can do that?” Colgate asked, turning her head to look at him.

“You think I can’t? I’m Discord!” Discord threw his hands in the air happily.

“Prove it,” Colgate challenged him.

“Tsk tsk,” Discord waggled a finger at her. “You haven’t answered the riddle yet silly.” Colgate put on a bit of a pouting face, but Discord simply folded his arms, nodding in approval of his own statement.

“Fine. Get on with it.”

“Alright. Here it goes. How do you add eight eights to get one thousand?” Discord grinned and there was a pause. Colgate stared at him, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

“That’s not a riddle.”

“Sure it is,” Discord affirmed as he pushed himself around through the air like a jellyfish with his hands clasped behind his head in a lounging position. “Do you know the answer?”

“Well, no…I-”

“Then it’s a riddle!”

“That logic is hardly sound.”

“Who cares about logic? Think!” Colgate reconsidered her statement in light of who she was talking to. But if answering this simple question would be enough to get him to let her leave then she would. She considered the question and realized the answer wasn’t as simple as she thought. Eight plus eight plus eight plus eight plus eight plus eight plus eight plus eight wasn’t one thousand. It was only sixty-four. This riddle was all wrong. There wasn’t a way to add eight, eight times to get a thousand. No matter what one did, all the numbers were still eights and addition was the only option.

“I can’t…Multiply or…anything?” Colgate asked

“Nope,” Discord nearly laughed. “Not that it would really help.” He was right. Multiplication would yield an answer far too high. There was silence as Colgate pondered just what Discord wanted her to do as he pushed himself around above her like a worm as carefree as he could be. There had to be another way of ordering the eights.

Ordering…Colgate pondered the word. The solution had to be simple, she knew it. It was one of those questions that only tricks the subject into over thinking it. Colgate knocked a hoof against her head as if she could dislodge any unnecessary thoughts. Eventually, Discord stopped his midair antics and, looking down at her, held up three fingers. At first, Colgate assumed her was making a silly gesture to distract her. But was it a hint? Three? Why three? Three eights? But there had to be eight of them, the question said so.

Wait…Colgate thought, a different way of ordering the eights. Three? Three of them together?

“That’s it!” Colgate clicked a hoof against the glass floor.

“Oh? Discord twiddled his fingers anticipating her answer.

“You have to group the eights together. The question says there have to be eight eights, but not eight addition signs. You can add eight hundred eighty-eight plus eighty eight plus eight plus eight plus eight. That’s one thousand!” Colgate puffed herself up proudly upon answering the question.

“Oooo!” Discord clapped for her. “Perhaps you’re not completely dumb.” Before Colgate could retort, Discord popped up in front of her and rubbed a fist through her mane. She smacked his hand away.

“Hey,” Colgate said indignantly. “You said if I answered the question you would let me go.” Discord frowned.

“Fine, fine,” He slouched back indifferently. “You’re not that fun anyway.” He snapped his fingers and Colgate waited. And she waited some more. Nothing happened.

“Hey what gives?” Colgate asked after several moments.

“Ahaha! Looks like I can’t.” He didn’t even seem upset.

“But you said-”

“I know. But you try being caged in stone. We shouldn’t even be able to talk to begin with.” He was right. Colgate wasn’t even sure where she was supposed to be. The only thing that would get her out of here is what got her in. Her magic. But how was she going to conjure up what she had done before?

“It’s those darn elements of harmony.” Discord broke her thoughts

“What?”

“Yes,” Discord floated down and put his hands on her shoulders again. A chill traveling down her spine set her fur standing on end. “If it weren’t for those elements I could get you out. In fact you might not even be here.”

“They used the elements on you for reason.” Colgate scowled at him

“I have only ever been misunderstood,” Discord put his hands up and shrugged at her. “I only wanted a little chaos. I was giving boring ol’ little Equestria something to talk about. Every day is fun when you don’t know what’s going to happen.” Discord was now smirking at her through narrowed eyes. Colgate stared back at him. “I had only good intentions… You believe me right?” Discord donned a worried look. He seemed almost hurt. But before Colgate could reply something began to form at her feet. It was black goopy mass like tar. It stuck to her hooves and as she instinctively flinched away from it, it stuck to her and began pulling her in like quicksand.

“Oh what a pity,” Discord said. “I guess you’ll be going then.” The slime began grip at Colgate’s knees.

“Wh-What is this!?” Colgate panicked.

“Dunno,” Discord turned himself upside down to look at her. “Looks fun though.”

“No,” Colgate flailed to no effect “No, what is this!?” She began sinking into mass and through the floor with no power fight against it.

“You’ll remember what I said though right?” Discord asked. “When you get back, tell everyone Discord deserves another chance.” Colgate had no time to respond. The black mass leaped up over her and sucked her under and everything went dark again.

Colgate woke up for a second time to find herself lying on her side and on a another surface that was cold and uninviting. This time however, the surface on which she lay was hard and rigged like stone. Opening her eyes yielded the same result as it did before and after her vision came into focus and she got to her feet, she found herself in some kind of cavern. There were far off drips of water clicking against the cave floor as they fell from the ceiling. At least, wherever this was, looked like it was back in reality. Colgate was in a roundish room with a flat gravely floor and two passageways leading opposite directions, both ominously dark. The room she was in was strangely lit by bluish spheres that were suspended in the air and emitted a blue glow like they were fireflies. There were several of them providing just enough light to see everything. The ceiling of the cave was several feet above her and the room was large enough to fit perhaps seven normal sized ponies and still have shoulder space.

Fascinated by the glow of the ambient light sources she took a step toward one, but her hoof met something soft on the ground that she hadn’t seen. She had been too distracted by everything else. A bump perhaps? She looked down. Colgate’s eyes widened. It was no bump or rock, but a pony. A mare taller than Colgate, but smaller than someone full size like Nightmare moon lying on her side. The mare had a glittery, long, pink, flowing mane, eyelids closed peacefully as if only asleep. The horn on her head was slightly longer than most and as Colgate observed, she had wings as well. An alicorn? It wasn’t possible. Colgate’s eyes moved to her cutie mark and even though it was partially hidden by a folded wing, she could tell what it was. It was a brilliant golden sun. In her astonishment, Colgate breathed out only one word.

“Princess?”

Without the Crown

Chapter 3: Without the Crown

Time and space Await…

Was it really her? Colgate glanced around the cavern. There was no pony else here. Yet, Colgate was positive no other mare had a cutie mark like this one. But instead of her multi-colored mane, it was only a glittery pink. Was this really the princess she knew?

“Celestia…” Colgate whispered the name in an almost panicked breath. She knew of no other alicorns. But why was she here and why did she look like this? A suspicion snuck up in the back of Colgate’s mind that she didn’t want to believe. The Celestia that Colgate knew and the one that lay at her feet were not the same. They were certainly still the same mare, but the one on the cavern floor looked very young. Colgate thought of what had happened with her magic. Did her incident with Discord have something to do with this? Why had she ended up there first and then arrived here?

Colgate smacked a hoof against her head, mentally scolding herself for over thinking again. But had she really? In this case, she might just be under thinking things. Before she could decide, Colgate heard a set of hooves clicking against the cavern floor. A soft blue light like the ones already floating around Colgate came around a bend down the left passageway. She couldn’t see who or what was behind it, but upon turning in her direction, it came to a jagged halt. Had it seen her? The light went out. A few moments of silence and it was replaced by what Colgate knew to be the glow of a horn.

Suddenly, in a flash, a mare hijacked the space in front of her, standing over the still unconscious Celestia, and spreading its wings, perhaps to look fierce, and shot a beam from its still emblazoned horn. Colgate was thrown backwards faster than she had probably ever gone before. Striking the cavern wall sent pain needling through her nerves. It was only the start. The resulting reverberation through the wall pried large stones loose from the ceiling. Lying on her back against the cave wall, the first came down directly on top of Colgate’s left hind leg.

The crunch was more than her ears wanted to hear. It had been no small stone. Colgate screamed. She flailed, trying to get the rock off, but it wouldn’t budge. Her ear piercing shriek echoed down every passage around them, bouncing down the cavern and back only to return to her in a horrible delayed chorus. Her whole body felt suddenly weak. She couldn’t push the rock off, she couldn’t get up, couldn’t stop the pain. Her screech dissolved into a squeak and then resolved itself to a whimper. Tears poured out of her eyes to the point where she couldn’t see. She didn’t want to though so that was good. She didn’t want to look at her leg or for that matter, the mare that had done this to her for fear that if she got out of this, she would hold a horrible grudge.

Colgate lay there for what seemed like hours whimpering in pain, uttering an occasional squeak as the rock shifted across her leg as her body trembled. She lay shaking as if the cave’s temperature had suddenly dropped below freezing and she was shivering uncontrollably.

“Who are you?” A childish voice asked. Colgate didn’t reply, taking short quickened breaths to try to deal with the pain. Her leg was certainly broken, probably more than broken, but she didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m sorry,” Colgate managed through her gasps and sobs. She didn’t even know what she was saying. The pain had her mind in a daze. Perhaps she only apologized in the hope that if the figure forgave her, it might make the pain go away. “I’m sorry,” Colgate repeated. There was no such result. Colgate could hear her attacker shift, moving toward her and then back, hesitating. Then, the mare Colgate had concluded was Celestia stirred. Maybe the scream was enough to wake up even an unconscious pony.

“Are you okay sis?” The childish voice asked in a worried hush. Sis? Colgate’s mind stopped there. It was still too clouded to think any farther.

“Where…Where are we?”

“I don’t know. But this funny looking pony tried to take you.” There was a pause and then and horrified gasp. It was a wonder that Colgate’s sobs weren’t the first thing Celestia heard when she woke up.

“Luna what did you do to her!?”

“Wh- Tia!” The younger mare seemed to plead after her sister as Colgate heard her approach. Colgate felt the boulder shift. The unicorn was moving it with her magic.

“Ow,” Colgate squeaked. “No no no no, stop stop!” Colgate was begging through ragged breaths.

“I’m, sorry. But bear through this.” With this statement, the boulder on Colgate’s leg donned an aura of yellow and slowly rose from her leg. Even if she had lifted the boulder centimeters over the course of an hour, it would have resulted in a pain that was almost more than her mind could take. She felt at several points as though she had blacked out, missing bits and pieces of her own screaming and writhing. The boulder moved off to the side and the next thing Colgate felt was a horn touch her shattered leg. It was only a tingle at first, as if the only thing the supposed Celestia was doing was numbing the ruined appendage. But after a bit, it began to hurt less. Not because it was numb. Colgate could still feel it. But as the alicorn’s horn shone brighter, the leg began to actually feel movable.

Colgate finally had a chance to dry her eyes so she could see clearly and bring her pathetic whimpering under control. The light was a gentle yellow, just like the sun and Colgate silently thanked it for hiding her leg behind itself because she was still afraid to look at it. The horn’s glow stopped abruptly, revealing Colgate’s leg to her eyes to her dismay. She hesitated in moving at all. She just stared at it as Celestia slumped to the gravel floor, seemingly exhausted.

Colgate moved her hoof as slightly as she could at first. There was no pain. She brought her leg in and then stretched it back out again. Was it fixed? Colgate kept moving her leg around in disbelief. She looked up able to see both mares clearly now. It was even more unreal. The younger was to Colgate’s amazement, indeed Luna as her apparent sister had called her. She glared at Colgate with an upset and puffy cheeked frown, almost pouting. She was small though, perhaps even smaller than Colgate herself, but with the same midnight blue fur and a mane washed in light teal. Her mane was short, not like the Luna Colgate knew with her flowing mane that was almost a mirror to the night sky. Yet she still had the horn, the wings, and the crescent cutie mark that Colgate knew only Luna bore. Colgate’s eyes moved back to Celestia, who looked a little rougher for the ware after she had used her magic to fix Colgate’s leg.

“That was…amazing,” Colgate attempted a thank you. “How did you do that?”

“It was nothing really,” Celestia said modestly. Her voice was very calm, a bit younger in pitch, but still held Celestia’s familiar serene tone. “I fixed it as best I could. I would avoid walking on it for the moment though.”

“No, it’s great.” Colgate assured her. “Thank you, princess.” Celestia, looking up, gave Colgate a confused expression. Had she said something wrong?

“Princess?” Celestia repeated as if the term were foreign to her. “Why would you call me something like that?” Colgate’s mind locked up.

“A-are you…” Colgate stammered. “Are you not…Celestia?” Celestia eyes narrowed.

“Have we met?” She asked. “How do you know my name?” Colgate’s brain waves were tied in a knot. Colgate recalled her initial suspicion before her thoughts had been paralyzed. Had she really gone back in time? How far had she gone back? This was indeed Celestia, but she wasn’t a princess yet? More than that, Luna was still with her. That meant that whatever time she was in, was before Celestia banished her sister and before these two sisters were even rulers. What did that even mean?

“Ow,” Celestia winced putting a hoof to her forehead. At this point, Luna chimed in after seeing her sister being put in pain for somepony she didn’t know.

“Now look what you did,” She seemed to scold Colgate, her voice like that of a child no more than ten years old. “You made sis all woozy again.” Luna trotted up to her sister. “Does it hurt Tia?” Her tone changed immediately when talking to her. Of course, Luna seemed naturally wary of Colgate and she couldn’t really blame her. After all, Luna had no idea who Colgate was or where she had come from.

“It’s alright Luna,” Celestia assured her. “She needed help. This headache will pass.”

“Umm…” Colgate was nervous upon speaking up. “If I may…how did…you two get here?” Luna gave an angry huff at this question. Not because it was Colgate that was talking, but rather because it made her think of something that irked her.

“It was that pony headed worm!” Luna growled. Colgate raised an eyebrow at her terminology.

“She means Discord,” Celestia explained.

“He’s a worm sis! Only a worm would do this.” Discord? Colgate saw the dots almost merge together in her head. After the incident with Discord in her time, Colgate remembered hearing the story that before Celestia and Luna ruled what she knew as Equestria, that Discord had ruled it first. This had come about due the fact that upon Discord’s release, Colgate’s magic had teleported her to any location it could think of, in one of which she overheard Celestia explaining the story to somepony. Colgate had no idea who and her magic zipped her away as soon the short exposition was over. Was that the time period she was in? It would explain why the two sisters weren’t princesses yet and why they appeared to be so young. They really were young and Colgate had landed on the threshold of Discord’s overthrow. But it hadn’t happened yet. Or had it? Colgate became wary and thought of her next question with caution. This was the past, it had finally occurred to her. One wrong move and the present she knew would be gone forever. Suddenly she felt as though she were on paper thin ice, the likes of which her mere appearance may have already broken. She wasn’t supposed to be here.

“Discord sent you here?” Colgate questioned.

“‘Cause he’s a worm!” Luna declared indignantly.

“We were supposed to fight him…” Celestia explained. “I’m sure you’ve seen what’s become of Equestria since he took over. Everypony’s been hiding for so long. He’s made things horrible for us. We’re just tired…Is that why you’re here?” Celestia’s voice would have been full of weariness even if healing Colgate’s leg hadn’t tired her out. Colgate could tell the thought of Discord made her countenance a bit droopy. Had she failed? Had the two sisters already attempted to oppose Discord and failed? Colgate was baffled. On top of not having an immediate answer to Celestia’s question, she was taken aside by the fact that Celestia and Luna had actually failed. And, it was by no mistake of her’s or her magic’s.

“I…I don’t know where I am,” Colgate replied. “I woke up here, and you were lying on the cave floor.”

“But how did you know my name?” Celestia was sharp and Colgate didn’t have a reply. Luna stared at her, ready to undo Celestia’s healing at any moment.

“What’s my name?” Luna asked.

“Uh…Luna.” At this Luna, rather than being suspicious got angry, as if her question had been part of a guessing game that was supposed to have stumped Colgate. She wasn’t sure why. Colgate was certain Celestia had addressed Luna by name more than once during their conversation. But Luna didn’t seem to realize this and only got upset.

“You’re a very strange mare,” Celestia commented. Colgate didn’t know what to say and she didn’t want them to pry into the issue any further. She couldn’t tell them she was from the future. Such an alibi in any situation is nearly impossible for anyone other than the pony that has seen space collapse around her to believe.

“I- I’m sorry princess,” Colgate apologized for her strangeness, which probably only made her look even stranger.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Colgate realized what she had said and scolded herself again for it. “You’re starting to sound like my friend Ruya.”

“Who?” Colgate had never heard this name before.

“She’s a filly I know,” Celestia explained. “She always telling me how great of a ring ‘Princess Celestia’ has to it. If you asked her, she’d probably tell you I really was a princess.” Maybe it was only a coincidence, Colgate thought. This filly calling Celestia a princess before she actually was, when Colgate knew that was exactly what was supposed to happen was a little uncanny. But Colgate was thinking needlessly again. She would be able to find answers quicker if she got out of this cave first. She had no idea how to get back to her own time at this point, but forward was the only real option.

“I see,” Colgate said. “So either of you know which way is out?” Both of the alicorns shook their heads. This was a disappointment, but Colgate knew better than to start thinking that things couldn’t get much worse. After all, who knew what was in this cave and she was lucky at least that she hadn’t woken up to find herself all alone and without light.

“Well,” Colgate said finally getting to her feet. “I guess we’d better-” She winced and crumpled back down to lying on her stomach. It was her hind leg again. Colgate remembered Celestia’s warning.

“Shoot,” Celestia got all worked up. “I’m sorry. I should have done a better job.”

“It’s fine,” Colgate assured her. “It was more than I could’ve asked for.” This was true.

“Here I…I’ll carry you.” Colgate looked up at her.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure if we just w-wh wh-” Colgate was lifted from the cave floor by Celestia’s magic, encasing her like a mold, and placing over the alicorn’s back, her head resting over Celestia’s shoulder. “Prin-I mean-well… you don’t need to-” Celestia placed a hoof to Colgate’s mouth to quite her.

“Shh. I’ll be fine. Besides, if it weren’t for us you’d still be able to walk. So sit tight.” Celestia gave a wink. It seemed Colgate had no choice, although Luna didn’t look any happier than Colgate was at this new development. But one question from her sister was enough to make her forget her grudge at least for the moment.

“Which way do you think Luna?” Celestia asked. At this, Luna’s upset expression turned into a decision making face and the blue ambient spheres that has been their source of light up to this point began to shift. Colgate had wondered what they were or where they had come from. It didn’t really surprise her that they were one of Luna’s spells. There were five of them in all and two went floating down separate passage ways casting their eerie glow as they went. Colgate was a bit perplexed by this and was captivated by Luna’s shimmering horn. She was so young and yet she was guiding two different objects from so far away with her magic. Celestia had also done healing that Colgate hadn’t known was even possible. They had such control. Colgate sulked at this, knowing it was her lack of control that had gotten her here. These were two legendary alicorns Colgate was considering, but it didn’t make her feel any better about herself.

At any rate, the two passageways, to their dismay, ended with the same result; a sharp bend around which they couldn’t see. Both tunnels looked largely the same and would yield equally unknown results. Colgate watched as Luna pondered this. Then, a clicking noise. Luna was knocking the orbs against the tunnel walls one at a time. If they sounded different, Colgate couldn’t tell. Apparently neither could Luna, as each successive knock and pause to listen only resulted in a more puzzled face. Luna turned to her sister

“They’re practically the same sis.” This didn’t seem to faze Celestia

“I guess we’ll just have to pick one,” She decided, keeping her chin up. “How about this way?” She pointed down the right passage and Luna had no reason to disagree with her.

“Okay.” She nodded following Celestia as she began to walk. Colgate of course, was simply along for the ride.

“Prepare your eyes,” Celestia advised as they entered the tunnel. Luna’s orbs vanished in the chamber behind them and as they did Celestia horn flared into shining beacon to light their way. Colgate squinted against this new light, not preparing her pupils as much as she probably should have. The new light revealed the cave to be jagged and dry. It wasn’t one of those wet drippy caves. Yet, this was perplexing as when they rounded the corner they hadn’t been able to see around to reveal another tunnel a faint sound was added to the crunching of their hooves in the gravel.

“Tia,” Luna whispered. “Do you hear that?” They stopped and sure enough Colgate confirmed in the silence,

“Water?” There was a faint echo of water splashing against rock.

“A river?” Celestia said.

“Is that good?” Luna asked. The two were silent.

“We could follow it,” Colgate suggested feeling a bit awkward about telling the mares she knew as princesses what to do. Luna frowned at her, not liking the idea because Colgate had suggested it. She still didn’t trust her.

“How do we know it’s a river?” Luna asked simply for the sake of questioning Colgate’s suggestion. Colgate couldn’t answer her. There wasn’t a way to really tell unless they saw it, but that’s just what the water sounded like.

“No that’s a good idea,” Celestia agreed much to Colgate‘s relief. “It might lead outside. And even if it doesn’t we could use the water.” That was something Colgate hadn’t thought of. There was no way to tell how long they might be lost in this cave and having a source of water might prove invaluable. Colgate had never really had to think like a survivalist this way, but perhaps these two had and she wondered to what degree Celestia had meant when she said Discord had made things horrible for them. She still felt bad for weighing Celestia down by not being able to walk.

“Good point,” Luna could only agree. Even if she didn’t like the idea because it was Colgate’s she had to see the benefit to it and she trusted her older sister. The two made an interesting pair and Colgate could only wonder what had happened that had made Luna turn against her sister. The two seemed inseparable right now.

As they continued on, Celestia did her best lighting their way and trying to follow the sound of the flowing water. It proved difficult at points as sometimes it seemed the sound was coming from all directions and there wasn’t always one path to take. Eventually though, the cave began to open up, no longer restricting them to small narrow hallways, but larger rooms and open passages with stalactites whose sharp ends glittered back at them from the ceiling. The sounds of water became louder, almost like there was a waterfall inside the cave and the environment went from the dry sandy cave they had woken up in, to a moist and rocky environment. They had to be close. They came to a large room and through a narrow gap between walls of stone, Colgate spotted water, glinting off the light from Celestia’s horn that managed to bounce back almost waving at her.

“There,” Colgate pointed to the empty space. Celestia and Luna trotted over and sure enough, on the other side, was a small waterfall perhaps ten feet, flowing into a stream whose current moved at a steady pace. The crevice was just wide enough for one mare to squeeze through. Celestia looked into it tentatively, easing her way in a little bit to make sure she didn’t have to put Colgate down before she proceeded through. Celestia confirmed this with a nod.

“Looks good,” She said taking glances through to the other side. It seemed rather paranoid of her. But a low rumble from behind them made these actions seem insufficient in hindsight. It wasn’t a rumble like that of rocks falling somewhere far off in the cave. It was shallower than that and more guttural. Perhaps that was what made it eerie. No inanimate object would have made a sound that could have been described as guttural.

“Uhhh…sis?” Luna was facing away from the crevice into the room, staring up at something. The light from Celestia’s horn had been restricted by the crevice she was halfway into, but turning her head back revealed a pair of dimly gleaming eyes in the passage across the chamber. They were huge. Celestia’s eyes widened.

“Ursa…” She breathed. “Luna, quick, into the opening.”

“There’s no room sis.”

“Luna y-” Before Celestia could protest the beast let out a deafening roar apparently feeling they were in a space that belonged to it.

“Luna!” Celestia moved back a step. Luna’s horn glittered blue and a number of sparks flew from it forming into the orbs she had been using as light sources before, spreading about the room providing the light Celestia’s horn couldn’t.

“Go, it’s only a minor!” Luna stood her ground and urged her sister in spite of her hesitation.

“But-”

“You have the injured one. Go!” Celestia quickly made up her mind and began shifting herself through the small opening as quickly as she could. Colgate wished she could have helped. But now, not only could she not control her magic anyway in order to fight back, she couldn’t walk either. Luna backed toward the opening as her sister made her way through, but the Ursa didn’t seem to think letting them walk out unharmed, was an option. It thundered forward baring its teeth. Luna stopped backing up and as Celestia came out on the other side of the wall Colgate saw the Ursa directly in front of Luna raising a claw to strike.

“Luna, run!” Celestia shouted through the crevice. Luna didn’t reply. Remaining in place, a small dome of deep blue formed around Luna like a shield. The Ursa’s claw came racing down and had Celestia not felt the weight of Colgate on her back, she might have tried to run back and help her sister. She stopped short, and through the opening Colgate saw the Ursa’s paw come down on the bubble around Luna. A shockwave trembled through the walls, and Luna’s shield rippled, absorbing the impact. It was like a dense liquid that even the force of the Ursa’s strike couldn’t get into. It sent lightning flying back at the Ursa, bouncing rapidly from orb to orb that Luna had placed around the room. The Ursa backed away closing its eyes against all of the blinding light, waving its paws blindly. It continued backing away, frightened by Luna’s magic.

As the lightning made its last jolt, Celestia flinched and put a hoof to her forehead again. The light on her horn went out. It was dark. The only light a faint glow from Luna on the other side of the wall.

“Tia?” Luna called back to her as her barrier faded.

“I’m alright,” Celestia replied. Colgate was getting uncomfortable in the dark, but she remembered it was her fault Celestia was having trouble with her magic. And it wasn’t alright. There were footsteps, large ones. Colgate’s first thought was that the Ursa minor was coming back for a second try. But this sound was different. There was that rumble again, deeper this time. It was close, too close. Celestia’s horn brightened up, and Colgate froze. Before them, was another Ursa only much larger than the last. An Ursa major. Celestia gazed up at it.

“Curse you, Discord,” She muttered. “Luna, stay on the other side!” Celestia turned to flee. The Ursa slammed its foot on the stone riverbank and roared.

“Tia what’s going on!?” In the confusion of Celestia turning to run away, Colgate toppled from her back and smacked against the cave floor. Colgate gritted her teeth. Celestia turned back nearly horrified her eyes frantic. Colgate attempted to get up, but was met with the same sharp pain in her leg and collapsed again. The Ursa advanced as Colgate tried to drag her left hind leg along with her. She wouldn’t be fast enough and the Ursa had its eyes locked on her now, recognizing her as the more vulnerable intruder. The expression on Celestia’s face changed. It was like she forced courage into them. She galloped back and placed herself firmly between Colgate and the Ursa.

No, no no no no, Colgate’s mind screamed. If she was going to be responsible for the death of the pony that was supposed to save Equestria, she would never forgive herself or even perhaps have the chance to do so. The Ursa hesitated at this action, stopping its advanced and sizing this new mare up. It let out another savage roar. Celestia stood her ground. Her horn was making a hissing noise as if it were heated like a sword in a furnace.

“Stop!” Celestia shouted at the creature. It glared at her. “Please, we mean you no harm. I know Discord has made you angry, maybe taken away your home. He’s done the same to us. So please, I don’t want to hurt you. Maybe we can even help you!” The Ursa seemed to calm only for a moment and then after seemingly considering what Celestia had said, opened its mouth and bellowed out another wave of sound. Its roar had its own force to it, compelling things in its path backwards.

“Please listen to me,” Celestia continued to plead with it. Colgate wasn’t even sure it knew what she was saying. “Just let us leave. We’re not here to hurt you.” The Ursa raised a claw. “No…” Celestia shook her head, yet still made no move to run. “Please…Please don’t.” Colgate glanced to the side, catching Luna in her gaze. She was standing just inside the opening they had come out of, stiff and on edge, almost sweating. The Ursa tightened its claws, signaling it was ready to swing.

“No…” Celestia just kept shaking her head. It was unpersuaded. Its claw sliced through the air like swords through leaves. The blow came in a motion so swift it was like it didn’t exist between its starting point and its destination. There was only one response and Colgate thought she was going to see the princess shredded before her eyes. Before the Ursa’s claw connected, there was a scream.

“Noooooo!” Fire roared from Celestia’s horn, summoning a light bright enough to make the cave look like a stone field at noon. The Ursa bellowed in agony unable to finish its action and toppled backwards flailing against the heat. Colgate could feel it where she was. It was sweltering and heated the air to a temperature that was difficult to breathe in. From within the flame, Celestia’s horn shot a beam of light that went straight through the Ursa and in moments, the flames devoured it with an unquenchable hunger. The Ursa lashed out only once and in the eyes of the sun, it burned.

Abruptly the blaze vanished, leaving no trace of the bear behind. Colgate had no words for this. Celestia had just incinerated their threat. Colgate never knew Celestia or Luna had the kind of magic that she had just seen. Perhaps in the era she lived, it was no longer necessary. But as Colgate observed, the princess was not proud of herself. Upon, seeing that her foe was gone, Celestia crumpled to the floor, the room went dark and Colgate heard her start to cry. To Colgate it was nearly heartbreaking and she knew it was once again her fault. From the crevice, Luna’s orbs flooded into the room to provide light and in their midst Colgate could see Luna running to her sister.

“Tia,” She said stopping in front of her. “Are you alright?” Colgate stayed where she was. She couldn’t think of anything she could say that might comfort her. The best thing she could probably do for these sisters at this point was find a way back to where she was supposed to be. “Tia, don’t cry. That thing was nothing but a big meanie.”

“But…” Celestia sobbed. “I killed it Luna. It’s dead.”

“Tia…”

“I didn’t know what else to do…I just…It was going to hurt her. I wish I could have just scared it away like you did.”

“You’re just tired sis,” Luna said. “You should rest.”

“You think?” Celestia choked on the words looking at Luna through watery eyes.

“You protected us. Besides, you’re still my sis.” Luna gave Celestia a swift hug too self-conscious to prolong it. Celestia smiled at her.

“Thank you Luna.” Luna smiled back

“You should rest by the river. I’ll go get the weird one.” Celestia could only agree. Luna trotted over to where Colgate had been sulking while listening to them. Colgate had laid her head down on her front hooves and looked up at Luna as she loomed over her.

“You’re not good for my sister,” Luna glared at her.

“Sorry…” Colgate looked away.

“It’s not cute when you sulk either.”

“What?”

“C’mon.” Before Colgate could clarify anything, she was lifted from her place by Luna’s magic and levitated off down toward the flowing water. If Colgate hadn’t known better, she’d have though that Luna intended to throw her in to be rid of her. She stepped into the shallows and Colgate hovered over the water’s surface in confusion. She was lowered to the point she could have shoved her head under had Colgate not pulled back. She looked to Luna who frowned.

“Drink,” She said. Colgate glanced to Celestia who had just finished doing the same, stepping wearily away from the water and slumping down next to a large smooth stone. “Drink.” Colgate heard again. She supposed she had no choice and this not being able to walk thing was getting really annoying. Colgate put her mouth to the stream and took a drink. The water was cool, tasting of minerals and stone, but at the same time it was very clean water. The water clung to her fur and Colgate could only assume she looked silly as it dripped from her chin after she had her fill. Luna giggled at her.

“This is your fault,” Colgate told her. She wiped her chin with her hoof.

“Well if you’re done, then off to sleep with you,” Luna said haughtily as if she were trying to be her mother. Colgate was plopped down facing Celestia, who had her head propped against the rock she had laid down beside.

“You rest here sis,” Luna told Celestia. “I’ll make sure nothing else comes over here.” Celestia smiled at her sister and then looking at Colgate as she was put down,

“You know,” Celestia said as if she were only thinking out loud. “I don’t think we ever got your name.” This was actually true Colgate realized. Due to her knowing the two sisters names right away, there had been no need for introductions.

“Oh…” Colgate thought about giving them an alias at first, but thinking about it concluded it wouldn’t really help her, and it would only be dishonest. “It’s Minuette.” Colgate gave them her real name as she felt giving them her nickname would be strange. Luna squinted at her.

“That’s a funny name.”

“It is.” Colgate hadn’t expected Celestia to agree. The two giggled at her, Celestia’s really more of a sigh.

Yeah, well your name…is…well- it…” Colgate addressed Luna but couldn’t think of a rebuttal. “Ah, never mind.” Luna donned a proud expression, tilting her nose to the air.

“So where are you from Minuette?” Celestia asked. This was a bad question. Colgate had no idea what to tell her and too much hesitation would just look bad.

“I…I don’t know…” Colgate wasn’t witty enough at the moment to think of a lie, considering Ponyville didn’t exist yet.

“How can you not know?” Luna asked. “Sis, I don’t like her.”

“It’s okay Luna. Do you mean you don’t remember?” Colgate shook her head. “Or you wish not to tell?” Colgate looked away from them, lowering her head.

“It’s better if you don’t know,” she told them. A terrible excuse, at least from their point of view. Luna was glaring at her again.

“I see…” Celestia didn’t pry into it. “So how did you get here? Did Discord send you here as well?” Colgate sat up at this question. Her eyes jumped around in thought. Had he, Colgate thought? Had Discord sent her here? She recalled her brief run in with him, in the seemingly nondescript place. There was something uncanny about it. The things he told her, the riddles, and the way he had asked her to tell others that he deserved a second chance as if he knew she could give him that. But there was no way he could have known. He was just as surprised at her appearance as she was at his and in the end, his magic had proved ineffective in her eventual escape. It must have been her own power that had gotten her out. Perhaps it had only been a dream. Colgate wasn’t sure now.

“I…” she pondered the question. “Maybe…I don’t really know for sure.”

“Discord’s magic can be very strange,” Celestia said. “But you should rest now too. It will give your leg time to recover. You should soon as well Luna.”

“Don’t worry about me sis,” Luna assured her. “You just sleep.” Celestia laid her head down.”

“Thank you Luna.” Colgate couldn’t say no to this as despite having been unconscious frequently as of late, she still felt tired after what had just happened. Luna turned to her, eyes glowering down like a hawk.

“Don’t you try anything funny.” Colgate didn’t reply, keeping eye contact as long as possible. Luna hopped up onto the rock they lay against and sat above them. Colgate didn’t really find her distrust that strange and in fact had expected more of the same type of attitude from Celestia. But Celestia still had some qualities of the one she knew in her own time. Despite being very different, she still had an overwhelming sense of compassion. Colgate closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep…

Or she would have. But as she tried to let slumber settle in, she became uneasy. Something was wrong, horribly wrong. She shifted around several times against the rock, trying to see if it was the way she was laying that was making her antsy. She clicked her hooves nervously. Shifting a few more times, she found her efforts useless. He eyes came open. She needed to do something; there was something she had forgotten. How could she have forgotten? This was bad, Colgate thought, very bad.

“What are you doing down there?” Luna asked, no doubt perturbed by all of Colgate’s rolling about. Colgate looked up to find Luna staring down at her, her blue eyes shadowed against the faint light behind her. Colgate would have gotten up, but remembered her leg was still out of it.

“I… well I need to uhhh…” Colgate stammered.

“Out with it, you weirdo!”

“I need to brush my teeth,” Colgate said quickly. There was a pause in which Luna seemed to process the statement.

“You need to…what?” She cocked an eyebrow. Colgate must have sounded ridiculous. Dentistry, to these mares, would have been entirely alien. Colgate looked to Celestia, who had somehow already drifted off, seemingly undisturbed by their conversation.

“I need to brush my teeth,” Colgate repeated, knowing all too well it wouldn’t do any good and sounding like a child that needed to be taken to the bathroom. Luna looked side to side and then back to Colgate.

“You keep getting weirder, you know that?” Colgate sunk back, embarrassed for even bringing it up. Talking to Luna like this, despite the fact that the alicorn was probably younger than her, made Colgate feel like a toddler.

“I can’t sleep without brushing my teeth first,” Colgate shuffled her hooves.

“What does that even mean?”

“I’m a dentist you see and well…”

“What’s a dentist?”

“Where I come from, I-”

“Which is?” Luna interrupted. Colgate stopped. This was useless. Even if she could explain to Luna what a dentist was, there was nothing here to brush her teeth with.

“Never mind,” Colgate flattened out. Her teeth felt instantly sullied and it made her already start to worry about their condition. Who was going to trust a dentist with dirty teeth? But she supposed she had bigger worries at the moment. But her teeth! As Rarity might say, this was the worst possible thing that could happen right now. Colgate was tempted to put this above even being attacked by the Ursa major.

“Look,” Luna said. “If you can’t sleep, I can help with that.”

“Do you have a toothbrush?” Colgate perked up. Luna lifted a hoof, tilting back as if she feared Colgate might jump at her.

“A wh- no!” Luna put her hoof back down and pointed her horn at Colgate. “Here” A bolt of blue flew from Luna’s horn and into Colgate’s forehead. She slumped back down. Her vision blurred.

“What…was…” Colgate yawned. She was suddenly extremely drowsy. But she hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet! How was she supposed to sleep without brushing her teeth?

“Wait,” Colgate tried to raise a hoof, but it flopped back to the rock floor. “I need to brush…I can’t…brushie……..brushie…”

“Good night weirdo,” Luna turned away on her rock and these were the last words Colgate heard her spoke. She was fairly certain that she had dreamt the part where Luna had gotten down from the rock and was poking her in the face with her hoof, telling her to shut up. Brushie is too a word, Colgate insisted. It was blurry mostly, so it must have been a dream. Eventually, Colgate managed to settle down and sleep, dreaming only of floss and toothpaste.

Interlude 2:

Stupid, silly mare, the alicorn thinks. No matter what she says, something that sounds as ridiculous as brushie could never be a real word. She gives the unicorn’s face a few more pokes as the mare futilely tries to resist the sleeping spell by mumbling ridiculous phrases about the needs of her teeth. Her head slumps into her hooves and the alicorn, satisfied with the resulting state, leaps back up onto the rock her two sleeping friends lay against to keep watch. Perhaps it was better this way, the alicorn thinks. The sleeping spell assured that the strangely named Minuette wasn’t going to fake her slumber or wake up soon to try anything. She doesn’t like her. The alicorn stares into the cave almost more wary of the unicorn below her than what might lie down the darkened passages or across the shallow river. At one point, she finds herself eyeing the mare’s cutie mark, a symbol she finds just as suspicious as Minuette herself. What did an hourglass as a cutie mark mean? The alicorn doesn’t like the fact that she showed up near her sister, without explanation and refusing to explain. She’s not waking up soon though, the alicorn tells herself. She goes back to keeping watch. Tia will be able to sleep in peace. She will make sure of it. And, as time spins on, the alicorn distracts herself, arranging her magic light sources into shapes. Shapes resembling the constellations she always used to show to Tia on clear nights before Discord made a mess of them all.

Interlude out…

London Bridge

Chapter 4: London Bridge

Time and Space Await…

-No one ever sees the mists of time spin or the chords of space grant them existence. Wind in the rain…we wish only to be strong. So tell me…why, when I dream, am I always the weaker one?

It tickled, Colgate thought. She wasn’t sure what, but something was making her nose tingle. She assumed she was only dreaming the sensation at first, but as it continued to sneak around her nerves, it began to wake her up. She shifted around a few times. It was like someone was poking her nose with a feather duster. It made it itch and Colgate resisted whatever was doing it only groggily at first. She swatted at, rolling over and drowsily mumbling something no one could have ever understood. This solved the problem for only a few seconds and then it persisted like an annoyingly determined bug. Colgate was awake at this point, but sleep still clung lingeringly to her eyelids, making her unwilling to open them. She just wanted to go back to sleep. She waved a hoof at whatever was brushing around her nose again. This time it pulled away, but it was too late. Colgate could already sense that feeling running into her nose. She wriggled her nostrils, trying to stop it, failing to hold her breath.

Suddenly, with a swift sneeze, Colgate was wide awake. Her head shot up and her eyes drifted heavily open. She could hear somepony giggling.

“My, what a reaction,” A voice said. Colgate sneezed a second time, itching her nose and forcing her eyes the rest of the way open. They were met with the sight of Celestia, snickering through a slight smile. Colgate sneezed again.

“Goodness,” Celestia said. “I didn’t think you would have such a fit.”

“What did you do to me?” Colgate asked through heavy sinuses.

“Sorry Minuette. I just wanted to see if I could wake you up without moving from where I was.” Colgate wiped her nose in the fur above her hoof, raising an eyebrow at Celestia.

“What did you use?”

“This.” Celestia curled part of her mane around a hoof, fluffing it up proudly. “It’s poofy enough.” Colgate was confused.

“Um…why?” Celestia tucked her head into her front two hooves like a playful cat ready to pounce, grinning.

“I thought it would be fun,” She said. Colgate shifted uncomfortably, not used to seeing the princess act this way. But of course, Colgate reminded herself, she wasn’t a princess yet. There were some ways in which the two sisters were still very kiddish. The way Celestia was grinning up at Colgate like a satisfied toddler with her glittery pink eyes was one of them. There was a bit of silence in which Colgate didn’t have a response.

“Well anyway, now you’re awake,” Celestia said raising her head back up. “We should get moving soon.” It was strange, Colgate thought, being woken up and finding it just as dark as it had been when she had gone to sleep. It certainly didn’t feel like morning. Of course, there was no guarantee that they had gone to sleep at nightfall. Being in this cave was very disorienting in terms of time, especially considering Colgate was already in the wrong time. Was it day? Night? Colgate had no way to tell. The only light she had above her were Luna’s glowing orbs, which, Colgate saw upon looking up, were arranged in some kind of pattern that she didn’t recognize.

“Luna,” Celestia called as she rose from her spot, only to find her sister sitting in the exact same place that she had been when they had gone to sleep. Celestia stopped where she was, surprised to see her sister still sitting there. “Luna?” Celestia said again. Luna was facing away from them, staring blankly into the blackness of the cavern, oblivious to her sister’s voice. There was a pause. Luna didn’t answer. Celestia inched forward and raising a hoof, nudged her sister on the shoulder.

“Luna?” She said again. “Are you okay?” Luna whirled around when touched as if she had been frightened. Celestia gasped. Luna’s eyes had horrible bags beneath them. They were puffy, veins exaggerated in the white space from resisting the urge to sleep. She stumbled as she turned; taking a second to realize it was only her sister who had touched her.

“Oh,” Luna’s eyelids drooped and she shook her head vigorously. “It’s just you. Did you sleep well Tia?”

“Well,” Celestia hesitated. “Of-of course, but Luna…”

“Oh good,” Luna was only pretending to be fine. “We should…we should go.” As Luna tried to dismount the rock she was on, she slipped and would have taken a bad fall had Celestia not extended a leg to break it. Luna crumpled against her sister. Realizing what happened, she immediately tried to push away from Celestia and get back on her feet. Celestia wouldn’t let her though and held her in place as she squirmed wearily.

“Sis, shouldn’t we…” For a second Luna nearly drifted off mid sentence, but shook her head again, stopping once she knocked her head against Celestia’s side. One of Luna’s light sources fell from above and fizzled out; the rest remained tentatively suspended for the moment.

“Oh sis you’re awake,” Luna seemed to start over. “We should get going.” Colgate watched as Celestia narrowed her eyes at Luna.

“Luna, did you get any sleep?” she asked.

“I had…had to make sure nothing came to…to hurt you Tia.” Celestia’s expression softened at this, but still remained stern, like a mother who knew her daughter only had good intentions, but still needed to scold her.

“How long did you let us sleep Luna?” Colgate was curious about this too. After all, there was no way to tell in this cave. The splashing of water near them was constant as ever.

“I don’t know sis. I just let you sleep. I wanted you to feel better.”

“I told you to rest too Luna. You look awful.”

“I’m sorry sis.”

“Here, it’s your turn.” Celestia lifted her sister up with her magic and placed her on her back. Luna put up a mild struggle, which was impressive as tired as she was.

“But…but Tia,” Luna protested as she was plopped over Celestia’s back. “You’ll need help getting out of the cave. I can’t sleep now.”

“Yes you can Luna.” Celestia patted Luna on the head. “Besides, I’m sure Minuette is a smart pony.” she smiled at Colgate. “We’ll be fine.” Luna didn’t think so however and seemed she had a few things she might have wanted to say at the mentioning of Colgate’s name.

“No,” Luna tried to wriggle off of Celestia. “She’s a weirdo. She’ll just keep complaining about her teeth.”

“Shhh,” Celestia brushed Luna’s mane. “You’re just a little cranky Luna.”

“Sis, stop…I,” Celestia began humming a slow lullaby and within the first few notes, Luna’s eyes forced themselves shut. “I…” She visibly tried to keep them open, her lids fluttering a bit before finally staying closed. Her complaints were reduced to mumbles and she was out like a light. And so were her orbs that had been floating about. As soon as she drifted off, all of them fizzled out like fires that had lost their fuel. The lack of light was quickly replaced by a renewed glow from Celestia’s horn. She looked at Colgate, now with the confidence that she wouldn’t have any problems with her magic.

“She’s out,” She said. “Can you walk?” Colgate hadn’t considered this yet, but figured after however much rest she had gotten, her leg might have recovered by now. She felt mentally refreshed and so she stood up slowly, ready to lay back down at the first sign of pain. But there wasn’t any. She stood on all four hooves for a moment and then tried walking about. Her hind leg was as good as new and the mare who had broken it, now slept harmlessly atop the pony who had healed it. Colgate certainly hoped she wouldn’t have to experience the pain of any crushed limbs from here on out. Colgate nodded at Celestia.

“Feels normal,” She said confidently.

“Good,” Celestia affirmed. “I figured all it needed was a little rest.”

“Thank you again by the way. How did you do that?”

“Oh,” Celestia flustered “It was nothing.”

“No really. You and Luna have such good control over your magic. And well… I was wondering if maybe…” Colgate swiveled a hoof around on the rock pausing awkwardly, wondering how to phrase her question even though it was painfully obvious.

“If what?”

“You know,” Colgate stretched her neck, emphasizing the horn on her head.

“I can’t read minds Minuette,” Celestia giggled slightly at her antics.

“I was wondering if you could teach me…” Colgate looked away.

“You want to learn magic?”

“Well, it’s just… I can’t control my magic…and…it’s the reason I’m here.” Celestia narrowed her eyes at Colgate.

“What do you mean? Your own magic got you here?”

“It’s complicated…” Colgate could see even Celestia starting to get suspicious of her and she was squinting down at her as if she really could read minds, despite having said she couldn’t only moments earlier. Then, just when Colgate was sure the alicorn had changed her image of Colgate to that of a dishonest mare, she let out a laugh.

“It’s really no wonder Luna calls you a weirdo,” Celesta smiled.

“Eh?” How could she agree with that, Colgate thought?

“Anyway, you want to me to teach you?”

“If, that’s okay…” Colgate said at the risk of sounding like Fluttershy.

“Of course!” Celestia seemed almost excited. “How should I start…hmmmm…well…” Celestia began pacing.

“Celestia?” Colgate hadn’t meant right away and she attempted to get Celestia’s attention as she seemed to be getting carried away. “Celestia?” She said again.

“Oh? What?” Celestia stopped. “I’m sorry I was distracted.”

“We should probably get out of this cave first.”

“Right right,” Celestia looked around. “You think we should just follow the flow of water?” Colgate couldn’t find any reason not to. At this point, it seemed like the best option.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Right. Off we go then. Hopefully outside.” With that, they trekked off into the dark, with the light from Celestia’s horn guiding their way. The path was rock, filled with slippery ups and downs across smooth stones. Colgate slid around a few times, looking clumsy compared to Celestia who never seemed to lose her posture even with her sleeping sister on her back. Even across all the turbulence, Luna stirred from her sleep only once, shifting a little and wrapping her front hooves about her sister’s neck and using her mane as a pillow. It made Celestia look like she was wearing a scarf, but she didn’t seem to mind. The cave, other than the clicking of their hooves and the trickle of the stream they followed, was now very silent. Perhaps, the episode with the two Ursas had frightened anything else from coming near the area.

In the silence, Colgate was once again reminded of how she hadn’t brushed her teeth. She was tempted to ask Celestia if she knew what a toothbrush was, or perhaps if she had one, but decided not to, afraid she would be met with the same response Luna had given her. She wasn’t suited for this time period. They stopped for water once, bending down by the stream and Colgate swished the water around in her mouth to try to compensate, spitting it out. Colgate clicked her teeth together unsatisfactorily. It didn’t compare. She wanted that fresh and clean feeling that her toothpaste and mouthwash gave her. If there was one thing that was really going to motivate her to finding a way back, it was this. Colgate felt a tinge of remorse at this thought though. She hadn’t even considered Berry Punch. Her poor friend had a run-in with a changeling and in all the confusion that had surrounded her, Colgate had forgotten to worry about her. But Colgate was in an entirely different time. Berry Punch hadn’t even been born yet where she was and the best thing Colgate could do for her friend was to get back as soon as she could. For all Colgate knew, she would come back only seconds after she had left. That’s the way time travel worked right?

No way to tell, Colgate resolved to herself and focused on her next biggest worry. Her teeth. They wouldn’t do so well here and even after only going to sleep and waking up once, both without brushing, they already felt weird. The worries she thought were so big though evaporated like a cloud as Celestia stopped and Colgate nearly ran into her. Colgate slipped a little and regaining her footing, asked,

“What is it?” Celestia raised a hoof.

“Do you feel that?” Colgate was clueless at first, but then knew exactly what Celestia was referring to as it washed through her mane.

“Wind,” Colgate stated. This revelation was almost baffling and both of them knew what it meant.

“Let’s go.” Colgate was more than eager to follow this suggestion, knowing it meant, finally getting out the cave. The two quickened their pace, the breeze’s presence becoming more apparent and around a bend, Colgate could see light. It had been a good idea to follow the water. It looked as though it led right out of the cave. Rounding the bend, the pony’s eyes were met with a burst of light. It was day, Colgate confirmed, definitely day. She squinted against the light putting her hoof to her forehead to block it, barely able to see Celestia’s horn stop shining. Colgate’s eyes gradually adjusted to the light of the sun that she hadn’t seen since she had broken the laws of physics and ripped a whole in space.

“Watch your step,” She heard Celestia say. Colgate stopped and now able to see fairly well saw that the path had become a ledge that the river beside them plummeted down. Colgate lowered her hoof and approached the edge slowly. Her eyes widened. It was no small drop. It was a sheer drop off interrupted only by juts of jagged rock all the way down into a dense forest. It was so far down that the trees only looked like tiny bushes. Colgate couldn’t tell where the falling water was ending up. It fell out of her sight after a certain point. Then she looked out over everything else.

It was horrible. There were pink colored clouds like cotton candy scattered around the expanse of land that met her eyes. Random storms spun around, a spiraling cyclone in one area and a snowstorm in the next. Looking at the sky revealed the sun and the moon were both visible although neither where it should have been. The sun was rising from the west and the moon was moving across the dome of the sky rather than over it. The sky was also an eerie pink instead of blue, which gave the light a twisted tint to it yet didn’t distort the color of anything it shone on. But in the midst of all this, there was one area that seemed calm. Surrounded by all the rampant chaos, was a forest. All the storms, winds and anomalies seemed strangely unwilling to touch it, leaving a sort of border about its expanse. The trees around the edges were frozen, visibly white even from a distance like all the chaos was slowly squeezing the life out of it. Colgate was at a loss for words. Celestia walked up beside her, Luna still sound asleep.

“It’s horrible isn’t it?”

“What is all this?” Colgate asked.

“This is all Discord’s doing. He just does whatever he wants and has driven nearly everypony from their homes. This is why we went to fight him…We can’t live like this.”

“And…” Colgate paused. “It didn’t work…” Celestia looked down at her hooves sullenly. “I’m sorry.” Celestia forced a smile.

“Don’t apologize. We’re not done yet. See that forest in the center of all this mess?” Colgate nodded. “That’s the Everfree forest. There are other ponies there waiting for us. When we left, they said they were onto something, something that we might be able to use against Discord.”

“When did you leave?” Colgate asked out of curiosity.

“We don’t know. Just like you, we woke up in that cave, no idea how much time had passed. Even with all our magic we couldn’t touch Discord…He flicked us away just like that. Like bugs…” Celestia seemed to be scolding herself. “The Everfree already seems smaller. We might not have much more time…”

“Hey, don’t sulk,” Colgate tried to cheer her up. “You helped me, you can still help Equestria.” They had to, Colgate thought. Celestia held her smile.

“Thank you Minuette. We should hurry, though. We need to meet up with the ponies in the Everfree as soon as possible.” Colgate nodded. This was strange though. In Colgate’s time the Everfree was a place ponies were afraid of, especially ponies like Berry Punch. But now, it was a safe haven. Why? What made the Everfree so special? And what was it that the ponies had supposedly been onto that was going to help in their fight against Discord? These were questions she really should have asking Celestia, but then something else dawned on her. They were on a tall mountain, one that stood alone and overlooked the Everfree forest; a lone mountain with waterfalls cascading down the side. Colgate knew this mountain and it wasn’t part of the arctic north as some of the snow might have suggested. Of course, this could have just been a quirk from Discord. No, Colgate realized, where she stood was where the palace of the two she knew as princesses was supposed to be. The capitol city, Canterlot. But it wasn’t there. This really was an entirely different world. Compared to this, the sisters had forged a near paradise out of Equestria. Her latent fears crept back up on her. Was she going to be the pony to mess it all up? Had she already? She wouldn’t have time to ponder this. Problems just wouldn’t leave them alone.

Celestia walked past Colgate and began to lead the way along the small ledge that curved its way out of the cave and along the mountain side. Colgate would have followed, were it not for a pain in her head. Not again, was her first thought. Even after throwing a tantrum big enough to land her here, was her magic still not done? But, as Colgate soon found, this was different. She didn’t find herself in the same sense numbing bind that used to occur. It was more like her magic was reacting to something on the outside rather than the inside. Her head twitched as her horn gave a spark. It was like someone had grabbed a hold of her mane and yanked her head to the side. Colgate didn’t fancy the idea of being pulled toward the edge of a cliff and became immediately wary. It could have been another one of Discord’s tricks. She didn’t move, glancing about.

“Minuette?” Celestia turned around when she realized Colgate wasn’t following her. Colgate’s head gave another twitch at the neck, her horn snapping with light like flint struck against rock. It hurt. Colgate already wasn’t very fond of having her head jerked around as she massaged her neck with her hoof.

“Ow,” Colgate winced, a bone cracking.

“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked.

“That’s the thing,” her horn gave a few more bluish sparks. “I never really know.”

“Is your magic doing that?”

“Yeah…It’s not the same as usual though.” Celestia approached Colgate and stretching out a hoof went to touch her horn. Colgate sunk away, lowering her head.

“Careful,” Colgate flustered. “You’ll…well…you shouldn’t touch it.”

“Is this what you meant when you said you couldn’t control it?” Colgate glanced around.

“Yes…”

“Well I should at least look at it.” Celestia tried to touch Colgate’s horn again. Colgate flinched away further.

“No…”

“Minuette,” Celestia tone became slightly motherly, which should have been comforting, but it bothered Colgate. “Didn’t you want to learn magic?”

“Well yes, but…”

“I might be able to tell why your magic is out of control. Can’t I at least take a look at it?”

“No…” Colgate repeated like a tempestuous child.

“Minu-”

“Don’t touch it!” Colgate smacked Celestia hoof away. There was silence. Celestia’s almost heartbroken expression made Colgate’s aggression quickly dissolve into guilt. Celestia lowered her hoof and shuffled to a reasonable distance awkwardly. Colgate tried to reapproach her, but this time it was Celestia who took a step back.

“Prin-I mean…er…Celestia I…”Sorry didn’t seem like the right word. She had certainly meant to do what she had done, but not in the way she had done it perhaps. She was confused. Abruptly Celestia looked up, her eyes widening in panic.

“Minuette move!” She shouted. There had still only been a few feet between them and in the blink of an eye, a pulse of energy from Celestia’s horn propelled both of them away from each other. Colgate managed to stay on all four hooves, skidding across the rock face, stopping uncomfortably close to the edge. Where the two mares had been, something resembling or at least Colgate thought resembling a cottage, plummeted in a straight vertical and burst into splinters as it cracked across the mountainside with a crash. Colgate shielded her eyes against the scattering of debris most of which fell cluttering down into the forest below. A cloud of dust lingered along with small amounts of hay and wood that had managed to stay on the ledge and the echoes of clinking wood. Colgate coughed inhaling the dust. Lowering her hoof from shielding her face Colgate saw Celestia on the other side of a pile of wood and hay with Luna no longer on her back, but under one of her wings. Even in all the commotion, the little alicorn struggled to wake up. Colgate ran over to the scatter of debris separating them.

“Are you okay?” she elevated her voice.

“We’re alright,” Celestia responded, lifting her wing and looking down to Luna.

“Wh…what’s going on sis?” Luna asked in a mumble, her eyelids tightening themselves shut.

“Don’t worry Luna. We’re just outside now.”

“Do you need…” Luna trailed off her head falling against Celestia’s leg. Then came another voice. Celestia tensed up, her wing folding back over her sister and her head jerking up looking to the sky. Was somepony singing?

“Ahahahahehehe!” a sort of wild laughter echoed around them. “Snow around the lava, the pony’s homes are falling! Trash it, laugh it, in madness drown!” The tune was to ring around the rosy, only lopsided without its rhymes and its lyrics twisted yet sung proudly and with glee. From above something soared down and plopped itself with joy into all the remaining debris that was left, scattering it all around. There wasn’t much left to throw around though and the thing that had landed hopped up and hovered over the spot with a frown.

“Oh, it all fell down…” Colgate did a double take. What was before her was merely a pony, seemingly an earth pony at that. Her fur was a strange pastel pinkish purple and her mane and tail a curly double colored violet and white making it look like fluffy cotton candy. There was a hat atop her head with a little plastic propeller poking up. It was strange. It looked like nothing more than a toy, yet seemed like it was attached to her head and was holding her aloft. She hovered in the air hooves bent frowning at the lack of a mess, her eyes moving without synchronization. They lacked distinct pupils and were filled with swirls of purple that looked at everything around them. The mare’s head turned to Celestia and Luna, the former of which still held her wing over the latter and glared at this new guest with a malice Colgate had never seen out of her before.

“Oooo! Hey!” The mare greeted them. “It’s Sunbutt and Moonface!” Colgate scolded herself for even considering laughing at this. After all, whoever this was had just tried to crush them with a house or at least it seemed that way.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know who you were dropping a house on.” Celestia said abrasively.

“Maybe did, maybe not,” The mare turned herself upside down. “Dropping houses is always fun.”

“What do you want, Screwball?” Screwball? That made sense of the pony’s cutie mark, Colgate thought. It was literally just a screw and a baseball side by side. Colgate wasn’t sure what that meant in terms of a cutie mark or a special talent, but then she didn’t really know that much about her own. This mare in front of her though was ridiculous in everything down to her name. Something like Screwball was more than fitting. The pony ignored Celestia’s question and turned to Colgate by flipping over from her upside down position by doing half a flip, the propeller apparently uninterested in any laws concerning physics.

“Who’s the new pony?” There were multiple flashes like a camera in which the mare ported around, grinning and appearing in a different orientation every time until she popped up nose to nose with Colgate her swirly eyes drilling into her latest interest. Colgate backed up, only to have Screwball port straight to her again, this time staring at her like a bat only hanging from nothing.

“Huh new pony?” She said buoyantly. “Who are ya!? You got a horn. A horn, a horn. By the way, surprise!” Screwball vanished again and Colgate gasped as she was suddenly doused with something from above her. It wasn’t water. She tumbled backwards shaking her mane to get whatever it was out. Colgate looked up to see Screwball on top of a small puffy pink cloud. The strange substance that dripped from it was clingy like sugar water.

“Why don’t more ponies appreciate chocolate?” Screwball asked this as if it were some sort of crime, wondering why Colgate hadn’t enjoyed being drenched in the stuff. Why chocolate Colgate thought? It had rained the same thing when Discord was around in her own time, so seeing it do the same thing now wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was the fact that this pony could make clouds that did the same thing. She clearly wasn’t a unicorn, as the hat she wore was too small to have covered up a horn and yet she also flew despite not being a Pegasus. She almost looked like one of the clouds herself. Colgate stood back up, trying to make sense of a nonsensical mare.

“You got a name, nameless?” Screwball asked.

“Wh-” Colgate never had a hope of finishing

“I should give you a funny name too!” She giggled. “You’ll never be as golden as Sunbutt though.” Celestia frowned on hearing the name again and Screwball looked to Colgate’s cutie mark. Or at least it appeared to be what she was looking at. Her eyes were impossible to read. Screwball donned a sarcastic grin.

“What’s that supposed to be?” She popped up behind Colgate from where she had been with a blink eyeballing the hourglass on Colgate’s flank. Colgate turned,

“If you really want to know, my name is-” Screwball stuffed a hoof into Colgate’s mouth.

“No. You don’t have a name until I give you one. What’s an hourglass supposed to mean anyway?” Screwball floated in a circle around Colgate, rotating on a horizontal axis counterclockwise, her eyes spinning in the opposite direction. As soon as her hoof came out of Colgate’s mouth though, Colgate spat at the ground, brushing her tongue with her hoof. It was just another taste she didn’t want in there. The feeling brought on by not brushing was bad enough, but now her tongue tasted like it had been dowsed in sugar. This was quickly turning into a dental nightmare for her.

“So what? Are you good at telling time?” Colgate didn’t answer, continuing to wipe her tongue off. “What are you doing?” Screwball asked.

“What was on your hoof?” Colgate asked and then almost addressing herself, “ohh, I swear my teeth are going to be moosh after this.” Screwball stopped spinning upside down and cocked an eyebrow.

“Your teeth?”

“Yes,” Colgate stopped, spitting a few more times. “I’ll have to gum my food…oohhh I need a brush!” Colgate squirmed in place, knowing there was no such thing around. This statement did however at least humor Screwball.

“Ahahahaha!” She twirled around in the air. “You’re worried about your mouth? Ahahaha! Are you drunk? Ahahaha.” It was like someone had told her the best joke she had ever heard. Screwball wouldn’t stop laughing. Of course, she had obviously never met Berry Punch or she wouldn’t have asked if Colgate was the drunk one.

“I’m fine,” Colgate said, annoyed.

“No!” Screwball retorted. “A sober pony doesn’t worry about her teeth with me around. AHA! A drunk pony! Hahaha! I’ve got you a nickname! Wanna hear, wanna hear!?” Colgate frowned. She would inevitably have to, but still chose to say,

“No,” as disinterestedly as she could.

“Too bad!” This was expected. “I’m gonna call you…” She paused. “Clocktail!” Colgate could almost hear the crickets. “Get it? Get it?”

“Totally over my head,” Colgate resigned sarcastically. Screwball whirled right up into Colgate’s face.

“Alcohol!” She yelled. “Ahahahaha!” After nearly poking Colgate in the eye, Screwball spun wildly around in satisfactory victory chortles. Colgate did her best to ignore them as they faded in and out, their source twirling like a merry-go-round and teleporting all over the place. Then she heard a snicker from someone else. She looked over. Luna had woken up and was grinning at her.

“Hey,” Colgate felt betrayed.

“What?” Luna looked down her nose at Colgate. “Don’t mind me Clocktail.”

“Luna!” Celestia gave her sister a nudge, scolding her, but to no effect. Screwball popped up between them again giving one last “HA!” as she did so.

“What’s your deal?” Colgate narrowed her eyes at her.

“Silly pony,” She replied. “What’s your deal?” Screwball proceeded to imitate Colgate again by spitting at the ground only what came out of her mouth was more chocolate milk rather than spit. Colgate shifted around to avoid some of the wads that might have hit her hooves.

“What’s with you and this Chocolate?” Colgate asked.

“Why Clocktail,” Screwball said, eliciting another snicker from Luna. Colgate glared at her momentarily, to which the only response was an overly fluffy smile. “Silly silly. If all the world were paper and all the sea were ink and all the trees were bread and cheese, what should we have to drink!?” There was a pause. Her rhymey words seemed out of place and Colgate figured she was just chanting another poem. Of course for all she knew, the sea really could be ink and the trees made of bread. In a place where clouds were pink and rained chocolate milk, and random houses were falling out of a pink sky, it wouldn’t seem out of place.

“Get on with it Screwball,” Celestia finally got serious. “You didn’t come here just to toy with us.” Screwball looked confused for a second and then smiled.

“Nope, that’s pretty much it.”

“Wh-” Now Celestia was confused.

“Now you’re being silly too,” Screwball flipped over and began walking in a circle upside down in the air as if she were on solid ground. “Sunbutt knows I just wanna have fun. And here are my two favorite toys.”

“You’re demented.”

“Isn’t it great!” The mare beamed and then flipped back over, still standing in the air. “And now you get to play one of my favorite games!” Colgate, Luna, and Celestia all stood on edge. No one answered Screwball; she just kept smiling at Celestia.

“Don’t you want to know what it is?” Screwball’s grin was getting more maniacal as it got wider.

“Why don’t you just tell us,” Celestia told her.

“Ohhh okay,” Screwball did her best sad face and held it for a few moments. Then her huge grin came back in a flash.

“LONDON BRIDGE!” She screamed. Screwball plummeted from her place in the air and slammed into the surface of the ledge with the force of a two ton wrecking ball. Colgate felt the shock wave rumble through the cliff side. A spider web of cracks originated from Screwball’s hooves and the stone crumbled apart like brittle cookies beneath their feet. Screwball stood in place, letting the ground dissolve away as if it weren’t needed for standing. Colgate and the two sisters however tumbled inward toward each other and accelerated toward the forest at the foot of the mountain with everything else. Colgate panicked. She had flipped over and was falling back first, unable to see where she was going. She flailed around and closing her eyes heard a pop from her horn. With a hiss it lit up again and before Colgate even knew what she was doing a translucent bubble formed around her, Celestia and Luna. It shrunk drawing them together until there was no more room for even another pony. Lightening began jumping from her horn again.

“Idiot!” Luna yelled at her. “What are you doing!?” They couldn’t get out of the bubble and it was obvious Luna wanted to fly, but she couldn’t spread her wings and neither could Celestia. But to be honest, Colgate had no idea what she was doing or if it was even her. She wasn’t trying to do this. So why was it happening?

“Minuette,” Celestia pleaded. The ground was only getting closer. “Calm down! You have to let us fly!” She never got the chance. Like a brilliant camera flash, Colgate’s vision went pure white and all noise stopped. The only sound was an intense ringing in her ears and all she saw was white. She was blinded and for what seemed like the longest time, she couldn’t orient herself. She couldn’t tell if she was upside down, on her side, on her hooves, still falling, or even if she was spinning through the air. This was certainly a change from blacking out, but it wasn’t really preferable to it. It was like being conscious in mind for the entire time your body was unconscious. But as she discovered, she had never really been unconscious. It was more like her entire being had temporarily frozen and through the whiteness, the lines began to blur back into focus…

The Narrowing Everfree

Chapter 5: The Narrowing Everfree

Time and Space Await…

-Destiny is such a feeble word…clouded in abstraction. So then, wind in the rain…my dear sweet breeze… If it is strength we wish to find, why do we turn to it?

Interlude 3:

The alicorn is alone. She glances around frantically. Just a moment before she had been falling from the mountain pleading with Minuette to let them fly. Now she is here. The Everfree is dimly lit around her and the trees loom over her as if to make her more aware of her solitary state. Her pink eyes turn dull with panic. Neither her sister nor her new friend is nearby. What had happened? Had they been teleported? Luna, where is Luna? Her mind races. She gallops to and fro unable to decide which way to go. The sounds of the forest seem to pile in around her forming a cage of noise. She is afraid to move. Her heart starts to accelerate and every direction fails to give a sign of her companions. She backs against a tree locked by indecision.

Suddenly she can hear herself over the forest. She catches herself hyperventilating and realizes what is happening. She cannot let this get to her. She does her best to calm her breathing, forcing her lungs to take deeper, more deliberate breathes. Even then, she cannot relax her pulse. Her mind will not allow it. She is still frightened to the edge of being able to think rationally. But she cannot let them see her like this. She has to put on a brave face, even while her hear beat constantly reminds her of her fears. She can at least hide her panic outwardly. She cannot stay here though, she decides. She has to find one of them quickly. She knows the paths of the Everfree fairly well. She gallops off to where she knows she will find an edge and in her desperation, the poor alicorn forgets she has wings.

Interlude out…

Her vision refilled in a series of lines like an echesketch drawing in fast forward. Lines first, purely grayscale and then color was added as if her eyes had to repaint the scene that had been before them only moments before. At first, her sense of balance returning to her, she could only tell that she was standing. Eventually, she could make out trees, then bushes, vines, all manner of foliage. Their colors filled in with deep greens, moist brown bark, and several shades of flowers. Suddenly, with a pop in her ears, everything became crystal clear. Colgate could only assume what was around her was the Everfree forest. The smell of wet grasses lingered heavily in the air and the trees formed a canopy above her, blotting out a majority of the eerie pink light coming down from the sky. The forest was dim, but not blindingly. Colgate could at least see past her own hooves and the first few trees. But what caught her attention was the mare running frantically about, yelling into the woods.

“Tia!” It was Luna, calling for her sister. “Tia!” There was no answer and looking around, Colgate observed that Celestia was in fact gone. Luna turned to her, her eyes filled with panic covered in a film of water. They flicked around, looking at Colgate for a few moments, her panic turning abruptly into a rage bridled only by tears.

“You!” Her horn lit up and Colgate suddenly found herself forced to the ground onto her stomach as if Luna had multiplied the gravitational force around her. Colgate winced, attempting to get up, but it was impossible. She was pinned down and Luna stomped up to her glowering down and, lowering her neck, met Colgate eye to eye.

“What did you do with Tia!?” There was nothing Colgate could say to this. She had no idea what had happened to Celestia.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Liar!” Luna stomped a hoof near Colgate’s face. “You’ve acted funny since you got here.”

“I can’t control my magic,” Colgate pleaded with her. “I don’t know what happened.”

“No more excuses! You know what…” Colgate was picked up from the ground and forced against a nearby tree. She cringed, the bark stabbing at her back and pulling at her fur and mane. “You’re going to tell me where you’re from, cause you keep messing things up.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Where are you from!?” Luna repeated.

“Luna please I-”

“Answer the question!” Colgate felt the force pinning her to the tree increase.

“Or…or what?” It was a question Colgate really shouldn’t have asked.

“I’ll break your leg again!”

“Luna, I can’t tell you…I just… I can’t.”

“Liar! Liar! LIAR!” With the last repeated word Luna’s voice boomed as if amplified by a microphone. There was silence. Colgate didn’t say anything more. She couldn’t tell Luna she was from the future. She probably wouldn’t even believe her, but Colgate didn’t even like the notion of the idea being in Luna’s head. She might just decide to believe it because there was no alternative story. There was a snap, like twig breaking off into the trees that effectively broke the tension between the two of them. Luna turned her head to look, the anger evaporating from her eyes.

“Tia?” Luna glanced around. There was no answer. “Tia is that you?” Still nothing. The sound had likely just been something lurking around in the underbrush that was either too timid or too furtive to show itself. Luna had perked up for a moment and when there was no reply seemed to wilt, lowering her ears in disappointment. Colgate was released from the tree and slid to the ground. It immediately seemed easier to breathe. Luna turned back to Colgate, her anger cooled now and the light reflecting off the water in her eyes. Colgate didn’t know what to make of it.

“Luna I-”

“Shut-up,” Luna interrupted her. She turned her back. “I hate you.” With this she spread her wings and leapt into the air, shooting through the canopy of leaves, over them and out of sight. Colgate stood up, stunned. She was alone. She couldn’t fly so there was no way for her to follow Luna and no way for her to tell where she had sent Celestia. Colgate struck the dirt with one of her hooves starting to cry some of her own tears. She had done it, she thought. She had successfully torn the royal sisters apart and ruined everypony’s future. What if Luna never found Celestia? There would be no future for her to go back to even if she could figure out how to go back. A tear dripped from her chin. She wanted to try to find her. She wanted to run off into the forest and look for Celestia to make sure the two sisters made it back together. But she didn’t move. It was something she couldn’t do. She kept messing things up for them. Colgate looked at the forest through a glaze of water, the edges of the trees blurred and the light bending through it. She turned the opposite direction and ran.

She would stay away from them, she thought. Luna could find her sister she assured herself and once she did they wouldn’t need any help from her. She was just a dentist, trapped by her own magic. So she ran. She galloped through the vines and trees of the Everfree like there was nothing that would dare get in her way. She was barely paying attention to where she was going striking the side of a tree more than once, ignoring the scratches. If there was anything in this forest that might hurt her, she didn’t want to pause long enough for it to even know where she was going. She heard a few things dash out of the way as she passed, her tears trailing behind her. It was horrible, having one of the royal sisters, even if they didn’t have that standing yet, tell her they hated her. What a mess, Colgate thought. She just wanted to go home. She thought of Berry Punch again and wondered what was happening to her right now. She imagined her at the mercy of a changeling forcing information out of her like Luna had done to her. There was nothing she could do about it either.

Colgate tripped. She toppled forward a few twigs cutting across her sides and her mane dragging through the dirt. She lay on her stomach face down and didn’t move, only folded her front hooves over her eyes and cried into them. It wasn’t noisy bawling, but a fit audible only by intermittent sniffles and squeaks. She had no idea how long she lay there like that, in her hopeless state. She remembered feeling somewhat like this when she had nearly burned down Berry Punch’s garden, only this time there was no Derpy who would come to cheer her up with her quirky but effective charm. The only thing charming around her, were the flowers overly lush from recent rain, which Colgate refused to look at.

She kept her head in her hooves, not wanting to see the fact that she was crying and couldn’t stop. Eventually, her eyes gave up on the tears and Colgate’s mind faded in and out, her body telling her she didn’t need anymore sleep. But she didn’t move, letting the sounds of the forest wash around her. There were crickets, birds, frogs, maybe a cockatrice. She let out a cynical huff at this thought, almost chuckling at herself dryly. Had she saw a cockatrice she might have stared it down to lock herself in stone, ensuring that she couldn’t mess anything else up. She laughed, because she knew she was coward.

The only reason she looked up from the soil she had practically stuffed her face into was because she heard a voice. It was familiar, but not it a good way. It certainly wasn’t Celestia or Luna and they were singing. Again.

“Iron bars will bend and break, bend and break, bend and break, iron bars will bend and break, my fair pony.” To the pony singing it, it was a victory tune, but to Colgate it was a mockery; a mockery that was gleefully marching along the air above her, hitting every note with a wacky precision that sounded horrible at first, but somehow still followed the tune. A tune who’s title had resulted in her separation from Luna and Celestia. London Bridge.

“Tear them down with fudge and snow, fudge and snow, fudge and snow, let them farm from checkerboard, crops that wither.” It was getting annoying. Colgate looked up, and to her surprise, found herself at the foot of earth that changed into a checkerboard pattern. The trees that grew out of it were dead, while the ones behind her were still very alive, oblivious to the death slowly creeping toward them. The dead trees were also encased it a flawless sheet of ice, unaffected by temperature making it more like glass. Colgate’s cheeks were cold and wet from crying, powdered with spots of mud from putting her head in the dirt. She could feel the soil in her mane too and looking back, could see fur and mud caked around the scratches in her side, which stood out in pale red against her normal pastel blue. She wiped her face, only succeeding in getting the excess tears off her face, replacing them with more mud. Somewhere above her though, a mare kept singing her demented song, a tainted take on an old nursery rhyme.

“Poison joke will choke them out, choke them out, choke them out, Everfree will die no doubt, to our cadence.” Colgate felt herself getting angry. The song, sung so happily, would have been enough to insult any Equestrian and the mare singing it was having more fun than it seemed like was possible to be drawn from just singing a song.

“We will laugh at-” She began another verse, but then stopped abruptly. “Ooooo!” She seemed delighted. Colgate didn’t look up to see why, but had a feeling and didn’t need to guess. “I found one of you!” With a snap Screwball popped up in front of Colgate, yet not eye to eye like she usually did. “Heya, Clocktail!” Colgate couldn’t change her expression to look any more disinterested. “Aww you wook sad.” Screwball did a ridiculous sad face, widening her eyes and stretching your neck. She quickly snapped back to her casual grin. “Did you for-for-forget your booooooze!?” With a spark, a bottle of champagne was suddenly over Colgate’s head. “Don’t worry; the hangover is always worth it!” Colgate clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her heart rate escalated and it only took her a moment to figure out why. She had been sad before because she had no else to blame but herself. Now, she had somepony to pin her misfortune on. Luna wouldn’t have yelled at her if it weren’t for this stupid mare. Colgate’s renewed tears were hot now, like the feelings in her head were simmering them before they came to her eyes.

The bottle above Colgate, zipped toward her skull, but shattered before it met its mark, its contents dissolving into the air with a hiss. Her horn sparked. Screwball frowned.

“Heeeeey,” She seemed genuinely sad, but it was only acting. Nothing was serious with this mare, but Colgate would give her a reason to be sad. Or at least try.

“You…” To Screwball, she must have looked just like Luna had to her, tears in her eyes only because there was rage that needed to escape and it needed more vents. “All of this is your fault…” Colgate stood up and glared down at Screwball.

“Hm?” Screwball tilted her head. “You broke the bottle you big silly.” She shrugged. “How about we-”

“Shut up!” A bolt burst from Colgate’s horn and connecting with Screwball sent her flying backward screeching across the checkerboard ground when she landed. Colgate warped instantly after her and before she finished skidding along, popped up behind her and using her magic lifted her straight up shaking her around like a doll, her horn crackling with static like a greedy fire. She didn’t care how; she just wanted to hurt the mare. Out of instinct she somehow materialized a steely looking gray cube next to Screwball as she held her in the air. It was slightly bigger than Screwball and It held weight and she could feel it. Colgate whirled it through the air, bringing it around in an arc before using it to strike Screwball across the face.

She had been holding her fairly high above her and even from that distance she could hear the abstract object crack across her jaw. For the moment, it made Colgate happy. Not in a gleefully way, it was more like the maniacal way Screwball had. Colgate used her newly formed object to jostle Screwball several more times before creating another. Screwball didn’t even have time to think. Colgate smashed the mare between the two objects. All Colgate heard was a pained squeak. She brought the objects apart to do it again. Any other pony might have been crushed by the first blow, but Screwball popped back into shape like she was made of rubber. Her eyes spun in opposite directions, dazed.

Colgate brought the two cubes together again. They clanged like iron beams, even with Screwball to cushion their impact. She did this three more times, with less of a pause in between each time. Then, she dropped the objects, and they came down shattering against the checkered ground, only a temporary existence. They had served their purpose. Still holding Screwball with her magic, Colgate wrung her around again, flying her into trees and peeling her across the ground. She made sure she struck things at awkward angles hoping with every crack that her limbs would break.

“Stop!” Screwball squeaked as her skin burned across the plastic land she was being drug across. Colgate finally brought the mare down, slamming her onto her back in front of her. Screwball flailed, Colgate’s horn lighting up brighter. A frenzy of lightening snapped out of it, striking Screwball in the chest with deafening booms like fireworks. Screwball wailed, her screaming only audible between cracks of thundering electricity. The mare was convulsing, trying, whether advertently or instinctively, to get away, but the lightening held her down with such force that she could only writhe against it.

That was enough. Colgate, as angry as she had been was beginning to disgust herself. It was too late though. She should have known better than to trust her magic as a tool for anything. When she tried to stop it, it pushed back. The lightening torturing Screwball was no longer hers to control. Even as she tried to pull it back, to stop the spell, it intensified itself, not yet finished with what Colgate had started. In fact, it began to back fire. Colgate felt the static needle at her fur, hungry for more. Colgate tried to step away from Screwball, but she was pulled back by her horn as if she had turned the two of them into the polar ends of a magnet. Screwball contorted in every way imaginable, her limbs twisting around and a trickle of blood coming from her mouth where she had bitten her lip.

Then, an audible snap. Not of lightening, but like someone had snapped their fingers. Everything went silent and a shock wave burst from Colgate’s horn, the trail of lightening from her to Screwball breaking immediately, sending her skidding backwards across her stomach after doing a back flip. Colgate raised her head, dazed. It was a lot quieter now. It had been so loud.

“Oh no,” A voice said. “What did that mean pony do to you?” Colgate recognized this voice. She watched as Screwball was scooped in an eagle talon and a lion paw. She was held like and infant, wrapping her front hooves around the Draconequus’ neck and burying her face in his fur.

“It hurt…” Screwball’s voice cracked through tears. “She’s horrible daddy.” Daddy? That was a first, Colgate thought. Why would this mare refer to Discord as her father?

“There, there my little fiend.” Discord held her in one arm and using magic to lift her hat, brushing back her mane and putting the cap back on. It made Screwball look very small, but then she wasn’t much bigger than a filly to begin with. “Don’t worry about her. Do you remember your favorite rhyme?” Screwball looked up at Discord.

“What?” She half sobbed.

“There was a crooked mare,” Discord began. Screwball stopped sobbing and wiped her eyes.

“And she walked a crooked mile,” Screwball continued like a child reciting a memory lesson.

“She found a crooked sixpence,” The two continued reciting back and forth, line by line.

“Upon a crooked stile,”

“She bought a crooked cat,”

“Which caught a crooked mouse,”

“And they all lived together,”

“In a crooked little house,” Screwball smiled as she finished, not her normal crazed grin she always wore, but a genuine smile.

“That’s right,” Discord brought a finger up to Screwball’s mouth and as he did so, all trace of the wound she had received vanished, until Discord finally touched her lip and the wound itself was gone. “And why do like that one so much?”

“Because,” Screwball raised a hoof toward Discord. “You said I’m like the crooked mare cause I’m all lopsided. And you said maybe one day we could live together in a crooked little house of our own.”

“So I did. And no pony like this is going to mess up your weird little dream” He gestured to Colgate who was still watching, wondering what in the world she was seeing. It jerked her impression of Discord awry. She never thought of him as someone who could have compassion for anything. She suddenly felt guilt pull at her for what she had done. She might have killed Screwball if she hadn’t been stopped and this, Colgate thought, it was almost touching. “Now you run along and rest so we can have some more fun later. It’s not as good when it’s just me throwing things around. I’ll deal with her.” Screwball leapt up from Discord’s arm seemingly recovered already.

“Okay Daddy!” She grinned and like a piece of bubblegum, vanished with a pop. Discord turned to Colgate.

“You’re doing all this to make a broken house for your…daughter?” Colgate asked, hesitating to call Screwball something as endearing as his daughter.

“Ha!” Discord laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. That’s just a side effect really. Why would I ever have such a complicated motive?”

“That’s complicated?” Colgate raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s the real reason?” Discord vanished and popped up in front of Colgate.

“Fun,” He replied with a grin. Colgate cringed. There was that tooth again. She really should have been backing away. After all, this Discord wasn’t inhibited like the last. He had free reign here. Colgate at least decided to stand up, but upon doing so found it more difficult than she might have liked. Her limbs were shaky and heavy. Her magic had certainly taken a toll on her stamina and her whole body felt tired.

“Oh come now,” Discord said. “You should sit and stay. I’m always up for a good conversation.” Colgate didn’t move. She knew just being in his presence was dangerous, but doubted her ability to make any kind of escape at the moment. Discord slithered through the air and swirling up behind her put his hands on her shoulders.

“Really now,” He said. “You saw what just happened. I have only good intentions. Isn’t the world more exciting this way? Do you know a Celestia? Perhaps you could pass that message onto that hot headed little mare. She and her friends don’t seem to like me. But don‘t I deserve a chance? Doesn‘t chaos deserve a go?” This was the second time Discord was telling her this. They weren’t even the same Discord either. Well they were, she thought, yet they weren’t. Discord shook her a little bit as if to rattle her. “What do you say?”

“I…” Colgate didn’t finish.

“Minuette!” Someone yelled from behind her. “Don’t listen to him!” Discord lifted his hands off Colgate and turned and shrugged at Celestia.

“Ahh, there she is,” Discord said casually. “Celestia. Did you have a nice trip?”

“I don’t understand,” Celestia grit her teeth. “Why are you doing this?” Discord seemed baffled by the question.

“Why in the world does everypony keep asking me that?”

“Stay away from Minuette!” Celestia’s horn lit up, hissing with heat.

“Ah there you go again,” Discord crossed his arms. “Ever the short temper. But you know this mare?”

“Discord…” Celestia nearly hissed at him with a tone that suggested if he didn’t stop she would resort to force. Colgate didn’t move, afraid of what might happen if she did.

“Well don’t mind me, but I wouldn’t take anymore steps if I were you.” Discord pointed at the ground at Celestia’s feet. She was inches away from where the soil met the checkerboard of Discord’s randomness. “But you could spare a few moments for a friend right?” Discord put his talon hand to the back of Colgate’s head, stroking her mane. A chill ran all the way down through her tail. It was like metal scraping against stone, a feeling that would make anypony want to cringe. She felt uncomfortable, but still afraid to move. But was it really that simple, Colgate thought? She suddenly had a theory as to why it was the Everfree that everypony was hiding in. Celestia’s horn flared up, the air between her and Discord almost visibly tense.

“Right?” Discord clenched his fists, repeating the word more fiercely. As he did so his fists lit up and the trees next to Celestia froze instantly and the checkerboard extended under her hooves. Celestia was suddenly pulled from her place and yanked toward Discord. He caught her by her mid section with his lion paw. He held her above Colgate his eyes widening and pupils dilating maliciously.

“Hi,” He said, brining her up to his face. It was now or never, Colgate thought. This situation didn’t seem like it could get any worse and she didn’t want Celestia falling into Discords hands on her head. She leapt from her spot at Discord’s side and grabbing hold of one of Celestia’s dangling lower legs, put everything she could think of into making her magic work: faith, energy, determination, stupidity, and maybe a bit of foolishness. Her horn lit up and with a spark, Celestia was no longer in Discord’s hands. They reappeared away from him, under trees still with their leaves and on mossy soil. They were close though and as soon as Celestia realized what had been done, pulled Colgate back several meters to a safe distance. Colgate was still in a daze as she did this and being almost dragged, wondered if she had failed to teleport them far enough away. The ensuing sigh from Discord was enough to tell her she had succeeded though. He ported straight up to the boundary of the forest that was still alive.

“Well you’re no fun,” He crossed his arms. Colgate was amazed. She had been right. But why? Why couldn’t Discord enter the Everfree forest? Even his power didn’t seem to reach within its still living confines as he had needed to kill part of it to drag Celestia out. But again, to her surprise, Discord didn’t press them any further.

“Well I suppose that’s fine,” He said, seeming to resign. “That’s quite a strange mare you’ve found yourself Celestia. But remember, you only have so much time.” With that Discord vanished with a snap of his fingers just as he had arrived. Colgate’s horn fizzled, sending off a few weak sparks. She suddenly felt dizzy. Ridiculous, Colgate thought. Discord had been suppressing her magic the entire time. Celestia supported her, to stop her from falling. Colgate quickly recovered and backed away from her.

“Minuette, are you alright?” Colgate shook her head. Celestia took a step toward her, hesitant, and then stopped. Colgate didn’t move. “What’s wrong?” Colgate looked away.

“I…I’ve done some terrible things…” Colgate replied. Celestia looked down.

“I saw.” Colgate flustered at this response.

“I-I was angry. I-I didn’t me to-to hurt her so much. I- I just…well…I wasn’t thinking…you know I-”

“Minuette,” Celestia stopped her not even raising her tone. “Don’t beat yourself up. Screwball wasn’t exactly gentle with us.”

“But still,” Colgate teared up.

“I know,” Celestia stopped her again. “Times are rough. But with everything beating you down…you can’t add yourself to the list.” There was a pause, Colgate didn’t answer. “Okay?” She spoke so gently it hurt in a way that harsh words couldn’t.

“Okay…” Colgate replied weakly.

“We’ll get through this and hopefully we can all be smiling in the end.” Colgate nodded, wiping her eyes. “Now, we’re taking you to the river.” Colgate suddenly found her hooves not on the ground. Celestia was using her magic to lift her up and drifted her along beside her as she walked through the forest.

“Wh-” Colgate squirmed. “What are you doing?” She had gone from depressed to confused with a single action.

“Look at you,” Celestia said. “You look like you just went puddle jumping and fell into a pile of twigs. We’re going to clean you up.”

“Wh-but-hmmm…” Colgate couldn’t form a sentence. This action of Celestia’s, combined with the random determination she pursued it with, seemed rather unnecessary and illogical. Were there not more important things to worry about than how kempt Colgate’s mane was? But she was in no mood to protest. Whatever Celestia was thinking, Colgate decided she would just roll with it at this point. Her previous actions had gotten her into nothing but trouble. This was probably a good choice as Celestia didn’t seem lost like she did when they had been in the caverns. Even going around the thickest underbrush Celestia didn’t hesitate at which direction to take. Her eyes remained forward and Colgate was along for the ride.

Eventually they came to a small stream, hardly what Colgate had been expecting when Celestia said she was taking her to a river. It was shallow, only a few inches deep and only a few feet wide. It was just enough to stand in Colgate observed as Celestia set her in it. The water didn’t even cover her hooves. It just splashed around them, moving calmly along like nothing was wrong. Even in the dimness of the Everfree, Colgate could faintly see herself reflected in it. It was no wonder Celestia had thought to clean her up. There was dried mud all about her face, caked into her mane, and splattered about her fur and tail. She really did look like she had gone puddle jumping and the scrapes at her sides was probably where Celestia had gotten the inspiration for the pile of sticks. Colgate had shallow cuts on her sides, her left slightly worse than her right, from running through the woods without a thought for where the braches had been hanging down.

Colgate tapped her hoof in the stream, making a light splash with a thin watery sound. How was this ever going to be enough to clean her with? Colgate tilted her head at the stream and then looked up to Celestia who was looking back at her as blissfully as ever.

“Ready?” Celestia asked.

“For what?” Colgate shifted.

“I guess that will have to do.” With this vague statement, Celestia’s horn began to glow, leaving Colgate to wonder just what she was about to do. The water at Colgate’s feet began to swirl momentarily, spinning mildly around and up her hooves. This was what Colgate had expected. There obviously wasn’t enough water to-

Without warning the water surged up around her in a furious cyclone spinning just as fast as her magically powered dentist drills back home. Colgate held her breath and snapped her eyes shut as the torrent engulfed her. It pulled at her mane and peeled the dirt from her fur with a rushing gurgle that let her hears hear nothing else. Wasn’t there a milder way to do this? Colgate felt the water spin above her and it stopped. She took a breath only to notice a huge bubble of water encased in an aura of magic lingering over her. It plummeted on top of her head, dousing her before she was ready. The mass of water washed heavily over her in an instant, rejoining the stream below her or making good food for the mosses around the bank. Colgate sputtered, coughing and sneezing water out of her nose. Between her panting Colgate could hear Celestia giggling to herself.

“Hehe…” She grinned hiding it by placing a hoof over her mouth. “No pony ever expects that the first time.” Colgate attempted to shake herself dry, only succeeding in stopping the incessant drip coming from the tip of her mane on her head.

“Maybe…” Colgate sneezed again. She was shivering. The water in the stream hadn’t been the warmest and there was little sunlight, as strange as the sunlight was right now, in the forest to warm her. “Maybe you should give them more of a warning… princess.” Colgate paused, adding the honorific at the end out of habit, once again realizing it was unneeded immediately as it left her mouth.

“Oh no,” Celestia insisted not even flinching at the term. “I love the reactions. They’re priceless.”

“So…so…” Colgate’s nose tingled with another urge to sneeze, but she resisted it resuming her question as her nose calmed itself. “So now do I just…just air dry?” She shook fiercely as a breeze rustling the leaves sent chills everywhere down to her tail and left her fur standing on end.

“Oh, my apologies,” Celestia lowered her head, placing her horn just above Colgate. It came to life again, this time with a reddish glowing emitting soothing and inviting warmth that calmed Colgate’s shaking within seconds. It was a warmth that soaked into her like her skin was a sponge. Was there anything Celestia couldn’t do with her magic? But then of course there was. Defeat Discord. Colgate would have been content to enjoy the warming sensation while she dried in silence, but Celestia had other plans.

“So now that I’ve got you here,” She began. “Would you like to tell me about your magic?” Colgate shrugged mentally. Where did she even start? “I’ve never seen anything like it. I have to say, I don’t know what you’re going to learn from me.”

“You’re just being modest,” Colgate replied.

“What?” Celestia seemed baffled by this. To her, it must have seemed improbable. Her? Modest? Not a chance. She was simply telling the truth.

“You and Luna were powerful enough to stand up to Discord.” Celestia expression saddened.

“I wouldn’t call what we did ‘standing up to him.’ We mostly just got pushed around.” Colgate found herself at odds with the way Celestia viewed herself. She was at the very least brave enough to confront Discord. Surely it hadn’t been that bad.

“Still,” Colgate protested. “You healed my leg and then took on an Ursa Major. You even stood up to Discord again for me. Whatever you saw me to do Screwball was merely an accident. I did it out of anger. I couldn’t do it intentionally if I tried. But you know exactly how to use your magic.”

“You really think so?”

“I wouldn’t have asked you to teach me if I thought I was wrong.”

“There’s still not a lot I can tell you about your own power. Every unicorn’s magic is different somehow. I’ve never seen magic like yours.”

“Can you still teach me how to control it?” If anything, Colgate needed only this. She didn’t need any elaborate explanation or obscure details on what her power was or how it worked. If she could just get it under control, it would solve so many problems. It would also get her one step closer to getting back to the time she was supposed to be in.

“I could try.” This was Celestia’s answer. It was good enough for Colgate. She figured that Celestia was only being modest again and that she would be more than capable of doing whatever it was she was unsure of. There was pause as Colgate accepted the answer, nothing left as a response. Her fur was drying quickly and was only moist at this point.

“Say…Minuette?” Celestia apparently wasn’t done asking questions and seemed nervous about asking her next one.

“Yes?”

“If you don’t mind telling… What made you so angry at Screwball? I know she tried to hurt us, but we ended up okay. You just don’t seem like the type of pony who would get that angry. What happened when we got separated?” Colgate searched for a response. She recalled the incident with Luna after she had recovered from her daze. Did she really want to tell Celestia that her sister had told her she hated her? Perhaps Luna had only been upset as well. Maybe she hadn’t meant it.

“Well…” Colgate started. “When I came to…I was with Luna and…She wasn’t very happy…”

“She was upset that you separated us wasn’t she?”

“Yeah…She didn’t hold back about it either…”

“It’s alright Minuette. I know now that you probably had no way of knowing what was going on. I’m sorry we’ve gotten you all caught up in our struggle.”

“Don’t be. You’re my best shot at getting back at this point.” Colgate realized that she had almost said too much and quickly refrained from saying anything more. Celestia simply smiled.

“I won’t ask what you mean by that,” She said. “But I trust you know what you’re doing.” She lifted her head and stopped her magic. “Good?” Colgate brushed back her mane with a hoof. It was fairly dry now as was her fur. She nodded and Celestia seemed satisfied. “So, where did Luna run off to? It’s apparent she didn’t stay with you.”

“She flew over the forest,” Colgate replied. “Then I ran off, so I don’t know where she went from there.” Colgate almost expected this to upset Celestia, but she was turning out to be very difficult to upset in any way.

“Oh,” Celestia seemed relieved. “Then this should actually be easy.” Celestia’s horn lit up and shot a brilliant yellow beam into the tree canopy. It seared upward into the sky, a constant stream for a few seconds and then Celestia stopped. She winked at Colgate and seemed to start counting seconds in her head while she looked up at the branches. It really was only a matter of seconds as well. It might have been ten or eleven and then Luna plummeted through the blanket of leaves above them into the forest. She landed solidly on all four hooves and quickly folded her wings to her side.

“Tia! Are you alright?” She looked at the scene before her, Celestia next to Colgate who was still standing in the shallow water. She scowled upon seeing Colgate, bending back as if ready to pounce.

“What are you doing?” Her horn sparked. Colgate loosened her knees ready to jump out the way fearing Luna would attack her again.

“Now Luna,” Celestia intervened calmly. Colgate might have liked her to be a little more urgent about it. She was afraid Luna was in state where she wouldn’t care if she broke any more of Colgate’s bones. “Haven’t you been mean enough to Minuette already?”

“But sis!” Luna protested angrily. “She tried to separate us! How can you still trust her?”

“Luna. Surely she told you she can’t control her magic.”

“She’s lying! She’s a dirty faker!”

“Luna.”

“A faker!”

“I saw her magic Luna. She’s not faking. And I’ll be teaching her to control it while we head to meet the other ponies on the other end of the Everfree.”

“Wh-” Luna looked betrayed. “But Tia… What if she separates us again?”

“She won’t. Right Minuette?”

“Not on purpose,” Colgate said. She couldn’t make any guarantees though. As long as her magic was out of her control, she had no idea what it might do or when.

“See,” Celestia assured Luna. “If you won’t trust her then trust me.” Luna flustered at this, shifting out of her attack stance, which put Colgate at ease.

“I- well… Are you sure Tia?” Luna looked at her sister with a strange, but earnest concern.

“I’ll be fine Luna.” Suddenly Colgate didn’t understand the conversation. It had turned in a direction that seemed like a riddle to her. There was more here than she could see. Why did Celestia need to assure her sister of this? Celestia approached her sister and patted her on the head.

“Alright Tia. I-I trust you.” Luna still looked uneasy.

“Thank you Luna.” The two did a strange hug in which Luna tucked her head under her sister’s neck. Celestia then took a step back. “Shall we go then?”

“Discord seems to be shrinking the Everfree faster sis.”

“Yes I know. We need to hurry. Southeast is where we need to go. Can you pinpoint that?” Luna nodded and her horn began to glow as she closed her eyes. After a few moments Luna shifted as her horn seemed to pull her in a certain direction. She stopped, pointing in the direction the small stream at Colgate’s feet was flowing. She opened her eyes and her horn stopped glowing.

“That way,” She stated. Even this amazed Colgate. These two really were an incredible pair. Their magic was even a compass for them and she silently wondered if she would be able to things like this eventually. Then again, as long as she could get back to her own time, she wouldn’t have a need for such survivalist spells.

“Let’s go then,” Celestia and Luna began walking. “This way Minuette,” Celestia said as they passed her. Colgate took a step to follow and then noticed something strange. It was in the way the two sisters walked together. Colgate shook herself out of her hesitation and began following behind them through the woods, her hooves drying themselves on the mossy forest floor that felt almost like carpet. It was a bit odd, Colgate thought. Luna’s concern about being separated from her sister seemed to stem not from a clingy need as a typical younger sibling might have, but more from a desire to protect her. Luna seemed wary that her sister might get hurt and for the first time as Colgate watched them walk she noticed something backwards. It was always Celestia who stayed close to Luna and Luna always making sure that was possible. It wasn’t Luna who was clinging to Celestia, she realized. It was Celestia who was clinging to Luna.

Far Sighted

Chapter 6: Far Sighted

Time and Space Await…

-In the eye of the lover, everything is beautiful. In the eye of he who is strong, everything opposes him.

They spent several days trekking through the Everfree forest. After so many ledges they had to climb, so many streams they crossed, and all the wild underbrush they had to crawl under, over and around Colgate might have wondered where it was they were going and when they would get there. That is, she would have. She was far too preoccupied with something else to count or even think about counting the miles they walked. Their destination was also of little concern to her. She was doing exactly what she needed to do and that was listening to Celestia’s lessons at every stop. She listened as intently as she could, reiterating to herself with every syllable that this was her way out and she needed to pay attention. The very first night, after fumbling to no effect with her magic on her initial lesson, Colgate recalled the time when she was a filly and Celestia had asked her to consider her school for gifted unicorns. If only she could go back and reconsider the offer, she thought at first. But then, she realized how much irony was in this statement. The whole reason she wanted to go back was because she had gone back.

Yet, with Celestia teaching her, it might not have been much different than if she had accepted Celestia’s offer. Different, was the only term Colgate could think of when she thought of the fact that Celestia was her personal mentor. It made sense now why she had started her school in the first place. In her teaching, Celestia was not only enthusiastic, but nearly ecstatic. Even through Colgate’s blundering with Luna rolling her eyes on the side line, Celestia never acted like anything was ever wrong.

“I just want you to focus,” She had said on the second night. This seemed terribly cliché to Colgate. Certainly this was a preconception that only newcomers held about magic. It couldn’t be boiled down to something as simple as focus. Didn’t it take willpower? Emotion? Some kind of secret incantation or formula kept secret from those not meant to know it? Latter that night, thinking this over, Colgate realized these thoughts about magic were actually the silly preconceptions and that maybe it really was as simple as focus.

Magic, Celestia kept reminding her, was a mental force comparable to the body’s physical strength, yet different as well. This was likely Celestia’s attempt to give Colgate an analogy to try to get her past her clumsy state of only ever having her magic backfire or just sputter like a poorly made firework. Colgate could do simple levitation spells and the comparison made sense in theory but it didn‘t feel the same. At least not for her.

“It’s just I avoid doing it because my magic can be unpredictable,” She had explained to Celestia after she wanted her to pick up a branch lodged between riverbanks.

“Just focus,” Celestia repeated to her. “I don’t want you to worry about losing control of your magic right now. I’m right here. You’ll be fine.” Colgate didn’t doubt her, but rather was still afraid of herself.

“Okay,” Colgate said nervously. Luna sat at a distance, lounging in a patch of moss smirking occasionally as Colgate’s struggling amused her. Colgate did as Celestia said, trying to calm her nerves and deliberately, perhaps slower than normal, not used to being graded on her magic or being watched, lifted the branch from the river and placed it next to a tree. This went smoothly. It was always when Colgate went to stop the spell that things went awry. She put the branch down and her horn, instead of just stopping its glow, sparked unwilling to stop.

“Ouch!” Colgate winced as one of the sparks met her hoof. She pulled it back shaking it.

“Need a bandage Clocktail?” Luna jeered. She hadn’t been in a good mood since she found out Colgate would be tagging along with them. She had no doubt, Colgate thought, meant to leave her in the Everfree after she flew off to find Celestia and never see her again. Celestia gave Luna a side long glance to which she stuck out her tongue and turned her head away laying it in her hooves.

"Hmmm,” Celestia gave Colgate a peculiar look. “I think your problem is flow. You’re using too much energy Minuette.”

“What do you mean?” Colgate asked, not seeing how using too much magic could even be a problem for her. She was trying as hard as she could.

“You’re bringing out more magical energy than the spell you’re using needs,” Celestia explained. “So when you go to stop, the extra energy has to go somewhere and since you’re not directing it anywhere, it simply does what it wants. Half of it tries to go back and the other half jumps away and it all just starts colliding.” This was an explanation that Colgate didn’t quite understand. Celestia detected Colgate’s confusion and approached her.

“Here,” She said as she folded a wing over Colgate pointing at the branch she had just moved, but looking straight at Colgate. “I want you to move that branch again, but this time use as little energy as possible. Kay?” Colgate looked back at her, still unsure.

“How?” She wanted a definite method, but it didn’t seem like there was one as Celestia never offered one.

“You just have to feel around. Find the point where your magic clicks and don’t go any further. C’mon. Give it a go.” Celestia gestured at the branch while Colgate looked to it and back to her several times perhaps searching for some hidden clue in Celestia’s expression or the branch itself. Celestia gave her a nudge bringing her head next to Colgate’s. “Go on.” Colgate took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Only a little, she repeated to herself in her head, only a little. She imagined that the branch she was trying to lift was nothing more than a feather and therefore required an amount of magic that was practically nonexistent. Colgate was so intently focused she didn’t realize she had been clenching her teeth until the branch came off the ground. It was strange. It almost felt like she wasn’t even using her magic, but when she opened her eyes the branch was floating several feet off the ground.

“There you go,” Celestia smiled. Colgate felt embarrassed at the sudden praise.

“Well I…” Just when she spoke her horn sparked and the branch that had been gently held in place zipped into a bush snapping with a smack against it. Colgate flustered, brushing a hoof across the grass below her. “Oops,” She looked down. “I guess I don’t have it.”

“No no,” Celestia insisted, shaking Colgate a little. “You’re making progress.” Celestia was encouraging her they way Cheerilee might encourage the kindergarteners, but it made her feel strangely happy rather than childish. “Now,” Celestia continued, using her own magic to lift the branch out of the bush Colgate had jammed it in and setting it down several feet away from them. “I want you to try the same thing except this time, use as much energy as you can.” Colgate’s eyes widened. Celestia must have been feeling bold to request this. Colgate couldn’t think of anything to say and only shook her head vigorously in protest. Celestia let her wing fall against Colgate’s back.

“Don’t be scared,” She said. “Now go for it.” Celestia stamped her hoof.

“A-are you sure you want me to…” Colgate trailed off.

“Yes,” She replied immediately holding her head high. “Don’t hold back. I won’t be upset even if there’s nothing left of that branch when you’re done with it!”

“O-okay…” Colgate swallowed. She turned her eyes to the branch and figured if Celestia told her to, then she knew what she getting into. She pushed her magic forward, her horn lighting up, the branch shooting up several feet in an instant. It came to a jagged halt shaking in the air like something was flailing around inside of it trying to escape. A hiss came from Colgate’s horn and then a pop. Her magic stopped like the like it had been a camera whose bulb had shattered. This was far from what Colgate had anticipated. She felt suddenly dizzy and heard a static sound and wave wash over her fur.

“Yipe!” Celestia gave what was almost a yelp, flinching away from Colgate. She heard Luna start giggling from her place and then something metal crashed to the ground. Colgate shook her head to resist passing out, and then looking to Celestia found even her a bit dazzled. She stumbled a little and her fur was all standing on end.

“Ehehe!” Luna chuckled. “That’s what you get sis.”

“No,” Celestia collected herself. “This is alright. Are you okay Minuette?” Colgate gave a lopsided nod despite being on the verge of fainting.

“Good, good,” Celestia glanced around. “I uh…where…oh…” She seemed to realize what had happened to the branch. She approached it, an amount of wonder in her eyes. “Minuette?” Colgate had finally recovered enough to see correctly.

“What? Did I do good?” Colgate asked. “What happened?” Celestia lifted what looked like was supposed to be the branch from the soil, turning around and holding it aloft in front of herself.

“How long have you been able to do this?” Colgate forced her vision to focus on the object Celestia was levitating.

“Do what?” This question was answered almost as Colgate spoke it. Her eyes met a branch, but one that was no longer wooden. It certainly still held the same shape it had before, a mildly thick twig with small sticks zigzagging out of it at a couple points, but it now carried a sheen that reflected the awkward light coming in through the leaves. It was steel. Colgate blinked a few times, wondering if her wonky vision was still playing tricks on her.

“I…I uh…” Colgate stared at the object. “I’ve never done that before.” Even Luna, who had only been watching them to occasionally laugh, rose from her spot, narrowing her eyes at the would be branch, trotting up to it, raising a hoof to touch it. She clanked her hoof against it. It sounded slightly hollow like a tin can. Luna jumped up to it, dragging it to the ground, negating her sister’s magic.

“Luna what are you doing?” Celestia asked. Luna proceeded to stomp on the object, trying to smash it. She was unsuccessful no matter how hard she hit it and only seemed to end up hurting herself. She backed away from it, shaking a hoof.

“It…It’s really metal.” Luna glowered down at the branch, and then narrowed her eyes at Colgate.

“You’ve never done anything like this before?” Celestia asked.

“No,” Colgate assured them. “You told me to use as much energy as I could. I just tried real hard. Did I do something wrong?” Colgate sensed something was off, but was entirely oblivious to just what it was her magic had done.

“No,” Celestia said. “It’s just this is transformation magic. That’s advanced.”

“It wasn’t intentional.” Colgate didn’t want them to think it was what she had tried to do. However this happened, it was safe to assume Colgate had close to nothing to do with it. It was like her magic was just doing what it felt like the way it always did. Neither of the sisters seemed to know what to make of it and it only seemed to make Luna justify her distrust further.

“No it’s okay,” Celestia seemed to have finally recovered her composure. “We’ll learn together. Bit by bit.” That episode ended there as any further attempt Colgate made at using her magic resulted in no results. It was a night later that Colgate had been sleeping and woke up inexplicably and heard the two sisters talking.

“I still don’t like her sis,” was the first line she distinguished in her drowsy state.

“Luna,” came the response. “You should give her a chance. She’s a normal pony. She just seems kind of lost.”

“I just don’t like her funny powers. She shows up out of nowhere and all sorts of bad things start happening and then she tries to split us up.”

“I’m telling you Luna, I just need to teach her to control her magic. You should help. I’m sure you could share some of your insight with her.”

“No way.”

“Woooona,”

“Sis…”

“I know you just wanna show off how big of a smarty pants you are.”

“Tia, stop it.”

“She could use your help Luna.” Luna gave a sigh at this.

“How’s it so easy for you sis?”

“Just give it a shot Luna. We could use her help as well you know.” Colgate drifted off at this point, only to wake up again some time later to silence. She thought she had only slid back into slumber for a few moments. It was quiet now, the two sisters seemingly asleep. Annoyed at the prospect of waking up multiple times, Colgate drug herself down to a nearby stream for a drink. It was probably her body’s subconscious alert telling her she still needed to brush her teeth. Colgate had, much to her dismay, gotten used to the weird feeling of not doing so. This bugged her. She didn’t want to get used to not cleaning them. Colgate took a drink, swishing the water around before swallowing it. She twirled a hoof around in the stream, lost in thoughts that didn’t seem to go anywhere. She looked to a nearby tree, staring longer than she intended at one of its branches that was hanging down into the underbrush. Colgate squinted at it, then focusing her magic, her horn lighting up, tried to do what she had done before. She forced her magic at it. Colgate heard a snap and, looking up, saw the branch crack every which way and suddenly crumble into a bunch of tiny pieces like a dry cookie. Colgate frowned and turned to go back lowering her head.

“You know,” a voice said. “Maybe you’re using your magic wrong.” Colgate turned. Luna was looking away from her, facing the stream she had been standing at earlier. How long had she been there? “When I was learning,” She continued not looking at Colgate. “I always imagined my magic as something I liked. You know…like stars…I like stars and well…you get the picture.” Colgate didn’t really and still wondered why Luna wasn’t facing her. It was like she was talking to the water.

“What?” Colgate asked.

“Hm?” Luna waved a hoof back at her. “I didn’t say anything if you weren’t listening. Go back to sleep.”

“We’re you talking to me?” Luna didn’t answer, leaning to take to a drink of water. She then proceeded to start walking back appearing a bit flustered.

“Just…I dunno. Forget it. Go back to sleep.” Luna stomped off indignantly. Colgate stayed where she was. Had Luna just given her advice? Imagine her magic as something she liked? Colgate mulled over the statement several times in her head, unsure of how it was supposed to help her. It made her feel slightly guilty as Luna had seemed to actually be making a genuine effort to help her in her quirky little way. What did she like, Colgate thought? She certainly didn’t like her magic. Then again, imagining her magic as her magic seemed horribly meta. The one thing Colgate was sure of was that she liked dentistry, but how did that help with using her magic? She wanted to jump back forward in time not practice her orthodontics. Although it would have been helpful to have a spell that cleaned her teeth, Colgate wasn’t eager to use her temperamental magic on something that important.

“Imagine my magic as something I like,” Colgate whispered to herself as she started to walk back. She stopped, getting an idea, and turned to a nearby tree. She wasn’t sure what she had wanted to accomplish, but put her horn to it, focusing and imagining one of her drills back home. There was a crackle and then a hiss. Colgate backed up from the tree only to watch cracks spider web through and then have it crumble into pieces like the branch had before. The tree, reduced to powder, puffed onto the ground like soot. Colgate was then showered with a cascade of its disembodied leaves. Colgate shook them off of her blowing one out of her mane that was drooping down into her face. She sighed. Perhaps that was enough for now.

The absence of the tree let in a spotlight of dim reddish light. The only reason Colgate had been able to count when they slept as nights was because they had been taking advantage of when Discord put the moon in front of the sun. This made the forest dark enough to appear like it was nighttime, but by taking away a tree as Colgate had done, one could see the pink daylight thickened to eerie reddish glow. She stepped out of it, as it made her uncomfortable and slinked back to where she had been sleeping. She might have stayed awake had she thought practicing her magic would get her any progress. It seemed she needed Celestia’s guidance to do anything of the sort and even then Celestia’s wisdom had its limits. But who knew more about magic than her? Colgate couldn’t think of anypony else, especially who existed in the time period, who might know more. The two most knowledgeable ponies were right in front of her.

It wasn’t until a day later, if one might call it a day, that Colgate made any more progress. She woke up to something striking her in the forehead. She raised her head, a bit dazed. Then something hit her again, almost in the same spot. She massaged her forehead, fully awake looking around her for whatever was tossing things at her. She looked to Celestia and then something hit her in the side of the head. As this happened, Colgate saw a glimpse of a hoof disappear into Celestia’s tail. Her confusion turned to annoyance as she figured out what was going on. As big and fluffy as Celestia’s tail was, Luna had balled herself up inside it to hide and was throwing pebbles at her from the forest floor at her. Colgate gave a huff and Luna poked her head out with a smug grin. She was unaware that Celestia was also awake and was looking down at her suppressing the urge to giggle. Luna brought a hoof out from hiding with another pebble ready to launch.

“Aww,” Celestia chuckled slightly before Luna could throw it. “Are you two bonding?”

“What?” Luna jumped from her place and quickly unraveled herself from her sister’s tail. “No! Silly Tia. I was just waking her up.” Celestia raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything back to this.

“Aaaaaanyway,” She said slowly, turning to Colgate. “I’ve got something new for you today Minuette. Would you like to give it a try?” Colgate finished glaring at Luna as the alicorn stuck her tongue out at her and turned her head to Celestia.

“What is it?” Colgate went to stand up and lost her balance as she stepped on one of the stones Luna had thrown at her. She flopped back down to her stomach and frowned.

“Ahahaha.” Luna laughed at her inadvertent success.

“What a stupid clumsy mare,” came another voice. Colgate stood straight up, immediately on edge and looking around. It certainly hadn’t been Luna or Celestia that had said it, but when she turned back to them Luna had stopped laughing and both of them were giving her a puzzled expression.

“Did either of you hear that?” Colgate asked. At this they both looked at each other and then back to her, their puzzlement changing to concern. Even Luna looked a bit taken aside.

“Are you alright Minuette?” Celestia asked. It was apparent that neither of them had heard whatever she had. “Maybe now is a bad time for lessons. We should get going.”

“But I-” Colgate protested. “We can do it now. I mean it was nothing, I’m fine.” Colgate was a little disturbed herself, but still knew that the faster she could learn the faster she could solve her problems.

“Here she goes again sis.” Luna kept her eyes on Colgate.

“Maybe she’s just drowsy Luna,” Celestia offered an excuse. Which was good as Colgate would have never thought of one. She swore she had genuinely heard someone insult her when she tripped. The voice had been unclear though and searching her recent memory the event seemed like a blur. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Colgate nodded. Whatever it had been, it was gone now. “I-”

“Enough talking!” A shout from above interrupted her. “Race me!” From the canopy above a metal looking cube smashed through the branches and buried itself in the soil between Colgate and the two alicorns. “See! See Clocktail! I can make them too!” This echoing jeer left no doubt to who had thrown the object at them. Celestia motioned for Colgate to stay close to them and she trotted around the steely prism as if she had to be sneaky about it.

“You know I’ve actually been wondering,” Colgate whispered to Celestia. “Is this why we haven’t been flying?” Celestia nodded.

“We know they can’t enter the Everfree,” She said. “But they can definitely wander around above it.”

“Don’t you try and hiiiiiide!” Screwball called down. “I want this to be fun!” Another cube ripped through the leaves above them, smashing into a barrier that flashed before them, throwing lighting around from the friction of the impact.

“Go!” Luna shouted. Colgate would have stared in shock, unable to move in awe of what was happening in front of her had Celestia not bitten down on her mane and dragged her away. It hurt, but it jarred Colgate just enough to bring her back to the reality of what was happening. She took off into a gallop alongside Celestia. She looked behind them to see Luna’s shield explode, forcing the object away as she turned to sprint after them. A sing song voice followed above them chanting another rhyme, this time to the tune of pat-a-cake.

“Run away, run away, scaredy cat mares! Clop those hooves as fast as you can! I’ll tail you and nail you and smash this Everfree! Till there’s nothing left of your harmony!” They continued running as Screwball’s crazy laughter trailed along behind them, more blocks of metal crashing into the forest at random locations around them. Colgate had no idea where they were running or why. She was just following Celestia. Luna had caught up, but no less annoyed than she had been at Colgate when she didn’t pick up on her advice a night earlier. She wore a cross expression as she ran next to them her eyes following where blocks fell through the trees.

“This pony has serious issues,” Luna muttered. As she did so she jumped spinning around in a one-eighty, landing firmly, and yelling up at the sky. Celestia skid to a halt as she saw this and Colgate followed suit.

“Luna no!” Celestia shouted after her sister, but Luna paid no attention to it.

“C’mere you!” She yelled. A blue beam lasered from her horn, through the tree line and into the sky. The only thing it passed through was wind and through the resulting gap, Screwball popped into view, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey hey!” She chanted gleefully. “I found you definitely found you!” Another chunk of metal spawned next to her, the pink light dancing into shadows from behind it. “Merry misery mire moonface!” The block soared toward Luna and the forest lit up as it collided with a dome of magic Luna placed around herself. She struggled against it as its weight forced itself down on her, the only thing stopping her from being crushed was a thin film of light bending as the object strained it boundaries.

“Luna!” Celestia made a dash for her sister. Colgate panicked. She didn’t like where this was going.

“Weeeee,” Screwball whirled around above them as Luna’s magic raged out of control around them. “Smashing sissy sunbutt will be fun!” She seemed to be having an abnormal amount of fun. Even her words came out wickedly playful and she never stopped moving. It was like she was hyped up on too much sugar from all of the chocolate and clouds. Celestia ground to a halt as another block crashed down in front of her. Screwball was making a clearing out of where they were and conjured up another of her new favorite objects even as Luna was still unable to shake the one that was relentlessly trying to drill her into the earth.

“It’s sundown shiny flank!” Colgate saw what was about to happen. With all her will she wanted to stop it. She focused on the object as Screwball swung it in an arc over her head sending it straight for Celestia who was still regaining her footing. She projected her magic at it with everything she could.

“Work, work WORK!” Colgate yelled at her own horn clenching her eyes shut. There was a pulse and with the toll of a bell everything went silent. There was a sound like steel doors being slammed shut as the chime of the bell echoed in the apparent stillness. Colgate opened her eyes. Everything was grayscale and frozen in place. Even Screwball was stuck, suspended in the air with a twisted expression locked to her face. Colgate looked down to her hooves. She was still in color. Her fur was still its normal pale blue and her mane was still a fond reminder of toothpaste. She took a step. She could still move. She looked to Celestia and Luna, both also frozen in place, the former with a terrified look on her face and the other eternally exerting all the effort she could.

The whole scene she had been so afraid of had stopped, ended just like she had wanted it to. Not like this though, she thought. She had wanted her magic to stop Screwball’s attacks, not everything else along with it. Suddenly there was a noise, but not one she had expected. It was faint at first, but it heightened in volume gradually until Colgate could distinguish it. Was it…a clock? It sounded like the ticking of a second hand casually counting seconds even as none passed around her. She trotted up to the steel cube in front of Celestia and gave it a poke. It clinked like she might have expected it to had she randomly stumbled across something like it in the woods somewhere. It was smooth and gave her a slightly glossy reflection of herself distorted by the light bending across metal.

Yet even in this distortion she could make out a few disturbing details. Her left eye was yellow, giving off a faint glow. Furthermore, she discovered it was the source of the ticking. She could make out instead of a pupil and iris, her once normal blue left eye was a clock. Even stranger, she could see a second hand within it moving. The clock was in her own head. She was tempted to try and touch, but reminded herself that she would poking her own eye if she tried.

A glowing clock in her eyes, Colgate wondered? And yet it seemed to have entirely halted the flow of events around her. Had she done this? Was this her magic? It seemed logical. If it had been able to take her over a thousand years into the past then something like this shouldn’t have seemed out of the ordinary at all.

Wait, what was she doing? Colgate shook her head to get the thoughts to disperse. She had been so enraptured in what her magic had done that she was forgetting to take the opportunity. The metal object next to her had reacted with a noise when she had touched it and she could move. This meant she could still interact with things despite them being frozen in time. The incessant ticking was something she could do without, yet its increasing persistence seemed to be a warning. Colgate found that she was beginning to sweat and that her heart rate had begun to increase even though she wasn’t moving all that much. If she wasn’t quick, her magic was going to take more out of her than she could handle.

Colgate moved quickly, pushing Celestia out from under the path of the brick that was aimed to crush her. She was nearly weightless in this state and Colgate pulled her by her tail smoothly as if only scooting a hollow chess piece across a plastic board. Luna was next and her nerves nearly got the better of her as she approached her threatening but static magic shield. Yet it was as if it wasn’t even there. When she touched it, she felt nothing and passed through like a ghost. She had no time to contemplate this, even though it seemed like time shouldn’t have been a factor. She pulled Luna away and outside her barrier putting her next to Celestia. She looked at them side by side for a moment. They were like paperweights, she thought. This gave her an idea.

She put them as close together side to side as they would go, crawled underneath their legs and picked them up onto her back. It felt like no more weight than her saddlebags. She took one last glance back to Screwball, still happily laughing in stasis upside down over the trees. No, Colgate told herself, this was enough. She galloped off into the woods away from everything. It was now that Colgate had started to really feel the consequences of what she had been doing. Her eye ached and it was like she could feel the clock snap the seconds around inside of it. Her heart thumped like a tympani in her chest and after only a bit, she found running far too laborious, panting from mere walking speed. But how did she stop the spell? She put Luna and Celestia down in the shelter of an overbearing willow and climbing out from under them, nearly collapsed as she went light headed her vision reeling in a triangle. She propped herself against another tree, her breath coming out in gasps.

Stop the spell! Stop the spell!

Her mind was yelling at her body to do something it couldn’t or didn’t know how. She tried to focus again, but the only image that came when she closed her eyes was that glowing yellow clock, its numerals taunting her with their lack of an answer. The second hand ticked away. But why was it moving? If time was stopped then why would this clock be moving?

Stop…

It was the only solution her mind allowed. If the ticking of her imaginary or magic clock, whatever it was, was the thing stopping the flow of time, then stopping it would resume time. There was a pop. She could hear the toll of a bell again as the clock in the vision of her closed eyes vanished, its second hand jolting to a stop at the six. There was a sound like an iron gate opening and, in a flush of air, color flooded back into the environment. Colgate opened her eyes. Everything looked normal. Or it did until her head took another reel and the fell against the tree again for support. There was a nearby snap of static, Luna’s horn being disconnected from her magic. She heard the two alicorns shuffle about, resuming whatever they had bee doing and then suddenly realizing there was no need to.

“Wh-” Celestia breathed out.

“Sis?” Luna shuffled away from her sister. “What…What just happened?” Colgate was breathing heavily and she could hear the two turn to her, no doubt hearing her even as she tried to suppress it.

“Minuette?” Celestia said. Colgate was unwilling to open her eyes to look at anything. With every passing moment the world titled more fiercely and her pulse refused to calm itself. She felt herself start titling away from her support. Maybe? Was she? Perhaps the tree had just vanished. In any case, she felt herself falling to the opposite side, unable to make a conscious effort to stop herself.

“Minuette!” Celestia moved into a gallop towards her. Did she catch her? She must have, Colgate concluded. She never felt her head hit anything hard. She flopped into Celestia’s hooves and the alicorn panicked.

“Minuette, what’s wrong?” She fretted. “What happened? She’s breathing weird Luna.” This was no secret even for Colgate who was at best half conscious. She knew she must have sounded bad, but to her it seemed like she needed every bit of air her lungs could drag in. Even then, she felt constricted. Luna frowned and walking up to Colgate, put a hoof to her forehead.

“She’s pretty warm,” She commented. Colgate willed her eyes open. Everything was broken into doubles and triples; the only distinguishable thing was Celestia, holding her in her hooves and Luna looking down at her next to her sister.

“Minuette?” Celestia spoke in response to Colgate’s attempt to appear conscious. “What’s wrong? What happened to Screwball?” Colgate figured the crazy pony was just as confused as they were, but probably not any worse for the ware. But Colgate didn’t answer Celestia with this information like she should have. Her mind was muddling everything together like a cloud.

“Is there…” Colgate breathed out and then in. “Is there anything in my eye?” Celestia and Luna looked at each other confused and concerned. She must have sounded delirious to them.

“N-No.” Celestia responded. “Your eyes are fine. You look like you’re about to pass out. Are you okay?”

“My magic,” Colgate forced out.

“What about you’re magic?”

“I…I stopped everything. Everything stopped.”

“You what?”

“The blocks, Screwball, time. All of it. I stopped time.” There was a pause, perhaps of disbelief or further unease.

“She’s all loopy sis,” Luna said. “I don’t think she even knows what she’s saying.”

“Minuette,” Celestia continued. “What do you mean? Did you teleport us away?

“No…” Colgate tried to squirm away from Celestia, but she wouldn’t let her. “Time,” Colgate insisted. “I stopped time.” There was another pause longer this time. Colgate wondered if they were even taking her seriously.

“Princess I-” Colgate tried to further her point, but was cut off.

“No,” Celestia told her. “Stop Minuette, Just…”

“But-”

“Shhh.” Colgate felt herself folded down against the grass, Celestia laying her by her side and folding her tail around her and her wing over her. “Just calm down. Breathe.” Colgate wasn’t going to try any further talking if no one wanted her to.

“This is ridiculous Tia,” Luna complained. “This pony has so many problems.”

“Now Luna,” Celestia said. “We do too. Besides, you sleep next to me every night just like this.”

“Yeah but that…it’s diff- never mind.” Luna gave a huff and trotted away next to the willow they had found themselves under. “I’ll be over here. At least I don‘t call you princess.” She flopped down and rolled her eyes. Colgate wasn’t even entirely certain what was all going on. She was lying against something soft, something that was somehow helping the pounding in her head go away.

“Clocktaaaaaaail!” Came a ridiculously enthusiastic voice. Luna would have bolted from her spot, but she only managed a quick jerk before she stopped herself as Celestia raised a hoof and lowered her head. Luna followed suit, folding herself to ground, as if getting closer to it was going to make them less detectable. It was Screwball shouting for her, that much Colgate could tell, but it didn’t seem like she knew where they had gone.

“It’s no fun if you just disappear,” She was getting closer, throwing her words around in shouts so to be sure not to spare any part of the forest in any direction of her summons. Then, she started chanting again, always a different rhyme, but always eagerly twisted.

“Little foal blue, come out and play! Your Everfree’s freezing, your moon’s full of day! Where is the pony on whose flank there‘s a clock? She’s pining for booze, with her squawks!” Luna suppressed a giggle while her sister scowled at her reaction. “Will I stop her? Nay not I! For when I do, she’ll be the one to die.” Luna and Celestia’s expressions turned sour at this final line. It seemed rather vindictive even for Screwball. She was a mare who seemed like she just had a skewn idea of play, yet one that wasn’t broken enough to involve death. Had she angered her that much, Colgate thought? Based on what she had done, Screwball’s new developed malice wasn’t out of place. Colgate shifted by Celestia’s side and the alicorn hunkered down over her, using her wing as a wordless way to tell her to stay still.

“Don’t worry! I know what you want!” There was pause and then a hail of bottles came rushing down all around the forest. Only a few came down where they were, shattering like hailstones in a shower of champagne. Luna tensed up, putting a shield around her sister as one landed not too far away from her. The rest couldn’t be seen, but could be heard at varying distances breaking across tree limbs and bushes.

“Have fun now! I’ll be back before you know I know you know who knows!” There was a pop and a slow breeze bent the tops of the trees and then stopped. Luna and Celestia lifted their heads, sensing the drop in tension. They waited a few moments. Silence. It wasn’t like Screwball to be able to be this quiet. She didn’t really have a reason to be sneaky; always being fairly vocal bout her presence. Luna stood up and Celestia lifted her wing looking gently at the one under it while Luna stood up pursing her lip in dissatisfaction.

“Well,” Celestia smiled. “At least one of us is comfortable.” Colgate opened her eyes only to have everything come back into focus.

“Ah!” Colgate jumped away glancing from side to side. “I-uh…Well you know I was pretty much out, but uhhh…I’m fine so…” Colgate brushed her hooves off and shuffled trying to stand as normally as possible. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Celestia stood up and Colgate took a couple steps back because she thought it was necessary.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Yeah,” Luna interrupted. “Maybe now you can tell us what the hay you just…I don’t even know what to call it! What did you do!?”

“I told you,” Colgate said as Luna moved toward her in small angry steps. “Time just stopped.” Luna halted, glaring at her.

“Are you serious?” Colgate moved her eyes to Celestia and then back to Luna, hesitating because she knew Luna wouldn’t like her response.

“…yeah?” She looked at Luna with unease, watching her half question answer process. Her jaw dropped and she looked at Colgate with an expression that asked ‘are you stupid?’ Colgate forced a grin as if it might help her plight.

“She’s not fine sis.”

“Yes I am.”

“No, no you’re not.”

“Luna.” Celestia said almost like a mom.

“She’s crazy!” Suddenly Colgate found Luna right in front of her in a flash. Without warning she was tackled and after forcing her to the ground, Luna started stomping on her. It almost seemed like she was about to get rather violent at first, but her stomping was more like an emphatic patting and didn‘t really hurt. “I’m gonna knock some sense into you, you stupid pony! You can’t stop time!”

“Luna,” Celestia laughed. “You’re being ridiculous.” Luna stopped, staring at her sister with wide eyes.

“Me!?” She said as if she were being betrayed. “I’M being ridiculous!? Do you hear what she’s saying!?”

“As far as I can tell, she saved us.”

“But- but…Uuuuuugh!” Luna whirled around exasperated. Colgate stood up, wondering for a bit if Luna was going to turn around and jostle her again.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Celestia said as Luna sat with her back turned to Colgate and flopped into a sitting position.

“mmmm.” Luna pondered for a moment and then turned her nose to the air. “Th-thank you.” Celestia gave a small laugh

“Good enough,” She said.

“So…” Colgate asked. “You believe me?”

“We’ll figure your magic out somehow Minuette. I can’t think of any of explanation for what happened. It wasn’t teleportation magic. One moment I was about to be smashed, the next I was under a completely different tree.” Colgate was almost flattered by this. Since she had gotten in this place, her magic had made her look half sane. It was good to know someone believed her when she told them what had, or at least what she thought, had happened. She wanted to thank Celestia for her faith in her and even for caring for her when she nearly fainted. She was too kind when all Colgate had really been to them so far was trouble. Luna’s mindset made far more sense. She never got to thank Celestia though. She was interrupted by something she had never expected.

“I found them!” A voice came. “I told you they were coming back!” It put Colgate on edge for moment; the initial phrase making her think Screwball had come back after only a short absence. But it wasn’t Screwball’s voice nor did it have her typical off kilter emotion behind it. It was a happy voice and clear, that of a younger pony that seemed to skid across the leaves. Celestia and Luna turned to see a pony fluff her way out from between two bushes, smiling widely as she realized she had found what she had been looking for. Colgate found herself looking at nothing less than a glittering crystal pony. They had only come back recently in her time and this was her first time ever really seeing one. She was a filly, quite small with a pelt of sparkling gray and a smooth and curled black mane with a straight haired tail that came to a point. Her eyes were a light innocent red nearly pink, but not quite bright enough to cross over. Any pony casually glancing would have thought them red.

“I found the Princess!” She proclaimed gleefully.

“Ruya!” Celestia greeted her with enthusiasm. The two approached each other, the apparently named Ruya bouncing up to Celestia and giving her a hug. Celestia had mentioned the name before, Colgate remembered, and it was just as she had said. The filly did in fact refer to Celestia as a princess.

“What are you doing outside Canterlot?” Luna asked as Ruya stepped down from her embrace. This took Colgate entirely off guard. It took her a second, because the mention of the name Canterlot was normal for her. But then she reminded herself that she had stood where Canterlot was supposed to be.

“Canterlot??” Colgate said much to her own surprise. She hadn’t meant to butt in on their conversation.

“It’s where everypony stays in the Everfree. It’s a stone castle we use to hide from Discord. We called it that cause everyone there is always moving. What are you doing here Ruya?” Colgate looked to the filly who seemed quite pleased with herself. Closer up now, she could see that the child already had a cutie mark although it might have been even more cryptic than her own. It was hieroglyphic looking eye having the appearance of a stone etching on her gray flank.

“You were coming back,” Ruya said. “I came to meet you.”

“You knew?” Luna questioned. This was exactly what Colgate had wanted to say. Ruya talked like she somehow knew they were coming, but didn’t elaborate, turning to Colgate.

“Oo!” She exclaimed hopping up to her. “You brought the dentist pony.” Colgate took a step back.

“H…how did…” She stared down at the peculiar pony who seemed to see her assumption as entirely normal and expected it to be correct by default. It almost seemed like if Ruya had said she was a cobbler then it would have been so. It wasn’t possible for this mare to be wrong.

“You’re the dentist pony.” She repeated. “Aren’t you?” She tiled her head, only now unsure simply because Colgate was unsure as well.

“Well…yes.”

“See,” she said, satisfied. “I knew it.”

“Ruya!” Came another voice from within the forest. “Ruya I told you not to run off!” This was a deeper voice, a stallion no doubt.

“Is that…?” Celestia stopped, her question seemingly implied.

“Yes,” Ruya smiled. “I brought uncle with me. He said I shouldn’t go out into the woods cause I’m little. Isn’t he silly?”

“Well…” Colgate could tell Celestia was on the side of whoever Ruya’s uncle was, but Ruya had infinite confidence in her assured safety even if she had been alone.

“Over here!” Ruya called after the voice. “I found them! I told you they were coming back!” This is what she had said before and before long a stallion as Colgate had thought made his way out of the shrubbery around them, a bit disheveled.

“Goodness, Ruya,” He spoke, an authority in his voice even when speaking causally. “Sometimes I think you do this just because I tell you not to.” This stallion wasn’t a crystal pony, but still had gray fur and a short black mane and tail, the same color as Ruya’s. He was a unicorn, with a cutie mark of red crystal columns, his eyes the same crimson color

“Sombra!” Luna perked up. “Wait,” She held back. “Why aren’t you in the Crystal Empire?”

“My brother has things under control,” He stated. “I figured the ponies here could use my knowledge in magic. We think we’ve found something that might be quite useful here.”

“Oh, where are my manners,” Celestia said. “This is…” she gestured to Colgate and then paused. “You don’t happen to know her name already do you Ruya?” Ruya looked to Colgate again and blinked a few times.

“She’s the dentist pony.” It was still unsettling that she knew even that much.

“Ah, well this is Minuette,” Celestia introduced her. “Minuette this is Sombra And Ruya.” The stallion’s appearance was a bit stark and it was enough to intimidate Colgate a bit, yet she didn’t feel any malice from him. He appeared sinister, but his speech was rather docile.

“A unicorn I see,” He turned to her. “Do you study any magic?”

“Well uh…” Colgate wasn’t very strong with strangers. Luna and Celestia had been exceptions when she had met them. “I guess my own I suppose.” She didn’t know what else to say. It was essentially what she was doing.

“Oh? What do you mean?”

“Uh…Well I don’t really have that great of grasp on my own power.” Colgate looked away.

“Actually Sombra,” Colgate was glad to hear Celestia chime in for her. “Now that you’re here she could actually use help from someone like you.”

“Go on.” He seemed intrigued.

“Minuette here can’t really control her power. It’s done all sorts of strange stuff and I can only teach her so much. Maybe you would know more about her magic.”

“Just what is it that it’s done?” Both Celestia and Sombra turned to Colgate and she flustered a bit under the pressure of having to review her mistakes.

“Well I uh…” Colgate started. She took a deep breath. “First it landed me in cave with these two, then it got them separated, then it almost killed some crazy mare that attacked us, and I’m pretty sure I stopped time.” Sombra’s eye widened and he turned to Celestia.

“Is this true?”

“It’s what she says,” Celestia confirmed. “I’ve seen enough of her magic to believe her.”

“Hmmm,” He turned back to Colgate and grinned unrepentantly. “Well I’ve never heard of a unicorn that could do that before. I’ll certainly study her magic then. You’ve piqued my interest.”

“Yay!” Ruya jumped in “Now we go back to Canterlot!”

“That would be ideal. It’s not too far. Follow us.” They began walking back the way they came, Celestia, Luna, and Colgate all following their lead. Ruya skipped about the path as they went, jumping back and forth playfully as they others conversed. It was surreal. It was a conversation Colgate could only listen to like something out of a story book. She was living an old legend and Celestia and Luna’s appearances became nearly that of epic heroes for a moment.

“How are things Sombra?” Celestia asked, a bit worried.

“Well…I have to say it hasn’t been the same since you two left. I’ve done my best to keep hopes up, but with Discord still being around and you two being gone, ponies had thought you had failed.”

“We…we did.” Celestia’s expression drooped, her ears folding down.

“But you’re still alive,” Sombra insisted. “There are a lot of hopes pinned to you two. It’s something I can’t really replicate. They just have so much faith in you. You are extraordinary after all, being alicorns.”

“I’m sure we’re not that important,” Celestia was being modest again.

“Hm,” Sombra gave a chuckle. “Just wait till we get back. You know everypony might have lost hope if Ruya here hadn’t been here to keep running around and telling everypony you would come back.”

“I knew it too,” Ruya puffed herself up proudly, skipping in front of them.

“Of course,” Sombra assured her. Although to Colgate it seemed like Ruya really had known all along.

“Thank you Ruya,” Celestia said.

“No problem princess!” She resumed her playful trot as they continued walking.

“It’s Celestia. I’m not royalty.”

“That’s okay princess Celestia. No need to be humble. You either princess Luna.”

“I’ll never get you,” Luna replied watching Ruya bounce around. It wasn’t long before they reached their destination although the darkening light of the moon swinging in front of the sun again might have made it seem like it had taken them an entire evening. Eventually, they came to the stone wall of a fortress tucked into the confines of the Everfree. It was much different, Colgate thought, than the ivory columns of the Canterlot she knew. Its great gates were made of worn, yet sturdy color faded oak within an arc of rock. Sombra stopped before it, the others following suit, Colgate expecting him to call to a set of guards that were supposed to be stationed at the top of the wall. He took no such action and instead his horn glittered with a red aura and the gate ground into motion creaking as if it had been ages since anyone had ever opened them. No sooner than there was just enough room, Ruya dashed through them in an eager anticipation.

“Ruya,” Celestia said as the filly slithered into the castle. She let out a sigh, realizing right away it was no use. “She can’t sit still can she Sombra?” He let out laugh.

“Ha! She is a strange one. What can I say though? She’s just excited to see you. Listen.” Sure enough, even over the sound of the gate’s rumbling, Ruya could be heard yelling as she ran, shouting her declaration to anypony who might be inside.

“Everypony! Everypony!” Her voice echoed. “They’re back! I told you they weren’t gone! Luna and Celestia are back! Everypony come out, they’re back!”

“What is she…?” Luna seemed to know what she was about to ask, but half asked it out of nervousness.

“She wants everypony to see you,” Sombra explained as the gates halted finally open.

“Wh- She’s calling out everyp-…mmmm.” Luna trotted in place.

“Oh don’t worry Luna,” Celestia said.

“But you know I’m no good with other ponies.”

“You handled Minuette just fine.” Luna looked at Colgate and then quickly away when she returned her gaze.

“Come on. You’ll be okay.” Luna reluctantly followed at her sister’s side as Sombra motioned them through the archway. He and Colgate filtered in behind them. The gate led onto a stairway that led down into the fortress which Colgate found, had no roof. The stone walls were really just to separate them from the Everfree and the canopy above them was thinner, letting in considerably more light. There were even trees growing inside of the enclosure, making the castle seem altogether almost part of the forest itself constructed not by any pony, but forged from nature simply part of the Everfree’s magic. As they came to edge of the staircase that led down a considerable distance into a courtyard covered in grass and stone, the two sisters stopped, standing at the top as they stared dumbstruck at a multitude of ponies more still gathering, with Ruya still calling enthusiastically at the bottom of the steps. As soon as the two alicorns came into view all of them began to murmur. There were gasps, exclamations, a few ‘it’s really thems,’ and a general sense of awe. There were more ponies here than lived in the Ponyville she knew, Colgate thought. They were so many different colors and yet they were all looking at the same thing.

“Come on, ponies!” Ruya shouted to the crowd. “You missed them! Tell your princesses how much you love them!” As she said this, the sun came out from behind the moon at their backs and a ray of light, shining, filled the gateway glittering down to the ponies below. Colgate watched it happen and wondered if Discord knew what he had just done. Luna took a quick look back and then to the ponies below them, while her sister kept a steadfast and gentle gaze forward. Those below them no doubt believed Celestia had done this. Their eyes widened their faces uplifted. Colgate had to remind herself that Celestia had nothing to do with the sun’s movement yet, this was purely coincidental. Yet it seemed to inspire an infinite amount of hope and as it happened there was a great uproar from the crowd. They burst into cheering, louder than anything Colgate had heard before. There were so many of them.

“They really are incredible,” Colgate heard Sombra say to her over the noise. He was right, Colgate thought, watching on in awe. There was only one other mare she knew of that could get this type of response. It was Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s student. The crowd’s applause began to become a chant and through all the clamor the crowd merged into a unified a cheer.

“Celestia! Celestia!” They chanted. Sombra’s words were really the only ones that fit the situation. The two alicorns seemed to have all the hope in Equestria on their wings. Yet as Colgate watched as Ruya turned and looked up at them grinning with satisfaction, Celestia stood proudly while Luna looked out timidly hugging close to her sister’s front leg. Ever since she had arrived here, the two sisters seemed like a perfect team always covering each other’s weaknesses. Perfect foils. Perhaps they still were. But now, as the sun shown bright through the gates of Canterlot across Celestia making her pink mane glimmer, for the first time she saw Luna standing in her sister’s shadow.

So Many Lights

Chapter 7: So Many Lights

Time and Space Await…

-Here I find myself shivering in the heart of rain. The clouds whisper down in gusts the answers to my questions, but their replies fall dead on my skin. I cannot know them.

It really seemed like the crowd was never going to thin. It was as though this old version of Canterlot contained an infinite number of ponies all who had been waiting for the return of these two baffled sisters. Even after Celestia had the courage to announce to all of them that their attempt to oppose Discord had failed miserably, they still insisted with their renewed optimism that now that they had returned there was still a chance. Celestia had managed to keep a cool expression with them cheering her on from a distance, but now that they were asking her all sorts of questions with an intensity and tempo she couldn’t keep up with, she flustered, confused as to what to respond to. Luna tried sinking away from any pony who tried asking her anything trying her best to hide next to her sister. Colgate stuck next to Sombra and Ruya who for a time could only really watch the mob swarm around their two friends. It was Ruya who eventually plunged her way into the crowd toward them without a care in the world. Sombra’s expression became horrified as soon as he saw her disappear into it. She hadn’t said anything to either of them. The little mare just decided on her own that she knew how to get to them and that she would be fine in her endeavor.

Sombra took one step after her and then stopped, putting his hoof down, his face changing to a grieved look as he let out a sigh. There wasn’t anything he could do. Much to his relief, Ruya could be seen momentarily hopping up on top of Celestia’s back and turning to the crowd with the cross expression of a mother upset with her children. They began to quiet down one by one as each realized they were being scolded by a filly who was mad at them for harassing ‘the princesses’ as she kept referring to them even though she had gotten them riled up in the first place. Ruya had a strange presence about her, standing out with the sisters not because she was an alicorn, but because she was the only crystal pony among all of them. Maybe it was just because Ruya had been right about the sisters’ return that they decided to listen to her when she said they needed their rest, Colgate told herself, but there was still something far more unique about her than the simple fact that she was a crystal pony. Eventually she managed to filter Luna and Celestia out to where Colgate and Sombra were standing.

“I guess even I underestimated their reaction,” Sombra chuckled. “Although you might be partly to blame for that.” As he said this, Ruya poked her head out through Celestia’s mane wrapping her head around in it.

“I confused everypony didn’t I?” She said as if she had meant to and was asking if she had been successful.

“Well you did get them all excited and then scold them for being too excited,” Luna replied. Ruya blinked at her a few times and then turned to Colgate doing the same thing. Luna held her stare seeming to think it normal while Colgate glanced to the others, wondering what Ruya staring at her was supposed to mean.

“Ruya has contradicted herself,” The filly stated in first person. She seemed to want Colgate to respond.

“Um…well,” Colgate started. “You shouldn’t do that.” You’re so good with kids, Colgate thought to herself, you’d think a dentist could do better. In fact, she knew she could do better. She just wasn’t in her element and Ruya didn’t seem like the child she appeared to be.

“What should Ruya do then, she wonders,” Ruya said. “She sees strange lights near you and a tunnel that does not end. The waters are clear, but are so deep that the other side is not visible.” Her pupils visibly dilated and despite the fact that she was looking at Colgate, Ruya appeared to be gazing at something else, something that the flitting of her eyes suggested was dancing around in the reflection of Colgate’s.

“Okay, time for you to get down,” Sombra said as he used his magic to lift Ruya from Celestia back, putting her firmly on the ground. Her blank stare went away after only a second.

“Oo! Come on!” She exclaimed seemingly back to normal. “We have lots to tell them don’t we Sombra?”

“Yes,” He said. “Yes we do…” Ruya trotted off to wherever it was she thought they were supposed to go, leaving them no choice but to follow her or have the child vanish from their sight. Sombra motioned for them to follow and they started walking after the mare.

“What was that all about?” Colgate asked.

“I’d pay you in the finest crystals I have if you could tell me what that filly is thinking half the time,” Sombra replied.

“What’s her deal?’ Colgate continued at the risk of seeming overly curious and prying.

“We don’t really know,” Sombra explained. “All I’ve managed to figure out is that she gets like that when exposed to strong sources of magic. She starts saying things that don’t make sense.”

“You think she’s using magic?” Luna asked.

“No, she’s not a unicorn. She can’t use magic. This environment doesn’t help either.”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

“We’re surrounded by magical energy right now, there’s me, now you too, Discord’s magic is everywhere. When we first got here she wouldn’t stop talking about a mare that was staring at her from above. At first we thought she was talking about Screwball, but she said it was an alicorn and that it resembled the wind.”

“That’s…eerie…” Celestia appeared worried. “She always acts like a normal kid around me.”

“I know. You two are good for her, but there’s something else here that isn’t.”

“What else?”

“Inside first.” They took a sharp turn around a bend and met Ruya waiting at a wooden door that led inside a stone structure built into the castle. Sombra opened it and Ruya skipped inside as the others followed. Sombra shut the door as Colgate was the last one to make her way in. The room was a study, not unlike Twilight’s library back in Ponyville. The walls were practically made of books, the shelves curved to make the room look round, a combination of six glowing lanterns lighting the room as the door closed with a soft yellow. Sombra walked up to a desk, one of the lanterns above it casting its illumination on a cluster of scattered parchment in a state of disarray, a quill in an empty ink well at the far left corner. Sombra flipped through the papers filing them around with his hooves and a combination of magic until he seemed to find the one he was looking for. He brought the page into view, holding it up in front of himself for them to see.

“These,” Sombra said.

“What are those?” Celestia asked squinting at the page. Across the aged paper were scribbles in black ink that managed to from a distinguishable sketch. There were five diamonds, a sixth, larger than the rest, in the center around which the sketch suggested the others rotated. Colgate’s eyes widened. They didn’t look the same, but she knew what they were.

“Well,” Sombra admitted. “This is just my interpretation of what they might be. We don’t really know.”

“What exactly are…they?” Luna asked.

“I’ve done several scans of them with my own magic from up here, but there appear to be six sources of magical energy beneath Canterlot.”

“We found them,” Ruya chimed in. “There’s a big hole now! Like THIS big!” Ruya waved her hooves around in the air trying to exaggerated the size of what she was talking about as best as she could.

“We’ve been trying to get to them,” Sombra explained. “From what I’ve gathered, their energy spreads through the entire Everfree forest.”

“Is that why Discord and Screwball can’t come in here?” Colgate asked rather suddenly. She sunk away bashfully as everyone in the room looked at her.”

“That…was my theory,” Sombra agreed slowly.

“Dentist pony is smart pony,” Ruya hopped over to her and gave her a nudge with a smile.

“What does that mean?” Celestia asked.

“If their power resists the magic of Discord as strongly as it does…” He paused for Celestia to fill in the blank.

“We can use them against him,” Colgate finished.

“How do you know that Minuette?” Luna asked. “How can we be sure we can even control them?”

“Well…I…” Colgate fell silent. As much as she wanted to appear intelligent before someone as apparently scholarly as Sombra, it wasn’t worth making them suspicious of her by rattling off all the answers just because she knew them. To her, the presence of what she knew to be the elements of harmony beneath the Everfree explained everything about why it was so unique. But to them, they were only six unknown magic objects buried in the ground.

“You’re right Luna,” Sombra continued. “We can’t. In fact, we’ve dug into the cavern that contains them and none of us can enter it. The sheer amount of magic is overwhelming.”

“Is there any way to get them out?” Celestia asked.

“You two can do it,” Ruya said.

“Ruya,” Sombra told her. “I know you have endless faith in them, but-”

“No, no,” Ruya assured him “They can do it. I know they can. These two can do anything.”

“Ruya…” Celestia’s expression softened as if Ruya’s undying faith were a little painful to see given the circumstances.

“You can you can,” Ruya repeated. “Tell her you can Luna. The princesses can!” Sombra gave a sigh.

“It won’t hurt to try I suppose,” He gave in. “But I can guarantee nothing.”

“We’ll give it a go.” Celestia perked up. “It’s better than nothing at this point.”

“Yay!” Ruya chanted gleefully. “Dentist pony can help too!” Ruya leapt over to Colgate and hopped up on top of her. She didn’t fit quite as well on Colgate’s back as she did Celestia’s and Colgate wasn’t used having things like this happen. Yet as she landed on her, Colgate went suddenly light headed. She felt the energy in her that was always causing problems take a reeling shift as if reacting to a nearby force. Ruya’s expression went abruptly blank and her pupils dilated to huge black circles.

“The cold gates open and close with sharp clangs,” She muttered. “A young foal screams from under the current, but the waters swallow her voice.”

“Ruya,” Sombra spoke. There was no response; the crystal pony kept going with her cryptic prose.

“Ruya sees lights around her, so many lights. They are bright and glowing with intensity, but in the reflection of the foal’s eyes they are black holes in the columns of space. The wind is watching her.”

“Ruya!” Sombra yelled to her.

“The surface of the water is above and below her, either way she could escape, but she cannot swim. On one side, a crooked mare is laughing and on the other she is crying. The cold gates open and close, the cold gates open and close, the cold gates open and close…” Celestia quickly lifted Ruya from Colgate’s back and the sensation in her head subsided. Of all the things she had experienced so far, this was perhaps the eeriest. Even after Celestia took Ruya away from Colgate and Sombra came and took her to the other side of them room, she continued whispering the last of her lines in a desperate tone like if they were not spoken enough times they might not be enough to ward off some unknown curse.

“The cold gates open and close, the cold gates open and close,” Sombra laid Ruya down and turning to Colgate narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Where did you find this new friend of yours?” Sombra asked.

“Well…” Celestia paused.

“She popped up out of nowhere,” Luna said. “We had just gotten beat by Discord and this pony shows up in the cave he sends us to.” Sombra’s horn lit up red again and Colgate could feel him looking at her.

“You have an abnormal capacity for magic…” He didn’t really seem amazed by this, it was more like he was puzzled.

“Is…that good?” Colgate asked.

“I can’t tell…” He said. “It’s not that your capacity is large…looking at it…it’s more…indefinite I suppose is the word.” Colgate felt uneasy.

“Wh-uhhheheh…what do you uh… mean?” Sombra had that sinister feeling about him again. It was a vibe Colgate didn’t like and didn’t really understand why she felt it.

“Well,” He explained. “Every unicorn or alicorn has a certain capacity for the amount of magic their being can store before any more added energy will begin to harm their body. Your capacity, or perhaps storage limit, is undefined. There is no shape or limit nor is it big or small. It just… is…”

“Infinite?” Colgate questioned.

“No,” Sombra corrected her. “Indefinite. I cannot say you have an infinite capacity, as that would imply you have no limits…” Colgate was lost.

“I…uh…my brain hurts…” Sombra seemed to stop and consider something for a moment.

“Luna, Celestia,” He spoke. “What say you to taking today to rest? We can try to send you for the elements tomorrow. This mare’s power intrigues me. You wanted me to help her correct?”

“Yes,” Celestia agreed. “I believe we could use that.”

“Wh-” Luna expressed the opposite. “But Tia! We don’t have much time!”

“Don’t rush Luna. I know you could definitely use a good nap.”

“I don’t need a nap!”

“Oh look how gwumpy you are. I think woona needs to be tucked in for bedtime.” Luna was lifted up from her place by Celestia’s magic flailing in protest.

“H-hey!” She squirmed. “I’m not a filly anymore sis!” Celestia ignored her and walked over to Ruya, giving her a kiss on the forehead even as she was still muttering to herself.

“Gotcha.” She said and turned to leave as Ruya was suddenly jarred from her trance.

“Wh-” she looked around seeing Celestia trotting away with Luna wriggling at her side. “Did she…Agh!” Ruya leapt up and ran about in a circle wiping her forehead. “Uncle she kissed me! Eeewwww!” Celestia opened the door to the study and turned back to them.

“Glad to see you’re better,” She said. “And Sombra, thank you. I‘ll make sure this one settles down.” He gave a bow and Celestia left with Luna throwing a tantrum.

“This is your fault Minuette,” Luna cried. “If you weren’t so weird, you stupid weird, pony! Why do I…” Her voice trailed off as Celestia shut the door behind her, leaving Colgate with Sombra, a bit to her own discomfort. At least Ruya was still here. As abnormal as she was, it provided a presence to thin the tension that Sombra seemed to sow without intention.

“So…” He began as if he meant to interrogate her. Colgate swallowed as Ruya attempted to run back to her, but Sombra stopped her with an outstretched hoof while holding his gaze on Colgate. “You claim to have stopped time?”

“…yeah…” Colgate said hesitantly. Ruya puffed her cheeks and looked up crossly at Sombra.

“I’ve studied a lot magic,” He continued lowering his hoof. “And I cannot say that such spells do not exist, but for you to have performed such magic would require a discipline that is far beyond what you seem to have considering it’s been stated that you don’t have full control over your power.”

“Well that’s just it,” Colgate said. “I didn’t stop it intentionally.” Sombra raised an eyebrow.

“Even less probable. That’s like saying you built this castle by throwing stone everywhere.”

“uhhh…I’m not sure I understand.”

“Perhaps you could show me then.”

“What?”

“Stop time.”

“Now?”

“Now.” Colgate flustered at this demand.

“I…well I don’t know how…” She wished Sombra would believe her. The only reason she had been able to before was out of panic. She hadn’t really known what she had wanted her magic to do when Screwball tried to smash Celestia; she just wanted her magic to prevent that from happening. “Wait…” Something occurred to her and Sombra paused from he was about to say as she spoke. He seemed to realize she was thinking. She had just wanted to prevent something from happening, she reiterated in her head. Prevent. She mulled over the word.

“Throw something at me,” She said abruptly.

“What?” Sombra gave her a puzzled look.

“Throw something at me,” She repeated. It was a sound theory in her own head. If she had somehow managed to stop time with the desire to prevent something from happening, the best way for her to try again was to somehow replicate that desire. This seemed like the best, or maybe only, method she could think of. Sombra frowned as if unwilling to go through with it.

Without warning a book flew from the shelf behind Sombra and with the speed of a falcon, struck her in the head with a thump only a book could make as it flopped across her face.

“Owwwwww,” Colgate cringed burying her face in her front hooves. Ruya fell into a fit of giggles while Sombra lowered his eyelids, clearly unimpressed.

“You asked, I delivered,” He said flatly. Colgate raised her head back up, still rubbing her nose with one hoof.

“I wasn’t even ready!”

“Listen to yourself. Can you hear all that contradiction?”

“Wh-whaaat?”

“Dentist pony needs more time,” Ruya rolled over on the floor next to Sombra laughing. “To stop time!”

“Of course it sounds silly if you say it like that!” Colgate argued.

“That is essentially what you’re asking,” Sombra smirked.

“She’s not motivated enough,” Ruya affirmed with certainty as she stood back up. “Here.” The filly trotted across the room past Colgate and stood behind her. Colgate watched her, turning her head as she passed, wondering how what she was doing was going to provide her with more motivation.

“Throw the book at Ruya,” Ruya said, standing firmly in place. Sombra backed immediately away from this idea.

“How about I don’t,” He said. “Get back over here. Weird things happen when you start talking in third person.”

“But dentist pony needs a reason. She doesn’t want Ruya to get hit with a book does she?”

“Uhhh…well…no” Colgate hesitated. She didn’t have anything against her, but she had laughed at her when Colgate had gotten hit by a book.

“Now I like this even less…” Sombra huffed.

“Ruya has faith in dentist pony. Smile dentist pony!” Colgate gave Ruya a puzzled look at this request, but gave her a small grin just because it seemed necessary. “See,” Ruya said. “She even has shiny teeth.” Someone finally understands, Colgate thought. You could trust a dentist with clean teeth. Although this reason for Ruya trusting her to use her magic right was really the wrong reason to trust her in the way she was, Colgate couldn’t help but agree with her.

“She can do this herself Ruya. Besides,” Sombra told her. “Your father would not approve of me throwing books at you.”

“Daddy doesn’t know dentist pony.”

“Ruya…”

“Toss away.” Sombra frowned and then suddenly seemed to accept the situation.

“You know, why not? Maybe this’ll work.” He walked up to Colgate and met her face to face. “If she gets hit, you might die,” he whispered his shadow looming over her. For a moment, it felt like the shade itself was ready to swallow her and Colgate gulped, unable to find any sort of sarcasm in him. He seemed entirely serious. He walked calmly back to where he had been and turned to her with a smile. “Ready?” a book wafted off the shelf behind Sombra and floated next to him. Colgate swallowed again. Perhaps Ruya did know what she was doing. It certainly wasn’t going to end well if she couldn’t do this. Colgate gave a nod to Sombra, unable to speak, her mouth suddenly dry as her nerves took hold of her. She didn’t think Sombra would actually kill her…would he? She didn’t want to find out. She fixed her eyes on the book intently, ready to-

Smack…

“Owwwww!” Colgate held her face again.

“I knew you couldn’t do it,” Sombra said.

“Soooombraaa!” Ruya complained. “You’re supposed to throw it at me!”

“Consider that a warning.” Colgate wasn’t used to this. Celestia had been such a kind and understanding mentor that the style Sombra was employing came off as rather cruel. Perhaps the future alicorn princess had spoiled her. Maybe Sombra was only trying to get her to realize what she was getting herself into. He had already proved he wasn’t afraid to hurt her for the sake of education.

“Okay okay,” She said brushing her hoof across her face. Without warning another book sailed past Colgate and slammed against the wall behind Ruya.

“Ah!” Ruya cried out. Colgate turned her head to her and the filly looked back at her with a betrayed gaze. Another book sailed past Colgate passing Ruya on the opposite side snapping its hardcover against stone. “Hey!” Ruya teared up. Colgate turned back to Sombra who wore a bleak expression with another one of his tomes at his side. Colgate didn’t have time to think, she just had to try what she had done before. Her horn lit up and she focused all of her magic at the single object at Sombra’s side with only the intention of stopping it from hitting Ruya. It cut through the air and just as it brushed past Colgate’s mane she heard the toll of a bell. The shackling of closing iron gates rippled through the air and Colgate watched this time as the floor below her turned to an icy gray, its world frozen. Colgate looked up. The book Sombra had thrown was right by her head and to her relief, the unicorn stood starkly motionless. Colgate grabbed the book out of the air and set it to the floor.

“Ooo!” a voice rang as if the area were hollow. “I knew you could.” Colgate froze eyes widening. She turned her head slowly like there was something behind her she didn’t want to see, watching the grayscale landscape pan across her vision until her eyes met a sparkling spot of color. The crystal pony Ruya was as luminous as ever, despite everything else being dulled to the state of a statue. She smiled at Colgate, her faith in her still apparent in her eyes as she stood in the frozenness like nothing was wrong with the fact that she was still moving.

“Wh-” Colgate stuttered. “How…” Was it broken? Did she do the spell right, Colgate thought? Was it even possible to…miss a spot? Maybe. Colgate didn’t know enough about her own magic to even begin to come to a conclusion. All she knew was that last time the spell had frozen everything and now this strange crystal pony was somehow unaffected by it.

“Minuette can use the Timescape,” Ruya proclaimed happily.

“The…what?” Colgate’s voice echoed as wall. But then she realized something else too. This was the first time Ruya had called her by her name. Up until now, she had referred to her as the dentist pony.

“Timey wimey Timescape,” Ruya said. “You’ve got that funny tick tock in your eyeball don’t you?” Colgate put a hoof to her left eye suddenly conscious of the clicking hands. This was how it started last time.

“How do you know about…”

“Ruya touches many magics. Funny magics, scary magics, weird magics, and cool magics. I see a lot.” Colgate glanced to Ruya’s cutie mark feeling like the eye might be staring back at her somehow.

“Ruya…” Colgate asked. “How did you get your cutie mark?”

“I was born with it.” Was nothing strange to this mare? “You know, there really are a lot of lights around you.” Colgate glanced around. There was nothing around her but books and shelves, certainly not anything that could be considered lights, but Ruya seemed to insist that they were everywhere when she looked at her.

“Wh-what lights?”

“Do you want to see?” Ruya took a step forward.

“No no,” Colgate backed up. “That’s okay.”

“Oh…” Ruya lowered her ears. “But it’s so pretty.” Colgate’s head started to pound.

“I don’t feel good…”

“You really don’t want to see?”

“No…”

“Okay…” Ruya walked toward her and as Colgate shifted away, Ruya picked up the book on the floor and took it over to her uncle. She placed the book at Sombra’s feet, positioning herself at his side with a sincere, but disappointed smile.

“You should stop the spell then,” She said.

“R-right…” This was the one part Colgate was sure of. Stop, she imagined and the ticking stopped. The bell tolled once again and she heard that sound. Wherever the iron gates were that she kept hearing, opened and the room flashed back into color. The book on the floor gave a shift and Sombra blinked a few times, wondering where everything in front of him had just gone. All he saw was Colgate, with a sheepish expression on her face. Sombra’s eyes flitted about the room until he looked to his side to find Ruya looking up at him like it was where she had been the entire time.

“How did you…” He paused. “Get… there…” His eyes shifted to the book at his feet and then to Colgate as he lifted the tome off of the floor with his magic.

“She did it,” Ruya said. “I told you she could.”

“So it seems…” Sombra stared at Colgate wonderingly, leaving her a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. “You saw this…happen?”

“She can even move stuff Sombra. She moved me and that book all the way across the room.”

“I’ll never understand your perception of things…” Colgate wondered after this comment if Sombra knew Ruya had been able to move herself or if he was just attributing her assurance of the event to her strange affinity to know events even if she didn’t experience them herself. “But I believe you this time…What I saw was…otherwise unexplainable I suppose.”

“What did you see?” Colgate asked, curious of what those who were frozen during her spell saw when it stopped and they were left to the reality around them changed by her somehow while they were away.

“One moment a book is flying at my niece and the next she was by my side and the book is at by my hooves. You’ve moved as well.” It really was just a sudden shift. “But you can really do it…” His eyes went misty and for a few moments he seemed lost in thought. Ruya tilted her head at him while he was quiet waving a hoof in front of his face to get his attention. Colgate felt herself shaking. The effects of the magic weren’t as bad this time, but of course she hadn’t been using it nearly as long nor had she moved around as much or carried anything.

“Minuette is it?” Sombra finally spoke.

“Yes.” Colgate responded in a weak voice. Ruya’s disappointed face was still in her mind. She hadn’t wanted to upset anyone. Maybe she was over thinking her reaction.

“Have you ever heard the term noble phantasm?”

“No…”

“Are you familiar with the unicorn Starswirl?” Colgate had heard the name before, but didn’t really know much about him, only that he used to be a great mage.

“Yes.”

“He brings the term up in the research of his that I’ve read. You know what it is? A noble phantasm is the greatest type of magic. It’s a type of magic so potent that it can bring about impossibilities, things that can alter reality itself. Discord’s magic is the best example of this that comes to mind that you would know of. I suspect the things buried beneath our city may be on this level as well.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Your magic is the closest I’ve seen since I met Luna and Celestia.”

“I’m not that strong…” Colgate remembered seeing Celestia take on an Ursa major and how in her own time the princess could lift something as huge as the sun into the sky every day. What was her magic in the face of that or even Discord’s who had both the sun and the moon careening around in the sky constantly? Sombra gave Colgate another look down as his horn shone. She turned her face away.

“There are traces of energy around you,” He said. “Your magic seems to be…spatially based.” He was far too fascinated for his own good, oblivious to anypony else. But, Colgate couldn’t really blame him. Magic seemed to be Sombra’s passion just like dentistry was hers. If only her spells could get her a brush.

“I don’t know what that means,” Colgate nearly whispered. “I just want to go home…”

“Are you alright?” He asked, his horn dimming as he seemed to catch on.

“I’m just tired.”

“Oh. Well that’s understandable I suppose. After magic like that I can see how it might take a lot out of any pony. Perhaps we should stop for now.” Sombra was just confusing, Colgate told herself. Maybe it was because she was just frustrated at the moment, but one minute he was throwing books at her in a forceful way to get her to learn and now he was being compassionate. Which one was he really? It was hard to appear sinister and kind at the same time, but somehow he pulled it off.

“Why…” Colgate started. “Why did you throw those books at Ruya?”

“I had to create a sense of urgency for you, maybe fear perhaps. It’s really the only way a grown unicorn does magic by accident.”

“Right…” Colgate turned away. “I’ll be outside.”

“You know there are better places to sleep than-”

“I’ll be fine,” Colgate cut him off.

“Alright then,” he said as she opened the door. “I’ll most likely be here if you need something. Although I can’t guarantee I won’t get sidetracked to somewhere else.”

“Thank you…” Colgate closed the door behind her as she walked out. She smacked a hoof against the stone below her. That was an incident short of humiliating, she thought. Sombra’s elation at her apparent success didn’t really make things better. It made her feel like she had been being ogled. This wasn’t how she was going to get home and she knew it. Maybe she was making progress, but it didn’t seem like it was getting her any closer to making a leap in time as large as a thousand years. Colgate looked up as she felt the breeze tingle coldly at her neck. It was actually dark, she realized. The sky was actually the deep blue that night was supposed to have and there even stars and despite the fact that they moved around without discretion, it was still refreshing. She took a deep breath and walked away from the door of Sombra’s study.

“Oh poor Minuette. She can’t figure out her magic,” A voice came that seemed to echo all around her. Colgate stopped, looking spastically in different directions. There was no one. “Maybe you need to focus harder.” Colgate spun around and was met with a pair of yellow and red eyes. She stumbled backwards quickly getting back to her feet, and preparing to defend herself. Had her assumptions been wrong?

“H-how did you get into the Everfree?” Colgate asked. Before her was Discord, the being she had thought, along with Screwball, couldn’t enter the Everfree. It made even less sense now that she knew the reason behind why it was the case. But had Discord only been pretending?

“Let’s just say I’m pulling a few strings,” He said smirking. He teleported popping up behind Colgate and putting his hands on her shoulders again.

“Why do you always do this,” Colgate snapped. “It’s creepy.” Discord took his hands away looking offended.

“Well. I was only trying to be your friend.”

“Since when do you care about that?”

“Aha!” Discord laughed. “Listen to you. You reek of loneliness.”

“It’s not like you know that.” Colgate turned away from Discord and went to walk away. It was clear he wasn’t here for anything nor did it seem like he could do much. He was just making fun of her.

“Please,” Discord said. “We both know you don’t belong here.”

“What?” Colgate turned around, but Discord was gone. She rotated around in a circle looking for him in any corner of anything she laid eyes on. There was nothing. Had he really come here just to say that? Maybe her fatigue was getting to her. Colgate took a second look around and then a third. It was Discord after all. Discord. How had he managed to get into the forest with the elements of harmony keeping him out? Even a fourth look around seemed merited. There air was still though and there was no evidence to prove she hadn’t been talking to it and not Discord. Had he actually been there? Colgate shook her head. Nothing. She backed away from the area slowly, making sure he wasn’t coming back.

It would be silly, Colgate told herself, for Discord to come here. Even as powerful as he was, Luna, Celestia, and Sombra and who knew how many other ponies were all here. Was he strong enough to defeat all of them? Maybe. But she had sworn Discord had been unable to enter the Everfree before. Had he somehow managed to enter temporarily? That would explain why his visit had been so short. She would have to tell Luna and Celestia about this the next day. For now, she felt like there was something horribly wrong with her, aside from being in the wrong time period.

Instead of going inside like she should have, Colgate found herself a corner in the wall surrounding the castle. She curled up in a ball like a cat, laying her head down and folding her tail across her body. She didn’t close her eyes though. Seeing Discord was enough to keep her awake for at least a while. If she had been born in this era she would have never made it, she thought. How could Sombra think she was as strong as Luna and Celestia? If it weren’t for them she would have died in the cave her magic had dropped her in.

Colgate heard a hoof click in front of her. She looked up to find Ruya looking down at her with concern.

“What do you want?” Colgate asked. After hearing herself she realized how rude she must have sounded.

“Ruya doesn’t have to be special to see that a pony is sad,” She said. This was true she supposed, but it was still strange of her to know why she was sad. It seemed that way at least, she knew a lot that Colgate had assumed only she knew.

“How did you know I was a dentist?”

“I don’t know, Ruya just knew.”

“Who told you?”

“It always seems like it’s Ruya who tells herself. She tells herself things that are true.”

“Do you know what your cutie mark means?” Ruya took a glance at it and, turning back to Colgate shrugged.

“No idea.” She said

“I guess that makes two of us,” Colgate sighed. “Were you really born with it?”

“Yup. Mom and Dad were so confused,” She giggled. “And now I’m confused.”

“I got mine when my magic saved me and my friend from a falling boulder…” Colgate paused and then gave a dry laugh. “I guess it’s really the only good thing it’s ever done for me.”

“Your Berry friend is special to you isn’t she?”

“How did you…” Colgate raised her head.

“I knew,” Ruya said. Then, she flopped down, placing herself at eye level to Colgate in a position like a cat about to pounce. “But you know things too! Like them? You know about them right? The things below Canterlot?”

“The…” Colgate didn’t want to say it. It seemed like she would be giving herself away. Then again, this mare seemed to already know everything.

“Elements of harmony!” Ruya finished, her pale red eyes twinkling with excitement in the starlight.

“Y-yes…” Colgate raised an eyebrow at her.

“I knew it. You know!”

“So…”A thought occurred to Colgate. “Is there a reason why you call Luna and Celestia princesses?”

“You know about that too!” Ruya bounced up and down with glee. “They are princesses aren’t they! See I know you.”

“But… how?”

“Of course I know you. You use the Timescape.”

“What exactly is the…Timescape?” Colgate paused mid sentence to make sure she was saying the term right.

“Hmm,” For once Ruya seemed flustered. “I don’t know. Or maybe I do. I just can’t say.”

“You can’t say or you don’t know?”

“Yes.” Colgate let her face flop to the ground. There was nothing sensical about this pony.

“You know…” Colgate searched for words, but couldn’t find any. “You’re weird.” Ruya’s eyes filled with water and her expression drooped like she was about to cry. “I-I didn’t mean in a bad- I mean you’re…never mind.” Colgate lowered her head and went back to sulking. How could she even screw up walking to Ruya? Idiot. A nudge removed her from mentally scolding herself.

“I knew what you meant,” Colgate looked back to Ruya who was smiling now. She sighed. Pranked by a filly, she thought. She should have seen past that one. “Do you want to see the Timescape?” Colgate raised her head back up.

“Can you show it…to me?”

“You’ve already been there silly.”

“I…have?”

“Of course. Where did you think you went?” Suddenly Colgate didn’t know what Ruya was referring to. “Besides I can’t really show it to you.”

“Then…why did you-”

“Oo! Wanna see something neat?” Ruya interrupted.

“Is it the Timescape?”

“No no, silly. What gave you that idea?” Colgate gave a mental shrug. Whatever this filly was thinking she would just have to play along with. Offering to show her something she had apparently already seen, but never in her memory been to was strange enough, but then to completely go back on that and Ruya saying there was no way for her to show Colgate whatever the Timescape was and then offering to show her something, but that something being completely different, was so logically bent that Colgate gave up on trying to reason around the crystal pony.

“What do you want to show me?” Colgate asked.

“Hold out a hoof,” Ruya said. Colgate did so and Ruya stretched out her own and pressed the two together. Colgate felt something on the inside react again like the last time Ruya had touched her. This time though, Ruya didn’t fall into a trance and start rattling off riddles. Instead Colgate watched as the space around her turned into a shining spectral blue sky, lights like stars suddenly all around them. It was like Ruya had somehow brought them out into space and she was looking at the night sky from a place that wasn’t Equestria. Colgate looked down, the ground below her seemingly gone, replaced by the brilliant spatial display Ruya had somehow conjured up. She looked all around her taking it in, wondering what it was all supposed to be and how Ruya was showing her this.

“Is this the Timescape?” Colgate asked just to make sure.

“No,” Ruya replied. “This is you.” Colgate tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”

“I told you,” Ruya smiled. “There are so many lights around you. Look at all of them.”

“Is this…what you see?”

“Sometimes. All of the time. Never.”

“Wh-” Colgate let it go. “I don’t get it. What is all of this supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s you silly. You’re supposed to know.”

“Know what?” Ruya took their hooves apart and the image faded before Colgate’s eyes like a projector had been turned off. She found herself once again surrounded by dull stone and grass. Ruya stood up and took a step away from her and without a word turned to leave.

“Hey,” Colgate said. “Wait.” Ruya turned her head to her as she stopped and Colgate was left wondering what to ask. There were so many things Ruya made her wonder and yet for all the mare seemed to know, she didn’t know why it was that she knew.

“How did you do that?” Colgate asked. “You’re not a unicorn. How can you use magic?”

“It’s not magic.”

“Then, what…?”

“Sombra has always said that crystal is one of the best conductors of magical energy. It’s your magic dentist pony. It’s you.” Colgate fell silent. Me, she thought? Even if crystal was an excellent conductor of magic, Ruya still wasn’t a normal crystal pony. Not all of them could do that could they? Colgate had never really met any, but every pony seemed to think Ruya was strange on some level so it must have just been her.

“You know if you sleep there it’ll be cold,” Ruya told her.

“I…I’ll be fine…” Colgate kept looking at her like if she came back so many times she might eventually see something about Ruya she hadn’t before. There was nothing though. On the surface, she was a normal crystal pony. Ruya turned to leave again, walking slowly instead of trotting.

“If you ever feel lonely again,” She said as she went. “Remember all of the lights.” Colgate lowered her head again as Ruya rounded a corner. Remember all of the lights… Why? What were the lights and why were they important? She felt better, that much Ruya had somehow managed to accomplish, but she was at the same time perplexed. It certainly kept her from sleeping for a little bit. She could almost hear Ruya’s reply continuously echo in her ears as she tried to rest when she had asked her if what she had been shown was what Ruya called the Timescape or not.

“No,“ She had said. “This is you.”

Mind of the Mage

Chapter 8: Mind of the Mage

Time and Space Await…

-Even the deepest hearts have feeling and the lightest hearts have their deeper corners. In the hailstorm, are your castle walls strong enough?

“We both know you don’t belong here.” A voice. Colgate stirred. “Why, you might as well not even be in Equestria.” Colgate forced her eyelids open and was met with another pair their deviance apparent. She leapt back and stumbling, fell through what she had thought was solid stone and soil. Yet, through it she went into a gaping pit of blackness not even a shred of wind to cushion her decent. Despite this, she landed with ease on a surface in the darkness that clinked like the glass of fine china against her hooves. Something zipped by her like a dart, a wild laughter following in its tailwind.

“It’s raining, it’s pouring, Clocktail is snoring! She went to bed, fell on her head, and never woke up in the morning!” The voice trailed off into whatever distance there was in the emptiness. An enormous version of Discord appeared before Colgate looming over her, a satisfied grin only emphasizing the tooth that made Colgate hate him more than really anything else about him.

“Your friends don’t even trust you,” He said. Three more versions of him appeared around, all the same giant size staring down at her like she was an ant trapped in a spider web.

“What are you talking about?” Colgate asked. It was all too much for her to take in this quickly. She didn’t even know where she was. Something zipped by her again, this time smacking her across the face with a hoof. Colgate stumbled back, slightly dazed. Whatever it was, it was far too fast to predict. The rhyme from before suggested Screwball and with four Discords laughing at her from above, her presence was more than likely.

“You know what I mean.”

“I-” Suddenly the whole image that was in front of her cracked like it had all been made of glass. Everything stopped, it was broken. All of it, the blackness, Discord, were funneled like water being sucked into a vacuum to a point like a whirlpool. The image was like paint being washed down a drain, until everything around her became white.

Colgate’s head shot up with a gasp. She was panting and found herself right where she had gone to sleep, the wild careening stars in the sky replaced by an unnecessarily bright sun. Or at least it seemed so to her. Colgate squinted against the light, seeing the shape of a pony in front of her, but unable to make out who it was before her eyes adjusted.

“L…Luna?” Colgate paused drowsily. It was comfortably warm where she was sitting for some reason. Luna looked down at her with misty eyes and a sour look.

“That was quite the dream you were having,” She said.

“What?” Colgate struggled to remember what happened. Dreams were never something she was very good at recalling. This one came back to her rather quickly though as she pushed the sleep out of her head bit by bit. “You…You saw that?”

“I stopped it.”

“You can…do that?”

“You know in some regards I’m like you. I don’t really understand why I can do certain magic. Besides, it didn’t look like you were having fun.”

“Th-thanks,” Colgate rubbed her eyes.

“Nah,” Luna brushed it off. “I actually came here looking for Ruya and then I found you too, grinding your teeth in your sleep.”

“Me…too?” Colgate repeated. She looked behind to find Ruya sprawled across her back sleeping peacefully. That’s why she had felt so comfortably warm. She must have come back after Colgate had fallen asleep which she had no idea how long ago that had been. “Oh…”

“She’s taken a strange liking to you.”

“I don’t know why.”

“Nobody knows why with her,” Luna gave a slight laugh. “You know last night she came and woke us up all excited about how she had shown you the lights and how pretty they were. Me and Tia just had to agree with her.”

“I’m not even sure what she showed me.” It was quiet for a few moments. Luna seemed to be mulling over something she wanted to say, but had been avoiding because she didn’t know how to say it. She shifted uncomfortably which in turn made Colgate uncomfortable as well.

“Listen…” Luna started. “I…well…I’m.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I haven’t trusted you…”

“What?” Colgate was surprised to hear Luna say this. All this time she had thought Luna had been entirely justified in her mistrust considering she had appeared in a cave with no more purpose than a rock in a stream. Luna gave a grumble like there was someone forcing her to apologize the way she was.

“And I…” She flustered. “I won’t call you Clocktail anymore…” She looked away. Colgate smiled, suppressing a laugh. Luna tripped over her words angrily.

“H-hey! I-I’m trying to be…never mind.”

“Celestia put you up to this didn’t she?” Colgate knew Luna would never apologize so directly like this unless it was her sister’s idea. Celestia had a way of softening Luna’s somewhat rougher personality when she needed to.

“That’s not important,” Luna replied. “Look, she wanted me to tell you that we were going to try and get those whatever they were thingies under Canterlot and that she wanted you to come with us if it was possible.”

“Really?” Celestia actually wanted her to come along?

“Yes really.” Colgate was surprised. Maybe she had been viewing this back in time thing the wrong way. This whole time she had been so focused on little more than getting back to where she had come from that she had forgotten to really try to be friends with any pony. She felt guilty now for always asking people she met to help her with a way back, only valuing them for their knowledge. She had done it to Celestia, Luna and also to Sombra. She would have done so to Ruya as well if the little filly hadn’t seen through everything she was trying to hide.

“Thank you Luna,” Colgate said sincerely. Luna seemed angered by this, giving a huff. It was perhaps more sappy of a conversation that she would have liked it to be.

“Don’t make me take it back,” She said. “You know, Celestia made me realize that we wouldn’t have made it this far without you…so…I should be…rrrrrg! I should be thanking you okay!” Colgate’s guilt hit her again. She knew Luna’s last statement to be false. If she hadn’t been here, in this time, she knew exactly what would have happened. Luna and Celestia would have used the elements of harmony to stop Discord and they would have become princesses and rulers of Equestria. It was only because of her that, that future had been compromised. Luna had every unknowing right to hate her for what she had done and yet here she was thanking her for it. Knowing this was painful, but not being able to say anything about it was worse. Luna was being as honest as she could with her and Colgate was a walking lie.

“You don’t have to-” Colgate started.

“No!” Luna cut her off. “Shut up! No more of this. I hate mushy talk. Accept it! It’s my apology, now take it and like it.” Colgate clammed up. This was more like the Luna she knew and Colgate smiled at the sheer forcefulness of her confession.

“Alright then thank you Luna.” Colgate said in acceptance.

“No No I-” Luna turned in an angry circle. “Rrrr…Hey!” she turned to Ruya who had seemingly slept through their talk with the obliviousness of an inanimate object. “Hey sleepy face. Wake up. We’re going to that big cave you were talking about.” Ruya raised her head still draped over Colgate’s back like a stubborn cat. She looked to her and then to Luna, twice. She smiled, the sleep vanishing from her eyes in an instant.

“Oo! Oo!” She exclaimed fully awake. “Are we bonding?” Luna gave another irritated growl.

“This is your fault,” Luna said squinting at Ruya.

“Luna’s sis made her apologize,” Ruya giggled.

“It was your idea!?”

“Ruya did nothing of the sort,” She said. “It is Luna’s own fault for being afraid of a little pony like Minuette.” Called little by the filly, Colgate thought and she was momentarily stunned to actually see Luna blush.

“Wh- I wasn’t-” Luna stopped. “No. No no no. We’re going. I should just leave you behind.” By “you” Colgate assumed she meant Ruya, but of course Ruya was the last pony one could try to leave behind and she knew it.

“You shouldn’t have told Ruya where you were going,” She said. Luna turned to leave.

“Like you wouldn’t have known anyway,” Luna frowned. Ruya grinned back at her and Luna gave a sigh. “Come on.” She sulked off beckoning them to follow her to wherever it was they were going. Colgate was curious to see just where the elements had been buried before anypony knew about them even if she ended up not being able to enter the cavern. Although she had, had enough of caves after escaping the one she had arrived in. Colgate stood up and Ruya remained pasted to her back like she had attached herself to Colgate. The filly turned herself forward and clung to Colgate’s neck with one hoof and pointed forward like she was telling her to charge with the other.

“To the gates of Tartarus!” Ruya exclaimed.

“Uhh…” Colgate hesitated.

“Just follow Luna,” Ruya whispered as she hunkered down excitedly in Colgate’s mane with a smirk.

“Alright,” Colgate chuckled. She trailed after Luna through the stone streets with the filly on her back. As strange as Ruya was, in some ways, she was still a child playful in her ways. She bobbed up and down, her belly against Colgate’s back as she trotted along behind Luna, a determined look on her face like she was on a mission, riding her steed to the forefront of a battle. The Canterlot of the old world was a much wilder place Colgate realized. The Canterlot of her own time was a city that dominated the mountainside, its ivory towers refined and civil whereas this Canterlot was hard stone, practically fused with the forest around it an untamed feat of architecture. The foliage was part of it, the trees providing the walls extra support rather than splitting them apart and ivy spinning around structures as if it were conscious of preserving the fortress’s structural integrity. Luna led them through several large and smaller streets, the heads of ponies peaking out of windows to watch them as they passed some even coming out to see where they were going. By the time they made it to where Luna had intended to lead just Colgate and Ruya, she had acquired seven extra followers.

They came to a clearing in the castle structure and the trees, where the stone floor turned into a gaping dirt hole that led in a steadily steeping slope that plunged into wall of darkness as soon as the light above could reach no further into it. There was quite a crowd, something, Colgate realized, that the sisters seemed to attract without really trying. Colgate felt Ruya shift as she climbed up onto her, placing her two front hooves on her head to look over her for a better view, keeping the rear two balanced on Colgate’s back. Luna was greeted by Celestia and Sombra who were already there apparently awaiting their arrival.

“You brought them,” Celestia stated. “I trust it went well.” Luna puffed her cheeks with a huff and looked away from her sister with a pouting expression.

“She’s such a darling when she’s sorry,” Ruya filled in for Luna.

“I see,” Celestia chuckled. “Well then, here we are. It’s quite something don’t you think? To think they did all this while we were gone.”

“We’ve been busy,” Sombra admitted. “What you don’t see is that we had to take down an entire tower just to dig here. Hm.” He laughed. “And only to find out we couldn’t get in.

“There’s so much water here,” Ruya said. “It’s so clear, but there’s so much I can’t see past it.”

“What does she mean?” Colgate asked. Luna rolled her eyes.

“She’s probably talking about how dense magic energy is here,” Sombra explained turning to his niece. “Right?” Ruya nodded.

“Yup,” She confirmed. “The water.”

“Sure…That will have to do,” Sombra accepted. “Are you two ready to try this?” Celestia and Luna gave affirmative nods.

“Will you be coming with us Minuette?” Celestia asked. Normally she might want to stay behind, learn more magic, but maybe trying to be friends with this younger Celestia wasn’t such a bad thing. She had probably already done terrible things to everypony’s future. Making a friend was probably one of the least hurtful things she could do.

“I’ll try,” Colgate replied. Of course, there was no guarantee that she would even be able to enter the cave or that the sisters would be able to either.

“Don’t make any plans,” Luna said. “We might end up going nowhere.”

“Oh…” Ruya seemed disappointed. “You’re all going to leave me behind?”

“Ruya,” Sombra spoke. “Even if you could enter the cave I wouldn’t allow it. There’s far too much magic floating around down there and I know how you can get. You’d fry your brain.”

“Besides,” Luna commented. “What if Minuette is the only one that can enter?”

“I doubt that would happen,” Colgate said.

“You’re weird enough for it.” Colgate wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. Perhaps it was Luna’s strange way of doing so.

“Even so,” Celestia said to her. “Glad to know you’re with us.” Colgate smiled even though hers didn’t compare to Celestia’s beaming radiance. With her confidence, it didn’t seem like it was possible for them to fail at this.

“Alright,” Sombra affirmed. “Down you go then,” he told Ruya lifting her off Colgate with his magic. He set her on the ground next to her and the filly looked up at Colgate with a smile.

“Come back quick so we can play more,” She said. Colgate nodded confidently amping up Ruya’s enthusiasm which in turn made Sombra nervous.

“This should be fun to watch,” A voice behind her said.

“What?” Colgate turned around to see Discord floating in the air, nonchalantly munching on popcorn as he lounged in amusement.

“You seem surprised,” He said. “Go on, I want to see how this plays out.” Colgate stood on edge. Was no pony else seeing this? She looked to Luna and Celestia who were staring at her puzzlingly after she had jerked around at the sound of Discord’s voice. Yet, they didn’t seem to notice him. No one did. Except for her.

“What’s going on…” Colgate said tentatively. “How are you doing this?” The crowd around them began to murmur. Colgate didn’t like it. It was an unnecessary source of noise.

“Doing what?” Discord asked innocently. “I’m simply enjoying my entertainment.”

“Minuette…” Luna asked. “Who are you talking to?”

“So…you don’t see…him?” Colgate asked slowly. Things had certainly gone from hopeful to a dreadful version of embarrassing quickly. They were going to think she was crazy.

“See who?” Celestia asked.

“Hmmm,” Ruya tilted her head. “Dentist pony is acting weird. I see she doesn’t like who is talking to her.”

“What?” Luna huffed. “Is that me?” Suddenly it seemed like Luna’s apology had done more damage than good. Colgate panicked. She shouldn’t have said anything. Discord’s mere presence was flipping everything on its head.

“Oo!” Discord seemed delighted. “Good one. That was artful. Please, thank that little crystal pony would you. She deserves to be praised for such wondrous ambiguity.” No no no no, Colgate’s mind raced.

“It’s not you Luna,” She tried to assure her. “You really can’t…” She trailed off. “It’s nothing…nothing…” Sombra raised an eyebrow as Colgate turned away from Discord trying her best to pretend she hadn’t seen him. Was she going crazy? All this time in the wrong place had her seeing things, was that it? She shook her head several times trying to clear it.

“Once again,” Sombra said. “Are we all ready?” Colgate nodded.

“Are you alright?” Celestia asked her.

“I’m fine,” Colgate straightened up and put on a brave face. There was certainly something strange about her being the only one able to see Discord. Even Ruya seemed to only half catch on, which worried her more.

“Don’t you worry,” Discord said. “I’ll be here, even when I’m not.” Colgate looked back. He was gone. She forced her head back forward banishing the thought of his appearance. He wasn’t there, she told herself several times in her head. Maybe if she reiterated it enough she might believe herself.

“Weirdo,” Luna said. Colgate scolded herself inwardly over and over again for ever turning around in the first place. But what should she have done? Ignored the fact that she thought Discord was right there in the Everfree with them? This was too strange for her to figure out. The faster they got to the elements the better, she thought, so she trudged on.

The three ponies approached the entrance, Colgate to right of the two alicorns with Celestia between her and Luna. Sombra and Ruya watched from the side in front of a whole crowd of onlookers who had hushed in anticipation of what was about to happen. Celestia turned and nodded to both Luna and Colgate and they wordlessly took their first steps toward the dark cavern. As they met the slope that led underground, Celestia’s horn lit up in expectation of the approaching blackness as she moved closer to her sister. Colgate could feel the air thicken. Each step made the space around her feel heavier and her heart thumped into her throat, her vision tightening. The two sisters seemed unfazed while Colgate’s breathing became labored like they were walking into a miasma that filled the cavern, poisonous to anypony who didn’t know their magic. Colgate stumbled and Celestia turned to her with concern.

“Are you okay?” She asked. Her voice was muffled. Colgate had to fight through this. Her knees trembled as she tried to wave Celestia away. Suddenly they just gave out and with a blinding flash, Colgate found herself at the top of the slope again flat on her belly, but her senses returned to her. Celestia and Luna stared back at her in confusion. Colgate stood up as Sombra approached at her side.

“That’s what happened to the others that tried to enter,” He called to them, a smile breaking his stoic face. “It seems you two don’t have that problem.” A roaring cheer rose from the crowd at their success. They could enter Colgate realized and she could not. She lowered her head wishing she could go along with them. Just when she had decided to make friends this world wouldn’t let her. Figures she thought. She felt a pony walk up beside her and give her a nudge. It was Ruya, apparently happy she had a friend to stay behind with her. At least it made somepony happy.

“We’ll be back Minuette,” A voice echoed in Colgate’s head. She looked up and the two sisters turned to the cavern and continued their decent. “Wait for us.” It must have been Celestia. As if she would or even could leave without them, she thought. Luna couldn’t have been any more wrong. It wasn’t the sisters who had needed her to get back to Canterlot, it was her that had needed them to even survive past the mountain caves, to lead her into the Everfree, and ultimately to teach her, so she could finally go back. Of course she would wait. Celestia didn’t have to tell her.

“Well,” Sombra said. “There’s no telling how long that will take them.” Colgate watched as they faded into the cave things probably happening as they should for once. “Up for another lesson?” Colgate turned back to Sombra. It couldn’t hurt, she thought. It was better than just waiting and maybe it would get her somewhere this time.

“Sure,” Colgate said, lacking enthusiasm.

“I have a better location than my study in mind this time.”

“Oo!” Ruya trotted in a circle. “Do we get to use the arena?”

“Yes Ruya,” Sombra replied. “Don’t get too excited.”

“Yay!” Ruya hopped back up onto Colgate’s back. “Lead the way!”

“A-arena?” Colgate became a bit worried. She didn’t like the sound of the word arena. It made her think they were going to be fighting or something and she knew there was no way for somepony like her to match Sombra at magic.

“Don’t worry,” Sombra said sensing her rise in tension. “It’s just more ideal because there’s more space and mishaps won’t damage anything important. Come on.” Colgate started following him, the cheers of the crowd dwindling down behind them as they left. Yet, they didn’t move. They seemed determined to wait it out until their leaders returned with what they thought to be the things that could save them.

“So…why’s it called an arena?” Colgate asked even though the question sounded silly in her head and still even as she spoke it.

“They used to hold magic duels there before Discord came around. Now it’s used for practicing mages like you.”

“Magic duels huh?” Colgate avoided stepping on a lump of rock that jutted out from the ground, a bump in the beginning of what turned out to be a very uneven stone street Sombra had turned down. It was evident that something other than the gradual erosion of hooves clicking across it had worn this path out.

“Yes. I know I’ve had my fair share.”

“Did you win?” Colgate felt stupid asking this too, but she was doing best to make conversation with somepony who had a passion that she didn’t really share.

“Luna always said Sombra went easy on people,” Ruya replied. “She always wanted to see him go aaalll out.”

“We’ve been over this. I didn’t want to destroy anything.”

“She was your biggest fan,” Ruya grinned.

“That was before your time kid.” Destroy anything, Colgate thought? Just how strong was Sombra? “Ah here we are.” They stopped before a set of large stone doors. Colgate stared up at the structure, her mouth agape. It was incredible. This was the arena? The place was like another entire castle built inside of the castle. Its stone walls arched toward the sky and if the castle itself had fallen around it, the place would make for more than just a backup. How big was this place? Suddenly Colgate felt like the door she had walked in was the backdoor and that somewhere the main entrance was a towering behemoth waiting to swallow her if she dared to step anywhere near it. She sunk back a bit trying to take the whole thing in, leaning a little.

“Dentist pony cowers before the scawy wocks,” Ruya narrated as she tilted up with the slant of Colgate’s back.

“Hey,” Colgate bucked Ruya off lightly, enough to get her to loose her grip and flop to the ground.

“Ack!” She squirmed back to her feet.

“What in the world is a dentist?” Sombra asked.

“Her,” Ruya said fluffing the dirt out of her mane.

“That doesn’t tell me much.” Colgate wasn’t sure what to tell him that would actually tell him “much.” Dentistry wasn’t a thing yet apparently, so whatever she told him about it wouldn’t make sense. Although, she considered, she could just boil it down as basically as it went.

“I-uh…clean teeth.” She told him. He raised an eyebrow and Colgate immediately knew she had only made herself look weird.

“You…clean teeth?” Sombra repeated.

“Oo! Are mine clean?” Ruya donned a huge grin showing off a set of sparkling white chompers. Colgate returned a slight nostalgic smile. She had never cleaned the teeth of a crystal pony before. If every pony’s teeth were as naturally white as Ruya’s she wouldn’t have ever needed to consider dentistry.

“That’s a pretty nice set,” Colgate said. “I’d give you a brush if I had one.”

“If I didn’t know better I’d say you were stalling,” Sombra said clicking a hoof against the stone door of the arena.

“You next,” Colgate said. “How are your teeth?” She bounced up to him excitedly. He paused for a few moments, processing her strange eagerness.

“I’ll pass,” He said as he ground the stone door across the dirt to open it. “Although you would do well to transfer that passion here.” Colgate frowned at his refusal of her request, but Sombra didn’t seem like the type that would give her a grin just because he was prompted. He was far too dignified for that and he carried himself with the air of a sage, a wise stallion rigid in his ways.

“Ruya has told herself that dentist pony should take Luna’s advice,” Ruya blurted out. “What’s Luna’s advice?”

“You said it not her,” Sombra replied. “Now let’s go.” Colgate followed as Ruya shrugged and happily trotted along behind her uncle. Her comment had indeed been random, but Colgate knew there was only one time Luna had actually given her advice. But how could Ruya have known about that? That had been before they reached Canterlot. Then again, it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time the filly had known something she wasn’t supposed to. But Luna’s advice wasn’t any less confusing as Colgate recalled it. “Imagine your magic as something you like.” That was it, wasn’t it? She didn’t really know how to apply that, but she supposed that maybe she would figure it out as Sombra taught her whatever he had in store.

They made their way down a narrow stone hallway that split into two heading in opposite directions at a T part of the way in. Sombra took a right and her and Ruya followed in turn. The hallway took a left after that and soon enough, Colgate found herself walking out of a doorway that opened up into an immense elliptical enclosure surrounded by stone seating. It was the spitting image of the coliseums one might read about in legends of gladiators. The arena itself was covered in a lawn of grass, lush despite obvious scorch marks along the walls and dips in the soil where there had been gashes in the earth. Magic duels in her time were more like spell competitions. This looked like it had been the site of huge battles with spells Colgate had probably never seen before. She nearly tripped in a rut as she walked onto the field a few pieces of glittering crystal catching her eye. She lifted her hoof away from it as if the stuff contained some kind of curse and kept walking. Sombra waited for her in the center of the arena as Ruya skipped about in the grass humming to herself. The enclosure seemed to isolate sound within itself and the walls shunned the breeze that had been there before. She approached Sombra who was keeping a glancing eye on Ruya to make sure she didn’t do anything strange.

“I thought I would take your lesson in a different direction today,” He began his eyes shooting to the left momentarily as Ruya poked at the soil in a pothole.

“How…so?” Colgate asked slowly.

“Well time freezing would get tiring,” He replied. “And, in light of knowing your magic is spatially based, I figured I would explore that side of your magic.” Colgate found herself disliking the way Sombra talked about teaching her. Celestia had so much consideration for her students, while Sombra with his “I figured I would explore…” made her lessons out to be more like research for himself. He seemed uninterested in her actually knowing her magic while he focused on what she was actually capable of. It made her feel like more like a test subject than a student. But, he had his reasons and Sombra certainly wasn’t her enemy.

“Well,” He began. “When Luna went to get you earlier, I learned from Celestia that you performed not only transformation magic, but projection as well.”

“What?” Colgate knew when she had done transformation, granted it was entirely accidental like most of what she had done so far, but when had she done projection? She hadn’t even heard that word used in the context of magic until now. “Projection?”

“She mentioned you using metal cubes?” Sombra inquired. Colgate knew immediately what he was referring to. Celestia had seen her take her anger out on Screwball after her mishap that got them separated in the Everfree. The objects she tried to smash the mare with were probably what Sombra was talking about.

“I guess…I did?” Colgate was unsure of herself.

“Well…Try it again,” Sombra said. Colgate returned this statement with a blank stare, no idea where or even how to begin. She looked to Ruya and recalled her statement. Still nothing, that didn’t help. Sombra waited a few moments sensing her state of complete cluelessness.

“You know,” He said. “You seem to be much more reactive than proactive with your magic. Perhaps this will help.” Sombra’s horn lit up and from a pile of loose rocks tucked in the corner of the arena, he brought over a large stone and held it aloft next to himself. “I’m going to throw this rock straight up. When I do, I want you to stop its ascent in any way possible for you.” Colgate eyed the rock and then looked back to Sombra.

“I can…do anything?” She asked tentatively.

“No specifics,” He confirmed. “Just stop the rock any way you can. It seems to be the method that gets you the most results so far.” Colgate looked at the rock timidly again. This didn’t really help. Now that she could do anything, she didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t like she knew how she had conjured up those cubes. She had just…done it. Because…well because! There didn’t seem to be any logic to it, her magic just did what it did because it had a mind of its own. Could she tap into that? Tell it what to do?

“Ready?” This statement from Sombra put her on edge because of the tricks he had pulled with it the last time. Colgate nodded, ready for the stone to shoot into the air at any second even before she had moved her head. Yet, this time Sombra nodded in turn and looking to the rock and then to her let it, quiet deliberately, soar into the air for her to stop. She focused on the object, her horn lighting up. She clenched her eyes shut as the rock climbed higher and nothing happened trying to get her magic to work as hard as she could. She felt a spark. Come on, she urged it.

Suddenly a pulse erupted from her horn and she was sent tumbling backwards across the turf like a lopsided barrel. She skidded to a halt several meters away, picking up soil and roots into her fur as she dug into the dirt. She lay there for a bit in a state of pain, hearing the rock flop to the ground with a thud, untouched.

“Owie,” Ruya exclaimed. “Are you okay dentist pony?” She heard the mare trot up to her and felt a nudge in the side like the filly was poking at an animal that she didn’t know was dead or not. Colgate struggled to her feet her knees shaking a bit, the fur on them soiled in brown and green.

“Blech,” Colgate spat away from Ruya. Some of the grass and dirt had gotten in her mouth and it was screaming for mouth wash. Of course she had none and she spat several times brushing her tongue off with her hooves to try to get the plant matter that clung to it off.

“That,” Sombra said, farther away from her than he was before. “Was the worst method of focus I’ve ever seen.” Colgate lowered her ears and looked away. She knew she was no good at this. “Get back over here.” Colgate sulked back to where she had been standing like a reprimanded kindergartner going to her time out corner. She flopped to a sitting position ready to be scolded for her incompetence.

“Hey,” Ruya said. “Don’t be a meanie to her.” Ruya shook one of her small hooves at Sombra as if to intimidate him. He ignored her and looked to Colgate.

“Chin up,” He said flatly. Colgate didn’t lift her head, but simply moved her eyes to meet his downward gaze. He let out a sigh his deeper voice making it sound more like a grumble.

“Why did you try so hard?” This seemed like a silly question to Colgate.

“How else am I supposed to get my magic to work?” She asked.

“Surely Celestia told you that you need only just enough?” She nodded. She had, Colgate remembered. Celestia had showed her using her levitation spell that something that simple should feel like she wasn’t even using magic.

“Well she was right. Put all of your energy into a spell and its just going to implode on itself as you saw.” Sombra’s gaze was stern as he said this and it was hard for Colgate to keep looking at him in light of her failure to learn. “I want you to try again, but this time don’t overdo it. If magic required the brain busting you just tried, no one would use it. It would be too inefficient. Now,” he lifted the rock back up from the soil with his magic to throw again. “Ready?” Colgate nodded, sniffling as she wiped her nose with a hoof. She stood back up and readied herself bleakly emotionless.

With a smooth swish, the rock flew back into the air and Colgate closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look at it. It would just mess her up again if she was too conscious of what she was doing. It was quiet. She focused on one action, bringing the rock down and let her magic flow toward it. Imagine your magic, she reiterated from the first part of Luna’s advice. Maybe that was the only part she needed. There was a snap like the cracking of whip and the sound like ropes straining against a pulling force. This lasted for only a second and Colgate heard the rock plummet and smash into the ground like a meteor rather than just a stone.

“Whoa!” She heard Ruya say, unable to see how her eyes lit up at the sight. “That was cool!” Colgate opened her eyes. On both sides of her were strands of three strips of white material that had appeared from behind her and wrapped themselves around the stone in the air like a lasso and drug it back down.

“A solid projection spell…” Sombra muttered.

“What is this stuff?” Ruya asked, playfully fluffing it around now that it had slack to it. The strands fluttered to the ground like paper at Colgate’s sides seemingly loosing whatever was holding them on her end. She picked up one of the sets of three with a hoof feeling the strangely smooth material. It was familiar and the smell sent waves of nostalgia through her. It was a nice scent and one she hadn’t realized she missed so much until now. I was a clean smell, the same stuff she had at home.

“It…” Colgate couldn’t believe it. “It’s floss.”

“Floss smells funny,” Ruya said. Suddenly all of it broke into little pieces and evaporated into the air like it had been made of nothing more than bubbles. It was a shame, Colgate thought, she could have used some of that to clean her direly in need teeth.

“What…” Colgate said as she tried to catch a few of the fizzling fragments before they vanished. “What happened to it?”

“That’s projection,” Sombra explained.

“What’s that?”

“A form of magic that can temporarily create matter from the mind of the user.” Sombra eyed her curiously. “You confuse me…”

“I do?” Colgate glanced to Ruya who was poking at the ground in disappointment now that her funny new toy was gone.

“I asked you stop a rock, which should just be a matter of object manipulation, but you go and do something far more complicated.”

“Is uh…Is that bad?”

“Depends on the unicorn I suppose…” He stopped, thinking for a moment. “Let’s try that again.”

“O-Okay.”

“This time, I want you to try to hit me.” Silence. Colgate didn’t have anything to say to this and Ruya must have not been paying attention. Colgate glanced around, but no matter how many times she looked back to Sombra he remained entirely serious about what he had just said.

“You…want me to what?” Maybe she hadn’t heard him right.

“When I throw the rock up this time,” He explained. “I want you to try using it as a weapon.”

“Against…you?” Sombra nodded with a smirk. It was plain that he enjoyed competition, but Colgate wasn’t entirely keen on the idea. Up until this point, she had been using her magic mostly for utility purposes so she could learn what she needed to. Now, Sombra was asking her to use her magic for combat. It wasn’t just that aspect that made her uncomfortable, but that she was against a unicorn like Sombra. She hadn’t seen much of his magic yet, but he apparently been quite good at dueling. Colgate wasn’t afraid of hurting Sombra, but rather that in trying to do so, he might hurt her in his defense. She swallowed nervously, wishing Sombra had been the one able to make the journey for the elements so she might have Celestia to stay behind and teach her.

Sombra raised the rock back from where Colgate had driven it into the ground, leaving another rut to join the others. Colgate readied herself for whatever was about to happen, wondering how in Equestria she was going to take a swing at Sombra. Then again, why did she have to do the same thing she did before? Wouldn’t he be expecting that? She thought for a moment. If he was going to make this challenging for her, she might as well return the favor. But how? The answer had to be time. It was the one thing she had on her side that Sombra didn’t. She had an idea and as Sombra tossed the rock up into the air, she went mostly on what she thought felt right.

She couldn’t over focus, but set her gaze on the rock not with the intention of stopping it, but slowing it down. She went until she felt her magic click, the technique Celestia told her to use when she was teaching her in the Everfree. The scene before she became color washed, the hue of everything dulling to a near gray, but leaving a hint of life left in it. All of it slowed to a crawl and this time Colgate watched as the strips of floss shot from tiny pockets in space behind her lassoing the rock like she had before. She imagined her movements must have appeared wickedly fast to any pony else, but to her, her actions were calculated and deliberate. She swung the rock not down, but brought it around, arching it to ground level and sending it barreling toward Sombra from the side like a mace. A splitting pain in her head, broke her spell, time resuming its normal flow just before the rock was about to meet Sombra’s side. As color lit up her vision, so did a bright flash as the rock shattered against something at Sombra’s side making a sound like breaking glass.

Colgate flopped down and looking up dizzily, saw the ground around Sombra hissing with heat, nothing but rubble left of the stone she had been using for practice. He looked angry, horrifyingly angry. She feared the worst. There was actually a scratch across his face near his nose, where a fragment of rock had managed to graze his skin. She had hit him. She had thought her idea had been silly and she had been okay with that because she was used to blundering with her spells, but as soon as she had tried something she thought was ridiculous, it had actually worked. Although, she had found, slowing time down was twice as hard as just stopping it. Maybe there was some sort of explanation for that, but she didn’t care to hear it, she was too busy fearing for her life.

“Whoa!” Ruya exclaimed. “That was fancy dentist pony.” She went to make her way over to Colgate, but Sombra motioned for her to stop.

“Stay there Ruya,” He yelled to her. Colgate sunk as close to the ground as she would go. Sombra approached her with a gaze that looked like he meant to kill her. His pupils had shrunk from the light blast and it seemed like they had done so to focus his gaze so it would cut through her to save him some trouble. As he stopped on front of her Colgate slinked back awkwardly, not bothering to stand.

“I-I…um…eheh…mmmmmmm.” Colgate squirmed uncomfortably as Sombra stared down at her. Then, a tiny smile broke his composure.

“Ahahahaha!” He burst into a hearty laughter. Colgate’s tension loosened wondering if Sombra had lost his mind because of the impact. “You-” He stumbled with his speech through his laughs. “You looked like you thought…That…That I was going to kill you.” I didn’t know you weren’t, Colgate thought. She had thought she had somehow managed to get on the bad side of one of the more powerful unicorns she had met because she had finally succeeded. Sombra gave her the impression that if she had he might have actually been serious. But this was unfair.

“Stop being creepy uncle!” Ruya stomped a hoof. For once, Colgate knew where she was coming from. She walked her way over to Colgate with short angry steps and stood next to her, giving Sombra her pouting child face.

“Oh?” He looked at her “You’re siding with her now? I thought you liked it when I scared my opponents.”

“Not dentist pony,” Ruya reprimanded. “She’s innocent.” Innocent of what Colgate wasn’t sure, but it was better to have Ruya on her side.

“Well…” Sombra calmed down. “In any case, that was quite the spell. What did you do?” Colgate stood up, trying to process the fact that a knowledgeable mage was asking her, an amateur mage how she had performed a spell.

“I…well,” Colgate brushed a hoof against the back of her head. “I thought I would try slowing time down. You know, mix it up?”

“Ah,” He mused. “That explains how you did that so quickly.”

“It hurt…” She recalled the feeling. It hadn’t been the oppressive headache or gradual exhaustion when she had stopped time, but a splitting pain that had rendered her unable to continue the spell. Maybe she should have been taking notes. It seemed like an awful lot for her to remember.

“I’d imagine. Can you continue?”

“I’m good now,“ She paused “…Wait…how did you block that?” Sombra turned away to go back to where he had been, leaving her question unanswered. “Hey!” He turned back to her with a smile.

“I wouldn’t be a very good magician if I told you now would I?” Colgate’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t be serious. Even after she had told him exactly what she had tried?

“You-…” Colgate stopped, letting out a grumble. She heard Ruya giggle. “Whose side are you on?”

“Heh,” Ruya smirked. “Dentist pony has a lot to learn about magic and mages.”

“Perhaps you’d like another duel?” Sombra suggested with his eerie version of eagerness. Colgate turned to him, for once actually willing to test her magic.

“Yeah maybe,” Colgate said almost tauntingly.

“That’s the spirit,” Sombra’s horn lit up. “A safe distance Ruya. I don’t know what might happen.”

“Oh. Okay.” She trotted away seeming upset about something. It was odd. This was only the second time Colgate had seen Ruya be anything remotely down trod since she had met her. The only other time had been when she had frozen time and had refused Ruya’s offer when she wanted to show Colgate “the lights.” Nevertheless, Colgate wanted to do this. It was certainly helping her magic and anything that did that would help her get home even if it might hurt. Colgate prepared herself for whatever she had just gotten herself into. Her horn glowed and she probably focused a little too hard.

Little Foal Blue

Chapter 9: Little Foal Blue

Time and Space Await…

-Remember all of the lights? Never have the stars of night looked so dim nor have they failed to dazzle me so as in the face of these. I loved all of those lights…and they loved me back.

In hindsight, it had been a terrible idea to accept Sombra’s challenge for even a mock-duel. Colgate had accepted a real one and even though through her reeling headache Ruya assured her Sombra had used some of his more flashy, less potent spells, she knew he had gone easy on her. Her own effort didn’t help. She was fairly certain her over zealous desire to put up even half a fight against a mage like Sombra played at least a little part getting her into the half conscious stupor she stumbled out of the arena in. Her vision whirled into triples when Sombra finally called it quits. Maybe it was good for her, for Sombra to push her limits, letting her try whatever occurred to her crazy mind that was desperate for some kind of concrete foothold on her magic. Projection might not have been the best place to start. At one point, Colgate had covered Sombra in so much floss that it swallowed him in a blanket of white along with half the arena. It was one of her more desperate moves and Sombra had evaporated all of it with a spell that fizzled it away like soda bubbles. He hadn’t burned it; that was what she had thought at first. Rather, it seemed like he had used some kind of spell that had reversed her own. She had felt her own power shoot back at her; Sombra manipulating the lingering energy with an accurate precision.

Other than that, all of his spells had only been a blur of red lights and flying rubble. What a flop. Ruya did her best to play nurse placing a wet cloth on Colgate’s head as she lay on her back on a sofa that was in a room adjacent from what Colgate was fairly sure had been Sombra’s study. It didn’t matter. She faded in and out for a while, vaguely remembering Ruya asking if she wanted any soup. Whether or not she said yes, she had no idea. She was so drained that she slept hard enough that something could have exploded in the room and she would have only been mildly stirred.

When she woke up, the room was silent. She sat up, horrible cricks in some of her joints. Maybe she had slept wrong. She stretched out on the couch her neck cracking as she tilted it to each side. The popping must have sounded awful, but to her it was a welcome feeling relieving her bones of the stress. A cloth fell from her forehead as she rolled off of the sofa. She caught it with a hoof before it met the stone floor, eyeing it. It was dry she realized, a brown rag crusted into a U shape from air drying on her head. How long had she been asleep? She set the rag down on a short little table that was in front of her. The room was small, a quaint one, small chimney with a fireplace on the wall opposite her, its coals a mere smolder an empty kettle hanging over them. There was a wooden door to the right of the sofa, just behind her, closed. There was a single window in the room a foggy arch of glass built into the stone work and supported with wooden bars crossing through its surface. It was small, but enough to see out of and at eye level. Colgate walked over to it to take a look outside.

It was always difficult to tell when she slept, just how long she had slept for and looking outside never really helped. Discord didn’t care about a concept like time, he just switched things from day to night or both as he felt like it. The gleaming pinkish light outside didn’t really tell her anything. She turned around, perhaps to go look for someone, only to be met with a sight she didn’t want to see. Was it bad that it didn’t shock her like it should have? That she was used to it? Discord was now lounging on the couch that she had been sleeping on picking at his teeth, a habit Colgate was glad ponies couldn’t develop. She glared at him wordlessly, still holding a slight grudge for when he had made her look stupid in front of everypony. But now, Colgate realized, she was alone. There was no one that was going to judge her for talking to something that apparently either wasn’t there or that only she could see.

“You…” Colgate half whispered still slightly self-conscious. “Why do you keep showing up?” Discord flicked something away with a disinterested look.

“Why must you always be so sour?” He asked. Colgate took a step towards him.

“Tell me,” She demanded. “Why is it that the others can’t see you? Why am I the only one?” Discord rose into the air with a sly look, his face brightening with satisfaction.

“Where’s the fun in telling you? Wouldn’t it be more fulfilling if you figured it out on your own?”

“No.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. But you’re a smart pony right? You can work it out.” Colgate grumbled at which Discord threw up his hands and lowered himself as if he were suddenly threatened. “Oh my. Perhaps I should go. I wouldn’t want you to hurt me.” Colgate scowled. On a mere whim, she dashed forward at him and hopping up onto the table in the room attempted to shove him with her hoof. It went straight into him like he were only half there, only a ghost through which anything physical phased through. Discord looked down at her hoof passing through his body in surprise.

“Oh dear,” He hunched over in an over dramatic manner. “It appears you’ve gotten me. Impossible! I was…going to rule…forever.” He flopped to the foot of the table like a dead snake faking his death by letting his tongue hang to the floor. Colgate lowered her hoof and frowned, knowing he was only making fun of her. But she had done this to test something. If she had simply gone straight through him, how could she even be sure he was actually there? It would explain why the others couldn’t see him. Discord abruptly vanished and reappeared behind her with a pop like a firework specifically designed to be loud. Colgate jumped. One of her hooves missing the edge of the table caused her to lose her balance and she tumbled off of it, getting stuck between it and the couch in an awkward U shape as she hit her head against it.

“Ahahahaha!” Colgate winced as Discord let out a bout of laughter apparently proud of what he had done. “You took that well.” Colgate wriggled her way back to a standing position rubbing the back of her head after she had regained her balance.

“Why are you here?” She reiterated angrily.

“You sure are difficult to make friends with,” Discord smirked.

“Only when it’s you.” Why was Discord talking about being friends in the first place anyway, Colgate thought? Shouldn’t he be bragging about wreaking havoc, or was that Screwball’s job?

“Oh and here I was hoping I could get a little inside help.” Colgate narrowed her eyes at him. Why would he even ask?

“Not a chance,” She said.

“Well,” He shrugged. “Perhaps I should ask your other friends.” Maybe he didn’t know everything. Colgate doubted he could even get to Luna or Celestia. Even if he could get here, he could never get to where everypony other than the alicorns had been unable to enter and unlike her, Sombra would know what to do if Discord got anywhere near him.

“They’d never listen to you,” Colgate told him.

“Who was that one?” He ignored her. “That crystal pony. Maybe she would be a little friendlier than you.”

“You leave her alone,” Colgate nearly hissed.

“Oo!” Discord clapped. “I found a button.”

“Shut up!” A light flashed from Colgate’s horn, a bolt of blue zipping across the room aimed for Discord. The only thing it found was the rock of the wall behind him. After the flash Discord was gone and Colgate was left alone again. She glanced around, still on edge, but Discord didn’t come back, even as she held her ground for several minutes. She turned her head to the door. She couldn’t wait here forever, not after what Discord had said.

“Sombra!” She called. He was the only other one here that she knew would know what to do. She pushed open the door and was met with the sight of Sombra’s study. She recalled vaguely being led past it and it turned out her blurry memory had actually been right. “Sombra!” She didn’t know why she yelled again, he clearly wasn’t in the room. Perhaps it was only her apprehension. She walked around a bit hopping maybe there was a spot in the room she couldn’t see that he would just pop out of. There wasn’t and Colgate found herself awkwardly standing next to Sombra’s desk wondering where to go next. If he wasn’t in his study, where would he be? Colgate looked at the papers strewn about one front and center catching her eye. It wasn’t as dusty as the others and the writing at the bottom looked like it had been made recently. The once empty inkwell was filled and a quill sat next to it. Wherever Sombra was, he had certainly been here at one point.

Colgate eyed the wording at the top of the page in front of her. The text was elegant, certainly better than anything she could have done. A sort of headline read: End notes on the noble phantasm of Discord. Colgate recognized the term. Sombra had explained it to her briefly before. These were notes on Discord’s magic, Colgate realized, at least some of them…the end ones. She shook her head, but was unable to pry her eyes from the page out of curiosity. The next line read: The Grand Kaleidoscope. Was that its name? That was elaborate. She read on.

This particular magic is different than anything we’ve seen before and there‘s nothing to really compare it to. It’s method seems to be distortion. At it’s core, Discord’s noble phantasm is a magic that manipulates reality, modifying, eliminating, and replacing common and physical laws with its own indistinct properties. Essentially it scrambles everything. I have yet to develop any kind of counter spell. Nothing in the crystal empire seems to hold any merit, seeing as the crystal heart is ineffective against it. There is obviously something here in the Everfree that is acting as a deterrent against it, but the aura of magic here is so intrinsically complex that any of my attempt to emulate it have proved useless. I have pinpointed its source within Canterlot, and after digging to a cavern that is the source, no one was able to enter it. I pray that if Luna and Celestia do not return, I can find a solution to this. Ponies are losing hope.

This was an old note. Luna and Celestia were back, and were going to find whatever the note was talking about. But who had written this? It was written to somepony, seemingly Sombra seeing as he had it, but who sent it? There wasn’t a name and the new ink past the space on the paper was only two words, one of which Colgate could barely read. Not because it was bad handwriting, but the word itself was one she had never seen before.

Antikythera Mechanism.

Colgate squinted at the page, trying to sound out the word probably looking like an idiot as she did so. Suddenly she head a door open and jumped away from the page, tripping over her own hooves as she did so. She flopped to floor as someone entered, closing the door behind themselves as she scrambled to her feet.

“Minuette?” It was Sombra. “What are you doing?”

“I uh-” She glanced around. “Nothing.”

“I see you’re awake. You slept for quite a while.”

“How long exactly?” Colgate shifted nervously. She had gotten so wrapped up in the note that she had forgotten what she had meant to do.

“I’ve been in and out of here, but you’ve been out for almost half the day.” That wasn’t what she wanted to hear; it was far too much wasted time.

“Have Luna and Celestia come back?” Sombra’s looked a bit worried for a moment.

“Oddly enough, no. I don’t know what’s down there, but I’m sure they’ll be back soon… I hope.” He tagged the last part on after a pause. She couldn’t worry about this though, she thought. There was nothing she could do for Luna or Celestia that they couldn’t do themselves.

“Where’s Ruya?” Colgate finally asked.

“She was waiting near the entrance to the cave,” Sombra replied. “She was sad that you didn’t eat her soup.”

“I barely remember that,” Colgate put a hoof to her head the memory a bit hazy.

“I didn’t expect you to exert yourself as much as you did. It was a good effort, but you shouldn’t do things like that. That’s why I had you stop. You would have gone until you blacked out.”

“Sorry.”

“I know you rested for quite some time, but I won’t subject you to anything just yet. You should go outside and get some air.”

“Right,” It was all Colgate needed. If Sombra had tried to wrap her up in another lesson, she didn’t know what she would have done. She had to find Ruya and so Colgate took Sombra’s suggestion without resistance.

“I’ll be around if you need anything,” He said as she opened the door. She nodded and stepped outside, closing the door as she went. Now, she thought, where was-

“Hi!”

“Agh!” Colgate jumped, nearly tripping again. She had no idea why she was so jumpy, but Ruya really had popped out of nowhere. She had apparently been waiting right outside the door and had sprung a greeting on Colgate as soon as the door had shut behind her. Ruya giggled at her surprise as Colgate breathed a sigh of relief after seeing it was only her.

“It’s only me dentist pony,” Ruya said.

“I,” Colgate breathed. “I see that.”

“You were out for a long time sleepy nose,” Ruya puffed her cheeks.

“Yeah…”

“And you didn’t even eat any of the stuff I made…” Ruya looked away with an upset face.

“Uh,” Colgate panicked. “No it’s not- I was-”

She grinned looking back up at her. “Apple?” Ruya held up a ripe red fruit with a hoof. How could she say no? It was the least she could do after not eating what the filly seemed to have made almost only for her.

“Thanks,” Colgate said as she took the apple, taking a bite out of it.

“It’s okay. It was almost like you were drunk.” Ruya laughed.

“What?” Colgate managed through a mouthful of fruit.

“Oo!” Ruya’s eyes lit up. “There’s something else too! This way.” Suddenly Ruya skipped off down the stone street and Colgate was left to try to follow her.

“Hey wait!” She called after her as she did her best to scarf down the apple so she could run better. She didn’t want to lose sight of Ruya now that she had found her. What Discord had said made her uncomfortable and she knew that for whatever reason she could see him. If he tried anything with Ruya, she had to make sure she was there for it. Sombra would probably be better for this, Colgate thought, but there was no guarantee he would believe her if she told him. They hadn’t believed her the last time, so it was up to her to keep Discord away from Ruya as long as Celestia and Luna were gone. She hoped it wasn’t long. There was no way she could consistently match the sporadic energy of a child, especially one like Ruya nor the power of someone like Discord.

The little filly seemed determined to drag her all over Canterlot in a running tour of every single street and stone archway that could be traversed. She wasn’t being led in a circle, that much she could tell, but it took a bit of chasing for Ruya to finally come to a halt with Colgate panting as she caught up wondering why Ruya had to bring her here. It was a rather lonely section of the castle and it didn’t look like it had seen much use in awhile. It must have been in the opposite side from Sombra’s study as another corner in the walls surrounding the place stood a single lonely tower, tall and resolute among the bleakness around it. It was untouched by plant life unlike many of the other structures and it showed no signs of any weakness compared to the stone arches that had led to it, some of which had fallen into piles of rubble. Many of the stones were piled to the side against a wall forming a large mound of jagged rocks that led halfway up it.

“Do you know what this is?” Ruya asked, seemingly to test Colgate’s knowledge.

“How would I?” She replied. It was true that she was from the future, but this place was entirely foreign to her. She had never seen it in her time, but of course she didn’t have many reasons to go walking around in the Everfree either.

“This is the tower,” Ruya said. “This is where Luna and Celestia grew up. Where the sun and moon were born.” This last part took Colgate a little off guard, but the strangeness of Ruya knowing things she wasn’t supposed to was starting to wear off. For a moment though, Colgate wondered just what their childhood had been like. Who were their parents, what did they do for fun, how did they become alicorns or were they always that way? The Celestia and Luna she had met in this time, still seemed a little bit like kids, yet the state of this place suggested it was much older than even they were.

“Hey,” Ruya interrupted her. “Over here.” Ruya hopped her way behind the side of one of the stone archways and stuck her head out on the other side. Colgate walked over to her, finding herself sucked into a strange game of peekaboo as every time Colgate tried to look to Ruya’s side of the structure she would move to the other. When their faces finally met as Colgate managed to flip flop sides Ruya gave her a smile while she frowned.

“What do you wanna play?” She asked. Colgate raised an eyebrow, confused. Play? She brought her all the way over here to play?

“Um…” Colgate thought for a moment. “ What are my-” Before she could finish Ruya trotted up to her and gave her a light shove and then proceeded to scamper away from her.

“Tag!” She exclaimed. “You’re it.” Colgate realized what was happening and part of her didn’t want to do it. It seemed tedious, but maybe she was just being picky. Ruya was genuinely trying to have fun with her, maybe it was best to just play along. Perhaps she would have fun too.

“Oh… I dunno,” Colgate hesitated, rolling her eyes and suppressing a smile. Ruya lowered her ears.

“But…” She walked back up to Colgate with a sad face. “Why not?” As she stopped in front of her Colgate quickly tapped her side with her hoof.

“Got you,” Colgate boasted with a smirk. Ruya looked baffled for a moment and as she realized what Colgate had done, her face turned red and she stomped in place indignantly.

“Hey! No fair you trickster!” She complained. “Myeh!” Ruya tilted back onto two hooves with a grunt that was closer to a squeak and kicked playfully at Colgate, brushing her side. She proceeded to dash away again, this time turning and sticking out her tongue. “Now I’ll have to make it extra hard for you to catch me.”

“Try me,” Colgate said challengingly with a grin lowering herself like a lion about to pounce on its prey.

“Ack!” The filly dashed behind another pillar as Colgate leapt into a gallop after her. She was surprisingly agile Colgate found despite her size or perhaps as a result of it. All of the ruins around them didn’t really help her either and Ruya stopped to giggle every time Colgate almost tripped or did trip on a rock and fall on her face. She kept chasing her though around in circles even though she was sure she would never catch her. Ruya seemed to enjoy it though, trying to trick her at every corner, succeeding a couple times, randomly running right past Colgate as she switched directions behind a wall. Eventually she found her way around to the large pile of spare stones by the outside wall and using her small state to her advantage, hopped up them like stepping stones until she stood at the top, triumphantly looking down at Colgate with the sun reflecting off her crystal pelt. Colgate put a hoof to the foot of the pile, tentatively trying to get a good balance on it before she committed to working her way up it. To her, it seem terribly unstable yet Ruya had climbed it like it was all sealed and built firmly together like the rest of the castle. It made her nervous. Colgate knew well enough that kids could sometimes be completely oblivious to danger when they played.

“Er…I don’t know about this Ruya,” She called up to her. “Maybe you should come down. I don’t like the look of this.”

“Nonsense,” Ruya stuck her tongue out again to taunt her. “Ruya is fine, we won’t fall for that again. Besides the game has changed now.”

“Changed?”

“Yes,” Ruya nodded proudly as she prepared to reveal her idea. “Now I’m the dreaded pony Screwface and I’m here to take over Canterlot with my evilness! Who will stop me?” Colgate couldn’t help but laugh at this. She sounded like she was talking about some kind of pirate and her childish language made it seem ridiculous.

“I will!” Colgate shouted back up to her.

“Aha, its that little blue foal! You can’t stop me like you did before!”

“I don’t have to! You’ll never have Canterlot!”

“You think this will be easy!?” Ruya shook a hoof in the air as villainously as a crystal pony filly probably could. She proceeded to kick a few pebbles from the top of the mound down at Colgate. She hopped out of the way looking back up at Ruya with her best heroic face.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” Colgate said. She set her hooves to the pile of rocks and felt them abruptly shift as she did so. Just her luck. The pile loosed and Ruya looked to her hooves as it lowered a few inches.

“Uh-oh…” She took a step. Colgate swiftly slid out of the way as the whole pile surged forward in a rockslide carrying Ruya with across the barren street. Colgate’s expression turned to a horrified one as she watched it swallow her up as it collapsed to a flatter state across the ground stirring up columns of dust and loose dirt. She closed her eyes as it blew past her sending her into a fit of coughing as they rest of the rocks quickly found a new place to settle.

It was quiet after that, the only remaining sound a few pebbles clinking in the aftermath and Colgate’s hacking from all of the dust. She opened her eyes to a cloud of it, fluffing back her mane to try to keep all of it out. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she didn’t hear or see Ruya. She stepped up onto the rocks and there was no sign of her. Colgate knew this hadn’t been safe, why had she let her go through with it? She had only been trying to have fun though.

“Ruya!” Colgate called. She looked around in the rocks frantically, throwing some from the pile to try to dig the filly out, but she was nowhere to be found. What if she was buried under all of them? What would she tell Sombra? Colgate turned in a circle, looking in all directions for the pony like a lost dog trying to find its owner. Suddenly she heard the rocks shift again and she was yanked backwards by her tail.

“Haha!” Came a shout. “I’m not done yet!”

“Gah!” Colgate nearly yelped as a rock did the courtesy of stabbing her in the flank as she was pulled back. She jumped and turned around and found Ruya covered in dust only visible against her black mane but indistinguishable on her gray fur. Recovering from her pain, Colgate pretended to karate chop Ruya’s forehead.

“Hiya!” She exclaimed.

“Nooo!” Ruya pretended to faint. “Beaten by the blue pony again!” She collapsed in a giggle against the rocks, which made Colgate cringe a little but Ruya didn’t seem to express any pain. Colgate laughed along with her, perhaps a bit out of nervousness from what had just happened.

“Sheesh,” She let out a sigh. “You scared me half to death there kid.”

“I scared me half to death,” She smiled excitedly. “All the rocks just started moving and they tried to eat me, but I didn’t let em!”

“You’re one little trooper,” Colgate returned her smile, brushing the filly’s mane mostly to get the dust out even as Ruya seemed especially tickled by the gesture.

“Hehe,” she pushed her head into it like a cat. She gave a “Oo!” a sound Colgate learned to fear in a way as it meant the mare was getting another crazy idea. “Let’s play again!”

“How about without the rocks,” Colgate suggested.

“Of course silly,” Ruya laughed at her. “You can’t make them fall twice. It would take forever to put them all back.” Colgate frowned inwardly, but kept a bright face. It wasn’t that it would take forever, but that it was dangerous. Yet, whatever Ruya’s motivations were for not falling into an avalanche again were okay with her.

“This time you be the villain,” Ruya proposed. “You should pick a cool name. Oo! You know like Frostmane. You know cause your mane looks like minty paste.” That was actually kind of clever, Colgate admitted, but she shied away from the idea. How was she supposed to top Ruya’s performance? It wouldn’t be as good with her the second time around.

“I don’t know…” Colgate brushed her mane with a hoof looking away from Ruya.

“Yes,” Ruya said, happy with her idea. “Now stand there and give me your best bad guy act.” Ruya hopped off the rocks and stood a few feet away in anticipation of Colgate’s challenge in her new villain role. She couldn’t think of any one liners to start out though. She had managed the hero part because she was only reacting to Ruya’s absurdity. She couldn’t act that weird. It was…weird.

“Ohhhh,” Ruya gave a puppy eyed look. “C’mon. Not even a scary face?”

“I can’t be a bad guy…” Colgate replied. Her introversion wouldn’t let her do it. She just didn’t know how to act the part.

“Please?” It was nearly impossible to say no to the look Ruya was giving her, but even more impossible for her to think of anything on the spot. She had been doing so well before and now her mind was at a loss for an idea.

“I…” Colgate paused. “I don’t…mmmm…” She tried her hardest but nothing came to mind.

“Oh alright,” Ruya huffed. “But how can you be a good hero if you don’t know how to be a villain?”

“Uhhh…” Colgate was at a loss for an answer. Sometimes, she thought, she swore Ruya didn’t realize what she was saying. There was a certain amount of depth to what the filly had just said, but it was far too much for someone like her to delve into. Maybe if Sombra had heard it, he might offer his critique on the sentence, but she had none. Of course you could still be a hero if you weren’t a villain, Colgate told herself. Maybe she was misunderstanding the phrase.

“That’s okay,” Ruya said. “Let’s go up there!” Ruya pointed to the tower that she had said Celestia and Luna had grown up in.

“Are…are you sure we should…” Colgate hesitated at the idea. To her the area seemed sacred in light of what it was, but Ruya didn’t seem to mind and Colgate’s curiosity got the better of her.

“Don’t worry,” Ruya beamed. “It’s got the best view ever.” Ruya wrapped her two front hooves around one of Colgate’s and tugged at her.

“Alright alright,” Colgate agreed.

“Yay,” Ruya trotted up to the door and eagerly waited for Colgate her tail almost wagging as Colgate caught up with her. She opened the door and let Colgate in first, skipping ahead of her once they were inside. The tower was one huge spiral staircase on the inside leading up farther than Colgate could tell from the bottom. There was too much gray to tell all the stone apart from all the stone. They proceeded upwards through a staircase perhaps only wide enough for two ponies of her size to fit side by side. The stairs periodically leveled off and came to doors that led into the center before they continued their upward ascent.

“What’s in these rooms?” Colgate asked as they seemed to skip by everyone they passed.

“They’re not important,” Ruya said. “We’re going to the top.” She should have known. Ruya had said something about a great view which would obviously mean the top floor. Still, Colgate was curious. Luna and Celestia had lived here and she could only wonder what the rooms guarded by the plain wooden doors had been for as she passed each one. Which room did they used to play in, eat in, take baths in? Thinking about it brought back memories of her own childhood. She remembered her own mother and Berry Punch’s making them take baths together before. She remembered Berry Punch had always hated it because she liked to put her head half under the water and blow bubbles only for Colgate to reward her with a splash in the face. But this was only another reminder that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be. In way, she felt like an intruder peeping in on someone’s memories; a spy only in it for the nostalgia, not because the place meant anything to her. What could she do though? Ruya was determined to take her to the very top of the place and Colgate didn’t want her to go by herself. Discord’s threat still loomed in the back of her mind.

The stairs finally came to an end, opening up into a large circular room as they reached the top of the tower. It was a lonely looking room, bare, nothing but a bed and a nightstand with a couple drawers. Somepony had called this home before, but it didn’t seem like it anymore. There was a singular and small window letting in what light it could and Ruya scampered over to it enthusiastically pointing with hoof at whatever she wanted Colgate to see.

“Lookie look it!” She smiled.

Colgate walked up to the window and peered out. She took a step back instinctly her breath nearly taken away. Even if this tower had been this dingy when Celestia and Luna had lived in it, the view made up for anything that the room lacked. It overlooked a huge expanse of the Everfree, gazing across a gorge with mists rising from its depths bouncing the pink light around through droplets of water. The trees arched over and across it leading off into the mountains in the hazy distance. They must have been so far away, Colgate thought. To think she might actually be seeing all the way to artic north from here, in a lonely tower in the Everfree. The crystal empire was out there somewhere too and maybe even the spot Ponyville was supposed to be. It was quiet, the wind a low soothing presence, Discord’s chaos irrelevant to this little window. Even as storms, blizzards, and any myriad of catastrophes involving anything from the checkerboard ground to the chocolate rain raged around it, this forest was still peaceful; a final beacon of order in a world broken by anarchy. The slight breeze brushed Colgate’s mane and she stood speechless. Even the scent of the air was different from up here. It was the aroma of grass just after a rainfall mixed with the smell of dusty stone, a scent oozing with so much of nature that it made it seem like the castle had only grown out of the forest on its own. It touched her tongue as she breathed the air in tasting brisk and plantlike like filtered spring water.

She realized why Ruya had wanted her to see this. It was so unbelievably unique that Colgate could have convinced herself she had once again gone back in time, back before Discord when nature was just nature. If Ruya hadn’t been there, she might have stared out the window for hours and still not have been able to take all of it in. A rummaging sound broke Colgate from her reverie and peeling her eyes from the view of practically all of Equestria in one window frame, found Ruya standing next to her, looking up with eyes glowing in the light, holding a glittering gold object in her mouth. It was a necklace, Colgate realized, a necklace just like the one’s Twilight’s friends had been wearing when they had fought Discord. The only difference was that it was missing the gem that had been in the middle of all of them. It was just a plain gold necklace. Ruya was holding it up, giving it a light shake as if presenting it to her. Colgate’s eyes switched from it to Ruya several times, uncertain.

“mmmtmmtmm,” Ruya managed through a mouthful of the jewelry.

“What?” Colgate glanced to the side, unsure of what Ruya wanted her to do.

“Mmmtmmtmm!” She repeated more forcefully, shaking the object at her.

“For…me?” Colgate hesitated.

“Mmhm!” Ruya nodded with vigor. Colgate slowly raised a hoof taking the object with a measure of caution that probably wasn’t necessary.

“Blech,” Ruya clicked her tongue a couple times after Colgate took the object out of her mouth. She found herself wondering what gold even tasted like, but decided it was better not to know at the moment. “I made it myself,” Ruya beamed.

“Really?” Colgate asked as she held the object. It was quite shiny even a little more where a bit of Ruya’s slobber had managed to linger. It seemed a bit gross, yet strangely affectionate seeing as she hadn’t meant to do it.

“Well,” Ruya crossed her hooves bashfully. “Celestia maybe might have helped…a little.” Colgate smiled at her. “Okay a lot,” she admitted. “Put it on! Put it on!” The filly trotted in place eagerly waiting for Colgate to enjoy her gift.

“I…” She was slightly reluctant to take it. She had no idea what she had done to deserve any gift.

“Oh! Right.” Without any prompting Ruya skipped around her and jumped up on her back, bringing her hooves around either side of Colgate’s neck and taking the necklace and strapping it around and attaching it with a click. “There.” She hopped down and walked back around in front of Colgate examining her handiwork with satisfaction. Colgate looked down at it, unsure what to think or really what to do.

“It looks pretty on you,” Ruya smiled. “It even matches.”

Well…” Colgate shifted. “Gold goes with everything…”

“So? Now we’re best pals!” Ruya skipped forward and gave Colgate an enveloping and snug embrace.

“I uh… er… heh…umm…” Colgate awkwardly returned the hug with half of one with one of her hooves. Ruya held her there for several moments, then stepping back with a kind of snarky expression on her face.

“You can do better than that.” Colgate only managed a nervous laugh with Ruya looking at her apparently having expected a better return hug. She was to her relief though, quickly spared the awkward the moment as the sky suddenly shifted shaded as the sun abruptly fell straight out of sight like Discord had gotten tired of it for the moment. Ruya’s gaze shifted to the window as the sky faded from its fuchsia to a glittered dark blue full of stars.

“Oh wow!” Ruya exclaimed as she propped herself up onto the base of the window with her two front hooves. Colgate looked out on the scene from behind the filly, the stars scattered like pebbles in no particular pattern and moving sometimes with little regard for continuity. It was like watching a chaotic meteor shower that fell in both directions none of the falling matter ever burning away despite it constantly appearing as though it were on fire cutting through the atmosphere.

“You know,” Ruya said staring up at the firework like display. “All of us, we’re a lot like stars…”

“What?” Colgate wasn’t surprised to hear her break the silence, but found her speaking in riddles again, a habit that seemed almost dangerous for her.

“Everypony glows so brightly at their best and as hard as all of us are to miss, nopony will ever see all there is or be able to finish counting. And you know…even after we’re gone, our light still shines for a long time, our memory preserved for future generations to learn from and love. Isn’t that something? Doesn’t it make you less afraid?”

“Ruya?” Colgate gave the mare an unsure expression as she continued looking on. It was one of her strange and unpredictable fits of reverie and Colgate had no idea what triggered them. Maybe it was her magic, maybe Discord’s, maybe something else. Ruya didn’t respond to her at first. Her gaze was stuck hypnotically on the lights spinning around above her, thei subtle changes reflecting off her silvery crystal pelt like a polygonal mirror.

“Ruya?” Colgate repeated tapping her on the side. Ruya turned to her and tilted her head as if she hadn’t said anything at all.

“Oh,” She said. “We should head back.” She brought her hooves down from the window and turned past Colgate and went to leave down a darkened stone stairway.

“Wait…” Colgate said after her. She meant to tell her to stop at first not wanting her to travel down the passage alone, but found herself asking something she hadn’t expected. As Ruya’s eyes met hers when she turned a sense of guilt seemed to sneak up on her.

“Are…” Colgate started. “Are you sure you want me to have this?” She tapped the jewelry at her neck.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Ruya asked.

“It’s just. I don’t feel like I deserve it. I never did anything for you.” Ruya smiled back at her from the shadows.

“That’s not how that works silly.”

“Then…why?”

“It means we’re friends. Pals right? That’s why. Besides, you’ve done plenty.”

“I-” Colgate stopped. “Don’t go down alone. I’ll try a light spell.” She let the conversation go.

“Good idea,” Ruya agreed. “Practice for you too. Always practice.” Colgate followed behind Ruya and they made their way down the tower in silence. It was like something had suddenly stilled the vibrant air that had been around them. Ruya had turned the mood with only a single sentence, somehow managing to be playful and somber at the same time. But it was good, Colgate supposed. She had done what she had meant to. Discord still hadn’t shown his face and she hoped it would stay that way. Interestingly enough, by the time they reached the bottom of the tower, Ruya was nodding her head, her eyes droopy with sleep. Much longer and Colgate thought the crystal pony would simply fall asleep standing up. Perhaps she had just run out energy. She was still, even despite how mysterious she could be, just a kid. It was a wonder she managed to find her way anywhere near Sombra’s study. Luckily, they met him halfway there as Ruya nearly tripped over her own hooves, shaking herself awake only for her head to sink back down.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Sombra greeted them.

“Uncle?” Ruya said half awake. Sombra gave a slight chuckle after seeing the state she was in, hardly able to stand straight without falling over.

“And where were you?”

“Me and dentist pony played games. She’s a funny pony. And I,” Ruya opened her mouth and let out a huge yawn hardly remembering where to come back in her sentence. “My present. I think she likes it.”

“I’m sure it was fine.” Sombra lifted Ruya toward him with his magic and moved to place her on his back. “You look like you’re about to-” Before he could even finish or put her down, she was already out. He placed her on his back with a chuckle. “Ha… that.”

“I guess she tired herself out,” Colgate said smiling softly at her.

“Don’t worry. It’s good for her.” Sombra paused, looking at Ruya and then switched back to Colgate. “It’s strange. Before she was talking about you like she had already known you before you got here for quite awhile. Like you were just old friends.” That was odd, but it was nothing Colgate was ever going to make sense of in Ruya.

“At any rate,” Sombra continued. “I do hope Luna and Celestia make it back soon. Ponies are already starting to talk about what might happen if they don’t. I don’t like such talk. All we can do is wait though I suppose. Perhaps in the meantime, you’d be up for another lesson? Something milder.”

“What’s mild?” Colgate asked, afraid of his perception of the term.

“I promise I won’t challenge you to a duel.”

“Good enough, I guess.” It was all she could really ask for. After that beating, anything less would seem mild, so he probably wasn’t lying.

“Let’s go to my study.” Colgate nodded and followed as Sombra turned, Ruya in tow. She slept soundly, even as they walked and the sun rocketed back into the sky like a apocalyptic meteor. It scared Colgate a bit, but mostly just hurt her eyes. She squinted and as her eyes adjusted, they caught the shimmer of the necklace Ruya had just given to her. An odd gesture, one Colgate didn’t get. It meant they were friends? Of course they were. Ruya didn’t have to give her a medal to tell her that. But what seemed to haunt her thoughts wasn’t that Ruya had given her the necklace, but that when Colgate had said that she didn’t deserve it, Ruya didn’t refute her. She hadn’t said that she knew so, but gave her the item in spite of that. She rather, gave it to her saying she had deserved it in some way and that she had done plenty. The door to Sombra’s study creaked open, the yellow glow of the magic lanterns lighting the room. Colgate walked in and watching Sombra walk into the room Colgate had slept in before wondered; just how she deserved this? What was it that she had done?

May We All be Smiling in the End

Chapter 11: May We All be Smiling in the End

Time and Space Await…

-One cannot make the choice never to be afraid. They can choose only to hide their fears or overcome them.

Rather than a full fledged duel or training with combat magic, Colgate’s lesson was on focus. Sombra had her levitating small crystals that he had given her and channeling magic through them, trying all the while to maintain a steady rate and not break the “conduit” as Sombra had told her. She hadn’t expected to be immediately adept at her energy control, but she broke more of them than she or Sombra might have liked. All the while Ruya slept quietly on the couch Colgate had been on before when she had overexerted herself. Sombra had been confused when Colgate insisted that she be in the same room as Ruya while she trained and raised his eyebrow enough times to make her uncomfortable, but when she persisted he didn’t see any harm in it. As much as Colgate didn’t want to disturb Ruya, she didn’t want Discord to either. While he hadn’t shown his face since he made his last threat, it still made her nervous. Perhaps it was the nervousness that had the small crystals popping in her face when her thoughts strayed too much. Sombra had left her relatively to herself after he had told her what she was supposed to do, but after an interval he came back and upon seeing how many she had broken in her attempts to control her magic he donned a subtle look of disapproval. Colgate didn’t think he meant for her to notice, but she could tell he wasn’t altogether thrilled. Yet he retracted the expression after a moment.

“Keep trying,” he said, and left her to it again. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she was able to channel her magic through each crystal as she had no way to gauge her attempts and there were times when she lost track of herself completely and was only jarred from her reverie by the light snap of the crystal she was levitating in front of her nose as it popped into multiple pieces. On her last attempt she had nearly fallen asleep and had jerked her neck up when she heard the gem clink to the stone floor. She shook her head and brushed her mane back wearily. It was quiet. Colgate looked to Ruya and let out a sigh. The filly’s breathing was the only sound in the room.

Colgate stood up and levitating the glass-like shard she had been working with off the floor, set it on the table with its counterparts. She moved around the table to the foot of the couch feeling a bit like a mother as she raised a hoof and brushed Ruya’s shimmery mane back. The filly shifted, subconsciously trying to burrow her way further into the cushions. Her black hair was surprisingly soft despite its gemlike appearance and her brown fur coat was slightly unkempt from the way she had been sleeping. Colgate gave another sigh, the necklace Ruya had given her catching her eye. She still felt slightly guilty for whatever reason even though Ruya’s gift had been entirely unprompted. There wasn’t anything Colgate could give her in return either. She looked up. Or was there? She took passing glances around the room until her eyes landed on the small group of tiny crystals sitting on the table. There were still several left and the remains of many that she had broken. She smiled at them a little as an idea made its way into her head. It didn’t have to be complex and Colgate was certain Sombra wouldn’t miss a few crystals, especially the broken ones. She moved back around the table and sat down before the pile of gems. Could she even do this, she thought? She had trouble enough doing normal magic. But Sombra had said that transformation magic was easier than projection so doing this shouldn’t be a problem after she had created volumes of dental floss out of thin air right? At least that was the excuse she gave herself to try.

She focused on a grouping of the crystals and brought them together. She closed her eyes and visualized what she wanted the end result to be. She felt her magic do its work and when she was confident she had succeeded she opened her eyes. She frowned. She had done nothing but make a jagged mesh of shiny rocks probably useful for nothing other than throwing at her enemies. The edges were sharp enough to make one’s head bleed and it might have made a good kaleidoscope but that wasn‘t what she had been shooting for. Colgate shook her head and tried again. Opening her eyes this time yielded the same result only a different shape. She tried again and again until her mental exhaustion from training for so long started to catch up with her. Still nothing. She banged her hooves on the table in frustration flinching back and immediately regretting it, holding her breath, remembering that Ruya was only a few feet away. The filly stirred, but only managed to roll away from Colgate onto her side facing away. Colgate set her hooves lightly down to the floor and released her pent up air in relief.

She went right back to it. Trying twice more and still failing. She lowered her head. The crystal had become stubborn silly putty and simply refused to do what she wanted it to. Was making even a simple gift for one of her few friends here beyond her capacity? Colgate’s head was heavy and her mouth was beginning to feel a little dry. She swallowed. Without looking at the lump of crystal she had made, her horn lit up and with a pop, she reduced it to a powder. She slumped her forehead to the table, exasperated. She took as deep a breath she could and let all of it out. Closing her eyes one last time she tried to remember what she had been doing for the last few hours. Her focus was clearer now and she heard the powder on the table merge back together into its crystalline state. She kept her initial image in her head all the while. As she finished, she opened her eyes and lifted her head slowly…Nothing…

It was the same as before. Just a useless lump of rock. She lifted the object up in despair and held it in front of her. She looked past it to Ruya and imagined how the filly would look with it if what Colgate wanted to do had worked. She gave a huff, but it seemed like something clicked. She felt a small amount of magic trickle out and the crystal cracked in half and as the two halves separated and clunked against the wood table like bricks, Colgate was left holding a perfectly shaped crystal bow in front of her. At first she couldn’t believe it. It…It worked, she mouthed to herself. She stood up, a bit excited. Something, she thought, I…I need something to-to tie it on. She looked to the couch Ruya lay on. It was the only source of fabric in the room. It couldn’t hurt and it was her only option. The oversized chair would simply have to do without a few strings. This was important. She slunk down to the bottom of the piece of furniture and unraveled parts of the dress flaps. Only as much as she needed. She fused the pieces of cloth into the center of the bow like a seamstress. Perhaps her focus training was already paying off. She was also surprised to see that as she did this, the crystal took on the faded greenish color of the fabric. It looked like an emerald when she was done. Her eyes glowed with success, the sparkling bow reflecting the light back. It was better than she thought it would be. She quickly got up and moved around the table back to Ruya, who was still sound asleep lying on her left side. The bow Colgate had made wasn’t big by any means, but big enough to be noticeable on a small pony like Ruya. Colgate quietly and gently leaned over her and tied the bow by the fabric into Ruya’s mane behind her right ear. The light on her horn finally vanished as she finished. She sighed this time with relief. It felt good and Colgate couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks best pal…” She whispered. She glanced around to make sure no pony was there and when she was sure, Colgate leaned in and gave Ruya a slight peck on the cheek. A few moments passed and Ruya’s ear gave a twitch. Colgate crinkled her nose and turning her head to the floor turned beat red in the silence. Why why why why why why why why why why why why? It didn’t make sense. No pony had seen. She just felt embarrassed for herself. She didn’t really know why she had done what she did, but it felt stupid and mooshy now. It took several minutes and a little bit of hitting herself both mentally and physically in the side of her head with a hoof for her to calm down and rub off the awkwardness. Even after she did she still thought it was silly. But she didn’t regret it.

“I’m way too homesick,” she said to herself. Before she could dig herself any deeper the room was illuminated by a blinding surge of light. Colgate put a hoof to her eyes and Ruya’s. The spectacle was accompanied by a low rumble and a hiss like a volcano that was beginning to reach its limits. In an instant, the light was sucked back to a point out the window as quickly as it arrived like a firework. Colgate lowered her hoof from her eyes and took the other away from Ruya’s. She sure was a heavy sleeper. She hadn’t even so much as rolled over again. The crystal bow was still there and Colgate couldn’t help but feel proud of it and the fact that she had finally been able to give back to her friend. But what had just happened?

Colgate looked to the door and then back to Ruya. She didn’t like the thought of leaving Ruya alone, but there was something unsettling about that light. She needed rest just like any other pony and so letting her sleep, Colgate opened the door and swung into Sombra’s study, shutting it lightly behind her. She took no extra time rushing out the next door into what had suddenly become night. Yet Colgate had no trouble distinguishing what she found to her left as she emerged outside. Celestia was lying unconscious on the stone road with Luna on top of her just as conscious. Above them were six hoof sized gems of different colors, glowing in the blueness around them. Colgate went wide eyed.

“The elements…of harmony?” She breathed out. She had only ever seen them around the necks of Twilight Sparkle and her friends and these certainly were not necklaces. There was nothing else that gave off the kind of chilling feeling that these things did. Their presence was so raw and unabating that being so close to them seemed to push in on her with a pressure like the one she felt when she had tried to enter the cave with Luna and Celestia. It was like they were pushing her away because she wasn’t entirely harmonious.

“The what?” Sombra came up behind her.

“Ah!” Colgate nearly jumped. “I-uh…”

“Did you see what happened?” Sombra asked. His tone was rather urgent and Colgate was unsure why he seemed so uneasy.

“It was hard to see anything with all that light,” Colgate answered. Sombra brushed by Colgate swiftly and lifted both of the sister’s heads with a hoof one after the other with a problematic expression on his face.

“They’re not conscious,” He said. “Help me get them inside before they attract any attention.” He moved Luna off of Celestia and using his magic lifted the latter from the ground and carried her toward his study motioning as he passed for Colgate to get the one he left behind.

“What about-” Colgate stopped as she watched three of the elements followed behind Celestia in single file as she drifted through the air like ducklings to their mother. She looked back to Luna and sure enough the three others were still floating in a triangle above her head. How had Sombra known they would follow? Maybe he was just better at rolling along with the situation than she was. She shrugged and using her magic lifted Luna from the ground and just like the three elements that followed Celestia, the ones above Luna followed behind as Colgate made her way back into Sombra’s study. Lifting something that was actually living was much different Colgate realized than any inanimate object that she had used her magic on. Just like when she had stopped time to move the sisters out of danger, carrying even a pony as small as Luna provided a bit of strain. Had she had to move her any farther than the short distance into the study, all the practicing she had done before might have taken its toll.

Colgate walked inside and set Luna gently next to where Sombra had put Celestia in the center of the room. They were rather unresponsive. It was like they were in a fixed state of sleep that just had to run its course. Colgate nudged Luna once or twice with a hoof to no other result than making her think herself strange again.

“I need to check on things outside,” Sombra told her presently, heading quickly past her to the door. “Watch them.”

“Wh-” clunk. The door had already shut behind him. Was he really that concerned with them drawing attention? Colgate shrugged. She turned back to Luna and Celestia her gaze drawn to the relics floating above their heads. A chill ran down her spine. She felt like they were staring at her and not in a curious way, but like they were looking through her to every weakness she ever held or admitted to. She instinctly shrunk back a bit and catching herself doing so wondered why. It was short lived though. As she looked down to shake off the feeling her eyes came back up to find something floating above the elements. Colgate jumped back, her horn giving a spark as her legs stiffened.

“Discord!” She nearly hissed the name. He threw his hands in the air like he had been there the entire time.

“What?” He looked around in a fabricated sense of confusion spinning in circles and twisting himself every which way in the air nearly tying himself in a knot once or twice. “Where? Oh dear not again.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Colgate scoffed glaring at Discord. He stopped returning her gaze with a disappointed frown leaning his head on a fist supported by an elbow that seemed to be set on an invisible surface.

“You know,” He sighed. “I think you get less fun every time I see you.” In a flash he was in her face with an enormous grin “C’mon! Let’s see those pretty teeth of yours.” He tried to grab at her cheeks, but she swatted at him with a hoof.

“Get away!” She said forcefully. Before she made any contact though he vanished and popped right back where he had been before just above the elements. “Besides, it’s my job to look at others’ teeth. Mine are fine.” She nodded in affirmation of her won statement, but keeping an ever watchful eye on the serpent before her. How could he just hover there like that, she thought? The elements of harmony were right there. Should he have allergies to them or something? They felt imposing enough to her. What about someone as averse to their nature as he was?

“Are you mad at me?” Discord smirked. Colgate didn’t answer, but held his gaze her horn throwing off periodic sparks. She was ready to act if he tried anything funny. She wished Sombra would come back, but Discord seemed to show up at the worst times. “I see you found something for me,” He continued, eyeing the floating gems before him with enthusiasm. “They’re really quite something.”

“You probably can’t even touch them,” Colgate taunted him, still remaining stiffly in place.

“Oh dear,” He seemed to fret. “Me? No. But I bet you can. If you got these for me perhaps you can be a good little pony and take one to the edge of the Everfree for me.” Discord pressed his fingers together with a sly smile.

“What are you playing at?” Colgate asked. “There’s no way I’d do anything for you, especially that. You know what these are.”

“Oh pffff.” He seemed baffled and a bit offended. “Do I!?” Colgate narrowed her eyes at Discord. Did he, she suddenly wondered? She took a step back, self aware and unsure of herself now.

“Y-yes.” She stammered. “Now go away.” She grit her teeth and set her horn alight as a sort of final warning.

“Hmmm,” Discord frowned. “Fine then. I guess I’ll just be in the next room. I’m sure there are others who could help me.” His demeanor was rather smug and he kept a backward gaze with one eye on Colgate as he moved to the door at the side of the study. At first she was inclined to let him leave, but seeing him turn his back and even begin to depart returned just enough mental clarity for her to remember that Ruya was still asleep in the room he was headed toward. Discord knew this, she thought, or he would not have drawn out his movements waiting for her to realize. As soon as she did she snapped her magic into action and from behind her shot several strands of floss formed into a wall of white that slammed into the wall next to the door barring Discord’s path.

“I said go away!” Colgate growled impatiently. Discord stopped, smiling brightly at the dental strands and plucking at them with his fingers making a sick twanging like a broken violin.

“Ooooo!” The sounds continued as Discord went up the scale pretending he was playing a harp. “This is new.”

“Stay out of there…”

“Oh, but I’m just trying to make friends.”

“You’re a liar.”

“Who me?” Discord lounged back in the air and flicked the floss and it crumbled away into dust and vanished like a crumbly cookie.

“If you want to make friends, leave my friend alone. Besides,” Colgate added. “She’s asleep.”

“Well if that’s the case perhaps we should talk elsewhere,” Discord slithered forward and glared at Colgate eye to eye slowly drawing closer holding a malicious smirk that became overshadowed as he leaned in until they were nearly nose to nose. Colgate stood her ground, returning Discord’s gaze. “I’d hate to…disturb her.”

“What do you want?” Colgate asked, their speech dissolving into a hush.

“You see,” Discord backed off as he began to explain. “I’ve grown rather bored of waiting for you and your friends to give up the Everfree, so I thought you might be able to entertain me.” He paused. “Oh and Screwball has been pining quite a bit for her old playmate.” Colgate had a bad feeling about this, but if all she had to do to get him to leave them alone was play along for a bit, it would be worth it. All she had to do was hold him off or “entertain him” as he put it, until Luna and Celestia woke up. They had the elements. Discord wouldn’t last long against them.

“If I go with you, then you’ll leave them alone?”

“Would I lie?” Discord pressed a hand to his chest in an earnest gesture.

“Yes,” Colgate answered bluntly.

“Well I’m sorry you feel that way, but I stand by what I said.”

“Fine,” Colgate shot back. “I’ll go with you. But you’re not getting any of the elements.”

“Oh?” Discord perked up. “The what now?” Colgate immediately regretted saying anything other than agreeing with him. She tried her best not to show it, but knew she hadn’t succeeded. She shifted, far too self aware standing in her mistake. “Is that what these are?” Discord turned his gaze back to the gems floating above the two unconscious alicorns.

“It doesn’t matter,” Colgate sent a shock through the air in his direction the lightning snapping like a firecracker in front of Discord’s nose. “They’re not part of the deal.” Discord backed off putting his hands up while he drifted toward the far wall.

“Right right.” Colgate stepped between him and the sisters, glancing at the elements again before turning back to Discord. He never actually touched them, but Colgate couldn’t be entirely sure that he was completely unable to.

“Well? This was you’re idea. It’s your job to get us out of here.”

“Oh I’m sure that shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

“Hey y-” Before Colgate could finish Discord snapped his fingers and It seemed like Colgate was pulled through the walls of the castle in blur. It gave her a horrible headache and the only indication that she was in the Everfree now rather than the castle was the freer, cooler air filtering through her mane and across the back of her neck. She was incredibly dizzy at first the green shades of the forest spinning around her. It was a few moments before Colgate managed to gather herself relieved only at first by the knowledge that she was still standing on all four hooves. She shook her head several times to wave off the vertigo, her contempt with Discord returning as her senses did. When she could finally tell that she was looking at the ground she raised her head to find Discord patiently hovering in front her against a nearby poplar. She glared at him.

“I should have known not to trust you when you said you wouldn’t do anything funny.” She said.

“You have only yourself to blame for that one,” Discord shrugged.

“Whatever.” Colgate was beginning to regret agreeing to anything he had said, but if this was enough to keep him away from Ruya then it was worth it. “Which way are we going?”

“This way my little pony.” Colgate frowned, shooting a disapproving look at Discord’s back before following despite his remark. The edge of the Everfree couldn’t be too far, Colgate thought as they walked leaving the wall of the old Canterlot behind them. There was only once that Colgate even hesitated. This was what she needed to do. It was her part and was something she could actually accomplish. She felt, for perhaps the first time since she had gotten here, she was doing something with some kind of purpose. Yet, several minutes into walking she felt a twinge in her head like a nerve that was pulling at her. She felt compelled to stop like something was telling her not to go. Had the feeling persisted, she might have been compelled by it, but just as she felt it and stopped for a moment, it passed. She shrugged and kept going, Discord floating along at a steady pace, not pausing even in the moment that she had. She didn’t speak to him at all. It would have been far too aggravating. She rather decided to at least enjoy her stroll through the Everfree. The soil was soft under her hooves and the taste of the air was loamy, smelling of moist dirt and well nourished leaves.

This feeling seemed entirely broken when her hooves at last met the hard and artificial surface of Discord’s checkerboard landscape. The iced trees were enough to snap her from her reverie and her hooves already missed the feel of the Everfree’s soil when presented with the hard plastic feel. There was a pop and Discord vanished from in front of her and Colgate blinked a few times, disoriented by the flash and looked around as if she had just noticed where she had brought herself. A familiar giggle broke the silence.

“Ahahaha! It’s Clocktail!” It echoed. “She’s here! She’s here! You were right daddy! She came back!” Colgate was immediately set on edge by a sound like huge chunks of ice shattering against the ground, sending tremors underneath her hooves and a noise like a cataclysmic hailstorm through the air. It was delicate like glass, but horrible as it drew closer with each crash.

“HI!” Screwball suddenly popped up face to face with Colgate and she stumbled backwards as the swirly eyed mare bounced about with an indescribable glee. “Tickory tickety tock! She’s got a tail with a clock! Look daddy she even brought us something!” Colgate raised a questioning eyebrow as the mare spun wildly upward in a spiral abruptly stopping as Discord appeared at its peak with a flash.

“Why hello there,” Discord greeted her. “It’s so nice to see you again. Did you miss us?”

“I bet she did daddy! I bet she did! She just wants to play again!”

“What do you mean?” Colgate asked, ignoring Screwball and generally trying to address Discord as the mare bounced around in the air twirling her hoof and performing spins that affirmed the propeller on her toyetic looking hat was not the method by which she flew…at least by appearance. “You’re the one that led me here. This was your idea Discord.” She put extra emphasis on his name and he seemed rather shocked by her pointed speech.

“Was it?” He scratched his chin. “But I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“But I have,” He said innocently. “I must say, you sure do know a lot. If it weren’t for you I never would have known those silly little gems were the elements of harmony. How silly.”

“How did you…”

“Please Minuette,” Discord smirked vanishing and reappeared next to her, putting an arm around her and pressing their faces together cheek to cheek. “I’ve been in your tiny little head since we first met right outside the Everfree.” He grabbed her nose and yanked it around waving her head back and forth. Colgate shoved him away, but ended up pushing herself away from him rather than pushing him away.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s hard for me to admit but,” Discord put on a false sad face. “I can’t enter the Everfree with those awful gems keeping me out,” his smile returned. “But you can! And you’re so delightfully gullible. Even though no one else could see me but you, you never caught on that someone was pulling your strings the whole time.” Colgate lowered her ears, sinking into a sense of dread.

“Ahaha!” Discord laughed at her. “Isn’t it great? I wouldn’t have been able to touch any of your little friends if I tried, but you didn’t know. You fell for everything!”

“Shut up!” Colgate yelled back at him.

“Oooooo!” Screwball danced around overhead. “She’s mad daddy. Very mad! Seething even!”

“You too!” Colgate shouted in return, immediately turning back to Discord. “Your stupid prank doesn’t matter anyway. If you know what the elements of harmony are then you know that Luna and Celestia have them. It’s too late Discord. They can beat you!”

“Oh?” He suppressed a laugh. “You see Minuette, that’s the best part. They can’t! Thanks to you. You helped me win. Thanks pal.” Discord’s arm extended an abnormal length from where he was and grabbing one of Colgate’s hooves, shook it cordially.

“I’d never help you,” Colgate said yanking her hoof from his grip. “You’re lying.”

“Am I? Why else would you fetch me this?” His extended arm reached behind Colgate’s ear, retrieved something with a clink, and retracted to its normal length with a red gem in its grasp. Her heart skipped beat, dropping into her stomach.

“Ahaha!” Discord laughed. “Your face!” Screwball joined in on the insuring bout of laughter, giggling along with her supposed father at their apparent success.

“She’s stumped!” Screwball jeered. “Positively stunned!”

“H-how…” Screwball was right, Colgate was stunned. This had to be a dream. She was searching for an explanation. An excuse. “I-it’s not…It’s fake!” Colgate stammered. “It has to be…”

“No,” Discord grinned holding the gem up in his hand. “It’s the real thing! One element of harmony. And you know don’t you Minuette? They don’t work without all of them do they?” Discord loomed over her, holding them element in the palm of his hand. His shadow seemed overwhelming even in the pale light of the half night he had created. It hit her hard. He was right. They wouldn’t work and it was her fault. Why had she been so stupid? It was broken, all of it. She had ruined everyone’s future. What would there be for her to come back to now? She had to get that element back. She hunkered down and her horn lit up. Everyone’s future depended on her doing this. She loosed a blue beam into the air at which Discord promptly raised his other hand to and deflected without visibly trying.

“So long harmony…” He clenched the hand the element was in into a fist and Colgate watched as it cracked in his grip and shattered. His fist closed and the jagged remains of element plummeted toward her losing their ruby sheen and turning a dull gray. She wilted, lowering her ears and flopping into a sitting position. The pieces clattered to the earth around her, with clinks that were heavier in her ears than the crashes that sounded like glacier being spliced in half that she had been privy to earlier. Had she tried to raise her ears back up, she assumed she wouldn’t have been able to. The burden was too much. These shards were weights all dropped from a high balcony, slamming into her conscience as each met the end of their fall. Compared to this, burning Berry Punch’s crops seemed simple to remedy and rather trifling not even worth serious contemplation. The last of the shards rolled a stop claiming their places among the checkerboard lines all around her. The gem had been red, she realized. Wasn’t that the color Rainbow Dash wore? Fate was mocking her. The broken element around her had been loyalty. Discord hung over her with a smile and the air was filled with Screwball’s laughter. To Colgate though, it seemed silent. The only echo being the sound of the singular thought running through her mind.

I screwed up…

Interlude 5:

The crystal pony is stirred from her slumber by a thump against the wall. Was Minuette training again? She shifts, trying to tuck her face further into the cushions and sink back into her sleep. She is inevitably drawn out of her slumber reluctantly, unable to retrieve her dreamlike state. She had been in a good dream too. She was stargazing with a friend telling the light blue mare how it was Luna who raised all those lights into the sky. Her friend didn’t believe her, but she said she knew it would be true. She hears talking muffled by the wall that separates the two rooms. It is several minutes before she opens her eyes and as she does the conversation ends and the neighboring room falls silent. She stands up, stretching herself out like a cat to ward off the drowsiness, her hooves sinking into the cushions as she pushes against them. Her mouth gapes in a wide yawn as she finishes and blinking a few time, pans her gaze about the room. There is no one here.

“Dentist pony?” She calls at a moderate volume. She is a bit disappointed when there is no answer. She had wanted to play more, but had fallen asleep after running around so much. She hops off the couch and trots over to the door and opens it into Sombra’s study. As she enters, two ponies are groggily raising themselves from the floor just as she had done a few moments ago.

“Luna! Celestia!” The little filly exclaims as she realizes who the two mares are. “You’re back!”

“Ruya?” The smaller alicorn inquires as she struggles against her heavy eyelids.

“Ooo! What are those?” The jewels suspended over the alicorns’ heads catch the little mare’s eyes and she marvels for a moment at the way they sparkle in the dim light even more than her own crystal coat does.

“These are it, Ruya,” The pink maned alicorn explains rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “These are what Sombra was talking about. They’re the elements of harmony. We can beat Discord with these.”

“Really?” the filly’s face lights up with a hopeful smile.

“Elements of harmony?” A voice questions. The three ponies in the room look to the door and sure enough Sombra is standing in the entryway quickly closing it behind him looking a bit on the uneasy side.

“Yes,” The older alicorn confirms. “That’s what they said they were.”

“They spoke to you?”

“Sort of I guess. How did we get here anyway?”

“There was a bright light,” The gray unicorn explains. “I carried you in here with Minuette’s help so you wouldn’t draw attention and then went to make sure no one got suspicious. That’s not what disturbs me though. You said these things spoke to you. Just you?” The pink maned alicorn nods, her sister still trying to get the sleep out of her eyes. “Then it is odd that Minuette would call them the same name.”

“She knew what they were?”

“I knew dentist pony was a smart pony,” The crystal pony chimes in, pleased with her friend’s insight.

“It takes more than smarts for that,” the gray unicorn cautions her. “Also, were there not six of these gems before?” The older alicorn looks above her, confused as she still finds three of them hovering over her until she hears a gasp from her sister next to her.

“Tia…” The smaller alicorn says slowly as she comes to her realization. “I-I only have two…”

“What?”

“We’re missing one Tia!” The midnight blue mare begins to panic.

“Luna calm down,” her sister tries to reassure her.

“I swear I didn’t lose it! We had all of them right? I mean we just woke up. I-I…I didn’t…”

“Shh shh,” The older alicorn places a wing around her sister trying to reassure her. “You didn’t do anything wrong Luna. Don’t worry, we’ll find it.” The smaller alicorn breathes a heavy sigh, calming down, but still visibly upset at losing something she felt she had been responsible for.

“Hmm,” The gray unicorn contemplates. “Minuette was here when I left. That wasn’t too long ago. She might know. Where is she? Was she with you Ruya?”

“Nope, nope,” The crystal pony answers. “I just woke up too. But I’ll find her. Friendship radar go!” With that she scampers out the door, confidently shoving it open and peering around the corner before moving outside.

“Ruya wait,” The pink maned alicorn calls after and gives chase.

“Hey Tia wh-” The midnight blue alicorn protests, but stops as she watches the three elements that had been above her sister’s head follow her out the door after Ruya. She tilts her head, but promptly follows them without complaining any further turning back to see her two remaining elements follow her. The unicorn remaining in the room eyes them as she passes and heads through the door after her making sure to close it. This wasn’t as bad, he thought. At least they were awake now. If they attracted any attention they could at least deal with it.

The filly stops before the stone wall around the castle and points up at it as the pink maned alicorn stops beside her.

“Up!” She says with enthusiasm.

“Ruya…” The alicorn looks at her with a look of disapproval, but the crystal pony pays no attention to it.

“Up.” She repeats. The alicorn rolls her eyes and using her magic she lifts the filly onto her back and spreading her wings pushes her way against the air up to the top of the wall. The filly hops down before the alicorn even has a solid foothold and turns to look out over the city for her friend.

“Dentist pony!” she calls across the town now lit by what seems like a static dawn, more light than a normal night, but far too dim to be considered day. The wind brushing across stone is the filly’s only answer even as she calls a second and third time.

“Why do you call her that?” The alicorn asks her.

“Well I’m the only one. She’ll know it’s me. Besides, she said she was a dentist so I call her dentist pony.” She calls a few more time to no effect not even the sleepy citizens hiding away in their beds come out to see what she’s going on about. The younger alicorn presently joins them after flying above the castle trying to get a better view. She lands next to her sister, puzzled, unable to find the mare they are looking for.

“I don’t see her Tia. M-” She says and stops. Her sister is looking out over the wall into the Everfree squinting. “Sis?”

“Luna…Look,” She points and the smaller alicorn looks at her sister and then to forest trying to follow her sister’s gaze to what she is pointing at. Her eyes land on a pony. A pony walking away from the castle.

“Is…Is that…?” She trails off.

“What? What?” The crystal pony turns to see what the two are looking at. She pokes her head over the top of the wall looking back at the two alicorns and then back to forest twice before finally seeing the lone pony among the trees in the distance. In a flash of red magic a gray unicorn teleports to the top of the wall where they are standing.

“Was this really necessary?” He asks. But looking to his friends reveals that their gazes are all fixed on the same thing.

“Is that her?” The crystal pony blurts out? “Minuette!” She called. “Minueeeette!” The pony in the distance stops. Her expression brightens. “I think she heard me. Minueeeeette!”

“Is that really her?” The unicorn’s horn lights up an eerie green and his eyes follow casting a smoke like shadow near the corners. The pony in the distance continues walking, hesitating only for a moment before vanishing into the thickness of the Everfree. The pink maned alicorn looks to the unicorn and seeing the magic he is using proceeds to scold him.

“Sombra!” She moves toward him, but he stops the spell before she can intervene and she halts in place as all of them fall silent. “You know dark magic is dangerous. E-even for simple things…” Neither of the other two ponies says anything, the crystal pony looking to the others, puzzled, unaware of what her uncle has done. The atmosphere seems to have changed and Sombra’s curious demeanor has darkened.

“Do you know what that spell was?” He asks.

“Of course I do,” Celestia affirms

“Tia…” Luna seems to want to stop her, but sinks back under the pressure she sees in her sister’s gaze at Sombra.

“Tell me…” Sombra begins. “This entire time…have I been training a thief?”

“What?” Celestia looks back to the forest and then to Sombra whose gaze is stern and serious, but there is something boiling beneath it. His eyes betray that he is holding back.

“Hey!” Ruya jumps in. “Don’t say bad things about dentist pony!”

“She has your missing element,” Sombra says bluntly to invalidate Ruya’s protest.

“What!?” Luna looks to her sister as if to ask if what Sombra is saying is true.

“Is that what you saw…?” Celestia’s expression darkens.

“Where did you originally run into this pony again?”

“Right after Discord beat us the first time…” Celestia seems to know what Sombra is getting at.

“Sis you can’t be serious,” Luna glances between the two of them trying to suggest there has to be some other explanation. “She wouldn’t do that. She helped us…She helped me…”

“Do you think that Discord could have perhaps placed her there?” Sombra continues, ignoring the complaints on the side “To follow you…?” Celestia expression is resolute, pained, far from the face filled with hope that she had worn when all of the elements had been spinning around her and her sister and she was faced only with the prospect of finally reclaiming Equestria from Discord’s grasp.

“It’s possible…” She replies resolutely. Has he really been that many steps ahead of them from the very beginning she asks herself? Was Minuette really nothing more than a pawn to gain their trust just to swindle them in the very end when victory was finally in sight?

“Tia…” Her sister walks up to her, pressing a hoof to her side.

“I thought you never liked her anyway,” Celestia answers coldly.

“I…” Luna lowers her hoof and hangs her head. “Yeah…”

“Hey,” Ruya forces her way into the conversation addressing Sombra. “What are you saying?” Sombra approaches his niece, no intention of hiding the truth or being soft in any way.

“I’m saying your dentist friend was never your friend.”

“Wh,” The little filly starts to tear up. She feels that she is being pressured into doubt and ganged up on. Luna falls silent only looking at her with a crestfallen eyes that tell her to forgo her faith in her friend as Sombra is standing over her casting a shadow that seems to flatten her presence, and Celestia won’t even glance at her keeping her gaze fixed on the spot where she saw Minuette disappear into the trees. “Yes she was.” Sombra simply shakes his head in response.

“She was!” Ruya begins to cry. “We- we played together. She laughed with me… S-s she…” She takes a gulp trying to swallow her tears back into her eyes only to find her throat has no control over them. “She’s a nice pony.”

“Ruya…She stole one of the elements Luna and Celestia found. She’s taking it to-”

“No!” Ruya interrupts her uncle. “You didn’t actually see. You’re lying!” Sombra glares down at her and begins to slowly step toward her. Ruya sinks to her stomach gazing up in terror as his eyes flash green.

“Don’t ever-” He starts.

“Sombra!” Luna dashes in between the two, sheltering Ruya with one of her wings and locking eyes with Sombra. Ruya presses herself against her. The alicorn’s knees are trembling.

“Stop,” her words quiver off her tongue. “She hasn’t done anything wrong.” There is silence while the two join in a deadly stare-off. The thing that breaks it is a whimper from underneath Luna’s wing and the squeaks of a filly who can’t stop crying. In the face of Luna’s persistence Sombra backs down, clearing his throat as if to correct himself.

“We still need that element,” He says and turns his back on the two. Luna lifts her wing from over Ruya only to find the filly sobbing into the cold stone beneath her.

“I-I’m sorry Ruya,” Luna tries to console her. She looks up, her vision blurred by the water in her eyes.

“She didn’t,” She tells herself. “She wouldn’t do that. You believe me right?” Luna finds it hard to look Ruya in the eye, but she finds it harder still to lie to her. She can’t.

“I want to…” she replies. As the filly buries her face in her hooves again, a glint from something in Ruya’s mane catches her eye. It contrasts the sheen of the rest of her hair and there is something distinct in the sparkle it emits. Taking a second glance, the alicorn finds a small green bow made of crystal tied into the pony’s mane.

“Ruya?” Luna asks. “Where did you get this?” Luna clinks a hoof against the object and Sombra stops, turning his head upon hearing Luna’s question. Celestia turns as well, her eyes meeting the object next to Luna’s hoof. Ruya reaches up with both her front hooves to where Luna put hers. They meet the object and she clicks them against it several times as if testing its existence.

“Huh?” She wipes her eyes. “Wh-what is it?”

“Here, it’s tied into your mane,” Luna explains. “I’ll get it.” She uses her magic to untie the accessory and places it in front of Ruya after unraveling the knot that bound the object to her mane. “Where did you get this Ruya?”

“I…” She wipes her eyes again and sniffles. “It’s pretty…” She seems entranced by it, pressing it against the stone with a hoof, feeling its smooth, yet bumpy surface; a beautifully lucid emerald bow. “She made this…” she whispers softly.

“Ruya?” Luna leans in and tries to make eye contact with Ruya, but the crystal pony stands up with a sudden sense of urgency.

“Something’s wrong,” Ruya says as she lifts herself up.

“Ruya what’s wrong?” Luna asks. “Where did the bow come from?”

“She-…” Ruya pauses choking on tears that she thought she had gotten rid of.

“Ruya?” Luna stiffens, sensing something is aggravating the filly.

“She wouldn’t have made this for me if she didn’t care,” Ruya sobs.

“How do you know it was her?” Sombra asks finally turning around as the conversation piques his interest. Ruya doesn’t answer her uncle.

“Put it back,” She says trying her best to swallow her sadness.

“Ruya what’s wrong?” Luna asks again. Without warning Ruya plucks the bow from the stone surface of the wall with her mouth and bolts, running toward the edge of the wall and throwing herself over it. Celestia’s eyes widen and neither Luna nor Sombra can react fast enough.

“Ruya!” She shouts as the filly plummets into the Everfree. She spreads her wings and with all the speed she can summon soars down the expanse of Canterlot’s castle wall, swooping in like a falcon catching Ruya only meters before she meets the soil. But as soon as the filly sees her chance, she tears herself away from the alicorn and kicks off her side onto the ground. She tumbles, doing several summersaults before a bush catches her in its thicket. Celestia arcs back around and meeting the forest floor turns to retrieve Ruya. But even before she is able to break into a run, the filly has torn herself free of the bush, without a scratch to be seen. The little pony doesn’t look back, the crystal bow clenched firmly in her teeth as she gallops into the Everfree after her friend.

Interlude end…

It was horrible. Colgate lowered her head in defeat. What was she supposed to do now? Any hope she had of ever fixing her mistakes now lay in shattered pieces on all sides of her and there was no way to put them back together. None, she told herself.

“Ahahaha!” A piercing laughter bit her ears. It had been going on ever since Discord broke the element, but it was only now that Colgate was really hearing it. “She’s so sad. Can I cheer her up daddy? Can we play now?”

“She’s all yours my little fiend,” came Discord’s answer. He swirled back up into the sky and lounged on a pink cloud, reaching into it and pulling out a glass of chocolate milk, sipping at it with a straw. It was just a show to him.

“Yay!” Screwball exclaimed with glee. “Hey there playmate!” Colgate looked up, finding the pink mare glaring down at her with her spiral eyes bouncing around in their sockets. “Remember that last time?” Colgate didn’t answer her. She knew what Screwball was talking about and couldn’t really blame her for holding a grudge. “You got pretty mad. Tried to kill me.” A malicious smirk snaked its way across the mare’s face, something that would have normally inspired fear or set Colgate on edge. It didn’t though. It was a given now. She deserved this. “Time to fight for your life Clocktail!” The air around Screwball seemed to vibrate with a deadly intensity and next to her small frame suspended in the air she began amassing an enormous column of ice, forming it into a shaft with a pointed blade at the end. It was a giant frozen spear nearly twenty times her size poised and ready to impale Colgate with swish of a hoof. Colgate stood back up on all four hooves, getting her balance and readying her magic. She may as well at least try to defend herself. Anything was better than giving up entirely. Screwball twirled proudly around her new weapon chanting another one of her rhymes as it rotated like a drill slowly winding up in the opposite direction.

“Ena, Dena, Dinah, Dock,” She chanted. “There was a mare whose tail was a clock. The clock struck one, and through she was run! Ena Dena, Dinah,” The mare stopped raising a hoof and relishing the moment before the last syllable. Her eyes lit up. “Done!” Her hoof came down and the great javelin shot from its place like a harpoon at a nearly perfect forty-five degree angle. Colgate’s horn flared with electricity. She would brute force this. She would put so much force into a forward spell that the spear would have no choice but to break. Even if the projectile was indestructible, she would just have to make her magic immovable and see what happened. This was it. It was now or-

“Minuette!” A voice came faintly into her ear. Bump. Suddenly she wasn’t standing. Something hit her that wasn’t the spear. Funny…It hadn’t seemed like that much of a push yet, she found herself falling to the side. She hit the ground and felt the pop of her magic as she let her spell loose. There was a bang like a bombard cannon as her spell soared off into the sky simultaneously with the clashing of the spear and the earth. Yet as she tumbled, there was something else tumbling with her. The fall left her only slightly disoriented yet uninjured. The spear had missed. But when she stopped something wet hit her hoof. It was a drop of something. It was the first thing Colgate saw from her tilted view on her side. She looked at her hoof. Was it starting to rain? No. The drop had left a little tear of red on her fur, it wasn’t rain not even Discord’s kind of rain. She sat up only to find more of it sprinkled on the ground about her, standing out in the white spaces of the checkerboard.

Colgate lifted her head and before her, only a few feet away between her and the titan spear whose blade was now painted the same red, was another pony. A crystal filly lying on her side in a pool of blood. The permeating smell hit Colgate’s nostrils with a sting and in that moment Colgate was sure her heart stopped. Her eyes widened in horror and the realization made it feel like the spear really had hit her. She ran to the filly as fast as she could with Screwballs laughter punching the air like a horsewhip.

“AHAHAHAH! Dead pony! Dead pony!” She sang out in delight.

“No no no!” Colgate lifted the pony into her hooves and the last face she wanted to see met her eyes. “Ruya? Ruya!” There was a huge gash in her side and a smaller one across her face out of which blood was still flowing. The light blue fur on her hooves was quickly stained red, red with blood that she didn’t want on her, on anypony. The pony opened her eyes weakly something falling from her mouth with a clunk. It was the bow Colgate had made earlier, but it was cleaved down the middle and fell in half when it ended its short fall.

“Hey… you’re okay…” came a feeble voice. “I made it…Dentist pony…”

“Yes…Yes it’s me,” Colgate assured her. “You’ll be okay. I-I can fix this. Colgate frantically tried to get her magic to work. Heal! Heal! She screamed in her mind. Fix it, do anything! Nothing. She couldn’t close the wound. No one ever taught her any form of healing magic. Running out of options she managed to conjure some of her dental floss, the one thing she seemed to have perfected. She used the strands like bandages to bind the wound.

“There,” Colgate said. “You’re gonna be okay. Stay with me.” Her reassurances were more for herself at this point. It was what she wanted to believe. The floss quickly turned red though and it wasn’t working like she wished it would. Why wouldn’t it just work? It had to; it needed to.

“You…” Ruya winced clutching her side. “You made that for me…didn’t you?” Colgate’s eyes were starting to cloud up, but she knew Ruya was talking about the bow she had brought with her.

“I had to…to,” Colgate swallowed. “R-Repay you somehow right? F-for the necklace.” Ruya smiled faintly.

“Thanks…” Her speech was nearly a whisper. “Sorry I broke it.”

“No no. It’s fine. It wasn’t the best anyway. H-here.” Colgate used her magic to undo the gold necklace and moved it toward her. She was trying everything now, anything that would make her feel better. Just get better, she kept thinking. It’s not so hard right? Juts get better.

“No silly,” Ruya tried to laugh, but winced again and stopped.

“Hey, stop,” Colgate told her.

“I didn’t give that to you so I could have it. Keep it.” The filly abruptly began hacking, splashes of blood coloring her tongue as she coughed it up.

“Stay with me,” Colgate pleaded trying to lift Ruya’s head up so she could breathe easier. She was practically cradling her now.

“Hey…” She started, but another bout of coughing stopped her.

“Shh shh,” Colgate brushed Ruya’s mane back with a hoof, fidgeting in panic. “Don’t talk. I need you to breathe. Don’t…Don’t die on me.”

“Sorry I made you cry,” Ruya apologized, her voice was hoarse now and her eyes seemed to be losing their sheen.

“No it’s fine,” Colgate told her. “It’s fine. Just keep breathing,”

“Hey…when Tia and Luna become princesses…wish them luck for me.”

“Don’t say that. You can do that yourself. You’re gonna be fine.”

“Shhh,” Ruya hushed her. “Hey…Colgate?” Colgate stopped, rather shocked that Ruya had used her nickname. She had never told anyone in this time what it was, but that was Ruya. She always knew things she wasn’t supposed to. In this time, they were a lot alike in that sense. “There are still so many lights around you. They’re even clearer now…So many…”

“What? C’mon we need to get you to-” Colgate was about to get up and run with her, but Ruya raising a hoof stopped her and she shut up so the filly could talk. Ruya put her hoof to the necklace Colgate was still holding in front of her and pushed it back against Colgate’s neck. She smiled using whatever life she had left in her eyes to make it glow, holding Colgate’s teary gaze.

“Of all my lights…you were the brightest.” The necklace clicked into place and the small frail hoof that moved it fell limp against the filly’s dirtied crystal fur. Colgate held her there for a few moments waiting for her to breathe again. There was nothing.

“Ruya?” Colgate’s eyes jumped around the mare’s body, scanning for signs of life, but her eyes had lost their shine and were empty and her labored breathes ended. “Ruya!” She yelled. “No…no…” Suddenly, in an instant, the crystal pony’s body dulled to a complete gray, becoming hard like stone. Cracks spider webbed through her frame and she crumbled to pieces, falling from Colgate’s hooves in chunks and powder joining the fragments of loyalty that had already been there. She had broken everything and as she stared at the dust that used to be somepony who cared for her, her brain only echoed one thing. My friend…She was gone. Did all crystal ponies die like this she wondered? Did they all just crumble to dust like old statues? Colgate’s hooves were frozen in place still acting they were holding the crystal pony. She wanted to believe they were, but even the slight weight of the filly’s small body was gone. Colgate’s hooves were empty

“Ruya…” She choked on the name, her legs smacking heavily to the ground barely able to hold the burden of her own body.

Colgate plummeted into uncontrollable sobs, crying in torrents. Her selfishness had killed the best friend she had made in a place she had assumed she was never meant to make friends. Her cries escalated into screams, screams she let loose because there was no other way for her to vent the horrible vice in her chest. She was shrieking at the ground, the horrible echo of it coming back to ears to retell the depth of her anguish. Everything before this had been nothing. If there was ever a time she thought she had felt broken before this she had been wrong. This is what being broken felt like. There was no her, no Colgate, just the ashes of her mistakes and a pony too lost in the hell of grief to remember her own name.

“HAH! Dead ponyyyyyy!” Screwball seemed elated, but when Colgate looked up through her tears she seemed to be the only one. Even Discord seemed slightly disturbed. Even though he was still lounging on his cloud, he had thrown away his drink and was just watching, not laughing or even smiling. Just seemingly indifferent. The whole scene was rather quiet to her as well. Despite Screwball’s mockery she felt nothing from it. There was no fire for her to light now. Her spirit felt dead.

Presently, Colgate heard the clatter of hooves approach and turning in their direction saw Luna, Celestia and Sombra and through the blur in her vision five colored shapes floating around them. The rest of elements Colgate knew, but they wouldn’t do them any good. The three observed the scene and she could tell they didn’t know what to make of it. Neither did she. Her face was flushed red the fur on it soaked and her eyes weary of everything. All the fragments of her mistakes lay around her and they could see it all. Look she thought as she saw their gaping expressions, your world, my world, it’s gone…here is the mare who ripped the stone of reality and here are the pieces.

“M-Minuette?” Luna took a tentative step toward her, uncertain.

“Where is she?” Sombra asked. New tears welled up in Colgate’s eyes at this question. Could she give anymore? All the water she had would be gone before long. She wouldn’t say anything…she couldn’t. “Where is my niece?” Colgate flopped to the ground and could only cry.

“Sombra…?” Celestia took a step back from him.

“Where is Ruya Minuette!?” He began to raise his voice. She still couldn’t answer. She was still lying in the filly’s remains after all. Sombra eyed the scene.

“No…” It was dawning on him. Even in her state, Colgate could tell. “Was I not fast enough?” He looked down and then back to Colgate. “You…”

“Sombra…” Luna started. “I’m sure-”

“You worthless bastard horse!!” He bellowed and burst into a rage Colgate didn’t think he was capable of. His eyes lit up a poisoned green, shadows snaking their way around them and his horn. Colgate leapt to her feet, scared. She was broken and now frightened out her mind. “I’ll destroy you!”

“Sombra wait!” Celestia pleaded. Her horn lit up and she used her magic to hold him back. She wasn’t strong enough alone. He pulled against it, dragging himself forward like an enraged behemoth. “Luna! Help me!” Luna joined in, but even with the sister’s combined might they still struggled to keep him still.

“You!” Sombra roared. “You steal one of the elements, give it to our sworn enemy and then you lead my niece to be slaughtered with it!? You soulless pawn!” His horn surged with a green aura, strands of blackness coursing through it. He was no doubt, trying to kill her. The sisters held it back, but only for now. What was she supposed to do? She deserved it she thought. For all she had done was Sombra’s reaction really that unreasonable? It seemed that way, but a laughter from above changed her mind. Screwball was still giggling like a giddy school girl that thought it was funny when she snapped her doll’s heads off. She was more on board with Sombra that she knew now. His rage was suddenly contagious. It was what she had needed all along. This was the switch, the spark from the lighter that would ignite the furnace. She found who to blame and her cold tears soon became hot with a wrath that welled up in her and surged like a wildfire.

“Screwbaaaaaalll!!” She shouted with all the air she had to the sky.

“Hm?” The mare stopped, confused at her sudden change of tone. Colgate’s horn lit up in a fierce light, emitting a force that began to push everything around her away the initial shockwave ripping through space like a palpable sonar wave. The ground began to rumble and eventually even the sisters along with Sombra couldn’t push against the outward force the ball of light was exerting. It was like a reversal of a black hole, the pure concentrated energy at the tip of her horn was like a star preparing for its demise as a supernova.

“You’re dead!” As she yelled, a huge column of lightning split the air from above and striking the ball of light sent everything around her into a spiraling tornado of pure power. Discord had even back away and Screwball tried, but found herself bound by the swirling mass’s outer perimeter as it rose to the heavens. Colgate could hear the frozen trees shatter around her and some of the checkerboard tiles were ripped from their place and zipped into the air spinning like saw blades past Screwball. She avoided them now in a clear state of panic. That’s right, Colgate found herself thinking, panic. Be scared like I was.

Screwball, whether by lapse of judgment or sheer bravery, charged down at her. This is it then. She’d finish her here. There was nothing she couldn’t do and there was nothing more she could take from her now. In her head, Colgate had nothing to lose.

“Come on!” Colgate yelled as Screwball soared straight for her. Colgate directed all her power at her. Screwball met the glowing catastrophe at Colgate’s horn and all at once every ounce of energy around them imploded crashing in on them and swallowing the space they occupied whole bending, their existential plane and as Colgate watched her whole world bend like a rubber toy, she was devoured with the mare she swore to kill. This is the end of you.

As everything went to nothingness, the last thing Colgate heard was a breaking sound, the clang of a magic atom bomb cleaving the ground at its site of impact and decimating everything in its radius. In her wake not even the remains of the element of harmony are left, only two stunned alicorns and an enraged unicorn. When Colgate wakes up, the first color she sees is blue.

From Eternity

Chapter 12: From Eternity

Time and Space Await…

-Time has eroded your vision; the years have darkened your demeanor. Closer still is innocence. If only you were to reach for it.

Eternity. It feels as though it has been so long and yet the time elapsed is so short. Has it been a decade, a year, a month, or perhaps a week or even only a day? Her perception is indistinct and offers no clues.

Colgate opened her eyes. Her head was heavy and her vision tunneled much like when she first began trying to suppress her magic. It was that kind of headache. She assumed at first that all the blue she was seeing was due to her disorientation. Maybe she had overdone it…again. But even as she recovered from her cloudy state, the blue of her surroundings remained.

She was still standing, she realized, and looking down revealed that she was standing on…nothing. It was just blue, as if she were standing on the drop off of a coral reef and staring down into a limitlessly deep, dark ocean. She flinched, taking a few steps back, startled. Her hooves made splashes as if she really were stepping on water, walking in the shallows, or, as it seemed, treading on the surface of the sea. Colgate looked up and, to her wonderment and awe, was greeted with an expanse like an infinite sky. The whole place was like a dome, the deepest blues like those of midnight below her, lightening to a more standard blue at eye level and eventually to a brilliantly pastel sky blue above her. It was all so ethereal. In the sky above, if it really was the sky, there were strands of white like silk threads sifting through the blueness as if they were clouds. There was a serene stillness to the place, even as a slight wind could be felt in the emptiness. Colgate took a step forward, the splash of her hoof on the film beneath her sending a watery echo bouncing around in the void, ripples spanning out from where her hoof came down. Where was she? This place might have been stunning to look at, but it wasn’t anywhere in Equestria of which she knew.

In all its swirly and gemlike beauty though, Colgate’s senses had returned far enough to normal to find the one blemish. Before her, where she had stood, were the remains of both Ruya and the element of harmony. Wherever she was, they had come here with her. Looking at it, if it had just been the element, Colgate would have been fine. But seeing the crumbled dust and knowing that it used to be her friend once again set tears to her eyes.

“Tch…” She grit her teeth and did her best to hold them back. She didn’t know why. There wasn’t anypony to hide them from. The presence of the ashes after what had seemed like forever was like a second defeat, a jab, a grim reminder that she had failed. But it brought her back. Perhaps it had only been moments, or hours. Or she was simply stuck here, damned forever with the remains of her mistake to guilt her. Then there was her. Her two front hooves were still splattered red, her fur caked together in spots by solidified blood. She blinked, letting a tear from each eye fall before wiping the rest away with a hoof. She needed to-

Her thoughts were scrambled as a sound like the clang of an enormous iron bell sent a splitting pain through her head like her skull had been used to ring it. She cringed, bending her knees against the pain as the vibrations from the noise swelled through the air. The sound dissolved into a high pitched hiss, stinging her eardrums before another deep boom ripped the stillness. Colgate could feel the pulse from the noise barrel through the air in a rush. She strained against the feeling in her head as though if she didn’t it might tear it open. The surface on which she stood remained defiantly undisturbed save for a singled spot some ten meters away where the glassy film spun into a cyclone. Each clang of the bell was like a hammer to her head and with each the spiraling water rose, gathering strength and velocity. The sound of it against the bell was icy and harsh, but the final toll was unlike the others.

The very last ring of the invisible force did not reverberate, but rather made a sound more akin to the clunk of an anchor falling against stone. The spiral shattered apart, the water slashing in all directions followed by a smooth sloshing as it converged back together at a point into a shape. It all happened so quickly that by the time Colgate recovered herself, the water had already taken the form of a pony. It was an alicorn. Colgate still held a hoof to her head as she squinted at the thing before her that seemed to be part of the landscape. It stood taller than even Celestia and water seemed to continuously flow into its hooves as it also dripped from its outstretched wings. It was like a fountain. It walked wordlessly toward her, seeming to slide across the surface of wherever she was. It stopped when it stood before her and Colgate still couldn’t believe, even as close as it was, that this pony was nothing but a moving column of water. Its empty, but infinitely deep eyes were shapes formed from liquid and even its horn was a glowing spire of crystalline liquid. It’s mane swirled about the back of its neck in a waterfall and its tail was like a waterspout, ever drawing from its source, but never exhausting.

“Wh-” Colgate breathed. She was speechless.

“The cold gates open and close,” Colgate flinched back as its mouth didn’t move when it spoke and its speech was deep and jarring, echoing through the entire space they stood in, pervading with a power that frightened her. “Greetings, Minuette.” Colgate slowly made her way back to an upright standing position.

“How do you know…” She trailed off as the alicorn’s watery eyes seemed to give her a look of assurance.

“You may not know where you are,” it replied. “But it is no secret to me how you got here.”

“Where am I?” Colgate found herself asking her questions timidly, not that she was afraid of what she was asking or what the answer might be, but it was who she was asking that disturbed her. She didn’t know.

“Have you ever been familiarized with the term noble phantasm?” Colgate hesitated to answer. This thing’s voice would take some getting used to. It was godlike in its presence and seemed to echo forth from everything around her rather than the solitary form that seemed to represent it. Even without this impending factor, its form, like a phantom that was visible only because it chose to be, was haunting.

“Do you…know Sombra?” Colgate asked tentatively. Despite the eerie feeling the figure gave her, his question piqued her interest, or at least mystified her. She wasn’t sure. She assumed that because this entity used the same term Sombra had taught her, it implied some kind of connection between the two.

“Hm?” The alicorn seemed curious, but not altogether caught off guard. “I know of him,” he replied putting an emphasis on ‘of ’ to imply some kind of distinction. “But I do not know him as you may want me to. No, I ask because where you stand is sacred ground. Your hooves are stained with innocent blood. They must be cleaned.” Before Colgate could object, the surface beneath her surged up into a pillar of gushing water around her. In her astonishment she gasped as it happened and ended up inhaling the brunt of the water through her nose. The geyser quickly stopped, but after that brief moment Colgate looked as though she had jumped from a high dive, mane slouching and dripping with water as she sputtered and coughed the rest from her nose. She stood stiff for a moment, expecting another dousing, but the water that went up never came back down. Giving a heavy sigh, she lifted her head glaring through the strands of her moppy mane at the alicorn before her. It was somewhat bittersweet to know that her hooves were spotless and she resented the figure for it. The stain was no longer there to haunt her, but it was also no longer there to remind her of what she had done. Would she forget without it, that this was her fault? There were so many things her power could have been used for and she did none of them. Colgate stood next to the dust of her only friend.

“Who are you?” She asked plainly, moving her hair away from her eyes.

“I go by many names,” the alicorn said. “The clock, Father Time, Reality. The one you may know is Axis.”

“Why would I know that?” Colgate asked.

“Well, there is only one other of your kind who has set foot in this space and he gave me that name. Perhaps he did not pass it on.” The alicorn seemed to drift off into thought.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Know you not?” It’s attention shifted back to her. “He was a great scholar. Even if you are not of his time, surely-”

“I don’t!” Colgate shouted back. “I don’t know! Just tell me! I don’t care about your riddles! Just- guhhh…” Colgate grit her teeth as a splitting pain seared through her head. Cringing, she bent her knees and sunk down as the watery figure seemed to loom over her, a single step of his sending tremors through the space around them.

“Do you forget yourself mare?” It boomed. “I gave you more than one name by which to call me.”

“P-” Colgate’s teeth squeaked against each other as she strained against whatever downward force was trying to squash her. Standing up completely straight, she glared at the alicorn her limbs shaking as he glared back

“Piss off,” She told him firmly. “With…with your royal act.” Suddenly Colgate was forced from her feet and her chin splashed against the ground as she was flattened out.

“Is Axis too hard of a name for you?” The alicorn asked.

“Is-agh,” Colgate strained. “Is no too…too hard of a word for you?” She fully expected to be smashed for her remark. But the force stopped. Colgate looked up to see the figure take a step back.

“Hm,” It uttered with contempt. “Consequently it seems you both have the audacity to talk back to me. Starswirl never knew what manners were either.”

“Star-” Colgate tried to get up, but stumbled. “Starswirl?” She wobbled upright.

“Indeed. Yet, he is still a step above you. He was able to get here without any natural born connection to it.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I already knew he was stronger than me.”

“Is that what you want,” Axis asked, “strength? Is that why you are flailing for hope in my presence?”

“Of course I want to be strong…” Colgate answered, staring at blankly into the infinity below her. Axis seemed to narrow his watery eyes, taking in the response.

“If strong is what you wish to be,” he replied, “does that mean you consider yourself to be weak?”

“How could I not?”

“And what is it that you mean, Minuette? What is strength, to you?” It wasn’t the first time Axis had spoken Colgate’s name, but this time sent a shiver through every hair in her body. She grit her teeth, knowing there was only one real answer.

“It’s what I’m missing,” She spoke through her teeth. “Might, to overcome my weakness, Tenacity, to overcome my idleness, and courage, to overcome my cowardice.”

“That is a great many things. Is strength so abstract in your eyes?”

“I don’t know!” Colgate hammered back. “I’m just a pony. I’m Minuette, a dentist, a dentist that was never meant to be here. I’ve screwed up. I’ve lost my friends; I’ve messed with time. Because of me Equestria might never be the same… And it was all because I was weak, too weak to see I was being used and too weak to save my friends.”

“So is that all? Do you give up? Is there no hope left that you can see?”

“I told you, I’m not strong enough…”

“Your idea of strength is also clouded,” Axis rebuked. “Might? Any sensible being would desire the power to move even the mountains if it knew it could achieve it, just as it might also choose to live with indomitable courage, never letting fear pause its ceaseless forward stride, if it knew it could. But this is impossible. You, nor anyone, has such “strength” as you name it. What you seek is an ideal.”

“So what?” Colgate hissed back. “What do you suggest I do? What do you think strength is!?”

“Real strength does not mean bearing your pain without strife, young filly.”

“No!” Colgate belted, raising her head, enraged. “You’re dodging the question! I didn’t want to never struggle! I just wanted my friends to be okay! I hate you! I don’t even know who you are and I already hate you! What makes you so smart, sitting here and hiding your fake wisdom from me? You don’t know what strength is either! And I don’t care! I don’t care what or who you know! You didn’t save Ruya either, so shut up! I’ll destroy you, I’ll fight you right here! I have nothing to lose…So…so…just…” Axis didn’t move. Colgate wanted him to get mad again, to tell her she was being impudent and to smash her for it. But he didn’t.

“Calm yourself child.” Axis replied, standing resolute. “Your despair-”

“Kill me!” Colgate screamed. This paused was even deeper than the last and after screaming with all the energy her small lungs could carry, Colgate heard her voice reverberate once. Perhaps. Maybe she was simply imagining it, wanting something on her end to linger, make some kind of impact. Axis shifted a hoof, perhaps the most defined movement he had made in awhile

“…And what prompts you to speak such hideous words?” He asked

“It’s the only way isn’t it?” Colgate hung her head and let the tears slide away.

“The only way to what?”

“If I die,” Colgate asked, breath shaking, “can it be fixed? If I remove myself can Ruya be saved?”

“Killing you now will not reverse what you have already done.”

“Then send me back! You claim to be powerful right? Send me back and I’ll kill myself before I have a chance to ruin the world. Please! Just let me save her!”

“What is it that inspires your sudden complete despair?” Colgate was silent for several moments. “A moment ago you stood up to me like-”

“I had nothing to lose?” The alicorn eyed her.

“Is that how you feel?”

“My only friend is dead…” Colgate swallowed.

“You poor fool.”

“What?” Colgate felt her rage start to resurface.

“Are you that stupid?”

“Hey,” Colgate raised her voice. “You have no idea-”

“I will not bend here!” The alicorn’s voice exploded outward, sending rapid ripples across the surface water with a hiss. A pulse that shook everything cut space as he stomped his foot, and, in one terrifying wave of change, the space around them went black. Before Colgate could say any more, she found herself in the attic of a house, the thatched hay roof coming to a peak above her. Even the stuffy feeling of an enclosed elevated space came with it. Before her, tied to the wall, was a mare clumsily but firmly bound in place by ropes. Two tying all of her legs together and another knotted around her muzzle. The mare’s breathes were dry and wheezy. There were puffy bags lining her eyes. She coiled and cringed against hunger pains as her eyes cried out what little water her body had left. Colgate looked on in disbelief. She took a hesitant step forward.

“B…B,” Colgate’s lip trembled as she tried to speak. “B-Berry Punch?” She said weakly. There was no response. Could this starved pink mare really be her friend? Is this what was happening while she was gone? “Berry Punch!” Colgate cried more fervently. The mare lurched forward making a horrible noise like she was puking. Nothing came up. After several more convulsions the pony’s eyes rolled back and she passed out.

“Berry!” Colgate lunged into a gallop toward Berry Punch, but as she reached the center of the room, the floor gave way. She fell through more blackness and landed on her stomach, smacking her chin again with a wince. Colgate found herself outside now on the checkerboard tile that she had left behind. Laying on their sides before her were Celestia and Luna. Both of them were covered in blood, sharp, jagged pieces of gemstone laying around them.

“Tia…” Colgate heard Luna say feebly. “Did we fail again?” Her sister didn’t answer her, but her head bent back and her eyes stilled and emptied and she stopped moving. “Tia?” Luna repeated. “We can try again right? Tia? Wake up Tia.” Colgate looked on, shaking her head.

“No…” She whispered to herself. In a sudden flash she was suspended in the sky. Below her was the old Canterlot castle glowing in waves of greedy orange. Even from her altitude she could hear the blaze snap and fume and it consumed the Everfree.

“No…” It was all she could say. With a sudden crack, something struck Colgate across the jaw and sent her tumbling back. Landing on her back, a hoof came down before her where she landed with a splash and Colgate found herself surrounded by blue again. She rolled herself over, looking on with tears in her eyes. The watery alicorn stood over her once again with its mystic stare.

“Wind in the rain!” Axis scolded her. “That is what the muses have called me. Do you understand what you have seen?”

“A-Axis?” Colgate wiped her eyes.

“That is my name,” He responded more calmly.

“Was that…the future?” Colgate asked. “Is that really what I’ve done?”

“That was A future,” Axis answered. “As it stands, in the future you have made, Berry Punch won’t even exist. Nor will Ponyville. What you saw of her is her best possible future. Even if you manage to fix everything you’ve broken you cannot undo what the changeling has done.”

“You…you mean…She’s going to die?” Colgate lowered her head.

“What gave you that idea?”

“Wh-but she-”

“Let me warn you now,” Axis interrupted her. “Looking into any future is dangerous. Many are ambiguous and what may seem apparent only seems so because you are looking through a falsehood. No future is guaranteed and the looking glass can be misleading. Never succumb to inevitability.”

“But you said you were Father Time,” Colgate said. “Doesn’t that mean you know what’s going to happen?”

“What made you believe that even existence itself could know that which has not existed yet? Neither can time know what has not yet crossed its path. It can guess and, based on paths, can conjecture every possible effect from all possible causes. It can never be certain which one will come to be until happens. What I have shown you are the darker possibilities of what you have done.”

“Then you have to let me do this!” Colgate yelled. “I’m the one that messed this up. Remove me and it all goes away with me. What else can I do!? ”

“Anything,” Axis answered. “Any action from you will result in a better outcome. But if you chose to lay down and die, then I have already shown you the result.”

“But I-”

“Don’t tell me your only friend is dead again!” Axis scolded her. “You lost one friend. But have you forgotten what she told you? Do you not remember how she spoke of all the lights?”

“Yes,” Colgate nodded. “I didn’t know what she meant though.”

“Then you have failed to see even now what I have just shown you.”

“Of course I saw,” Colgate protested. “I don’t want anypony to die!”

“Why?” Axis shot back at her. “Why don’t you want them to die?”

“They’re…they’re my…”

“Friends?” Colgate nodded. “So you understand what Ruya meant when she said there were many lights around you? She certainly didn’t mean you were shiny. There are still those who still trust or want to trust you.”

“But…But they’ll hate me,” Colgate said. “I betrayed them. I stole one of the elements and now it’s broken. How do I fix that?”

“You can’t break an element of harmony,” Axis said. “Just so you know. I’ll let you figure out what that means.”

“I don’t know!” Colgate yelled. “I don’t know what it means! I…I…” She trailed off lowering her head. “I don’t…” There was a long pause, nothing but the sound of slowly shifting water to permeate it.

“Then it is not my counsel that you need,” Axis stated plainly. The watery sound stopped abruptly and Colgate snapped her head up to see water splash to the floor, leaving nothing but small ripples left of Axis. Colgate’s eyes darted left to right, her jaw hung open, shocked at the sheer audacity of his abandonment. The very arbiter of time had simply turned his back on her. Her shock quickly sparked into anger, her open mouth changed to grit teeth and her brow warped with her fury.

“Is that it then!?” She yelled at the empty expanse of blue. “Is that all you’re good for? Vague prophecy and cryptic wisdom? What help are you if you don’t even tell me how to get back? Just…Screw you!” Colgate mustered all the magic her horn could bear and let it loose in ball that traveled like a bullet, booming from its source like a cannon. But that was it. The white ball of raw energy never met any resistance. It continued on into the infinite expanse until Colgate couldn’t see it anymore, a cause with no effect.

“I hate you!” Colgate screamed. Not even an echo. The sound that seemed to rip the inside of her throat didn’t make so much as a ripple on the surface of the water. The flat and swallowing silence was some form of realized defeat, a palpable but invisible material in the air that swallowed up her cries for help. Until…

“Dentist pony?” a voice reverberated. Colgate assumed she was hearing things at first, that this inviting, ehcoey voice was simply in her head. After all, her own anguished screaming had not so much as stirred space, but this voice rang out like a clear crystal bell, effortlessly, without force. Colgate’s eyes widened, small trepidations in the water tickling the underside of her hooves. Slowly, she lifted her head and turned it, looking behind her with an anxiety that was both pure joy and utter fear and despair, a single thought burning in her head at the form standing over the broken element of loyalty:

It isn’t real…

Interlude 6:

In the aftermath of the cataclysm all three ponies stare. Even the unicorn, whose rage has seeped over the boiling point into madness, is struck to stunned quiet over the sudden calmness. It had seemed like the mare that had been there a minute ago had ripped a hole in the world and now she was gone. There is nothing left in her wake save for a huge expanse of scorched checkerboard tiles. Everything they had seen around her, even the dust and broken crystals, is gone, seemingly swallowed as existence tried to fill the gaping hole that had been torn into it. A sense of dread pervades the air and, his insatiable rage returning, the unicorn is first to regain his senses.

“Minuette!” he calls in a renewed anger, kindled in the shame of being overpowered. His outburst is enough to jar the alicorns back to reality.

“Sombra,” The taller alicorn takes a step back readying her magic as her sister follows suit on the opposite side. “You need to calm down.”

“Calm down!?” He fires back, glaring at the mare, his voice falling to a low but biting hush as he continues. “We are missing a key magical artifact because of a mare we thought we could trust. You’d best hope you don’t need all of them for Discord. But aside from that, my niece is gone!”

“Y-you don’t know that,” The small alicorn tells him. He turns to her with a set of burning green eyes. The alicorn only sees hate in them. Part of the unicorn has snapped and he is using his madness to hide it.

“Then where would you tell me she is!?” He yells. “Did we follow a ghost here? Does a pony cry in such anguish for no reason? Ruya was sent here for me to protect! So tell me Luna! Where is she now!?” The little alicorn sinks away timidly. She is afraid. Her friends are being transformed by grief.

“Sombra stop,” She pleads. “Tia said the dark magic was bad for you…”

“I know my limits!” He bellows, his horn lighting in a blaze of green. Without warning he is struck in the back of the head by a bolt of golden light that hisses on impact snapping his head forward and knocking him off balance. He stumbles once shifting to regain his footing and raising his head, he slowly turns to the alicorn behind him with a gaze that has hints of death in his pupils. The pink maned alicorn’s expression is stern and resolved her horn shining brazenly, in spite of herself.

“Don’t threaten my sister,” Her voice is unsympathetic, but shaky with apprehension.

“Celestia…” the unicorn says slowly as he turns to her. “Do you know who you-”

“Yes,” She doesn’t allow him to finish. “And I won’t let you hurt my friends. We told you before that the dark magic you studied would go to your head if you used it too much. Look at yourself Sombra. Can you see…what you’re doing?”

“Do you think me a fool!? Can I not-”

“Look behind you!” The alicorn breaks his rant with a shout.

“What?”

“Just look Sombra.” The unicorn turns and behind him is the younger sister, small, cowering and staring at him in terror and tears pooled in the bottom of her paralyzed blue eyes. The flame on the unicorn’s horn shrinks and dies down.

“Luna…I-” He starts.

“Ooooohahahah!” A bitingly cheery laugh permeated the air. “This is such a delightful show.” In the stillness above them Discord’s form appears in a flash, apparently pleased with the state they have descended to.

“You!” Sombra’s rage immediately flares up again. “Where is Ruya!?”

“Oh I don’t know,” The draconequus shrugs. “But after that dreadful scene I’m ready to lighten the mood aren’t you?”

“Answer me!” The unicorn yells. He looses a blast of cursed energy from his horn. The ball of burning green soars toward the draconequus who twists his serpent body into a circle through which he allows the projectile to fly. As it does it immediately flies in the opposite direction as if it has passed through a portal and smashes into the space between the two alicorn sisters sending the unicorn tumbling backward. He lands on his stomach and skids to a halt as flames fizzle away into the air around him. He struggles to his feet, bruised, but far too filled with bloodlust to stop fighting. The two alicorn sisters step forward and using their magic to bring their five remaining elements of harmony before them.

“Oh yay!” He reacts giddily. “This is going to be the best part!” He sits back in the air and dons a pair of red framed plastic shades and pulls a box of popcorn from a passing ember like it is only the natural thing to do.

“It’s over Discord,” The pink maned alicorn assures him resolutely. She turns to her sister who has stepped forward with her, putting on a brave face. The two nod to each other and turn to Discord with every intention of ending him in their eyes. The elements light up and begin spinning around the alicorns like planets sent into hyper orbit. Their powers begin to resonate and Discord eyes the spectacle, relishing it with bright expectations.

“Oh yes,” He says over the roar of the spinning phantasms. “Things are getting good!”

Interlude end…

“I knew you would figure it out,” the impossibility stated, cheerfully. “Dentist pony is a smart pony.”

It isn’t real…

“Dentist pony?”

It isn’t real, It isn’t real, It isn’t real, It isn’t real, It isn’t real, It isn’t real, It isn’t real…

It isn’t real!

“Y-you’re,” Colgate’s lip trembled, struggling to take in what her eyes were seeing. With ease and no resistance, the small pony cantered over to her, nothing unnatural in her demeanor and no kind of sadness on her face.

“We’re still best pals,” the little pony asked, raising a hoof. “Right?” Colgate turned to face her, raising her own hoof and moving it fearfully toward whatever was in front of her, ready to add her own mental state to the list of things she had broken. She couldn’t even hold it still, her appendage trembling clumsily as she moves it to the hoof opposite her own, one that was held up with full assurance and did not move at all. The two met. It couldn’t be nor should it be, Colgate thought.

“B…B…” Colgate’s lips trembled, fumbling over only a single syllable. It was foggy now, or was it a haze. Something was clouding her view. She blinked to clear it up and felt two cold streams travel down her cheeks.

It’s real…

But how? Why? The hoof Colgate thought was merely a wishful apparition of her aching mind was there. She could feel it against her own and if she had pushed, she surely would have been met with the resistance that only something tangible could offer.

“Colgate?” the filly asked with sudden concern for her friend. It must have looked like she was in the grip of some horrible pain, Colgate thought. She swallowed, trying to speak, but feeling the tremor in her throat and eyes surface every time she tried. So she gave up trying to stop it. There was nothing to be gained from it at this point.

“Ruya!” Colgate broke down, collapsing and her embracing the filly with her two front hooves. They didn’t pass through. The filly’s fur was soft against her own and Colgate could feel that she had weight as she cried over Ruya’s shoulder.

“I…gh” Colgate choked on her words, swallowing again, hearing the shaking even in her own breathing, shallow and void of the words she wanted it to contain. And, no matter how hard she tried to clench her eyes shut, to just let the warmth of the small pony let her know she was there, the water still escaped her eyes.

“I…I’m…gh,” Colgate drew in a long asthmatic breath again, sniffling and hearing it come out in broken vibrations.

“Sorry…” She finally managed. “I…I’m just…gh” Colgate sputtered, breaking deeper and deeper into sobs. “S…Sorry…”

“Why are you sorry Dentist pony?” Ruya asked, simply letting Colgate cry over her, not moving. “You should be happy.”

“Gh…I…I am,” Colgate clenched Ruya tighter. “You’re alive.”

“Huh?” Ruya titled her head. “Oh no,” she stated. “I’m definitely dead.” Colgate opened her eyes, the rush of her tears stopping at this sentence.

“What do you mean?” Colgate asked, a heavy dread sinking into her chest. Ruya took a pace back as Colgate let her go, a dense confusion stunning the tears that had been flowing out in torrents. Colgate’s eyes flicked back and forth between Ruya’s searching for an answer as the filly took one of Colgate’s hooves in two of her own and pressed it to her chest. Ruya was still there, nothing particularly outstanding had changed, but Ruya looked up at her with a smile.

“See?” She said, as if to indicate Colgate had her answer.

“I…” Colgate wiped her face with her free hoof, wondering if some of the tears might still be clouding her vision. It didn’t help. “I don’t…”

“What do you feel?” Ruya asked.

“Um…fur?” Colgate answered, like a child being eased through a medical checkup that they were scared of.

“Anything else?” Ruya’s gaze remained steadfast against Colgate’s flickering eyes.

“N…no…” Colgate said.

“Exactly!” Ruya smiled, as if this were the correct answer, The answer.

“I…I…” Colgate kept her hoof where it was, stunned in perplexity.

“I have no heartbeat.” Ruya said happily, as though it were normal and couldn’t possibly affect her well-being. Yet, it was true. There was no subtle thump beneath the filly’s chest that Colgate could feel. In this regard, Ruya was as inanimate as stone. Colgate hung her head and let her hoof fall to the watery floor.

“Tch…” The tears were different now. “Dammit…” She cursed. “Dammit!” Colgate stomped, sending up a harsh spray of water. Ruya flinched, skipping a step back.

“You’re…you’re not happy?” Ruya asked, seeming slightly fearful. “Dentist pony?”

“I thought…” Colgate sniffled. “I thought I might still be able to save you.”

“You don’t have to,” Ruya smiled. “You’re alive. I didn’t give it to you so I could have it.”

“What?” Colgate lifted her head, noticing Ruya in front of her again, but this time with her gold necklace placed on top of her head, presenting it to Colgate.

“Best pals?” Ruya asked, wagging her tail and waiting for her to take the jewelry.

“How can I say that… when I let you die?” Colgate asked, looking back at Ruya, wanting nothing more than to agree and to take her trinket, but not having the willpower.

“But you did it Dentist pony,” Ruya assured her. “You found the Timescape. I knew you could do it!”

“Timescape…” Colgate repeated the word, vaguely remembering Axis use the same term, but her memory was too clouded by all the rage she had felt for his seeming lack of care or assistance, for it to be helpful. “Is that what this is?”

“Mhm!” Ruya nodded enthusiastically.

“Can it help me save you?”

“Well…” Ruya lowered her ears. “No…”

“Tch…” Colgate turned her head away in frustration again, sending up another splash with a stomp. “Then what good is it!?”

“Did you forget about all the lights?” Ruya asked.

“Why…” Colgate breathed, mentally exhausted. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

“Here, let me show you.” With short skip, Ruya landed next to Colgate, making a light splash and putting a hoof around one of Colgate’s front legs. Rather than her jump, this last action sent a wave of water out in a circle around them, as if the force of Ruya’s light gesture had forced the air and water away. The space around them dimmed and there were suddenly a myriad of lights around them, some tiny, a few others the size of beach balls, and many in between, a luminescent garden of fireflies over the water. Each light seemed to be reflected off the surface both above and below them, making the lights into an even more scattered mess.

“This is…” Colgate didn’t know what to say. Ruya had done this once before, making a cryptic statement before she let the scene vanish.

“You,” Ruya finished. Colgate looked back at her, the filly’s crystal pelt bouncing even more light around in the chaos. “It’s hard to look at isn’t it?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Colgate asked, half sure she should be insulted and half sure it was nothing.

“There are so many lights that they’re hard to keep truck of huh?” Ruya smiled. That much was true, Colgate had to agree.

“Y…yeah…” Colgate nodded in baffled agreement, looking back up and the mesmerizing display.

“A lot of these are real small, you’ve seen them once, but they never shone that brightly for you. What we’re looking for are the really bright and colorful ones. And those aren’t out there,” Ruya gestured up to the vast expanse Colgate was gazing into.

“Those,” Ruya started, reaching up onto the tips of her back hooves and put her free hoof to Colgate’s chin. Colgate looked at her and the filly pushed her head to the side. “Are much closer.” Right in front of her were two hoofball sized spheres of colored light, one a shiny gold and the other a deep blue.

“These two have names,” Ruya explained with enthusiasm. “Can you guess?” Colgate blinked. She had a hunch, but didn’t answer simply because she didn’t want to be wrong again.

“These two are Luna and Tia,” Ruya grinned. The lights seemed to waver and suddenly floated away.

“W-wait,” Colgate went to go after them, but stopped, feeling Ruya tug at her leg, pointing to something else in front of her.

“I wonder who this one is,” Ruya said. “It’s pretty big.” Colgate put her free hoof back down, returning to place, the bright pink orb sending a wave of sorrow through her. Its soft hue was comforting to see against her blue fur as she raised a hoof to it, captivated by the glow reflected in her eyes.

“B…Berry Punch…” She said, almost under her breath. But then she touched it, and instead of her hoof passing through it or hearing the soft bubbly sound she expected from the floating objects, it made a horrible cracking noise and then hissed like sand as it dissolved into tiny colored grains.

“No!” Colgate yelled as the particles wafted away and scattered across the water. Ruya tugged at her leg, gripping hard as Colgate tried to get away to do something, anything.

“Dentist pony, stop!” Ruya called to her as she nearly lost her grip. Colgate stopped. She sat back down and resigned herself to whatever the filly had to tell her.

“What…” Colgate started, her voiced hinted with sobs again. “What happened?”

“Berry Punch doesn’t seem to be doing too well…” Ruya said. Colgate looked up, two more lights in front of them, one a pastel green and the other a light apricot.

“Who…” Colgate preemptively wiped her face, “Who are these?”

“This one’s name is Lyra,” Ruya said. “And this one’s name is Bon Bon.” As she said their names, Ruya touched each one and they made a distinct, bloop, like a heavy drop of water. “And uh…” Ruya looked up, tilting her head at something above them. Colgate followed her gaze and found a small gray light hovering sporadically above them, unable to hold a single place or float steadily like the other lights.

“That’s odd,” Ruya stated, a statement that was also odd, at least for her.

“Heh…” Colgate managed a slight smile with a chuckle, recalling when she had been feeling down after burning a tree before this whole mess had started. “That one’s Derpy.”

“Heehee,” Ruya giggled. “See, look at all of these lights.” Colgate looked back ahead, all of the previous lights now in a circle around her, even Berry Punch’s was back. Colgate’s eyes brightened upon seeing it, having taken its disappearance as a sign that something terrible had happened.

“She’s okay?” Colgate asked, looking to Ruya. The filly shrugged.

“It didn’t seem like she was doing too well…” Ruya stated plainly.

“Then show me what to do!” Colgate pleaded. “Show me how to fix that!” She pointed to the shattered remains of the element of harmony.

“You don’t need to,” Ruya said. “You can’t break an element of harmony silly. Didn’t Axis tell you that?”

“He did,” Colgate shot back. “I…Still don’t know what that means.”

“Here,” Ruya pointed at another light that had rotated its way around in front of Colgate. “Look at this light.” She did. Colgate’s frustration was beginning to resurface. All of it was so cryptic and this small purple light didn’t look like it held any answers.

“Wh…” Colgate breathed, unable to utter any other response.

“It looks like it’s been shrinking.” Ruya poked it.

“What do you mean?” Colgate asked, tilting her head an eyeing the glowing sphere, seeing no indication of how its size had ever changed.

“This used to be a big light, “Ruya explained. “But now it’s small. It moved away and now you see it less.”

“Twilight?” Colgate whispered.

“Princess Twilight,” Ruya exclaimed. “She’s a fancy pony.”

“What does she have to do with…” Colgate trailed off, the pieces half fitting, but not altogether. She knew the elements had helped Twilight beat Nightmare moon and even Discord, everyone in Ponyville knew. But…then what?

“See,” Ruya said. “Ruya sees lots of stuff through the Timescape and dentist pony is trying to learn the same lesson Twilight Sparkle learned when Nightmare Moon broke the elements on her too.”

“She broke them?” Colgate stared at Ruya, too perplexed to ask how in Equestria the filly could possibly know that. “But then…”

“Hmmmmmmm?” Ruya egged her on with a grin

“Are the gems not important?”

“Nope,” Ruya shook her head.

“Then what…” Colgate trailed off. Ruya pointed at the lights around Colgate. Half of her understood, the other was still lost.

“You can be loyal to your friends without that gem silly. The real element of loyalty is right here. Boop!” Ruya poked Colgate in the nose and skipped away. The display of lights vanished and Colgate once again stood in the empty expanse of blue water and sky, looking a short distance across to Ruya who was smiling back at her. This time, Colgate returned the gesture, hearing a rush of water behind her that broke the silence.

“So do you understand now?” A voice boomed. Colgate spun around ready to destroy what she knew was behind her.

“You,” Colgate sneered back at him angrily. “Why couldn’t you just tell me that!?” The watery alicorn stood just as before, like an eternal fountain, resolute.

“I find the lesson sticks far better,” Axis responded. “when it is taught by someone you care for.” Colgate turned, feeling Ruya nudging her at her side.

“Thank you…” Colgate said, and gave the filly as full of a hug as she possibly could.

“Hee…” Ruya laughed, pressing her cheek to Colgate’s, the two ponies closing one eye as they squashed together. Warmth. That was the only appropriate word. Click, a metallic latch smoothly closed around Colgate’s neck. She looked down. Ruya had put her gold necklace on Colgate.

“You’re going to need it,” Ruya smiled, answering Colgate’s confused expression.

“Hm…” Colgate grinned, touching their noses together. “You’re the best.” Ruya gave Colgate another brief cuddle, and as Colgate put Ruya down, she held on for as long as she could, but eventually turned to Axis with brighter, determined eyes.

“I get it now,” She said. “Where do I start?”

“Well,” Axis replied. “I believe there is someone who has been waiting here for you.” The rush of water stopped again and as the torrent splashed to the surface, it revealed a small pink mare. It turned to Colgate, It’s swirly eyes narrowing with rampant hatred.

“Clocktail…” It sneered.

“Screwball…” Colgate returned. Set on edge, her nerves and body stiffened. She knew what this mare was capable of. But this time she was going to stop it.

“A killer, a bawler, who thinks herself a scholar,” Screwball chanted menacingly. “what makes you belay death like a loon. You should have died at ten o’clock… Now you’ll die at noon…”

“Get her Dentist pony!” Colgate heard Ruya say behind her.

This is it, Colgate thought, you can’t break an element of harmony.

The Minuet

Chapter 13: The Minuet

Time and Space Await…

-Wind in the rain, we wish only to be strong…

Interlude 7:

All he does is laugh. Even as the five remaining elements spiral and alight around the two alicorn sisters, all the draconequus does is laugh. It is amusing to him because of the determination they bear and because he knows what they do not.

“Hahaha!” he chuckles, doing several somersaults as he floats around above them. “You should see your faces.”

“Laugh while you can Discord!” the smaller alicorn jeers back at him, bearing on her face the same intolerant assurance as her sister who says nothing, standing firm.

“Ooohahaha!” the draconequus cackles. “Oh don’t you worry about me princess. Fire away. My body is ready,” he grins cheekily, spreading his arms out wide as if to embrace their attack, a small mock target appearing at his center. The pink maned alicorn clicks her tongue at this, insulted by his derision, but unfazed. The elements of harmony burst into a bright glow, their swirl of colors converging over the two sisters’ heads. It flares up, forming into a streak of translucent blue and pink light that arcs into the sky toward the draconequus. And still, all he does is laugh. The bow of color passes through him, striking the ground with no impact, a mere band of distorted light.

“Wahahah!” the draconequus whirls about in an uproar. “Ohhhh…” he breathes. “You know it’s hard not to be impressed with myself sometimes.”

“Discord!” The pink maned alicorn calls up to him, watching him bask in a spotlight that should’ve destroyed him. “What did you do!?”

“Me?” Discord questions. His jaw drops as he gestures to himself with his talon hand, putting on an expression of fake victimization. “…Hm.” he scratches his chin in thought. “You know not very much now that I think about it…”

“Isn’t it great!?” He grins and assumes a relaxed, smug recline in midair. “You have your dentist friend to thank for this…m…minute…or whatever her name was.”

“What did you do to her?” the smaller alicorn questions.

“Oh not much,” the draconequus twirls his hand as if to wave off a flattery. “Sweet nothings can destroy the world though you know.”

“Perhaps we need to use more power Tia?” The smaller alicorn suggests.

“You want to try again?” Her sister asks. The alicorn nods and the two turn to face the draconequus with renewed vigor.

“Hmmm,” the draconequus sits up, furrowing his brow. “Sorry, sisters,” he smirks. “There won’t be any harmony today. Just pure pandemonium!” He shouts this last sentence with a swirl of his body and a flick of his tail, a movement that seemingly ruptures the air, sending a wave of force like an air burst from a falling meteor. The wave tears the two sisters off their hooves, sending them tumbling back as the objects swirling around them shatter into bladed shards of hail. They grind to a halt in the soil, battered and peppered with cuts from the pieces of the elements, many of which now surround them, stuck into the dirt like knives.

“Haha!” the draconequus laughs. “Who knew it would be so easy! Embrace the madness my little ponies! It’s Discord’s world now! Oh…” He stops for a second seeming to ponder his own words. “Perhaps I should rename it…heh.” He grins as an idea pops into his head. “Perhaps something like…Discortopia! Ha! Ahaha! How brilliantly contradictory!” A swirling mass of pink cotton candy clouds forms like a gathering thunderstorm as the draconequus continues to laugh over his success. But, as he celebrates high above, the smaller alicorn manages to open one eye, a seeping cut just below the other, so she keeps it tightly shut. The fresh wounds feel like the pieces of crystal are still wedged in them and she finds it difficult to stand.

“Tia…” She says faintly. “Did we fail again?” Her sister doesn’t move. The alicorn with the bright pink mane seems breathless and her countenance is dimmed, her body torn and her determination gone.

“Tia?” The younger alicorn painfully drags her beaten body over to her sister, cringing as the dirt sifts through her wounds like salt. But her tears are not from her physical pain. “We can try again right? Tia?” Luna puts a hoof around Celestia’s back, shaking her gently, trying to get her attention.

“Tia?” The alicorn’s eyes well up and she begins to sob. “No…” She whimpers, laying her head down on the torn checkerboard tile next to her sisters’. The older alicorn’s eyes are shut, and they do not open.

“No…wake up, Tia…We can still try… Tia…” Their horns touch, but only one of them sparks.

“You…” comes a deep, hollow voice.

“Hm?” the draconequus stops his reveling, nothing more than curious about what will be thrown his way next.

“I’m not going to rely on these artifacts anymore,” The unicorn steps forward, placing himself in front of the two defeated sisters.

“Sombra…” The small blue alicorn pleads with him. “Please don’t…”

“I have no other choice,” the unicorn states, a dark ambition in his voice as his eyes burn green.

“Ooooo,” the draconequus marvels. “This should be interesting. What are you going to do?” the unicorn glares up at him.

“I’m going to destroy you, Discord.”

Interlude End...

It is a battle without limits, a clash between legends. Here, the light from the marble of the Timescape meets the glass of the Grand Kaleidoscope. One attempts to distort that which has no form and the other attempts to destroy that which assumes any form. One cannot be broken and the other is already broken.

Colgate finds her power to be boundless. No matter the strength or vigor of energy she throws at the mad mare before her, it always comes back. It is a shower of diamonds, a cascade of thousands of sharpened grains of sand that hurtle from her horn. Nothing has worked before. Until now, it has been failure. But such an abounding strength cannot fail at the purpose toward which directs its might. It is a power that tears foundations, an upheaval that not even the strongest structures can withstand. Every building falls when the ground is rent beneath its pillars.

Except for this one. If Colgate’s power is something that tears the ground, then her opponent is one that has no need of it. As she had done before, Colgate wields her strands of projected dental floss like whips. Yet this time they seem less like dental floss and more like she has found some way to fight with the strings of existence. The white strands strip through the blueness around them like flails, tearing what should not be torn. They leave pockets of blackness in their wake, gaps that desperately seal themselves shut as space repairs itself.

But even this existential rending leaves Screwball only angrier with each offense. Like paper, her limbs are torn from reality, wounds that do not bleed but whose empty black voids are quickly filled in with replacements. The mare’s body is continuously shredded and reformed, a pain that does not faze her, but only increases her madness. Their battle is one flashing blue and pink light, Screwball, soaring about the liquid expanse of the Timescape in a bubble of pink magic, viciously attempting to ram Colgate. Even in the instance the mare was able to avoid all of Colgate’s attacks, bouncing and zigzagging off nothing like light reflected off a mirror, Screwball is met with Colgate’s own bubble, a dome of blue that encases her, a stalwart force that deflects Screwball out into the void again. More and more hatred is poured into each of her returns; she is a rogue comet bent on obliterating her star. But she does not have the force.

With a silencing, space shaking sonic boom, Screwball slammed to the watery floor, the small ripples tickling the underside of Colgate’s hooves. For a moment, their fight became silent. Screwball glared Colgate down with her swirly eyes, far from exhausted, but twisted with frustration.

“You won’t get the best of me this time Screwball,” Colgate snapped, her strands of floss standing at the ready as they emerged from the water below her. Screwball spat and grit her teeth, her face unable to convey just how much fury she felt on the inside.

“Hark, hark,” She said, vitriol and sarcasm seated in her tone. “The dogs do bark… The beggars are coming to town, some in rags, some in tags and one in a velvet gown!”

“Real words please,” Colgate smirked. Screwball’s eyes widened in indignation as she stomped her hoof and screamed.

“You’re nothing special!” Her stomp was like a punch in time, the space in front of Colgate shattering like glass, leaving a jagged black hole out of which emerged a black hand. It was large enough to grab her and crush her and it went for her like that was its intention. But it was stopped, its black knuckles clenched around the surface of Colgate’s magic blue bubble. It slammed down on the dome with a weight Colgate didn’t anticipate. It was as though Screwball had turned space inside out. This hand was trying to pull her into the void it came from, some flip side of reality. As it pressed down on her and pulled, Colgate watched her shield crack. Not now, she thought. There was no way she was going to let something like this beat her at this point. She was stronger than it. Static spiked from her horn in sharp jolts as Colgate prepared herself. A vibrant cerulean beam burst from her horn, swirling through the phantom hand in spiraling helix. But rather than obliterate her foe, the destructive beam seemed to repair everything in front of her instead. The tip of Colgate’s horn popped violently as the hand was forced back into its void and the space in front of her warped back together like a blender working in reverse. Recoiling from the pain in her head, Colgate had little time to recover. Screwball barreled toward her in the wake of her distortion, a pink bolt of lightning ready to impale. Colgate bowed her strands of floss over her and Screwball rammed into where they converged, small centimeters away from Colgate’s face. For a few moments, the two powers clash, pink and blue magic and lightning radiating out from where they meet, Screwball’s eyes deadlocked to Colgate’s through Colgate’s cage of strings.

“I won’t lose to you!” Colgate yelled defiantly, pushing all of her effort forward. In a flash of blue, Screwball’s pink aura shattered and Colgate’s strands of floss drilled forward and tore through her as they met, nothing to protect the rogue, pink comet anymore. The strands separated and pulled the mare apart. In the silence of the existential boom Colgate could hear the water below her slosh gently, her strands of floss wavering above her like tall reeds in a pond. There was no blood, just four different fractions of pink, four jagged and ripped shards that looked like paper, pink on the outside and starry and surreal on the inside, drifted peacefully down. Had this mare been made of paper? Colgate marveled at the sight, wondering if she had simply ripped apart a sock puppet.

Yet, the torn shreds suddenly leapt to life, swirling and converging to a point. Fusing, they sloshed together like clay, quickly and perfectly reforming the mare that Colgate had just torn apart. Screwball plopped to the ground with a light splash panting slightly as though she had just stopped running, but brushing her tail back and forth in the water behind her, clearly ready to fight more.

“What did I dream?” Screwball grinned, eyes alight again. “I do not know. The fragments fly like chaff. Yet strange my mind was tickled so, I cannot help but laugh…”

“What?” Colgate said, half at seeing Screwball seemingly unharmed and ready to go again and half at her strange rhyme.

“One to make ready,” Screwball ignored her, her eyes still set with determination to kill her rival. “And two to prepare; good luck to the rider, and…” Screwball paused, her body glowing pink again.

“Away goes the mare!” Screwball boomed forward in a rush that sent a shining pink bow expanding across the water in her wake. Colgate renewed her defenses and Screwball rebounded of her shield and their battle, as it stood, had essentially reset.

I don’t get it, Colgate thought. She was strong now wasn’t she? Didn’t she have all the power of the Timescape at her disposal? Could she not cast any spell she set her mind to without exhaustion? So then…what? Why couldn’t she defeat this mare?

Wind in the rain, we wished only to be strong.

Another cataclysmic boom shook the blueness around them as Screwball clashed with Colgate again.

There is only assurance in this child’s eyes. Who made the young ghost doubt her footsteps?

Was this not it, Colgate thought? Did she only feel strong while lacking the actual power? This couldn’t be right. She had watched herself tear holes in space, grapple with pure chaos. So then…why?

Colgate watched as Screwball rocketed in for another strike, but made no effort to stop it.

“Am I still not strong enough…Ruya?” With a bang like a cannon, Colgate was sent tumbling over herself, violently splashing through the water, smacking her face across its surface several times. Her strands of floss crumbled into sand and Colgate skid to a halt. She lay there, face in the water and mane plastered sadly across the back of her neck and over her eyes.

“Ahahahah!” Screwball spiraled around in the air with glee, watching as Colgate made no effort to rise. “You finally give up, Clocktail?” Colgate raised her head, her weary eyes met with the sight of Ruya’s ashes and the fragments of the element of harmony, both seemingly undisturbed by the chaos of the fight around them that had shaken space itself.

Remember all of the lights? Never have the stars of night looked so dim nor have they failed to dazzle me so as in the face of these. I loved all of those lights…and they loved me back.

Colgate eyed the gray, lifeless shards amongst the ashes of her friend, recalling the words she had said over and over.

“So many lights…” Colgate mumbled to herself. “Remember all of the lights.” Colgate looked to her right as a small splash of water alerted her. She was met with Ruya’s thin presence, a frame she could see through to the blueness behind her. The filly’s face was sad, concerned for her again defeated friend.

“Dentist pony?” She said.

“I’ll never defeat her on my own will I?” Colgate asked. Ruya lowered her ears.

“Well…no…” she answered.

“I get it…” Colgate looked away, standing slowly and resolutely to face Screwball, who was still grinning eagerly down at her, waiting for her next move. “This might be goodbye then…”

“Minuette…?” Colgate heard Ruya approach tentatively, but then stop.

“Celestia and Luna are going to need this element of harmony,” Colgate said. Ruya’s sad face burst into a smile.

“So…” She paused. “You do get it?”

“Mm…” Colgate responded. “I’m so stupid. You’ve been telling me this whole time and all I wanted to be was strong. So I will be. My friends need me, so I’ll help them. Right?” Colgate looked back to Ruya for assurance, but she was gone. Colgate smiled.

The cold gates open and close…

“That’s all I need.” All that was left was to get back to where Celestia and Luna were. That shouldn’t be too hard, she thought, considering she had all of time’s magic at her disposal. The power had obviously gotten her here; it could get her back.

Wind in the rain, I am surrounded by light
But shrouded in darkness.
I wish only to be strong.

“So…” Screwball grinned, her body lighting up pink. “Ready to accept your fate, Clocktail?”

“Sure,” Colgate said. “I’ll never be stronger than you.” Screwball smiled widely at this reply.

I am daunted by the abyss,
Sewing thread that gains no life.
The horizon is so much bigger.

“Not on my own that is,” Colgate added.

“What?” Screwball frowned, glaring at Colgate.

“I’ll need some friends.” She focused. As pointedly as she could Colgate focused on the place that she had left. She thought of Celestia, she thought of Luna, she thought of Sombra. Hmmm…Colgate pondered, he’s not going to be very- no no! She stopped herself. The checkerboard tiles, the Everfree, she recalled the scene she had left.

There is meaning in the water of the soul
But the truth is bowed in its prism.
How can it be known?

“I hope I’m not too late,” Colgate’s horn sprung to life, lighting up in a vibrant cerulean glow. The small, jagged pieces of the element of harmony rose up around her, surrounded by the light blue aura of her magic and waves instead of ripples of water radiated out from where she stood. Screwball’s face twisted in rage at this sight. Colgate closed her eyes and though of her friends. Celestia, Luna, Ruya, Berry Punch, Derpy, Lyra, and Bon Bon. This was all for them

I need only those lights,
My lights…

“The cold gates open and close,” Colgate said.

“When are you going to learn!” Screwball yelled, bursting forward, a pink beam of light. However, a burst of red light sent the mare spiraling back as Colgate joined all the pieces of the broken element of harmony back together, the ashes at her feet swirling up and sifting their way through the cracks of the broken gemstone. The burst of red light seemed to get sucked back in and a sudden flash of white light blinded Screwball as she recovered from her spin, the brilliant display sending a pillar of crystal clear water soaring up into the infinity above. In its place was a shining red gemstone. Colgate smiled at it, its red glow refracted in the drops of pure water that ran down its sides, a reforged element of loyalty. It looked just like the others. Colgate looked down at her chest. The gem was a perfect fit for the necklace that Ruya had given her and she clicked it into place, smiling at her success and looking back up at Screwball with a renewed vigor.

“I think I just did,” Colgate said. Her horn started to spark, arching bolts of energy that boiled the water beneath them as they hissed across its surface.

“Enough already!” Screwball screamed, charging Colgate as the water around her began to form a massive cyclone. Despite her speed, Screwball never got to touch Colgate. Everything seemed to slow down and, just as they had arrived, space seemed to fold in on itself. The massive energy spiraling around them collapsed and as the water encased them, they were swallowed into the folds of the Timescape.

Interlude 8:

There is no end to the unicorn’s rage, but there is also no reality in which it will make him victorious. Discord sits above him on his throne of air casually dodging beams and burning green spheres of magic meant to be lethal. He catches one fireball simply out of curiosity and eyes it facetiously. Then, with a snap of his fingers, her turns it into a harmless, ripe, green apple.

“Snack?” Discord looms above the unicorn and holds out the apple.

“Do not play games with me!” The unicorn bellows. His voice amplified, it echoes across the checkerboard hills and the force of his magic as he readies for another strike sends cracks though the ground, shaking the outer trees of the remaining Everfree down to their roots.

“Well,” Discord replies, “I just thought you might get hungry using all that magic and-”

“I will tear the horns from your head!” the unicorn shouts back in defiance, another burst of green fire sending out a shock wave that shakes the tree branches as he fires it from his horn. Discord slithers his way around it nonchalantly, shrugging at the unicorn’s dismissive reply.

“Suit yourself,” he says as he lounges back and takes a bite out of the apple with a crisp crunch. He quickly sits up, making a contorted face and spitting out what he has nearly eaten.

“Blech!” He hangs his tongue out and wipes it repeatedly with his lion paw as if trying to get the taste off. “Turns out dark magic makes incredibly sour apples…” Another column of fire sears past Discord as he wiggles to his right, eying the bitten apple shrewdly.

“Discord!” The unicorn’s shouts increase in volume as his rage climbs. Fed up with his current method, the unicorn directs his magic bellow himself. He sends jets of cursed flame out around him as the unicorn launches himself into the air, an emerald meteor directed at Discord.

“Well, I don’t want it,” Discord says, turning his back on the unicorn. “Here, you can have it.” And he tosses the apple over his shoulder. The unicorn ignores it, but, as though it were suddenly a grenade, it meets the unicorn’s horn and the fruit explodes. The unicorn is sent spiraling back to the ground, smoke trailing off his horn and hooves. He can feel his limbs crack as he strikes the ground, skidding to a painful halt only a few meters in front of the alicorn sisters. The younger one still has her face buried in her sister’s wing. She raises her head at the sudden sound, watching the unicorn slowly and painfully try to get back up, battered, with no progress to show for his wounds.

“Sombra…” the smaller alicorn says, the fur under her eyes dried with tears. “Please stop…”

“If Discord is to be victorious…” the unicorn replies, gaze resolutely forward, his speech pained. He is barely able to stand, his front left leg still rests on its knee and he can’t seem to put his full weight on it. “Then I will die trying to stop him.”

“Ooooo!” Discord laughs. “How brave and endearing!” The draconequus puts his hands to his cheeks in a mock cutesy impression. “Say,” he asks, “want to hear a riddle?”

“I don’t want to hear anything from you!” The unicorn’s eyes blaze green. Discord slouches in disappointment.

“Fine then,” he shrugs. “But the answer was bomb.” He snaps his fingers and the unicorn is abruptly blown from his feet by an explosion from underneath him. “Ooooahahahahaha!” The draconequus chuckles uncontrollably. The unicorn lands painfully on his side, nothing but Discord’s laughter drowned by incessant ringing to fill his ears.

“Sombra!” The smaller alicorn pleads

“Hm?” Discord looks over at her. “You know I almost forgot about you. How’s big sis?” The small alicorn looks up at him indignantly, tears pooling in the bottom of her eyes.

“Ahaha!” Discord bursts into laughter again, but stops. “Hm?” His curiosity is piqued by a ripple in the space below him. Before he can even sarcastically ogle it, a brilliant bolt of blue lightning split’s the air, ripping through the space before the draconequus in a webbed pattern. The tears swirl and warp sending sparks jumping from their folds. The cracks in space all seem to gather to a point, forming a watery blue circle. And just as quickly as it appeared, a shower of sparks glitters into the air as it vanishes into a bolt of blue that strikes the ground. In its place stands a familiar pony with her midnight blue and silver mane.

Interlude End…

“Blue pony!” Discord threw his arms in the air as though he was greeting an old friend. “I thought you exploded out of grief.” Colgate glared at the draconequus’s smug face floating tauntingly in the air above her, the once broken element of loyalty now shining a crisp red from the necklace around her neck.

“You’re going to pay for everything you’ve done Discord,” Colgate snapped back at him, half smirking, confident this time that she had what it took to finally set things right.

“Everypony keeps saying that,” Discord shrugged. “But I swear I didn’t do that much… and,” he paused and with a sudden flash, popped from his place in the sky to directly in front of Colgate, his one protruding fang still a staggering annoyance every time he got close. “I think you’ll find I won’t have to do much now either.”

“What makes you think you’ll get the chance?” Colgate sneered, narrowing her eyes and frowning at the draconequus.

“Oh, who’s a silly pony?” Discord grinned, grabbing Colgate by the cheek and shaking her head. Colgate wrenched herself away.

“Whatever Discord,” she said. “I’m here to save my friends from you this time.”

“Look around you,” Discord said, putting an arm around Colgate’s back. “You already gave me my chance. I don’t need another one. But I’m flattered that you’d give me one.”

“What are y-” Colgate met Luna’s eyes first. The small midnight blue alicorn was staring at her, the fur under her eyes dried with tears. She was surrounded by what looked like glass and shards of crystal protruding from the checkerboard tile beneath them. And behind her was her sister. Celestia lay on her side in a puddle of her own pink mane, facing away from Colgate, cuts and abrasions slashed randomly across the alicorn’s body and legs.

“You see,” Discord said. “Now I don’t know how you managed this little doohickey,” the draconequus ran a finger up and down the gem around Colgate’s neck, “but the rest of your precious harmony rocks are gone.”

“You’re wrong,” Colgate snapped back at him, taking glances at Luna, dreading the worst for Celestia. Was she already too late? “My friends-”

“Friends?” Discord stopped her. “You may want to consider whether or not any of these ponies are actually your friends anymore.”

“We’re going to destroy you Discord,” Colgate glared at him, fed up with his banter.

“Oooo,” Discord seemed to wince in jest at her words. “It didn’t end so well for the last pony who said that.”

“You…” Colgate heard another voice behind her.

“Oh,” Discord grinned excitedly. “Here he comes.” Colgate turned around. Sombra was there, struggling to his feet at the edge of the Everfree, battered and cut up like Celestia, but still conscious. His eyes were burning with a green flame and when the unicorn lifted his head to look at Colgate, his gaze was filled with bloodlust, a desire to destroy what he saw.

“How can you possibly claim to be on our side after what you’ve done,” Sombra said, his voice gravelly as he struggled to hold back his rage. “Where is my niece?” He asked. “Where is Ruya?” Colgate lowered her ears and looked away.

“Ah…” It was all that came out when she opened her mouth to make an excuse. But there wasn’t anything she could say, not to Sombra. And there was no excuse. Her actions had led to Ruya’s death. There was nothing Colgate could say that would make the filly’s death not her fault, because it was her fault. But while Colgate had been struggling to accept this and do what she needed to do in spite of her grief, Sombra had not. While Colgate had been away in her bubble of time, her friends had been here anguishing and falling apart. None of them were in good shape it seemed. But the hate in Sombra’s eyes said more than his voice ever could.

“Tell me where Ruya is!” Sombra’s voice boomed and Colgate tensed, the volume far beyond normal. Perhaps the rumble she felt through her body was her fear playing tricks on her. Nopony’s voice could be that loud.

“She…” Colgate struggled with the words for a moment. “She’s dead.” Was there any other way to say it, she wondered? Sombra roared, a grievous yell that shook the air. In an instant, the Unicorn was in front of Colgate a trail of emerald flame billowing in his wake, leaving a path of shattered checkerboard and scattered soil. Colgate only had time to flinch as Sombra was suddenly standing over her, his shadow seeming far larger than it should have. Colgate felt like she was in an eclipse, Sombra’s burning green eyes seeming brighter than the sky behind him.

“She trusted you,” Sombra said, his voice low and his horn lighting up with the same green flame that flowed from his eyes.

“Sombra…” Colgate attempted to dissuade him. “Ruya was my best friend… I didn’t want any of this. I’m here to set things right.”

“Wherever you went…” Sombra stared down at Colgate intently. “You should have stayed.”

“I wish you could have seen what I saw,” Colgate said.

“And if you’d have seen what I saw,” Sombra replied. “Then you would know there was nothing you could fix.”

“Sombra,” Colgate pleaded. “The elements, you can’t-”

“Enough!” Colgate teleported several feet away as Sombra bellowed and reeled back to strike the ground with his front hooves. The impact sent a shock wave out from around him and the ground below his hooves hissed with smoke and green cinders, the embers snaking their way around his legs. With no time to react, Colgate threw up a shield with her magic as Sombra, as soon as he knew where Colgate had gone, fired a blast of flame from his horn. Colgate felt like she had tried to stop a falling boulder. The blast pushed her across the ground, her hooves dragging across the tile beneath her. With a sudden boom, Colgate’s shield shattered, the blast of fire scattering around her and splashing across her body. She struggled to keep her balance, feeling suddenly light headed in the wake of the attack. It was clear that she didn’t have the power that she did before. The Timescape wasn’t here to help her in this fight. Colgate stumbled a bit, trying to clear her senses. Had she already pushed herself too far? That was only one attack. Sombra wasn’t going to wait either.

Colgate braced herself as best she could as she saw the unicorn’s horn light up for another strike. He fired, but there was no time. Colgate was prepared to dive out of the way when something suddenly intercepted the attack. There was a flash of sky blue as Sombra’s ball of fire hit it and it skid back toward Colgate. Colgate caught the pony before she slid by, putting a hoof around her back and putting her own defensive magic on top of the other pony’s. This time Sombra’s fire burst into pieces and its embers scattered to the ground away from the pair as their shields dissipated.

“Luna?” Colgate said as she observed the alicorn’s weepy determination in the face of Sombra’s attack.

“What are you doing Luna,” Sombra yelled. “That mare didn’t just betray me. She betrayed you too!” Half crying, Luna looked to Colgate. Her eyes were red and her hooves visibly shook as she stood.

“You,” Luna sniffled and talked through her tears. “You better actually be able to fix this.” Colgate puffed out her chest to emphasize the element of harmony.

“I can,” Colgate said, trying to sound as sure of herself as she could. Luna looked like she needed it. Luna examined the jewel around Colgate’s neck, its red glow shining off the water in the alicorn’s eyes.

“Then help my sister,” Luna said, looking back up at Colgate. “I want her and Sombra to be…Wrong about you.” There was something about this gesture that made Colgate want to smile. Luna had faith in her. The look in her eyes got Colgate’s heart pumping, her feelings bolstered with a rush of confidence.

“I won’t let you down,” Colgate let go of Luna and trotted around behind her into a gallop. There would be plenty of time later to thank her.

“Lunaaaaaaaaa!” Colgate heard the rage filled cry of Sombra shake the air behind her and the force of his magic shake the ground as he engaged Luna. Colgate kept running toward Celestia, taking the responsive flashes of blue light as a sign that Luna was still fighting. And, even in between these fits, there was still the raucous laughter of Discord. Colgate clicked her tongue in disdain as she ran, seeing him do gleeful flips in the air as he watched the scene he created unfold, as though Colgate needed anything more to light a fire under her. Her heart raced as she ran and silently promised that Discord wouldn’t be so happy soon.

Celestia was still in heap when Colgate approached her, the unconscious alicorn looking like she had been given a thousand paper cuts by a flurry of envelopes. Eying the scene, Colgate puzzled over what to do. She didn’t know any healing spells and she lacked the overwhelming power she’d had before.

“Princess?” Colgate said. “Uh…” She stammered correcting herself again. “Celestia?” There was no response and looking down seemed to hurt her eyes.

“What happened to you…?” Colgate whispered under her breath, a ground shaking blast from behind her rekindling her sense of urgency. “Uhhh…” Colgate tapped around on her hooves frantically, finding herself squinting.

“What is-” It was the element of harmony. The red gem had begun to glow brighter and brighter as she stood by the remnants of its companions. Colgate heard the small pieces begin to clatter, the ones sticking out from the ground wiggling in place as though they were trying to get somewhere.

“Hmmm…” It was faint, but Celestia stirred the battered pony’s eyes straining as they fluttered open, her limbs wincing as she tried to move.

“Celestia?” Colgate perked up into a near smile.

“Wh…” The mare’s voice was faint and weary. “Why is it so bright?”

“You’re okay!” Colgate smiled, diving in to hug Celestia, putting the mare’s head over her shoulder and embracing her about her neck.

“Ow ow ow ow ow,” Celestia squirmed, still rather disoriented, but fully aware of the pain her wounds caused her.

“Ah-” Colgate immediately let go and took a step back. “Sorry.”

“Minuette?” Celestia said, blinking. “But you…”

“I…screwed some things up,” Colgate said. “I understand if you hate me, but… I’m here to fix what I can.” Celestia looked at the gem around Colgate’s neck.

“Is that…”

“Your missing element,” Colgate finished. Celestia looked back at Colgate, narrowing her eyes.

“Why did you leave?” Celestia asked.

“I thought I was protecting you,” Colgate said. “From… me… I guess?” Colgate wasn’t really sure. “But Discord manipulated me. He’d been in my head ever since I strayed from the Everfree…”

“And yet you came back,” Celestia responded.

“I never meant to be on his side,” Colgate said. A loud crash interrupted their conversation and the small limp body of an alicorn rose into the air high above them, leaving a trail of smoke as it plummeted to the ground. The breeze from the blast sifted through Colgate’s mane as she watched the body of her friend reach its apex in the sky. Her horn lit up encircling the alicorn’s body in a cerulean aura as her body blurred into its decent. Colgate halted the pony’s momentum inches from the ground. Luna hovered there, looking back at her upside down friend, her body battered and singe marks in her mane and on her cheeks.

“Now,” Luna winced, “would be a good time to do that fixing thing you said you could do.”

“Fixing?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at Minuette.

“Tia!” As soon as she heard Celestia’s voice, the seemingly too battered to move Luna flipped herself over and leapt out of Colgate’s magical grip.

“Ah- ow, ow, ow,” Celestia winced through her smile, unable to return her sister’s hug.

“Oh, oops,” Luna quickly let go, grinning sheepishly and floating back to the ground.

“Sorry,” Celestia straightened herself. “I got a little beat up.”

“Y-yeah…” Luna swallowed to hold back the tears pooling in the bottom of her eyes.

“Looks like you fared a little better than me,” Celestia raised a hoof and ruffled the hair on the top of Luna’s head.

“Yeah, but-”

“You two,” A voice cut Luna off, “would side with this traitor?” Celestia, Luna and Colgate were suddenly surrounded by a ring of emerald fire, the only gap directly in front of them. A few feet away stood Sombra, glaring with fiery eyes.

“Sombra what are you doing?” Celestia asked, glancing apprehensively side to side at the cursed flames.

“I should ask you that,” Sombra said. “Why would you trust Minuette again after what she’s done?” Colgate’s eyes darted around, looking for a good way out. Instead, her eyes landed on something that hovered up from the ground in front of her. It was a small crystal shard, glowing pink.

“I…” Celestia glanced at Colgate and then back to Sombra, lowering her head with a pained look that made Colgate nervous.

“Because she’s our friend!” Luna blurted out.

“Luna,” Celestia stared at her sister, watching her as the small alicorn came to Colgate’s defense.

“She came back didn’t she?” Luna said. “With the element of harmony.” Luna turned her head to look at her sister a clear shutter of fear in her eyes as she searched her sister’s for support. “Right?”

“I thought you didn’t trust her to begin with Luna…” Celestia said.

“Well… well I changed my mind,” Luna said. “Besides… aren’t you tired of it, Tia? Of not being able to trust anything around us?” Celestia paused, unable to escape the genuine exhaustion in her sister’s tone.

“Luna…” Celestia said, stunned. But, before long, her shocked expression turned into a soft smile. “That might be one of the most mature things you’ve ever said.

“Wh-” Luna puffed her cheeks in indignation. “I told you I’m not a filly anymore Tia…”

“Guys…” Colgate whispered, trying to get their attention before Sombra did something violent.

“Hm?” They hummed in union, Celestia looking up from Luna and Luna turning her head. Colgate silently pointed to the shining gem shards floating around them, all different colors now, some hidden behind Sombra’s flames. Celestia nodded and turned sternly to face Sombra, standing between Luna and Colgate and spreading her wings over both of them.

“Luna’s right Sombra,” Celestia said. “Minuette is…our friend!” The alicorn stomped her hoof as if to emphasize her resolve while Sombra’s face turned into a scowl.

“Your friend killed my niece!” Sombra yelled. “And destroyed the elements of harmony!” Celestia’ glanced down, her wings shrinking back to her body, hesitant.

“Ruya knew what she was doing,” Colgate yelled back. Celestia was willing to defend her so the least she could was make sure Sombra didn’t get to Celestia. “And that filly taught me a very important lesson, two actually.”

“She’s dead! You’re lying!” Sombra’s horn blazed green, a cannon that was going to fire at any moment.

“I’m not!” Colgate shouted. “She taught me how to be strong and that you can’t break an element of harmony! Because the real elements aren’t in the gems!” Sombra had no verbal response to this, only a roar and stream of fire to match his rage. But, as the flames reached them, the shattered pieces of the elements lit up, the scattered crystals creating a prism of color around them that separated and doused the flames. Celestia, Luna, and Colgate huddled together inside their shield, the roar of the flames around them seeming to echo in its confines. Celestia put herself over Colgate and Luna while Luna looked across at Colgate half in terror and half in wonder. Colgate wiped her forehead, the heat already bringing her to a sweat. Colgate looked forward, seeing nothing but the river of fire that Sombra intended to eliminate them with. Perhaps he was her biggest mistake, she thought. Of all the things she had done, it seemed like she had at least a chance now of reversing her meddling in time. But this, Colgate wondered, how could she fix this? The endless streams of fire reflected off their colorful shield were a cry for vengeance. A cry that had not stopped since Sombra saw Colgate crying over Ruya’s ashes. This ran deeper than any spell could fix.

As the flames intensified still, their prism shield burst into a band of light that fanned out, extinguishing the fire around them in a wave that shook the air. It barreled past Sombra forcing him back as he was drug across the ground as he tried to hold his place, the fire on his horn and in his eyes fizzling away as the light past.

It was quiet. Sombra straightened himself out, his gaze still reverting back to glaring at Luna, Celestia, and Colgate. A mix of colors still illuminated the trio as the shards of the elements hovered over them, the red gem on Colgate’s neck shining brighter than ever. Sombra squinted at them.

“Is that it then?” he asked, his tone less menacing. “Am I to simply forget Ruya?”

“Sombra,” Celestia pleaded, “now is not the time to-”

“I won’t forgive you that easily!” Sombra yelled. This was no use, Colgate thought. Sombra was intent on his revenge. If he wasn’t going to back down for now, then they needed to get him out of the way somehow so they could deal with Discord.

“Clocktail!” A voice interrupted them. High above Sombra was Screwball, a variable Colgate had forgotten she left behind. “I don’t know what you did, but I finally got back here and I’m not letting you get away!” No, no! Colgate cursed her luck. They weren’t going to be able to deal with both of them. She hadn’t even been able to beat Screwball when they were in the Timescape. There was no way they were going to able to deal with her and Sombra at the same time and still be able to use the elements on Discord. Colgate watched as Screwball smirked, the mare ready to go into her blaze of charging and bouncing around, just like their last fight. Colgate glanced at Luna and Celestia, the two poised, horns shining, looking like they were ready for anything. But even with their help how could they deal with-

Colgate perked up, her ear giving a twitch. She knew what Screwball was going to do. Maybe she could have the two threats deal with each other. Silently, she readied her magic, hoping she could replicate what she had been doing in the Timescape for just a moment. One spell was all she needed.

“Sorry about this Sombra,” Colgate said.

“Hm?” Sombra narrowed his eyes at her and Celestia and Luna looked at her, just as perplexed. On cue, however, Screwball showed no hesitation and ripped through the air toward Colgate like a jet. In that split second Colgate strained as hard as she could, the light from her horn even overpowering the elements around them. Two blue, swirly gaps opened up in front of Colgate. Screwball shot straight into one portal and flew off in the opposite direction out of the other. And that was all she needed. Colgate’s horn dimmed and she slumped to the ground. Screwball, however, beamed toward Sombra.

“Wh-” Was all Sombra managed. Neither he nor Screwball had time to react to the change. Screwball blasted into Sombra, the crash throwing out a shockwave and tossing the pair off into the distance where a pillar of gravel flying into the air signaled their impact.

“Minuette!” Celestia said as Colgate slumped over. She wasn’t sure if the mare was worried about her condition or shocked at what she had done. Either way, there wasn’t time. It wouldn’t take Screwball long to get angry over being tricked again.

“Now’s our chance,” Colgate said, her legs trembling as she forced herself to stand.

“What did you do?” Luna asked frantically, glancing toward the crash site and back at Colgate.

“Elements,” Colgate said. “We need to use the elements.” Colgate looked up, spotting Discord up in the sky, a presence she had nearly forgotten had probably been watching them the entire time.

“Hm?” He seemed to notice Colgate was looking at him. “Elements?” Discord slithered down through the air, now munching on something in a small brown bag.

“That’s right,” Luna said, nodding at Colgate and taking her place next to her and glaring up at Discord. “The elements! We’ve got them all now you dirty worm!”

“Oh you,” Discord popped up in front of Luna grabbing her by the nose and talking to her as though she were a dog. “Acting all cool.”

“Don’t touch her,” Celestia stood next to Colgate and shooed Discord’s hand away as Luna slapped it with her hoof. Discord shrugged and teleported back above them, lounging back in the air and munching on whatever he was eating. They looked like raisins, which was weird enough for Discord, Colgate supposed.

“Hm,” Discord shrugged. “Whatever. I already broke your little trinkets so what are you going to do? Oh, I know! How about a game of pin the tail on the pony?” Discord raised a hand containing a tail, one that looked a bit too much like Celestia's own glittery, pink one.

“Wh-” Startled, Celestia looked back to find she was indeed missing her own tail. She stared back up at Discord angrily.

“Play time is over for you, Discord,” She scowled.

“Oh I doubt that…” He said shrugging and carelessly throwing a handful of whatever was in his bag all over the place. “Hungry?” Discord asked, popping one of the snacks into his mouth and shoving his hand into the back for a handful. The small objects spilled haphazardly, a few stray ones falling and hitting Luna and Celestia on their noses as they both continued to stare Discord down, not amused. Colgate was glad she had gotten them on her side. Discord’s overconfidence likely meant he didn’t know what Colgate knew.

“Suit yourselves,” Discord said, shoving the handful he had into his mouth, yet still not without letting a number of them fall. Then again, Colgate should have expected Discord to be a messy eater.

“You didn’t pick my brain of all my secrets Discord,” Colgate said. “If you did, then you’d know that you can’t break an element of harmony!”

“Oh no?” he said, tossing his bag to the side and giving Colgate a smug grin. “Is that what they told you? Though, I also think they don’t look quite like they did before. How do you describe something that’s fallen into a thousand tiny pieces?”

“The elements of harmony can still defeat you, Discord!” Luna shouted. Colgate’s necklace began to glow brighter, the myriad of shards around them erupting into their various colors again, surrounding the trio in a clear, spherical rainbow.

“That’s right,” Colgate affirmed the elements glowing brighter and brighter, their magic swirling together. “Because the real elements aren’t in the gems!”

“Ahahaha!” Discord burst into laughter. “You should see yourselves right now. The expressions on your faces, so intense! So sure of yourselves! Ahahahaha!” As Discord burst into his second bout of laughter a rainbow burst from the top of their colored sphere, arching its way toward Discord. Yet, he was too busy laughing to care or notice. It was a sight Colgate was overjoyed to finally see. As the colored light danced off her eyes, she couldn’t help but smile. She had finally set right what she had nearly ruined.

“Ahaha! Hilarious!” Discord continued his hysterics, raising a hand into the air as the rainbow of light spanned over him and he froze in place. His body grayed and his laughter stopped. With the force of an earthquake, the sphere of light around Colgate and her friends exploded, the wave of light fanning across the land in all directions. The ground shook and the light became too intense for Colgate to look into and she felt herself being lifted from the ground.

But, everything went suddenly silent. Colgate opened her eyes and there was nothing but white. She was floating in an empty space. Before she could speculate, she watched the red gem on her necklace detach and float in front of her. Soon, it was joined by the others.

Cerulean: There is nothing that can take a fading light and give it life like I can. Find cheer, find life. I know you will need me. For Laughter.

Pink: The comfort of your feathered wing will accomplish more than the might of your horn. For Kindness.

Orange: These actions of yours will hold fast to the path you have always believed and will always believe. For Honesty.

Violet: Giver of heart, I am of a beautiful mind, a kindness that is not truly kind. For Generosity.

And the star: My simplicity is deceptive and those who dive too deeply find themselves confused and they become angry at the incongruity. Their mistake is that these mists were not meant to be taken on alone. For Friendship.

And the objects circled back to the Colgate’s gem, red: In the light of the sun my banner shines the brightest and the winds of force will always test the muse of its sway in the breeze, but its facing will always find favor in its friends.

To whom does your allegiance lie? Answer without uncertainty. Answer as though there is only one choice, not because there was only ever one given to you, but because to choose the other is to destroy yourself. Shout one name to the heavens because it is who you swore your love to; it is what you stand for, what you struggle against, and why you suffer this unbearable ache deep in the heart of your spirit. In the end, I am what holds your ties, strengthens your love, deepens your toil, and shows you your true self.

For Loyalty.

It had been this gem that had been the most important for her, and Colgate looked at it fondly, reminded of the filly who helped her reforge it. Without that filly Colgate might have given up if she had not been reminded for what she was fighting. It was that filly who showed her all of the lights around her, and how to be strong. And, it was her who showed Colgate the real elements of harmony. It was that filly who had been her friend.

“Because the elements of harmony aren’t in the gems,” Colgate said, reaching out and touching the red gem with her hoof. “Right, Ruya?” But after that, everything turned white and Colgate heard the ground rumbling again and, as though she were flying, felt the wind rushing through her mane.

Commend Thee to Thy Dearest Friends

Chapter 14: Commend Thee to Thy Dearest Friends

Remember all of the lights...

Interlude Final:

And the draconequus laughs no more. The aftermath of all the light and rumbling is a serenity that the two alicorn sisters have not felt or seen in a long time. It is like there was a noise, a noise so persistent and insidious that the ponies had gone numb to it, but it was always still there scratching at the back of their heads. Yet, now that it is gone, they feel a relief that they hadn’t realized they needed. Once again, the sun sat still in the sky, the breeze wafted instead of hurtling itself, and the cold checkerboard tile under their hooves was grass again.

The small blue alicorn brushes her hoof through it, its blades ticklish and warm as she looks around with eyes that are still ready to call what they see an illusion. The older sister stands still, gazing up at a tall stone statue that now looms over them, casting a long thin shadow between them.

“T-Tia…” the smaller alicorn breathes in disbelief. The two sisters turn to each and their eyes meet.

“Luna, did we…” the alicorn trails off, raising a wing to look behind her. Her long pink flowing tail is back where it belongs. She turns back to her sister, awestruck as her sister’s face slowly works its way into a smile.

“We…We did it Tia!” the little alicorn jumps at her sister, wrapping her hooves about her neck and doing a full twirl. The pink maned alicorn expects this to hurt, but it doesn’t. Her cuts are gone. The only thing she feels is her sister twirling onto her back and giving her a warm hug. The two sister’s faces are cheek to cheek as they look up at the stone statue before them, the perfect likeness of the draconequus that had made everypony’s lives miserable, until now.

“Hah!” the smaller alicorn sticks out her tongue from atop her perch on her sister’s back. “Take that you worm!” the taller alicorn looks back at her and gasps.

“Luna,” she says, seemingly disapproving.

“What?” the smaller alicorn puffs her cheeks. “He deserved it.”

“Which is why,” her sister explains, “you have to put much more effort into it than that.” The pink maned alicorn looks up at the draconequus’s statue and, “Pttthhhbbb!” spit jumps off her tongue as she taunts it unapologetically.

“Oh, right,” her sister giggles and imitates the gesture, both of them giving as much grief to the pillar of stone as they can.

“This might be a little weird sis…” the smaller alicorn says as she stops to think about what she’s doing.

“Hm?” The pink maned alicorn looks over her shoulder at her sister. “What else are we supposed to do?” she asks, grinning. “We…we beat Discord!”

“I can’t believe it either!” the smaller alicorn grins and hugs her sister around her neck again. “We did it! Minuette was actually right! Hey, Minuette!” the smaller alicorn looks around, calling for her friend, her vantage point seemingly better for spotting anything around them. But, when her eyes go searching for the familiar blue pony, they find nothing. Behind them is the Everfree forest and the grassy fields of Equestria stretch into the distance.

“Minuette?” Luna says lightly.

“Luna…” the older alicorn whispers to her younger sister and both of them look up. In a circle above them, the elements of harmony float gently down, the five other gems surrounding the element of magic. They stop and hover between the sisters and the statue of the draconequus. Minuette, however, is not with them.

“Tia,” the smaller alicorn whispers in her sister’s ear. “Wasn’t the red one in Minuette’s necklace?”

“It…was,” the older alicorn responds. It certainly had been, she thought. But it wasn’t now. The red element of harmony floated there with the others, gently circling the element of magic.

“Then…” the smaller alicorn’s head darts around. “Then where’s Minuette?” The pony’s ears start to droop. But, they’re jarred by a sudden shriek, a gasp of horror and denial.

“Nooooo!” a blur of pink zips past the two sisters and slams into the statue of the draconequus. But, it makes little impact. The body of the pony Screwball flops weightlessly to the ground, the gumball once full of chaos now curled like a cat at the draconequus’s feet.

“What did they do to you daddy…” The pony starts to cry, turning angrily and glaring at the two alicorn sisters, the clearer sunlight reflecting off her tears. “What did you do!”

“We beat him!” The smaller alicorn glares back. “That silly worm isn’t going to bother any ponies anymore.”

“Liars!” Screwball screams. “Liar liar tails on fire!”

“No.” The older alicorn looks down at Screwball. “We beat him with these.” The elements of harmony dart away from Screwball and twirl around the sisters, poised and ready to strike again. “The elements of harmony.” Screwball stops glaring, her face sinking to a pout as she bites her lip and looks down at her own hoof. The mare seems strangely frightened by it and turns back to the stone draconequus as if to plea for help.

“No no no no…” she paws at the statue’s legs as if she could scratch the stone away with her hooves. She stops, looking around at the grass and the sky.

“This wind is cold…” She sniffles and wipes her eyes. Looking back at the statue, she puts a hoof to one of its legs as small sparkles of light drift off her body and the grass below her becomes visible through it.

“There was a crooked mare,” The pony starts, “and she walked a crooked mile…She…she found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. She bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse and…and…” The pony wipes her eyes again and lets her hoof fall. “We never found our crooked little house.” And the mare fades, dissolved into the air. The two alicorn sisters remain quiet for a moment.

“What was that about?” The smaller alicorn whispers.

“I…” The older alicorn is unsure what to say. It was strange to see a pony that had been as cruel as Screwball display an emotion like sadness. Was that was it was, the alicorns wondered? Or was Screwball making one last show to simply mess with them?

“That…” The older alicorn starts.

“So…” she stops as a voice interrupts and the pink maned alicorn turns around with her sister in tow. Before them stands the gray unicorn, the fire and madness dissolved from his eyes as he limps toward them, his head low and his eyes gazing up resolutely.

“They worked…” he says, gazing at the statue of the draconequus behind the two sisters. The pink maned alicorn looks back at the statue, head snapping back forward, glancing nervously at the elements of harmony.

“Um…yes.” She says. She feels her sister slip off her back, the smaller alicorn planting her feet firmly on the ground, stepping in front of her sister, and spreading her wings.

“Where is Minuette?” The unicorn asks, his tone flat.

“We…We don’t know…” The smaller alicorn’s posture slouches, her ears drooping as she remembers what she had been looking for. The unicorn’s eyes seem to glaze over as he gazes listlessly at the ground.

“So be it…” he says, and he turns his back on the two sisters, walking back toward the Everfree.

“Sombra wait,” The pink maned alicorn says, stepping past her sister. The unicorn stops, but does not turn to face her. “Aren’t you happy? We finally beat Discord. Isn’t that…what you wanted? Your magical research is part of what got us here. You know that right?” The unicorn hangs his head.

“There is nothing to celebrate in death…” he says. “I will be gathering my things from the castle…and then I will be returning to the Crystal Empire.” And the unicorn continues his limp walk back into the Everfree.

“Som…mm…” The pink maned alicorn starts, but stops, lowering her head and looking at her sister.

“We…we won, right, sis?” The smaller alicorn asks.

“Yes,” her sister responds. “Everypony’s been through a lot though.”

“Will he get better?” The smaller alicorn looks off toward the unicorn fading into the forest.

“Sure,” The older alicorn smiles down at her sister. “We’ll help him out.”

“What about Minuette… I’ll miss her.”

“Oh Luna,” The alicorn smirks. “Your friendship is showing.” The smaller alicorn puffs her cheeks angrily.

“Wh- I” she squirms. “Stop looking at me like that. I’m fine! Cause…cause we totally found out where she came from!”

“I’m sure we’ll see her again one day Luna…”

“Yeah…” The two alicorn sisters look back at the statue of the draconequus, the monument of their victory. The elements of harmony hover around them and fields of Equestria span out before them, their hope for a better future…

Interlude End.

Thud. The feeling of flying suddenly stopped.

“Ow…” Were the elements of harmony always so rough, Colgate thought? How many times had Twilight and her friends been dropped by these things? Colgate stood up, aching from the landing, and opening eyes her to nothing. She thought she was simply disoriented, and so she shook her head and blinked, trying to get the mistiness out of her eyes. But, her eyes were fine. This was a familiar blankness. It was that room again, that cold, white, endless room.

“Celestia? Luna?” Colgate called into the void. Nothing but an echo is her response. Where were they? Where was the Everfree and the fields of Equestria she should have been able to see freed from Discord? Where was his fresh stone form for her to make fun of that would eventually be part of Canterlot garden tours? This wasn’t the Timescape. This was where she had started this whole mess and after which she had landed in the caves.

“No…” Colgate breathed and looked around. Had the elements of harmony already taken her back? Could they do that? Colgate may have known about the ponies that used the elements to keep Equestria safe and how they had been used to defeat Discord, but everypony knew those stories. She hardly understood what the elements were or of what they were actually capable.

“I guess I don’t get to say goodbye, huh?” Colgate said her thoughts out loud. Then again, perhaps what she had done had been the best goodbye she could offer. With everything she had done, removing herself from the picture as soon as possible was probably for the better. Now that the elements of harmony were back with Luna and Celestia and Discord was defeated, her disappearance gave her no opportunities to screw anything else up after the fact. But then, how did she get out of here? She hadn’t exactly been in control of her magic last time this had happened and she didn’t remember what had gotten her out last time. Perhaps if-

In a split second, her question was answered. Colgate had taken one step forward and it seemed that the click of her hoof had made her surroundings crack. The white room shattered like glass, replaced abruptly with streams of real sunlight that came in through tall windows and the feel of soft carpet under Colgate’s feet. It was a long red stream of fabric she stood on and a tall ceiling arched over her, its pale violet walls illuminated by the sparkling light that filtered in through elaborate stain glass windows. Colgate’s gaze was drawn forward to the center of the room, the glittering golden throne glittering over her, the span of a pair of gentle white wings sitting it in. The mare wore a rather surprised look on her face and Colgate suddenly found the points of two shining spears directed at her. Two royal guards had bolted forward, but Colgate was speechless. Was she really where she thought she was? The expression of the mare on the throne softened, her surprise melting away.

“Hello, Minuette,” Celestia said.

“C-Celestia- I…” Was this it, Colgate thought? Was she really back? This Celestia certainly looked like the one she was used to seeing as one of the princesses of Equestria. Her mane had its flowing colors back and she wore her shimmering gold crown and royal ornaments. It was almost strange to think that this royal alicorn and the pink and white pony she had met in the past were the same pony.

“Stand back,” one of the royal guards barked, nudging his spear at Colgate as a warning. She instinctively shrunk back, realizing that, to them, she must have appeared out of nowhere.

“It’s okay you two,” Celestia said. “It doesn’t look like Minuette meant to end up here.”

“You know this pony?” The second guard asked, keeping his spear raised.

“She’s Ponyville’s dentist,” Celestia said. “I offered for her to join my school once, but she was more interested in other things.” Celestia laughed, revealing pearly white teeth. How did she keep them so clean after so long, Colgate wondered? Was it an alicorn thing? It had been a long time hadn’t it, Colgate realized. She had gone so far into the past. Did Celestia actually remember her? Everything she had said so far indicated that perhaps her memory had been filled with many other things.

“Another magical mishap?” Celestia asked, as the guards lowered their spears and took a step back.

“Uh…” Colgate’s mouth hung open for a moment, partially stunned and at a loss. “R-right. I uh…a mishap.” The word seemed too unfitting for what had actually happened. To call what had happened to her required a word far stronger than mishap. But then, to try and explain everything…Colgate couldn’t even begin.

“You know,” Celestia said, “there are plenty of ponies that could teach you a thing or two to help you.”

“Oh,” Colgate laughed nervously. “You kind of already di- I… well, never mind. That’s okay.” Celestia gave an amused giggle, making Colgate feel a bit embarrassed.

“Well, my offer still stands,” Celestia said “So, how are your friends? They might be worried about you if you just vanished on them.”

“My friends?” Colgate echoed. “Well uh…” She stopped. Her eyes widened and her ears drooped in horror.

“My friends…” Colgate breathed. She looked around the room in a panic. Canterlot was so far from Ponyville. Then again, what little she had learned about her own magic might be enough to at least get her that far faster. “Celestia I… I have to go.”

“Oh?” The alicorn looked at her, her brow furrowing with worry and confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t explain,” Colgate said. “No time.” She must have sounded ridiculous, but Colgate frantically readied her spell, her horn glowing with an intense cerulean glow that the Canterlot guards turned their heads away from as they squinted against it. With a harsh pop and a fizzle like a firecracker, Minuette was gone. Celestia stared at the slightly singed spot on the band of red carpet that led up to her throne.

“Huh,” she said, “she is getting better with it.” Presently, a pair of hooves clicked their way out from behind the throne, reviewing the empty throne room with a pair of deep blue and analytical eyes.

“You really think that she might actually be the same pony?” Luna asked, looking to Celestia. The alicorn smiled softly.

“I think we just got our answer.”

Colgate reappeared in front of her own home. This was Ponyville; she really was back. The familiar streets, faces and buildings seemed almost bizarre to see now. Even so, the sight was wonderfully inviting. The smell of cake batter drifting from Sugarcube corner, the quiet patter of a pony’s cart somewhere down the streets, the dusty road under her hooves, and the old familiar cottages in her neighborhood all had seemed like a places she might never come back to. Yet, here she was, Ponyville. But now wasn’t the time for nostalgia. Colgate could catch up with her house later. She had a pony to find.

“Berry Punch!” Colgate called into the streets. It was silly. All it got her was weird looks from ponies passing by and a few other looks that seemed confused as they looked at her.

“Colgate!” came a distant call. Colgate perked up, her eyes darting around to find the source. It was somepony she knew and it had been so long since she had been referred to by her nickname. One pony came galloping down the dirt road toward her. It was Lyra, Bon Bon following sluggishly in her wake.

“Colgate,” Lyra said excitedly as she approached. “It’s really you!”

“Y…yeah,” Colgate hesitated. “Why?”

“Nopony’s seen you in days,” Lyra said, her head tilting in confusion. “What happened to you? Where did you go?” Days, Colgate thought, odd. She still really didn’t understand how all of her time magic had worked. She figured it might bring her back to shortly after she left or something.

“I…had a problem with my magic,” Colgate said, twirling a hoof about in the dirt. She didn’t want to lie to her friends, but an explanation was near useless and would take too long.

“Colgate,” Lyra seemed to plead with her. “If this is about the tree you burnt up, no pony blames you. We don’t want you to run away just because of your magic.”

“Uh…Thanks…” Colgate said. It was very sweet of Lyra, but Colgate hardly cared about the tree she had burned down at this point. The fire had been put out, and Colgate was confident now that it wouldn’t happen again.

“Colgate?” A sleepy looking Bon Bon finally caught up with her friend. “Is that really you?”

“Tell her, Bon Bon,” Lyra said. “Tell her she doesn’t need to feel like she has to run away from home!” Bon Bon looked at Lyra groggily and then at Colgate, unsure.

“I…yeah,” Bon Bon said, rubbing her watering eyes. “What she said.”

“Bon Bon…” Lyra said with exasperation.

“You look exhausted,” Colgate said. “What’s up?”

“She’s been like this since you up and went poof,” Lyra exclaimed. “I can barely get her to walk with me.”

“I don’t know what’s been wrong with me,” Bon Bon yawned. “Making punch with Berry Punch shouldn’t be this tiring. Is this what getting old is?”

“You’re not old Bon Bon!” Lyra put her eyes to her friend’s and shook her a little, the tired Bon Bon flopping lifelessly with the motion.

“Berry Punch?” Colgate perked up. “You’ve seen her?” She looked at the two eagerly. Bon Bon was nearly falling asleep against Lyra and Lyra looked at Colgate wide eyed like she had said something that made her seem insane.

“Well…Bon Bon was supposed to meet her around here to make more crystal berry punch,” Lyra explained. “I decided to help this time since…” She paused, looking at Bon Bon and putting a hoof around her. “This one won’t stay awake!” She shouted.

“Gh!” Bon Bon jolted upright, kicking away from Lyra. “Mmmm,” she rubbed her ear and glared at Lyra, her eyes still watering with exhaustion. Her posture quickly wilted and she gave a heavy sigh.

“Hey you two,” a voice came from behind the pair. The two of them turned, Lyra flipping around while Bon Bon sadly dragged her hooves.

“Oh,” Lyra grinned. “Hey Berry Punch. Look who we found!” Lyra hopped, turning to Colgate and raising a hoof as if presenting a prize. I should be happy, Colgate thought. But something was wrong. The sight of Berry Punch standing there didn’t set her off, but made her take a step back. She could see it in the pony’s eyes. Berry Punch’s expression had betrayed a slight sense of fear, like the initial sight of Colgate had made the mare’s heart jump a little. Colgate narrowed her eyes at the mare, remembering the scene from her vision that Axis had shown her.

“Hey, Minuette,” The mare smiled. “Where have you been?” Colgate frowned, making Lyra tilt her head at her with an expression that seemed to ask, “What?” her eyebrows upturned. Colgate glanced at Bon Bon; the pony was almost asleep again at this point.

“Who did you say was helping Berry Punch make punch this week, Lyra?” Colgate asked, keeping her eye on Berry Punch.

“Uh…” Lyra looked back and forth between Berry Punch and Colgate. “Bon Bon…was…” she responded slowly. Colgate’s sour expression had warped into a threatening stare, a small spark jumping from her horn.

“Right,” Colgate said, her unhappy gaze burning into its target. Berry Punch was having a harder and harder time keeping her happy expression on the longer she was subjected to it.

“You okay, Minuette?” Berry Punch asked, her smile nervous as her eyes darted around, glancing at the nearby houses.

“Is my friend okay?” Colgate asked, small strands of hair in her mane standing on end from the static on her horn.

“What?” Berry Punch’s smile vanished, and she stepped back, on edge and looking confused. In a split second, a bolt of cerulean magic beamed from Colgate’s horn between Lyra and Bon Bon and striking Berry Punch in the face. The mare was sent tumbling backward, her body cracking as she slammed to her back into the dirt road.

“Colgate, what are you doing!” Lyra shouted. The unicorn moved to stop her, but Colgate was already gone. She vanished from her place and reappeared over Berry Punch, anger visible in her eyes as the bright blue glow of her horn reflected off them.

“Where is she!” Colgate screamed.

“What are you talking about?” Berry Punch flailed. “Minuette, it’s me!”

“You’re lying!” Colgate snapped back, using her magic to pin the pony to the ground.

“Colgate, stop!” Colgate heard Lyra come galloping toward her.

“This isn’t Berry Punch!” Colgate slammed her hoof into the ground next to the pony’s head. A wave of dust stopped Lyra in her tracks as she backed away from sharp jolts of blue lightning that jumped from the grains of sand.

“Colgate…” Lyra looked at the pony as if she were witnessing one of her friends turning on them, a fear in her eyes like she was actually watching herself be betrayed.

“Why do you think Bon Bon’s been so tired since I vanished?” She glared back at Lyra as she stood over Berry Punch like a mad mare. “Because I know who was there when I vanished. Isn’t that right, changeling?” Berry Punch looked up at Colgate fearfully straining as she tried to use her legs to squirm away.

“Minuette…” Berry Punch seemed to sob. “What happened to you?”

“Fine…” Colgate frowned. She stepped away from Berry Punch and slowly levitated the mare into air in front of her, her limbs still restrained. “I guess I’ll give you one more chance.” There were several moments of silence in which Berry Punch had no answer and Lyra remained in stunned silence.

“Colgate, please…we-” Lyra stopped as Colgate screamed.

“Where is my friend!” A flurry of cerulean bolts seared from Colgate’s horn and into Berry Punch’s body. The mare flailed in pain, screaming as the magic snapped against her, making a volley of bangs like a firework show. The entire area was coated in the deep blue glow of flashing light.

“Where! Is! Sheeeeeee!!” Colgate yelled with enough volume to barely be heard over her stream of violent magic.

“Stop!” Colgate’s balance was suddenly thrown off as she was tackled from behind. The two ponies flopped to the ground as Colgate’s magic gave one last harsh snap, sending its victim flopping limply into the ground hard enough to leave a dent. The dust settled around the now jet black figure, its body trembling in pain as Colgate forced Lyra off her, the mare grabbing for her leg as Colgate stepped forward.

“Colgate wai-” She stopped, seeing the aftermath in the clearer light. “Wh…what?” Several doors in and down the street opened, heads peeking out to see the commotion, others still hiding and watching furtively and fearfully from their window panes.

“There,” Colgate said, standing up firmly. “Now everypony can see what you are. Now, where is my friend!” At first, the changeling didn’t answer, his body still shaking as he tried to stand. Impatient, Colgate glared at him, her horn giving off a few jolts as she readied herself.

“Stop, stop,” the changeling wheezed. “The attic. She’s in the attic of her house.” the changeling flopped back to the ground, descending into a fit of coughing. Colgate turned quickly, finding Lyra standing there and staring at her.

“Wh…” her eyes darted between Colgate’s, searching them. “Where did you learn to use magic like that?”

“Sorry, Lyra,” Colgate lowered her head. “I had to.” The shame didn’t last long. She perked back up, resuming her determined look and darting for Berry Punch’s house. It was the one right across from hers. It was only a few houses from where they were.

“And tell that changeling to get out of here!” Colgate called as she went. Lyra looked at the bug-like creature as it got painfully to its hooves and began hobbling its way down the road.

“You heard her!” Lyra called after it. The changeling glared back wearily, continuing its pained hobble as it went.

“I’m going…” It wheezed. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Man…” came a voice, a pony’s head slumping to Lyra’s shoulder. “I really wish I had been more awake for all of that.”

“Oh Bon Bon…” Lyra said, massaging the pony’s neck with a hoof. “At least we know why you’ve been so tired.”

“Mrrrgh…” Bon Bon slumped to the ground content to nap on the spot.

As Colgate got to Berry Punch’s house she practically rammed the door, forcing the wooden slab open as she charged through the mare’s kitchen. Prattling her way up the stairs, she made it to the second floor, searching frantically for a way into the attic. Her search was far from thorough. After not seeing one in the main hall or in Berry Punch’s bedroom, Colgate was already starting to panic. Her eyes darted around the ceiling of Berry’s room, but there was nothing.

“Fine then,” Colgate said to herself, making her decision. She stopped, bending her knees and poising herself like a cat about to pounce and looked up. With a short pop, Colgate launched herself at the ceiling with her magic. Forming a shield, she crashed through the wooden ceiling, feeling the rush of the heavy, warm air in the space above. She felt the hay of the thatched roof scratch against her fur as she hit the arch of her jump and landed firmly on the floor. Moving at a thousand miles an hour her eyes scanned the room as quickly as they could. She could feel the beat of her heart patter in her throat, her nerves jumping in every direction. And she stopped, letting out a gasp. It was the same. Why did it have to be the same?

“Berry Punch!” Colgate shouted, and frantically leapt to her friend’s aid. The mare was tied up, a cloth gag in her mouth and ropes tying her front hooves behind her back, her back legs together and another rope around her neck, tied to a support beam on the back wall under the peak of the roof. She was curled up in a ball and facing the wall, making no move when Colgate yelled her name. Colgate quickly lay next to her friend and used her magic to cut the ropes, untying the one around her neck and tossing it to the side. Finally, she removed the cloth in Berry Punch’s mouth, turning the mare over to face her. Colgate breathed a short sigh of relief. Berry was still breathing. And, when Colgate lifted her up, cradling the grown mare like a baby, one hoof around her back and the other behind her head, Berry’s eyes made a slight effort to open. Colgate ground her teeth nervously. Something so simple shouldn’t look so hard to do.

“Berry?” Colgate said. “Berry Punch, can you hear me?” Suddenly the mare gave a pair of dry, heaving coughs, curling up and looking up with half open, glazed eyes.

“C-” She coughed. “Colgate?”

“Oh, thank Celestia,” Colgate’s eyes started to water. “You’re alive!”

“Th- there was-” Berry Punch stopped, coughing again.

“Shh…” Colgate hushed her. “I know. There was a changeling. I took care of him.”

“Was…all that commotion outside…you?” It looked like Berry Punch tried to smile, but didn’t have the energy for it.

“Heh,” Colgate smiled through her tears. “You heard that?”

“It was pretty loud…I” Berry Punch started coughing again, this time a bit more violently and more like her body was trying to puke but didn’t have anything left to give.

“Shh…” Colgate wiped her eyes. “Right. What am I doing?” She sniffled and tried to compose herself. “Come on, let’s get you downstairs.” Colgate focused, her horn lighting up as she hugged her friend closer, telling herself it helped with teleportation. With a little build up, there was a bright snap of blue light and they were in Berry Punch’s kitchen.

“What?” Berry Punch rasped as Colgate set her to floor. “Where did you learn how to-” Her sentence was stopped again by her coughing. Colgate didn’t answer her, but frantically pulled a cup from Berry Punch’s cabinets, her eyes locking on the empty double sink, an area that was abnormally free of fruit stained clutter. Among other things, it seemed that the changeling had also been far too tidy to be Berry Punch. Colgate remembered having to help clean the area several times and even then it was never as clear as it was now.

Colgate quickly slapped the cold water handle and filled the cup she had grabbed up with water. Levitating the glass with her magic, she knelt down to Berry Punch, lifting her friend and attempting to get her to sit up.

“Come on,” Colgate coaxed her. “Up you go.”

“You know,” Berry Punch said, giving a few heaves as Colgate sat her up and leaned her against the cabinets behind her. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to find me…”

“I had a few problems,” Colgate smiled, simply enjoying hearing her friend talk to her again. “Here. Drink.” Colgate put her hoof behind her friends back, supporting her and helping to prop her up as she levitated the glass of water up to the mare’s lips. Colgate managed to get Berry Punch to take one gentle sip. She would have liked to slowly nurse her friend back to health, but Berry punch yanked the glass out of the air and slogged it down in two gulps.

“Whoa, whoa,” Colgate pulled the glass away, but it was already empty. “Slowly!”

“Are you kidding?” Berry Punch said. “Where…” She coughed, wiggling her hoof as if she were trying to reach for something.

“Hey,” Colgate caught her friend as she flopped forward ready to smack her face into her own floor. “What are-” Colgate stopped, hearing two thumps behind her as Berry Punch kicked one of her cabinet her with her hind leg. Colgate pulled it open with her magic, sitting Berry Punch back as a few plastic containers toppled out and a wooden bucket rolled onto the floor.

“T-there,” Berry Punch heaved again, the mare making an uncomfortable jolt in Colgate’s hooves. The feeling made her uneasy and Colgate was one fainting spell away from having a panic attack.

“Fill that,” Berry Punch said.

“Uhhhh…” Looking at the bucket, Colgate didn’t think it was a good idea. It wasn’t quite as big as the one that still teetered on Ponyville’s old well, but it held much more than the cup. But, she levitated the bucket up to the counter and into the sink. She turned the handle with her magic listening to it as she kept her eyes on Berry Punch. Colgate clenched her teeth with impatience as she listened to the sound of the water, the sound of Berry Punch’s wheezy breaths seeming somehow much louder.

Full or not, Colgate yanked the bucket from its place, water sloshing down the side of the counter as she banged the bottom of the bucket against the sink. Colgate breathed in through her nose and sighed, carefully lifting the bucket just a little higher. She raised it over them and set it gently next to her friend. With that, Berry Punch flopped in front of it and put her muzzle into the water, taking two huge gulps and coming up gasping.

“Take it easy Berry,” Colgate laughed, looking at Berry’s drenched face as water dripped from her chin.

“I’ve had hangovers worse than this,” Berry Punch said proudly, smirking. She immediately lost the confident expression as she heaved and flopped to her side into a fit of coughing.

“Oh…” Berry Punch writhed. “Oh Celestia…”

“Are you okay?” Colgate started to panic, looking around the room for the fastest exit path in case she had to rush Berry to a hospital. But she stopped. Berry Punch let out a loud belch and her body relaxed. Colgate frowned, reaching under Berry Punch and lifting her up and putting her in her lap. Levitating the bucket of water, she put it up to Berry Punch and put a hoof behind the mare’s head.

“Really?” Colgate raised her eyebrow at Berry Punch and smiled. Berry Punch didn’t respond, her eyes seeming to flick around in thought.

“How’d you know where to find me anyway?” she asked. Colgate gave a slight chuckle, recalling how ridiculously serious she must have seemed.

“I asked your friend the changeling,” Colgate said.

“How’d you know it wasn’t me?” Berry Punch asked, her question not hostile, but graced with knowledge that Colgate had somehow actually known.

“You never call me Minuette unless you’re mad at me or worried or something,” Colgate said and then gave a smirk. “You’d also probably react a little less calmly to seeing me again if I’d been gone for several days.”

“You’re right,” Berry Punch smiled. “I’d probably get super overprotective or something.”

“What?” Colgate rolled her eyes. “No…” Colgate paused, eying her friend’s condition. “Doing better?” she asked.

“What?” Berry Punch said. “You think I’m…” a cough, “going to let some changeling get the best of me? I’m too strong for that.” She coughed again, leaning forward and taking another large drink of water. She slouched to the side as she gulped it down, resting her head on Colgate’s chest.

“Thanks, Colgate,” She said, closing her eyes. She had no idea, Colgate thought. Colgate was simply glad to finally be back, for her friend to be alive. But Berry Punch had been pretty strong for what she had probably gone through as well. Colgate couldn’t imagine going without food or water for as long as Berry Punch had. And the crazy mare still had the energy to be snarky. Colgate smiled, feeling the warmth of Berry’s head against her fur, her breathing already starting to get clearer. It was going to be okay. She had broken things along the way, and done things she probably wouldn’t be proud to say later on. But she was here. She had been strong and so had Berry Punch. Her, Berry, Luna Celestia, Ruya, they had all done their best. Minuette had seen some crazy things. From the chaotic Discord ruled Equestria to the master of time, it was a lot to take in. But here she was, finally fixing the last thing on the checklist of things that she screwed up. I didn’t do it as well I could have, did I, Colgate thought. But she was still here where she wanted to be. Was that what being strong was? Maybe. Yeah…I guess it’s one way.

Wind in the rain, we wish only to be strong.

Fin

End notes:

Well…

I finally finished this! There were points where I didn’t think I ever would. A lot got in the way of this. If you made it all the way to the end, then you’re awesome for reading this whole thing. It was an ordeal. So if you liked it feel free to tell me what you thought in, like, the comments or something. It’s not the best thing in the world, but hey, it’s there.

Also, perhaps if you are suspicious, when I started this story it was originally planned to have a sequel. We’ll see about that. I guess it depends on how things go. But this story itself is finally complete. That’s really half the battle.

Mastering Harmony

Chapter 10: Mastering Harmony

Time and Space Await…

-A lie is only powerful because it hides the truth. Those who sever the chains of harmony are only strong as long as the links remain broken. When the strings of the orchestra finally unify, the pandemonium ends.

Interlude 4:

The two alicorns descend into an abyss. It is dark and each of their lights reveals a path; a path that is different, but that leads to the same place. There is no room for chaos in the deep; it operates on its own designs. Eventually, a light other than their own comes into view. It is faint at first, a distant yet sure glow against the subterranean shadows. It is an icy blue light, an inviting yet foreboding shimmer prefiguring the presence of a benevolent, yet terrible power. They stumble upon it as naturally as a river leads to the ocean. Before them stands a great tree. Not a normal tree to be sure, but this tree is the source of the eerie light, surrounded by its own version of plant life. It is a life unto itself, self sustaining in the darkness of obscurity; a resolute force waiting for purpose beyond its mere existence. Its leaves hang like ornaments from a mantelpiece, its branches jagged and crystal like, its trunk an indestructible pillar of flawless diamond. Out from its star like center, stem five branches whose ends bulge in knots that contain shimmering jewels; gems that seem to pulse with their own life. Pink, blue, red, purple, and orange.

The younger alicorn turns to her sister, tentatively. She shrugs. This is certainly the source of magic, but not what they had expected. It is not what Sombra had envisioned. How could they use this? How was this supposed to help them against Discord? If this really was the source of the power that was negating his own, how were they to bring it against him? In its current state, it is content to exist. This is all harmony has ever needed. They both take a step forward. The floor comes alive and the first of the gems begins to glow and one by one, it as though the sisters are spoken to, in silence. A second turned into an eternity of standing before a greater force. It is both brief and a prolonged test of willpower.

Equine of the moon, I am your driving force, your crux and bane. Understood by the simplest minds, but a tangled obscurity to the genius. In peace I am the most comforting friend and in war I am the bringer of victory. In the light of the sun my banner shines the brightest and the winds of force will always test the muse of its sway in the breeze, but its facing will always find favor in its friends. Even as shadows of doubt haunt my steps and I stray in the twilight, the sureness of my presence will continue to bring me back no matter how far the fall has taken me. I am the grand debate of fiction. To whom does your allegiance lie? Answer without uncertainty. Answer as though there is only one choice, not because there was only ever one given to you, but because to choose the other is to destroy yourself. Shout one name to the heavens because it is who you swore your love to, it is what you stand for, what you struggle against, and why you suffer this unbearable ache deep in the heart of your spirit. In the end, I am what holds your ties, strengthens your love, deepens your toil, and shows you your true self. My name is Loyalty.

The first crystal comes to life glowing brighter than the others and as each subsequent voice graces the void, its gem follows suit casting the chamber into a kaleidoscope of color.

Bringer of the great light, I am the feeling in your gaze. With my gentle aura do you look on the world with hopeful eyes. Innocence unbroken of youth, yet tempered by wisdom, my light shines much less harshly than the one you share your being with. I am the life in the forest leaves, vigilant, powerful, but never forceful; the winner of hearts, commander of grace. There is strength in the softer things. The comfort of your feathered wings will accomplish more than the might of your horn. I am no conqueror, I am a healer. The wars under my emblem are not waged by the sword, but with a mighty consciousness and a countenance unbreakable by the erosive waves of aggression. I am your rock, your wind wall defense, and your one great blindness. I will never see things the way others do and in my gaze there are few true enemies. They will hate me for it. They will ridicule and wonder what ignorance inspires the stupidly empty faith I carry before me. So it will be too with you. Never waver. Doubt is your greatest enemy and it will never leave you. Remember my name and know on what to call when impossibility stares you in the face. There is no time in which I will not help. My name is Kindness.

The two alicorns take a step forward simultaneous, staring up at the tree in wonder as the second gem comes to life, seemingly unaware of each other.

Lift your wings from the shadow dear sister. I will set you free and the light of your moon will guide you. Life’s web of incongruity can be a mess of tangled thorns that only one lit fire can burn through. It is not a greedy flame, but one that seeks to reveal, to bring to light what cannot be seen through the mist. This is my nature and yours. Never let that light go out. It will be your salvation. The darkness hides many things, but they cannot hide from you. Every star in the sky is a flame burning everything but the truth. Those who bear my name will never be doubted by others, only questioned. These actions of yours will hold fast to the path you have always believed and will always believe. It is the truth, it must be the truth, I will not lie. I am the simplest of them all and my strength is brutal. My name is Honesty.

Another gem comes to life.

Crowned face of the sun, the dusk is always welcome. I am of no alliance and those at the top will always be puzzled by me the most. I am a notion of the naïve and vapid on the surface, but the layers underneath will not be reached so easily. I am lack of regard, I am selflessness. Stopping to think will only cloud the process with hesitation. Giver of heart, I am of a beautiful mind. Look down not with arrogance, but with compassion and those who look back up will look with love and not anger. Consider me lost of mind, but competent of will. I am some form of insane, a kindness that is not truly kind. I have left part of the equation out. I will endeavor always to help those who fall under my care and those for whom I care. I only want to help. Infinitely and inwardly beautiful. I will give to everyone save for a single being. Myself. My name is Generosity.

A fourth gem lights up a glimmering purple.

In the end we are fragile dear moon. I am fragility’s medicine, its healer. I am the mender, the uplifter. In the face of gloom you provide the starry night, the light in the darkness and salvation from fear. I am the same. I can soothe anger and fight sorrow. When tricks, magic, and remedies fail the ailing, I prove stronger than all of them. There is nothing that can take a fading light and give it life like I can. Find cheer, find life. I know you will need me. These darker wings will find their current on which to sail. I do not desire emblematic praise, nor the songs of nations nor the throne of a king. I only want one thing. A smile. In my eyes this is the greatest success. It will conquer fears, silence doubts, and end conflict. This is the truth, my only truth. My name is Laughter.

The fifth and final gem brightens and as the alicorn sisters look on, the star pattern at the tree’s center opens in jagged shards like a window slowly sliding away as it breaks. Out of the space another gem emerges, this one violet, in the shape of a six sided star but holding to the diamond like quality of the others. It hovers above them and they watch in a wondering awe as the others circle around it and just like the others it seems to speak to them. But they are not sure if its speech is really a sound or if they are only imagining its words.

Dear sisters, you’ve come such a long long way. You’ve struggled, you’ve failed, you’ve been angry, you’ve been sad, and you’ve seen what it means to take in a friend. Your presence here can only mean that harmony has finally found the bearers of its will and you have shown that you embody its attributes. And yet… you will inevitably fail in time at this task as well. This is not set in stone. It is simply what it means to live in this world. There is none who can truly stand with perfection. If there is, you will be the first to rise to its standard. Can you do it? I am your final piece, the last of six. I am the spirit of the world. People struggle to know me, I slip away, they lose sight of me only to realize that I have been there from the very beginning and never truly left. I am over thought. My simplicity is deceptive and those who dive too deeply find themselves confused and they become angry at the incongruity. Their mistake is that these mists were not meant to be taken on alone. There are two of you for a reason. There are few challenges that were ever really meant to be done alone. The danger is that some of them are easier to do alone and so I remain cast at the wayside unable to help them draw out the riches they seek from their solitary endeavor. Remember me in your darkest hour. When there are tears flowing away from your eyes and the dirt gets more of your attention than anything else, remember me. I will be your greatest support in standing back on your feet. I am a companion, I am family. I am your brother, sister, the voice of confidence. I am the source, the light, the soul. I am laughter, I am generous, I am loyal, I am honest, I am kind. Above all I am magic. My name is Friendship.

These are the six. These are the elements. This is Harmony. Go. Banish the chaos.

The two alicorns blink and shake their heads as if waving off drowsiness. They look back to the jewels hovering above them and then to each other. Their eyes meet and across their faces their expressions of awe are replaced with smiles that they cannot hold back.

“L-Luna…?” The pink maned one says tentatively as the smile begins to force itself onto her face.

“Eeee!” The midnight blue mare immediately lets out a squeal and trots in place with a wide grin. “We did it Tia! We did it!” She exclaims and she leaps at her sister, throwing her front hooves about her sister’s neck. The taller alicorn returns the embrace with one hoof and looks up at the circle of radiant artifacts with a less beaming, but softer smile.

“Do you think they’ll work?” She asks.

“They have to Tia!” He sister replies. “They have to. Just…Just look at them…” She pauses. “The elements…” She murmurs.”

“Of harmony.” Her sister echoes.

“You heard them too?”

“Of course silly. Why wouldn’t I?

“Oh…” The smaller alicorn shuffles in place. “Well they spoke all funny. I’m not sure I really got what they said.”

“That’s okay…” They pause and watch as the elements descend and surround them in a circle.

“Hey Tia?” The smaller alicorn asks her sister.

“Yes?” The elements start to spin around them, slowly at first but building speed at a steady pace.

“What do you think Equestria will be like…you know…after this is over? What are we gonna do?”

“I guess we’ll rebuild. It certainly won’t look the same as it did all those years ago.” The elements begin to dissolve into a blur as they pick up speed and they encapsulate the two sisters in a case of light that forms a bubble around them.

“Do you think we’ll still be able to live in the castle?”

“I hope so…” As they rise into the air with the elements hissing about them, the midnight blue alicorn turns to her sister.

“Hey sis,” She says with a smirk. Her sister turns to her as their ascent stops and they are suspended in the air, standing on nothing but light.

“Hm?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Let’s kick Discord’s sorry butt!” She raises a hoof. Her sister, gleaming white in the storm of luminosity, smiles back at her.

“Yeah.” They click hooves and in a flash like lightning they vanish, leaving behind the lonely tree, without its flowers.

Interlude end.